Roots - the lost mini-series

On a separate note, derived from my thoughts about the Dr. Martin Luther King biopic, I wondered about something else.

When was the last time you saw Roots?

I imagine that most people in America under the age of 35 have never seen it. I bet they don’t even now what this amazing television mini-series was. They have never heard of it, nor seen it.

To my knowledge it’s been on television once, in the 1970’s. It hasn’t been on BET to my knowledge. Ever. It hasn’t been replayed on broadcast television though it was one of the most watched programs ever, each night it was on (it was several parts long). It doesn’t even get mentioned in February.

Talk about a failure to move forward. No one complains that it does not appear on television anymore. I have yet to hear of others balk at the difficulty to find the series on DVD or VHS. I have noted how even a station proposing to be Black Entertainment can ignore such a groundbreaking program through it’s entire existence.

Again I am led to a thought I have spoken about before. The entertainment media does not want to move forward. They want to talk about it, but not act. They want to promote gangsta rap, but not political rap. They want to fill airwaves with depictions of African Americans as hustlers, pimps, drug dealers, and hoes but not leaders. Unless you consider bouncing a near naked ass next to a crome and gold covered man holding malt liquor and an illegal drug while speaking to a beat as success and leadership.

Roots, like the true message of Dr. King, speaks against the commercialization of being Black in America. Black culture is more than trendy clothes, silly adornments, and a minstrel show. These are not the things people died for during the Civil Rights Movement. This is not the life that the freed slaves prayed for.

Roots should be back on television. Because I think we all need a jolt to remind us of just those very facts.

I have often regretted my speech, never my silence

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke (1729-1797)

For those that are still angry, concerned, or just learning of the murder of Oscar Grant I want to mention that I have not forgotten. I still am following the details as best I can on what is going on.

From time to time I will have further updates on this case, and any other issue that involves race relations in America, on this blog. But as I have sought to focus more deeply on entertainment and its various aspects on this blog, I will be posting many of the interim thoughts I have on this at my political and general blog – VASS (www.mvass.com)

"A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both." - Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969), Inaugural Address, January 20, 1953

As much as the media wanted to say all race issues are over, as much as many of us want to believe that racism and prejudice have ended, the fact is that neither is true. President Obama taking office is a huge, wonderful, historic moment towards a day where such will be true, but that is not today.

"Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action." - Auric Goldfinger, in "Goldfinger" by Ian L. Fleming (1908-1964)

Right now there have been 3 murders of Black men since the start of 2009, after the election of President Obama. Oscar Grant and the following:





Right now there are millions of children with substandard schools and school books – focused on areas where there are high concentrations of African Americans, Latino/Hispanics, and other ‘minorities’. Right now minorities across the nation receive less pay versus a White peer. Almost 1% of all the major CEO’s are people of color. And the media, including Hollywood, maintains roughly 5% of its workforce that are people of color – combined – in front of and behind the camera and in the executive offices.

The dream of Martin Luther King, the demands of Malcolm X, the struggles of those involved in the Civil Rights Movement are not over.

"In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends." - Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968)

So I will continue to discuss these things, until one day there is no longer a need. I hope for that day to be soon. But until then, most of my commentary will be found at VASS.

"I have often regretted my speech, never my silence." - Xenocrates (396-314 B.C.)

Danger for kids on the internet

I have a nephew that is pre-teen, and is on a social network. Recently I found that he had made changes to his page on that site. And I was amazed and upset by what I saw. And I wonder if other children have done the same thing. [By the way, all the things have been since changed and discussed with him by his father - so he understands why they were inappropriate.]

One of the first things that was on the site was the fact that he had pictures up that showed him and his friends holding up the moronic 'westside' and other similar gang signs. Beyond looking as bad as anyone who does this, it alarmed me to think that some fool was trying to recruit him and his friends into the dead-end life that is a gang member.

As it turned out he and his friends had no understanding of what the symbols meant. They had just seen them many times on television and thought it looked cool. Which is the idea I suppose. But he also did not realize that fools that believe in this kind of lifestyle also might hurt or kill him and his friends, because it was an insult to their gang or he represented an invasion to their 'territory', or simply because he had no connection to their abusive, illogical, warped group.

Another problem was the fact that his age was incorrect. This was done because he and his friends did not want to be seen as kids. For some reason they felt that being their actual age was a bad thing. That they were left out of some major positive the website provided only to adults.

They had no idea that this minor act helped to put them in danger of the pedophiles and other warped individuals that surf the net. They roam around enough as is, they need no help in finding children. And when my nephew mentioned that he would never be tricked into meeting with or otherwise contacting a stranger because he is too smart - I had to remind him that many adults are far smarter and have more experience than even the highly intelligent boy he is.

But the really big things that bothered me was the ease he had in finding and using graphics from a site that had an altered image of Microsoft's Word package.

The Word graphic is a box that has the picture of 5 famous rappers on it. Each in a state of rapper ghettofabulousness. Underneath were the words "Yo it's Word (n-word)". This was thought to be funny. Yet when asked there was no reason why it was funny, it just was.

So I then asked a simple question.

"Does it make sense that all these rappers and people want to be 'ghettofabulous' but everyone in the ghetto, especially the rappers, all want to get out? How good can the ghetto be, and living a life based on the 'ghetto', when no one wants to be there - even with money - except drug dealers."

His answer was simple as well. "It doesn't make sense at all."

I then asked the really big question.

"Do you know what the n-word means?"

He did not. He had no clue, though he has heard it in music and movies. He just thought it was another word.

That might sound great to some but that troubled me. Because the meaning of the word has not changed. If the CEO of Procter&Gamble used it in a interview he would be fired and sued if possible. The same would happen to the record executive that rappers work for (many of whom will not allow that word to be used in their own home). Because the meaning never changed, no matter the color of who says it.

So I told him about the fact that the n-word was used to describe slaves. That it was used to describe people just like him and I that were treated worse than dogs. And I told him about all the people that died so that he would never have to be called that word. Like uncounted numbers of slaves, Blacks that fought in the Civil War, WWI & II, Korea, Vietnam. Men like Dr. Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. All those that died in the civil rights movement and so many others.

I told him the truth of the meaning of the word, and how it is defined in part as the single worst word in the english language. That to be called that has no comparison or equivalent come-back.

And then I told him how lucky he was to be alive today. Because he has never been called that. But I have been, as has my mother and father and so on. That he never has to fear being called that (I hope) because he was playing in school with a White kid, or because a White girl liked him. The world is mostly better than that, but not entirely.

And I told him the truth that the legal system once said that if a White person called a Black person that word, and the Black person hit them they would not go to jail. Because it was an incendiary term, a provoking term. And that's why the White owners of record companies can't say the word, but pay rappers to do it for them. And I asked him this

"How important do you think it is that the law was made about this word? How big a word do you think it is?"

He thought it very important. And he understood it in a very different and unfunny way.

I say all that to bring up this point. It's not enough to just watch what children are doing on the internet. We all, uncles and aunts, brothers and sisters, parents and grandparents, need to be involved. We all need to explain why some things are wrong, and what the history of these things are. Because if we don't kids will use them, act on them, to their detriment.

Jazz otaku - the things you learn

When you think of Jazz music what comes to your mind? Take a moment, I’ll wait.

Now some might instantly come up with Miles Davis, or Herbie Hancock. Others might be thinking of Etta James. Some might envision the 1950’s in America, or perhaps Harlem in its heyday. For me all of these and other aspects of jazz come to mind. But I just learned of one aspect that I doubt most would come upon.

Jazz and Japan.

The 2 sound like an odd mix. It almost jars the mind to conceptualize the 2 together. But Jazz coffeeshops have long maintained the connection in Japan.

It is a post about Professor Michael Molasky of the University of Minnesota that provided me the connection that these 2 share. He is also a jazz pianist, and spent a year searching out the jazz coffeehouses. And in them he found a rich history which he shared with an audience at UCLA.

In reading about Prof. Molasky I found out that jazz was first introduced in coffeeshops in 1929. Of course the first such establishment was across from the University of Tokyo. And at the time jazz was not associated with African Americans by the general populace.

Even in the 1950’s when French films incorporated jazz wholesale there remained a separation of the expression and power of jazz and African Americans. But that changed in 1961 when Art Blakey did a tour of Japan. It was the first time multitudes of Japanese were able to see a Black man, let alone connect them to jazz music. Which in a way I find amazing.

I find it hard to understand how jazz could be separated from the artists and musicians that created it. That a music genre could be so isolated from those that created it. Of course there was no cable television, not music videos, so to a degree it is understandable. And when you add in the fact that the cost of audio equipment and foreign music was prohibitive to most Japanese people it make a tinge more sense. Yet for the otaku (roughly geeks or hardcore fans) I would have expected a different take.

Still Prof. Molasky expressed that it was the connection of Art Blakey and jazz that had many Japanese people not only going to the jazz coffeeshops, but also intensely following the Civil Rights Movement. Again this was something I was unaware of. I had no idea that anyone in Japan cared. Not because they were racist or anything of that nature, just because they are so far removed physically and socially.

Of course jazz in Japan was an inspiration, just as it was and is in America today. It was a feature with the Japanese Student Movement, influenced Nobel Prize winner Oe Kensaburo, and provided a living to Haruki Murakami.

All of this were things I had no idea of. I’ve always enjoyed jazz, and knew of its influence in Europe. But I always felt that the biggest impact was just here in the U.S. It seems that I was very wrong, and niaeve.

For me, I find it refreshing to have learned all of this. It’s a bit of humbling, and moreso learning. It makes my appreciation of jazz all the more stronger. And it makes the world just that much more friendly.

And for my readers that have never ventured far from the reheated refuse that is gangsta rap, or the overly commercialized R&B of these days, I suggest you check out jazz. There is more there than you might imagine. Just as I have learned today.

NASCAR, Mauricia Grant, and my opinion

In the 1920’s the Old South was renown for its relaxed pace of life, good weather, Jim Crow laws, and criminal moonshine bootlegger races. Inbetween the massacre of Rosewood and unknown numbers of lynchings southerners of the time would rally together under the confederate flag to watch the intermittent Sunday races of these speedy criminals. The popularity of these races grew over the decades until in 1947 NASCAR was born.

But the South was unable to captivate the nation with this new sports league as it was busy segregating it’s schools, diners, buses, and life in general. With the Confederate Flag never far the late 50’s and 60’s were filled with Civil Rights protests and marches – and police and firemen using fire hoses and dogs to attack these peaceful demonstrations. And even more lynchings, with an occasional murder of northern White activists.

Then in 1979, after the attention of the nation had been focused on Viet Nam and assumed all the ills of discrimination were absolved by the end of segregation (but not prejudice or discrimination), broadcast television presented the nation a new image of the Old South. In that year the Dukes of Hazzard aired on television.

The Dukes of Hazzard was a mix of old ideas about the South in a more modern package. As I recall the show was as segregated as most all television shows (including the majority of those on-air today) without a single Black character ever crossing the screen. The focus of the show was a family of criminals, moonshine runners, their conflicts with the corrupt but exceptionally familiar authorities, and a NASCAR-esque car featuring the confederate flag. In fact the show was so focused on the car, and the short cutoff jeans of the only female character, that NASCAR grew in attention and prominence.

Jumping forward 3 decades we reach today. A majority of television shows still lack any non-White characters [or present just one so they can claim they are being fair – though I think most cities these shows are based in have more than just the handful of non-Whites the programs insinuate] the Confederate Flag still flies across the South and on government buildings, and NASCAR is more popular than ever. While NASCAR is not directly segregated (there has been African American drivers, and there are non-Whites in the pit crews and support staff) it is blatantly worse than television in its diversity.

Of course many in the South and across the nation would not believe this single northern Black Puerto Rican when I point all this out. God knows they have sent me the letters and comments to tell me so. But then the New York Times, Associated Press, San Jose Mercury News, Fox News and many others presented a news story that goes right to my points.

They all are reporting on a lawsuit by a Black woman that was a former NASCAR official. I say former because when she complained about the sexual and racial and gender abuse and discrimination she was receiving she was fired. Which is against the law and NASCAR rules as I understand.

Mauricia Grant was hired in 2005 to work as a technical inspector on the Nationwide series. In the 22 months that she was employed she was called “Queen Sheba” “Nappy head Mo”, told to hide from the crowds of spectators, called a lesbian, asked to perform sex acts, told she works on “colored people time”, and provided multiple disturbing references to the Klu Klux Klan. That’s just a few of the things she had to deal with. When she filed a complaint, to Nationwide Series director Joe Balash he joined in on the merriment.

Ms. Grant is suing for $225 million.

Of course she will not get that amount. But that is not the issue. Nor is my obvious disdain for the Old South and the romanticized selective rememberances of its past and present. The issue is that in 50 years parts of America have successfully refused to alter their views on human beings. And the nation as a whole willfully accepts this with our collective heads in the sand.

I would like to believe that NASCAR as a whole is not like the allegations that have been leveled against them. I would like to believe that the fans of NASCAR do not share such beliefs. But I am hard pressed to believe that.

Were NASCAR to present the various trophies swaddled in a confederate flag, I would not be surprised. Nor would multitudes of the fans who carry their own flags, cars adorned ala the General Lee (name of the Dukes of Hazzard car), and robed in confederate flags made into shirts, shorts, pants and more. Were NASCAR to have a KKK night, handing out white robes to fans and lighting the track with burning torches, I would be mildly shocked. Not because they did it, but that inevitiably it would be televised. I’m sure some of the NASCAR fans dream of such a night.

I don’t find NASCAR interesting. Because it is a symbol of the Old South and what that factually represents. But fans should wonder about what NASCAR represents today, because the allegations leveled speak to an attitude that is more backward and brain-adled than virtually any stereotype or mockery of the South.

Moment in time 40 years after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. - 4.4.2008.1

Today, 40 years after the death of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and 2 days before my birthday I pause to reflect on what has happened and what could have.

I’ve read a lot on Dr. King in the recent days, far more than what was written during this past Black History Month. And I’m reminded of comments made by Jeff Johnson when I saw him at Ithaca College this year. I consider what Dr. King was moving forward to do at the time he was killed, and how he has been frozen in time. I look at the society of America and of African Americans.

I am a child of the Civil Rights era. I have benefited in numerous ways from the struggles and strife made by those before me. And there are numerous things today that have gone backwards in time or have wasted the efforts made. Those children beyond my generation have no idea of what has changed, and seemingly few have an appreciation that they don’t know things have changed only recently.

If Dr. King had not been killed 40 years ago, do you think there would be a BET today? Perhaps there would be, and a TV One as well – but not the only 2 and not in the manner that we see now on Black Entertainment Television I imagine. I doubt that Bob Johnson would have been the first with a national cable channel, and it would not have been built upon the back of scantily clad Black women gyrating to lyrics promoting drugs and violence.

If Dr. King had lived, he honestly would have diminished in some of his stature – as all great leaders do as they age. Yet his voice would hold more power than all the so called Black leaders of today combined and then some. He would long ago have questioned the infusion of drugs into our communities, the ridiculous face value actions of “Just say no”, and the promotion of money over education values that have integrated into our communities via music videos, video games, and other genres.

If Dr. King had lived, there would be a voice to speak with fanatical Muslim extremists. Perhaps there would never have been a 9/11, nor a war in Kuwait, nor a bombing in Lebanon. And even if these events did happen, there might have been a voice to provide an alternative just a step short of war.

If Dr. King had lived unions would be far different than they are now. There would have been a powerful voice questioning America’s involvement in Viet Nam, and questioning how the Government ran the war.

I imagine that television networks and movie studios would have rushed to integrate the big and small screens for fear of boycotts. Today there would not be worlds of imagination segregated to a virtually uniform racial make up of the world. There would not be just 2% of the entertainment industry representing every person of color combined. Spike Lee would not have to be heralded as a unique and groundbreaking director (based on his color), but just a great director among others.

I imagine that the African American middle class would not be a ghost, but a viable and growing community. I imagine that I would not have been able to get through high school with a college preparatory physics class textbook that was 3 years older than me. I imagine that a better alternative to Affirmative Action may have been found.

I would hope that had Dr. King lived, America would have come to terms with the need to apologize for slavery, something that I think still festers in the background causing separation and ill-will. I would hope that America could realize that reparations are part of that contrition and the fact that every American today benefits from the 246 years of work that built the foundations of everything that exists today. I would hope that we all would further realize that another 100+ years of segregation and prejudice were instead built upon the back of slavery with Jim Crow laws and that the cycle of judgment based on skin color needed to be broken.

I believe that as some of these things came to pass the history of the nation, the full history, would be revealed. Men like the Tuskegee Airmen and every other African American that has fought in every war America has ever had would not be new revelations to our children today. That the innovations and inventions that make life modern would be attributed to the Blacks that created them. That no person in America would wish to use a word like the N-word because it had no relevance and its meaning is too vile to repeat.

I believe that there would be no need to be distinguished by skin color when being described as an American. I would not need to be African American or Mexican American and so on. We could simply be Americans, one and all.

I believe that the Tuskegee Experiment would not have lasted until 1972, and that the Government would have been smitten for such actions. That there would not need to be a question of whether the government had made AIDS and brought it into communities of people of color because we could be sure they would never act in such a manner again.

I believe that Dr. King would never have become a politician, but other people of color would have been inspired, supported and welcomed as such. That there would be no place in America that could still herald the fact an African American ran for or was elected to a political office. That the first viable Black Presidential candidate would have ran, and possibly been elected long before the 21st century – 388 years after the first recorded slave was sold, 235 years after creating America, 142 years after abolishing slavery, 85 years after lynchings became a crime, 42 years after Jim Crow and segregation laws were declared illegal, 23 years after the first Black Miss America, 8 years after the first Black Secretary of State, 7 years after the first African American President of an Ivy League College and first Black billionaire, and 1 year after the first Black American (and youngest person) that flew around the world solo [which went virtually unreported].

There are many things I think that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. could have done had he lived, and others that he would have influenced that would have benefited America. But I am left with one other thought.

Why haven’t these things happened even without him?

Race in politics - 3.18.2008.1

I’m insulted and angered. State that I can’t get a cab in NYC and I’m told I’m in a rude city, or was dressed wrong, or was in the wrong part of time. Every reason except that I’m Black and the fact is it is harder for me. In fact, put any minority (White women are not a minority in my view) on national television and say that anything is different than the lives they see on television (which is just 2% filled with people of color) or they live and they retreat as if it were silver to a werewolf.

Race is the one means by which it is possible to get the majority of Americans to stick their heads in the sand. Once any aspect of race and prejudice is brought up, everything else before and after that is forgotten. This isn’t the past I’m talking about, it’s right now.

Rev. Wright has helped the poor, the oppressed (in South Africa – before it was popular), gays and lesbians, and yes African Americans. He has defended this nation with his life as a Marine. He is a religious leader in a faith whose major tenants include loving thy neighbor. [Which does not preclude criticizing thy neighbor] But all that is being focused on is that he is Black and speaking up.

I am reminded by the 1970’s program Good Times. I generally disliked the show and watched it infrequently as a child. At first that was because the younger son, Michael was so outspoken. It made me uncomfortable to a degree. Quickly I realized that in fact it was not what he said, but how the other characters were reacting to him. And I never liked the buffoonery required at the time to mask the serious race issues of JJ, the oldest son.

But that was because I was trained to react like this. To shun dealing with race. To avoid mentioning that I was a Black Puerto Rican and that my life was unlike those of the White Americans around me. Much like why there can be no discussion of anything relating to slavery, reparations, an apology, or Affrimative Action (even the Civil Rights Movement) without either the speaker or those spoken to drifting off. And I don’t mean in the 70’s I mean now. It’s part of the reason that Roots has never been on television since it aired once.

Let me ask this.

What is wrong with a President that is aware of the fact that he is an American that has had to live a lifetime of being better than those around him to be treated as average? What is wrong with a President that knows how it feels to be persecuted, and looked down upon because he entered a room?

Why is it so bad that a potential President can know someone that says ‘I’m a proud American that demands to be seen for my actions and accepted as anyone else’? What is wrong with knowing someone that says I will stand a speak out about the failures I see in this nation, a failure that affects millions, and I have given blood and endangered my life to protect the right to say this.

Because I guarantee that Senator Obama has heard those that see Blacks as second-class, drug-addled, ignorant, violent sub-humans throughout his entire life and up to today.

Yet there is no video clips of that - still I bet you had no problem envisioning such a comment being made did you? Yet that is not considered a benefit for his ability to deal with the issues of America. But the converse is seen as a negative.

I don’t care if people voted for or against Senator Obama, when it was about him and his record. But I care a lot about people not voting for him because he is Black. I care that votes will be held back because he knows African Americans that hold views that are honest (at least to a degree), not friendly or pleasing to White Americans.

Obviously Civil Rights did not go far enough, and we are not so far from the days of Slavery or Jim Crowe as we thought and some hoped.

What if they took away Black History Month? - 2.29.2008.1

What if Black History Month was removed? Would anyone have noticed? Would anyone complain?

It seems not.

Why would I say this? Because I just learned that the school system in Endicott New York has removed all Black studies in the curriculum. There was nothing discussed in this past month about Black History, not even Dr. Martin Luther King, because the entire subject was deemed unimportant.

Hello, stop and read that again. Unimportant and having no place in the minds of any of the children, including those that are African American. And this was all done without a single word to the parents, a single complaint from ANY of the students. It was just wiped out without a concern as if it was no more than a piece of errant string found on a piece of clothing.

Why am I upset? What if the school decided not to discuss the Holocaust, or Native American history? What if all the history about England was removed, or France, or Ancient Rome? What if history in schools forgot about President George Washington, just not ever mentioning what he did, or the Constitution?

People would be up in arms. Parents would be inflamed. Jewish communities would claim its anti-Semitic, Native American Indians would say it’s a slap in the face. Whole communities would demand a reason why their rich pasts were being denied their children. Cries that the fundamental based of what is America was being corrupted.

And I ask, in what way is this different? How are the lives and blood of the African Americans that helped build and shape this nation any less important than anyone else? I am not just talking about the Slaves that literally built the foundations of the nation, but the inventors that created thousands of items we use every day, like the stoplight, or save millions of lives, like blood transfusions. How can we value the lives of soldiers like the Tuskegee Airmen, or those that fought in the Civil War, or the American Revolution with any less honor than every other American.

I don’t know how we can equate those lives and contributions as less, but obviously this town in Upstate New York has. I’m willing to bet that they aren’t the only ones. What are the odds that kids in Montana, or Florida, or Ohio, or any other State have no idea about these inventions or people? How many believe that being a slave, less than a dog or piece of furniture, was no different than having trouble getting a job? I know there are more than a few as I’ve read comments that insist that the trouble the Irish had in getting a job was the same as working 20 hours a day for your entire life, with no days off or concern for your health, without pay, and with the reality that at any moment your entire family may be sold away from you and that you can be killed for no more than amusement or the crime of looking at the wrong person.

If we can allow these schools to just toss away a piece of American History, a history of an essential people that helped found and defend this nation, what will go next? Dr. Martin Luther King’s Holiday? A holiday that over half the nation fought from coming into existence, and many still ignore? Maybe the laws dealing with segregation could be next. And if we get that far, why not restate Jim Crow? Hell, just bring slavery back and make it national.

It’s not that crazy. Slavery was just 5 lifetimes ago for some families. Jim Crow was just 2 or 3. Segregation was just 1. And a people without a history aren’t really a people are they?

And this was so important an issue, that not one child mentioned it. Not one parent noticed. Not one meeting was held. It was just understood that it was ok. As long as no one spoke about it, and no one asked why.

So as long as no one asks you if you are Black, or Hispanic, or whatever color, religion, or background you claim, you are nothing. And you can’t hurt nothing. You can’t defend, offend, steal from, brutalize, rape, murder or anything to nothing. And in Upstate New York, that’s what they are equating being African American with. Perhaps the Jews will be next?

Are you nothing? Is your history, your family nothing? Are you sure?

“Don’t learn Black History because of what you know, learn it because of what you don’t know” – C. Miller

I don’t have children. I’m not a teacher or involved in the school system. Maybe that’s a cop out, maybe not. But I am now aware, and so are you. Part of my responsibility is to let you know, and ask for your comments. What will you do?

Review of Jeff Johnson speech at Ithaca College - 2.28.2008.2

When I first noticed a piece of news about Jeff Johnson speaking at Ithaca College I honestly didn’t think much of it. I had never heard of the man. But after reflecting on the college, which was a mere hour or so away from me, I decided to really read the announcement. From that I learned that Mr. Johnson was more than just some entertainer but was a recognized influence on hip hop and youth activism.

I also found out that he had worked with Black Entertainment Television, on the program Rap City as Cousin Jeff, and then later in the Jeff Johnson Chronicles. In all honesty that lowered my still unclear opinion of the man, and drove me to go to the event in hopes of discussing the actions of BET with Hot Ghetto Mess (now called We Got To Do Better) and the less than positive representations of Blacks by the cable network (owned by Viacom) with him.

Prior to going to the event, I read through the biography of Jeff Johnson via the website of his management team. Again, in all honesty as an opponent of gangsta rap, I was not encouraged by the endorsement of Source Magazine or the BET collaboration. At the same time I was interested by the fact he had been the only American reporter to interview Africa’s first female head of state, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf in Liberia. Add to that the fact that he was a former National Youth Director for the NAACP and appointed by Russell Simmons as the Vice-President of the Hip Hop Summit Action Network.

There was more to the man than what the association with rap and BET may make some 40 year olds conclude. And I’m happy to say that I miserably under-estimated the ability, sincerity, intelligence, and communication skills of this man. I was impressed not just because I had foolishly almost closed my mind to what he could be and was awoken to the fact that I nearly allowed my own prejudices to miss this event, but because of what he was imbuing the students at Ithaca with. He gave them more than hope or polispeak; he gave them a motivation to seek out their own purpose and the drive to make a difference.

I have already spoken about the students at this event. Let me tell you about Jeff Johnson’s speech.

First of all, Mr. Johnson is an excellent orator. He has a command of the stage that few I have heard have. And he isn’t shy. Not in the subjects he discusses, the message he wants to convey, the examples and images he draws upon, nor in the desire to get feedback from his audience as he talks to them. I want to be clear; he doesn’t talk at the audience but speaks to them.

The first clue to that came when Mr. Johnson bypassed the podium and stood before his audience and asked if we could all hear his voice. While the room was of decent size (easily holding over 200 people at a guess) there was no question that his voice filled the room. A good sign and more comforting than watching someone shielded by a podium.

Mr. Johnson started off with the Black community’s struggle with Black History Month. The fact that there are too few programs on people of color (the preference of Mr. Johnson when referring to Black Americans, being inclusive to all the heritages that make up what is the Black community but also used to include all non-whites) and noting that Black History Month currently exists on a superficial level, ignoring it’s inception as Negro History Week, why it was created and what it has evolved into.

As Mr. Johnson stated

“Blacks have been patriots longer than citizens.”

And that the Civil Rights Movement was ‘gangsta’ because never had so much changed without violence and revolution, and Civil Rights purpose was the change of Laws and Policy in this nation. Only a true gangster could effect so much change without rising up arms to do so. And they raised a generation of children that couldn’t fight.

Yet one of the problems in 2008 was that the children of the Civil Rights Movement have an identity crisis that is separate of civil rights or BET. It was because of 2 things, the ending messages of Civil Rights. I will try to paraphrase it

“First, I don’t want you to fight like I did – go to school, get an education (and lose your minds).

Second – [in a whisper] If you don’t tell people you are Black they might not know.

Both of these things can be found in the personifying an image of Blackness connected to hip hop rooted to Africa that doesn’t reflect Africa and has nothing to do with being Black.”

Read that again. It’s very powerful, and I fully admit I do not give justice to the way and full scope of what Mr. Johnson said on this. I’m giving you a paltry couple of seconds’ summary of at least 10 minutes of conversation that was far more intense. But the point is there I believe.

From this point the speech went on to discuss the split that occurred in hip hop and the emergence of rap. Like many recognize, prior to 1992 the rap industry was about social commentary. That not only included groups like Public Enemy but also much of the tracks from N.W.A. Right up until the album, The Chronic.

At that point a new model for rap was created, funded by White people while Black people (or people of color) danced to it, and had record companies saying ‘Pimp stuff sells thus we sell it’. And that was the first time, after the last track of the Chronic album was out, that people started to say ‘I don’t listen to what they say, I listen to the beat.’

Jumping forward a bit Mr. Johnson then went on to discuss how the grandchildren of Civil Rights Movement have less power than the parents of the Civil Rights Movements (meaning slaves) and how we buy into the lie that Dr. Marin Luther King would have had the same dream from 1965 to 2008.

Another point that I agreed with and struck the audience was the thought that there is $100 million dollars being spent on a statue of Dr. King that ½ of Black America can’t afford to go see. Or that less could be spent, or a matching funds campaign could be made, to fund schools across America.

At a later point Mr. Johnson stated

“Black History is a time where our obligation is to share with the world our history. And if we don’t know it, it’s just a party celebrating our ignorance.”

As I mentioned Mr. Johnson is hardly reserved in the points he makes. And that is a good thing as the comments are needed. The impact and repercussions of what he is discussing are real events and inaction that is in the Black community today.

By confronting the youth of today, especially those that are people of color, with these realities, and reminding them of the ability and power they have to change the world around them he helps to improve America for us all. We can play chess as if it were checker and wonder at our repeated losses, or we can plan and act and win. And often those that are just entering the adult world can have the biggest and longest lasting impact. Because they shape the future and present, and live with the consequences.

I will not claim to do justice for the speech of Jeff Johnson. There are many elements that I have not covered, and others I have paraphrased, perhaps poorly. But I will say that my understanding of his message, and the ability that he has to positively impact the youth of the nation is more than just a pleasant surprise.

I may not agree with every aspect of what he said, that is not important. But I will say that many would find benefit in hearing or reading a speech by him. Even better to be there as he give his words the power of his voice.

I look forward to speaking with Jeff Johnson in the future, if possible, and passing that conversation on to you. But until that time I suggest that you look into him via his website at jeffsnation.com

Conservatives vs Rap, maybe Part 3 - 9.7.2007.3

Concluded from Conservatives vs Rap, maybe Part 2 - 9.7.2007.2

I think it's quite clear that the difference between the two is explicit. To try and justify a subgenre that promotes the very things that Malcolm X spent his life fighting against is unfathomable to me. To say that the difference between these two individuals is nearly misplaced rage and content is like saying the difference between oil and water is only the color of the liquids. I am angered and mystified how anyone could compare the civil rights leaders of the 60s (that actually lead the people) to the spoiled, materialistic, and predominantly convicted felons that comprise rap music today. I further believe that it doesn't take someone that has conservative or right-leaning political feelings to realize this conclusion.

Rap music is under attack today. There is no question on that. But to oversimplify the case by saying that it is merely the efforts of the conservative right to remove this form of music is to belittle the reason why rap, and by its connection hip-hop, is under attack. It is not only the conservative right that feel that the use, or perhaps I should say overuse and in some cases exclusive use, of four letter words in songs is inappropriate. It does not take someone right of center politically to recognize that lyrics supporting drug use and dealing, violent crime, disrespect of women, and lack of education are not something good for children to hear. It may be a fantastic marketing tool to have scantily clad women bouncing their rump, but it's far from fantastic to make it a common cultural activity to do such.

Min. Paul Scott ends his post with the thought that he hopes to give Mr. Bill O'Reilly nightmares of being abducted by gangsta rappers and being forced to watch BET continuously for two days. Perhaps it's my age, but I too would find such a situation a nightmare. I have to believe that it's the prevalence of music videos, and the marketing techniques of Viacom that make anyone find such an event troubling.

Rap music has long had the potential to be a positive force in the black community and the nation as a whole. Hip-hop has had the opportunity to allow young people, especially those that are African-American, to express themselves and take pride in their community. These are not new ideas. Conservatives did not try to stop that. The fact is rap music sold out; the cost was the improvement of the black community. The result is gangsta rap. If you disagree with that listen to any song by Public Enemy and tell me where they promote crime, degradation of women, or wasting money on frivolous baubles. Also consider this, how much money were Grandmaster Flash and Kurtis Blow and Public Enemy paid combined. Take that total, and compare it to how much Kanye West, 50 cent, NAS, or virtually any other top gangsta rapper makes today individually. Consider how much higher the dropout rate for African-Americans have become and how many more young black women become single parents.

Maybe it is conservative or right-leaning to not want children to grow up with a value system that places platinum teeth, above being a father. Perhaps it's unrealistic to expect kids to grow up without trying every drug they've seen in a music video. It may be non-liberal and anti-left to think that the children of today will go farther in their lives with a solid education than if they spend their time locked up in jail.

Perhaps.

This is what I think, what do you think?

Conservatives vs Rap, maybe Part 2 - 9.7.2007.2

Continued from Conservatives vs Rap, maybe Part 1...

The post goes on to say that the use of four letter words could be the fuel to incite riots and rebellion against the status quo. How? Of every riot I have ever heard being created I have never heard that it was done through the use of four letter expletives. To be honest such words are far too crude and simplistic to incite much more than perhaps a fistfight. I would suggest that readers who believe this is possible go over the speeches of some of the greatest leaders the world has known. Whether they were completely evil, such as Hitler, or peaceful, like Mahatma Gandhi, or forces of good, such as John F. Kennedy or Martin Luther King, you will not find four letter expletives used.

But perhaps one of the most incredible things that I read was the comparison of the words of Malcolm X to 50 cent. As incredulous as that may seem it was proposed. I obviously have deep reservations and disagreement with this comment. I'll take a moment to debunk that now. The actual statement is:

They understand that the only difference between the radical militant Black Power leader of 1967 and the gangsta rapper of 2007, is content and misdirection of rage. In other words, the degrees of separation between Malcolm X and 50 Cent are not as much as one might think.

I believe that if you compare 50 cent with a man the caliber of Malcolm X is to insult the memory and actions of Malcolm X. I'll let the words of each proved this point. The following is an excerpt from one of the songs by 50 cent:

[Intro]Uh..Yeah..
I like the way you do that shorty (shorty)
Now can you do somethin' for me (uh)
I like the way you movin' girl
Show me how you do that girl
I like the way you do that shorty (uh)
Now can you do somethin' for me
[Chorus]I can't, stand here and watch her dance
She got me comin' outta my pants
And i dont wanna miss my chance, to jump on her
If i could, get her outta here i would
I never seen a girl move that good
And there's something tellin' me i should
Get Low!

The following is an excerpt of a speech by Malcolm X:

When I was in Africa in May, I noticed a tendency on the part of the Afro-Americans to, what I call lollygag. Everybody else who was over there had something on the ball, something they were doing, something constructive. For instance, in Ghana, just to take Ghana as an example. There would be many refugees in Ghana from South Africa. But those who were in Ghana were organized and were serving as pressure groups, some were training for military -- some were being trained in how to be soldiers, but others were involved as a pressure group or lobby group to let the people of Ghana never forget what's happening to the brother in South Africa. Also you'd have brothers there from Angola and Mozambique. But all of the Africans who were exiles from their particular country and would be in a place like Ghana or Tanganyika, now Tanzania, they would be training. Their every move would still be designed to offset what was happening to their people back home where they had left.

The only difference on the continent was the American Negro. Those who were over there weren't even thinking about these over here. This was the basic difference. The Africans, when they escaped from their respective countries that were still colonized, they didn't try and run away from the problem. But as soon as they got where they were going, they then began to organize into pressure groups to get governmental support at the international level against the injustices they were experiencing back home.

I think it's quite clear that the difference between the two is explicit. To try and justify a subgenre that promotes the very things that Malcolm X spent his life fighting against is unfathomable to me. To say that the difference between these two individuals is nearly misplaced rage and content is like saying the difference between oil and water is only the color of the liquids. I am angered and mystified how anyone could compare the civil rights leaders of the 60s (that actually lead the people) to the spoiled, materialistic, and predominantly convicted felons that comprise rap music today. I further believe that it doesn't take someone that has conservative or right-leaning political feelings to realize this conclusion.

Continued in part 3...

JP Morgan Chase sharholders vote on Slavery apology - 5.15.2007.1

It’s amazing what a couple of years will bring. The public and investors alike are quick to forget so many items in this world of instant news, viral videos, Youtube and 24/7 cable network news. So many items are glanced over, missed, or forgotten in the attempt to get to the next thing that the impact of what’s happening rarely touches us. But some of those items come back and the impact continues to reverberate.

One such case is on subjects that I have discussed often in various posts in my Vass and Black Entertainment USA blogs. Reparations and apologies for slavery in America. The various posts [What Georgia House Speaker Richardson should apologize for - 3.9.2007.1, The surprise about broadcast television - 3.14.2007.2, ect.] reflect my views, and I think the views of many – whether Black Americans, Latino/Hispanic, White or purple for that matter. Many believe that the wounds inflicted to create this nation cannot ever heal if we ignore and hide from the past. Those wounds affect this nation to this day, whether it pops to the surface as the Rodney King riots, the Civil Rights Movement, the murders of Sean Bell and others, or the comments by Mr. Don Imus and other radio DJ’s.

Today the conversation of Reparations and apology took another step forward at JP Morgan Chase. Actually what happened today started in 2005, as a result of actions from 1831 – 1865, so I will recap that information. On January 20, 2005 JP Morgan issued an apology, in compliance with Chicago ordinances requiring the disclosure of slave ownership, for their predecessor banks from the abovementioned time period where slaves were taken as collateral on loans. The predecessor banks, Citizens Bank and Canal Bank in Louisiana, did take ownership of 1250 slaves.

A memo on this was released by ten-Chairman William Harrison and then-President James Dimon,

“We apologize to the American public, and particularly to African-Americans, for the role that Citizens Bank and Canal Bank played during that period," said the company on its website. "Although we cannot change the past, we are committed to learning from and emerging stronger because of it.”

In addition to the apology, JP Morgan created a $5 million scholarship for African Americans in Louisiana.

This commendable act by JP Morgan Chase should be the end of that story. It also should have been the motivation for other companies and states. Sadly this was not the case as lawmakers like Frank Hargrove, and Georgia House Speaker Richardson believe that no such action is either needed or justified. In addition it would seem that a portion of the shareholders at JP Morgan felt the same.

Deneen Borelli led a charge to have the apology, and the scholarship, rescinded in the 2007 Annual Sharholder meeting today. According to Deneen Borelli,

“It's absurd for someone to apologize for the transgressions of others committed hundreds of years ago. Slavery was an abomination and blemish on our Nation's history. JPMorgan Chase's apology for slavery, along with a $5 million donation for a scholarship fund, are the fruits of a shakedown. It is the looting of shareholder assets and sets a terrible precedent.”

Continued in Part 2...

Tancredo and Hargrove - 2.2.2007.1

Leave it to Mr. Stephen Colbert to hit the nail on the head. In discussing Black History Month he brought to light the question of Virginia wanting to express “profound regret” about slavery. Yes the state legislature of Virginia has considered saying they are strongly remembering with feeling a loss the act of slavery they imposed on Africans taken against their will and brought to America to build the nation that has become what we know today. It’s only taken 140+ years since the abolishment of slavery.

Of course not everyone agrees. Mr. Frank Hargrove, a delegate, thinks that Black Americans should just “get over” 246 years of slavery and consideration as property. That the subsequent 100 years of Jim Crow laws and segregation and de facto third-class status should have been more than enough to adjust. I would imagine that he feels that the Civil Rights movement was all the reparation that was due to the descendants of more that 4 million slavers in America. The fact that Hargrove doesn’t want to “apologize for anything” seems to support that thought. Since I infer that Hargrove thinks its such a great idea, or at least no big deal, he wouldn’t mind having all of the stuff he and his family (all of them) own taken away and to have them all go into the fields of farms in his state, owned by Black Americans, and work 20 hours a day seven days a week with out healthcare and no pay. I’m sure they will get over it.

Of course Mr. Colbert pointed out another joyous thought by a politician, in this case Mr. Tancredo. Mr. Tancredo feels that minorities having a caucus is just hypocritical and discriminatory. As Mr. Colbert mentioned it’s not like Congress is anything but overwhelmingly comprised of 45+ year old white men (for the last 200 years or so). Yes, according to Mr. Tancredo minority caucuses need to include the majority so they can fairly represent the views of the minorities in this nation. What a visionary. I’m so happy he his around to help me understand the political goals that will help improve my life as a Black Puerto Rican American.

It’s not like either man would be able to survive a day if they were to live as a minority in this nation, I imagine. Especially if they had to encounter others with views such as their own, I think. But maybe they were able to see how ridiculous they seem, thanks to Mr. Colbert. Hopefully everyone else could see it just by reading what they said.

This is what I think, what do you think?