At first I didn’t think she liked me.  There was minimal eye contact and she never smiled, or greeted my entrance.  But as days have passed, and she saw that I would actually show-up each day, and care for the kids, her demeanor has melted. 

Mrs. Evelyn lives across the street from the Midtown Center, a small white building, less than three blocks from our house (plus a short-cut the kids taught me, which cuts off another 200 yards).  I never knew it, but it was Mrs. Evelyn’s garden I’ve been admiring all these months, and her husband who seems to be perpetually picking weeds, or watering it.  She’s tall and weathered and sings in the choir at her church on the west side.  I can’t figure out if the kids respect Mrs. Evelyn, or are down right scared of her, but either way, she knows how to keep cuss words from leaking and a pair of pants from leaving the waist.

A

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I sometimes get those dual voices going in my head. That one voice that says, “You gonna take this sh*t? You’d better stand up and tell them people what you really think!” Then the other one that says, “No, just take the ‘higher road’ and say nothing…or better yet, just ignore it because they’re just ignorant.” Sometimes I even hear that voice telling me to act a fool and just “go off.” I especially hear these voices when I’m in all White crowds and being the “only one” of my kind. Do I say what’s really on my mind when someone asks me yet again if I rap? Do I yell at the top of my lungs at someone who denies my life narrative and relegates it to the status of “too sensitive?” Do I simply use four letter words to express my thoughts because it seems “holy words” aren’t working? Or, do I say nothing at all? Do I take the calm Negro route? Do I make the White folks feel comfortable with my smile and 3 button suite and PhD? Do I caress the White male with the phrase, “It’s cool, and I know you didn’t mean me”? What voice do I listen to?

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As I set here reflecting on all the time that has passed since the death of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., I am challenged to look inside and ask, what does all this mean to me? What does it mean that I can vote? What does it mean that I can live where I want to (to a certain degree), what does it mean to be “free?” In addition, what does it mean to blog and say what I need and want to? Those are just some thoughts of mine that are running through my head.

What does this day mean for me? Well, quite frankly, a lot. It means I, as a Black man racially, African American/ Mexican American ethnically, can stand on my own two feet, get a PhD, write books, travel the world, and have an interethnic marriage along with a multiethnic daughter. It means I can stand up for the marginalized and speak for the poor in the countenance of injustice. It means I can walk down the street holding my wife’s hand without the real fear of lynching’s and or severe public ridicule. It also means I can get an education and help my little girl get one too. It means I can bury my loved ones in a proper manner. It means I can go to court if my “civil rights” are violated. It means I am standing on the shoulders of all those who died before me and never made the headlines or nightly news; or ever had a Holiday named after them. It means I give homage and respect to the Civil Rights Generation and for what they did for my family and the subsequent generations, which follow. It means I pay respect to the struggle and fight that many people did to help me and others like me get to where we’re at today as a people of color. It also means I thank God for allowing some people to make the ultimate sacrifice of death for a people, a cause, and a purpose.

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This year marks the 20th anniversary of Spike Lee’s classic film Do The Right Thing (1989). It is hard to believe I was going into my junior year in high school 20 years ago. It’s even harder to fathom that I’m twenty years older now! Where did the time go? I remember seeing the coming attractions for the film and wondering what Spike was up to now. I wasn’t allowed to go see the film in the theatre for fear of “race riots.” So, I had to wait until it came out on VHS to see it later that year.

I remember seeing the film for the first time—and subsequent times—and feeling a sense of tension throughout the film. The film left me angry, thinking about life, pondering my own decisions, wondering if people were getting the message, and how Spike got Universal to even consider doing this film. The film was powerful, and even after 20 years, I continue to see new things in the film—and ask more questions.

If you’ve taken one of my classes, you know I use this film a lot. Why? It’s a 20 year old film Dan? Its old School? But is it really? My real question is, how far have we really “progressed” in 20 years and have we—societaly speaking—done the “Right thing?”

This is a loaded question, obviously. It cannot be answered in a 700-word blog. But with the recent Gates incident still on the nations mind, Obama being elected to the presidency, and a host of other racially charged issues, we must begin the difficult conversation of answering this question and questions like these.

As a Blackxican living in this “multi-racial” society, I tend to see a lot of racially charged things. And it gets hard trying to explain that to people who do not have to experience racially charged issues on a daily basis. Moreover, it gets down right frustrating getting cross examined and told your story “couldn’t have happened the way you say it did—c’mon, no one treats others that way anymore!” Spike put those issues at your front door step with this film and insists you begin to deal with them.

This film is a symbolic, 3rd dimensional film representing of actual larger issues in today’s societal sphere. Sal’s Wall of Fame, Radio Raheem’s Love & Hate, Bug Eye’s boycott, Da Mayor, Korean store owners, the 3 brothers on the corner, and the theme song “Fight The Power” by Public Enemy constantly reverberating throughout the community are all symbolic of issues such as representation in the media, oppressive factors, nihilism, and even sexism.

From a filmatic perspective, the film is a masterpiece: the colors, the soundtrack, the location, the 26-hour day, the script, the use of Dutch angles to illustrate conflict, the script, and all the extras in the film. All these components make the film worth watching just from a cinematography perspective alone.

But the film goes even deeper than that. Spike let’s us, the audience, see the life and happenings of one neighborhood, for one day, on one block, on one very hot day (It’s a sociological fact that when the heat rises, so does the murder rate). Spike allows you to grapple and struggle with these issues:

• Did Mookie do the right thing?
• Should Sal have put more “brothas” on the wall?
• The paradox of Bug-Eye (played by Giancarlo Esposito) in real life being half African American and Italian American who leads out in boycotting Sal’s pizzeria and wanting the “Eye-Talians” to leave the community—Spike actually cast him for the role because he was bi-ethnic.
• What is the “Right Thing”
• Was Sal a racist? If not, where did Pino get his racist ethos?
• The quotes of both Malcolm X & Martin Luther King at the end of the filmWas Mookie a “sell out” boy working for Sal?

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The news hit me like a slap in the face with a wet sponge laced with charred glass! I have to say I wasn’t’ expecting that one. Michael Jackson dead at 50...wow. This is truly the death of an icon. A trendsetter. A pioneer. A multi-generational musical genius. A cultural giant. I’m still in shock.

What Jackson brought to the American pop culture scene was complex. On one hand, you have the impact of his music on mainstream America. I mean, what person over the age of 25 doesn’t know at least one of Jackson’s songs? His style was unique and imitated in so many ways it is almost silly. Jackson was able to transcend genre-stylized music and really put his thumbprint on his music. Hence, you have a very original beat, tone, and melody that lasted—and will last—for ages.

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