This past summer I attended the Black August 2003 Celebration in New York. Truly, an ambitious event, the evening consisted of a blend of spoken word, social and political history lessons and hot performances by various hip-hop and R&B artists like Goapele, Keith Murray, Talib Kweli and Erykah Badu. While there were Black August celebrations in various cities throughout the country, the New York chapter of the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement (MXGM) sponsored this one on August 10th, in Brooklyn. The mission of MXGM is “to defend the human rights of our people and promote self-determination in our community.” The organization also promotes the development of political consciousness within hip-hop culture. The admirable stated goal of this important concert was “to bring culture and politics together and to allow them to naturally evolve into a unique hip-hop consciousness that informs our collective struggle for a more just, equitable and human world.”
Understanding that Black August began in the California penal system in order to honor fallen Freedom Fighters, I made my way down to Brooklyn expecting an inspiring event. To give credit where credit is due, I must admit that the organizers definitely evoked a spirit of political awareness of the condition of many remarkable men and women killed or wrongly imprisoned for fighting for the rights of people of color. MXGM must be commended for bringing the stories of these fighters to the forefront for many young people who may have otherwise never known of their struggle. However, several aspects of the event compromised the significant contributions that these brothers and sisters were making to hip-hop culture.
In particular, I was dismayed to find certain artists on the program giving props to freedom fighters one minute and the next minute singing ‘Boom Bye Bye,” and exhorting the crowd to repeat lines like “We smokes weed, say roll that shit. Say light that shit.” Even if you disagree with homosexuality and believe that marijuana is cool because it is a natural herb with medicinal properties, does oppressing another group of human beings and advocating the use of illegal substances promote the political consciousness that Black August strives to inculcate in the hip-hop community?
If we as a community want to present a serious alternative to the ridiculous, yet dangerous political environment of the present moment, hip-hop must get serious. In a time when someone like Arnold Schwarzenegger can manage to be elected as governor of California with absolutely no plan to deal with the state’s very real financial and social issues, hip-hop culture and artists must effectively utilize opportunities like Black August to promote ideas and opinions that edify the hip-hop community. The hip-hop community must only call these artists and its members to task. Ask yourself who do you support and why? Does that artist work to improve the plight of communities of color? Does his or her music enlighten or oppress? It is time to raise the bar and it starts with accountability to each other and to this dynamic culture whose complete potential for radical change remains untapped.
