The Derrick Ashong video here at YouTube is freaking people out all over the place. I was sitting here reading The Economist the other morning and their Lexington column intros their story on moderates and independents with his video. That's how I found out his name, although lots of folks are discovering him too.
When I first watched the video, I had no idea that Ashong was a policy wonk, actor and media assassin and so got the same giddy feeling I imagine most people did as he made his perfect guerrilla video moment. Kinda reminds me of me when I was single and ran around to public political events, protests and seminars. Unfortunately back in the days I used to run around in my homeboy suit, there was no such thing as YouTube. Now I'm not saying that the whole thing was a setup, but I am saying that when I was a progressive activist, there was nothing so delicious as exactly this opportunity to outthink reporters. Every opportunity I had to do so, I did. Especially during Desert Storm which I actually opposed. Now that I think about it, it's a good thing there wasn't YouTube. Anyway, the motivation is as old as dirt, intelligent blackfolks are always pissed about how the TV cameras always seem to get the ign'ent brothers.
Ashong makes a cute jab at the end of the clip in which he states he might vote for McCain. Is that the Reverse Bradley Effect? Stranger things have happened and yet I doubt it. Ashong is an interesting character who has a what I used to describe as a New World African pedigree.
Derrick N. Ashong (aka DNA) was born in Accra, Ghana in 1975 and raised in NY, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and NJ. A member of the Harvard Class of ’97 , he graduated with high honors in Afro-American Studies and received a “Hoopes Prize” for his senior thesis – a musical exploring issues of identity for Africans & African-Americans. While a student he starred in Steven Spielberg’s “Amistad,” and has performed with such renowned artists as Janet Jackson, Bobby McFerrin, and Debby Allen. He has spoken on the influence of popular culture on youth identity at universities throughout the U.S., in Ghana and the Caribbean. Derrick is a co-founder and CEO of ASAFO Media LLC, a boutique music management company pioneering innovative approaches to the promotion and distribution of entertainment products, and a co-founder of the Sweet Mother Tour (SMT) a pioneering ASAFO project that harnesses the power of popular culture to present empowering images of African & Diasporan peoples. He is the author of “FREE THIS CD!!! – The FAM Manifesto,” a text outlining the revolutionary potential of “open-source” music for the World of Music. Derrick was a guest speaker at WOMEX 2003 in Sevilla, Spain, addressing issues of global music licensing and distribution, and will be a guest speaker at WOMEX 2005 , addressing the potential of music as a tool in African development. A musician and producer, he recently released his 3 rd independent record, featuring music recorded in the US and West Africa. In addition to his work in the arts, Derrick has had a long involvement in political activism. He sits on the board of directors of the Fannie Lou Hamer project, a national non-profit addressing issues of Campaign Finance and Civil Rights and recently joined the board of Africa Action, the nation’s oldest organization working on African affairs. He is a founding member of the Harvard Black Alumni Society. Currently Derrick is pursuing a PhD in African and African-American Studies and Ethnomusicology at Harvard. His research looks at the intersection of art, commerce and society in the global Music Industry. He is a recipient of a Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans.
This right here is a picture-perfect progressive CV. All jokes about ethnomusicology aside, seeing him roll like that serves to remind me that it has been a long time since I was oriented towards youth at the intersection of performance art and politics. But it's good to know that vibe is still alive amongst the gifted. I'm not going to engage Ashong's POV right now because that's coming separately in my Obama series, right now I'm just acknowledging the PR masterstroke, engineered or fortuitous.
At some point, as a cultural point of reference, but not until I've satisfied myself on the Obama political agenda, I would like to consider at length the energies unleashed and the social consequences of America waking up to the presence of black men of the intellectual and social caliber of Obama and Ashong. I certainly used to care about that more pressingly than I do now, but it's definitely worth discussing. In fact, one wonders if Obama doesn't succeed in getting the nomination or the presidential win, whether or not the Hope-A-Dope meme will attach culturally. Because boy they certainly are articulate!
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