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Show Discourse in Action: The Mobilization of the Million Man March Richard A. Vazquez lie transcript. The quotation also mentions that the brothers wanted to "say something about themselves." By making a positive statement about their race, they are helping to alter the negative perceptions and stereotypes which exist in the public transcript. Hence, they are challenging the dominant ideology by their mere presence at the march. The profile later presents us with an example of the hidden transcript at work. On the Friday night before the march, the Watkins brothers attended a bachelor party, and had seen many of their old friends for the first time in 20 or more years. They shared stories about friends who died on the street and about their communities which were now infested with AIDS patients. It was these conversations which encouraged the Watkins brothers to attend the march. They did so to make a statement of love about the community they were from (Maraniss 1995)-the type of Black inner city which is routinely looked down upon with fear and condescension by white America. In this example, the bachelor party can be regarded as a social site. In order to make this comparison, we must somehow attribute Scott's characteristics of the hidden transcript to the scene at the bachelor party. First, Scott states that the hidden transcript is "specific to a given social site and a particular set of actors" (Scott 1990, 14). With those in attendance sharing childhood backgrounds, friendship, and a common reason for gathering, there is at least some type of exclusivity which is taking place. Next, Scott states that the hidden transcript "does not contain only speech acts but a whole range of practices" (Scott 1990, 14). While this particular example focuses primarily on speech, we examine others below that do not. Finally, Scott states that "it is clear that the frontier between the public and the hidden transcripts is a zone of constant struggle between dominant and subordinate, not a solid wall" (14). In this particular example, the bachelor party as an event is regarded as a normal part of the American social scene, so there is no threat of suppression by the dominant class. We can contrast this to a revolutionary meeting among slaves in the galley of a slave ship. In that case, the oppressive class certainly would take action, since such a meeting is directly resistant to the hegemonic ideology. In the case of the bachelor party, there is no threat of a "wall" developing between the public and hidden transcripts. An example of a similar social site is depicted in Spike Lee's feature film Get on the Bus, a fictional work about the participants in the MMM. In one of the opening scenes, would-be marchers are boarding one of the buses which is about to depart for the MMM. Jeremiah Washington, a character in. his'sixties, says the following to one of the other riders: "When those fools back at the barber shop asked me what I expected to get out of the Million Man March, I told them I wanted to be first in line for the revolution...." The term "revolution" often is used in Black vernacular (particularly by rap artists such as Public Enemy) to symbolize an uprising of the Black community against an oppressive culture. In this particular instance, Washington used the barber shop (a social site) as a place which nurtured his own personal resistance ideology-a resistance he eventually would bring into the public transcript. While it is true that Lee's film is fictional, it is still a very viable source. The movie has essentially become a part of the public transcript, as it uses the MMM as a medium to portray Black resistance to an oppressive white ideology. One need look no further than the opening credits to see Lee's objective; as the credits roll, the camera pans over the image of a slave shackled in chains. Lee uses this image in contrast to the story of resistance which follows. In the case of Steve Walker, however, the potential for tensions between the public and hidden transcripts is significantly greater than in the examples we've seen to this point. Walker, a Black man who actually attended the march, is an admitted homosexual. With Farrakhan having been noted for anti-homosexual rhetoric in the past, we can examine this particular relationship between the public and hidden transcript in a totally different light. Here's a quotation from Walker explaining why he decided to march: Improper media portrayals have led many whites to think that Black men are genetically predetermined to commit murders, thefts, rapes, and other crimes. Nothing could be further from the truth__ Gay and lesbian people of color face a double-barreled attack of discrimination: cultural homophobia and homosexual racism. I consider it my personal responsibility to not allow homophobic statements by African Americans to go unchallenged. Similarly, it is my duty to address and expose attitudes of racism that exist in the homosexual community (1995). What we see here are two different workings of the public transcript. Walker's presence at the march, like the other marchers', indicates his own personal resistance to an oppressive, stereotype-ridden, anti-Black hegemonic ideology. Walker's statements also indicate a resistance to an anti-homosexual ideology within the Black community. Lee's film acknowledges the presence of such an ideology, when two openly gay passengers on the bus are called "faggots" by one of the other riders. Xavier Moore, a character who is a heterosexual UCLA college student, responds to this slur by saying, "What? Gays don't have a place in the Black community?" Simply by boarding the bus, these gay passengers asserted their rightful place in the Black community. Actual gay participants in the MMM such as Walker were more visible in their resistance. Several gay protesters at the march held up signs reading "Black, gay and proud." Others walked around chanting "We're Black, we're gay, we wouldn't have it any other way." These two actions are examples of how infrapolitics were used in the march by homosexual Black males in attendance. With a perceived anti-homosexual ideology in mind, these men used these forms of demonstration to make their presence known without initiating a direct or hostile confrontation with other marchers. Walker also used the hidden transcript before the MMM. When Farrakhan arrived in Houston to promote the march, 72 |