Brother Tahuti wore our colors proudly

by Paradise Freejahlove Supreme

Our big brother Tahuti, the man in red, black and green himself, passed Tuesday, June 16, 2015, in the garden of the cottage where he lived. At this time, the cause of his death is unknown. But it is for certain that the Bay Area community, Pan Afrika and the world has suffered a great loss.

Have you ever seen him, talked to him or met the man? He is irreplaceable! Sister Nubia Maat said he reminded her of those old school brothers in Harlem. He was from Alabama. And is perhaps most notably recognized or remembered for wearing nothing but Afrocentric clothing – mostly his red, black and green outfits, pharaoh’s crowns and ancient Egyptian (Kemetic) regalia, along with his ankhs and staffs, which made him look like the ancient wise man he was.

He was one of the most photographed men in America and the world. An ancient Chinese philosopher once said that, “The pole star that remains in a fixed position causes the other stars to revolve around it.” He was a true Afromantic, who seemed to be on a mission to represent classical Afrikan civilization and its glory days, until all the rest of us Black folks came back around and those glory days returned. He was no Undercover Brother or Part Time Revolutionary. He was a Supernova Brother and a Full Time Revolutionary, who wore our colors proudly and lived Black history every day!

Our big brother Tahuti, the man in red, black and green himself, passed Tuesday, June 16, 2015, in the garden of the cottage where he lived.

It used to be common back in the day for our mothers in the South to warn us before we went outside, “Don’t go showin’ your color now!” In other words, don’t be acting too black and beautiful around them bland and racist white folks out there.

But while many brothers and sisters today are IncogNegro (ashamed of being too Black and beautiful, except maybe during Kwanzaa or Black History Month), brother Tahuti represented like an Afrikan All Star every day! The only day of the year he didn’t stand out from the crowd was during Halloween! He wore his blackness like a flag and didn’t care what others thought of him, only what he thought about the welfare of his people! Black people!

It’s hard to believe I won’t be seeing him on the Avenue … directing traffic. He was like a Black world traffic controller, always recommending events that we should go to or people we should meet. He would never let two friends of his pass without introducing them to one another. He was always connecting the Black dots.

It’s hard to believe I won’t be seeing him on the Avenue … directing traffic. He was like a Black world traffic controller, always recommending events that we should go to or people we should meet.

I feel like I’ve been robbed, because we had started to recently gravitate toward one another more and more. He had become one of my best friends and biggest supporters, talking me up to people as a poet everywhere we would meet. He said I was evangelistic in the way I made people feel good and lifted their spirits. And as added encouragement, he would drop a $20 bill on me (the Church of Paradise) out of the clear blue sky!

The last three times I saw him were at Eastside Arts, where he was an honorary member – as he was at Wo’se Church – during our Afrikan Liberation Day event in May; at First Fridays, June 5, downtown Oakland, where he talked about how beautiful Michael Lange’s funeral was; and at the Friends of the Negro Spirituals “Juneteenth” event on June 6. He had come to see me perform at both those events.

Who would have guessed that in a few days Brother Tahuti would return to the Universal Hipness and leave this world of squares behind, to rest in peace, rise in power and reload!?!

Email Paradise Freejahlove Supreme at [email protected].