HISTORY + VIDEO: What's It All About - The 4th of July - James Earl Jones & Danny Glover Read Douglass

Frederick Douglass

 

James Earl Jones Reads Douglass

 

James Earl Jones reads excerpts from Frederick Douglass' speech "The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro" (July 5, 1852). --DemocracyNow: July 5, 2004. It is a dramatic reading from excerpts of Howard Zinn's "The People's History of the United States"

 

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The American Revolution's

Rhetoric Of Freedom

And The Reality Of Slavery

Bill_of_rights

It is impossible for me to fathom the amount of courage it took back in 1774 for Caesar Sarter, a former slave, to publish his anti-slavery essay in The Essex Journal and Merrimack Packet as the American colonists began to agitate for their freedom from England.

 

“I need not point out the absurdity of your exertions for liberty, while you have slaves in your houses, for one minute's reflection is, methinks, sufficient for that purpose.--You who are deterred from liberating your slaves, by the consideration of the ill consequences to yourselves must remember, that we were not the cause of our being brought here. If the compelling us, against our wills, to come here was a sin; to retain us, without our consent, now we are here, is, I think, equally culpable let ever so great inconvenience arising therefrom, accrue to you. Not to trespass too much on your patience; would you unite in this generous, this noble purpose of granting us liberty;”

former slave Caesar Sarter 

 

On July 4th, a day when many of us gather to hear speeches about the founding of the United States of America, it is hard for me not to think about the 500,000 enslaved Africans who made up twenty percent of the population, or the estimated 50,000 free blacks and runaway slaves like Sarter who were fighting their own revolution within a revolution on behalf of their fellow Africans.  

 

“Let me, who have now no less than eleven relatives suffering in bondage beseech you good people, to attend to the request of a poor African, and consider the evil consequences, and gross heinousness of reducing to, and retaining in slavery a free people. Would you desire the preservation of your own liberty? As the first step let the oppressed Africans be liberated; then, and not till then, may you with confidence and consistency of conduct, look to Heaven for a blessing on your endeavours to knock the shackles with which your task masters are hampering you, from your own feet.”

former slave Caesar Sarter

 

As David Waldstreicher, noted historian at Temple University has observed, "no one was quicker to perceive the tensions between the Revolution's rhetoric of freedom and the reality of slavery than the slaves, ex-slaves, and kin of slaves themselves."

 

“Your fore fathers, as I have been often informed, left their native country, together with many dear friends, and came into this country, then a howling wilderness inhabited, only, by savages, rather choosing, under the protection of their God, to risk their lives, among those merciless wretches, than submit to tyranny at home: While, therefore, this conduct gives you their exalted sense of the worth of Liberty, at the same time, it shews their utmost abhorrence of that Curse of Curses, Slavery.”

former slave Caesar Sarter

 

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Danny Glover Reads Douglass

 

Actor Danny Glover reads abolitionist Frederick Douglass's "Fourth of July Speech, 1852" on October 5, 2005 in Los Angeles, California. Part of a reading from Voices of a People's History of the United States (Howard Zinn and Anthony Arnove.)

 


 

 

 

 

VIDEO: Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra - As Seen on 60 Minutes > Wynton Marsalis official web site

As Seen on 60 Minutes

 

Free download of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis performing Wynton’s composition “Sanctified Blues” from Congo Square during their Cuban tour, a sneak preview from the JLCO’s upcoming CD “Five Nights In Havana”, coming out in 2012.

60 Minutes – Wynton Marsalis with JLCO in Cuba (Part I)

The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (JLCO) is featured throughout both segments. In 1988 Wynton formed the JLCO by combining the members of his Septet with former members of the Duke Ellington Orchestra . Learn more about the current JLCO.

00:46 The JLCO is performing “Things to Come” – composed by Dizzy Gillespie arranged by Gil Fuller

02:46 Wynton is standing in Rose Hall at Jazz at Lincoln Center – Learn more about “The House of Swing” – The Emmy winning “Spirit of New Orleans” was filmed with Wynton in this hall. Watch the video

03:26 Wynton Marsalis Quintet is rehearsing the “Razor Rim” in London. “Razor Rim” is from the album “He and She”

03:40 Ed Bradley Interview – Watch the full 60 minutes profile with Ed Bradley.

04:12 Wynton is playing his composition: Spring Yaounde Watch the full performance from Cuba – Wynton first recorded “Spring Yaounde” on his Septet album Citi Movement

05:10 Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra – check out the bios of all members.

06:02 “Louis” a silent film is mentioned. In August 2010, Wynton traveled around the US performing his music for a silent film by Dan Pritzker based on the childhood of Louis Armstrong. Learn more at the official website

06:22 Wynton has logged over 3,000,000 miles on the road in his career. Check out all of the cities he’s performed.

07:12 Eric Clapton – In April 2011 Eric Clapton joined Wynton at Jazz at Lincoln Center for three concerts focused on the blues. This collaboration was recorded and an album is scheduled to be released in the Fall of 2011 Lean more here

07:05 Barbican Residency – In June, 2010 Jazz at Lincoln Center had a performance and education residency at the Barbican. To learn more click here

08:00 The JLCO performs New Orleans Bump – Wynton first recorded Jelly Roll Morton’s piece on his album: Mr. Jelly Lord Standard Time Vol. 6

08:32 The JLCO is performing Benny Carter’s Symphony in Riffs – A few years ago Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Educational program Essentially Ellington provided 1,525 charts of “Symphony in Riffs” to high schools around the country.

08:58 Duke piece… Duke – Centennial JALC

09:40 The JLCO is performing Thelonious Monk’s ‘Round Midnight arranged by Dizzy Gillespie

10:14 Wynton’s Swing Symphony is featured – Watch the world premiere of “Swing Symphony” with the Berlin Philharmonic through the Berliner Philharmoniker Digital Concert Hall

10:45 Wynton starts a discussion with Morley Safer about US Culture and Education – Watch his 2009 speech “Ballad of American Arts”

11:04 Essentially Ellington is featured – Learn about JALC’s educational initiatives

60 Minutes – Wynton Marsalis with JLCO in Cuba (Part II)

01:37 Second Line – video of Congo Square in New Orleans

01:57 The song featured is: 2 3’s Adventure composed by JLCO bassist Carlos Henriquez

03:52 Chucho Valdes is featured. Read more about Chucho Valdes and JALC’s cultural exchange

04:30 Ted Nash is soloing on Shade of Jade by Joe Henderson arr. Carlos Henriquez

05:44 Wynton visits a school. Learn more about Wynton’s Education initiative

08:58 The JLCO is rehearsing Nueva Orleans composed by Chucho Valdes. Chucho wrote this song in honor of the Marsalis family. Check out his latest album

10:12 Wynton is playing “Embraceable You” With Chucho Valdes. – Watch Wynton and Chucho perform “Embraceable You” live in Havana. Wynton’s recorded “Embraceable You a few times” here’s one from “Live at the Village Vanguard”

11:48 “Music transcends, we create community.” Read more about Wynton’s thoughts on the relationship between jazz and everyday life in his book – Moving to Higher Ground “ How Jazz Can Change Your Life”. No prior jazz knowledge needed to read!

12:02 Second Line through Havana: in 2006 after Hurricane Katrina Wynton took the JLCO and Yacub Addy and Odadda! To New Orleans to perform his composition “Congo Square”. Check out this street video from when the band second lined throughout the neighborhoods of New Orleans.

 

PUB: Dark Moon Short Story Contest for Horror Writers

DARK MOON DIGEST

Short Story Submissions

Dark Moon Digest Is looking for quality short stories for future issues of our publication. Any genre will be accepted as long as it is in the horror genre. There are no deadlines to this call for submissions as stories will be selected for future issues of Dark Moon Digest, so submit at your leisure.

This contest is open to all writers, published or unpublished.

The story style does not matter. It can be anything from a slasher type story (although we have to admit right up front, those are not our favorites) to a humorous tale or anything in between. But most importantly, it must be an entertaining horror short story. We must want to turn that page to see what happens next in the story and how things end. Oh, and don’t forget scary. That is, perhaps, the most important consideration.

Here are the rest of the rules:

  • DEADLINE: There is no submission deadline. Stories will be reviewed as they are submitted for future issues of Dark Moon Digest.
  • PAYMENT: Authors will receive $10.00 and a copy of the issue of DARK MOON DIGEST in which their story appears. (Authors entering contests should read specific contest rules, guidelines and prizes. This applies to all short stories and articles, but does not apply to flash fiction and micro-fiction submissions. See those specific pages for details regarding those categories.)
  • ENTRY FEE: There is no entry fee for short story submissions.
  • All short stories must be submitted by the author holding the copyright. (If your short story is not copyrighted, don’t worry. Copyright laws protect your work from the moment you started writing it. Check here for more information on copyrights.)
  • Your horror short story must be previously unpublished in print format unless you still hold the copyright. (You must inform us if a story has previously been published and where it was published so we can verify who holds the copyright.) Online publication is okay as long as you hold the copyright and are not bound by exclusivity to any person, party or website.
  • By submitting your horror short fiction work to this contest, you are giving us First North American Serial Rights and the permission to possibly publish the work in our annual anthology. (Dark Moon Books plans to publish a yearly anthology which will contain the best stories published in Dark Moon Digest.) You keep all other rights including the original copyright. Stories published in either the magazine or the anthology will carry notices which stipulate the copyright resides with the author. (NOTE: If your submission has previously appeared in another publication or anthology, we will discuss publication rights with you.)
  • All submissions should be a minimum of 1,000 words and should not exceed 4,000 words. This is not a strict guideline, but anything differing from these figures should be the exception rather than the rule. Remember, your story could be rejected simply because it is excessively long. (Flash fiction should not exceed 500 words and micro-fiction should not exceed 50 words.)
  • You may withdraw your short story from consideration at any point, but this request must be made in writing (e-mail acceptable).
  • Entrants selected for publication will be contacted prior to publication with further instructions. There are some instances in which we might ask the author for a re-write (with suggestions) if we think it would improve the story and its chances of being published. We also edit stories selected for publication, but send edited stories back to authors for final approval of edits.)

HOW TO ENTER:

Submit all stories via e-mail to HorrorQuarterly@gmail.com" style="color: #A7B3E3; text-decoration: underline;"> HorrorQuarterly@gmail.com as an attachment in either Word (.doc) or rich text format. Please use “Horror Short Story Submission” in your subject line. No queries are required.

  • Include your name, address, phone number and e-mail address on the first page of your short story and in your e-mail. Do not use headers or add page numbering.
  • Please use a serif type to format your short story. (i.e. Times Roman, Georgia, Garamond, Courier).

Inquires and questions should be directed to HorrorQuarterly@gmail.com" style="color: #A7B3E3; text-decoration: underline;"> HorrorQuarterly@gmail.com.

Good luck and have fun, but stay scared!

 

PUB: Electronic Village: Call For Papers: International Men's Day

Call For Papers: International Men's Day

Over 50 nations throughout our global village will observe International Men’s Day under the theme “Giving Boys The Best Possible Start In Life” on Saturday, November 19, 2011.

Created in 1999 by Dr. Jerome Teelucksingh, a faculty member in the History Department at the University of West Indies in Trinidad and Tobago, International Men’s Day celebrates and honors the sacrifices that men make to our families, communities, and our world. International Men’s Day shares a 48-hour partnership with Universal Children’s Day which is observed worldwide on 20 November of each year and is endorsed by the United Nations.

To commemorate 2011 International Men’s Day, In Search of Fatherhood has issued a CALL FOR PAPERS and welcomes submissions from educators, CEOs, legislators, legal professionals, law enforcement professionals, Fatherhood and Men’s Issues Practitioners and Advocates, health care professionals and providers, social entrepreneurs, religious leaders, social services professionals and providers, journalists, family and marriage therapists, members of the judiciary, and students which, among other things, design new initiatives or identify existing initiatives which provide a blueprint for how we can give “Boys The Best Possible Start In Life” throughout our global village.

The initiatives should address one of the following five challenges which have been identified as areas that are problematic for boys and young males throughout our global village:

  1. EDUCATIONAL FOCUS: Why are boys in richer countries underperforming girls and also less likely to be in education, and why are tens of millions of boys in poorer countries still not completing a primary education? How can we address truancy, and poor literacy rates which leave boys prone to adult unemployment, substance abuse, obesity, depression, and poverty? What action can we take to focus on boys’ education in way that gives them the best possible start in life and closes the gaps between girls and boys and rich boys and poor boys?
  2. HEALTH AND LIFE EXPECTANCY: Why are boys around the world more likely to die before the age of five and why do boys in every continent look forward to a much shorter life than girls? What are the reasons for boy’s higher likelihood of suicide? What action can we take to give boys the best possible start in life and help them live longer, happier, healthier lives?
  3. REAL LIFE CHOICES: How can we make sure that every boy has opportunities to make a range of positive life choices in terms of work, family and leisure and reduce the number of boys whose life choices are limited and end up poor, illiterate, unemployed, homeless, imprisoned and isolated? What action can we make to help every boy get the best possible start in life and make a positive transition form boy to man that makes the world a better place for everyone? 
  4. RIGHTS TO FATHERHOOD: How can we give boys a right to family life that gives them an equal opportunity to know and experience both their father and mother and ensure that their role as a future father is equal to a girls role as future mother. What actions can we take to give every boy an equal right to fatherhood?
  5. TOLERANCE OF VIOLENCE: Why are we so tolerant of violence and abuse against men and boys and why do we still tolerate a world where we send boys to fight the wars among adults? What actions can we take to help boys’ grow up free from violence and challenge our collective tolerance and support of violence against men and boys?
Submissions should be sent via e-mail to D.A. Sears, Managing Editor – IN SEARCH OF FATHERHOOD.  Inquiries can be made by telephone at (267) 581-3963.

 

 

PUB: So, You Think You Can Write? Win $750 for 750 words!!! - Menzies House

So, You Think You Can Write? Win $750 for 750 words!!!

Menzies House is excited to announce our newest competition: $750 for 750 words! 

That's right, we are offering a prize of $750 for what we deem the best blog post written by a young centre-right Australian that is submitted to us in the next two months. But wait, there's more! In addition to this, we will also be awarding a $250 prize for a People's Choice award for the best submission - voted upon by you, our readers! 

Unlike other writing contests that require essays of many thousands of words, and have specific questions to address, our contest is simple and easy. Just write us a post on something that is topical and/or interests you, and, if yours is the best, you'll win! And even if you don't win, you may still receive an Honourable Mention prizes! 

This is a great opportunity for all centre-right young Australians, and we strongly encourage you all to enter! Many times!

We would also like to specifically thank all of our donors and advertisers (in particular Candelori's Ristorante and Bar and ANDIKA Financial Services) for making this possible. 

The Rules:

1)You must be under the age of 30 to enter.

2)You must be either an Australian Citizen or currently residing in Australia.

3)Submissions must be received by 5:00pm AEST July 31. Winners will be announced Monday August 8. 

4)Submissions must be broadly compatible with and relevant to the conservative-libertarian fusionist/centre-right beliefs of Menzies House, namely small government, individual freedoms and free markets. 

5)If the submission is deemed suitible for publication, Menzies House shall publish it at a time deemed appropriate - specifically, we will be publishing pieces as they are submitted, we shall not be waiting until after the competition is closed. 

6)The winner of the Editor's Choice award is ineligible for the People's Choice Award. If the winner of the People's Choice award is the same as the winner of the Editor's Choice award, then the prize shall go to the runner up. 

7)No prizes shall be awarded if fewer than 30 persons enter the contest

8)Submissions must be sent exclusively to Menzies House, and may not be republished in any form without the prior consent of Menzies House. 

9)Persons may enter the competition up to a maximum of 10 times. 

10)Menzies House reserves the right to not award the prize if no submission is deemed worthy, and also to modify the terms of the competition if deemed necessary. 

So, what are you waiting for? Think you can write? Then email a submission to tandrews@menzieshouse.com.au - easy money awaits! 

 UPDATE: Our apologies for not mentioning it in this post, however, to conform to our general editorial policy, could all submissions please be accompanied by a display photo of the author and a 2 line bio. Thank you, and we apologise for the inconvenience. 

 

OP-ED: The Invisibility of The Black Atheist > Words of Wrath

The Invisibility of

The Black Atheist

 

It can be argued that in most African American communities it is more acceptable to be a criminal who believes in God and goes to church on Sunday while selling drugs to kids all week than to be an atheist who has a good job, a good education, who contributes to society and supports his family. In these communities you find more tolerance towards gangbangers, drug addicts, and prostitutes, who pray to God for forgiveness than for honest productive citizens who deny the existence of God. This, for me, is one of the most embarrassing elements of Black culture, our zealous embracement of the God of our kidnappers, murderers, slavemasters and oppressors.

That may seem harsh, perhaps even racist, yet I am not stating my opinion of the White race. In fact, I bear no grudge toward the descendebts of our enslavers. Few who know me would imagine otherwise. I am merely stating a fact. None of the African Americans crowding the churches today would be there had we not been dragged from our homeland in chains and forced into church pews at the end of a gun and the tip of a lash. None of us would be Christians today had we not also once been slaves.

Even now thousands of people starving in Africa find that their only relief comes from Christian Missionaries and other “faith-based” charities at the expense of being preached to and converted. Food for minds as it were. Under threat of starvation and lack of medication they flock to these charitable organizations for relief and come out with medicine, sometimes clothing, food in their bellies, and a bible in their hands. Some may see nothing wrong with this. If faith-based charities are the only ones stepping up to help these people why shouldn't they be able to push their products at the same time? The problem is that it is exploitation. They are exploiting the desperation of starving and sick men, women, and children in order to spread their faith and gain more converts.

It must be said that not all of these organizations operate in this manner. Some give without ever proselytizing. They are few however. For most their agenda is clearly set. Food, medicine, clothing, and sometimes shelter in exchange for the minds of the desperate and needy. One of the most exploited continents on earth further exploited in order to spread ignorance and intolerance, because that is what lies at the root of Christianity and most other religions.

If the Spanish Conquistadors had not invaded Mexico, murdering, raping, and pillaging in their thirst for Spanish gold, none of the unshakably devout Mexican Americans would have ever heard of Jesus Christ. Now, after having been indoctrinated into the Christian faith at the point of a sword, they are some of the most pious people on earth.

There is something so wrong in all of this. There is something unseemly about Black Americans being so thoroughly conquered right down to their very minds and spirits. I admit, I find it all rather pathetic and embarrassing. If I were being completely honest I would have to admit that I am saddened and somewhat disgusted by the very idea of a Black Christian.

It would seem to me that after having so recently escaped our slavemasters that we would have had enough of masters. I would have expected even a self-destructive relinquishment and denial of all things that had been forced upon them by their enslavers and a return to their original cultures and faiths. Or, at best, a denial of all faith and a refusal to ever bow to anyone again.

Now, I do understand that some slaves had been so thoroughly brainwashed and cut off from their former beliefs and cultures that for them this would have been nearly impossible. I understand that in a version of Stockholm Syndrome popularly known as “Tomism”, after the famous character in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, other’s had learned to love their slavemasters and coveted his life, his ways, and even his God. Others, understandably, saw how powerful their slavemasters were and sought to acquire some of his wealth and power for themselves by imitating his ways. I can understand how they would have thought that it was the White man’s God that had seemingly given him the power to enslave their entire race. This having been driven into their minds along with the idea of White superiority by the heads of the church and the bible itself, which condones making slaves of the “strangers that sojourn among you” and the “heathen races”.

What I don’t understand is how this has continued right through the Civil Rights movement and the Black power movement. How this patriarchal Master/ Slave religion could continue to be so ardently embraced by the children of slaves. What I don’t understand is how we still find ourselves praying to the great overseer in the sky even in the new millennium.

It is true that many of us did seek to leave the Christian faith in favor of more African belief systems such as Yuruba and Islam (another Abrahamic “Master /Slave” religion.) Unfortunately, too many of them returned to Christianity due to pressure from family and friends within our community, reaching out to pull them back in like crabs pulling each other back into the basket that’s heading toward the boiling pot. Others returned missing the old familiarity of the Black Church. This is the same set of circumstances now keeping those who have realized the absurdity of the God hypothesis from following their logical minds instead of their hearts. Following logic and reason often means being led away from an African American community still shackled with superstition. In my own life I have found this to be a truly frustrating and depressing situation.

My own mother is a Christian Minister. My entire family, like most American families, are very devout believers. They express their beliefs freely and unselfconsciously because they enjoy the privilege of being a member of a major majority in America. I, on the other hand, must often keep my own beliefs to myself for fear of offending anyone or alienating myself any further from the family I love. This is a mere microcosm of what the Black atheists must face in regards to his entire culture.

The prevalence of Christian ideology in Black Culture creates a very difficult dilemma for a Black Atheist. Our skepticism must often remain hidden for fear of exclusion. When religion comes up we tend to stay mum or quickly change the subject. Those who are more vocal soon find themselves ostracized and isolated. When it comes to our relationships with the opposite sex we often find our choices limited by mates who are looking for a “good Christian man” or woman. Community activism, particularly Civil rights groups, tend to be dominated by religious organizations, making it difficult for an admitted atheist to even participate in any organized way in the betterment of the race. Politics, likewise, are dominated by the religious-minded. If you expect the Black vote than you had better be a Christian.

In his own family it is even worse for the Black atheist. Black families tend to be extremely matriarchal. This is largely due to the historically high number of Black households led by a single mother going all the way back to the times of slavery when families were often broken up on the auction block and Black men were sold away from their families. This has resulted in a bond between a Black man and his mother that is unusually strong. Black women have tended to be extremely religious as even a casual glance at the average Black church would testify to. Most Black churches, though run primarily by men, are supported almost entirely by the female members of their congregation who then force their husbands and children to attend, often under duress.

For most Black men, the idea of telling our mothers and grandmothers that we no longer believe in god, and thus breaking their hearts, is a painful situation to even contemplate. This is undoubtedly true in many cultures, but it is doubly true in the Black culture. This is one of the main reasons many Black Atheists tend to stay underground and in the closet.

Still, perhaps the biggest reason for the invisibility of the Black Atheist is that there are simply so few of us. So few Black men and women even realize that Atheism is an option. We have been so thoroughly brainwashed that the idea that perhaps God does not exist is one that most could not even contemplate. Atheism in the Black community is synonymous with Satanism. Even when a Black person begins to survey his surroundings and realizes the absurdity of a belief in an all-powerful omnibenevolent deity in light of the evil of which the world is everywhere full, he is often left to question and reason in a relative vacuum due to the stigma attached to atheism in our community. His resources are limited. He is unable to find like-minded individuals with whom to discuss his increasing doubts. Inevitably he turns to his lifelong spiritual advisors, his parents, grandparents, or the church fathers themselves to discuss his disbelief only to find his fledgling arguments battered down by dogmatic theologists and zealots and his questions dismissed with the typical and oft-refuted replies of free-will, intelligent design, and finally… faith. Unsatisfied, but afraid to speak up because he has not yet learned enough powerful counter-arguments and fears being rejected by his own community, he nods his head and feigns agreement, retreating solemnly back behind the protective veil of faith.

My goal in writing this is to let my brothers and sisters know that they are not alone in their skepticism, their doubt, and their utter disbelief. There is an increasing number of African Americans who do recognize the damage done to our people physically, intellectually, and emotionally by religion in general and Christianity in particular. There are many of us asking the questions that belief in God had presupposed, precluding the possibility of ever finding real answers. There is a growing community of Black Atheists striving to someday liberate the minds of Black Americans from the great overseer in the sky just as abolitionists long ago liberated us from the overseer in the cotton and tobacco fields.

 

 

 

REVIEW: BOOK—I Mix What I Like: A Mixtape Manifesto > Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle

The Revolution will not be Televised-it will be Remixed!

Hip Hop Colonialism versus

Emancipatory (Mixtape) Journalism

An LBS Review

I Mix What I Like: A Mixtape Manifesto
By: Jared Ball

Reviewed by Lawrence Grandpre

Young Black men are notorious for having the unrealistic expectation that they will make it out the hood by becoming rap superstars. The ubiquitous images of rappers with Benzes and Bling funneled through BET and the adulation heaped upon these rappers by many radio stations creates an environment where young people see these rappers as the epitome of what it means to “make it” in America. Unfortunately most don’t manage to fulfill this lofty ambition, and often more “realistic” (violent) alternatives become the only ways in which these kids can survive, either on the streets or through joining some armed wing of the state like the military or the police. While those from a city like Baltimore will likely have spent much time ponder this dynamic, its two components, the hip hop fantasy and the violent reality, are often theorized as separate, unrelated concepts. But what if these two mechanisms, the corporate hip-hop machine and the state’s mechanisms of control and repression, are not separate, but mutually co-constituting forces that have helped shape the modern (white supremacist) world? This is one of many tough questions tackled by Morgan State University professor Jared Ball in his new book I Mix What I Like: A Mixtape Manifesto. Ball’s book is a penetrating look at the way Black culture has become a commodity to be exploited for profit and a tool for the control of the brown masses, as corporate interest promote the vapid and tacitly racist “bling bling” archetype as the “proper” and “authentic” form of blackness while ignoring and actively suppressing hip hop artists who would use the medium for its original purpose, as a tool for consciousness raising and “emancipatory journalism”. His book reflects many of the characteristics of the music he is analyzing; powerfully emotional, politically revolutionary, intentionally disparate, occasionally discombobulating and often brilliant.

 

Dr. Jared Ball

I Mix What I Like is the kind of book best experienced while listening to your headphones at full volume, both to block out outside noise to be better able to focus on the complex political and sociological concepts presents and to capture the feel of the material by blasting N.W.A. or Dead Prez as you read along. Ball uses race theorists (primarily African revolutionary author Franz Fanon) to argue that the popularity of corporate hip hop is an extension of the American tradition of treating Black people, both their bodies and their culture, as commodities, an instantiation of the author’s larger thesis on the current state of Black America. Ball argues that Black America today is essential a separate country from White America, and that Black America is currently suffering under a form of colonialism which, while distinct in style from the European colonialism that affected Africa many other parts of the brown world, is equally as devastating. He writes: “As an expression in content and form of colonized people, hip-hop is permanently and globally seen as a problem…Imperialism requires a constant creation and re-creation of both the colonized and the colonizer and a permanent re-inscription of the rightfulness of the settler. The very purpose of popular culture and media within a colony is that it ‘reminds the settler of the reality of colonial power and, by its very existence, dispenses safety, serenity’ ” (Ball, 22-3). Ball argues that mainstream hip hop participates in this “creation of the colonized” by creating an image of people of color where they appear to “deserve their perpetual inequality”, giving the dominate culture permission to not feel guilty about the history of slavery and genocide that produced that inequality (Ball, 54). In short, the rapper with his bling simultaneously teaches Whites that Blacks aren’t poor (how else can they afford all that jewelry?) and that “authentic” Black culture values material acquisition and flash over more concrete actions like community or family. Ball puts on his academic hat to drive his point home, dropping names like Amilcar Cabral and Zbigniew Brezinski they way most rapper would shout out members of their entourage, making a strong case that there are serious political implications behind this dynamic. For example, if Blacks are not poor, and in fact are a disproportionate percentage of the world’s superstars, then all those who talk about the horrible statics facing Black America are seen as out of touch with the new “Obama era” Black America that can obviously pull itself up by its bootstrap, an argument Ball indicts by pointing out that Blacks still own the same percentage of American’s wealth they owned in the 1850s (only 1%) and by pointing out, with some sarcasm, that no rap album has every successfully brought down a housing project or stopped an instance of police brutality (Ball, 21). What we are left with is “an unending wave of propaganda, encouraging us to process all this through a perspective that assumes theses to be accidents, or worse the pathology of Black people” (Ball, 33), a sobering message the author relays in meticulous detail.

The implications go deeper than just perception, taking the reader deeper into Dr. Ball’s argument about the political implication of contemporary hip hop. Society chooses to promote and consume images of Blacks that meet their stereotypical images of them, thus ignoring that the majority of these images are artificially manufactured by the 4 companies that owns 95% of music played on the radio, company who sign artist based on a tacitly racist interpretation of what image will sell the most records. The song are then passed onto the black radio stations, most of which are owned by one company (Radio One) which often ignore most none mainstream and political rap music because their music is seen as not popular enough, industry code for them not having receive the customary bribe from record companies (known as payola), to play those songs. Like any good colony, Black America thus continues to serve as a reservoir of talents and skills that be exploited by the White America without worrying about any repercussions for the colonial regime. The images of Blacks as hyper consumptive and licentious is thus reaffirmed and remains a dominate social tropes which shape our world. For example, one can argue that there becomes less incentive to give blacks welfare because people fear Blacks will just abuse the system.

Old Dirty Bastard’s infamous appears in a limousine to get a welfare check it thus not the seen as a manifestation of the psychic trauma of a enslaved and colonized people, but proof that all Blacks are frauds, creating a political climate where it becomes harder and harder to make the case for things like increased welfare or, God forbid, reparations for slavery, because of this images of Blacks reinforced through (corporate) hip hop. Even more problematic, one can begin to see things like military recruit of young black men and Black men being shipped overseas to fight wars as a positive thing, perhaps allowing young black men to learn some sorely needed “discipline” and thus “make something of their lives”, statements that reflect the image of Black youth created through mainstream hip hop as criminals and prisoners in the making. This exemplifies Ball’s point about a final purpose of this “International Colony”; it can serve as “safety value for modern society” where by things like drugs, crime, prostitution” (and I would add the negative impacts of overseas military adventurism) can be kept far away from the “homeland”, a scandal that seems natural because the images we received from corporate hip hop makes all these things seem to have always been present in Black America (Ball, 41). Ball combines heavy hitting academic prose with quotes from hip hop artists to make his case, the two distinct forms of knowledge complementing one another and weaving together the complexities and American race relations and the music industry.

So what solution does Ball find to the mediocrity of the mainstream? Ball presents a theory Emancipatory Journalism based upon the work of Hemant Shah, arguing that the mixtape, specifically the political hip hop mixtape best exemplified by “Freemix Radio: The Original Mixtape Radio Show”, as a means to reclaim hip hop as a form of bottom up journalism about the conditions facing minority communities. Noting that 42% of all news rooms in America have no minority journalists and that even the liberal press seems woefully deficient at addressing issues relating to Black America, Ball proposes that the mixtape, a self produced album of songs created from a mixture personal recordings and samples from other sources, can circumvent the corporate media machine and create a form of communication that can reach people in the streets. He cites the example of the organization “Organized Community of United People” (or Organized COUP) as a model for the type of utilization of the mixtape he envisioned, as this progressive community organization attempted to use the creation of mixtapes as both a means of community empowerment and as a way to keep the organization self sustaining by burning and selling CDs. By generating revenue outside the corporate stream, the organization is free to create music that is responsive to the conditions of the people, no strings attached, creating a blueprint for how hip hop can be reclaimed as a form of emancipatory journalism, as Ball writes:“By interviewing people from the community who would serve as ‘official sources’ while being fact-checked from an intellectual grounding derived from those very same communities, mixtapes could provide the space for the sorts of interpretive change necessary for political activity” (Ball, 129).

There are addition benefits to this approach. For Ball this also serves as a corrective to the limited scope of mainstream reporting, not to mention engaging people through an interesting and exciting medium. This cures one the largest problems with traditional journalistic sources like National Public Radio (NPR), its tendency to use a dry academic style which to many of the people of the streets feels, as Ball quotes from DJ Ralph Cooper, “boring as fuck” (Ball, 127). Fans of A Prairie Home Companion or other NPR shows may ruffle at Ball’s frankness here, hesitant to completely abandon the possibilities of something like NPR being political and socially productive. Yet Ball’s analysis is not geared to be responsive to those who listen to Garrison Keillor, or for that matter people who even know who the hell Garrison Keillor is, but instead is geared toward the silent majority of Black people in this country, those who turn on the radio and feel something is missing, but don’t have the words to articulate that frustration, sensing a void in their consciousness that Weezy alone cannot fill. Ball steps into this void, showing the history behind why only a few choice songs get radio play, and how what we hear on the radio is far from some authentic expression of street desires, as many are taught to believe, but instead is a manufactured and artificially selected grouping of songs designed to further the interest of a select group of (almost exclusively white male) elites.

Of course, there is the matter of whether Ball’s solution will actually be effective, an issue made more acute by the fact that the organization Ball cites as a model for the mixtape revolution is not longer functioning and that he alone is the one currently keeping Freemix Radio alive. The difficulty of getting people to pay for music in an era where Limewire and torrents allow people near unlimited free access to music is an issue for his model, as well as the issue of music copyrights and increased enforcement from the Recording Industry Association of American, or RIAA, which Ball likens to the Drug Enforcement Agency, as both state intuitions use intimidation and the threat of unjustifiably long jail sentences to prevent people (predominately people of color) from selling product on the streets (Ball, 125). While proposing alternative means of dissemination, like pirate radio station that can do unmanned broadcasts over small areas, he maintains the his model is fundamentally solid, and the call to “do it better” becomes a call to find new and creative ways for those who seek to use the mixtape to enter the digital world of people of color. In a world where the increased presence of smart phones and 3/4G access means that increasing numbers of people of color are streaming audio from sites like Pandora instead of listening to traditional radio, one wonders if something like a Freemix Radio Iphone or Android app might be effective in getting ahead of the quickly shifting digital curve and getting in the ear, or in this case earphones, of the people who most need to hear what Freemix Radio has to offer. A suggestion like this might complicate some of Balls analysis; one wonders if his expressed skepticism over emancipatory uses of the internet (he argues it is increasing being locked down through regulation and is not accessible to many of the poorest and less tech savvy people on the streets) would lead him to resist such a move, or if his expressed desire to work around corporate radio and find new and interesting ways to “do it better” would make him more receptive to such a solution. Either way, his basic point remains solid,; since “no [community] enjoys the type of close knit relationship held between Black America and Black Radio” then the only way for there ever to be a wide scale emancipatory movement in the Black community is to find ways to stop Black radio from being part of the problem and instead make it a critical medium for the dissemination and development of the solution (Ball, 15).

Some may read his text and still wonder what exactly emancipatory journalism really looks like, wondering if a mixtape can replace Wolfblitzer, but this misses the point. The text itself is an example not only of emancipatory journalism, but, as AK Press editor Kate Khateb puts it, his writing style itself is like a mixtape, and thus he performs his vision of what journalism should look like. The books copious quotes and citations, 645 of them over 150 pages, perform the role the “samples” DJ cut and splice into tracks on a mixtape. It’s hard sometime to pick out specific quote from Ball himself; like any good DJ he fades into the background and lets the flow seem to carry itself, a refreshingly different approach as compared to most academics, whose grandiloquent verbosity can obscure their arguments the way DJ Clue screaming his name over the track obscures the flow. There is no pretense from the man who calls himself “The Funkiest Journalist”, just the message, one that rises above both the post modern philosophical prattle about internet open source utopias and the mainstream medias bemoaning of the nihilism of the hip hop generation. It’s a message that reaffirms the hip hop vision of people like KRS-1, Rakim and the Nas of Illmatic, and while one can lament the fact that many under the age of 18 may not know who these rappers are, we should instead be thankful that there are still those like Ball around to “carry on tradition” and show that sometimes the best way to secure the future is to look to past.

 

VIDEO: 'Negro' A Diaspora Docu-Series by Dash on Vimeo

Intro to 'Negro'
A Diaspora Docu-Series

I am embarking on a journey to explore and document the ethnic, cultural, societal, racial and self-identification dynamics of Latinos of the African Diaspora. 'Negro' A docu-series examines the complex history and present of attitudes of pigment, skin color and race in Latin America.

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Negro: A Documentary

About Afro Latinos

Earlier in the year I wrote about a documentary entitled Black in Latin America by Henry Louis Gates Jr., which aired on PBS.  Since then I have been absolutely fascinated with my fellow cousins of the African-Diaspora.  I came across the following documentary at The Beautiful Struggler and I just had to share it with you.

<p>Negro: Rio de Janeiro "It's Bad to Be Black in the World" from Dash Harris on Vimeo.</p>

Negro: Rio de Janeiro "It's Bad to Be Black in the World" from Dash Harris onVimeo.


What is this about?
‘Negro’ is a documentary series borne of my life-long interest of the African Diaspora in Latin America.  The entire Latino culture would not come to exist if it were not for African slaves and the mixing of European and indigenous people in these countries. The African bloodline and lineage is often shunned, unacknowledged or buried for a more comfortable mainstream acceptance of what ‘Latino’ is. Latinos are not a monolith. There is no one look or concept of race for us. We are as diverse as the colors of the rainbow.

I am Black Latino and I have deeply felt this population of people have been invisible for so long. The current state of racial dynamics among Latinos is a vey tangled one, and the ignorance and rejection of Latino history is unfortunate. It is time to change mentalities, educate and celebrate. This Diaspora docu-series explores the history and present attitudes of race, color, self identification and social interaction among Latinos from Latinos themselves. Through candid interviews you will see the good, the bad, the ugly and the absolute beauty of Latinos’ perceptions of their culture.

Why is this Docu-Series Important?

The docu-series aims to unite. Through interviews, research, authentic slice of life and a journey through several Latin America countries, my aim is to shed truth and light about how the rich Latino culture came to exist and flourish; how pigmentation shapes attitudes and has fostered discord. Finally, it is to offer insight into a present and future united global community through awareness, acceptance and appreciation.

How can I do this?

Connecting with people. I have gotten the ball rolling on this with the first installment in Rio de Janeiro but there are so many other countries to cover. I will travel to 3-6 countries in Latin America (North, Central and South America)  within a month to get authentic interviews from natives of Latin American countries. I believe so much in this documentary, I left my job to pursue this full-time to dedicate my time, focus and energy into making it as great as I know it can be.

How can you help?

I need your help and generosity to help fund the travel, equipment, production and post production costs. I want to do this docu-series justice and tell the stories as flawlessly as possible. I am pouring my heart and soul into this. This being my life-long dream to be able to tell the true story of such a beautiful people.

Thank you so so much for your time, donations and belief in this project.

Dash has set up a Kickstarter page to try and raise funds for her project. If you can donate anything, please check it out and share this with others. She is an amazing young woman and this is an exciting opportunity for a Black woman to tell important stories.

 

ECONOMICS: Too Big to Fail: Inside America’s Economic Downfall

Most call it one of the biggest financial crises in living memory. Others call it one great big Ponzi scheme. Whatever you want to call it, a bunch of people lost a bunch of money and the world of high finance may never be the same. But don’t worry – that doesn’t mean that we’ve fixed all these problems or punished the people responsible. It just means that next time you can’t get a loan or a higher credit limit, the banks will have an excuse.

Who Started It?

TooBigToFail Dan 062411 FINAL Too Big to Fail: Inside Americas Economic Downfall

Our “most unwanted” list includes guys like Martin Feldstein. He was an economics professor at a little school called Harvard (maybe you’ve heard of it) and served as Ronald Reagan’s Chief Economic Advisor. He was a major architect in Reagan’s deregulation scheme (which is either the best thing ever in the world to some political views, or the worst thing in the world to others).

Alan Greenspan is also responsible, some believe. He was paid $40,000 to testify on behalf of extreme bank looter Charles Keating. Greenspan spoke of his “sound business plans” and “expertise.” Of course, these kind words didn’t come for free.

Robert Rubin was the Treasury Secretary and also a former CEO of Goldman Sachs. He teamed with Larry Summers to get Congress to pass the “Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act.” Whatever that did, he went and used it to make $126 million as Vice Chairman of CitiGroup.

Last up is Larry Summers, who also served as Treasury Secretary. Another Harvard economics professor (not looking good for that place). He was another key player in deregulation and also helped create derivatives, the trading of which was a major contributing factor to the financial collapse.

Companies and Their (Illegal) Activities

With all the time giant financial corporations spend doing shady and downright illegal things, it’s a wonder that they have any time left to do…whatever it is that they are actually supposed to do. Let’s take a look at some notable post-deregulation antics of those wacky corporations:

JP Morgan: Bribed government officials

Riggs: Laundered money for Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet (a military leader – for those who don’t know – who led a coup in Chile and was said to have brutally crushed, killed, and interred all who opposed his illegal regime)

Credit Suisse: Laundered money for Iran in violation of US sanctions

Freddie Mac: Accounting fraud

Fannie Mae: Accounting fraud (which, in this case, means overstating their earnings by 10 billion over ten years, which is NOT the same as slightly exaggerating your salary to impress someone at the bar)

UBS: Fraud

ENRON: Fraud – Citibank, JP Morgan, and Merrill Lynch tried to help conceal the fraud

Of course, this is just the beginning.  Review the infographic to see how, exactly, the economic crisis of 2008 occurred and you be the judge: who’s to blame? Are we out of the dark yet? And are we making the right choices now?