The Story of The Last Poets

January 28, 2017 11:50 AM

The Last Poets interviewed at length on the Guardian Books Podcast about their origins in late 1960s New York and their subsequent history. Joining Umar Bin Hassan, Abiodun Oyewole and percussionist Baba Donn Babatunde in the studio is Dutch author Christine Otten, who wrote a novel based on the lives of The Last Poets. She wrote an article about writing her book.
posted by Kattullus (4 comments total)

Man, one of the highlights of a class I took on hip hop in college was having Umar Bin Hassan come and talk to the class.

One of the things that he said that really stuck out was about how attempts at self determination through arming themselves and becoming militant was a huge mistake, because it led to him and his comrades being hunted by the government, getting into running gun battles in the Bronx, etc. It didn't work because they were always out gunned, and a lot of people who could have been leaders died in that part of the struggle. It was kind of an explicit rebuke to some of the more militant members of my class, and reaffirmed that the government will fight a war of extermination against its own people if those people are armed minorities.

I'm looking forward to listening to the whole podcast.
posted by klangklangston at 1:00 PM on January 28, 2017 [4 favorites]

Fascinating group of people! Check out Jalal Mansur Nuriddin's Lightnin' Rod persona on his album Hustlers Convention, with Tina Turner and the Ikettes, Bernard Purdie, Billy Preston, Cornell Dupree, and Kool and the Gang. Great album.
posted by ashbury at 1:04 PM on January 28, 2017 [1 favorite]

In the very early 70's, as a white man, living with a Black Panther conga player (I played piano), these guys were an incredibly powerful and confrontational presence in my life. Their influence on today's black music cannot be overstated.
posted by kozad at 8:16 PM on January 28, 2017 [3 favorites]

This has helped me keep going many times over the years: Blessed Are Those Who Struggle
posted by at by at 2:06 PM on January 29, 2017 [2 favorites]