Malcolm X: The Human vs. The Hero

by today's Urban Chameleon

Last night, between frozen yogurt and a 10:00PM movie showing, me, my husband, mom and stepfather got into a heated discussion about the new book on Malcolm X from renown historian Manning Marable, “A Life of Reinvention.” Allegedly, the book reveals facts of Malcolm X’s life that were kept quiet from the public, including emotional and physical problems between him and Betty Shabazz, and challenges Alex Haley’s earlier interpretation; Marable even claims that X had a white male lover. My husband, born within a few days of Malcolm X, always felt some kind of zodiac connection and was disheartened by the news. This was not the same hero he, or most of us, were familiar with.

My mother tried to give some perspective. Coming from the Civil Rights generation with a circle of friends, which include educators and philosophers, the news was no news to her. She argued most heroes have a regime in place to protect an image (which hides human flaws from the greater public). However, I got the sense that like many others, my husband preferred not to know. The regime made it safe and comfortable, but I couldn’t help but wonder where we would be as a culture if we knew sooner. Would married couples with similar issues find comfort? Would the Gay Rights movement be further along? My mom had to remind my husband that the facts of someone’s life that might make us uncomfortable, doesn’t take away from their contributions. People are complex; rarely do we see examples that reflect our complexities. Many people live quietly, tormented in their duality, or even tri-ality, with no outlet. Maybe Malcolm X was just an Urban Chameleon…most of us are, regardless of who and what we are; different sides of us are revealed when exposed to different audiences. My corporate friends certainly see a different side of me than my around-the-way friends.

I thought back to the skit, “The Real Housewives of the Civil Rights?” and how upset some people were that our heroes were contextualized in a satirical manner by a group of comedians. Now, just a few weeks later, a credible historian causes a similar affect with alleged facts. Would we be less emotional if we allowed ourselves to be more human?

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Why “Black people” and “satire” don’t go together

by today's Urban Chameleon contributor

A couple of weeks ago I had the revelation that Black people don’t do satire. I kind of instinctively knew this for whenever I’ve either read an article or watched a Black web series even remotely satirical, there would be at least one overly serious comment from a Black person not laughing.

The case was no different when I first watched, “The Real Housewives of the Civil Rights?” on TheRoot.com. I thought the video was conceptually hilarious but wasn’t surprised to see in the comments section that more than one viewer was less than amused and in fact out right offended. The consensus was that you don’t touch the women of the Civil Rights especially Coretta Scott King and Rosa Parks.

It got me thinking…why not? Does it some how take away their power? Will it make their extraordinary contribution less significant or worse…reversible? After watching the video I thought if anyone is setting the race back it’s Bravo and their ridiculous Real Housewives franchise (that I love to hate) but not this web video.

The irony of satire is that more often than not the real issue gets overlooked. I realized that “Satire,” is the crazy cousin of “comedy” and for Black folks that crazy cousin is usually…well…embarrassing. Satire exposes flaws and opens the door for criticism by white people. Yes the race that enslaved us, told us we weren’t good enough and would never be good enough. As a result, Black culture has been built on having to constantly prove self worth regardless of how far we’ve come. But is this a habit that it’s time to break away from like poor diets that cause high blood sugar?

Satire is a form of human expression that if one is open to can be very insightful and unconventional medical practitioners would even confirm as healing.

Unfortunately I don’t see enough outlets for laughter in the Black community and this is painful. In fact, I recently attended a film festival and noticed that nine of the ten films produced by Black filmmakers were dramatic and either about Jesus, rape or substance abuse. How can a community possibly evolve unless you address all the layers of our human experiences which definitely includes laughter?

I once read a person’s comment responding to what they took as an author’s inappropriate satirical tone on a “serious” issue suggesting that comedy and drama be kept separate. What they overlooked is that both ideas live in the same core of our existence. The question is how can we begin to learn from both.

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Meet Funnel Cake Flowers, THE URBAN CHAMELEON NEWS REPORTER

Profession: The Urban Chameleon news reporter

Age: Old enough to be legal, but young enough to drop it like it is hot.

Race: Blickity, Blickity, Black (don’t let the light skin fool you).

Marital Status: Pending with progress (has recently decided to explore dating men outside of her race and learning Japanese as a result of a new lover).

Hobbies: Getting people to stop taking themselves so seriously... while being very serious.

Episode 1: Funnel Cake Flowers reports on the viral video THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS. “Can Black people not take a joke or are some jokes just not jokes?”

FCF: Black people seem to struggle with jokes especially when the jokes on Blacks. Last week the all female Black comedy troop, Elite Delta Force 3, released The Real Housewives of the Civil Rights starring some of our most beloved leaders including Rosa Park, Winnie Mandela, Coretta Scott King, Betty Shabazz, Maya Angelou and Marilyn Monroe. The video went viral just after the second day of release upsetting various members of the Black community. Comments suggested that these mother goddesses should not be touched. Fans of the video countered saying that these same critics are at the club dancing to, “Bitch better have my money.” Where’s the line and who gets to decide who crosses it? Can Black people not take a joke? Are some jokes just not jokes? Or is just fear of what white people will do with the jokes. I know one thing’s for sure…it’s complicated. I’m Funnel Cake Flowers your Urban Chameleon news reporter from Tickles.Tv

E-mail Funnel Cake Flowers an Urban Chameleon news story to highlight at tickles@tickles.tv

*Funnel Cake Flowers recently hosted the game show, BREAK THAT STEREOTYPE!, which was an official selection of the Women in Film and Television Film Festival. Watch out now!!!

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