Politics of Violence

This post was written late last year during the intense campaign season...

This latest mention of an assassination attempt on presidential hopeful Barack Obama brings us to a grand total of three. [One during the primaries (Florida); one during DNC convention (Denver); and now, a week until election day (Tennessee).] No one likes talking about these particular issues, but everyone understands these particular issues. All it takes is a light reading of Thomas Hobbes to understand that violence has intense, dare I say essential, political function and utility.

Without substantial knowledge of the African-American historical condition, rhetorical rants of possessing weapons as defense against government munitions may appear pretentious, irrational, and simply unnecessary. But, one must consider the history of colonization and the violence meted out by the dominant power. Fanon
(1963) reminds us that the initial confrontation between colonizer and colonized “was colored by violence…[and] continued at the point of bayonet and under canon fire.” In essence, colonization is an intrusive occupation. In the DeadPrez song “Propaganda,” Stic.man is able to discuss the intrusive occupation of the government in a contemporary and futuristic sense when he states:

I don't want no computer chip in my arm
I don't wanna die by a nuclear bomb
I say we all rush the Pentagon, pull out guns
And grab the intercom. (DeadPrez, 2000g)

Stic.man is aggressively resisting the way in which the government is assuming an Orwellian “Big Brother” position in relation to the masses. Through resisting a computer chip in his arm, the rapper is refusing futuristic governmental intrusion of privacy through hyper-intelligent monitoring. Speaking in terms of technological advancements in instruments of war, which are always profitable for the rich, Stic.man also expresses his disapproval of being a casualty of rich people’s war games in that he does not want to die by a nuclear bomb. After highlighting the problems, the rapper/rhetor offers his solution; which happens to a violent usurping of the Pentagon. Stic.man calls for his audience to take control of the Pentagon through the use of force as illustrated through guns. Once inside, the intercom becomes his object of desire so he can them assume a rhetorical takeover and possibly change the minds of citizens.

So, like the parties involved in Senator Obama's assassination attempts, DeadPrez understands the value of addressing violence toward governmental agencies at the highest levels. Unlike the assassination fanatics, DeadPrez opts to exercise this violence RHETORICALLY and not in ACTUALITY.

Let me know how you feel...