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For black and brown people, achievement is a double-edged sword For black and brown people, achievement is a double-edged sword
(2 months later)
There was something almost poetic, while simultaneously heart-obliterating, that a hate crime against black and brown LGBTQ folks dancing and celebrating at a club called Pulse would coincide with a night full of pageantry centered on the genius and vitality of black and brown theater folk.There was something almost poetic, while simultaneously heart-obliterating, that a hate crime against black and brown LGBTQ folks dancing and celebrating at a club called Pulse would coincide with a night full of pageantry centered on the genius and vitality of black and brown theater folk.
It was all the more wrenching for being so unsurprising. Every time we have a “moment” when white America gets excited about the collective artistic talents of black and brown people, I feel conflicted. On the one hand, the acknowledgement is great, the accolades certainly well deserved, and the sheer joy of being swept up in the whirlwind of favorable consideration is intoxicating. For the first time this year, all four musical acting Tonys were awarded to actors of color, and Hamilton swept the evening. They emerged alive, feted and known.It was all the more wrenching for being so unsurprising. Every time we have a “moment” when white America gets excited about the collective artistic talents of black and brown people, I feel conflicted. On the one hand, the acknowledgement is great, the accolades certainly well deserved, and the sheer joy of being swept up in the whirlwind of favorable consideration is intoxicating. For the first time this year, all four musical acting Tonys were awarded to actors of color, and Hamilton swept the evening. They emerged alive, feted and known.
On the other hand, it’s almost impossible to believe that the focused appreciation will last, or that it’s ever truly real to begin with. Because every time we accomplish something extraordinary that garners appreciation and approval from mainstream America, we are being asked to trust a fundamentally untrustworthy source of ratification. Unlike the newest Tony winners, the beautiful 49 murdered amid shattered strobe lights, fleeing for their lives, praying for that next unpromised moment, did not survive.On the other hand, it’s almost impossible to believe that the focused appreciation will last, or that it’s ever truly real to begin with. Because every time we accomplish something extraordinary that garners appreciation and approval from mainstream America, we are being asked to trust a fundamentally untrustworthy source of ratification. Unlike the newest Tony winners, the beautiful 49 murdered amid shattered strobe lights, fleeing for their lives, praying for that next unpromised moment, did not survive.
Not surprisingly, the Orlando massacre clearly weighed on everyone’s mind during the Tonys on Sunday night. But as palpable was the exceptional resilience, compassion and solidarity offered by the Broadway community both in their performances and acceptance speeches. The theater is a longstanding ally and safe haven for the LGBTQ community. Almost every winner devoted their speeches to the victims in Orlando.Not surprisingly, the Orlando massacre clearly weighed on everyone’s mind during the Tonys on Sunday night. But as palpable was the exceptional resilience, compassion and solidarity offered by the Broadway community both in their performances and acceptance speeches. The theater is a longstanding ally and safe haven for the LGBTQ community. Almost every winner devoted their speeches to the victims in Orlando.
This tragic parallelism reveals America, yet again, to be a country born out of paradox – founded on freedom and built on slavery, we have emerged as a dichotomous nation with only the extraordinarily wealthy and the exceedingly poor. We’re a country that boasts constitutional human rights but can’t come together on the fact that human is human is human, no matter whether we pee standing up or sitting down, sleep with men or women or both, choose to have an abortion or to kneel with our heads to the ground when we honor our god.This tragic parallelism reveals America, yet again, to be a country born out of paradox – founded on freedom and built on slavery, we have emerged as a dichotomous nation with only the extraordinarily wealthy and the exceedingly poor. We’re a country that boasts constitutional human rights but can’t come together on the fact that human is human is human, no matter whether we pee standing up or sitting down, sleep with men or women or both, choose to have an abortion or to kneel with our heads to the ground when we honor our god.
And finally, we have risen as a nation with the audacity to call itself a global leader but cannot – no: will not – enforce gun control that would prevent United States citizens from being able to purchase assault weapons.And finally, we have risen as a nation with the audacity to call itself a global leader but cannot – no: will not – enforce gun control that would prevent United States citizens from being able to purchase assault weapons.
What is both genius and devastating about Hamilton is that it rewrites the history of our white founding fathers through the lens of black and brown Americans. How stirring it is to see and imagine the decisions being made by a black and brown leadership: “Look around, look around, how lucky we are to be alive right now.”What is both genius and devastating about Hamilton is that it rewrites the history of our white founding fathers through the lens of black and brown Americans. How stirring it is to see and imagine the decisions being made by a black and brown leadership: “Look around, look around, how lucky we are to be alive right now.”
Fast forward two and a half centuries, how poignant that lyric and sentiment is – because for black and brown America, there will always be the sense that we are lucky to be alive right now. To be sure, the massacre in Orlando was a hate crime against the LGBTQ community, but their identity is intertwined with the color of their skin.Fast forward two and a half centuries, how poignant that lyric and sentiment is – because for black and brown America, there will always be the sense that we are lucky to be alive right now. To be sure, the massacre in Orlando was a hate crime against the LGBTQ community, but their identity is intertwined with the color of their skin.
Related: Queer Muslims exist – and we are in mourning too
A few days out from both the massacre and the Tonys, America is still raw and grieving the former, quietly celebratory about the latter. One wonders how the country would be different today if were founded in the black and brown image of Lin Manuel-Miranda’s creation. In the end, Alexander Hamilton and the founding fathers of America, however brilliantly and charismatically embodied by the actors who swept the awards, were still white men who made a country where in 2016 black and brown folks are still not safe, no matter how lucky we feel to be alive right now.A few days out from both the massacre and the Tonys, America is still raw and grieving the former, quietly celebratory about the latter. One wonders how the country would be different today if were founded in the black and brown image of Lin Manuel-Miranda’s creation. In the end, Alexander Hamilton and the founding fathers of America, however brilliantly and charismatically embodied by the actors who swept the awards, were still white men who made a country where in 2016 black and brown folks are still not safe, no matter how lucky we feel to be alive right now.