Now, imagine Barack Obama today.

"But, but, but, Obama's blaaaaaack! ( stomping feet ) You gotta vote for the black guy!  Ya don't want the whole world to think were, like, racist, or something, do ya?  Huh? Huh?"

This has been the subtext of the Obama campaign since the earliest days.  First, he had to convince black America he was really black; white America always thought he was more than black enough, thank you very much.

Perhaps what the nation has liked most is not what Obama has said or done but what he is. In short, Obama is a black man who does not scare white people. This is mostly not Obama's fault. He is who he is. He has a life to live, a job to do and a book to promote. He cannot be held responsible for a white paranoia that--outside the music, sports and entertainment industries--demands: If you have to be black, then please don't be too black.

No, it was black people who needed convincing, thus the "I am too, black!" phase of the contest.  Obama himself shared the heartwarming fairy tale of his conception, "Selma Got Me Born" with an audience in South Carolina, and by extension, the world.  Michelle Obama told black people to stop with the Jemimah mentality and, "wake up and get it," Later, Oprah, safely black enough for all America, actually made an appearance for somebody other than herself, breaking a long-standing tradition, to stump for him.

Of course, this script was not written by an anxious Obama, motivated to legitimize himself in the eyes of his brethren, the architect of much of this racial bridge was CNN's Roland Martin, who insinuated himself into the Obama orbit in much the same way Johnny Cochran took over the Dream Team in the O. J. Simpson case; he volunteered his advice based upon his observation of perceived impending disaster if the racial dynamic wasn't altered.

Obama had no built-in advantages with the black community, he was foreign to it.  Even in Chicago, though he had been involved in voter registration campaigns, community organizing and efforts to mobilize and coordinate black chuch out reach efforts, Bobby Rush had no trouble painting him as an out-of-touch, uppity snob, and ultimately crushed him when Obama had the temerity to challenge the incumbent for his seat in the House.

Mr. Rush told The Chicago Reader, “He went to Harvard and became an educated fool. We’re not impressed with these folks with these Eastern elite degrees.”

Obama struck back:

He complained that for Rush to continually invoke his Harvard background as though it were a slur sent the wrong message to his young constituents. In a striking Martin Luther King Day op-ed in the Chicago Defender, he drew attention to tension among African Americans of Rush's own generation, arguing that black disunity was part of what made King's courage important: "A sizable percentage of the black elite in the pre-Civil Rights south," Obama noted, "had vested interests in maintaining the racial status quo, and vilified protesters within the community." (This year, Obama's longstanding willingness to "call out" the black community has impressed many whites, and made some blacks ambivalent.)

Obama's subsequent Senate races seem not to have relied on overwhelming black support, it is said he re-drew the map of his district to include more whites, negating the necessity of depending primarily upon blacks.

The idea was to create enough Democratic-leaning districts so that the Party could take control of the state legislature. That goal was fine with Obama; his new district offered promising, untapped constituencies for him as he considered his next political move. “The exposure he would get to some of the folks that were on boards of the museums and C.E.O.s of some of the companies that he would represent would certainly help him in the long run,” Corrigan said.

In the end, Obama’s North Side fund-raising base and his South Side political base were united in one district. He now represented Hyde Park operators like Lois Friedberg-Dobry as well as Gold Coast doyennes like Bettylu Saltzman, and his old South Side street operative Al Kindle as well as his future consultant David Axelrod. In an article in the Hyde Park Herald about how “partisan” and “undemocratic” Illinois redistricting had become, Obama was asked for his views. As usual, he was candid. “There is a conflict of interest built into the process,” he said. “Incumbents drawing their own maps will inevitably try to advantage themselves.”

Therefore, it's not surprising that the "first viable black candidate for president" found himself at a bit of a disadvantage with black voters when he entered the race.  They didn't trust him.

For many black activists in Obama’s adopted home state, who might be expected to form the core of his political base, a central question still looms about the man who has risen speedily over 11 years from state lawmaker to U.S. senator to a sensation in the 2008 presidential campaign: As he works to appeal to voters across the nation, will Obama stand firm for black people and black causes?

We still don't know the answer to that question.  Obama has, throughout his career, been critical of African Americans.  The New York Times relates a story from Obama's early days as a community organizer, when a planned meeting between the tenants of the Altgeld Gardens Housing Project and the housing authority got a little out of hand.

The crowd of about 700 residents grew irritable in the stifling heat and booed the director when he arrived an hour and 15 minutes late, according to people who were there, as well as newspaper accounts.

The meeting became even more raucous after the director indicated that the agency still did not have a plan to remove the asbestos. The director abruptly left 15 minutes into the meeting after a resident wrestled with him for the microphone. Angry tenants followed him out the door, chanting, “No more rent!”

Later, relating the incident to a friend, Obama criticized the residents.

“Barack basically talked about how tough it was to generate real results through organizing and that it was embarrassing to him to have the residents out of control,” he recounted.

Who was in charge of the meeting?  Why was he embarrassed?  Because he failed, or the residents didn't behave the way he wanted them to?

Obama's views on issues important to black Americans are hard to pin down.  In the Chicago Reader article from 1995, he said:

Let's talk about creating a society, not just individual families, based on these values. Right now we have a society that talks about the irresponsibility of teens getting pregnant, not the irresponsibility of a society that fails to educate them to aspire for more."

In 2008, he wants to legislate the problem:

Obama said he would co-sponsor a bill, with Senator Evan Bayh, Democrat of Indiana, that his campaign said would address the “national epidemic of absentee fathers.” If passed, the legislation would increase enforcement of child support payments and strengthen services for domestic violence prevention.

But then, missing black fathers seem to have always been on Obama's mind:

“They were spirited, good-humored women [the women he worked
with at Developing Communities], those three, women who—without husbands to help—somehow
managed to raise sons and daughters, juggle an assortment of part-time jobs and small business schemes,
and organize Girl Scout troops, fashion shows, and summer camps for the parade of children that wandered
through the church every day.” [Dreams of My Father, p.167]

It seems clear that Obama's relationship with the black community is complicated at best; often divisive, in his campaign against Alice Palmer, who recommended that Obama run for her vacant Senate seat when she mounted an ultimately unsuccessful run for Congress, Obama refused to step aside when she lost:

Obama not only refused to step aside, he filed challenges that nullified Palmer's hastily gathered nominating petitions, forcing her to withdraw.

"I liked Alice Palmer a lot. I thought she was a good public servant," Obama said. "It was very awkward. That part of it I wish had played out entirely differently."

His choice divided veteran Chicago political activists.

Right or wrong, the question is open as to whether the greater good was served.  Rarely is any large accomplishment touted in Obama's favor as a result of any of his actions.   This is not limited to Obama's relationship with black Americans, his record is equally thin in the national arena.  Other than his criticisms of past politicians and activists and his willingness to shift the onus of responsibility from the government and place it on the overburdened shoulders of the victims, what does he offer?  Is the tokenism represented by putting a black face on government indifference enough?  Can the ideal of grassroots mobilization co-exist with the reality of corporate sponsorship?  To whose benefit?

Barack Obama is both black and white, but when one researches his record, a case can be made that he can just as easily be considered neither.  His lack of discernible core beliefs reflect questionable integrity and form a sharp contrast with the man whose legacy he now co-opts for his benefit.  Martin Luther King was willing to risk his life, his freedom and his reputation, if proven necessary to advance the goals attendant to his firmly held beliefs.  What will Obama risk?  For what?  The illusion of inclusion is relatively easy to attain, real equality is much more difficult to achieve.  Yes, forty-five years ago today, Martin Luther King demanded that America make good the bad check it had issued to its' black citizens.  On this anniversary, Barack Obama will accept the nomination for president from the Democratic Party.  Yet, he did not win it outright, his claim to the nomination is tainted and tenuous at best.  He has been coddled, protected and assisted over the line like William "Refrigerator" Perry tried to carry Walter Payton across the goal line en route the Super Bowl.  Only in the case of Obama, it will count as a victory.

The Democrats have nominated The First Official Affirmative Action African American Token Presidential Candidate.

We done overcame?

Yay.

PUMA

Just Say No Deal

More beneath the fold . . .

First up is Attorney General Lisa Madigan. Madigan was first elected attorney general in 2002 with about 50% of the vote; she was reelected in 2006 with about 72% of the vote. She was also an Illinois state senator for four years and she worked alongside Barack Obama. She is the daughter of Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, and her family apparently has a long rivalry with Gov. Blagojevich. A St. Louis Post-Dispatch article from March 23 suggests that Blagojevich may appoint her to the Senate to prevent her from running against him in the 2010 Democratic primary for governor. Illinoisans may in fact be better off if Madigan challenges Blagojevich. Madigan is relatively young (42), she is extremely bright, she represents change in Illinois politics, and she has made history in her own right -- she is the first woman to be elected Illinois attorney general.

Next is Comptroller Dan Hynes, who won his first election in 1998 with about 59% of the vote and who won his most recent reelection in 2006 with about 64%. Like Madigan, Hynes is relatively young (40) and has been a thorn in Blagojevich's side; but unlike Magidan, Hynes has demonstrated a desire to go to Washington, as one of Barack Obama's primary opponents in 2004. By appointing Hynes to the Senate, Blagojevich would be enabling himself to appoint a new comptroller who would be less critical of his fiscal policies.

What about State Senate President Emil Jones, Jr.? Jones is incredibly close to Barack Obama and has served in the Illinois State Senate for 25 years (having served in the Illinois House of Representatives for ten years prior to that). Jones is also a Blagojevich ally. However, Jones announced earlier this month that he will retire from the State Senate next year, so it seems unlikely that he would be appointed to the U.S. Senate. But it's not impossible that a shot at making national policy would lure Jones away from retirement.

My favorite is probably Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, the first Democratic Illinois treasurer in over a decade and the youngest state treasurer in the nation. Giannoulias is another Blagojevich opponent, in February calling him "the anti-Obama" and accusing him of dividing the Illinois Democratic Party. He is young, only 32 years old, and he would be a fresh face in Washington. He would reinforce Obama's message of change and, like Obama, he would be a strong voice for ethics reform as he has already proven to be in Illinois state politics -- despite accusations by Republicans, intraparty opponents, and yes, Clintoncrats (bearing an ever-decreasing resemblance to actual Democrats), that Giannoulias has been involved in unethical and criminal activity in the past. His current commitment to ethical politics and his 54%-41% victory over Republican Christine Radogno would suggest that Illinoisans rejected allegations that Giannoulias was associated with criminal activity and that these allegations are about as bogus as Obama's alleged association with Tony Rezko's criminal activity.

My next favorite is U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. Jackson has served as the co-chair of the Obama campaign and is extremely close to Obama, defending him against an outrageous personal attack by his father, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr. Jackson is a lot like Obama, a young man (43) perceived as a Washington outsider but perhaps better acquainted with the ways of Washington than Obama was when he came to the Senate. Jackson is also one of the new faces of the African American community nationally, and Blagojevich could generate a lot of political goodwill within the Illinois African American community if he appoints Jackson.

Chicago City Clerk Miguel del Valle, who also spoke at the convention today, is perhaps a dark horse candidate.

Other potential candidates who did not appear at the convention today include Lieutenant Governor Pat Quinn, Secretary of State Jesse White, State Sen. James Clayborne, or former Obama rival U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush.

The last and worst possibility is that Gov. Rod Blagojevich would appoint himself. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch (same link as above) points out that no Illinois governor has ever appointed himself to the Senate, but Blagojevich is just the corrupt opportunist to make history in this way. As a U.S. representative, Blagojevich was the only Illinois representative to vote in favor of authorizing the Iraq War, so there's no chance that he will continue Obama's change legacy. As recently as July, only 13% of Illinoisans approved of Blagojevich, in large part due to his involvement in corruption after promising to clean up the corrupt Republican state government.

The Chicago Tribune's D.C. bureau blog, The Swamp, points out that Blagojevich was not given a speaking role at the convention. It seems very unlikely that Obama would want Blagojevich to replace him, but it's ultimately Blagojevich's own decision. The only upside to a self-appointment would be that Blagojevich would clear the way for the Illinois Democratic Party to clean up its image and possibly retain the governor's mansion in 2010, but that might mean little if the national party loses a U.S. Senate seat in the process.

It seems to me that Blagojevich is likely to maximize his own political benefit, and that will probably mean appointing either Madigan, Hynes, or Giannoulias to get one of them out of his hair. That will give him a better shot at winning the Democratic primary for governor in 2010 and then going on to seek, and probably lose, reelection. On the upside, any of these three would likely make good replacements for Obama in the Senate and they would likely represent Illinois well.

Good Lord, how many times am I going to watch Martin Scorsese's blues documentary?  I can't get enough.  Even if you're not a fan of the music, you must watch the "Road to Memphis" installment of the series.  It's all about B.B. King, Beale Street, and the birth of black Southern radio.  Best of all, it introduced me to blues man Bobby Rush, who still travels the chitlin' circuit in a broke-down old bus, hitting three hundred plus venues a year yet always making it home in time for church on Sunday.  I think the clip above tells you all you need to know about Bobby.  I can appreciate a man who knows when he's been pecked by the right hen, and I'm sure you can, too.

The Acacia Strain - Continent
The Academy Is... - Fast Times at Barrington High
Backseat Goodbye - Dressed Up Like Dreams
Brooke Barrettsmith - Brooke Barrettsmith
Black Stone Cherry - Folklore & Superstition
Randall Bramblett - Now It's Tomorrow
David Byrne - Big Love: Hymnal soundtrack
Cadillac Sky - Gravity's Our Enemy
Caesars - Strawberry Weed
Glen Campbell - Meet Glen Campbell
The Dandy Warhols - Earth to The Dandy Warhols
The Duhks - Fast Paced World
Family Force 5 - Dance or Die
The Fiery Furnaces - Remember
Donavon Frankenreiter - Pass it Around
Lily Frost - Lily Swings
The Gaslight Anthem - The '59 Sound
Kara Grainger - Grand and Green River
GZA - Pro Tools
Jeff Hanson - Madam Owl
Juliana Hatfield - How to Walk Away
Heavy Heavy Low Low - Turtle Nipple and the Toxic Shock
Hotel Lights - Firecracker People
Ice Cube - Raw Footage
Matthew Perryman Jones - Swallow the Sea
Emory Joseph - Fennario: Songs by Jerry Garcia & Robert Hunter
Karina - First Love
Evelyn "Champagne" King - Open Book
David Lanz - Painting the Sun
Lykke Li - Youth Novels
Amy MacDonald - This is the Life
Laura Marling - Alas I Cannot Swim
Kate McGarry - If Less is More... Nothing is Everything
Robin McKelle - Modern Antique
Jennifer O'Connor - Here With Me
One for the Team - Build it Up
Curtis Peoples - Curtis Peoples
Phil Perry - Ready for Love
John Pizzarelli - With a Song in My Heart
Pram - The Moving Frontier
Kristoffer Ragnstam - Wrong Side of the Room
Ra Ra Riot - The Rhumb Line
The Reign of Kindo - Rhythm, Chord & Melody
Marv & Rindy Ross and Quarterflash - Goodbye Uncle Buzz
The Royal We - The Royal We
Xavier Rudd - Dark Shades of Blue
Bobby Rush - Look at What You Gettin'
The Sacred Shakers - The Sacred Shakers
Darrell Scott - Modern Hymns
Crystal Shawanda - Dawn of a New Day
The Showdown - Back Breaker
Shwayze - Shwayze
Staind - The Illusion of Progress
Starling Electric - Clouded Staircase
Stereolab - Chemical Chords
The Stills - Oceans Will Rise
Straight Line Stitch - When Skies Wash Ashore
Supagroup - Fire for Hire
Team Blackout - Lights Out
Ten Shekel Shirt - Jubilee
Toadies - No Deliverance
Uh Huh Her - Common Reaction
Natalie Walker - With You
What Laura Says - Thinks and Feels
Alex Woodard - Alex Woodard

Sen.  Barack Obama “went to Harvard and became an educated fool.”  On the surface, it would seem such vitriol directed at the likely 2008 Democratic presidential nominee would originate from Rush Limbaugh or a similarly aligned right-wing blog site. 

However, the source of this broadside was none other than Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., during the 2000 Illinois congressional primary.  The incumbent, Rush, a former Black Panther, disdainfully referred to the young upstart state senator as an “elite.”

Now, in what can be described as the vagaries of politics, the congressman and superdelegate has endorsed Obama.  Rush is recuperating from cancer surgery and is currently unavailable to comment.  But a spokeswoman for Rush said that the lawmaker is firmly behind Obama.  “The bottom line is that [Rush] is looking forward to [Obama] being the next president of the United States. “

According to the spokeswoman, the 2000 Illinois primary was just a case of Obama’s ambition vs. Rush’s legacy.  She further dismissed any notions of hard feelings by noting that when Rush’s son died in gun violence in October of 1999, he received an outpouring of sympathy from Obama. 

Rush would eventually prevail over Obama in 2000, retaining his congressional seat.  Regarding that victory, Rush’s aide added a tidbit that indicates how the loss served as a springboard for Obama.  “[Rush] was probably the last person to beat [Obama] at anything.”

Four of the eight congressmen named in the report represent districts that include Chicago:

* Bobby Rush, who, the report says, leases a 2007 Lincoln Navigator for $746/month and gets 12 miles per gallon city/17 mpg highway.

* Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., who leases a 2007 Ford Expedition for $1161/month which gets 12 mpg city/18 mpg highway.

* Rep. Luis Gutierrez, who leases a 2006 Honda Civic hybrid for $366/month which gets 40 mpg city/45 mpg highway. (Good for him!)

* Rep. Danny Davis, who was leasing a Mercury Marquis for $265/month but was trading it in to lease a Saturn Vue.

(- story found via CapitolFaxBlog)

"Rush painted the largely unknown freshman lawmaker as an out-of-touch elitist," Todd Spivak recalls.

"As even one of his admirers put it, 'He was a stiff.' You think John Kerry looked wooden and condescending on the campaign trail? You should have seen this kid Obama. He was the elitist Ivy League Democrat to top them all," Edward McClelland wrote recently in Salon.

“Campaigns are always, ‘What’s the narrative of the race?’ ” said Eric Adelstein, a media consultant in Chicago who worked on the Rush campaign," the New York Times recounted. “In a sense, it was ‘the Black Panther against the professor.’ That’s not a knock on Obama; but to run from Hyde Park, this little bastion of academia, this white community in the black South Side - it just seemed odd that he would make that choice as a kind of stepping out.”

The Times noted that Mr. Obama’s Ivy League education and his white liberal-establishment connections also became an issue. Mr. Rush told The Chicago Reader, “He went to Harvard and became an educated fool. We’re not impressed with these folks with these Eastern elite degrees . . .

"Mr. Rush and his supporters faulted him for having missed experiences that more directly defined the previous generation of black people. 'Barack is a person who read about the civil-rights protests and thinks he knows all about it,' Mr. Rush told The Reader.

"Mr. Obama was seen as an intellectual, 'not from us, not from the ’hood,' said Jerry Morrison, a consultant on the Rush campaign . . . 'It was much more a function of class, not race,' Mr. Adelstein said. 'Nobody said he’s "not black enough." They said he’s a professor, a Harvard elite who lives in Hyde Park.

Finally, take it from Abner Mikva:

"Mr. Mikva recalls telling him about advice once given to John F. Kennedy by Cardinal Richard Cushing: 'The cardinal said to him, Jack, you have to learn to speak more Irish and less Harvard. I think I recounted that anecdote to Barack. Clearly, he learned how to speak more Chicago and less Harvard in subsequent campaigning.”

Thanks in part to CBS Radio's firing of morning mouth Don Imus, the issue of stereotypes and degrading images are hot topics on Capitol Hill these days. Yesterday (Tuesday, Sept. 25) U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, a Democrat from Chicago and founding member of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panthers,kicked off hearings which are aimed at finding a solution to mitigate the use of "offensive" language and visuals in pop culture.

We can't stand up and defend hip hop or rap music for the words and images often used. After all, these are the only genres which routinely depict women as whores while sending a barrage of expletives at the listener. We can't think of another type of music that so freely insults, puts down, and glorifies violence like most rap music. And while we don't agree with the content of most hip hop rap music lyrics or videos, we can't deny one thing: The First Amendment.

Sure, we here about First Amendment rights all the time. It seems like its the popular defense these days, but when the founders of the United States' Constitution sat down to write the guidelines for their new country, freedom was definitely the biggest issue in their minds.

Amendment I: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

We might not like the words used by rappers to express themselves, but unfortunately, that one sentence reproduced above from the United States' Constitution grants all citizens the right to express themselves. Whether that expression comes from word choice (think the "B" word, the "N" word, or the now not-fit-for-print "H" word) or from the manner in which these "artists" choose to illustrate their words through music video. Yes, these rappers (and anyone else for that matter) has the right to depict scantily clad women (or men, or martians, etc.) bumping and grinding. As a society, we might not like it, but hey, take that up with the Founding Fathers - they wrote the rules.

No, we don't agree with the words used in these songs and we certainly don't agree with the imagery but we can't help but think that this hearing is a waste of Congress' time. Consider this: in the 1950s Elvis Presley was considered risque and in the 1960s, there were worries that the Beatles were corrupting America's youth. Because so many of us were corrupted by "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" and Elvis' pelvic gyrations. Remember, 99.9% of the population did not think that the Beatles were telling us to start a race war when we heard "Helter Skelter."

And while we're considering these past controversies, we can't help but wonder if the same dialogue would be going on if these words and imagery were going on in books and novels. Oh wait. They are going on in other forms of media. We haven't told Playboy to discontinue publishing (only regulated the display and sale of the magazine). We haven't Quentin Tarrentino to stop using the "N" word in his movies. Are these words any different than when Stephen King uses the words "fuck" and "bitch" in his best-selling novels?

The answer is an difinitive "no." Sure, some folks have complained, but we haven't toned down our books and movies any.

No one wants to turn on their radios or TVs and hear a stream of degrading words. And the sensible majority doesn't think we should have nearly-nude people shaking it on tv. We can't help but remember the ruckus caused by Madonna's video for her song "Justify My Love." MTV only played that "after-hours."

The question isn't whether to ban certain words or portrayals. We need to address accessibility. Should a seven-year-old turn on the television set after school to see a glorified strip-tease? No. Should that same seven-year-old be subjected to words which that child isn't old enough to understand by turning on the radio? No. We have FCC regulations. We have parental advisory labels. And there's also something called playing videos after prime viewer hours.

It's not up to Congress to make laws to censor "artists." As a society we need to recognize what is and what is not appropriate for certain audiences and act responsibly.

But perhaps we're not ready for that.

:: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::

The son of a preacher man, Bobby Rush was born Emmet Ellis, Jr., in the north Louisiana town of Homer; he later adopted his stage name out of respect for his father. He built his first instrument, a primitive guitar or "diddley bow," and in his early teens he was donning a fake mustache and appearing at local juke joints as a solo artist. In the mid-'50s he moved up to Chicago, where his bands included Freddie King, Earl Hooker, and Luther Allison, while on jaunts back to his family home in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, he performed with Elmore James and James' cousin Boyd Gilmore
At a time when most of his contemporaries are resting on their laurels, Bobby Rush-a 50-year veteran of the stage-continues to be one of the most exciting and creative artists in the R&B/blues arena. Rush's live shows are without parallel, replete with costume changes and comedic sketches acted out with the assistance of his lovely female dancers. In addressing a broad range of matters of the heart, Rush adopts various onstage persona-the adoring lover, the cuckold, the boastful stud-delivering all with a knowing wink that assures the audience that he's in on the joke.

In the context of today's all too predictable and sanitized blues market, it's easy to understand why audiences new to Rush's performances often find them novel or even bewildering. Unique they are, but Rush's signifying, jesting, and double entendré jiving are at the heart of the blues, as exemplified by forbears such as Charley Patton, Memphis Minnie, Louis Jordan, and Howlin' Wolf.

Bobby Rush-it's pronounced as one three-syllable name-calls his music "folk funk," an apt description for a blend that's both decidedly modern and deeply rooted in tradition. Over the decades he has consistently updated his show by incorporating new styles-jump blues, Chicago style deep blues, soul, funk, and even hip-hop-into a fresh mix. At the same time, his original compositions often stem from his dipping into the well of folk wisdom, as exemplified by songs like "What's Good For the Goose is Good for the Gander Too."

The son of a preacher man, Bobby Rush was born Emmet Ellis, Jr., in the north Louisiana town of Homer; he later adopted his stage name out of respect for his father. He built his first instrument, a primitive guitar or "diddley bow," and in his early teens he was donning a fake mustache and appearing at local juke joints as a solo artist. In the mid-'50s he moved up to Chicago, where his bands included Freddie King, Earl Hooker, and Luther Allison, while on jaunts back to his family home in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, he performed with Elmore James and James' cousin Boyd Gilmore.

Rush began working as a bandleader already as a teenager after realizing that he could control his own destiny if he owned all the equipment. His entrepreneurial flair is legendary among fellow musicians, who fondly recall his working in disguise as the emcee on his own gigs, earning double pay from an unknowing club owner, and his shuffling between three gigs a night with separate bands at West Side nightclubs.

Rush's popularity as a live performer in Chicago set back the development of his recording career, but he began to achieve national acclaim in 1971 following the success of his hit "Chicken Heads" on Galaxy records. Over the next decade he recorded for labels including Jewel, Philadelphia International, Warner Brothers, and toured widely on the "chitlin circuit," the decades old network of clubs that stretches in a rough triangle between east Texas, north Florida, and Chicago.

In the early '80s Rush moved from Chicago to his current home of Jackson, Mississippi, where he recorded a series of albums for the LeJam, Ichiban, and Malaco labels, and gained the title of "king of the chitlin circuit" in the wake of hits including "Sue," "Wearin' It Out," "Ain't Studdin' You," and "Hoochie Man."

In 2003 Rush fulfilled his longtime dream of forming his own label, Deep Rush, recording the CD "Undercover Lover" and capturing the magic of his live show on DVD at the club Ground Zero in Clarksdale, Mississippi. Rush's showmanship is also prominently featured in Richard Pearce's documentary film "The Road To Memphis," broadcast on PBS in September 2003 as part of Martin Scorsese's film series "The Blues."

In the last decade Rush has gained new audiences through performances at the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, and on festival stages in Europe and Japan. But catch him on an average weekend and he's just as likely to be playing to packed houses in chitlin circuit clubs in places like Nesbit, Mississippi, Macon, Georgia, and Smackover, Arkansas, before mostly black, working class audiences that conventional blues wisdom suggests no longer exist.
Success in the American music marketplace generally entails leaving behind the people that sustained you during your early years, but that's not a price Bobby Rush is willing to pay. As his career takes off in new directions, he's determined to keep it real, presenting the same unadulterated show as he moves from Tokyo to Smackover. Or as he explains in what has become somewhat a mantra of late, "I want to cross over, not cross out."