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Dear friends,
This is a really powerful five minutes long video!
The reason: Consciousness is an ever evolving state of well-being for every human, beginning at birth.
In other words, because human beings are the only species on this planet who are aware of the fact that we exist (hence, burials), our consciousness makes us aware of the problems of living. Other than non-human animals like dogs who have been "domesticated" by humans, almost all other creatures have no such concern for problems. Father, their behavior is totally based upon instinct.
At any rate, as humans, we, at least, claim to renounce most of our instincts, so that we can join together as groups in a cooperative effort to coexist. Unfortunately.it is there that we find our biggest problem. That is, our relationships become political, because we each want what we want. However, as members of an aforementioned group, there are often compromises made for what one wants and desires, since many people want the same thing, but resources are limited.
Finally, human beings are, ultimately, like all other animals. So we have not actually renounced our instincts such as the one that has us being violent. Moreover, because we can talk, thus sharing ideas, especially for those who have superior military night install themselves as rulers. Those same people start using others as a means to an end, becoming self-centered and egotistical in the process. As a result, those who choose to find self-worth at the expense of others make sure that the consciousnesses of their victims evolve as little as possible.
Liberation!
G. Djata Rumpus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=069rKEci2Kc
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RIP, Brother Imamu Amiri Baraka...He was a pioneer of the Black Consciousness Movement (1965--85) that replaced the accommodating and sterile Civil Rights Movement.
"Somebody Blew Up America" (about 9/11)
by Amiri Baraka
They say its so...me terrorist,
some barbaric
A Rab,
in Afghanistan
It wasn't our American terrorists
It wasn't the Klan or the Skin heads
Or the them that blows up nigger
Churches, or reincarnates us on Death Row
It wasn't Trent Lott
Or David Duke or Giuliani
Or Schundler, Helms retiring
It wasn't
The gonorrhea in costume
The white sheet diseases
That have murdered black people
Terrorized reason and sanity
Most of humanity, as they pleases
They say (who say?)
Who do the saying
Who is them paying
Who tell the lies
Who in disguise
Who had the slaves
Who got the bux out the Bucks
Who got fat from plantations
Who genocided Indians
Tried to waste the Black nation
Who live on Wall Street
The first plantation
Who cut your nuts off
Who rape your ma
Who lynched your pa
Who got the tar, who got the feathers
Who had the match, who set the fires
Who killed and hired
Who say they God & still be the Devil
Who the biggest only
Who the most goodest
Who do Jesus resemble
Who created everything
Who the smartest
Who the greatest
Who the richest
Who say you ugly and they the goodlookingest
Who define art
Who define science
Who made the bombs
Who made the guns
Who bought the slaves, who sold them
Who called you them names
Who say Dahmer wasn't insane
Who? Who? Who?
Who stole Puerto Rico
Who stole the Indies, the Philipines, Manhattan
Australia & The Hebrides
Who forced opium on the Chinese
Who own them buildings
Who got the money
Who think you funny
Who locked you up
Who own the papers
Who owned the slave ship
Who run the army
Who the fake president
Who the ruler
Who the banker
Who? Who? Who?
Who own the mine
Who twist your mind
Who got bread
Who need peace
Who you think need war
Who own the oil
Who do no toil
Who own the soil
Who is not a nigger
Who is so great ain't nobody bigger
Who own this city
Who own the air
Who own the water
Who own your crib
Who rob and steal and cheat and murder
and make lies the truth
Who call you uncouth
Who live in the biggest house
Who do the biggest crime
Who go on vacation anytime
Who killed the most niggers
Who killed the most Jews
Who killed the most Italians
Who killed the most Irish
Who killed the most Africans
Who killed the most Japanese
Who killed the most Latinos
Who? Who? Who?
Who own the ocean
Who own the airplanes
Who own the malls
Who own television
Who own radio
Who own what ain't even known to be owned
Who own the owners that ain't the real owners
Who own the suburbs
Who suck the cities
Who make the laws
Who made Bush president
Who believe the confederate flag need to be flying
Who talk about democracy and be lying
Who the Beast in Revelations
Who 666
Who know who decide
Jesus get crucified
Who the Devil on the real side
Who got rich from Armenian genocide
Who the biggest terrorist
Who change the bible
Who killed the most people
Who do the most evil
Who don't worry about survival
Who have the colonies
Who stole the most land
Who rule the world
Who say they good but only do evil
Who the biggest executioner
Who? Who? Who?
Who own the oil
Who want more oil
Who told you what you think that later you find out a lie
Who? Who? Who?
Who found Bin Laden, maybe they Satan
Who pay the CIA,
Who knew the bomb was gonna blow
Who know why the terrorists
Learned to fly in Florida, San Diego
Who know why Five Israelis was filming the explosion
And cracking they sides at the notion
Who need fossil fuel when the sun ain't goin' nowhere
Who make the credit cards
Who get the biggest tax cut
Who walked out of the Conference
Against Racism
Who killed Malcolm, Kennedy & his Brother
Who killed Dr King, Who would want such a thing?
Are they linked to the murder of Lincoln?
Who invaded Grenada
Who made money from apartheid
Who keep the Irish a colony
Who overthrow Chile and Nicaragua later
Who killed David Sibeko, Chris Hani,
the same ones who killed Biko, Cabral,
Neruda, Allende, Che Guevara, Sandino,
Who killed Kabila, the ones who wasted Lumumba, Mondlane,
Betty Shabazz, Die, Princess Di, Ralph Featherstone,
Little Bobby
Who locked up Mandela, Dhoruba, Geronimo,
Assata, Mumia, Garvey, Dashiell Hammett, Alphaeus Hutton
Who killed Huey Newton, Fred Hampton,
Medgar Evers, Mikey Smith, Walter Rodney,
Was it the ones who tried to poison Fidel
Who tried to keep the Vietnamese Oppressed
Who put a price on Lenin's head
Who put the Jews in ovens,
and who helped them do it
Who said "America First"
and ok'd the yellow stars
Who killed Rosa Luxembourg, Liebneckt
Who murdered the Rosenbergs
And all the good people iced,
tortured, assassinated, vanished
Who got rich from Algeria, Libya, Haiti,
Iran, Iraq, Saudi, Kuwait, Lebanon,
Syria, Egypt, Jordan, Palestine,
Who cut off peoples hands in the Congo
Who invented Aids
Who put the germs
In the Indians' blankets
Who thought up "The Trail of Tears"
Who blew up the Maine
& started the Spanish American War
Who got Sharon back in Power
Who backed Batista, Hitler, Bilbo,
Chiang kai Chek
Who decided Affirmative Action had to go
Reconstruction, The New Deal,
The New Frontier, The Great Society,
Who do Tom Ass Clarence Work for
Who doo doo come out the Colon's mouth
Who know what kind of Skeeza is a Condoleeza
Who pay Connelly to be a wooden negro
Who give Genius Awards to Homo Locus
Subsidere
Who overthrew Nkrumah, Bishop,
Who poison Robeson,
who try to put DuBois in Jail
Who frame Rap Jamil al Amin, Who frame the Rosenbergs,
Garvey,
The Scottsboro Boys,
The Hollywood Ten
Who set the Reichstag Fire
Who knew the World Trade Center was gonna get bombed
Who told 4000 Israeli workers at the Twin Towers
To stay home that day
Why did Sharon stay away?
Who? Who? Who?
Explosion of Owl the newspaper say
The devil face cd be seen
Who make money from war
Who make dough from fear and lies
Who want the world like it is
Who want the world to be ruled by imperialism and national
oppression and terror violence, and hunger and poverty.
Who is the ruler of Hell?
Who is the most powerful
Who you know ever
Seen God?
But everybody seen
The Devil
Like an Owl exploding
In your life in your brain in your self
Like an Owl who know the devil
All night, all day if you listen, Like an Owl
Exploding in fire. We hear the questions rise
In terrible flame like the whistle of a crazy dog
Like the acid vomit of the fire of Hell
Who and Who and WHO who who
Whoooo and Whooooooooooooooooooooo!
Copyright (c) 2001 Amiri Baraka. All Rights Reserved.See More
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"“You gotta tell the children the truth. They don’t need a whole lot o’ lies…‘cause one of these days, baby, they’ll be runnin’ things, so when you give ‘em love, you betta give it right…woman and child, man and wife, the best love to have is the love of life.,,pass it on.” – Jimi Hendrix"
Dear friends,
The present on-again, off-again national tour for a “million mentors” that is being sponsored by radio personality Michael Baisden about recruiting men to "mentor", especially, African American male youth in America is, obviously, well-intended. Yet, aside from signing up a bunch of “men”, is there really a plan?
That is, what type of “role models” should the aforementioned youth admire and aspire to replicate? For example, should they be like either Tyler Perry or his alter ego “Madea”? Or, perhaps, they can mimic another self-hating “comedian” named Steve Harvey who tells so-called “jokes” like, "I know a woman who is so black that when she puts on a yellow dress, she looks like a traffic light.” Moreover, what good is “mentoring”, if it has nothing to do with helping youngsters appreciate the inner powers of mental and physical stamina (i.e., energy), so that they can strengthen their communities?
Clearly, this whole state of affairs requires us to address the inadequacies and insecurities that hinder us from developing, honing, and maintaining those inner strengths/powers mentioned above - throughout life.
To be sure, most people are not even aware of their inner powers. Instead, they relinquish such strengths, in order to embrace the cuddly pillows of external authorities such as “public opinion”, “common sense”, or the world-ruling personality called “God”.
Nevertheless, how does recognizing one’s inner powers provide him or her with a vision that will be beneficial to the community? And what relevance does that vision just mentioned have to both the proliferation and continued evolutionary growth of the community? Additionally, since a realizable vision demands having a plan for the future, will that foresight foster rational faith and hope. And, most of all, will the young charges learn to practice love as an “act of being” that is geared towards other people, along with things like their studies, their work, and all that comprises enhancing the progress of their communities, as opposed to practicing love as the passive and sentimental “state of being” that silly Hollywood tv and movie productions and countless cheap popular songs on the radio portray?
Of course, none of this means very much to a young person, because only after experiencing many favorable and unfavorable circumstances during life’s journey will they be able to understand and appreciate the necessity of planning ahead, so that they can somewhat control their destinies.
That’s why it’s so important that parents. school teachers, and all other adults who come into contact with young people make sure that young folks have regular experiences with success. That will give them confidence. And, as we already know: confidence gives self-esteem a place to grow.
To be sure, there is a generation raising children that is so steeped in this possession-oriented culture that ideas of community, and so forth, represent the folklore of generations past. Additionally, it is hard to steer the imagination towards humanity, community, and the common good in a society that holds individualism as paramount. Individualism has its place, but given too much emphasis, it can encourage greed, selfishness and petty materialism, creating serious identity problems along the way. For instance, there already exists a vulgar mimicry of genuine individualism that has young African American males wearing pigtails, earrings in each ear, along with placing jewelry and tattoos at bizarre points on their bodies.
This all, of course, relates to the industry created by the so-called "hip-hop" genre of music which a genuinely accomplished musician, Wynton Marsalis, and a noted journalist and music critic, Stanley Crouch, have so adequately labeled hip-hop as being nothing more than "buffoon minstrelsy".
Initially, rap music had a revolutionary potential, with lyrics, by groups like Public Enemy, which sought to articulate the social conditions of urban youth. Unfortunately, before long, greedy record companies convinced equally greedy young folks to produce recordings without using either musical instruments or dignified lyrics (with the latter still calling what they produce "music", mind you).
Some of these new "recordings" focused on the childish narcissism and selfishness in which people with low self-esteem engage, as they try to convince themselves that they have worth. Others, mostly young African American males, attempted to gain their self-worth at the expense of others, using sexual infidelity and violence as proof of their manhood, in their "lyrics". None of these behaviors has been abandoned by either the so-called artists or record distributors of the "hip-hop" industry , as of this writing. Thus, for the most part, the revolutionary potential mentioned above has all but dissolved, except for, perhaps, a very tiny group of independents (mostly called "underground").
Several years ago, on C-Span, I saw Lerone Bennett Jr., the great historian, speaking at an academic conference of some sort about his dismay with our young Black "rappers" and their "fans" who are calling their mothers, aunts, sisters, daughters, and cousins "bitches and hoes". No other cultural group does that in the whole world, be it the entire music industry or the general public - only African Americans. This brings us back to the issue of self-hatred, as in the case of Tyler Perry and Steve Harvey. Worse yet, the so-called hip-hop moguls who receive so much publicity these days are no different than the Black slavemasters of the ante-bellum South. In fact, it is not an exaggeration to suggest that the former are the "spiritual" descendants of the latter.
Nevertheless, connecting to institutions where youth already participate, rather than trying to form new ones, is essential, for any hope of success. Church youth groups, school clubs, athletic teams, specialty learning centers (like boxing, karate, art, trade schools, and so forth), as well as college groups will all have interest in community service on some level, whether for positive publicity or to give concrete application of their principles. Eventually, even gangs could be convinced to act more as social clubs, giving their members a more positive sense of purpose.
By the way, instead of being “anti-gang”, perhaps, we should consider getting gangs to identify with positive behavior, at least, under some circumstances. After all, who would have ever thought that the famous biker gang known as the “Hell’s Angels”, originally out of California, would be connected to philanthropic activities, although their name continues to, sometimes, be connected with criminal activity? Even the infamous Blackstone Rangers of Chicago, at one point, became known for actions other than their violent ones. This can happen with the Crips and Bloods, as well.
Still, for all that has been discussed thus far, the proverbial bottom line is: Capitalism has been so attractive, because it is, thus far, the only type of economy that has afforded total political freedom to its perticipants, as workers. That means that a person can "flip the boss a bird", as it were, and walk away, being "free" to find another opportunity for employment. This was certainly not the case in either slave or feudalistic societies. Socilaist countries do not allow that kind of freedom either, since everyone works for the "State" and, therefore, must work where he or she is assigned, more or less.
The downside of total political freedom for workers within the capitalist political economy is: The "market” then controls all economic and, , social relationships, based upon the notion of "supply and demand", whether for the human commodity - labor, or non-human ones (commodities). Unfortunately, since, the end of World War 1 or so, the "market" has taken control of what we see as culture. As a result, the definition of culture, which historically, has referred to all of the actions by a specific population group, has become anything that the market determines it to be. Consequently, the notions of “youth" culture (clothing, hairstyles, piercing and tattoos, books, magazines with ads sold in them, and so forth), "Hip-hop" culture (drugs, guns, gangs, and so forth), and “gay" culture (weddings, nightclubs, exclusive recreational venues, magazines and newspapers with ads sold in them, and so forth), are, totally, market constructs. Additionally, while there are social constructs like race, age, and gender, for example, those social structures were not created for the appetite of the market. Rather, they serve the purpose of establishing social relationships within that society itself that will allow it (said society) to last for hundreds or even thousands of years.
Still, the idea that a culture can develop without any connection to the past (except its increased availability of consumables) is a contradiction in terms. Hence, the notion of "youth culture", for example, is designed to exploit the vast and seemingly endless energy and enthusiasm of young people. Yet, it seems, at least, to me, that the energy and courage of our youth should, actually, serve the purpose of moving society forward - but only under the guidance of that part of society (parents and other elders) that has both the experience and understanding to recognize the values that maintain both our humanity and spirituality.
Moreover, once the market is allowed to define culture, our only values become those which drive it (the market). For that reason, the mentality needed to function within the market system itself, has a great deal to do with causing the people in this society, for the most part, to not have the ability to act in a loving way towards each other, since it defines people by price or money-name. Hence, terms like low-income and wealthy become the false abstractions, like so many other monikers, that tend to sort out and classify people, then assign said folks to their stations in society and life, with most people never having any real control of their destinies
Therefore, and ultimately, if our youth are to be our future, then it will only happen if we as adults, particularly parents, take the reins of this present culture and provide our children with both an historical and social conscience, and set the example for them, by informing identity through the recognition of the connection between generations and defining human life in a meaningful way (as opposed to basing who they are upon unproven claims, regarding with whom they are having sex, or what "gang colors" they're wearing). That way, our society will benefit from the "leadership" of our youth. As well, the "market" will then be a function of the values of the society and not vice versa.
Let’s face it; culture has no meaning once taken out of the context of a reproductive process. A people who cannot reproduce themselves as a people will cease to exist as a people and become part of something else. This is not necessarily a bad thing in and of itself. For example, the culture that held Africans in slavery, in this society, could no longer reproduce itself in that form and had to change, because of the well-deserved hostility and resistance it engendered.
In any case, let us stop asking children what they want to be, in the context of what they will possess, when they grow up. Instead, let us ask, what they want to be, regarding their relatedness to others. Let us ask, "How will you help the community when you grow up?" Let us ask, "What kind of work will you do to help people when you grow up?"
So, mentoring has significance, if it reflects a part of the culture of any particular community. However, social constructs like “race” and “gender” obscure opportunities for guiding young people so that they will be able to adequately replace us and prepare the way for those who have yet to come. Besides, what does either skin color or gender have to do with sharing vital information and skills with a young person? Therefore, however well-meaning, a “Million Mentors Tour” is a total waste of energy and valuable resources, unless its purpose is to direct youth towards embracing the notion, with a great sense of love, that they have a vested interest in building their communities for themselves and all of those who will follow them. Dig?
One Love,
G. Djata Bumpus
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"THIS WAS SHORT NOTICE FOR ME TOO. HOWEVER, IT"S IMPORTANT!"
November 4, 2009 - BB King Blues Club, NYC
GIL SCOTT-HERON
Produced by Jill Newman Productions
File Under: R&B, Classic R&B, Spoken Word
Doors at 6:00pm, Show at 8:00pmNB: General Admission - First come, first seated$30 adv, $35 at doorVIP Booths available for four to six people; must buy whole boothTix/Booth for four: $200 / Tix/Booth for six: $300
Poet, musician, activist, author, bluesologist. These are all terms that have been used to describe the great Gil Scott-Heron, who more humbly refers to himself simply as a "piano player from Tennessee". Most famous for his era-defining 1970's poem, "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised," Gil Scott-Heron's politically charged material made him a stalwart figure in the 1970's civil rights movement. His lyrical content covered topics like the superficiality of television and mass consumerism, the hypocrisy of some would-be Black revolutionaries and white middle-class ignorance of the difficulties faced by inner-city residents. Not only a pioneer of blues, jazz and funk, his honesty, matter-of-fact delivery and fearlessness to address important social issues in the face of media criticism made him one of the foremost progenitors of contemporary hip-hop and spoken word.. Expect an incredible new CD in early 2010.
B.B. King Blues Club and Grill is located at 237 West 42nd Street, between 7th Avenue and 8th Avenue.
Tickets may be purchased through Ticketmaster, online at ticketmaster.com or 212-307-7171.
Tickets can be purchased in person at our box office from 10:30 am to midnight every night.
We are a full-scale restaurant and bar; serving food and drink throughout most of our shows. A $10 food and/or beverage minimum is standard for table seating during all shows. To read our menu, please click here.
Unless otherwise noted, all shows are suitable for all ages and offer general admission seating. Seating for all shows is first come, first seated; we do not take advance table reservation, except where noted as a condition of a VIP ticket. We cannot seat incomplete parties. Standing room for all shows is available at our bar.
For further show information, directions to the venue and for the latest updates visit us at http://www.bbkingblues.com/ or call 212-997-4144
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