Down Hom(ie) Wisdom from Mos Def and Dr. Cornel West-A Reminder that Black Folks Need Better Vocal Representatives

I want you guys to take a look at two snippets from last night's episode of Bill Maher's Real Time series. It's an excellent example of late night entertainment-not to be mistaken for real political discourse. But to be fair-Chicago's Democratic congressman, Rahm Emanuel was slated to appear on this episode but as Mr. Maher stated, the representative was unable to attend due to a scheduling conflict. But even if Emanuel did appear, I suspect that the show would have still ended up being a socialist progressive lovefest.

Something else occurred to me while watching this program-America's uber celebrification of our culture is killing us. Ok maybe not killing us but it sure doesn't make for sufficient political education and/or discussion. I also had a problem with not seeing a Black conservative counterbalance to level the perception that people of color are only about adumbrative conspiratorial murmuring. And as much as I try to steer away from being tribal-how do we (people of color in the collective sense)expect to be taken seriously on the world stage with leftist fantasy talk. I'm coming to this conclusion and I'm supposed to be the comic book guy. And once again, we also bear witness to Mr. Maher's joy in getting down with his bad self while in the company of authentic homies.

Brothers Cornel and Mos (hey I'm only using the lingo that Dr. West enjoys) will always point to conspiracies, White supremacy, conservatism and police corruption as being debilitating factors of African-American life but keenly Black pathology remains left out. And all I can ask, like the chorus from the noted Krs-One song-"Why is That? Or even a better single (from Soul Brother No. 1)-Talkin' Loud and Sayin' Nothing. Mos Def talks about being from the projects and knowing danger but where is his threat coming from? Is it the police? Or another male sharing his ethnicity? And mind you, I am a fan of Def's music. I just think perhaps Afronerd's type of barbershop talk would be just a tad too real for Mr. Maher's illustrious guests. Check out the clips, afterall they are entertaining just not very substantive. Share your thoughts.





And hey, we can always rely on Cornel West's equally verbose cousin, Clifton East....ok, I jest: