The esoteric nature of Sun-Ra and Black Exclusivity

This reading made me think about how Sun-Ra being so esoteric is a service to his message more so than if it were far more straightforward. When we began to learn about him, I could tell that he wasn’t traditional in many ways, and while I didn’t entirely understand his message at first I could sort of vibe with what I could understand. And the more I learned (through research and analysis and discussion) I came to embrace his message and what he stood for. But that part took quite a bit of involvement. I think that the way Sun-Ra and his beliefs can seem very… odd or fantastical at first glance does a service for the community it’s serving. That’s because, for starters, it requires a base amount of care to even entertain what he says. And that means that you have to have a base amount of care for the Black community to make the attempt. Then, there is the work you need to put in to understand and synthesize the things he says; because you can understand the words he says verbatim, but there is also the history behind them and the societal context in which they exist. Which is more effort! However, that means that anyone who gives Sun-Ra the time of day and actually comes to understand his messages has probably done significant work to show that they are deserving of space within a community that wants to enact those same messages. It’s sort of like, people who hate the club couldn't even get in in the first place– you won’t be joining us in a place where Blackness thrives if you can’t even do the minimum to understand someone who communicates in a way that isn’t adhering to “formal” white, western means of communication. (Week 3)