The Oxymoron of Coonery in "Freaknik"

"Freaknik" (From Wikipedia) - an annual spring break meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, primarily of students from historically black colleges and universities. Begun in 1982 as a small picnic near the Atlanta University Center, it was initially sponsored by the DC Metro Club and was typically held during the third weekend in April to coincide with the schools of the Atlanta University Center's Reading Day. The event increased in size and popularity in the 1990s with dancing, drinking, parties, a basketball tournament, rap sessions, a film festival and a job fair.

But that's just the book definition...

The real question is "do you really know Freaknik?" Have you ever been to Freaknik, have you ever talked to someone who has, have you seen pictures, and what of the plethora of rumors regarding Freaknik have you heard? Let's be honest here, Freaknik was coonery at its finest! Black folks under the influence of alcohol and weed brought to Atlanta under the premise of a good old-fashioned Freak Fest. You and I both know that Freaknik had a lot of "e-r"s "showing their ass!" Now in 2010, we have T-Pain, the ringleader man, the auto-tune king, releasing an animated cartoon entitled "Freaknik: The Musical" which aired on Adult Swim on March 7, 2010 and can been seen here.

Now I have read blog postings, message board postings, and e-mails from people who have expressed a distaste for T-Pain and his newest attempt at expressing his thoughts in the name of Entertainment. I've even heard some go so far as to say that T-Pain is further hurting black people by putting out this fictional work in which such things occur as Lil Wayne doing the voice for "Trap Jesus." But what troubled me the most was a posting when T-Pain was accused of coonery. Coonery in/at Freaknik? ARE YOU SERIOUS?! Isn't that the expected?

The funny part about black folks is how ready we are to throw a word out because we heard it somewhere in an attempt to sound more intelligent than we really are. So I'll help out any reader that I may have who don't really know what coonery is. The unofficial definition for coonery used among Black people is someone who acts like a buffoon or sellout, usually with stereotypical or over-the-top antics, reminiscent of minstrel shows. But the thing about those who portray coonery do so without the intent of being stereotypical i.e. Ray J, Flava Flav, Al Sharpton, and the like. How can we ever portray Freaknik without the coonery that it entailed? I personally found T-Pain's cartoon is very funny, and thought it to be excellent. That satirical portrayal of "Trap Jesus" and his "Hood Commandments" was probably the best part to me. But I am writing this because I wanted to know what others thought. Is "Freaknik" coonery? Or is it an artistic expression of an event which was filled with coonery at its high point?

The Minstrel Show Continues...

First of all I would like to celebrate the life of Michael Jackson, the all-time King of Pop, and iconic legend to all the 80s Babies. I, like most other children of the 80s, was looking forward to an MJ comeback, but to echo my some of my other posts, everything happens along God’s timeline, not that of our own. R.I.P. Michael, in your words you’ll always be “Another Part of Me.” Also, part of this posting discusses the Transformers, so if you haven’t seen it, don’t worry I don’t give away any of the plot.

Now, last night I was adamant about going see Transformers 2, and I have a problem with going to the movies by myself so I petitioned one of my frat brothers to go. First of all, the movie is AWESOME, and it’s hot to see “realities” that we could only envision through animation or playing with our toys, *sigh* how simple life used to be as a child of the 80’s. However, one thing that really bothered me was the twins, Skidz and Mudflap. Before seeing the movie, I had read several blog postings about how Michael Bay had a lot of racist connotations within the film, and I won’t go so far as to call Bay a racist, however, I will ask Black America when will the time comes that will stop allowing ourselves to be part of the Minstrel Show that mainstream media frequently portray us as. Don’t get me wrong, some of the expressions made by the twins were things that you may here me say, and were very funny, however, I thought it was a bit much that Hasbro and Bay see the actions of these characters as having “personality.” But when u have two robots who are loud, obnoxious, common, saying whatever crosses their mind, have gold teeth, and are proud of the fact that they don’t read comes off as nothing but what Gorrilla Zoe labeled as a “Hood Nigga.” I’m not saying that we should boycott Transformers or anything like that, but we need to be more conscious of our own appearance and actions so that such characterizations are not made in the name of giving fictional characters personality. Until we come to the conclusion as a people that such actions are not “cool,” the Minstrel Show will continue at our expense.

Another example of The Minstrel Show that we subject ourselves to was evident in the Louisiana House of Representatives this week as a point of personal privilege was granted to commend Hurricane Chris and allow him to perform on the floor of the House. Being from a family with political ties, I know how those with influence want their relatives to have their 15 minutes of fame and gain their respective notoriety, but I mean when do you draw the line and not set your self up for epic failure. Chris I’m pretty sure your Godmother meant well, I mean you do have the #1 song on BET’s 106 & Park (WAIT FOR IT…), the song is #5 on Billboard, you’ve done community service around Shreveport, never been to jail, and graduated high school. Comma but, BET used to be a source of pride in the black community and is now is its own damn minstrel show promoting behavior that we should have deemed unacceptable a long time ago under the guise that its okay because, “we’re black, and we know black people,” so any recognition by BET should be politely dismissed by any self-respecting Black American, yet so many of us don’t respect ourselves. Secondly, mainstream music, especially that of the hip-hop/rap genre really lacks substance these days, so just because people are buying your record doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s a message to be put out there. Now I’m pretty sure that most if not all of Louisiana understands the word “ratchet” to be the equivalent of trifling, so I’m not sure if Chris encouraging the House to be ratchet was appropriate. (Although the House probably does some ratchet things and Boosie did say “we all got some ratchet in us.”) Furthermore, just because a chick is “fine as a bitch, ass and her tits” doesn’t mean I would equate her to Halle, so u just sound dumb, Chris. In addition, aside from the coonery you call music, the state is simple commending you for what you are supposed to do! Even though I’m sure your Godmother believed to be acting in your best interest and congratulating you on your achievement, you should have declined the performance and spared yourself the embarrassment.

So my friends, again its time to hold each other accountable, we have seen the mockery that some people make of us, when we stop allowing it and further perpetuating a stereotype? We really need to do better!