The following is a spoken word piece I read during intermission of the Kasimu-Tet concert at Joe's Cafe on Sept. 16, 2021
So, So St. Louis…So what?
I am so, so St. Louis…
So what you might say…what does
that have to do with Kasimu, the man we came to hear play?
Everything…I reply…
Then you’ll probably ask…Why?
Well, because I am a reflection, a
projection, a manifestation, a creation of a city in the 1950s…a product of
Pruitt-Igoe…built so leaders of the Metro could transplant the negro so the
city could grow…where black families and black businesses had no choice…but GO!
Millcreek, the home of thousands,
demolished in the wake of 33, 11-story, crowded, concrete towers near Jefferson
& Cass…that didn’t last…20 years before they were CAST to the barrios of
Wellston, Normandy, Jennings, and Ferguson…soon to be the home of a lost SON
Music
I am so, so St. Louis…
So what you say…
You see I was born that day, three
years after Brown vs the Board of education deemed segregated schools illegal
throughout the nation…but here, there was procrastination, hesitation,
machinations to never, ever invest in poor, black, city schools…
…they bent the rules, packed black
kids on buses destined for suburban schools…where they learned by association,
affiliation, indoctrination to love the white world and regard theirs as an abomination…
Taken from their
neighborhoods…where “less than,” was understood…where Daddy Knew Best, where Lucy
& Ricky, Wally and the Beaver, Ward & June Cleaver lived opulent lives
while we got by on what we could…
Them that's got shall get…them that's not, shall lose…so the bible said and it still is news…you can help yourselves…but don’t take too much…
It was just understood
By association, we were supposed to
learn to read and write…instead we were force fed the reality of black &
white…where kids did homework by candlelight…had to learn fight or flight…with
no relief in sight…living off condemnation, food stamps, hot plates, and cold
baths at night…
Music
I am so, so St. Louis…
So what you say…
I
am Vess Soda, Crown Candy, Imo’s Pizza, W. C. Handy, Saint Paul Sandwiches, canned
spaghetti, Redd Fox, Josephine Baker, Chuck Berry and Dick Gregory’s legacy…
I
am the Jefferson bank demonstrations, Percy Green climbing the Arch to
highlight economic segregation…I am James Buford, Eric Vickers, and Al Sharpton…closing
down Hwy 70 so blacks could participate in a little monetary emancipation…
I
am Mike Brown…shot down with his hands in the air…Wilson didn’t CARE…nor did
the armor-clad cops with slathering dogs and tanks and rubber bullets who
wantonly threw tear gas in the AIR…
Music
I am so, so St. Louis…
So what you might say…
Well, because anyplace else…I don’t
think I could have turned out this way…nurtured by soft, benevolent white support
and hard black love…I learned to believe in the majestically, magical power from up
above…
with
examples…in the shadows of creative genius… Robert Guillaume, Maya Angelou, Michael McDonald,
Quincy Troupe, Clark Terry, Eugene Redmon, John Goodman, John Hamm…here I became another naïve
seeker…stubbornly carving out his own little piece in the promise land
This town is
my song … It’s My Kind of Town, St. Louis is…filled with people who-oftentimes,
sometimes, once and while…smile at you…
PAUSE
It’s what Louie
described…Oh St. Louis is…with that Arch man…shining bright over downtown
streets…fancy joints, man, where people meet, eclectic eats, walkin’ historic
streets…
Don’t.
Forget. About Kingshighway (huh, huh) and Graaand Blvddd…art after dark, there’s
Forest Park, U. City chill, BBQ on the grill and that groovy old Italian hill…
Different
people all across the city, man… downhome Ville, the Grove’s surreal, zoo’s a
thrill and that old Timey…BEVO MILL…
St. Louieeeee….It’s a Hell of a townnnnn….Look out St. Louie is BACK!
Music
I am so, so St. Louis…
So what you say…
Those of us, born and raised here
understand…St. Louis’ terrain is rough…we’re molded to be tough…we’re not
highbrow, stuck up or dumb…we just want to know what high school you come from
St. Louis is tenacity, and
resiliency…we pay our dues, we make our own rules, we rock Nelly’s grooves and
resonate with Marquis Knox’s blues…St. Louis is courage and creativity… we’re hewn
from sturdy stones…It’s why we elected our first black, female mayor…TISHAURA
O. JONES!
Music
So, don’t ask me “so what?”
If you’re from St. Louie, you
feelin’ what I say…That’s why you’re here today…to hear the magnificent, melodious,
uber-talented, unstoppable, young, St. louis trumpeter who’ll touch our hearts
and make our souls SWAY, SWAY, SWAY…
Kasimu Taylor/Kasimu-Tet…
MAN…will you please PLAY, PLAY, PLAY?
Thank you!
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