I spent some time in the last three days reading another biography on Bob Marley, and it gave me much to think about as a teacher, father, and community member. And, like many lessons in my life, I was inspired to remember the power of the sincerity of Malcolm X, and the way in which the pursuit of knowledge totally consumed his being once that flame of love for knowledge was lit. One of the things that made me think was how much Bobs music, lyrics, and perspectives changed once he was exposed to new ideas, especially of a political and social nature. He always showed solidarity with the ghetto, always had an identity that honored Africa, even though he was half-caste with a white father. But when he read more deeply on Black nationalist thought, including Malcolm, you can see a real change in his music--there is an increased depth in social and political consciousness which is profoundly expressed in songs like Slave Driver, for example. The thing is, Marley only obtained many of the books that gave him this increase in knowledge later in his career. What if he had access to those books and ideas as a young man? How much richer would his great music really be? I always think that when I listen to many MCs whose articulation of thoughts and ideas is not as thoroughly sound in a scholarly way as they could be, though the heart is there, let alone the ways in which they often cannot make connections between time periods and cultures, but look alone largely at their own cultural experience. This made me really think--while we are not all artists who will enjoy exposure as Marley did, we all do get inspired in the same way. If more young people were exposed to ideas which were more rich, had more to do authentically with social justice, how much more they would see, feel, be, and become. I spent three hours today at the MAGANDANG CORAZON (Beautiful Heart) cultivating our Land, Heritage & History Honoring the historical role of Filipinos during the Farm Labor Movement video showing, presentation, panel discussion, cultural event. None of the real history I saw there is taught in our schools on other than a superficial level, even though at the school I teach at, a MAJORITY of the students have family who work in the fields, and many of them have worked in the fields themselves. There were many labor organizers and working class heroes who dated back way before the UFW in leadership roles that rose up to vice-president, etc. And it wasnt really that there were people who had connections to the historical events now portrayed in movies, or murals, or statues, or history books. It wasnt that at all. What was really profound about the gathering was the way in which the stories of real working class people and their struggles were honored and told. The feeling of a need for real solidarity, and real renewed work in labor organizing--not just celebration when the exploitation of the poor by the rich is worse than it has been in America in nearly a century--was deeply felt, though the event was marked by a warm feeling of community among the participants. Powerful growers in agribusiness have always tried to split the races apart. We cannot allow them to blind us to the race and class wars that they try to perpetuate. I was happy to meet Grandmaster Ramiro Estalilla, of Kabaroan Eskrima, but also to hear him speak publicly about how the Filipinos would bond together after working in the fields in many ways, including practicing Eskrima. In California, among Filipinos, Eskrima was a martial art of the workers, brought from the archipelago to the Central Valley, and we have had our share of great martial artists here in this largely underground and unknown combat style, especially in Stockton. I say all of this to say that we must work to gain and spread knowledge of history that is not just the celebration of capitalists and their corporate machinery. They have always tried to rob us, but too few know or have even been exposed to the history of labor in this country to even realize this, except on the level of personal experience. The more you read and know, the more ideas you are exposed to, the more you are able to read history with a compassionate eye to social justice for all, the richer your art and your heart will become. Peace.
Posted on: Sun, 10 Aug 2014 03:27:10 +0000