With all the discontent, b####### and town hall meetings that people participate in, I figured it was my civic duty to offer some concrete solutions that people can follow to make quantifiable change. This sucks, that sucks, the music, Black people, White people, the industry, the "man" – it all sucks. All our effort is for naught or is it? Read below and let the revolutions begin.
MENTOR A CHILD OR AN IDIOT
Most of you reading this probably know good from bad, right from wrong –
at least in a general sense. With that information, you might go and do
something stupid, but have the ability to recover. You know why some of us don’t understand those “other people?" It’s because they are young, ignorant (as in uninformed) or straight up stupid. So I am preaching to the choir in many ways just by writing this. It is still important to reach out to that idiot and mold him into a viable member of society as well as one of the intelligent people. Whether it’s a child or an idiot, they will listen to your words. You will be a better person and so will they. Or they can be the ones hitting you with a brick as they try to rob you – your choice! The Morlocks are coming, trust me.
STOP KILLING YOURSELF!
If you see somebody smoking, drinking or doing drugs in an uncontrolled
manner, talk to them or try to get them help. I know we are in a culture that is ass backwards, where weed is illegal, but liquor (far more dangerous) is readily
available. I know we celebrate drugs on many levels, whether it’s sizzurp
or Ecstasy or legal prescription drugs, but you see what happens. Hell, 50 Cent doesn’t even drink or smoke like that, but he rhymes about it because it’s entrenched in our cultural landscape. (Ever notice how prescription drugs are legal and easy to get despite having a myriad of side effects that they whisper in the commercials?)
ASSOCIATE WITH PEOPLE OUTSIDE OF YOUR CULTURE – EVEN IF THEY ARE IDIOTS.
In the near future, I plan to disseminate these writings to other publications and websites that have nothing to do with African Americans or Hip-Hop. I know they probably hate me like the uppity people at Cristal, but I think it’s important to engage in an uncomfortable discourse of dialogue that allows us to familiarize ourselves with "foreigners." I’d like to think that we have started to move beyond race and find commonalities in class struggle. I truly think that if I sat in a room with a Ku Klux Klansman, I could get him to like me. Right after I kill his…I mean, right after we find that we have common enemies.
STUDY YOUR HISTORY AND THAT OTHER BORING STUFF
This particular point is one of my weaker spots. I’ve never been a
history buff, with the exception of the Civil Rights Movement. I have a
vague understanding of African History, even if its simply "we are the
children of Kings and Queens," Shaka Zulu and Nefertiti. After my previous
editorials, people eschewed me for dwelling in the racial past, even if
it was in the context of the "n-word." Cliché as it may sound, those
that don’t know history, will repeat it. Just look at the correlation
between slavery of old and the modern prison systems. Look at how the
disenfranchised, the American Black male and other unfortunates have
become a valuable asset to the bottom line of the justice business –
pardon me, system. They need minorities to keep the system moving the same way the automobile industry needs gasoline.
Studying American and World history can be quite tiresome, but it’s not that boring. In my old age, I tend to focus on one particular individual rather than generalities as they teach in school. The story is important if we’re going to learn from their mistakes.
ACTIVATE CHANGE – AND STICK WITH IT!
The enemy is patient so why shouldn’t we be as well? If you don’t like the music that’s being put out, don’t support it. Boycott what you don’t like. That involves patience! Patience is a virtue that goes unappreciated, but is still one of the most rewarding. Just ask the other team…its paying off for them, while the shortsightedness of Hip-Hop, Black people and the muted masses continues to be a detriment to all.
IN CLOSING…
Hip-Hop has adopted the term “movement” to represent ambitions, sounds, unachieved dreams and any particular whatever-it-is-that-they-do. Well, it’s an awfully cute term, but its extremely flawed. Movement is derived from the word move and the vast majority of us aren’t moving anything anywhere – not even the hood where we live. We aren’t moving ourselves and typically when we do, we leave behind most of those that helped us make the move. When I think of a movement, I affectionately recall the Civil Rights Movement. Even that conjures up a bad taste, because as soon as the Black Middle Class blossomed or crack sprouted up, it seemed as if the movement…stopped moving. Meanwhile, those that offered the crumbs off the table were just as willing to take them back as soon as they were given.
So there you have it. Let’s MOVE!