When Lupe Fiasco dropped his most recent album, Lasers, I must admit I was not as impressed as I would have like to have been. However, I did like this song, “All Black Everything,” a lot. There were a number of names and terms thrown around that I had heard recently in a lot of my classes, so I felt very intelligent.
However, I got into a debate with a friend of mine who just wasn’t feeling it. She contended that song was too inaccurate for her to take it seriously, specifically Lupe’s assertion in the hook that, were it not for imperialism, slavery wouldn’t have existed in Africa. She pointed out to me that slavery had existed everywhere, including Africa, prior to European imperialism and the Triangular Slave Trade. These were all point I couldn’t deny, but I still loved the song.
Personally, I felt that Lupe was playing off of cultural norms, stereotypes and expectations, while also trying to describe his idealized world. So I post this song and ask this question. What does your dream world look like?
There are some artist out of the South I truly respect. Big K.R.I.T. is definitely one of them. 9 times out of 10, I criticize people for listening to the instrumental of a song instead of the lyrics. However, I will admit my hypocrisy on this one. The instrumental is definitely the first thing that drew my attention to this one. This is one of the songs off of his new mixtape, 4eva and a Day.
I also must admit that I greatly appreciate the album cover. In a way, it encapsulates the soulful, rhythmic vibe of the blues in it’s color scheme (which resonated with several of the instrumentals), as well as a the chasm we often straddle between purity and pleasure (note the bible and church on the left side of the cover split juxtaposed to the strip club and bottle of liquor on the right side). Yea, I’m a Big K.R.I.T. fan. Hope you enjoy.
A few days ago, I came across the African American Policy Forum, a project dedicated to discussing issues like intersectionality, affirmative action, and structural racism. The website specifically focuses on how these issues relate to African-American communities and how individuals from these communities can get involved in the conversation. Overall, the website is well-structured and very informative. For those interested in learning more about the project, click the link below.
On the website, I came across a video that depicts the Unequal Opportunity Race. The video is about 4 minutes long, and is without words. The effect of having a video without words is that the images really are forced to speak for themselves. I thought that the video made some interesting points. I personally would have used different images, but it did raise some thoughts. Take a look at the video below, and let us know what you think.
So you read the title. Free my n***a Boosie. Free my n***a TI. Free my n***a OJ Simpson. Get where Im going? No? Okay, maybe not, but Im pretty sure many of you have heard at least one of these. The free so-and-so slogans that arise when a rapper or famous person is arrested for a crime. Im a firm supporter of the innocent-until-guilty right. On the other hand, these movements are bothersome to me for several reasons.
One: What if the person is actually guilty? By guilt, I mean they’re actually caught with drugs or an unregistered weapon on their person. Then what? Do we continue our free my n***a campaigns? What are we saying about ourselves if we support individuals who break the law in these campaigns?
Two: The use of the n-word. This is not a post about the merits of the term. Its not my place to judge anyone for using it, but I do want to address it. Why should I support any campaign that speaks about freeing your n***a so-and-so? Uhh…do we expect respectable leaders to do the same? Can you imagine Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton out chanting the slogan “free my n***a MLK during the 1960s? If you answered yes, stop reading here. For others, I would answer no. The use of the n-word in a legitimate campaign that’s supposed to gain sympathy from outside supporters is ineffective in so many ways.
Three: What do we do after the free my n***a campaigns have died out? Should I wear a t-shirt everyday? It seems like these slogans are just that…slogans. They dont actually push people to do anything of worthwhile value. Seems like people are just sitting around on twitter, chanting free so-and-so, without any actual action. Give me the facts and tell me why they should be free. If it seems compelling, then you have my support.
Fourth: Free my n***a so-and-so who’s being charged for murder. Say what? Hold up? Guilty of murder? Multiple murders? Hmm…once again, we should assume innocence until proven guilty. However, being charged for murder speaks magnitudes about a person. You may not actually be guilty, but this type of charge certainly follows a person for life. Look at OJ..
Last: Where do we, as young blacks, fit into this? Should we support the free my n***a so-and-so bandwagon solely because he or she is black? What does this say about individual blacks and groups like NAACP when the individual is actually guilty? Where do we draw the line for ourselves?
I dont have all of the answers for these questions, but its something that always interested me. BTW…I looove me some Lil Boosie. He’s on all of my gym playlists. For those of you who are not familiar with Lil Boosie and his case, check out the links below.
Black in the Purple Bubble 