Erykah Badu, a political prisoner? She will be if right-wing political forces which have set the racially charged PR machine in motion are allowed to get away with labeling her a criminal. Badu, who is not asking for warfare or welfare, is simply exercising her right to make a statement.
Artist Spencer Tunick is famous for his photographs that depict naked people the world over, but not one of his high society patrons or less resourceful viewers has contacted the police and or called for his arrest.
Bravo to Erykah Badu’s naked truth. She is expressing her First Amendment right with thought and dignity. She may be the first black woman we’ve naked on television who was not a victim, involved in a sexual act or some systematically exploited woman begging for her capitalistic sanctioned misery to stop. Badu is simply challenging society to see the world from another perspective and displaying the pride of a black woman in the process. She doesn’t blame society for her condition so why objectify her?
Where is the news media when artist are suggesting to an entire generation that dope selling and unconscionable consumption will lead to happiness. Those lies are at the crux of several generations. You know the ones I’m talking about, the people who frequently make it rain in the club, and singing Jay Z’s lyrics “the crack boys are in the house tonight,” promoting their admiration for drug dealers. Badu “made it rain” on the throngs of people who are ashamed of their bodies, and cultural identities.
How about a display of public nudity in Atlanta at Martin Luther King’s grave site? It could be a collective of women who want to bare their stretch marks, C-section scars, varicose veins and other revealing marks of their lives.
Women — who are the subject of many of Badu’s songs — stand up and represent. To be silent or to stifle their voices would essentially mute their ability to express themselves in an artistic fashion.
In some African nations women the corpses of women are buried nude in mass graves, but we aren’t having a public discussion, discourse or debate about that. Nikki G where are you? Will Badu get a Larry King or Oprah moment. Women have the right to walk nude and without the fear of rape. What is the right wing really afraid of, the truth?
Hip-hop and Badu are very much creatively related, so where are all the hooks spitting fire at those haters who would punish her for exercising her First Amendment right? Their silence erodes our collective fight for justice. Why aren’t we protecting our sister from these vitriolic attacks on her character. Ignoring these bigoted assaults is unacceptable. If the issue is not addressed, African Americans may find that we have allowed in another type of three strikes policy which has taken a severe toll on the community and social institutions as a whole.
I applaud Ms. Badu for social expression that challenges status quo and illuminates the grave state of apathy and social conditions in this country. The silence of a suffering community that ignores those who sacrifice themselves creatively to further awareness the truth and social injustices, is a sad statement — and exactly the statement Badu makes by exposing herself publicly and bravely. –munson steed
