I've caught this special from Byron Hurt and Independent Lens a few times recently on PBS, and have been captivated enough to watch it to its completion each time...here's one of tha previews out there on youtube...and here, too, is tha link to tha PBS website and promo for Hi-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes

http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/hiphop/

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Sometimes tha struggle of educating people on various forms of humanity and etiquette (and their detractions from tha two) is simply overwhelming. It is always encouraging and refreshing in a way i almost cannot describe when i come across individuals or media outlets that are similarly compelled to take up tha grave issues facing our youth and their futures. Thank you to all who made this documentary possible...

Aside from being aired on public viewing television stations, it appears tha whole documentary can be found in six youtube videos of approximately ten-minutes each in length. I encourage anyone out there to check it out, particularly those who listen to hip-hop and rap music, and/or grew up in a strictly urban demographic...AND I DEFINITELY HOPE MY UNDERGROUND FAM WILL PEEP IT, ESPECIALLY...

Tha Spoken-Word movement of tha last dozen or so years has been heavily driven by tha afore-mentioned urban demographic - people deriving experience from tha fast pace and common cruelties of city life. That being my observation, hip-hop, a legitimately urban creation, is often a topic of poetic verbage, as are tha many concerns of Africans and "black" Americans of today and days past...

Mr. Hurt's documentary does a great job exploring tha many pit-falls of today's urban youth. As a "white" male who often speaks in front of crowds, and often as one of tha only white people present, I learn a great deal about tha struggles of Africans and African-Americans from an "outsiders" perspective. While i have always encouraged a healthy relationship with tradition and culture, i can sometimes understand at least one reason why tha presence of white men and women is limited in tha audiences. Tha unfortunate and incredulous history that many African-American speakers and poets draw from is sometimes translated into a message that can indeed be hurtful to those people from white families who have always treated each individual with mutual respect, irregardless of race...

...this doesn't mean i expect people of varying cultures to ignore their history...or cater to certain individuals... it is simply my hope and belief that if we all spent more time getting to know each other, we would inevitably spend less time judging each other harshly...therefore, i am also saying that white people should be more open to hearing tha perspective testimony of someone who has experienced life in different shoes, and be open to at least a certain degree of venting. At tha end of tha day, i am always pleased with anyone who has shared their thoughts as a form of therapy, directed either internally or outwardly...and tha venues i immerse myself in seem to provide tha type of open-environment i can envision a historical revolution being built upon.

What i do ask, though, i also do not expect to come easily...and that is forgiveness. While i have personally committed no crimes against humanity-at-large, i ask forgiveness on behalf of those who have. I fear tha more time we spend focusing on tha struggles of our ancestors, tha less time we have to focus on our everyday struggles. By all means, please understand that I know this is easier for me to say, than for someone who has lived with these struggles hitting much closer to home. Which is why i direct your attention to some of tha scholars in this film.

I often consider and even argue tha facts to people on a daily basis; a black youth living today with a close relative of age 50 or older has inevitably heard some ugly stories that, justifiably, make it all seem pretty damn relavant today. And of course we are all still conditioned to develop stereotypes, even today. But tha struggle that many of our parents saw in tha 60's was surely a continuation of what began more than a hundred years prior in this nation. And while I am not going to say it ended in tha 60's, by tha time we entered tha 80's and 90's - as a young white kid in suburbia (more like tha f*ng boondocks), urbanized black culture was everywhere - and today tha commercialized "hip-hop" apparel, style, and attitude, has seemingly swept tha nation very much like tha so-called hippie movement of tha late 60's and 70's.

So all i am saying is that while there will always be those who support (or feign) blissful ignorance, things have clearly gotten better for blacks in our "land of opportunity." Because let's face it, when we talk about "equality" in America we are mostly talking about levels of financial success. And while it is still true that brand-name corporations and predominately white CEO's and such have pigeon-holed black recording artists and tha like, and used them to their advantage - those stiff, white CEO-types do not represent general white America. In most cases, i would argue, tha same people that most everyday black-Americans despise are tha same people that most everyday white-Americans despise!!!! As a 29 year old male who was born into a trailer park - no silver spoon in mouth - i do not believe i ever find myself holding an advantage over a black male due to skin color. Tha fact is that today's dividing lines are, (and have really always been), decided by geographical and economic boundaries. You know, 'tha haves and tha have-nots.' But going against history, i believe this to be tangible, and therefore fixable. But all of us little "Davids" - black, white, and so on - need to work side-by-side to challenge tha "Goliaths." And we shall overcome, United as One.

So in an attempt to come full circle, tha documentary by Independent Lens offers a look into tha concerns that I agree to be tha most pressing in today's urban youth. While not surprising, tha video captured by Byron Hurt at BET Week is still shocking and disturbing. Aside from tha debauchery and chauvinism, it is upsetting that each and everyone of tha lazy kids (claiming to be aspiring-artists) that Hurt allows to rap for tha camera, has nothing positive to say, and certainly nothing that differs from tha last wanna-be gun-clapper. It is scary. Not necessarily violent-scary, rather, in an intellectually-frightening sense...

mtp

posted by Mic Tha Poet @ 1:07 AM