PRINCE HALL
New Member
An interesting read here. I would love to hear your views on this subject.
June 12, 2002
The Making Of A Thug
By Minister Paul Scott
The Black World Today
In dealing with the patience that it took to deal with those brothers who were less
culturally aware during the Black Power Era of the 60's, Kwame Ture said that "every Negro
is a potential Black man." In the 21st century; The Afrikan Power Era our slogan should be
"every Thug is a potential Afrikan."
It is imperative that we look at this Thug/gangsta image that has been held up as the
essence of "black manhood" and more importantly the ramifications that it has for Black
men, Black women and most importantly, Black children.
If we trace the creation of the "Thug" we must, of course, start with the destruction of
the black masculinity during the African Holocaust (transatlantic slave trade.) Before the
Africans were brought here bound in chains, they had been stripped of their manhood
through an intense "seasoning" process, the horrors of which have never been fully realized
by this society. Upon arrival to America, the enslaved African was treated like one of the
animals of the field and was used for two purposes labor and "breeding."
It has been recorded that many Black men were lynched right in front of their pregnant
wives so the fear that she felt would be transferred into the unborn child. It is also said
that the slave owner would sometimes snatch a black woman away from her husband in
the middle of the night and make the husband watch as he brutally raped her; further
stripping him of his masculinity.
After the end of "physical" slavery instead of declining, the attack on black manhood
intensified as the white man never would forget to "put the black man in his place" by
constantly regarding him as "boy" regardless of the age. That is why we have so many
"men" behaving as "boys" today.
I have heard it said that the trend of "sagging" (walking around with your pants hanging off
your behind) which many of our young people think is so cool, came about because when a
white man would see a black man with his pants pulled up, he would make him drop them
down because "only men were supposed to wear their pants pulled up."
Later during the Civil Rights era while the emphasis should have been on regaining our
manhood and culture, the mainstream Civil Rights groups concentrated heavily on sharing a
toilet or a lunch counter with white folks. One of the main failures of the Civil Rights
Movement was focusing on integration instead of the social, economic and spiritual
empowerment of the Black community. We bent over backwards to love white folks while all
the while hating our black selves.
We made an attempt to recapture our Black manhood during the Black Power Era of the
late 60"s and early 70's but that was quickly crushed by COINTELPRO and other attempts
by the white power structure to make sure the transformation from boys to men would
never take place.
All of this has led to an internalized anger which, when coupled with the conscious or
subconscious fear of white power, has produced the Thug image of today. Where the fear
was too great to challenge white supremacy, head on, a pseudo-culture was created
which allowed the Black man to let out his aggression without becoming a threat to the
white power structure. It has also given him the ability to search for self respect in
material things, clothing with the name of a white man on the label or gold medallions.
The MEDIA (MisEducation Destroying Intelligent Afrikans) has been a willing ally in this
endeavor with the movies that have degraded the black man from the pimp/player roles in
the black exploitation movies of the early 70's ( Super Fly, the Mack) to the gangsta flix of
the late 80's to the present (Menace to Society, Belly etc)
The effect on the black community has been devastating. The reason that you have 30
something year old men acting like teenagers is because thug life has no age limit.
When I was a rebellious teen we would laugh at anyone over 21 still "trying to be down"
Because the bad boy image was seen as something that kids did. Today, every other song
on the radio is about grown men trying to be Thugs/gangsters as if that is something to be
proud of. Some of the rappers have sons that carry the same Thug image as their fathers
(Lil Romeo and Master P) There is something very wrong with that.
Recently, I listened to a sister on the radio telling the DJ how she needed a man with a
"little Thug in him." It is sad that while the sisters of previous generations wanted a man to
give her R-E-S-P-E-C-T. some of our less conscious sisters today want a man to treat
them thuggishly.
We are currently raising a generation of young people that has no sense of black culture
outside of the Thug culture. When asked to name two black men who "died for the
struggle" instead of naming Malcolm X and Fred Hampton they will tell you quickly Tupac
Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G. Or if ask them the meaning of political prisoner they will
say "Yeah, that's what they tried to do to Puff Daddy."
What our community is missing is a complete analysis of the Thug Life phenomenon in the
context of the Afrikan Liberation Struggle. We cannot let the "fear of blaming the white
man for all our problems" or the fear of "preaching hate" prevent us from giving our people a
correct historical analysis of the condition of Afrikan people. We must give our young
people a sense of culture.
We must remove the red and blue bandanna's from the heads of our children and replace
them with the Afrikan Liberation colors of red, black and green. We must replace their gang
signs with Black Power fists raised proudly in the air. We must replace Black self hate with
black love for all black people, We must replace the desire to be a Thug with the desire to
be a strong Afrikan man fighting for the liberation of his people.
***This Father's Day, as part of the Hip Hop Reformation Campaign, we are launching a
boycott of any music or video that disrespects the image of Afrikan men and women. I
ask the Afrikan family to join us, as we take back our MANHOOD!****
--------------------
June 12, 2002
The Making Of A Thug
By Minister Paul Scott
The Black World Today
In dealing with the patience that it took to deal with those brothers who were less
culturally aware during the Black Power Era of the 60's, Kwame Ture said that "every Negro
is a potential Black man." In the 21st century; The Afrikan Power Era our slogan should be
"every Thug is a potential Afrikan."
It is imperative that we look at this Thug/gangsta image that has been held up as the
essence of "black manhood" and more importantly the ramifications that it has for Black
men, Black women and most importantly, Black children.
If we trace the creation of the "Thug" we must, of course, start with the destruction of
the black masculinity during the African Holocaust (transatlantic slave trade.) Before the
Africans were brought here bound in chains, they had been stripped of their manhood
through an intense "seasoning" process, the horrors of which have never been fully realized
by this society. Upon arrival to America, the enslaved African was treated like one of the
animals of the field and was used for two purposes labor and "breeding."
It has been recorded that many Black men were lynched right in front of their pregnant
wives so the fear that she felt would be transferred into the unborn child. It is also said
that the slave owner would sometimes snatch a black woman away from her husband in
the middle of the night and make the husband watch as he brutally raped her; further
stripping him of his masculinity.
After the end of "physical" slavery instead of declining, the attack on black manhood
intensified as the white man never would forget to "put the black man in his place" by
constantly regarding him as "boy" regardless of the age. That is why we have so many
"men" behaving as "boys" today.
I have heard it said that the trend of "sagging" (walking around with your pants hanging off
your behind) which many of our young people think is so cool, came about because when a
white man would see a black man with his pants pulled up, he would make him drop them
down because "only men were supposed to wear their pants pulled up."
Later during the Civil Rights era while the emphasis should have been on regaining our
manhood and culture, the mainstream Civil Rights groups concentrated heavily on sharing a
toilet or a lunch counter with white folks. One of the main failures of the Civil Rights
Movement was focusing on integration instead of the social, economic and spiritual
empowerment of the Black community. We bent over backwards to love white folks while all
the while hating our black selves.
We made an attempt to recapture our Black manhood during the Black Power Era of the
late 60"s and early 70's but that was quickly crushed by COINTELPRO and other attempts
by the white power structure to make sure the transformation from boys to men would
never take place.
All of this has led to an internalized anger which, when coupled with the conscious or
subconscious fear of white power, has produced the Thug image of today. Where the fear
was too great to challenge white supremacy, head on, a pseudo-culture was created
which allowed the Black man to let out his aggression without becoming a threat to the
white power structure. It has also given him the ability to search for self respect in
material things, clothing with the name of a white man on the label or gold medallions.
The MEDIA (MisEducation Destroying Intelligent Afrikans) has been a willing ally in this
endeavor with the movies that have degraded the black man from the pimp/player roles in
the black exploitation movies of the early 70's ( Super Fly, the Mack) to the gangsta flix of
the late 80's to the present (Menace to Society, Belly etc)
The effect on the black community has been devastating. The reason that you have 30
something year old men acting like teenagers is because thug life has no age limit.
When I was a rebellious teen we would laugh at anyone over 21 still "trying to be down"
Because the bad boy image was seen as something that kids did. Today, every other song
on the radio is about grown men trying to be Thugs/gangsters as if that is something to be
proud of. Some of the rappers have sons that carry the same Thug image as their fathers
(Lil Romeo and Master P) There is something very wrong with that.
Recently, I listened to a sister on the radio telling the DJ how she needed a man with a
"little Thug in him." It is sad that while the sisters of previous generations wanted a man to
give her R-E-S-P-E-C-T. some of our less conscious sisters today want a man to treat
them thuggishly.
We are currently raising a generation of young people that has no sense of black culture
outside of the Thug culture. When asked to name two black men who "died for the
struggle" instead of naming Malcolm X and Fred Hampton they will tell you quickly Tupac
Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G. Or if ask them the meaning of political prisoner they will
say "Yeah, that's what they tried to do to Puff Daddy."
What our community is missing is a complete analysis of the Thug Life phenomenon in the
context of the Afrikan Liberation Struggle. We cannot let the "fear of blaming the white
man for all our problems" or the fear of "preaching hate" prevent us from giving our people a
correct historical analysis of the condition of Afrikan people. We must give our young
people a sense of culture.
We must remove the red and blue bandanna's from the heads of our children and replace
them with the Afrikan Liberation colors of red, black and green. We must replace their gang
signs with Black Power fists raised proudly in the air. We must replace Black self hate with
black love for all black people, We must replace the desire to be a Thug with the desire to
be a strong Afrikan man fighting for the liberation of his people.
***This Father's Day, as part of the Hip Hop Reformation Campaign, we are launching a
boycott of any music or video that disrespects the image of Afrikan men and women. I
ask the Afrikan family to join us, as we take back our MANHOOD!****
--------------------