ok ok ok,
so i'm getting some flack for having so much time lapse between my blog entries. i'm SORRY!!! i didn't know people actually read this thing, so i'll be better, i promise. want some updates? well here goes...
i'm sitting in Bongo Java coffee house, living on the wi-fi until tomorrow when, God-willing, i'll be able to have a little faster access at the homefront. at that time, i must say, i'll be afraid that i will indeed become even more of a hermit. i will try not to become misanthropic, however. but it's getting harder. i mean...
can we talk?
i've had some really tough experiences lately. eye-opening experiences. i had an old professional colleague basically leave me out in the cold on a pretty substantial visionary issue by reversing fields in a business conversation and it threw me for a bit of a loop. the only saving grace is that i looked at it as The Creator showing me who was "real" and who was not--if you feel me. but it also taught me the important lesson of not saying one thing and doing another. it's one of the reasons i prefer ministry to preaching. it allows one to reach out to individuals without trying to tell them how to live--especially in areas that we all struggle with. but i will get over it, and i will survive.
A RYMAN MOMENT
ok, so i sang an hour "mini-concert" at the historic Ryman auditorium in downtown Nashville last Sunday. i performed for a Conference that was in town. we did the "jeff obafemi carr and Friends" thing again. and you know something? it was a straight out BLAST! i had young Maestro Lightford on the Keys, Rob Cureton on the Bass, and David "Smitty" Smith on the Drums. singing backup (the real stars) were Jenise Smith, Shonka Dukureh, Stefanie Adkerson, Alex Stadaker, Todd Suttles, and Brandon Singleton. also singing was Delali Potakey, who came down from Chicago and slayed the folks with an interpretative dance to "My Soul Has Been Anchored in The Lord" that i sang with Todd and Brandon harmonizing. man...it was so sick, i almost couldn't sing. standing O.
but THE moment came from a cut that is on my How Blak poetry cd called "Four Little Girls" that i wrote long before the Spike movie, about the little girls killed in the Birmingham Church. if you get the cd, my mom, Queen Mother Catherine Hayes Carr is singing under the words. she sings the spiritual "Soon I'll be done with the Trouble of the World." well, mom was in town, mom was in the house at the Ryman, and mom walked up the center stage steps, where the legendary DeFord Bailey (who was just--finally--inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame) became the first star of the Grand Old Opry (yes, a black man), and proceeded to totally silence the crowd with a 77-year old Tenor (danged near baritone) version of the spiritual. in critics terms:
Mama threw down. a ferocious standing ovation for the queen.
There was a rush at the cd table--it probably was because of Mom. LOL. that was a moment...yeah...a real moment. performing on stage with my mother, and preserving some of her voice on a cd. if you don't have it, get it and hear some true old school soul that'll make u shudder.
where was i?
oh yeah...so i've been learning lessons about humanity. i just got back in town from my daughter's fifth-grade graduation. i'd put a pic in, but i think you're not supposed to do all that cuz u never know who's looking at your stuff, you know. but trust me, i was proud, though stabbed. what does one do when one discovers one's child's name has been "altered" on the program. go figure, but to brothers out there trying to be good fathers: man, i'm with you. i am SO with you. one day, i'll write a book to explore our utter suffering. 'nuff said.
so i look at the work plans, and i review the vision, and i say, "Hmmm...could we add 8 more hours to the day?" then i thank God we can't, cuz i'd be pushing up soybeans by 40, guaranteed.
let's talk...for anyone who wants to. help me with a few things:
How do you balance your love for people with the hurt that comes when they turn on you?
How do you keep from just locking yourself in a room and not coming out except to buy food and cut the grass?
i did see DaVinci Code, though. i'll have to blog about that separately, tho.
God Bless... and please...hollah
obafemi
p.s. thanks T, for giving me the typos that slip through when my fingers are flying. i don't edit when writing 'cuz i'm scared i'll edit out my honesty. ;-)
Amun Ra Theatre is steadily growing and i've been encouraged by the support that is starting to come out of the woodworks. This is a picture (yeah, i've learned how to upload photos--watch out!!) of the newly-renovated Harambe House in North Nashville. it is the site of ART's Summer Performing Arts Academy.
with many thanks to the collaborative spirit living in the body of Alkebu-lan Images Bookstore, and the vision of the ART family, we're gonna bring 30 kids up in this house in a few weeks and teach them how to act up on a stage instead of on the streets. they will get high-quality instruction, not just from teachers, but primarily from working performing artists. yours truly is even going to be there hanging with the kiddies.
so now, i'm turning back into the development and fundraising guy. i always keep it real with you all, right? well, that's the toughest part of running a non-profit. the great thing about Amun Ra is that we now have FIVE YEARS of history to look back on in programming. we're not making up stuff any more. it's come to my attention that what we're doing as a company is now causing others to change their missions to work toward the same goals. someone asked me last weekend how i felt about that.
i said, "all i know is, we have to do what we have to do to change lives. if someone wants to start doing that, then hey, that means even more lives will be changed."
i do know that there is a mis-perception out there as it relates to our (meaning African-American) organizations when it comes down to seeking financing, and it happens on both ends. i'll be frank and break the game down for you because i've been there, done that.
THE "BLACK" MONEY
there is a going notion that in the pot of available funds to distribute for non-profits, especially arts groups, that there is a small slice of the pie reserved for "Black Stuff" (pardon the pun on my book). therefore, the logic is to: a) find one black company to fund, or b) make all of the black companies work together on one project to get the same small amount of set-aside money.
that creates a poisonous mentality. no grant providers require the various "white" organizations to meld into one, or collaborate on one major project. no, they distribute funds based on the merit of the programs and their value and promise. then they turn to the four or five black companies and say, "Hmmm...can't you all get together for this 0.002% of the available money we have set aside?"
THE CRABS GET GOING
this stimulates inside our head the notion that we don't have a right to be diverse as a people, so we fight for crumbs when we should be joining together to demand the right to have diverse perspectives and be honored thusly. if we can get that much, then we'll learn to put pressure on those granting the dollars to look at our work as they look at the many other organizations they fund. i'll keep u updated on the struggle.
THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT
if you're in Nashville, mark your calendar for June 2nd, 7:30 p.m. for the reading of "Ordinary Heroes," my latest co-written play that will be held at the Actor's Bridge Ensembles site at the end of Monroe Street (The Neuhoff Site) in Germantown. also be on the lookout for a Summer Play, the Holiday Nativity Production, and the February World Premiere of Ordinary Heroes. get on board with us and help us out. we're rolling.
i've got to get back in the swing of things now. it was great keeping you up to date on things. let's get deep a little later. i've had some conversations on urban education lately that i think you'd like to jump in on. i'm going to head over to the radio station and do "Freestyle" tonight, then i'm on News and Notes in the morning. take care of yourself and thanks for stopping by and sharing in the dream. as things continue to grow, i want to always stay in touch with the people who help me "keep it real."
blessings
obafemi
