Why The National Black Arts Festival Matters

I attended the the screening of "Diary of a Decade-History of Funk Jazz Cafe" last night and was floored.

The movie was less about Funk Jazz as it was about the death of Black Music. It was a fascinating trip down memory lane for me because Funk Jazz was the very first party I went to when I first arrived in Atlanta.

I was taken aback because I simply did not know that Southerners could party this way. It was an explosion of Blackness, in all its beautiful sprituality and out right sensuality.

But back to the screening. The documentary has many different voices but the one that stuck out to me was Jamal Ahmad, top-rated DJ on 91.9 FM WCLK.

Listen to what he says about the death of black music and you will be amazed at how far we have slid. "Robin Thicke and Joss Stone are being sold as the King and Queen of Soul."

Go see this documentary tonight at the Rialto Theatre at 7pm. Note to Jason Orr, director of the documentary, DO NOT TRIM OR CUT OUT ANYTHING.

Next up: Friday night, The O'Jays.

Now if this concert is anything like last year's Salute to Curtis Mayfield, then we are in for a treat.

The O'Jays are what The Diary says has died—Soul Music. So if you want to contribute to the death of the only truly American Music, stay home Friday night in the confines of your comfortable home, listen to Wacka Flocka, watch "Basketball Wives" with the kids and continue to slaughter the very notion of what it means to be Black.

However, if you want to enjoy a rich history of Black music, then head to the Atlanta Symphony Hall Friday evening and salute the O'Jays and enjoy yourself. At the end of the day, if Soul Music dies, it will not be killed by others but instead it was killed by us.

The NBAF matters and I love all who have volunteered, worked for and supported it.