FRANK ZAPPA ON U.S. ARROGANCE

Though the United States has only existed for a few hundred years, it maintains effective control over peoples all over the world, with cultures thousands of years older. Musician and composer Frank Zappa (1940-93) highlighted the absurdity of this relationship in this 1982 clip.

The United States has long exploited African cultures for profit. Between slavery on the unceded Indigenous territories now known as the United States and neocolonialism around the world and in Africa, our people’s labour, resources, and cultural products (like hip hop) helped build the US economy.

Zappa said the United States has always had more to learn from other cultures than vice versa. He further questioned how a country that is not focused on maintaining a culture can exist.

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Video credit: Manhattan Cable TV