Eric B & Rakim, November 1987 – Photo/Image By: David Corio

When we talk about Rakim too often we fail to mention Eric B. This was a duo, and we’d do well to remember that. Their 1st record is called “Eric B. Is President” after all.

The photog who the above pic belongs too, David Corio, has some other awesome pictures on his site where they are also for sale.

AP:

Speaking at Princeton University, Scalia was asked by a gay student why he equates laws banning sodomy with those barring bestiality and murder.

“I don’t think it’s necessary, but I think it’s effective…”

…

“If we cannot have moral feelings against homosexuality, can we have it against murder? Can we have it against other things?”

Scalia goes on to note that he’s not comparing homosexuality to murder (right), bu I don’t have much to say about that. I think the ludicrousness of the above statements speak for themselves. I acutely interested in this though:

Scalia said, adding that legislative bodies can ban what they believe to be immoral.

Oh really? I’d be very interested to hear what Antonin thinks of banning fur or meat-eating or hunting. How about a ban drinking again? Maybe we should ban women wearing pants? We could ban inter-racial marriage again too! All of these things have a constituency, and Justice Scalia has just said that if a legislative body has enough votes for ban any of the above because they think it’s immoral then that’s ok.

Somehow, I don’t think Antonin would go along with many of the above bans. But he clearly believes it’s ok to legislate your personal morality. Never mind that the point of laws is to protect people, other certain entities & create a society that’s as free & and as safe as possible. That’s why banning sodomy is stupid, and immoral. It has nothing to do with protecting anyone. It’s all about pushing a certain view of morality. So yes, Justice Scalia, you can have all the moral feelings about homosexuality you want. That is absolutely your right. It is not your right to infringe on someone’s individual liberty just because you, personally, think it’s immoral. When folks attempt to turn their morality into law on things like homosexuality, I find that profoundly immoral. Murder, as a law, is less about morality then it is about the most serious form of infringement of one’s personal liberty, the right to live. Laws legislating what we can do with our bodies infringe upon that most basic right as well. Keep your morals out of my pants.

I don’t particularly care if Black folks say nigga. I use the word more than I’d like to (not as much as Aaron McGruder apparently), but the meme that it’s basically a term of endearment among Black people is flawed at best. If I say “fuck you nigga”, I’m not exactly you showing you love. The word gets used in this manner often.

I generally don’t care if you use it, but let’s drop the pretense that’s it’s always or even mostly used when showing love to another brown person.

Via lot’s of fucking places:

Shout out to D. Myrie. Thanks for putting me on to this awesome vid.

The power of Hip Hop used for good. Again. Reason #475 why you tube is awesome. This kind of stuff really makes my day. I don’t know anything about being a teacher but I remember who my favorite teachers were. I also remember who my best teachers were, because they were one & the same. I bet this guy is a good teacher. I think a lot of his students will remember him for a long time. Not because he turned something they learned into hip hop song but because for me active engagement & straightforward, simple teaching were the easiest & most fun ways to learn. I can’t know for sure but this kind of thing strikes me as the fruits of that kind of teacher.

I’m getting really tired of reading news & opinion articles wherein the writer automatically links hip hop with criminal behavior or undesirable behavior. there have been a slew of stories about the happenings in Las Vegas during the NBA all-star weekend. the incident involving titans player “pacman” jones comes to mind. yes there is an element of hip hop that does involve the street and rapping about criminal acts but does this mean everyone who listens to it is a “thug” or “gangsta” ? NO!. does this mean that hip hop should immediately be associated with every criminal act involving brown people. NO!. is the thug/gangsta image frequently marketed by record companies, artists themselves and other corporations which is then proliferated in the media? absolutely. that does not mean the these images represent the hip hop nation at large. we have all heard the arguments for why the image exists; “I’m just rapping about my life”, “i rap about what i see”. whether or not you think these reasons are valid or not you can not deny the reality that is life in the hood or the ghetto. thugs don’t represent the people who love hip hop. thug or not if you grew up poor, lower class or working class you probably have seen or heard 1st hand about a lot of the things said on rap records. i can take criticism from people who know and love hip hop but when Oprah and Bill Cosby speak they aren’t talking to us. they are talking to there own generation and to people to hate hip hop to begin with. frequently people like them are talking down too us too. while they may have certain valid points they have no true insight. there are many problems with hip hop from the glorification of “thug life” to misogyny to homophobia and anti-intellectualism. these issues as with others affecting poor minorities in America we have to be the ones to stand up and fight them from the inside.