2015 Daily News | Hip-Hop and Politics

Kendrick Lamar Proves There’s More to Hip Hop than Sex and Drugs

September 18, 2015 By mrDaveyd

Kendrick Lamar Proves There’s More to Hip Hop than Sex and Drugs

Hip hop traces back to the 1970s when DJ Kool Herc pioneered the breakbeat revolution. The music genre has since evolved immensely and has a number of factors that gave rise to its current popularity, albeit not all positive. According to Storify.com, hip hop ignited as teens and young adults led the Universal Zulu Nation peace movement to reduce gang violence in NYC, but today it’s slated as a method to promote controversial issues such as sexism, violence, and drug use.

For those that aren’t versed in hip hop or rap, it’s possible they perceive the culture in a negative light, though it’s important to know that there’s much more to the world of hip hop than weed, gangs, and intercourse. Sex and drugs often find themselves intertwined as revealed by a survey conducted by Adam & Eve, in which 79 percent of participants who drink alcohol or take drugs before copulation responded positively to the experience. With an audience heavily influenced by alcohol, drugs and sex, rappers are giving them exactly want they want as they produce songs about weed culture and curvaceous women. Notably, there are a myriad of artists out there that remind us that there’s a greater depth to rap than what you’d normally hear on the radio or watch on YouTube, one in particular being Kendrick Lamar.

While Snoop Dogg and Redman are recording tracks based on their adventures with marijuana, the young Compton rapper strives to be a role model of sorts by sharing with listeners that anything is possible, despite whatever socioeconomic woes they’ve been dealt with. Even though he has a history of smoking weed, he shared in an interview with Hip Hop DX in 2012 that it was never about dependency and that it’s all the past, as he wanted to make sure he wouldn’t use it as a crutch in his career like some others are.

His latest album To Pimp a Butterfly is a politically charged modern masterpiece, a thorough lyrical compilation of his transition from hardship to fame critically acclaimed across various media outlets, with a near perfect score on MetaCritic. Before the album release in March, Lamar had already been publicizing that his new songs which he describes as “honest, fearful and unapologetic” would be “taught in college courses someday.”

It might be hard to believe that an album can teach us so much about race relations, provoke thought and activism in racial equality, but Lamar makes it possible by using it as a platform to divulge his academically and historically informed opinions on culturalism and structuralism within his society and black culture as a whole. Though some have criticized his latest work as he suggests that racial inequality is also perpetuated by African American society as well. Whether you agree with this assertion or not, every single one of his tracks play in integral role in explaining that race relations are far more complex than the culturalist/structuralist argument, and that hip hop is more profound than what first meets the eye.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-48u_uWMHY

Filed Under: 2015 Daily News Tagged With: Kendrick Lamar

Some Thoughts on the 4th Anniversary of Occupy Wall Street

September 17, 2015 By mrDaveyd

4 years ago the Occupy Wall Street Movement kicked off… Seeing and hearing about commemorative marches and gatherings.. Hearing conversations about whether or not its tactics were effective or not and how and why OWS failed .. What I’m not hearing is how OWS was the unwanted beneficiary of the insidious tactics and full weight of the police/ surveillance state…

I’m not hearing about how we saw corporate terrorism in full bloom Wall street outfits were able to privatize NYPD and have them work and report directly to them under a then little known program called Paid Detail.. During the height of Occupy wall Street, Chase Manhattan had forked over 4.6 million to make sure NYPD followed their directives..

I’m not hearing any follow up stories to how the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund got hold of the FBI and Homeland Security documents that revealed how those agencies along with campus police where Occupy sites were set up and bank security coordinated efforts to infiltrate and violently take down OWS. DHS considered the Occupy Movement a domestic terrorist and criminal threat..

Funny how very few people link this gross intrusion and trampling of our privacy to President Obama and his administration. In fact a number of people cheered him on once it was revealed that the FBI had started monitoring OWS almost a month before it started.. One has to wonder how much of the disruptive, off putting elements many encountered and found within OWS were brought and paid for by DHS and the FBI?

Even more importantly, we should all be asking how was this massive sp[ying operation and trampling of our privacy and right to assemble and protest ever addressed and solved. What lawmakers stepped up to the plate and put forth legislation to prevent that from happening again? Today we know that the FBI bolstered by what they were able to get away with during the Occupy Movement is actively monitoring and trying to disrupt, discredit and ultimately derail the Black Lives Matter Movement..There’s been very little outcry about that on going surveillance..

Its also noteworthy that many do not connect the brutality of police directed at Occupy Movement with the current wave of terror we are experiencing with police.. Once we understand that the police were working and their brutality greenlit by the Federal government, during OWS, then it should be clear as day that there will probably be little movement or resolution from the Feds now..

It’s a shame that our local news stations which remarking about this 4 year anniversary and talking about a gathering in SF at noon are not speaking on domestic surveillance.. How come the silence NBC Bay Area?? How come the silence KTVU Channel 2?? How come the silence KRON 4 News..

For folks who think this is all an exaggeration you can see those documents yourself.. http://bit.ly/1OyMOfl

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oxv9kIFJh5Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QQbRXaGsjM

Filed Under: 2015 Daily News

NWA- Art or Irresponsibility an Intv w/ Eazy E & Ice Cube

August 18, 2015 By mrDaveyd

These LA Rappers Never Asked to be seen as role models. But with their debut album ‘Straight Outta Compton’ headed toward platinum, they may not have a choice….

Note: Out of all the interviews I’ve done.. this had to be the most intense… Both NWA and myself were very passionate about our positions at the time and both parties came away with a lot to think about.. At the time this interview took place.. there was a raging debate among the Bay Area’s main hip hop shows on KZSU, KALX and KPOO as to whether or not NWA should be played…

It was quite ironic considering KPOO and KALX were among the first stations in the country to not only play..but also grant NWA interviews… In fact NWA performed at a function for KPOO. The end result after a month of intense on air debates which resulted in all three stations droppin NWA for about two years because of lyrical content and the influence their music was having over impressionable listeners.] The boycott was eventually broken when a couple of deejays Billy Jam and G-Spot who were also fans of the group saw this boycott as a free speech issue and pushed back once they got shows of their own..

Below is the article that ran in BAM Magazine April 1989

The following conference call interview was conducted April 5, with KALX DJ Davey D in San Francisco, BAM editor Keith Moerer in Oakland, and NWA rappers Eazy E and Ice Cube in a Torrance studio. NWA’s first album, Straight Outta Compton, has sold 700,000 copies and generated almost as much controversy as public support. In songs like the title track and ‘Gangsta Gangsta‘ NWA portray – some say glorify-gang violence, So far music critics have been kind, with NWA winning raves from Robert Hilburn and Dennis Hunt of the Los Angeles Times. But some college radio programmers, including BAM columnist Davey D, think the group – whose name stands for ‘:Niggers With Attitudes‘ – encourage a negative stereotype of blacks as gun-toting criminals…

Davey D: You say that you’re underground reporters, telling it like it is, But do you perceive people, especially younger kids, understanding that you’re just underground reporters?

Ice Cube: OK, it’s like this. If you see a movie like Psycho III, the person in the movie might be psycho, But kids know what’s real and what’s not. Just because there’s a monster person in a movie who’s psycho and killing people, that don’t mean they gonna go psycho and kill people… Just because they hear something on record, we don’t expect kids to go out and kill people or whatever. Kids know what’s right and what’s wrong, regardless what our record says.

Davey D: But there’s a difference between Psycho III and ‘Boys In The Hood‘ and ‘Straight Outta Compton‘. With Psycho III, that’s not a reality that a lot of people come across. But with “Boys In The Hood” and the whole album, people can look at that and say, “Hey, I can be just like this.”… It’s something they can gravitate toward, or see themselves getting into.

Ice Cube: Nobody talks about Colors, Nobody says, “Why y’all put a movie out like this?” There wasn’t no real message in Colors except that there’s gangs out the and there’s no way to stop them, We’re saying the same thing, but we saying it on wax. But everybody wants to come down on us, “You got a responsibility to the kids.” .. We got a responsibility to the kids to tell the truth. We don’t have to take a side, you know what I’m saying?… That wasn’t our tip in the beginning, and its not going to be our tip in the future. We just tell it like it is, and people swallow it if they can, and if they can’t, they can’t.

Keith Moerer: A lot of rappers feel there is a way of doing something to curb gang violence, and have gotten involved with the Stop The Violence movement. You could involved…

Eazy-E: If we wanted to..

Ice Cube: You can have a little influence, but rappers do not have that much influence, like everybody thinks…KRS-One can do, they can all do, a “Stop The Violence” record, they could have did it for twelve minutes straight. People gonna listen to the record, and they gonna like the record, but they’ll do a drive-by shooting listening to the record.

Davey D: Is there a solution to stopping it at all?

Eazy E: [When] the mother______’ police can’t do shit?…If you could just put out a record and it could stop violence you [wouldn’t] need police, we’d just need to do records. ‘Stop robbin’ banks, stop snatching purses..

Ice Cube: “Stop using drugs.” People been doing stop using drug rap songs every since the drug thing has exploded and it has not done a dent of good, not a dent of good.

Eazy E: Yo, I got something to add to that Check this out: Would you ask a news reporter if he’s promoting gang violence because he’s doing the news?

Davey D: Actually, yes, I would. What happens is, its a matter of perspective of what they choose to show right? When the only image people see is a negative one, gang killings and all that, people are gonna gravitate to that because that’s the only image they have of themselves…

Ice Cube: That means that you can’t deal with reality because…

Davey D: But that’s not the only reality, though, that’s the thing… That’s just one part of reality. That sort of stuff doesn’t go on every single day everywhere, but if you were just to look at the news you might get the impression that it does.

Ice Cube: Not everywhere. But it happens every day.

Eazy E: Every minute.

Ice Cube: It ain’t like we’re out here yin’, you know what I’m saying? Everything is true. If you can tell me I’m yin’ on the record, I’ll stop.

Davey D: It comes down to what you want to focus in on…I mean, there are people who go to school, there are people who do drug dealing, there are a lot of people doing a lot of different things…

Ice Cube: We deal with reality, plus we say what kids want to hear… We talk about things that the news don’t go real deep into. Such as, they never ask a gangbanger how he really feels and get a true answer, Some of my friends are gangbangers, so I pretty much know how they feel, I know why they do the things they do, I just put in on wax… We’re gearing ourselves to kids who already know this stuff. The people who are scared are people who don’t know.

Davey D: But it is frightening, what you’re saying. The people who are getting scared, they don’t know about it, but should they not be scared or what? How should people who don’t know about it respond to your records?

Ice Cube: I don’t tell people how to react to our songs… I can’t rap about nothing I don’t know about, We can tell you what goes on in Compton. That’s why we get a lot of kids from the suburbs, they don’t know what’s going on, but they look and go, “Damn, its like that?”

Keith Moerer: “Gangsta Gangsta” begins with a drive -by shooting scenario [in which a innocent bystander gets shot]. You’ve got friends who are gangbangers who nay have been involved in drive-by shootings…So sure, they happen all the tine, but you don’t think they’re a good thing, do you?

Ice Cube: No. The beginning of “Gangsta Gangsta”, its’ just telling people, “Yo, if you hear shooting, don’t try to be nosy,” you know what I’m saying? Cause this guy comes out, “Oh, I wonder who these gangsters got today?” trying to be all nosy, and he gets shot…If you hear shooting, run. Don’t run toward the shooting.

Keith Moerer: So what’s your message, that people should hide out in their houses if they’re not gangbangers?

Ice Cube: No. I’m encouraging people to be aware of what’s gong on. How do you think NWA out to come off to the public.

Davey D: At this point in time? Well, your music is definitely some of the best that’s out there, For whatever reason, a lot of people are attracted to your group right now, I think that NWA needs to move forward, and needs to drop some serious science, just from the mere fact that you like it or not. It’s a responsibility that you have, even though you might not want it..

[If] NWA comes out and says “Stop the violence“, a lot of people are going to listen to it as opposed to Thurgood Marshall or Benjamin Hooks..’cause NWA is perceived by a lot of people as being down with the program- “These brothers are cool, they know what’s happening”-you’re real to the people…[In the past] past most rap groups thought that they were going to stay at the top for a longer period of time, and they were going to stay at the top for a longer period of time, and they changed a little too late, they changed as they were going on the downhill. I say that you guys are on the way up right now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u31FO_4d9TY

Ice Cube: We do drop science. Like “Express Yourself“. Songs like that are telling kids to be themselves no matter what. No matte what you say, or anybody else says, we gonna be ourselves no matter what.

Davey D: The problem with that though is that a lot of people don’t have an array of choices to choose from. You’re saying “Be yourself,” but if all I know is gang banging, I’m gonna continue to be myself cause all I know is gang banging.

Ice Cube: So you’re saying we should stop reporting it, and start trying to stop it…

Davey D: There’s nothing wrong with reporting it, but there needs to be a balance in such a sense that people aren’t going to misinterpret it… Right now people are looking up to NWA as role models, people listen to the music and get juiced by it – and some of them take it to heart…And rap is really the only music that gets the kids, that’s what people are listening to.

Eazy E: But still [Ice T] has a video, how I want you to live, peace and all this. People don’t pay attention to nothing like that…

Davey D: The thing I will say about Ice T is that he’s made himself very clear about where he’s coming from, And I haven’t seen that necessarily with NWA.

Ice Cube: A lot of gang bangers think KRS One is cool. That don’t mean they’re influenced by his music, He say stop the violence all day.

Davey D: We’re not talking about people who are already into it. We’re talking about people who are coming up and don’t know. They’re gonna gravitate toward the people that they think are coolest, for whatever reason, OK? And you already have a situation where drug dealers and hoodlums, they’re already looked up to because they seem to have the most money, seem to be making it the most, etc. etc. And you’re targeting that audience, that’s what you’re telling me.

What I’m saying is that if NWA was to say “Stop the Violence,” I say 800,000 people would listen – a lot quicker, than Run-DMC that have played themselves out – because you guys are the ones who are in the spotlight. But that goes for anybody who’s in the spotlight, You might not be in the spotlight next year, it might another group.

Ice Cube: We’re not telling nobody on the record to go out and be a Crip…We’re not saying to do that and we’re not saying not to….[We’re popular because] we’re so real, we ain’t intimidated or afraid of anything that’s trying to get in our way…We like the confusion. We like the controversy.Cause that’s what helps our group.

Keith Moerer: Helps it in some ways, but could end up hurting you. [KZSU‘s hip-hop show] won’t play NWA cause they think the lyrics are too negative. And the hosts of the hip-hop show on KALX are now considering not playing NWA because they think you’re negative.

Eazy E: You’re talking about the whole album?

Davey D: With Stanford University [KZSU], they won’t play [NWA at all] because they think the whole concept, starting with the name on down, is just a bad attitude, and it sends out a bad message to their listeners.

Eazy E: We need to get [up] there and let people know that we’re not all that they think we are.

Davey D: That’s kind of contradictory, right? Cause just a second ago you said you didn’t care what they thought-to each their own.

Ice Cube: We don’t ask everybody to like us… We don’t expect everybody to like us .. We shouldn’t have the burden put on us just ’cause we’re the top group, we shouldn’t have no pressure put on us to change the way we do records.

Davey D: People think the music is dope .. the music speaks for itself . I could play an instrumental of one of your tracks and get the same response.

Ice Cube: I can’t believe that…

Davey D: Well believe it because that’s what people tell me..

Eazy E: OK we gonna send you a bunch of instrumentals [ Eazy hangs up the phone]

Davey D: Don’t take what I’m saying lightly.. We had a poll on my show asking people if they thought we should play you. We had some people.. they sounded young on the phone, and we had other people who were adults. We had some adults who thought we should play you. They gave the same reasons that you were saying.. And we had younger people calling up and saying, “Hey, we live in San Francisco and there are Crips up here now” and they don’t like it..

Ice Cube: They say its our fault that there are Crips up there now?

Davey D: Well, they’re blaming you..

Ice Cube: There’s been violence since the beginning of time. There ain’t no such word as peace, There ain’t never gonna be peace.

Davey D: Do you perpetuate that, or do you try and stop it?

Ice Cube: What do you want me to do? Tell it like it is or tell people what to do? That’s where we’re at. Since we’re in the middle, they want us to side… Six months ago, they didn’t care, cause we wasn’t getting the attention like we are now.

Davey D: Six months ago or a year ago, Run-DMC was catching the same flak that you are. Whoever is on top is gonna catch flak, and whoever is on the top is gonna be the role model. It’s just like when Run DMC and Eric B came out with gold chains, people weren’t wearing them before they came out with them. When Public Enemy came out with the conscious beads, nobody was wearing em until they came out with em, So people do look up to you when you’re in the limelight.

Ice Cube: What happened to Run DMC? You think they went down cause they started sidin’, they started doing what the majority of people wanted them to do?

Davey D: No, what happened with them is that they played themselves out.

Ice Cube: Here’s what happened to Run-DMC They got a record that crossed over, and the hip-hop audience said, “_______you”. So the hip-hop audience kicked ’em out and said “Who’s next?”

Keith Moerer: Since you’ve already told kids what the reality is on the streets right now, do you really need to tell them the same thing again on the next record?

Ice Cube: Maybe.

Keith Moerer: Eazy-E, is it true that you used to be a drug dealer?

EAZY-E: I stopped.

Keith Moerer: How long were you a drug dealer?

Eazy E: Years.

Keith Moerer: Why’d you stop?

EAZY E: Because I seen that it wasn’t really worth it, It wasn’t worth my life. My cousins got killed, It really wasn’t worth it so I got out of it, I figured I could do something right for a change instead of something wrong.

Keith Moerer: Why not put that on record?

Ice Cube: We did, that’s the song called “Dopeman” It tells what happens when you sell dope. You’ll beat up your friends, you’ll be on your hands and knees looking for dope…

EAZY E: And at the end you could get killed. In the radio version, the dope dealer ends up in prison.

Ice Cube: But see people don’t hear that, they hear what they want to hear.

Keith Moerer: But they hear a lot of different things, That’s one message that you send out, but “Gangsta Gangsta” sends out another…

Ice Cube: Just cause we don’t come out and say “don’t” That’s the word they want us to say. Don’t. It explains itself…. It’s like with the name. We wanted some people to get offended. We wanted people to say “Yeah, that’s cool” We wanted some people to laugh. We like mystery. We like controversy, We even like interviews like this..As long as what we say is true and what we say is real, then we don’t feel bad if somebody looks at it differently.

Davey D: In the Bay Area, if it wasn’t for KPOO, KALX and KZSU playing you initially, NWA wouldn’t be known – and that’s just the basic fact. And [at] two of the three stations, there’s movement to reverse that. One has already taken a stand and said, “We’re not going to do it,'” and the other one is debating it still, Is it a concern, is it something that you’re gonna think about, the same way that I would have to think about you telling me not to wear red when I come down to LA?

Ice Cube: It’s a concern, but will it change me?…No.

Davey D: Because the consequences aren’t as significant?

Ice Cube: It’s significant, but… I don’t really see all ourselves coming from radio, as would a ….

Davey D: But we’re not talking about commercial radio. I personally say that people are drawn to you guys, a lot of it has to do with your lyrics, but even more so your music.. I’m saying that if Eazy-A and NWA were to come out on a political tip..

Ice Cube: I got a song called ‘Murder, He Wrote‘ It’s’ telling about 400 people getting killing through gang activity in Los Angeles, but when five kids get killed up north, five Korean kids, now they want to ban AK-47s, But what about those 400 people..?

Davey D: Now that’s important stuff, to me at least. When you guys came up here last time, we gave away tickets [to your show, on the air]. We played a speech with Malcolm X, and asked “Who’s this guy talking in the background?” And it took about seventeen calls before somebody guessed it right. That’s a sad indication. People know your name, your lyrics, before they know now [though] is that there’s a lot of misconceptions…

Ice Cube: On the next record, there will not be no misconceptions, everybody will know which way NWA is going.

Filed Under: 2015 Daily News Tagged With: BAM magazine, Davey D, Eazy-E, ice Cube, Keith Moerer, NWA

Talib Kweli and Zakiya Harris w/ Elephantine Rip Stern Grove

August 17, 2015 By mrDaveyd

Artist talk w/ Talib Kweli at Stern Grove

San Francisco 08-16-15 In the words of Ice Cube.. ‘Today was a good day’ Two steller acts took to the stage and seriously rocked it at Stern Grove Festival. Oakland’s own Zakiya Harris and Elephantine along with Talib Kweli set a new bar for throwing down and leaving the stage hot… They did not disappoint.

It was an incredible show that started off with Talib Kweli doing an artist talk to a packed house. Yours truly moderated as we covered all sorts of topics ranging from the recent passing of NAACP chair and SNCC co-founder Julian Bond on down to the passing of his good friend Sean Price of the group Heltah Skeltah.

During our conversation, Talib talked about the competitive spirit of Sean Price. He said every time they crossed paths Price would jokingly remind Talib, that he was the better emcee.

We talked about Talib’s recent trips to Ferguson and how and why he got involved. He noted that it was fellow artist J Cole who got him to come down. Once there, Talib was stunned by what he saw and has stayed involved and raised thousands of dollars for the family of Mike Brown and a number of organizations who are trying to bring an end to police terrorism.

Talib talked about the police killing of Sam DuBose in Cincinnati. He noted that Sam was good friends with members of his crew Hi Tek and Mood. He noted that any one of his people’s could’ve been in the car with Dubose that day when police shot him in the head..

We also spoke at length about his creative process, ghost writing, regional flavor in Hip Hop and the importance of the Bay Area. Talib also announced the release of his new album which is available for free download called F– The Money.

After the artist talk, we watched Zakiya Harris, Tossie Long, Sólás Burke-Lalgee, and Elephantine rock the house in a major way. Zakiya has been working her craft for a minute, but over the past year she has taken things to new heights. Her singing is on point. Her emceeing is not to be toyed with. You will get your feelings hurt if you follow her band.

When Talib took the stage after a brief intermission he had the crowd standing the entire time as he went from one hit song after another. He too had a band that was pretty tight.

Was blessed to hang with these folks this afternoon..Below are some photos from the event

: Talib catches wreck at Stern Groove

: Zakiya and Solas rock the crowd

: singer Tossie Long adds to Zakiya’s performance

: Dancer Soul Nubian doing his thing

: Elephatine in the Building

: Talib’s deejay rocking the drowd

Filed Under: 2015 Daily News, Davey D Photos Tagged With: Elephantine, Hip Hop, Solas, Stern grove, Talib Kweli, Tossie Long, Zakiya Harris

Mike Brown Memorial- One Year later What’s Changed?

August 16, 2015 By mrDaveyd

Ferguson, Mo 08-09-15 Today was a very sobering occassion as hundreds came out to mark the one year anniversary that 18 year old unarmed Mike Brown was ruthlessly killed by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson.

What stands out the most about this tragedy is not just the killing, but the subsequent reign of terror and brutality levied by the police.. This doesn’t always get conveyed on TV news stories, but its clear as day when you talk to folks.. and the sheer brutality directly touched many and should not be forgotten..

In Canfield Gardens, where Mick Brown was killed and his body left to rot for 41/2 hours, is not that big.. When you see the spot, its in plain view of everyone, little kids, adults, the elderly.. He was left for all to see and many are still angry, saddened, hurt and traumaticized by that..

Today’s event should not have had to happen.. What needed to happen on this one year mark was folks marking that justice had been served and those responsible held accountable. That has not happened yet.. That in itself is perhaps the most disturbing aspect of today.

Filed Under: 2015 Daily News, Davey D Photos Tagged With: Canfield Gardens, Cornel west, Ferguson, Malik Rashaan, mike Brown

70 Arrested at DOJ in St Louis Seeking Justice for Mike Brown

August 15, 2015 By mrDaveyd

St Louis (08-10-15 ) During the historic march to the Department of Justice in St Louis one year after the killing of Mike Brown, faith and movement leaders read off a list of demands and attempted to deliver them to the DOJ.. Department of Homeland Security police erected barricades and blocked the entrances. Marchers attempted to get by those barriers.. Over 70 people were arrested…

Filed Under: 2015 Daily News, Davey D Photos Tagged With: Cornel west, DOJ March, Ferguson, Homeland security, police terrorism

The March to St Louis DOJ to win Justice for Mike Brown

August 15, 2015 By mrDaveyd

Below are some photos from historic march to the Department of Justice in St Louis. It was led by faith leaders including; Rev Toni Blackman, Rev Sekou, Dr Cornel West, Pastor Mike McBride, Jasiri X and many others who sought to win justice not only for Mike Brown who was killed a year ago, but also for the countless other victims of police brutality…

Faith leaders march to Department of Justice in St Louis to win Justice for Mike Brown…

Filed Under: 2015 Daily News Tagged With: Carl Dix, Cornel west, DOJ, justice., mike Brown, Mike McBride, Rev sekou, St Louis

A Look Back at Consolidated & Their Song ‘Friendly Fascism’

May 11, 2015 By mrDaveyd

This song Friendly Fascism, comes courtesy of one of my favorite groups Consolidated, who released this song back in 1991 or 1992… The song back then was pretty powerful, although at the time it went over many people’s heads especially with the defeat of George Bush Sr and the election of Bill Clinton..

With the 92 election, many thought that the worse which was personified via 12 years of Ronald Reagan and Bush Sr were behind us…Unfortunately the fascist direction this country was headed continued just with a friendly face, starting with Clinton who was dubbed the ‘First Black President‘, followed by George W Bush who was dubbed a Compassionate Conservative and now Obama who is the target of daily racial attacks and threats which leads to many circling the wagon around him while he does serious dirt both abroad and here at home.. To be honest Ronald Reagan aka the Great Communicator with befuddling demeanor also fooled a lot of people which is why he was elected twice.

Anyway if you ever get to check out the entire album Friendly Facism by Consolidated, its worth a listen. It was definitely ahead of its time. Many of the topics covered and the lyrics are relevant today. If anyone ever went to their shows you will recall they were among the first to fuze multimedia with their stage shows.. After each performance they would hold impromptu town hall and discussions with the audience.. Depending on what part of the country they were in, those discussions could get pretty grueling as many would get angry by their messages..

Another nice aspect of Consolidated was their harsh critique of the entertainment and music industry. Some of what they said then may seem like old hat today, but back at the time many groups pushed to be on platforms like MTV and commercial radio. If you got on them, the last thing you wanted to do was dis them publicly.. Consolidated was relentless and was right on time with their critique.. I like this song below ‘Music Has No Meaning’ and appreciated being sampled in it..

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

Several years later, Consolidated teamed up another Bay Area artist Paris, the Black Panther of Hip Hop to do this dope song Guerillas in the Mist...Love the way they smashed hard on Tom Metzger and the White Aryan Resistance ..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ymhr2IXWrZw

Filed Under: 2015 Daily News, 3 Dope songs Tagged With: bay Area rap, consolidated, Friendly Fascism, Hip Hop, Paris, Racism

The Baltimore Curfew…Was an Abuse of Power

May 4, 2015 By mrDaveyd

One of the most important things folks can and should be doing with regards to the Freddie Gray situation is pay close attention as to how and why a city wide curfew was allowed to be imposed on the entire city of Baltimore… That’s serious biz. It was a the manifestation of a police state.. It was an over reach that last night (Friday) resulted in abuse of power and gave those institutions responsible for killing Freddie Gray, who expressed open and public hostility at the indictment of its officers, a working blueprint on how to contain folks in 2015.

These police agencies now understand how to get widespread community buy in and compliance. They know that if they frame the curfew as ‘concern’ and ‘fear of wildness’ by youth, then high profile community leaders and others who have genuine concern for the well being of young people in the community would actually publicly model compliant behavior and in many cases actually help the police enforce the curfew…. A curfew that in the minds of many, was something that was needed to quell and punish the youth but in reality applied to EVERYONE… If there was any doubt about that, then folks found out last night when police moved in aggressively and started arresting folks whose only crime was being out after 10 PM and in a celebratory mood as a result of the indictments.

Folks should stop and think about that for a minute. The main agency enforcing this city wide curfew (BPD) is the same one that has massive amounts of lawsuits and settlements lodged against them for abusing citizens.

The National Guard was also called in to enforce a city wide curfew. No one challenged as to why Baltimore police who are at odds and in conflict with many of its citizens weren’t taken off the streets and made to go home as well, if one believes a curfew was necessary.

One needs to ask if the strict enforcement of this curfew was applied all over the city of Baltimore with the same intensity? Where there scores of police in riot gear banging on their shields with bully clubs as they did last night telling folks to stay inside or get smashed?

If you was a tourist visiting Baltimore or someone on a business trip and staying at hotels near the Inner Harbor was the curfew strictly enforced? On a Friday night folks visiting couldn’t go enjoy nearby restaurants and clubs?

How strictly was the curfew enforced in affluent neighborhoods like Canton?

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/61781172

From the Stackizshort video stream shown last night and according to folks like Alicia Garza of Black Lives Matter who were there on the ground, police from various jurisdictions all over the country were on the ground. There was military folks and police from places as far away as New Jersey. Were they there to help and provide additional resources and bodies or were they there to observe and be trained? They appeared to be testing and pushing of the limits to see exactly how one can blackout and quarantine some news agencies while simultaneously getting compliance and stenographic/PR servicing from others.

If anyone was watching some of the video streams you saw that police ‘revoked the rights’ of Human Rights and Legal observers.. They also arranged themselves in particular formats to prevent anyone filming to get views of the people they arrested..They also formed snatched squads which was perfected during the Ferguson protests so they could go after people who had ‘blended in’ with media. It was some straight up fugitive slave catcher tactic.

Citizens attempting to avoid arrest for being outside as an adult in a city they live, work and pay taxes had to hide amongst ‘credentialed journalist and hope the roving eyes of numerous police agencies didn’t spot them, snatch them up. If someone didn’t have a press pass they were going to jail. For those who don’t know police issued press credentials are often awarded to ‘accredited journalists’ who the police determine are ‘legitimate’ because reach a sizeable audience. In short it’s awarded to corporate media who are embedded and in cahoots with police.

The most egregious aspect of this week long curfew was the glaring silence from any quarters that routinely rail and push back on the government and those in power for encroaching on people’s lives. Many of these folks saw the endless loop of a CVS store burning, got enraged at the site of broken windows and started talking about how the protection of property and restoring of order was more important than healing broken lives traumatized by continuous police terrorism and loss of human lives at the hands of police.

Props to James Rucker who captured this best when he posted up an excerpt from Martin Luther King’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail. It reads as follows:

Reverend Dr Martin Luther King came from a long line of Black preachers who represented Prophetic Teachings

<< I must make two honest confessions to you, my Christian and Jewish brothers. First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate.>>

<< I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen’s Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to “order” than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: “I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action”; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man’s freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a “more convenient season.” >>

<< Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection. >>

Last night more than 500 people took to the streets of Oakland in an anti-capitalism march,.. They smashed up all the banks along Broadway and in the downtown area. They destroyed many of the car dealerships on Autorow and busted up a Kentucky Fried Chicken..

Will there be city wide curfew for that? Will a state of emergency be called? Will there be stark silence and compliance if one was attempted? Will those who gave a thumbs up to the curfew in Baltimore give a thumbs up if one was proposed in Oakland after last night’s ‘mayhem’? This is not the first time this has happened. In fact such activities routinely went down when current Baltimore Police Chief Anthony Batts was chief here in Oakland he wasn’t riding the hard for city wide curfews here so why in Baltimore?

The continued institutionalized containment and repression of Negroes and those who support, justify and actively and passively go along with it reflects the long standing inability of our humanity to be recognized even when its our own in power.

PS The first two pictures you see are Baltimore police last night enforcing the curfew..Embedded with BPD are police from other agencies. As they advanced on a crowd that they vastly outnumbered the officers would bang their shields with their night sticks..The other photos are from last night in Oakland where car dealerships and other spots were jacked up..

Filed Under: 2015 Daily News Tagged With: Baltimore, Curfew, Oakland, protests

What LBJ Really Said About Selma

May 4, 2015 By mrDaveyd

For those who saw the movie Selma, this clip may give a bit more insight into the thinking of President Lydon Johnson (LBJ). There was a bit of controversy when the movie dropped because some felt that Johnson was shown as being too deferential to Martin Luther King. Others saw King as a strong leader who pushed aggressively and didn’t compromise..people should listen to the clips provided in the documentary above..

Filed Under: 2015 Daily News Tagged With: LBJ, Lydon Johnson, Martin Luther King, Selma

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