Welcome to the “Do you know where you stand” series. A snappy little way to grab a nugget of info while we get to know each other better. I created this series as a reaction to the lack of direct communication almost everywhere. It’s chance to promote honesty, infused with a little humor and maybe even a little sarcasm. We could all use a good laugh but that doesn’t mean we can’t learn a little something along the way.

This is the one and only time I will do an introduction to the series, and I wanted to leave a couple of instructions before we dive it.

The rules

  1. I am not necessarily talking about anyone specifically. If you recognize yourself in something I say, whose problem is that? We can all do a little better.
  2. Feel free to call bulls*hit on anything I have written. We don’t have to agree to get along.
  3. Let’s have some fun!

Diving right into Bruno Mars

I want to clear the air about the Bruno Mars foolery. The convo about Bruno and his “musical stylings” has been a hot topic for the last week! I mean, everyone has had something to say. If you are one of those folks who is gainfully employed or simply don’t give a shit about it, here is a situation summary in one picture.

Can we take a collective deep breath? Cultural appropriation is a big deal. I don’t want to dismiss the merit of an issue that continues to plague a culture that continues to overcome unnecessary adversities time and again.

However, half the people complaining about appropriation looked it up before they tweeted/ updated their status on Casebook so they could do the bare minimum, spell it right. The other half was so busy defending the talent of their colonizer cohort that they forgot a key ingredient, talent.

https://twitter.com/PHTEVENMORT/status/973691668430925825

Is Bruno really all that talented? He has some good bop’s and a couple of smooth vibes, but nothing that couldn’t be duplicated with a good budget and an even better producer. I am almost positive he isn’t writing most of his music so…

The key to the debate is the acceptance, promotion, and celebration of black culture as long as it is packaged in a non-black body. Nothing about that is new, but we can fix/change this by discontinuing support of things that don’t serve us or further economic and social equality.

Example: Black Panther is a key instance of the economic power people have by supporting or not supporting a product.

If folks are gonna argue over change and equality the minimum they could do is educate themselves on the dynamics of the situation. Focus on what matters!


Stay smart

Regg

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