1968 was by far the most confusing year in American history for white people. It was the year that for the first time in modern and western history, white people had become openly defenseless, fearful, nervous, and simply scared of Black people. Almost fifty years later and absolutely nothing has changed about the dynamics of white people’s overall perceptions of Black people. The only thing that has evolved is white people’s willingness to admit to their fear of Black people, and yet most still will not.
The late nineteen sixties and mid seventies was a time when white people had for once consciously and subconsciously considered Black people as unpredictable. Before then, it was a fairly simple assessment to place Black people into an easily contained afterthought compartment within the consciousness of white people. The main factor in this mentality was the prevailing apparatus of Black people’s fear driven by racism and discriminatory brutality against Black people for centuries. The tides had abruptly changed when in the late sixties, Black people had become more willing to express their rights and fight for them. The new atmosphere of conflicting views and color lines brought about a riddling society which created an air of uncertainty.
With the advent of color television, live newscasts, yet less sophistication in media censorship, the entire world was able to see the reality of American racism. It was then without a doubt and apparent that the leader of the so called free world was a complete hipocracy and unable to be trusted as a government elite in the global stratosphere. It was time for America to clean up the act. The late seventies ushered in a new sense of codes in conduct, particularly in the realm of politics. With the new generations of unpredictable Blacks who could now wage what white people believed to be street wars and fight for their rights, it was time that white people learn new ways to predict the movements and cultural advancements of Black people.
The nineteen eighties showed white politicians were very swift with a solution and quite timely to the disadvantage of Black people. While the country and even the world began to fully enjoy the benefits of illicit drugs openly and freely, American politicians saw an opportunity to place well written codes onto Black people without appearing to be racist bigots. The stage was set to put the entire Black population back into a state of fear and predictability. The introduction of the War on Drugs and its prime asset called crack created a new paradigm in the ways white people could conceptualize and legitimize their fears, and ultimately their racist sense of predictability of Black people. This destructive and neglectful thinking of white Americans allowed for laws to authorize unjust and wrongful imprisonments, and countless murders by police of unarmed and innocent Black people.
No matter how much the facts are present and the truth is in front of everyone’s face, law enforcement’s sole purpose has ultimately been in place to keep minorities in America controlled and contained, yet no authorities or officials will admit this. The most hated minority to law enforcement in America has always overwhelmingly been Black people. By the late 20th century, when it was no longer acceptable to blame the problems of American society on Black people outright, politicians simply replaced Black with crime. It was a very simple transition which to this very moment is still causing turmoil among America’s Black communities with no end in sight.
Unless the observable truth is heeded and its unmistakable injustices are ceased then the inevitable yet avoidable reality is soon to come. The day when Black people will again be unpredictable to white people.
“Con coco o sin coco?” Is what brothers and sisters ask when you ask them if they have any weed to smoke in the Dominican Republic. With cocaine or without cocaine? In the Dominican Republic cocaine is a more socially accepted drug of choice than marijuana. Weed is actually looked down upon in the way smoking crack is looked upon here in the United States. This was a very bizarre state of affairs when I realized the ramifications of such a construct. This meant that in the Dominican Republic, I was a crack head and the coke heads were the laid back stoners. My how the truth can be malleable and ambiguously obscure.
When I went to a close friend’s potluck a week ago, who is actually Dominican himself, I kept hearing him and his cousin yell out “I’m in love with the coco!” They finally played the video for everyone and we all were glued to the monitor as we watched a man sitting at a kitchen table with his friends, seemingly spreading powdered cocaine over it with playing cards and rolling up blunts. How simply sensational of a sight I thought! Who cannot relate to this image? How can you not see how relevant this scene is? I thought all of this at the same time as I thought how disgusting the video was. The mundaneness of what Hip Hop or Rap has degraded to. Who could support such garbage! These were the conflicting debates floating in my mind as I continued to stare and listen to what one of our good friends from college described as a nursery rhyme. He was right. The lyrics were so simple a two year old could recite and comprehend them after one listen. It was actually kind of disturbing to think of the influence this video will have on younger viewers.
It was stuck in my head. I walked home with my girlfriend singing “I’m in love with the coco” out loud. We would both laugh and shake our heads at our own senseless embarrassment and juxtaposed affinity for the simple yet catchy tune. I asked her to play it again when we got home. We watched the whole thing, twice. I watched it again, alone with my headphones. I bobbed my head. I lip synced the single syllable lyrics to myself. I smiled at the screen. I enjoyed it. It was addictive.
The beat! The foundation of the auditory retention is the low frequency of the sub bass line in the background music. The engineer of the musical score synthesized the reverberations of the low tones very well, and in unison the sound effects which work congruently with the bass are mesmerizing. If there were no lyrics, the song will still have a profound affect onto the listener. I can imagine watching the video with the instrumental only and still fully understanding the theme of the song. Without a doubt, like many other current rap hits, the beat carries the song and without it I sincerely believe it would not work or feel the same. The producer and his engineer did an excellent job.
The lyrics are simple, as already stated. However, the lyrics are contrasting to what is the current political atmosphere in the Black community. Whether Genasis intended to cause a debate or not is not the question. He has most certainly done so. While at my friend’s potluck, I recall a divide amongst all who were watching the video. Some loved it. Some hated it. I did find myself somewhere in the middle. The melody of the lyrics and the cadence of the rhyme took me back to “con coco o sin coco” in the Dominican Republic. It reminded me of a time and place when and where I was unsure of my political stance on drugs and what is socially on the fence, and what is totally overboard. I will not promote violence and I believe guns should be used only for protection, however I was reminded of the G Thang video when the guy had the pistol tucked into the back of his pants while working the barbecue pit. The guns looked real and I looked at them closely. I was drawn to them the same way I have always been when watching a movie or television show. This video was no different. This was a good rap video. If we must separate Hip Hip and Rap to achieve a sense of clarity and social aptness in our culture and responsibility to our community then I say this is an excellent rap video.
Whether Genasis will stand the test of the fickle music industry is oh but yet to be seen. I for one could not care less how things play out, but best of luck to him and his family. As for this record, very disturbing yet highly intriguing. It is extremely interesting how the same thing can be done in so many ways and still one out of the million appears and feels so different. This one was like tasting something different in a corner store bottled water and thinking “wow, what is this?” Only to look and see it is Poland Spring with a new logo and feeling unconsciously satisfied with what you perceive as something new.
Vermont approved marijuana dispensaries last week, allowing for state licensed administrators to serve a maximum of 1,000 clients for medical marijuana use. This is the fourth state besides CO, ME, and NM that will have dispensaries operating and serving potheads around America.
California, New Jersey, and Rhode Island, although they already passed laws to allow dispensaries, have since been in limbo on how to regulate the phenomena. The big Boom in California is being thwarted by the feds and the confusion on laws regarding cultivation of the marijuana plant.
Washington D.C. and Delaware are next in line to sign up for the weed dispensary craze, hopefully they’ll get everything up and running smoothly. The time has definitely come when our nation is realizing that criminalizing marijuana users and growers is causing more trouble than helping or society.
In the midst of the war on drugs failure announcement by the UN yesterday, I decided to present this mashup of the Reagans’ stand on the war on drugs. Enjoy!
Yesterday the United Nations and a group of 19 panelists announced that the war on drugs has been a complete failure. They noted that the percentage of drug use has only gone up since the “war” began, and crime has skyrocketed because of it. Guess who disagrees with the announcement. You guessed it, Washington D.C.
America has been blamed to be the catalyst for the downward spiraling effect that the so called war on drugs has had on the global community. The crime syndicates that benefit from drug trafficking are clearly in bed with the U.S. government, and Washington turns a blind eye to the fact.
The panelists are targeting the American government and asking for reform to the drug laws, including legalization of certain drugs, and decriminalization of drug users. They said medical treatment and psychiatric help is more useful than jail time and a criminal record. Wow, how come I didn’t think of that?
This is not some shit that nobody knew already. They UN should just ask the Black community in America to be the mascot of this campaign. You know we can’t stand the damn government, and I think any nigga with some sense would stand behind this cause.
I know I’m down with this shit. Shit, motherfucker.
I do understand the reasoning behind wanting to ask can you have a few tokes from someone else’s blunt. Almost every smoker has done it, including me. That still doesn’t make it a cool thing to do.
Most of the time smokers mooch from smokers they know and have smoked with before. But there’s that unfortunately often time when someone you’ve never seen before in your life approaches you and your weed smoking friends and asks for a hit.
There are plenty ways to be considered a moocher, but asking people you’ve never met before to do illegal activities with them is always not a good thing. After that, you’re pretty much just an asshole and a scumbag, simply because most people usually allow you to hit the blunt; and you knew that would be the outcome. Don’t take advantage of that, ever.
Now, that’s just one particular case of weed mooching. There are all sorts of ways to be considered a moocher, females especially. All in all, the best thing to do is bring your own weed.
There are plenty reasons why I get high, but Carl Sagan’s reasons are way cooler than mine. Any dude that can explain the space-time continuum to an elementary school class, break down the reasons why nebulas form, give a clear definition of what a black hole is and consists of, all while high on weed, should help shed light to why pot is not as harmful as lawmakers would want everyone to believe.
Erick's Brain 