"Driven by history"

     Computers of course are binary. Everything we see on a screen, from a full length Hollywood movie to a text message to the period at the end of this sentence, is broken down into a series of 0s and 1s. Those are the choices. On or off. Yes or no. There is no 0.5. There is no "maybe."
     All too often people can be binary too, thanks to tens of thousands of years of Darwinian survival conditioning. Fight or flight? Friend or foe? Nuance is a fairly modern concept, and still gets lost on a lot of folks. They like "God commands this!" They aren't comfortable with, "Here are your options. Choose four." 
     Take history. Whole swaths of the country seem to believe our nation is either "great," that is, a perfect place that has never done wrong, or sunk in "carnage" brought by outsiders. Nuance is lost on them. Anything that falls below the heroic in American history is a personal insult.  Racism is a myth. Oppression a lie. The worst thing that ever happened in their American history is George Washington chopping down a cherry tree with his little hatchet, and even then, he redeems his wickedness with his honest confession. If their children learn about actual bad things that really happened in the past, it makes them feel bad, about themselves. In theory. Or maybe even in actuality. Maybe because they sympathize with the evildoers. They hate to see it suggested that the Confederacy was gung-ho about slavery. They hate to see it suggested that the South lost the Civil War and I suppose, given the politics of the moment, they might have a point there. 
     Real history isn't about absolutes. It is never black or white, but shades of meaning, depths of complexity. Not one cause but a dozen. Which is one reason I'm such a fan of Chicago's TikTok historian, Shermann "Dilla" Thomas. He goes places. He can be giving you a tour of Bronzeville and suddenly start talking about the Marx Brothers, who lived there over a century ago. His Chicago is never the simple child's drawing of cliches that outsiders like to offer, but a rich, varied tapestry of people and places, achievement and heartbreak. 

      Speaking of the latter, we last visited with him two weeks ago, when I broke the story that ComEd had lured him out of his safe union berth then showed him the gate. Some people would sulk after that, but Dilla has been busy, creating new material.
     On Friday he dropped Episode 01 of his "You Don't Know Chi" YouTube program. Off the bat, he's into nuance. "Now we're either in Chatham or Grand Crossing," he begins, walking down a summery street. "But we can figure that out a little bit later."

      It had over 4,000 views its first day, and is well worth 13 minutes of your time. Ostensibly about the Chicago bungalow,  it ranges over a variety of subjects, including the warmth of neighborhoods like Chatham and South Shore, and a rib joint to add to your must-visit list.  

     As a historian, Dilla's an essentially upbeat guy — as am I — who nevertheless has no reluctance to plunge into the messy and the unpleasant.  But Dilla manages the neat feat of being positive while giving full recognition to history's troublesome places.It's fast-paced and well-produced. Professional, but not too slick. And he always ranges across the spectrum — Mahalia Jackson lived at 82nd and Indiana and, oh yeah, her house was bombed.

     There's no need for me to act as a filter; you should just go watch.

     He's joined by rapper Rhymefest — collaborator with Kanye West, co-writer with John Legend and Common of "Glory" from the movie "Selma" — who supplied what, to me, is the most valuable thought of the episode. I'll provide the answer below. 
    First you should watch the video. Go to YouTube and plug in "You Don't Know Chi!" 
    Finished? Really? C'mon, go back and give it a try. It's fun and easy and you'll learn stuff. I sure did.

    Now you're done? Good.

    It was Rhymefest remark about the scratches and damage on his Grammy, how it being manhandled by the kids he's shown it to is a good thing. 

     "If it didn't have any scars on it, that means I'm not using it for anything," he said.

     That's good sense, and a thought I've never heard expressed before. As someone who can get worked up over that kind of thing — a scratch on a thermos, a ding on a car — I'm going to try to take Rhymefest's attitude to heart. There's always more to learn, from history and each other. I'm looking forward to Episode 02.

Image atop blog is a quilt by Bisa Butler.

Shermann "Dilla" Thomas, earlier this year, in an anechoic chamber at Shure Microphone.