Having been caught up in the NH Primary, I admit that I’m a little behind on my music blogging…
JamBase recently published an interview with intellectual, philosopher, historian, sociologist, theologian and true genius – Dr. Cornell West. He is the mind behind the new album Never Forget: A Journey of Revelations. Among others, Dr. West collaborates with the likes of Prince, Andre 3000 (of Outkast), Talib Kweli, M1 (of Dead Prez), and Jill Scott. Together, they are Black Men Who Mean Business – or simply BMWMB.
Here’s just a quick taste of the interview:
Thinking in a general context, obviously hip-hop is a major movement in America, but for black youth do you feel that it fills the void left by religion and community, both of which seem to have withered in recent years?
I think that’s true. Chuck D said hip-hop is a black CNN. It’s not just an information network but it does constitute a community. It’s very important to keep in mind that you have a lot of young folks growing up with a certain distance from their elders, and therefore they tend to look to each other as to how to live, how to love, how to get through the move from womb to tomb. Therefore, hip-hop actually becomes a kind of parent as well as a community, in terms of a source of wisdom. Now, a lot of times there aren’t too many good examples that generate good judgment, so you end up with bad examples and bad judgment in terms of the hedonism, narcissism, misogyny, homophobia and so on. But, there is no doubt that hip-hop is the main form of transcendence and community for young people who are trying to both get distance from their pain as well as learn to be human. That’s one of the reasons why I tried to intervene in this way, to let them know that some elders do care about them and are concerned about providing some insight. And to learn from them, because it’s mutual, it’s not paternalistic.
Dr. West, much admired by several friends, is author of one of my Top 5 favorite quotes:
“You can’t lead our people if you don’t love our people. You can’t save our people if you won’t serve our people.”
