It's been a long time...
Music "Can't go on this way" by Beans, Freeway, and Young Chris
Peace,
Pardon for the delay. Things have been rather productive, and hence busy for me the last week. Here are my thoughts on the following topics:
1) 50 vs. Game
Hip Hop has truly become a circus at this point, and nothing underscores this fact like this new Hip Hop "beef". The lines have become so blurred between what's "real" and what's entertainment that everyone's just confused at this point. 3 weeks ago Game is screaming G-Unit to who ever will listen, and now those same people are sending subtle character attacks his way. Another huge point is the power of the Hip Hop industry in determining what's real to the youth of the world who take this as life and death. The fact that Jimmy Iovine(Interscope chief & major power player) made the recommendation for Game to join G-Unit is mind boggling for a crew of supposed gangstas and killas. Hopefully, things like this can be used as ammunition to explain to the babies that it's all a big circus and when you go see Ringling Bros., you shouldn't take the show as real. The unfortunate thing is that there has been some violence associated with this whole debacle that could turn it into something serious. Hip Hop as a industry is in serious need of values beyond short term vision and financial comfort.
2) The Lecture Tour Model
The past weekend, I attended a Black Male Development Symposium in Philadelphia. The symposium consisted of nationally noted speakers on a variety of subjects, and workshops covering topics including youth, economics, health, and male-female relationships. The conference was relatively well attended and served as a opportunity to network with those who are stakeholders in the success of Black Males. That being said, I have a serious problem with what could be called the "Lecture Tour Model". This is the model when well-known lecturers from across the country come and wax eloquently about the crisis in the Black community and seek to inspire people to action. In the lecture tour model workshops, you discuss the problems in the Black community and say things like "we are at war!" My issue with this is it's not solution based, and if you're at the conference you already see the problems, and don't need a battery in your back.
At this point, we need information vs. Inspiration. If I come to a conference, I want to hear your best practices, and see what you've learned from your years of experience and implementation. If you're going to speak, please keep it at about 20-30 minutes and make sure that you have visuals to go along with the speech. At this point, we need to be action based and methodical in the way that we go about re building our communities. If not, we'll be having the same conferences in 10 years with a new set of "lecturers" and "workshop presenters".
Peace,
I Majestic Allah
Peace,
Pardon for the delay. Things have been rather productive, and hence busy for me the last week. Here are my thoughts on the following topics:
1) 50 vs. Game
Hip Hop has truly become a circus at this point, and nothing underscores this fact like this new Hip Hop "beef". The lines have become so blurred between what's "real" and what's entertainment that everyone's just confused at this point. 3 weeks ago Game is screaming G-Unit to who ever will listen, and now those same people are sending subtle character attacks his way. Another huge point is the power of the Hip Hop industry in determining what's real to the youth of the world who take this as life and death. The fact that Jimmy Iovine(Interscope chief & major power player) made the recommendation for Game to join G-Unit is mind boggling for a crew of supposed gangstas and killas. Hopefully, things like this can be used as ammunition to explain to the babies that it's all a big circus and when you go see Ringling Bros., you shouldn't take the show as real. The unfortunate thing is that there has been some violence associated with this whole debacle that could turn it into something serious. Hip Hop as a industry is in serious need of values beyond short term vision and financial comfort.
2) The Lecture Tour Model
The past weekend, I attended a Black Male Development Symposium in Philadelphia. The symposium consisted of nationally noted speakers on a variety of subjects, and workshops covering topics including youth, economics, health, and male-female relationships. The conference was relatively well attended and served as a opportunity to network with those who are stakeholders in the success of Black Males. That being said, I have a serious problem with what could be called the "Lecture Tour Model". This is the model when well-known lecturers from across the country come and wax eloquently about the crisis in the Black community and seek to inspire people to action. In the lecture tour model workshops, you discuss the problems in the Black community and say things like "we are at war!" My issue with this is it's not solution based, and if you're at the conference you already see the problems, and don't need a battery in your back.
At this point, we need information vs. Inspiration. If I come to a conference, I want to hear your best practices, and see what you've learned from your years of experience and implementation. If you're going to speak, please keep it at about 20-30 minutes and make sure that you have visuals to go along with the speech. At this point, we need to be action based and methodical in the way that we go about re building our communities. If not, we'll be having the same conferences in 10 years with a new set of "lecturers" and "workshop presenters".
Peace,
I Majestic Allah
posted by I Majestic at 3:17 PM
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