The Last Poets
I would like to share in this first post one of the first bands that really made me change all my views, visions and mission on Planet Earth and get committed to justice and equality for all human beings and break the dogmas of society.
Today I understand that the Last poets were the Grand Fathers of Rap and hip-hop music with some followers like Public Enemy. The Poets social intervention lyrics in the civil rights era called for investigation and surveillance by the FBI starting the war of musicians against musicians never seen before.
I was living in Africa, everybody around me was older and they were smoking a lot of pot and already getting awareness about the fascist colonial regimes in Africa by listening to forbidden music like José Afonso (a Portuguese singer against colonialism), Malcolm X speeches, and reading Che's books.
In 1972, I was in my early teens when my life changed and I got my political consciousness for listening to the Last Poets, because of all those politicized older people I was hanging around, big hair, smoking pot, going to the "love island" - an island where freak people joined to live out of the police and fascist morality control talking about words that were totally forbidden, like freedom, fight the power, kill fascism and so on.
The Last Poets and these older guys hearing to this music and reading books that I couldn't take home guided me to sympathize the African Liberation movements and these tapes they have hidden in a hole in the garage.
This created in me at that time the impression of looking at a forbidden secret magic weapon against injustice and the heavy frightening shades of the wings of power flying over it with his claws ready to take to death and obliterate you with no judge or jury.
The first time I listened to the drums and percussion with wild tribal and primal rhythms, and voices asking for human equality and against racism in very explicit lyrics.
I could feel a pumping heart and pulse acceleration and I could vibrate like the jungle around me, and for the first time, I understood why white people was so nervous and couldn't sleep in the nights when African people from the villages around me in the jungle started beating the drums and sing all night.
Music was the last resource of African people to keep identity and manifest their anxieties of liberation under a total dictatorial and racist regime.
I was living under a fascist and colonialist regime, and the Last Poets were the magicians that unveiled the reality to me all the mask of dictatorship, racism, and the sense I had those things were wrong all of a sudden I had words and feelings to explain it.
Maybe younger people today have some difficulty to understand what is living under fascism and ditactorship, but I remember the story of the Band "The Fugs" formed 2 years earlier as anti-fascist fighters that were involved in the March on Pentagon in 1967 joined by Norman Mailer, Allen Ginsberg and others.
That opened a lot my conscience in political terms and showed me that there were a lot of people already with a very sharp political consciousness all over the world and I never felt alone anymore.
The political police at the time was completely obsessed about jailing all intervening revolutionaries and weed smokers, they were usually beaten, interrogated, humiliated and became a vigilance target or in several cases, people was killed for their convictions about freedom.
In 1974 I had a better understanding of the African and Black Freedom Fighters and what those guys were supporting the Black Power Movement, Malcom X and the Black Panthers and for the first time I had a glimpse of the power of masonry and the military industrial complex.
The Last Poets were like a shot between the eyes. an acute fearful conscience opening with frightening lyrics, because of the fear of living in a totalistic regime going to jail with no judge or jury.
For my beliefs of wanting justice for the world around me but not knowing to explain why.
The Lasts Poets. Thank you for waking up my political conscious that made me an anarchist and freedom fighter and make be a better person.
The follow-up, This is Madness, featured more radical and politically charged poems, which resulted in the group being listed as part of the counter-intelligence program founded by then-President Richard Nixon. Following that album, Hassan joined a southern-based religious sect and was replaced by Suliaman El-Hadi in time for Chastisement (1972). The album introduced a sound the group called jazzoetry, a mix of jazz and funk with poetry. At Last (1974), was a free-jazz album. The popularity of the group declined during the remainder of the 1970s, and Nilajah left.
Source: Keep Reading more on Discogs
Members included David Nelson, Gylan Kain, Abiodun Oyewole, Felipe Luciano, Omar Ben Hassan, Jalal Nuriddin and Suliamen El Hadi.
Around 1967-78 early 1970s their in violent factions of the SNCC (Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee), the SDS (Students for a Democratic Society),connected to the Black Panthers. They were jailed for robbing the Ku Klux Klan and Abiodun Oyewole got a 12-to-20-year jail sentence but only servedaround four years.
Some selected discography
- 1970: Right On!
- 1970: The Last Poets (Abiodun Oyewole, Jalal Mansur Nuriddin, & Umar Bin Hassan)
- 1971: This Is Madness (Jalal Mansur Nuriddin & Umar Bin Hassan)
- 1973: Chastisement (Jalal Mansur Nuriddin & Sulaiman El-Hadi)
- 1973: The Hustlers Convention (Jalal Mansur Nuriddin)
- 1974: At Last (Jalal Mansur Nuriddin, Sulaiman El-Hadi, & Umar Bin Hassan)
- 1976: Delights of the Garden (Jalal Mansur Nuriddin & Sulaiman El-Hadi)
- 1984: Oh, My People (Sulaiman El-Hadi & Jalal Mansur Nuriddin)
- 1988: Freedom Express (Sulaiman El-Hadi & Jalal Mansur Nuriddin)
- 1994: Scatterap / Home (Sulaiman El-Hadi & Jalal Mansur Nuriddin)
- 1995: Holy Terror (Abiodun Oyewole & Umar Bin Hassan)
- 2004: Science Friction (Jalal Mansur Nuriddin)
Listen to the Album Holy Terror in Bandcamp
The Last Poets - E Pluribus Unum
Selfish desires are burning like fires
among those who hoard the gold
As the continue to keep the people asleep
and the truth from being told
Racism and greed keep the people in need
from getting what's rightfully theirs
Cheating, stealin' and double dealing
as they exploit the people's fears
Now, Dow Jones owns the people's homes
and all the surrounding land
Buying and selling their humble dwelling
in the name of the Master Plan
'cause paper money is like a bee without honey
with no stinger to back him up
and those who stole the people's gold
are definitely corrupt
Credit cards, master charge, legacies of wills
real-estate, stocks, and bonds on coupon paper bills
Now the US mints on paper prints, millions every day
and use the eagle as their symbol 'cause it's a bird of prey
The laurels of peace and the arrows of wars
are clutched very tightly in the eagle's claws
filled with greed and lust,
and on the back of the dollar bill,
is the words IN GOD WE TRUST
But the dollar bill is their only God
and they don't even trust each other
for a few dollars more they'd start a war
to exploit some brother's mother
Then there's the pyramid, that stands by itself
created by Black people's knowledge and wealth
and over the pyramid hangs the devil's eye
that stole from the truth and created the lie
Now ANNUIT means and endless amount stolen over the years
and COEPTIS means a new empire of vampire millionaires
And NOVUS is a Latin word meaning something new
an ORDO means a way of life chosen by a few
SECLORUM is a word that means to take from another
knowledge, wisdom and understanding stolen from the brother
Roman numerals on the base of the pyramid's face
tell the date they began to exist
when they established this branch of hell
in seventeen-seventy-six
Now there are thirteen layers of stone of the pyramid alone
an unfinished work of art
for thirty-three and a third is as high as a mason can go
without falling apart
Thirteen stars in the original flag!
Thirteen demons from the Devil's bag!
Thirteen berries and thirteen leaves!
Thirteen colonies of land-grabbing thieves!
Thirteen arrows in the eagle's claws!
Sixty-seven corporations wage the Devil's wars!
Thirteen stripes on the eagle's shield!
And these are the symbols on the US seal!
Now on the front of the dollar bill
to the right of Washington's head
is a small seal in the shape of a wheel
with the secret that's been left unsaid
The symbols in the middle represent the riddle
of the scales, the ruler and the key;
the square rule is a symbol
from the craft of masonry
The scales represent Libra
the balance of the seventh sign
They also represent the Just-Us
which you and I know is blind
The key unlocks the mysteries
of the secrets of the seal
So that only the Govern-you-men
would know what they reveal
The four words apart form the last parts of
the secrets of the seal
and tells how they fooled the people
into thinking paper money was real!
Now, THESAUR means the treasury
where they store the gold they stole
and AMER means to punish
like the slaves they bought and sold
Then SEPTENT means seven
like seventeen-seventy-six
when the thirteen devils gathered
to unleash their bag of tricks
The SIGEL means the images
they've created to fool the world
like the colors on Old Glory
the flag that they unfurled
Now the red was the color of the Indian man
White was the devil's who stole the land
Blue was the eyes that hypnotised
with the tricks and traps they sprung
and even to this very same day
they all speak with forked tongue!
And so the power is in the hand of the ruling classes
playing god with the fate of all the masses
so the people don't get any in the land of the plenty
because E PLURIBUS UNUM means One Out Of Many
Niggers Are Scared of Revolution - The Last Poets
Lyrics
Niggers are scared of revolution
But niggers shouldn't be scared of revolution
Because revolution is nothing but change
And all niggers do is change
Niggers come in from work and change into pimping clothes
and hit the streets to make some quick change
Niggers change their hair from black to red to blond
and hope like hell their looks will change
Nigger kill other niggers
Just because one didn't receive the correct change
Niggers change from men to women, from women to men
Niggers change, change, change
You hear niggers say
Things are changing? Things are changing?
Yeah, things are changing
Niggers change into 'Black' nigger things
Black nigger things that go through all kinds of changes
The change in the day that makes them rant and rave
Black Power! Black Power!
And the change that comes over them at night, as they sigh and moan:
White thighs, ooh, white thighs
Niggers always goin' through bullshit change
But when it comes for real change,
Niggers are scared of revolution
Niggers are actors, niggers are actors
Niggers act like they are in a hurry
to catch the first act of the 'Great White Hope'
Niggers try to act like Malcolm
And when the white man doesn't react
toward them like he did Malcolm
Niggers want to act violently
Niggers act so coooool and slick
causing white people to say:
What makes you niggers act like that?
Niggers act like you ain't never seen nobody act before
But when it comes to acting out revolution
Niggers say: 'I can't dig them actions!'
Niggers are scared of revolution
Niggers are very untogether people
Niggers talk about getting high and riding around in 'els'
Niggers should get high and ride to hell
Niggers talk about pimping
Pimping that, pimping what
Pimping yours, pimping mine
Just to be pimping, is a helluva line
Niggers are very untogether people
Niggers talk about the mind
Talk about: My mind is stronger than yours
"I got that bitch's mind uptight!"
Niggers don't know a damn thing about the mind
Or they'd be right
Niggers are scared of revolution
Niggers fuck. Niggers fuck, fuck, fuck
Niggers love the word fuck
They think it's so fuckin' cute
They fuck you around
The first thing they say when they're mad: 'Fuck it'
You play a little too much with them
They say 'Fuck you'
When it's time to TCB,
Niggers are somewhere fucking
Try to be nice to them, they fuck over you
Niggers don't realize while they doin' all this fucking
They're getting fucked around
And when they do realize it's too late
So niggers just get fucked up
Niggers talk about fucking
Fuckin' that, fuckin' this, fuckin' yours, fuckin' my sis
Not knowing what they're fucking for
They ain't fucking for love and appreciation
Just fucking to be fucking.
Niggers fuck white thighs, black thighs, yellow thighs, brown thighs
Niggers fuck ankles when they run out of thighs
Niggers fuck Sally, Linda, and Sue
And if you don't watch out
Niggers will fuck you!
Niggers would fuck 'Fuck' if it could be fucked
But when it comes to fucking for revolutionary causes
Niggers say 'Fuck revolution!'
Niggers are scared of revolution
Niggers are players, niggers are players, are players
Niggers play football, baseball and basketball
while the white man cuttin' off their balls
When the nigger's play ain't tight enough
to play with some black thighs,
Niggers play with white thighs
to see if they still have some play left
And when there ain't no white thighs to play with
Niggers play with themselves
Niggers tell you they're ready to be liberated
But when you say 'Let's go take our liberation'
Niggers reply: 'I was just playin'
Niggers are playing with revolution and losing
Niggers are scared of revolution
Niggers do a lot of shootin'
Niggers do a lot of shootin'
Niggers shoot off at the mouth
Niggers shoot pool, niggers shoot craps
Niggers cut around the corner and shoot down the street
Niggers shoot sharp glances at white women
Niggers shoot dope into their arm
Niggers shoot guns and rifles on New Year's Eve
A new year that is coming in
The white police will do more shooting at them
Where are niggers when the revolution needs some shots!?
Yeah, you know. Niggers are somewhere shootin' the shit
Niggers are scared of revolution
Niggers are lovers, niggers are lovers are lovers
Niggers love to see Clark Gable
make love to Marilyn Monroe
Niggers love to see Tarzan fuck all the natives
Niggers love to hear the Lone Ranger yell "Heigh Ho Silver!"
Niggers love commercials, niggers love commercials
Oh how niggers love commercials:
"You can take niggers out of the country, but
you can't take the country out of niggers"
Niggers are lovers, are lovers, are lovers
Niggers loved to hear Malcolm rap
But they didn't love Malcolm
Niggers love everything but themselves
But I'm a lover too, yes I'm a lover too
I love niggers, I love niggers, I love niggers
Because niggers are me
And I should only love that which is me
I love to see niggers go through changes
Love to see niggers act
Love to see niggers make them plays and shoot the shit
But there is one thing about niggers I do not love
Niggers are scared of revolution
The Last Poets - When The Revolution Comes
When the revolution comes
When the revolution comes
When the revolution comes some of us will probably catch it on TV, with chicken hanging from our mouths. You'll know its revolution cause there won't be no commercials
When the revolution comes
When the revolution comes
Preacher pimps are gonna split the scene with the communion wine stuck in their back pockets
Faggots won’t be so funny then and all the junkies will quit their noddin’ and wake up When the revolution comes
When the revolution comes
Transit cops will be crushed by the trains after losing their guns and blood will run through the streets of Harlem drowning anything without substance
When the revolution comes
When the revolution comes
When the revolution comes
Our pearly white teeth froth the mouths that speak of revolution without reverence
The cost of revolution is 360 degrees understand the cycle that never ends
Understand the beginning to be the end and nothing is in between but space and time that I make or you make to relate or not to relate to the world outside my mind your mind. Speak not of revolution until you are willing to eat rats to survive
When the revolution comes
When the revolution comes
When the revolution comes; guns and rifles will be taking the place of poems and essays. Black cultural centers will forts supplying the revolutionaries with food and arms when the revolution comes
When the revolution comes
White death will froth the walls of museums and churches breaking the lies that enslaved our mothers when the revolution comes
When the revolution comes
Jesus Christ is gonna be standing on the corner of Lennox Ave and 125th St trying to catch the first gypsy cab out of Harlem, when the revolution comes
When the revolution comes
Jew merchants will give away motza balls and gifilka fish to anyone they see with afros. Frank Shieffin will give away the Apollo to the first person he sees wearing a blue dashiki, when the revolution comes
When the revolution comes afros gone be trying to straighten their heads and straightened heads gone be tryin to wear afros
When the revolution comes
When the revolution comes
When the revolution comes
But until then you know and I know niggers will party and bullshit and party and bullshit and party and bullshit and party and bullshit and party...
Some might even die before the revolution comes
Ver mais videos dos Last Poets
- Panthers' first televised action: their armed entrance into the California legislature in May 1967
- After the Party: Music and the Black Panthers
- Roots'n'Rap: The Last Poets
- Jalal Mansur Nuriddin's website
- Umar Bin Hassan's website
- Last Poets Tribute album at Jambetta Music
- The Last Poets discography at MusicBrainz
- The Last Poets' page at Celluloid Records