THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY
David Hilliard talks about the Black Panther Fugitives
As David Hilliard states midway through our interview, "The Black Panther Party are the only legitimate revolutionary movement in the history of struggle in America", its indeed hard to argue otherwise. The Black Panther Party were an international movement that changed the face of America and indeed the world as the party had chapters in 8 foreign countries including the UK. As ever David Hilliard and the Huey Newton Foundation are trying to keep the the history alive with a generation of youths caught up in the capitalist system. It's with the their own rap group, the Black Panther Fugitives, that the message is hitting home. Designer Magazine caught up with David Hilliard to discuss how art and music have always taken a place in the party's history and how the new Mario Van Peoples inspired album is about to take them to the next level in consciousness raising.
Q: We've talked about the Black Panther Party's place
in history before (Nb: Click here
for our first interview with David Hilliard), so what we're looking to
do this time is talk about the group, The Black Panther Fugitives. When
you came up with the idea for the rap group it was with the idea that young
people, the youth, didn't know about the history of the Black Panther Party
so you thought you'd put it through a medium they could understand rather
than asking them to sit down and read a book
A: We created the Black Panther Fugitives because it
was a medium to get a message to the youth through hip hop. That is the
medium that most youths in the world have embraced as their own culture.
We used the group and hip hop as a medium to help get our historical Black
Panther message across. In most of our music there are certainly the beats,
but there is also the message of Huey Newton, there is the message of Bobby
Seale and the clear message of the Black Panther Party which is always
connected with our music.
Q: Over the past 10 years hip hop has kind of lost
its way in it message and motivation to change. It's all about the money.
Do you feel hip hop is not the voice it used to be?
A: Well it certainly isn't and that's why we got involved
with it. We got involved in it to bring our message to a segment within
the hip hop movement that does have a political conscious. We're there
for people who are still interested in the anti-war movement and who are
still interested in the abolition of prison systems, especially here in
America, and people who still want to fight against racial injustices in
the world and people who are fighting against the pollution of the environment.
Our message is still a very relevant message to those people who are part
of the conscious element within hip hop. That's why we created the record
company Black Panther Party Records, that's why we're in this business
- to try to bring back some consciousness into this hip hop movement
Q: How long was the idea of the Black Panther Fugitives
and the record company in your head before it actually happened?
A: Well it was always a part of our system of educating.
We would use our art in our newspapers as a medium to get our message across
to people who wouldn't necessarily read our articles. They would certainly
look at our art which was pictures of people working and being exploited
because of unfair wages and people who were not getting the kind of economic
justice that they deserved. So our art in our newspapers was a medium for
telling our stories.
We also had a group called The Lumpen, which was a short
name for Lumpen Proletariat. Our group would always come and perform at
our mass events. Elaine Brown, who was the chairwoman of our Black Panther
Party, has two LPs on Motown that we also used as a medium for getting
our message across. So there's nothing new about the Black Panther Party
combining art and politics. We've always done that.
Q: Nowadays if we say you've got Public Enemy, Dead
Prez and you guys. You're still kind of lone voices in the world of hip
hop?
A: Well, we are trying to make an impact and there are
more than Public Enemy, Dead Prez and Black Panther Records. There's also
people like Common, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Blackalicious - they are groups
that are putting out a very positive message and are using hip hop as the
medium to to do that. Michael Franti is another artist who is a very progressive
artist.
Q: What do you feel it is in a person that makes them
reject ideas and just chase the money, just chase the dollar?
A: Well I think these are people that are just driven
by excess and individualism and that's the majority of the world. They
are not the exception. They are the dominate culture. They are ninety nine
and two thirds. All over the world that is what people are driven by, the
profit motive. And certainly it's people with their individualism that
motivates that kind of behaviour. And then one knows that it's ones environment
that determines their social consciousness and it's the material that determines
the mental. This is a capitalistic age we live in - all they see on television
are hock homies and Tommy Hillfiger and Sean Jean. So people are tied to
profit motive and tied to imagery. It's not about what you wear, but who
you wear. So you've got a generation of people who are tied to this profit
motive and that's the majority!!!
Q: How hard is it getting the Black Panther Records
on to radio with the message you have?
A: Well, we are not on radio because we are the Black
Panther Party and we have not got airplay in America. We have appeared
in Canada and have been on Canadian Radio and maybe one or two of the underground
stations. But we are the Black Panther Party and our message is a message
to motivate and to organize and to be instructives, to educate people,
so we don't expect Clear Channel or some major record company to go on
to embrace our message of trying to revolutionize the system, our message
of trying to transform the system. We don't expect to get a million dollar
record contract with any company. That's not why we're in the business.
Q: But in terms of getting on radio and getting your
message out there to the pubic, it must be hard.
A: It is almost impossible because of who we are. We
are the internal contradiction to the radio stations. We're the real conscious
hip hop movement. We're all that Public Enemy, Dead Prez and the conscious
hip hop rappers talk about. We're the real deal. We are the consciousness
raising organization and we are the model that these young conscious rappers
like to imitate. We are the Black Panther Party, we were a global movement,
which was in 49 states in America and in 8 foreign countries. We had support
groups in the UK, Cuba, Korea, The Peoples Republic of China, North Vietnam
and Africa...we were a true liberation movement. So when people are talking
about militancy they are talking about the Black Panther Party, which is
the only legitimate revolutionary movement in the history of struggle in
America. You tell me about another one
Q: One the album how much was there a vetting process
or a revision of the lyrics to fit in with the Party line?
A: That first album was just to get us into the public
consciousness. The second album which we're now releasing, which will be
out in another month (July), is more politically driven. There's more of
Huey Newton's voice and more messages from Huey Newton and the message
is a bit more conscious than the first CD. That CD was mainly to get us
into the industry and these young guys that are putting the message out
are very young and they're not totally conscious, but they've learnt a
lot since the first CD. This CD is driven with more conscious lyricism
and with a stronger message about social relevance.
Q: It does span generations. You're involved, your
son Dorion is involved also.
A: And not only my son. But the son of one of the Black
Panther Party members Bill Calhoun, who was the leader of our performance
group The Lumpen. His mother and father were both Black Panther Party members
and he's the leader of our group. His names is Jamiel Hassan (James Calhoun).
James was raised with Tupac Shakur.
Q: Could you tell us a little about the 2nd album you're
releasing this month?
A: The album that we're releasing in June is an album
that's inspired by a movie that Mario Van Peoples has just finished called
"Baadasssss". Mario Van People's is portraying his father in a film that
his father introduced as the first black independent film called "Sweet
Sweetbacks Baadasssss Song". Our leader Huey Newton wrote a revolutionary
analysis of that film in 1970, so we're reprinting part of that analysis
which will be accompanied by the CD. The CD is named after original movie
called "Sweet Sweetbacks Baadassss Song" so it's a tribute to Mario Van
People's new film. We're also in the film score. We have a track on the
film score and we're also on Mario Van Peoples soundtrack this time around.
Q: Obviously it's easy to get the hip hop youth listening
to a CD. How hard is then to get them to read a little more into your history?
A: We're not going to get all the hip hop movement, but
there is a segment that can read. We're looking to the college campuses,
the conscious element in society. It seems to be a significant number of
people who have said no to the war, even there in the UK. That is our audience.
All these people that are against the war, all these people who are against
polluting the environment, people that are against these multi-national
corporations that are raping the world and people who are struggling to
forgive the corporate and national debt of all of these underdeveloped
countries. There's millions and millions of people that are our constituents
that will buy our CD and are a reading community. That is who were making
the CD for.
Q: What changes have you seen on the campuses or community
after the Black Panther Fugitives have played?
A: When we appeared in Canada as headliners in the last
big event in Vancouver. We've been on college campuses over here in America.
We're appearing with an African musician from Zimbabwe, his name is Thomas
Mapfumo, who opposes Mugabwe and his oppression in Zimbabwe. So there's
a community that is embracing our message and our history of the Black
Panther Party.
Q: With what you have seen happening in the UK and
Europe would you like to come over here and get your message across to
our people
A: Absolutely. We're waiting for you to organize an event
where I can come with the group so we can speak to the people in the UK
about the need for solidarity and about the fact that all of our struggles
are one and the same. Maybe we can come over and perform with the new rapper
Dizzee Rascal, for sure.
Q: You've seen what's happening in the UK. Do you think
what is happening in the UK and Europe from the far right and the racist
element is perhaps worse now than it is in the US?
A: I think that the UK has its own problems. I know what
happens in Brixton. I was in the UK a few years ago so I know what happens
to people from the Asian and Jamaican communities. I'm aware of that and
i'm aware of the class system that still exists in the UK. The UK is no
different than America, we're all part of the same community and America
controls the entire world. That's why your Prime Minister stands next to
George Bush, because George Bush and America controls the whole world.
We should join hands as one community. That's why we have business in the
UK. Just as George Bush has business in the UK, activists in America have
business in the UK because that's another community in the world.
Q: Do you think if the UK wouldn't have made the alliance
with the US they would have still gone on with the war?
A: I think so, because America is the Empire and if the
UK didn't support America then America would find some means to deliver
a political consequence against the UK. Nobody escapes the wrath of the
empire. It's a global fight against the American Empire - that's why you
have 500,000 people on the streets in the UK and 300,000 in the States
against the war. All around the world people have joined hands because
whatever happens in America impacts all of the known world.
Q: If you've just got one final message from the Black
Panther Fugitives and from the Black Panther Party to sum up what you're
trying to achieve. One message to the UK readers.
A: We're trying to link up with all of the struggling
people of the world. Our message is a message of unity, it's a message
of equality and economic democracy. That's why we have the Black Panther
Fugitives and by the way we're fugitives running away from misogynist lyrics
and profanity and sexism. We're running away from all of the negatives
in hip hop. We want to use our medium and our history as a way to bridge
those gaps as we did in the sixties and seventies. We had a Black Panther
Party chapter in the UK, so we'd like to use our music again to break down
those barriers.
Everybody in the UK should be aware and on the lookout for our next CD called "The Revolutionary Analysis Of Sweet Sweetback". It's inspired by the new movie by Mario Van Peoples which will be in the studios in June.
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"The Revolutionary Analysis Of Sweet Sweetback"
is out July
For more information
www.blackpanthertours.com
www.blackpanther.org
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If you enjoyed reading the above article you may
also be interested in the following interviews
Black Panther Party
(The 1st Designer Magazine Interview with David Hilliard)
George Galloway
Tony Benn
Dead Prez
More of the above are available on the Designer Magazine site- Click
Here