Clifford Lea (Black Messiah) 0:00
As someone who has spent over half their life watching the world age and turn from a prison cell, I’ve had to observe the workings of society from afar. Not as an active participant, but as an outsider. Now, this vantage point became advantageous as I was privy to insight, and I gained a perspective, that only the initiated have access to. And being a societal outcast, my thoughts and opinions were unmolested by others. Solitary confinement can do that for you [laughs.] Not one to try to force myself to conform to societal norms, you know, the whole square peg and round hole situation. I’m also not one to sit back and acknowledge defeat, and the game isn’t over until I win.
Now my father was not a scholar, but he gave me the foresight as a youth to be a thinker. Straight A’s were looked upon as a failure, and they was just proof that I could mimic and recite whatever information was taught to me. I was told to question everything, as the truth can handle any and all scrutiny. Otherwise, it isn’t the truth. Now, with that brief background, I want to discuss a phenomenon I have observed.
I’ve noticed that Black woman of prominence, and of a certain stature, have no affinity or connection to Black men, especially those Black men of lesser notoriety. I call this phenomenon the Oprah Disconnect. Now, even though I have titled this observation the Oprah Disconnect, I would like to say that she is not solo in this occurrence, and I will show other examples. However, she does possess a marquee name, in visible instances that can be charted and publicly examined. Let me be clear, this isn’t an indictment, but an enlightenment. And as always, my words come from a place of love and empowered by the truth. Now, with that being said, let the fun begin.
As Oprah made her ascent up fame mountain, I noticed along the way she chose to alienate herself from the one demographic that could have benefited from her platform the most: Black men. When Black men look to progress the collective, they never leave Black women out of the equation. As we know, there is no solution that doesn’t involve Sisters. However, certain Black women of a certain type are not of the same mindset, and we — and by we, I mean Black men — will not only be left out of the equation. Some will even see us as a problem. We are constantly left on the cutting room floor in the movie of life. And I’m not being facetious when I say to Black men, our very existence is at stake, and by all means, we must claim our spot at the table of humanity.
As I stated earlier, it isn’t just Oprah. So here’s an example where I’m gonna put Angela Bassett on blast. How does she have stake in her show 911? I haven’t seen it in a while, but this is in the first couple of seasons, and the only Black man that was on there was her gay ex-husband. Now, of course, she moved on with a white guy, and apparently so did he. No Black male firefighters. Now, of course, she did have a Sister firefighter, but that’s how she chose to portray us. Now, no Black man with any sway would have done that to the Sisters. And the reason why I titled this the Oprah Disconnect is one of the first instances I remember of a strong, opinionated Black man being slighted, came from Oprah.
I remember when there was a show where Black and white families switched identities and then talked about their experiences. Ice Cube was an executive producer and, I think, a co-creator, and she invited everyone to her show except who? Go ahead and take a guess. That’s right, Q. Now, America’s always preferred that Black men to be quiet and compliant, but by nature, we are violent — visually, not physically — and defiant as we would buck anything that represses our natural essence. Now maybe her and these Sisters see a certain type of Black man as embarrassing and don’t want us around. I say that certain Black men could benefit from these platforms that we are constantly excluded from, and these are opportunities to bridge a gap and show that myth’s different from reality, as most of us are unknown and stigmatized. And since most people’s birth of fear is the unknown, I felt this was the way that we could have made an introduction.
Now apparently she was of another mindset, and we know how her best friend Gayle feels. As Black men, we all remember those comments after Kobe Bryant’s death. Now this isn’t to say that Oprah hasn’t connected with any Black men or let them grace her platform. As long as he’s already gained admittance into the public psyche and been accepted, and deemed no threat, of course: Jordan, Tyler Perry, Jay-Z, etc. Like I noticed it was only after these guys had already made themselves known. Not before. Now I can think of a couple of white men who she not only gave her platform to, but also her samples of proof, and they were woven into the fabric of light, by using her influence. That was Dr. Oz and Dr. Phil.
Now I pose a couple of questions to the listeners: do you think in the ’60s and ’70s, she would have had the Black Panthers on the show? Why has she never spoke on Jeff Fort or Larry Hoover? And do you think that she knows who they are? Do you think that she cares? Now me, personally, I stopped waiting and caring to see if she would ever accept my kind or not. But I got another food for thought moment. How did Oprah have her own channel, coincidentally called OWN for Oprah Winfrey Network, for the better part of a decade, but it wasn’t until Russell Westbrook and LeBron James chose to speak on the Tulsa Race Riots in Black Wall Street and produce shows, did she finally put one on her channel? Could it be that the pandering for public acceptance alienated her from the truth and the light? Did she not want to make waves or uncomfortable situations for those divergent whites that were the majority of her fan base?
I guess those are the questions only she can answer, and preferably in the mirror, not to a public audience. As we know, she can give a good performance in public. However, true reality is done when you are the spectacle and the only spectator with no dress rehearsals. Remember when that store clerk reminded her of what some Black people still have to deal with on the daily. He wouldn’t let her see a super expensive purse. She made sure to make that injustice in-own. [laughs] L-O-L. Now let’s move on.
Fani Wills [Willis] and Kamala Harris are educated women who know the justice system is just the system made to oppress the poor and non-elite. Fani will find herself on trial for going after an elite — you might have heard of him [laughs], Donald Trump — but it still continues to prosecute cases and gain convictions that put others in jail. Instead of taking a sledge hammer to the machine that they know is fueled off of the blood of the poor, they took the route of becoming a cog in the machine for a paycheck and some notoriety. Much like Rudy Giuliani, who used the backs of his people to climb the ladder of fame and fortune, which he like most, found out, is fleeting and only momentary. And when your usefulness is of no longer a benefit to the powers that be, you are discarded. And by turning your back on your people, you have isolated yourself and sacrificed your immortality, which comes by the way of remembering for earthly desires that can never be filled.
But to each their own, as I will love them flaws at all, and I can attest to it, it is never too late to do the right thing and be who you were truly meant to be.
These commentaries are recorded by Prison Radio.
