It's The Law: Diminishing Returns

In 1972, John Lennon and Yoko Ono released a song called 

"Woman Is The N*gger of the World."

Australia's innocent-looking Ben Lee recently covered the record (as a B-Side for a single off his upcoming album) and made a video for it:

He discussed the implications of the song on his blog:

"Of course, back when it was released, and still now, many people are unable to get past the use of the 'N' word in the title to look at what the song is really saying. In the late 1970's, the Chairman of the Black Caucas, Congressman Ron Dellums, did much to shed light on this subject by saying:

'If you define 'nigger' as someone whose lifestyle is defined by others, whose opportunities are defined by others, whose role in society is defined by others, then good news, you don't have to be black to be a nigger in this society. Most of the people in America are niggers.'

The song is not just about women, or black people, or any other oppressed group. It's about all of us, trying to find a way of living our lives in an authentic manner in a world that seems intent on compromising our basic integrity."

I have to admit, this is all pretty wild to me since I had never heard the song before today. The argument is that women are forced into gender roles that keep them imprisoned... they give and give, but ultimately, they get nothing in return, SMH. Watch John and Yoko talk about the song and perform it on the Dick Cavett show...

"Would you two menaces to society do your number?" LOL

What do we think about this?

 Women's issues? Social hierarchy? The definition of slavery?

The evolution of the N-word? Using it for artistic/cultural expression?

Ben Lee's album is called The Rebirth of Venus, 

and he also posted the letter that Yoko wrote to him.

Sounds like he's sticking up for the ladies, huh? That kind of reminds me of a song I'm currently OBSESSED with... Cold War Kids "Every Man I Fall For," sung from a female's perspective. 

I cannot wait for a bitter female vocalist to cover this. 

My President Is Black

Rahm Emanuel, Obama's newly hired Chief of Staff, is a total babe. Sadly, I'm not the only one who thinks this fiery, salt and pepper-haired hunk is great... just as I started digging up incredible articles from Rahm's past, the mainstream media also went to town. Gawker, it seems, is equally obsessed, and rightfully so! Didn't you hear about the steak knife?

"The best Rahm Emanuel story is not the one about the decomposing two-and-a-half-foot fish he sent to a pollster who displeased him... No, the definitive Rahm Emanuel story takes place in Little Rock, Ark., in the heady days after Bill Clinton was first elected President.

Revenge was heavy in the air as the group discussed the enemies - Democrats, Republicans, members of the press - who wronged them during the 1992 campaign...

Suddenly Emanuel grabbed his steak knife and, as those who were there remember it, shouted out the name of another enemy, lifted the knife, then brought it down with full force into the table.

''Dead!'' he screamed.

The group immediately joined in the cathartic release: ''Nat Landow! Dead! Cliff Jackson! Dead! Bill Schaefer! Dead!'''

I love him. F*ck Ruff Ryders and Sarah Palin; the meanest pitbull in a skirt is Rahm Emanuel- former ballerina turned political assassin. And now he's the Obaminator's right hand man.

And what a family!...

His brother, Ari Emanuel, is the Hollywood agent who inspired famed Entourage character, Ari Gold. If descriptions like "bad cop" and "watch dog" aren't enough to win you over, Slate had a great article on Rahm, and I'm sure you can learn more about him via Google.

OWW.

But before I let my hormones get the best of me, it's necessary to note how much Hip Hop has embraced Obama. In fact, NPR had an article on some rappers who've penned rhymes solely for his cause:

"Mark Anthony Neal is a professor of black pop culture at Duke University and a visiting scholar at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. He says that in the past 20-odd years, hip-hop historically has been black America's first response to national news."

While the hip hop community may have known about these songs, it's refreshing to see the mainstream media point them out as well. But beyond music, there's plenty of other celebratory stories to be told. Check out Obama's Flickr album from election night, watch footage of him and Michelle doing a happy dance, and read a relieved letter from Fahrenheit 9/11 filmmaker Michael Moore. Of course, all of this media is just skimming the surface of the cultural domino-effect that Obama's campaign triggered, and like I've been saying all along, we can only hope that this momentum continues to inspire real change.

And lastly, it wouldn't be right to celebrate without bidding farewell to the elephant in the room, the frightening Sarah Palin- a woman who's religious beliefs stood to demolish the rights that women have fought for for decades; a woman who made feminist Eve Ensler have nightmares.

South Dakota's Measure 11, California's Proposition 4, and Colorado's Amendment 48 are just a few examples of state legislation that was proposed by Palin-like religious neo-conservatives, and all are detrimental to a woman's right to choose. According to Woman's E-News...

"California's ballot initiative would require a woman under 18 to notify her parents before having an abortion, and wait 48 hours between the time of notification and the procedure."

-and worse-

"The Colorado measure would alter the state constitution to define human life as beginning 'with the moment of fertilization,' giving full legal rights to the mass of cells formed immediately after sperm and egg meet."

Yikes! The South Dakota legislation was even more direct- calling for a complete state ban of abortion in circumstances outside of rape, incest and endangering a woman's health. In other words, death of Roe v. Wade. Luckily, none of that garbage passed, but not hearing about it in the news prior to election day is disheartening. I'm not sure about yours, but in my book, reporting on what rights you might lose trumps which politician might win.

But you know what, Sarah?

Your own Alaskan constituents didn't want to hear it a few weeks ago...

And neither did Americans on election day- thank god.

Putting those small, important victories aside, there was one outcome from election day that managed to really bother me... 70% of African Americans voted in favor of California's Gay Marriage ban, Proposition 8.

That's right. In a year that brought race and equality issues to the forefront, the majority of African American voters in California were unable to see gay marriage as a civil rights issue :( Again, I blame the influence of religion -not skin color- for this unfortunate reality check. It's truly sad that such an uplifting moment in history can be tainted by such a (is it wrong to say, "ironic"?) step backward.

Let Me Simplify The Rhyme Just To Amplify The Noise

This week was like a jarring alarm clock... waking me up from my summer coma and reintroducing me to the grind of reality. My inbox at work is exploding, and the political climate is more dramatic than the novellas my college roommate used to watch! At least people are paying attention, though- right? Just take a look at some of the stuff that came my way this week...

A writer for The Huffington Post asked 

"What If Bristol Palin Were Black?"

"She is 17 and conceived this child out of wedlock. Now imagine she wasn't the daughter of a prominent Republican politician but an average person. Now imagine she was black.
What do you think conservatives would have to say about her? "Typical, urban youth with no sense of responsibility raised with loose morals who plans to depend on the state to take care of her child." You know it. It's not within dispute. That's exactly what they would say.
Barack Obama has told everyone to lay off this because it is a personal, family matter. Yes, but it also has public policy ramifications. Governor Palin is for abstinence only education. Well, that obviously didn't work."

"Cindy McCain was addicted to drugs and stole from her own charity to feed her addiction. Now what do you think the Republicans would have done if Michelle Obama had done that? How do you think the press would have covered it? You think they would have called it a simple mistake and moved on?"

Good question. 

Since we sometimes make generalizations without thinking about it, we should be constantly evaluating our own racial views- whether they're unconscious or not. For example, what did you think of 7-year old Latarian Milton when you first saw him on CNN? Did you notice he was black? What would you have thought if he was white, instead? 

He spoke with Cipher Sounds and Rosenberg- hilarious!

Putting race aside for a moment, the big issue regarding Bristol Palin is teen-pregnancy and abortion rights. Sarah Palin is pro-life, which to many women, is a little unnerving. But even more unnerving than that is Jezebel.com's article on a website claiming to have a list of all America abortions:

"To get access to this alleged database, you need to pay $799 for a seven day pass to the site or up to $16,999 for unlimited access to 'full names, complete addresses, unlimited contact information, false names used during operation procedures, reasons listed for abortions, known STDs at (and since) time of abortion, [and the] name of person believed to be the father.'"

Check out the article or go to AbortionTracker.com yourself.

Intense, right? To lighten things up a bit, 

Watch this hilarious video commentary on the McCain/Palin relationship...

Is McCain Palin's Bitch?

Salon.com had a great article on Palin's experience with/knowledge of energy policy issues (that we may be overlooking)...

"I don't think she's going to pull in disaffected Hillary voters -- she's too much a card-carrying member of the religious right for that, which is one reason why the convention attendees were so delirious. But that's not all she is, by a long shot. On one of the crucial issues in this campaign -- energy policy -- Sarah Palin knows the territory."

They also had an article calling her "The Hugo Chavez of Alaska" since she has apparently gone to bat with major oil companies and supports "expanding the search for domestic oil and gas as a solution to the energy crisis." So to help prevent Palin from getting in the good graces of recent Clinton supporters, The New York Times reported that Obama is now deploying Hillary and other female Democrats into swing states for a counter-attack. I'm all for it! Just because we finally have a woman vying for the job, that certainly doesn't mean she will contribute to female political advancement overall. In fact, there's a huge chance this woman might set us back 20 years! Every time Sarah Palin calls herself a "hockey mom," I cringe violently and feel Betty Friedan roll over in her grave. That type of diction is neither progressive nor helpful for females, even if she does spend the rest of her speech proving her toughness by aggressively taking shots at Obama (starting 7 minutes in). 

Jay Smooth returns, commenting on the HATE in Sarah Palin's HEART:

("Contrived showmanship"... I'd totally have his kids.)

Speaking of the DNC/RNC speeches, The New York Times dissected and analyzed the word-use of Democrats and Republicans, and even broke it down by individual. See for yourself:

And just when I want to throw myself out a window with the taking-sides hoopla of this whole process, a new season of Bill Maher returns to HBO, and slowly talks me off the ledge. Below, in his season premiere's set of "New Rules," Maher reminds me why it's so important to question our societal norms...

Specifically: At 2:14, Maher brings up John Edwards being "airbrushed out of the Democratic party," and then discusses how crucial it would have been to put the adultery aside, and have him speak at the DNC. After making the analogy that John Edwards is to Poverty what Al Gore was to Global Warming, Bill sneaks in a few jokes and goes on (at 4:10) to mention the important facts that Edwards would have addressed in his speech. Moments like that make me appreciate Maher for challenging the system in ways that many others do not... He may support Barack Obama, but he's still able to objectively criticize the Democratic party, and even question the presidential candidate himself for not presenting an alternative to war.

"If I get sniped tonight, you know why..."

If You Look At The Streets, It Wasn't About Rodney King...

You may have heard/seen this already, but if not, please watch this video of a PIG throwing an innocent cyclist off his bike the other night during a Critical Mass ride...

Caught on tape, MF. And the dude wasn't wearing a helmet!

NY Post article HERE.

Sublime's "April 29, 1992" comes to mind...

"...It's this f*cked-up situation and these f*cked-up police."

American Terrorist

That's right, Ladies and Gentlemen... it's a CONDIMENT GUN

...and I need one. Just look inside my fridge.

Read more about how it works here:)

Rory's Screenname: fill it up with whipped cream and get sexy

Unfortunately, the police officers who killed Sean Bell didn't have Ketchup and Mustard in their guns; they had bullets, and they fired on unarmed civilians.

Judge Acquits Detectives in 50-Shot Killing of Bell

There are so many versions of the story, SMH. Since I wasn't there at the scene, I don't know who or what to believe, but I do know on thing: 50 shots is NOT right, and is a clear example of unnecessary lethal force.

Two More Blocks... Two Blocks, Two Blocks

"Of the more than two million people incarcerated in jails and prisons in the United States, a disproportionate number come from very few neighborhoods in the country’s biggest cities. In many places the concentration is so dense that states are spending in excess of a million dollars a year to incarcerate the residents of single city blocks."

"Using rarely accessible data from the criminal justice system, the Spatial Information Design Lab and the Justice Mapping Center have created maps of these “million dollar blocks” and of the city-prison-city-prison migration flow of five of the nation’s cities."

Architecture and Justice

from the

Million Dollar Blocks project 2006

“The maps pose difficult ethical and political questions for policy makers and designers,” explains Kurgan “When they are linked to other urban, social, and economic indicators of incarceration, they also suggest new strategies for approaching urban design and criminal justice reform together.”

WOW.

I accidentally discovered that amazingness at the MoMa's

Design and The Elastic Mind 

exhibit yesterday. But initially, I went to see an exhibition called:

The written introduction to the Color Chart exhibit explains that the featured artists portray beauty "found in the everyday rather than the ideal."  By letting "life and art mingle rather than remain separate," their works may not look like much at first, but have to ability to later reveal their impressive conceptual intentions. 

I discovered this stuff in college when I took a Contemporary Issues in Art class, and I immediately became smitten with the hidden-in-plain-site thought-process behind it all. Therefore, having the opportunity to see some of my favorite pioneering pieces at MoMa was something that I had to make a priority. And coincidentally, my trip to the museum came full-circle when appreciation for thoughts from the past (Color Chart) was met with new-found appreciation of thoughts for the future (Design and The Elastic Mind).

I mean, who knew that mapped flight patterns could be so beautiful?

I sure didn't. And speaking of maps...

Found in their permanent collection, this is close up on New York, 

from Jasper Johns' Map, 1961. 

Tryin' To Take My Life Away

When 50 Cent endorsed Hillary on O'Reily, he also mentioned that he believes America isn't "ready" for a black president. Immediately following that statement, 50 explained why and expressed his concern for a potential assassination by saying "I think they might kill him."

I first saw this clip, and I thought it was an intelligent yet blunt thing to say. But frankly, it's not the most crazy conspiracy theory ever heard of. I've honestly thought about what might happen to Barack Obama if he won the Democratic ticket and ran for president... After all, there are racial extremists out there whose hateful practices are protected by the First Amendment, and(!) I wouldn't put an execution past Uncle Sam's elitist nephews either. Morbid, I know.

If you have time to do anything today, watch this clip! It's an excerpt from Eddie Murphy: Delirious. I watched it so much in high school that my friends and I would say all the jokes as Eddie delivered them (shout out to Cunningham!). Seeing all the fuss over 50's comment has forced me to dig it up and share. The whole clip is hilarious and worth watching, but at 6:45, he starts talking about African Americans in politics, and around 7:12 he starts the assasination joke. 

I've seen Jesse in the gym, working the fuck out, too, for getting into shape.
You know he got a chance he can win.
White dudes like to do shit like that...
...vote for the wrong dude as a goof.
They get drunk and shit and go like:
"Let's vote for Jesse Jackson!" 

"I just voted for Jesse Jackson!"
And next day would be like this: 

"He fucking won?"
Jesse knows that shit can happen. He gets in shape.
I've seen him running round the track and shit.
I said: "Why the fuck you getting in shape like this?"
He says: "'cos I'm gonna be the first black president."
"I have to give speeches like this: 

'My fellow americans!
As your president I feel...'"

Unfortunately, the punch line of the joke got cut off and is continued HERE:

And dude be going: "He won't stand still!"

Did you hear how hesitant the crowd was to laugh after that last line!? They were horrified at first, but a few seconds later, found the truth in the joke and applauded.

No stranger to bullets, it's not surprising to me that 50 might have some wisdom in a situation like this (see: Many Men).

So much for hope.

Let That Bitch Breathe

...away from the microphone though, LOL.

After reading an interview with Tay Zonday on HNN a few months back, I was frustrated with myself for initially underestimating him and his YouTube hit, Chocolate Rain. I knew the song had deeper meaning beneath it's comical surface (it's actually about institutional racism, and some say "rain" is really "reign") , but the interview showed me that Zonday is actually much smarter than the average bear. Just when you write him off for being over the top and too socially different, he makes a point that radiates universal truth. Some might find him strange, but I appreciate his martian tendencies. And since I mentioned him in a past post but never had time to readdress his greatness until now, I decided to steal his words from that HNN piece and engage with them...

HE HAD A UNIQUE CHILDHOOD:

"Growing up, I learned to hide the fact that I had any passion or enjoyment for music or life. Being "influenced" to laugh or dance was always a sickness or pathology. It made my parents fearful that they were losing their kids. To this day, I'm not sure you could get me to admit that I was influenced by anything. It's just beaten out of the way I think. Perhaps people call my music "unique" because I don't feel beholden to any influences."

Since he grew up forbidden to appreciate some of what others take for granted in this country, he developed a style of his own, uninfluenced by certain societal norms.

HIS DETACHMENT FROM SOCIETY OPENED HIS EYES:

"In music and life, you've got to connect the dots to see how simple things relate to power."

Within the context of this quote, I think he's trying to say that pop culture can often assert control over the masses. Then, once we stop thinking for ourselves, we might not realize how and why we react to every day shit the way that we do.

HE DIFFERS FROM MOST ASPIRING ENTERTAINERS:

"I am not in a rush to find an agent, label, a publicist, etc. All of those things are like looking for an apartment. You never move into the first one you find. It's worth it to take the time to get it right."

I'm not sure if he's signed anywhere by now, but WOW, when this was written, he really wanted to be patient and make a good decision! Meanwhile, goons trying to break into the music industry would not only kill for the exposure he got from YouTube, but would likely sign to the first label that came to them with an offer.

HE HAS A LOT TO SAY ABOUT RACE AND GENDER:

"I get lots of Janet and Michael comparisons. I take them as compliments. But I also think there's a deeper cultural reason behind them. Any young black man in pop culture who isn't hypermasculine is held to a racist double-standard. Because Aaron Carter is not hypermasculine. Clay Aiken is not hypermasculine. None of the boy-bands were hypermasculine. But there's this idea that because I'm a young black male, I've got to look hypermasculine. I've got to look 'urban.'"

Word. Go on...

"People need to ask themselves why young black men don't have the same freedom to present themselves that young white men do... Many young white men choose to be hypermasculine, but as soon as a young black man chooses the ordinary suburban-kid look, all of a sudden he violates the prejudice of pop culture. But you can't blame this prejudice on everyday people because the fantasy that all young black males must be hypermasculine, whereas young white males can be wholesome boy-band members, is promoted by business interests that need categories in which people will be predictable consumers."

HE UNDERSTANDS THE MUSIC INDUSTRY'S DOWNFALL:

"People are sick of these categories. They see themselves in the eyes of pop music marketers and know it's not who they are. This is why corporate sales are down across the entire industry. It's not because everyone is stealing music. It's because they woke up to the fact that musical categories, racial categories, and all these other things that are sold to them as their identity, are contrived."

"...I defy category. I'm the new route to the next economic quarter. My demographic isn't black, white, brown, young, old, straight, gay, or any of the above. It's real people. People who don't need labels as shortcuts to who they are."

AND LASTLY, HE WANTS YOU TO BE OPEN-MINDED:

"People should not worry about what I was trying to do with my music or my videos. They should just experience it in the way that is real to them. It is not my job to understand why people experience my art in the way that they do. I just make the art and people find what they find in it. Leave it at that. We spend too much time in this world trying to be each others' psychiatrists. Does what I was trying to do with the music, or my imagination of how other people experience the music, actually make a difference in what it means to you?"

So! If you didn't know I was a huge nerd before, I'm certain you're aware now!

And to make myself appear even more dorky, I'll leave you with a quote I pulled from another Tay interview that hit me very hard:

"What inspires people to be publicly silent? We all have these moments of brilliant expression between ourselves and the wall. Anyone who says they don't is a liar. The fact that I take a camera and put it on YouTube doesn't make me special. Everyone dreams of not being silent. Everyone has the "drum major instinct." Most people stay silent."