Romeo Is Black, And No One Cares

As appeared on The Root, July 30, 2009

LONDON—Romeo is black. And no one cares. While this might be big news in America, no one in London is making any fuss about Adetomiwa Edun in Romeo & Juliet, playing through August 23 at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. Here, it’s just damn good theater. No nuance, no emotional triggers playing on Edun’s ethnicity.

I admit that I was excited and skeptical about it, feeling very American in my belief that this was astonishing news and curious about how the Globe Theatre’s audiences would respond. I watched with a grin, caught the Bard’s lines flying and peeped that black man kissing a white woman on stage, out in the open for the Globe to see. And my perception of racial politics, which is a vicious mixture of pride, historical memory and fear, ebbed and flowed, but never washed up onto the stage.

Today, like in any other theater, there is always opportunity for race to play center stage. But not in this production of Romeo & Juliet. After the play, I walked out into the London night feeling like they had triumphed over me, the naïve American who wanted those winks because I was used to American entertainment playing to our perceptions of race. But I was denied that quick satisfaction and found the true essence of Shakespeare.

Perhaps it’s the text. Classic, timeless and true, with lines like “either my eyesight fails or thou look’st pale,” delivered to Romeo with nary a nudge. Romeo & Juliet opened the Globe’s season with flair, boasting a diverse cast with at least four noticeably non-white faces on stage. The star himself acknowledges his ethnicity with respect to the doomed lover, but he also boasts the Cosmopolitan environment of the Globe Theatre and Europe.

Edun gave a commanding performance, leading the charge with swagger, even once smitten by his young lover, and it is a perfect example of exceptional acting. Edun isn’t the first black Romeo, but he’s definitely one of the youngest. But his youth didn’t show through; he came with it, performing the role with confidence, commanding the stage and swooning the masses who were more privy to his fate than himself.

In an interview with The Root, Edun said that the Globe is like no other theater. There is no hiding, no pretending, he says. “The audience is willing to grow with you. Suspend disbelief,” he says. “The job of the performer to validate and justify that. Meet in a neutral space. The performance won’t take you if you aren’t willing to go. You have to be complicit.”

In this setting, he couldn’t be more correct. The Globe’s audiences come expecting classic performances, and they are so close to the action that the approval rating is as broad as the sun shining down through the thatch-rimmed open roof. The orchestra stands to watch, leans on the stage and is in direct contact with the actors, making this interplay a spectacle itself. After this particular evening’s performance, many audience members were thrilled by the work of the diverse cast. Just another great production at the Globe.

The vic? Black Man..The perp? Black Man..The prince?..Anyone else.

The vic? Black Man..The perp? Black Man..The prince?..Anyone else.
Saturday morning, over the morning paper my girlfriend slammed her section of The Times of London down on the table in response to a story about the new Disney animated picture. The Princess and the Frog, a film about a black princess, is caught in scandal yet again. This time, critics have come out against the film’s choice for lead characters.

Her argument was that outrage over the title character’s (who is black) coupling with anyone other than a black man widens the racial divide in America. Outrage over alternative relationships on film is bigotry and limits potential to change the industry. Audiences have slowly realized that seeing interracial couples, gay couples, any alternative OTHERs doing what good ol’ Christian, middle class white folks doing in entertainment won’t cause our heads to explode, Jesus to summon hellfire or the earth’s rotation to reverse.

The protesters argument was that yet again, we see that Hollywood never chooses to portray a black man as prince, morally-sound male characters in the story. Of course, my first reaction was laughter – at her response, the protest’s shortsighted claims and especially the fact that Disney was even attempting such a project. So much going on… I guess I laugh to keep from crying. Thanks Tip.

My hard-pressed point was that it wasn’t about who’s coming to dinner, but about getting some brothers up on the wall. It is yet another example of Hollywood’s refusal to make a black man a prince, couched comfortably in the notion that America just elected an African American president. While I have issue with the argument about this particular film, the protest is a healthy recognition, one that contributes to the dialogue around a studio that just waves it’s white patriarchy around and we just nibble at the bits like celebrity lint. I hope the film doesn’t get released without outrage at every turn and I echo that anger that this is a studio that makes billions of dollars pimping racist ideology into the mainstream. It paints an ugly picture of America for people around the world and it teaches young Americans how to see one another.

Finding the black man in the TomKevinCruiseHanksCostnerKlineSpacey lead role is all but impossible. And we are left wondering if these white guys at the tops of the studios are doing it on purpose, like some Skull And Bones pledge, or if racism is so embedded in American culture that its just going to take a few more Will Smiths and Tyler Perrys to make true change on the silver screen. I challenge the reader to identify ten modern, mainstream, lead black male characters of righteousness that stretch the idiom. And Will Smith doesn’t count. His characters are about as racially threatening to mainstream film as strokes to Cheney’s reign of terror. At least since his first. And P.S. Denzel got a statue for playing a corrupt cop; Forest got a nod for playing Idi Amin. Don’t even get me started on the railroading of Glover’s attempt to make a film about Toussaint L’Ouverture. Now, there’s a black prince.

Frankly, the protests tend to be more entertaining than the actual feature. I could care less if Disney make more films, much less tries their little liberal darndest to produce characters of color. I wish they would fold and give other animators a shot. I know a few with compelling stories that America would die for, instead of being cracked-out on sizzurp slurping, blinged-up coons.

As a parting shot to the day, we decided to catch a flick that night and settled on State of Play with Russell Crowe, Helen Mirren and a teary-eyed Ben Affleck. The film was an excellent thriller with cool plot twists and a relatively decent and diverse line-up. However, much to my chagrin, expectations and amusement, just after the giant Universal reminder of who’s in charge, the first action on the screen was a young black man being shot at point blank range. While integral to the film, I questioned as always, the need for the first victim to be a black male. Skull and Bones pledge or just Hollywood’s blindness? Either way, it made me cringe. And much like bad manners on a cute kid, my perspective was tainted by this irresponsible display. I guess that’s entertainment.

McCain Seeks To Posthumously Pardon That OTHER One

By J.W.H.Page

These days in American culture, it’s hard to know how the gentry will act. We are either whitewashing our guilt away with amendments and Congressional declarations, or genuinely coming to terms with the violent history of our ancestors. However, as we pat ourselves on the back for voting black and disrupting the status quo, let us not forget our baggage, which is still grossly over weight in advance of our international kumbaya flight to freedom.

Arizona Senator John McCain will seek to posthumously pardon Jack Johnson, the baddest shut-your-mouth that ever walked the earth, before congress, along with Representative Peter King of New York, filmmaker Ken Burns and Johnson's great niece, Linda Haywood. Burns, who loves jazz, baseball and black folk made it plain in stating, “when we couldn't beat him in the ring, the white power establishment decided to beat him in the courts.” Well put, Kenneth.

For those who don’t know (and think that the other namesake, the current pop singer, is not only pardoned, but dead) the Jack Johnson being discussed here was the first black heavyweight champion, naturally making him hated among many white Americans. During a time of “race riots” and resentment towards black success after the turn of the 20th Century, the government trumped up charges against Johnson under the Mann Act, which prevented one from taking a woman across state lines to do naughty things. It just so happens the woman Johnson escorted was white, leaving white heads spinning and black heads shaking at the gross act of gumption on the part of the fighter. Johnson fled the country and eventually returned to serve his time despite the lunacy of the charge.

Upon hearing the news I thought this was an April Fools joke yesterday. Funny, original, out of the blue, yet somewhat timely, it was the news from home that I was certain was used to make fools of us all. While each of those tenets remains true, this move on the part of the geriatric senator who voted against the MLK holiday is solid truth. The fact that the statesman who lost to that one is pushing for a pardon of the former heavyweight makes one imagine that he’d fallen, hit his head and couldn’t get up; or that he had one too many Wild Turkeys a few nights ago and got a bout of Christmas Carol syndrome. But McCain has gone the way of many contemporary white American leaders in addressing American bigotry and atoning for our collective sins. Whatever the motivation, it is always delicious when our leaders come to their senses, reach back in their goody bag of hatred and attempt to redeem our historic atrocities from the American community songbook.

Fortune 500

By J.W.H.Page

President Barack Obama arrives here today for the G20 Summit with an entourage of 500, a fleet of decoy helicopters and several other security measures to ensure that the most powerful man in the world is coddled into diplomacy with elegance and grace. As President-elect, Obama stayed away from the G20 in November. Just wait, he must have thought. The Oval Office will be essentially transported, along with its staff, their BlackBerries, dry cleaning and a few extras to ensure the bad guys are confused about their intended targets; and to make the POTUS as comfortable and protected as is excessively possible. Imagine if the U.S. spent that kind of scratch on dams in New Orleans or breakfast programs and books for inner-city youth.

With executive talk about curbing excessive spending in this economic crisis, is this showcase of swordsmanship just par for the course? Or is it truly a part of the problem that exists with the Western world’s obsession with power and might? And must this pattern change if we truly intend to alter the course of human history? While Capitol Hill junkies and Wall Street watchers argue about how to keep their bread buttered, millions around the world continue to feel disconnected from the power-brokers and collectively yearn for solution-based thinking, not decoy helicopters and bullet-proof limos.

Many recall the rodeo in Denver when the President signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law. Underground conversations over phone and chat lines centered on the cost of such a trip. As the first President of the United States to use e-mail and take advantage of the Internet in his campaign communications, can’t he just send a Twitter and sign the bill in the Oval Office on recycled paper? This continuation of excessive force with respect to diplomacy is not going unnoticed. And if history is to be kind to our game-changing brother from another, it might be worth considering traveling light – One carry-on, Mister President, not to exceed 16 lbs.

I wouldn’t be so concerned about the President’s cavalcade and how much it costs the taxpayers if it weren’t for this perceived notion that we are addressing spending and holding those responsible accountable. After all, the same government that is scrambling to curb spending blows millions on waste baskets, fluorescent lights and other unnecessary items, yearly. So, this 500-member cavalcade is no surprise.

But I return to the never-changing set of questions around accountability amongst my — and younger — generation. I wonder what the average non-newspaper reading, newly-minted American voter under age 24 thinks about this governmental expenditure. I wonder how our U.S. leaders expect to transform new generations of Americans and their values on goods and services, wants and needs as they continue to keep the conversation and reform in the hands of millionaire men in suits and ties, whether in executive hot seats or in elected office. It is based on these postures that the true frontier will ultimately be traversed; not on terms related to bailing out banks or excusing personal financial responsibility. The youth, the veterans, the elderly, those in need of government funds for medical support – these are the communities that need staffs of 500, security for blood supplies, transport and resources. Until we reach parity on that front, this talk of economic crisis will always be a beast.

Please check out: http://jasonpage.tumblr.com/

What are you prepared to do?

http://livingarchive.wordpress.com/

The words hemorrhaged from his mouth, seconds before death, in the face of a seemingly impossible fight; words of inspiration, a mocked challenge against faith and courage right at death’s door. Connery’s fictionalized question is appropriate in real life, just seconds into the Obama presidency. And while it is not the newly anointed president’s responsibility to lead a national dinner discussion on race, class and gender politics, it is nice of him to set the table.
Today, the stakes in America mimic those faced by Ness and his fictionalized gang. And this challenge echoes through Martin Luther King’s hills and hamlets as we inherit Obama’s presidency with earnest gusto. What are we prepared to do? democratic dialogue is a great start to that conversation and our commitment to true social change. And a noble example of this format for change is Called To Be One: Seeing the Face of God in Each Other, a musical performance and dialogue with acclaimed vocalist and composer Rene Marie and Veterans of Hope co-founder, Dr. Vincent Harding, hosted by Saint John’s Cathedral in Denver, Colorado last evening. For more information, please go to: http://called2beone.blogspot.com/.
Once again, President Obama has made the call, offered the challenge and set the table. No matter the metaphor, the conversation has begun. And with the help of the great Dr. Harding and the controversial Rene Marie, a small diverse crowd gathered in the Episcopal Cathedral to heed that challenge and experience the inspiration that is art for social change. This gathering of people were prepared to have that democratic dialogue and help to re-invent an America that is committed to healing and hearing stories.
In an effort to level the contextual field, Dr. Vincent Harding, former speech writer and companion to Dr. Martin Luther King, and Rene Marie, composer who made international news last year for her replacement of the National Anthem with the words from “Lift Every Voice And Sing,” led a wonderful dialogue last night as part of the Episcopal Church’s ongoing series on race class and gender. As background, Marie’s creative and bold switcheroo took place at the Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper’s State of the City Address in 2008, and was followed by everything from adulation to outrage towards Marie’s decision. I personally thought the move was, as the kids would say, Gangsta.
Harding and Marie’s leadership sparked an inspiring discussion about all of the topics that are making headlines in this country at this moment. However the common denominator was democratic dialogue. While the sanctuary was filled with multi-culti faces of the choir, our hearts were filled up as the room swelled with the sounds of Ms. Marie’s Voice Of My Beautiful Country suite, inspired by the patriotic hymns of our American songbook, My Country ‘Tis of Thee, America The Beautiful and Lift Every Voice and Sing.
Greg Movesian, Canon Steward for the Episcopal Cathedral, introduced the program, welcoming us with a challenge to answer the divine call, and follow the leadership of our new president on the topic of dialogue and the ways we engage one another on important topics. The discussion was about the sharing of stories, beginning with Rene Marie’s. Dr. Vincent Harding, who among other accolades wrote the book There Is A River, a testimony of the Civil Rights Movement, moderated the discussion and introduced sister Marie’s musical suite. He began by inquiring who was in the crowd: How many of you were born in the 21st century? Just a few pudgy hands went up in the air. How many of you are under 35? Even fewer of us raised our hands. Over 65? This got a rousing response with a few chuckles. How many of you have grandparents that were born outside the Unites States? These questions clearly were tools to help us identify ourselves in this space, as we prepared for our conversation with Ms. Marie.
Rene Marie, a tall and impressive woman with a short graying natural proceeded to explain her story, which included a revelation upon being interviewed in Moscow years ago, that she didn’t necessarily feel “American.” This feeling stuck with her as she fought her way through a creative career and came to a creative head last year when it was clear that an African American man was a strong contender for President of the United States. Inspired by Barack Obama’s steady climb, Marie completed what would be the Voice of My Beautiful Country suite, a haunting and redemptive piece that solidified the dichotomy of feelings many in this country feel about our native land.
Without rehashing the incident of last year, but allowing us to hear some of the email responses after, Ms. Marie, along with Mark Simon on Bass, Jeff Jenkins on piano and Paul Romaine on drums flowed through the suite, gracefully moving from one American musical form to the next, culminating in the moving rendition of Lift Every Voice and Sing, the portion that sparked controversy in 2008.
The venue of the Episcopal Cathedral was a wonderful component, accessible and welcoming. The Episcopal Church, having a tremendously rich history in the American led triangle trade, is a fitting host for this act of healing as we heed the President’s call and move to tell our own stories.
We all settled in to receive Rene Marie’s Voice of My Beautiful Country. The suite started like most classical contemporary instrumental hymns, slow and building.
Ms. Marie sang the familiar Oh Beautiful for Spacious Skies, building much like the beginning of Coltrane’s A Love Supreme. The bass and drums kindled sparks of composition as the first portion tasted much like past renditions. Then came My Country Tis of Thee- a blues. This second part grumbled low, reminiscent of other slow blues, Aretha’s Dr. Feelgood, something you might hear at the Whole Note or the old Rossonian. It was slow like the river Dr. Harding wrote about many years ago, complete with a complementary bass line and rim shot. Finally, Ms. Marie settled gracefully into Lift Every Voice And Sing, still like mourning, but growing to a familiar universe of rejoicing sound. If you have any experience in the black church, you can close your eyes and imagine how the suite ended, those words of celebration that a white woman responded to with a testimony that the Negro anthem held no references to bombs or red glare, just survival and shine. Every note, every syllable, came out steady over a the growing roll of the drummers tympani-like triumph. The bass, acting out on the bottom, formed a foundation that Marie’s voice didn’t require, but welcomed, nonetheless. Then the bass, followed by the piano, picked up speed, like the rapids in the narrow part of Harding’s river, picking up the pace; and just in time for America the Beautiful, hauntingly halting with from sea to shining sea.
After the suite completed, Dr. Harding rose. If you are unfamiliar with the man’s steez, it is important to know that he is serious about his democratic engagement, his respect for people’s stories and his passion for active listening. He held us in silence for what seemed like an eternity, the last chords still echoing over the crowd in the lofty sanctuary. His first words were golden:
Who are these people who have marched on from slavery to the presidency?
He then explained that this was the beginning of our time during the program to say what the song meant to us and share our stories. He slowly asked that we patiently make our way to the mics, say our complete name and explain where we grew up. Stories. He asked that we have a dialogue with Ms. Marie and tell what the suite did to us. Dee from Five Points in Denver hit it with the first remark by saying, “this suite has been instrumental in igniting a sense of pride I have never felt in my life.” What followed, while testimony from and to the choir, was an outpouring of guilt, redemption, history and inspiration. The crowd was highly moved by Rene Marie’s story and composition. And it was clear that we were all prepared to begin our fight towards social change with democratic dialogue. Naturally, there was enough positive energy to last till Sunday’s services, but we had to cut it short at two and a half hours. After all, Dr. Harding explained, true democracy must keep its promise and we promised we would be done in two hours.
Having had this experience and in sharing it with the Archive, I ask the reader and the larger audience, are we armchair political wonks and Monday morning quarterbacks? Or are we players for change, establishers of a new America? Participants in a new conversation. What are we prepared to do? How bad do we want to redeem ourselves from a violent history and forgotten soldiers of faith and change? For me, it begins with democratic dialogue. And I challenge myself, my colleagues, loved ones and adversaries to step out of our collective comfort zone of complacency. Heed our leader’s challenge and spark that dialogue where it seems most impossible.
For information about upcoming events hosted by Saint John’s Cathedral, please visit: http://called2beone.blogspot.com/.



All Power To The People

jwhpage

Ok, Now, Lets Get Free!

As I close my eyes in the shadows of Big Ben and Buckingham Palace, I imagine the swell back in the United States as my home country witnesses the swearing in of Barack Obama.  Amidst a people and in a nation who’s unapologetic plan for world domination went awry, my lids twitter like heavy sleepers at the thought of early arrivals to the nation’s capital.  I’m familiar with the map.  And I can see in my mind’s eye, the District filling up with proud citizens emboldened with a new pride in their nation’s government and political leaders.  People are arriving in D.C. with their best Sunday go to meetin’s, shoes shined, digi cameras ready and do’s carefully coiffed, anticipating a party. 

Rightfully so.  Barack Obama represents a hope that people in the Americas and around the world have not seen in many years.  And for the record and those myopic mental midgets who see the two party system as the end all be all, I voted for the President-Elect with pride, truly believing that he was the best option for this post -  one shrouded in imminent controversy, secrecy and allegiance to an oppressive imperialistic system.  Generations of new voters, who consider themselves not responsible for Bush’s debacle, Clinton’s transgressions or Reagan’s promise to the rich of the 80’s, tremble with pride for having elected a man we all believe will bring transparency and hope to American politics in light of the greatest economic disaster in recent history.  Older Americans who never thought they would see a man of African descent become President are witnessing history bizarre enough to make their blood pressure spike, whether happy or disgusted.  And social critics, like your faithful narrator, and others full of the I-Told-You-So’s are giddy with glee at the wealth of fodder for creative and analytical content.  It’s a wonderful day indeed.  It’s a pretty picture. 

It’s a pretty picture yet, rather hysterical.  In school, I learned about the messiah complex.  For those not familiar, it’s the idea that we as humans tend to sit on our knuckles and rely on one individual to take us to the promise land.  Typical for Americans who embraced the term “Couch Potatoes” and welcome fast-food with gusto. Naturally, this complex spreads like a fever, especially if the messiah is exceptionally articulate.  And naturally, because we put our eggs in a basket we don’t own, this complex usually ends in disaster.  I’m just waiting for that other shoe….to drop, while I celebrate along side my country people and take pride in my vote. 

But I remain critical.  The President-Elect stated from the Lincoln Memorial yesterday that, “the dream of our founders will live on in our time.”  I remind this collective audience that our founders were my owners, my persecutors, and my saviors, a dangerous relationship if we expect to neglect a historical perspective and sweep the afghan over years of oppression and violence.  One of the messages that will be hard to swallow for Americans whose throats are choked up from Obama fever is the President’s challenge to accept individual responsibility towards change.  I echo that challenge to my fellow Americans to expand our idea of citizenship before the highest office in the land begins to disappoint out inflated sense of joy.  Support his efforts and accept his mistakes.  Keep him lifted on a cloud of love and critical analysis in order for him to adhere to his promises.  Take responsibility for change in our home community as we anticipate the restoration of hope nationwide.  Encourage neighbors to change everyday practices, read local and foreign news publications, learn other languages like Chinese (Ni hao Nina!!) and consider running for elected office.  Because if we don’t act on this hope for change, if we sit back like potatoes and fry our brains in the deteriorating fat of a rotting economic landscape, if we chastise our leader at every turn for flip-flopping or back-peddling and settle on some phantom historical milestone, we will fail future generations.  And America will suffer the same fate of other empires who’s gassed up sense of self importance got bushwhacked swiftly by posterity.  Congratulations President Obama, America and the people of the world.  Now that the party is over, let’s get free.

 

All Power To The People