Building Ubuntu Bridges in Storytelling, Art of Framing Freedom Road Voices, and Directing an Underground Railroad Narrative, Tour and Movie (BAD)

Book Review: Hip-Hop Family Tree Vols. 1 & 2

I love comics, hip-hop, history and beautiful books.  All these things helped form who I am today. As a librarian I still love comics, hip-hop, history, and beautiful books. I feel it is important to cover these aspects in a library collection. Rarely do all these categories come in one work, but this series has it all.  I was stoked to receive this collection as a gift, but didn't get around to reading it until now.

Amazingly beautiful slipcase!

The Hip-Hop Family Tree by Ed Piskor Vols. 1 & 2 exceeds the bar of comics, art, hip-hop, history and beautiful books standards. It will make an invaluable addition to your library collection.  This comic is published by the amazing Fantagraphics press. Buy it now--your community will appreciate it. 

Vol. 1 traces the history of Hip-Hop from the 1970's to 1981.  It is filled with little vignettes about seminal figures and events in Hip-Hop history.  The stories it tells begin in the bronx with kids rocking out to Cool Herc's new kind of music.  Community halls Hip-Hop parties was where it all started.   The break was the instrumental part of the song.  When a break occurred Cool Herc saw that was when people really got into the groove dancing.  Cool Herc Figured out how to extend the break of the record by looping it using two copies. This spurred on Break Dancing.

Vol. 1

The story goes on to show how the dj's, dancers and artists all collaborated and formed the culture of Hip-Hop.  Fab 5 Freddy, LEE, GrandMaster Flash, Samo and all the important key players are in this amazing work.  The history covers business dealings and key PR moves that created a buzz and sold records. Artists are given their due in this amazing comic. The graffiti scene is shown and described in anecdotes and short story lines.

Panel about the film Wild Style

The artwork in this comic is so dope. Piskor's ability to caricature people and bring out their personalities in comic panels is amazing.  His caricatures of Russell Simmons and other key figures of the Hip-Hop movement had me rolling in laughter and recognition.  The use of newsprint style coloring is sometimes enhanced with special coloring to make it really zing!

Vol. 2

Vol. 2 covers from 1981-1983.  It just keeps getting better.  The stories and characters are done so well this comic reminds me of an amazing documentary.  I really love how Piskor makes these larger than life figures into real people.   These stories are historically accurate and insightful.   These volumes cover both East Coast and West Coast movements.  The Ice-T origin story and the Dr. Dre Origins are great and really fun.

What I like about these books:

• Historically accurate
• Beautifully drawn and colored
• Caricatures are amazingly good and accurate
• Coverage of different aspects of Hip-Hop

Classic Hip-Hop NYC scene.  

Why you should buy this book for your library:

•  This book is an important work on the history of Hip-Hop
• The art is great
• The stories are wonderful
• The book fits YA and Adult classifications

In addition to being an excellent addition to your library collection.  This slipcase makes an amazing Christmas gift.  I know--I received mine as a Christmas gift and was thrilled!



Any student, or fan of Hip-Hop will love these books.  Go get them!

Book Review: An American Genocide: The United States and the California Indian Catastrophe, 1846-1873 (The Lamar Series in Western History)

Buy this book for your Library

An American Genocide: The United States and the California Indian Catastrophe, 1846-1873 (The Lamar Series in Western History)by Benjamin Madley is a book that should be in every library in the US.  This book covers an essential history that has heretofore been neglected save for a few works such as Murder State.

• Series: The Lamar Series in Western History
• Hardcover: 712 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (May 24, 2016)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300181361
• ISBN-13: 978-0300181364
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 1.8 x 9.2 inches

The book covers the history of the genocide of Indigenous peoples in the state of California from 1846-1873.  During this time, the book traces the beginnings of the genocide from scattered massacres to full scale state and federally sponsored militia and military massacre campaigns.  The sheer brutality and callousness against the indigenous people of California is stunning and hard to read.

CA Indian Population 1845-1880 Genocide in Numbers

This book shows how the pattern of forcing Indians from their home hunting grounds and by the removal of game due to large numbers of immigrants--beginning during the Gold Rush.  The indians then could not feed themselves, so they stole cattle from White ranchers.  The White ranchers would then raise a posse, or a militia force to go "teach the indians a lesson."  The lesson would entail murdering every man, woman and child of the first indigenous village happened upon.  No matter if they were 'guilty' or not.

Vigilantes were supported by the local government and the state. 

 The combination of vigilante massacres with state sponsored militia killing campaigns and the military murder expeditions was lethal and decimated the Californian Indian population.  The Indians had nowhere to hide except high in the mountains, where there was little food.  This forced them to steal from White people, which led to more murder expeditions against them.  It was a cycle that was lethal and effective in 'eradicating' the indigenous people of California.

If you were lucky enough to survive a massacre, you would not have any food, clothing or shelter to help you live.  Many survivors died from exposure or starvation.  As I was reading this, I thought of Ishi--his story is heartbreaking.  You can read about it here: http://history.library.ucsf.edu/ishi.html.

The brutality of the immigrants is mind-boggling. 

The killing was relentless.  The Indians sometimes fought back and killed whites, which raised even more ire and retribution.  The murder unmerciful and was encouraged by California Newspapers.  These papers called for total annihilation of all Californian Indians.  

Slow death at the  reservation.

You may be thinking, "Why didn't the Indians just go to a reservation.  When Indians fled to reservations starved the Indians.  They didn't provide the promised supplies.  Many starved to death. 

This brought about the horrible choice of leaving the reservation and facing:

Enforced slavery.  There were vagrancy laws that stated an Indian had to prove they were not in debt to someone.  This entailed the possession of a certificate that stated they were not in debt.  If the Indian could not prove this, then they were arrested and put up for auction.  They were sold to someone for a period of time, usually years.  During this time they were charged for food and clothes and were never paid enough money to pay off this debt.  Therefore, they could never get their certificate of no debt.  They would be stuck in perpetual slavery.



Or

Being tracked down and murdered by a posse of citizens or a state sponsored militia.  After a theft, they would hunt down and kill any Indian they encountered.  They used this as a chance for "pedagogical violence."  Violence that would teach anyone who heard about it that they should not steal from White people or they would face utter annihilation or slavery.  They often collected scalps and brought them back as souvenirs.  Some local country stores had Indian scalps nailed to their walls well into the 20th century.


The state paid well for militiamen to track down and murder Indians in CA.  They they sought reimbursement from the the federal government.  The federal government paid for the genocide of California Indians and it paid well.  This pay, in itself, was a reason to form a militia and make some money.

State sponsored Genocide in CA.

Sometimes the children and women were kept alive, but sold into the california slave system.  Women were sold into sexual slavery and other forms of bondage.  Children were often sold to estates where they remained the rest of their lives as chattel.



Some Indians turned to gold mining when their territories were impinged upon. Once there was an influx of White immigrants into CA though, there wasn't enough for everyone and the White miners simply murdered the Indian miners and claim jumped their claims.

There is a timeline at the end of the book that tracks the murder of indigenous people in CA according to state historical record that includes body counts.  This is the most well-researched and comprehensive information on this subject to date.

US genocide has yet to be covered in any manner similar to the Holocaust in Europe.  The time is coming though.  The cat is out of the bag.

Other important books on this subject:

Churchill, W., & Mazal Holocaust Collection. (1997). A little matter of genocide: Holocaust and denial in the Americas, 1492 to the present. San Francisco: City Lights Books.

Lindsay, B. C. (2015). Murder state: California's native american genocide 1846-1873. Place of publication not identified: Univ Of Nebraska Press.

Stannard, D. E. (1992). American holocaust: Columbus and the conquest of the New World. New York: Oxford University Press.

Whiteness in Libraries

Whiteness in US Libraries

[Note--this is a blog post.  These ideas can and will be further developed.  These ideas are sketches of what I am thinking at the moment.  Feedback is encouraged and welcome.]

US schools and libraries serve as points of diffusion for Whiteness.  

Whiteness, as used in this post is defined as the concept that European people and European culture are more important than other people and other cultures.  

Whiteness is purveyed uncritically in libraries.  This shucking of Whiteness is done under the guise of objectivity, of adhering the the 'marketplace' of ideas.  But this so-called neutrality is really an adherence and capitulation to the Whiteness paradigm.  

Children of color hear the message of Whiteness--"European people and European culture are more important than other people and other cultures.  

Children of color live in a world of discrimination and bias in US schools.  

Some think US culture is not European. But US culture is derived from European culture and is fundamentally White-supremacist. 

I don't say this lightly.  Whiteness is embedded in our culture.  From the shapes of the buildings, to the hierarchies of the library staff and administration.  This is especially true in the American Library world. Ethnic categories, demeaning classifications, cataloging systems with names like the Anglo American Cataloging Rules, and staff who (too often) don't look like the people who live in the neighborhood.  Microagressions, discrimination, hiring bias and collections centered around Whiteness all are outcomes of the ubiquitousness of  this paradigm in our libraries.  

Engravings on Multnomah Co. Library Central Building Photo by Ismoon Maria Hunter-Morton.

Many people will now be thinking that I am saying all White people are racist, or that all White people are bad, or some such nonsense.  That is not what  I intend to say.  I'm saying that the idea of Whiteness, as defined above, is what our country was founded upon. 

European immigrants live on stolen indigenous land.

These immigrants and their descendants committed genocide against Indigenous peoples throughout the Americas.

The wealth of the Americas, in large part, was created by slave labor. This slave labor was both African and Indigenous.  

Whiteness says that this is okay, that this is correct and that it is justified. Those who adhere to Whiteness also believe in these fundamental principles.  Mostly, the information found in libraries says it is okay, natural and normal, or does not bother to address these issues...

Engravings on Multnomah Co. Library Central Building.  Photo by Ismoon Maria Hunter-Morton.

The diffusion model works something like this:

Whiteness, brought from Europe has been part of US Educational system from the beginning.

Children are inculcated with #Whiteness via books, lectures and the culture of US schools.

Some children become authors, scientists and other types of academics.  They produce information and knowledge in the form of books and other types of media.

Racist mainstream 'Intellectual' book 

The knowledge, which too many authors, scientists and academics create is fundamentally flawed with Whiteness embedded within. Even if the creators of this knowledge are people of color. They are working with tainted information that has not been fully analyzed from a cultural perspective. This lends itself to embedding Whiteness in all new knowledge created from this information. This is why we have seen no real advancements, even with the educated people of color. They exist within and are heavily influenced by Whiteness. Libraries serve as key distribution points for culturally biased information.

One example is historic documentation Thomas Jefferson, as a land-owner and slaveholder, is understood to be a rapist. He took advantage of his position and raped his slaves, yet he is still hailed as a hero still. This is Whiteness. 

Thomas Jefferson (Slave Rapist) bust in the Library of Congress

Technology in libraries needs to be reexamined with a critical eye. Embedded Whiteness prevails. Metadata, algorithms and other location tools are just as infected with Whiteness as the rest of the library world and larger American Educational culture. This issue is particularly pertinent as we transition into a more digital information world.  

These people are probably still in control of your library technology.

The idea that White people, European Americans are more important, smarter, better, stronger, more worthy, and that their culture is superior is embedded in most of the books in US libraries. People check out these books and are then influenced by these books. And since most of these books have the message of Whiteness uncritically embedded in them, the reader is most often influenced by Whiteness without giving it the critical eye it deserves.

This is how libraries serve as points of diffusion for Whiteness paradigm.

Colonialism and Whiteness: a Talk

This talk was given on 4/20/2016 at PCC for Whiteness History Month at PCC.

It is based on my trilogy of blog posts on the history of Whiteness in the US.


Here are links to the posts:

Colonialism and Whiteness: A Legacy of Brutality

http://lowriderlibrarian.blogspot.com/2016/02/colonialism-and-whiteness-legacy-of.html

Slavery (a Tool of Colonialism) and Whiteness: a Legacy of Brutality  

http://lowriderlibrarian.blogspot.com/2016/03/slavery-tool-of-colonialism-and.html  

Embedded #Whiteness: A Legacy of Brutality 

http://lowriderlibrarian.blogspot.com/2016/04/embedded-whiteness-legacy-of-brutality.html  

Here is the talk:

I would love to know what you think about the talk, the concepts and the imagery.

Please comment.

Thank you, 

Max 

Ghazals for Foley...

What is a Ghazal?

Get this book now!

I had no idea (other than it is a poetic form from the middle east) until I read the introduction to this wonderful work.  I didn't look it up because I was enthralled with the content of this beatific book!  I didn't know James Foley, but my friend Yago Cura was his good friend.  Hinchas press (Yago Cura publisher) just recently published a book of Poetry entitled Ghazals for Foley.  This is a striking collection of poems written by people to James Foley posthumously.   The book also includes a short story written by Foley that is utterly fascinating, intriguing and beautiful.  I feel like I got to know Jim Foley via these poems and his short story.  The intensity of a life so well lived is reason for a celebration. 

The poems vary in quality according to my taste, but there are some really striking and personal words here.  They are all beautiful and in deeply personal.  The poets range from well-known writers, to other war correspondents, to writing teachers and students of James Foley.

I've got a bad Sufi feeling, Jim.

That road-those trees-

The light shifting in the Mountains-

Don't go, Jim.

Please-don't go.

It was a Thursday, 

And you were on your way home.

Jim, I have a bad Sufi feeling.

Bad Sufi Feeling by Claire Morgana Gillis

Even if you aren't much of a poetry fan, the emotion of these poems is striking and hits home.

Through these poems I learned that James Foley was a Journalist, a Friend, A Lover, a Student, A Teacher, an artist and a great American among many other things.  

What does it mean to be American?

 

What does it mean to be human?

What did it mean to be James Foley?

This works gives you just a bit of an insight into this brave soul.
 

These poems are ALL full of love for humanity and for James Foley.     

This collection is describes the real man, not the man who was used to manipulate world hatred against Islam.  It seems like every political, religious and other faction wanted to use James Foley’s death for his or her own benefit.  This work helps mitigate that in my mind.    It humanizes and reclaims Mr. Foley for his friends, his family and for people, like me, who didn't even know him.  

James Foley: Writer

 

The short story at the end of this book was the best thing about it for me.  I had never really read anything by Mr. Foley and his work does not fail to impress.  The story is artistic in the sense that it touches on human emotions like love, loneliness, fear, adventure and respect.  It also gives one a snapshot into what life is like in a "green zone."  I often wonder what people do in such places, what people think while behind these walls and how they interact with locals.  This story satisfies and piques many of my curiosities.   I don't know many people who have been to the wars in the Middle East, and have not asked those who have what it was like. 

 I was going to write more about this book, but you will get much more from it by ordering it and reading it here:

https://squareup.com/store/hinchas-press/item/ghazals-for-foley

12.95 

ISBN: 978-0-9845398-7-1

Information Diffusion and Hip-Hop

Information and knowledge are diffused via artistic expression in Hip-Hop culture among other methods. Here is a very brief sketch of some ideas on this topic. ANY and ALL comments will be answered and are valued. 

Graffiti and Tags

There is a lot of metadata here!  

Tags and other graffiti carry metadata. for instance, when one sees a tagger's tag--and one is familiar with the the tagger, then one will know about them--how brave they are--by where they throw up their tags--the more dangerous, the braver. One would know much about their style oftentimes. If they are a local, they might have legendary status, people might know much about the tagger from the metadata derived from their tags, yet they might not even know the tagger's real identity.

Murals

Political Information Hip-Hop Mural

Hip-Hop murals tell stories. Sometimes the story is that of the local neighborhood. The art will be done by someone who intimately knows the neighborhood's characters, triumphs and tragedies. This kind of artwork is powerful, moving and imparts information and knowledge about the neighborhood even if the observer is a stranger to the area.

Educational Concepts in Hip-Hop Lyrics

Hip-Hop lyrics are often full of rich educational information that informs the listener in their own language and on their own terms via Hip-Hop music. For example, Immortal Technique imparts knowledge on a wider-variety of subjects from politics to the drug war. His song Peruvian Cocaine tells the story of the drug trade from the people's point of view--in this case indigenous people forced into the drug trade and how the governments involved in the drug war all profit from it in one way or another.

Dead Prez are another amazing example of Hip-Hop imparting knowledge via flow and beats. Their music addresses so many topics it is hard to cover. Some topics include, social behavior information, political information, historical information, artistic information among other great and relevant topics. Dead Prez has songs about health and fitness, discipline and education--real education--not the White-supremacist standard education, but education from the people's POV.

Both Immortal Technique and Dead Prez sample historical figures such as Malcolm X, Mumia Abu Jamal, members of the Black Panther Party for Self-defense and others. These samples allow young people to hear historical leadership and their ideas. They impart an historical narrative from a Black and Brown POV The information and knowledge imparted by Dead Prez and Immortal Technique cannot be underestimated.

Only Educational Opportunity for Many

In many cases these are the only arenas people will get a chance to hear about COINTELPRO, Colonialism concepts, other political viewpoints. Also, the people speaking are respected teachers and artists in our community and have authority to speak to social, cultural, educational and political issues. I know I trust these artists more than almost any politician I can think of today.

These ideas can be more fully developed, but I would love to work with someone to get more detailed articles written on this subject.