Idiolexicon

Saul Williams

Saul Williams' recent open letter to Oprah Winfrey has been getting a lot of attention in the bloggy-world, and rightly so. Between this and Beau Sia's callout of Rosie O'Donnell, it's heartwarming to see the trailblazers in slam poetry directing their discourse to those with a lot of cultural power, and getting noticed for it.

In Williams' letter, he presents a dichotomy of machismo and vulnerability in the life of an artist. He says that vulnerability is undervalued in hip hop culture but, paradoxically, it's vulnerability that has allowed African Americans to survive in America.

The vulnerability that we see as weakness is the saving grace of the drunken driver who because of their drunken/vulnerable state survives the fatal accident that kills the passengers in the approaching vehicle who tighten their grip and show no physical vulnerability in the face of their fear. Vulnerability is also the saving grace of the skate boarder who attempts a trick and remembers to stay loose and not tense during their fall. Likewise, vulnerability has been the saving grace of the African American struggle as we have been whipped, jailed, spat upon, called names, and killed, yet continue to strive forward mostly non-violently towards our highest goals.

Williams argues that the machismo and competitiveness in hip hop culture are a reflection of the political situation and, ultimately, a reflection of religion. And although I agree to a certain extent, I cringe at the implied hierarchy of influence (religion -> politics -> art), in which art is the poor helpless pauper who must take whatever it is fed by its overlords. In my opinion, it's just as plausible for the influence to travel in the opposite direction. Williams himself is a great example.