Bamuthi

Seeing Bamuthi perform was so inspiring. He had so much energy and passion. I thought his interaction with the audience was great. There was a clear connection; it was fun to participate. When he compared us to the audience he faced in Albany NY, I had no doubt he was sincere, and he seemed to take genuine joy in being back in the Bay area. He also seemed to thrive off our reactions – except for the overly enthusiastic man he said he might be a little afraid of.

His break-dancing and hip-hopping contributed so much to the texture of what he was saying. I made a personal connection with his piece about how he’s “going to be a father in a week.” The communication of this growing realization was clearly authentic. There’s an awe, an amazement, about the experience until it dawns on you that life as you know it will never, ever be the same, and then there’s fear and disbelief. The feelings he expressed in the section about his son’s sonogram were also familiar. It is truly amazing to see life in the sound waves. This concept of transforming the aural to the visual was embodied by Bamuthi in his performance. So cool!

He created a community in the theater, and he created the community of the little village in Senegal onstage. I could see Molly meeting with the elders, and I could see Bamuthi keeping thousands transfixed by his performance even though he was actually alone on the stage at the Berkeley Rep. He claimed not to have a mic, but I could see how, as he said, he became an m.c. with that experience.

The piece about his brothers, “Self-hatred” and “Ignorance,” and their relationships with “Racism” brought me back to Miguel Pinero’s poem “The Records of Time” that we read this semester. These allegories remind me of “The Romance of the Rose,” and I wonder what other cultures have stories written this way. I seem to remember some of the Anansi tales and some of Chinua Achebe’s work having names that refer specifically and literally to attitudes and adjectives, but I would have to do more research about them to clarify. In any case, I’m always taken with how clever the word play is and how serious the messages are.

I appreciated the multi-media and multi-dimensional presentation. The work that Bamuthi’s organization is doing in Chicago and across the country as described in the documentary and during the Q & A is so important. Unfortunately, other green organizations have not been receptive to combining efforts to make a bigger impact. Just because things haven’t been done that way before nor do they look like how people think they’re “supposed to” look, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try something new – because what if it worked? Imagine how powerful that would be. It’s not a black and white issue – it’s green. Our theme this week is politics, and how appropriate to examine the maneuvering and negotiation of something that is in everyone’s interest to resolve. It was so great to see people in the video who had been observers in the street become participants in the event. Again, the energy and enthusiasm was apparent and motivated by Bamuthi’s work and by his inspiration. I’m really glad I went to his performance.

Sheila Joseph