PLEASE! Pass Along This Amazing Protest Music To Young People

"What happens in the dark will come to light" ...Lyric from 'Voices of the Voiceless

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By Mark Taylor
DeMOCKracy.ink (2/25/24)

What I know about hip-hop could fit in a bottle cap, but a year-old episode of The Chris Hedges report (below) featuring an interview with British rapper Lowkey absolutely stunned me. I mean, this guy is amazing!

Kareem Dennis — Lowkey — uses his eloquent gutsy talent to advocate not just for the oppressed Palestinians, but for the victims of the entire western empire, including the millions of innocents mindlessly slaughtered in our insane neocon wars and those abandoned in his home country. The depth of his knowledge in the interview with Hedges is not only broad and deep, but deeply personal; forged in what he has seen and experienced.

With the killing fields of the US/Israeli Gaza genocide getting bloodier as the US-armed and funded Israelis are extending their murderous rampage into Rafah, this year-old interview is as timely today. The fact that some of his recordings are over a decade old is testament to the unchanging, immune-to-learning-from-total-failure pathological fiber of the American empire and our souless elite.

Music was a powerful rallying force to the Civil Rights movement and fueled opposition to the Vietnam War, but now — in the midst of one of this nation’s greatest crimes — America’s meek musicians have been largely absent. While Lowkey has been censored and banned from coming to the United States, his music can be found. PLEASE pass this along, especially to younger people who need to hear what the eloquent voice of real protest sounds like. All the songs linked here are brimming with the brutal truth we need to hear … and face.

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The Chris Hedges Report: Hip Hop, Censorship, Palestinian Resistance & The Struggle For Humanity

By Chris Hedges
The Chris Hedges Report/Real News Network (4/29/22)

Legendary UK-based hip-hop artist and activist Kareem Dennis, aka Lowkey, uses his considerable talents as a musician to pay homage to the voices and struggles of the oppressed, from the plight of migrants that have fled to Europe, to the suffering of Iraqis and Palestinians in the Middle East, to the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017. His work, including his single "Voices of The Voiceless" with Immortal Technique, and "Long Live Palestine" (also known as "Tears to Laughter"), are hip-hop classics. His song "Terrorist?", a searing condemnation of the hypocrisy of Washington and Western governments, was swiftly censored by many digital media platforms.

Targeted by Israel lobby in US & UK

He's long been a target of the Israel lobby in both UK and the United States, which blocked him from receiving a visa to perform. The University of Cambridge postponed his March 8 [2022] Zoom talk, "The Israel Lobby's War Against You." The British press has engaged in an ongoing smear campaign against the rapper, and there is an organized effort to get his music removed from Spotify.

33-minute video / Music begins at 27:20-mark

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“Terrorist?” — A Straight-Up, No BS Call-Out Of US & UK Terrorism

“You think that I don’t know, but I do, I do, I do.
”You think we don’t know but we knooooooow.”

Link here for another live recording of “Terrorist?”

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Neoliberalism Kills People

"Rosa Luxembourg gave us the simple truth - you wont feel your chains until the day you begin to move"

7-minute video

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Think Of Others

As you prepare your breakfast, think of others
   (do not forget the pigeon’s food).

As you conduct your wars, think of others
   (do not forget those who seek peace).

As you pay your water bill, think of others
   (those who are nursed by clouds).

As you return home, to your home, think of others
   (do not forget the people of the camps).

As you sleep and count the stars, think of others
   (those who have nowhere to sleep).

As you liberate yourself in metaphor, think of others
   (those who have lost the right to speak).

As you think of others far away, think of yourself
   (say: “If only I were a candle in the dark”).

— Mahmoud Darwish, Palestine National Poet.

Mahmoud Darwish (1941-2008) was an award-winning Palestinian author and poet. His literature, particularly his poetry, created a sense of Palestinian identity and was used to resist the occupation of his homeland. (Palestine Advocacy Project)

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“Neoliberal democracy. Instead of citizens, it produces consumers. Instead of communities, it produces shopping malls. The net result is an atomized society of disengaged individuals who feel demoralized and socially powerless.

”In sum, neoliberalism is the immediate and foremost enemy of genuine participatory democracy, not just in the United States but across the planet, and will be for the foreseeable future.”

―Noam Chomsky