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By Cheo Tyehimba

Currently, there are an estimated 8,652 Title 1 schools nationwide, according to state reports, that are operating below US Dept. of Education standards and California ranks near the top with the most schools failing to make the grade. A few months ago, I spent several weeks as a substitute teacher for a first-grade class at one such school, Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary, in West Oakland. I've been involved in mentoring and youth programs for a very long time but nothing could have prepared me for my first day in class. Perhaps I've been naïve. Or just removed from the front lines for awhile because the class I inherited at Martin Luther King Elementary really tested me in new and different ways.

Take for example, Kevin, a cute, slightly chubby 6 year-old boy. He nearly broke my heart when, as I knelt beside him holding up two fingers on both hands and asked him to give me the answer he replied: "seven." I looked into Kevin's wide, innocent eyes and helped him figure it out. Later, someone told me Kevin was a "special needs" child. This became apparent after I met his mother, who had all the signs of someone recovering from substance abuse. Soon it became obvious that nearly every child in the class had special needs.

Eight years old and big for her age, Marcia was able to do the work but dominated, teased and constantly hit her classmates. Sabrina, another child who had been held back, came to school every day in clothes that were too tight because hergrandmother couldn't afford new clothes for her. Sabrina was very precocious and acted in ways that suggested she'd been a victim of sexual abuse. However, her "grown-up" posture always ended abruptly when things didn't go her way. She would holler at the top of her voice, fall on the floor, throw a tantrum and suck her thumb.

When the principal introduced me to Akil, a lazy-eyed 6 year-old, I knew I'd been gone too long. I'll never forget him. Every morning, Akil came to school with a dirty face and a runny nose. Everything about him suggested that he had no one at home who loved him, no one who nurtured him. This idea was supported when I was told he was one of six children living at home and that he had simply decided to stop talking. "That's Akil," said the principal. "He doesn't speak. It's not that he's mute or anything. He just stopped speaking. No one has heard him since last year." What really hit me in the gut was that Akil's situation was no big deal to his family. "His mother says he speaks at home and it's not a problem," said the principal. "So we just deal with it as best we can."

Dealing with it meant constantly reprimanding Akil for acting out. He may have stopped talking but his often-violent acts towards other children were his way of screaming for attention, for help. He would spit at other children. He ran around the room, knocked books off the shelf, yanked television cords, wrote on the chalkboard, and threw things at other children and hit them constantly. I knew he was only doing what had been done to him by adults but dealing with him was impossible.

It became so bad that I couldn't stand in front of the class and give a lesson without Akil becoming antagonistic. Talking to him had absolutely no effect. One day, as he and another student began to fight, I had to literally carry him out of the classroom and down the hall to the principal's office, where he would typically sit alone for awhile then be released. And of course, he did all this without uttering so much as one word. During the time I taught the class there was never a counselor available to take Akil out of class and talk to him.

It was absolutely the hardest job I've ever had. After the first week, I was frustrated, tired and nerve-racked. The fact that I'd co-authored a book in 1994 called "The Ghetto Solution," which held as its premise that a people affected by generations of poverty, emotional, and psychological arrest, can only change their lives by changing the way they think, feel and act about themselves, their environment and their circumstances, was now a distant memory.

What happened to my long-honored patience? What happened to what I'd learned about non-violent conflict resolution and mediating through psychological and therapeutic efforts? I left defeated and questioned why I ever thought I could make a difference. At home, I picked up the book and began to reread some passages. It had made an important impact on countless lives and supported a 12-year mentoring program called "Simba." It was all about breaking the cycle, seeing through the "matrix" of how we have all been programmed to see our lives and our circumstances.

The next day I saw and met some of the children's parents. Some of them were obviously in trouble. Drugs, unemployment, poor living conditions and all the usual suspects of what I call an "unnatural life" life hounded them. That's when it all came back to me. I began to see the children for what they were: symptoms. All of the elements of their negative behavior, all of the hitting, the teasing, the profanity, the not speaking, etc. were analogous to a sick person with coughs, sore throats, aches and abscesses. As I began to see each child as a "symptom" of a far greater malady my patience level was restored. So many of our young children are not responsible for the negative behavior they learned from their parents. This was the consistent theme I saw played out in every classroom where I taught.

It wasn't a new revelation but I had been removed, by occupation, from the day-to-day soul-crushing circumstances that many of our children and their parents have to struggle with in their lives. Many parents at MLK were struggling against enormous odds to make something out of their lives, rise above their bleak educational and employment opportunities and put an end to cycles of pain. Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary is a typical example of an under-funded, poorly performing school and schools like this are rampant across America, from Oakland to Philadelphia to New York.

BlogON: What can we do to improve the public education system in America? WhatchuTHINK?

By Cheo Tyehimba

A Daily Journal in the New South Africa

Johannesburg, SA - As part of a US press delegation in South Africa to explore the country's social, cultural, and political ideas as they pertain to African Americans, and Africans throughout the Diaspora, I've collected many unforgettable stories in this country. Here are a few:




Day 1
"Not Africa...South Africa"

After a nearly 15-hour flight from New York, our plane touches down in Johannesburg. Upon walking into the main area of the airport the first image that grabs my attention is a huge 40 x 60 billboard, which depicts a corporate-clad white woman heading into her office. She holds the hand of her young daughter, who happily skips along in her checkered catholic school uniform. The image is very familiar except one thing: the woman's other child, an infant, is strapped in traditional African custom on her back. The visually-arresting message is clear: South Africa's white minority can learn a thing or two from African wisdom. For some reason, the ad feels exploitive to me (but I realize everything I see here is being filtered through American, race-obsessed sensibilities). I find myself wondering if this sheen of integration will be represented by what I see in the "new" South Africa.

A very tall, dark brother dressed in a top hat and tails, greets us and opens our door as we pull up to the Michelangelo, the premier hotel in the Sandton area of Joburg. We check in. Later we are feted by tourism reps from South African Airways. They make no bones about it: You are not in Africa, per se. You are in South Africa." They welcome us home and inform us that the U.S. is #3 in tourism to South Africa and 11% of that are African American. Later we recruit Mandy Mankazana, a local tour guide, to take us into Soweto to see the shibens (pronounced "sha-beans") or South African juke joints where the locals hang out. The shibens we go to are called Masakeng's and The Rock (www.therock.co.za). We enjoy great music, eat hake (local fish) and down a couple beers (drafts are about 70 cents, after rate conversion). We have so much fun, we quickly realize why these places were illegal back in the day.

I meet four DJs who regularly spin South African hip hop (called Kwaito) and African house music at The Rock. They want to know all about America, love Harlem without having been there, and wonder if Tupac is still alive. It's a Saturday night and young people from the township are buzzin' about; some flirting and some frontin' is going on while a couple young men rev their car engines and spin-out in the dirt road. It all reminds me of a fish fry in a small southern town.

Day 2
The White man is the master in South Africa and the white man from the very nature of his origins, from the very nature of his birth and from the very nature of his guardianship will remain master in South Africa to the end. - Quote from South African Parliament in the 1960s.

We visit the two-year-old Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg. At the entrance there are two gates, one for whites and one for non-whites. It is a replica to give the visitor a similar experience of living in a divided society. The museum has several historical documents, photos of the founding ANC members, typical pass books used by blacks and coloureds (incl. Chinese, Indians, Malays and the Cape coloureds) to travel beyond the townships and many video installations. We watch a 20-minute film in an auditorium, which provides an account of South African history and the history Apartheid, which officially began in 1948.

We learn about Racial Classification Appeal Boards, which were set up for blacks who wanted to be re-classified as "coloured." During Apartheid, blacks were subjected to dehumanizing race tests. If a comb could run through your hair or they could use a ruler to measure the angle of your nose, you might "luck out" and be classified as coloured. They examined folks nostrils, hair, forehead for a hint of a widow's peak, lips, and of course, skin tone, to determine ethnicity. After you were classified (to one of four main groups: White, Black, Indian, Coloured (mixed race)) , your pass book would indicate your "race".

I find myself doing a double-take at Apartheid-era "white-only" codes and classifications that are strangely similar to America's "quadroon" and "octoroon" designations. I've heard that there are more than 70 classifications for the degree of African blood a person has. Damn. Hats off to dumb guy who did the math on that one. Guess fear of a "black planet" had whitefolks buggin' back then.

Outside, the sun is piercing and we look for shade while waiting for the bus to take us to Gold Reef City, a casino/amusement park venue. There we see an African dance group called African Footprint perform at a theatre in the casino. This mostly black group has a diverse repertoire, ranging from Zulu dances to jazz and tap. By the time they take the stage, some of us are cat-napping, our non-stop itinerary catching up with us. They perform a "boot dance" that is clearly the direct predecessor to the "stepping" practiced by African American Greek-Letter organizations, especially by "the Ques," Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.

The casino is patronized by lots of working-class folk looking for luck in the slots. If you blink, you might think you were in Reno or Vegas. And given the exchange rate is currently R11 to $1, American high-rollers can clean-up here without losing their shirt. Later we head to the night clubs of Joburg and party at a club called The Calabash. On the turntables, DJ Fresh and DJ Cleo cut creations that rival anything I've heard from NYC to LA to Chicago...they spin "African House music" heavy drums and tribal vocals over classic house loops...nonstop mashing riddims! The crowd is hip, the women are fine, and suddenly South Africa feels like a night out in NYC...naw, better.

Day 3
Soweto Now

We tour the Saps-Hillbrow section of Joburg. This is an urban area that at times, reminds me of Brooklyn or Harlem. It is now mostly black, though it used to be white. We visit a middle-class black neighborhood in Hillbrow, where Nelson Mandela has a home. Bishop Desmond Tutu also has a home in the area. We go to the site of the 1976 Soweto Uprising, where because of a government decree that Afrikaans would be used as the official language of instruction in South African schools, black youth protested in the streets and hundreds of black students were killed by police. A memorial rests where many of the youth died.

We tour Soweto and visit an "informal settlement," commonly known as "shantytowns." The homes are tiny dwellings made of patched plywood and tin. Old women with babies in their arms hang clothes on lines and smile. Small children dressed in cast-away clothes wave. Some of us ask residents if we can go inside their one-room homes. They are immaculate. I ask a woman if I can take her photo and then leave a donation for her. The people are very proud. We all leave with renewed spirits.

Our driver takes us on a 4-hour trek into the bush, to a game reserve called Entabeni. We arrive after nightfall and are greeted by the parks' rangers and other hosts. I check into my room. It is designed in a safari-theme, with a vaulting, beamed ceilings, a stone fireplace and a deck in the back, which overlooks Entabeni River, where I can hear hippos night-bathing. I fall asleep to the sound of murmuring wildlife and early morning thunder echoing across the rooftop.

Day 4
"This is bungee-jumping without the rope!"

Next morning our South African safari begins! Its 10am and we're riding in a 12-seater Toyota Jeep on the game reserve. Along the bumpy road, we spy zebras, antelope, baboons and wildebeest, to name a few. "I have a surprise for you this morning," says Henry Parsons, our Ranger. He turns the jeep down an off-road and heads towards a clearing. "I need 4 people to come with me" he announces. I hop out, eager to see what's next. Three others join me and we follow Henry about fifty yards into an open field. Suddenly a helicopter swoops down and Henry ushers us to get in. Next thing I know I'm buckling up and watching the ground grow smaller beneath my feet.

Our pilot reassures us that we're safe while at the same time taking the twirly-bird in looping dips and hang-gliding plunges over cliffs. We see the sedimentary face of the mountain up close. The mountain appears to be the size of Yosemite's Half-Dome and in the midst of our screams as we careen around it, we suddenly find ourselves atop Hangklip Mountain, some 5,000 feet up from where we started. We are further amazed to find a gourmet champagne breakfast sitting on pristine white tablecloths and a chef welcoming us to eat! A few brothers who helped cater the food stand nearby and later I ask one to tell me how to say "I ate well on the mountain." After a couple tries, I say my first words in the language of the Northern Sotho: "Ke jole Kudu mo godi mu ga thaba" After breakfast, I look out at the vast, biblical sky and valley below. From here, life looks like a crystal stair.

Day 5
From Wild Kingdom to Balmy Durban

We rise early and take another safari. In the bush, we ride right up to lounging lions in the tall grass; creep close to white rhinos, zebras, giraffes and other animals. The ranger stops every so often to point out just about every herb and plant know to man growing along the terra-cotta red road. Before we check out, we see a couple elephants near the lodge.

We fly to Durban. Getting off the jet and walking on the tarmac, I am hit by the balmy heat. Durban is located on eastern coast of South Africa, in the province of Kwa-Zulu Natal, the land of the legendary Zulu king Shaka. The coast, dotted with tall hotels and other buildings sprawled out along the warm Indian Ocean, reminds me Miami Beach. We also notice several squatter camps - ramshackle patchboard dwellings -- along the highway. Many west and central African "foreigners," recently relocated in South Africa for a better way of life, scrap out an existence among these camps.

We check into the Protea Hotel Umhlanga, then later eat the world's largest shrimp at Famous Seafood Co. on the waterfront. Tomorrow we head to Durban's Kwa Mhule Museum and see first-hand how apartheid permanently changed the lives of millions of black South Africans.

In part two, I also visit the village of Mandela's birth, tour Robben Island where he was imprisoned, experience the jazz scene, ramble on the beach in spectacular Capetown, and discover why we've finally begun the African Century.

Copyright © Article first published in March 2002 by Cheo Tyehimba. All Rights Reserved.

By Hotep Idris Galeta

South African Jazz has had many elements contributing to its evolution, the most significant being the rich, eclectic cultural diversity of the country's inhabitants and the influence of African/American musical culture upon it over the years. These two variants coupled with an environment of legislated racism, gross human rights violations, created the unique artistic forge and mould responsible for the evolution of South African Jazz.

The first informal contact the inhabitants of Cape Town had with African Americans was during the American Civil War when the Confederate war ship the "Alabama" came into the port of Cape Town to replenish its supplies. The "Alabama" patrolled the South Atlantic where it would wait for Union Ships to come round the Cape from the Far East. It would then attack, plunder and sink them. The "Alabama" was one of the most notorious and feared Southern commerce raiders on patrol in the Atlantic sending some fifty eight Union vessels to the bottom of the South Atlantic during her two year patrol.

During the US Civil War, the CSS Alabama brought many African American soldiers to South Africa for the first time.


Confederate captain Raphael Semmes commanded this British built steam powered schooner. A mixed crew of British mercenaries and Southern whites manned the ship. On board there were also a small contingent of African-American slaves who served as cleaners, mess stewards and provided some musical entertainment for the crew. When the Alabama docked in Cape Town the local population flocked to the waterfront to look at her. It was then that the African-Americans gave their impromptu musical recitals at the dockside where the "Alabama" was moored. The Alabama was finally tracked down and sunk off Cherbourg, France by the Union Warship the U.S.S. Kearsarge on the 19th of June 1864.

On June 19th 1890 South Africans had their first formal contact with black-Americans and Black-American music when the minstrel troop of Orpheus Myron McAdoo's "Virginia Jubilee Singers" from Hampton Virginia presented a series of concerts in Cape Town. Orpheus McAdoo was born in 1858 in Greensborough, North Carolina. As a young man he attended the Hampton Institute in Hampton Virginia, where he studied and graduated as a teacher in 1876. Before turning to music as a professional career in 1886 he taught school in Pulaski and Accomac Counties in the state of Virginia for ten years.

The Virginia Jubilee Singers were very similar to the famous Fisk Jubilee singers, right.

In 1886 he toured Europe, Australia, New Zealand and the Far East after joining five members of the original Fisk Jubilee singers. Upon his return to the U.S. a year or two later McAdoo formed his own company by recruiting some ex students and graduates from Hampton amongst whom was his future wife Mattie Allen and his brother Eugene. With his newly formed troup consisting of six women and four men, they set sail on a Europen tour in 1888. Two years later we find them arriving in South Africa. Their appearance was to have a significant impact upon the music scene as it later influenced the creation and formation of the "Kaapse Klopse" or "Coon Carnival." Since it's inception at the turn of the century the minstrel street carnival became an integral part of Cape Town's performing arts culture during the New Year celebrations.

To use the derogatory term of the racist American, south of that time," Coon" being the equivalent of the South African derogatory term of "Kaffir" " Cooley" or "Hotnot". It is not clearly known how such a derogatory racist American term "Coon' came to be known in Cape Town, however given South Africa's racist colonial past leaves little doubt for speculation as to it's origin. The "Coon carnival's" popularity decreased as the struggle for liberation intensified over the coming years.

McAdoo's Minstrels stayed and toured throughout South Africa for eighteen months visiting places such as Grahamstown, King WilliamsTown and Alice where they visited and performed at Lovedale College, a South African equivalent of Tuskegee University. The introduction of Jazz into South Africa took place shortly after the 1st World War, around 1918 and this introduction was again via Cape Town. The first Jazz recording were only made in 1917, and this by the all white New Orleans Band called "The Original New Orleans Dixieland Band".

Some of these early recordings were brought to Cape Town by American merchant seaman. Local white and coloured bands (the creole mixed racial population group resident in the Cape Town area) and even some visiting American musicians were instrumental in popularizing early New Orleans style jazz at the Cape after the 1st World War. To the white musicians who played it and the white audiences who danced to it in America and elsewhere in the British and European Imperial colonies it became known as Dixieland. Given the dreary social life and appalling conditions in the black South African townships, it is easy to understand why the introduction of the radio, gramophone and recordings of New Orleans Jazz served as the biggest catalyst for the developing styles of early township music and black professional musicianship in the 1920's.

The most popular bands there in the 20's and 30's were Meekly Matshikiza's "Blue Rhythm Syncopators" and William Mbali's "Big Four" who entertained both whites and upper class blacks. Some of the earliest preserved examples of South African Jazz was recorded by Gumede's Swing Band on Gallotone GE 942 in the late 1920's. It was during the late 20's that Boet Gashe an itinerant organist from Queenstown popularized the three chord system the forerunner to the Marabi and Mbaqanga styles that were later to be perfected in the township shebeen environments of Johannesburg and Marabastad situated on the outskirts of Pretoria. Sophiatown the legendary ghetto of Johannesburg became the experimental ground for this vibrant new township music that was to under go further innovation during the 1930's into the 50's. The music of the townships served as an important platform and vehicle for developing singers and instrumentalists.

Larger 15 piece bands such as the "Jazz Maniacs" were formed by popular Doornfontein shebeen pianist turned saxophonist, Solomon "Zulu Boy" Cele. Cele who was listening to the African/American bands of Fletcher Henderson, Count Basie and Duke Ellington saw the enormous potential of developing marabi into a big band style. This band was to feature and develop some of the legendary township Jazz players. They included saxophonists Mackay Davashe, Zakes Nkosi, Ntemi Pilliso and Wilson "King Fish" Silgee.

The Jazz Maniacs are significant because they carried the spirit of marabi to the dance halls and provided inspiration for a new breed of emergent Jazz musicians such as Dollar Brand now known as Abdullah Ibrahim, Hugh Masekela, Kiepie Moeketsie, Jonas Gwangwa, Sol Klaaste, Early Mabuse and Gwigwi Mwerebi.
South African jazz giant Abdullah Ibrahim

Some of the legendary Sophiatown vocal groups and singers associated with the "Jazz Maniacs" are the Manhattan Brothers, The Quad Sisters, The Woody Wood Peckers and a group that was to launch four great individual singers, The Skylarks, consisting of Miriam Makeba, Abigail Khubeka, Letta Mbulu and Mary Rabotaba. The demise of marabi big bands can be directly attributed to encroaching legislated racism, forced removals and regulations forbidding blacks to appear at venues where liquor was served.


Early South African jazz musicians in Sophiatown


As the dance halls in Sophiatown and other areas around the country were destroyed, black musicians were shut out of the inner cities or had to play behind a curtain when playing with some of their white counterparts at whites only clubs, Jazz was gradually being deprived of its multi racial audience.

The 1950's are remembered as the days of passive resistance against the Nationalist government's institutionalized racism, but it it is also remembered as a great age of Jazz development in South Africa. A new strain of Jazz began to emerge which contained a greater American influence. This new strain was the result of the Bebop revolution in the U.S. Young emergent musicians such as Dollar Brand, Chris McGregor, Johnny Gertse, Sammy Moritz, Makaya Ntoshoko Mra "Cristopher Columbus" Ngcukana, Jonas Gwangwa, Jimmy Adams, Early Mabuza, "Cups and Saucers" Kanuka, Hugh Masekela, Kippie Moeketsie, Henry February, Anthony and Richard Schilder, Harold Japhta and this writer included took to this new exciting Jazz form from America like ducks to water.

The real milestone occurred when one of my future mentors to be, visiting American pianist and Jazz educator John Mehegan came to South Africa in the late 50's on a American State Department sponsored tour. After the tour he assembled a local group to record an album for Gallo Records entitled "Jazz In Africa". Beside Mehegan on piano the group consisted of Hugh Masekela on Trumpet, Jonas Gwangwa on Trombone, Kiepie Moeketsie on Alto Saxophone, Gene Latimore on Drums and Claude Shange on Bass. When Mehegan departed for the U.S. Dollar Brand added Johnny Gertse on Bass and Makaya Ntoshoko on Drums, creating a new rhythm section to which he added Masekela, Gwangwa and Moeketsie, calling this new band "The Jazz Epistles" One of the most dynamic and creative bands of the late 50's. The band recorded two albums " The Jazz Epistles Vol. 1 and Vol. 2" played a few gigs around the country and disbanded when Masekela and Gwangwa left to study in the U.S. in 1960. That unfortunately was the end of the line for that kind of American Jazz in South Africa.


The Jazz Epistles was the first popular jazz recording released in South Africa.


Many of the musicians who played it left the country because of the increasingly repressive political situation, this writer included. With the advent of the Avant Garde in the 60's the "Blue Notes" led by Eastern Cape born pianist Chris McGregor together with saxophonist Dudu Pukwane, trumpeter Mongezi Feza, bassist Johnny Mbizo Dyani and drummer Louis Tebogo Moholo took up the banner and propelled the music in a new direction.

They also had to leave the country but made a huge impact upon the European and British jazz scene with their fiery brand of South African Avant Garde Jazz. It is only Louis Tebogo Moholo that is alive today. The rest of them all died in exile before they could experience the freedom of democracy in the land of their birth.

Many stayed and continued to produce creative music in a political environment that became increasingly oppressive and brutal. Here in the province of the Western Cape in the city of Cape Town musicians such as Basil "Mannenberg" Coetzee, Robbie Jansen, Paul Abrahams, Chris Schilder, Gilbert Matthews, and many others to numerous to mention gave their commitment, time and creativity to the struggle for democracy. They used South African Jazz as a platform and became deeply involved in the struggle for democracy on a creative level using their music as a clarion call for liberation at United Democratic Front political rallies in the townships.

Today in a democratic South Africa Jazz is thriving in an environment of freedom and racial reconciliation. At present there exists an up and coming core of extremely masterful young musicians, both black and white. Some of them are graduates from tertiary institutions here in South Africa with vibrant jazz education programs and some come from community jazz education programs. Gloria Bosman, Judith Sephuma, Melanie Scholtz, Zim Ngqawana, Andile Yenana, Lulu Gontsana, Mark Fransman, Buddy Wells, Paul Hamner, Keshivan Naidoo, Herbie Tshoali, Themba Mkize and the late Moses Taiwa Molelekwa.

These are some of the new innovative core of younger South African musicians who are responsible for taking the music into a new creative direction. Their vision and innovative approaches is creating a significant impact upon the South African jazz scene by the development of new concepts and ideas within the South African jazz genre. This bodes extremely well for the development of jazz in South African which like in nazi Germany some sixty odd years ago had been suppressed and stifled during the turbulent apartheid era.


Jazz pianist Hotep Idris Galeta left South Africa for London and then New York in 1961 and stayed in exile for thirty years. His discography is quite extensive with over 18 albums and CDs recorded with a number of American and South African artists, including with Hugh Masekela, Herb Alpert, John Handy, Jackie McLean, Joshua Redman, Archie Shepp, Elvin Jones, Bobby Hutcherson, Woody Shaw and David Crosby and the Byrds. He ended his exile in America and returned to South Africa in 1991.

REVIEW





The Dirty South's most apt pupil to graduate from the Tupac Shakur School of Thug Life is back with another ode to the streets. On his sixth album, he's working the same two angles as in previous efforts: drum-machine backed, club-banging anthems jutted against 2 Live Crew-like lyrics. Still nasty, yes, but there's a measurable maturity this time out. Trick tells Southern street truths but ups the ante by delivering didactic and empowering lines on cuts like "Ain't a Thug" and "The Children's Song." Guess matrimony grows you up. Grade: B-
- Cheo Tyehimba

REVIEW





Sooner or later, every artist has gotta do it. Throw caution (and record sales) to the wind and drop an album for his peeps. Luckily, for Jean, this tribute album, which is sung almost entirely in his mother tongue of Haitian Creole, delivers. Jean raps and wails over traditional Creole beats like Konpa, Zouk and Rara while reinventing (a Creole "La Bamba"), rabble-rousing (the incendiary "President") and representing ("Lavi New York"). With cannon beats and hooky guitar licks, this is infectious music. Listen and try to sit still. Grade: A-
- Cheo Tyehimba

IN BRIEF


Rome, December 14 - WFP has released a music video by Haitian singer/songwriter Wyclef Jean, who visited flood-stricken parts of Haiti in October, and whose new song ‘Gonaives' seeks to raise awareness and support for thousands of people still recovering from the devastation.





During his recent visit to Haiti, the Grammy-award winner visited WFP projects, where he witnessed the critical need for food aid and other assistance for those still reeling from their tragic loss of life and possessions.

Last September, tropical storm Jeanne caused massive floods in Haiti, killing at least 2,000 people and bringing the country to its knees.




HAITI CONTACT GROUP MEETING

The new music video is being released ahead of the Haiti Contact Group meeting, hosted by The World Bank in Washington D.C, where Wyclef Jean will speak and perform.

The one-day meeting, on December 15th, brings together the World Bank, the IMF, UN agencies, donors and special interest groups.

"There's a lot of different organisations doing different things, but I like to see with my own eyes, and when I see what the World Food Programme is doing in Haiti, I think it's something that the world just needs to know about," said Wyclef, who helped WFP workers unload heavy bags of food aid during his October trip.

"GONAIVES" - NOT A SONG OF SADNESS

Written in his native Creole, the music video's song "Gonaives" takes its name from the Haitian city (the country's third largest) which was submerged and heavily damaged during the floods.

The video shows Wyclef chatting with ordinary Haitians, distributing relief food, and giving weakened people clean water to drink. At many points, he breaks into song, hoping his words and music will inspire those facing a life of suffering and hardship.

"Gonaives… my heart is being torn apart, too many mothers have lost too many children," Wyclef sang in Creole, while distributing WFP food rations in Gonaives.

Despite the initial sad lines in the song, Wyclef insists that "the song is not a song of sadness."

"What we wanted to do was capture the raw essence of Gonaives and what we saw during the floods… give people a sense of inspiration. Not like ‘oh, be sad for us' but how can we as people really help Gonaives," explained Wyclef.

WEST'S POOREST COUNTRY

WFP is currently feeding more than 600,000 people in Haiti, 100,000 of them flood victims.

The poorest country in the western hemisphere, Haiti ranks 153 out of 177 countries on the UNDP Human Development Index. More than three quarters of Haiti's population live on less than US$2 a day.

Chronic malnutrition is rampant, and severe to moderate stunting affects 42 percent of children under the age of five.

In addition to relief assistance, WFP's projects in Haiti focus on four sectors: school feeding; malnourished children, pregnant and nursing mothers; agricultural rehabilitation and emergency preparedness.

YELE HAITI

The World Bank Haiti Contact Group meeting, where Wyclef will speak about pilot projects for development in Haiti, will include a round table discussion with WFP participation.





Wyclef also recently launched a movement called "Yéle Haiti" which focuses on education, entrepreneurship, community development, health and the environment. The websites of both Yéle Haiti and WFP are listed at the end of the music video, for viewers interested in providing support to the country's flood victims.

Article reprinted from World Food Programme website

By Charlie Braxton


Dear Brother Flavor Flav:
When I first learned that VH-1, a station owned by Viacom, was planning a reality show featuring you and Bridgette Neilson called "Strange Love," I was concerned that the show would be problematic. After all, VH-1 and its sister station MTV has a history of being hostile to rap groups with pro-Black messages and since you have a long history with Public Enemy, the most influential and positively-Black hip hop groups of all time, I figured there might be a conflict of interests with your involement with the show. Unfortunatley, I was wrong.



On "Strange Love" you have made a complete fool of yourself by pining after Bridgette Nielson (a white female), who seems to treat you with the kind of affection reserved for a dog – she has even called you "Foofie!" The sad thing is that your submission to her racist patronage has not only reduced your humanity, but you allowed the producers of the show to exploit your personal conflict between your children and their mother, who is African American.

"Strange Love" – note the racist connotation of the title - has exploited every known stereotype that the larger society has about Black men and has done considerable damage to the image of one of the greatest hip hop groups of all time.

Like so many other hip hop heads fortunate enough to be a part of the genre's Golden Era (circa 1985 -1995), I was and still am a huge fan of Public Enemy. As a young Black man coming of age during the Reagan/Bush (the father, not the son) era, I was attracted to PE's up lifting message of self-love and self-reliance because it was something that resonated with me.

To me, albums like the classic "It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back," was more than just some cool music to party to, it was a sonic manifesto, a hip hop call to arms that compelled me and thousands of others to take stock in our lives.

Thanks in part to PE many of us tossed our fat gold ropes and exchanged them for bead and black medallions. We put down forty ounces and picked up books like George GM James Stolen Legacy and Carter G. Woodson's The Miss-education of the Negro. Many of us either joined or formed organizations and did what we could to "fight the powers that be."

In fact, it was Public Enemy's song "Don't Believe the Hype" that inspired me to become a hip hop journalist. My friend and fellow journalist Kevin Powell once told me that as hip hop journalist we are in a very precarious position. As fans of hip hop we feel the need to defend the culture from hostile forces that refuse to see our culture in context so we often find ourselves trying to bring balance to skewed commentary regarding hip hop culture. On the other hand we as journalists and critical thinkers we also have to be the ones to offer a clear analysis of hip hop culture and, when necessary, call our own on the carpet.

Flavor, as you know, speaking to Allhiphop.com, your colleague, PE front man, Chuck D apologized to the Black community for your bad behavior.

"[The show's imagery] has been harmful to Flav's standing and legacy of being our brother," said Chuck. ""I would be lying if I said that the side of Flav shown on ‘Strange Love' doesn't affect what I've wanted our collective to stand for, because it does and many have told us how deeply they are bothered by this."

Flavor... the buffonery you have acted out on this show before millions of PE fans is an insult to your PE band mates, and all who have labored to portray the Black man with dignity and honor.

Please brother, for the love of God and the Black Community worldwide, stand up and stop this senseless Step n Fetch It act now!

Sincerely,
Charile Braxton, hip hop journalist

BlogOn: Has Flavor Flav disgraced Public Enemy and himself on the reality show "Strange Love." Whatchuthink?

By Monique Y. Wells



James Baldwin and Richard Wright may well be the two most famous African-American expatriates to have lived in Paris in the post-World War II era. But despite the fact that they were both black men who critically examined social issues in the U.S. and abroad, their lives in France contrasted sharply. Wright was a central figure in the African-American community in Paris, while Baldwin was peripheral to it. Wright achieved fame prior to moving to Paris while Baldwin did so afterward. Whereas Wright became increasingly disillusioned and bitter during his years in Paris, Baldwin evolved as a writer and a man in embracing aspects of his nationality and sexuality that eluded him in America. And while Wright maintained a self-imposed exile from the U.S. during the civil rights era, Baldwin returned home to "pay his dues" during those turbulent times.

James Baldwin moved to Paris in the winter of 1948 at the age of 24. Never swayed by the myth of a colorblind France that attracted many African-American expatriates of that time, his life and his writing were profoundly influenced by his experiences there nonetheless. Upon his arrival, he spoke almost no French, had few friends, and very little money. His first acquaintances (besides Wright) were white American students and artists. He befriended African students and frequented Arab cafés before he enlarged his circle of African-American acquaintances, and wrote essays invoking these encounters to earn money to support both himself and his New York family. He reworked his first novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain (1953), in the upper room of the Café de Flore – one of Paris' most famous literary cafés. And he transformed the ground floor apartment of a French friend into the suffocating abode that he describes in Giovanni's Room (1956).

Baldwin's coverage of the 1st Congress of Black Writers and Artists for Encounter magazine in 1956 was a watershed moment in his career – it inspired him to return to the U.S. to contribute to the struggle for racial equality. He became a passionate and eloquent spokesperson for the movement, roused by the injustices that he witnessed firsthand in his travels throughout the South. He brought this passion back to France, staging a march on the American Embassy in Paris in support of the March on Washington just one week prior to Dr. King's historic event. He filled the void created by Richard Wright's untimely demise, achieving renown as the leading African American that the French press sought out for comment on racial issues around the world.

Though Baldwin was often critical of France and its citizens in his prose, he frequently depicted their land – and particularly their capital – romantically in his fiction. Giovanni's Room (1956), Another Country (1962) and Just Above My Head (1979) among other works, all feature Paris as a setting. Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Montparnasse, and Les Halles figured prominently in Baldwin's own life, his own self-awakening in Paris. So it is not surprising that many of his characters find themselves in these localities as they grapple with the issues Baldwin has given them to resolve. These narratives are perhaps the best tribute that he left to the City of Light.

Monique Y. Wells is a freelance writer and editor, co-founder of the travel planning service Discover Paris! (www.discoverparis.net) and author of the award-winning soul food cookbook Food for the Soul (www.parisfoodforthesoul.com)

REVIEW

"Never looking back/ or too far in front of me/ The present is a gift/ and I just want to be."


Blessing the music scene with his sixth album "Be," the artist formerly known as Common Sense intertwines his sophisticated lyrics over hip hop and heavily jazz influenced beats. A hip hop veteran, Common remains true to his intelligent, politically conscious rhymes while delivering a fresh new sound with the help of Kanye West who produced all but two tracks on the album. The other two were produced by J Dilla who produced the majority of Common's last two albums. From relationships to life on the corner, the album is one of Common's best to date with an edgier sound that captures an even broader fan base. Grade: B+

- Maya Pope-Chappell

By Charlie Braxton



The first time I heard Frankie Beverly and Maze's self-titled debut album was during the winter of 1977. I was a sophomore in high school, a restless teenager with a fierce passion for good music and pretty girls. It was on a cold and windy Mississippi night when I was supposed to be sleeping, but, as usual, I wasn''t. Instead I was in bed with my ears glued to my little rinky-dink portable 8-track with AM/FM radio, listening to WXEL, a now defunct Black radio station located in Slidell, Louisiana, a small town just minutes away from New Orleans. I was waiting for my man Funky Larry Jones to play the album of the week, which was this new group called Maze featuring Frankie Beverly.

After waiting for what seemed like hours listening to Larry do his infamous Boogie Check, he finally announced that he was going to put the record on after a commercial break. As soon as the commercial was over I reach for the volume control and eased it up as far as I dare move it for fear of waking my mom up.

From the time I heard the first note of the first song ""Time Is on My Side,"" I thought that this might not be a bad album. As the needle edged its way towards the second song ""Happy Feelings,"" I was convinced that the album was going to be good. By the time I heard, ""California,"" the last song on the album I had already started counting my little nickels and dimes in my head, trying to see if I had enough for the $7.95 that it took to buy and album those days. I didn''t so I ended up trading my copy of Peter Frampton''s "Frampton Comes Alive" for a copy of "Maze featuring Frankie Beverly." And thus begin my fanatical admiration of Frankie Beverly & Maze. But I wasn't alone.

For the past 30 years Maze featuring Frankie Beverly has been working on being Black America''s favorite bands. Go to any concert in the country where Maze is on the ticket and you''ll likely to find throngs of adoring fans – be they young or old, rich or poor- willing to stand or sit for hours waiting to see their band. It makes no difference where they may fall on the ticket, whether they are the special invited guest or merely the opening act to us die-hard Maze fans, Frankie and the Boys are always the headliners.

Just what makes Maze featuring Frankie Beverly so popular with such a wide variety of Black folk? Perhaps it's their distinctive blend of music from the African American musical- continuum (i.e. jazz, r & b, and Afro-Latin rhythms) that strikes a responsive chord. Or maybe it's the dynamic performance that Maze gives their audience each time they take the stage. (Anybody who has ever attended a Frankie Beverly and Maze concert can testify that they put one of the best shows ever...plus its the only show where hundreds of people do the "electric slide" together). His music just taps into the soul of Blackfolks and "happy feelings" bubble up everywhere.

But according to Frankie it's more than just the music and the live performances, it's the positive, life-affirming energy that he and the rest of the group put into their music. "We've made it this far because we love and respect ourselves and our fans," say Frankie of his longevity. "But most importantly we believe in what we do." Here's wishing the band and all of my fellow Maze heads happy feelings.

P.S. Frankie thanks for turning me on to Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet.

BlogOn: What gives Frankie Beverly and Maze such staying power? WhatchuHEAR?

By Maya Pope-Chappell




On tour with his recent album After Hours, indie-soul man Rahsaan Patterson feels the music differently each time he sings it. And for listeners around the country, it feels good.

Rahsaan Patterson's new album is the definition of musical art, with rhythms and melodies that create a canvas of illuminating colors and sounds. The epitome of sophistication, After Hours is filled with up-tempo songs and ballads that will have you on an emotional rollercoaster and not wanting to get off. Featuring collaborations with Van Hunt, Jamey James, Steve "Silk" Hurley, and others, this new LP is an eclectic album influenced by jazz, blues, soul, and gospel. As a singer, songwriter, and producer, this New York native delivers a soulful, innovative, and classic sound unlike anyone else.

"I'm very much a person that goes against the grain," says Patterson. Timeless and uplifting, After Hours is truly Rahsaan at his best. Although Rahsaan has had to maintain his independence at the cost of airplay, his originality and creativity in song is a breath of fresh air from the smog of commercialized and packaged hits often heard on the radio.

Patterson says, "I used to feel like there needed to be a change [in radio] but at this point in time, I don't really concern myself with that. I just do what I do and I'm grateful that it even gets put in a record store. And those people who go to the record store and purchase it, I'm blessed for that. My main focus is making and finding a way for it to be shared." On stage, Rahsaan is a confident performer who reinvents the music inside himself as he performs it. Spontaneous and innovative, he literally feels the music like Chaka Khan, James Brown, or Al Green.

From an early age, Rahsaan's interest in music was cultivated and nurtured by his parents who were both singers. Having sung in the church and on a TV series called "Kid's Incorporated," Rahsaan moved from New York to California as a young man to embark on his solo career with MCA. Under MCA, Rahsaan recorded his debut album Rahsaan Patterson and his follow up, Love in Stereo.

Although both albums received rave reviews, according to the 31 year-old, while recording with MCA, it was difficult for the president of the label to determine the single. "I found that over the course of my career of recording solo albums, because I have so many different styles of songs that don't necessarily fit in with mainstream radio, it was difficult for some of the people involved to choose one, or even hear one (a single)," Patterson says.

With an established fan base upon MCA's closing, Rahsaan left and signed with a smaller independent label, Artistry, on which he released After Hours. "Personally, I've always felt that my albums possessed songs that were radio friendly and capable of being played and with this new album, I just really wanted to show that I am conscious of what's played on the radio," says Patterson.

Having grown from his first two albums both vocally and creatively, Rahsaan says his life experiences have changed how he approaches and interprets his songs. "I'm older [and] the album just reflects that growth and maturity," says Patterson. This is apparent on "Don't Run So Fast," a personal ballad about reflection and growth. Similar to Bill Whither's song "Grandma's Hands" and reminiscent of a Billie Holiday or ‘50's classic, the song begins with poignant orchestrated sounds followed by Rahsaan's soothing and captivating vocals. The way the production grows and develops is like a grandmother's influence on a child as he sings, "I remember Grandma's blue robe/ and some of the stories she told/ there were other words she once spoke/ there was a lullaby I treasured the most/ it said/ Don't run so fast/ you might fall on glass/ Don't run so fast/ you wont be the last/ Don't run so fast."

Finding inspiration to write this song upon leaving MCA, "Sometimes" is a seductive and funky track with a gospel touch about letting go and growing stronger. The funk continues with "Separate," a song about a relationship that has gone bad, has a slight hip-hop feel to it with a soulful overlay. Rahsaan plays with his voice as he sings, I think its time/ we separate/ Wrap it up and call it a day. Clearly passion-filled with each vocal variation, "Separate" is a prime example of Rahsaan's effortlessly captivating and melodic appeal.

Heartfelt from top to bottom, After Hours invites listeners to share his feeling.
Your RSVP will prove wise.

blog on, baby!



HERE'S THE THING: for those of us who pretend that posting our candid, if tortured thoughts, to a blog will somehow change public policy or impact the way congress passes laws, I say this: shake it off! we bloggers are multiple grains of sand on the great dunes rolling towards mecca but unless what we have to SAY is backed by mobilized masses, it won't amount to more than a vaporized mirage. so go ahead, fight city hall. just get an organization behind you if you expect to be taken seriously. with new advances in information technology, like podcasting, you have all kinds of folks shooting off their mouths about every thing from supreme court justice sandra day o'connor's retirement to bush's indefensible blathering about expanding the US Patriot Act or the scandal behind his man rove. of course the difference between reaching a listening audience by podcasting or yelling from a church steeple like a town cryer is neglible...you're only going to reach the monied folks who can afford ipods or those that go to church...and whats that about anyway? on another note, i've found the rules of blogging to be in a constant state of flux, which delights me. but exactly who are we? are we wannabe celebs with nothing to say, big name musicians, artists, or authors using the blogosphere to promote our work (on the slytip), or quixotian media extremists ready to expose the conspiracies and scams inherent in just about every major profitable industry, namely the US government? Maybe we are a amalgamation of ALL these things, with one basic desire underpinning it all: we just want to be LOVED. yeah, we all want a hug, that's it. I sure do. as Digital Underground used to say during their tupac days, 'kiss me, and I'll kiss you back.' anyway, that's my take on our blog-o-matic world. another slingshot comin' at ya tomorrow
-cheo

Father to Son



my pops mailed me the story of his life a few days ago. It's a rare occassion when a son has a view into the sorted details of how his father fell down; how he lost his wife, kids, and bright career to alcoholism. like all tragic stories, his started brightly and faded quickly, sadly. after one too many let-downs, my mom left him, packed me and my two brothers on a train bound for Springfield, Mass. to start over on the east coast; although he tried to find his own way back to us a few times, he failed, wasn't trying to be a cosby dad or didn't know how. found success in the corporate world over and over again, only to drink it away...tried to jetison outside of history itself, out, beyond the confines of what Black men were allowed to do during the 60s and 70s. he made up his own rules and shined brightly in the face of hope held hostage...broke sales records for Fortune 500 companies and set his sights on the ladder... he shined, then went out, out, as a lightbulb burnt too quickly by a short circuit...in the end, his simple, then as-yet, unrealized goal was to become nothing but a man. and nearly ten years later, he did it. they remarried, he rebuilt his career... Of course by then, he had done a lot of growing up too, wasn't the 20 year old kid he was when they first married...he came back to us, clean and sober and ready to reclaim his place in our lives. But it took almost another ten years for he and I to mend our own broken fences, some of them still need mending... However, I must say, my pops, Donald K. Taylor, has replaced lost time by finding himself, by being a father I can be proud of. he has become one of the most influential people in the making of who I am, the MAN I am, today. his unexpected, unabashedly self-honest 30-page autobiography is a profound gift to his son, one that I hope to be able to give to my son one day.
- cheo

By Maya Pope-Chappell

BERKELEY - 07/17/05 - As fans attempted to cool themselves off in the record-breaking California heat, Jazz artists from around the country delivered performances that solidified the Berkeley Jazz Festival, returning to the Greek Theater on the UC Berkeley campus after over 20 years.
Singer Lalah Hathaway performs on stage at the Greek Theater


A sold-out crowd of over 2500 fans swayed their hips in the stands, clapped their hands, and sang along to their favorite songs. The family-oriented vibe that whisked throughout the crowd was captivating, as jazz music lovers shared one another's food, enjoyed the music, and commented on each artist as they graced the stage.

Featuring some of today's leading jazz artists, including the incomparable Boney James, the smooth adult contemporary sounds of Kem, the pulsating sounds of Rachelle Ferrell, the renowned Bobby Caldwell, the versatile and soulful vocals of Lalah Hathaway, San Francisco's Ray Obiedo and the Unwrapped All Stars, the festival began in the afternoon and went well into the evening.

The show opened with a performance by Hidden Beach Recordings Unwrapped All Stars, followed by a celebrated performance by Bobby Caldwell. With only a saxophone, keyboard, and electric guitar, Caldwell, along with his band set the tone for the festival with his melodic voice and harmonious band. As Caldwell sang some of his biggest hits including "Do for Love," fans sang along and clapped their hands yelling, "That's my song!"

Wearing a flowing, yellow top and jean skirt, Lalah Hathaway addressed the crowd, thanking them for their support and love. Fans greeted her back in a warm and inviting manner as her commanding, yet refreshing voice belted out songs such as "How was I suppose to Know," "Summertime," and her album title track, "Outrun the Sky." Accompanied by a four-piece band and an amazing backup singer, she flowed from one song to another, with a few breaks in-between to talk to the fans. Her first single and tribute to Luther Vandross was the highlight of her performance, singing a cover of "Forever, For Always, For love." Adding her own flava and uniqueness to the legendary hit, she asked the crowd to sing along, and the crowd responded enthusiastically, every voice lifted to the wind-swept skies.

Bringing Latin flavor to the mix, Ray Obiedo, along with a seven-piece band, including congas, drums, guitars, keyboard, flute, and saxophone, made it known why he is one of San Francisco's premiere jazz guitarists. Mixing Afro-Latin jazz, the hot tempo melodies coming off from the stage got people out of their seats and dancing in the circles of the Greek Theater.

Following, dressed in white pants and a halter-top with the back out, Rachelle Farrell sang a series on slolw-tempo songs that failed to inspire the crowd. Falling somewhat short of her previous notoriety, she was still well received by some. Boney James took the energy of the crowd up along with his six-piece band, involving the crowd in his entire performance. His saxophone performance was nothing short of amazing, playing a couple of covers and original pieces.

Kem closed the festival with a heartfelt performance that got everyone on their feet


Kem and his band, dressed in an all white, brought energy and passion to the Greek Theater by delivering a memorable performance. Kem exuded energy, dancing as he sang, sparking the same energy from the stands. Hitting low base notes with ease and high notes like that of a flute, Kem sang songs from his two albums including "Heaven", "Find Your Way (Back in My Life)," and "Love Calls." The pinnacle of his performance was his testimony to the crowd, which was an honest account of his former drug addiction and homelessness and 15 years of sobriety. The crowd showed empathy and understanding of Kem's testimony as he spoke into the mic saying: "You will find bits and pieces of my life on this album."

Ending the night with his fist single from Album II, "I Can't Stop Loving You," you could hear the sincerity and passion in his voice. As fans began walking towards the exit gates, one could tell that people were truly inspired by not only Kem's performance, but everyone that performed at the festival. Their smiles spoke volumes and tapped into the true spirit of the legendary Berkeley Jazz Festival, which by all indications, has returned to the Bay to stay.

By Marcel Diallo


The funeral procession for Big Chief Allison "Tootie" Montana meanders through the neighborhoods of New Orleans on the way to Cemetery Number 2. (photocredit:Keba Konte)


NEW ORLEANS — TAMBOURINES, umbrellas, feathers and beads. Brass bands, African drums and thousands of funeralgoers dancing in the hot summer streets of America's oldest black neighborhood.

So we gathered, one recent day, in the spirit of the late Allison Marcel Montana.

Big Chief "Tootie" Montana, as he was affectionately called, was the foremost figure to emerge from the Mardi Gras Indians, a New Orleans tradition of Blackfolks dressing as Indians for Mardi Gras.

Montana died June 27 at the podium in New Orleans City Hall while addressing the City Council about the foul treatment of Mardi Gras Indians by police. With all his chiefs gathered around him, his last words were "This has got to stop!"

Hundreds attended a three-hour mass July 9, followed by the colorful procession.

Since returning to New Orleans from a brief wartime stint working the shipyards of Richmond and Oakland between 1943 and 1947, Montana has been sewing a new Mardi Gras suit each year and is the undisputed master of the craft.

Because of his unique three-dimensional innovations and his elaborate beadwork he stood out among other Mardi Gras Indians, and was known as "The Prettiest." So pretty that one of his suits was purchased by the Smithsonian.

The Mardi Gras Indian culture from its very beginnings more than 130 years ago was an expression of Black resistance to a white supremacist environment in New Orleans.

As Jim Crow gained a foothold in the city, the "Indian" presence in New Orleans' Mardi Gras Carnival street processions grew more intense and visible. In a nutshell, the socially acceptable ritual of Mardi Gras Day activities in this Roman Catholic city served as a battleground for oppressed, Creolized, Louisiana-born Black men to masquerade in an Africanized version of the garb of their Native American ancestors.

To the Black men involved, the image of the Indian represented the warrior spirit that resisted European domination. The Maroon spirit — the mixing of the Indians and blacks — of self-determination and independence lived outside of white supremacy's reach, in the swamps and forests that were too difficult to colonize in the early days of Louisiana. By invoking and allowing themselves to be possessed by these spirits, the Black men of New Orleans transcended the reality of their daily oppression to exercise serious spiritual power on New Orleans society.

Within this culture laced with violence, many internal battles ended in bloodshed. But Big Chief "Tootie" Montana of the Yellow Pocahontas tribe emerged and changed the game from battling with knives and guns to battling with skill and craftsmanship. He became known as the peaceful warrior and he was crowned as the first and only Chief of Chiefs.

At his funeral, one of the officiating pastors said, "The Chief of Chiefs is being sent to see the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords."


Allison "Tootie" Montana was a long-time Big Chief of the Yellow Pocahontas tribe in New Orleans. Each year he meticulously created a unique costume with hand-strung beads and ornaments.


That Montana died fighting for the Mardi Gras Indians before the City Council has sealed his legacy. Many in New Orleans' Black community view Montana's death as a sacrifice, and Montana as a martyr for the cause.

The irony is that a civic fight for the right to parade the streets of New Orleans has culminated into perhaps the largest second-line funeral parade in the city.

As we stood on Rue St. Claude between the doorway of St. Augustine Roman Catholic Church and the horse-drawn hearse a few feet away, awaiting Montana's casket, the tension mounted. After about 30 minutes, someone from the crowd shouted "Inyuuuun!" and hundreds of tambourines shook and beat and the crowd yelled and whistled responding to the anonymous call. Then another voice shouted "Canafaye!" and all at once, the tambourines and the rest of the noise stopped on a dime.

All the Indians wearing masks — called masking — crowded the street between the church and the hearse and bowed down on the ground as pallbearers in black suits with bright white gloves marched slowly, carrying the casket of the Chief of Chiefs to the horse-drawn hearse. Then another voice yelled "Maudi kudi fiyo!" and the entire crowd answered with the slow-paced, traditional chant, "Indian Red." Before long, Indian Red gave way to a faster paced "Tuway Packiway," the horseman snapped the reins, the horse started walking and the parade began to move.

Traditionally in New Orleans, jazz funerals maintain a slow, sorrowful pace until the point of "cutting the body loose," but the burial of a man of Montana's stature proved difficult to pace. The thousands of second-liners seemed to be busting at the seams, celebrating all the way to the cemetery, doing the samba-like second-line strut to the rhythm of the brass bands, twirling umbrellas, chanting old songs and shaking tambourines. Dozens of Mardi Gras Indian tribes, from Montana's Yellow Pocahontas, to the Golden Star Hunters to the Spirit of Fi YiYi, met each other in the streets enacting ritual war dances, stand-offs and peace treaties.

Even for New Orleans, it was a rare occasion to witness. On Mardi Gras Day, St. Joseph's Day and Super Sunday the Indians usually come out in large numbers. But on this day, even old Indians who hadn't masked in years came out in full regalia complete with new feathers and plumes on old suits for the funeral of funerals for the Chief of Chiefs.

Marcel Diallo, 32, is an Oakland-based musician, writer and cultural historian. His family came to the Bay Area from New Orleans as part of the great migration West by blacks in search of jobs, a topic Diallo is researching for a book.

BlogOn: The Mardi Gras Indians in New Orleans have made immense contributions to New Orleans' cultural landscape. Still, they are constantly harassed by the police. Why are expressions of Black culture by Black people repressed and marginalized only to be re-packaged and re-sold to mainstream masses? WhatchuThink?

Note: Peoples of color are being hurt more than ever today, thanks to the "Permanent War on Terrorism" and the War at Home. It therefore seems more important than ever to build alliances between our peoples who have similar struggles for liberation from povery and racism, for peace with justice. This Open Letter is offered in that spirit.

The media have been full of it this year, with such headlines as "Hispanics Now Largest Minority," "America's Ethnic Shift".."Latinos pass blacks unless you count black Latinos"…"Hispanics Pass Blacks…" We even hear late-night TV host Jay Leno ‘joke' to his musician (a Black man) that since Latinos are now the largest minority--not African Americans--he and the musician are minorities together.

As Latino/a teachers, activists, community people, students, artists and writers, we stand fiercely opposed to anyone making those statistics a reason to forget the unique historical experience of African Americans, the almost unimaginable inhumanity of slavery lasting centuries, the vast distance that remains on their long walk to freedom. We cannot let whatever meager attention has been given to the needs of Black people up to now be diminished by those new statistics.

In the Latina/o community we will combat the competitiveness that could feed on those headlines and blind some of our people to the truth of this society. We will combat the opportunism that is likely to intensify among Latino politicians and professionals.We celebrate the unique resistance by African Americans over the centuries, which has provided an inspiring example for our communities as shown by the Chicano movement of 1965-75. We affirm the absolute necessity of standing with you against racist oppression, exploitation and repression—the real axis of evil--and of supporting your demand for reparations.

Latinos/as who may find it hard to see beyond their own poverty, their own struggles against racism—which are indeed real--need to think about one simple truth. Only solidarity and alliances with others will create the strength needed to win justice.

Those newly announced statistics emphasize difference and pit brown against black like athletes racing against each other in the Oppression Olympics. But other numbers show how much we share the same problems of being denied a decent life, education, health care, all human rights. In times of war, look who fights and dies for the U.S. out of all proportion to our populations: Black and brown people.

To put it bluntly: we are both being screwed, so let's get it together!

History makes the message clear. It is worth recalling a major reason why George Washington—the invader who wasn't our Great White Father any more than yours—became president. He made a name for himself by successfully using the tactic of Divide and Conquer against different native nations and tribes. Divide and Conquer, later Divide and Control, has sustained White Supremacy ever since. It will continue to do so unless we cry out a joint, unmistakeable, thunderous NO.

That will not be easy. Our peoples have different histories and cultures, together with great ignorance about each other. Competition for scarce resources, from jobs to funding for university departments, can be real. Latinos/as do not always see how in a nation so deeply rooted in racism, they may have internalized the value system of white supremacy and white privilege.

As Latinos/as, we are committed to help build alliances against our common enemies. We oppose the divisiveness encouraged by statistics about who is more numerous than who. As activists, we urge our community to support Black struggles and to fight together at every opportunity for our peoples' liberation. As educators, we work to teach about both Black and Brown history, and our past alliances. As men and women, we can never do too much to assert our common humanity across color lines.

Last, but hardly least, Latinas/os are a very diverse people with many different nationalities and histories. We also have various roots,. In particular, we should recall that more Africans were brought to Mexico as slaves than the number of Spaniards who came, as can be seen by the all-African villages in Mexico today. The African in us demands proud recognition.

SIGNATORIES

Dr. Rodolfo Acuña, historian and author, Calif. State Univ., Northridge CA
Juan Carlos Aguilar, Program Director, Solidago Foundation, Northampton MA
Gloria Anzaldúa, writer, scholar, spiritual activist, Santa Cruz CA
Ricardo Ariza, director, Multicultural Affairs, Creighton Univ., Omaha NE
Frank Bonilla, Prof. UC Riverside & Prof. Emeritus, Hunter College, NY NY
Roberto Calderon, Assoc. Prof. History, Univ. of North Texas, Denton TE, Antonia Castañeda, Assoc. Prof. History, St. Mary's College, San Antonio, TE
Marta Cruz-Jansen, Assoc. Prof., Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton FL
Raoul Contreras, Assoc. Professor Latino Studies, Indiana Univ. NW, Gary IN
Kaira Espinosa, San Francisco State University student, activist, San Francisco CA
Estevan Flores, Exec. Director, Latino/a Research & Policy Ctr, Univ. of Colorado, Denver, CO
Bill Gallegos, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Los Angeles, CA
César Garza, Grad. student, Loyola Univ., Chicago IL
Yolanda Broyles-Gonzales, Professor, Dept. of Chicano Studies, UC Santa Barbara CA
Francisco Herrera, community singer, activist, San Francisco CA
Jacque Larrainzar, musician and civil rights activist, Puerto Rico
Aya de León, writer, performer, activist, Berkeley CA
Emma Lozana, director, Centro Sin Fronteras, Chicago IL
Jennie Luna, Ed.M., teacher, danzante, activist, New York NY
Roberto Maestas, Exec. Director, co-founder, El Centro de La Raza, Seattle WA
Frank Martín del Campo, President, Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, San Francisco CA
Elizabeth (Betita) Martínez, author, activist, teacher, San Francisco CA
Adelita Medina, free-lance journalist, New York, NY
Roberto Miranda, Editor-in-chief, Spanish Journal, Milwaukee, WI
Carlos Montes, Board President, Centro CSO (Community Service Center), Los Angeles CA
Richard Moore, Executive Director, Southwest Network for Environmental and Economic Justice, Albuquerque NM
Cherríe Moraga, author and playwright, San Francisco, CA
Aurora Levins Morales, writer, historian, educator, organizer, Berkeley CA
Ricardo Levins Morales, artist, educator, organizer, Minneapolis MI
Estela Ortega, Dir. of Operations, co-founder, El Centro de la Raza, Seattle WA
Joe Navarro, school teacher, poet, activist, Hollister CA
José Palafox, PhD candidate, U.C. Berkeley, CA, filmmaker
Eric Quezada, Housing activist, San Francisco CA
Raúl Quiñones-Rosado and María Reinat-Pumarejo, Institute for Latino Empowerment, Caguas, Puerto Rico
Marianna Rivera, Educator, Zapatista Solidarity Coalition, Sacramento CA
Dr. Julia E. Curry Rodriguez, Asst Prof. San Jose State University, San Jose CA
Victor M. Rodriguez, Assoc. Prof., Calif. State Univ., Long Beach, CA and Crossroads Ministry board member
Graciela Sánchez, Exec. Dir., Esperanza Peace & Justice Center, San Antonio TE
John Santos, musician, author, educator, founder of the Machete Ensemble, Oakland, CA
Renée Saucedo, activist-attorney, director Day Labor Program, San Francisco CA
Olga Talamante, Executive Director, Chicana/Latina Foundation, Pacifica CA
Luis ("Bato") Talamantez, human rights activist, former political prisoner, poet, San Francisco CA
Piri Thomas, author, poet, activist, Albany CA
Dr. Mercedes Lynn Uriarte, Professor of Journalism, Univ. of Texas, Austin
Leonard Valdez, director, Multi-Cultural Center, Calif. State Univerity, Sacramento CA

The letter was prepared by Elizabeth Martíinez (longtime activist, author and director of the Institute for MultiRacial Justice) in consultation with Phil Hutchings (last Chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, SNCC, co-founder of the Institute and currently an Oakland, CA activist.)

Send comments or suggestions to the Institute in San Francisco at i4mrj@aol.com.