Episode 11: "The Ancestors Woke Me Up" feat. Leroy Moore
Leroy, a dark skinned Black man is seated while looking off to the side. He is wearing a black tuxedo with a velvet maroon vest and matching bowtie.
|
POWER NOT PITY's reached the Season Finale, and this one ends on a really high note and is featuring Leroy Moore.
Leroy F. Moore, noted activist and poet and founder of Krip-Hop Nation (a global platform for disabled musicians) comes on the show to talk krip-hop and what his Black disabled ancestors mean to him. This episode takes a deep dive into his latest book, "Black Disabled Ancestors". I weave narration of two of his stories into our interview and I have to say it was quite magical to have spent time with Leroy's recreations of what it would be like if his ancestors reached across space and time to meet each other. |
POWER NOT PITY
A podcast for disabled people of color everywhereWelcome to POWER NOT PITY, a podcast that centers and celebrates the lived experiences of disabled people of color. Season 2 is here and it's better than ever!
This time around, the show will spend time exploring the worlds of people in our community who dare to interrogate the dominant narrative of what survival feels like for a disabled person of color during these trying times. They all demonstrate what it means to thrive fully and authentically. Let's dismantle ableism by listening to each other's stories. |
|
TRANSCRIPT OF EPISODE 11
"THE ANCESTORS WOKE ME UP"
FEAT. LEROY MOORE
(The podcast theme chant comes in) Power power power not pity pity pity power power power not pity pity pity.
BRI's Opening Commentary: Alright, alright, alright! Welcome to the show! I'm Bri M., host of this little here podcast and this show is all about making space for disabled people of color to share their stories. And what is story I've got for you my dear community, What a story! Before I begin, I'd like to offer space to my newest Patreon subscribers Anna Kull, Whitney M., Corie Walsh and Valerie Moore. That last patron is my mama y'all. She's finally come around to my patreon! (chuckles) If you dear listener, but like extra access to the show, visit my Patreon account! That's patreon.com slash power not pity. This episode features long time Disability Justice Advocate, activist and writer Leroy F Moore jr. As the founder of Krip Hop Nation, which is a platform for disabled musicians, he has firmly secured the place of disability culture and Hip-Hop since the days when hip-hop really started gaining popularity as a legit music genre and outlet of expression. He has created many singles with other Krip Hop Nation artists from all over the world and continues to write at a prolific pace including poetry, a children's book called Black Disabled Art History 101 and a graphic novel: Krip Hop graphic novel issue one: brown disabled young woman superhero brings disability Justice to hip-hop.
You got to get those y'all, they are so dope! Leroy is a World Builder, a political agitator, an international social justice Warrior, and if he would have me: a friend. So I decided to try something a little different with this episode. Leroy's latest book, Black Disabled Ancestors, struck me with such beauty I decided I just had to share it with you throughout this episode. I'll be reading clips from two stories that tell the history of a few of Leroy's black disabled ancestors. They also offer a picture of what it would be like if these ancestors reached across space and time to meet each other. So please don't judge me too harshly because I'm making my acting debut!
So let's get into it!
Story One: (Bri narrates)
"The conversation: Jim Crow and Porgy come back to chop it up."
We are not fiction. We were reality, your present, and your future.
The year is 2020 and Porgy AKA Samuel Smalls and Jim Crow AKA Jim Cuff rise from their graves screaming: "We are not fiction. We were reality and your future."
Their souls couldn't rest as they watched from Heaven the status of black disabled men in the year 2020. Both knew about each other's lives and had been talking in the afterlife. Both have come back in spirit to have a conversation on what they had been through and what is happening to Black disabled men since their death and what the future of black disabled men could be.
Samuel and Jim are limping to a table with a white cloth over it and two big Royal silver chairs in the middle of an empty Street of Downtown Oakland, California as their eyes meet three blocks away from city hall both black disabled men fully clothed in the fashion of their days. They acknowledge each other with mixed emotions that you can see through their body movements, facial expressions and their eyes as they got closer and closer the weather turned from a humid 80 degrees to raining. Their black disabled bodies hugged each other and it seemed like time stopped.
As they backed away, they noticed the people of the city were sitting all around them. They limped backwards to their big silver Royal chairs covered by white cloth. As they took their seats, the sun was beaming down and all eyes were on them. Their cries bounced off downtown buildings, then dry silence. Their eyes locked on each other like they were alone.
Once again both cried out: "We are not fiction. We were reality your present and your future."
Jim Crow sat back in the huge silver Royal chair that almost swallowed his thin elderly body while Porgy barely fit his muscle-bound body into the chair. Jim Crow softly spoke: Both of us were robbed of our names, lives, and stories by white men while they got rich off of our names, talents, and stories. We died in poverty and now people don't know the real story.
Porgy, shaking his head agreeing, he shouted with laughter, "ha ha ha! we were the original oppressors of ID theft or cultural appropriation or Erasure. Any way you name it, back then we didn't have a voice or disability rights or disability Justice and no platforms like Krip Hop Nation and Poor Magazine. Shit at least in my fiction life, I Got a Woman, Bess. But now all I see are single black disabled men."
The table shook and Jim Crow stood up, punching the sky while saying, "I tried to warn the Black community at the time that a white man offered me money for my clothes and I even taught him how to do my dance, but nobody listened as I saw my name go from stages to courtrooms. I was shouting but I was seen as a crazy old disabled black man with limited English!
Jim Crow cried while consistently pushing up in his Royal Silver Chair.
"Yeah, what is this hip-hop appropriation BS. Both of us got the real stories!" Porgy busted out.
"Has time changed since George Gershwin stole my story. I mean even back then the Black community didn't want a Black disabled man representing the Black community. This hush-hush is still going on. Come on! Porgy's body expanded at each word, he let out.
(Bri sings) "Hey Big Man Porgy, have we benefited from integration..."
"I mean at least back in our days we had black owned businesses colleges media and even institutions, although we black disabled people or most of the times left out." Jim sang a Spoken Word Song in his old fashioned folk.
Porgy slammed his cane on the table and everybody covered their ears. "Hell, yeah, we benefited and lost at the same time!"
Porgy leaned back in his chair and started to moan like he was trying to bring back blues singer Blind Willie Johnson with Magic Johnson's smile.
(Bri moans musically) Mmm-mmm-mmm-mmm.
"Remember, we watched the progress, parents movement, and the disability rights movement from heaven. Hell Jim, we saw the Disability Arts Movement and even Black disability movement. Although it is slow and not supported by our own black community"
Porgy frowned as he spoke while rocking back and forth in his tight chair.
Once again tears flooded City Hall's Courtyard as Porgy and Jim Crow sang in harmony:
(Bri sings) What happened to our Black disabled brothers?
(end of story)
BRI (commentary): So who is Porgy who is Jim Crow? And what's their significance to Leroy? He told me that Porgy was the first black disabled man. He has seen on TV when he was younger. Jim Crow was a person he learned about much later in life. And he had a profound effect on Leroy and you know, what as I was reading this first story. I realized that what Porgy and Jim were doing while they were communicating was actually a cypher in their own way.
So what's a cypher? it's a magical place where Rappers and hip-hop fans, they gather to show off their talents. So here's what Leroy has to say about this unique way to express and connect with other like-minded hip-hop heads:
LEROY: Growing up in New York at the time hip-hop was on the corner. Yeah. So I lived in Manhattan, but I would go up to the Bronx, cuz that's where it was poppin'.
BRI: Yeah, BX all day!
LEROY: Yeah, exactly! Exactly! (laughs) You know, here I am with my walker, clip clip clip (making sounds of a walker) on the way to the cypher! It was amazing, it was really amazing, cuz you saw everybody there. You know you saw, women on the mic, you know, I saw people breakdancing with crutches, it was so open. it was open. It was amazing. Yeah amazing times.
BRI: Yeah, I just feel like hip-hop right now is a different, whole different vibe because it's commodified right? It's not it's not what it originally was because it's no longer like community-oriented.
LEROY: Not in the US, you know you go outside of the US and hop-hop is really community.
That's why I love I love Krip-Hop cuz it is so international. I used to see that when I traveled a lot. You know, I saw it in the UK, I saw it in Spain, I saw it in all these places with radical politics you know?
BRI: Tell me about what it was like in South Africa, because I remember you were down there, right?
LEROY: Yes, 2016, 2017. Yeah.
BRI: So what's the cypher like out there?
LEROY: Oh my God! So the first artist that came in had no legs and he was bustin' it! I was like yeah! Damn! I like this!
BRI: (laughs) That's awesome!
LEROY: Like yeah, it was a mixture of like traditional music and Hip-hop music, traditional dance and Hip-hop dance. It was just amazing!
Oh my gosh, it was so funny, oh! So I get off the plane, I get off the plane, and Simon (Leroy's friend)... Simon has a newspaper, he lives in South Africa, he has a newspaper for artists with disabilities and he has the politics. So he comes and picks me up and we had a little time to kill before we go to the hotel or something. And I was like I saw the TV I was like wow. There is not one white person on this TV.
BRI: Yo, that's what it's like in Jamaica! I love it.
LEROY: Wow, I was so hypnotized! Simon's like, what are you doing? You're just watching TV? We got work to do!
BRI: (Laughs loudly)
LEROY: (laughs) It's it's interesting, we got pulled over by a cop!! It was like wow I'm in South Africa and I'm getting profiled by a cop! Wow. It's like some things don't change!
BRI: (commentary) Yeah, I guess things really don't change when it comes to the police, huh? Racism still persists regardless of what country you're in and Black disabled men are disproportionately affected by police brutality, but Black disabled women get targeted too. Let's not forget their names. Nowhere is this more clear than in the stories of Eleanor Bumpers and Korryn Gaines. Here is Leroy's account of what it might look like if they met each other in Times Square.
(The song "The Whip" by Krip-Hop Nation artist Kounterclockwise plays for 15 seconds)
LYRICS:
When they say WHIP,
Leaving welts on your back with mind control, time to drown us rats.
When they say WHIP,
Trying to us Black. We've sold our souls for the money and crack.
When they say WHIP,
Well I guess that's it when it's hand over fist. This life's a B***#!
When they say WHIP,
While the cops on the street put your hands in cuffs on your knees beggin please.
Profiled by the beast, if your skin ain't bleached, be discreet or get beat.
(music fades out)
Story Four: (Bri narrates)
Eleanor Bumpers and Korryn Gaines come back to talk about black and blue left on their Black disabled bodies by the police
Times Square stood Still as two women figures walked hand in hand into what looked like a huge boxing ring. Then the boxing ring shot up in the air like ten feet off the ground with them in it. Both women looked down and around and all eyes were looking up on them. For the first time Eleanor and Korryn took time to really notice each other and they gasped at the same time.
Both women looked stunning in the face. However, their bodies were nothing but bullet holes and when they noticed, tears rolled down their beautiful faces and somehow made them stronger.
Times Square was packed with newcomers to the city, young 20-somethings, who had no clue what happened to Eleanor or Korryn.
"I was shot by NYPD and my own apartment before most of you was even born!" Eleanor stumped her walker as she shouted.
Everybody tensed up and it was so quiet. You could hear the crowd breathe in harmony like a Sunday Baptist choir then out of the Blue, Eleanor screams: "There was no #SayHerName or Black Lives Matter back in the 80s, but my son told me a young Black disabled boy tried to contact him. He was too torn up and ashamed to answer his letters. I heard he is in Berkeley, still fighting police brutality against people with disabilities!"
Her words smack people's faces, like ice cold water. The crowd grew by the second with real true New Yorkers, the elderly who new Bumpers' story and who lived in her apartment complex, but now are homeless because of gentrification. They made a circle around the 20-somethings like they were taking over. Eleanor felt good, like the crowd had her back.
"I miss my son. I hope he got some therapy because he saw everything." Korryn stood straight up with a long rifle by her side. "I was just coming into my disability and was reading more and more about Disability Justice. It looked and was revolutionary like me. The writings of Patty Berne turned my view on disability. It was so sad to see that BLM and even Me Too aren't recognizing her work.
Both ladies sang:
(Bri sings) you have much learned my sisters or do we call you are sisters...
They were on the same wavelength as both shouted:
(Bri shouts) "Our Black disabled sisters need you, don't you see their struggles and art?"
Thunder and lightning lit up Times Square as the stage the two women were on lowered slightly and the crowd got closer. Eleanor raised her walker and shouted:
Listen to Krip Hop Nation when they said police training is nothing new, and don't give police more money! Get that straight because NYPD said the same thing after they killed me on October 29th, 1984.
Korryn lowered her head and shouted with her hand cuddling her head, "Same excuse after the popo killed me on August 1st 2016 in my own home, like you Eleanor, but my son, my baby was right there in the same room. He was only five years old at the time!"
Eleanor bent down and gently raises Korryn's head up. "This. This is our chance. We must talk to the crowd. Eye to eye!"
"Now we got your attention. You must be yourself, all yourself, including your disability. Make sure people are seeing all of you! We, Eleanor and I, will guide you from above to deal with ableist, sexist, racist, and classist structures. Let us guide you, knowing that sometimes you can't wait for advice and need to find your own way."
(End of Story Four, interview resumes)
BRI: What was that feeling like when you when you would sit down, you would write and you'd say okay. This is not about me anymore?
LEROY: The ancestors woke me up, they said "Leroy write our stories", you know? From Harriet Tubman to Jim Crow to Robert Winters, I mean they all visited me, like, Leroy, you gotta write this story. I mean, really, like 2 o clock in the morning I had to get up and write. That book was the first time, it was something else. It wasn't me, you know?
It's funny because now that the book is out, they don't visit me as much anymore. I was like, aw I miss you guys! You gotta come back! I was like, Come back, I've got more questions (laughs). So that book was just incredible.
BRI: (commentary) Yes, I love that the spirit of Porgy and Jim and Eleanor and Korryn influenced Leroy to write about our ancestors meeting in the present day. I'm a firm believer in the idea of looking back to the past to guide you towards the future. So here's Leroy talking about some radical changes that he would want to see happen in an accessible future.
LEROY: Radical changes, Oh my God, I would love to see with Poor Magazine and other places, you know, the end of police. I would like to see Black disabled people take their rightful stage in the Black community-- like I said coming back home. (chuckles) Can you imagine that all these Black disabled people that work for white disabled organizations come back home and work in the community. That would change everything. That would change everything.
That and Black disability studies.Yeah, so things like that, just radical Black and brown disability living well beyond these structures. You know, having our lives supported without fighting the government every year, but you know, on SSI cuts and all that stuff, you know, making sure that we get married, you know, if you want to. Disabled people right now can't get married because their benefits will get cut. So things like that, and and globally I think that's where I'm hitting I'm hitting next.
Well, I think Krip-Hop is there already but I that's where my my work is going to go next. Let's just have a global global Black disability get together.
BRI: Here's my last question for you. It's something that I usually ask everyone on the show. What's your disabled power?
LEROY: Yeah, my disabled power is my ancestors and the work that they have done throughout the decades and centuries before I was even born. It's a foundation that I've been here and I will always be here as a Black disabled person. So that gives me power and that gives me a solid foundation that no one can shake, not even capitalism.
You know, and keeping this solid foundation matter of fact, Krip-hop is about to you know have a solid foundation for the future to come. So we are putting together an LLC for Krip-Hop. We're also discussing a Krip-Hop Institute, you know, where Black disabled people can come and see themselves and participate. You know, so...
BRI: Wonderful. Is there anything else that you want to tell me?
LEROY: Just be a lookout for a lot of stuff coming up in 2021. My book "For You Black Disabled Young Man" is coming out under SoulfulMediaWorks, so we're really looking forward to that. And the Krip-Hop Institute, it's coming. Hopefully next year, I'll be at UCLA, so I'll be knocking on your door.
BRI: Yeah. Yeah, definitely, you know, when you when you get there you can always knock on my door and we'll go to the beach!
BRI'S ENDING COMMENTARY:
Well that’s it community! I hope you enjoyed this one, I had a lot of fun dreaming up the soundscapes of each story and geeking out on finding the right song for each part! I also learned a lot about my ancestors while doing the research for the interview. I took the time to educate myself about the Black disabled people in my Jamaican and American ancestral lines, the ones who were determined to make space for Black people to be free. I relearned about disabled musicians like Bob Marley and Yellowman to freedom fighters like Nanny of the Maroons and of course Harriet Tubman. I got chills working on this one because it felt so so personal, new but old at the same time. I decided to sing for the first time on this podcast, which was super personal for me. I think Leroy’s stories opened up a portal for me… and they led me to a place where I was able to dream about freedom. I hope this episode gave you a little chance to freedom dream as well.
Bigup to two musicians made their way into this episode: Dodgy C and Giomilko offered up the blues riffs in the commentary and I also included music from Krip-Hop Nation artist: Kounterclockwise. His track “The Whip” was the bridge that led into Eleanor and Korryn’s story.
Black Disabled Ancestors can be found at www.poorpress.net along with all his other publications. You can find him under the name Leroy F. Moore on Facebook and as blackkrip on Instagram. That’s krip with a K, if you don’t know.
If you dear listener, enjoyed this episode and want an extra slice of show goodies like a shout out on the show and early access to clips? Check out my Patreon account! That’s Patreon.com/powernotpity.
There’s no other way I could end this episode without a performance from Leroy himself. Here’s the last song to the story of Jim Crow and Porgy’s cypher called “The Real Jim Crow”. I hope you enjoy.
THE REAL JIM CROW
Jim Crow Jim Jim Jim Crow
Jim Crow Jim Jim Jim Crow
Jim Crow Jim Jim Jim Crow
Jim Crow Jim Jim Jim Crow
Jim Crow Jim Jim Jim Crow
Will the real Jim Crow please limp up
You were more than just policy
Just dancing in your community
Theft of your identity
Some say you were a myth
Elderly Black disabled man just gone poof
White Man took your clothes and dance moves
To the stages and the courtrooms
Institutionalize you
But what happened to you
Your full name
Jim Crow or some claimed Jim Cuff
People wrote you were lame
You were an African slave
Your song and dance twisted
Displayed how Blacks behaved
People came from far & near
to watch & hear
As people emulate &got paid
While you, the person in history fade
Now people speak your name
But not the person
They should be ashamed
Passing down incomplete stories
we'll never know the real Jim Crow
This is Black disabled history
Just like the real Porgy
Jim Crow died in poverty
From minstrel shows to Hip-Hop shows
The dance inventor that we still don't know
Myth or fact
I won't let you go
Keep on dancing & singing
The real Jim Crow
Jim Crow Jim Jim Jim Crow
Jim Crow Jim Jim Jim Crow
Jim Crow Jim Jim Jim Crow
Jim Crow Jim Jim Jim Crow
Jim Crow Jim Jim Jim Crow
"THE ANCESTORS WOKE ME UP"
FEAT. LEROY MOORE
(The podcast theme chant comes in) Power power power not pity pity pity power power power not pity pity pity.
BRI's Opening Commentary: Alright, alright, alright! Welcome to the show! I'm Bri M., host of this little here podcast and this show is all about making space for disabled people of color to share their stories. And what is story I've got for you my dear community, What a story! Before I begin, I'd like to offer space to my newest Patreon subscribers Anna Kull, Whitney M., Corie Walsh and Valerie Moore. That last patron is my mama y'all. She's finally come around to my patreon! (chuckles) If you dear listener, but like extra access to the show, visit my Patreon account! That's patreon.com slash power not pity. This episode features long time Disability Justice Advocate, activist and writer Leroy F Moore jr. As the founder of Krip Hop Nation, which is a platform for disabled musicians, he has firmly secured the place of disability culture and Hip-Hop since the days when hip-hop really started gaining popularity as a legit music genre and outlet of expression. He has created many singles with other Krip Hop Nation artists from all over the world and continues to write at a prolific pace including poetry, a children's book called Black Disabled Art History 101 and a graphic novel: Krip Hop graphic novel issue one: brown disabled young woman superhero brings disability Justice to hip-hop.
You got to get those y'all, they are so dope! Leroy is a World Builder, a political agitator, an international social justice Warrior, and if he would have me: a friend. So I decided to try something a little different with this episode. Leroy's latest book, Black Disabled Ancestors, struck me with such beauty I decided I just had to share it with you throughout this episode. I'll be reading clips from two stories that tell the history of a few of Leroy's black disabled ancestors. They also offer a picture of what it would be like if these ancestors reached across space and time to meet each other. So please don't judge me too harshly because I'm making my acting debut!
So let's get into it!
Story One: (Bri narrates)
"The conversation: Jim Crow and Porgy come back to chop it up."
We are not fiction. We were reality, your present, and your future.
The year is 2020 and Porgy AKA Samuel Smalls and Jim Crow AKA Jim Cuff rise from their graves screaming: "We are not fiction. We were reality and your future."
Their souls couldn't rest as they watched from Heaven the status of black disabled men in the year 2020. Both knew about each other's lives and had been talking in the afterlife. Both have come back in spirit to have a conversation on what they had been through and what is happening to Black disabled men since their death and what the future of black disabled men could be.
Samuel and Jim are limping to a table with a white cloth over it and two big Royal silver chairs in the middle of an empty Street of Downtown Oakland, California as their eyes meet three blocks away from city hall both black disabled men fully clothed in the fashion of their days. They acknowledge each other with mixed emotions that you can see through their body movements, facial expressions and their eyes as they got closer and closer the weather turned from a humid 80 degrees to raining. Their black disabled bodies hugged each other and it seemed like time stopped.
As they backed away, they noticed the people of the city were sitting all around them. They limped backwards to their big silver Royal chairs covered by white cloth. As they took their seats, the sun was beaming down and all eyes were on them. Their cries bounced off downtown buildings, then dry silence. Their eyes locked on each other like they were alone.
Once again both cried out: "We are not fiction. We were reality your present and your future."
Jim Crow sat back in the huge silver Royal chair that almost swallowed his thin elderly body while Porgy barely fit his muscle-bound body into the chair. Jim Crow softly spoke: Both of us were robbed of our names, lives, and stories by white men while they got rich off of our names, talents, and stories. We died in poverty and now people don't know the real story.
Porgy, shaking his head agreeing, he shouted with laughter, "ha ha ha! we were the original oppressors of ID theft or cultural appropriation or Erasure. Any way you name it, back then we didn't have a voice or disability rights or disability Justice and no platforms like Krip Hop Nation and Poor Magazine. Shit at least in my fiction life, I Got a Woman, Bess. But now all I see are single black disabled men."
The table shook and Jim Crow stood up, punching the sky while saying, "I tried to warn the Black community at the time that a white man offered me money for my clothes and I even taught him how to do my dance, but nobody listened as I saw my name go from stages to courtrooms. I was shouting but I was seen as a crazy old disabled black man with limited English!
Jim Crow cried while consistently pushing up in his Royal Silver Chair.
"Yeah, what is this hip-hop appropriation BS. Both of us got the real stories!" Porgy busted out.
"Has time changed since George Gershwin stole my story. I mean even back then the Black community didn't want a Black disabled man representing the Black community. This hush-hush is still going on. Come on! Porgy's body expanded at each word, he let out.
(Bri sings) "Hey Big Man Porgy, have we benefited from integration..."
"I mean at least back in our days we had black owned businesses colleges media and even institutions, although we black disabled people or most of the times left out." Jim sang a Spoken Word Song in his old fashioned folk.
Porgy slammed his cane on the table and everybody covered their ears. "Hell, yeah, we benefited and lost at the same time!"
Porgy leaned back in his chair and started to moan like he was trying to bring back blues singer Blind Willie Johnson with Magic Johnson's smile.
(Bri moans musically) Mmm-mmm-mmm-mmm.
"Remember, we watched the progress, parents movement, and the disability rights movement from heaven. Hell Jim, we saw the Disability Arts Movement and even Black disability movement. Although it is slow and not supported by our own black community"
Porgy frowned as he spoke while rocking back and forth in his tight chair.
Once again tears flooded City Hall's Courtyard as Porgy and Jim Crow sang in harmony:
(Bri sings) What happened to our Black disabled brothers?
(end of story)
BRI (commentary): So who is Porgy who is Jim Crow? And what's their significance to Leroy? He told me that Porgy was the first black disabled man. He has seen on TV when he was younger. Jim Crow was a person he learned about much later in life. And he had a profound effect on Leroy and you know, what as I was reading this first story. I realized that what Porgy and Jim were doing while they were communicating was actually a cypher in their own way.
So what's a cypher? it's a magical place where Rappers and hip-hop fans, they gather to show off their talents. So here's what Leroy has to say about this unique way to express and connect with other like-minded hip-hop heads:
LEROY: Growing up in New York at the time hip-hop was on the corner. Yeah. So I lived in Manhattan, but I would go up to the Bronx, cuz that's where it was poppin'.
BRI: Yeah, BX all day!
LEROY: Yeah, exactly! Exactly! (laughs) You know, here I am with my walker, clip clip clip (making sounds of a walker) on the way to the cypher! It was amazing, it was really amazing, cuz you saw everybody there. You know you saw, women on the mic, you know, I saw people breakdancing with crutches, it was so open. it was open. It was amazing. Yeah amazing times.
BRI: Yeah, I just feel like hip-hop right now is a different, whole different vibe because it's commodified right? It's not it's not what it originally was because it's no longer like community-oriented.
LEROY: Not in the US, you know you go outside of the US and hop-hop is really community.
That's why I love I love Krip-Hop cuz it is so international. I used to see that when I traveled a lot. You know, I saw it in the UK, I saw it in Spain, I saw it in all these places with radical politics you know?
BRI: Tell me about what it was like in South Africa, because I remember you were down there, right?
LEROY: Yes, 2016, 2017. Yeah.
BRI: So what's the cypher like out there?
LEROY: Oh my God! So the first artist that came in had no legs and he was bustin' it! I was like yeah! Damn! I like this!
BRI: (laughs) That's awesome!
LEROY: Like yeah, it was a mixture of like traditional music and Hip-hop music, traditional dance and Hip-hop dance. It was just amazing!
Oh my gosh, it was so funny, oh! So I get off the plane, I get off the plane, and Simon (Leroy's friend)... Simon has a newspaper, he lives in South Africa, he has a newspaper for artists with disabilities and he has the politics. So he comes and picks me up and we had a little time to kill before we go to the hotel or something. And I was like I saw the TV I was like wow. There is not one white person on this TV.
BRI: Yo, that's what it's like in Jamaica! I love it.
LEROY: Wow, I was so hypnotized! Simon's like, what are you doing? You're just watching TV? We got work to do!
BRI: (Laughs loudly)
LEROY: (laughs) It's it's interesting, we got pulled over by a cop!! It was like wow I'm in South Africa and I'm getting profiled by a cop! Wow. It's like some things don't change!
BRI: (commentary) Yeah, I guess things really don't change when it comes to the police, huh? Racism still persists regardless of what country you're in and Black disabled men are disproportionately affected by police brutality, but Black disabled women get targeted too. Let's not forget their names. Nowhere is this more clear than in the stories of Eleanor Bumpers and Korryn Gaines. Here is Leroy's account of what it might look like if they met each other in Times Square.
(The song "The Whip" by Krip-Hop Nation artist Kounterclockwise plays for 15 seconds)
LYRICS:
When they say WHIP,
Leaving welts on your back with mind control, time to drown us rats.
When they say WHIP,
Trying to us Black. We've sold our souls for the money and crack.
When they say WHIP,
Well I guess that's it when it's hand over fist. This life's a B***#!
When they say WHIP,
While the cops on the street put your hands in cuffs on your knees beggin please.
Profiled by the beast, if your skin ain't bleached, be discreet or get beat.
(music fades out)
Story Four: (Bri narrates)
Eleanor Bumpers and Korryn Gaines come back to talk about black and blue left on their Black disabled bodies by the police
Times Square stood Still as two women figures walked hand in hand into what looked like a huge boxing ring. Then the boxing ring shot up in the air like ten feet off the ground with them in it. Both women looked down and around and all eyes were looking up on them. For the first time Eleanor and Korryn took time to really notice each other and they gasped at the same time.
Both women looked stunning in the face. However, their bodies were nothing but bullet holes and when they noticed, tears rolled down their beautiful faces and somehow made them stronger.
Times Square was packed with newcomers to the city, young 20-somethings, who had no clue what happened to Eleanor or Korryn.
"I was shot by NYPD and my own apartment before most of you was even born!" Eleanor stumped her walker as she shouted.
Everybody tensed up and it was so quiet. You could hear the crowd breathe in harmony like a Sunday Baptist choir then out of the Blue, Eleanor screams: "There was no #SayHerName or Black Lives Matter back in the 80s, but my son told me a young Black disabled boy tried to contact him. He was too torn up and ashamed to answer his letters. I heard he is in Berkeley, still fighting police brutality against people with disabilities!"
Her words smack people's faces, like ice cold water. The crowd grew by the second with real true New Yorkers, the elderly who new Bumpers' story and who lived in her apartment complex, but now are homeless because of gentrification. They made a circle around the 20-somethings like they were taking over. Eleanor felt good, like the crowd had her back.
"I miss my son. I hope he got some therapy because he saw everything." Korryn stood straight up with a long rifle by her side. "I was just coming into my disability and was reading more and more about Disability Justice. It looked and was revolutionary like me. The writings of Patty Berne turned my view on disability. It was so sad to see that BLM and even Me Too aren't recognizing her work.
Both ladies sang:
(Bri sings) you have much learned my sisters or do we call you are sisters...
They were on the same wavelength as both shouted:
(Bri shouts) "Our Black disabled sisters need you, don't you see their struggles and art?"
Thunder and lightning lit up Times Square as the stage the two women were on lowered slightly and the crowd got closer. Eleanor raised her walker and shouted:
Listen to Krip Hop Nation when they said police training is nothing new, and don't give police more money! Get that straight because NYPD said the same thing after they killed me on October 29th, 1984.
Korryn lowered her head and shouted with her hand cuddling her head, "Same excuse after the popo killed me on August 1st 2016 in my own home, like you Eleanor, but my son, my baby was right there in the same room. He was only five years old at the time!"
Eleanor bent down and gently raises Korryn's head up. "This. This is our chance. We must talk to the crowd. Eye to eye!"
"Now we got your attention. You must be yourself, all yourself, including your disability. Make sure people are seeing all of you! We, Eleanor and I, will guide you from above to deal with ableist, sexist, racist, and classist structures. Let us guide you, knowing that sometimes you can't wait for advice and need to find your own way."
(End of Story Four, interview resumes)
BRI: What was that feeling like when you when you would sit down, you would write and you'd say okay. This is not about me anymore?
LEROY: The ancestors woke me up, they said "Leroy write our stories", you know? From Harriet Tubman to Jim Crow to Robert Winters, I mean they all visited me, like, Leroy, you gotta write this story. I mean, really, like 2 o clock in the morning I had to get up and write. That book was the first time, it was something else. It wasn't me, you know?
It's funny because now that the book is out, they don't visit me as much anymore. I was like, aw I miss you guys! You gotta come back! I was like, Come back, I've got more questions (laughs). So that book was just incredible.
BRI: (commentary) Yes, I love that the spirit of Porgy and Jim and Eleanor and Korryn influenced Leroy to write about our ancestors meeting in the present day. I'm a firm believer in the idea of looking back to the past to guide you towards the future. So here's Leroy talking about some radical changes that he would want to see happen in an accessible future.
LEROY: Radical changes, Oh my God, I would love to see with Poor Magazine and other places, you know, the end of police. I would like to see Black disabled people take their rightful stage in the Black community-- like I said coming back home. (chuckles) Can you imagine that all these Black disabled people that work for white disabled organizations come back home and work in the community. That would change everything. That would change everything.
That and Black disability studies.Yeah, so things like that, just radical Black and brown disability living well beyond these structures. You know, having our lives supported without fighting the government every year, but you know, on SSI cuts and all that stuff, you know, making sure that we get married, you know, if you want to. Disabled people right now can't get married because their benefits will get cut. So things like that, and and globally I think that's where I'm hitting I'm hitting next.
Well, I think Krip-Hop is there already but I that's where my my work is going to go next. Let's just have a global global Black disability get together.
BRI: Here's my last question for you. It's something that I usually ask everyone on the show. What's your disabled power?
LEROY: Yeah, my disabled power is my ancestors and the work that they have done throughout the decades and centuries before I was even born. It's a foundation that I've been here and I will always be here as a Black disabled person. So that gives me power and that gives me a solid foundation that no one can shake, not even capitalism.
You know, and keeping this solid foundation matter of fact, Krip-hop is about to you know have a solid foundation for the future to come. So we are putting together an LLC for Krip-Hop. We're also discussing a Krip-Hop Institute, you know, where Black disabled people can come and see themselves and participate. You know, so...
BRI: Wonderful. Is there anything else that you want to tell me?
LEROY: Just be a lookout for a lot of stuff coming up in 2021. My book "For You Black Disabled Young Man" is coming out under SoulfulMediaWorks, so we're really looking forward to that. And the Krip-Hop Institute, it's coming. Hopefully next year, I'll be at UCLA, so I'll be knocking on your door.
BRI: Yeah. Yeah, definitely, you know, when you when you get there you can always knock on my door and we'll go to the beach!
BRI'S ENDING COMMENTARY:
Well that’s it community! I hope you enjoyed this one, I had a lot of fun dreaming up the soundscapes of each story and geeking out on finding the right song for each part! I also learned a lot about my ancestors while doing the research for the interview. I took the time to educate myself about the Black disabled people in my Jamaican and American ancestral lines, the ones who were determined to make space for Black people to be free. I relearned about disabled musicians like Bob Marley and Yellowman to freedom fighters like Nanny of the Maroons and of course Harriet Tubman. I got chills working on this one because it felt so so personal, new but old at the same time. I decided to sing for the first time on this podcast, which was super personal for me. I think Leroy’s stories opened up a portal for me… and they led me to a place where I was able to dream about freedom. I hope this episode gave you a little chance to freedom dream as well.
Bigup to two musicians made their way into this episode: Dodgy C and Giomilko offered up the blues riffs in the commentary and I also included music from Krip-Hop Nation artist: Kounterclockwise. His track “The Whip” was the bridge that led into Eleanor and Korryn’s story.
Black Disabled Ancestors can be found at www.poorpress.net along with all his other publications. You can find him under the name Leroy F. Moore on Facebook and as blackkrip on Instagram. That’s krip with a K, if you don’t know.
If you dear listener, enjoyed this episode and want an extra slice of show goodies like a shout out on the show and early access to clips? Check out my Patreon account! That’s Patreon.com/powernotpity.
There’s no other way I could end this episode without a performance from Leroy himself. Here’s the last song to the story of Jim Crow and Porgy’s cypher called “The Real Jim Crow”. I hope you enjoy.
THE REAL JIM CROW
Jim Crow Jim Jim Jim Crow
Jim Crow Jim Jim Jim Crow
Jim Crow Jim Jim Jim Crow
Jim Crow Jim Jim Jim Crow
Jim Crow Jim Jim Jim Crow
Will the real Jim Crow please limp up
You were more than just policy
Just dancing in your community
Theft of your identity
Some say you were a myth
Elderly Black disabled man just gone poof
White Man took your clothes and dance moves
To the stages and the courtrooms
Institutionalize you
But what happened to you
Your full name
Jim Crow or some claimed Jim Cuff
People wrote you were lame
You were an African slave
Your song and dance twisted
Displayed how Blacks behaved
People came from far & near
to watch & hear
As people emulate &got paid
While you, the person in history fade
Now people speak your name
But not the person
They should be ashamed
Passing down incomplete stories
we'll never know the real Jim Crow
This is Black disabled history
Just like the real Porgy
Jim Crow died in poverty
From minstrel shows to Hip-Hop shows
The dance inventor that we still don't know
Myth or fact
I won't let you go
Keep on dancing & singing
The real Jim Crow
Jim Crow Jim Jim Jim Crow
Jim Crow Jim Jim Jim Crow
Jim Crow Jim Jim Jim Crow
Jim Crow Jim Jim Jim Crow
Jim Crow Jim Jim Jim Crow