Happy Birthday Bright Eyes!!

To one of the most important people to me in the world to me I wish you I very happy Birthday!!!!

Say you soon!!

A Leader!!!!!!

 |2/11/90| Nelson Mandela was freed from Victor-Verster Prison in South Africa after 27 years.

Before The Money Was Young & Nicki Wasn't A Barbie

Dirty Money - Nicki Minaj from JAMES DELGATTO on Vimeo.

Be clear I dont find this flow that impressive at all but I think it's nice to bring context to what Ms Minaj was and how she's come along. I'll leave it to y'all to decide if it's an evolution or not.

These Internets Have Come A Long way

Planet Rock : The Story Of Hip Hop & The Crack Generation [Video]

I'll be honest, I was turned off by this when I 1st heard of it. Hip Hop & Crack? But I was surprised and impressed by the level of detail in this program and just how much of a role the drug game did actually play in the early stages of Hip Hop.

Check it out after the jump.....

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9/11 Thoughts

 There are any number of things that I can say about that day. The details of it are burned into my mind as I’m sure they are with many others. Thoughts still feel fresh, the initial reactions and the close minded “world” view that was violently ripped apart that morning. For some reason it is the silence of that day that stays with me. On a beautiful day, weather-wise, I drove through the streets of New Rochelle looking for a something normal. It was supposed to be the 1st day of my senior year at Iona. Having set a schedule that allowed me to sleep in; I was home vs. being on campus when Satan had his moment. It wasn’t long before I hopped in the truck to link up with who ever may have been around. But the turned up empty as the streets were empty. It’s not the empty that comes from it being late and folk are asleep, or the empty from bad weather. It was that frightened, shocked, stuck with fear empty. Even the Projects were quiet…..

It all changed after that day and I guess to be still alive 10 yrs later says a lot. You see we weren’t around for a 1st Moon walk, Presidential killings, Nuclear Bombs or Pearl Harbor. But in our hour of hell 9/11 craved its own unique slot in the history of the world. We can revisit the past Evils through grainy black and white, aging photos and news reels. There were no HD news cameras on Hiroshima, no Internets for the Reign of Hitler, and no 24hr cable news networks for the Titanic or the Hindenburg. Not just did we see the unimaginable but it was crystal clear, sharp, vivid and as real to the eye as the office I currently sit in, no matter where you were.

I could only imagine what Twitter and Facebook would have looked like that morning……

News12 Reports of 9/11 Terror Threats. Asks me how I feel as well.

Just Paying Attention

I watch behavior patterns, cycles and re-occurring trends. History repeats itself if you don't pay attention. And while I can't control others I can control how react and respond to them. And how much I allow myself to be apart of such repetitious actions.

20 Years in 20 Seconds.....

Time sure flies.....

S/O Colloquial Lanuage for the Image

Talib Kweli Speaks On The Black Leadership Now & Then

MTV Shows

MTV is on their annual Black History Month kick but Talib holds it down 24/7/365 so check this out.

“Without trying to disrespect anybody’s beliefs, [Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X] are our prophets for our generation,” Kweli said. “In the scope of history, they haven’t been gone for too long. Someone asked me ‘Do you think the spirit of King is in hip-hop?’ And if you think about it, hip-hop wouldn’t exist without King. Our whole movement is based on Dr. King and Malcolm X.”

Kweli is right, while maybe non-violence isn’t the largest professed ethos of rap, the fact that a people can funnel their opinion, stories and experiences through an artistic venue that’s broadcast internationally is proof that King’s work wasn’t in vain. Kweli went on to discuss who he believes are some of the new leaders in the black community.

“Right now, I shouted out Marc Lamont Hill earlier, I really like that brother a lot and what he’s been able to do for our community. He’s been able to plug me in to certain things that I needed to be plugged into,” the Black Star MC said. “I work a lot with Lumumba Akinwole-Bandele and Monifa Bandele from the Malcolm X Grassroots movement, people who are in the business who are also activists as well, like April Silver and Dream Hampton. These are people that I discuss things with that I feel are the new leadership, and even on the political level — I stay far away from politics but — I like that we have politicians like Kevin Powell and Cory Booker, who apply a hip-hop mentality to what they do. Whether or not we agree on everything is secondary, they apply a hip-hop mentality and that goes as far as the president too. I appreciate these brothers and I want to support them.”

Industry Flashback Grown Folk Edition

In the past when I've mentioned some of the places I used to deal with. This was one of my primary promo/hustle spots. I'd get home just beating the sun but honestly, fresh $ in my pocket was adrenaline enough to keep me up all day.

What was Chivalry really???

A professor back in college explained chivalry like this.

During the middle ages, chivalry was a GAME that the military nobility made up to play with the noblewomen at court. It was never designed to be taken seriously, or literally.

First off, the whole chivalrous GAME had nothing to do with sex. An officer/nobleman had the ability (hell, even the right) to take sex from any lower class woman that he wanted, any time that he wanted. So, if he needed sex, he could get it. However, for an officer/nobleman to be caught screwing a noble woman could have disastrous (possibly career-ending or life-ending) consequences for both parties, as well as for their families. For all intents and purposes, the noble women at court were untouchable, unless the nobleman married them. And marriages at court were not done for love. They were more like corporate mergers between two noble houses.

So you have noblemen, who are getting their sexual needs met elsewhere, but who still have to be around and interact with these untouchable women on a daily basis (women who will one day be their wives). Then you have the noblewomen who, being women, still want to flirt with and get attention from the men around them. So the men created the GAME called chivalry. They started with the simple human mating game, where a male performs certain actions designed to garner the attention and favor of a female (for example: complementing some facet of her appearance, or performing a service for her), in order to obtain the reward of procreation. Then they would see who could draw out those favor-inducing actions to the farthest and most ridiculous degree, and also, who could do so for the smallest and most insignificant of rewards. So you have men writing incredibly long, flowery poems to women, where they wax on ad-nauseum about her great and wonderful beauty, all so that they can ask to be allowed to present her with a rose Or you have men performing complex tasks for some noblewoman all for the reward of being able to carry her favor (ie: her handkerchief). Chivalry was a GAME played by a group of bored men, designed to allow them to interact with a group of untouchable women in a way that would: (1) not get them killed or broken in rank, and (2) would not alienate or offend the very small group of women from whom their wife would eventually be chosen.

Interesting how things change and evolve......that something that people say is now dead may not have even originally been intended to be anything more then a game.

BET'S My Mic Sounds Nice: A Truth About Women & Hip Hop

Last night BET debuted a long over due program to discuss the issue facing females in the Hip Hop game. It was a great presentation and I can only pray we get a continued representation of the female M.C like this.


2183215949
Uploaded by yardie4lifever2.
Hit the Jump for the remaining 2 parts of the program.

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The Murderer of Malcolm awaits his Freedom

The man who killed El Hajj Malik El Shabazz a.k.a. Malcolm X in cold blood, is set to be released from jail.

Thomas Hagan is the only man to admit to assassinating the leader and was found guilty of murder for his shooting death on February 21, 1965 on the stage of the Audubon Ballroom.

The convicted killer was granted parole on March 3rd and is now scheduled to be released on April 28th.

Before being granted parole, he was allowed to spend 12 hours a week in a work release program and allowed to spend time at home with his wife and kids.

X was speaking to a crowd of his followers when he was gunned down by Hagan, Norman 3X Butler and Thomas 15X Johnson.

Hagan was shot in the leg by one of X's bodyguards and almost beaten to death by the crowd

Columbus what?????

You already know.......

RIP BIG MOON DOG BKA BIG PUNISHER!!!!!!

November 10, 1971-February 7, 2000

"5 boroughs thoroughly reppin' lets unite the city and step to the world as a weapon!!"

-BIG PUN
You Came Up off Capital Punishment

So why u claiming it?????

You said on the One Blood remix "I'm BicCin' BacC B'in Bool on the Eastside". Yet you say you don't know much about it? Sad that a legion on youngsters love this clown.In spite of that I will be checCin' this film out personally.

J'adore Presents.......

Via HipHopDx

J’adore Magazine Celebrates Black History Month
February 3rd, 2009 | Author: Salima Koroma

This month, J'adore magazine will be celebrating black history by paying homage to some of black Hollywood's most prominent entertainers. In addition to highlighting African American culture, the publication will include a visual tribute to film legends Sidney Poitier and Dorothy Dandridge.

Having been in publication for nearly a year and a half, J’adore assures its readers that it has the “best of all worlds,” merging lifestyle, fashion, and editorials that focus on a myriad of races and issues. Its previous covers have ranged from Kim Kardashian, to Ed Hardy brand creator Christian Audigier, to rapper The Game [click to read].

Gracing this issue's cover, however, will be Elise Neal whose credits include roles in films such as Malcolm X, Rosewood, and Hustle and Flow. Also to be featured within the Hollywood-themed fashion edition are some of the business’ familiar and upcoming entertainers, Tamala Jones, ATL's Jackie Long, comedian Kevin Hart, and former Miss America Kenya Moore.

Words of the 44th......

They speak for themselves.


OBAMA: My fellow citizens:

I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.

Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because we the people have remained faithful to the ideals of our forebears, and true to our founding documents.

So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.

That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.

These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land — a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.

Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America — they will be met.

On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.

We remain a young nation, but in the words of scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of shortcuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted — for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things — some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.

For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.

For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.

For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.

Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.

This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions — that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act — not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.

Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions — who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.

What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them — that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works — whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account — to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day — because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.

Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control — and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart — not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.

As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our founding fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.

Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.

We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort — even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.

For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus — and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.

To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West — know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.

As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us today, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages. We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment — a moment that will define a generation — it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.

For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.

Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends — hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism — these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.

This is the price and the promise of citizenship.

This is the source of our confidence — the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.

This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed — why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.

So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:

"Let it be told to the future world ... that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive...that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet (it)."

America, in the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.

Communications to History.....

After my early morning blog i'm done blogging for today but I wanted to pass this informative link to you guys which gives you ALL the ways to catch Tuesdays historic events.

ClicC Here for the Info.

Short, Simple and Powerful