Faux Fu

Friday, July 19, 2013

Questlove is Not a Scary Black Man!

Empathy - "the ability to share and understand the feelings of another." Not so easy.  You look around at the coming and goings, the doings, of your fellow human beings and you see lots of "lack of empathy."

And this leads to (as Bob Marley once said), "So much trouble in the world."

This essay by QuestLove in reaction to the Trayvon Martin verdict is quite the eye and head and heart opener. Questlove is a musician who seems to have it all. He plays in the Roots, Jimmy Fallon's house band, he's a DJ about town, definitely one of the coolest of the cool right now in the music world.

He also happens to be a 300 pound, 6 foot 2 black man, with a impressive afro.  And he details how his world is all about trying not to make other people "uncomfortable."  Seems many people don't see an accomplished musician, an amazing creative force when they see Questlove out and about in the world, but instead a "scary black man," a threatening presence.

A heart-breaking look inside an amazing human being, who is often judged only by how he looks.  Lack of empathy. It's a killer.

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