The benediction at Barack Hussein Obama’s inauguration was given today by Rev. Joseph Lowery:
Joseph Echols Lowery (born October 6, 1921) is a minister in the United Methodist Church and leader in the American civil rights movement.
Lowery was pastor of the Warren Street United Methodist Church, in Mobile, Alabama from 1952 until 1961. His career in the civil rights movement began in the early 1950s in Mobile, Alabama. After Rosa Parks’ arrest in 1955, Lowery helped lead the Montgomery bus boycott. He headed the Alabama Civic Affairs Association, an organization devoted to the desegregation of buses and public places. In 1957, with Martin Luther King, Jr. Lowery founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and subsequently led the organization as its president from 1977 to 1997. [Link]
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p>Without a doubt the most striking paragraph of the benediction (the full text of which can be found here) was the following:
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Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get in back, when brown can stick around … when yellow will be mellow … when the red man can get ahead, man; and when white will embrace what is right. That all those who do justice and love mercy say Amen. [Link]
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I realize that the “brown” could refer to Latinos just as well as South Asian Americans, but I liked the rhyme as part of the benediction. Yes, yes I know. The world shouldn’t be divided up in to colors like this. I don’t care though because the sentiment he was trying to express was clear and could be heard in the laughter of those present. It was not, like Faux News’ Glenn Beck would have us believe, a shot at whites:
Even at the inauguration of a black president, we are being called racist.
Mr. President — I want to believe. I want to trust. I want to hope for change — but I am really failing to see how this is any different.
USA Today reports that you smiled when he said this and shook your head. And it’s not like you didn’t know what you were getting yourself into. This is the same Reverend Lowery that even made Coretta Scott King’s funeral about politics!… [Link]
As South Asian Americans we’ve already come pretty far. The engagement by our community that I witnessed over the last year and a half has been inspiring. There is no doubt that we will be sticking around even after the high from this day fades and the hard work begins.
Why is our group never included?
Because your percussion act got old.
Abhi:
I thought it was the most memorable moment of the ceremony. There is a Vaughan Williams hymn entitled “For all the Saints, who from their labors rest…” (which was sung at my father’s funeral). It was very appropriate that it should be quoted today. All of the good people, no matter their color, who have worked so hard for justice in this country, or been victims of intolerance, were paid tribute in that quotation.
Peter
It’s not that it ‘may’ represent Latinos instead… it definitely represents Latinos, not South Asians. I think we’re included under the ‘yellow’ (despite being colored various shades of brown–and cream, for your Scythians). Speaking of which, what does that mean, ‘when yellow can be mellow?’
Wow–Bush out, Obama in, still Christian overlordism–ahh, the “secular dream”–I guess it’s dream deferred. . . .
where Rev. Jeremiah Right???
that he doesn’t have a rhyming dictionary?
Not really, but you will have to wait for Anna’s coming post to discuss that more.
That you can chill and not be worried about being sent to an internment camp.
7 · akak said
that i’m just mad about saffron and saffron’s mad about me.
I was totally kidding–Americans are entitled to a bit of religiosity in their public ceremonies if they want it, just like (wait, wait) Indians. 😉
That you can chill and not be worried about being sent to an internment camp
Precisely.
8 · Abhi said
about the shoutout to the muslim-hindu-nonbeliever axes of evil?
statements like this put me in a funke.
maybe that was a shoutout to sanjay gupta, who strangely hasn’t accepted the offer yet. are there skeletons in his closet? does he smoke, not masturbate, not use condoms or maybe doesn’t want to reveal the size of the condoms he uses during the inevitable confirmation drillings? perhaps he checked other on his census form and wrote in Brahman. just askin’.
rob: so you remember that song too?
Not sure of the song, I was referring to the L. Hughes poem.
Manju–good one!!
he should’ve included a shoutout to pink. maybe “when pink can wink without creating a stink”
It’s abouttime the dialog on race got beyond white and black. Amen to setting things right and keeping them that way.
i really thought mandela would do a surprise pop in. i can’t believe the two titans haven’t met yet. if shakira and beyonce can get together…
uh oh..mrs O’s dress looks wacky.
Cool Abhi. I was nt able to find a transcript earlier in the day (~1pm). So my initial post on this topic did nt carry the exact words and I felt bad about that. But it is set right thanks to SM. 🙂 Now let us fix the economy.
20 · Nari said
All Economy needs is some Oxygen, instead of Maylox and Botox.
BTW, I also liked the mention of “Hindus” by Mr. President 🙂
18 · Manju said
that will indeed be a “historical” event
I really hate Glenn Beck and his stupid face.
Beck on CNN was hard for me to take and now that he is on FOX, it might just make me crap myself.
some of the rhymes were from other contexts.
“…Stick around.â€
25 · razib said
This specific reference to “brown” has been brought up before in SM comments. However, I think the civil rights guy used your second reference for his rap, imo.
yeah brown/stick around def refers to latino illegal immigration. we should push for wheat. maybe in 4 years lowery will say: “when wheat won’t be blamed for the balance sheet.”
Lord, we ask you to help us work for that day when, desi can be lazy…
“If it is yellow, let it mellow. If it is brown flush it down”. Common saying in Oz – not sure if it is the same up there 😉
I ll let you guys work it out
12 blue man said
Dear Tobias, now that America has ended all bias; Time to change your mind, to alter your blue attitude. Abandon those frayed cut-offs, and shake that fly ass; Bathe free, shower happy, give up being a never nude.
black girl girl here…
FYI y’all, the “black, brown, yellow” etc refers to the different skin tones of black people, and how colorism affected which African-Americans got ahead…not different races lol..but I think its cool that today everyone can apply it to their own experiences. You guys crack me up 🙂
Yeah, its actually a really old saying that has been around forever.
yep, have to concur with yorubella-it was a riff on a saying in the black community; If you’re black get back If you’re brown stick around If you’re yellow, you’re mellow If you’re white, you’re all right.
Colorism all the way. His speech/prayer quoted a lot of cultural touchstones for the black community-the African American Anthem, MLK’s I have a Dream Speech and other sayings that are familiar to black ears, but spun in a new way for a wider audience.
yeah, idiotic reactions to lowery’s benediction reflect a lack of historical understanding, and stupidity by those uttering them. lowery’s an awesome man; he’s a legend who has earned the right to say what he wants by blood, sweat and tears. Look up the places he’s been, the fire hoses he’s faced, etc. Anyway, he made modifications to the Broonzy song’s lyrics to actually reflect the changing times in a positive way. In the original song, the implication was that if you were white you were always right – a reflection of attitudes of the time. I’d argue the way Lowery changed it reflected the changes he witnessed in his extraordinary and served as a positive statement on america’s white majority’s changing attitudes in choosing to do what’s right as opposed to being content with the jim-crow era attitudes lowery so very vividly saw in the first part of his life.
It totally kicked rick warren’s silly thing’s ass, and also made explicit references to tolerance with, I suspect, a view towards gay rights, given that Lowery has been among the most outspoken black pastors on that subject.
Thanks for the true historical context but I disagree that this is how Lowery meant it yesterday. You are leaving out the last line about “the red man can get ahead man.” This was clearly spun in a new way to convey a new meaning.
36 · Abhi said
I believe this was a blatant triumphal reference to the fact that Obama is going to spread the wealth around in the upcoming communist paradise of U.S.S.A
You’re probably right, although “redbone” is an old term for black people (but usually describing women, go figure) so light you could “see” the red blood through their skin.
haha blue man, you win the award.
36 · Abhi said
I think by red man, he meant “Red Indians” or the native indians, who were conquered by the pilgrims+others.
39 · Natives said
No. He was referring to the sad sequestered shut-in situation of the pale, acutely melanin deprived whites, many of whom are redheads, who are unable to come out into the light of day in today’s America for fear of morphing into shades of seared sienna and varuttha vermilion reds.
When I grow up, I want to be an elderly black (or possibly redboned) preacher.
Rev. Lowery’s lyrical words at the end were the most memorable part of the inauguration for me. Yo-Yo Ma, the poetess, (the overrated) Rev. Warren, even Obama’s speech all paled in comparison to Lowery’s benediction. His acknowledgment of how far we’ve come in this country was poignant and humorous. Although I was terrified there for a minute that he was going to faint at the podium. That dude is ancient!!!
Blue man, I am LOVING your prose. Seared sienna? Vermilion red? You make me want to take up painting again….
Lowery was probably working off the following: http://209.85.173.132/search?q=cache:a14_lLOYzKUJ:www.gavagai.de/musik/HHM60.htm+If+you+are+Black,+get+back+%2B+song&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=5&gl=us, an anti-discrimination song written in late 40’s, early 50’s about the South where illeagl Latino immigration was not an issue at the time. However, Lowery’s reworking of it brings King’s phrase “her citizens of color” into our present reality. Either way, Lowery issued a powerful call and challenge to do what’s right by us all and I am way alright with that.
(sorry, can’t seem to get the linking right)
I’ve read on various blog postings that the Reverend was playing off an old saying. “If you’re white, you’re right. If you’re brown, stick around. If you’re black, get way back”
Also that he was referencing an old song from Bill Broonzy, a black man who had fought in WWII and was disappointed at the lack of Civil Rights progress. The song wasn’t picked up by any U.S. companies, and he had to record/release it in Europe. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZLw5ahxm-Q
Some people think Pastor Lowrey stole the show at the Inauguration. I thought his benediction was poignant and beautiful and expressed the universal spiritual truths that you often hear from black american preachers but that somehow seem to be beyond the comprehension of most white mainstream christian pastors. Some salient points from Lowrey’s benediction that any buddhist, advaitin, sufi, new ager would readily agree with:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h4SrWpZNd-yocKSO7_9FO51iLJowD95R4RTG0
“keep us forever in the path we pray, lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met thee, lest our hearts drunk with the wine of the world, we forget thee.”
“we know you got the whole world in your hands, we pray for not only our nation, but for the community of nations.”
“deliver us from the exploitation of the poor, of the least of these, and from favoritism toward the rich, the elite of these.” [a damning charge against Reaganomics. Jesus would have approved]
“And while we have sown the seeds of greed — the wind of greed and corruption, and even as we reap the whirlwind of social and economic disruption, we seek forgiveness and we come in a spirit of unity and solidarity”
“Lord, in the complex arena of human relations, help us to make choices on the side of love, not hate; on the side of inclusion, not exclusion; tolerance, not intolerance.” [true to the gospel of Jesus unlike the fundamentalists]
“Let us take that power back to our homes, our workplaces, our churches, our temples, our mosques, or wherever we seek your will.” [A VERY significant statement coming from a christian pastor that identifies God as the same entity worshipped by different religions. True to the upanishadic dictum: God is One; wise man call him by different names]
“With your hands of power and your heart of love, help us then, now, Lord, to work for that day when nations shall not lift up sword against nation, when tanks will be beaten into tractors, when every man and every woman shall sit under his or her own vine and fig tree and none shall be afraid, when justice will roll down like waters and righteousness as a mighty stream.”
40 · blue man said
Is your IQ less than your age? What part of “I think” you cannot comprehend. Keep your ‘No.’s to yourself.
11 · rob said
As far as I remember, the oath ceremony in India have almost no religiosity than in US (except using on respective religious books for the oath). If at all there is any, it is usually multi-faith. Remember we have a Sikh PM, and some in high public office are even atheists (e.g. Karunanidhi). I am yet to see an atheist in public office in US.
Black, White & Brown sung by Big Bill Broonzy
This little song that I’m singin’ about People you know it’s true If you’re black and gotta work for a living This is what they will say to you
They says if you was white, should be all right If you was brown, stick around But as you’s black, m-mm brother, git back git back git back
I was in a place one night They was all having fun They was all byin’ beer and wine But they would not sell me none
They said if you was white, should be all right If you was brown, stick around But if you black, m-mm brother, git back git back git back
Me and a man was workin’ side by side This is what it meant They was paying him a dollar an hour And they was paying me fifty cent
They said if you was white, ‘t should be all right If you was brown, could stick around But as you black, m-mm boy, git back git back git back
I went to an employment office Got a number ‘n’ I got in line They called everybody’s number But they never did call mine
They said if you was white, should be all right If you was brown, could stick around But as you black, m-mm brother, git back git back git back
I hope when sweet victory With my plough and hoe Now I want you to tell me brother What you gonna do about the old Jim Crow?
Now if you was white, should be all right If you was brown, could stick around But if you black, whoa brother, git back git back git back
The “brown can stick around” was aimed at immigration policies targeted at Hispanics. Bit of a stretch to read the South Asian angle into it, I think, no?