Where's All The Good Music Gone? Vol. 2

I discovered this great video of Jazmine Sullivan singing "IN Love with Another Man" today. Listen to this girl belt this song with little more than a keyboard to accompany her! She can sing like this and you can still only find her music on Youtube and through various peer2peer sharing sites. Funny thing is I was in Target yesterday and they had a whole freaking wall of that trick Ashantie! All I can say is she must give bomb head cause she surely isn't a singer.

Be Strong My Friend

Hey Peeps... been a lil down and stuff but how many know that God is! Check out my girl Chantae Cann singing Be Strong. Enjoy her voice, but listen to the words.. they'll bless you.

Ok, So now what George W.?

Do you remember when they first started talking recession? Fox News and Republicans everywhere passed the warnings off as alarmist speculation. Just months later people are actually celebrating that gas prices have dropped to $3.87. Seriously? For the first time in my lifetime, everyone is broke. Blacks & Whites, College Grads & GED holders, Young & Old. Everyone is feeling the pinch. Well everyone except our leaders. We live in the most dichotomous governmental system that exist. We rely on wealthy, Yale educated elitists to make the decisions that affect people who will never have enough to eat, never make enough to keep things turned on, and will never know excess or extravagance. We have a system of government where regular people cannot be success. Look at Hillary. Obviously you cannot run for office unless you have 5 or so million dollars sitting around to subsidize a campaign that started out failing. Sorry Hill.. that was mean. Oh I digress...

I've been unemployed since mid June. Lost my job because they needed to cut a position and I was too smart. No, I'm not puffing my head up.. they told me I was too smart. The irony is we're raised to shoot for the stars. "Do well in school" they tell us and all things will be at your disposal. Not so. Mediocrity will keep you employed while ambition scares folks. I was at the unemployment office today to get a letter to send to my student loans guarantors to show that I am in fact unemployed. The woman working at the Department of Labor, who looked at least 40, told me that she has an "economic hardship" deferment of her loans. Imagine that.. the people at the state unemployment office are a paycheck away from being other side of the counter. On Monday I went to the Department of Families and Children to see if I could qualify for any other type of assistance. Shit.. I pay taxes, why not.. I read my entire Newsweek while waiting. The whole thing! Advertisements and all. Can I just throw in her that government office are organized confusion?? Jesus Christ. Who the hell is in charge?? Well I finally go into see a counselor who after looking at all my past due bills and then looking at my weekly unemployment benefits and told me I made too much money to get ANY assistance. Unemployed, I make too much money! This bitch had the audacity to tell me she works at the office and is on food stamps. Ain't that some shit?? Our system is set up to sustain functional poverty. A culture of working poor. Am I the only one who thinks things are broken?

...Reality is what they need.

Sometimes I feel like Disney is responsible for everything we see on TV, and everything we experience a the movies. I understand that these mediums are based in make believe but must of it is down right fantasy. I think that TV shows like Friends and Martin are very apt examples of real life. White people with White people and Black People. It almost seems like there is this new formula for TV shows... you have to have your overly horny Black guy, your angry Black woman, a ditsy White girl, a gay, and either a White or Asian "all American" athletic type. In this fantasy world, everyone gets along, nothing offends anyone, and somehow everyone fully understands the respective experiences of the other characters no matter how diverse their stories. In a perfect world this would be great, but unfortunately it is not a realistic characterisation of how we really interact. It is so much easier to tell the story this way than to open a dialogue about the fact that we all are fearful of what is different. If each group new the conversations that the others were having about them when it's "just us."

I'm sitting here watching the movie, The Fighting Temptations. I cannot get over the opening scene. The setting is an old school Baptist church featuring an energetic church choir led by Pastor Shirley Cesar. The time seems like As the camera pans the congregation... everyone in the church is IN. Folks are shouting, dancing, falling out, etc. Funny stuff... The funniest part is the church congregation is more mixed than any church I've been in.. and I grew up Methodist and went to Catholic School! Interracial couples, White men, women and children, Asians, and blacks... as though this naturally occurs. The only thing there were missing was the gay! But lets be real, it was a Black church! Don't get me wrong. I love the idealism of tinsel town but I'd rather we tell the story as it is and force people to admit to and work through their fear of what's unknown.

Today Is Jamaican Independence Day

Today I'm celebrating Jamaican Emancipation and Independence Day. The official holiday is August 6th but it is celebrated the first Monday of every August. The flag and it's colors have become so cliche to American's but they surely mean something to my kin folk! The Jamaica National Flag was first raised on Independence Day, August 6, 1962. It signifies the birth of our nation.

..::Listening to The Jamaican National Anthem::..

Listen the Anthem

Jamaican National Anthem

Eternal Father, Bless our Land,
Guide us with thy mighty hand,
Keep us free from evil powers,
Be our light through countless hours,
To our leaders, great defender,
Grant true wisdom from above,
Justice, truth be ours forever,
Jamaica, land we love,
Jamaica, Jamaica, Jamaica, land we love

Teach us true respect for all,
Stir response to duty's call,
Strengthen us the weak to cherish,
Give us vision lest we perish,
Knowledge send us Heavenly Father,
Grant true wisdom from above,
Justice, truth be ours forever,
Jamaica, land we love,
Jamaica, Jamaica, Jamaica, land we love.

Words by Hugh Sherlock, music by Robert Lightbourne

...Nothin' Goin On But the Rent

I celebrated a first today... well a celebrations of sorts. My phone was disconnected today fort he first time in my life. I realized something.. this is the first time in nearly a decade that I've gone an hour without sending or receiving a text message. This unemployment thing is not cute. The irony is I am sure all of the companies to which I've applied attempted to call me back today!

Republicans and the wealthy (often they're on in the same) seem to think all is well in this country. NPR did a piece yesterday on thrift shops. They talked about how their clients have change... more and more middle class families are turning to thrift stores for anything and everything as they don't have disposable income for essentials. Goodwill and the Salvation Army also lamented that the quality and quantity of donations have declined. The former haves are holding on to what they have unsure when they'll be able to go shopping again and the have nots are stuck with the rags that are left. All I can do is laugh these days.. I'm curious what's to come.

..::Listening to Donny Hathaway & Roberta Flack - Come Ye Disconsolate::..

What's the Deal With these fitted caps?

I cannot believe that I am just not writing this blog.. what's the deal with guys and girls wearing baseball hats and leaving the original tag and size sticker on it?? ... like is that some kind of rule?? I remember when I was younger I saw this episode of Muffet Babies where Miss Piggy thought she was going to go to jail because she tour the tag off her mattress.. Is it one of those ordeals because if so,I'm sure the "ball cap police" established under the Bush Administration have much better things to do than concern them selves with your hats.

I'm an actual baseball fan. I love the game. I support my hometown team the Baltimore Orioles.. funny thing is it seems like you sticker wearers only support The Boston Red Socks or The New York Yankees... funny thing is I'm sure most guys couldn't name the couch, or one player... y'all probably don't even know when baseball season is! Guess that's why I don't have swag.. I'm in the habit of taking the tags off of things I purchase. You guys probably take them back the next day like girls and prom dresses! My advice is just stoppit.. You look like an idiot to the rest of us.

Life's Undo Button

Sometimes I really wish there was one. For every time I fucked up, put my foot in my mouth, lied, or showed my "inner nerd" I wish I could just go to life's file menu and click undo.. undo.. undo allowing me the opportunity to take that knowledge and use exactly the right line, or laugh at the right joke, or leave some of these situations alone all together.

Many of you are old enough yet just young enough to remember The Elephant Show. This is before Barney and Teletubbies and all that other trash the kids are watching now.. They use to sing these songs about sharing and caring and treating people the way you want to be treated. My dumb ass took it all to heart.. I care what people think. I care how people feel. Damn eighties TV shows. Today a long lost friend that I had stopped talking to contacted me and my initial thought was to simply ignore and delete, ignore and delete. As I started I thought about someone in my life that I had mess up with and figured they were following my formula.. ignore and delete, ignore and delete and decided to respond. I'm sooo idealistic.. lol believing that one good deed will begat another like I'm earning tickets and Chucky Cheese or something.. bullshit.

Sometimes I feel like Carlton from the Fresh Prince... bright eyed, self assured, and a believe in the goodness of people.. I just wants those I love to love me back.. and then to continue that love without reservation.. almost like a parent to a child.. It's so easy to love a cute kid. A straight A student. That kid who's biggest worry is deciding which of the 12 schools they were accepted to and offered full scholarships they want to attend. What about the parent who sees their kid on the news.. who has to pick him up from the Principal's office of bail him out.. again? Good parents love you no matter what dumb shit you do, or how big your nose is, or how much you remind them of what they hate about themselves.

We all seem to want "he without blemish." In the absence of that undo button I'm learning that, that type of love probably doesn't exists otherwise. This scares me.

..::Listening to Only The Lonely By Diana Krall::..

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

I love this movie! My friend Alex turned me onto it... great storyline, awesome music, and great compliment of actors.

Brief Synopsis (from Amazon.com)

Ulysses Everett McGill (George Clooney) escapes the chain gang with two fellow convicts the simple and somewhat slow Delmar (Tim Blake Nelson) and ill-tempered Pete (John Turturro) to pursue the promise of hidden loot stashed in his house that is about to be swept away in a flood. On the way the trio experience a journey filled with hilarious adventure and cast of strange characters starting with a blind prophet who warns them that "the treasure you seek shall not be the treasure you find."

Not only is the movie awesome, the sound track offers a lot of original [performance] period relevant music. Check it out! You music enthusiast who appreciate more than just The Clark Sisters won't be disappointed.

Release Date: December 5, 2000
Label: Buena Vista Pictures

Track Listings

1. Po Lazarus - J. Carter & Prisoners

2. Big Rock Candy Mountain - Harry McLintock

3. You Are My Sunshine - Norman Blake

4. Down In The River To Pray - Alison Krauss

5. I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow - The Soggy Bottom Boys featuring Dan Tyminski

6. Hard Time Killing Floor Blues - Chris Thomas King

7. Man Of Constant Sorrow (Instrumental) - Norman Blake

8. Keep On The Sunny Side - The Whites

9. I'll Fly Away - Gillian Welch & Alison Krauss

10. Didn't Leave Nobody But The Baby - Gillian Welch, Alison Krauss & Emmylou Harris

11. In The Highways - The Peasall Sisters

12. I Am Weary - The Cox Family

13. I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow (Instrumental) - John Hartford

14. O Death - Ralph Stanley

15. In The Jailhouse Now - The Soggy Bottom Boys featuring Tim Blake Nelson

16. I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow (With band) - The Soggy Bottom Boys feat. Dan Tyminski

17. Indian War Whoop (Instrumental) - John Hartford

18. Lonesome Valley - The Fairfield Four

19. Angel Band - The Stanley Brothers ..::Watching: The Soggy Bottom Boys Singing "Oh Brother Where Art Thou"::..

Black Sells... Reactions to CNN Presents: Black in America

::Applauds Spike Lee::

In one of my earlier post entitled, "Us Against Us," I criticized Vogue Magazine for it's tasteless depiction of basketball player LaBron James as a brutish ape figure. It doesn't take much imagination to visualize the imagery and see King Kong. While I was, and am still upset with this creative decision on the part of Condé Nast Publications, publishers of Vogue, James is not exonerated. The reality is that didn't. LaBron James--idol to little Black boys the world over--has decided that this imagery is acceptable.. or at least for the right price. This is a very consistent trend in media. The unfortunate truth is that dramatizations of the plight of Black America sells. It's entertaining, engaging and serves to maintain, at least the image, that Blacks —all Blacks —behave this way. So many would love to believe that Mo'Nique (in her role as Jamiqua in the 2004 Movie, Soul Plane) as an apt representation of Black women or common story line of incarcerated absentee fathers. I feel it necessary to disclose that I feel Soul Plane was perhaps the worst movie ever made and should have been a wake up cal for a lot of people. The reality is that Blacks are just as responsible for the images we allow our faces, and voice to create through television, music, and cinema and the mostly White "gatekeepers" that green light these projects and provide much of the creative directors.

It is so much harder to be a Black entertainer than any other race. We're not privileged to carry on like Lindsay Lohan or Brittany Spears because there's this implied responsibility. We expect our stars to represent us. Seriously. Most Black teens have no idea who their local municipal officials are, and could care less what their opinions are, but they look to Oprah, and the likes and Michael Vick for direction and an example. There is this expectation that their work should uplift the race..

I had the opportunity to hear Sheldon "Spike" Lee speak, in Martin Luther King Jr. Chapel, on the campus of Morehouse College in 2003 about the challenges of being a film maker in a White dominated industry. He opened my eyes. This was my first time hearing the term “gatekeepers." We see so much color in popular culture, be it music, film, vernacular, etc., but few realize that these people are not as powerful as we think. Albeit, many of them are rich... for a season, but persons of color are grossly underrepresented in positions of true authority. Positions with the ability to set trends define and determine relevance, to allocate financing, and to give the final “yah or née” on projects.

I was a late bloomer when it comes to Mr. Lee's projects. I read sociological studies on his movies long before I ever saw any of them. I thought of Spike as a powerhouse, a multimillions... a gatekeeper. I had no idea the amount of leg work he had to do to get financing for his projects. He makes films "people don't want to see." We don't want to see socially aware Blacks on the big screen. We, as in Black people, don't want to see these images.

I remember growing up watching The Cosby Show and A Different World and hearing the undercurrent from Blacks about how unrealistic these shows were. Imagine that.. the idea of a Black doctor marrying a Black attorney. What were they thinking? …The idea of a Black couple having five children and not being on welfare and living in poverty? …Images of multiple generations of married couples? …Never having an episode of picking a child up from the police station or an eviction scare. Unrealistic, huh? Sounds a lot like my family. We have taken ownership of the wrong struggle. Rather than educating ourselves and fighting institutionalized racism, we are trying to hold onto welfare and food stamps as though these institutions are inherently ours.

I appreciate how vocal Lee has been in bringing to light the disproportion of Blacks in true positions of influence. In a culture where YouTube.com and American Idol has made every teenager believe that fame is 13 weeks and a season finale away, we need to aspire to be directors, attorneys, executive producers, etc. and not just pretty faces waiting on directions.

We need to take back our faces, and our voices, and our music, and our bodies and start to produce and support work that positively and equitably depicts people of color. It's so hard wanting more for people than they want for themselves.

..::Reading - Uplift The Race, The Construction Of School Daze by: SPIKE LEE with LISA JONES::..