The War Continues

I moved to the NYC area the year after the September 11th attacks (Even though almost everyone I knew thought I should reconsider I felt right about it. Still do btw) so I’ve been here for every remembrance. This year is the first year that people seem to have really moved on, of course people are still showing respect for the lives lost but there wasn’t that heavy sense of sadness in the local media and I didn’t hear people in the streets talking about it as much as I have in other years. Instead of mourning the news programs focused much of their coverage on the ongoing war in the Iraq, the overall turmoil in the Middle East and the United States dependence on foreign fuel resources.

Yesterday General David Petraeus appeared before a meeting of the members of the Foreign Relations and Armed Services Committees and detailed the war’s progress. Petraeus mentioned that troop withdrawal will initiate something in the next month or so in small amounts with the hope that as much as 30 thousand will be home by next summer. Still that leaves over 100,000 men and women over there battling in a war without a real objective.

After 9/11 there was such a wave of patriotism and there was this thought that America would be avenged for the attacks but here we are six years later and I don’t think any of us feel any real sense of satisfaction. Furthermore very few people buy the fact that the US is over there trying to build democracy. By now even the most consistent defenders of the war will admit that America’s main reason over there is the procurement of more and more oil. To control the marketplace to ensure that the US’s insatiable demand for fuel is met. Now why is this so important to the Bush administration? Because the big time Oil companies financed his career. And even in this day and age of environmental awareness few people have the balls and the power to combat them. Iraq has approximately 100 billion barrels of crude oil and Exxon, etc want a piece of it. And until we are able to control this area of the world we can’t get to it and so we stay.
Now how specifically does this affect us? Well for one it beneficial to keep pounding home the threat of future attacks and giving credence to certain stereotypes in order to fuel those generalities. Now are all Muslims involved in terrorism? Most people will say no but there are still a lot of people who say yes if only that they hear it so much. Now for those out there who have names like yours truly it can be a minor annoyance, one which I accept usually. The real problem with these stereotypes is that they lead to fear and that leads to voters putting in office the people who they believe will protect them. Whether that is true or whether that person is competent enough to hold office is another story. Just as long as the perception says they are that’s good enough for most people.

The real problem is that money that can be used to maintain life at home is going to waste. I understand the need for the military, as sometimes war is necessary. But when it is not it should not be used because real lives are at stake. In the meantime money is being funneled away from things like ensuring that our import market is well monitored (the situation with China right now and the lead paint covered toys is a great example of that). Not to mention immigration, gun control, health care, stem cell research, etc. Please remember all of this the next time someone is defending the war. Tell them they are full of shit.

The Looking Glass

I wanted to share a poem with the Collective massive which was written when I lived in the suburbs of Detroit. It seemed like my life was shrouded with solitude because I was trying to better myself and unfortunately that path can sometimes be lonely. I was confident that I was doing the right thing for myself personally though and that kept me moving forward. This is for those who sometimes have to observe more than they participate before the game welcomes them.


Have you ever seen a man blow glass.
Surpassed 10:00, sunset four hours past
Put down your pen leave the office satisfied with yourself
Barkeep! Fill a frosted glass
Have you ever been to a syrup factory
Found out how they cracked wheat
Cured the leather on you new car seat
Alchemize the mixture for you athletes feet
Is it boring to you?
You 13%, expand your mind, or are you content
N----S—What do you do?
Are you above it
Make it and you will not covet
Craft it, grow it. I’ll bet you’ll love it
N----S—What do you do?
What am I asking? You didn’t do you homework in Jr. High
You could write the alphabet faster than anyone in 1st grade
By 12th your ready to die
Cheat in community college for 4 years
Aced rollin up lie
At least philosophize over a blunt and master your high
But what happens
You discover knowledge of self
In the suburbs aint no n----s wit you on Borders book shelf
So you digress
Ignorance is fun and your old n----s aint oppressed
Cop a cool ass chic wit some sass and a whole lotta ass
You down
Two $9.50 an hours gets an apt on the city’s ave
N----s in the mass
What’s that in the alley
Oh
I guess I have seen a man blow glass

Class Is In Session

By now most of you are familiar with the dual release dates of new albums by Kanye West and 50 Cent. Both are scheduled to release next Tuesday (why they both chose Sept 11th is strange in my opinion but that’s for another conversation) and the recording/entertainment/publishing industry (also to be described in this blog occasionally as the crazy ass industry TM) is all a buzz about it. In a year in which record sales are down substantial double-digits numbers any excitement over new releases is news. But for Hip-Hop, already gasping for breath both commercially and artistically, its cause for a celebration. The music has lost its relevance in many aspects but next week all that changes.

Most of the buzz revolves around which album is gonna be the hottest and which is gonna sale the most. 50 has gone as far as to say that if his album sales the 1st week are less then Kanye’s, he will stop making solo records. Now whether this is true or not is beside the point, it makes for great entertainment. And much debate as to whether you prefer 50’s brand of braggadocios neo-gangsterism or Kanye’s post-Black, outsiders are the new insiders brand of reinterpreted boom-bap. I’ve already heard both albums and it seems easy to say that Kanye is gonna win in a blowout. At least in quality it’s just a better album (wait until you hear “Champion”, Good Life”, “Good Morning” and “ The Glory”) and the debate for that, for me, is nil. Funny thing is happening on the way to soundscan though, that debate is more than just between two artists. It’s a debate between classes and what upward mobility really means.

It’s more complicated then saying it the projects kids against the Jack and Jill set, it’s a battle between ideals and values. The same battle Black folks have been having for generations. (Not to say that other races don’t have the same battles, because as has been stressed before this is not only a “Black people’s” blog.) People tend to side with those most similar to them. You relate to those who have gone through the same things you’ve gone through, been the same places you have been, speak the language you speak, etc. Regardless of the many advances Black people have made in this society there are still a lot of impoverished and lower middle-class families and the incarceration rate is still amazingly high. It’s still real out there Kenneth Chenault and Condoleeza Rice be damned and people definitely relate to 50’s by any means necessary story of self-preservation. There still needs to be a way to hope and dream of a life filled with prosperity for those who never rocked a cap and gown on warm Spring afternoon. But for those out there who know what it means to see girls decked out in crimson and cream means and understand that the term work-study is one of the greatest things in the world the allure of Kanye West is easily understood. His songs hint at certain buppie sensibilities and the optimism in many of his songs can serve as a de-facto soundtrack to career advancement. A mentality that says you can look past old accepted cliche's and stereotypes and create a new reality based upon what you feel are the important things in life. Either way a line in the sand has been drawn. The hood acts like Kanye’ music is soft and somehow irrelevant while 50’s stuff is harder, more muscular. Believer of Dubois’ talented tenth ideology say that much of 50’s music is borderline cooning, boring and ultimately adds nothing to the community while Kanye’s stuff is more honest and intelligent and just more interesting.

These debates often spill out in other forms. Forms such as gentrification, where clashes between the haves and have-nots are raging all across the country. As career-minded people move back into the cities to buy up condos and open businesses, the old guard, been here for years folks are getting pushed out or simply discarded. Jealousy, anger, miscommunication rise up and problems arise. Wanna know why? Because people don’t understand each other and all you hear are word like “bougie” and “ghetto”. I work for a publishing company that produces several important mags (SLAM, XXL, KING, etc) and I hear it at the office and at industry events as well. People choose sides without thinking twice. So I ask any readers out there, right now think twice. In your viewpoint what are some of the biggest class problems and misconceptions and what do you think can be done about them. Any input will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

peace

THE READ A BOOK VIDEO - ARE YOU SERIOUS??

Have you seen this video? Um, this is sad. I understand the message of the video, but it is really sad that they had to 'dumb it down' for the masses to really understand. And to read the YouTube comments... This video does more harm to African-Americans than good.






This is what tcphilosopher had to say about why he/she uploaded it:

"This was shot on BET Animation and 106 and Park. IT IS A SATIRICAL OBSERVATION ON THE CURRENT RIDICULOUS, OFFENSIVE, AND EMBARRASSING STATE OF THE ONCE NOBLE ART OF HIP HOP. THE RAPPER WHO MADE THE SONG IS ALSO SATIRING THE CURRENT POPULAR RAP MUSIC WHICH IS AN EMBARRASSMENT TO EVERYTHING RAP WAS. WHILE MAKING THIS SOCIAL SATIRE, HE ALSO PROVIDE A POSITIVE MESSAGE AND A SOCIAL COMMENTARY. African Americans, open your mind. This man is not offending us. He's smaking us in the face and saying Wake Up. This is what they think of us...and the reality is...most of it is true.Unfortunately I have no connection to the authoring of the video. I merely uploaded it as a show of support and like-mindedness. I feel that the video was a clever, harsh, striking, and much-needed parody/satire on the current state of hip hop. Hip hop, originated as a black folk style of music, the voice of the innercity. A conscious, aware, if hardened by it's environment, expression of the life of middle/poor-class African Americans and Hispanic/Latino Americans in America. It has, like EVERY style of music before it, finally succumb to commercialization and thus the current POPULAR hip hop is little more than brain-mush over percolating beats. This song highlights that, with the line: "I used to makes song with concepts and shit, but now I wanna go platinum". The irony of that line, says it all. In addition to being a strong satire/parody, it also instills some very strong positivities: reading, hygiene, ownership of things that cultivate wealth and worth (buy some land), responsibility (raise your kids), etc...concepts that popular hip hop is NOT teaching to our youth anymore. So it parodies viciously, and instructs what is lacking concurrently. For this reason, as an African American male who is passionate about the origins of hip hop and a purist of the hip hop form sans commercialization, and as a human being in general worried for our future and our progeny, I couldn't HELP but support the creator of the song and video by uploading it."

WHO in their right or wrong mind thought this would be a good idea? There are many other ways to elevate a race. This isn't one of them. I didn't even touch on the parody of commercialized hip hop. That in an of itself is a hot mess. Hopefully, you all know the real deal and don't need a video to give you advice on life, hygiene, how to raise your children, etc. Until next time...

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