Sankofa of a Failed White Man

By Justin Hubbell, Contributing Writer

"I used to want to change the world. Now I just want to leave the room with a little dignity."
-Lotus Weinstock

Aint that the truth? I'll be god damned if doing the right thing isn't the hardest game I've ever played. When I say "doing the right thing," I'm not talking about being kind to people, because there are plenty of people who believe they're doing their civic duty by being nice all the time. What a load of garbage.

Being nice. Not hurting anyone. No yelling. Politeness. Nice.
If you can't hold up to these standards, then smoke enough pot to make it happen.

At the end of the day, you get to hazily raise your fist and croon, "hey man I'm doing my part."

If this isn't enough, then try going to three or four events, or if you're really radical, then try joining a group on campus. Yeah.
If all else fails, find Jesus and save yourself.
Or if you're not into religion, find Obama and save yourself.
I digress. When I began college, I wanted "to do the right thing." I joined the NAACP. Like many people who want "to do the right thing," I was completely oblivious. My brow was in a perpetual state of corrugation. I couldn't comprehend why we never discussed any issue apart from the African American community.

Well. There's actually quite a difference between "colored people" and "people of color." Go figure. I jumped ship when the opportunity presented itself and joined The Fahari-Libertad.

This is where I waged war against Whitey. Slightly more educated, I went to work at drawing satirical attacks against the WASP society. Too dangerous, the comics were censored. The result was a monstrosity, a self-explaining, self-deprecating pile of badly rendered horse shit.

Am I not an artist? Am I not "to do the right thing"? How dare they castrate my work! I jumped ship again. In fact I got a chartered flight this time. I made my own group. I'll add that at this point, I was even more educated.

"Whites Against Racism." Hell yeah. Fucking radical, man. Eat that shit.
It was my idea. I was the president.
And in all seriousness, what a great name.

The beauty of "Whites Against Racism" was that you knew exactly who was supposed to join and why. But, of course, a group like that can't operate unless everyone is comfortable, so we became "Students Against Racism."

Woof.

That wasn't my decision. That was the collective decision. The majority. I'm going to go off on another tangent and say that if you decide to ever become a leader, then own the title and lead. Leaders are vital to communities, and groups. The power of a leader is that if the group catches hell, you can blame everything on one person. The leader is held accountable, and the people behind the group get off the hook. If you're not a good leader, however, then none of your efforts will matter.

I wasn't a good enough leader, so I allowed the group to become a democracy. Long story short, it wasn't even a democracy so much as a group therapy session. And to make a shorter story shorter, it wasn't group therapy so much as an exclusive soap box hand-out. When it was your time to speak in that group, you spoke. And if it wasn't, then fuck it. And some people didn't get time, and other people didn't want time, and everyone who wandered in the room promptly left.

The most we ever accomplished was a showing of a film. Unless of course you count the time we went to an anti-racism workshop to collect our official "I-went-to-the-anti-racism-workshop" certificate. This semester, I threw in my towel, and the group caved in on itself. I told you it was my idea, after all. Every time I see an ex-member, I tremble with my White Guilt™. How could I? I was "doing the right thing," and I quit.

Here's another quote for you:
"You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain."
-Harvey Dent from The Dark Knight

The fact of the matter is that you can't "do the right thing" and live comfortably. The people I know who are actually doing the right thing are some of the most reckless, masochistic people I know. Not a single one of them goes to SUNY New Paltz by the way. If they accomplish something, then they wipe the sweat from their brows and get back to work. No certificates, no plaques, no "give yourself a hand." These people throw themselves at their work.

I can't do that. I don't have the energy. I'm definitely too horny. And when I'm dead, I better have gotten my rectangular piece of wood with brass accessory. I want that plaque. I know now what I have to do, in order to do the right thing. I can't do it yet, not in college.

I'm too comfortable in college. I'm going to need some money though. Fuck.

Nothing is Harder than Thug Love

by Ruben Sanchez, Contributor

So I was on the train the other day bumping my iPod, making sure I didn’t get robbed for all my fly gear and all when I hear these two dudes in the train talking about Lupe Fiasco. So I turn down my earphones because I figure this is going to be an interesting conversation and it actually ended up being pretty ridiculous! Now this may not be the most direct quote but it went something like “Lupe is a faggot b. He don’t be up in the clubs, he don’t be rappin’ ‘bout bitches, none of these dumb bitches b. He don’t rap ‘bout nuthin that I’m interested in so what am I listening for? He just sounds like fag. Weezy, Jeezy, Jigga! Those are my niggaz, real niggaz…they ain’t about that gay shit that Lupe is on, they talk about that real shit.” Now I don’t know what the dude meant when he said “real” but I’m assuming we had very different definitions of the word.

Then I got to thinking, don’t these rappers do some gay ass, questionable shit themselves? Rappers are constantly participating in activities that can be easily perceived as gay and not even realize it. I’m just saying, when everyone was walking around with their pants hanging off their asses and grabbing their crotch all the time, it was considered a pretty “hood” or “thugged out” thing to do. Having your pants so far below the waist level is just giving people a lot to look at and if Hip-Hop is so homophobic, it may need to take a look in the mirror and look at how homoerotic it can be.

You would think with some of the shit that goes down in Hip-Hop, rappers would be moving away from such a homophobic culture and be embracing the culture of homosexuals. In fact, maybe it already is making that move! Maybe hip-hop artists don’t have any room in their lyrics for it, but their behavior is a different case.

Let’s take one of the most revolutionary artists of our time as an example…T-PAIN! In an online interview with School of Hip Hop (SOHH), T-Pain gives SOHH a rundown of the 5 women he would and would not have sex with. In his list of the 5 women that he would not sleep with, Kim Kardashian was on the list because “not too many people can go after Ray J” of course referring to the infamous sex tape of Kim Kardashian and Ray-J. T-Pain continued to profess his admiration for Ray-J by saying things like “he has a huge meat man…the man is packing…he has length on him…he’s got a foot on him.” You would think that T-Pain would show more discretion than that when being recorded and knowing full well that millions of people are going to see the video but maybe he knew full well what he was doing. Now this statement can obviously be perceived as a “homo” thing to say but T-Pain, being the genius that we all know, has managed to band aid the situation by saying “much respect Ray…man to man, no homo.” Apparently everyone who commented on the video missed the no homo part and called him gay repeatedly. Maybe the Hip-Hop world isn’t ready to hear one man compliment another man on their manhood.

As some of you may be aware of and it seems to be the consensus of the Hip-Hop world at this current point and time that Lil’ Wayne aka Weezy is the greatest rapper alive. Yes, I know, I was shocked too to hear this too. In fact, I am still in disbelief! Lil’ Wayne seems to have taken on his maverick persona and taken on the challenge of defeating homophobia as well. When pictures were released of Wayne kissing his “daddy” aka Birdman on the lips many, people were appalled and quite disturbed for the Hip-Hop world. Now some of you might be thinking “Ruben, I think I know where you’re heading with this, don’t you think you’re going too far? That was just some thug love they showed each other right?” Well first we would have to define “thug love.” If you mean closeted homosexual behavior of men who think they’re hard or actually are the hard and “gangsta,” then sure, it was thug love! I think Lil’ Wayne and Birdman were the perfect couple to go against the grain, considering their reputation. I mean, the fact is that Lil’ Wayne calls Birdman, a man who is not related to Wayne by blood, his “daddy.” Birdman even has a tattoo of Wayne on his chest, now that can be perceived as gay but Wayne ignored the haters and recorded a song called “Stuntin’ Like My Daddy.” This is why he is the greatest rapper alive people! Wayne just seems to prove over and over how original he is in music, persona, and sexuality.

Now for one of my favorite rappers, DMX was one of those who decided to let their pants sag their pants and always wore either a wifebeater or no shirt at all! He would invest more into underwear than he would actual clothing. Now if you don’t really remember, DMX’s public persona was this thugged out, rough, rugged, and intimidating individual in the rap game but no one thought, “Man! DMX sure does like showing off his ass and his body a lot, that’s gay as hell!” In DMX’s song “What’s My Name,” he raps “SUCK MY DICK! And while you niggas that’s been to jail before know it’s about to get thick!” Now is it me or does that seem like aside from the blatant “SUCK MY DICK!” and then follow by talking about inmates and saying “it’s about to get thick” sound like a gay thing to say? Talk about going against the grain! But DMX’s image comes from a place much deeper – prison culture. In prison, it is damn near necessary for a man to maintain their reputation and position and that means being tough, threatening, and physical with people. Prison deprives an individual of their sexual needs and in order to satisfy those needs, inmates turn to what is closest to them to fulfill those needs – other inmates. So it really isn’t all that surprising to hear something like this from DMX, especially after that video he did with Sisqo, it was a wrap after that!

It’s pretty obvious that it is hypocritical of Hip-Hop to be homophobic because of the homoerotic behavior that can be seen in Hip-Hop culture. Homoerotic images of Hip-Hop artist can be seen in your Hip-Hop magazines, album covers, pretty much anything that has a rapper posing for a camera with his shirt off flexing his muscles. Artists strive to maintain the most masculine image possible which charges their homophobia, but their actions parallel what they fear.

F@CK THE REVOLUTION - ALL "4" NOTHING

By: Vixon "V-Jay" John, President

I thought things were going to change, but it’s the same song, played on a different instrument. I would call myself an activist (notice, I didn’t use the word “label”). I feel when I talk about making moves on campus or creating unity to the “leaders,” the message falls on deaf ears. What’s the point of saying that we all need to come together and unite, then when it actually comes to making it happen, nobody wants to respond?

After the drastic budget cuts that effected mainly the organizations of color during Spring ’07 and hearing everyone complain and argue about its injustice, I’ve been preaching about how all of these groups need to come together and increase communication. Being proactive about these issues are more important than waiting for something to happen. This is when my idea for SAPC (Student Association for People of Color) came to life. Wanting to counter the SUNY New Paltz Student Association, my idea was for SAPC to become the underlying hub for all the organizations of color to increase communication and finally promote the unity that we need. Seeing that I didn’t want this coalition to be recognized by the Student Association, it was supposed to act as a general understanding for all these groups that it’s time to get our shit together.

To make a long story short, I got one other person to help me out (thanks Wonder Woman) and we did make some leeway by being recognized at Black Solidarity Day, at a few programs and by only one organization (Much love to AWA!). But, when it came to us having meetings and actually getting down to work (which wasn’t hard work) however, NOBODY would show up for our meetings or participate to help achieve our goals of unity. There were times a few people came out (the highest number being nine), but for the most part, people preached the same hymns of “we gotta come together” and “it’s time to get things done.” Safe to say, these same people didn’t come to another meeting. What happened to the passion that these so called “activists” had when shit was hitting the fan? I thought that by creating SAPC, there would finally be something for all of us to use to come together instead of working separately. Guess I was wrong.

On this campus, we have so many resources of information and connections with organizations outside of the campus to start a real revolution; a revolution of progress. Whichever cause we believe in, there is an organization on campus that supports that cause and helps to make a difference. This whole revolution thing is not impossible, it’s just people don’t want to commit the work necessary in making it happen. We all seem to be traveling in different circles, but never merging (like those van diagrams you use to do in elementary school). This could be due to our egos getting in the way or the disparity between those who are too involved and those who hardly involved at all. Every program I go to, the same “activists” come out and the same ol’ song of unity is sung, but now, it’s time to stop preaching to the choir, but to start teaching the choir how to preach. It’s these hypocrites that make me feel that my journey of getting into activism and fighting for change was all for nothing.
I was talking to an old activist friend that I haven’t seen in a while and I explained to her about how the real activists that are left on campus are doing everything and there is only a few people showing interest in carrying on the activist legacy New Paltz is known for. It was so good to talk to someone who actually understood where I was coming from. I realized that I’ve been so active for these past couple of years that I haven’t given a chance for other people to step up and take over. I’ve been trying to hold onto the torch for so long, but I need to start handing it off to the upcoming revolutionaries, whom will have to go through the same trials and tribulations that I went through. I can only hope and pray that this new age of activists coming up in this school (wherever they are) don’t get into activism and suffer the same fate I have.

But in the end, I guess you were right, Florest…