Airwaves disaster-ridden, we wear masks for a living

Lets hit the streets
Catch bullets with our teeth
Get the kitten out the tree
Bring evil to its knees
Clean its mouth out with bleach and send it on its way
Bring the children a better day

Aas my carib crew would say, some interesting tings a gwan deh. case in point, this Where Does Courage Come From article and this quick interview of Henry Louis Gates about his new annotated version of Uncle Tom's Cabin. coincidentally, joseph mccarthy, condoleeza rice, leopold mozart, and claude monet all share a birthday today. had me thinking about leadership and selling out and the inherent parallels and paradox that come with both. plus, i've been seeing more and more people who talk about giving up on hip-hop, which troubles me. and no, i'm not trying to make excuses, because there are plenty of ignant muthafuqas out there making some wack shT, but to just give up on the whole genre? had some discussions the past week and tonight in particular about some tangible ideas to connect the culture more intimately with the social change work being done. youth voice is very central to the puzzle, but so is an open willingness on both ends to passionately convey opinions and argue talking points, yet do it in a productively tasteful way the keep business as it should be and puts the ball in motion as opposed to talking heads, usurped credibility, insulted sensibilities, and wack photo-ops. so the notion of how leadership, selling out, sensationalism, scare tactics, artisitic freedom, and estranged realities all fit in the puzzle somehow i guess. i just hope it doesn't rain on thursday.

Now day in day out
We fought continuous bouts
At every corner of the world where we heard evil shout
Hearts filled with courage bank accounts full of doubt
We gotta find a way to make it all balance out
-Murs & Slug, "The Two"