Rene Marie: An anthem by any other name

Ok, I admit that I had no clue that there was a Black national anthem. Never heard of it, never heard anyone speak about it. IF I had $1 million dollars on the line I would have guessed it’d be a song by James Brown, probably Say It Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud

Of course I would be wrong. But at least I have an idea of a pro-Black song it could have been. All of this comes from a news story that I literally skipped over in my email. [I have various newsgroups that send me information on events] I didn’t read anything in the titles that sounded worthy of noting.

I was corrected on that today. A friend of mine informed me that a Jazz singer, Rene Marie, decided to make a personal statement by not singing the national anthem, but instead substituting the Black anthem. My friend, of similar age to me, was taught the song in elementary school in Philadelphia. That was news to me.

But to the controversy. On its face I think Rene Marie insulted everyone with her uncalled for, underhanded substitution of words.

There is a time for artistic expression, or to make a voice for an unheard cause. I may not always agree, but it can be done. Like with Kanye West. I disagreed with his use of national airtime dedicated to raising money for Hurricane Katrina relief for his personal political preferences, but I understand his motivation and outrage. For those that can’t just call a press conference [which West should have done after helping those in need] I understand the need to use their time in the limelight wisely.

Here is the video of the event. Watch all the faces during and after the event carefully.



Now you notice that everyone is confused. Even the casual listener noticed the song was paced right, but it sounded wrong. There were some applause but that was being polite.

So what did Rene Marie say?

“I am an artist. As such, if I wait until I am asked to express myself artistically, or if I must ask permission to do it, it would never get done. I wanted to tell them what I was going to do, but I couldn’t because I knew the answer would be ‘no’. I knew that, even if I asked to do my version of the national anthem, the answer would be ‘no’. There are times, artistically speaking, when an event chooses us, a door is opened to heal ourselves and others through our artistic expression, so to speak. When that happens we can trust our instincts and walk through it or we can shrink back in fear. It is my firm belief that artists have the responsibility and privilege to walk through that door every single time it opens to them.”

Bullshit.

This wasn’t a performance; it was an honor that was given to her just as it is for anyone singing the anthem at an event. Her artistic expression wasn’t asked for, nor needed beyond singing the proper words. That’s why she didn’t ask, because she knew this was not about expression or art, but honor.

If she wanted to make a statement, then make one. But don’t use those that are helping you out (I think most would agree that she is a relative unknown) by slapping their face. Her actions have hurt the political aspirations of those around that event. She has created divisiveness where there was none. She has impeded any positive progress that was proposed that day. I mean you’ll find a lot of news and blogging about her, but what was the speech made that day? Did anyone pay attention?

“I viewed the invitation to be a door opened to me to sing this version of the Star Spangled Banner”

Hello, this wasn’t the Star Spangled Banner. That’s the American national anthem. What she sang is another song, and might as well have been James Brown’s Say It Loud. Or anything by Snoop Dogg. Because what isn’t the anthem just isn’t.

“As for offending others with my music, I cannot apologize for that. It goes with the risky territory of being an artist.”

That’s just a rude cop out. Being an artist is no excuse for bad taste.

“Sometimes, the simple act of ‘doing’ is accomplishment enough.”

That can be true, if you truly do something. When people march to a Government office and burn a flag that is a statement. When Americans rally that is a statement. When Americans were attacked by police in the South, or students were shot by the National Guard in Kent State they made statements. All of these things were “doing” something.

The Black Panthers, the Guardian Angels, Public Enemy, the cable television show Black.White, all of that and more ‘did’ something. They all accomplished something. And of course the 1968 Olympics did and said a lot!

All Rene Marie did was embarrass everyone that was connected to her. She benefited no one. She improved nothing. She promoted no cause. In fact she did NOTHING.

Actually she did do something. She made problems for the Mayor, the city, and probably the next dozen Black artists and entertainers that may not get work or recognition after her stunt. She has placed a wall up and hindered progress of all forms, because she wanted to make an artistic expression at everyone else’s expense.

Do I think Rene Marie will get more work because of this? I hope not. I hope she has a great day job, as I would be shocked to see her career as an entertainer take a single step forward after this. She did it to herself. I have neither pity nor remorse.

There’s my opinion. Sorry for being late.

The 3 articles in AsianWeek - 2.28.2007.1

OK, I had the unmitigated displeasure to hear about kenneth eng on Fox News this evening. It took some time but I have found his articles, the latest of which was removed from the AsianWeek site. If you have not heard about this be prepared to be angered. On the 23rd of this month eng [not a typo, I have no respect for this individual and will not address him as Mr. or capitalize his name again] wrote an article titled Why I Hate Blacks which was published.

To call eng insane is to belittle his hate and absurdity. I will not dismiss him as those that could agree with him would find that a rallying call to defend him. I will rather address the issue at hand. Racism. It’s blatant and in this case seemingly universal. When I hear, or read, such ravings I am sorry that such small minds cannot comprehend the obvious attributes and abilities of people in front of them. It is even worse when such an individual has had the opportunity to educate themselves and failed to take the fruit of the tree.

What may be worse than the comments of eng, is the fact that editors, including editor-at-large Mr. Ted Fang, allowed these comments to reach print. This is not the first racial assault that eng has made in AsianWeek. On November 24th Proof That Whites Inherently Hate Us was run, and then the apparently self-loathing Why I Hate Asians was run on Jan 12, 2007. I have difficulty accepting that no editor was able to see this material before it was published, or that after seeing it published a retraction could not be made. It seemed inevitable that Blacks would follow and I have no doubt that Latino/Hispanics would be next.

Why would any editor allow such hate to be printed in a relatively mainstream publication (as I understand AsianWeek to be, though I am not a reader)? Why was there not a retraction after the first article? Perhaps the first could have been seen as humor, of a very ill-conceived nature, but I doubt it. Even now both of the prior articles are still online as the links show at this time. What explanation is there for this?

If it is the opinion of Mr. Fang that comments I feel are small-minded are the stuff of comedy then he should stand by it and say that. IF Mr. Fang is actually as remorseful as he claims, then all the publications of offense should be removed and appropriate retractions made. To do less is to imply that the articles have substance and that Mr. Fang and AsianWeek support the views written. I single out Mr. Fang because as editor-at-large he is directly responsible for everything that is in the publication.

I have heard from time to time, notably in Ice Cube’s exceptional program Black.White. via Nick and Bruno, that racism is dead. That it was a thing of the past. That society has grown beyond such things. Sadly it is moments like this, that despicable and reprehensible comments are not only made but allowed to flourish, that directly state racism, discrimination, and other ills born of, I believe, small-mindedness, exist today. Perhaps they won’t tomorrow but that takes active involvement.

I call on Mr. Ted Fang to remove the other 2 articles by eng, to make a retraction in AsianWeek as well as a national media outlet (as this has gotten national attention) for all 3 articles, to fire the editors that approved the publication of each of the articles, and lastly that Mr. Fang donate the equivalent of his pay for each of the months that an article appeared in AsianWeek to an appropriate charity.

This is what I think, what do you think?