Today is Martin Luther King’s Birthday-He Was Fearless & Always Spoke Truth to Power

Bloody Sunday - Alabama police attack Selma-to...

Bloody Sunday – Alabama police attack Selma-to-Montgomery Marchers, 1965. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Today is Martin Luther King Jr‘s actual birthday January 15th 1929. The official holiday is this Monday January 20th..Its also the same day President Obama is inaugurated. We wanted to offer up a few pieces to help you remember, inspire and get you through the day….

First up is a nice video that pays tribute to Bloody Sunday.. That was on March 7 1965 when Dr King and about 600 Civil Rights marchers attempted to walk from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. When they came to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge, they were met with a line of police and bully clubs.. many of the marchers were badly beaten.. This song captures the moment

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a115XUCoq_g

Next is a clip from a speech in King’s later years where he talks about Black empowerment and the vicious lies we were told about Black inferiority…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGtjAaJeUWY

Next is the speech that many speculate led to King being killed. It was the historic speech where he talks about why he opposed the War in Vietnam.. It was a compelling speech where he goes in on the US and her policy of military violence. He also talks about the intense poverty here in the country.

What many folks don’t like talking about is how shortly after the speech major newspapers from all over the country vilified King. They accused him of being unpatriotic. Not only did he lose support amongst the mainstream, he also lost a lot of popularity amongst other Blacks and Civil Rights leaders. Many felt that he stepped out of his lane and that by speaking on the war, it would mess up their funding. You don’t hear too many people apologizing years later for dissing King and abandoning him for speaking out against the war.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b80Bsw0UG-U

Here’s part 1 of a cool in depth interview as he was just starting out in the Civil Rights Movement… The historic Montgomery Bus Boycott was under his belt.. Here on a show called the Open Mind, King talks about the ‘New Negro’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ll4QmvnGcU

You can peep pt 2 of this interview HERE

This was a piece I put together a couple of years ago to pay tribute to the Oscar Grant Movement… We were all waiting eagerly for the verdict to the trial around the police who killed him.. Was moved to juxtapose King’s last speech with all that had been going leading up to the jury’s decision..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMgccsq1IyM

 

Returned to Davey D’s Hip Hop Corner

 

Looking Back at Malcolm X’s Message to the Grassroots Speech Delivered 50 Years Ago Today

Malcolm X talked about Civil Rights & Black church leadership taking funds to compromise on key positions during the March on Washington

Malcolm X

Throughout the year there has been a number of celebrations, commemorations and gatherings about the 50th anniversaries of a variety of landmark events that have shaped this country especially as it pertains to the Civil Rights and Freedom Struggles. In recent months we looked at the 50th anniversary of Civil Rights activist Medgar Evers being assassinated in Jackson Mississippi on June 12th 1963..

We looked back on the Great March on Washington (March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom) August 28th 1963... We also looked back on the tragic bombing of the 16th street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, then dubbed Bombingham on September 15th 1963 Here 4 Black girls Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson and Denise McNair were killed in the blast.

Later that day two Black boys, 16-year-old Johnny Robinson and 13-year-old Virgil Ware would be killed by KKK members and the police.. All this was in retaliation to the March on Washington. This horrific incident would forever change the Civil Rights Movement..

Today many are gearing up to look back at on the 50th anniversary President John F Kennedy being assassinated in Dallas, Texas on November 22 1963. To this day his death is shrouded in mystery as many have come to believe his accused killer, Lee Harvey Oswald did not act alone.

In addition to these 50th anniversary landmark events, we also commemorated the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation.

There is no doubt that 1963 was a turbulent year and as we discuss the events of that year, what is sadly left out is the strong presence of Malcolm X.. In many of the discussions he’s been literally written out of history. His name is not mentioned. His analysis of the situation at hand are unstudied. For example, the morning that Medgar Evers was shot, Malcolm X appeared on a national TV show with March on Washington organizers, James Farmer and Wyatt T Walker and had a remarkable debate about the direction the Civil Rights Movement was headed. Years later Farmer and Walker would re appear on that PBS show and to relive the debate. It was on that show they pointed out the how and why Malcolm was right on many of the points he raised up..You can peep that Great Debate HERE

In spite of his harsh critiques of the MOW, Malcolm X wound up being in DC that day holding court at a nearby hotel and offering his assistance if needed as the day unfolded.  A couple of months later on October 11th 1963, Malcolm would deliver a hard-hitting riveting speech at UC Berkeley, where he lays out the state of Black America, White Liberalism and White Flight and Token Integration..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eHGQaTIW78

Malcolm X Message to the GrassrootsPerhaps Malcolm X’s best known speech was delivered on November 10th 1963 in Detroit at the Northern Negro Grass Roots Leadership Conference which was held in King Solomon Baptist Church. Titled Message to the Grassroots, it would go on to be one of his last speeches while being a member of the Nation of Islam. After Kennedy was assassinated, Malcolm made remarks about ‘chickens coming home to roost’. He was indefinitely suspended and then later split to form his own organization.

In this speech, Malcolm X goes in as he describes the concept of revolution and the difference between the ‘Black revolution’ and the ‘Negro revolution’. He uses as backdrop the awakening that has been taking place throughout Africa and Latin America and reminds the audience that a revolution is about land, will often result in bloodshed and is not about turning the other cheek, holding hands and compromising. He also talks about the landmark Bandung Conference in Indonesia where Asian and African countries came together to assess how to deal with European nations.

Later in the speech, Malcolm lays out the difference between the House Negro and the Field Negro during slavery where he talks about the House Negro being attached to his master and down to put out a fire in the master’s house quicker than the master would. Years later scholars would point out that House Negro was not as docile and accommodating as Malcolm depicted. If anything he just as great a threat as the field Negro because he was in proximity to food and children. It was also pointed out that house Negroes were often treated harsh.

The real crux of Malcolm’s speech comes where he lays out what went wrong with the March on Washington. He talks about how the tone of the March started out being militant and one of defiance.. There was promise of shutting down the city and disrupting traffic. Malcolm notes that President Kennedy called on key organizers in the Civil Rights Movement, then known as the Big Six and told them to stop the march. Kennedy soon learned that the Big Six werent in charge of the march and thus efforts were made for them to take it over and redirect it. In the speech Malcolm describes in detail how the MOW was co-opted even name checking some of the money people like philanthropist Stephen Currier who would help the leaders get money and media time.

Malcolm concludes that the march was so tightly controlled  that Black folks were told what signs to carry, what songs to sing and what speech could be made or not made and what time to leave. Decades later we now know the federal government had secretly installed an over-riding switch that would allow them to turn off the mics and pipe in music from gospel singer Mahalia Jackson if things got too militant. Author Gary Younge highlights this in his book ‘The Speech‘, which talks about that day and how MLK would up giving his famous I Have a Dream Speech’.

With all that happened in 1963 and with everyone looking back 50 years later, it would be a grave disservice not take into account Malcolm’s presence, contributions and insights which have stood the test of time.

 

Angela Davis Looks Back at the 16th Street Church Bombings 50 Years Ago

Angela DavisDavey D speaks with activist, scholar and freedom fighter Angela Davis about the 50th anniversary  of the 16th street Birmingham bombings of 1963.

Angela grew up in Birmingham when it was called Bombingham. This was due to the fact the Ku Klux Klan conducted a campaign of terror on Black people and frequently firebombed people’s homes. The gravity of that of that terrorism has not been fully appreciated or understood. Leading up to the 16th street church bombings, there are estimates that close to 80 bombs were set off in Birmingham.

Davis said Black people were under seige but were determined to fight back. The 16th Street Baptist Church had become a symbol of Black Resistance and was a key organizing center for the Civil Rights Movement. After the huge and very successful March on Washington a few weeks earlier, the historic church became even more of thorn in the side for white supremacists and was eventually targeted with fatal results.

16th street Baptist church..4 girlsOn the morning of September 15th 1963, a bomb was placed in the basement of the church. 4 young girls, Denise McNair, who was 11 along with Addie Mae Collins, Carole Robertson and Cynthia Wesley who were all 14, were killed when that bomb went off. Davis who was friends with two of the girls Cynthia Wesley and Carole Robertson who she noted lived two houses down from hers.

In fact the day of the bombing Angela’s mother drove Carole’s mother to the church to pick up her daughter. They had heard about the church being bombed, but sadly didn’t know Carole was one of those killed.

Davis talked at length during our Hard Knock Radio show about how and why this incident was a key turning point in the Civil Rights Movement. It was a wake up call that moved everyone to get more involved.

Davis also noted that on that day two other Black teens, both boys Virgil Ware and Johnny Robertson were also killed. One by the Klan sympathizers and the other by police who sadly had a working relationship with the KKK.

16th street Baptist churchShe also noted that there was a rebellion , the largest of its kind in Birmingham, which has been erased from the history books. She also noted that because of all the bombings, her father and numerous other men in the community began patrolling their neighborhoods armed with guns.. That helped turn the tide on bombings in her neighborhood which was known as Dynamite Hill, but sadly it didn’t prevent the bombing of the 16th street Baptist church…

During our conversation, Davis made it clear that it was important to connect the struggles of 1963 and the tragedies of that day with the struggles and resistance to racial violence going on today. She drew parallels to the case of Oscar Grant and how that a key turning point for many in the Bay Area and how other cases including the one involving Trayvon martin were also key turning point incidents.

16th street baptist church fight latinosWe also talked about how the 16th Street Baptist Church has in recent years been used as a staging area for protest in the fight to end discrimintaion agaisnt undocumented Latinos who now live in Birmingham. Last year thousands gathered at the church to protest an anti-immigrant SB 1070 type law known in Alabama as HB56. A strong coalition of Black and Brown leaders came together to show unity. Davis talked about the importance of connecting those dots between the Civil Rights struggle of the past with the current fight around immigration.

We concluded our interview with Angela Davis by talking about the plight of political prisoner Herman Wallace who was given 2 months to live and is one of the Angola 3. We also talked about the legacy of Attica and the huge uprisings that took place 41 years ago this week.

Below is our interview with Angela Davis. Also if you are in the Bay Area Angela Davis along with fellow Birmingham resident and Civil Rights attorney Margret Burnham will be speaking at First Congregational Church, 2501 Harrison St in Oakland from 5-7:30pm

Later in the HKR show we hear a commentary from political prisoner Mumia Abu Jamal speaks about death row inmate James “Shorty” Dennis

Click the link below to download or listen to the HKR Intv

Click the link below to download or listen to the HKR Intv

Hard Knock Radio Angela Davis 16th Bombings 9-13-13_

50 Years Later: The Critical Backstory to Martin Luther King’s I Have a Dream Speech

martin_luther_king-sitHKR Aug 24 2013: Today in Washington DC tens of thousands of folks will converge upon the nation’s capitol in front of the Lincoln Memorial to commemorate the 50th anniversary of historic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The actual anniversary is August 28th, but alot of activity will go down today since the 28th falls on a weekday. There will also be a march on the actual day as well.. That’s when President Obama will speak

Dozens of people spoke on that historic day 50 years ago, but what is most remembered is Dr Martin Luther King’s iconic ‘I Have A Dream‘ speech. It’s become a defining moment for the Civil Rights Movement and 50 years later its still highlighted as a major theme for us and many other people to circle around.

There are far too many conferences, rallies and political gatherings to name off where the theme has been some variation of MLK’s Dream… A few years ago in Memphis, Tennessee there was a Dream Reborn Conference which was supposed to signify the mantle of the Civil Rights Movement being handed off to a younger generation. There have been a number of Conferences that have focused on ‘Is the Dream Still Alive’..

Our guest, veteran journalist, historian and author Gary Younge, who has just penned a book called ‘The Speech‘, pointed out the irony to all this is that Dr King had no intention of using the phrase I Have a Dream when he took to the podium that afternoon. In fact he was told by some of his closest aides who had heard a variation of that theme the week before, not to use it because it was kind of corny.

King was also told several times that he only had 5 minutes to speak. If that’s not enough, King was the last speaker to what was along day and as he took the stage, many in the crowd had already started to leave.. The main emphasis on King’s speech was on economic injustice with he key points raised around a bounced check that America had given Black people. He contrast the conditions of the day with the Emancipation Proclamation which had occurred 100 years earlier.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check that has come back marked ‘insufficient funds.’

Author Gary Younge

Author Gary Younge

Younge notes that King literally freestyles the I Have a Dream portion of his speech after his good friend, singer Mahalia Jackson who was standing behind him, did a call and response thing where she shouts ‘Tell em about the Dream Martin‘. That’s when King switched up.

In our interview Younge provides us with an array of political gems and the critical political backdrop of 1963 which leads up to the march and the speech. For example, he notes that the murder of Medger Evers in June of that year was weighing heavily on many people’s minds and served as a catalyst.

He notes that President John F Kennedy and his brother Attorney General Bobby Kennedy felt that Black folks were pushing too fast for their agenda. There was concern about how militant this march might become and thus great pressure was applied to tone things down.

Many do not know the federal government fearing there would be some who took to the stage and call for militant action, had a secret kill switch. If anything inflammatory was said, they could remotely turn off the mic and replace it with song from Mahalia Jackson.

Many do not know that Malcolm X who was highly critical of the organizers leading up to the event was actually in DC that day and had communicated to organizers he was there if needed. Malcolm felt that the essence of the march was going to be compromised. In fact the day that Medger Evers was assassinated, Malcolm debated march organizers James Farmer of CORE, Wyatt T Walker of SCLC along with Ebony Magazine editor Allan Morrison

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSdDPjourgY

Many also don’t know that women weren’t allowed to speak that day which underscored a major flaw in the Civil Rights Movement.

Bayard Rustin who was a communist and gay and a chief organizer of the March on Washington was pushed to the background

Bayard Rustin was a communist and gay and a chief organizer of the March on Washington was pushed to the background

At the beginning of the march, the press rolled up on the actual organizer and chief strategist of the march Bayard Rustin and started badgering him about the number of people who were expected to show up. The press was hell-bent on shrinking the numbers.. Sounds familiar?

The Press as well government leaders were concerned there would be violence at the March on Washington in ’63. Nope, there was no ratchet rap music. There weren’t people wearing sagging pants or hoodies. There wasn’t folks running around yelling ‘Thug life’ yet the police, national guard etc were all preparing for Black violence. This was in 1963.. Sounds familiar?

Many forget that no politician spoke that day.  President Obama will speak at the March on the 28th, which raises a number of issues including how his policies are direct opposition to what King was fighting for.

As many have pointed out 50 years ago all the main organizers were under surveillance by the federal government via Cointel-Pro. Today president Obama presides over a government that is literally spying on everybody at the march. Author/ scholar Jelani Cobb lays this irony out in his excellent essay; Obama, Surveillance and the Legacy of the March on Washington.

Also when King finished his speech, most folks including himself thought it was just ok.. Many did not see King hitting a home run out the park. In fact there were some who were critical, saying that King was Dreaming vs fighting for specific rights.. Younge explains in great detail how and why that speech was elevated to the status it has today, as one of the greatest speeches ever delivered..

Check out our interview below with Gary Younge and get the full behind the scenes story of Martin Luther King’s ‘Greatest Speech’.

Click the link below to download or listen to the HKR Intv

Click the link below to download or listen to the HKR Intv

hard knock radio_08-23-2013

As you listen to the interview we encourage folks to peep the text and listen to the actual interview..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smEqnnklfYs

mlkI HAVE A DREAM” SPEECH The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr August 28, 1963

“I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

The Negro still is not free.

But 100 years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we’ve come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we’ve come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men – yes, black men as well as white men – would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check that has come back marked ‘insufficient funds.’

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation.

Time to rise from the dark valley of segregation.

And so we’ve come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and security of justice. We have also come to his hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism.

Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality.

Nineteen sixty-three is not an end but a beginning.

Those who hoped that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

Let us not drink from the cup of bitterness and hatred

But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline.

We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.

We cannot walk alone.

We cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back.

There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, ‘When will you be satisfied?’

We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality.

We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities.

We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro’s basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating “for whites only.”

We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no we are not satisfied and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality.

You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair. I say to you today my friends – so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

We hold these truths to be self-evident

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification – one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day, this will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning ‘My country ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my father’s died, land of the Pilgrim’s pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring!’

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado. Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi – from every mountainside.

Let freedom ring. And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring – when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children – black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics – will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: “Free at last! Free at last!

Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”

I’ve posted this clip before and will do so again.. This is the famous Civil Rights Roundtable that took place the morning of the March on Washington. It features actors Harry Belafonte, Sidney Poitier, Marlon Brando and Charleston Heston along with writer James Baldwin.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdIHBod9nT4

 

Some Food for Thought on this Jay Z/ Harry Belafonte Thang

jayz glassesAbout this Jay Z / Harry Belafonte thing..One of the ways people look at this scenario is by noting that if the community supports a celebratory/ entertainer, that celebratory/ entertainer should ideally support the community… Hence when Jay Z remarked that his presence is charity feel like it’s a lopsided equation because in reality our collective presence in the form of concert tickets, albums sales and clothing purchases is what puts Jigga on the social and financial map.

The other thing we should not forget, that the Black community is still for the most part a trendsetter and validator of trends.. Meaning that sales of Roc-A-Wear or the sale of Jay-Z the artist would’ve gone no where in the world of cross over if Black folks didn’t co-sign Jay Z when nobody was checking for him..

This applies to a whole lot of businesses and so in looking at this from a wider lens we should ideally understand our true value from top to bottom in the marketplace. In short lots of institutions are eating off what we as Black people create, make popular, remix & rework etc..

So while its important that an artist like Jay-Z give back to the community, we should also note that the institutions that he was on Def Jam/ Universal ..Live Nation etc should also be supporting the community as well. Whatever Jay Z makes pales in comparison to the money some of these outlets made off a Jay and by default us..

Now of course we know that corporations are not about the business of helping folks they exploit get free of their grips..But one should push, demand, kick up dust anyway while always keeping in the forefront of our minds the worth we bring to the table..

The name of the game for corporations is to make it seem like they did us a favor..Long before Jigga uttered those words about his presence being charity, major corporations have not only made that same claim, but took it a step further by insisting you pay them for the honor, which many of us have gladly done..If you don’t believe me look at all the labels we flaunt .. Look at all the brands we highlight..From Cristal to Nike to Tom Ford whose name and brand was made into an anthem on Jay Z’s latest album..

Ideally we should return to the days where we stop name checking institutions and companies who bank off us for billions and never give back..I yearn for the days when we made our own labels and brands that we stuck on clothes and big upped in songs..

Also while we ask Jay-Z to do more, let that burden not be his alone, lets find ways for us all to do more.. Maybe its money, maybe its time that we give.. maybe its us opening doors and supporting those who do the hard work.. There is no one way and there should be no limit.. What we should be striving for is investing back into ourselves and the community with the goal of establishing long-term wealth and long-lasting institutions.

So is Jay Z’s presence charity? I’m not sure.. But if he wants to look at things from that lens, then we can be sure of this: over the past 17 years, my presence has meant a few dollars in Jay-Z’s pocket.. The air play I gave him was a few more dollars. The joints I played at nightclubs padded him up a little more.. The articles he was mentioned in good and bad was still some more dollars.. The Roc-A-Wear gear we purchased over the years was money still and I paid for a couple of concerts.. Multiply that by several million folks who have done the same or similar things and you get the picture..

I’m clear I made an investment in the ‘business’ called Jay-Z.. I made the investment in the dope dealer trying to go good..I showed up time and time again..Was the songs I got and the clothing I wore a good return on the investment?? Maybe.. Maybe not.. My point being is this is not a one way street.. I wasn’t ‘blessed by Hov..if anything, I along with millions of fans and the community at large, blessed him.. I sincerely hope him and Harry Belafonte have a sit down..Jay Z can do so much better.

Some food for thought..

Below is a historic panel discussion on the Civil Rights Movement.. This is the level of discourse, political awareness and involvement that today’s artists should ideally have…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdIHBod9nT4

The Great Debate on the Civil Rights Movement w/ Malcolm X, James Farmer & Wyatt T Walker

Malcolm-X-james-Farmer-Wyatt-T-Walker

Wanted to take people back into time and remind folks of an incredible debate between Malcolm X, James Farmer of CORE (Congress of Racial Equality), Wyatt T Walker of SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Council) and host Alan Morrison. This debate took place on June 12 1963 , this was the same day Civil Rights leader Medger Evers was killed. The day before President John F Kennedy had given a speech on race and plans were in the works for the Great March on Washington where King would deliver his famous I Have a Dream Speech. ..

This historic debate touched upon an array of topics ranging from integration to segregation to the general direction of the Civil Rights Movements.. They also debate Martin Luther King and John F Kennedy. Malcolm goes in and points out what he feels are major flaws with the Civil Rights Movement and the quest for integration, he gets push back from the other panelists..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mEk3PQWHsM pt1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjHf-2Gu4zA pt2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tr1h3TSNaSM pt3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2DF1qCB7UE pt4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow7QZtER-V8 pt5

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPti943hY_0 pt6

 

Open Letter to the Hip-Hop Community: What do you think of the #NewRules to Voting Rights?

This is a editorial that was written by Marvin Bing the Northwest Regional Director of the NAACP in response to the Voting Rights Act. He asked me to pass it on.-Jasiri X-

Open Letter to the Hip-Hop Community: What do you think of the #NewRules to Voting Rights?

vote-rights500The Voting Rights Act, first signed into law in 1965, was a keystone victory of the civil rights movement. African-American citizens withstood beatings, fire hoses and dogs to see the law passed. Some even gave their lives.

And for decades since, the law has protected the right to vote for millions of America’s citizens — regardless of faith, color or creed.

Today’s ruling by the Supreme Court strikes down the power to enforce this important law. This is more than a disappointment—it’s an injustice.

The Hip-Hop community has an obligation to respond to this. Hip-hop was born out of the struggle against inequality, poverty, violence and discrimination. It is a genre that reflects those inequalities in order to overcome them and change them.

Millions of young people listen and act based off what artists, DJs, bloggers and On-Air personalities say. You have the power to help them retain their rights to vote and to fight for the millions of people who will lose the right to vote.

Last year, right-wing law-makers made a dramatic effort to limit voting access. They tried passing restrictive voter ID laws, cutting back early-voting hours, and eliminating same-day voter registration. Citizens with every right to vote were turned away from the polls after waiting hours in line to vote.

The Voting Rights Act was invoked to stop these attacks on the right of the people to vote in 2012. Without it, everything would be different today.

Our nation should be expanding voting access, not restricting it. The decision handed down by the Supreme Court today means that it is now up to us, the people, the hip-hop community, to protect our right to vote.

Tell your audience you’re pissed off about this decision. Talk about how important voting is and how the threat of voter discrimination is very real. Send email blasts, make a PSA, light up social media, and make on-air announcements.

You can start by getting people to Washington, DC for the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington. In 1965, Dr. King and civil rights leaders led 300,000 to March on Washington, and this historic event is part of the reason the Voting Rights Acts passed 50 years ago. On Saturday, August 24, 2013, the NAACP and other civil rights groups can recreate the momentum with your help.

And we need more than marches. We need to be in our communities educating, registering, engaging, and building our people up with the tools and knowledge they need.

Where’s your hustle, are you up for the challenge? The time is always right to do what’s right. Our young people look to you for leadership beyond lyrics.

Marvin Bing is the Northeast Regional Director of the National NAACP. You can follow him on twitter and Instagram @MarvinBing

 

45 Years Ago Today Dr Martin Luther King Was Killed by the US Government

Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane

The US Government Killed Dr King

Today April 4th 2013 marks the 45th anniversary that Dr Martin Luther King was assassinated.. I want folks reading this to be crystal clear about a couple of things.. First, do not mention King’s death and reduce it to the work of a deranged man name James Earl Ray..If the local or national corporate backed media talks about Dr King’s death in those terms, then they are negligent. In fact its safe to say they are complicit in helping cover up what should disturbing to all of us.. Dr Martin Luther King was killed by the FBI.. he was killed by our US government.. He was one of many victims to the FBI’s Counter Intelligence program best known as Cointel-Pro..

Repeat after me… COINTEL PRO.. This was the program used by former FBI head J Edgar Hoover to go after  the Puerto Rican Independence Movement, the American Indian Movement, The Student Anti-War Movement and the Chicano Movement. The FBI saved its most vicious and invasive tactics for the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements.. Malcolm X and Dr King were key targets, primarily because they had linked the domestic struggles for  ‘Civil Rights’ and Black American self determination to the larger struggles taking place internationally.. That was dangerous to the FBI and our government and led to Hoover seeing King as public enemy number one along with the Black Panthers and other groups that had shifted into the same direction of internationalizing Black struggles.

So again do not say Dr King was killed 45 years ago today without mentioning Cointelpro.. In another note we should not lose sight of the fact that earlier this year we saw a lot of fan fare around  Dr King statue on the national mall and President Barack Obama get sworn in using Dr King’s bible..In fact his inauguration was on the same day as the King Holiday.. many thought this was anice and potent gesture.. I say it was a distraction.. If President Obama can get sworn in using King’s Bible, how about using those Presidential powers to completely unearth the role the US government played in Dr King’s killing? How about using those Presidential powers to to bring about justice and punsish all those still alive who were a part of Dr King being killed..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlKP5fgY4C0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbJkJTFXvkM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMgccsq1IyM

 

 

What took place was with Dr King being killed was something much larger then James Earl Ray.. It was part of something deep rooted and systemic..

Remembering Rosa Parks as We Celebrate Her 100th Birthday

Rosa ParksToday is Rosa Parks 100th birthday… She has long been considered the mother of the Civil Rights Movement and for the most part that’s true..This was the sister whose act of defiance on December 1st 1955 set off the Montgomery Bus Boycott.. Unfortunately what’s been downplayed his her courage and the fact that she was not somebody who simply refused to give up her seat on  the bus to a white man at the height of Jim Crow..

Parks had planned it out and was looking to push the envelope and fight for change.. She was not someone willing to just go along with the program and call it a day.. and that’s important to note.. Parks was an activist. She had linked up with the Highlander School in Tennessee where activists are trained to this day to fight racial injustice.. She was also the secretary of the Montgomery chapter of the NAACP.

Below is a clip from 1956 where Rosa Parks is breaking down what she did and why..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoOd5ltjj8g

There is a nice write up on Rosa Parks in last week’s New York Times that focuses on a new book about her called “The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks,” by Jeanne Theoharis. here’s an excerpt from that article…which can be found HERE

Parks was mostly raised by her grandparents. Her grandfather, a follower of Marcus Garvey, often sat vigil on the porch with a rifle in case the Klan came. She sometimes sat with him because, as the book says she put it, “I wanted to see him kill a Ku Kluxer.”

When she was a child, a young white man taunted her. In turn, she threatened him with a brick. Her grandmother reprimanded her as “too high-strung,” warning that Rosa would be lynched before the age of 20. Rosa responded, “I would be lynched rather than be run over by them.”

It’s sad to note that for many in recent generations came to know Ms Parks because of two controversies. The first was when popular rap group Outkast did a song using her name and Ms Parks and her people objected. She didn’t appreciate the language  and thought it had nothing to do with her  and her work.  The group said it was their way of paying homage.

Outkast caused quite abit of controversy with their Rosa Parks song

Outkast caused quite abit of controversy with their Rosa Parks song

A lawsuit was filed against Outkast and their label and was later dismissed. Famed attorney Johnny Cochran got involved and took the case on appeal.. The US 6th district court upheld the earlier decision of dismissal.. Another case was filed this time Parks asked for 5 Billion dollars in damages.

It was at that point that members of Park’s family intervened and spoke up noting that they felt Rosa who was starting to suffer from dementia was being used by lawyers and handlers who were trying to make a quick buck. They said Rosa would never go all out to ruin the lives of young people like Big Boi and Andre 3000.. The entire issue eventually got settled out of court in April 2005, with group members agreeing to do work for the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for self Development.

The second controversy popped off  when the movie Barbershop came out and the character played by comedian Cedric the Entertainer made a joke saying Rosa Parks was tired.. and didn’t really do much but sit ‘her Black ass’ down.. That got many Civil Rights leaders heated. They felt a line had been crossed and Rosa’s legacy was tarnished.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBQWq7KcI5s

We hope as we look back at Rosa Park’s 100 birthday folks take time to dig deep and understand that she was someone who truly loved her people and did what many refused to do, step up and make noise with the intent of bringing about a brighter tomorrow. As we reflect on her life and times.. we should be asking ourselves who is the future Rosa Parks.. Who is set to take fight for justice to the next level the way she did back in 1955?

Dhoruba Bin Wahad: What Do We Do Now that Barack Obama is Re-Elected?

Hard Knock Radio logoIt’s always a pleasure to chop it up with author, former Black Panther and political prisoner Dhoruba bin Wahad. His political insights and analysis are always astute as he challenges us to not settle for anything less than justice for those who are oppressed.  Because of Dhoruba’s sharpness, we had to include him in our post-election series of  ‘Where Do We Do Now That Barack Obama Is Re-Elected?‘  He did not disappoint..

Below is our Hard knock Radio interview w/ Dhoruba Bin Wahad..

As you listen to the interview, here’s some background. The opening of our interview starts off with an excerpt from a landmark speech Dhoruba gave in the summer of 2008 at the National Hip Hop Political Convention in Las Vegas. We dubbed ‘A Message to the Hip Hop Grassroots‘.  Here Dhoruba talked at length about a 30 year attempt by far right forces in this country to consolidate power and dismantle gains made under the New Deal and later the Civil Rights Movementt.

Dhoruba Bin WahadDhoruba talked about the rise of a police state where the stripping of constitutional rights would seem normal to a beleaguered population. He also talked about what sort of things we could expect  slave ascends to the slave masters house including increased oppression not just from outside forces angry at a Blackening and Browning America, but also from President Obama himself and interests he represents.  Dhoruba notes that Obama is part of a larger scenario (the American Empire) where Black faces are used to get the masses to buy back into an imperialistic system versus oppose it..

Below is part of the 2008 speech  Message to the Hip Hop Grassroots.. We had the music and historic sound clips to enhance what Dhoruba was speaking about…