The seeds of the ‘dysfunctional’ Black
family were planted long ago and it is just now producing the fruit of violent
and angry young Black men. I don’t know if it is amusing or sad to see Black
intellectuals try to explain the problem in front of the White-controlled media
because when the cameras are rolling they like to clown just like the young
rappers whom many of them criticize. It’s like singer Curtiss Mayfield of the
1970’s Soul group ‘The Impressions’ once said, “Educated fools from uneducated
schools.” It seems to me that no one is asking the right question and therefore
the answer is still elusive. I have a thought-travel to any part of the world
where there is a war [sectarian, religious ethnic, regular, etc.] going on and
observe the people, infrastructure and living conditions, then come back to American
and compare what you saw there to the scenes in some Black [and Latino]
communities in this country. I would speculate there is very little difference
and I am also sure the people are very angry about how they are living in such
deplorable conditions and if they could write rap lyrics about their
experiences in English it would sound quite familiar as far as tone or feeling.
It is laughable when some well-meaning saviors think the answer is more money
because if that was the case, with all the billions of dollars that have been
spent over the years, especially in education [the linchpin of Conservatives
and many Liberals] most of our problems would be solved, according to them.
Critics like FOX News Bill O’Reilly, other Conservative demagogues and a few
token Blacks in the news media say it is the fault of Blacks themselves for
their dismal state of affairs. Blacks have been freed from slavery, given
citizenship, legal protections, the right to vote, free education, affirmative
action, integration, employment opportunities, and just about everything else
that the White man has, so what gives-why can’t they make it or be more
law-abiding?
Well, back on the plantation in
the ante-bellum Southern states some slaves served in the Big House and had a
few more privileges than the field slaves. Now get this, only a very small
number worked inside with and around the master and his family, even raising
his children while the overwhelming majorities were treated quite
differently. In other words, even a
brutish and racist master can reward one slave with favors and advancement
while denying the same opportunity to another one if in doing so it serves his
purposes. This is how the unequal system is maintained because it was never
intended to bring everyone up to the same level. The master even enjoyed some
entertainment by forcing two strong bucks [physically powerful and muscular
Mandingo warrior-types] to battle each other for his pleasure, and no other
reason. And even as awesome as the slave was he was still obedient to the
master’s whip, rope, or gun. The trauma of experiencing torture, especially
terror and fright are recorded in our DNA and transmitted generationally in our
genes. Black people have been psychologically traumatized and “raped” by the
White Euro-American male hegemony and the perpetrator of this crime against
humanity is “above the law.” Not only that but he feigns benevolence by giving
us the dope of social service programs and promises that we eagerly take and
inject into our veins like heroin, but all this does is make us more dependent
on the drugs in the first place. Then when we are all strung out he gives us
another drug to wean us off the addiction of this opiate in the form of social
methadone; of which we become addicted to the cure. What we desperately need is
mental health and counseling services but there is no doctor in the house. The
Conservatives and others say, “It’s not my problem-heal yourself.” And of
course one of the main obstacles to being treated for any medical problem is to
deny that anything is wrong and thinking that you are doing just fine; then the
next thing you know you are in the ICU suffering from Cardiac Arrest or
pronounced DOA and R.I.P. [you’re deceased].
What about Black men’s hyper
masculinity, sexuality, misogyny, thug life and gangsta pose? It’s quite
elementary my dear Sherlock-our seeming crazy, inconsistent, incoherent and
erratic at times behavior in and out of the lyrics is the result of inner
turmoil, struggle and tension expressed as an outward sign that we are in pain
and hurting. Collectively, all the Black community is affected; it is just that
some of us show outward signs of the progression of the malignancy more than
others. The Black man has been the White man’s or slave master’s “cultural/social
eugenics” experimental lab rat for so long he really doesn’t how to be a man.
The corporate recording industry is “punkin” him or pimping him out through hip
hop lyrics and like any loyal ‘star’ in Big Daddy’s stable, you bring him the
money so he can break you off a few ends. The most visible evidence of this
“new racism” is in the “N” word because brothers who use it and think that
somehow they have taken the power from it shows they do not understand the enemy,
their history, or themselves for that matter. By the mere fact that they come
off a certain way in the music videos and lyrics is only being a tool of the
very racists [not just simply the P-O-l-I-C-E] that they claim to be fighting
against. I was just thinking about Nelly’s “Tip Drill” and if ever there was a
video that should be in the racists showcase, it is this one. The twist in that
video is this: The White recording producers, executives and commercial
industry represent the brothers throwing cash money at the women [rappers] who
are performing for their pleasure. I think it
is a love/hate relationship with the White power structure. On the one hand you
hate him for what he has done, and continues to do to you collectively as a
group, and yet on the other hand you want to be just like him or have the
things that he represents [wealth, power, fame, king of the hill, and
objectifying women]-like a son wanting
to emulate his father. It perhaps explains why many successful male rappers
identify with the persona of someone like Donald Trump, and although there are
wealthier men, he stands out as flamboyant, swag, [money, clothes,
women-“Notorious B.I.G”], livin’ large, and he’s a real New York, Big Apple
playa.
To wrap all this up, Dead Prez in the song, “It’s Bigger than Hip Hop” gives the key to the entire dilemma with such lyrics as.: “Got us slavin for the welfare, aint no food, clothes, or healthcare. “ “Ay dogg that label is that slave ship, owners got them whips and rappers are slaves.” “Aint never seen no hope, brainwash video shows be foolin my folk.” “It's bigger than all these fake ass records when poor folks got the millions and my woman's disrespected.” “MC's get a little bit of love and think they hot, talkin' 'bout how much money they got-You would rather have a Lexus or justice; A dream or some substance; A Beamer, a necklace or freedom?” “Still a nigga like me don't playa' hate, I just stay awake[to what the true game is really all about].” The most important quote is from Master MC Jesus, who said, “You shall know the Truth and it will set you free.” You see, we have been programmed to celebrate July 4th, but as MLK astutely observed decades ago, “The Negro is not yet free [in America].” The Revolutionary War of 1776 freed the colonists from British rule but it didn’t free us [from the colonists rule and their descendants]. Our Revolution and Declaration of Independence is yet in the future as the struggle to achieve it is ongoing, and the weapon we must use today is ‘Truth;’ not guns or insulting and offensive words. Learn the lessons from the past and reread the war manuals passed down in the legacy of writings from original OG’s such as The Black Panthers, the last Malcolm X speech and other soldiers of the Movement, when the consciousness of Black people really started to awaken and many of them saw the chains that were wrapped around their and our minds.
Unfortunately, the one casualty in this current cultural war is “ignorance” exhibited by our rapping brothers and the collateral damage is Black women depicted as hoochies, hoe’s, bitches, tricks, skeezers, and baby mommas. To correct Reef and The Lost Cauze’s tribute to Trayvon Martin where it voices a threat to George Zimmerman, “The hunt [war] is on and you are the prey.” No, the war is on and has been for millennia against people of color, and we are the prey. I could not end this without a final word as it relates to all the brothers who brag about how they have been so successful but to me they are the modern “house niggas” (you know who you are) and the ‘real’ soldiers in the struggle are the “field niggas” who haven’t been pimped out or compromised the integrity of Hip Hop just to get paid-even though the rent is due. But it is a much bigger issue than any one Black male rapper or the female performers in the videos but rather there has to be another way to represent ourselves positively and earn a decent living at the same time. What is needed in the Black community is for us to reclaim our collective womanhood and manhood. I believe this movement towards recovery has to be Black women-led because they are the mothers of civilization and moral teachers of our children. We need to clean up our act one family and one house at a time without the pity party, victimization, and playing the convenient “race card because blaming White America is not a strategy-It’s a little more complicated than that. Just Keepin’ It Real.
Robert Randle
776 Commerce St #B-11Tacoma, WA 98402
July 30, 2013
robertrandle51@yahoo.com
