Is Rap Music Becoming More Progressive?

Black male rapper on stage with arms in air holding a mic

While the exact origins of rap and hip-hop music are debatable, what was once an underground genre within New York City hit the mainstream in 1979 with the release of “Rapper’s Delight” by The Sugarhill Gang. In the following four decades, rap music grew from relative obscurity into a cultural juggernaut, influencing everything from films to fashion.

Since 2017, when it pushed past rock ‘n’ roll to become the most popular genre in America, rap music has helped lead the charge in the realm of digital streaming. In 2018, rap and hip-hop made up 31% of the total streaming market, compared to rock’s 23%. And while strong beats and catchy lyrics are a cornerstone of the genre, so are political messages.

Commemorating An Astonishing Act of Bravery & Compassion in a Time of Cowardice & Hate

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As we flounder in the sea of hate spewing out of the White House and all around it, honoring one of humankind’s greatest acts of compassion might help us heal, and renew our faith that change can still come.

Free Press Second Saturday Salon

Words Dissent is a right not a crime Ohio Statehouse criminalizes First Amendment and a guy protesting outside the Statehouse

Saturday, September 14, 2019, 6:30 – 11:00 PM
Come to network and socialize with progressive friends with refreshments, live music by Golden Ratio and a presentation about Senate Bill 33 - that criminalizes protest by Joan Van Becelaere, Executive Director, Unitarian Universalist Justice Ohio.  Free, no RSVP required. colsfreepress@gmail.com or 614-253-2571.  Location:  1021 E. Broad St. in the backyard, weather permitting. 

Limerick at Peace

Bases, Europe

By David Swanson, World BEYOND War, September 9, 2019

 

Green Ireland has a peaceful blue sky.

Shannon Airport’s full of war planes; Here’s why.

When Emperor Trump

Tells Ireland to Jump

Ireland bows down and asks him “How high?”

 

Neutral Ireland takes no part in war

Except that troops carry weapons galore

Through the airport at Shannon

While mass slaughters they’re planning

For far off from their two-dollar

 

Do you want to hear more?

 

If you ask me the Irish know better.

They’ve seen dead that could not have been deader.

A true friend to the Yanks

Would say thanks but no thanks.

Here comes peace strolling by. Have you met her?

Original Post: https://worldbeyondwar.org/limerick-at-peace

 

Zombie Zombie Zombie

CNN is outraged that Trump was too friendly with Russians, supposedly endangering an honorable spy snooping into the Russian government.

The New York Times doesn’t want any peace settlements in Afghanistan that could involve “getting in bed with killers swathed in American blood.”

U.S. mercenaries who murdered a bunch of people in Iraq have had their sentences reduced because they did it in a war.

The United States just accidentally dropped white phosphorus on itself.

The Pentagon would like to tightly control what you can learn about.

Defying the Nuclear Sword

“. . . and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.”

These lost words — Isaiah 2:4 — are nearly 3,000 years old. Did they ever have political traction? To believe them today, and act on them, is to wind up facing 25 years in prison. This is how far we haven’t come over the course of what is called “civilization.”

A Think Tank Named PNAC (the Project for a New American Century)

Below is a list of 25 of the signatories of a high-powered Right-wing Republican NeoConservative Think Tank that wanted to increase military spending in order to ensure American global hegemony. The group began in 1997 and dissolved itself in 2006, having achieved its initial goals with the Cheney/Bush administration’s “global war on terror”.

 

The think tank called itself the Project for the New American Century, and it developed a document that was titled Rebuilding America's Defenses: Strategies, Forces, and Resources For a New Century. Half of the members became part of the Bush administration and the rest continued on in some position of power, mostly within the national security apparatus.

 

All On The Line: End Gerrymandering

Letters AOTL OH

Thursday, September 12, 2019, 2:30 – 4:00 PM
Roundtable discussion on fighting gerrymandering.  All On the Line OH and Innovation Ohio are co-hosting what we hope will be the first of many similar discussions of progressive partners who are integral to achieving fair maps in 2021. We'll be hearing from national leaders from All On the Line and the National Democratic Redistricting Committee and from the Redistricting Reform Project, from in-state leaders from the Fair Elections coalition, and will lay out some of our initial thoughts on strategy to get fair maps.  Please RSVP here!  Location:  Ohio Education Association's downtown office (225 E Broad St, Columbus, OH 43215).

Antiwar Billboards Are Up in Ireland

Billboards, Europe

By David Swanson, World BEYOND War, September 10, 2019

Limerick, Ireland, now has billboards up at Clare Street, John Street, John Street in Waterford, and Dublin Road in Singland. The billboards are part of the promotion of an upcoming global antiwar conference and rally. They’re also part of a global campaign by World BEYOND War to spread peace and antiwar messages everywhere. Here are images:

 

Israel's Role In 9/11

 

The tale of 9/11 will just not go away, largely because it is clear to anyone who reads the lengthy 9/11 Commission Report that many issues that should have been subject to inquiry were ignored for what would appear to be political reasons. The George W. Bush Administration quite obviously did not want to assume any blame for what had happened and that bias also extended to providing cover for U.S. “allies,” most particularly Saudi Arabia and Israel. Those who have sought the truth about 9/11 have been persistent in their attempts to find out information that was suppressed but they have been blocked repeatedly in spite of numerous FOIA requests.

Original at Unz.com

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