Fanon Che Wilkins learned about of the significance of his first names from a very early age. But while being named after revolutionaries Franz Fanon and Che Guevara creates expectations in people, he's never felt pressured by the legacy."I always saw it more metaphorically," says Wilkins on the phone from Japan where he is associate professor of African-American History and Culture at Doshisha University.He says the message he got from his parents - both activists in the 1960s American civil rights/black power movement - was more along the lines of: "Here are two people we think were very important, we hope you are able to recognise and get some sustenance from what they did."Wilkins, who will be delivering a public lecture at Auckland University on June 4 entitled "George Bush Doesn't Care About Black People", says his parents always gave him permission to be himself."I was not a Che Guevara or Franz Fanon, I was Fanon Che, which was something different. That's the hip-hop side of me. Hip-hop is always about how one can have the courage to be oneself."
The title of his lecture comes from American rap artist and hip-hop producer Kanye West, who shocked America with the statement on September 2, 2005, during a Red Cross benefit concert on NBC for Hurricane Katrina relief.Wilkins says at the time the statement resonated with him. "I knew there was going to be a lot of backlash, so I immediately wrote a piece called 'Thank you Kanye!'."The essay became viral, rapidly spreading across internet sites, reiterating West's view that racist media images were depicting black people as "looters" and whites as "finders" of food and basic necessities. Wilkins says West captured what many were thinking - that the response to the Hurricane Katrina disaster was woefully slow."It was clear for many of us that we saw what was to come. And that was neglect, because this was not a new phenomenon."Wilkins sees West's call to action as a pivotal moment that not only dispels ideas of youth apathy and political cynicism, but also shows how hip-hop is a force to be reckoned with. That may be a bridge too far for many, but in Wilkins' view hip-hop artists have reconstructed the history of the black freedom movement.Get him started on the topic and Wilkins becomes a stream of hip-hop propaganda."Alongside some of the romantic notions of bling, excessive materialism and even misogyny - what some of us call the negative and downside dimensions of hip-hop - there has been this consistent and persistent way in which hip-hop has sought to valorise the oppressed."Wilkins sees hip-hop as a lens for understanding the past - "a resource of intelligence and insight given its 30-45 year history".
