Ifè Oshun: Assorted Rants

Almost 50 years ago, Dr. Kenneth Clark conducted a ground-breaking doll test proving African-American children suffered from low self-esteem as a result of internalized racism.

Ironically, in 2007, a highschool student’s documentary shows that not much has changed. This 7 minute film is all over the news, sparking national dialogue and invoking straight-up weeping.

Yeah, I cried.
The doc brings up an important question. Why, oh why are so many young people still suffering from feelings of low self worth despite the progress our society has made? Could our own popular culture be part of the problem?

Hell yes.

Hey, you in power. You rappers and some of you singers who routinely spit “nigga” and “bitch.” Take look at this documentary and recognize.

Yeah, I said “those in power,” ’cause, guess what, if your music and videos are reaching millions of people all over the world, then you, my friend, have power. Power to affect the minds of people. Power to affect a generation. Power to either negate racial stereotypes or perpetuate them.

In the new millennium, it’s not just institutionalized racism that kills our self worth, it’s the songs, albums and videos, filled with lyrics and images of self hate that pass on the legacy of low self esteem.

My 3 year old, the only dark-skinned child in his daycare, came home last week and said he was “black.” As he held his head in his hands, I realized he felt traumatized by the way this information was given to him. I immediately told him he is beautiful, smart and able to do anything he put his mind to. When he smiled, I knew that I’m doing my part to neutralize society’s message that he’s somehow lacking.
And I’ll be damned if I let a rapper tell him otherwise.

Watch the video “A Girl Like Me”

The ever-conscious Pharoahe Monch recently debuted a powerful video for his new single “Gun Draws.”

Accompanied by its own website, the song sees the Brooklyn emcee address the ongoing problem of gun violence in America by expressing his lyrics from the viewpoint of a bullet.

The song talks about the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Tupac, Biggie and others, while the video addresses murders-by-police, and shows a little boy mistakenly shoot his sister in their parents’ bedroom.

“This is my effort to help awaken the unconscious and nourish the youth,” Monch says at the end of the clip.

Despite the fact this video is less violent than the majority of video games out there, it’s been deemed “too graphic” for television video outlets such as BET and MTV (who, ironically, don’t see anything wrong with airing a ton of videos marketing violent and/or sexually explicit images and themes). The video is currently running exclusively on YouTube.

The track’s website offers lyrics to the song as well as disturbing gun facts such as: “US Children are 12 times more likely to die by gun fire than in 25 other industrialized combined,” as stated by the John Hopkins University Center for Gun Policy.

“Gun Draws” is the lead single from Monch’s eagerly anticipated Desire, set to drop in May.

VIDEO
Pharoah Monch - “Gun Draws”

A few months ago (yeah I know it’s been a while, but here I am again, ok?), I made a reference to the disappearing border of what was once the United States of America. Now that the Social Security Administration (SSA) has released the first known public copy of the US-Mexico Social Security Totalization Agreement, the plot is truly out in the open.

Thanks to our litigious society, our government-for-sale was forced to make the disclosure in response to lawsuits filed under the Freedom of Information Act by TREA Senior Citizens League.

According to Yahoo News, the agreement “could allow millions of illegal Mexican workers to draw billions of dollars from the U.S. Social Security Trust Fund.”

Now on one hand, this could be as Malcolm X would say “the chickens coming home to roost.” After all, Mexico used to encompass much of what we call the South West U.S. before our conquering fathers killed everybody and divided the spoils.

But on the other hand, it’s yet another wake up call; a massive bell-ringing for the benefit of every American citizen, courtesy of a government that ditched “by the people, for the people” in favor of “big business at all costs.”
BTW, happy new year.

Download the agreement