>-well first of all i dont know if in the 70's there was this
>explosion of "rich" black folks

Many of the "activists" and civil rights folks from the 70s did quite well in the 80s, including Cosby and Jackson. The former has a successful career that spans a few decades. Last month, I was chatting briefly with an actor who was in a popular TV show in the 70s and 80s. This guy was white and told me that most folks that were doing well in TV land were also in la-la land as far as what was happening in the streets.

>if im not mistaken this was
>the era of the projects, crack cocaine, and welfare...

Crack was in the 80s. Projects and welfare but I was in the projects in the 70s and it was quite different back then.

>so if
>you could elaborate on these invisible black millionaires
>that came out of the 70's, id appreciate it.

Millionaires? Read my message, again.

>secondly, what
>was the point of the civil rights movement? to just march
>and protest and preach forever? at what point do black folks
>enjoy the fruits of their labor?

Equality and justice for all.

>my father still remembers
>"colored only" signs growing up

Both my parents experienced Jim Crow in the south. Actually, it was my father who taught me what he thought I needed to know about activists in the 70s and 80s. I took it with a grain of salt but I remember he was none too happy about it.

>- are you forgetting the congressional black caucus? the
>NAACP? julian bond? jesse jackson? al sharpton? the nation
>of islam? I could go on and on naming the folks who
>critisized "the system" but guess what, THOSE FOLKS ARE
>RICH!!

This only supports what I stated.

>-where is your proof? if im not mistaken, the national black
>income has been around 600 billion dollars plus annually for
>about 7 or 8 years. in fact, 2 parent black homes earn an
>average of 41K a year whereas the average white family earns
>46K...

What's the cost of living and how many single parent incomes fit into your equation?

>-I disagree again. what country are u living in!? hip hop
>was also thugged out and mysoginistic (NWA)

Public Enemy came before NWA.

Let me give you a real timeline:

1979 - Rapper's Delight hit the airwaves, bringing rap music to the mainstream. Others followed suite: Grandmaster Flash, LL Cool J, Run DMC, Fat Boys, Dougie Fresh, Slick Rick, etc. Hip-hop became the party music of the 80s until Public Enemy in the late 80s.

1981-1989 - Ronald Reagan was president. Reaganomics reduced the growth of government spending, reduced the marginal tax rates on income from both labor and capital, reduced regulation, and reduced inflation by controlling the growth of the money supply. Yet, spending was at a higher point than any time in recent history. What were so many people spending money on?

1985 - Cocaine was the drug of choice. The increase in demand led to a drop in price. This led to the development of 'crack cocaine', a cheap mix of cocaine and baking powder (sodium bicarbonate) which, when smoked, gives an intense, short-lived but compelling hit. As a result, crack cocaine flooded into US cities and crippled urban - often black - communities.

Cocaine use hit its peak in the US in 1985 with over 5.7 million users (nearly 3% of the population) using cocaine at least "once every month". It was popular at parties and with folks in music and entertainment. It was big business, supply and demand. Who was selling it?

Late 80s - Gangsta Rap hit the airwaves. Gangsta rap focused on the violence and misogyny inherent in the gangster lifestyle, this lifestlye was often centered around drug selling, esp. cocaine and crack. Gangsta rappers, on the tail of party and rebel rap music, expressed the reality of inner-city ghetto life. The audience for gangsta rap has become overwhelmingly white...this was the music of the late 80s and early 90s, until the "bling, bling" era.

So, we got the birth of mainstream hip-hop, crack, Reaganomics, and gangsta rap all in the same decade? Coincidence? I don't think so.