An Interview with Nuai

By Amin Sharif 

Sharif:. Nuai is an Afro-Mexican group. What does it mean to be Afro-Mexican in America today?

INTEL: Nuai is an Afro-Chicano organization in the sense that it has been established by and catered towards the black and Mexicano populace of America.  Appealing to a universal sense of pain like Jesus of Nazareth, the tribe of Nuai attempts to draw parallels between the agony of both civilizations' colonization and conquest.  The root of the malevolence between black and Chicano communities nationwide finds nourishment in aqueous deception.  

Los Conquistadores Espanoles and Devil American settlers were able to subjugate the indigenous peoples of this hemisphere so effectively by fabricating conflicts between nations.  Still to this day, the colonizing Oppressor's methods of "divine" and conquer remain the same.  By abhorring one another, we make things that much easier for Him. From the boulevards and prisons of California to the barrio children of Chicago, enlightenment is the key to understanding affinity between our people and successfully eliminating all discord between their two worlds.

ONUE: For me to identify myself as a Chicano means to be a conscious participant in the ongoing struggle to attain social justice for Mexican  Americans. The term Chicano (derived from Meshicano) is the label chosen by Mexican American activists of the 1960s movimiento who sought progress, demanding equality in education, civil rights and labor unions amongst the ongoing struggles to empower our people. I can identify as Chicano today because Mexican Americans are still fighting for the same causes. 

Despite being amongst the majority of Californians, Chicano's are underrepresented on college campuses. Without a university degree earning financial capital to develop opportunity for your family is sparse, and often limited to underpaid backbreaking physical work, the profits of which never pass through laborer hands. Low pay equates to long hours of work, and long hours of work are long hours away from your family. In the public eye we are still dehumanized, perceived as cheap employment, unintelligent or dirty. We are never recognized as the descendants of one of the first cradles of civilization that developed an accurate solar calendar and the concept of zero.

INTEL: My black experience throughout childhood and as a young-adult in this "wilderness of North America," as Malcolm so accurately described it, has been frustrating, beautiful, and both agonizing and joyous.  Growing up in the United States, I have painfully witnessed the capitalistic rape of a watered down and commercially exploited poor excuse for my culture. 

For centuries in America, a ruling-class has enjoyed a boundless prosperity built off of the glistening backs of my enslaved African ancestors, the majority of whom to this day continue to suffer from the immense disadvantages of dispossession, dehumanization, malediction, and poverty.  Coming to grips with this reality has been one of the most difficult aspects of being black for me.  

Much of our Revolution has been sold out.   Blacks in America are pimped like whores by a multi-billion dollar corporate American machine without soul.  For perpetuating the dysfunction of a fictitious street-life of prestige and glory, we are broken off with a few crumbs from the table of the same rich devils who have been fattening their bellies on the genocide of the black race for over 400 years.

Sharif: Who are the members of Nuai? And, why did you decide to make your presence known on the Internet

NUAI: Using the Internet as our medium for communication was a natural decision because of its limitless possibilities in globally projecting these voices. The genealogy of Nuai stretches back for countless generations and, quite frankly, it is therefore impossible to compile a full list of its members without a griot, who chooses only to indulge such information in the form of poetry and song.  Here are a few:

"Herein lie buried the frustrated efforts of our youth to unmask the fool's facade of american patriotism.  In this nation born of hatred's womb, we vent our frustrations by exhaling these painful words and curious pages of Nuai.  In a steady stream of grim, thought provoking images, we counterbalance the mundane billboards, televisions, and radios of our broken homes and communities that ceaselessly hum their distractions and insecurities deep within our psyches.  By providing a median to offset this self-destructive cycle in which we are born, it is with our deepest  sincerity that we fuel these feral flames of the ever thirsty nuairage."

Sharif: Does Nuai have a mission statement? 

Intel: nuai tribe is a afro-mexicano hip-hop team based out of both los  angeles & san jose, ca.  nuai, pronounced NEW EYE, represents the way  we as youth are constantly reevaluating ourselves and our society.  We founded the site in late august, 2003, in the name of providing a force to counterbalance the sickness of mainstream america. 

Through  our website, our goal is to draw parallels between the indigenous  peoples of africa, and the americas (north, central and south), their  conquest, and their role in today's society.  seeing that we are all  full time students, it is sometimes difficult for us to find the time  to update our page. 

this is especially the case for myself.  i am in  my senior year of high school, and am getting ready to start applying  to colleges.  in case you're wondering, i'm looking at uc berkeley,  stanford, and uc santa cruz (in state).  i am originally from  washington, d.c., and my mother is pushing me to go back to the east coast, or even to one of the south's many historical black colleges. 

we will see soon enough what god's plan is.  in the next update, I  plan on adding many more photographs from history. 

also, i'm hoping to upload and analyze the declaration of  independence, the bill of rights, and the constitution of the united  states.  we have a show up in san jose later this month.  we are very effective  live.  after sharing with the crowd our gift of music, we will promote our  site & message in hopes of building and strengthening the nuai.org  community.  i would appreciate it so much if obs would link to us, and  like i said we would without question return the favor.  i feel that as soldiers in this cause, it is our duty, under god, to support one another.

i understand that nuai.org has not yet fully bloomed, and our site is  anything but extensive--but believe me, brother... we are working hard to  change that.  definitely keep me posted on los angeles based events.  I  would love to show up and give my support to my people/peers.  I  appreciate your interest in our organization.  thank you for taking the  time out.

More about Nuai Music: Audio pans from right to left hit our listeners like thought patterns. Layering endless vocal upon vocal track, we are able to artistically capture and channel the wild agony of conquest and colonization, in the face of mockery and minstrelsy, into a powerful message of spiritual and economic progression and unity.  Check us out at www.nuai.org.  Peace.

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update 3 July 2008