Rhetorical response to Father

It has been quite some time since I've written in this. It feels good to be back on the keyboard furiously typing away. (OK that never actually happens but a guy can dream right?)

My inspiration for the poem "Father" came from when I was walking to the C train at the Fulton station stop and saw a myriad of depressed apparitions on my way there. I saw countless black men of varying ages begging and searching through garbage in hopes of finding food. It was a difficult series of images to process and I immediately began writing on my phone the way i felt. I imagined the older man and if he had children and imagined where his father was and how much impact he had on this mans life. It's tragic to think of how too many my peers and elders are living in New York.

The city in itself also feels like a parent to all of us. It teaches us lessons, rewards us and punishes us throughout life. In what ways have what I learned shaped me into the man that I am today? If I grew up in a different place how different would I be, or how similar? I am a firm believer that your surrounding have profound influences on you. I think of Tupac Shakur who attended a performing arts school, whose rap lyrics were just as violent and aggressive as they were poetic, profound, and empathetic. If he grew up in the suburbs of Ohio would he still be alive today performing in some Off Broadway play?

I guess at this stage in my life as a 27 year old black male living in Brooklyn, I can't help but question how I got here. Yet, at the end of the day it doesn't really matter how, I don't think I would be able to pin point exact moments that shaped me for the better or worse, and quite frankly I don't think i'd want to. I'm more concerned with where I am going. With starting up my blog again and tapping back into my writing side, I hope I have a bright future.

Father

Senile and drunk rambling to himself
An old man drags his baggage up and down the steps
Waiting on the platform for a train to take him nowhere
A 30 yr old eating Popeyes out of the garbage
Hate and embarrassment stream from his eyes
In fluid poison a flood of emotion
Fatherless sons lost together, 
Alone in their misery 
Biological need, psychological greed
Environmental seeds
Which was the cause? 
Looking for nourishment in the bottom of a bottle, the bottom of the rubbish
Where's the clause?
Stains dripping from a bleeding sole
No amount of therapy will heel
Anger fills the bright potential
Walking aimlessly in your own thoughts
Asking your ego for directions
A lost child opening and closing doors
Searching for his mother's embrace
In empty museums
Displaying rows of mirrors stained with misuse over the years
Where and tear
He breaks
Down 
Into
Despair

Super Bass

Best cover ever, nuff said.

Red Ties and Guns

On April 11th 2012 I was blessed with the opportunity to go to the Colbert Report for the second time, and was pleasantly surprised by his guest Michelle Obama! Waiting in line I felt a sense of pride like no other. They opened the line hours earlier than usually for the taping of the show and there were secret service everywhere. While inside the lobby area(so to speak) where we were herded like cattle to wait until the taping began we were approached by one of the security staff. He was a short bald man with an intense stare and walked over to my friend and his girlfriend with a red card, and on this card it gave us access to the very first row!

This became an even more intimate experience to see the First Lady and first Black First Lady sitting only 12 feet away from me. I'm not really one to be star-struck but the air felt heavier while I was in the audience.While Mrs. Obama and Colbert discussed her initiative to help active duty armed forces and veterans get back on their feet, I couldn't help but think how amazing it is to live during this time. Regardless of how President Obama is viewed in history I am proud to know that I was a part in helping him get elected.

PS
I know I say this every year but I pledge to write in this more...or just get rid of it entirely. Either way it's a win win right!?

Black Gold

When I heard this song, I instantly fell in love with it. I've been a fan of Esperanza Spalding for some time now but this new song Black Gold really sealed the deal. It's soulful, upbeat, socially conscious, her vocals are mesmerizing, and the video is amazing. It reminds me of summer time, free concerts, chilling with my friends and family, just enjoying life, and above all being proud of my heritage. Without further adieu I present Black Gold:

Isn't her fro sublime?

Hip Hop Psychology

About Us

Hip Hop Psychology (HHP) is a school of philosophical inquiry which seeks to use the artistic components of Hip Hop (movement, visual art, music production and emceeing) as a means to provide a culturally sensitive, multi-linguistic way of expressing in a therapeutic or medical context (Gardner & Roychoudhury, 2010)

HHP is also praxis – a complex cyclical activity involving theory, application, evaluation, reflection and further theory which builds upon the metanarrative of Hip Hop, as the catalyst for a renaissance of emotional expression and transformative social change, in order to bridge gaps, pursue humanization and diplomatically work towards conflict transformation by using the best of capitalism and socialism to diminish power differentials and pursue a path towards emancipatory therapy and liberating education in order to achieve a dialectic or reconciliation (Roychoudhury & Gardner, in press)

http://www.hiphoppsychology.org/

So this an excerpt from this cool site I found. They use Hip-hop as a medium to help those in need through therapy. They are having a conference this Sat. Feb. 4th at Fordham University that culminates in a concert. It will have lectures, speakers, and workshops.

It's essentially another form of art & music therapy. They are trying to reach the population of youth that suffer from emotional psychological problems that normally wouldn't seek out help or have difficulty opening up through conventional therapeutic methods. 

I guess in my amateur experience as a student advocate working with at risk youth in Harlem I find it sometimes difficult to reach my students. Granted I am not a licences psychologist and we do not have formal sessions, but I do provide a type of counseling to help them work out problems in their daily lives. Some of my students have opened up and we are able to work together on certain things while others shut down completely. 

One of my co-workers in fact has experience in art therapy in a juvenile detention facility in CA and expressed her success in helping her students open up and get past traumatic experiences using art as a medium. I don't see why Hip-Hop can't also be used to reach those in need. 

Petition

So in case you didn't know, Sallie Mae sucks. Someone started a petition to make them suck less...Pretty much if you are unemployed they don't offer any type of deals to help lower your monthly payments except a 3 month forbearance, the  catch is the interest will be capitalized and there is a fee of 150$.Here is the link to the petition to stop Sallie Mae from charging to put a loan in 3 month forbearance.  Pass it on!

www.change.org/petitions/tell-sallie-mae-stop-the-unemployment-penalty