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subcultural phenomenon, SR_thePangloss – #NewRules, New Slaves, and the Hip Hop Machine

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10 years

In his influential book Subculture: The Meaning of Style, Dick Hebdige describes subculture as a disruption to the “process of normalization”. Humans are highly social animals, which leaves us open to the bandwagon effect. In that sense, subcultures form in order to contradict the “myth of consensus” and in doing so, they directly challenge power structures.

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uphold the status quo and preserve their interests at all times. SR_thePangloss – #NewRules, New Slaves, and the Hip Hop Machine

67,103

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10 years

Sounds really conspiratorial, right? It’s not…Institutions are self-preserving by design. Threats are neutralized (corporate takeovers), CEO’s come and go, but institutions are run with the same basic principles always and everywhere, mainly because those principles have been so successful at preserving them thus far.

Institutions, like organisms, seek survival for themselves and their descendants…They survive, reproduce, replace, predate, evolve, alter, consume, and grow. They are no more responsive to the individuals contained within than a person is to a single cell.

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In other words, they create the framework in which the more inclusive, mainstream media operates in disseminating information and representing cultural values. SR_thePangloss – #NewRules, New Slaves, and the Hip Hop Machine

67,103

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10 years

This should be taken to apply broadly. Obviously there is a lot that goes into this: market determinants, individual management, etc. Still, these institutions operate in a strict top-down fashion, which has two important implications:

With resources situated primarily at the top of the food chain, smaller entities depend on larger entities up the chain to tell them what’s popular and what to play. For example, a small Hip Hop station in Kansas might look to a huge radio station like Hot 97 to find out what to play.
Those at the top of the food chain, like program directors at a radio station, got there because they were good at taking orders. Those who are not so good at taking orders are black balled.

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Elite media corporations set the agenda in this country. SR_thePangloss – #NewRules, New Slaves, and the Hip Hop Machine

67,103

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10 years

This has implications for all media, not just music. In the U.S., six companies own damn near errythang in the media, ranging from publishing, distribution, television, radio, etc.

As far as radio and music/concert promotion, Clear Channel has destroyed any chance at diversity since the Telecommunications Act of ‘96. With over 1200 radio stations, they now dominate audience share in 100 of 112 major markets.

These media companies are not independent either. Each of them requires cooperation from the other. For example, Universal (NBC, owned by Comcast) needs Clear Channel to function successfully and vice versa. In this way, they’ve built a nice exclusive club of media mobsters. You’ll notice, broadcast rights to the Superbowl are rotated each year between CBS, Fox, & NBC. Hmm..what was that about capitalism and market competition?

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This has implications for *all* media, not just music. In the U.S., [six companies](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_cross-ownership_in_the_United_States#Owners_of_American_media) own damn near errythang in the media, ranging from publishing, distribution, television, radio, etc.

As far as radio and music/concert promotion, [Clear Channel](http://www.academia.edu/852087/Clear_Channel_The_Poster_Child_for_Everything_Thats_Wrong_with_Consolidation) has destroyed any chance at diversity since the Telecommunications Act of '96. With over 1200 radio stations, they now dominate audience share in [100 of 112 major markets](http://reclaimdemocracy.org/clear_channel_backlash/).

These media companies are not independent either. Each of them requires cooperation from the other. For example, Universal (NBC, owned by Comcast) needs Clear Channel to function successfully and vice versa. In this way, they've built a nice exclusive club of media mobsters. You'll notice, broadcast rights to the Superbowl are [rotated each year](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Super_Bowl_broadcasters) between CBS, Fox, & NBC. Hmm..what was that about capitalism and market competition?

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Many argued that the demand should be "Fair Trial for Huey" which would supposedly win wider support. The Guardian – Black Panthers: Behind the Myth

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No one living in America is completely void of prejudice, and while their intentions are usually good, the Left actually has a long history of capitulating to racism, and even practicing it.

Racism on the Left is very different in terms of how it manifests, but either way, it reinforces institutional racism. As professor Tim Wise states, there are four mechanisms by which the Left contributes to systemic racism:

The well-intended but destructive form of colorblindness.
An equally destructive colormuteness.

These mean, quite literally, a tendency among many on the white liberal-left to neither see nor give voice to race and racism as central issues in our communities and the institutions where we operate, or their connection to and interrelationship with other issues.

By the blatant manifestation of white privilege in our activities, issue framing, outreach and analysis:

…the favoring of white perspectives over those of people of color, the co-optation of black and brown suffering to score political points, and the unwillingness to engage race and racism even when they are central to the issue being addressed.

Marginalizing people of color by operating from a framework of extreme class reductionism, which holds that the “real” issue is class, not race.

This reductionism, by ignoring the way that even middle class and affluent people of color face racism and color-based discrimination reinforces white denial, privileges white perspectivism and dismisses the lived reality of people of color.

Clearly, this belief that the defense campaign’s slogan should be “Fair Trial for Huey”, rather than “Free Huey”, is a perfect example of number 3.

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No one living in America is completely void of prejudice, and while their intentions are usually good, the Left actually has a long history of capitulating to racism, and even practicing it.

Racism on the Left is very different in terms of how it manifests, but either way, it reinforces institutional racism. As professor [**Tim Wise**](http://www.timwise.org/2010/08/with-friends-like-these-who-needs-glenn-beck-racism-and-white-privilege-on-the-liberal-left/) states, there are four mechanisms by which the Left contributes to systemic racism:

- The well-intended but destructive form of colorblindness. 
- An equally destructive colormuteness.

>These mean, quite literally, a tendency among many on the white liberal-left to neither see nor give voice to race and racism as central issues in our communities and the institutions where we operate, or their connection to and interrelationship with other issues.

- By the blatant manifestation of white privilege in our activities, issue framing, outreach and analysis:

>...**the favoring of white perspectives over those of people of color, the co-optation of black and brown suffering to score political points, and the unwillingness to engage race and racism even when they are central to the issue being addressed.**

- Marginalizing people of color by operating from a framework of extreme class reductionism, which holds that the “real” issue is class, not race.

>This reductionism, by ignoring the way that even middle class and affluent people of color face racism and color-based discrimination reinforces white denial, privileges white perspectivism and dismisses the lived reality of people of color.

<hr>

**Clearly, this belief that the defense campaign's slogan should be "Fair Trial for Huey", rather than "Free Huey", is a perfect example of number 3.**

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Since the colonials and class character of the California courts precluded that possibility, the only demand - and the only one that made sense - was that Huey Newton should be set free. The Guardian – Black Panthers: Behind the Myth

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The whole point of having a jury of peers is that only Newton’s fellow community members could understand the daily unwarranted abuse handed down by police; only they could understand that it’s often us or them. Stokely Carmichael gave a speech at a “Free Huey” rally in 1968, focusing on why the issue was so crucial for black communities:

…many of our generation feel that they’re getting ready to commit genocide against us. Now, many people say that’s a horrible thing to say about anybody. But if it is a horrible thing to say, then we should do as brother Malcolm [Malcolm X] says: we should examine history. The birth of this nation was conceived in the genocide of the red man…In order for this country to come about, the honky had to completely exterminate the red man, and HE DID IT! And he did it where he does not even feel sorry, but he romanticizes it by putting it on television with cowboy and indians

http://youtu.be/TGi_nEawGaw?t=47s

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The whole point of having a jury of peers is that only Newton's fellow community members could understand the daily unwarranted abuse handed down by police; only they could understand that it's often *us or them*. Stokely Carmichael gave a [**speech at a "Free Huey" rally**](http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/carmichael.html) in 1968, focusing on why the issue was so crucial for black communities:

>...many of our generation feel that they're getting ready to commit genocide against us. Now, many people say that's a horrible thing to say about anybody. But if it is a horrible thing to say, then we should do as brother Malcolm [Malcolm X] says: we should examine history. The birth of this nation was conceived in the genocide of the red man...In order for this country to come about, the honky had to completely exterminate the red man, and HE DID IT! And he did it where he does not even feel sorry, but he romanticizes it by putting it on television with cowboy and indians

http://youtu.be/TGi_nEawGaw?t=47s

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But the Panthers were waging a political defense and held to the position in their program that black people could only receive a fair trial by a jury of their peers. The Guardian – Black Panthers: Behind the Myth

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6th Amendment of the Constitution

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed…

Though the constitution doesn’t technically say “jury of their peers”, “impartial jury” was understood to be such, at least since the 1874 Supreme Court case Strauder v. West Virginia, in which a black man was originally convicted of murder in front of an all white jury in West Virginia.

In overturning the ruling, the Court said:

The very idea of a jury is a body of men composed of the peers or equals of the person whose rights it is selected or summoned to determine – that is, of his neighbors, fellows, associates, persons having the same legal status in society as that which he holds.

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"Free Huey" The Guardian – Black Panthers: Behind the Myth

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Huey Newton was under arrest with four bullet wounds in his stomach. The Guardian – Black Panthers: Behind the Myth

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Newton had just gotten off of 3 years probation for the 1964 assault charge, and was out that night celebrating with a few friends.

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Before being convicted and sentenced for a year on an assault charge, Newton had been a law student at Merritt College, where, like any number of militant young blacks, he had several run-ins with the Oakland police. The Guardian – Black Panthers: Behind the Myth

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By his own accounts, Newton had studied law at Merritt College in order to “become a better burglar”. This ended up working well for him, as he made a living off of things that were “technically unlawful”, including:

Check fraud
Petty burglary
Credit fraud
“Short-change” games (most common)

Once into petty crime, Newton had transferred the conlfict, aggression, and hostility from the people in his communities to the Establishment. About his successful “short-change” games:

The store was left hanging. They did not really lose, because they were actually robbing the community blind. They just wrote off the amount and continued their robbing. The lesson: you can survive through petty crime and hurt those who hurt you.

He was caught a number of times and never charged, but was prosecuted for a handful of offenses as well, though, he was able to successfully defend himself in each of those cases. When he was finally convicted of a crime, it stemmed from a physical altercation at a house party.

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[**By his own accounts**](http://www.prisoncensorship.info/archive/books/hueypnewtonreader.pdf), Newton had studied law at [Merritt College](http://www.merritt.edu/) in order to "become a better burglar". This ended up working well for him, as he made a living off of things that were "technically unlawful", including:

- Check fraud
- Petty burglary
- Credit fraud
- [**"Short-change" games**](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_confidence_tricks#Change_raising) (most common)

Once into petty crime, Newton had transferred the conlfict, aggression, and hostility from the people in his communities to the Establishment. About his successful "short-change" games:

>The store was left hanging. They did not really lose, because they were actually robbing the community blind. They just wrote off the amount and continued their robbing. The lesson: you can survive through petty crime and hurt those who hurt you.

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