Ok, so I can respect that some people just have a molecular pull around their person that mystifies everyone that comes into contact with them thus, attracting attention and making people absolutely love them. Thus is the case with Michael Jackson, the Obamas, Steve Harvey, Mary J. Blige, and even new comers like Keyshia Cole and Zoe Saldana. On the other hand, what I cannot wrap my head around is the stifiling success of celebrity socialites. Such is the case with the Amber Rose, the Kardashian sisters, video girls (or "models"), and worst of all women that just spend money. What is the logic? I do not understand why these women (and men too) dominate our show times, airwaves, and magazine folds when they have nothing to contribute to popular culture. Sure, they may have a mean shoe game, relations (often sexual) with pop culture's elite, and money to blow, but otherwise they do not possess any substance.
I just feel like if these people are going to get praise and I have to regard them as celebrities, they need to do something more with their time than pose for pictures. I pose that they go volunteer at a soup kitchen or children's hospitol, donate money or help out with "Go Green" initiatives. Start a social club for young girls that involve women empowerent, etiquette, and values, something! I am an avid reader of urban blog mediatakeout.com and I am just tired of seeing socialites as the highlight, day after day, eating lunch or spotted shopping in NYC. It's becoming a nusiance and I feel like these people need to do something with their lives, something purposeful.
sources: mediatakeout.com
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Sunday, February 21, 2010
...Yeah, she Mixed!
The battle between dark skin women and "red bones" are so prominent in our culture that it should be preached about in churches. I find it interesting people associate beauty with lighter skin or mixed heritages. Or that people may go out of their way to try to find "mixed consistencies" in their family trees. Thus is the case with the females that brag about being "mixed" with 5 to 10 different ethnicities. It is even more interesting when those ethnicities have no observable correlations. Such is the case with someone I know who claims to be Irish, African (She does not specify the country), Jamaican, Indian, Chinese, and White. Did she really go back a century or what? Or is she one of the females that count relatives that have been married into the family, or worse a cousins' or distant relatives' father...or is she making it all up? I have yet to find out and judging that I don't believe her anyway, I'm not trying to. Anyway, I decided to do a little research on how these cultures came to "mix" and what products they usually produce so that I can compare the outcome to the ladies who claim that they are indeed...mixed. I came up with info on Latinos/Latinas and of course it went back to the slave ship. Latin America received millions of African slaves before the Whites even got whiff of the trade, thus the mixing began. To date, at least a million black and mixed people make up Latin America. Haiti makes up 98%, Dominican Republic 64%, Cuba 62%, Brazil 49%, Colombia 21%, and Venezuela 10%. So as immigration takes place and people meet and fall in love (or lust) mixed babies multiply, I understand that. But, when people go crazy and try to say they are mixed with X,Y, and Z I tend to get a little skeptical. Especially because the noted mixed people look a certain way and the "claimers" do not personify that image. Celebrity Afro-Latinos include Zoe Saldana, Sammy Sosa, Juelz Santana, and Sessilee Lopez (Dominican). La-La, Lauren Velez,Jenifer Lopez and Roberto Clemente (Puerto Rican). Shakira (Colombian). And Christina Millian, Celia Cruz, and Gina Torres (Cuban).
So what I'm saying is, it is pretty obvious to tell when one is "mixed" and if you have to wonder if someone really is (while I'm sure you won't even entertain their foolishness) ask them about their roots, what country their parents are came from or even peep their last names, only then will you be able to say...Yeah, she Mixed! or Not.
Sources: Agabond
Black Marxism
Pan Africansim
So what I'm saying is, it is pretty obvious to tell when one is "mixed" and if you have to wonder if someone really is (while I'm sure you won't even entertain their foolishness) ask them about their roots, what country their parents are came from or even peep their last names, only then will you be able to say...Yeah, she Mixed! or Not.
Sources: Agabond
Black Marxism
Pan Africansim
Africa is a Continent!
Interesting story, I have two fiends, one is American and the other is Nigerian. Now, the American is very narrow minded and can be really selfish and nonchalant when it comes to matters not relevant to her. For example, when the American tries to refer to a region in Africa, she simply says Africa. Despite the many times our Nigerian friend explains to her that Africa is a huge continent just like North America and it is rude and inconsiderate to just simply say...Africa. But it does not stop there, every question she has about "Africa" she comes to ask our Nigerian friend. She may say..."don't you speak African, what does this mean, or what does African food taste like?" And again, our Nigerian friend tries to get her to realize that there are over 50 countries in Africa (as is America) and they each have over 100 different languages to boot. She simply wants our American friend to realize that it is disrespectful and unthoughtful when she comes to her with her prejudice questions and statements. So, after a few of their "run-ins," my Nigerian friend calls my American friend out on her ignorant actions, needless to say, she gets really offensive and even defends herself by saying she cannot be prejudice against "Africans" because her father "hand picked" her name from Kenya and he even wore a dashiki for her brother's birth. On the same token though, when someone says something about New York (where our American friend lived) she gets so upset! One cannot say a thing about New York culture, food, music, any of that without getting flack from our friend.
So the point that I am trying to raise is, are many African Americans guilty of prejudice towards other communities of color, as are the whites to us? How can we blindly ask ignorant questions and refuse to do our own research when we'll quickly "Google search" about our favorite artist? And finally, are we ourselves taking our own hands and stirring the "melting pot" of America mixing and regurgitating stupid prejudices throughout the ages? When will we stop and realize that hey...Africa is a Continent!
*There are no sources, my friends asked that their names are not disclosed and the dates that these conversations took place are too plenty to remember
So the point that I am trying to raise is, are many African Americans guilty of prejudice towards other communities of color, as are the whites to us? How can we blindly ask ignorant questions and refuse to do our own research when we'll quickly "Google search" about our favorite artist? And finally, are we ourselves taking our own hands and stirring the "melting pot" of America mixing and regurgitating stupid prejudices throughout the ages? When will we stop and realize that hey...Africa is a Continent!
*There are no sources, my friends asked that their names are not disclosed and the dates that these conversations took place are too plenty to remember
Rap and Religion?
Since I've come here to Howard I have gotten deeper into my faith, under the pretense that it will carry me and guide me on the right path while I'm away from home. Thus far, I have been doing pretty well however, now that I am exposed to a variety of faiths and religions, my way of life has been challenged, as have my actions and the music I choose to listen to. I have been taught that as long as God knows your heart and you live as upright as possible, your fine. However, I'm starting to hear that the music you listen to can go against the love and/or respect you have for the God you serve. Not only are these viewpoints floating around the halls in my dorm, but they are also on popular blog sites such as Mediatakeout.com and social networks such as Facebook. One popular subject under this huge umbrella is rap music and the graphic lyrics and images that are supposed to have latent messages that worship secret societies and speak to the evils of the world. A few artist that have been brought up on these accusations are Jay-Z, Beyonce, Kanye West, Rihanna, Snoop Dogg and a slew of others. What is most interesting about Jay-Z's case are the graphics that seem to be speaking to the accusations that are floating around. Jay-Z's videos "Run this Town" and "On to the Next" display controversial images that seem to confirm what's being said about him. The "On to the Next" video supposedly has the infamous mythical Baphomet's wings and horns which means "evil" or Satan. And "Run this Town" supposedly shows a post apocalyptic world run by Masons. I have seen both videos and while I do not understand what Jay-Z is trying to prove, I know that these videos and lyrics go deeper than rap.
My stance on the situation is, I do not care who these artist choose to believe in or worship, however, they do need to be mindful of the messages they are conveying to the general public. Not everyone has a critical mind that will protect them from things like this, most of our population may take things at face value and go,and that is what I am concerned about. These loaded messages could be detrimental to the teens that buy these albums and blast this music but do not know the meaning behind the lyrics. Or the kids that imitate what they are hearing/seeing but do not know what they are representing. It is just a huge ball of confusion that needs to be addressed honestly and without ridicule. I say without ridicule because I listened to an interview with Jay-Z on Hot 97 (I seen it on Worldstarhiphop.com)and while he did shoot down the accusations of "devil worshiping," I feel like he did so in a mocking matter. His tone dripped sarcasm, and maybe it was out of annoyance, but I feel like if someone is accusing you of something of that magnitude, I would be a bit more serious. Like I said, I am not attacking these people as individuals, to each his own, however I feel like as entertainers they need to be mindful of the people that are supporting them. Personally, I would not mind music going back to "boy meets girl" days and music videos being the source of learning new dances or being up on new styles, not a test of faith depending on if you watch it and what you believe their trying to say.
To speak to my first point (about religion), I do not feel like listening to a Jay-Z record disrespects the God you serve (if you serve one at all), or that it compromises your faith, if anything I feel like the individual that produces the music (or what have you) has to answer to that. Furthermore, I feel like artist need to be a little more responsible when it comes to the way they handle these accusations, because as celebrities, it comes with the territory. I am just challenging them to think about the youth that look up to them, is their music now grounds to sarcastically combat accusations or feel good melodies to make people forget about their problems (or again, what have you)? And if it is just about selling a record and making a dollar, why be an artist anyway? Why put yourself in the position to influence the masses if all you care about is some "bread?"
My Sources:
Mediatakeout.com
Facebook--> a student essay (as a note) entitled Jay-z: against the world
Worldstarhiphop.com--> for the Jay-z interview
And convos with people on my floor...
My stance on the situation is, I do not care who these artist choose to believe in or worship, however, they do need to be mindful of the messages they are conveying to the general public. Not everyone has a critical mind that will protect them from things like this, most of our population may take things at face value and go,and that is what I am concerned about. These loaded messages could be detrimental to the teens that buy these albums and blast this music but do not know the meaning behind the lyrics. Or the kids that imitate what they are hearing/seeing but do not know what they are representing. It is just a huge ball of confusion that needs to be addressed honestly and without ridicule. I say without ridicule because I listened to an interview with Jay-Z on Hot 97 (I seen it on Worldstarhiphop.com)and while he did shoot down the accusations of "devil worshiping," I feel like he did so in a mocking matter. His tone dripped sarcasm, and maybe it was out of annoyance, but I feel like if someone is accusing you of something of that magnitude, I would be a bit more serious. Like I said, I am not attacking these people as individuals, to each his own, however I feel like as entertainers they need to be mindful of the people that are supporting them. Personally, I would not mind music going back to "boy meets girl" days and music videos being the source of learning new dances or being up on new styles, not a test of faith depending on if you watch it and what you believe their trying to say.
To speak to my first point (about religion), I do not feel like listening to a Jay-Z record disrespects the God you serve (if you serve one at all), or that it compromises your faith, if anything I feel like the individual that produces the music (or what have you) has to answer to that. Furthermore, I feel like artist need to be a little more responsible when it comes to the way they handle these accusations, because as celebrities, it comes with the territory. I am just challenging them to think about the youth that look up to them, is their music now grounds to sarcastically combat accusations or feel good melodies to make people forget about their problems (or again, what have you)? And if it is just about selling a record and making a dollar, why be an artist anyway? Why put yourself in the position to influence the masses if all you care about is some "bread?"
My Sources:
Mediatakeout.com
Facebook--> a student essay (as a note) entitled Jay-z: against the world
Worldstarhiphop.com--> for the Jay-z interview
And convos with people on my floor...
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