R.I.P. Bill Nunn, aka “Radio Raheem”

In the comments section for Spike Lee’s FB message passing on the sad news of the death of Bill Nunn (most well-known for his portrayal of Radio Raheem in Do the Right Thing, although he had a long career with a lot of other good roles), there are so many commenters sharing stories of their interactions with Bill Nunn, either recently, or back during his Morehouse days, or any time in between. These stories give a portrait of a kind and generous man, always willing to help others, show people the ropes, step up. One guy shares this story: “Bill Nunn provided stage lighting for a play I directed in a theatre class I took at Spelman. I was a freshman at Morehouse at the time. Bill was a senior. I was so impressed that a senior would help out a confused freshman. Thank you brother. Rest in Peace!” Many of the stories shared in that thread have the same theme. (Jim Beaver’s FB post about working with Bill Nunn in The Sister Act does too.) These stories are all the more touching because there are so many of them: “I did his family’s tax returns …” “I met him fishing once in Atlanta …” “His family were my neighbors …”

Bill Nunn made his debut in fellow Morehouse-alum Spike Lee’s School Daze, but it was the boom-box-carrying Radio Raheem – whose death at the hands of the NYPD is the inciting incident for the riots that follow – that put him on the map then (and for all time). He worked with Lee a couple more times, in Mo’ Better Blues and He Got Game. I loved him in New Jack City and Regarding Henry: watch those films back to back (they were made back to back, too) and then consider – just consider – Bill Nunn’s range. He did a lot of guest spots in TV series, and I also loved him in The Last Seduction: he’s this big bear of a man but you know he’s in the presence of a cunning predator, you feel his vulnerability, but you also feel his curiosity about her: Are the stories about you true? He’s terrific in it.

But let me just talk about Radio Raheem. I will not be saying anything that others haven’t said, and far more eloquently.

Do the Right Thing was not “prophetic.” Radio Raheem is not “prophetic” of the world we live in now, where there’s a new police brutality case every freakin’ day. The film is only prophetic to people who weren’t paying attention back then, and are barely paying attention now. Radio Raheem’s murder-by-cops in Do the Right Thing was the way things were, and always were, and only now – 25 years later – are white people actually getting that memo. SOME white people. Because there are those who cannot bear to even have the conversation without tossing in #alllivesmatter as some kind of … rejoinder, Kumbaya, Yay for the human race, I don’t even know what to call it.

I am done arguing with such people and listening to the other side. There is no other side. (I haven’t argued here, but on FB and in real life.) Once you decide an argument is worthless, then no, there is no need to get sucked into arguing it anymore, except to make clear your stand. So if you are an “alllivesmatter” person, save your breath to cool your porridge. I consider you an enemy, and I also consider you no longer worth listening to. I felt the same way about the anti-gay-marriage people. You are on the wrong side of history. Your children and your grandchildren will be embarrassed by you. Listen. We all have our lines in the sand. I never do this, but if a commenter arrives with an “alllivesmatter” message, I will consign you to the dustbin of my Trash folder. I’m done with listening. Put that shit on your own blog. I need the bandwidth.

UNTIL “black lives matter” as much as white lives “matter”, then NO, you cannot say in good conscience that “all lives matter.” Because CLEARLY they don’t.

Radio Raheem’s murder – and the entire film Do the Right Thing – an unquestionable masterpiece – was not “prophetic” or “eerily” ahead of its time. It spoke out the reality as Spike Lee knew it, as black people always knew it, and – part of its masterpiece stature – it did not present solutions. It presented the problem. It didn’t even diagnose the problem, because what the hell is there to diagnose? It just showed the problem. Certain demographics didn’t want to hear it then and they still (“I’ll listen to their protests when they stop trashing their own neighborhoods …”) don’t want to hear it now. I saw it in a movie theatre when it first came out, with a mostly-African-American audience, on the weekend it opened, and it is, to date, one of the most exhilarating experiences I have ever had seeing a movie out in public. I get goosebumps just thinking about it. And thinking about the reaction of that crowd.

When Spike Lee came and presented Do the Right Thing at Ebertfest – a night I will never forget – there will still those in the audience – black and white – who wanted him to “weigh in” on current events, suggest solutions and ideas for how to handle such and such. Spike Lee – true to form – refused. Not his role as an artist. The film is a powerful act of social and political critique. It stands for itself.

Now. Radio Raheem. A big intimidating handsome man, you can hear him and his boombox from blocks away. Public Enemy roaring into the heat wave:

Our freedom of speech is freedom or death
We got to fight the powers that be!

Radio Raheem’s monologue – straight to the camera – about his LOVE – HATE rings/brass-knuckles – is a direct and confrontational nod to Robert Mitchum’s (equally famous) monologue in Night of the Hunter about his LOVE – HATE tattoos on his knuckles. Robert Mitchum’s character is filled with hate, and that is reflected in his monologue.

Radio Raheem is filled with righteous anger, but most of all, he is filled with Love. He does not present a solution either. He just states the problem in analogy form.

I’ll just take a second to praise Bill Nunn’s masterful delivery of that monologue, its unearthly confidence, its reaching-for-the-stars extroversion, and the voice – with its depth of tone and its prosody, like a Holy Roller preacher in a tent revival. He’s ferocious. He’s smart. It’s theatrical. It’s not “woven into” the scene, because that’s not how the film operates. The film operates like a Greek tragedy, with chorus members weighing in from the sidelines, direct address monologues and soliloquies, a sense of urgency in connecting with the audience.

Spike Lee also shared a poem on his FB page about Radio Raheem:

An Original Poem
By Lemon Andersen

…And than there was Radio Raheem,
Flat top, tight fade,
Built like an ’89 NY Giant,
The Majestic Brother
you could hear two blocks away
in any direction
pumping Public Enemy
from the horns of his Ghetto Blaster,
the Conscience brother
who wanted nothing but
to be alone and live
in the loud solace of his Radio…
A Young, Black, Beautiful Man
who died in the hands
of Blue Fear and White Fury.
People walked across the street
when Radio Raheem
came down the Block,
the Starch in his frame
scared them away
from the Gap in his smile.
The four fingered rings
were seen like Brass knuckles
when if you stopped him
like Mookie did as the sun set
On that Hot summer day in BK, Brooklyn
You would see Raheems hands
like his mind were worth
its weight in Gold.

Bill Nunn is a memorable actor with many memorable performances. But very few actors get to create a character as important as Radio Raheem is. I am trying to think of another similar example and at the moment I am coming up empty. A character that symbolizes everything that is wrong with our world, and with the assumptions of the clueless majority. A warning. A reminder. Radio Raheem haunts the landscape. Radio Raheem is the symbol of “the problem”, as it has always been in this country – and it’s the rare kind of character where you all you have to do is say his name and people nod in understanding of what it means.

Until Radio Raheem’s value as a human being is recognized by the cops/court systems/passersby who recoil from his size/”scary” demeanor/refusal to be soft and ingratiating … until his value as a human being is equal to the value of property, until the death of Radio Raheem hits us just as hard as the destruction of a white-owned pizzeria … then we will get nowhere. We’ll stay right where we are, which is NOWHERE.

Do the Right Things presented the problem.

It provided no solutions.

Except for, except for …. wait, what was it, oh yeah, I forgot, except for one very important thing:

The title.

Rest in peace, Bill Nunn. You were wonderful throughout your career, and – judging from all of the comments of those who knew you and worked with you – you were a lovely person, and generous to up-and-comers, and helpful to those who needed it. But Radio Raheem is one for the ages.