BLACK HISTORY

Rita: Speaking of things we care about, February is Black History Month—let’s find out what our fellow rockers think is important about this tribute to black history. Go ahead, Ken, you can start. KEN CMAR (Wonderdrug Records): One of my musical heroes is Sly Stone, and I think he doesn’t get quite the credit he deserves. Not only was he an amazing songwriter and performer, but he put together the first really integrated band that was accepted by the mainstream. That’s a pretty big deal. Dance to the music! *** BRIAN KING (What Time Is It, Mr. Fox?): Right now. This moment. We now have the first black president. This importance of this is beyond measure. Not only significant in the resurrection and progression of our hopes and ideals, but also as a symbol. And symbols speak to the unconscious, to places untouched by the intellect, to the core soul. At this foundation there has been an enormous change for our country as a whole. And in the same breath, I think of the loss of someone who always reached that place in her music and planned to sing at the inauguration of Barack Obama. I celebrate and grieve the great Odetta, who simply was music. *** WILLIAM DWYER (Neon God): We celebrate Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Medgar Evers, Dick Gregory, Oprah Winfrey, Barak Obama and many more amazing people. Musically, the list is endless and grows each year. Billie Holiday, Robert Johnson, Nina Simone, Nat King Cole, Aretha Franklin, Miles Davis, Jimi Hendrix, and on and on. Comic genius from Bill Cosby, Eddie Murphy, and Dave Chappelle to name just a few. It is great to have an official month to celebrate black history, although, in many ways, I celebrate it every day. *** TIM MUNGENAST (Tim Mungenast & His Preexisting Conditions): When I was kid, I did a book report on the scientist/inventor Dr. George Washington Carver. I am still greatly impressed by his gentle courage and tenaciousness as he fought his way through Jim Crow’s bullshit and became a renowned man of science. *** TOM ARABIA (AMP): In these historic times of crisis and hope, while the economy crumbles and wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Gaza rage on horrifically and futilely; while the first black president of a country built by slaves on the one hand appoints noxious political cretins to his cabinet recycled from Bush and Clinton who created the current disasters, but on the other hand supports the inspiring and victorious occupation of the illegally closed Republic Windows & Doors plant in Chicago by mostly immigrant workers in the UE; while entire countries are going bankrupt, Iceland, and others are in mass political upheaval, Greece; for Black History Month and the entire new epoch unfolding before our eyes, we must first and foremost recall one of the great founders of the struggle for black and working class emancipation in this country, Frederick Douglass, and his utterly vital maxim: “If there is no struggle there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters. This struggle may be a moral one; or it may be a physical one; or it may be both moral and physical; but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without demand. It never did and it never will.” *** LIZ BORDEN (the Liz Borden Band/ the Liz & Sean Show): I think black history is important because people gave their lives and worked very hard so we would acknowledge that very important part of our history. People marched, crossed lines, and lost their lives for equal rights. The civil rights movement is one of the most important and exciting parts of our history. Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, and W.E.B. Du Bois, to name a few, are all very important figures. There are so many other people that took stands and would not back down for human rights including college students Vivian Malone and James Hood. In Alabama they had to be escorted into a university by federal marshals with death threats against them just to get an equal education. The movement refers to the reform movements in the United States aimed at abolishing racial discrimination against African Americans and restoring suffrage in Southern states. Without there is a good chance we would not have President Obama leading our country. *** ERIC AUSTIN (Three Day Threshold/ the Rumbletones): As a modern popular music musician, no matter how time-worn this point has become, it is important for me to reflect on the significant contribution to American popular music from the African-American community. The influence of their music touches just about every aspect of American popular music. Rita: Whites typically lifted black music, stripped it of its soul, sanitized it, and sold it to the mainstream. The best early example of this was Pat Boone doing Little Richard’s “Tutti Frutti.” Lolita: Wasn’t Pat Boone in Little Richard’s band? Rita: You fool—Little Richard would have tossed Pat Boone out of his band as quick as he could sing, “Tutti Frutti, loose bootie” (the original lyrics).