Kyle Mays, who teaches at the African American Studies Department and the Native American Center at UCLA, says Hip Hop “builds solidarity between the two communities,” which share a complex history of slavery, displacement and state violence. Mays is author of the book, Hip Hop Beats, Indigenous Rhymes: Modernity and Hip Hop in North America.Water rights and climate change are connected with larger political empowerment issues. “We need to somehow deal with the issue of returning land to native peoples,” said Mays, who is of Black and Native American ancestry.
“When Trump met with the arch-enemy Vladimir Putin in Helsinki and didn’t declare war on Russia some of the loudest denunciations came from Black liberals.”
“The FBI that crushed the liberation movement is now viewed favorably in the mistaken belief that the enemy of Trump must be a friend.”
“Whichever party is in power will bait the Bear, then say we have to expand domestic surveillance, the military budget, and the empire of bases.”
“Democrats have firmly implanted themselves on the side of Wall Street and its militarist corporate partners.”
“Real estate interests are licking their chops over ‘development’ opportunities linked to the Obama Center’s construction.”
