Brother
Ali:
Mourning
In America
(and
Dreaming In Color)
Brother Ali is a Hip Hop artist
who follows in a long line of U.S. conscientious
objectors (COs).
This article seeks to explore why
Brother Ali's message resonates amongst lost and forgotten sectors
and generations of American society today.
His message and philosophy can be
encapsulated as follows:
The
Philosophy
1.Brother Ali opposes violence by
the State, on behalf of corporate America, against it's own people.
2.Brother Ali opposes U.S. Foreign
policy -especially the War on Terrorism.
3.Brother Ali presents reasons –
including rendition and torture of Muslim prisoners – to justify
opposition to such practices through Jihad (or Holy War.)
4.Brother Ali gives support to
those who oppose with 'force of arms' and using their weapons-and all
means permitted under Islam in Jihad when they, as Muslims, are being
oppressed and denied their right to religious practice.
5.Brother Ali opposes corporate
enslavement – which his music suggests is rooted in the
military-industrial complex and responsible for the chaos in today's world - economic, political, racial, religious, social and monetary.
6.Brother Ali presents Islam and
it's followers as innocent victim's of aggression and encourages
resistance using violent and non-violent methods.
7.Brother Ali suggests that
non-violence is just as powerful a tool as is violence to oppose and
provoke further oppression from the 'Police State'. [The underlying
basis for this being, if you can demonstrate to the mass population
the oppression of the (reactionary) Police State, supporting the
economic-military-industrial complex, you destroy confidence in it's
institutions-and provide the basis for mass insurgency by the general
populace.]
8.Brother Ali [will not say this
but it is apparent] presents himself as a voice for the voiceless.
It is often said that the youth of
today are less politically motivated to oppose political and
corporate injustice than they were, say, forty years ago. Many
reasons are given for this but the enduring one is their fear of
'blacklisting' should they publicly evocate a 'hostile' position to
corporatism, the military-industrial complex or the War against
terror. In other words, they will find it impossible to get a 'good'
job after High School or University if they engage in political
opposition activities - so powerful is the reach of corporate
globalism into the lives of the youth of today.
9.If you are a Black or White
inner city child or youth in corporate-controlled America today, from
an early age you are criminalized by 'the Police State' (arrested or
detained on some trumped-up charge, DNA fingerprinted etc.) in the
belief that such will make you docile and subservient (the 'system'
not understanding that the very opposite will more likely be the
result), your places of recreation and social assembly are considered
of no financial value so you have no option for protection other
than joining street gangs where drugs, guns and violence replace
normal childhood dreams and adolescence while at the same time
corporate America profits from the sale of drugs, guns and murders in
the inner city ghettos – by pouring additional resources into law
enforcement and terminal incarceration of this abandoned youth with
no hope nor resources allocated for rehabilitation but only a steady
spiral downwards until they, the abandoned generation, are forced to
live and behave like animals in a jungle where the only rules are
violence, survival and the power of the gun to get your daily bread
and maintain your dignity and respect as a human being not the
grovelling insect corporate America desires that you become.
In a nutshell, this is Brother
Ali's philosophy and belief, as spoken through his music.
Brother Ali presents himself, as
he believes himself to be, as the 'voice' for this 'voiceless'
generation.
What are the realities of Brother Ali's Claim To Represent the 'Oppressed' or, at the Very Least, that his 'Jihad' as an American is to Non-Violently Oppose Oppression with all of his Capabilities as an Artist?
The first of the beliefs of
Brother Ali I want to debunk is that the youth of today are
frightened of not being hired by corporate America or the globalized
Western world if they oppose government and global corporatism.
This assumes that everybody wants
to be hired by global corporatism or indeed subscribes into it.
This is certainly not the case
with the youth of today. If anything global corporatism represents
'the Angel of Death' or 'Grim Reaper' to a not insignificant
proportion today's educated American youth.
They have a different toolkit than
previous generations did to oppose oppression but those who feel
strongly are no less motivated than my generation. Of this I am 100%
absolutely certain. But the numbers who are motivated to oppose are
no different a minority than they were during my generation of youth.
But there are fewer who have that aura of leadership and evocate the
highest principles of the movement which majority fair and just youth
of America can 'see' as a visionary way forward – and are prepared
to even (lay) down their lives to peacefully, without recourse to violence and use of weapons, bring about such change.
[The most powerful philosophy for change is the 'Boycott' and Non-Violence.
'Boycott' by the way, is named after a tyrant in Ireland, Captain Boycott, who tried to brow-beat impoverished people at times of great hardship and famine. They simply refused to buy anything or work on anything or associate with anyone associated with his name; hence the term 'boycotting' or 'boycott'.]
[The most powerful philosophy for change is the 'Boycott' and Non-Violence.
'Boycott' by the way, is named after a tyrant in Ireland, Captain Boycott, who tried to brow-beat impoverished people at times of great hardship and famine. They simply refused to buy anything or work on anything or associate with anyone associated with his name; hence the term 'boycotting' or 'boycott'.]
Herein lies the pathos of my
argument against Brother Ali.
I am not questioning the sincerity
nor bravery of Brother Ali nor his fortitude in the face of
oppression and injustice nor his personal suffering because of his
beliefs and what he advocates.
What I am questioning is his
inability to capture the imagination of the youth of America not
because of their 'enslavement' to corporatism (which by the way, is
very real, worldwide) but the fact that those who will, decades from
now, determine the destiny of America, the silent (youth) majority,
are not just not motivated by Brother Ali but they 'turn off' when he
speaks.
Where
Is the Youth Opposition If Not On YouTube?
There are growing movements which
oppose universal corporatism, injustice and unjust wars on behalf of
corporate America, who oppose (what is perceived as) enforced
enslavement to GM foods and everything else scientists wish to
incorporate, or, at the very least, hold the impoverished in the
world to ransom with unfair trade and management practices which are
no better than slavery on plantations – be they urban plantations
in 3rd world city sweatshops or 'managed' plantations
where the workers live and tend their master's (global multinational)
crops, buy their own foods from shops on the plantation with a range
of modern services provided to ensure their 'domestication' on that
reservation.
They are the new age movements who are not
fooled by the re-branding of products with logos such as 'Fairtrade'
or 'Eco-Friendly' – such are seen simply as corporate America
re-inventing itself. [I am not talking about those set
up nor back-door funded by corporate enterprises.] Then there are movements opposing unjust and
unfair trading blocks which are regarded by reputable economists as in part responsible for impoverishment in the developing world.
This is where the educated (and visionary) youth of today (and tomorrow) is.
This is where the educated (and visionary) youth of today (and tomorrow) is.
There are worldwide movements
which want to make the world a fairer, better, environmentally
cleaner and genetically (food) safer place for all of it's people to
live and work. There are movements which believe that health care
and education and food and decent housing, safe communities and parks
and schools and social centers for the youth and, above all being
able to work (if that is what one wants) are all basic human rights
which should be universally enshrined by law and not the privilege of
a few who can afford them or compete against other impoverished
individuals to offer his or her labor at the lowest possible wage on
the job (slave) market. There are such individuals and groups who
are not part of corporate America nor branded by it and genuinely do
want to create fairer and more just communities, societies and a
genuinely better world for all. But Brother Ali most certainly does
not represent any of them.
[The great F.D.R himself was the
first visionary to advocate the right of every man and woman in
America to a job, as a basic human right. It may yet be centuries
before corporate America is ready to accept this principle.]
None of such movements will
subscribe to Brother Ali's vision for America – because his vision
does not ultimately include any of them – only the supremacy of Islam in
America – with an ultimate Jihad against all 'non-believers' such
as other ' moderate' Muslims not following the declared 'brand' of
Islam, Atheists, Jews, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, and everyone
else refusing to submit to Allah - effectively creating 'Jihad' in
America, not to change the status quo, but to pulverize it into dust
and start at Year Zero - with only the true [pure of heart] believers
alive to create the New Order.
Who
Resonates With This Message of Hate?
Brother Ali has more in common
with The Nation of Islam and national socialism than he does with
Middle America. I am including the majority of fair-minded moderate
American Muslims within my 'majority' America. Hell ! ; I would go so
far as to say that even 'Redneck' America believes more in the
principles equality and justice and would equally have little (if
anything) in common with either Brother Ali nor any other of
the organizations which would support his ideologies.
Vision
For America
There are far too many ways I
could show why Brother Ali fails to capture the educated mass youth
culture. I could explain to him how they know Islam was built on
slavery and oppression - which continues to this day with a horrific
oppression of women you have to see to believe in these imprisoned
Muslim countries of the Middle East and North Africa. I do exclude
Muslim countries beyond the Middle East and North Africa, especially
those which have been little influenced by Saudi Arabia Imams and
their hate agendas. (Brother Ali argues in his music that so too
the United States was likewise built on slavery.)
You
Can Only Vote Allah Into Political Office Once-and Forever
I could show how Islam is a 'One
Way Street' in the Middle East, Iran and Afghanistan. You get one
vote one time to vote Islam into political office. Unfortunately
once you vote 'God ' [Allah] into office you can never get him out
(the argument would be that nobody-except 'Satan'-would want to vote
'Allah' out of political office.) So, in America, it would be one
man, one woman, one vote, once, for Allah. Then, let the Witch hunt
(Kristallnacht) for non-believers begin - with the
enslavement of women simultaneously taking place.
(I have seen up close and personal how Muslim and Christian shopkeepers in
the Middle East and North Africa have their shops smashed by Islamic
'Storm Troopers' because they have served alcohol – and are too
frightened to report it to the Police for fear of further reprisals
against themselves and their families.)
Saudi Arabia, the instigator of such hatred, is Brother Ali's
vision for America. He will not say this openly but this is, what in
effect, his vision want's to achieve.
This why the educated American
youth of today are not 'buying into' Brother Ali's 'alternative' vision
of Islamic Sharia law as a better framework for America than it's existing
Constitution.
It's not widely publicized but did
you know that it is a crime punishable by death to build a
Christian Church in Saudi Arabia? Some influential Imams are
campaigning to make Christian worship in the Kingdom also a crime
punishable by death. You didn't know these facts? You'd better get
more informed about what your TV News Channels are not discussing. So welcome to Brother Ali's vision
for America. Are you beginning to see why the educated youth of
America (other than under pain of death or as 'hostages') will never
buy into Brother Ali's vision for it's future?
Nirvana
Brother Ali is charismatic-but so
too were many artists in ages of chaos, far too numerous to mention.
Adolf Hitler started life as a
humble artist. Josef Stalin was once destined to become a Priest.
Pol Pot once served in a Buddhist monastery. Their 'Nirvana' were all
built on the dead bones of millions of murdered men, women and
children – hundreds of millions if it had needed to be. But they
never told their masses how exactly they would deliver Nirvana
because to do so would be expose the horrors of what they really
stood for - intolerance to everything in opposition to their vision. Likewise this is Brother Ali's vision for the future of America.
Of course there are intolerant
people who, as we see in Europe, easily achieve political power
through the ballot box then set about implementing divisive policies
which tear countries and continents apart and lead them into world
wars – all to achieve a racial, political or religious ideal or
all three combined.
Corporate
Greed v Human and Community Need
Where government is perceived as
being owned, lock, stock and two smoking
barrels,by corporations, expect something else to fill the
vacuum. In this case it is the advocates of extreme national
socialist, religious, political and financial alternative structures
which demand a New Order.
When corporate America is perceived, because of it's actions, as 'Public Enemy' No. 1, worldwide; where trade unions are considered by multinationals as 'unfriendly' and 'hostile' to corporate America, expect something else to fill the vacuum. It did in pre-Bolshevik revolutionary Russia, in pre-Nazi Germany, so why should history be any different today? We never learn from the lessons of history. History teaches us that. Where foreclosures and starvation in America can be attributed to outsourcing and corporate profit abroad – at the expense of starving and jobless local communities at home - expect something else to fill the vacuum. Where civil disobedience and lawful peaceful non-violent assembly are met with overwhelming disproportionate use of police force (perceived as guardians of corporate America), expect something else to fill the vacuum for opposition.
When corporate America is perceived, because of it's actions, as 'Public Enemy' No. 1, worldwide; where trade unions are considered by multinationals as 'unfriendly' and 'hostile' to corporate America, expect something else to fill the vacuum. It did in pre-Bolshevik revolutionary Russia, in pre-Nazi Germany, so why should history be any different today? We never learn from the lessons of history. History teaches us that. Where foreclosures and starvation in America can be attributed to outsourcing and corporate profit abroad – at the expense of starving and jobless local communities at home - expect something else to fill the vacuum. Where civil disobedience and lawful peaceful non-violent assembly are met with overwhelming disproportionate use of police force (perceived as guardians of corporate America), expect something else to fill the vacuum for opposition.
As a sector of the isolated,
disenfranchised, 'lost' generation of debt-shackled university
graduates, denied their potential (most can't get a job, which pays
their bills, allows them to live and also pays enough to pay off
their debts) they too have nothing to loose-except their chains,expect something else to fill the vacuum; as a
sector of the further 'lost generation' of the motivated intelligent
youth of America 'switch off' from the mirage of Sitcoms all carefully
manufactured by media and beyond communications (the perceived
'media conspiracy') to massage their brains into docile oblivion; show
their anger and protest against the corporate 'owned', 'branded' and
corporate-sponsored (product endorsed and endorsing all manufactured
) Hip Hop, Rap, Heavy Metal and other corporate-enslaved and
'branded' 'creative' artists, all (as they perceive) designed to
produce apathy, quell direct community protest against lack of jobs,
poverty, injustice, expect more of the extremes from where forth
came Brother Ali - but don't for a moment think that most will
follow in his footsteps towards his eternal salvation - nor share his
vision of the new 'promised land'.
The above are just some of the
reasons Brother Ali will never captivate the (majority) youth of Middle America. But that was never his intention.
By promoting hatred against everything the U.S. stands for, as it
exists at present, as the cornerstone of his belief, it is also,
sadly, all too apparent, exactly which groups of the population in
America, are his target and most receptive audiences
Patrick Emek.
Brother Ali:
Mourning In America
Work Everyday
Breakin' Dawn
http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma/heaven.html