Hip hop has a vagina. - Brown University

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28 A Post Yaa Sarpong Brazil For most people of my generation, November 4, 2008 is one of our most memorable days, but not in the same way that 9/11 or the invasion of Iraq is memorable. We have seen something that our parents and grandparents had never envisioned. One hundred forty-three years after the end of slavery and forty years after the peak of the Civil Rights movement, the United States elected a black president. I had the pleasure of witnessing the election as an outsider on the inside. What I mean when I say that is I watched the intense final days of the 2008 Election as a student and foreigner in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. I first visited Rio in March 2008 during the height of the primary battle between Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton. In Brazil, the support was overwhelmingly in Obama’s favor because, as one man proclaimed to me, the US did not need “any more blue eyes.” As the battle raged on between Obama and John McCain, Brazil was no different from the rest of the world and majority of the US citizens hurt by the economic crisis and the selfish policies of the Bush era, desperately wanting to end the Republican reign. Most of the world sees the U.S. as an empire on its last breath, but with this omnipresent global era on our hands, the decline of the United States means the economic collapse of most the industrialized and, subsequently, unindustrialized world. On the morning of November 5, 2008, my black housekeeper told me the results of the election as I rushed out of the house. I could see that there was genuine joy in her eyes to see the realization of a black man in charge of the most powerful country in the world. In Brazil, being a housekeeper carries more baggage than most occupations. She is next to nothing, on her feet more than twelve ours out of the day, and held behind the strict line of worker—not family member. And she works for a kind boss. I can distinctly remember her telling me, and a little bit after I thought, “She probably never held the same hope for her own country.” Since his election, there wasn’t a day in the month of November when Barack Obama was not on the cover of some magazine or newspaper or a headline on the evening news. Brazilians, especially of the American baby boom generation, never hoped that this day would come because they witnessed first hand the atrocities of the 1960s and mass killings of black male public figures, and for them there is no difference between Martin, Malcolm, and Barack. What struck me during the aftermath of the election was when everyone was congratulating me on the US living up the promise of its democracy. But Brazil is accountable to that same democracy; yet, it has a larger and more subjugated black population than the United States. No one—not even my educated professors—holds any hope for a black president in Brazil. But as I am constantly reminded, there is no racism in Brazil. The persistent idea is of the other in Brazil. The other country can have these great leaps and bounds, but these things are impossible in Brazil. My exchanges with black people can fill a book with their reactions when they find out that I am from Africa or when I tell them I live in the US. They are filled with varying reactions from envy to blind questioning of my upbringing. I still have not figured out the reasons for any of these reactions and might have to move a mountain of research if I am to do so.
For the most part, I am surrounded by white people of my age group. I have the pleasure of attending one of the most pretentious—I mean, prestigious—schools in Rio de Janeiro: Pontifica Universidade Catolica (PUC). It is one of the few private institutions here held in high esteem because most of the private schools here have a reputation of catering to the spoiled brats of the rich and famous. PUC is not really any different, but it attracts better professors and slightly smarter spoiled brats. The reaction of the spoiled brats—I mean, students—to the American elections is taken straight from their parents’ financial advisors. Due to Brazil’s incredible disparity of wealth, rich Brazilians have a lot to fear when Democratic president—black or white—takes office. These men tend to implement policies that help close the gap between the rich and poor, which means that the rich have to give so that the poor can receive. And no one wants to give these days. But I don’t necessarily blame the upper class because the state of economic relations over he last 500 years in this country has made the cost of living incredibly high for anyone who wants to buy quality products. It was a shock to my system when I arrived here, and people who have money here are unwilling to scrape to afford the same standard of living. The students at PUC were unwilling to put the same faith that most young people in the world put in Barack Obama, who was fighting for the presidency against a man who was 25 years his senior and apart of an antiquated retiring generation. Obama’s candidacy spurred the United States away from representation by people in this gray area between their ideology held over from youth and the disenchantment of middle age. Obama still held that ideology and had a very young family to promote that change. So of course most Brazilians made it their business to keep up with every twist, debate, and new promise during the election season. Before the economic down turn, I found it surprising when a Brazilian said he was an Obama supporter because, unlike most of us, Brazil benefited from policies of the Bush era that John McCain was more than inclined to continue. Brazil is a great tourist attraction, a large ethanol producer, and more than willing to play ball with Bush’s plans for its natural resources, letting everyone win in the game of partisan politics of the last eight years. Then I thought about the image of Obama himself. It is the same image that the Brazilian government has been perpetuating (successfully) to the world at large. A post race, post division, harmonious perfect blend. His election signaled that the Brazilian way is the right way, and that the Americans finally opened up their eyes to the right way. I’m glad I experienced the elections from abroad because although I missed experiencing this historic moment with my family and friends, I have more clarity than most people in the US. Barack Obama is facing one of the steepest uphill climbs that any president in recent memory has every faced: a multi-front war both abroad and at home; a capsizing economy; discontent at home; and talks of the end of a Roman Empire size downfall will not be fixed in one year, and it might not be fixed in four years. It’s time for the country to stand behind this man that we have put into office, but let us not lose our objectivity because, after all, he is a president and not infallible. He will make mistakes because he is young, and being president is not something for which one prepares. With that being said, I join Brazil and welcome the Obamas years into the White House. 29
Page 2 and 3: CHANGING THE RHYTHM. Welcome to the
Page 4 and 5: Hip hop has a vagina. 4 (A response
Page 6 and 7: 6 Holy Prayer Seung Hwa Baek calm m
Page 8 and 9: Herma Winegarten 8 One morning Herm
Page 10 and 11: Pretty 10 a reminiscing Elmo Terry-
Page 12 and 13: 12 Av’rage turn red, black n gree
Page 14: 14 Av’rage Man done turn nta Dead
Page 17 and 18: Basma Samira i told you that if we
Page 19 and 20: Photo by Ana Lyman 19
Page 21 and 22: Michael Gray 21
Page 23 and 24: Michael Gray 23
Page 25 and 26: The first time I was a unicorn, I k
Page 27: e the image I can’t take my eyes
Page 31 and 32: The Hegemony of Language Paula Kauf
Page 33 and 34: Politically-Correct This region is
Page 35 and 36: for people to take 3-5 min showers.
Page 37 and 38: Slow Progress The livelihood of the
Page 39 and 40: CR: Given that personal responsibil
Page 43: The Staff Dayna-Joy Chin David Elio

Hip hop has a vagina. - Brown University

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