“This is Beyond Sports”

http://edgeofsports.com/2010-05-11-531/index.html
“This is Beyond Sports”
Chuck D on the fight in Arizona
By Dave Zirin
5-11-10

Chuck D. The Hard Rhymer. The man on the mic for the most politically explosive hip-hop group in history, Public Enemy. With albums like “It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back,” “Fear of a Black Planet,” and anthems like “Fight the Power” and “Bring the Noise” along with the breathtaking production of the Bomb Squad, PE created a standard of politics and art. Perhaps their most controversial track was “By the Time I Get to Arizona” (1991) about seeking revenge against Arizona political officials for refusing to recognize Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday [Lyrics include: 'Cause my money's spent on The goddamn rent/Neither party is mine not the Jackass or the elephant.] Today, in the wake of Arizona’s draconian anti-immigration Senate Bill 1070, “By the Time I Get to Arizona” has been remixed and revived by DJ Spooky. Chuck D also recorded his own track several months before the bill was passed called “Tear Down That Wall.” I spoke to Chuck about the music and the nexus between immigration politics and sports.

DZ: Why did you choose to record “Tear Down this Wall?”

Chuck D: I had done "Tear Down this Wall" four or five months ago because I heard a professor who works with my wife here on the West Coast speak in a speech about the multi-billion dollar dividing wall between the U.S. and Mexico, so, therefore, I based "Tear Down that Wall" on the policy of the United States border patrol in the states of Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas. I just wanted to put a twist of irony on it saying if Ronald Reagan back in 1988 had told Mr. Gorbachev to tear down that wall separating the world from countries of capitalism and communism, we have a billion dollar wall right here in our hemisphere that exists that needs to have a bunch of questions raised. Questions like: “What the Hell?” I wrote the song about five months ago and I did it coincidently, with all that’s brewing in the state of Arizona. Immigration laws and racial profiling is happening right here and I think the border situation, not only with the U.S. and Mexico but the U.S. and Canada, on both sides is just out of control. It's crazy.

DZ: You did "Tear Down This Wall," we have the DJ Spooky remix of "By the Time I Get to Arizona," and with your wife, Dr. Gaye Theresa Johnson, you wrote a syndicated column on SB 1070. What’s the response been to you being so out front on this issue?

Chuck D: Well the response is the usual, but I make it a habit not to look at any blogs, because I think the font of a computer gives as much credence to ignorance as it does to somebody who makes sense. So I try not to read those responses, because anybody can respond quickly. Back when people had to write letters it took an effort, especially if someone didn't have decent penmanship and handwriting. I try not to look at the responses. I try to do the right thing. I tell you this much, there is a rap contingent, a hip-hop contingent from Phoenix, who did a remake of "By the Time I Get to Arizona." I think that needs to be recognized because these are young people. The song is about eight minutes long. There's about 12 MCs on it, and they are putting it down. They are talking about how ridiculous this law is. They are speaking out against it and they are putting all the facts on the table, and they need to be acknowledged and highlighted. There is a stereotype about young people and young MCs [being apolitical]. They break it.

DZ: It’s remarkable how the original “By the Time I Get to Arizona” has been resurrected from the early 90's now that the struggle has picked up. Did you hear former NBA player Chris Webber before the Suns/Spurs game say, "Its like PE said ‘By the Time I get to Arizona.’”?

Chuck D: [laughs] My Dad told me about that, You know Chris Webber is the man. I wasn't tuned into TNT at that particular time.

DZ: He said more than that. He said, “Public Enemy said it a long time ago. ‘By the Time I Get to Arizona.’ I’m not surprised. They didn’t even want there to be a Martin Luther King Day when John McCain was in [office.]. So if you follow history you know that this is part of Arizona politics.’” So he brought it all together with Public Enemy at the center of it.

Chuck D: Unfortunately when it comes to culture, the speed of technology and news today makes things out of sight, out of mind. While these situations [the MLK fight and the immigration fights] are different, the politics of both things stay around like a stain.... Once again Arizona has put themselves into this mix. I don't know what the hell was on Gov. Jan Brewer’s mind or what contingent is behind her, but, you know, to make a decision like this and to be told to ignore the people who have been in this area on this earth the longest period of time. It just kind of resonates with me as being crazy.

DZ: Do you support an athletic or artistic boycott of Arizona until this gets settled?

Chuck D: Dave, you know I do. Artists and musicians can say we’re going to play Texas, El Paso, New Mexico, Albuquerque, and we gotta play L.A. But we’ll skip Phoenix, Flagstaff, Tucson and the like. But you know what this is really a challenge for: that’s Major League Baseball. You’ve got nearly a third of the players that are Latino. If they don’t stand up to this bill, they will actually be validating the divide amongst Latinos [between documented and undocumented immigrants]. At the same time they’ll also be lining themselves right into the stereotype of what an athlete is if they don’t speak out: a high priced slave that doesn’t say anything. And to me it’s beyond just boycotting the All-Star game. What are those Latino players on the Diamondbacks going to do? What are the players going to say who go into Arizona to play against the Diamondbacks? What are they going to say and what are they going to do? Major League Baseball has to step up. The NBA has very few players of Latino descent and [the Suns] are saying something. But Major League Baseball, if they don’t say anything, it’s crazy. The owners, the team, the league, and especially the players, whether they come from the Dominican Republic, whether they come from Venezuela, whether they come from Puerto Rico, they better step up. If they don’t step up, the music industry, at least from my area, we’re going to clown them. For us to speak out against this law, and basketball stepping up, and Major League Baseball not stepping up at all?! Come on now, give me a break. And I know a lot of the cats they live in the Dominican Republic or Puerto Rico or whatever, there’s like a trillion years difference between them and their high salaries and the average people living in the streets. They might build themselves a castle with a militia to protect them, but this is the time to unite yourself with the people and at least live in the legacy that [Major League Hall of Famer] Roberto Clemente set of uniting people just to protect against the nonsense that the other side can come up with. They need to know that it’s going to spread if they don’t come up and say something about it.

DZ: Any final thoughts? Perhaps about Major League Baseball pulling the All Star Game out of Phoenix?

Chuck D: At the end of the day man, sports is really not that important compared to people living their everyday lives. Say you have a Major League player, and he happens to play for another team, or he happens to play for the Diamondbacks and he gets pulled over because people think he’s an illegal immigrant. Then all of a sudden that’s when the “ish” finally hits the fan? Come on. This is beyond sports. We want athletes to speak up because they have advantages. They have everyday coverage. They’re covered by a person that has a mic and a camera in their face, and this is the time to step up. Major League Baseball pulling the All-Star game out of Arizona should be the least of it.

Dave Zirin is the author of the forthcoming “Bad Sports: How Owners are Ruining the Games we Love” (Scribner) Receive his column every week by emailing dave@edgeofsports.com. Contact him at edgeofsports@gmail.com.

A Heartbeat and a Guitar

http://www.nationbooks.org/book/196/A%20Heartbeat%20and%20a%20Guitar

A Heartbeat and a Guitar
Johnny Cash and the Making of Bitter Tears
Antonino D'Ambrosio
October 2009 ISBN: 1568584075

Johnny Cash recorded Bitter Tears in 1964, four years before his live performance at Folsom Prison and six years before he recorded Man in Black. More importantly, Cash placed himself in the middle of the fervent social upheavals gripping the nation at the time–the civil rights movement was rising, the Vietnam War was escalating, the anti-nuclear weapons campaign was galvanizing and the free speech and women's movement starting to bloom. One year removed from his monumental hit Ring of Fire, Cash was facing censorship and an angry backlash from radio stations, DJs, and fans, for speaking out on behalf of Native people. Cash decided to fight back.

A Heartbeat and a Guitar tells of the collaboration of two distinct yet connected musicians–iconoclast Johnny Cash and little known folk artist Peter LaFarge–and the album they created, Bitter Tears: Ballads of the American Indian. It also tells of the unique personal, political and cultural struggles that informed this album–especially the fight for Native people's rights–one that has influenced scores of musicians and activists, from Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan to American Indian Movement co-founder Dennis Banks and Native activist-artist John Trudell.

Weaving multiple narrative threads and bringing in the stories of the long forgotten Native war hero Ira Hayes (immortalized in the Iwo Jima flag-raising photo), legendary musicians and producers, courageous Native activists, polarizing political leaders and outspoken citizen-artists, D'Ambrosio's A Heartbeat and a Guitar tells a sweeping story of an untold moment in Cash's career. In this inimitable account–which includes 34 never before seen photos by photographs by Jim Marshall and Diana Davies–A Heartbeat and a Guitar strays out of the recording studio and into the presidential campaigns, government halls, Indian reservations, picket lines, bohemian cafes, university campuses, factory lines, civil rights marches, fish-ins and anti-war protests.

What readers are saying

"Antonino D'Ambrosio has really done his homework like no one ever before. I performed with Cash for 40 years and have read every book written about him yet D'Ambrosio astonishingly reveals another side of Cash framed around perhaps his most important work, Bitter Tears. A Heartbeat and a Guitar is a rare and extraordinary work, thanks to D'Ambrosio's exceptional and masterful storytelling. This book must be read, not just by Cash fans, but everyone who loves music and believes in its power and spirit. D'Ambrosio's work, like Cash himself, is highly original and a force to be reckoned with."
–Johnny Western, musician and longtime emcee of The Johnny Cash Show.

"This book is a truly fascinating journey, charting the historical and social context of a courageous musical statement by one of our greatest rebel voices."
–Jim Jarmusch, filmmaker

"[The book] is a rich history, not only of Johnny Cash's life, but of the Indian struggle for justice... full of fascinating character sketches of the great folk singers of the Sixties, and their part in the social movements of that exciting era. I believe D'Ambrosio has made an important contribution to the cultural history of our time."
–Howard Zinn

"Antonino D'Ambrosio is the voice of a new generation–passionate, intelligent and fierce–whose work educates and inspires. He now brings his unique voice to tell a unique story of Johnny Cash's recording of the protest record Bitter Tears. It's the album no one knows about but is perhaps Cash's greatest record–and Antonino proves it."
–Chuck D of Public Enemy

About the Authors

Antonino D'Ambrosio is a writer, filmmaker, photographer and musician. He is the founder and director of La Lutta New Media Collective, a media activism and documentary film production group based in New York City. His writing has appeared in The Nation, The Progressive, Monthly Review, Color Lines, New Labor Forum and other publications. His recent documentaries include Desaparecidos and Piccolo Colli: The People of Russell Street. D'Ambrosio is the author of Let Fury Have the Hour: The Punk Politics of Joe Strummer; the film version features original art and animation by Shepard Fairey and original music from a wide range of musicians including Antibalas, Saul Williams, Chuck D and Thievery Corporation. His most recent short film is No Free Lunch, starring comedian Lewis Black.

Public Enemy Warn Of “The Obama Deception”

http://www.prisonplanet.com/rap-group-public-enemy-warn-of-the-obama-deception.html

Rap Group Public Enemy Warn Of “The Obama Deception”
Seminal hip-hop outfit educates audience at huge California music festival
Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet.com
Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Public Enemy - one of the most influential rap groups in music history - took an opportunity at the Coachella 2009 festival to warn their audience about “The Obama Deception,” in reference to Alex Jones’ recently released underground blockbuster documentary.

The L.A. Times reports that Public Enemy member Professor Griff, who himself appears in the film, made repeated references to the “Obama deception,” during the concert in California at which Paul McCartney, Morrissey, the Cure and Leonard Cohen also performed.

Public Enemy’s 2005 album was entitled “New Whirl Order” and included tracks such as “66.6 Strikes Again,” “What A Fool Believes,” and “Revolution”. The band were at their peak in the late 80’s. Their 1988 album It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back peaked at #42 on the Billboard 200, and at #1 on the Billboard R&B/Hip hop Album charts and is routinely ranked in the top 50 albums of all time, being regarded as one of the most influential and groundbreaking records in history.

Public Enemy, along with N.W.A., were two of the seminal acts in the organic explosion of hip-hop during the latter 1980’s, when the grassroots of the genre was all about black people becoming informed, empowered and strong and breaking free from stereotypical associations with poverty and drugs.

As soon as hip-hop became a vehicle for political and personal awakening, it was seized and devoured by corporate America and MTV, before being gradually deformed into what we see on television today - where black icons rap not about fighting the man or standing up to the system, but about how much money and sex they have while girls with giant buttocks wiggle around behind them.

We continually hear about huge music stars using their gargantuan public platforms to educate the public about the new world order at concerts and gigs.

At the internationally renowned Reading festival In August 2006, Muse front man Matt Bellamy donned a T-shirt emblazoned with the words “Terrorstorm,” wearing it for the band’s headline performance which was watched collectively by tens of millions of people worldwide.