Portland Native rapper Glenn Waco talks with the Advocate

In addition to being an up-and-coming hip-hop artist, Loren Ware (Known professionally as Glenn Waco) is a prominent activist in Don't Shoot Portland.

Who are some of your major influences?

Tupac. Lupe Fiasco. Jay Z. Kanye West. Eminem, Malcolm X, MLK, The Black Panther Party & Assata Shakur.

What role, if any, do you think social commentary should have in contemporary hip-hop?

For the most part I don’t think this current generation of hip-hop artists realize the power or influence they have… at least not in the realm of mainstream. Hip-hop will always have a role in affecting society whether it’s for better or for worse because artists are social engineers and hip-hop was born out of the same conditions and systems of oppression being protested now.

At the end of the day what role hip-hop plays is completely up to us as creatives. You have lyrics from Kendrick Lamar’s “Alright” being chanted at protests and presidential rallies, these lyrics have empowered people around the country. Vic Mensa is using his platform to speak on social justice issues. Jay Z & Beyonce (are) like the first family of hip-hop and they don’t only put messages in their lyrics or visuals, they’ve been bailing out protesters and silently making donations behind the scenes. Artists like David Banner have been touring around the country giving amazing insightful lectures on social justice and racism. J. Cole and a few others have been on the frontlines at protests and I’m sure have been contributing in other ways behind the scenes.

With that said, for every Kendrick Lamar or J Cole there’s 40 Futures and Young Thugs… and that’s not a knock on Future or Thug, but we’re in a time where people follow celebrities and don’t really critically think for themselves, not to throw Future or Thug under the bus because really it’s the majority of black men in the entertainment world, period, that for some reason have an issue with being black when it’s time to put away the shiny toys and actually be black. These kids don’t really have leaders who care about much outside of materialism, so everyone just gets swept in this wave of groupthink and conformity to ignorance and decadence. I don’t expect for anyone to be (Louis) Farrakhan, I just hate to see us turn into what we used to claim we hated.

How do you feel about the direction hip-hop is going right now?

I think Chance is like Neo right now. I think if there were anyone that artists should be studying other than Jay Z it would have to be Chance, The Rapper. I don’t really be tuned into mainstream like that; I like music with a message and no matter how many times J Cole puts out a socially conscious platinum album, features or no features, or no matter how many times Kendrick Lamar proves that lyrics, substance and hit songs can go in the same sentence, the industry ignores it and continues to force feed us hyper-violence and decadence, like it’s normal and the only thing that sells. I’m just over it, they’re corny. I can tolerate the music somewhat and I can even appreciate it, acknowledge its place in hip-hop just like any other branch of hip-hop, but the ones pressing the buttons are corny and I think there’s a very big imbalance that’s slowly being corrected against the will of the industry. I believe the current climate of the country is snapping people out of the spell.

What was your opinion of the Portland hip-hop scene?

I think Portland is a gold mine in an untapped market that’s being cultivated by creatives at the grassroot level on many fronts. I compare it to “The Get Down.” The Portland hip-hop scene has many eclectic layers, street, conscious, lyric driven, energy etc. you name it, I love what we’ve built I just hope we take advantage of the coming economic boom and invest in ourselves and in maintaining control of our culture. I think SQD, STRAY, ROBy, Karma Rivera, Fountaine and others are really making strides. I love how the females are beginning to really shake things up, seeing my brother Mic Capes shine how he deserves to, and it’s jus dope peeping the new energy the city has. It really makes me miss home, but all I can do is support in as many ways as I can and help us get to where we deserve to be from the position I’m in. It’s headed in the right direction.

Why did you leave Portland?

I left Portland the same month my mother passed away and for other personal reasons that (are) difficult to really put into words. All in all, I always planned to move for a bit and life circumstances pushed me to LA quicker than I anticipated, split-second decision. Although I miss home, moving away and experiencing a new environment was the best thing that could have happened to me, given the mental space I was in before I left. I’ve made some great relationships, learned much more of the business and now that Alia’s album is out the way, I can really zone in on my own album.

How would you describe Don’t Shoot PDX to someone who was unfamiliar with the group?

Don’t Shoot PDX may not have a piece of paper saying it’s an official this or that but objectively speaking, Don’t Shoot PDX is the Portland BLM (Black Lives Matter) movement. It was started at Dawson Park at the beginning of everything by the community, it has stayed on the frontlines since Day One and has influenced other BLM movements around the country, silently making history time and time again. I remember Teressa (Raiford) handing me a phone and speaking with community leaders in Ferguson… hearing the chaos in the background really made me feel privileged being in Portland while they were literally on the other line in Ferguson going through hell. It’s one thing to watch it on TV, it’s another to be on the line as you’re watching everything unfold on CNN in real time.

For whatever reason people seem to gravitate towards me, but for me it’s never been about me, it’s been about getting people to realize we’re all in this together despite ideological differences. There would be no Don’t Shoot PDX if it wasn’t for the community. There’s no sign up sheet, for better or for worse, but that’s what an actual democracy is, by the people for the people. The wisdom and knowledge from its founder, Raiford, changed my life and I live every day trying to fulfill my commitment to my community and our future, Don’t Shoot PDX has been the only vessel other than my music that has inspired me to do just that. You go to a rally or action and the energy is overwhelming, you feel empowered and hungry to learn more about where you can fit in to help.

What are some hands-on approaches to getting students involved in racial justice?

There’s no better hands-on approach than going to a rally or action. We always say that and people respond to us like we’re trying to sell them something, but the sellouts are the ones convincing you to obey the police and not hold them accountable as they’re demanding you to hold your children accountable for conditions that existed long before they were even conceived. It’s hard to explain seeing it for yourself… getting educated on the history of not only the country, but more importantly your own city, while you’re apart of making history at the same time. You’ll hear the names of local victims, some of their mothers may be in attendance… you’ll identify the gatekeepers and policies that institutionally and systemically oppress people. If people don’t know much about some of the issues, I suggest books like “The New Jim Crow” or the autobiography of Assata Shakur, I suggest documentaries like “13th” or “Arresting Power,” which is based in Portland.

What are some objectives of Don’t Shoot PDX that you’d like to see actualized in Portland?

Measure 11 (mandatory criminal sentencing) needs to be amended or abolished altogether.

The PPA (Portland Police Association) contract needs to be repealed due to it being passed in a very fascist manner by Mayor Charlie Hales.

The entire system needs to be audited; for some reason, that’s a real dirty word in the city.

Prisons need to be defunded and that money needs to be rerouted to investing in black and brown youth as much as the city invests in white youth. According to a study that I believe was released in 2015, if the city would have invested in its black students as much as its white students over a period of time, then the city would have one billion more dollars in rotation. We clearly haven’t been (a) priority or a part of the development plan for quite some time but for some odd reason we’ve been confined to poverty. Priorities need to shift to address the ills that plague black and brown communities, for once. The police are being given $10 million in raises thanks to that contract, while our water is full of lead, our schools are failing and our youth are left to take the blame for gang violence, which is an effect of the same systemic and institutionalized racism that oppresses any impoverished community.

This is the same oppression that’s being protested in streets around the country right now. The reason why poverty is so key is because scientifically, poverty = crime, so instead of focusing on filling the prisons with kids, let’s focus on fighting recidivism. Throwing a gang member in prison doesn’t stop gang violence; there’s gangs in prison, (and)  there needs to be a shift in focus. Teaching young men and women about Post Traumatic Slave Disorder, financial literacy and where gangs originally came from could change mindsets which thus could change lives and therefore has the possibility to change entire communities around.

Hopefully we can get people in positions of power and influence who truly represent the people and no special interests but that responsibility isn’t on Don’t Shoot PDX, that’s on all of us as a community.

Don’t Shoot Portland:

The community organization “Don’t Shoot Portland” (also known as “Don’t Shoot PDX”) formed in August 2014 in north Portland’s Dawson park. The group was formed out of a need for an organized front to the ongoing protests held in Portland and elsewhere in response to Michael Brown’s death in Ferguson, Missouri; their moniker, taken from a nationwide protest chant, “hands up, don’t shoot.”

Since then, Don’t Shoot Portland has led the Portland metro area into numerous protests against social and racial injustice. The group has participated in and hosted community forums, spoken on local college campuses, and most recently, Teressa Raiford, a prominent leader of the organization, led a write-in campaign for Multnomah County Sheriff on the Nov. 8 election.

If you would like to learn more about Don’t Shoot Portland or attend one of its rallies, you can look it up at facebook.com/DontShootPDX.