Sunday, August 16, 2009

PA Arts Sunday - August 16, 2009 -- People, Not Places

Detroit-based hip-hop artist, Invincible, came out with a new song just over four months ago, titled People, Not Places. Recently, a longer version that includes some very effective video techniques, along with interviews, has come out. Additionally, Invincible has performed live versions of the song around the US and Canada.

Rapper and YouTube interviewer, jasirix, gives this brief biographical capsule of Invincible:

Invincible is as well known for her community activism on a host of issues, from gentrification to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as for ripping the MIC. Dubbed by XXL Magazine as every A&Rs worst nightmare for rejecting major label deals and general industry politrix, Invincible started her own record label, EMERGENCE, self-releasing her long-awaited full length LP, ShapeShifters, June, 2008.

Invincible is also a member of the all-female group, ANOMOLIES, which seeks to erase misogynistic narratives in Hip-Hop by reflecting, musically and beyond, true womanhood.

Here's jasirix, interviewing Invincible about the inevitable comparisons between her work and that of eminem:


The Mideast political and sometimes cultural blog, KABOBfest, describes the new extended version of People, Not Places:

This docu-music-video is based on the song of the same name by Invincible featuring Abeer and Suhell Nafar (DAM). Invincible plays two characters in the video: a Birthright Israel tour recruiter, styled as a used car salesman; and herself, subverting the recruiter’s mission by exposing the buried Palestinian significance of each location in the tour.

Invincible exposes the process of historic and continued colonization of Palestine as being even deeper than land seizure and ethnic cleansing, but one that attempts to erase the indigenous language, culture, and memory of Palestinians.

Intertwined with the music video are interviews that expose how Zionist claims to a Jewish “birthright” to Palestine have come at the expense of the Palestinian Right of Return to their indigenous land. These interviews show how the Right of Return of Palestinians is interconnected with the resistance of occupied and displaced refugee communities globally, from Turtle Island to Puerto Rico and beyond.


The progress of high quality art such as this production, is of interest to me, as I've created art about the oppression of Palestinians, and am working on two other compositions right now, one on the oppressions and progroms of the Taliban, and one on how Americans simply cannot understand how awful our continuing abetting of torture truly is.

Here's the extended version of People, Not Places:


And here's a short documentary from a June presentation in Seattle, by Invincible and other social awareness hip-hop artists:

People Not Places (Seattle) from Scott Macklin on Vimeo.



hat tip - Adam Horowitz

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

A "progressive" blog that hates Israel !!! Wot a surprise !! Can we say "racist" yet ?

Anonymous said...

"These interviews show how the Right of Return of Palestinians is interconnected with the resistance of occupied and displaced refugee communities globally,"

Does this include the displaced refugee communities of 840,000 Jews forced from Arab nations in 1948 ?

Philip Munger said...

anon @ 9:44,

From what I know, the discussions on reparations of Jews who left the Arab nations in the late 1940s need to be addressed comprehensively.

I would like to see the issue of displacement of peoples or disintegration of long-term cultures due to outside settlement or industrial colonization to be addressed comprehensively. Worldwide. Don't count on the UN to being up to it.

The Arab nations and Iran, in particular, haven't been any more honest than the Israelis, even less honest, IMHO. And the former have used the plight of the Palestinians to rabble-rouse and obfuscate.

But the Israelis have never encouraged rational opposition parties in those countries, who might have helped in efforts for peace and accommodation.

baja said...

Great videos Phil. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.

Anonymous said...

great feature... invincible is smokin, and the song people not places rocks it.