Newspaper Page Text
A Closer Look
| REPARATIONS Part IV
'The final notice: Due immediately!
{ at do you pay some
: one when you have
: raped them, sold
. them, stole them, oppressed
. them for 400 years, changed
. their names, destroyed their
* culture, dismissed their his
: tory, maligned their charac
: ter, assassinated their image,
- wrote lies about them in text
- books, pillaged their land and
! then lied to them and blamed
* them for your crimes? Where
. do you begin? How can the
. debt be repaid? What is rea
. sonable?
. America must begin the re
. payment process by systemati
. cally restructuring her educa
| tional system. All history,
science, literature, math and
social studies curricula must
' becompletely overhauled. We
- must have an educational sys
tem, from top to bottom, that
teaches the truth. Only when
we know the truth, will we be
able to fully understand how
we got where we are. Once we
understand how we got here,
we can deconstruct what we
USPS troubles
From page 4A
them back. The Postal Ser
vice needs to do something
quickly,” Denton said.
The Postal Service vowed
it would continue to trim
costs. The agency has shed
16,300 career employeesover
the past 15 months and will
Hip hop politics
From page 4A
"who called for radical social
" change and incorporated the
“images of Malcolm X and the
Black Panther Party into his
_videos; the 1989 release of the
‘ debut record by A Tribe Called
“Quest, preaching Afrocentric
awareness, collective love and
. peace; the establishment by
KRS One, also in 1989, of the
“Stopthe Violence Movement,”
andthereleaseby Boogie Down
Productions of “Self Destruc
tion” to promote awareness
against black-on-black vio--
lence, featuringlegendary art
ists such as Public Enemy, MC
Lyte, and Kool Moe Dee; Salt
n-Peppa’s 1991 remake of the
song “Let’s Talk About Sex”
into “Let’s Talk About AIDS,”
apublicservice announcement
that promoted HIV/AIDS
awareness and sex education,
with all the proceeds from the
sale of both the single and the
video donated by the group to
the National Minority AIDS
Council and the TJ Martell
Foundation for AIDS Re
search; and the collective pro
test response to the brutal po
lice beating of Rodney Kingin
March 1991, by progressive
-rap artists such as Chuck D,
Ice Cube, Tupac Shakur, and
Sister Souljah.
. The most progressive black
.“womanist” artistin hiphop’s
“golden age” was Queen
Latifah. Although Latifah did
.not describe herself as a femi
nist, her video “Ladies First”
-depicted powerful images of
freedom fighters Angela Y.
Davis, Winnie Mandela, and
‘Sojourner Truth. Her strong
support for the struggle to
overthrow the apartheid re
.gime of South Africa and her
.criticisms of corporate power
"at that time opened new av
;enues for the development of
other women hip hop artists.
+ While art and politics are
indeed connected, it is not the
case that cultural workers,
musicians, and even entertain
ment entrepreneurs like
Simmons, coming out of hip
hop cultr;e represent a new
black l
in the ol
By The Rev. Dr. o
Ralph C. Watkins ',
have constructed and then re
construct a more just and eq
uitable society.
America will have to invest
inreeducatingits entire teach
ing force. Teachers want to
teach the truth; they are com
mitted to empowering their
students, but the teachers were
taught lies. We went to school
and they taught us a bunch of
lies and presented them as
truth. We then went into the
classroom, using the same
books, or at least quoting the
same authors, and presented
similar material to our stu
dents as truth(s). We didn’t
know that it was a lie, but now
we know better. We have to
expand the cannon, rethink
what we put in the category of
the classics, and build a new
pare up to another 15,000 by
the year’s end, Strasser said.
But hope also is riding on
congressional action to re
form the Postal Service’schar
tertogiveit moreflexibility to
operate like a private-sector
business and turn profits.
Dan Davidson is a Federal
Times staff writer ,
political leadership. Yvonne
Bynoe, one of hip hop culture’s
most insightful observers,
paraphrased Chuck D by say
ing that “we do not need hip
hop doctors or hip-hop politi
cians. Theleadership that will
come from the post-civil rights
generation must be able to do
more than rhyme about prob
lems; they have got to be able
to build organizations as well
asharnessthe necessary mon
etary resources and political
power to do something about
them.”
Bynoe’s argument makes
absolute sense, because the
most politically-committed art
ists throughout history, such
as Paul Robeson, Pete Seeger,
and Bernice Reagon, under
stood that while all art is al
ways political, artists usually
shouldn’t be politicians. As
Bynoe notes: “Arap artist who
aspires to be a community
leader cannot lead a dual life...
The electorate for instance
would not be expected to call
theirrepresentative, Congress
man Ol’ Dirty Bastard... Po
litical activism is a full-time,
contact sport, necessitating
players whoare fully dedicated
to learning the rules of the
game, then playing to win.”
It must beemphasized, how
ever that hip hop artists can
lend their legitimacy (or in the
hip hop vernacular, their
“juice”) to many different po
litical causes or public figures.
Their very presence or words
can act as lightning rods of
attention for the masses of
youth who identify with hip
hop. When Public Enemy’s
Chuck D rhymed
“Farrakhan’s a prophet that I
think you ought to listen to,”
many listeners were attracted
to the Nation of Islam’s mes
sage of black nationalism. Asa
result, rapperssuch as PE and
Ice Cube in his prime helped
the NOI to reach a whole new
generation of disaffected youth.
Political leaders have often
sought the aid of influential
musical artists, and in the
realm of black liberation and
struggle, hip hop culture has
provided an undeniable galva
foundation for liberatory edu
cation.
Finally, America will have
to invest trillions of dollars,
over the next four to six gen
erations (150 years), directly
into the development of Afri
can-American communities.
These monies must be directed
at building the institutional
capacity of the black commu
nity to insure its ability to
compete in a world that is
inherently unfair, unequal and
still being built in the frame
and form of a racist and sexist
paradigm. Affirmative action
is not the answer. Itisonlya
part of the answer. Affirma
tiveaction, and like programs,
only chipaway at the problem.
Programs such as that don’t
empower the masses of the
people, nor do they guarantee
that once the one they let in is
let go, they will let another one
through the door. We have to
control the door! We will only
change this country when we
build institutions that can com
peteandsustain thelongterm
Georgila
PERSOML
nizing platform.
What the essential “politics
of art” is about is the politics
of collective imagination, the
transformative politics of free
ing one’s mind. In a recent
interview, KRS-One observed
that hip hop “is the only place
where Dr. Martin Luther
King’s ‘Thaveadream’ speech
is visible... Today, with the
help of hip hop, they’reall hip
hoppers out there... I mean
black, white, Asian, Latino,
Chicano, everybody. Hip-Hop
has formed a platform for all
people, religions, and occupa
tions to meet on something.”
KRS-Oneadds, “that, tome, is
beyond musie.”
Thereis nolonger any ques
tion about the significanceand
power of hip hop music and
cultureasatransnational com
mercial force. One recent ex
ample of this was last year’s
release of Tupac Shakur’s
“Untilthe End of Time,” which
debuted at number one on
Billboard’s Top 200 albums
chart, selling more than
425,000 copies in the first
week. Since his murder on
September 8, 1996, Tupac has
sold more than three times the
number ofalbums than during
hislifetime.
In'my recent conversations
with Russell Simmons, heesti
mated that rap music’s con
sumer market in the United
Statesis approximately 80 per
cent white. This brings into
sharp focus the central politi
cal contradictions socially con
scious hip hop cultural work
ers must address: how to an
chortheirart into thelife-and
death (and “def”) struggles of
African-American and Latino
communities, which largely
consist of poor people and the
working poor, the unemployed
and those millions who are
warehoused in prisons and
jails. Even “a nation of mil
lions” cannot “hold us back,”
if we utilize the power embed
ded in hip hop art as a matrix
for constructing new move
ments and institutions for ca
pacity and black empower
ment.
development and defense of
African Americans. Onlywhen
African-American communi
ties have the institutional ca
pacity to sustain itself will it
be free. We have to insist on
sustained systemic changeand
not focus on the few that made
it over. America can’t be land
ofthe freeifits African-Ameri
can brothers and sisters are
still being held in bondage.
It is up to us when America
pays. Creditors whowant their
money from you pressure you
until you pay! Who will put the
pressure on America to pay?
Areyou willingto come with us
to present the bill? The phone
is ringing, America knows it is
thebill collector. Tell them the
bill is 400 years overdue, and
demand paymentimmediately.
Will welet America dodge us or
will we refer to them by their
first name?
Dr. Watkins is a sociology
professor at Augusta State
University and can be reached
at (706) 737-1735 or by e-mail
atrwatkins @aug.edu.
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I 550 Jefferson Davis Highway ¢ Aiken, SC * www.esrahonda.com I
AUGUSTA FOCUS
Laney Museum hosts
special “closing” reception
The Lucy Craft Laney Mu
seum of Black History is cur
rently hosting a Women’s Art
Exhibit in honor of March as
Women’s Month. A diverse
group of Central Savannah
River Area women have come
together to share artistic
works. The museum’s pur
pose is to develop a compre
hensive exhibition that high
lights the achievements that
local women make to the arts.
This year’s artists include
Audrey Crosby, Joyce Girgenti,
Melinda Moore Lampkin,
Aquella Riley, Piccola Smith,
LeiSha Starchia, Rosanne
Stutts, Rhian Swain-Giboney,
Wilma Becker, Norma
McComb and J. Krause.
C.T. Walker hosts
fun spring carnival
C.T.Walker Magnet School,
1301 Wrightsboro Road, will
host aSpring Carnival on Sat
urday, March 23, 2002, from
10 a.m. to 2 p.m. for family
spring time fun.
Children and parents are
invited to participate in sand
art, bowling, colored hairspray
painting, face painting, fish
ing and many other activities
that will be held on the school
grounds. The carnival will
also feature Augusta-Rich
mond County police dogs,
firefighters, fire trucks, a fire
safety robot, a smoke house,
military personnel with
humvees, Cowboy Mike, a cake
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= HONDA CARS
= OF AIKEN
| ‘ Come by and take a test drive
- during Honda Cars of Aiken's
Coach . 3 March Madness Event and
~ . o geta golden dollar ... and
T L/ when you buy, we'll let you
| take a shot at the basket
y for bucks challenge ...
for every basket you make,
( _ we'll line your pockets with
I gold ... golden dollars that is.
‘ See dealer for details.
2002 Honda Accord SE 4 Dr Sedan
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BRI otk y
LEaLy
MARCH 21, 2002
A very special “closing” re
ception will be held on Thurs
day, March 28, 2002, from 7 to
9p.m. for a “last chance” view
ing of this exciting exhibition.
Reception will be at the Lucy
Craft Laney Museum at 1116
Phillipsstreet, next tothe Lucy
Craft Laney High School on
Laney-Walker Blvd.
Admission is $2 per adult, 75
cents per child, with proceeds
benefitting the Museum. Me
dia passesaccepted. Photos of
some of the works on display
can be viewed online at
www.lucycraftlaneymuseum.com.
For a list of paintings avail
able for purchase and prices,
please contact the museum at
706-724-3576.
walk, silent auction, hayride
and the C.T. Walker jail.
Admission to the carnival is
free. To participate in activi
ties, you must purchase tick
ets — four tickets for sl. Ac
tivity booths charge one to
two tickets depending on the
event. All booths have prizes.
There will be hot dogs, chips,
popcorn, drinks and various
other carnival foods on sale to
quench hungry appetites.
This event is open to chil
dren and adults of the general
public. For more information,
contact the office of Public In
formation at 737-7398.
l Augusta
278-2820
Alken
663-3636
5A