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When most hip hop heads talk about revolution, they are really talking about reforming the current political/social/economic system so that more of the oppressed can take part in the game.
You know the mantra, no police profiling, better schools, guaranteed education, education that guarantees good jobs, housing, walking the streets in peace, buying goods and services without the attitude..
In essence, most "revolutionaries" just want their own versions of white suburbia, but with more colored faces. You know black managers and employees, Latino business owners and professionals, Asian professors and tv stars et cetera.
The other set of revolutionaries want some kind of pie in the sky classless society in which we all work for the common good.
So the educated hip hopper (and I mean formally educated in terms of school, not necessarily the ways of the world), gets stuck. He can basically eliminate white privilege and end up doing the same kind of thing to other people in the world,or he can pursue something, that even it's perfection would not be a great goal anyway.
The true revolutionary sees something other than the choices we have before us. Most of our modern day revolutionaries have pretty much sought to intergrate ourselves into this system. Gahndi didn't want the Brits to run things, he wanted Indians to run India, but in essence pursue the same goal as Britain. Farrakhan wants us to have our own land, minerals, and institutions, in essence be our own little version of America looking to compete via business and industry. Martin didn't want us to pull up anchor, he wanted us to stay on the ship. Maybe be the first mate at first, but eventually be captain, and it not be an issue with the other sailors.
Revolutionaries are prisoners of their own time, their own culture. Sub-cultures come and go, but in essence they reaffirm what is going on with the over culture. Bling Bling affirms the baseness of American culture, and Black Star/coffee shop hip hop speaks to the idealistic nature of the culture.
There is no 3rd choice. We can't even imagine a 3rd choice. The closest we ever get is realizing that there are only 2 choices. Life is always binary..... at least for us.
peace k. orr
http://breddanansi.tumblr.com/
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