Last night Barack Obama joined Hip Hop star Nelly in a performance of Tip Drill before 50,000 screaming fans at "Ho-Fest 2008" at Detroit's Ford Field.

The high point of the night was when Obama invited his wife Michelle onstage and re-enacted the famous Tip Drill video.  The crowd went crazy as Michelle and Barack performed the hilarious credit card move.

The performance was immediately condemned by:

NBC, ABC, CBS the NY Times, the Washington Post, MSNBC, CNN, FOX, Lifetime, Oxygen, Emily's List, NOW, NARAL, PUMA, the Family Research Council,  the White Citizens Council, Focus on the Family, Family Circus, Planned Parenthood, NARAL and the United League of Purity Balls.

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I'm not usually a hip-hop/ rap fan but I give rappers their props when they make a video/cd that carries a strong message.

"Sumthin' Gotta Give", the new video by Big Boi with Mary J Blige, which supports the Obama campaign, deals with the current state of the economy, health care, blacks in jail, gas prices, single mom's, bringing soldiers home.

The next talking point memo from some GOP nut tomorrow or tonight.

I was going to do a diary post on Jonathan Capeheart's (usual) gutless comments on Morning Joe this morning, but that will be put on hold.

Just when you thought Nas was really going to be the only rapper to have attention for his rhymes in this politicial season (and have no direct ties to Obama), guest what Drudge and now, MSNBC's Road to the White House just did?

Make Ludacris new freestle (not a song, like some in the media will report wrongly again) "Politics" a national issue that has no DAMN need to even be one. And also, to make rappers look bad as pathetic, uncontrollable figures, and give Bille-O another voice aganist them.  

I was thinking that after Nas performed his "Sly Fox" song on The Colbert Report the other night, it made me think about something deep.

Seriously, whenever most in the rap/hip-hop game talk about the networks, and especially Fox News, they really talk about only a few things but mainly these two: Calling O'Reily an asshole or talking about the media focusing on the negative factors in the urban community over the positive.

Folks, Obama has done it again. On the heels of that awful debate, where he clearly (unfortunately) got pummled, Obama went on to discuss the issue of the "distractions" that seem to overwhelm discussion of real policy issues. He went on to discuss the problem when the media and other campaings focus on these "gotcha" distractions, and how to deal with them. The rest is history.

At the stadium where I work there are hundreds of black people working menial labor and hundreds of white people working admin, management, sales etc.  There is some mixing of the races but by and large it breaks down in fairly predictable ways.  Most of the people in my working group (club-level bartenders) are blue collar republican guys.   Whenever they come across some news story or personal experience that stirs their whitey passions some of them will eagerly share with me and other white people their long list of whitey grievances.  Their hatred and disdain is palpable but their grievances are about the same as Bill Cosby's I guess with a bunch of welfare stuff thrown in as well.  Listening to them I can understand why some people resent Bill Cosby's brutal honesty.

(cross-posted from verlin.com)

BAGHDAD - Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr will have a statement read in mosques at Friday prayer services addressing whether his Mahdi Army will extend a six-month cease-fire that's helped reduce violence throughout Iraq, a Shiite lawmaker said. After the statement is read, al-Sadr will surprise crowds with a CD release party for his new album "Muhammad Is My Homeboy", a two-disc rock/rap crossover album intended to bridge the gap between radical Shia Islam and Iraq's little-known hip-hop underground.

"We have known divisions, which must be healed to move forward in great purposes - and I will strive in good faith to heal them."
-George W. Bush, Second Inaugural Address, January 2005

"George Bush doesn't care about black people!"
-Kanye West, December 2005, in response to Bush's handling of the Hurricane Katrina disaster of August of that year.

"I think that an objective analysis of events that are taking place on this earth today points towards some type of ultimate showdown. You can call it political showdown, or even a showdown between the economic systems that exist on this earth which almost boil down along racial lines. I do believe that there will be a clash between East and West. I believe that there will ultimately be a clash between the oppressed and those that do the oppressing. I believe that there will be a clash between those who want freedom, justice and equality for everyone and those who want to continue the systems of exploitation."
-Malcolm X, January 19, 1965

Last week, 12 million Americans tuned in to learn the final fate of fictional gangster Tony Soprano. Throughout the Sopranos six seasons, Tony Soprano has killed or ordered the deaths of dozens of people, some of whom he was related to, and millions of Americans have tuned in, hoping he would survive just long enough for us to see him do it again. Sopranos fans have squinted their eyes to catch a better view of the thundering rock hard silicone breasts in the blurry background of the Bada Bing! while Tony took a phone call.

Yet through it all, Sopranos fans insist,  what draws us to the show are the things that make Tony Soprano a realistic, flawed, even mundane character. We are compelled by the familiar struggles of a man with a mid life crisis, trying to raise two spoiled kids and dealing with a job that causes him severe anxiety. In short, we find the show appealing because of all the things that make Tony Soprano a mere mortal like the rest of us.

Hat Tip: Racewire

A Louisiana town has managed to find another profoundly trivial reason to trample the first amendment.
   

Despite the cultures of secrecy permeating all levels of American culture of government, the "Stop Snitchin'" phenomenon has managed to generate questions in the media as to whether or not refusing to cooperate with the authorities is an exclusively black American cultural phenomenon.

In the interest of ending this argument, and providing the resources for those who are also interested in doing so, the first part of this diary will be devoted to establishing both an understanding of the valid reasons why snitching is looked down upon in urban communities and why it isn't that essential to effective law enforcement in the first place.

The second part will deal with the presumption that cultures of secrecy are the exclusive domain of black Americans.

The latest Pew poll of American Muslims shows that by and large, the overwhelming amount of American Muslims condemn terrorism and have an unfavorable view of Al Qaeda. Aside from distorting the findings of the poll to suggest that American Muslims are extremists, there is concern on the Right about some of the poll's findings among black Muslims. Namely, this.

As always the truth is more complicated than a poll. More after the fold.

One of the positive after-effects of the Don Imus scandal has been the realization that we as citizens can take action to curtail hateful speech.  We can put real pressure on advertisers and corporations at the Netroots level and see real results in a short time span.  So we can truly impact how much sexist, racist, and violent speech is released through various media.

Oprah Winfrey took on this issue yesterday.
Overview of Oprah's show entitled "A Hip-Hop Town Hall"

Can't drop too much heavy thought on the subject today, as I owe my employer an honest day's work ;-). I'll make this quick.

As relates to my ongoing effort to spotlight the Hip-Hop community/movement/constituency/generation as a ready-made ally for the Progressive Big Tent, I was thrilled to see that Wyclef Jean will be playing at Nancy Pelosi's celebration/concert this evening.

(-----fold here-----)

This is my first diary.

Please understand that I'm going to be using the term "Blacks" and not "African Americans" throughout this diary because (1) I'm black and it doesn't offend me; (2) It's shorter and easier to write; and; (3) I will be referring to dark-skinned people who may or may not be American.

I've recently noticed DKos experience what appears to me to be an increasing awareness of racial issues, racism and participation in this community on the part of blacks and other minorities. In my opinion, this is a good thing. As someone who has grown by listening to the opinions of others in this community, I would like to provide some insights on a topic that I believe I know well.

With recent diaries/discussions acknowledging the importance of integrating Black viewpoints and activism into the progressive movement, I would like to discuss an issue that has been used as a wedge to separate younger (lets say under 35 years old) blacks from mainstream politics and society in general.

(fold here for easy storage)

Russell Simmons had thrown his support behind Michael Steel in the MD-SEN race.  This is a strange move for the man who campaigned against Ehrlich and Steele in 2002 on the side of Kennedy-Townsend.  

All I can really ask is, WHY!?  Why support a Republican who calls George Bush his "homeboy"?

Anyway, today's track is Blacker the Berry by the Georgia duo Field Mob.

Field Mob distinguishes themselves with a melodic rapping style that sounds more like singing than most rappers (an indicator of creativity among Southern rappers in a lot of cases. Think Cee-Lo.)

The lyrics are below the fold, along with some Field Mob links.

This song and the entire album is available in the iTunes Store.

I am a twenty-year-old BU student from Berkeley (no wonder I love Kos, huh?) and I have a lot more to learn here than I have to teach.

However, one thing I feel strongly that our political community could benefit from is a stonger awareness of the good, socially conscious hip-hop music being produced out there.

Though I am currently frustrated with the popular trends in hip-hop, I think rappers like 50 Cent serve to distract from the powerful music and messages available from more underground rappers, especially on racial issues.

Every Monday(Mondays get no love) I plan to spotlight a song, artist, or album (not exactly sure what would people would like best yet).