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President Bush is George of Arabia
By A. Peter Bailey
A few days ago while watching the movie, Lawrence of Arabia, for the first time since its release in the early 1960s; I was struck by the similarities of events in the Middle East in the early 1900s and what is happening today. In the movie, T.E. Lawrence, a British militarily officer, taking advantage of divisions among various factions of Arabs, help set the stage for the great Britain t become a dominant force in the Middle East. President Bush, taking advantage of similar, self-defeating division among the Arabs, is moving to make the U.S. the dominant force in the Middle East. Why else would this country be building the largest embassy in the world in Iraq? The key difference between Lawrence  s efforts and Bush s is that in the four-hour long movie
I don t recall ever hearing the words  Islam or Muslim. It was all about Arabs. In Bush s case one practically never hears the word Arab. It s all about Islam or Muslim. The goal remains the same, however, people of European descent being the dominant force in the Middle East. General Petraeus represents another aspect of the Lawrence of Arabia syndrome�a white military officer having to lead the uncivilized Arabs. Did anyone with half a brain believe that General Petraeus report was going to differ, in any way, from the policies of the Bush Administration? The press, as negligent as ever, didn t ask the general one very important question. How was it that when he was leader of security training for Iraqui forces, 110,000 of 185,000 AK-47 rifles,
80,000 of 170,000 pistols and thousands of other military equipment was unaccounted for? Some of this equipment is probably being used to maim and kill soldiers whom he is now sending into battle. Even Lawrence of Arabia never reached that level of incompetency.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Those of us who repeatedly stress the need for more group unity among black people are often dismissed as day dreaming separatists or delusional followers of Malcolm X by those who insist that it s all about the money, all about individuals looking out for themselves. One wonders if they have read what Martin Luther King, Jr. said about the subject in his often  ignored book, Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community? Wrote Dr. King: A second important step that the Negro must take is to work passionately for group identity. This does not mean group isolation or group exclusivity. It means the kind of group consciousness that Negroes need in order to participate more meaningfully at all levels of the life of our nation. Group unity necessarily involves group trust and reconciliation. One of the most serious effects of the
Negro s damaged ego has been his frequent loss of respect for himself and for other Negroes.
He ends up with ambivalence toward his own kind. To overcome this tragic conflict, it will be necessary for the Negro to find a new self-image. Only by being reconciled to ourselves will we be able to build upon the resources we already have at our disposal. This plea for unity is not a call for uniformity. There must always be healthy debate. There will be inevitable differences of opinion. The dilemma that the Negro confronts is so complex and monumental that its solution will of necessity involve a diversified approach. But Negroes can differ and still unite around common goals. This form of group unity can do infinitely more to liberate the Negro than any action of individuals. (Italics his) We have been oppressed as a group and we must overcome that oppression as a group. Through this form of group unity we can begin a constructive program which will vigorously seek to improve our personal standards. It is not
a sign of weakness, but a sign of high maturity, to rise to the level of self-criticism. Thought group unity we must convey to one another that our women must be respected, and that life is too precious to be destroyed in a Saturday night brawl, or a gang execution. These are the words of an action-oriented, thinking leader; they prove that he was much more than I have a dreamer.
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Why Iran is giving the Bush administration the chills
By C.B. Forde
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad recently created an uproar when he made a request to visit Ground Zero. He then expressed disbelief at the American public s reaction when he was denied access to the site. No one in America will ever truly know Ahmadinejad s sincerity, but there is no denying his media savvy. If America is supposed to be a truly free country, then why should he not be allowed to go to Ground Zero? Mr. Ahmadinejad has definitely stirred the pot by questioning the validity of the Jewish Holocaust and quest for a nuclear Iran. But one of the tenants of a free society is freedom of thought, speech, and movement. If America is truly a free society it must practice true freedom for all.
Unfortunately, we as Black people know all too well that this is a falsehood. The Jena 6 case in Louisiana is one of the daily reminders of freedom in the United States. The media savvy Ahmadinejad is goading the American public for the benefit of his audience back home and exposing the holes in American democracy.
Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on your perspective America has a media savvy President of its own. George W. Bush is using the public outcry against Ahmadinejad and Iran s nuclear ambitions to justify his war in Iraq. President Bush in his speech on Thursday, September 13 linked the war in Iraq with keeping Iran in check. If we were to be driven out of Iraq, extremists of all strains would be emboldened. Iran would benefit from the chaos and would be encouraged in its efforts to gain nuclear weapons and dominate the region.
The Bush administration is charging Iran with adding the insurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan and utilizing Hezbollah and Hamas as proxies in its war with Israel. Although Iran has denied adding the insurgencies in Iran and Afghanistan, their support for Hamas in the Gaza strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon are matters of fact.
The truth is that no matter what America does in Iraq, the action will some how benefit Iran. The blundering of the Bush administration in Iraq has lead to their hand picked interim government to court Iran for support. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani criticized the American military this past Saturday, September 22, for detaining an Iranian official earlier this week and demanded his immediate release. Talabani, who is himself an ethnic Kurd, stated: "You ignored our authority. I ask for his immediate release in order to maintain healthy relations between Iran and Kurdistan [province in western Iraq] and for the prosperity of Kurdistan.
The cultural politics of Iraq are complicated. Much like the former dictatorship of Tito in the former Yugoslavia keep ethnic tensions at bay, the dictatorship of Saddam kept the Sunni-Shia tensions at bay in Iraq. Although Shiites account for only 10% of the world Islamic population, Iran is 90% Shia and Iraq 65% Shia. Shia and Shiite are synonomyus Saddam Hussein was a Sunni and his minority dominated the Shiites for years. Because of the cultural familiarity between the Iraq and Iranian Shiites it is natural that the new Shia dominated Iraq government to look to Tehran for guidence. Furthermore, if America withdraws its troops, Iraq will descend into a Civil War, and Saudi Arabia has pledged to fund and or arm the
Iraq Sunnis to ensure there won t be a massacre. All the more reason for the Shia Iraqi government to court Ahmadienjad s support. It should also be noted that Al Queda is a Sunni Muslim organization.
There have been rumblings from within the Bush administration, obviously coming from Dick Chaney, about a military strike on Iran. Those rumors were further fueled when Israel launched an air raid deep in Syrian territory. Syria is Iran s only regional ally. This action is an alleged message to Iran that they can be hit at any time. Furthermore France also began to ratchet up the international pressure. On Monday, September 17 Bernard Kouchner, the French Foreign Minister, stated, We have to prepare for the worst, and the worst is war. This statement was made in response to Iran s refusal to halt its necular enrichment program.
However, Iran has a big card in its pocket  a big red card, the ace of diamonds, Russia. Russia has already built Tehran a nuclear plant on the Persian Gulf in Bushehr and has plans to build more. The Israeli newspaper the Jerusalem Post reported on July 30 of this year that Russia was planning to sell Iran 250 advanced long range Sukhoi-30 fighter jets to Iran in an unprecedented billion-dollar deal. Russia will also sell Iran a number of aerial fuel tankers that will extend the range of the Sukhoi by thousands of kilometers, and provide Tehran with long range offensive capabilities.
The Shkjoi-30 is an agile two-seat mulit-role jet fighter and bomber. But this isn t the only weaponry Russian is providing to Iran. The Sukhoi Su-30 is an air superiority fighter that can also perform ground strikes and comparable to USA's F-14 Tomcat and F-15E Strike Eagle. The technologically advanced aircraft is designed to fly in poor weather and has superior air to air combat capabilities. Russia has also supplied Iran with advanced antiaircraft systems which will be used to protect Iran s nuclear weapons. The mobile Tor-M1 system can target aircraft and guided missiles operating at low and medium altitudes.
Russia has vocalized loudly its opposition the current trends in U.S. foreign policy, such as a missile defense system in Eastern Europe. This coupled with Russia s desire to play a stronger role on the world stage has lead this writer to believe that Russia is skillfully utilizing Iran as a proxy against his old Cold War adversaries - NATO. Russia has reganied its economic strength through oil wealth and export of its technology. It should be noted that Iran is a world power when it comes to the oil industry. Do not underestimate the military, political and economic cooperation between these two countries. It would be very unlikely that Russia would allow serious harm to come to such a prosperous economic relation. Nuclear reactors and advanced weapon systems are not cheap.
With the Red Russian card in his back pocket, Ahmadinejad is giving the Bush administration the chills.
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Why I m Against and For the Reaction to the Jena 6
By Anthony C. Rucker
If you are not familiar with the Jena 6, do a quick Google search and catch your self up on the specifics. In general The Jena 6 refers to six African American males who were unjustly prosecuted in Jena, Louisiana who are facing the possibility of spending a significant part of their adult lives in prison. The usual players and practices were being set into motion. Everyone from the NAACP to the Nation of Islam offered help and monitored the proceedings. The NAACP even passed an emergency resolution in support of the Jena 6. Michael Baisden organized people to go to Louisiana to show support and provide the six male s mailing addresses in jail so they would know there were people working for their freedom. I appreciate the effort and concern. The national reaction and the outrage and demand for justice are a sign that there is still life in the myths known as the African American Collective Community and Consciousness.
My issue with all of this is its all reactionary. African Americans have seemingly bought into the concept of progress based on the passing of years. I hear all the time, It s 2007 and I can t believe this kind of thing still happens. I still don t know what the two have to do with each other. There has not ever been a period of time where African Americans haven t bled, protested, and died for their so called inalienable American rights, so why do we give so much credit to the passing of years?
Why do we act as if there has been some kind of racial and ethical rebirth of the American Way? America has never stopped killing us, they ve just changed the way they do it. And these reactionary policies and politics will never change this fact. All that will happen, at best, is that the Jena 6 will receive justice and we will live in a state of euphoria and false security until the same scenario plays out again somewhere else. If you think I m being pessimistic, look at our history. It will give irrefutable proof of this. This is not the first case of African Americans coming together to protest a gross injustice, and it won t be the last. Our actions have to become proactive because in the end a community that doesn't police itself and the politics that govern it will become a victim of its own apathy!
We have to take advantage of local and state politics, where one person has one vote, and put people in office who reflect the change we wish to see in the political and justice systems. If there is a shortage of possible candidates, then we who have the vision must become the candidates. Police brutality won t change unless the people who make up the police department become intolerable of it. Unfair charges and trials won t change until district attorneys and judges refuse to allow such shortcomings in morality to pass for justice. Sentences will not be fair until our peers register to vote and become eligible for jury duty and deal with us fairly. We must find a way, and
where there seems to be no way we must make a way.
To quote Paul Robeson ...the equal place to which we aspire cannot be reached without the equal rights we demand, and so the winning of these rights is not a maximum fulfillment but a minimum requirement. We have reached the mountain but not the mountain top, and all the marches, protests, and national movements will not make the changes we need to live fairly and equally in this country. It all comes down to African Americans people taking responsibility and control of their lives. When we quit making excuses and begging for justice and use the wisdom, strength, cunning, resourcefulness, and unwillingness to go quietly into the night to affect our condition, our condition will change. Short of that, keep your picket signs, political chants, and marching shoes in good working condition. You re going to need them.
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BaseBall, Local Politics and Apple Pie
By Chris Langley
Our last poll featured local elected officials and African American athletes in Major League Baseball.
In regard to local elected officials, we learned that 56% of you know the names of three of your local elected officials. We also learned that 54% of you have an unfavorable opinion of those officials. Local elected officials deal with issues relating to the financial stability, health, and welfare of their communities. Get to know them, and use your right to vote as a method to voice your opinions of them.
In regard to African American athletes in Major League Baseball (MLB), 48% of you feel that MLB discriminates against African American athletes. Focusing on Barry Bonds, 40% of you feel that MLB, the press, and the American public have treated him poorly; 32% of you feel that Barry Bonds has been treated with racial indignation. As a follower of MLB, I do not feel that today's game has a high rate of discrimination against African American athletes. As for Barry Bonds, while I respect his talent, I feel that much of the treatment that he receives can be attributed to his interactions and attitude towards others.
This week's poll focuses on The People vs. O.J. Simpson, the remix. Formal charges have been filed against O.J. Simpson that include assault, burglary with possession of a deadly weapon, coercion, conspiracy, kidnapping and robbery. If convicted, O.J. could be sentenced to life in prison.
O.J. Simpson is one of the most recognizable people in America. He doesn't have a criminal record, yet he suffers from a public perception issue. Go figure!
Blackballot.com focuses on gathering African American opinions on various topics. Our research specialists develop surveys that help measure customer satisfaction and loyalty, brand equity, PR efforts, and public opinions. Whether you want a complete strategytoanalysis plan or a dozen questions answered quickly, weve got the expertise you need to get the job done.
For further information on research and polling solutions, please contact Vice President of Sales, Chris Langley, at chris blackballot.com.
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Kanye West and the Tradition of the Thug Intellectual
By Justin Mitchell
Since the death of Tupac Shakur 11 years ago this month, there has been a noticeable void in the world of hip-hop. That fateful day in September represents not only the all too human death of perhaps the most important voice to emerge out the
African-American community in the last thirty years, but also the symbolic death of the Thug Intellectual, a figure whose avatars included Malcolm X, Huey Newton, and Iceberg Slim. The Thug Intellectual is a variation of the bad-nigger,
the homegrown anti-hero of African-American folklore. The bad nigger has always haunted African-American consciousness. During slavery he was known as John the Conqueror, a trickster figure who got over on both blacks and whites. He was the subject of violent ballads during the Jim Crow era that would make some of today s gangsta rap songs look tame. He found fame later in the blues songs of Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, Sonny Boy Williamson, and Lightnin Hopkins. One catches glimpses of him in the novels of Richard Wright and Ralph Ellison through characters such as Bigger Thomas and Rhinehart, respectively. You see, the bad nigger is the pimp, the numbers runner, the bootlegger, the gun-toting, loud-talking, womanizing brute who preys on his own people but refuses to back down in the face of white authority. For honest, law-abiding black Americans trying to get ahead he is anathema, evil incarnate, but a nonetheless intriguing figure.
Up until the 1970s, the bad nigger was a relatively underground figure, a persona whose exposure to mainstream society risked compromising black progress by confirming every negative stereotype about black pathology, and therefore needed to remain hidden. But movies like The Mack and Sweet Sweetback s Bad-Ass Song initiated the bad nigger into the American scene and, eventually, with the advent of gansta rap, he became a mainstay of popular American culture.
The Thug Intellectual borrows from the bad nigger his slick tongue, his brashness, his blind contempt for authority, his penchant for violence, and his braggadocio only to combine these qualities with political rhetoric, social awareness, and a dash of book-knowledge. He becomes a Black Panther, a Black Muslim, or a (Gangsta) Rapper. At his best, the Thug Intellectual can represent a rich, nuanced, and beautiful portrait of the African-American experience. He can blend high and low, white and black, the ghetto and academia. He can reflect and critique society. At his worst, the Thug Intellectual merely reflects. He becomes wholly an expression and affirmation of mainstream values. He remains self-aware, but complacent with his ability to get over on the system. He becomes Mike Tyson.
Tupac Shakur was the premier Thug Intellectual of his time and, no doubt, one of the finest in the history of black America. Every rapper after him who pretends to blend hood life with the high life in pop music stands in his impressive shadow. Few rappers have created such a vivid, urgent, and emotional narrative of experience in their work. Since his death, almost no one has even tried. The exceptions are, of course, Nas and, to a somewhat lesser extent, Jay-Z. But for the most part, mainstream rappers have contented themselves with Shakur s imagery rather than his spirit. By this I mean that they have adopted Shakur s I don t give a fuck attitude without any of his revolutionary politics. In their mouths Tupac s style has become as empty and noncomittal as a Che Guevara t-shirt.
Enter Kanye West. Yes, that s right, Kanye West. True, he doesn t have Shakur s street credibility. He also doesn t have Shakur s presence, his intoxicating passion and charisma. But he brings to hip-hop an uneasy intelligence, a singular artistic vision, a willingness to take risks, and, most importantly, a vulnerability that bring Shakur to mind. And let s not forget West s at times controversial public image. Say what you will about West, one cannot deny that he speaks his mind and this was one of Shakur s most memorable virtues.
As I listened to West s new album, Graduation, I was seized by a feeling similar to the one I experience when I listen to Shakur s Me Against the World. West s album doesn t have the substance or immediacy of that album, but it comes wonderfully close, by which I mean to say that Graduation comes close to being the work of a mature artist.
As expected, Graduation is a serious album peppered with moments of West s trademark silliness and exuberance. The opening track is a soft and solemn announcement called Good Morning, that references Jay-Z s The Ruler s Back. At times it seems that West is trying to channel the emotional complexity of the The Blueprint, an album that vacillated between rueful self-criticism and nostalgia on the one hand and royal arrogance on the other. After poking fun at his own foolhardy disposition on Good Morning, where he rhymes, Wake up Mr. West, Mr. West, Mr. Fresh/Mr. By-Hisself-He s-So-Impressed, he swings to the opposite end of the spectrum with the self-congratulatory Champion, which features an Afro-Caribbean accented chorus and makes percussive use of a vocal sample from Steely Dan. Here we find West more energetic, but also showing depth with a light, clever touch: You don t see just how wild the crowd is? / You don t see just how fly my style is? / I don t see why I need a stylist when I shop
so much I could speak Italian / I don t know, I just want it better for my kids / And I ain t sayin we was from the projects / but every time I wanted to layaway or deposit / my Dad would say when you see clothes, close your eyelids. Here, like a Thug Intellectual, West combines swagger and arrogance with vulnerability and hope. In one breath he speaks to personal aspiration, the oft-told tale of black privation, and progress. A black man contemplating a better future for his kids is revolutionary in itself. Elsewhere he contemplates the burden of his success and the irony of the role he is forced to play in society at large: Lauryn Hill said her heart was in Zion / I wish here heart still was in rhymin / �cause who the kids gon listen to? / Huh? I guess me if it isn t you / Last week I paid a visit to the Institute / they got the drop out keepin kids in the school. But importantly, West doesn t shy away from being a role model. He recognizes that he walks a fine line in trying to be a socially
responsible artist, a line which might be blurred by his frequent odes to sex and alcohol. But West is passionate and not gratuitous, balancing his occasional vulgarity with nuanced examinations of human relationships and heartfelt words of inspiration, much like Shakur and, more recently, Nas. The question of the artist s role in society is one that few rappers have the courage to confront. Jay-Z has more or less skirted around the issue, and other popular rappers, such as 50 Cent, act like the problem doesn t exist. But the moral confusion of hip-hop makes for a powerful theme when considered seriously and not didactically by a talented artist. In this regard West is bringing to mainstream hip-hop a self-awareness that has been missing since Shakur s death.
The overwhelming consensus among the more lyrically inclined fans seems to be that West can t rap, or that he s not a lyricist. I couldn t disagree more with this assessment. Although at times West seems too eager to show off his wit, he is nevertheless, a more than capable emcee, who, as the above bars illustrate, can be both clever and poignant without getting trapped in the rigidity of rhyme schemes. His brilliance as an emcee lies in his ability to build his vocals around the beat, to respond intuitively and sometimes cartoonishly to the various elements of the tracks he creates. It s the kind of thing that only a producer with real rap talent could ever do. It effectively gets not only the rhythm of the beat, but the pattern of the verses trapped in your head. Often, instead of emphasizing actual rhyming words, West will focus on a syllable or series of syllables that, when accented the right way with his Chicago twang (which is really a variation of black Southern dialect),
can sound right alongside each other. The results are melodic juxtapositions that are neither cliche nor boring. West often commands your attention vocally because of this technique and the fact that he has such a distinctive, insistent presence on the microphone. This presence finds its finest expression on songs like I Wonder, an incantatory track with a cleverly varied rhyme structure that creates a captivating emotional ascension, Can t Tell Me Nothing, where he responds ingeniously to the rhythm of the beat and the punctuations of a female vocalist, and, the album s highlight, Big Brother, where he convincingly spins the tale of his rise to fame and the debt he owes to Jay-Z over a guitar driven and string-laden track. None of these tracks are breathtaking, but they represent well sustained, emotional performances.
Graduation is a focused album. It is personal, but I would hesitate to say that it is deeply so. West s attention to lyrical patterns and melodies can sometimes sabotage his earnest intentions, like on Everything I Am, a slow piano-laced track that even with its soulful crooning leaves us largely unmoved. West will surely move folks with songs like Good Life and Glory, however, both of which are buoyed by a solid combination of high
pitched vocal samples, strings, bass, and drum kicks the essential elements of a soul beat.
Of course, not everything on West s new album works. Stronger, while an interesting experiment, one that only West could seriously even attempt, seems altogether too awkward. The same goes for, Drunk and Hot Girls, West s unfortunate collaboration with Mos Def. But I wouldn t go so far as to say these tracks don t belong on the album. They are clearly West s attempts to shake things up and my hat goes off to him for this.
Most importantly, Graduation has staying power. It will be remembered as one of the season s best albums. It is the type of album that, in years to come, due to its moody, atmospheric, genre and era-shifting production techniques and West s ear for melody and structure will be strongly, perhaps even profoundly, associative. It is a courageous album from an artist who, while still in need of growth and maturation, adds life to an important tradition and is quite possibly something of a visionary.
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