Gang Starr – Step in the Arena (1991)

Learning to be anti-racist

“The mind is a terrible thing to waste
I show love cause it’s a terrible thing to hate”
– Gang Starr, Peace of Mine

For years, I have been mistakenly under the impression that ‘racist’ and ‘not racist’ were opposites. I’ve since realized that ‘anti-racism’ is actually the opposite of ‘racism’ & I need to do a better job of being actively anti-racist.

As a starting point, I want to commit to doing two small things every week:

1. Listen & Learn. Share resources that I’ve found helpful.
2. Amplify Black Voices. Each Wednesday, feature a Black Artist from the 1001 list.

 

So far, I’ve looked at Curtis Mayfield’s There’s No Place Like America Today, The Crusaders’ Street Life, Cypress Hill’s Cypress Hill, Cee-Lo Green’s Cee-Lo Green…Is the Soul Machine, Maxwell’s Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite, Ladysmith Black Mambazo’s, Shaka Zulu, Muddy Waters’ Hard Again, Fela Ransome-Kuti and The Africa ’70 with Ginger Baker’s Live!, and Femi Kuti’s Femi Kuti, and Shuggie Otis’ Inspiration Information.

This week, Gang Starr’s Step in the Arena.

.

[Album 791/1001]

“If you are not in the arena getting your ass kicked on occasion, I am not interested in or open to your feedback.”
– Brené Brown

With my 1001 albums project, I am most definitely in the cheap seats.

These artists have put themselves out there & poured themselves into their records.

And I’m…some fella/venn diagram enthusiast with a free wordpress site.

So given that I did not take Gang Starr up on their offer to Step in the Arena, I recognize they are neither interested in nor open to my feedback.

That being said, I hope they don’t mind a bit of praise from the cheap seats, especially for the well-crafted lyrics.

The following section from Beyond Comprehension provides a nice example of the appeal:

Expanding the depth of your brainpower
Ours is a better gift, not to be bragging nor lollygagging
I can see dimensions of sound and light around my mic
Transmitting lyrics like teletype

Thoughtful lyrics (in this section & throughout), that leave the audience feeling more educated?

A promise (kept) to listeners, that their time investment will be respected?

With a bonus simile reference to obsolete technology?

Yes please, to all of the above!

.

Helpful Resources

On Brené Brown’s site, there is a page featuring this list of Anti-Racism books, as recommended by her social media community.