file this one under

SEX AND MONEY

I was thinking a couple of weeks ago about how sex and money are so pervasive in our lives, especially in the lives of women. However, I could not think of any place where the two issues were analized together. Bada boom bada bing. The sex and money post is born. Tell me what you think blog family.

• Rapid HIV test,is giving some false positives. When it is finally up and running it WILL change how we date. Read here.

• Wouldn't be dope if you get your potential smash buddy to take the rapid HIV test when slip a lil' but of "truth serum" into his taco?......talk about a perfect date. All truth, no lies.

Money

• Swiss dudes are angry. They are going to have to share some of that corporate cream with the sista's. Its about time! (Swiped from Bomani.) Read Here.

• Pension removal countdown. So. You thought you were gonna retire and live cool. Sike. So far, IBM has got the ball rolling in '06 interms of making sure, employees understand that it is not about them, but the bottom line allways. Read Here.
  

Now everyone, including executives, will have their IBM pension plans frozen in January 2008. IBM will thereafter only contribute to their own private 401(K) pension plans.

Cross town beef be like cross town traffic...

file this one under
Why White Kids love/don't love Hip Hop

The love hip hop the same reason America loves negros, its reflexive. Knowwhusayin nahmean, know whamean?

They got this ignant ass article inna Villagevoice about what wp's on facebook listen to. I don't give a flying f*ck about what them nigg*s lissen' to. Somebody did make a valid point about how w collge kids do not "CONNECT" w/ hip hop the way they do with -er, Dave Matthews Band. On one level...it was kinda racist ( you connect to WHAT you connect to), but then again I felt them. It is what it is.

But even to take it one step further, I think that WK's are able to feel some of that ignorant as HH because by and large, it ain't they communities being affected. And before you try and lobb one of them back pack head wrap allegations lissen'!

I peep how when negros come w/ the critical arguments some people who write about hip hop try silence 'em, and undermine 'em, deride 'em with allegations of being a backpacker....But I tell you a$$ quick...being a back packer changed my life fam...and I put that on 83rd and A street. Town business. RIP to Darcell Lewis.

Think about the people who whine about the old heads complainin' about the state of HH. Yeah we mad, man. Looking at HH hurts. Looking at the hood hurts. Of course we are going to complain. We are the first generation to simultaneously benefit from and lose (many of) the sacrifices that the old heads maintained for us in jthe 50's & 60's.

The Privileges of Being a White Hip Hop Fan

I would even argue that one of the privileges of being a w hh fan is that you can love the music but not trip off how destructive it is.

It has NEVER been just music for us. Never. Sam Cooke. James Brown. Dude. Marvin. NWA. . We might have laughed at Pharcyde or the Beatnuts. But trust...we allways knew which side our bread was butter on, which side of the tree we could swing from.

But it was never *just* music because our ability to speak was *never* just speaking. It was our language. One of the only things that could never be taken from us. Show me a nigg@ who been through some sh*t and I will show you someone with some fascinating language.

For the record. I personally believe that the MUSIC should not change. I think that the young bucks abilities analytical faculties should be cultivated. But that is another story.

But then again. Some white kid's in the country just as f*cked off in the game as ours. They are being under or uneducated also, so we are all going to h*ll in a handbasket (as my momma say).


On that Go Ignant Mix type that I bought for ONLY $6...there is a joint w/ Casual...and E-40..when I was lissenin' to it this morning I was like...who as THAT nigg@ rappin'....



Why did one of my finals get postponed 'till January...you know imma have to knuckle up in the next couple of days.... Ohhh wee...New Idea Blog Family...Immm start doing some posts under Sex and Money...'cuz you know sex and money are so pervasive in the lives of WOMEN especially...but if you trip....ain't nobody writin' about that 'ish though....so I introduce to you...

Honey check it you got me mesmirized with your

black hair and ya fat @ss thighs...

This post is dedicated to the brotha's puttin' it down on screen....er---so the fact that Christmas is down the street AND the subways are running got me feelin' friskay...

She Hate Me

Dude...when Anthony Mackie hoisted Kerry up against that walll I did know if I wanted to run out the theater or...lets just say or...That evening...to be Anthony Mackied became a VERB.

Love Jones

I am not gonna front...I do not know how their scene jumped off...but I vaguely remember being moved by that is....

Baby Boy

You ever see the mash going down on the screen and you swallow, and hold your breath at the same time...well when Tyrese got his magnificent self all up in Taraji...post fight...I was like daaaaaaamn ginnaaaaaah!. His Mash is magnificent......


I hear crickets chirpin' blog family...leave a sis' a message...it helps to keep me motivated..that means you Santana...you stay reading but never post up...show me some of that New Years love...-MM

Thinkin of a master plan

...cuz ain't nuthin but sweat inside my hand. -The R.

The post is dedicated to Donnell Alexander and his essay:

"Are Black People Cooler than White People?"

I'm cool like this:

I read fashion magazines like they're warning labels telling me what not to do.
When I was a kid, Arthur Fonzarelli seemed a garden-variety dork.
I got my own speed limit.
I come when I want to.
I maintain like an ice cube in the remote part of the freezer.
Cooler than a polar bear's toenails.
Cooler than the other side of the pillow.
Cool like me.
Know this while understanding that I am in essence a humble guy.

I'm the kinda nigga who's so cool that my neighbor bursts into hysterical tears whenever I ring her doorbell after dark. She is a new immigrant who has chosen to live with her two roomates in our majority-black Los Angeles neighborhood so that, I'm told, she can "learn about all American cultures." But her real experience of us is limited to the space between her Honda and her front gate; thus, much of what she has to go on is the vibe of the surroundings and the images emanating from the television set that gives her living room a minty cathode glow. As such, I'm a cop-show menace and a shoe commercial demi-god--one of the rough boys from our 'hood and the living, breathing embodiment of hip hop flava. And if I can't fulfill the prevailing stereotype, the kids en route to the nearby high school can. The woman is scared in a cool world. She smiles as I pass her way in the light of day, unloading my groceries or shlepping my infant son up the stairs. But at night, when my face is visible through the window of her door lit only by the bulb that brightens the vestibule, I, at once familiar and threatening, am just too much.

Thus being cool has its drawbacks. With cool come assumptions and fears, expectations and intrigue. My neighbor wants to live near cool, but she's not sure about cool walking past her door after dark. During the day, she sees a black man; at night what she sees in the shadow gliding across her patio is a nigga.....

-read the rest here

Imho *he* really needs to have a blog...

Here comes trouble... 

Allways thinkin'.. 

From the womb to the tomb...

People die everyday. You are never prepared for when someone is murdered. I found out this morning that my brothers friend and play brother, Darcel Lewis, was murdered in Oakland on Monday.

Ironically, I called my brother this morning to talk about how fun it is to walk everywhere because of the NYC transit strike...and he tells me that Darcell "got killed".
The next thing he said was that it happened in Broad Daylight.

I INSTANTLY KNEW that it had to do with a woman.

Nigg@'s don't kill other nigg@'s in Broad daylight to settle the score. At least not typically.

And with 17 bullets.

From my limited understanding of only have one semester of Criminal law....17 bullets sounds like depraved heart murder....
Darcell is special to me because he is special to MY brother. Darcell was also helpful in providing me with information two years ago when the Oakland Police CHAINED my brother to a fence and broke a flashlight over his head....That being said...rest in peace family...you are in a better place.

When the slugs penetrate you feel a burning sensation

getting closer to god in a tight situation....

Year End Bloggy Style Round Up

• Fat @ss Americans......you wanna see why negro's be dying..look what they eat...wonder why they so fat....take the hamburger out of your fat ass mouth. Finally somone is going to sue the soda companies for fattening up the kids. If you know like I know....you would be investing your money in companies that make type 2 diabetes related medicines, prostectic arms small caskets....

• There wasn't slavery in New York Right? So Northerner's don't want to aknowledge slavery. Dude. Who would want to? You have slaves. Rape. Little MOO-LATTO babies...

• You know snitches wind up in ditches, right. But my family over at the Start Snitching has successfully taken the idea and ran with it. This fool got post on how W an 'nem gonna use Your cell phone to 1984 that ass....anyone wanna get off the grid with me????

• Girl Genius be cussin', gossping and straight clowin'. Most recently she discussed "men who take care of they kids", and how "negros stay in school" but "they really be at community colleges for 5 and ten years". So make sure your khaki's are creased and pleates are pleated, fam.
  

• Speaking of snitching....Black people are some of the MOST anti-accountability negros on the planet. I could understand not wanted to SNITCH to the PoPo. But if you bring likker to the hood. Thas cool. Allow f*ucked up ass school system, thas' cool. Young bucks grinding like a slave on your block who YOU remember useta be so cute in preschool. Thas cool. As long as you got some twennies thas' spinnin'. Nigg@, they spinnin', they spinnnan nigg@.

• Anybody that can poast about somone calling them a nigg*er cunt is allright in my book. Plus. Imagine one of them hood books, but smarter and w/ the racial awareness of Paul Mooney. That is how the Dragon do the race relations w. We gon' have race relations, relations, relations.

• Some cracka towns in North Carolina are rediscovering their strong tradition of racial harmony.
• Only scant mention is made, however, of the bloody rioting more than a century ago during which black residents were killed and survivors banished by white supremacists, who seized control of the city government in what historians say is the only successful overthrow of a local government in United States history.....
• -John Desantis New York Times

• Reading Trula's blog is like sneaking a peek into the note book of a sista' who is a writer, ...you know nice and sweet....but please believe it, you could tell she will get the @ss wuoppin crackin' on that @ss. The fact that she talks about struggling with being a writer is dope too.

• Sophisticated negros tawkin' about news and making moves. Prometheus is like a Black Anderson Cooper. He/she ain't scared of the tough stories, and he keeps the content coming. A news junkies dream blog.

• Humanity critic does it again with a 6 months to live poast. Why can't I think of topics like that?

• If wasn't allready 'bout to marry and or shack up with 4 other cats....He would be my main squeeze. How you 'gon be introspective, compassionate and a Basquiat fan that prides him self on laying in the cut?

• Why inna' f-ck ain't no body started a blog analyzing nigg@'s lyrics. Yall' think I'm puttin' too much on it? People POST lyrics all the time. I might have to start one dedicated to Doom, Nas and Rae/Ghost. That outta' keep me busy through '06.

• My fam over at the B-Side Wins is hella fresh for posting just that, B-sides. He/she has some treats like a Jungle Bro-Q-Tip promo, (a song with the beat from Cubes, Giving Up the Nappy Dugout). I must say it felt good to listen to some 'ol darkies rappin' happy. They also bumpin' JB's On the Road Again, one of top 10 favorite songs. Peep the french translation. Straight international hip hop blog gullies.
  

No wonder where we live is called the projects....

Peace blog family, I have two finals down and two to go....pray for me ....I need it.....Leave messages...Holler at me....tell me whachu think....

• Lou Rawls is fightin LUNG and brain cancer....damnnnn gina....I hope he has good healthcare....Yall' know I love Lou...sings to my self, "You'll never find...another love like mine...someone that loves you..the way that I do......"
• "Jay-Z can move the cultural needle because they believe his honesty"
  -Steve Stoute in January 2006 Rollingstone
  

• He has allways been panic averse. His personal, in life and on record he is cool and in control- the same even authoritative tone whether the subject is sex, survival, weather or vengance.- Toure on Jay Z in January 2006 Rollingstone
  If Jay is so layed back....then perhaps he should share the benifits of acting that wat with the young buck....cuz from the way they act on the train and what not...they got some anger managment issues...
  

• If I could only get Jay to publicly endorse my READIN' AIN'T WHITE campaign *****puts on evil thinking cap.....
  

Some Hip Hop Collaborations that I would like to see:

• Rakim and Pharrell

• Ghostface and Andre Nickatina

• Keak da Sneak and The Lox

• Missy and E-40

• Outkast and Mc Eight

• Doom and Kanye

Why oh, why did I need cappuccino?

Daily Posts

• So according to an article in a recent New York magazine....Coffee is a half a billion dollar industry in NYC. Half a billion. No wonder I almost be having fights with people on the train all the time. They haven't had their daily crack---er coffee. The article is deep in that it delves into the annals of Dunkin Donuts, whose primary product is ironically is coffee not donuts.
  

• Post thanksgiving/taking I have been on a 2 cap and a tea a day diet and my kidneys can tell you, it is the truth....nothing like a good cappuccino right before a four hour studying period.

• Dave Chappelle is being sued by one of his former managers. Why don't negros understand that you have to keep the Wu money all up in the family? Pay your people.

• Dude. The Hip Hop show of 2006 is coming and I will BE THERE. DOOM. Big Daddy Kane. Little Brother and Pete Rock. Whats good?
  

• Rakim is going to be at BB Kings on Tuesday the 30th of January. That, will depend on how much the tickets cost.
  

Keep still boy, no need for static.......

So In a nod to Hashim and Bol I am going to try posting more frequent news updates in addition to my normal rants. ((((My first final went okay....as soon as I walked out I realized that I was not analyzing the problems in the most effective way....but I did not freeze up and I feel more relaxed going into the next two weeks of exams.)))))

Daily News Links

• There are Race riots in Sydney Australia.....looks like they received some mob-fight-training from the klan.
• Y'all need to rent/view this Sundance award winning movie writen and directed by Brooklyn young bucks about youth gun culture.
• San Francisco police apparently has so much time on their hands that they can create videos mocking women, brown people and the poor. Dude, their noose is showing.
• PSK, what does it mean? Pat Riley is back with the Heat and Artest wants to be traded. Well, we new that Artest was going to want to be out. THAT makes sense. Do you htink Pat and Shaq will mesh?
  
• She just needs to get popped in her face. Whap....Whap....why are going to sky dive while you are pregnant in the first place?
• Fiona performed last night at the Nokia theater....I didn't go but...I was there in spirit.
• Kanye, Kanye Kanye....while I do love your fervor, and your emotion...I don't know spongebob..with your antics as of late...I feel like you are asking your white critics come- music award distributors to humble you. Get at me Ye...we can put some of that energy to good use...ie a Hip Hop Museum in Chicago.....some a national franchise of music studios, a Negro home schooling movement...the sky's is the limit Ye, the sky is the limit.
  

I am I be....I am I be....I am .......

Gon' Till' November sorta...I be back in a week or so..... I am busy trying to be like this guy^^^^^.

Visit these sites in the mean time.

• http://crunktastical.blogspot.com/
• http://jeromebaker.blogspot.com/
• http://sherealcool.blogspot.com/
• http://nappydiatribe.blogspot.com/
• http://www.hiphop-blogs.com/
• http://pacificstandard.typepad.com/why_fuck_around_pacific_s/
• http://emia6.blogspot.com/
• http://theassimilatednegro.blogspot.com/
  

Be easy.

She said, I betcha A$$ is darker than a Mobb Deep Rap....

There once were a people who were Black
Their neighborhoods were ruined by crack
they still rapped and danced
there kids never had a chance
There once were a people who were black.

-MM
(guess I should leave the poetry to the poets ***hunches shoulders****)

You ever have ones of those days that are mad serendipitous????? Errie things happen and other things happen real smooth..... Earlier this morning...I was trying to remember the name of the Black economist who writes papers that examine the ECONOMIC IMPACT of crack on the hood and an Economic Analysis of Acting White. His name is Roland Tyler. Later in the afternoon Santana V. put me on to a quote by Jeffrey Wright on THE BENEFITS OF BEING A BLACK ACTOR in this months Esquire. Then tonight I was at Barnes and Noble looking for Jeffrey Wright quote (posted below) in Esquire, and there was an article on the economist in THERE.. Weird hunh?

ESQ: The difficulties of being a black actor are well chronicled. But are there any advantages?

Jeffrey Wright: No. There are no advantages to being black in America. None. Hollywood is much more resistant to supporting the work of a black actor, particularly now. The types of people that Hollywood has responded to are rappers and others who've made a name doing anything BUT acting. The public couldn't name a black actor under 30 who's not a rapper or a comedian. They're out there, but they wont be supported in the way that folks who lean toward MINSTRELSY will be supported. Its not getting any better. Actors like DON CHEADLE have laid out really impressive careers but i guarantee you that Don didn't get one twentieth of the support that COLIN FARRELL got at the beginning of his career. Its insulting.

In honor of my READING AIN'T WHITE CAMPAIGN I AM GOING TO LINK UP TO THE FOUNDERS OF THE KIPP SCHOOLS. These dudes are DOING truth to power in demonstrating to the YOUNG BUCKS that READIN' AINT WHITE.

The cats who wrote at FREAKANOMICS have a blog too.....When I read their blog, work I can feel my brain expand....I GUESS that is a good thing.

I find myself listening to TICAL lately. I guess it is the proper grimey NYC winter head pod music.

And if you tired.....go take a nap.....

Good Evening Blog Family..... I could not resist posting even though....I know that I need to be working on my Con Law outline....I cannot wait for this semester to be over so that I can reflect on the significance, the pressure and irony of Being A Hip Hop Loving, Oakland Loving,Smack Talking, Model Minority in Law School.....it is one of those situations where I do not even think I can appreciate the significance of this past semester.....in its entirety....until the semester is over..... Blog Highlights....

• Somehow Hashim has managed to find an interview where RAKIM talks about Eminmen's role in Hip Hop....
• Sacha Jennkins, of Ego Trip fame, is coordinating a graffiti art show that just opened. Peep eyjammie.com for more information.
• Jeff Chang posted more information on the status of the investigation of the BURNED LIQUOR STORES in Oakland. Adisa also contributed to the discussion. I find it interesting the no one has raised the parallel to the burning neighborhoods in France.

Until later this week....bundle up BK...its suppose to be a cold one....and Oakland...be easy....I know how 'yall like to do street justice....yet EVERYTHING has long term and short term consequences...Be Good.

Katrina governor Sets the Record Straight

"I believe my biggest mistake was believing FEMA officials who told me that the necessary federal resources would be available in a timely fashion," Blanco wrote in one memo.
---- Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanc

• Read the full article here. Article is excerpted below .
  

Late Friday, Gov. Kathleen Blanco released 100,000 pages of memos, handwritten notes, e-mails, phone logs and other documents requested by congressional committees that are investigating what happened behind the scenes in the frantic days surrounding the deadly Aug. 29 storm.

"I have determined that this incident will be of such severity and magnitude that effective response will be beyond the capabilities of the state and the affected local governments and that supplementary federal assistance will be necessary," Blanco wrote.

Three days after the storm, Blanco complained to the White House that FEMA had still failed to fulfill its promises of aid. While cloaked in customary political courtesies, Blanco noted that she had already requested 40,000 more troops; ice, water and food; buses, base camps, staging areas, amphibious vehicles, mobile morgues, rescue teams, housing, airlift and communications systems, according to a press office e-mail of the text of her letter to Bush.

"Even if these initial requests had been fully honored, these assets would not be sufficient," Blanco said. She also asked for the return of the Louisiana Army National Guard's 256th Brigade Combat Team, then deployed to Iraq.

• 
  

• Finally some real talk on WHY all of those BLACK people DIED in New Orleans.

• What did Kanye Say?

• I saw Tom Piazza's new book, Why New Orleans Matters,on display at Barnes and Noble last night and thought, what a wonderful book title. I want to write the same thing FOR Oakland. It is the only book that I have seen that offers a critical analysis of what happened in New Orleans and why it is significant to the rest of the world.
  

Soul sista' music round up......

Where inna hot potatoe is ZZ Packer????? She does not need to be writing novels per se...but I do miss her voice and would like to hear from her....interviewing other writers....essays in the Times......the Village Voice...her own Blog!?!?!?!?!?!
On to the soul singa's.........
1. Lizz Wright......I listened to some of her music at Virgin....she has a pretty voice....the songs were melancholy though...which can be dope....but generally I like to be cheered up...unless I am listening to Illmatic;o The other Lizz...I am not sure if I heard her joints before....and I went to amazon to see if I could peep...but Ledisi is officialy Town business....her range....the rhythms....ALL TO THE GOOD! I picked up her album a few years ago....the dopest joint IMHO is the title track...feeling Orange Again...makes me wanna breakdance and SALSA all at once. I learned about Julie around the same time that I learned about Ledisi....In fact I saw her perfom...in 'Frisco a couple summers ago and it was such a pleasant surprise...her music is rich. warm and sultry...

Up early in the morning...dressed in black....

So apparently the folks responsible for ransaking the liquor stores in the town last week, or someone sympathetic to their cause, BURNED ONE OF THEM DOWN earlier today....Now I feel the desire to maintain your neighborhood...but these dudes are looking at a federal case. The Nation of Islam denies any involvement....who IS it then?

Imma get my hyphie on with this mix cd...you should support and buy one too....

You are now rockin' with the best....

Goapele has a new joint coming out. You can hear her new songs here. The joint's are dope...I like the uptempo jawns most... ....as usual it is town business either way and I am glad to see her shining....

And he said...what do you mean...by my aim to please^^^^^^....and I was thinking...shit...nigg@ seeing fireworks @ 2am....issa wrap...

Town Business....IView the Super Hyphie video here..I love being able experience the town in the privacy of my own home....I peeped the Keak Link at Made in the Bay. Tookie got clemency a hearing.....maybe they won't fry him afterall....This forces me to think about how effective snoop and jamie and others who are anti death penalty can be if they get together as a unified voice....maybe we can use their energies to teach young bucks that READING AIN'T WHITE. Billy jam has some photos on Oakland blues. I think that it is worthy of a documentary. What do you think? Thank you to Jeff Chang for the swipe.1959 Was Their 1989: West Oakland's R & B Scene In The 50s. I love the idea of 1959 being their '89.

So blog family...I have learned how to post up multiple images,,,,and I am feeling cool....See I told you this post would be more positive.....;0

I'm sicker this year....

Now you can't say that I did not help you get your week off to a good start. Next post is going to be more positive. I promise....

COUPLE SAYS COMMUTE RUINED THEIR MARRIAGE

See, I knew I was right for wanting to stay in the city....the lure of a big 'ol surburban house SOUNDS cool....but if I am going to get a divorce....(which I don't believe in....or at least I want to avoid at all cost).....it is NOT going to be over no dag rabbit commute.

Rain of the Text

Good Afternoon blog family.

Dude. The fact that that the Runaway Slave costs damn near $100, gives a whole new meaning to the term, AMAZON WISH LIST.

I need to be working on my crim law outline...I need to eat first...but I don't know what to eat...so I am just surfing the web looking for sites to listen to my 89-94 hop.

I found this. Its tight hunh? Man, the songs go all the way back to 95. They need to put out mix CDs.
The songs that I have listened to today:
Reign of the Tech's--Beatnuts
Similac Child- Black Sheep
Big Ol' Butt- LL
Thats How it Is---Casual ( which has been in my head for the last week)
101 Things to Do With Your Girl--- Quest the Madd Lad...remember when that happen.
Deerper-- Boss

Scrolling through that website is the closest I have EVER come to DIGGING in the crates, online.

Okay...so I just had to put some yams and mac and cheese (God bless Mrs. Mitc****) from Takesgiving ...perhaps I will continue to listen to the music...then eat...then study....sounds like a plan...yall know Imma end up at the movies...right...so sad....;}

Remember how the idea of a group called Young Black Teenagers was offensive.....?

Why did my new roommate...whom I have NEVER MET, just ring my bell and tell me that she is moving in tonight...I guess I should put the dishes in the sink in the dish washer:(

Ohhhhh. I found a dope blog/hop review site. Called Oh Word. Its dope. Wordy...A HH nerds dream.

The Best of Organized Konfusion....I guess in a sense it is a good thing...makes me feel old though.

Project Blowed 10 anniversary...um...I'm feeling old...again.

Imma out Rob Brezsny in a head lock. Look at my horoscope this week:

LIBRA (Sept. 23–Oct. 22): "If it can't fit on a bumper sticker, it's not a philosophy." That's the message I read on the back of an SUV I was driving behind today. Now I offer it to you, Libra, because it's one of those weeks when short, snappy, pithy advice is what you need most. In accordance with your current astrological omens, here are four gems to guide you. (1) The road to success is always under construction. (2) If you must choose between two evils, pick the one you've never tried. (3) Good taste is the enemy of creativity. (4) Don't rub the lamp unless you're ready for the genie.

Please..don't let it be Oakland

Sometimes I will be watching the national news and I will hear , "VIOLENCE in a CALIFORNIA TOWN"****at which point I hold my breath think and chant my "please don't let it be Oakland" mantra, please don't let it be Oakland....and HOT DAMN if it wasn't Oakland they just mentioned. Apparently some gentlemen that resemble the Nation of Islam coordinated the two attacks.


I am aware of a couple of community organizations in EAST Oakland that are working with the liquor store owners in a partnership to ensure that the stores close at a reasonable time to prevent loiter- D-boy activities and the normal in front of the liquor store activities...But....some wild, wild, west, type street justice....that is, um, well, town business

50 Cent loves Ja Rule

In honor of my Reading Ain't White campaign, I am mentioning a new book that I just saw advertised on Court Street, in my neighborhood.

Queens Reigns Supreme : Fat Cat, 50 Cent, and the Rise of the Hip Hop Hustler (Paperback) by Ethan Brown A music editor at New York magazine.

Isn't it ironical that this book release coincides with the Supreme/Gotti trail??????

READING AIN' T WHITE

So...You know I gotta rep the Raiders...ie...the 'town...their record notwithstanding:/
'Yall peep that mimosa on the table...you know how I gets down....

My new campaign is called " Reading Ain't White"......courtesy of your number one

"Get it Girl"

....I feel like I have been getting it...this legal memo 'ish is no joke...I can see why only 2.9% of attorneys are Black....sitting for hours at a computer by yourself learning a new language....but if this is what I need to do in order to publish books and/or produce movies and/or be criminal defense..then imma Get it Girl....I think I am going airbrush it under under the stop sign a la the Stop Snitching T Shirts.

There is a new book out a about blogging called Blog!How the World of Blogs And Bloggers Is Changing Our Culture by David Kline, Dan Burstein, Arne J. De Keijzer (Editor), Paul Berger (Editor)

I saw an ad for this book in the times this weekend. The poem was dope. There are only three poets I ever really liked Rita Dove, Langston Hughes....and another woman....her name slips my now.

If
If I could say
what I feel
you'd be touching roses now
not paper

-John Korduba
"Everyone Gets Lost in Brooklyn" a book of poetry

Today was a good day...

Good Morning blog family. It is chilly outside. I have allready ran a mile and SHALL PROCEED...to brunch in about an hour....now for the news.... Apparently Sway is making moves at MTV from being producer to being an owner (prohiphop.com). Thats good, cuz, a sista would love a job putting together his contracts and negoiating the details...gotta keep that 'Town money up the family.

The world is a ghetto. A beatiful ghetto.

The post secret card of the week is deep. **Warning. Take a breath before you click. Trust. I have found a couple new blogs I like.

I found hers and felt immediatly at home. Like I allready knew her. Weird hunh?

Dude. Two new baby pandas. I am in PANDA HEAVEN.

What I Hate about Hip-Hop

1. That Damon Dash( and his brethren) have not invested money in buying real estate in the 'hood NYC to demonstrate:
a. Owning your own property is one of the most, if NOT the most single important investment you can make w/ your cash. Nigg@, do what Magic did but on a real estate level. Fresh.
b. Entertainment money can be used to flip the QUALITY of life of the people who loved hip-hop in the beginning.

2. I have no problem, w/ your 50, your Snoop or any other of your garden variety misogynistic emcess. [ Even though 50 ain't show is booty in his film..but WE can parade around his videos jiggling like our lives depended on it]. The problem is that the YOUNG BUCK's listening to the music have NO analytical skills. [Ironically, watching Get Rich last week, and when I saw them in the shower scene I IMMEDIATELY THOUGHT, umph, as many Black women are on view in his videos, I wonder if he is gonna show his booty. Nope. The director positioned the shot so that 50's was covered, but Terrence Howards WAS exposed. Hanging around that FILM KIDS has helped me hone the my ability to think about the CHOICES that a directors make in movies.] I want young bucks to THINK ABOUT the choices and undercurrents of the images that they see.
This weekend I realized that I spend more time reading about and analyzing music, videos, songs and lyrics than actually hearing it first i.e. the Alicia Keys lyrics to Unbreakable...How are you going to open up a song with..."Like Ike and Tina"....not okay fam.

3. That no one wants to be accountable for the lyrics they spit. You can assert your 1st amendment rights. Thats cool. But at the end of the day....the young bucks are still looking up to you.....still memorizing your rhymes...etc....The more appropriate stance would not to be say, "I ain't raising there kids" thats their parents job...true, true in deed. However, when ever someone needs to put out a mix tape, get the buzz up or simple kick it, the first thing they do is run to the hood. The hood filled with all those 'lil kids that idolize you. Reciprocate the love fam. Easy.

Town biz...all the way around

So The BAY appears to be having trouble recruiting negroes at CAl State East Bay...what do you expect then you have:

• Radicial experimentation taking place with hood children in Oakland Public Schools
  
• A State Governed local public school system
• More Administrators than students [ arguably]
  

The British Royals vistited MLK middle school in Berkeley. They apparently were attracted to the school yard gardening project.

Meleia Willis-Starbucks, the Black Dartmouth student from Berkeley, who was murdered last summer apparently had a blood alcohol level of .15% at the time of her murder. She also, prior to her murder, handeled the gun that was used to kill her. Wow. Nelly. That is significant.

White but Black Balled

Quality has never been a determining factor in terms of recognition and rerqards....in any field....when great work is successful, I beleive it is by coincidence"
Sarah Schulman, playright, teacher & Rebel :)

[Man, she ain't never lied when she spoke those words. She gives the term real talk a whole knew meaning].

Ms. Schulman laughed when I told her how much she is feared. Their fear, she said, is actually anger: anger of privlaged people being forced to question the source of their privlage...what can I do about the these people?...Apparently she meant what she do about them beyond attacking them in public and alluding to them in her novels and play's

Apparently I am not the only one who has recently learned and continues to learn that you gotta be real easy in criticizing folks and their privilages.....Inherited, earned or other wise...because they WILL assert their power and let you know about you AND Yo Momma. Trust.

Ms. Schulman said because she never completed a writing course, let alone a graduate degree, she had little knowledge of the basics. But the POLITCAL SKILLS needed to maneuver in the uptown theater [ and I wager any competitive area in NYC unless you are 2nd or 3rd generation] were even harder to master. I didn't know who was who and I wasn't used to the way people in that world behaved- which is antisocially [talk about fighting words]. By which she mean among other things that, theaters do not prioritize their responsibility to serve the vast, diverse array of life experiences that take place everyday in NEW YORK CITY. I wasted a lot of time figuring that out and making mistakes".

Sarah Schulman, 10/23/05 NY times Interview

Shakes Head in Shame

Ig'nant Negro Moment # 82

So 50 thinks that Kanye is wrong and that George Bush Loves Black people. Well, he did not really say that George Bush loves Black people but he did say that "I think people responded the best way they can."Dude is 50 pulling an Eazy E? Yall remember when Eazy got down with the republican party? Okay...so he claimed it was out of "curiosity"hmmmmm the republican party was so real to black ppl in the 80's...I find that hard to believe. What the EFF is the government if NOt for the PEOPLE. 50's statment confirms my hunch that black people and self hate go together like Bobby and Whitney, like Tyson and ears, like Snoop and Dre. I am sure 50 pays a grip of TAXES. TAXES which are intended to pay for items necessary to run a city...schools, police, firemen/women, levees in Negro neighborhood.

GTFOHWTOBS. For real!

I think it would be interesting if 50 said something, PUBLICLY about:

How knowing how to read is NOT acting white
How to avoid three strikes
About how much of what we see in Hip Hop is like wrestling

Day Life Saved THIS Time....

Book-....ish

Ronin Ro has a new joint out about Run DMC, titled, Raising Hell. Finally. This fool wrote Have Gun Real Travel about Death Row a few years back and I have been waiting for him to pop back up. I wonder if he has a blog..... ****places hand on mouth a-la Arsenio.... hmmmmmm....

The new book out about Sam cook apparently numbers at 600+ pages. When is there going to be a Sam Cook documentary?.......Speaking of Sam cook, what is up with those Marvin Gaye Hennessey ads...is his estate really hurting that much that they need some liquor cash...what next...they are going to have Billie Holiday Hennessey ad's ...Billie who struggled a loooong time w/ illegal and legal drugs......

You know you are a nerd when......see a negro novel book cover and realized that the same image was used by another book in the last two months...

Bird Almanac
Ya'll know I like the birds...this book is dope because it provides a lunar calendar, color photo's and text...

A Personal Note

Yesterday, I had my first case of engagement ring envy....the rock whus NIIIIIIICE.
He was sitting across from her...leaning in ....Listening to her every word...Not to say that I miss my relationship w/ my ex....Because I don't at least not in that way...but man....the way the sun was catching that light....it was the TRUTH.

Hip Hop Blend

O.C has a new joint out called Smoke and Mirrors. It is on sale here.
Ghost Face said in the Face Doom Mass Appeal interview,

Nobody wants to take the time to write something down that makes the listener think, Dammmmn how did he think of that?

Doom said that, in terms of a collabo he would like to see,

Nas and Lil' Wayne.....[dude....what a combo?]

Schools Still 'effed Up

I came across this study titled the Social Costs of Inadequate Education this weekend. It is a topic that I have allays been fascinated with. Having all of these underedcated brown people in urban areas takes a toll not only on their immediate lives but the lives of their communites and their children. The main points cited are:

• Lost productivity
• Lost TAX REVENUE, [ which is SOOOOO significant to the hood I can't even get on THAT soap box tonight]
• Impact on health, welfare and civic engagement

Music Stores Hate Hip Hop

Went to Tower Records in the village. Why did the Hip Hop section move again? They allways have a nice combo of indy and mainstream joints, but I can't help but feeling like HH is the wicked step child of the music stores. Why does our music have to be in the basement? Why can't we be front and center...like KAPOW...there goes the new Kanye...or Doom....or Bahamadia....

Brave New World

Did you all peep the Times article on boutique doctors....I see it as evidence that medical care is allready privitized....most folks just haven't gotten the memo yet...This book about being a gully patient should help you in dealing with doctors....

Speaking of hospitals...why is studying at the Barnes and Nobles at Union Square like being at the St. Vincent Hospital room? This past Saturday I noticed....

• You have your folks that need their medication
• Your folks who are trying to steal YOUR medication and anything else they can get their hands on.
• Your bag ladies....
• Your nannies and mommas
• idiosyncratic grey haird white male writers that crumble sheet after sheet of paper distracting me from my civ pro homework...but I digress....

Sites You Will Like

• You wanna see the latest Bobby and Whitney flicks...or find out what David Banner ate for breakfast....Get your gossip on w/ Fresh and her fam.

• Town business for real. An ENTIRE blog about the bay. Yippie.
• Sal is hella funny....you know you have a special talent when you are funny on paper....This dude needs to write a screenplay...for real.
• Humanity is honest..consistent....and funny..I allways learn something from his posts or the responses to them..check him out
  

October Ruminations

Doesn't L look fierce in that turquoise silk skirt w/ pleats....when I saw it I thought...I could make THAT.

The dope thing about going to L-school near the courts and the jails is that eventhough
I see one or two other kneegrows in class, I see quite a few on their way to court in the morning. The ironic part is that is that I may represent :) or prosecute :( them in a few years.

Harriet Miers failed. It looks like she is going to be nominated after all.

I have been feeling lately, quite gully. One of my folks called me a boogie thug.....I thought
that captured something....

FAMILY VALUES

Wallmart is a fool...not only are they going to put doctors in there stores....which I think is a great idea...that memo about how they are going to address their employees lack of health care is quite informative.

• Walmart is the LARGEST american employer. Period.
• The decductable for their healthcare is so high, that an estimated 30-40% of there employees are

CD NEEDS

CD's that I want The NEW Digable Plants The NEW Dangerdoom More Art Blakey....that is one drum playing black man.... The NEW Dwele...did you know there was a new Jameroquai also?
Wu Tang Meets indie culture...side bar....these fools are going to get sued for that logo...
you CANNOT mess with Mac intellectual prop fools....

BLACK BOOK JUMP OFF

Black writers that do not get not nearly enough shine. Randall Kennan Amazing short story writer. He employs black magic realism in a way that Toni Morrison only has confidence and talent to do.
Percival Evertt Percival is dope because he writes stories...not Black stories....the characters are well developed...multilayered and introspective. Percival is a throw back to the race men of our previous generation. When was the last time you encountered a writer of any ethnicity with integrity?

Gayle Jones I always knew about Gayle Jones, but I did not REALLY get put on until 2000. Then I devoured all of her books. Her depiction of the mental interaction of black men and women has NEVER been matched. Period. Peep her game.

Matt Johnson
Matt is the kind of writer that, after reading his first chapter, I knew that he was the kind of CAT that I would like to kick it with. That is not to say that ME wanting to kick it with an author is a pre req for me wanting to read/like a book. But it is significant. Anyone that can write a Harlem based thriller mystery with GENTRIFICATION as a central theme, is ambitious, creative and fearless in my book.