The Breaks by Marc Bamuthi Joseph

Tonight i'm going to go see "the breaks" by marc bamuthi joseph at the museum of contemporary art here in chicago. initially i was really excited about the show, but was then discouraged by the price... but when i found out i was eligible for $10 student tickets, i made sure i got tickets to opening night!

bamuthi will be here in chicago performing his performance piece today through saturday (march 28).

make sure to check him out!

for more info... check out this review of the show by Uptown Notes.

peace.

The Problem with G's to Gent's

So here's the thing about G's to Gents...

Last season when I watched it I couldn't put my finger on what it was about the show that bothered me.

I watched the entire season, and at times was relatively entertained... but throughout... there was something about it that irked me...

And while watching Real World (which I love by the way... lol)... I finally put my finger on it...

The whole premise of the show is that Bentley (the show's host) is supposed to be changing the young men from "gangsta's" to "gentleman"... which on its face seems to be a very positive thing...

He encourages the men to be more involved in the lives of their children, to be less violent and to even be more financially responsible...

The problem is this, the entire show is situated within this "gentleman's club" constructed by Bently... which is supposed to mimick an elite country club... ironically... the same type of country club's that excluded blacks as a general policy not even 40 years ago...

The show places the construction of the "gentleman" as the ideal that all of these men [mostly men of color] are supposed to be striving for. the problem with their conceptualization of what constitutes a gentleman, and according to the show, what constititues "manhood," is how euro-centered it is.

In order to become "men"/"gentleman," the shows participants have to cut their hair, shed their clothing, and any other non-european cultural signifiers.

This is problematic because it infers that listening to hip-hop music, and participating in black/latino cultural traditions is one and the same as being violent, irresponsible and "deviant."

While lots of people would agree that whether we like it or not, black professionals often have to make cultural sacrifices in order to be a part of corporate or academic America. I think there is a difference between being willing to make the sacrifice so that we can change these environments for the future of our children... and actively perpetuating the attitude that european cultural norms are what is "professional," "acceptable," and/or even "normal."

If we accept "europeanness" as the goal... instead of cultural diversity and understanding... then ultimately, we are actively participating in rendering our own cultures and values illegitimate...

peace.

Things I've Discovered During My Absence

1. The critical nature of exuding positive energy while in this space (or anywhere actually)... Happiness starts with you... all my negativity is out the door!

Complaining is for suckers ;-)

2. The blog Hip Hop is Read

3. Which lead to my discovery of Ivan's (the creator of Hip Hop is Read) funky drummer compilations (featuring ?uestlove)

4. Which led me to my discovery of the Jazzyfatnastees (might be old to you, but deliciously new to me!)

5. Twitter :-)

6. Solange's new album... yes Solange! check it out... you'll love the funky 70's feel :-)

7. Neyo's new album Year of the Gentleman (FYI don't waste your time with the new Eric Benet album)

8. ING High Interest Savings Accounts... in this economy [and in general] everybody should have enough money to cover at least three months of rent/bills/utilities/food... put your money away in a high interest savings account! (and make a budget!)

9. Clear skin!!!!! my first year of graduate school acne is finally gone! (see all that positive thinking is paying off already *smile*)

10. Chicago artists The Cool Kids, I love their album The Bake Sale (for blasting in your car speakers only)... their mixtape leaves a lot to be desired...

11 . Janelle Monae... actually... I definitely was listening to this before my leave of absence I just forgot to mention it... I just wish it wasn't such a short album!

12. Raphael Saadiq's new album The Way I See It

13. Shop It To Me.com

14. funniest thing ever: Pundit Kitchen

15. Finishing a 20 mile run feels GREAT... but finishing your first qualifying exam? PRICELESS

peace.

p.s. I swear I've had more people than I can count ask me about applying to graduate school, so I'm going to start writing up the advice I got from others that I found helpful when I applied to my program. Make sure you stay on the lookout for that!

random thoughts pt. 2

1. dumi's fears ended up being unwarranted... the new nas album was not a letdown after the nigger mixtape. nas's political commentary was intelligent, artistic and raw... of course it helped that three out of the 15 tracks were from the mixtape... but the new stuff is still worth the purchase. while its not the type of album you would cruise to down lakeshore... nas contradicts himself by proving that hip hop is not dead.

2. studying for qualifying exams is no fun what so ever...

3. the good thing about my mother never allowing me to listen to hip hop before 1999 is i am constantly hearing really fly stuff for the first time...

4. why won't bret favre just retire?

5. the dark knight is the greatest batman movie ever.... it is also very creepy and scary and made me flinch more than a couple of times... heath ledger was amazing...

6. can someone please spare me from the constant panic about unmarried black women?

Jean Grae

Check out this interview Jean Grae did with the Village Voice. Its a really powerful piece that touches on the lack of control artists have over their art in general. And the further marginalization that comes along with being a black, female, hip hop artist.

On her new album Jeanius she wrote a powerful song called "My Story" about her abortion and miscarriage. Her label is now attempting to record a video for this song, which she is vehemently against. When asked about it in the interview, she said this:

The interesting duality comes from being female and immediately being written off saying anything—it's: "Oh, she's complaining again. See? And that's why bitches shouldn't rap." It's an interesting place to stand. It's sort of a "damned if you do, damned if you don't." I do wanna very much take a position on this song and this record and this video, because it would be insane of me not to.

i definetly encourage you to check out the article and her hot new album.

peace.

random thoughts

copying uptown notes style :-)

1. why is micheal vick filing for bankruptcy but r. kelly is still roaming free making more money than ever?
2. why has doc rivers' 15yr old (bka freshman in high school) son already committed to university of florida?
3. when will common drop another album as tight as resurrection?
4. speaking of hip hop... why do hip hop elitists act like ignorant/cornball hip hop is something new?
5. speaking of ignorant... why don't we all just acknowledge that ice tea's "soulja boy diss" was nothing more than a sad attempt at resurrecting his music career?
6. why don't discussions of black sex tourism ever include black women as participants rather than victims?

peace.