Unfiltered honesty in today’s society is revolutionary. It stands out. When you hear it in a public form, it captivates you. It might even make you uncomfortable. It incites these reactions because it is surrounding by pontificating, lip service, spin, double speak and virtually every other brand of bullshit one can think of. Corporate leaders, politicians, celebrities and other public speakers go through painstaking lengths to learn to massage, modify, mitigate, manipulate or flat-out mask the truth. They are trained by professionals to manage images and appearances through the most ingenuine of ways. However, every so often, someone decides to say “fuck it” and actually speak or act without constraint or concern for the resulted perception. A truly authentic response. As expected, some are rubbed the wrong way while others are intrigued and admirable towards the authentic gesture. The interesting thing about it, is that the latter feeling tends to last a lot longer. America’s relentless distrust and suspicion of virtually any and everything is a direct result of being flooded with bullshit for so many years.
As a major proponent and subscriber to the “No Bullshit” policy, I would like to celebrate five of my favorite Moments in Authentic Response.
#5 Slain Former NFL Star Pat Tillman’s Brother Rips Maria Shriver and John McCain for their Religious Gesture
Richard Tillman is so raw and unfiltered, we had to include his entire segment on Real Time with Bill Maher’s where he talked about the unfortunate circumstances surrounding his brother’s death in Afghanistan.
#4 Kanye West Gives his Take on George Bush
Kanye West has stated on several occasions that he has denied media training and coaching. The result is perhaps the king of Authentic Response. Visibly angry towards the delayed response for help during Hurricane Katrina, Kanye went into a now famous several minute rant that has come to be perhaps the most memorable moment in his stellar career.
#3 Kanye West Politely Disagrees with an Award Recipient
Remember when I said Kanye West’s rant about George Bush was perhaps the most memorable moment in his career? Well, I lied. This one was.
#2 Steve Jobs Tells Student to Take a Hike
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/09/20/apple-ceo-steve-jobs-student-leave/
Journalism student Chelsea Kate Isaacs was looking for a response from someone at the technology giant Apple. When the media relations department didn’t respond, she figured she’d give Apple’s quirky Steve Jobs a shot. She was successful in getting a response. In fact, she was lucky enough to receive one of the most authentic responses in recent memory. “Our goals do not include helping you get a good grade. Sorry”. When that wasn’t enough of a hint that Apple would likely not be of much help to her and Isaacs responding, Jobs concluded the discussion with a simple “Please leave us alone”. Ouch! Steve Jobs willingness to berate a customer makes Whole Foods CEO John Mackey’s open criticism of Obama’s healthcare plan look like a conservative move. Both are far left of the traditional expected behavior of a Fortune 500 company CEO which made them both pretty extraordinary and refreshing.
#1 John Legend’s Critique of his Humble Midwestern Upbringing
The first four moments were authentic responses delivered in the most brazen of ways. However, sometimes people are able to deliver truly authentic responses that cut incredibly deep with the delicacy of butter. John Legend’s UPENN commencement speech which included a remarkable segment where he speaks candidly about questioning the validity and truth of certain aspects of his humble, religious midwestern upbringing. Legend does it with such intricacy and poise but make no mistake about it, this was a speech full of subtle criticisms of much of the “truth” that he was taught while growing up in Springfield, Ohio. This was both one of my favorite moments in authentic response and speeches of all time.
The Black Rationalist 