From Every Underground Scene, Let Freedom Ring

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This past Saturday I found myself in Harlem.  As I sat in Africa Kine, a Senegalese restaurant on 118th, I was inspired by the rich sounds, sights, and smells of Harlem’s vibrant African immigrant community.  And that was only the tip of the iceberg.  A great non-profit, Inner city Muslim Action Network (IMAN) was putting on their Community Cafe at the historic Apollo Theatre.  I had yet to attend an IMAN event though I heard from so many that their annual Takin’ It To The Streets concert in Chicago was consistently mind-blowing.  I wasn’t sure what to expect, so I took my place in the back end of the orchestra section and watched as talent strode across stage, including this guy:

I was taken aback especially by moving performances such as the lyrics of The reMINDers and the spoken word piece performed by Aasif Mandvi of the Daily Show.  But as I took in all these messages, one stood out to me amongst the rest.  F R E E D O M.  How different it sounded out of the mouths of politicians, now that I heard it being projected from these struggling artists.  Politically, freedom had become something we, privileged and civilized Americans, spread elsewhere, the underdeveloped third world.

Perhaps that is how it appears when the only information you are receiving is from the television.  But when you watch and listen to these people, you start questioning that reality that the Gods of TV expect us to accept.  Are we spreading freedom internationally as people amongst us remain just as oppressed?  Are we consuming ourselves with other countries because we are too afraid to look at our own shortcomings?

“I do it for the right reasons.   Fight back to get my people out their prisons” ~ The Reminders, Fight Back

Every minority experiences this feeling.  There is a struggle to carve out your place in society, to establish that you are American – and that as an American you deserve your own identity.  You are not on display as a representation of what others have seen only on television previously.  Your views are your own and don’t represent an entire community necessarily – i.e. just because I minored in Arabic at the University of Michigan does not mean that all Muslims speak Arabic.  Cultures, races, and ethnicities are far more complex than what a monolithic perspective offers.  You might as well argue you aren’t racist because you have a Black friend.  It oppresses the beauty other cultures have to offer.  It appears we have to repress so much of who we are to fit into what the general public expects us to be – that majority driven prototype.

It was as I was thinking all of this that Mos Def graced the stage.  Mesmerized by the amazing performer he is, I also realized that he in no way needed this stage to express himself.  He had an established career in mainstream America – on screen and on stage.  It was his choice to stand beside the unheard voices of the masses, to speak with them.  And for me, that was one of the most inspirational points of the night.  It reminded me, in fact, of Quest’s persistent connection to their community.  Although they have an established dance career, they have not forgotten those they represent.  It is a choice minority performers have to make: establish a career because of their identity or establish it despite that same identity.  I don’t necessarily think either is more correct.  There is validity in trying to base a career solely on talent and not have people look at the color of your skin – but people do look at the color of your skin, and with that acknowledgement maybe it becomes better to embrace your community.  That is why Mos Def chooses to make Friday prayer in Brooklyn, and spend a Saturday night at an almost exclusively Muslim event.  Unlike T-Pain and other “closet” Muslim rappers, Mos Def wants to be seen as Muslim and not just as another Black rapper.  Similarly, Quest Crew is beyond a group of Asians working in the dance world.  They are part of a community – in Artesia – and across America as they support the community center itself and also support movements like the AADP and it is for these reasons that Quest Crew is honored at events like East-West Players.

And so, after a landmark night in my life, I sat down to write this – reaffirmed in my love for the arts, my respect for Quest, and my ambition to make a difference in this world.  I am who I am because I’m South Asian, because I’m Muslim, because I’m a woman, and because I am American and my connection to all of that is inextricable.  I will not oppress one identity to maintain another.

~Lubna Grewal~