New Music: Frank Ocean “Pyramids”

So after months of listening to snippets of new Frank Ocean tracks on repeat (pure torture by the way), a full length track has been released.  Even better its nearly 10 minutes long. All is forgiven Frank.

Get the MP3 here

See what had happened was…

Okay… I’m bad at excuses so I won’t give one BUT I will be giving a run down on why I’ve been MIA.  Graduate school. I read 31 books this semester (give or take…a few just got skimmed over lol).  SOoo yup that’s about it. But I’m back. And I’ll be posting.  In the fall hopefully I’ll be able to balance it all  (fingers crossed).

What exactly is porosity??

Tags

african american hair, hair, healthy hair, natural hair, porosity, testing porosity, transitioning, urban bush babes

Natural hair can be puzzling; from finding what products work best the hair’s many phases &  ever-evolving routines it can grow frustrating :/

BUT as the old cliche goes, practice makes perfect (I can hear my mama saying that when I was a lil kid dreading practicing for anything from soccer to vocal recitals)  & eventually you will find what works for you! Now enough of my mini pep talk & on to more interesting things….

Soo I finally figured out exactly what porosity is as well as  how to gauge it in terms of my own strands.

Now for the record, I read up on porosity and all that fun stuff when I first started my  transition…welp I didn’t quite get it (call me slow, but whatever).

Then there I was on youtube one day this week, minding my business & what did I run across??  A video about porosity [well partially, the rest is Cipriana explaining her hair’s awesomeness (:].  Any who the UrbanBushBabes’ explanation of porosity and how to test your hair’s porosity was right on my level. AND guess what?!?  My porosity level is normal (which means no heat damage or nuthin’ like that)! Woot woot!!   So check out the vid & their blog [loves it!]

-Peace&Love

Mel

Locked Up: A Review of Paul Butler’s Let’s Get Free

Tags

african american, african american men, black men, hip hop, let's get free, let's get free a hip hop theory of justice, lil boosie, mass incarceration, paul butler, prison, rap, shyne, t.i., troy davis

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Two years ago, Jamal Michael Barrow was released and deported to Belize after serving a nine year stint in a New York prison. In 2010, Torrence Hatch was indicted on a first degree murder charge.  In August, Clifford Joseph Harris, Jr. was released from an Arkansas prison.  In September, Troy Davis was executed by lethal injection in Georgia.  It is no doubt that the mainstream ideology is that rap is synonymous with crime. Three of the aforementioned men are rappers who have had highly publicized brushes with the law.  Troy Davis, however, was not a rapper.  He was an African American man serving time in a federal penitentiary, like 2.3 million Americans just like him.   Currently the United States of America has a higher incarceration rate than any other nation in the free world.   This comes to no surprise to Professor Paul Butler who is a former prosecutor and the author of Let’s Get Free: A Hip Theory of Justice.

At the height of Butler’s career as a prosecutor in the District of Columbia he was arrested and tried for a crime he did not commit.  Until then Butler had never realized what those individuals he bought charges against go through.   He never considered their potential innocence or the factors that got them in the predicament.  Until his own arrest, Butler lived by the prosecutor’s rule that 99 percent of those individuals accused of crimes are guilty.   Butler’s Let’s Get Free illustrates his awakening to the truth about the system of crime and punishment that operates in the United States.  In his debut book, Butler examines the prison system in various socioeconomic terms such as the way imprisonment affects the family structure, race relations and the economic implications of what he calls “mass incarceration.” In the true fashion of hip hop, Butler presents a controversial outlook on the justice system in America through his perception and style, examinations of hip hop popular culture and the implications for the future of the American justice system.

Paul Butler was raised by a single mother on the South Side of Chicago   He stayed out of trouble (to the contempt of his peers) and went on to study at Yale and later Harvard Law.  Although the odds were stacked against him, he pulled himself up by his proverbial boot straps and went on to excel.  His bright and getting brighter future did not include getting arrested for simple assault.  However, without experiencing that brush with the law and obtaining a record, the former prosecutor probably would have never penned Let’s Get Free.  It goes without saying that Butler’s style in Let’s Get Free was influenced by both his experience as a prosecutor and being prosecuted.  Though his phrasing reflects his education, it is not at all uptight or stiff.  He exhibits a flow and liquidity that envelopes the reader in Butler’s mind and thoughts. For instance, the first chapter, which reads like a dramatic urban novel, allows the reader to grow with Butler through his achievements and ultimately his downfall.  The chapter’s title, “The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game: A Prosecutor Meets American Criminal Justice,” foreshadows the twist of fate Butler experiences. Butler employs use of the hip hop term “the game,” which sets a slightly casual tone for the entire work.  Personally, it is my favorite part of the book.   The basis of the book is pure irony. Prosecutor turned prisoner turned advocate for judicial reform (although I occasionally found myself questioning his motives for writing the book: advocate or bitter?)   Chapter five begins with this ironic anecdote:

Kathryn Johnston had spent all of her eighty-eight years in the city of Atlanta […], and she was scared to death[…] She kept a gun to protect herself against intruders. The intruders, three of them, came late one Tuesday night […] the men, dressed in street clothes, began tearing down the front door. The old woman took her pistol and fired one shot through the door. She missed. The three invaders rammed the door open and returned fire. Thirty-nine times. After they killed Mrs. Johnston, they put her in handcuffs. The intruders were Jason Smith, Gregg Junnier, and Arthur Tesler, all officers of the Atlanta Police Department.

It is extremely ironic that the elderly Kathryn Johnston, who lived in constant fear of drug dealers and thugs in her own neighborhood, would ultimately be slain by the very individuals who she was sure would protect her: the police.  Another notable example of Butler’s use of irony is seen in the second chapter, when Butler describes the disparity between sentencing for cocaine and crack-cocaine related crimes.  After the death of a college basketball player resulting from cocaine overdose, legislatures decided to make crack cocaine related crimes punishable at a one to one hundred ratio in comparison to cocaine in its powder form. Toxicology reports later revealed that Bias’s death was not from crack cocaine but the powder substance.  In the long run, Butler’s use of ironic antidotes aid in linking the culture of hip hop to the culture of justice.

Though the full hip hop element of Butler’s Let’s Get Free appears late in the work (it is not discussed in full detail until Chapter 7), it provides an artistic approach to all the statistical data discussed in previous chapters.  Butler states that the chapter serves as the soundtrack for his thoughts on the justice system .  He successfully illustrates that though educated and once a prosecutor he is still “down.” Of all the attributes to hip hop that Butler discusses a few are notable for their direct ties to popular hip hop.  The snitch is one of these attributes.  Nearly everyone who’s ever had siblings has heard their mother’s warning that no one likes a snitch.  That very saying is definitely true in hip hop culture, this is evident in the Baltimore based Stop Snitching campaign and even more so in the cautionary “snitches get stitches.”  However Butler’s approach to snitches is not of a threatening nature, instead he asserts that snitching harms more than it helps the community.  Snitches are defined by Butler as, “informants who receive a reward, usually cash or leniency from prosecution, in exchange for providing law enforcement with information about criminals.”  This is profoundly different from the mainstream ideology of the beneficial bell ringer.  Even though Butler does not condone snitching to get ahead, he does support witnesses doing their civic duty and helping to solve crimes in the community.  The difference, Butler says, is that snitches tattle only when it is beneficial to them.  The portion of Let’s Get Free that is dedicated to snitches arouses a few questions in the reader, one being if Butler had not been snitched on himself by a neighbor would he feel so strongly against them?  This question makes it difficult for Butler’s opinions and findings to be read as unbiased.  Even though he does make valid points against them, his discussion is often full of generalizations.  Another, less controversial theme prevalent in hip hop that appears in Butler’s work is the idea of change.

Over a beat sampled from Zapp and Roger’s “Be Alright,” Tupac rhymed about hard economic times and streets full of crime; the daily struggle to survive for some Americans. A simple phrase served as his reminder to the poor, hustlers and single mothers that bleak situations would get better: keep ya head up.  Hip hop, as mentioned in Jeff Chang’s work Can’t Stop Won’t Stop, originated as a form of rebellion in the midst of social and economic oppression. A struggle for change and at its core hip hop has remained just that.  Coincidentally, that is exactly what Butler is calling for in Let’s Get Free.  During the course of the book he encourages the masses to stand up what against what he calls mass incarceration rates in the United States.   Butler does this by presenting startling numbers that for every one Caucasian male incarcerated there are eight African-American males incarcerated .  Butler suggests that the justice system in America needs a new approach and that hip hop may be just what it needs.  He states that,

Hip-hop offers a fresh approach. It first seems to embrace retribution […] The “unwritten law in rap,” according to Jay-Z, is that “if you shoot my dog, I’ma kill yo’ cat… know dat / For every action there’s a reaction.”  Next, however, comes the remix. Hip-hop takes punishment personally. Many people in the hip-hop nation have been locked up or have loved ones who have been. […]You understand criminal justice differently when the people that you love experience being “locked down all day, underground, neva seein’ the sun / Vision stripped from you, neva seein’ your son.

Butler highlights that African American and Hispanic men dominate the hip hop industry as well as prisons. He suggests that because hip hop is an extremely popular genre with influences in all forms of art and media, it has the power to influence and ultimately change the law and how it affects those individuals it is supposed to protect.

The phrase “police state” evokes images of Nazi occupied Germany, a place where freedom is hardly imaginable and being watched under strict supervision is the norm.   Let’s Get Free warns against letting the government and law enforcement agencies having too much power.  The author insists that giving more power to law enforcement means that the civil liberties of individual citizens is being invaded without them even realizing it.  In theory, Butler is correct a police state would be disastrous for America and although he provides strong evidence to support his argument and suggestions on how people can ultimately “get more free” he often fails to provide concrete ways to implement his plans against what he calls mass incarceration.  isHis ideas are profound and fairly innovative, but their effect on the future of the American justice system is unclear.  Sure, Butler has eloquently made suggestions and predictions about the future of crime and punishment in the United States, but in essence that is all that they are. With Butler’s many suggestions is rarely a rebuttal or any negating factors. There is little to no mention of how the recent recession has affected the crime rates, which was utterly surprising considering that Butler consistently provided the numbers to support his findings.  Let’s Get Free is without a doubt a good start for Butler’s movement and the only way for it to materialize is for people to read it, understand it and care about the issues that it poses.  The movement to a freer America needs manpower and political support to implement and instill Butler’s plans.

Let’s Get Free,a book by former prosecutor Paul Butler is without a doubt captivating.  It quickly engages the reader and not only encourages the reader to think, but requires them to do so in order to gain a complete understanding of what Butler is presenting.  Every nation has its problems, with that being said it does not mean that numbers of those inhabiting prisons and jails is not an appalling predicament.  But it would be better if Butler’s plan started with baby steps and not just jumped to freeing 500,000 on a whim.  It’s not that simple. Like he stated early on there is nothing simple about crime and punishment and because of that there is no simple solution.  Let’s Get Free is without a doubt a great read.  It is riveting and engaging.  The book presents situations that most Americans rarely ponder when watching CSI or Law and Order.  Correcting the issues of America’s justice system sounds almost effortless, but the reality is that Let’s Get Free is in fact no easy answer.

Interest piqued? Grab a copy of Let's Get Free

African-American History 101: A Lesson in Long Division

Tags

african american, african american hair, hair, hair sorority, history, long division, natural vs. relaxed, relaxed vs. natural

smh...I knew it would come to this...

Just the other day I was having a conversation with my best friend about some of my frustrations with transitioning to natural hair. And for the record its not entirely my hair. During this conversation I explained to my best friend (for all intensive purposes we’ll call him Q) how cliquish (i despise cliques) the natural hair community can be from what I’ve noticed from the outside looking in & vice versa.

His response: “You ever notice how we as black people are soo eager to have some sort of identity that we will divide over everything?”

And I did notice, just wasn’t sure if anyone else did.  We as African Americans are very unique citizens of this country.  For the most part, we have no clue where we came from (originally) and who we came from.  All we know is how they got here.  In the hull of a boat.  Not by choice.  Only to be mistreated and abused for centuries to come.  And some of us don’t even know that…

To fill the void and disconnect l  it has been our lifelong goal as a people to create an identity for ourselves in this new world, America.  So we sang songs in fields while we toiled and fashioned quilts to tell stories and directions home. We took the scraps they threw us (pig entrails, hooves  and eyeballs) and made cuisine.  Then we got free and migrated to Harlem, Philadelphia and Baltimore.  There we danced, painted, hummed and wrote our way into America’s hearts (well almost).  Some of us were sharecroppers, school teachers and shoeshine boys.  Some of us were lynched and some of us passed. Then we got fed up.  We rallied and protested. Together. Following this we made cool, hip.  We didn’t take no shit.  We were black and proud. Loud even, when necessary.  We overcame. Then we got comfortable in our new home.

So you see, as a people we have always attempted to construct our place in America. We made our own culture, that varied by state and region. But we made it.

In mathematical terms, the above was simple addition.  We took what they gave us, added to it and voila. Magic.

Now for the division:

Shortly after we got off the boat Massa came into the quarters at night & left a baby in Mammy (who also raised his brats by the Missus).  So every now and then a lighter, whiter one of us was running around the cotton fields.  Considering some of our apparent whiteness made us less black, we were sought to work in the Big House.  We were told that we were better than those who were not quite human (although we were constantly reminded that one drop made us animals too).  We were called mulatto, quadroon & octoroon.   Got to the point where most of us were no longer all African but that didn’t stop them from pitting us against each other & tearing families apart.   Some of us were never slaves & decided to take part in the lucrative business of capitalizing on human life.  Then we got free.  They called us names like nigger, porch monkey, pickaninny, coon & when we were well into adulthood continued called us boy & gal.  We called each other  tar babies & Uncle Tom. The division of the family remained.  Some of us were proud of our blackness & some not so much.  Some of us were lynched & some of us passed.  Some of us wanted to do something about it & some of is did not. Some of us stayed poor & ignorant.  Some of us got good jobs and wanted to be white.  Now we call each other sell outs, hoodrats,hos, chickenheads, uppity, wannabes, no good & triflin Niggas.

Clearly, African Americans are not new to being divided.  It was something that was ingrained in us, to be ashamed of who we are & either perpetuate society’s expectations or separate from them.

Anyway you got the history and the math.  Ironically, the same night I was talking to Q ran across this article about the formation of a natural hair sorority of sorts.  I chuckled.

Since I recently decided to transition long term, I’ve noticed a lot about the natural hair community.  As welcoming as it may seem at first it is also a bit cult-ish (yes I said cult, not the Jim Jones kind though).  Not all (but some) have overdosed on the fumes of their homemade hair serums. To them natural hair is more than just hair…it’s a lifestyle.  Once you cross into the land of kinks & curls, you eat, sleep, drink and breathe HAIR (sounds like it may cause a clog). And the presumption for many is if you are not with them then you must be against them.  Several have anti-relaxed sentiments & act as if wearing their hair in it’s natural state makes them better than other black women.  Oh & apparently  there are levels of naturalness, which include but are not limited to those who wear fros vs. those who get their hair pressed regularly. What happened to what India Arie said?? I thought I wasn’t my hair :(

Guess I was mistaken.  So now there’s a natural hair sorority & that’s grand. I’m all for celebrating a common bond & uniting with people who look like you.  They seek to educate people about natural hair. Good for them.  Let’s just remember that gangs in their infancy had good intentions too.  Now I’m sure these chicks won’t be toting guns & dabbling in illegalities, but you get my point.  Here’s my question with all this…when are we ever going to unite as black people?  And no I’m not against those who embrace their hair as a lifestyle choice.  That’s fine too.  However, my problem lies in the fact that apparently this has given black people (specifically women, because men just ain’t arguing over hairstyles, just saying) one more damn thing to divide over.  It doesn’t surprise me, but its disappointing that something so trivial can pull people apart.  I think we should all desire to be more than jiggaboos or wannabees…

Peace&love,

Mel

Song of the Day: “Good Day”- Nappy Roots

Tags

awesome song, good day, nappy roots, song of the day, special k

Fine I’ll admit it, Special K’s new commercial about slipping into a size Sassy made me remember this song & its been stuck in my head ever since. Have a Good Day!

Peace&Love,
Mel

Long time comin…

Be prepared for a group of long unpublished works. I apologize for the delay but I’ve been SWAMPED with stuff to do…but that confirms I have a life, right??

Peace&Love,

Mel