Sunday, June 05, 2011

Radical Brothers and Sunday Soul

The pace here on the ole blog has changed considerably.  No broer I am not undergoing any profound changes of the political kind.  I'm just taking a breather and breathing another pace for a moment or two.

But truthfully I am tired of the usual politics and relay crap.  Need to step back for a spell until ...

Last week I provided the closing address to a lecture by a very prominent political scientist who was on a book tour in South Africa.  I remembered him from my graduate days.  He was a known Marxist radical.

Somewhere inside his lecture I picked up that his pace had changed.  A lot.  The brother was talking about love and Ubuntu (supposedly African humaneness) and spiritual connection, etc.

He showed pictures of baby Obama with his moms and commented that she loved a black man and bore a child in the midst of racist legislation that made her a criminal in the US.

The crowd ooohed and aaahed and he proclaimed her an exemplary example of African humaneness (Ubuntu).

My head spun as anyone who knows me here or elsewhere would expect.  I recalled that just a few days ago a Nigerian academic proclaimed Sir Richard Branson a practitioner of Ubuntu at a conference meant to evaluate the progress of Pan-Africanism.

'What the hell', I thought.  Are we all just going soft in the noggin?

If I am to be going "soft", like a few of my closest have commented in recent weeks (largely because of posts here), it is not the delusional sort (I would hope) that both examples above exemplify.

As the once radical Marxist (now in his 60s) wanked on about love and acceptance I thought it was not necessarily a bad thing if you exempted (not really possible) the brutality that Obama represents despite the sentiment expressed about his mamma's Ubuntu.

I know another black radical from the US who went the same 'soft' route.  His came after he left his black working class wife and married a white professional woman from the suburbs.

All of a sudden his ass started to talk about spirituality.  He started walking her dogs on a leash to Saturday markets where he greeted powerful white men by their first names as he and the new Mrs picked through organic vegetables made cheaper by brown hands from the alien South.

I wonder about my once radical Marxist colleague.  Wonder who he married and what color Suburu/Volvo station wagon he now drives with too fluffy dogs in tow?

Broer the pace will get back to normal here I promise.  I have a few things to work out in my head and my attached life.  I don't like Subarus and Volvos and luv the sistas so don't lose sleep.

Both my dogs are bulls.  Big ass muthaz who don't know organic from a hole in the garden.

Oh yeah, the attack emailers should please keep up the usual hate mail (keep reminding me just how racist I am and how much you hate Muslims and Islam).  I so do not want to wake up to an empty email box.

The tone and tenor of your attacks keeps me strong and committed and oiling my AK47 on a daily basis.  Oh yeah, I'll have a gift-wrapped cap in your ass by Christmas.  Promise.

Nothing, nada and niks soft about that boet. 

Still, here at number 11 the pace is quiet and deliberate as I celebrate.

The song below has f*ck-all to do with anything above or anything happening in my life (well at least that is what I think - if you have heard different give a brutha a call ;0)

Onward!


"Lately I've been staring in the mirror
Very slowly picking me apart
Trying to tell myself I have no reason
with your heart"

5 comments:

Nolwazi said...

Oh I love this song! Geez, I knew it from...was it Jodeci or just KC & Jojo? I'm seeing KC singing the 1st verse, with his black shades and baggy jeans.

So who's birthday is it tomorrow?:)mmmmhh, I wonder...

Unjani kodwa Bhuti? Uyaphila? Unjani uMama and The Fat Kati named Mita? All good, I trust.

I'm not up to much-just doing the usual stuff that South African politics encourages me to do- waste away.

So what's the plan for tomorrow, Ridwana's Malume? How is Ridwana by the way? You never put up her pic...

Nuff pointless rambling for now. I'll ramble some more kusasa. I'll call you tomorrow to sing to you- have your road earplugs ready!:) And you know I'll only be calling to flaunt that a nigga got paid, right, not coz I'd like to talk to you or anything like that ne!

Peace to you Mfethu:)

p.s. I've oiled many-a-Mshini wamis too but have never used them but if Malema or his surrogate Poppa aka Big Pimpin' Zuma open their mouths one more time, I swear, I'mma pull the trigger. So go head Nigga, oil yo AK!

Ridwan said...

It was Jodeci and I loved that version too.

I am well my sista. How are you?

Ridwana is fine and I will very likely see her tomorrow. She is lovely as ever.

I am happy to hear you got paid. You need to get paid some more.

Thanks for your energetic comment. Watch yo' ass though :)

Peace ne,
ridwan

The Brotha's Corner said...

My dear Big Brotha Ridwan: This very thing happened to the great Panther brother Eldridge Cleaver. I recall when we brought him to PSU and he was talking about Christianity and love in the same "soft" manner that you described above. I was flabbergasted to say the least--he sure wasn't the "Soul on Ice," Cleaver! The same thing happened when we brought Bobby Seale in and he was pushing a damn BBQ cookbook! Simply embarrassing! Stay strong brother, it's real in the field!

Ridwan said...

Hey brother D. you remind of those two 'soft' in the soul and head Panther brothers.

What happened to their fire?

Do you remember that Eldridge Cleaver told us in your office that a white woman would save the US?

And then he died a week later on a couch all alone somewhere.

And yeah I remember that BBQ cookbook escapade.

Embarrassing is right brother.

It is real out there and I am so proud of your struggle to press on despite.

Will holla.

Onward!

ridwan

The Brotha's Corner said...

LMBO!!! Sadly brother, I do remember that madness! Their fire was doused with a "convenient amnesia" brother. I pray to the Creator, I never go soft like that and stay strong like my cousin former Panther Romaine "Chip" Fitzgerald. Who's been locked down for 41 yrs now, check out his tory when you get a chance brother.


Peace!

http://thebrotha1.blogspot.com/2011/02/for-cuzin-chipper.html

http://www.abcf.net/abc/pdfs/chip.pdf