Bust The Windows Out Your Car V.S. ???

So today I was listening to my ipod on shuffle and a song came up that reminded me of another song; Blu Cantrell's Hit Em Up. Yall know yall remember that song! In it Blu talks about the revenge she gets after she catches her man scheming. "While he was scheming, I was beamin' in the beamer, just beamin', can't believe that I caught my man cheating, so I found another way to make him pay for it all" Then the other day I was watching "Waiting To Exhale". Yall know the part I'm talking about where Bernadette lays flame to all ol' boys belongings. "It is trash." Oh and I was watching Tyler Perry's "Diary of Mad Black Woman, yall know when she start kicking his ass. It made me feel empowered, that these battered womyn were getting their full due. But does this even solve anything? If you ever committed one of these selfish acts, did it help you overcome the way you felt. Ever got back with a guy who did you wrong? How's the relationship now? Is it even realistic to get revenge? All this got me to thinking, I've always been the type to not get revenge on a dude for his devilish ways. I let karma do the talking, no matter how much I want to spend all his at "Neiman-Marcus on a shopping spree-ah". What do yall think about "busting the windows out" a dude's care when he does yall wrong? Does it seem immature to yall? Have you ever gotten revenge on a woman or man? Ever had some homeboys rough him up? Steal some of his shit? What? Share! Ever really wanted to fuck him up but decided against it? Tell me your intricate plans to get back at him! Did you have to deal with any repercussions ? Did he/she find out that it was you? Did you even try to hide the fact that it was you? As the proud owner of a "Fuk that Nigga" playlist, I know listening to some music about ladies getting their revenge and getting over heartbreak helps me get over a heartbreak myself? What do yall do to get over someone stepping on your heart like a cockroach? What songs do you listen to, to help you get through the tough times, whether it be dealing with a man, friend, or family member? Please leave your thoughts in the comments section. I'll leave some songs from my playlist below.

Alicia Keys-Karma

(and how you need ya space and give the keys back to ya door)

Beyonce-Irreplaceable

(and keep talking that mess, that's fine. ps. i had some shorts like hers, that i miss soo much!)

Beyonce-Me, Myself, and I

(notice the keying of the car)

Beyonce-Ring The Alarm

(but i'll be damned if i see another chick on your arm)

Beyonce-Kitty Kat

(and you actin' like its allathat)

Beyonce-If I Were I Boy

(when you lose the one you wanted, cuz he's taking you for granted. ps, the black guy in the video can get it!)

Beyonce-Single Ladies(Put A Ring On It)

(if you like it, then you should've put a ring on it)

Ok, that was a lot of Bey but I love me some her.

Erykah Badu-Tyrone

(i'm getting tideofyoshit)

Jazmine Sullivan-Bust Your Windows

(you see you can't just play with people's feelings)

Kelis-Caught Out There

(held you when you were sick....)

Rihanna-Take A Bow

(that was quite a show, very entertaining, but its over now)

Keyshia Cole- I Should've Cheated

(i miss this keyshia!)

Keyshia Cole-Should've Let You Go

(in my heart i know, ya couldn't love me, but maybe i just kept holding on)

Keyshia Cole-I Remember

(thinking of all the times we shared)

Keyshia Cole-Let It Go

(let it go)

Keyshia Cole-I Just Want It To Be Over

(why you don't care no more)

Ok, that was a lot of Keyshia, but yall know she used to be on the heartbreak tip!

Mariah Carey-Shake It Off

(love this video!)

Destiny's Child-Independent Woman

(when its all over please get up and leave)

Ciara-Like A Boy

(oooh Reggie Bush!)

Christina Aguilera-Fighter

(After all you put me through, You'd think I'd despise you, But in the end I wanna thank you, 'Cause you made me that much stronger)

Blu Cantrell-Hit Em Up Style(Oops!)

Mary J. Blige-Not Gon Cry

(while all the time I was loving you, you were busy loving yourself)

Cherish-Unappreciated

(don't sleep on cherish)

Mary J. Blige-Your Child

(cuz i'm believing what yo friends say bout your hidden secreies)

Mary J. Blige-Enough Cryin'

(don't wanna play house no more)

Mary J. Blige-It's A Wrap

(what you were saying in your sleep, it violated me)

Sex Offenders

My friend and I were talking about the sex offenders in our neighborhood; we live near each other.She told me about meganslaw.ca.gov, where you can find out about the sex offenders in any neighborhood in California.You can search by Name, Zip Code, County,Specific address,Specific school or park,and City to find sex offenders in surrounding areas. I entered in my specific address they showed me a this map of my address and the immediate surrounding area.There are so many sex offenders in my neighborhood.I live almost right next door to an elementary school, also.Also, the website shows you pictures and the offenses of the person.You can also find out what distinct marks they have on them or their aliases.As I watched the map fill up with all those little blue marks, I was disgusted. I did not think my neighborhood was exempt, but I do live in a quiet neighborhood and I could not imagine that there would be sex offenders living within walking distance from me.I have two young brothers and I am afraid for them not to mention my own 17 year old self.Do not forget the sex offenders on this site are REGISTERED SEX OFFENDERS.There are so many more out there who have failed to comply with the registration process.I specifically know of another sex offender who is within walking distance, is not registered, and who has not been caught by the cops.On the website it shows which offenders are in some type of violation with their living requirements or their registration process.I wonder what is being done about this?Visit the site please and report any information you might know about these offenders.Sometimes there is no address to coincide with the offender or any picture.This is sad and I cannot help but to ask why.When there is no address it says that this address is "not subject to disclosure".It sounds like these people are being protected.It also says under the picture of the person that this person may have subsequently relocated.Magen's law was inspired by a girl who was raped and killed by a known offender who moved across the street to the girl and her family without their knowledge.Magen's law needs improvements, but overall it is an exceptional tool to help protect families.You would be surprised by some of the offenders on this page: women, young men,short people, people you would not expect.I searched my friend's zip code and only two offenders showed up.She lives in Ladera Heights, so I guess that it is true that many offenders do not live in more prominent areas.Most of the offenders, truly were African-American men, some Hispanic men and very few women of any race.Also, most of the offenses were committed against people under the age of 14.The website says that there is some form of this website in every state, but I did not see any link.In conclusion, I would like to say that the purpose of this blog and the website is not for the discrimination against or the harassment or intimidation of these offenders, but only to educate and protect.I will also say that I hope that in the future there can be a similar system in place that accurately records all heinous offenses for the regular viewing of the public not just those of a sexual nature.The public needs to be able to protect themselves where our designated protectors cannot. Anyone who is particularly interested in this subject should read The Lovely Bones it's a story about a girl who was raped and killed, it's really good.

Officers Killing Black People For No Reason

What is with this conspiracy against black people that police officers have?It seems to me that they have some kind of grudge against our people.Killing in defense can be justified, but when there is evidence that shows unprecedented, merciless killings of black people something is wrong.What I would like to know is, what is going on that the people who are supposed to protect everyone, killing us.This is sad and despicable.The killing of our people needs to be stopped.We need to get to the bottom of why this is happening and stop it!
This is a picture of Jada Bell when she learned that her father would not be coming home anymore. She is too young to understand how merciless officers shot her father 50 times on his wedding day. Look at this face the is just one face that has experienced the pain from a death by a murderer/police officer.The officers in this crime were recently found not guilty.



Visit Justice for Sean Bell to help
http://www.justiceforsean.net/



This is a You Tube video, about this type of violence.Its a small documentary by Michael Moore.

Overstressed and Underage

Are you feeling stressed? Do you use the word stressed more than three times a day? Are you in high school? If so then you are overstressed and underage. Too young to drive with anyone under the age of 25, but old enough to write more than the average person speaks. Can you believe the pressure in these fall and winter months. Us high school students have a pick of any school we would like to name as our first choice university, but do we really have any way of knowing that we won't work so hard that we'll faint if we take one more standardized test?......and get the results. I am not speaking for the 4.0 student nor am I talking about the "am I going to graduate student?“. I am an advocate for those of us that have fallen in between, mediocre SAT or ACT scores, does exceptionally well on those 40 minute timed responses in AP English class, and an occasional D or C on a progress report isn't a total shocker to our parents. We often wonder at times if we have a future, because we just won't accept Community College as a option that can set us free from our parents' midnight lectures, but there are times when we get happy because we got accepted to our 42ND choice school, on a provisional basis. Provisions,...Ha! Who needs them? I don't. Does anybody out there have any sympathy. Hello,.... I'm dying here.

Whoever said your junior year is your hardest must have been telling a joke that none of his burnt out friends got. Not only as seniors do we have to keep up with required coursework, but also any insignificant assignments those aliens disguised as caring teachers throw at us, but we also have to do a dozen college applications. We barely have enough time to fight with our mothers, feed our dogs, and go to an occasional movie, but that's not good enough is it? You college admissions officers want every minuscule amount of time to go to striving to get in UC Berkeley so that when you finally reject us you can savor the sweet joy that you have by ruining our lives. Don't worry I'll see you at the local gas station harassing you until you let me wipe your windshield.

So what's the point of this? Why am I saying this? Why am I making you sound like a hired killer? Why do I keep saying why? It's simple all I want is a little slack!!!!!!!!!!

A Different Opinion

Okay I am ready to write this blog. I have been doing hours of research. I was doing a project for school project on freshman entering college, but as I was doing research for that something deeper peaked my interest. The Advanced Placement system, a system used on high school campuses to help students get a head start on college work. A student takes a class with an accompanying test, if they pass the test they will receive college credit which looks great on college applications and can help save money to be used on college tuition. This system can give an unfair advantage to Caucasian students. Even though the main opinion in this article is one against this unfair advantage, I myself have taken the maximum of AP classes offered throughout my education which is a mediocre number of four, despite this I will present both sides to this situation. The UC system is the most prestigious name is public universities. So, after the elimination of affirmative action in 1998 underrepresented minority applicants enroll at a UC at considerably lower rates than others students, and the gap has widened noticeably in these 5 years. Now since the removal of affirmative action UCLA and UCB have enacted a holistic approach to getting pass the restriction and admit more minority students. It used to be one admission representative would look at one part of an application now all admission representatives look at the entire application which helps admissions officers to see the "whole person". I wonder if this is because of the well publicized scandal with UCLA and UC Berkeley not having enough African-American students or do these universities really want more diversity at their campus. One part of unfair advantage that has not been acknowledged by UCs are the flaws in the AP system. About 60% of high school students are minority, but only 30% taking AP exams are students of color. What really astonished me while I continued to research was that there were lawsuits against Berkeley and College Board.College Board is such a huge business is education; they have sort of a monopoly on high school students. To hear that their validity and credibility were being questioned was amazing! The plaintiffs argued that giving extra points to AP classes was not fair because it gives an unfair advantage to white students because they are the ones who predominantly take AP classes. Even if you want to take a AP class you may not be able to because not enough of the students at your underprivileged school may not be qualified. Each high school in the San Francisco district is allocated the resources to offer two AP classes each year if it chooses, according to district spokeswoman Elaine Koury. If a school wants to offer more, at least 20 interested students are needed for the creation of each additional class.``It's not an issue of `Here are our AP resources and we're giving them all to (a few) schools,'' said San Francisco school board member Jill Wynns. ``If you have eligible kids who want to take AP and you have enough of them, your school gets AP resources.''The number of AP classes offered by San Francisco's high schools vary widely. At academically rigorous Lowell High School, the combination of a large student body and hundreds of students hungry for AP credit means the school offers dozens of AP courses each year. Having Advanced Placement credit is something that is considered as an extra asset to an college application not a necessity.Though, at schools like Berkeley your application won't even be seriously considered if you have no AP credit. Now if you want to take the AP test without the valuable accompanying AP class you may, but only a very small percentage pass the AP test when doing that, which means alot of wasted time and effort."Such students can still take honors courses and try to pass the AP exams, but without formal class preparation, passing the tests can be harder. During the 1997-98 academic year, according to state records, 32 AP exams were taken at Balboa, even though the school offered no AP classes. Ten of the test-takers received a score high enough to qualify for college credit. At Lowell, 1,613 AP exams were taken, and 1,463 received a score high enough to earn college credit.I myself took a AP test without taking the class, I did not pass. I can only wonder if all this trouble has been brought on by the so-called "reverse discrimination" lawsuit. This was a lawsuit in 1978 against Regents of the University of California by Bakke. This man had been rejected my UC Davis' medical school on three occasions.He claimed that he was more qualified than the minorities that had been admitted for quotas in his place and suffered reverse discrimination. My question is how did he know that if there were no quotas for minority students would he have been admitted then? For that matter on what basis was he denied and after the lawsuit was he then admitted?

In conclusion, of course I believe affirmative as it was originally but it should be based on economic class or acknowledgement of hardship.It should not be based on hardship because there are advantaged and disadvantaged people in every race.There should be a reason other than race that a person receive extra help like a notable setback.

Clik the title to learn more

A Different Opinion #2

"When you control a man's thinking you do not have to worry about his actions. You do not have to tell him to stand here or go yonder. He will find his proper place and will stay in it. You do not need to send him to the back door. He will go without being told. In fact, if there is no back door, he will cut one for his own special benefit."-Dr. Carter Goodwin Woodson

In this day and age, there is no back door and the black man has cut one for his own special benefit... figuratively speaking. The American public all know that black men go to prison at overwhelmingly more significant numbers than other races, whether they get that knowledge from personal experience or statistics. I have a theory that black men are imprisoned at these vast rates because they have learned that they are not free from the bondages of slavery. In my opinion the education of black men from slavery; that they are worthless, ugly, disgusting, unloved and unwanted has been passed down from black man to black man,from generation to generation. If you know from personal experience,according to black men the number one reason they were have imprisoned is because of the "white man". It almost never has anything to do with any mistakes that the man himself has done, only with the white man having some type of vendetta against him. Maybe, white people do have a vendetta against our race. I know more than a few people who would agree. In spite of that possibility, can our men take some type of responsibility for their actions please.? It might help. Stop ignoring the real reason why you are in prison, and blaming it on the white race. It does not matter who other than yourself is to blame for your freedom being taken away. The point is your are in prison and you need to learn something from the experience. If you feel that someonelse is at fault then do something about it and stop complaining. When you go to prison you leave behind the people who love you and the people who you are supposed to know but will never have a chance to. Relationships are buried and hearts are broken. Please take some responsibility for that.

Fox Attacks Black America!

I had never experienced direct racism until I started to attend the high school that I do now. At first when I came to this predominantly Hispanic school everyone was really nice, educated, and non confrontational. But I guess as everyone got comfortable around me their true colors started to show; now since I have been attending this school I have started to become wiser about racism and racists. Even still, none of the racism that I face is direct. The comments people make are either not said to me directly or they are not said in English so that I might understand. Readers of my blog know that this blog deals with a lot of political issues, more than entertainment.And I have made a more than a few posts about racism in America.

In my opinion America's youth, no matter what their race is, are more racist than America's adults. Of course, there are adults who are racist and then pass that hatred on to their children. I myself have faced racism from youth and adults alike.America's youth are too superficial, ignorant, and materialistic to care about another race and the feelings of one individual person.Or maybe it's just the experiences and the knowledge the adults have acquired that teach them to have respect for another race.

The definition of racism is to make a assumption about a race. Racism is as simple as that. If you make an assumption about a race then you are a racist. I am shocked by the blatant racism this country has and most of the racists in this country believe they are not racists. I am so passionate about stopping racism because I have faced it and had to deal with and it has given me a thicker skin. Which in the end is a positive result for me.

And in a final note a joke: How many racists does it take to screw on a light bulb?

None....they don't want to be enlightened!

I Have A Dream

Have you heard the entire speech?

Christmas

I like to write. I sit in all my classes and write about the things that my teachers say. I am taking this Religious Studies class; Religious Myths and Rituals. I thought it was going to be like a Philosophy class, where they tell me there is no God or some shit like that. I dropped this class twice, but eventually I had no choice. They do sortaa belittle typical religious practices, but alot of the subjects we talk about in the class are very informative.

For example, today my TA spoke about a little about how Christmas does not actually symbolize the birth of Jesus. It is really a derivitive of a Pagan Roman holiday . Romans used to celebrate the winter solstice doing alot of the same practices done today in the Christmas holiday. So when Romans adopted Christianity, they continued thier celebrations of the winter solstice, but said it was Christian.

Death

People are so naive. Everyone has a "bucket list". People are always talking about what they want to do before they die. Why do those things matter? I think the things that matter most in this world, are meaningful human relationships. I truly believe it is what people long for their entire lives. But instead of actually seeking that out, they want money, and to do things that at the end of life are trivial. Who cares how many countries you have had sex in, if you have no real friends and if you have abandoned your entire family? Even in a religious aspect, why does God care about what we do on this Earth? Give us this life to live, I will do what I want, then die. Why are we born of God, but then abandoned at our death, because we were not "good" people during our time on Earth? I am content with my life right now. I am happy now. If I died right now, I would be content in my last moments. I have people who love me, and love them.

Yea I am pretty misanthropic.

What Dreams May Come

The movie " What Dreams May Come", starring Robin Williams and Cuba Gooding Jr deals with the concept of taboo. Taboo is a religious prohibition drawn from various, scriptual, cultural, and historic sources. In the movie, Robin Williams; two children die in a car accident, and then he dies in a car accident, his wife, in turn is so overcome with grief that she commits suicide. Robin Williams, while in heaven is longing to see his wife. When he finds out that she has died he is pleased to know that he will soon see her, but the taboo is that "suicides go to hell." The fact that his wife committed suicide condemns her to hell, instead of heaven. Today religions hold the belief that suicide is an unforgivable sin. It also deals with the concept of the after-life, where bad people will be repaid for their sins. "To an outside observer, a taboo or religious prohibition seem irrational; to the believer, it simply seems right...Taboos, as rules of behavior, are always part of a whole system and cannot be understood outside their social context." ( Douglas 76). When Robin Williams first hears of the fact that his wife will go to hell he is outraged, and feels that his wife is being judged. "In essence it generally implies a rule which has no meaning, or one which cannot be explained" (Douglas 76). When Robin Williams' "guardian" tells him that his wife will go to hell, he cannot explain the fact that she must go to hell; it just is that way. "Its breach willl unleash dangers, while keeping the rules would amount to avoiding dangers and sickness"(Douglas 76). Robin Williams essentially goes a journey "to hell and back" to retrieve his wife. When he ventures on this journey he is faced with the danger of never finding his way back to heaven.

So I Think I Have Found The Answer

...to why girls hate each other

i learned in pysc class that we as people all have a natural complex to want to do our best and to be the best. so naturally we want to compete with each other to be the best and to have the best. and why arent boys included in this little competition? because we compete to get them!

i have a proposition...stop competing with each other and compete with yourself. we must strive to be better than we were the day before not be better than people who we should be helping to be better. we must stay in our own lane and do our own thing, and not compare ourselves to other people. we just gotta do us and not worry about what other people are doing.

i know its hard, when girls hate and talk about you for no reason and spread rumors, but i just started killing these hoes with kindness and LET ME TELL YOU..its a whole lot better on my blood pressure!

and another thing....take your focus off these boys that aint bout shit and worry about your future!

I also learned

in my wonderful pysc 2 class taught by a beautiful black professor; Carloyn Murray, that ways to reduce prejudice include:

1. working together to achieve a common goal...the elimination of racism
............AND.............
2. not having a hierarchial system
(we are all the same..no one is better than anyone else)

lets get this ish crackin'!

When you look at me

what do you see?

Today my mother had a visitor..her best friend Trinna. When she came over to the house my brothers' class pictures were on the table. Trinna proceeded to take a picture of my youngest brother Eric. AND only a picture of my youngest brother, cut the picture from the other pictures and stick it into her wallet. My mother said to her: excuse me. i have two sons!...Trinna then said...i dont want a picture of darkie(referring to my other brother...David.)

i think my mother should have slapped her.shit.i might slap her next time i see her. please dont call it ignorance...its plain stupidity. both of my brothers are perfect and handsome, and the next person that compares them with each other is going to get cut off from my life completely...seriously. there is no competition in my family, we dont need to compete and wont, we love each other and do not cherish one another over the other.i mean whats with everyone's competitive spirit?...my brothers are not competing for shit....EVER!

but i really want to know
what the hell is up with this light skinned/dark skinned complex
is it a sub concious thing?...that spills over into what people think of a person's personality and emotions?

i mean what do you think, what do you see?...when you see a dark skinned person?

i see....someone who is beautiful...who skin matches my life...my struggle....what is right in this world..and what is wrong.....but what can become great...what is deep and not superficial..i see skin that cannot break...it matches depth and strength and resiliance
and when i see someone of a light complexion i see someone beautiful also...whom skin matches the sun...who can make light of any situation....i see...a skin that matches love and humor...and happiness

why do you have to look at skin color and more importantly race?

why cant you just see me?...or him? or she?...or that personality that really is that person...

i am not just dark skinned...i am tall...i am a woman...i am black..i am malaka....all those things make up me and so much more...my name is malaka not "dark skinned" so why is that the only thing you see?

but really answer the question..what do you see?!...why are people with a darker complexion looked down upon?...like they are less than....especially when compared with light skinned people.

this is not the first time my brother has dealt with this...and im sure it wont be the last...i guess i never really realized the capacity of this problem before..i was one of those people that was sick of hearing of it...now i see it from a deeper angle...and i want answers

Great Womyn in Progress

Great Womyn in Progress is an advocacy organization open to all young womyn who are working towards a more positive way of life and becoming a valued member of society.


Visit Great Womyn In Progress


Visit Great Womyn In Progress


to visit our blog..click the title of this post!

Kemet??

Whats that? I am always wanting to learn more. I always feel that there are always half truths going around making people think that they know everything and can look down on people who know less. Don't harbor you information, spread it. I am trying to learn more so that I won't continue to be one of these people. I am writing here, so I can spread it. Learn the truth and help others learn the truth.This subject is something I want to learn more about, because I feel that there is more that I should know and that there are people who know what I don't know. I want to learn more and be more educated about black issues, since it is one of my passions. I am reading an article in Our Weekly right now and its talking about a question that someone asked the author about why people find their pride in Egypt when it is such a small part of Africa. Sooo Kemet=Egypt? According to this article, yes. And Mesopotamia is not the birth of civilization but Kemet is. But then I have heard things about Egyptians not being labeled as Black. Well the truth, is that Egypt/Kemet is a mix of Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, and African heritage. This is why you can see a person from Egpyt look like they are not black.But Africans were supposedly in Kemet since 10,000 B.C.E and Middle Easterners, not until 7th Century A.D. I want to visit Egypt next summer. It is such a beautiful place and holds so much of our history.It also holds alot of mysteries and secrets. Like for example, if we ruled Egypt does that mean that we had slaves to build things like the Sphinx which represents Black King Khafre? Who were the slaves? Middle Easterners as depicted in movies or were the slaves just like us?

Jack!

I love her.

Pastelle?? Kidding me right??

I know some people are going ga ga over this ish.but I don't see nothing to write home about. Do better Kanye

This is a subject that has been beaten to death.

So I just made Great Womyn in Progress a Myspace page, so I have been searching for like minded pages. I came across the page for Black Girls Rock. I added it, and then proceeded to follow a link to their actual website. As I looked around the page, I saw that there was evidence that young girls are actually negatively affected by the over-sexed images presented on television. Now we have all heard this before about how hip hop hates womyn and how we can't bend over at parties because it shows our lack of self-respect, but actually showed evidence by a reliable source. I was never one who had an opinion one way or the other about the music videos and such, but I know that they could be a little bit too vulgar. I didn't care though, I love hip-hop and know that a lot of times artists are afraid to step outside of the box and not portray womyn as just sexual creatures. I wasn't the one to blame the womyn in the videos either, for a life lesson that I had to learn once is that, you get in where you fit in, and you do what you gotta do. I'm sure most of those womyn don't like doing what they are doing in those videos, but just feel that they don't have any other choice, that one day what they are doing will pay off and lead to something bigger. I just feel that parents need to monitor what their children watch on television, that people shouldn't watch those music videos(they usually are crap anyways) if they cannot decipher between image and reality.

EEk!!(and I mean that in the best possible way)

L.A. muthafucking GEAR is back.

I like totally loved LA Gear back in the day, even past the dry days after the label went belly up. I had this one cropped jacket, it was stonewashed with LA GEAR written in neon pink letters on the back. I wore it all the time, and didn't care about the weird looks I was getting(girls like me never do.hehe)I mean, seriously, this was only like the 10th grade. I actually think my mom threw my beloved jacket away!ugh. Parents just don't understand.

Seriously folks..LA Gear is what the game's been missing!

Click the title to learn more.

ugh. FUCKING CLICHES

1.If you have a tongue ring...you must suck dick.
2.If you wear make-up...you must be insecure
3.If you use the words nigga or bitch...you must be ignorant.


These and so much more, just run my nerves. Why must everyone fit your stereotypical image? Not everyone in this world is the same, no matter how many traits they may have in common. Everyone has something in common with everyone. Stop judging, you know you hate it when people do it to you.

What Thee Fuck?!

*To start off lets view the definition of Feminism

*Next lets look at the definition of Womanism

I guess I will just throw in the definition to fraternities also.

Now let us dissect each word more personally and in a more detailed way. Feminism was initially a movement to get women equal rights. People started to notice, though, that this movement was all-inclusive of white women only. So womanism was a movement created to include women of color.If you read the wikipedia definition of womanism, you can see it was a term first coined by Alice Walker in her novel, "In Search of Our Mother's Gardens". The movements are not competing with each other, and recently I noticed that modern feminism is more diversified. Fraternities, for the purpose of this post, I will be talking more about black fraternities, which are in the simplest definition, a organization. You can ask members and non-members of these organizations alike, what they are and you will probably get different explanations from each of them.

I don't pretend to be an expert on Fraternities or Greek organizations in general, but I do believe that I know more than the average college student. I also do not want to give off the impression that I am anti-fraternities. The main purpose of this blog is to enlighten others to fraternity members and others about the disrespect of womyn that these organizations perpetuate, it is also to express my disgust for the hypocritical ways of the members of these organizations.

Exhibit #1

Now I know that there glare may be a little distracting, but if you look closely you will see that Garcelle has no damn clothes on! This is a flyer for a Kappa party, needless to say, when I saw this I was disgusted, saddened, and disappointed. This is pitiful, using the half-clothes body of a female to garner publicity, money, and people to come to some little party, that may or may not be worth their time and effort. Not to mention, that I am sure Garcelle did not give permission for her likeness to be used in this way. I saw some brothers of KAPSI passing out these flyers and proceeded to give them a piece of my mind. Overall, they were receptive but I still don't believe that they grasped the larger meaning of what I was saying. I gave them the idea to have flyers with themselves on it, a handsome example of a Kappa man. Needless to say they liked that idea. They said that they would bring the idea to their chapter president.

Oh No He Didn't #2

So, I was in the library the other day, seeking refuge from my screaming brothers and annoying mom and finding solace in the internet that I hadn't seen in so long, just minding my own business. Along comes this guy I had noticed earlier had been watching me. This time he walked past me, looked at my computer screen and said, "This girl has been here alll day looking at Beyonce." Now mind you, I had just got to the library about 15 minutes prior, and I had yet to look at anything about Beyonce, but his ignorance is not even the worst part. I digress, another guy that he was with, that had earlier tapped me on the shoulder to show me some youtube video he was featured in. I smiled politely and chuckled, some fake, corny movie. Well when this guy heard the first guy's comment(they were together) he said, "Let her dream, man she wishes she was Beyonce." I should have cussed his dumb ass out but I stayed silent. I am still trying to figure out why. Like why would I want to be Beyonce, I love myself, I love being me, I love who I am, inside and out. Beyonce is a beautiful, talented, smart, strong, woman, and I respect her. I love her because she is a woman who empowers other women and because I love that she has values and makes good woman. With all that, coupled with the fact that she has fame, is rich, and a man by her side; I still do not want to be her. I am happy with my life and what I have. Why would that man think that I would want to be Beyonce? All the money in the world would not make me forsake who I am to be anyone else. Maybe be wants every woman to be Beyonce, maybe he wants to be someone else. I just wish he would not have perpetuated his foolishness onto me.

Oh No He Didn't!

Is Anyone Else Sik Of?

The plaid shirt...talk about a over-indulgence...I'm sick of it...everyone wearing it...and if I see another one, I am going to scream!

ugh...

You Little Virgin!

So the other day I was browsing through Bitch magazine’s blog entries when I came across an article about a situation that many of you may be familiar with; it was about a woman selling her virginity over the Internet. Anyway, the article got me to start analyzing the concept of virginity.

Virgin - someone who has never had sex. Instead of using definitions that dictionaries use, I like to use the definition that society uses. Though it can be argued that those are the worst kind of definitions, let’s use this particular definition for the purpose of this blog. The concept of virginity certainly involves an element of possession. Womyn “give” away or “lose” their virginities. Womyn in this patriarchal, homophobic society are always expected to give a man something in the context of a hetero-normative relationship. We “give” a man a child. We save our virginity so that we can “give” it to “the one.”

When is the last time you heard about a man “giving” a woman his virginity? Usually when people are referring to a man “giving” his virginity to a woman, they are BOTH virgins in the situation. Why are their sexist roles involved in sex? Can’t sex be something that is uninhibited by the confines of society? It certainly surpasses the spirituality of society.

Men “take” a womyn’s virginity, which involves an implied situation of coercion and force. The word ‘take’ is synonymous with rape. Take is synonymous with “take advantage of”. And what happens after a man so-called “takes” a woman’s virginity? Does he still have that virginity for the rest of his life? No one ever says, “he has your virginity”.  If they have sex again, does the woman get her virginity back? If you “lose” your virginity does that mean you can’t remember the guy that you “lost” it to? Does the man pass that woman’s virginity on to other girls? And how many “virginties” do trans people get? What if you were raped before you had the chance to willingly have sex for the first time, are you still considered a virgin? Is a person still a virgin if they have sex with a member of their own sex? Why does virginity never come into the situation again after it is given, taken, or lost? Why can’t we “share” in a person’s virginity? Why is virginity deemed a one-time event instead of a process done over time? Better yet, why can’t the idea of virginity and America’s obsession with it just die? Why must a woman feel guilty or inhibited when it comes to having sex for the first time, when a man is encouraged to have sex with the first opportunity presents itself? I think the whole “give, take and lose” politics of virginity is a manifestation of the objectification of women and our bodies and the fact that sex is treated as a commodity. Sex is used to sell everything from movies to cannibus club memberships. Sex is also used to make womyn feel bad about themselves, men are allowed to be sexual whenever the feeling suits them and womyn are not and if we are, we are harped upon.

In the rape culture that this society perpetuates, the man must always be the aggressor in relationships and sex. The man must always make the first move. Virginity is synonymous with pure. Why is innocence attriubuted to keeping your virginity? Why when you have sex for the first time, you aren’t “innocent” anymore? This can allude to the fact that womyn having sex is seen as a bad act in our culture, like there was a illegal act committed. In our culture, sex is taboo. It is seen as a right of passage, a defining moment in our lives that will bring about some drastic change. Little girls are taught to dream about the moment that they will have sex for the first time and with whom.

These are just a couple of the questions and problems I have with this concept. Will someone please tell what the fuck’s up with virginity?!

*cross posted at Refuse the Silence's Blog*

Pussy Power?

So my friend is about to perform in UCR's Vagina Monologues. I can't wait to see the show and see my friend perform! I'm thinking of making her a poster. So, in advertising for her performance she put a status that said ".....Vagina Power!" This status sparked a little bit of a debate among my friend and a guy that goes to my school. He responded to her status by asking her, "would it be outta pocket for him to say "penis power". What is Vagina/Pussy Power? I like to use Pussy Power more than Vagina Power because it sounds more radical. But anyways, to me pussy power is loving being a woman. Pussy power is knowing that you deserve respect and that you are beautiful enough and smart enough to break rules. Break the conforms of society that say a woman must constantly be the one that looks for a man, while a man must always be hard-core. The rules that say that a woman must be submissive and a man aggressive. The list goes on. I think the main misconception when it comes to pussy power is that it is purely sexual. Pussy power includes but is not limited to sexuality. Men may need the pussy, but when they get it, we have to be submissive. Pussy power, allows us to be more aggressive in the bedroom, allows us to talk about sex without being hushed. So what is penis power? Penis power, is knowing what a man is and not having to prove that by following what the rest of the world is doing, and by being overly aggressive.

Pussy Power! Penis Power!

I am privileged.

I have privilege. In a country where I always thought myself to marginalized and looked down upon in every way, shape, or form. I realize that I have privilege. I came across this revelation about five minutes ago, while reading my fresh copy of "Yes Means Yes! Visions of a Female Sexual Power and A World Without Rape", essays anthologized by Jaclyn Friedman and Jessica Valenti. So far, the book is really good and the essays enlightening. So, I am reading this one essay about female black sexuality, one of my interests, by Kimberly Springer. In the essay, she makes the statement, "remain mindful of my own heterosexual privilege". It was the first time I had ever known someone that is apart of any marginalized still openly admit that they might have it easier than other people in some ways. I have always have these visions in my mind of the person who has the most opportunity to be discriminated against. She is of a marginalized racial group. She is, obviously a lady. She is a member of the LGBTQ community. She is fat and she is a immigrant. I always feel sorry for her. I always feel that I have it easier than her because I am, American born, heterosexual, and relatively thin. I have privilege in these ways. I fit the societal mold, in these ways. Does this make me happy? No. I wonder what its like to be her. I want to deal with even more of a struggle. I am still marginalized but, not in every way. I realize that. Just like a white person must realize that he or she has a privilege in this country. I have it easier than she does. Acknowledging her struggle, does not diminish mine.

Creative Spaces

So I just came back from this International Women's Day Celebration event at my school. It was a really good event, and inspiring too. A lot of different artists came up and did creative pieces. The headliner of the event, though, was a transgendered spoken word artist by the name of Skim. Ze did excellent and displayed a lot of hir different talents and parts of hir personality. There was also a writing exercise where we had to write down a list of words to describe ourselves. My list went like this:writer, poet, loud, outspoken, opinionated, activist, organic, smart, beautiful, feminist, humanitarian, lover, friend. We also had to write a list to describe what we felt in a community of womyn. My list went like this: With you I feel and see/in a community of womyn I feel; love, strength, humor, and beauty. I want to build: love, celebration, community, and understanding. I promise myself to:trust myself and love those worthy of being loved.


Click the title of this post if you want to learn more.

The Politics of Being "Mixed"

Ok, I am not African. I am African-American aka regular ol' Black. Now I do have a firm belief that all black people are the same no matter where you are from, but I also recognize the differences between the two cultures and also the divide. People often mistake me for African and don't believe me or are surprised when I tell them that I am African-American. They say I look too "exotic" to be African-American. I get a lot of people who think I am Egyptian, Ugandan, Ethiopian, Eritrean, etc. I am proud to be who I am, but I also appreciate the African heritage as one that is my own. One aspect of the divide that I feel is an internal problem, is the one that 1. Africans know what country original ancestry is from, while African-Americans do not because of slavery. 2. People fear, create, and perpetuate stereotypes about the unknown. For example, I have been told many times that Africans believe that African-Americans have had a lot of luxuries afforded to them and that we don't appreciate what we have, as well as us being ghetto. 3. Ignorance. For example, I've heard African-Americans that believe we have no culture and have no appreciation for America. First, allow me to say that American Black culture is one of the most influential and culturally diverse in the world. Hip Hop is just one example of this. Also, of course of country has problems; name me one that doesn't. That doesn't mean that you shouldn't love your country, just as Africans show pride for their country. America is a great country and we should love this country and our culture within it as well as the entire continent from which our ancestors came. 4. Seperatism. I love diversity just as much as the next sane person, but when the appreciation of diversity doesn't actually appreciate diversity but tears us apart instead, there is a problem. There is nothing wrong with being proud of what African country you are from, but when you make that pride into a way to belittle others who are not from that country, that is when I question the integrity of that pride. It pains me to see people that always want to be something than what they truly are. It pains me to see the "exotic" girl that doesn't look like everyone around her is labeled beautiful just because of that. It seems as if the farthest you are from "regular ol' black" that's the most proud and beautiful are, which I believe is also a part of the good hair/bad hair, light skinned/dark skinned complex comes from.

Why I Choose Not To...

Derogatory words to describe womyn. So, I'm beginning this new journey. I am elimination words, like bitch, ho, cunt, slut, etc. from my vocabluary. To some these are not derogatory words at all, simply words used in a playful way or words used to describe womyn who posses those characteristics. A bitch is someone who has a bad attitude. A ho and a slut are womyn who have sex with a lot of men. But then you get to the word cunt, a that word is used simply to describe a woman. I don't like when words that are also used to demean women, our body parts, our sexuality, and our being are also used to decribe our gender. It is not just an issue when males use these words, but also when womyn use them.

Okay Now It Is Finished

So I am sitting here in the waiting room.Waiting.For my brother and my mother to come out of the doctor's office.My brother has an appointment today.Well I am sitting here reading a article in Newsweek.It's titled Lessons from Locke, written by Donna Foote.Well, you know what Locke she is talking about do you not? Yea, that is correct, Locke high school in Watts. One of the, shall I say, roughest, toughest, baddest schools in the Los Angeles area.That is my area, my neighborhood.And all we got is a bunch of beaten down, underprivileged bullshit schools, that work hard to do the opposite of what should be done.What they do is kill a child's dream, kill a child's hope, and most horribly they kill a child's way.A kid graduating(if they graduate at all) from Locke, or Jordan, or Dorsey(all in LA Unified School District,which is one of the worst), will either feel one of two ways.Broken, or ready to conquer the world, after survival that hell hole..Why is it that they almost always feel broken.I went to Morningside for a year, not as bad as the others.But I DID feel as though no one was there to learn and that not one of the officials there cared enough about getting an education only about the school's reputation, which I guess is not ALL bad. So whose to blame? Should we even blame?Who should we blame for the busted school campuses and the incapable teachers?My mother is the only person that got me to the point I am at right now.Not that I am at any point right now.I just realize that its more that a lot of other people are.My mom always made it so that I did not view college as just a option.It was a must, even before I started to get interested in how much education is needed to ensure a person's future.She never forced me to go to college, but embedded in my mind that it was the next rightful step after high school.From early on she stressed the importance of academic excellence,though, I did not always achieve it.She always kept tabs on what homework assignments and projects I needed to complete.She made sure she checked my homework for mistakes and neatness.She went to parent/teacher conferences and rewarded good academic progress.But what good is all this if the schools you attend fall short?You can make the best out of your experience, but no matter what the white kids at the white schools are still getting a better chance to go to those white schools.Is it just because they are white? I'll say yes.Because being white goes hand in hand with white privilege, while we are left to sit alone and ponder the achievement gap.If there's no books to teach in, no desks to sit at, no classrooms to teach in, and of course, no money to fund a better, inventive education, then students fail.Of course, a select few will flourish in this type of environment, lets hope they do not forget about the people that still need help, as so many others do. In a capitalist society, everything costs money. And when motivation has a price on it, it gets tiring.That was my problem throughout my education and still is one.I have problem seeing that missing one minuscule homework assignment will lower my grade, especially when all I want to do is watch the newest episode of The Hills.High school did not prepare me for college, which is why I find myself struggling in college.I did not develop study skills or any other good habits.I should have forced myself to earn better grades and develop the skills that I needed for the future, instead I slacked off and it was allowed by the school system. I can definitely sympathize with the incoming freshman when they say they are scared to come to college because they do not know HOW to study. This is typical since when you are in school the primary goal is not always getting an education, like it should be.I want to help people, I want to help people overcome the problems that I faced because I know better than anyone how to overcome them. I want to help people overcome the problems that this world can bring. I find myself wanting to be a teacher sometimes to better the education system and create and get involved in the reformation of the US education system. I am sure many people have heard of the alarming statistics about how we will one day lose our position as a world power if today's children keep getting the weakest education possible in the United States. I want to be a teacher, until I realize that I do not like kids and that I have a hard time explaining things. I will stick to being a lawyer and one day we will sue the United States government for giving us the poorest education possible, when the children of politicians get the best education possible. Did you know...that if you are illiterate you have a higher probability to commit a crime. So really by not improving education the government is biting their own self in the ass. But how do we at the most basic and grassroots level change education when we have practically no help from the federal government? When everyday we are seeing how it is harder and harder to survive and make a meaningful living without a higher and higher degree of education.I will just say advocate for the need of a good education for today's youth, and if you want to be a teacher and like kids, do that, who cares about the money when you are making a difference.But a raise for teachers, wouldn't hurt either. These damn senators shouldn't be getting paid that much, especially when the Senate is supposed to mirror the population. There is also a lot of possibilities for advancement when you are a teacher, principles were usually once teachers, and they make good money. If I do have kids, I am going to send them to the worst school possible and then I am going to advocate for better materials, and better teachers, and a challenging curriculum, not only because I want to ensure my future child's future, but this nation's future. I love America, hate the government.

Then there's the issue of the CAlifornia High School Exit Exam; a derivative of No Child Left Behind. The problem with No Child Left Behind is that it is backed by virtually no money, the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and good intentions is about all No Child Left Behind has, and definitely not any resources. Lets assume the reason why passing the CAHSEE is a necessary requirement is because it would mean that if you could not pass the test then you failed to learn what you needed to learn in your educational career and that you cannot succeed without this information. I feel that if a student cannot pass the test then it is not solely the student's fault. It is the parent's fault, and the schools that taught that student, so why are on the students being punished? Why isn't the school and therefore the government being held accountable also?

The other thing that helped me get to this point, is theother schools that I attended, they weren't the best but they weren't the worst either. There was an environment at those schools that everyone was focused on school. When it came time to apply for college, everyone was doing so, it was the culture of the school during that time. Never should a student, in this day in age, not know when the deadline is to apply for a UC, not know what they have to do to come here, and fall by the waist side.There are schools out here, where no one is going to college, and no one is telling these students that they should go to college.

Teach for America link for wanna be teachers:http://www.teachforamerica.org/

Gates(as in Bill & Melinda Gates,big advocates of education) Foundation link for students:http://www.gatesfoundation.org/default.htm

Image vs Reality

So I was just reading the article behind that satirical (racist) New Yorker magazine picture. But I had to stop so I could write this post. My question is where is the satire? I see no extremes and no call for change in the depiction as required to call something satire. I vote no. But that is not what this post is about. It is about (as the title suggests)…image versus reality. Lauryn Hill is the realest bitch I know. She was quoted as saying, "Fantasy is what people want, and Reality is what they need. I am trying to create reality" I might have misquoted that a bit. I am trying to educate. Then maybe you will educate your children and not hide from them the evils of this world. Then we can finally get a leg up in this world, we can stop being the victim, and since we are oh so good at entertaining, we can stop playing the part so well, and we can stop being oppressed and we can actually get our reparations. I hate when people flaunt their knowledge to show, that they have it instead of for the betterment of others. I want to educate for us. Therefore, I am putting this out here, and it is my hope that some of you can add insight. I am not saying that Bill Clinton was a horrible president, not even that he was a bad president, and not even that his bad deeds outweighed his good deeds. The truth is that we will never be completely satisfied with any candidate or president especially when they look so different from us. What I am saying though, is that, I want us to be able to realize that this world is full of players and even if you are not playing a game, it might be playing you. We must learn that people will put a veil in front of your face to mask the truth. Did we let Bill Clinton's veil/image shield us from the truth/reality? Did you know that more black men went to prison during the Clinton administration than any other besides the Reagan administration? Did you know that Clinton sent more jobs overseas during his administration than any other other administration besides the Reagan administration with his signing of the Outsourcing act into Law? He supported the practice of exploiting for Indian, Indonesian, Chinese families for their cheap labor, making/allowing them to work in deplorable conditions, at the risk of losing limbs, for extremely long, strenuous hours at a time. Little girls and boys who should be getting an education helping to support their families...Clinton let this continue. All the while, we had nothing to say about it. We loved him; we shucked and jived for him, when we should have been the ones that stood up, that spoke out that said something, anything! Instead, we invite him to our awards shows, and dub him "the first black president". Toni Morrison said that he would be closet we ever got to having a black president, besides the fact that she is eating her words right now, I would have hoped such a prominent figure in our community would see what this man was really doing to our community. Did you know that when Clinton won the presidency he abandoned his promises for universal health care and instead changed a 60 year tradition; federal guarantee of support for poor families and their children; a core provision of the Social Security Act and cut off aid to immigrant families, an action that he before called "particularly harsh" and "unjustifiable"?

Every president will have to make decisions that do line up with their promises and our maybe even their beliefs. However, do we have to stand by so idly and even support the man when he did so wrong?

Why was Clinton regarded as a black president? Usually, someone has to be in support of and protect our interests to be down. Nevertheless, not this time huh? We laughed with him about his sexual escapades while he laughed behind our backs. The joke was on us. Now there is nothing that we can do now, he is no longer our president. Maybe he was the best president that we have had thus far, though. Moreover, maybe somebody could prove me wrong. I am always open to learning more.

Love Does Not Exist

Love does not exist. Love does not exist, not the word, not the definition nor the idea. Did you know that in some languages in some cultures there is no such word as "love"? It simply does not exist. So that when you eventually feel what you THINK is love, you can not just say it, you must explain what that feeling is. Try telling someone you love them without using the word itself. You must explain how they have changed your life, you must show them how blessed you are to have them, you must tell them how you can not stop thinking about them. All of this, to make them understand that you can not live life without them. People so often misuse the word love, making it obsolete. It now means nothing when you tell someone you love them. You must now tell them why, a concrete reason to why and how, and what it means to love them must accompany that statement. People use that word so recklessly that there almost is no word for it in the English language.

I love YOu
More than the word itself expresses
The word so often misused and abused

Betrayal

Comes from so many sides
When someone I love so much
Cares so little
It brings a tear to my eyes
Makes me want to stop the giving to avoid the taking
Stop being real to avoid the faking
Stop flying to avoid the fall
Wishing that I had real friends that would take me for my mistakes
Not judge, but look out for me
When it seems I am ready to fall
Love is not their life
Life is their love
But these girls stay rocking their fuck me pumps
And I’m sick of being apart of their Gucci bag crew
Where are the womyn that love themselves
And want more than new shoes?
Quick gratification
Inconsiderate and useless
Giving the clothes off my back
With nothing in return
But a lonely sigh and an emotional burn

Some girls want to pretend that they know this guy
And are with this man
Although, he may not be the man with the plan
Why waste your time trying to be Miss Popularity
People love you one minute and leave you the next
Like a man
Like a one nightstand
Part time people
Part time friends
Bad things
And just as well all good things must come to an end

Poetic Revelations

So today I performed a poem in front of an audience for the first time. It at an event for sexual assault awareness, called Take Back the Night. You might have heard of a similar event before. I was nervous, but it was really chill, so that was good. I wish that I could have put more feeling into the poem, but next time I'll do better. I am going to be performing at a event on May 23rd. I am going to write a poem soon and practice it, so that it can really be good and I won't be so nervous. Poetry is becoming a bigger part of my life. I've been writing poetry for many years now, but was always too nervous to say it in front of an audience, but I really wanted to say this poem. I love spoken word, I watch Def Poetry all the time, and have even memorized some of the poems that appear on there.

Here's the poem that I said tonight:

I was raped once. But in my mind I've been raped every day of my life because what happened that day has been spinning like a turntable in my head. Back and forth, spinning, around and around, spinning, playing, again and again. Everything from that scence stays warped in my head. And this has become such a part of me that I'm thinking that I should PLEAD insanity.

I was raped once. And every since that day I've been raped 365 days a year. See I was at this party and yes I had been drinking, and yes my shorts were short. But this time I was just looking for a good time without sex.

I didn't say yes but I didn't say no. Because I didn't feel I had the right to. Because someone like me should be happy to have someone like him want me, sexually. I didn't say no but I didn't say yes either because I was afraid of disappointing him. I believed my own being to be so feeble that my sole purpose was so please him. So I lay there as cold, quiet, and un-inviting as my body could sub-concouisly muster. And I wondered how it feels to fuck a partner, who remained so still. How it feels to dominate, how it feels to hate, what created you. I tried to answer these questions and others in my mind while my insides were simultaeneously being ripped apart. I thought about why both of us in this bed hated me so much that we didn't see that it was my right, my right, my right, to say no. No matter how much I had been drinking, no matter how much you consider me a ho, it was my right, my right, my right, to say no.

But he didn't just hate me, he hated himself so he subjected that hate on the opposite of himself. Like the KKK on the black man, like the rich on the poor man.

I didn't say yes but I didn't say no. Because I was afraid that he would try to hurt me if I rejected him.
So as I lay there, being no agent in my pleasure, my freeing or my captivity, I searched for a place in my own mind, where the sun shone like diamonds and my body was mine.

I am the video vixen. I am the ho. I am the bitch. I am the girl who wanted it, who deserved it. I am your girlfriend, your mother, your daughter, your sister, your friend.

What Makes An Emcee Versus A Rapper?

In light of MTV's Hottest MCs List; I decided to post about what makes the best Emcee. Is it lyrics, style, production, the best albums, features, or content?

I'm going to have to go with content. Its all about what you talk about, and to be considered an emcee it can't be about how much money you have, how many hoes/niggas you have, how many cars you floss. I'm not saying that a person can never make swag songs, but do we have to do that all the time?? It has to be real and not superficial. What you yall think makes an emcee an emcee versus a rapper?

Here Sway explains the list

I love

this song and the vid probably even more, perhaps because it has zoe kravitz in it. SHE's HELLA COOLIO!



jay-z i know

A-typical Lil' Wayne Rant

So I wrote a note earlier today basically cussing out all the Lil’ Wayne fans(besides those who he is their favorite rapper) and saying that Lil’ Wayne never raps about anything of substance. Well I had to eat my words...because of a comment left by Calvin. Calvin said that Lil’ Wayne actually rapped about Hurricane Katrina AND joje Bush. Well hell! I guess if Lil’ wayne knows what is going on in the world; he cannot be all-bad. But his album is still exactly what I expected.(I haven't listened to the songs Calvin was talking about, and people keep telling me to listen to more music from his mix tapes)but love him or hate him. Lil’ wayne is becoming one of the biggest rappers EVER. He is definitely changing the game with his new, inventive, metaphorical rap. Now he definitely has his shortcomings...as does any rapper. Especially of his age...at this stage in hip-hop...who used to rep cash money oh so hard. But what reason is there really to hate him so?...as so many people do?...Lil’ wayne will never be my favorite rapper...I just can't get with his flow...but I do like most of his songs...don't get me wrong though. I still holdfast to my bandwagon theory. That everyone is hopping on the Wayne wagon...just because he is popular...WELL FUCK YOU MINDLESS IDIOTS! Is it possible that Lil’ wayne has hip-hop on his back? Is it possible that he is the best rapper rite now...or ever? Well in my opinion he is a definite candidate for the title...he had the most anticipated album. I even rushed to get that shit...do not ask me why...and about 10 of his songs is killing the radio rite now...and to top it off...Lil’ wayne appears ahead of his favorite rapper/idol/mentor on most peoples Best Rapper List. (As does Kanye)...seems like jay is doing a little too much mentoring. His his album was cool. So I cannot hate.

But in a final note...just hold out for a LITTLE while longer you wayne haters...he's getting too huge too fast AND crossing over to the white people too...soon he'll be overrated. Then then again, that did not hurt Kanye too much.

Hip-Hop is Tatted On My Heart

Ok,so I know this is hella late but when I am broke I don't buy albums, and even when I do buy them it actually takes me a while to listen to them. So I finally bought Nas' most recent album during Winter break and even though I immediately liked it, I am just now writing a review of it. I just take a long time to right posts because I like to get my thoughts together. PS. I will be posting some bomb stuff in the upcoming days or weeks, lol. But now on to the review. Wait, I mean, let me say something first. I love being black, one main reason of that would be our music. Even though the rest of the world may think that is all that we are good for, it is one thing that we are excellent at. We make music that even though the whole world can't understand, the entire world listens to. Sometimes, its even hard for me to understand what artists mean by the lyrics they right or even decipher the words they say. I make up my own words and my own meanings when that happens. I am a huge music fan, I am a huge hip-hop fan. Hip-Hop is the music our people, even though all of us don't listen to it. I think when you listen to music besides neo-soul, r&b, and hip-hop, you can appreciate music more and you can appreciate hip-hop more. Now hip-hop was definitely better in the 90s, but I won't say that hip-hop is dead now, or even wack. Artists are taking shit to another level, lyrics, beats are more intricate more intelligent, which is probably why I can't understand shit, that coupled with the fact that I lived in the hood for all of my life, but I was also very sheltered from it, so don't ask me shit about gangs and all that hoopla. Hip-hop in the nineties was all about being raw. Beats, rhymes were about the hood, played in the hood, and the artists wore hood clothes. Now artists, are making bullshit clothing lines like Pastelle, lol. We got hip-hop artists that wouldn't last a day in a real hood. Hip-Hop has been commercialized, not saying that its a bad thing. The white kids listening don't know anything about our struggle, but they making the artists rich. With hip-hop and rap we got more black millionaires than ever before. This brings me to the difference between and hip-hop artists and rappers, hip-hop and rap. Every hip-hop artists is a rapper every now and then, when they want something that is just fun, dumb, that they can play on the radio, that can be played in the clubs, that people can dance to, that will make them sell, and that every one can understand. It's just that usually rappers are always rappers, letting the beat override their voices, keeping their voice tone the same throughout every song(change it up sometimes muthafuckas), not riding the beat, moving with the flow of the beat, not going in and out of the beat, but being lazy as they talk their way through the song. Rappers have no finesse, have no respect for the art, the struggle, the ones that came before them, they just want their piece of the pie. Hip-Hop songs are songs that you can listen to when you feel no one understands you, when you want to hear some real shit, when you want to know that these artists respect you enough to give you something to zone out to because you giving them your hard earned cash.

I'm not going to lie, even though I am a big music and hip-hop fan, I just jumped on this train. I got my first CD when other kids already had a cool ass collection. My first CD was Brandy's Never Say Never. My mom wouldn't let me get any CD's with the parental advisory symbol on it, so that killed it. Therefore I wasn't exposed to hip-hop until I got to college. Earlier, I wasn't really a hip-hop girl, thinking it was boy's music. Then I bought Common's Finding Forever, and discovered LimeWire(thanks Erica!) simultaneously! It changed my life, my favorite rapper is Common, and I have a bomb ipod playlist. I am always searching for new music constantly and I spend hella money on ITunes.

Finally the review, Nas' most recent album, opens with an almost a Capella joint, right to start this profound album. It's definitely a different style for Nas, but its good. It solidifies his place in my heart as a hip-hop artists. This album is a pleading from Nas for his black people to do better. He accomplishes this while making the album informative and entertaining. I always new Nas was one to be reckoned with but this album makes his smarts and his sexiness known to me. Kelis got a good man, and he got a good girl, lol. Ths next track, samples the same song Mos Def did on Undeniable, "no matter how hard you try to can't stop us now". All three songs are inspiring. You may not agree with a lot of Nas' sentiments in this album, but you have to agree that this album is one of the best to come from anyone in years. I like to think of it as the brother album to Erykah Badu's most recent, which was also excellent and elevating in every way. Of course, Nas puts some Rap/Hip-Hip songs on the album, which can be found in Hero and Make the World Go 'Round. Buy it! You'll thank yourself, its definitely an enlightening experience.

Best Albums

Ok, so I know we're well into 2009, damn near half the way too. But I just have to do this, no matter, how overdue. This year, was a good year for music, believe it or not. Artsits are starting to rebel against the bad music bandwagon. So, I am not going to put these into any type of order, just listing them. 

1. The Renaissance by Q-Tip

Life is Better featuring Norah Jones
2. N by Nas
3. Solange & The Hadley Street Dreams by Solange Knowles
4. Fearless by Jazmine Sullivan
5. New Amerykah by Erykah Badu
6. The Real Thing: Words And Sounds, Vol. 3 by Jill Scott

Hate on Me

Good Music Finally Prevails?

So if you are reading this blog you may be familiar with the 50 Cent. 50's career has been, since its very start, has been based on controversy. I like 50 Cent, just as much as the next person, and he really came through with classics, such as, Many Men and Piggy Bank. However, speaking of Piggy Bank, which was a huge diss record, 50 Cent is also known for his provactive disses of other rappers. You can say that he acquired this trait from this mentor Eminem. I will admit that 50 has ruined some careers with his disses, Ja Rule anyone(?), and in turn, beefed up his own. 50 Cent used to be a record selling powerhouse, now, not so much. You can say he's losing his luster. After losing his battle with Kanye West, seems like all his beef is losing its fat. He is garnering some new attention with his new mixtape, War Angel, which I have yet to listen to, is it any good yall? But anyways, you may also be familiar with 50's short lived beef with Ricky Ross the Bawse(Boss). 50 said that he was setting out to ruin Mister Ross' career. Well he didn't. He used all his usual ammo, old facts about how Ross isn't really all that hood, as he may make himself seem, calling out Ross' baby mama, etc. Ross is still thriving as an artist. Which must mean that Mister Cent is not as good at his old craft as he used to be right??? So does that mean that Ross' music/ good music over controversy ??

But what is the underlining issue here? That a rappers lie about where they come from. Today is seems as if you have to have killed a couple of people in order to have a viable career in hip hop. If you don't have that type of background, you lie about it, just like a lot of other rappers. In hip-hop, you can't rap about the ghetto if you've never actually lived there.  But shouldn't you be able to?? Any educated person knows how the perils of the hood are effecting America's black youth. I'd rather hear Talib rap about the hood than 50, I'd rather hear an intellectual perspective than glamorization. And can we please get rid of this notion that everything a rapper says is autobiographical? Its not. Rappers perpetuate this all the time! When I write a poem, that doesn't necessarily mean that its about me, I may be writing from the perspective of someone else. Rappers know they lie, listeners know they lie. Who cares???

4 Best Love Songs By a Male Hip Hop Artist

You can put them in order.

1. The Light by Common

2. You Got Me by The Roots featuring Erykah Badu

3. Forever by Ghostface Killah

4. You're All I Need by Method Man featuring Mary J. Blige