Obama/Hil Thowing Bows; Hip-Hop is Poison

So Hillary and Obama are feuding. David Geffen, a former Clinton supporter turned Obama fan, had a lot to say to a NY paper. He accused Bill Clinton of taking away from the party and distracting the entire country. He said no matter how smart or great she is, Hillary is equally polarizing. Now Hillary's folks want Obama to apologize. And Obama, being the cool cucumber that he is, said he cannot apologize for someone else's words.

Bill has been called polarizing over and over again. But, when his second term ended, he had higher approval ratings than any president in history! Key word was ENDED. After Monica, and the various”scandals" Rove dug up, Clinton had high approval ratings. I think it's popular to hate him in public. It makes the speaker appear moral and compassionate. Denouncing a philanderer somehow erases your transgressions.

But, behind closed doors, most of us liked him! *Sigh* I hope they make nice. Joining forces may be their only hope for living at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

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So Paula Zahn, of CNN, hosted a special on Hip-Hop last night. The title was "Is hip-hop an art or poison?" Based on that alone, I knew there was no point in watching! As a proud child of the hip-hop generation, I know my opinions were different from Paula Zahn's fanbase. Not surprisingly, 53% of her fans think hip-hop is a poison. Since I did not watch, I am not sure what they based this theory on.

But, I did watch BET's The Top 25 moments that (mis)shaped Black America. Landing at number 20 was "Negative Images in Hip-Hop." I couldn't agree more! I definitely think the images we put out there are detrimental to how we are viewed by ourselves and others. I'm still a fan and totally understand "keeping it real," but when booty shaking and gun toting are the MAIN public visual of Black America, everyone is affected. Americans start thinking those images are true for all, or at least most, Black Americans. When we start hollering about street cred and "real" gangstas, we imply a culture defined by violence and thuggery. We imply ignorance and rebellion from knowledge. We imply the Barack Obamas of the world are truly unique for being "articulate" and "clean".

Note to Paula and her fans: Hip-hop is (almost) ALWAYS an art form. And, at the same time, it can be a poison. The two are not necessarily exclusive of each other.