WHAT IS JES’ GREW ?
"What was once dormant is now a creeping thing" - Ishmael Reed, Mumbo Jumbo, 1972
An epidemic is sweeping the nation. You have probably not heard about it because powers that be find it in their best interests to keep you in the dark. People you know may have even detected inklings of its presence, but kept quiet, hoping that ignoring it would make it disappear. Nothing could be further from the truth. This epidemic is called jes’ grew, and you might have it already.
Symptoms of jes’ grew include: mediocrity intolerance, chronic questioning of authority, and uncontrollable shaking of the hips and ass. As of this writing, medical science remains baffled. They can not point to a viral or bacterial pathogen responsible for the disease. Some unorthodox researchers have suggested that it may be neither, and that jes’ grew may be caused by something else entirely. So far, however, no papers have been published in any major medical journals on the subject.
The origins of jes’ grew are extremely murky. We do know this, however - jes’ grew is hardly new. The earliest recorded cases date back to the Colonial Era, when, simultaneously, the first slaves were forcibly brought over from Africa and Native Americans were being driven off their ancient lands. Methods of social control concomitant with maintaining kept-labor and oppressing culture helped to suppress the outbreak. These methods included destroying the family structure and replacing indigenous belief systems with Christianity. From this point in history on, it has flared up at numerous times in our nation’s past. Notable flare-ups include: 1890’s, 1920’s, 1960’s, and late 1970’s/early 1980’s.
Examining what we know from archeology and anthropology, there is no evidence to suggest that jes’ grew existed in either of these populations prior to this cultural interference. Therefore, we must conclude that it is the oppression that they faced which unleashed this all-pervasive plague into the world. Jes’ grew is unique as a sickness in that it does not waste the victim away. Instead, it builds them up. It does not cloud their vision; it makes it clearer than ever before. Essentially, this disease spreads itself by making itself attractive; patients infect themselves gladly, seemingly unaware they are helping a pandemic affliction. Therefore, the disease acts as a social and biological defense mechanism against a world and a people which betrayed them. It makes the oppressors seem that much more evil for suppressing a people so ‘cool.’
Another unique aspect of jes’ grew is the fact that its major historical appearances almost always coincide with a far reaching musical movement. Consider this: jes’ grew reached epidemic proportions at the following historical junctures - the emergence of ragtime in the late 1890’s, the propagation of jazz in the 1920’s, the mixing of the formerly antagonistic forms of rock and R & B in the 1960’s, and the punk/hardcore/new wave battles of the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, along with the simultaneous emergence of hip-hop. Jes’ grew is always accompanied by music necessary to spread its message, each new era necessitating a new harmonic form. And these musical forms always take shape in hated and oppressed subcultures which suddenly gain mass exposure, usually being branded as corrupting influences on impressionable youths.
The denizens of Town Hall, being entirely comprised of the constantly reviled nerds and sluts of the earth, are naturally susceptible to the affliction. In fact, many of us may have been latent carriers for good portions of our lives. Walking germ factories, spreading disease with each involuntary breath. This should alarm us, but not worry us. Knowing as we do our plight, we should not quarantine ourselves. It is now our duty to spread our infected word, and cough in every face we see. No Ny-Quil for us. Being cured is not an option.
We are well and getting better all the time. Town Hall, Jes’ Grew, and all those associated with the above mentioned, advise all and sundry, as soon as possible, to
GET SICK!