Damn that was a great listen.
I know, right?
Almost all my podcasts listen like this. I tend to not waste time on shallow, trivial programs that fail to spark thought. YOLO, yo- but expressed in a way that's very different from 'Jackass'-level entertainment.
Yes... the multifaceted Clarence is quite the story.
The Malcolm X angle was quite surprising to me. So to, is his personal take based on Malcolm's influence. That editorialized section at the end insinuated that CT believes that only Blacks can truly help Blacks, an assertion which I do not share. I've always been in Camp Martin where these base philosophies collide: America works best when all help each other. Isolationist/nationalist viewpoints have never worked in a "gumbo" society (I steer clear of the 'melting pot' analogy) based upon multiculturalism. Almost always self-defeating, where the quest for equality and progress are in the warp & weft of societal fabric.
I also find his contradictions quite striking. I didn't grow up dirt poor, but we were a single income (civil servant salary) home, and money was tight. In that regard, our respective origin stories have similarities. My career has often placed me in the company of our community's movers/shakers, but I never felt compelled to take them up on offers to golf a round at their clubs or anything similar. I've been to many of their homes, but always kept them at a polite, cordial arm's length. And I promise you, if I was ever invited to a home with Naught-see memorabilia or a statue garden populated with sculptures depicting some of the world's most detestible despots, I'd be "one-and-done" at that address. I most certainly wouldn't feel compelled to spend 2 weeks with them at some exotic locale on the other side of the planet. CT seems to be unconflicted in that regard. Like I said in my intro, people are complex.
My Wife's take: he recognized The Game at an early age, and worked it to his own personal advantage. Conserv was where he saw that the wealth and power resided, and those factors influenced his choices along the way. She may be right, at least in part.
And of his many contradiction, I have this rhetorical question: is Harlan Crow one the foxes, or wolves? I mean, he smiles, he's warm, he's generous with his yachts, private plane rides and lavish gifts... but then, there's that nazi stuff, as well. How does Thomas square that stuff in his own mind?
If the two of us ever met at a cocktail party, I might be an uncomfortable conversation for him.
.02
