Looking Back On Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues" by Khalil Somadi

I first read James Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues" one evening over 20 years ago, sitting on the grass in Malcolm X Park. I was a college freshman, sixteen years old biologically, but I was already 
O-L-D behind the eyes...
Except everything I experienced prematurely left me with more questions than answers.  So I read EVERYTHING. 
That day I read Sonny's Blues. And some of my questions were answered. 

I guess Sonny's Blues is ok, if you like that sort of thing...in this case, that sort of thing being nearly perfectly crafted fiction. 
That sort of thing being a story that's so universal and so timeless that it can be felt by any and everybody on the face of the earth. This sort of thing being the kind of story every writer should be aspiring to write before his or her days on this earth are through. Baldwin is simply the most amazing person I've never known, and if I don't read every single word he's ever put on paper before my life is over, my entire life will have been a supreme failure. 

Again, as with Giovanni's Room, the story itself is completely secondary and deceptively simple. It's about two bothers and the manner in which they lose touch due to the younger brother's drug addiction and then reconnect and gain mutual understanding through Jazz. It's this last element that makes Sonny's Blues so wonderfully transcendent because Baldwin understands Jazz in a manner that I don't think anyone else in the world ever has. At the very least, he explains it in a manner that will leave no one confused as to the art form's meaning and purpose. 
Jazz is pain and suffering given rhythm and sound; Jazz is life given melody. 
And it is simply not possible to read the final passages of this story and not understand that; not feel it in the deepest recesses of your being. 
There is music in those final paragraphs. Baldwin writes of the experience of listening to his brother play in a manner that leaves you feeling like you could be in a Jazz bar yourself, or at a poetry slam, or sitting in the audience of the most passionate one man show in existence. His writing is poetic, moving, and magical. There's even a feeling of the preacher in the pulpit during those sections. If you read it and you do not have tears in your eyes, I'm not sure I want to know you!

Of course there's more to the story than even just that; it wouldn't be Baldwin if there weren't. There are themes about how irrevocably we are changed by the places in which we've grown up and the places we've been (both physically and mentally). Themes about how things never really change in this world and in this country especially. Themes about how a parent's life long pain can be hidden from their children but still affect their lives in the long run. 
It's the question about whether or not things ever fully change that I find to be most interesting. Living in a world in which a young black man was murdered for wearing a hoodie and walking down the street and his white murderer gets away with it facing no punishment whatsoever leaves me wondering if we've actually changed at all since the 1957 world in which Sonny's Blues was first published... a story that features a young black man being run down by a car driven by four white men who all get away with it. 
What Sonny said about himself applies to us as a nation: "nothing had changed, I hadn't changed, 
I was just older."

~ Khalil Somadi ~

When Will We Realize That Everything Is Linked?

Will black folk EVER get tired of being sexually objectified?
Black man, you are down with the whole SnowBunny role many white women seek to play in your lives? It's Ok that she wants sex with you because through her filter (which is in fact a white supremacist filter) you are the stereotypical summation of your penis?
Black women, you are down with the WhiteMaleSavior role many white men seek to play in your lives? It's Ok to believe that none of that harbors racial stereotype which involve both yourselves And the black man?

It seems hard as HELL for us to genuinely comprehend that that kind of one-dimensional "desirability" IS steeped in stereotype, was in fact born of white supremacy. Black people seem unwilling to acknowledge that isolated incidents aren't actually all that isolated; everything is linked!

For example, it is that same objectification dynamic which shows up in sexual stereotyping that also enables white people in the medical profession to neglect the appropriate treatment of physical pain in black patients as they do in white patients-- because they believe that black people feel less pain than non-black people.
[And this to me is also reminiscent of how whites brand farm animals they own, just as they once branded slaves they owned!]

* http://health.usnews.com/health-news/patient-advice/articles/2016-02-11/racial-bias-in-medicine-leads-to-worse-care-for-minorities
 http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/01/health/mental-health-therapists-race-class-bias/
 https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/culturally-speaking/201308/how-well-meaning-therapists-commit-racism

 http://thegrio.com/2016/04/06/study-some-medical-students-think-black-people-feel-less-pain-than-whites/  *

Objectifying us makes it easier and even logical to them to regard us as less than human; and regarding us as less than human relegates them justified in oppressing us!

Make no mistake Kindreds, white people can want our bodies, can want to sex our bodies, and still embrace their white privilege by objectifying us because we are black!
And black people 'loving' them despite that is problematic af!

My Dik Is Just A Dik

Commentary by Khalil "Kingston" Somali

Ok, what am I supposed to do about my dik? Hmm?
Patriarchy-- created by heterosexual white men, have made of my dik a bastion of unwarranted entitlement.
Then I have  "brothers"...black men, who, tho themselves marginalized, have bought into it all, so much so that they've become blinded by UnScience; and they are being backed up by the societal hierarchy in their oppression of black women and children, non-hetereosexuals and anyone else non-cis male identifying.

As a result, black women at this point condemn me for even possessing a penis. White women objectify me by it; and also conveniently via white privilege sentence me to die just for possessing it.
And white men...well white men have always been obsessed with the black penis, all the way back to slavery, back to the era of commonplace lynchings when I was also castrated of my penis as part of the lynching ritual!

So what's a decent, black, male, non-misogynist, non-anti black, un-ashy  revolutionary to do...about his dik???

Keep on keeping his shit in perspective and keep on going toe to toe with anyone seeking to make me wear residual bullshit I did not create and do not instigate nor perpetuate.
Thas what!

My dik is beautifully and wonderfully made; but it is still just a muscular piece of meat made for reproduction purposes, sexual pleasure and pleasuring, and to assist my underwear in hanging just right!  No more. No less.

I demand

the right not to be judged merely for possessing it.

LONG LIVE THE QUEEN by Khalil Somadi

I love Michelle Obama.
She is smart, gracious, beautiful and outspoken.
I believe she is also the perfect black woman as FLOTUS to a black man elected as POTUS.

I have not been easy on President Obama.

There are a number of us who are perplexed and frustrated by what has appeared to be political complacency on his part with regard to his speaking, (or rather not speaking!) publicly to issues such as overzealous policing of people of color, and solidarity with African nations in the wake of terrorism as he has shown with European countries.

But yesterday during a phone conversation with another black woman  whose brilliance I respect, I was enlightened to a possibility that I've since come to recognize as very plausible in light of the many attacks on social media against Michelle Obama by American  racists.

The First Lady speaks to issues that President Obama himself is not as free to address in a manner that is sterner and more forthcoming. Just as the queen in a chess game can move as the king is unable to, Michelle Obama pulls no punches. She speaks to Black America unreservedly and from the heart on some of the issues that burden our souls and stymies our morale. Unhindered in the way that her husband is as the "leader of the free world" who has taken an oath that precludes him from "bucking the system" in which he is enmeshed, (a condition Barack Obama had no problem accepting and pursuing though knowing very well it would hinder him in furthering the ascendance of non white people in a white supremacist society...but I will not speak further on this point here!)Mrs. Obama extends herself to being of The People, HER people, rather than above and far removed from their collective conscience.

Which brings me back to the subject of the disrespect and denigration hurled at Michelle Obama by foul mouthed, racist factions of White America.
Racist White America, which was built on patriarchy. Patriarchy, which umbrellas not only racism, but misogyny and sexism as well, among other ugly isms and phobias perpetuated in this country!
Although a great number of racists most probably never liked Barack or Michelle Obama anyway, it should be noted that it was not until she began to be more vocal on issues plaguing black Americans in America did she become blatantly reviled, insulted, and her femininity mocked and even questioned, (having been called post-op trangender, a man in a 'former life'!) and unattractive as a black woman.

The two main problems patriarchal-minded racists have with Michelle Obama is that:
1.She is black, accomplished in her own right and a woman.
2. She is a woman who does not "know her place"!
How dare she actually 'speak out, as a man would'?
Doesn't she know that such a trait makes her the antithesis of the demure white woman and the 'acceptable' mute black woman?
How

DARE

she???

Well she dares!
And in my eyes she is even more adored, and RESPECTED, for doing so!

With that being said, it is highly unlikely that a woman of such commendable character would be married to a man with no social consciousness as I'd begun suspecting regarding our President. That
just doesn't stand to reason.
More likely it is a situation of a partnership where the ideals and the concerns about the treatment of black people in this country and the thwarting of the dreams and aspirations of its black youth MATTERS. (They are raising two black youth themselves whom have also not escaped the scathing and hateful bile directed at the Obama's in general!)

I love Michelle Obama.
The President is more than fortunate  to have her in his corner, as we are to have her as our First Lady.
Checkmate.
And long live the queen!

LONG LIVE THE QUEEN by Khalil Somadi

"LONG LIVE THE QUEEN "
 by Khalil Somadi

I love Michelle Obama.
She is smart, gracious, beautiful and outspoken.
I believe she is also the perfect black woman as FLOTUS to a black man elected as POTUS.

I have not been easy on President Obama.

There are a number of us who are perplexed and frustrated by what has appeared to be political complacency on his part with regard to his speaking, (or rather not speaking!) publicly to issues such as overzealous policing of people of color, and solidarity with African nations in the wake of terrorism as he has shown with European countries.

But yesterday during a phone conversation with another black woman  whose brilliance I respect, I was enlightened to a possibility that I've since come to recognize as very plausible in light of the many attacks on social media against Michelle Obama by American  racists.

The First Lady speaks to issues that President Obama himself is not as free to address in a manner that is sterner and more forthcoming. Just as the queen in a chess game can move as the king is unable to, Michelle Obama pulls no punches. She speaks to Black America unreservedly and from the heart on some of the issues that burden our souls and stymies our morale. Unhindered in the way that her husband is as the "leader of the free world" who has taken an oath that precludes him from "bucking the system" in which he is enmeshed, (a condition Barack Obama had no problem accepting and pursuing though knowing very well it would hinder him in furthering the ascendance of non white people in a white supremacist society...but I will not speak further on this point here!)Mrs. Obama extends herself to being of The People, HER people, rather than above and far removed from their collective conscience.

Which brings me back to the subject of the disrespect and denigration hurled at Michelle Obama by foul mouthed, racist factions of White America.
Racist White America, which was built on patriarchy. Patriarchy, which umbrellas not only racism, but misogyny and sexism as well, among other ugly isms and phobias perpetuated in this country!
Although a great number of racists most probably never liked Barack or Michelle Obama anyway, it should be noted that it was not until she began to be more vocal on issues plaguing black Americans in America did she become blatantly reviled, insulted, and her femininity mocked and even questioned, (having been called post-op trangender, a man in a 'former life'!) and unattractive as a black woman.

The two main problems patriarchal-minded racists have with Michelle Obama is that:
1.She is black, accomplished in her own right and a woman.
2. She is a woman who does not "know her place"!
How dare she actually 'speak out, as a man would'?
Doesn't she know that such a trait makes her the antithesis of the demure white woman and the 'acceptable' mute black woman?
How

DARE

she???

Well she dares!
And in my eyes she is even more adored, and RESPECTED, for doing so!

With that being said, it is highly unlikely that a woman of such commendable character would be married to a man with no social consciousness as I'd begun suspecting regarding our President. That
just doesn't stand to reason.
More likely it is a situation of a partnership where the ideals and the concerns about the treatment of black people in this country and the thwarting of the dreams and aspirations of its black youth MATTERS. (They are raising two black youth themselves whom have also not escaped the scathing and hateful bile directed at the Obama's in general!)

I love Michelle Obama.
The President is more than fortunate  to have her in his corner, as we are to have her as our First Lady.
Checkmate.
And long live the queen!

WHAT IT TAKES TO CHANGE THE WAY POLICING TAKES PLACE IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

"WHAT IT TAKES TO CHANGE THE WAY POLICING TAKES PLACE IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA"
by Khalil "Kingston"

Somadi

The question was posed earlier today as to whether the American police force actually needs to be completely restructured, and should People of Color expect to ever see it happen.
My answer is, yes. The police force certainly doe need to be restructured!

But lets look at those 2 words...

Police.  Force.

We have seen that that organization of "civil servants" is neither civil nor serving anything but The SYSTEM out of which it is born. It was never MEANT to be!
The police were meant to be the pitbulls of the system just as the Overseer was the enforcer of the slave master.
THE SYSTEM is what needs restructuring if the term 'civil servant' is to mean what it's supposed to mean.

I JUST SAID A MOUTHFUL!
Because in order for the System to be restructured, HONESTY that is free of a racist perspective is mandatory, and I just don't see that happening in this country. That would mean white people first of all acknowledging that they enjoy white privilege, AND what that means for people who are not white.

That first step alone will be met with extreme resistance! In their eyes they have too much too lose by distributing justice justly and impartially and by putting into play practices that eliminate their present practices that were designed in the first place to benefit THEM.

To be brutally honest, a government system that was open to such a change would not have to be begged, protested and marched against, and threatened with insurgency just to have them PUBLICLY ACKNOWLEDGE that their policemen are doing too damn much when it comes to killing and brutalzing non-white citizens!
Thats why, for instance, although our current President is black, we cannot expect him to spur this change, because AS PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, he ESPECIALLY serves firstly, the government. Represents the government and the societal mores that government has in place!
BLACK OR NOT KINDREDS, YOU WILL NEVER HEAR BARACK OBAMA OR ANY OTHER PRESIDENT MAKE NO SPEECH TO THE NATION BLUNTLY ADDRESSING WHAT THE POLICE HAVE BEEN DOING HERE!
The system stresses "a united front", even in cases of injustice and that motto is passed down the ranks; the policemen is expected to honor it too, thas why those who speak out against fukd up policing ARE THEMSELVES POLICED, THEN PENALIZED!

Irony of it is, when police brutalize and murder POC, and you see and hear high-ranking officials say "they were doing the job they were hired to do", they're telling the truth. That actually IS their damn job, since the very inception of the police force way back in the day!
A Sister posted yesterday an article that compared U.S. prisons to Norway's prisons, how vastly they differ when it comes to inmates of color and how its set up etc.
They differ because the history of both countries differ!
Slavery
is AMERICAN
at root!
And the penal system here grew out of slavery.
Boom!

When Innocence Is A Lie

"It is not permissible that the authors of devastation should also be innocent. It is the innocence which constitutes the crime."
    ~ James Baldwin ~
   "My Dungeon Shook: Letter to My
    Nephew on the One Hundredth
    Anniversary of the Emancipation"
    THE FIRE NEXT TIME

I said this in a comment just yesterday; regarding white people really knowing black people or any other marginalized peoples:
It is part of the dynamic in a society where some of its people are marginalized that the "dominant" sect of people rarely really know the real lives of marginalized ppl or know them at all beyond the roles and stereotypes they've relegated them to. Because they don't see a need to...these ppl are not acknowledged as their equals, and that non-acknowledgement can be intentionally or it can be subliminally realized.

But the marginalized know their oppressors thoroughly; because learning the oppressor's psychological make up can literally save the marginalized person's  life, as well as help them to not see themselves as their oppressors see them...as inferior.

This not knowing, I believe must be rectified before any meaningful and genuinely positive relationship can occur between the races. Without it, brotherhood, love, even sex are tinged by the preset dynamic put in place by systemic racism.
It is one-dimensional thinking to believe that systemic racism, which includes white privilege and racial stereotypes, have no bearing whatever on individual relationships just because those INDIVIDUALS involved elect to come together from the intimate/personal aspect.
People do not exist in a vacuum.
I cannot even entertain the idea of personal relationships with white people as long as they hold fast to their one-dimensional thinking regarding black people and regarding me as a black man, because until they become honest enough about THEMSELVES, they will still only be capable of seeing ME thru the filter of white supremacy, whether they admit it or not, and whether they intend to or not.

~ Kingston Somadi ~