dagblog - Comments for "A Message to the Black Community"

Thanks Richard,Miles went

Wattree — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 14:30:46 +0000

Thanks Richard,

Miles went through many phases in his career. First, as a young student of Dizzy and Bird he proved himself a more than capable musician with a unique and very personal brooding style. Then he founded the cool jazz era where he proved himself to be uniquely innovative, not only on his instrument, but he matached Dizzy and Bird's achievement of fathering an entire school of jazz. Then he moved on again, refining cool jazz to establish the school of modern and then progressive jazz along John Coltrane. Then when his lip started to fail and he could no longer negotiate some of the intricate musical changes that he once could, he picked up Wayne Shorter and the young Herbie Hancock and became more cerebral, and at the same time planting the seed of fusion. Thereafter he retired, only to come back later as a full fledged leader of the fusion movement.

So when we speak of Miles, we must asked, "which Miles?"

OrionXP,Most urban cities had

Wattree — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 14:30:03 +0000

In reply to Did Miles or Coltrane get

OrionXP,

Most urban cities had at least one 24 hr. jazz station where Miles, trane, Monk, etc. were played around the clock.

Overt rascism doesn't bother

Wattree — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 14:23:22 +0000

In reply to I'm only going to weigh in to

Overt rascism doesn't bother me as much as subtle rascism. With overt rascism you see it for what it is so it does more to denigrate the rascist than it does the victim. It's that subtle, implied superiority, that gets next to me, because it has a subliminal message that seeps in under the radar. That's the most damaging kind of rascism. I see a lot of that in many of the movies from the 30's and 40's, when a Clark Gable would say something nice to a Black man and he would go into spasms of delight. You got the feeling that the Black man went home and bragged about it to his family and friends for months. It made Black people look like pets.

Hard not to smile at the

we are stardust — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 13:40:41 +0000

In reply to Thank you, Stardust.You

Hard not to smile at the picture of your tours to the gated communities, as IMO we shouldn't aspire so much to those conspicuously-consuming liefstyles, but I take your point. ;o)

This thead has been bouncing around in my brain since I read it, both your original piece and the comments, Des's in particular about pushing alternatives. Your comment above is on topic to one part of my musings: family structure. You and your wife and kids were a cohesive unit, likely with aunties and uncles and others you and the kids could depend on. And in so many ways it means that there was time and energy for school meetings, reading to the kids, outings for culture and learning and pleasure, or 'being closer to your kids than the people on the street'.

We've all read the statistics (though I can't quote the numbers) about how many young women are raising kids as single moms, and it's more common in black communities, though whites are heading toward parity there, I think.

But I imagine how hard it must be to have a job, maybe two, just to make ends meet, and how hard it must be to carve out the time and energy to be a good parent. There are plenty of great stories of women who pulled it off, but they have to be the exceptions, or they wouldn't be seen as heroic stories.

Welfare dependence sucked, welfare reform has sucked in terms of changing poverty. Community cooperatives may be an answer, sort of creating families out of common needs in neighborhoods or something. I always thought one of the best things in that regard might be an organization that offered respite help: Call us if you sincerely need a break, some short-term free daycare, time to get your shit together. Or day-care cooperatives that promoted healthy eating, and reading and the nurtutring of young 'uns. Some healthy alternatives to stable two-parent families, I guess. anyway, sorry for rambling. Nice blog, Eric.

Desideroo,Bingo! You just

Wattree — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 13:26:45 +0000

In reply to Well really it's just about

Desideroo,

Bingo! You just said what I tried to express in my response above. In short, happiness is inner growth and self-esteem.

I agree, Sleepin Jeezus.God

Wattree — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 13:20:41 +0000

In reply to I guess whenever I considered

I agree, Sleepin Jeezus.

God made birds to fly, fish to swim, and man to think. So the most fulfilling thing in life is continuing to reach beyond our grasp - it keeps us invigorated, it helps us to maintain our self-esteem, and it keeps us young.

One of the reasons that there is so much misery in this world is because people are under the misconception that the acquisition of external "things" will make them happy. But the fact is, happiness, or contentment, is an internal quality, so external things can have very little impact on it.

True happiness is contentment, and the only way that we can be content is through self-esteem. But most of us make the mistake of thinking we can gain self-esteem by buying things that will impress others, and thereby, gaining self-esteem through the admiring or envious eyes of others. But it doesn't work that way. It doesn't matter how much you impress others, you can't fool yourself. So even if you're a billionaire, if you are of poor character, your inner self will know that, and deny you the self-esteem that you seek. That's why most of us live our lives like a dog chasing his tail - the faster we run, the more elusive our goal becomes.

Thank you, Stardust.You

Wattree — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 12:53:24 +0000

In reply to Good piece, Eric. I don't

Thank you, Stardust.

You mentioned the way women are portrayed. I think that's the key to reversing this trend in music. We've got to put a scarlett letter on the forehead of these guys by raising our daughters from birth that they are deadbeats, who worship the God of betrayal. I've already spent a lot of time sending that message to my granddaughter, who's a gorgeous freshman in junior high school with a lot of clout among her friends - and I'm using their own hip hop videos to drive home my point.

And with my own son and daughter, my wife and I used to drive them to the most deprived part of the ghetto - areas where they didn't even have sidewalks - to show them a first-hand look at the life that was being glamourized, then we'd jump on the freeway and take them to Beverly Hills, Malibu, and Pacific Palisades to see what life could be like. Then, we simply said, "It's up to you."

It seemed to have worked, because they're both doing very well as adults. My daughter is a human resources specialist at her alma mater, and my son is a federal agent . . . who lives on the beach.

The key is, to make sure you're closer to your kids than the people on the street. In fact, my late wife and I brought the street into us. Our house became the the spot where the kids hung out. When I went to work on Saturdays I would have to step over teenagers asleep on the floor of my living room. The kids used to save us a spot at all of the games, we bought a van and hauled them all over town on the weekends, and we socialized with their teachers - dinners, card parties, etc. In addition, we'd throw parties in my backyard twice a year for the kids, their parents, teachers, and the local police, who would come by on the weekend to get their butts kicked in basketball. So everyone knew everyone else on a social level. As a result, when my son was having problems in math, the school opened up a special class after school for all the kids who were having problems in that subject.

Raising our kids is the most important thing we do in this life - it should be a parent's prime purpose in life. We've got to get people to understand that. And what people don't understand is, it's not a burden. In fact, it's a blast. It gives you a second chance to educate yourself and to relive your youth. It was the happiest days of my life - so far. I intend to write a book about it.

I'm sure. It's probably made

Orion — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 03:56:19 +0000

In reply to Orion I could get into the

I'm sure. It's probably made worse by radio being a vanguard for television commercials, ringtones, etc. Aside from bohemian record stores and blogs, where is good music to go?

Orion I could get into the

Richard Day — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 23:13:06 +0000

In reply to Did Miles or Coltrane get

Orion I could get into the pay-off censured radio of my youth for hours. The Jazz stations were there, you just had to find them; that was when FM came to the fore, up in these parts anyway.

Did Miles or Coltrane get

Orion — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 21:23:53 +0000

In reply to Nice piece Eric.just

Did Miles or Coltrane get regular radio play, however? Standard corporate radio has been dedicating to pushing terrible music for a while now.