Show & Prove pt. 1
"The Color Purple" - Saigon
Peace,
This month's Source Magazine has an article of the 40th anniversary of the NGE. It also features a editorial by the new EIC Fahiym, who was a member of the NGE in the late 80's. To me, the article and accompanying editorial serve as a reminder of the effect that the NGE has has on the Black Community, Hip-Hop, and by extension, youth culture over the last 20 years. While the Source has been going through some deep issues lately (See the Sexual discrimination and harassment charges levied against them by former female employees), it's important that they would take time to acknowledge our influence on Hip Hop culture. You can see the effect when devout Muslims call Rakim "The God". While it's obvious that they don't see him as such, the fact that they use the term to acknowledge him speaks volumes. Thousands of young people all over the world can trace their introduction to consciousness to the NGE through either personal interaction or music from a NGE member (Rakim, PRT, Wu-Tang) or an influenced artist (Nas, AZ, The Roots). You can also see our influence in many rappers who call themselves "God" (Jay-Z, The Lox, Lil Wayne).
One of the reasons that you see a resurgence in the discussion about the NGE is that many writers and editors who came of age during the late 80's to mid 90's are now in a position to discuss the elements that had such an effect on their lives. As my brother C'BS Alife Allah (www.allahsfivepercent.blogspot.com) mentioned in one of his entries on "God - Hop", even Kool Herc (Considered by many to be one of the fathers of Hip Hop) has acknowledged that by the Gods providing security, many of the parties of the mid to late 70's were able to go off without a hitch.
There is also an increased academic interest in the NGE from a sociological perspective trying to identify the reason(s) why the NGE is still around and flourishing when many other groups and movements from the Civil Rights/Black Power era are no longer in existence. Only recently have we begun to get the respect we deserve in academic circles as a culture and not some "proto-Islamic" sect. Time will tell how historians acknowledge who we are, b.u.t. it's looking better.
Peace,
This month's Source Magazine has an article of the 40th anniversary of the NGE. It also features a editorial by the new EIC Fahiym, who was a member of the NGE in the late 80's. To me, the article and accompanying editorial serve as a reminder of the effect that the NGE has has on the Black Community, Hip-Hop, and by extension, youth culture over the last 20 years. While the Source has been going through some deep issues lately (See the Sexual discrimination and harassment charges levied against them by former female employees), it's important that they would take time to acknowledge our influence on Hip Hop culture. You can see the effect when devout Muslims call Rakim "The God". While it's obvious that they don't see him as such, the fact that they use the term to acknowledge him speaks volumes. Thousands of young people all over the world can trace their introduction to consciousness to the NGE through either personal interaction or music from a NGE member (Rakim, PRT, Wu-Tang) or an influenced artist (Nas, AZ, The Roots). You can also see our influence in many rappers who call themselves "God" (Jay-Z, The Lox, Lil Wayne).
One of the reasons that you see a resurgence in the discussion about the NGE is that many writers and editors who came of age during the late 80's to mid 90's are now in a position to discuss the elements that had such an effect on their lives. As my brother C'BS Alife Allah (www.allahsfivepercent.blogspot.com) mentioned in one of his entries on "God - Hop", even Kool Herc (Considered by many to be one of the fathers of Hip Hop) has acknowledged that by the Gods providing security, many of the parties of the mid to late 70's were able to go off without a hitch.
There is also an increased academic interest in the NGE from a sociological perspective trying to identify the reason(s) why the NGE is still around and flourishing when many other groups and movements from the Civil Rights/Black Power era are no longer in existence. Only recently have we begun to get the respect we deserve in academic circles as a culture and not some "proto-Islamic" sect. Time will tell how historians acknowledge who we are, b.u.t. it's looking better.
posted by I Majestic at 10:24 AM
1 Comments:
Peace, again
speaking from an academic standpoint, i always let my peers know that its imperative that we discuss the NGE and it's influence not just on hip-hop culture but on black nationalism as well.
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