About Me

The Basics: Who: Lynx. I’ve had a few other names in my life, but that’s the main one and the one most people know me by. The ‘emcee’ part is a title or a job description, my name is Lynx.
What: Your friendly neighborhood Anarcho-bard.
Where: Oakland, California
Why “Lynx?” I get asked this one a lot so here’s the official answer: when I was 19, I changed my name to Lynx, originally as an alias to be used during direct actions and protests, but at the point where the majority of my friends knew me as Lynx I adopted it in my personal life and for performances as well.

To the ancient Celts wildcats were seen as ideal warriors: capable of defeating enemies much larger then themselves through their fearlessness and ferocity. In fact, the modern english word “cat” comes from the ancient scottish gaelic word for warfare - “catru”. Emceeing, of course, is only the latest manifestation of something as old as time - the storyteller using rhyme and rhythm to keep the memories of the tribe alive. In indigenous West African cultures the people who filled that role were called Griots and in the Celtic nations they were called Bards, but it’s the same role. So I am Emcee Lynx -a warrior bard doing what I can to help my people reclaim the history and struggle America has tried so hard to erase.

On my music:

I’ve released 7 independent albums since 2001 and the most recent 2 of those have been with my band, Beltaine’s Fire. You can get both of them, along with my two most recent solo albums, from BeltainesFire.com.

I rap about real issues in my music because it’s music for real life. Some of it’s angry, some of it’s sad, most of it’s at least somewhat hopeful for the future. I’ve done a few love songs and a couple songs about partying, but I don’t drink and I neer go to clubs so I don’t make music for that scene.

For the record, that’s not a diss at gangster rap or street rap or anybody else for that matter, but the rap game has enough studio gangsters without me adding my face to the crowd, I’d rather leave it to people who’ve actually lived that life and might have something intelligent or insightful to say about it. The first rule of Hip Hop is ‘don’t do wack shit’ and the second rule is ‘don’t pretend to be something you’re not’. Fact is I’m a celt who grew up working-class and reading too many books and who’s spent most of his life involved in radical politics and movements of various sorts. That doesn’t make me better then anyone else, it’s just who I happen to be. So that’s what I make music about.

About the Celtic Anarchist Logo:

I use an anarchy symbol inscribed in a celtic cross as my logo for my music. The celtic cross is an ancient symbol that represents harmony, balance, and the joining of elements from all four directions - unity in diversity. The anarchy symbol, an a inside an o stands for ‘anarchy is order’. if you wanted to get mystic with it it could also represent alpha and omega, or even infinite (the circle) beginnings (the a). combining the two is a way to combine my identity as a Celt with my commitment to building an anarchist society. as a logo, it represents the two most visible parts of my public identity and makes them one.

I should note that certain far-right groups use an iron cross, which superficially resembles a celtic cross, as part of their symbolism. I am adamantly opposed to them in every way and I trust that my audience is intelligent enough to tell the difference. I refuse to let a bunch of ignorant racist scumbags scare me off from proudly wearing the celtic cross which has so much positive symbolism and history, any more then i’m going to let people who think anarchy means chaos and punk rock music scare me off from calling myself an anarchist. They’re wrong, I’m right. it’s really as simple as that.

History:

I’ve done a lot of things, been a lot of places. I’ve been releasing my music as free mp3 downloads online since 2001 - way the hell before any of the big-name artists who’ve made headlines recently by following my lead were even looking at the internet as a viable means of distribution. I’ve done shows all over california, oregon, washington, parts of the east coast, ireland, and the uk; and rocked open mics, ciphers, and freestyle sessions all over the USA.

I wrote and performed my first rap song in 6th grade, I was 12 years old and the year was 1992. I sucked. I’ve been performing spoken-word poetry and hip hop ever since. I like to think i’ve gotten a bit better in that time. If nothing else it’s helped me understand and relate to the world around me. really, music probably saved my life.

Background:

As for my background, my ancestry is mostly scottish and irish but with 18 generations in north america (8 of those in California) trying to claim”scottish american” would be kind of silly. So if anybody asks I’m a celt and a californian. Growing up my family was intensely religious. I wasn’t. that created conflict. It sucked. I’ve got my own ideas about what life is and what it means, but I intensely dislike organized religion and you’ll hear that in my songs. Nowadays I live in Oakland CA - birthplace of the Black Panther Party, 2Short, The Coup, the Raiders, and hyphy music. Good times.

Politically Speaking my affiliations are as follows:

I agree with the Declaration of Independence which declares that Revolution is an inalienable human right which can be exercised at will by any population whose system of government fails to meet their needs, so I am a Revolutionary.

I believe that ‘we the people’ have the right to control our own communities and workplaces directly democratically so I am an Autonomist.

One of the most basic rights that goes along with a belief in localized self-governance is the right for indigenous/native people (Celts, Africans, Aborigines, Basque, Chechens, Tibetans, Palestinians, Native Americans, and many others) to retain and re-assert control of their homelands and to realize political, religious, and economic self-determination. so I am an Anti-Imperialist and an Indigenist.

I believe that it is essential for people in different communities to stand up for each other and set up syndicated networks of mutual aid and solidarity, so I am a Syndicalist.

I believe that the only way to make sure these networks and localized governing systems work for the people is to make them non-hierarchal and fully accountable to the people, so I am an Anarchist. Anarchist, for those of you who are out of the loop, doesn’t mean “likes to smash things and make bombs”, it refers to someone who opposes hierarchal institutions and power systems (the State and the Corporation being two obvious examples) and the economic, political, and social stratification that those hierarchies create and support; and seeks to replace them with horizontal directly democratic institutions. And that’s me.

I believe that people have the right to absolute ownership of everything they create and ONLY what they create, so no one has the right to own the earth because none of us created it and everyone has the right to the full value of the wealth their labor produces. It’s not communism, it’s not capitalism, it’s something else entirely. The closest term I’ve found to describe it is Mutualist but you can read more about my thoughts on the topic on my blog.

I know that the Race system is one of the most powerful tools that the ruling elite has to separate working class people from each other, and - to put it bluntly - I’m sick of seeing my friends and neighbors get abused; so I am Anti-Racist.

My mother and my sisters are women (as I’m sure yours are too), and it would be stupid of me to ignore the bullshit they have to deal with in this sexist society, so I do my best to be a Feminist (or at least a strong ally, depending on your definitions).

I am keenly aware of the incredible environmental devastation and loss of bio-diversity that results from capitalism and the very real ecological collapse that is currently under way as thousands of species are driven to extinction; and more importantly I’m not content to just sit by and do nothing as it happens so I’m working to stop that devastation by every means available to me. Most people would say that makes me an Environmentalist, but really I think it’s just common sense. Anyone who can look at the way the icecaps are melting and glaciers are receding and not realize that something is very very wrong needs to stop pissing in the gene pool.

I also recognize the fact that the “environment” is not just some nebulous thing that exists outside the cities, but is all around us all the time and that the issues of environmental racism and classism that plague working-class communities are very real, so I am a Social Ecologist.