Acting Your Color

So, I haven't posted in the "I'm Mad as Hell and I'm Not Gonna Take It Anymore" section of my blog in a long time. That means that I've been pretty content with things or the Black Panther-esque militancy part of my temperament has been suppressed into my sub-conscious for far too long. Well, it's back again. But my indignation doesn't have remnants of the Black Panthers. Why? Because my dissidence and anger is not being directed towards White people, but rather Black people, specifically Black people who use the word bourgie to slight other Black people. That's exactly why I have a picture of the Cosby family here. Black pundits and thespians have argued that the Cosby family was/is the quintessential bourgie Black family and that they did/do not accurately represent the generic sub-cultures of African American culture. First, it's pretty sad that the pundits believe that the masses of Black people cannot identify with the Cosby family because they live in a Brownstone, have an income higher than 100,000$ and tend to behave as if their members of the affluent socio-economic class. Are there that many poor socio-economic African Americans in this country? Well, if they aren't accurate representations of the Black family, why can't they be a model Black family? Is it wrong to aspire to have a family that expects all of its children to succeed academically and go to college, or to have a dual-earning home with lucrative incomes or to simply have a nuclear family which is the antithesis of what the generic African American family has now, which is having 76% of our homes void of a parent. That's ridiculous. This is not one that you can blame the system on. "The man" is not holding anyone back from being a parent to their children and so often is the case that parents are leading lifestyles that prevent them from being able to be with their families or are making conscious decisions not to be in their children's lives. That's unacceptable. Period. Now on to this word, "bourgie".

It upsets me that just because the masses of Black people who were not born in this country with the privilege of enjoying specific parts of the American culture, such as learning the English language and living in healthy socio-economic areas, that now in modern times the people of color who articulate themselves considerably well, live in suburbia and listen to classical music while having a sweater's arms tied around their neck or the white people who prefer to listen to Rap over Rock and wear Sean John jeans and fitted hats are maligned by the rest of their respective communities who think they aren't "Black" or "White" enough and are selling out to be a member of another racial group. First and foremost, before we are male, female, or born of any race, we are human beings. And aside from the cultures that are generally associated with gender and race, there is another kind of culture: the specific culture that each and every human being chooses to exorcise for themselves. I may be black, but there is a culture that is unique to Kuamel because of the mere fact that I am a human being that can think and reason. "Kuamel" is a culture all to its own. When I was conceived, I wasn't black or male before I was human. I was human first. And so as a human being who is identified as Kuamel, there is a singular culture that is appropriated by the humanity and identification of Kuamel. So before I choose to adopt sub-cultures of race-specific cultures, or geographic specific-cultures, there are intrinsic attributes of my personality and preferences that are going to lead me to want to try certain things and behave in certain ways. And those things have absolutely nothing to do with race and holistically to do with innate qualities. There is a strong chance that I'm going to adopt certain race specific sub-cultures (Black) because of my socio-economic pedigree. But, I will definitely adopt sub-cultures of different societal institutions that are a product of visceral interest. So I guess in this case, I'm siding with nature against nurture.

However, I'm not going to argue that there aren't people who adopt certain generic behaviors and interest of other cultures because they want to be accepted into that culture's group like, White people who try to "act Black", vice versa and so on and so forth. But, I think that it's wrong and extremely presumptuous to think that a Black person who has many White friends, or who's individual dialect is always utilized with proper grammatical English, and enjoys certain cultural things that are not generically or holistically associated with or representative of African American culture is, "selling out". Maybe there's a possibility that they're actually being themselves, which unfortunately in our society, not all of us do. And it's even more unfortunate that someone who is possibly being themselves are being stratified into a "bourgie" demographic. So calling some African Americans bourgie or some White/Asian Americans, "White/Yellow Chocolate" is not cool in my book.

And that's my hiatus for today.

Parting Thoughts:

1. Why am I always blogging when I have some important academic assignment to do?

2. Some lady just had octuplets. Now, it was explained to me that it's been scientifically proven that an egg cannot naturally split 8 times as the most it can split naturally is three times. This lady accessed a sperm bank and had her egg split 8 times to purposely have eight children, in addition to the six she already has. These 8 children will be raised without a father. The mother currently lives in her parents' home and their considerably old. How is she going to be able to afford taking care of 14 children, not to mention the actual mental and emotional raising of the children that she has to do. It's going to be hell for her and I think she made a complete irresponsible decision. Those children aren't going to be afforded the kind of the attention they deserved that will lead them into becoming good people and successful in life. Some of them are going to fall short somewhere whether it be mentally, socially, emotionally, academically, or physically.

3. I will be going to New Orleans for Spring break. Yes! I'm hyped to see the Jazz scene there since Jazz is my favorite genre of music. Shout out to Bob James. His music is pretty good.

4. I always find passing by people while walking around campus a funny experience. It's interesting to see some people who see you about 10 feet away and they don't want to look at you so they look at something else so they don't have to notice you. Even more eerie sometimes, is when you see an ex-classmate and they probably wouldn't associate with you outside of class and when you see them walking with their friends they either ignore you all together while passing by or give you the most sullen salutation ever.

5. Psychology exam tomorrow. Yay. =/



Oh yeah,
Better Get Hit In Yo' Soul by Charles Mingus.
Familiarize yourself with it. Forreal.

Sporting It Out

The annual Men’s basketball game between the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University programs occurred yesterday. I am a student at UNC who has been thoroughly enthralled by the culture of college athletics. When there is a pivotal game, such as the annual game with Duke or any game involved in the Atlantic Coast Conference or the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, I always have many of my friends-few at UNC and most at smaller schools that are not apart of Division I basketball and whose environment does not have a significant sporting presence via the athletic program- question me about my commitment to the program and more specifically, the game itself that I’d be watching. In an age where information is accessed via the internet, most of my friends will see me post a Facebook status update that alludes to UNC basketball or the game that they’re playing in and will malign me for being obsessive and making remarks about the other team or the game itself that they feel are utterly ridiculous. What they don’t understand is the culture that exist at an institution such as UNC and what it actually means to be apart of it. I’ve found that many of friends underestimate the culture and their understanding of its essence, significance and effect is what causes this misunderstanding.

Americans undoubtedly live in a society that promotes competition and, unfortunately, most of those promotions are surrounded by sub-cultures that aren’t conducive to socio-economic solidarity. If you consider the socio-economic theory that this country operates on, capitalism, you can easily discern by the intrinsic nature of capitalism that individuals bred within the culture are indoctrinated into a culture that will heavily influence them to be competitive. Since the essence of capitalism is to manipulate as many consumers as you can to ascertain resources and ascend the socio-economic ladder, then the objective of staunch capitalists in life is to distinguish him/herself from their peers socio-economically. I think it is fair to liken the essence of sports to capitalism, which is another antiquated custom of American culture, as it is in many other societies on this planet. People gravitate towards sports because it provides another entity within society for humans to distinguish themselves from others. I also argue that on the collegiate level this voracious pursuit of distinguish oneself from another is given more complexity because the institutions of higher learning themselves. It’s common for people to enroll in colleges and universities and since they’ve been indoctrinated by the American-and arguably humanistic- way of being competitive, they will find themselves trying to convince their peers that their school is academically better and thus should be distinguished as such. Collegiate sports give students another area of American culture for those who have some affiliation or connection with individual institutions of higher learning to do so.

If you visit some of the campuses and surrounding municipalities of the best Division I programs in the nation, you will find that almost unequivocally, that the environment is pervaded by an unbelievably strong fixation with the prominent athletic sport associated with that campus. Whether it’s football at Ohio State University, the University of Michigan, the University of Texas, or the University of Texas (at Austin), or the University of Oklahoma (at Norman), or basketball at UCLA, UNC, Duke University, the University of Kentucky or the University of Kansas; the one commonality between these institutions of higher learning is that the passion and love for their respective athletic programs has permeated throughout the campus and its surrounding cities and towns for decades. I’m not saying that the same kind of passion and ardent fandom for sports does not exist elsewhere on smaller campuses, but it is veritable that at these institutions and others of the same ilk, that the fervent support for their athletic programs are unparallel. I also argue that although academics, resources, the physical element of an institution of higher learning’s campus, and the social atmosphere will inspire a student or constituent of a university or college to be prideful of the school, that the sports associated with the school will illicit people to swell with pride the most. And after that pride manifests itself, the humanistic nature of people as well as the societal bred culture of promoting competition influences people to want to supplement their pride for their universities and colleges with distinguishing their school from others via sports and the intrinsic nature of sports allow that to happen.

So when my friends ask me why I’m going “overboard” with the game or the team, or for those that simply don’t understand the passion that I as well as many others have for their schools, that is the reason why. I think that professional sports operate differently because the fans do not have a secure connection with their respective favorite teams. The owners of those franchises own the team and can pack up and leave the city at any time. Contrary to collegiate athletics, while there are many who have absolutely no affiliation with these schools, their connection with these schools are secure because they are absolutely guaranteed, barring a catastrophic economic meltdown by the school or calamity, that that institution is going nowhere and will forever be who it is and where it is. Also, the people who are affiliated with these schools, the students and alumni, have an irrevocable connection with the school because of their degrees and monetary investments. And so, when a student shows up to a game donning body paint in some hue close the colors of their alma mater, I have absolutely on problem with it. In fact, I think it’s beautiful.

Since we live in a society who’s potential for socio-economic solidarity is marred by intrinsic subjugations, circumventions, oppressions, societal and intricate systemic problems, I think that sporting events, specifically collegiate sporting events gives the masses a few hours of separating themselves from that reality. When 25,000 people gather in an arena to cheer on their alma mater or their favorite school and its athletic program, and those people represent demographics pertaining to ethnicity, class, sexual orientation, religion amongst many others, those things are set aside. For a few hours, there is a commonality between those people. That common purpose is to will their team to a victory in any way they can. Game days at Carolina are some of the best days. Why? Because when there is 30 seconds left on the game clock, the team is down by 1 point, and some unlikely player hits a game winning shot to propel the team and alma mater to a victory, there is collective jubilation. And that Euphoria that the fan base experiences in those moments is void of race, class, sexual orientation and religious reservations. It is one shared moment in which all are overjoyed by the win for their school and in those moments, genuine solidarity comes to fruition. And while that point can be countered by saying that those moments can happen in any sporting rank including, pee-wee, high school, collegiate, professional and Olympic, I think that there is something special about collegiate athletics because that affiliation with that school and alma mater makes that moment even more special because the win allows you to boast for that time, your school, your alma mater, your team, is undoubtedly distinguished from another. And the thirst for that to happen by fans is manifested in them dressing ridiculously, wearing body paint, tailgating for hours on end; because they simply want to win.

Before I enrolled at UNC, I read a book entitled, “To Hate Like This Is to Be Happy Forever” by Will Blythe who actually has a street named after him in Chapel Hill and on the UNC campus. While I knew the significance of Carolina basketball before I applied for admission because it was that very culture that enticed me to want to come to the school, upon reading that book I truly internalized what it meant to be a Tar Heel fan. And one of the sub-cultures and the most prominent sub-culture amongst many of Carolina basketball’s sub-cultures is the rivalry with Duke University.

You can resource Wikipedia about the rivalry if you want extensive knowledge. There is no greater rivalry in sports than the one between UNC and Duke. Some argue that the rivalries between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox, or the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics, or the University of Michigan and Ohio State are better; but take heed to my words, there is no greater rivalry than UNC vs. Duke. Why? Simply because outside of the game itself, there are so many variables that affect the culture of not only the game, but the schools themselves. It’s the battle of the local school (the large public University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) versus the outsider (the small private school in North Carolina who’s student body is largely from out-of-state). It’s a battle of the esoteric, elitist, pompous, affluent, conservative Duke University constituency versus the middle class, progressive, blue collar UNC constituency. Historically, Duke has recruited more unathletic white players whose basketball savvy suffices for their lack of dexterity and Carolina has recruited athletically gifted athletes who can run and jump through gyms. And despite their glaring difference in athletic ability, the success against one another and against the country has consistently remained competitive for nearly a century. And the prestige of this rivalry is propelled past any other because of the proximity between the two schools: 8 miles part, a unique attribute that no other rivalry’s participants can boast. It’s a battle of the blues: the Carolina blue versus the Duke blue. This rivalry contains a staple like no other, Cameron Indoor Stadium and the Cameron Crazies.

Cameron Indoor Stadium




The Cameron Crazies







While UNC’s on-campus Dean E. Smith Center does not give way to a raucous crowd who’s noise levels reaches deafening levels like that of Cameron Indoor Stadium, it still remains one of the toughest places to play in the country.




The bottom line is the rivalry between UNC and Duke is the best in American sports. Some of the best professional players came from these two respective programs with the most prominent being Michael Jordan who attended UNC in the mid-80’s and also won a national championship. These two schools have 8 national championships between them, over 30 conference championships (both are in the same conference) and numerous Atlantic Coast Conference championships and have produced an innumerable amount of NBA talent. Needless to say, there is a profound malice-that I can attest to personally- that accompanies these two programs for one another and that pure hatred manifests itself in street-wide pandemonium after wins over the other (see youtube) and on the embroidery of school paraphernalia with the most famous being “Go To Hell Carolina/Duke”. I really enjoy being apart of it all.

So, I’ll end this entry by saying, “Eff Dook!” and we beat them for a fourth time in a row at Cameron Indoor Stadium. They never lose there, and for one team to beat them there four years in a row, especially that team being their archrival, it does not get any better. And I can’t wait for the re-match back here in Chapel Hill, March 8th at the Smith Center on Senior Night. We should destroy them….again! Here’s a lasting image from last night’s win.





Parting Thoughts:

1. How I got interested in Carolina…
When I was in High School I watched the 2005 NCAA Men’s National Championship between UNC and the University of Illinois which took place in St. Louis, Missouri, and the one thing I kept thinking about while watching that game was, “man, that’s the prettiest color I’ve ever seen on a basketball uniform and the argyle on the side is incredible!”. So when senior came around, I applied, not because of the school’s academic prestige, not because it was a reputable institution of higher learning, or it boasted one of the nation’s best social atmospheres and physical environment, it was because I just wanted to be a Tar Heel. And while that is a severely uninformed decision, it turned out pretty well for me. Unfortunately, I’m not in the most ideal place for the career I want to pursue, but I don’t mind spending four years in Chapel Hill because it’s going to give me the foundation I need to move forward in my career and having Carolina under my belt is not a bad move.

2. If you’ve read all of this, I applaud you, seriously.

3. I’m really upset that Ruckus is gone. It was my number one resource for music and now I have to find another way to pirate music. =(

4. I should be writing a paper right now. =/

5. Kanye seriously needs to groom himself, come out of this phase he is in, and make some respectable music.

Oh,
Love, Peace and Hair Grease. Forreal.
Go Heels!

Even Bigger Words

Art Form: Writing
Genre/Type: Poetry






Vocabulous verve by Kuamel Stewart

I have an affection for words, but my affinity for these words has been deemed by my peers as an affliction,
I have become the target of a verbal firing squad exclaiming sounds of disappointment for my use in diction,
The logophile in me was not born in the imagination of my mind to exude an intellectual ability that is built upon fiction,
So do not call it complicated,
I have reiterated,
That the sight and sound of infinite syllables connecting together to form clauses as one of the many viable options of transferring the conjuring of thought and vagrancy into inscription comprises what I call “expression formulated",
Do not reject my prose,
But rather reach back within the depths of your mind and discover the will to learn and interpret that which you do not understand and thus upon the extension of your purview you will attain more depth in your soul,
My words are not a farce,
I do not seek to impress just so that I can cajole the weak-minded into believing that I am a unique purveyor of written art,
The imperfections of this socio-political and economic society has inspired me to use the pen, pencil, and keyboard as a tool to fight against the rise of stupidity, apathy, ignorance and every ill-mannered intention of those who have not embraced the beauty of solidarity, sanctum, equality and the essence of love
And this, is my love,
I am but the continuation of yet another human vessel utilizing the art to inform, subsequent to the concretization of the works of the Angelous, Wrights, Emersons, Woodsons, Baldwins, Hurstons, Williams’, Whitmans’, Fitzgeralds’ and the long line of scribes who realize that the beauty of humanity to think and reason should be supplemented by the action of sharing thought through the use of ink, scrolls, hieroglyphics, books, journals, diaries, graffiti and now blogs,
This is my passion,
I hope that they will ration,
And understand,
That when my fingers feverishly tap the keys I am liberated from the bounds of the fear of mortality,
These words are the signature of my expression and they give the imprint of my thought on the world long after my exit from this life vitality,
So no, I will not reason
Every medium that I can use to inject these thoughts into the veins of this society, shall for that moment, become my season,
My world.
I implore the pundits to remember the possibility that the great writers who scribed before us were once heckled for their obsession of scrambling the letters of the alphabet into stories that we now revere, extol and seek to emulate,
So before you gauge,
And exact upon my written products your feeble-minded rage spawned by the very misunderstandings in your mind that I have sought to alleviate with my very writing that you have before you,
Know that no matter your critique that the very fact that I have left my imprint on this world with words just like so many others means more than the intricacy of that that I have written,
So yes, to the ability and commitment to create these phrases I am smitten,
And it is only when I have mediated the ideas that have fermented in my mind onto the page and screen that the light of my soul has glistened,
And like any other great sincere artist, I will bestow upon myself the glory,
Not for my eloquence, pensiveness, or rhetoric, but rather for my ability and privilege to access something that allows me to tell my own story.
And until I am stripped of this inspiration and objective by forces both divine and tangible to remove the cataracts off of every third eye on every face,
The damned consciousness of this world is not safe.
Peace.

President Elect(ed): Barack Obama

Preamble:
I'm back to my blogging ways and in order for me to attain the kind of cathartic feeling I get from scribing my ideas onto this canvas I have to start writing with regularity again. I'm recommitting myself to the Without Any Further Shenanigans. I want to apologize to my blog and to those who care for my entries for leaving it bare for a few months as I was immersed in moiling over academic responsibilities which I'm relieved to say will not be a priority for an entire month. Enough of my conciliatory thoughts towards my blog and on to my first entry in a long time. Albeit the celebration of Barack Obama's victory in the presidential race took place over a month ago, I felt that I would be remiss had I not recorded something in my blog that details my thoughts and feelings about his triumph in the most historic race ever to surface in America.

November 4th, 2008........... I never thought the race would conclude as decisive as it did with Obama prevailing over McCain in a rout. Seeing historically Red states turn blue over the course of that evening was shocking and very telling. When all of the news affiliates had announced that Obama won Pennsylvania and that it was corroborated that he would be the 44th President of these United States, I sat there aghast. I absolutely did not know what to do. I was overcome with so much emotion that ironically, if someone had seen me they would've described me as emotionless. I just sat there in front of the television and raptly listened to Barack rhapsodize once more at Grant Park in front of an innumerable amount of people and give one of his touted ornately constructed and eloquent oratories that seemed to inspire me every single time that he delivered a speech. I thought that Barack Obama's victory speech was the best orated rhetoric that I had ever heard in my life. And I think for the generation that I am apart of that it was comparable to that of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech; though not in nature, objective or reason, but rather in the historical implications and its ability to galvanize and inspire many with verats about the potential, journey, ability, potency, freedoms, privileges, and imploring of America and its citizens. I will never, ever, forget it. And let me say that my favorite part of his speech was when Obama professed that Malia and Natasha (who's moniker is Sasha) will be receiving a new puppy subsequent to the family's emigration to the White House. Who cares about the 14th century hand-woven tapestries that are overlain on the White House floors? It's time to bring the first dog (excuse the pun) into the White House and if the carpet gets messed up, then I'm sure Malia and Sasha will learn new values of responsibility and chores. After watching his victory speech, I ran to Franklin street in Chapel Hill and met about two thousand other people who throngged the street and there was bedlam all night.

Why did Barack Obama win? I think the nature of the presidential election and recent history of America had more to do with McCain's lost than his gregarious opponent in Barack Obama. It would not be presumptuous to say that the democratic constituencies were undoubtedly going to vote for Barack. But why did American citizens who voted historically Republican vote for Barack Obama? And how did Obama swing centrists? The facts that this country's economic stature was driven into the mire, the country insufferably endured through two wars in spite of widespread national apprehension at embracing both wars, an education system that was gradually descending into the nadir of failure, gas prices that went from relatively frugal to unbelievably high pricing (and still going up), and a health care system that leaves America naked and showered with shame when compared to that of other countries who provide free health care for all its citizens, all occurred on the watch of a House and Senate that was laden with Republicans. It also did not help that the current President, while Republican, was the most asinine and incapable leader this country has ever witnessed. Obama's ploy within his campaign to paint John McCain as the second coming of Bush was a potent tactic, and while it may not have resonated with those who are politically versed because in many ways John McCain differs from George W. Bush, it did enough to convince those who are not as informed via commercials and ads. More importantly, I think many saw Barack Obama as the antithesis of George W. Bush and found an incredible profound hope in Barack Obama that was invoked by the morbid position this country is in.

I hate to undermine the American people, but I contend that while the issues of the economy, war, education, and health care were vital and prudent to the voting of the American people, I think the character of both candidates played more of an important role in the minds of voters. There are many people in this country who don't canvass the ideas of the politicians, or watch every political debate, or spend a sufficient amount of time evaluating the plans and potential policies of both candidates in an effort to discern which one of the two was more qualified to lead this country out of the socio-economic turmoil it finds itself in. From my vantage point, I saw a figure in John McCain who was uncouth in appearance and who's age did very little to aid his campaign. I think many voters created a nexus between his age and his policies in that they both were old and of the political ilk and socio-economic ideologies of yesteryear. Opposite John McCain you had Barack Obama, a handsome man who looked physically fit and nimble, and whose dexterity was epitomized with his exercise and leisurely physically engaging activity regiments including jogging and playing basketball. Outside of appearance and health, Barack Obama's rhetoric was like music to an idealist’s ear in that it attended to and resonated with typified ideas of hope and progressive ideas that many have thought that an American politician would never embrace because it was deemed political suicide. Barack Obama seemed extremely pensive, educated, driven, and probably most importantly, eloquently articulate. Not only was his oratorical ability unique and energized people, but it was rife with ideas that consistently remained prudent to the task at the potential 44th President's and America's hand, and also touched the minds and hearts of people on a level that was uncanny and unfathomable. Subsequent to the deliverance of his speeches, every news affiliate that I watched spent hours discussing his ability to speak, while in awe.

John McCain's choice to appoint Sarah Palin as his potential Vice President was the poorest choice he could have possibly made. It was blatantly clear that he only selected her to vie for Hillary Clinton votes and that was a political ploy that probably left many of his base to balk at continuing to support him. That tactic was deceitful and it epitomized political ploys of the past that many American people were tired of witnessing. She was clearly unqualified for the position and the McCain campaign team's hyper-surveillance of her only conveyed to voters that she was being controlled for the sake of the campaign and that stymied the duration of McCain's campaign.

You cannot underscore the effectiveness of Barack Obama's campaign, which was probably the most seminal political campaign America has ever seen. He spawned the best Grass Roots campaign in America's political history. The Obama team planted seeds in an innumerable amount of local communities and college campuses. Those seeds began to germinate and spread their Obama-advocacy stems into their respective communities which led to the historic amount of subsidies ever raised to aid a campaign. McCain's team put themselves at an extreme disadvantage with their scant use of technology opposed to Obama's team which utilized technology to disseminate information about Obama and gradually began to pervade the computers of people and even video games. Barack Obama purchased ads that would be shown in video games. How shrewd is that? Lastly, I think the generation that I am apart of is what catapulted Barack Obama into the White House. Because of the subject matter collegiate students and graduate students are learning regarding political and socio-economic ideologies in academic milieus, it is fair to say that this new generation is prohibitively progressive and that the idealist rhetoric of Obama easily energized the hope in young people that lay dormant because it was difficult to believe that this country could move in such a direction.

I had never immersed myself in the tidings of the history of this country as it pertained to race, class and gender until I got to college. I began to feverishly read and engage in discussion about race, class, and gender after only learning and understanding very few things about socio-economic history in America as my study of the subject was nascent. However, after engaging in so much critical thought and perusing through book after journal after article, my understanding of race relations led to me to believe that the hegemonic institutions of race, class and gender left an indelible mark on this country and the day that we would see an attempt to remove the stain was hundreds of years ahead of us. However, the campaigns of both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama inspired me to have new faith and hope in the ability of America to progress. I have had a few debates about how Obama's victory would and should affect the socio-economic mobility of people of color. I've been told that in no way should we be disillusioned and believe that just because the White House will house its first African American president that the hegemonic societal institutions through race, class, and gender that subjugate people of color and women will not cease to exist and that we should remain cognizant of those issues and preserve our perspective of them. I completely agree with that. However, I do believe that we should take that same amount of hope that we so feverishly invested in Obama and pour it into believing that we should no longer be socially and economically stymied by them. While there are societal institutions that may impede our social mobility, we should remain inspired and encouraged by Obama's victory to persevere and give our most valiant efforts to be successful in spite of those hindrances and not rely on excuses to justify our discontinuation of trying to achieve. Barack Obama's victory was a monumental victory for people of color and especially for African Americans and that shall forever be a muse for many. So instead of socially conscious parents raising their children and solely warning them about what may be unfair on their journey, we should supplement those implores with ideas of hope and encouragement while using Barack Obama as the quintessential example.

So now that he has won, we will all be looking forward to what Chuck D so aptly coined as, "Day 2". This country is in a pathetic position considering its wealth and intrinsic freedoms and privileges its decrees provide. Barack Obama will now have the hardest job in America and he has earned it. I am hoping the amount of participation that was so palpable during his campaign remains alive during his presidency, especially with things such as petitioning for an energy independent country where the masses of people will turn in their gas guzzling vehicles in favor of electric cars and we will consciously cease to use environmentally damaging products. Barack Obama should not be given the weight of the world because the quandaries that this country is facing cannot be fixed with the kind of expediency that many are hoping for. I hope that people are patient. According to this article, Obama is constructing his constituency with primarily centrist to right-winged politicians which has, needless to say, left democrats and leftists confused and irate. I'm indifferent towards his selection and that's because I have faith that Obama is seeking the best minds to address the needs of this country and will assemble a team that will weave a new fabric into the flag of America.

Parting Thoughts:

1. Since I'm on break, I can finally get back into reading. I'm beginning with Walter Mosley's, "The Man in My Basement". I hope its good. The abstract made it seemed interesting.

2. I'm dissapointed with 808's & Heartbreaks. I don't really care that the he used auto-tune throughout the entire album. What upsets me is that this album does not give you the vintage Kanye. In past albums, we are used to hearing Kanye cleverly address different topics through his lyrics and in 808's & Heatbreak, there is only one subject he raps (or sings if you want to be technical) about: heartbreak. The album is cool but I think its unfair to the fans for us to have waited over a year for a new Kanye album and he gives us a 12 track auto-tuned indignant album about a woman. It's understandable that the man is hurt, but an entire album inspired by her just gives her more energy and exposure in my opinion. But if this album is helping him alleviate the pain, then fine.

3. Why is that everytime I turn to TLC, they are showing water births? And why is the woman who is birthing the child always obese? I turn to the channel and some woman is in some disgusting tub looking orgasmic while two other women are sitting there with their hands waiting for something to pop out. Get some new content TLC!

4. Barack Obama wins, and B.E.T. gets worse. Why am I not surprised?

5. Aaron McGruder's new online comedy series is funny as hell. My respect for AM has reached new heights.

6. Make the music with your mouth, Bizzzz

Oh yeah,

Black Prez.

Back............but with indignation.......

Preámbulo:
Yes, I am back to my blogging ways. I almost felt pressured, from myself and others, to return back to blogging. Do not be mistaken. I did not decide to permanently stop blogging. I just chose to take a break from writing for a while. I had actually intended to take the month of September off and commence October 1st with a new blog entry. A friend jovially said to me that my blog was actively acknowledging Ramadan, the Muslim piety. She said that my abstaining from blogging is analogous to the intricacy of Ramadan. Since I wasn't blogging for the month of September, I wasn't "feeding" my blog with words or thoughts so it was "fasting". What's interesting is that, on one of my older blogs, I stated that writing/blogging is very cathartic for me and its therapeutic for my mind and my soul. That is still very true. Though, I haven't felt too bad about not writing/blogging, but I definitely felt that not writing for such a long time was becoming unhealthy. So, I am attempting to recover my routine indulgence in my verve-like prose. I've always maintained that I like to write at length when I blog, so if I don't find or experience anything that moves me enough to write in depth about it, I'll decide against blogging. Though, I would have liked to make my return to my blog with a happier subject, unfortunately what spawned my yearning to write was a horrid experience. I archived this blog entry in the "I'm Mad as Hell and I'm Not Gonna Take It Anymore" (apropos of the film "Network). I'm not mad at all right now, but, at the time I was incensed so I thought this entry best fit in that section. And I haven't an entry in this section in a long time. That's a good thing, right?

El Cuento
A few days ago, I happened to be walking along one of our campus quads and I saw a fairly middle-aged looking Caucasian couple sitting on one of the limestone enclosed flower beds. They were looking at the campus map and seemed really confused. I was walking with my iPod (whose cacophonies that emanate from the headphones can be easily heard by anyone) blasting and I sauntered past them. But as I continued to inch away from them, I thought to myself that I should ask if they need any help because I know the grandeur of UNC's campus on paper can be confusing for anyone, especially for a first time visitor/(s). So I stopped, did an about-face, walked up to them, and asked them if they needed any help navigating the campus. They retorted yes and inquired about what venues they should visit since this was there first visit to Chapel Hill. I suggested that they visit the three libraries on campus, the soccer field, gyms, Dean E. Smith Center, the basketball museum and the nexus of campus which is called "The Pit". "The Pit" happens to be surrounded by our Student Union, one dining hall and Student Stores which has UNC paraphernalia ( I totally sound like a student tour guide). They motioned as if they were glad that I was providing them with such instruction. But before I could make my exit from the conversation, they posed a few more queries to me and asked what year I was, where I was from and how I was enjoying my Carolina experience. I gave them a detailed answer and responded as genuinely as I could. Subsequent to the inquisition the man, who I assume to be the husband, asked what was my major of study. I told him I was a Communications major and he facetiously responded, "Ohhhhhhh. So that's why you speak so well".

He actually stuck his tongue out when he said as if he presumed that what he said was going to be just as dryly funny to me as it was to him. I could've easily showed my indignation, but I didn't. I've gone through a lot of these experiences before so I was used to it. And I responded to the situation the same that I've responded to it in the past. And that was showing off, as best I could, my ability to articulate, my strong sense of self, and dabbling into expressing my passion for film. So I lengthened the conversation and told them about my aspirations; though concisely. They asked me what programs that I was thinking about applying to for film school and I told them USC, UCLA, NYU, and Columbia. They hastily expressed to me that those are extremely difficult programs to be admitted to, almost in an effort to discourage me. But I took it in stride, and expressed to them that I have the diligence and passion to make it into one of those programs. They responded with "ok's", wished me well and continued their venture throughout the campus.

While it wasn't the first time it has happened to me, it was still one of the most unpleasant experiences I've ever incurred. It was a verbal slap in the face. And what really makes it worse was that it was such a 'back-handed' comment. I could've called him on it, and it would've been easy. But I don't think that taking that route would've done me or them any good. And besides, I think that they were surprised enough by my speech, decorum and thoughts. So I feel like that was my return-fire. But, it's saddening that these indoctrinated cultural ideas still pervade this particular society. Maybe I was showing a bit of niavete in believing that this country had made some significant strides in race-relations because of examples like Barack Obama's journey to the political apex of this country.

But I almost feel like those such as Barack Obama, Cornel West, Jocelyn Elders, Terence Blanchard or any reputable and revered black person only garners that profound sense of respect from their white-counterparts because they have moiled over constantly impressing them. It's sad that a person of color is readily perceived as ignorant or less potent. For some reason, when I worked at the College Board in Manhattan during my senior year of high school, I felt like I needed to perform all the time for the workers there so I could prove to them that I was a unique, intelligent, intuitive, witty and goal-oriented young man. I prepared myself to do that and voluntarily placed that burden on myself each day that I had to work. And I find myself still doing it today. But it's fine. I think adding that dimension to my journey to becoming the kind of filmmaker I want to be will only make the content of my films more informed and add more layers to my personhood. And it's always good to persevere through things, show strength and character and ultimately grow.

Parting Pensamientos:
1. I participated in my first film project. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to direct which is what I was hoping to do, but I landed an acting role. I played the killer, Edward Martin, in a short film entitled "The Return of Edward Martin". The film entailed a man who killed his wife 100 years ago and his granddaughter incidentally returns to his grave site and drops her bequeath necklace that Edward Martin's wife once wore on his burial ground. The necklace revives his ghost and attempts to kill his granddaughter while believing she was actually his wife's revived spirit. The movie actually ends with a twist, entailing Edward Martin killing his granddaughter while thinking she was actually his wife; but after he kills the granddaughter via strangulation on an elevator, his wife reappears wearing his signature gloves that he dons throughout the short film. Subsequent to the first screening, we won Best Shot, which was a dolly shot suggested by me to the director. For any cinephile reading this blog, you would know that the dolly shot is a staple of Spike Lee films where he captures an actor/(s) walking, but because of the shot, it seems as if they are floating through a particular milieu. We also won best story line. Over all, the project went well. I learned a lot of things about the process including shooting, acting and editing. I'm excited for my filming future.

2. George Tillman Jr, director of "Soul Food", is a making a film detailing the legendary ascension of the late-great Christopher "Notorious B.I.G." Wallace into the pantheon of Rap elites. The film is entitled 'Notorious'. I hope this thing isn't a disappointment. His legacy is well preserved and if this film is bad, there will be bedlam within the Hip-Hop community.
http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1206386969/

3. I'm anticipating Kanye's "808's & Heartbreaks" which is set to be released in mid-December. The single, Love Lockdown, kind of grew on me, but it didn't wow me like the singles off of his older albums. I just hope that Kanye provides us with that incredible production that he has blessed us with on his past albums.

4. So, I'm in a relationship now and it has gone on for about two months. Having a long distance relationship is unbelievably hard, but the promixity makes you appreciate one another on so many different levels. And that's what I feel like we have done. Our bond puts so much emphasis on growth and honesty and that's undoubtedly, my favorite part about the relationship. We've literally "spilled the beans" about everything including our past experiences, family history, struggles, beliefs, and significant decisions that we've made in life. I think its incredible that we've been able to share those things. And when those kinds of conversations first started, it was definitely tough hearing and sharing certain things, but now we're at a point where our communication is by far the strongest part of our bond. We're brutally honest with another, no matter how grand or minute the subject is, we make it our business to discuss for the sake of growth within the bond. Also, we're so incredibly different, though we have many things in common, and it makes for great compliments to both of our personalities. We originate from different places, live in different places and have had contrastively different journeys but we've learned so many different values just by sharing what we've gone through. She's definitely my biggest support system right now and I hope I am to her. I'm really excited about the relationship's potential and I hope it flourishes into a bond that no one can understand but us. Because that's when I believe, it is truly unique.

Oh yeah,
I felt the need to give a shout out to Brooklyn.