Hiphop Archive's Christmas Mix!!!

Feeling Bah Humbug? Click on the Hiphop Archive's Christmas mix and feel the spirit; )

Being under economic stress, my all time favorite remains Santa's Rap by the Treacherous Three (featuring Kool Moe Dee & Doug E. Fresh) off of the Beat Street Soundtrack. I still own this on vinyl and used it to practice scratchin when I was in elementary : ) Enjoy!!!

"Jingle, jangle with the po" ; )

It's World AIDS Day!: Donate to HOTGIRLS!

H.O.T.G.I.R.L.S., Inc. (Helping Our Teen Girls In Real Life Situations, Inc.) is founded and directed by Dr. Carla E. Stokes. This is a wonderful intervention/ mentoring program and it deserves our support. We learned with President-elect Obama's campaign that even $5 here and $5 there can make major differences. I'll post more about the organization and its Director at a later date, but for now, please click the image below to see how you can donate, and help our teen girls in real life situations!

Richard Pryor on Anthropology, Human Origins and the N-word: 2008 AAA Recap Pt. 1

I am just getting finished with five days of conferring at the 2008 Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association (AAA) in San Francisco, California. I kept remembering this skit by Richard Pryor as I weaved in and out of paper presentations and directed students on their projects conducted on-site at the conference. Hearing students from diverse disciplines gush about the relevancy and liberatory aspects of anthropology brought Pryor's skit to mind. It is a great example of what we talk about in class: relationships between popular culture, research and policy. Shout out to the students of AFRS 310 Fall 08 as well as the amazing theorists and teachers who generously shared their precious time to "build" on important topics in contemporary anthropology with us. Stay tuned for Part 2, for more on this; )

Mo' on Prop 8: Blaming "the Blacks"?

Prop 8 passed. The initial hinting that it might pass on the night of Tuesday, November 4, was a blow to the elation that many felt from the early announcement of Obama’s victory. On Friday, November 7, thousands gathered in San Francisco, students gathered on college campuses, and thousands more took to the streets even earlier in other cities like Los Angeles. In the media aftermath, blame is blowing, and an interesting development has emerged. African Americans are being targeted as the reason for Proposition 8’s passing.

Proposition 8 sought to change the California Constitution to eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry. On Tuesday, November 4 2008, it passed 52.3% (Yes) to 47.7% (No). Many Californians report that they were unclear that they were voting to amend the state constitution. Moreover, propaganda endorsing the Yes on Proposition 8 position obfuscated the issue by featuring children confused and vulnerable in commercials, claiming that the initiative was to protect children from education about sex and marriage in schools.

On Saturday November 8, The Letters to the Editor section of The San Francisco Chronicle led with, “Turning their backs on another minority.” In this printing, the author totalizes the civil rights movement into a comic book narrative of Rosa Parks and MLK, Jr. and sends shame to “the African American community” as she blames the passage of Prop 8 on the report that supposes that 70% of African Americans voted for Proposition 8.

Before we descend fully into to blaming “the blacks” let us look at the facts.

1. California is not South Carolina. Even if there were a monolithic black community that voted unanimously to outlaw civil rights for LGBT identified individuals, it would not make or break a vote. According to the US Census Bureau (2006), California’s “black” population is 6.7% (vs. South Carolina’s 29% or Mississippi’s 37.1%). Add in issues of racial profiling and discrimination of formerly incarcerated individuals at the poll and the numbers of people with easy access to voting quickly diminish.

2. My inner social scientist says this claim that 70% of African Americans voted “Yes” on Proposition 8 lacks empirical evidence, and my auto-ethnographic senses tell me that this is a wack attempt to wag the dog. There is over-reliance on an idea that African Americans are more homophobic than other identity groups in the US. There is also an assumption that everyone identified as LGBT is white. In order to fully understand the implications of the “70%” statistic, one must understand the conditions under which the data were collected. The exit poll numbers are from whom, what, where, when and why? What precincts were these African Americans being questioned in? What were non-African American voters reporting in these same precincts?

3. The strategy of the No on Proposition 8 campaign was not inclusive. Many report that the No on 8 community-based efforts were not targeted toward non-white communities or communities whose primary language was not English. Such was not the case with the opposition (the Yes on 8 campaign). I received fliers to my home from the Yes on 8 campaign that included images of Obama as well as other black religious leaders supposedly endorsing Yes on Proposition 8. Both strategies insult non-white communities that identify as LGBT as well as non-white ally communities.

Despite these foul ups on the part of political workers fighting against the passage of Prop 8, that doesn’t excuse the rampant homophobia in all communities.

We have serious work to do if we are to be united. That includes not allowing our social groups to dehumanize people who identify in same sex relationships. It is also imperative that those included in the LGBT human rights movement do not erode into racism and bitterness as our struggle continues. Divided we fall.


A version of this post originally ran at NewsOne on November 13, 2008.

Reconstruction

The nightmare is OVER on the national level, and the saga continues on the local level. Obama took it with a historic margin! No dragging it out all night or for days, no supreme court justices, no jankiness. Straight up victory! Like UGod/ Golden Arms said in Triumph, we feel "the thrill of victory!"

I experienced my most memorable election night since I began voting. A strange turn of events caused me to end up far from my current home and adjacent to my old neighborhood in West Oakland. I met my friends and "family" at Everette and Jones BBQ restaurant to watch some of election coverage, feed our kids and listen to some live music. By the time I left multiple roads were shut down and at least a thousand people had taken to celebrating in the streets around the restaurant and at various spaces downtown. People in cars were honking. Fireworks were being set off. People were crying and hugging and dancing and chanting! I was HOME. This was LOVE. I am thankful that my son and I experienced this together, and I am excited that we awere able to share it with his siblings and our friends. We are building our future. Cause we can; )

Given all of the love tonight, I am disappointed by some news from our city and state elections. Proposition 8, which seeks to interfere with human's fundamental right to marriage, was passing by a thin margin. That makes me ill. As I always quote MLK, Jr.: Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. I am hoping that when I wake up tomorrow and all the votes are counted that Proposition 8 will not pass. For now, that struggle continues, and I am still singing UGod's verse:

"Olympic torch flamin, it burns so sweet; the thrill of victory; the agony [of] defeat.... judgement day cometh, conquer it's war."

Beyond Obama to the Local Ballot

Being an anxious and early voter, I casted four ballots yesterday that decided the fate of 34 propositions and nine offices. I vote in San Francisco. Our voting agenda has fueled jokes from comedians and PACs alike. For example, The League of Young Voters (aka “The League”) called our city-issued voter guide a “phone book” due to the amount of propositions that were included, and Dave Chappelle, who graced the SF Punchline Comedy Club all of last week, teased the amount of funding given to certain propositions via commercial time versus others. A comparison of two State Propositions (6 and 8) can reveal why the “snaps” from folks like the League and Brother Chappelle are deserved. Both Propositions 6 and 8 sought to threaten human equality and civil rights, but only one enjoyed extensive fanfare and national coverage.

Proposition 8 seeks to eliminate the right of same sex marriage. It is a ridiculous attack on human equality and even Chappelle joked about its backwardness, particularly its endorsement commercials which sought to obfuscate the issue. I vehemently oppose such an outmoded attack on anyone’s basic rights and wonder who missed the Rev. Dr. MLK, Jr. memo regarding the fact that ‘injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere’?

On the same note, Proposition 6, requires a “minimum of $965,000,000 of state funding each year for police and local law enforcement,” and it makes approximately 30 revisions to California criminal law.” I think The League’s summation of this proposition breaks it down. They posit that “this is a crass and vindictive attempt to demonize the poor, immigrants, and youth of color in order to pump more money into California's failed and bloated prison system,” as it allows for the prosecution of children as young as 14, denies undocumented immigrants’ right to bail, and targets families’ housing assistance if associated members do not pass criminal background checks (see http://www.theballot.org/2008/sf for full text). Where were the human rights zealots, celebrities from Hollywood and Unions’ commercials to highlight the affects of Proposition 6, as they did for Proposition 8? Injustice anywhere?

City and County Propositions ranged from K, which seeks to decriminalize prostitution and sex work, but also defunds alternative rehabilitation and support programs in the nonprofit sector, to R, which would rename a sewage treatment plant after George W Bush. This is my second time voting in San Francisco as I am recent resident, yet I see a troubling trend between today’s election and last June’s ballot options.

Clarity, focus and equal coverage of key human rights issues will be the challenge to SF’s claim to diversity and democratic ideals. While I don’t know what tonight will bring, I do know that election agenda items that secure housing for economically underdeveloped African Americans, such as Proposition F from our June 3rd election have not passed previously. In a city where black people are disappearing like bathwater down a drain, we need more than rhetoric to solidify what Rev. Dr. MLK, Jr. proposed.

Indeed, I am committed to organizing better in my social network for the next local election. This includes making sure my peer group has a trusted presence at meetings where propositions are written and revised. The implications of the local election propositions that I mentioned reach beyond Obama, and they are equally worth our attention and voice.

A Post-Traumatic Voter

On Tuesday, November 7, 2000, I went to bed in Gainesville, Florida with ease believing the announcements that Gore had won the 2000 Presidential Election. The next morning I awoke to a nasty nightmare that I am hoping will end tonight.

Worried that my vote for Obama still might not be counted, yesterday I trekked downtown to the San Francisco Supervisor of Elections’ office to cast my vote with a rare opportunity for extended early voting. As I clutched my signed, sealed envelope under my jacket away from wind and pouring rain, I wondered about the 42 other marks that have not enjoyed as much fanfare as the fight for presidential office.

The San Francisco ballots that allowed for choices on 34 propositions and nine offices have been criticized for being ill-written, unnecessary and overt attacks on civil rights. The League of Young Voters’ somewhat dogmatic descriptions of endorsements poignantly elucidate how poorly written and under-publicized many of this election’s propositions are. I concur.

As a research-obsessed professor with an extensive network of “experts” to draw from, I spent hours deciphering the texts and implications of many of the propositions. Only a few enjoyed fanfare, and much of that obfuscated the issues. My house phone, my mailbox, and my television have been flooded with propaganda endorsing or opposing the highest funded propositions for the past few months. The numbered State Propositions (such as 8) and even the lettered City and County Propositions (such as H) shared such attention with presidential candidates Obama and McCain.

On the Federal level, I find it offensive that in 2008, a year of historic firsts in politics, there was another ground-breaking story that has been largely ignored in mainstream media since July. For the first time in US history, two black women are running on a Presidential ticket together. McKinney and Clemente represent the Green party with an extremely progressive agenda. Having recently moved to California from Florida, a state where every last vote was counted more than once in the TWO highly contested presidential elections in 2000 and 2004, I understand the urge to focus on Obama to defeat McCain; however, focusing on that effort does not warrant the silencing of our exercise to reform the two party system. Nor does it warrant our lack of celebration, honor and respect for the grassroots political work that McKinney and Clemente have tirelessly executed.

The latter might be reiterated for SF’s District 12 Representative candidate for the Peace and Freedom party, Nathalie Hrizi, and the Green Party’s District 12 candidate, Barry Hermanson. While the District 12’s incumbent, Democrat Jackie Speier, was focusing on lowering the national speed limit to 60mph, Hrizi and others mentioned healthcare, economic crisis management, fighting against racism and xenophobia as well as ending the War in Iraq.

I come to each voting opportunity as post-traumatic voter. I cast my first votes in Missouri and my last two presidential election votes were placed in Florida. I admit, I have anxiety around voting, as I have generally experienced problems casting my actual vote and proving eligibility on Election Day. These particular issues did not affect me during the last two elections in SF, but here I see a new set of issues arising. Clarity, focus and equal coverage of key human rights issues will be the challenge to SF’s claim to diversity and democratic ideals.

The handful of African Americans fighting to remain in SF need to ensure that we too are attending to and protecting legislation on a local level that explicitly speaks to humanity across race, class, sexual orientation, gender and citizenship. Next time, rather than spending hours doing research on the “phone book” of propositions in solitude, I might do as Wu-Tang suggested in the first season of Chappelle’s Show and “diversify my bonds.”

A better strategy might be for my friends and I to designate and compensate individuals who we know and trust to attend meetings and advocate where propositions are constructed. We can assign our cohorts with less hectic schedules to help us build coalitions with similarly affected people. Finally, we can research the particulars of propositions once this information is made available, so that we are best informed in a timely manner to ensure human equality prior to Election Day.

13 years since the Million Man March?

Someone check my math? I clearly remember the first October 16 in 1995 that was declared our "Day of Atonement." I begrudgingly went to work as a work/study student in the African and African American Studies Program at Washington University in St. Louis (Wash. U.), where I was first year undergraduate student.

I was super radical, adolescent and irrationally upset that the Program wasn't closed to observe the day. I believe I wore all black and a beret, like this:



My "sour grapes" might have been irrational, but my emotion concerning the politics of the time was not unfounded. There was a lot going on concerning African-descent peoples world-wide in 1995. One of the organizations with which I was active, the Association of Black Students (ABS), had been working on incarceration issues, educational inequity in St. Louis Public schools, and about month after celebrating Nigerian Independence Day (October 1), we witnessed the brutal hanging death of Ken Saro-Wiwa and others who were part of the Ogoni struggle.


SEE: http://www.remembersarowiwa.com/deathksw.htm

With only two tenured black faculty members in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and increasing gentrification occurring in the city of St. Louis, black students on Wash. U.'s campus took the Million Man March as a serious opportunity to reflect on our protracted struggle against persistent dehumanization.

*


My class-- the wonderful ABS class of 1999 ((unghhhh**))-- organized students to not purchase anything, not even food, on that day. We cooked. We stayed home from class and gathered to talk about political activity ranging from shutting down local Shell stations to reviving black academic support organizations. At sunset we congregated at an outdoor common area. We had candles (did I buy these out of my pocket??? someone advise). We held a vigil and verbally, spiritually committed ourselves to hope, change and love. We were human. We took a moment to respect that, to respect our struggle, and to connect our humanity with the world.

I have always taken time to reflect in that manner on this day as well as October 26 for the Million Women's March. I didn't know how special that group of fabulous black students turned black professionals was until I left for another geographic region. I send them blessings on this day. I also want to send love to Club Knowledge who kept that spirit alive for me when I moved to Oakland ten years later.

Peace. Harambee.


*((Imani Williams from Oakland's Club Knowledge and Tony Stephenson from Wash. U.'s ABS are pictured above. This was taken by the def prof in St. Louis, 2006. Tony is wearing a throwback ABS T-shirt. Go Tony!!))
**(("unghhh" was part of a senior year unity call for the class of 1999. Master P had a song with a chorus that sang, "Unghhhh, Nah nah nah nah," and we would say, "Unghhh, Na-Ninety-N(ah)ine."))

19 days left 'til Nov. 4

While watching the debate tonight, I sadly felt as if I were watching the SNL version. McCain was cartoonish and nonsensical and oddly on par with Tina Fey's representation of the Sarah Palin character. I was irritated that the post-debate analysis ignored Obama's attempts to center discussion on urgent issues of health care, economic crisis and quality education, as well as his proposal to eschew meaningless discussion about mudslinging and scare tactics employed by campaigns. I was proud of how Obama handled the debate. Schieffer's overt verbal interruptions of Obama compared to his compliance through lack of time enforcement with McCain revealed his inadequacy as moderator. McCain's use of hyperbole and emotional outburst during debate were disturbing, and as I said earlier, on par with an SNL skit.

Nonetheless, I am not down about our collective futures. With all of the news of the McCain campaign's attempt to rally racist domestic terrorist groups at political rallies, I became a bit concerned about the gravity of such a tactic. Dancing on fear and false claims of scarcity have influenced masses of insecure people to make choices that are clearly not in their favor in past campaigns. I have lived in an area that was home to the headquarters of 17 different white supremacist terrorist organizations, and I am quite familiar with the organizing strategies of these groups. McCain lovingly referred to these as his "fringe" group supporters tonight. I am relieved to hear from many past acquaintances who continue to live in this area that the Obama support is alive and vibrant even there. Many have told me of plans to organize "van loads" of people on election day and others have been working to support early absentee voting.

With this recent news, I have my heart set on hope.

Now we have to focus some of our energy on making sure people are educated about the many other propositions possible to vote on after they cast their votes for a better prospect in the presidency. But that's another blog...

Thinking about Drexicya and new digital music (part one)

Today I was speaking with a colleague about connections among the narratives of enslaved Africans in spirituals and folklore to other black popular musical performances over time that have utilized space metaphors to connect to concepts of freedom. My favorite example to share in my Black Onlne: Cyberspace, Culture and Community course is the resurfacing of "Swing Down Sweet Chariot" from spirituals to Parliament to Dr. Dre. As I perused the web to find fun clips ranging from Sun Ra to Juan Atkins on sites like Youtube, I came across this nice interview with James Stinson:




There is also a tribute mix posted on this blog:

http://my.opera.com/bigloada/blog/2007/09/02/james-stinson-tribute-mix

My students have probably heard me speak often about his work with Drexicya, because he brought these metaphors home. The map of diaspora and use of science fiction narrative to educate about the liberation work still to be done continues to move me. While the masses obsess over Kraftwerk, Daft Punk & now Digitalism, I still can't let go of the effect of art from acts like Drexicya, Cybotron, etc. Don't get me wrong-- I have Kitsune Tabloid on my ipod and I enjoy running to it, but the roots and the reality of these earlier works are not yet fully excavated in my opinion. There is still love & liberation to be uncovered in the analysis of these pieces, and there is also important critique to be executed.

((Btw, I can't wait for Mr. Daniel Zarazua to come lecture on Detroit techno in my course!!!))

def professor talks to Davey D about Chuck D

This is an excerpt from an impromptu interview with me by Davey D regarding what Chuck D has meant to me (and the people I work with in my communities). Chuck D is not only a pioneer artist and creative guru, but he is also a compassionate and inspirational political character whose ethical concerns and moral convictions continue to push me to work harder to secure social justice. Knowing him has had a profound impact on my pedagogy and research practice as well as my personal life. I am a bit exuberant here, but, trust me, it is well deserved. In my opinion, there is no other Hiphop artist who is as accomplished and ethical as Chuck D.



[[Editorial Note: SFSU’s Africana/ Black Studies Department was most likely not the FIRST academic site of study for peoples included in the African-Diaspora on planet earth (think Timbuktu & centers in ancient Egypt, for example). However, it is the FIRST modern academic department in a United States university. Prior to the student strike of 1968, there were not departments of Black Studies/ African American Studies/ Afro-American Studies/ Africana Studies as we know these departments to exit today. Such departments were founded by students with a unique curriculum that is simultaneously activist- and community service-oriented while being anchored in theory and research that serves to improve the lives of all human beings.]]

def professor joins Boze

The def professor joins Boze (co-founder of Club Knowledge & producer with Hairdoo) and hosts of the TalkBack show on PCTV (Peralta Community College Television) to talk about Club Knowledge's Malcolm X Critical Consciousness Conference, the def prof's Hiphop courses taught at Laney College, Hiphop scholarship and culture, the Hiphop Archive as an academic resource and gender equity issues in Hiphop. This show was taped in early April of 2005.

The def prof was a faculty advisor and member of Club Knowledge, which was a unique student organization with a community-based organizational component. In addition to hosting the annual conference, the organization met at people's homes in the Oakland community to discuss and plan action to solve community problems and community pains.

Club Knowledge was conceptualized by Miesha Hillard, who is now a practicing nurse in Oakland. Other very active founding members who came after Ms. Hillard include Curtis "Boze" Riley and Danae Martinez as well as many others. Ms. Martinez is the person who conceptualized the first Malcolm X conference, and she will soon complete her BA in Africana Studies at SFSU and plans to obtain PhD in the field. These students and many more put their hearts and souls into imperative community organizing that has left a lasting impact on the memories of Bay Area residents. There will be another post about Hiphop courses at Laney & the Club Knowledge work.

def professor talks with teens

In this episode of Rites of Passage, a unique digital media project conceptualized by Charity Tooze, the def professor discusses gender and sexuality issues in Hiphop with high school students.

The key point in this discussion is to break out of binaries and totalized identities. That is, for example, David Banner shouldn't get a pass on his sexist rhetoric because he is racially conscious or critical towards class inequalities in certain lyrics and practices. Race does not trump sexual or gendered identities when it comes to human equality. Furthermore, the idea that women promote or "ask for" sexist harassment and abuse when they explore and perform their basic human right to sexuality is outmoded. Sexism will not end in Hiphop if women "put more clothes on" and it is sexist to totalize the idea of sexism into "women without clothes" or to put unrealistic binaries on women's behavior, otherwise known as the "queen" vs. "ho" dichotomy.

The def professor was one week away form her due date when this was taped-- so that is a cameo from her son Xola in the video :)