Heart of the City Tour: Jay Z & Mary J Blige Shine

Lucky me, I scored my $135 nose-bleed tickets (there were also big screens of the show to compliment those of us sitting in the way-way back) from my cousin as a gift. I would never treat myself that decadent. He also took my little cousins, 11, 16 & 17 - what a guy.

I always wondered what hip hop aficionados would look and act like in their 30's, and I got a very good look at them/us at this show. I must say, aside from the occasional cringe at the sound of thousands of people shouting "Jigga, My Nigga", it felt great. A 30-piece band playing hip hop and r & b is amazing.

I can't even tell you who opened, I don't remember. It was one of the new artist you hear on the radio in heavy rotation, singing in 'falsetto' throughout the chorus. The kids liked it, fair enough.

Mary & Jay set it off with "Can't Knock the Hustle", then Jay left the stage to let Mary do her thing. And Mary really did do her thing. She hit all the notes, she pulled out the old school dance moves, and was not shy about offering small commentaries about her life struggles and triumphs and how to keep our heads up. Mary's highlights; when Mary did "Real Love", Jay came out and did the B.I.G. verse, the audience singing the entire "I'm Going Down" while Mary just held the microphone out, Mary's shout out to Oprah chillin' in the front row, and all the men trying to sing the chorus to "Just Fine".

Jay Z is a beast. Everybody knows it, and so does he."Hello Brooklyn". He let the audience sing the entire "Hard Knock Life", as he held out the microphone. Mary came back out a to sing the hook on "Love Song", and Memphis Bleek appeared for two tracks.

It was about half way through his set when I realized that Jay Z doesn't really have "b-sides", they're all hits. Then we all got to the point where everyone realized that we might not hear our favorite Jay Z track. He began to shuffle through a decade long catalogue with just snippets of hits, that he would cut short after 15 seconds and say "nah, not that one".

At one point, they fooled around and played "Crazy Right Now" through the P.A. system, and sure enough, Bey once Knowles came out and did the booty bounce across the stage then disappeared. Everybody lost it.

They could have ended the show with that, and everyone would have agreed that they killed it. But of course Jay overkilled it. "Encore". He did "Blue Magic" a cappella - "...push, money over broads you got it, F*** bush". This rendition was accompanied by an image of the current president on the big screen, which many people proceeded to boo. Then Jay cut the crowd short, asked if they were ready for change, showed Obama on the big screen, and the crowd went bananas.

"Not paid for by the Obama campaign", he added, "just expressing my freedom of speech". Regardless as to who he is supporting, Jay-Z has finally made a major attempt to use his influence to illuminate something other than the money, the drug game, etc.

Sean Carter really has stepped his game up. "What more can I say"?

I. Culcleasure

Know Your History

Executive Mandate Number One
Statement by the Minister of Defense
Delivered May 2, 1967, at Sacrament,
California, State Capitol Building

The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense calls upon the American people in general and the black people in particular to take careful note of the racist California Legislature which is now considering legislation aimed at keeping the black people disarmed and powerless at the very same time that racist police agencies throughout the country are intensifying the terror, brutality, murder, and repression of black people.
At the same time that the American government is waging a racist war of genocide in Vietnam, the concentration camps in which the Japanese Americans were interned during World War II are being renovated and expanded. Since America has historically reserved the most barbaric treatment for non-white people, we are forced to conclude that these concentration camps are being prepared for black people who are determined to gain their freedom by an means necessary. The enslavement of black people from the very beginning of this country, the genocide practiced on the American Indians and the confining of the survivors on reservations, the savage lynching of thousands of black men and women, the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and now the cowardly massacre in Vietnam, all testify to the fact that toward people of color the racist power structure of America has but one policy: repression, genocide, terror, and the big stick.
Black people have begged, prayed, petitioned, demonstrated, and everything else to get the racist power structure of America to right the wrongs which have historically been perpetrated against black people. All of these efforts have been answered by more repression, deceit, and hypocrisy. As the aggression of the American government escalates in Vietnam, the police agencies of America escalate the repression of black people throughout the ghettos of America. Vicious police dogs, cattle prods, and increased patrols have become familiar sights in black communities. City Hall turns a deaf ear to the pleas of black people for the relief from this increasing terror.
The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense believes that the time has come for black people to arm themselves against this terror before it is too late. The pending Mulford Act brings the hour of doom one step nearer. A people who have suffered so much for so long at the hands of a racist society, must draw the line somewhere. We believe that black communities of America must rise up as one man to halt the progression of a trend that leads inevitably to their total destruction.

Huey P. Newton, Minister of Defense - Black Panther Party

Did You Know?

"Laissez-Faire" racism is a form of racism that consist of negative stereotyping of African Americans and placing the blame for the continued lower socioeconomic status of African Americans on the continued cultural resistance to the Protestant work ethic by African Americans.

Today, we can actually measure all sorts of "symbolic racism". through random surveys, we can measure the denial of continuing racism, the belief that African Americans are making excessive demands, the belief that African Americans have received undeserved advantages, and the belief that African Americans should work harder.


Ask around, measure it for yourself.

Happy Birthday 3B!

Reflecting on 3B’s One Year Anniversary

Last year around this time, I was working an overnight shift and brooding over not getting into graduate school. I had many other ‘projects’ to juggle, but still I felt stuck – in a community where there were few opportunities to grow professionally.

It also frustrated me to see other black folks in Vermont struggle with the simplest access, to amenities other than public assistance. So I decided to create this blog because I was confident that there must be some folks out there who felt the way I did, or maybe had some dissenting views to offer. Either way, the conversations that I was having with people on a regular basis, informed me that it was at the very least important for us to have this conversation and expand the dialogue.

I immediately recognized that there would be some significant limitations and challenges to including and inviting some of the audiences that these conversations might benefit the most (e.g. lack of advertisement and lack of internet access). But we know and understand that these limitations and challenges are not due to lack of interest.

We know that organizing ourselves, our thoughts and ideas, cannot go from 0 to 60 in a day, a month, or even a year.

I have recently relocated back to my hometown, Brooklyn, NY for the purpose of continuing my education and being closer to my family before they retire and head south. However, my heart is still in Burlington, and I look forward to being active in facilitating 3B’s growth, with the goal being receptive to the needs of the community.

Thank you all for your contributions here.

Respect fully,

I. Culcleasure

Remember Rhynell Lewis Vigil Today

We will meet and gather at 4:30 pm at 86 Lafountain Street, Burlington, Vermont

Black People in Vermont (revisited)

My name is Vivian and I live the suburbs of Chicago but thinking about relocating to VT. Can anyone tell me more about the African American communities in Vermont? Or if all communities are blended together? How are blacks received in VT?

CALL TO ACTION

This April 7th will mark the two-year anniversary of the shooting of Rhynell Lewis (1969 – 2006). Rhynell Lewis was shot and killed during a dispute with a 19-year old assailant. The shooter was freed on $150,000 bail and eventually acquitted of first-degree murder.

On Monday, April 7th 2008, a group of concerned citizens will come together with a member of the Lewis family at the scene of his death and hold a vigil in his memory. This vigil will transition into a peaceful walk to the state courthouse where we feel, justice failed Rhynell Lewis and his family.

Please join us as a collective voice against injustice and violence in our communities.