This article was originally written on 4/30/2016. Like various other pieces I've written, I changed my mind about sharing, deciding that the idea was deeply flawed. I'm publishing it now because apparently, the idea wasn't flawed at all.
November 12
So now, here we are. Where exactly is 'here' I'm not sure. I'm still waiting for my intestines to settle. I've wept, for myself, for this nation, for the planet. And now, I wait to find my footing in this Brave New Trumpian World. Stand by. Be ready. Brace yourself. More to come.
This kind of outcome is not new. It's happened before and until we get some things sorted out, it'll happen again. And again. And again. It's just a restoration of the 'natural order of things'. Carry on.
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| Miss Universe 1977: Janelle Commissiong |
In 1977, the first Black Miss Universe was crowned. She was Janelle Penny Commissiong and she was a West Indian, like me. A year later, in '78, the new Miss Universe was Miss (Apartheid-era) South Africa. I remember it like it was yesterday and it's nearly forty years ago. I remember hearing the announcement, being jarred by the juxtaposition and filing it away in my mind never thinking I'd need to refer to that incident again. At the time, it really didn't signify anything. At the time it was just a, "Huh, how weird is that" kind of thing. No more. I understand it all too well now.
Until fairly recently, I hadn't really thought too long or hard about President Obama's successor but in light of the way the race is shaping up, that 1978 Miss Universe suddenly seems relevant. What, if anything, does this political equivalent of Miss Aprtheid-era South Africa portend?
For the last seven years, certain voices have worked assiduously to make sure that we knew who the enemy was; who it was who hated America; who was trying to 'fundamentally remake America’ in ways that were unamerican. Over these last years, those and other voices have also eschewed the more delicate approach of using dog whistles and have gone straight for bellowing the dog's name at the top of their lungs. Now that the dog is coming galloping at us, and folk are getting a little nervous. The dog is very large and seems unpredictable, rabid even.
Until not too long ago, I had thought that the successor to the first Black president of the US would be someone reasonable. I'd thought that after eight years of cerebral leadership, we'd move on to another clear-thinking person. I thought that both sides would field candidates who would talk to the populace as though we were intelligent, informed voters. Boy was I wrong. Instead, it's looking increasingly like it's going to be another first Black Miss Universe crowning an Apartheid-era Miss South Africa situation.
Until fairly recently, I hadn't really thought too long or hard about President Obama's successor but in light of the way the race is shaping up, that 1978 Miss Universe suddenly seems relevant. What, if anything, does this political equivalent of Miss Aprtheid-era South Africa portend?
For the last seven years, certain voices have worked assiduously to make sure that we knew who the enemy was; who it was who hated America; who was trying to 'fundamentally remake America’ in ways that were unamerican. Over these last years, those and other voices have also eschewed the more delicate approach of using dog whistles and have gone straight for bellowing the dog's name at the top of their lungs. Now that the dog is coming galloping at us, and folk are getting a little nervous. The dog is very large and seems unpredictable, rabid even.
Until not too long ago, I had thought that the successor to the first Black president of the US would be someone reasonable. I'd thought that after eight years of cerebral leadership, we'd move on to another clear-thinking person. I thought that both sides would field candidates who would talk to the populace as though we were intelligent, informed voters. Boy was I wrong. Instead, it's looking increasingly like it's going to be another first Black Miss Universe crowning an Apartheid-era Miss South Africa situation.
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| Miss Universe 1977 crowns Miss Universe 1978 |
So now, here we are. Where exactly is 'here' I'm not sure. I'm still waiting for my intestines to settle. I've wept, for myself, for this nation, for the planet. And now, I wait to find my footing in this Brave New Trumpian World. Stand by. Be ready. Brace yourself. More to come.
This kind of outcome is not new. It's happened before and until we get some things sorted out, it'll happen again. And again. And again. It's just a restoration of the 'natural order of things'. Carry on.
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