21 Yrs Ago. Young man in his 30s. Published a book, entitled Flyboy in the Buttermilk, a collection of Essays&Criticism ( Fireside Books, Simon&Schuster). 5yrs ago, mah friend Amanda Alexander got it for me as gift. Its got an essay, Nobody Loves Genius Child: Jean Michel Basquiat, Flyboy in the Buttermilk. Page 231. Methinks the title is a mash-up motif of a Langston Hughes and Jimmy Baldwins titles. No matter. What matters is, every time I read that piece tears trickle down pon my face. The beauty of the writing, but also, how it speaks to the subject that keeps on clawing back to it: How the present and History Judges Black Artists, Black Genius to be precise, that through its work, gets embraced and celebrated, somewhat, or despised and ran outta town, by both the White Mainstream and the Black Radical Movement. Im thinking of Prince, Basquiat, Sananda Maitreya aka Terence Trent D Arby. Yes, Iam thinking of Busi Mhlongo. Of Malombo. Of lately, I am thinking of Nakhane Toure. Oh yeah, I am thinking of my own Sell Out status. But Im also thinking of why I so hate the phrase cross over with its now-he-gone-done and left us anxities: Cross over to what? Hey, look for that piece if you can find it somewhere. It goes down well a fine whiskey as a stand alone, or you can put in on the rocks and read it with two pieces I believe should be its companion pieces, written yes apart from each: Man In The Mirror (2009) and The Genius Electric in the American Legacy, Summer 2010. Revisit those or read the first time and lets go a have glass of bubbly next time I am in your town.
Posted on: Fri, 18 Oct 2013 15:40:58 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015