OaklandSeen.com Set to launch This Thursday

Please join us as OaklandSeen proudly unveils its new online destination, OaklandSeen.com!

Official Launch Party for OaklandSeen.com
DJ fflood
Thursday March 25, 6-9pm
Somar Bar / 1727 Telegraph. Ave, Oakland
no cover / cash bar / donations gladly accepted

More About OaklandSeen:
After building a solid foundation through radio and social networks, OaklandSeen presents OaklandSeen.com, a web portal dedicated to sharing genuine voices, striking images, investigative stories, and daily updates by and about our own community.

OaklandSeen forges a pioneering new model for media and community engagement. Its information network highlights issues important to working people, people of color, young people. OaklandSeen links radio broadcasts, social networks, community news, blogs, and web resources to share a compelling mix of Oakland’s most credible and exciting voices — yours!

This spring, OaklandSeen presents OaklandSeen.com, a web portal that will locate Oakland’s multiracial majority in the center of community, political, and social discourse. OaklandSeen.com will celebrate the city’s greatest successes, and shine a spotlight on citizens who innovate to address the city’s most relentless challenges.

We’re looking for reporters, bloggers, interns, video producers, photographers, culture mavens and people who know where to go on a Friday night.

OaklandSeen includes:

Aimee Allison|Aaron Baluyot|Byron Williams|DaveyD|Esperanza Tervalon-Daumont|Favianna Rodriquez|Jakada Imani|Jennifer Pae|Joel Tena|John Knox-White|Justin Warren|Kamika Dunlap|Leda Dederich|Ludovic Blain|Lupita Figueroa|Marc Tizoc-Gonzalez|Michelle Fitzhugh-Craig|Richard Wright|Rosie Torres|Scott Pearson|Steve Phillips|Steve Wright|Taj James|Tracy Watson|Vien Truong|Zach Seal

…and you

Volunteer | Write | Produce: editor@oaklandseen.com
OaklandSeen radio – Fridays 8:05am KPFA 94.1 FM
http://bit.ly/OAKLANDseen

Return to Davey D’s Hip Hop Corner

Hip Hop is Worldwide-Meet Chilean Emcee Anita Tijoux

 

We caught up with Chilean emcee Anita Tijoux who made lots of waves during SXSW 2010. It was her first trip to the US as she celebrated the release of her new album 1977. The title represents the year she was born along the pioneering days of Hip Hop in the Bronx.

Anita who is an astute student of Hip Hop music and culture noted that its important to reference and pay tribute to the foundation. Anita through her flows, subject matter and study of other emcees has managed to do just that-pay homage.

For many here in the states Anita Tijoux is a new face in an already packed scene. In Chile she’s abig deal-a superstar. She was born in France to a French mother and Chilean father who was in political exile during the Pinochet dictatorship. She first started to get known in 1997 when she was part of a group called Makiza which featured Seo2, Cenzi and DJ Squat. She later left the group and attempted to go solo and for a while hooked up with Julieta Venagas  a popular pop singer. She later reunited with members of Makiza and then left again to do her solo album 1977

We started off our interview by getting an update on the situation in Chile. She explained that many people in her country are suspicious after the 8.8 earthquake and they fear another shoe is going to drop. Many believe that the shaking was man-made-caused by HAARP… Others are saying, the earth-shaking so violently was God’s way of saying get rid of the president and the fascist regime he represents…Anita noted that while her family is doing ok, many people are not. Chile has privatized everything from water to medical help, hence only those with money are faring well. Others are suffering.

We spoke to Anita about her music and whats influenced her. She says that she mixes traditional folkloric music with Hip Hop. She says she rhymes in Spanish although many insist it’s easier to do it in English.  She says her biggest influence were artist like Bahamadia. She also notes that if she had a magic wand she would love to do a song with KRS-One, Flying Lotus, Peanut Butter Wolf and Madlib.

Anita laced us up on the Hip Hop scene throughout Latin America. She said things are in full gear in places like Bolivia, Venezuela and Peru. Brazil things are really large to the point its an entity on to itself.  She noted how MTV has ‘MTV Latin America’ and ‘MTV Brazil’. She noted that Hip Hop has widespread appeal because it gives voice to the voiceless especially in poorer communities.

We conclude by speaking with Detroit rapper Invincible who is featured on the song Sube which talks about upliftment and using Hip Hop as a tool. Invincible had nothing but praise for Anita who she said she met online and began the process that led to them recording the song which they performed several times during SXSW.

-Davey D-

Here’s the Breakdown FM podcast to our interview w/ Anita Tijoux

Click HERE to Here Full Breakdown FM podcast featuring Anita Tijoux

Anita Tijoux SXSW Intv

———————————————–

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_9Y-4PaU2U

Return to Davey D’s Hip Hop Corner

Kevin Powell: An Open Letter to Black America

OPEN LETTER TO BLACK AMERICA
By Kevin Powell

DEAR BLACK AMERICA:

This 42nd anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is an opportune moment to reflect on how far we’ve come, and how far we have to go. It calls us to reconsider the words Dr. King gave us at the end of his life, when he said that we need “a radical revolution of values.” Certainly, we have much to be proud of. There is the first Black president. There are more Black elected officials, more Blacks in corporate America, the media, and in very real power positions, like Oprah Winfrey, Richard Parsons, Donna Brazile, and Jay-Z.

But, if we are to be brutally honest with ourselves, we’ve also got to acknowledge that things have not been right for some time. The civil rights era concept that our leaders would deliver us into the promised land has devolved into the idea that all we need to do is show up and follow. We have lost the sense of individual responsibility toward collective change.

Think back to the days immediately after slavery, when it was clear that Blacks wanted two things: education and land. In spite of vicious White terrorism, we plodded forward. There was hope, and a vocabulary of purpose. These values emboldened us during the Civil Rights Movement. And they were re-born during the 2008 presidential campaign. Yet, unlike before, many of us have failed to embrace the miraculous kind of self and community transformation that led us to walk, literally, into the teeth of barking dogs, water hoses, and police brutality, mainly because we refused to let anyone turn us around.

Why, politically, did we come out in record numbers for Barack Obama, then instantly return to apathy? Why do we remain suspended in a state of arrested development, believing that a dynamic leader will be our salvation? A civil rights veteran said it best to me many years ago: “We were just happy to get in the door. We never really had a plan beyond that.” So we have to be honest and admit that Black leadership in America, except a few shining examples such as The Brotherhood/Sister Sol in New York City or John Hope Bryant’s Operation Hope, has been too often stuck in yesterday. It has been unable to produce an agenda for Black America that will transform our communities in a holistic way. So we’ve spent 40 years like the Israelites, wandering the wilderness, harboring the misguided expectations that people like Barack, or Oprah, or anyone Black and famous will free us. It simply isn’t going to happen.

And while we’ve been waiting, praying, and producing the same predictable conferences, summits, studies, and reports again and again, Black America is on the brink of catastrophe. We need to remind ourselves that Hurricane Katrina and Haiti’s earthquake only magnify the slow forms of devastation happening each day. They include HIV and AIDS, poverty, Black self-hatred and Black-on-Black violence, the huge class divide, mediocre school systems, and the steady march of our youth into jails and cemeteries. We should stop saying this is a post-racial America because of President Obama. It is not. Despite Barack and Michelle we continue to be bombarded with destructive images of Black people in the mass media. As I travel the country speaking at universities and working for social justice, I note that our prisons are packed with black and brown bodies, and every American ghetto looks exactly the same: a lack of resources, services, and jobs, failing public schools, and limited access to the American dream.

That said, let us no longer wait on a savior to come. Do we want to continue wandering or do we want to create our future here and now? We have the power to transform our communities by enacting those “radical revolution of values.” So I propose six things we must do immediately: Create a Spiritual Foundation; Move Toward Mental Wellness; Take Care of Our Physical Health; Become Politically Active; Understand the Power of Our Culture; and Start a Plan for Economic Empowerment.

Our spiritual foundation must be rooted in God or something greater than us, and a love for self and for all Black folks, unconditionally. It must grow out of our beliefs and our willingness to act selflessly. And it must begin with mental wellness because we cannot stand up for our convictions, our faith, or ourselves if our self-esteem is not in tact. Susan L. Taylor put it best when it comes to our mental health, Black America: healing is the new activism. Be it the increase in domestic violence, homicides and suicides, or the way so many of us say “I can’t” it is clear to me that since the civil rights period our individual and collective psyches have been damaged. But we can heal by seeking counseling and therapy, forming or joining positive support groups, and courageously ridding ourselves of toxic people, even if they are longtime friends, lovers, or kinfolk.

Physically, we can no longer accept that we are pre-destined for diabetes, high-blood pressure, and other ailments. Yes, like all Americans, we should have access to healthcare. But we should also change our diets and exercise regularly. Recently, my mother was hospitalized. After years of sitting on the sofa watching TV and indulging in terrible eating habits, that was her wake-up call. Change your diet and live. Don’t change and die a painful and preventable death, as many of our relatives have.

Taking charge of our health and wellness also means changing the way we discuss our realities in America. Let us stop bemoaning our “crises” and start strategizing to meet our “challenges.” Let us cease spreading reports that compare us unfavorably to our White sisters and brothers. Likewise, our culture, the way we talk, eat, sing, pray, dance, laugh, and cry must become more balanced so that it no longer reflects solely what is wrong with us, but also projects a vision of how great we can become, or are.

Financially, we’ve got to disconnect our self-esteem from our clothes and cars and instead focus on building true wealth. If my illiterate late grandparents could own land in South Carolina, by saving coins in their day, then we can, too. We can use our resources to empower ourselves, to help our ’hoods, and to support our people. This means doing more than donating to charity. It means a sincere and consistent giving back in terms of time, energy, and presence.

Black America, we’ve been surviving for 400 years in this nation. The question for the twenty-first century is this: Do we want to just survive, or do we want to win? The “radical” answers, if we search hard enough, are right there in our own hands.

Return to Davey D’s Hip Hop Corner

This is the First Step-Our Goal: Healthcare should be Right and Not for Profit-Ever

Healthcare should be a basic right guaranteed to all human beings no matter, their race, color or creed. It should not be for profit ever… I want people to ponder on that thought for a minute as they either celebrate or bemoan last night’s historic ‘Yes’ vote on healthcare reform.  I want people, especially those who insisted that this needed to happen to ponder over this concept… This was a first step…. Lemme repeat that again, because maybe it hasn’t sunk in.. This was a first step..

It’s pretty well-known that I wasn’t in favor of this current healthcare package. No I’m not one of these folks running around with signs calling President Obama a ‘socialist’. Nor was I running around spouting some crazy talking points from Fox News about ‘death panels’ or anything like that… I opposed the healthcare reform package because it didn’t go far enough and it seemed to grant too many provisions to the insurance companies. My goal, as stated Healthcare for everyone-no matter what and for free.  What was on the table was a terrible, terrible compromise.

It was a compromise that essentially stripped away all price controls. It was a compromise that took away single-payer (universal healthcare) which Obama said he was down for in ’08 but never  mentioned once in office. It compromised public option, which again Obama and our Democratic controlled Senate and Congress surrendered thanks to a few bonehead lawmakers who in my opinion got brought off by the health insurance industry.

According to speaker of the house Nancy Pelosi, this latest bill had 200 GOP amendments attached to it, yet none of those bozos even voted for it. So in other we didn’t need to water this down. If it fails the GOP can claim they never voted for it and if it pans out they can run around bragging they had something to do with it..  Talk about compromise after compromise.

So with all that being said, I fully accept that last night’s vote was a crucial first step. No matter how much I disliked what went down.. I’m down to work and fight to improve this-how about you?

My fear is two-fold. First, I fear that many of those who voted for this will abandon this fight and make excuses like ‘let’s give this some time’ or ‘lets not fight for this now and have it become a distraction during these upcoming midterm elections‘. Later we’ll hear similar excuses and calls for us not to make waves because we have to get people back in office in 2012. There will never be a right time for skittish politicians.

My other fear is that many of y’all who were quick to debate me will remain silent as mummies and not hold lawmakers accountable to this promise of improving the bill.  After all the celebration dies down how many of you folks are promising to do whatever it takes to make sure this bill moves forward and that ‘crucial first step’ becomes a second and third step that takes us down a path where this ugly Healthcare bill becomes a ‘beautiful one’. I want to be proven wrong, but if the lack of participation in the last election cycle is any indication of our commitment for continuing the ‘hope’ and ‘change’ Barack Obama campaigned on I’m afraid it ain’t gonna happen.

I do know one thing… the Fox News, Tea Party crowd have not and will not stop organizing. They’re already promising to run and back candidates who will repeal this bill. I know here in Texas, I’m out here doing political education and organizing. For me ’08 never stopped. But where are the rest of y’all? I see the Tea Party folks, but I don’t see you.. I don’t hear our favorite urban radio station personalities keeping us up to speed on the latest bills and maneuvers in Congress.. I hear alot about Lil Wayne going to jail and Al Sharpton vs Tavis Smiley, but what about some chatter about the next steps all of us need to take to make sure health insurance rates don’t jump up 39% like they did in California before this bill even kicks in?

Who’s talking to us about the candidates we should be backing come November? Will it be more Bart Stupaks, Joe Libermans or Bill Nelsons who as Democrats  and independents worked to derail this not because it didn’t go far enough, but because they had other agendas-many which were suspect? Will we be looking to back more Anthony Weiners, Bernie Sanders and others who insisted that Healthcare be about our well-being taking precedent over profit? Is that your goal? Or is it all about I got mine, hope you get yours?

I want people to not only keep in mind the promised relentless opposition of the Fox News crowd, but also the recent Supreme Court ruling that now allows corporations to have major influence in the future elections. Don’t think these HMOS are not gearing up to smash and smash hard.. Make no mistake with the economy all jacked up, these Health insurance companies  along with the Wall Street banks who are gearing up to fight the reform measures against them have some tricks up the sleeves. Don’t be surprised if some y’all reading this suddenly find yourselves on some corporate payroll talking about how you need a few extra dollars to make ends meet so you wind up doing some sort of activity to carry out the agendas of these corporate institutions..

Don’t be surprised if some Civil Rights type organization is suddenly having their events or special programs for the youth or even a local concert or Non profit is being sponsored by some of these institutions.   We’ve already seen this happen with the telecom companies fighting to get rid of Net Neutrality. They been pretty good at buying off.. oops I mean sponsoring organizations and groups for their silence and in some cases advocacy. Don’t think the health Insurance companies wont be gunning for us using similar aggressive stealth-like tactics.

Again are you ready to start taking those next steps? The goal should be that this new bill in its final form is much better than any insurance package you’ve ever had and for far less than you’re paying. Furthermore it should be something within reach for everyone. If that’s not the goal, be warned, it’s just a matter of time before some financial upset has you slipping through the cracks. Don’t wait till then to be fighting for whats right. This was a compromise, lets not forget it.. OUR promise is to improve this bill.. Lets hold each other accountable.

Something to ponder

-Davey D-

Rebel Diaz Gear Up for SxSw-How to organize Your Block & Not be Fake

Rodstarz of the group Rebel Diaz came through Austin’s landmark book store Resistencia and talked to the community about the importance of community organizing and moving away from an oftentimes restrictive Non-profit-funding model.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rnkha92Fx0k

Rebel DiazRodstarz touched town in Austin, Texas for the South by Southwest SXSW conference. He came by Resistencia Bookstore and talked to community folks about the origins of Rebel Diaz. He aslo talked about the Community Center they built in the Bronx.

Rod explained that the Bronx community center is the result of seeing the value in each community member and working with them to create something everyone feels connected to.. Rod cautioned us to not do the things many movement people do which is look down upon and shun the people they’re supposed to be helping uplift..He also talked about the tendency to have lots rhetoric and talking points but no ability to organize people on the block.

Lastly Rod talked about moving away from foundation models and develpoing something closer to the needs of the people and more sustainable.

Rodstarz and the rest of Rebel Diaz will be sitting on the SxSW Southern Shift Panel.. How to Grind, Hustle and Make it During the Recession..  This is going down Friday afternoon 3-5pm at the Carver Library in East Austin. The event is free to the public..

1161 Angelina Street
Austin, TX 78722
(512) 974-1010

Return to Davey D’s Hip Hop Corner

Texas Text Book Drama-How the Community is Fighting Back

Here is the Breakdown FM podcast to this story.. enjoy

Texas Text Book Drama pt1-Intv w/ Rene Valdez

Texas Text Book Drama pt2-Intv w/ Erika Gonzalez

Texas Text Book Drama-How the Community is Fighting Back

by Davey D

By now everyone has heard about the big fight over Text Books and History curriculum here in Texas.  To sum it up, there was a push to put a number of far right-wing fundamentalist conservatives on the Texas Educational Agency board where standards are set every ten years or so. Many people, in particular Democrats were asleep at the wheel and lo and behold,  the far right organized, packed the board 10-5 and then proceeded to dismantle current standards by removing historical figures like Caesar Chavez, Thurgood Marshall and many other heroes and sheroes of Black and Brown people and replace them with conservative folks like Jerry Falwell and Newt Gingrich

It’s just now many of us are reporting on this, but according to activists and educators on the ground here in Texas, this has been brewing for a very long time..

Yesterday we sat down with two well-known, longtime activists and educators here in Austin, Texas-Rene Valdez and Erika Gonzalez to find out what’s really going on. Resistencia Books is a fixture in the Austin Community particularly among Black and Brown folks for almost 30 years. It was founded by the late poet/activist Raul A Salinas who was apart of and understood the education struggles of the 1960s wanted to make sure there were safe spaces for people in the community to learn, soak up their history  and live out the ethos of the day DIY-‘Do It Yourself’.

The late Raul Salinas who founded Resistencia Books and wanted a safe space for the community to learn outside of school

Rene Valdez now runs the bookstore as well as the education programs connected to Resistencia where they go inside the prisons to educate folks as well as hold weekly meetings and seminars for the community inside the store. He explained that he wasn’t too surprised about the recent decisions and in many ways they have long been prepared for such a crisis. He noted that even though they are located in Austin which has this persona of being progressive and liberal for many communities of color its far from that. He noted that Austin is part of Texas and here in the state there is still a well entrenched, institutionalized ‘old boy network’ which has long targeted resistence movements of any type. It doesn’t matter its the anti-war movement, immigration reform movements, solidarity movements, etc.. Valdez, noted today the target is President Obama, the war drums are beating  and they have been focusing on controlling and undermining education.  our youth are the targets.

Rene continued on by noting that what has taken place gives the community better reason to engulf themselves around alternative efforts and gain greater appreciation for organizations and places like Resistencia where education is being afforded.  He also noted this present situation also gives us reason to ask the long hard question-‘Where has the movement been on the issues of education?’ What took place has not happened overnight. For years there have been moves to privatize public education and destroy it.  This has not been happening here in the US but also in other countries. he cited the 2006 Teacher Rebellion in Oaxaca, Mexico where teachers and students were on the front lines being beaten over low wages and attempts to smash on the education system.

Here in the US we’ve seen student fee hikes in state colleges all across the country. We’ve seen teachers being fired and the quality of education going down, yet we’ve seen very little resistence to this in terms of taking things to the streets. During our interview we talked about the student strikes because of fee increases, but Rene pointed out that its important to link the fee increases to the attacks on public education in general. It’s all part of the same agenda by those in power. He concluded by noting that any attack on education both in grade schools to college will adversely working class and poor people as well as Black and Brown folks..

Here’s the Breakdown FM interview we did w/ Rene Valdez

http://www.swift.fm/mrdaveyd/song/29048/

Erika Gonzalez

We later spoke to Erika Gonzalez who is the co-director of PODER (People Organized for Defense of Earth and her Resources).. She’s been a teacher for over 10 years here in Austin. She has taught in almost all of  the 50+ elementary schools in the district. She also has her own curriculum designed to reach young Black and Brown kids which she employs after school in programs that she’s apart of or ones that she runs herself.

The first thing she spoke to us about getting some context to this struggle by understanding the long history in places like Texas in particular Austin which is seen as this liberal enclave. She noted that Austin was the only city in the entire country that refused to go along with Brown vs the Board of Education.  The city fought for over two years spending millions of dollars to not integrate schools.  Finally they did give in, but to this day there are stark differences in the predominantly white schools in West Austin and the predominantly Black and Brown schools in East Austin.

There’s a sordid history in Austin that dates back to the 1920s where they developed a master plan which would have East Austin be a toxic dumping ground and a place to house factories and other commercial facilities. To this day there are elementary schools that sit right next to factories that spill pollutants causing asthma and other health issues making learning very difficult.  PODER and other organizations have been fighting for years to have such places removed or shut down only to find steep and oftentimes over the top racially tinged resistence in this ‘liberal city’ to those efforts.

Adding to all this is a so-called ‘gentleman’s agreement among the ‘old boy network‘ that Rene spoke about where only one Black and one Brown can run for city council. The city does not run on districts but is citywide which means that even with the assurance of one Black and one Brown being on the city council, the whites majority picks and ultimately controls those representatives. What’s even more disturbing is the fact there are many ‘progressive’ people who move to Austin form places like the Bay Area in California who are made aware of such things yet chose to turn a blind eye and ignore them.

With all this in mind, its important to note that for years the community has gone about the business of trying to find alternatives and educate their own. For example, PODER at least once a week and oftentimes more goes to different school sites and meets with parents especially immigrants to let them know their rights and other policies being enacted at schools.  They also have young scholars program and as was pointed out Erika who runs and teaches everyday in after school programs. The latest venture is teaching after-school inside public housing projects.

She explained that the impact of dumbing down education has been clear for sometime now. She explained how she was teaching a group of kids age 4-15 the other day and ask them about Caesar Chavez only to find out they did not know who he was. This was not the case several years ago. She explained that there once was a time teachers would go the extra yard and make sure kids got those lessons that were downplayed or omitted from history books. Today all teachers in Texas are required to teach toward the state standard tests. Lessons within the school district revolve around how to take tests not learn history.  Young teachers have been sent strong warnings that if they deviate too much they will be banned from their respective districts.

Erika noted that she herself has been banned from one school for teaching the students extra history not approved by the state.  Another teacher was fired and banned from the school district for going the extra yard to organize parents about education curriculum. Many good teachers operate in fear  and with these new requirements you can best bet that there are those who are pushing this agenda who are going to be watching like hawks to make sure kids learn about Newt Gingrich and not Dolores Huerta or Barbara Jordan. Controlling the thinking of the youth seems to be a game plan that is unfolding.

We concluded our interview by talking about political participation. There is a strain of activists who continuously insist on telling folks they should not vote with the end result being low voter turnout in many places where schooling is having the most damaging impact. Erika explained that resistance has to take place on all levels including the ballot box. The community must continue to take extra steps to ensure their kids are properly educated. At the same time, we must start running our own candidates for school boards and make sure the state standards are changed.  After all even if you remove them from public schools they still have to adhere to a state styandard that deems Jerry Falwell more noteworthy then Thurgood Marshall.

Here’s the interview we did w/ educator Erika Gonzalez of PODER

http://www.swift.fm/mrdaveyd/song/29051/

Meet Ghanian Born Blitz the Ambassador… ‘Dying to Live’

Blitz the Ambassador is a talented emcee, singer and musician who is from Ghana and now lives in Brooklyn who’s been making a whole lot of noise as of late. He recently lot of  touched down in the Bay Area at La Pena Cultural Center and wrecked shop, bringing with him a keen musicianship, influences from Fela Kuti and his deep love of Hi-Life and Hip Hop.  Toward the end of his set he ripped a version of his song ‘Dying to Live‘ which on his album features former Fugee member John Forte. This version was incredibly moving.. in fact chilling especially when you consider him and the guitarist hooked up for the first time earlier that day.. Definitely Blitz is someone to watch for in 2010

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTyORG3WaSw

Return to Davey D’s Hip Hop Corner

Austin Rapper SaulPaul Makes Moves-Set to be on SXSW Panel on Hustling & Grinding

Saul Paul is local, Austin based Hip Hop artists who is originally from Houston. He’s a fixture in the Austin rap scene who emerged and turned his life around from being a 4 time felon. He was first arrested by the FBI at for counterfeiting. Since then he’s gone on to turn his life and become a successful independent business man, motivational figure for the community and artist . He is best known for his Accoustic Hip Hop songs… He gives us a preview about what he will be talking about at SXSW when he does our Southern Shift Panel called ‘How to Grind , Hustle and Make it During the Recession’
In this video, SaulPaul, 2010 SXSW panelist talks about his new book Dreaming in 3D and how he took a bad situation (4 time felon) and turned it around within Hip Hop. He talks about how he had a boss who used to disrespect him and ride him all the time. That same boss upon learning he had plans to go back to school gave him some unintended advice..His boss told him to get paid for doing what you love.. Saul Paul decided he would turn a bad situation into something good, took the advice and hasn’t looked back.

Popmaster Fabel Addresses United Nations-‘We Are One’

 “WE ARE ONE” -BY JORGE “POPMASTER FABEL” PABON

 
Jorge “Fabel” Pabon’s address delivered at the United Nations during The International Hip Hop Conference for Peace” on May 16th
 

Popmaster Fabel

I would like to preface this speech with the overstanding that when I say Hip Hop, I am referring to the complete culture and not just the element of rap or emceeing.

In overstanding Hip Hop culture, we must overstand the various contributions and influences it has had since its origins. These influences and contributions are found in current and previous cultural forms of expression; from world to urban, social, political and economic dynamics; various religious traditions and ideologies; scientific development and many other historical references. Even after analyzing all of these points, one might still fall short of totally explaining the phenomenon of how one’s spirit relates and interacts with the universal rhythmic vibrations found in Hip Hop culture. However, we should try to acknowledge that which can be verified and stands true as fact.

In this quest for Peace, the Universal Zulu Nation continues to promote: Knowledge, Wisdom, Overstanding, Freedom, Justice, Equality, Peace, Love, Unity, Respect, Work, Fun, overcoming the negative to the positive, and other core principles.

These goals have become a reality within The Universal Zulu Nation as is clearly demonstrated by our international attendees and representatives at our yearly Anniversaries. Our chapters are scattered throughout the world, yet bound together through an overstanding and respect of each other’s individual cultures as well as our common culture, known as “Hip Hop”. The Universal Zulu Nation is also united, as we are today, in spirit and purpose. Our concerns for upliftment, of all people, are shared by many, as is evident in this gathering and other conferences designed to highlight the positive power and potential of Hip Hop culture.

In this quest for Peace, it is imperative that we acknowledge Hip Hop culture as a transcending force which belongs to those who create it, live it, support it, protect it, and promote it, regardless of their race, religion, nation, tribe, crew or organization. We might fly different colors, which represent our individuality and commitment to various parties or beliefs, but in truth, we all produce one collective mosaic, which creates the unity of this culture.

Although Hip Hop culture was, for the most part, initially celebrated by African and Caribbean descendants in the 1970’s, it was also embraced by various other ethnicities during this period, especially after it found its place above ground. For the true Hip Hoppers, our standards have never changed regarding who is “down by law” and who isn’t. One’s skills for speak for themselves, regardless of one’s skin tone or background. To us, it’s about being original and bringing something new to the elements while preserving the foundation set by the pioneers.

Hip Hop culture continues to unite people of various religions, nations, and cultures through the universal languages of dance, art, music, fashion and many other tools. The fact that Hip Hop is not a religion, philosophy or belief system gives us a neutral platform to unite upon. It is inclusive and has always consisted of various influences.

Peace can be achieved by respecting each other’s differences, uniting in our commonalties, and agreeing to disagree with each other’s opinions and views. Hip Hop culture has not only given us a vehicle of expression, but when used positively, it has given us an opportunity to explore the world and change the lives of many. It has helped many of us overstand ourselves as well as others. It has helped to educate us and challenge our views. It has given many the opportunities to become self-empowered. It has given us many ways to communicate with our youth and has helped us to exercise and stimulate their senses. The outcome of these efforts often brings about a strong conscious generation of individuals who have found peaceful ways to settle differences and who stand for the upliftment of their community.

Unfortunately, Hip Hop culture has been misrepresented by the media and those who are either ignorant or have a hidden agenda. In this quest for peace, we shouldn’t depend soley on the media for information about Hip Hop culture, since there have been many cases where the media has helped to promote division and corruption within the culture. We should not rely on sources who have no authority, knowledge or overstanding regarding Hip Hop culture’s origins and evolution. We should make it our business to research, cross-reference and fact check all of the pieces to this great puzzle. With this we can become students of the culture. Ultimately I have found that the most honorable teachers continue to be great students.

Return to Davey D’s Hip Hop Corner

A Push to Make Ronald Reagan the Next ‘Dead President’ in Our Wallets

I’m reading this story of how a bunch of folks are trying real hard to make Ronald Reagan into a God of sorts and I can’t help but cringe. Ronald Reagan was the devil..Thats why KRS-One said in his song ‘Oh Yeah” he was glad Reagan died

Ya wanna know why are economy is in shambles and why corporations are out of control with greed and far reaching powers? he was the one who put forth the trickle down economics concept which we now know as ‘Reagonomics‘.

Wanna know how crack got into the community and funded wars? Y’all remember Iran Contra and the scandal that went along with it? Y’all know the deeper story behind Freeway Rickey Ross? It was Ronald Reagan the so called Great Communicator who was in charge.

Wanna know why it took South Africa to be free? Blame it on Ronald Wilson Reagan..Y’all remember his ‘constructive engagement’ concept where he vetoed every single attempt to by the UN to put sanctions on South Africa..

Y’all remember him breaking down unions..after he fired air traffic controllers? Y’all remember this was the same idiot who worked with the FBI to help bring down the Black Panthers when he was governor of California? Thats why Kanye West mentions him in the song ‘Crack Music

Reagan was the beginning of the White House being fully taken over by corporate interests..very sad.. Its bad enough they named an airport after him..but to have him on a 50 dollar bill..???

sad sad sad..

Here’s a song that should forever remind us of who Ronald Reagan was..

-Davey D-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56ipWM3DWe4

A Push to Put Reagan on the $50 Bill

http://washingtonindependent.com/78192/a-push-to-put-reagan-on-the-50-bill

Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) introduced legislation yesterday to replace the likeness of Ulysses S. Grant with that of Ronald Reagan on the $50 bill.

“Every generation needs its own heroes,” McHenry said in a statement launching his proposal. “President Reagan was a modern day statesman, whose presidency transformed our nation’s political and economic thinking. Through both his domestic and international policies he renewed America’s self confidence, defeated the Soviets and taught us that each generation must provide opportunity for the next.”

Conservatives’ efforts to deify Reagan, of course, are nothing novel. In 1998, a GOP Congress renamed Washington-National Airport to honor the 40th president. There’s that enormous $800 million trade center on Pennsylvania Ave. bearing Reagan’s name. The Navy christened the USS Ronald Reagan, an aircraft carrier, in 2001. And there was even a 2005 congressional push to replace D.C.’s 16th St. in favor of Ronald Reagan Boulevard. (It failed.)

What’s confusing is why Reagan would be the hero of anyone claiming to be a fiscal conservative. In 1980, the year Reagan was elected president, the federal debt was just under $908 billion. Eight years and several tax cuts later, it was $2.6 trillion — a jump of 186 percent.

Put another way: Reagan racked up more debt in eight years than the previous seven presidents had managed in 35 — a span that included the Korean and Vietnam wars.

How disillusioned are Republicans by Reagan’s legacy? In 1998, after the airport renaming, then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) called the move a fitting tribute to “the man who initiated the concept of a responsive, smaller government.”

He might have added: that can’t afford itself.

UPDATE: Libertarians aren’t fooled. While GOP leaders were celebrating their claims to fiscal rectitude last month at CPAC, Wes Benedict, head of the Libertarian Party, issued a statement pointing out that Reagan “signed massive spending bills that made his the biggest-spending administration (as a percentage of GDP) since World War II.”

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