Davey D's FNV Newsletter
In Today's Issue: April 10 2001
MOS DEF, JURASSIC 5 COME OUT FOR H RAP BROWN!
by Davey D
Folks are buzzing about Mos Def, Jurassic 5, Dilated Peoples, Planet
Asia, Mystic and Zion I and their upcoming Hip Hop for Consciousness
Concert which is going down May 12th at the Watts Labor Community
Action Center in Los Angeles. The concert is designed to be a benefit
to raise money for the defense of Jamil Abdullah Al Amin who is best
known to many as former Black Panther and SNCC leader H.Rap Brown.
For those who are unfamiliar, Al Amin was arrested March 2000 and
accused of shooting an Atlanta policeman. The circumstances
surrounding this incident are murky and inconsistent. Al-Amin was
fingered by the slain officer's wounded partner, but to many it
appears to be a set up of the worst kind. Some are speculating that
Al Amin was wrongly targeted because of his on going community
activism in Atlanta's West End where he led a Muslim Mosque and was
also praised for helping rid the neighborhood of drug dealers and
prostitutes. Others are looking at Al-Amin's activism in the 60s and
70s when he was known as H Rap Brown and concluding that this latest
incident is simply payback for the times when Al-Amin struck fear
within authorities.
In either case Al Amin has long been someone who authorities have
feared and targeted. Back in the 1960s and early 70s Al-Amin, was an
activist and former Minister of Defense for the Black Panther Party.
He was also the chair for SNCC [Student Non-violent Coordinating
Committee] which later changed their name to the Student National
Coordinating Committee as they became more militant. During this time
H. Rap Brown was known to authorities because of his ability to
incite crowds and get them riled up. For example, in 1967 H. Rap was
charged with inciting a riot in Cambridge MD when he told 400 Blacks
during a rally "It's time for Cambridge to explode, baby. Black folks
built America, and if America don't come around, we're going to burn
America down.'' Afterwards shots were exchanged between Blacks and
whites resulting in H. Rap being grazed in the forehead by a bullet
and one white police officer being shot in the neck. Fortunately no
one was killed. The next morning two city blocks and a school
buildings was burned. After that H. Rap became seriously feared by
the mainstream establishment and admired by many who felt taking a
militant stance was the best way to help bring about change for Black
America. If memory serves me correctly, at one point in time he was
forbidden to speak at public gatherings as a condition of his parole.
H. Rap moved to Atlanta's West End in 1976 after spending five years
in prison for his role in a robbery that ended in a shoot out with New
York police. During his prison stay he converted to Islam and changed
his name to Jamil Abdullah Al Amin. He no longer took a militant
position, but instead went on to be a Muslim spiritual leader of a
community mosque and operated a small grocery store. He became a
fixture in the neighborhood where he was admired and praised by most
of his neighbors. For almost 20 years Al- Amin/ H Rap Brown existed
peacefully and without incident. However his name surfaced in 1995,
when Al Amin was accused of aggravated assault, carrying a concealed
weapon and possessing an unlicensed pistol after a man claimed he was
shot by him. That man later recanted the story and admitted that he
was pressured by authorities to identify Al Amin as the shooter.
Afterwards, people began to speculate that Al Amin was falsely accused
because he had pretty much run most of the drug dealers out of the
neighborhood and there were corrupt officers who had a stake in them
being there. It wasn't long before authorities tried to connect some
of the homicides in that area to Amin..Again, nothing ever stuck and
it was seen by many as more unfair profiling and targeting. The
unfortunate incident in which the officer along with the evidence
found and not found is seen as a continuation of this pattern of false
accusation. Hence a trial is to take place in the fall and we will
all see how it unfolds.
In the meantime it is only fitting that the Hip Hop community has come
out in force to aid Al-Amin. While he is best known for all the work
he put in for the Civil Rights struggle, for many H Rap Brown had a
profound yet unintended connection to Hip Hop. In his autobiography
'Die Nigger Die' H Rap talked about his life and the things he did as
a kid growing up. Among the things he spends a considerable time
talking about, was the verbal rhyme games he played as a kid. H Rap
got his name because he had a gift for gab. In his book he showed
that he was a master rhymer, 30 years before Hip Hop made its way to
the Bronx. He participated in all sorts of verbal games ranging from
Signifying to The Dozens.
As quiet as kept, many of the early rhymes used by Hip Hoppers like
Sugar Hill Gang's 'Hemp The Demp the women's pimp... women fight for
my delight' verse can be found in H Rap's book. In his book he talks
about the huge circles people would form when rhyming against each
other. Sometimes there would be as many as 30-40 people verbally
sparring each other in a rhyme game known as The Dozens. For those
who don't know, The Dozens was a rhyme game in which you rhymed about
your opponent's mother. In short, H. Rap was participating in what
we today call ciphers long before we even had a word to attach to that
activity. Although never intended, long before modern day Hip Hop hit
the scene cats like H Rap Brown was putting down some serious rhymes.
It's a shame to see a brother who gave so much to the struggle in this
current predicament. Lets hope the truth comes out in his trial.. A
PHAT Award goes out to all the artists who are stepping to the plate
to raise funds for his defense.
Send comments, questions and concerns to
mailto:kingdave@sirius.com
The FNV Newsletter
written by Davey D
http://www.daveyd.com
http://www.rapstation.com
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