NIGGER PLEASE !!

"WOW! That T-shirt and no helmet!" - Herb Tyson, a friend of mine

The words on his back are said time and time again in public by people famous or not. It is said many times and several ways. The determining factor, I believe, is in our response. So far, in public, people tend to remain silent, and fearful of giving voice for or against the sentiment afraid of any backlash that might fly against them from conservative factions, or people. The worst fear, among whites, is an angry reaction from Black Americans. I get that, but I feel we need to fully understand what we actually believe about the word 'nigger'. Each of us needs to look honestly at the word. If white people are confounded about the use of the word nigger image what people in other countries feel using the word nigger, and they do!. 


The phrase, NIGGER PLEASE has a rhythmic nuance to the way it is said. The appealing inflection of this phrase comes from the way Black people play and talk to each other. It is a phrase that comes out of the Black experience. In jokes, or conversations tinged with anger that phrase is common in Black communities irregardless of wealth or education. That is what is so brutally shocking about a white man turning 'our' phrase in an odd twist to backhand the advancement of Black America. Whose fault is that? 

To a degree it is the fault of the legacy of white supremacy, but I think that is the lesser reason today. I believe it is the fault of Black Americans. Black folks own and love the word nigger. They protect the word. Black Americans, and I know white Americans know this, are the only people in the world, as far as I can tell, that give permission to other people to regard them (us) as niggers! Black folks have arguments justifying the use of the word nigger that easily goes right into absurdity. A lot of Black folks say the word is a term of affection expressed between one Black to another. Others claim the word 'nigga' means something else and does not have the historical impact of its original usage. Still others grew up with it and don't know anything else. Rappers, like Jay-Z, and Niggers With Attitude (NWA), gave a dead consciousness to the word that people around the world internalize, and feel comfortable referring to each other and any Black American who lands on their shores as 'my nigga'! 

If there is, and there is, a depth to the responsibility of words spoken let it begin amongst Black Americans and 'our' definitions of self. If anything is going to change it will come from our self-transformation, not from reactionary politics and tactics; not from the apologies of white Americans, who respect power, but from the introspective spiritual work of the soul; our collective Black souls! The power of life and death is in the tongue! 

These are my words. I am Gregory E. Woods, a Keeper of Stories. 8.31.12