CLAP B(L)ACK: A MANIFESTO.
1.
AYE. WE HERE. WE BEEN HERE.
YOUR FAVES WOULD BE NOTHING WITHOUT US AND YOUR IGNORANCE IS NO LONGER CUTE.
WE’VE BEEN OUR OWN PRODUCERS CRITICS STANDARD SETTERS AND BEARERS AND COMMETARIAT SINCE TIME IMMEMORIAL
WE COME ARMED WITH SALT AND MACHETES AND CONQUEROO AND INTIMIATE KNOWLEDGE OF EVERY CROSSROAD IN THE TRI-STATE AREA
WE WUKK UP OUR WAIST PRAY TO JESUS AND BUMP BONE THUGS BEFORE WE SING ARIAS
WE COME BEARING LEGACIES OF RATCHET (CURRENTLY THE SCHOLARLY CONSENSUS HOLDS THAT IT WAS BORN IN THE LOWER HALF OF THE MISSISSIPPI AND WAS MOST WIDELY DISSEMINATED BY MA RAINEY’S BOTTOM PRIOR TO THE ADVENT OF IT’S VARIOUS MUATIONS: “GET DOWN,” “GONE HEAD”, “AWE SOOKIE SOOKIE NOW” AND “IT MUST BE JELLY CAUSE JAM DON’T SHAKE THAT WAY”) AND CRUNK REBELLIONS (RANGING FROM A SOCK SUCK WITH NICKELS TO PICKET LINES TO ADVANCED DEGREES)
WE COME FROM YARDS WHERE GRANDMA CHASED A MAN WITH A MACHETE AND A DOUBLE BARREL SHOTGUN
WE COME ARMED AND MORE THAN EQUIPPED TO TAKE BACK AND HANDLE OUR OWN SHIT.
WE HERE WE ALWAYS HERE AND YOU CAN’T IGNORE US AND YOU CAN’T MAKE US GO AWAY
THE CONDITIONS OF OUR LIVES HAVE ALWAYS SHAPED WHAT WE MAKE AND HOW WE DO
IF YOU DON’T KNOW HOW WE LIVE YOU’LL NEVER GET IT
IF YOU AREN’T INVESTED IN BLACK LIFE THEN YOUR OPNION IS IREELEVANT
IF ANNA MAE DON’T KNOW YOU EITHER MAYBE YOU SHOULDN’T BE HERE.
2.
THEY SAY QUEEN NANNY STOPPED BRITISH BULLETS WITH HER BACKSIDE
THEY SAY BESSIE DAVIS COVERED HERSELF IN FURS AND SILK AND SENT THE KLAN PACKING
THEY SAY GREAT- GRAMMY PUT FIVE CHILDREN THROUGH THREE DIFFERENT TYPES OF COLLEGE WITH THE TRICKS SHE TURNED AND THE NUMBERS SHE RAN
THEY SAY CHAKA KHAN RAISED MONEY FOR THE BLACK PANTHERS
THEY SAY DIAMOND GOT STRAIGHT A’S IN HIGH SCHOOL
THEY SAY NICKI FEEDS HER FAMILY
WE SAY TWERKING ON THE HEADSTAND IS A FORM OF PRAXIS
WE SAY OUR EDGES DON’T DETERMINE OUR WORTH
WE SAY WE DON’T HAVE TO BE ASHAMED
WE SAY WHO WE ARE AND WHAT WE DO IS MORE THAN ENOUGH.
3.
maybe it is best left to (former?) commodities to discern the political economy of it all.
4.
This is Clap Back.
We riding that Bo Didley beat across the diaspora.
This is what we see and what we think and how we feel about it.
Because we recognize that art is hard
Because Bob Marley is a patron saint but we still are wary of them Marley boys.
Because we assimilated many ways and many times
Because Tina is a rock god and Nina is just a god and both of them were human beautiful black girls
Because I don’t care if Mozart was black as much as I care that I know nothing about Chevalier de Saint-George
Because “Sweet Child O’Mine” is one of the best guitar riffs ever
Because my understanding of pomo poco deconstructionism was formed by me and you yo mama and yo cousin too
Because we had to scratch and scratch and claw and tear to find women who looked like us who did what we did and we from where we were from
Because Lady Saw taught us slackness, Dawn Penn taught us heartache and Mahalia showed us god
Because the most beautiful monologue ever writer for a black woman is about chocolate
Because we watch(ed) our cities stolen from us
again
Because the ivy league couldn’t erase Da Rock could never purge Da Sea Wall and Kodooment from my blood stream
Because when the beat hits I feel it my tongue it slides down my spine
Because when a thought hits Google is my friend
Because we trade mix tapes about good and juicy pussies on top of articles about sexism and there is no inherent contradiction
Because the music is too good to be insincere
Because we still sing songs from home, from home and from HOME
This is a Clap Back. This is a Clap Black. This is our History on the 2 and the 4.
