Sunday, August 23, 2015 at 5:00AM Today I will be at LA Artcore discussing the work of multi-disciplinary artist Kathie Foley-Meyer, her current exhibition is a short film and photo documentary series of the MLK Day parade on the commencement of President Barack Obama's election in 2008 and reelection in 2012.
Today Sunday afternoon 3pm - 5pm - LA Artcore (Little Tokyo) 120 Judge John Aiso St. LA 90012
Friday, August 14, 2015 at 5:00AM Tatyana Fazlalizadeh installed an amazing mural for the Coney Island Art Walls Project that features the residents of the area.
"The day before Easter and the day after Labor day- people still live here. People die here. People love here."
Tuesday, August 11, 2015 at 5:00AM #BLACKLIVESMATTER
"The police have weaponized blackness." @Deray talks to @TamronHall about #OathKeepers: http://t.co/9UPYUt7KGs http://t.co/40tCJlOQqa
Saturday, August 1, 2015 at 5:00AM Samuel Levi Jones interviewed by Mark Bradford in Studio Magazine's 2015 Winter/Spring Edition. View the article HERE.
Tuesday, July 28, 2015 at 5:00AM Happy to finally debut this after such an amazing time last week at the premiere party. Tiffany Gouché releases the short film Fantasy, the title track off her recent EP. This short film serves as an ode to the city of Los Angeles and specifically the Leimert Park district with its rich cultural history and often misrepresented beauty within.
Monday, July 27, 2015 at 5:00AM Happy to speak to writer Chaedria Labouvier and share my perspective with Elle Magazine about the #SayHerName movement and Black women who are preyed upon by the police.
To say that it's mentally draining would be an understatement. It's a combination of that and being mad as hell. These things are happening so quickly and so frequently there's not enough time to process feelings, thoughts, and emotions. The other day I had a conversation with an artist whose work deals with value and it dawned on me recently after having the police drive behind me for a few blocks this week that the body that I inhabit has no value in this country. They aren't seeing that I am a business owner who employs people who live locally, that we all pay taxes, that I have been referred to as a pillar in the community etc., To see value in me would mean you would have to acknowledge my story first but on first sight these things are not present and what they do acknowledge (my body, my skin) has no value.
What makes this idea even more frustrating is that once you're murdered they erase your life in the media (history): Who you are, the things that made you a respectable citizen in society, the things that make you human. I hate that when we see these hash tags that we can not mourn the loss of someone that didn't deserve what happened. Instead we have to defend the life, morale, and character of these women and men. So yeah, I'm mad but not defeated and not giving up. The best way I know how to honor the lives of those slain to police terrorism is to continue to live, continue to thrive, continue to be active in the spaces we exist in, and to come up with ways where we are the authors of our own history.
To read the full article click the screenshot above.
Thursday, July 23, 2015 at 5:00AM I need for the president to speak out and up on national police reform and police terrorism.
Wednesday, July 22, 2015 at 5:00AM One of our favorite LA based performance art groups is seeking help in producing their next big performace.
Group Therapy looks at the inner workings of Poor Dog Group's members as they commit to receiving a year of real therapy with a licensed professional. Together they will listen, receive, and acknowledge each other as they work through almost 10 years of collaboration, friendship, marriages, divorces, physical fights, booze, rehab, falling outs, relocation and so much more.
Help Poor Dog Group raise funding for their new show HERE
PDG Fund Raise 45 from Poor Dog Group on Vimeo.
This video is about PDG Fund Raise 45
Tuesday, July 14, 2015 at 5:00AM We had a magical night with EJ HILL last Saturday. The open conversation between Hill and everyone else in the room was engaging to say the least, in the case of this emerging performance artist the best way to describe the night was "he was present"
Recorded live via U-stream the night of the conversation.
Above images courtesy Treyvon X
Friday, July 10, 2015 at 5:00AM Read Andre's interview in Business Insider Austraila
Wednesday, July 8, 2015 at 5:00AM Filmmaker Haile Gerima is raising funds for his next film, watch the indigogo campaign now and donate!
Thursday, July 2, 2015 at 5:00AM
Mũchiri Njenga in Future Lab Africa's, Past African Future Exhibition exploring the multiple cultures of African technology through mediums of scultpture, installation, video, and sound. Find more on Mũchiri Njenga HERE.
Thursday, June 18, 2015 at 5:00AM Happy Belated King
Little somethin for my godson Elijah and a little girl named Corinne
[Verse 1:]
Some say the blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice I say the darker the flesh then the deeper the roots I give a holler to my sisters on welfare Tupac cares, if don't nobody else care And uhh, I know they like to beat ya down a lot When you come around the block brothas clown a lot But please don't cry, dry your eyes, never let up Forgive but don't forget, girl keep your head up And when he tells you you ain't nothin' don't believe him
And if he can't learn to love you you should leave him Cause sista you don't need him And I ain't tryin to gas up, I just call em how I see em You know it makes me unhappy When brothas make babies, and leave a young mother to be a pappy And since we all came from a woman Got our name from a woman and our game from a woman I wonder why we take from our women Why we rape our women, do we hate our women? I think it's time to kill for our women Time to heal our women, be real to our women And if we don't we'll have a race of babies That will hate the ladies, that make the babies And since a man can't make one He has no right to tell a woman when and where to create one So will the real men get up I know you're fed up ladies, but you gotta keep your head up
[Chorus:]
Keep ya head up, oooo child things are gonna get easier Ooooo child things are gonna get brighter [2x]
[Verse 2:]
Aiyyo, I remember Marvin Gaye, used to sing ta me He had me feelin like black was tha thing to be And suddenly tha ghetto didn't seem so tough And though we had it rough, we always had enough I huffed and puffed about my curfew and broke the rules Ran with the local crew, and had a smoke or two And I realize momma really paid the price She nearly gave her life, to raise me right And all I had ta give her was my pipe dream Of how I'd rock the mic, and make it to tha bright screen I'm tryin to make a dollar out of fifteen cents It's hard to be legit and still pay tha rent And in the end it seems I'm headin for tha pen I try and find my friends, but they're blowin in the wind Last night my buddy lost his whole family It's gonna take the man in me to conquer this insanity It seems tha rain'll never let up I try to keep my head up, and still keep from gettin wet up You know it's funny when it rains it pours They got money for wars, but can't feed the poor Say there ain't no hope for the youth and the truth is It ain't no hope for tha future And then they wonder why we crazy
I blame my mother, for turning my brother into a crack baby We ain't meant to survive, cause it's a setup And even if you're fed up Huh, ya got to keep your head up
[Chorus]
[Verse 3:]
And uhh To all the ladies havin babies on they own I know it's kinda rough and you're feelin all alone Daddy's long gone and he left you by ya lonesome Thank the Lord for my kids, even if nobody else want em Cause I think we can make it, in fact, I'm sure And if you fall, stand tall and comeback for more Cause ain't nuttin worse than when your son Wants to kno why his daddy don't love him no mo' You can't complain you was dealt this Hell of a hand without a man, feelin helpless Because there's too many things for you to deal with Dying inside, but outside you're looking fearless
While tears, is rollin down your cheeks Ya steady hopin things don't all down this week Cause if it did, you couldn't take it, and don't blame me I was given this world I didn't make it And now my son's getten older and older and cold From havin the world on his shoulders While the rich kids is drivin Benz I'm still tryin to hold on to survivin friends And it's crazy, it seems it'll never let up, but Please... you got to keep your head up
