Wasalu Muhammad Jaco, better known by his stage name Lupe Fiasco, is an American rapper, record producer, and entrepreneur. He took to the airwaves and posted this rant on Instagram on June 20th after the murders in Charleston, SC. It is worth the read and pretty brilliant.
Just a side note, I read this quote on Redef and thought it was the perfect start to this read.
“In terms of existence, everything is equal.” Donald Judd
A letter. Part 1 Of 3 Dear White Supremacy, First of all you are not really that supreme. While throughout history White Supremacy it must be admitted you have achieved some very dominant positions. These positions have been gained mostly through force or some biological agent such as disease that did a lot of the dirty work for you in advance. I mean anybody can use force on an unarmed populous and anybody can have smallpox. Not judging, just wanted to point out that having a disease that native folks aren’t immune to because they’ve never seen it doesn’t make you strategically smart or tactically superior, just kind of sick. And these dominant positions don’t really stand up to the test of time that long either. There is nothing about you biologically or physically that denotes an innate mode of supremacy. For that matter there is also nothing about you psychologically, philosophically, cognitively, academically, socially, architecturally, culturally or even financially that signifies a higher position above any other group. And to be diplomatic there is nothing about you that denotes innate inferiority as well. So what you really are is something in the middle. You are regular. White Regularity is congruent to all other forms of regularity i.e. Black, Brown, Etc etc. But in regularity there is room for differences and this is where White Regularity shines! Each group gets the same essential universals. Dance, food, music, etc. and it must be admitted that the White Regularity take on these universal institutions has been unbelievably impressive and a great addition to the total world culture. I mean spaghetti and meatballs, Romeo & Juliet, Coldplay, The Tuxedo, lighter that air travel are all world class additions to the collective bucket but they are no less or more impressive than every other regular groups take on the universals either. And if we really wanted to get analytical every invention is built on inspiration from a previously existing invention so the claim of “The Supreme 1st” to do something is highly debatable and except for a few exceptions, impossible! All things human aren’t born from a supreme overlord solely working in isolation.
A photo posted by Lupe Fiasco (@lupefiasco) on Jun 20, 2015 at 7:33pm PDT
Comments (Archived):
“It’s funny how the things you hate so much you have to rely on the most for your survival.”The history that details that reliance is very, very interestingly laid out in this wonderful book that I’m about 1/4 of the way through now:The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalismby Edward E. Baptisthttp://www.amazon.com/The-H…
The reviews alone are fascinating. I have a hard time getting through dense historical books. Might be one I should listen to.
His album LASERS is pretty fantastic, if you’re not already a listener. Lyrics at http://genius.com/albums/Lu…
Thanks for posting this, Joanne. I read all 3 parts and noted the interesting closing point about how even the top position on a chain of subjugation is inherently weak:”Without us there is no white supremacy because there would be nothing to be supreme over! That sounds so stupid but sometimes the truth is stupid”.It outlines a concept that is applicable in different areas: If your core definition of yourself requires others for validation, then your foundation/positioning is hollow at best. In this context, a core identity that requires disparagement of others, is equally hollow.
You might like Ta-nehisi Coates’ “Letter to my son” http://www.theatlantic.com/…. Read your daughter’s piece on Medium and your letter back to her, and while Coates’ letter is rooted in a completely different issue, I thought the degree of care, love, and intention in tone was similar. I remembered your post on Lupe, so thought I would leave a comment here.
thanks margaret. will read.