In English class this week we watched a video where UK poet Dean Atta recites his poem I am Nobodys Nigger, where he asks rappers specifically, but people in general, to stop calling him a nigger, and blames them for creating “Headless zombies that cannot think for themselves.”
This video sends a very strong and clear message, and I think the reason it moved me so much to blog about it was because he clearly states how Nigger is the last word Stephen Lawrence heard before he was murdered, and how it was the last word one would hear before being lynched. For those who aren’t aware, Stephen Lawrence was a young innocent African American teen who was murdered on a bus by a group of Caucasian teens in a racist attack.
When the poet makes these statements and describes how his ancestors were “stripped of dignity and all hope,” it reassured me of why I don’t use that word. I don’t use it, I have always thought it was offensive, period; now having listened to this poem, I feel like I need to share the poet’s message and try to point out to those around me of what they’re saying when they use the N word.
Conceptual Artist Adrian Piper did a piece called Calling Cards (example below) where she would hand these cards out to people whenever they made a racist remark. She would simply walk up to them, hand them the card, and walk away without saying a word, leaving the recipient of the card to wonder “What the heck?” If you read the card, Piper begins and approaches the person in a very friendly manner and shares with them that she is black, and apologizes for any discomfort she may be causing them because of her race, which is quite ironic wouldn’t you think, her apologize to them? I can’t speak for anyone else but if this occurred to me it would make me think twice about the things that came out of my mouth. I feel like this needs to be redone and presented to people on a global level to stop this epidemic in its tracks, it’s a sickness really, people walking around saying things they really don’t know the meaning to, because if they did, they wouldn’t be saying the word to begin with , right?
Wow! You found a way to include Adrian Piper in our blog! What an amazing connection I studied some of her work in graduate school in a class on memory, trauma and art. Are you studying her work in your Art History class? Thanks for reminding me of her work. I think it might be worth our while to think about the rhetoric of her "business card" project. What does it communicate that she uses business cards? In black and white? She really turns art on its head, from something we view in a museum or slide show into an actual lived experience. Perhaps we can think of a project - for the whole class, or your research project!
ReplyDeleteI agree as well. The word has been used out of context so much that it has lost it's true meaning. Not that this subject has comedic properties, but I find it hilarious when asians call each other "niggaz."
ReplyDeleteI posted an entry about Adrian Piper on my blog - check it out. I realized that she using the precursor of the business card, and that tiny bit of research made a huge difference in my reading of what Piper is up to . . . many thanks!
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