Democracy wherever and whenever WE want it.

As we argue with each other over who is America's best dancer or whether or not American Idol Season 6 will be able to recapture the magic of Season 1, the people of the Congo are trying to piece together a DEMOCRACY.

As we spend thousands putting diamonds into our mouths, ONE THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED and FIFTY people die every day in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. That's 52 people/hour. One out of every four kids will never make it to see five years old. Hunger is the ultimate terrorist. Diarrhea and pneumonia are annoying here. They're murderers over THERE.

As we chose to turn away, four million people have died since 1998. As we sip our Vitamin Water, they wait hours for a sip of clean water. The Congo is in Africa, right? If it's not on the news, it didn't happen, right?

In a country where water, food, jobs, and opportunity are scarce, the people turned out in droves to vote. People walked, fought, canoed, and died to get to the polls. Here, the cops may get ya first....or the voting lines are too long....or the machine is broken....or the chad is hanging....or whatever. Vote or die, bitches!

As we spread democracy across the Middle East, we have failed to assist our brothers and sisters create their own democracy in the Congo. “When democracy spreads in the Middle East, the people of that troubled region will have a better future, the terrorists will lose their safe havens and their recruits, and the United States of America will be more secure,” President Bush said. We spread democracy where we can reap benefits. The consequences of imperialism are a bitch. YOU deal with it.

I heard somewhere that all men are created equal. Whatever. If it's not on television, it never happened.

FELA KUTI Expensive Shit/He Miss Road http://rapidshare.de/files/27612315/fk_es.rar.html
FELA KUTI Zombie http://rapidshare.de/files/27612850/fk_zom.rar.html

Minorities can be USED as White House South Lawn Decorations

On July 27th, with much pomp and circumstance, President Bush signed the Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, And Coretta Scott King Voting Rights Act Reauthorization And Amendments Act Of 2006 into law. In short, the law prohibits the use of testing, taxes, intimidation, etc. to prevent people from voting. 25 years? Why can't this law be one that doesn't need to be renewed? Let's just throw the minorities some scraps. Should keep 'em full for the time being. "The right of ordinary men and women to determine their own political future lies at the heart of the American experiment, and it is a right that has been won by the sacrifice of patriots.....My administration will vigorously enforce the provisions of this law, and we will defend it in court." Let them eat cake.

In the year 2006, the Voting Rights Act is nothing more than a diversion. A tactic. Keepin' our eyes off the prize. I need to eat. I need an education. I need a job. I need a safe school. I need an affordable place to live. I need to see a doctor.

Tackle the REAL issues. Don't parade minorities on stage, don't give us heritage months, don't embarass us with music months, and don't dupe us into voting for you.

Before giving us empty rhetoric, served up with Julian Bond, Al Sharpton, and Jesse Jackson to authenticate it, give us what the American experiment promises. Give us schools without metal detectors. Give us schools that look and feel like learning environments. Give us teachers that don't give up on me.

Give us health care. Give us a prison system that is devoid of connections to industry and the prophets of profit. Stop locking us up for no reason. Give us an opportunity to get that 40 acres. We don't need a mule. We just need an affordable mortgage. Instead of paying for the rebuilding of countries you've toppled, could you stabilize our economy?

Who's Fannie Lou Hamer? School didn't teach us about OUR founding mothers and fathers.

In 1965, we wouldn't have been able to stand on the White House lawn, unless we were cutting it or shining the guest of honor's shoes. Today, we are allowed to stand on the White House lawn and smile as the president signs another diversion. We'll see our pictures in the magazines. Maybe our names will be in the paper. PROGRESS is a beautiful thing.

THE IMPRESSIONS: The Young Mod's Forgotten Story http://rapidshare.de/files/27462613/impress_tymfs.rar.html

MUTABARUKA: Check It! http://rapidshare.de/files/27459776/muta_check.rar.html

THE COUP: Genocide and Juice http://rapidshare.de/files/27463804/coup_gaj.rar.html

Have YOU ever smoked Marijuana?

Recently, New York governor democratic candidates Elliot Spitzer and Thomas Suozzi squared off in a debate. In answer to the above question, both said YES.

The question and its response has no bearing on both candidates' stances on the issues, but it was refreshing to witness HONESTY in a debate. What's next, a discussion of the real issues: education, housing, poverty, etc, etc?

Then again, if only 40,000 NYC households tuned in, who cares?

MADLIB: Blunted in the Bomb Shelter http://rapidshare.de/files/27204102/blunted_madlib.rar.html

Talkin' All that JAZZ

Rhetoric is easy when you're on your way out. The economy is a mess. Kids all over the world are smarter than ours. You're fighting a battle that cannot be won. Halliburton is making buckets of money. The ghetto tax is real. Military aid to Africa has been drastically cut, allowing Islamic militants to take over Mogadishu. Entergy New Orleans wants to raise its electricity rates by 25% due to your administration rejecting a taxpayer bailout for Entergy. Medication errors cause thousands of deaths and cost billions annually; if you're in a hospital for four days, expect four errors. Fuck it. Let's try to get Black people to vote for us. Did you know that the Republican Party is the party of Lincoln? A remedy? A solution? Nah. A speech to the N-double-A-C-P!

Bush's speech was an exercise in political Bull SHIITE. If you're speaking to a group of Black people, mention the following: God, equality, slavery, "the party of Lincoln," Martin Luther King Jr., Katrina, Medicare/Medicaid, racism, inner city schoolchildren, No Child Left Behind, Bob Johnson, BET, the Reverend _____ _________, "government hand outs," faith-based groups, AIDS, Africa, and "May God Bless."

Add some adjectives, verbs, nouns, and some "I am out of touch with Black people humor" and you have yourself the makings of a political speech to a Black audience. Here's a G Dub knee-slapper: “Bruce, thanks for your introduction. Bruce is a polite guy -- I thought what he was going to say, it's about time you showed up." Laughed so hard, I started crying.

STETSASONIC: In Full Gear http://rapidshare.de/files/26656170/stet_ifg.rar.html

LONNIE LISTON SMITH: Expansions http://rapidshare.de/files/26661855/llsmith_exp.rar.html

Who Wants a Functional Democracy?

Americans don't vote. No surprise there. We live in a democracy. The choice is yours. We also love to gamble. More of us by lottery tickets than vote. Go figure.

Arizona has a strategy. Make the election a lottery. If you vote, you have a chance of winning one million dollars. With the odds at 1 in 2 million, that's better than most lotteries.

Pickin numbers isn't that different than picking your future leaders and representatives. We fixate on superstitions, birthdays, and irrational ideas to pick our lotto numbers. All connected by the hope of LUCK. We vote based on superstitions, abortion stance, gay marriage stance, affirmative action stance, religious beliefs. All connected by the hope that everyone that we pick will maintain the STATUS QUO.

Enron didn't wake us up. America's lagging education system is something we have come to accept. Our ever growing debt isn't bothering ME. Katrina was merely a case of bad weather gone wrong. The Iraq war is a war of moral principles. Affordable housing has become a thing of the past. Gasoline isn't a right, it's a privilege.

Do we need to wake up? Do we need new leadership? Do we need to assume more responsibility for ourselves and our communities? Do we need to make our voice heard? Nah. We need a million dollars.

That Buck that Bought a Bottle Could've Struck the Lotto

Thankfully, the future is far away. Let's worry about NOW. Tomorrow is another day.

That is the modus operandi for most Americans, according to a recently released study. Here's the short story: 44% of Americans are not saving one penny. A penny saved is a penny spent, right? 66% of Americans will live their retirement with a lower standard of living. 18% of American workers have pension plans. Social security is enough, right?

Most tellingly, the study points to investments in housing, cars, etc. have artificially inflated American's perception of their net worth. “The SIA study more than confirms our worry – in fact, it points to reasons for growing concern that the housing boom is turning into a retirement bust.” We are relying on our assets that we have NOW to ensure our standard of living TOMORROW.

If we can't INVEST in ourselves, how can we expect to INVEST IN OTHERS?

Krown Rulers: Paper Chase http://www.f-forge.com/?d=a1eg4IAxCvj6UFoMqfXt
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo: The Road to the Riches http://www.f-forge.com/?d=JkOWFUqQfvl80jpHgzun

YouTube Supports Brotherhood

This is what the Internets is all about. YouTube is in full support of integration and desegregation. YouTube is ahead of its time. Diversity is more than just a buzzword with YouTube. African-Americans are more than just photo-ops with YouTube. Godspeed YouTube.

You STILL Ain't Shit

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed to make sure everyone who can vote has an equal opportunity to do so. Instead of just renewing the act unanimously, our representatives politicized the event.

Why was this a debatable issue? Why were other issues tacked to this act? Why is immigration being tangled into this "debate?" Why was the English language tangled into this "debate?"

Because you still ain't shit. Take a look at Alabama's voting literacy test. In what year did the Congress gain the right to prohibit the migration of persons to the states?

Here are YOUR REPRESENTATIVES who voted against the VOTING RIGHTS ACT renewal:
Baker
Barrett (SC)
Bartlett (MD)
Barton (TX)
Bonner
Burton (IN)
Campbell (CA)
Conaway
Deal (GA)
Doolittle
Duncan
Everett
Foxx
Franks (AZ)
Garrett (NJ)
Gingrey
Hefley
Hensarling
Herger
Johnson, Sam
King (IA)
Linder
McHenry
Miller, Gary
Norwood
Paul
Price (GA)
Rohrabacher
Royce
Shadegg
Tancredo
Thornberry
Westmoreland

Here are YOUR REPRESENTATIVES that decided not to vote:
Carson
Davis, Jo Ann
Evans
Graves
McNulty
Northup
Sessions
Slaughter
Tiahrt

X-Clan To the East and Forward http://www.f-forge.com/?d=wfm2XUhFtrgZvYqP8ukC

No Teacher Left Behind

Everybody but the kids left New Orleans. That leaves the struggling New Orleans school system to try to find enough teachers to fill their classrooms. Hurricanes leave more than destroyed property behind.

This is not proving to be an easy task. Despite the gentrification-ready-cheap-homes-in-minority-neighborhoods syndrome, young college grads are not flocking to New Orleans. Despite African-Americans leaving their city, teachers are not flocking to New Orleans. "It was not only New Orleans but also the entire metropolitan region that became whiter, less poor and more mobile." Still, college educated Whites. Despite the fact that serving poor Blacks is the cool thing to do before you go to law school, young college grads are not flocking to New Orleans.

Thankfully, the New Orleans school system came up with a better idea. Lower the standards and ease the requirements to become a teacher. Problem solved. Now the superintendents and chancellor can rest easy.

Their ass is covered. Their job is done. The governor is happy. The teacher-to-student ratio is great in New Orleans! They know the parents won't know the difference. And if they do care, they'll probably only complain that their kids can't have their cell phones in school. You know, the IMPORTANT things.

The kids will now become part of the educational baton race. They will be passed on, from grade to grade, teacher to teacher. Passed on. Passed on. And dumped on graduation day. One more generation sitting at the finish line, not realizing they have just started the REAL RACE. With nowhere to go, not knowing how to find their destination.

METERS: Cabbage Alley http://www.f-forge.com/?d=FwiEUXsVgI5OdkLlZ2zo

More Than Meets the Eye

The CAUCASIABOTS possess the power of the Matrix. They have the ability to transform nationalities. From American to their European country of preference and back again; assimilation with an on-off switch. This power increases after international sports events, high profile trials, and Republican scapegoating. The following two before-and-after pictures are shown as evidence.

Unfortunately, the IMMIGRANTICONS do not possess the power to control the Matrix. They are outsiders in the land they call home, the land of the free. No matter how long they have stayed, no matter the battles they have fought, they are never home. The Immigranticons are who you see. They cannot transform. What you WANT to see is what YOU get. The following four before-and-after pictures are shown as evidence.




The Caucasiabots and the Immigranticons are forever caught in an idealogical battle. They are doomed to share the Galaxy's one melting pot. The recipe is simple. The melting pot consists of one part oil, two parts water. Simmer for decades. Ignore.

BOIL OVER.

FUNKADELIC One Nation Under A Groove http://www.f-forge.com/?d=Z7UTXEa614zMFAe5BlYg

FLAMING LIPS Soft Bulletin http://www.f-forge.com/?d=BuLw01vMs8Ji5xKegy3E

KOKANE Funk Upon A Rhyme http://www.f-forge.com/?d=iB5D94oLbntENzumFUOY

Your Kid = Your New Crack Hiding Spot

Kendra Walton wanted a safe place to keep her drugs. She decided to use her 11 year-old child.

I am not here to BLAME RAP for this generation's acceptance of crack as a means to gain social mobility. I am here to ASK RAP to consider the consequences of their actions. Damn. That's a hot beat.

Hip-Hop's remorse is buried in a track that will never get any AIRPLAY. Will never get heard. If a tree falls in a forest with no one to hear it, does it make a sound? If a song is made and no one listens to it, does it make an IMPACT?

Clipse said they feel like a hampster in a wheel. Biggie said he wants to go to hell when he dies. Who's listening?

CLIPSE We Got It for Cheap Vol.2 http://www.f-forge.com/?d=I4bt60Z3qYWTauKoySHR

CLIPSE We Got the Remix http://www.f-forge.com/?d=xPtQb5J7y3rYTaz0Lmi8

Child Truancy = Parent Eviction. YOU do the math.

The Norwalk Housing Authority in CT has a novel idea to cut truancy at local elementary schools. If you're kid cuts too much, you will be evicted.

The proposal works as follows: 4 unexcused absences = mandatory tutoring at Norwalk tutoring centers. 6 unexcused absences = parents perform community service at Norwalk learning center. 7 unexcused absences = parents meet with housing authority officials. 10 absences = eviction.

Direct consequences demand direct attention. The squeeky wheel with threat of eviction gets the most oil.

If approved, the legislation would affect kindergarten - third grade and an additional grade each year. If you're kindergarten - third grade child is not attending school, the parents must be held accountable. Period. If education isn't important, Norwalk wants to MANDATE its importance. Education is more than just what happens at school.

We Got It For CHEAP.

"I've been at cocktail parties where people laugh about it."
"…if one of them were to refuse, you can imagine the repercussions."
"They bring me warm bodies, 10 warm bodies in the morning. They do anything you ask them to do."

With a current unemployment rate of 4.6 percent, prison labor is still cheaper than hiring unemployed Americans. It's even cheaper than illegal immigrants. Money screams louder than rhetoric.

We're number one! We have the number one incarceration rate in the world! More than 600/100,000 Americans are serving prison terms. Human caging is expensive. Putting prisoners to work helps even out the scales.

East Carroll Parish in Louisiana is a small 9,000-person community. 10% of the community is incarcerated, and a majority of its workforce is incarcerated. They're cheap. They come with their own sheriff enforcers. Here's how it works: prisoners do what they are told and get paid minimum wage. Sheriffs take out "expenses" from prisoners' wages. Prisoners work for nothin. "If you talk to people around here, it is jokingly referred to as rent-a-convict. There's something offensive about that. It's almost like a form of slavery." On top of their expenses, sheriffs make $22.39/prisoner.

The prison-industrial complex is alive. They're stuffing your envelopes, telemarketing to your house, entering data in your government's offices, tending the livestock you'll eventually eat, and building the prisons their kids will eventually live in. With the thousands of dollars necessary per year to incarcerate one prisoner, something's gotta give. It's only fair.

BURNING SPEAR: Marcus Garvey/100th Anniversary http://www.f-forge.com?d=tmyOvMK2ZV1AzL8oF7kW

The Bipolar Fat Boys

We all know obesity isn't good for you. Obesity has been associated with diabetes, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, atherosclerosis, cancer, respiratory insufficiency, arthritis, sleep problems, etc, etc. Yet, we all still go for that extra value meal. Don't forget the extra beef patty, the extra salt, and the twenty ketchup packets.

Damn, that tastes good NOW. Tomorrow is another day. Isn't it live today, die tomorrow? Whatever.

A recent study associated obesity with an increased risk of psychiatric disorders, especially bipolar disorder, depression, and panic disorder. If it ain't one thing it's another.

America is fat and getting fatter. That means we are destined to become a hypertensive, bipolar, diabetic, heavy breathing, atherosclerotic nation. Unless. Unless, we plan ahead. Unless, we make investments in ourselves and others. Unless, we associate our choices of today with our consequences of tomorrow. Unless, we INVEST in our future.

FAT chance.

The study did reveal one glimmer of hope: obese people are less likely to develop a substance abuse problem. I need another Big Mac NOW! Extra special sauce. And fries. And a soda. I said NOW! Don't forget the mayo.

Oh. Can I get another Big Mac?

GNARLS BARKLEY St. Elsewhere http://rapidshare.de/files/25090287/gb_ste.rar.html

Pose-Outs - A new model of self-expression for July 4th

POSE-OUTS by Langston Hughes
"Sit-ins and such, picketings and such, for civil rights has been so common," said Simple, "that they no longer attracts attention. A lot of demonstrations nowadays do not even get in the papers any more. There has been too many, so I thought up something new."
"What? I asked.
"Pose-ins," said Simple, "or pose-outs."
"What do you mean 'pose-outs'?"
"Statues is often naked, are they not?" said Simple.
"Yes."
"Well, by pose-outs," said Simple, "I mean Negroes undressing down to their bare skin and posing naked as statues for freedom's sake. Twenty million Negroes taking off every stitch-stepping out of pants, dress, and drawers in public places and posing in the nude until civil rights have come to pass."
"You are demented," I declared.
"No, said Simple, "Nothing would attract as much attention to segregation, integration, and ratiocination than if every Negro in this American country would just stand naked until Jim Crow goes."
"Fantastic!" I said. "Mad! Completely absurd!"
"Yes," said Simple, "at a certain time on a certain day let even those Negroes that be in Congress-Dawson, Diggs, Powell-like that first Adam in the Garden-rise naked to answer roll call. Ordinary people, if at work in factories, foundries, offices, or homes, will establish a nude-in. If on the streets, a nude-out. Black waiters at the Union League Club, a nude-in. Colored boys pushing racks in the streets of the garment district, a nude-out. Black cooks could pose in white kitchens naked. Maids could pose dusting the parlor with nothing on but a dust cap. Pullman porters on the trains in the raw. Redcaps at stations bare except for badge numbers. Ralph Bunche at the United Nations, naked as a bird. At home, a nude-in. On the street, a nude-out. Until all Negroes get our rights, we pose. You know that statue 'The Thinker'?"
"By Rodin," I said.
"Setting on a stone with nothing on in God's world-'The Thinker'-with his chin in his hand, just setting lost in thought. Imagine James Farmer demonstrating for CORE at City Hall, posing at high noon naked, making like 'The Thinker,' chin in hand! Also on the same day at the same time Roy Wilkins upholding the NAACP, buck-naked between them two lions on the steps of the New York Public Library, with nothing on but his nose glasses. At the back of the library, on the terrace facing Bryant Park, Borough President Constance Baker Motley just as she came in this world, whilst at 50th and Broadway where the theatres is, Miss Lena Horne, bare as Venus. Down the way a piece, in front of the Metropolitan Opera, Leontyne Price in all her glory on a podium, not a stitch to her name. The traffic tie-up on Broadway would be terrific. We would not need a stall-in. Nude-outs would be enough. In Central Park, Willie Mays, on Sugar Hill, Jackie Robinson. And uptown in Harlem at 125th and Lenox, I would place on a pedestal Miss Pearl Bailey."
"Unclothed?"
"Except by nature," said Simple. "With Negroes posing like statues all over town, traffic would jam. On Wall Street tickers would stop running. In Washington at sight of Adam Powell in his birthday suit, filibusters would cease to be. In Atlanta, Rev. Martin Luther King, with not even a wrist watch on, would preach his Sunday-morning sermon. In New York colored subway conductors would report for duty in the all-together. Every waitress in Chock Full O'Nuts would look like Eve before the Fall. In Harlem, Black Muslims would turn to Black Nudists. And at the Apollo, Jackie Mabley would break up the show. Oh, if every Negro in America, big and small, great and not so great, would just take his clothes off and keep them off for the sake of civil rights, America would be forced to scrutinize our cause."
"How shocking!" I said.
"Which is what we would mean it to be," declared Simple. "A nude shock-out to America into clothing us in the garments of equality, not the rags of segregation. And when Negroes got dressed again, we could vote in Mississippi."
"That would be when hell freezes over," I said. "Besides, by that time, the Legion of Decency would have all of you in jail for indecent exposure."
"Not me," said Simple, "because I would be in Harlem. The colored cops in Harlem would be naked too, so how would I know, without his uniform, that he were a cop?"
"Considering all the dangers involved, would you be the first to volunteer for a nude-out?" I asked.
"That honor I would leave to YOU."

JIMI HENDRIX: Band of Gypsys http://rapidshare.de/files/24947689/jh_bog.rar.html

Lowering the Standards Increases the OUTCOMES

Outcomes based education requires pre-defined endpoints. Our educational system defines endpoints as "passing" and "graduating." The epitome of cover your ass; as long as the kid passes he's out of MY hair. He's YOUR problem now. CYA.

The No Child Left Behind Act has granted states autonomy in determining minimum proficiencies necessary to graduate or pass a grade. What's easier than fixing a problem? Working around it. If kids can't meet the standards, let's lower them. Outcomes-based education just needs outcomes, who cares how we GET there? Why jump over a hurdle when you can just walk around it?

An independent research group recently released a study, looking at twelve state's performances on state proficiency exam scores versus national proficiency exam scores. The results were not pretty. Ideal results would be similar scores on state and national exams. The results were unanimously dismal; students scores were significantly higher on state exams. At least I passed!

Outcomes based education has also yielded outcomes-based teaching. Classes have become Kaplan test-prep centers. Teachers have become automatons. Students have become bored. We've created a binary education system: pass or fail. Nothin in between. At least I passed! America has become a stagnant educational pool. Our kids are just wading. Our kids are just waiting.

School accountability will become a major issue in public debate. At least until the current election season is over. We all deserve "participant" medals.

THE COUP: Steal This Album http://rapidshare.de/files/24942326/tc_stealta.rar.html

POMP and Circumstance Season

Feels like I got some college educations hangin' on my necklace.
And my fingers.....all ten of 'em.
And my ears....yes. Both of 'em.
Oh yeah, and my savings account is in my mouth.