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August
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August
2, 2003
Def
Sham
Russell
Simmons: New Black Leader?
By AMADI AJAMU
The emergence of Hip Hop entrepreneur Russell
Simmons as an establishment-endorsed political leader of the
new generation of Blacks gives me pause. Being a member of this
new generation, I think this should be put on the table for discussion.
Why have mainstream media's political
pundits given Russell Simmons an open mic? He's a guest on Charlie
Rose; he's become a constant feature in the New York Times, Newsweek
Magazine and many other newspapers and magazine across the country.
Hailed as among the one hundred most influential African Americans
by Crain Magazine, can helicopter to Albany for private meetings
with New York Governor George Pataki on the Rockefeller drug
laws. He has organized fundraisers for senators Hillary Clinton
and Charles Schumer, works closely with former HUD Secretary
Andrew Cuomo, teams up with democratic presidential candidate
Al Sharpton to register new voters, and dines with Shimon Peres,
Israel's former Prime Minister discussing a possible Middle East
youth summit.
Either the king makers have peeped Simmons'
ability to use his influence over urban youth as leverage in
his business and political ventures and they want to control
him, or the severity of the US economic recession deems it time
to send in the clowns.
Russell Simmons and his Hip Hop Summit
Action Network have orchestrated several very high profile, massive
political rallies in New York City, using his connections in
the entertainment industry to get mega- stars like P. Diddy,
Mariah Carey, 50 cent, LL Cool J, Jay Z and Alicia Keys to attend
and draw thousands of Black youth. But it was painfully clear
that the majority of youth in attendance were more interested
in getting a glimpse of their favorite rap artist than in the
city budget cuts in education or draconian drug sentencing laws
that send many of our peers to prison for decades. Simmons and
his star-studded entourage put on a good show but have yet to
present a clear political program of action and vision for Black
people.
Black youth have a tremendous amount
of unused political power. Young people represent the most revolutionary
force in all movements for social justice around the world. We
have the energy and tenacity to fundamentally change our conditions,
and we have nothing to lose. That's why leadership is so important.
Black youth in the United States are
under attack from all quarters. Police brutality, failing schools,
mass unemployment, foster care, inadequate health care, and the
exploitation of a criminal justice system by large scale corporations
all simultaneously attack us in order to break our natural spirits
of resistance. But the most pervasive and unrelenting attack
against us has been conducted by the multi-billion dollar entertainment
industry with its overt and covert manipulation of Black Hip
Hop culture.
Culture is a weapon. Like a double-edged
sword, culture can be wielded in the interest of oppressed people
to further our struggle for self-determinations or in the interest
of our oppressors to keep us enslaved.
Originally, Hip Hop was a source of strength
in our community. Created by young grassroots people on the streets,
it defied the status quo. From seemingly nothing, no money, no
musical instruments, no multi- national conglomerates or political
connections, it emerged as an international cultural force. Hip
Hop exemplified our peoples innate creativity, social consciousness,
and self-determination. It was our voice of resistance.
Now that Hip Hop is totally controlled
by giant international corporations, "artists" promoted
by industry and media executives, including Russell Simmons,
reflect a superficial petty criminality and a vulgar individualistic
materialism that erodes our collective struggle. The systematic
degradation of Hip Hop is an example of the use of our culture
to further the interests of our oppressors -- the wrong side
of the double-edged sword.
Russell Simmons' Hip Hop cultural credentials
are key to his ability to influence this "new generation"
on political and economic issues. The phenomenal rise of Def
Jam Records in the 1980's with groups like Public Enemy and RUN
DMC made Simmons and his partners Lyor Cohen (son of Israeli
immigrants) and Rick Ruben very wealthy. In 1999 they sold Def
Jam to Seagrams Universal Music Group for $130 million. Universal
was subsequently acquired by Vivendi to form the international
entertainment behemoth Vivendi Universal. Lyor Cohen was named
Chairman and CEO of the Island Def Jam Music Group and Simmons
named Chairman of the Def Jam Records division. The brash B-boys
that burst on the music scene are now corporate executives towing
the company line.
In an effort to ignite young people to
social action, many Black grassroots community leaders have reached
out to Hip Hop artists and impresarios for assistance. Sometimes
these efforts are fruitful and solid relationships are forged
based on mutual respect and in the interest of our collective
struggle. Hip Hop maverick Tupac Shakur had intimate ties to
respected political leaders like Dr. Mutulu Shakur and was a
living example of a successful cultural / political link. Tupac
was the co-founder of The Code Foundation, a youth organization
involved in the current struggles against racism, police brutality,
and drug abuse, human rights and reparations. His untimely and
unresolved murder is a reflection of the work that needs to be
done to make our generation aware of our collective political
power and the power of our culture as a mechanism to spark the
fire.
Individual artists with consciousness
like Chuck D, Mos Def, Common, Dead Prez, and others have also
forged links with grassroots leaders and committed their creative
skills to our collective struggle against oppression.
But when grassroots political activists
reach out to Russell Simmons there is a recurring disappointment.
When organizers of the Millions for Reparations Rally in Washington
DC met with Simmons, after going through an obstacle course of
handlers, Simmons said "Wait till next year, I'll do it
and I even let you all speak." Rally organizers declined
and decided to do it the hard way--without the superstars, media
access, and strings attached.
Simmons also launched a special "reparations"
sneaker brand in his clothing line. Advertisements for it have
proclaimed that a percentage of the proceeds from the sneakers
would be donated to the reparations efforts. When a youth organization
working on reparations issues contacted sales executives at Phat
Farm about donations, they were told that a larger percentage
of the proceeds were applied to advertising the sneakers so that
the idea of reparations is being exposed. This maneuver is the
extent of company's contribution to the struggle for slavery
reparations.
When Pepsi Cola dropped Ludracris, a
black Def Jam recording artist, from its television commercial
because of his profane and sexually explicit lyrics, Simmons
threatened to organize a boycott citing Pepsi's use of the equally
vulgar, but white Ozzie Osbourne. Imagine boycotters chanting
"Equal opportunity vulgarity!" Nevertheless, Pepsi,
acutely aware of the political and economic power of Black youth,
acquiesced and agreed to donate millions of dollars to unspecified
youth organizations.
Like Pepsi, Courvoisier Cognac is strengthening
its ties to the new generation of Blacks through Simmons, the
Hip Hop power broker. GlobalHue Advertising Agency named Mr.
Simmons its Vice Chairman and Senior Team member of the Courvoisier
Cognac Team, which pushes the cognac for Allied Domecq Spirits
of North America.
Simmons's aggressive business style often
rears its head in his attempts at coalition grassroots political
campaigns. The hostile take-over of the "Drop the Rock"
(Rockefeller drug laws) coalition may be the most telling. For
the past 30 years, the draconian mandatory sentencing guidelines
incorporated into the NY state drug laws by former Governor Nelson
Rockefeller, have sent hundreds of thousands Black and Latino
youth to prison for decades for minor drug offenses. These laws
have contributed significantly to the rapid development of new
state prisons and the corporate exploitation of prison labor.
A broad coalition of families, lawyers, ex inmates, students,
churches, unions, civil right organizations, community activists,
clergy, elected officials, and others waged a long and intense
battle to repeal the laws. In recent years, they had been gaining
considerable ground and the drug laws became a pivotal issue
in the 2002 campaign for New York State Governor.
In an effort to galvanized Black and
Latino youth, coalition members requested the assistance of Russell
Simmons. Then Simmons, at the urging of his friend and failed
democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Cuomo, staged another
star-studded massive rally at New York's City Hall drawing thousands.
Cuomo was the Master of Ceremonies.
Thereafter Simmons began meeting with
the New York Governor Pataki without informing or inviting veteran
grassroots coalition members to attend. Negotiations between
Simmons, Pataki, and two leading members of the state legislature
ensued. In the end Russell Simmons, who had audaciously appointed
himself HNIC (head negro in charge) of the coalition, compromised
their mission.
Republican Governor George Pataki called
a press conference and stood side by side with Russell Simmons
and democratic presidential candidate, Al Sharpton. Together
they joyfully announced cosmetic changes to the drug laws affecting
a tiny percentage of its victims. All of them praised Pataki's
proposed changes, which left the mandatory sentencing guidelines
that lock up thousands of young Black and Latino men and women
every year, intact. Some people now call them the "Simmons
Drug Laws."
According to a Newsweek report, when
asked about the ramifications of his actions, Simmons said. "I'm
not running for anything. I don't give a f-k. I did what I thought
was right."
New Black leader?
Russell Simmons, Inc. has reaped enormous
profits from the new generation of Blacks through his position
and salary as Chairman of Def Jam Records and Vice Chairman of
GlobalHue Advertising Agency, Rush Communications, Phat Farm
Fashions, Baby Phat, Rush Visa, Simmons- Latham Media and other
capitalist ventures. He has aligned himself with the corporate
class and works in their political and economic interest. More
often than not, these interests are diametrically opposed to
the interests of the majority of Black people.
Simmons's rebirth as a political activist
is entirely manufactured. Wrapped in stylish Hip Hop packaging,
displayed on top shelf media outlets, and presented to the new
generation of consumers as the new and improved Black leader.
He is a product of corporate America, and we shouldn't buy it.
The corporate imposition of Simmons as
a "leader" is an affront to our people and should be
exposed at every turn. Leaders come from the people and their
skills are sharpened and honed through struggle with the people.
Our fight for human rights and self- determination demands principled
leaders who are willing to sacrifice their own self-interest
for the genuine political and economic development of us all.
Russell Simmons' leadership can only
be defined as: Def Sham.
Amadi Ajamu
can be reached at: Amadi4@aol.com
Weekend Edition Features for July 26 / 28, 2003
Alexander
Cockburn
NYT's Screws Up Again; Uday and
Qusay Deaths Bad for Bush; Gen. Hitchens at the Front
Gary
Leupp
Faith-Based Intelligence
Saul Landau
A Report from Syria
Stan
Goff
Bring 'Em On Home, Now!
Jeffrey
St. Clair
Book Cooking at Boeing
Andrew
Cockburn
The Sons Are Dead; Now the Blood Feud
Begins
Jason Leopold
CIA Points the Finger at the Pentagon's Office of Special Plans
Robert
Fisk
The Power of Death
Joanne
Mariner
Monsieur Moussaoui
M. Shahid
Alam
The Global Economy Since 1800: a Short History
Harry
Browne
Northern Ireland: the Other Faltering Peace Process
Fidel Castro
Moncada, 50 Years Later
Lula
Democracy Requires Social Justice
Edward
S. Herman
Refuting Brad DeLong's Smear Job on Noam Chomsky
Ron Jacobs
Guided by a Great Feeling of Love: a Review of Gordon's The Company
You Keep
Julie
Hilden
A Photographer, an Offer and Cameron Diaz's Topless Photos
Adam Engel
Man Talk
Poets'
Basement
Keeney, Witherup, Short, Nimba, Guthrie and Albert
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