Deep trip, People.
These journeys alone on the road are doing something to me. They are changing me somehow. In a good way.
I seem to continually be settling into myself. I guess that it could be called evolving but I’m not sure that’s it. It’s probably closer to accepting and opening.
The last few days have been profound and fun and revealing somehow. It’s all about history and memory, both personal and cultural.
I landed in Washington, DC last Thursday. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with my time there before the show at The Kennedy Center. I knew I was going to talk to my old college roommate Lance, which I share today on the show. Once I got down there I decided to go to The Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. We set up a time to talk to Dr. Dwandalyn Reece who is the curator of Music and Performing Arts at the Museum.
I had no idea what to expect. I believed I was sensitive to the Black experience in this country. At least in broad, empathetic strokes. I feel that my heart and mind is in the right place around their struggle. I had no fucking idea. It turns out empathy can be shallow. Well-intended and real, but shallow. How can you really put yourself into someone else’s shoes if you really don’t know where they walked from?
The building itself is kind of an architectural masterpiece built around the idea of a traditional Nigerian headdress depicted in tribal sculpture. That lattice work all around the building is a riff on the work of a blacksmith who learned their trade in slavery and evolved it as a craft.
The journey in the museum begins in the basement, downstairs, in darkness. The thorough and horrible history of slavery going back way before the United States was founded. Ships, shackles, torture and inhumanity thoroughly displayed. Illustrating what this country was really built on. My empathy became informed. It isn’t an easy experience. The roots of racism defined and the bloody struggle for freedom documented all the way up to current events. It’s a devasting journey and I was not there long enough to really take it all in but I took in a lot. Enough to blow my mind.
Upstairs, where the light comes in, the floors are dedicated to the contributions of African Americans to this country. This was the intent of the museum from the beginning of its conception more than 100 years ago. Yeah, it’s taken that long to get the place built. The upper floors explore contributions in music, Literature, fashion, sports, dance, poetry, commerce, agriculture, education, design, etc. There was a gallery filled with visual art, some of which had seen before but with different eyes.
After walking through the history it is impossible not to approach all of African American achievement in light of it. It deepens the aesthetic and power of understanding. Everyone should visit that place. Especially now as the forces of fascism and white supremacy legislate the banning of teaching this part of the history of this country in almost half the states in this country.
The other part of Monday’s show is me reconnecting with my own past by talking to my college roommate, Lance Mion. It’s hard to see yourself as others see you. We missed most of each other’s lives but there was a core connection that remains vital and timeless.
I actually had dinner with my other two college roommates in NJ after my show in Red Bank. It wasn’t like coming full circle. It was more like reconnecting with parts of me that I haven’t engaged with in decades.
I also spent time with my Aunt and Uncle and cousins down the Shore. I drove through Asbury Park with my cousin. We looked at the building where my grandparents used to live on the boardwalk. I ate steamers and real Italian food. It wasn’t nostalgic. It was more like doing the things that my father liked to do and I did as a kid but now did as an adult. Again, not nostalgic. Reconnection.
So, today you’ll hear my talks with Dr. Dwandalyn Reece and my friend Lance Mion. On Thursday, I talk to one of the old Comedy Store originals, Joey Camen.
Enjoy!
Boomer, Monkey and LaFonda live!
Love,
Maron
History and Memory.
