Shut 'em down – The Co-Opting of Black Revolutionary Rap

Shut 'em down – The Co-Opting of Black Revolutionary Rap 

Who count the money in the neighborhood
But we spending money to no end, looking for a friend
In a war to the core, ripping up the poor in the stores
Until they get a brother kicking down doors
Then I figure I can get bigger
Look 'em dead in the eye and they wince, defense is pressurized
They don't really want it to be another racial attack
In disguise so give some money back

I like Nike but wait a minute

The neighborhood supports, so put some money in it

All corporations owe, they gotta give up the dough

To my town or else we gotta shut ‘em down.

- Verse 3 of Shut ‘em Down by Public Enemy

            Wait a minute. Let me get this straight, how did the enemy of the public get co-opted by one of the public’s notorious corporations, NIKE. I need to know how much money exchanged hands? What was the threat to Chuck D? Who’s broke? Did Flava Flav own the rights to this song and just as he tried to make a career comeback with VH1’s Flavor of Love, he gave up the rights to this song like he gave up the rights to being enemy of the public. Listen, I love Public Enemy. I grew up being motivated to do scholarship in the area of Black liberation because of politically conscious brothers like Public Enemy, KRS1, The Roots, Dead Prez, etc.

            So, when I saw this Nike commercial with a young Black male gazing into his basketball future, with Shut ‘em Down playing in the background, I was baffled, dumbfounded, left undone. There were several stereotypical assumptions about this ad, like the prophetic gaze of this young black male that places him in the NBA, where statistically speaking, he has less than a one percent chance of making it the pros. He was playing with LeBron James, which would make LeBron about 50 years old when this kid leaves junior high school, play interscholastic basketball, and finally plays collegiate basketball (even if he did a one and done, i.e., playing only one year). One positive aspect of the ad is that he envisions himself playing for Duke University; not too shabby of an basketball school, most importantly they are great academic institution.

Anyway, regarding the co-opting of Black revolutionary rap, how did the focus of this song, shutting down transnational media corporations and transnational sport merchandising corporations, convert to shutting down a basketball team with a last-minute dunk? Listen, I was moved by these lyrics to economically boycott every corporation that does not invest in Black communities; which also includes Non Urban Dictates, NUDs – those companies that are not interested in the Black consumer. The enemy of the public was spot on regarding where Black people should spend their money, and that we should be more critical in investing in those corporations that are willing and proactive in investing in Black communities.

Nike is smooth though,  so smooth that one could easily miss how this Black revolutionary rap song has just been co-opted by the marketing genius of NIKE. We can easily get caught up in the big dreams of this young Black male making something out of his life, becoming socially mobile, and leaving the city streets, which haunted the background of this ad, all the while, the fat beat of Shut ‘em Down, concocted by Terminator X, no doubt, and the voice of the rap revolutionary lyricist himself, Chuck D, is looming large and motivating and projecting this youth to greatness. It is not a far stretch of the imagination, since too many young Black males have been socialized and preoccupied with making it through the avenue of sport. The media is saturated with Black male athletes at the college level generating revenue and as professional getting paid. So, for many young play males who are consuming this sport media content, a daydream to entertain and a logical conclusion to draw is that athletics can be their ticket to a better life.
Well, this is not the first act of co-opting the movement by capitalist and/or the white establishment. It was only a matter of time before the machine of capitalism absorb radical forms of protest and either co-opt them to mean something else or something less. So, shutting down corporations that distort the reality of Black life or profit off of Black communities without investing in those communities has been muted because one of the most powerful corporations in the world through the most powerful media platform in the world, TV, has hijacked the meaning and purpose of this song.

I would like to think that Chuck D would not have signed off on the use of this song in this manner, where the meaning of this song has been co-opted and converted into a capitalist advertisement jingle. So, I had to follow the ownership trail, where the record label Def Jam is owned by Universal Music Group (it was MCA records during the recording of this release of the album Apocalypse 91…The Enemy Strikes Back), which is a subsidiary of the French media conglomerate, Vivendi; which was founded in 1853 by Napoleon III. In a capitalist society, Black owned does not necessarily mean owned by Black, or exclusively Black owned.

So, the question becomes, who really owns the rights to this song and the right to use it for whatever purpose they desire, even if the desired use is contrary to the original meaning of the song? Well, this trail was enough for me to further question who really owns the revolution, at least the revolution that is played out in rap music? What happens when capitalist own the instruments used in the liberation movement? If the current social movement is dependent on social media, who controls the social movement; or who can determine the reach and effectiveness of that movement? Did the visionary lyrics of Gil Scott Heron in The Revolution Will Not Be Televise, inform us that the “real” revolution will not use conventional means or the tools of the master to proceed and succeed? The Black Liberation Movement (BLM), a movement to emancipate Black consciousness, is an ongoing movement. So, stay woke and consume media content critically.

Billy Hawkins, Ph.D.

Black NFL players “doth protest too much?”

Black NFL players “doth protest too much?”

“…..that our flag was still there.
O say does that star spangled banner yet wave,
O’er the land of the free, and the home of the brave….”

Despite the notion that the players who kneel during the playing of the National Anthem are disrespecting this nation’s flag and all those who fought for the freedoms that it represent, inherent in the lyrics of this anthem is that the flag and the ideals it represent has the ability to stand the test of protest. “That our flag was still there,” denotes that after the toils of battle it yet stands, thus the principles and ideals it stood for remained.   

Now we have this group who are in an uproar because, initially, one Black male, Colin Kaepernick, kneeled during the playing of the National Anthem. Now it has birthed a moment where others have joined him in solidarity, in other sports, and at different levels of competition. Those in an uproar are complaining that it is unpatriotic, it is disrespectful, or a public forum like sport should not be used to make a political statement. First, sport and sporting events are ideological outposts. Therefore, we cannot assume that they are sanitized and apolitical activities and spaces. Furthermore, regarding the idea of political compartmentalization, the subjects of oppression, whether we were survivals of the Atlantic Slave Kidnapping, the Holocaust, racial genocide, Jim Crow segregation, lynch mobs, KKK terrorism, etc., we can not compartmentalize our political expression or activity. Our very existence is political and politicized, and when we show up after surviving these human atrocities, we make a political statement. Whether we kneel or stand as Black people or subjects of oppression we are making a political statement. We are putting America on trial. We are demanding that she own up to her ideals, make good on her promises, and truly represent what it means to be “the land of the free.” Inclusive of this ideal is religious freedom, freedom to peacefully protest, and/or freedom from inequalities rooted in race, gender, physical disabilities, or class.

Furthermore, it is interesting that the words of this song (the song itself is problematic, but more about that later) suggest that the very flag itself stands “guard” to protect the freedoms of its people (“Oh say does that star-spangled banner yet wave, o’er the land of the “FREE” and the home of the brave”). Who is really FREE then? Well, certainly the author of the song did not have Blacks in mind when this song was penned—as evidence by the verse that wishes death upon the free black who takes up arms—and quite frankly, the freedom of Blacks is still in question when any kind of peaceful protest elicits this much visceral venom and anger. Moreover, the US government, in the current administration, has not only shifted its focus and resources away from white supremacists, but now decided to focus on “Black Identity Extremists,” a remix of COINTELPRO of the 1950s. Athletes do not shed their experiences of oppression at the 50 yard line. If their “fans” truly support them, they would take a knee too. No, what these (white) fans support is the commodification of the Black body. And this is further evidenced by America then stripping these Black bodies of their CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT to protest (even the resident of the White House has stooped to calling them out of their names). This divisive rhetoric has been a continual practice from an office we look to in providing national and international unity. And the Constitution doesn't stipulate that citizens can protest when it is comfortable or expedient for others. That wouldn't exactly be protest, now would it? It makes sense logically (and morally) to protest where one has the largest platform. Actors and entertainers do it. Michael Jackson did it with “We are the World.” It seems that protest is okay as long as white people don’t have to be reminded that their tacit and overt acceptance of the benefits of skin privilege and the oppression of those in Black skin is the very REASON for the protest. And isn’t it interesting that a large mass of white folks who have never walked a mile in the shoes of a Black (or Brown) person, who have never experienced America's commodification of Black bodies (beginning in slavery and continuing through today, most prominently evidenced in sport) speak so passionately about HOW and WHEN we can protest a society that from its inception (or, more appropriately, colonization) has been set up to oppress people of color (beginning with Indigenous Natives and the holocaust inflicted upon them, through the African holocaust, segregation, Jim Crow, white supremacy post reconstruction, shootings of unarmed Black men, overrepresentation of Black and Brown children in exclusionary discipline in schools and in special education, and the overrepresentation of white children in gifted classes, and on, and on) and privilege those with white skin. And those very privileged people then want to tell those who are oppressed, don't protest--that right is NOT yours. Maybe we are still only 3/5 of a person?

So, what is more patriotic than reminding Americans that there is progress to be made in becoming a great nation; a nation big enough to incorporate and nurture diversity in all forms without fear? Patriotism is taking part in our legal rights to peacefully protests behaviors, like police brutality, that have disproportionately harmed the lives of Black men and women in this country. It is unpatriotic to allow these acts and others to go unchecked until they weave themselves into becoming our new normal where we simply expect Black men and women to die at the hands of police officers or that we expect criminal activity to be the norm in Black communities.

Well, back to our original point: if this nation’s ideals, which the flag symbolizes, can not stand up to protest, then we should not vilify and demonize the protesters, but reevaluate whether the values this nation purports are capable of being achieved by ALL its citizens. Currently, the hypocrisy of Land of the Free, Home of the Brave lives on (incidentally, we’ll NEVER agree with this song or the homage we pay to it - it was written by a racist who wished death upon freed Blacks - how patriotic is that?).

Billy Hawkins, Ph.D.

April Peters Hawkins, Ph.D.

President #45: The Personification of “Unrestricted” White Male Privilege

President #45: The Personification of “Unrestricted” White Male Privilege

If there was ever a point in American History where the definition of “unrestricted” white male privilege has not been blatantly defined, clearly understood and demonstrated, we are witnessing it that point in history now. I say “unrestricted” white male privilege because social class has the ability to distort or limit the exercise of white male privilege. Thus, white male privilege exist at all socioeconomic class levels, but its implementation, pervasiveness, and effectiveness is more evident beyond working class white male populations. The president of the most powerful nation in the world is demonstrating and has demonstrated, prior to taking office, what it means to have unrestricted white male privilege. If it is still unclear, let me make it plan: it is the ability to say and do whatever you want with little to no repercussions. Furthermore, it is the ability to censure, fire, discredit, and/or degrade anyone who doesn’t agree with you without consequences. It is like having access and opportunity to whatever you want regardless of who owns it or who feelings you might hurt in taking what you want, saying what you want, and simply doing whatever the hell you want. I know that sounds like some toddlers that attend my son’s daycare center, but unfortunately, we are witnessing the personification of unrestricted white male privilege in its rawest form in this nation’s highest office.

Here we have President #45 exhibiting actions towards people of color that clearly align themselves with the actions of white supremacists, which is typical of white male privilege. For example: he and his administration established a travel ban on predominantly Muslim countries, which are, predominantly people of color; seek to build a wall to keep Mexicans out (also people of color); he called KKK members who marched in Charlottesville, VA, “good people” (keep in mind that the KKK were and are the most notorious terrorist organizations in American history, especially against people of color) but refers to Black NFL players who peacefully protest racial injustices in this country by taking a knee during the singing of the national anthem as, “Sons of Bitches”; he and his administration initially rescind DACA policy (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) and conservatively reform this policy with the SUCCEED Act; he and his administration treated Puerto Ricans and Puerto Rico, like America’s side-piece, not warranting the full attention or resources to meet their dire needs. The list of racially charged and sexist acts goes on by this president who arrogantly and boastfully demonstrates unrestricted white male privilege.

What makes his personification of unrestricted white male privilege sustainable is that it is condoned and nurtured within the system of white supremacy. Therefore, the institution of the presidency and its current president is making white America great again, because they are in fear of losing ground as the racial demographics of this nation begin to reflect the racial demographics of the world.

What is being exposed with greater intensity, with a leader who personifies unrestricted white male privilege is deep-seated racial hatred that fuels the resurgence of the KKK and other white supremacist groups. Simply stated, President #45 is voicing the thoughts and ideas of many of his followers. This unrestricted privilege enables supporters of President #45 to project their slave-master’s ideology on people of color, in general, and Blacks, specifically. For example, when they suggest that professional Black male athletes should be grateful for the amount of money they are making, thus, they should just shut up and play ball; don’t politicize the game, simply entertain us. They forget that the entry of the national anthem or displaying the American flag automatically politicizes the sporting event. How can you separate the political ideology of a nation from the national symbols that distinguishes it from other nations? Thus, once again, we have whites seeking to control the Black body; establishing the parameters within which it can exist.

Should we be surprised or shocked by this behavior? Well, we shouldn’t, especially when we place this behavior, the exhibition of unrestricted white male privilege, within the socio-historical context of this country. There has been and continues to be a racial divide in this country because it has never adequately addressed its race problem. The U.S. has never adequately atoned for its history of genocide against Native Americans, the original inhabitants of this country or the enslavement of millions of Africans (Blacks) throughout Europe, the Caribbean, and North America; and the forms of oppression and exploitation it birthed – e.g., Jim Crow segregation, disproportionate rate of incarceration of Blacks, etc. This nation created a reservation system as token concessions for the millions of acres that were stolen, but what about the millions of Native Americans who were exterminated. The U.S. has never provided sufficient reparations for the millions of lives that were displaced because of the Atlantic slave kidnapping and the system of slavery that was a major catalyst to the capitalist economy. The U.S. never sought to provide Blacks or Native Americans with the equal access to opportunities that whites assumed by birth. These racial wounds are deep and have been festering for hundreds of years. We have tolerated this illness, ignored it symptoms, and provided superficial treatment hoping that it will get better. Well, here we are. Despite, making some symbolic progress when “we” elected former president Mr. Barack Obama to two terms. Yet, here we are. The momentary destabilization of hopelessness fostered by the prophet of change, former President Obama, has been undermined and dismantled by President #45.

Moving beyond the psychosocial damage the disease of white supremacy and unrestricted white male privilege is spreading will take aggressive measures of social protests, similar to the statement Colin Kaepernick initiated with his act of kneeling during the singing of the National Anthem; which is merely a continuation of protests this nation has experienced from those desiring social and racial justice throughout history. Until the consciousness of this nation rise above the degenerative state it is currently experiencing, protest, preferably peaceful protests, will be necessary.