Hip Hop artists have been on fire as of late. It seems like everyone is stepping up their game and making music that passionately speaks truth to power… One song that should not be overlooked is a brand new joint from Public Enemy called Ice Breakers.. It’s off their new album ‘The Evil Empire of Everything‘. This particular song addresses the issue of mass deportations and what its like for those who are living in immigrant communities and are literally being hunted by I.C.E.
The song features searing lyrics from Chuck D where he raps:
I KNOW A SILENT NATION IN DISLOCATION
FRUSTRATION FROM LEGISLATION
LED TO DEMOGRAPHIC IN ISOLATION
ANOTHER PARTICIPATION IN DECAPITATION
10-4 DIE RIVER DEEP MOUNTAIN HIGH
IS A WALL STUCK BETWEEN DYING AND DOING TIME
CANT IGNORE SMACK DAB BORDER WAR
AS THE BEAT GOES ON, WORDS FLOWED ON
I CAUGHT THE LAW
PYRAMIDS MACHU PICHU
THINGS THEY DONT TEACH YOU
DONT APOLOGIZE
YOU WERE HERE FIRST ON THIS EARTH
BEFORE THESE MILLENNIAL �COWBOYS CLAIMED THEIR TURF
NOW WHOS 1000 MILES AND RAN
DESERTED IN THE DESERT
WILD WILD WEST HURT TO THE DIRT
ANTI IMMIGRATION
AGAINST BROWN SWKIN
SOUNDS LIKE BROWN SHIRTS
SILENCED BY SO CALLED LEGAL VIOLENCE
SOMEBODY HAD PERMISSION
TO PUT HUMANS IN THIS CONDITION
THIS LAND IS WHOS LAND??
THEY MUSTVE FORGOT
KICKING THE BLACK IN THE ASS
WHILE KEEPING THE BROWN OUT
THIS ONE SIDED LAW MAKES ME SCREAM AND SHOUT
Chuck is joined by The Impossebulls, Sekreto, Kyle Jason & True Math who all come with heat both in English and Spanish..Its good to see a group like PE keep it 100 when it comes to issues of the day..
ICE Breakers is actually the second song they did on the topic of immigration, when Arizona passed the anti-immigrant SB1070 law the group did a song called Tear Down That Wall ..Looking forward to peeping the video..for this new song…
The Arizona immigration bill — which Governor Jan Brewer has decided to sign into law — is racist, deceitful, and reflects some of the most mean-spirited politics against immigrants that the country has ever seen. The power that this law gives to police to detain people that they suspect to be undocumented brings racial profiling to a new low. Brewer’s actions and those of Joe Arpaio, Russell Pearce, the Arizona State Senate are despicable, inexcusable, and endorse the all-out hate campaign that Joe Arpaio, Russell Pearce, and others have perpetrated upon immigrants for years. The people of Arizona who voted for this bill, as well as those who crafted it, demonstrate no regard for the humanity or contributions of Latino people. And for all of those who have chosen not to speak up, shame on you for silently endorsing this legislated hate.
In 1991 Public Enemy wrote a song criticizing Arizona officials (including John McCain and Fife Symington) for rejecting the federal holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The same politics written about in “By the Time I Get to Arizona” are alive and well in Arizona today, but this time the target is Brown people.
These actions must stop. We are issuing a call to action, urging fellow musicians, artists, athletes, performers, academics and production companies to refuse to work in Arizona until officials not only overturn this bill, but recognize the human rights of immigrants. This should include the NBA playoffs, revisiting the actions of the NFL in 1993, when they moved the Superbowl to Pasadena in protest against Arizona’s refusal to recognize Dr. King. We all need to speak up in defense of our brothers and sisters being victimized in Arizona, because things are only getting worse. What they’re doing to immigrants is appalling, but it will be even more damning if we remain silent.
Earlier this evening I reached out to Chuck suggesting that its time to re-do their signature song ‘By The Time I get To Arizona’.. His producer Johnny Juice hit me back and said they just complerted a song called ‘Tear Down the Walls’ which addresses the issue. You can download the song..here:http://www.slamjamz.com/music/viewdlsingle/471
1989 US President Ronald Reagan chastised the then Iron curtain of communist countries about the separatist existence of the Berlin Wall. There presently is a multi billion dollar wall funded by the United States with similar isolationist separatist policies …the wall between the US and Mexico. Chuck D addresses the growing tangible and intangible wall existing between the black and brown people in North America.
In Mexico, new figures have been released showing more than 5,000 Mexican migrants have died trying to reach the United States since 1994. Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission says an average three migrants lost their lives every two days in the US-Mexico border region in 2007 and 2008. Track produced by Divided Souls from Baton Rouge LA.upon a tip from the great MC …Scarface.
And now by default its attached to being a themed commentary to the recent passed one sided racist immigration LAW in the State of Arizona… This statement from Chuck D and his wife Dr Gaye Theresa Johnson
‘Jan Brewer’s decision to sign the Arizona immigration bill into law is racist, deceitful, and reflects some of the most mean-spirited politics against immigrants that the country has ever seen. The power that this law gives to police, to detain people that they suspect to be undocumented, brings racial profiling to a new low. Brewer’s actions and those of Joe Arpaio, Russell Pearce, the Arizona State Senate are despicable, inexcusable, and endorse the all-out hate campaign that Joe Arpaio, Russell Pearce, and others have perpetrated upon immigrants for years. The people of Arizona who voted for this bill, as well as those who crafted it, demonstrate no regard for the humanity or contributions of Latino people. And for all of those who have chosen not to speak up, shame on you for silently endorsing this legislated hate.
In 1991 I wrote a song criticizing Arizona officials (including John McCain and Fife Symington) for rejecting the federal holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The same politics I wrote about in “By the Time I Get to Arizona” are alive and well in Arizona today, but this time the target is Brown people.
These actions must stop. I am issuing a call to action, urging my fellow musicians, artists, athletes, performers, and production companies to refuse to work in Arizona until officials not only overturn this bill, but recognize the human rights of immigrants. This should include the NBA playoffs, revisiting the actions of the NFL in 1993, when they moved the Superbowl to Pasadena in protest against Arizona’s refusal to recognize Dr. King. We all need to speak up in defense of our brothers and sisters being victimized in Arizona, because things are only getting worse. What they’re doing to immigrants is appalling, but it will be even more damning if we remain silent.’
TEAR DOWN THAT WALL
Click HERE to Hear Song
Song writers : Ridenhour,B.Dixon,J.Moss Producers: Brent Dixon & Chris”Spanky” Moss for Divided Souls Ent.,LLC
Vocals Produced by Johnny Juice Rosado
Publishers: Brenda’s Game Manifested Publishing, LLC(BMI); Bring The Noize inc(BMI), administered by Reach Global, Inc/ MPCinema(BMI),JACKSON WONDERFUL PUBLISHING(ASCAP)
Musicians: Brent Dixon & Chris Moss
Scratching: DJ Pain1
Mixed by DJ Johnny JUICE Rosado @ The Terrordome – Strong Island, NY
Recorded & PRE Mixed by: Brent Dixon & Chris Moss @ Divided Souls Studios(Baton Rouge,La./Douglasville,Ga.Mixed at Divided Souls Studios(Baton Rouge,La); Divided Souls Studios Southeast(Douglasville,Ga.);
Vocals Recorded @ The Terrordome – Strong Island, NY
SOMEBODY’S SOULS BEEN EXPOSED IN THIS HOUSE OF BLUES THE REAL EMPEROR WITHOUT CLOTHES HAS MUCH TO LOSE ROAD WEARY TROUBADOUR / MAYBE I’M AN AMBASSADOR NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH SOME SPOOK OR BASTARD BY THE DOOR
BEFORE I GOT PAID BY THE WORD NOW ITS DEFERRED NEW DUST BOWL POET YOU AIN’T HEARD IT NOW YOU HEARD
SHOWED YALL I AIN’T TIRED DAMN SURE AIN’T QUIET PLENTY OF THINGS TO TEACH ABOUT I’M REACHING TO THE CHOIR
DAMN MY MAN ONE AT A TIME THIS BEATS FIRE FACE TOLD ME BRENT YOU BE BOMBIN THE PLACE THE BOB TO THE BOB THE BOB IS BACK WEAVIN BOBBIN AND SPILLIN LIKE WOMACK, MARLEY AND DYLAN
DEEP SONGS FRONT PAGE OF YOUR LIFE THIS IS YOU INVASION OF YOUR MENTAL VACATION AND YOUR CREW
THIS AIN’T BRAND NEW JUST BECAUSE YALL AIN’T NEVER KNEW I SPIT POLITICS ON THAT WALL WHERE THE PEOPLE GET SCREWED
HIP HOP SUPPORTIN NON STOP SWEATSHOPS SO YOU CAN RETAIL YOUR ASS OFF WITHOUT FAIL
THEN SOME OF YOU GET SETBACK BLAME THIS IMMIGRATION EXPLOITATION WITH YOUR THE LACK OF INFORMATION BY YELLING WETBACKS
SOMEBODY ACTIN FOREVER 21 CANT HIDE CANT CRY CANT RUN CANT BLAME IT ON THE CRACK
OR FIGHT BACK WITHOUT A PASSPORT MILLENNIUM GESTAPO BORDER CONTROL THE NEW CONTACT SPORT
YALL CALL EM IMMIGRANT AND TAKE EM TO COURT BUT LOOK AT YOUR HOOD AND YOUR LACK OF SUPPORT
SOME OF THESE DJS HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THEY’RE PLAYIN SOME OF THESE RHYMERS DON’T REALIZE WHAT THE HELL THEY’RE SAYIN SO I LET EM CHASE THE CASH HONEY WITHOUT A PLAN FORGET JOHNNY WAS THE MAN IN BLACK BUT I’M THE BLACK IN MAN
THIS IS MODERN DAY SLAVERY AND PART OF THE PLAN
WITH ALL DUE RESPECT SIR ,TEAR DOWN THAT WALL MAN!
Now that healthcare is passed the next fault-line in the political landscape is Immigration.. Not immigration which has suddenly allowed thousands of people to some how come over from Russia and populate places like Brighton Beach, Brooklyn… Not immigration from places like former Yugoslavia. We’re talking about immigration from Mexico and other places throughout Latin America resulting in people all being placed under the umbrella of Mexican and along with that every conceivable negative stereotype.
There already is a lot of overt racism that shows up in the form of check points hundreds of miles away from any border. It shows up in the form of 287 G a federally funded program that basically deputizes local law enforcement and makes them become ICE agents. The end result is many who live within immigrant communities are not willing to take any chances and thus don’t call the police under any circumstances. This of course results in those communities being over run by unsavory elements who prey upon that fear of the police.
This gets compounded by laws set up in places like Arizona where someone transporting or helping someone who is undocumented can lead to jail time. This of course has resulted in an across the board fear and apprehension of dealing with anyone who is Brown. It shows up in the continuation of us building immigrant detention centers which house entire families and can temporary hold people if they are suspected of being here ‘illegally’ or even have parts of their paper work filed wrong.
Rodstarz
For example, it was just three weeks ago that Rodstarz and his brother G1 of the group Rebel Diaz were detained at customs in Houston as they returned home from Chile. There was something wrong with Rod’s paper work in terms of how the computer listed him. They had him down as a felon, which is wasn’t and isn’t and he wound up staying in customs for 10 hrs. The next step was gonna be a trip and extended stay at a nearby detention camp while INS hade up to two weeks to investigate. When everything was finally straightened out, Rod was told he needs to carry around papers stating his court appearances from 4 years ago were resolved. We have scores of stories like this where Brown citizens in this country are subjected to daily humiliations.
The latest tirade against Brown folks comes from Rush Limbaugh the man who said he would leave the country for a the Brown land of Costa Rica should Healthcare reform pass. he hasn’t left yet and instead has decided to dig his heels into Brown folks citing that we should all fear Amnesty being granted to people who have crossed the border.
My homegirl professor Tina Wright has been speaking on the push by righht wing zealots to push this country into racial conflict. She hip me to the Rush tirade.. Here’s whats she had to say.
Tina Bell Wright Here is part of the transcript from Limbaugh’s latest hate speech today (see my previous post re: call for Obama assasination)…and hearing it in audio is even more inciteful…he and Beck are purposely fueling white fear…”From Bacon to Obama” will be the title of my
next essay…i have been saying for the longest time that folks are not
really digging deep enough into the real war that is erupting…the fire THIS time. Yes, fascists corporatists run our country, but be clear on
this…PE said it best: it takes a nation of millions to hold us back (not …just
the 1% elite) and that war started before this country ever had its
first president with Bacon’s rebellion, but it just might end with the
Obama presidency….white supremacy fighting to keep power by any means necessary
for fear of the “browning of America” is the latest blacklash …a direct result of Obama’s election. We either learn lessons of history….or we continue to repeat them.
I agree with Tina assesment, however, where I see fault lines brewing is along the the issue of class with Black and Brown conflict along those lines being an explosive ingredient… Meaning I hear some absolute ignorant stuff being spewed and than translated into action by some well to do folks both Black and Brown about ‘Immigrants’.. I see such things increasing and people like Rush granting platforms to those who say and do things that further a divide. What’s most interesting in Rush Limbaugh’s tirade is his use of the words ‘divide and conquer’ to describe what President Obama wants to do around the issue of immigration. He’s accussing this issue of being one that seperates ‘good brown people from the rest of America..
RUSH: Now, what’s next, ladies and gentlemen? I told you it’s going to hit you between the eyes. While you weren’t looking, and it didn’t get a whole lot of coverage yesterday: “Tens of thousands of immigrants and activists rallied in Washington, calling for legislation this year to give legal status to millions of illegal immigrants and seeking to pressure President Obama to keep working on the contentious issue once the health care debate is behind him. … The rally brought the return to major street action by immigration activists, who turned out hundreds of thousands of protesters in marches and rallies in 2006.” Their message to Obama: We gave you time on health care, now we want amnesty. But they don’t have to lobby President Obama for this, and they don’t have to protest for it.
They don’t have to even ask for it. The next big push, almost immediately — and they will use whatever unconstitutional measure they have to to get it done — will be amnesty. And I want to predict to you how Obama is going to sell this. Mr. Snerdley, would you suspend your call screening for just a moment because I need you to hear this. Whoever you’re speaking to, put ’em on hold. I want you to hear this, ’cause you’re going to get phone calls about it. The next big push — we’re not even going to breathe a sigh of relief before it happens, these people are relentless — the next big push will be amnesty for as many millions of illegal immigrants who are here. Obama is going to need their votes in 2012. The Democrats are going to need their votes at every election from this day forward, if down the road we have elections, and I’m not joking. The Constitution has just been ripped to shreds. So why is anything in it safe?
I want you to hear how Obama’s going to sell this. I want you to hear how Obama’s going to run around the country at these rallies, here’s what he’s going to say: (imitating Obama) “There are some people who don’t like your skin color, who don’t think you should be American.” He has come to divide. He has come to conquer. Is there anybody who now doubts what I meant when I said, “I hope he fails”? He has failed. He has succeeded. The happiness that these people are feeling should sicken every one of us because the happiness they’re feeling is the happiness derived from the destruction of America as founded. There are people in responsible positions of power in our government today who have deep resentment for this country, who have been raised, who have been educated to believe that this country is immoral and unjust, that we have stolen the resources of the rest of the world and used them for our own greed, that our prosperity has resulted from the real people who make things work being stolen from them. We have imperialistically sent our military around the world and murdered innocent people.
They don’t view this country as having liberated millions of people to freedom. They look at this country as one big criminal act, one big civil rights, human rights violation. Don’t doubt me. That is how Obama has been raised to look at this country, and he believes it, and he’s put a lot of people in unaccountable positions in his administration who have the same belief, and you know who some of them are. Van Jones, admitted communists. These are no longer baseless allegations or charges designed to get people’s attention. This is the truth that we face. The Democrat Party has been co-opted and is now led by a far leftist faction who admire and envy people like Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro. Have you ever wondered why so many Democrats and so many stupid, idiotic celebrities have an affinity and love for Castro, despite what’s happened to his country, despite what he’s done to it? They envy his power. They think they now have that power.
So the next thing that’s going to happen is a major push for immigration reform, comprehensive immigration reform. It will be called amnesty. Now, I am told that Lindsey Grahamnesty has now said he’s rethinking supporting this after he’s seen the tactics used to get health care. Fine and dandy. But none of this should have been a mystery to anybody. None of the evidence should have been missed. Who our opponents are has been widely available if somebody just wanted to believe it. Gone are the days of traditional Republicans and Democrats sharing power. There’s no sharing power. Barack Obama has come to divide, and he has come to conquer. “There are people who don’t like your skin color,” he will tell pro-immigration rallies. “There are people who don’t like your skin color, don’t think you should be American.” He will divide this country even further.
The Republicans will face the same dilemma there that we faced in health care. No matter what we do, and no matter what the public polls are, we can’t stop it. Not until November. We can’t stop it. We deal with a president who doesn’t care how many votes he loses in November. We deal with a president who actually may be looking forward to a Republican majority in the House, ’cause it’s very difficult to run against your own party and blame them for the things aren’t getting done, but if you have a Republican majority in the House, you’ve got a built-in enemy, you’ve got a built-in demon, a built-in diabolical enemy that you can campaign and run against. This should not stop us from our desire to win. I’m just telling you, don’t think that Obama will dial it back here because of November elections. He’ll ratchet it up. He’s gonna try to get cap and trade, don’t be surprised. Don’t be surprised if they don’t go home in August. Don’t be surprised at anything.
I’ll tell you what else is going to happen down the road. Mark Steyn touched on this in a little piece at National Review Online yesterday. The US military has always been used to defend and protect the people of this country and our like-minded allies who were devoted to the concept of human liberty and freedom. Those days will soon end. Barack Obama does not look at that as a proper role for this country. He’s not interested in defending your freedom. He’s interested in taking it. There is no way he will stand with other nations who are oriented as we used to be. The only way that Obama will ever be able to come even one-tenth of the way close to paying for any of this spending that he has personally written the check for, is to practically get rid of the US military. Defense cuts. Well, take a look. All of the somewhat models, I think we’re far down the road, far worse than these European socialist countries which the left seems to think is ideal for us to be, those people are going to look like rock-ribbed conservatives compared to us when Obama gets through.
Here you have a guy who doesn’t like the US military, who thinks it’s been used for imperialistic purposes. He can’t wait to slash that, use that money for domestic spending. You’ve heard the Democrat Party say this your whole life, cut defense, build up social programs, stop the Iraq war, we’re going to pay for health care with that. By the way, the Iraq war is still going on, so is Afghanistan, but the days of the United States projecting its power in defense of people who are in bondage will likely come to an end. I’m well aware that we have Iran looming and there’s nothing stopping Iran, and the Russians are aligning with them. Our problems go way beyond our borders. The problems beyond our borders, however, are of very little interest to Barack Obama compared to his desires within our borders. He will continue his crusade to forever alter this country. He has come to divide. He has come to conquer. And some of the Republicans on our side still don’t get it, still refuse to see this man, his presidency, his administration for what it is, and some of our own conservative so-called commentariat don’t get it. Rome is burning, and instead of putting out the fire we have too many people looking for a bag of marshmallows.
Hip Hop artists have been on fire as of late. It seems like everyone is stepping up their game and making music that passionately speaks truth to power… One song that should not be overlooked is a brand new joint from Public Enemy called Ice Breakers.. It’s off their new album ‘The Evil Empire of Everything‘. This particular song addresses the issue of mass deportations and what its like for those who are living in immigrant communities and are literally being hunted by I.C.E.
Chuck is joined by The Impossebulls, Sekreto, Kyle Jason & True Math who all come with heat both in English and Spanish..Its good to see a group like PE keep it 100 when it comes to issues of the day..
Davey D's Hip Hop Corner 