Reader Responds to "Essence's War On Rap Hits Black Men"

Vibe.com, March 9th, 2005

This is an open letter to you and anyone willing to read on. As long as men and corporations put out the music we know as hip hop, you and your daughters (my sisters) will continue to be the eye candy of the month for us (men) to devour. You will continue to be pimp slapped, pissed on (R-Kelly), turned out, and beaten. Not simply because the music says so, but because we say so, and yes because it sells (SONY, EMI, UNIVERSAL, etc.). And you will continue to face other forms of misogyny as artist after artist put out music that teaches how, "To Control Your Hoe." KRS-One predicted this on his Sex and Violence LP over 10 years ago, so what I say here is nothing new.

I just wanted you to know that one of your sons has stepped from the sideline onto the battlefield of the sexes to publicly state that I support campaigns such as Essence's "Take Back the Music." To do otherwise, would be an affront or diss to you, 'cause quiet as it is kept, we men came from a woman and often crawl back to them in our time of need and want.

It's unfortunate that once more, women have to lead the charge in the ongoing struggle for us as a community to reclaim our humanity and culture. More unfortunate still is that the gut response for many men to this charge is to bash women for voicing their dismay or disapproval outside of the bedroom or house that Run built (see "Essence's War On Rap Hits Black Men"). Choosing to report on domestic violence or talk about misogyny in hip hop shouldn't lead to a beat down or threat, but somehow such an act turns you into a traitor or a Benedict Arnold.

It never ceases to amaze me how quickly we men slip into some prescribed cultural straightjacket that says that everyone, including black women, want to emasculate and attack black men. For too long, the problem has been that many of us remain silent and turn a blind eye to the disrespect and abuse we witness. For men, the hardest part is acknowledging that we contribute to sexism and all forms of oppression.

The A side to this 12 inch suggests that whatever images women may have of black men are not the real cause of our so-called impotence in society. The lack of employment opportunities, the warehousing of black males in prisons and jails, the growing nihilism of an art form that some say has lost its cultural bearings is not the fault of black women. The problems facing hip hop are part of a longer history of sexism, racism and resistance that should be at the center of this discussion. It is frivolous to make this an issue about what women talk about in the beauty salon, or that women starting a campaign about negative elements in hip hop music is somehow demonizing the genre. From what I gather, most of the people leading the campaign are women who love hip hop and love black men.

How is hip hop going to enlighten us when we are culturally stagnating people into believing that black women are tricks and black men are iced out pimps and players?

Mama, I end here with a story. A woman steps out of a crowded audience, walks into the aisle and up to a microphone. She stands before a panel of today's top hip hop artists and asks, "What can you do to help stop the negative music that my daughter hears on the radio?" The majority of artists got things twisted and ended up blaming the mother for not taking more of an active role in her child's life.

What more could she do than to attend a rap summit full of young people? What more love could she show by asking them to stop bombarding her daughter with negative images of women as hoes and video vixens? I admired her because she found the strength to speak out in a crowd that would rather not hear her plea or cry.

The hip hop artists offered no solutions, no answers to the question and only further ridiculed the mother. Audre Lorde, poet activist expressed it best when she said, "The master's tools will never dismantle the master's house." As always, the victim became the victimizer. One way oppression and abuse continues is to make those asking for change feel as if they are the reason the problem exists in the first place.

The Campaign to "Take Back The Music" should not be seen as an obstacle but an opportunity for men, including myself to listen, learn and reflect on what we can do to help hip hop and our culture reach a higher level of enlightenment.