First things first, I’ll eat your brains…
I was born and raised in hip-hop. I was taught how to walk this way by Run-DMC. I got my license to ill from the Beastie Boys. I knew my parents just don’t understand cause the Fresh Prince told me so. As I grew up, I learned the lessons of mo’ money and mo’ problems from Biggie Smalls. When I fell down, Jay-Z brushed the dirt off my shoulders. And I now I think I can touch the sky cause of Kanye West…cause of Kanye West.
Working for Russell Simmons, something that I have thoroughly enjoyed is that everyday is a new adventure and at any point anything can happen. So, four weeks ago when we were sitting around the office and he said, “let’s hop in the car and go down to Occupy Wall Street right now”…we did. Before there was any national press or even much New York press, we spent a few hours in the park, talking with the young people about their newly formed protest. They asked Russell if he would march with them down Wall Street and of course he agreed, but right when the march was about to happen, a group meditation began…and when I turned around, Russell had his shoes off, his legs crossed in lotus position, his Yankees hat turned backwards and his eyes shut. He was already deep in meditation. Ever since that day, we have gone down there countless times, offered our help wherever we could and have supported the strong message reverberating out of public gatherings that have spread around the country to get corporate money out of politics and put the power back in the hands of the people, the 99%.
When Russell ran into Kanye West at an art opening on Sunday night, Kanye told Russell that he wanted to go down to the park to see it for himself and show his support. The next day, there we were walking across the street entering the park, with cameras, camera phones and video cameras following every move Russell and Kanye made. We spent time talking with a lot of the young people who have been there since the first day and Kanye was received with love and reciprocated nothing but love back. At a certain point, the security in the park (they have their own security) suggested that we leave because they were worried about Kanye’s personal safety (a large crowd had formed around us). So, we left and that was it.
I don’t Kanye all that well, but I knew that his presence in the park would garner a lot of press attention. What I didn’t expect was the criticism from friends, colleagues and other people who grew up in hip-hop about whether or not it was appropriate for Kanye to show his support. Fox News or the New York Post, ok, I get it, but folks from the hip-hop generation, really? To be clear, self-criticism is important and should be accepted, but the critiques I have been hearing and reading about Kanye really puzzle me.
Let’s be very, very clear: Kanye West has had NO PART in the thirty year manipulation of the United States and global economies by money-hungry corporations and their Wall Street cronies. I don’t care how much Louis Vuitton or Givenchy clothes, suitcases, bags or jewelry he might own or promote…that is not what brought this country to its knees. It is easy to focus on what rich people buy and/or promote, but maybe we should figure out first how we have been sold false economic dreams by being encouraged to take on debt and credit card bills and lay-away checks. Kanye didn’t create a housing market that preyed on vulnerable first-time home owners. He did not build his business and wealth on exploitation and greed. He did not create banking institutions or credit card companies that hid hundreds of fees from their customers. He is not a paid-off politician that votes for policies that make the rich, richer and the poor, poorer. His father was a blank panther, for heaven’s sakes, and his mother was a university professor.
Let us not forget that when he said “George Bush doesn’t like black people,” we printed his words on t-shirts. When he said Jesus Walks, we played that record in church. Kanye is an artist, and a brilliant one at that, and has given our generation beautiful gifts, some for pure entertainment and some for deep reflection. He can go from Gold Digger to Jesus Walks and from Otis videos to Runaway short films. Is he complicated? Of course he is. But, that is what makes him remarkable at his craft…his complexity.
What I find terribly sad by the critique from some of my peers and colleagues in the media is that they want to focus on what Kanye wore or what they think he represents. These are old school diversion tactics used by the right-wing media, not by those in the struggle! Focus on things that become distractions, so one talks about the momentum of the movement. The more you write about Kanye’s Givenchy shirt or his gold chains, the less you will write about the greedy corporations who built their companies on child labor or created civil wars to rob Africa’s natural resources. The more you talk about whether Kanye should drive in a Maybach or not, the less you will talk about the destruction of our automobile industry by big oil companies. I am not letting Kanye off the hook for his passion for expensive things that for me and for others might seem unnecessary, but now is not the time for that discussion. Even as I write this blog defending Kanye West, I am wasting time away from the discussion we should all be having, which is how do we make our country better and how do we stop corporations from controlling our government.
This movement needs all the help it can get. Just a few days ago, a poll came out that said only 50% of America had heard about Occupy Wall Street. So, although heroic, patriotic young Americans have been camping out there for four weeks, still only half of our country knows about. If Kanye West or anyone who wants to help by walking through the park magnifies the presence of this movement on the front page of newspapers and websites, let it be.
Although Kanye might be a self-proclaimed “motherf*ckin’ monster,” I know we need everyone of Kanye’s monsters or Lady Gaga’s little monsters to fight the 1% who have corrupted our country.
Michael Skolnik is the Editor-In-Chief of GlobalGrind.com and the political director to Russell Simmons. Prior to this, Michael was an award-winning filmmaker. Follow him on twitter @MichaelSkolnik
