The Fire Next Time

Pet peeve: fake folks masquerading as other than what/who they are. I'll take a neo-nazi sympathizer over a gutless, parasitical poseur any day. At least the former, although deluded by an anachronistic/revisionist ethos, has the conviction to stand firm on his/her belief whether you like it or not. The latter stands for nothing--an army of one.

In the sphere of entertainment, it's rare to find those brave, uncompromising souls who take a back-seat to no one or hang their principles out to dry. In the sphere of Hip Hop music, I see a few shining lights beyond the swamp-land of mediocrity and opportunism: Talib Kweli, Mos Def, KRS-One, Common, Ursula Rucker, The Roots, Dead Prez, De La Soul, Little Brother, Outkast, Cee-Lo, Nas, Jay-Z and 2PAC (in their finer moments), Shihan, Master Ace, Wyclef, Chuck D, Kanye and Guru ( there are a few others that don't come to mind right now) lead the way. One artist who is destined to become a member of this elite group of soul rebels is the prophetic Immortal Technique.

Ever since 2PAC emerged on the scene and shook foundation with the seminal "2Pacalypse Now", I have not heard a rapper spit volcanic lava like this. Yes, there is a plethora of fire breathing lyricists out there who can throw it down and get you all twisted ( LL Cool J, 50, Twista, Ghostface, Meth, RZA - damn! the whole Wu Tang Clan!), but after the beat wears thin, it's over as the content seems so banal and forgettable (after ridin' on pimped-out 24's high and blown/wettin' niggas up (i.e glorifying death by killing their own kind) /trampling on women aka bitches, tricks and hoes/partyin' and talking shit to escape the grim realities of hood life--Is there anything much worth remembering?) Immortal Technique engages like a modern day Socrates. He challenges the dominant structures, institutions and (dead-) mind-sets of the body politic against a backdrop of head-bobbing beats that insinuate themselves into your mental landscape razin' the m*f* to the ground!

Critique if you will ( I recommend it), but this brother has a perspective worthy of serious contemplation. Take these lines from his "Poverty of Philosophy" for example:

"Nigga talk about change and working within the system to achieve that. The problem with always being a conformist is that when you try to change the system from within, it's not you who changes the system; it's the system that will eventually change you. There is usually nothing wrong with compromise in a situation, but compromising yourself in a situation is another story completely....."

Fire.

Plenty of fools need a double-dose of this verbal penicillin to heal their syphilitic idiocy.

Check out a few of Immortal Technique's verses in this hip hop compilation..

Stay true.

::::MixMasterE::::

Closing Chapters

One of the most prolific and influential writers, Colombia's Gabriel Garcia Marquez, has retired from public life due to health reasons. He sent the following letter to his friends-- I pass it on to you, with love.

"If for an instant God were to forget that I am a rag doll and gifted me with a piece of life, possibly I wouldn't say all that I think, but rather I would think of all that I say.

I would value things, not for their worth but for what they mean.

I would sleep little, dream more, understanding that for each minute we close our eyes

we lose sixty seconds of light.

I would walk when others hold back, I would wake when others sleep. I would listen

when others talk, and how I would enjoy a good chocolate ice cream!

If God were to give me a piece of life, I would dress simply, throw myself face first in the sun,baring not only my body but also my soul.

My God, if I had a heart, I would write my hate on ice, and wait for the sun to show. Over the stars I would paint with a Van Gogh, dream a Benedetti poem, and a Serrat song would be the serenade I'd offer to the moon.

With my tears I would water roses, to feel the pain of their thorns, and the red kiss of their petals!

My God, if I had a piece of life, I wouldn't let a single day pass without telling people I love that I love them.

I would convince each woman and each man that they are my favorites, and I would live in love with love. I would show men how very wrong they are to think that they cease to be in love when they grow old, not knowing that they grow old when they cease to be in love!

To a child I shall give wings, but I shall let him learn to fly on his own.

I would teach the old that death does not come with old age, but withforgetting. So much have I learned from you, oh men!

I have learned that everyone wants to live on the peak of the mountain, without knowing that real happiness is in how it is scaled.

I have learned that when a newborn child squeezes for the first time with his tiny fist his father's finger, he has him trapped forever.

I have learned that a man has the right to look down on another only when he has to help the other get to his feet.

From you I have learned so many things, but in truth they won't be of much use, for when I keep them within this suitcase, unhappily shall I be dying."

:::MME:::

Musings

~~~~~~humbled...humbled~~~~
~http://www.sistersofunity.com/music/contact.mp3~

At the close of yet another year, I have to be thankful that I am still here, breathing. After all is said and done, the fact of just being alive is a blessing.

In contemplating the things that have really bothered me this year:

-corporate and government corruption & greed ,
-burdensome health care and education costs
-the rich getting richer/the poor catching hell
-the shameful level of homelessness and hunger
-trash T.V/trash celebrities/trash music
-climate change
-Israeli apartheid
-HIV/AIDS in Africa & India & the lack of resources and political will to end this holocaust

I have from time to time felt there was no way out of these and many other plagues of civilization.

Yet, there is hope.

I am a firm believer of the indomitable power of the human spirit to alter the course of the present and craft a better tomorrow( cliched, yes, but powerfully true). Its been done before--think Civil Rights Movement, the anti-apartheid struggle, 17th-19th century slave rebellions, the U.S Labor Movement ( thanks for my great weekends!). So, although I may wrestle with my despair with regards to the state of our world, I do see an opening at the tunnel's end and it is this hope that enacts the stance of the participants (us, We the People) to actively struggle against the evidence in order to change the deadly tides sweeping us from all sides.

Peace and love.

-MixMasterE

Crumbs From The Table by MixMasterE

Sometimes I get baffled by folks who seem so totally "lost". You know the type: class-conscious-highly impressionable consumerists concerned with achieving & maintaining the trappings of the "good life"-- the luxury car, designer clothes, vacations to brag about, over-sized houses filled with stuff that's hardly needed. It doesn't matter if this brazen, rootless search for the "American Dream" has them living in high anxiety from hand to mouth, or increasingly, in bankruptcy. So, when I read this article, I felt a rush of anger, then pity, then unrest....What can one do to correct this injustice? Where do you start? How? Leave it to blind Fate to correct the injustices? Who really knows....There's enough in the world to fufill everyone's need, but hardly enough for everyone's greed.

The greed of gain has no time or limit to its capaciousness. Its one object is to produce and consume. It has pity neither for beautiful nature nor for living human beings. It is ruthlessly ready without a moment's hesitation to crush beauty and life.

-TAGORE

See the details of this very interesting study by the UN, "