A Few Thoughts on Obama and Presidents in General

Wait a minute, you really think this is my fault?

I am not going to go into detail about the US losing its AAA credit rating with S&P. Although the fact that it happened on a Black President's watch is pretty darn funny, in the funniest unfunny way that I can approach it. (Insert random Black person and credit joke here.) When President Obama was elected I told a close friend that this was the only time in history that a Black man could get the job. The country was losing trillions on wars abroad, the home loan industry, which had become the backbone of the economy since the 90s was in the dumps and the crisis America faced/faces was paramount to walking in front of a firing range at Marine base Camp Pendleton. In other words, the country was literally going to hell in a handbasket with the devils singing Brittany Spears (Ooops I did it again) and eating copious amounts of gas inducing beans, blasting a stench that would linger for at least 4 years into the next presidency. In other words, if there was anytime to let a Black man take the fall for a country that has been falling for 30 years, why not now?

Untitled for Ji Jaga

In the garden, things grow
nurtured, soil turned, watered.
In time, from the soil, seedlings
breakthrough.
In Time, the grass turns from
brown, to lime, to green to
brown, and weeds crawl through
invasive, creeping slowly,
turning green grass brown
then dying
In Time. A man turns,
ages, learns, becomes
understood and this life
takes time. In 40 years a tree
is still young, still growing.
In Time, a people, oppressed
destroyed, learn to live and fight
for rights, die, reborn, learn to fight
back
against the weeds turning green
to brown.
In Time, short time, people
expect it all to go away.
A President, the athletes, singers,
a people, like weeds, hurting,
contributes to brown
patches.
In a week, I scream Gil-
Geronimo, and realize
we are like grass
In time

Get To Know: In Honor of Gil Scott Heron

I wrote this paper while I was enrolled as an undergrad at San Diego State University. I did not edit this in any way. I felt compelled to post this because people will allow Gil Scott's death to go uncelebrated, and unrecognized. I hope they won't. I won't because his death diminshes my creative world, but in his own words of Guan Guanco, we are born to discover ourselves and in doing so we have our rebirth and regeneration. Gil Scott is now among the ancestors and within all of us we carry his spirit and by sharing we keep him alive. This is long so come back to it if you have to. Chris B.

The Words of a Modern-Day Jali

(Gil Scott-Heron’s Influences, Social Commentary and his Affect on the Hip-Hop and Spoken Word Community)

I stood with the others along the shimmering coast as waves pushed loose sand from troughs and carried rocks onto the shore. We had awaited the call of the Atumpan for several days waited for the master drummer to tell of us any impending danger. Each day seemed longer than before. Our chieftain had informed us that we did not have the weapons to match the gunpowder that the British men carried. To calm us he asked everyone to listen to the sound of the talking drum. After listening he then told us that this was our advantage. I failed to understand. The Atumpan gives us notice, we see the enemy through the words of the drum, he explained. After waiting for close to five days for the White men to arrive the warriors began to finish the tasks of moving baskets of yams too heavy for the women and children to carry.

It was early, quiet. The sun made long shadows of trees on the shore. The waves echoed the warning from the Atumpan that the White men had returned and would be arriving with guns and various weapons, I felt my chest tighten. The women and children ran to safety. I prepared along with the others for what was about to occur. The speed of the drumming carried over the water faster, with more urgency. I felt fear. I asked my chieftain if the drums were wrong. In his heavy raspy words he informed me that the drums were never wrong. We all moved from the shore in accordance with the call from Atsimewu and prepared for battle. Atsimewu sounded They are here, they are here.

Why We Homeschool: A Response to Wendy Thomas and the Commercial Appeal

Okay, I have hesitated to comment on this homeschool athletics situation on the CA(Commercial Appeal) that has led to a lot of misconceptions/perceptions based on the opinion of people who haven't homeschooled their children and have probably never been involved in the educational system. I think my voice is a good measuring stick for the reality of homeschool. I won't hide behind screen names to write this.

My name is Christopher D. Burns. Look it up, google, bing, whatever. I have been an educator since 1995. First in San Diego, in Tennessee and in Mississippi. I have taught at both the high school level and collegiate level (as a tenure track professor and an adjunct). My wife and I decided to home school our son not because of religious reasons. I am not of any religion; I am spiritual, but my point is our decision was based on a few factors outside of religion. Anyone interested in knowing in detail what they are e-mail me (CA this is your chance to interview someone). Our son, at 3 years old could read and memorize poetry. He has memorized the I Have A Dream Speech and countless other poems and speeches in his homeschool curriculum. I bring this up to say at 7 years old, when he was in the second grade we encountered the worst teacher a kid could have. In the second grade he was reading at an 6th grade level, but the teacher was teaching other students at the 1st grade level.

Get To Know: Martin Russell

When I coached high school basketball, I always looked around for the tallest kids on campus. Working at an inner city school in San Diego, that also happened to be the most multi-cultural/racial school in the city, presented problems. Our school, Crawford High School, had incredible soccer, wrestling, and badmiton teams because of the abundance of Africans, Latinos and Asians, but our traditional sports teams, the ones dominated traditionally by Blacks had to work really hard and it didn't help that there really weren't any tall kids running around the campus. There were a few, but they liked soccer, not basketball. I remember one kid, a tall light skinned Black kid, that I asked to play and he responded that he didn't play ball. I told him I could teach him and I basically wanted his size on the court. That kid never accepted and it was okay with me, because he was a funny kid. I remember him being this really quirky guy that didn't stand out, he simply blended into whatever crowd he was around. That's the way Crawford was, well most of the time. The students there were kind of their own rainbow coalition in the middle of a city where the poverty line is 70,000 dollars and most of the people in our area were no where close to making that kind of money.

This morning I ran across a post on Facebook, by that kid/man, Martin Russell. He is beginning work on a documentary and if this is any indication of what is to come... Get To Know Martin Russell. Watch this:

Get To Know: Rise Against

I have had countless discussions with artists about the responsibility of the creator of images and sounds. In these conversations, I have found the foundation for my understanding of the importance of art. I have also realized that my ideas about how art should be used, are very constrained. I think that art should serve a purpose and that the artists have to consider the audience, not to cater to the audience, but to promote discourse. The conversation does not have to be comfortable; on the contrary, it should be uncomfortable, but it should have a point. Right now, I can't say anything else about Rise Against. I need you to watch this video, amazing and powerful.

It's Complicated...Kind of a review

Okay that title is pretty vague and I will be the first to say that this blog does not get a crazy amount of traffic, so being vague is not a good thing. I love the blog: http://www.shadowandact.com/ . Not because the title derived from my favorite author, but because the blog has the most information on cinema that caters to a diverse audience. In other words, if I want a Black movie, or I want to know about a movie filmed, written and produced by those not of European ancestry, then I can find the info there. I tend to think I have a pretty good ear, for books, and an okay eye for film. What I have been looking for though from S&A is an article, or a summary on why is it that Black people can't create a film like It's Complicated. I've made similar comments after watching films like The Fountain, or The Notebook, but I won't rehash those discussions here. I will, but in a different way.

For Colored Girls: A review

The For Colored Girls reinterpretation by Tyler Perry has seen countless analysis and criticisms. I even took the time to discuss the film after watching the original play. Click here to read that analysis. My original discussion was that this play should not have been recreated. I made this decision because after watching the original play, the level of frustration I encountered as a man watching a film obviously written for and by a Black woman at the height of the Black feminist literary movement, (Do not look up Black Literary Feminist Movement, this is something that I am working on to analyze the writing that was created in the late 60s to the early 80s by women like Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, Toni Cade Bambara and obviously Ntozake Shange), was difficult to understand. In its original form the narrative has a clear, calm, powerful, poetic voice, that enhances the emotional attachment to the women who encounter different men who create their frustration and push them towards the thought of suicide. These women are also aware enough to understand that it is their own lack of power which generates the negative energy that promotes their inferiority and mistreatment. This duality existed in the original performance by an ensemble that included Alfre Woodard and Lynn Whitfield, due to their inspired performance. The actresses took a complex, jarring narrative and after watching the original, I knew I didn't have any desire to see Tyler Perry's film and my primary question was why this story, again, now?

Get To Know: Emilio Rojas' Right To Stay

I had a great conversation with Prof. Gee Joyner about the responsibility of the emcee. (we should have recorded that one) We finally got to a point in the conversation where we basically analyzed the problem of the Black artists and if there is a responsibility that inherently exists because of the skin we are in. Very good talk that should occur more often and in detail. If you follow the Get To Know posts on this blog, you realize that my taste and your taste aint' the same, but it really should be. Hip-Hop has not losts its outspoken edge in regard to social commentary, you simply have to look for it since there are so many forms of media available and a ton of new outlets. I say right now, Get To Know Emilio Rojas. Take a few to visit his myspace page here and download something. In today's era a download is support and so is a listen.

Commentary and thoughts on the film Skin

Racism creates a vast array of emotions when presented in American society. It seems that the US has the need to own the divisive treatment that is created by people and their personal,social, and learned hatred of other cultures. The US however finds it difficult to actually analyze, and create narratives discussing race. People in America want to forget the past, move on without acknowledging the inherent conflicts that skin creates. Entertainment in America tends to make its stories and movies that deal with racism about popular individuals. While the stories that are beginning to fade away, with the passing of grandparents and elders, are becoming lost in time; other societies that have also progressed from segregation and racism are taking those stories and generating films that attempt to understand the psychology behind skin.

One such film that takes the challenge of bringing light to the absurd nature of superiority is the flim Skin. Released in 2008, Skin is the story of Sandra Laing a woman who was born into the apartheid era of South America. The immediate thought generated by this is in regard to Nelson Mandela, however this film does a very good job of focusing on the people who are affected in their day to day existence by apartheid. The film does not stray into a homage to Nelson Mandela and he is only shown in one scene, on a sheet of paper listing the people running in the first free election of 1994. This is important because the narrative created allows the viewer to feel a connection to the family of Sandra Laing, who is important because she is a black child born to white parents.

Toni Cade Bambara's "The Lesson"

After teaching and working in schools for 16 years, I had an epiphany yesterday. Everything that is wrong with Memphis (insert your school system here) City Schools can be found in Bambara's highly anthologized short story, The Lesson. I've assigned and discussed this work of fiction a number of times over my last six years as a college professor. During a discussion yesterday my students, which consist of both traditional and non-traditional students, raised a number of interesting theories in regard to the main character Sylvia. If you've never read The Lesson stop reading this post, pull it up on the internet, and spend about 30 minutes with Toni Cade.

The Lesson on the surface appears to be a power struggle between a young person and an adult. In many lectures students state that it is a coming of age story that utilizes society as a means to understand how a teen learns about the world around them. The story certainly has elements that would lead a discussion in this direction. However, what I realized yesterday was that, while everyone in the country is attempting to throw money at the American Educational System, while everyone is attempting to create districts that improve by joining great school districts with mediocre districts, no one is truly addressing the true issues that exist in education.

Breaking Down The Myth: I’m Doing It For The Kids (Baby Momma Drama)

Guest writer:

Keosha Samuel

“You mean to tell me now that your baby mama knows we are getting serious she is finally ready to be the woman you want her to be? You really believe she now wants what you want out of a relationship? She is ready to be serious and you are falling for it? Oh, you say you are doing it for the kids?” This is how most conversations go when those aggravating words are spoken. It seems to be the main excuse men use when they need a way out of a relationship to go back to their baby’s mother. When things like that happen the commitment usually ends in turmoil because they get back together under the wrong circumstances. It is bull---- to only want to be with someone because someone else has them and it is also unsanitary (yep, unsanitary). Men have the tendency to play all of their cards and if the woman allows them to, they will do so just as freely as a bird flies. “I’m doing it for the kids” is so famous because it is understood and looked upon as a blessing if both parents are in the same household along with the children. Having “family values” and being “family oriented” become excuses when the children are used as the backbone to keep a family together even when one or both parents feel no attachment.

American Ministers: Preachers or Pimps?

by Gee Joyner

of http://rainbowsandlilacs.blogspot.com/

pic from realchristianity.wordpress

I have always wondered whether preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ, or the ‘gospel’ or philosophy of any deity for that matter, was a social calling of humanity or a profession-- which reaps massively grotesque amounts of financial benefits. I am not sure, but I do believe some ministers tend to get into the business as a means to create a self-worth and societal relevance that they could not acquire within the normal realm of social standing and hierarchical positioning.

The older I get, the more I realize that the preacher’s preaching is not necessary for one to live a ‘good’ life or to be smiled upon by God, or whatever name one calls their Creator and Higher Power. I come from a family with a history of males who have made a comfortable existence through the discipline of Christian Theology (i.e. Baptist, Lutheran), but I have yet to comprehend the notion of being ‘called’ by God to preach this Gospel. I believe ministering and preaching is a chosen field of occupation, a profession if you will. Living in the South, where ministers are as prevalent as maggots in a wet garbage can, I can hardly differentiate a preacher from a pimp. From their usage of smooth, if not slick, sounding words of manipulation to their chosen attire of peacock-colored suits to their jewelry to the vehicles they navigate through the city streets, a preacher is synonymous with a pimp in my book. Sure, a pimp manipulates the bodies of women by selling the sex of a particular whore for profit, but doesn’t a preacher do the same by sending members of his congregation or flock out into the workforce for five or more days a week only to bring their tithes back to the preacher’s church or ‘God’s storehouse’ so that the church can maintain their utilities and general maintenance? And in most churches, the head minister/preacher, or pastor, draws a salary that, in some cases, mirrors that of a Chief Executive Officer of a Fortune 500 company.

Waiting for Superman

While most people interested in education saw Waiting For Superman during its theatrical release, I often fail to catch any new release. I often wait for Netflix or the DVD release. I have made it a point to watch any film that deals with the shortcomings of, or the success of schools at the high school or collegiate level. Netflix is a great option for those seeking a wealth of information on education. Now that the advertisement is over let's get to this.

A White Dude Asked Me Some Questions



Damn Robert Downey, damn.



Okay a few years back a white dude asked me some pretty good questions. I'm posting a few of the questions and answers to drop here as food for thought. The topics ranged from dating and entertainment, to history and education. This is the kind of thing that has to happen for America to truly to understand relationships. I think often that Blacks are afraid to let White's and other cultures ask them questions. Blacks are acutally afraid to let anyone ask them questions. Typically the outcome of questions is a defensive posture instead of an honest response. Here are a few, respond to them yourself in the comments section.

On Entertainment:

Q: Is there a difference between Hip-Hop and rap?

A: To preface this question I have to state that Rap is one of the facets of Hip-Hop culture. For this question’s purpose I will draw a distinction between the two. Hip-Hop is a culture that includes four facets: Breakin, Graffiti, Turntablism, and lyrical dominance on the mic or rap. I assume you are asking about the difference between music that is considered Hip-Hop and why some is considered rap. Okay here it goes, Hip-Hop endears itself to the appreciation of verbal manipulation identifiable by the ability to say something of importance in a lyrical manner. In other words, Hip-Hop is life music even at its simplest and base moments such as the signifying in Pharcyde’s Ya Mama, it is about the ability to create a narrative with words. Hip-Hop is closer to poetry in its purest form. It comments on society and life in the inner city, or life in your city as it exists.

Obama Is Not 'Your Nigga'

by Gee Joyner
of http://rainbowsandlilacs.blogspot.com/

Will President Obama ever be debated equally?

First of all, the first ‘Black’ President of the United States is not a full-blooded Negroid. Sure, for the most part, no Black American residing in the United States is one hundred percent of African descent, yet he is a first generation mulatto, for lack of a better word. If we are to subscribe to the notion that the race of the child always follows that of the mother, as was the case during the Antebellum days of U.S. slavery per the 1662 Virginia miscegenation law passed by the Virginia colonial assembly (matrilineage)-- also "one drop rules" were applied differently in different states; in Mississippi, black if 1/32nd African American; in Louisiana, black if 1/64th, then Barack Obama is really a ‘white’ man. The aforementioned, in and of itself, puts the public and closeted racists at ease, even if only minimal.

Black Boys and Long Hair

by LV Burns
http://www.natural-ness.com/

My 9 year old son

with his growing afro styled in coils.

Does long hair on a male make him look feminine? Will he be mistaken for a girl/woman? When I see Troy Polamalu of the Pittsburgh Steelers, there is nothing feminine about him. Did we not drool over Maxwell's untamed fro before he cut it? Are coils and twists only reserved for girls? Well, DL Hughley, Gary Dourdan and John Legend look very masculine with their twists & coils. Will allowing your boy to grow his hair out doom him to a life of unemployment and utter thuggishness? Will his I.Q. drop? Will Harvard or MIT not admit him because he wore his hair in twists, braids or a big afro when he was in school, even if his GPA is at the top of his class? I admit that I used to associate braids on a boy with them trying to be gangsta or a thug, but now that I am on this natural journey, my view has expanded a bit. Volunteering in schools as a mentor, assisting my husband while he coached basketball or put on basketball showcases for students looking to get scholarships, I've been around plenty of intelligent, charismatic and later on successful young men who wore their hair long in braids at some point. To associate long hair on a males with being unsuccessful later in life is as wrong as saying that all women with a TWA want to be boys.

Redefining the Labyrinth: Track 14

Redefining the Labyrinth was a project I began while teaching at a local Memphis High School. With the current uproar about all that is wrong in the Memphis City Schools, I thought it would be interesting to post the work generated by four high school seniors, who are products of a system that everyone assumes is not capable of developing and producing productive students who can compete in this socioeconomic culture. I edited the book and contributed essays to give the book a shape and form, but it was the work of the students that allowed for the completion of this work. The artwork was completed by the student author DeVarius Fisher and the idea to make the name of each chapter an allusion to a song in Hip-Hop was a collaborative effort. I will post each student essay here on the blog. There is also a Question and Answer section in the book. If you would like to purchase a copy click here.

 

 

 

Track

14

Featured Artist: London Maclin

Talkin About It: Teaching and Learning

In the early 1900’s, blacks had a hard time obtaining a decent education because of local, state, and federal laws. The many that tried to challenge the laws faced prison time as well as death. They risked their lives for the generation today so that we could have a top notched education. As the years have passed, education no longer seems relevant to society and is more focused on personal choices made by individuals. While blacks once focused on education, they now focus on work. The desire to have things has usurped the importance of learning. Parents are working more and children are suffering.

Redefining the Labyrinth: Track 13

Redefining the Labyrinth was a project I began while teaching at a local Memphis High School. With the current uproar about all that is wrong in the Memphis City Schools, I thought it would be interesting to post the work generated by four high school seniors, who are products of a system that everyone assumes is not capable of developing and producing productive students who can compete in this socioeconomic culture. I edited the book and contributed essays to give the book a shape and form, but it was the work of the students that allowed for the completion of this work. The artwork was completed by the student author DeVarius Fisher and the idea to make the name of each chapter an allusion to a song in Hip-Hop was a collaborative effort. I will post each student essay here on the blog. There is also a Question and Answer section in the book. If you would like to purchase a copy click here.

Track

13

Featured Artist: Michael R. Walker

Poverty and Crime: The Chicken or The Egg?

How to Create a Stronger Black Economy

There are so many variables involved in creating a stronger black economy that it is very difficult to see it being done in a short period of time. However, in the long haul, we can create a stronger black economy by investing in higher education, becoming land and/or home owners, and investing in and supporting black owned businesses.

Redefining the Labyrinth: Track 9

 Redefining the Labyrinth was a project I began while teaching at a local Memphis High School. With the current uproar about all that is wrong in the Memphis City Schools, I thought it would be interesting to post the work generated by four high school seniors, who are products of a system that everyone assumes is not capable of developing and producing productive students who can compete in this socioeconomic culture. I edited the book and contributed essays to give the book a shape and form, but it was the work of the students that allowed for the completion of this work. The artwork was completed by the student author DeVarius Fisher and the idea to make the name of each chapter an allusion to a song in Hip-Hop was a collaborative effort. I will post each student essay here on the blog. There is also a Question and Answer section in the book. If you would like to purchase a copy click here.

Track

9

Featured Artist: London Maclin

Life Is Real: The New Civil War of the 21st Century(A Children’s Story)

The nation, our America, is at war… within itself. African Americans are on one side of the battlefield and the whites are on the other. Waiting for a signal to charge, the tension, dislike, and the hate is constantly rising and mounting. The reason for this war like affair is due to the system of standards within this country for different races. Favoritism and special treatment between the races has caused a spilt within the homeland. The races are looking for any kind of weakness that they can invade. Hoping for a way to win, they both plan. In the midst of all this mayhem, the government is silently sitting back, betting on which side is going to win. They send officials to both sides with false information about the other. The battle for jobs, housing, and quality schooling has turned the twenty-first century into a modern day civil war.