THE ANGRY BLACK MAN: Barack…Michelle… Black Love, And I’m Okay with That

Tuesday, January 22

Barack…Michelle… Black Love, And I’m Okay with That

I’m not sure why I’m so cynical about everything. I’m sure if I dug far enough into my own background I’d find out it had something to do with losing a damn teddy bear or my mama not hugging me enough. Either way, I can be extremely cynical. Often times I just claim to be a realist…but maybe I just hate love. Hum? Which is why I was so surprised to find myself cheesing like a rat at watching Barack and Michelle do their first dance at the Commander-In-Chief Ball last night. Oh, and Michelle was killing them with them new bangs and that red dress, but I don’t find her to be the hottest woman on the planet. And half the time I wonder if I see the wrong Michelle Obama with how frequently folks try to say she’s fine. But she’s a beautiful woman who has the adoration and love of her husband. And that’s beautiful. That brings me to my point. I’ve long argued with people when folks fawned all over Barack and Michelle. Because I’m not racist, I’ve also felt that way when folks did the same over Jay-Z and Beyonce. Yuk! I think it’s the natural cynic in me who gets irritated by this savior complex we have in the Black community. Anytime somebody does something even a little bit right – and are famous – we make them the patron saint of that thing they did. Folks get married, and oh fuckin my, are they the perfect couple and role models? Rarely do I see people writing odes to their parents, but the famous folks get all the love. “Erbody need a lil love” I now feel like I’ve begun looking at Barack and Michelle with a comforting vibe. Actually, it’s probably because I know that in 4 years, Barack and Michelle will still matter, but won’t be as prevalent or present. And to some degree that saddens me. These last four years, while not perfect politically for us Black folks, have represented a significant amount of excitement for our people. America feels a little bit different. Not necessarily better, just different. And that had as much to do with Michelle as Barack. See, she’s a Black woman. And she’s comfortable in her skin. She does everything with a certain grace that’s inspiring. I appreciate her just as much as I appreciate Barack for being so in love with one another. I appreciate Barack for staring at her ass to remind us all the he’s becoming a real Nigga. And I love that when they did their first dance that they hit a few moments of groove and swing and showed that they had that Chicago rhythm. I appreciate that. I like seeing them smile at each other and look like they actually like each other. I’m sure they have issues like everybody else, and though he’s the leader of the free world, I don’t doubt for a second that he knows when to defer to his wife just like she lets him be the man. He never forgets to give her the props she deserves. I’m sure he’s a man and does man things that are so common place that they don’t need rehashing here. And I’m sure she has her moments. But so do us all. Earlier today I was thinking about the idea of Black love. It’s just like every other noun with Black in front of it. It symbolizes some strong bond and commonality amongst us all that even it can’t be defined with simple words and phrases; you just know it exists when you see it. It’s palpable. But more importantly, it’s necessary. Seeing Black love is not only necessary for us as a community, it’s important for the world to witness it even if they don’t fully get it. Don’t have to bump it, but please respect it. I’ll skip the statistics about love and how dire it is because I’m not sure the stats tell the story of what I see. Sure I’ll always cringe when folks get too hype about anybody’s love that’s famous, but if Barack and Michelle are the symbol of Black love that I have to fall back on, well, I’m good with that. Because it looks real and it looks beautiful. And it looks like something towards which to aspire in a world where so many images in the world of “reality” skew towards odd visions of love for anybody. Cheers to Barack and Michelle for showing us how to do this son. Or more accurately, just showing us their love and letting us do with it what we might.

No comments:

Post a Comment

A LIL BIT ABOUT ME

Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Phillip Norton. I 'm a 63 year old Black blooded writer/visual activist/urban street missionary with four outstanding adult sons. I was raised in a house, but I'm field certified. America is the place of my birth, but I consider myself a citizen of the world. I’m the editor and founder of The Angry Black Man. I, as a righteously angry Black man growing up in the Gary, Indiana urban experience have witnessed many events in my life from a very unique point of view, one that is almost impossible to express through the so called mainstream media that will never showcase a talent who doesn't echo their spiritually twisted and hypocritical perceptions of Black reality.

As an outspoken Black writer/artist, it is very difficult to express myself fully when the medium that publishes my work has the final say in the finished product, most often literally robbing it of its intended impact and message! My writing has been featured by The Indianapolis Recorder, Salon, Huffington Post Black Voices, Chicago Defender, Blackagendareport, and Mother Jones. My work has also been referenced by FOX NEWS, MSNBC, the Rush Limbaugh Show, as well as online magazines and publications such as The Atlantic Buzzfeed, Earhustle 411, AMPS Magazine, and The Chronicle of Higher Education. But I know all too well from experience that it is next to impossible to gain any lucrative acknowledgement from the very oppressors to whom I target in my work. I attempt to enlighten the ignorant and break the mental chains put on us through an educational system that never will activate the dormant greatness that exists in our mighty Black souls.

Read on and let the much-needed detoxification, cleansing and reprogramming begin. My talents are spiritually given and do not belong to me, so I have a responsibility with all I have been exposed to in this life to enlighten others in my own unique way to the lessons that I have learned.

Much love and solidarity, brothers, and sisters!

The views expressed on this site are mine and mine alone. They do not reflect the views of any contractual employer, or any professional or legal organization with which I’m affiliated.

Thank you for visiting the “Angry Black Man”.

Click on any topic below and you will be linked for possible purchase or more info on that subject.

FRED HAMPTON “POLITICAL PRISONER” VIDEO

CLICK ON PHOTO TO SEE VIDEO. On December 4th, 1969, Chicago police raided Fred Hampton’s apartment and shot and killed him in his bed. He was just twenty-one years old. Black Panther leader Mark Clark was also killed in the raid. While authorities claimed the Panthers had opened fire on the police who were there to serve a search warrant for weapons, evidence later emerged that told a very different story: that the FBI, the Cook County state’s attorney’s office and the Chicago police conspired to assassinate Fred Hampton.