Chuck D & Funk Expert Rickey Vincent Speak on the Music & Political Legacy of Michael Jackson & the Jackson 5

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Listen to the History of Funk pt 1-retrospective look at Michael Jackson & the Jackson 5

1-Breakdown FM-History of Funk pt1-Michael jackson & the Jackson 5

2-Breakdown FM-History of Funk pt2-w/Chuck D How MJ influenced Hip Hop & Politics

 
Professor Rick Vincent-author of History of Funk drops a lot of insight about the musical legacy of Michael Jackson  and his brothers

Professor Rick Vincent-author of History of Funk drops a lot of insight about the musical legacy of Michael Jackson and his brothers

Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5 are considered steller musicians and entertainers who changed the game in major ways. Oftentimes when we speak of them they are presented as if they came out of nowhere and their musical prowess came out of a vacuum. We wanted to give people some deeper insight into their music and what it meant to Soul, Funk and the Black community.

We sat down with Professor Ricky Vincent aka the Uhuru Maggot, author of the landmark book The History of Funk. We sat down and walked through the history of MJ and the Jacksons and talked in depth about their influences ranging from James Brown to Stevie Wonder. We talked in depth about their roots including how MJ and his brothers grew up in Gary, Indiana. We talked about the important role Gary played in Black America, both in terms of having one of the country’s first African American mayors and the 1972 meeting by Black folks to set a nationwide agenda.

We talked about their father Joe Jackson and who he is and how he spent alot of childhood and teenage years in Oakland, California. Vincent talked about the vibrant blues scene that was in full gear when Joe jackson was around in West Oakland and how that may have been a foundation for his musical ambitions.

We spoke about Michael Jackson and his dancing history. We talked about his signature moves ‘The Robot’, The Moonwalk and locking and noted how these were popular dance styles well known in various hoods throughout California for years prior to Michael introducing them to the rest of the world.

We talked about the struggles the group had when MJ’s voice changed and how Motown executives wanted them to follow a particular pop formula while the group pushed to establish a new sound that was more soulful, funky and contemporary. Eventually the tension became so great that the group left Motown and joined Epic. Because Motown owned the name The Jackson 5, the group changed their name to The Jacksons. Complicating their situation even more was the fact that older brother Jermaine married Berry Gordy’s daughter hence he went on to stay at Motown and do a solo career.

We talk about the influence James Brown had on Michael and how he went out and pretty much adapted much of Brown’s delivery, showmanship and overall style. We explore the music from that time period in the mid 70s and note how the group found themselves under the gun as they tried to keep up with icons like Stevie Wonder, George Clinton, Sly Stone, BT Express and an array of ‘child groups like the Sylvers who had bursted on the scene and were hitting hard.

Ricky reminded us of how George Clinton and his p-funk mob were in Detroit recording songs and that their style and influence was definitely felt. because he was connecting with the hood, the Jacksons were forced to step it up and become alittle more raw with their music.

We end this segment by highlighting the various musical directions the group took.

Here’s the link to part1

Breakdown FM-History of Funk pt1-Michael jackson & the Jackson 5

———————————————————————————–

Chuck D spoke about Michael Jackson's political side and how he influenced his love for Hip Hop

Chuck D spoke about Michael Jackson's political side and how he influenced his love for Hip Hop

In pt 2 we are joined by Chuck D of Public Enemy where we have an indepth discussion about MJ and his politics and how Chuck was introduced to Hip Hop via Mike.

Chuck talks about the important role legendary songwriters Gamble & Huff played in pushing Mike and his brothers. Author Ricky Vincent talks about how the message in the music is part of a much larger tradition within Black music.

Chuck D also talks about how some of Michael Jackson’s records which were used as breakbeats influenced him and made him embrace Hip hop more. In particular is the vintage cut ‘Music’s Taking Over’. Chuck also talks about the sample they used from MJ in the song By The Time I get to Arizona.

Chuck also talks about the important influence Michael Jackson had in the realm of videos.

We play lots of Jackson’s political songs as well as the cuts that inspired Chuck D.

We conclude the interview by talking about MJs War with Sony Music and Tommy Mottola, his charitable works and the importance of being named the King of Pop.

Here’s the link to pt 2

Breakdown FM-History of Funk pt2-w/Chuck D How MJ influenced Hip Hop & Politics

Return to Davey D’s Hip Hop Corner

Chuck D & Funk Expert Rickey Vincent Speak on the Music & Political Legacy of Michael Jackson & the Jackson5

daveydbanner

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logo-History-of-funk-Jackso

Listen to the History of Funk pt 1-retrospective look at Michael Jackson & the Jackson 5

1-Breakdown FM-History of Funk pt1-Michael jackson & the Jackson 5

2-Breakdown FM-History of Funk pt2-w/Chuck D How MJ influenced Hip Hop & Politics

 
Professor Rick Vincent-author of History of Funk drops a lot of insight about the musical legacy of Michael Jackson  and his brothers

Professor Rick Vincent-author of History of Funk drops a lot of insight about the musical legacy of Michael Jackson and his brothers

Michael Jackson  and the Jackson 5 are considered steller musicians and entertainers who changed the game in major ways. Oftentimes when we speak of them they are presented as if they came out of nowhere and their musical prowess came out of a vacuum. We wanted to give people some deeper insight into their music and what it meant to Soul, Funk and the Black community.

We sat down with Professor Ricky Vincent aka the Uhuru Maggot, author of the landmark book The History of Funk. We sat down and walked through the history of MJ and the Jacksons and talked in depth about their influences ranging from James Brown to Stevie Wonder. We talked in depth about their roots including how MJ and his brothers grew up in Gary, Indiana. We talked about the important role Gary played in Black America, both in terms of having one of the country’s first African American mayors and the 1972 meeting by Black folks to set a nationwide agenda.

We talked about their father Joe Jackson and who he is and how he spent alot of childhood and teenage years in Oakland, California. Vincent talked about the vibrant blues scene that was in full gear when Joe jackson was around in West Oakland and how that may have been a foundation for his musical ambitions.

We spoke about Michael Jackson and his dancing history. We talked about his signature moves ‘The Robot’, The Moonwalk and locking and noted how these were popular dance styles well known in various hoods throughout California for years prior to Michael introducing them to the rest of the world.

We talked about the struggles the group had when MJ’s voice changed and how Motown executives wanted them to follow a particular pop formula while the group pushed to establish a new sound that was more soulful, funky and contemporary. Eventually the tension became so great that the group left Motown and joined Epic. Because Motown owned the name The Jackson 5, the group changed their name to The Jacksons. Complicating their situation even more was the fact that older brother Jermaine married Berry Gordy’s daughter hence he went on to stay at Motown and do a solo career.

We talk about the influence James Brown had on Michael and how he went out and pretty much adapted much of Brown’s delivery, showmanship and overall style. We explore the music from that time period in the mid 70s and note how the group found themselves under the gun as they tried to keep up with icons like Stevie Wonder, George Clinton, Sly Stone,  BT Express and an array of ‘child groups like the Sylvers who had bursted on the scene and were hitting hard.

Ricky reminded us of how George Clinton and his p-funk mob were in Detroit recording songs and that their style and influence was definitely felt. because he was connecting with the hood, the Jacksons were forced to step it up and become alittle more raw with their music.

We end this segment by highlighting the various musical directions the group took.

Here’s the link to part1

Breakdown FM-History of Funk pt1-Michael jackson & the Jackson 5

———————————————————————————–

Chuck D spoke about Michael Jackson's political side and how he influenced his love for Hip Hop

Chuck D spoke about Michael Jackson's political side and how he influenced his love for Hip Hop

In pt 2 we are joined by Chuck D of Public Enemy where we have an indepth discussion about MJ and his politics and how Chuck was introduced to Hip Hop via Mike.

Chuck talks about the important role legendary songwriters Gamble & Huff played in pushing Mike and his brothers. Author Ricky Vincent talks about how the message in the music is part of a much larger tradition within Black music.

Chuck D also talks about how some of Michael Jackson’s records which were used as breakbeats influenced him and made him embrace Hip hop more. In particular is the vintage cut ‘Music’s Taking Over’. Chuck also talks about the sample they used from MJ in the song By The Time I get to Arizona.

Chuck also talks about the important influence Michael Jackson had in the realm of videos.

We play lots of Jackson’s political songs as well as the cuts that inspired Chuck D.

We conclude the interview by talking about MJs War with Sony Music and Tommy Mottola, his charitable works and the importance of being named the King of Pop.

Here’s the link to pt 2

Breakdown FM-History of Funk pt2-w/Chuck D How MJ influenced Hip Hop & Politics

Return to Davey D’s Hip Hop Corner

Cynthia McKinney released, returning to United States

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McKinney released, returning to United States

By RHONDA COOK, LARRY HARTSTEIN

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Sunday, July 05, 2009

cynthiamckinneypink-225Cynthia McKinney’s mom said she’s learned that her daughter is on the way home.

Leola McKinney said a friend who contacted the U.S. Embassy in Israel reported that the former congresswoman was released from Israeli custody and taken to Ben Gurion International Airport.

“We finally got word that she was released,” Leola McKinney said late Sunday afternoon. “We don’t know what time she is supposed to fly out. All we know is that they took her to the airport.

“I would be more relieved when I know she’s on the flight,” Leola McKinney added. “But I am relieved that she’s away from there.”

McKinney had been in custody since Tuesday, when she and 20 others were swept up by the Israeli Navy while allegedly trying to sail through a navy blockade. The group says it was attempting to deliver humanitarian supplies to Gaza.

McKinney and the rest of her group could have been released soon after they were taken into custody but they refused to sign a document admitting they violated Israel’s blockade, according to McKinney’s parents. The group was due to appear in an Israeli court Sunday.

Leola McKinney said she had no information about the court hearing.

Leola McKinney said she had not spoken with her daughter since shortly after she was taken into custody.

Cynthia McKinney and other members of the “Free Gaza Movement ” left Cyprus Tuesday on the Greek-registered ship Arion.

Their ship was stopped when they tried to pass through the Israeli Navy’s security blockade at Ashdod. The group was taken into custody and their ship was seized. Israel officials promised to deliver by ground all of the humanitarian supplies that were on the boat.

Family, friends and supporters say Cynthia McKinney believed she was in international waters and was free to pass.

“The Israelis hijacked us because we wanted to give crayons to the children of Gaza,” Cynthia McKinney said in a recorded statement delivered via telephone and posted on the internet site YouTube.

The office of the Consulate General of Israel in Atlanta said in a statement released Friday, “According to Israeli law Ms. McKinney and her fellow crew members were suggested to sign a form acknowledging their deportation… Since Ms. McKinney has refused to do so, she is expected to appear before an Israeli judge on Sunday, July 5, and afterwards be returned home as soon as possible.”

Civil rights leader the Rev. Joseph Lowery, head of the Atlanta-based Coalition for the People’s Agenda, said he and others have spoken by phone with the Consulate General of Israel.

“Whatever happened, there was no harm done,” Lowery said. “She was not carrying munitions, but medicine. We hope Israel will show compassion and release her and let her go on to deliver the much-needed medicine to the Gaza Strip. … If she were carrying guns, that would be a different thing. [But] she was carrying humanitarian aid.”

Israeli officials blame McKinney and her group for the controversy, saying they were looking for confrontation to attract publicity. The officials note that Palestinian Authority and the rest of the international community had agreed to the off-shore blockade to prevent arms smuggling into Gaza. Gaza is controlled by Hamas, which is classified by the U.S. and European Union as a terrorist organization.

Leola McKinney said the trip would have received no “publicity if they had been allowed to deliver supplies to Gaza. They [Israel] made an issue out of it by taking the boat and escorting them into Israel.”

Billy McKinney, Cynthia McKinney’s father and a former state legislator, said his daughter was only trying to show “the devastation in Gaza… Anybody who has a humanitarian spirit would not want to see those people live in those conditions.”

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The Missing BET Awards-Michael Jackson Video Tribute That Was Never Shown

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So here’s  something that was eliminated from last sunday’s BET Awards. its a video tribute put together by Frank Williams. He is from Oakland and a long time fixture in the Hip Hop scene. He was one of the first brothers to write for the LA Times– He’s been a long time writer for the Source and has been putting in work for BET. He put this video montage together for MJ but it never aired… You see this and all you can do is shake your head in disbelief.. Why would they not show this 3 minute clip..

According to Frank, the video wasn’t shown because Don Cornelius stayed on stage talking too long and some pieces got scraped. I say they should’ve went overtime. In fact this incredible tribute should’ve  started off the show.

Here’s what Frank wrote as his intro..

I AM P. FRANK WILLIAMS, CO-PRODUCER OF THE BET AWARDS 09! (THIS IS NOT A JOKE!) THIS IS A BET AWARDS MICHAEL JACKSON TRIBUTE I PRODUCED THAT NEVER AIRED CALLED “GONE TOO SOON.” 

THANKS TO THE HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE WHO RESPONDED TO MICHAEL JACKSON GONE TOO SOON VIDEO TRIBUTE! I AM COMPLETELY OVERWHELMED BY YOUR LOVE AND ADMIRATION. PLEASE KNOW I DID THAT PIECE TO HONOR A LEGEND. AND GOOD NEWS: YOU MAY SEE IT ON TV AFTER ALL NEXT WEEK! KEEP YOUR FINGERS IN YOUR WHITE GLOVE CROSSED. RIP MJ!

Here’s the missing piece.

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Filmmaker Byron Hurt’s Open letter to Debra Lee & BET

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Bhurt_webbanner2008

I wrote this letter and sent it to contactus@bet.com, bobbette.gillette@bet.net, loretha.jones@bet.net, and stephen.hill@bet.net.
Feel free to copy, paste, and customize this letter to adequately express your thoughts. If anyone has better ideas on where this letter should be sent, i.e. executives at Viacom (BET’s owner), please let me know. I am open to ideas and suggestions.
Be fearless, feel empowered, and raise your voice.

-Byron Hurt-
 
June 29, 2009

Dear Debra Lee,

Sunday night’s BET Awards show was a disgrace. It’s sad and unfortunate that your network, owned by Viacom, continues to crank out mediocrity and perpetuate negative stereotypes of black men, women, and children. Although you likely received high ratings for the awards show, there is no honor in reinforcing the status quo’s opinion of black people. Your tribute to Michael Jackson and the overall show had its great moments, however, BET failed to deliver a solid, quality show. Rather than “raising the bar” and presenting African-Americans as a creative, proud, dignified people, BET lowered the bar for the entire world to see. The BET Awards drew a huge audience to watch a tribute to Michael Jackson, but left millions of viewers feeling disappointed, embarrassed, and reduced to classic stereotypes.

During the most blatantly sexist performances of the night, the executives at BET failed to act and display intelligence, courage, and leadership. Show executives watched, approved, and applauded as artists Lil’ Wayne, Drake, and Cash Money brought young, under-aged girls onto the stage to dance and serve as window dressing while they performed “Every Girl,” a song that reduces girls and women to sex objects. In a culture where one out of four girls and women are either raped or sexually assaulted – and where manipulative men routinely traffic vulnerable women into the sex industry – it is not okay that BET allowed this to happen. BET owes its entire audience – particularly girls and women around the world – an apology for its failure to intervene. BET should also take immediate steps to ensure that this kind of sexist performance does not happen again. Sunday night’s show epitomizes why so many black people worldwide are fed up with BET and feel strongly that your network inaccurately represents black men and women.

Please take my letter and criticism as one that represents millions.

Sincerely,
Byron Hurt
www.bhurt.com

Bhurt_weblogo_activisim

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Comedian Dave Arnold Rips the BET Awards

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Here’s a humorous yet poignant take on the BET Awards by comedian Dave Arnold. I first saw this a couple of days ago on Facebook.. I’m glad he posted this on youtube so folks outside that net work can enjoy his take…

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Chuck D of Public Enemy Releases YouTube Video Tribute for Michael Jackson

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ChuckD-performing-150Lots of people have been weighing in on the passing of Michael Jackson. Even more have been weighing in on on what a proper tribute looks like in the aftermath of the BET Awards fiasco. One person who has stepped to the plate is music icon Chuck D of Public Enemy. he sent out this video the other day of his own tribute to Michael jackson. He explained that he took some time out and put this together on I Movie. It underscored my questions-Where was the simple video montage from BET?

Also included in this story is a video of Chuck D talking about the importance of music that was released during the Civil Rights struggle..

Enjoy and pass along…

Below is the video of Chuck D talking about the importance of  music during the Civil Rights Struggle.

 

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Update: Anti-Gang leader Alex Sanchez Denied Bail

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We received news that Alex Sanchez was denied bail yesterday. Alex is our comrade, executive director of Homies Unidos, and co-founder of All of Us or None. He was arrested in a federal racketeering conspiracy raid in Los Angeles last week. Alex has been a leader of gang truce efforts in Los Angeles for over ten years. All of Us or None will be working with Homies Unidos and Alex’s friends and family across the nation to win his release on bail.
A website is being launched this week so people can keep updated about Alex and the fight for his freedom:
www.wearealex.com
 

Alex Sanchez Denied Bail

Prosecution Case Decried as “Weak”

By Tom Hayden
For The Nation

Anti-Gang leader has been framed in trumped up charges and now has been denied bail

Anti-Gang leader has been framed in trumped up charges and now has been denied bail

LOS ANGELES. A federal magistrate today denied Alex Sanchez bail in his gang conspiracy trial as expected, but the prosecution entered a surprisingly “weak” case according to defense counsel.

If the bail denial is endorsed by federal judge Manual Real, an appeal to the US Ninth Circuit Court could take months, keeping Sanchez in federal isolation. His defenders argue that bail denial is a violation of his equal opportunity to participate in his own defense, tipping the scales of justice against the indigent defendant, former gang member and decade-long leader of Homies Unidos, a gang prevention organization highly regarded in juvenile justice circles.

Sanchez appeared in court today chained and shackled, dressed in a white prison uniform. He made brief eye contact with his family and supporters, tapping his heart in a gesture of love and strength. He remained quiet through the proceeding.

In arguing that Sanchez was a danger to the community and a flight risk, the prosecution case revealed the core of its conspiracy case for the first time since Sanchez was arrested at home at 6 a.m last Wednesday.

In the eye of this observer, who has personally experienced and covered many past conspiracy cases, the prosecution’s narrative seemed weaker than others brought during the police and FBI’s long wars against crime, the Left, revolutionaries, anti-war activists and, more lately narco-terrorists and violent gangs. As Father Gregory Boyle argues, the problem is not so much a police conspiracy as a deep ignorance and cultural bias in the ranks of prosecutors and law enforcement. Both a conspiratorial mindset and ignorance seemed on display today, leading Sanchez’ attorney Kerry Bensinger to call the government case “weak” and “laughable.” A notably professional attorney who refuses to argue the case in the media, Bensinger reddened and shook his head at several points during the proceeding.

As evidence that Sanchez leads a “double life” as community healer by day and secret member of a hierarchical racketeering organization [mara salvatrucha] by night, the prosecutors offered the following evidence:

that Sanchez claims to support gang tattoo removal as a path out of the gang life, but has a gang tattoo across his chest. In fact, laser tattoo removal programs, which are painful, lengthy and expensive, are offered only for the hands, wrists, neck or other areas which are barriers to training and employment programs. Fr. Boyle credits Sanchez will helping 250 young people undergo tattoo removal. Sanchez openly admits he was a tattooed member of MS in the 1980s and early 1990s. [As a state senator, I authorized $2 million for tattoo removal programs.]

that Sanchez has a long criminal record. But defense counsel noted that several of Sanchez’s previous convictions have been struck down, and that those which remain are two offenses dated in 1991. Subsequently, Sanchez has not only been exonerated of past offenses in LA Superior Court, but granted political asylum by an immigration judge during the Rampart police scandal in 2002.

That a poem by Sanchez was found in papers taken by police during a house raid several years ago.

That Sanchez appeared in a 2000 photo taken at a gang peace conference in San Francisco, smiling with an associate and posing with gang signs. Attorney Bensinger noted that millions of young people, including his own kids, sometimes throw gang signs without such behavior being criminal.

That several weeks ago, Sanchez and several young men were talking and drinking after a sporting event, when police rolled up and took notes on field identification cards. There were no charges made.

On the most sensational charge of conspiracy-to-murder, the prosecution introduced an LAPD underground officer who wiretapped Sanchez, among others, without the required turning over of transcripts of the actual wiretaps to the defense. Sanchez’ attorney objected to his inability to cross-examine or obtain evidence through discovery. But the officer, Frank Flores, was allowed to take the stand anyway, in support of charges which have yet to be examined. The prosecution argued that the tapes of multiple phone calls around May 5-6, 2006, will reveal arguments, tensions and threats among several gang members, including Sanchez and Walter Lacinos, aka “Cameron”. Sanchez, according to the still-unreleased tape, is quoted as saying “we go to war”, without any further context or quotation. Lacinos was killed the following week in El Salvador by an unnamed MS member, according to the prosecution account.

A sentence such as “we go to war”, without context, could be prophecy, prediction or warning, but is hardly sustainable evidence of ordering a gang killing. The case itself may open up the shadowy world of LAPD collusion with Salvadoran police and the unsolved murders of numerous Homies Unidos members deported back to El Salvador in the past decade.

Many might ask why Sanchez isn’t simply tried for accessory to murder in the proper state or local court. The plain reason is that the evidence would be insufficient. Enter the RICO racketeering conspiracy laws, named after the gangster named “Rico” in an Edward G. Robinson film, which make guilt-by-association the basis of responsibility for concrete “overt” acts. [For example, during the 1969 Chicago conspiracy trial, eight defendants were accused of conspiring to cross interstate lines and carrying “overt acts” in furtherance of said conspiracy. It was not necessary that the eight knew each other. I was charged with the overt act of letting air out of a police car’s tires. Bobby Seale’s overt act was giving a speech in broad daylight. Jerry Rubin, if I recall, was charged with throwing a sweater at a police officer.]

Alex Sanchez will have to show that he was not an active participant in any crime and that his presence on wiretapped conversations was not evidence of murderous intent, and/or that multiple dangers precluded him from just hanging up. It is possible that the tapes themselves will unravel into garbled discussions proving nothing resembling a conspiracy. But the government will refuse to release the tapes for as many months as possible, while Sanchez remains locked away. In the end, the conspiracy may prove to be the LAPD and FBI elements who continue to blame Sanchez for causing them embarrassment in the Rampart scandal a decade ago, when they tried to imprison and deport him.

A movement to demand bail and a fair trial for Alex Sanchez was announced immediately after the bail denial, with the website www.wearealex.com . Led by Homies Unidos activists, the defense committee released over one hundred letters from Salvadoran community leaders, gang prevention groups from across the country, and an array of clergy including Father Boyle, Rabbi Allen Freehling, Rabbi Steve Jacobs, and Minister Tony Muhammed of the Nation of Islam, who attended the bail proceeding. #

Tom Hayden is a former state senator and author of Street Wars [Verso, 2005]

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Greg Tate: Michael Jackson-The Man in Our Mirror

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Michael Jackson: The Man in Our Mirror

Black America’s eulogies for the King of Pop also let us resurrect his best self

By Greg Tate

Tuesday, June 30th 2009 at 2:03pm

http://www.villagevoice.com/2009-07-01/news/michael-jackson-the-man-in-our-mirror/1

writer Greg Tate reminds us its ok to bring back the Michael Jackson we remember best

writer Greg Tate reminds us its ok to bring back the Michael Jackson we remember best

What Black American culture—musical and otherwise—lacks for now isn’t talent or ambition, but the unmistakable presence of some kind of spiritual genius: the sense that something other than or even more than human is speaking through whatever fragile mortal vessel is burdened with repping for the divine, the magical, the supernatural, the ancestral. You can still feel it when you go hear Sonny Rollins, Ornette Coleman, Aretha Franklin, or Cecil Taylor, or when you read Toni Morrison—living Orishas who carry on a tradition whose true genius lies in making forms and notions as abstract, complex, and philosophical as soul, jazz, or the blues so deeply and universally felt. But such transcendence is rare now, given how desperate, soul-crushing, and immobilizing modern American life has become for the poorest strata of our folk, and how dissolute, dispersed, and distanced from that resource-poor, but culturally rich, heavyweight strata the rest of us are becoming. And, like Morrison cautioned a few years ago, where the culture is going now, not even the music may be enough to save us.

The yin and yang of it is simple: You don’t get the insatiable hunger (or the Black acculturation) that made James Brown, Jimi Hendrix, and Michael Jackson run, not walk, out the ‘hood without there being a ‘hood—the Olympic obstacle-course incubator of much musical Black genius as we know it. As George Clinton likes to say, “Without the humps, there’s no getting over.” (Next stop: hip-hop—and maybe the last stop, too, though who knows, maybe the next humbling god of the kulcha will be a starchitect or a superstring theorist, the Michael Jackson of D-branes, black P-branes, and dark-energy engineering.) Black Americans are inherently and even literally “damaged goods,” a people whose central struggle has been overcoming the non-person status we got stamped and stomped into us during slavery and post-Reconstruction and resonates even now, if you happen to be Black and poor enough. (As M-1 of dead prez wondered out loud, “What are we going to do to get all this poverty off of us?”) As a people, we have become past-masters of devising strategies for erasing the erasure. Dreaming up what’s still the most sublime visual representation of this process is what makes Jean-Michel Basquiat‘s work not just ingenious, but righteous and profound. His dreaming up the most self-flagellating erasure of self to stymie the erasure is what makes Michael Jackson’s story so numbing, so macabre, so absurdly Stephen King.

Michael_Jackson_Ben_FrontBlogThe scariest thing about the Motown legacy, as my father likes to argue, is that you could have gone into any Black American community at the time and found raw talents equal to any of the label’s polished fruit: the Temptations, Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, or Holland-Dozier-Holland—all my love for the mighty D and its denizens notwithstanding. Berry Gordy just industrialized the process, the same as Harvard or the CIA has always done for the brightest prospective servants of the Evil Empire. The wisdom of Berry’s intervention is borne out by the fact that since Motown left Detroit, the city’s production of extraordinary musical talent can be measured in droplets: the Clark Sisters, Geri Allen, Jeff Mills, Derrick May, Kenny Garrett, J Dilla. But Michael himself is our best proof that Motown didn’t have a lock on the young, Black, and gifted pool, as he and his siblings were born in Gary, Indiana: a town otherwise only notable for electing our good brother Richard Hatcher to a 20-year mayoral term and for hosting the historic 1972 National Black Political Convention, a gathering where our most politically educated folk (the Black Panther Party excepted) chose to shun Shirley Chisholm‘s presidential run. Unlike Motown, no one could ever accuse my Black radical tradition of blithely practicing unity for the community. Or of possessing the vision and infrastructure required to pull a cat like Michael up from the abysmal basement of America and groom him for world domination.

Motown saved Michael from Gary, Indiana: no small feat. Michael and his family remain among the few Negroes of note to escape from the now century-old city, which today has a Black American population of 84 percent. These numbers would mean nothing if we were talking about a small Caribbean nation, but they tend to represent a sign of the apocalypse where urban America is concerned. The Gary of 2009 is considered the 17th most dangerous city in America, which may be an improvement. The real question of the hour is, How many other Black American men born in Gary in 1958 lived to see their 24th birthday in 1982, the year Thriller broke the world open louder than a cobalt bomb and remade Black American success in Michael’s before-and-after image? Where Black modernity is concerned, Michael is the real missing link: the “bridge of sighs” between the Way We Were and What We’ve Become in what Nelson George has astutely dubbed the “Post-Soul Era”—the only race-coded “post” neologism grounded in actual history and not puffery. Michael’s post-Motown life and career are a testament to all the cultural greatness that Motown and the chitlin circuit wrought, but also all the acute identity crises those entities helped set in motion in the same funky breath.

From Compton to Harlem, we’ve witnessed grown men broke-down crying in the ‘hood over Michael; some of my most hard-bitten, 24/7 militant Black friends, male and female alike, copped to bawling their eyes out for days after they got the news. It’s not hard to understand why: For just about anybody born in Black America after 1958—and this includes kids I’m hearing about who are as young as nine years old right now—Michael came to own a good chunk of our best childhood and adolescent memories. The absolute irony of all the jokes and speculation about Michael trying to turn into a European woman is that after James Brown, his music (and his dancing) represent the epitome—one of the mightiest peaks—of what we call Black Music. Fortunately for us, that suspect skin-lightening disease, bleaching away his Black-nuss via physical or psychological means, had no effect on the field-holler screams palpable in his voice, or the electromagnetism fueling his elegant and preternatural sense of rhythm, flexibility, and fluid motion. With just his vocal gifts and his body alone as vehicles, Michael came to rank as one of the great storytellers and soothsayers of the last 100 years.

Furthermore, unlike almost everyone in the Apollo Theater pantheon save George Clinton, Michael now seems as important to us an image-maker—an illusionist and a fantasist at that—as he was a musician/entertainer. And until Hype Williams came on the music-video scene in the mid ’90s, no one else insisted that the visuals supporting r&b and hip-hop be as memorable, eye-popping, and seductive as the music itself. Nor did anyone else spare no expense to ensure that they were. But Michael’s phantasmal, shape-shifting videos, upon reflection, were also, strangely enough, his way of socially and politically engaging the worlds of other real Blackfolk from places like South Central L.A., Bahia, East Africa, the prison system, Ancient Egypt. He did this sometimes in pursuit of mere spectacle (“Black and White”), sometimes as critical observer (“The Way You Make Me Feel”), sometimes as a cultural nationalist romantic (“Remember the Time”), even occasionally as a harsh American political commentator (“They Don’t Care About Us”). Looking at those clips again, as millions of us have done over this past weekend, is to realize how prophetic Michael was in dropping mad cash to leave behind a visual record of his work that was as state-of-the-art as his musical legacy. As if he knew that one day our musical history would be more valued for what can be seen as for what can be heard.

(Having said that, my official all-time-favorite Michael clip is the one of him on Oprah viciously beatboxing [his 808 kick sound could straight castrate even Rahzel’s!] and freestyling a new jam into creation—instantaneously connecting Michael in a syncopating heartbeat to those spiritual tributaries that Langston Hughes described, the ones “ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins.” Bottom line: Anyone whose racial-litmus-test challenge to Michael came with a rhythm-and-blues battle royale event would have gotten their ass royally waxed.)

George Clinton thought the reason Michael constantly chipped away at his appearance was less about racial self-loathing than about the number-one problem superstars have, which is figuring out what to do when people get sick of looking at your face. His orgies of rhino- and other plasty’s were no more than an attempt to stay ahead of a fickle public’s fickleness. In the ’90s, at least until Eminem showed up, hip-hop would seem to have proven that major Black pop success in America didn’t require a whitening up, maybe much to Michael’s chagrin. Critical sidebar: I have always wanted to believe that Michael was actually one of the most secretly angry Black race-men on the planet. I thought that if he had been cast as the Iraqi nativist who beat the shit out of Marky Mark in Ridley and Russell’s Three Kings while screaming, “What is the problem with Michael Jackson? Your sick fucking country makes the Black man hate his self,” Wahlberg would have left the set that day looking like the Great Pumpkin. I have also come to wonder if a mid-life-crisis Michael was, in fact, capable and culpable of having staged his own pedophilic race-war revival of that bitterly angry role? Especially during those Jesus Juice–swilling sleepovers at his Neverland Plantation, again and again and again? I honestly hope to never discover that this was indeed the truth.

Whatever Michael’s alienation and distance from the Black America he came from—from the streets, in particular—he remained a devoted student of popular Black music, dance, and street style, giving to and taking from it in unparalleled ways. He let neither ears nor eyes nor footwork stray too far out of touch from the action, sonically, sartorially, or choreographically. But whatever he appropriated also came back transmogrified into something even more inspiring and ennobled than before. Like the best artists everywhere, he begged, borrowed, and stole from (and/or collaborated with) anybody he thought would make his own expression more visceral, modern, and exciting, from Spielberg to Akon to, yes, OK, smartass, cosmetic surgeons. In any event, once he went solo, Michael was, above all else, committed to his genius being felt as powerfully as whatever else in mass culture he caught masses of people feeling at the time. I suppose there is some divine symmetry to be found in Michael checking out when Barack Obama, the new King of Pop, is just settling in: Just count me among those who feel that, in Michael Jackson terms, the young orator from Hawaii is only up to about the Destiny tour.

michael-jackson_0_0_0x0_359x356Of course, Michael’s careerism had a steep downside, tripped onto a slippery slope, when he decided that his public and private life could be merged, orchestrated, and manipulated for publicity and mass consumption as masterfully as his albums and videos. I certainly began to feel this when word got out of him sleeping in a hyperbaric chamber or trying to buy the Elephant Man’s bones, and I became almost certain this was the case when he dangled his hooded baby son over a balcony for the paparazzi, to say nothing of his alleged darker impulses. At what point, we have to wonder, did the line blur for him between Dr. Jacko and Mr. Jackson, between Peter Pan fantasies and predatory behaviors? At what point did the Man in the Mirror turn into Dorian Gray? When did the Warholian creature that Michael created to deflect access to his inner life turn on him and virally rot him from the inside?

Real Soul Men eat self-destruction, chased by catastrophic forces from birth and then set upon by the hounds of hell the moment someone pays them cash-money for using the voice of God to sing about secular adult passion. If you can find a more freakish litany of figures who have suffered more freakishly disastrous demises and career denouements than the Black American Soul Man, I’ll pay you cash-money. Go down the line: Robert Johnson, Louis Jordan, Johnny Ace, Little Willie John, Frankie Lymon, Sam Cooke, James Carr, Otis Redding, Jimi Hendrix, Al Green, Teddy Pendergrass, Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield. You name it, they have been smacked down by it: guns, planes, cars, drugs, grits, lighting rigs, shoe polish, asphyxiation by vomit, electrocution, enervation, incarceration, their own death-dealing preacher-daddy. A few, like Isaac Hayes, get to slowly rust before they grow old. A select few, like Sly, prove too slick and elusive for the tide of the River Styx, despite giddy years mocking death with self-sabotage and self-abuse.

Michael’s death was probably the most shocking celebrity curtain call of our time because he had stopped being vaguely mortal or human for us quite a while ago, had become such an implacably bizarre and abstracted tabloid creation, worlds removed from the various Michaels we had once loved so much. The unfortunate blessing of his departure is that we can now all go back to loving him as we first found him, without shame, despair, or complication. “Which Michael do you want back?” is the other real question of the hour: Over the years, we’ve seen him variously as our Hamlet, our Superman, our Peter Pan, our Icarus, our Fred Astaire, our Marcel Marceau, our Houdini, our Charlie Chaplin, our Scarecrow, our Peter Parker and Black Spider-Man, our Ziggy Stardust and Thin White Duke, our Little Richard redux, our Alien vs. Predator, our Elephant Man, our Great Gatsby, our Lon Chaney, our Ol’ Blue Eyes, our Elvis, our Frankenstein, our ET, our Mystique, our Dark Phoenix.

Celebrity idols are never more present than when they up and disappear, never ever saying goodbye, while affirming James Brown’s prophetic reasoning that “Money won’t change you/But time will take you out.” JB also told us, “I’ve got money, but now I need love.” And here we are. Sitting with the rise and fall and demise of Michael, and grappling with how, as dream hampton put it, “The loneliest man in the world could be one of the most beloved.” Now that some of us oldheads can have our Michael Jackson back, we feel liberated to be more gentle toward his spirit, releasing him from our outright rancor for scarring up whichever pre-trial, pre-chalk-complexion incarnation of him first tickled our fancies. Michael not being in the world as a Kabuki ghost makes it even easier to get through all those late-career movie-budget clips where he already looks headed for the out-door. Perhaps it’s a blessing in disguise both for him and for us that he finally got shoved through it.

source:

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How Michael Got Gangsta With Sony Music Over Black Music & Racism

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How Michael Got Gangsta With Sony Music Over Black Music

Michael Jackson was not as timid as one might think when it came to doing battle with the industry. Not too many people wanna talk about his battle with Sony Music

Michael Jackson was not as timid as one might think when it came to doing battle with the industry. Not too many people wanna talk about his battle with Sony Music

This is what I liked about Michael Jackson. Call him weird, call him eccentric, but the man was no dummy and he would step if needed to.. I am including a story we ran the day after Michael Jackson was in Harlem where he called out Tommy Mottola and Sony Music. He said Mottola was a racist which was bold  given that at the time Motola was one of the industry’s most powerful executives in the industry..

This is the article that we  ran in June 2002 in my FNV Newsletter

-Davey D-

SHARPTON, COCHRAN & MJ GEAR UP TO BATTLE MUSIC BIZ!

The article below is reprinted with permission from  Ayana Soyini asoyini@khamouflage.com who documented this historic event which originally appeared on the website http://www.goldeneyesonline.com. The new website is Khamouflage Productions www.khamouflage.com

PLEASE FORWARD TO FRIENDS, FAMILY AND COLLEAGUES…
PASS THE WORD ALONG TO STAY INFORMED!

http://www.daveyd.com/fnvjuly112002.html

Greetings: On Tuesday July 9, 2002 I attended a music industry summit
in Harlem at the headquarters of the National Action Network.  The
Summit was called by Rev.  Dr.  Al Sharpton, Johnny Cochran, Michael
Jackson
and many other prominent people in the entertainment, legal,
and political activist communities.  Contrary to what some of the
media has been reporting, the Summit was not solely for the airing of
grievances by Michael Jackson.  As you may or may not know, Michael
recently said some very candid, open and straightforward comments
about the historical racism and economic disparity that is prevalent
in the music industry.  This has been extremely detrimental,
specifically to the African-American community who has historically
been at the forefront of innovation in America.  One cannot talk about
the history of the United States without talking about the
contributions African-Americans have made.  Most notably, all
recognized popular American musical art forms have been created and
developed first from within the African-American community (i.e.
Blues, Jazz, Hip Hop, R&B, Soul etc…)

Our music was often called “race music” by white Americans to
highlight the fact that as a people, the African-American experience
is unique and our expressions culturally rich.  Let me emphasize once
again that the focus of this Summit was not on Michael Jackson.  No.
The focus of this Summit was on calling attention to the historically
corrupt, exploitative and one-sided business dealings perpetuated by
the music industry.  The focus was on what particular strategies can
be implemented to end the injustice.

Let me clear up some of the inaccurate reporting being done by the
larger media outlets.

THE LIES: Michael Jackson is disgruntled because his last musical
project “Invincible” only sold 2 million copies and he is desperately
trying to save his career.

THE TRUTH: Michael informed the audience that Invincible has actually
sold 10 MILLION copies worldwide to date and he is personally
satisfied with the numbers.

THE LIES: Michael has gone crazy and this is just another “bizarre
publicity stunt” to call attention to himself.

THE TRUTH: The larger media outlets have always been fond of attacking
him at random.  Michael was in Harlem just 7 weeks ago along side the
likes of former President Bill Clinton at a fundraiser for the
Democratic National Committee and the larger media outlets called him
an ICON then.  Why is he “Wacko Jacko” now for bringing up some very
real issues that directly impact peoples lives?

THE LIES: The idea that racism and economic disparity exists in the
music industry is farfetched considering the success of certain
individual artists and people like Will Smith, Mariah Carey, Sean “P
Diddy” Combs etc…

THE TRUTH: There are absolutely no Black owned public relations firms,
travel agencies, advertising agencies etc…  that have contracts with
any of the major corporate labels.  If $20 million dollars is being
spent on marketing and promotion of an African-American artist or
someone doing a recognized African-American art form, then why have
the talents of African-American business men and women been overlooked
and not deployed to help facilitate the process?  Are African-American
businesses unable to effectively market, promote and work in tandem
with any of the major labels?  With African-American consumers making
up a large percentage of the buying public through our extensive
spending power, how much of the monies generated from successful
commercial endeavors pushed by the music industry goes back into
African-American neighborhoods?  For every Will Smith who has
generated tons of income for his employers you have a multitude of
artists stuck in unfair contracts that find them in debt to their
label for expensive which they have no control or say of.

THE LIES: Many African-Americans in the music industry do not support
this cause.

THE TRUTH: This has been a long-standing concern in the
African-American community.  A broad based coalition has already been
mobilized.  Some of the supporters who were in attendance included:

Londel McMillan – the legal mastermind who helped Prince free himself
from a horrible contract with Warner Bros.  He also represents the
Artist Empowerment Coalition which includes members such as Stevie
Wonder & Chaka Khan.

Terrie Williams – founded the Terrie Williams Agency in 1988 and is
recognized as one of the top public relations and communications
firms.  She has written a number of best-selling books and has a
client roster which includes Fortune 500 companies.

Dave Mays – founder of The Source magazine.  One of the more popular
and influential publications geared towards Hip Hop music, culture and
politics.

James Mtume – Musician and Producer extraordinaire as well as a
longtime community activist and spokesperson.

Shakim Compere – Manager of Queen Latifah and Flavor Unit Enterprises.

David Patterson – New York State Senator.

Doug E.  Fresh – longtime Hip Hop entertainer and grassroots community
activist.

Also in attendance were reps from National Music Distribution, family
members of W.C.  Handy (credited with pioneering Blues music), the
daughter of Otis Blackwell (the man responsible for writing many of
the hit records for Elvis Presley) and many others just too numerous
to mention.  The room was packed and the media turnout was extensive.
There are many who support the issues being discussed and are
committed to lending support whether quietly behind the scenes or by
more visible and public actions.  Look for a possible Class Action
Lawsuit to be filed as well as an upcoming meeting being called with
the heads of the 5 major distributors and their respective label heads
(i.e..  Tommy Mottola, Clive Davis, Doug Morris etc…).

In closing, please don’t believe the false hype and negative media
propaganda tactics deployed by the larger communications outlets.
They are only presenting distorted facts in an effort to discredit
what is credible.  They are trying to put the emphasis on a few people
(i.e..  Michael Jackson…  who happens to be the best selling artist
of all time and has generated BILLIONS of dollars) to fool you into
believing that this issue is irrelevant and inconsequential to the
lives of the everyday person.  If you have any sort of conscious or
soul, please don’t make snap judgments as to the motives of this
movement and the people who are spearheading it.  It is really the tip
of the iceberg of a long overdue need to reform how big business
operates in the United States and globally.  It is also tied into the
growing Reparations Movement that has also attracted many heavy
hitters (i.e..  Russell Simmons).  It is time for this generation to
pick up the torch and continue to build on what our ancestors have
accomplished so far.  As Dr.  Martin Luther King Jr. so eloquently
stated, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”.  Thank
you for reading and Blessed Love!!

Ayana Soyini, CEO Goldeneyes Entertainment
http://www.goldeneyesonline.com http://www.ayanasoyini.com
PLEASE FORWARD TO FRIENDS, FAMILY AND COLLEAGUES…
PASS THE WORD ALONG TO STAY INFORMED!

Below is a video we attached where, Jackson speaks before a crowd in London and explains whats really cracking off. He starts speaking about 3 minutes into this 9 minute video..

Below is an article where long time activist Dick Gregory

Dick Gregory’s Comments On Michael Jackson
By Bakari Akil II
 

 

Dick Gregory spoke about sinister forces at work trying to undermine Michael once he took on these record labels

Dick Gregory spoke about sinister forces at work trying to undermine Michael once he took on these record labels

Dick Gregory, activist, health guru, ex-comedian as well as advisor to many influential people is a man who has been a mainstay in American culture for decades. As a friend to Michael Jackson for many years he offered insight to the current situation involving Mr. Jackson and provided a perspective that has not been evident in many media outlets.

On a radio show entitled Make it Plain, hosted by WOL’s Mark Thompson in Washington, D.C., Dick Gregory stated in response to the mad media frenzy and tilt toward guilt coverage, that those who believe in Michael Jackson’s guilt or innocence should first ask for truth to be exposed. Whether it is damaging for Michael Jackson or not, he insisted that truth is the most important aspect of this issue.

However, Mr. Gregory does not believe that Mr. Jackson is guilty of the
charges and raised many questions concerning the events leading up to the actions of law enforcement and consequent media coverage. He asked why was it necessary for 40 police officers and 20 FBI agents to raid Michael Jackson’s property. More specifically, why were FBI agents present, especially since the allegations against Mr.Jackson are not a federal offense?

He also questioned the legitimacy of the claim of law enforcement that they did not know of Mr. Jackson’s whereabouts and the timing of the raid.  According to Mr. Gregory, there is a monetary element to this entire situation. He states that Michael Jackson purchased the Beatles catalog for nearly $48 million and it is now worth $1.5 billion. He also owns the rights to the Elvis catalog and found out after his purchase of the Beatles collection that these rights also included ownership of Little Richard’s catalog of which, Michael Jackson promptly called Mr. Richard and returned it to him.

His suspicions arise from the fact that Michael Jackson has taken out loans and his lenders wanted collateral, which was none other than his Beatles catalog. Mr. Gregory stated that Michael Jackson did not mind offering that up as collateral because every time he would come out with a record he would make around $500 million from his efforts. For those who doubt those claims, he explained that there is a mischaracterization that occurs when
people think about what is success for Michael Jackson. Although he  different. He also admonished the audience not to forget that Michael Jackson embarrassed SONY and music mogul Tommy Mottola when he claimed that they were racist and that they took advantage of and mistreated Black artists.

Not holding anything back, Mr. Gregory stated that Rev. Al Sharpton, who came to the defense of Michael Jackson during this time was soon
overwhelmed by media coverage of a video tape which showed individuals attempting to frame him in a drug deal.
He went even further stating that this type of behavior could be traced to Bill Cosby and the suspicious murder of his son Ennis, who was gunned down while changing the tire of his Mercedes on a California highway. He claims that this happened after Mr. Cosby hinted that he wanted to purchase NBC when it was up for sale.

Dick Gregory also alleged that when they showed Michael Jackson in
handcuffs, it was symbolic and when they handcuffed him, they handcuffed us all (Black communities). He stated that they allowed Mr. Jackson to board his private plane in Las Vegas, fly back to California and then handcuffed him and immediately took them off when inside the police station. According to Mr. Gregory, law enforcement had not judged him an extreme flight risk if they let him fly in and obviously not a danger if they immediately uncuffed him once inside, so why the posturing?

Mr. Gregory further intensified his discourse by reiterating that the value of Michael Jackson’s catalog cannot be underestimated and asserted that Mr. Jackson could easily be killed, have it consequently ruled a suicide and thus his collection will be forfeited in lieu of his debt.

He further commented that people such as Liz Taylor, whom he knows Michael would rush to their aid in times of need, have not come to his defense or spoke out on his behalf. He also talked about how many people take “Michael” for a joke, yet he is very intelligent and that he knows what is going on.

Yet for all his concerns, Dick Gregory stated that Michael Jackson will
“come out clean” in this dilemma and he called for people to say a daily
prayer for the “truth to come out” about this situation concerning Mr.
Jackson at 12:00 P.M., no matter what the time zone. He believes,
ultimately, people will be shocked at what that truth is.

In the final analysis, many may balk at the comments and observations of Mr. Gregory, believing that governmental officials, media organizations and corporations in the music business may be beyond collusion or conspiracies (when two or more make a conscious effort to bring about a certain reality), which is fine. Yet, free and independent thought that Mr. Gregory exhibits is absolutely necessary, especially in an era where fact and fiction has taken an equal seat in mainstream media and thought.

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