Complete Madness
By JaRon Eames
In 1934 Cole Porter, one of America's greatest composers, wrote a song titled 'Anything Goes'. The world has gone mad today, he sang, and goods bad today, and blacks white today, and days night today, etc. Porter had no idea how our nation would live out any of this today. We are now in an era of pervasive untruths. Fake news. It's like we’ve lived past the time for critical thinking and making sense out of all of this nonsense. Take, for instance, the entertainment culture. I, for one, believe that the power structure in this industry has made it easier to see Black people as criminals and unduly threatening, and by doing so, they are sabotaging a race of people who look just like me. We are, I believe, living in an era of complete madness.
Trust me, the oppressor does not need any reason for his hatred and loathing of Black people. He has had centuries of practice. Why then would the music industry use largely uneducated black men and boys to loudly proclaim misogynistic and self-hatred themes, like calling their mothers and sisters and daughters N----rs, and Ho's, and Bitc-s in both Rap and Hip Hop records? Do you ever see Jews or Italians, or Irish, or any nationality for that matter referring to their mothers and sisters as N-----rs and Hos?
NO, it appears that the powers in the music industry are hellbent on making sure that only Black youth do that. It’s like they’ll pay you handsomely to degrade your own culture. As Malcolm X said, you have been had, hoodwinked, bamboozled.
Remember, the elegance and class of Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Fats Waller, Nat Cole, Ella Fitz's, Sarah Vaughn, Miles, Coltrane, Nancy Wilson, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Motown, and the list goes on? Those artists changed a culture. Marvin Gaye sang what's going on, while Curtis Mayfield sang keep on pushing, and the civil rights movement did just that. But that was music with a positive message, and the powers that be apparently put a stop to it. Why?
Some of the greatest music known to man was created and made under segregation. What we have today, instead, is music ridiculing Black women. Is that what Integration is about? Michael Jackson, one of the biggest stars on earth had made a record with lyrics that said Jew me, sue me, everybody do me. The powers that be ordered Jackson’s record company to take it off of every shelf in the United States, though curiously enough, it become a top ten hit in many European countries. But it still it baffles my mind - how can we have 30 years of records in the US referring to Blacks in the most derogatory terms? And why is this kind of vile 'music' or 'entertainment' considered to be the epitome of Black culture? I’m here to tell you that it is NOT. It is, instead, one-dimensional, and it has nothing to do with authentic Black experience. Sadly, however, there have been many prominent Blacks doing the bidding of the oppressor. Meritorious Manumission is alive and well.
When I had on my local Jazz public access TV show the great pianist Ahmad Jamal said something to me that I found to be especially profound. There was a time, he said, when music that we grew up with was to soothe the savage beast, but today's music [actually] creates the savage beast. I believe that our oppressor is behind it. But it's ultimately up to us, as Black race, to stop it.
Why is there no outrage of the 'canceled culture' in vintage Hollywood movies where there are no Black people in sight? Worse yet, is the classic literature from the first half of the 20th century, were the N word is commonplace. But then, paradoxically, Rap records started calling us a N----r . Why doesn’t this cause great concern? Early political messages in rap music were a delight; so too were the Last Poets, who were precursors to rap. But glamourizing the killing of black people in drive-by's, and simultaneously degrading our women, is shocking, to say the least. Although I do love Dave Chappell, I'm not a fan of the N-word at all. As far as I’m concerned, it should never be said publicly. Even Richard Pryor who was fond of using the word in his act eventually stopped saying it. He relayed a story about his trip to Africa and standing out on the balcony in his hotel room and looking over the land. He saw Black people as far as the eye could see, and yet, didn't see one N----r among them. Only Black men. He never used the N word again.
We are living in the best of times and worst of times, as Charles Dickens said. We find ourselves in a situation pregnant with possibilities, like at a crosswalk of reality and fantasy. As Bob Law would say, start with the believers and no more foolishness. I truly feel that the only way forward for us as a people is separation, with all of our constitutional rights guaranteed. I believe Marcus Garvey had the right idea, at least partially.
The reason people think it’s important to be white is that they think it’s important not to be black. James Baldwin.
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JaRon Eames was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on December 21st in 1953. He is the youngest of six children. His late father, Louis L. Eames, started the first Black bank (along with 6 other men) in Baton Rouge in the 1950s and that bank eventually grew into the 7th largest Black Savings and Loan institution in the United States. JaRon attended Southern University in Baton Rouge for one year, and then moved to NYC in 1972. He worked for Japan Air Lines for several years but quit to devote his time entirely to music. At one point he lived in Berlin, and then continued to perform in clubs in Germany thereafter. In 1998 he and Ms. Torrie McCartney hosted the first Billie Holiday Jazz Festival, held at the Billie Holiday Theater in Brooklyn, NY. JaRon has also performed several times in Japan, including Nagoya Japan’s World Fair in 2005. Besides being a noted singer, archivist and journalist, JaRon is equally renowned for the many interviews has conducted with countless jazz greats, such as Nancy Wilson and Joe Williams. He is also recognized for his many books and recordings; all of which are available on the Internet.
Contact information: www.jaroneames.com