Saturday, January 24, 2009 1 comments

American Revolutionaries in the Age of Obama: Stic.man of Dead Prez






While Barack Obama is surely an admirable person, his task as President is not enviable. Hunkered down in the Oval Office, he is now calculating with advisers as to how big a shovel he has to use to clean up all of the shit left around by his predecessor. And not only that, but how he will pay for the shovel? And, of course, which shit gets shoveled away first? And, after all, will these shovels even work?

Aside from those practical issues, Obama also has the burden of handling the emotions of the millions of Americans who embraced him wholeheartedly during his campaign, with their wallets and their hearts. The expectations are monumental on a national and international scale. Some expect a messiah, some a magician, and others, just a tax cut.

Even now, in these long-time pro-Obama circles, there are hints of disappointment floating – a near inevitability for the President, considering the volume of support he received from so many who were ready and willing to frame him as the way out of an eight-year coma. Some light public grumbling has already made its way through certain leftist venues over Obama's reluctance to comment on the situation in Gaza, while others were perhaps displeased at the proliferation of his cabinet by ex-Clintonites – Obama's former rival, after all, who was derided for her insider habits.

Now, as he is officially holding the reigns of power, legions of Obama supporters will come face-to-face with the reality that political compromise is going to be necessary, and much of their favored policy decisions will have to be delayed, if not killed off.

The unavoidable criticism of Obama from some of his former supporters for his inability – and surely, lack of desire - to be a leftist cure-all will likely be portrayed by most media outlets as a novel phenomenon, ripe for the picking by Republican spin artists. By necessity, however, this portrayal will discount the fact that there have always been those who are unrelated to Republican political gamesmanship that have always been unconvinced of Obama and his role in the political system.

“I think he is a charismatic brother and he even comes off as level-minded and fair, until you take into consideration a black power agenda. You have to say he is not really representing the black masses in terms of his agenda.” rapper and political activist Stic.Man told the New Madrid. “Maybe in his skin tone he is. But, shit, Obama and Bin Laden both have the same skin tone, for that matter.”


Best known for his time as one half of the rap group dead prez, Stic.man never exactly bought into the Obama hype that wooed large swaths of the entertainment industry. Given the history of his music, this is not exactly surprising.

Since breaking out in 2000, dead prez – comprise of stic.man and his associate, M1 - has released two full length albums while also collaborating with The Coup, Erykah Badu, and The Outlawz. On his own, stic.man has put out a solo album entitled “Man Hood,” authored a book on emceeing, and produced tracks for rap legend Nas.

Throughout, the group has retained a distinct identity, infusing their music with a stridently pro-black identity informed by both the tenets of the Black Panther Party and the work of “African internationalists” in the Uhuru Movement. Stic.man and M1 took that message and customized it, preaching healthy living and exercise as a path to self-determination amid their lyrical criticism of the American political and social systems.

For all intents and purposes, however, dead prez first emerged onto the national music scene with the blistering single “Hip-Hop” - an anthem for political change set to a rattling war call of a beat. With a chorus chanting that “it's bigger than hip-hop,” dead prez called for a full scale assault on the music industry and the political establishment – a haymaker from the rap world that came while the industry was swirling with songs lauding the spoils of the “system” dead.prez came to confront.

who shot biggie smalls?
If we dont get them, they gonna get us all
Im down for runnin up on them crackers in they city hall

These record labels slang our tapes like dope
You can be next in line, and signed, and still be writing rhymes and broke
You would rather have a lexus, some justice, a dream or some substance?
A beamer, a necklace or freedom? - Stic.man, “Hip Hop”


“Them crackers in they city hall.” On the radio and video versions of the song, the “c-word” was removed or obscured from broadcast, similar to its infamous “n-word” cousin. Instead, the sound of a record stopping filled the space so a listener without the unedited version – only available on the album - would hear the line “them [screech] in they city hall.”

Thus, the teeth of the lyrical assault were largely ripped out by some censor somewhere. The line was altered into the same boring general antipathy towards politicians that can be found in a John Mellancamp song - a pointless, throwaway sentiment without the guts of the unedited verse.

While the intentions of the word's removal are debatable, (is it a racial slur?) the result is telling. The censorship allows calls for criticism of a looming government sitting on a hill, but not if the face of that government is defined in color.

By now, we have all learned the mantra that Obama's election is a “historical” one, not just because of the massive voter excitement that propelled him into office, but also because that official face of government is black for the first time – the opposite color than that assumed by dead prez just a few years back.

The symbolism of the event is undeniably awesome, as a black man takes the Oval Office just a few decades after law books in this country insisted African-Americans were marginalized. As Obama begins to work in Washington, though, the structure of government is more or less the same, and - black face or white - the pressures of political compromise and expediency mean Obama must navigate the established realms of power, rather than entirely construct his own.

Now, the hope embodied by Obama is that “change” will come by wielding the system as a weapon against political obstacles, rather than instilling change by attacking the system with rhetorical guns blazing. Tactically, Obama tipped his hand in that regard when he stocked his arsenal with weapons like Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, John Podesta, and Rahm Emanuel. These are the game-players - those who know Washington politics - and not outsiders who seek to overhaul the institutions of power.

It is for these reasons that self-proclaimed black revolutionaries like stic.man are not lined up behind Obama. The system he heads is the same that they questioned before November 4 and the same they will question throughout Obama's time in office.

“I think so far he is helping a failing white power system have a last chance at being revived,” said stic.man in an e-mail interview. “And, if things are gonna be how they have been been under 43 prior white presidents, then my expectations are not high at all.”


“In fact, I'm gonna be preparing for the okee doke,” he added. “I encourage people to stay vigilant in their local and international organizing so that we can hold this administration accountable to the real needs of the people. I say that with humility and with all due respect to the historical nature of this time.”

The historicity is unavoidable, for good reason, but for stic.man, it takes a back seat to action on the issues he sees as relevant.

“I haven't really heard Obama speak out as to what his administration plans to do as it relates to the crisis of black males in this country. I haven't heard his stance on the recent or past police brutality issues at all, or the incarceration epidemic of our people. I did see where he was supposedly not in support of reparations,” said stic.man. “So I don't know what to expect but what we've been getting all along from the system.”

A still from the video for "Hip-Hop"

“Until i actually experience otherwise, my faith in these times is in what the people want to see happen not so much in what the 'President of U.S. Imperialism' is gonna do, ya dig?” he added. “What it it means for the country remains to be seen too.”

Obama's campaign touched largely on the same issues Democratic campaigns have in the past, while packaging them with skillful iterations of promises of “Hope” and “Change” in Washington, D.C.. By consequence, those issues often driving certain African-American activist circles often went under-acknowledged during the presidential race, like addressing significant incarceration rates for black males or calls for reparations for slavery.

Obama walked a fine line on those issues which often pigeonhole African-American politicians into inescapable policy conundrums, and the President sought to transcend racial issues and avoid controversial “race” topics at most times while taking the conservative route at others. When he spoke on the need for “responsible fatherhood” in African-American communities, he was infamously criticized by Rev. Jesse Jackson, who accused him of unnecessary pedantry.

The political negatives of this move were negligible, at least. Obama successfully mobilized African-American voters, who supported him in record numbers across the country. It is something akin to this mobilization that concerns stic.man most about the Obama administration, however. For him, the crisis created by the American system for the black community remains regardless of who is in charge – and buying in via Obama may further exacerbate the crisis, he argues.

“[My biggest concern is] that he will galvanize our people into believing in an American dream that denies our true right to freedom and self-determination,” said stic.man.

The slogan “Be Careful What you HOPE for” long adorned stic.man's e-mails and cyber-communiques throughout 2008 – a self-evident warning to Obama supporters.

It is undeniably clear stic.man has his reservations about an Obama administration, but what did he make of the administration's potential? Could it provide a self-proclaimed revolutionary with anything satisfactory?

When asked what his greatest wish for Obama was, he responded as follows:

“'Wish' as in miracles, right?” said Stic.man. “I wish Obama would be the spook who sat by the door and [that] he is gonna use the power of his office to expose the fundamental contradiction of the system as parasitic and imperialistic by nature.”

“[I wish] that he will free the political prisoners, give the indigenous brothers and sisters their land back, free the prisoners of war and those of conscious,” he continued. “That he will be a voice and proponent for the reparations movement. That he will have a revolutionary impact on the minds and lives of the people.”

“But thats big wishful thinking,” he added.

The idea of revolutionary impact is one that was subtly addressed throughout Obama's campaign, especially through its flirtations with popular culture. The iconic Shepherd Fairey-designed poster of Obama seems to channel socialist propaganda of the past, echoing Che Guevara gazing into the socialist future, while other campaign images appear to recall Soviet images of brighter days fuelled by sloganeering.

Stic.man remains doubtful that the Obama's goals of change are aligned with his. His own goals and message, for that matter, are not likely to be altered, even with the change in American leadership.

“It will be the same in principle,” he said of his work. “I will express what's on my heart...but, as i grow in understanding, so will the music. ”

------

2009 will offer ample opportunities for that expression, as stic.man continues to work through his Atlanta-based BossUp production company. The forthcoming year will find stic.man working on a new book entitled “Rites of Passage for Black Boys” as well as a new dead prez album called “Information Age” and further collaboration with M1 on a “mini-album” project with DJ Green Lantern.

Fore more, visit BossUpBu.com

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Friday, January 16, 2009 0 comments

Men Will Bleed, Bones Will Be Crushed

by Reid Jupin

Whatever deity is out there in the ether must be smiling down on Pennsylvania this weekend, because only a higher power would bless us with this weekend's AFC game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Let me take you on a quick trip through history to emphasize why this match up will unquestionably be a historic one.

Ray LewisSunday December 14, 2008, Balitmore, Maryland: With the Ravens leading Pittsburgh 9 to 6 in the waning minutes of the 4th quarter, rookie coach John Harbaugh instructs his team to punt on a 4th down after his team's offense--led by rookie quarterback Joe Flacco-- fails to convert a late game 3rd down. The ball is snapped, the punt goes up and falls perfectly, gracefully, and fortunately within the 10 yard line of Steelers' territory. With the ball ultimately downed at the 8 yard line, and the home crowd in Baltimore explodes… That’s it!... It’s done!... Game over, man!...

That beautiful punt all but insures a Ravens' win, as the Steelers would have to move heaven and earth to win. To secure a victory, the Steelers needed to drive 92 yards in a little over 2 minutes and score a touchdown. To make things worst, the defense that would be preventing them from doing this was no ordinary unit, but the fabled and feared Baltimore squad, led by outspoken middle linebacker Ray “I might have helped kill a guy” Lewis. No, there was no way that could happen--no way could the Steelers pull off an impromptu victory, not in front of this crowd, not against this defense.

Of course, it did.



In front of a stunned Ravens' home crowd, the Pittsburgh Steelers offense--which had been sputtering all game long--willed a drive the length of the field down the to the Ravens' end zone and topped off the drive--and the game--with a controversial 4 yard Santonio Holmes touchdown pass. It proved to be the difference in the game, and the Steelers had done the impossible and won.

With that, the victorious Steelers were all but certain to receive a playoff berth. For the crushed Ravens, the loss meant it would take a divine intervention for them to make the post-season.

Yet for whatever reason, the football gods saw it necessary for these two titans to clash again, and here and now, five weeks later, in one of the best AFC Championship match-ups in recent years.

The Baltimore Ravens, a team once thought to be as dead as disco when it came to the playoffs, is now advancing to the AFC Championship game and set to face none other than the Pittsburg Steelers. Mike Florio, of Profootballtalk.com, said it best, “Ladies and Gentlemen get ready for World War 3!”

In predicting an outcome to this inevitably epic game, all rational thinking says to pick the Steelers. They’ve beaten the Ravens twice this year, the game is a home game for them, they are led by a fifth-year quarterback with super bowl experience and “statistically” they have the best defense in the NFL. With all those factors backing a decision you’d have to be crazy to bet against them, yet that is precisely what you should do.

I’m taking the Ravens in this game to win by a field goal, and I’m taking them because of the turnout of their last meeting. The Ravens are a team with too much pride to let it end the way it did on December 14th. There’s just something about this team and the way they're playing.

You have to ignore all the facts and justifications the pundits pull out to explain why the Ravens will lose this game: They have a rookie quarterback, they Raven’s haven’t had a bye week since September, they are riddled with injuries, it’s an away game...Some even say there’s nothing left in the tank for Ray Lewis and his defense.

Ray may be on his last leg and might only have a couple more years in him--he is not the player he once was. But, you have to assume that the memory of the Steelers' 92 yard drive against Lewis' proud Baltimore defense--in front of a Baltimore crowd--topped by a touchdown pass that never crossed the plane is a memory that still haunts Ray.

And we shouldn't forget that, though the Baltimore defense is not statistically number one, it is surely the most feared in the NFL.

Forget assumptions and statistics--the Ravens will have their vengeance this weekend, beating the Pittsburgh Steelers, in their own house, in front of their own home crowd. They win with a rookie quarterback and a smile on their face. The Steelers might have all the favorable statistics in the world, but Sunday morning, the Ravens will awake with a burning need to reclaim their pride, and they will stop at nothing to get it back.

Men will bleed, bones will be crushed, Pittsburgh will burn and Baltimore will prevail.
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Monday, January 5, 2009 2 comments

Katrina Stories


by Donn Cooper

Around the Fire

Just about everyone I've spoken with from southern Louisiana has some horrific personal account of loss or hardship during and after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Homes were flooded, personal belongings destroyed, lives ended. I've heard of grandmothers dying in the attic and entire families swimming through septic sludge to flee the city after Katrina made landfall. It goes without saying that these narratives need to be repeated, to recognize the suffering and to burn into the American consciousness the painful memory of unpardonable social and political failures.

Explaining how Katrina happened—describing, for one, the modern engineering mechanisms that permitted the city's population to exist in almost an amphibious natural environment—would take every volume of the Encyclopedia Britannica, and then some. Grasping the entire rhyme and reason is nearly impossible because New Orleans has long been a literal sump of problems. Then again, ascertaining causes is always nearly impossible in a catastrophe, especially for those involved. Survivors cope by sharing stories of their tribulation and deliverance. In contrast to an abstract time-line of contributing factors--or, in the case of Katrina, a compilation of oceanographic charts and congressional budgets--their immediate experience is something real and tangible to which they can hold.



At the Door

However, another thing begins to happen, other stories surface as if conjured from dreams. They're unattributable, like urban myths. And similarly, they speak to the collective phobias and psychoses of a population. What could be scarier for the American family than mistaking a giant sewer rat for a pet dog? (You've heard that one, haven't you?) The very idea threatens the iconic, Leave It to Beaver image and attacks a sense of safety, tied to cleanliness. Less trivial, it's perfectly conceivable for talk to circulate among New Orleans African-Americans that the levee in the Lower 9th Ward had been exploded. For a community that had been disenfranchised for so long, the story becomes almost a wish-fulfillment of their worst fear.

Among a group with an opposite and congenial relationship to power, the stories that arise in crisis can be ones of confirmation and fanciful hope. What's that, there were militias of heavily-armed African-American youth roving New Orleans, looting and raping women? Well, the city's whites shrug and say, “We're not surprised. In fact, we told you so.” The ruling class finds a justification for its economic position and political behavior. That's not to say that there weren't heinous crimes committed in the lawlessness after the storm, only that the cultural salience and particularity of the details of those purported crimes need to be analyzed.

Vengeance

This weekend I heard what I consider the other, wishful half of the previous story, which has been running through my parents' circle of friends, a group of upper-middle class residents of New Orleans and the north shore of Lake Ponchartrain. Here's the question: If the city harbors warlords and murderous animals, how does white society deal with them? Although they still control its economy, white political power in the city is no longer evident. What hope do they have to eliminate the criminal element? They've done everything in their ability to protect themselves, namely by removal, by living and learning separately. But otherwise, they're impotent; they tire of a self-imposed segregation. They'd venture out, were the wolf not licking at the door.*

The following, I think, originates partly in response to the stated subconscious question. Here, told in Tennessee, with a vodka tonic in hand:

You know about the Navy Seals that came into the French Quarter after Katrina came through? The police were just a mess. Nobody was really in charge. They didn't have any headquarters. I don't even think they could hardly communicate with each other. The ones who were really heroic were just freelancing, really. A whole bunch of officers stole Cadillacs from a dealership and just drove out of town. I know there were others who shot themselves. There was basically no security after the storm, and as you heard on the TV, there was all kinds of bad things going on. People getting robbed and murdered and worse.

But, you know, the French Quarter didn't ever get looted or anything. You know why, don't you? People were really worried about it getting burned down or something. But they couldn't send the military or, I think, the National Guard into New Orleans right after the storm because our stupid governor was sitting on her ass. She hadn't signed the papers that would allow the federal government to mobilize soldiers inside the state. But the French Quarter, you see, is actually a National Historic District—something like that—so it's under federal jurisdiction. When it was pretty clear that the police couldn't do the job once the storm was done, President Bush ordered Navy Seals to go up the Mississippi River and protect the French Quarter.
 

So right across Rampart Street is the ghetto—well, you know that, you're familiar with the French Quarter. Anyway, there was some bad stuff going on over there. The Navy Seals, they set up snipers on the roofs looking over across Rampart Street. You can ask Joey about this since he's got some Navy connections, although I heard it from someone else. The snipers sat up there and picked off all the guys that were looting and raping and stuff. They'd see this stuff going on and shoot these guys, who were raping women. Then they'd go over in the night and get the bodies. That's why you didn't hear anything about it.


* Johnny Darrell.



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