thievery

Thursday’s film reminded me very much of the song, “Thieves of the Night” by Mos Def and Talib Kweli where each artist relates his own story of alienation and how it has forced him to “steal.”

In the context of this song “thievery” is a way to re-claim or redeem a(n) object/self/concept that was once stolen or withheld from any oppressed person. According to this song, cheating the oppressive institution is stealing from it, but also asserting his refusal to be a victim of cultural theft. In the film, George Tate mentions how African Americans have endured theft through “cultural dislocation, estrangement, and alienation” from the Middle Passage and slavery. As a people, they have been forcefully displaced to foreign lands, where their cultural identities have been reduced to less than human. Likewise, I think Tate plays around with our obsession with alien visitors, and our desire to examine the foreign by means of physically dissecting them. Through this process of examination, or subjugation, African Americans have been “robbed” of their efficacy to succeed through their culture. The concept of “African American” has been historically reduced to merely a slave to the dominant culture.

What the song and the film suggest is that by “stealing” from the institution that has “robbed” you of your identity, you take part in the empowerment of your people. By appropriating “theft” as a way to re-claim what was rightfully yours, you have somehow redeemed a sense of self, and sense of claim in your culture.

For artists such as Sun Ra, dressing up in regal attire is a way to reclaim high stature, which is opposed to the status of a slave. Through this practice, Sun Ra tries to instill pride in his African identity, and argues for an African civilization—glorified like the Egyptian civilization—that is not barbaric, “uncivilized” and “savage.” He tries to refute old Christian beliefs that justified for the enslavement of Africans, by suggesting that Africa is a seat for civilization through Egypt.

I found this film, and the song (that I have provided as a recommended ‘read’/’hear’) hold very empowering messages that are universal. They also pose the question of law and order: can a thief be punished for stealing bread, when his/her circumstances have forced him/her to do so?