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• GLOBAL VERSUS LOCAL

Global versus Local

Aotearoa commence to penetrate, worldwide
Nesian Mystik

So get up, it’s time to start nation-building/ I’m fed up, we gotta start teaching children/ That they can be all that they want to be/ There’s much more to life than just poverty.
Tupac Shakur

In the US, the Reverend Jesse Jackson was once quoted as saying: "We must lead the nation, not just the neighbourhood.’ Some would go even further, and say it’s time we looked more deeply at the ‘global’ picture – that we’ve been too busy looking at our reflections in the glass, to see what’s going on beyond the window pane.

Hip Hop has given us the means to bridge the gap between different cultures and countries and yet many believe it is still not be being used to its best advantage. Some ask why Hip Hop is not ‘ringing the alarm about the…AIDS crisis…or throwing a lyrical bone at issues of intimacy or literacy or, heaven forbid, debt relief in Africa and the evils perpetuated by the World Bank and the IMF…’1

The Second Wave

It’s about recognising that Māori society doesn’t exist in its own societal cocoon but rather that a commonality of struggle exists with other peoples, movements, and groups across the globe.2

We’ve already talked about the concept of ‘colonisation of the mind’ (see Theme A: topic 6) – and there are some who believe such mental colonisation can also be called ‘the second wave of colonisation and capitalist expansion.’3 They warn of the motives that push trans-national companies and corporations with the help of agencies such as the World Trade Organisation(WTO), World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF). And speak of the damage to the ‘little man’ as a result of such policies.

So while Hip Hop may have developed as a very specific voice for a very specific group, it could now add strength to all those battling for the most basic of human rights… and these don’t just include freedom and security, but the right to a clean and healthy environment, the right to produce our own food, the right to decide what we put into our mouths, the right to live in dignity and to support our families.

We do not want charity; we do not want your loans. Those in the North have to understand our struggle and to realise it is also part of their own. Everywhere the rich are getting richer, the poor poorer, and the environment is being plundered. Whether in the North or South, we face the same future… Globalisation should mean we want to globalise human society, not business. Life is not business.
A farmer from Karnataka, India ('Thr@ll' Issue 18 April/March 2001 'Neo-liberal – Globalisation and Tino Rangatiratanga' – Aotearoa Educators)

Earth Day

It is no longer uncommon for musicians to take up ‘global’ causes as a way to publicise them. Sting went to Brazil to talk rainforest protection; Alabama’s ‘Pass It On Down’ sends out the pro-rainforest warning to ‘leave some blue up above us, leave some green on the ground.’ Australia’s Peter Garret (of Midnight Oil) embraced Green politics; Michael Franti & Spearhead talk world issues, and KRS-1 has made a pro-environment record with REM’s Michael Stipe.

The ‘green’ movement has moved far from its perceived hippie base… these days people everywhere are raising their voices for clean air and water. And Aotearoa is no different. With our international reputation for being ‘Clean and Green’, it’s not surprising to see local Hip Hop artists starting to express concerns about more global issues. Take, for instance Jody Lloyd (aka Trillion) whose song ‘Crawling is Easy’ talks of the tyranny of corporations who relocate to third world countries to escape fair trade and environmental protections in their own back yard.

Cos so many corporations set out to slaughter nations, / with fortifications imported and stationed in locations, / and when folks fall ill there’s no support for patients…you try and scrimp and save but there’s a crisis on your shelf, / it’s chemicals in processed food and the price is on yourself, / this ignorance is leading to a whole life in poor health, / and in the end the doctors bleed you dry by siphoning your wealth…
Trillion

Sing Hallelujah

Sometimes, one good set of lyrics is worth more than a thousand other words. What's sad, is that many of these messages are never heard beyond the small radius around them. However, this doesn't mean the messages aren't worthy of closer inspection. Try these, on the world of corporations…

Corrupt governments don’t give a fuck about the covenants / all they are concerned with is pillaging the earth, and then they / make a trillion dollar while a million live in squalor / and cos they know it’s wrong they get all hot under the collar – then they / silence them who cried with a silent genocide / and when we want some answers all the violence is denied and then they / take away all hope and leave the scene in tape and ropes / escaping from the firing line and hiring scapegoats…
Trillion – ‘Sing Hallelujah’

Or this, on the reasons behind struggles for power and control…

Peace is da reason, For genocide, for hypocrites / Da bigot man, nah, no want peace / No peace, I tell ya, see / War across de earth / Da sea, / For power, cause / Greed’s a lack of intelligence / Da foolish cannot see, / Cause dem create war / For monetary gains / Dem a go fite war / For power, fortune and fame…
Te Kupu – ‘Peace – The Calling’

Or this, on the effects of French nuclear testing on Mururoa Atoll, in the South Pacific…

Come test me like a bomb straight from Mururoa / How come I got Cyclops fish in my water / A nation of Pacific lambs to the slaughter / Three eyes for my son / Another foot for my daughter…
DLT feat. Che Fu – ‘Chains’

Or this, on the whole caboodle wrapped into one…

I want $53 million for my calloused hands / Like the Bush Administration gave to the Taliban / And fuck packing grams, nigga / Learn to speak and behave / You wanna spend 20 years as a government slave? / Two million people in prison keep the government paid / Stuck in a 6-by-8 cell, alive in the grave… / You mothaf**kas’ll never get me to stop blastin’ / You better off asking Ariel Sharon for compassion / You better off begging for 20 points from a label / You better off battling cancer under telephone cables…
Immortal Technique – ‘Industrial Revolution’

Room for Both

In the end, perhaps there shouldn’t need to be a battle between global versus local – but rather a move to voice global issues (that affect us all) with an eye to our unique local environments. It’s about seeing the world as one huge interconnected living being, and treating all parts of that being with equal care and respect.

We…as human beings…have the capacity to meet both our needs and those of the nonhuman beings around us, in ways that actually increase diversity, habitat, balance and beauty…4

There is, in Hip Hop, the chance to change lives… a way of voicing one’s emotions in a way that ties directly to the principals of freedom of speech and human rights for all. Hip Hop is a personality and style. Hip Hop is not just music, but a way of life. And perhaps, ultimately, a means of saving lives.

As I sat down and wrote my lyrics, I shed tears instead of blood, released anger instead of built it, and realized the stupidity of the act of committing suicide…one could say that rap literally saved my life…5

Test your knowledge

• What did Rev Jesse Jackson once say about role models?
• What are the full names of the WTO and the IMF?
• What cause did performer Sting go to Brazil to support?
• What country tested nuclear weapons on Mururoa Atoll in the South Pacific?
• How is it suggested we can address both local and global issues without detracting from either cause?
• How does Hip Hop provide a chance to change lives?

Extend your thinking

Some of the most pressing problems for our planet are environmental.

What do you think these might be, and which ones are the most important to start acting on? How would you suggest these problems are dealt with? Do you think you have any power to help do this? Why/why not? What can you do to help protect the planet from further environmental harm? What can you do to help the social and political problems in the world? Think about this quote from Margaret Mead: Never doubt that a group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.

1 Tate, G. ‘Hiphop Turns 30 – Whatcha celebratin’ for?’ http://villagevoice.com/news/0501,tate,59766,2.html .

2 'Thr@ll' Issue 18 April/March 2001 'Neo-liberal – Globalisation and Tino Rangatiratanga' – Aotearoa Educators. http://aotearoa.wellington.net.nz/
http://www.thrall.orcon.net.nz/18tino.html

3 Ibid.

4 Starhawk 2002 ‘Webs of Power’ New Society Publishers, Canada, p163. Starhawk is San Francisco based and has been active in social change and earth-based spirituality movements for over thiry years.

5 ‘Stereotyping Hip-Hop, Rap Music’ supplementary reference source for Myllynen, American rap Music, 2001, http://www.uta.fi/FAST/US8/PAPS/scoggins.html