I feel like one of those snooty pseudo-intellectuals sitting in an urban coffee house making pithy conversation with other idealist. I finally have a blog. Now what to blog about?
I can go into conspiracy theories. Did our country know of the impending attack on Pearl Harbor? Was Roswell a cover-up? Did we really walk on the moon? Was 9/11 an inside job? I suppose I could touch on these subjects, however, much debate and "flaming" is usually what follows such controversial talk. So I'll refrain from this.
I could speak about what a sad state of affairs this world must be in when we see commercials asking us to save abused animals with 20$ monthly contributions, when we only need to spend pennies a day to save human children in third world countries. I mean, I'm all for helping animals, and I think they have the right to be treated fairly... but not better! I wont talk about this though, because I do know animal activist who value animal rights more than human rights. They'd bash me into the ground with their ASPCA badge if they read this...
I don't want to totally refrain from speaking about anything that will cause debate, because I like a good debate, but I just hate when it turns into "u r wrong cuz I r0x0rz" or whatever.
So I'll write about the African-American civil rights movement of the 60's compared to the modern hip-hop movement of today. Wow, I bet you didn't see this coming and neither did I.
When you speak about the 60's you're either thinking about hippies and protest of love and flowers in barrels of riffles or you think about the strong African-American movement. For the sake of blog-space, we'll stick to the latter. The 60's is by far my favorite part of African-American history. You had the great leaders, activist, parties and protesters working together for a common goal. Segregation was the enemy, "separate but equal", and so Blacks (and even some liberal thinking White people) everywhere joined together in unity and fought to take down the powers that be (later dubbed, "The Man").
Sounds like a turbulent time in American history whether you were black, brown, white, yellow, green or vermilion, doesn't it? It was, indeed, or so I am told.
To sum it up, great leaders were killed (which I could probably fit this into the conspiracy theory blog if I ever touch on that), segregation was abolished and everyone lived happily ever after, right? Wrong!
Years pass and we move into the late 70's and early 80's. Without going into the dynamics of it's history, Hip-hop was born. Now, I think Hip-hop is a very creative thing. It's origins began as a way for people to speak their mind while showcasing their talent and flexing their vocabulary. Even disputes were settled through rap-battles and at times dance-offs. How could this be bad?
Then hip-hop commercialized and slowly began it's decline from talking about important oppressing concerns of many young black men, to where it is today: an opportunity to show how many "hoes" one can "pimp" and "flossin" jewelry. Constant gay-bashing remarks, drug using behavior, and criminal activity is relayed to the young impressionable youths of America. Especially the African-American males. The in turn adopt this behavior, and become detriments to the community they live in and it becomes a hazard living in certain areas.
Is Hip-hop really to blame? No, of course not. I think it's influence has some bearing on the youth, but to shoulder the blame on music would be the same as saying video games make kids violent (don't even start with me there).
Who is to blame then? Parents can take their share of that stake. Why? Well, when I was an adolescent male and I used to listen to Dr. Dre or Snoop Dogg and the Dogg Pound, my mother would sit me down and tell me, "it's alright that you listen to this, but you have to know that what they're saying is not what you should become." She taught me that many of what those rappers do is just gimmicks. For entertainment purposes. Imagine my disappointment when I found out Dr. Dre wasn't "gangsta". Oh, what a sad tale.
Anyway, like anything else, we should be vigilant of what we allow our children to hear and play. I don't think we should censor them, because I don't think lack of experience and sophistication will help the cause, they do need to be exposed to life just like a newborn has to be exposed to germs to develop a healthy immune system. Instead, we should turn our attention into talking with them, the way a good parent will their their child, "Superman is a good comic, and movie, but people can't fly so don't trying or you will vaporize when you hit the ground" (the key is to scare them). My mom used to say, "that may sound good in a rap song, but in real life gangsters go to jail and get raped by men with hung penises, and they call you their bitch and you'll get passed around for a box of cigarettes and you'll be discarded more than your everyday condom".
Ah, mother had such a way with words that just sang to a young boy's heart.
Anyway, that's my first blog. If anyone actually read this.. I'm sorry. I didn't think anyone would. Do forgive me. If you didn't read it... well then, fuck you. Aren't I just so simple?
