Making It Right

Art Form: Television
Genre/Type: Talk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uigclQryYa0

Art Form: Architecture
Genre/Type: Residential



Yesterday was the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. So I guess there's a little serendipity with this blog since I've found myself blogging about the calamity that was Hurricane Katrina for the first time; which makes this blog incredibly timely. From my observations of the media, it seems as though we have become incredibly remiss about the tragic events of Hurricane Katrina now, which is a mentality that has pervaded the U.S. since a month after the actual occurrence. I myself am guilty as well. I haven't really thought much about Katrina or its lasting affects on the city of New Orleans. But honestly, that isn't something someone would want to constantly moil over because the nature of the situation is entirely too depressing. But I found myself revisiting the topic while trying to catch up on an episode of Charlie Rose. Charlie was interviewing famed actor Brad Pitt about his new movie, but more importantly, they discussed at great length his new project, Make It Right.

Charlie commenced the discussion by asking Brad what seemed to be the million dollar question post-Katrina. Why didn't the people in the lower ninth-ward receive the sufficient amount of help, care, resources and attention that they should have gotten? There was some solidarity between the both of them as they began discussing the idea of the government conspiring to 'eliminate an underclass in America'. Now I consider myself a, 'A moderate revolutionary', so I would love to dabble into ideas that accuses the government of colluding to put a moratorium on the nadir of America's socio-economic hierarchy. I'm sure the Black panthers would've leaped at the opportunity to profess to the masses that the breaching of the levees was just a paradigm devised by the government to rid our society of blacks and the destitute. But I won't do that. I really don't think that's the case. However, I do believe that the maintenance of the levees was considerably neglected because of the demographics in the area of New Orleans that fell victim to severe flooding. Our government should definitely be ashamed of its cavalier attitude towards the flooding of that area.

I'm taking a geology class this semester. And on the first day of class the professor attempted, in all his passion, to explain why science was so incredibly pertinent. He used the example of Hurricane Katrina and what ensued was a sensitive attentiveness of the class to his example , which probably would not have happened had the professor began to ramble about the profound nuances and the intrinsic value of the application of science to the world. Anywho, what really got my attention was when the prof. exclaimed that about 95% of our political moguls and arbiters know less about the general areas of science than the average college freshman. That's a mind-bottling and scary statistic if its veritable. Maybe we need more scientists in positions of power in the government. But I digress. Two quotes that stuck out to me that the professor showed via PowerPoint were these:

"A major hurricane could swamp New Orleans under 20 feet of water, killing thousands..... only massive re-engineering of the levees can save the city".
- Mark Fischetti, October 2001-Scientific American

"I don't think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees".
-George W. Bush, August 2005

.....I'm sure the people of New Orleans would readily forgive Mr. Bush if given the opportunity.....Right. I think at this point, no matter how conciliatory W. would act, the people of New Orleans will forever preserve a level of animosity for him that everyone outside of New Orleans would never be able to understand or develop. So, moving away from placing the blame, the events have left people in New Orleans despondent and decadent still 'til this day. But there is hope, and it begins with Make It Right.

Make It Right is a.........well, here's a truncated version that I devised and extracted from the 'vision' section of the project's official website. "In December 2006, Brad Pitt convened a group of experts in New Orleans to brainstorm about building green affordable housing on a large scale to help victims of Hurricane Katrina....the group determined that a large-scale redevelopment project focused on green affordable housing and incorporating innovative design was indeed possible..... To demonstrate replicability, Pitt determined to locate the project in the Lower 9th Ward, one of the most devastated areas of New Orleans, proving that safe homes could and should be rebuilt. Pitt hopes that this project would be a catalyst for recovery and redevelopment throughout the Lower 9th Ward and across the city of New Orleans. Having listened to one former resident's plea to help "make this right," Pitt was inspired to name the project "Make It Right" (MIR).

I commend Pitt's efforts. I think what he's doing is incredible. Aside from the plan itself, the idea and commitment alone is something that needs to be lauded. With the innumerable amount of affluent people that live in this country, especially those who are inherently socio-economically hegemonic, it was left to an actor to take the initiative to spawn a project that would help restore the ability to live and the quality of life in the lower-ninth ward of New Orleans. And it all started with Pitt's sincere love for the city's wealth of culture. The project itself is extremely artistic and environmentally conscious. The houses are going to be built to be eco-conscious and for sustainability (in lieu of Hurricane Katrina). But what really makes the Make It Right project great is that the development and upkeep of these homes for the developers and the inhabitants are going to be relatively frugal. The plan is, as Brad explains to Charlie, is that there will be people who first adopt the homes (paying for them) and then giving the home back to the people who had a home on the particular land space on which their home used to be. So a Katrina victim will come back home, see a brand new house on their land and it will be theirs for the taking. And the houses are built so that the bills and expenses will remain low. Beautiful idea.

Being a conessuire and potential purveyor of art, I'd have to extol the architecture of the homes the most. The models that Brad shows on the show look incredible. If I had to take a guess, I'd say all of these homes are going to be products of post-modern construction; which leaves me a little envious of the Katrina victims. Here are some samples.
















You can see the rest of the designs here.
http://www.makeitrightnola.org/mir_SUB.php?section=mir&page=designs&mySub=main
They're all extremely beautiful. Once again, I commend Brad, his fellow sponsors and all the donors who have supported this project. Brad said in the interview that he and his team have incurred some struggles trying to find adequate support from those who have the resources to really expedite the project, but he's maintained a panglossian attitude. Though the project is fairly nascent, I'm excited about its future. I hope it flourishes. I think that the architecture of these homes will only add to the incredible surplus of culture, custom and tradition that distinguishes New Orleans. Hopefully, 'Make It Right', will catapult New Orleans past its previous cultural stature, and into a cultural utopia for its inhabitants and visitors alike.

Parting Thoughts:
The beginning of school is going really well for me and I can see the newest version of Kuamel manifesting itself already.
Barack Obama's choice for a running mate remains an anomaly to me and I'm actually undecided about who I'll vote for.
I'm officially down with Wale and The Best Kept Secret. See: Nike Boots by Wale
I have a new moniker: Smarty Jones.
The best thing I heard from a professor on the first day of classes was this:

"Being literate is not an English class thing".

Oh yeah,
In lieu of the blog entry, I thought I'd leave you with a lasting image and a song that I think will typify the resurgence of New Orleans from the worst calamity that this country has ever seen. I got the image from a New York Times article I was reading about a documentary called "Trouble The Water", another film that will be portraying the effects of Hurricane Katrina. And the song is actually from the album, "A Tale of God's Will", which was made by Terence Blanchard (who is in the picture) as a requiem for Hurricane Katrina victims. I love jazz.

Press Start.......................................Game Over.

Prelude: I just wanted to commence this blog by saying I'm glad to be back writing again. I felt like I had abandoned my writing even though it was no fault of my own. I had been moiling over the program I've been working for trying to endure vampire hours. My attrition just didn't afford me the energy and mental capability to write as in depth and at length as I usually do. But I've finished working for the program for the summer which means I'm back to my blogging ways; which I must say is not only therapeutic for my mind, but also cathartic for my soul because I invest so much into what I write and it is also vital to my personal development. So I'm glad to be back on my blog and on to my new entry for the first time in a long time. Just to add a little more preamble and to make this prelude more superfluous than it needs to be, I want to express how much working for College Summit this summer has done for me. This summer has been extremely transformative for me. I've learned the value of struggle, growth, restraint, humility, and listening. I made myself vulnerable to critical discussions about myself with others and while some things I shunned, most of it I internalized because I understood that it would be pivotal in helping me build my character. I almost feel revitalized and my excitement about other parts of life aside from my dreams, passions and thoughts has been restored. I definitely think I'm a better Kuamel than I was three months ago and I'm ready to move forward with not only the new knowledge that I have attained, but also with the profound growth that I have incurred which is accredited to all those I interacted within the College Summit cohort.

The highlight of my summer would definitely be having talked to my little brother for the first time in 6-7 years. I consider myself an only-child because he is my half brother and was raised by my biological father and his mother. Our relationship was strained because of familial problems that had transpired over the years. Severing relationships pervaded my family and my father's conscious choice to favor my brother over me because of the poor relationship he had with my mom discouraged me from creating a relationship with my brother. But that is all over now. I called my lil' bro for the first time about a week ago and it lifted a huge weight off of my shoulders. I felt guilty because for so long, I was consciously making a choice to not be in my brother's life which is exactly what my father did to me. But after having a few conversations with some close friends of mine, I gathered up the courage to call him. While the conversation was relatively brief, it meant a lot. It's unfortunate that he lives in Atlanta now which means I won't be able to see him as much as I would like. But I'm definitely excited for his future. He's going into high school in the fall and these are going to be the most important four years of his life and I'm excited and anxious to be apart of that process. We talked about a few things and one thing I got from him is that he's really into video games and sports, just like I am. I'm totally going to breed as him as a tar heel fan. That plan should definitely work since I'm his big brother and I go to UNC. Maybe he'll want to emulate my journey and Carolina will be his dream school in three years. Hopefully. At the conversation's end, he told me he loved me......and I returned the statement.

So as my man Mos Def would say, "without any further shaninigans", here is my first entry for the first time in a long time.

This entry is written in reference to an article that I read some time ago on yahoo.com about New York State preparing to enforce new regulations on video games, gaming companies, and consoles. Before you read my opinion, it would be beneficial to read the article first. If you don't click on that hyperlink because malaise has consumed you mentally so much so that you don't want to read a rather synthesized article, then that's sad. My laisse-faire attitude doesn't coincide with these new plans or stipulations at all. I'll retort the article's title by saying, yes, the law(s) is unconstitutional. The law definitely violates civil liberties, however,I do understand why the federal government wants to become austere about themes that are produced by the gaming industry.

"We have the obligation to be constantly vigilant about amending our laws to protect the residents of New York State. Many of these bills will do just that by closing loopholes or creating new laws to enhance the quality of life for all New Yorkers," said Governor Paterson in a Tuesday press release.

The gaming industry is not the primary catalyst of violence and crime in New York State, or the world. The article also mentions that there will be, "an advisory council to conduct a study on the connection between interactive media and real-life violence in minors exposed to such media." I'll support the idea of the research, but I won't be a proponent of the study if the intention is to seek scientific, psychological, and empirical data that corroborates the belief that video games influence gamers to become bellicose, rapists, drug dealers, or death-craved vigilantes. It's not just games that instill self-destructive themes into the minds of people that lead them into becoming criminals or violent human beings. Aside from the study, I just don't think the government should have the right to regulate art.

There are plenty films, pieces of music, photographs, clothing, plays, and some other leisurely activities such as contact sports that entail violent themes. There should be a collective study on all art forms and interactive activities to see how they affect people and their thoughts. I think the government is isolating the gaming industry because its become a cash crop. Unfortunately, the gaming industry remains vulnerable to the government because of the nature of its distribution and thus government officials can arbitrate on whether to stipulate decrees that will ultimately subjugate the gaming industry. The government is just looking for a scapegoat and that idea is affirmed with the reasoning behind this concerted effort to regulate video games and how and who they are distributed to.

Violence and crime rates have been ascending for years and instead of attacking what we know are the verities of the problem, they attack the gaming industry. Conducting an exhaustive study on all the nuances of society with the objective being to understand what facets of our world evoke violent behavior out of people who potentially become assailants is great. But how about we just accept the notion that there are just bad people on this planet. I recall one of my College Summit constituents telling our students that human beings are "perfectly imperfect", which is incredibly true. We have to accept the intricacy of our nature and the fact is there are going to be people who want to kill, steal, rape, and abuse others. Trying to forge a coalition against the gaming industry and ultimately pummeling them into submission with laws is not going to remedy the societal domestic problems that law enforcement officials and political officials have to deal with everyday.

"New Yorkers do not need the state judging which video games are appropriate and which aren't," she sad. "Parents, not government committees, should be responsible for making those judgments. If the legislature wants to reduce youth violence, it should fund educational programs to teach students conflict resolution skills."

At least someone is using critical thought.

Parting Thoughts:
I want to hand out a few superlatives since the summer is coming to a close. This will be an exhaustive analytical verve list as I'll be stating my favorite artistic entities thus far in my life. While it may seem trivial and almost juvenile, it's pretty significant to me. I'm only using it as a measuring tool to examine what were my favorite art pieces up until a certain time. This is just going to serve as a marker so when I look back on this, maybe a year from now, I can compare my favorites artists and artistic products from this point and that point and see how my interests have developed or changed.

Best Rap Albums
Reachin’ (A New Refutation of Time and Space) –Digable Planets
Jazzmatazz -Guru
Late Registration –Kanye West
The Tipping Point –The Roots
Finding Forever -Common

Best Lyricists
Ishmael ‘Butterfly’ Butler a.k.a Cherrywine
Black Thought (The Roots)
Common
Guru
Boots (The Coup)

Best Albums
Reachin’ (A New Refutation of Time and Space) (Digable Planets)
A Copland Celebration, Vol. 1 (Aaron Copland and Orchestra)
Visions of A New World (Lonnie Liston Smith)
The Five Heartbeats Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (The Five Heartbeats)

Best ‘World’ (genre) Artists/Groups
Taio Cruz
Hugh Masakela
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Loreena McKennitt
Machito

Best Jazz Musicians
Branford Marsalis
Lonnie Liston Smith
Terrence Blanchard
Donald Byrd
Dizzy Gillespie

Best Harmonized Songs
Ain’t No Sunshine (Soul For Real)
In The Still of the Night (Boyz II Men)
Mbube (Ladysmith Black Mambazo)
It’s So Hard [Acapella Version] (Boyz II Men)

Best Jazz Songs
In Time of Need (From Terence Blanchard’s Tale of God’s Will: A Requiem For Katrina)
Yes and No (From Branford Marsalis’ Random Abstract)
Hey Pachucho (From Royal Crown Revue’s Mugzy’s Move)
Cool Yule (From Louis Armstrong’s What A Wonderful World Christmas)
Desert Nights (From Lonnie Liston Smith’s Expansions)
Pop Top 40 (From Branford Marsalis Quartet and Terence Blanchard’s Mo’ Better Blues Soundtrack)

Best Comedic Songs
Basketball Jones (Chris Rock & Barry White)
Because I Got High (Afroman)
No Sex (Chris Rock)
No Pigeons (Sporty Thieves)
It's The Hard Knock Life [remix] (Dr. Evil)
Wrote This Song A Long Time Ago (Dave Chapelle)

Best New Comedians
Corey Holcomb
Deon Cole
Deray Davis
Rodman
Lavell Crawford

Best Comedic Performances
Jamie Foxx’s Straight from the Foxx Hole
Bernie Mac’s Performance on The Original Kings of Comedy
Eddie Griffith’s Dysfunctional Family
Sarah Silverman’s Jesus is Magic

Best Songs to Sleep To.
Baby (The Roots' Game Theory)
Addiction (Kanye West's Late Registration)
Summer Madness (Kool & The Gang's Light Of The Worlds)
Quiet Storm (Smokey Robinson's A Quiet Storm)
They Reminisce Over You (Pete Rock & CL Smooth's Mecca and The Soul Brother)
In Time of Need (Terence Blanchard's A Tale of God's Will [A Reqium For Katrina])

Best Love Songs
I’ll Make Love To You (Boyz II Men)
You [DarkChild Remix] (Jesse Powell)
I Care About You (Milestone)
Made To Love Ya (Gerald Levert)
This Woman’s Work (Maxwell)

Best Electric Songs
Clear (Cybotron)
Tapped (Skream)
Into The Sun (Diplo)
Hip Hop Bee Bop (Man Parrish)
Al-Naafiysh (Hashim)

Best Musical Intercourse (title of my playlist) Song
Storm (Jamie Foxx)
Anywhere (112)
Freak Me (Silk)
All The Things (Joe)
Turn Off The Lights (Teddy Pendergrass)

Best Party Songs
I Wanna Rock (Luke)
Da Butt (E.U.)
Cha Cha Slide (Some DJ)
Now Drop (Timbaland and Magoo)
Def Jam 200 (Fat Man Scoop)

Best Old School Rap Artists/Groups
Arrested Development
Boogie Down Productions
Eric B. & Rakim
LL Cool J
The Sugar Hill Gang

Best Directors
Spike Lee
Quentin Tarantino
The Hughes Brothers
Keenan Ivory Wayans
Hype Williams

Best Actors
Denzel Washington
Will Smith
Angelina Jolie
Wesley Snipes
Ossie Davis

Best Films
Malcolm X
The Five Heartbeats
Titanic
Network
The Last Supper

Best Plays
Plantanos & Collard Greens
Auction Block on Hip Hop
Julius Caesar
No Child
Rent

Best Screenwriter
Seth McFarland
Spike Lee
Aaron McGruder
Keenan Ivory Wayans
Robert Townsend

Best TV Shows
The Cosby Show (Nick at Nite/TBS/USA/Fox)
Boston Public (TV One)
The Boondocks (Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim)
Charlie Rose (PBS)
Pardon The Interruption (ESPN)

Best Documentaries
The O Tapes
Hurricane Katrina: A Requiem in Four Acts
Hard Times at Douglass High: A No Child Left Behind Report Card
Joe Louis: America’s Hero…..Betrayed.
The Boys of Baraka

Best Comedies
Bad Santa
Slither
Don’t Be A Menace In South Central While Drinking Your Juice In The Hood
Harlem Nights
I’m Gonna Get You Sucka

Best Drama Series
Flava of Love (Season 2)
B.E.T.’s Hip Hop vs. _______
I Love New York (Season 1)
Degrassi
The Democratic Nomination Race

Best Mystery/Suspense Films
Mind Hunters
The Saw Trilogy
Paycheck
Clue

Best Game Shows
Who Wants To Be A Millionaire (ABC)
Family Feud (Fox)
Double Dare (Nickelodeon)
Wheel of Fortune (ABC)
Jeopardy (ABC)

Best Cartoons
Rugrats
Rocko’s Modern Life
Hey Arnold
Doug
Little Bear

Oh yeah,
Look out for Miracle at St. Anna. And continue to, as my man Doodlebug would say, "Brew funk inside your soul kitchen".