No Ghetto Pass For Bill O'Reilly!

No "Ghetto Pass" For O'Reilly:

Time to Put Bill on Blast

Min. Paul Scott

Enter the Bill O'Reilly twilight zone. Late one night, on his way home from the Republican Convention , a hungry Tom White mistakes Rufus's Chicken and Ribs for a Cracker Barrel. His worst fears are realized when a major riot breaks out after Tyrone Jackson slips on a watermelon slice and knocks over Mack da Knife's bottle of malt liqour. Running through a hail of bullets, hot sauce bottles and other assorted weapons, Tom barely makes it back to his Volvo alive. Good thing that the bullet proof vest that he wore under his Brooks Brothers suit also protected him from spears...

A few days ago, Bill O'Reilly was chillin' with his ace boon...um.. "main man" Rev. Al at Sylvia's restaurant in black Harlem. According to media reports, he was shocked how civilized the black folks there behaved.

"Is this Harlem? I could have sworn that I was in New Hampshire!"

Much to Bill's surprise there were no shoot outs, no chicken sacrifices and no cannibals runnin' around with bones in their noses. Just folks sitting around dining on fine cuisine that I'm sure included, but was not limited to fried chicken.

Well, at least O'Reilly didn't tell that worn out joke about being afraid that he was "on the menu."

I never liked Bill O'Reilly, so excuse me for being a little..OK alot biased. Over the years, Bill O'Reilly has been the self -appointed Hip Hop hitman, the Right's cool, conservative crusader, dedicating his life to preserving..well, whatever ever it is that Conservatives preserve.

This great avenger is responsible for almost single handedly getting the infamous gangsta rapper Snoop Dogg kicked off the Muppet special, getting Ludacris canned by Pepsi and blowing the whistle on Whitewater. (No, that was someone else but you get the point)

Although, O'Reilly has not been totally off the mark in all of his criticisms, as Grandma would say "if you throw enough stones, you're gonna eventually hit somethin'."

What gets folks about O'Reilly is hyperbole. He blows things way out of proportion.

Recently he tried to paint Nas as the most notorious "gangsta rapper" that ever picked up a microphone.

Problem is. Nas ain't a gangsta rapper.

Now if I had Bill O'Reilly's flair for the dramatic, at this point, I would start calling him the most disgusting, hateful, venom spewing hatemonger that ever walked the planet. But I ain't him, so I'll stop with "a right wing intolerant bigot."

Of course, Bill is busy spinnin' in his No "Spine" Zone trying to paint himself as a victim of some Left wing conspiracy probably led clandestinely by Al Franken.

Since when has O'Reilly given any rapper or non right winger the benefit of the doubt ? He sees an opening and goes for the jugular, full throttle.

And since O'Reilly has been so quick to shut Hip Hop down, Hip Hop should shut O'Reilly down, pronto !

Now, I know that some of ya'll are asking "didn't we just go through this with Imus?"

Your point?

If I had my way, I'd get rid of all the right wing venom spitters: O'Reilly, Boortz, Hannity (Alan Colmes for sitting next to Hannity), Coulter, Savage, Malkin...

(Hold up, I started hyperventilating,)

...and I'd replace them with Kool Mo Dee and the other political rappers of the late 80's. That way we would have black folks expressing black outrage instead of white folks speaking for us while we sit on the sidelines sayin' , "Yeah, what the white guy said!"

Not only should Hip Hoppers stand up and "impeach" the Right's talking heads, but the anti-war activists, progressive movements and others who are tired of the Conservative's dominance of the media should stand up, too.

Remember, they may come for Nas today but it'll be Bono and the Dixie Chicks, tomorrow.

To join the movement and to hear the official anti- Bill O'Reilly anthem "Drums of War" log on to http://www.hiphopstrikesback.com/

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

Hip Hop vs America or America vs Hip Hop

Hip Hop vs America or America vs Hip Hop:

Tale of Two Trials

Min. Paul Scott

Hip Hop was on trial twice last night. One was Hip Hop vs America Pt. 1, a prerecorded attempt by Black Entertainment Television to appease its viewers after years of complaints which came to a broil after last Summer's ill advised "Hot Ghetto Mess" Reality Show. The other was "America vs Hip Hop," sponsored by the Subcommittee of Commerce Trade and Consumer Protection of the Committee on Energy and Commerce . The first one was catered towards a predominately young, black teeny bopper audience who had just finished watching videos on "106 and Park" and wanted to to see if Nelly had gotten any new gold teeth since his last CD. The other was for the rest of mainstream America who have grown sick and tired of a bunch of young black "thugs" ruining "their" country.

The BET special was pretty much what you would expect from the company, a weak attempt at self criticism with bumpin' videos and applause signs. Perhaps Part 2 will get "deep" but Part 1 did little to elevate the "rap" beyond the realm of where it has been since C. Delores Tucker dissed Pac back in the early 90's.

"You don't understand Hip Hop!"

"And you, young man, need to pull your pants up!"

You still have the same panelists from the older generation trying to to be a parent/buddy friend to 30 somethin' year old millionaire Hip Hop artists. Dr. Michael Eric Dyson did the Biggie rap thing that he has been showcasing since the mid 90's and rappers, Nelly and T.I. proved once again that loud "don't" make it right.

T.I. kinda lost me with the whole "I have to trick my fans into learning" logic. (or lack thereof)

Not to mention his brilliant theory that the problem with Hip Hop is "you got fake thugs rappin' about being real thugs who never were thugs instead of real rappers rappin' about being real...."

Oh, never mind.

And then Nelly came with the "it's not fair to judge me based on a four minute rap video with credit cards being slid through a black woman's booty" defense.

What else can we judge you by Nelly? Your PH.D dissertation on "The Juxtaposition of Capitalism and Marxist Leninism?"

Down the way in DC, "From Imus to Industry: The Business of Stereotypes and Degrading Images," hearing called together by Senator Bobby Rush featured Master P and David Banner along with activists and industry big wigs such as Edgar Broffman and Doug Morris.

Needless to say, the theme of the hearing was problematic in itself.

Although Hip Hop activists have raised this issue over the last five months, it cannot be overstated that this current national discussion on the state of Hip Hop is a diversionary tactic in the aftermath of the Michael Richards/Don Imus controversies to take the focus off of institutionalized racism and white male bigotry and replace it with a focus on dirty dancin' and baggy pants.

While the efforts of former Black Panther Bobby Rush may be commended, would his time not have been better served making sure that a thorough congressional hearing on Reparations for the descendants of enslaved Africans takes place. Or hearings on COINTELPRO, for which groups like the Jericho Project have been advocating that could result in the exoneration of his former Panther comrades and other political prisoners still locked in jail and in exile ?

Also, it must be also noted that if we look at the emphasis that America has put on Hip Hop compared with the coverage of stories like the Jena 6 and the black woman that was tortured in West VA, the comparison is troubling.

What is unfortunate is that many of us do not see this current Hip Hop controversy in socio-political terms. While the kiddie converation on BET may have had a better looking stage, the meeting in DC could set public policy for generations to come.

Did anybody think to ask where the Hip Hop discussion fit in the agenda of the Subcommittee of Commerce Trade and Consumer Protection on a highly compartmentalized Capitol Hill?

Did anyone notice that the committee is in charge of dealing with some Homeland Security related matters? So which part of Hip Hop are the feds really concerned about; the "misogynist" lyrics of a Nelly or the inflammatory political rap of a M1 of Dead Prez?

http://energycommerce.house.gov/

At the end of the day , were we any closer to improving Hip Hop than were were before the BET program and congressional hearing?

BET promised another earth shakin' sequel to Tuesday night's show (So what are they gonna do for a grand finale, have TI punch Rev. Al in the mouth?) and the people in DC came to the consensus that censorship ain't cool, def, or funky fresh.

Is there really a difference between gangsta rapper, "Killa T" grabbin' his crotch and yellin' "I'm just keepin' it real for the homies in tha hood" and Viacom head honcho Phillipe Dauman sitting before Congress and saying with a straight face, "We have a responsibility to speak authentically to our viewers ?"

What we need is a clear analysis of the Hip Hop problem based on facts and not prejudiced by political bamboozlin' and hero worshippin' of rappers.

With a clear analysis we could raise the level of consciousness of the Hip Hop connosiers so high that neither Hip Hop hearings nor censorship would even be necessary.

Min. Paul Scott is a writer and activist in Durham NC. For more info visit http://www.hiphopstrikesback.com

(919) 451-8283 info@nowarningshotsfired.com

Imus: Forgive and Forget?

Imus: Forgive and Forget?
Min. Paul Scott


Alexander Pope once said," to err is human but to forgive is devine..."

Whatever, homie.

I bet Alex was the kid that got jacked for his lunch money everyday at school.

There is a buzz going around that Don Imus is about to make his triumphant entry back into the households of America by September and guess what?
Word is that Rev. Al Sharpton is cool with this...

Say what, now?

Wasn't this the same guy who was on all 120 channels on my TV not even four months ago, calling for Don Imus's head on a platter?

But I forgot. It wasn't poor Imus's fault. He was a victim of subliminal seduction courtesy of some evil gangsta rappers.

Now, according to news reports, Rev. Al is giving Imus his blessing to once again become the champion of the airwaves and show all the haters once and for all that you can't keep a good racist down.

That's the problem when Black folks flock behind one leader. After some bad guy does some despicable act, the great and powerful Black leader rises from his Cadillac, raises his arms and rains down thunder and lighting on the evil doer. And just like that, he snaps his fingers and the sun starts shining, the birds start singing and all is well with the world.

The late educator, Dr. John Henrik Clark in one of his lectures, points out that Booker T. Washington was the first "official" Black leader chosen by while America. Seems like it was better to deal with one man than a few million angry Black folks.

This same strategy was used during the Civil Rights Era as Malcolm X said in his "Message to the Grassroots:"

"The same strategy that was used in those days is used today, by the same white man. He takes a Negro, a so-called Negro, and makes him prominent, builds him up, publicizes him, makes him a celebrity. And then he becomes a spokesman for Negroes -- and a Negro leader."

Even in 2007, the game remains the same. White America props up one Black person and makes him the mouthpiece for every black man, woman and child in America from the Hamptons to tha hood. Someone who can spark the revolution with one hand and call it off with the other.

So, now according to news reports, Rev. Sharpton isn't going to oppose Imus's return because " he has the right to make a living."

Suggestion...

Let him get a few cows and a couple of pigs and try his hand at farming at that big ol ranch he has in New Mexico.

Also, according to reports, Rev. Al says that "we had never asked him to never work again."

Sooooo, all that protesting and air time was just to get Imus transfered from MSNBC to Fox News ?

I guess history will record that the outcome of some old bigot calling a group of beautiful, mostly Black women "nappy headed ho's" was that he got an extended summer vacation and we now have an "undisputed" Black leader.

In fairness to Rev. Al, I guess that there are more important battles to fight. Hey, doesn't 50 Cent have a new CD coming out in a few months?

I guess sometimes you have to put the past behind you and forgive and forget.

Then again, I ain't the one that Imus called a nappy headed ho....

Min. Paul Scott is a writer and activist based in Durham NC. His blog is http://www.nowarningshotsfired.com
He can be reached at (919) 451-8283 email: info@nowarningshotsfired.com