Moses and Cultural Appropriation in Mumbo Jumbo
Ishmael Reed makes many comments on cultural appropriation all throughout Mumbo Jumbo , specifically on the theft, commercialization, or bastardization of Black culture at the hands of White people. Examples of this theme include the Mu'tafikah, a group of Robin Hood-esque thieves who have made it their goal to reclaim the artifacts of largely Black civilizations which currently rest in various "Centers of Art Detention" (15) across New York City; Hinckle Von Vampton's blackface Talking Android designed to destroy Jes Grew by presenting a massively oversimplified and offensive version of it to the world; and even Charlotte, a former member of the Mumbo Jumbo Kathedral who left to entertain rich White people on the stage with a bastardized, commercialized version of "the Work." Later in the story, PaPa LaBas and other members of the Kathedral crash the party where the Talking Android is being "revealed" with the intent to arrest von Vampton and...