Bob Law, former host of the nationally syndicated radio show “Night Talk” and civil rights advocate, is heading a new campaign to “Turn off Killer Radio.”
In an open letter to the community, Law proclaims that up to the 2016 Labor Day weekend there had been 517 people shot in Chicago, 222 people shot in New York City, 190 people shot in Philadelphia, 106 shot in Washington, D.C. and 182 shot in Los Angeles. The report revealed most victims were black males.
“When measured against entire populations of other developed countries, Black American males have the second highest homicide rate in the world,” Law writes. “Confucius once said, ‘If one should desire to know if a kingdom is well governed, if its morals are good or bad, the quality of its music will furnish the answer.’”
Law writes, “Currently the radio air waves are filled with DJ comments and song lyrics that urge black youth to become Scammers, Rapist, Killers, Harlots and Thieves. It is time to … ‘Turn Off Killer Radio.’”
Law indicated that the movement has already begun and on October 15, “people of integrity everywhere will turn off killer radio stations. No more killer music. No more degrading black women. Turn Off Killer Radio.”
Personally, I have been writing about this for years. It is time to draw national attention to the misogynistic lyrics common in hip-hop music and culture, and I question why many earlier efforts went practically unnoticed.
For years, the late C. Delores Tucker waged a passionate national campaign against obscenities in rap music. The political and social activist focused a spotlight on rap music in 1993, calling it “pornographic filth” and saying it was demeaning and offensive to black women, but she was mainly left out in the wilderness.
Tucker passed out leaflets with lyrics from gangsta rap CDs and urged people to read them aloud. She picketed stores that sold the music, handed out petitions and demanded congressional hearings.
And why did it take so long for women to recognize the obvious hatred of their sex expressed in rap videos? Why haven’t more women become furious at being continually depicted as sluts willing to do anything for a chance to be with a young man with money and a flashy car and jewels?
I believe, C. Dolores Tucker, who passed away October 12, 2005, had the right idea when she picketed the record stores, but I think she did not go far enough. I feel she should have begun a selective buying campaign targeting the recording artists and their labels. During the civil rights years, African Americans used buying power as political leverage in the struggle for equality.
Women can stop the hip-hop misogyny in one month, and make rappers clean up their messages. Women constitute the largest of today’s buying power markets, crossing ethnic and sexual preference groups, and influences over 80 percent of dollars spent. Can you imagine the impact females can have on the recording industry if mothers did not allow their sons and daughters to buy what is considered music that is denigrating to women?
Rap music has been at the center of the controversy, and while some argue First Amendment rights, artistic license and music reflecting the reality of life, others argue crass commercialism by “artists” and the music industry, and a total disregard for social responsibility.
Although rock and pop acts generate some of the filthiest compositions and most explicit images, and their concerts also incite riots and create a large amount of madness and disorder, it is generally the hip-hop and rap events that typically draw attention in the media. I hope Bob Laws’ open letter will receive as much attention.
Supporters of the “Turn off Killer Radio” movement include the Clear the Airwaves Project; The National Black Leadership Alliance; Rage against the Ratchet Hood Research; Detroit Urban Information Network and CEMOTAP or Committee to Eliminate Media Offensive to African People.
Please watch the Bernie Hayes TV program Saturday night at 10 p.m. and Sunday evenings at 5:30 p.m. on KNLC-TV Ch. 24. I can be reached by fax at 314-837-3369, e-mail at berhay@swbell.net or on Twitter @berhay.
