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03.13.03 09:22 PM
no love for hip-hop
I think jimi izrael has his finger on the pulse with this one. Given that both Stephen Talty, author of Mulatto America: At the Crossroads of Black and White Culture - A Social History , and Todd Boyd, author of The New HNIC: The Death of Civil Rights and the Reign of Hip Hop, seem to believe that for youth who have become the hip-hop generation, The Civil Rights Movement doesn't mean a lot. Instead of the elders, who helped many young'ins reap the benefits they so boldly enjoy (floss) today, dissing hip-hop they should either confront it in an open forum, or do the each-one-teach-one move, or better yet join forces with some of today's young protestors, who happen to be members of the so-called hip-hop generation. izrael, who writes the "What It Iz" column for Africana.com who had "Stop Dissing Hip-Hop Nation," published in the LA Times today says, "I can't understand why the civil rights illuminati wake up only long enough to scold the young people." He closes with, "What's wrong, Mrs. Parks (respectfully), is that the hip generation gots love for you, but you gots no love for us." The message is clear. And it's real. Another version of this commentary ran on AlterNet today as "Rosa Parks: No Love for the Hip-Hop Generation." If you read izrael's latest column on Africana, he feels the hip-hop generation doesn't know a damn thing about activism, and that folks like Russell Simmons and Kevin Powell are definitely not in a position to lead them. My question to that one is, then who should they listen to? If the old guard ain't teaching, then who? And who are the right people to teach the hip-hop generation about organizing? Then again, the real question could be: Should the old skool sit down and shut up, or should they pass the torch, and do it properly?
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Lynne: The problem is the Old School sat down a long time ago: at the table of white power. They sold out the younger generation and provided precious little in the way of guidance. Their harsh tone and condescending air has caused such a big rift with the HipHop headz that it's best for the two sides to just stay separated.
posted by ronn | March 14, 2003 1:43 PM #
oh i have a lot to say on this one, i'll be back to post later!!!!!!
posted by hardCore | March 14, 2003 6:18 PM #
Of course they should be passing the torch but older folk are very headstrong about what they think the younger generation should be. I suppose it is this way in every culture where the elders kinda frown upon the youth. However because we're Black, and with the odds that we have against us, as cliche as that may sound, and I know it sounds like an excuse but let me explain myself: Would America's public schools really go beyond February to teach more than a paragraph's worth of Black history? And will every young Black parent know the facts in teaching their children about the past and the continuing struggle? The same parents that were raised by the same public school system. It's an ongoing cycle. I had a teacher once who told me that White America surely wouldn't mind us forgetting the past, and I know a lot of guys back home in Brooklyn who wouldn't take the initiative to find out more about themselves and their culture.) We NEED a movement and if it should start with a subject as universally known amongst Black folk as Simmons, so be it. We need to start somewhere.
posted by Nadine G. | March 14, 2003 7:29 PM #
good questions. the chasm between the two groups is so huge, neither sees the value of the other...or the plentiful opportunities for collaboration. i wish i had some answers....
posted by lisa | March 14, 2003 8:53 PM #
well...i think the problem is, Old School heads need to sit down and teach us younger kids the way of the world. HOWEVER, they also need to be open to learn and LISTEN to how we feel today. there's a lot we can learn from each other.
on a side note: BIGGUPS to my former Professor Dr. Todd Boyd!! "The Good Doctor" keeps doing his thing. i have to check out the new book. if you have the chance to see/hear him speak...DO SO, it's entertaining AND informative.
posted by britni | March 16, 2003 8:11 AM #
Man, I am torn on this... I agree that the "civil rights illuminati" chould be more tolerant. However, I can see how they are not; how they feel their collective struggles are ignored and taken for granted by the younger, hip hop generation.
There's a lot of ignorance/arrogance on the hip hop side, as well. I get the general feeling from the "community" that if one doesn't fully embrace the hip hop lifestyle, they're viewed as a "hater" their views are dismissed.
posted by j. brotherlove | March 17, 2003 3:34 AM #
i need a lil more time to think this over, but what comes to mind is that there are lessons to be learned by both sides. the civil rights illuminati need to be a little more tolerant. times have changed and so have views, opinions and the means by which change can come.
more later....
posted by kevinrscott | March 18, 2003 6:36 PM #
I think the solution is to pass it properly, or stop bitching when it gets mis-handled. Don't say nothing, and then say everything. That's my problem with Rosa Parks. I mean, she only wakes up off a nod long enough to sue young folk and belly-ache about being dissed? Feh . . .
Thanks for the link . . .crazy love.
---jimi
posted by jimi izrael | March 22, 2003 8:33 PM #