Thank you for your work, past and present. You are so insightful, honest and still caring. Your words are important as well as the drive to understand and make better. Carry on sir, I look forward to what you have to say and I’m an old white woman who always loved music.
I attended a “Music as Healer” presentation last week at my yoga studio. The monk presented a brief history of why we sing, telling us that it has saved us over the years, that we all have a natural proclivity to sing when we are sad, and even cats—when they purr—are healing themselves. As I listened, I shook my head, saying “This is how Black people have survived.” I thought about them singing spirituals as they toiled under the hot sun, doing the work of white people. And, in that moment, I thanked God for music. And Black peopld ,with the inherent singing that has saved them.
Listening to Natalie Cole is like listening to Gospel music for me. I continued to listen 1992 concert " Unforgettable" and her singing in harmony with her father. Cherrish that. On to songs I remember from the 70's and 80's I loved "Pink Cadillac" when I was 35 years old! Just Fun to move and sing along! I guess it was a symbol of success...
This Will Be...melts my heart
America has an ugly history with slavery. I say, Never Forget, lessons to be learned and should not be repeated in any way! Unforgivable somehow whitewashed? Always learn more from you Xplisset and a depth that opens my mind and heart. All that you share is appreciated by me.
Unfortunately, at the time of its writing, they didn’t consider Black men to be men (or even human 😡). Between the lines, it reads to me “All White Men are considered equal”, which is what they really meant.
Love this take, Jedi, and yes the anger is earned. In law and in daily practice, most of the men in that room did not recognize Black people as fully human, and the lives that followed proved it.
What I’m arguing, though, is that the phrase “all men” was contested from day one. Jefferson’s first draft condemned the slave trade as a “cruel war against human nature.” South Carolina and Georgia erupted and threatened to bolt; the clause was cut to keep unanimity. That compromise didn’t settle anything, rather, it planted a time-bomb that exploded on the battlefield less than a century later.
And Jefferson himself is the contradiction made flesh. He wrote demeaning things about Black intellect; he also fathered children with Sally Hemings. Some of those children eventually secured freedom with two that were manumitted in his will, two left with his tacit consent and while Sally herself was never legally freed. Meanwhile, countless enslavers sold their own mixed-race children like livestock. That is documented in bills of sale and in the narratives of the enslaved. Both realities sit side by side.
So yes: between the lines, the phrase functioned as “White men” at the time. But the same words became a lever abolitionists, Reconstructionists, and later the civil-rights movement used to pry the country open. It’s the American tragedy and the American paradox: the creed was a lie on paper and a dare to the future at the same time.
Diamonds are the result of an unsuspecting bit of organic matter being subject to intense heat and pressure. In this same crucible, gospel, blues, jazz, and other essential survival tools are being forged; hardened against legacy injustice, and softened against the heart.
X you write so beautifully with your heart and soul. Thank you
Thank you for your work, past and present. You are so insightful, honest and still caring. Your words are important as well as the drive to understand and make better. Carry on sir, I look forward to what you have to say and I’m an old white woman who always loved music.
I attended a “Music as Healer” presentation last week at my yoga studio. The monk presented a brief history of why we sing, telling us that it has saved us over the years, that we all have a natural proclivity to sing when we are sad, and even cats—when they purr—are healing themselves. As I listened, I shook my head, saying “This is how Black people have survived.” I thought about them singing spirituals as they toiled under the hot sun, doing the work of white people. And, in that moment, I thanked God for music. And Black peopld ,with the inherent singing that has saved them.
Thank you for this heartfelt, impactful, and thoughtful writing.
Your writing stays with me.
Best of luck with your book.
I will become a paid subscriber when I can afford it. Thank you for allowing me to read for free. 🫶🏼
Listening to Natalie Cole is like listening to Gospel music for me. I continued to listen 1992 concert " Unforgettable" and her singing in harmony with her father. Cherrish that. On to songs I remember from the 70's and 80's I loved "Pink Cadillac" when I was 35 years old! Just Fun to move and sing along! I guess it was a symbol of success...
This Will Be...melts my heart
America has an ugly history with slavery. I say, Never Forget, lessons to be learned and should not be repeated in any way! Unforgivable somehow whitewashed? Always learn more from you Xplisset and a depth that opens my mind and heart. All that you share is appreciated by me.
Unfortunately, at the time of its writing, they didn’t consider Black men to be men (or even human 😡). Between the lines, it reads to me “All White Men are considered equal”, which is what they really meant.
Love this take, Jedi, and yes the anger is earned. In law and in daily practice, most of the men in that room did not recognize Black people as fully human, and the lives that followed proved it.
What I’m arguing, though, is that the phrase “all men” was contested from day one. Jefferson’s first draft condemned the slave trade as a “cruel war against human nature.” South Carolina and Georgia erupted and threatened to bolt; the clause was cut to keep unanimity. That compromise didn’t settle anything, rather, it planted a time-bomb that exploded on the battlefield less than a century later.
And Jefferson himself is the contradiction made flesh. He wrote demeaning things about Black intellect; he also fathered children with Sally Hemings. Some of those children eventually secured freedom with two that were manumitted in his will, two left with his tacit consent and while Sally herself was never legally freed. Meanwhile, countless enslavers sold their own mixed-race children like livestock. That is documented in bills of sale and in the narratives of the enslaved. Both realities sit side by side.
So yes: between the lines, the phrase functioned as “White men” at the time. But the same words became a lever abolitionists, Reconstructionists, and later the civil-rights movement used to pry the country open. It’s the American tragedy and the American paradox: the creed was a lie on paper and a dare to the future at the same time.
Diamonds are the result of an unsuspecting bit of organic matter being subject to intense heat and pressure. In this same crucible, gospel, blues, jazz, and other essential survival tools are being forged; hardened against legacy injustice, and softened against the heart.
Wonderful.