Recently, “Barack Obama made reference to Kanye West best known album: “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” — Saying, “that’s what’s known as being ‘”off-message”’ in politics, “you can’t say things like that. There are a lot of people who have lost their Congressional Caucus seats saying things like that.” There is no doubt Obama is correct and his public response showed his legendary charm, tone and calm delivery and had everyone smiling. However beyond the obvious comedic element of the story there is a real question to ask, where do we draw the line on what is politically and not politically correct in 2015. Donald Trumps current presidential run would make a great case study on the subject, when asked if he took exception to being compared to Hitler, his response was, he didn’t mind…..
[youtube_sc url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5t5GnbQgCk”]
The 13 founding members of the American CBC in the early 1970s. Standing L–R: Parren Mitchell (MD), Charles B. Rangel (NY), Bill Clay, Sr. (MO), Ron Dellums (CA),George Collins (IL), Louis Stokes (OH), Ralph Metcalfe (IL), John Conyers (MI), and Walter Fauntroy(DC). Seated L–R: Robert Nix, Sr. (PA), Charles Diggs(MI), Shirley Chisholm (NY), and Gus Hawkins (CA).
My good friend Tiagh once said to me, “Jerome, we must learn to be comfortable being uncomfortable” he was talking about the struggle getting in the gym. The social humanities scholar in me wants to expand that thought and idea to”race”, “gender”, “accessibility” , “poverty”, “fairness” ect. we can’t live our lives with our head in the sand, we must embody the values and ideals we wish to see in the world by our actions less our words.
In Canada “Nanny Gate” was one of the first political debate in question the media focused on for the new Prime Minister. In question should Canadians be paying for the Prime Ministers child care; as though it’s his wife’s or a woman’s sole purpose and only job contribution to the family. I want to know why there is not a male nanny? Globe and Mail columnist Marsha Leaderman says it is a “silly fuss”, I happen to agree. It is both parents job to raise kids together it’s not 1950 and stereotypical gender roles are not definitive, women are playing a larger more dominate role in society and after the woman’s suffrage movement it’s easy to see why.
Although the demands of life, work and family fundamentally remain the same we’ve advanced in many ways and people have fought to create more freedom and choice for families and how they want to operate. Old ways of thinking are not always backwards, ignorant, or irrelevant but I truly believe that the ultra conservative tones of division, blame and hate wont survive or thrive into the future. There just isn’t any room anymore we only have one earth and China just had its first ever Red Alert due to Pollution, the same country that wouldn’t allow Canadian Anastasia Lin a human rights activist inside to compete at the Miss. Universe Pageant because of her outspoken political commentary of the countries religious policy.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again change can be very slow, painful and also very fast, it’s a never ending growth and process. The photo below is an image of the 2015 CBC, 35 years later and there is no longer just one woman but 12! As North America continues evolve moving beyond labels of race, gender, and just an acceptance of humanity as whole I think the future ahead is very bright, life is a gift we should all appreciate more no matter our plight and there is nothing politically correct or that needs to be messaged to appreciate that, we live and die the point is to make contribution worthy of being remembered and that starts in the classroom, shop floor, office, warehouse, home, bed room, place of worship and probably most importantly in our minds. I think the first CBC would be very proud of the advancements made in it’s organization, with or without the dark twisted fantasy part.
For the record, I really like that Kayne West album and “Devil In A Red Dress” is probably one of my favorite tracks.