Madiba, Forever - Chris "Preach" Smith

Photo Credit: History Channel

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela.

Over the course of his 95 years on this planet, he had many
names and titles conferred upon him. Lawyer. Freedom Fighter.
Terrorist. Prisoner. President. Husband. Father. Leader. But
the title that will be his forever, is his Xhosa clan name of
‘Madiba’. As I write this article, Nelson Mandela has gone
home after a long battle with a lung infection. And as all
of the world mourns and celebrates his life, I find myself
sitting here at the keyboard taking measure of just how big
of an impact Nelson Mandela had on my life and on the
culture that is hip-hop.

Let’s set the scene. June 1990. I’m thirteen years old, and I’m
watching the parade for Nelson and Winnie Mandela course
through the streets of New York City. The first Black mayor
of New York City, David Dinkins alongside of them. His
visit that June was an eye-opening experience for me. The
city had been through seriously tense times with Dinkins
as mayor. The Central Park Five were about to go on trial.
There was still some bitterness over the murder of Yusef
Hawkins out in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn the year before by
a 30 person mob filled with hate. Racial division that would
be further strained with the Mandela’s visit. There were
those Jewish fundamentalists who were upset that Madiba
supported a free Palestinian state and Yasser Arafat. Others
were tight about the Empire State Building bearing the colors
of the African National Congress. But on the day of their
visit, none of that mattered. Madiba was welcomed like
one of our own. Harlem turned out in grand display. Even
Yankee Stadium was filled to capacity. Of course, I was in
awe. Whatever I learned about him was thanks in part to
reading, whatever info I got from my mother who worked
in the United Nations then, and hip-hop. Hip-hop played a
major role because this time period was shaped by a real
overwhelming influence of consciousness and Black pride
spanning the diaspora. The struggle against the evil that
was apartheid in South Africa struck a serious nerve here
in the States in the community.


Mayor David Dinkins with Nelson Mandela, 1990.

Hip-hop found itself raising its voice in solidarity with
Nelson Mandela and Black South Africans as early as
1985 with the release of the Artists United Against
Apartheid’s compilation album, Sun City. This may be
akin to being thrown into a Delorean for some of you,
but it was a pretty big deal to have RUN-DMC, Kurtis
Blow, Grandmaster Melle Mel and Afrika Bambattaa
kick the song off. Even bigger that the video opens right
outside of East Harlem’s own La Marqueta. MC’s would
also grace ‘Revolutionary Situation’, a highly underrated
group cut with the Godfather of Rap, Gil Scott Heron
dropping gems and Miles Davis on trumpet. From then
on, other artists spoke out on and off wax. Public Enemy
would shout Mandela out on ‘Prophets of Rage’ from
It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back. Another
jam came courtesy of Stetsasonic, ‘A.F.R.I.C.A.’ That
track was significant because of two key elements; first,
it was a collaboration between the Brooklyn group and
Reverend Jesse Jackson who provided the sound bite
at the beginning along with famed jazz musician
Babatunde Olatunji and his Drums of Passion ensemble.
The second element was that ‘A.F.R.I.C.A.’ was both
a protest song and a straight up history lesson. Pure
‘edutainment’ that is scarce in contemporary hip-hop
these days. Hip-hop’s influence also became key when
the issue of corporations divesting from South Africa
came up. I remember when Reebok got NO LOVE in
the ‘hood because they refused to divest. And the word
was spread by various MC’s and other personalities
involved with the culture.



 

That day, I sat and watched the parade, not fully realizing
the true magnitude of Nelson Mandela but somehow
knowing that this marked a great change in history. That
feeling found itself magnified in hip-hop from the
Jungle Brothers and the other Native Tongues. Further
still when Spike Lee brought Malcolm X to the silver
screen and Madiba had a prominent role in the final
montage, leading into Arrested Development’s signature
piece on the soundtrack, ‘Revolution.’ From that day on,
I began to ingest all of his writings, usually with hip-hop
as the backdrop. And tonight, in celebration of his life,
I’m doing the same. Going through all of the music that
he and the ANC inspired in their fight against the evils
of apartheid. And taking hope in the fact that despite
the ills hip-hop faces today, the strident voice that took
its cue from Madiba’s own fight for freedom will rise up
in full again. For the same reasons; the love of the people
and the love of freedom. Nothing else sums that up better
than the rallying cry of the ANC and their allies:

AMANDLA!! AWETHU!!

Farewell, 5 Pointz - Chris "Preach" Smith

I tried not to make this a eulogy.

Part of me is still mourning the loss of 5 Pointz, The Institute 
of Higher Burning. I had just been there on a crisp, breezy
Sunday afternoon with a friend of mine. The same day as
the New York City Marathon. The memories of seeing all of
those graf pieces on the wall in the fading autumn sunlight,
seeing how many people were crowding around the perimeter.
And now, three days later, I see just how lucky I was to have
been witness to it one last time. To have seen it before the 
order was given to ‘buff’ or whitewash the entire building
under the cover of night by Jerry Wolkoff, the owner this
past Tuesday morning.

I’ve been saying it all week; the fact that Wolkoff decided
to whitewash the building is symbolic. It’s a middle finger
to everyone who fought for and supported 5 Pointz. There
are allegations that he claimed that if the petition to have
the building get landmark status had a chance to succeed
he would do it. Remove all of the artwork, and you have
nothing that makes 5 Pointz valuable. Wolkoff claimed that
he gave the go-ahead to spare people the pain of seeing
it torn down with the artwork and to avoid ‘confrontation’.
But whitewashing is symbolic. While pieces get buffed all
the time, it’s the fact that they did it SO rapidly. And they
may not have done it if they didn’t feel 5 Pointz would get
another reprieve in some form despite the judgement for
demolition. It’s another removal of something that made
this city stand out. It’s the erasure of another part of the
old New York City, telling you that those who grew up with
it aren’t welcome here anymore. (Not that mayoral terms
under Giuliani and Bloomberg’s last two terms didn’t spell
it out for the working middle class.)

Wolkoff does own the building. That is true. But I find it
a bit hard to believe that he couldn’t have found a way to
incorporate the building into future development plans.
Other cities have made it a point to do so. Washington, DC
is an example. So is Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
But here, graffiti is still seen as part of the bad old days
where gangs roamed the streets and the subways were
too dirty among other ills. City legislature would rather
have a Starbucks on every corner like London than
something more aesthically appealing than a luxury condo
building you can’t even sneeze at without a down payment
costing more than college education. He saw money coming
in to the west with other buildings sprouting up in Long
Island City and wanted a cut. So it goes. It still hurts
mainly because of the duplicity and the callous feel of it
all. Whitewashing the entire building THREE DAYS after
a ‘Save 5 Pointz’ rally? Cold. Even having five teens
getting arrested for writing ‘RIP 5 Pointz’ on the walls
seems harsh.

 
But their arrest tells me, ultimately, that 5 Pointz won’t
be forgotten. I’ve seen and had conversations with cats
that question the support from some people for 5 Pointz.
Some of those questioning are cats that used to get up.
I disagree a bit with their stance that is a mix of purism
that is clothed in naivete like a scarf but I don’t knock
how they feel. Graffiti is an art form that doesn’t get
understood without seeing all of its complexities. I do
think however that casual fans will miss 5 Pointz as
part of the New York City landscape. And that those
who may be concern trolls and posers in their ranks are
minimal. I believe that overall, 5 Pointz lasting as long
as it did was valiant and a testament to what really
makes New York City live. The grit, the creativity. I 
said that I tried not to make this a eulogy. You can’t
help but mourn. But you can strive to create something
in honor of something so vital to the city’s culture.
The best tribute I can think of at this time.  

Eastern Dragons Meet Western Tigers: How 'Enter The 36 Chambers' Helped Asian Cinema Find a New Audience - Chris "Preach" Smith

When the debut album for the legendary Staten Island hip-hop 
group Wu-Tang Clan, Enter The Wu-Tang(36 Chambers) dropped
onto the scene on November 9^th, 1993, the shockwaves it sent through
popular culture was akin to those felt when the Krakatoa volcano had
its violent eruption some 110 years earlier. The album was a gritty,
soulful and unabashed declaration of a new day in hip-hop across the  
board. For years, the influence of 36 Chambers has been dissected
and debated at length. But one aspect of influence that hasn’t been
fully explored ironically finds its roots in a major source of inspiration
for the Wu. And as a result, popular culture as we know it wound up
being changed dramatically. That influence? Helping to bolster the
rise of Asian cinema in the United States and other Western nations.


To begin, you have to recapture a certain time period in New York City.
The late 1970’s saw a city reeling from economic struggles to the point
where then President Gerald Ford effectively told the mayor and the
city to ‘drop dead’. The blackout of 1977 left some neighborhoods reeling,
most notably the South Bronx. This would be notable in the sense that
hip-hop as we know it today was born in the Bronx, art and ingenuity
sprung from the rubble of burned-out buildings and welcoming spaces
of city parks. Times Square wasn’t the pristine tourist hub that it is
today. The area was full of triple-X movie theaters, sex shops and peep
shows. Not to mention countless prostitutes, pimps and johns. The
theaters had begun to run other movies however in triple feature bills.
First run films, usually horror flicks would lead off, followed by two 
kung-fu movies. Among these films were two that would heavily
influence The RZA once he saw them: The 36^th Chamber of Shaolin
(Master Killer) and Shaolin & Wu-Tang. These two movies led to the
inception of the Wu-Tang Clan as we know it today.



These two films among others wound up being highly important
to the Wu’s birth, but they represented the last jewels of a
dwindling movie empire in Hong Kong at the time. The Shaw
Brothers Studios are  the most recognizable movie production
company in the world from Asia, having first made movies in 1934.
Their movies thrilled audiences from Hong Kong & Taiwan to
enclaves of Chinese emigrants in San Francisco and other
U.S. cities. They even had a bit of broad art-house movie success
with ‘Come Drink With Me’ in 1966, starring Chang Pei-Pei.
The movie was popular due to it being wuxia, a grand ballet of
action and drama involving martial arts. Due to that film’s success,
Shaw began to invest heavily into the genre. Other studios followed
suit, most notably a brand new studio created in 1970 known as
Golden Harvest. They would prove to be rivals to Shaw, and
landed Bruce Lee just as he began his meteoric rise to stardom.
Lee’s films for Golden Harvest gave him a triumphant return to
America after a successful run as Kato in ABC’s ‘The Green
Hornet’ TV series ended in disappointment with Lee getting no
other gigs in Hollywood. His tragic death made him legendary,
and sparked acraze for everything kung-fu stateside. Which
brings us back to those 42^nd Street theaters for a bit.


By this time, the theaters were slowly being down,
thanks in part to newly-elected Mayor Edward Koch.
But the kung-fu flicks that captured The RZA and his cousin
Ol’ Dirty Bastard wound up being shown on television via
syndication. Before Fox 5 came to be in New York City, it
was a locally owned network known as WNEW. Every
Saturday at 3 P.M. back in the 1980’s, you stopped whatever
you were doing to get in front of the TV to catch the Drive-In
Movie. This was THE place to catch all of the Asian martial
arts movies in their chopped-up, badly dubbed glory. In two
books by The RZA,’ The Wu-Tang Manual’ and ‘The Tao Of
Wu’, he speaks to how struck he was by the particular airing
date of The 36^th Chamber. That date? June 6^th. Numbers that
figure heavily into the philosophy of the Wu. He and the rest
of the Clan got their fix like many of us did back then, via
videotapes. By 1989, classics like Shaolin & Wu-Tang could
be had on tapes sold at different spots like Albee Square Mall
and video stores in Times Square to name a couple. These
were the same versions that were seen on TV back then. (Side
note: I had one movie that literally STILL had a piece of the
commercial break lead-in on tape. Cracks me up to this day,)
So when Enter The Wu-Tang dropped, chock full of sound
bites from Shaolin & Wu-Tang, heads understandbly flipped.

The album’s wild success saw a great demand for martial arts
films just like these Shaw Brothers classics. “The Thirty-Sixth
Chamber of Shaolin” as a film was widely viewed in Hong Kong as a
watershed moment for both its star and director. The fictionalized
account of the story of legendary Shaolin monk San Te brought
Gordon Liu Chia Hui to superstar status, and forever dubbed him
‘the Master Killer’(which is what the film was marketed in the US as
and also what gave Masta Killa his Wu name). The director, the late
Lau-Kar Leung was a pre-eminent actor, writer and fight director
who is a direct descendant of one of China’s  greatest heroes, Wong
Fei Hung. The two’s joint success led them to be sworn brothers
and work together on other great Shaw films in later years. Eventually,
the success of these films led to interest in other martial arts films,
spurred on in part by the Wu-Tang Clan’s outspoken affection for
them. Having included sound clips on their debut album, The RZA 
then proceeded to do the same on other Wu members’ solo efforts.
Only Built For Cuban Linx, otherwise known as the ‘purple tape’,
is the most outstanding example because of their choice of film
for sound samples: ‘The Killer’, by John Woo. That album would
do for Woo in an indirect way what the Wu’s first album did for
Shaw movies.

John Woo had enjoyed a full career in Hong Kong, refining his
director’s skills with Shaw as well as other independent studios.
‘Last Hurrah For Chivalry’, done in 1979, was a critical if not
commercial success. But he had experienced burnout, which
affected his work. It wasn’t until 1986 when another director/producer,
Tsui Hark helped him get funding to do a pet project, ‘A Better
Tomorrow’. The film about  two brothers, one a cop and the
other a criminal was a smash success in Hong Kong. He followed
that up with a sequel, and then ‘The Killer’ in 1989. This film,
featuring veteran Shaw actor Danny Lee and the renowned
Chow Yun-Fat as cop and assassin at odds was the movie that
announced him to the West. Bloody, exceedingly violent with
heavy gunplay as the motif, it had a lot of appeal for cats in
various ‘hoods Stateside. The demand for all of his films led
to greater buzz which got Hollywood’s attention. Woo took the
opportunity to then move to the United States in 1993. After
directing Jean-Claude Van Damme in the action piece, Hard
Target, Woo found some difficulty working with Hollywood.
He then found footing with Broken Arrow, featuring John
Travolta & Christian Slater, and cemented his position as the
first Asian director to have a mainstream commercial base
with Face/Off in 1997.

Meanwhile, the same martial arts movies that had inspired
the Wu were popping up on VHS, and subsequently DVD
thanks to distribution companies like Black Belt Theatre,
PanMedia, and others. Even Dolomite, the Blaxploitation
icon himself had a kung-fu series he hosted. The quality of
the movies were getting better, and in a more important
twist, fans were getting to see the uncut versions with
subtitles. Of course, there were cheap companies out there
who rushed to capitalize on the indirect influence the Wu-Tang
had with bringing these movies to the forefront. (Raise your
hand if you remember the Brooklyn Zoo line. Don’t front.) But
what this onslaught brought was a cult following that had
transformed itself into a knowledgeable fan base. That fan base
began to seek out original prints, complete with subtitles. People
went and copped video compact discs of rare films. Film festivals
and retrospectives flourished in abundance. While this was going
on, two companies took notice: Fortune Star, who owned the film
libraries of Golden Harvest and D&B Films among others, and
Celestial Pictures, who had recently acquired the entire Shaw
Brothers film library in a merger. Both companies began massive
restoration efforts of these older films to satisfy the demands
of this surging fan base. And so, a new generation of martial
arts movie fans are getting the chance to see these films as
they were initially shown. Hip-hop, always the trailblazing culture,
showed love to these films well after the Wu. Examples include
Jeru The Damaja’s remarkable video for ‘Ya Playin’ Yourself’
set in Hong Kong, as well as superstar Jet Li’s rise in Hollywood
thanks to ‘Romeo Must Die’ with DMX as a co-star.

Enter The Wu-Tang deserves not only some mention but
should be well-regarded as a major influence in the rise of
Asian cinema and its relative influence on the current climate
of popular culture. Think of it like this: the inclusion of movie
samples is now a current staple in today’s hip-hop. The RZA,
Method Man, Raekwon and other Wu members have made
their presence known in Hollywood, most recently with The
RZA joining forces with Quentin Tarantino to produce and
film ‘The Man With The Iron Fists’. Tarantino himself arguably
wouldn’t have been so emboldened to make the ‘Kill Bill’ films
without that fire unleashed by the Wu’s debut. Thanks to ‘The Killer’
being a part of OB4L, Chow Yun Fat got a bit of notoriety
in the ‘hood which helped bolster US appeal to see him in films
here. Gordon Liu still enjoys great acclaim as the ‘Master Killer’
thanks in part to that always-superb skit between Rae and Meth
at the beginning of ‘Wu-Tang:7^th Chamber.’Make no mistake,
that first album is a prime example of just how subliminal and
powerful ideas and inspiration can be when applied right. And the
world has the Wu to thank for this chamber of thought brought
forth twenty years ago.

Four Essential Wu-Tang Clan Tribute Albums - Chris 'Preach' Smith

The Wu-Tang Clan celebrates twenty years as one
of hip-hop’s greatest collectives and in truth, the
music industry as a whole. Nine brothers from an
oft-overlooked part of New York City rising to such
prominence and influence from left field is mighty
impressive. And that influence has shown itself up
in different ways. But there’s not too many who
have taken up the daunting challenge of creating
music that pays homage to the Clan while establishing
something new and vibrant in its own right. Here
are four projects that salute the Wu in unique ways.
And if they’re not in your collection or playlist, you
might want to remedy that as soon as possible.


1)Shaolin Jazz: The 37th Chamber

Released in 2011, Shaolin Jazz: The 37th Chamber is the
result of a collaboration between Washington D.C artist
and entrepreneur Gerald Watson and DJ 2-Tone Jones.
Watson, a creative designer who had ties to the Lyricist
Lounge among other ventures, was organizing parties
that combined music and art. One particular exhibition
contained the art of Logan Walters, who had created a
series of album covers inspired by the classic Blue Note
recording label. Only these featured the Wu-Tang Clan.
Watson got together with Jones and together they began
a creative process that resulted in this album. The bond
between hip-hop and jazz is irrefutable, and that is in
full evidence on Shaolin Jazz. 2-Tone Jones created a
brilliant album here; songs from the entire Wu discography
are chopped up and stitched together with sound bites
from popular movies. These are peppered with sound
bites from Wu members as well. The backdrop for each
track is fluid and far-reaching. The sound just really
wraps you up and makes you feel as if you’re sitting in
one of the alcoves of the Village Vanguard watching the
Wu live, surreptitious cheeba smoke in the air, feet
tapping. It’s hard to pick standout tracks from this; you
will find yourself letting this play out repeatedly. ‘How
Sly’ is a wondrous merging of Method Man & Redman’s
‘How High’ with a Richard Pryor skit as the intro. ‘Killer
Tape/Astral C.R.E.A.M.’ is a liquid flight of fancy for the
ears. Learn more here: http://shaolinjazz.com

 

 
2)El Michels Affair - Enter The 37th Chamber

The band from Williamsburg in Brooklyn, New York had 
garnered themselves a good amount of fanfare dating 
back to 2004 with the release of their first album, Sounding
Out The City. Dubbing their sound ‘cinematic soul’, they
wound up collaborating with different artists and founding
an independent label, Truth & Soul. This also led them to 
approach the Wu a year later at the behest of Scion A/V
to see about teaming up on music. That meeting of the minds 
led to them performing as the backing band for the Clan
as well as touring with Raekwon nationally. El Michels 
Affair then released some potent singles including ‘The 
PJ’s From Afar’, a remix of Raekwon’s hit single with Pete
Rock. Spurred on, they released Enter The 37th Chamber
in 2010. The thing with this album is the overall sonic
feel of it. Each track appears at first listen to be a cover of
classic Wu tracks, but their unique approach truly makes
each of them awesome experiences. You get a sense of 
all of the different eras of funk and soul pulsating and in
some cases, crashing in discordant but rich harmony. Key
tracks here to check for are ‘Can It All Be So Simple’, which
just smacks of summers out on the avenue, and ‘Pinky
Ring’ which if you had put it in any of the Shaft movies,
it wouldn’t be out of place at all. 




 3)Cloud Kicker & Emilio Sparks Presents: The Wudos Band

This project is a Shaolin/Staten Island combination that really
swings. The Budos band is essentially a collection of ten musicians
from the Daptones label, hailing from the borough. They
wound up colloaborating with Tekst of The Higher Concept. The
man has done production engineering for different MCs from
the Clan such as the RZA, the GZA, Remedy and Trife as well
as Kool G Rap. This is a quick but satisfying eight track mixtape
that snaps with soulful swagger. ‘Scorpion Style’ is a winner if you
are looking for a standout track. 

 
4)Enter The Magical Mystery Chambers

Wu-Tang Clan Meets The Beatles. If you had even
mentioned something like that aloud, you would have
gotten a few sideways looks. But this mashup album,
conceived by Tom Caruana, is hip-hop gold. Caruana,
a DJ/MC and music teacher from Brighton, United
Kingdom winds up artfully creating this album with
no need for heavy sampling. One pass through this
album and you will find yourself immersed as if you
took a plunge into the cool waters off South Beach
on Memorial Day Weekend. I have to say, I was a
bit thrown when this first dropped in 2010, but it has
grown to be a nice part of my musical collection
since then.




BONUS: Ghostfunk by Max Tannone

Okay, part of the Wu’s appeal has been the swagger that
harkens back to the African diaspora. Most of the Clan have
visited different countries on the Continent. Ghostface Killah
in particular went over to Benin to live and get organic medical
treatment for diabetes (the RZA refers to this stay briefly in
The Tao Of Wu) for several months before recording Supreme
Clientelein 1997. So it seemed only right that Max Tannone,
a producer who had a high amount of praise for mashup 
efforts featuring Talib Kweli and Yaasin Bey respectively, put
together this album pairing Ghost Deini with choice cuts 
from Afrobeat classics and psychedelic tracks. I promise you,
once you get this album on your music player, stereo, whatever -
you will GROOVE. The first track alone, ‘Make It N.Y.’, sets a
mighty tone. You could almost get a feeling as if Ghost could
get on stage with Femi Kuti in Lagos and rock the stadium
with this track. Tannone’s precise ear makes this album a 
real treat for hip-hop heads and will satisfy Ghostface fans 
to no end.

Off The Rack & Offensive - Chris 'Preach' Smith

This past week in New York City, retail got repulsive.

Trayon Christian, a young Black man from Queens, made 
newspaper headlines and broadcasts for filing a discrimination
lawsuit against the popular fashion store Barneys New York
AND the NYPD. This lawsuit stems from an April 29th incident
where Christian was detained and handcuffed for two hours
by NYPD officers after purchasing a Ferragamo belt worth 
over 300 dollars. Those who arrested him were undercover
officers, who then allegedly asked Christian how he could 
afford to buy the belt despite the fact that he used a legit
debit card in his name and had proper identification. The day
after Christian’s story came to light, a young Black woman
from Brooklyn, Kayla Phillips also stepped forward with her
allegations against Barney’s. In her case, she purchased a
Celine’ bag worth $2,500. She was followed into the subway
station by NYPD undercover officers afterwards and detained,
with the officers asking how she could afford that bag. Again,
this despite the fact that she had a temporary but valid Bank
of America card. Once she produced ID and the new card 
she had gotten in the mail to them, they let her go. And if 
that wasn’t enough to turn your stomach, the actor Rob 
Brown of ‘Finding Forrester’ and ‘Treme’ fame, filed a lawsuit
against Macy’s for a June 8th incident in their flagship store
in Herald Square. He was cornered and detained by officers
after making a purchase at a Sunglass Hut store there using
the same card he had used previously to purchase a pricey
watch as a graduation gift from his mother. 

Of course, these stories have many outraged. But not all that
surprised. There’s no doubt many of you reading this have 
had stories of your own with store security following you 
because you’re Shopping While Brown/Black. But the fact
that these lawsuits are popping up this fast is troubling for
a couple of reasons. For one, it seems as if we’re experiencing
another racially influenced wave of turning back the clock.
Stores like Barney’s and Macy’s have always given off the
feeling that even if you may have the income to buy out
half the store, if your skin is dark, there will always be a 
dubious element to your purchasing power. That mindset
still lurks, although it is unspoken. That’s why it’s laughable
when I hear the CEO of Barney’s say it’s not ‘policy’ to 
do something like this. Bull. In both instances at the store,
a sales clerk HAD TO MAKE THE CALL to police. You wouldn’t
have that unless there was some sort of inference as to who
to look at. Now, are there those that shoplift and boost? 
Yes, there are. But to a degree, especially in the 1980’s and
early 90’s, it was a response to the discrimination of these
stores. Ralphie’s Kids can attest to that. Doesn’t mean it was
not a criminal act. But isn’t the inherent racial stereotyping
more criminal here? I’ve also seen brushback comments 
that ask where these folks are getting their money from. 
And that is false equivalence. When Winona Ryder got 
bagged boosting from a store, you didn’t have many asking
about her funds. You even had t-shirts being sold with ‘Free
Winona’ on it. And we know why. Another troubling question
is, why is the NYPD posting people in and around these stores
in significant numbers? Perhaps this is another element of 
the ‘stop and frisk’ campaign targeting people of color that 
had been struck down as unconstitutional by the courts.
And just another way that Mayor Bloomberg and Commissioner
Ray Kelly have sought to fluff up crime prevention statistics
and make the tony elitists feel safe in an ‘improved’ NYC.

Amid all of this, hip-hop’s impact can be found. Young Trayon
wanted that Salvatore Ferragamo belt because he saw it 
being rocked by Dipset MC Juelz Santana. The wariness 
that store clerk had with Trayon may not have even 
been in effect if Juelz came to make that purchase. (Or 
the person who bought it for him - personal shoppers do
exist in hip-hop.) And of course, that leads us to Jay Z, who
has been assailed over this because of his upcoming clothing
line produced in conjunction with Barneys New York. Many
have called for him to divest from that partnership. I found
it interesting that the newspapers pivoted to Hova the day
after as a cover story. And Mr.Carter responded with a 
3 paragraph statement that came off not so much as 
tightrope walking, but awkwardly dodging mudpies. While
one can appreciate that he created this line for charitable
means, the statement got a bit cheapened when it spoke
about him being ‘demonized’. It leaves a bad taste in the 
mouth, especially when coupled with the overall ‘wait and
see’ tone of the statement. But I think that this is what 
one would have had to expect from Jay Z the businessman,
especially when the line is set to debut in a matter of days.
And truth be told, you have to have had an idea of his 
stance given his involvement with the Brooklyn Nets and
the Barclays Center. It doesn’t mean you can’t be a little
disappointed with it, and it also means little in the overall
picture.

What has to be noted here is that these lawsuits are a 
sign that the divisive mindset that allows for such racial
prejudice to exist with these stores’ view of Black and 
Brown shoppers has to be eradicated. We’ve had YEARS
of cases like this. Granted, there are stores and brands 
who have a zero tolerance policy towards this. But it 
doesn’t mean that these incidents won’t happen in different
places. We also have to eliminate that mindset from 
the people who work in these stores, of all colors. There
also needs to be more disclosure as to how these stores
and law enforcement communicate and operate in these
circumstances. Review who gets assigned to these details.
There also needs to be some tutelage to the youth as to
how some of these upscale stores and brands view you 
despite your dollars, as well as their financial power. To
Barney’s and Macy’s, this holiday season sees a risk in 
the desired color of green dropping due to how they’ve 
treated consumers who are Black and Brown.