I am a BIG fan of the musical group Arrested Development. They sprang forth on the scene during the time when a lot of folks were chanting, "Cops hat kids and kids hate cops. Cops kill kids with warning shots. What is crime? What is not? What is justice? I think they forgot!"
These days, AD has made a comeback, playing to huge audiences around the globe, notably in the Middle East. I find myself wondering if they are not trying to combat the image that all African-Americans are gangstas.
When I worked for Lufthansa, our baggage security agent was Nigerian. We had lots of long talks about what it meant to be African. He noted that most African-Americans had no actual knowledge or wisdom about what it is truly like in Africa. Most, he said, would gladly head back to the US, no matter how horrible the conditions here.
I find that really hard to believe. Many Americans of all stripes have flat out lost hope and faith in anything. Grandma going to church is a memory for most, not a reality.
Enter the renewal of Arrested Development.
Interestingly, Speech is now a minister of some sort. He is not, no matter how much he invokes Malcolm X, a Muslim.
The lyrics of hope from 17 years ago may very well have come with the election of Obama.
Here's the problem: We don't honestly know what Obama's cult of personality will lead to. Josef Stalin or Ghandi?
Unsure of this reference? Watch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3YIuUIZlLo
And so, we pray for our president elect without reservation.
We pray this bloodless revolution we call democracy remains bloodless for every soul's sake.
Let's see what kind of guy Obama is.
Will he give a man a fish, so he eats for a day?
OR
Will he teach him how to fish, and he'll eat forever?
And yes, I actually think Arrested Development would be a great choice for the inaugural, or, at the VERY least, a prominent after party!
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