Street roots., January 09, 2015, Page 9, Image 9

"The s e d a l eettdftioits that
predoce the e w lre itm e sit in
which the btaes was created,
la which f a n was created^ I»
which hip hop music was
created, those cesnHtleas
havea't really changed that
laiich, So there Is always going
to be an authentic expression
that comes from the cu ltural
experience of the people who
are oppressed, r
music industry that first exploited the black
artists for the benefit of commercial entities
and then ultimately, removed the black
artist from the genre and replaced them
with white artists because the record-buying
audience is primarily a white audience.
In the commercial structure of the music
industry we see reinforcement of white
supremacy as we do in other places in
society. And whether it is Iggy Azalea or
Eminem or Elvis Presley or any number of
artists.
The thing to remember, though, is that
the social conditions that produce the
environment in which the blues was created,
in which jazz was created, in which hip hop
-music was created, those conditions haven’t
really changed that much. So there is always
going to be an authentic expression that
comes from the cultural experience of the
people who are oppressed.
S.Z.: The day before Christmas Eve,
Antonio Martin was shot in Berkeley, Mo.,
just a few miles from Ferguson where Officer
Darren Wilson shot and killed Michael Brown
last summer. Two officers in NYC were
murdered in their vehicle the week before. Can
you see any resolution to this growing rift
between police officers and the public in
general?
M.C.: There is going to have to be a
cultural revolution — a political revolution
that is underway as we speak. I don’t know
how long it is going to take. I can’t measure
what I will see in my lifetime, but these
things are expressions of these ongoing
struggles between the world that we exist in
and the world that we’re trying to create - a
world that is more just arid equitable.
Iri that equation, police are a kind of
occupying force that stands between the
society that we desire - and when I say we,
I’m talking about working-class people, poor
people, people who are historically
oppressed — and the society we have got
The police are there to protect the
interests of the people who control equal
access and distribution to wealth and power.
That is the only reason police exist. And
until we transform things and have more
activists who have a priority to work with
hip hop culture as a reflection of youth
culture in African communities that are
oppressed. .
S.Z.; Where do you see the program heading
in the future?
■ S g H
e B s
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P H O T O C O U R T E S Y O F T H E R Y T H Y M IN M E
B LO G SPO T C O M
Mic Crenshaw at the Afrikan Hip Hop Conference, Soundzofthe South event in Cape Town,
South Africa.
equitable relationships across society, we’re
going to be in a violent struggle.
Racism exists because white people
brought it into existence.
You’ve got these cops killing unarmed
children, in broad daylight, on camera. The
question about Whether cops should be
wearing body cameras is almost absurd,
because people get killed on camera all of
the time and there is still no recourse.
You don’t have' to be a scientist or -an
academic to see what is going on.
S.Z.: How do we untangle that? We've come
so far since the civil rights movement, we have
a black president for the first time in our
nation's history and y e t...
M.C.: That shit was happening before
there was a headline. The Malcolm X
Grassroots Movement has done a study and
they, say every 28 hours a black person is
executed by police or security or self-
deputized white vigilantes.
■
J O
S.Z.: You have recently returned from the
Afrikan Hip Hop Caravan tour ¥■ a kind of
cultural exchange. Tell me about the project.
M.C.: We do a week in various African
cities. We started the project in 2013. This
year, I participated in Cape Town, South
Africa; Harare, Zimbabwe; Arusha, Tanzania
and the Nairobi, Kenya legs of the tour. I
have also become the lead organizer (for
the Afrikan Hip Hop Caravan) in the United
States. There are a number of organizers in
Africa as well.
For the week that we spend in each city,
we are hosted by local hip hop collectives
that set up a number of events for us to not
only perform music and give free concerts
to audiences, but also to interact in the
community. It is youth focused and all
centers around this idea of how can we
utilize hip hop culture as a, tool for elevating
consciousness and ultimately transforming
lives.
This is an important project because it is
organized by people who are cultural
I N
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M.C.: My highest aspiration for the
project Is to bring African American and
indigenous artists from the United States
and for African and indigenous artists from
Africa to be able to participate in the
Caravan on both continents.
S.Z.: We are notoriously “white” and to a
great degree, lean toward the left politically in
the Pacific Northwest, specifically Portland.
How can we do better in our communities to
include and honor African ancestry and
culture in a way that is inclusive?
M.C.: That is an interesting question. I
think by supporting people who are already
doing that work and who are already
organized — be they individuals or
organizations or community groups and
programs.
S.Z.: What will 2015 bring for you?
M.C.: It will bring more results of the
hard work of people who are oriented
toward social justice.
sue@streetroots.org