Thursday, June 25, 2009
R.I.P Michael Jackson
I just learned that one of the greatest pop stars to ever grace a stage or screen has passed on to the great beyond. I always wondered where I'd be, what I'd be doing or how I would feel on the day he passed. I can honestly say that I feel nothing but gratitude that I was able to witness his greatness and be a part of the generation that spawned him. May he finally rest in peace.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
A Humble Request
Here I stand five days away from payday, surrounded and drowning in the muck left by the indifferent, under achieving and disillusioned…broke and aggravated. There is a burning in my belly bordering between gas and exasperation. Lately, I have been greeting each day with a gritted tooth smile. Good mornings are still customary in my little world even among the aliens that do not share this custom. Needless to say, I need a reason to smile today…just today. I will take care of tomorrow. To the best of my ability I will treat all suggestions,jokes,funny stories etc. equally without pomp or judgment. Consider this a loan of sorts. I’ll hit you back on payday.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Spike Lee: One of the Family
Submitted this one on Wheresmars.com which is a site dedicated to the celebration of Spike Lee as one of the founders of the Black Arts Movement in Brooklyn USA. Feel free to check it out.
http://www.wheresmars.com
As a New Jersey transplant, I received my first understanding of this place called Brooklyn from watching Spike Lee movies.
I was introduced to a neighborhood unlike any I had ever seen: from the quirky ramblings of Buggin’ Out; to the gentle nurturing of Mother Sister. It was the first time I experienced blackness as a thing to be admired for its beauty and diversity and constant state of flux, with jazz and hip-hop as the soundtrack of our multifaceted lives.
Spike Lee was to the 1990’s what James Baldwin and Langston Hughes were to the page during the Harlem Renaissance. With the urban landscape as his canvas, he painted our flaws and triumphs with equal honesty. Lee in essence allowed us to laugh at ourselves without shame and at the same time aspire to improve our conditions.
This is a quality every Brooklynite — in his own right — strives to achieve. It is an essence evident in the general attitudes of its citizens which to the outsider can be perceived as chauvinism.
If one has any doubt, I dare to criticize the Knicks in the presence of Lee or any other fan. What the outsider may not know is that these people (to quote Bowie) ‘are quite aware of what they are going through.’ But, to be criticized by anyone outside of family would be considered an unmentionable act.
Spike’s genius is in his knowledge of this unwritten law which he has thrown down on to the American landscape, like Moses, to be shared not only with his Brooklyn kin, but with his extended family throughout the Diaspora.
There can be no doubt that Spike Lee’s work has been woven into the fabric of Brooklyn culture. The honor of having a day in his namesake is long over due.
http://www.wheresmars.com
As a New Jersey transplant, I received my first understanding of this place called Brooklyn from watching Spike Lee movies.
I was introduced to a neighborhood unlike any I had ever seen: from the quirky ramblings of Buggin’ Out; to the gentle nurturing of Mother Sister. It was the first time I experienced blackness as a thing to be admired for its beauty and diversity and constant state of flux, with jazz and hip-hop as the soundtrack of our multifaceted lives.
Spike Lee was to the 1990’s what James Baldwin and Langston Hughes were to the page during the Harlem Renaissance. With the urban landscape as his canvas, he painted our flaws and triumphs with equal honesty. Lee in essence allowed us to laugh at ourselves without shame and at the same time aspire to improve our conditions.
This is a quality every Brooklynite — in his own right — strives to achieve. It is an essence evident in the general attitudes of its citizens which to the outsider can be perceived as chauvinism.
If one has any doubt, I dare to criticize the Knicks in the presence of Lee or any other fan. What the outsider may not know is that these people (to quote Bowie) ‘are quite aware of what they are going through.’ But, to be criticized by anyone outside of family would be considered an unmentionable act.
Spike’s genius is in his knowledge of this unwritten law which he has thrown down on to the American landscape, like Moses, to be shared not only with his Brooklyn kin, but with his extended family throughout the Diaspora.
There can be no doubt that Spike Lee’s work has been woven into the fabric of Brooklyn culture. The honor of having a day in his namesake is long over due.
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