>I once told a mentor, a man who was a well known local civil
>rights activist back in the day, that I was dissapointed
>that people just gave up in the 70s. Folks got money (and
>government jobs) and they thought that was all she wrote.

-well first of all i dont know if in the 70's there was this explosion of "rich" black folks, if im not mistaken this was the era of the projects, crack cocaine, and welfare...so if you could elaborate on these invisible black millionaires that came out of the 70's, id appreciate it. 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? my father still remembers "colored only" signs growing up, he was in alabama during the civil rights movement...thats pretty fucking arrogant to look at a generation that experienced those types of things and say they failed us. with all my father went through with crooked ass alabama white racists, he has earned the right to live in a big ass house with his wife and kids and kick back and relax...now its up to me to do better than him and so forth and so forth...if that isnt what the civil rights movement was about i dont know what is...

>What those few left behind was thousands of Black people on
>the other side of a divide. Within a generation we had
>(more of):
>
>- poverty
>- crack/cocaine
>- gang violence
>- prison
>- teen pregnancy
>- racial profiling

>Government intervention only seemed to make things worse and
>mass consumerism was escalating in Black communities (bling,
>bling). Where was Cosby and his folks then? If not in the
>streets then where?

- 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!! there is $$$$ in arguing about what u want to argue about but there is NONE in being critical of OURSELVES. and to this day it is amazing to me how we REFUSE to talk about the lack of fathers in our community, why? because there is no direct link to "da white man"...

>The middle class was disappearing by
>then end of the 90s and the divides were widening as well,
>with no apparent solutions for what was happening to Black
>youth. Can't blame the music.

-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...you willing to grab your guns and march up and down the street for 5K dollars? you gonna blame the white man for our communities low marriage rates? sure things will probably NEVER be 100% equal, but i do believe we exaggerate our conditions to garner sympathy for our causes and as we all know, sympathy=free $$$...


>In the early years, hip-hip had positive messages. People
>were either dancing (Kid n Play) or rebelling (Public
>Enemy), so they industry took over and coopted everything
>that was hip-hop. They made it more suitable to the masses.
> Art is a reflection of where people are at any given time
>and this includes music.

-I disagree again. what country are u living in!? hip hop was also thugged out and mysoginistic (NWA), and what happened was black folks gravitated towards that around the late 90's it wasnt the INDUSTRY, the industry went to what was popular and has BEEN popular ever since, that isnt racism or apathy, THATS BUSINESS!!...look at how quickly will smith, heavy d, chubb rock, queen latifah, mc lyte and all the REAL hip hop artists faded away in the late 90's...thats because the thug/gangster tupac, biggie, master p's were taking over this is what the masses liked and the industry just followed suit...its past time we started puting heat on these LACKLUSTER PARENTS and DEAD BEAT BABY DADDIES, these RAP ARTISTS, and THE CONSUMERS (everyday complacent black folks)...whats the next step? are you going to go after employees at FYE and circuit city for handing these CD's out over the counter?