BOB DAVIS
Much of what we discuss on Soul-Patrol is the whole concept of “going out” to of course see a live show.
We always encourage that. We think that is the best way to experience music. To go out. And to experience it live.
-Much better than via recordings.
-Much better than via the internet.
-Much better than via headphones.
Not only is the musical experience an enhanced one, but the social experience is enhanced.
And that means going out. Venturing beyond the relative safety of your home in order to experience not only the music at it’s best, but to also in some ways to experience people at their best.
Much of what I have written over the years relative to the live concert experience involved the “bookends” to that experience:
-Getting there
-Getting back home
Sometimes those two “bookends” of the concert experience are even more important in reality than the music.
-Especially when you are young.
-Especially when you are Black.
As a part of my concert reviews you have read me discuss “going out and coming back home” parts of the concert review as a major part of the review. I have talked about everything from the trials and tribulations of dealing with traffic, finding gas stations, finding parking, using mass transit, rude venue employees, racist door policies, racist PR & Security people, encounters with the police and more as a part of concert reviews.
Some of you hate when I do that. However the whole “going out and coming back home” parts of the concert is many times more important than the music itself at the end of the night.
I’ve been “going out and coming back home” nearly every Friday/Saturday night since I was about 15 years old. To a house party, a club, a concert or sometimes all three in the same night for most of my life. And doing so has always carried with it an element of danger.
-Especially when you are young.
-Especially when you are Black.
Never, ever in all of those years, have I ever thought that it was a requirement for me to have to augment the “getting there/getting home” part of the live music experience by carrying a weapon, in order to secure my own personal safety.
In fact whenever I was with a group of people “getting there/getting home” and I discovered that someone had a weapon, I would become upset. So upset in fact that there are a few broths out there who are still mad at me to this day for putting them out of my car and leaving them stranded when I learned that they had a weapon. I have always felt that someone having a gun is going to bring trouble to me.
I have always felt that if you need a weapon in order to go somewhere, maybe, just maybe your best course of action is to simply not go there. Better to just stay home.
-Especially when you are young.
-Especially when you are Black.
On this evening I have begun to feel differently. On this evening I find myself thinking that perhaps the NRA is correct. On this evening I find myself thinking that if I had a son, I might encourage him to start wearing a gun. On this evening I find myself thinking that I might encourage all young Black men to start carrying guns.
On this evening I find myself thinking that I would also encourage those young Black men to make the decision to shoot quickly.
Cuz it’s all about “self-defense.”
I don’t know much about the details of the George Zimmerman case. About the only thing that I do know about the case, is that Trayvon Martin isn’t supposed to be dead.
On this evening I have come to the conclusion that apparently in the state of Florida, the only way that Trayvon Martin would still be alive today, is if he had either:
-Stayed home.
-Or had a gun and shot Zimmerman as soon as he saw him.
And so it seems that in 2013 and if you live in the state of Florida, if you want to leave your house you better have a gun with you at all times and you had better shoot to kill quickly if you want to stay alive.
-Especially when you are young.
-Especially when you are Black.
-Especially when confronted by the Zimmerman’s of this world.
Cuz it’s all about “self-defense.”
On this evening, that is what I would tell my son.
Because the most important part about “going out,” is to make sure that “you come back home.”
Bob Davis is co-founder of soul-patrol.com. He can be reached at earthjuice@prodigy.net.
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