The latest issue of Charlie Hebdo has finally hit the streets of France, no doubt displeasing genocidal Islamic sociopaths and their culturally Marxist, Islamophilic SJW sympathizers alike. The depth of fear of the poisonous, warped ideology which has paralyzed the gatekeepers of power is on full display, as the contemptible reaction of this Sky News anchor demonstrates. As James Kirkpatrick so succinctly puts it, this comes down to either identity or extinction.

It’s readily apparent which side the Kultursmog has chosen in this debate. One need look no further than a pathetic, cringing New York Times article praising the foresight of the overseers of the Appellate Division Courthouse, who removed a statue of Mohammed at the behest of a group of third world, Islamic backwaters during renovations in 1955. Reading that piece reminded me of nothing so much as the craven nature of the townsfolk in the classic episode of The Twilight Zone It’s A Good Life, who are cowered into submission to the will of a deranged, sadistic child with supernatural powers. 

Thankfully, the people who are bombarded by these messages have retained both their dignity and their hostility to an ideology responsible for a host of outrages both past and present. The most welcome development in this respect being the grassroots, spontaneous East German civic movement known as Pegida, which has drawn character assassinations from even the current chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany. Just like their slightly  more earthy counterparts in the anti-Islamization movement, these men and women are revolting against the totalitarian mindset which animates both Islam and the state-worshipping EUrocracy which has colonized public life on the European continent.

As exasperating and predictable as the reaction by the Mesozoic news media has been, we can’t ignore the organic, courageous response of individuals like those who comprise the membership of Pegida, or the steely determination of the writers and artists who continue to publish Charlie Hebdo, even as lickspittles and cowards who pose as journalists try to silence them. My faith in humanity dictates that these truth-tellers are the ones who are writing the first draft of history.

Last week I had the pleasure of witnessing a panel discussion at the Rush Arts Gallery moderated by Julie Ashcraft, who is currently curating an exhibition entitled The Grand Cypher: Hip Hop, Iran & Syria. You can see the multi-media exhibit through May 24th, but I decided to take in the works of art and poetry last week in order to listen to a riveting conversation about the nature of hip hop within a global context, the opening of which you can view for yourself. In addition to acclaimed independent rapper Immortal Technique and New York attorney Jenny Poupa Marashi, who was born in Iran, there were two artists who participated in the panel via Livestream, Ehsan Ziya (Atour)-who hosted the first hip hop podcast in the nation of Iran-and Francis A. Willey, a composer and artist known not only for an iconic image appropriated by freedom activists in the Middle East but for an innovative, less toxic method of processing photographs. 

What struck me about this event was the way it embodied was the transcendent nature of art. Many of the artists whose works were displayed in this exhibition had experienced indescribable hardships-including war and imprisonment-in order to have their voices heard. The fact that they are able to recognize the importance of art-and how essential it is to life-in the face of threats to their own livelihood and security demonstrates its universality to the human condition. In a society where artists clamor for subsidies from unwilling taxpayers, it was refreshing to experience artwork which was created  at great personal sacrifice, often in defiance of government censorship.

One of the most fascinating aspects of the panel discussion was a debate over the role of the hip hop community in fostering public debate over critical domestic and foreign policy issues. Immortal Technique-the Peruvian-born, Harlem raised rap artist Felipe Andres Coronel-was arguably the ideal person to address this subject, being at the forefront of independent, conscious hip hop. Even though I was familiar with some of his views prior to this discussion, I was nonetheless wowed by the breadth of knowledge on display by Coronel, whose commentary ranged over the role the Sykes-Picot Agreement played in the current, sanguinary problems in the Levant, to the extent of white slavery within an empire of oppression dominated by Arab-Muslim armies of conquest in the past. Regardless of what you think of his personal political philosophy, it’s difficult to argue that Immortal Technique brings a sagacity and historical knowledge to his work that is sadly lacking  in the contemporary rap world.

Ehsan Ziya, his Iranian counterpart, contributed his own fascinating observations to this discussion, which also delved into the necessity of maintaining creative and financial control over the work you produce. As an artist in an Islamic theocracy which exercises complete control over what artistic expression and information is allowed to be consumed by the general public, he experiences life very differently than artists living in North America or Europe. The plight of  those seeking to create independent cinema, music and art within Iran is well known in the west, however very few people are aware of the struggles of the underground rap scene. One of the chief obstacles rappers like Ziya must overcome is the Catch-22 facing musicians who seek to turn their passion into a vocation. Namely, that in order to monetize their art these rap artists need to be widely known among the Iranian public, but once they become well known, the authorities rapidly crush them.

Even though he is not explicitly political, Ziya faces persecution because of the incipient threat that any large group of individuals-even those who merely share a common interest in a particular musical genre-pose in the wake of the Green Revolution. Unsurprisingly, artists who do not challenge the existing political status quo-even in an oblique manner-receive the full support of the regime-a point validated by the approval of a rap LP devoted to the devastating 2003 earthquake in Bam, which was produced by a group of musicians who had the full-throated endorsement of the IRI and its state institutions. The chasm that exists between those artists who are unencumbered by the desire to please authority-and as a result, are persecuted by the powers that be-and those who insist upon kowtowing to power, was thrown into stark relief by The Grand Cypher.

Therefore, I highly recommend visiting this exhibition, which will be on display through next week.

Something tells me the proprietors of this particular theme park wouldn’t invest in replicating the experience of undocumented migrants living in Mexico. If only because the expectation of rape, extortion, kidnapping, or possible long term incarceration does not serve as much of an enticement for potential tourists.