Monthly Archives: May 2016

Willie D & the Historical Definition of the Word ‘Coon’

Uncategorized, Willie D, Cooning, Hip Hop, Minstrel Show, Blackface, Racism, Racist Stereotypes

maxresdefault (1)

 

[Hook: Willie D]

If you selling out your people you’re a coon

If you hate your own kind you’re a coon

Bootlicker shuck and jive you’re a coon

You’re coon you’re a coon you’re a coon

 

If you’re selling out your people you’re a coon

If you hate your own kind you’re a coon

Sambo die slow you’re a coon

You’re a coon you’re a coon you’re a coon

Originally, I wasn’t going to write about this subject because there continues to be two distinctly separate factions in black America. Some will say it’s what legendary comedian Chris Rock spoke to in what has become a one of his most famous comedic routines in his 1996 stand-up special, “Bring the Pain.” In the segment which was slightly over eight minutes long, Rock made it abundantly clear that there exists a subculture within the African-American community in which there is a definite thin line not between love and hate, rather between black people and the nefarious N-word. As controversial as the routine was, many African-Americans actually agreed with Rock due to the negative stereotypes which are attributed to black folks as a collective brought to you by the narrow-minded bigots in the media and elsewhere. These stereotypes still remain to this day and yet the outcry towards this behavior continues to be celebrated or given a pass by a certain Negro sector and even by those who considers themselves “conscious”. Now before you think I’m writing this blog to take up for people who Willie D and others of his ilk deem as ‘Coons’, then think again. I must also make it perfectly clear that I am not defending a certain black collective who think they’re above other African-Americans themselves by affirming certain political viewpoints, concepts, and narratives. Not to say that I’m totally against hard work or the mantra of “pulling yourself up by the proverbial bootstraps” mentality because there is logic in that talking point, like it or not. Nonetheless, I would be a fool to say discrimination and now covert racism doesn’t exist within our current society. So spare me the nonsense that racism doesn’t because my name isn’t Charms and you can’t play me like a sucker. I actually want to present an argument in hopes that you would think critically about the historical implications that comes with the word coon and how many black folks (including Willie D himself), are using it completely out of context.  ***what we gonna do right here is go back***

For starters, if we’re going to speak on what cooning means in a historical sense, we must begin with a brief history of the Minstrel Shows and Blackface. Minstrelsy evolved from several different American entertainment traditions; the traveling circus, medicine shows, shivaree, Irish dance and music with African syncopated rhythms, musical halls and traveling theatre. The “father of American minstrelsy” was Thomas Dartmouth “Daddy” Rice (1808-60), who in 1828, in a New York City theatre, performed a song-and-dance routine in blackface and tattered clothes. Rice’s character was based on a folk trickster persona named Jim Crow that was long popular among black slaves. Rice also adapted and popularized a traditional slave song called Jump Jim Crow (http://black-face.com/minstrel-shows.htm). Rice’s song and dance routine was lauded by audiences that brought him enormous success in the U.S. and internationally. This spawned numerous imitators such as the Virginia Minstrels and the Ethiopian Serenaders; which incorporated the musical instruments: the banjo, a fiddle, a tambourine and bone castanets.  Minstrel show entertainment included imitating black music and dance and speaking in a “plantation” dialect. The shows featured a variety of jokes, songs, dances and skits that were based on the ugliest stereotypes of African American slaves. From 1840 to 1890, minstrel shows were the most popular form of entertainment in America (http://black-face.com/). Among several racist caricatures which existed in blackface, the ‘Coon’ caricature (which was a mixture between the Jim Crow & Zip Coon caricatures), is among the most popular stereotypes along with the Mammie, [Uncle] Tom, the Buck and the Pickaninny.

Ferris State University, which is the quote “Home of the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia,” goes a bit deeper into the coon caricature and it has nothing to do with repeating “white supremacist” talking points:

“The coon caricature is one of the most insulting of all anti-black caricatures. The name itself, an abbreviation of raccoon, is dehumanizing. As with Sambo, the coon was portrayed as a lazy, easily frightened, chronically idle, inarticulate, buffoon. The coon differed from the Sambo in subtle but important ways. Sambo was depicted as a perpetual child, not capable of living as an independent adult. The coon acted childish, but he was an adult; albeit a good-for-little adult. Sambo was portrayed as a loyal and contented servant. Indeed, Sambo was offered as a defense for slavery and segregation. How bad could these institutions have been, asked the racialists, if blacks were contented, even happy, being servants? The coon, although he often worked as a servant, was not happy with his status. He was, simply, too lazy or too cynical to attempt to change his lowly position. Also, by the 1900s, Sambo was identified with older, docile blacks who accepted Jim Crow laws and etiquette; whereas coons were increasingly identified with young, urban blacks who disrespected whites. Stated differently, the coon was a Sambo gone bad.”

As we can clearly see, the coon caricature was a “Sambo gone bad” so if there is any criticisms of those who spew white supremacist rhetoric, chances are they’re closely related to the Sambo (like Sam Jackson in the movie Django) instead of the lazy, buffoonish, and malapropic speaking coon. Still, Negroes will still find a way to justify calling people like Stacey Dash, Raven Symone, Charles Barkley, Stephen A. Smith, Don Lemon, black Conservatives, and basically any black person who appears on Fox News—coons, simply because they have a different opinion and doesn’t espouse to the victimhood mentality. Now while those people that I’ve just mentioned are entitled to their personal perspectives when speaking on these socio-political platforms; however, it would be very remiss of me not bring up the obvious agendas on these programs regardless of your political ideas or affiliations. In fact, it is my assertion that these ‘talking heads’ are only allowed on these programs to regurgitate ‘controlled opinions’ rather than sincere, honest ones. But then again, we do have the Sheriff David Clarke’s of the world who had the audacity to fix his face and spew imbecilic nonsense like “there is no police brutality in America”. Dude seriously?! Then to make matters worse, while I don’t agree with the whole “Black Lives Matter” movement (because it is a covert movement to actually push the gay-transgender agenda, rather than focusing on blacks as a whole) but even they didn’t deserve to be called ‘subhuman creeps’ by Clarke.

Moving right along Willie D’s ‘coons’ list we have Stephen A. and Charles Barkley. Barkley received criticism (and praise) about exposing the “dirty, dark secret in the black community” that if you speak intelligently you’re ‘acting white’ or if you’re not ‘a thug or an idiot, you’re not black enough’. Stephen A. has uttered these same sentiments (although he’s still receiving backlash on how he handled the Michelle Beadle situation and agreeing with Mark Cuban about prejudice & stereotypes) but because Smith, Barkley and nearly everyone else on Willie D.’s list (except Raven Symone) sounds well, kind of Bill Cosby-ish, they’re instantly labeled as coons. As I’ve stated before, most of the time these talking heads or pundits deliver controlled opinions on these platforms whether they truly believe their own rhetoric or not. Then there’s the notion that these people are rewarded handsomely by their white handlers for “throwing black people under the bus.” Well, by that logic what makes them any different from the rappers of the hip-hop subculture? Both are famously being controlled commercially and financially by white handlers with the lone exception that many in black America (including Mr. Coonhunter himself, Willie D.) refuse to call-out these rappers (of course not all) as coons. Because at the end of the day, cooning has more to do with stereotypical behavior that white racists believed about black people; not one’s opinion. Case in point: You had actor/comedian and television personality, Wayne Brady, being called “not black enough” by many in the black community due to he has not only a large white following, but because he sounds (intelligent/articulate) like a ‘white’ person. Here is a short excerpt from Brady on the Huffington Posts Live about being black and cooning:

At the end of the day, Negroes like Willie D. will continue call people the coon word because they’re on ‘white’ platforms but will keep quiet to the real so-called coons—who are also funded by white people! The real shuck and jive and Step ‘n Fetch will never get called out because they’re keeping it real—real hood that is—which has become synonymous with black culture. Negative stereotypes of Blacks are a staple of Black music videos that glorify gangsterism. The “buck” is now a hoodlum with an attitude and the minstrel-show plantation has morphed into a music video version of gangster life. Though the setting has changed from an idyllic plantation to the mean streets of urban America, the process remains the same; a black culture is being marketed for profit, with black performers portraying negative stereotypes (http://black-face.com/).

But I’m just trippin though, right?  Peace.

Links for further research on historical black stereotypes:

http://black-face.com/minstrel-shows

http://black-face.com/minstrel-shows.htm

http://www.ferris.edu/HTMLS/news/jimcrow/coon/

 

 

Why Pastor Jamal Bryant Didn’t Listen To Chris Brown

Black America, Black Men, Black Women, Jamal Bryant, Religion, The Negro Church, Uncategorized

Nearly two years ago next month, the black church and various other media outlets and blogs couldn’t wait to dispel the latest sentiments from a message involving mega church Pastor Jamal Bryant. Bryant, who’s certainly no stranger when it comes to controversy both in and outside of the pulpit, received an enormous amount of scrutiny and public backlash when he preached a sermon that contained a line from current R&B bad boy Chris Brown and his latest song at that time, “These H**s [Girls] Ain’t Loyal.” Seems like the mega church Pastor can’t leave these ‘girls’ alone as yet another woman has come forward alleging Bryant is the father of her newborn son. According to reports from The Christian Times, the child’s mother, Latoya Shawntee Odom, a 34-year old Californian massage therapist, bare it all to Obnoxious Television through a series of text messages that she had a sexual relationship with the popular pastor and gave birth to his son, who she named John Karston Bryant, in July 2015. The woman also freely and willingly provided Obnoxious Media a copy of the paternity tests that Bryant has requested and paid for. The test was carried out by LB Genetics, one of the most trusted DNA testing facilities in California among U.S. federal courts. The facility specializes in paternity, family relationship, and human identification testing. Test results sent to Odom showed that Bryant is 99.9999% to the 10-month-old boy.

The founder of Empowerment Temple A.M.E. Church and son of Bishop John Richard Bryant, the charismatic pastor have undergone several scandals involving women before which eventually lead to the divorce of his now estranged wife, Gizelle Bryant, back in 2008. Bryant appeared to show a level of contrition and sincerity in an interview he did with Roland Martin entitled, Drama in the Church: Temptation Ended His Marriage, Nearly Destroyed the Ministry of Pastor Bryant. In the candid 2013 interview, the then rejuvenated reverend spoke about how God restored his ministry after an extramarital affair nearly tore it apart. As Bryant explains:

“My father [Roland] asked me a critical question: ‘Were you preaching for applause? If you were preaching for applause and the people—it was a performance. But if you preaching because of your calling—your assignment; the same passion you had when there was thousands; is the same kind of intention now that you got to have now there’s been reduced to hundreds’” (…)

Since the interview, Bryant was again catapulted to the spotlight and appeared on numerous nationally syndicated platforms, reality shows as a spiritual adviser, mentor, and recently as a prominent voice in the Black Lives Matter movement. Just last month, Rev. Bryant held a peace march which signaled the one-year anniversary death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray, and the civil unrest that transpired. As reported by the Baltimore Sun, Bryant left an online message asking those listening to invite as many people as possible, and to come from all across the region. Bryant further stated:

“Come in from D.C., from Virginia, from Delaware, from Philadelphia, from New York. Come on y’all. Stand with Baltimore. Let’s make a change. Let’s change this city. Let’s change the narrative. Let’s change a generation.”

Now with this latest scandal being added to his philanderous belt, reports have also surfaced that Mr. ‘Black Lives Matter’ Bryant also pressured Ms. Odom to have an abortion because his career—I mean ministry, couldn’t sustain another devastating blow. The tumultuous timing couldn’t have come at a more celebratory time in Bryant’s life as he and several others who I call, ‘motivational ministers’, are set to star in an upcoming show called, The Preachers.

img-Pastor-Jamal-Bryant-urges-youth-to-end-violence

It will be interesting to see how Bryant’s church and those in the clerical hierarchy handle or discipline the reverend this time (if at all) due to his ‘celebrity’ status. Among a plethora of issues which reside in the Negro church, the ongoing lax of church discipline when it comes to certain leaders (mostly males) is staggering. Whereas if this had of been a woman caught ‘hoeing it up’ in like manner, not only would she had been told to step down, but she would have been ostracized in front of that congregation and told to leave the ministry. The double standard is indeed frightening when it comes to these popular ministers who, no matter what they do, people will claim they have been called of God and will tell you to keep your mouth off the manned or woman of Gawd (you know, the whole touch not my anointed scripture). It truly baffles my mind because you would think if this pastor was bold enough to recite some Chris Brown’s lyrics in his sermon, at the very least you would think he’d watched himself in this current “exposure” culture. No, I’m not excusing passa Bryant for his continuous indiscretions out of the pulpit. As the saying goes, ‘What’s done in the dark will eventually come to the light,’ even if that light is for attention that could pay dividends that  includes a reality show—which leads me to Latoya Odom. I find it strange that Bryant’s massage mistress would come forward with this (not surprisingly) bombshell against him even though he’s supporting their lovechild financially. The DNA test as reported and leaked by Ms. Odom herself was done last year in August according to Obnoxious Television’s blog. I guess she wants to put it all out there and not look like the typical church jump off, but to become transparent with her future audience because after all, she’s studying to become, you guessed it—a pastor herself. I guess this trial or test will become a testimony for either Bryant or Odom as well. The only surprise is who will regurgitate that line first between the two.

Peace and love y’all!