The Rappers

In high school, several friends and I formed a mini sorority called The Rappers. There were twelve of us; Trish, Gip, Kuda, Keester, Cisco, Biv, Hamma, Chicken, Rangeye, WW, JJ, and Mott. I do not remember the why and how of our coming together to create this group, but it was wonderful and wild. We had many things in common, yet each of us was different. The school we all attended was Eastside High School.

I grew up in Paterson, New Jersey, pre-Joe Clark’s “Lean on Me” days. My girlfriends and I have laughed at Joe Clark and his iron fisted control at our Alma Mater. We have gotten together since the hit movie and said that we never would have stood for Principal Clark’s rules and regulations. We are confident that we would have run him out of town, or worse.

Back in the heyday of my teens, we had a version of Joe Clark. However, he was the Vice Principal, not the Principal. I’ll call him Mr. Mac Donald. In our freshman year, I met Mr. Mac Donald and not under the best of circumstances. He was known for being very strict. He was a bit of a caricature. Mr. Mac Donald appeared to be less than 5 feet tall and he was bald on top with hair on the sides and the back of his head. He did not attempt a ‘comb-over.’ This man did not carry a bullhorn like Principal Clark. Probably because he did know that he could have. Clark was notorious for yelling in his bullhorn at students and teachers alike. However, there were some things that Mr. Mac Donald was known for, two of them were; the fast clip of his walk and his shoe heels hitting the marble floors as he rushed through the school to keep it safe and orderly.

The Rappers were brilliant, beautiful, and bold. We were friendly, fashionable, and funny. Some of us were singers, some dancers, some cheerleaders, some activists, some athletes and some of us were all of the above and more. All of us were undeniable creative and bursting with talent. The Rappers were the inciters of many an exciting event. Not that we were troublemakers, but we did make life interesting wherever we went. We were the most popular girls at EHS and the party did not and could not start until we arrived.

Old Mac Donald seemed to delight in giving out detentions. I had managed to garner several from him as I was learning the ways of high school life. Throughout the day, Mac Donald’s steps were heard all around the school. It was as if he were omnipresent. One day, however, by 11:00 AM, he had not been seen by anyone, anywhere, on any floor. I suppose some faculty members may have been concerned. At any rate, about 1:00 PM, the school’s intercom chimed in; “Bong, bong, bong.” Then the principal gave the report that Mr. Mac Donald was dead. I think his death was the result of a car accident, perhaps, not. I am not sure. He was dead all the same.

It was an era of racial unrest in the city of Paterson in those days. Rest assured that The Rappers did our part to bring the races together. Once we had succeeded in getting the generations on one accord, we went to City Hall. There were several issues at hand in our town’s two high schools. First of all, the curriculum at Eastside High School was not inclusive of African American Studies. Secondly, there was a tracking system that worked against the majority of the student population. Next, the teachers and other faculty were insensitive to the greater student body.

Some of the Rappers were transplanted into Paterson from other parts of the state. WW came to us from Morristown. Mott was from South Jersey and Rangeye was from Passaic. Chicken came all the way from Ohio. The rest of us were born and bred in the fair city of Paterson, New Jersey.

To get the attention of the people in charge, we formulated a number of strategies. These plans included sit-ins, walk-outs, and other kinds of peaceful resistance. The Rappers, EHS Concert Choir, the Afro-American Club also known as BYO, (Black Youth Organization), and other students, along with some fearless teachers at the school, jumped feet first into the struggle against the powers that be. Mr. Butler, the Music Teacher helped us write a song, “Power to the Penny.” This was our battle cry and theme song when we staged our protests in the school’s cafeteria.

This is how “Power to the Penny” was executed. The vast majority of the students paid for their lunch with only pennies. This slowed down the first lunch period, pushing it into the next and so on. It was chaotic. We were able to achieve the expected result of getting the attention of the school and ultimately the Board of Education. In the end, we were successful. Eastside offered African American Studies, the track system was dropped, and teachers were somehow more tolerant of their charges.

My teenage years were awesome years. I went to ‘socials’ and block parties. I had the best summer jobs that anyone could imagine. Socials were house parties where each person who entered paid a fee for entry. These parties were usually held at someone’s aunt’s or uncle’s house while that person was away. On occasion, someone would have the audacity to throw one of these parties while his or her own parents were away. My parents never went away and left me and my siblings at home unsupervised. Anything could happen at a social and often did. Underage drinking was probably the biggest subject of concern. There was beer, wine, and liquor galore at these get-togethers. Only red or blue lights burned at a social. No bright lights, there. Above all, the music had to be loud.

Most of The Rappers were cheerleaders at one time or other. Some of us were cheerleaders for three or four teams at once. We had uniforms for CCC; (the Catholic Community Center), the Royal Aces; (E. Lee White’s Funeral Home), and Eastside High School’s Varsity and Junior Varsity cheerleading squads. To this day, I am still a cheerleader. As an adult, I try to encourage anyone in need, especially young people and those less fortunate than I.

The block party was another ingenious idea. These were given during the summertime. I don’t know who threw these parties, probably some grassroots organization, but they were the best social events of my youth. There was food, all kinds of live entertainment, records, (today’s CD’s), and movies were shown around 9 PM. The movies were shown against a brick wall. All of the people from the neighborhood would bring lawn chairs and we’d watch free movies. Everyone was welcome. It was good, safe fun in a time of innocence and wonder. I have seen today’s version of a block party. It pales in comparison to the block party of ‘back in the day.’

My summer jobs were the best any teenager could ask for. I was one of the exceptional youth selected to get paid for performing in the areas of vocals, theater and dance touring around the country. Some of our presentations occurred during the school year. Yes, we were the envy of many a student. Miss Ellerbee, one of our teachers, advisors, and chaperones, told us that we were professionals because we were being paid to perform. I never forgot that and I never forgot her.

Our high school mascot was a ghost. J.F. Kennedy high school, our rival in the city, had a knight for their mascot. Kennedy’s uniforms were beautiful; red and black. Our uniforms were nice, also; blue and orange...”Hey orange! Hey blue! You look so good to me! Hey, hey, hey orange, hey blue...” That was one of our cheers. Another was; “We are the ghosts the mighty fine ghosts. Everywhere we go, people want to know, who we are. So we tell them; we are the...” We were the Eastside Ghost because they built the high school on a graveyard!