Who Speaks for the 'hood ?

Who Speaks for the 'hood ?
How Black Leaders Failed Us

TRUTH Minista Paul Scott


"Follow the leader is the title, theme, task. Now ya know/you don't have to ask."
Follow the Leader Eric B and Rakim





An election was held in Harlem, yesterday, to elect a new national Black leader. For months, top contenders, Rev. Jesse Sharpton and Dr. Cornel Smiley, had been trying to out shine each other in an attempt to grab the coveted title. However, when the final vote was cast, the late rapper "The Vanglorious Makaveli Smalls" won a decisive write-in victory. Sharpton and Smiley took the first flight out of town, ashamed that the biggest civil rights leaders in the world had been beaten by a rapper from the 'hood who was murdered 15 years ago.

For the last few years there has been an uncivil war going on in the Black community between Rev. Al Sharpton, reppin' the old school Civil Rights crew and the intellectual tag team of Dr. Cornel West and Tavis Smiley. For months they have traded disses back and forth like a Freestyle Friday battle over who is the legitimate leader of the masses of Black folk.

Problem is. Neither side really speaks for the streets; especially, the youth. It can even be argued that the late Tupac Shakur is still more politically relevant to this generation than today's black leaders.

Traditionally, Black leadership has been made up of members of the middle class who use the poor as political pawns. In 1957, E. Franklin Frazier wrote in his book "Black Bourgeoisie, " "as the intellectual leaders in the Negro community, they have never dared think beyond a narrow, opportunistic philosophy that provided a rationalization for their own advantages."

How many forums have you watched on C-Span where a bunch of highly educated Black "leaders" in expensive suits talked for three hours about the problems facing America and not a word was relevant to the 'hood ?

As Dr. Carter G. Woodson wrote in "The Mis-Education of the Negro," " one of the most striking evidences of the failure of higher education among Negroes is the estrangement from the masses, the very people upon whom they must eventually count for carrying out a program of progress. "

The biggest scam played on the streets by "Black leaders" is the "non-economic liberalism" con which Harold Cruse discusses in his book "Plural but Equal." According to Cruse groups like the NAACP traded Black economic empowerment for the impotent, feel good ideology of civil rights. So people died for the right to sit next to a white person in a restaurant when they should have been fighting to own the joint.

The fight over who should be the leader of Black Americans can be traced back to the 1843 National Convention of Colored Citizens and the debates between Frederick Douglass and Henry Highland Garnet. According to Bradford Chambers in "Chronicles of Black Protest, " Garnet wanted to go hard against slavery with his "Call to Rebellion" speech but his efforts were undermined by Douglass's softer call for "moral suasion." Because Garnet was seen as too radical, Douglass became America's first national Black "leader."

During the early 20th century the fight for Black leadership was between Booker T. Washington and Dr. WEB DuBois. Washington was the reigning champion after the 1895 Atlanta Exposition where he delivered a speech that, according to his book "Up From Slavery , was used to "cement the friendship of the races and bring about hearty cooperation between them." Dubois, however, wanted to intellectually and politically challenge the idea of white supremacy. After the death of Washington, Dubois went against Marcus Garvey, an advocate of Black Pride, self sufficiency and a strong identification with Africa as discussed in detail in Dr. Tony Martin's work "Race First."

The conflict of the 60's was between the civil rights leaders lead by Dr. Martin Luther King and members of the Black Power Movement who followed the ideology of Malcolm X. Because they were less threatening to the staus quo, the followers of King became the "official" Black leaders.

During the late 80's, a second Black Power movement emerged via Hip Hop as young Black kids began to identify with the outcasts. Instead of repeating the "I Have a Dream Speech," Hip Hop artists such as Boogie Down Productions and Public Enemy began to sample speeches by Kwame Ture, Dr. Khalid Muhammad and Min. Louis Farrakhan. Also, a new generation of Black youth begin to embrace Afrocentric thought, courtesy of scholars like Dr. John Henrik Clarke and Dr. Leonard Jeffries and so called "conspiracy theories" by Del Jones and Steve Cokely, who mainstream Black leadership had deemed political pariahs. These vibrations still flow through underground conscious Hip Hop even in 2012.

This is the real reason that the torch was never passed to the Hip Hop generation. Although the old school Civil Rights leaders always complain about how young people aren't willing to "pick up the mantel of leadership," in truth, they ain't givin' that up without a fight. The only way to get that golden mantle is to pry it from their cold dead hands. Even today, it is the clones of Dr. King who sit on the thrones of Black leadership, as they have the cable news networks, radio stations and magazine covers on lock.

But we have something they never will; Hip Hop and the ears of the streets.

Hip Hop still remains the most volatile weapon that can be used to challenge the status quo. What if rappers used the money that they are spending makin' it rain in the clubs to build more Black businesses. Or instead of rapping about "Rack City" they used their words to make a strong "Black City?" Maybe it's time for the Hip Hop Nation to overthrow traditional Black leadership and replace them with people who truly rep' the poor and oppressed in 'hoods across America.

The choice is yours.

Like Nas asked on "My Generation, "What's up with tomorrow? Will you lead? Will you follow?"



TRUTH Minista Paul Scott's weekly column is "This Ain't Hip Hop," a column for intelligent Hip Hop headz. His website is NoWarningShotsFired.com He can be reached at info@nowarningshotsfired.com Follow on Twitter @truthminista

Did Tavis Smiley Get "Conference Blocked?"

Did Tavis Smiley Get "Conference Blocked ?"

Paul Scott


Rapper 50 Cent was once notorious for being able to push a rival's CD release date back. If Cam'ron or some other Hip Hop star planned to release a CD in March. 50 could make sure that their fans would not be bobbin' their heads to the latest beat until Labor Day.

I thought about this when I searched, unsuccessfully, for Tavis Smiley's "We Count: Need for a Black Agenda" Conference that was supposed to air on C-Span today and remind the Prez that a whole bunch of black votes voted for him, many of whom feel rejected.

I went to Smiley's website, "Tavis Talks," and saw a message that announced that because of the Health Care debate, the C-Span will tape the event and play it back on March 29th.

A couple of things wrong with that rationale.

First, the Health Care debate is tomorrow. I doubt if the conference would have interrupted coverage too much.

Secondly, C-Span has three channels. You would think that they could bump some shows on C-Span 2 to show the event live. Also, what about the other networks, CNN, MSNBC , BET and even Fox News, which I would think would jump at the chance to hear black folks bashing Obama.

Lastly, it's not like C-Span was bumping a Hip Hop awards show. It would have been good to show America that collective black thought is not monolithic.

Back during the Booker T Washington age in the late 19th-early 20th century, Washington was known to manipulate the media to silence his critics like WEB DuBois. I am not suggesting that somebody from Rev. Al Sharpton's (Smiley's chief rival for black leadership supremacy) camp pulled a Booker T but history points to the fact that tactics like this have been used to silence opposing voices.

More likely, since this is perhaps the most important weekend during the Obama administration, the producers at C-Span didn't think black political idealism was important at this stage in American history. Or maybe they did not want to upset the hegemony of dominant white thought.

Perhaps they feel that black people can only discuss basketball and Hip Hop?

Who knows?

Funny, I don't hear about anyone trying to push back the NCAA basketball tournament...

Paul Scott writes for No Warning Shots Fired.com He can be reached at (919) 451-8283 or info@nowarningshotsfired.com

Al Sharpton vs Tavis Smiley:

Rev. Al Shapton vs Tavis Smiley:
The Battle for Black Leadership Supremacy

Paul Scott


"When two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers"
African Proverb


Introducing in the red corner wearing the "Obama is My Homie" t-shirt, the reigning world champion of black leadership, the Rev. Al "Razor Sharp" Sharpton. And in the blue corner ,quietly sippin' on a Thermos of Obama Hata-aid, is the number one challenger, Tavis "Ain't Nobody Smilin'" Smiley.

After a long absence from the Tom Joyner Morning Show, Tavis Smiley made a comeback cameo appearance this morning as he came out swinging against against Rev. Al Sharpton, the NAACP and everybody else that has been ,unilaterally, supporting President Obama's policies. He feels that some of the Civil Rights folks have changed the lyrics from "We Shall Over Come" to "We Have Over Come," a bit prematurely by saying that it is not necessary for Obama to have a "black agenda." He also announced a meeting to discuss the Obama controversy to be held in Chicago on March 20th.

Later in the day, Rev. Sharpton had three hours, courtesy of his nationally syndicated program, "Keepin' it Real," to issue a rebuttal. Rev didn't have to do much name calling as his callers and Tweeters handled that. However, he did question whether the purpose of the March 20th camp meeting was for somebody to sell books.

Ouch!

Contrary to what Mr. Smiley says, The Prez does have a black agenda, if black kids would stay in school and stop listening to all that hippity hoppity music then they, too, could be the leaders of the Free world. At least that's the message that he gives when he's in front of a predominately black audience like the NAACP. I can't wait to see him perform the American Idol hit, "Pants on the Ground," at the next NAACP convention.

Many of us agree with Smiley, that it is not that simple. You can't talk about black pathology unless you put it in the context of global white supremacy.

It must be noted that members of the more black nationalistic community already beat Smiley to the punch as CEMOTAP and "The Family and Friends of Mutulu Shakur" already had this debate more than a year ago in Harlem. Unfortunately, most of the folks the were at the December 2008 debate will probably never be on that all-star panel at Smiley's "State of Black Union" meetings.

(Check out the audio courtesy of Voxunion.com)

It must also be noted that Glen Ford, of Black Agenda Report and members of the Black is Back Coalition have been raising the issue of Obama's responsibility to black folks for months.

So, the bigger issue that must be addressed is not only Obama but more importantly, the need for new voices to be heard in the black community.
For too many years, we have had the same old leaders discussing the same old issues. Yet, our condition seems to be getting worst.

It is a shame that we still have only a hand full of people (who most folks in the 'hood have never heard of) claiming to rep' for 30 million black folks. There are many questions that are relevant to everyday black folks that "black leaders" wouldn't touch with a 10 foot pole, not the least being whether politics is a viable option for the liberation of black people in the first place.

It's time for new black voices blastin' from the grassroots.

So whoever wins the debate in March, as they say on the basketball court,

"We got next !"

Paul Scott writes for No Warning Shots Fired.com. He can be reached at (919) 451-8283 or info@nowarningshotsfired.com

The Revolution Ain't Gonna Be Televised (On C-Span)

The Revolution Ain't Gonna Be Televised (on C-Span)
The Commercialization of Black Nationalism

Paul Scott




There was a time when the mere mention of the words Black Power would shake the very foundations of the earth and have white folks and nervous Negroes runnin' for the hills. But in 2009, the reaction to Black Power reminds me of the Arsenio Hall Show from back in tha day.

'Umm...Yesss...Black Power...Woof! Woof! Woof!..Now Sheila E, take us outta here with some of that ole nasty, pasturized homogenized, fried, died and laid to tha side, National Public Radio type funk.....'

This weekend C-Span will air the latest Tavis Smiley State of Black America Forum that will dwell into the deepest crevices of the black problem and sometime before 6PM come up with the miracle cure for all that is ailin' black folks. While this article may come off as the rant of someone who is playa hatin' or just mad that his first class ticket to the forum got accidently sent to Dr. Professor W.E. Dolittle, dean of African American Studies at Pale University ,the issue at hand is the real state of Black leadership in the 21st Century.


The question of who speaks for the Negro has long posed a problem for black and white folks, alike. Whether it be white reporters , scrambling to find a responsible and sober minded "Negro" to denounce another brotha for having the audacity to not only think black but to talk and live black as well. Or black folks jockeying for the coveted position of HNIC. The need for a national black spokesman has always been the source of great debate.


Over the decades, Black folks have fought each other tooth and nail to see who would be in charge of determining the destiny of the race. The paramount issue has always been segregation vs integration, whether African Americans would determine their own destinies or would forever be satisfied to accept the crumbs from "massa's" table. Whether the masses of black people should be organized into a mighty black nation and wage war against white supremacy to secure the Freedom of black children once and for all or whether the strategy is to invade corporate America, one by one, until 100 years from now we have a small ( yet intellectually militant) army of Brooks Brother suit wearing, BMW drivin' , suburb livin' CEO's of (still white owned) corporations. The division has always been there between those who determined to nudge their way into building the white man's heaven on earth and the bad boy outcasts who would have just as soon seen Babylon burn down. Whether it be Marcus Garvey vs W.E.B. Dubois, Malcolm X vs Martin Luther King Jr or Chuck D vs MC Hammer the issue has remained.

White America has had a vested interest on who would carry the mantel of black leadership and which ideology would be most beneficial to her interests. Since the integrationists were at least willing to sit down and talk to white folks, this ideology won out and has received the financial blessings of white mega corporations. While many "mainstream" black organizations depend on white dollars for their spectacular conventions and plush office furniture, the black nationalists are reduced to meeting in the back of book stores and barbershops and praying that it doesn't rain on their "convention" in the middle of tha 'hood in Martin Luther King Park.

This has resulted in a kind of dual Black Power Movement. One side made up of a collection of middle to upper class doctors, lawyers, preachers, professors and anyone else who is deemed capable of articulating the "black thang" in proper English by white folks. The other side is made up of a rag, tag fugitive fleet of street activists who are in the constant struggle between working to feed their families and working for the people.


So the question becomes do the middle class black folks that are given all the air time truly represent the feelings of the masses of black folks or are their ideologies more closely aligned with the white middle class. Are the values espoused by the 2009 Civil Rights all-stars the blueprint for the future of black America or just a Eurocentric, capitalist ideology in black face? Although many at the forum will no doubt speak on the need for unity, the class division in the Black Power/Empowerment Movement must be addressed.

This class division is best exemplified in the wild world of Hip Hop. If Hip Hop is indeed the parallel universe of the Black Power Movement (In a Bizzaro World kind of way) then the struggle being waged by underground Hip Hop artists against commercial Hip Hop should be reflective of the struggle against commercialized Black Power by the black nationalists.
Just as white owned mega companies have hand picked the commercial artists to head the Hip Hop Movement by promoting them heavily in magazines and making sure that they are the only voices that are heard on urban radio, have these same corporations also picked black leadership?

The rebellion against commercial Hip Hop is evident in the works of North Carolina artists such as Da Poet Tim Jackson, Queen Sharon and the rapper Crown King, who have decided to put out their own CD's and present them to the masses of people instead of being another one of 'tha man's' commercial Hip Hop clones. As these talented artists may never get a spot on Def Poetry Slam or get signed to a multi-million dollar contract with Universal Entertainment, our most intelligent black minds may never be a guest on the Tavis Smiley Show or get invited to one of the symposiums.


So, I probably won't watch the symposium on Saturday as the black intelligentsia get together to discuss how best to divide there millions of dollars in corporate assets to develop another generation of Black Power Urban Professionals, I like the other outcasts will be in tha hood, trying to do the impossible with nothing.


***originally written 2005**

Paul Scott writes for No Warning Shots Fired.com