The Gestation of a Culture

Hotep,

Hip-Hop is an awakening.  Since its origin, it has linked us to a glorious past.  From The Treacherous 3, to Rick Ross, hip-hop has been the speaker box of our struggle.  Xclan, Public Enemy and KRS-ONE gave us a reason to pump our fist with pride, but they never let us forget that the foundation for hip-hop is the dismantling of a nation once draped in royalty.  Word is bond!

The evolution of hip-hop has revitalized the legacy of our royalty.  This upcoming journey will guide you through our ancestral struggles and give you a look from the pinnacle of an evolved culture.

Mr. Blue, Bucktown and Dushame, a.k.a., “J-Rock,” are rolling down the windows and your MannofStat is pushing the pedal to the floor.  So brace yourself blogosphere; here comes the realness!  Put your face in the wind and let it do what it do.  Ya heard?

Keep it 100,

MannofStat

Copyright © 2012 by Leroy Elwood Mann

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The Blueprint of Hip-Hop, Volume 1

 In George G.M. James’ classic work, Stolen Legacy, he clearly establishes for people of African descent our undeniable link to the motherland.  This is a link, which in spite of the worst brutalization ever committed against a people that continues to this day – can never be broken.

People stand in awe of black people throughout the world.  Incredulous that despite discrimination, hatred, bigotry, rape and a concerted, worldwide white-supremacy genocidal campaign to demoralize and destroy dark-skinned peoples – we not only survive; we thrive.

There is no other people on earth who could have withstood this onslaught without becoming extinct.  It is a phenomenon that defies all reason until we begin to examine the link to a glorious past and our relation to the builders of the first civilization known to man.

That is our foundation, the roots of which will sprout an awakening, a new consciousness; a new beginning.  From this awakening must stem an understanding that war is being waged against black people.

With this new consciousness must spring the realization that from – Queen Hatshepsut – Nzinga - Shaka Zulu – Kunta Kinte – Booker T. Washington – W.E.B. Duboise – Marcus Garvey – Martin Delaney – Nat Turner – Gabriel Prosser – David Walker – Sojourner Truth – Harriet Tubman – Ida B. Wells – Paul Robeson – Malcolm – Martin – Medgar Evers – Fannie Lou Hamer and Nelson Mandela to you and I, it is the same struggle; it is universal.

Our new beginning won’t occur without recognition of our links.  The brothers and sisters chained in the holes of slave ships were from different nations, but here the same people engaged in the same fight.  And we are without a doubt, their descendants. 

I don’t like the fact that I’m on death row, but I draw strength from those who came before me. I am a better man for having met Leroy Elwood Mann.  His vision is timeless and his spirit is infectious.  It is an honor for me to struggle alongside him.  I will give every fiber of my being for those who will come after me and I thank God for the opportunity.  There is no me without we.

One,

Mr. Blue

Copyright © 2012 by Paul Brown