Hey Steve,
thanks for the voice of reason!
leslie/The Power of Sound
----- Original Message -----
From: "Steve Catanzaro" <stevencatanzaro@sprintmail.com>
To: "adario" <adario@thingsburnup.com>; <acid-jazz@ucsd.edu>
Sent: Thursday, September 06, 2001 10:15 AM
Subject: Re: everywhere is war
> The speech to the League of the Nations was definitely the apex of
> Selassie's (fascinating) life and career, but implying that the United
> States of America and Israel should heed him as a voice of moral authority
> is really too much.
>
> Saying that Haile Selassie was a "despot" is hardly an ad hominem attack,
> considering there is photographic evidence showing him feeding his dogs
> prime cuts of beef while the country was paralyzed by a devestating
famine.
>
> As for musicians / politics. When I agree with their politics / stances, I
> take them seriously. When I disagree, I still enjoy their music.
>
> For instance, when Charlie 2na of J5 raps against materialism or absentee
> fathers, I enjoy it, and take it seriously.
>
> However, when Fela Kuti tells African women they are foolish for trying to
> claim equality with men like Western women I don't agree, but I still
enjoy
> the music. Is that ok? Or do you agree that African women shouldn't sit
down
> and eat before men, because Fela Kuti said it and he invented a well-loved
> style of music?
>
> I'm in it for the music. The politics I can take or leave.
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: adario <adario@thingsburnup.com>
> To: Steve Catanzaro <stevencatanzaro@sprintmail.com>; <acid-jazz@ucsd.edu>
> Sent: Thursday, September 06, 2001 9:06 AM
> Subject: RE: everywhere is war
>
>
> > Well, obviously I was paying tribute to Bob Marley with that subject
line.
> > OK, so not exactly acid jazz, but definitely an inspiration to countless
> > musicians of the genre. So, please excuse the ex nihilo posting.
> >
> > On Haile Selassie:
> > Ad hominem attacks aside, it's a phenomenal speech and is extremely
> relevant
> > given the misdirected unilateralist course of the current US
> administration.
> > Judge it for its own merits. As for Marcus Garvey's critique of
Selassie,
> > here are some more detailed references if anyone's curious:
> > http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/garvey/sfeature/sf_forum_4.html
> > http://debate.uvm.edu/dreadlibrary/cardillo.html
> > http://www.commonlink.com/~olsen/RASTAFARI/GARVEY/rupert.html
> >
> > On politics and acid jazz:
> > The reason that I love this music is that it IS so political. I'm not
> here
> > to trade emails aboout soothing apolitical elevator cheeze jazz. If
> that's
> > what this list is about then I will GLADLY exit. I'd far rather feel
the
> > articulation of our common world presence then listen to placid
> > instrumentals, stupifying house beats or the banal lyrics of serial pop
> > commodities. Would you prefer it, Steve, if Jill Scott didn't mention
> > reparations? If Marvin Gaye didn't speak on the state of the ecology?
If
> > Gil Scot-Heron didn't talk about the CIA? If Cypress Hill kept
> > decriminalization on the downlow? If Roy Ayers didn't see red, black
and
> > green? If Bob Marley didn't sing on burnin and lootin tonight? If
Sarah
> > Jones had nothing to say to the FCC? If Sun-Ra didn't chant down
nuclear
> > war? If Mos Def didn't appear in Bamboozled? If Digable Planets shutup
> > about the fascists? If Michael Frente didn't touch a mic? If Ursula
> Rucker
> > hushed up about misogyny? If DJ shadow didn't have an MC on the
Midnight
> > track? If Fela Kuti was never born?
> >
> > Do you believe that these artists and their ideas should be enjoyed but
> not
> > taken seriously?
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Steve Catanzaro [mailto:stevencatanzaro@sprintmail.com]
> > Sent: Thursday, September 06, 2001 1:28 AM
> > To: acid-jazz@ucsd.edu
> > Subject: Re: everywhere is war
> >
> >
> > Is this the same Haile Selassie who drove around Addis Ababa in a Rolls
> > Royce throwing out breadcrumbs to the masses?
> >
> > The same Haile Selassie who was unceremoniously deposed by his own
people
> > after a half-century reign that left Ethiopia empoverished, this despite
> his
> > own palatial lifestyle?
> >
> > Other than the fact that some great musicians worshipped the myth of Ras
> > Tafari, (yet Marcus Garvey himself scoffed at the notion of Selassie as
an
> > object of worship), what does the complex issues surrounding the UN,
> > Zionism, or the declarations of the despotic Haile Selassie have to do
> with
> > acid jazz? Aren't there other forums more appropriate for the expression
> of
> > these kinds of sentiments?
> >
> > Can't we have a politics free zone?
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Fri Sep 07 2001 - 01:18:32 CEST