Guest Post by @zqclay "Chairman Fred and Jay-Z: Bridging the Chasm"

Yesterday was an important day in the time continuum of the American Black. The laity of said group will be shouting from the top of the lungs and fingertips, “Happy Birthday Hov” and maybe a little “Rest in Peace” love to Chad Butler (better known as Pimp C of UGK). The more esoteric of said group will be remembering the ill-investigated, instigated and invigorated Fred Hampton.

Hampton was sniped by the F.B.I. and CIA and Chicago Police Department at the age of 21 on December 4, 1969. Jay-Z was born on December 4, 1969. As one went out, one came in.

While there’s a throng that will assert that the two figures couldn't be any different (and they certainly have their differences), there is an astute connection between the two icons in Black History.

For those not familiar with the story of Hampton, please check this and watch this video:



His expiration was nothing short of treacherous, telling and tragic. It represented the worst of the human power pursuit. Hampton decided at an early age to not only share a corner of the human experiment with people who shared lineages and plights with him, but to fight tireless to improve it. For his efforts, he was spied on and ultimately done in by a group of government bureaucrats known to the collective as COINTELPRO, which was incorporated to protect the internal security interests of the United States. To the government, a group espousing Black independence from a system that wanted their dependence is and was a threat.

The nexus between Shawn Carter and Hampton isn’t as stark as much as it is dubious. Jay-Z made a living - and a nice one, too - adroitly projecting the image of a corrupt (or chosen) hustler who parlayed his street smarts to copious currency while admitting to dumbing “down for my audience and doubled my dollars.”

His record on playing the proletariat role – which Hampton did in spades – is scant. He is a business magnate now. This is not to say that S Dot doesn’t donate his money and time to philanthropic endeavors; in fact, his charity has been well-noted. From his quest to end the world’s water shortage to setting up a fund for Sean Bell’s children he plays the role of the willing giver well. 

He is one of the most successful stories of the American empire, while Hampton is relegated to the fringes by not only mainstream media, but by melanated souls who should know better. Hampton, along with Mark Clark, 22, and six other Black Panther members were ambushed and shot. Only Hampton and Clark made it out dead. 

Hampton couldn’t even glimpse sunlight before he was shot.

While Jay-Z claims to represent the “seat where Rosa Parks sat, Where Malcolm X was shot, where Martin Luther was popped,” his image and actions represent the best of what Hampton fought against: unbridled capitalism. This isn’t a jab against the Brooklyn native; this is, rather, a bridge to the two legacies. Hip-hop was inspired by the militancy of the Black Panther Movement and was in its nascent stages when Hampton was murdered.

Jay-Z picked up that baton and ran with it. He is the emblem of a multibillion-dollar worldwide industry that is now ran by corporate heads that would rather disseminate apolitical and consumerist chants than self-empowerment and cosmopolitan awareness. This isn’t Jay’s fault, nor is he completely absolved of his part in this machination.

From a movement rooted in the spirit of the Black Panther movement, hip-hop has evolved –or devolved, depending on who you ask – into a movement brimming with escapism run amok. This isn’t a subjective claim; it’s apparent from a cursory viewing of “The Station That Shall Not Be Named that building Isises and Horuses – or even models of Jesus – isn’t in the forefront of the hip-hop agenda.

It’s only business, right?

While Jay-Z touts his accomplishments and getting his "by any means on,” he is, in many facets, a man who is a victim of circumstance. His catalog shows signs of uplift and urban storytelling that inspires (Dope Man and Meet The Parents, for example). You get a sense that he wants to pander more to a socialist ideal, but can’t figure out how to do that and keep fat coffers.Which results in the following: He isn’t providing resistance of the current hip-hop machine as much as he is riding the currents of it.

Hampton resisted the machine. And was merked by the three letter assassins for his efforts. Efforts that were held with me, you and even Shawn Carter in mind. Coming from a person who shares a birthday with Emmett Till, I don’t let “coincidences” pass without realizing that, um, nothing is a coincidence. They were created by the same social forces.

Jay-Z and Fred Hampton are more connected than most would care to realize. The socialist and capitalist agenda hold permanent places in the struggle for Black rights in this country, with these two figures holding the torch for both ends.