I'd encourage you to listen to the song and read through the lyrics before diving into the post.
We are proud to be storytellers
But there was a time when we were considered fools
When only birds could fly
And the earth was flat
When hip hop and jazz
were not considered music
When Black and Brown
were not considered human
When humans could not walk on the moon
When pictures could not move
When women could not vote
When we could not share a meal
unless we shared a skin tone
Yes, we were there
way back then
being mocked and dismissed by most
but we never were ashamed
We never stayed quiet
We were there
telling stories of a day when impossible
things would be daily routines
Today’s common sense
was yesterday’s absurdity
Yet, here we are
Here we are today
Here we are
Flying on airplanes
Walking on moons
Watching moving pictures
in multiple dimensions
Voting FOR women
Listening to MCs flow rivers of words
over jazz beats
Having meals
and children with
lovers from other cultures
Yes, here we are
Still considered fools
being mocked and dismissed by most
but we never are ashamed
We never stay quiet
Here we are
Telling stories of a day when impossible things
will be daily routines
Today’s absurdity will be
tomorrow’s common sense
And we’ll be there
With more stories to be told
more voices to be heard
More never(s) becoming every days
We’ll be there
When creative things are not considered electives
but core to the education of human beings
When developing your creativity is a responsible thing
and working a passionless job to get rich is a silly dream
We’ll be there
When art is taken down from its ivory tower
consumed less like caviar and more like bread and water
We’ll be there when artists are not starving
When humans are not starving
When being White is not a privilege and being Black is not a curse
When we love Mother Earth like a mother
instead of only taking from her
We’ll be there
When our fantasies become common sense
And even then
We will speak of impossible things
The only hope we have are the stories we tell
Stories not bound by what is possible
By what is dead
We walk on water
We resurrect
They laughed us to death
But here we are
Humming fools
Unashamed of hope
Our stories are future
Our stories are foolish
Only until tomorrow
Until tomorrow
Until tomorrow
Here we are today
Here we are today
Until tomorrow
Until tomorrow
Here we are today
Here we are today
Until tomorrow
Maybe we were born
Until tomorrow
Maybe we were raised
Until tomorrow
Maybe there’s a reason we were made
for a time like this
Until tomorrow
Maybe we were born
Until tomorrow
Maybe we were raised
Until tomorrow
Maybe there’s a reason we were made
for a time like this
Until tomorrow
Until tomorrow
Here we are today
Here we are today
16 - Humming Fools
We are proud to be storytellers
But there was a time when we were considered fools
When only birds could fly
And the earth was flat
When hip hop and jazz
were not considered music
When Black and Brown
were not considered human
When humans could not walk on the moon
When pictures could not move
When women could not vote
When we could not share a meal
unless we shared a skin tone
Yes, we were there
way back then
being mocked and dismissed by most
but we never were ashamed
We never stayed quiet
We were there
telling stories of a day when impossible
things would be daily routines
Today’s common sense
was yesterday’s absurdity
Yet, here we are
“Humming Fools” continues with the theme of “Freakshow” and brings an inspirational conclusion to an album that dove head-first into many difficult conversations. The poem encourage the freaks, the fools, the rejected seers of visions, to never apologize for their sight. To never bow to pessimists parading as realists. The life of an activist, artist, and activist artist can be discouraging at times. Progress seems to move so slow and certain injustices seem insurmountable. Instead of giving in to despair, “Humming Fools” starts out by looking back into history.
“There was a time when we were considered fools, when only birds could fly...” Leonardo Da Vinci was an artist and inventor who lived in the 14 and 1500s. He has famous sketches of flying machines. Da Vinci believed it was possible for human beings to fly. He drew up several different blueprints of flying machines that were scoffed at by his contemporaries. To others, he was a fool. Most people believed human flight was impossible. Da Vinci died in 1519. For another 384 years, his mockers seemed to be right, until they were proven wrong in 1903, when the Wright brothers successfully flew the world’s first airplane. Did a miracle occur? Not exactly, what was believed to be impossible was proven possible. The fool was proven prophet. The ones who seem blinded by their naive dreams are proven to be the ones who actually see reality. Whenever I get discouraged about obstacles we face today, I think about people like Da Vinci. I think about the black and white abolitionists who died before the end of slavery in America. I think about the first slave to ever have the thought, “one day, a black person will be president of the United States”. I think about the first person who said, I bet we could invent something that captured people in motion, like a painting, but alive. I think about the first person to look up at the moon and think, “one day, a human will walk on that thing.” Fools, blubbering, humming fools, all of them. People who dreamed of such things were the laughing stock of their time. Things we take for granted today were utter impossibilities in a world not so long ago. “Today’s common sense was yesterday’s absurdity, yet, here we are...
Here we are today
Here we are
Flying on airplanes
Walking on moons
Watching moving pictures
in multiple dimensions
Voting FOR women
Listening to MCs flow rivers of words
over jazz beats
Having meals
and children with
lovers from other cultures
It is so encouraging to remember that things which were considered impossible just a few decades ago are now so common that we don’t even blink. No one is shocked when an airplane flies over head, or an interracial couple is holding hands at the mall, or a woman is running for political office. I’m glad the activists and artist who came before us did not fold in the face of incredible hate and skepticism. I hope to be counted among the long lineage of activist artists who believe in unseen realities. Who embrace the label of fool with pride. Today, I want to believe in the seemingly impossible.
Yes, we were there
way back then
being mocked and dismissed by most
but we never were ashamed
We never stayed quiet
We were there
telling stories of a day when impossible
things would be daily routines
Today’s common sense
was yesterday’s absurdity
Yet, here we are
Storytelling and creativity is essential to the work of justice. This is a strong personal conviction because I spent the first two decades of my life believing I had very little to offer this world. It was not until I experimented and eventually embraced my creativity, that I became aware of my gifts, understood the world, justice, and spiritual realities like never before. In contrast to the over emphasis of traditional academics in western culture, understanding the human experience is a lot more than comprehending intellectual ideas. Humans are inescapably creative beings. We must consider the whole of human nature when we approach education, spirituality, justice, business, community etc. To neglect creativity when addressing social ills is foolish and ineffective. Western culture needs a shift that believes “creative things are not considered electives, but core to the education of human beings”. It is often the art, the music, the creative approach to protest which end up being the most compelling and effective components of justice movements.
Yes, here we are
Still considered fools
being mocked and dismissed by most
but we never are ashamed
We never stay quiet
Here we are
Telling stories of a day when impossible things
will be daily routines
Today’s absurdity will be
tomorrow’s common sense
And we’ll be there
With more stories to be told
more voices to be heard
More never(s) becoming every days
We’ll be there
When creative things are not considered electives
but core to the education of human beings
When developing your creativity is a responsible thing
and working a passionless job to get rich is a silly dream
We’ll be there
When art is taken down from its ivory tower
consumed less like caviar and more like bread and water
We’ll be there when artists are not starving
When humans are not starving
When being White is not a privilege and being Black is not a curse
When we love Mother Earth like a mother
instead of only taking from her
A miracle did not occur when the Wright brothers first took flight. Likewise, activist artists and creatives do not have to be prophets or magicians to believe in things that others consider impossible. Creative minds believe and work to see their visions become realities. As a person of Christian faith however, I do believe in miracles. I believe the most powerful movements are the ones in which creative people of faith are in tune with both their own creativity and the Spirit of God. When natural creativity is empowered by the supernatural Holy Spirit of God, miracles do happen. Even the laws of nature are no longer limits for our ideas. Our stories are “not bound by what is possible, by what is dead. We walk on water. We resurrect.” To be an activist artist is enough for people to roll their eyes at you. To be an activist artist who is also a person of faith that believes in the resurrection power of Jesus. To believe dead things come back to life. To believe nothing is impossible with the power of God. Now you’re really a drunk poet. A humming fool. But never be ashamed. “Our stories are future, our stories are foolish, only until tomorrow.”
We’ll be there
When our fantasies become common sense
And even then
We will speak of impossible things
The only hope we have are the stories we tell
Stories not bound by what is possible
By what is dead
We walk on water
We resurrect
They laughed us to death
But here we are
Humming fools
Unashamed of hope
Our stories are future
Our stories are foolish
Only until tomorrow
Until tomorrow
Until tomorrow
Here we are today
Here we are today
Until tomorrow
Until tomorrow
Here we are today
Here we are today
Until tomorrow
Maybe we were born
Until tomorrow
Maybe we were raised
Until tomorrow
Maybe there’s a reason we were made
for a time like this
Until tomorrow
Maybe we were born
Until tomorrow
Maybe we were raised
Until tomorrow
Maybe there’s a reason we were made
for a time like this
Until tomorrow
Until tomorrow
Here we are today
Here we are today
Grace and Peace,
Micah
