Eco-Rap: Voices From the Hood

Using what's called an "Ecology in your face" approach, the ECO-RAP artists profiled in this documentary by Lynn Feinerman, hail from San Francisco, Oakland, and elsewhere in the Bay area. A multi-ethnic group of young men and women rappers, they were drawn to environmental activism by a local competition to perform at an ECO-RAP concert. Echoing what my mother said to me over twenty years ago about Steppenwolf, I can't always understand what rappers are actually saying in their songs (although my kids have no problem), however I did get the gist: it's time to clean up our act. Rap artists' Young Lou, 7-Stone, SheShe, and The Goddess talk about their concerns and perform in colorful music videos on the subject of toxic waste. Intercut are interviews with environmental experts on what Del Monte, Chevron, and other major companies are doing to pollute our air, water, and, ultimately, our bodies. Two things bothered me--first, there is a tendency to call anyone who speaks out against pollution an "environmental expert;" though heading up a local community action group doesn't quite constitute "expert" status on a subject as vast and complicated as the environment. But the real bummer was the repeated insistence that corporate America was practicing "toxic racism" by dumping in minority areas. If the film was suggesting that corporate America is buying cheap real estate and dumping waste with no regard for human beings; I could buy that argument. Instead, the film implies that corporate entities are systematically trying to wipe out minorities through strategic placement of toxic waste dumps. The kids can be forgiven for this kind of stupidity, but the filmmaker can't. There's a difference between provocative filmmaking and being socially irresponsible. Hopefully, Lynn Feinerman's next film will recognize the difference. Not a necessary purchase. (R. Pitman)