Archives November 2010

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across The Eighth Dimension movie ( 1984 ) hit my senior high mind like a lightening bolt! I first read about it in ( the now defunct ) Starlog magazine and frantically absorbed the book and movie in that order.
I’ve been hooked ever since. Here was an 80s beat send up to Golden Age pulp proto-hero Doc Savage and his Famous Five. Obviously the 80s beat part has been updated to keep the character fresh. I’ve often wondered if twenty-somethings view the 80s as a distant Golden Age like we did the 30s and 40s?
Updated heroic themes like Renaissance personhood and friends with whom you can save the world were played out before my eager young eyes. Fast forward to 2010 and it’s no small wonder my activism is along Banzai-esque lines?
This character is for many the first glimpse of what a ” real ” life superhero character would be in fictionalized versions of the late 20th and early 21st Century America. While this obviously stretches the ” reality ” by a few light years, it’s borne out by global creative do gooders the media calls real life superheroes ( RLSH ).
While not as involved to violent adventure as Buckaroo; his core group, the Hong Kong Cavaliers and Blue Blaze Irregular auxiliaries, RLSH have proven themselves quite hands on at humanitarianism and crime fighting.
When Buckaroo burst on the scene there wasn’t any really anyone contemporary to pick up the heroic mantle left by Golden Age pulp greats like Doc Savage or the Shadow.
I especially liked the support role played by Banzai’s Blue Blaze Irregulars. Otherwise normal people could be trained as stand bys whenever their beloved leader needed help- sort of a National Guard for a superhero. RLSH should adopt this strategy so we can multiply the amount of good done by adding more visionaries to our ranks. My Street Team is the result of this type of inclusiveness.
While some real life superhero members favor a Lone Ranger approach, others use a Seventh Calvary style to increase impact.
Buckaroo Banzai is a personal favorite! His impact cuts across professions and demographics. While quirky entertainment to some, this unique universe offers creative activists a wealth of inspiration.
** There are Banzai comic books and other content out there!
NADRA ENZI AKA CAPT BLACK promotes crime prevention and self-development. http://www.captblack.info

Drake is the front runner for my unofficial ” Rapper Least Likely To be Arrested ” award as a Hood conservative and real life superhero ( RLSH ) listener.
While sometimes listening to ( paradoxically ) Rick Ross and others waxing poetic about poison sold to their own people, Drake stands out and apart from this genocidal lyric crowd.
It not that he’s clean cut or speaks Standard English without considerable effort. TI, another personal favorite since ” Rubberband Man “, is also clean cut but addicted to incarceration- like too many Hip Hop artists. Some young fans misuse risque content as blueprints for life instead of edgy entertainment.
Drake offers hope to older listenership and community stakeholders who want much more for today’s artists than incarceration; parole/probation and sudden death. I won’t call the roll of dead rappers but fans know the attrition rate is too high, just like on inner city streets.
LL Cool J; Will Smith ( formerly The Fresh Prince )** and conscious rappers from my era like Rakim; Public Enemy; Lakim Shabazz, etc. show you could avoid popularizing genocide and still make money.
I don’t want boring Hip Hop. It must be the eternal voice of the Hood, speaking whatever ” negro ” dialect is vogue at that time. I also don’t want it becoming boring and producing rap versions of Wayne Newton or Lawrence Welk ( lol ).
As someone who’s Old School I want these artists to enjoy their fame- without self-destructing! Hip Hop isn’t just spitting death lyrics. Hip Hop is also about life… and even something rarely seen in the Hood- hope.
If being locked inside the ” belly of the beast ” ( translation: jail or prison ) is bad while poor, does being rich improve the experience? Sitting behind bars has long become the thing to do for wealthy urbanites.
Drake hopefully is the first of many non thug rappers to come.
NADRA ENZI AKA CAPT BLACK promotes Black bipartisanship; crime prevention and self-development. http://www.captblack.info
** Eight Ball & MJG and Bun B are far from forgotten!