2012 Daily News | Hip-Hop and Politics

Brother Ali Brings Dope Music and Serious Political Heat…Real Talk for 2012

November 4, 2012 By mrDaveyd

If you thought the Ice Cube video about political corruption was dope, then you’ll enjoy what Brother Ali is breaking down.. His album Mourning In America an Dreaming in Color is a masterpiece..The videos he put out are dope.. Here’s a cool interview from the folks over at dazzhot where he goes in what’s challenging the world around us..Big up to Ali for holding it down in 2012 and waging war on the system.

Mourning in America

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKHsGh-y8d8

Only Life I Know

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HwATJMeOYU

Interview w/ Brother Ali via the homies over at Dazzhot

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqnGYDK7T5Y

Filed Under: 2012 Daily News Tagged With: Brother Ali, ice Cube, Mourning In America, Rhymesayers

Election 2012: The War on Women and all that’s at Stake; Our Intv w/ Jill Filipovich of Feministe

November 4, 2012 By mrDaveyd

Earlier this week we got a chance to sit down w/ popular blogger, commentator, author and recovering lawyer Jill Filipovic. Many know her as the force behind one of the largest and oldest feminist blogs on the web Feministe. She was visiting the Bay Area and got stuck for a few days because of Hurricane Sandy, that allowed us to catch up with her.

During our sit down we talked about the 2012 Election season and the relentless war on women. We talked about what sort of impact all the rhetoric and long list of anti-abortion laws resurrected in over 20 states would have come Nov 6th.

We also talked about how did we go from a country that seemed to be progressing with the emergence of the Women’s Rights Movement 30/ 40 years ago to one where we see such vitriol directed at our mothers, sisters, daughters and wives who compose of more than 50% of our population. Jill gave us a thorough breakdown of all the new laws, what may be coming down the pipe and what sort of policies have had international implications.

Jill gave a clear assessment of why there is backlash against women. We also talked at length about some of the missteps the women’s movement may have made and what sort of bridges and improvement need to be made moving forward. We also talked about why we seen so many men in the forefront of anti-abortion and anti-birth control movements. We talked about the controversy surrounding Georgetown student Sandra Fluke.

We had a great and insightful discussion. Jill gave us a sobering reminder of some the key issues at stake as we head on into the election. Reflect, React and Rise up..

You can peep our HKR intv w/ Jill Filipovic of Feministe by clicking the link below..

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Filed Under: 2012 Daily News Tagged With: Abortion, Barack obama, feminism, Feminist movement, Feministe, Jill Filipovic, Opposition to the legalization of abortion, War on Women, Women's rights

Some Food For Thought on Cali’s Crazy & Controversial Propositions

November 3, 2012 By mrDaveyd

Yes I know I posted this article earlier, but I’m having to do this again because apparently some of these popular social media sites including the one your reading FB wanted me to pay 2k to reach the large number of followers I spent 4 years building..

In the initial title of my post I called it a voter guide, which we believe triggered a pop up window asking for an obscene amount of loot, so we are reposting this with a different title.. In the meantime readers can do a couple of things to insure our blogs are showing up in your news feed..

1-Go to the our page and click the little “gear” they can add my page or others you like to their “interests” which will make posts from us appear in your timeline (all the time).

2-alert people that not all status updates are being delivered unless we pay some outrageous fee, so visit our page often.. Bookmark it can visit we will do the same for other. Thanks for understanding.. Now here’s the article on Cali Propositions…

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With a few days left before Election Day, which is Tuesday November 6th 2012.. I wanted to weigh in on a few of the California state propositions and measures.. Yes all the attention is between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama and billions are being spent to get one of them in the White House.. While watching that contest where more than 3 billion dollars has been spent, i wanna remind folks that neither Obama or Romney have any say so on ending the death penalty or 3 strikes in Cali..There are propositions on this years ballot where voters can make those two factors disappear or forever remain.. The hell with those who tell you voting doesn’t matter when you can walk in a elementary school classroom in any hood and damn near every hand is raised if you ask ‘do you have a parent. older sibling or close relative in jail?

The hell with those telling you not to vote when you look at the fact we built 34 new jails in Cali over the past 20 years vs one university. Most doing time are for minor or low-level drug related offenses.. Many of those incarcerated are also getting out with no rehabilitation, training or prospect for employment so they wind up re-offending and heading back.. While the prison population booms, we have a powerful set of corporate backed politicians, many of them Democrats sadly, who are gung-ho about privatizing the California University and college system. The head of the CSUC system recently said students are lazy and that anyone who was a super senior, meaning they been there more than 4 years needs to be kicked out to make room for new students.

Chancellor Charles B Reed who recently stepped down, ignored the fact that tuitions in some universities have increased by 300% in the past 5 years..yes you read that right tuition has increased by 300% Schools that were once free for all Californians now have students strapped with loan debts of 15, 20 and even 30k by their 3rd and 4th years. Many students are holding down 2 and 3 jobs which means their stays at the university are longer, but we still have people like Reed and many on the Board of Trustees at CSUC and on the Board of Regents at UC who not only think like him, but are hell-bent on implementing more tuition hikes and policies to destroy these once revered public schools.. There are propositions on the ballot that will immediate stop proposed fee hikes and turn things around.. Obama and Romney have nothing to do with any of this…

There is a measure on the ballot that will make foods companies tell you when they are using GMOs (genetically modified organisms). It’s a bill against big agribusinesses like Monsanto who routinely sue farmers and other countries and small farmers because their patented seeds blow into other people’s farms and sprout up. Monsanto considers it theft. They’ve also been spending 10s of millions to defeat Prop 37. Obama and Romney have nothing to do with that…

This Monday at 4pm on Hard Knock Radio heard on 94.1 FM KPFA we will being doing a round table with community folks about the propositions… In the meantime here’s a few resources to get you acclimated and here’s my personal endorsements..

California-Calls-2012-voter-Guide2.pdf

http://www.theballot.org/guides/CA

Davey D’s 2012 Proposition Picks

Proposition 30-Vote Yes Save Education..This is a proposition against the 1%. It’s a vote against those who wish to raise tuitions and privatize the UC, CSUC and community colleges. The measure will temporarily raise sales taxes on the wealthiest Californians, many who pay lower rates the majority of us.. Keep in mind many of the folks pushing to raise tuitions at these schools got to go to them for free. There’s no excuse for students coming out of UC to be owing more in student oans then students coming of Ivory League schools. Education is a Right not a Privilege.. VOTE YES on PROP 30

Proposition 31 Vote NO… Govt Accountability.. This proposition is designed to streamline the often confusing and stagnant budget process in Sacramento. It highlights a pay as you go ethos, meaning that no program can be supported unless there’s money to pay for it or there is a revenue stream attached to it.. It also allows any governor to unilaterally cut out programs. It also allows local city government to set up its own rules as to who is and isn’t for state funded programs. I don’t know any way to describe this but to say its a slick confusing austerity measure program where the belief is that our budget crises is caused by folks who are recipients of safety net programs vs those who game the system by not paying their full share via tax loop holes etc.. I say VOTE NO on PROP 31

Proposition 32 Vote No... This is a real sinister bill. It masquerades like it’s a campaign finance reform bill when in reality its a pro-corporation anti-union bill. Given the obscene amounts of money spent on national and now local elections, many people are eager to get behind any bill that would reign the spending in and put a dent in the Citizens United Supreme Court decision. The problem is this bill doesn’t do that

Prop 32 is put together by folks who have the backing of large corporations, Big Oil, Superpacs, the Koch brothers and Karl Rove types all who would be exempt the campaign restrictions put into this bill. I kid you not, big businesses would be free to spend as much as they want like they always could on campaigns. Prop 32 is a bill designed to silence the few unions that are left..Keep in mind 30 years ago 20-25% of workers belonged to a union.. Nowadays its less than 7%..

Under Prop 32 workers in Cali who are trying to unionize Wal-Mart would be prohibited from giving money to campaigns that support their cause like raising the minimum wage, but their bosses who run Wal-Mart which spends millions on campaigns, candidates and superpacs, would be allowed to give unlimited amounts of money to anti-union candidates. This reminds me of Prop 209 from 15 years ago which was against affirmative action but advertised itself as a Pro- Civil Rights Proposition. This is a deceptive bill. Don’t be fooled VOTE NO on PROP 32

Proposition 33 Vote No. This is yet another proposition put together by big corporation with a deceptive premise. Its a bill put together by Mercury Car Insurance where they say they wanna add a hefty surcharge to certain drivers supposedly to save you money. That’s some real laughable BS. Here’s the breakdown..

Insurance companies have been pissed off ever since Cali voters put the clamp on them several years back. At every turn they been attempting to find loopholes and new ways to charge folks new fees. This is the latest scam. They wanna be able to raise rates on any driver who hasn’t had car insurance for 90 days in the past 5 years even if they didn’t own a car.. Yep you read that right..Even if you didn’t own a car they wanna charge you.

Over the past 5 years we had a crazy recession which meant in order to pay rent and put food on the table, many California cut back on everything from cable to internet to car repairs and to car insurance. Hella people, in particular students gave up their cars because things got so bad. The insurance companies now wanna go back and look at everyone’s records, see who dropped insurance and then raise their rates, even if they had stellar driving records.. They said they would make exceptions for soldiers and the unemployed. Don’t be fooled. Unemployed is not the same as Under-Employed which is what most Californians are and were over the past 5 years. VOTE NO on Prop 33.

Proposition 34 Vote Yes.. This a proposition designed to repeal the death penalty. On the surface the bill is no brainer for those of us who feel that far too many innocent folks are on death row, its inhumane to kill and unfairly and disproportionately applied to poor people and people of color. The flip side to this is that while it repeals the death penalty and convert folks to life in prison without the possibility of parole, it would also dead much of the appeals process.

The main complaint in some civic circles is that death row has cost tax payers millions and even billions because of the long appeals process each inmate under takes to save his/her life. While Prop 34 would stop folks from going to the death chambers it would also limit the appeals, so in theory you might have an innocent person doing life behind bars with no chance for appeal. This aspect has been cause for concern and divided many on the issue. I know many who have been incarcerated and heard folks who once were on death row speak to both sides of this issue.

I thought long and hard about this and decided to vote for Prop 34. First and foremost I wanna keep people alive especially if they are innocent. We can fight to make sure cases where its clear there are innocent folks locked up and get them free. We can’t bring innocent folks back who are killed by the state. VOTE YES on Prop 34

Proposition 35 Vote No.. Human Trafficking.. One of the worse things going on in this country is human trafficking. Here in Oakland its a major problem that extends well beyond petty criminals and wanna be pimps. There are serious organized rings that make Human Trafficking an international affair and it needs to be stopped with all those involved severely punished.

Prop 35 will increase sentences, but from the folks I spoke to who really study the criminal justice system, the language while well intentioned is also seriously vague which is a red flag.The way its written is that many consensual sex workers and prostitutes will be caught up getting harsh sentences vs the real culprits and pimping types who often remain hidden in the shadows. Its like a war on drugs where street sellers go to jail but king pins don’t.

We don’t wanna see another 3 strikes situation where we still have violence and hundreds of thousands of non-violent offenders locked up.. Many of the human rights and criminal justice advocates from the ACLU to Women’s Prisoners Coalition are not feeling this bill I think this needs to go back to the drawing board with clearer language and perhaps even a collaboration with those who don’t wanna see all sorts of folks unfairly and disproportionately swept up. A vote against this bill should not be the end in terms of folks fighting to end human trafficking. If folks choose to vote yes.. considering how bad this problem is.. I understand. I say VOTE NO on PROP 35

Proposition 36 Vote Yes.. End Mass Incarceration. This is a proposition designed to repeal California’s infamous 3 strikes law. Its return to Prop 66 which was proposed several years ago and was set to win before Gov Arnold Schwarzenegger threw his weight behind opposing it at the 11th hour. The prop lost by less than 5 thousand votes. Sadly there were many at that time who proclaimed voting was a fraud and didn’t mean anything so lots of folks stayed home and sat on their butts while many in their family and the community languished and still languish in Cali jails for non-violent minor offenses under 3 strikes. For example Black folks make up 7% of California’s overall population of 40 million and consist of over 45% of those incarcerated, the overwhelming majority for non violent offenses. This is a chance to get things corrected.

No this is not a bill designed to cuddle violent offenders. This is a bill designed to get folks out who shouldnt be there in the first place. We need to be working toward rehabilitating folks not warehousing them and thus far 3 strikes has done nothing but make money for the prison industrial complex without applying resources, time and attention to root causes of crime.. VOTE YES on PROP 36

Proposition 37 Vote Yes Food Labeling Bill.. We live in a day and time where millions of people are concerned about GMOs (genetically modified organisms and how they are used in foods we routinely consume. The feeling is many are not fully tested and the many do not want to be unwitting guinea pigs. GMOs come out of the pesticide industry and is motivated as a way to not lose crops vs making sure people’s health is improved. Many big agribusiness farms are behind the GMOs as well as big seed patent giant Monsanto.

Over the past few months tens of millions of dollars have been spent by corporate farmers and their lobbyists along with Coca Cola to stop Prop 37 which would require many foods to be labeled if they contain GMOs. The campaign to oppose Prop 37 has suggested that food prices would rise if they are required to include GMO labeling. They have also resorted to calling labeling GMOS a ‘deceptive practice’, using the language of activists and community groups. .

Millions of folks including myself say BS.. Outlets like Monsanto and their millions somehow got the NAACP to oppose Prop 37 which is a damn shame when you consider most civil rights groups and countries all over the world including Russia and China support labeling GMOs found in foods…It shows you the power of money. The rest of us are 100% behind this important initiative.. Right now there are 20 states with Food labeling initiatives.. All eyes are on California and the millions of fear based ads run by agribusiness to defeat the measure we say VOTE YES on Prop 37

Proposition 38 Vote No.. raise Taxes for Everyone.. This proposition basically came about in response to the push to tax the wealthiest Californians who don’t pay their fair share.. In short tax the 1%. This is basically embodied in Prop 30 and directly connected to stopping fee hikes at state colleges etc. Prop 30 is the measure proposed by Gov Jerry Brown..

The 1% folks got together and crafted Prop 38 which would raise taxes for 12 years on most Cali folks thus putting increased burdens on poor and working families. Prop 38 will absolutely do nothing to Stop the 6 billion dollars in deficit trigger cuts to happen later to education if passed. Prop 30 will stop immediate cuts..The concenses is the billionaire behind the measure Molly Hunger did this to confuse voters especially when she uses wording like this money can’t be touched by politicians in Sacramento. All money in Sac is touched.. Don’t be fooled.In the case of Prop 30 vs Prop 38 there is a transparency aspect to it where all can see where and how the money from these extra taxes are being used.. Vote NO on Prop 38

Proposition 39 Vote Yes.. Close Corporate Loopholes.. The best way to describe this bill is that it’s a way to stop instate outsourcing. In this case what we have are scores of big corporations here in Cali who operate in other states but don’t pay their share in Cali taxes. They use all our commons from freeways to police, fire and other infrastructure, but pay taxes elsewhere. They do this fancy financial trickery to avoid paying.. This bill closes those loopholes and is pretty much a no brainer..It would also push for companies to provide more jobs and training..Look if any of us do work out of state we pay taxes on the income earned.Lets make sure the big boys in business do the same.. VOTE YES on Prop 39

Proposition 40 Vote Yes Redistricting.. One of the most contentious process in government is around the issue of redistricting and how boundaries are drawn.. Over night we’ve seen long time incumbents removed from office that’s to the redrawing of district lines every ten years. The folks in charge have long been politicians. In some states it’s the governor. In other states it’s a governor and his appointees. In any cases district lines have been drawn to satisfy the political goals of those in power.

California decided to do something about this and had on the ballot a couple of years ago a proposition that created a council of citizens who got to redraw district lines. Needless to say this didn’t sit well with some Sacramento politicians, in particular Republicans have been the main opposition to this. If it fails redistrict lines will have to be redrawn again.. Call it a case of sour grapes on behalf of the GOP.. We say VOTE YES on PROP 40

Filed Under: 2012 Daily News Tagged With: Barack obama, Cali propositions, California, California Propositions, CSUC, Election 2012, Genetically modified organism, Mitt Romney, Obama, Prop 32, Proposition 31, Yes on prop 30

Election 2012: Davey D’s California Statewide Proposition Picks & Voter Guide

November 3, 2012 By mrDaveyd

Cali Calls Voter Guide 2012

http://www.theballot.org/guides/CA

Davey D’s 2012 Proposition Picks

Filed Under: 2012 Daily News Tagged With: California, California Propositions, Election 2012, Genetically modified organism, Monsanto, Prop 32, Prop 33, Prop 35, Prop 36, Prop 37, Prop 39, Prop 40, Proposition 31, Sacramento

The Coup Shows You a Billionaire’s Coming Out Party

November 2, 2012 By mrDaveyd

The Coup which features Boots Riley has a new album out called Sorry to Bother You. So far its been getting a lot of buzz.. Below is the video to one of the singles off the album called ‘Your Parent’s Cocaine’. Boots describes the song as a billionaire kids coming out party..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=nJtbSixXGgM

Filed Under: 2012 Daily News, Video New Music Tagged With: Boots, Boots Riley, Coup, Oakland California

Jared Ball and Rosa Clemente Were Right by Shamako Noble

November 2, 2012 By mrDaveyd

“In 1956, I shall not go to the polls. I have not registered. I believe that democracy has so far disappeared in the United States that no “two evils” exist. There is but one evil party with two names, and it will be elected despite all I can do or say.” -W.E.B. Du-Bois

“The Green Party isn’t the alternative. It’s the imperative.” -Rosa Clemente

“For me, it’s simple. It’s either the Greenhouse or the penitentiary.”-Cheri Honkala

“Four years later and I’m kicking it with the Green Party VP candidate. Again.” -Rahman Jamaal

Sword of the West Shamako Noble

Jared Ball and Rosa Clemente were right. There is something taking place with the relationship between Hip Hop and the Green Party. Maybe it’s because the Green Party, much like Hip Hop, can be blamed for a mess much larger than itself. Maybe it’s because both of them have spent their whole existence fighting corporate media, corporate influence and getting shut out of the conversation. Maybe it’s because they are stuck in a world where the “mainstream” dictates definition, your perspective, and your contribution. Maybe it’s because they both imagine a world where education is accessible to all, there are no more evictions and no more foreclosures, where food production, resolving community challenges and culture is localized and more money is spent on education and housing than war and imprisonment.

Or, as 2004 Presidential candidate for the Green Party David Cobb put it, “maybe it is because Hip Hop and the Green Party are both revolutionary calls for such systemic social political and economic change that you just can’t get it until you get it.” Whatever the case may be, it is a relationship that keeps expanding. That expansion was given to us not just by the natural development of our economic and political situation, but also by leaders like Jared Ball and Rosa Clemente. When they took this route, I did not get that. I get it now. And it looks like a lot of other people are getting it, too. Note: No matter who you are, some of this article will and should be unfamiliar to you. And that’s part of the point.

2008: The Green Party Meets Hip Hop, and Hip Hop meets Obama

Dr Jared Ball

In 2008, Hip Hop had it’s first Presidential and Vice Presidential candidate in Jared Ball and Rosa Clemente. This was significant coming off of the National Hip Hop Political Conventions of 2004 and 2006. At this time they were at the forefront of a process that continues to unfold today. At that time Rosa Clemente famously said, “The Green Party is not only the alternative, it’s the imperative.” Jared and Rosa, and artists like Head-Roc out of the DC Statehood Green Party Chapter were on a curve that continues to expand even as this race between “two-parties”continues to tighten.

When Jared Ball, professor, media activist, organizer, and a leader in the National Hip Hop community ran for President on the Green Party ticket in 2008, a lot of people (myself included) didn’t know how to process that. Still, when Jared Ball ran the “Hip Hop For President” campaign he raised a possibility that hadn’t yet been considered in a lot of circles in any serious way– a Hip Hop presidential candidate on an independent party slate bringing up and championing the issues present in the communities where Hip Hop has impact. Hip Hop had already made some very significant strides with the National Hip Hop Political convention and a plethora of activity that took place on the state and national level. There were also a lot of folks from the Green Party who were interested in further developing that kind of a relationship including Anita Rios, former Co-Chair of the USGP National Committee and Dean Meyerson and founder and Executive Director of the Green Institute.

Head-Roc

Jared Ball had a vision. And he teamed up with the DC Artist Head-Roc to execute a creative and artistic strategy for that. Head-Roc and Jared Ball created a two-man artist/candidate multimedia presentation that would be great indicator of what was to come. His reasoning is simple, “George Jackson remains correct. After the fact of monopoly capital the vote becomes meaningless. Our only hope for electoral politics is to develop viable alternatives to what currently exists. If we are to vote, we must develop a party worthy of that effort and struggle. It is the Green Party that best represents that hope.”

In other areas, the large majority of political activity which took place under the moniker “Hip-Hop” did so either in an independent, non-electoral or non-political party way, or in many cases in a way that made the work seem automatically pro-democratic party in nature even when it was not explicitly taking that position. There are many who believe that the Democratic Party machine engagement contributed to the split of the original collective who helped to organize the National Hip Hop Political convention at the time.

Soon President Obama was winning the nomination, and it was all but sure that the Hip Hop vote would lean in his direction. It was a legitimate position at the time, because every rapper and there mom were taking photo ops with the soon to be President. My position on Obama at the time can be found here (http://debugcommunity.blogspot.com/2008/01/barack-obama-is-new-oj.html). But the Green party delivered a one-two punch that would shock the world. Former Democratic Party Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney became the Presidential candidate for the Green Party, and announced as her running mate, Rosa Clemente.

Both Cynthia McKinney and Rosa Clemente had a great deal of support within the Hip Hop community, although that support would struggle to be organized. Jared Ball and Head-Roc would continue their campaign, only re-focused in a manner that was supportive of Cynthia McKinney and Rosa Clemente, setting their own egos aside long enough to get in line with the Green Party program.

Rosa Clemente at the Poor People’s March 2008

And while Cynthia McKinney had developed a particular platform on a national stage, Rosa Clemente was a new and unexpected element. Rosa, who was a founder of the National Hip Hop Political Convention, a member of the Malcom X Grassroots Movement and one of the people who would help define Hip Hop Activism since it’s inception, added something new into presidential politics. She was a candidate who related explicitly as Hip Hop. Rosa would go on to make appearances at the Hip Hop Congress National Convention in Biloxi, MS and the National Hip Hop Political Convention in Las Vegas, NV. This would be the very same year that, in a moment of movement prophecy, Rosa Clemente would stand with the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign, marching with National Coordinator of that organization, Cheri Honkala, and thousands more people at the March For Our Lives in St. Paul, MN.

Rosa was also working to get dead prez at the march following a performance taking place at one of the many cultural events during the RNC protests. This march hit many sites in St. Paul including prisons, shelters and significant areas of St. Paul movement history. Halfway through the march Rage against the Machine, who were hosting a concert that was spontaneously canceled, directed their 4,000 attendees to join the March already holding 6,000 attendees being led by Cheri and Rosa. Little did the world know, but that march held both the 2008 and 2012 Vice Presidential candidates of the Green Party. And they were marching for the lives of poor people, Black, Brown, Yellow, Red, White, Women, Men, other gender qualifications, Children, Elders, unborn and ancestors alike. It was a prophetic moment, indeed.

2012: Nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide.

Cheri Honkala

Fast forward to 2011, and Cheri Honkala is running for Sheriff in Philadelphia. And get this– Cheri and the Greens were running on an explicit platform of NO EVICTIONS, NO FORECLOSURES. Imagine for a hot second a sheriff who simply refused to evict poor people from their homes! Now imagine hundreds of them. That’s a good example of what it looks like. Hip Hop culture can get focused about implementing our program, not just envisioning it. On top of that, there are folks in Hip Hop on the ground doing this kind of work locally, nationally and internationally every day.

Fast forward a year later, Cheri is now the Vice Presidential candidate for Green Party running on a ticket with Massachusetts-bred Dr. Jill Stein, whose Green New Deal slides closely with the platforms and concepts first elaborated on in the platform statement released by the National Hip Hop Political convention some eight years earlier in 2004. And Cheri Honkala, as PPHRC-founder & organizer, has a long history of working with other organizers and cultural producers like Mic Crenshaw in Portland, OR, Manny Phesto in Minneapolis, MN and Rebel Diaz in Chicago. The Green Party in general, and Cheri Honkala specifically, have often reflected many of the radical positions that have been expressed in Hip Hop movement and activism. While there continues to be critique and refinement around the value of the Green Party, this presidential and vice presidential campaign continues to embody much of that natural connection.

Just take a look at some of the activity that has taken place over the last two weeks.

George Martinez

We begin with a rally in New York where Global Block Foundation founder, first Hip Hop candidate to win a seat in New York (2002), former Chairman of the Hip Hop Association and current U.S. Ambassador George Martinez. George was also a Congressional candidate from within the Occupy movement. George Martinez performed in support of Dr. Stein and Ms. Honkala and is currently advocating a three-point platform which fits directly into the platform of the Green New deal as well as this past year’s monumental occupy movement. That platform is as follows:

GROAmerica (Grass Roots Organizing America) is an integrated community empowerment and civic engagement initiative that represents the evolution of multiple experimental and collaborative, organizing frameworks. GROAmerica operates with a sense of urgency, as inner city communities everywhere are at a crossroads of economic instability, street violence and failing trust in public institutions. It is designed to promote local activism and resource exchange to connect community members that are not otherwise engaged to local resources. It fosters practical, creative and culturally relevant solutions to address long-term community needs. And can be used to address emergency issues and conditions in any community. The end goal is to build a grassroots system between public, private, civil society and community stakeholders to collectively identify and tackle local issues through the convergence of cultural expression, civic engagement, and community resource management/mobilization.

GROAmerica is an open source, do it yourself (DIY) model with a three-pronged approach:

a) public assemblies that combine culturally relevant dialogues, tool driven workshops and creative expression;

b) issue/needs-based direct actions;

c) Community-resource Mapping Network System (ComMNS®): a GIS mapping and mobilization system connecting community resources and needs

That was followed with the Stein campaign’s Associate Campaign Manager, Erika Wolf attending the “Give a sh*@” Happy hour hosted by Chicago Votes, an organization headed and created by Chicago’s National Hip Hop Political Convention 2006 Co-Chair, TJ Crawford. Later on the week, Cheri Honkala came to the Bay Area where she attended a community Q&A hosted by myself at San Jose’s own Silicon Valley De-Bug with the support of the Santa Clara County Green Party. It taking place there is significant as De-Bug as been at the forefront of culture, justice, labor, immigration and youth work in the South bay since its inception in late 90’s. One of it’s founders, Raj Jaydev is well-known in the community for his work with families, organizations and individuals. He welcomed the event into the space with grace, gratitude and vision. In attendance at the event where some independent Hip Hop notables such as DLabrie, Rahman Jamaal and B-Jada of Hip Hop Congress and RonDavoux Records, Dione Johnson of the Multi-Media Center, Society of Metafizix, Arman Mahoudi of KSJS and Open University and Malcom Lee of The San Jose Zulu Nation Chapter and many others. It was a potent mix of attendee’s who related as Hip Hop, Occupy and the Green Party. She took questions about police brutality, health care, forgiving student debt, the Green New Deal, and how she ended up being the VP candidate.

Presidential debate Roundtable w/ Cheri Honkala

The process continued the next day the following day with a group of 70 plus students at De Anza college in Cupertino, the sixth largest community College in the state of California. That was followed by an event at Youth Uprising hosted by the Hip Hop Chess Federation’s visionary and founder Adisa Banjoko. Honkala couldn’t stay because of traffic concerns with the Giants game, but the movie screening itself, “Brooklyn Castle” portrayed the struggles of public education and programs for our youth. That was followed by a post-presidential debate panel discussion hosted by Hip Hop journalist and historian Davey D, who’s been on top of covering the campaign since the Democratic National Convention. It was there Davey noted that much of the mainstream press wasn’t covering the third party candidates. The Panel included folks like Rob “Biko” Baker of the League of Young Voters, Josh Harley of Youth Together, and Kahlil Jacobs-Fantauzzi

Jacobs-Fantauzzi is a Green Party Candidate for Mayor of Berkeley who is also the founder of Students for Hip Hop at UC Berkeley. Kahlil was also responsible for co-hosting a community event for Cheri Honkala, where they took questions together as local and national representatives. Among many issues they both nailed home from a national and a local perspective, was how both of them were being locked out of the conversation. Cheri elaborated on being locked in a warehouse for over 8 hours with Dr. Jill Stein while nobody knew where they were after trying to participate in the Presidential debates. Kahlil shared how the Democratic Club of Berkeley refused to be democratic when it came to his participation, making efforts to refuse his voice in their public debates. DLabrie performed the powerful cut, “It Ain’t EZ,” while J.R. Valery, noted and respected activist, organizer, journalist and freedom fighter from Oakland dropped science on how candidates can best engage non-profit and public radio stations.

2012 and Beyond-What else is possible?

jill-stein-tar-sands-blockade.jpg.400x300_q85_crop-smart

Dr Jill Stein

Have whatever opinion you’d like, but here are the facts. The movement and the platform of the Green Party along with the people interested in taking leadership and understanding are increasingly young people, people of color who may or may not identify as Hip Hop but are definitely connected to Hip Hop activity and political action. They are also more and more people interested in supporting the Green Party as a place to challenge the Democractic Party paradigm as the electoral vanguard of the movement.

Taking a look at the Green New Deal, and the work of Dr. Jill Stein and Cheri Honkala, and leaders like Rosa Clemente and Jared Ball, it becomes an unavoidable question. Or even better, an answer to a question that was asked of us four years ago when Jared and Rosa first ran. Was getting Hip Hop involved with Green Party worth the effort? Well, in many ways, it looks more and more like an inevitability with the mere question becoming what role, if any, will you play. Even Bakari Kitwana, Co-Founder of the National Hip Hop Political Convention, and author of the the upcoming book, “Hip Hop Activism in the Obama Age” acknowledges that a functional and healthy relationship between Hip Hop and the Green Party could help resolve some of the Green Party’s challenges with expanding it’s base, reach and community grounding while the Green Party offers a political infrastructure that Hip Hop has yet to develop, and that is still young enough to be open to creativity and leadership.

If you want to vote for Obama, cool with me. Honestly, as a Black man, and a father who wants his children to see that and know that they can have that ambition, I feel that. As a son who was happy that his parents got to live to see that, I can understand that. I can relate to that and respect that decision. As Tina Bell Wright, noted Hip Hop Professor and writer of the “Rise Up, Hip Hop Nation” series said, “in 2008, a vote for Obama was a vote for history.” But we have still got some key questions that need rapid answers.

Kahlil Jacobs-Fantauzzi

If you are in a state that is already going to Romney, or already going to Obama, and you agree with the Green Party platform, why wouldn’t you vote in it’s favor? Why not support candidates like Jill Stein, Cheri Honkala and Kahlil Jacobs-Fantauzzi. If five percent of the electorate voting for the Green Party candidates means 20 million dollars in the next four years to develop the party, what position will you take in that? If you don’t believe in the Democratic Party anymore and you’re only voting for the lesser of two evils, when do we start building something different? What are our plans for making these ideas real in the next two weeks and the next four years? Do the tactics and strategies of electoral organizing and community organizing have to also remain as an either/or or can we begin to use them as a tandem strategy of both/and?

Will there be a space to discuss internalized classism, corporate influence and poverty in US politics or will that be pushed further and further into the margins to be filled with conversations about race, gender and sexuality that, while true, don’t addresses the whole of our challenges as a planet or community right now? When we know that the lesser of two evils aren’t bringing up the education-to-prison pipeline, or ecological disaster, how long will we wait to address them on our own or through other means? What are the daily, weekly and monthly actions that happen on a consistent basis that will build the relationships and credibility for that? What else is possible?

David Cobb

David Cobb is one Green leader excited about the possibilities. “We need each other,” he says. “The Green Party needs the youthful energy, the cultural component, and the multi-racial juice Hip Hop brings and represents. And frankly, we need Hip Hop to push and challenge us on important issues like white supremacy, the school-to-prison pipeline, and a host of subjects. We don’t know what we don’t know in the Green Party, and we need to be schooled by Hip Hop.”

Cobb also reminds us the need goes both ways.

“Hip Hop also needs the Green Party,” he continued. “Hip Hop needs the institutional capacity we have developed, the fully developed political program that incorporates peace, justice, ecology and democracy. And frankly Hip Hop needs the focus that a serious, radical electoral campaign can provide.”

written by Shamako Noble of Hip Hop Congress

Filed Under: 2012 Daily News Tagged With: Barack obama, Cheri Honkala, Cynthia Mckinney, Democratic Party, Election 2012, Green Party, Head-Roc, Jill Stein, national hip hop political convention, Rosa clemente

Ice Cube Says Everything’s Corrupt Weighs in on the Political System & Capitalism

November 1, 2012 By mrDaveyd

Looks like folks are coming out and making serious statements. I wish Ice Cube dropped this song a month ago, because it would’ve got a lot of folks thinking and asking hard questions before the election. nevertheless its a dope song and good video. props to the Don mega…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bspNR5gbQf8

Ice Cube drops a serious jam

Filed Under: 2012 Daily News Tagged With: Election Day, ice Cube, Political rap, West coast hip Hop

What Does it Mean When Romney is Campaigning in Florida while Flood Waters Rise in New Jersey?

November 1, 2012 By mrDaveyd

Last night I was looking at the footage of the devastation throughout New Jersey, parts of New York and up and down the East Coast and was saddened and shocked to see how much many of us underestimated the type of havoc Hurricane Sandy laid on folks.

Thousands were left homeless. Millions of people were left without power and water. Millions had no heat which was crucial considering that Sandy unlike most hurricanes was not one that came when the weather was warm. This was essentially a winter storm, one that dropped several feet of snow in some places.

It was surreal looking at the carnage and recalling that it was just a few nights before, many were on twitter and Facebook taking what some were calling ‘a storm of storms’ , lightly. Many saw this Frankenstorm as no big deal, especially since it was a category 1 as opposed to a category 5, but history will show, Mother Nature, was and is not to be toyed with. The devastation shown here in the states has left many mournful and speechless. One can only imagine what things are like in places like Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and other parts of the Caribbean where this monstrous storm struck first and not talked about too much in our media.

Mitt Romney opted to step away from Hurricane Sandy’s carnage & devastation and campaign in Florida

As the footage and stories unfolded about the immense destruction, I was surprised and left wondering why the hell presidential candidate Mitt Romney was a thousand miles away campaigning in Florida. As a leader and potential next President of the United States he should’ve been where the action is. His lack of presence in the storm zone was telling and a clear indication of what we might expect in terms of leadership or his lack thereof.

It wasn’t lost on many of us that Romney has consistently touted he’s a businessman whose acumen in that field lends to him being an effective problem solver. It wasn’t lost on many of us that one of Romney’s business oriented solutions was to privatize FEMA.You can read about that HERE.

It’s with that in mind one has to wonder, why a supposedly business-savvy Romney was away campaigning in Florida as opposed to convening roundtables with all his business connects, collecting checks and showing the world just how effective the private sector or he as a ‘leader’ could be in rallying up the troops and resources for relief efforts..Yes, I know Romney did some sort of canned food drive/fund-raiser in Ohio, which was good for a nice photo-op, but anyone with an ounce of sense knows that’s not how big fundraisers are done when you play in the economic stratosphere on Romney. You don’t do food and clothing drives, you get on the horn and collect checks, the same way he does when running for office. There was no excuse for Mitt Romney not to have rolled up his sleeves and been in the hardest hit areas alongside everyone else delivering relief in the form of big checks to help in the recovery efforts.

It seems like everyone switched up their scheduled activities to focus, time and effort on victims of Hurricane Sandy. From media outlets which curtailed their regular programming to provide round the clock coverage to first responders from all over the country who ponied up resources, many on their own dime to get back East and chip in.. Mitt on the other hand opted to be elsewhere when he should had his own boots on the ground. What I’m saying is not far-fetched..We’ve seen private citizens with far-less resources and clout step up with great results in wake of a natural disasters

David Banner

Case in point is Mississippi rapper David Banner. In 2005, Banner after toiling for years was finally on the music map, with a massive top ten single, ‘Play’ and a highly anticipated album due out that fall called ‘Certified‘. Banner was in the middle of tour when Katrina, a category 5 hurricane hit the Mississippi coast line and damn near wiped it away.

Most people around the world had their eyes fixed on New Orleans because of the levees bursting and the subsequent flooding, but the main brunt of Katrina was felt in Mississippi where she forever decimated entire towns and left much of the state in darkness and without power.

It was in this backdrop that Banner without hesitation, made the decision to end his tour and use the buses and his own money and resources to start delivering food, water and clothing to those who lost everything. Banner turned to his fellow rappers to join his efforts and soon had big checks from everyone from Nelly who helped him set up infrastructure to properly collect money and goods to Young Jeezy who gave 250k to help in relief efforts. Other artists called up clothing companies and used their endorsement clout to get supplies for those in need. It was all hands on deck as folks came together to help save lives and get people back on their feet. This was in addition to the fundraising concerts Banner organized.

David Banner was relentless in his efforts at great sacrifice. The promotion of his album, the momentum of his career in a fickle music industry and his lucrative tour took a back seat while he put in serious work to help in the recovery of Mississippi. Banner demonstrated leadership, ingenuity and resourcefulness something we saw lacking with Romney who is clearly showing us how a businessman operates in times of trouble, putting the economic and in this case his political bottom line over people.

Instead of showing and proving what he could do as a concerned citizen and leader, Romney and his billionaire cronies are gearing up to spend upwards to another 10-12 million dollars in political campaign ads over the next few days. This is on top of the estimated 5-6 billion spent in this election cycle. One would think some of that money would go toward recovery efforts, but perhaps that’s why so many of us are NOT business people on the level of Romney. We are not ruthless at all costs in our pursuit of the bottom line. We should note how folks who think this way come through or don’t come through during natural disasters.

I recall Banner telling me a year after Katrina that there were label executives who harshly criticize him for turning his attention to relief efforts vs promoting his album. I recall when he was MTV weeks after Katrina, he got major grief for giving out the phone number to foundations and talking up relief efforts vs pushing the release date of his album. Maybe some are in Mitt Romney’s ear telling him its wrong to show up to help those in need vs campaigning. Maybe they’re telling him ‘Win at all costs Get that money that’s the American way and the hell with those who are in need and even dying’.

I bring all this up, because in 2012 we are at a critical juncture, politically, socially and economically. Right now there’s a big push to privatize many institutions and services that in the public sector. It’s a push by folks who sit on both the left and right side of the political spectrum. Romney and his people wanna privatize social security and outfits like FEMA. Here in places like California its corporate minded Democrats leading the charge to privatize our once revered public universities and colleges. So lets not get anything twisted. Privatizing everything from parks to schools to your local fire department is an end game for a whole lot of folks who are part of the 1% and folks best be thinking about this with every political decision made, no matter who’s in office.We should be asking are those repping us ‘corporate owned’ or ‘corporate free’?.

All of us should be asking what does that mean at the end of the day. Will you have to have good credit and a job to be rescued by a privatized FEMA? With the devastating fire that torched more than 100 homes in Breezy Point Queens, would privatized relief efforts be for those who paid for premium relief service? Certainly folks recall the Tennessee fire department that stood by and allowed a home to burn because the family neglected to pay their annual Fire Prevention dues to the local fire department..You can read about that HERE.

It’s important that folks pay attention. The true measure of a person’s character is how they behave in times of crises. The day after one of the worst storms in American history, if your away campaigning and collecting advertising money while fires are still burning and flood waters are still rising and millions are left suffering, then folks should really take to heart when you (Mitt Romney) say things like; ‘Corporations are People To My Friend‘ . In short, Mitt Romney may have gotten his fingernails dirty if a Bain Capital building got flooded, but if its Mrs Jones down the street, not so much.

Lastly, let me not, I’m no political novice, I get that with political rival President Barack Obama and Mitt’s good friend Gov Chris Christie showing love and publicly cooperating with one another is probably is rooted in political posturing. Yes I get that they are politicians and they are playing the role, but at least they have sense enough to do it in the disaster zone. At least they have sense to do a lil’ something to help bring about relief. If anything their presence has helped motivate people. They’ve demonstrates some degree of competence at the very least and genuine concern and sincerity at most Romney should’ve been there as well.. The fact that he isn’t shows, just how out of touch he is and how incompetent on more levels than I can lay out in this article. The lack of concern is sickening.

written by Davey D

Filed Under: 2012 Daily News Tagged With: David Banner, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Hurricane Katrina, Mississippi, Mitt Romney, New Jersey, Sandy

Was Sergio Romo’s ‘I Just Look Illegal’ T-shirt Self Mockery or Strong Pushback on Racial Profiling

November 1, 2012 By mrDaveyd

Sergio Romo

Yesterday millions of people all over the world saw SF Giants pitcher Sergio Romo sporting a t-shirt that some thought was making a satirical in your face statement about racial profiling and being deemed ‘illegal‘. The shirt which read ‘I Just look Illegal‘, definitely raised eyebrows and got folks talking.

Some say Romo’s provocative t-shirt was a way of reminding people that in a day and time when many who are of Mexican descent are demonized, stereotyped and in the political and social cross hairs of those holding xenophobic outlooks, that they are in fact more often than not fellow citizens. Not only are they fellow citizens, but many have roots and family ties that run deeper to this land called America, then those doing the profiling. On various social media sites, there was many who gave props to Romo.

But many more found the shirt to be profoundly offensive and a big step backwards especially for those who have fought tirelessly to get folks to stop using the term ‘illegal’ when describing people who are undocumented..Whether it was intended or not many felt what Romo did was self mockery where he gave folks outside of immigrant communities that are frequently targeted, a license to further embrace a nasty stereotype..The concern is many who are now buying these t-shirts which are now selling off the shelves after yesterday’s widely watched parade are not getting the political context or the intended satire.

A recent article in the popular blog Think Mexican breaks down the concern many are feeling. One excerpt reads as follows;

…..Unfortunately, it was a very poor choice that sends the wrong message and validates racism and ignorance.

What does the phrase “I JUST LOOK ILLEGAL” really mean?

It’s based on the premise that there are people who are “illegal,” and thus people who “look illegal,” a term intended to dehumanize migrant workers in the United States, specifically those who make up the majority of this group, Mexicans.

By stating that one “just looks illegal,” the implicit message is that it’s okay criminalize people based on their appearance, as long as we distinguish between those who are “illegal” and those who only appear to be based on heritage and phenotype……..

The other message being sent with this shirt is that of racial self-mockery. Sergio seems to want to say: I’m Mexican, but I’m a jokester; I’m not a threat.

As we all well know, in the United States, Mexican Americans have been routinely stopped, arrested, and even deported under Barack Obama’s aggressive quota-based system of immigration enforcement. In the case of Raúl Castro, you can be a former US ambassador and governor of Arizona and still be detained by the US Border Patrol. And not just once, but several times.

Another excerpt is….

Imagine an African American wearing a shirt saying: “I JUST LOOK LIKE A MONKEY,” or a gay man wearing one that reads: “I JUST LOOK LIKE A CHILD MOLESTER.” The idea alone is absurd, as it should be. But the fact is, is that both were at one time popular slurs used to dehumanize gays and blacks, respectively.

You can read the rest of the article by clicking the link below

http://thinkmexican.org/post/34742243783/sergio-romo-i-just-look-illegal-tshirt-mockery-validates

Although not fully addressed in the article, is the two edge sword when pop culture icons and professional athletes use their celebrity to make political statements. It can be a great thing if you are in agreement with the statement. Celebrities are instrumental in shaping opinions and bringing attention to key issues.

The flipside is they can in an instance move the crowd in another direction. This is especially true if that celebrity embraces a word or phrase that folks find problematic. In the case of Romo, does he wearing this shirt overshadow the campaign to not call folks ‘illegal’? How does any of this shake out when many express frustration and even anger when athletes and celebrities remain silent and apolitical? Was Romo being subversive?

Anyway peep the article and share your thoughts..

Filed Under: 2012 Daily News Tagged With: Barack obama, illegal immigrant, Racial profiling, Raúl Castro, Romo, San Francisco Giants, Sergio Romo, SF Giants, Think mexican, undocumented

Historic Cypher on the Border.. Rappers Come Togther to Make a Profound Statement

November 1, 2012 By mrDaveyd

This is what Hip Hop is ideally about..People coming together, building community and making a strong statement in the name of humanity..

With global trade destroying communities and families world-wide by slashing wages and moving factories to the next hungry communities migration of people has become both a necessity and an inevitability. The US/Mexico border has become a human rights crisis as US border vigilance has become both militarized and also funneled migrants into the unforgiving Arizona desert.

Hip Hop Artists Jasiri X, Invincible, and Paradise Gray of the mighty, mighty X Clan join local artists Amy Juan, Shinning Soul, and Dirty Verbs to rock DJ Sloe Poke‘s border spin for the first ever “Border Cypher.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNT9rUhDoYc

For more info follow us on twitter @thesoundstrike @culturestrike or at www.thesoundstrike.info or www.culturestrike.net.

Video by Jason Michael Aragon. Audio by Javier Gonzalez. Great audio work, really, really great audio work. LOL

Filed Under: 2012 Daily News Tagged With: Arizona, Border cypher, cypher, Hip Hop, invincible, Jasiri X, Mexico, Mexico – United States border, Soundstrike, United States Border Patrol

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