The article was penned by Thomas Chatterton Williams. In his "The Root" article Mr Williams seeks to "reclaim his street cred" among progressives by setting the record straight after the attacks that he suffered from criticizing President Obama's iPod music selection that included several "Hip Hop Voice Of The Street Pirate" music artists in an article that he penned for the Wall Street Journal. It seems that many "Progressives who are Black" did not appreciate Mr Williams "attacking" Hip Hop in the venue of the WSJ that is read by so many White folks. Especially the White Conservative Republican folks that control the money via their corporatism.
My read of his submission in "The Root" was his attempt to set the record straight among "his people".
Mr Williams goes on to characterize the parallel between the "Hip Hop Voice Of The Street Pirate" behavior and that of conservatism based upon their common claim to:
- Misogyny
- Homophobia
- Clinging To Their Guns
- Monetary Selfishness and Greed
The best understanding of Mr Williams' "slight of hand" comments can be found by reading the subsequent comments that were posted by the readers of "The Root". If I am guilty of writing long winded commentary a far more head banging assault can be found by those who practice the "bigotry of brevity". This is an offence that allows a person to retain his thought as he uses the words penned by the author as further evidence of his correctness. His post is not ANALYSIS of the author's views with any hopes of dismissal or justified acceptance. Instead it is merely a relay, presented in less than 140 characters, suitable for propagation on Twitter. The majority likely paste the response on their FaceBook page as well.
The Hijacking Of Conservatism
The main distortion of "conservatism" hoisted by Mr Williams is that he made this ideology into a caricature by focusing upon the negative stereotypes of the people that are often cast as conservatives while never considering the actual performing artists that are in the hip hop game and where they stand in real world political context.
We can judge the credibility of this analysis by one simple point: Notice the virtual glee seen in the "Progressive who are Democrat who are Black" community at the termination of the contract of Juan Williams at NPR contrasted to court room vigil of supporters that was recently held for Street Pirate Clifford "TI" Harris as he was sent back to jail for at least the 3rd time. Enough said.
The main failing of Mr Williams is that he, who is likely NOT a conservative, failed to use his opportunity to make the case that one does not have to be a conservative to repudiate "Hip Hop Voice Of The Street Pirate" lyrics as being ignorant and subversive to the necessary order in the Black community. Instead Mr Williams added to the stereotype of "conservatives and Republicans", thus allowing the brevity bigots to escape yet another chance at forced introspection.
You see Mr Williams allowed them to conclude that the Hip Hop artists are these negative things BECAUSE they are Conservatives. Those who receive most of their world intelligence from Twitter are not inclined to process this information beyond that which is presented to them because it is inline with their pre-existing thoughts.
I countered Mr Williams with my response where I gave my definition of me as a Black Conservator.
A conservator of a museum seeks to retain the collection of items that have fidelity to the given theme of the museum or the section of the museum. No fake replica should make it into the display case while newly discovered items that augment the collection should be searched for.
In the case of the "Black Conservator" - he knows that there are certain proven techniques by which the people within the Black community can be developed in line with the goal of constructing a "functional culture" within. The quest of the Black Conservator is to identify these principles and challenge the status quo from its present hijacking. He uses the results that the people themselves COMPLAIN ABOUT as evidence to show that even they would agree that CHANGE is necessary. He applies patience, realizing that in his numerical minority status he does not have popular fanfare on his side. Instead the same sentiment felt by Fannie Lou Hamer will one day force those among them that are "sick and tired" to submit to being more open minded about the need to adopt a more sound solution set - lest too many of them continue to suffer the fate of "The Least Of These" to justify the continued adherence to that which is POPULAR but demands no CHANGE within themselves.
I planted the firm index upon the discovery of best practices within the areas of my continued insistence:
- Safe Streets
- Quality Education
- Thriving Local Economies
- Healthy Lifestyle and Relationship Outcomes
Ironically the words said in the "Street Pirate" songs are a direct molestation of ALL OF THESE PRINCIPLES!!!!
The main offense of this entire exercise is that it, once again, presents an opportunity for the greater Black community to discuss the alignment of "Hip Hop Voice Of The Street Pirate" with our broader community goals. The same people who are dismissing these artists as "conservative Republicans" also fail to note that while they hate Republicans they are inclined to have the music of these "Republicans" on their own iPods. Now I am not sure if this is because they personally like these artists or because Barack Obama has them on his iPod and they are merely following Obama in an unquestioned basis. It is ironic to me to hear Barack Obama attack the "right wing radio hosts" during his 2008 "Race Speech" (where he warned America about the harm in allowing Black people to be in public schools all by ourselves) yet when it comes to the "Hip Hop Voice Of The Street Pirates" he gives them a 'Shout Out' rather than a stern talking to demanding that they change course.
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