i finally got around to seeing dave chapelle’s block party the other night. i had no idea what the plot was other than, well, documenting a block party thrown by dave chappelle. after watching it, i understood that it was actually all about exploring the creation and mutability of community. it’s about what’s possible when we stop limiting ourselves and imposing restrictive boundaries of who we are or what we’re supposed to be. the “block” was an expansive geographic and artistic community that knew no limits and couldn’t be defined.
gondry did a great job of capturing the eccentricities of its subjects. he made me love people – warts and all. it’s almost as if he was encouraging us, the viewer, to go out and meet our neighbors cause you might be surprised at how much you have in common. i found myself missing living in nyc and specifically the people in the bronx. i miss being among all the p.o.c.’s, the lower/middle-class families, the street smart, hip hop, gritty, but sophisticated, movers and shakers who, no matter how hard they seem to work, knew how to enjoy life and to not take too much for granted.
what a 180 my life has taken. i have this very clear, sense memory of the feeling of summer humidity on my skin and the feeling of the occasional gust of dense wind blowing through our bronx apartment windows. i think back on how often i sat by the windows, dreaming of moving to a nicer home in a nicer neighborhood with a nicer job. i wanted security and comfort and, as much as i loved it, to “get out” of the bronx. the afternoon after i watched block party, i realized that i’ve achieved that (though is “achieved” the right word if i didn’t really “work” for it?). i live in a beautiful home in a beautiful city and i have a relationship and friendships that are greater than i ever imagined. the more i thought about it though, the more i noticed the subtle and profound changes in my identity that have transpired over my adult life. i’m almost unrecognizable from my former self! clothes, mannerisms, speech patterns, social circles — completely different. you can take the boy out of the bronx, but you … can’t take the bronx out of the boy?
anyway, i got really worried and panicked. i’m afraid of slipping into a state of passivity where i become one of those privileged pricks that i hated growing up. i don’t ever want to forget my roots, but who knew it could be so easily taken from me?
Will Dao 