Afr. Am. Museum on the mall....

Grounds For Serious Reflection
As African American Museum Site Is Weighed, The Mall Looms Large

By Jacqueline Trescott
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, January 30, 2006; C01

In 1863, Philip Reid, a slave, finished supervising the bronze casting of the statue "Freedom" for the U.S. Capitol. When it was hoisted atop the dome, a 35-gun salute rattled across Capitol Hill.

A hundred years later on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. declared that black citizens should be judged by the content of their character, not the color of their skin. Hundreds of thousands cheered.

The vast ribbon of grass between the majestic Lincoln and the marble Capitol has been a public stage for all Americans, but African American history especially has played out on and around the Mall in scenes that are symbolic, salutary and shameful.

Everywhere on the Mall are echoes of marching feet, slaves' cries, market peddlers' calls, children's laughter and the singing of black men at the Million Man March. Click here to read more

The Dead Emcee Scrolls : The Lost Teachings of Hip-Hop by Saul Williams...read it

A must read...will discuss later.

Dr. Brenda M. Greene responds to "Their Eyes Were Reading Smut"

Dr. Brenda M. Greene responds to the Nick Chiles Op-Ed piece about the state of African American literature. I posted Chiles' piece a few days back here.

excerpt:

As I read Nick Chiles' article, "Their Eyes Were Reading Smut" (January 4, 2006) I was overcome with feelings of déjà vu. His words and experiences echoed my own and those of others who have become frustrated by the preponderance of "street lit" in the marketplace. Yes, this literature has left the tables of urban street vendors, and it has been integrated into African American literary sections in mainstream and independent bookstores. It has taken over the publishing industry. The question is why?

Read her entire response here

Brenda M. Greene, Ph.D., Professor of English Executive Director, Center for Black Literature
Medgar Evers College of the City University of New YorK

banneker city?

Patience Key to Paying Homage
Memorial Design, Money Issues Can Create Years of Hurdles

By Petula Dvorak
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, January 23, 2006; B01

To build a memorial honoring the victims of communism, Lee Edwards raised thousands of dollars with fancy dinners featuring vodka and Chopin. He got glowing reviews from architects and designers who loved the proposed design, a statue called Lady Democracy.

But his 12-year effort was almost derailed by one holdout: a bedridden Advisory Neighborhood Commission member.

"That's what it all came down to. All of us had to go to his nursing home, give the presentation. We had all the pictures, the documents, everyone there, gathered at his bedside. Then he finally gave us approval," said Edwards, chairman of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation.

Lady Democracy, being built two blocks from Union Station, is one of about a dozen Washington monuments waiting somewhere along the path to creation. They include a waterfront park honoring the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.; a memorial to the victims of Ukrainian famine and genocide; and one paying tribute to disabled American veterans.

Many of the sponsors, like Edwards, have learned how long that wait can be. Indeed, when people approach federal officials with an idea in marble, a grand plan in granite, a vision in bronze, they are warned that building a memorial in Washington can take longer than what it commemorates -- the 17-year campaign to erect the National World War II Memorial a case in point.

Roadblocks can include controversy over the site, an arts commissioner who doesn't like the design or, most notably, lack of funding.

"Looking at raising this kind of money -- whew. It's like that old African proverb: 'How do you eat an elephant?' It's got to be one bite at a time," said Peggy Seats, who is exhausted and broke but optimistic as she talks about raising $25 million to build a statue, clock tower and visitors center at L'Enfant Plaza to pay tribute to Benjamin Banneker.

She's been at it for nine years. Click here to read more

big ups...

Props to my man Alan King who got another one of his articles run in the The District Chronicles newspaper (COVER ARTICLE). Actually he was one of the first reporters to write such a feature on the Straight, No Chaser Production crew, but the newspaper industry can be very petty when it comes to running stories in a timely fashion. In any event check out the story here

what are you reading?

# Copyright 2006The New York Times Company
January 4, 2006
Op-Ed Contributor
Their Eyes Were Reading Smut
By NICK CHILES
Snellville, Ga.

LAST month I happened to go into the Borders Books store at the Stonecrest mall in Lithonia, Ga., about a half-hour from my house here. To my surprise, it had one of the largest collections of books by black authors that I've ever seen outside an independent black bookstore, rows and rows of bookcases. This is the sort of discovery that makes the pulse quicken, evidence of a population I've spent most of my professional life seeking: African-American readers. What a thrill to have so much space in a major chain store devoted to this country's black writers.

With an extra spring in my step, I walked into the "African-American Literature" section - and what I saw there thoroughly embarrassed and disgusted me. Click here to read more

big ups...

:
I just wanted to shout out Dax Devlon Ross, for highlighting some DC area folks in his new book The Untold Stories of African Americans Forging Their Own Paths in Work and Life. He highlights: Gabe Benn (Asheru, of Unspoken Heard), W.Ellington Felton, Jair Lynch, Lisa Stevens, and Kymone Freeman. If I missed anyone let me know....

more reasons to dislike Wal-Mart? or just a bad software glitch?

Wal-Mart ends automated movie suggestions
By Marcus Kabel, Associated Press
Wal-Mart Stores is shutting down the automated system that creates movie recommendations on its shopping website after the system randomly linked a Planet of the Apes DVD to films about African-Americans including Martin Luther King Jr., the company said Thursday.

Wal-Mart said it had fixed the immediate problem by removing what it called the "offensive combinations" from a webpage on www.walmart.com advertising a boxed DVD set, Planet Of The Apes: The Complete TV Series.

Under "Similar Items," the page linked shoppers to four movies about the lives of the slain civil-rights leader, actress Dorothy Dandridge, boxer Jack Johnson and singer Tina Turner. It was manually changed by 5:30 p.m. CT to link shoppers instead to DVD sets of Friends, Everybody Loves Raymond and Star Wars.

But the world's largest retailer said the automated system that generates links for shoppers from one movie to others of similar interest is malfunctioning and is in the process of being shut down. All cross references would be removed as soon as technically possible until the system can be fixed, Wal-Mart said.

"We are heartsick that this happened and are currently doing everything possible to correct the problem," Wal-Mart spokeswoman Mona Williams said in a statement. Click here to read more

around my way

Southeast Washington Hospital Deal Announced

By Susan Levine
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 5, 2006; 12:12 PM

A $400 million hospital proposed for Southeast Washington, pushed by supporters as a medical mecca that will transform health care in long-underserved neighborhoods, was signed into official development today by Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) and the president of Howard University.

With understated flourish, Williams and H. Patrick Swygert put their names on an exclusive-rights agreement to guide the joint venture in coming months. The National Capital Medical Center would include a 250-bed facility and top-level trauma care, as well as a physicians office building and ambitious research focus. It would be completed by 2009 on the grounds of the former D.C. General Hospital, which Williams closed nearly five years ago despite staunch community opposition.

The mayor urged the D.C. Council to approve the project without delay -- and without requiring it to go through the independent regulatory review that such major capital construction typically would face.

Williams called it a "historic day for our city" and said the hospital "will help change lives for the better in our city." Click here to read more

DC's Musical and Cultural Ambassadors

Most of you probably already know this but for those who don't K'Alyn, our beloved cosmic crooner is in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia for the next six months doing a residency at a place called Harlem Jazz. I remember when i first saw the email about him doing this i was extremely excited, because it reminded of another great African american musical artist from DC who travelled to Ethiopia not only as a musician, but as a cultural ambassador, Duke Ellington. I don't remember all the details, but i do know that was in Addis Ababa, back in 1973. I am sure there may have been plenty of American born non-Ethiopian cats to have travelled to Ethiopia, but i still think it is noteworthy that an African AMerican musician of the "hip hop generation" is there doing that kind of musical and cultural work. See some pics of his travels here

Speaking of cultrual ambassadors....International Hip Hop pioeer and visionaries Opus Akoben are at it again. They are about to embark on an excusion to the Middle East and Northern Africa (If i am not mistaken, someone will surely correctly if i am wrong).

I think that these are extremely important events, not only for them as artists and msusicians, but also as ambassadors for young african americans creating culture and images. Some of you may have seen on this site and others the store in Malawi called "Niggers", this is happeneing becuase of the product that is being exported in our names emdorses. I realize that the world is a big place and that there is quite a but of stuff out there being exported with our stamp of approval on it, whether or not we actually endorse it, but i think every little but helps and i am porud that K'Alyn and Opus Akoben are out there in the world abroad doing our bidding.

http://www.myspace.com/kalynmusic
http://www.kalynmusic.com/
http://www.opus-akoben.com/

does your hiphop (or it's listeners) do this....

Should hip hop take the rap for rioting?
(Filed: 08/12/2005)

French politicians have called for legal action to be taken against hip hop musicians in the wake of the French riots. Joe Muggs reports

The waves of riots that swept across France this year have had an unexpected consequence for the French music industry. Click here to read more

does your affluent suburb do this....

Pr. George's Community a Sanctuary No More
Residents Who Fled D.C. Crime Bolster Security Efforts or Ponder Next Move

By Avis Thomas-Lester
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 3, 2006; A01

Three miles beyond the Capital Beltway, Woodmore South seems far removed from the violence and fear that has infested some Prince George's County neighborhoods.

The upscale subdivision, with its rolling green lawns along wide and winding roads, reflects what draws many residents to the county: a chance for a classic suburban life in a community where most neighbors and political leaders are African American.

But consider the past several months: In June, a Woodmore South boy was beaten at nearby Six Flags America, and a teenage girl was shot after leaving a neighborhood graduation party. At one nearby shopping mall, a young man was beaten to death in early November. At another, a District man was shot Dec. 10. Earlier that day, an argument at a popular restaurant led to a fatal shooting a few blocks away.

"Sometimes it feels like crime is everywhere in Prince George's," said Pamela Gaines, who moved from Dupont Circle to Woodmore South, a subdivision in Mitchellville, nine years ago.

The county and its incorporated cities recorded 173 homicides in 2005 -- surpassing the record 154 set during the crack epidemic in 1991 -- and a car was stolen every half hour. Although most of the crime remains concentrated inside the Beltway, residents in such suburban enclaves as Mitchellville, Bowie and Fort Washington are going through an upheaval, psychic and otherwise. Click here to read more