Uptown Notes

So you all know that I’m a hater of Drake (here’s a partial explanation offered by Marc Lamont Hill), nothing new there. But this parody of Drake by Affion Crockett is pretty amazing. Check the original video on the upper right inset. Watch, laugh, and join the “Drake is the Illuminati” movement

For those who can’t see it embedded, click here.

For a few years now, Michael Steele has been trying to meet me on Beat Street by being more “Hip-Hop” and showing me that “this ain’t your momma’s Republican party.” His pandering to the Black electorate has been both condescending and naive, but recently in a complete gaff, Steele captured my attention more than he ever had before. While the political Right and Left are calling for his neck and blaming him for stoking flames on the dead topic of the War in Afghanistan (which is now the longest war in America’s history) Michael Steele and me may have found some common ground!

This pic is hilarious to me

While many are calling for his resignation, Steele’s outspokenness has made the question of war and public opinion resurface in the American media. The War in Afghanistan has quietly slipped out of the media’s topics and from the American public’s consciousness. While Steele has been wrong on many statements his comments leave me believing the adage, “even a broken clock is right two times a day.”

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*The title of the post is a play on Black like Me, get it?

With the World Cup coming to an end yesterday in South Africa, here’s my commentary on African-Americans and World Cup watching from the Atlanta Post from June 2010.

The world is engulfed in World Cup mania, but not many from my family or old neighborhood are. Recently I wrote a piece for the Atlanta Post on the peculiar feelings I have as an African-American watching the World Cup.

Every four years, I suffer from a condition. I feel confused, disconnected from friends and co-workers, yet strangely compelled to engage foreign matters. These feelings are brought on by the arrival of the World Cup.  Through conversations with a number of my black American friends I’ve learned that I am not alone in this sentiment.

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1) Isn’t WorldStarHipHop just the digital equivalent of BET?

2) Speaking of which, why does Riff Raff (of from G’s to Gents) fame have more videos on there than Kat Stacks? And folks call her a whore for attention….

3) How come Boondocks used to have multi-layered critiques of Black culture and now it just makes obvious jokes?

4) Why is our mascot the pimp and no longer the panther?

5) How come you’re a microwave activists? (You know, the folks who weren’t political then something happens and they get all heated and over do it because they weren’t doing anything before)

6) Why don’t you bring me to your University or Organization to speak and spit hot fiyah?

7) Why do you assume because I tweet or blog I’m not writing academic material?

8 ) Why can I feel BP slipping out of the media spotlight?

9) Why did the War in Afghanistan slip out of the spotlight despite being the longest war in US history?

10) Why would you rather sit in obedience than stand in resistance?

Let me get it out of the way: I wasn’t the biggest fan of Pac’s music. I am the dude who loved “Me Against the World” but didn’t feel “All Eyez on Me.” Despite this, I really appreciated Tupac as a thinker and Hip-Hop icon. He really pressed the limits of our understanding of Black Power, urban decay, and the voices of the youth. While so many glomed onto his Thug Life persona, they missed his deeper analysis and critique of social conditions, generational divides, and his raw honesty.

I have said before and will say again, Tupac was a living metaphor for the Black man in America. Brilliant and Ignorant. Powerless and Powerful. Loving and Abused. Oppressed and Oppressor. Tragedy and Triumph in real time. To many, Pac’s approach was hypocritical, dissonant, even schizo. But if you listened with love, then you understood Pac was truly the rose from concrete. There was/is much to be learned from our brother Tupac Amaru Shakur.

Beneath is a video of one of Pac’s speeches at the Atlanta banquet of the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement. Free the Land! Rest in Power and thank you for your honesty and the lessons that you’ve left behind Pac.

I recently wrote piece for the Atlanta Post on the voyeuristic gaze we take towards Detroit. I love Detroit and I think we all need to if we’re going to help turn it around. Detroit isn’t my hometown, but we all have reason to make sure that the city carves a way into the future. We can do more than just look on “with contempt and pity” by joining in on the work that is underway.

June 17-20th Detroit hosts the 12th Allied Media Conference. June 22-26 Detroit hosts the second US Social Forum. June 26-28 Detroit hosts the 9th annual Hip Hop Congress National Conference.

From the Atlanta Post

Detroit: The city that represents the prospects and failures of American industry.The city that is the punch line of a million jokes. The city that is Blacker than nearly any other in this country. Detroit is under intense scrutiny as of late and the the flashing lights of attention may have served to take the life of seven year old Aiyana Jones as a TV crew filmed a home-raid by the Detroit SWAT.

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Not too long ago, I had a chance to discuss the question of a Black Agenda and President Obama with Kelli Goff- author of Party Crashing. The discussion is part of The Atlanta Post’s 50/50 segment and was moderated by China Okasi. There were some surprising points of agreement and disagreement. Click here and hear all three parts of the conversation.

*this conversation was taped in January 2010 so keep that in mind/ context.

Recently, I penned a piece discussing the need for Black folks to join in with the fight against Arizona’s racist immigration bill SB 1070. My goal was to challenge Black folks, to think beyond the immediate immigration bill to the larger injustices that are taking root in Arizona. In the past few weeks, Arizona has continued to make their intentions clear. Whether you agree with SB 1070 or not, the state of Arizona has begun a march towards making the state free, open and inhabitable to Whites and closed to people of color, particularly Latinos.

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I told ya’ll to stop using the word swagger back in 2008. See you didn’t listen, now we have the swagger wagon! LOL!

If you can’t see the video click here

On next Monday the 17th at 7:30 pm there will be a panel on Black Male Privilege at the Brecht Forum. The panel will feature L’Heureux Dumi Lewis of City College- CUNY, Marc Lamont Hill of Teachers College- Columbia University, Mark Anthony Neal of Duke University and Byron Hurt an award winning film maker. The topic is a controversial yet important one. The past months have been ripe with conversations about Black folks, gender, and the future of our community. This panel was organized by and will be moderated by Esther Armah and it is sure to be an enlightening, challenging and productive conversation. Brothers and Sisters are welcome!! I look forward to see you all there. I’ll be tweeting about, so please forward to your loved ones.  Please note the cost of entry is 10 dollars which is a small price to pay for intellectual and activist stimulation!