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The truth
is, rap music has its good, bad and ugly. Good being those feel great
tunes with a positive message and substance. Bad being music that may
not appeal to the masses but is entertaining in its own right. And ugly
being that ish that you wish never made it outside of the delusional
rapper who made its thought process. Especially if you are a self
respecting African-American. We are not talking about the run of the mill Southern dance track or
exorbitant East Coast party record. We are talking about the music that
is so coonish that it leaves people wondering if the rapper who made it
has ever heard of the Civil Rights movement, Martin Luther King Jr.,
Malcolm X, minstrel shows, slavery or at least seen 30 minutes of Roots. [Editor's Note: Bamboozled, too.] Hide your kids, hide your white boss/co-workers. Here are 10 songs
- that made it to the mainstream - that most black folks wish other
condescending races never knew existed…
10) “MyBabyDaddy” – B-Rock and The Biz
This song probably has the sad significance of cementing the phrase
“baby daddy” into the mainstream vernacular. Besides letting the world
know that black people can't formulate a proper sentence, the video also
showed that we like to deny fathering kids and dance around doing jigs
while doing it.
09) “Your Momma's On Crack Rock” – The Dogs
Okay, okay, we know we added this song into our list of Anti Drug PSAs,
but that was on some glass half full ish. On some glass half empty ish,
this is some of the saddest ish in Hip-Hop history. Just a little
reminder to let the world know that all Black women are zombied out on
that glass Richard, and that their crack baby children know about it.
08) “Chickenhead” – Project Pat ft. Three 6 Mafia & La Chat
The song's title has the word “chicken” in it, so yeah, it's already
starting off on a bad note. Then raunchy the lyrics and even raunchier
video go hard to keep up the stereotype that black women are money
hungry unfit mothers and young black males are self absorbed misfits.
07) “Baby Mama” – Three 6 Mafia ft. La Chat
Continuing in the “I fathered children and now don't want to take
care of them,” theme, Three 6 helps perpetuate the stereotype that for
Blacks having children is nothing more than a ritual in busting a nut
and collecting a check.
06) "First Of the Month” - Bone Thugz N Harmony
We can't front. This song is a classic. One might even let
his or her white co-worker listen to it telling them how it was their
jam coming up. That is, if you want said co-worker to think all Black
people sit around doing nothing all month and collect a welfare check on
the 1st (provided by their tax dollars) and use it to go buy crack,
kush and beer.
05) "Because I Got High” – Afroman
Surely, this song had a lot of brothers with brown lips getting
turned down for employment in the early 2000's. A nicca wit a Dr J afro
named Afroman talking about nothing but getting high, with chickens, 40
ounces and scantily dressed women dancing around in the video. Who hired
this nicca to make this song, the K-lan ?
04) "Chicken Noodle Soup” – DJ Webstar and Young B Again,
having the word chicken in your title is never a good look. But when you
add a dance that looks eerily similar to the jigs performed at minstrel
shows, you have a recipe for complete coonery
03) "Pants Hang Low” – Plies
We get it. This was supposed to be the rally cry against the proposed
“No Sagging” law that would probably cause racial profiling in the
Black community. But, bruh bruh, no. You and all the rest of these young
punks, pull your fuxing pants up. Stop making Black folks look like got
damb fools.
02) "That Baby Don't Look Like Me” – Shawty Put ft. Lil Jon & Too Short
If you haven't already gotten it yet, the themes here too often are
Black men give no f-cks about their kids. And neither do Black women,
all they want is a check. Thanks, Shawty Put for reinforcing this false
mind set.
01) "Get Smoked” – Lil Mouse
What kind of third world azz ish is this?!? We elected a Black President
four years ago, and a kid who just grew his first pubic hair is rapping
about getting head and killing people. And some adult actually
sponsored this. We got a long way to go, people."
00) "Chain Hang Low” – Jibbs (BONUS MENTION)
This is what happens when you don't have any elders in your circle.
The song that the St. Louis rapper swiped the “CHL” melody from is
actually a minstrel show mainstay entitled “Zip Coon” or “Turkey In The
Straw,” depending on the lyrics. It was only later changed to the
children's song “Ears Hang Low.
Visit the original article to watch the videos of these songs......
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LOSING NINETEEN B Y J U D G E L Y N N C . T O L E R
I lost Nineteen again today. Abandoning himself to that wasteland we offhandedly call ‘the system’, he just walked away - casually - like it was no big deal. Some claim I shouldn’t say I lost him, though, considering what I do. While I am a Black woman, I am also the person appointed to balance the books, which means, that, on this particular day, I am the one sending Nineteen to jail. I am a judge in an inner-ring suburb, a place where middle-class stability stands in the shadow of urban distractions. Here, Black, male and Nineteen is required to face the same dilemma every day; “Do I work and wait like momma said, or join the party down the street?” Forced to choose before the calm sets in, Nineteen picks the wrong one. Next thing you know, he’s standing before me, wondering what all the fuss is about.
It’s important to know that I am a municipal judge. Handling minor matters, I deal with assault, drug possession and carrying a concealed weapon charges. Unfortunately, the size of the cases I see occasionally confuses Nineteen. He views his mistake as a little thing that doesn’t warrant much concern. I, on the other hand, see it as a small down payment on an incredible cultural cost. “What’s with making me look for a job?” he asks. “Why do I have to go back to school in order to stay out of jail?” I’m fighting to keep the boy from becoming a statistic, and he doesn’t even care. So I plead, not for Nineteen to obey the law, but for him to do right by me. “You owe every Black woman who cares for you an obligation you won’t be able to repay if you’re working off some ill-gotten debt to a society you don’t owe,’ I tell him. Some listen. Most don’t. My successes are few; I decided to give up at least once a week. But I keep pressing because I don’t want to leave stranded the few I do manage to help. Those wins notwithstanding, my frustrations remain. Just yesterday, one asked me to stop bothering him. “You’re not my mother,” he said. “Why are you messing with me? Just let me do my time.” Lots of them, in fact, ask me to leave them alone. They tell me, “It ain’t no thing.” But, more often than not, the phrase that I hear is the chilling “I can jail.”
Of course, I know I only see the problems. Nineteen represents himself, well, in large numbers everywhere. I have seven I claim outright, you know - not currently Nineteen - but Black and male. One I married; four came with him, and two I produced on my own. The older ones have already been Nineteen. They’ve had their troubles, but they’re all okay now. The ones I made myself, however, are still young; they have a lot to learn. Living well in a world that does not always see your clearly is a difficult thing to do. My boys must be able to ignore those who ridicule their efforts to do well in school while remaining strong even among those who find that strength intimidating. Tough lessons, these, but they must learn them if they are going to do Nineteen the right way. I don’t want them standing before some judge who may see them as a statistic. If they mess around and get before the wrong guy, then where will they be? Jail, of course, is the answer to that question. The very same place that I wound up sending Nineteen today. Frustrated because I can’t fix the world, and Nineteen won’t let me help him live better in it, I shake my head, but must move on. I have thirty more cases to hear.
“To jail or not to jail?” that is the question. How hard am I supposed to try without his help? Doesn’t he see how so much of the harm he causes lands right in some sister’s lap? That is why I told Nineteen he owed me. “Consider the sisters in your life,” I say. “It isn’t always about you”. Then I remind him that, whether or not he understands it, when you jail, we in jail too.
by Justin Giboney Make an objective appraisal of the following statistics because they form the basis of an inconvenient truth that I would like black America to consider: A study conducted by criminologists at Northeastern University found that since 2000, while overall murder rates nationwide have fallen, the murder rate among black youth is on the rise. Homicide is the leading cause of death for black males between the ages of 15 and 29. 94% of blacks murdered are murdered by other blacks.
According to the Associated Press, in 2008, more citizens were murdered in Chicago (city with one of the highest black population in America) than American soldiers killed in Iraq. While external threats to a nation are always a serious concern, more often than not, internal threats present a more immediate and grave danger (see War on Terror). What’s more, sabotage within cripples a people’s ability to fight without. For some time, I have struggled with whether or not many of the more problematic issues in the black community are a microcosm of that same science. Is it possible that at this moment in history, black America’s most mortal enemy is within?
The Tuskegee Experiment: From the Tuskegee Experiment to Cointelpro, black America’s had good reason to be suspicious of the intent and effect of external forces. To suggest such indignities should simply be forgotten is neither useful nor realistic. In the same breath, these wrongs should not and cannot be used as an eternal crutch. Unfortunately, the vestiges of such cruelness still haunt the psyches of many African-Americans and render us hyper-cynical and prone to entertaining the most far out conspiracy theories. Cynicism can warp reality.
The barbershop has long served as a daily forum for male discourse. There is no better place to gauge the black male sentiment on a variety of topics. However, you will quickly find that these conversations often unveil a deep-seated cynicism. Enter any black barbershop from Tuesday through Saturday and you are guaranteed to hear spirited debates, along with a few outlandish conspiracy theories. You might even hear a story about how the American government is using iPods and ESPN to exterminate the black community. I have heard theories that are so creative, they make a Dan Brown novel seem pedestrian. It is entertaining at times, but disheartening once you realize that some of us actually use such theories to shun responsibility and feed a sense of helplessness and defeatism.
Notwithstanding the atrocities of the past or the inequities of the present, self-responsibility must kick in at some point. As incompetent and irresponsible as the W. Bush administration may have seemed, they were not the cause of all the black community’s problems. Violent crime is one of the most pressing concerns in the black community and we would be sadly remiss if we failed to take the majority of the responsibility in this issue. credit: seccad Are We Too Apologetic?
For every Sean Bell and Oscar Grant (R.I.P.), there are several hundred blacks killed at the hands of other blacks (not in uniform). Where is the outrage and protest? Our youth are being intimidated and corrupted and our elderly are afraid to step out their doors. Why do we make excuses for the individuals who terrorize our community on a daily basis? Perhaps it is because they are our sons, brothers, nephews, and cousins. We must fight the denial that prevents us from seeing the blood dripping from our collective hand.
Most apologists suggest these perpetrators are somehow absolved because of historical mistreatment and poor backgrounds. In my opinion, those factors do not justify terrorizing your community. A significant number of blacks have always suffered from relatively low socio-economic statuses; however, poor living conditions have never been an excuse for such poor behavior. Moreover, there are several third world countries with significantly lower murder rates, so poverty in itself cannot be a justification.
These apologists also work off the misconception that the great majority of the young brothers committing these crimes are poverty stricken. On the contrary, I venture to say that a good number of these brothers did not grow up like Jermaine and Dukie in The Wire. There is a pervasive thug and anti-intellectualism mentality in our community that transcends economic lines further than we would like to admit.
Take an honest assessment of the violence plaguing the black community. Can we honestly contend that it does not stem from internal sources? Can we in good faith pawn yet another community issue off on “The Man”? Undoubtedly, we can put a dent in the senseless violence in our community, but the first step is acknowledging the enemy within.
The previous generation of young Black males was destroyed between 1985 and 2005. No amount of crying, cursing or hand-wringing can change this because that generation is gone! We need only walk down any city street in almost any predominantly African American community to see residue of the broken lives -- millions of young Black men nationwide. Few people spoke out effectively and even fewer engaged in actions to prevent this silent genocide. The mass destruction of Black American males has been effectively ignored by almost everybody—the government, the media and most of the philanthropic community. Even most of our Black churches and Black communities still stand by and watch the horrific loss of our young Black men.
The resulting negative educational, social, spiritual and economic impact of a generation of Black males’ shattered lives is also ultimately a devastating loss to our entire society. Of course, every single young Black man will not be lost, but here are the facts: Only 2.5 out of 100 of the 102,000 Black males in Chicago public schools are projected to graduate from college by age 25 with at least a bachelors degree (From High School to the Future, Consortium on Chicago School Research, University of Chicago 2006). And only 19 percent of Black males in Indianapolis and 20 percent in Detroit even graduated from high school in 2006 (Given Half a Chance: The Schott 50 State Report on Public Education and Black Males, The Schott Foundation for Public Education).
Testimony before the U.S. Congressional Joint Economic Committee in 2007 revealed that only 50 percent of Black men in New York City were employed and that, nationally, 72 percent of Black male high school dropouts were unemployed. Recent crime data from Youngstown, Ohio, a city with a 44 percent Black population, showed that young Black men between 15 and 25 years old were either perpetrators or victims of 90 percent of Youngstown’s murders. In 2008, Chicago had more than 500 murders, mostly of young Black and Latino men. The Justice Policy Institute predicts that one out of three Black males born after 2001 will spend time incarcerated.
All of these statistics, representing the general condition of young Black men in America today, forecast an abysmal future for Black America. These inexcusable catastrophic outcomes constitute an unnatural disaster. Black America, along with all of America, pays dearly for its collective ineptitude and willful neglect of the nurturing, mentoring, educating, developing and saving of young Black men. No plausible justification exists for a country as great as America to lose another generation of Black youth.
Ask yourself: Who are young Black women going to marry? Who will be good fathers to tens of millions of Black children? Who will build and maintain the economies of Black communities? Who will be the anchor upon which to build strong families in the Black community? Who will young Black boys emulate as they grow into men? Will Black America be a viable and valuable community in 20 years? Or is the better question: Who cares?
Will the election of America’s first Black male president cleanse its conscience for destroying a past generation and absolve it of guilt for annihilating the next generation of young Black males? What a cruel hoax to believe that if a Black man can become president, then Black men do not have problems that America is obligated to address. Yet Black America cannot trade one Black man in the White House for the million-plus Black men languishing in American jail houses and millions of Black boys failing in American school houses.
In the absence of broad public policy ushering in comprehensive systemic changes, future generations of young Black males are destined to continue destroying themselves, their families and their communities. American social, economic and governmental systems have greatly contributed to the destruction of young Black men who have, in turn, become weapons of mass destruction against Black American communities. All the while America continues its moral high-ground façade concerning international human rights.
Those voices who call for Black men to “step up and be men” are not only wasting their breath but are also part of a seemingly intractable problem. Correcting the issues of Black men will require a comprehensively structured, sufficiently financed, professionally managed, ethically led and committed multi-pronged effort to systemically address and shift the cascading negative outcomes for Black men and boys.
The real shame of this catastrophe is not that America can’t save young Black males; it is that America won’t save young Black males! The resources required are miniscule compared to recent governmental bailouts and expenditures. Saving young Black males is an investment in America! It is as much a spiritual battle as it is a physical and emotional battle. A successful effort to save young Black males must also address habits, attitudes and behaviors that have pushed Black men to the precipice of irrelevance, obsolescence and nonexistence. To date, precious little is in place to stop the on-going destruction and annihilation of young Black males.
At this point, I am sure many of you have at least heard about the Jolita Berry story from Baltimore, MD. (Visit the above link to watch the video) Ms. Berry is an art teacher was assaulted by one of her students. Fortunately for Ms. Berry, someone videotaped the incident since the school administration was ready to put her on thehot plate for catching an L in her classroom. I know I am joking about this. Yet it is serious business. As usual, the mainstream media is running with this. True to their mantra of "if it bleeds,it sells," they are having a virtual field day with it.I expect the mainstream media to echo the Moynihan Report and tomake their little jungle statements. It doesn't bother me.Oftentimes, the mainstream media creates these furors only to make money out of them. What bothers me is what I am hearing from everyday people on and off the street.
It bothers me to hear people I know and love say "those people," or "they need to get their act straight." It's as if we are talking about Cylons or something. Weact as if our babies live in a zoo. We treat them like they are hamsters in a lab.I have several close friends who are teachers in several run-down inner city schools. Many of them have horror stories. I had the opportunity to work with young people in several cities and actually worked in a group home for close to two years. I, too, have my share of horror stories. Yet it bothers me to hear our own consider our babies animals or as if they are beneath us.Watching Ms. Berry on the video getting beat while the other children egg the victimiser on says so much about OUR society. Yes,it is our society. People make up that society. WE are those people.I hear too many folks blame the school system. I hear too many folks blame the teachers. Yet no one is ready to accept responsibility.
I remember living in Norfolk, VA and I heard all these people whisper about gangs. It was amazing. I attended a so called police summit on gangs and was outraged at what I heard. There were mothers there who came out and explained how the police were racially profiling their sons. Yet the police and the politicians as well as the citizens sat there as if no one was speaking.If we don't accept some responsibility, it will only get worse. I know this sounds terrible, but I use this story on folks to get them to wake up:There was a man who raised his only son to be the best. His son was in honors all his life. His son was an all star athlete, active in the church, and volunteered at an old folks home when he could. Hisson easily earned a scholarship to an IVY league university. One day while his son was visiting his parents, he decided to go out with his friends. They went out to a club and on the way home were caught up in a drive by. The young man died upon arrival at the hospital.At the funeral, the father got up and spoke. "I did everything I could for my son to be the best he could be." The crowd clapped and amen'ed at that statement. "But I failed to ensure that the other boys in his neighborhood had just a few of the opportunities my son had."Now of course, the problems with our babies is multifaceted. It is going to take money, people, laws and bills being passed, resources,and most of all courage to save our babies. Yet I want to point out that we are all in this. We all have to chip in. I am not saying we all have to be school teachers or we all have to go out there and mediate gang disputes. Everyone has a job and everyone has somethingto contribute. We should not treat it as something that will go away or won't happen to us or someone we care about.
All my children go to public school. Two out of three go to schools in an inner city. All are doing well. I realized that a proper education needs the involvement of the parents. I say this not just for my children but for other children as well. They take their cues from us. When the babies see me come to pick up my son, they knowwho I am. All of our babies act accordingly. Our babies understand.One can send his or her babies to a private school, but if they are not involved, its all for naught. Trust.Let's stop pointing fingers. Let's do something. If you are single,sign up with Big Brothers/Big Sisters. They are Rites of Passage programs in almost every major city in the United States. They are always looking for people to lend a hand in any way they can. If you have a degree or working on one, become a tutor. The local libraries have programs where one can come and read to the babies. Become a sports coach. Teach martial arts in a local school. If you are looking for a career that always brings challenges, become a teacher. Trust me, it's not for the weak at heart.Finally, when you get the chance, thank your babies teachers. They are on the front lines and they need all the support we can get.
For all you elitist folks out there, if you don't visit the bad neighborhood, the bad neighborhood will visit you. Ase Brother Omi
LOSING NINETEEN
It’s important to know that I am a municipal judge. Handling minor matters, I deal with assault, drug possession and carrying a concealed weapon charges. Unfortunately, the size of the cases I see occasionally confuses Nineteen. He views his mistake as a little thing that doesn’t warrant much concern. I, on the other hand, see it as a small down payment on an incredible cultural cost. “What’s with making me look for a job?” he asks. “Why do I have to go back to school in order to stay out of jail?” I’m fighting to keep the boy from becoming a statistic, and he doesn’t even care. So I plead, not for Nineteen to obey the law, but for him to do right by me. “You owe every Black woman who cares for you an obligation you won’t be able to repay if you’re working off some ill-gotten debt to a society you don’t owe,’ I tell him. Some listen. Most don’t. My successes are few; I decided to give up at least once a week. But I keep pressing because I don’t want to leave stranded the few I do manage to help. Those wins notwithstanding, my frustrations remain. Just yesterday, one asked me to stop bothering him. “You’re not my mother,” he said. “Why are you messing with me? Just let me do my time.” Lots of them, in fact, ask me to leave them alone. They tell me, “It ain’t no thing.” But, more often than not, the phrase that I hear is the chilling “I can jail.”
Of course, I know I only see the problems. Nineteen represents himself, well, in large numbers
Under the Reign of the First Black President, Will America Lose Another Generation of Black Males?
