Call for Submissions: Words, Beats and Life Journal

Call for Submissions: Words, Beats and Life Journal



It Ain’t My Fault: Blame it on Hip-Hop
Many believe rap music to be culpable for the failing within black communities. Jay-Z and Lil’ Jon have become more popular targets than racism and poverty for political pundits and self-appointed race men. The WBL Journal staff is looking for submissions that address this re-emerging phenomenon. The overarching theme for this issue is “It Aint My Fault: Blame it on Hip-Hop,” but below you will find themes to guide your research.
From C. Delores Tucker to Bill Cosby: Conservative Attacks in Black Face

In the past 10 years, we have seen a record number of Black men and women running for elected office as Democrats, Republicans and Independents. The writer can delve into explanations for black and Latino leaders’ support of more conservative candidates, such
as Russell Simmons backing Michael Bloomberg in New York and Michael Steele in Maryland. Authors could also explore why some hip-hop artists, such as 50 Cent and Eazy E, and “activists” like Jeff Johnson are slowly beginning to support more conservative candidates. One can also address Mr. Cosby’s disparaging remarks about hip-hop dialects and the lower class communities of color. One can also examine the Citizen Change and
Vote or Die campaigns, their agendas and effectiveness. (Russell Simmons’ work with the Urban League traditionally conservative Hip-Hop Reader project).

Panthers: Hip-Hop’s Black and Brown Radical Roots
Many people refer to hip-hop as “multicultural movement.” Interestingly enough, very few hip-hop artists have made it a priority to move beyond discussing this phenomenon as a movement of multicultural consumers. The author should look at how hip-hop generation activists and organizers are moving beyond the black/white racial dichotomy of the 20th century. With the immigration debate, terror bills and the general xenophobia pumped out of your local TV and radio station, how are hip-hop generation youth moving beyond, working through or navigating around personal racial politics? What effect is this environment having upon the state of the individual communities in America across color lines? Ideally, authors should place hip-hop within a historical context of Black radical activists who worked across racial boundaries.

Parental Advisory: A History of Censoring Black Speech
The author can investigate and build a timeline of censorship of Black music and political speech. One can also explore the ramifications of such censorship. We are trying to convey a link between the two, and show that Black music and political commentary are often one in the same. Writers can also look at how government agencies such as the FBI and local police have followed rap artists such as NWA and 2 Live Crew, much like they did individuals and organizations like Amiri Baraka and the Black Panther Party. Tipper Gore, Bill Clinton, and Rush Limbaugh have all tried to use their influence to silence rappers.

Ridin’ Dirty on 85: Rap’s Great Migration to the South
On their most basic level, articles covering this topic should look at how New York-based rap artists have responded to the great remigration of Black people and culture to the South. This section is intended to provide a contemporary look at the state of rap music and its migration to the south. This phenomenon should not be looked at in a vacuum but rather be tied to census data outlining the impact of African American Migration from the Northeast to the South and Midwest. This migration of culture need not just be tied to the music itself, but to the democratization of access to the necessary means of production, promotion and distribution of music and culture.

Same Old Song: The Blues, Gospel and Hip-hop
Firstly, one can document the critique from the religious establishment of Black popular music and contemporary gospel. In this section, we are especially interested in the effect of denigrating Black popular culture in African American Churches. It would also be important to look at examples of how churches have appropriated Black popular culture in the creation of “gospel happy hours,” “hip-hop choirs,” and even “hip-hop churches.” In addition, the author could explore the explosion of Christian hip-hop and the fusion of traditional gospel styles and hip-hop. One can also write about how fringe religious sects such as the Nation of Islam and the Five Percent Nation exploit hip-hop as a vehicle for proselytizing their dogma. It would be appropriate to examine the use of hip-hop to promote Islam, and how that stands in opposition or solidarity with Muslims and Christians. This article can consist of interviews, essays or scholarly reviews outlining the history of condemnation of contemporary Black music by Black churches or mosques.

From Bridging the Gap to Passing the Torch: Where Do We Go From Here?
This article should examine bonds made between civil rights generation and current youth activists in attempts to make mutual progress.

Submission Forms
Scholarly Submissions
Multimedia
Creative Writing
Research Papers
Visual Art
Essays
Interviews
Photography
Poems
Short stories

Process of Submitting
All submissions are accepted on a continuous basis and need not be limited to the themes outlined below. All submissions designated as scholarly require an abstract of 150 words or less and up to five key words. All scholarly submissions should also follow the APA style guide. Please send all submissions to: submissions@wblinc.org, or in the case of compact discs:
WB&L Journal / 1524 Newton. St. NW / Washington, D.C. 20010. Deadline for submission for this issue is October 19, 2007.

The Black Student's Manifesto (work in progress)

This entire post...from another blog...could be equally applied to anyone who does not identify themselves (or cannot identify themselves) as white in America. That doesn't mean that it is irrelevant for white people, simply that it takes an "enlightened"--yeah, I know that sounds really offensive. i'll change it when i think of a better word choice. until then, sorry--white person to accept what I'm saying as potential truth and ACT accordingly. I don't mean to exclude anyone, I just got caught up in a thought and pursued it. I mean what I'm saying, but I did want to be completely clear that I could have equally called this the "Minority Student's Manifesto", I simply don't feel as though I have any right to speak for a group that I only remotely identify with. And there's plenty of black conservatives who would disagree with me anyway. So I'm not universal with mine's. But too the meat!--------->

A friend of mine, when he found out that I was an AAAS major, asked, "So did Chris become the typical African-American Studies major?" My response was, "there's an AAS archetype/stereotype?" Apparently so. Or at least I suppose so. I'm not upset by that, because that requires an admission of a black intellegentsia--somewhere--that whether he agrees with the premises of that intelligentsia, he has to acknowledge its existence, thereby acknowledging me as a member of the "talented tenth." (Did I forget to mention that my friend is a moderately conservative, white Republican?) Anyway, so I thought to myself, if I were the one who told him of my major, what would he have said to me? I think he would have asked something along the lines of "why?" So here it is:

I can't imagine surviving as a black person in America without at some time or another examining my identity. White people don't share that anxiety. There is no question of whiteness--despite the existence of whiteness studies, which is an attempt to problematize whiteness in the same way that blacks have problematized their negrescence--it is an accepted fact. There is no standard of whiteness. Despite thousands of years of art, cultural development, and recorded history, whiteness is maleable and virtually transcendent of the racial signifier that is "white." Blackness doesn't have that. Not in America at least. When I go to class, I learn about the triumphs of western civilization. My classes glorify the tyrannical nature of western expansion. The enlightenment is seen as an era of intellectual growth; as opposed to the period that produced western racism and dogmatic white supremacy. The Greeks created philosophy; rather than Greek philosophy being a product of Greek conquest in Africa, the Middle East, and East Asia. We laud western civilization in American schools rather than critique it, more often than not. The western world is designed to reaffirm the whiteness of every white person that is fully immersed within it. Which, to me is...okay(?). I'm not complaining about the fact that white civilization actively promotes and affirms white identity. What should I expect? But when white people hear my major and ask me, "what are you going to do with that?" My first thought is, "how can you believe that an active, scholastic, search for identity is an impractical endeavor?" The successes of white students over black students in America just might be, in part, a result of an undefined identity. A certain dissatisfaction with whom one is and can become. True, white people can REdefine their identity; but the fact is, it has been defined once--if not numerous times--already. Black people do go to college to learn, but every adult will admit that college is just as much about education as identity assimilation. It is designed to put you in a successful frame of mind. To mold you into a confident, intelligent human being. And I find it sad and oppressive to think that so many people don't understand the importance of tracing my...identity.

Here is a compelling metaphor. A black man in America is a human on Mars. Sure, presuming that Martians are humanoid, a human could get along on Mars. You could learn Their history, Their culture, assimilate to the way They do things; but that won't get You through the day. At the end of it all, you still have to come to terms with the fact that you are not a Martian, but a (wo)man. And that that reality must be realized, recognized, and accepted by the Martian world for you to be comfortable living there. If Martians wore boots on their ears (and I don't mean earrings) and expected you to assimilate, you might not like it. But given 400 years, you wouldn't think twice about it. There would be a loss, that once discovered, would have to be unearthed in its entirety. You must be developmentally satiated to survive life in a foreign environment.

I know...I'm an "American." I was born here, I live here, and I'll probably die here. But the fact is nobody has said what that means. And if they did, I wouldn't agree. I don't like dogmatic definitions of identity factors. While I may be American by birth, we still haven't had a president who looks like he could be related to me. When I make moves to pursue my future, I do it through people who see my skin color first--and my work and ideas second. When the world thinks about Americans, they know that there are black people--hell they know there are indigenous people, but they imagine white flesh. Part of the reason they integrated the military during Vietnam is because the Viet-Cong wouldn't shoot black soldiers. (Divide and conquer?) Imagine sending segregated black troops into an occupation in Africa. Who would the black soldiers sympathize with? Am I an American? By the text book definition yes. Am I an American in reality...not yet. With problems like white flight, privilege, supremacy, I'm at an integrative loss. I can't integrate into a society that doesn't want me as me. I can't assimilate into a society that tells me that assimilation equals glorifying the past of their forebears--but mine were immaterial, inferior, and primitive. For all of your intellect, Chris, I'm more afraid of you than admirous of you. I would rather shun you than compete with you. The world I live in DEMANDS me to find me. If I can't learn it the same way that white people learn their identity--everywhere--I'll learn how black people learn their identities--anywhere.