State of the Hood Conference 2006

[Min. Paul Scott]

State of the Hood 2006:
State of Black Union (Bootleg Version)

Min. Paul Scott




You know what you need to learn.
Old school leaders don't always burn.
You're just another leader whose had his turn.
Now it's our turn!

Sampled from "I'm Still #1" (BDP)



One staple of the black economy that often goes
unappreciated is that urban commodity, the bootleg.
Sure, the scripto pen graffiti may not measure up to
the funky graphic cover art of the store bought and it
may not come complete with the special features and
deleted scenes. But the bootleg doesn't have the 30
minutes of brainwashing in the form of preview
commercials. The bootleg gets right to the point. And
even if it may pause every 10 minutes, that's just for
added effect.

Although, it is despised and not considered "official"
by the industry and considered "too ghetto" by
upwardly mobile Buppies, for the poor, hungry,
"disenfranchised" Brotha with $5.00 in his pocket, the
bootleg is priceless. It represents tha hood. It
represents him....

The weekend of February 25, once again, our self
appointed leaders will gather at the annual State of
the Black Union meeting in Houston to assure white
America that the hopes and aspirations of millions of
Black folks can be represented by 35 people. For 8
hours white America can tune in to a Black middle
class minstrel show and find out that all the masses
of strugglin' Black folks really want is for Harvard
graduate Lancaster Humphries III to become CEO of a
Fortune 500 company. That act alone will wipe out 400
years of collective oppression. Then they can go to
sleep that night assured that the rumors of some great
negro insurrection were greatly exaggerated.

Those of us who don't go for the hype and only trust
leaders who we can reach out and touch usually spend
the day watching blocks of videos on BET and those who
feel compelled to watch the C-Span event usually spend
the afternoon heckling the panelists and throwing
crumpled pieces of paper at their wide screen TV sets.

But this year will be different as a bunch of rowdy
renegades will gather for the "State of the Hood
Conferences 2006" aka "The Bootleg version of the
State of Black Union Conference."

While the rich and famous will be big pimpin' down in
H-Town, we will be meeting in the back of barbershops
and dusty old bookstores in hoods across America, No
Teleprompters, no giant thousand watt speakers, just
groups of committed Brothers and Sisters gathering to
develop local programs to make their neighborhoods
better.

The panelists will not include the Civil Rights all-stars
and their hand picked understudies,
naw just everyday folks that have shown a commitment
to helping Black people. There will be no jockeying
for position, no grandstanding for the cameras. C-Span
ain't gonna be there; no white folks allowed. Matter
of fact, members of the RAW Movement will be
providing security and imposing a strict paper bag
test. So if you are lighter than a paper bag and
speak that proper Queen's English you will be required
to give the Soul Brotha handshake and present two
forms of ID confirming your Blackness.

Now I know that the Houston Hoax will have some
relatively "radical" speeches by their token Super Bad
Black Middle class "militants" to add a little flava
to the event. But compared to the State of the Hood
meetings it will be like a thugged out Will Smith
representin' gangsta rap. (Winchester, Come quickly!
Some black chap has just mentioned the "R" word..Oh,
the horrors...)

Unlike the Houston hoe-down , there will be no
corporate sponsorship, just Black folks helping Black
folks. So, Bro. Kwame doesn't have to worry about the
"Happy Hog" trademark hanging over his head while he
is lecturing on "Good Nutrition to Save Our People"
nor will the US Army be sponsoring Sis. Ruth's
presentation on "Nonviolence as a tool."

We will have workshops dealing with Black political
empowerment using the race first model of the
Honorable Marcus Garvey. We will discuss how Black
folks in communities across the country can use
Afrocentric principals to ensure that all the members
of the community will have something to eat and feel
safe walking the streets at night.

The Playa's Ball in Houston will also be discussing
political empowerment but you can be sure that there
will be no discussion of Black nationalism on the
agenda. Despite all of the threats of withholding the
black vote and starting a third political party, the
Democrats can rest assured that the same folks will be
beggin' them for front row tickets to the Democratic
National Convention in a few years.

On Sunday Feb 26th at noon, there will be an all day
Fate of the Race discussion on LIBradio.com
(http://www.libradio.com) where those Black
nationalists who speak for the hardcore (Rough, Rugged
and Raw!) will discuss plans to save Afrikan people
from genocide. The weekend will end with Brothers and
Sisters making a commitment to make such a lasting
impact in their communities that another summit will
not be necessary. Unlike the cheap 5 dollar high that
you get after the Hypnotic Houston Happy Hour that
leaves you fienin’ for another hit same time next
year.

In 2006, Black folks are tired of the same ol song.
They need a new vision that gives hope to the
hopeless, a new song that sings of solutions to their
suffering and a new beat to help them step to true
FREEDOM and Equality.
Even if it comes courtesy of a bootleg...

Min. Paul Scott represents the Messianic Afrikan
Nation in Durham NC. He can be reached at (919)
451-8283 email: minpaulscott@yahoo.com blog
http://www.truthminista.blogspot.com

[MsLioness]

Actions that are deemed as simple, such as the bootleg, are still adding to our development, cannot let it be forgotten. You make this clear.
Definately will tune it!

[Min. Paul Scott]

OK Brothers and Sisters. We, in the Black Nationalist Community always complain about the status quo negro "Leadership". So now that the issue is on the table, what are we going to do?

As much as it pains me, I don't think that many in the Black nationalist community actually want change. Because if things changed they wouldn't have anything to complain about.

Also, although many complain about the current negro leadership, many Black Nationalists don't really want to step up and accept leadership responsability.
It's easier to complain than to make change....