The 50th Year Anniversary of Hip Hop.

 

This year is the 50th year anniversary of Hip Hop. Hip Hop is unique in many ways. To me, it's the most controversial musical genre in human history and the most resilient musical genre in human history. Hip Hop has been loved, hated, banned by many individuals, praised, and acknowledged as a key part of world culture. Like with many things, hip hop originated with black people, and it has been expressed by human beings of every color as hip hop is a universal culture. Elements of hip hop existed long before the 1970's like graffiti, turntables, rapping (we know of people rapping in the 1930's in blues/jazz songs), beatboxing, breakdancing, and DJs existed before the 1970's. Modern day hip hop was created by Kool Herc by August of 1973. So, hip hop was created by Afro-Caribbeans and African Americans working together to celebrate music in parties and celebrations. Early on, hip hop was headed by the DJ. The DJ is equivalent to the orchestra manager or conductor like Duke Ellington conducting the notes of the orchestra. The DJ in hip hop originally conducted the beats and the sounds. African Americans and Afro-Caribbeans in the Bronx and the rest of the city of New York City used block parties to have competitions and parties to see who the better hip hop artist was (amid poverty, police brutality, and deindustrialization in New York City). 

The M.C. rose in prominence to talk about music, bragging, having fun, and other topics. During the 1970's, prominent hip hop artists were Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, The Sugar Hill gang, King Tim III, Funky Four Plus One More, Lady B, Jocko, Paulette and Tanya Winley, Ron Hunt, and Eddie Cheba. Kurtis Blow started his hip hop career during the 1970's too. By the 1980's, hip hop music changed forever. It was the time when hip hop was taken more seriously by mainstream society. The samples of funk and R&B records increased. Legends grown. LL Cool J, Salt n Pepa, Rakim, Eric B, Kane, and other artists helped to develop the Golden Age of hip hop. The Golden Age lasted from the late 1980's to the early 1990's. It featured many artists. The 1980's hip hop diversified with conscious groups like Public Enemy, hardcore reality rap (or gangster rap) with N.W.A, sexual hip hop with 2 Live Crew, and more pop rap like Will Smith and Kid and Play. The 1990's saw hip hop reach new heights of international power making billions of dollars of people. New Jack swing started the decade and in the end of the decade having hardcore, conscious, and the bling era. The two most prominent artists of the 1990's were Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G. They lived and traveled all over America and their lives were cut short unjustly by jealous, cowardly people. They remain the most influential hip hop artists of all time with their impact, talent, and style. During the 1990's, Wu Tang Clan, Outkast, Snoop, Scarface, DMX, Jay Z, Lauryn Hill, Wyclef Jean, and other artists shown their musical abilities. By the end of the 1990's, newer artists like Mos Def, Canibus, Eminem, Nia, Jean Grae, and other people released their own musical songs and albums. 

By the 2000's, there was the end of the bling era and the start of new forms of hip hop sounds. Many sounds mixed hip hop and R&B together. Hip Hop became the new rock stars in terms of popularity and influence by the 2000's. In the 1990's, there were debates on the commercialization of hip hop. By the 2000's, more hip hop artists embraced themselves as a business. By the 2000's, we saw the increase influence of Dr. Dre, 50 Cent, Ja Rule, Jay Z, Eminem, Cam'ron, Mase, Ludacris, Ying Yang Twins, and other artists. The South not only grown hip hop culture but became the the large face of hip hop by the 2000's. The growth of snap and crunk were prominent. By the 2010’s, a new generation of artists talked about politics, love, romance, the life or the urban communities, and justice like Tribe, Kendrick Lamar, Drake, Pusha T, Kanye West (with probably the most experimental album of his career in Yeezus), Rapsody, The Roots, Young Thug, Future, Vince Staples, Mac Miller, and others. From the 2010’s, a new renaissance of young women hip hop artists have taken the stage like Nicki Minaj, Noname, Azalea Banks, Princess Nokia, Cardi B (I don’t agree with her on many issues, but I mention here for historical reference), Rico Nasty, Doja Cat, Megan Thee Stallion, Rapsody, Tierra Whack, and Coi Leray. By the 2020’s, hip hop has evolved more in embracing the same youth culture along with soundcloud beats. The fashion has changed, historical events have changed, but the same goal of musical excellence has not changed in hip hop culture. By the 2020’s, we see artists like Lil Baby, Lil Uzi Vert, Ice Spice, Polo G, Jack Harlow, Fivio Foreign, and other artists. Cheat Codes from Black Thought was an album released in 2022 with lyrical power and flow. At the end of the day, hip hop, the elements of hip hop include emceeing, deejaying, break dancing, graffiti, beatboxing, fashion, language, and knowledge. One element is not better than the other as hip hop is diverse. Human creativity is very diverse, and hip hop has been around for more than 50 years. It will continue to expand for many more years to come. 

BY Timothy

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The Detroit 1967 Rebellion.

 

July 22, 2017

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Today is the weekend of the 50th year anniversary of the rebellion of Detroit. The rebellion started on July 23, 1967. 

I wasn't born during that time, but my parents were alive then. It happened during the post-World War II boom (from 1945-1973), which many middle class people had economic growth while the poorest of Americans still suffered a great deal. It was an uprising and one of the most serious uprisings in American history. The rebellion was very large and it was suppressed by the police, the State National Guard, and U.S. Army troops. It was caused by many factors. 

For decades before 1967, the Great Migration caused thousands of black people from the South to come into Detroit. They wanted economic opportunities and escape from Southern tyranny (filled with lynchings, murder, violence, and discrimination). Yet, many of them found in Detroit: de facto segregation, lax educational opportunities, dilapidated housing, discrimination, and police brutality. Police brutality existed nationwide from NYC to Los Angeles. Detroit had it too. America was in a crossroads. Many young people wanted more radical action to end pernicious injustices in the world. By the early 1960's, the black middle class in Detroit grew into a great level, because more black residents joined unions and jobs with adequate benefits. The economic burden of the Vietnam War by the late 1960's started to restrict investments in poor communities. The Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Acts were passed and they were great, progressive legislation, but economic inequality wasn't truly addressed by the federal government. By the late 1960's, housing and racial discrimination were rampant in Detroit. City schools were underfunded as compared to the suburbs just before the rebellion. 

That is why a diversity of black people in Detroit from integrationalists to Black Nationalists wanted real change in their lives. Incidents of racist terror continued in Detroit well into the 1960's. Danny Thomas was a black Army veteran and he was killed by a racist white gang just before the rebellion. Danny Thomas was a courageous man who tried to  protect his pregnant wife from the sexual advances of the racist gang. She later lost the baby. The police refused to arrest the gang. The incident was kept out of the major newspapers until the city's Black newspaper made it a banner headline. The rebellion of July of 1967 started by the police trying to shut down a blind pig. A blind pig is an unregistered club. Many black Vietnam War veterans were in the club. Then, the crowd increased and the rebellion started. It was long spanning many days. It was bloody. The result was 43 dead, 1,189 injured, over 7,200 arrests, about 5,000 people were left homeless, and more than 2,000 buildings destroyed. Hundreds of people were wounded. Military tanks roamed the streets. Innocent people were killed. There was the Algiers Hotel incident where many innocent people were assaulted and killed by authorities. Businesses were destroyed. People were confused. Men, women, and children were displaced of their homes. Many people, who were arrested, were viciously assaulted by the police. 12th Street (in the Virginia Park area of Detroit) is a major focus point of the black community in Detroit. From Albert B. Cleage, Jr. to Malcolm X, Detroit has a long history in the black freedom movement. 

The result of the rebellion was an exodus of many people from Detroit along with the acceleration of deindustralization for decades to come. For decades, Detroit's population declined and there was the bankruptcy of Detroit during the 21st century. Also, there has been many activists in Detroit fighting for a new, better Detroit to this very day. Their efforts should be acknowledged and respected. The rebellions of the 1960's represented how American capitalism was fallible (in the sense of it claiming to be for the rights of people domestically while funding reactionary foreign policy actions overseas) and the issues of class oppression and racial oppression must be addressed if we are to be in the Promised Land of justice for real. Even the Kerner report outlined that economic oppression and racism were contributing factors to the rebellion. Today, we see the growth of the middle class and the rich. 

We see also the growth of the economic inequality and militarism in the world. The rebellions of the 1960's was exploited by the powers that be, so they could make militarized more of the local police, to expand the mass incarceration state (under the guise of "law and order" which reactionaries use all of the time), and to use other evil methods of suppression. The Detroit rebellion caused the increased military involvement in the lives of suppressing future rebellions. Also, Coleman Young was soon mayor of Detroit. He was the first black mayor of Detroit. 

The Detroit rebellion was a reminder that hurting, oppressed people don't need scapegoating. They need adequate resources, compassion, and respect to achieve their own aspirations in life. Still, Detroit residents are resilient and they a'int backing down. They are our Brothers and our Sisters.

By Timothy

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WWI

May 22, 2018  · 

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As we approach the 100th year anniversary of the end of World War One, we witness new information and great insights of that very violent conflict. World War I or the Great impacted the world society in a myriad of ways. Advanced technologies like tanks and complex airplanes plus machine guns were utilized in a huge fashion. It first involved the European continent since European powers desired to gather as much power of the world as possible via imperialism including colonialism. This came after the Boxer Rebellion where Boxers from China were defeated by Western Powers by 1901. Also, WWI existed in the midst of nationalist movements including the Communist Russian Revolution too. 70 million military personnel were mobilized. The war started in many situations. First, England and France wanted to contain the expansion of Germany (with the growth of its army and navy). Also, the Ottoman Empire was weakening. 

The Serbian nationalist Princip assassinated Archduke Ferdinand in a means to gain Serbian independence. Princip was allied with the Secret society called the Black Hand. Alliances among France and England plus the alliance of Germany and Austria-Hungary were in full display. So, war existed. World War One transpired globally too with battles in Asia, Africa, and in other locations. Supporters and opponents of the war were abundant during that time period. The Armenian genocide, the Greek genocide, and the Assyrian genocide all occurred during World War I. Chemical warfare was committed by both sides during the war (which was a war crime) too. The majority of the war existed in a stalemate among the Allies and the Central Powers in part because of trench warfare (which caused both sides to fight and being slaughtered from across the battlefield especially in places like Verdun). American involvement, the weakening of the Ottoman Empire, and various military tactics contributed to the Allied victory. The war ended in 1918, but issues of autonomy and nationhood wouldn’t be resolved so readily. The Paris Peace Conference of 1919 (headed by Britain, France, the United States, and Italy) involved the Allied forces to place sanctions on Germany. 

It refused to give people of color (especially black people and Asian people) true national independence. Ho Chi Minh back then wanted Vietnam to have independence from France, but the Paris Peace Conference refused to do so. The subsequent League of Nations couldn’t enforce treaties and it was rejected by the U.S. Congress. Soon, economic depression, international tensions, anger, and the growth of fascism contributed to the beginning of World War II. World War One was an international war that saw the modernization of how we live in the Earth. It was a war that saw monarchies fall and new national realities develop. It was an epoch of world history indeed.

By Timothy

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The Poor People's Campaign

 May 29, 2018

  

Today, it is 50 years after one major Poor People's Campaign march in Washington, D.C. The people at the location were black people, Latinx people, Native Americans, white people, etc. The Poor People's Campaign was the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who wanted the poor to have economic justice firmly. Many of these human beings on May 29, 1968 marched on the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., to protest a high court ruling that affirmed limits on Native American fishing rights in several rivers of Washington state. One leader of this movement was Ralph David Abernathy, the principal leader of the Poor People’s Campaign following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.. Another leader of the movement was Reies Tijerina, a leader of the Chicano movement in the state of New Mexico. Many protesters were at the doors of the U.S. Supreme Court building seeking justice. 

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., before he died, was moving to be more left wing and more revolutionary. He saw that civil and voting rights are great, but you have to address an economic system that harms people of all colors if you desire true liberation. You have to have a massive redistribution of economic and political power in order to cause real change in our society. Dr. King wanted the Poor People's Campaign to be like the Bonus March back in the 1930's when WWI veterans wanted higher wages (while setting up tents in Washington D.C.). Douglas MacArthur used his troops to end the Bonus March brutally. One of the greatest mistakes of Douglas MacArthur was his excessive response to the Bonus March.

Also, it is important to note that Sister Mary Wright Edelman inspired Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to go forward with the Poor People's Campaign. Since Dr. King was gone physically by April 4, 1968, Ralph Abernathy took over the SCLC and the Poor Peoples Campaign. Dr. King wanted the Poor People's Campaign to give the poor a living wage, adequate incomes, true land, allow to give the poor to experience true political and economic power, and the establishment of other policies. This was part of the Economic Bill of Rights. The Poor People's Campaign asked for the federal government to prioritize helping the poor with a $30 billion anti-poverty package that included, among other demands, a commitment to full employment, a guaranteed annual income measure, and more low-income housing. Even during that time (with the peak of the American post-World War II economic boom in the midst of the lowest economic inequality in American history, possibly in world history), the capitalist powers that be refused to follow the Economic Bill of Rights of the Poor People's Campaign (when these proposals from Dr. King and others were reasonable and legitimate). Dr. King once said that if the government can spend billions of dollars to send a man on the moon then it can spend billions of dollars to help the poor right here on Earth. He's right. 

Today, we have a new Poor People's Campaign desiring economic justice as well. Rev. Barber is one leader of this 2018 movement using rallies, civil disobedience, and other programs to fight for the poor. It has been a sick past-time for not only some of the rich, but some of the bourgeoisie middle class (many of whom are one or two paychecks away from poverty) to mock and degrade the poor viciously, which is evil. Those days are over. The poor deserves respect and honor just like anyone else.

By Timothy

The 20th Century

I have a lot of memories involving the twentieth century. I was blessed enough to live in both the 20th century and the 21st century. Today, it is amazing to see young adults who never saw the 20th century before in their lives (as many 21 years old were born in the year of 2001). Now, it is the perfect time to reflect on the wide-ranging 20th century too. It was a century that lasted from January 1, 1901, to December 31, 2000. It was a time of massive cultural and social developments, world wars, and a sense of a change in humanity. Humanity gained massive technological access, growth of medical innovations, and a new sense of transportation. Although, the same problems of bigotry, poverty, sexism, xenophobia, and other injustices continued to plagued the human race like it always have been. During the 20th century, I was a child and teenager. I was in my adulthood by the 21st century. By the end of the 20th century, I was a teenager, but the 20th century defined my life in many ways. The 20th century is the most important century in human history, because it saw massive decolonization (which saw Nigeria, India, Ghana, and other nations see freedom from imperialism), the defeat of the Axis Powers by the Allied Powers during WWII, the end of legalized Jim Crow apartheid in America, space exploration, the growth of nuclear weapons, the end of South African apartheid, Middle Eastern conflicts, and the end of the Cold War. It made us aware of how wicked some human beings can be, and it showed the breadth of compassion and empathy that tons of human beings do possess. I lived in the last few decades of the 20th century, and my memories of that time then are as vivid as my memories of the 21st century now. When I was in the 20th century, I lived through Reagan, Bush Sr., Clinton, Columbine, The Million Man March (when not a single person in that march stormed the U.S. Capitol back in 1995), Tupac, Biggie, Toni Braxton, Whitney Houston, Waco, the OKC Bombing, Michael Jordan, and so many other occurrences. After all of these years of me living on this Earth, I firmly realize that the 20th century was a one of a time era of the overall human journey.

By Timothy