Throwback Thursday - By the Time I Get to Arizona

We have indeed come a long way. As of this week we have a black man in the White House, but as sure as I've had more than one person tell me "Well he's only half-black," we definitely still have quite a ways to go. Public Enemy's incindiary response to Arizona's refusal to recognize Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birth date as a holiday serves to remind me that we aren't that far from a time where Obama's presidency was unfathomable. Just because Obama's our president doesn't mean we need to lose the capacity for the type of fire that Chuck D carried in his words. The events of Tuesday were only possible through the years of effort and sacrifices by great people like the one we honored the day before.

Saul Williams - The Government

Since the event that sparked me to actually start this blog was the election that put our new administration into office, it'd only be right if I had something to say for today's inauguration. That's the trouble with words though, a lot of times they don't show up when you think they should. I can't really sort through everything I'm thinking to pluck out the right thing to say, so I'll just start with Saul Williams' thoughts on the day:

We have overcome.

Except those of us now in Gaza. Except those of us whom police kill. Except those of us who are suspects. Except those of us whom the church hate. Except those of us damned to taste good. Except those of us held by fate. We are meeting in the capitol. Word is, freedom will not wait.

All that once was never shall be.
All they could do won’t be done.
All we sang of is now happening.

[note to self:]
Must write
new songs
to become…

...And so it was. Through the collective imagination of the people, the force of will and human potential, and an unflinching ability to hold himself to task, Niggy Tardust was liberated. His ability to see beyond the boundaries and obstacles of 'genre', 'race', and suppression, allowed him to encompass a grace and sound that embodied the all. All that had stood against him, now stood with him. All that had claimed a lesser harmony, now craved voice and resonance. He stood with poets, painters, dancers, students, children of the night who had transformed themselves into a million bright ambassadors of morning, and proclaimed,

“We declare declaratives and deny the official. Based in the landmark of the G-spot, we have overtaken ourselves and overthrown our forefathers. Let there be light within the light and let it answer to the name of Darkness. We are forever risen from the deadly: the anti-virus and the All Stars. Granted power by forces unbeknownst to us. Made in the likeness of kindness. We offer anger to the angry and fear to the fearful. We dance at our own funerals to forsake the mourners…

…This is no time to cry! This is no time at all! Here is the moment of the overlooked and the unforeseeable. We are the elected officials of the people: poets and artists. We are the declarative statement of the inarticulate, the irreparably damaged goods of the bad meaning good. We are the government! We are the government! We are the government!”


Saul Williams - The Government

Joints for the Day After

It'll be a bit before this place will start to look like I own it, but I suppose an introduction is due. As DJ Regular I ran the Hip Hop format of SIUC's student-run radio station WIDB. Had a show on Friday evenings for about two years called What's Good (shouts out to my co-host Lil' Constant, wherever she might be) where I played dope Hip Hop from all over. A lot times the shows had a theme, or special guests would drop by, but mostly we just kept it funky and had fun on the air. This blog's going to attempt to capture the feel of the old show, but with a broader scope. I'll talk about everything I'm interested in: music, movies, politics, games, writing. The unifying element is that it'll all be from the viewpoint of a cat that fancied himself the Hip Hop Bob Costas...until he realized that Jay Smooth existed, and decided to settled for being a plain ol' Hip Hop head that likes talkin'.

Now that the intro's outta the way it's time to get to the real point of this drop, music. With a monumental election night behind us, most folks that weren't rendered comatose by the shock of America waking up after 8 eights years got up and seized the day. Safe to say we're all feeling a myriad of emotions today, and mine had a soundtrack.

Pride
Arguably the most obvious to spot, even you cats workin' the most straight-laced gig on the planet had a little bop in your step today if you were supporting change.


Brother Ali - Mr. President (You're the Man)


Statik Selektah feat. The Justus League - On the Marquee

Determination
What I'm worried some of you out there aren't feeling is something that's been in my heart pretty heavy. We definitely proved that we can promote a change...now we need to keep doing it. A lot of promise were made and we've got to make sure that the man we elected keeps his promises to us, and we need to live up to the feat we managed last night. We can't afford to pat ourselves on the back 'cause we're going to need those hands for the heavy lifting.


Invicible feat. Finale - Don't Sleep


Talib Kweli - This Means You feat. Mos Def

Vindication
As a young black man, I grew up indoctrinated with stories about friends and family that went through the Civil Rights movement first hand, grew up in the Jim Crow era South, and struggled for all of us. I won't lie, in recent years I've often wondered if my generation was worth the trouble. Just last week we had one of the most popular (among kids, which makes this even worse) rappers of the day give props to the slave masters that brought us here. And that's not even the worst of the coonery I've seen from my people as of late. I'd always been told we were a people full of promise and immense strength. Well racism's far from over, and we've still got a lot of work ahead of us within our own community, but last night was the culmination of work that began many years ago. Proof that we actually can live up to what the older generations did for us. My only regret is that some of them, like my Grandma Henrietta, couldn't be here to see it.


Sam Cooke - A Change Is Gonna Come