Change Agent


Peace,

One of the myriad of issues that black people face all over the world is economics servitude & disenfranchisement. There are a number of proposed solutions to this problem (Job Training, Integration, Socialism, etc.) many of which work in isolated situations but don't seem to be able to taken to scale. Below is an article from the Philadelphia Daily News about Progress Plaza in Philadelphia, the first Black shopping center in the country. The methodology used to develop the project is one that can be applied to any situation for the economic sustanance of the community. Check it out & tell me what you think!




THOSE THUGS who disrupted the opening gala at the Pearl Theater in December were firing live ammunition.
But it turns out it was all just a test.

The incident, which marred the $1 movie night at the Avenue North Complex at Broad and Oxford streets and which left one gunshot victim seriously injured, looked like a major setback for the $100 million development that community leaders had been working on for years.

Bart Blatstein's Tower Investments built the Pearl as the centerpiece of a block-square complex that houses retail outlets, restaurants and social-services facilities under one roof. It's the key project in a revitalization plan for a re-emerging swath of North Philadelphia where a number of commercial developments and 6,000 housing units have sprung up in the last 10 years.

Everyone said the right things after the shooting. Blatstein said he would not be deterred. Community and political leaders sounded determined. Indeed, the Pearl has been packing them in at its seven-screen multiplex.

But I really wasn't sure that their optimism would stand the test until last week, when Progress Investment Associates broke ground at Broad and Jefferson streets for the brand-new and much-improved Progress Plaza.

The shooting incident wasn't even an afterthought when I talked yesterday with Wendell R. Whitlock, who heads Progress Investment Associates.

"That was just a couple of knuckleheads" Whitlock said. "We weren't discouraged at all by that.

The $16 million renovation they are undertaking will only increase security on North Broad Street.

"There will be a lot more light and a lot more motion and activity," Whitlock said. "What we're doing just complements what's happening across the street."

What they are doing is updating and upgrading a dream that began 40 years ago at Zion Baptist Church at Broad and Venango. The concept came from the heart and head of the late Rev. Leon Sullivan. He sold his congregation and the rest of the city on the idea of building their own economic-development engine.

He called it the "360 plan."Investors bought shares at $1 a month for three years, creating a fund that financed the original Progress Plaza in 1968.

"They put $200 per share into a for-profit and $160 in a nonprofit fund," Whitlock said. "Reverend Sullivan warned them they weren't going to make much money."

They received one cash dividend in 40 years. But the success of the first shopping plaza ever built by a working-class community was a model that was replicated around the country. That was an added dividend.

In time, the plaza became a casualty of economic downturns and a sharp population decline as people moved out of North-Central Philadelphia for greener pastures. Progress Plaza barely remained afloat.

But a building boom, leveraged with public money, and Temple University's rapid expansion are repopulating and re-energizing the neighborhood. Progress Investments retooled its board and started raising funds.

"State Senator Shirley Kitchen was first," Whitlock said. "She found us $1 million for soft costs; Dwight Evans came up with $1 million and Curtis Thomas.

"Governor Rendell came up with $3 million. We got a half-million from the city Commerce Department."

All of which led to a favorable financing deal with the Reinvestment Fund that provided $10 million.

"We have begun work to extend the old Eckerd drugstore at Broad and Jefferson by 3,000 feet to include a Citizens Bank with drive-in windows, a Payless shoe store and a retailer to be named," Whitlock said.

Phase two will add 6,000 square feet to the office and retail complex at the back of plaza facing Broad Street. Patterson-Bittenbender, a joint venture between minority-owned and woman-owned construction companies, is scheduled to complete the first two phases by late fall. A 42,000-square-foot Fresh Grocer supermarket is slated for opening a year later.

"You better believe I was waving Reverend Sullivan's flag all the way," Whitlock said. "I couldn't have done this without his legacy."

A legacy that has been shown to be bulletproof

2 Sides of the coin

Peace,

A quick review of the last 10 days or so:

When keeping it real goes wrong AKA Cam on 60 Minutes - Killa on TV was the embodiement of the Dave Chapelle skit. Now, if you've read my writings before, you know that I'm anti-snitching in the context of the so-called 'war on drugs'or freedom fighters across the globe b.u.t. the examples that Cam gave were ridiculous... There's a big difference between 1)Person A who sells drugs & kills telling on person B who sells drugs & kills in order to get a reduced sentence & 2) Calling the cops about a person that abuses kids, rapes kids & kills without regard to consequences. The first is a rat of the lowest kind; the second, a person with common sense.

As I watched it, it reminded me of the unmentioned part of the "no snitchin ethic"; Street justice... There was a time where we didn't go to the cops when people trangressed against the community & the men handled it themselves. As our community has broken down, we stopped policing ourselves which made it easier for the police state to come in and oppress the community. Youth of today only know the most obvious aspect of the code, so they take it out of context & go bonkers with it. I know a kid (A&B student, by the way) who got kicked out of school for AA because him & his homies jumped a kid for 'snitchin'. It's up to those of us who know better to give the youth more context & culture in their lives so that they pass on healthy ideas in the future.

Violence is as American as Cherry Pie - The Virginia Tech massacre was truly tragic & my condolences go out to the families of those slain. The biggest thing that should come out of this horrible event is that violence is an american problem, not a Black/Brown problem. As I checked out the coverage of the tragedy & built on it with various people, the following questions came to mind:

1) How did he get more that 100 rounds off without the campus police catching him first?
2) How come there weren't any undercover police in the classes? It's a known fact that they have them at most major colleges
3) Why is our MH system in this country a total failure? All of the money spent to lock up non-violent first time drug offenders & no money for those who are potential threats to themselves & their communities if not treated
4) How come it's easier to get a gun than a passport?


Crew Love - Bush & his minions are as loyal a bunch as I've ever seen... Even in the face of obvious failure, they stick together! Attorney General Gonzales was clearly flustered & reaching for answers during his testimony for congress & still Bush has his back. A fair amount of idealism is good because it allows you to see beyond today's limitations; Idealism like GW will lead you into a gun fight with a pocket night. One has to respect their heart though; they've been able to defend the indefensible with the war bill veto. The Demos still haven't been able to find the right PR spin to really make the Republicans' insanity obvious.

Life's Like A... Pt.2


Peace,

After doing my initial post on chess, I began to pay more attention to any articles about in the media. This morning (April 13th/Knowledge Understanding), I saw an article about a Puerto Rican youth & chess that is eye-opening to see the least. There's something seriously wrong when a expert chess player hates school, & I don't mean with him either. It's a sad commentary on today's educational landscape, & an indicator of the lack of community safety nets needed to grab youth with obvious skills & intelligence. Check the article, & tell me what you think!!


Teenage Riddle: Skipping Class, Mastering Chess
By TIMOTHY WILLIAMS
It is early afternoon, 20 minutes into G band — or sixth period — at Edward R. Murrow High School in Brooklyn. But today, Shawn Martinez, a third-year student, and one of the stars of its national championship chess team, is nowhere near school.

Instead, while his classmates memorize the periodic table of the elements, perform Shakespeare or solve for x, Shawn, wearing a black do-rag under a brown Yankees cap, distractedly watches a pickup chess match inside the atrium of a building on Wall Street. The place is a hangout for chess hustlers.

Shawn, 16, skips a lot of school — “It wasn’t weeks that I missed, it was months,” he says — but he is no ordinary truant. He is so gifted a chess player that he has claimed a place among the top young players in the nation after learning the game only four years ago. He is also important to Murrow’s chances of capturing its fourth consecutive national high school title; the tournament begins today in Kansas City, Mo.

Shawn comes to Wall Street to play a type of chess called blitz, a game in which the ticking of a three-minute clock eliminates the ponderous pauses of traditional chess and transforms the game into a fevered, trash-talking street sport in which money, not prestige, is the prime motivator. For Shawn, a large bet might be $10 a game.

“It helped my game to play for money,” said Shawn, dismissing as “average” the players he had been watching. “I love chess with a passion. It’s all the situations you get put in — it’s like life to me. It’s like anger to me. Sometimes, if I don’t like something that’s happening, I can take my anger out on the chessboard.”

Murrow has no varsity sports; its nationally known chess team is a source of deep pride at the school. And while Shawn’s story has echoes of the classic tale of the star high school athlete who struggles academically but remains on the team, it is also very different. Instead of marveling about quarterback options and touchdown passes, his supporters speak about castling and checkmates. And no one questions his intelligence.

Charming and funny, Shawn has a remarkable long-term memory, and parries easily with older members of the Wall Street crowd as he takes their money. He is by turns quiet and boisterous, open and defensive, and seems easily bored. He says he does poorly in English class, but he is well spoken. During nearly three years at Murrow, Shawn has missed so many classes that he is credited with passing only three courses.

Administrators and the teacher who runs the club say they have struggled with Shawn, and are seeking a balance of how to engage him in his studies without barring him from the one thing about which he is passionate. Beth Siegel-Graf, Murrow’s assistant vice principal for student guidance, said allowing Shawn to compete on the team is part of a strategy intended to keep him from dropping out altogether.

“What we try to make students and parents understand is that students doing poorly in school are hooked to the building because of their extracurricular activity,” she said. “We try to use that activity as a hinge.”

A math teacher named Eliot Weiss started the school on its road to becoming the powerhouse it is today when he formed a chess club; Murrow is now able to attract some of the city’s best young players. The team was the subject of a recent book, “The Kings of New York,” by Michael Weinreb, an occasional contributor to The New York Times. Two years ago, the team met President Bush in the White House.

Shawn, like many great players, has been blessed with the combination of an amazing visual memory and the ability to essentially see into the future by predicting various outcomes within a few seconds. During the past two years, Shawn has raised his United States Chess Federation rating more than 100 points to 2,028, giving him the rank of expert, a level just below master, and ranking him No. 19 among 16-year-olds. During that same two-year period, however, he has flunked every class.

His relationship with chess sums up his contradictions: he loves it, yet in one candid moment he said it had ruined his life. He had strong grades in sixth grade, he said, but was failing in seventh — the year he started playing. And he rejected the opinions of adults that he benefits from his relationship with the game.

“I became addicted to chess,” he said. “They think they did something for me, but they didn’t. Chess didn’t save my life. They want to make it like I’m a kid from the ghetto and I can play chess and that’s special. Why does it have to be like that? It’s embarrassing. They compare me to my environment — the way I dress to chess. You don’t have to be the brightest person in the world to play chess.”

Perhaps the most significant of those adults, Mr. Weiss has evolved into something of a father figure for Shawn, whose own father died when he was young. The teacher said he was taken aback by Shawn’s chronic underperformance.

“I have never had a student this talented in a particular skill — not just talented, but one of the best in the country — and so disinterested in schoolwork, not understanding what it means to fail high school,” Mr. Weiss said.

On some days, Shawn does attend classes with about 10 other students who are also behind. On many other days, he simply does not bother. He likes math, but the algebra course he has been forced to take repeatedly is too easy, he said, so he does not make an effort. “The sad thing is, some of the kids can’t even do it,” he said.

Murrow, a 4,000-student school in the Midwood neighborhood with a far-reaching variety of course offerings that are reminiscent of a small liberal arts college, was founded in 1974, and it gives its students considerable freedom. Periods are called bands. There are no bells, and no one is herded from class to class. Free time is scheduled into every school day, and students can choose to eat, to sleep, to do homework, to do nothing or, as Shawn has often done, to play cards in the cafeteria.

“It is a school where if you don’t have your personal responsibility together, you could drop out,” Shawn said.

Ms. Siegel-Graf, the assistant vice principal, said Shawn was allowed to accompany his teammates on the plane to Missouri on Wednesday afternoon after a conference at which he promised that, this time, he would begin going to school regularly. Shawn turns 17 on April 24 — 11 days after the nationals start — and Ms. Siegel-Graf said Shawn and the school had worked out an arrangement in which although he would still be technically enrolled at Murrow, he would begin taking courses to prepare for the G.E.D diploma.

The rules for the national tournament require students to be enrolled full time in school in the United States or its territories for the entire semester. They also state, “The coach is responsible for assuring that all of his players are properly registered and eligible to participate as members of his team.”

On a recent Thursday, a few weeks before the nationals, Shawn said he had not gone to school because he had a sore throat. Later, he said he had run out of minutes on his mobile phone and needed to win some money playing chess to pay the bill.

Here, among the businesspeople and tourists on Wall Street, Shawn sticks out with his Yankees cap, baggy jeans and well-worn red and black Nike high tops, but he also mixes easily with the stockbrokers and others who come to play.

They challenge Shawn and lose their money, even after he warns them he is an expert.

“What I do is allow them to think they can beat me,” he said, though he denies adamantly that he is a hustler. “It’s gambling, and gambling you do at your own risk.”

Playing chess for money is a gray area in the law. The state statute generally prohibits wagering on “games of chance,” but it is unclear whether chess falls into that category. A Police Department spokesman did not respond to a request to clarify the matter.

Shawn was taken away from his birth mother when he was one week old because of her crack cocaine habit. Lidia Martinez, a widow who is Shawn’s adoptive mother, said she knew immediately upon seeing the week-old Shawn that she wanted to adopt him. Ms. Martinez acknowledged however, that she, like everyone else, had failed to get her son to go to class. “He believes he’s too smart for school,” she said.

Shawn says he is able to remember his biological father, who died when he was 2. He says he can even recall his own first birthday.

At Murrow, Shawn is the third best chess player, behind the seniors Alex Lenderman and Sal Bercys, who are each among the top 2,000 players in the world. They were both featured prominently in Mr. Weinreb’s book, while Shawn appeared in fewer passages. In one he is described as being “monosyllabic” and unable to let his guard down.

“The kid’s been an enigma since junior high school,” Mr. Weinreb wrote. “He has a gift, that much is clear, and he’s managed to discover it amid a life that has been fraught, like so many in the city, with disappointment.”

While Alex and Sal have played since around the time they started kindergarten, have had private coaches, and have extensive experience at tournaments, Shawn claims to have never even cracked a chess book. “I never studied a book in my life,” he said. “I’m too bored.” Shawn said he learns by playing, often against opponents online. He favors an aggressive style that employs his pawns as attackers.

“When you put pawns together, there’s no stopping them,” he said. “You put two or three together and they practically control the whole game. People know me for my pawns.”

Black & Brown: A tale of 2 Banks


Peace,

Whenever the discussion comes up regarding immigrants & the effect they have on the economy, one of the main reasons that people say that brothers & sisters from Africa, Asia and Latin America come here & do better than indigenous original people is "They work harder". Maybe it's me, but in my estimation, nobody has collectively worked harder under adverse conditions than Black folks; There are plenty of people who are working smarter than Black folks, & that's the large reason for the swift upward mobility of many original people who get to this country. Here's an allegory that may add on: There are 2 families who want to go to Bob's Big Boy (I went back on ya); One family who has never been there, but decides to take a friend who goes all of the time; & another family who was given vague directions by a tv commercial plus a friend who went 4 years ago. Who's more likely to get there faster? The 1st family are immigrants & the 2nd are indigenous-born Black people.

Immigrants tend to utilize well established tactics to move up in society (Thrift, Industry Domination, Small Business Ownership, Communal Living, etc..), while we move with the flavor of the day to "make it". One day it's technical school; the next it's something else. Nothing exemplifies this like the article from the Washington Post that you see below. The Black bank focuses on opening branches in every city to appeal to the "Black Lifestyle" , while the Latino one focuses on a variation of micro-lending & community development. While both approaches are needed, one comes across as meat & potatoes, while the other looks like more glitz & glamour.




Two new Washington banks, one seven months old, the other about to open, are taking two different approaches to serving minority communities.

Urban Trust Bank, which opened its headquarters branch at 14th and I streets NW in September, has nationwide plans focused on African American customers. The federally chartered bank is owned by RLJ, the Bethesda-based company headed by Robert L. Johnson, founder of Black Entertainment Television.

NuAmerica Bank won approval from the D.C. Council last week to open a branch in Columbia Heights, from which it will target small businesses in the region's Hispanic sector, according to Julio Lopez-Brito, who will be its chairman.

But the banks' founders share the belief that their target markets are ripe for expansion that would benefit not only minority neighborhoods but also the banks' investors.

"A significant portion of urban consumers continue to be unbanked and under-banked," said Urban Trust's president, Dwight L. Bush. "We actually see these communities as viable, and our mission is . . . to bring these consumers into the financial mainstream, help them to become homeowners, to become entrepreneurs, and help them to create and maintain wealth in their neighborhoods."

Lopez-Brito, who got the idea for a niche bank serving the Hispanic community while working with a public television station aimed at Puerto Ricans, said his bank's goal was to create special relationships with Hispanic-owned businesses that need loans of $25,000 and more.

"It's marrying the idea of community banking, which has been such a proven concept in the U.S., and introducing the immigrant community and small businesses to take advantage of the community bank," Lopez-Brito said. "We will still do individual accounts. If you have a sole proprietorship, we are definitely interested is doing a mortgage for you and your employees. But the relationship will start with the business."

Low-income and minority communities are relatively untapped markets for banks, according to a study released last month by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition. Nearly 21 percent of all U.S. households do not have any relationship with banks, said John Taylor, president and chief executive of NCRC, a nonprofit group founded in 1990 that tries to attract investment to poor communities and neighborhoods. And "countless other consumers," he said, have personal savings accounts but often resort to expensive payday loans, pawnshops and check-cashing services to get cash.

The NCRC study documented the shortage of mainstream, regulated bank branches in working-class or minority neighborhoods, compared with white and upper-income neighborhoods around the country. The Washington area ranked eighth among the 25 cities studied for overall banking services available in lower-income neighborhoods. In recent years, a number of existing Washington area banks have opened branches in minority or low-income neighborhoods.

"Having full-service bank branches in under-served areas is critically important," Taylor said. "Much of the problem we have today in terms of mortgage foreclosures is the absence of full-service branches in low- and moderate-income and minority neighborhoods. "

Lopez-Brito is launching NuAmerica with $3 million from 15 investors, including $400,000 of his own money. The bank is trying to raise the equity to $20 million with an initial public offering, which will close April 30.

"Being owned and locally managed will make a big difference," said Lopez-Brito, a Venezuela native and a graduate of New York University's Stern School of Business. "From the landscaper to restaurant owner to a doctor who needs to outfit his office, we want businesses to be the nucleus of our bank. Second, any customer who wants to walk through the door and talk to the chairman, he can. I will be there. If he or she wants to talk to the chairman of Bank of America, good luck."

Urban Trust is operating on a different scale. It has $30 million in assets, offices in Washington and Orlando, and a federal charter under which it could expand to all 50 states. Johnson, who bought the bank a year ago, is talking with Wal-Mart about putting branches in stores around the country.

That prospect concerns Taylor, who said an Urban Trust-Wal-Mart partnership could undercut existing community banks that have strong relationships with their customers, just as Wal-Mart has been blamed for putting some small-town retailers out of business.

Johnson said a lot of Wal-Mart customers and employees are exactly the people who could use his bank. "We think this in fact gives us more access to people who need our services," he said. "The people who shop at Wal-Mart are a certain income level. They need financial services. They need financial information. They need credit. The people who shop there as well as the people who work there."

Urban Trust is targeting the African American market for mortgages, credit cards, student loans and small-business loans, Johnson said.

"We want to have a national footprint," he said. "There are no national brick-and-mortar African American businesses. You can go from cable companies or store to store and buy Ebony and Black Enterprise magazines, but I don't know where you can walk into an African American bank in Washington, New York, Boston, Charlotte and Richmond."

Johnson said African Americans are overcharged and underrepresented in the credit card market, and that basic credit-background checks overlook a number of African Americans who may be creditworthy.

"There's definitely a need for banks to focus on urban customers with different lifestyles and different financial needs," Johnson said. "Half of African American households are headed by females. They have unique financial needs that come about by being the only breadwinner and having to deal with the economics of meeting financial obligations without a second paycheck in the house, and having to deal with credit discrimination by not having been in the workforce that long. These are all kinds of things that our bank is designed to address."

Mountains & Molehills


Peace,

I'll tell you in advance that I didn't want to write about what I'm writing about... I wanted to write about something that was a much more important topic to me IME (In my estimation). I wanted to avoid the obvious & overcooked topics that are built about everywhere. Nonetheless, I find myself writing about the very thing that I was trying to avoid...

Imus.

Yeah,Imus.

You know why I didn't want to write about Imus? There are a couple of reasons, but the most relevant is that the furor over the Imus issue is classic BLD (Black Leader Displacement). Black Leader Displacement is the focus on individual acts of racism & bigotry over systemic dysfunctions in American society that reinforce structural racism & discrimination. After BLD, what usually happens is PGBTS (People going back to sleep) because they feel that the strike against an individual represents a strike against the system that creates the condidtions that many of us live in.

Classic example: "Kramer" & his rant against "Niggers". There was a huge uproar, Al & Jesse came out against it, "Kramer" apologized profusely & went into rehab, Jerry Seinfeld gave him a polite spanking, & everyone went back to watching
Flavor Of Love. What actually changed? Not a thing. There's still a disparity in health related issues, We still earn less on the dollar, A large segment of men in our community are still unemployable, etc..

So when this came up, I was meditating that people would see it as it is; A redneck shock jock spewing the garbage that resonates with his listeners. You see lost in the hoopla is the fact that Imus is a mouthpiece for the demographic that he represents: working- to middle class white men who want America back. Talk show hosts don't say things that don't resonate with their listeners.

Early last week, I watched the Imus show on MSNBC to get a feel for the show. It was basically a hour of hyper-masculine white humor. They told a couple of bad jokes about Hilary Clinton, talked about politics with a conservative slant, had some musicians on, & shared a couple of bad gay jokes. At that time, I thought to myself "So this is how politics are transferred". I was actually going to write a blog comparing Imus & Steve Harvey before all of this jumped off. Now with the suspension, MSNBC can show that they are 'Politically Correct', Imus can say that he's served his penalty, Jesse can extort some fortune 500 company for 'sensitivity training', & we can all go back to sleep while 15 year-olds (who read at a 4th grade level) with AK-47s go to war in the streets for a dwindling drug trade. All this is not to say that those sisters don't deserve a apology; they do & are to be commended for their intelligent, well-spoken responses at the press conference. What I'm saying is that as long as we settle for the short win over the long victory, we'll find ourselves back here again.

The Babies are the greatest

Peace,

Alot of of the dialogue in Black America (as well as a good number of my posts)center around the issues & problems of Black youth in our community. While there are enough issues to go around, I wanted to take a different approach today and celebrate the positive acheivements of our youth who are braving the negative elements and being successful. Below is a article from the Philadelphia Daily News chronicling the success of Black & Brown babies in a national Mock Trial contest.

I never participated in mock trial; I joined the debate team in High School, b.u.t. I just went for the girls. Even with that, I learned a valuable lesson in the science of organization & preparation in communication. Check it out, & let me know what you think!


JASON PARKER doesn't get nervous.

Not when he's playing a lawyer in front of four real federal judges - and an audience - with nothing but his wits, his research and what he learned in Philly public schools helping him argue his case.

Not when he's opposed by smart students from throughout the nation, some of whom attend the nation's most privileged schools.

Parker was so cool, he earned a nickname at the National High School Moot Court Tournament Sunday:

Mr. Suave.

"Scared money don't win," Parker said with a grin, in an interview yesterday.

Parker, 17, a junior at the Carver High School of Engineering and Science(!), and fellow Carver student, senior Laeeqa Collins-Pressley, 18, made it to the finals at the moot court competition, held at the Washington College of Law at American University in Washington, D.C., on Sunday.

Two other Philadelphia School District students also did well in the competition: Marcelo Morales, a 13-year-old ninth-grader at the Academy at Palumbo, who made it to the semifinals; and Andrew Howard, 15, a ninth-grader at Constitution High School, who reached the quarter-finals.

It was a huge accomplishment for the students, who faced the top moot-court competitors from throughout the country and proved that Philly's young people are not to be out-argued.

"Our students competed against suburban kids from around the country," said Gwen Stern, director of the University of Pennsylvania Law School's Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project.

The project sends about 30 law-school students into city schools to teach students about constitutional law issues that affect teenagers - cases such as police searches, student press rights and high school locker searches. It's in its second year at Penn.

The literacy project culminates in local moot court competitions. The four students who went to Washington for the national competition first won a competition among about 50 other Philadelphia students. In Washington, they competed with about 70 students from around the country, Stern said.

Parker eventually lost to the student who won the moot court competition - and who happens to be going to Stanford University next year, said Stern.

She added that the competition shows what Philadelphia students can accomplish:

"They are extremely bright kids when they are engaged in a subject they're interested in. They become excited and motivated to learn."

The students argued a faked Fourth Amendment case about two teenage brothers who allege that a police officer conducted an illegal search of their vehicle. In the case, the police officer took their photos without permission, searched their car without consent - and found drugs in it.

Students running the tournament at the Washington College of Law came up with the case, which mimicked the kind of illegal-search case that could be argued before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Parker argued for the teens' side; Collins-Pressley argued the government's position.

"This was a very difficult problem," said Penn law professor David Rudovsky, the literacy project's faculty adviser. "Some of my law students would have had a hard time with it on a final exam. But [the high school students] were able to work through it and understand it."

Parker said that when he first started high school at Carver, he was thinking of becoming an engineer.

"Now, after this, I think I'm going to be a lawyer," said Parker, who lives in Nicetown - and who celebrated his 17th birthday on Sunday, the day of the competition.

Collins-Pressley, from the Northeast, said she hasn't ruled the law out completely, but she's still planning on becoming a physics teacher. "I love math, and I just want to expand that into physics," she said.

Andrew Howard, from West Oak Lane, said the experience confirmed for him that law is in his future. Marcelo Morales used to think about becoming a doctor or dentist, but now he also wants to be a lawyer.

Morales' story is especially powerful. He came to the United States from Argentina at age 7, knowing only a small bit of English.

He started in second grade here but skipped third grade and went into fourth grade. He lives in South Philadelphia.

Morales is tall for his age and when Howard heard that he was only 13, Howard did a double-take.

Asked if he felt uncomfortable going up against much older high school students, Morales said he was nervous at first. But a practice round helped.

"After the practice round, that boosted my confidence. I wasn't nervous anymore.

"I was just trying my best." *

Dunce Cappin' & Kazooin'


Peace,

A couple of weeks ago during Civilization Class, a discussion arose regarding the mentality of Black children in contemporary society & the increasing lack of regard for intellect in our community. My brother Shaking (www.yellowseed.blogspot.com) suggested a movie entitled Idiocracy that spoke to some of these issues within society in general. I grabbed the movie & did the 1 to see if it had any relevance to where I saw Black children heading as far as respect for intelligence. While I must say that the movie was pretty funny, the comedy was overshadowed by the cogent & relevant points expressed in the movie. Here are some of the good points that I got out of the flick regarding the general society:

- You know society's in trouble when we accept "scientific evidence" that's paid for by the company over common sense. you want a example, you say? Enter exhibit A: Pork. People know fully well that the pig ain't no good for 'em, b.u.t. in order to fill their desires, they cite reports done by pork lobbying firms.

- When people take tried & tired Clichés (Bush & The Republican War Machine) over actual analysis & evaluation (The Iraq Study Group) as international policy. (For further proof, see conservative talk radio)

- In a world where everywhere changes 180 degrees from how it was, right becomes wrong & vice versa ( See ideas about child rearing & the importance of motherhood in contemporary society)

- As people become conditioned to entertainment, glitz & glamour becomes the order of the day & actually replaces information

How does relate to Black Children? Well, if the larger society is going to hell in a breadbasket, we're going in a gasoline- drenched go kart, as anything that has a negative effect on society usually has a larger effect on us (Joblessness, Poverty, Health Issues, etc..) Due to the structural & behavioral issues that plague our families, Black babies are less intellectually inclined than any time since slavery. Now, I'm not going to go John Mcwhorter on the situation & blame it all on us, b.u.t. the first step to affecting change in any situation is to acknowledge that it exists.

Even during the Crack era, you had young boys & girls who were inclined to learn of their history & culture (courtesy of the NGE & other progressive cultural movements). Remember the Malcolm, Martin, Mandela & Me T-Shirts? Imagine that happening today...

Due to the fact that intelligence doesn't seem to pay off for our children in society, they gravitate towards that which will seem to reward them (Athletics, Music, etc..) Let me give an example: My daughter attends a majority-white school with a fairly rigorous academic cirriculum. In that environment, a voracious appetite for reading is the rule, not the exception. At the all-black after school program she attends, none of the children bring books to read after school, but quite a few of them fancy themselves as future athletes or performers. The diiference in orientation leads to the difference in worldview & activity.

Ironically, the title of the post is from a Clipse song ('Mr. Me Too') that advocates many of the ideas that I've mentioned above. While I am a fan of the Thorton Brothers, I can properly process the song, not have it negatively impact my behavior & activities. There's nothing wrong with dancing, having fun & doing your own thing, b.u.t. the key is to understand the difference between someone laughing with you & someone laughing at you.

Urban Anthropology: The Niggas Of Niggas


In any society, you have a group of people who seem to be the source of a never-ending creativity. In american society, Black people are that group. From music to language, from style to fashion, black people set trends & blaze trails regarding creativity. As far as american society is concerned, Niggas start styles, and everyone else gets rich off of it (which is a whole 'nother post)


Go a little deeper though, & you 'll find a group of folks who set the trends within our community. These brothers & sisters seem to emanate style & creativity with little obvious effort. They are often the trendsetters & style mavens of the community. From language to fashion to music, they are always on the edge of urban culture. While it's true that the aforementioned persons live and do their thing in every city, through my travels & experience, I've identified one city that always seems to be on the cusp of the proverbial "Next $h!t" . New York? Nah. Atlanta? Only recently. Philly? Close but no cigar. Where I am talking about?


Washington D.C.


Yes, Chocolate City. The District. Divine Cee (for those mathematically inclined). After some years of walking & talking with Black people from all over the country from all walks of life, I've come to the conclusion that D.C. starts a lotta trends or styles with the Black community that other cities (Namely New York) steal & give them no credit for being the originators. Now to be true, D.C. has certain cultural elements that don't really transfer (see go-go), b.u.t. even that can be co-opted in some form(As I will build on). Just to give you an idea, I'll share an example:


One of my favorite albums of all time is All For One by Brand Nubian. As a youth, I listened to the album incessantly, and was awed by their creativity in the way of choruses. One song in particular "Drop The Bomb" had a chorus that started like "We gonna drop the bomb on the Yacub crew..." Now me being a young buck & all, I naively assumed that they came up with themselves.


Fast forward to 2006: I'm traveling back to Power Born from D.C. listening to the Go-Go show on WKYS, and what do I hear? A song from the mid-to-late 80's with the chorus "We gonna drop the bomb on the Northeast Crew...." (Northeast being a section of D.C.). To top it off, Brand Nubian's 'Drop The Bomb' had a Go-Go beat as well!


Now, most folks from D.C. are somewhat aware of this, & won't hesitate to let you know about it, b.u.t. for years, I charged it to immense CC pride, born from the uniqueness of the D.C. experience (Living separated from & in the shadows of the nation's capital, Taxation without representation, A combination of the north & the south, High murder rate). It was only recently that I put everything together to arrive at my conclusion. More evidence, you ask? Do the knowledge to these supporting details (Shouts to my righteous brother Divine Culture!):


- New Balances:Until the Mid-90's, Besides the D.C. Area, no Black youth anywhere would touch NB's with a 10-foot pole. Only after Foot Locker decided to exploit the popularity (& price) of the 574 did NB's become a staple in cities across the country.


- Designed T-Shirts/Independent Apparel Companies : Unbeknownst to many, Miskeen Originals had their creative genesis in the D.C. area, having designed for companies like Enduro (A D.C. Based clothing company) & doing freelance designing for companies in the District & B-More. After coming back to Philly & putting them in Dr. Denim (A store in Philly) Miskeen as we know it was born. Anyone who has came through D.C. knows that they were rockin the paint on their shirts for some time. Nowadays, you can see the independent ethic through homegrown lines like Alldaz (one of my favorites), Shooters, Planet Chocolate, Sobiato, & more.


- Nike Boots: This is the contemporary example, & most indicative of my original premise: Those who travel around know that D.C. dudes have been wearing the Nike Boots for years (even when they didn't look too sporty). Somehow within the last year, the style got hijacked by Harlem cats (via Jones & Cam). A couple months ago, Jones appeared on 106 & Park with a fresh pair of ACG's on & declared that they were 'Harlem Kicks'. While in Mecca (on 125th) a few weeks after that, I noticed every other person had a pair on, effectively claiming them as their own.


Now, in the interest of not belaboring the point, I won't go too far into the musical influence (Jay's use of a Go-Go chant for the song "Put your hands up", The Go-Go influenced production of Rich Harrison & Chucky Thompson, Herby Luv Bug from Salt-N-Pepa fame, etc.) but it can clearly be seen in that world as well.


How did this 'borrowing' begin to take place? Well, from my vantage point, there are a few points, b.u.t. the major one is a known trading post for our people: HBCU's. People from all over come to these school & cross-pollination often takes place. Case in point: About 10 or so years ago, I attended a homecoming at a HBCU that featured a HH group (from NY, no less) & A Go-Go group (from DC obviously). Students acknowledge styles, concepts, ideas, culture, etc. from other areas and often add them to their world view. At it's best, it is a space for growth & development through learning about the diversity of the Black experience: at worst, a surface- level appropriation of concepts with no appreciation of their origin.


The irony in this is that the appropriation of culture mimics what is done to us on a consistent basis. This is not to say that you shouldn't pick up things that are attractive & applicable to you: only that it's important to always take a contextual look at what you pick up to insure that you're not a 'culture vulture'. Hey DC will keep doing what is does, just as Black people keep doing what we do. It's just important to know why you do what you do & where it came from so you understand it's relationship to you.

Building & Destroying (aka Analysis vs 'Hatin')

Peace,

The impetus to write this particular post came from 2 sources: 1) A article written on thesource.com by an old friend of mine (Daina Richie) on 'hatin' in HH (Check it out if/when you get a chance) & 2) An article by a God whose views I respect b.u.t. dont always agree with.

The title of this post is 'Hatin vs. Analysis' and it's based on the following questions: How do you know when your analysis becomes "Hatin"? Is there a difference? How much of this is real vs. imaginary?

Now anyone who's turned on a radio or opened a HH magazine in the last 10 years is familar with the term "Hatin". The now ubiquitous term originated in the bay (The slang capital of Black America) as a response to anyone (usu. "squares") who spoke ill of a brother who made moves in the street. As it gained momentum outside of the bay through HH, it became more of a general term referring to anyone who leveled criticism (justified or not) at someone's actions.

At the date of this writing, the term is primarily used as a defense mechanism for weaknesses & defiencies. If you don't like a song, you're hatin; If you don't like to wear skulls & tight t-shirts, you're hatin; Disagree with someone's strategies, you're hatin. While at first glance, it seems pretty low on the list of things to worry about, it's actually a little deeper. If you have a community of people who are consistently resistant to critique, criticism, or analysis, they become insulated, slow-moving & growth-resistant. One look at contemporary HH tells the whole story. Now, some of this I can charge to youth, b.u.t. the fact remains that as long as youth adopt that mentality, we'll see the slowest-moving generation in 100 years.

Now on the other side, there are those who utilize analysis & critique as a cover for their hate. The integral ingredient that creates a difference: bias. Critique & analysis have a certain level of neutrality at their base, while bias (& by extension, hating) do not. Scathing & personal remarks lend themselves to what we commonly call hate, & indicate insecurity on behalf of the writer. Vulgar diatribes only interest those who watch Maury for fun & Fox for news.

While the line between analysis & "Hatin" seem blurry, in actuality, intention clearly seperates the two. Knowing the difference will allow us all to grow faster & escape the bottom of the 8 (destroying).

Life's like a ....


Peace,

People say life's like alot of things, b.u.t. for the purpose of this post on this beautiful day of Equality, I'll use the adage "Life's like a Chess Game". Now if we actually go in and break that statement down, we hit some deep & real subjects.

As a youth, the only exposure I had to chess was when I went over my friends' house & saw the chess board sitting on the living room table (R.I.P. Coach K). At that point, it appeared to be the grown-up version of chess, so I left it at that. In middle school, my school had one of the better chess teams in the city, so we would always have programs in the auditorium celebrating their accomplishments (although due to the collective ignorance of the student body, it was never put on par with basketball or the "real" sports). I didnt personally embrace chess until my sophmore year in college, & even then it was begrudgingly, due to my perspective that chess wasn't a indicator of intelligence any more than spades or 21 blackjack being that it could be played out of a book. If I won, I would play it down; If I lost, I would play it down.


Then came Howard's Homecoming of 1997. I gained insight on a number of new issues that night (The NY-DC beef, Club Politics, How not to wear a trench coat, etc..)b.u.t. the true jewel that I earned that chilly October night was the science of chess. Here it goes:

It's 1 am, & the Gods & I are walking on U street towards Ben's Chili Bowl. A brother dressed in a fatigue jacket & a turban looks at us & says "Peace! Who over here plays chess?" One of the better chess players among us replies in the affirmative. My man (in the turban) pulls a plastic board out of his pocket & challenges the God to a match on top of a trash can (using makeshift pieces, no less). They go on to play for a 1/2 hour, back & forth. Keeping in line with his opening admonition, old head in the turban plays very agressive, bordering on reckless; always focusing on his own strengths. Conversely, The God's style was more understated; responding to the moves that were made vs. playing his own hand. In the interest of space, I'll fast forward you to the end; The brother in the FT saying "I'll get you next time".

Besides that story being off the hook, See where I'm going? Both of their chess styles reflected their personalities, & over the 10 years since, I've seen that play out over & over again. People who are aggresive on the board tend to be aggressive in the real world; the same with people who are passive. Here is a small list of the the things that chess has taught me:

- Strategically, no one thing is the end all be all; some chess playes are so scared to lose their queen, it's ridiculous!

- Even the smallest person has potential for growth; A pawn can become a queen if it makes enough forward movement

- Everything isn't what it seems to be; Just because a move looks good, doesn't mean it is

- Plan in advance; The best chess players plan moves in advance. Too often, people plan based upon their present conditions vs. how conditions will be in the future.

- Life is time-sensitive; Windows of opportunity are vital to success & one can't assume that the window will be open forever.

There's a great article about Black chess players that can be found at the websites listed below. In closing, please give youth around you the gift of rational thinking & disclipline, for it's the gift that recreates itself!

Sites to check out:
http://beta.uschess.org/frontend/news_7_285.php
http://www.thechessdrum.net/historicmoments/HM_BlackChess/index.html
http://www.thechessdrum.net/65thSquare/DrumHistory.html

Let's Go Crazy

Peace,
I build that this finds everybody in the best of conditions; mentally, physically, & financially. I know that I've been lunchin' a bit on the blogging, b.u.t. I'm back & ready to build! About 2 weeks ago, I traveled to Philly for business & personal reasons, & I was able to reflect on the similarities and differences between the city that I grew up in & the city that I see now. Philly's always been wild b.u.t. it's like the planet of the apes as far as in the streets, & that's even comparing it to the JBM/Jamaican warfare in 88 & 89. How did the streets get so crazy, you ask? Well before I answer, here's a quote that can provide some context:

"You just looking at the frame; there's a big picture you're missing!"*

What do I mean? when we look at the increasing violence in Philly & cities all over the country, there's a tendency to look at the obvious; the ever-growing culture of sex & violence on television, the breakdown of the black family, etc.. Rarely do we discuss the overarching socio-economic factors that has created what you see out here.

My answer is this: Turbo - Capitalism, Classism, & Racism have combined to create a generation of virtually unemployable Black Men (If worst comes to worst, Black Women can always become a nurse or work at the bank). It starts early, when Black boys suddenly lose interest in anything related to academics. It continues on when Black boys who "act out" are sent to juvenile discliplinary schools that are essentially junior lockups. It happens when Black males are allowed to sit in the back of the class & fail as long as they don't make too much noise or disturb the class. It becomes worse when a 18 year-old who reads at a 3rd grade level decides that selling dope or stealing wheels is a valid career choice, & so on.

All who read my blog know that I dig Good Times; WWJD (what would james evans do?) if he couldn't work at the factory? In the doc Bastards of the party, The narrator directly tied the rise of the B's & C's to post-industrial LA economics; there's not really a mystery about how all of this came together.

Thankfully, this discussion is starting to produce fruitful dialogue. please check the article below from thePhiladelphia Daily Newsthat discusses some of these issues. Next blog, I'll speak on some things that we can do!


WHEN HIS daughter was born two years ago, Lamar Stalworth, 19, wanted a new life. He gave up hustling - selling drugs - and got a job in his North Philadelphia neighborhood cleaning up vacant lots and cutting grass.

Then he lost that job and went for months without an income. Flat broke, Stalworth went back to hustling for a short time.

"But I saw myself being caught up in the game," he says. "And with my daughter, I had more responsibility. I thought, 'Do I really want to do this or not?' "

He decided not, and reached out for help to IDAAY, the Institute for the Development of African-American Youth.

But the appeal of the streets was undeniable.

"Fast money" is what the young men call it. In five minutes, they say, they can make $200 hustling on the corner. It's quick and easy, compared to finding a "legit job" - which they consider a mysterious and frustrating process for which they have few knowledgeable guides.

Stalworth was one of 10 young men meeting in classrooms at Temple University last month, some sent by courts to the IDAAY program for first offenders for possessing guns.

Young men like them - in trouble and with guns - made up the majority of victims and perpetrators of the 2,004 shootings and 406 homicides in the city in 2006. Most perpetrators and victims had criminal records; a large majority had dropped out of school.

Another thing they had in common: Almost all were jobless.

Rising gun violence has alarmed Philadelphians and sent leaders and citizens in search of solutions: more police protection, gun control, curfew and truancy laws, conflict resolution and mental-health treatment.

Now, the city has begun to talk about another potential solution: Getting some of these kids off the streets and into jobs.

Overall, fewer than half of Philadelphians age 20 to 24 have a job, according to 2005 figures. The city neighborhoods with the lowest levels of employment are also among the neighborhoods with the highest levels of crime.

When Bilal Qayyum, an economic-development coordinator in the city Commerce Department and co-founder of Men United for a Better Philadelphia, walked with two other men to Harrisburg last September to protest gun violence, they made the connection explicit: The T-shirts they wore read, "Jobs not Guns."

Their analysis is echoed by experts. "There are many other reasons for crime," says Bernard Anderson, a labor economist at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and deputy secretary of labor in the Clinton administration. "But there's simply no question that the extraordinary rate of joblessness among young black males in urban areas fuels the crime problem."
None of that should be particularly surprising.

But what is surprising is that there may be something businesses and government leaders can do about it.

Barriers to 'legit jobs'

The young men in the IDAAY program - and others like them in Philadelphia's neighborhoods - say they want to work at "legit jobs." They want the stability of a regular paycheck, the credit they need to buy cars or rent apartments, and the self-respect that comes from taking care of themselves and their families.
But motivation, however fierce, is not enough.

The city's young people face big barriers to work. The biggest: More than 40 percent of Philadelphia public-school students end up leaving school without a degree, according to a recent report sponsored by the anti-dropout effort Project U-Turn.

For people with college educations or other post-secondary-school training, area job prospects are pretty good, says Paul Harrington, director of the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University in Boston, who has studied Philadelphia's job market.

But for those who have only a high-school diploma or who have dropped out, "there is no room at the inn," he says.

It's a truth being lived out around the nation. In earlier generations, when manufacturing jobs were plentiful, school had little practical connection to work. That has changed profoundly. Two-thirds of the new jobs created in the United States between 1984 and 2000 required a college education, a trend expected to continue.

"There are forces in the job market that create a new set of challenges that we haven't had in previous generations," says Sallie A. Glickman, founding executive director of the Philadelphia Workforce Investment Board. "For adults looking to get into the job market, the pipeline increasingly is through educational credentials."

So nearly half of Philadelphia public-high-school students, those who don't graduate, are forced into desperate contention for low-skilled jobs - competing not only with each other, but also with adult immigrants and women coming off the welfare rolls.

In that competition, they face more barriers to work.

Despite the return of some retail jobs to neighborhoods including South Philadelphia (now home to Ikea and Wal-Mart) and West Philadelphia (where a Lowe's is planned) most jobs remain clustered in the suburbs or Center City, so transportation is a problem. One young man in the IDAAY program says he traveled to Plymouth Meeting, 90 minutes each way from West Philly, for a job at the concession stand in a movie theater.

Many of the young men say they have applied for jobs but never got called in for interviews. One says he saw a McDonald's manager toss his application into a wastebasket.

Maybe he's lucky to have seen the manager's face: Most retail stores and health-care concerns require job applications to be filed online (for more, see Page 5).
Also, at least a third of African-American men in Philadelphia have criminal records. Background checks effectively eliminate many of them from contention for jobs (see Page 5).

And so the cycle continues - so rapidly, in fact, that Philadelphia may not understand the severity of its unemployment problem.

Anderson, the Wharton economist, makes a distinction between the terms "unemployed" and "jobless."

People who have never had jobs, and people who have stopped looking for work, are not counted in the official unemployment rate. That masks the true state of desperation in many Philadelphia neighborhoods, where more than half of African-American men are not working.

Census data recently showed that 40 percent of city residents age 15 and older reported they were out of work - and not collecting unemployment.
Among young men in Philadelphia age 16 to 24, joblessness continues to worsen. In 2000, about 25 percent of men in the city between 16 and 19 had jobs, well below the national average of 36 percent, says economist Harrington.
In 2005, the employment rate had sunk to 19.7 percent. Things weren't any better for 20- to 24-year-old men: In 2000, 57 percent had jobs. In 2005, the rate had fallen below half, to 49 percent. "These are big losses," Harrington says.
Joblessness and violence

It was a poignant and troubling scene on Feb. 8 outside Community College of Philadelphia, at 17th Street near Spring Garden: Hundreds of people, dressed for success, holding folders with resumes, waiting for hours in bitter cold to enter a career fair.

In a recognition of the role that jobs play in fighting violence, the fair was sponsored by the city as part of its Safer Streets campaign.

In the auditorium, 92 employers were taking applications. The city says more than 2,000 people showed up.

"It shows that people need jobs and that they want to work," says Leon Simmons, director of the Work Wise job-search program in the Mayor's Office of Community Services.

"This is a capitalist country," says Bilal Qayyum. "You've got to work. You've got to pay rent. It's very simple. Everybody has to have an income."

The benefits of work, however, run far deeper than merely paying the rent.

Youth employment is an unrecognized aspect of economic class: The "haves" have the option to work; the "have-nots" don't, and may not understand why it is important.

Research shows that students who work part-time in high school are less likely to drop out and more likely to go on to post-secondary schooling. Over the years they tend to earn more than those who didn't work when they were students.
"If there's one thing that kids with an advantage do, it's that they work," says Glickman, of the Philadelphia Workforce Investment Board. "That's the difference between middle-class families and the kids that are on the other end of the spectrum."

One of the men in the IDAAY program put it this way: Working is "starting on your manhood."

Not working, on the other hand, can prompt young men to prove their manhood in different, destructive ways.

Like most American cities, Philadelphia is home to a growing number of young people who are both out of school and out of work - in 2004, that group made up 24.1 percent of all city residents age 16 to 24. Urban-poverty experts call them "disconnected," with serious consequences both for them and for their cities.
Elijah Anderson, professor of sociology at the University of Pennsylvania and author of the 1999 book "Code of the Street," has made one of the most persuasive connections between the city's joblessness and violence.

He says that the scarcity of even low- wage jobs and the reduction of welfare benefits feed an underground economy of barter and informal arrangements - some legal, some not.

"Respect" - the power to exact vengeance against others - is the coin of the realm for these arrangements, says Anderson. The demand for respect often is the source of disputes that escalate into gunshots.
And that's one reason that, as in most cities, violence in Philadelphia is limited by geography and social class, only rarely breaking out of the city's poorest neighborhoods.

Yet, although Philadelphia taxpayers are not all in equal danger of being shot, all do bear the financial burden of the shootings.
The price is stunning: According to former City Councilman Ed Schwartz, who chaired the Philadelphia Tax Commission in 2004, more than 40 percent of the city budget - $1.3 billion - is spent responding to crime.

Looked at this way, the joblessness that leads to violence is more insidious than mere lack of money, and jobs are more valuable than the income they produce.
What could turn it around

Getting more Philadelphians to work will require big, systemic fixes as well as targeted programs. Some of the big fixes - tax policy that supports job creation, economic-development efforts that work with local governments, school reform - are under discussion, even if the methods or the results are up for debate.
What does work, in the interim?

Smaller programs - the kind of help that various workforce development organizations in the city can, and do, provide to potential workers.
One such organization, the Philadelphia Youth Network, provides overall management around jobs for youth in Philadelphia: apprenticeships and internships through public schools; 7,800 jobs for young teenagers with a summer component; and the WorkReady program, which links students to internships in local companies.

To support the work, PYN blends resources from numerous funding streams - government and private foundations and employers themselves.
In the process, PYN makes it easier for employers to take a chance on someone whose resume doesn't jump out, or whose background might engender doubt, says PYN President Laura Shubilla. PYN also runs the payroll for the kids who work.
Through the WorkReady program, employers can tell PYN what kinds of jobs are available and how many kids they can employ. Working with the School District of Philadelphia and 90 community organizations, PYN has the capacity to match kids' interests with work they will enjoy. The kids are pre-screened and given employment supports, and PYN advises companies on how to mentor them.
"We're the eHarmony of youth employment," Shubilla says, referring to a popular online matchmaking service.

Matching kids to the right jobs pays profitable dividends: "Some of the companies hire the kids year-round," says Shubilla. "Many of the employers will ask for the kids back year after year. Some kids have gone to college, and often they come back to those employers when they're on their breaks."

Fast money or fast grave

Employment makes a significant difference in the lives of young people. With support, jobs can transform lives and futures - but Philadelphia is tens of thousands of jobs away from providing opportunity for work to everyone who wants it.
So the responsibility falls to local organizations and businesses to provide pathways out of joblessness and poverty.

Meanwhile, Lamar Stalworth is still looking for a job.

He, and the other young men in the IDAAY program, understand that finding that elusive opportunity holds the potential to save their future - and even their lives.
One young man gave voice to it as the group met at Temple last month:
"Fast money" often leads, he said, to a "fast grave"

The Name Game Pt.2

"Say your name again?"

"What's your real/given name"

"What did your mother name you?"

"Are you a muslim now?"

The above-mentioned questions are familar to anyone in the Black community who has 'changed' their name. It's the subject of many inside jokes when discussing the diversity of our experience. Check this hypothetical convo taking place on any block USA:

Person 1 - "Did you hear that "Insert name here" changed their name?

Person 2 - "Naw. To what?

P1 - "I don't know...Marvin X Farrakhan or something like that..."

P2 - " He must be on some back to Africa thing... If his mother call him 'insert name here', then that's what I'ma call him"

P1 - "You know he still eat pork & like white girls"

While funny, dialogue like this is damaging & counteproductive for a myriad of reasons. One, it binds everyone into whatever mental prison that person in presently incarcerated in. Two, it creates this paradox: names that have no meaning get a wink & a smile, while names that may serve as a representation of self-discovery & self- definition get snide remarks.

Furthermore, the response "well, what did your mother name you?" ain't enough either. Your mother/father may have had the best onlf intentions when naming you, b.u.t. a person may identify qualities that they would like to be known by that may not be present in what we in the NGE call our 'honorable' (called as such due to the level of honor that we give our physical family) names.

While a name is not everything, it serves as an important marker for one's understanding of self. Every culture in the world are known by their names, as it sets the foundation for what's expected from you in society*. When your name gives you no idea of your life's journey, it's hard to recover (as a collective, individuals may have an easier time identifying their purpose).
The next time you encounter someone with a name different than what your used to, you might want to take the time to get some context on what the name means, & why they changed it. Instead of perceiving it as a joke, look at it as another person looking to reclaim a healthy sense of self through cultural means.

* It must be noted that names such as Malcom, Marcus, & the like do have a signifigance due to the legacy that those men established in fighting for the freedom of our people

The "Difference"

When I first caught sound regarding Joe Biden's flap about Barak Obama, I shook my head like everyone else and lamented to myself about the subtle presence of racial bias in all aspects of society. Then (like we all should do before we start to talk about things) I thought about it a little more & drew it up, if you will. The "Obama factor" is one that will play a large role in this election (There's been so much discussion about the 08' election that you forget it's early 07). Below are some of my thoughts on the Flare-up & the larger ramifications of Obama in the race:

- Upon further evaluation, Biden's comments weren't as disrespectful as they seemed to be; he just got tripped up saying it and came across wrong. What he really said was that Obama's the first candidate who's not an "activist candidate" (aka not a rabble-rouser a la Jesse or Al Sharpton). The key will be to see how everyday Black people respond to someone who doesn't speak like a Baptist preacher

- It will be interesting to see how Obama positions himself with respect to the developing Demo field. It's obvious that he can't look to be seen as the "minority" candidate for 2 reasons: 1) He doesn't have those "Credentials" (Demonstrations, food strikes, etc..) 2) We're in a much more moderate America than we were 20 years ago, & being the Black candidate just won't cut it

- Speeches & family life notwithstanding, I still have yet to see what worldview Obama has regarding the myriad of problems that impact America.

- Obama entering the race has the potential to siphon millions of votes from Hillary, who would have gotten most Black peoples' vote on the strength of name-recognition alone

- 3 out of the last 4 presidents have been from the south; How Obama will connect with the hicks in Tennessee is anybodies guess

- Question: Will the established Black leadership come out in support of Obama, or will they fall back for fear of pissing the Clintons off?

- If he doesn't get the nomination, he would be a very strong candidate for VP, depending on who the nominee is. In my view, a Clinton-Obama ticket would ruffle the feathers of 3/4 of white America

- Obama has an interesting conundrum: being moderate b.u.t. not too moderate; ethnic b.u.t. not too ethnic. It's going to be one hell of a ride!

The Name Game

Peace,

Lexus.

Tanisha.

Daquan.

Dupree.

Shawanda.

Many of us are well acquainted with these names & others; The are the infamous names that have sprouted up in our community in the last 20-25 years. They are also the subject of the name bias that's been written about in books like Freakinomics by Stephen Leavitt, that shows the discrimination against job applicants with "Black" names.

Below, find what were identified as the 20 "Blackest" names for girls:

Imani, Ebony, Shanice, Aaliyah, Precious, Nia, Deja, Diamond, Asia, Aliyah, Jada, Tierra, Tiara, Kiara, Jazmine, Jasmin, Jazmin, Jasmine, Alexus, Raven

* Please note the NGE/Islamic/Pan-African infuence in the names above

Here are the 20 "Whitest" names for girls:

Molly, Amy, Claire, Emily, Katie, Madeline, Katelyn, Emma, Abigail, Carly, Jenna, Heather, Katherine, Caitlin, Kaitlin, Holly, Allison, Kaitlyn, Hannah, Kathryn

* Please note that there are really only 5 or 6 names there; the rest are variations

The "Blackest" names for boys:

DeShawn, DeAndre, Marquis, Darnell, Terrell, Malik, Trevon, Tyrone, Willie, Dominique, Demetrius, Reginald, Jamal, Maurice, Jalen, Darius, Xavier, Terrance, Andre, Darryl

* I Must say that I've never met a white person named Terell

The "Whitest" names for boys:
Jake, Connor, Tanner, Wyatt, Cody, Dustin, Luke, Jack, Scott, Logan, Cole, Lucas, Bradley, Jacob, Garrett, Dylan, Maxwell, Hunter, Brett, Colin

All jokes aside, why is this important? Well, if people are being discriminated against, then that isn't a good thing. On the other hand, if we're giving our children the culture to go along with the names (excepting the lexus thing), then in reality, they shouldn't have as much of a problem as they may be now. Frankly many original brothers & sisters from the indian sub-continent have names that most of us can't spell, much less pronounce, yet they don't seem to have problems getting or keeping jobs. We have to do a better jobs of creating a reality for our children so that their names don't create a barrier. The issue is when give our children hard-to-pronounce names, and then throw them out to the wolves, or don't give people around them a understanding of why they carry those names. I will say that some of the names may sound a little "out there", b.u.t. in the absence of a culture to call their own, people will make do with what they have. In a sense, it's indicative of the fact that many of us were trying to go outside the box, b.u.t. didn't necessarily have a framework.

Be on the look out for Part 2...

Grades


Peace

Let's rewind to 1989:Crack in the streets & HH in the ears. I was a twelve year old seventh grader trying to take it all in. I attended a junior high for "Gifted" and/or high-performing students. As I look back it was a good experience due to the diversity of the group. You had white kids, black kids, rich kids, poor kids, puerto rican kids, gay kids & everything in between. Now, at that time there was a unspoken ranking as far as academics in my school. The list looked something like this:

1) Asians
2) Upper - Class White Folks
3) Weird White Kids (Dungeons & Dragons Types)
4) Poor Whites & Middle Class Blacks (Tie)
5) Smart Black Kids who didnt want to appear smart (For reference, see Jawanza Kunjufu)

It was basically an accepted "fact" that asian kids would have the best grades & test scores*. On the rare occasion they failed a test, you'd see them having a fit in the hall ways. I remember a kid that scored 1000 on the SAT in the 7th grade. Being kids, we just thought that they were naturally smarter & thus deserved better grades.

Now with the benefit of age & experience, I know that culture (in this case, the culture of many asian families regarding education). was the primary factor in the disparity. At that time, widespread hustling had only recently become in vogue, so the anti-school sentiment wa s not as large as it is today among black babies, b.u.t. yet and still, the difference in attitude was obvious.
A couple of weeks ago, I happened upon a book written by an asian man regarding the secrets of asians in school. I'll share them here so that you can use them however they see fit.


1) Instill a love & need for learning & education

2) Instill a sense of family pride & loyalty

3) Instill a respect for delayed gratification & sacrifice

4) Define your child's role as a student

5) Cultivate a respect for elders & people in positions of authority

6) Play a active role in your child's education

7) Determine & develop your child's individual talents

8) Set clearly defined short-term & long-term goals

9) Teach your child to value academic success over social status or popularity

10) Reward positive school performances & devise a plan of attack for poor school performances

11) Forget the "Do whatever makes you happy" mentality & focus on professions with financial security & intellectual fufillment

12) Keep your money in perspective

13) Limit activities that interfere with schoolwork

14) Promote an environment of healthy competition

15) Surround your child with similar minded children & role models

16) Help your children view America as an land of opportunity

All of the abovementioned points aid in developing basic civilization (Knowledge, Wisdom, Understanding, Culture, Refinement, & not being a savage in pursuit of happiness), and should be taking place in families where the parents are aware of the way that this country's economy works. Additionally, we must seek to provide a safety net for the children in our communities that do not have the "luxury" if you will, of having parents who are as aware.

I acknowledge that some of you may take issue with #16, b.u.t. it is important to recognize that we are in a place to acquire resources (Knowledge, Money, etc..) to spread across the original diaspora, and that can be looked upon as opportunity. Something that was once the "poor part" of the planet could now be seen as the "best part", and vice versa (See 1st & 3rd degrees in the 1-14 for those in the NGE).

Tradition vs. Innovation


Peace,

Every now & again, I tune in to what's happening on various NGE listservs and groups to get an idea what people within the nation are thinking & saying. After watching a number of conversations go back & forth regarding some controversial topics (those of you that know, know), I decided to write on the topic of tradition vs. innovation. This topic is in no way limited to members of the NGE, and in fact I build that those of us who are looking to be part of the solution for humanity's issues can add on to what i'm thinking.

In every group, sect, culture, religion, or way of thinking, there will eventually come a time where the members of that community have to discuss and come to some form of understanding regarding this issue in order to chart a path for it's collective growth & development. Now, before it seems like I'm veering off into intellectual wonderland, let me give you some tangible examples: Much of the underlying tension that exists in HH today is a result of the debate, with those who think that HH should remain as it was in the 80's & early 90's on one side, and those who see HH as an ever-changing and ever-developing art form and Culture on the other side.

Another example is leadership within the Black community. Some think it appropos to continue fighting for Black people in the vein of 1960's - style civil rights protest & advocacy, while others see the primary issue as economics and argue that new tactics are needed. Additionally, you could include the debate on tradition & innovation within the Black Church (e.g. Kirk Franklin & the fusing of "Holy" & "Secular" music). Below, please find some of my views on the debate:

- If one errs on the side of tradition, cultural progress can grind to a halt; Err on the side of innovation, and context for the original idea can be lost

- From my view point, one must be well-versed in tradition in order to propose innovation so that the impetus for change isn't grounded in cynicism or iconoclasm

- Most of what we know as tradition today was innovation at some point, so it would be wise for us to always be open to growth

- People who live on the fringes of either side are probably missing the big picture. Life is a mix of the two, and if evaluated and executed properly, the two will propel your idea to new heights.

Peace is not the word to play

Peace,

Just thought i'd take a second to shout out a classic from back in the day, & to underscore a very good point: Let's not use such a powerful word in vain. It's more than just a thing to say when you begin a conversation. It should be an ethic that we subscribe to at all times. Another thing while I'm at it: It's cool if you want to show me respect by saying Peace God, b.u.t. if you're going to do that, have some idea why we advocate that. If not, you sound silly and it comes off as patronizing.

Earlier this week, the federal holiday for Dr. King was observed. Though obviously a man of great ideas & vision, the rev has nonetheless been presented as a peace-loving pacifist who loved everyone & wouldn't bust a grape in a food fight. By white & black people continuing to juxtapose rev vs. mr. shabazz, it diminishes the depth & complexity of both men. We now know that King was opposed to the 'Black Power' slogan versus being opposed to the idea itself. Additionally, in his later years, rev became more outspoken in his criticism of the status quo & began organizing in ways that took him outside the bounds of a traditional "Civil Rights" leader (ex. The Poor People's Campaign). In America, to speak about Civil Rights is one thing, & to advocate for huan rights is another. Below is a article that goes more in-depth to Dr. Kings' perspective written by Dr. Manu Ampim, a noteworthy professor from Oakland. Do the Knowledge, extract what you will, & let me know what you think!


DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. SUPPORTED BLACK POWER Prof. Manu Ampim (Excerpts from 1989 Master’s Thesis, “The Revolutionary Martin Luther King, Jr.”) ----------------------------------------------------------

There have been consistently glaring omissions by biographers of Martin Luther King concerning his statements embracing Black Power as a concept. The focus usually has been on his statements rejecting Black Power as a slogan, without making the distinction that King himself made between Black Power as a concept and program on the one hand, and the use of the phrase as a slogan on the other. When the militant cry of “Black Power” burst on the public scene in mid-June 1966 in Greenwood, Mississippi during the Meredith March Against Fear, King suggested that the Black Power slogan had negative overtones and was causing divisions within the march. King preferred “black consciousness” or “black equality” to “Black Power.” He reasoned that the words “black” and “power” together give the impression of black domination rather than black equality. King debated with Stokely Carmichael of SNCC and Floyd McKissick of CORE over the matter. He asserted that a leader must be concerned about the problem of semantics, and the “Black Power” slogan carried the wrong connotations. Carmichael replied by saying that the question of violence versus nonviolence was irrelevant. He argued, that the real question was the need for African Americans to consolidate their economic and political resources to achieve power, as practically every other ethnic group in America had done. King had no problems with this, but he responded by stating that ethnic groups such as Irish and Italians did not use slogans of Irish or Italian power, but they worked hard to achieve power. King stated, “This is exactly what we must do. We must use every constructive means to amass economic and political power. This is the kind of legitimate power we need,” He added, “But this must come through a program, not merely a slogan.” [emphasis added]. If we look at the primary sources it is clear that Dr. King had problems with Black Power as a slogan, but unlike the established civil rights leadership – which denounced the Black Power advocates – he called for and worked to implement Black Power as a program. Dr. King’s Statements in Support of “Black Power”:

“Black Power, in its broad and positive meaning, is a call to black people to amass the political and economic strength to achieve their legitimate goals. No one can deny that the Negro is in dire need of this kind of legitimate power. Indeed, one of the great problems that the Negro confronts is his lack of power. From the old plantations of the South to the newer ghettos of the North, the Negro has been confined to a life of voicelessness and powerlessness. … The plantation and the ghetto were created by those who had power both to confine those who had no power and to perpetuate their powerlessness. The problem of transforming the ghetto is, therefore, a problem of power – a confrontation between the forces of power demanding change and the forces of power dedicated to preserving the status quo.” (Where Do We Go From Here, pp. 36-37). Emphasis added.

“Power, properly understood, is the ability to achieve purpose. It is the strength required to bring about social, political or economic changes. In this sense power is not only desirable but necessary in order to implement the demands of love and justice. One of the greatest problems of history is that the concepts of love and power are usually contrasted as polar opposites. …What is needed is a realization that power without love is reckless and abusive and that love without power is sentimental and anemic. …There is nothing essentially wrong with power. The problem is that in America power is unequally distributed.” (Where Do We Go, p. 37). Emphasis added.

“Black Power is a call for the pooling of black financial resources to achieve economic security. …If Black Power means the development of this kind of strength within the Negro community, then it is a quest for basic, necessary, legitimate power. Finally, Black Power is a psychological call to manhood.” (Where Do We Go, p. 38).

“Black is beautiful and as beautiful as any other color. When we believe that, this is something very necessary, this is something very constructive and very creative. So, the concept of Black Power is something we are certainly able to understand and accept. …So as we talk about power, we must always see power as the right use of strength.” ((SCLC Staff retreat, Frogmore, SC, 11/14/66). Emphasis added.

“Power is the ability to achieve purpose. Certainly the Negro needs power because this is our problem, we are powerless. We have been powerless economically and politically in the ghetto itself in a sense came into being to keep the Negro in his powerless position.” (Frogmore, SC, 11/14/66).

“Power is not the white man’s birthright; it will not be legislated for us and delivered in neat government packages. It is a social force any group can utilize by accumulating its elements in a planned, deliberate campaign to organize it under its own control.” (Where Do We Go, p. 157).


=========================================== King acknowledged in an interview that the unsuccessful “end slums” campaign in Chicago was an implementation program for the concept of Black Power but, as the Baltimore Sun reported on July 10, 1966, “under a more palatable name.” The Sun further recorded that King “totally indorses [sic] the concept of ‘black power’ ” as enunciated by McKissick and Carmichael. The newspaper also noted that King’s statements placed SCLC, CORE, and SNCC “in basic agreement on the new ‘black power’ direction of the movement.” King indicated that his differences with CORE and SNCC over “Black Power” were only semantic. Dr. King did not only endorse the concept of Black Power as an individual, he endorsed it as the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). Similar to the Black Power advocates, SCLC advocated the building of a positive and cohesive concept of black history and fostering “a sense of …community” among African Americans. In addition, SCLC resolved that it would encourage and work toward true community through the development of economic and political power, and by constant emphasis on African Americans “owning and controlling their communities. (see SCLC board resolution, “Afro-American Unity,” August 17, 1967.) This emphasis was exactly what Black Power advocates were calling for, though they may have sometimes said it in different words. Beginning in late 1966, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reported that ‘black power’ is a most timely issue in the country today.” The Bureau later commented that there is a “marked tendency on the part of SCLC to move away from integration and move toward economic and political power.” (FBI files, 10/27/66; and 2/26/68). Emphasis added.

Knowledge & Power


Peace,

Earlier today, I was lookng for something to watch at the rest. As I scanned through the seemingly endless collection of "street" dvd's that I've picked up over the past few years (I must say that they can be a great teaching tool for the youth, as far as what's going on in other parts of the country), I decided that I wanted to watch something with substance that could be used for analysis & observation. I chose 'Syriana', a movie starring George Clooney & Matt Damon that caused a fair amount of controversy last year around the "fictional" country that the movie was set in & how closely it bared resemblance to present-day middle eastern politics. To say that it sparked thought & analysis would be a understatement. Please find some of my thoughts below:

- What the hell is the Middle East? Names are a large part of identification, and that particular phrase tells you nothing. To be sure, at one time, comparing middle east vs. far east (China, Japan,etc..) was relevant, b.u.t. in this day & time, it does nothing by confuse joe public as to what continents these countries are really on. Egypt is considered as such to seperate it from Africa; Tunisia is right next to it, and everybody calls that Africa, so why not Egypt. If those countries really attached themselves to a continental or pan-continental bloc (See the big homie Hugo for reference), they could be much more powerful than they are now.

From a historical angle, The middle east is/was a area that was destined to fail. It's been the bastard child of European/Western countries since WWI, when it was recognized as a strategic area by european countries who were uncomfortable with the Ottoman Empire. For all those in the NGE, please see the Knowledge degree in the 1-14 for reference and analysis.

- Things are often much more complex than they seem. In the movie, you couldn't judge a book by it's cover as far as who thought what solely based on ethnicity, position, etc.. Similarily, today there are a myriad of issues that are often painted as one dimensional (ex. Young Black men sell drugs because they're lazy and irresponsible). The more nuanced the anaylsis, the more comprehensive the solution can be. Think about where America would be re: the Iraq fiasco if GWB and his neo-con cronies were a bit more "nuanced".

- Knowledge & Power born Equality; simply put, your idea & your ability to affect your environment create your overall impact. Low expectations create low realities. This is no disrespect to my more "enlightened" or "deep" brothers, b.u.t. if your life goal is to "master" yourself (control breathing, high science diet, etc..), while letting idiots run with the globe, you're doing yourself & your children a disservice. Those of us who know better have to take our ideas to scale, and not be satisfied with the crumbs off of the table. There is no reason to be satisfied with having no or little impact on the world around us (& I don't mean your woman or family; that should be implicit). Allah the Father advocated for those of us in the NGE to be pacesetters for our people; none of us can do that by playing the back when it comes to the future of the planet. Let's build, grow, multiply & expand for the good of the entire planet.

Urban Orientalism

Below is a post on "Urban Orientalism" that I posted on a blog that I share with my esteemed brother Divine Culture Allah. Do the knowledge & enjoy!


Urban Orientalism Pt. 1

During my younger years, one of my primary role models was my uncle. Approx. 10 years older than me, he served as my example of what I wanted to be when I got older. One memory that sticks in my head is the thought of saturday afternoons during the early-mid 80's, when he stopped everything he was doing to watch "Karate Flicks" on Channel 48 ( & the resulting practice on me and house objects). In fact, It seemed that the whole hood pushed pause on any activity while checking out flicks like The Five Deadly Venoms & Master Killer. My uncle went on to become a Black Belt in Kempo(A Korean Martial Art). This was my introduction to Urban Orientalism.

Urban Orientalism?

What the hell is Urban Orientalism?I'll start by telling you what it isn't:

- It ain't the "Chinese" take-out in your hood. That, my brother/sister is a grease factory & a urban crime magnet.

- It ain't getting a tatoo of a Chinese character that someone told you means "loyalty"

- It ain't wearing Chinese slippers on the concrete until the bottoms look like tar just because "all the girls are wearing them this year".That, my people is capitalism & cultural appropriation at it's worst.

No, Urban Orientalism (A self-coined term, by the way) is the connection and relationship between Black & Brown communities in the Wilderness of North America and filaments of Asian Culture (For the sake of PC, I must state that I was made aware that the term Oriental can be seen as offensive in some circles, & that Oriental refers to culture, while Asian refers to people as well as culture). A book that gives a good introduction to the phenomenon is Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting by Vijay Prashad. In the book, Prashad lays out the origin and implications of the connection between Black & Asian/Indian communities, from the development of the Moorish Science Temple & Nation Of Islam, to the relationship between the Black Panthers and The Yellow Peril (look it up if you're not down), to the Black community's love for Bruce Lee. The evidence presented in the book is exhaustive, so my musings on the subject will be based on elements of UO that occur closer to home, if you will: Shou Wu Chih & Bidis.

During my high school years, I was involved with a young lady who would wax incessantly at times about this mystical drink called "Sa-wu-chi". Now I considered myself pretty hip & aware regarding alternative potions & such, b.u.t. I had no idea what she was speaking of. She went on to tell me that it was a drink that the Muslims that she knew partook in. At that point, I took it as info for info's sake & moved on...

Hip Hop Ain't Dead, Yall Just Grew Up

Peace,

The title above may come as somewhat of a surprise to some of you, given the tone of some of my posts in the past that have been critical of contemporary HH. And don't worry, I'm not going hipster on yall or anything; It's that after taking a critical look at the environment that was being created around the music, I noticed a few inconsistencies in the prevailing perspective that HH had some how gone astray in the last few years. For a look into where I'm coming from on this, please check the following points:

- To all my 30 and over east coast - Centric fans: To say that HH died when "Laffy Taffy" came out is indicative of a serious bias, as nobody said that HH died when Wrex - N- Effect came out with "Rumpshaker". Hey, they are both totally devoid of content and marketed to do one thing: Have a woman shake her @$$. When you were 15, it rocked the party; give 15 year-olds of today the same opportunities. Let's not even get to talking about Luke, who was at least as profane as the Ying Yang Twins. Back then, we didn't say it wasn't HH; it was just a different regional spin on the music.

- To all those that say that HH is being overrun by "Studio Gangsters": Yo chief, studio gangsters have been around since day uno, and that issue is more economic than everything because poor people are looking to HH as a profession more than an art form, and that fact causes people to make decisions & moves that are not in the best interest of the music. Also, let us not have short memories & forget that some very good HH was made by brothers who were not who they said they were, or who were telling the stories of other men: See NWA, Ice Cube, B.I.G., Nas. I would love for HH to be genuine and authentic, b.u.t. I have come to accept that some people are good storytellers.

- To the little homie Nas: Of all people to say that HH died! You were the so-called "savior" of the music with Illmatic. Between It Was Written & Stillmatic, you confused the hell out of everybody, and made jams like You Owe Me w/ pony man. If HH is dead, it's because you didn't give it any guidance.

- For all of my 30-&-ups, it's really about the subjective vs. the objective, as far as the ability to see the music as changing, b.u.t. still having some of the basic qualities it had when you were growing up: Imagination, projected importance, social commentary (you just have to look a little deeper), misogyny, dances, and most importantly, Black Expression. Give the corporations hell, cause they're really the ones who are trying to kill the music, and give the kids(& old men acting like kids) a break.