Category Archives: Hip Hop

March 25, 2015 · 8:39 pm

Killing Trayvons ~ “American Violence at the Intersection of Race & Class”

with Kevin Alexander Gray

Co-editor [with Jeffrey St. Clair and JoAnn Wypijewski] of Killing Trayvons: An Anthology of American Violence, and author of Waiting for Lightning to Strike: The Fundamentals of Black Politics for an evening of analysis, dialogue and performance.

Gray is a civil rights organizer in South Carolina. He is a contributing editor to Counterpunch, on the boards of RESIST & Savannah River Site Watch. He served as a national board member of the American Civil Liberties Union for 4 years & is a past eight-term president of the South Carolina affiliate of the ACLU. Advisory board member of DRC Net (Drug Policy Reform Coalition), & was Jesse Jackson’s ’88 SC campaign manager.

“There’s no keener mind, no sharper eye, focused on the condition of black politics. Gray’s take is radical, so his focus is always ample and humane.”

joining Kevin will be Adam Gottlieb

Adam is a poet-emcee/teaching-artist/singer-songwriter/revolutionary from Chicago. As a teen, he was featured in the 2009 documentary film “Louder Than A Bomb.” Since then, he has gone on to perform and teach widely throughout Chicago and the U.S. In 2012 he co-founded the Royal Souls open mic in the East Roger’s Park neighborhood of Chicago. He is a founder of the Chicago branch of the Revolutionary Poets Brigade, and performs with his band OneLove.

Also featuring . . . Chicago poets active in the ‘Let Us Breathe’ and ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement, along with members of high school teams in the 2015 Louder than a Bomb spoken word competition.

The presentation by Gray and the performances by the artists will be followed by a conversation with the author, poets and audience!

Join Us for an evening of analysis, dialogue and performance!

Saturday, April 11th. 6 – 8 PM
Powell’s Books Chicago
1218 South Halsted

Sponsored by: The Chicago Consortium for Working Class Studies & the RevolutionaryPoets Brigade, Chicago

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Tagged as Adam Gottlieb, Black Lives Matter, Kevin Alexander Gray, Killing Trayvons: An Anthology of American Violence, Let Us Breathe, Louder Than A Bomb, Powell’s Books Chicago, Revolutionary Poets Brigade, The Chicago Consortium for Working Class Studies, Waiting for Lightning to Strike: The Fundamentals of Black Politics

July 9, 2012 · 5:53 pm

Tupac Amaru Shakur | Clinton Correctional Facility Interview ~1995

Tupac~ The Lost Prison Tapes

Shakur [June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996] began serving his prison sentence at Clinton Correctional Facility on February 14, 1995. He was released after serving eleven months of his one-and-a-half year to four-and-a-half year sentence.

The Lost Prison Tapes presents a uncensored look into Shakur’s life, as he talks about his involvement with gang life to prisons in America to his relationship with his mother and American culture and politics.

The Lost Prison Tapes’ were released on January 26, 2011.

“Capturing the intensity and passion of a fierce talent, “Tupac ~ Uncensored and Uncut: The Lost Prison Tapes” offers a glimpse inside the mind of the enigmatic artist whose music is, in his own words, “all about life.””

Shakur had sold over 75 million records worldwide as of 2010. Rolling Stones magazine named him the 86th Greatest Artist of All Time.

Both of his parents- Afeni Shakur and his father, Billy Garland, along with several other family members, were members of the Black Panther Party for Self Defense.

On September 7, 1996, Shakur was shot four times in Las Vegas, Nevada. He died 6 days later at the University Medical Center.

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James Rosemond Admits to Tupac Shakur 1994 Shooting Involvement: Report ~ http://www.billboard.com/column/the-juice/james-rosemond-admits-to-tupac-shakur-1994-1007420552.story#/column/the-juice/james-rosemond-admits-to-tupac-shakur-1994-1007420552.story

I shot Tupac Shakur in 1994 robbery on orders of rap manager, claims convicted murderer Dexter Isaac ~ http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-06-15/gossip/29691900_1_tupac-shakur-james-jimmy-henchman-rosemond-czar-entertainment

Bio ~ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupac_Shakur

http://www.amazon.com/Tupac-Uncensored-Uncut-Prison-Tapes/dp/B004KPUL4G

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Filed under American Culture, Black Politics, FREE SPEECH, Hip Hop, Historic Black Politics & Figures, Historic Photos - People, Law Enforcement, Movement & Message Music, Music History, PASSINGS | HOME-GOING, Poetry, Political Ideology, Protest, racism, white supremacy

Tagged as 2pac, gangsta rap, Tupac, Tupac - Uncensored and Uncut:, Tupac Amaru Shakur, Tupac Shakur - 1995 Prison Interview, Tupac Shakur - The Lost Prison Tapes, Tupac Shakur | Clinton Correctional Interview

November 3, 2009 · 12:48 am

Gil Scott-Heron @ BB King Blues Club

Gil Scott-Heron

November 4, 2009 – BB King Blues Club, NYC

237 West 42nd Street, between 7th Avenue and 8th Avenue.

Poet, musician, activist, author, bluesologist. These are all terms that have been used to describe the great Gil Scott-Heron, who more humbly refers to himself simply as a “piano player from Tennessee”. Most famous for his era-defining 1970’s poem, “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,” Gil Scott-Heron’s politically charged material made him a stalwart figure in the 1970’s civil rights movement. His lyrical content covered topics like the superficiality of television and mass consumerism, the hypocrisy of some would-be Black revolutionaries and white middle-class ignorance of the difficulties faced by inner-city residents. Not only a pioneer of blues, jazz and funk, his honesty, matter-of-fact delivery and fearlessness to address important social issues in the face of media criticism made him one of the foremost progenitors of contemporary hip-hop and spoken word.. Expect an incredible new CD in early 2010.

Doors at 6:00pm, Show at 8:00pm
NB: General Admission – First come, first seated
$30 adv, $35 at door
VIP Booths available for four to six people; must buy whole booth|Tix/Booth for four: $200 / Tix/Booth for six: $300

Tickets may be purchased through Ticketmaster, online at ticketmaster.com or 212-307-7171.

Tickets can be purchased in person at our box office from 10:30 am to midnight every night.

Unless otherwise noted, all shows are suitable for all ages and offer general admission seating. Seating for all shows is first come, first seated; we do not take advance table reservation, except where noted as a condition of a VIP ticket. We cannot seat incomplete parties. Standing room for all shows is available at our bar.

For further show information, directions to the venue and for the latest updates visit us at www.bbkingblues.com or call 212-997-4144.

Produced by Jill Newman Productions

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Filed under ART | CULTURE | WRITING, Black Culture | United States, Hip Hop, Historic Black Politics & Figures, Movement & Message Music, Poetry, R&B, The Blues File

Tagged as BB King Blues Club, Funk, Gil Scott-Heron, jazz, Jill Newman Productions, Poetry, spoken word, The Blues

October 22, 2009 · 2:18 pm

Black Is Back | Nov. 7th D.C. Rally

Black is Back

Washington, D.C. – A newly-formed Black coalition has announced a rally and march on the White House to take place November 7, 2009 beginning in Washington, D.C.’s historic Malcolm X Park. The Rally and March are to protest the expanding U.S. wars and other policy initiatives that unfairly target African and other oppressed people around the world. Known as the Black is Back Coalition for Social Justice, Peace and Reparations, the coalition formed on September 12, 2009 during a meeting in Washington, D.C. of more than fifteen activists from various Black organizations, institutions and communities.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Who: The Black is Back Coalition for Social Justice, Peace and Reparations
What: Rally and March
When: Saturday, November 7, 2009, 10am-6pm
Where: Malcolm X Park, Washington, D.C.

Contacts:
Omali Yeshitela 727.821.6621
Chioma Oruh 202.320.5542
Rosa Clemente 646.721.7441
Jared Ball 202.997.0267
Website: blackisbackcoalition.org

The Black is Back Coalition aims to draw upon the support of many of the leading anti-imperialist organizations, journalists, organizers, artists and scholars of the African world. In this age of Obama, the rally and march on November 7, 2009 aim to bring back the tradition of resistance historically associated with Black communities around the world. Comprised of seasoned veterans of Black political struggle, including members of the African People’s Socialist Party, the NAACP, MOVE, the Green Party, Black Agenda Report and many other grassroots organizations and efforts, this coalition is perfectly situated to do just that.

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Filed under Actions, Actions | Events, American Politics, American Progressive Politics, Black Politics, Civil Rights, Events, Hip Hop, Obama Administration, Pan Africanism | Afrocentrism | Africana Studies, Protest, The Obama Administration, white supremacy

Tagged as Black Is Back, Black Politics

August 18, 2009 · 7:48 pm

Dead Prez | Stimulus Plan

“My grind is my stimulus plan”

Dead Prez performing in London

Alexander Billet reviews Pulse of the People, a new album from Dead Prez.

BY NOW, we’ve all heard ad nauseam that President Obama is a “fan” of hip-hop. He has Jay-Z on his iPod, he loves its “entrepreneurial spirit” and he’s still famously referred to as “the first hip-hop president.”

But if anything can be taken from Obama’s recent address to the NAACP, it’s that his understanding of hip-hop is, shall we say, a bit different from most people’s. Rehashing the tired rhetoric from his campaign, he claimed that there were now “no excuses” for Blacks not pulling themselves up by their bootstraps.

And though he said nary a word about the Supreme Court decision ruling against affirmative action for Black firefighters in Connecticut, he went out of his way to say, “Our kids can’t all aspire to be LeBron or Lil Wayne…I want them aspiring to be president of the United States of America.”

It’s safe to say that Obama doesn’t have Dead Prez on his iPod. If he did, he might hear this:

He go to school just to battle MCs in the cafeteria
Fellas sleep in third period to the theory that
The president is Black
So he should try to be that
Better yet put a gat on your back
And go to Iraq

[For more click photo]