Shadow and Act

Hello Shadow and Act, I've been away for a minute. I like to write one piece per month but I was caught up in development of my feature film. And, I needed a minute to observe the culture before I wrote my next piece. Cleveland Ohio has brought me to the keyboard. Honestly, I have been fuming since 'The Onion' unleashed that deplorable moniker on Quvenzhane Wallis. A nine year old? What in the hell do you say to something like that? I think I have been paralyzed since then. I couldn't understand why every Black woman celebrity that has clout wasn't railing against this. I expect too much. Or, perhaps, they were paralyzed as well. I was too overcome to get to the keyboard. But, Cleveland, you brought me back.Look, we have no leadership. Period. I just accept it. President Obama has done some amazing things while walking the racial tightrope. Things that will, ultimately, make a difference to Black america. But, Black america has no leadership. What we do have are children running amok, chasing celebrity and not caring about anyone but their damn selves. The most glaring example is Lil Wayne and his knucklehead statement about Emmett Till. I am not even going to take the 'i'm more moralistic than you' approach. His lyric was just plain ignorant. And, it was scurrilous to all Americans not just Black americans. That one lyric let me know who he identifies with, what experience he sees as valid and powerful and what experience he deems as weak- the Black experience.

Taking a look at older articles I’ve written for S & A, I thought this piece from two years ago is ripe enough to take a second look at.