‘African Americans Have NO CULTURE’ – Franck Zanu Sparks Heated Debate — Transcript

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1. 0:00African-Americans in this country are
2. 0:01the only groups. They have no culture.
3. 0:04It depend on who you meet, where you
4. 0:05meet them.
5. 0:07>> But currently there's not an
6. 0:08AfricanAmerican culture.
7. 0:10>> No.
8. 0:11>> Yes, there is.
9. 0:12>> What is it?
10. 0:13>> We're ready. We're prepared. Do not give
11. 0:16into fear. We are fearless.
12. 0:20This is not the time to be afraid. This
13. 0:23is the time to stand up and fight back
14. 0:26and to resist any temptation for them to
15. 0:28divide us.
16. 0:30We're in this together. The rule OF LAW
17. 0:32IS ON OUR SIDE. We will not give in, not
18. 0:36give up. WE WILL NOT CAPITULATE. WE WILL
19. 0:38NOT BOW. WE WILL NOT BEND. We will
20. 0:42survive.
21. 0:44>> I I came across a clip that I shared
22. 0:46with you. Um actually last week I played
23. 0:49a clip from this guy. Um he has a
24. 0:52podcast. His name is Frank Frank Zanu.
25. 0:55Z-u. Somebody in Nubia actually shared
26. 0:58this
27. 0:59>> and it's like the more you hear from
28. 1:02people the more you you uh realize
29. 1:06how woefully uneducated
30. 1:10we are about each other
31. 1:12>> and it's on on purpose. So I'm going to
32. 1:14set the clip up. Before I do though, I
33. 1:16want to ask this question of the
34. 1:17audience, you know, um and I want to ask
35. 1:20a favor of this audience to be
36. 1:21open-minded. I want to have a
37. 1:23conversation with you today that is
38. 1:26uh maybe a little tender for some folk.
39. 1:29You know, I feel like we've been also
40. 1:31conditioned to go to our respective uh
41. 1:34corners and come out fighting.
42. 1:36>> Come out fighting.
43. 1:37>> I want I want us to sit in I want you to
44. 1:40listen with your third, fourth ear. You
45. 1:42don't have to agree, but I need us to
46. 1:44not be emotional about the conversation
47. 1:45that you and I are going to have today
48. 1:46because this is I believe is is crucial
49. 1:50to us getting to the next place.
50. 1:52>> Absolutely. And because for 400, 500,
51. 1:55600 years, we have been conditioned to
52. 1:58not just hate ourselves because the hate
53. 2:01of ourselves was a facility to to keep
54. 2:05us
55. 2:06>> working and also fighting each other so
56. 2:11that we could keep working for the
57. 2:13master, right? So we had to fight each
58. 2:14other because if we work together, then
59. 2:16we fight the master. But if we fight
60. 2:18each other, then we then the master gets
61. 2:20to keep extracting our labor.
62. 2:22Absolutely. And and today that plays out
63. 2:24in the diaspora wars and all the other
64. 2:26stupid things while they literally are
65. 2:28picking the pocket of Africa. All of
66. 2:30these different people, we're fighting
67. 2:32about who's foundational, who's not. And
68. 2:34I'm not casting aspersions because yes,
69. 2:36when we talk about the reparations,
70. 2:38let's have that conversation as a
71. 2:40separate economic Yes. who deserves it.
72. 2:43But it shouldn't be the opportunity to
73. 2:44start bashing people.
74. 2:46>> That's right. And and and if we're going
75. 2:47to have a conversation, if you're from
76. 2:49another place talking about black
77. 2:51Americans, have an understanding of the
78. 2:52fullness of black of this experience,
79. 2:55have some institutional knowledge about
80. 2:56what this is before you comment on it.
81. 2:59And maybe you shouldn't comment on it if
82. 3:01you ain't in it. Maybe you shouldn't. I
83. 3:03don't know. I don't know. But I'm going
84. 3:04to play this clip and I would love to
85. 3:05hear from people. And I I definitely
86. 3:07want to hear what we have not I just
87. 3:08sent you the clip and I said I want to
88. 3:09know what you think on the air. So we
89. 3:11haven't had a pre-con conversation. This
90. 3:13is Frank FRN CK Zanu. He has a podcast
91. 3:18uh the Zanu Project. Play the clip
92. 3:20midsiz.
93. 3:22>> African-Americans in this country are
94. 3:23the only groups. They have no culture.
95. 3:26It depend on who you meet where you meet
96. 3:27them.
97. 3:28>> But currently there's not an
98. 3:30AfricanAmerican culture.
99. 3:32>> No.
100. 3:33>> Yes, there is.
101. 3:34>> What is it?
102. 3:35>> Um
103. 3:36>> name two value systems in the
104. 3:37African-American culture.
105. 3:39>> Value system.
106. 3:40>> Name? Yes. Name two taboos in the
107. 3:43African-American culture system. Name
108. 3:45two traditions, by the way, in the
109. 3:47African-American culture system. There
110. 3:49is no value
111. 3:52for freedom if you don't understand what
112. 3:53it is. The concept of free, you have to
113. 3:57have a foundation on which it would
114. 3:59balance when you ask for it. Civil
115. 4:01right, they give it to you. You have no
116. 4:03culture. Nancy, you've been here, born
117. 4:06here. Why would you be surprised if I
118. 4:08say African-Americans don't have a
119. 4:09culture? What? Twerking. So anything
120. 4:13>> we may but I feel like African-American
121. 4:15culture has definitely you mainstream.
122. 4:19>> No, you say the word the
123. 4:20African-American culture. What is it?
124. 4:23>> Okay.
125. 4:24>> Like like hip-hop. Not hip-hop. I mean I
126. 4:27don't want to look.
127. 4:29>> Yes. I feel like
128. 4:30>> you haven't thought about it. It's fine.
129. 4:31Don't make things up.
130. 4:33>> I'm not making it up. I feel like they
131. 4:35educate me. You feel you should know you
132. 4:38were born and raised here.
133. 4:40Yes, but I have a
134. 4:41>> Are you African-American?
135. 4:43>> I'm Haitian American.
136. 4:44>> That's correct. Do you see why you were
137. 4:47being specific with that? Because
138. 4:49anybody who encounters you already knows
139. 4:51you before. If they know you are
140. 4:53Haitian, at least two things comes to
141. 4:55their mind.
142. 4:56>> What is that?
143. 4:58>> If they've been to Haiti, they can look
144. 5:00at work ethics and they say, "Yes,
145. 5:02Haitians, I know them." Service
146. 5:04industry, they know where they do well.
147. 5:06Food, they can say yes. and even
148. 5:09language creo
149. 5:11>> right
150. 5:12>> and they can say oh I love Haitians
151. 5:14>> because they saw the culture in abstract
152. 5:16before they
153. 5:17>> before they encountered you
154. 5:19>> so people go over the bridge of your
155. 5:21culture your tradition your customs and
156. 5:24that helps them to know how to address
157. 5:26exactly I'm saying to you any people who
158. 5:29ask for these things which are abstract
159. 5:31freedom for example independence for
160. 5:33example and civil rights for example
161. 5:35voting rights for example you must have
162. 5:38a foundation on which these things are
163. 5:40going to balance
164. 5:42because the people there have to
165. 5:44uniformly agree with consensus. This is
166. 5:48our way of life. The dos and the don'ts
167. 5:51involved in our culture. Even you have
168. 5:53to create an artificial culture.
169. 5:55>> Is that why the civil rights movement is
170. 5:58considered dead?
171. 5:59>> It dead and useless.
172. 6:01>> They got it but they could not balance
173. 6:03it on any foundation.
174. 6:04>> It's crazy.
175. 6:05>> Jesus. I said, "How how did this man get
176. 6:09a platform?" Okay, so he's a
177. 6:11photojournalist. He's a journalist, but
178. 6:13the man Frank uh was born Frank FRN CK.
179. 6:17And I knew that based on his the
180. 6:19spelling was born in what was known as
181. 6:21the French Deomie cuz it was colonized
182. 6:24by Fran France Benin. Colonized in 1872
183. 6:29um did not get its independence until
184. 6:31August 1st of 1960 and renamed itself
185. 6:35Benin. But how did you get your
186. 6:36independence in 1960, sir? How why are
187. 6:39you sitting there in western clothes
188. 6:41speaking English, knowing French? What
189. 6:44what what is do you Dr. Black? I I was I
190. 6:48was holding myself and she said hiphop
191. 6:50and I said uh so so you're talking to
192. 6:53somebody wildly ignorant. You threw a
193. 6:56question at them that they were
194. 6:57unprepared to answer. She looks like
195. 7:01she's co-signing his hypothesis or his
196. 7:04his premise that black black Americans
197. 7:07have no culture.
198. 7:08>> And I was like, why aren't you sitting
199. 7:10with a scholar,
200. 7:11>> sir? So, so when you read when you first
201. 7:14saw this and listened, what what went
202. 7:17through your mind, Dr. Black?
203. 7:19>> Absolutely. I I've wailed with laughter.
204. 7:23I really laughed. And the reason I
205. 7:25laughed is because I said, "Oh my god,
206. 7:29this is what Western culture wants in
207. 7:33terms of pitting ignorance against
208. 7:35ignorance
209. 7:37because what he's saying is insane and
210. 7:40and she has absolutely no ability
211. 7:42whatsoever to to to um to answer the
212. 7:45question." The first thing that I find
213. 7:47so profound, the man's name is Frank.
214. 7:49Right.
215. 7:49>> Right. Frank. If somebody read The
216. 7:52Coming, there's a character in The
217. 7:53Coming named Frank.
218. 8:01Frank's problem in The Coming is Frank
219. 8:04is so western centered in The Coming,
220. 8:06right, that Frank beats his own people
221. 8:09on the ship, hoping that by desecrating
222. 8:12and by demeaning his own people, hoping
223. 8:14that the white crewmen will actually
224. 8:16favor him. This is in the coming. That's
225. 8:19so crazy.
226. 8:21>> Is it?
227. 8:21>> It is. It literally is. Now, very
228. 8:26quickly, number one, not only is there
229. 8:29uh an African-American culture, but
230. 8:32anyone who studies African-American
231. 8:33culture, I think, would would would
232. 8:35probably agree with me that
233. 8:36African-American culture rests at least
234. 8:38upon two things. Many others, but at
235. 8:39least two. It is a it is a culture of
236. 8:42subtrifuge.
237. 8:44It's a culture of deception. It's a
238. 8:47culture. Come on, somebody. It's a
239. 8:49culture of signifying.
240. 8:52Black existence in America is a double
241. 8:55cult. Is a double tonged culture. It's
242. 8:58the ability to outwit
243. 9:01that which seemingly has power over you.
244. 9:05That's the genius of black culture in
245. 9:08America.
246. 9:09That's the genius of being able to laugh
247. 9:11when when really we don't find nothing
248. 9:14funny.
249. 9:15It's the genius of being able to say,
250. 9:17"Yes, Amassa, making them think that
251. 9:20we're we're really in submission to them
252. 9:22when we're stealing chickens behind
253. 9:24their back."
254. 9:26But black culture is a it's a culture of
255. 9:28substituge, y'all. Like, for example,
256. 9:30one of the most central things to to to
257. 9:32African-American culture is this thing
258. 9:34called quilting. The reason I'm bringing
259. 9:36>> thinking that I was thinking that
260. 9:37>> and the reason I'm bringing up quilting
261. 9:39that most people have missed is we're
262. 9:41piecing quilts. In other words, our
263. 9:44ancestors, our mothers were putting
264. 9:46pieces of things together
265. 9:50to make a holism. Not just a quilt. It
266. 9:54was a metaphor for piecing this child
267. 9:57with this other child who was sold away.
268. 9:59This one wasn't my biological child, but
269. 10:02it's my child now cuz I'm raising him.
270. 10:04That's that's the quilt. The quilt is
271. 10:06not just the covering on the bed. The
272. 10:08quilt is how do we piece together an
273. 10:11inheritance? Hey. How do we piece
274. 10:13together a a a lineage? How do we piece
275. 10:16together a a a legacy that will cover
276. 10:19black children while we're in the land
277. 10:21of bondage?
278. 10:22And here's how you know
279. 10:24>> and and and create a map to freedom.
280. 10:28>> Listen, you listen. You taking it off my
281. 10:30tongue. You taking it off my tongue.
282. 10:33That's right. Create a map that's in the
283. 10:35middle of the pieces.
284. 10:38And what's so deep is to make it so
285. 10:40beautiful that even white people want it
286. 10:42on their bed.
287. 10:45Come on, somebody. Come on, somebody. We
288. 10:48We created a thing called gospel music.
289. 10:52Gospel music is part of the subtrafuge
290. 10:54culture. Why? What most people don't
291. 10:56realize is gospel music, even in terms
292. 10:58of the vocal cords, it gets higher each
293. 11:02about each 20, 25 years. When we first
294. 11:04started singing, gospel music was in the
295. 11:06lower ranges in the in the in the um um
296. 11:10when we first arrived and started
297. 11:11singing here in America, right? In the
298. 11:13spiritual. Then when we go to the
299. 11:15quartet, then you go to it gets higher
300. 11:17and higher and higher. Nobody has really
301. 11:20explained why is gospel music so high in
302. 11:23terms of range. If you listen to a Ricky
303. 11:25Dillard, if you listen to a Kirk
304. 11:28Franklin, if you listen to a Kirk Carr,
305. 11:30the the ranges are so unbelievably high.
306. 11:33What most people don't understand is
307. 11:34why?
308. 11:36Because we're doing subtifuge.
309. 11:38We're
310. 11:40God. The same thing grandma said
311. 11:42quietly.
312. 11:44Why are we screaming it at God? Because
313. 11:46God this
314. 11:49>> Well, you got to repeat that because
315. 11:50your your voice your voice went out.
316. 11:52>> Okay. In other words, yes. In other
317. 11:54words, we're screaming these parts.
318. 11:56We're screaming these lyrics because
319. 11:58we're really screaming at God. And why
320. 12:01are we screaming at God? Because God
321. 12:03drew up a a a covenant. God drew up a
322. 12:06contract with my grandmother
323. 12:09and the terms have not come to maturity
324. 12:11yet. And we're trying to figure out God
325. 12:17and hear nobody. The screaming is
326. 12:20actually our way of saying God, but we
327. 12:22still with you.
328. 12:24BUT THIS RIGHT HERE, GOD IS taking a
329. 12:26little too long. What you doing? In
330. 12:29other words, gospel music is in direct
331. 12:31conversation not with the Bible but with
332. 12:33God. Which is why gospel music and the
333. 12:36lyrics of the Bible often are in tension
334. 12:38and in conflict
335. 12:41because one's got to if if one does not
336. 12:43understand the role of the trickster and
337. 12:46to understand that the trickster is
338. 12:47really the cornerstone of black
339. 12:50existence in America. If one does not
340. 12:52understand the double tongue nature of
341. 12:54black language of black ebonic etc. If
342. 12:56one does not understand how you exist in
343. 12:58two places at one time, you you have no
344. 13:01idea what black culture is
345. 13:03>> or as the boys would say the double
346. 13:05consciousness.
347. 13:06>> The double that's that's it.
348. 13:08>> So So as he's was talking I I was saying
349. 13:11to myself, he doesn't know what culture
350. 13:13is. If he could sit and say black
351. 13:17because again there's no African
352. 13:19liberation without the civil rights
353. 13:21movement. How could it be dead if we are
354. 13:25here?
355. 13:27If you were able and and Kruma, Leumba,
356. 13:30all of them studied where? WHERE WERE
357. 13:32TRAYOR? WHERE DID HE STUDY?
358. 13:35>> Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come
359. 13:37on. Absolutely. Absolutely. And and Nat
360. 13:40Turner, speaking of Nat Turner, Nat
361. 13:41Turner, Frederick Douglas, all all of
362. 13:43our ancestors in that era, they were
363. 13:45somehow able to learn to read and write
364. 13:47by reading this thing called the Bible,
365. 13:49right? They were able to read. And
366. 13:51what's funny though is they could take
367. 13:52the same text, the same words that their
368. 13:56oppress that their oppressors used to
369. 13:58enslave them and turn around and say,
370. 14:00"God told me to kill you
371. 14:06because they came from a culture that
372. 14:08understood
373. 14:10that understood the art of subversion."
374. 14:13>> Okay. The duality. I I feel it. Um,
375. 14:19so how do we because what I don't want
376. 14:21to do is excoriate somebody who is so
377. 14:25woefully ignorant and I don't think he's
378. 14:27trying to I think he he feels like he's
379. 14:29saying something really powerful and
380. 14:31maybe in many ways I I don't know what
381. 14:33his goal is and maybe we should invite
382. 14:34him on so I can ask him. Uh, let's do
383. 14:36that. let's reach out and invite him on
384. 14:38cuz I want to I want to find out what
385. 14:39the motivation is because you know
386. 14:41taking a thin slice out of somebody's
387. 14:43commentary is unfair but I'm using this
388. 14:45as a larger conversation because I'm
389. 14:47hearing a lot of noise right now at a
390. 14:49time that I think is so crucial for us
391. 14:50to get on the same page as far as and I
392. 14:53don't know if we got to be subversive. I
393. 14:55think we should be bold. I think you're
394. 14:56right. We need places where we can
395. 14:58strategize and we need to build those
396. 15:00institutions and everybody I've been
397. 15:01encouraging people to get involved in
398. 15:03organizations and if the organization,
399. 15:05you know, don't sit and complain about
400. 15:06the organization. Get in there and run
401. 15:08it. Get in there and remix it into
402. 15:10something that is going to be useful.
403. 15:12Let's not complain about these
404. 15:13organizations. Get involved.
405. 15:14>> But I'm also thinking that that our
406. 15:17boldness, you know, I was I was just
407. 15:18saying this to Dr. Car Dr. Carr. It's,
408. 15:21you know, we have been conditioned to
409. 15:23ask for things. No, you you take and
410. 15:26demand the things that you need and
411. 15:28want. You know, we we don't have to hat
412. 15:30and hand this. This is this is our right
413. 15:33as as free people to get and demand what
414. 15:36you should have in the world cuz we're
415. 15:37going to be fair about it. You know, I'm
416. 15:39not taking anything from
417. 15:40>> it's going to be Yeah. But it's going to
418. 15:41be almost impossible to raise a people
419. 15:43who do that while the lion is going to
420. 15:46the gazelle academy.
421. 15:53>> Okay. Okay. All right. All right. See,
422. 15:56we're trying to trans. See, we're trying
423. 15:58to trans We're saying, "Lion, what's
424. 16:00wrong with you?
425. 16:02>> Roar." And the lion is saying, "It is it
426. 16:05safe to roar?
427. 16:09Um, is it okay?
428. 16:12I'd rather hop around if I have my way."
429. 16:15You're like,
430. 16:17"Because the lion has been in the
431. 16:19gazelle academy."
432. 16:21See, and until the lion is reared by
433. 16:24lions who know that they're lions and
434. 16:26are unafraid of being lions and do not
435. 16:28care that the gazels disagree,
436. 16:32the lions are walking around with big
437. 16:34lion's mane and they're trying trying to
438. 16:37figure out how to be safe.
439. 16:42See, Nat Turner knew he was a lion. He
440. 16:45knew it. These folks talking about they
441. 16:47might kill me. He said
442. 16:53about Harriet Tubman. They might capture
443. 16:55me.
444. 16:58You going to invite Frederick Douglas to
445. 16:59do the Fourth of July speech and you
446. 17:01thought that man was going to stand up
447. 17:02and talk about how wonderful and
448. 17:04independent this republic is? Did you
449. 17:07think that man was going to say that?
450. 17:10Because he was free.
451. 17:13>> We're ready. We're prepared. Do not give
452. 17:16into fear.
453. 17:18We are fearless.
454. 17:20This is not the time to be afraid. This
455. 17:23is a time to stand up and fight back and
456. 17:26to resist any temptation for them to
457. 17:28divide us. We're in this together. The
458. 17:32rule OF LAW IS ON OUR SIDE. WE WILL NOT
459. 17:34give in, not give up. WE WILL NOT
460. 17:37CAPITULATE. WE WILL NOT BOW. WE WILL NOT
461. 17:40BEND. We will survive.