Kansas City Playlist: Mayor Q Considers Career Decline & Blames Bias

Tonight we notice Mayor Q taking a tone that's a bit more "militant" than his mostly middle-of-the-road statements . . . He deploys this tactic occasionally but this time around it's (somewhat) notable if only because the Mayor is now entering the downward slide of his own career . . . 

The main takeaway is this line regarding Black lady mayor colleagues recently voted out: 

"Grading it seems isn’t always set on the same curve in our country. No matter the national rhetoric, we should never forget it."

Credit where it's due . . . That's a rather soft spin on a constant complaint that has lost traction even in "communities of color." 

But better than our description . . . Let's let his statement speak for itself . . .

Kansas City Mayor Q Considers Colleagues

As I try to do when I can, I spent a day last week with other Black mayors from around the country. It’s always a good convening as we talk issues facing our communities and ourselves. I’m honored to count some as very good personal friends.

This time though was different. Too many were missing. Since I started in this role, my Black female peers, who were good mayors, good people, good friends, and worked in their communities for decades, were not able to return for additional terms. The issues of each city were unique and I respect their electorates and successors. 

But, many of us faced the same political trends: pandemic, protests, public safety challenges, and more. Our sisters were unique though in it dooming them at the ballot box.

I write simply to say thank you to people like Tishaura, London, Sharon, Lori, and more for always taking my call and being supportive when I had questions that could help my city. I want to ask folks like Karen to keep her head up.

I write also to acknowledge that grading it seems isn’t always set on the same curve in our country. No matter the national rhetoric, we should never forget it.

And I write with a hope that more continue to run, voters give all a chance—and more than a chance—voters give fairly the grace that we all want ourselves as we navigate difficult times in our homes, businesses, cities, and country. 🖤

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Accordingly . . .

Given that the Mayor has consistently garnered election success despite whatever challenges and/or privileges he has enjoyed/endured . . . Tonight's www.TonysKansasCity.com is dedicated to a truism: 

Mayor of Kansas City is a dead-end job and it's mostly likely that Quinton Lucas is soon to enter the most challenging phase of his career: Public scorn that every KCMO lame duck honcho endures on their way out of office. 

Only Congressman Cleaver has been able to transition to a better gig with a lot of help from carefully crafted electoral lines and the legacy of the civil rights movement that, sadly, is now a nearly forgotten legacy of the past. 

And all of this brings to mind a few of these tunes . . .

To start, we share Nirvana's "Silver" which was recorded before the 90s band hit their zenith and features some of lead singer Kurt Cobain's most absurdist yet elementary lyrics.   

"I decided I wanted to write the most ridiculous pop song I had ever written," Cobain explained to a journalist in order "to prepare people for the next album," which became their 1991 release, Nevermind.

From, Mötley Crüe, the campy original video for "Home Sweet Home" offers just the right touch of nostalgia for the "home stretch" of Mayor Q's career.

A B-side from The Stones seems apropos for Mayor Q's career anti-climax . . .

In My House, was produced, written and arranged by Rick James. The track charted as a Billboard Top 10 single on the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs charts in 1984. The song is mostly forgotten but remains a staple of soundtracks for overhead late night music that powers the careers of our shift worker & might owl friends.

Don't read too much into this track . . . We simply include it because it's a political retort to the zeitgeist of Vietnam-era American politics which dominated modern music even as the war was winding down in 1973 . . . Also, there was a time when TKC giggled whenever someone shouted "Play some Skynard!" at every local live music event including a few KC Symphony concerts.

Allow us a bloggy aside that's still "on message" with our homecoming playlist . . . Sam Cooke was before our time but "feels" like a song from our early youth because we discovered this golden era of American music by raiding the abandoned records stored in our grandma's attic . . . This version of "Bring It On Home" is one of our faves . . .

Finally, a glimpse at the past by way of a track that has become pop-music Americana . . . Simon & Garfunkel's "Homeward Bound."

As always, thanks for reading this week and have a safe & fun Saturday night.