Tuesday 8 March 2011

Jill Scott's soul burns.



This week, I found this video of the African American singer, Jill Scott, who also has appeared in a number of films, such as Hounddog and Why Did I Get Married? She was interviewed by an American magazine, Essence where she was supposedly to have said that her "soul burns" whenever she see's a successful black man with a white woman.

She recites a story to the magazine when she learned her black friend was married to a white woman. "
My new friend is handsome, African-American, intelligent and seemingly wealthy. He is an athlete, loves his momma, and is happily married to a white woman. I admit when I saw his wedding ring, I privately hoped. But something in me just knew he didn't marry a sister. Although my guess hit the mark, when my friend told me his wife was indeed Caucasian, I felt my spirit wince. I didn't immediately understand it. My face read happy for you. My body showed no reaction to my inner pinch, but the sting was there, quiet like a mosquito under a summer dress." This is generally quite surprising especially in the present day. She then goes onto say why she winced "The answer is not simple. One could easily dispel the wince as racist or separatist, but that's not how I was brought up." "We share our culture sometimes to our own peril and most of us love the very notion of love. My position is that for women of color, this very common "wince" has solely to do with the African story in America."

In a way she is defending the position of her African-American roots, saying that the history of the African-Americans cannot be ignored in the present day, and that even if it is something as innocent as falling in love with someone of the opposite colour, there is still the history that has to be confronted in one way or another. I feel Jill Scott, is calling out the history of African-American people, to acknowledge their separate history that should be remembered. She is not necessarily racist or pro-separation of black people from whites, she generally feels that there will always be some sort of line between black people and whites, because of the history they have shared in America.

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