Michael Eric Dyson
Sunday's Concert began with an uninspired performance by Jaheim. After using most of that time to check out Reliant stadium and a couple of the lounge acts, we made it back to our seats in time to catch New Edition, featuring a reunion with the Bad Boy of R&B (or the King of R&B if you are Whitney Houston) Bobby Brown. New Edition ran trough classics like Can You Stand the Rain, N.E. Heartbreak, and Mr. Telephone Man, as well as Bell Biv Devoe Hits. Bobby joined the group for two numbers before running off stage. That's when things got crazy. For some reason, concert organizers gave B. Brown 30 minutes of solo time and well, Bobby was Bobby. I don't have enough space in this blog to tell you everything that Bobby said and did that was weird, inappropriate, or just plain crazy. But let's just leave it at the fact that they had to close the curtains on the man while he was performing nearly an hour after he took the stage. However, Bobby being Bobby, slid under the curtain and led the crowd in an acappella rendition of My Prerogative, before his microphone was cut off. The night ended with the Pioneers of Hip Hop and appearances by The Sugar Hill Gang, M.C. Light, Whodini, Doug E. Fresh, and Slick Rick.
Monday was a special day for my wife and I, as one of our close friends was able to hook us up with backstage access to the seminars. All afternoon we mixed and mingled with Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, Mayor Ray Nagin, Common, Jill Scott, Shemar Moore, South Dallas' own Min. Jeffrey Muhammad and Min. Robert Muhammad Jennifer Holiday and others. I spoke with Congresswoman Maxine Waters, who has to be one of the nicest women in America, about her trip to Dallas a few months ago. The highlight of the day and possibly the entire event was the closing address given by the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan. Fortunately, time limits do not apply to Minister Farrakhan and he went off for an hour and a half addressing the needs of our people, and urging us to heal our minds, and our bodies, and our overall image. Much of the ministers' message came from Bible, both Old and New Testaments, even asking the question "Was Moses an integrationist?"Hon. Minister Louis Farrakhan and Jill Scott
Farrakhan urged the sisters in the audience to take more care in the way that they dress, and to not refer to themselves as being sexy, as it promotes the wrong mindset. Min. Farrakhan also chided rappers who call women bitches and hoes, then upon winning an award, take the stage and say "I'd like to thank my Lord and savior Jesus Christ." As an orator, Farrakhan has no peer, at times hammering the lectern as he brought home a point, and at other points he was barely audible, such as describing how his mother tried to abort him on three separate occasions.
The 3 Days I spent at the Essence Festival seemed like a week, as there was plenty of great music, exciting speakers, and important information. I do look forward to the day when Essence can once again call the Superdome home, if for no other reason than for better acoustics at the concerts. I do promise to follow the ESSENCE CARES initiative, and encourage all of you to sign up as I did this morning. It's not time to get to work, and we will have to succeed one person at a time.
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