Rap & Politics: who to expect on some upcoming ballots

Posted at January 15, 2011 by Julie J Comments Off

Rhymefest’s candidacy for Alderman of the 20th Ward (essentially equivalent to city council) was put in question after the current Alderman Willie B. Cochran told the Chicago-Time that “the voters of the 20th Ward know the difference between a professional public administrator who’s been doing an outstanding job for them…as opposed to someone who is a known hip-hop artist who degrades women and promotes violence in his videos.” Additionally, and more concretely, Rhymefest’s residency was also questioned.

Sigh. So let’s see. “A professional public administrator” verses a “known hip-hop artist.” In other words, someone who is a professional government worker verses someone who has established and been successful in a career in the private sector.

Despite the accusations and pending case with the Chicago Board of Elections, Rhymefest has remained active in his campaign and community. He fed the needy in November and December, launched a program named “CPR” to encourage reading (I approve!) and hosted the Chicago Urban Education forum with a variety of guests like Dr. Cornel West. And let’s not forget that Rhymefest kicked his campaign off with a Lupe Fiasco concert!

Fortunately, Rhymefest fared far better than Wyclef in his respective residency dispute. He was cleared by the Chicago Board of Elections this week to be on the February ballot.

Down in the 305, Mayor Alvarez of Miami-Dade County isn’t very popular with his constituents, especially after raising property taxes and coincidentally giving pay raises to his staffers. His recall election is set for March 15th, and it’s a very real possibility that he’ll be kicked out. Should he get recalled, Luther Campbell would seriously consider running, saying “[he] would make everyday [he is] in office a reality show. Everyday, Miami-Dade residents will have transparency in the mayor’s office.”

I hope he only means that his administration would be transparent, and not made into an actual reality TV show. I don’t see how that would help the residents of Miami Dade County, unless the Campbell administration was paid, and then put that money in a general fund for the county… The promise and idea of transparency is alluring and seductive, but to me, it just seems like tired rhetoric nowadays so I’ll believe it when I literally see it. We all know a certain presidential candidate repeatedly promised transparency for the healthcare bill during the primaries…and that very obviously didn’t happen.

Uncle Luke recently wrote an article for the Miami New Times, and he sounds pretty feisty. I like it! In a nutshell, he thinks the city should go after slumlords and he wants more police, including mobile police units, in black neighborhoods such as Brickell, Little Havana, and downtown Miami during particular blocks of time. On schools, he says “we need to have three types of them: one for kids who plan to attend college, one for those who don’t, and a third for the knuckleheads. A big reason F-schools exist is that you have a lot of knuckleheads bringing good students down.” You know, he says it like it is.

I was going to write about how it sure seems easy to have fresh ideas, but another thing to actually implement them. However, with those property tax increases, perhaps Uncle Luke is on to something here, and those funds could be put toward law enforcement.

HipHopDX | MNT (via XXL)