Don Imus: I Ain't Forgivin' and Forgettin'

Don Imus: I Ain't Forgivin' and Forgettin':

The Dec 3rd "Moment of Silence"

Min. Paul Scott

Some dude named Alexander Pope once said "to err is human but to forgive, divine."

Whatever, homie.

I bet ol' Alex was the kid who got his lunch money taken everyday at school.

For the record, I, vehemently, oppose Don Imus's 12/3 return to radio. Just because one Civil Rights leader may have given Imus his blessing does not mean that he's getting a pass from the other 38,699,999 black folks in this country.

After all the ruckus that jumped off last April, I suppose that we are just gonna let him waltz in and sit his racist behind in that big cushy chair behind the microphone...

(Scratch that)

In order to lure Imus to WABC, along with the mega bucks they are paying him, they probably had to throw in a golden throne.

And we're just to suppose to accept that without a mumblin' word?

Seems like folks think that after a nine month, 20 million dollar paid vacation courtesy of his old employer, CBS, Imus has somehow paid his debt to society for the "nappy headed ho" comment, last April. Yeah, I know that Imus was real apologetic and even submitted to an hour long interrogation on Rev. Al Sharpton's radio show. Seems like he's done everything but hire a black gospel choir, go on a nationwide tour of black mega churches and sing "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot."

Now, I know that some of ya'll are thinking how noble it is that he is using his big comeback to raise money for a children's charity. Well drug dealin' Tyrone gave out free turkey's last Thanksgiving, does that excuse his behavior?

These people don't think that black folks know the difference between genuine goodwill and a cheap public relations trick.

To these PR people, the black community is an easy sell. After all, we have let marketing firms convince us that sneakers that cost 10 dollars to make are worth $200 dollars. And that thousand dollar gold teeth and spinnin' wheels on a 1988 Honda, somehow make you a better human being.

I can see Imus's handlers back doing the days of slavery squashing a slave rebellion:

"Don, babe...Just give them an extra chicken wing and a slice of watermelon. Trust me. I know these people..."

We must not forget that the conversation on race in the aftermath of the Imus fiasco which should have been about white male bigotry and the disrespect of black women quickly turned into a conversation about Hip Hop, the "N" word and saggin' pants.

So, if the NAACP and the other Civil Rights groups that buried the "N" word last July don't fight tooth and nail against the Imus comeback, they should go to the grave yard, dig up Mr. "N" word and give him a public apology. And if the black bloggers don't speak out, they need to nominate BET's highly internet protested show "Hot Ghetto Mess" for an Emmy Award and send host Charley Murphy a thank you note.

Fair is Fair.

But then again when was the race issue ever fair?

Is it fair that although many people are bringing up the "Freedom of Speech" issue, many black entertainers have been persecuted for much less? I don't remember rappers such as Sister Souljah and Professor Griff being rewarded with million dollar record deals after they made comments that some folks found offensive. Nor, do I remember any support groups being formed for the then "King of Pop," Michael Jackson, when he was forced to remove "They Don't Care About Us" from his 1995 HIStory CD. As the old saying goes, when it happens to someone else, it's a comedy but when it happens to you, it's a tragedy.

So should WABC and its parent company be held accountable for hiring Don Imus when he should still be in exile on his ranch in New Mexico?

You're darn right!

WABC hiring Imus is like a renegade employee crossing the picket line when you have been protesting out in the cold and rain for two weeks. Unless, you whop the traitor upside the head with a picket sign, you can rest assured that there will be a long line of scabs coming behind him.

So we must stand our ground.

On December 3rd we need to have a 4 hour "moment of silence" from 6AM to 10AM and turn off all stations and programs owned by Citadel Broadcasting and ABC Radio Networks.

http://abcradionetworks.com/article.asp?id=341544

While this company is mostly known for conservative talk shows, it also depends on African American audiences to support its "multi-cultural" programming.

Sometimes it takes great sacrifices to make change. Sometimes it takes a large 10,000 man demonstration to make a point. Sometimes you have to get on a bus and travel 12 hours to a protest. But sometimes you can make a change by doing something as simple as turning off your radio.

Min. Paul Scott's blog is http://www.nowarningshotsfired.com/ He can be reached at (919) 451-8283 info@nowarningshotsfired.com

The Changin' Face of Racism

The Changin' Face of Racism:

Julie Myers's Big Mistake

Min. Paul Scott

Used to be a time when you could easily spot racists. They were the group of good ol' boys hanging (excuse the pun) by the tree with the white bed sheets on their heads or the portly, southern sheriff spittin' tobacco and patting his police dog, Rex. But today the face of racism is changing.

Seems like Julie Myers, head honcho of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) got a lot of people p.o.'d when she ingeniously, helped give the "most original costume" award at a Halloween party to a "bronzed up" white dude in fake dreadlocks and a prisoner suit.

(Earth to Julie, there is nothing original about racial stereotypes.)

Although, some of her more PC supporters may want to grab her by the collar and yell "Jules, what were you thinking," I'm sure that when Myers first saw the shocked looks on the faces of some the party goers her first reaction was:

"What?"

That's because the foul winds of racism are a' changin'.

In 2007, it seems that racism has become chic. Even funny to some.

Many folks thought that the "nappy headed ho" thing was down right hilarious. Especially, since Don Imus is about to make his triumphant return to radio in a few weeks. Even the World Wide Wrestling Entertainment folks recently used the phrase as a punch line for one of their recent shows. Then again, this is the same company that gave us Crime Tyme, a black tag team that would steal televisions and pick pocket wallets before every match.

And not to mention Fox News's Bill O'Reilly's well publicized blunder when he said how shocked he was to find ouut that black people are just as civilized as white folks, which was easily smoothed over when he had a couple of civil rights leaders in the No Spin Zone for a chummy chat.

What is actually funny is the excuses that these racially numb-skulls come up with when they get caught with their hands in the fried chicken bucket.

According to news reports, after the incident, an ICE spokesperson said that although the goober wore blackface (uh, bronzer) the crowd didn't realize that he had on makeup.

"Gee Bob, there sure is something different about you. Have you lost weight?"

However, they did have the foresight to get rid of the pictures of Myers posing with the "convict." Heaven forbid that they would wind up on TMZ.com or worst on Ku Klux Klan Christmas cards.

I forgot to mention that the costume party was part of a charity event. I wonder what charity it was for, the...(Naw, too easy.)

Anyway.

What is scary is that these are the people that we want to be in charge of guarding our borders.

I wonder if Myers has the boys from the border patrol using sombreros for target practice ?

As ticked off as I am with Myers, I don't know with whom I'm more upset, the racially insensitive folks or that ever present group of African Americans who they always call on to accept their weak apologies on behalf of black folks everywhere.

In this case it was a group of black employees called the National Association of African Americans in the Department of Home Security. (Yeah, that mighty group of black power militants, the NAAADHS).

I can see them now cowering together in their overalls with straw hats in hand...

"No sur. Miss Julie ain't no racist. Her been good to us's."

Where do they find these people, the Apology Acceptance Temp. Service?

What is most disturbing is that these are just the incidents that get reported. Can you imagine the stuff that goes on that we don't know about ?

Somewhere, I think there is an old Christmas party video with Julie "Cool J" Myers and the homies from Immigration and Customs Enforcement in blackface and dressed up like gangsta rappers, lip syncing Vanilla Ice's old rap song:

"ICE ICE, baby!"

Min. Paul Scott's blog is http://www.nowarningshotsfired.com/. He can be reached at (919) 451-8283 info@nowarningshotsfired.com

The Rise of Radio Revolutionaries

The Rise of Radio Revolutionaries:

March on Washington 2007

Min. Paul Scott

"We need to raise up our readership so that our children can grow up and freely lead without readin' a script"

KRS from X-Clan's "Speak the Truth"

The other day I was listening to Malcolm X's classic speech "Message to the Grassroots" and his critique (OK, diss) of the "Big Six" Civil Rights Leaders after the 1963 March on Washington.

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/malcolmxgrassroots.htm

I wonder what Bro. Malcolm would say about the March on Washington 2007.

"Oh, I'll tell you, Brothers and Sisters. They were gathered to do some damage. They wanted some action! Yes! They wanted change, not tomorrow, not next week but today! But just as soon as the crowd was about to get busy and really take care of business, some DJ yelled for Juan D to play some old Hip Hop record and the whole crowd stopped marchin' and started doin' the 'crank dat soldier boy.' I'll tell you, you've been had, tricked, bamboozled..."

Don't get me wrong. I ain't mad at anyone takin' a stand against injustice, miseducation or even why gas is so darn high. But anytime that entertainers get thrust to the front of the black leadership line. I have to ask some questions.

Now, I never claimed to be a straight A student in school but even I know the difference between a radio host and a revolutionary.

This is not to say that you can't be both. Local radio hosts were often the catalyst for change in communities across the country. They saw it as their civic duty to wake the people up with information as soon as their alarm clocks went off at 6AM. There are many stories about radio hosts who have sacrificed their jobs and risked their lives by bringin' on guests or discussing topics that were too hot to handle.

But that was an era long gone, before the corporate take over of local radio, as thoroughly broken down by Glen Ford's article at http://www.blackagendareport.com/

I know this ain't 1969, the height of the Black Power Movement, when black folks were gettin' their heads cracked on a daily basis and many of us are too young to remember that period. So, the point of reference I am using is the Hip Hop version of the Black Power Movement 1988-1992. That is the closest, in the last 20 years, that entertainment and activism have come together for collective change.

Now some may argue (and rightly so, in some cases) that all that period produced was a bunch of paranoid black folks who were too scared to go to protest rallies because they thought that government satellites would beam death rays down from space and vaporize them. Or a bunch of middle class Buppies who "used to be conscious" in college who now justify their comfortable, apolitical, corporate lives by endlessly talking about "The Spook that Sat By the Door."

But that ain't everybody. Some are still fighting the fight like the "Cease the Fire" Movement.

http://www.myspace.com/freeallpoliticalprisoners

What is most disturbing is when this new commercial radio radicalism (which came as a direct result of the powers- that -be realizing that black internet bloggers could put heat on racists like Don Imus without "Civil Rights" leaders) takes the place of grassroots community based activism.

According to Kenneth O'Reilly in his book "Black Americans: the FBI Files," in 1966 Atty General Nicolas Katzenback wanted to create a militant but peaceful organization which could compete with SNCC around the same time the organization was becoming pro-black under the leadership of Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael)and then Jamil Al-Amin (H. Rap Brown).

Kinda like revolution-lite.

Now am I suggesting that the radio hosts should should arm the marchers with machine guns and swear them in as members of the Black Panther Party.

No.

But the key is to play your role. Stay in you lane. Or as George Clinton would say "Don't fake tha Funk." (Shout out to the Ol' School)

I just don't think that a DJ who won't even break format to play "Behind Enemy Lines" by Dead Prez will be the first one to toss a Molotov cocktail. Maybe that is why many of them spend more time assuring their corporate sponsors that a demonstration will be "nonviolent" than they do explaining to the people why they are marching.

We all know that there is a line of demarcation that entertainers dare not cross. A place where DJ's fear to tread: a land of taboo topics and banned Afrocentric scholars and researchers. They know that just beyond that line of demarcation is where the "real" fight begins.

And they know that they have crossed that line when they begin to raise the collective consciousness of their millions of listeners and their corporate sponsors begin pulling commercials.

When you have millions of listeners that don't know who George and Jonathan Jackson are and think that COINTELPRO is the new cell phone that Verizon has coming out next month , therein lies the problem.

Until we replace the "Joke of the Day" with the "Fred Hampton Speech of the Day," no matter how many marches we have,to quote Chairman Fred we will be left with:

"Answers that don't answer, explanations that don't explain and conclusions that don't conclude."

For more information on the Books or Bullets Movement go to http://www.booksorbullets.com/

Min. Paul Scott's blog is http://www.nowarningshotsfired.com/ He can be reached at (919) 451-8283 info@nowarningshotsfired.com

Duane "Doggie Dogg" Chapman

Duane "Doggie Dog" Chapman

OK, I admit on one of those nights that I had nothin' better to do better to do, I have watched Dog:The Bounty Hunter on A@E. After all, ain't too many "hoods" in Hawaii so my racial Spidey sense wouldn't start tinglin' like it would if I was watching Cops. Plus, I thought the dude was kinda funny in a retro "Macho Man Randy Savage meets Chuck Norris" kind of way. Plus he would always give the person he arrested a cool public service announcement-type lecture before he dropped him off at the slammer. But that was before the infamous phone call that landed him a permanent spot in my "Racist Bastard Hall of Fame..."

For those one or two people who haven't heard the clip of Chapman dissin' his son's black girlfriend, let me give you the Cliff Notes version...

Seems like tha Dog's son taped a phone conversation and sold it to the National Inquirer with him rantin' about the N-word being a household word in the good ole wholesome Chapman crib and he was worried that the girlfriend (known affectionately as the N-word) would one day reveal the mystic secret of the Chapman place that the man of the house was (once again) a racist bastard...

What really ticked me off was the "cry me a river" explanations that followed that sounded like a lesson in Snoop Dogg apologetics without the "supposed" cultural justification and political "sophistication."

He went on to follow the instructions on page 101 of the (again) "Racist Bastard" handbook in the chapter "What to Do When You Stick Yo' Foot in Yo' Mouth."

Simple...Talk to your PR people...Go on TV and cry like little .....um...punk...and find the first black "leader" you see to vouch for your not being (and I say again) a racist bastard..

Sadly, with Black folks, this formula works more times than not...

Once some black "priest" pardons the person from his sins, he goes his merry way and all is forgotten...

Plus the new post Michael Richards/Don Imus trick is to put the blame on Hip Hop. So, I'm just waitin' for tha Dog to say that he was just practicing for the new Hip Hop album he has coming out just in time for the holidays called (I can't resist, just one more time)

"Diary of a Racist Bastard."

Although A@E cancelled production on the show, look for it to return around the the first week in December when Don Imus returns to radio.

Will I be one of the people protesting the return of Don Imus...

Yep...

Will I be calling on folks to email A@E with the email title in all caps "FIRE THE RACIST......" (OK, I promised)

Yep...

You have to draw the line somewhere if not you will forever find yourself forever dissed.

Far as I am concerned Duane Chapman : The Hawaiian Hatemonger can find a short volcano cliff and take a long walk...

Min. Paul Scott can be reached at (919) 451-8283 info@nowarningshotsfired.com

Cut the Bull: The Man Who Would Be Mayor

Now I had no grand delusions about being mayor of Durham. Mayor Bell winning, especially after gettin' props from Obama, was a no brainer for everybody. (Except for maybe Councilman Stith.)

Even if I would, by some miracle, have won the election, ya'll know that I would have been impeached before the next council meeting.

(Holding up the Black Power Fist at the inauguration wouldn't have set to well with some folks)

But what I hoped to do was raise the issues and maybe put all of that "get tough on crime" talk into a proper perspective.

I wonder do the citizens of Durham know how close they had come to living in a police state?

Although there has been a lot of talk about gangs in Durham, in reality, there are really only two gangs that run America, the Democrats and the Republicans and they ain't sharin' power with "nobody."

What is unfortunate is that black youth and the less affluent are still pretty much in the same boat they were in before the election.

The poor will still be poor and the voices that aren't heard, still won't be heard.

Yeah, I was able to raise some issues in the media and on a couple of debates but for the most part I was the victim of a media black out.

As usual, as far as the News and Observer, Independent, News 14 and WRAL go, I am the invisible dude.

"Maybe if we ignore him, he'll just go away"

But it's not really about me, it's about what I represent:

The Black man who is not afraid to point out the obvious: In 2007 Black folks still ain't free.

My hope is that maybe I inspired some young black brother or sister to get involved in this community and not accept second class citizenship. Maybe I inspired somebody to speak out against injustice and things that they see are wrong in Durham.

No, I didn't win but at the end of the day is Durham a better place because of people like me who raise the tough issues?

You're darn right!

So I conclude the 2007 Cut the Bull Campaign with my new rap...

"In Durham they say we gang bang

Herald Sun/Observer it's the same thang

'less we're shootin' they don't know our names

Guess that's the only way we gain fame"

Word to tha mother.....

The Hip Hop Howard Beale has left the building....

Iz Blak Peeple Stoopid?

Is Blak Peeple Stoopid?

Min. Paul Scott

When I first heard Nobel Prize winner, Dr. James Watson's comments about African people being intellectually inferior to other folks I was outraged! I immediately jumped up, ran to my lap top and got ready to organize a boycott, uprising or a million man march through dude's living room. But then I thought about BET's game show "Take the Cake" and went back to playing Madden 2007...

For those who no longer watch BET, let's put it this way, while white folk's game shows are asking questions like "which continent has the largest amount of natural resources just waiting for us to finish exploiting."

"Take the Cake" trivia goes somethin' like this:

"Hello caller:

For $1,000 what Civil Rights leader whose initials are MLK once said "I Have a Dream?"

"Was it Dr. Dre, T.I. or Dr. Martin Luther the King?"

The question of black inferiority has been an issue since before the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. Many a white enslaver posed the question "if Black folks weren't intellectually challenged, how did we so easily trick them into getting on those slave ships?"

Now this would be fine and dandy if it wasn't for names from African history like Imhotep, cities like Timbuktu and those big triangle-like things in the middle of the desert known as pyramids.

So were our enslaved ancestors a little slow or were they victims of a foreign imperialist culture to which they were not accustomed?

Although, some folks point to the fact that lacking the resources of warmer climates the European had to develop devious ways to obtain resources, does that make white folks inherently evil or just products of their environment doing what they had to do to survive ?

While it is easy to look at our present media portrayals and want to give Ol' James a high five for his excellent analysis of the obvious, it just shows a lack of historical research backed by a system of institutionalized and globally accepted white supremacy.

During the early 90's, this statement would have been met with an onslaught from our top Afrocentric scholars challenging this theory in bookstores and in college lecture halls across the country. Unfortunately, Drs John Henrik Clarke, Amos Wilson and Asa Hilliard have gone on to the ancestors leaving behind a black intelligentsia more skilled at deciphering rap lyrics and arguing the social ramifications of saggin' pants than historical scholarship.

Plus, this ain't 1992 and the lectures that used to pack student union rooms are now attended by four or five brothers and sisters with dashikis and afro picks quoting Curtis Mayfield and eating bean pies.

While one may be quick to point the finger at Hip Hop.....

(Wait a minute, I forgot my point)

Oh yeah....but Hip Hop can not be totally to blame. Just think back to the late 80's when many of us picked up The Autobiography of Malcolm X for the first time courtesy of a Public Enemy song.

What is most frustrating is the failure of the younger Hip Hop Generation to maximize their opportunities to effect change given technological advances.

As many people question how much more effective the Garvey Movement would have been with the internet and Kinkos, one can also ask how much more effective the "edutainement" of the Stop the Violence and Blackwatch Movements would have been in the late 80's with youtube and myspace. I mean, if a whole nation can learn to "crank dat soldier boy" off of youtube...We'll you get the point.

Back in tha day we use to have sayings like "Knowledge is Power" but today's anti-illiteracy anthem is called "Read a ******* book." Now I understand the concept but if we don't tell our youth which books to read they are still left in the dark.

I can imagine my 12 year old daughter trying to justify reading Superhead's new book by sayin'

"Daddy, the man on BET did tell me to read a ***** book, so technically..."

Also, our T-Shirts used to have slogans that said "Warning: Educated Black Man." Today the most popular shirts have a gold toothed Pillsbury dough boy shootin' dice.

So while the rest of the world is moving forward many of us seem stuck on stupid.

Contrary to what you see on the Maury Povich Show, when those scientists talk about DNA they are referring to stuff like genetic engineering and evolutionary theory not who Shaquana's baby's daddy is.

So what do we do to make knowledge fashionable, again?

I am starting a new "Books or Bullets:The Choice is Yours" movement: http://www.booksorbullets.com/

This is an aggressive attempt to prove once again that knowledge does really reign supreme. We will use every venue from barbershops to bus stops to raise the consciousness of our people.

Although some may believe that Black folks have achieved Freedom in this country, as Dr. Amos Wilson would say

"the oppressed feel that they are the most free when they are the most oppressed."

So we must not equate the ability to act ig'nant on TV with economic, social and political equality.

Or to borrow from Chuck D "Freedom does not mean "free to be dumb."

TRUTH Minista Paul Scott's blog is http://www.nowarningshotsfired.com/. He can be reached at (919) 451-8283 or info@nowarningshotsfired.com

Cut the Bull: Response to Barry Saunder's Column

Just read News and Observer's star columnist, Barry Saunders, piece about the NAACP forum last Monday. Yeah, he referred to me as a "no shot" candidate.

Councilman Thomas Stith has raised over $100,000 and with today's Mayor Bill Bell/Barak Obama connection. I definately am the underdog, to put it mildly.

But the kick in the teeth is that Saunder's story is my first "real" mention in the metro News and Observer in about two years. Not to mention the virtual "blackout" of my campaign by the paper. Not that the N@O is known for covering too much in Durham that doesn't include dead bodies and bloodshed...If I put on a red and blue bandana, pull my pants down and start callin' myself Killa P-Dog, maybe I would at least get an honorable mention...

However, that ain't as bad as WRAL virtually yankin' my mic out of the speaker at the NAACP debate. While Bell and Stith were able to wax poetic about their visions for Durham, WRAL just briefly showed me moving my mouth. (Guess the camera man couldn't find a way to block me out of the shot since I was sitting in the middle so he did the next best thing; cut the sound.

But it ain't over 'till it's over..Never under estimate the "none of the above vote."

But back to Saunders...Ya know, I ain't really a politician, I'm a writer...

And Saunders strikes me as a gamblin' man, so let's do this...

We have an old fashion rap....I mean writer's battle...Saunder's column vs No Warning Shots Fired.com ...Old School vs New School...Corporate vs Underground...and if I win I get his spot at the News and Observer...

It'll be fun. Kinda like Kanye West versus Wonder Mike from the Sugarhill Gang....

OK , I'll kick it off with a KRS One lyric:

Ya know what ya need to learn
Ol' school writers don't always burn
You're just another writer who's had his turn
Now it's my turn!