Plato And A Platypus.....

Here's a review of a book that I'm currently reading. The book is entitled "Plato and a Platypus Walk Into A Bar". Great book! -Papa Robbie







Pop Matters - by Rachel Balik

There’s a concept in Metaphysics called “emergence”. It is used to discuss, among other things, a mysterious process that make a collection of meaningless parts join together to become a being we recognize. For example, if arms, kidneys, fingernails, and even brains do not constitute a person without each other, what is the element that definitively unites them as human being.


Similarly, in Plato and a Platypus Walk Into A Bar, some kind of dorky jokes and some shallowly explicated philosophy emerge to become a rather charming and engaging collection that feels a bit like a warm fuzzy blanket for nerds, or anyone else who needs an excuse to laugh at relatively tame jokes. The philosophy of the book is easily understood in the small chunks, and in turn, it brings a bit of gravitas to a collection of delectable but completely cheesy jokes.
The philosophical concepts are neatly and lightly juxtaposed with jokes that successfully illustrate them. Part of the fun of the book is realizing just how much philosophy contributes to jokes we’ve already heard, but also makes a subtler point about how both philosophy and jokes attack the meaning of what it is to be human. Most people know that’s philosophy’s goal, but they may believe that fully grasping it is impossible. Many who feel that philosophy is not for them, or is incredibly esoteric, will be eased into by the realization that in fact, it’s as natural a commentary on our lives as humans as jokes about boobs are.


Perhaps what’s most essential about the book is not that it proves that philosophy is the impetus behind jokes, but that it proves that philosophy is like humor. The authors tend to match each paragraph or few paragraphs of philosophical inquiry with a joke that illustrates it. To borrow some formal logic, this seems to imply a causal relationships: If philosophy, then Jokes. But the truer explanation of what’s at work here is: If alive, then philosophy and/or jokes.

Even those of us who don’t consider ourselves great ponderers of the human condition may realize that in telling jokes, we’re subtly teasing ourselves into testing what it is we truly know. To be Buddhist-minded about it: life is tough. We need to find ways of getting ourselves through it, and for some that’s philosophy while for others, it’s humor. For readers of this book, it may likely be both.

To be fair (and state the obvious), it’s stronger as a book of jokes than it is as a collection of philosophy. You may find yourself reading and think, “Kant is easy! Everyone said Kant was hard to understand, but this is simple, cute and funny.” Well, caveat emptor: that joke about the doctor who can’t see the invisible man only touches the tip of the a priori ice berg.


The real genius revealed here lies not that which is in the mind of the German philosophers, but rather in the minds of the authors. Anyone with a rigorous understanding of the philosophical theories discussed will inevitably be impressed that Cathcart and Klein so adeptly made these fascinating and nearly abstract connections and juxtapositions. (Someone less educated might incorrectly assume that she now understands Kant.)


That being said, a philosopher (with a robust sense of humor) will probably get a good healthy laugh and even some food for thought based on their interesting method of tying together these two disparate methods of enquiry. In addition to some good jokes, there are a few legitimately engaging questions raised. For example, is a joke about a man who marries a woman based on the size of her breasts alone an anti-feminist joke, or an anti-chauvanist joke? Would new age philosophers be embarrassed or annoyed if they heard the joke about aliens stopping on earth to discover bagels—and recommending cream cheese?
In other words, the book, like philosophy and like most jokes, vacillates between sincerity and complete irreverence. However, it never feels irrelevant, and given that it’s sole topics are philosophy and jokes, that’s quite an achievement. The jokes become more important when couched in terms of philosophy, and the philosophy grows more contemporary because it’s described as the father of humor. Jokes feel smarter and philosophy feels easier.
Ultimately, humor, not philosophy, is the take home message. It’s obviously funny (almost giggle out loud funny) to imagine philosophy and jokes smushed together in the same book. It’s a philosophical idea as well, and as the authors are both philosophy majors, they no doubt recognize that humor can provide insight to philosophers.
But at the end of the day, while I wanted to retell all the jokes I read, even as a philosophy major myself, I was hard-pressed to remember any of the concrete ideologies. I half-jokingly said that I decided to read it because I thought it would prepare for me graduate school in the fall. While it did prepare me for school in that it affirmed my incredibly quirky tastes, it also reminded me of just how cavernous and complex philosophy can be. Ha.Ha.Ha.

Roy C.

Today I had the opportunity to speak with a legendary rhythm & blues artist who hasn't received the respect that I think he deserves. We spoke for 45 minutes about various things...religion, politics & of course music. The brother is deep & I LOVE his music. He is one of the last of the real SOUL singers. GIVE HIM HIS PROPS!










Roy C (alternatively Roy-C or Roy "C") (born Roy Charles Hammond, 1939, Newington, Georgia), is an American southern soul singer, songwriter and record executive, best known for his 1965 hit, "Shotgun Wedding".


He began singing tenor with The Genies, a vocal group in Long Beach, Long Island, who were offered a recording contract by the record producer, Bob Shad. Their first single, "Who's That Knockin'", reached #72 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1958,[1] with Claude Johnson (later of the duo Don and Juan) on lead vocal. The group then moved to Atlantic Records, with Hammond taking over as lead singer, but their recordings were not released, and he was drafted into the Air Force.

When he returned to New York in 1965, Hammond organised a studio session to record his own song, "Shotgun Wedding", and released it under the name of Roy Hammond on his own Hammond label, before leasing it to the larger Black Hawk Records under the name Roy C. The record, with its novelty ricochet opening and relatively risqué subject matter for the time, reached #14 on the national R&B chart.[1] It had even greater success when issued in the UK, reaching #6 on the UK Singles Chart in 1966 and #8 when reissued in 1972.[2] His first album was That Shotgun Wedding Man (1966) on Ember Records.[1]

After some unsuccessful follow-ups on the Shout label, Hammond started another new label, Alaga. Working with guitarist J. Hines, he had more success with "Got To Get Enough (Of Your Sweet Love Stuff)" making the R&B charts in 1971. Two years later he signed for Mercury Records, and had another R&B hit with "Don't Blame The Man". He also released an album, Sex and Soul, and several more minor hit singles. He stayed with Mercury for several years, until label bosses took exception to his outspoken political stance in songs, like "Great Great Grandson of A Slave".[citation needed]

Since 1979 he has continued to release a string of soul singles and albums, on his own Three Gems record label, initially based in New York and later in Allendale, South Carolina. Hammond composed most of his recordings and has more than 125 titles to his credit.[1] He recorded an album by ex-Temptation Dennis Edwards entitled Talk to Me, and also worked on a CD by Bobby Stringer.[1] Hammond also runs his own record shop in Allendale, called Carolina Record Distributors.

In 1998, Shaggy sampled Roy C's "Love Me, Love Me" on the soundtrack of the movie, How Stella Got Her Groove Back.[1] Equally, Hammond released an album entitled Stella Lost Her Groove in March 1999.[3]

There is currently a documentary being made about Roy C. It is titled Roy C. Forever. For more information on the film visit:

www.roycforever.blogspot.com

Study Says Hip-Hop Dumbs Listeners Down

Truth & Substance
Study Says Hip-Hop Dumbs Listeners Down
03.16.2009
Tolu Olorunda



"Those who are esteemed umpires of taste, are often persons who have acquired some knowledge of admired pictures or sculptures, and have an inclination for whatever is elegant; but if you inquire whether they are beautiful souls, and whether their own acts are like fair pictures, you learn that they are selfish and sensual. Their cultivation is local, as if you should rub a log of dry wood in one spot to produce fire, all the rest remaining cold. Their knowledge of the fine arts is some study of rules and particulars, or some limited judgment of color or form which is exercised for amusement or for show."
--Emerson, Ralph Waldo. Selected Essays. New York: Peoples Book Club, 1949, pp. 253.

In a recent study conducted by Virgil Griffiths, a PhD student in California, Hip-Hop music listeners are portrayed as unintelligent and intellectually deficient. The independent study, titled "Music That Makes You Dumb," found that those who listen to Lil’ Wayne, T.I., Kanye West, Jay-z and Ludacris (the usual suspects) are, essentially, dumb. On the contrary, listening to Beethoven, U2, Bob Dylan, Counting Crows and Sufjan Stevens displays intellectual sophistication. Excuse my coarseness: BULLS**T! We’ve been through this before. We need not pretend otherwise. For how long do we entertain these barrages of insults, before responding back?

From the early days of Hip-Hop’s christening, to this very moment, there have been those—and they are certainly in no short supply—who have tried to diminish its cultural value, and render it unworthy of critical evaluation. Their primary aim is to discredit Rap music as an art-form, by focusing squarely, and disproportionately, on the more negative elements it produces. Those detractors claim that Hip-Hop culture/music cannot be celebrated with the kind of scholarly discipline other music genres enjoy, because of its unorthodoxy and irreverence. Every conscientious musicologist is aware of this trend, as it concerns Black music. For those who think this uncritical obsession with Black art began with Hip-Hop, think again.

As far back as the early 20th century, critics of Jazz music were questioning its validity. An article dating back to August 1921, published in Ladies Home Journal, asked the question: "Does Jazz Put the Sin in Syncopation?" It began with the eerie suggestion that "an entirely different type of music might invoke savage instincts." The writer sought to qualify her argument, with claims that Jazz "disorganizes all regular laws and order; it stimulates to extreme deeds, to a breaking away from all rules and conventions; it is harmful and dangerous, and its influence is wholly bad." Sound familiar? Deriding it as "an influence for evil," the article went as far as laying some unfound scientific foundation for its indictment on Jazz: "A number of scientific men who have been working on experiments in musico-therapy with the insane, declare that while regular rhythms and simple tones produce a quieting effect on the brain of even a violent patient, the effect of jazz on the normal brain produces an atrophied condition on the brain cells of conception, until very frequently those under the demoralizing influence of the persistent use of syncopation, combined with inharmonic partial tones, are actually incapable of distinguishing between good and evil, right and wrong." It is imperative that Hip-Hop listeners are aware of this history, for it helps provide some context to the endless excuses given by those who regard Hip-Hop as musically insolvent.

Hip-Hop, since its inception, has worn a cloak of suspicion, and this makes it even more challenging to accept the sudden interest it has accumulated over the last decade. Those who, three decades earlier, characterized it as another variation of “Jungle music,” are the same suits who, today, sign the checks of many successful Hip-Hop artists. More than the question of legitimacy, however, Hip-Hop has been heavily criticized for its alleged anti-intellectualism stance. It is said to covet ignorance, unlimitedly. It’s most vocal antagonists are skillful in examining the extreme elements in the culture, and using those unfortunate seeds as the general evaluation of the fruits it bears.

What I hope to ask these esteemed scholars is if they ever heard of a Rapper by the name of Canibus. If they haven’t, it might help to familiarize themselves with him. They might be surprised to hear Canibus draw, without so much as breaking a sweat, on the essays of philosophers ranging from David Hume, to Socrates, to Michel Montaigne, to Descartes. They might find it curious to hear him mention the names of renowned physicists, such as Leó Szilárd and Niels Bohr. They might be dumbfounded by his of knowledge of historical landmarks, all the way from the Rose Line, to Mount Hermon, to the Library of Alexandria. Perhaps they might be amazed to hear his incorporation of Elizabethan poetry in his songs. I’m wondering if they might be astounded by his hypothesis that, "if you take a glass of water then add two cubes of ice," because "you should see the cup’s water level slightly rise," it begs the question: "if you remove every living animal out of the sea, then wouldn’t the world’s ocean water level decrease?" His theory that "this means the planet wasn’t three-quarters of water," should invalidate all studies suggesting an intelligence-deficit in Hip-Hop listeners/artists. More important, is the reality that Canibus is but a sea in the vast ocean of Hip-Hop artistry, which, as KRS-One repeatedly contends, "reign supreme" in their philosophical depth and poetic proficiency.

What intentional/unintentional critics like Virgil Griffiths fail to realize, is that their inability to celebrate the educational contributions of Hip-Hop lies in the inherent assumption that Hip-Hop’s uniqueness is a bad thing. They fail to recognize that, as Dr. Janice Hale put it succinctly, "different DOES NOT mean deficient." Ralph Waldo Emerson, in his essay on "The Poet," dated 1844, makes a similar point, asserting that "the same man, or society of men, may wear one aspect to themselves and their companions, and a different aspect to higher intelligences." These "higher intelligences" have, unfortunately, convinced themselves, that Hip-Hop’s refusal to adapt to the rigid mechanical standards of organized rhythm is a signifier of its inferiority. This tragic and misleading concept, is what inspires the kind of study Mr. Griffiths conducted.

The easiest thing to do, as Griffiths proudly did, is reduce Hip-Hop to the stereotypical representations and dialogical presentations seen on entertainment TV channels, and heard on radio stations. It’s convenient to summarize Hip-Hop by the loose antics of Lil’ Wayne, Ludacris or Kanye West. It’s effortless to see Hip-Hop through the prism of the one-sided, mono-syllabic, unilateral content entertained on mainstream channels. Alongside being convenient and effortless, however, it’s also a cowardly deed, and, according to a Hip-Hop scholar, an indicator of unfettered ignorance. Wake up Griffiths, the bells are calling!

Keeping Them Dumbed Down?

The Educational System Was Designed to Keep Us Uneducated and Docile

By Patrick Grimm
Tuesday, March 3, 2009


It’s no secret that the US educational system doesn’t do a very good job. Like clockwork, studies show that America’s schoolkids lag behind their peers in pretty much every industrialized nation. We hear shocking statistics about the percentage of high-school seniors who can’t find the US on an unmarked map of the world or who don’t know who Abraham Lincoln was.

Fingers are pointed at various aspects of the schooling system—overcrowded classrooms, lack of funding, teachers who can’t pass competency exams in their fields, etc. But these are just secondary problems. Even if they were cleared up, schools would still suck. Why? Because they were designed to.

How can I make such a bold statement? How do I know why America’s public school system was designed the way it was (age-segregated, six to eight 50-minute classes in a row announced by Pavlovian bells, emphasis on rote memorization, lorded over by unquestionable authority figures, etc.)? Because the men who designed, funded, and implemented America’s formal educational system in the late 1800s and early 1900s wrote about what they were doing.

Almost all of these books, articles, and reports are out of print and hard to obtain. Luckily for us, John Taylor Gatto tracked them down. Gatto was voted the New York City Teacher of the Year three times and the New York State Teacher of the Year in 1991. But he became disillusioned with schools—the way they enforce conformity, the way they kill the natural creativity, inquisitiveness, and love of learning that every little child has at the beginning. So he began to dig into terra incognita, the roots of America’s educational system.

In 1888, the Senate Committee on Education was getting jittery about the localized, non-standardized, non-mandatory form of education that was actually teaching children to read at advanced levels, to comprehend history, and, egads, to think for themselves. The committee’s report stated, “We believe that education is one of the principal causes of discontent of late years manifesting itself among the laboring classes.”

By the turn of the century, America’s new educrats were pushing a new form of schooling with a new mission (and it wasn’t to teach). The famous philosopher and educator John Dewey wrote in 1897:

Every teacher should realize he is a social servant set apart for the maintenance of the proper social order and the securing of the right social growth.


In his 1905 dissertation for Columbia Teachers College, Elwood Cubberly—the future Dean of Education at Stanford—wrote that schools should be factories “in which raw products, children, are to be shaped and formed into finished products…manufactured like nails, and the specifications for manufacturing will come from government and industry.”

The next year, the Rockefeller Education Board—which funded the creation of numerous public schools—issued a statement which read in part:

In our dreams…people yield themselves with perfect docility to our molding hands. The present educational conventions [intellectual and character education] fade from our minds, and unhampered by tradition we work our own good will upon a grateful and responsive folk. We shall not try to make these people or any of their children into philosophers or men of learning or men of science. We have not to raise up from among them authors, educators, poets or men of letters. We shall not search for embryo great artists, painters, musicians, nor lawyers, doctors, preachers, politicians, statesmen, of whom we have ample supply. The task we set before ourselves is very simple…we will organize children…and teach them to do in a perfect way the things their fathers and mothers are doing in an imperfect way.

At the same time, William Torrey Harris, US Commissioner of Education from 1889 to 1906, wrote:

Ninety-nine [students] out of a hundred are automata, careful to walk in prescribed paths, careful to follow the prescribed custom. This is not an accident but the result of substantial education, which, scientifically defined, is the subsumption of the individual.

In that same book, The Philosophy of Education, Harris also revealed:

The great purpose of school can be realized better in dark, airless, ugly places…. It is to master the physical self, to transcend the beauty of nature. School should develop the power to withdraw from the external world.

Several years later, President Woodrow Wilson would echo these sentiments in a speech to businessmen:

We want one class to have a liberal education. We want another class, a very much larger class of necessity, to forego the privilege of a liberal education and fit themselves to perform specific difficult manual tasks.

Writes Gatto: “Another major architect of standardized testing, H.H. Goddard, said in his book Human Efficiency (1920) that government schooling was about ‘the perfect organization of the hive.’”

While President of Harvard from 1933 to 1953, James Bryant Conant wrote that the change to a forced, rigid, potential-destroying educational system had been demanded by “certain industrialists and the innovative who were altering the nature of the industrial process.”

In other words, the captains of industry and government explicitly wanted an educational system that would maintain social order by teaching us just enough to get by but not enough so that we could think for ourselves, question the sociopolitical order, or communicate articulately. We were to become good worker-drones, with a razor-thin slice of the population—mainly the children of the captains of industry and government—to rise to the level where they could continue running things.

This was the openly admitted blueprint for the public schooling system, a blueprint which remains unchanged to this day. Although the true reasons behind it aren’t often publicly expressed, they’re apparently still known within education circles. Clinical psychologist Bruce E. Levine wrote in 2001:

I once consulted with a teacher of an extremely bright eight-year-old boy labeled with oppositional defiant disorder. I suggested that perhaps the boy didn’t have a disease, but was just bored. His teacher, a pleasant woman, agreed with me. However, she added, “They told us at the state conference that our job is to get them ready for the work world…that the children have to get used to not being stimulated all the time or they will lose their jobs in the real world.”

John Taylor Gatto’s book, The Underground History of American Education: An Intimate Investigation into the Problem of Modern Schooling (New York: Oxford Village Press, 2001), is the source for all of the above historical quotes. It is a profoundly important, unnerving book, which I recommend most highly. You can order it from Gatto’s Website, which now contains the entire book online for free.

The final quote above is from page 74 of Bruce E. Levine’s excellent book Commonsense Rebellion: Debunking Psychiatry, Confronting Society (New York: Continuum Publishing Group, 2001).

Barack History Month VS Sleep RAPnea?

Barack History Month VS Sleep RAPnea?

February 11, 2009
Will the Election of President Barack Obama raise the Standard of Black People in America, while Erasing the Hip Hop version of SLEEP RAPNEA?

Writing this days before the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of The United States, it struck me we had a double remembrance day of sorts coming up. Dr Martin Luther King's birthday holiday is nationally recognized on January 19th this year, and the inauguration is the next day, January 20th. These two days ring special to me, though this ring has been tainted.

Some years I don't make resolutions: rather, I opt to make a plan. Entering 2009 has led me to reposition myself in regard to the notion of dealing with the 'truth'. Saying and telling the truth seems to have been this thing that many of my black American-born people have side-stepped these past 15 or 20 years, for the sake of maybe not being accepted into white American mainstream society - which translates into simply not being popular. I would say that the 'truth' in many cases simply is the truth and not subject to interpretation. It belongs to everybody and not just anybody. Here's my take, as a black man nearing the half-century mark next year, who's seen and heard much in his time, and who's been fortunate to have listened to many who have told me their experiences before my time.

Just on the man tip alone, my father, grandfathers, uncles, fathers of friends, father-in-law and many a male voice that has reflected their lives, opinions and times have all bent my ear and thus brain in a way that has prepared me for being twisted by the lies, hype, and myths that corrupt and damage the masses of people who look like me. That part of me ain't never changed, and is never gonna change. There's been times that I've been silent because I've been taught to let others speak, as if recognizing we are all in this together. But sometimes I forget that not everyone comes from the same dynamic that molded my senses in the first damn place, and thus that is the time to speak: to put the nonsense in check before it becomes 'common nonsense' - something that those that knew better would endorse to wipe out what was left of 'common sense' in the Clinton '90s.

I have been asked my opinion by many media across the planet about what I think regarding BARACK OBAMA, just like they're asking droves of people across the board in sports, entertainment, life itself. Some even connect some of the hysteria to some degree of separation, like Barack and Michelle's first date seeing SPIKE LEE's Do The Right Thing. OK. Or some people say that the impact of Public Enemy was a possible inspiration any black person in the late '80s and early '90s could not avoid, like maybe the Jordan Bulls or something. Again, OK. While half-agreeing to some of this pop culture residue PE left in our impression, the fact is that our music was manifold, including the fighting for equal legitimacy for rap music and hip hop, rebelling against one-sided government policies whether it was R&B (Reagan and Bush), Margaret Thatcher, an imprisoned South African - Nelson Mandela - the Berlin wall, a world history of black diaspora slavery and oppression, the local New York one-sided racist coverage and policies, and many things that required a mind and brain to go with some voices on top of some funky James Brown shit.

I know President BARACK OBAMA remembers that standard being inspirational in rap music. As a grown man meeting his future wife, Fight The Power could've meant many things, but we know this for sure: it wasn't an embarrassing aspect of culture for this grown man to take inside of himself for possible mental, maybe physical, energy. This was'nt for kids: although, unlike today's hip hop, you have the stupidity of 40 being the next 30 being the next 20, feeding and pimping off young audiences like a virtual paedophile. Even though he might say JAY Z and KANYE are on his iPod, and THE FUGEES and LAURYN HILL are in his rap heart, he doesn't have to say, nor state, that Public Enemy is somewhere in the back of his mind or even in his soul. He doesn't have to mention it. It would be redundant. He doesn't ever have to mention that he was inspired by Minister FARRAKHAN's inspirational MILION MAN MARCH in 1995. Doesn't even have to say he was there. His STANDARD does all the talking in the world. He is entering the terrordome, and he is ready to deal.

Yes, the terrordome, for real: a hot seat that no other black man in the universe can relate to. The pressure will be either coal-crushing or diamond-making. He can handle it. He's made for it. And ready for it. But who is ready for him? The STANDARD is high because the STAKES are, like DE LA said.

I was commissioned by HIPHOP.COM to write my opinion as an international voice. I figure both my experience and standard in the rap music end, and my being a black man near 50, would rank as qualification here. Older than BARACK by a hair, I would understand his timeline. Knowing those places he's been - from Chicago, Hawaii and Wichita to Africa – would give me a sense as well. Having integrated hip hop in my soul from 1975 to right now allows me to speak here. With all that said, like I've pointed out in other pieces and interviews, for the first time if I was ever to meet the man I would salute him proudly and call him MR PRESIDENT sir, and not feel an ounce of disappointment saying it - all the while knowing he is in a position to make decisions that will batter some black individualism. Who said that the individual needs to stand out beyond the team anyway, other than self-accountability and responsibility? This is a test and a chance for the black community to use this collective to connect and unite and look within - the chance for the black and the brown to connect, then the like-minded to come together and truly figure how, starting from a possible new America, the human can finally be 'in'.

Knowing that this is an opportunity to liquidate 'inspiration', I know that PRESIDENT OBAMA is not the messiah nor savior for a 'race'. He is the President of The United States. For The United States. A United States taking a desperation hurl to place itself up as being the TIGER WOODS of nations. He will make decisions that will both make me clap and wince, some of it at the same time. So this is a time to pay attention, and hang on to the 'truth' as much as possible. This also means telling the truth amid the blizzard of lies, and against the hyping that drives the intelligent and the knowing to the point of silence. We are entering a time where talk will be very cheap and no excuses will or should be the rule.

I understand I might be called a hater here: I will wear the badge then, because it's easy to hate something that shows the people no love. I would rather be hated for what I am instead of loved for what I'm not. But in this case, if you don't stand for something you fall for anything: and hip hop has fallen because of negligence and somebody kicking its class down a corporate American staircase.

What does the arrival of Obama do for hip hop? What do I think? Well, no more excuses for the lies and the liars who have deceived the public into believing much of the negative stigma and hype that gets attached to black people. Hip hop's standards in integrity, respect and truth took a wrong road. It followed the downward spiral of entertainment, or maybe entertainment followed it in marketing sense, where you can always market negative aspects of a people who have been downtrodden. In the early rules of hip hop, the participants' collective thinking always meant that you knew that there were taboo areas to trek into, thus cats always wanted the tree to grow and the branches to spread when they were fed. This individual-centered greed was prevalent in the 'get mine' 1990s, aka the terrordome. Forget a standard, it was said.

It could've started when rap still didn't have the black industry or the social backing in the '80s as being legitimate. The collective silence and inability to say anything in the music could've happened after watching an anti-Semitic attachment being applied to PE in 1989-1990, thus scattering anyone black from that point approaching any truths or debatable facts about white folks and their business or social/historical behaviors toward black people. It has been hysterical to witness the amount of "bitch", "ho", "nigger" uses, drug gaming, gang shootings in the last 15 years promoted in rap, as opposed to any rapper saying the words "white", "cracker", "kike", "Jew", while at the same time being contracted and working under corporations dominated by members of those constituencies. At the very same span the individual money rose on the bloodshed through a Clive or an Iovine, into the Spooks of the negro hands to eventually bling the culture out, and to say little of redeeming worth and value. Damned be the negro intellectuals and journalists who co-signed a lifestyle of downwardness in their one-sided biased coverage that they judged as hip and mistakenly added hop to it. I remember certain writers from different cities falsely locking into a New York state of mind or a California Love and calling it by the standards that those cities' corporations set. Black radio has failed terribly just chasing the falling dollar. EmpTy V, Viabomb and BET has been a joke, a Booty En Thug fish-tank that would be made more telling by turning the volume down and just flashing the images: images transmitted across to OBAMA's KENYA, only to have somebody in Nairobi scream out 'Yo My Nigga' in sick so-called love.

The President BARACK OBAMA and his family will hopefully set a precedent because many like myself are tired of rap fronting and not saying what it really believes. God, family, seeds, love, hood, moms, and loyalty is always coming out of the mouths of many until the mixing of money. I remember cats in London and Philadelphia being transformed into a '90s New York mentality, only because the culture was falsely magnified from major labels there who worked to squash all other voices, styles and forms of hip hop from other places. The woman voice and opinion in rap was diminished, although the body was used and abused with collective silence amongst the violence.

With all of this said, even today, in the shadow of a dual day for black inspiration, we have groupings of people flocking to the theatres to catch the Notorious B.I.G story: a story of the tragic result of a brilliant kid that was raised in a supportive West Indian protective way, who gets social props for being the black nigger America wanted. A loss of a great potential, but at the same time, very little inspiration other than to stay far away from the radiation that lifestyle emits.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA is an inspiration to the rest of the planet, especially to those feeling disenfranchised in their second and so-called third world situations. But to the black diaspora this is really B.I.G. - beyond the movie and the rapper. This is reality. A new standard can be recognized here.

The excuses are over. Those in this human race who are not considered black that say they love hip hop should recognize the legacy of the people largely exploited through the negative portals of this music. We will soon see if all this support at hip hop's magnified worst will be backed up when it takes the positive route. When the standard of black people is raised it's interesting how the western world gets nervous. This has held true about the continent of Africa and its independence. What attitude will come with the standard being raised with black folk in America, as they act upon PRESIDENT OBAMA's inspiration? And so to the last question: will the black American rap and hip hop world re-emerge with the knowledge, wisdom, understanding, class and respect of its President and awake from its 'sleep rapnea'?

We will see.

We will hear.

PEace, Chuck D New Email chuckd@publicenemy.com

Peep the new relaunch of www.SLAMjamz.com FEB 20 WITH SLAMTV and PETV On www.publiceney.com

Can You Relate?

President Obama's 1st Inaugural Speech

I, Barack Hussein Obama, do solemnly swear that I will execute the office of the President of the United States faithfully1, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, so help me God.

Thank you.

My fellow citizens:

I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you've bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.

Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential Oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the Oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents.

So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.

That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.

These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable, but no less profound, is a sapping of confidence across our land -- a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, that the next generation must lower its sights.

Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America: They will be met.

On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.

We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to "set aside childish things."2 The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted -- for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things -- some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.

For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.

For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.

For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.

Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.

This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions - that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of our economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act -- not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age.

All this we can do.

All this we will do.

Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions -- who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.

What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them -- that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works -- whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account -- to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day -- because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.

Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control. The nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our Gross Domestic Product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on the ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart -- not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.

As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers -- Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils that we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience'[s] sake. And so to all the other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: Know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity. And we are ready to lead once more.

Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.

We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort - even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.

For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus - and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.

To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West - know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.

As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us today, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages. We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment - a moment that will define a generation - it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.

For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.

Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends - hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism - these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility - a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.

This is the price and the promise of citizenship.

This is the source of our confidence - the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.

This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed - why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.

So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:

"Let it be told to the future world...that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive...that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it]."

America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.

Thank you, and may God bless the United States of America.

I'm Not An Eric Clapton Fan.....

Besides the fact that I think he's an overrated copycat...this is why I'm not an Eric Clapton fan and never will be....


"Do we have any foreigners in the audience tonight? If so, please put up your hands. Wogs I mean, I'm looking at you. Where are you? I'm sorry but some fucking wog...Arab grabbed my wife's bum, you know? Surely got to be said, yeah this is what all the fucking foreigners and wogs over here are like, just disgusting, that's just the truth, yeah. So where are you? Well wherever you all are, I think you should all just leave. Not just leave the hall, leave our country. You fucking (indecipherable). I don't want you here, in the room or in my country. Listen to me, man! I think we should vote for Enoch Powell. Enoch's our man. I think Enoch's right, I think we should send them all back. Stop Britain from becoming a black colony. Get the foreigners out. Get the wogs out. Get the coons out. Keep Britain white. I used to be into dope, now I'm into racism. It's much heavier, man. Fucking wogs, man. Fucking Saudis taking over London. Bastard wogs. Britain is becoming overcrowded and Enoch will stop it and send them all back. The black wogs and coons and Arabs and fucking Jamaicans and fucking (indecipherable) don't belong here, we don't want them here. This is England, this is a white country, we don't want any black wogs and coons living here. We need to make clear to them they are not welcome. England is for white people, man. We are a white country. I don't want fucking wogs living next to me with their standards. This is Great Britain, a white country, what is happening to us, for fuck's sake? We need to vote for Enoch Powell, he's a great man, speaking truth. Vote for Enoch, he's our man, he's on our side, he'll look after us. I want all of you here to vote for Enoch, support him, he's on our side. Enoch for Prime Minister! Throw the wogs out! Keep Britain white!
o Quoted in Rebel Rock by J. Street. First Edition (1986). Oxford: Basil Blackwell. pp. 74-75. Street's sources are editions of the New Musical Express, Melody Maker and the Guardian and Times newspapers from the time.

Other Sources: Virgin Media: Clapton's Shocking Rant Guardian Unlimited: The Ten Right-Wing Rockers.

(These statements were allegedly made on stage by a heavily drunk Clapton during a concert in Birmingham, UK, in 1976. Clapton is referring to British anti-immigration Conservative MP Enoch Powell. Clapton later made similar further comments to the audience later in the evening. Clapton has never denied making these statements and has refused to apologise for his remarks or distance himself from them, although he denies that his views are racist and states that he is merely an opponent of mass immigration. This incident was the main inspiration for the formation of Rock Against Racism).

* Clapton went into a rap about Enoch. His initial line was "Enoch's right - I think we should send them back." I don't think he said "nigger" he said "wogs". He definitely said, "Keep Britain White". Nobody cheered, but after he played another song, he did the same again. It was extraordinary - but he stood there being overtly offensive and racist. I was completely mystified as to why this man playing black music would behave this way."
o Author Caryl Philips, referring to the aforementioned Birmingham concert in 1976, at which Phillips was present. Quoted by author Robin Denselow in When The Music Stopped: The Story of Political Pop, Faber and Faber (1989), pp. 138-139.

On the Socially Unconscious Artist......

On the Socially Unconscious Artist:
An Open Letter and Analysis to All Black Artists

By

Heru Ofori-Atta


"Socially unconscious men should not be allowed to prosper."
-- The Honorable Dr. Amos Wilson


If you are not a serious student of Black history, from classical Nile valley civilization to the present, I don't want you rapping, singing, or reciting poetry to me. Period. If you are unaware of the trends in Black history, it is scientifically predictable that you will make a fool of yourself, and your people collectively. Since I am part of the collective Black people, I am pre-emptively asking you stop, before you get started with your musings-- today. These are serious times. Clowns and unaware artists are no longer funny. Artists are the primary purveyors of images and thoughts, particularly to the youth. Our youth are mentally dying in the casket of Americanism, and your pitiful existence is not helping to change the tide.

Recently, I was asked to participate in a panel discussion along with other artists of African descent. We were all from different areas of the planet, but what we had in common was our African lineage and collective history of white domination and exploitation. This is the unifying thread of all Black people worldwide, as none of us, from our particular groups, have found an effective program to fully eradicate the manifestations and implications of the ubiquitous plague: white supremacy.

More specifically, there were eight artists on the panel. All of the panelists were Black. Two artists were from the African continent, two were from the Caribbean, and the remaining four were from the U.S. All of the artists were "famous" in some form or another, through television, radio, and/or print media. The topic of the day was the responsibility of artists to their community, entitled, "Art and Social Responsibility." More specifically, can and/or should social responsibility exist within art? It immediately struck me that only in America, the land of the technically free, would this topic be up for debate.

Predictably, the panelists were divided in opinion. All of the artists from the Continent and the Caribbean were of the opinion that the purpose of art was to uplift the minds of the people. Of the Black artists from America, three were proudly, firmly and stubbornly against the notion of art being socially responsible, and one was on the fence.

In this essay, I will summarize and analyze the position of the dissenters. Their position was that artists should be "free" to say whatever they want. They did not want to be "restricted" to only deal with issues of African upliftment. One artist said if he wakes up in the morning and feels like writing about having sex with groupies and smoking (CIA) crack, he would write it and feel "proud" to perform it. After all, that's what freedom of speech was about. A recurring theme was they did not want to be "pigeon-holed" as conscious artists. Another recurring theme was they didn't want to preach to their fans. I informed them that when an artist sings, raps or performs poetry "bragging" about their shopping habits and new acquisitions of illusory splendor, they are in fact preaching about their stance on materialism. They commented that I was reading too much into it. I agreed. I also said that was the purpose of art: to be read too much into.

I informed them that in ancient Egypt, one could not become a musician unless they mastered certain subjects like philosophy, physical sciences, mathematics, history, writing and religion. Our great ancestors were aware of the power of music and would not allow imbeciles to wield a grain of power. Some of my co-panelists were visibly offended, but I believe in equality because their words offended me also. At the very least, our relationship was balanced by my "offensive" remarks.

Besides the disgust I felt towards these artistic mercenaries, I also felt pity for them. It was clear that they had been brainwashed out of caring for or about anyone but themselves, and had embraced certain elusive American catch phrases such as "freedom of speech" and self defeating concepts such as rugged individualism. Mostly, the aroma of laziness permeated their being. For it is laziness, in fact, that causes an artist to be detached from the awareness of historical trends and forces which inform the present day situation of the so-called individual and the people. Because of their laziness, they were oblivious to what history requires of the Global Black Artist.

This writing is not meant to be an exhaustive treatise on the pathology of the aforementioned artists. However, it is meant to highlight some basic themes. Most readers are familiar with the shallowness of their positions just as the seated audience that violently reacted to the dissenting artists. For those of you who agree with the positions of those artists, just remember Dr. John Henrik Clarke's words, "Europeans took what was sacred to us and made us shun it, and eventually laugh at it." That explains what made the dissenting artists not want to be "pigeon-holed" as conscious, but at the same time they don't mind being "pigeon-holed" as so-called gangsta.

They definitely don't mind being pigeon-holed as "Grammy winning artist so and so…" It is clear that pigeon holing was not the real issue. The real issue was being called something- in this case "conscious" -that to sane people would be a sacred compliment, but to insane people it is shunned or even laughable. So in their insanity and disconnection from an awareness of historical forces, they proudly discarded the sacred nature of being referred to as a conscious artist. The dissenters actually laughed at it in accordance with Dr. John Henrik Clarke's quote. These are the types of Black people who say "Black Power" to each other as a running joke of mockery. However, they are the same Black people who love to have power for themselves- individually. The idea of Black Group Power is what they are mocking. Remember, they are short-sighted rugged individualists: true Americans.

I suspect that the main focus of this type of artist is making money and therefore being popular. In his dead-end struggle, he has become the quintessential American. With America as the last superpower, and global representative of white economic and military supremacy, being American is the precise opposite to being African. In turn, to be an African, in the scientific historical sense, is to be the perfect opposite of being an American. To be American- the last bastion of totalitarian world whiteness and domination- in today's terms, is to be hyper-white in your tastes, interests and values. Rugged individualism is the cornerstone theory of whiteness, therefore, when someone says that their personal interests are more important than their community, they are being an American in its most descriptive and ideological sense. Communalism means nothing and is to be avoided in the American reality. This implicit law is witnessed in the phenomenon of neighbors in America not knowing each other- at all. Travel anywhere in the world, and only in European/whiteness based societies will you see this phenomena.

Another benchmark for being an American is to be a proponent of capitalism. The true American will promote it, even if he himself is a victim of it. Capitalism is the academically refined and polite substitute for the word slavery. In slavery, everything created by the slave is property of the slave-master. This is seen in record companies who always own the intellectual property of all of their artists' creations. In fact, the artist's album which belongs to a record company is called a "master". In real contractual language, the record company is free to "exploit" the album in perpetuity (forever). The artist has agreed with this arrangement for a pittance-crumbs-compared to what the slave master record company receives. All of this is done in exchange for fame. In other words, the powers-that-be say, "You are still a slave, based on our relationship, but I will allow you to broadcast the illusion that you are free and have 'freedom of speech'" to the other slaves, from which of course, I rescued you from. That way you can satisfy your empty ego, and I can build my empire. Thanks for the album, nigger. Or nigga, as you like to be called."

The famous slave then goes through an interesting psychological experience. He now has his ego stroked in many ways he never even dreamt about. He feels forever indebted to his slave master for at least making him a slave with privileges. Since he doesn't really own his intellectual property, he is in it for the temporary ride. This poor slave ends up trying to emulate his slave master and ends up giving his money back to the slave master or the slave master's associates and extended global white power family. The slave must have a Mercedes or any other overpriced German, Italian or British car. But to whom does he turn his temporary wealth over for the merchandise? A close or loose business associate of the slave master. Big pimpin' indeed.

The cycle goes on. However, since the slave is American in terms of ideology only, but not an American in terms of ownership rights, he is literally the illusion of a vested, bona fide American. The privileged slave is a sucker. He has no interest in creating his own industry of ownership. So in his frustration, the slave with privileges attempts to compensate for his need for power by becoming not a free man, but a second degree slave master to his own people. He thereby emulates the white slave-master, the savior and simultaneous killer of his dreams. Therefore in his art, there are all types of signs of Black hatred. Here are eleven scientifically observed signs:

(1) There is no sense of Black historical continuity. Veneration of ancestors is missing from their artistic discourse. In fact, they do not glorify their own ancestors, but rather the ancestors of others. Therefore, Italian mafia names are taken. Chinese cultural group names are taken, etc. Anything but Black. The names of authentic Black heroes and sheroes are never uttered.

(2) Any form of commerce that hurts Black people will be promoted relentlessly, ie. the CIA crack trade, referred to as "hustling." In this reality, Black lives mean nothing. Money through poisoning and addicting a vulnerable people is the order of the day. Here, the hustler aligns himself with, Marlboro and Philip Morris, in not so fine American tradition. Because, this hustler is unaware of historical forces, he is unaware of the Opium Wars and his complicity as an agent or asset of the powers that seek to destroy his own family. He is also unaware that during the Opium wars between China and England, where England was pumping opium into China, the Chinese executed all Chinese people who sold opium to their own people and considered them as traitors not heroes.

(3) The pimp is glorified. The pimp is a street way of saying slave-master of women, particularly Black women. The pimp has replaced the white slave master in relation to the life of a Black woman and her sexual powers as a source of wealth. He feels as if he owns her like property, and is the owner of any wealth she may produce. He in turn clothes her, feeds her and consistently brutalizes her based on his fleeting emotions and strategic ideas of implementing discipline. Pimp = Slave master in every sense.

(4) The elevation of Black women is refused. Because this privileged slave is for all intents and purposes an agent, asset or ally of the white supremacists, he focuses on keeping Black women- the bringers of all Black life- marginalized through imagery, lyrics and artistic intent.

(5) The elevation of Black children is refused. Since these artists are hysterical personalities, they have no meditation towards the concept of continuity. They have no foresight, therefore, the well-being of those who would inherit the future are not part of the equation. These socially inept artists are "here and now" people. Their whole life revolves around what feels good "right now." They also feel no sense of responsibility towards the global African community and barely feel a sense of responsibility towards their own children. They are the experiment referred to in the novel, Lord of the Flies: a people who have been cut off from elders and have to improvise throughout life, based on immediate sensations.

(6) His/her art is consistent with Cointelpro directives towards the stagnation and eventual retrogression of any and all Black Power movements, locally, nationally and internationally. S/He is the "breakthrough" artist waiting in the wings, patiently at bay, until Black consciousness becomes a strong part of Black cultural expression.
At the critical juncture where Malcolm X the Black liberation/Pan-African freedom fighter becomes the model to be emulated by the Black masses, the privileged slave is "put on" and subsequently "blows up" by pushing images of Malcolm Little aka Detroit Red, The Pimp and hysterical, hopeless, hapless, helpless negro without a cause, as the figure to be emulated. Through millions of dollars spent on advertising, Malcolm Little aka Detroit Red, the self-styled pimp gains more popularity than Malcolm X the freedom fighter. The privileged slave has served his master well. However, his master will of course charge all advertising money against the slave's royalty account.

(7) His/her art serves the overall purpose of setting the mood of ushering his own people back into slavery. This is seen through the lack of analysis and overall lack of awareness of a very real prison industrial complex, which is updated slavery version 5.0, Crackers Reloaded,the Empire Strikes Back, the Phantom Menace: The Sequel.
Prison is where a branch of particularly virulent unabashed white supremacists realize their pipe dreams. This branch of white supremacists are called conservatives in the pop-culture American political lexicon, but more accurately are cheap labor conservatives or more succinctly, slave masters. They are conservatives, because they wish to conserve the America of old, and therefore slavery. To them, this was America at its best. So they are the architects and executers of a web of entrepreneurial and legislative cooperation where Black people will be enslaved again and will work for free or close to free for $1.25 per hour making diverse products for the real pimp/cheap labor conservative/slave master to sell and thereby strengthen and maintain the white empire.
The socially unconscious artist/privileged slave is but a cog in the wheel of this simple yet elaborate economic machinery. This artist's only job is to make being enslaved/jailed seem cool. The slave master will of course take care of the rest.

(8) Their art is focused on the "bragging" about purchasing overpriced toys, gadgets and shiny things, referred to as "Bling, Bling" manufactured and sold by the slave master.
Due to his newly acquired merchandise (ego), this privileged slave wants to believe that his people love him, but is simultaneously suspicious of them, because deep down inside he is not convinced that he should really be loved by a people whom he vigorously and openly hates.

(9) This slave has no sense of shame in his art and is completely oblivious to the meaning of the word inappropriate. For instance, s/he would perform an explicit song about oral sex to a group of nine year old children and not see anything wrong with it (This is not an exaggeration, I have seen it). S/he will also perform a song/chant whose chorus is "Kill that baby. That baby ain't mine (© Trick Daddy, October, 2004, Howard University Homecoming)." In the same vein, s/he will perform songs about killing random other "niggas" for an audience and a community which is routinely heartbroken by the loss of loved ones due to de-contextualized and niggafide gun activity.

(10) To the trained ear and eye, it is clear that if in the proper historical place and time, this is a person who would have sold his/her own people to slavery to gain favor with the white kidnappers, not knowing s/he would be kidnapped and enslaved very soon by the same savior and simultaneous killer of his/her dreams.

(11) This slave will take credit for being "dope" but will not take credit for being a "dope". Although s/he is the poster child of anti-intellectualism, s/he is angered when called dumb. If you ask him/her what was the last book s/he read, the conversation reaches a rare silence and is followed by anger for even being asked that question. When the slave masters' TV shows broadcast the overpriced lifestyle of the privileged slave to the world, as if to say this should be the implicit goal of the viewers, no books or a library is ever shown at this "great" person's house.
Objectively, this type of slave is so pathetic, if he wasn't so valuable to the empire of slavery, the slave masters would kill him and relieve him of his misery. Even the slave master is embarrassed by this type of slave. Through the public acceptance and popularity of these artistic and general slackers, the powers-that-be have found another ingenious way to make a fortune and engineer their desired social agenda.

Because this type of artist serves no use for the upliftment of our people, his/her portion of the African meal should be death. As Dr. Amos Wilson said, "Socially unconscious men should not be allowed to prosper." Therefore the socially unconscious artists, does not necessarily have to be killed physically, but, s/he must be killedeconomically, socially, and psychologically. In the household of those interested in being African, the socially unconscious artist is considered dead. The fact that s/he even existed is only brought up as traitors and idiots are brought up in conversation to illustrate to others what not to be.

In the African conversation, the shamed dead person's name may not even be uttered for fear of giving him/her renewed life through the power of the word. If the name of the accursed is mentioned, the African will usually spit on the ground immediately thereafter in order to re-bury this wretched person back into the bowels of the earth. In this ritual, we say "poor Earth." We have feelings of compassion for the Earth, whenever it is contaminated with such a foul and malodorous being. However, we suddenly realize that the Earth uses cow dung and other feces as fertilizer. In this case, human waste and a waste of a human are identical. With this meditation, we are celebratory of the Earth's ability and genius to transform even fecal waste, into something useful.

Goodbye Ms. Kitt

OMG!

Ummm....Evander, there isn't enough money on the planet to do this....

Sometimes....

...words just aren't necessary.

WOW

I never thought that I'd see it. Never thought that it could happen in my lifetime.