Vote for Daniel C!

Daniel C.

A lot of people know Nikki (aka Euphoria Luv) from her website and blogs.  She entered her little tyke into the Gap Casting Call baby contest.  He’s adorable, he’s cute and he needs your vote.  So sign up and vote for him (here) as much as you can.

 

Floppy Eared Humans?

Just listened to a recent edition of  ”Radiolab” where Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich explored whether human nature be changed.  Well, to be more specific, the worst of human nature.  Our inclination for contention and our inability to achieve world peace.   A grand idea, but not necessarily elusive.  In three separate stories they make the case of how small incremental occurences changed the social interaction of the group to make a kinder, gentler social structure.  And although I used a 41st Bushism it didn’t include violence or war.

Which makes me wonder about the human race and it seems that over time, slowly, we have been domesticating ourselves with people being nicer toward one another one a more desirable trait and larger more aggressive humans less desirable. 

Hard to believe that we have never been more acculturated than we are now.  But don’t believe me, listen to the podcast although a warning to the hardcore bible thumpers, the show does acknowledge the existence of evolution.

Groovin to…

The Smyrks!

They are my new favorite band and I love the fact that they would write a song about the death of Jason Todd, the 2nd Robin that hung out with Batman.

The first Robin went on to become Nightwing, which was better for Dick Grayson because who wants to be Batman’s punk sidekick anyway?  But then in true soap opera style, Todd comes back as Batman’s archnemisis.

Which is not what this song is about, it’s about his death which is what a lot of fans wanted.

But check out the Smyrks, they are really cool.

Word Star: Leonard Chang

Maybe you are familiar with Leonard Chang’s mystery trilogy.  I haven’t read it, but hopefully the fact that I’ve read “Fruit n’ Food” and “Dispatches from the Cold” two or three times each makes up for it.

Now Chang has a new book out called “Crossings” a story about an Asian American in love with an illegal immigrant.  I read the beginning of the book and now need to pick it up to see how it ends.

To find out more about Chang check out his website here.  For a free excerpt of the book click here.

If Black is Beautiful then What About Blackface?

When I saw Robert Downey Jr. portray a white actor put on make up to become a black male for a movie I thought the movie was good.

When I saw Wayans Brothers put on white make up to become White Chicks, I thought well, okay.

Even Tyra had the girls on ANTM do a photoshoot with the girls changing their ethnicities.

So then, what makes the above okay and this…

and this…

French Vogue Layout Oct '09

…offensive?

Or is blackface in the eye of the beholder?

Persia’s Mecca

I’m watching re-runs of Girlfriends right now and I think, “I would book Lynn and Finn to play a wedding.”

Since hearing her perform with Tricky on the show I’ve been waiting for her CD.  Finally White’s debut CD “Mecca” will be released on Sunday 25 October (her birthday).  Her first single Wanting  was released this past week with a Promise that it could be bought on iTunes which I did not find but I did locate it on Amazon.com.

From her press release:

Mecca is a sprawling, twelve track album, combining a number of genres, including electronica and trip-hop and including elements of blues and prog-rock. Music aficionados will hear the influence of Bjørk and Massive Attack underneath Persia’s mysterious aural landscapes.

The album has several guest stars, including ex-fiancé Saul Williams on the intense, drum-driven “Receive” and the electric beats of “Danger.” Being released for the first time ever are two songs featured on the TV show Girlfriends: the gut wrenching “Choices” along with “Past Mistakes,” and “Tease,” featuring the father of Trip-hop TRICKY. Several haunting collaborations (including the first single “Wanting,” and the tracks “Receive” and “Perfect”) were the result of co-writing with producer/musician Ric Alien and Drew Martinez. Persia has worked with great artists such as Gary Wallis of Pink Floyd, Dominique Miller of Sting, Jerome Dillon of Nine Inch Nails and Big Boi of Outcast.

Sounds like it would be a hit if more black artists could get played on alternative rock music stations.  Or maybe it’s just my city and you know the deal with the Natti.  Who knows, maybe someone will recognize her name from the show and give her a try.   If Jay-Z can go on Oprah that means black music has to go somewhere to chafe against parents.

Groovin to…

Rhapsody in Blue as performed by Herbie Hancock and Lang Lang.

But it’s not enough to move me from bed, though.

Flash Blasian

Hat tip to JennMLJ for posting this clip:

 I’m sure on Thursday night I heard a small cheer from Blasian couples across the country.  This is so much better than the first BF/AM on a TV series: Bebe and Jimmy Ho from the PJs.

I still kinda miss Bebe and Jimmy Ho but Demetri and Zoey will do.

War Between the Genders: You Need Good Videos

Your intrepid reporter here, on the frontlines of this ongoing war.  One of the battlefields where a hot battle is happening is YouTube.  If you have a video camera and an opinion then get on YouTube and say something.

I’ve seen many, but this one is the isht!

This was hilarious.  It had me rolling!  It’s comedy, for real.  I loved it.  I’m sorry, I should I loveded it.

LOL

First off, he put Black America at being a trillion years old and you know, we’ve been in this country a long time but we weren’t it’s original inhabitants.  I think what he meant was 2 hundred or so years for us, but that’s cool.  I’ll let our African brothers and sisters across the seas in the motherland take him up on that point although they have their own battles to wage.

Secondly, swathing all of African Americans with the weft of what we know as popular black culture –he mainly youth culture which is low brow.  The low brow aspects of black culture he over generalized and made it seem that too many black women have sunk to those depths.  We are not a monolith but sadly the loudest, gaudiest of us have become the dominant image of African Americans.  Not all black men are drop outs or in jail, not all black women have loud mouths and a million kids.  We play into our own stereotypes so much that we want to become it; anyone who isn’t that way is thought of as not being authentically black.  So then, black male thugs do become heavily sought after because we believe it’s a true expression of black male masculinity.  And black women who aren’t bossy or bitchy are white washed or undercover freaks. 

If you don’t want to watch the whole thing (although it’s pretty funny; the graphics are side ripping) here’s the gist: his argument is black men aren’t all bad, black women have to own their bad choices, and being belligerent doesn’t make you a strong black woman.

I can get next to that. 

What I don’t like is the overgeneralization.  But those are the weapons of choice in this war used on both sides.  I can’t do anything about that.

So, this is your embedded reporter signing off.  The next dispatch will be about vetting your own Prince.

Get Off the Bus

I found this over on the Disgrasian site and I was like, really?  Over a seat?

Damn, ladies. 

And what is up with the men not only sitting idly watching the fight but also not offering up a seat to any woman who is standing.  What punk ass man will stay seated while women around him are holding on to the straps?  No home training for those guys, obviously.

But back to the bus fight, I don’t know who is more ignorant (or should I say ignant because it’s so low it doesn’t deserve more syllables to use my breath on) the women fighting or the people commenting on YouTube.  Folks are dropping the n-word like mad and some are calling it a sign of “Azn Pride”.

Yo, this ain’t a Rosa Parks moment.  This is two old ladies who should know better letting something escalate to the point of ridiculousness.

Yuri Kochiyama

A few months ago a meeting between an AfAm and AsAm women had a different tone.  In the current issue of Amerasia Journal (vol 25 #1 2009) the article called “Stirrin’ Waters” n Buildin’ Bridges: A Conversation with Ericka Huggins and Yuri Kochiyama discusses the history of civil rights in the U.S through the eyes of these two iconic women.  From the Chinese exclusion act where African leaders spoke out against it, to the late Richard Aoki (the yellow Panther) the women tell of how African Americans and Asian Americans have always had each others back in this country.

Well, I guess we had each other’s back until lately with both AsAms and AfAms not knowing our long history with each other.  Now we just act stupid with each other in public then call each other racist.

Ericka Huggins

I guess that’s progress.