Chapter Seventy-Six
SOMEBODY
[ a song, r&b ]
Lazarus lies in America's gutter
Can't recall what he went to war for
"Our Father, my mother. . .
my sister. . . my brother". . .
I saw my brother stranded on the road
His graveyard face had tombstone eyes
He said, "Can someone help with my load?
Help me see through all these lies"
Hey, I wanna be somebody (somebody)
Don't want a life that's just pretend
I wanna be somebody (somebody)
Someone who matters in the end
I saw my sister in the dark alley
She said, "All I ever do is cry
I try so hard but I just can't be free
Don't understand the reason why"
I wanna be somebody (somebody)
Don't want a life that's just pretend
I wanna be somebody (somebody)
Someone who matters in the end
I wanna be somebody (somebody)
Don't want a life that's only lies
Yeah, I wanna be somebody (somebody)
Keep your eyes on the prize
Rockets take aim for a bloodbath on the moon
With nightmare scenes of laser lights
Oh, but you know, Jesus is comin' back soon (oh, yeah)
Yeah, He's gonna restore Human Rights
And I wanna be somebody (somebody)
Don't want a life that's just pretend (no, no, no, not pretend)
I wanna be somebody (somebody)
Someone who matters in the end
I wanna be somebody (somebody)
Don't want a life that's only lies (only lies)
Yeah, I wanna be somebody (somebody)
Keep your eyes on the prize *
Civil Rights Movement Veterans
The
Quincy Jones Listen Up Foundation
DEDICATED TO: The many brave and largely unknown men and women who participated in the
1968 I AM A
MAN Memphis sanitation
workers strike and to Human Rights heroes Ozzie Davis and Ruby
Dee; change
is gonna come, oh, yes it is. Also dedicated to
Quincy Jones, whose invaluable contribution and character continue to
resonate far beyond the brilliant vibrations of his musical genius.
*FootNote: Some people think they are somebody because they excel in business or athletics.
Others think they are somebody because they score high on an intelligence test, win an
Oscar or a Grammy, or some other type of award. Still others think they are somebody
because they are a politician, a general or a workplace boss and have authority over the lives of other human beings.
According to Jesus, the worst examples of misplaced vanity are those who think they are
somebody because they achieve the recognition of some religion. It is the author's
opinion that our Father in heaven thinks we are somebody when we help and inspire other people.
This is a true and just measurement, as by this just rod of achievement, those who are
deaf or blind, those who are paraplegic, those who are slow of learning and those who are very
poor have a fair and equal chance. Consider for example, the achievement and inspiration of
Helen Keller and the poor widow who gave more than all of the religious rich because she gave all that
she had. There are some who think they are somebody for no particular valid reason, there
are many who wish they were somebody and there are a few who through patience and perseverance,
truly become somebody who matters in the 'big picture' of Human Rights and social justice, even
if they remain completely unknown in the historical records of our civilization and the
immediate fame of their day.
We are wise
if we strive to be somebody who matters in the great war of good verses evil; the great battle
for Human and Civil Rights (see Notes on the Great War
for more information). As again Jesus taught, those who strive to please
society truly "have their reward" (i.e., a few ignorant people are or pretend to be
impressed---so, big deal). A whole lot of people in the modern era assume they do not want
to be associated with Jesus because of the embarrassing traditions of Christianity. Like
those who distort the teachings of the founder of Human and Civil Rights into a twisted religious
lie, they perhaps fail to adequately comprehend the humor of the human-condition
situation. Jesus was like Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Helen Keller, Albert
Schweitzer, Mother Teresa and Cesar Chavez (and Robin Williams) all rolled into one person, only
a whole lot more liberal, radical, humorous and interesting (not that these others are not
interesting enough). Jesus utterly despised anything even remotely resembling Christianity
and was both well liked and admired by the Saturday Night Live crowd of his era, which
were no different than the same crowd of today. A sinner today who understood even a
mustard seed's worth of what the true historical Jesus was like would latch onto him in a
heartbeat and if he were alive today, the demand to hear him speak would likely turn ticket
scalpers into multi-millionaires. As for Christianity, it is prudent to stay as far away
from such confining twisted nonsense as the East is from the West and even farther if at all
possible.
There are many very fine people on our planet involved in a great many religions, as Martin
Luther King, Jr. himself was an ordained Christian minister and Mohandas Gandhi, Mother Teresa,
Albert Schweitzer, Helen Keller and Cesar Chavez had their own diverse traditions to cope
with. This in no way validates the particular religious tradition in question but on the
contrary, it validates the particular individual as becoming effective in spite of the twisted
lies they were born into. It is highly unlikely that the true God has anything even
remotely in common with any religion that has ever arisen in the history of our species, if
anything, probably more closely identified by certain American Indian customs and traditions than
most. If one must continue to insist on equating God with religion, then it is perhaps
correct to define God's religion as loving our neighbor as ourselves. It is not wise
however, to view Human and Civil Rights as a religion, for treating other people as we ourselves
would like to be treated is merely common horse sense. As W.C. Fields might say, it would
appear that the horse and certain other species have the 'one-up' on that arrogant and
illogically proud species which Samuel Clemens fondly referred to as “the human ass”.
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