I'm gonna make a change
For once in my life
It's gonna feel real good
Gonna make a difference
Gonna make it right — The Man in the Mirror, by Michael Jackson
Shall we begin?
Yesterday morning, my co-author Jennifer Richmond and I welcomed the early morning hour in with Professor Glenn Loury, acclaimed author of Late Admissions: Confessions of a Black Conservative. I read his book weeks ago so as to allow sufficient time for the epic sweep of a life to settle in. I am the son of a Sunday School Superintendent Dad, the son of a Mom who loved Rev. Billy Graham revivals, the nephew of several Southern Baptist preachers who lived in faith, the grandson of a church stewardess, the great great grandson of the founder of my AME family church in 1871.
I realized as I read about Loury’s seedy side of life — the reckless affairs, the abuse of a devoted wife, the conquests of a South Side of Chicago Player, the consumer of weed, the addict compromised by crack — that his life was beyond my moral life. After each escapade to the dark side, I would stop reading and say to my Jack and Jill wife, “Can you believe he did this? Can you believe he did that?” My wife who has no use for Loury was more understanding than me. It takes a sinner to know sin.
I was nervous and anxious with moments to go before meeting the Man in the Mirror.
There is a reason why I wanted to read Loury’s book. I needed to read Loury’s book for my own redemption. I claim I have retired from Blackness because of dogma and slogan words. Nonetheless, Loury speaks of an independence in black life which I am drawn to. As the nephew of 15 uncles, I would hear 15 different opinions from 15 different uncles on any topic under the sun back in the day. Loury reminds me of what I knew as a young black kid in a diverse, strong-willed, stubborn and dysfunctional family. Blackness was Black Enterprise Magazine and Earl Graves, Jr. and John Johnson of Ebony and Berry Gordy of Motown and Percy Sutton of Inner City Broadcasting and entrepreneur Reginald Lewis. I recognized echoes of Loury in me which is why I religiously watch his podcast, The Glenn Show.
Seconds before air time, I stepped away for a cup of water. When I returned, I was facing Glenn Loury on my screen and he was facing me on my screen.
I'm starting with the man in the mirror
I'm asking him to change his ways
And no message could've been any clearer
If they wanna make the world a better place
Take a look at yourself and then make a change
Shall we begin?
My words flowed through the Man in the Mirror towards a natural conclusion.
“I’ve had a chance to read Glenn’s book, Late Admissions: Confessions of a Black Conservative. And it’s a great book. One of the things I love about this book is how it chronicles Glenn’s life from the South Side of Chicago to where he currently is in life in its authenticity.
They say that great writing is a marriage of two things — life and honesty. And I would say life + honesty equals Late Admissions: Confessions of a Black Conservative. The book takes you by the hand and walks you through a man’s life, a man’s life that begins in the South Side of Chicago where there is good and there is bad. And you see this through the eyes of someone who is brilliant, who is talented beyond belief in mathematics at a young age and eventually economics.
You see this man ride the waves of social change in America through the 1950s and the 1960s and the 1970s and the 1980s. And so it is a beautiful lens into how our country, America, has transformed itself.
And it is also a parallel lens into how a man transforms himself into someone tormented by demons, demons of addiction, demons of infidelity, demons of the imposter syndrome one might argue.
He eventually becomes the first black tenured professor in the Economics department at Harvard, and yet at the same time is seeking out the most seedy parts of life in Boston.
We actually share that (Harvard) in common.
I graduated from the Harvard Law School back in 1986, so we probably know some of the same people. Randall Kennedy, for example, case in point.
But in any event, this book has great meaning. I come not to praise the book because there are things I disagree with. I come not to cast shade on the book because there are things I do agree with.
But ultimately, when it comes to the task of great writing, a marriage of life as lived and honesty, it is beyond compare. And so Glenn, I wanted to thank you for this excellent example of how someone can write into and shine a light on the human condition, free from dogma and slogan words.
Thank you.”
Conclusion: And the conversation took off from those words. Loury saw into me and asked me if retirement from Blackness was escapism. Should I look at myself and make a change? So what if I was a victim of dogma at the hands of the Harvard Club of San Diego? Do I so easily release my inheritance of black identity because my feelings were hurt? Can one person make a difference in this world? Can I make a difference as an individual?
Glenn forced me to take a look at myself and consider a return to the fold of the black and poor. I am thankful for the deep look into my own mirror.
Tomorrow, I release a link to our conversation with Professor Glenn Loury.
Shall we begin?
Gonna make that change come on
(Man in the mirror)
You know it
You know it
You know it
You know
Change
Make that change
Excited to hear this conversation.