The G.O.P.'s Black Charlie Crist (Ass Out In The Cold)

Real Talk

After reading an Atlantic piece, on the the exodus of Charlie Crist from the Republican Party, I can see - in many ways - I'm actually part of a trend, rather than just idiosyncratically outraged at it's revealed racism when stressed. The Tea Party broke what - at one time -  "looked" respectable (They should thank their lucky stars for George Bush's personal decency) but now the G.O.P.'s nowhere multicultural America should want to be. 

I, too, am going Democrat, leaving strict conservatives with their reconstituted John Birch Society.

Real Love

Needless to say, my interests have changed, focusing mainly - not on the interests of black folks (if I did that, not only would there be more gospel, but a lot more Jesus) - but on disrupting Lee Atwater's deeply troubling, white supremacist, in-group/out-group cultism over us "lazy" black criminals "playing the victim" while "we don't see race" and no - though no one asked - you can't make me feel guilty! If even one white person reads this blog and discovers anything that either puts a dent in that line of "reasoning" or, at the very least, adds to it in some substantive way that makes the black experience more real (Slavery & Jim Crow, etc. = a good chance for poverty and crime? Even today? Hmmm) then my efforts and travails will have been worth it. 

Because, like Charlie Crist apparently, I give a damn. Not in the "sunny" way he does, but in the way that says, "Crack, you better put on another layer of rhino hide - and fight, fight, fight through the despair - because Martin Luther King wouldn't give a damn if Rand Paul's out there, or Glenn Reynolds is telling you seaweed is going to get us to the moon, even those crazy sombitches won't be left behind."

Real Bad

Real race shit is uncomfortable. This blog is uncomfortable. I know that. Which is why, I think, the internet is perfect for displaying the art of our age and dealing with it. The privacy, just for starters. No one wants to be openly accused or associated with the doofus' above, but the current conservative line can't be detached from it. It's the Southern Strategy. No racism, no hatred: 

It. Must. Be. Defeated. Here. Now. Today. TMR.

Real Good (Joke)

Just as the tide finally seems to be turning on NewAge practices, I predict white conservatives - not just evil KKK types - will eventually understand how they Fred Phelps-ed themselves during the Trayvon Martin trial, and want to find a new language, and attitude, about the darkening of America. This is serious business.

Real Confused

I can acknowledge Paul Ryan might be "trying". But, after mentioning Charles Murray, he's obviously talking to the wrooong people. If he can walk into a room full of credible black folks, and come out with that same cocky look he shows the world now, well then - brave man - he's onto something. I don't know if he's got it in him. We'll see.

The Real Deal

Finally, I'm trying to hold up a brave face in a dire situation, too - one that can lead to a very bad outcome. I'm talking death or prison. Whether you "get" what I'm doing or not, I'm a human being and need some help. 

Some people hear the heart that beats behind these words and pictures, some don't. As an artist, what I've hoped is that you're moved.

I'm here every day. Knowing, as in all things, the rest is up to you.

 Feel me, one way, or the other,…