Even though there isn't an artist every week, the artist that I present you with, deserve recognition for there brilliance and unique approach to making a difference in our world and leaving there mark on the American fabric.
This is actually the first artist of this kind, which is surprising to me because we share an interest that consumes my life; making movies.
Listen to how God works in mysterious ways. This young man posted his 4 minute short on Youtube and received a 30 million dollar contract for it! Since being posted in early November the video has gone viral, currently approaching 2 million views, and has resulted in Alvarez signing a $30 million deal with Sam "Spiderman" Raimi's Ghost House Pictures to make a full-length sci-fi thriller.
AMAZING! Check out the $300 4 min. short that will be coming to a theatre near you!
Change is coming...
Mexico City moves to legalize same-sex marriage
Reporting from Mexico City - In a move that may put Mexico City at odds with the rest of the country, the local legislature approved a far-reaching gay rights bill Monday, voting to allow people of the same sex to marry and to adopt children.
The leftist-dominated legislature of this massive city of about 20 million people turned aside opposition from the influential Roman Catholic Church and ended lively debate to approve the measure by a 39-20 vote. Mayor Marcelo Ebrard is expected to sign the bill into law.
"Mexico City has put itself in the vanguard," said legislator Victor Hugo Romo. "This is a historic day."
Mexico City's initiative goes further than any other in Latin America by rewriting the law to redefine marriage as a "free union between two people," not only between a man and a woman. It gives homosexual couples the same rights as heterosexual pairs, including the right to adopt, inherit, obtain joint housing loans and share insurance policies.
Several countries, most of them in Europe, and a handful of U.S. states have legalized same-sex marriage in recent years, and the issue is being hotly debated in parts of predominantly Roman Catholic Latin America. Uruguay was the first Latin American nation to recognize same-sex unions, as well as adoptions by gay couples, and some cities in Argentina have adopted similar laws.
Proponents praised the bill as helping remove the stigma and discriminatory practices that hurt gays, while opponents decried what they called an affront to the institution of family.
"This is wonderful," gay rights activist Judith Vasquez said from the noisy legislature floor, where proponents chanted, "Yes, we could!" and waved rainbow flags. Gay "couples have effectively been together for years, decades, centuries," she said. "But now it is our right."
Most of the opposition in the city's legislature came from President Felipe Calderon's conservative National Action Party, which has threatened to take the city to court if Ebrard does not veto the measure.
Also opposed was the Roman Catholic Church, which labeled the proposal immoral, saying marriage must hold the promise of procreation. Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera said the law created the "perverse possibility" that "innocent children" would be adopted by gay couples.
"It is an aberration," said activist Jorge Serrano Limon. "Marriage cannot be between men. That is absurd."
Mexico City, as a rule, is less conservative than much of the rest of the country, relatively open to sexual freedoms and expressions.
Under Ebrard and his Democratic Revolution Party, or PRD, which controls the legislature, Mexico City has been at the forefront of social policy, often taking stances a far distance from other parts of the country.
The city, for example, legalized abortion in 2007, a decision that has since backfired and prompted states across Mexico to dig in their heels against abortion.
"They have given Mexicans a very bitter Christmas," Armando Martinez Gomez, president of the College of Catholic Attorneys, told The Times. "They have eliminated the word 'father' and 'mother.' "
It was unclear when Ebrard planned to sign the gay rights bill into law, and Martinez called on the mayor to veto the bill.
He noted that it went even further than the city executive had intended when legislators removed a clause that would have forbidden adoption. PAN lawmakers also demanded that Ebrard exercise his veto.
Martinez and other opponents had sought a citywide referendum on the issue, similar to the one California held last year, instead of a vote in the legislature. He said surveys taken by his organization showed overwhelming opposition to same-sex marriage. (Another survey published last week by the Reforma newspaper showed opinion more evenly divided.)
He also predicted a backlash against gays. "There will be repercussions, the unleashing of homophobia. Ours is not a very tolerant society."
Before Monday's vote, Mexico City already had on the books a law that allowed a kind of legal union between unmarried people, under which they could avail themselves of a limited number of services and benefits. Only 680 couples have done so since the law took effect in 2007.
It was unclear how many gays and lesbians might be expected to rush to the altar (or, as required in Mexico, the judge's chambers).
"For centuries, unfair laws prohibited marriage between whites and blacks, between Europeans and Indians," legislator Romo, of the PRD, said. "Today, all the barriers have disappeared."
Artist of the week
There is no better feeling than turning on the TV and seeing talented women artist. She gave me fuel for the week!
Melanie Fiona everybody...
Melanie Fiona everybody...
To do or not to do?
Definitely, not to do! People don't always think before they do things and especially people who think they are invincible. Well, anywho, Diddy got happy on stage and decided to show the world what he was working with.
Diddy Performing/Partying At Quo For Obie Of Motion Ent Ann Bash Part 2 from Whatspoppin TV on Vimeo.
Everyone has feelings!
Today, I want to share something that made me smile. Steve Harvey speaks about being a celebrity and having outsiders judge him. While I'm no Beyonce, I would like to think that I am a local celeb or at least someone who others admire. Watching this, reminded me of how I feel a lot of times because my close friends just don't understand me all the time.
Here you go:
It def brought me tears and made me realize that while people might think that some are super human and things don't effect us, they do and WE HAVE FEELINGS TO!
The Artist with Feelings...
Here you go:
It def brought me tears and made me realize that while people might think that some are super human and things don't effect us, they do and WE HAVE FEELINGS TO!
The Artist with Feelings...
Been gone for a minute....
My how time flies...I want to sincerely apologize for my absence the last couple of weeks but school, work and partying has been hard to balance. Any-who, I am back and I miss you all dearly. Please look forward to the next couple of weeks because I have a lot in store.
Im throwing a BIG party in LA Nov. 20 with one of the hottest DJs in the land (DJ Goofy)
Im throwing a BIG party in LA Nov. 20 with one of the hottest DJs in the land (DJ Goofy)
Something to make you smile!
It was sooo refreshing watching this little boy. Reminded me of when I was young and had big dreams. Now I'm big with bigger dreams. Time for me to go catch them....
The Artist is on a mission!
This is why I love Kanye
No matter what happens, Kanye stays true to himself and I will always be his fan!
You could run but you can't hide!
Now, rather this is real or not, this is insanity at its worse. First off, If those names he called out were really victims of this maniac, my prayers go out to you.
Watching this video made me very upset, to the point where I had to stop watching it and then finish. It is unfortunate that someone can be sooo angry and have sooo much hate in them to do this to someone else, intentionally. It is sooo disappointing to know that there are people in this world who feels this way and can take advantage of the young and vulnerable. It is even more sad to know that I was once young, naiive and looking for love in all the wrong places. It is frightening to know that people are out to hurt one another and here is a black man speaking down amongst his own blood! To not sympathize with black and latina women who are born into situations that they have absolutely no say in and have to learn the rules of this game (life) without the proper guidance.
The Artist needs to think...
I remember a while back, I experienced a love like never before. He was my everything, my prince charming. Nowadays thats hard to come by. I actually seen him for the first time in years and since then I haven't slept rite, continuously trying to remember how his arms felt around me. Our hearts beat the same beat and maybe one day we could live happily ever after.
This might be a stupid request but if you ever read this, call me. I love u, always and forever.
This might be a stupid request but if you ever read this, call me. I love u, always and forever.
Artist of the week
So, I have wanted to acknowledge this young lady for a long time and I have a great admiration for her. Not because we share a name but because she is an amazing artist. The world has watched her rise to the top, fall but get back up again, and now I think she is there to stay!
Whitney Houston ♥
Watch this beautiful performance of her new single:
She is absolutely amazing and a true reflection of beauty. She has overcame so much and it is such a great experience to be able to watch her reclaim her name.
Love
The Inspired Artist...
Whitney Houston ♥
Watch this beautiful performance of her new single:
She is absolutely amazing and a true reflection of beauty. She has overcame so much and it is such a great experience to be able to watch her reclaim her name.
Love
The Inspired Artist...
Epiphany...
Love has always been this word that confused me. Since I could remember, I have struggled with finding it. That's funny, I just solved my problem within the first two sentences. Finding: to find; love cannot be found. Love happens with or without our permission.
Love,
The Artist
And this is what we resort to?
If Kanye said anything with substance, "Man, killing is some wack shit" was by far the best. I can't begin to express how many of my friends lives have been taking due to nonsense. May all of your souls R. I. P. Chi streets have never been our bestfriend, fearing walking down certain streets because u from another hood, praying the whole time while you on the bus because they getting shot up and wanting acceptance so you end up in an uncomfortable position.
I fear for my little brother safety everyday. Growing up on the south-side is already hard, but I know to be a man is even harder. Especially during the prime years, he is 14 and a freshman in high school and I know that he have to uphold a certain image in order to be accepted, unfortunately.
I grew up in those same streets I fear, to me, that's home. I hate how when violent incidents take place the outsiders try to point the blame and think they know so much but the reality is, they have no idea.
I plan on moving back to Chicago and giving those who want to make it out a chance. Giving those who don't know any other way an option and giving hope to those who have given up. The sad part is that won't stop those who just don't care, the violence may decrease but the reality is it will never stop. However, I will do everything in my power to try to stop it!
I don't want to change the world, for I know that is impossible. But I do want to change hearts and touch souls.
Peace,
The Artist
I fear for my little brother safety everyday. Growing up on the south-side is already hard, but I know to be a man is even harder. Especially during the prime years, he is 14 and a freshman in high school and I know that he have to uphold a certain image in order to be accepted, unfortunately.
I grew up in those same streets I fear, to me, that's home. I hate how when violent incidents take place the outsiders try to point the blame and think they know so much but the reality is, they have no idea.
I plan on moving back to Chicago and giving those who want to make it out a chance. Giving those who don't know any other way an option and giving hope to those who have given up. The sad part is that won't stop those who just don't care, the violence may decrease but the reality is it will never stop. However, I will do everything in my power to try to stop it!
I don't want to change the world, for I know that is impossible. But I do want to change hearts and touch souls.
Peace,
The Artist
Media influence...
SO for the last couple of weeks, I have noticed a trend take place with a lot of rappers and the topics they choose to rap about! There issues with committing to someone and not really caring about coming second to another man. Yes this is true and may I say it is destroying morals and values of younger generations.
You have entertainers who have a huge impact on their audience lives, like Lil Wayne and here he goes talking about how he want to fu%* every girl in the world and how it is impossible to choose.
This is a big problem to me because it is teaching young men to ignore what is on the inside. There might be a group of beautiful young women but that is not how you decide whether someone is compatible or not. Also, its not only about having sex but getting to know the person before you hop in the bed. When our men develop mindsets likes this, they are losing an appreciation for women.
This is also effecting women because we began to fight back by saying well "Imma do me". Why should men just be allowed to sleep around and not having any consequences while we sit around and play house. Naw, its not going down like that, so we begin to sleep with who we want.
Well I have a wake up call for everyone who wants to live under the limelight of this song: STD's. Yea, those really exist so you better be careful since you cant decide on who you want so you will just have them all because you, your man and your best-friend gone be taking regular doctor visits together.
Food for thought,
The Artist
You have entertainers who have a huge impact on their audience lives, like Lil Wayne and here he goes talking about how he want to fu%* every girl in the world and how it is impossible to choose.
This is a big problem to me because it is teaching young men to ignore what is on the inside. There might be a group of beautiful young women but that is not how you decide whether someone is compatible or not. Also, its not only about having sex but getting to know the person before you hop in the bed. When our men develop mindsets likes this, they are losing an appreciation for women.
This is also effecting women because we began to fight back by saying well "Imma do me". Why should men just be allowed to sleep around and not having any consequences while we sit around and play house. Naw, its not going down like that, so we begin to sleep with who we want.
Well I have a wake up call for everyone who wants to live under the limelight of this song: STD's. Yea, those really exist so you better be careful since you cant decide on who you want so you will just have them all because you, your man and your best-friend gone be taking regular doctor visits together.
Food for thought,
The Artist
Lesson Learned...
WOW! This week has been extremely stressful! Back to school, new living situation, working 3 jobs and still working my way to the top of the success ladder. I am aware that before success comes hard work, dedication and sacrifice but can I just have a moment!
However, the lesson learned is close mouths don't get fed. I ran into a small incident with a class that was being offered at my school and was a high demand for everyone in the film school but they selected the students based on seniority. Thats understandable but my question was "so, do our tuition bill look any different?" because I qualify, need and want the class just like the rest. Yes I could wait until my fourth year to learn HD but the jobs won't. Any how, I simply express my feeling about the situation and with open-minds, I was accepted into the class!
Alot of students complain about what they are not getting but I strongly believe that if and when you really want something, you will make it happen. This is life, and you could treat it as a hobby and deal with it when you want to or treat it as an art and perfect your craft, LIVE! to the fullest.
Lesson well learned,
The Artist
However, the lesson learned is close mouths don't get fed. I ran into a small incident with a class that was being offered at my school and was a high demand for everyone in the film school but they selected the students based on seniority. Thats understandable but my question was "so, do our tuition bill look any different?" because I qualify, need and want the class just like the rest. Yes I could wait until my fourth year to learn HD but the jobs won't. Any how, I simply express my feeling about the situation and with open-minds, I was accepted into the class!
Alot of students complain about what they are not getting but I strongly believe that if and when you really want something, you will make it happen. This is life, and you could treat it as a hobby and deal with it when you want to or treat it as an art and perfect your craft, LIVE! to the fullest.
Lesson well learned,
The Artist
Dissapointment?
Now, I'm sure this is not the first time you have heard about Kanye West outburst at the VMA, however as a Chicago native, I am a little embarrassed. I am one of Kanye's biggest fan (or was) and this incident has turned me sooooo off from him! I can't believe someone would even have the audacity to take away a 19 year old artist glory and humiliate her the way he did! I have lost all respect for him as an artist!
Everyone is entitled to there own opinion and while Kanye might feel that Beyonce has the best video of all time, I think she needs to step her game up and I think Kanye needs to sit the F@!% down or go lock his self up in a room or something. I respect Beyonce for allowing Taylor to have her moment but I know she will never be able to really feel as though she deserves the award, which she does!
Check out the clip:
Also, it is really disappointing that this incident is causing a race war. Its not a black versus white situation, it was rude, ignorant and inconsiderate of Kanye and I think anyone of any color feels the same way!
The Artist is signing out...
Everyone is entitled to there own opinion and while Kanye might feel that Beyonce has the best video of all time, I think she needs to step her game up and I think Kanye needs to sit the F@!% down or go lock his self up in a room or something. I respect Beyonce for allowing Taylor to have her moment but I know she will never be able to really feel as though she deserves the award, which she does!
Check out the clip:
Also, it is really disappointing that this incident is causing a race war. Its not a black versus white situation, it was rude, ignorant and inconsiderate of Kanye and I think anyone of any color feels the same way!
The Artist is signing out...
He just might be...
He is beginning to become the reason of my existence...
Im feeling him, he feeling me
This just might be
This mite be that heart to heart transaction love
That you on my mind soooo heavy love
Baby please go a little deeper love
This that I can't stay mad at you for to long love
I want to go to sleep and you still there type love,
love letters next to your breakfast just to show u how much I care
Yea, you got me cooking love
I mean, this love so deep, I have to write poems about it love
This that right love
I want this for the rest of my life love
We in it to win it, no quitting type love
I just want to scream your name so the world could know who I talking about love
Not wanting to hang up the phone love
I could go on, and on, and on, and on love
I don't know where this is heading, but still willing to take the journey love
Yea, I'm feeling him, he feeling me
So this just might be that love...
It just might be...
Love,
The Artist
Im feeling him, he feeling me
This just might be
This mite be that heart to heart transaction love
That you on my mind soooo heavy love
Baby please go a little deeper love
This that I can't stay mad at you for to long love
I want to go to sleep and you still there type love,
love letters next to your breakfast just to show u how much I care
Yea, you got me cooking love
I mean, this love so deep, I have to write poems about it love
This that right love
I want this for the rest of my life love
We in it to win it, no quitting type love
I just want to scream your name so the world could know who I talking about love
Not wanting to hang up the phone love
I could go on, and on, and on, and on love
I don't know where this is heading, but still willing to take the journey love
Yea, I'm feeling him, he feeling me
So this just might be that love...
It just might be...
Love,
The Artist
Fashionista...
May I say that Rihanna has definitely stepped her game up over the course of her career. I don't know if she is just moving with time. or if someone dresses her, or if she just gained a understanding for fashion, watever the case might be, I love it.
Check her out...
Long time no hear!
So I have been traveling for the last few weeks and really want to apologize for my absence! I have alot of updating for you all and I am really excited about the next couple of weeks. I finished my summer off in Chicago and now I am back in Cali, recharged and ready for ANYTHING! I have alot of prepping to do for student council and for my trip to Germany so time is of the essence!
Classes start monday and I am excited! I have alot of great classes that will further my artistic skills and take my creativity to the next level, so please my people, get ready! This is history in the making...
Glad to be back,
The Artist
American Violet...
Honorary film for this blog!! American Violet. Just came to my mind since I am in Texas and I worked with the producer, Tim Disney, also one of my mentors! It is amazing, one of a kind, and based on a true story!
Another film that didn't get the credit it deserved!! Films with a purpose rarely do...
Enjoy,
The Artist
Another film that didn't get the credit it deserved!! Films with a purpose rarely do...
Enjoy,
The Artist
Tru meaning of family!
So, for those of you who don't know, Im in Texas for the week. I came down here for my friends baby shower and to just have a lil fun in the the D with the homies. Also, my aunt, my mother baby sister, lives out here with her husband and 3 kids, so I came to spend a couple nights with them as well. I was really excited because I haven't seen them in a while and because me and my family is sooo distant, I wasn't sure what to expect. however, I was welcomed with open arms and a few home cook meals (can't beat that). My little cousins, ages 10, 8, and 6, followed me every where I went and watched me with amazement in their eyes as I moved around the house. The oldest one said she wanted to grow up and be just like me, I held back the tears of joy and told her I wanted her to be better than me.
I talked to my aunt for hours about a little bit of everything and just really enjoyed being around my family. I'm dissapointed I can't experience this more! I also see the lack of culture in families nowadays because back in the days aunts and cousins and family in general played a serious role in raising other family members kids, but now, we have embraced the me, me, me culture!
Goal to fix this problem: family reunion and committees to keep everyone updated!!
Will let you know how it works out,
The Artist
I talked to my aunt for hours about a little bit of everything and just really enjoyed being around my family. I'm dissapointed I can't experience this more! I also see the lack of culture in families nowadays because back in the days aunts and cousins and family in general played a serious role in raising other family members kids, but now, we have embraced the me, me, me culture!
Goal to fix this problem: family reunion and committees to keep everyone updated!!
Will let you know how it works out,
The Artist
Precious...A must see!
As a filmmaker, I love to see films that engage with
topics that aren't "popular" or might be controversial.
This is a must see film!
Some might find this story hard to believe but this is life for alot of people.
Unfortunately...
Talk about nothing being impossible!
She finally has a home: Harvard
Khadijah Williams, 18, overcomes a lifetime in shelters and on skid row.
By Esmeralda Bermudez
11:03 PM PDT, June 19, 2009
Khadijah Williams stepped into chemistry class and instantly tuned out the commotion.
She walked past students laughing, gossiping, napping and combing one another’s hair. Past a cellphone blaring rap songs. And past a substitute teacher sitting in a near-daze.
Quietly, the 18-year-old settled into an empty table, flipped open her physics book and focused. Nothing mattered now except homework.
“No wonder you’re going to Harvard,” a girl teased her.
Around here, Khadijah is known as “Harvard girl,” the “smart girl” and the girl with the contagious smile who landed at Jefferson High School only 18 months ago.
What students don’t know is that she is also a homeless girl.
As long as she can remember, Khadijah has floated from shelters to motels to armories along the West Coast with her mother. She has attended 12 schools in 12 years; lived out of garbage bags among pimps, prostitutes and drug dealers. Every morning, she upheld her dignity, making sure she didn’t smell or look disheveled.
On the streets, she learned how to hunt for their next meal, plot the next bus route and help choose a secure place to sleep — survival skills she applied with passion to her education.
Only a few mentors and Harvard officials know her background. She never wanted other students to know her secret — not until her plane left for the East Coast hours after her Friday evening graduation.
“I was so proud of being smart I never wanted people to say, ‘You got the easy way out because you’re homeless,’ ” she said. “I never saw it as an excuse.”
A drive to succeed
“I have felt the anger at having to catch up in school . . . being bullied because they knew I was poor, different, and read too much,” she wrote in her college essays. “I knew that if I wanted to become a smart, successful scholar, I should talk to other smart people.”
Khadijah was in third grade when she first realized the power of test scores, placing in the 99th percentile on a state exam. Her teachers marked the 9-year-old as gifted, a special category that Khadijah, even at that early age, vowed to keep.
“I still remember that exact number,” Khadijah said. “It meant only 0.01 students tested better than I did.”
In the years that followed, her mother, Chantwuan Williams, pulled her out of school eight more times. When shelters closed, money ran out or her mother didn’t feel safe, they packed what little they carried and boarded buses to find housing in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Ventura, San Diego, San Bernardino and Orange County, staying for months, at most, in one place.
She finished only half of fourth grade, half of fifth and skipped sixth. Seventh grade was split between Los Angeles and San Diego. Eighth grade consisted of two weeks in San Bernardino.
At every stop, Khadijah pushed to keep herself in each school’s gifted program. She read nutrition charts, newspapers and four to five books a month, anything to transport her mind away from the chaos and the sour smell.
At school, she was the outsider. At the shelter, she was often bullied. “You ain’t college-bound,” the pimps barked. “You live in skid row!”
In 10th grade, Khadijah realized that if she wanted to succeed, she couldn’t do it alone. She began to reach out to organizations and mentors: the Upward Bound Program, Higher Edge L.A., Experience Berkeley and South Central Scholars; teachers, counselors and college alumni networks. They helped her enroll in summer community college classes, gave her access to computers and scholarship applications and taught her about networking.
When she enrolled in the fall of her junior year at Jefferson High School, she was determined to stay put, regardless of where her mother moved. Graduation was not far off and she needed strong college letters of recommendation from teachers who were familiar with her work.
This soon meant commuting by bus from an Orange County armory. She awoke at 4 a.m. and returned at 11 p.m., and kept her grade-point average at just below a 4.0 while participating in the Academic Decathlon, the debate team and leading the school’s track and field team.
“That’s when I was really stressed,” she says, at once sighing and laughing.
Khadijah graduated Friday evening with high honors, fourth in her class. She was accepted to more than 20 universities nationwide, including Brown, Columbia, Amherst and Williams. She chose a full scholarship to Harvard and aspires to become an education attorney.
Early adversity
She tried her best; she never smoked or drank, never did drugs, and she never put us in abusive situations. However, that was the best she could do.
There are questions about her mother Khadijah is not ready to ask, answers she is not ready to hear. How did her mother end up on the streets? How come she never found a stable home for her daughters? Why wasn’t there family to turn to, no father, no grandparents? And what will become of her little sister?
“I don’t know. I don’t know,” is often her response. Ask personal questions about her mother and the fire in Khadijah’s eyes turns dim. She knows when she arrives in Cambridge, Mass., she will need to seek counseling. So much of her life is a blur.
She knows she was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., to a 14-year-old mother. She thinks Chantwuan might have been ostracized from her family. She may have tried to attend school, but the stress of a baby proved too much. When Khadijah was a toddler, they moved to California. A few years later, Jeanine was born.
She has chosen not to criticize her mother. Instead Khadijah said she inspired her to learn. “She would tell me I had a gift, she would call me Oprah.”
When her college applications were due in December, James and Patricia London of South Central Scholars invited Khadijah to their home in Rancho Palos Verdes to help her write her essays.
When they went to return her to skid row, her mother and sister were gone.
Khadijah accepted the Londons’ invitation to spend the rest of her school year with them.
In their comfortable hilltop home, Khadijah learned a new set of lessons. The orthopedic doctor and nurse taught her table manners, money management and grooming.
She won’t be the first homeless student to arrive at Harvard.
Julie Hilden, the Harvard interviewer who met with Khadijah to gauge whether she should be accepted, said it was clear from the start that Khadijah was a top candidate. But school officials had to make sure they could provide what she needed to make the transition successful.
They plan to connect her with faculty mentors and potentially, a host family to check in with every so often. She will also attend a Harvard summer program at Cornell to take college-prep courses.
“I strongly recommended her,” Hilden said. “I told them, ‘If you don’t take her, you might be missing out on the next Michelle Obama. Don’t make this mistake.’ ”
Seeking connections
“I think about how I can convince my peers about the value of education. . . . I have found that after all the teasing, these peers start to respect me . . . . I decided that I could be the one to uplift my peers . . . . My work is far reaching and never finished.”
Khadijah expected to feel more connected after nearly two years at Jefferson, to make at least one good friend.
Students flock to the smart girl for help with homework and tests and class questions. She walks through campus tenderly waving and smiling and complimenting everyone she knows.
But when prom pictures arrive, they show her posing alone in a silky black and white dress. In her yearbook, hundreds of familiar faces look back, but the memories are missing.
“It’s a nice, glossy, shiny, colorful yearbook,” she said. “But it feels like they’re all strangers. I’m nowhere in these pages.”
In the last six months, she saw her mother only a few times and on Thursday tried to find her. Khadijah headed to a South-Central storage facility where they last stored their belongings.
She found Chantwuan sitting on a garbage bag full of clothes.
“Khadijah’s here!” her sister Jeanine yells. Chantwuan’s face lit up.
She explained the details of her graduation, the bus route to get there and gave her mother a prom picture. She said she would leave for summer school Friday.
There is no talk of coming home of for Thanksgiving or Christmas.
Proudly, Khadijah modeled her hunter green graduation cap and gown and practiced switching the tassel from right to left as she would during the ceremony.
“Look at you,” her mother says. “You’re really going to Harvard, huh?”
“Yeah,” she says, pausing. “I’m going to Harvard.”
Yea, she bad...
Amber Rose is definitely getting a lot of spotlight nowadays! She just got signed to Ford Modeling Agency, representing for the "thick" girls for sure. Now Ms. Rose has been around for a while but every since her and Kanye has became exclusive, she has became an overnight celebrity. But what I find rather unique about Ms. Rose is that she has no problem with letting you know who she is and what she is about, which is one of the lessons I have learned in life. If no one in the room agrees with you, keep your head high and you could gurantee by the end of the day, people would admire you.
In many interviews Ms. Rose admits to being bi-sexual, a freak in the sheets, and clearly she has a unique style. While other celebrities try to put on this "goodie to shoe" act for their audience (Lindsey Lohan, Brittney Spears, Paris Hilton), Amber tells it like it is and you either choose to accept it or not.
I think this is important for many reasons but let me give you the example I always give to my little brother; you walk into a room with a neon yellow shirt, tie dye pants, silver shoes, and purple shades, of course everyone in the room is staring at you like your crazy. However, you have confidence in yourself and is comfortable with your selection of clothing, everyone will notice your unique style and appreciate you for it. Now, if you would have walked in the room with your head hanging, making very little eye contact and revealing your insecurities, then you can almost guarantee that people will make fun of you!
Ms. Rose walks into the room and demands attention without saying a word...Yea, now thats a bad bad chick!
"No Homo"
Does This Purple Mink Make Me Look Gay?The rise of no homo and the changing face of hip-hop homophobia.
In August, 2005, three weeks before his nationally televised declaration that "George Bush doesn't care about black people," Kanye West made a statement he'd later describe as braver and more difficult than his attack on the White House. Hip-hop, he told MTV, was supposed to be about "speaking your mind and about breaking down barriers, but everyone in hip-hop discriminates against gay people … I wanna just come on TV and just tell my rappers, tell my friends, 'Yo, stop it.' " Taking on Bush was a perfectly hip-hop move, but taking on homophobia, West feared, could be career suicide. Undeterred, he revisited the subject in a November 2005 interview, discussing his love for his openly gay cousin, not to mention his conflicted but evolving attitude toward his interior decorator. West's call for tolerance remains the highest-profile rebuke of gay-bashing that hip-hop has seen.No homo tweaks this dynamic because it allows, implicitly, that rap is a place where gayness can in fact be expressed by the guy on the mic, not just scorned in others. In the very act of trying to "purify" an utterance of any gayness, after all, the no homo tag must contaminate it first—it's both a denial and a flashing neon arrow. This isn't to suggest that saying no homo is a radical act, but there's an appealing sense in which the phrase refuses to function as tidily as some of its boosters might like. This is especially striking in those cases when rappers add no homo to statements of sexual pleasure we'd otherwise have no reason to think of as gay. "No homo, I go hard," Chamillionaire rapped on a recent mix tape, implying that an erection is inherently homosexual. Even more absurdly, when Cam'ron named a song "Silky (No Homo)," it was hard to decide what he was disavowing. The emotions of sadness and longing expressed in the lyrics? Or the tactile sensation of silkiness itself?
But old habits die hard, and last week, West amended his position somewhat on "Run This Town," a new Jay-Z single on which the Chicago rapper is a featured guest. "It's crazy how you can go from being Joe Blow," West begins his rap, "to everybody on your dick—no homo." No homo, to those unfamiliar with the term, is a phrase added to statements in order to rid them of possible homosexual double-entendre. ("You've got beautiful balls," you tell your friend at the bocce game—"no homo.") No homo began life as East Harlem slang in the early '90s, and in the early aughts it entered the hip-hop lexicon via the Harlem rapper Cam'ron and his Diplomats crew. Lil Wayne brought the term into the mainstream, sprinkling "no homo" caveats across cameos, mix tapes, and his Tha Carter IIILP, which was 2008's best-selling album. (Jay-Z has used the word pause in a similar way.)
The term's appearance in hip-hop coincided with the rise of the so-called "down-low brother," a closeted black figure often demonized as a disease-spreading boogeyman, invisible by definition and thus potentially, frightfully, everywhere. Saying "no homo" might have started as a way for rappers to acknowledge and distance themselves from the down-low phenomenon. As the phrase has spread, many have decried no homo as depressingly retrograde, a pigheaded "That's what she said" for homophobes. But the term functions in a more complicated way than a simple slur. As society becomes increasingly gay-tolerant, hip-hop is reassessing its relationship to homosexuality and, albeit in a hedged and roundabout way, it's possible that no homo is helping to make hip-hop a gayer place.
Often, no homo appears not just as a disclaimer but as a punch line, a See what I did there?that flaunts one's cleverness. "Just shot a video with R. Kelly, but no homo though," Lil Wayne rapped in 2007. In this line—a sly nod to both a music video co-starring Wayne and Kelly and to the R&B singer's alleged sex tape—no homo isn't an afterthought; it's the keystone that holds the whole joke together. A funny side effect here is that the no homo vogue doubtless encourages rappers not only to scrutinize everything they say for trace gayness, but to actively think up gay double-entendres just so that they can cap them off with no homo kickers.
Beyond this, there's a sense in which no homo, rather than limiting self-expression in hip-hop, actually helps to expand it. We see this play out in the rhymes and personas of the term's most famous practitioners. Cam'ron and the Diplomats are, ironically, among the most homoerotic MCs in rap. They wear pink and purple furs and brag regularly about how good they look. In the video for "Pop Champagne," Jim Jones and Juelz Santana giddily douse each other with frothy white geysers of bubbly. On Cam'ron's "Hey Ma," he describes having sex with a female paramour with seven vague words—"She was up in the Range, man"—but when the girl leaves, he immediately calls Santana to narrate the act in detail and, in a sense, to enjoy and consummate it fully. Similarly, Lil Wayne has been photographed kissing his mentor, the rapper Baby, on the lips and cultivates a shirtless, slithering, rock-star-worthy air of libertine sexuality. Kanye West attends runway shows, keeps an entourage of designer-clad dandies, and blogs regularly about design. When these rappers say "no homo," it can seem a bit like a gentleman's agreement, nodding to the status quo while smuggling in a fuller, less hamstrung notion of masculinity. This is still a concession to homophobia, but one that enables a less rigid definition of the hip-hop self than we've seen before. It's far from a coup, but, in a way, it's progress.
Man Up!
This site is for and about being an "artist" for social change, and it is only right that I introduce myself to my audience and express why I believe this is such an important subject. I am a filmmaker from the South-Side of Chicago. Those streets raised me and showed me things that I never want my kids or kids kids to experience. Now don't get me wrong, I love my community but the chances of making it out is slim to none and only the strongest survive. I watched a lot of my friends come and go, live and die, lose themselves to the very streets that were once upon a time all I knew.
So then I was left with the question, the question that changed my life forever: What can I do to make it better?
After graduating from Young Womens Leadership Charter School of Chicago, I moved to California to attend California Institute of the Arts majoring in Film/Video with a minor in Cultural Studies and a emphasis on African American Studies. I was determined to change the cycle and educate people through entertainment.
I have posted my film for your viewing and please feel free to comment and engage with the subject matter. The name of the piece is called Man Up! and it is a documentary about African American male sexuality and gender representation. While a lot of people shy away from this topic, I think it is something that has been swept under the rug for way too long and needs to be discussed.
Enjoy,
The Artist
This is only part 1 of this project!
To Be Continued!
Artist of the week
Janelle Monae
I think it is about time to applaud those entertainers who remain true to themselves and isn't easily swallowed by Hollywood and the cliche (yea, I said it) American images of what "beauty" is. Janelle Monae has a raw, authentic style and of course I must acknowledge the fact that she is a beautiful brown skin woman.
Check her out at www.jmonae.com
Sooo...Where do I start?
I have dreamt of creating a space for people to freely express themselves for a long time. Of course, people do it all the time and clearly there are plenty cyber social spaces to do so but more than anything, I needed a place that I could run to and free my imagination, clear my head, SCREAM without disturbing anyone or wondering what others around me is thinking! I am glad I have finally fount it!
Sincerely yours,
The Artist