"These are not lectures. I'm not here to preach to you. We're conversing. We're having conversations."

This was the mantra last Wednesday night in the Hering Audtorium as Chuck D spoke to an eager audience about the urgency of "waking up America."

Mr. Carlton Ridenhour, or simply Chuck, as he prefers it, has turned in his now infamous career as member of the rap phenom Public Enemy for a world-trotting tour concerning "rap, race, reality, and technology."

Among the issues facing a culture bombarded by the media, Chuck discussed what he calls the "radiation of a radio-tv-movie nation."

"This whole thing, the whole 'I've got to be a thug,' or 'I've got to follow what the television tells me I'm worth," is set up to turn you into a forever consumer. It's not real. It's as real as you thinking you're wise at 17, 18, 19."

From there, Chuck elaborated on race relations and the prevailing "anti-intellectualism that's killing [them]."

"America makes money off of black death, misery, and destruction. [America doesn't] want you to better yourself. They want blacks to be their entertainment. That's why you have to take it on yourself to get your education. To fuck the idea of being a 'gangsta.'"

After the show, I got the opportunity to ask Chuck about his feelings on UAF's own race relations.

SS: Much of UAF's black population is due to the military bases. There seems to be, because of the isolation and severe minority nature of the black students here, a great deal of self-segregation. Do you think that makes blacks in Alaska more susceptible to accepting images of "how to be black" from sources like the media?

Chuck: Yeah. When you don't feel like you belong, you find places that you do. That's why the media has to balance itself. It needs to offer more than one image of the black man or the black woman. Because, hate it or whatever, MTV and whatnot are where kids get their information. So there has to be more than just the clown version of a black kid. There has to be something mature.

To learn more about Chuck D, visit www.publicenemy.com or e-mail him at mrchuck@rapstation.com.

Chris Cruthers/ Sun Star
Former Public Enemy member, Chuck D speaks about American consumerism and the corruption of today's hip hop culture in the Hering Auditorium on Wednesday night.

Comment on this story...