Terrific elegy for James Brown by T.S. Ellis in The Nation:
Not the first to smack-your-bitch-upThat's an excerpt. To read the whole thing, subscribe here.
and stick-it-to-the-man,
but the first to smack-your-bitch-up,
stick-it-to-the-man,
fine your band, tour Vietnam,
serve two drummers,
fire your band, tour Africa,
save the Boston Garden, endorse Nixon,
rehire your band, sue a rap group
and start a choir in prison.
Pre Hip Hop, you had your own emcee,
your own dancers, your own cape,
Lear jet and crown.
You graduated Super Bad.
Dr. King called it Drum Major Instinct.
Shirley Chisholm,
unbought and unbossed.
Damn right you were somebody!
Jordan - #