a place for Afrohispanics to gather
Black Thoughts VI
BLACK THOUGHTS: A Political Ideological Perspective for Afro Latinos
Part VI: Word Power
By: Kevin Alberto Sabio
People understand very little about the power of words…
I remember one incident in my youth, during my late teens/early twenties, when I was hanging out with some friends of mine (at the time) from high school, in which I was supposed to be forming a musical group with (they were to be the singers in the group, and I was to be the emcee). We were having a conversation one time about group matters when one of my friends/groupmates replied in a jovial fashion, “I’m a Spic, and proud of it.” His response caused me to raise a surprised eyebrow at him, considering that I was the angry militant of the group. In response, he dared me to ask him why he would refer to himself in such a manner. After a few seconds of contemplation, I bit.
“Okay…why are you proud to be a Spic?”
“…Because we’re Spanish People In Control! Get it?”
I have to admit that at the time I laughed at his response, thinking that it was on the clever side; taking a word of negative connotation, and turning it into a positive. As the emcee of the group (and secondary song writer), I had actually penned a few songs (actually two; the original song with rhyme verse, and the rap remix) in response to his witty acronym, turning it into our political statement. Since I was the radical of the group, I had always tried to express my political beliefs through my art, using it as a tool to ‘edu-tain’ the masses. It’s been many moons since I’ve even thought about picking up the mic; it just wasn’t in me to be an emcee. It’s been even longer since I had a falling out with my ex-groupmates/former friends to do the music thing, and revolutionize the music industry and the masses. But…that particular memory has always stuck with me.
It reminds me of some brothers and sisters that I deal with in ‘the conscious community’, specifically those of us from the Hip Hop generation. I knew a few who would try to break down the word ‘nigga’ into an acronym to mean something positive. I remember Tupac’s take on the word, using ‘Never Ignorant, Getting Goals Accomplished’ as a way to break down what the word means, lessening its negative power. I also remember hearing another breakdown of the word to mean ‘Nubianism Is a God Given Achievement’. There were quite a few other catchy acronyms that were used, that I can’t remember at this time. As I get older, I wonder if any of it makes any sense at all. The N-word is overused so pervasively in modern-day mainstream Rap music that it makes you wonder if anybody even really cares anymore?
I remember that when I had first gotten into Black consciousness and activism in my mid teens (sixteen, actually), I had simply refused to use the word. During my early college days, I went a stretch of two years of totally omitting the word from my vocabulary. I took pride in the fact that I had the discipline to go that long without using the N-word to address another brother or sister. Being from New York City, we had so many ways of greeting each other, there was actually no need to use that word to address one another. Of course, there were times when people would get on my bad side, and I would curse them out, and call and/or refer to them as the N-word in a fit of anger. As I get older, I have relaxed from that stance a bit, as far as totally omitting the word from my vocabulary. Hey…some of us do act like that, and need to be called out accordingly. At the same time, I’m learning more and more about how the power of words can have such an impact on a person, whether positively or negatively.
I remember watching a scene from the movie “Remember the Titans”. The now-integrated team went off to camp to train, and the two groups of students had to learn how to get along with each other and the new coaching staff. After a few racial fights, the coach (played by Denzel Washington) forced the team into a long run as a form of discipline for fighting. There was a particular scene between two of the players; one White, one Black. The White player was chiding the Black player for acting in a selfish manner, despite probably being the best player on the team athletically. His response to this confrontation will forever be etched into my brain:
Black Player: “You’re the captain of the team, right?”
White Player: “Yeah, that right…”
Black Player: “You think that I have a bad attitude, right?”
White Player: “Yep, yes I do! That’s exactly what I’m saying!”
Black Player: “Attitude reflects leadership…Captain!”
Needless to say, the White Player was stunned by his response, and really had to reflect on what was said. In the beginning of the movie, his character would only have criticized the Black players, but none of the whites that he knew. After that encounter, the character changed his tune, and started be a team leader for the entire team. That line had also made a big impact on me as well. It makes me more aware of my own words and deeds; seeing if I’m living up to the high revolutionary standards that I tend to speak often about.
Another experience that left an impression on me happened earlier this year at a function that the members of my organization threw (the UNIA). It was an anniversary benefit dinner celebrating my division’s 10th anniversary in operation. We had another member of the organization come in to be our keynote speaker at the event (who now holds office as the President General of the entire UNIA). He gave a very powerful presentation, not only addressing the history of our organization and the legacy of our founder Marcus Mosiah Garvey, but also things that we have yet to achieve as an organization, and as a people. Having constantly gotten into debates and arguments with other so-called conscious people, he said something that I thought and felt were very profound:
“The more you know, the more you know DON’T know.”
Basically, it’s all a learning process. We’re all still learning, and NOBODY has all of the answers. Luckily for me, I videotaped the event, so I can pop in the DVD that I made of his speech if I ever need some motivation to combat any battle fatigue that I’m feeling.
It’s not just the words that are spoken. What motivated me to embrace nationalism and race consciousness was reading these two works; “Autobiography of Malcolm X” by Alex Haley, and “Souls on Ice” by Eldridge Cleaver. Those two seminal works forever transformed me, and my initial way of thinking. They were just the start to many other classic and contemporary works that I’ve absorbed over the years. There are still many more works that I’m looking forward to getting my hands on. I still have yet to bring down the rest of my personal library from my old residence to my new place.
And lastly, there is the impact that my own words have had on many others, seen and unseen. When I (recently) got into writing online commentaries, I had no idea what type of impact my words would have on others. I was simply amazed to see my work spread all over cyberspace, and how some people held my work in such high regard. I have a comrade of mine who allowed me to repost my articles on his networking site (in which he reposted them elsewhere as well), and the responses to them were so immense that some of his comrades had them translated into other languages, and reposted elsewhere as well! I was shocked and surprised to hear how much of an impact my words were having on others. It’s not that I don’t have faith in my writing skills; far from it. It’s really how these people are moved and motivated by what I said. I have always received accolades for my entertainment works, so praise for my pieces really comes as no surprise; trying to get them produced, though, is another battle all together, and is another discussion for another day.
With that said, we discover that Word Power is indeed a very powerful force. And as was stated in the origin of the comic book character Spider-Man, “With great power, comes great responsibility”.
Nuff said.
Part VI: Word Power
By: Kevin Alberto Sabio
People understand very little about the power of words…
I remember one incident in my youth, during my late teens/early twenties, when I was hanging out with some friends of mine (at the time) from high school, in which I was supposed to be forming a musical group with (they were to be the singers in the group, and I was to be the emcee). We were having a conversation one time about group matters when one of my friends/groupmates replied in a jovial fashion, “I’m a Spic, and proud of it.” His response caused me to raise a surprised eyebrow at him, considering that I was the angry militant of the group. In response, he dared me to ask him why he would refer to himself in such a manner. After a few seconds of contemplation, I bit.
“Okay…why are you proud to be a Spic?”
“…Because we’re Spanish People In Control! Get it?”
I have to admit that at the time I laughed at his response, thinking that it was on the clever side; taking a word of negative connotation, and turning it into a positive. As the emcee of the group (and secondary song writer), I had actually penned a few songs (actually two; the original song with rhyme verse, and the rap remix) in response to his witty acronym, turning it into our political statement. Since I was the radical of the group, I had always tried to express my political beliefs through my art, using it as a tool to ‘edu-tain’ the masses. It’s been many moons since I’ve even thought about picking up the mic; it just wasn’t in me to be an emcee. It’s been even longer since I had a falling out with my ex-groupmates/former friends to do the music thing, and revolutionize the music industry and the masses. But…that particular memory has always stuck with me.
It reminds me of some brothers and sisters that I deal with in ‘the conscious community’, specifically those of us from the Hip Hop generation. I knew a few who would try to break down the word ‘nigga’ into an acronym to mean something positive. I remember Tupac’s take on the word, using ‘Never Ignorant, Getting Goals Accomplished’ as a way to break down what the word means, lessening its negative power. I also remember hearing another breakdown of the word to mean ‘Nubianism Is a God Given Achievement’. There were quite a few other catchy acronyms that were used, that I can’t remember at this time. As I get older, I wonder if any of it makes any sense at all. The N-word is overused so pervasively in modern-day mainstream Rap music that it makes you wonder if anybody even really cares anymore?
I remember that when I had first gotten into Black consciousness and activism in my mid teens (sixteen, actually), I had simply refused to use the word. During my early college days, I went a stretch of two years of totally omitting the word from my vocabulary. I took pride in the fact that I had the discipline to go that long without using the N-word to address another brother or sister. Being from New York City, we had so many ways of greeting each other, there was actually no need to use that word to address one another. Of course, there were times when people would get on my bad side, and I would curse them out, and call and/or refer to them as the N-word in a fit of anger. As I get older, I have relaxed from that stance a bit, as far as totally omitting the word from my vocabulary. Hey…some of us do act like that, and need to be called out accordingly. At the same time, I’m learning more and more about how the power of words can have such an impact on a person, whether positively or negatively.
I remember watching a scene from the movie “Remember the Titans”. The now-integrated team went off to camp to train, and the two groups of students had to learn how to get along with each other and the new coaching staff. After a few racial fights, the coach (played by Denzel Washington) forced the team into a long run as a form of discipline for fighting. There was a particular scene between two of the players; one White, one Black. The White player was chiding the Black player for acting in a selfish manner, despite probably being the best player on the team athletically. His response to this confrontation will forever be etched into my brain:
Black Player: “You’re the captain of the team, right?”
White Player: “Yeah, that right…”
Black Player: “You think that I have a bad attitude, right?”
White Player: “Yep, yes I do! That’s exactly what I’m saying!”
Black Player: “Attitude reflects leadership…Captain!”
Needless to say, the White Player was stunned by his response, and really had to reflect on what was said. In the beginning of the movie, his character would only have criticized the Black players, but none of the whites that he knew. After that encounter, the character changed his tune, and started be a team leader for the entire team. That line had also made a big impact on me as well. It makes me more aware of my own words and deeds; seeing if I’m living up to the high revolutionary standards that I tend to speak often about.
Another experience that left an impression on me happened earlier this year at a function that the members of my organization threw (the UNIA). It was an anniversary benefit dinner celebrating my division’s 10th anniversary in operation. We had another member of the organization come in to be our keynote speaker at the event (who now holds office as the President General of the entire UNIA). He gave a very powerful presentation, not only addressing the history of our organization and the legacy of our founder Marcus Mosiah Garvey, but also things that we have yet to achieve as an organization, and as a people. Having constantly gotten into debates and arguments with other so-called conscious people, he said something that I thought and felt were very profound:
“The more you know, the more you know DON’T know.”
Basically, it’s all a learning process. We’re all still learning, and NOBODY has all of the answers. Luckily for me, I videotaped the event, so I can pop in the DVD that I made of his speech if I ever need some motivation to combat any battle fatigue that I’m feeling.
It’s not just the words that are spoken. What motivated me to embrace nationalism and race consciousness was reading these two works; “Autobiography of Malcolm X” by Alex Haley, and “Souls on Ice” by Eldridge Cleaver. Those two seminal works forever transformed me, and my initial way of thinking. They were just the start to many other classic and contemporary works that I’ve absorbed over the years. There are still many more works that I’m looking forward to getting my hands on. I still have yet to bring down the rest of my personal library from my old residence to my new place.
And lastly, there is the impact that my own words have had on many others, seen and unseen. When I (recently) got into writing online commentaries, I had no idea what type of impact my words would have on others. I was simply amazed to see my work spread all over cyberspace, and how some people held my work in such high regard. I have a comrade of mine who allowed me to repost my articles on his networking site (in which he reposted them elsewhere as well), and the responses to them were so immense that some of his comrades had them translated into other languages, and reposted elsewhere as well! I was shocked and surprised to hear how much of an impact my words were having on others. It’s not that I don’t have faith in my writing skills; far from it. It’s really how these people are moved and motivated by what I said. I have always received accolades for my entertainment works, so praise for my pieces really comes as no surprise; trying to get them produced, though, is another battle all together, and is another discussion for another day.
With that said, we discover that Word Power is indeed a very powerful force. And as was stated in the origin of the comic book character Spider-Man, “With great power, comes great responsibility”.
Nuff said.
Add a Comment
-
Comment by Martina on November 25, 2008 at 4:02pm -
A famous author very rightly said, “The difference between the right word and the almost right word
is like the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.”
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