Was reading the words of Rammellzee again the other
day, as I often do, and got to thinking about intellectual property,
philosophical consciousness, and “gothic futurism”. I’ve been babbling for a
while now (maybe a year? I’m not good with calendars when it comes to art, as I
shall always remain) about “southern gothic futurism” and in fact renamed the
haiku slams I hold space for under that phrase. This was born from being deeply
fascinated by Rammellzee’s gothic futurism philosophies, about how American
racism goes back to medieval cultural forces, how language is used to hold us
back and has been weaponized. I honestly can’t stop thinking about it, because
(all this is a “it seems to me” scenario) America, as in United States (not
original twin continents), seems to be Earthly realization of western European
cultural progress, English colonialism (here, but Spanish colonialism just as
strong a force through the Americas historically) coming to full culmination,
or at least trying to. Thinking about the way Roman letters are broken up from
natural continuation makes it hard to accept concepts like “linguistic
revolutions” because they’re mostly done in English still. We (all of us) are
of course forced to do this though, because most people with any connection to
an earlier cultural tribe have likely lost that connection, and the language
associated with that culture, many white people included. (This is not a
bullshit “Irish people weren’t white” post lolol, but the English subjugated
and assimilated a lot of people who never would’ve considered themselves
English, who now proudly – and sadly – consider themselves white brethren. This
is key part of how racism works, tricking peasants into thinking their kingly
because they are the same X as their rulers. But that’s a whole ‘nother
essay...)
My recent trip by train around the county reminded
me with very clear examples of why I love the American South so much, where
black and white have been forced to co-exist by historical atrocity, and in the
socio-economic margins of American life, the ones who have co-existed have to a
certain extent realized how the same they are along many roads of the American
Empire’s intersectional experience. Of course, not all, because poor whites are
still white, and males are still male. And an added plus to the southern
experience has been the influx of Latinx culture (lol “latinx” is perfect
example of a linguistic revolution which doesn’t necessarily make sense to me
because it’s still anglo in foundation). Last weekend went to a high school
dudes reunion hangout, and was talking about how in tiny ass Keysville, VA,
there’s a tienda now, and I can stop and get a coconut boi water if I want to.
No pupusa stand in the back, as of yet, but one can only hope that’s an eventuality.
Tobacco farms which used to employ slave labor moved to cheaper undocumented
labor, which is not the fault of the workers at all, because it’s the employers
who are breaking the law imo. They are the ones with power; punishing the
workers is wrong-headed (as the United States tends to be though). But for me,
the concept of “southern gothic futurism” is that mix of cultures, which
creates a beautiful survival mode environment, but also harkens back to all
those “tri-racial isolates” cultures which existed in the margins, swamps, and deep
mountains of history – where runaway/freed slaves and disillusioned/escapist
whites and indigenous peoples lived and bred together into smatterings of mixed
culture that confuse the racial philosophies that make the United States be the
way it is. People recognizing their shared and similar humanity by living among
each other instead of putting up walls and barbed wire differences which aren’t
based in natural reality, only in enculturated indoctrination.
Anyways, with all that in mind, and this explanation of what southern gothic
futurism means to me at philosophical core, this Outkast song is most definitely
the southern gothic futurist (un)national anthem. And a cold ass Sunday where
the sun still shines like a thousand poetries in one blast is the perfect day
to bump the southern gothic futurism (un)national anthem, imo. Much love to you
all.
No comments:
Post a Comment