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Jazz and Individuality Armstrong Williams After a long week of work, I often retire to my D.C. home and relax to the smooth melodies of some of my favorite jazz albums. One of the few art forms that are truly American, the genius of jazz lies in its improvisational nature. While I am a fan of all art forms and truly respect the great skill and ability it takes to write a great symphony or sonnet, given that there are boundaries one cannot overstep, I am helplessly drawn to the unpredictable nature of jazz. Perhaps I posses such a love of jazz because in many ways it has become a mantra for my life. That is, I have tried to live a life that is unpredictable, not confined by labels or ideologies except those of the Almighty. That is not to say that I do not associate with groups that share my ideals, of course I do, but those labels do not define who I am. I chose to be a Republican simply because I believe that this party, above all others, espouses the values and principles that I hold dear. If the party or prominent members of the party move away from the ideals that I believe are important, I have never and will never shy away from voicing my opposition. Moreover, it is impossible to have an understanding of me as an individual simply because you know I wear a Republican hat. Of course my drawing of parallels between jazz and life is not at all original. In his classic novel, the late Ralph Ellison so elegantly used jazz as a metaphor for the black struggle for individuality in American society. Ellison's argument that blacks often find themselves trapped by racist stereotypes of society and by the limitations of various ideologies is relevant today. Recently there has been a great deal of press devoted to the state of black men in America. It seems everyone has an opinion as to why black men have such a hard time succeeding in the land of opportunity. Perhaps Ellison's novel is more relevant today than ever. The statistics are daunting. In 1999 there were 757,000 black men in federal, state and local prisons. In the same year there were 604,200 African-American men enrolled in higher education in the United States. Therefore, there were 25 percent more black men in prison in the United States than were enrolled in institutions of higher education. Today, black men make up 41 percent of the inmates in federal, state, and local prisons, but are only 4 percent of all students in American institutions of higher education (www.sptimes.com). Seventy-four percent of black men younger than 30 reported that a close friend or family member had been to prison, and 66 percent had a close friend or relative who had been murdered. Story Continues Below
Black teens have the highest teen pregnancy rate among the major racial ethnic groups in the United States. In 2003, 96.1 percent of black teens aged 15 to 19 who gave birth were unmarried, as compared to the national statistics of 81.3 percent. Without a father in the home, the children of these children grow up and conform to the same destructive way of life and once again the circle is unbroken.
Feeling constrained by society's stereotypical ideas about who they are, black men have always created counter ideologies in which to define themselves, professing that anyone who acts outside the boundaries imposed by such ideologies was not black, effectively placing limitations on their distinctive individuality. As Ellison warned us, such ideologies are harmful, as they doom an individual who is complex and unique to a life full of inhibiting limitations.
The most recent defensive ideology of young black men, however, the thug mentality, is not only constraining but also highly destructive. This backward ideology professes that anyone who speaks well, works hard, marries the parent of his child, eats healthy, and dresses well is not "black." And those who want desperately to break free from such an abhorrent philosophy are chastised until they conform. What's worse is the fact that popular culture further glorifies these negative habits, making it nearly impossible for free-thinking blacks to talk some sense into their brethren. We all know of the fierce resistance Dr. Bill Cosby has been met with for simply asking that young black men change their destructive ways. If they are to ever achieve success in life, black men must break free of the restrictive and harmful boundaries that they have imposed upon themselves. Indeed, jazz, the creation of African-Americans, serves as a reminder of the heights that can be reached if one celebrates his individuality.
www.armstrongwilliams.com
Editor's note:
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