On Saturday, September 7th, hip hop icon Chuck D of the monster rap group Public Enemy [PE] received an award that could not be better matched. Chuck was the recipient of the Paul Robeson Here I Stand Award, named for the trailblazing, multitalented actor, singer, activist and anti-imperialist Paul Robeson. It couldn’t be granted to a better guy, or better group.
In the 90s, PE stole the stage and the spotlight to pump themes of Black resistance into millions. Their “Fight the Power” became an anthem for a generation. And their sound was so powerful, so insistent that it turned on millions of white kids by giving them a taste of Black life, Black thought, and Black rebellion. The award comes from the Hung Tao Choy Meii Leadership Institute, run by Washington, DC’s SiFu [teacher/father] Abdur-Rahim Muhammad, a local Kung Fu master and community activist. PE’s Chuck D joins a small but legendary coterie of artists, like the great Harry Belafonte, actress Rita Moreno, filmmaker Spike Lee, and rapper-actor Common, who received the honor. The award is also for being part of an immensely talented group that shook the nation. Flavor Flav, the best hype man in the game; Minister of Education, Professor Griff; DJ Cutmaster, Terminator X; and a host of other bandmates.
PE used video and audio to introduce millions to Malcolm X, Minister Louis Farrakhan, and the voices of Black youth from “Fight the Power,” “Don’t Believe the Hype,” “911,” and “It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back.” Chuck D and PE often, using a bed of furious funk driving the themes of rebellion, moved music to higher, Blacker, realer ground. Chuck once told me, “If we walked into a record company today, we couldn’t get a meeting, much less a contract.” When I asked how it happened, he said, “They didn’t know what they had.” Thank goodness for their ignorance. From In prison nation. This is Mumia Abu-Jamal.
These commentaries are recorded by Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio.
