View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by SJSU ScholarWorks San Jose State University SJSU ScholarWorks National Association for Chicana and Chicano 2001: 28th Annual: Beginning a New Millennium - Studies Annual Conference Tucson, AZ Apr 1st, 3:00 PM ‘Here is Something You Can’t Understand…’ Chicano Rap and the Critique of Globalization Pancho McFarland Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/naccs Pancho McFarland, "‘Here is Something You Can’t Understand…’ Chicano Rap and the Critique of Globalization" (April 1, 2001). National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies Annual Conference. Paper 15. http://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/naccs/2001/Proceedings/15 This Event is brought to you for free and open access by the Conferences at SJSU ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies Annual Conference by an authorized administrator of SJSU ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. CHAPTER THIRTEEN Pancho McFarland ‘Here is Something You Can’t Understand…’ Chicano Rap and the Critique of Globalization “Truth sparks revolution and is therefore labeled violent” (PSYCHO REALM, “LOST CITIES,” 1997) It seems to me that the single most important trend facing Chicanas and Chicanos today is globalization and, more specifically, economic restructuring in the United States that since the 1970s has caused job dislocation, deindustrialization, lowered wages, increased unemployment, increased poverty, etc. As a result Chicana and Chicano standards of living, like that of most groups, has declined. Moreover, government disinvestments in cities, preferring instead to finance suburban growth, has caused the social ills that we all associate with the inner city.