That title is totally misleading and has nothing to do with what I wrote below about the Toure book I’ve been reading or the procedure I have to have on Monday…so why did I even write that title? Because it ran through my head and made me laugh out loud and miss Bernie Mac…I wonder what he’d have to say about Toure’s definition of post-blackness…
So I’ve finally read far enough (the foreword and all of chapter one) to now have the definition of post-blackness or a description of the post-Black era and you’re right J.S. we are post-black. According to Toure, “…the definitions and boundaries of Blackness are expanding in forty million directions—-or really, into infinity. It does not mean we are leaving Blackness behind, it means we’re leaving behind the vision of Blackness as something narrowly definable and we’re embracing every conception of Blackness as legitimate.” What I get from that, is to define Blackness is to set limitations on oneself. Like Toure said, “Post-Black is not a box, it’s an unbox.” I mean seriously is unbox even a word? That’s why I love this man’s writing, he just says what’s on his mind but in such a lyrical way that your mind just drinks it up. Chapter one also detailed some of the people who were interviewed for this story which includes a cross-section of academics, visual artists, recording artists, writers and politicians. Toure asks each one of them the same set of questions beginning with “What does being black mean to you?” and ending with “How do we create more Barack Obama’s?”, clarifying that he did not mean ‘how do we create more presidents’ but “…people who are proudly Black and intellectual, and are comfortable in Black and white spaces, and feel like they can set extraordinarily high goals without fearing that race will keep them from achieving those goals.” I think that’s a lofty question to ask, but I see what he’s saying and that kind of question definitely gets a discussion started.So today I’ll probably finish chapter two, “Keep It Real is a Prison” (love that title), because it is! Does anybody remember the Dave Chappelle skit, “When Keeping it Real Goes Wrong”? If you never saw it, get the dvd (that skit’s not in season 1) or see if you can find it on YouTube. I’ve always hated when people say some bull… like ‘I’m just keeping it real! I swear if you have to say that it’s code for being a liar or a jerk.
Enough about the book, I haven’t delved far enough in it to go much further. In fact I’m really trying to save it for this weekend. Sunday I am relegated to stay in the house because I have to clean my ‘pipes’ so I can make sure I’m free and clear on Monday for…drumroll…a colonoscopy. Thank God I’m not a hypochondriac, but I sure wish I had kept my mouth shut when I went for my yearly physical. My doc is sending me to do this since both of my father’s parents died of colon cancer. Now that I’ve put you on pause, let me tie that back in to the Toure book…sooooo I gotta go through the thorough cleanse which means I need to be home by myself (according to my friends) with mad movies, reading materials, and baby wipes. My plan of action is to live it up tomorrow and Saturday because Sunday is like a punishment, no food at all…I wonder if I’m going to end up seeing a mirage. Like a friend says about her weight, “I’m recession-proof” but I’ll probably be bugging out and angry by the time I have to bare myself to strangers early Monday morning. I told my doctor that as I’m getting older, not even old, just as each year goes by I discover the indignities of aging and I’m only 36! Yikes. If I post something on Sunday and it looks like televangelist Juanita Bynum’s infamous Facebook posting where she supposedly spoke in tongues on her wall, (I don’t know if she said that’s what she did or if it was just comedian commentary) then you might want to pick up the phone and call me to jolt me out of my water-logged state (gotta drink tooooonnnns of fluids). If I have the energy to lift a finger and not simply sleep the day away on Sunday then I’ll keep you apprised of my mental state.
*Quote from Jing-A-Ling, Bernie Mac’s character in the movie Life. R.I.P. Bernie Mac
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