Are you man enough, big and bad enough? Are you gonna let ‘em shoot you down? When the evil flies and your brother cries, are you gonna be around?
– The Four Tops, Shaft in Africa Soundtrack 1973
In the third saga of the “Shaf- tian” trilogy, Shaft in Africa, Richard Roundtree ditches his debonair “Private Dick” persona for the sake of some people he’s been hired to free.
Shaft’s job is to upend a racket that smuggles immigrants into Europe and then exploits them.
Substitute America for Europe and it sounds familiar, huh?
Get the movie, but when you do, also pick up the soundtrack. One of the songs performed by the Four Tops is the perfect challenge to Black men for 2024. Are you man enough? Big and bad enough?
Maybe you ain’t as handsome as the dashing young Richard Roundtree was in Shaft. Hell, by age 50, the former model and actor wasn’t as pretty as he once appeared.
But if you’re going to make a difference in 2024, you need to model the three generations of Shaft that showed up in the finale. They all had different skills and each one handled his bizness!
Once upon a time in the Black community we had pretty women and working men.
But the script has flipped, so now we have working women and pretty men.
The King James Bible says if a man won’t work, he ought not eat. The Vincent Hall annotated Bible adds that the working woman shouldn’t feed his sorry ass either.
Job One – Get a job. Get two while you’re at it.
When you reduce the plight of Black America down to its lowest common denominator, the Black man is the root cause. There’s no way around the facts. You Negroes may be pretty, but you still play too much, and no one is impressed.
Job Two – Take care of the children of your loins, the children in your life, and your community.
First things first, take care of your kids. Either find a way to stay with little mama, or find a way to stay with your responsibilities. Some of you Negroes will change jobs just to keep from paying child support.
But I’ve been peeping that White man at the Attorney General’s office, and when he hooks up with your “Baby Mama,” you ain’t got a chance.
And let me warn you. If you brag to me about how you shafted your family, I’ll turn you in myself.
My tax burden is too heavy. But the burden on my heart as I watch these children languish in the wake of your irresponsibility has become too much.
“Baby Daddy” is cute. But these children need fathers or at least a faithful substitute. Secondly, stop bragging about how many offsprings you got when you know damn well you ain’t contributing to their welfare.
And this ain’t just for the young studs; this is for them old dudes too. Fifty ain’t too old for you to find your “chir’en” and provide for your grandchir’en.” That ‘ish ain’t cute.
Oh yeah, for you other Shafts who hold your heads high because you are raising or have raised your children, Congratulations! Tu tienes un pedacito de mi corazon (you have a piece of my heart).
Now that you’ve been high-fived and had your feel-good moment, help with these innocent babies who weren’t fortunate enough to have you as their daddy.
Job Three – Stay with it. While in Africa, Shaft battles a sinister dude named Amafi. The closer Shaft got to his nemesis Amafi, the more dangerous it be- came.
Shaft left New York for Africa only to learn that thugs, assassins, and hooligans were lurking around every corner at home and abroad.
It’s okay to lament about the White man and how he tries to “keep a brother down.”
For White folks the conspiracies are generally theoretical, but racism and oppression is real. We got receipts.
However, in 2024 we must rise above excuses by striving for excellence. Black folks were making “a dollar outta 15 cents, before Shaft and we can do it again!
In 2024, we gotta do more. The Four Tops posed the appropriate question 50 years ago; Are you Man Enough? Big and Bad Enough?
Well, are you?
Peace, Shalom, Paz, Frieden, Paix, A Salaam Alaikum!
Vincent L. Hall is an author, activist, award-winning columnist and a lifelong Drapetomaniac!
