REST IN PEACE RODNEY
Woke up this morning, and the death of Rodney King really hit hard. Reminded me of SO many things…. Crack was hitting the streets very hard around this time..it was out not too long…around that from late 1988 – early 90s when i was old enough to understand it was scary…it was quietly tearing apart our streets and our families… What did it mean to grow up during a time when we had Arsenio Hall as an outlet for our late night television? What did it mean when it was still pretty tough to walk through Bensonhurst Brooklyn or even BUSHWICK!!!!? I couldn’t walk thru there back then yo!!!! What did it mean when we still had events like the Greek Fest and Freak Nic and brothers didn’t Kill each other or shoot that mofo up!? What did it mean when the BK Labor Day parade was bullet free? What did it mean when there was very little presence of the gangs we have in NYC now.. we used to have really huge posse(s) and crews… gangs were slowly growing here but the youth didn’t have a clue really? The innocence was still there. Elders protected the youth from knowing way too much info. Yeah you might see your parents in a once in a lifetime fist fight with someone but it was ONCE.. not ongoing drama… you know??? What was it like to grow up during a time when there were no cell phones, you were lucky to have a pager, but communication was thoro because people were more patient with the idea of “letting someone get back to them”? What was it like when the “N” bomb was still a very fierce and fiery word that outsiders would use when angry with a situation dealing with a “black person”? What was it like when DJays still spun local hip hop artists on the radio where real authentic messages were getting out to the listeners? Hip Hop back then BALANCED out what was going on in the streets….it is not just baggy jeans and more.. there were so many jewels in the music….What was it like when Tribe, Wutang, Gangstarr, Pete Rock, Cypress Hill, Onyx and more were on the radio? What was it like when the B movie Strapped Premiered on HBO that summer? What was life like for the young black youth living through the evolution of Hip Hop into Golden Era? What was it like when black men and black women were REALLY in tune with each other??? Not saying we are not in tune right now but how real was it back then???
This idea for us, living here, is something you won’t understand unless you grew up here and lived through it. Hip Hop is global, but what it means to folks here, is a lot deeper than what the world may realize. It was a collective voice of us going through what we were going through with a country that many times continues to turn it’s back on it’s own. We still had issues with race, Rodney King helped the entire world see that the USA and the police departments nationwide still had very serious problems. And hip hop was able to amplify the voice of many brothers who had issues with the USA and the cops on patrol here. I give thanks that Rodney King is with the creator now…he is at peace and I hope the creator is showering his spirit with love and acceptance.
Listen to RYU BLACK “YAMA” ft D. Prince ..we address “blackness”
