I sit with my feel encased in the golden brown, caked up single particles of sand as I watch the waves of the baby blue sea come to shore and wash the sand off. The process repeats as I admire the beauty and serene environment in which I am placed. The slow, swirling cool breeze swirls around, whistling to me. Talking to me. Telling me I am forever calm. I am free from worry. I listen to it, for when wisdom is spoken, my mind sucks it in like a vacuum. I continue to watch the water because I'm memorized, I'm confounded. How can something so simple and natural bring such bliss.
I am alone on a tropical island. No possessions, no home. Just me in my natural skin and a boat. Absolute freedom. No limitation of my will. I am free to sail and enjoy the pleasant environment that encompasses me. I love it. I cherish it. The rediscovering of my sense of self is found. My individualism is enhanced. Josh Wilks is Josh Wilks and there is nothing else to it.
Until I discover that I am never truly alone. As a biological being, I am alone. However, is being alone limited to living entities or possessions. What about the ocean, the wind, the sand? Are they not with me as well? They keep me company, bring me satisfaction and aid in my happiness. I soon feel discouraged. I once thought I progressed as a being when I was actually stagnant. I am not truly alone. I was fooled.
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Still King?
Oh, I'm sawry mister, I didn't aim to walk on the same side of the sidewalk as you. I'll cross. No suh, I won't use this bathroom, it's for whites. I'll go on around to the back and use the outhouse they got set up fah me. Aw naw man, I'm not going to that grocery sto', they don't allow me in there. Won' even sell me a can of pork n' beans man!
I am sure that is the type of conversation and diction I'd be having this day if it were not for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Especially since I come from Alabama, I couldn't imagine my treatment, the grandson of field workers and great grandson of sharecroppers. When people think of civil rights, they think of Dr. King and how he made the life many of us minorities live today possible. Whether we truly appreciate it or not is up for a debate, but having the opportunity and privilege to considered an equal citizen should be cherished.
It has been about 45 years since Dr. King passed and his legacy still continues to thrive, whether it is in ideas or people. One person I believe has truly stepped in the shoes of King is Geoffrey Canada. Canada is a social and education reformer in New York, mostly in Harlem although he is from the Bronx. Canada is focused on eliminating the disparity in education that exists in New York while also continuing to fight the social issues such as violence, poverty, and family that still exists. He opened the Harlem Children's Zone in 1990 to try and increase the graduation rates among high school and college students in the area. They aimed to follow students in a 24 block area of Harlem and as of today their reach is closer to 97. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the After School Corporation, which is nonprofit and aims to expand educational opportunities for all students. He is also the Chairman of the Children's Defense Fund.
Canada has inspired Obama to try and implement the idea of the HCZ into numerous other cities in need of educational reform due to it's wide success in Harlem. The two books he has written "Fist Stick Knife Gun", detailing his accounts with violence and how cities should deal with it, and "Reaching Up for Manhood", a book on changing the mindsets of youth in bad conditions, have been raved nationwide as extremely impactful, compelling, and powerful.
Taking a break from his merit, Geoffrey Canada has had a very indirect hand in cutting down on the violence in NYC and increasing the economic growth in Harlem and Brooklyn. 2012 had the lowest amount of murders in the city in 20+ years. Harlem has become an extremely diverse neighborhood, attracting people of different race, occupation and merit. Just last year, Whole Foods opened not one, not two, but THREE stores in the neighborhood. While the average property values in both Brooklyn and Harlem have gotten much higher compared to the 1960s per se, both neighborhoods have gotten significantly more upscale and safer. Canada definitely played a hand in all of this occurring
While Canada may not be dealing with issues as large and paramount as Dr. King, I do believe I see a lot of King's qualities in him and his effort to bring change to a community that was once crumbling. One day, the nation will use his examples to correct current problems and when that happens, we will become a better nation.
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Pacific Division reaches the Midwest
Whatever happened to rap groups? It seems like after 2010, everyone got the "I want to go solo" syndrome. I love music groups. The harmony and collective effort of different individuals into one sound is something I appreciate. Well, rap groups haven't completely disappeared and there is one group in particular that is unrecognized but produces music that can compete with almost anyone in the game.
Their name is Pac Div, short for Pacific Division. The group consists of Mibbs and Like (the two are brothers) and BeYoung, their longtime friend who they allowed to join their group. The three hail from Palmdale, California, which is in the center of Northern LA County, but they spent most of their time in Inglewood, the notorious suburb of LA that produced artists such as Tupac Shakur. The group started rhyming in high school and there was actually eleven members. However, we all know that a group of eleven guys trying to rap on one track definitely wouldn't work, so eventually they shrunk it down to the guys who exists in it today. The group released their first mixtape "Sealed For Freshness" in 06 which basically talked about their life as average youth in Southern California. The tape got acclaim from guys already established in the game like Ludacris, Pharrell, Roots drummer ?uestlove, and famed Chicago born producer 9th Wonder. Going off the success of their first project, they went on to make to other mixtapes Church League Champions and the tape I'll be reviewing, Don't Mention It.
Don't Mention It was released in 2010 and is my favorite mixtape that they have created although an earlier one named Mania is not far behind. Don't Mention It sounds just like something that was created in California, by California guys, who made it for Californians. The mixtape cover design, which features the three with the words "Don't" "Mention" "It" across their mouths like censor bars, looks like a Hollister advertisement, which is operated out of California. Upon first playthrough, there is an instant feel that you are listening to A Tribe Called Quest infused with Camp Lo album. As a matter of fact, the group samples a few lines from Tribe in their song "Don't Forget the Swishers" which features Cleveland rapper Chip tha Ripper, fellow Southern California rapper Dom Kennedy, and San Fran native cARTer. The group idolizes old school hip hop and in almost all of their music you get a sense of being in the 90s wearing an Orlando Magic Starter jacket with an Oakland Raiders snapback. The production, which is all done by themselves, is a rarity in music nowadays. You most likely can count the number of people who produce their own music on 2 hands. Well Pac Div would probably be counted on your left hand's middle finger because their surely is a little feisty attitude present in the group. Although each of them are in their early 30s, they seem to rekindle their inner teen within their music and lifestyle. They often refer to hanging out on the beach, going to parties and other shindigs, enjoying the seaweed, and just being chill. This album really reminds me of Judd Apatow films, just regular guys, nothing too far-fetched or extravagant. The group sees themselves as underdogs in the music industry (a title of intro songs on both this tape and Church League Champions). They signed a deal with Universal Motown Records in 2011, however, their music still has an independent feel to it. They don't get much recognition as guys such as fellow California rappers Kendrick Lamar or Dom Kennedy, but their music was equally as important in jump starting the music revival of the West coast.
Pac Div Don't Mention It is a great mixtape and I personally still enjoy hearing it just as the first time it came out. I'll leave up a link for all who want to listen to it for themselves.http://www.datpiff.com/Pac-Div-Dont-Mention-It-mixtape.115702.html
Their name is Pac Div, short for Pacific Division. The group consists of Mibbs and Like (the two are brothers) and BeYoung, their longtime friend who they allowed to join their group. The three hail from Palmdale, California, which is in the center of Northern LA County, but they spent most of their time in Inglewood, the notorious suburb of LA that produced artists such as Tupac Shakur. The group started rhyming in high school and there was actually eleven members. However, we all know that a group of eleven guys trying to rap on one track definitely wouldn't work, so eventually they shrunk it down to the guys who exists in it today. The group released their first mixtape "Sealed For Freshness" in 06 which basically talked about their life as average youth in Southern California. The tape got acclaim from guys already established in the game like Ludacris, Pharrell, Roots drummer ?uestlove, and famed Chicago born producer 9th Wonder. Going off the success of their first project, they went on to make to other mixtapes Church League Champions and the tape I'll be reviewing, Don't Mention It.
Don't Mention It was released in 2010 and is my favorite mixtape that they have created although an earlier one named Mania is not far behind. Don't Mention It sounds just like something that was created in California, by California guys, who made it for Californians. The mixtape cover design, which features the three with the words "Don't" "Mention" "It" across their mouths like censor bars, looks like a Hollister advertisement, which is operated out of California. Upon first playthrough, there is an instant feel that you are listening to A Tribe Called Quest infused with Camp Lo album. As a matter of fact, the group samples a few lines from Tribe in their song "Don't Forget the Swishers" which features Cleveland rapper Chip tha Ripper, fellow Southern California rapper Dom Kennedy, and San Fran native cARTer. The group idolizes old school hip hop and in almost all of their music you get a sense of being in the 90s wearing an Orlando Magic Starter jacket with an Oakland Raiders snapback. The production, which is all done by themselves, is a rarity in music nowadays. You most likely can count the number of people who produce their own music on 2 hands. Well Pac Div would probably be counted on your left hand's middle finger because their surely is a little feisty attitude present in the group. Although each of them are in their early 30s, they seem to rekindle their inner teen within their music and lifestyle. They often refer to hanging out on the beach, going to parties and other shindigs, enjoying the seaweed, and just being chill. This album really reminds me of Judd Apatow films, just regular guys, nothing too far-fetched or extravagant. The group sees themselves as underdogs in the music industry (a title of intro songs on both this tape and Church League Champions). They signed a deal with Universal Motown Records in 2011, however, their music still has an independent feel to it. They don't get much recognition as guys such as fellow California rappers Kendrick Lamar or Dom Kennedy, but their music was equally as important in jump starting the music revival of the West coast.
(I Know)-Jay-W
If you are having difficulty interpreting my title, I Know is originally a song by Jay-Z, one of my favorites to say the least. The Jay-W is merely a play-on words of his name with mine. But I digress. The song has absolutely nothing to do with what I believe has a meaning.
During my informal presentation, I shared that I was once robbed at gunpoint, jumped by 8 people, and had my home broken into while I was in the bathroom. However, I held something back. I was too afraid of judgment and pity to say it but nobody but Mr. McCarthy and a random Hawaiian reads my blogs so I'll spill it. My mom and I were once homeless. For about 5 months we bounced around relative's homes, a boarding house, my mother made a stay at a women's shelter before we eventually came to stay at an abandoned home until we eventually made that our true home after LOTS of work.
Now tell me after going through all of that turmoil that I should have reason to not believe I was meant to do something great. I believe whatever higher power that is out there and the Lucky Charms leprechaun thought that maybe death wasn't meant to meet me that early and that I still have a purpose to fulfill on this Earth. I believe my life definitely has meaning and I can't be convinced otherwise. I'll never forget that time in my life because it will be a constant reminder of what could have been and why anything less than being the almighty ruler of this planet is unacceptable. Well, I'm just kidding about the ruler part, but I will make sure my name is remembered.
During my informal presentation, I shared that I was once robbed at gunpoint, jumped by 8 people, and had my home broken into while I was in the bathroom. However, I held something back. I was too afraid of judgment and pity to say it but nobody but Mr. McCarthy and a random Hawaiian reads my blogs so I'll spill it. My mom and I were once homeless. For about 5 months we bounced around relative's homes, a boarding house, my mother made a stay at a women's shelter before we eventually came to stay at an abandoned home until we eventually made that our true home after LOTS of work.
Now tell me after going through all of that turmoil that I should have reason to not believe I was meant to do something great. I believe whatever higher power that is out there and the Lucky Charms leprechaun thought that maybe death wasn't meant to meet me that early and that I still have a purpose to fulfill on this Earth. I believe my life definitely has meaning and I can't be convinced otherwise. I'll never forget that time in my life because it will be a constant reminder of what could have been and why anything less than being the almighty ruler of this planet is unacceptable. Well, I'm just kidding about the ruler part, but I will make sure my name is remembered.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)