David Banner speaks on Trayvon Martin! (yes, yes, yes, and yes!)
The past few weeks have revealed a lot about the contemporary American spectacle, the power of immediate sensationalism, and the misplaced energy involving Trayvon Martin. I have been sharing in conversation with expats here in Paris on their interpretation of all that has been taking place in recent media attention and what distance provides for perspective. It would seem we have been far removed from the actual meaning of human rights and super fixated on the political correctness of racial triggers. The focus should not be, how is this racially charged (though it is) but how do we play a role in a system that allows and condones these tragic deaths in our communities. And yet, we got caught up in the hoody, skittle scandal of it all. What is our responsibility to know our rights and to defend them before a crisis takes place? Where is the outcry for the countless and numerous acts of injustice we are privy to but turn our heads away from daily? All the entertainment with no substance. All that tapdancin’ with no soul. To be accountable, individually. There needs to be a new method of protest. Gil Scott Heron wasn’t saying the revolution wouldnt be televised cause he had a thing against TVs… i always saw it as, he understood that whatever it was that was going to revolutionize the people, could not be captured with a camera, tweeted, or instagrammed. That we could be inspired, motivated, or encouraged through mix-media but what would take place in the people would not be cool or profitable—that the changes we need are in the minds of individuals, in the uprising of poor people…And we would be too concerned with revolution, too engulfed in the change to have the want or need to document the process. Awareness alone, of what is happening, removes us from being present…It would simply happen. Sometimes we need to be so truly outraged and desperate in the survival and need of humanity that we become wrapped up in the art of being… What are we giving our money to? What causes/agendas are we aiding with our consumer power? How do we begin to change our value system and recognize the interconnectedness of it all?
These are questions that shift the discussion from pointing fingers outward and beginning to evaluate inward…
well said, banner. it is a start…
-aja