My Black Brotha

When writing my piece on Neo Soul for this particular issue of the Digest, I couldn’t help but mention one of my favorite artists, Angie Stone. Of course, her latest single, “Brotha” is in my CD player constantly. Not just because of the great musical arrangement, but because of the very meaningful lyrics.
The tone from this song is reminiscent of a poem by my all time favorite poet, Nikki Giovanni. In her piece, “Beautiful Black Men”, Giovanni speaks of a variety of Black men…all special, all beautiful in their own ways. And she loves them…every last one of them.
Where am I going with this? Well, in my opinion, Ms. Stone has sparked a flame with her song which never should be extinguished. The flame? Appreciating and uplifting our brothers; be them our fathers, siblings or significant others.
It’s time out for trying to see “when a dog is going to bark and at what.”
Sistahs, yeah, I’m talking to you, myself included. How can we possibly be an Ebony Princess stranded at the top of heartbreak’s tower desperately waiting for our Ebony Prince to come to our rescue? How dare we, when we constantly see him as the one who put us in the tower to begin with?
Remember Booker T. Washington’s theory on the veil? He theoretically viewed that we as African Americans were living beneath a veil. Others and ourselves could not see what was truly within, only living under the stereotypical, suffocating veil. This veil is very much present today when it comes to our brothers. Do them a favor. Lift it. Peace.