A Hip Hop Head (I think) Half-Blasts "Scream!"

With so many great reviews of Somebody Scream, for this go 'round I'd like to give shine to a not-so positive review from the online mag Cooleh (never heard of it). But anyway, seems writer C. Benz, while impressed with the history, was not impressed with the delivery. Hey, Benz, I'll try harder next time, juuuust for you...Jes kiddin'. Thanks for the honesty, though.

An Obama-nation on Black Fathers and Black Responsibility

Seems that if black folks can't take a little heart-felt and good-spirited criticism from legendary black comedians, then they should definitely look forward to it coming from the White House. That is if Barack gets in. For Father's Day, the presidential hopeful made a speech at Chicago's largest black church blasting black America on a number of its social ills. Among those: black fathers who won't except responsibility and raise their children.

"They have abandoned their responsibilities, acting like boys instead of men. And the foundations of our families are weaker because of it."

And the pathology of underachievement and mediocrity:

“Don’t get carried away with that eighth-grade graduation... You’re supposed to graduate from eighth grade.”

In a New York Times, piece on the speech reporter Julie Bosman made an observant note that on the campaign trail last February Obama took a mostly-black audience to task on the issue of nutrition:

“I know how hard it is to get kids to eat properly,” Mr. Obama said. “But I also know that folks are letting our children drink eight sodas a day, which some parents do, or, you know, eat a bag of potato chips for lunch. Buy a little desk or put that child at the kitchen table. Watch them do their homework.”

Now, don't get me wrong. I, too, think the panacea for what ails black folks, in part, is a healthy dose of do-for-self and take-responsibility-for-self. But I find it very interesting that there is no—and will be no— uproar from black public intellectuals over Barack's very public chastisement of those in the black lower class. Especially from Michael Eric Dyson, who's based part of his hype around publicly browbeating Bill Cosby for the infamous pound cake speech. After all, there's no difference from what the Cos' said and what Barack is saying...Or is it? Is it that since he's running for president and Dyson is one of his celebrity supporters. (And, oh, there's no book money to be made or street cred in trashing a black man who might win the highest office in the country.)

Either way, it's been every interesting to see the growth of the get-off-your-asses-black-people-movement that seems to be catching on in the 21st Century (thanks, Million Man March). It's gonna be even more interesting to see the public reaction to a black man living at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue saying, "Niggas, please get it together."

Hoping Obama Kills Hip-Hop

With all the pundits projecting what an Obama White House might mean,Slate blogger Mickey Klaus hopes it will mean the death of hip hop:

Will Obama Kill Bling? Mary Battiata thinks maybe. ... Now that she mentions it, I kind of hope Obama's election will kill off much of hip-hop, at least the gangsta-inspired parts. But just killing off bling and gangsta fashion would be a start. ...

The comment was Klaus's reaction to Mary Battiata's piece in the Huffington Post where she hopes Obama's conservative fashion sense will trickle down to young, Negroes on the corners with their baggy pants and their underwhelming sense of self to inspire them to step-up their wardrobe. Like popular black politicians or civil rights leaders have EVER changed black fashion with a wave of their hand? ( Martin Luther King's suits or hard denim outfits didn't set off any fashion trends). That's because the civil rights movement was a political movement. Now the black power movement...that set off trends. Huey and Bobby and the Panthers nationalized the "righteous nigga on the corner" look with black leather blazer, scruffy afro, and the no-joke facial expression. Ron Karenga and Us set off the African garb craze and Kawanzaa. The Black Arts Movement changed the direction of black poetry and play wrighting. That's because black power dealt with culture. And it was culture that would not only trickle down to the black masses, but would cross over to the white majority (one result would be Radical Chic—thanks Mr. Wolf— and the other would be white folks "giving five" and hip-bumps on the Flip Wilson Show). The cultural exchange, along with that good ole civil rights legislation would give rise to the promise of Jesse Jackson becoming the first serious candidate for pres.

Which brings me to my point. As much as folks want to continuously bash hip-hop and the colored generation(black and brown) that spread it, they need to also understand that the popularization of that movement is what helped make an Obama possible. What initially set Obama's primary run a blaze was a new generation of young white folks, weaned on NWA, Public Enemy, Tupac, Snoop, and the urban souls of black folks. For this new generation, the idea of an African-American running things wasn't foreign (hell, young blacks have been telling them how to dress and speak for over 15 years) and they could totally relate to the idea of a black politician saying, in a sense, "keep it real" (forgive me for using a deathly overused term). This discussion could be looked at from a multitude of angles, but I don't have the time right now (maybe another entry). But the influence of hip hop on the phenomenon of Obama has as many positive effects as the negatives folks want to heap on it.

Somebody Scream, The Radio show, Is Coming Back For the Takeover

Sorry, I haven't posted since Barack's "presumptive nomination. It wasn't that I was so overwhelmed with the victory, I just had my hands full with my newborn son (is 3 months still considered newborn...Hmmmm). But anyway...Just got word that WBAI will be doing another Hip Hop Takeover weekend on August 30. And, as a part of the the block of programming, I will, once again, be hosting my hour-long talk/music mix show, Somebody Scream (yes, I named the show after my book. Gots to cross promote.) Since this year's theme of the HH Takeover will be the election—politics basically—my show, in between the mix of classic hip hop musak, I will have a high-powered panel of guests to discuss much-anticipated presidential contest and OOOOOObama. Given that I've fashioned my show into a kind McLaughlin Group for Generation Hip Hop, guests will be writers and scribes of the generation. Currently, I'm firming out my list of in-studio guests, and when I get the details hammered out, they will definitely be posted (if you have questions you might want asked and answered please feel free send them to me).

As this is the second installment of Somebody Scream, I want to give a shout-out and another huge thanks to DJ Max Jerome for making my show possible. After twice having me as a guest on his Last Hip Hop Show (also a part of the HH Takeover), he suggested I have my own show. He got me to shake hands with the right person, and Viola! In a business where folks are always hoarding the blessings, it's great to meet folks who helping you make the connection....And lastly, I want to thank Mimi Valdés Ryan, Michael A. Gonzales, and Chloé Hilliard for adding their voices to the first installment of my show.

Stay tuned....

Graf-wii-ti

Martin Lihs, working on his Master's Thesis at Bauhaus University in Weimar, has developed a modified Wii controller with which one could practice tagging inside on rainy days. As his thesis is not yet complete, full specs have not been made public, but Lihs suggests about the next version that he's

planning to build a new spraycan with more functions and also an advanced software with collaborative spraying option, different caps, different colours…. and maybee different Sprayers make an appointment and create grafitties together: online!

Controllers might be ready for Christmas, but I guess Santa Claus won't bring you one if you've been defacing public property.

Obama Knocked "Em Out!

As has been the case with Obama's run for the nomination, history just keeps getting made. And with his win of the Democratic nomination for president, the ultimate historical moment occurred (next to actually getting elected). It was a moment where common sense trumped race, where a deep and genuine need for a new direction overcame the well-worn script of a political dynasty and divisive tactics of race used by white politicians. I'll have more to say during the presidential race. Right now, I'm speechlesss.....

Crack is Wack, But So Were Crack Laws

The Washington Post Magazine profiles former drug dealer Michael Short, putting a face on the unfair drug laws of the 1980's.

As he navigated traffic from his girlfriend's house in Charles County and boarded the subway to Capitol Hill, he braced himself for the inevitable questions, the scrutiny of his crime, the dissection of his punishment. His commutation had taken half a dozen years to materialize and, by Mike's calculation, had shaved only six months off the time he would have served. He had spent more years in prison than many murderers.

He arrived at the basement room in the Rayburn House Office Building a half-hour early and looked around, taking in the raised dais, the plaque that said "Ways and Means." He might have spent this drizzly morning at the Greenbelt health club where he had recently landed a job as a personal trainer. Instead, he was here, wondering what was meant by the term "majority whip" and hoping that he wouldn't stutter.

The room slowly filled with the most sympathetic crowd he would encounter all day: lawyers, ex-prisoners and advocates who believed that federal crack cocaine laws were unfair and had gathered to lobby for new ones. The subcommittee hearing would not take place until afternoon; this was just a practice session to give Mike and other lobbyists some last-minute pointers. Someone handed him a big red button that said, "CRACK the disparity," a reference to the vast difference in prison terms to which crack and powder cocaine offenders are sentenced. He pinned it to his shirt.

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, a Democrat from Texas who has introduced a bill to remedy the disparity, walked to the lectern. An imposing woman in an emerald green suit, she wondered aloud what America's founders would have thought, had they been able to look into the future and see how many times the country fell short of its ideals.

Click here for the rest.