Ahhhh a subject near and dear to my ❤. My first "What Are You Doing Here" moment, happened in 1991 with one of "FourteenG's" illustrious premiere journalists Karma Elise @ the affectionately known "Aragon Brallroom" We were @ a
"Black Crows" concert sitting sitting our usual Balcony spot, when a slightly intoxicated dude said to us "I didn't know colored people liked this kind of music". Believe it or not we only looked partially stunned, and in a typical knee jerk reaction, I gave him a mini music history lesson, explaining how blues is at the roots of ALL rock music, and he was satisfied. Now he might have been too drunk to pick up what I was throwin' down, but are yo gonna do, it was what it was.
We were 20 & 21 at the time, and this guy couldn't have been any older than say 30, which is why we were floored that he used the term "colored". Really, Seriously, this was 1991 after all not 1961, what was up with that? Curiosity still kills this kitty, but we'll never know.
It happened once again as late as 2005! The FourteenG mafia was @ Oasis 160,
when a gal in the restroom asked FourteenG columnist Sharita and I "so you guys like this band" OK not an exact quote, but you get the picture. And once again I volunteered. It's no big deal really. However, I understand most black and half black folks don't want to be the designated spokesperson for the whole race. How exhausting would that be answering EVERY Caucasian person's social ?'s on the daily. I for one am not signing up for that gig, but I don't mind spitting out the occasional 411.
Just this past Wed. a Comcast tech was at my house repairing my internet,
I was watching VH-1 classic while he frittered away. Gunter glieben glauchen globen all up in my ear holes, as I said Yeessss, his response was "Oh you like "Def Leppard" Me: yeah I ❤ them! Comcast dude: "Oh you're cool" well tell me something I don't know. But seriously folks, that hadn't happened in a while. I was mentally a little rusty with the whole: Oh yeah I'm black, but but I still ❤ heavy music, don't panic, please remain calm LOL!
Freshman year of college I was at a University of Chicago house party, and some gent asked me "what king of music do you listen to, Hip Hop, R&B, it NEVER occurred to him to include Rock or Metal on the list. If the ? came from myself, I would have just asked what sounds was he into, PERIOD! and not assumed half the answer in my ?. But that's just me.
Even in high school in the 80's, it really didn't phase me to be at a mainly
"all white show". Now don't get me wrong, it's not as though I wasn't aware that was one of only a few brown faces in the crowd, but I never felt weird, uncomfortable, or that I stuck out like a sore thumb. When I went to see INXS for example, I wasn't thinking "Ohhhhh I'm doing something avant-garde, & different, I'm gonna show up all those other plane Jane black folks, now they'll see how SUPER COOL I am" LOL!!
I was simply there to rock out to my favorite band like everyone else.
The moral of my Soapbox, never assume what blows someone's skirt up (that one's for you Erika)
\m/ *o* \m/
