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7/28/2019 2 Hard Newsletter Print Quality Color

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What Do We Want People To Do?

1) Get Educated - research your history. study the lessons from past revolutionsand movements. discuss our newsletter articles and see our facebook for ideas

on where to start.

2) Get Active - make copies of this newsletter and give them to people youknow. nd out whats going on in the community and participate. come to ourmeetings to think critically about how were going to win against the system.

3) Get At Us - email us. facebook us. send us ideas for articles you want towrite. lets make this happen together.

REBYL

Revolutionary East Bay Youth Lead

Published by:


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Real Change

What happens when you put a band-aid on a gunshot wound? Itll helpstop the bleeding but wont actually getto the root problem...the bullet. What isreal change? One of the main questionsthat plague youth today is what careerchoice can they pick that actually makeREAL change. We as youth have goodintentions and want to better our commu-

nity but fail to see that real change hap-pens by xing the root problem (bullet).When your shirt is dirty, would you rath-er try to clean it off or put on a new freshone? We try to make change throughsmall acts of justice (trying to clean it off)but fail to see that real change comesthrough solving the root problem (puttingon a fresh shirt).

I can compare this to a student whowants to become an immigration lawyer.They have intentions to help out those suf-fering due to the issue of immigration byproviding legal services. Although thegoal of helping undocumented peoplethrough becoming an immigration lawyeris honorable, many of us havent been

brought to consciousness of the biggerissue - the system that forces people toleave their countries. It is important foryouth to analyze the bigger picture ifthey want to create change.What is a career that can create realchange around immigration? Is there

one? There are community organizerswhose job it is to raise awareness on im-migration policy, and advocates who talkdirectly to politicians to try and get themto change their mind about how they

treat undocumented communities. Buteven though they go deeper than immi-gration lawyers in addressing the causesof our communitys problems, they stilldont address the root causes of immigra-tion.

The real cause is not just bad immigrationpolicies: its the whole system that causes

people to leave our countries. The prob-lem is the USs relation to Mexico. TheU.S has a history of supporting and pro-moting dictators and puppet presidentsthat make it easier for the U.S to exploitMexican land and labor. This causes badworking conditions and strips Mexico ofits resources forcing many to immigrateto the U.S, even if they have to do so

without papers. This system is called capi-talism and imperialism. What does thismean, specically? Capitalism is a systemin which the small percentage of wealthypeople (capitalists) utilize their powerto get richer and maintain their controlover the working class (people who ownno property). Imperialism means capital-ism working throughout the whole world,

with certain countries (like Mexico) hav-ing workers who are taken advantage ofby both Mexican capitalists and US capi-talists, working together to get richer.

So, if the whole system of capitalism andimperialism is the root of the problem,what type of career can help us ght it?


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No career will do this. The only thingthat can smash the system is a movementof people who are willing to put theirlives on the line to make it happen.

Around the world people who createdchange were not being paid to do it.They didnt just follow their teachers andparents wishes and get good jobs tofeel good about themselves. They wentagainst the grain of being an active mem-ber in an op-pressive soci-ety. But what

did they do?In order toanswer thisquestion wehave to look atspecic exam-ples of globalrebellions. Forexample, in

Egypt work-ers, students,and many others revolted against aregime because they saw their govern-ment as the root of their problem. Theyrioted and ended up overthrowing thatgovernment. Mexico and Greece alsohad similar rebellions recently in whichthey revolted against their governments.

Studying these movements and applyingthe lessons here can be very helpful inproviding ideas on where to start, andunderstanding the role that youth haveplayed in rebelling against the system.Whats the point? Youth in Mexico,Egypt, and Greece have been trying togive their societies surgery instead of put-

ting weak ass band aids on the wounds.

As youth we have to ask ourselves: willthe career I pick solve the issues in mycommunity, will a job stop the bleeding?

Will I try to clean my shirt or put on afresh one? As youth we are often encour-aged and motivated to create change bygetting jobs within the same system thatscaused us all our problems. Or, wereencouraged to stop being sexist/racist/

etc as if ourindividual ac-tions by them-

selves changesocial oppres-sion. Werenot taught inschool to ndthe root of theproblem, norare we taughthow to rebel

against thesystem.

The point of this is not to be against get-ting a job. Of course we need jobs, howelse are we going to eat? But we cantgo on fooling ourselves thinking that ourjob is whats going to change the world.The only way to get free is to get educat-

ed on what the root problem is about thedysfunction that occurs within our society.Then we can call out the system for whatit is - capitalism and imperialism - andstart to gure out how people have maderevolutions against it. This will help usgure out what actions we need to take.After all, YOLO, right?


4/84

Welcome to the generation of stupidmusic. Not really, but it seems thatway to the many people who listen tomainstream modern music. Particularlysome rap and hip-hop songs. Our youthis being dictated by artists like NickiMinaj, 2Chainz and others like them.Unfortunately whatthey rap about isnot respectful orknowledgeableof much. Repeti-tive and deroga-tory terms seemto be the core ofthe song lyrics.Though, if you askyouth now a dayswhat those wordsmean to them theywill most likely say,nothing, I listen tothis song because Ilike the beat. Yetwhen rappers suchas Aubrey Graham(Drake) come upwith mottos like YOLO (You Only LiveOnce), or tire out the term swag, It be-comes clear that the beat isnt all youthcare for.

Hip-Hop or rap is by denition a tool ofself-expression and self-denition, andhas often been used as a tool of resis-

tance. Back in the days when parentsand grandparents were youngsters, asthey say, music meant something.Though many of us have gotten lecturesthat begin like this one, its not so far

fetched. In the 80s/90s, Hip-hop gotbig, and the songs were about the op-pression faced in the artists communities.Most of these communities were the proj-ects, ghettos, and other impoverished cit-ies. Of course these cities were all hometo colored people. Through rap or Hip-hop a message of resistance was shared

with the world.

Mainstream

The message insong lyrics nowa days isnt clearto me. Artist be-gin their stardomwith revolutionary

thoughts and oncein the limelighttheir lyrics expressno real feeling.A prime examplewould be J Cole,an artist who hasvery deep under-ground music.

One of my favor-ite songs is called Lost ones and it talksabout a young couple facing pregnancy.With the fame and popularity ourishingthe artist, he then became mainstreamand yet again an artist changes his ways.His hit song which most folks might knowis called Work out. A song which talks

I Just Like The Beat


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enced again later in the song. The onlypossible explanation as to why that lineis in the recording, and I am willing tobet the writer would agree with me, is be-cause he needed to ll extra space in the

instrumental. Out of respect for the art-ist, Tyga,the songis aboutbeingdrunk andhigh soit DOESmake

sense thatthe song

DOESNT. And obviously that doesntmatter because the song Fadedpeaked at 33 on the US Billboard HOT100 Chart. We have to ask why. Weneed to understand this idea of just lik-ing the beat, and what it means. And Isay that we HAVE to because many of us

including the self-proclaimed consciousones, have found ourselves uncontrolla-bly bobbing our heads and enjoying LilWaynes Lollipop or some other disre-spectful song while simultaneously smitingourselves for enjoying it so much! Whenlistening and watching these songs whatcomes to mind? Is there a little voiceinside your head nagging you to think

about the lyrics, or nagging at you toactually pay attention to the lyrics? prob-ably not. And if there was?... would youlisten?

What You Didnt Know

To take the scientic approach and quick-

about him trying to get at a girl. Compar-ing and contrasting songs from artists be-fore the fame and after the fame is a seri-ous eye opener. In order to reach famethe artist must sacrice their originality.

A songlikeGang-namStyle,whichhas overone bil-

lion viewson you-tube is amazing. To many of us whodont speak korean, the thought of thissong having anti imperialist concepts canbe surprising. And now the new trendingvideo is the Harlem Shake. Though itsbeginning its popularity, Im sure most ofthe inuencers of the harlem shake are

not aware that it is infact a shake thatstarted in Harlem. They might also not beaware of the fact that residents of Har-lem are not happy by the attention thesevideos are getting. *transition*

Take these lyrics for example, Vampirefucked up your evening. I pop up andeat lunch, leave you in the cement. Dont

believe it, stripe like a fucking AdidasIs what I hear on the radio, its what Ihear people reciting, and its what my 11year old brother likes to listen to. Im notproud of it. The quote is from a popularsong, and if you are wondering No.The song has absolutely nothing to dowith vampires. They arent even refer-


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ly mention that in the UK at the Universityof Bristol, researchers created an algo-rithm that could determine whether ornot a song would become a hit. They use23 variables to complete the equation.

Some of which include, loudness, dance-ability, tempo, and duration. The algo-rithm does have a 60% success ratingdue much to the fact that what peoplelike to hear evolves over time and thestudy looks back into 50 years of music.Either way 60% is a passing grade atmany schools in America so props to Bris-tol! Their research pretty much told me

that in some cases we dont control whatwe like, the beat does. Now I dont haveto feel as bad for loving lollipop.Propaganda

Now that weve established that some ofus who actually listen to song lyrics, liketo hear ignorant music because of the

beats and catchy hooks. We should notethe dangers behind what is happeningwith the folks that say they only like thebeat. The fact of the matter is whether ornot they are analyzing the lyrics they arestill subconsciously and consciously af-fected by those lyrics. Once again Ill bewriting from my lived experience.Air Force Ones. Classic shoes that were

out of style, and now seem to be neutralground in the sneakers department. How-ever, I noticed higher production of AirForces, and a higher demand from con-sumers after Nelly and the St. Lunaticsreleased their song Air Force Ones. Inoticed the same result with Vans. Previ-ously, Vans were seen as a skater shoe

for white folks. After The Pack releasedtheir Vans Song young black folkswere sporting Vans like they were Jor-dans. The strangest in my opinion wasthe whole Hip-Hop meets Rock music.

Songs like Party Like a Rock Star bythe Shop Boyz caused black Urban Folksto suddenly begin wearing clothes withpictures of skulls and studded belts. EdHardy made a lot of money during thistransition of course. It should be obviousby now that the music industry plays amajor role in the way we live our lives.I honestly dont think that it is necessary

for me to delve deep into all the deroga-tory terms and disrespectful lyrics in thesongs we hear. I trust that as the readeryou arent nave to the fact that there isoffensive music that millions of peoplearent just listening to, but repeating, inthe context of the music and in the con-text of their lives.

To reiterate, theres nothing wrong withjust liking a beat. It is not even the end ofthe world to enjoy an extremely cleverand disrespectful lyric. Where I see thetrouble, and if you take anything fromwhat Ive written its this be consciousof what you are listening to. You couldbe nodding your head to the worldsmost racist song with the volume at its

limit while your neighbors dial 911, andI wouldnt scold you for it. All as long asyou understand that you are enjoying theworlds most racist song. Then analyzewhy, and sit with those thoughts. Youhave to start from somewhere right?


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Do you know anyone whos undocu-mented? Are they able to go to col-lege? If they are, can they get funding?Who decides this stuff? Obama?

For a long

time peoplewithout citi-zenship pa-pers, peoplefrom Mexico,Guatemala,El Salvador,China, andother coun-

tries, have notbeen able toget scholar-ships for col-lege. This hasmade it very expensive to actually goto college, whether its community col-lege or a 4 year university. Even whensome of us are able to get in to college,

its only because weve had to borrowmoney from family members, work oneto three jobs to pay off tuition, or be apart-time student and take one class at atime, leaing to a long time in college. Ob-viously, things arent easy for us.

Because of all the obstacles we face intrying to get something as simple as an

education, there comes a time wherewe have to decide: do we want to go towork, or do we want to go to school?Or even if we go to school and get oureducation, it doesnt guarantee us a job

because we dont have the work permitwe need to work using our diploma ordegree.

However, in 2012, there were a few mod-ications, such as deferred action, in theeducation system nationwide. Now that

this deferredaction portion

of the DreamAct has passedas a reform,students arenow receivingmore benetswhich includefee waivers,work permits,

and social se-curity numbersfrom which wecan apply fordrivers licens-

es. While these changes are good, andmany of us who are undcoumented areexcited, weve got to be real: the systemthat gave us these small privileges is the

same system thats kept our people livingin fear of being deported for decades.For example, the fact is that only some ofus are eligible for deferred action, andeven if were accepted it will only lastfor two years. After two years, we haveto re-apply and pay 465 dollars again!Not to mention lawyers fees and times

Is Obama Really Help-

ing Undocumented Immi-

grants?


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spent lling out forms and waiting for thegovernment to respond.

So, its obvious that things arent perfect.Lawmakers and higher school authoritiesare still making it almost impossible for usto succeed and achieve their educationalgoals. But many of our family membersand friends will still say, but at leastObama gave us this. If we keep faith-ful to him and keep electing Democrats,things will just get better. This is just nottrue. Lets examinewhy.

The reality is thatundocumented highschool students andrecent graduates, alsoknown as dreamers,came together in pro-test of the educationsystem. Students of all

ages and backgroundslled the streets show-ing the governmenttheir desire to obtainlegalization in the country they wereraised in. Building were taken over, suchas Obamas campaign headquarters indowntown Oakland, and undocumentedstudents like us demanded that we be

seen as full human beings. The fact isthat undocumented people, especiallyyouth, have fought back in the UnitedStates, but also around the world. InFrance, Arab youth have fought againstthe system of racial oppression that haskept them from getting good jobs, andkept them living in the slums. In Spain,

Moroccan migrants have occupied build-ings and built militant (meaning strongactions that go face to face with the gov-ernment) protests to ght for full citizen-ship. Weve got see that the movementof undocumented youth in this country ispart of a global struggle of people ght-ing to be recognized for who we are:human beings trying to live life freely.

We dont want to just keep the sameeducation system that we have right now

its obviously notworking. Students are

kept out of school,and teachers are keptfrom teaching the waythey want to teach,because of budgetcuts and controlfrom the governmentthrough standards.We want free educa-

tion that teaches usthe truth about ourhistories, and thetruth about the way

this society works taking advantage ofpoor working people in order to benetthe rich. We want a public educationthat speaks to what students need, andthat values the teachers who put in time

to teach us what we want to learn. Allof these educational goals we want tomeet are part of a total process of free-dom that were seeking. This struggle forfreedom will be stopped at all points bythe capitalist system unless we unite ourforces and overthrow it.

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