11/02/2020
It's been referenced in several docs that Mr. Gordy made Motown, by design, apolitical up until Marvin's landmark, "What's Going On." I would hope it comes to nobody's surprise, that I, DJ Conor Miles, manager for motown night, believe there's beauty and grace in everyone's unique understanding of the meaning and significance behind the very real language behind music's lyrics, composition, and undeniable expression of our raw emotion and shared experience. I often try to remember that there are many more people in the world beyond our borders- knowing little or no English- who understood that song's meaning upon firsthearing it, than all us minority Westerners on the whole of Earth. That's what real power is- global citzenry. And the shine of that power permeates through every facet of our history, words, art and culture.
I haven't posted much on here or our social medias (📸 🐦 👈to see some) since covid presented me with the opportunity to prioritize my own self care in more effective ways I never felt worked before. To be sure- the systemic privilege that has been afforded to me to get to this place is not lost on me. Nor, for the first time in a long time, is God's grace and mercy. But being the eve of the election, I don't want to later say what I could of done for those less fortunate than me.
So with that I will steer your attention towards this right on podcast you may have heard of called the 1619 Project and, in particular, episode 3 of the series. That episode traces American pop music history in a fresh, revolutionary, dark and very uncomfortable way, for any sympathetic soul to hear. I know it may sound like a strange thing to invite you in to your own discomfort, willingly. But I believe empathy is accepting that our discomfort now isn't a fraction of a point of a point of what your brave brothers and sisters and neighbors and mothers' mothers and fathers' father's went through.
Since high school, I've struggled with my own feelings of guilt, fear, or anger for my own brothers, sisters and neighbors. To borrow from Zappa- I'm not black but there have been a helluva lot of times I wish I wasn't white. This was mostly one of those times. But towards the end of the episode, though, I found a new sense of honor for my little life, the small things I've done to spread good, and gratitude to have some voice in your life now. There's inspiration and life force in these closing words towards the end of the episode on Motown legacy and place in America's history:
"It's just the most exciting, romantic sound you're ever going to hear... [Motown] is what can only be described as a refulgent, tasteful blackness. Here you have in Motown a force that is actively combating these ideas of black inferiority...[Motown] is the antidote to American minstrelsy."
(https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/23/podcasts/1619-podcast.html)
Whatever happens this week, please, Fresno, America, World, let the cool heads prevail and please please use your power to help not just your own family who look like you, but your neighbors as they were your own kin. That is the order for any self respecting citizen of a fair democracy. That is the sacred duty of conscience that must be present in the hearts and minds across all believers of all faiths. Whether you must mail in, wait in line, or find a ride , stick up for your fellow man as well as yourself on Tuesdat.
You may say since this is in fact the "free" part of the world, we all own a stake in our own fate tomorrow, on some misguided "you snooze you lose","finders keepers" understanding of equity or fairness. But we all can't own a "steak" if we all don't have access to a seat at the table. Get it?
Be well and God bless. Love, peace and chicken grease y'all.
An audio series on how slavery has transformed America, connecting past and present through the oldest form of storytelling.
