U BE THE JUDGE

The Failure of Hip Hop Journalism

noreply@blogger.com (GIF) — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 15:36:00 +0000

The Failure of Hip Hop Journalism:
Rewritin' Hip Hop History

Paul Scott

To hear some Hip Hop journalists tell it, there was a time when Hip Hop
magazines were the vanguard of the Revolution. Not since David Walker's
"Appeal" were there such powerful writings that shook the foundations
of the system. Some believe that if it wasn't for Hip Hop journalists ,
slavery would have been back in effect after the Reagan administration.

However, contrary to popular belief, the Source was never "The Negro
World" nor was XXL ever the "The Messenger."

This is not to say that Hip Hop magazines have not had their shining moments.
XXL's first couple of issues showed promise that something new might have
been on the horizon and the Source did give the early conscious rappers a voice
in its early years. But that had more to do with the fact that Hip Hop, itself,
was going through a brief conscious era more so than the Source shaping the
direction of Hip Hop. The writers were merely reporting what was happening in
Hip Hop not plotting a new "vanglorious" course.

Today the Source does have a few interesting articles especially in its
"Ear to the Street" section, however, this is an exception to the
rule. For the most part Hip Hop journalists give the same rehashed stories over
and over again regarding beefs, street credibility and the obligatory paragraph
about a rappers love for weed.

The goal of Hip Hop magazines has and always will be to sell subscriptions, not
to lead black folks to the promised land. For the most part, the mission of Hip
Hop journalists has been to give pseudo black culture to mainstream America in
small doses at a time.

In other words, the cat who buys a Hip Hop magazine in 2009, is the same dude
who bought that Alfonso Ribeiro "Learn How to Breakdance" book back
in the day.

This is not to say that the writers of 20 years ago were any different than
most Hip Hop artists whose end game strategy was to gain acceptance by the
mainstream and to prove once and for all that rappers were people, too.

To suggest that there was ever a period when Hip Hop journalists/artists ever
consistently put fighting the power before fighting for profit is a myth that
has been repeated so much that it has become part of the official Hip Hop canon.
Of course, there were some writers who used their skills as tools to empower
the masses. Even today a few still exist such as Davey D and Rosa Clemente,
however they have found ways to move the crowd , mostly, outside of mainstream
avenues. Also, there are a few Hip Hop artists who have used the art to deliver
political commentary to the streets such as Pittsburgh's Jasiri X.

While some would write about "The Poor Righteous Teachers," back in
tha day, few wanted to be one, as assimilation into the mainstream was more
lucrative. This is the true side of Hip Hop journalism that few want to discuss,
therefore we become victims of historical amnesia.

Hip Hop history becomes problematic when, like the rest of American history it
becomes revisionist. Those who are entrusted to record historical events tend to
give themselves or their causes greater roles than they actually deserve.
Therefore, many who see as their crusade to return Hip Hop back to a
"Golden Age" are trying to time travel back to an age that never
really existed to that degree.

If we are ,truly, trying to move Hip Hop forward, we must first dispel the
myths of the past.

First of all, Hip Hop journalism has never been revolutionary in and of itself.
We must remember, as much as we try to extend the time period, out of the almost
30 years since Hip Hop was first put on wax, the period of "conscious Hip
Hop" was relatively short, barely lasting four years. What ever conscious
Hip Hop of that era was, it was not able to engage itself in a protracted
struggle against the powers that be. At best the writers did the best they could
to enlighten the masses within the narrow confines imposed on them by those who
had a vested interest in keeping young urban America in the dark.

While some writers consider themselves "underground Hip Hop
journalists" they face the same contradictions as underground Hip Hop
artists. As Huey P Newton said "movements are driven underground"
through some form of political repression. The writings of true revolutionaries
are quickly labeled as contraband by the oppressors, therefore you would not be
able to buy them for $4.99 at your local grocery store.

We must also remember that conscious Hip Hop began to lose it's
"pro-blackness," as soon as it began to gain acceptance by the
mainstream. What could have been a force to teach unadulterated black
history/culture to the youth soon became just another way for white kids to live
the hood life vicariously through Hip Hop. They could drink of the rivers of
blackness without experiencing the after taste. Although, we may wax nostalgic
about the pro-blackness of the Hip Hop journalists during '88-92, just like
the writers of the Harlem Renaissance , they were never allowed to reach their
full potentials because of the influences of outside forces. (Read "Crisis
of the Negro Intellectual by Harold Cruse.)

Despite all the new prognostications of Hip Hop journalism's sudden growth
spurt into collective maturity since the last election, it still is well below
the intellectual level that it should have reached during its 20 years of
existence . While some refer to the shallowness of today's Soulja Boy -esque
Hip Hop as ring tone music, today's Hip Hop writings can be best described
as "text message journalism." Thus, it has not evolved much from where
it was two decades ago,

Out of all the things Hip Hop magazines coulda/shoulda done to advance the
culture, their crowning achievement was promoting the East Coast/West Coast
Beef.

If Hip Hop is to move forward the scribes must see the past as its was and not
through rose colored Gazelles

As the saying goes, "those who don't learn their history are bound to
repeat it."

The Truth Live!

noreply@blogger.com (GIF) — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 06:55:00 +0000

Why Sarah Palin Should Scare The Hell Out of You!

noreply@blogger.com (GIF) — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 14:46:00 +0000

When McCain first made this pick, many, myself included, saw it for exactly what it was; a ploy! John McCain decided to gamble and choose an unqualified candidate as his VP pick in hopes of picking up the votes of disgruntled Hillary supporters. They saw the excitement created by the prospects of there being a first Black president and the way people rallied around that. The historical significants of Obama's campaign dominated the media and rallied voter support.

McCain decided to fight fire with fire and say, "So America wants history, America wants change, I'll give it history, and I'll give it change". He then went out and picked Sarah Palin as his vice presidential pick, a woman who was unheard of on the political scene, the Governor of Alaska a state that the United States Census list as having a population of 670,053 in 2006. In contrast, Chicago, the state in which Barack Obama was a senator, had an overall population of 2,842,518. This provided white female voters the opportunity to make their own history, they couldn't get Hillary but they could have Palin.

At first I laughed, I thought Hillary voters were way too smart to fall for such a ploy. I mean there are stark differences between the two; Sara Palin is pro-life, Hillary Clinton is pro-choice, Sara Palin is anti sex education and the distribution of condoms to youth, she believes the Iraq war is God's will and was quoted as saying, "Pray for our military men and women who are striving to do what is right. Also, for this country, that our leaders, our national leaders, are sending [U.S. soldiers] out on a task that is from God,"

To my dismay, the Sara Palin pick gave the McCain campaign a boost. His poll numbers went up and he took a lead over Obama among white female voters. In my mind, this really exposed how much this election wasn't about the issues. Her inexperience was largely overlooked for the fact of her being white and a woman. She was hailed as this God loving, pit bull in lipstick, Hockey mom who manages a career in politics and a family of 5 at home. A lot of professional woman identified with her. To protect her, any charges against her regarding her inexperience was hailed as sexism.

Freedom of the press was completely ignored in Sarah Palin's international debut as reporters were bared from attending her meeting and blocked from asking any questions. The Republican campaign likes to spin any remarks made in opposition to Palin as sexism but were reluctant to do so with the comments made by Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari, when he made no mention of anything having to do with her politics and instead called her, "gorgeous" and made references to how nice she was. These are comments you make when you meet someones daughter or wife for the first time, not a Vice president. I also found it peculiar that when a handler from Zardari's entourage said they should keep shaking hands for the cameras, Zardari was quoted as saying, "If he's insisting, I might hug" innocent joke or slight pass? What was Palin's response to his remarks? Smile and say thank you.

Senator McCain's choice of Sarah Palin as his VP pick should be considered an insult to the intellectual capacity of American women. This woman, Sarah Plain, is nothing more than a Republican puppet. First they had her come out guns blazing bashing Obama on his inexperience and painting herself as this independent thinker. Now it's been pretty much shut up and look pretty.

The Real McCain

noreply@blogger.com (GIF) — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 02:37:00 +0000

Raped, Tortured, &s Justice Black Man's Grief!

noreply@blogger.com (GIF) — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 08:14:00 +0000

Invisible!
"Invisible" - Gif (Free Download) I was riding the train on my way home from school when I came across this article in the Village Voice. The article was about a young black girl by the name of Ramona Moore. This young girl had been kidnapped, repeatedly raped, tortured, and murdered. Her mother called the police hours after she hadn't returned home but was told she hadn't been missing long enough to be reported missing. The officer, against policy, told the woman he would open up a missing persons case if she called back in a few hours, which would have made her missing for the sufficient amount of time. Read More @ www.iamthegif.blogspot.com

Raped, Tortured, &s Justice Black Man's Grief!

noreply@blogger.com (GIF) — Sat, 17 May 2008 17:50:00 +0000

Theme Song for this post ITUNES

White Man’s Justice Black man’s Grief; the title of legendary urban author Donald Goings novel pretty much embodies the sentiments that most black Americans have in regards to the American judicial system. Regardless of if we are on trial for murder or on trial for being murdered, it seems the same rules apply; we are, in the eyes of the law, considered guilty until proven innocent. When a police officer guns down an unarmed and, what should be, presumably innocent black man it becomes more of a battle to prove that black man as just that (innocent) than to prove him to be a victim of a murder. For instance: immediately following the shooting of Patrick Dorismond at the hands of undercover police officers, then Mayor Rudolf Guliani elected to release the sealed juvenile delinquency record of Dorismond stating he wanted to showcase that Dorsimond was “no altar boy”. When incidents such as this take place in our communities, often the victims and their communities are the ones placed on trial and not the proposed assailants. When there is no justifiable reasoning for a police officer murdering a black man, the attention often turns to the dangers the officers face patrolling our communities. This is used as a means of validating a pattern of thought that inspires a level of fear that can justify an irrational act, such as unintentionally firing their weapon and plunging a bullet into the chest of an unarmed teen, which was exactly what happened to Timothy Stansberry who was shot dead by a bullet from Officer Richard S. Neri Jr. on Janaury 24, 2004.

The communities are so dangerous that wallets and brushes can be mistaken for guns (Amadou Diallo) the people are so dangerous that an unarmed man can be beaten half to death and still considered a threat by remaining on his feet during the bludgeoning and not collapsing to the ground (Rodney King Jr.). The Sean Bell trial is just a case of the same old same.

The main determining factor in the Sean Bell trial was whether someone stated they were going to get a gun. The officers said they heard someone say they were going to get a gun. The victims said no one mentioned a gun. I was always told there are three sides to a story; your side, my side, and somewhere in between those two sides is the truth. The judge had to look in between the stories of the defendants and the victims and see how much truth lied on either side in order to form a picture of what the truth might actually be. When you’re trying to decide who to believe character comes into question. This is exactly what happened in the Sean Bell trial. The judge called the characters of Trent Benefield, Joseph Guzman, and Sean Bell into question. He used their prior criminal records, for the most part, as a means of discrediting their testimony among other things such as; the $50 million lawsuits that Guzmond and Benifeild have pending as a motive to lie and the environment in which the incident had taken place, which was a strip club under investigation for drugs and prostitution. Is it incomprehensible to believe that, at a nightclub under investigation for criminal activity, an altercation had taken place involving men who were felons convicted of charges such as drug dealing and robbery, which had spun out of control resulting in one of the participants declaring they were going to get a gun? Because the prosecution had to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the defendants were guilty of unjustifiably firing the 50 rounds that claimed the life of Sean Bell that night. All the defense had to do, was present a case where one could conclude that the defendants were under the impression that there was a gun present at the scene which inspired a pattern of thought that led to the incidents of that night. Unfortunately what had to be proven in the Sean Bell trial was that it was no way humanly possible that anyone could have stated they were going to get a gun during the altercation that had taken place at the strip club that night. The police officers weren’t on trial the victims were, and it was the prosecutions job to showcase the victims as law abiding citizens of the state, who were highly unlikely to act in the manner in which they were being accused of that night.
Every time an incident such as this takes place, the same things become apparent. Blacks in urban communities have been criminalized in the eyes of the justice system and in the eyes of society in general. Statistical data published in newspapers that highlight crime areas where blacks dominate in order to support the idea that blacks are mostly responsible for crime, nightly television news shows that consistently showcase blacks as assailants and suspects in criminal investigations and cases, shows like the wire, movies like American Gangster, rappers like 50cent, all assist in the criminalization of black people. Since the release of the movie Training Day, “This is chess not Checkers” has become a very popular phrase amongst members of our community. I think we’ve been underestimating the extent of truth that statement holds as it pertains to us in white America.

I remember watching an episode of “Tell It like It Is”, which is a show that I catch once in awhile every other Sunday. There was a black woman who stated that blacks seem to have forgotten that they have to be quicker, stronger, faster, smarter, and better, and how it’s always been that way. I think those thoughts couldn’t be more true. It seems we’ve been lulled into a false sense of equality. It seems that the lack of overt racism has had a negative effect on our community causing us to not be as aware of the extent of racism as we should. I’ve seen us come to a point where we’ve contracted the “What’s good for the goose is good for the gander” syndrome. I hear us saying, “well, they do it” why we get busted for selling drugs like we do when they don’t and they do it, why we get busted for smoking weed like we do when they don’t and they do it. We don’t accept the responsibility to be smarter or to be better and we don’t feel that we should have to be smarter or be better; we want to be “equal” which raises some doubts on our perception of equality in my mind. Two Words, accountability and responsibility, we can’t support the things that support the ideas, that support and give “justification” to the actions that are taken to erase us off this planet. Anybody that makes it out of our communities and becomes successful and makes a lot of money gets a pass to poison the people. If you criticize them you’re a hater. Well, in the words of my boy K-Swift, if hating drugs and guns in my community makes me a hater, I’ll be a hater. Jay-Z has one of the most successful Hip Hop clothing lines out: Rockawear. How many Rockawear clothing stores in any of our communities are there that any of these kids can go to and apply for a job? The clothes are made, probably in another country somewhere, shipped here, and sold in Macys for a shit load of money for our kids to kill themselves to get the money to buy and get what in return; look fly!? We need to understand the significance of the messages in the imagery when Hip hop artist come on TV to discuss business in a corporate suit and then dress like a member of our community to talk about guns, drugs, and other illegal activity. What we need to do is start taking responsibility for ourselves, because if we don’t take responsibility for ourselves and start changing the view that the world has of us as a people, there won’t be anything that can save us from what they have planned.

Hillary Clinton Crying Sexism!

noreply@blogger.com (GIF) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 22:41:00 +0000

While watching channel 11 News the other night, I saw a report run where Elton John commented, “I never cease to be amazed by the misogynistic attitudes of some people in this country," at a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton; blaming sexism as the cause for her trailing Barrack Obama. According to News day, Hillary Clinton reportedly stated on National Public Radio that there’s “a double standard" in the media coverage of the race. A report on Wcnc.com quoted Chelsea Clinton stating, "I didn't really get how much sexism there still was in our country until I was at a rally with my mom in New Hampshire, and someone came up to me and said, 'I just can't see a woman being commander in chief,"' during a stop in Research Triangle Park. Is there really sexism in America to such a profound degree that it is affecting Hillary Clinton’s campaign to this extent? Why wasn’t sexism considered as much of a concern to her campaign prior to her trailing Barrack Obama? And if Sexism was such a concern, why would she be considered, and consider herself the presidential front runner?
My assumption is that this is all a desperate attempt to guilt women voters into showing stronger support for her campaign. What she’s trying to say to women voters is: remember that job you didn’t get because you’re a woman, remember that promotion you didn’t get that was given to the guy on your job that isn’t as qualified as you are because he’s a man, remember Anuka Brown? Don’t let me be the next victim, don’t let us keep being the victim, stand up and fight sexism in America, vote for me and show that women in America will not be victims of sexism anymore. I thought this was supposed to be about the issues!

Your Ad Here

I think about the frowning faces that would have been seen had Barrack Obama been lagging in the polls and attributing it to him being black. I can hear the political pundits now questioning his integrity for “Playing the race card”. They’d probably say, “Just like a black man to cry racism when he doesn’t get his way”. Hillary Clinton is exposing herself more and more throughout the process of this campaign as a candidate that has questionable integrity; lying about ducking gunshots in Bosnia when footage showed her arriving to a peaceful and warm reception, crying crocodile tears in New Hampshire after political analyst suggested she show a more feminine and softer side, and now, in what has become to be recognized as a typical Hillary move, she resorts to playing the “Sex card”. Will she compromise the safety of Americans like she’s compromised her integrity to get her way? If her campaign for the Democratic presidential bid is any indication, I’m not sure I’ll feel too safe with her answering that phone at 3:00 AM in the White House.

The Truth Spoken

noreply@blogger.com (GIF) — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 03:36:00 +0000

The things said in this video aren't new to most people, at the same time I don't think the things said in this video are as close to the forefront of our minds as they should be. This video, in my opinion, is very powerful and needs to be watched like your favorite TV Show.

President John Mccain. Why we might be in for a surprise!

noreply@blogger.com (GIF) — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 04:45:00 +0000

A Democratic presidential win for Obama may spell a victory for John Mccain.
“In the 21st century, white America got a wake-up call after 9/11/01. White America and the Western world came to realize that people of color had not gone away, faded into the woodwork or just “disappeared” as the Great White West kept on its merry way of ignoring Black concerns.”
These are words spoken by Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr. a man Barrack Obama has called his spiritual leader, political father, and surrogate father. Jeremiah Wright has made many claims that can be considered anti-white and anti-American. Just now as I sit here watching the news they show him saying how, “Barrack knows what it feels like to be a Black man in a country run by rich white men, Hillary Clinton could never know that. Hillary Clinton doesn’t know what it feels like to be called a Niger” Barracks relationship with Jeremiah A. Wright is going to be exploited by the Republican Party as it is now being exploited by Hillary’s campaign Party. The facts that Barrack’s father is a former Muslim and Barrack bares a Muslim name are also two things that will be exploited and used against him in his quest for the White House. In fact, they are already being used to deter voters from electing him the Democratic nominee. Bill Cunningham, host of a talk radio show called “The Big Show” made the comment that the media should “peel the bark off Barack Hussein Obama.” Republican Congressman, Steve King has stated that if Barrack wins, "The radical Islamists, the al-Qaida ... would be dancing in the streets in greater numbers than they did on Sept. 11 because they would declare victory in this war on terror," on the Daily Reporter in Spencer. The aim here is to inspire fear in the American public that Barrack is somehow connected to Muslim terrorist and will leave the country susceptible to terrorist attacks. The Republican Party wants white America to be fearful of the idea that Barrack is some type of Black Nationalist that will turn the country over to Blacks in America. My personal opinion is that these things can and will be used to sink his presidential hopes should he succeed in beating Hillary Clinton for the Democratic Presidential node.
I look at the reason why a lot of the people I know either have never voted or choose to not vote anymore. Their reasoning has always been that you vote for a candidate, he gets into office and nothing changes. The debacle that had taken place when George Bush beat out Al Gore for the Presidency left many Americans questioning whether their vote even mattered. Barrack Obama has inspired many to give the political process another chance. He has inspired a legion of young voters to get involved in the political process. The people Barrack has inspired to return to voting and to vote for the first time will have high expectations. If Barrack loses, the disappointment in these individuals will be so great that they will once again give up hope on the political process and refrain from voting. The lack of support from these voters may lead to a loss for Hillary Clinton and the election of John McCain. When I first heard that Barrack Obama was considering running for president I was fearful of the possibility that him and Hillary would cancel each other out. What I see now is co-dependency, I don’t think either one can win the White House without the other serving as Vice President. Barrack, with the support of those that are accepting of the idea of a Black president alone cannot win the White House just as Hillary with the support of those that are acceptable of the idea of a woman as president alone cannot win the White House. With the consolidation of both their respective support groups the Republican Party is in trouble, without that occurrence taking place, Republicans will be licking their chops at the prospects of going up against either candidate. This is just my opinion; I’m no political science expert of any sort. Take what you will from it.

Damn Crack Music! Poison Is Poison

noreply@blogger.com (GIF) — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 05:04:00 +0000

Why in the hell are rappers calling their music crack music? There was nothing “ill” about the effects that crack had on the ghetto. From crack babies to crack-fiend parents whose children now fill today’s criminal institutions, crack has really done a lot to destroy the black community. I guess in that sense, there couldn't be more of a fitting title. Maybe I’m being a little anal about this. I know why we use the metaphor, I just think we’re in a position where we’re being linked to so many negative things adding on to that list isn’t at all in our best interest.
Why are we so excited to uphold the negative aspects of our existence? I mean, a lot of white people fought real hard to have us stereotyped as criminals, pimps, and as an overall threat to American society in order to justify killing our black asses. Now here we are running around promoting ourselves as criminals, pimps, and what not aiding them in their cause. A brother walks the street in a hoody, pants sagging with a doo-rag on; a cop can pump a few shots into him, swear to God he feared for his life and get off scott free. Why, because they can find a jury that will sympathize with him.
People associate the way we act, talk, and dress with the way criminals talk, act, and dress. They do this because damn near everybody on TV and radio that's a representative of where we come from, boast about being a criminal. We're setting ourselves up. We make up an alarming percentage of the prison institutions in America. So many of us have criminal records for minor offenses like hopping the train, marijuana possession, drinking in public, and disorderly conduct, they have cops in our schools giving kids records for stuff like, getting into fights and grabbing a girls but. The 13th Amendment states you can legally be turned into a slave if you've been convicted of a crime. How many black men in America can say they've never been convicted of a crime? How many, if things continue along the path their heading, will be able to say so in the next ten years?
There's a law that states that the government has the right to investigate any party it deems is advocating crime. How many rap songs can you play with no positive reference to crime and drug use? Most of the rappers that complain about the Hip Hop police are the ones that brag about doing illegal shit. Those same dudes get stopped by the cops, get caught with illegal paraphernalia and try to pass off to everybody the idea that it's all some type of conspiracy. The conspiracy- is in the promotion of music that inspires recklessness and criminal behavior. The conspiracy -is the negative projections of African American males as violent, drug indulgent degenerates that should be deemed as a threat to society. The government and a lot of these rap dudes are co-conspirators against our black nation in demonizing who we are as a people. Those rappers are the sell-outs; they're the Uncle Tom's. They sit down in board rooms with racist white folks and sign off on contracts to sell us poison, but they love the hood, they love the ghetto, F.O.H! We have to cut out this whole being the victim thing and realize our potential to control our own destiny. A lot of our wounds are self inflicted and rather than stitching them up, we go out and pour salt in them. I’m tired of discussing matters such as this but I feel I must. I’m not really saying anything other people haven’t already said but it needs to be reiterated. People need to hear this as many times as they hear the music articles and essays like this one criticizes. Like I said in the title, damn crack music, poison is poison. We need to stop giving validation to the negative stereotypes white people place upon us because they’re using our validation of those stereotypes as a means of justifying the acts of police brutality, racial profiling, and the absurd incarceration rate of Blacks in America. You can’t brag about being a thief and then complain about being suspected of stealing. If we want anything to change for us, the first thing that has to change is us.

Read "The hidden dangers of the 13th Amendment"

Selling The Dream! Are promoters of Hip Hop showcases taking advantage of MC's?

noreply@blogger.com (GIF) — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 00:42:00 +0000

I came across this ad on Craigslist and was really bothered by it. So much so, I decided to blog about it.

"If you are a real rapper a real singer a real comedian and real poet.come to the sultana lounge located in williamsburg brooklyn on 160 n.4 street bedford ave.event hosted by chocolate thai.music by dj keith.to perform is $30.to come and enjoy the show $15.for more info call"

I understand the get money mentality and all that. I understand brothers are out here grinding and hustling and what not. Some things just aren't what's up though. I kind of feel like the guy from "Shame on you" in writing this but the truth of the matter is that these showcase promoters have gotten out of control. I can understand an Open mic, you pay your little $5 or $10, get on stage and do your little 1,2 thing. It's gotten kind of crazy with the showcases though, I mean I've seen promoters charging dudes up to $500 dollars to perform at a showcase. Sometimes they'll pay some old washed up rapper like Tracy Lee of "It's party time" fame to host the show. Like he can do something for your career they'll try to charge you because he's there.They say things like, A&Rs will be there with ink in their pens and, "if you're serious about your career" to G you out of your hard earned money. Sometimes they'll give you tickets you can sell and make your money back from, sometimes not even that is done. In the event that the artists are given tickets, most of the time the tickets go to friends and family that have already seen them perform a million times. They end up paying $500 to perform in front of their friends and family and a club full of other rappers with their friends and family. The promoters like to call that exposure. I beg to differ, a lot of times the people that come with the artist aren't fans of music like that. They're there to support a friend or family member. A artist can perform live on 42nd street and come off better than rocking at these showcases. Most of these promoters don't promote to music fans because they feel it's a waste of time. They believe everyone is trying to be an artist so their aim is to capitalize off of that, which is but isn't cool. If I put up an ad that read, "Come rap for a room full of rappers" how many niggahs would reply to that? Beyond that, the showcases are garbage. The promoters will book any act that has the money to pay to perform. That usually leads to a line up of garbage acts who have money but no talent. In the event that a Hip Hop fan pops up at one of these shows, they're usually thoroughly disappointed, then when they're invited to the next show they think it's going to be trash and don't show up. I can agree with a lot of promoters on the note that a lot of artists are lazy and don't promote. These artists will just show up, perform, and go home. At the same time they're promoters, their job is to promote. The artists job is to perform and give a good show. Since the promoters are the ones seeing 100% of the profits, what's the incentive for the artist to promote?

A note to artists out there, DON'T DO IT!, don't support these promoters. Spend your money where it matters and that's not on these showcases, trust me, you'll thank me in the long run.

Crop Boys! Hey Jigga

noreply@blogger.com (GIF) — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 03:56:00 +0000

On the hook to Rock Boys Kanye shouts: "We in the house" Me and my boy Cav decided to take that concept and flip it. They in the house! ... like house niggas. Check it out Crop Boys

The face of an estimated 8-10 million deaths in Africa!

noreply@blogger.com (GIF) — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 22:30:00 +0000

Have you ever heard of King Leopold?
This was a European man who went into the part of Africa referred to as the Congo under the front of saving the Africans from the savage Muslim slave trade and scientific exploration. He ended up being responsible for the murders of an estimated 8-10 million Africans as a result of forcing the African natives of the Congo into labor for the sake of exploiting the lands natural resources - which were ivory and rubber. Under orders from Leopold to kill Africans that rebelled against him and refused to work, Leopold’s army cut off the hands and heads of Africans and used them as evidence of completion of their duty. Leopold’s exploitation and mass murder of Africans in the Congo were the cause for the first Humanitarian rights movement of the 20th century. Leopold received no punishment for his crimes and in fact was paid money and gifts for relinquishing control of the Congo over to the Belgians. I site this event in history for those that feel we shouldn’t be suspicious of the latest crusade to save Africa, and feel we should be enthusiastic about the idea of people caring enough to help. For those that would like to know more about King Leopold you can check out the info I scooped from this site, which does a great job of giving a detailed summary of Leopold in the Congo below. For those that wish to know the full story read “King Leopold’s Ghost” King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa If you want to read the cause for this post CLICK HERE AND READ "STOP TRYING TO SAVE AFRICA"For those that didn’t know, Oil has been found in Uganda. You can read up on that here
http://allafrica.com/stories/200710021161.html

King Leopold's "Heart of Darkness"

In 1885, King Leopold II of Belgium gained a vast area in central Africa as his personal possession. His greed and the system of forced labor he imposed there prompted the first human rights movement of the 20th century.

Five years after most European nations and the United States had granted colonial status to King Leopold's "Congo Free State," a young merchant seaman traveled up the Congo River in a steamboat. Joseph Conrad was one of the first outsiders to witness and later write about the horrors committed by Leopold's regime in its greedy pursuit of Congo ivory and wild rubber.

In 1902, Conrad published his novel, The Heart of Darkness. In this fictional story, a man much like himself travels up a river into a rain forest where he meets a European ivory trader named Kurtz. The methods Kurtz uses to force the native people to bring him the ivory elephant tusks is symbolized by his guns and a ring of poles around his house. On top of each pole is a human head.

Conrad attempted to show that the "heart of darkness" lay deep within the Europeans who exploited the land and people of the Congo. But the full story of the Congo Free State not only involves the evil acts committed there, but also the campaign to expose them to world public opinion.

Exploring the Congo

Ten years before Columbus reached America, the Portuguese entered the mouth of Africa's Congo, one of the great rivers of the world. At first, good relations developed between the Portuguese and the several million inhabitants of the Kingdom of the Congo. The Portuguese didn't want to conquer or colonize the Congo. They only hoped to trade and to introduce Christianity.

The Kingdom of the Congo was a strong unified state known for its advanced working of copper and iron. The Congo king welcomed Portuguese traders, artisans, and missionaries.

Slavery was a part of the Congo culture. Most slaves were war captives, criminals, or debtors who could eventually earn back their freedom. But Congo clan chiefs and African Muslim slave traders from upriver were happy to sell their slaves to the Portuguese and other Europeans who transported them to America. This slave trading gradually depopulated and weakened the once-powerful Kingdom of the Congo.

In the mid-1800s, European maps marked central Africa as "unexplored." It remained one of the few areas of the vast continent not colonized by a European imperial power. But in 1871, journalist Henry M. Stanley electrified Europe when he found adventurer David Livingstone who had disappeared years earlier on an African expedition. Stanley then became determined to fully explore the interior of Africa.

Financed by New York and London newspapers, Stanley left the east coast of Africa in 1874 to lead a massive expedition. Battling native peoples and mutinies among his own men, he reached the headwaters of the Congo River. He then navigated down the Congo for a thousand miles before encountering a 200-mile stretch of rapids. He finally arrived at the Atlantic Ocean in 1877, having traveled 7,000 miles across Africa. He announced that the Congo "is and will be the grand highway of commerce to west central Africa."

Leopold II Gets His Colony

Leopold II, the king of the Belgians, enthusiastically followed press accounts of Stanley's travels. Leopold was frustrated that tiny Belgium possessed no colonies. As a constitutional monarch, he held little power at home. But he yearned to rule a rich colonial empire.

Leopold invited Stanley to Belgium and persuaded the now famous explorer to return to the Congo acting as the king's personal agent. Leopold instructed Stanley, under the guise of doing scientific explorations and combating slavery, to secretly establish monopoly control over the rich Congo ivory trade. To do this, Stanley had to get local clan chiefs to sign treaties turning over their lands and the labor of their people to Leopold.

Over the next five years, Stanley signed more than 450 treaties with Congo chiefs. Clearly, they had no idea what they were signing in exchange for the cloth, trinkets, alcohol, and other cheap goods Stanley gave them. After Leopold sent agents to lobby Congress, the United States became the first nation to recognize his claim to the Congo.

In 1884-85, a conference held in Berlin, Germany, decided the colonial status of central Africa. Suspicious of each other's ambitions in the region, the European powers and the United States agreed to grant Leopold possession of the Congo River basin. This encompassed nearly a million square miles, an area 80 times larger than Belgium. Of course, the people of the Congo took no part in the Berlin Conference and were unaware that their lives were about to tragically change.

"The Heart of Darkness"

On May 29, 1885, King Leopold's agents proclaimed him "sovereign" (supreme authority) of the "Congo Free State." In reality, it was neither free nor a state, but the personal possession of Leopold to do with as he pleased. The delegates to the Berlin Conference assumed that all nations would trade freely in Leopold's colony. "Sovereign" Leopold, however, had other ideas.

Leopold, who never visited the Congo, issued decrees from Belgium. He required the native people to trade only with his state agents or with his "concessions" (private companies that paid him 50 percent of their profits). The natives hunted elephants for their ivory tusks and gathered sap from wild rubber vines growing in the rain forest. This involved the hard labor of many men who were often away from their families for long periods.

Leopold and the concessions gave bonuses to their agents for paying native workers little for the ivory and rubber. When the Congo people finally refused to continue working under these conditions, Leopold had to develop a new system of labor. By 1890, Leopold's regime and the concessions were paying Congo chiefs to supply "volunteer" workers. The Congo Free State also purchased or forcibly took slaves from Muslim slave traders to work as laborers or soldiers.

In the early 1890s, Leopold's private African army, the Force Publique (Public Force), drove the powerful Muslim slave traders out of the Congo. While Leopold portrayed this as a great humanitarian act, his real purpose was to gain control of the upper Congo River and to acquire more workers.

Up to this point, Leopold's Congo enterprises had not made a profit. But his fortunes changed in the mid-1890s. A world rubber boom suddenly started, following the invention of the inflatable tire. Leopold and his licensed concessions now needed even more workers to go deeper into the forest in search of wild rubber.

Leopold decided to "tax" his Congo subjects by requiring local chiefs to supply men to collect rubber. Leopold's agents held the wives and children of these men as hostages until they returned with their quota of rubber.

The Congo people rebelled by ambushing army units, fleeing their villages to hide in the wilderness, and setting the rubber vine forests on fire. But Leopold's Force Publique crushed the rebellion. By 1905, the Force Publique had grown to a fearsome but poorly disciplined army of 16,000 African mercenary soldiers led by some 350 European officers. They burned villages, cut off the heads of uncooperative chiefs, and slaughtered the women and children of men refusing to collect rubber.

Force Publique officers sent their soldiers into the forest to find and kill rebels hiding there. To prove they had succeeded, soldiers were ordered to cut off and bring back the right hand of every rebel they killed. Often, however, soldiers cut off the hands of living persons, even children, to satisfy the quota set by their officers. This terror campaign succeeded in getting workers back to collecting rubber. As a result, Leopold's profits soared.

"A Secret Society of Murderers"

Edmund Dene Morel was a young British shipping clerk. Periodically, his company sent him to the Belgian port of Antwerp to supervise the loading and unloading of ships. In the late 1890s, Morel made a horrifying discovery. He noticed that while the Congo Free State exported tons of raw rubber to Belgium, little was shipped back except guns and bullets. He guessed rightly that the many natives needed to collect the rubber were forced to do so at gunpoint. "I had stumbled upon a secret society of murderers with a king for a [partner]," he later wrote.

After reading reports written by missionaries about Congo atrocities, Morel quit his shipping job in 1901 and began a campaign to expose Leopold's Congo regime. Morel worked as a newspaper reporter, made speeches, and wrote books and pamphlets condemning the mistreatment of the Congo people. His relentless activity caused the British government to send diplomat Roger Casement to the Congo Free State to investigate conditions there. Casement uncovered widespread evidence of hostage-taking, floggings, mutilation, forced labor, and outright murder.

Following the publication of his report in 1904, Casement joined Morel in organizing the Congo Reform Association, which resulted in the first major human rights movement of the 20th century. To expose Leopold's bloody Congo enterprise, Morel used photographs and slide shows picturing children whose hands had been cut off. Morel also expanded his movement to the United States where he met with President Theodore Roosevelt and enlisted the support of Booker T. Washington and Mark Twain.

Leopold struck back with a massive propaganda effort, which included lobbying both the British Parliament and U.S. Congress. But Morel's pleas for human rights in the Congo turned public opinion against the Belgian king.

Under pressure from Britain and the United States, Leopold turned over ownership of the Congo Free State to the Belgian government in 1908. But he demanded and received a huge cash payment and other benefits from Belgium for "his great sacrifices made for the Congo." Again, the Congo people had no say in their fate.

The Belgian government eliminated the worst abuses against the native people of the Congo. But the land along with its rubber and mineral resources remained firmly under European control. Belgium did little to improve the well-being of the people or to involve them in administering the colony.

Rich in copper, diamonds, oil, uranium, and other minerals, the Congo became an independent nation in 1960. In 1965, however, army leader Joseph Mobutu seized power. Like Leopold, Mobutu used his dictatorial powers to funnel the wealth of the Congo into his own pockets. Although Mobutu was finally overthrown in 1997, the future of self-rule in today's Democratic Republic of the Congo still remains uncertain.

King Leopold's Congo Free State was an economic, environmental, cultural, and human disaster for the Congo people. Historians estimate that 8-10 million persons perished from the violence, forced labor, and starvation caused by Leopold's lust for power and profits. When he died in 1909 at age 74, much of the world despised him. American poet Vachel Lindsay wrote this epitaph:

Listen to the yell of Leopold's ghost
Burning in Hell for his hand-maimed host,
Hear how the demons chuckle and yell
Cutting his hands off, down in Hell.

© 2000, Constitutional Rights Foundation, 601 South Kinglsey Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90005

Stop trying to save Africa!

noreply@blogger.com (GIF) — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 14:02:00 +0000

Read this, read the whole thing. He took the words out my mouth and I'm glad there's other people that feel like I feel.

By Uzodinma Iweala
Sunday, July 15, 2007; Page B07

Last fall, shortly after I returned from Nigeria, I was accosted by a
perky blond college student whose blue eyes seemed to match the
"African" beads around her wrists.

"Save Darfur!" she shouted from behind a table covered with pamphlets
urging students to TAKE ACTION NOW! STOP GENOCIDE IN DARFUR!

My aversion to college kids jumping onto fashionable social causes
nearly caused me to walk on, but her next shout stopped me.

"Don't you want to help us save Africa?" she yelled.

It seems that these days, wracked by guilt at the humanitarian crisis
it has created in the Middle East , the West has turned to Africa for
redemption. Idealistic college students, celebrities such as Bob
Geldof and politicians such as Tony Blair have all made bringing light
to the dark continent their mission. They fly in for internships and
fact-finding missions or to pick out children to adopt in much the
same way my friends and I in New York take the subway to the pound to
adopt stray dogs.

This is the West's new image of itself: a sexy, politically active
generation whose preferred means of spreading the word are magazine
spreads with celebrities pictured in the foreground, forlorn Africans
in the back. Never mind that the stars sent to bring succor to the
natives often are, willingly, as emaciated as those they want to help.

Perhaps most interesting is the language used to describe the Africa
being saved. For example, the Keep a Child Alive/" I am African" ad
campaign features portraits of primarily white, Western celebrities
with painted "tribal markings" on their faces above "I AM AFRICAN" in
bold letters. Below, smaller print says, "help us stop the dying."

Such campaigns, however well intentioned, promote the stereotype of
Africa as a black hole of disease and death. News reports constantly
focus on the continent's corrupt leaders, warlords, "tribal"
conflicts, child laborers, and women disfigured by abuse and genital
mutilation. These descriptions run under headlines like "Can Bono Save
Africa?" or "Will Brangelina Save Africa?" The relationship between
the West and Africa is no longer based on openly racist beliefs, but
such articles are reminiscent of reports from the heyday of European
colonialism, when missionaries were sent to Africa to introduce us to
education, Jesus Christ and "civilization."

There is no African, myself included, who does not appreciate the help
of the wider world, but we do question whether aid is genuine or given
in the spirit of affirming one's cultural superiority. My mood is
dampened every time I attend a benefit whose host runs through a
litany of African disasters before presenting a (usually) wealthy,
white person, who often proceeds to list the things he or she has done
for the poor, starving Africans. Every time a well-meaning college
student speaks of villagers dancing because they were so grateful for
her help, I cringe. Every time a Hollywood director shoots a film
about Africa that features a Western protagonist, I shake my head --
because Africans, real people though we may be, are used as props in
the West's fantasy of itself. And not only do such depictions tend to
ignore the West's prominent role in creating many of the unfortunate
situations on the continent, they also ignore the incredible work
Africans have done and continue to do to fix those problems.

Why do the media frequently refer to African countries as having been
"granted independence from their colonial masters," as opposed to
having fought and shed blood for their freedom? Why do Angelina Jolie
and Bono receive overwhelming attention for their work in Africa while
Nwankwo Kanu or Dikembe Mutombo, Africans both, are hardly ever
mentioned? How is it that a former mid-level U.S. diplomat receives
more attention for his cowboy antics in Sudan than do the numerous
African Union countries that have sent food and troops and spent
countless hours trying to negotiate a settlement among all parties in
that crisis?

Two years ago I worked in a camp for internally displaced people in
Nigeria, survivors of an uprising that killed about 1,000 people and
displaced 200,000. True to form, the Western media reported on the
violence but not on the humanitarian work the state and local
governments -- without much international help -- did for the
survivors. Social workers spent their time and in many cases their own
salaries to care for their compatriots. These are the people saving
Africa, and others like them across the continent get no credit for
their work.

Last month the Group of Eight industrialized nations and a host of
celebrities met in Germany to discuss, among other things, how to save
Africa. Before the next such summit, I hope people will realize Africa
doesn't want to be saved. Africa wants the world to acknowledge that
through fair partnerships with other members of the global community,
we ourselves are capable of unprecedented growth.

Uzodinma Iweala is the author of "Beasts of No Nation," a novel about
child soldiers.

Do you agree with the article? Vote to the left.

Mos Def speaks in outrage!

noreply@blogger.com (GIF) — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 23:44:00 +0000

Do you agree with Mos Def? Let us know by voting on the left

She sniffed coke off her babies stomach while breast feeding!

noreply@blogger.com (GIF) — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 00:00:00 +0000

This chick was sniffing coke off of her babies stomach while she was breast feeding him. If that weren't enough she got caught giving head to two dudes in the front seat of her car while her two kids (5 year old girl, 8 month old son) sat in the backseat. Her dad is Jack knowles owner of the Kentucky derby champ Funny Cide.
Lifestyles of the rich and famous! Sometimes I wonder why so many of us envy them.
Read the complete article @ TheNewYorkPost.com

Do we teach hate?

noreply@blogger.com (GIF) — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 04:20:00 +0000

You can show and tell someone something, but with the exception of mind control, you cannot dictate what manner they will interpret what they have been shown or allowed to hear. You can show a movie about slavery to a classroom full of students. You may have students who see the movie and think, “Oh my God that’s awful. How could anyone do that to another human being?” At the same time you may have students who look at the movie and see a weaker race being conquered and dominated by a stronger one. Your intent could have been to compel sympathy for the plight of Black Americans and indirectly you could have risen up sentiments of White supremacy. Look at the people you feel sorry for then answer this question, do you think we’re doing ourselves more harm than good by centering our history around slavery and the civil rights movement? You be the judge! Check out the poll on the left.

Written by S.F

Can I call you a nigga now?

noreply@blogger.com (GIF) — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 02:20:00 +0000

NIGGA WHAT?

Out of pure disdain for closed minded individuals, I have devoted a substantial amount of time – perhaps way more than I should have - to explaining the use of the word “Nigga” by members of the Hip Hop community. I have had countless conversations that often turned into arguments or heated debates because of, what I felt to be ignorance toward the issue. When I mention the word “ignorance” in reference to those who stand in opposition to my position on the matter, I know many people may assume I side with those that are adverse to the use of the word “Nigga” I can assume this because these are the individuals who deem those that advocate the use of the word “Nigga” to be ignorant. Such assumptions as “Nigga” being used by members of the Hip hop community as a result of their lacking knowledge of its history, and the belief that “Nigga” derives from the word nigger, are things I view as ignorance for the following reasons; We use fire in many different ways than the cavemen who created it does that make us ignorant to the fact that cavemen created fire? In American history “nigger” is a word that was used to express racism, demean, and degrade individuals of African descent. The Ethiopian word “Negus” is defined as being a title of Ethiopian royalty. Who’s to determine from which the word “Nigga” owes its origin? Contemporary black music often gets connected to ancient African rhythms rooted in our subconscious, is it completely impossible for this occurrence to also take place with words?

ne·gus1 /ˈnigəs/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[nee-guhs] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun, plural -gus·es. 1. a title of Ethiopian royalty.
2. (initial capital letter) the Emperor of Ethiopia.
www.dictionary.com look it up

The laws of physics state that energy cannot be destroyed only transformed from one state to another. Words carry energy, the word nigger carries energy, a negative energy that has done nothing but spread hurt and hate throughout American society. The word nigger is a weapon, a gun that has been handed to an American public who have been taught to aim it at Blacks in America as well as around the world and fire at will. They fire that gun because they know it has the ability to kill and do harm because otherwise it would be futile to use it. If the Hip hop community decides to take that gun, melt down the metal, and use it to make spoons, why fight against them to have the word remain as a gun that can be used against us?

If the word “Nigga” is a manifestation of the word nigger, what’s wrong with the transformation of energy going from negative to positive through the process of that manifestation? If we're to say that because something has a negative history it can't be used in a positive manner, then why wear crosses when – according to popular belief - they were once used to kill Jesus Christ and others, why worship Christianity when it was once used as a tool to enslave and as a cause for mass murder during the crusades? Why even refer to ourselves as Black, a color that throughout American history has been associated with everything wrong and is defined as meaning evil, wicked, and sullen? Let’s not forget that there was a time when Africans in America resented being referred to as Black. James Brown came around and coined the phrase “Say it loud, I’m Black and I’m proud” After that the word Black wasn’t greeted with as much hostility and today it’s considered a none offensive manner of referencing people of African American decent.

You don’t get pass the pain by burying it, you get pass the pain by healing the wound. The Black politicians and churches are rallying the Black community to attack Hip hop for attempting to heal a wound and at the same time, asking that we forgive and live side by side, peacefully, with those we hold responsible for causing the wound. They show me images of Black bodies swinging from trees and say “Don’t say nigga” the word nigger didn’t do that, some racist White man did, the word “Nigga” doesn’t discriminate against me when I’m applying for jobs, the word “Nigga” didn’t shoot at Shawn Bell 50 times, the word “Nigga” didn’t shoot Amadu Diallo 19 times, the word “Nigga” didn’t kill Robert Stansberry, White people filled with prejudice, racism, and hatred did those things.

For us to say that by eliminating the use of the, now notorious, “N word” as my White friends like to call it, we're coming closer to eliminating the racist sentiments that are expressed through its use is absurd to me. I doubt if all the names I mentioned above heard “Die nigga, die!” before bullets were dumped into their bodies. The officer responsible for murdering Robert Stansberry received no criminal conviction and is still employed by the NYPD to this date, The officers responsible for murdering Amadou Diallo were found not guilty, and the officers who are accused of murdering Sean Bell are still awaiting trail almost a year later. Why are we not still protesting for justice for the families of these victims? Oprah Winfrey toured radio stations trying to persuade radio personalities to sign contracts stating they would discontinue their use of the word “Nigga” A Black couple decided to start up a website called “AbolishtheNword.com” calling for the abolishment of the word “Nigger” Why aren’t these same people attacking issues like the public school systems in Black neighborhoods, the incarceration of Black men in America, the aids crisis amongst Blacks in America, and etc. with the same intensity? Besides the idea that the energy they’re spending on banding a word could be put towards a more constructive cause, it also shows a total disregard for our constitutional right to free speech.

People want to just hold to their beliefs without ever questioning whether what they believe in truly makes any sense or brings any positive influence. The word nigga is more so used in the same manner as a pronoun amongst members of the hip hop community/"Hood" and belongs to a dialect spoken by the social group that makes up the Hip hop community. With in that community no one is offended by its use because the intent is well noted to not be derogatory or racist. Since its beginning hip hop has been used to heal and has turned negatives into positives. This was seen with brake dancing where kids would battle in dance rather than gang fights. It provided kids with an alternative means of venting their frustration by providing an artistic channel for venting that frustration and preventing the youth from lashing out violently. This is no different, let us heal.

"Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything" - George Bernard Shaw

Related readings Hip hop slang; Dialect or just bad English?
Look for part 2 coming soon.

Written by: S.F

Was this man a racist or a realist?

noreply@blogger.com (GIF) — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 05:02:00 +0000

Watch this video and let me know your opinion

If your undecided and need to see more, check out more clips from this Interview @ THEBARBERSHOPBLOG.BLOGSPOT.COM

THEY WIN; YOU LOSE

noreply@blogger.com (GIF) — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 19:44:00 +0000

Shawn F.

Few are aware, that one of the key causes of the Civil war was the North not wanting slavery to spread to their region out of fear of losing jobs to free labor. Fast forward to the twenty first century; where slavery has supposedly been outlawed, and job seekers deem their only competition to be outsourcing, technology, and the immigrant workforce. The immigrant workforce has become less of a threat due to the government’s new immigrant labor laws and border restrictions. I wonder if anybody ever took the time to think about why a country that has depended on cheap immigrant labor for so long moved so quickly to pass laws that would severely restrict it. Could it be that the government has found another more inexpensive source of labor, there by making the immigrant workforce expendable? I believe so. With corporate owned prison’s basically leasing out inmates to commercial enterprise at wages that make it comparable to slavery, it has become apparent to me that job seekers have a new competitor.
There are numerous essays that have been written about American prison institutions and slave labor. Many American citizens could careless about the enslavement of prison inmates - believing it’s well deserved. Others feel that since the inmates are already in prison they might as well spend their time productively. Few have acknowledged the threat that prison labor poses to our society’s job market. Maybe the reluctance of mainstream media to expose companies that have been robbing job seekers of employment by employing inmates at slave wages have left people in the dark on the issue. People aren’t informed of the fact that companies such as Honda employ prison inmates to make car parts for $2 an hour when a free man would earn a wage of $20 or $30 an hour to do the same job. It even goes as far as companies like AT&T and TWA hiring prison inmates to do such things as telemarketing and taking reservations for airlines - processing credit card information and social security numbers. Think about the number of applicants these companies deny employment every year because they marked yes to the “Have you ever been convicted of a Felony” question, think about the number of applicants these companies turn away each year for not having a High School diploma or GED, the applicants they tell are overqualified, the applicants they tell are under qualified, now think about those companies giving those same jobs to an under qualified, in some cases uneducated, prison inmate. Allow me to use this analogy. Let’s say a girl named Sara works at a department store. Sara has two kids and is desperate for over time and any extra hours she can work (and use) to make extra money to feed her children. One day a guy, let’s call him Tom, walks into her store and steals a pair of pants. The store owner calls the police, Tom gets arrested, goes to court and the judge sentences him to work in that department store for 30 days for no pay. The owner of the department store realizes how much money he could save with this arrangement and cuts Sara’s schedule from 40 hours a week to 20. Think about who suffers in that scenario. Imagine the government adopting a policy which allows corporate owned prison’s to lease prison inmates to work for commercial enterprises. Imagine the amount of jobs that would be lost from the amount of revenue these companies could save on payroll, and then imagine this not being a hypothetical scenario, imagine it being reality. Here’s something I snatched off the net courtesy of WSWS (world socialist website). “Lockhart Technologies, Inc. closed its plant in Austin, Texas, dismissing its 150 workers so that it could open shop in a state prison in Lockhart. The prisoners assemble circuit boards for industrial giants such as IBM, Compaq and Dell. Lockhart is not required to pay for health or any other benefits. The company must pay the prison the federal minimum wage for each laborer, but the inmates get to keep only 20 percent of that.” If you’d like to know more about this issue I suggest you look at this site link http://www.wsws.org/articles/2000/may2000/pris-

By: Shawn F.

HIP HOP SLANG DIALECT OR JUST BAD ENGLISH

noreply@blogger.com (GIF) — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 19:31:00 +0000

Shawn F.

Dialect: Variety of a language spoken by a group of people and having features of vocabulary, grammar, and/ or pronunciation that distinguish it from other varieties of the same language.

Dialects usually develop as a result of geographic, social, political, or economic barriers between groups of people who speak the same language. When dialects diverge to the point that they are mutually incomprehensible, they become languages in their own right. This was the case with Latin, various dialects of which evolved into the different Romance languages French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian….

Hip hop slang, in my opinion, is what could be characterized as a socialect, which is a dialect determined by social factors rather than by geography. In the opinion of others outside of hip hop it’s a sign of ignorance or lack of education, or just plain bad English. What causes the division?
I know to some this may come off as pure speculation, but what I have come to find is that the unacceptance of Hip hop slang as a dialect, is a result of an unwillingness of high class society to accept the idea of what is deemed to be a low class society having the intellectual capacity to actually develop a dialect (in other words arrogance). Often the Hip hop community is portrayed as unintelligent and as a result are often perceived as such. If someone you believe to be stupid speaks in a manner that you’re not accustomed to hearing, you might, in all likeliness, chalk it up to stupidity. The resistance towards hip hop slang as being viewed as a dialect comes from other angles as well. Many people who view themselves to be educated and accept the ideas that have been fed to them of what is an educated manner of speaking, also view hip hop slang as an unintelligible or uneducated manner of speaking the English language. Furthermore you have the fundamentalists that,in my opinion, fear the idea of hip hop slang being viewed as a dialect because, as I stated in the passage above, dialects have been known to turn into languages once they have reached a mutual level of incomprehensibility, which wouldn’t pose such a threat if the hip hop dialect was confined to a specific demographic. But the acceptance of the Hip hop culture nationally and internationally is what, in my opinion, alarms fundamentalist. As Hip hop receives more and more worldwide exposure through publications, T.V shows, radio stations, and other modern media, it bears the potential to change itself from being perceived as American culture to being accepted as a foundation American culture.

If you ask me it isn’t what it is, it’s what people have been taught to believe it is, that compels resistance against hip hop slang being accepted as a dialect of the English language. When in reality what we accept as English is actually a dialect of the British English language and even that is a stretch. If you look up the origin in which many American words derive you’ll find that the English language is a bastard language comprised of mispronounced and borrowed words of other languages, sort of like Hip hop slang.

Let us know what you think, Hip hop slang; Dialect or just bad English

Why Dream Girls Was A Nightmare

noreply@blogger.com (GIF) — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 16:15:00 +0000

I got suckered I have to admit. Usually I'm not swayed by critical acclaim and award nominations but I got got this time around. Me and my girlfriend - who wanted to see a movie called "Children Of Men" - instead decided - upon my request - to see Dream Girls. Boy was I disappointed. To be frank, Dream Girls is corny and seems rushed. They didn't take the time to develop the characters and story lines. I didn't connect with any of the characters enough to actually care about anything that happened to them. I really don't see why any of the actors were nominated for anything. It turned out to be more of a musical than a movie but with out the appeal of a film such as the Moulin Rouge - which I surprised myself by liking. The singing scenes were not timed well enough to add any type of connection with the songs - It was kind of like confessing love to someone that hasn't known you long enough to care about you. Beyonce's acting annoys me. To me it seems like she approaches every role the same way. She's always this lively, wide eyed, bubbly character with a touch of Black sass and a tad bit of a mean streak. Jamie Foxx character was good. He played a money grubbing ass-hole but he played it well. Jennifer Hudson (American Idol reject) was impressive as well. Her vocal performances and overall acting was real good. Jennifer Hudson and Jamie Foxx characters were the only two that compelled any type of emotion out of you. She made you want to be in her corner and root for her to come out on top. He made you either laugh at the grimy things he did or want to see him take a knife to the gut. I have to say though thatJennifer Hudson did kind of look like somebodies Aunt Bunny. The scene where she sang "I'm telling you" They could of gave her a longer dress. Her legs looked like one of my aunts when their legs swell up with water - you know how some black women legs get all thick and swollen with the little black dots on them and stuff. I would have really been upset to have had wasted $19.95 to see that movie. Luckily me and my girl snuck in to see two other films. One being "Holiday" with Cameron Diaz which was kind of good - it made my girl cry - awwww!

COULD NYC BE ON THE BRINK OF A RACE RIOT?

noreply@blogger.com (GIF) — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 20:27:00 +0000

After the murder of 23 year old Sean Bell on his wedding day by police officers at a Queen’s, NY night club, it seems minority citizens of New York are fed up. It was reported on Tuesday, November 28th that Prosecutors in Essex County, NJ, said they had information that gangs might target police in retaliation for Bell’s death. At a protest following the tragic incident, Councilmen Charles Baron was quoted as saying “I am fed up. I'm not asking my people to do anything passive anymore,” said Barron. “We're going to sit here and we're going to go in there, we’re gonna pray, we’re gonna march, we're going to do all of that stuff and then we are going to sit down and if they don't respond to none of that, don't ask us to ask our people to be peaceful while they are being murdered. We're not the only ones that can bleed.”
Could New York be on the brink of seeing riots similar to those in Cincinnati, Ohio in 2001, Los Angeles, California in 1992, and Liberty City, Miami in 1989? In Cincinnati the riots were a reaction to the fatal shooting of Timothy Thomas, who was a 19 year old black male, by a white police officer during an on-foot chase by several officers. The race riots of Los Angeles were caused by anger at the aquittal of four officers accused of beating Black motorist Rodney King. The race riots of Liberty City were following anger at the aquittal of five white police officers that beat a black motorist to death.

After the Amadou Diallo verdict we were told to not riot and accept it. We did just that, we got up and went to work the next morning, we went back to our playgrounds and street corners and the tragedy turned into nothing more than a conversation piece, then came the death of Patrick Dorismond. Rudy Giuliani – who was mayor at the time - asked us to wait for all of the facts involving the case to come out. He followed that action with the releasing of the criminal record of Dorismond as well as his sealed juvenile records to the public. In releasing his adult criminal record and juvenile record – which contained minor offenses – Giuliani hoped to depict the victim as some type of menace deserving of his fate. We swallowed that, after that things died down and then we were faced with the murder of Robert Stansberry – the teen killed on his graduation day on a Redhook rooftop by a Police officer – nothing was done about that. How many times will they allow Police officers to gun us down in the streets and use the defense argument of us being deemed of posing a threat to their lives? In all of the incidents I mentioned the victims were unarmed. Officers fired 81 shots at Amadou Diallo allegedly mistaken his wallet for a gun, they fired 50 shots at Sean Bell because they allegedly saw someone reach for what they believed to be a gun, how could anyone justify such actions. Both men were found to be unarmed. When does it stop? If our judicial system continuously fails us in holding these individuals accountable for their actions who will? Many citizens of our city are ready and willing to be the answer to that question. Judging from the reports I’ve read the officer responsible for the death of Sean Bell may not even face criminal charges. As we speak they have been assigned to desk duty and are still receiving pay while the investigation continues. If these individuals are allowed to walk Scott free with no accountability for the murder of Sean Bell, the of idea of a race riot in NYC may become very real. Not that I advocate such a thing because I stand undecided on the issue. I know race riots will only result in more minority deaths of innocent individuals as well as good police officers who suite up everyday with the intention of protecting citizens of this city. That is an outcome I do not wish to have. At the same time I also know that there is no revolution with out bloodshed, no progress with out struggle, and should be no peace with out justice for ALL! By Shawn F. a.k.a Da Gif

ONE WORD - COLONIALISM - THINK HIP HOP!

noreply@blogger.com (GIF) — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 06:50:00 +0000

Colonialism is the extension of a nation's sovereignty over territory beyond its borders by the establishment of either settler colonies or administrative dependencies in which indigenous populations are directly ruled or displaced. Colonizers generally dominate the resources, labor, and markets of the colonial territory and may also impose socio-cultural, religious and linguistic structures on the conquered population (see also cultural imperialism). However, though colonialism is often used interchangeably with imperialism, the latter is sometimes used more broadly as it covers control exercised informally (via influence) as well as formally. The term colonialism may also be used to refer to a set of beliefs used to legitimize or promote this system. Colonialism was often based on the belief that the mores and values of the colonizer were superior to those of the colonized. (This can also be called ethnocentricism). Some observers link such beliefs regarding values to racism, and to pseudo-scientific theories dating to the 17th and 18th centuries. In terms of race, this led to a sort of proto-Social Darwinism that placed Caucasians at the top of the Animal Kingdom, "naturally" in charge of dominating and civilizing non-European indigenous populations. In terms of values, this led to cultural hegemony, chauvinistic jingoism, missionary zealotry and blindly patriotic nationalism in the colonies, especially among the colonizers READ
OTHER ARTICLES AT WWW.DAGIF.COM/2B.HTML

BUY OR SELL?

noreply@blogger.com (GIF) — Sat, 07 Oct 2006 23:00:00 +0000

STACY DASH- This is not the body of a 40 year old woman. I can only pray that I am lucky enough to marry a girl that ages like her. I saw Marquis Houston’s new video and decided to post something about the way Stacy Dash doesn't seem to age. When I went looking for photos of her I found out she posed for Playboy this year. Whoa! her body is amazing. This might be a warped assumption but I think she has some enchanted servant snatching pretty young girls and draining the youth out of them. I think if we broke the spell all the young- old looking white chicks will magically get their youth back. (p.s. check her out in Playboy –Aug.2006- Oh Boy!) (BUY)(BUY)(BUY)

TYRESE-OH MY GOD! I just had to post about this. Tyrese putting out a double CD titled “ALTER EGO”. Baby boy is planning to attempt to do a rap album. One disk of his double CD is dedicated to his alter ego Black Ty, who has rapping abilities few have been aware of. If it sounds anything like that rap he spit on his first single “NOBODY ELSE” watch out! What the hell is going on? everybody wants to be a thug. This dude went from a Coke and a smile, singing “SWEET LADY” to being a Thugged out rapper over night. I guess he had to figure out a way to capitalize off the hood fame he acquired through “BABY BOY” and “THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS 2” movies. I can hear his publicist now. “The singing thing isn’t working for you; Rap, yeah rap is where it’s at for you Ty. Rap is in, it’s in and it’s big. You’ve got to get a piece of this. We’re going to create an alter ego for you. We’ll call him Black Ty, yeah that’s it, genius baby, pure genius.” What’s worse is that on his Mix tape you’ve got S&S and KAY SLAY cosigning this dude like he’s really hot. I think Mickey Mouse could start rapping tomorrow and there would be industry heads to cosign him for the right price.(SELL)
For anyone that curious enough to want to down load his mixtape here’s the link http://208.109.49.187/mixtape2.htm
FOR ANYONE THAT REMEMBERS
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P DIDDY- “COME TO ME” This dude and his dance move’s, the little scene with him in the doorway remind me of Paula Abdul’s “STRAIGHT UP” video. I could have sworn I saw some of those move’s in an old John Travolta movie, I think it was a joint from the middle of his career because he was fat. Why does Puff sound like his mouth is mad heavy on this joint? I can’t front though the song is mad catchy, that “do it, do it, do it, do it,” shit has been stuck in my head for days. (SELL)

HEATHER HEADLY- IN MY MIND- This chick really gets me. Interracial dating is cool with me, but this broad. She made that record “He is” which was supposed to be a record uplifting black men. She stay having black men in her videos on some “I love my brothers” type ish and married a white boy in real life. Maybe she’s just giving black male artists a taste of their own medicine. I might be bugging, but why is she cheesing in the video? Isn’t it supposed to be a song about longing? Something about her just rubs me the wrong way. Maybe it’s that oversized Lemon she has for a head. (SELL)

RUBEN STUDDARD- CHANGE ME- When I first heard it I thought it sucked, and now that I’ve gotten the opportunity to really listen to it…..I still think it sucks. Funny thing is though, I get what he’s trying to say with this record. I feel that much. He on some ‘you got so much to say about me, what if I start talking about all the stuff that’s wrong with you?’- Say ahh, like how your breath smell in the morning- like you’ve been drinking toilet bowl water after somebody hit it with a number 2. (SELL)