“I know how to build a business. First you gotta get the black people to do it to get the white people to do it. Then you gotta get the black people to stop doing it. One step at a time” (The Office).
This is a quote from season 8, episode 9 of The Office, spoken by Dwight Schrute who, in this specific episode, was discussing his marketing strategy in the building of his newly started gym business. As the nature of The Office goes, this quotation was an ironic commentary on the societal notion of black culture and the…
“Just make sure you rise above all this madness out here. Mind elevation, man.”
Taken out of context, this quote may contain, to its reader, no pertinent or tangible meaning. And so I ask, if you will, to picture this scene. It is a blistery New York City day and a narrator explains that we are looking at the Rosedale Projects in Queens. The camera zeros in on a figure stepping out of a parked white Mercedes. It is Sincere, the narrator and one of two main characters in Hype Williams’s 1998 film, Belly, a scene from which I am…
Have you ever been to Metropolis? Chances are, whether you know it or not, you have. For, metropolis is funk/R&B artist Janelle Monae’s metaphor for the world we live in today; a world where “You [may be] free but in your mind, your freedom’s in a bind”, meaning: although we live in a world where Africans and African Americans are technically free from the bonds of slavery, today’s African diaspora is trapped in their minds, battered by years of oppression and unable to break the psychological chains of coercion and persecution. This city of Metropolis is synonymous with the Rastafari…
“He was scandal, he was gossip, he was a public menace for many, a public hero for some, admired and demonized, feared, misunderstood, and ridiculed.” These are the words used by Dr. Gerald Early to describe Jack Johnson, the first black heavyweight champion, in his PBS article, “Rebel of the Progressive Era”, written to complement the release of Ken Burns’s 2004 documentary on Jack Johnson, Unforgivable Blackness. Now, before I provide you with more context, take a moment to consider the following quote, as well: “When you’re the absolute best, you get hated on the most.” This quote, spoken by…
“Is Hip-Hop just a euphemism for a new religion — The soul music of the slaves that the youth was missing?” — Kanye West, “Gorgeous” (2010).
In reflecting upon my far-from-finished spiritual journey in this life, I felt it would be an injustice not to begin this piece with this Kanye West lyric — as it is one lyric among many (this one, however, being the most poignant) that have provided the catalyst for the personal journey of finding my faith. That said, I guess you could also partially say I found my love for hip-hop with the assistance of…
Sadé Dinkins
Professionally curious.
