Muse: What is Black Enough?
by: Phill M Branch, Jr.
Hello, my name is Phill and I
am an addict.
I’ve seen Dreamgirls
five times. I am almost certain that I’ll see it again before it leaves
the theaters. I can’t help myself. I tried to go see something else the
last few times I went to the movies, but I was in a trance. My friend is in We
Are Marshall. I intended to see “Marshall”, but as I entered the
theater, I started to twitch and I needed a fix. So back into theater #1 at The
Grove I went to see Dreamgirls again. Aside from loving the music and costumes,
the film has also made me think about, of all things, the definition of
blackness. What is “black”?
Clearly there’s no real
answer to that question. “Black” is whoever, or whatever we are as
individuals. Watching Dreamgirls reminded me however, that blackness is still
often defined by very narrow terms, terms that we often buy into and
perpertrate upon ourselves. In the film, Effie, the
sassy, gospel-tinged voice, soul singer is the hero. We root for her; not just
because she’s mistreated, but because on some level, we are being told
she’s being held back because she’s too “black”. Her
body full-figured, her personality full of attitude; Effie embodies what
popular culture has defined as a “real” sister for decades. Deena,
her rival in the film, is the exact opposite; slight, fair, and vocally
restrained. Somehow, this makes her
less “real”.
As I said, I love the film,
but as I sat through screening after screening, I couldn’t help but
notice that there was a sad hypocrisy that continues to this day about defining
who we are. On one hand, we don’t want people defining who we are. We
want individuality. I’m
wondering though, do we really?
What exactly made Effie a
better singer in Dreamgirls? I mean, Deena Jones didn’t sound bad. Deena
wasn’t going to give someone the “holy ghost”, but if we are
truly individuals, is one style truly more black than
the other? If so, that notion
discredits any number of black singers who have paved the way from Lena Horne to
Diana Ross to Whitney Houston. I don’t think any of us could reasonably
say that any of these women weren’t “black” enough.
Yet, in the film we’re
to believe that somehow, Deena’s successful, in part, because she’s
not as identifiably “black”.
We’ve bought into this
broad generalization. Ever watch “Showtime at the Apollo”? A
bombastic, rendition of “God Bless the Child” is almost always
guaranteed to have the audience cartwheeling down the aisles. A restrained,
controlled version of let’s say...”My Funny Valentine”, not
so much.
The last time I watched
Dreamgirls as Jamie declared that Deena was more suitable for mass appeal and
wide audiences, strangely, I couldn’t help but think about Barack Obama.
I began recasting the Dreamettes. Barack of course, is Deena. Jesse Jackson is
Lorell. And of course, the diva with the big voice, big attitude and spirit is
Al Sharpton. Barack, like Deena Jones, is being thrust into the lead position.
He’s never really been lead, but he’s more commercial. He’s
talented enough, but his voice is unproven.
Now, I’m not saying
Barack isn’t qualified, but he’s being sold to us for the same
reasons Deena was pushed to the front of the Dreams. They think he’ll go
down better with white folk. Truth is, that’s
probably not an incorrect notion. Meanwhile, Al is getting stuck singing
background vocals, when we all know, much like Effie, he’s got the
“voice”. He’s been singing lead for a long time, but
memories of his track suits, and his iconic permed hairdo, have left him supporting
the more polished Barack. And Jesse, he’s solid, but like Lorell in the
film, no one’s really paying much attention to him.
Some deprogramming has to
take place. We all know that Barack has been anointed. He is F.O.O. (Friend of
Oprah). No, he doesn’t as a rule rhyme when he speaks. His vocal cadence
doesn’t remind you of a southern black preacher. He didn’t grow up
in the deep south...or Detroit, but he’s still a
brotha. We can’t discount him because his voice maybe a little more slight than we’re used to. We shouldn’t
automatically distrust him, because white folks like him too. It’s time
to think differently.
We also have to let Al, be
Al. I know his demeanor can be a little off putting to some, but we all have an
uncle like him, if not several. He’s family. In fairness, we can’t
give him any more points on his ‘black card’, because like Effie,
he’s more reminiscent of what society has deemed more black. These men
have two different voices; both are needed.
As much as I am excited about
the idea of Al and Barack entering the Presidential race, I’m uneasy
about the prospects of how this will play out in the media. Is Barack black enough? is Al too black? Unfortunately, there’s no big
gutbusting show tune to make it easy for us to root for one over the other.
Have a comment for Phill to
muse on? E-mail Phill.Branch@writtenmag.com