One Man’s Fusion of the Bible and Rap : Verses from ‘Why Is That?’ send a message of pride to blacks

The theory that major biblical figures were black--Noah, Abraham, Moses, even Jesus--is not new to anthropology and theology, but it’s certainly new to pop music.

That’s why Boogie Down Productions’ “Why Is That?” may prove to be the most surprising and discussed single on the black music charts since N.W.A’s brutal “Gangsta Gangsta.”

Kris Parker, the main creative force behind the New York rap group, uses his interpretation of the Bible to indict Western education’s downplaying of blacks’ contributions to civilization over the ages.

Parker believes that if black youths are exposed to this thinking that they will develop a keener sense of black pride and self-worth which could lead to an easing of problems plaguing the black community, including drug use and gang violence--ironically, the very activities graphically described in records like “Gangsta Gangsta.” Parker is scheduled to appear Saturday at Jackie Robinson Park as part of a rally to stop gang conflict.

“The whole history of black people does not start with slavery. It starts way back before the Bible and goes on through now,” said Parker, 23, who goes professionally by the name KRS-One.

The powerful black pride message of “Why Is That?” has caught the attention of black youths. The song--the centerpiece of Boogie Down Productions’ new album “Ghetto Music: The Blueprint of Hip Hop”--is currently No. 5 on the Billboard magazine rap singles chart. The album is currently No. 10 on the black albums chart.

Sharon Bellazaire, a programming assistant at KDAY-AM, the primary radio outlet for rap in Los Angeles, says “Why Is That?” is one of the most talked-about songs of the summer, both at the station and among her friends.

“With my friends it’s been a topic of discussion,” said Bellazaire, a 19-year-old pre-law student at El Camino College who is working full-time at the station this summer.

“They feel it is a truthful song. (Public Enemy’s) ‘Fight the Power,’ too. They have the same kind of message dealing with African culture. They just preach the truth.”

Lyle Mays, a 16-year-old student at Flintridge Preparatory School in La Canada and a founder of an informal community group called the Black Awareness Posse, said that his white friends have been “shocked” to hear suggestions that Bible figures may have been black. Usually, only the cursed Cain is identified as black.

“Even the best schools don’t teach black youths about their history,” Mays said. “What KRS-One is trying to tell us is there are parts of the Bible that black kids can relate to.”

But how accurate is the message that some major biblical figures were black?

“I don’t think you’ll find any support for that in Old Testament scholarship,” said Dr. Leslie C. Allen, a white professor of Old Testament at the Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, known as a moderately conservative evangelical Protestant institution. “I don’t think anybody in the Old Testament field would agree with that. You might ask (Parker) what his authority is.”

Parker’s response: “My authority stems from personal research, which has been spurred by Dr. Ben,” he said, refering to the writings of Dr. Yoseph ben Jochanon, a black professor who retired last year from a post in the African Studies department at Cornell University. Jochanon, known simply as Dr. Ben, is among the most influential black figures in the fields of Egyptology and early black history.

“It is a known fact that the Bible was written in Africa,” Parker continued. “Old Testament scholars should know that. But of course I’m not going to get much support from scholars, because I’m exposing their lies. That’s why I’m asking, ‘Why is that?’ ”

Allen accepts that biblical figures were dark-skinned, but says they were Semites, not blacks. He cited the Song of Solomon, in which “a woman shy at meeting her beloved says, ‘Do not gaze at me because I am swarthy, because the sun has scorched me.’ ” That, he maintained, showed a biblical character embarrassed at being sun-darkened, implying that lighter skin was the norm.

For the Rev. Cecil Murray, pastor of the black-oriented First African Methodist Episcopal Church in Los Angeles, the issue is not so clear-cut.

“I have more reason to believe they were black than to believe they were white,” he said. “The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle, that they were Semitic with woolly hair and bronze skin.

“We know that Moses married Zipporah, a Kushite woman who bore his children. The father of Zipporah was a priest who taught Moses much that he knew of this new god Yahweh and about administration and leadership.”

Allen countered Parker’s claim that Moses had to be black since he passed as the grandson of a black Pharaoh: “It’s interesting, that business about the Pharaoh, because in certain periods of Egyptian history the Pharaohs were an Ethiopian dynasty. But that was in the Eighth Century, not back in Moses’ times.”

Does it really matter what color the Bible heroes were?

“It makes absolutely no difference at all. What makes a difference is the distortion of history and the distortion of truth,” Parker said, professing that the notion of biblical figures being white arose to foster white domination.

“The Bible has been cut off by people wanting to be the master race,” he said. “If the Bible had been continued on it would lead up to present black men, white men, Indian men, Oriental men.”

But without that sense of common origins, Rev. Murray and Parker agreed, the minority cultures are left in a position of inferiority.

“Ninety percent of black churches will have white saints in their windows and on their walls, and a white Jesus with blond hair and blue eyes ascending from the water,” Murray said.

“A person given 75 years, 52 Sundays a year of that white God giving the message that white is right will become fairly indoctrinated. If we can reverse the trend and show our gods our kind and our color, and do it with integrity, we can do a lot about lifting self images and concepts.”

KDAY’s Bellazaire acknowledged that she had that experience at the mixed-race Baptist church she attended while growing up.

Lyle Mays had the same exposure to white heroes in both the Presbyterian and Episcopalian churches he has attended.

Said Parker, “If you take away the identity of a human being, he is left with nothing, and what fills him up is the surrounding environment. If the environment is negative and violent, you become negative and violent.”

Hence his mission.

“We intend to do away with the false personality and fill it with the true black and white personalities that reflect the whole world,” Parker said. “I come to fill the void of who they think they are with the fact of who they really are.”

Murray concurred: “If history tells it as it is, black people will not come off second best to any people. We’ve been here longer and fruitfully so. . . . These are facts that need to be known by everyone, and that would offset much self-hatred and hatred of others.”

For Bellazaire, the very fact that the song exists and is drawing attention is a big step for both rap and the whole black community.

“The problem is everyone likes to pinpoint rap as an affiliate for violence,” she said. “It’s just a form of poetry for kids and older people trying to get a point across. But nobody has wanted to take the time to look into rap’s positive effects. This might change that.”

The Controversial Lyrics

The government you have elected is inoperative . . .. The day begins with a friend, and a prayer to excuse my sins I can walk anywhere I choose cause everybody listens to the B I’m askin’ Why is it young black kids taught clash They’re only taught how to read write and act It’s like teaching a dog to be a cat You don’t teach white kids to be black Why is that? Is it because we’re the minority? Well black kids follow me: Genesis, Chapter 11 verse 10, explains the genealogy of Shem Shem was a black man in Africa If you repeat this fact they can’t laugh at ya’ Genesis 14 verse 13, Abraham steps on the scene Being a descendant of Shem which is a fact Means Abraham too was black Abraham fought in the city of a black man Called Nimrod grandson of Ham Ham had four sons, one was named Caanan Here let me do some explainin’: Abraham was the father of Isaac Isaac was the father of Jacob Jacob had 12 sons for real And these were the children of Israel According to Genesis chapter 10 Egyptians descended from Ham 600 years later, my brothers re-up Moses was born in Egypt In this other black Egyptians weren’t right They enslaved black Israelites Moses had to be of the black race Because he spent 40 years in Pharaoh’s place He passed as the Pharaoh’s grandson So he had to look just like them Yes my brothers and sisters, take this here song Go! Correct the wrong Information we get today is just wack But ask yourself, Why is that? The age of the ignorant rapper is done Knowledge reigns supreme over nearly everyone The stereotype must be lost That love and peace and knowledge is soft Do away with that and understand one fact The love peace must attack And attack real strong, stronger than war To conquer it and it’s law Mental pictures, stereotypes and fake history Reinforce mystery And when mystery is reinforced That only means that knowledge has been lost When you know who you really are Peace and knowledge shines like a star I’ve only shown you a simple fact It takes a nation of millions to hold us people back Which is wack, but we can correct that Teach and learn what it is to be black Cuz they’re teaching birds to be a cat But ask yourself, homeboy, why is that? Lyrics by Kris Parker (KRS-One) Boogie Down Productions