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 : Thu Sep 06 2001 - 19:28:22 CEST