Mister Louis Armstrong - Mari Evans

Louis Armstrong is a familiar character in American History. His humble beginnings, the dulcet tones of his well-known cornet, that gravelly voice that brought a unique, unequalled character to the lyrics of “What a Wonderful World” and explored the varied, unused potential of human verbal sound, the massive, jubilant persona he embodied both as a performer, and as a member of society, his big smiles - “Master of the Pearly Whites” - and bigger soul, are all part of his image. His name, in context, instantly brings up these characteristics - they are tied to his face. This is the Louis Armstrong people remember, the one they know, the one they love and cherish, and for good reason. No one would argue against this - Louis was all these things, and more.

Louis, like many characters in history, was not without incident in his life. Well, one would say incident, but in his case, one could argue that Louis had an underwhelming lack of incidents - and that in itself was the incident. Louis was a black man in the middle of a tense time in American History. His experience during this era was incredibly unique for his demographic, as his popularity and familiarity with the white populations allowed him privileges that were, at the time, specific to those very white populations. He was notoriously silent in public on the subject of race, and the Civil Rights Movement - he would play to segregated crowds, wave off commentary on the Movement. His perceived neutrality earned him, among certain, harsh groups, the slandered name Uncle Tom, the archetypical, subservient to white, black man. The few events where he spoke out against government policy were national occasions that had reverberations rumoured to have been felt as far as the White House. In truth, he was a staunch supporter of the Movement - but he was a private supporter.

The poem is a commentary on this public ambiguity of his. He is said to be wearing a Dunbar’s mask, named after Dunbar himself, harking back to his poem “We Wear The Mask”, where I would highlight the following words: “We wear the mask that grins and lies/It hides our cheeks and shade our eyes” and “We sing, but oh the clay is vile”. The comparison to Armstrong is far from implausible, with grins being a signature action of the man, and of course, his singing an eerie mirror of Dunbar’s poem. It interprets his life as a constant struggle - an internal, but subdued and invisible outrage at the atrocities. However, his personal approach to the issue of inequality has been successful. The refrain repeated throughout is “MAN the operative word”, accentuating how society has come to regard him as a man, as a person, instead of a member of his race. His race was not the main, or even the defining, facet of his personality. He had “The power to make the substantive, final decisions”, when not many of his race could. Masked with his congeniality, he had attained this power. But at what cost, if any?

Discussion Questions:
Which character of the ones we’ve read is most similar to Louis? Elucidate.
In your opinion, what is more moral of a person in a public standing identical to Louis’ - silence except on specific, radical affronts to your politics, or a clear, established politic upon which you would constantly take a stand? Explicate.
Do you think people were justified in calling him Uncle Tom? Expostulate.
Do you believe Louis had any lasting effects in our modern, civilised society? De-mystify.

How well did I do on this presentation? Break it down for me.
Did I trip on my way up here? Give it to me straight.
Do I need new shoes? Put it in plain English. Hint: Say No.

"Mister Louis Armstrong" by Mari Evans

Master of the pearly whites - teeth Offense against the enemy, Defense against The pain....... Irrepressible Louie-man MAN the operative word Wanted to be his real self Wanted us to know his real self His invincible, unconquerable real self His straight man self MAN the operative word Later be singing riffs and jive talking, gapp’n with his antonyms, ‘n synonyms in his ‘oth-er-man’ hand MAN the operative word Said he Could always fall in the righteous groove, or- Could beef on back with Duke - virtual dictionary in his eyes-on-the-prize hand, pullin his ownself up Irrepressible jazzman MAN the operative word Went through life a double-man Wearing a Dunbar mask and soaring a Dubois song strong in his head “Pops” the irrepressible music man MAN the operative word A getting along, hear my song Trying t’love the world man A language man, creative with words A two-fingered blip, he said Reachin for the music hidden in his typewriter Singing on the keys, this is Lou-is world A writer, ax in hand

This jazzman, the irrepressible Louis-man MAN the operative word To finally triumph over the inhuman ways we become human... this hu-ed manchild From a south Dixie orphanage Dented coronet in hand tutored before he could escape In southern survival styles The only weapon they can’t take from you is your smile, boy, smile boy... Become man the hard way, boy with MAN, the operative word The ultimate goal - y’prize: The ability to choose The power to make the final substantive decisions The accomplishment: Man... the operative word Mister LOU IS Armstrong! Sweet Papa Dip - perfect rhythm, perfect pitch America’s gift to the world  International Ambassador of Music Irrepressible jazz man MAN the operative word...