Politics Mondays-Hip-Hop Fridays (November 24 – November 28): Rap COINTELPRO Part XIV: President Kennedy, Tupac, Ja Rule, 50 Cent, and Minister Farrakhan

Beginning in 1994, I engaged in a direct dialogue and developed a relationship with L. Fletcher Prouty, the man whose theories inspired Oliver Stone and his direction of the movie JFK. The late Mr Prouty, who passed away in 2001, was a retired Colonel in the United States Air Force, serving as Focal Point Officer for contacts between the CIA and the Department Of Defense on matters pertaining to the military support of Special Operations. My interaction with Colonel Prouty consisted of exchanged letters, telephone conversations and in-depth conversations in his Alexandria, Virginia home.

Among others, one especially salient point that Colonel Prouty stressed with me is the role that the media plays, intentionally or inadvertently in the service of military special operations, and in particular assassinations. Our discussions spanned the globe, including many "special operations" that Colonel Prouty was personally involved in. But, his clearest articulations usually pertained to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, 40 years ago.

In a portion of a letter that Mr. Prouty wrote to me in August 1994, he gave a lucid account of his thinking as it pertains to the relationship between covert operations and the media, specifically as it may pertain to the assassination of President Kennedy:

"...you will recall that I view the whole assassination process in a much different than others.

From my experience and point of view the whole thing was an elaborately planned conspiracy to accomplish a Coup d'etat. To do so it was necessary to kill JFK, among other things. This is why there has never been any prosecution or trial for anyone since that crime. A coup d'etat of such dimensions is carefully planned, is the consensus decision of many very powerful people, and then the work of pure professionals who are highly skilled.

For such a plan, the most important part is the "Cover Story." The murder took a bit of deft work and then a terrific load of cover story all the way from Oswald to books and media collaboration and the masterful scenario of the Warren Commission Report. We live with a 30-year old story today.

When I was the Chief Of Special Operations in the Pentagon during the years 1955-1964, I worked at three levels, Air Force, Secretary of Defense and Joint Chiefs Of Staff. In all cases wherever my office was there would be a "Cover and Deception" office nearby. I had the operations to run. They had the big job of covering the operation. That's work, and effective."

After watching and listening to the enormous amount of recollection, analysis, speculation and debate in relation to the 40th Anniversary of the assassination of JFK over the past week; I began to think again of the relevancy and utility that a study of the murder of JFK and the media's interest and coverage of it, has to the unsolved murders of the Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac; and how those murders have been foundational to, or fueled a cottage industry-plus of books, documentaries, and now movies surrounding "beefs" - conflicts, public disagreements and verbal battles between Hip-Hop artists. I thought of all of this in light of my interaction with Colonel Prouty; the new movie about Tupac - Resurrection; the multi-part Rap COINTELPRO series at BlackElectorate.com; and the recent efforts of Minister Louis Farrakhan aimed at helping to settle the differences that exist between Ja Rule and 50 Cent.

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Has a "cover story" been written to justify a war against Hip-Hop and Black youth, in such a way that civil rights violations, mistreatment and even the killing of young Black and Latino youth could take place and the majority of Americans or the majority of the world would think that such actions were warranted? Has rap music been a battlefield for this larger initiative, if it exists? Some might say that such a plan is unthinkable today. But is it a stretch or unreasonable to believe that the more brutally honest or negative aspects (depending upon whom you speak to) of rap music lyrics and videos have been projected domestically and abroad in such a way that it has enabled an unattractive image of Black youth - males in particular - to dominate the opinions of many people who might not regularly interact with Black Americans? Consider this article from the November 16, 2003 issue of the New York Times written by a Black American Muslim traveling in Egypt:

One night during Ramadan, a skinny hustler in knockoff American clothes joined us for dinner. He was one of those 20-something lotharios who haunt downtown Cairo, seducing tourists. After dinner, we sat alone in front of the shop.

"Do you know the story of Tupac Shakur?" he asked me. I nodded and smiled; I was intrigued that he knew anything about rap and proud that he did. "They killed him in the ghetto," he continued. "I love all the rap, all the niggers."

My face went hot. I told him he shouldn't use that word.

"Why not?" he asked. "All the blacks use it. All the blacks have sex and sell drugs like Tupac and Jay-Z."

Not since grade school had such talk so upset me. "Look at me," I said. "I'm black. I don't sell drugs."

"Please, don't be upset," the young man said, offering me his hand. "I'm a nigger. I'm a hustler like Tupac."

The new movie-documentary on Tupac, Resurrection, gives a powerful indication of the influence that Tupac Shakur had on youth; and even more so the potential power that he had to lead a conscious movement of young people - Black, White and otherwise. The movie, while not exhaustive in this area, provides a glimpse of the numerous initiatives that Tupac had underway, at the time of his murder, to affect social and political change - starting in the inner cities of America. At a particularly interesting portion of the movie, Tupac states how he became scared at the point in his career when his influence was so great that some of the toughest men in prison, and influential young youth and street leaders asked him to guide them - expressing that they were willing to do whatever he told them. They were just waiting on Tupac to give the order.

The movie provides a strong counter to the powerful but relatively narrower view and image of Tupac that has been projected around the world.

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One of the consistent points of discussion between Colonel Prouty and myself, over the years, was a concept that he called, the "cover story." Mr. Prouty, in discussions with me, defined the cover-story in concept, as the crafted, false or half-true explanation for the cause and mechanics of an actual event or series of events. The cover story is designed to deceive the observer (s), as well as an interested or unsuspecting public. As it relates to the assassination of President Kennedy, Colonel Prouty told me that if one takes just a little time to study the subject, it is easy to see that the official and popular explanation offered that Lee Harvey Oswald killed President Kennedy is a cover story. In the way of a personal anecdote supporting his position, Colonel Prouty describes how striking it was to him, that almost immediately after the assassination of the president, the media was putting out intimate details of Lee Harvey Oswald's life.

In his book, JFK, Col. Prouty writes:

Oswald was formally charged at 11:26 P.M. Dallas time, on November 22, 1963. That was 6:26, P.M. New Zealand time, November 23, 1963. By that time New Zealanders had known, for hours, what the Dallas police did not know until later – that Lee Harvey Oswald had been designated as the killer of President Kennedy. These New Zealanders had read preprepared news that had been disseminated by the cover-story apparatus.

This shows clearly how the scenario of President Kennedy's death had been prepared well before the actual event and strongly suggests that Lee Harvey Oswald had been chosen to be the "murderer" of the President before Dallas police made it official and despite evidence to the contrary.

There can be no question whatsoever that the cabal that arranged to have President Kennedy murdered had arranged and staged all the other terrible events of that day. They had also been in control in the dissemination of news that day, and they have been able to control the cover-up - including the report of the Warren Commission - since that day.

One of the factors that Minister Louis Farrakhan consistently points to as an important factor in his call for and thinking about the Million Man March; was his recognition that the image and stereotype of Black men - projected throughout the world, particularly in the late 1980s and the early 90's - was being used to justify the wholesale slaughter of Black people, particularly youth; in such a way that it could happen without generating an outcry from others, who would be under the influence of the stereotypical mass media image of young Black males, as lawless and irresponsible.

During his discussion with Ja Rule, Minister Farrakhan, openly states, "A war is about to come down on the rap community."

Is there any context to the idea that a high-level war has been planned against Black people and in particular, Black youth?

***

A March 4th, 1968 memo from J Edgar Hoover (who was a 32nd-degree Shriner) to FBI field offices laid out the goals of the FBI's COINTELPRO (Counter-Intelligence Program). One of those goals was "to prevent the rise of a messiah who could unify and electrify the militant black nationalist movement;" another was "to prevent the long-range growth of militant black nationalist organizations, especially among youth."

In the highly-acclaimed and mass-promoted documentary-film by Nick Broomfield, Biggie and Tupac, among the information provided are photos said to be from the FBI, of Puffy and members of Biggie's entourage, the night that Biggie was murdered. Rapper and Biggie confidant, Lil' Cease, interviewed in the documentary, says that he was shocked during the murder investigation, having the experience of being shown photos of himself and others, taken from the vantage point of those who were obviously in the position of surveillance at the time of the murder. Lil' Cease also indicates that there were pictures that were taken from inside of Biggie's house that he was shown by law enforcement officers. The documentary, and numerous media reports have revealed that at the time of both of their murders Bad Boy Records and Death Row Records, the professional homes of Biggie and Tupac respectively, were under federal investigation. In the documentary, Nick Broomfield states, "In 1993, a Senate Select Committee was set up to look into the hip-hop movement. Fear of its inflammatory qualities led to FBI surveillance." Volleta Wallace, Biggie's mother, states, "If the FBI was following my son, where were they that night my son was shot? And why is it (that) if they weren't there, why is it that (at) that moment, that night, they were taken off? Those are questions that needed to be looked into...."

Also, in that documentary, there is an interview of one of Biggie's body guards who states that he received a call, the day following the murder. He says in the documentary, "...P. called me that morning and said, 'a guy from the Nation Of Islam shot Big!' And I said, 'Yo Dog, he had the blue suit, blue bow-tie, white shirt, peanut head, receding hairline, brown-skin?' He said, 'Yo dog, how did you know?'. I said, 'the nigger came up to me first; I said he came to us first. He walked up to Puff's van (P. Diddy) and I got him off."

Some may remember, particularly on the West Coast that in the earliest moments after Biggie was murdered it was reported that the suspected shooter of Biggie was "wearing a bow tie."

Who would benefit from the "cover story," if it had been written and executed, that the Nation Of Islam was involved in the murder of Notorious B.I.G.?

If a war, of sorts, could be ignited between the Hip-Hop community and the Nation Of Islam, would it not serve to fulfill two of the major goals of COINTELPRO - "to prevent the rise of a messiah who could unify and electrify the militant black nationalist movement;" and "to prevent the long-range growth of militant black nationalist organizations, especially among youth" (many fail to mention the potential nexus between two of the COINTELPRO objectives in the person of Tupac Shakur, who grew up under the influence of a mother who was a member of the Black Panther Party, and whose godfather was political prisoner Geronimo Pratt)?

Although J. Edgar Hoover is dead and the FBI is said to have officially ended COINTELPRO; in light of the existence of special investigative units and task force groups in New York City, Los Angeles and Houston, made up of collaborative efforts of local police departments, and federal agencies particularly dedicated to the surveillance of Hip-Hop artists; is it not reasonable to consider that COINTELPRO, as it relates to Hip-Hop culture, has been institutionalized at all levels of the United States political apparatus - at the local, state and federal levels? Why can't it be argued that COINTELPRO has moved beyond a single government agency?

If that is the case then the effort to prevent the "rise of a Black messiah" and his implied influence among youth would be a wide-spread major point of concern. Hip-Hop, street gangs and youth culture in general would have to be a prime focus of those seeking to stop what they feared.

I thought of this along generational lines during the discussion between Minister Louis Farrakhan and Ja Rule. At a certain point, Minister Farrakhan said to Ja Rule (all excerpts of this discussion are taken from the transcript as rendered by MTV.com):

"The Bible says, when the children of Israel came up under Pharaoh, God told Moses to let the old ones die out in the wilderness, and He would take their children and they would inhabit the promised land. I see the promise of everyone who died in slavery in you all. I see the strength in you, but I see that the generation needs direction. You have everything you need to become powerful except guidance, direction. If I can supply that, my brothers can go out and build a whole new reality for themselves and our people."

When the Minister said that I immediately thought of two things - first, the 40-year anniversary of the March on Washington. Many Black leaders I have spoken to or heard speak in public, have likened the time-span from the March On Washington in 1963 to the present, and the evolution of the civil rights movement, symbolically to the reference from the Bible about the forty years of wandering in the wilderness accomplished by the Children of Israel before they entered the promised land. And, I reflected over Minister Louis Farrakhan's striking resemblance to the Aaron of the Bible. Aaron was Moses' chief helper, who established the Day of Atonement for the Children of Israel. Aaron's relationship and function by Moses is described in great detail in the Bible. In Exodus 4: 14-16 it reads in part, "...Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee: and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart. And thou shalt speak unto him, and put words in his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do. And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people: and he shall be, even he shall be to thee instead of a mouth and thou shalt be to him instead of God." Exodus 7:1 – 2 reads, " And the Lord said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet. Thou shalt speak all that I command thee: and Aaron thy brother shall speak unto Pharaoh, that he send the children of Israel out of his land."

Aaron and Moses worked to roll back the conspiracy that Egypt, led by its Pharaoh, was executing against the Children Of Israel. One component of the five-element conspiracy (according to both the Bible and Holy Qur'an) against the Children of Israel was that the male babies among them should be killed, while the females were spared.

There is no question in my mind that were he alive today, J. Edgar Hoover would recognize Minister Louis Farrakhan as a "Black Messiah" in the context that he used that term; and to me it is clear that he would view Hip-Hop culture (and street organizations) as representing the greatest challenge to one of his goals for establishing COINTELPRO - "to prevent the long-range growth of militant black nationalist organizations, especially among youth." He would be greatly threatened by the historical relationship and closeness between the Nation Of Islam and Hip-Hop. He would be particularly threatened by Tupac Shakur's power and inheritance from the Black Panthers. He would be, and actually was, alarmed by the influence of the 5% Nation Of Islam. The FBI files on the 5% Nation Of Islam are available online and in the Bureau's reading room.

Carefully consider all of the above in light of this excerpt from the meeting between Ja Rule and Minister Louis Farrakhan:

What I see, my brother, is that this is bigger than Ja Rule and 50 Cent, two artists whom God has blessed with magnificent talent. You can't touch all the people in the world you both have touched and not have something very special. 50 Cent has it, you have it, Jay-Z has it, Snoop has it. So many brothers and sisters in hip-hop are gifted by God with this tremendous gift. And I know, Ja. As a young man, I used to be a calypso singer. And in calypso you rhyme, and there comes a time in calypso when you go to war to see who is going to be the king of calypso. It's based on who can stand up, rhyme and make the other look bad. But it never reached the point where we became violent or struck the kind of chord where fans would take up the beef with each other. So we need to try and see if there's a bigger picture.

Now you and 50 may have genuine dislike, but you're both artists who touch millions of people. Your disagreement with 50, and his with you, has the potential to become so violent that even hip-hop itself - which is bigger than Ja Rule, Eminem, Dr. Dre or 50 Cent - is threatened by two giants going at each other, and not just in lyrics and words. It's coming down now to one or both of you ending up like Tupac and Biggie. How is hip-hop being threatened? The media takes the beef between you and 50 and they play it, they jam it, they keep it going. Why would they keep something going that could produce bloodshed? There is a bigger plot here, Ja, and this is what I want you and 50 and our hip-hop brothers and sisters to see.

...Ja, there's several lessons in what I'm hearing. Either we follow the public or we lead and teach the public. The public has an appetite for the beef. They love it. Now, we have to get them to have an appetite for something better than the destruction of one another. Hip-hop says we are thugs, we come up out of the street and now we've learned to rap, which is a tremendous art form. But now the enemy of all of us is watching. A war is about to come down on the rap community. When you and 50 throw down, it goes all the way down into the streets. Now what I see is, somebody intended to kill 50. You don't shoot somebody nine times for them to come up. So, if he's wiped out with all his popularity, and they can even subtly suggest that you or your people did it, then those that love 50 turn their guns on Ja. This has to end at some point and we need to educate the public. Don't call for Ja to clap back at 50, and 50 to clap back at Ja, when we've lost Biggie and Tupac, or we lose Ja and 50.

If you let the public dictate and you continue to follow that, the end result will be death and destruction. 50, you and me, we gotta sit down at a common table and work out the way hip-hop will go to the next level. The grave is where we are right now, mentally, and we gotta come up out of that. The power to come up out of that is the wisdom you gain as a result of increasing your knowledge and understanding. Then you feed that gently into your lyrics so the public says, "I'm glad Ja taught me better, because I was about to throw down and kill my brother." Like you said, Ja don't like 50 and 50 don't like Ja. There's a battle, but it's going from words to the gun. And we have to stop that. Your career doesn't depend on the public clamor. You think it does, but you have to feed the public something better and tell them why. "Yeah, I'm a clap-back man, but I don't wanna clap back because if I do and you die, your blood is on my hands and I don't want that." I believe we can come through this. Nobody on our level can bridge what you feel for 50 and what 50 feels for you. God sees we're on the brink of a fire pit, but he don't want you or 50 or any of our youth burned. He wants to save us from that pit and unite your hearts so that you become brothers even though today, at this moment, you see yourselves as enemies.

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Last week, 50 Cent and the G-Unit put out a mix-CD produced by a popular street DJ – DJ Whoo Kid called, "No Peace Talks." It is a compilation of G-Unit songs mixed with commentary from 50 Cent that is part "response" to the Ja Rule interview with Minister Farrakhan. It includes excerpts of that discussion and is filled with 50 Cent ridiculing Ja Rule. To put this in context it is important to note that although Ja Rule did speak to Minister Farrakhan about reconciling with 50 Cent; the day after that conversation aired, Ja Rule's album, Blood In My Eye was released and unfortunately is filled with insults and threats directed at 50 Cent. By comparison, the 50-Cent executive produced G-Unit album, Beg For Mercy has little or possibly no references to Ja Rule ( I have listened to "Beg For Mercy" several times and don't recall any).

But, on the "No Peace Talks" mix-CD and in several interviews after the discussion between Minister Farrakhan and Ja Rule took place; 50 Cent consistently explains that while he respects Minister Farrakhan and would still be willing to meet with him; he has no desire to make peace with Ja Rule. He even maintains that the discussion between Minister Farrakhan and Ja Rule was a publicity stunt on the part of Murder Inc. and Ja Rule to promote Ja Rule's new album. He explains that the nature of the publicity surrounding the event caused him to suspect the motivation behind the idea to do the interview.

While I cannot say that I fully accept that, in the way that 50 intended, I do believe that MTV believed that the airing of the interview would help serve the promotion of the movie Resurrection on Tupac, which it made possible financially and otherwise. Also it should be noted, MTV has signed 50 Cent to a major book deal. Any publicity surrounding 50 Cent means potential profit for MTV.

Certainly it is reasonable to think that there were potentially significant financial and commercial ramifications for MTV's airing of the discussion between Minister Farrakhan and Ja Rule. The music industry is "dying," MTV has an investment in 50 Cent and Tupac; and both 50 Cent's G-Unit and Ja Rule have new albums that could benefit financially from the publicity that the televised discussion with Minister Farrakhan generated. That 50 Cent and Ja Rule are both signed to record labels distributed by Universal Records would mean that Universal could have a financial and commercial interest in the effect of the televised meeting, as it relates to album sales.

But higher than the financial and commercial interests involved, is another cover story being written by the manner in which Minister Farrakhan's involvement in the Ja Rule-50 Cent "beef" is being handled?

In 1992 (and even before), when the movie Malcolm X was being completed and released, I remember Minister Farrakhan explaining in great detail and brilliance how it was the aim of individuals, operating beyond and higher than Warner Brothers' commercial and financial interest in the movie, to pit the altered and "cleaned-up" image of Brother Malcolm (who in the 60's the Anti Defamation League -ADL - maintained was a leading anti-semite) against Minister Farrakhan and the Nation Of Islam. The Minister and others explained that because there was no living Black leader with the influence and strength to credibly oppose and undermine him; his enemies had to look into the past and raise a powerful leader who was no longer among us, and place him opposite Minister Farrakhan. In no uncertain terms, he explained, the goal was to unleash propaganda stating that Minister Farrakhan was responsible for the murder of Malcolm; in the hopes that the great love for Brother Malcolm that existed in the hearts of young black people in particular (and others), and which was growing as a result of the movie, could be manipulated into a "revenge killing" of Minister Farrakhan. The effort failed. And those who doubt the possibility of a "cover story" in this manner should study carefully the role the FBI played in manipulating the pain of Malcolm's daughter, Qubilah Shabazz, in framing her in a "murder-for-hire" plot against Minister Farrakhan. The effort backfired, as Minister Farrakhan and Malcolm's widow, Sister Betty Shabazz held a public reconciliation effort at the famed Apollo theatre, as a result of the framing of Malcolm's daughter. It was clear to many on both sides that the FBI was manipulating the pain and wounds surrounding the assassination of Malcolm X in an effort to hurt Minister Farrakhan.

What I see above any commercial and financial motive is an effort to pit Minister Farrakhan against a living rap artist with extraordinary popularity and influence among Black youth. One of the things that struck me about the discussion between Minister Farrakhan and Ja Rule was the reaction that it received among the younger members (say ages 16-22) of the Hip-Hop community that I know and speak to regularly. I was struck by how few of them really knew Minister Farrakhan. They all seemed to respect him, and unanimously told me that they thought it was good what he was trying to do - in mediating the "beef" between 50 Cent and Ja Rule - but they overwhelmingly were dismissive of Ja Rule and were siding with 50 Cent - consciously or subconsciously, it appeared. I began to realize that most of the young people I was speaking to had only a vague recollection of the Million Man March and that they had absolutely no recollection or memory of Minster Farrakhan's popularity in Hip-Hop - not as a mediator or respected peace broker; as he has served in the past; but as sampled voice in Hip-Hop music by artists like Big Daddy Kane, Public Enemy, Ice Cube, and the Poor Righteous Teachers; or whose image was displayed in videos by artists like KRS-ONE. For the first time I clearly saw an age divide of sorts, in terms of the knowledge of history between those in the Hip-Hop generation such as myself, born in the 1970's and those born in the 1980s. I saw that mischief could easily be made of this.

I then thought about 50 Cent's enormous popularity and it began to crystallize in my mind that those powerful individuals and institutions filled with the spirit of J. Edgar Hoover and COINTELPRO would have in their mind to pit 50 Cent opposite Minister Louis Farrakhan in the hopes that they could hurt the Nation Of Islam and Hip-Hop culture, perhaps destroying both. In keeping with the objectives of COINTELPRO, the goal, is not just 50 Cent or Ja Rule. The goal is also Minister Louis Farrakhan - a 70-year old man who commands the respect of Hip-Hop artists and young people in a way that is a threat to the establishment.

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One day, Colonel Fletcher Prouty told me that the United States government, through one of its intelligence agencies, asked and lobbied for some of the scenes of the movie JFK to be removed. Oliver Stone, Mr. Prouty and others rejected these requests. But, even with this, scenes in the final cut, were removed, without the approval of Oliver Stone, the film's director. Col. Prouty told me that the film crew had government agents within it.

On more than one occasion I discussed Minister Farrakhan with Colonel Fletcher Prouty. He expressed deep respect for him. He compared his popularity and influence to that of the Dalai Lama (who Colonel Prouty once helped to rescue) and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Once, he told me of his very favorable impression of Minister Farrakhan's appearance on The Arsenio Hall Show and he told me how struck he was by the Minister's ability to keep a grassroots following while speaking forcefully to and about the elite in power. I remember Colonel Prouty telling me of his recognition of the Minister's difficult position - in between the masses of people and the ruling Power Elite. He once told me in his Alexandria, Va. home of his view of the difficulty of the Minister's task and his ability to handle it, " A man that wise and that intelligent, with that many people believing in him understands...(the way to lead the people gradually while exposing those behind-the-scenes)"

Early in our relationship, I asked Colonel Prouty a question about how he thought Minister Farrakhan was perceived by the highest level of the "Power Elite" (in business, media, military, politics),that he believed were responsible for or involved in the assassination of President Kennedy. Colonel Prouty, in a letter, wrote to me, " I do not wish to speculate on your Farrakhan question except to say that the death of JFK was because he was in the way of the Power Elite as President. In the case of Farrakhan this is not the case." There is a lot to understand in this little answer.

Interestingly, Colonel Prouty and I once discussed every major Muslim leader (of a state) of consequence, in recent history, that I could think of. Even the most "revolutionary" of them he informed me, from his inside knowledge, had at one time or another been on the CIA or U.S. government payroll - directly or indirectly. In response to a question I asked comparing the Minister to one of the leaders in particular he indicated that Minister Farrakhan was not among those that he was referring to as having been under the influence of the America.

****

I have wrestled, for months on how I would write the latest installment of this series. Part of my difficulty lies in the fact that there really is not much more left to cover. I envision one more part in this series, possibly two, to make two final points and then, I imagine, we will all be in the midst of the most critical aspects of the "cover story" that I have been writing about, and alluding to, and which forms the premise of this series.

Some have mocked this three-and-a-half-year series and some, including those with influential positions at media publications in the Hip-Hop community, have said of it, in its earlier portions, that it is an exaggeration, paranoia or hyperbole. I would later read a few of these very same people echo and substantiate what we had written. I am convinced that we are doomed to repeat many lessons that we did not learn in the 1960s and 70s largely because many Hip-Hop intellectuals and reporters have not properly handled this subject.

Sometimes it appears the more we "learn," the less we know and understand.


Please Read The Entire Rap COINTELPRO Series

Part I: Rap COINTELPRO

Part II: Rap COINTELPRO

Part III: Rap COINTELPRO

Part IV: Congress Holds Hearings On DEA Rap-A-Lot Investigation

Part V: The NYPD Zeros In On Hip-Hop

Part VI: Is The Murder Of Biggie Being Used To Set Up A Civil War In Hip-Hop And The Black Community?

Part VII: The VH1 Biggie Documentary

Part VIII: Why Suge Knight's Release And The End Of The Jadakiss-Beanie Siegel "Problem" Begins Hip-Hop's Greatest Trial (Part 1)

and

Why Suge Knight's Release And The End Of The Jadakiss-Beanie Sigel "Problem" Begins Hip-Hop's Greatest Trial (Part 2)

Part IX: The "Biggie's-Behind-The-Murder-Of-Tupac" Theory Is Cover Story Not Bad Journalism

Part X: Getting To The Top And Bottom Of The Murders Of Biggie And Tupac

Part XI: Meet The Press And Tim Russert Connect The Sniper Shootings With Hip-Hop and The 5 Percent Nation Of Islam

Part XII: The "War On Drugs" Meets The Hip-Hop Economy

Part XIII: MTV's "Hip-Hop Cops: Is The NYPD At War With Hip-Hop?"




Note: All BlackElectorate.com viewers are encouraged to view:

1) JFK- The Special Edition Director's Cut (On DVD) which includes deleted and extended scenes of the movie

2) Biggie and Tupac by Nick Broomfield

3) Resurrection in movie theatres now.

4) Minister Farrakhan's address to the Hip-Hop Summit in 2001 in New York and in 2002 in Los Angeles and his "Announcement" made in 1989, available through the Final Call Newspaper and Online Store.

Note: All BlackElectorate.com viewers are encouraged to read:

1) The Secret Team by L. Fletcher Prouty

2) JFK by L. Fletcher Prouty

Cedric Muhammad

Monday, November 24, 2003