Transit Musing #1 (March 28, 2012)

Staring at my reflection in the window of the subway car
Contemplating my own wretchedness
Finding myself judging the other
Folk I don't even know
It's not them I'm angry with but
It's me
I'm angry at myself
For getting on the wrong train

And having to thus trace my steps and go backwards
Nothing I hate more than backward motion
But still I seethe with disgust
At the man picking his nose like he's digging for gold
At the women eating a full on meal together
Like eating itself is going out of style

Brown Skin Feminisms: Hip Hop and Sexism, Part 1

I witnessed a disturbing Twitter interaction between two rappers (one male, one female) and a popular hip hop/urban blog over the past 24 hours. It all started when the male rapper (an up-and-coming hip hop star with a Shawn Carter co-sign) sent out tweets (jokingly) referring to past sexual exploits with the female rapper (a well-known indie rapper from NYC). It was inappropriate from the start for my tastes, but it probably would’ve been easy to dismiss after the first tweet. However, even after she asked him to cut it out, the male rapper went on to send an even more explicit tweet pointing to the way the female rapper supposedly liked to “receive” sex (based on his fantasy experience!). Now, it was clear to me from the beginning that this was all a joke to him. The female rapper didn’t find it so funny. Now I don’t know her well at all but I am some what acquainted with the female rapper through a mutual close friend. Therefore, I could sort of pick up how she was feeling about the whole conversation through her responses. I myself took exception to the whole exchange and even (sub-)tweeted a message that expressed my disdain. She did the same by making a remark or two about it but she quickly moved on.

It was not until this morning that my last feminist nerve was completely worked to no end. I woke up to read my timeline on Twitter (as we social media addicts tend to do each morning) only to find that the male rapper was complaining to the popular hip hop blog about reporting on his twitter exchange with the female rapper from the night before. They had, in fact, reported it as a news story. He would go on to apologize to the female rapper for his joke-gone-too-far and the aftermath. For its part, the blog only felt it necessary to apologize to the male rapper for exposing his wordplay with a friend. They mentioned the female rapper in the tweet, but did not offer her one world of apology for defaming her name before its thousands of blog readers. UGH! Of course I went on an all out twitter rant!!!!

What is the deal with the sexism in hip hop in 2011? I know that this topic has become so cliché and normalized it’s kind of sickening. But it still drives me crazy…why must hip hop and sexism go together like ODB and Mariah; babies and pacifiers? As a life long hip hop lover and critic, I am tired of it all. I, of course, cannot blame one segment of the population or a particular group of people. Anyone who comes into contact with or has anything to do with the production (I mean this in a cultural sense here) is partially responsible. There is no accountability for anyone: the artist, the consumer, corporate record labels, advertisers, and scholars/critics; not a one of us. We let soooooooo much slide in the name of a dope beat, some commercial success, and/or “keeping it real”. Well…for me and my crew (hip hop speak for my friends), it’s a wrap for keeping it real if we are only going to simply keep it real ignorant. For my part, I plan to use this space over the next few weeks to further investigate the role of feminism in hip hop discourse and production. Furthermore, I would like to look at how feminists can fight sexism in both the commercial and underground arenas of hip hop in the 21st century. More to come…

Poems I Love: Man by Ruth Forman

Man
You a storm coming or a breeze
you steel you suede you subtle
a two-tone hustle

whose prints you wear on your being
hands you come from
who knows your stories
who cares about each one

ask cause I want to know
the color hovering beneath your wings
is it silver sapphire gold

where you dream of going
when you look out your morning window
who put that dream there

who was your father
who was your teacher
how much did it matter
did you ever let them know

n your path
a line straight
or curving at those inopportune places
your scars
where you hide them

your stroll
where it come from
what genius you carry in your sleeve
what you wear around your neck
does it choke or set you free

ask cause I want to know
what life knits into your fabric

and in thirty-three years
what will we say about you
faded photograph pewter frame
will we say
they don't make them like that
anymore

- Ruth Forman

It's been way too long...let's see where the journey leads us!!!

Happy New Year....and like 5 more months!!!!

To all who have been following me for the past couple of years on this blog, I am so sorry it has been so long since I've posted. Life has been kicking my butt...for real! Not in a super bad way...I'm not depressed or anything...I've just been busy with work, school and everything else. BUT...I'm coming back!!!! Real soon...here and on my group blog Craniotome which I've started with some grad school chums. So stay tuned...In the meantime, you can also catch me on my tumblr page at: http://zorakatsdawta.tumblr.com/

Until next time...be cool!

Eartha Kitt All By Myself film clip

AND U SAY NYC….SEPT 20TH…BLUE NOTE…ME…YOU…YES!

AND U SAY NYC...SEPT 20TH...BLUE NOTE...ME...YOU...YES!

A Brief Note: Power and Art and Renewal

I am contemplating the timeliness of Kanye's new song "Power"...not so much in terms of what it means to him as an individual artist/being but how the shift it speaks to represents the dawning of a new era of art and creative thinking and living. Power is being redefined as it tries to recover from all it has destroyed. Meanwhile, the artists and creators of the world are being empowered to make the growing pains of all of this transitioning a little more bearable for us all. Oh the irony...exciting stuff, no?!?!? I suppose it's why I have been suffering from insomnia all summer...the good kind...the kind that keeps me up...where I create and breathe in others' creations and...dream about them all day long...

Speaking of dreams...