Saturday, June 14, 2008

Freedom of speech gone wrong








It is very well understood that in America we have a lot of freedom. More so than most countries. But with freedom comes great responsibility. Because we have freedoms such as freedom of speech, we have a responsibility to censor ourselves. A few days ago Yazmany Aborleda, a 27 year old artist from Boston, tested how free American speech really is with a controversial exhibit in Midtown Manhattan called "The assassination of Hillary Clinton/The assassination of Barack Obama". Luckily it was shut down by police before any one could view it but the photos above were salvaged before Aborleda was taken under arrest. In an interview Aborleda defended his work by saying "It's art. It's not supposed to be harmful. It's about character assassination-about how Obama and Hillary have been portrayed by the media." Aborleda's intentions may very well have been good but when I saw the pictures of the exhibit then read his lame excuse about the media I couldn't buy it. Firstly, in his exhibit there appeared to be no writing on the wall explaining his artworks provocative nature. Secondly, artwork needs to be understandable. Some times artists get so entrenched in trying to be "artistic" that comprehension gets lost. Also, even though I don't feel that the media has treated Obama fairly, I've never heard them insinuate that his daughters are nappy headed hoe's or that Black hope is audacious. The penis on the wall is not artistic at all its simply tasteless. It evokes the stereotype that black men are nothing but neanderthals with " big dicks" ready to rape and pillage any white woman in sight. "Once you go Barack", come on! I know that when I write I should be neutral but when something is as offensive as this, neutrality goes out the window.

Ya Basta,
Malcolm





Sunday, June 1, 2008

The suprising origins of the word "Thug"



Last night I watched a History Channel special on the movie series Indiana Jones. The purpose of the show was to separate fact from fiction as it relates to the movie. While watching the show I was introduced to origin of the word "Thug". When you think of a thug what image comes to mind? Is it a Black or Brown man? Is he iced out with diamonds and wearing baggy pants? Most people think of a thug as living in a poverty stricken urban area ( Ghetto) in the United states. The origin of the word "Thug" couldn't be farther from its present meaning. The word Thug originates from an 800 year old cult called Thuggee in India. Thuggee were known for befriending travelers and killing them with the ultimate intention of robbing them. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, this cult is responsible for the death of 2 million unsuspecting travelers.

So the question arises, " How did we get from Thuggee to thug?" The Indian Cult and its practices were popularized and introduced to main stream Western Culture through books such as Confessions of a Thug by Philip Meadows Taylor (1839). Thuggee was also popularized by British Culture as Great Britain Ruled India from 1858 to 1947. In a way it bothers me that such a negative word like thug is largely associated with Blacks when it should be associated with Indians. How is it that we get the bad rap when they've been "thuggin" for 800 years! If we're going to play the name game then we need to call prostitutes Geisha Girls! If there are any words that you can think of that are unfairly associated with your or someone else's culture, please feel free to comment.
Ya Basta,
Malcolm

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Going back to our roots

One thing that I've noticed about African Americans is that on the whole, we don't see ourselves as African. Of course we recognize our African ancestry but do we really identify ourselves as Africans in America? I remember as a kid, being called African was an insult! " You African booty scratcher" they would say. So, how proud are we really of being African? It seems that our ignorance to our specific tribes and countries gives us an out, an excuse, to forget our past and establish our own cultural identity as Blacks in America. In fact, very few Black people ever travel to Africa or even want to take the trip.

In middle school I was introduced to a movie called "Sankofa" by my social studies teacher Mrs. Springfield. She is African American and tried to instill in her students a sense of pride about our Heritage, and encouraged us to learn our history which she stressed is more than slavery and the civil rights movement. This independent film addresses African Americans avoidance of our rich yet painful African history. This movie depicts a young woman (in the late 80's/early90's) at a photo shoot on the Ivory Coast, at an old slave trading post (Elmina Castle). It appears that she is enjoying being photographed but she also seems to be spooked by the dark past of this old castle. I don't want to give away too much because I want you all to watch the film. One big hint is that "Sankofa" is an Akan word which means " One must return to the past in order to move forward".

I have posted part 1 of the movie below. It is in sections (pt. 1,2,3). I hope that you enjoy the movie and please comment! When you are finished viewing the first installement go to youtube.com then in the search engine type in " the movie/sankofa/pt.2".

Ya Basta,
Malcolm

Monday, April 14, 2008

An Excellent resource on understanding the plight of African American women

My AP Psych teacher Mrs. Nelsen showed us a video called "A girl like me" which is a short documentary that delves into the lives of African American girls and their self perception. I go to a school that is predominantly White and after the movie many of my White classmates were touched by the documentary and its candidness about Black issues such as skin tone and hair. The part of the movie that was very hard to watch was when they replicated a study from the 1950's in which Black children were asked if they wanted to play with the Black Doll or the White doll. In all honesty it was harder to watch in the midst of Whites because I didn't want them to misinterpret why the children chose the White doll. It seemed that many of my classmates interpreted it as "Oh my God, those poor kids don't love themselves". The truth is that we do love who we are but from birth TV, movies, magazines and society in general conditioned us to believe that White is beautiful and Black is not. The problem is that this conditioning is subliminal and does not seem wrong. One perfect example (of many) is the popular cartoon Bugs Bunny, in which the villain (Daffy Duck) is a black, big lipped, spitting angry duck. Children learn by association and black girls only have lily white Cinderella and Sleeping beauty to base their interpretation of beauty. I love this video because it offers insight to Black women's struggle. It also answers many questions that people feel uncomfortable asking about Black culture. I have posted the video at the bottom of the page. I hope that you will be impacted the documentary as much as I was.

Ya Basta,
Malcolm

Saturday, April 5, 2008

A new way to see diversity
















Have you ever looked in the mirror and thought " I wonder what I would look like as a different race". I always considered myself to be a person who appreciates the differences in cultures but seeing yourself as a different race really shows you that we really are more similar than we think. Seeing yourself as a different race speaks to African Americans in particular because we are more mixed than we realize. When I saw my picture as a person of full African descent I said "Wow". I thought I would look the same but I look more black. lol. But I wanted to share this with everyone because I think that we can all learn something from it and enjoy looking at the pictures as well. A few of them are actually quite comical. I posted my pictures from my face averages so you all can see how it works. I have to admit that I like my face better more black! I will be taking a poll to see which race you like better ( of your OWN face). The website is really easy to use and completely free. I will continue to post new interesting things as I come across them. Please take advantage of this website; it's really interesting! http://www.faceresearch.org/ Enjoy!
Ya Basta,
Malcolm















Friday, March 28, 2008

FROM ONE BROTHA TO ANOTHER

Phil, thank you for being so encouraging by introducing me to the world of BLOGS! Big ups to Montclair New Jersey, Brooklyn, and the whole Tri -state area. Being raised in this region amongst different types of people has opened my eyes to cultural acceptance. I feel that I have a responsibility to share and open up multi cultural dialogue because it's something that I enjoy. This site is about opening our eyes to the beautiful things that all of our cultures have to offer. Often when society defines our ethnic group we limit ourselves to those small parameters.

Let's be open to redefining how we see ourselves.

Please take advantage of the polls that I have posted. They are intended to force us to look at ourselves and question our cognitive predispositions. Also, please enjoy the videos at the bottom of the blog. They will changed periodically and introduce to some and remind others of the beauty of our cultural dances and traditions.

Ya Basta!
Malcolm