Six Questions Special #BLM Edition: Multi-Faceted Director-Performer CB Murray

In light of the worldwide protests sparked by the murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police, and the subsequent energized Black Lives Matter movement (#Black Lives Matter/#BLM), NiteLife Exchange has renewed its own commitment to social justice and equality. NLE stands by Black Lives Matter and is proud to provide this platform of expression and advocacy for change.

The multi-talented director and performer, CB Murray started his career in New York City as a teenager working with the A.M.A.S. Repertory Company under Rosette LeNoire. He has performed in Off Broadway shows directed by Louis Johnson, Israel Hicks and Arthur Faria and more and made his Broadway debut in the Michael Bennett’s original company of Dreamgirls in 1981; he was also on Broadway in the musical Honky Tonk Nights. He has performed at Carnegie Hall, in films, on television, in videos and on stages around the world. CB is also a choreographer as well as an accomplished producer, singer, actor, composer and author of stage works as well as the book Prosperity of the Soul: The Evolution of Man. CB has worked with teenagers and many at risk young people for over 20 years. He is self-described as “An Artist, Social Justice Activist and Futurist, Working Towards a Modern Renaissance Revival.”

NiteLife Exchange (NLE) asks CB Murray (CBM) Six Questions:

NLE: As a starting point, we’d like to examine the systemic roots of racism, beginning with the economics of the slave trade feeding colonial European development. This model persists in the white patriarchy, predatory capitalism, and what Cornel West calls the “gangsterzation” of America. Thus, racist ideas derive from policies and will continue to exist as long as these policies exist. What will it take to really reform this system that hits Blacks the hardest?

CBM: I have friends who want to abolish Capitalism. They see Capitalism as the root cause and biggest proponent of racism in America and the world. As long as people and/or society value wealth and power more than human life, racism, which is birthed out of classism, will always exist. Greed and the lust for power motivated the slave trade. Europeans of little or no stature in their native lands used and abused Africans for free labor, as a means to build personal wealth and power. These colonizers justified their treatment of Africans by convincing themselves that Black people were inferior. Some actually went so far as to claim that Black people did not poses human souls. Others used biblical scriptures, out of context, claiming that God intended the decedents of Ham (who they identified as Africans) to be slaves. The idea of White Supremacy is ingrained in the very fabric of the American Dream. Reformation literally means to re-form something. Before we can change the form of our system, we must charge the hearts and minds of those who dictate the policies of the system. In most cases, that means removing the old guards of supremacy in politics, religion, education and economics. To quote a scripture in context: “You can’t put new wine in old wine skins.”

NLE: Recent thinking identifies the deeply ingrained human notion of tribalism (us vs them) as an overarching, problematic world view and a contributing factor of racism. Is there more that can be/should be done beyond education of the “you have to be carefully taught” mode?

CBM: Tribalism, community, culture, and the many different ways in which we identify with those we are connected to are not bad things. Orientalism and imperialism, which promote the belief that one culture, one religion, one society, one mode of expression is superior, and that all others must be dominated and restructured, has been the biggest problem for centuries. Orientalism and imperialism legislated the genocide of the Native American people. Having absolutely no respect for anything, person, group, or idea that is different out of a notion of Manifest Destiny is the problem. As long as there is an “Us” who believe that there is a “Them” who deserve to be conquered and under “Our” subjection, racism shall survive. It’s not just an academic issue, we’re talking about demolishing a belief system that has been religiously propagated for generations.

NLE: Is unity within the Black community (internecine bias) a factor? If so, what can be done from within and without to level the playing field?

CBM: Greenwood, Tulsa, Oklahoma (The Black Wallstreet) is historical proof that unity within the Black community can help level the playing field. However, the systemic racism on which America is founded upon has always found ways to economically oppress African Americans. Redlining, Job Discrimination, Segregation, Jim Crow, Terrorism (like in Rosewood and Greenwood), the Assignation of Leaders and Destruction of Property, are ways in which American White Supremacist has continually kept Black people from achieving financial equality.

NLE: People outside the Black community can be well-meaning but unaware of certain behaviors or uneducated about how they can help make a difference toward authentic equality. What do these folks need to understand the most?

CBM: First, they need to stop telling us to be peaceful, like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and tell their White friends and family to check themselves.  Dr. King was assassinated. Had all of what he stood for been accomplished, we wouldn’t be having this conversation today. This is not our problem to solve. We didn’t start it and unfortunately we can’t end it without help. It is not my job to make another person see me as a human being of equal value. Black people can’t erase white supremacy, that’s a White people’s problem. What I can do as a Black Man is say “No More!” What we can do, and are doing as a community, is to say, “Black Lives Matter”. People outside our community who stand with us help amplify that message and, by using their white privilege, help change the policies, and most important, help change the policy makers by electing new progressive anti-racism representatives.

NLE: Will the Black Lives Matter movement stick this time? Why or why not?

CBM: The Black Lives Matter movement is just a new title attributed to an old battle. Black lives mattered on the Armistead, when those free Africans refused to be made into slaves. Black lives mattered when Nat Turner lead his rebellion. Black lives mattered during the Haitian Revolution. Black lives mattered when Medgar Evers and Malcom X were assassinated for demanding Civil Rights.  Black lives mattered when Huey Newton founded the Black Panthers. Black lives have and will always matter. The movement for genuine respect, true equality and civil rights never stopped and it shall never die. The international attention and solidarity we are seeing today is partly due to World Globalization. The very thing that the colonizers thought would give them absolute world dominance has turned against them. People all over the world are coming together under the banner of Black Lives Matter to demand global economic equality, social justice and civil rights. It is hypocritical to say that “all lives matter” until we fully believe that black lives matter. Because if “Black Lives Matter”, then so do red, yellow, brown, tanned and white lives equally.

NLE: What are your thoughts about being an artist of color and your role in working toward justice and equality for Blacks and ultimately for all?

CB: I believe personally as an artist, that it is part of my purpose to use my gifts to promote edutainment: to educate while entertaining. I can only speak for myself. I got my BA with a concentration in social justice because I believe that artist are more influential than politicians, religious leaders or educators, yet we can be all three. In a play by George Bernard Shaw, Buoyant Billions, the character Junius wants to be a world betterer. If I can write or compose a piece of art that convinces someone to be a better human being, then I’ve fulfilled my calling.