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January 20, 2003
shout-out for MLK
Monday afternoon in the shadow of Howard University Hospital. It doesn't get much blacker than this. It's not a bad 'hood, but it does have its less comfortable spots at times.
"But you don't have soul," Big Joe said to his English student. "Of course we have souls!!!" the Kazak teen replied in shock. Joe then tried to explain the concept of soul to his students, which was difficult to describe to those with English as a second language.
The music in Kazakstan left me hungry, like the craving I had for the hard-found vegetables in winter. Electronic Euro-pop constantly blasted across the bazaar and at the Tsum department store. Blinky, beepy with repetetive, mindless lyrics, there was no substance to any of it. One day I realized what I needed, what I was used to with my American music. Rock, Jazz, Blues - they all have a common thread. And being American, I needed that thread. It was soul. I wanted big mama soul diva to come belting it through, pack yo' bags out that door kinda music. It was absent in Central Asia. Its absence was felt even when I was in Manchester, England. No soul at the discos.
You think people are racist here? Go check out cultures that are hundreds of years old. Sneaky Belorussians, crazy Caucasians, thieving Armenians. Every race had a trait, and the locals could always tell which subrace someone was of, even when they all looked 'Asian' to me. I guess since Kazakstan has always been a crossroads for trade, it was often beneficial to know where someone was from at first sight. And their behaviors were immediately assumed. Charging my way off the train to my station, I had to plow through a group of Kazaks. "Crazy Caucasian!" one of them shouted. And he didn't mean Caucasian as in the check-the-box section on the equal opportunity form either. I was blonde, blue-eyed and hairy, and was thus from the Caucasus region, and therefore must be crazy.
That's the neat thing about America. We are trying to fight that concept. We are still talking about it, at least. MLK's vision of a Christan Satyagraha will remain as long as we think twice about someone's traits aligned with their race.
Posted by jimbo at January 20, 2003 2:20 PM
Comments
my favorite blog entry thus far. it's too bad i'm the first to comment on it. it is refreshing to see that someone out there is paying attention to the fact that it was MLK day. most of the fab dc queers that i know were too busy wondering what to wear to the lizard lounge the night before. sad, i know. perhaps the most frustrating part about being a "newbie" is realizing how isolating it is to be a racial minority within a subgroup of men that is far more concerned over looking fab than anything else.
Posted by: usuredo at January 22, 2003 9:50 PM