HYPERKEWL-NOVEMBER DANCE PARTY!

I'm playing music at the Barbara&Barbara gallery on Monday, November 16th at 1021 N. Western - Chicago, IL at 9:30pm. There will be alcohol, video projections, and animation. The show starts at 6:00pm. This is a Ghetto Caviar set. Bring your booty shorts.

NEW video called "Mist Throughout' ENJOY!

GHETTO CAVIAR (continued)

A back like a road map. Hands of leather at the end of iron arms. Wit that stings hotter than any barn-yard-nine-tails. We are leaders of nations, families, squads. We are excellent, with a cool imitated by all men. As children of such Greatness we must use our power for the betterment of all people. The black "struggle" ends in your own mind. The power to choose is the greatest of all. In the end, there need be nothing else. When faced with social ridicule, financial ruin, and in many cases death, choosing the right action is not easy. The simplicity of saying 'NO', or 'YES' is the gift given to each of us who can speak.

The new black struggle is real. I bite my tongue when using the word 'new', but only half way. It has become covert. It's a passive aggressive racism. Class distinctions separate black children into different social groups. 'Colorblindness' seems to have pulled the wool over millions of eyes. With the current state of "BLACK ENTERTAINMENT TELEVISION" it appears as if we perpetuate our own suffering. Looks are not always deceiving.

Would Nat King Cole hold his head high with pride at the sight of his life's work in the hands of the likes gangsters and prostitutes? With his tenacious talent he paved the way for blacks by being the first man of color to host his own television show. As Lil' Wayne makes it rain I can only help but be afraid. I am afraid that black children will be convinced that monetary gain is the highest of achievements in life. While the music video plays another thousand times on the TV it is more than difficult to look away. The beautiful women, the money like flypaper, all expenses paid for, it all seems like fantastic reality to a child. Respect, brotherhood, health and basic love of self don't exist in my everyday life in between school and sleep. Only fast cars, easy money, and even faster and easier women.

So where does the brainwashing cease? The enlightenment begins in your mind. It starts with that power to choose to go outside and play. If you have children, choose to give them a book. The stress you go through at work will only be reinforced by the hyper-confused teenager that kid might grow up to be. The decision to turn off the TV, and talk to your kids is the best decision you have ever made. You've given that child a chance to grow past Lil' Wayne and his 'hoes' to something greater.

GHETTO CAVIAR

The street sounds like children playing and dice games. Crack rocks tightly tucked in pant legs hold no future for us all. The job application chokes at first, then the white man offers to much of a good thing to accept. The crack is faster. Cadillacs and coups rattle dilapidated window frames. The words are always the same, get money, get laid. What else is there to do in the world. The school books go unread, but then again what is there is to be read.

I am a black child. There is no solace for me. My peers run away from themselves, leaving their own families behind. My family cannot understand that I am changing into someone that I don't quite understand myself. Home is a roll-cage conditioned by many test runs. The street is my only refuge. The incessant migraines make the classroom bulge and split in disbelief and questions unanswered. My white friend have grand pianos and swimming pools. At my house the wallpaper scurries and multiplies a million fold. What do I do?

There is no solace for the black man child. He is not a king. He is not a scholar. He is not disciplined enough for either. He can only hustle and survive. His only prosperous endeavors involve the degradation of another, or many. Where does this hollow pit of despair and self-loathing stem from? How can so many men of color allow the continued disintegration of their own culture?

As the questions bottleneck the dams of reason one can only imagine what black life would be like if the cycle was broken. It is our men who say 'NO' to job applications. It is our men who say 'NO' to their mothers guidance and it is our place in this world as men to say 'NO' to the foot steps of our fathers. We are the next generation of kings.

We must begin to see the future as something larger than ourselves. Our children shall not suffer as we did. The only barrier we face as a nation of black minds is our own mental road blocks. We must uplift our brothers. The mistakes that were made must not be made again. How can you benefit from wronging a wrong-doer? Why is it that our shoulders are the ones that carry the most? Our load is the greatest because we are strongest...(to be continued)