What Does Hillary Want?

I remember that question,”What does Jesse Want?” asked of Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr. by the media when he had been defeated badly in the New York Primary in his 1984 campaign for the Democratic nomination for president.

We had to sit down one day and decide that the nomination was out of hand, but it wasn’t about the traditional meaning of winning, we had an opportunity to further empower our community, as I have previously suggested here.

Although Hillary Clinton cannot win given the current statistics which have Barack Obama leading by 700,000 popular votes, over 160 pledged delegates and now tied with Super delegates, which gives him the overall delegate lead.

She is playing for time to get the best conditions under which to leave the race and a big question however, is, Under what conditions will she leave?

[Click here to log in if you have a subscription and read more.  Or, click here to buy a subscription.]

Obama Looks Past Hillary Clinton To McCain

With the possible exception of Bill and Hillary Clinton, everyone on this side of the moon realizes that Hillary’s quest to become the Democratic nominee for president is over. Employing new math and even newer arguments can’t help Hillary at this point. Although the fat lady isn’t singing yet, she’s already tuning up, waiting for Hillary to exit stage right.

While giving proper deference to the waning days of the campaign, Barack Obama is beginning to focus his attention on his fall campaign against John McCain. Judging from the public comments of the respective camps, the political battlefield is already shaping up.

Approaching 72 years old – the oldest president elected for the first time, if he is successful – McCain’s chief argument will be that he is experienced and can be counted on to command a strong defense. Obama will counter that wisdom does not necessarily accompany age. After all, many of George W’s military advisers were “experienced” hands from his daddy’s administration.

And what did that get us? Troops camped in Afghanistan and an intractable war in Iraq that began with the public being misled about the need for the war and how U.S. troops would be received.

[Click here to log in if you have a subscription and read more.  Or, click here to buy a subscription.]

Big Day For Obama In Grand Rapids

Democrat John Edwards endorsed former rival Barack Obama on Wednesday, June 15, 2008. Edwards made a surprise appearance with Obama in Grand Rapids, Michigan. A capacity crowd did not prevent some supporters from greeting Sen. Obama personally. See story, pg 01, in this week’s print edition of the Grand Rapids Times. (Photo, courtesy of Elias Lumpkins)

Rap, Saggy Jeans, There's More To HipHop

For those over the age of 30, when you mention HipHop, they can remember a time of youthful exuberance. A time when HipHop stood on principles; peace, love, unity and fun.

Enlightening raps, bouncy beats, breakdancing and djing are the original elements that made up this new culture, that had the 70’s and 80’s youth of America going wild. It opened their minds to a new experience, to a world beyond their bedrooms, neighborhoods and imaginations.

HipHop sent me in search of Malcolm X, Donald Byrd and The Last Poets. It was on these journeys, to understanding this culture, that I learned the deep complexity of black art, life and struggle. It was through HipHop that I first traveled to the Carribean, Asia, and the long lost land called Kemet. I learned of Nubia, Hannibal and The Moors.

When Krs One said “Jesus Was An African” in his classic track “Why Is That?” and went on to quote bible scripture in the form of rhyme. Every myth and fallacy about the Motherland that I had been programmed with as a youth was destroyed. I found pride in my people and history. The vehicle that drove me to these divine revelations was HipHop.

What Happened, you ask? Many will argue that HipHop has become homoginized, watered down, ignorant and completely the opposite of what it once was. They say that HipHop is the scruge of the earth and the worst thing that has ever happened to black people. It is HipHop that has caused our youth to begin selling drugs and murdering one another. It is HipHop that promotes this hedonistic behavior we see in our children today.

I say that all of these statements are incorrect and misguided. I’ll argue that Rap music has been co-opted by major corporations and for the most part is being used to promote the values of corporate America (which has always been Sex, Drugs and Violence) But HipHop music made by Hiphoppa’s is in essence a responsible art form. An art form indebted to and embedded in the upliftment of its community.

The video games you purchase your children such as “Grand Theft Auto” are not made by HipHoppa’s. In fact they are the most violent entertainment options on the market today, even more than Rap music.

While I won’t deny HipHop’s influence on mass media. HipHoppa’s do not control it. Therefore, most of what you see and hear does not reflect the morals or values of The HipHop Nation. Moreover, I would dare to say The HipHop Nation has declared war on the conglomerates that control and program viewers and listeners on a daily basis, with this 10 point Balance campaign issued by Afrika Bambaataa and the Zulu Nation.

(10 point program). We the people of planet Earth want:

1. A balance on the air waves of old school, new school and contemporary music.

2. More variety of musical genres, artists and content on the radio stations.

3. Radio station directors, programmers and deejays to be held accountable for what is played on their radio stations.

4. The FCC to do more to regulate the radio stations which continue to play negative songs with violent/sexual content during times when children and minors are most likely to be listening—daytime, before and after school.

5. Radio stations to reflect more diverse cultural and political views of the community and not the commercial interests of he big multi-media corporations.

6. A certain amount of time dedicated to local news, important events, issues and concerns that affect the communities in which the radio stations are supposed to serve.

7. A certain amount of time dedicated to local artists who put out quality music in their regions.

8. A breakup of the monopoly of the air wave band frequencies—No big corporations should be allowed to own/control several different radio stations under different names.

9. A balance on the video stations—more positive images of women and the urban experience which are free of the stereotypical images that assault the minds of our youth.

10. Use the radio, video and any other form of communication to educate, enlighten and entertain and not to control, exploit and manipulate the masses.

True HipHoppa’s that live by the principles of Peace, Love, Unity, Fun, Health Awareness and Wealth have watched HipHop grow and mature. HipHop was once four elements now it consist of nine: Street Entreprenuerialism, Street Language, Street Fashion, Beatboxin, Deejayin, Graffiti Art, Emceein, Breakin and Street Knowledge.

While the masses have continued to be bamboozled by the media, HipHop has developed an official document “The HipHop Declaration of Peace” signed into being at the United Nations headquarters in New York on May 16th, 2001, by the Temple of HipHop, Ribbons International, the United Nation’s Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (U.N.E. S.C.O.) Along with some 300 HipHop activists, artists, pioneers and U.N. delegates officially declaring ‘HipHop’ an international culture of peace and prosperity.

HipHop is making a difference on a grassroots level in communities all around the world. In France, Japan, Spain and Africa, the youth are rising up and HipHop is the chosen tool. The vehicle for change. Globally, HipHop is the voice of the down trodden.

As a young man, HipHop helped me focus. It provided me with the necessary instructions to navigate through this war like terrain of the inner-city. It allowed me to become Victorious Over the Streets. It’s this culture that has made me the person I am. I believe in the power of this culture to provide for others as it has for me. It is HipHop culture that introduced and opened my mind to the teachings of the Bible, Koran and Torah. God used HipHop to save my life!

Victor Williams, a.k.a. Governor Slugwell is the Director of HipHop Appreciation Week and Chairperson for Grand Rapids HipHop Coalition.

[Click here to download a PDF with a list of events for Hip Hop Appreciation Week.]

Black Folks: It’s Time To Get It Together

It is undoubtedly one of the most understated facts any person of reasonable intelligence could ever hope to make, to say our sojourn in North America has been arduous from the time enslaved Africans first arrived here.

Without rehashing what should be regarded as “home lessons 101,” among Black folk at least, perhaps in addition to the February ritual of pulling out and dusting off the old curled and browning pictures of inventors during Black History Month, maybe our various community leaders should consider setting aside the internal subterfuge and bickering that far too often hinders the badly needed solutions to the many problems plaguing us.

It is abundantly clear that the top-down models of umbrella organizing, in the name of coalition building; charismatic leadership, in the name of ego and leadership by proxy, through begging white philanthropy, have all failed to provide the long term solutions needed to secure our youth and subsequent generations.

With longevity, success and prosperity being the legacy our fore-parents worked so hard to leave for us, now more than ever, as the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan has challenged the Black community to do, it’s long past the time to look inward and seriously exercise the concepts of “self-examination, self-analysis and self-correction.”

[Click here to log in if you have a subscription and read more.  Or, click here to buy a subscription.]

RETURN TO TOP

  Log In