Deon Cole had something in his heart that he needed to get out. See, he came to Atlanta during Spelhouse and Clark Atlanta homecoming this past weekend (it really was, or felt like, every damn school in the metro Atlanta area’s homecoming this weekend) and came to a very stark but important realization.
To quote brotha Deon: “I’m not black enough.”
Apparently, his eyes have seen the glory. This is the day the Lord has made ... black, and it changed Deon and made him realize that he must do better and be blacker.
Above all else, he made one important realization that I think all people who are looking to venture into black spaces can learn from and appreciate. If you’re ever looking for absolute blackness, obsidian darkness, cultural onyx, the place where the blues will be played, “Momma, where are we? Heaven” black, I-hate-black-pepper-and-the-back-of-Forest-Whitaker’s-neck blackness, where should you go?
Deon? Let the Lord use you. Deon Cole, who is from Chicago and acts on a show called Black-ish, making him a sort of expert on blackness, had some feelings about the people he witnessed in Atlanta for our homecomings (and let’s just be real—we know he was talking about Spelhouse): “You motherfuckers are the blackest people I’ve ever seen in my life.”
Well, I’ve never ... been so proud to be called a motherfucker in my life.
To brotha Cole, welcome to the blackity blackness of a black-ass homecoming celebration in black-ass Atlanta. Luckily for him, there’s light at the end of the tunnel, since he plans to do better and be blacker.
Here’s hoping that he lifts every voice and sings along the way.