‘Nuff Said by november dawn

I grew up as one out of a handful of black pre-teens in what would become metropolitan Atlanta’s most diverse counties. I was my then best friend’s first black pal. Her father loved to address me in twanged jive talk every time we met. He did not intend to offend me. Rather, his poor attempt at slang intended to woo me into a continued friendship with a daughter who had social issues of her own. My feelings were hurt all the same. 

I have since encountered many friends and professional acquaintances that flavor up their dialogue with slang in a feeble attempt to appease me. I confront some of them and brush off others. Almost every case is the same. There is no harm intended – just a desire to relate or appear hip. I am aggravated nonetheless. Never would I expect to hear such utterances from Senator Hillary Clinton.  

Political pandering is an expected by-product of an out of control election process. On Earth Day, candidates suddenly go eco-crazy. In the presence of the everyman, they speak of the woes of the poor and then pat the backs of the affluent as they reach for donation checks. This pandering is not rare, nor should we shun it. A prospective leader must reach out to the entire nation and its many factions.  

Reaching out does not include channeling Mr. Ed and drawling out a church hymn in the presence of civil rights leaders. Relating is certainly not comparing oneself to Harriet Tubman. What will this master politician do next to court the collective black vote – record a duet with 50 Cent? She recently held a fundraiser with Timbaland. Anything is possible. 

I am accustomed to political pandering, but Senator Clinton’s verbal blackface is downright insulting. What appalls me most is the acquiescence of so-called leaders to her blunderings. Are we to accept what amounts to a tap dance across a stage to gain our affections? Why do they still insist on marketing to us a monolithic collective unlike our brethren of other races? Are African-Americans not a race of varying beliefs, classes, statures and mores’? 

I love Bill, but Hillary’s insidious displays remind me of that lone reprehensible white man who would frequent the Freaknics of yesteryear and would slither up and moan to us, “You know I like Black people, don’t ya?”  It sounds like jive talk to me.november dawn is a writer whose work has garnered critical acclaim for its ability to integrate issues of business, politics and popular culture into unique hybrid narrative forms. Her choreoplay, “Sunshine for a Midnight Weary,” was commended by the Los Angeles Times and LA Weekly. The piece was also nominated for an NAACP Theater Award for Best Choreography and was mounted, in part, in New York. She has authored two books, “Cries of a Young Girl” and “the dawning,” on the market. A former video-journalist, she also uses her expertise to orchestrate communications campaigns for the corporate sector. She is a tireless advocate of human decency and respect…no matter how she gets it across. 

Update: I invite you to check out an insightful article by The Daily Telegraph’s Toby Harnden regarding this matter.