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A Closer Look
REPARATIONS Part 111
Reparations and the reckoning of America
Many are so closed minded
they think all reparations is
about is money. I beg to differ
with them. Reparations has
much less to do with money
and more to do with America
comingclean. Bycomingclean
we mean moving toward con
fession, then to repentance,
and finally being forgiven for
the sins they have committed
against God and God’s people.
America has yet to give an
apology of substance to Afri
can Americans for the history
and continuing legacy of sla
very. The absence of an apol
ogy, in the minds of many is
minor, but in actuality it is
major. Because America has
refused to apologize it means
that she refuses to admit her
wrong and repent of it. The
reason so many young Ameri
canscontinuetocryfoulat the
issue of redressisbecausethey
havebeen taught by their par
ents that they have done no
wrong. They don’t get it, be
cause they don’t realize that
African Americans caught it
and are still catching it.
Reparations are about
America preparing the way for
reconciliation. America will
ALONG THE COLOR LINE By Dr. Manning Marable
The politics of hip hop rarrone or wo
he politics of hip hop
culture took an impor
tant step forward re
cently with the Russell
Simmons-founded Hip Hop
Summit Action Network’s
hosting of the historic West
Coast Hip Hop Summit. Orga
nized by Summit President
Minister Benjamin
Muhammad, hundreds of in
fluential performance artists,
music executives, grassroots
activists, public leaders, and
othersgathered toaddress key
issues and to establish a pro
gressive political agenda.
Prominent participants in
cluded ‘rappers Kurupt, DJ
Quik, the Outlawz, Mack 10,
800-Yaa Tribe, Mike
Concepcion and the D.0.C.,
and radio personality/come
dian Steve Harvey. Signifi
cantly, the keynote address
was delivered by the leader of
the Nation of Islam, Minister
Louis Farrakhan, who also
keynoted the first national hip
hop summit, staged last sum
mer in New York City.
Thislatest Hip-Hop Summit
Action Network followed
closely after two recent New
York-based events connected
with the effort to build a pro
gressive hip hop political
agenda. On Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr. Day (January 21),
the first hip hop youth summit
was held at York College in
Queens. Featuring prominent
hip hop artists such as Nas,
Reverend Run ofthelegendary
group Run-DMC, Wu-Tang
Clan, rap activist Sister
Souljah, and Fat Joe, the con
ference focused on building
youth membershipsand chap
ters across the country. Pro
grams discussed included the
“Read to Succeed Project,”
which is designed to bring hip
hop artists into the public
schools to emphasize literacy,
and theanti-drug “Game Over
public service campaign. On
January 28, Russell Simmons
engaged ina “public dialogue”
with me, hosted by the Insti
tute for Research in African-
American Studies at Columbia
University before several hun
dred people. Since my partici
pation in last year’s national
hip hop summit, I have been
meeting with both Simmons
and Muhammad to develop a
“hip hop initiative,” which
couldinclude a summer youth
leadership training institute,
and public conversations be
tween rap artists and political
activists around social justice
black &%
in the ¢
By The Rev. Dr. )
Ralph C. Watkins ’
never be reconciled across ra
ciallines until areckoninghas
occurred. The wound cannot
remain open. You can’t con
tinue to apply alcohol to an
exposed wound that is in need
of major surgery and expect it
to heal. In cases like this, the
wound only gets worse and
eventually provetobefatal. In
America the racial wound is
getting worse. We are becom
ingmoredivided over issues of
race and it is not because we
raise theseissuesbut ratherit
is because America refuses to
deal with these issues once
and for all.
When you dare to talk about
America’s most shameful
legacy, racism, you are often
labeled the racist. America
wants us to pretend that the
abuse didn’t occur, and that it
is not still occurring. Abusers
always blame the abused for
telling. To talk about race
issues such as the prison in
dustrial complex, the death
penalty, voter education, and
music censorship. In our dia
logue, Simmons affirmed his
deep personal affection and
respect for Minister
Farrakhan, whom he described
as “the conscienceofblacklead
ership.” Simmonsalsocriticized
many mainstream African-
American leaders for their fail
ure to listen to the hip hop
nation’s concerns. “The civil
rightsleadershavethefinances
andinfrastructurebutdon’tdo
s--t,” Simmons stated. “Weare
constantly working to connect
the old civil rights leaders with
creative young people.”
Asthefounder and chairman
of Rush Communications, a
multimedia empire that in
cludes Def Pictures, Def Jam
Recordings, Russell Simmons
Television, Rush Art Manage
ment, on-line magazines
Oneworld and 360hiphop, and
the clothing company Phat
Farm, Simmon’spolitical views
areincreasingly carryingenor
mousweight. Hisintimaterela
tionship with the NOI reflects,
in part, the strong Islamic ori
entation of many hip hop art
ists. One of today’s best and
most “conscious” hip hop art
ists, Mos Def, opened his 1999
album “Black on Both Sides,
with a Muslim prayer. Rap art
istsintheNOlincludelce Cube,
K-SoloandMC Ren. Evenmore
hip hop artists have been influ
enced by the NOI offshoot, the
Five Percent Nation— such as
Wu Tang Clan, Busta Rhymes,
and Poor Righteous Teachers.
What also seems clear is that
most of the liberal integration
ists, middle class black estab
lishment has largelyrefused for
two decades to engagein a con
structive political dialogue with
the hip hop nation.
The Nation of Islam has un
derstood for decades that black
culture is directly related to
black politics. To transform an
oppressed community’s politi
cal behavior, one must first
begin with the reconstruction
.ofboth cultural and civicimagi
nation. Malcolm X’s greatest
strength as a black leader was
his ability to change how black
people thought about them
selvesas“racial subjects.” Revo
lutionary culturedoesthesame
thing. Through music and the
power of art, we can imagine
ourselvesin excitingnew ways,
as makers of new history. The
reluctance of the black bour
geoisie to come to terms with
takes courage. To talk about
the continuing legacy of rac
ism and call for a reckoning
takes faith. We have to deal
with this issue once and for
all. Reparationsis the table of
reckoning. Let us sit down
together and talk about our
pain, past and present, design
generational plans of redress,
act and move forward.
Malcolm X papers
From page one
said Tuesday. Flemingrepre
sentsseveral family members
but not Malikah Shabazz.
Malikah Shabazz could not
bereached forcomment Tues
day. In 1995, she was fined
$250 after reaching a plea
bargain in a credit-card forg
ery case.
Fleming said the family
would issue a statement in
the near future.. He declined
to comment on his letter to
Butterfields.
Fleming had earlier said
the music its own children lis
ten to compromises its ability
to advance a meaningful politi
cal agenda reflecting what the
masses of our people see and
feelin their dailylives. It speaks
volumes about the cultural di
visions and political stratifica
tion within the African-Ameri
can community, as Russell
Simmons noted in our recent
public dialogues, that Run-
DMC was on the cover of Roll
ing Stone and Vanity Fair be
fore they were on Emerge of
Ebony.
Hip Hop Culture’s early evo
lution was closely linked with
the development of a series of
political struggles and events
which fundamentally shapedthe
harsh realities of black urban
life. For example, hip hop histo
rians sometimes cite the true
origins of rap as an art form
withthe 1970 release of the self
titled album, “The Last Poets,”
based on thespoken word. “The
Last Poets” was recorded and
released during an intense pe
riod of rebellion closely coincid
ing with the murder of two
African-American studentsand
the wounding of 12 others by
police at Jackson State Univer
sity in Mississippi, the mass
wave of ghetto rebellions dur
ingthe summer 0f 1970, and the
FBl’s nationwide campaign to
arrestand imprison prominent
black activist Angela Davis. In
New York City in 1973-74,
Afrika Bambataa (Kevin
Donovan) established the Zulu
Nation, acollective of DJs, graf
fiti artists and breakers, with
the stated political purpose of
urban survival through cul
tural empowerment and peace
ful social change. Hip Hop’s
first DJ Kool Herc (Clive
Campbell) developed rap as a
cultural mode of aesthetic ex
pression.
Graffiti art exploded every
where across the city— on sub
way cars, buses, andbuildings—
and soon is recognized as an
original and creative art form.
What helped toshapethesecul
tural forms which later would
become known as hip hop was
the economic and political tur
moil occurring in New York
City during these years. The
city government was lurching
toward bankruptcy, as urban
unemployment rates rose dur
ing the most severe economic
recession sincetheend or World
War 11. This also marked the
beginnings of more extreme
formsofdeadly violenceamong
African-American and Hispanic
What timeisit? Isit time for
America to finally sit down at
the table of reparations and
pay the bill that is 400 years
overdue?
Dr. Watkins is a sociology
professor at Augusta State
University and can be reached
at (706) 737-1735 or by e-mail
at rwatkins@aug.edu.
the documents were sold at a
Florida storage center and
claimed they were the
family’s property.
“The method by which the
material got to Florida in the
first place, that’s what’s in
question,” Flemingsaid. “No
one had a right to bring the
material to Florida.”
Fleming added that the
daughters he represents are
pleased the auction will not
take place and that “they
don’t have to engage in a
battle over their own prop
erty, at least right now.”
young people. In 1977 even DJ
Kool Herc was stabbed three
times at his own party, reflect
ing in part escalating competi
tion between crews, as'well as
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Magic man
From page 4A
sentence, tobecomeaman who
has built a SSOO million dollar
corporate empire. Does this
brother havehisact together or
what? For the harsh adversity
that Mr. Johnson has had to
overcome, he must be consid
ered tobe oneof the great won
ders of the world.
I believed in Mr. Johnson in
1991, whenheshocked theworld
with hisuntimely (HIV) revela-
Al-Amin convicted
From page one
30 years and could prejudice
the jury.
Foradeath sentencein Geor
gia, the jury must be unani
mous, and the judge may not
overruletheirdecision. Thejury
has three options for Al-Amin:
death, life in prison without
parole or life with the possibil
ity of parole.
The jury of nine blacks, two
whites and one Hispanic delib
erated 10 hours over two days
before finding Al-Amin guilty
the growth of violence to re
solve disputes.
Yet the sites of greatest op
pression, however, frequently
canproducethestrongestforces
of resistance. The culture that
the world one day would know
as hip hop was born in that
MARCH 14, 2002
tion. And I believein him today,
because of his ability to reach
the top of his game in life. Be
lieveme, Mr.Johnsonisastrong
life force tobereckoned with. In
years to come, he will be worth
a billion dollars. Therefore, he
would have succeeded at being
larger than the game of basket
ball he once played. Do Ameri
cans believe in “Magic?” Why
shouldn’tthey? Hey Americans!
Let’s give the magic man his
standing ovation because he’s
justtruemagic. Iseverybodyin
the world feeling me?
on all 13 counts, including
felony murder, aggravated as
sault on a police officer, ob
struction and possession of a
firearm by a convicted felon.
Defenseattorneystriedtocon
vince the jury that someone else
shot the deputies and that Al-
Amin was framed as part of a
government conspiracy that has
followed him since his ’6os activ
ism.
Al-Amin and the two depu
ties he is accused of shooting
are black. English, the surviv
ingdeputy, identified Al-Amin
as the shooter.
context of racial and class
struggle.
Dr. Manning Marableis Pro
fessor of History and Political
Science, and Director of the
Institute for Research in Afri
+ can-American Studies at Co
lumbia Universityin New York.
5A