Remembering Mr Magic (RIP)-Hip Hop Loses It’s Frankie Crocker

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Remembering Mr Magic-Hip Hop Loses It’s Frankie Crocker

by Davey D and Mark Skillz

mr-magic-225Today just getting word that one of our Hip Hop pioneers has passed. As I started writing this we’re still trying to officially confirm, but according to what DJ Premier twitted earlier Mr Magic who was best known as being among the first to have a Hip Hop show on a major radio station has passed.  Still trying to process all this, because we’ve lost so many people this year. It was just a week or so ago we were mourning the passing of DJ Roc Raida.  For us in the Bay Area we lost a longtime KPFA  radio colleague and well known activist Gina Hotta. She passed of a heart attack. What we’re hearing w/ Mr Magic he too passed of a heart attack. He was 55 years old.

If you were around in the late 70s/early 80s then you will clearly understand what Magic meant to Hip Hop. For years he was the pinnacle. When he started out on WHBI, just hearing his show was major. It was a really big deal, because what we were doing in the parks, at rec centers and in our living rooms was insulated. No one else in the world knew what was bubbling up in the Bronx.  When Magic got picked up and was added to the line up of commercial station WBLS.. It was major. One of our own had graduated and was on the big stage. Saturday night was what so many of us eagerly looked foward to…Mr Magic with his booming voice gave Hip Hop that importance. He had what they call gravitas. He made you and Hip Hop official. He was a radio announcer not a kid doing college radio. He wasn’t someone shouting into a microphone. He was our Frankie Crocker, who was the legendary DJ and at the time program director for WBLS.

Was just talking to Hip Hop historian and writer Mark Skillz  who also grew up on Magic and he noted that Magic laid the ground work for every on air personality that came from the streets and made it to radio. He was always classy even when he was arrogant and he could sure be arrogant at times.  He was older than the average listener and fan of rap at that time and could’ve easily been associated with disco or soul music. But he put everything on the line because he really believed in the music. On a couple of occasions he was fired. The most infamous occasion was when he stood up to Frankie Crockerwho as mentioned was a legend in his on right. Crocker wanted to change formats and take rap off the air. Magic stood up to him and refused to change his show and was fired resulting in him returning to his first station WHBI.  Skillz added that its important to understand that back then and even recently, people paid to have a show on WHBI. You had to raise money to have a slot on the air.

Magic was important to two different eras of Hip Hop. He was the connection to the  pioneering day also known as True School. He was the one that brought us Flash, Mele-Mel, Crash Crew, Sugar Hill, Busy Bee etc.  he later became the important gateway to the what we now know as the Golden Era. He was once dubbed Sir Juice as he was the big connection and champion for the Juice Crew. Skill z was sharing memories with Sweet Gee this morning upon hearing the news and was reminded by G that the original Juice Crew was Sal Abbatiello, Sweet Gee, DJ June Bug, Kurtis Blow and Mr Magic aka Sir Juice.Sal who owned the Fever night club brought them all diamond rings. In many ways for  long before Diddy, Jay-Z  or the Jiggy era came along, Magic and his people personified flashiness within Hip Hop. They were smooth and represented the style of the day.  

Skillz was  recounting seeing Magic wearing rings on every finger and having  gold rope chains. He used to sport a shark skin suit. He was a Hip Hop version of Mr Tee. Back then that was Hip Hop at its finest for better or for worse.

When he got his Rap Attack show on WBLS he was the man. Folks old enough will recall what it meant to record a Mr Magic show. Those cassette tapes got passed all around the world. He was that dude. Interestingly enough Magic followed the important tradition long established by Black radio DJs of being our mouthpiece and Griot of sorts. In many ways he was the face of Hip Hop and our ambassador. He was our connection to the outside world, the corporate world etc. When his show came on, all of New York stopped what they were doing and tuned in.  Words are simply inadequate so others reading this will have to add in.

We also recall the role that Magic played in sparking the infamous bridge wars between the Bronx via KRS and BDP and Queens via the Juice Crew. Magic was so important that if he didn’t play your record or publicly rejected you as he did BDP,  it wasn’t a thing to easily shake off.  I won’t get into along recounting of that tale, but lets just say a lot of careers were born through the BDP vs Juice Crew saga. The attention he garnered help heighten the position of than rival DJ Red Alert who was holding it down and backing BDP on Kiss FM while Magic backed Marley Marlwho was his official deejay along with the Juice Crew as we know them today on WBLS…Also on a side note lets stress the fact that the battle was more like a battle of the bands and not the type of vicious beefs where folks get shot or beaten up. It was competitive, theatrical and capitivating

We also need to remember as Paradise of X-Clan pointed  out  Mr Magic also gave Whodini their first break .Jalil used to answer the phones to his show. Hence the group’s first song ‘Mr Magic’s Magic Wand.

So many memories its hard to really do justice. .. For those who remember Mr Magic please share. 

In closing I’d be wrong not to point out the 800 pound gorilla in the room. I’m talking healthcare. I’m not sure what Magic’s finances or personal situation was, but dying of a heart attack while in your 50s is not a good look and should be a wake up call for us all on a number of levels. One one level is for us to seriously look at how we’re living. Stress and strife are taking its toll. Stress from finances, stress from work, stress from living in dangerous situations silently and suddenly do us in.  On another level, many of us have not taken care of ourselves with routine check ups and visits to the doctor to help us avoid such tragedies. We shouldn’t forget as Skillz points out that it was only a few years ago that Magic’s DJ Marley Marl had a heart attack. We also lost Professor Xwho was also around the same age through meningitis.   Was it lack of health insurance or bad and fast living? I can’t call it, but all of us need to sit back and ask why we have lost so many people at young ages this year. It hasn’t been shootings its been failing health..

Hip Hop pioneer Kurtis Blow reminded us that Mr Magic put a record  Its a rare gem and it has him rapping. Its called “Its a Better Way’

RIP Mr Magic

Something to Ponder

-Davey D-

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Black Eyed Peas’ Apl.de.Ap Asks Fans To Support Philippines Relief Effort

Black Eyed Peas’ Apl.de.Ap Asks Fans To Support Philippines Relief Effort

Source: Baller Status

BlackEyedPeas-apldeapBlack Eyed Peas member, Apl.de.Ap, is asking fans of the group to support a relief effort for the Philippine islands, which was devastated over the weekend by Typhoon Ketsana.

Over the weekend, the typhoon dropped a month’s worth of rain on the northern part of the country, leaving 80% of its capital, Manilla, and surrounding areas underwater. So far, it’s reportedly caused $30 million in damages and took the lives of over 240 people.

Apl, a Filipino-American who was born in the Philippines before coming to the U.S at the age of 11, has launched a campaign to help raise money to help his native country.

“My heart is broken to see so many of my Filipino brothers and sisters hurt by this disaster,” Apl wrote on his website. “We must all bond together and move forward to restore the city we hold dear.”

Apl is asking fans and supporters to donate money to the Apl Foundation, via his website JeepneyMusic.com, to help aid Filipinos in wake of the flood.

The typhoon is responsible for the most devastating flooding in the Philippines in over 40 years. While most of the flood waters have receded in most areas, a majority of the city’s medical centers have been destroyed and the risk of contracting waterborne diseases has increased dramatically.

Locals are blaming government officials for neglecting to properly prepare for the typhoon, since it was well-known that Manila is susceptible to flooding.

To help you can donate to Apl’s Foundation at JeepneyMusic.com, or check out the list of ways below, thanks to the Huffington Post:

• Google has compiled an extremely helpful list of emergency numbers and groups in the Philippines who are accepting donations. It also includes a broad view of the map displayed below.

• Help the UN World Food Programme by making a donation. This program identifies families in specific need of aid. Just $18 provides a family with rice for two weeks. This is the most critical and immediate way you can make an impact.

• UNICEF has already provided $143,000 worth of relief to affected children in the region. You can call 1-800-4UNICEF or donate via their Philippines Floods page.

• Call the Philippine Consulate General at 646-4620 or the Filipino Community of Guam President Alex Gagaring at 483-2539. They can tell you how you can help and where to send donation checks.

• The Pacific Daily News of Guam recommends writing a donation check to the Filipino Community of Guam — put “Calamity Fund” in the memo line.

• Filipino blogger Manuel L. Quezon III has compiled an impressive list of ways people can help, both locally and internationally.

• Plain and simple — donate to the International Red Cross and help them continue to put relief workers on the ground in the Philippines.

• Donate via Catholic Relief Services online or call 1-877-HELP-CRS

The Only Color That Matters Is Green-(World Premier)

Jasiri X and Paradise of X-Clanare two of my favorite cats in the world. First, they are dedicated to the cause of trying to uplift our folks. Two, they stay grinding. Meaning they are constantly looking for new ways to educate, entertain and enlighten. Three, they and the rest of  the One Hood crew stick together like family..  When I went to Pittsburgh I saw how they were keeping the essence of Hip Hop together, by taken whatever situation that was tossed to them and flipping it..

 On Friday Sept 25th, we found ourselves unable to join the G-20 protest march because of police barricades. Instead of sitting around and complaining, Paradise and his crew member Sherman took their cameras and decided to make the thousands of police that were on hand a backdrop for a music video.  It certainly caught the police off guard , but it made perfect sense. Its our tax payer money and our streets. Might as well put that 18 million bucks to good use..

The song says it all ‘The Only Color that Matters is Green’  . Enjoy the video..

 

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Senate Panel Rejects a ‘Public Option’ in Health Plan

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Booooo to Max Baucus, Boo to Bill Nelson and Boo to all other spineless Democrats who voted to get rid of the public option. Yes we knew this was gonna happen. Yes, we know they are on the take-all that lobbying money  was hard to resist.. Yes, we know , we know, but booo to them anyway. Well I guess all we can do is sit back and watch the movie..as we watch people vote against their interests..

D

Senate Panel Rejects a ‘Public Option’ in Health Plan

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/30/health/policy/30health.html?_r=2

Healthcare tableWASHINGTON — After a half-day of animated debate, the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday rejected efforts by liberal Democrats to add a government-run health insurance plan to major health care legislation, dealing the first official setback to an idea that many Democrats, including President Obama, say they support.

All of the other versions of the health care legislation advancing in Congress — a bill approved by the Senate health committee and a trio of bills in the House — include some version of the government-run plan, or public option.

But the Finance Committee chairman, Senator Max Baucus, Democrat of Montana, long ago removed it from his proposal because of stiff opposition from Republicans who call the public plan a step toward “socialized medicine.”

The committee on Tuesday afternoon voted, 15 to 8, to reject an amendment proposed by Senator John D. Rockefeller IV, Democrat of West Virginia, to add a public option called the Community Choice Health Plan, an outcome that underscored the lack of support for a government plan among many Democrats.

Mr. Baucus voted no, as did Senators Thomas R. Carper of Delaware, Kent Conrad of North Dakota, Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, , and Bill Nelson of Florida, joining all 10 Republicans in opposition.

Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, who voted in favor of the proposal, said supporters of the public option would keep on fighting. He has offered a separate amendment to establish such an option.

“We are going to keep at this and at this and at this until we succeed, because we believe in it so strongly,” he said.

Advocates of a public plan say it would provide crucial competition for private insurers and that the larger goals of the legislation, to extend coverage to more than 30 million uninsured Americans and to slow the steep rise in health care costs, cannot be achieved without it.

The debate came as the Finance Committee resumed debate over the health care bill after a three-day weekend because of Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement.

After the vote on Mr. Rockefeller’s proposal, Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, was scheduled to put forward his own public option amendment and it, too, was expected to be defeated.

In the emotionally charged debate, Mr. Rockefeller railed against the practices of private insurers, who he suggested were largely preying on a defenseless American public. “They’re getting away with terrible things,” he said.

But Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, the senior Republican on the Finance Committee, stepped in to voice his party’s fierce opposition to the idea of government-run insurance.

“A government run plan will ultimately force private insurers out of business,” Mr. Grassley said, adding that supporters of the public option were trying to open a back door toward a fully government-run, or single-payer, health system like those in Canada or England.

“Public option is a step toward a completely government run plan that they are hoping for,” Mr. Grassley said.

And he rejected assertions by Democrats, including Mr. Rockefeller, that the public plan would compete fairly because it would have to follow the same rules as private insurers.

“The federal government will not only be running the plan, it will also be running the market in which it competes with the private plans and that doesn’t sound like a level playing field to me,” Mr. Grassley said.

Democrats quickly rose up to answer the charges, including Mr. Schumer, who challenged Mr. Grassley to spell out his views on Medicare, the government insurance plan for Americans over age 65 and for the disabled.

“I just want to know what you think of Medicare, which is a much more government-run program,” Mr. Schumer said.

“I think that Medicare is part of the social fabric of America just like Social Security is,” Mr. Grassley said. “To say that I support it is not to say that it’s the best system that it could be.”

“But it is a government-run plan,” Mr. Schumer shot back.

Mr. Grassley, a veteran Senate debater, insisted that Medicare did not pose a threat to the private insurance industry. “It’s not easy to undo a Medicare plan without also hurting a lot of private initiatives that are coupled with it,” he said.

Mr. Schumer pounced. “You are supportive of Medicare,” he said. “I just don’t understand the difference. That’s a government-run plan and the main knock you have made on Senator Rockefeller’s amendment, and I am sure on mine, is that it’s government-run.”

The efforts by Mr. Rockefeller and Mr. Schumer to add a public plan to the bill were really just a dress rehearsal for a fuller battle that will play out on the Senate floor in the weeks ahead.

Senate Democratic leaders, however, do not believe there will be sufficient support to add the public option to the bill.

Aides to the majority leader, Senator Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada, say that he will not include a provision for the public option when he combines the measures coming out of the finance and health committees.

Mr. Rockefeller, Mr. Schumer and other supporters of a government-run plan will bring floor amendments trying once again to add it to the legislation.

And even when the debate over the public option is taken up on the Senate floor, most likely it will not be finished.

There is wider support for a government-run insurance plan in the House, where the Democratic caucus is more liberal. And if the House bill includes a public option, as Speaker Nancy Pelosi has indicated, the issue will ultimately be decided in a conference proceedings to reconcile the Senate and House bills.

As an alternative, Mr. Baucus included in his bill a proposal to create private, nonprofit health insurance cooperatives to compete with private insurers.

The Congressional Budget Office has questioned whether the cooperatives would really have much effect. And there are Democrats and Republicans on the Finance Committee who have proposed amendments that would strip the cooperative provisions.

The main architect of that proposal, Senator Kent Conrad, Democrat of North Dakota, said during the committee debate that it would provide “strong not for profit competition to the private insurers.” But he warned that hospitals in his home state would be devastated by Mr. Rockefeller’s proposal, which would initially tie the public plan’s payment rates to the rates paid by Medicare.

Many hospitals, doctors and other health care providers say Medicare rates are too low.

Mr. Conrad urged his colleagues to consider his alternative,. “We have gotten locked in a very sterile debate ,” he said.

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Roman Polanski and the Contradictions in Us All

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DaveyD-leather-225Everyone is talking about the arrest of   ‘famed’ director Roman Polanski as he entered Switzerland the other day to attend an award show where he was being honored. He was arrested for being a fugitive on the run from the United States and is likely to be sent back to face charges for drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl 30 years ago.  Polanski is best known for directing films like ‘Chinatown’ and ‘Rosemary’s Baby’. After he fled the country, he continued to shine by directing films like  The Pianist which won him a couple of Academy Awards, the Ninth Gate and Tess to name a few. 

Personally I shed no tears for Polanski. The crime he committed was heinous crime where there is no forgiveness.  As far as I’m concerned our government along with the rich and powerful in Hollywood gave Polanski a pass. He was given a wink and a nod when he fled to France. People somehow found a way to humanize him and make him a sympathetic  figure of sorts by noting how his beloved wife Sharon Tate was killed by Charles Manson. Hence him raping a 13 year old was somehow a result of that trauma.

For me, its hard not to look at Polanski supposedly escaping the US Justice system while that same justice system managed to track down and persecute Black Panthers and others who were part of the freedom struggle, all over the world.  It didn’t matter if any of those figures had experienced personal tragedies like seeing a loved one shot and killed by police. It didn’t matter that they themselves had been traumatized by oppression. At the time Polanski committed this rape, Panthers were being mercilessly hunted down by the FBI via their destructive cointel-pro program which among other things instructed agents to run all sorts psychological mind games on their BP targets.

Over the years we’ve seen local prosecutors be granted all sorts of resources to go after these freedom fighters 30 years after the fact even though the crimes they were accused of were highly disputable and in many instances dubious. Perhaps  government officials should’ve spent time and energy offering million dollar bounties for his return the way they did Asaata Shakur. Perhaps time should’ve been spent  securing Congressional proclamations of condemnation or making his extradition to the US a precondition to  a normalized or improved relationship between us and France.  We seem to have no problem insisting on such things at tax payer expense when it came to seeking out  Black and Brown folks fighting against injustice heaped upon our communities. 

Roman Polanski

Roman Polanski

What I find most disturbing is that after all these years what may have triggered Polanski’s arrest was him criticizing and accusing the LA District attorney’s office of gross misconduct. From the way it sounds, it appears that all it took to go after and finally get a seemingly untouchable Polanski arrested was a bruised ego. For 30 years the US Justice system could not grab hold of Polanski because he was hiding out in the south of France or the Swiss Alps. Suddenly he raises his voice against the state and they found a way to get him. Swiss Alps be damned.

This saga spells out a couple of things. Lesson #1– speak out against the state rightly or wrongly, and it is likely to hit back. There are lots of freedom fighters languishing in jails as political prisoners who clearly understand this lesson.

Lesson #2-, which I hope did not go over everybody’s head, is understanding the full scope and wide breadth of discretion that prosecutors seem to have when it comes to tackling crime. From what I can tell, there are no new laws in Switzerland that just sprung up allowing Polanski to finally be arrested. They were always in place, but for some reason even though Polanski had been to Zurich numerous times and even had a nice home over there, our government, in particular the LA district attorney just didn’t seem to have the political will or wherewithal to bring Polanski, a man who raped a 13-year-old to justice. That speaks volumes.

Y’all should marinate on that for a while. While you do that, ask yourself why the Pookies and Ray Rays of our community are doing 10 year bids after vigoriously being persecuted for non-violent crimes and drug addictions and white collar criminals who pillage and plunder you into taking substances are still free except for handful. Think about that while our prosecutors can’t find ways to bring brutalizing cops to justice but will suspend your license and issue an arrest warrant that they will hungrily pursue for unpaid tickets.

Yes, we know there are double standards, but we should not dismiss them and say ‘Oh well that’s how they be’ or ‘Oh well that’s how they do us-what else is knew?‘. My point here is that we should be well aware that there is lots of latitude and hence this should embolden us to fight even harder for people’s freedoms and to fight even harder to bring those who egregiously wronged us to justice. It should be more than obvious that no prosecutor’s hands are tied when it comes to doing what they feel needs to be done.

With that being said, we should also look at the contradictions within Hollywood. Here’s a town that is infamous for social persecutions and ostracization of ‘wrong doers’ and people who stepped on the wrong toes. Everyone knows that there are simply certain buttons you don’t push and certain people you don’t piss off least you suffer serious social and economic consequences. Hollywood is small town and stepping on toes is easy to do with dire consequences, unless you’re Roman Polanski who raped a 13-year-old..Now, call someone a pejorative name like ‘Faggot’ as did actor Isiah Washington and you can find yourself banished with your peers loudly condemning you. Not only will they condemn, many might not even work with you.

Unless your name is Mel Gibson and you are titan in your own right, you best not even think about saying or doing anything that is deemed anti-Semitic. You are likely to not be receiving any Academy Awards. You are likely not to be praised and forget about getting funding for your next film.

When you are a Polanski, you can get your esteemed colleagues coming to your aid petitioning the Swiss government and even Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for your immediate release. You can have your fellow colleagues likes actress Debra Winger go before the world and declare your persecution and date with justice is a Philistine-like act.

When your a Polanski you can be spared a Bill O’reilly like tirade or a Glenn Beck tea party inspired witch hunt. Be Van Jones and curse at a Republican and its gloves our off and the pressure won’t let up until you leave town. Be Roman Polanski and we won’t have deep investigations trying to connect the dots..

Woody Allen

Woody Allen

And lets not get it twisted, Polanski not the only one who has done wrong or has raised serious questions in this regard. We still show love and admiration for film director Woody Allen, even though he was accused by his former partner Mia Farrow of molesting her seven year old daughter and as we all know he eventually wound up marrying his ‘step daughter’ Soon-Yi Previn. Allen is still admired and held up as being a pillar in the film industry.

I was tempted to ask the rhetorical question would any of us work for a director who raped a 13-year-old girl?  Would any of us work for someone who was accused of molestation and married his step daughter?  I was gonna ask that until I remembered  many of us would have no qualms in embracing Polanski and Allen. We would embrace them the same way we embrace accused molester R. Kelly. You remember him,  the guy who sings those dope songs like ‘Still I can Fly’ and ‘Step in the Name of Love’ ?  You remember R.Kelly the guy who somehow beat the charges levied against him, but there was no denying it was him in an underground widely watched x-rated video getting kinky and peeing on an underage girl? But hell if we can love Elvis Presley  who was with Priscilla at 14 and Jerry Lee Lewis who was with his cousin when she was 13,  I guess why trip off Polanski,  Allen and R Kelly right?  Our tolerance of such actions and activities says a lot about us as a society…At the very least it says we talk a good game about loving our children, but at the end of the day we do very little to protect them, especially if there’s money to be made.

Aaaah yes..ya gotta love the contradictions in us all….

Something to ponder

-Davey D-

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An Open letter to Young Warriors in Chicago from Nas (the Killing of Derrion Albert)

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Derion AlbertBy now everyone has heard or seen the disturbing video in which a 16-year-old honor student Derrion Albert from Christian Fenger Academy High School in Chicago. Albert somehow was caught in the middle of a melee involving two rival gangs and was struck from behind by another young man swinging a board.  According to witnesses Derion was walking to a bus stop. When he fell to the ground, 3 or 4 young man stomped him to death… The killing was caught on cell phone and generated outrage and heartbreak throughout the country. The video lead to the arrest of 3 teenagers who were charged with his murder.

A backdrop to the Albert slaying is that the city of Chicago made headlines because President Obama did a first by aggressively courting the Olympic committee to bring the the city the 2016 Games.  In a city that has seen dozens of high school kids killed each year through gang violence, one might ask do city officials and even the President have their priorities straight. Should we be talking Olympics? Will the 2016 Games really stem the tide of violence? Should the President use this killing of a student who by most accounts has ‘pulled his pants up’ and worked hard to  do good for himself, as a teachable moment? 

I’m by no means implying that President Obama is responsible for this, but just like the Swine Flu is widespread and reaching a point where it garners national attention, so should inner city crime. It should be more than obvious that it’s going to take more than a few ‘Say No Violence’ speeches from Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson or some other leader.  The viciousness we saw caught on fiilm, will require more than Lil Wayne or 50 cent changing their lyrics or a group of conscious artists doing a feel good ‘Stop the Violence’ song.   Those are band aids.

It’s also obvious that Chicago which is known for having an aggressive police force with all the latest crime fighting tools, a big budget, gang injunction laws and strategies is not able to put the smash on these  killings.  All of us in this nation need to do more starting with excavating the root cause and making ending killings a top priority.  This ranges from those of us in Hip Hop to examine ways in which we can push ourselves and the people we engage in a more positive direction on down to the avarege ordinary 9-5 working stiff to those who hold high offices and have access to vast resources.

-Davey D-

 ———————————————————————————–

An Open letter to Young Warriors in Chicago from Nas

Dear Young Warriors fighting the wrong wars!   Killing each other is definitely played out. Being hurt from the lost of a love one was never cool.

http://globalgrind.com/content/1020340/Open-Letter-To-Young-Warriors-In-Chicago/

Nas-point-225Dear Young Warriors fighting the wrong war! I know that feeling, that frustration with life and needing to take it out on someone, any one. But….

We chose the dumbest things to go the hardest for.  I remember seeing deaths over 8 ball jackets, Fila sneakers, and name plate chains. Deaths over “he say, she say”!!!!! “I’m from this block or I’m from that block”, or “my moms n pops is f*cked up now the whole world gotta pay”!!!

I remember feeling like I was the hardest “n*gga” breathing.  And I couldn’t wait to prove it. But let’s think. What are we really proving?? And proving what to who?? Everybody knows Chicago breeds the strongest of the strong but I just feel, me, being ya brother from another state feels your pain as if I grew up with you in ya very own household.

You have the ability and mindpower to change they way we are looked at.  Look who’s watching us young warriors, look who’s throwing us in jail constantly, look at the ignorance in the world. Look at the racist dogs who love to see us down. Loving to bury us in the ground or in jail where we continue this worthless war on one another.

Young warriors…. We are WASTING more and more time. We gotta get on our jobs and take over the world. Cuz this movie left the theaters years ago, Juice, Menace, Boys n the Hood , Blood n Blood Out, Belly!

When we see each other why do we see hatred? Why were we born in a storm, born soldiers, WARRIORS….and instead of building each other up we are at war with each other.. May the soul of this young person find peace with the almighty. I’m with you young warriors. You’re me and I’m you. But trust me! you are fighting the wrong war.

This sh*t sucks !!

-Nas

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KRS Says Def Jam Destroyed Hip Hop

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KRS-One says that Def Jam which was recently honored at the VH1 Hip Hop Awards has single-handedly destroyed Hip Hop. He acknowledges that the culture would not be where it is at today had it not been for the upstart label, but in 2009 , everything that we complain is wrong with Hip Hop is personified with Def Jam and its success. In short Def Jam had failed to use its leadership role and guide the culture..

krsone1smile-225

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Barack Obama: Diasporic Personality, Cultural Entrepreneur, American Emperor

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Barack Obama: Diasporic Personality, Cultural Entrepreneur, American Emperor

by Cedrick Muhammad 

The Following Are Remarks Given by Cedric Muhammad At George Mason University During The ‘Fall For The Book’ Festival On September 22, 2009 while participating in a Panel Discussion: “Understanding Obama: Three Views”

[The material and concepts of this speech are lightly drawn from the forthcoming book, ‘The Entrepreneurial Secret’ by Cedric Muhammad, available October 7th at BlackElectorate.com, Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com]

cedricmuhammad2-225Barack Obama arose at a time when Black America was somewhere in between a Cult of Personality and a Cult Of Ideology, in an era where partisan attachment to the Democratic Party somehow became equated with grassroots activism and where independent institution building as a priority – a hallmark of the Black power movement had waned [in no small part due to the success of the Counter Intelligence Program (COINTELPRO) of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)]. Community development, for many, has now come to take on the characteristics of personal transformation, with a focus on quality of life issues and not a raw or rigid form of Black nationalism. As an Ivy-league educated lawyer, community organizer, and member of the Black Church, Barack Obama maneuvered through the power centers of Civil Rights, Black Power, middle class-professionalism, civic participation, and the prophetic voice with relative success and without being absorbed by any of them.

The result: he is claimed by all because he is first and foremost a Diasporic Persona and a Cultural Entrepreneur.

What is that you ask?

ObamaNAACP-400He – Barrack Hussein Obama – is that rare individual skilled in navigating the waters and traveling through that space shared by an empire, a homeland, and a diaspora. He lives in and comes to power in the American empire (and its two dominant and separate societies: Black and White) while embracing his relationship to both an African and Islamic diaspora. Through emigration, dispersion, bloodline, creed or belief, the Disaporic personality and cultural entrepreneur have a connection to a homeland or broader civilization outside of the country in which they now live. By nature, he internationalizes the individuals, events, circumstances, and institutions that he engages, as he is claimed simultaneously by different communities: African, Muslim, Southeast Asian, Hawaiian, White American; Black American etc…

MuhammadAliTo understand how suddenly one can become a Diasporic personality, it is helpful to remember Muhammad Ali, for example. When the Honorable Elijah Muhammad gave him that name in place of ‘Cassius Clay,’ a Black American born in the American South, among an immobile people, who were denied freedom, justice, and equality, suddenly became an international figure upon whom an entire world (including the very wicked) would eventually project their hopes, aspirations, and fears.

Who is Barack Obama, the diasporic personality and cultural entrepreneur?

He’s mobile, cosmopolitan, sophisticated and a risk-taker. He embraces change – both technological and demographic. He deftly moves in and out of different perspectives and civilizations, which by the way dovetails nicely with the Aloha Spirit (which he absorbed in Hawaii, where he did middle and high school). His socialization skills and ability to adapt to different cultures is uncanny. But this also makes him the ultimate challenge to rigid forms of identity (tribe, race, religion, ethnicity, political ideology, partisanship, and nationalism). He is foremost a universalist. He resists and pushes back any time he is pigeon-holed or stereotyped.

Barack Obama is no ordinary personality or entrepreneur, because of his day job. As president of the United States, he is the representative of the American empire, which makes him something like the captain of the Titanic. He is in a situation where radical change is necessary but where only moderate and incremental improvement – gradual change – is tolerated (and barely that) by a two party system that manages the political process. So he has the power and baggage of representing an Empire while he carries the power and baggage of a persona and personality tied to several Diasporas. It is clear that much of the controversy around Barack Obama comes not from his words or policies but rather from the confusion and discomfort that comes from not knowing or not being sure on whose behalf, interest and perspective he speaks.

There are six speeches that make all of the above clear:

1) His speech at the Democratic Convention in July 26 of 2004 from Boston, Mass. (significant because he introduced his Diasporic persona and connected it to the American dream and empire).

2) His speech in Springfield, Massachusetts announcing his candidacy for President in February 10th 2007 (significant because he bypassed associating himself with the, at that time, influential ‘State of Black America’ forum convened by Tavis Smiley).

3) His speech on race-relations in America made in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on March 18, 2009 (significant because he did not disown the Black American community in response to controversy stemming from media coverage of a rhetorical challenge to the American empire, made by his Pastor).

4) His speech to the Muslim World, delivered on June 4, 2009 – significant because he acknowledged the Islamic Diaspora and critiqued the Western empire’s (with America as its titular head) relationship to it. The two civilizations have been in an alternating state of conflict and cooperation in a unique way since the 15th century, a time period which brought the West into contact with a pan-Islamic community crossing borders and oceans (Portuguese imperialism meets the Islamic Diaspora in the Indian Ocean).

5) His speech from Accra, Ghana, July 11, 2009 (significant because it suggests that Obama will not necessarily use his Diasporic persona on behalf of real change in the foreign policy of the American empire). Some Africans are offended by his tone and even Kenyans are insulted by the manner in which President Obama’s chief foreign representative – Secretary of State Hillary Clinton – lectured them on governance. Prime Minister Raila Odinga even spoke out against this saying America has a double standard – chastising Kenya but not Saudi Arabia or Egypt. Young Africans continue to be inspired by President Obama (whom they claim not as ‘Black’ or ‘American’ but as ‘African’) while they dislike the attitude and policies of his government toward Africa. Many Africans, based in America, express support for the tone of President Obama toward leaders back home, whom they find corrupt and believe should be removed from power.

6) President Obama’s speech to the NAACP in New York on July 16, 2009 (significant because he gave an individual empowerment, and social responsibility speech before the nation’s oldest civil rights organization). He spoke to self-improvement and community development more than pending legislation, executive orders, or court decisions in response to historical discrimination. A vocal minority of Black Americans find the speech paternalistic and condescending, while others view it as badly needed truth-telling and a sign that a changing of the guard has taken place within Black American leadership where appeals to government will be less popular among the young. The debate over whether President Obama is fundamentally a political progressive or a cultural conservative where ‘his own people’ are concerned continues.

Franklin D rooseveltAs President, Barack Obama makes everyone uncomfortable because he is uncomfortable operating inside of the confines of narrow ideology and partisanship. Therefore, pragmatism and triangulation (where he takes ideas from, or executes policies more often favored by his political opponents) are his modus operandi, strategy, and tactics. He throws down the gauntlet and challenge to almost every interest group, lobby or community. It isn’t enough that he likes, agrees, and knows you. To get his attention you have to speak the language of power. It is best represented by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (whose history Obama studies carefully) who told Civil Rights Leader A. Phillip Randolph in the 1940s that while he agreed with his agenda, intellectual agreement was not enough for him to change policy. Reportedly, Roosevelt told Randolph that he and the civil rights leaders would have to make him change policy. Presidents must be forced to do what is right, not just told.

I believe that in so many words, President Obama is ‘telling’ Blacks, Progressives and Liberals – his ‘base’ who may be suspicious of him – that they will have to force him to do what they want. His stance will either expose their current inability to mobilize people or influence the public debate, or it will inspire them to step their game up and be more effective.

He can get away with things that no other Democrat can, while he can never rise above a certain level of Republican support because of what he represents, and the fear he provokes in the minds of White Supremacists on the Right (they exist on the Left too, by the way). His unmistakable effort to go after ‘waste and fraud’ in social safety net programs like unemployment insurance, Medicaid and social security would never be accepted by a Republican president (“If only a Republican like Richard Nixon could be the first president to go to China, only a Democrat like Mr. Obama could persuade Democrats to cut payments for unemployment and disability, said Isabel Sawhill, co-director of the Center on Children and Families at the Brookings Institution.” We read this in a March 2009 Wall Street Journal article).

Yes, Bill Clinton got away with doing things that President Reagan and both Bushes could not (Crime Bill, Welfare Reform, talk of ‘mending’ Affirmative Action) and Barack Obama can get away with things Bill Clinton couldn’t.

For better and worse, this Cultural Entrepreneur, unlike Democratic-Blacks (a new hyphenated identity that perhaps should be added to the Census categories) understands that party loyalty does not mean being a parrot or slave to ideology (I didn’t forget about you sycophants on the Right either).

And now, in the controversy over the Governor’s race in New York, only Barack Obama – the first Black president – could get away with discouraging New York’s first Black governor from seeking office again. Apparently ‘Yes we can!’ also means ‘No you can’t.’ He does all of this while distancing himself from remarks made by former President Jimmy Carter who says racism is obviously a factor in the opposition of a certain segment of Obama’s opponents. Just when you think you have figured him out and can predict his behavior, he changes, adjusts and absorbs resistance because only two things matter to a Diasporic personality and cultural entrepreneur – getting a deal done in a diverse environment, and staying ahead of the curve.

He moves like a lawyer and a businessman. He takes the long view. He understands that in the etiquette of business and society subtlety rules and things like language, tone, and style are substance. On the September 13th edition of 60 Minutes he said, “One of the things that I’m trying to figure out is how can we make sure that civility is interesting…Hopefully I will be a good model for the fact that you don’t have to yell and holler to make your point and to be passionate about your position.’

Sounds like Negotiating and How To Make Moves 101. Is it any wonder that he is so popular among the most enthusiastic fans of mainstream Hip-Hop music?

Perhaps they – the young and the poor – understand that being a Diasporic Personality and Cultural Entrepreneur has nothing to do with elections, talking points, or political chatter, and everything to do with building personal power and leveraging it in pursuit of what you want in life, business, and on behalf of your community (or communities).

In closing, President Barack Obama’s greatest contribution is cultural, not political. He models behavior and attitudes in Black America that had been previously marginalized by the commercial projection of the poorest and worst kind of behavior – married life (While in Kenya in March I actually had a Sister from Zimbabwe tell me she did not know that there were hardly any married Black couples until she saw Barack and Michelle and that her view of Black American men came from the gangster rap music of the 1980s and 90s), high academic performance, polish and cultural refinement, and social etiquette do matter, after all.

And he does it all without entirely divorcing himself from a people and culture that has been most victimized and exploited.

Like him or not, for most, he is a Role-Model-In Chief, even Power Broker-In-Chief, more than the Commander-in-Chief.

The question now, for Barack Obama, Diasporic Personality and Cultural Entrepreneur, is what are the costs of representing the American empire?

Perhaps the question is the same for the rest of the radically hip and self-enlightened, living in the Disapora.

Remarks Given By Cedric Muhammad At The George Mason University ‘Fall For The Book’ Festival (September 22, 2009)

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The City of Steel-Police Dominate the G20 in Pittsburgh

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JasiriX-copsWhen we crossed the bridge into downtown Pittsburgh, Friday September 25 the last day of the G-20 summit, we thought we were going to see thousands of protesters. What we saw were thousands of police officers lining the street in full riot gear. Pittsburgh said it was bringing in 4,000 additional cops and I think they all were downtown on Friday. There had to be a cop for every protester. As you can see police were equipped with tear gas and shotguns. Because of the war-like atmosphere I decided to use as song I wrote called, “City of Steel” to provide the narration.
-Jasiri X-

G20 Summit-Jasiri X Report Back-Pittsburgh Police State

Pittsburgh’s G-20 City on LOCKDOWN!

by Jasiri X

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Jasiri X & Paradise Inside Homeland Security Protestor Cages

Jasiri X & Paradise Inside Homeland Security Protestor Cages

This is footage taken on September 22, 2009 the day before the G-20 Summit officially hit Pittsburgh. This video show the incredible extent the City of Pittsburgh went to lock down the city and prevent anyone especially protesters from coming into downtown. With metal fences surrounding it’s perimeter Pittsburgh has once again become the City of Steel. The Legendary Jimi Hendrix provides the theme music.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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This video was taken Wednesday September 23rd the day before the G-20 summit began in Pittsburgh over a span of an hour. The police and military deployment numbers were compounded by the fact that there was so few “regular” people in downtown Pittsburgh due to the fear people had of protesters “tearing up” the city. The irony was that all around the city are signs that say, “Pittsburgh Welcomes the World” yet the intimidating presence of so many police had the exact opposite effect. When we came across the bridge into downtown, police immediately began to take our pictures, which is why I used a song I record called “Watch Em” featuring K-Link as the soundtrack. As I write this police are firing tear gas at a protesters marching without a permit. Crazy.

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