Similarities to Today
When reading Mumbo Jumbo by Ishamel Reed, the absurdness and radicality of some of the groups' ideas, such as the Wallflower Order and the Mu'tafikah, jump out to the reader as key parts of the book. When reading these parts we often disassociate what happens in Mumbo Jumbo with what is happening in our world today, both because the book was published in 1972, almost 50 years ago, and the fact that it is set in 1920s America, almost 100 years ago. Even though the events and ideas of the characters seem very far away, the ideas still exist in American society today.
Many of the characters in Mumbo Jumbo, such as some members of the Mu'tafikah, are working on the empowerment of African-American culture in western/white civilization. The Mu'tafikah themselves are working on taking back the artifacts white culture has stolen from different places around the world and returning them to their original location. They believe that returning the artifacts will work towards remedying the damage that white/Eurocentric culture has done on the places where they have looted artifacts. While I do not know of a group today that is working to achieve the same goals as the Mu'tafikah is, the idea that white culture has left a deep impact on many non-white countries and their cultures, including taking artifacts and putting them into a "Center of Art Detention", is prevalent in today's world (Reed 112). The way that white culture saw the non-white nations they colonized or held influence over still influences the way people think of certain countries today, especially regarding certain politicians describing some of these countries as "shithole countries". Members of the Mu'tafikah are also working to preserve the influence of Jes Grew, a personification of jazz and African culture, in America. This contrasts with others who are attempting to cut down the influence of Jes Grew, because they see it as a dangerous "plague" to true American society. This idea of black culture as being a bad "contribution" to American society is also still prevalent today.
In contrast with the work of the Mu'tafikah, the Wallflower Order is working to stop the spread of Jes Grew and black culture. The Wallflower Order's idea is one of white supremacy, as the Atonists within the Wallflower Order are trying to create the "Talking Android", a black man who will renounce black culture in favor of white European culture and therefore stop the spread of Jes Grew and black culture too. This, unfortunately, is still a topic of discussion in today's society as there are still groups in America who believe in white supremacy and the efforts to renounce African-American culture. Even though the time period in which both Mumbo Jumbo is set and is written in are so long ago, a lot of the issues in the book are still things that are prevalent in American culture today.
What do you guys think? Are there more examples of aspects of Mumbo Jumbo that connect to life in America today?
Many of the characters in Mumbo Jumbo, such as some members of the Mu'tafikah, are working on the empowerment of African-American culture in western/white civilization. The Mu'tafikah themselves are working on taking back the artifacts white culture has stolen from different places around the world and returning them to their original location. They believe that returning the artifacts will work towards remedying the damage that white/Eurocentric culture has done on the places where they have looted artifacts. While I do not know of a group today that is working to achieve the same goals as the Mu'tafikah is, the idea that white culture has left a deep impact on many non-white countries and their cultures, including taking artifacts and putting them into a "Center of Art Detention", is prevalent in today's world (Reed 112). The way that white culture saw the non-white nations they colonized or held influence over still influences the way people think of certain countries today, especially regarding certain politicians describing some of these countries as "shithole countries". Members of the Mu'tafikah are also working to preserve the influence of Jes Grew, a personification of jazz and African culture, in America. This contrasts with others who are attempting to cut down the influence of Jes Grew, because they see it as a dangerous "plague" to true American society. This idea of black culture as being a bad "contribution" to American society is also still prevalent today.
In contrast with the work of the Mu'tafikah, the Wallflower Order is working to stop the spread of Jes Grew and black culture. The Wallflower Order's idea is one of white supremacy, as the Atonists within the Wallflower Order are trying to create the "Talking Android", a black man who will renounce black culture in favor of white European culture and therefore stop the spread of Jes Grew and black culture too. This, unfortunately, is still a topic of discussion in today's society as there are still groups in America who believe in white supremacy and the efforts to renounce African-American culture. Even though the time period in which both Mumbo Jumbo is set and is written in are so long ago, a lot of the issues in the book are still things that are prevalent in American culture today.
What do you guys think? Are there more examples of aspects of Mumbo Jumbo that connect to life in America today?
We have many examples of conservative media branding rap as "dangerous to society", lack of representation of blacks in media, unjust police policies that target blacks such as "Stop and Frisk", etc. serving as extensions of Atonist ideals.
ReplyDeleteConsidering how we've had laws saying all races are equal for over 150 years, it's weird that racism is still a problem. PaPa LaBas would explain that as being enforced by the Atonists, who still hold power today. "High society" is still synonymous with being serious and listening to classical music and so forth, tenets of Atonism.
ReplyDeleteConsidering the idea of Jes Grew as Jazz and how it was separated from other music styles as wrong and weird, I think that is mimicked in the twenty first century as rap and hip hop and, like jazz, those styles are slowly mixing in with the pre-established ones.
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