0 0 History of Pi Ann Arbor's city council voted 9-2 to place Proposal B on the ballot in early January. If passed, Proposal B would amend the city charter and raise the fines for possession of marijuana to a range of $25 to $500, depending on the offender. Currently, possession of marijuana is punishable with a $5 fine and is viewed by the city as a civil infraction. Community members who supported Proposal B said the city has to stiffen penalties for the crime of pot possession. They said this will send a message to Ann Arbor's youth that the city is "serious" about drug abuse. Proposal B's advocates also argued that under current laws, the city is more lax on marijuana than minors in possession of alcohol. Ann Arbor's chapter of the roposal B National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) is heading up the opposition to the ballot proposal. NORML spokesperson Rich Birkett complained that the city council ignored the proposal's opponents by deliberately voting on the ballot proposal before university students returned from winter break. Those opposing the hikes also say because the referendum was placed on the ballot by the council, and not by citizen referendum, it doesn't reflect the sentiments of Ann Arborites. What the ballot proposal won't do is change the section of the city's charter that requires police officers to prosecute crimes under local ordinance instead of potentially harsher state and county laws. When Gov. James Blanchard used his gubernatorial power to veto the ballot proposal he criticized that this provision was not in accordance with "strong public policy." The council subsequently overrode the veto with a two-thirds majority. NORML originally intended to stage a rally against Proposal B at the April 1 Hash Bash. Now the status of the rally is undetermined because the University withdrew the group's permit to use sound equipment on the Diag. Two weeks ago, NORML filed suit against the University to get the permit restored. Last Wednesday the Washtenaw County Circuit Court Judge urged the University and NORML to reach a compromise out of court. The court will decide today in the event the two sides cannot agree. by Josh Mitnick Michigan *%Alumni work here: The Wall Street Journal The New York Times The Washington Post The Detroit Free Press The Detroit News NBC Sports Associated Press United Press International Scientific American Time Newsweek Sports Illustrated USA Today Because they worked here: BetBest of An Arbor 1990 Reader Poll Complete and return to the Michigan Daily by April 13. Results will be published in the April 20 Weekend Magazine. 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Women's clothing Fill-in-the-blank Name ' Men's clothing Lingo/Slang/Buzzword/Jargon Address Thrift/Used clothing Concert in the past year Phone M I Grocery __School and class level I Convenience big, like Young Mc And then there's the hard core, like Public Enemy or the Beatnigs, the more political rap. Rap that's more closely aligned with R&B like Heavy D & the Boys, rap ballads, etc. I think its very important to look at history when you talk about something like rap. Whenever you see some report on the beginnings of rock and roll and it was originally called "race music" and the "devil's music", it came from a lack of understanding. And you look back at Chuck Berry, yeah right, the devil. And then, what do you remember from Elvis? Once he made it acceptable and profitable then the establishment embraced the form and now he's the goddamn King of rock. I just think that it should be so clear, especially for people of "higher learning" or at an institution, where they are supposedly learning more about themselves and culture. I mean these things are clear. W: What's clear? F: Just the contradictions that occur and continue to occur. I mean, I totally take this with a grain of salt. Rap has been around for so long. Now it makes Newsweek's cover. Now people want to start talking about it. I mean, I think part of the reason people want to start talking about it is because of the anger. I mean, the anger is there. You know, people talk about how its angry music by young Blacks. Its angry because things are fucked up. They're expressing what they've witnessed. What they experience everyday. That's where the anger comes from. The opening line of the Newsweek article says, "The rap attitude, a new musical culture, filled with self-assertion and anger, has come boiling up from the street. Some people think it should have stayed there." (Newsweek March 19, 1990) Rap has been around for over ten years. Rap was okay when it was underground but now that its above ground and NwA can sell one and a half million copies of their album with zero radio air play - and that isn't by all Blacks, the majority by young whites - then the establishment gets worried. Ice T talks about this idea. And Newsweek says, "Some people believe it should have stayed there." Not that anger is bad and we shouldn't have anger, but just stayed there. And that's the whole attitude. As long as it stays in the Black community, whether it be "angry music" or Black on Black violence or gangs or drugsJts all fine. We don't care. When it spreads out to the white borders that's when there's an uproar. And when a group like Public Enemy comes out and says that, then they are considered an angry group. Controversial. For instance, Public Enemy says "in the daytime the radio scared of me." Yes, I mean, it is angry. And he's saying that the radio stations won't play what they feel is controversial. What many Blacks feel is there life. What they experience everyday. That can't be broadcast. I just find it extremely ironic that rap was part of the subculture as far as staying where it did. It was part of the subculture and it was fine with everyone in the establishment. But who allowed it to go mainstream? The establishment did. You know, it got the air play. Blacks don't control that. They don't control the avenues of expression. Then they hyped it because its makes money. But now its too big. Let's suppress it. Let's control it again. W: The Newsweek article on rap discusses the term "attitude" a lot. It begins that way, it italicizes the word throughout the article. Why do you think that was done in the article? F: It plays into the fear of an unfamiliar culture. I mean, you can't learn about Black culture. They won't let you learn it. You have to actively seek it out. So there's a fear for it. And then when we get bits and pieces of it - the anger for repressing that culture expressed by much of rap music's groups - then there's a fear that comes out of misunderstanding. W: What are dangerous myths about rap music being perpetuated by the media? F: That rap is a violent expression. Rap is not violent at all. When you think of the fact that all rap music is not the same. The best rap has alternative views, views that often seem controversial but deserve to be rethought. And I think that's certainly one of the strongest points of rap and why it has stayed as long at it has. Another myth: that it will die. As long as people have something to say, it won't happen. As far as Afrocentrism is concerned, I think its a very positive movement. Its encouraging learning of Black history and culture. Most schools don't address that as well as the issue should be. Its an extremely positive movement. And for whites, I don't think they should feel worried or left out. I mean, they should certainly feel welcome to learn. And they shouldn't feel excluded in any way. I mean, Blacks have had to learn white culture all their lives. And I think that its about time that both Blacks and whites learn Black culture if we are to make any kinds of significant advancements. W: What do you think about any sexist comments that exist in some rap music? F: Well, I think that's more representative of the sexism that exists in society. Its also been an off shoot, of sorts, of the one-up- manship competition of who's a better DJ, who's a better rapper. I think its also important to note that a lot of the records were originally written by men and sold to men. So I don't think they were as sensative about the sexist comments. I don't think that there was a concern and maybe there should have been. But now that rap serves a larger base and the audience broadens, I would like to think, that those who are more sexist will be penalized, as far as sales go, and discouraged from such actions. But when you have tunes like "Me So Horny" selling, what do you do? I mean what can you say? There are also women buying that, so the sexism isn't entirely discoraged. W: But there's a reaction from women artists in rap. F: Yeah, which is great. Queen Latifah, Roxanne Shant, Mc Lyte and it's really opening up the whole market. I think women rappers originally emerged as rebuttals to the sexism. Now it's taken the initiative. I think it offers strong female figures. W: How do you gage that in your own music? For instance, do you consciously not play things that are sexist or homophobic? Do you play things that are more socially awakening? F: Yes. I'm more moved by the more politically aware things. But like I said, its as much of the beat as what's being said. And sometimes there are tunes I would love to play because of the beat but I just don't agree with them because they're sexist or homophobic. So I don't play them. I think they limit themselves in that way. As I said, I favor more politically minded, conscious raising rap. . -Y Sc ru Fint * * This Weekend: I Stone Roses "Eephant Stone" "Mad Love- |C.D. *$9.99 IHouse of Love-new L.P. SCass. $6.99 C.D. $9.99 Curret 93 "Crooked Crosses" Bel I CD.-$19. T-s99 rs I $10.99 each Iiport! I d Ft.Noon . I 500 Sq. Ft. Of Throbbing Cool Stuffl! N 312 Mthom eSw erte 312 Thompson St. near the c I I 10 W. EEKEND _ March '30, 1990