Life is like video footage; hard to edit; directors that never understood it

"I'm too impulsive, my deadly corrosive dosage
attack when you least notice through explosive postage"
-Wu Tang Clan, "Reunited"

I've made my share of comments on the recent allegations regarding City Councilor Chuck Turner. I took a half day off from work on Monday and went down to City Hall. Peep Press Pass TV's footage of the event. If you are a youth interested in film/video, you might want to holla at Press Pass TV. It is a very good program with top-notch staff.

Money, Power, Respect...what you need in life

interesting trailer. Mr. Jackson definitely gets his hustles on.

Prosecutor, do you have any more evidience?

"We're blind to color when it comes to the evidence?"
-U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan.

"And yet they say this is the Home of The Free.
But if you ask me, it's all about hypocrisy.
The constitution? Yo, it don't apply to me.
Lady Liberty? Stupid 6!tch lied to me."
-2Pac, "Words of Wisdom"

Indeed, these are some interesting times in which we live. I have noticed the many news reports and analysis of how things have seemingly come full circle. Yet, even all the hope in the world didn't have me convinced that life was going to be a box of chocolate as Mr. Gump opined.

Your president is black.
Your lambo is a still a dream.
Your net worth is red.

In fact, life is just as crazy and volatile and risky as ever. State Senator Dianne Wilkerson resigned two days ago. This morning, City Councilor Chuck Turner was arrested for allegedly similar crimes.

Through all of this, I am troubled. I noticed brother Jamarhl stated that it seems to be an attack on black leadership. He ain't never lied. I fully agree and don't think for a second it just started a month ago. We know about Kilpatrick. We know about Barry. Yes, accountability is key. But the stakes are high and some shT just ain't right.

It took months before State Senator Marzili resigned. And Sal DiMasi STILL has yet to be called out by his peers to step down. Does the phrase Rockefeller Laws ring a bell? DiMasi was peddling coke, ecstasy, and OxyContin, while Wilkerson was on the corners and Turner was a runner.

I went to sleep at 4 this morning very tired, yet very inspired after having a very transformative night with a tremendously thought-provoking and moving group of people. I type this with mixed emotions and thoughts. Obviously, this is far from over. So I'll continue catching up, digesting, and dissecting the information overload before I regurgitate some actual well-thought-out responses. But for now, maybe we are simply just living on larger plantations. Why be afraid of black power when racism is still institutionalized.

my head hurts.

Life can be only what you make it

"When you're feeling down
You should never fake it
Say what's on your mind
And you'll find in time
That all the negative energy
It would all decease"
-Mary J Blige, "My Life"

My Life to Be - Stories for Change

Almost four years ago, I signed up for this program called the Community Enrichment Fellows Program. In the first cohort, in which several friends of mine participated, they had the opportunity to engage in a leadership and capacity-building training focused on leadership and community service. The second cohort, mine, focused more on public service and the underground aspects of political organizing and campaigning.

CEFP, hosted by my alma mater, was a very instrumental program that helped to focus my sensibilities and relation to public officials. I lightly applied pressure to a fellow Fellow in hope of persuading him to run for office. But truly, i knew just one campaign wasn't going to be enough. Nonetheless, we are on the eve of some serious wreck catching in the Bean. With that said, allow me to introduce you to Jayme Bonds, one of our classmates from the 2nd CEFP cohort. She is a great role model and delight. I happened to come across this wonderful clip produced over a year ago highlighting her story. I really appreciate the use of new media to convey this message. It really strikes a chord knowing she had a primary hand in crafting its flow. We could file this away under media literacy, self-determination, and life lessons all in one. But to tuck it away would not serve it justice. So just think of the old Mary J jam and say hello to Jayme. Word.

"If you looked in my life and see what I've seen."

the absence of common sense

a wise man (or woman) recognizes that it is a smart move to hire staffers who are smarter than you to provide counsel and advice. That's what cabinets are for, right? Well, riddle me this, yo. Who the hell is whispering in Mayor Menino's ear? He is proposing a $40 million renovation of the Northern Ave bridge. Really? Surely, you cannot be serious.

First of all, that bridge is only open to pedestrian traffic right now. The structure is MAD old. MAD. Plus, in the billion years that it's been there, only the last five or so had the huge Moakley Courthouse building at one end. It;s congested enough over there as it is. Furthermore, Fort Point Channel is chump change. It's a small sliver of water that is mostly unused. No paddle boats or kayaks over there, kiddies. To spend $40 million so the few boats that dock between the Northern Ave and Seaport Blvd bridges is preposterous to me. It may seem like small stuff, but really though. Can I live? Better yet, can I not live in a city with mixed-up priorities. Kowtow to the few at the expense of the many. This is just as bad as the whole move City Hall to the Waterfront idea. Riddle me something else: why are we so in love with everything Waterfront-related? Geesh.

Travel to a place sweeter than home, listening to Nina Simone

"Repeat this psalm
To the sky I'm keeping my palms"
-Common f/ Vinia Mojica, "Time Travelin'"

So there's this Nina Simone song in my collection by the name of "Pirate Jenny." It is a very murky and haunting tale of a young cleaning women; presumably, Jenny. She speaks of how she keeps scrubbing the floors while she is rendered as an afterthought to the people in town. Until one day, his black freighter comes to town and catches wreck. Only one building is spared; the cheap hotel where she lives. This joint could be a novel, yo. I'll let you listen to the song to actually figure out the rest of the story for yourself. One top of the free download, I've even got lyrics for you to follow along. Don't say I don't love ya. Lastly, the image accompanying this post is a photo of a painting, "The Black Freighter," by Cagen Luse. Cagen is a talented brother with some seriously ill skills. I am talking design, painting, illustration, photography, animation, and cartooning. If you ever wanted to cop some great artwork, you may want to consider his Americana Noir collection. Give that brother a holla.

I got the trees in my backyard and it's hard for them to tell a lie to me

"You gots to gimme gimme mine cause I'm heavy when I weigh it"

Reverse NIMBY?
In an Evolving Harlem, Newcomers Try to Fit In

"I sing the song you never heard before
I feed the famine in your mind"
-De La Soul, "Ego Trippin' (Part Two)"

interesting dynamic that i got put on to by the ladies at afropolege. it gives a peculiar glance at the cultural shifts in effect in the home of the 1-2-5. I was last there in July to chill at my uncle's annual 4th of July cookout. Both that article and this Population Puzzle one raise some interesting questions about community identity and such.

A Week of Exhaling

finally got the short video I made last week uploaded to youtube so the far-flung fam could enjoy.

the symbolism of race and the reality of power

mad lazy with it, but i found the gist of this piece pretty enthralling.

Commentary: When a black man was invited to the White House

kinda gives new meaning to that spiritual refrain of We Shall Overcome, huh?

Building A Successful Consulting Practice

For those that attended today's workshop at the Professional Development Conference in Parsippany, NJ, I have provided the presentation for your archives as PDF files with either each slide on one page or 3 slides per page with space for notes.

Those other two website suggestions were BruceClay and WebCEO. I hope you enjoyed the session and I look forward to hearing of the big things you pop off in the future. Holla.

All I Ever Really Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten - by Robert Fulghum

Most of what I really need to know about how to live, and what to do, and how to be, I learned in Kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain, but there in the sandbox at nursery school.

These are the things I learned..

Share everything.
Play fair.
Don't hit people.
Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own mess.
Don't take things that aren't yours.
Say sorry when you hurt somebody.
Wash your hands before you eat.
Flush.
Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
Live a balanced life.

Learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.

Take a nap every afternoon.
When you go out into the world, watch for traffic, hold hands, and stick together.
Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the plastic cup? The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.

Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the plastic cup - they all die. So do we.

And then remember the book about Dick and Jane and the first word you learned, the biggest word of all: LOOK.

Everything you need to know is in there somewhere.
The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation.
Ecology and politics and sane living.

Think of what a better world it would be if we all - the whole world had cookies and milk about 3 o'clock every afternoon and then lay down with our blankets for a nap. Or if we had a basic policy in our nation and other nations to always put things back where we found them and cleaned up our own messes. And it is still true, no matter how old you are, when you go out into the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together.

Word.

Making it up as we go along

Some folks are really feeling good right about now. Obama's election has given new meaning to the phrase, "keep hope alive." Others feel that regardless of his skin color, he still won't be able to do jack in the Oval Office. I am a fan of this insightful editorial piece. It captures some great anecdotes. Sometimes preparation can only get you but so far. As long as you are competent and know how to think critically and approach problems with a solution-oriented way of solving them, most things should work out just fine. I can get with that. The last 48 hours have seen a rush of energy, excitement, adrenaline, and joy that I have never witnessed before on such a massive, ubiquitous scale. Will he solve all of the world's problems? Probably not. Will things be any better years from now? Who knows. But what I DO know is that buy-in (top-down and bottom-up) is very important when you have grandiose plans. And with all of these folks newly proud to be American once again, I'd say that's the most buy-in this country has seen in quite some time.

yes we did

tears have trickled down my face since last night

I'm from poverty, neglected by the wealthy

"Life is short is what some n!gga said
Not if you measure life - by how one lives and what he did
it's funny how these black killer companies is making money off us
Fast food, cola, soda, Skull & Bone crosses, it's all poison"
-Nas, "What Goes Around (Poison)"

it's election day.

instead of the usual kiddie fare, the lil homie had to endure a 47-page childrens book on Barack Obama as his bedtime story. It was great! I am doubly filled with extreme hope and optimism yet supremely fretful for what the future holds.

plus, with all this talk of recessions and bailouts, we've got MA ballot question #1 about possibly doing away with the state income tax. I found this online Massachusetts Budget Game Calculator to be pretty dope. It's interesting to see what were the non-negotiables. It's that ripple effect that leaves you a bit uncertain. I'm siding with leaving it as is because the state is already losing revenue as it is. I'm voting yes on question # 2 because I do see all of the legwork in pursuing charges for such minimal amounts of weed as a waste of money and resources. As for question # 3, i'm going to have to say no to getting rid of greyhoud dog racing. I cannot put dogs over people's livelihoods. It's hard enough out here as it is. Plus, as my man Styles P said, "Mike Vick bought a pit, now he going to jail, he ain't have a license to shoot no damn duck or quail."

pick your poison, i suppose.

Extinguish the sun when I drool, play pool with the planets

"Spectacular miraculous flow, computer digital
I ridicule the pitiful, piss upon the minuscule"
-De La Soul f/ Pharoahe Monch, "Weed #1"

I came across this interesting article on a Stanford class on how to develop Facebook applications. The idea may seem fad-chasing to some and novel to others. Regardless, it was the most popular computer science class at the school. Personally, I thoroughly enjoy facebook and try to earnestly use it to its full potential. I have found former classmate from elementary and middle school. I have helped promote my own civic agenda via my personal networks. And I have managed to do a great deal of professional networking as well.

I'll admit it; I'm a junkie, maybe. It's not that I have an addiction. I just like sticky sites and facebook is definitely sticky, for all kinds of right and wrong reasons. Would you believe somebody had the nerve to create a group for people who hate my spontaneous way of taking pictures?! I've since realized that I ask for permission more often before snapping away. Nevertheless, I see the possibility of the Stanford class as something that could be replicated in the the K12 environment. There are already scores of teens on these sites and schools across the country offering AP Computer Science and Java programming classes. There is definitely a lack of students whose minds are being engaged with the prospects of careers in the STEM fields. Now, we just gotta figure out a way to make it work. I just hope it doesn't go the way of the game design movement in schools and fizzle out like a match in the Chi (Chicago).

urgency and importance

I came across this insightful article on How to Manage Your Time and Focus on What's Really Important. It was a great read with some very simple and straightforward suggestions. It was based on the work of Stephen Covey and Randy Pausch. Basically, it involves reorganizing your life's tasks into four quadrants and focusing on what matters the most; life's important stuff. The unimportant minutiae can come later. So simple, yet seemingly so effective.

Just imagine oh much more productive, happy, and probably healthy we'd be if w could stick to the basics. I for one try to merge what I do for work with what I like doing in general. Match your vocation with your vacation. Word.

Welcome To The Terrordome

instead of writing a little something, how about I drop some videos on you. holla.

A Poem For The Youth Voter
This Ill Doctrine joint is hot. A real basic backdrop snare kick and great enunciation.


Pharoahe Monch's Welcome to the Terrordome
Ill cover of Public Enemy's classic jam. Great visual and superb lyrical content as is customary with the god.


Vote However You Like
start civic engagement erarly



Don't Give Up
aka Don't Celebrate Prematurely