Gyasi Ross "Marlon Brando" from the album ISSKOOTSIK (Before Here was Here), out now on Cabin Games Records. Buy on iTunes now: http://bit.ly/GyasiBHWH Watch the Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bp7MYz2bb8Q

For people of color, particularly Native Americans, Marlon Brando was an ideal version of a politically-savvy white ally that we are missing today. 

As Professor Derrick Bell recognized, white folks have “standing” to talk about racism in ways that people of color simply cannot, because white folks are perceived to be “objective.” Marlon Brando served this function for many years, and in many ways. 

Brando knew that he was a very much an outsider to communities of color, and didn’t seek to be a savior for those communities. Instead, he simply tried to parlay his white male privilege and celebrity to pass the microphone back to Native people and Black people to speak to their own issues, which they understood and could speak to much better than he could. 

Importantly, the acclaimed actor also understood the importance of passing the microphone to women of color within the civil rights struggles, as he witnessed their status as the backbones of our communities. Appropriately, he chose Sacheen Littlefeather to protest Hollywood’s treatment of Natives at the 45th Academy Awards by having her make his declinatory speech for the Best Actor award for The Godfather in 1973.

Nobody has been treated more violently by Hollywood than women of color, specifically Native American women. Marlon Brando used his white and male “standing” to try to address that. He was taught these important lessons in listening and privilege by a pantheon of great civil rights leaders including Billy Frank, Jr., Hank Adams, Janet McCloud, Harry Belafonte, James Baldwin, among many others. 

Interestingly, the lesson from Marlon Brando—how to be an effective white ally without speaking for a group of color—is more needed in 2015 than ever. From the current Redskins NFL debate for Native people, to Black Lives Matter, it seems that white people have a myriad of opinions of how communities of color should be in 2015, but have no patience to learn about the communities of color themselves. 

Marlon Brando was the opposite—he was a listener, a student and an icon.
— Gyasi Ross 

Go to http://Gyasi-Ross.com and follow http://Twitter.com/BigIndianGyasi http://Instagram.com/BigIndianGyasi http://Facebook.com/GyasiRossAuthor

Cabin Games: http://CabinGames.net 

Cabin Games Records - Marlon Brando feat. Sacred Water

White Privilege III is obviously a response to Macklemore's well-intentioned piece, 'White Privilege II.' Yet, White Privilege III is much bigger than one song as Macklemore is simply the latest in a very long line of white liberals who chose to play the white savior role and speak for brown-skinned people instead of providing the platform for them to speak for themselves. He’s neither the first nor the greatest, only the latest. We must resist that tendency and push white people who wish to be allies to, instead of attempting to speak for us, passing the mic and leveraging their platforms to let us speak for ourselves.  Specifically, if Macklemore indeed wished to limit the universe of parties affected by white privilege and ignore Muslims, Latinos, Natives, Asians, etc. as he did in this song, I suppose that’s his prerogative. Still, if he truly wishes to be an ally he should put marginalized voices to the forefront instead of simply consulting with them and keeping the glory for his white guilt epiphany for himself. The next step in the evolution of the ally is simply to utilize her/his platform and make the introduction, get off the stage and let the stakeholder speak for themselves; for the stakeholder to become the subject and not the object.  
 
Pass the mic.

http://Gyasi-Ross.com 
Twitter.com/BigIndianGyasi 
Instagram.com/BigIndianGyasi 
Facebook.com/GyasiRossAuthor

http://CabinGam.es is a Native American owned music label based in Seattle and open to all genres.

Produced by Kjell Nelson at The Cabin
Recorded by Richie Dagger at The Glitterbox

White Privilege 3

Gyasi Ross is a new-style Pikuni storyteller with reverence for old-style Pikuni ways, and recognizes that sometimes there’s no difference. What I mean is, he likes to share stuff. Honest stuff. Awkward stuff. Hopefully, heartening and useful stuff. If you have ever read any of the many things he writes or listened to his sundry recitations, you will not be surprised to learn that he is the grandson of Percy Bullchild, which means that storytelling is in his blood. It’s what he does. It’s how he survives. 

His album Isskootsik will be out on Cabin Games Records on May 12

Gyasi Ross

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