New Black Leader?

Russell Simmons - New Black Leader?

By Amadi Ajamu

The emergence of Hip Hop entrepreneur Russell Simmons
as an establishment-endorsed political leader of the
new generation of Blacks gives me pause. Being a
member of this new generation, I think this should be
put on the table for discussion.

Why have mainstream media’s political pundits given
Russell Simmons an open mic? He’s a guest on Charlie
Rose; he’s become a constant feature in the New York
Times, Newsweek Magazine and many other newspapers and
magazine across the country. Hailed as among the one
hundred most influential African Americans by Crain
Magazine, can helicopter to Albany for private meetings
with New York Governor George Pataki on the Rockefeller
drug laws. He has organized fundraisers for senators
Hillary Clinton and Charles Schumer, works closely with
former HUD Secretary Andrew Cuomo, teams up with
democratic presidential candidate Al Sharpton to
register new voters, and dines with Shimon Peres,
Israel’s former Prime Minister discussing a possible
Middle East youth summit.

Either the king makers have peeped Simmons’ ability to
use his influence over urban youth as leverage in his
business and political ventures and they want to
control him, or the severity of the US economic
recession deems it time to send in the clowns.

Russell Simmons and his Hip Hop Summit Action Network
have orchestrated several very high profile, massive
political rallies in New York City, using his
connections in the entertainment industry to get mega-
stars like P. Diddy, Mariah Carey, 50 cent, LL Cool J,
Jay Z and Alicia Keys to attend and draw thousands of
Black youth. But it was painfully clear that the
majority of youth in attendance were more interested in
getting a glimpse of their favorite rap artist than in
the city budget cuts in education or draconian drug
sentencing laws that send many of our peers to prison
for decades. Simmons and his star-studded entourage
put on a good show but have yet to present a clear
political program of action and vision for Black
people.

Black youth have a tremendous amount of unused
political power. Young people represent the most
revolutionary force in all movements for social justice
around the world. We have the energy and tenacity to
fundamentally change our conditions, and we have
nothing to lose. That’s why leadership is so important.

Black youth in the United States are under attack from
all quarters. Police brutality, failing schools, mass
unemployment, foster care, inadequate health care, and
the exploitation of a criminal justice system by large
scale corporations all simultaneously attack us in
order to break our natural spirits of resistance. But
the most pervasive and unrelenting attack against us
has been conducted by the multi-billion dollar
entertainment industry with its overt and covert
manipulation of Black Hip Hop culture.

Culture is a weapon. Like a double-edged sword,
culture can be wielded in the interest of oppressed
people to further our struggle for self-determinations
or in the interest of our oppressors to keep us
enslaved.

Originally, Hip Hop was a source of strength in our
community. Created by young grassroots people on the
streets, it defied the status quo. From seemingly
nothing, no money, no musical instruments, no multi-
national conglomerates or political connections, it
emerged as an international cultural force. Hip Hop
exemplified our peoples innate creativity, social
consciousness, and self-determination. It was our
voice of resistance.

Now that Hip Hop is totally controlled by giant
international corporations, "artists" promoted by
industry and media executives, including Russell
Simmons, reflect a superficial petty criminality and a
vulgar individualistic materialism that erodes our
collective struggle. The systematic degradation of Hip
Hop is an example of the use of our culture to further
the interests of our oppressors — the wrong side of
the double-edged sword.

Russell Simmons’ Hip Hop cultural credentials are key
to his ability to influence this "new generation" on
political and economic issues. The phenomenal rise of
Def Jam Records in the 1980’s with groups like Public
Enemy and RUN DMC made Simmons and his partners Lyor
Cohen (son of Israeli immigrants) and Rick Ruben very
wealthy. In 1999 they sold Def Jam to Seagrams
Universal Music Group for $130 million. Universal was
subsequently acquired by Vivendi to form the
international entertainment behemoth Vivendi Universal.
Lyor Cohen was named Chairman and CEO of the Island Def
Jam Music Group and Simmons named Chairman of the Def
Jam Records division. The brash B-boys that burst on
the music scene are now corporate executives towing the
company line.

In an effort to ignite young people to social action,
many Black grassroots community leaders have reached
out to Hip Hop artists and impresarios for assistance.
Sometimes these efforts are fruitful and solid
relationships are forged based on mutual respect and in
the interest of our collective struggle. Hip Hop
maverick Tupac Shakur had intimate ties to respected
political leaders like Dr. Mutulu Shakur and was a
living example of a successful cultural / political
link. Tupac was the co-founder of The Code Foundation,
a youth organization involved in the current struggles
against racism, police brutality, and drug abuse, human
rights and reparations. His untimely and unresolved
murder is a reflection of the work that needs to be
done to make our generation aware of our collective
political power and the power of our culture as a
mechanism to spark the fire.

Individual artists with consciousness like Chuck D, Mos
Def, Common, Dead Prez, and others have also forged
links with grassroots leaders and committed their
creative skills to our collective struggle against
oppression

.

But when grassroots political activists reach out to
Russell Simmons there is a recurring disappointment.
When organizers of the Millions for Reparations Rally
in Washington DC met with Simmons, after going through
an obstacle course of handlers, Simmons said "Wait till
next year, I’ll do it and I even let you all speak."
Rally organizers declined and decided to do it the hard
way - without the superstars, media access, and strings
attached.

Simmons also launched a special "reparations" sneaker
brand in his clothing line. Advertisements for it have
proclaimed that a percentage of the proceeds from the
sneakers would be donated to the reparations efforts.
When a youth organization working on reparations issues
contacted sales executives at Phat Farm about
donations, they were told that a larger percentage of
the proceeds were applied to advertising the sneakers
so that the idea of reparations is being exposed. This
maneuver is the extent of company’s contribution to the
struggle for slavery reparations.

When Pepsi Cola dropped Ludracris, a black Def Jam
recording artist, from its television commercial
because of his profane and sexually explicit lyrics,
Simmons threatened to organize a boycott citing Pepsi’s
use of the equally vulgar, but white Ozzie Osbourne.
Imagine boycotters chanting "Equal opportunity
vulgarity!" Nevertheless, Pepsi, acutely aware of the
political and economic power of Black youth, acquiesced
and agreed to donate millions of dollars to unspecified
youth organizations.

Like Pepsi, Courvoisier Cognac is strengthening its
ties to the new generation of Blacks through Simmons,
the Hip Hop power broker. GlobalHue Advertising Agency
named Mr. Simmons its Vice Chairman and Senior Team
member of the Courvoisier Cognac Team, which pushes the
cognac for Allied Domecq Spirits of North America.

Simmons’s aggressive business style often rears its
head in his attempts at coalition grassroots political
campaigns. The hostile take-over of the "Drop the
Rock" (Rockefeller drug laws) coalition may be the most
telling. For the past 30 years, the draconian
mandatory sentencing guidelines incorporated into the
NY state drug laws by former Governor Nelson
Rockefeller, have sent hundreds of thousands Black and
Latino youth to prison for decades for minor drug
offenses. These laws have contributed significantly to
the rapid development of new state prisons and the
corporate exploitation of prison labor. A broad
coalition of families, lawyers, ex inmates, students,
churches, unions, civil right organizations, community
activists, clergy, elected officials, and others waged
a long and intense battle to repeal the laws. In
recent years, they had been gaining considerable ground
and the drug laws became a pivotal issue in the 2002
campaign for New York State Governor.

In an effort to galvanized Black and Latino youth,
coalition members requested the assistance of Russell
Simmons. Then Simmons, at the urging of his friend and
failed democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Cuomo,
staged another star-studded massive rally at New York’s
City Hall drawing thousands. Cuomo was the Master of
Ceremonies.

Thereafter Simmons began meeting with the New York
Governor Pataki without informing or inviting veteran
grassroots coalition members to attend. Negotiations
between Simmons, Pataki, and two leading members of the
state legislature ensued. In the end Russell Simmons,
who had audaciously appointed himself HNIC (head negro
in charge) of the coalition, compromised their mission.

Republican Governor George Pataki called a press
conference and stood side by side with Russell Simmons
and democratic presidential candidate, Al Sharpton.
Together they joyfully announced cosmetic changes to
the drug laws affecting a tiny percentage of its
victims. All of them praised Pataki’s proposed
changes, which left the mandatory sentencing guidelines
that lock up thousands of young Black and Latino men
and women every year, intact. Some people now call
them the "Simmons Drug Laws."

According to a Newsweek report, when asked about the
ramifications of his actions, Simmons said. "I’m not
running for anything. I don’t give a f-k. I did what
I thought was right."

New Black leader?

Russell Simmons, Inc. has reaped enormous profits from
the new generation of Blacks through his position and
salary as Chairman of Def Jam Records and Vice Chairman
of GlobalHue Advertising Agency, Rush Communications,
Phat Farm Fashions, Baby Phat, Rush Visa, Simmons-
Latham Media and other capitalist ventures. He has
aligned himself with the corporate class and works in
their political and economic interest. More often than
not, these interests are diametrically opposed to the
interests of the majority of Black people.

Simmons’s rebirth as a political activist is entirely
manufactured. Wrapped in stylish Hip Hop packaging,
displayed on top shelf media outlets, and presented to
the new generation of consumers as the new and improved
Black leader. He is a product of corporate America,
and we shouldn’t buy it.

The corporate imposition of Simmons as a "leader" is an
affront to our people and should be exposed at every
turn. Leaders come from the people and their skills
are sharpened and honed through struggle with the
people. Our fight for human rights and self-
determination demands principled leaders who are
willing to sacrifice their own self-interest for the
genuine political and economic development of us all.

Russell Simmons’ leadership can only be defined as —
Def Sham.