-------
NFL SUPER BOWL, GLADYS KNIGHT, AND COLIN KAEPERNICK: IT AIN’T WHAT YOU THINK IT IS!
Nationwide -- This isn't about Gladys Knight's right to perform at the
Super Bowl; it surely isn't about the singing of the National Anthem and
you can bet your bottom dollar this isn't about Colin Kaepernick
playing QB in the NFL again. This is about the dueling souls of Black
folks and the psychotic behavior of America.
The famed scholar, Pan Africanist and sociologist, W.E.B. Du Bois in his classic work, The Souls of Black Folks characterized the black dichotomy as, "twoness": as an American and as an African; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideas in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder. As a result of this "double consciousness," Du Bois adds, "African Americans suffer from a damaged self-image shaped by the perceptions and treatment of white people." Knight and Kaepernick evince these opposing identities and will superimpose these irreconcilable differences onto our TV screens on Super Bowl Sunday.
THE AMERICAN AFRICAN: Many people shun the idea that Knight decided to perform the National Anthem. Nonetheless, there are just as many who believe Knight has "earned" the right to perform even though they too harbor some kind of resentment. However, it seems both camps will be watching the Super Bowl. So much for standing on principles. Knight is a major contributor to the indigenous American Musical Art form known as R&B. Knight gave meaning and expression to the disillusionment many blacks feel daily about America. You could hear her songs crooned by Doo Whoopers beneath street corner lamps across America's Universities of Street Corners. Knight sang America thru her songs: believing America would live up to her promise.
The famed scholar, Pan Africanist and sociologist, W.E.B. Du Bois in his classic work, The Souls of Black Folks characterized the black dichotomy as, "twoness": as an American and as an African; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideas in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder. As a result of this "double consciousness," Du Bois adds, "African Americans suffer from a damaged self-image shaped by the perceptions and treatment of white people." Knight and Kaepernick evince these opposing identities and will superimpose these irreconcilable differences onto our TV screens on Super Bowl Sunday.
THE AMERICAN AFRICAN: Many people shun the idea that Knight decided to perform the National Anthem. Nonetheless, there are just as many who believe Knight has "earned" the right to perform even though they too harbor some kind of resentment. However, it seems both camps will be watching the Super Bowl. So much for standing on principles. Knight is a major contributor to the indigenous American Musical Art form known as R&B. Knight gave meaning and expression to the disillusionment many blacks feel daily about America. You could hear her songs crooned by Doo Whoopers beneath street corner lamps across America's Universities of Street Corners. Knight sang America thru her songs: believing America would live up to her promise.
