It's not just the Block

This is a revolution, ok, maybe not quite a revolution but a revolt nonetheless, and when one revolts the question is posed; “is you is or is you ain’t?”

Is you against this never ending cyclical barrage of stereotypical portrayals, these constant salvo of clichéd distasteful drama that do nothing for the enhancement of the community in which they claim to represent. Is you no longer prepared to sit and continue to watch as your friends, your family and more importantly your PEOPLE are tirelessly trivialised, done so many wrongs for the sake of entertaining the mass droid inhabitants of what we call the planet earth.

Now, the reason for this rather impromptu outburst comes from reading an article from a good friend of mine, one that I feel will gradually become a welcomed professional nemesis of mine as I’m sure this will not be the last time our paths cross in debate. Maybe one day he might become my Monty Kipps and I, Howard Belsey such as in Zadie Smith’s ‘On Beauty’, however this is a prospect I anticipate and readily prepare for.

His article ‘Defend the Block’ comments on a film that has recently hit the big screens of British cinema, I will refrain from giving this film more publicity than I have already done in this past few days and simply say I’m pretty sure you have come across it through its massive marketing campaign. Also, for the record I have not seen this film in focus nor do I plan to, I am a firm believer of ‘knowing your enemy’ but in this case I feel the enemy is moving one step ahead of me and is no longer playing fairly. The enemy is actually digging in deeper and finding new and I must concede more creative ways to infiltrate, corrupt and plant seeds of doom and failure in the young minds that will sadly use their limited EMA allowances, their mother’s underpaid work salaries to watch a false projection of their environment. What could be more detrimental is the fact that thousands and thousands of suburban white kids will also watch this, laugh at this, and go away believing these characters they see on the screen represents the Black guy they will see on the way home that evening, sitting across them on the last train back to Luton because although they were just rooting for him to help defend them from a greater evil on screen, but this is real life, and after all he can’t fight his instincts to flick that knife he has to procure the valuables in their bag.

My attack (excuse the pun) is not solely against the film, rather its ideology and the ideology many other films and television programmes like it carries, it strengthens negative stereotypes in a fashion that delves deep into the subconscious – film has this potential, in fact that is why I use it as one of the mediums to express myself because unlike any other form it has a way of communicating an idea or reinforcing beliefs. We, as a society have a way of responding to these ideas expressed in films because there is a sense of familiarity as we see real manifestation of us on television re-enacting real life situations with real life objects, psychologically this has a profound effect on us, this commands a greater and truer reaction from us than any other form of communication, we are instantly awoken and aware and at the very least accept the film’s truths regardless of how farfetched it may seem.

There is a danger with this, if Film has this potential and then continues to only highlight issues such as gang culture, fallen and misguided youths in the ‘Block’ then we are ultimately at loss, we will perpetuate what is in fact a miniscule of what life in the ‘Block’ is really about... what we’re constantly fed was not my truth when growing up nor is it the truth for many dwellers in London’s urban areas today, so why must we persist on enduring these barrages, and with our endurance somewhat faltering we start to accept these depictions and become increasingly desensitised to wrong and distasteful commentary.

"It's black!" "Blacker than black!" "So black you can't see!" "This thing is even blacker than my cousin Femi!" This is not comedy it’s racist! Regardless of taunting we all endured during adolescent school days, the sad fact is we were merely victims of decades multiplied by decades’ worth of institutions force feeding us these wrong ideas, to revel in and use this sad fact is really an act of racism.

Why are we so willing to accept the criminal activities of these youngsters on the big screens and not only this go on to then celebrate it as long as it means they protect us from greater impending danger?... Go on big strong black boys, fend off these aliens... go on big strong black men, go and fight this war on terror for us, and then when you get back, we will put you in Prison because you’re socially inept to readapt to social life or the years you’ve spent away hasn’t changed the fact that you still don’t have any viable working merit so we’ll just sit tight and wait for you to commit a desperate act to feed yourself and your family and that’s when we’ll come for you and take you away to prison. Am I the only one that sees this parallel?

I refuse to be deceived and consent to these tactics and ploys laid out by high authoritative forces, forces with hands weighing down on every urban youth by saturating their options with stupefied repetitive dialogue and structure and never allowing them to see something new and refreshing...something true.

I will conclude by addressing the issue of funding and the fact that many films such as these constantly get the required backing they need, this issue can never be irrelevant when interrogating a film because fundamentally the procurement of financial support is the catalyst for any major film to hit the mainstream. Unless you’re Spike Lee, who has proven countless of time that his film’s about the ‘Block’ such as Crooklyn and Do The Right Thing can be true and honest and sincere... and funny, without playing to the coonery boofoonery that is expected from films of this nature, it is virtually impossible to access any financial aid without playing to this requirement. If after all these years British directors such as Menelik Shabazz who is a prominent member of black film makers in the UK constantly gets overlooked or Patrice Etienne a young director who like many other young directors and film makers I know constantly get rejected by art institute because they refuse to engage in the coonery and boonfooney that these funding bodies obviously want to endorse then what hope do you as a community have if all you see is a constant dishonest reflection of you, what hope do you have as viewers if you’re made to believe this is as good as it gets when it comes to urban British cinema...because believe me it’s not.

I will prove it one day!

Attack the Block or Attack the Blacks

It's number three in the UK box office, after Thor and Fast Furious. It
features a majority Black British cast so how does this film portray black
people and what impressions will the tens of thousands of mostly white
viewers walk away with?

The main characters in the movies are a gang of 5 muggers. They are black or
mixed race apart from one white boy. They all live on a council estate which
conforms to the usual stereotypes; vast, shabby, dark and graffiti-strewn.
The first time we see them, all five corner a single white woman on a lonely
street. Their Leader, with hood up and mask on, blocks her passage, demands
her phone then her bag, then her ring. At each demand he becomes more
violent producing a flick knife before shoving her on the ground. She is
laying there while the gang surround her when they are distracted by an
explosion in a nearby car and she runs away.. One of the gang points out her
escape but the Leader says 'Allow it' and proceeds to ransack the car. It
does cross one's mind what else did they have in mind for the young woman
bearing in mind they had taken all of her possessions.
Anyway that's brushed aside as the explosion reveals an intruder that they
must kill as its 'not from the block' Once the gang has kicked it to death
they decide it's an alien and so the story begins. We later find out that
this intruder was also female.
Meanwhile the young white woman is comforted by an older white woman who
commiserates with her that the estate is full of 'F ing monsters'. The gang
later invades the woman's home and force her to provide first aid. We also
discover that there is a violent black drug dealer on the estate with a flat
full of weed. He listens to a heavy bassline rap with lyrics like:
Get that Snitch,
Get that Strap (gun)
Don't give a F***,
Brap ! Brap ! Brap ! Brap !
The drug dealer promotes the Leader by giving him some class A drugs to
run, at which point the arrival of more aliens distract the gang yet again
from further illegality and they get tooled up so they can go on a killing
spree. The boys just happen to have machetes and samurai swords to hand.
And what about these aliens ? How are they described ? This is what the
gang members say.. "It's black !" "Blacker than black!" "So black you can't
see!"
"This thing is even blacker than my cousin Femi !"
The gang of 5 will become our 'heroes' in the film as, while watching, we
see that the only thing that can save us from the savage, vicious, black,
alien monsters is some savage, vicious, black, human monsters.
The black females in the film are portrayed in a much more positive light.
They give shelter to the boys when they are in trouble and are shown to be
sensible, caring, articulate and loyal. They disapprove of the crime and
violence the boys are involved in and tell them so. They stick up for
themselves and even manage to subdue an alien without being saved by the
males. They offer pertinent observations about the Leader's conduct which
make him reflect on his behaviour.
While contemplating the aliens' presence the Leader states:
"I think the government sent them things. First they sent drugs. Then they
sent guns. Then these monsters. Black boys are 'nt killing each other fast
enough so they thought they'd speed up the process "
This social commentary , is totally undermined by the joke which
immediately follows .There is ample evidence that crime and violence have
been sponsored by the state in inner city areas however.
In 1998 a congressional inquiry led by Maxine Waters revealed that the CIA
was importing drugs into black areas of Los Angeles and giving crack
cocaine dealers like Ricky Ross preferential treatment. The drugs and guns
distributed by the US government led to catatastrophic social breakdown in
the black community, which was then blamed on the black community.
Closer to home Delroy Denton and Eaton Green were violent drug dealers
recruited by Scotland Yard to work as informers. While working for the Met
Police they distributed drugs and committed violent offences in the black
community. Delroy Denton went on to rape and murder Marcia Lawes in 1995.
Denton had previously been linked to 7 murders in Jamaica. No police officer
was prosecuted.
Operation Jackpot in 1993 revealed that police officers in Stoke Newington
were supplying drugs and guns to the local community while beating up
prisoners and planting evidence on black people. This behaviour had already
been exposed by the black-run Hackney Community Defence Association. All the
above were dismissed as conspiracy theories at the time.
The film ends with the Leader being handcuffed and taken away in a police
van suspected in the murder of two policemen . Meanwhile the estate dwellers
are out in force demonstrating and shouting the Leaders name. The name of
the leader ..? Moses
So by the end of the film we've seen that black boys are violent, predatory,
anti-social, drug dealers who like to gang up on single white females but
can be gainfully employed using their aggression against monsters from
another planet that just happen to be 'blacker than my cousin Femi' . When
they're done fighting aliens they end up prison.
Many people will rush to see this movie and be influenced by it. Some people
will watch it and see all their worst prejudices confirmed and reinforced.
Others will watch it, laugh and applaud the negative portrayals of
themselves as they have so few alternatives . Some will see it identify and
emulate. It might not be so bad but for the fact that there is already a
relentless procession of images and reports of black males being involved
with crime and violence.
Here is a comparison which goes to the root of the black image on screen and
how media portrayal affects social reality:-

Joe Cornish, who is white, made Attack the Block after he was mugged by a
group of boys in Brixton. It is his first film. It was given a budget of
£8 million. It's on 352 screens across the country and is being heavily
promoted via web, TV, buses , magazines etc
Menelik Shabbaz, award-winning black director of several films including
Burning an Illusion (1981) could not get any money from the establishment to
fund The Story of Lovers Rock. The film is a history of 30 years of the
Black British community, its musical legacy with stories of achievement,
police abuses and the fight for equality. He had to fund it entirely
himself. It will be released in September on a limited number of screens and
has an advertising budget of zero.




an extract from the www.blackhistorywalks.co.uk website

Ode to Hip Hop

A tribute to Q-Tip

Who can make it up, dark age is here in rap
And the constant conversation has been let's bring it back
Corny rap style singers they lack the pedigree
Swimming in deep waters when they're just a manatee
Who me I'm unaffected the Whale, the Hammerhead
The Magnanimous decision, unanimous, I am fed
What are you looking at, wait, I can help you with that
I'm the formidable, unforgettable painting Abstract
In the wall amongst them all from Tucson Michelle
A commodity, hot property, hears the morning bell
Guantanama bay prisoners deferring routes

Your soliloquies are trash inferring that you got clout
Homie, whats that about? You should revisit your scheme
Before the scheme that seems real, reverts back to a dream
Into that pea head of yours
You aint commanding no tours
You seeing fee per deim
We seeing that in the doors
Plus a little bit more because she choosing the prettiest
Though while they is wittiest
On the low we the grittiest
Taking the task, these barbaric insurgents
From nursery rhyme kids and play like they crime figures
Man, what could give you such a naive belief?
There's examples all around of careers being brief

Africa is not a country

This article is long overdue...

I have bitten my tongue for far too long and it’s about time I come out and declare to the majority of the media world; Africa is a continent not a country. Contrary to popular belief Africa is not just a mass lump of under feed individuals guided by the deluded hegemonies of highly corrupted political parties, nor is it an excuse for has been rock stars to reignite their dormant profiles by throwing tasteless music concerts. Believe it or not this Country – excuse me Continent is home to more than 900 million inhabitants all divided into fifty-three countries, it also has over a thousand different indigenous languages. It’s amazing how such a nation can be reduced to sweeping generalisation, disregarding all its accomplishment past and present. When I hear about how primitive and uneducated Africans are, a pain reverberates all around my body and I think about the great accomplishments of Ancient Egyptians and their advanced understanding of science and architecture. When we’re dismissed in the popular world of music and entertainment, I hear loud Congolese beating on their drums, reminding me about how in the midst of huts and jungles, rhythm and cadence fused with chanting to create what we’ve come to recognise as music, I think about Kenyan wives performing dance rituals and devising early forms of theatre as they await Masai warriors to return to them. Even in a contemporary world where business engineers our global climate we forget about how countries like Sierra Leone and Ghana have such a significant stake in the supplementing its natural resources, resources we in the western world regard with such value and importance. We forget about Nigeria’s affect on the global economy and how the world’s economy could falter effortlessly if Nigeria decided to stop producing Oil for just one day.

It astounds me when I hear or see artists, politicians and many other individuals confronted with the feat of stimulating my senses through media refer to Africa with such sweeping and misinformed statements. In most cases I am able to adopt a Jay Z mentality and brush such comments off my shoulder, dismissing these claims as a classic case of ‘they don’t mean what they say syndrome’. However a couple of weeks ago I came across a miraculous finding, one which cemented my already unwavering belief that the western civilization, the one associated with popular culture, deteriorating self and moral value is a victim of blinding ignorance. This finding came in the form of a song, a Christmas song in fact, one which was written to promote the awareness of the faltering state of Africa. It was a song by Band aid’s so called ‘Supergroup’, which in my views comprised of various musicians in need of publicity. Band aid is an idea envisaged by ex-rocker Bob Geldof to use his influence in pop music to raise money for those affected by famine all around the world, in particular Africa, this song was called ‘Feed the World – do they know its Christmas time.’ The content of this song shocked me into disbelief as I tried to come to terms with the lyrics. Verses by the likes of ever so prolific Sugababes, Jamelia and Fran Healy had lyrics describing Africa with phrases such as ‘it’s a world of dread and fear’, ‘Christmas bells that ring there are the clanging chimes of doom’, ‘there will be no snow in Africa this Christmastime’. Now usually these phrases are the kind that I would have dismissed by brushing off my shoulders, however the musical hook by Bono was what pushed me over the edge, his hook which proceeded the chorus read; ‘well thank God it’s them instead of you’, when referring to the millions of those in Africa and around the world that suffered from famine.

This song, I found to be extremely offensive and an exemplary reason why we live in a society dumbfounded by stark insensitivity to those who live in Africa, not only is this song ludicrous in it’s approach it also sadly reflects an ideology belonging to the dominant percentage of individuals of the western culture. After reflecting on my rather sudden outburst, I now sit here and ask myself how could I take offence from such a philanthropic effort to raise consciousness amongst young people in the UK. I ask myself why don’t I just accept their good will and once again turn the proverbial cheek conceding to the fact that maybe there is no recovery from the infamous ‘they don’t mean what they say syndrome’….but then I reassure myself that as long as Africa is still home to a nation of individual countries – countries with diversity and a way of life beyond westerners fathom then I will continue be an advocate for my country and continent, saying it loud and clear for all to hear; Africa is a Continent-not a Country.

For Colored Girls (A review)

For colored girls...it seems as though black men are at the helm of all their pain and suffering, well at least that's what we're being made to believe by Tyler Perry's adaption of Ntozake's Shange's choreopoem. Aahh yes! Tyler Perry, the voice of black America and the man who seems to be the saviour of many criminally underrated talented black actresses - yes even Janet Jackson...some times.

Now I promised myself prior to watching that I wouldn't be too critical in my analysis of Lionsgate's latest production, all my preconceived notions that Perry will merely highlight the sentimentality in Shange's text rather than reinforce her feminist radicalism was put to one side as I watched the film open with 'Perry's angels', all living in Harlem, starting their day, each reciting in voice-over a line or two from "Dark Phrases," the poem that begins Shange's play. It's the only instance of her words flowing naturally and organically, the rest of the time I found myself playing 'guess who's line this is' as it became embarrassingly clear when Tyler Perry chose to lift entire passages from the original play with no transition from his own rather unpoetical and sometimes outright unintellectual dialogue.

Many have expressed doubts over Tyler Perry's ability to take responsibility of such a monumental story, one full of vivid color and artistry, I can remember early controversy during the first stages of production with many people citing some issues with Tyler Perry's approach to conveying key issues for the black community, especially since he was now at the helm of such an important book in African American literature, , touted at the time as "a celebration of being black and being woman," Shange's work was originally a collection of 20 prose-poems punctuated by dance and music and performed by a cast of seven women on a spare stage, each identified only by the color of her dress. Recounting rites of passage (losing one's virginity), horrors (rape, domestic violence), and pleasures (intellectual and carnal), what we saw was rather an amiable attempt - yes attempt, by Tyler Perry to bring Shange's work to screen and no one can give a better verdict of this than Shange herself who when asked during post production of this film said "I think he did a very fine job, although I'm not sure I would call it a finished film"

What this film does do however is leave you asking question during and after you have watched it, not very stimulating questions I must confess but questions worth asking nonetheless, questions like why does every single one of the characters somehow end up at the hospital and often at the same time and surely Kimberly Elise's character who is a P.A for a high powered blue collared professional should be earning enough to at least live somewhere more desirable and could afford a babysitter who isn't the old lady from next door... what perplexes me the most is how on earth Hill Harper's CSI character managed to find himself roped into a tale of adolescent unprotected sex as Kerry Washington tries to explain how she contracted STI's through the original's 'Pyramid' poem.

No one was expecting this film to truly capture the imaginative and poetic form of Shange's text, that is without saying one of the limiting things about making films, maybe Oprah Winfrey was right when she expressed doubts over whether or not to make 'For colored girls' into a film at all, but there are some heart warming moments where Tyler Perry does tear himself away from his formulaic melodrama so typical of his work and manages to hit so sweetly the poetic consciousness in Shange's work and for that reason alone you have to commend his efforts and therefore deem 'For colored girls' worthy for all to see.

For Colored Girls (A review)

For colored girls...it seems as though black men are at the helm of all their pain and suffering, well at least that's what we're being made to believe by Tyler Perry's adaption of Ntozake's Shange's choreopoem. Aahh yes! Tyler Perry, the voice of black America and the man who seems to be the saviour of many criminally underrated talented black actresses - yes even Janet Jackson...some times.

Now I promised myself prior to watching that I wouldn't be too critical in my analysis of Lionsgate's latest production, all my preconceived notions that Perry will merely highlight the sentimentality in Shange's text rather than reinforce her feminist radicalism was put to one side as I watched the film open with 'Perry's angels', all living in Harlem, starting their day, each reciting in voice-over a line or two from "Dark Phrases," the poem that begins Shange's play. It's the only instance of her words flowing naturally and organically, the rest of the time I found myself playing 'guess who's line this is' as it became embarrassingly clear when Tyler Perry chose to lift entire passages from the original play with no transition from his own rather unpoetical and sometimes outright unintellectual dialogue.

Many have expressed doubts over Tyler Perry's ability to take responsibility of such a monumental story, one full of vivid color and artistry, I can remember early controversy during the first stages of production with many people citing some issues with Tyler Perry's approach to conveying key issues for the black community, especially since he was now at the helm of such an important book in African American literature, , touted at the time as "a celebration of being black and being woman," Shange's work was originally a collection of 20 prose-poems punctuated by dance and music and performed by a cast of seven women on a spare stage, each identified only by the color of her dress. Recounting rites of passage (losing one's virginity), horrors (rape, domestic violence), and pleasures (intellectual and carnal), what we saw was rather an amiable attempt - yes attempt, by Tyler Perry to bring Shange's work to screen and no one can give a better verdict of this than Shange herself who when asked during post production of this film said "I think he did a very fine job, although I'm not sure I would call it a finished film"

What this film does do however is leave you asking question during and after you have watched it, not very stimulating questions I must confess but questions worth asking nonetheless, questions like why does every single one of the characters somehow end up at the hospital and often at the same time and surely Kimberly Elise's character who is a P.A for a high powered blue collared professional should be earning enough to at least live somewhere more desirable and could afford a babysitter who isn't the old lady from next door... what perplexes me the most is how on earth Hill Harper's CSI character managed to find himself roped into a tale of adolescent unprotected sex as Kerry Washington tries to explain how she contracted STI's through the original's 'Pyramid' poem.

No one was expecting this film to truly capture the imaginative and poetic form of Shange's text, that is without saying one of the limiting things about making films, maybe Oprah Winfrey was right when she expressed doubts over whether or not to make 'For colored girls' into a film at all, but there are some heart warming moments where Tyler Perry does tear himself away from his formulaic melodrama so typical of his work and manages to hit so sweetly the poetic consciousness in Shange's work and for that reason alone you have to commend his efforts and therefore deem 'For colored girls' worthy for all to see.

Nigger Please...

Oxford Dictionary Definition: Offensive. A black person
Chris Rock Definition: The Nitro-glycerine of words
Urban Dictionary: An endearing term between two or more individual to describe a friendship or bond.

Regardless of what definition of the word Nigger you find, it is important to note that definitions change depending on the vessel used to implement the word. It is true that according to a lot of people, the most popular introduction of the word was used as a derogative term to address black Africans who were enslaved during the 16th Century.

It is also true due to many accounts that there was an understanding (whether this understanding is morally right or wrong) that Blacks were innately inferior to Whites. Through the course of the slave trade, especially during early 16th Century we see how this understanding was deeply embedded into a society that ironically introduced the Constitution.

However what we do not see is that the word Nigger was introduced to reflect the present racial hatred of that society, there has never been a conclusive evidence to state the word Nigger would ever become equivalent to the consensus view that Blacks were sub-human.

This leads me on to conclude that the word Nigger by itself, is insignificant, imagine if Nigger was replaced with the words Black, Negro or African, would there have also been a rise in civil disobedience to proclaim our defiance to these terms also? The word Nigger originated from the Portuguese language as a term used in neutral context to refer to black people, there are common variations of the word all around the world such as Negra, Niger and Negro. To this very day variations are incorporated into different languages all around the world, yet we attack Rappers, Academics, Comedians and any other individual who feel they enough understanding and personal validity to use the term.

I have identified various groups of people who make it their life fulfilling endeavours to eradicate the word from the English language, the first group are the politically conscious individuals who feel in order to proclaim their ‘active’ defiance to their inherited racist culture or mindset, they must live out their lives in the crusade to educate themselves and the rest of the world on why they feel the “N word” is socially unacceptable.

Another group of people I have chosen to identify are certain members of the Black community, this group of people by some miraculous intervention manage to relive 300 years of slavery every single time the word Nigger is said. Most people who do belong to this group have never ever personally witnessed any racist act, despite this they react to racial issues as though they were actually enslaved themselves and subjected to the pain and anguish our ancestors had to live through.

Sometimes its so sad I cant help but laugh, it’s sad because I think we fight the word more than we fight the meaning. We react so badly when the word is uttered that we ignore the context in which it was used. As a literary enthusiast, I am constantly amazed by the English language, It as been proven over the course of history that with time and understanding words can change meaning, and put into the hands of different people the form and context can also change.

Chris Rock used the philosophy of ‘soul food’ to explain this, he said;

“They gave us the scraps and we made it into cuisine, we took this word and made it into poetry. Nigger is the Nitro-glycerine of words and in the wrong hands it can hurt, but if you give it to the right person like Dave Chapelle, Ice Cube, Eddie Murphy, what NWA and Richard Prior did with the word Nigger is Art.”

George Carlin, A white American comedian who was also an iconic New Yorker publicly said the word Nigger during his show, he said;

“There is nothing actually wrong with the word Nigger, it’s the racist people who use it we ought to be concerned about, we don’t care when Eddie Murphy or Richard Prior say it why?...because they’re Niggers!”

I become increasingly frustrated when people, especially those belonging to the group I identified begin to lecture others on how the word Nigger is bad, and how we should not say the word, it infuriates me because a word in itself cannot be bad, just like words such as Black or Negro, by itself these words do not offend or threaten, by itself they do not evoke great pain or inner turmoil, it is when they are put into the wrong context and used inappropriately that it begins to create havoc.

So to conclude, I want to make it clear that because the word Nigger brings forth different meaning to different people, when or if you do decide to use the word, ensure you are confident enough in the context in which you have used it. If you want to call your dear friend your Nigger then by no means go ahead providing that dear friend understands what you mean, and if you are racist individual and your ignorance succumbs you then please be my guest call a black person a Nigger, just be sure to handle the repercussions if a big Nigger knocks on your door.

There are no rules or instructions when using the word, we might as well accept the fact that sometimes it will create offence, sometimes it wont, don’t allow people to tell you when you can and cannot say the word, in fact next time you say the word Nigger and someone gasps and walks over to you and tells you can’t say the “N word”, just smile and remember these two words; “Nigger…Please!”