This week there have been many voices speaking about Colin Kaepernick and the new Nike campaign. I even posted my own opinions this week. A college classmate posted something on Facebook that spoke of his experience as a profiled Black man. I am an Black woman and though I too face forms of racism it doesn’t compare to that of men of my culture.
I believe the words of Fernando Jones need to be read by a broader audience. With his permission I was originally going to post as an addendum to the “My 2 Cents on Nike” but decided his words needed their own sounding board. So here are the words of a musician, a man who plays the blues and teaches others the strength of the blues message.
Born Too Brown
Every time I get stopped
Though innocent
I’m a thug, a thing,
A thief.
Could that be why
Kaep took a knee?
Be always aware
Aware
No matter what town
If stopped unjust
You may have been
Born too brown.
by: Fernando Jones © 9/5/18
The Blues was created out of one’s rejection of another’s self-proclaimed dominance through a doctrine of supremacy expressed in songs of resolve and action. This is what Mr. Kaepernick, a true Bluesman, was standing for when he knelt — it had nothing to do with the flag, anti-patriotism or the Star Spangled Banner . . . of which dog whistlers seem not to even know the words anyway.
Until you get stopped in your car on your way home, at the whim of a frightened, over zealous “awful sir” with the power of death in his trigger finger, you may not understand our plight. You might simply think and brand the movement as one of being American-less, ungrateful, filthy rich Black athletes with Afros (who get paid more money from Nike than from their NFL team contract). Also you may think of them as anti-police. But nope; it’s about shining the spotlight on wrong. Yes, I, too, have been profiled for being born too brown. Have you?
For more information about Fernando Jones go to his website: fernandojones.com/bio.
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PaisleyPerspective 