If you are under a rock and have no access to media and don’t read the news, maybe you haven’t heard, but the time-table on the surveillance program for the Patriot Act expired and White people have a lot to say about it. This morning I got a little frustrated listening to NPR. The biggest thing that folks could talk about was Edward Snowden and how he finally leaked the truth to the American people about the government wire tapping and other horrible things… blah, blah, blah. And oh Ran Paul and how he is leading the charge to end the Patriot Act… blah, blah, blah. What should we be doing. And there is a huge part of me that thinks, I don’t care about White men talking about how the Patriot Act is ruining the world. Brown folks been saying this shit since before the plane crashed into a building on American soil. Here are some resources if you feel like you need some background:
The Guardian talks about it
NPR talks about it
NPR: On the Media talks about it
So the Patriot Act apparently gave the government legal rights to listen to my phone conversations, read my text messages, and monitor my pics. If I was a number of leaders who tried to talk truth to power I would’ve been surveilled before this act was even passed. My real concern is for innocent people who have been detained with no explanation, the profiling of our Arab/Sikh/South Asian brothers and sitters, the killing of Black and Brown bodies in the name of security, the desire to send poor Americans of every racial background off to war followed by their return with some seriously fucked up systems. While I find these effects far more news worthy, I will not delve into each of them. I would rather like to highlight that there is actually music in the world that speaks these truths – now sometimes it makes you roll your eyes with that “really motherfuckers?” look on your face – but other times it is merely a reflection of the truth.
Congress spent much time debating rap lyrics and wondering if it caused violence in their suburban children? When really no one wanted to talk about the knowledge about the violence done by those in power. I feel the need to preface all of these by saying,
- I do not condone violence to end violence
- I do not believe that anyone should be condemned to hell or any other place of punishment in the after life. That decision is for God, not humans (if there even is a hell after-life, that is for another post)
- I do not think that anyone should be called a devil… even the most racist disgusting person or a war mongering leader… But it is an effect tool when engaging in lyrical endeavors that are meant to highlight and evoke a strong emotional response.
So here are a few, if you have more that should be added, please leave some in the comments.
This first one came to me while talking to my friend Maria. It was right around the time Bush won his second term and she was like, “you haven’t heard the immortal technique song yet?” “No, what is it?” I replied. And then we listened to this:
I also wanted to add that I think that some of these images are a bit overblown, for example, I don’t think that Israel or Bush actually orchestrated 911 with the CIA. However, I do believe that government policies allowed space for towers to be knocked down (that would be the projects). And the destruction rather than the reformation of these spaces were directly associated with the displacement of poor folks and those who require affordable housing in places close to where the jobs are. Or maybe we should move everyone out to communes and learn to grow our own food and survive off the land while we wait for climate change to happen–whichever!
Ok, this next one comes from looking at a post on Reddit about conspiracy rap music:
And to concede that Obama’s policies have not necessarily been helpful for Black/Brown folks throughout the world. But to be fair, I think that folks put far too much on this man. He was conservative before he became the president. At his Noble Peace Prize speech he talked about necessary war… so yeah. But also, I think that the backlash from White America on the fact that we have a Black president has been a liberating moment for our country, just plain as day racism is so hard to encounter these days, it is often just so coded in a variety of language choices, but White people saying that they hate our Muslim president, just makes me a little happy. Like, “oh Whitey….thanks for making me remember what blatant racism looks like. These micro-agressions were building up and I just didn’t know what to do with them. But now I have this stuff!” Also, I am mad that he went in on Michelle, how you ain’t gonna love Michelle?
So I have to share this one. There is government as drug suppliers, Illuminati talk, gangsters, etc… it just kind of highlights a long history in one video and so I couldn’t resist:
Please read my earlier preface about these videos before watching this one. And he still drops some jewels…
This would not be complete of course unless we cover Let’s get Free from Dead Prez:
I know that I haven’t even scratched the surface, but maybe an actual hip-hop expert could write an inspiring essay about the stealing of who gets heard in what spaces and at what levels…maybe that person is use. For now, I have to go lick the blade.
Pursuing Call 