The Iron Rail blog has a compelling post dating back almost a year on Fred Radtke aka Gray Ghost, who is notorious for painting over New Orleans spray can art and other forms of graffiti as well as conventional signs and posters.
It was signed under the pseudonym, "the mighty d-block" and is written under the assumption that Radtke himself is a "writer" who "gets up". While this is certainly a rather unconventional way to think about Radtke, d-block fails to realize that one can't apply graf writer categories and logic to an activity that is in opposition to the basis and politics of graffiti and graffiti art. This should be obvious, and for a blog with anarchist sensibilities I'm pretty surprised to see an individual endorsement of what we would consider as antithetical to anti-racism and is instead an activity that is complicit with the State and essentially white supremacist if not outright fascist.
For those interested in our general appreciation of graffiti, check out LBoogie's post from last March. LBoogie writes, "graffiti has been the megaphone for working class youth, and all they need is a can of spray paint and a blank surface (and sometimes not even that)." Youth of color were at the forefront of a specific form of graffiti in NYC in the 70s that eventually had a global spread. This was more or less consistent with the growth of hip-hop and its corresponding ethos of opposition to neoliberalism, white supremacy, and the coming to power of the Rainbow Coalition.
While we would disagree with those who have tried to mechanically fit graffiti into explicit attacks on the State and capitalism, we still would argue that implicit in graffiti (and sometimes explicit) is a rejection of official society. More importantly than its negativity (negation) is its reclamation of individuality in a society that has sought to destroy any vestige of such in the name of value production and State power.
What the individual writer thinks of his or herself is unimportant; our consciousness is a contradictory thing. Some writers are not able to articulate why they get up. It is a compulsion they feel. But when taken as a totality with all other forms of graffiti, we see a critique and an expression of alienation. Who knows where Radtke's real sentiments lay. I'm pretty confident that he would be in good company with the Algiers Point white community who during Katrina murdered at least a dozen black men with impunity. The State has yet to investigate, let alone charge anyone with the murders. But perhaps Radtke is a dude that generally has no problems with black folks. After all, he is pretty indiscriminate on what he chooses to paint over. However, Radtke is not an island and we have to situate him in a historical context in order to understand what he and his actions represent.
We know how the State has continued to respond to graffiti in explicit attacks on people of color. This goes back as far as Orange Crush. But it was not the only organized force to respond to graffiti. There has also been a history of white vigilantes responding in their own ways. Of course, white vigilantes have been doing more than just responding to graffiti, but have a long history of attacking people of color under the guise of "fighting crime".
Like the racist Katrina shooting deaths, Radtke gets a free pass by the State to continue his political crusade, Operation: Clean Sweep. "Sgt. Joe Narcisse with the NOPD previously said they have no intention of stopping Radtke or charging him with destruction of private property.
'What he’s doing is work that the city would be doing itself provided we had the resources and manpower,' Narcisse said. 'He’s not doing anything that we aren’t asking him to do.'"
I'm not sure which is more frightening, the fact that the white supremacist State turns its head from Radtke, or that it says it doesn't have the resources to remove graffiti itself.
Radtke's activity is more consistent with white vigilantism. He's determined, because the State is unwilling, to fight the depraved colored hordes who have brought us down from national greatness. He is an "Omega Man" that locates the decay and barbarism of the world not in the attacks on the working class and people of color, but on people of color themselves. That is an instinct towards fascism.
To support Radtke for "getting up" isn't breaking the holy laws of hip-hop graffiti. I could give a fuck about that. But to frame Radtke as a graf artist, or to argue that somehow what he is doing is compatible with the general ethos of graffiti, is like confounding the murder of black men by those crackers in Algiers Point as fighting crime. I'm not trying to bait d-block, but just because Huey Long railed against capitalism, that didn't make him anti-racist.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Fred Radtke: Graf Writer or White Vigilante?
Friday, January 23, 2009
Hip-Hop in the Era of Barack Obama
D&HHP readers and community:
This post will contain a series of articles that take up the campaign, election, and inauguration of President Barack Obama and its relationship to hip-hop culture and the hip-hop generation. It is to help forge a dialogue for not simply hip-hop as music or art, but the political circumstances and challenges that face us as a generation. I hope that everyone who reads this post will take the time to read one or all of the articles and leave their thoughts in the comments section. After a couple of weeks of exchange, we will respond with a statement on the articles and the conversation.
Is Obama's presidency the change hip-hop needs?
We are the post hip-hop generation
New anti-gang legislation targets hip-hop generation
The hip-hop generation in decline
Breaking Free: The Politics of the Hip-Hop Generation
Barack Obama, Hip-Hop Candidate
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Revolutionary Hip-Hop: a Mini-Manual for Hip-Hop Organizing
I'm still not even sure I should post this. Immediately I can think of two reasons why it would be necessary to share this nearly six-year-old manuscript; to indicate a line of march in my own understanding of hip-hop as well as my political development and to confront the fundamental weaknesses of the piece that, while being marginal in terms of more of its formal politics, still conveys what plagues most of the popular internal and external reaction against hip-hop culture.
The first thing is that the MS had a functional purpose: to propose ideas on ways to "bring back" and "educate" working class youth on the "fundamentals" of hip-hop. But perhaps it is better to talk about certain a priori assumptions that existed before the MS was written.
First, there was the hip-hop fundamentalism expressed in terms of the emphasis on the "four elements,"; that modern hip-hop, at least in its popular form was bankrupt and a bastardization of the "true school." Second, it contains the still persistent myth that early hip-hop represented some lull in innercity violence, that early hip-hop was "positive," a term when used in that context today makes me cringe.
Ironically, I devote a section of the MS to cultural nationalism to say that hip-hop for its own sake is backwards. So even though I was willing to break with hip-hop as it was, it was only in service of revolutionary change, which leads me to my next point.
Hip-hop had revolutionary value because "at one time" it ran through certain racial divides. This contributes to the myth that there was not racial tension in the early formation of hip-hop. Chang's "Can't Stop Won't Stop" tells of Puerto Rican youth hated on by black kids for trying to be like them, and hated on by other PRs for not acting Puerto Rican.
It was also partly personal experience. I write of other local hip-hop artists and impose moral standards upon them. I talk about the type of folks who come out to "hip-hop" shows. This invariably bears weight on the conclusions of the MS.
Now briefly for the political problems. First, most of the ideas or theory informing the perspective for "Revolutionary Hip-Hop" are an incoherent and eclectic mix of Maoism and Third Worldist Marxism. I have been radically Left my whole life, even as a young adolescent, but my political becoming was not linear and coherently shaped and did not grow out of a specific political tendency. It relied on a combination of many contradicting, broadly Marxist perspectives that were incredibly underdeveloped. Unfortunately this meant that in some places I use quotes without fully comprehending or contextualizing them. My footnotes are not footnotes at all, but are more of a glossary. So there are definitely lots of grammatical and mechanical problems in the writing as well.
What is also striking is how I show such disdain for what I refer to as "individualism," yet this entire MS is individualistic in the sense that politics is mainly a personal activity. It is a cultural revolution for hip-hop where ordinary folks are expected to follow the true way, but with an eye toward political revolution presumably led by some abstract vanguard. I was 22. That's all I can say. But damn, that ain't long enough ago either.
What should be obvious to everyone who reads this (which probably will not be many, if any at all) is that I renounce in full the logic, politics, method, as well as the conclusions of this MS. Although this piece was an important first step in beginning to take a critical look at hip-hop and as such was necessary, it is being republished here in contradistinction to the perspective of D&HHP. So dis it all you want, you ain't gonna hurt my feelings.
June 16, 2003
Introduction
We need to step back and view the horizon for a moment. We have been going too long without an assessment of what we are doing and where we are going. Hip-hop needs a new analysis. Not the conventional bourgeois analysis of some elite scholars or the superficial money-driven analysis of hip-hop entrepreneurs, but a class analysis, a study through a class lens. To date, I have been severely disappointed with the traditional views of hip-hop by hip-hop artists and by bourgeois intellectuals alike, so I felt the need to develop my own. One that is constructed by someone involved in the culture, and by someone of the working-class. Though some revolutionary theorists like bell hooks have made excellent arguments regarding hip-hop, I have yet to see a thorough Marxist breakdown, or should I say a Marxist alternative offered.
Now I must explain who I am writing this for. Who is my target audience with this particular manual? It will be hard to make this clear without first explaining my ideas, but basically I am directing this to working-class people who are already acquainted with hip-hop. Some of this is theory, while some of it is the successful practical application of theory. Of course no theory can be proven unless it has been practically applied.
This information may be nothing new to those involved with hip-hop, but it is necessary for me to lay the foundation for my argument first before jumping off into it.
History and Social Conditions
At the peak of the movements including women, labor, civil rights, national liberation, black power, and others, a culture of resistance emerged. In the same neighborhoods where the Young Lords Party and Black Panther Party were organizing young blacks and Latinos to fight against the systematic oppression inflicted upon them, a way of life embodying music, art, and dance was being birthed as an answer to the call made by many revolutionaries of that time. This culture would be hip-hop, a culture that then had yet to assume an identity.
Hip-hop has a history that dates as far back as the late 1960’s. But it had not yet evolved to encompass all of its individual arts or “elements” until 1973 or ‘74. The Universal Zulu Nation was extremely influential in the combination of hip-hop's four basic elements, i.e. rhyming, dancing, painting, and playing and making music, arts that have preceded this culture for thousands of years. The Zulu Nation's pioneers were former gang members who saw hip-hop culture as an outlet from the blight and poverty that was widespread within the inner city. Because the South Bronx and other urban neighborhoods in New York lacked any sort of infrastructure, DJs would have to plug their music equipment into street lights when throwing outdoor parties. When the pigs arrived to break up the party, the DJs would just wait for them to leave and plug right back in. On the album Criminal Minded by BDP, KRS-One said, “Power from the street lights made the place dark, but yo, they didn't care, they turned it out!” A deficiency of technological resources caused people to resort to using whatever tools they had available. Throughout most of early hip-hop music, you will hear a lot of the same themes: institutionalized racism, poverty, lack of jobs, police violence, prostitution, drugs, etc. These social and physical realities were the impetus for hip-hop culture.
Peace, love, unity, but also social awareness was cornerstone to the Zulu Nation's organization and the premise of all of their events. This made them one of the most successful youth-based organizations of their time. Since the commercialization of hip-hop, the Zulu Nation today has neither significance nor focus. It is merely a vestige of something that was once very prosperous.
A Tool of Capitalism
Just like any other culture under the sun, companies have found ways to market hip-hop and thus amass vast amounts of capital. In order to accomplish this task, however, certain characteristics of this culture had to be removed, i.e. its history and social conditions. And thanks to this, hip-hop is probably the most ambiguous term used today. You say hip-hop to one person and they might think of breakdancing, MCs, DJs, and graffiti, maybe. You say it to another and they may conjure up descriptions of Dave Matthews or the Backstreet Boys. You have some who say that hip-hop is a combination of R&B and rap, others who claim that hip-hop is a generation and whether you follow it or not, if you are 18 years old, you are hip-hop.
If you just ask yourself who controls the media, well the answer might be the corporations. If you then ask, what is the purpose of a corporation; your answer should be to accumulate wealth. Hip-hop is only on television, or radio, or any other corporate controlled medium if it profits. The ruling-class will not allow something on the air talking about radical social change because a large part of that means redistribution of wealth unto the people, which counteracts the purpose of the bourgeoisie . So, in order to profit from hip-hop, they have to strip it of its meaning and social context. The same way this system stripped black people of their history. This is necessary in order to maintain the status quo. But I digress...
In order to overcome the racial and class boundaries within hip-hop, we must understand how it is merely a microcosm of society. Society has many different hierarchies divided by class, race, and gender as does hip-hop and most other cultures. I will therefore explain my study of this issue as analytically as possible. It first is extremely important to understand hip-hop's social roots and revolutionary character, the difference between rap and hip-hop (rap being the music, hip-hop being the totality of the culture), and the commercialization of hip-hop provoked by bourgeois society.
Since hip-hop was produced as a corollary to the exploitative conditions fashioned by capitalism, it therefore possesses an immense possibility to develop into a culture capable of changing the system. A revolutionary culture is merely a culture that seeks to change the oppressive environment maintained by a power structure, and to create a society that fosters the true needs of the people. It is also a culture that changes with the people and with the advances in technology. However, this possibility is futile when it is used exclusively as another instrument in sustaining the existing system. The only way that a successful revolution within society can occur, is if it is made by the majority of the people. Hip-hop's initial base was comprised of this mass; people of color and poor whites.
Digital Divide
Because of corporate Amerika's hijacking of rap music and hip-hop culture, it has become just another commodity devoid of any real social value. Hip-hop, in its current popular form, is widely a reactionary, individualist perpetuation of the system. There has been a movement to keep hip-hop's arts and roots alive, but it has no access into the major media and therefore has no “mass appeal”, thus it is forced into an “underground” avenue, an avenue I will herein refer to as roots rap or roots hip-hop. Although most young whites who enjoy rap music primarily listen to mainstream, as with most young blacks, roots hip-hop is largely made up of young, middle-class white people. This is because it is not readily available to people of color and to the poor because first, there has been no solid effort to bring hip-hop back to the streets and second, the lack of access to the roots hip-hop underground avenues, i.e. the information superhighway and university campuses. The Internet has significantly kept the art form alive, but consequently it has served to alienate hip-hop's original constituency. Universities are centers of wealth thus it gives one easy connection into any type of culture or music. But since colleges only attract those which can afford to attend this also aids in alienating others which could be included. And due to this, roots hip-hop is another privilege dominated capitalist culture.
It is not because you are wealthy that you are innately corrupt, but white, male privilege represents a central problem within our society. It's imperative to appreciate, too, that this racial advantage comes as a result of the persecution of people of color. If there was not such a tremendous class polarization, this culture that some whites allege as theirs would never have been. Hip-hop was not formed by the bourgeois elites, but if you look at the demographics within the roots movement, people of color are largely absent which, in the end, intensifies the elusive barrier between race and class.
As long as hip-hop's history and the social conditions in which it was created are recognized—which should then lead to the conclusion that we live in an oppressive state that must be changed—then it only makes sense to, at least, lend support to its cause. It is essential, however, that you not further the unrelenting alienation in this art form, for if you do, then you have just allowed yourself to become a component of this racist, classist, patriarchal, and homophobic social apparatus.
By and large, roots rap is released independently by the artist or by a small record label and therefore, it cannot make contact with the people, particularly the youth. This is not to argue that we should—or even can—promote a culture of resistance through the conventional medium. As with engaging in armed conflict against an occupational power (like the United States), we must use guerrilla strategies. I will expound on some of these strategies later on in this manual.
Art of Resistance
Mao Tse-tung said in 1942, “In the world today all culture, all literature and art belong to definite classes and are geared to definite political lines. There is in fact no such thing as art for art's sake, art that stands above classes, art that is detached from or independent of politics.” Basically, none of our material conditions in life are exempt from the effects and influence of politics and social relations, including hip-hop. With this in mind we must understand how art today, while it is not detached from politics, is used as another form of social alienation. Too often we create art that is divorced from the people. We do not create art for the people; we create it for bourgeois society. The same goes for the musical aspect of art. Roots hip-hop, as an art form, is also removed from the people. The irony is that roots hip-hop is divorced from its roots. It seeks to preserve hip-hop for hip-hop's sake, but certainly not its political characteristics. If those involved with the roots movement were conscious of its politics they would see that what they are doing isn't hip-hop at all, it is consumption.
Nowadays we look at art not from a dialectical sense, but from a reactionary sense. We look at what is hanging on the wall instead of what is really behind the art, whether it is a painting, a piece of music, lyrics to a song or poem, or a form of dance. What we are looking at is a human being's total life experience translated into art. And art, like hip-hop, can be used to galvanize the people into a mass social movement.
Graffiti or spray can art has long been hip-hop's visual art. If you think about it, graffiti is a truly revolutionary art form. It is a perceivable manifestation of our social conditions in the United States. This government spends more money on graffiti removal than it does on art programs for schools. Graffiti is another result of a class society because it is made by the poor. And graffiti is the people's art because it is not consumed, it is not sold, it is displayed always out hi the open, usually in the inner cities, usually on private property. But of course our “free” market system has fabricated ways of selling graffiti; as businesses around the Westport area confirm; another example of how capitalism will take the revolution and sell it to you. Yet, there are a select few artists, like Alexander Austin , who do make art with the intention of moving the people. This is exactly the kind of art the people need; art that is connected to the people's struggle.
Social Contradiction
There are only two ways to become a part of hip-hop. You either lived in the city where hip-hop was being practically applied or you heard about it through the filters of the capitalist media which sold it to you. This creates a dialectical dilemma. Concerning the latter, if this is how you were introduced to the culture, of course you would have no understanding of its social disposition; you were merely the consumer who had an urge for instant gratification. Most youth today are introduced to hip-hop by the same means, including myself. But we, as members of the working-class, who are cognizant of hip-hop's social character, have a prospect of getting people involved with hip-hop firsthand, the way it must happen if we are to alleviate this social contradiction.
If you lived in East Asia where Buddhism is truly a way of life, you would have a high probability of being one. Or at least it would make sense dialectically. But this is because of all the different aspects of that society which have affected one's psyche. But the xenophile who has lived completely outside of that environment becomes Buddhist not because of their social conditions, but because of the lure that our capitalist system gives Buddhism and any other culture that it can present to you in a handsome, glistening package. The xenophile has no culture except that of consuming. John Walker-Lindh was Muslim not because he was brought up as one, but because he could no longer identify with capitalist culture. The petty-bourgeois existence finally becomes shallow and unfulfilling.
Patriarchy and Homophobia
Obviously sexism is rampant within hip-hop, mainstream and underground, as with homophobia. But it is not a problem within hip-hop alone. It is a larger symptom of the great social disorder. We should expect to encounter this in hip-hop, because it has permeated every aspect of our society. However, because of hip-hop's revolutionary character, it does have a latent power to attack this problem. And it must be done openly and directly.
Women, in hip-hop and in society, are expected to be sexually appealing before being socially acceptable, yet if they are open about their own sexuality they are scorned for it. For men, on the contrary, their sexuality is seen as a sign of power and used accordingly. But when women use their sexual prowess in a creative way, they are disdained for doing so.
I am not a fan of battles because I think battles and competition perpetuate individualism and nationalism, but when it comes to women competing, they will win, or lose, simply because of their gender. At this point all equality goes out the window, but the most important piece of that is how it reaffirms and further ingrains, in all of us, women's truly nonexistent ineptness. We are quick to applaud women in hip-hop because we somehow think it is more difficult for them than for a male. The truth is, because of the roles women play in larger society, we do not allow women the same opportunities to involve themselves. We only allow them the role of the supporter girlfriend, the groupie, or the alienated “butch” B-Girl.
It is hard to comprehend an MC spouting openly hostile racism against black people and having a following, even if there were no black people present. Not only is this due to the civil struggles made by people of color in Amerika, but also because of the racial origins of hip-hop itself. In the South Bronx, hip-hop's birthplace, blacks and Latinos were the dominant ethnic groups. As it began to spread to other urban sectors, even white people found a place within the culture. Why is it then, like any other art form in our male-dominated society, women have to play one of the three roles set aside for them? Why do we repudiate [conscious] racism, but condone sexism? Why are we so insecure in our own sexuality that we make homosexuals out to be inferior? Well, if you ask me, I would say that machismo is the problem. Machismo has nothing to do with being strong, but everything to do with lack of confidence. Being strong is the ability to draw on the best, not to thwart any feeling of compassion or empathy. That is the reactionary, Amerikan form of strength. The mindset of men who shun homosexuals are of the same mindset of men who owned slaves: Fear of their own gay tendencies causes men to eschew gay people. White slave owners renounced black people, but fathered black children. The correlation between them is the contradiction between humans' natural inclinations and society's social standards. This problem is an obstruction to our development as oppressed people. Ultimately, we cannot defeat the oppressor by using the devices of the oppressor. Another way we could phrase that is that you cannot use the master's tools to dismantle the master's house.
“Gangsta” Rap vs. “Bling-Bling”
We are seeing less and less of “gangsta” rap and more of the “bling-bling” AKA capitalist rap style in the mainstream. This may sound ludicrous to some, but “gangsta” rap has more of a revolutionary stance than the “bling-bling”. This is because “gangsta” rap reflects the dire conditions in impoverished neighborhoods and, generally, wherever people of color are concentrated. While it definitely had a propensity for being very misogynist, it forced white, ruling-class Amerika to take a look at the third world status of our inner cities. This reactionary manner towards “gangsta” rap is prevalent within roots hip-hop. From articles in the Pitch Weekly to hearing it directly from the artists themselves I hear extremely racist and classist opinions; opinions that I was guilty of entertaining at one point it time.
“Gangsta” rap is still very much alive within urban neighborhoods. Because of the evolution of commercial rap music, “gangsta” rap has also been forced underground. Yet, “gangsta” rap artists have successfully been able to rally young, black people, unlike roots rap artists. Why such a disparity? Apparently there is an underground medium for “gangsta” rap artists. Why do more black kids go to “gangsta” rap shows and more white kids go to roots rap or “real hip-hop” shows? The answer? It all goes back to the issue of relevance.
People listen to music that they can relate to. At the risk of sounding rhetorical, whether they relate to it in a reactionary way or a revolutionary way, they still listen to what is relative in their lives. Those who listen to rap that emphasizes materialism and patriarchy do so because whether they have material wealth or not, they still relate to that way of thinking. No matter how much you despise the “bling”, it is how this whole country operates. It is just that the rappers you see in the music videos do it in a very caricaturized way. People of color have been historically disenfranchised in this country. And anyone, whether black, white, or Latino who have lived without material wealth and somehow come into it, will tend to be very flamboyant. In the February 1994 edition of Zmagazine, bell hooks wrote an editorial in the midst of the “gangsta” rap hype. “The sexist, misogynist, patriarchal ways of thinking and behaving that are glorified in gangsta rap are a reflection of the prevailing values in our society, values created and sustained by white supremacist capitalist patriarchy.” I think this states very well that the ideals of “gangsta” and “bling-bling” rap artists are the ideals of American culture.
Now, if this is the mind set of the people, then we cannot really expect them to find relativity in lyrics that are over their heads, art they have no care for, and conspiracy theories that are absurd. Obviously, people who are clustered into ghettoes across the United States are not going to be impressed with calculus and differential equations or how the Masons are using esoteric powers to divert energies when their landlord is not repairing their home, but expecting the rent on time, the police are harassing and brutalizing them, their families and loved ones are filling up prisons faster than they can count, their employers are not paying them a decent wage, but demanding back-breaking work; that is if they even have a job, and sub-prime lenders are taking advantage of their desperation. This is not alienating, empty jargon. This is not conspiracy, it is reality. These conditions created hip-hop. Do you presume that urban youth could not relate to that? It would not matter how “East Coast” your beats sound, if you really spoke to people. We must halt the reactionary attitudes towards Amerika's lumpenproletariat . Poor, black, Latino, and white youth are the effect of the cause and they are revolutionary potential. In the words of Bernard Powell , “Ghetto or goldmine, the choice is ours.”
Racial Divide
The racial barrier within hip-hop ultimately breaks down like this. You have the mainstream which finds popularity among young whites and blacks alike and does not vary at all from city to city. Then you have the underground scenes. When I initially began writing this I realized that it was not enough anymore to refer to roots rap as “underground” hip-hop. This was due to the awareness that there are multiple underground scenes. Kansas City has a white underground and a black underground. The white mainly represents the roots movement. The black is made up of the “gangsta” rap scene. Roots hip-hop is concentrated chiefly in Lawrence and the “gangsta” scene in East Kansas City. Of course there are a handful of isolated artists, including myself and a few others, but I speak in general terms. And I do acknowledge that Lawrence is a city of its own. I have much reverence for its working-class and abolitionist history. And because of that Lawrence is a town that represents political potential. However, Lawrence and Kansas City hip-hop artists of both undergrounds are somewhat mutually dependent of each other’s cities for sales and for shows. There are cities that have been effectively proficient in minority participation within the roots movement, but I still feel that generally this is the state of the nation. Either hip-hop in some cities does not target minorities and the poor or they do, but still lack a class stance. Hip-hop has been polarized, and for good reason, the same good reason this government assassinated Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X , Fred Hampton , and Tupac Shakur. Once powerful people begin to talk about and act on multiracial, working-class unity this presents a threat to the power structure. And they will struggle by any means available to preserve their private, free enterprise hegemony, even if that means murdering us.
MCs as the Vanguard of Revolution
I think this speaks for itself. I am no MC. I make the beats or play the records. Yet, I personally refuse to work with MCs who do not convey my political stance. In a way, I am speaking through the MCs I collaborate with. Of what benefit would it be for me to record a song with someone whose views are in complete contrast to my own? How would that be productive? I am certainly culpable of doing this in the past. And of course we all have our inner contradictions because our society is a contradiction. But when will I see an MC who retains a consistent message in his or her lyrics? Why does one speak of educating the people in one song and in the next they are saying women's place in society is prone? Why does one talk about the disproportion of wealth and then says “I'm trying to get rich.”? Why does Ice-T see poverty as a class situation instead of a race situation, but then proceeds to offer entrepreneurialism as a substitute? How can Talib Kweli really call himself a “revolutionary entrepreneur”? Even the most “conscious” of hip-hop's artists and pioneers believe that black people's liberation is contained within the present system. Let me try to make this glaringly clear, you can't defeat capitalism with capitalism! There are countless MCs in hip-hop who threw around the word revolution, whether they really understood it or not, but who eventually caved to Black Nationalist entrepreneurialism. They have convinced themselves that because they were able to squeeze through and achieve some wealth, that anyone can do it just as easily. This not only reinforces capitalist individualism and nationalism, but it also does not take into account the structures and institutions in place to keep people down. You cannot have capitalism where everyone is prosperous because that negates the principle of capitalism. Capitalism is inherently flawed because it only benefits the interests of those who own capital. Over ninety percent of this nation's wealth is owned by one percent of the population. People have worked their whole lives trying to get a piece of the “Amerikan dream”, but in the end, could not even afford health insurance, or were fired so that the company they worked for for fifty years were not required to give them a pension, or wound up in jail because crime is the only other alternative. Sounds like an Amerikan nightmare. Conscious MCs and conscious people, I will hold you accountable because you understand more than most. Use your skills and charisma for empowerment, not for entertainment; not to perpetuate oppression.
From Reaction to Revolution
We have become caught up in thinking that we must use hip-hop for our own benefit. Most of us, who became a part of hip-hop, did so because it mesmerized us. It spoke to us in a way that nothing else has. At least it did for me. None of us, excluding the capitalists, experienced hip-hop and instantly thought of how we could exploit it. Yet when we become a part of it, our drive begins to shift. We begin to consider doing shows and getting a little pocket money. Then that idea graduates into getting signed by a label, corporate or independent. We become capitalists. We want to see our swelling heads on the cover of every magazine possible. We all compete for our group to be featured next in the Pitch Weekly. Every time I open the Pitch to read about what other hip-hop artist is “moving up” and getting signed, or releasing a professional sounding album (class privilege), I realize just how much more difficult it will be to get a music store to carry a CD-R, let alone a cassette tape. I've literally seen people refuse to purchase local music j if it wasn't shrink-wrapped. And the high-quality, state-of-the-art, barcode emblazoned] music is way overpriced, certainly not for college kids, but for the people who have to pay rent. When did it become about the exterior? Should it not be about the content? This roots movement seems to be taking on the characteristics of the reactionary mainstream.
Ask a working person in Kansas City if they go to Lawrence shows regularly. If they say no, it is probably because they do not own a vehicle. And if they do, their car would not be able to withstand the commute. And if it could, their tags are expired. And if you couple that with being black, you would probably want to keep as much distance as possible between yourself and the racist highway patrol. Hell, I am a white male and even I worry about the pigs stopping and harassing me. The roots rap scene is so dependent upon white privilege and class privilege that only those with it can afford to participate.
Organizing Hip-Hop into a Revolutionary Force
With any problem that is acknowledged, a solution must be offered. And I think I may have a very effective one. We need to start redirecting our focus within this art form. We need to rescue hip-hop from its inevitable death; inevitable if it continues on the path it is on. It may very well be that hip-hop in its original intent is already dead. But if this problem is just an interregnum, then it is up to you and me to see that it does not become permanent. Yet this change cannot be made on the Internet, nor can it be made in Johnson County . It has to be taken on actively in the streets of East Kansas City, Northeast Kansas City and the Westside —or whatever the appropriate neighborhood is. It has to be taken where minorities and working-class people are concentrated. We cannot just sit back and allow ourselves to become armchair revolutionaries that spends time endlessly theorizing. We must start actualizing or at least attempting to actuate these theories. Music is just another way to organize people to fight against the system in order to change it. It cannot be changed in the Bottleneck, or the Pool Room, or the Granada because that is not where the people are, that is not representative of the majority.
To sum it all up in one sentence, what I propose that we do is to merge the complete artistic scale of roots hip-hop (MCs, DJs, B-Boys/B-Girls, and graffiti writers) which broadens the opportunities for inner city youth, and the class position of the "gangsta" scene as to create a vehicle for a multiethnic, working-class, revolutionary, aboveground.
We must involve more people of color, more women, and more workers. We must go to them. We must start organizing hip-hop into a revolutionary force that seeks the permanent overthrow and removal of capitalism. We must start speaking in ways that people can relate to. This does not mean permitting ourselves to become condescending or attempting to “dumb ourselves down.” It means gauging your audience and connecting with people. My way of speaking in this manual is only alienating if I speak this way with everyone. Right now it is necessary, but when this theory is being actuated, this is when it becomes inappropriate.
I may be making it seem that I am only contributing to the problem of white privilege, but in order to connect everyday, working-class people we must use a different approach, because if they are ignorant of its history then they cannot see its potential. For those of you who are hip-hop practitioners and also see the need for social change within the U.S., this will be a way for you to actualize this. A responsibility of any leader is to create other leaders, and you do not do this by theorizing alone, you do it by action, or as Huey Newton says, by “observation and participation.”
It has also been important for me to explain my position because several people have asked me why I have extracted myself from this roots hip-hop “scene”. While I have been very frustrated with the so-called scene, I also see great potential among a small number of artists implicated with it. I think it is important to note that I live in midtown Kansas City and I've lived all over the East and Northeast sides. What I have experienced and what I have to say is relevant to people who live in those same neighborhoods because people who live in Lawrence are not directly affected by these social ills. It is apparent that I cannot initiate the tasks of my argument alone, although I will if necessary, so I hope that this manual will give others some clarity and allow them to lend their efforts to creating a wholly different scene that includes all people, not just white, wealthy college students. We must create a scene that is known not only for its art and music, but for its revolutionary stance and activity.
One of the most recent shows where I performed was at a venue in downtown Kansas City. It was a benefit show for a student political organization from a local community college. The student group had an account with AK Press and they sold books about various people and social movements of the past. Political artwork and posters adorned the walls. Literature pertaining to social awareness and know-your-rights cards were made accessible. All of the artists generally stuck to the issues in their lyrics. The DJs played politically minded hip-hop. The host MC kept the people energized and focused on our purpose. This served to create around the audience an atmosphere of resistance.
Another way in which we can get young people in the community to become involved is to start doing workshops and teach-ins on hip-hop. Utilize a library or some other public space. Incorporate political education and make that a fundamental principal. Remember that this political education must be relevant to their position and experience. This is just a cursory glimpse at some of the ways in which we can begin to plant the seeds for a revolution in the United States. If revolution is a process, and it most certainly is, and education is an elemental function, then these are some of the necessary steps required to make the conditions ripe for massive social upheaval.
From Revolution to Evolution
As a Black Panther woman once wrote, “there is no culture, but a culture born out of resistance to oppression.” While hip-hop is a culture born out of resistance to oppression, this does not mean that it should necessarily be conserved. I am not a cultural nationalist. Preservation and tradition especially of reactionary culture is a hindrance to the progression of the human race. To quote Frantz Fanon in Wretched of the Earth, in reference to cultural nationalism, “The [colonized] man who writes for his people ought to use the past with the intention of opening the future, as an invitation to action and a basis for hope. But to ensure that hope and to give it form, he must take part in action and throw himself body and soul into the [national] struggle.”
Karl Marx's dialectical materialism is the basis for my entire argument and the method I use for studying any situation. And by this rationale, I only argue that we use hip-hop to unify the multitudes of people and to revolutionize our minds, hearts, and of course, the intrinsically defective economic structure of the U.S., the physical organization of society, the structure which cultivates the political, legal, and social superstructures.
Using dialectical materialism, it is impossible to isolate certain situations. For example, we can look at how black and Latino people are flooding prisons in Amerika. To isolate this means that, well, they just love committin’ some good ole crime. And Pat Buchanan would love for you to buy that. But should we look at the economic disparities present in the United States and the circumstances which led up to this, we see then that there are other interdependent situations which had contributed to the overcrowding of people of color into jails. If we apply dialectical materialism to hip-hop we see that it, too, was a consequence of the intricately exploitive constitution of our society. Capitalism was a result of feudalism, and feudalism was given rise to by the ancient epoch. We see then, using this methodology, that every facet of our society is a product of continuous evolution and change. Hegel's dialectic is another method that can be applied to the revolutionary possibility of hip-hop culture. Capitalism (thesis) + Revolutionary Culture (antithesis) = New Society (synthesis). Out of this new society, hip-hop may no longer have any relevancy; it was simply the vehicle for abolishing the empire of Amerika. In fact, it was purely incidental that hip-hop mobilized the people, it just so happened to be the means that the people determined to employ. This is important to understand. Hip-hop is not our savior; it is not revolutionary in and of itself. It is an opportunity. It must combine with revolutionary culture or become one. While hip-hop is a beautiful culture indeed, its true importance lies in its dormant potential for transforming us and the world.
My History and Experience
For me, hip-hop was an outlet from negativity and my own inner conflicts with being white in Amerika. Hip-hop encouraged me to think for myself and to dispute status quo principles. Hip-hop educated me and taught me about history, politics, religion, and philosophy. There was a time when hip-hop was about style and slang, but these were childish notions within me that had to be played out over time. Five years ago, I wore my cap sideways and addressed everyone as "kid"—which got me in trouble a few times— yet I still believed in its revolutionary potential. I certainly did not grasp the concept of revolution then as I do now, but I have not allowed that to drive me away from the culture, only from my juvenile predisposition. My class history is wrapped up in the white, middle-class, but my class stance is solidly with the workers. Certain situations in my own life forced me into a lower class. But unconsciously I continued to add to the separation within the culture. I listened to “gangsta” rap when I was a young teenager because it captivated me. Everything that was not white captivated me. As a matter of fact, I used to think I was black. As my taste in music began to be refined I listened to more politically oriented hip-hop, but for years I let myself become a cog in the wheel by my reactionary attitude towards people of color. I would have said then that I did not like “gangstas” or “gangsta” rap, but I did not realize, on a level that I do today, the societal conditions and economic inequalities that exist in Amerika that constructs the “gangsta” mentality.
I became immersed in hip-hop in 1995, when I was 15, although I listened to its music since I was very young. I experimented with all of hip-hop's elements, but spinning records appealed to me the most. A couple of years later, I started making beats and recording with some friends in Northeast Kansas City.
Years after its prominence, I became a member of the Zulu Nation, to my disillusion. Initially, I had tried to establish a chapter here in Kansas City, MO, but I was disheartened with the unprofessional, dishonest, and burned-out attitudes of the world council. Therefore, I felt the need to institute something that encapsulated hip-hop culture not only with “social awareness”, but with revolutionary practical activity. Nowadays I am still highly critical of the UZN for their lack of focus and drive, their penchant for ‘pork chop’ nationalism, their ridiculous ideas about aliens and conspiracy theories and even their name. In theory it sounds great. Zulu, which was one of the largest East African tribes, represents strength in numbers, and I really like that. But what bearing do the Zulus retain today to young, working minorities in 2003 Amerika? Two words, absolutely none. Do not get me wrong, I have a huge amount of respect for Afrika Bambaataa as an organizer and as a DJ, but that does not mean I agree with his Farrakhanesque ideals. And the irony in all of this is that most of the ideas I criticize I once held as true. But this was a necessary stage of development to descend through before reaching the point I am at today.
My first tape—yes, a tape—was the Hip-Hop Manifesto, a project which was more or less the soundtrack to this manual that I had attempted to write five years ago. I designed the cover of that tape to look exactly like a version of the Communist Manifesto. This is embarrassing to admit now, but I had not even read the damn thing yet. The HHM was mainly under the influence of the UZN. But now that I have read it, as well as other works by Marx and Lenin and Gramsci, I feel I am in a better position to really evaluate hip-hop. I cannot confidently say that this is a manifesto, because that would mean to say that everyone within hip-hop generally has a mutual stance on where we should go. I wish I could say that. Maybe one day I can. But until then, it is important for me to find out whether these ideas will be put to use or discarded permanently.
My experiences, in the end, were fruitful because it only helped me to evolve and it gave me a deep understanding that hip-hop sorely needs an authentic and consistent analysis of and challenge to capitalism. I implore all of you take a stance against this system so that one day we can create a society free of oppression, exploitation, prejudice, and misunderstanding. All power to the people.
The future will be what we, the people, struggle to make it!
College Town Hip-Hop
Thinking more in depth about Lawrence and the roots hip-hop scene that has been proliferated there, I should point out that Lawrence hip-hop really is not Lawrence hip-hop at all, it is KU hip-hop. I do not necessarily mean the artists implicated with that scene, but the general people who pay to attend shows and buy CDs; the consumers, not necessarily the practitioners. While I would say, too, that there are artists in Lawrence who are not native to Lawrence. College town hip-hop is a national phenomenon, one that is beyond Lawrence. We see then were we can draw the line between those who live there (mainly workers) and those who are educated there (the sons and daughters of the bourgeoisie). Therefore, the artists among Lawrence, whether proletariat2 or bourgeoisie (worker or property owner), should be spending their time trying to garner the working-class youth of Lawrence. Lawrence has other prospects, other potential, the Native American (or should I say Bona Fide American?) community. Haskell Indian Nations University isn't an elite school of blue blooded Europeans. Native Americans, the few of them, are not only disenfranchised, but colonized. A lot who are able to attend mainly receive government aide. It is important that people of color have a position in hip-hop culture and this could be a means for Native American youth to become radicalized. They have potential to be a revolutionary vanguard.
Bling-Bling
“Bling-bling” as it has been dubbed certainly is not detached from politics obviously; it perpetuates capitalist ideals and culture, but it is not made for the people, therefore it is detached from the people. If whatever you do presents no challenge to the power structure then it only sustains it. As cliché as it has become it is the simple truth, if you are not a part of the solution, then you are a part of the problem. Commercial rap music has made a qualitative change, and maybe for a purpose. “Gangsta” rap presented much more of threat in that it highlighted vital social issues within the United States. But this does not automatically mean that it challenged the system.
Footnotes
1. bell hooks is author of Killing Rage: Ending Racism.
2. A Puerto Rican organization influenced by the Panthers during the late 1960's and early 70's.
3. The most prominent, militant, revolutionary organization in Amerika probably all together. The BPP created free self-defense, education, food, housing, clothing, and medical programs for the people.
4. By bourgeoisie, it is meant the owners of the means of production and subsistence.
5. Amerika with a 'k' is meant to connote the United States of America. This is to recognize first that America is a continent, not a country, and second we use the term 'American' in the US as if we are the standard.
6. Mao Tse-tung AKA Chairman Mao (1893-1976) was the leader of the Communist Party of China.
7. It is important to denote the difference between personal property (homes, vehicles, churches, etc.) and private property (businesses).
8. A petty bourgeois, artsy, gentrified neighborhood in Kansas City, MO, a neighborhood I despise.
9. Austin is responsible for the murals around KC depicting MLK, Jr., Malcolm X, and other social change themes. He frequently attends musical functions and draws free sketches of people. To me, he is the ideal people's artist.
10. the 20-year-old American who was arrested in Afghanistan fighting with the Taliban
11. Literally meaning platinum jewelry, but generally used to describe materialism.
12. a free publication in Kansas City
13. 'East Coast' has been a term loosely used by constituents of the "gangsta" scene for anything standing outside the keyboard influence of the "gangsta" sound. This is probably because "gangsta" rap had its beginnings on the West Coast. Personally, I disagree that the East Coast has a different sound than the West Coast or Midwest or vice versa. It is important to look at each individual artist's influence.
14. Lumpenproletariat is the lowest socio-economic class of a community. It literally means unemployed class or criminal class. This was exactly the constituents organized by the Panthers.
15. Bernard Powell (1947-1979) was chairman of a militant organization called SAC-20 in Kansas City, MO. After he was killed, a statue was erected of him on the corner of 27th and Brooklyn.
16. Lawrence, KS is home to the University of Kansas, a very wealthy school. It is not far west of Kansas City, MO.
17. Malcolm X AKA El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (1925-1965) was killed in collusion with Nation of Islam loyalists and the FBI after calling for racial unity against U.S. imperialist oppression.
18. Fred Hampton (1948-1969) was the 21-year-old charismatic leader of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party. He was later assassinated by Chicago pigs, which took ten years to finally be proven.
19. an LA-based pioneer MC
20. an MC in the hip-hop roots movement
21. Johnson County is an elite suburb on the Kansas side of Kansas City.
22. urban neighborhoods in Kansas City, MO
23. club venues in Lawrence, KS
24. Huey P. Newton (1942-1989) was co-founder and informal leader of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense.
25. the largest distributor of leftist books in the country
26. Cultural nationalism AKA 'pork chop' nationalism surfaced during the early days of the Black Power movement. It contends that assuming the native African culture is fundamental to saving black people; however, it can take on many different forms. It is reactionary because it seeks to go back in time instead of forward, it presents no challenge to capitalism, it only reinforces it, and it ignores the fact that some African cultures were the direct result of colonization and enslavement.
27. Frantz Fanon (1925-1961) was a 20th century Caribbean existentialist author and Marxist revolutionary.
28. Author of the Communist Manifesto, Marx's ideas were the premise to communist revolutions all over the world; Russia, China, Cuba, Vietnam, and North Korea to name a few.
29. Georg Hegel (1770-1831) was a 19th century German social philosopher and dialectician.
30. founder of the Universal Zulu Nation and a highly esteemed pioneer DJ
31. Louis Farrakhan is the pro-capitalist, patriarchal, anti-Semitic head minister of the Nation of Islam, a
religious sect which Malcolm X was head minister of until later renouncing it.
2. The largest economic class of a community, the proletarians are the ones who are forced to sell their labor power to those who own property (capitalists) in order to survive. This creates a social contradiction because the mass are dependent upon the few for their livelihood, while the few are dependent upon the mass in their pursuit to privatize and amass more property.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
"Palestine taught me to never back down from any nigga."
I stumbled on to a couple of videos from two very different Palestinian rappers and wanted to share them with y'all. Both of them pose a good contrast in style and sensibility.
The first joint here is called "Listen to Ma Story." This cat, who appears to MC under the moniker "Palestine," has a smooth, consistent flow over some b-boom, boom, bap drums. Definitely sounds like some early Wu so it ain't exactly Juvenile and Manny Fresh (obviously), but is at least topically relevant. There are messages of "peace" in the video which indicates more of the liberal tendencies of the solidarity movement and not of the ones calling for a new Intifada. In the song, he criticizes money rappers and makes calls to "stay true" to the culture. More of the same tired backpacker rubbish. Nonetheless, as a historic fan of boom bap, I really like the song. But we can't separate the style from the political content. They are intertwined. This brings us to our next example.
"Palestine Rap" from the rapper D.O.N. surpasses in form and content that of Palestine's "Listen to Ma Story". D.O.N.'s flow is rooted in the Houston tradition with its Chopped and Screwed beats and rhymes, but it's obvious that he has his ear to the ground of the political sensibilities of this generation. This is what Palestinian hip-hop will sound like until it takes its own independent life. And it has to just as Southern hip-hop leaned on the West more than the East for its initial movements. But it's crucial to understand that you can't have the political content of D.O.N.'s lyrics in the musical form of Palestine the MC, in boom bap. Again, form and content are symbiotic.
One thing worth mentioning is D.O.N. uses the word "faggot" in his lyrics. I ain't no language police even though I think that heterosexism is antithetical to struggling for a democratic society. Regardless, D.O.N.'s heterosexism is not unique to him; rather it indicates then tension within our own communities towards the old society and the new where queer folks are self-governing. D.O.N.'s lyrics are angry, thugged-out sentiments that underscores the outlook and desperation of our age. "Since I got nothing to lose, I gotta be a winner, Pale' taught to never back down from any nigga/"
Like saying "faggot," his open use of the word "nigga" is gonna have liberals and Rainbow Coalition windbags crying. They can't see the revolutionary implications of such an identification and neither can most of the Left. By Palestinians identifying as "the Black people of the Middle East" as they do in the film "Slingshot Hip-Hop" or as "niggas" says so much about the link between the international black community and the 3arab world. As I said before taking from C.L.R. James, we live in one world, and the hip-hop generation is Subject of that world.
As we discover it, we'll be sure to post up other Palestine-related hip-hop. Until then, enjoy.
Free, Free Palestine!
What do they know of Palestine who only Palestine know?
I have to sincerely apologize for delaying like this. Toward the end of 2008, we really picked up momentum with the blog and were posting several times a week. But as is the historical precedent, we eventually wound down. There have been some good reasons for this: traveling, for one. The biggest reason, however, has been the latest incursion of Israeli Apartheid military forces into the Gaza Strip in late December. It has both LBoogie and myself (and millions of others) really angry and disoriented.
The greatest part, however, has been the outpouring of solidarity all over the U.S. and the world. We took part in demonstrations in both Kansas City, MO and New Orleans and have close friends who have been a part of a very militant contingent in Seattle. It has been very inspiring and motivating, but it has also robbed us of any motivation to blog.
LBoogie's last two posts, well, her second to last, definitely broke with the precedent we set over a year ago to no longer post explicitly political pieces without linking them in a coherent way to hip-hop culture and the hip-hop generation. But this was different. Something needed to be said.
One of the things I've taken notice of is the Palestinian and 3arab youth who were in many cases at the lead of the protests and marches across the globe. They rock their hats to the side, they wear their clothes baggy; sometimes showing their "draws". Some are MCs, while many others listen to hip-hop music. They are, in every conceivable way, hip-hop. And this identification will bear itself out in terms of the politics that these youth develop in both the Palestinian liberation movement itself and its solidarity counterparts in other countries.
If this isn't automatic, let me make it resoundingly clear. The liberation movement is not a "cause" nor is it an "issue". The liberation of Palestine implicates the entire world as it sits center stage in modern civilization as an outpost of resistance against white supremacy, colonialism, and capitalism. It is bound up with the movement of black people in America who are struggling to break free of white supremacy and capitalism. It is bound up with the revolts in Greece, France, and Sweden over the police murder of a Greek youth and the revolutionary activity and aspirations of the European working class. It is bound up with white workers in the U.S. whom history is screaming to break the fragile alliance with white supremacist rulers who can no longer guarantee the old privilege system that protected them from the harshest of capitalist crises.
There are indications of a Third Intifada on the horizon. If indeed this is the case, we must bring the Intifada home. The Intifadas were direct democratic in nature. They were opposed to both Zionism and to the complicity of the Palestinian Authority. They were based on the undying idea that working people are capable of governing themselves. This was embodied in the unofficial committees that sprang up and provided community defense against Israeli military invasions, organized assaults on Israeli soldiers, lead workplace strikes, distributed food, aid, and supplies and carried out general day-to-day tasks. They mobilized the entire nation in a way that makes the so-called socialist kibbutzes in Israel look like child's play.
While the Second Intifada, which began in 2000, seems to have preceded the growth of hip-hop music in Palestine, the sensibilities of the global hip-hop generation were already lain. Today, Palestinian hip-hop takes its place alongside the countless other national manifestations of this international culture.
We are living in one world and the hip-hop generation is the one currently tasked with crushing the decay and barbarism that inflicts us. The hip-hop generation is the red thread that runs through all of these different fronts in the fight for direct democracy. Imagine the potential of a Third Intifada now that hip-hop has become the form to express the struggle and desire for a free Palestine where Palestinians, 3arabs, Muslims, Christians, and Jews live, work, and build together.
We argue for nothing less.
Allahu Akbar!
Saturday, January 03, 2009
Free, Free Palestine
Props to Alex at Rebel Frequencies for throwing up this video of Son of Nun's "Free Palestine."
We Need a Third Intifada
For a break in our regularly scheduled broadcast. We've all been watching the coverage of the absolutely horrifying Israeli attacks on the proud people of Gaza this past week. Over 400 people have already been killed. Let there be no mistake: this is a massacre. This is what apartheid looks like in 2009. This is the logical conclusion of white supremacy. It exposes the logical reason why we must oppose the Zionist state, U.S. imperialism which props it up, and, by any means necessary, show our solidarity with the struggles of our Palestinian sisters and brothers in Gaza, the West Bank, inside Israel, and in the diaspora.
There's a demonstration being held here tomorrow, so if you're in or around New Orleans please come out. If you know of other organizing and actions happening here or elsewhere, feel free to share the details. 
Mass Demonstration!!
Sunday, January 4, 2009
2:00pm - 4:00pm
Starting at Canal Street and Convention Center Blvd.
New Orleans, LA
Rally and March from Canal and Convention Center Blvd to Louis Armstrong Park.
Indiscriminate bombing by Israeli Military forces and prolonged siege of the Gaza Strip, supported and funded by the United States, has led to:
* At least 280 Palestinians, including scores of children and other civilians, brutally murdered in less than 24 hours by the Israeli Occupation Forces
* Over 2,000 Palestinians wounded in mass bombing by the Israeli Occupation Forces
* No medical care in the Gaza Strip for the wounded
* No food supplies
* No fuel
The Israeli Government has promised to continue to escalate its attacks against the Gaza Strip and acts of mass murder against the Palestinian people.
WE SAY NO MORE KILLINGS IN OUR NAME!
Demonstrations against this violence have arisen all over the world but our voices, here in the US, must be heard to demand an immediate end to the massacres and an end to US aid to Israel!
The Israeli military is promising more bombing and killing, and the Bush administration has given its approval - we must say no NOW! For the past year and a half, the people of the Gaza Strip of Palestine have been slowly starved to death by an Israeli-imposed siege on the Palestinians by air, land and sea, bombing all electric plants and hospitals, depriving Palestinians of their existing resources, preventing the entry of any more resources and the travel of the Palestinians seeking food, shelter and medical care, imprisoning the entire Palestinian population as they starved and died of lack of access to medicine.
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