Message to the "Hip Hop” Community

 

 

The following message is specifically directed to the leaders and activists within the Hip Hop Community

IT HELPS to safeguard one's humility when one can admit that he was not as impressive as he had set out to be. Last Saturday I gave one of the worst public addresses that I have ever delivered in my life. (It was good that it only lasted about five minutes :)

The occasion was an "Enough Is Enough!" Anti-Police Brutality Concert and Rally, organized by the Hip Hop Caucus at the Sylvan Theater (just below the Washington Monument) in Washington, DC. The Peace And Justice Foundation was asked to be involved in the effort, and without hesitation agreed to do so. However (to be honest), the challenge to speak to a large assembly, consisting primarily of young people with short attention spans, in between loud, emotionally charged music, was not something that I looked forward to doing.

My brief message was in several parts. In retrospect, I wish that I had focused on one central message, and stuck with that one message alone. Had I done so - despite the mental and physical fatigue that I was operating under - I probably would have been far more effective in reaching the hearts and minds of some of the more hyperactive young listeners.

As I'm aware that our posts reach a significant number of social and political activists in cyberspace (including some of the organizers of yesterday's event), I'm going to use this opportunity to elaborate more fully on the points raised in my brief address, God willing.

I began my presentation by noting that my activism began over 20 years ago, and that the issues I cut my teeth on had to do with the far reaching implications of police brutality and police corruption (our mandate later expanded to include political imprisonment). While the complexion of policing in America has dramatically changed over the past two decades, the problem of police brutality has not. This underscores a very important point: It’s not about race and color, it’s really about class and culture.

The Need for Socially Committed Artists

Using hip hop artists in connection with a rally against police brutality was a creative move. It would have been far more effective, however, had the program structure been a little tighter with one central message coming from all of the speakers AND ARTISTS. The influence of hip hop culture is such, that a greater effort has to be made to infuse more young artists with the spirit of such cultural giants as the honorable Paul Robeson (who said, “Every artist must decide to use his [or her] talent for freedom or for slavery.”)

I once heard it said that music affects a different part of the brain than speech. It goes without saying that certain types of music can have a deeply emotional and almost hypnotic effect on the listener at times. The majority of the leading hip hop artists in the world today are African American. These artists must be educated on their history and on the responsibility connected to that history. Artists that participate in initiatives such as the one that took place in DC on Saturday, should be conscientized before, during and after the event, in order to help them become more effective instruments for the elevation of the community.

The Inter-connectedness of Struggle
(and the need for broader coalitions)

My friend Ryme, of Pacifica Radio (WPFW), made a request of me when I arrived on the Monument grounds: “Could you please speak about what happened with the LAPD?,” she asked. What Ryme was referring to was the recent controversy generated by the LAPD after they unveiled their “Mapping” proposal on Capitol Hill.

In short, the Muslim Mapping project was nothing more than a slick and highly sophisticated attempt to [religiously] profile the Muslim community of greater Los Angeles - said to be home to an estimated 500,000 Muslims of a variety of racial, ethnic, socio-economic and political backgrounds.

The proposal would involve a special unit of the LAPD, an unnamed university, and a Muslim individual or group (to assist with the penetration needs of law enforcement, and to put an acceptable face on the project); but something interesting and truly remarkable happened - the Muslim community wasn’t having it!

Initially one of the mainstream Muslim organizations sent out some cautiously amenable signals about the project, but then quickly fell in line when the community as a whole, with the agreement of other Muslim organizations, and the support of a number of non-Muslim civil liberties organizations, declared (in so many words) ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! Not on our watch! The end result is that the LAPD has declared the proposed project “dead on arrival” - it is now off the table! (or so they say.)

(As the saying goes, “A PEOPLE UNITED CAN NEVER BE DEFEATED.”) Urban-based grassroots organizations around the country can learn from what happened in Greater Los Angeles. Community-based organizations concerned about police reform, and Muslim organizations concerned about police profiling (in post 9/11 America) could benefit immensely from an expansion of the coalition effort around these issues.

The Importance of Thinking Globally

El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (aka Malcolm X) used to advise is associates in the movement to “Think globally and act locally” - in making this observation he was truly ahead of his time. And he was not alone. When the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was being pressured by friend and foe to restrict himself to “Civil Rights,” his response was, “I cannot segregate my conscience.”

On Friday, Nov 16th, a demonstration regarding the crisis in Somalia was held at the State Department, just a few blocks away from where the Hip Hop concert and rally was held the following day. How many of the organizers are even aware of the crisis in Somalia, and how this crisis relates to us here in America? How many of the organizers are aware of Black Water USA, and the other “private contractors” (aka western mercenaries) now operating in Iraq and in other parts of the so-called “developing world” - and of how the Iraq crisis relates to us here in America?

If we are truly sincere about this struggle, it is important that we (activists and organizers) learn how to connect the dots, and begin to think and act globally. I truly believe that only when this happens will we begin to realize genuine positive change in America. (Connecting the dots means, we need to understand the symbiotic relationship that exists between local, national and international policing; and then respond accordingly.)

 

American Gangsterism

In retrospect, this is the area that I should have focused my entire five minute address on. Shortly before I spoke, I noticed how when one of the popular go go bands was doing their thing, a horde of young people (and some adults) rushed to the front of the stage area, moving to the beat of the music and pumping their hands in the air….with a SIGNIFICANT number of those hands forming GANG SIGNS.

It was at that moment that I decided I would say something that would be unpopular to many present, and might even illicit a negative (verbal) reaction. I referenced the responsibility that we (the people) in urban communities have on such matters, and I made a harsh passing criticism of the movie and music, “American Gangster.”

I saw the movie and I have listened to the album that’s been produced, and find both very distasteful, to say the least. Both do nothing more than glamorize the pathology that exists in some of the hardest hit areas of the Black community. I have admired much of the work of Denzel Washington, but not this movie. (And I still find it telling that of all the fine work this exceptional actor has done over the years, the entertainment establishment finally gave him an “Oscar” for “Training Day.”)

Jay Z is riding high on the charts right now, with many singing his praises. For what? A production that glamorizes, exploits, and profits from some of the worst aspects of Black American underground culture. (And before I go any further, let me note for the record that we are not alone in this. In fact, we as a people learned this pathology from others.)

If we activists, especially Black and Latino activists, are truly serious about the scourge of police brutality, we must also address the internal factors (the black on black criminality in the streets) which, in the minds of some people, justify the heavy-handed approach taken by law enforcement in far too many of our communities; an approach that often leads to the brutalization and wrongful death of young black and hispanic males at the hands of rogue police officers - not to mention the sometimes wrongful and/or excessive imprisonment of this same targeted demographic.

As the Qur’an says: “Stand firmly for justice, as witnesses to God, even if it is against yourselves.”

(And I want to express my heartfelt appreciation for, and congratulate, groups like Cease Fire: Don't Smoke The Brothers, and Peaceoholics, in the DC area - and other such groups around the country - for the much needed work that they've been doing around this issue for years.)

I could go on, but I think I’ve said enough. I congratulate the Hip Hop Caucus (and their supporting cast) on the effort that was made last Saturday….but now it’s time to take it up a notch. For Truth, Justice and Healthy Community, may GOD help us!