New Developments in the World.

 

There is a continued legal battle involving Trump. The Department of Justice is to file a response to Trump's special master request. Trump refused to turn in the documents voluntarily when he was asked nicely by federal authorities. Months came, and the FBI had no choice but to execute a legal search warrant to retrieve classified documents in his Florida home. Senator Lindsay Graham said that riots will happen if Trump is indicted. His words show him to be a coward who cares more about worshiping Trump than justice. Justice requires Trump must be indicted for many crimes. Trump supporters are filled with hypocrisy. They claim to hate the ideology of defunding the police, but many of them want to defund the FBI (which is part of the police). They claim to want to embrace family values, but they endorse a radical free market view that harms families. They claim to want liberty, but they want to suppress anti-racism books, deny rights to minorities, and suppress voting rights in America. 

Certainly, there are tons of controversies today. One is about Fat Joe saying that hip hop is 50/50 Black and Latino invented. Now, there are black Latinos who are Afro-Latinos. They are my Brothers and my Sisters. Yet, hip hop came from black people in the Caribbean and America. So, don't get things twisted. Many Latinos in the early stages of hip hop had an influence in b-boy and b-girl dancing, graffiti, and other freestyle music related to hip hop culture (like Resident DJ, DJ Charlie Chase, Charlie Rock, etc.). Crazy Legs is worldwide known. Yet, the tree and the roots of humanity came from black people. Without us black people, no one on this Earth would be born. That's a fact.  Kool Herc is the Godfather of Hip Hop being from Jamaica. Also, many black Americans were rapping, freestyling, and doing other dance moves decades before 1973. Joe Hill Louis in 1950 was rapping in the song Gotta Let You Go. We know of the Jubalaires rapping in the song The Preacher in the Bear. They were rapping back in the 1930's. We know about Pigmeat Markham with the song Here Comes the Judge in the 1960's rapping. These people are from the South long before the 1970's. These whitewashers of history talk about the Bronx, but back in the day, black people have to form groups to defend themselves against white racists in the Bronx. Bronx was very racist back in the day against black people. A Bronx Tale didn't lie about white racism in NYC decades ago. There is no hip hop without disco, funk (i.e. James Brown), jazz, blues, and toasting. Many say that if anyone isn't from NYC, then he or she should be quiet about NYC history. That is silly because that's like saying we can't comment on Columbus being a racist imperialist because we are not from Europe. People (whether they live in NYC or not) have the God-given right to comment on NYC filled with accuracy and truth. 

Muhammad Ali used rhymes to show his wit. The Afro-Caribbean influence in hip hop history is well known too. So, hip hop has complex origins found in jazz, the blues, Jamaican music, etc. When I was young, I understood that hip hop included the themes of dancing, graffiti, DJing, having wisdom, and using rhythm to express yourself. Hip Hop is a universal culture which means that anyone of any color can be a part of it. So, hip hop was created by black people, and people of other ethnic groups did have a great influence on it from early on. That is the truth. Fat Joe is really slick in claiming to love black people, but he calls black people the n word, disapproves of peaceful protests against police brutality (i.e. Fat Joe disagreed with Colin Kaepernick protesting when the National Anthem played), and said the lie that Will Smith slapping Chris Rock makes minorities look bad (in believing in respectability politics. I'm not surprised that one author in the Root supports Fat Joe like some in the Root supports Cardi B. Cardi B called black women cockroaches, calls black people the n word, etc.). Those views from Fat Joe and Cardi B aren't hip hop or progressive. There are those who exploit this issue to promote xenophobia, and I reject xenophobia. We can honor our cultural differences without hating each other. Therefore, black people created jazz, blues, R&B, rock and roll, the spirituals, and yes hip hop. There are those who want to exploit the legitimately great culture of African Americans to demonize Afro-Caribbeans and Latinos. I don't agree with that. I am thankful for being a black American. I love my black American culture. Yet, I won't be part of the FBA or the ADOS movements when many of their members hate Pan-Africanism and have xenophobic views about other people. I don't hate a person based on their color or their ethnicity. I make that perfectly clear.

Some breaking news is that Mikhail Gorbachev has recently died. He passed away at the age of 91 in Moscow. He was the last President of the Soviet Union. During the end of the Cold War, he wanted reforms like perestroika and glasnost, but the Soviet Union ended by the end of 1991. He has a long, severe illness. He saw Reagan and both were angry at each for a time. Later, they created surprising deals that both men signed face to face. Gorbachev was not a brutal murderer like Stalin. He wanted change in the Soviet Union, but the Soviet Union started to end by the 1980's. The Soviet Union during that time had an economic crisis, disputes on what to do, massive revolutions in Eastern Europe that wanted democratic changes, and an over-extension of its military in places globally (like in Afghanistan) that stagnated the Soviet economy. These factors and others contributed to the fall of the Soviet Union. Gorbachev continued to be an author, philosopher, and political leader after 1991. He maintained very cordial relationships with Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Margaret Thatcher, and other human beings. Gorbachev always advocated the reduction of nuclear weapons in the world. I send condolences to his family and friends.

There is a backlash against Aries Spears' comments about the singer and entertainer Lizzo. The wild thing is that Spears tried to defend his statements. There is nothing accurate about his statements. His words are part of the same old demonizing of plus-sized people that is common unfortunately in many circles of our world. Lizzo doesn't look like mashed potatoes, and she doesn't look like a vulgar emoji. She is a beautiful black woman who is confident within her own self. A lot of people forget that Lizzo can sing, rap, write songs, and play instruments, so we should respect her multifaceted talent. You don't have to dehumanize a person in order to give advice to a person. That point should always be emphasized. 

By Timothy