Secessions and Insurrections

Secessions and Insurrections

Paul Scott




Today is the day that Durham was supposed to start its great discussions on race, triggered by an exhibit that made its debut at the Museum of Life and Science, "Race: Are We Really So Different." So what better way was there for a black dude like me to kick off my series examining race then to visit the Civil War commemorative event at Bennett Place State Historic Site?

For those not familiar with Bennett Place , according to the brochure, it is the site of the largest surrender of the Civil War." A fact that a lot of white Southerners are still not too happy about.

I must admit, when I rolled up in the Bennett Place parking lot and saw all those Confederate flag license plates, I started to make a u turn and head to the museum but since the Race exhibit was 14 bucks and the commemoration was free, of course, I headed on into Bennett Place.

Now since I have seen more than a few white folks make themselves right at home at black cultural festivals in Durham; Bimbe, Junteenth, so, I thought that I would see, at least a couple of black faces in the crowd. Or at the very least, see some half clothed black man running frantically through the field chased by hound dogs yellin' "save yourselves!"

I was wrong. I was the only "person of color" within a five mile radius.

See, black folks get nervous around Confederate flags, we expect at any moment to hear "Yeeee Hawww, we got us some live ones, boys ! Gimme a rope!"

Fortunately the commemoration was not that type of party. Just a bunch of white folks celebrating the good ol' days. When life was simple and black people like me knew their place.

They had a wagon ride, some dude teaching people how to load a musket and even a recruiting station to sign up for the war. Now, I wasn't exactly sure if the recruiting station was a reenactment or if they were actually planning to take over West Durham.

But that was about it. I made it out alive without getting lynched. Exit the black guy, stage right. None the worst for his hair raising adventure.

I guess the Confederacy is part of American History. But so are slave insurrections.


What if next August 21, African Americans got together at some state park and had a commemoration of the Nat Turner slave rebellion? Instead of hanging up Confederate Flags, we decked the joint out in the Black Liberation colors of red, black and green. How about instead of playing country music we cranked up some Public Enemy jams and instead of being sponsored by the "Sons of Confederate Veterans" the affair was sponsored by the Sons of the "Deacons for Defense" or the "Daughters of the Black Panther Party."

That would go over real big. I can hear the cries of reverse racism, opening up old wounds or instigating a race riot from the area Right Wing radio hosts, now.

Although, the state of North Carolina flips part of the bill for Bennett Place, I doubt very seriously if they would fund "Insurrection Weekend."

See , black folks and whites folks perceive the Civil War differently. To white folks, Confederate soldiers are heroes who should be honored, to black folks they are a bunch of traitors who got their butts kicked trying to keep our ancestors picking cotton.

Kinda like a glass half empty/half full, situation.

While, there is a fear that anything dealing with the more militant aspects of black history might produce the next Malcolm X, there is no such fear that a Civil War commemoration may produce the next David Duke.

Also, while many white folks (and some black folks) are scared to death that any attempts to teach Arican American children the more "nontraditional" parts of Black history in fear it may cause Mr. Buchanan's 8th grade history class to rise up and give him a beat down, there is no concern that a Civil War reenactment might inspire some southern sore loser to get a little payback for their bitter defeat a century ago. Given the history of this country, the latter is more probable.

All people have the right to tell their own stories. However, for black folks, we have very few venues to speak our own truths. The reasons are several.

Many black folks who put on cultural events work so hard at not offending white folks that they sacrifice historical accuracy. People who put on events from a white perspective have no such hang ups.

See, the bottom line is , white folks embrace their history; the good, the bad and the ugly. It is a shame that we run away from ours.

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

Missing: Black Voices

This week folks in Durham will begin discussing race, courtesy of a new exhibit at the Museum of Life and Science called "Race Are We Really That Different?." If things go the way that they usually go 'round here, there will be one thing missing from these discussions; black voices. Especially, black folks that won't white wash the issue.

Seems like, in recent years, someone came up with the novel idea that race issues could be discussed without black people. Don't believe me? Name some African American columnists or radio talk show hosts in the Triangle area?

(I'll Wait...)

And the one or two that you probably named have been there for at least a decade or two, right? You mean to tell me that no black person with an original thought has come around since Bill Clinton was the prez?

It is a cryin' shame that with thousands of black folks in this area we're supposed to be too stupid to notice the lack of African American opinion shapers. Although many people preach about diversity, the most segregated places in this part of NC are media newsrooms. It seems that the only integration going on in some of the local newspapers is in the weekly crime sheet, other that they are lily white.

Now, I know that some are going to argue that there are quite a few African Americans on the TV channels, especially WTVD, who "report" the news. However, this is not the issue. The issue is the serious lack of black folks who "editorialize" the news of the day.

Since I'm one of the dudes that is rarely invited to these feel good "race" discussions, (imagine that) for the next few weeks, I am going to run a series on No Warning Shots Fired.com dealing with the race issue from a black perspective.

So, stay tuned as we give you the real, uncut, deal about Race in America.

Let's Talk About Race, Baby

Let's Talk About Race, Baby.

Paul Scott



Back in '91, Hip Hop legends, Salt N Pepa shook up America when they released the controversial song, "Let's Talk About Sex." The song was a wake up call to a mainstream America that was reluctant to talk about sex even in the face of a growing AIDS crisis and teen pregnancy epidemic. This month, Durham will tackle the "other" issue: race.

On October 8th, the Museum of Life and Science will host the exhibit, "Race: Are We So Different" that will address the origin of race in both anthropological and sociological terms. There will also be a series of community discussions surrounding the issue through the end of the exhibition, next January, dealing with an issue that is rarely discussed in an open and honest minor. Usually, any racial discussion that does not end with a group of folks sitting around quoting Martin Luther King speeches and locking arms singin' "We Shall Overcome" is not exactly welcomed in this town. Although, racial conflicts effect all cultures, in America it has been mostly black and white.

So, where do we begin tackling the taboo issue? We start at the same place you start when your five year old comes home from kindergarten and asks "where do babies come from." We start at the beginning. However, we have to make the decision whether to tell the awful truth or send our kids down the road of misinformation by telling them that "the stork brings them."

It must be noted that there was not a beef between the races before antiquity as historians have pointed out that the early Greeks actually had respect for the Ethiopians and Egyptians. It was not until the Trans-Atlantic slave trade that racial inferiority began to be used to justify the enslavement of Africans. After that period, pseudo-scientific theories were constructed to prove the superiority of one race over the other. While Johann Blumenbach is credited with dividing humanity into racial groups, prior to that it was, Carl Von Linnaeus that started attributing natural ability to skin color.

Besides serving as the rationale for racial oppression, there has been the fear of race mixing (miscegenation). The "browning of America" has been such a fear of white folks that the one drop rule was created to establish that one drop of black blood would make even the whitest, white dude want to watch Black Entertainment Television.

Has this changed in recent years? Only in Hip Hop. Artists such as KRS have long argued that the "great American melting pot concept" only exists in the world of rap music where little white kids have posters of Lil Wayne on their bedroom walls" and black kids download Eminem songs on Itune. But outside of Rap World things have not changed much.

So, why do we still feel so uncomfortable discussing the issue ? It's just like when, after being chastised for kissing a boy at school, your 12 year old daughter, asks you about your first time.

Awkward.

Race puts us smack dab in the center of the storm where we have to weather questions like "do you hate all white people" or "have you ever used the N Word ?"

What happens when we don't talk about sex? Just go to the Durham Health Department or to Northgate or Southpoint Mall and count all the teenage girls pushing strollers. What happens when we don't talk about race, just take a look at the polarization taking place across the country.

So, yes Durham. Let's talk about race, baby.

For more information about the "Race Are We Different" exhibit visit

http://www.ncmls.org/visit/events/RACE


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

Tyrese vs the Real Decepticons

Tyrese vs the Real Decepticons

Paul Scott





Last Summer, fans flocked to movie theaters in droves to see Tyrese Gibson help the Transformers save Earth from the Decepticons. Now, he is in a fight with the real "Decepti-Cons" who are destroying the 'hood.


You know who I'm talking about. Go to any 'hood in America and you will see the invaders who pimp the community with overpriced chewing gum, stale potato chips and enough 40's to get the whole city tipsy. If you go in and ask for a bottle of natural spring water, you're fresh out of luck but if you are searching for a vintage bottle of 1988 Olde English 800, they got you.

Last week, during a radio interview on Wilmington, Delaware's Kiss 101.7 , Tyrese went in on the "homies" there for allowing a liquor store to be in close proximity to a school. Apparently, this did not sit too well with the station's head dude who, allegedly, bounced him out the door, not because of his stance against liquor stores near kids but because he had the nerve to refer to his listeners as "homies" on a Hip Hop radio station.

(Doesn't make sense to you, either, huh?)

Either way, allegedly, Tyrese's music has been banned from the station until further notice.

As Gibson has pointed out, this is not just about Wilmington. Go to any poor community in America and you will find more liquor stores (liquid crack houses) than anything else. For years, community activists have accused the high proliferation of these stores in predominately Black and Latino neighborhoods as being acts of genocide. However, while community activist Raheem Jackson can stand in front of a store with a protest sign and bullhorn for years and be ignored, one word from a celebrity like Tyrese can spark a revolution. An issue that has plagued communities for years is now being discussed at bus stops, in barbershops and tattoo parlors.

This is why Tyrese's stand sent shock waves through an industry that works in cahoots with corporations to keep the masses of the people blind to the facts.

What if people start really examining the question of why there are really so many liquor stores in the 'hood and then demand answers? Or if people start actually organizing to push legislation to keep liquor stores out of school zones? How about if other artists start using their star power to raise questions, not only about liquor stores but the prison industrial complex, high unemployment in "urban" communities, or how drugs really get into the 'hood ? It could start a domino effect that could upset the socio-economic order of this country.


That is why a socially conscious artist who uses his celebrity status to do more than make people buy cds or movie tickets is considered a threat. And many who have dared to speak out against social injustice have committed revolutionary, career suicide.

Instead of addressing complaints by celebrities, the "Decepti-Cons" use the oldest trick in the book: try to discredit the messenger. Back in the day, they would call outspoken artists, "Communists," then "militants." Today, they try to make using the term "homie" a federal offense.

Another tactic that they have used is a con game called the "straw man fallacy," which is when the real issue is replaced by a fake issue that has nothing to do with the real issue in order to distract attention from the real issue. (Rewind that back twice and think about it.) In this case, they are using Tyrese's, allegedly, dissin' the folks in Delaware as a straw man argument to draw attention from what should be the primary question, "should liquor stores be near schools."

As they say, the players change but the game remains the same.


Unlike the poor righteous teachers who are the community activists, celebrities have something we don't; influence and access to capital. Suppose, Tyrese and a few of his Hollywood homies put some dollars together and open up a health food/book store in Wilmington to compete with the liquor store? Or, what if he takes some of that Transformer money and opens up a radio station in Delaware that features talk shows and plays nothing but conscious Hip Hop? The possibility is there but it all starts with a conversation.

However, we can't put all the weight on celebrities. They can be catalysts for change but the real work is going to have to be done by the homies in the 'hood who are tired of seeing their children drop out of school in order to embrace a life full of addiction and prison bids.

Even though Megatron and his crew have lots of power, we must be willing to fight them if we are going to save this generation from destruction. And this fight won't be easy.

We must all make a commitment to become the "Transformers" of our own communities.

As Optimus Prime said at the end of Transformers 3 ” there will be days when we lose faith but the day will never come when we forsake this planet and it's people.”

Or the ‘hood.


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

Tyrese Takes a Stand Against Liquor Stores Near Schools

According to TMZ, R@B star, Tyrese, is having his music pulled from Kiss 101.7 in Delaware for challenging the folks in Delaware for allowing liquor stores to be in school zones.

http://www.tmz.com/2011/09/28/tyrese-gibson-radio-delaware-liquor-stores-schools-interview-banned/



We have to support artists when they stand up for what's right.

Send Kiss 101.7 a Tweet and let them know that we support Tyrese and they are dead wrong for banning his music. @Kiss1017

Obama, throw the Bomb!

Obama: Throw the Bomb!

Paul Scott


What do the Carolina Panthers and the US economy have in common?
They both suck. And truth is, they have sucked for a while now.

The Carolina Panthers solution to their slump; Cam Newton. America's solution to her economic slump; Barack Obama. Panther fans are looking for Cam to be that spark that will finally ignite the Panthers to get that coveted Superbowl ring that has alluded the franchise since its 1995 inception. Obama was elected to be the agent for change that will bring jobs to the hard working folks of America.

Honestly, I don't know who is facing the toughest odds.

Cam is a rookie, so we won't know his total effectiveness until 'round about October. Obama is in his third season and already, folks are beginning to talk about trading him next year.

Not that some folks ever really gave him a chance from the jump. Many of the bookies were already betting against the Prez before he even suited up for his first State of the Union Address. And many of us North Carolinians , who threw away our Panther caps five years ago, now take more pleasure in seeing the Cats lose than celebrating the occasional victory they manage to snatch a few times a year.

But don't cry either one of them a river too soon. They both knew what they were in for when they took the gigs. I'm quite sure Newton watched the highlight reels of the last 10 seasons before he signed his 22 million dollar contract. And Obama knew that millions of people were hungry and out of work before he got got sworn in. Even though I don't think that he was quite prepared for the strength of the Tea Party offensive, defense nor the audacity of the opposition to scream, "You lie!" during the post game press conference, it kinda comes with the territory.

Also, as die hard Panther fans and Democrats, as well, are always quick to remind you, they both inherited the sloppy seconds of their predecessors. Sometime around the middle of the third quarter, I always got the feeling that former QB, Jake Delhomme would have rather been catfish fishing in New Orleans and George Bush would have rather been riding a horse in Texas than running the country.

Let's face it. Fans and voters have a lot in common; we are self centered, impatient and fickle. We want results and we want them now! So what if the cheerleaders are busy texting "LOL" instead of rallyin' the crowd. Who cares that the band is playing "Taps" instead of "Eye of the Tiger." All that matters to the football fans is the trip to the big game in February and all that matters to the voters is a way to pay the rent at the end of the month.

That's not to say that they are not going to need help from their perspective teams. Even though Cam Newton broke all kind of records, last Sunday, they still loss. It takes a whole team to win a game, not just the quarterback. Just like Cam's teammates are gonna have to put some pep in their steps, Obama's offensive front line Dems are gonna have to stop having panic attacks every time they look in the eyes of a snarlin', 300 pound Right Wing linebacker.

But fair or not, at the end of the day, everybody praises the quarterback when they win and blames the President when they lose. So, it's time for President Obama to show the brilliance that he showed three years ago in the pre-season. The team is down by two touchdowns in the fourth quarter. It's time to throw a bomb down field, a Hail Mary to the end zone an ally -oop to the...(my bad, wrong sport, but you get the point.)

He needs to not just win one for the Gipper but for all the parents in Durham and everywhere else in America who are depending on the outcome of this game to feed their kids.

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

How 9/11 Missed Hip Hop

Survivin' the Era of Terror:
How 9/11 Missed Hip Hop

TRUTH Minista Paul Scott



September 11, 2001 is a day that will never be forgotten. On that day, an event happened that will effect the lives of generations for decades to come; socially, politically and economically. No, I'm not talking about the attack on the World Trade Center, 9/11/01 was also the day that Jay Z released The Blueprint...

This week, when many people reflect on what they were doing the moment the Twin Towers fell that faithful Tuesday in '01, most won't admit that they were standing in line trying to be the first person on their block to get the new Jay Z CD but that pretty much sums up the collective attitude of Hip Hop during a 10 year period known as the "Era of Terror." It can be argued that The Blueprint had more of an impact on Hip Hop than the attack on the World Trade.

While the 9/11 attack sparked a "War on Terror" that would have a major impact on nations around the planet for decades to come, the effect on the Hip Hop Nation has been minimal, at best.

But was this a matter of apathy or fear?

Maybe the streets just didn't care. For residents of the hood who were constantly trapped between gang wars and crooked cops, 9/11 was just another day in the neighborhood. One more problem to add to the 99 others that we faced on a daily basis. As long as it didn't mean that cable would get cut off or the club would shut down for the weekend, it was what it was.

The fear factor probably played a greater role, especially among the rappers, themselves. And who could blame them? Historically, Uncle Sam has never taken too kindly to being dissed in front of the world.

Dr. Martin Luther King did not really start catching major heat from the Feds until he spoke out against the Vietnam War and Muhammad Ali got his world championship belt snatched because he refused to fight a bunch of Vietcong who "never called him a nigger."

Rappers weren't the first artists to punk out when the price of Freedom of Speech got too high. During the 60's even outspoken artists such as The Beatles and Bob Dylan were accused of abandoning the anti-war struggle to either smoke dust or start making nonpolitical, country music. Not much different than the rappers of today who would rather smoke blunts and go jewelry shopping than fight the power.

We have to remember that the period immediately following 9/11 wasn't the best time to attack America's policies as the general public was out for blood and George Bush was playing an international game of "Who Shot Ya." If the good ol boys would call for the heads of the Dixie Chicks for chin checkin' G-Dub, imagine what they would have done to the brothers on the block?

Although, not totally clear on the legal ramifications of the Patriot Acts, rappers were pretty clear that political Hip Hop was deemed illegal in at least one of them. Nobody wanted to be seen as part of Bush's Axis of Evil. Spending a few months on Riker's Island was one thing but nobody wanted to wind up in a cell in Guantanamo Bay, never to be heard from again.

Remember, we saw how the face of terrorism could change overnight from "Middle Eastern" to a young black male in the hood when back in 2006, seven black men in Liberty City Florida were brought up on trumped up charges of plotting to blow up the Sears Tower in Chicago.

So most in mainstream Hip Hop decided it was best to keep quiet in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. (Unless, you count Petey Pablo doing his ultra-patriot USA remix to "Raise Up. Making him the first rapper to raise his hand when Bush threw down the mandate "you are either with us or against us.")

A few artists did speak out against America's foreign policies. The usual rap revolutionaries like Public Enemy, Paris and a few others continued to do what they did best; challenge the staus quo. Also, relative newcomers like Immortal Technique began to make their fans think that there was more to the story than what they were seeing on the news. In the mainstream, fueled by the popularity of documentaries like Fahrenheit 9/11 and Loose Change, a few mainstream artists such as Eminem and Jadakis began to either literally or figuratively accuse Bush of "knocking down the towers." Also, a new group named the Black Eyed Peas asked "Where is the Love" but perhaps the most hardcore hate letter to the Prez was penned by Fredwreck and the STOP Movement.

The period has not been without it's random Sister Souljah moments such as KRS's "chickens coming home to roost-like " statement at a New Yorker Magazine panel discussion or the infamous Kanye West post- Katrina revelation that "George Bush doesn't like black people,"

However, these were exceptions to the rule of a Hip Hop "culture" that has been increasingly more obsessed with producing materialistic, Maybach music instead of message music. Instead of dealing with serious issues it is safer and easier just to simply pretend that they do not exist and the world is no bigger than the block on which one lives.

For the most part over the last decade, Hip Hop has remained mostly apolitical and detached from reality. A great escape to a mystical land where the champagne is always flowing and the strip clubs never close. Even when the rest of the world is at war.


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