Having The Bravery To Live In Pairs

In the first paragraph of “Nappy Edges,” Shange writes, “if i asked: is this james brown of clifford jordan? you wd know. if i said: is this fletcher henderson’s band or the black byrds? you wd know. i say/ pick one: ayler or coltrane… most of you wd know. the tone. the lyric. rhythm & cadence of the musician is a personal thing to you. you listen & learn (2).”

This excerpt represents how we are all familiar with our individual preferences, likes, and dislikes. We’re in tune with our hopes, our rage, our passions, but to understand ourselves even deeper it’s necessary to pivot our eyes and attention to the similar or very different experiences of others. “Unite and mobilize (Collins, 274).”

In the same way listening to an uncommon artist can give you more insight to your favorite composer.  We would know the differences between them, but we could recognize that nothing stands alone. Everything can be viewed side by side, reflective of one another.

Another exam of this is the way God dictated that the animals should enter and abide in Noah’s ark in pairs of two. This was not only a divine instruction that aimed to elongate the existence of different species, it was a mandate that allowed animals who were similar to share the experience of the flood together. They could moo, bark, and cuckoo at each other about their fears, the lack of food, and how they were annoyed at Noah for landing on the top of a mountain.

For some reason, the Noah’s ark song I heard when I was a child, “The Animals Went In Two By Two” still resonates with me. The animals, who can be viewed as humans, go in together to face the storms that are around them.  The “HooRah, HooRah” of the song emphasizes the collective. A singular breath in, but a unanimous breath out.