Verse 1
“It’s like a jungle sometimes it makes me wonder
How I keep from going under…”
Chorus: Don’t push me cause I’m close to the edge
I’m trying not to lose my head…
Released in 1982, the iconic rap song by then (and still) popular Rap group Grandmaster Flash, is appropriately called The Message, and is one for the ages, all ages… Time hasn’t sullied or muted the song’s underlying theme, or message if you will.
Many of you are familiar with the message, some are not. Simply consult the global electronic Encyclopedia and media for the complete story behind the mes-sage… then juxtapose the ‘then and now’ images…
One thing is evident, in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, ostensibly times of “better and plenty,” for some, the inverse for most is the general rule, so the song still resonates, telling stories of a hardscrabble existence… of millions in overpopulated sub-urban/rural enclaves… where we constitute a significant demographic.
It’s truly like a jungle out there, a human jungle consisting of people of multiple origins, backgrounds and makeup, many sporting the artificial for social (psycho social, aesthetic) purposes. But all is not copacetic. Neither is it in the natural jungle, where multiple species naturally coexist for the most part, albeit at a dif-ferent level.
Observing both species interact in their common/natural element, one has to wonder… which species are more amenable to a better collective quality of life and living…
Last Sunday, June 13, as I habitually do on Sunday afternoons at 4 PM, I lis-tened to CBC radio’s weekly diagnosis of the nation’s state of affairs, Cross Country Checkup, an interesting diagnosis of the nation’s socio-political, eco-nomic, cultural… state of affairs.
On that day the subject was about gauging the national reaction to the June 6 in London, Ontario, incident in London, Ontario, in which a 20-year-old white male mustered the hate the evening of June 6 in London, Ontario, and mowed down a Muslim family with a pick-up truck, killing four and injuring a young boy.
Police have now levied terrorism charges against the killer.
The hatred is rife on both sides of the border. Muslims, so-called cultural com-munities, et al, we’re all expendable in the eyes and minds of some hate-motivated by their hatred of others who are no that to them or their existence.
And then there are the multiple shootings across the border where Black Lives in the minds of police really “don’t seem to matter” as police continue to mow down Black people, especially males, in undeclared warfare.
Like Andrew Brown, jr., shot in the back of the head, in North Carolina; Jacob Blake shot 7 times in the back in Kenosha, Wis. (luckily he survived). Just to name a couple.
“Slow motion genocide” the cleansing/or elimination of Black slaves, Black peo-ple is how some African Americans view these killings…
“Slow motion genocide… the cleansing of Black slaves…” is how some African American historians describe the continuous murders of African Americans.”
Many Black Americans, as well as Canadians of all stripes, view it as pure hatred Some Black people call it unmitigated BLACK STRESS…
Read UNDERSTANDING BLACK STRESS… FAST COMPANY’S SOBERING ARTICLE online.
Meanwhile, John Lewis once stated: Hate is too big a burden to bear…”
Read and listen to The Message lyrics. Read UNDERSTANDING BLACK STRESS…
Just read about living (your) life…
