No, this isnt a post about white supremacists shooting the country up. Ive talked about The Mental Disease of White Supremacy plenty.
Yesterday, Nyesuada and I had a conversation about the state of Black culture, and how it came to its current state of decay. I recommended to him (as I recommend to you) a book by Professor Griff of Public Enemy called The Psychological Covert War on Hip Hop
If you want to truly understand how and why African-American culture has hit the bottom of the barrel, you must believe that there is a culture war underway.
Is there a secret “Illuminati” group behind this war? Are the “white supremacists” out to get us through control of the media? Are there smoke-filled rooms where politicians and business elite gather to figure out how to screw Black folk over? I don’t think it’s that simple. I do believe that this war is being waged to achieve very real objectives – namely to amass and maintain the power, wealth, and control of a ruling class.
But that’s another post for another day.
But if you start with the understanding that there is a war being waged against you and your culture, then you will be able to recognize some of the tactics being used by the enemy. In this post, we will examine the cultural battle that we fight, and how these same tactics of destabilization, using the media as a weapon, and misrepresenting rebel minorities as realities.
Destabilize the Current Regime Using “Rebels”
The skilled war fighter knows that it is easier to invade, conquer, and control a group of people in chaos than it is to invade and control a group that is culturally, administratively, and militarily sound. Therefore, it becomes essential to destabilize the current way of life.
Western nations have always used spies, rebels, operatives, and insurgents to destabilize countries prior to military intervention. America in particular mastered this strategy during World War II, when German spies that rebelled against Hitler where quickly turned into double agents.
These agents helped to transmit misinformation to Hitler’s regime, were instrumental in breaking Germany’s encryption codes, and gave the West direct access to the hearts and minds of the people of Nazi Germany. So effective was this strategy writes Ben MacIntyre, author of Double Cross, that “we actively controlled the German espionage system in the country” on a day-to-day level. Using this system, the United States, Great Brittain, and their allies were able to turn public opinion against Hitler and his Nazi regime.
Later in Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah would be forced into exile by CIA – backed “rebels” who also used a media campaign to destroy Nkrumahs legacy and to bury his ideas on African unification and independence.
Patrice Lumumba (2 July 1925 – 17 January 1961) was the first legally elected Prime Minister of the Republic of the Congo after he helped win its independence from Belgium in June 1960. Only twelve weeks later, Lumumba’s government was overthrown and destroyed in a United Nations backed coup.
Omar Efraín Torrijos Herrera (February 13, 1929 – July 31, 1981) was the Commander of the Panamanian and National Guard and the de facto leader of Panama from 1968 to 1981. In his book titled Confessions of an Economic Hit Man
Of course, the documents with the investigations about the cause of the accident were missing during the U.S. invasion in Panama on December 20, 1989 and never found. Torrijos died shortly after the inauguration of US President Ronald Reagan, just two months after Ecuadorian president Jaime Roldós died in strikingly similar circumstances.
And now we have the Arab Spring, which has been successful in destabilizing the entire Middle East. It shouldn’t be surprising that Moncef Marzouki, current leader of Tunisia, Abdurrahim Abdulhafiz El-Keib, current leader of Libya, and Mohamed Morsi Isa al-Ayyat, current leader of Egypt were all American educated, and are supported by the United States. These former rebel leaders are all now in positions of power.
The Parallel
For African-Americans, music has always played a central role in influencing the hearts and minds of the people. From the old negro spirituals sung by slaves, to the jazz of the Harlem renaissance, to James Brown singing “say it loud, I’m Black and Im proud!”, our music has always reflected the souls of Black folk. In the early days of hip hop, revolutionary voices like Public Enemy and the X-Clan and many others called us to revolution, and kept the spirit of the post-Civil Rights era alive.
And then along come the cultural rebels. By using aggressive, sexually charged lyrics, profane imagery, and shocking violence, these well-funded, record label backed rebels hijacked Black culture to influence the hearts and minds of Black folk to move into a different direction. And now, as we have seen, these rebels are all currently in positions of power and influence.
Cutural Insurgent Amber Rose. The bi-sexual stripper whose only claim to fame is having slept with celebrities says …”I’m all about women empowerment. I was in the moment. It’s just me. That’s what I teach my Rosebuds and Rose Studs on Twitter, the young people that look up to me.”
Do we really need our daughters to become “rosebuds”?
Use the Media as a Weapon
The control and use of the media as a weapon is the second stage of regime destabilization. In war, said Napoleon, the moral element and public relations are half the battle. And that was before radio and television.
Take the war against Osama Bin Laden for example. Until the day that he was killed Bin Laden denied that his al-Qaida organization was responsible for the suicide attacks against the U.S. (although he applauds them). He suggests the attacks were made by Americans from either intelligence agencies or “a hidden government.” He went on to say that “we are against the system which makes other nations slaves of the United States, or forces them to mortgage their political and economic freedoms.”
Bin Laden insists that Israel’s repression of Palestinians is the principal reason for his war against America. He argues U.S. foreign policy is totally controlled by the pro-Israel lobby, whose first priority, he says, is Israel, not America.
With that being said, notice how important it is for United States Presidents and presidential candidates to express how much they support Israel? Notice how little Palestine is covered in the media? Notice how so few Americans are educated on exactly why we support the Jewish state of Israel?
But that’s another post for another day.
The media was used as a weapon against Osama Bin Laden in the days leading up to the war in order to drum up international support for what would be the execution of nearly 10,000 Afghan civilians by U.S. and coalition forces.
The Parallel
For African-Americans, the media has been used as a cultural weapon early on. From the days of Black face and Steppin Fetchitt to images of Black men in drag, the American media has been used to devastate our self-image, our self-esteem, and our idea of what should be expected of us as Black men and women. Media geared towards Black men, women, and children has been engineered to destabilize our culture – and it has worked. Whereas we once controlled our culture, our messages, and our ideals of Blackness, the media has promoted images of video vixens, ultra violence, and a dumbed-down philosophy.
To make it easier to digest these destructive elements, producers will use catchy jingles and beats that sound like nursery rhymes. Heres a good example (click to watch)
Rather than praising substance, these rebels urged listeners to praise materialism. Rather than reflecting the strength that has traditionally been the Black family unit, these rebels pushed “O.P.P” and pimpin. Gil Scott Heron, Cool Herc, Dead Prez, Common, and the Fugees were pushed aside for Spice One, Snoop, The Cash Money Brothas, No Limit, Kanye West, and Young Money.
Convince the people that the minority represents reality
With more media coverage given to the agenda presented by the rebels, the public is made to believe that the rebels acturally represent the predominant will of the people. The reality is that the cameras cannot and do not speak for the rest of the citizenry.
When the illegal overthrow of Momar Quaddafi’s government was underway, one Western nation after another turned against the North African leader and recognized the opposition Transitional National Council – the rebels – as Libya’s legitimate government. No one knew who this group was, or what their plans were for Libya…not even the Libyans.
In announcing U.S. recognition of the TNC July 15, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton described the group as “the legitimate governing authority for Libya.” Media viewers around the world believed that the rebels represented the people of Libya, and therefore bought the entire croc of shit as being legit.
In Uganda, the same strategy was used to justify U.S. involvement in Sub-Saharan Africa. Remember Kony?
The Parallel
In Black culture here in America, we have been made to believe that all Black men and women act out in certain stereotypical, anti-social, misogynistic patterns of behavior. Our media portrays us as being buck dancing, bling rocking, gang-banging, pants-sagging, white girl loving and Black man hating. In the past, these behavior patterns were marginal, but recently we have seen the emergence of these fringe lunatics in everyday Black culture. Rather than art imitating life, life has begun to imitate art.
Its time we started to call these hip hop hoes, Basketball wives, rap moguls, and porn pushers out. Everyone talks about keeping shit real, meanwhile allowing themselves to be influenced by the unreal.
You might already understand that for the Black, conscious, upright, and moral, it’s becoming harder and harder to hold our ground. Much more than how the world perceives you is at stake. As we have seen, the media serves as a powerful influence of human behavior. In the hands of the right people, it can be a tool to evolve our culture to unimagined heights. In the hands of the wrong people, it can become a tool to propagate violence, mass manipulation, sexual deviancy, and total destruction. It is our duty to become culture warriors.
Fighting for your culture is fighting for our future!
Peace!
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