The things said in this video aren't new to most people, at the same time I don't think the things said in this video are as close to the forefront of our minds as they should be. This video, in my opinion, is very powerful and needs to be watched like your favorite TV Show.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Friday, March 14, 2008
President John Mccain. Why we might be in for a surprise!
A Democratic presidential win for Obama may spell a victory for John Mccain.
“In the 21st century, white America got a wake-up call after 9/11/01. White America and the Western world came to realize that people of color had not gone away, faded into the woodwork or just “disappeared” as the Great White West kept on its merry way of ignoring Black concerns.”
These are words spoken by Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr. a man Barrack Obama has called his spiritual leader, political father, and surrogate father. Jeremiah Wright has made many claims that can be considered anti-white and anti-American. Just now as I sit here watching the news they show him saying how, “Barrack knows what it feels like to be a Black man in a country run by rich white men, Hillary Clinton could never know that. Hillary Clinton doesn’t know what it feels like to be called a Niger” Barracks relationship with Jeremiah A. Wright is going to be exploited by the Republican Party as it is now being exploited by Hillary’s campaign Party. The facts that Barrack’s father is a former Muslim and Barrack bares a Muslim name are also two things that will be exploited and used against him in his quest for the White House. In fact, they are already being used to deter voters from electing him the Democratic nominee. Bill Cunningham, host of a talk radio show called “The Big Show” made the comment that the media should “peel the bark off Barack Hussein Obama.” Republican Congressman, Steve King has stated that if Barrack wins, "The radical Islamists, the al-Qaida ... would be dancing in the streets in greater numbers than they did on Sept. 11 because they would declare victory in this war on terror," on the Daily Reporter in Spencer. The aim here is to inspire fear in the American public that Barrack is somehow connected to Muslim terrorist and will leave the country susceptible to terrorist attacks. The Republican Party wants white America to be fearful of the idea that Barrack is some type of Black Nationalist that will turn the country over to Blacks in America. My personal opinion is that these things can and will be used to sink his presidential hopes should he succeed in beating Hillary Clinton for the Democratic Presidential node.
I look at the reason why a lot of the people I know either have never voted or choose to not vote anymore. Their reasoning has always been that you vote for a candidate, he gets into office and nothing changes. The debacle that had taken place when George Bush beat out Al Gore for the Presidency left many Americans questioning whether their vote even mattered. Barrack Obama has inspired many to give the political process another chance. He has inspired a legion of young voters to get involved in the political process. The people Barrack has inspired to return to voting and to vote for the first time will have high expectations. If Barrack loses, the disappointment in these individuals will be so great that they will once again give up hope on the political process and refrain from voting. The lack of support from these voters may lead to a loss for Hillary Clinton and the election of John McCain. When I first heard that Barrack Obama was considering running for president I was fearful of the possibility that him and Hillary would cancel each other out. What I see now is co-dependency, I don’t think either one can win the White House without the other serving as Vice President. Barrack, with the support of those that are accepting of the idea of a Black president alone cannot win the White House just as Hillary with the support of those that are acceptable of the idea of a woman as president alone cannot win the White House. With the consolidation of both their respective support groups the Republican Party is in trouble, without that occurrence taking place, Republicans will be licking their chops at the prospects of going up against either candidate. This is just my opinion; I’m no political science expert of any sort. Take what you will from it.
“In the 21st century, white America got a wake-up call after 9/11/01. White America and the Western world came to realize that people of color had not gone away, faded into the woodwork or just “disappeared” as the Great White West kept on its merry way of ignoring Black concerns.”
These are words spoken by Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr. a man Barrack Obama has called his spiritual leader, political father, and surrogate father. Jeremiah Wright has made many claims that can be considered anti-white and anti-American. Just now as I sit here watching the news they show him saying how, “Barrack knows what it feels like to be a Black man in a country run by rich white men, Hillary Clinton could never know that. Hillary Clinton doesn’t know what it feels like to be called a Niger” Barracks relationship with Jeremiah A. Wright is going to be exploited by the Republican Party as it is now being exploited by Hillary’s campaign Party. The facts that Barrack’s father is a former Muslim and Barrack bares a Muslim name are also two things that will be exploited and used against him in his quest for the White House. In fact, they are already being used to deter voters from electing him the Democratic nominee. Bill Cunningham, host of a talk radio show called “The Big Show” made the comment that the media should “peel the bark off Barack Hussein Obama.” Republican Congressman, Steve King has stated that if Barrack wins, "The radical Islamists, the al-Qaida ... would be dancing in the streets in greater numbers than they did on Sept. 11 because they would declare victory in this war on terror," on the Daily Reporter in Spencer. The aim here is to inspire fear in the American public that Barrack is somehow connected to Muslim terrorist and will leave the country susceptible to terrorist attacks. The Republican Party wants white America to be fearful of the idea that Barrack is some type of Black Nationalist that will turn the country over to Blacks in America. My personal opinion is that these things can and will be used to sink his presidential hopes should he succeed in beating Hillary Clinton for the Democratic Presidential node.
I look at the reason why a lot of the people I know either have never voted or choose to not vote anymore. Their reasoning has always been that you vote for a candidate, he gets into office and nothing changes. The debacle that had taken place when George Bush beat out Al Gore for the Presidency left many Americans questioning whether their vote even mattered. Barrack Obama has inspired many to give the political process another chance. He has inspired a legion of young voters to get involved in the political process. The people Barrack has inspired to return to voting and to vote for the first time will have high expectations. If Barrack loses, the disappointment in these individuals will be so great that they will once again give up hope on the political process and refrain from voting. The lack of support from these voters may lead to a loss for Hillary Clinton and the election of John McCain. When I first heard that Barrack Obama was considering running for president I was fearful of the possibility that him and Hillary would cancel each other out. What I see now is co-dependency, I don’t think either one can win the White House without the other serving as Vice President. Barrack, with the support of those that are accepting of the idea of a Black president alone cannot win the White House just as Hillary with the support of those that are acceptable of the idea of a woman as president alone cannot win the White House. With the consolidation of both their respective support groups the Republican Party is in trouble, without that occurrence taking place, Republicans will be licking their chops at the prospects of going up against either candidate. This is just my opinion; I’m no political science expert of any sort. Take what you will from it.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Damn Crack Music! Poison Is Poison
Why in the hell are rappers calling their music crack music? There was nothing “ill” about the effects that crack had on the ghetto. From crack babies to crack-fiend parents whose children now fill today’s criminal institutions, crack has really done a lot to destroy the black community. I guess in that sense, there couldn't be more of a fitting title. Maybe I’m being a little anal about this. I know why we use the metaphor, I just think we’re in a position where we’re being linked to so many negative things adding on to that list isn’t at all in our best interest.
Why are we so excited to uphold the negative aspects of our existence? I mean, a lot of white people fought real hard to have us stereotyped as criminals, pimps, and as an overall threat to American society in order to justify killing our black asses. Now here we are running around promoting ourselves as criminals, pimps, and what not aiding them in their cause. A brother walks the street in a hoody, pants sagging with a doo-rag on; a cop can pump a few shots into him, swear to God he feared for his life and get off scott free. Why, because they can find a jury that will sympathize with him.
People associate the way we act, talk, and dress with the way criminals talk, act, and dress. They do this because damn near everybody on TV and radio that's a representative of where we come from, boast about being a criminal. We're setting ourselves up. We make up an alarming percentage of the prison institutions in America. So many of us have criminal records for minor offenses like hopping the train, marijuana possession, drinking in public, and disorderly conduct, they have cops in our schools giving kids records for stuff like, getting into fights and grabbing a girls but. The 13th Amendment states you can legally be turned into a slave if you've been convicted of a crime. How many black men in America can say they've never been convicted of a crime? How many, if things continue along the path their heading, will be able to say so in the next ten years?
There's a law that states that the government has the right to investigate any party it deems is advocating crime. How many rap songs can you play with no positive reference to crime and drug use? Most of the rappers that complain about the Hip Hop police are the ones that brag about doing illegal shit. Those same dudes get stopped by the cops, get caught with illegal paraphernalia and try to pass off to everybody the idea that it's all some type of conspiracy. The conspiracy- is in the promotion of music that inspires recklessness and criminal behavior. The conspiracy -is the negative projections of African American males as violent, drug indulgent degenerates that should be deemed as a threat to society. The government and a lot of these rap dudes are co-conspirators against our black nation in demonizing who we are as a people. Those rappers are the sell-outs; they're the Uncle Tom's. They sit down in board rooms with racist white folks and sign off on contracts to sell us poison, but they love the hood, they love the ghetto, F.O.H! We have to cut out this whole being the victim thing and realize our potential to control our own destiny. A lot of our wounds are self inflicted and rather than stitching them up, we go out and pour salt in them. I’m tired of discussing matters such as this but I feel I must. I’m not really saying anything other people haven’t already said but it needs to be reiterated. People need to hear this as many times as they hear the music articles and essays like this one criticizes. Like I said in the title, damn crack music, poison is poison. We need to stop giving validation to the negative stereotypes white people place upon us because they’re using our validation of those stereotypes as a means of justifying the acts of police brutality, racial profiling, and the absurd incarceration rate of Blacks in America. You can’t brag about being a thief and then complain about being suspected of stealing. If we want anything to change for us, the first thing that has to change is us.
Read "The hidden dangers of the 13th Amendment"
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Selling The Dream! Are promoters of Hip Hop showcases taking advantage of MC's?
I came across this ad on Craigslist and was really bothered by it. So much so, I decided to blog about it.
"If you are a real rapper a real singer a real comedian and real poet.come to the sultana lounge located in williamsburg brooklyn on 160 n.4 street bedford ave.event hosted by chocolate thai.music by dj keith.to perform is $30.to come and enjoy the show $15.for more info call"
I understand the get money mentality and all that. I understand brothers are out here grinding and hustling and what not. Some things just aren't what's up though. I kind of feel like the guy from "Shame on you" in writing this but the truth of the matter is that these showcase promoters have gotten out of control. I can understand an Open mic, you pay your little $5 or $10, get on stage and do your little 1,2 thing. It's gotten kind of crazy with the showcases though, I mean I've seen promoters charging dudes up to $500 dollars to perform at a showcase. Sometimes they'll pay some old washed up rapper like Tracy Lee of "It's party time" fame to host the show. Like he can do something for your career they'll try to charge you because he's there.They say things like, A&Rs will be there with ink in their pens and, "if you're serious about your career" to G you out of your hard earned money. Sometimes they'll give you tickets you can sell and make your money back from, sometimes not even that is done. In the event that the artists are given tickets, most of the time the tickets go to friends and family that have already seen them perform a million times. They end up paying $500 to perform in front of their friends and family and a club full of other rappers with their friends and family. The promoters like to call that exposure. I beg to differ, a lot of times the people that come with the artist aren't fans of music like that. They're there to support a friend or family member. A artist can perform live on 42nd street and come off better than rocking at these showcases. Most of these promoters don't promote to music fans because they feel it's a waste of time. They believe everyone is trying to be an artist so their aim is to capitalize off of that, which is but isn't cool. If I put up an ad that read, "Come rap for a room full of rappers" how many niggahs would reply to that? Beyond that, the showcases are garbage. The promoters will book any act that has the money to pay to perform. That usually leads to a line up of garbage acts who have money but no talent. In the event that a Hip Hop fan pops up at one of these shows, they're usually thoroughly disappointed, then when they're invited to the next show they think it's going to be trash and don't show up. I can agree with a lot of promoters on the note that a lot of artists are lazy and don't promote. These artists will just show up, perform, and go home. At the same time they're promoters, their job is to promote. The artists job is to perform and give a good show. Since the promoters are the ones seeing 100% of the profits, what's the incentive for the artist to promote?
A note to artists out there, DON'T DO IT!, don't support these promoters. Spend your money where it matters and that's not on these showcases, trust me, you'll thank me in the long run.
"If you are a real rapper a real singer a real comedian and real poet.come to the sultana lounge located in williamsburg brooklyn on 160 n.4 street bedford ave.event hosted by chocolate thai.music by dj keith.to perform is $30.to come and enjoy the show $15.for more info call"
I understand the get money mentality and all that. I understand brothers are out here grinding and hustling and what not. Some things just aren't what's up though. I kind of feel like the guy from "Shame on you" in writing this but the truth of the matter is that these showcase promoters have gotten out of control. I can understand an Open mic, you pay your little $5 or $10, get on stage and do your little 1,2 thing. It's gotten kind of crazy with the showcases though, I mean I've seen promoters charging dudes up to $500 dollars to perform at a showcase. Sometimes they'll pay some old washed up rapper like Tracy Lee of "It's party time" fame to host the show. Like he can do something for your career they'll try to charge you because he's there.They say things like, A&Rs will be there with ink in their pens and, "if you're serious about your career" to G you out of your hard earned money. Sometimes they'll give you tickets you can sell and make your money back from, sometimes not even that is done. In the event that the artists are given tickets, most of the time the tickets go to friends and family that have already seen them perform a million times. They end up paying $500 to perform in front of their friends and family and a club full of other rappers with their friends and family. The promoters like to call that exposure. I beg to differ, a lot of times the people that come with the artist aren't fans of music like that. They're there to support a friend or family member. A artist can perform live on 42nd street and come off better than rocking at these showcases. Most of these promoters don't promote to music fans because they feel it's a waste of time. They believe everyone is trying to be an artist so their aim is to capitalize off of that, which is but isn't cool. If I put up an ad that read, "Come rap for a room full of rappers" how many niggahs would reply to that? Beyond that, the showcases are garbage. The promoters will book any act that has the money to pay to perform. That usually leads to a line up of garbage acts who have money but no talent. In the event that a Hip Hop fan pops up at one of these shows, they're usually thoroughly disappointed, then when they're invited to the next show they think it's going to be trash and don't show up. I can agree with a lot of promoters on the note that a lot of artists are lazy and don't promote. These artists will just show up, perform, and go home. At the same time they're promoters, their job is to promote. The artists job is to perform and give a good show. Since the promoters are the ones seeing 100% of the profits, what's the incentive for the artist to promote?
A note to artists out there, DON'T DO IT!, don't support these promoters. Spend your money where it matters and that's not on these showcases, trust me, you'll thank me in the long run.
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