FRANKLYN AJAYE
be black, brother, be black
1977
Be black, brother, be black. My name is an African name, but it's real, see. I had it before it was worthwhile to have it, see. I struggled with it for years. You know what I mean? Because before it was hip to have an African name it was a disgrace to have it. Shit, I had to carry the burden on my ass, you know? But then it got hip, see, and brothers started changing their names, which I didn't mind except they wouldn't give me no warning. Overnight they'd just become another person, you know?
You say, "Hey Willie, what's happenin'?"
"My name ain't Willie."
"Goddamn, you sure do look like that dude."
Can't be two dudes that ugly in America.
"Willie, why you bullshittin'?"
"My name ain't Willie, it's Mbutu Yata. Got meaning. I got a name with meaning. I got it out the book last night I was just reading."
"Oh yeah, what does it mean?"
"It means Warrior with Good Jump Shot. Got meaning, man. It's about my people. I ain't going to answer to that slave shit 'Willie' no more, you dig?"
Then a chick would go by, "Hi Willie. How are you?"
"Oh, I'm all right. Looking good, looking good, baby."
I took black history, hardest class in the school, learned a lot of interesting facts though . . . found out that a black man, Matthew Henson, was actually the first man to actually set foot on the North Pole. A black man, you all didn't know that, nyeah, nyeah. Learn that, man. But you got to take that with a grain of salt, you know, because you got to know that the only reason Matt Henson was the first one allowed to set foot on the North Pole was because Admiral Peary went, "Hmm, that ice looks a little thin up there, doesn't it? Naw, keep the dogs back. Hey Matthew, come here! Put the skillet down, Matthew, and come on up here."
Went to disneyland high. You know, that was hip. Went on psilocybin. Dropped psilocybin. One time. Never will do it again. Too weird, man. Too weird, brother. Mushrooms. Too weird, know what I mean? Me and Tre we went. When you're on psilocybin you really be trippin', you'd be thinking really strange things. We came to the conclusion that everybody at Disneyland was ugly but us, okay? We agreed. We said, "Right!" You know, 'cause we was looking at cats.
"Man, check that out over there, man. They better not ever have no kids."
"Who you tellin', jack? That'd be illegal, man."
"Ah man, to the left, to the left! Don't look long, man. Don't look long, all right? It's bad for the eyes! Bad for your eyes."
We was trippin', man. We was having a good time, man. We was freaking and everything was mellow until this giant mouse came up to us, okay? We just holding on to reality anyway just by a thin thread, okay? Just holding on to what's really going on, you know? And this giant mouse just went, "Snip! Snip!" and cut that thread. 'Cause he just came up, "Haaa-ah Haaa-ah! Hoooeeeee!," skippin', "Wooooo wooooo! Wooooo!"
And Tre freaked. Tre just went, "Ah! No! No, I don't believe this, man!
Hey! Man! Hey! No!"
And I went, "Hey maintain, Tre. Maintain. It's just a mouse, man; we can whip him, shit. Come on."
He went, "You right, man. You right. You right."
And Mickey he went, "Hi guys! Tell me have you seen Minnie?"
Tre went, "Uh, this ain't going to mess with my sex drive now, is it? Come on, man, let's get high. You all right, you know?"
We grabbed Mickey and took him behind the Matterhorn. He was fightin'. "Come on guys, let me go! Let me go! Come on! Come on!"
We got Mickey Mouse high, boy, that little sucker freaked, really freaked. Man he got cool, cool, cool. He started walkin' around Disneyland, "Where is that bitch? Shit, where is that ho? All right, all right. Donald Duck, come here, man. Come here, man, Why don't you buy some pants, Donald? I'm tired of looking at your ass, you know what I mean? Fuck you, Goofy! I don't want to hear shit you got to say, you bucktoothed motherfucker! That's right, I'm talking to you! Don't call me Mickey no more, goddammit, my name is Michael. Shit, man, I'm fifty years old. Show me some respect, man, you dig? Tell your faggot friend Pluto that shit too. Yeah, I saw you the other day. Fuck, I got pictures. Hey Snow White! Snow White, come here, mama. Looking good, looking good, jack. Oh yeah, looking good. Wooo shit, I been checking you out for thirty-five years, you know that? You know what I'm talking about? Well, you know, I'm kinda slow. When we gonna get down? What you mean, you don't know? Shit, you fucking seven dwarves, I'm sure you can work me in"
So I started throwing up. It was just too much for my nervous system at the time. Seeing this, a giant mouse cursing people out and shit. I said, "I can't go through this." I just started throwing up, "Yaaaggghhh!" Everybody was looking at me. People were stopping. Little kids thought I was a new attraction.
"Oh Daddy, I want to ride that black one! Come on! Come on!"
"Come here, boy. I don't have coupon for that one. I'll have to go to one these booths. You got a ticket for that nigger ride over there? He's not a ride, hunh?"
I went back to Disneyland this year, man, just to mess around. I checked out Mickey Mouse, you know, he's a junkie now. He just hangs around Jungleland, "What's happenin', Franklyn? What's happenin'? Gimme four, man, gimme four. All right. All right. Yeah, man. You want some blow, brother? It's cut with cheese, man. Open your nose, but close your ass right up, jack. Won't be nothin' getting out."
I said, "Why you getting loaded so much now, man? What's wrong with you?"
"Hey, I'm depressed. Have you ever dealt with the fact that you're a mouse, man, you know what I mean? Wearing gloves and shit, you know what I mean? I mean what am I going to do in this country? A mouse ain't going nowhere in this country. My future is limited. Best I can hope for is to lead parades and shit. That's about the only form of employment I can get. Minnie left me and shit. I can't cook for myself Then the worst blow of all happened last week, man. Worst thing, man. I went over to Snow White's last week, man. I was ready, man. I was ready, jack. I started lovin' on her, man. Got her turned on, jack, man, hey. I took off my clothes, man. I looked down I didn't have no dick. Motherfucker didn't draw one on, man. I don't know what he was thinkin' about. I really don't know what he was thinkin' about, he sure wasn't thinking about me."