In May of 2007, ten months before I would leave the corporate culture to its own devices, my son ( Justice Osiris ) decided to take the stage at the Malcolm X Block Party where Dead Prez were the featured performers. He was only 7 at the time and though he had already exhibited star quality, I was totally taken aback when he asked for the mic. My knee-jerk reaction was one of fear and apprehension. The phrase hell no, he replied, came to mind, but I just said no, go play. The person I am now, would have at least asked my Bubba ( thats what I call him ) what he intended to say once he got the mic. The person I was then, was worried he was gonna get up on the mic and start singing sippin on some sisssurp, sip sip sip sippin on some sisssurp because thats what we were listening to when we arrived at the park. LoL, but I digress. Anyway, he runs off and I resume my conversation with my cousin ( Teresita Jarrett ) assuming the whole mic thing is dropped. Shortly after that, my cousin points and says, look! I turn around and my Bubba is taking the stage. Im mortified. Im holding my breath. My lips are moving but no words are coming out. And then my Bubba begins to sing. Crayayay Z Crayayay Z Car. Crayayay Z Crayayay Z Car. Im impressed. I was not at all familiar with this song that my son knew by heart ( no, I wasnt and am not the best parent ) but I was no longer worried that I was going to be embarrassed by his performance. After the song was over, I was elated. I was proud. I clapped and commenced to approach the stage. As proud and happy as I was, I wanted him off stage post haste. I knew in my heart of hearts that the pride could turn to embarrassment at any moment. I was too late tho. After the applause died down from my Bubbas cute little rendition of Crazy Car. He begins to preach. Apparently, while he was running and jumping and sliding and climbing he was also listening to the things the various performers of the day were saying about police brutality, revolution, unity and the like. Weve got to stop the police that are trying to catch the people, he says. I dont think any of the people in the crowd ( except maybe the other children ) completely understood what he was trying to say, but a humble Yeah was voiced by the crowd. It was just enough encouragement to keep my Bubba going. I think everyone deserves the right to be free, he says a little louder. He gets a louder Yeah from the crowd. And I will not tolerate not being free, he says. YEAH, the crowd yells with fists pumping. BRING ME SOME NOISE! he yells. And the crowd goes wild. I the person I was then was moved beyond words. The person I am now cries happy tears in remembrance. Today (or yesterday as it were), a little over seven years after my Bubbas first audience with Dead Prez, he got to meet them again. This time, he was invited to their hotel room to participate in interviewing them for my radio show, Hella Random Radio. Even though my Bubba slept through some of that conversation, that two hours alone was worth all of the pain and anguish Ive gone through to shed the person I was then. It was worth losing everything of financial value I earned in my first 33 years on this planet. It was worth all the hours Ive spent working jobs people ( including myself from time to time ) say are beneath me. #iLiveThanks And just think, when I woke up yesterday I expected the highlight of my day to be the film Black and Cuba. I had requested the interview with Dead Prez some time ago but I didnt hear back, so I didnt think it was going to go down. What I saw of the movie was wonderFULL, but boy... talk about a day ending much better than expected! Always remember folks, amazing and unexpected things can happen in your life in a day or less. Work on being the change you wish to see in the world, have faith, be open and spontaneous, be willing to take risks and be willing to do something different for a change and youll be surprised how different your life can be in a relatively short time. To quote the words of Brother Ali, If I dont like my life I gut it and rebuild it. F*ck it. Take nothing but God and my children. #iLoveMyHellaRandomLife
Posted on: Thu, 25 Sep 2014 09:14:53 +0000
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