Welcome to the New Year in Hiphop. As THAT reflects back on 2002, and plans and imagines what is coming in 2003, one question has emerged that we didn’t anticipate. “Are we going to have an inheritance?” This question is not about reparations – that’s something we are owed. Rather, an inheritance is about responsibility and respect. Though thinking about an inheritance may seem selfish at first, it is why we acknowledge, think about and recognize those who have labored to leave us something of value and it helps us think about leaving things for others in turn. The question of inheritance occurs as war drums are beating around us, and we must think about what it means to be a citizen of both this country and the world. What have we done? What are we doing and what do we have to say?

An inheritance is a leg up, it is something given and passed on - a torch, baton - so we can go farther, run faster, achieve and create more than the person who is handing it off to us. It isn’t something we can count on, thought I think we should always expect to be left something of value. An inheritance doesn’t mean that the next runners (or generation) sit down and bask in what has been received. It means we get a turn, an opportunity to deal with the challenge of living up to and improving on what we receive. To give an inheritance means that someone has made a thoughtful attempt to improve our future. This issue of THAT is about building an inheritance and how things that we do may begin as a personal interest but can become something bigger and more important than we ever imagined.

Many artists and students of Hiphop culture have learned and continue to learn from the lessons of the previous generation. After all, where would Hiphop be if nothing ever changed? Can you imagine what it would be like if every emcee that started at 16 continued to rap about the same things with the same style and same beats at 21? What would it be like if new artists coming into the rap game never learned to get decent representation so that they actually could earn some money? Did we really want Snoop to stay high in a cloud of smoke forever? Do we really want young men and women to continue to have unprotected sex? Do we really want young women to have their entire sense of self-worth influenced by how they are marketed as sexual objects?

Hiphop is focused on better-world building so that everyone benefits. It is a challenge to try to improve the world when we are practicing our art, and going to school and work. But we’ve got the knowledge, expertise, creativity, and energy to build at every opportunity we get. Moreover we need to notice others who are working hard in our behalf and give them the respect they’re due rather than constantly saying that nothing is going on. We must also be mindful that when we recognize that things are heating up, we aren’t going to stand on the sidelines and endlessly comment about them. We take responsibility in building our future.

We enter this year bracing ourselves to deal with the threat of war, hate, budget cuts, HIV/AIDS, attacks on youth - but perhaps we should also focus on what we’re going to do to address some of these issues ourselves and what legacy we intend to leave behind. I have a friend who describes many of our leaders as “Stuck on stupid!” Well, building is about being able to flow, shift, change and keep going forward - and leaving behind nothing but trouble is definitely stupid. We must remember that there is no pride in not knowing. There is no pride in not doing. There is no pride in watching as things unfold around us. No matter what happens, we must participate.

We expect a bountiful inheritance and fully expect to offer one as well. That is the way that we can build a future that we don’t despise. Those who are building and learning and creating and growing offer the world their riches. From that we must continue to learn and build something, so we can inherit something, so that we have something, so that we can give something – to grow on. Let’s continue to build in 2003 – and never stop.

Marcyliena Morgan
Editor-in-Chief
THAT