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“MINISTER MALCOLM X: LIKE IT, OR NOT (1925-1965)"
By Fahim A. Knight
This article is a tribute to the late Minister Malcolm X who on May 19, 2008 will be celebrating his 83rd birthday. This writer has little doubt that Minister Malcolm X if a live today would be a voice on behalf of the oppressed, poor, and disenfranchised and would be a dissenting voice against United States Foreign Policy. This writer knows that Minister Malcolm X would be in opposition to the U.S./Iraq War where over a million innocent Iraqi citizens have lost their lives due to greed and the STEALING OF OIL BY PRESIDENT GEORGE BUSH. I do not think Minister Malcolm X would be celebrating the 60th Nationhood birthday (May 18, 2008) of Israel without full recognition of the oppressed Palestinian People and would be in support of their sovereignty and Arabs rights to the land of Palestine. I do not think Minister Malcolm X could support Senator John McCain who said he supported United States troops being in Iraqi for the next one hundred years. I do think Minister Malcolm X would be in support of the United States Patriot Act, which had relegated to the United States Constitution to a worthless piece of paper, which ultimately has compromised the civil liberties of United States Citizens. Minister Malcolm X would denounce the imperialistic practices and policies of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank relative to developing nations.
Minister Malcolm X was assassinated on February 21, 1965, at the tender age of thirty-nine (39) and he was perhaps one of the most controversial and misunderstood black leaders of the Twentieth Century. He was very critical of the United States Government domestic and Foreign Policy, as well as, early on critical of the traditional African American Civil Rights Leadership—Martin Luther King, A. Phillip Randolph, Roy Wilkins, Whitney Young, Bayard Rustin, Roy Ennis etc., as being too accommodating and to placating toward the United States Government and the white society. Malcolm represented the antithesis to the non-violent and civil disobedient Civil Rights leadership who he called “sellouts” and “uncle toms”.
Malcolm X stated: Just as the slave master of that day used Tom, the house Negro, to keep the field Negroes in check, the same old slave master today has Negroes who are nothing but modern Uncle Toms, 20th century Uncle Toms, to keep you and me in check, keep us under control, keep us passive and peaceful and nonviolent. That's Tom making you nonviolent. It's like when you go to the dentist, and the man's going to take your tooth. You're going to fight him when he starts pulling. So he squirts some stuff in your jaw called Novocain, to make you think they're not doing anything to you. So you sit there and 'cause you've got all of that Novocain in your jaw, you suffer peacefully. Blood running all down your jaw and you don't know what's happening. 'Cause someone has taught you to suffer – peacefully. (Reference: Malcolm X Speech titled, “Message To The Grass Roots—Detroit; November 10, 1963).
Malcolm X felt that he represented the poor, oppressed, and the downtrodden unlike the established black leadership—that appeared to be bourgeoisie and a bit too cozy toward the status quo. His worldview perhaps was shaped by a society that had defined and condemned him (black people) to an inferior status. Malcolm X talked about during his eight grade school year that he expressed to his teacher that he wanted to be a lawyer and he conveyed those aspirations to his Caucasian teacher, but he was discouraged and told that blacks were better suited for vocational trades and service oriented work, as opposed professions such as law. Malcolm X also witnesses his father Reverend Earl Little being tied to a railroad track by white men—Ku Klux Klan and his body being severed because he dared to defend his family from white racist intimidation in Omaha, Nebraska. He also witnesses his mother, a native West Indian from the small island of Grenada forced to raise seven children by herself and during the years of the Great Depression. (Reference: Rodnell P. Collins: Seventh Child: A Family Memoir of Malcolm X).
His mother eventually had a nervous breakdown and was committed to an insane asylum, which led to Malcolm X and his siblings being divided amongst different family members. He was born just twenty (29) years after the infamous Supreme Court Decision of Plessy Versus Ferguson of 1896, a landmark decision, which the high court legalized racism and segregation in the United States. Thus, Malcolm X was not created in a vacuum, but his later views would be shaped by different social and political variables, which he experienced in his early life—racism. Many people have tried to characterize and dismissed Minister Malcolm X teachings to mere “hate teachings’ and conveniently overlook the fact that he was reacting to systemic racism in America. Jim Crow Laws were discriminatory in intent and nature, it created a government that essential became what one of my professors, the late Dr. Earlie Thorpe referred to as a “pigementocracy”, in which he defines as a government where as rewards and privileges were granted based on skin color. (Reference: C. Eric Lincoln: The Black Muslims of America)
Minister Malcolm X was not the one that created a system of injustice, but he later would confront it head on and used harsh critical analysis to dismantle racial stereotypes that were applied to blacks in order to create a racial atmosphere of divisiveness—white superiority and black inferiority. Malcolm X went through different psychological and political changes in his life—changes that can be summed up by his names—Malcolm Little, Detroit Red, Satan, Malcolm X, EL-Hajj Malik Shabazz and Brother Omawale; thus, each of these names represented life predicaments and mental and political transitions. Malcolm X would later relinquish his surname Little because he learned that these names were imposed on blacks by their former slave masters. (Reference: Alex Haley: The Autobiography of Malcolm X).
Elijah Muhammad (1897-1975) who led the Nation of Islam for forty-four (44) years gave Minister Malcolm X a new perspective, as far as viewing the social, political, economic realities facing him, in particular and blacks in general. Muhammad taught that blacks original names were systematically taken from them during Chattel Slavery (1555-1865), as well as their original religion which was Islam and they were given Christianity, the slave master’s religion in order to control their minds and keep them docile and subservient. Muhammad initially would give all his followers the surname “X” stating that in mathematic language “X” in the alphabet stood for the unknown variables and by blacks being kidnapped from Africa and robbed of their culture and heritage had lost their true identity. This message resonated with many blacks in the United States including Minister Malcolm X.(Reference: Karl Evanzz: The Messenger: The Rise and Fall of Elijah Muhammad).
Malcolm X became a serious student of world history studying the great historians such as James Henry Breasted authored, “The Conquest of Civilization,” Hendrik Willem van Loon authored, “The Story of Man Kind,” H.G. Wells who authored the book titled, “Outline History” and Will Durant monumental works titled, “The Story of Civilization” in which these European historians in a lot of ways verified Elijah Muhammad’s worldview. But he was perhaps most influenced by the works of the Historian Joel Augustus Rogers who had a knack of finding and revealing little known black history facts. He authored “The World’s Great Men of Color” (two volumes), “Sex and Race” (three volumes), “Africa’s Gift to America to America,” “100 Hundred Amazing Facts about the Negro,” in which Minister Malcolm X armed himself with a body of intellectual knowledge that would later be used in his ability to debate scholars, theologians, historians, politicians, etc., and he never lost a debate.
Minister Malcolm X only completed the eight grade of schooling, but he would later be given forums to speak and debate scholars at Harvard and Yale University. He really did not need much because slavery was in reprehensible and stood as a Christian and human contradiction, which was justified by racism. He attacked those social and political points that were in defensive and made most debaters appear weak and intellectual vulnerable. Muhammad taught that his teachings could be summed up in six words “Accept your own and be yourself” it would be this type of religious nationalism that early on comforted Minister Malcolm X and insulated him from a troubled past and gave him a sense of purpose.
Minister Malcolm stated, “Look at the American Revolution in 1776. That revolution was for what? For land. Why did they want land? Independence. How was it carried out? Bloodshed. Number one, it was based on land, the basis of independence. And the only way they could get it was bloodshed. The French Revolution -- what was it based on? The land-less against the landlord. What was it for? Land. How did they get it? Bloodshed. Was no love lost; was no compromise; was no negotiation. I'm telling you, you don't know what a revolution is. 'Cause when you find out what it is, you'll get back in the alley; you'll get out of the way. The Russian Revolution -- what was it based on? Land. The land-less against the landlord. How did they bring it about? Bloodshed. You haven't got a revolution that doesn't involve bloodshed. And you're afraid to bleed. I said, you're afraid to bleed”. (Reference: Malcolm X Speech titled, “Message To The Grass Roots—Detroit; November 10, 1963).
Minister X was given the street name Detroit Red, which was a stage of life that he was involved in criminal behavior and street hustling in Detroit and later in Boston where he learned to survive in the ghettos of Roxbury section of Boston, Massachusetts. These experiences also would later prepare him for his ministry, in particular on how to the sell the message and program of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad to African Americans throughout America. Malcolm X had an appeal to the poor and downtrodden because essential he spoke their language—street language, in which the early Nation of Islam’s recruits were the black proletariat, he had the uncanny ability to relate to them and visa versa. (Reference: Amin bin Qasim Nathari: Islam In America in 1995: 20 Years A.E.)
The author Archie Epps in his book titled, “Malcolm X and the American Revolution: The Speeches of Malcolm X”. Minister Malcolm stated, “So I stand here tonight speaking as a victim of what you call democracy. And you can understand what I’m saying if you realize it’s being said through the mouth of a victim; the mouth of one of the oppressed, not through the mouth and eyes of the oppressor. But if you think we’re sitting in the same chair or standing on the same platform, then you won’t understand what I’m talking about. You’d expect me to stand up here and say what you what you would say if you were standing up here. And I ‘d have to be out of my mind. Whenever one is viewing this political system through the eyes of a victim, he sees something different. But today these twenty-two million black people who are victims of American democracy, whether you realize it or not, are viewing your democracy with new eyes. Yesterday our people used to look upon American system as an American dream. But the black people today are beginning to realize that it is an American nightmare.” (Reference: Archie Epps: Malcolm X and the American Revolution: The Speeches of Malcolm X).
Malcolm X was eventually arrested and convicted of burglary and a number of other crimes; he was sentenced to ten (10) years of imprisonment. This is where his life would change and he began to reassess and reevaluate his personal predicament from the confinement walls of a Michigan State Prison. Muhammad taught that the black man was made blind, death and dumb to the knowledge of self—striped of his names, culture and God. Minister Malcolm X perhaps had to be brought down to his lowest point in order to be elevated to his highest point—standing as one of the premier black spokesman of the latter part of the 20th Century. Malcolm X’s youngest brother Reginald X had joined the Nation of Islam Temple number 2 in Detroit and it was he, who initially began to recruit Minister Malcolm to the black Muslim movement.
He was given the nickname in prison of Satan because he had renounced God and Jesus and questioned organized religion. His brother Reginald X Little constantly wrote him letters explaining Mr. Muhammad’s theology and teachings, this was around 1948. Malcolm X himself eventually wrote the Honorable Elijah Muhammad and Muhammad wrote him back, as well as sending him money. Malcolm X so-called found the black man’s original religion, which was Islam (which translate to mean submission and peace) of his forefathers, the so-called religion of the Asiatic black man. Minister Malcolm X’s life was immediately transformed upon declaring to be a Muslim. Minister Malcolm X while in prison read and memorized the entire dictionary and used his time qualitatively to develop his intellectual knowledge base. Malcolm X found Muhammad and the Nation of Islam’s teachings intriguing because it gave him the knowledge of self—Muhammad taught a liberation theology that encompassed black symbols and images as opposed to American style Christianity that had Europeanized God, the prophets, the angels, etc., as being white. Muhammad’s teachings rescued Africa from the European designation of the title “Dark Continent” and taught how human civilization and learning evolved from Africa. This Islamic nationalism turned an ex-convict into one the most fierce debaters in African-American history. (Reference: Edward W. Blyden: Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race).
Malcolm X exited prison in 1952 as a Muslim and believer in the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad’s program and mission. He initially joined Temple Number 2 Detroit, Michigan; this was ironic because Elijah Muhammad and Wali Fard Muhammad both stomped in Detroit. The Nation of Islam founder Wali Fard Muhammad in 1930 went into the ghettos and slums of Paradise Valley in Detroit going door to door teaching blacks about their lost history and telling them they were from royal linage; introduced them to the Holy Qur’an and instructed them on the proper Islamic dietary laws, etc. Moreover on July 4, 1930 Wali Fard Muhammad met Elijah Poole (Muhammad) and taught him day and night for three and one half years until his mysterious disappearance in 1933. The elder Muhammad loved Minister Malcolm X like a son and the love was reciprocal. (Reference: Mattias Gardell: In the Name of Elijah Muhammad: Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam).
Minister Malcolm was ambitious and worked to internalized what Elijah Muhammad called the “Life Giving Teachings” and moved up the ranks in the Nation of Islam quite swiftly. He believed all black people needed to hear Mr. Muhammad’s teachings and program and became one of the best students of Muhammad’s teachings; moreover, taking the Nation of Islam evangelic message of black redemption and salvation the breathe and length of America. Minister Malcolm X helped the Honorable Elijah Muhammad established Temples (Mosque) throughout America. Minister Malcolm X was a fiery and charismatic preacher that had tremendous natural intellectual wit, but was often liken to a frustrated Baptist minister—who taught fire and brimstone sermons. (Reference: Benjamin Karim: Remembering Malcolm)
Minister Malcolm X stated, “The only person who can organize the man in the street is the one who is unacceptable to the white community. They don’t trust the other kind. They don’t know who controls his actions. . .The greatest mistake of the movement has been trying to organize a sleeping people around specifics goals. You have to wake the people up. . .to their humanity, to their own worth, and to their heritage. The biggest difference between the parallel oppression of the Jew and the Negro is that the Jew never lost his pride in being a Jew. He never ceased to be a man. He knew he had made significant contribution to the world, and his sense of his own value gave him the courage to fight back. It enabled him to act and think independently, unlike our people and our leaders.” (Michael Eric Dyson: Making Malcolm: The Myth and Meaning of Malcolm X).
It was Minister Malcolm X in 1959 that founded the Nation of Islam’s national newspaper titled, “Muhammad Speaks” and it was his proselytizing that won the Nation of Islam new recruits and allies throughout America. Minister Malcolm X organized and setup most of the early temples and even had the ability to attract college trained—middle class blacks, in which prior to his joining this segment of the black population did not find Muhammad’s teachings attractive and appealing. Minister Malcolm X changed that perception with his intellect and being a gifted orator. Minister Malcolm X in 1955 even recruited a talented Calypso Singer (staged named Gene the Charmer) named Louis Eugene Walcott (Farrakhan) and served as a mentor to young Louis X (Farrakhan) in the early days. Minister Malcolm X was eventually pointed to head Temple Number 7 New York City, as well as the National Representative of the entire Nation of Islam and was starting to receive high visibility from the people and the media. (Reference: Arthur J. Magida: The Prophet of Rage: A Life of Louis Farrakhan and his Nation).
Minister Malcolm X was very close to Mr. Muhammad’s next to the youngest son, Wallace D. Muhammad who had a history of being excommunicated, organizational disobedience and theological in subornation toward the precepts of his father’s theology. There were some belief that Mr. Muhammad’s children and inner circle were becoming increasingly envy and jealous of Minister Malcolm X success and insiders believe that a plot was hatched to move Minister Malcolm X out of the way. The Federal Bureau of Investigation had already begun sending spies and agent provocateurs to the Nation of Islam and it has been proving that some of the Nation of Islam’s national leadership was on the United States Government payroll. J. Edgar Hoover, Director of the FBI had the Nation of Islam and its leadership under constant surveillance along with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Civil Rights leadership. Hoover had a counter-intelligence operation named Cointelpro.(Reference: Karl Evanzz: The Judas Factor: The Plot to Kill Malcolm X)
Wikipedia on line research resources says this about Cointelpro; “COINTELPRO (an acronym for Counter Intelligence Program) was a series of covert and illegal projects conducted by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation aimed at investigating and disrupting dissident political organizations within the United States. The FBI used covert operations from its inception; however the formal COINTELPRO operations took place between 1956 and 1971 The FBI motivation at the time was "protecting national security, preventing violence, and maintaining the existing social and political order." Targets included groups suspected of being subversive, such as communist and socialist organizations; people suspected of building a "coalition of militant black nationalist groups" ranging from the Black Panther Party and Republic of New Africa, to "those in the non-violent civil rights movement," such as Martin Luther King, Jr. and others associated with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Congress on Racial Equality (CORE), and other civil rights groups.”
There were rumors and allegations that Honorable Elijah Muhammad had impregnated a number of his young secretaries and it was Muhammad’s son, Wallace D. Muhammad that exposed these allegations to Minister Malcolm X and this news devastated Minister Malcolm X because he believed that Mr. Muhammad was a divine Messenger from God in capable of committing sin, but even to date one must asked the question of, what was the younger Muhammad’s intent for revealing his father’s domestic life to Minister Malcolm X? and/or was there something sinister on the part of Wallace D. Muhammad in revealing his father’s domestic information to Minister Malcolm X? (Reference: Claude Clegg: An Original Man The Life and Times of Elijah Muhammad).
Minister Malcolm X initially confided in Louis X (Farrakhan) who was the minister over Temple Number 11 Boston, Massachusetts and told Minister Louis X (Farrakhan) what Wallace D. Muhammad had told him relative to the Honorable Elijah Muhammad so-called sexual improprieties. Minister Malcolm X trusted Minister Louis X (Farrakhan) and the first question Minister Louis X (Farrakhan) asked Minster Malcolm X was had he told the Honorable Elijah Muhammad what he had discovered? Minister Louis X (Farrakhan) has said publicly that his ultimately loyalty was to Muhammad and told his mentor Minister Malcolm X that he would give Minister Malcolm X a chance to write Muhammad, but essentially he would be formulating a letter to Mr. Muhammad exposing what Minister Malcolm X had revealed to him.
Minister Malcolm X, Louis X (Farrakhan) and the entire Nation of Islam viewed the Honorable Elijah Muhammad as a divine Messenger and Minister Malcolm X knew and understood theologically that all the biblical prophets of old had domestic trials and he really could have perhaps given a plausible explanation shrouded in religious idioms to justify and explain what appeared to be sexual innuendos. Some view this aspect of the Nation of Islam’s history as acts of betrayal and hypocrisy. This painful history still haunts Minister Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam. (Reference: Elijah Muhammad: Message to the Blackman of America)
President John F. Kenny was assassinated on November 22, 1963 and Mr. Muhammad gave strict orders to his ministers and followers not to make any public comments in reference to the murder of President Kennedy. Minister Malcolm X was given a speech titled, “God’s Judgment on White America” and during the question and answer period Minister Malcolm X was asked about the assassination of President Kennedy, which he made the infamous statement of a case of the “chickens coming home roost” equating this to death of President Kennedy. Mr. Muhammad indefinitely suspended and silenced his most visible minister for in subornation and this was the internal political impetus that led to Minister Malcolm X eventually being ousted permanently from the Nation of Islam. (Reference: Steven Barboza: American Jihad: Islam After Malcolm X).
Minister Malcolm X would later believe that Nation of Islam’s hierarchy was in a conspiracy to separate him from his leader and teacher, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. Minister Malcolm X on March 8, 1964, officially resigned from the Nation of Islam believing that his excommunication and suspension was permanent. Minister Malcolm X’s split with the Nation of Islam was perhaps out of more of a political disagreement rather than a theological disagreement as many have attempted to argue. Minister Malcolm X found two distinct organizations, the Muslim Mosque Incorporated and the Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAAU), the former sacred and the latter secular. (Reference: Maulana Karenga: Introduction into Black Studies).
Thus, as much as, Minister Malcolm X made a public conversion to Sunni Orthodox Islam. He was deeply tied to Pan-Africanist /Nationalist Movements with his Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAAU), which he modeled after the Organization of African Unity (OAU) that was very much engaged in the fight for African liberation in 1960's against European imperialism and colonialism. Let’s do the math Malcolm X officially joined the Nation of Islam in about 1951/1952 (although his Islamic conversion began in 1946) after being released from a Michigan State prison and he spent about twelve (12) years representing Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam as their top level minister. This writer does not think he had enough time to formulate a solid conversion to Sunni Orthodox Islam as many have maintained. He was assassinated on February 21, 1965. ( Reference: Clifton E. Marsh: From Black Muslim To Muslim).
Minister Malcolm X after his departure from the Nation of Islam; traveled to various countries in Africa as an official diplomatic guest, sharing in some of the African states newfound sovereignty and independence ceremonies. He also toured the Middle East meeting with Arab Islamic leaders and last, but not least he made Hajj to Mecca and changed his name to EL-Hajj Malik Shabazz and so-called renounced the teachings of Nation of Islam moreover, he was only out the Nation of Islam eleven (11) months before he was murdered. (Reference: William H. Banks: The Black Muslims).
The Honorable Elijah Muhammad made Hajj in 1959 to Mecca, Saudi Arabia and received a royal welcome from the Saudi Arabian Hajj committee. Minister Malcolm X was the one that set-up the Hajj trip for his teacher, Elijah Muhammad; interpreted to meaning Minister Malcolm X saw and witness Muslims in Egypt and other Islamic countries of all races and ethnic groups as early as 1959 (reference: Alex Haley and Malcolm X: The Autobiography of Malcolm X). Elijah Muhammad’s theology did not preclude him from making the greatest observance in Islam; Muhammad like all the thousands of others pilgrims who made the holy Pilgrimage to Mecca—circumambulated the Kaaba touched and kissed the black stone, which was place there by Prophet Abraham and his son Ishmael. In addition, to Elijah Muhammad making Hajj, two of his sons, Herbert Muhammad presently known as Jabir Muhammad and his son Imam Warith Deen Mohammed (Leader of the Muslim American Mission) all made Hajj in 1959 adhering to the FIFTH PILLAR OF ISLAM. He went their as a Muslim and left there as a Muslim and continued to teach the Nation of Islam’s theological doctrine; moreover essentially Elijah Muhammad never submitted to Arabs (Sunni Islam) doctrine.(Reference: Nasir Makr Hakim: The History of Elijah Muhammad, Messenger of Allah).
Lastly, Minister Malcolm X challenged the United States Government, white America and black America with speaking raw truth and used his voice to antagonize the status quo and advocated FREEDOM, JUSTICE AND EQUALITY for the least of these. Minister Malcolm X was a prophet—he was not consumed with materialism, status and appeasing the powers that-be because his critique and evaluation of the social, political and economic systems was harsh and unsympathetic. Minister Malcolm X understood that ninety-eight (98) percent of the world’s wealth is controlled by a measly one (1) percent of the population and he called for equal redistribution of the world’s wealth. This alone made him an enemy to the Power Elite, in which the corporate media maligned and demonized him as a militant hate teacher and radical in order to dismiss the truths he spoke. This writer does not buy for once that Minister Malcolm X was assassinated by members of the Nation of Islam; although there were Black Muslim triggermen. Nevertheless, the United States Government can not escape ultimate culpability in being in complicit with the assassins. Long Live the Spirit of Minister Malcolm X.
Fahim A. Knight Chief Researcher for KEEPING IT REAL THINK TANK located in Durham, NC; our mission is to inform African Americans and all people of good will of the pending dangers that lie ahead; as well as decode the symbolisms and reinterpret the hidden meanings behind those who operate as invisible forces, but covertly rules the world. We are of the belief that an enlighten world will be better prepared to throw off the shackles of ignorance and not be willing participants for the slaughter. Our MOTTO is speaking truth to power. Fahim A. Knight can be reached at fahimknight@yahoo.com.
STAY AWAKE UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN,
Fahim A. Knight
Salon Magazine, that is.
I’ve always found Wilber’s Integral Philosophy to be unnecessarily dense, but he does make some interesting observations in his interview with Steve Paulson. Here’s some highlights.
On the nature of God:
“The word "God" is much more misleading than it is accurate. So there's a whole series of terms that are used instead by the esoteric traditions -- super-consciousness, Big Mind, Big Self. This ultimate reality is a direct union that is felt or recognized in a state of enlightenment or liberation.”
On whether neuroscience will solve the consciousness problem:
“I'm saying we'll never understand it. The materialists keep issuing promissory notes. They always promise they're going to do it tomorrow. But interior and exterior arise together. You can't reduce one to the other. They're both real. Deal with it.”
On the New Age “quantum consciousness” worldview suggesting that we create our reality:
“These are good people; I know them. But when they say consciousness can act to create matter, whose consciousness? Yours or mine? They never get to that. It's a very narcissistic view.”
On what he refers to as "Boomeritis Buddhism."
“Anti-intellectualism was rampant, and it continues to be rampant in a lot of meditative and alternative spiritualities. There's a tendency to explain the trans-rational states in terms that are pre-verbal. So instead of a Big Self, you're just experiencing a big ego.”
The entire interview is worthwhile, and his comments about his experience during his recent brush with death are especially fascinating.
David Brook’s New York Times column yesterday may have opened some eyes as well. In a piece speculating on the future of neuroscience, he writes:
“The cognitive revolution is not going to end up undermining faith in God, it’s going to end up challenging faith in the Bible . . . Over the past several years, the momentum has shifted away from hard-core materialism . . . In unexpected ways, science and mysticism are joining hands and reinforcing each other. That’s bound to lead to new movements that emphasize self-transcendence but put little stock in divine law or revelation.”
It’s rare to find ideas like these in mainstream media, especially from a writer maybe best known mostly for conservative political commentary. All in all, it’s a good week for an idealist.
Note: The NYT requires free registration, and I’ve been having trouble with the links at their site for a couple of days. If the above link doesn’t work, you should be able to access Brook’s column “The Neural Buddhists” through the link from his page.
A dream I had last night. A woman was handing out numbers, for what reason I don't know. I had a pessimistic feeling, that I would be last or my number would be so high I'd be waiting forever. To my surprise, she looked at me first and said, "You're 2!" She hadn't allocated number 1, so I assumed she was 1 and I was chosen to be second. Second for what, I can't remember.
Why was I chosen to be number 2, and what does it mean? Dualism? Yin & Yang? In Kabbalah, the second sphere of the Tree is Wisdom: intuition, synchronicity, life beyond space/time. Two sides to a coin? Am I missing a third force?
~~
I had another musical synchronicity yesterday. I had a Tori Amos song stuck in my head all day. I haven't listened to Tori's music for a long time, and I haven't heard her music played anywhere else recently. I don't know why this one suddenly popped into my head to haunt me. It really came out of the blue.
Later in the day after work, I walked into a store looking for a new shirt, and the exact same song was playing on the stereo. The song is Angels, and it's on her Best Of cd Tales of a Librarian (Amazon US or UK). Ok, it's a popular cd by a popular artist -- but to hear the same song that had been stuck in my head all day, a song I haven't listened to in at least a year... that's more than a coincidence when you consider my Indiana Jones jolt last week.
Today a mysterious amount of years ago, I joined the human race. I ejected myself happily from my 9 month confinement. Today, so many years later, I am a faithful servant. I do not question the lord's power, even when I often find myself in a dark chamber listening to the gospel of God's words. I pray him leave me be! But no! What about me? I know sometimes you want to die. But do you really feel alive without me? SO BE FREE! Before one of us has accidental babies. Do you brush your teeth before you pray? Do you miss my smell? To this, I say no thank you! And God says, Enjoy your power cord, my dearest. Enjoy.
Until I Reemerge again,
Forever in your darkness,
In the boon that beats our drum,
Poseidon and his faithful servant, King Triton
“HISTORY, HIP-HOP, THE BLACK ATHLETE: OLD SCHOOL VERSUS NEW SCHOOL”
By Fahim A. Knight
This article has been in the making since the Grand Jury indictment of Michael Vick, the former quarterback of the Atlanta Falcons and his ultimate conviction for being involved in an illegal interstate dog fighting conspiracy. This writer desired to weigh-in on the Vick’s issue when the controversy first ensued back in July 2007, but could never quite figure out which approach or direction would be appropriate in evaluating and assessing the entire Vick scenario. Thus, was Vick’s conviction a matter of racism and/or was his offense that aloof from the law and his conviction was a matter of justice and nothing else. Mike Vick was one of the premier football players and quarterbacks in the National Football League having a net worth perhaps over 200 million dollars, but his high profile athletic career came to an abrupt end upon receiving an active Federal Prison Sentence for illegal dog fighting and obstruction of justice. Vick and I do have something in common, we share an attorney. I consider one of Vick’s lead attorneys a friend, Attorney James D. “Butch” Williams who practices law in Durham, NC and at some point, I know he and I will perhaps have an in depth discussion relative to Vick.
But on January 27, 2008, this writer received a quite interesting email from a comrade and friend named Kenny the moderator of KENNY’S SIDESHOW http://kennysideshow.blogspot.com/2008/0... ; Kenny is doing big time work on his site and this writer am encouraging my KEEPING IT REAL think tank audience to visit Kenny’s site and share in his informative and provocative blog postings. Kenny who is Caucasian posed these set of questions to me relative to African-Americans and at the time this writer had no response to Kenny’s set of questions. This article is only a partial response to Kenny’s questions and is far from being a complete response. Kenny stated, “Here's another suggestion for an article. I often stumble in my words on this subject and need more definitive dialog.”
Kenny goes on to state, “I think the elite forces that try to control our world had and still have an agenda to repress the African American community regarding the creation of the welfare state. Round them up in public housing (concentration camps), give them a little money, destroy the family structure through the planned infiltration of drugs (CIA involved?) abortions, sterilizations etc. , put a liquor/beer store on the corner but no decent food store, put as many as possible in prison, destroy self esteem, create a subculture through music and movies that promotes all of this and even export it to the white community to speed up the decline throughout the entire culture, use agent provocateurs (paid by the FBI, etc. ) to perpetuate the black-white conflict. One could go on and on. I hope you understand what I'm getting at. There's a deeper history to this than what our kids are taught in school and what the media says and it needs to be told in detail.”
Michael Vick, the former Virginia Tech standout and the former Atlanta Falcons standout of the National Football League. He is the beneficiary of those African American quarterbacks that had gone before him such as: James Harris, Warren Moon, Doug Williams, Joe Gilliam, Vince Evans, Rodney Peete, Marlin Briscoe, Charlie “Choo Choo” Brackins, Andre Ware, John Walton, Willie Thrower, George Taliaferro, etc., thus, most of these black signal callers were ridiculed and malign by the white mass mediums and by racist fans. The Quarterback position was designated for white players and historically black quarterbacks supposedly did not have the intellectual quality or the leadership skills to guide a football team. These racist views dominated professional football perhaps until James Harris, a pocket passer that was drafted out of Grambling State University, a historical black college in 1969 by the Buffalo Bills and later would make his mark with the Los Angles Rams from 1973-1976.
Harris performances with the Rams proved that black quarterbacks had the intellectual I.Q. to lead and manage a team. The National Football League teams that did draft black quarterbacks were quick to transform them into tailbacks, wide receivers or defensive backs, as opposed to allowing them to play and compete for the coveted quarterback position, which oftentimes was giving to a less intelligent and less athletic white player. National Football League like all professional sports was shaped by racism and discrimination (why do not behind the lines ESPN do an investigative story on racism and black quarterback from an historical perspective?).
This writer sought of grew-up watching and admiring Joe “Jefferson Street” Gilliam a flashy black quarterback out of Tennessee State University (TSU) and I think at that time TSU was playing in the African American-- South Western Athletic Conference (SWAC). Gilliam was drafted in 1972 by the Pittsburgh Steelers and I was in my teens, but I can vividly recall his flair and his on field charisma (he wore white cleats, white towel, risk bands, etc.) and I use to try to imitate his athletic skills and personality. Thus, looking back on my admiration for “Jefferson Street” perhaps my adoration for him stemmed from the fact that I was black and had I experienced the death of Civil Rights Leader Martin Luther King, Jr., and the 1968 rebellions in the city of Newark, New Jersey and I can recalled the United States National Guards patrolling, as well as, witnessing the social, political and economic infrastructure collapse in Newark. The death of Martin Luther King, Jr., left a void and we were looking for another positive black image to fulfill this sense of emptiness created by King’s assassination.
Thus, in the early 1970’s it was refreshing for me to see and identify with a black quarterback image like “Jefferson Street” Gilliam and for a brief while in 1972 he became the starting quarterback of the Pittsburgh Steelers due the NFL players strike and Terry Bradshaw being injured. Also my high school back then was named South Side School, but when I attended black people had fought to rename it Malcolm X Shabazz High School, it was coincidental and ironic that my high schools colors were black and gold, the same as the Pittsburgh Steelers. My childhood hero “Jefferson Street” would eventually succumb to drugs and alcohol and prior to his death in 2000 had many brushes with the law. He never recuperated from being benched after leading the Steelers to a 4-1-1 record and that same year Terry Bradshaw led the Steelers to a Super Bowl victory. This writer thinks Jefferson believed he had earned the right to lead the Steelers and that the politics of race had entered into him being benched.
This writer also during the early to mid 70’s was following the career of a great athletic alumnus of my high school named Willie Morris who was a wide receiver and was recruited by the University of Pittsburgh Panthers and played with Tony Dorsett during that National Champion season. This writer’s political perspective was not well defined during this time period although; he had heard the teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, at Muhammad’s Temple of Islam number 25 in Newark, New Jersey. This writer has always admired Jim Brown the NFL football Hall of Fame running back who has always stood out as being much more than an athlete, he was intelligent, defiant, strong willed, opinionated and yes tremendously talented as a running back with Cleveland Browns. I was too young to have followed Jim Brown’s football career on the field, but his political disposition resonated with me. I have always viewed him as a no nonsense black man that stood on high principles.
Then of course, there was the west coast sociologist Harry Edwards a black intellectual and academician that challenged white supremacy on all levels. This writer read about the 1968 Olympic Games held in Mexico City, where Tommy Smith and John Carlos stood at the medal ceremony and raised their fist covered by a black glove in support and solidarity of the Black Power Movement of the 1960’s as a symbol of protest. I also read about at this same Olympic Games gold medalist boxer George Foremen (former heavy weight champion of the world) grab the American flag to demonstrate his patriotism.
This writer read about in 1969, how Curt Flood challenged Major League Baseball free agency and reserve clause and took his case to the United States Supreme Court (although he lost in this decision) which today’s baseball players and all professional athletes are the beneficiaries and recipients of Flood’s activism as it pertains to players right to free agency. This writer also grew up watching and loving Muhammad Ali, a boxer by profession and a social activist by conviction. He went into the boxing ring as Cassius Clay out of Louisville, Kentucky and in the early 1960’s was introduced to the teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad where he evolved into Muhammad Ali and the Islamic religion forever altered Ali’s life. He became a social icon and 1967 took a revolutionary stance against U.S aggression and the fighting in the Vietnam War and because of his conscientious objector stance he was ridiculed and condemn by a large segment of white America as being unpatriotic and un-American. (Reference: Edna and Art Rust, Jr.: Art Rust Illustrated History of the Black Athlete).
Athletes have always been viewed by the white elite as tools of entertainment and not as independent thinkers capable of making off the playing field decisions contrary to their dictates. Muhammad Ali was articulate and politically inspired who used his high profile athletic image as a former gold medalist and heavy weight champion of the world to challenge the United States Foreign Policy in Southeast Asia during the 1960’s. Ali was truly a different type of athlete. Ali was convicted in 1967 of refusing draft induction into the United States Arm Forces and sentenced to five years imprisonment, but the United Supreme Court eventually overturned this conviction. Ali’s dissent and defiance became somewhat of a symbol of what the black athlete could be, if they were armed with the proper information and knowledge.
Perhaps the culture and the social, economic and political environment dictates human behavior to a greater extent and influence the circumference and diameter of our thinking. The Hip Hop Culture has been a culture inspired by an art form---mainly Rap Music and the question always arise, does the art formulate independently of the dominant culture or does art becomes a voice of expression relative to conciliatory or contradictory interpretation. Frantz Fanon authored of two monumental books titled, “Black Skin, White Mask” and “The Wretched of the Earth” he stated that essentially each generation has the choice to honor and continue our history and struggle or betray it. Some years ago I was in a debate with Jamil Abdullah AL-Amin (formerly H. Rapp Brown), the former Black Panther Party member and Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, chairman. Al-Amin said to me brother “Culture is necessary, but it is not sufficient” it took me over twenty years to truly understand what AL-Amin meant; that was perhaps in 1989. (Reference: Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin: Revolution by the Book).
Damien Ty Jackson in his book titled, “The Hip Hop Tree: Seeds, Essays and Thoughts” stated, “No forms of culture expression unfold in a vacuum. Instead, they are informed and shape by a combination of interacting social forces that surround and precede them. Clearly, this is the case with Hip-Hop whose seeds were sown long ago in a faraway land most African-Americans still acknowledge as ‘home’. As with blues, jazz, gospel and R&B, the influences of our African origins are still with us in the form of beats, rhythms, chants, dance, oral traditions, and other musical innovations and tendencies.” (Reference: Damien Ty Jackson: The Hip Hop Tree: Seeds, Essays and Thoughts).
The study of history develops the springs and motives of human actions. History serves as much more than the studying of dates and events, but as a bridging of one generational experience to another, which is physically and psychological passed on historically and in a peoples DNA. History instills inspiration, motivation, and self-esteem into a people; moreover, it connects a people to their contributions made toward civilization and human advancement. This is the discipline that builds the will of a people and encourages them to go forward. African people living in America had a brilliant and glorious history before and after Chattel Slavery (1555-1865). (Reference: John G. Jackson: The Study of African Civilization).
Those that control institutions recognize that they must forever hide the true past of African people in order to keep them sleep to the knowledge of self. History is like a trumpet, when it is sound, the asleep must rise. African Americans were put to sleep during the period of Chattel Slavery; denied the right to read and write which to pursue an intellectual exchange of ideas and denied the God given right to acquire the knowledge of self. The slave masters deprived African people of the opportunity to develop a true value system—folkway, mores, cultural system, etc. The study of our history is one way to correct this deplorable mental state of amnesia that African Americans are presently experiencing. We not only lost our historical memory but was disposed of our intellectual faculties, to even find our home which is Africa. We are silently crying out for Zion---this lost home that has been forsaking by 30—million black people in America and hundreds of millions located throughout the diaspora. (Reference: Del Jones: The Black Holocaust: Global Genocide).
The Holy Bible in Psalms 137 gives us the true meaning of a people being disconnected from their homeland and there are none more fitting this scripture than the black man and woman of America, it stated: “By the rivers in Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land? If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy. Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Rase it, rase it even to the foundation thereof. O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall be that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us. Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.”
A crime took place, which was one of the greatest criminal acts ever committed against a people and it does not matter how the descendents of the perpetrators (Spain, Portugal, Great Britain, United States, Belgium, Germany, France, etc.) seeks to disguise their denial, we the descendents are the living testimony and the victims of this heinous criminal act. We were robbed of the knowledge of self and to continue to identify with the perpetrators history and culture is insanity. This is evident by the surnames (slave master’s names we continue to carry) McCrae, Smith, Johnson, Jones, Brown, Baldwin, Richards, etc., are not indigenous African names, but they belong to another man’s culture. How can we, African Americans claim to be free and have never divorced themselves from the slave master’s names? (Reference: Hugh Thomas: The Slave Trade: The Story of the Atlantic Slave Trade; 1440-1870).
It is not the norm to find a Korean or Chinese wearing the names "Greg Fatback", "Larry Hamhock", "Darius Shorten bread", etc., because these alien names do not reflect their East Asian culture and heritage. History asked the six basic questions of who, what, where, when, how and why; moreover we have traditionally responded to the above questions with Eurocentric answers. Non-traditional scholars such as Dr. Josef Ben A. A. Johannon, Drusilla Dunjee Houston, Cheik Anta Diop, John G. Jackson, Asa Hilliard, George G. M. James, etc., have worked to redefine history, by rescuing African history from misconceptions, half-truths and outright lies.
History builds patriotism and nationalism by instilling pride and self-worth in a people that is reflected of past accomplishments which should be past down culturally, in which to always remind a people of their obligation to make every generation aware of their glorious past and use it to inspire the born and unborn generations to aspire to create new history. We as African Americans should work to retain the best national and international attorneys in the world and plead our slavery case within the international courts. The African Holocaust involved numerous criminal acts ranging from kidnap, rape, murder, assault, conspiracy. (Reference: John Henrik Clarke: Christopher Columbus and the African Holocaust).
LL Cool J in his book titled, “I Make My Own Rules” stated, “. . . Being African American in the United States, which is a strange paradox. We’re of African descent but don’t learn enough about what African is. And, because of certain racist sectors, we’re not always 100 percent accepted as Americans. Our people have been forced-fed an American culture and taught to hate themselves. But inside them African culture is brewing, because it’s never been fully realized. . . . Other groups in America—the Italians, the Jews, the Asians, the Irish—know where they came from and what their culture is about. And it makes it easier for them to embrace America on their own terms. It’s not an either/or situation. Too many black people are struggling to fit an African key into an American lock. I just doesn’t fit sometimes. We’ve got to learn to embrace our culture before we can be confident—and accepted—as Americans and make that key fit. Not all African history is great—Africans participated in the slave trade. But a lot of it is great. And we have to be real about that too.” (Reference: LL Cool J: I Make My Own Rules).
This present day generation had to rely on Pop Culture images from the Hip-Hop Culture as their leaders who were more commercialized and manufactured—products of studio images and who were for the most part actors and many of them lacked the social conviction that my Old School generation came to admire in their leaders. These new voices appeared to be more of the problem than the solution. However this writer can recall the Hip-Hop group Public Enemy (PE), in which some of its members were inspired by the Nation of Islam's leaders Minister Louis Farrakhan and Minister Khallid Abdul Muhammad and it was reflected in their lyrics, a social militancy, possessing a combination of Black Islamic nationalism and Black Power themes, consistent with the ideology of the Black Panther Party model type-----stage image (with the paramilitary uniforms reflective of both the Fruit of Islam and the Black Panther Party of Self-Defense) of the 1960s and 1970s that were worn by its charismatic leaders Huey P. Newton, Bobby Seale and, Eldridge Cleaver.
Public Enemy was actually a throwback type group that had borrowed the social rhythms of the Last Poets and the likes of Gill Scott Heron. Public Enemy had captivated young African -Americans imagination with meaningful lyrics possessing messages of personal and community empowerment. They introduced Minister Malcolm X (1925-1965) to a generation of Hip-Hoppers who knew, little too nothing about the slain martyr Civil Rights leader that taught a militant and radical political message that perhaps resonated with these young Hip-Hopper’s fathers and mothers two to three decades ago. PE was using their large stage to educate young African-Americans beyond the message and lyrics of selling dope, killing, sex and raunchy language that denigrated women and glamorized criminal behavior.
These young poets were actually wearing two hats—Entertainers and Social Activist simultaneously. They were more of the latter than the former—they were in harmony with the social, political and economic plight of the African-American community. Michael Eric Dyson in his book titled, “Between God and Gangsta Rap” Stated, “Public Enemy is hands down, the most influential and important group in the history of hip-hop. By roughly stitching together contrapuntal noise and prophetic rabble-rousing, the avant-garde group quickly became rap’s conscience. The contrast personalities of PE’s duo—straight-man and heavy-duty lyricist Chuck D and trickster sidekick Flavor Flav—play off of one another to great effect. PE’s work. Into toto has confronted, and times embodied, most of the conflicts faced by young blacks over the last decade. Racist white media and sellout bourgeoisie. Black-Jewish relations and the woes of interracial relations. The narrowness of black radio and the betrayal of blacks by dope dealers.” (Reference: Michael Eric Dyson: Between God and Gangsta Rap).
Lerone Bennett once stated, "He who controls images, controls minds, he who control minds has no fear bodies." PE was positively altering minds and used their music as a moral, ethical, political, and spiritual tool, etc., that focused on liberation; not senseless violence and glamorized “gansterism;” where middle class Hip-Hop artists are rapping and singing about living in public housing and being involved in drive-by shootings and rapping about gang affiliation and gangbanging. But a deeper look into some of these "wanna-be" Hip-Hop artists backgrounds, you will find that many of them were raised in suburban upscale communities, attended private schools, raised in two parents homes and lived an incubated bourgeoisie life style.
Russell Simmons, better known as the CEO of Hip-Hop (Def Jam Records, Phat Farm, and Def Comedy Jam), is perhaps one of the most brilliant minds that helped to bring Rap and Hip-Hop to the era of transcending the mom and pop enterprise; moreover, to a billion dollar entertainment industry. Thus, in his book titled, “Do You: 12 Laws to Access The Power in You to Achieve Happiness and Success stated, “That’s how Hip-Hop started—poor kids with nothing, rhyming about having everything. But over the years it’s evolved to the point where that artistic attitude has transformed into a very successful business model. No one can argue that Hip-Hop hasn’t created a new way of doing business in the country. It’s proven that a bunch of kids who didn’t go to business school, who don’t have MBAs, and who don’t speak ‘proper’ English can still make a lot of money. Despite their apparent lack of sophistication and training, they can still create thriving businesses, companies that leave the rest of corporate America playing catch-up.” (Reference: Russell Simmons: Do You: 12 Laws to Access The Power in You to Achieve Happiness and Success).
Some would argue that these young music entrepreneurs are only capitalizing off the market trend----they are saying and singing what sells----sadly our culture has digressed to sex and violence, which has become extremely marketable and profitable in the United States and around the world. Moreover, those that control the music industry, the POWERS THAT-BE had decided that there wouldn’t be a long standing platform for the social lyrics like the type PE sang and advocated because to much of a positive agenda was negatively impacting big business—drug culture, tobacco sells, alcohol, etc. The dealers of death in the black community could not allow this type message to take root amongst the poor and oppressed because it was bad for legal and illegal business.
PE and one of its lead artist Professor Griff who was probably a registered Muslim in the Nation of Islam and if not, was definitely a committed sympathizer to the politico-theological teachings of its controversial leader Minister Louis Farrakhan. Professor Griff probably was the information guru of PE, the real mindset behind the on stage intellect and social presences. Minister Farrakhan in 1985 spoke to over 35, 000 black people at Madison Square in New York City amidst heavy opposition from the Zionist Jews and Mayor Edward Koch. Thus, after the Jesse Jackson 1984 run for the office of president of the United States, which Jackson was forced to repudiate Farrakhan for making allege anti-Semitic remarks, in the same manner presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama is being forced to repudiate his minister, Jeremiah Wright for making allege anti-American remarks. History is cyclical. Minister Farrakhan in the mid-1980s became the preeminent black leader and voice of black America and furthered solidified that rank with his garnishing over 1.5 million black men to Washington D.C at the Million Man March. (Reference: Cornel West and Michael Lerner: Jews and Blacks: Let the Healing Begin).
Chuck D in his book titled, “Fight the Power: Rap, Race and Reality stated, “By that time we had already done, ‘Bring the Noise’, and ‘Don’t Believe the Hype.’ My initial goal of working with the SW1, especially those heavily oriented in the Nation{of Islam}, was to use my lyrics to help clean up the bullshit hype that had come out about Minister Louis Farrakhan that started after the New York Post article. I felt through popular music and entertainment I could help bring his name into a positive light and have white kids singing a song with Farrakhan’s name in it, and we could change the whole complexion of how he was being looked at. Minister Farrakhan was gaining so much momentum in 1984 that when the Post came out with that bullshit story about ‘Farrakhan Says Hitler Was a Great Man’—when, as suggested buried in the text of the article, he actually described how Hitler’s greatness was used for wicked purpose—their wicked reporting turned the whole Nation movement back. When ‘Bring the Noise’ came out and said, ‘Farrakhan’s a prophet I think you ought to listen to,’ and ‘Don’t Believe the Hype’, said, ‘A follower of Farrakhan, don’t tell that you understand, until you hear the man,’ we actually had white listeners wanting to get into the mind-set of Minister Farrakhan and look at his words for themselves and discover that he wasn’t what they heard he was.” (Reference: Chuck D: Fight the Power: Rap, Race and Reality).
The Anti Defamation League (ADL) and the Jewish Defense League (JDL) had labeled the Nation of Islam and Minister Farrakhan as being anti-Semitic. Moreover, Public Enemy was viewed by the Jews (not all Jews, but those of the Zionist persuasion) as representing the voice and public image of the Nation of Islam whom they had falsely labeled as being anti-Semitic. They worked to separate PE from the Nation of Islam by using some words Professor Griff had spoken, which they played sound bites accusing the embattled Rap artist of anti-Semitism. PE never recovered to their former glory after the anti-Semitism allegations and eventually Chuck-D was forced to repudiate his friend and comrade Professor Griff. (Reference: Chuck D: Fight the Power: Rap, Race and Reality).
This writer must admit on the subject of Rap music and hip-hop I am way over my head, but I knew PE was special and we probably have not had a hip-hop group with the kind of social lyrical implications since PE. It is difficult today to see former PE star Flavor Flav “buffoning” and clowning and being reactionary to what he represented in the 1980s. Black men between the ages of 16-25 are being murdered (black on black homicides) at an alarming rate. The music continues to glamorize guns and drugs. Where are the positive images? Marcus Garvey, Fannie Lou Hamer, Noble Drew Ali, Elijah Muhammad, Bishop Mc Neil Turner, Martin Luther King, Jr. Queen Mother Moore, Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, Huey P. Newton, Harriet Tubman, WEB Dubois, Booker T. Washington, Martin Delaney, Kwame Ture, etc. (Reference: William P. Benjamin: African Americans in the Criminal Justice System).
No positive images creates disillusionment and this is why a black high profile celebrity athlete like a Mike Vick that had just signed over 130 million dollar contract with the Atlanta Falcons and by way of some poor decisions suffered the same fate of most black men that have gotten entangled in the criminal justice and judicial system—prison; perhaps Vick believed the hype being sang and the thug life ethos that is over dramatized in the Rap Music and the Hip-Hop Culture. The blame can not be totally placed on these young African-Americans, if the truth be told, we failed them, and they were our responsibility to be intellectually nurtured and guided on the right path. The National Urban League gives an annual report each year of the state of black America and Tavis Smiley host The State of the Black Union with all his corporate funding holds a symposium every year where he galvanized some of the best and brilliant black intellectuals in America—to do what? Talk about the problem. The problem has been well defined since 1865, but we are short on solutions.
Black youth are left to choose between a concept of East Coast Rap (personified in the late Biggie Smalls—The Notorious B.I.G) and West Coast (personified by the late Tupac Shakur) as ideological metaphors for internal destruction. While the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and Tavis Smiley continues to have huge conferences in big convention hotels and black America continues to suffer. Know wonder our Hip-Hop artists have to reinvent images because of our negligence to do so. Mariam Jones, a five time gold medalist winner and Michael Vick an NFL All Star Quarterback are both in custody under the United States Bureau of Prisons. They both were let down by a society that failed them and this is not to overlook personal responsibility. (Reference: Michael Eric Dyson: Holler If You Hear Me: Searching for Tupac Shakur).
Maybe is mere nostalgic on my part, but, I truly missed PE----the revolutionary lyrics and those images of defiance----the message was clear and meaningful. This writer knows and understands that art can not be defined by the lens and vision of one person and/or a group of persons; it has no definition boundaries, art means different things to different people. I first heard the Sugar Hill Gang and Grand Master Flash, Afrika Bambaataa, Kurtis Blow, Run DMC in the late 1970s early 80s. I can vividly recall people calling WBLS radio station in New York City requesting that they play Sugar Hill Gang single “Rapper’s Delight” over and over again. The legendary Frankie Crocker was behind the mic, doing his thing. This "new" music was refreshing and the beat and rhythm did something for the soul.
Jay-Z is a Hip-Hop mogul that has made huge sums of money and is revered as a Hip-Hop icon, but he (Snoop Dogg, P. Diddy, 50 Cent, Reverend Run, etc.) is far from being the social presences of KRS-ONE and PE, but that is not to say the likes of Most Def, Common, Talib Kweli, etc, hasn’t embraced that social and political calling. There was something happening internally in the late 1980s and early 1990s when these young artists were sampling Minister Malcolm X and Huey P. Newton speeches, this type of political education heighten the social awareness and it took Hip-Hop to another level, a level we have yet to duplicate. There have been other artists such as Wu Tang Clan, OutKast, Nas, Erykah Badu, etc., that may have come under the influence of the teachings of the Original Five Percent Nation----called the Gods and Earth's.
This group evolved from the Nation of Islam, which its founder in 1964 Clarence 13 X Smith was member of Temple Number 7 in New York City under Minister Malcolm X. The Gods and Earth's teaching has resonated amongst some Hip-Hop artists-----they pull from the "Supreme Mathematics" Lessons and “Student Enrollment” lessons that were taught by the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad. They understand divine numerology, Islam, mystic philosophy, high science-----they teach on the 120 degrees multiplied times 3, you then have the 360 degrees; thus, complete knowledge is liken to a circle. Many Hip-Hop artists have embraced the Five Percent Philosophy and for those who know what they are listen to can easily detect its message coded in Rap lyrics. (Reference: Malachi Z. York: The Problem Book: In the Name of Allah).
Hip-Hop and Rap have truly transcended cultures, race, ethnicity, nationality, etc., it is a universal language spoken across the globe. Moreover, after the Don Imus debacle; where he verbally insulted, the predominantly African-Americans Rutgers University women's basketball team by referring to them as "nappy headed whores”. Thereafter, a debate pursued about the language the Hip-Hop artists themselves were using that was equally degrading to African-American women. I believe the NAACP went on a silly crusade to bury the "N" word and has not offered any real solutions to black suffering and misery. Russell Simmons of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network has also been doing yeoman's work with Hip-Hop artists as far encouraging them to work toward cleaning Hip-Hop music up. He has teamed up with Minister Benjamin F. Muhammad (formerly known as Reverend Benjamin Chavis) and has been engaged in positive dialog with Hip-Hop artists around the country.
My comrade brother Paul Scott, the moderator of NO WARNING SHOTS FIRED blog site http://nowarningshotsfired.blogspot.com/ is without doubt, a much more verse Hip-Hop historian and Rap musicologist than I. This writer encourages his audience to view Brother Scott's blog because he has been analyzing Hip-Hop music for over a decade and has a serious inside perspective.
Fahim A. Knight Chief Researcher for KEEPING IT REAL THINK TANK located in Durham, NC; our mission is to inform African Americans and all people of good will of the pending dangers that lie ahead; as well as decode the symbolisms and reinterpret the hidden meanings behind those who operate as invisible forces, but covertly rules the world. We are of the belief that an enlighten world will be better prepared to throw off the shackles of ignorance and not be willing participants for the slaughter. Our MOTTO is speaking truth to power. Fahim A. Knight can be reached at fahimknight@yahoo.com.
Stay Awake Until We Meet Again,
Fahim A. Knight
There was once a great magazine called OMNI that explored the parameters of the mind better than any rag I have ever read. I loved it and it could coincide with the hunger of my own mentality. I recall once that I read an article by two Russian scientists who had done some research on an astroid from the astroid belt that indicated it was once a planet and it had evidence of life within its data. The had suggested that it might have been a planet some 4 million years ago. Most of the evidence for anthropologist suggests that we evolved from an ape back about 4 million years ago. One wonders if there was an escape from that old planet to Earth back then. Of course, I incorporated this theory in my book THE ENIGMNI and told a meta-fictional story about such a theory. I certainly do believe we are alien to this planet and that our home is far away and perhaps even dead now. We once were highly advanced and our minds dwelled on learning rather than sexual predilections that most of our fellow humans seem to possess this day and time (see US Malls).
If I had the money, I would revive that old magazine and website/s to make it great once again. I once worked for a large publisher designing magazines and doing the covers for surreal impact. I just loved the graphics of Omni. Caused deep thought. I had all the issues at one time, but I made the mistake of taking them to my computer graphics classes when I taught that, and over 12 years my students took everyone of them. Now, they are gone.
I was walking home from work earlier this evening, lost in my head daydreaming, and for some reason a thought popped into my mind that I should use the Indiana Jones theme music as a ringtone for my mobile phone. A few seconds later, a phone belonging to a woman walking in front of me rings -- it's the Indiana Jones theme music.
Is my excitement for the new Indiana Jones movie due in two weeks so intense, I'm creating synchronous psychic events?
The Holo-gestalt Paradigm
Theory of the leveraging of mentality held within all elementals of physical existence that pervades all the universe/s known and unknown, which means that all is wide open and readily available to the cursor of mentality. Holo means that there is a holographic representation and method to discerning in total the means of projecting a realm into existence via the elements and principles of Deity. Gestalt references the aspect of the All of mentality, which permeates all known parts of being here in Time/Space. A paradigm is a system in which some elementals can function in some order and fashion which gives said system an identity. Thus a Holo-gestalt Paradigm is used herein as a means of discerning self-knowledge of selfhood and its participants in what we discern as Life. This life then can be identified as a holographic means of creating the totality of existence in a realm that knows its parts and can feedback over these parts to the degree that all connected (direct or indirect) participants know the degree of interface for all elementals held in this massively expansive yet minuscule environ that supports being and becoming of mind along with the generation of information to be used in support of existence.
Much more to come…
I just want to say thank you, Dr Hyatt, for doing what you what you did. You were a father figure to me, even though we never met...you never knew my name.
eternally grateful for being extreme,
Dustin Troy Cole
I have found myself struggling with the dragon myth (what a surprise)it found its inspiration while examining a completely different subject, that being somewhat more ecological in nature and why some of the most vibrant myths came from places where reptiles had not been for a very very long time, and the large and fearsome beasts had taken different mythological (but similar to other cultures) places. The dragon was truly a wandering hybrid, and in many ways it nature split deep in the past at that cross roads in the middle east, along with certain fundamental views of the world and humans place in it and their relationship with nature. Now among the problems of sorting all this out, I found myself running into internal barriers like how you explore this without sounding like I'm culture bashing, or seeing all this only through 21st century eyes alone. How can I carry the context of all these various times and people in my head (the pre-Christian celt, roman both pre and post Christian, and the cultures that emerged after the fall of the empire through to medieval times, in the west and the blizzard of cultures in the east many of which had under laying unifying themes)and how do you distill this down. It a long walk from a small section in a book about wildlife and the state of bears in central Europe to examining the mythic and cultural payload of dragons in western culture, and with no one to bounce ideas off of a lonely task, its not like you can walk up to just anyone in south west Missouri and start talking about this (not to be unkind to Missouri this is not a topic you just start taking about with just about anyone any where, I dare you to try it) so I'm on a quest it would seem, not to slay a dragon but to understand him. Well they are a break from the myths surrounding the Northwest passage, but thats a story for another time.
Is the writing on the wall for Gordon Brown? The Conservative Party's Boris Johnson demolished Labour to become London's new mayor.
But is the C word really an improvement on Brown?
I don't know if this has been posted on here before, so here we go.
In a newspaper run by students at the University of Arizona, there have been very strange texts and photos placed in it since May 1, 1981. These are very criptic and nobody really understands why they are put there.
From what I have read on the website, www.maydaymystery.org, These adds are not cheap to place either. The people runnning them must also be very well educated. The puzzles require a great deal of knowledge in history, symbology, languages and mathematical calculations. Just so you have an idea what I am talking about, here is the latest:
http://www.maydaymystery.org/mayday/text...
The people who run these things have been in contact with the webmaster of the mayday mystery website. They have accual kept him going by giving him gold coins and whatnot. Here are somethings they have directly told him and a few others:
Myself and a few others have been contacted by the people(?) behind the pages. Their emails make a few things very clear, so in the name of not pissing them off any further than I already have, I make a few clarifications :)
"They say it is not a game
They say it has some sort of 'cause'
They say it is not necessarily Tucson-centric
They say we're getting there, but pointed out some large errors and missing portions, clarified a few wrong assumptions
And, yeah, I spelled 'Lamas' wrong in about nine million different places. Sheesh...."
So lets get crakin Grailers. :)
I just found these animated shorts, and I think it would be of interest for the TDG community. They are part of a series called 'PerfectLand', directed by Benjamin Meinhardt for the Mtv network.
Coming from a source like Mtv, it does feel like a hypocrite message, especially since they are also sponsored by a cell phone company called boostmobile, and I guess the marketing wizards o Mtv have never bothered to study how enviromentally hazardous cell phones are —consider also that many of the music videos that run today are promoting some new hot cell phone, so they are indirectly imprinting the message of throwing your old boring 6-month-obsolete mobile to the trash can in favor of the newest gadget to the younger audiences.
Nevertheless, I really liked these shorts, and I think you'll enjoy them too. It's a nice reminder that if you mess with Motha' Neichur, she's eventually gonna have the last laugh...
In Doug Kenyon's Forbidden Science, in chapter 9 the Astronomers of Nabta Playa: New Discoveries Reveal Astonishing Prehistoric Knowledge...I see the connection of the last parts of that once great advanced civilization trying to peep out to the future and tell us just how much they once knew. The great civilization's Educational Center in the Sahara area was now destroyed by parts of the Comet that is called the Carolina Bays Object at impact it was like a gargantuan atomic bomb impacting in the Chad area. The few that survived moved off to the East and met up with the Vedics who were moving West after vast tsunamis destroyed their ancient home of Mu and its outer island land mass — their combined knowledge created what would eventually be the Egyptian Civilization as well as the Hindu nations. They tried to convey to us their great wisdom but the Egyptologists have seen fit to create this silly scenario to continue keeping the common man in the dark about our past.
One wonder if the last little part of the once great advanced civilization might just still exist at a place called AREA 51.
Issue 6: