_Oh you didn't know?

From Wiki:

"Classic (Better Than I've Ever Been)" is Grammy nominated collaboration song between Kanye West, Nas, Rakim and KRS-One that is produced by Rick Rubin. The song was released as a single on February 20, 2007 by Nike Records. It was performed live at the NikeAir Force Ones 25th anniversary party shown on MTV2."

P.S. I know I've been M.I.A from the home post for a minute now.  This is because I suck at blogging. For real. I have all these great ideas for post swirling around in my head but I'm so lazy sometimes that I neglect to actually put them up. I offer this too as a partial explanation of why I haven't answered back all the letters I've received. Yes, I do read them and I appreciate you all for writing them (even the ones from folks telling me to go to Hell).  And one day, when I'm not so lazy or am not genuinely busy I will draft a post, answering and responding back to all of your letters. Or at least that's the idea I have swirling around in my head :/

In the meantime, here's another DJ Premier/Nas collab. And yes, this hotness is courtesy of some sort of marketing ploy to reach the "urban" market:

"Presented by Hyundai Veloster, RE:GENERATION is a documentary film that follows DJ Premier, Pretty Lights, The Crystal Method, Mark Ronson and Skrillex as they remix, recreate and re-imagine five traditional styles of music."

Sigh. Hip-Hop.  But it's still kind of dope though.

I like this picture. It really makes me think. In fact, here is a working theory:

The amount of media attention being spent on the demise of the Kim K affair seems rather trivial in the grand scheme of all the other much more important things happening in the world.  However, when you stop to consider why the sordid tales surrounding her ill-fated, or planned, love affairs seems to spark our collective interest, it actually makes a bit of sense.  And its not so much that the story feeds our need for gossipy tabloid news (although that has a part in it) but more interestedly, Kim K kind of acts as the personification the modern day version of Marie Antoinette. 

Not that she is royalty, although she make like to think she is, but there is no denying the grand frivolous and superficial nature of her lifestyle including her fairytale wedding, complete with three designer gowns, half a million dollars in champagne and almost a million dollars worth of grub. And it was all captured on tape to be played ad nauseam to for our adoring eyes.

The egregious displays of wealth normally wouldn't bother folks. In fact, in better times, we have all enjoyed the spectacles of lavish spending and grandiose affairs. However, these are not good times. And  the country - hell, the world - is in the throes of declining wealth among the middle class, high unemployment and poverty and insurrection in the streets, via the Occupy movements.  All the while the top tier elite continue to get richer and spend frivolously.

Now Kim K and her affairs may not be warranted all this attention or even ridicule. I mean, what does she have to do with politics, poverty and world affairs? However, some would argue the same for Marie Antoinette, who after all, wasn't exactly the most influential member of the French monarchy. But she was a part of the french monarchy, which had been wasting a good amount of tax dollars on themselves while their citizens starved. By beheading the many nobles at the time sent a as a message that profligates would no longer be tolerated. So perhaps like a modern-day Antoinette, it makes everyone feel better to crowd around the guillotine, chanting "off with her head," while Kim K is executed - or at least dragged through the tabloid gutter - for her crime of being extravagant and recklessly wasteful.

Again, that's a working theory. Don't hold me to it.

Can I get real, and I mean really, really real, with yall for a moment and ask this question: Is anybody else irked by Steve Stoute and his mission to whitewash, or at the very least tan, black culture?

He seems to be on a mission to present this Kumbaya version of current race relations in this country, which doesn't jive with the reality of America. And truthfully and honestly, that gets under my skin. Like his new book, The Tanning of America: How Hip-Hop Created a Culture That Rewrote the Rules of the New Economy, Stoute, who started out as a Sony executive and is now an award winning marketing whiz, discusses how what he sees as the impact that Hip Hop has had on how people in globally spend their money.

To help promote his book, recently Stoute has produced a series of videos with Hip-Hop’s biggest names to discuss ways in they all realized that Hip-Hop had fully crossed over to white, mainstream audiences. His first video installment features Jay-z, who is not only a client of Stoute but also business partner to his Translation Advertising, an ad firm specializing in connecting huge corporations to "urban" celebrities for ridiculous amounts of money.  Together, Stoute and Jay-z discuss how Hip-Hop has brought the world together and more importantly, has enable them to see their brands across a wider demographic, thanks in part to the new generation that no longer sees color.  Also, they suggest that the concept of ‘selling-out’ just does not apply anymore because more and more black folks are invested in the new aspirational culture of the Hip-Hop. 

Well I give both Stoute and Jay credit for recognizing that authenticity, creativity and in some cases talent have certainly given way to a more materialistic and denigrating aesthetic in hip-hop.

But this whole idea that Hip-Hop has somehow changed the global landscape is nonsense. First off, white people gravitating to what some would call as black music is not a new phenomenon. Likewise Black culture, more specifically musical culture, has and will always be popular around the world. Prior to hip hop, there was Jazz, Rock & Roll, Soul and Reggae – all with roots in the black community – which had and continue to have wide mainstream and global appeal. But while white folks, as well as folks of other colors, have gravitated to the music, never really meant much for race relations.  That’s why the James Browns and, Chuck Berrys, as well as many black artist before them, used to have to enter and exit through the back door just to play to all white audiences at white only establishment. In other words, just because people enjoy our music doesn’t mean they like us. Furthermore, selling our art form to corporations, whose sole purpose is profit, hasn’t really help to mature the art form itself besides making Stoute, Jay-Z and a few other acts here and there rich.  Before profits became the motivating factor within Hip-Hop, the music and the culture around it was much more political, much more relatable and more importantly, much more empowering. All we have now is a bunch of white boys calling each other niggers and that somehow we are supposed to see this as progress? Negros please.

But this whole tanning thing seems to be a running theme with Stoute. Like early this year, Stoute, who took over as lead investor and chairman for Carol's Daughter, went to work on reimagining that company’s image, which originally was founded on catering to the beauty needs of Black women. The first thing he did was announced the “Beauty in Diversity,” campaign, which featured Selita Ebanks, Cassie and Solange to represent the “polyethnic essence” of black women.

Upon the release of the campaign, Stoute issued this statement, which said, “We want to be the first beauty brand that truly captures the beauty of the tapestry of skin types in America. When I say polyethnic, I mean women who are made up of several ethnicities. If you ask them what they are, they’re going to use a lot of different words to describe themselves. That’s in line with the Census data coming out — people are checking much more than two boxes. We believe we’ve put together a shoot that celebrates many different ethnicities, to become a mirror of what America’s really becoming.[...] “They will serve as cultural ambassadors in bringing forth this acceptance that the definition of beauty is now colorless."

 
 Of course, lots of women took issue with this campaign for their lack of inclusion of women from the darker hue of the colored-woman’s spectrum.  In essence, many women felt that "well, these daughter must be adopted because they don't look nothing like the Carol, that has been marketing to me and I've been using and supporting for years.” All complexions are beautiful and this whole “polyethnic” view is certainly nothing new to a people, who historically can claim Native American, Europeans, Asian and other ethnicities within its culture yet have always been considered Black American. But having said that using only black women whose beauty, and more particularly skin tone and hair texture, has always been the acceptable norm for mainstream audiences is not only not diversity but is also indicative of this twisted mindset within the Black community that the only way to capitalize off of our feminine beauty globally is by lightening up our aesthetic.  Black women and girls are still having to fight to have their natural images seen and respected in not just mainstream cultural but also in cultural realms within the Black community, particularly within current Hip-Hop (a situation, which Stoute has gladly taken credit for), which has placed lighter-skinned women on higher pedestals than women similar in hue to the rappers themselves.  Having a campaign, which tries to redefine Black womanhood, seems at the very least counterproductive.  

I give Stoute credit where credit is due: He is a marketing genius and a master of the crossover illusion, who has helped to make many minority artists not only appeal to bigger audiences but also filthy rich.  But Stoute and his brand of Post-Black marketing only seeks to leverage our lifestyles and culture contributions to assist corporations push their brands into new markets. And just because he was able to sell the idea of Lebron James chomping down on a burger in a McDonalds ad or Chris Brown dancing and singing for a Wrigley's gum campaign does not mean that the world has accepted African Americans. Nor does it mean that any of his personal achievements and financial gains has done anything to improve upon the position of African Americans as a whole in this country, which over the last few years has gotten worse.  

If anything, Stoute’s entire views on the state of current race relations fits nicely into that old “if everybody was mixed up” meme, which has always been touted as the answer to racism by those who claim colorblindness. However, that thinking always puzzled me because we are not all equally partners in oppression. There are very real systematic assaults that have been put into place to ensure that Black and Brown folks in our society are subjectated and are viewed as less than desirable.  Likewise, pushing this idea that folks have to be tan in order for them to be socially acceptable does not bode well for those who are just regular old black and brown and red and yellow and still believe they are deserving of equality and humanity.

From The Root:

Leola Anifowoshe, the self-proclaimed authority on natural hair care, has founded Pi Nappa Kappa (Yes, that's "Nappa" as in "nappy," not an actual Greek letter), which she says is a sorority designed to allow natural hair enthusiasts to support each other. Nearly 600 women have already joined.

Why?

Seriously, why is this even necessary?  I know the turbulence that Black women, who wear natural hairstyles experience out in the corporation, or white, world can be off-putting. But really,a sisterhood around something as short-lived as hair?  It sounds a tad bit divisive and snobby?

I never liked cliques and I was never down with the Us vs. Them mentality, which appears to be so pervasive in the community. It seems like we always got to seek out new ways to segregate ourselves and this most recent natural hair trend/movement is no exception. I have read and overheard some very ugly rhetoric against those women, who still perm and weave, from those, who profess to be natural and loving it. If you were really secure in your natural state, you would not need a reason to demean those, who choose to perm or weave. Just saying.

Likewise, I try to stay away from the natural hair nazis, who like to police the experiences of others.  Not saying that this is the intention of Leola Anifowoshe, the founder of Pi Nappa Kappa, but it certainly appears to be a breeding ground for the third hair reich to rise.

Why does the theme song sound like, at any moment, Det. Axel Foley is going to roll across the screen, draw his gun and then perch himselfsomewhere behind Sharpton's ear?

Last Friday, before the arrival of Hurricane Irene, Cynthia McKinney, former 6-term Congresswoman from Georgia,  made a stop here in Philly as part of her "Eyewitness Libya" tour. The tour, which has been happening in multiple cities around the country, seeks to expose the truth about how the U.S./NATO intervention in Libya is endangering and killing the civilian population and demand an immediate end to the war on Libya. McKinney, who ran for president in 2008 on the Green Party ticket, led a coalition of independent journalist to the war-torn country earlier this year.

The Philadelphia leg of the tour, which was held at Calvary Church in West Philly, was organized and supported by the International Action Center and International Concerned Family & Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal, N’COBRA, The Askia Coalition, Del. Valley Veterans for America, Philadelphia Innocence Project, Workers World Party, Moorish Unification Council of the World, Men United Against Violence Network, Party of Socialism and Liberation, Phila. ANSWER, Green Party of Philadelphia, Brandywine Peace Community, Philadelphia Against War, and the Sankofa Community Center. 

Listen below as McKinney discusses what we are not seeing in the media including how this U.S./NATO "intervention" has killed thousands and ushered in a wave of violence against  Libyan people of African descent.

*Just some technical notes: It was hot as hell in the meeting space, so the buzzing you hear in the background is actually the sound of whirling fans. Also, any sound fluctuation you hear is due to me adjusting the mic sensitivity so that it would filter out some of the sound of the fans. Finally, there were other speakers there that night. But due to battery and space limitations on my recording device, I chose only to focus on McKinney.  However, Sara Flounders from the national office of the International Action Center, speaks briefly during the Q&A segment.

Now that is out of the way, please enjoy and let me know what you think in the comment section below:

Q&A below:

According to this site:

"Colour block fashion is one of the hottest new trends for the season. It combines the use of two or more blocks of colour in an ensemble. This could be for a top, bottom, tunic, a dress and even a handbag or shoes. Simply it means – creating an outfit by putting areas or blocks of solid color next to each other. It can include monotone, bright colours, muted colors, contrasting and complimentary colors. Clothes, shoes, handbags and accessories can all feature color block designs or can make up different blocks of color to be put together for a color block outfit."

Um, back in the day, we used to call this mis-matching. And it wasn't a trend. It was more like: either you got dressed in the dark or might be suffering from vision problems because that hot pink/fuchsia shirt doesn't exactly "go with" those orange pants.  And then my mother would send me back upstairs to change. Nevertheless, this is fashion. And as fashion goes, so do we.

And quite honestly, I kind of like it. Although, I don't know if I am daring enough to pull it off intentionally.  At the very least, this new trend will provide me with the perfect excuse on laundry day to combine random colors and still appear to be "put together."