Radio Raheem

Radio Raheem is an archetype character from Spike Lee’s career-defining film, 1989’s Do the Right Thing. Radio Raheem served as one of the chief minor characters and was portrayed by Bill Nunn.

Plot summary

Radio Raheem (Bill Nunn) walks around the neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn with a boom box, which is consistently tuned to Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power”. One of Raheem’s earliest appearances is depicting the battle between love and hate, personified by large brass knuckle rings that say “love” and “hate” on his hands (a reference to the 1955 film "The Night of the Hunter" directed by Charles Laughton and starring Robert Mitchum).

About halfway into the film, Raheem is enlisted by Buggin’ Out (Giancarlo Esposito) in his proposed boycott of Sal's Pizzeria — a focal point of "Do the Right Thing"’s plot — which refuses to honor African-American celebrities on its photographic “Wall of Fame” in the same manner as Italian-Americans.

At the climax of the film, Raheem enters Sal’s Pizzeria, refusing to turn off his boombox. Sal, after numerous verbal demands that Raheem turn the radio off, proclaims that he “turn that jungle music off!” and smashes Raheem’s beloved possession to pieces. This action triggers an outburst on the part of Raheem, who dives over the counter and begins to assault Sal. The situation continues to escalate until a riot has formed inside Sal’s. The NYPD responds, and in the process uses what is perceived to be excessive force in apprehending an unwilling Raheem, killing him with a chokehold applied using a nightstick. This eventually triggers the complete destruction of Sal’s Pizzeria.

Cultural relevance

After the success of "Do the Right Thing", Radio Raheem gradually became an ingrained part of hip-hop and urban youth culture, with many DJs, music programs, or music artists throughout the world adopting the name as an homage to Lee’s critically-acclaimed but extremely controversial film.

* The Basque fusion rock band Negu Gorriak recorded a song called "Radio Rahim", which was the first single for their first album "Negu Gorriak" and one of the band’s best known songs.

* The New York band Rahim (Frenchkiss Records) originally named themselves Radio Raheem after the character in the film.

* In the episode “The Block Is Hot” of "The Boondocks", Huey Freeman walks down the street holding a boombox that is playing “Fight the Power”. After a minute or so, someone yells at Huey to “turn that jungle music off!” — an obvious reference to Radio Raheem.

* In episode 20 of Dexter's Laboratory titled “Labels”, Dexter brandishes a labeler on each hand that resemble Radio Raheem's brass knuckle rings. Replacing LOVE and HATE with DEX and TER, he paraphrases the speech given by Radio Raheem. "It is with this "hand" that I begin to label my waffle, and it it is with this "hand" that I finish labeling my waffle".

*In the track "Slum Elementz" on the album "Searching For Jerry Garcia," Proof refers to Radio Raheem's death at the end of the film, "I'm like Shady is my team, maybe it's a dream - It seems I'm bein choked like Radio Raheem."

*In the track "The Long March" by Seattle Hip-Hop band Blue Scholars there is mention of Radio Raheem.

*In the track "Pump Up The Volume" by Illinois Big Beat duo The Cool Kids there is mention of Radio Raheem.

*In The Track "All Said And Done" by Evidence, Evidence Says: "Rappers Need Radio For Self Esteem/ I'm On Some Brand New Boom-Box Radio Rahiem"

External links

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* [http://www.filmfreakcentral.net/dvdreviews/dotherightthing.htm Do the Right Thing: The Criterion Collection DVD]