Rap Music

RBG Street Scholars Think Tank's Purpose:
This Educational Program and Research Project is Dedicated to Further Building the Hip Hop--Black Liberation Movement Connection by Integrating Conscious Digital Edutainment with A Scholarly Self Directed Learning Environment.

N.B. June 3, 2007: From this point forward all post in the article /group blog section without thumbnails will be delete by the editor/RBG Street Scholar. This is because such posts compromise the formating of the zine. Furthermore, we refuse to get side tracked with eurocentric rap/pop culture. So, if posts don't jell with the RBG Movement / Rap Genre and the academic nature of the zine,again, they will be deleted. This is not a democracy, but an educational research project; and as such we intend to stay on point regarding our edutainment mission, goals and objectives. Please don't allow the title to make you get it twisted, the full title is RBG Hip Hop/Conscious Rap Music Wikizine.
Anyone who has a problem with this please start your own zine, it's free.
Asante(Thank You) for your contributions.

This Zine is a Hip Hop / Rap Music guide with photos,audio, videos, links, feeds, news, comments, group blog and forum. Special focus on Hip Hop History, Underground /Indie and the Positive and Socio-politically Conscious Rap Genre / Artists, RBG Style; along with links and extensions to each of the integral aspects of hip hop culture. Including Knowledge, DJing, MCing, Break Dancing and Graffiti.
Please take some time to browse.Your contributions are welcome and encouraged if you're looking for a scholarly, and at the same time entertaining, place to expose your work and help build a comprehensive multi-media resource for others to learn from. It's what we make it--a project in evolution and always under construction.The more of us that have something to share on the subject contribute, the better this resource will be for those wanting to do research.

"Of All The Disciplines Of Study, History Is Best Qualified To Reward All Research". Thus, let's commence the discourse with a brief historical overview.

The Political Origins of Hip-hop:

> Historically poetry/ rap/ spoken word, literature and music have been combine to play a pivotal role in black progress and power, rebellion, revolt and revolution.

Political Rap Started With the Afrikan Talking Drum.

> Because of the perceived potential of talking drums to "speak" in a tongue unknown to slave masters / traders and thus to incite rebellion, in 1838 these and other drums were banned from use by Africans in the United States.

> H “Rap” Brown, known to many of the 1960's/70's Civil Rights and Black Power Movements as the original master rapper. Rap, a given nickname, comes from his being such an eloquent speaker he would be rappin. For more see Dr. Errol Henderson on Black Nationalism and Rap Music and our Hip Hop Audio History.

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RBG'z Take On Black On Black Violence: Feat. Paris and Dr. Amos Wilson

Written by RBGStreetScholar on

From: rbg-street-scholar-multi-media-e-zine.blogspot.com

"POVERTY AND IGNORANCE EQUALS DEATH AND DISEASE. SOLVE THESE AND YOU WILL HAVE SOLVED THE PROBLEM OF BLACK ON BLACK VIOLENCE"
Click the Cover above for the full video version of this lesson
(also click and play the related videos to the right for relational overstanding)

In my way of thinking about black on black violence from my studies and personal experiences it is an effect / consequence rather than a cause / primary issue. We live in the citadel culture of violence. There should be no denial that from its inception America has been a country that glorifies wars and violence in the name of "peace". She has been at war against Afrikan / Black people from the time they brought us here against our will to date ( a most violent process). Every year in its history America has been at war and imposing violence in one form or another against one or more of its "adversaries". The masses of Black people were/ are reared and breed in a culture of white mob violence, lynching, slavery, police brutality, suffering and death. The history of violence against Afrikans in Amerikkka is so horrific as to be almost beyond belief. Socio-structural and institutional violence (vertical violence) begets interpersonal and intrapersonal violence (horizontal violence).
Thus, the problem of black on black violence is a problem of cultural mis -orientation, self-hatred and self-alienation. What we are seeing manifest as black on black violence is an emulation of the cultural ways of our oppressor. We have internalized his ways. This is called intropression: When the oppressed are subject to oppression as long as us we internalize the oppressor and thus do to ourselves what the oppressor once did to us. When a Black man kills another Black man he's saying in his mind "I'm gon kill you nigga" and in actuality he's killing himself who he hates so much because he was train to do so...CULTURAL MIS-ORIENTATION LEADS TO SELF HATRED.
Superimpose this on the facts of unprecedented unemployment rates in our communities, miseducation and the dope game / government element facilitated narcotization of our communities (CIA) , mass media propaganda that feeds us a study diet of consummerism, materialism and individualism; breeding jealousy, envy and haterism and you have all the ingredients for self destruction.

All said above withstanding, for those of us that are suffering from passivist psycho -pathology, please keep in mind that much of the life process is necessarily a violent experience, eg. childbirth, securing the meat that most of us eat and even the hot food you put in your mouth are all violent acts. My point here is that maybe the solution to black on black violence in amerikkka is RBG Luv. That is to say, proper knowledge and cultural orientation will inform us that we need to get RBGed Up and fight against the causes to prevent the effect. In doing this however, the first government we must overthrow is the government of our own corrupt minds. Something RBG Street Scholars Think Tank is about helping us do.

PARIS - Outta my life

Black On Black Violence - Real Talk
By Paris
http://www.guerrillafunk.com/thoughts/

ThaFormula Hardest Interviews Online

What is it with us? Why do we kill each other at a rate that's disproportionately higher than that of other people? Sure, we've heard the excuses before - that we're prone to crime, violent by nature, and poor and oppressed - but what are the real causes?

Here we are, in 2006, countless articles & news reports later, and our precious communities are still in a state of distress. It appears that the problem of black on black crime doesn't seem to be improving, but rather steadily getting worse by the day. But what's really going on?

It's apparent to this observant eye that more often than not we're acting out the way we're expected to act -- that is, fulfiling a role in society that has been decided upon and encouraged by people other than us. All we need to do is look at the television or listen to the radio to experience the sobering statistics or the self-hating bullshit that now passes as black entertainment on the evidently racist major networks to confirm this fact. Thuggishness and gangsterism, misogyny, brutality and ignorance have become synonymous with black life in the eyes of many, both inside and outside of our communities, as a result of both our actions and of corporate Amerikkka's sanctioning and glorification of negative imagery and behavior. Our worst attributes are always awarded, paraded and celebrated by those whose job it is to keep us in a state of distress. Harsh, you say? Hardly. Fear of non-whites is big business in Amerikkka, and shows like COPS and virtually any news broadcast aid in the manifestation of that fear and the acceptance of its remedies - increased police presence, new prison construction and the passage of tougher laws. Besides, do you think black life really matters to them? That they care if we kill each other off?

Understand that our focus and priorities need to change, and that nobody can be relied upon to care about us but us. This should be obvious to all of us by now. Things that many of us seem too often to be concerned with (game, pimpin', the life, etc.) are of little importance to others. So let me say it for the record - fuck game. Do you think the bank, the phone company or a prospective employer care about game? Care about pimpin'? Life goes on without it. And while game may make you cute in the eyes of shallow folks, nowadays what you know is more important than how you look or act. Contrary to popular belief, nigga-slick is out of fashion. Only through education and hard work will we move beyond simply surviving to success.

But back to the point. While the violence we see and hear on TV, films, and in black music remains a contributing factor that keeps us on our self-destructive path, it is by no means the sole reason. Many of us have a pent-up rage that easily triggers aggression -- aggression that often results from a combustible blend of cultural and racial baggage that many of us carry.

What we need to do now is break out of the mold of acting out in ways expected of us. Angry black men without focus aren't a threat to anyone but themselves, and have become the targets of ridicule by those outside of our communities. Again, who cares if we kill each other off? We must care.

It can be argued that black life is viewed by many as being worthless, and it should come as no surprise that many studies have confirmed that the punishment blacks receive when the victims of violent crime are white is far more severe than if the victims are black. Add to this the lack of opportunity, sense of deprivation, powerlessness and alienation that many of us experience since birth and the picture becomes all-too-clear -- that society is not set up for our benefit. We have to make our own way, and in order to get there we must first respect ourselves and each other. Easier said than done, you say? Why? Everything is easier when we get along, especially since it appears that many others don't want us to. The name of the game now is to be focused. Stay focused on not only the present, but on your future too. How many young folks today can't envision themselves older than 25? How many plan for the future at all?

The devaluation of black life by systematic racism and the media has encouraged many of us to have disrespect for life and to act out our aggressions onto others -- often with the victims being women and other black males. When this happens, we all lose.

And what about gangs and drugs? The introduction of crack cocaine by the CIA into our communities during the 1980's made black youth gangs bigger and more dangerous than they had ever been before. The illicit profits of drug trafficking provided, and continues to provide, vicious incentives for those of us without direction, immediate opportunity or hope to murder ourselves. In fact, much of the recent escalation in the murder rates can be directly traced to busted drug deals, competition over markets, disputes over turf and bruised egos.

So what must we do? We must take responsibility, first and foremost, for both ourselves as individuals and as a collective. We must understand that our brothers and sisters are not our enemies. Again, we have no one to look out for us but us. When you see wrong, speak on it. Intervene. Reach out to your friends and family if they are at risk, and be receptive to other people's points of view if you are feeling like violence is your only alternative. You might just save your life or the life of someone you know.

Dr. Amos Wilson On Culture

RBG Street Scholars Think Tank's Recommended Definitive Study on the Subjuct is Dr. Amos Wilson's
Black-On-Black Violence: The Psychodynamics of Black Self-Annihilation in Service of White Domination

BLACK on BLACK VIOLENCE represents a distinct milestone in criminology and Afrikan Studies. Its explanatory perspectives on the Sociopsycho-logical and politicoeconomic causes of Black-on-Black violence are exceptionally insightful, incisive, and iconoclastic. The psychodynamics of the Black-on-Black criminal are presented here with a depth and clarity rarely seen before.

A review by
the-consultant
Amos Wilson was one of the greatest free thinking "radicals" (read Afrikan) to grace the last half of the 20th Century with his lucid writing, deep thought, and lecture series. His impact on African Peoples "Conceptualizations" of Perceived realities and thinking modalities will be of immeasurable assistance guiding us into the next century. The first offering by this MHA (Most Honored Ancestor) deals with the nature of a Crimogenic Society and its implications in our communities. The book speaks of Black on Black crime but the true value is perceived when you apply the concepts to other areas of life as well. He is survived by numerous books, and audio/video tapes. If you would like to obtain a video or audio please feel free to email me. His other works are: "BluePrint for Black Power" (10), "The Falsification of African Consciousness", "Awakening the Geneous of the Black Child", "Understanding Adolescent Male Violence", "Developemental Psychology of the Black Child

"http://www.zimbio.com/portal/RBG Afrikan- Centered Cultural Development and Education/log/rss

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