Uptown Notes

Other sites have moving photo tributes, if you want those, go there. If you want something funny, here are two great pics that made me laugh out loud.

As the clock struck midnight and November 20th rolled in I thought about how 1.20.09 was emblazoned in my memory. I recall seeing bumper stickers years ago that had the date and “Bush’s Last Day” proudly marked. I waited for the date and was glad to see it arrive. I was in DC for inauguration weekend, so like many others, I was out partying. I knew that I had to get up at the crack of dawn, so I left my celebration and attempted to hail a cab to my residence. The weather in DC was a bitter, bitter cold, but I didn’t worry because as I approached a major thoroughfare I saw an ample number of cabs. I saw people hopping in and out of cabs and raised my hand to hail one. As I stood with my hand out, buzzing from the revelry of the weekend, taxis buzzed past me.I am overjoyed that the Obamas challenge stereotypes and have seeped through the pores of seemingly non-porous barriers, but that doesn’t often mean much for how we get along each day. Seeing race is not the issue, the system of racism is.

Today I’ll on NPR‘s New and Notes on their bloggers roundtable discussion inauguration and coming challenges for Barack Obama. You […]

“I have been dismayed at the degree to which abysmal ignorance seems to prevail among state, city and even Federal […]

The event is finally arriving, the inauguration of Barack Obama. And while I am a strong critic of Barack Obama I can appreciate a good celebration, so I’ve decided to go on a hate moratorium and attend. As a result a bunch of folks have been asking me where I’m going to be at. Well I’ll only tell you dependent on how you do on this quiz, much like a NCLB test, your answers are gonna be of consequence. Please choose the best answer

1) Inauguration is not _________________.
a) Freaknik
b) Juneteenth
c) All Star Weekend
d) All of the above

So I had no intention of writing a review of the new movie on Biggie, Notorious, but the reviews that I’ve been reading have left me with no choice. I will keep my comments brief and give you the punchline upfront. The movie sucks, if you have ten dollars I can think of plenty of other things to spend it on. In fact, if you were going to take someone else, you two can put your money together and get two snuggies … they even come with a free reading light. As a fan of the man and the music, this movie fell short from start to finish. When the movie ended I wanted to leave and put on a Mister Cee Mixtape like the ” Best of Biggie” to cleanse my eyes and ears of the visual catastrophe that should be called “The Worst of Biggie.”

Recently, I had the chance to check out one of my brothers weave his craft in the city. Marc Bamuthi Joseph is the truth. Read that again, the man is the truth! I have been familiar with Bamuthi’s musings and deeds since the mid-90s but his recent show The Break/s: A dream journal presented as a mixtape for stage, which headlined the Hip Hop Theater Festival demonstrates not only that he’s a great performer but that he is beautifully human. The battle for balance and transformation are beautifully captured in Marc Bamuthi Joseph’s piece The Break/s, more so than any other performance piece I’ve seen in years. Check it out at LOCATION until Saturday (1/18) in NYC at the New York Public Theater with Under the Radar or catch him on the road as he brings The Break/s to the nation.

The term revolutionary is often batted about and is bestowed upon most anyone who finds their ideas falling to the left of the political mainstream. For that reason we have more coffee shop revolutionaries than I can shake a vegan biscotti at! Now I don’t mean that as pot-shot against coffee shop poets (okay, well maybe I did a mean it a little) but really its about the question, “What does it take to be revolutionary?” I was left deeply reflecting on that after watching Che.

Here is Skillz’s 2008 rap up … why are there so many versions of this on Youtube? And why did he hit it on the head with Nas, R. Kelly and the Inauguration?

If you’re not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people […]