The Good, the Bad and the Funky Dread
originally published in Notes and Tones for The Word, November 10, 1994
by Marva Jackson
I've loved Ska music since I was a little girl living in
Ontario. It kept Jamaica alive for me, grounded in the spirits
of Soul and R&B. For me, those musical greats remain heartfelt
links between Caribbean and African American cultures. And when
Rocksteady was the hip sound, I was still asking my mother to
send for that good stuff .. Ska. She told me that I was too old
fashioned for a little girl. And anyway Rocksteady was already
giving way to Reggae.
We sometimes laugh about this story today. But I think of it
when I consider trends and how they're created. Blackologists,
new Black conservatives and funky dreads. Mainstream approved
style & fashion but what's beneath the fab clothes? I
over-stress just thinking about the tight squeeze into 'sexy'
images identifying the 'right' Black person in the eyes of the
fad-driven. And after the gold rush, what's left? This is only
about making some money, isn't it?
Recently at a friend's home, I read Henry Louis Gates, Jr.'s
article in the latest issue of The New Yorker on the crisis of
Black leadership in the US. Gates' writing (influencing lots of
white and Black folks) assumes that only the Black middle class
lead. Yet doesn't the culture of poor Black people continue to
sustain and inspire artists in all disciplines? If I didn't know
better, I'd think that Malcolm X was merely a fluke, rather than
an intelligent person who rose above the system that dissed him
and his family.
Then I'm hearing the voice of young Black Canadian men and women
saying, 'Time to make some money, y'all'. But wait. Making money
in the name of the red, the black and the green doesn't make the
world colourblind. Too many incidences of people being stopped,
scrutinised, harassed simply because of skin colour highlight
this. We still need real commitment within society towards
getting down for the business of creating an equitable
environment. One where we all have opportunity to achieve our
bliss.
Next, I'm discussing with another media friend the ongoing
pressure to don currently accepted masks of Blackness, just to
keep a job. Be yourself. Yeah, right. African communities are
diverse in skin colour, hair styles, cultural practice, ancestry
and political expression. Yet we continue to be missed or
under-represented in media coverage about Any issue despite
Canada's history of slavery. After 400 years of denial that the
transatlantic slave trade devastated millions, one isn't
surprised by the public 'indignation' recently directed against
Arnold Minors, the outcry against the Art Gallery of Ontario and
the Barnes Exhibit, or racist stereotypes of Black-owned
night-clubs in the news.
I think that Black people are incredibly understanding political
sophisticates to tolerate such day-to-day racist trauma. Still
many of us believe that making lots of $$$ (or looking like
we're making money) represents liberation. Liberation from what
and at who's cost? Replenishing one's community isn't something
we suddenly learn to do because it's politically expedient. Or
that we learn solely in reaction to racism. We refuse to exploit
because we respect community, each other's struggles. And we
remember that we never arrive at the table alone.