You can't knock the hustle....

You can’t knock the hustle

by T. Semakula

So, how is your hustle these days? Do you have one? Are you one of those folk who make excuses as to why you don’t have time to write that book, start that business, found that ministry, or follow through on the invention that you know could make life a whole lot easier? What’s holding you back? Why have you stalled or have you started and it seems like your hustle is moving slower than a snail with a broken leg. Usually, folk associate the word hustle with street hustlers who do whatever it takes to cop a dollar. However, the word hustle is associated with swift movement, abruptness, or motion. Motion takes someone or something to a selected goal, purpose, or destination. So, where is your hustle taking you?

Hustle up some faith. Folk who make excuses, lack faith. The children of Israel wandered around in the wilderness for four decades because they lacked the faith they needed to enter the Promised Land. After God parted the red sea, sent food from the sky, and guided them by a single star at night, they still weren’t convinced that they were God’s chosen people. They lacked the courage to overlook the giants that inhabited the land that was given to them by the Almighty.

So, what has the Almighty given you? Have you made excuses, complained, or flat out retreated to the humdrum life you have always had, even after God has sent you a vision that encompassed greatness? Have you lingered in poverty, settling for government subsidies and handouts, happy to just get by? Did you forget that we serve a mighty God who created the earth and composed the framework for our minds, which we have yet had the ability to completely use. Are you satisfied with your income and the state of your community, or have you moved out in search of a better horizon? Did the Almighty give you a cause, a ministry, or a business that could provide a better life for you, your family, and your community, and you lacked the faith to carry it out?

Hustle up some order. Along with dreams, visions, and ideas, comes guidelines, plans, and instructions. Folk without order are folk without success. I have sat in meetings with many wannabe socialprenuers, entrepreneurs, and community superstars. They are quick to share the vision that has filled their hearts, yet they are slow to provide a viable plan or framework that will take their vision into fruition. They are also hesitant about about investing in their visions. Investment is not just about money, but it also equates to time, energy, courage, knowledge, and passion. How can one build a house without a frame, an engine without its parts, an essay without a rough draft, a body without the skeleton?

Hustle up some focus. I have watched many well intentioned programs and visions get sidelined due to a lack of focus. What’s wrong with being criticized for having tunnel vision? What’s wrong with staying focused on a task until you reached a goal? Focus keeps us close to our goals. If we encounter a problem or obstacle on the way to our goal, our focus will help us overcome it with knowledge and diligence. Sometimes we have to say no to others in order to reach the goal that God intended for us. No means direction, not rejection, always remember that.

Hustle up some knowledge. I had a friend who told who me that she wanted to start her own business; I asked her if she liked to read books about business, or entrepreneurs. She told me that she didn’t like to read and that she didn’t like books. She has not started a business to this day. If you want to know how to be successful, wouldn’t you want to read about it? If you don’t know how to read, learn how to. Knowledge is power and the more that you know, the better off you will be. I gave myself my own personal MBA, by reading every single book I could get my hands on about business and entrepreneurship. Weekly, I read blogs and articles related to freelancing, blogging, and consulting. I will always be a student, even though I have a master’s degree. The world is growing and changing every day. New technologies are being introduced and folk are coming up with more efficient and productive ways to get things done. Successful entrepreneurs, ministers, and community folk are also avid learners.

You can’t knock the hustle. So, it’s time that you get your hustle on. Dust off that old business plan, sermon, or idea. Stop making excuses and take a break from your humdrum life. Stop living with regrets and stop waiting for the perfect time to get started. The time is now. Come out of the wilderness and get what was promised to you. I dare yah.

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The 23

The 23

By t. semakula

As usual, I am waiting for the 23, it’s a quarter till eleven at night and my behind is gripping the small plastic seat that is shoved inside a plexi glass bus stop shelter. The bus stop is housed on fourth and Broadway, which sits across from Brown Bros. Cadillac. The famous lot is known for its’ shiny color pallet of blue, brown, red, and white caddies. I am amazed that the lot hasn’t fallen prey to the recession that has placed a choke hold on the once vibrant, river city. From the stop, I can see folk popping out of their cars and strolling up Fourth Street, headed toward one of the many restaurants that decorate the downtown. The pedestrians that flank the well known “Fourth Street Live” give the appearance that Louisville hasn’t succumbed to the recent economic back slap that has left a trail of bankruptcies, foreclosures, and sold out homeless shelters.

The Folk in the City of Cars

The 23 is one of those routes that many working folk depend on to get them to their usual gigs. I watch these folk as they board the bus donning grease stained McDonald uniforms, steel toe boots, or flowered covered nursing assistant scrubs. The route also houses unruly youth who try to impress their friends with four letter words and fancy touch screen cell phones, seniors with monthly bus passes that hang on a cloth chain around their necks, and teen mamas who board the bus with fat strollers, painted on skinny jeans, and short tempers.

As I view the mobile landscape, I attempt to fit myself into this urban community that is held together with paper transfers and updated bus schedules. Let’s face it; Louisville is a city of cars. Even the poor feel that riding the bus is beneath them and they do their best to scrap up change to purchase a “ride.”I have seen folk driving cars with no doors, no windows, no gas, no bumpers, no plates, outrageous dents, and dragging mufflers. To them, a car represents status and mobility.

I long to find a community of writers, thinkers, dreamers, and entrepreneurs, in Louisville, who don’t mind riding the bus. In cities such as Los Angeles and New York, this is the norm. As a budding entrepreneur, the expense of a car is not a priority, as I set my sights on a house, and an office space. I choose to invest in things that would give me a return on my hard earned change. This train of thought has made me an alien to the Louisvillians who cherish their rides, regardless of the expense. Because I ride the bus, I feel more connected to the city and the people. My view is expanded as I take in the sights of Louisville, which I feel would benefit from more enlightened and progressive straphangers.

The West

The route has become a lesson in P.R.E (Politics, Race, and Economics). Tarc, which is the company that manages Louisville’s public transportation, goes on to state that the 23 operates on Broadway from Shawnee Park through downtown Louisville, then over Baxter Avenue and Bardstown Road though the Highlands. Alternating trips operate to…Hurstborne Parkway, to Newburg. The route starts out at Shawnee Park, which sits in the city’s west end. The west end is populated with most of the city’s poor. The community is made up of grand homes that line Northwestern Parkway, single family wooden framed colonials, shot gun houses, liquor stores, community churches, dollar stores, and factories.

Phillip Morris operated a tobacco factory in the west end for half a century. Now the factory has been leveled and it will be replaced with a new retail and business park. This new development will house condos and lease space to new retail stores and businesses. This will be a far cry from the current commercial climate that resides over the west end. Currently, there is an abandoned Winn Dixie that takes up a whole city block and only two major grocery stores that serve the area. A small strip mall called Lyles Mall sits fifteen blocks from Shawnee Park. Some of its businesses include a barber school, a record store, and a beauty supply store.

A community bright spot, the Nia Center, sits inside the neighborhood and has been created as a hub for job seekers, community gatherings, the job corp., and small business resources. Currently, there are no major bookstores in a community where the youth are struggling to compete, academically. According to the Greater Louisville Project, The racial achievement gap permeates all levels. In reading and math, the majority of white and Hispanic students in the Jefferson County Public Schools score at proficient or higher levels, while the majority of black students score lower. The west end lays claim to the African American Heritage Museum, however, this new museum has suffered from ill planning, poor attendance, and low visibility.

The west end has been defined by some foodies as a food desert. This means that folk who reside in the area have little to no access to food needed to maintain a healthy diet; however the area is served by plenty of fast food restaurants. This is important to know since the current mayor has launched a healthy hometown initiative for a city where 59.6 percent of its residents are overweight or obese.

The west end of Louisville is where the great Muhammad Ali was raised. With all its grandeur and ties to a great west end Louisvillian, the Muhammad Ali Museum, a beautiful contemporary structure, was not even put in the west end. The community has received attention from local activists who are acknowledging the city’s disparities. City residents who need affordable and decent housing and communities find that they are somewhat locked into the west end. The Louisville Metropolitan Housing Coalition states that exclusionary zoning land use policies have promoted and sustained racial segregation in Louisville Metro by effectively prohibiting the construction of affordable housing.

As a teenager in the eighties, I remember the west end as being a place of possibility. New young professional black families considered it a somewhat decent place to raise their kids. The houses that outlined Shawnee Park were prominent and folk took pride in the neighborhood. Back in those days, the 23 rolled down Broadway, passing curb front businesses that sold artwork, rugs, purses, hot barbecue, and tennis shoes. There was the annual Summerfest that drew in national R&B recording artists, to another west end park called Chickasaw. The west end was the best end but now it’s just another urban neighborhood sucked up into the vortex of low wages, no jobs, and small opportunities.

Downtown

The 23 rolls through downtown Louisville passing landmarks such as the Brown Hotel, the Courier Journal, and the Heyburn Building. Down town has seen quite a few changes as the city works to create an image that is progressive and cosmopolitan. On a recent fieldtrip to the Brown Hotel, I was shocked to see that past menus that were on exhibition had offerings such as Plantation Cornbread and Mamie Fried Chicken.

Lately, I have never seen so many people flock to Louisville’s downtown. It has taken me some time to get used to folk who seem to enjoy the energy that makes up Louisville’s metropolis. I have to admit, I never thought of Louisville as much of a city. As a matter of fact, I left Louisville, because of that very reason. I spent my time in cities such as Milwaukee, Minneapolis, and New York. I wanted to live in a real city, where there was real culture, and real energy. Where there was a true sense of diversity and where I could be appreciated as a new urban professional, thinker, writer, whatever. Often, when I tell folk that I have relocated from New York, they often ask me “Why did you leave?”

The heart of Louisville can be found in its downtown. As a child, I was scared of it. I felt disconnected from the buildings, the so called traffic, and the people. I can recall the festivals and fire crackers that would decorate the Belvedere. I can recall the Fourth Street strip, before there was the now famous Fourth Street Live. The strip was filled with stores such as McCorys, Dillards, and Bacons, and the now defunct downtown mall, the Galleria. All of these stores have since evaporated into thin air. Believe it or not, the strip was the only place where a man could get a pair of lime green Stacy Adams.

Louisville’s downtown has acquired a new identity and is seeking new and more qualified residents. If you walk down the strip, you will see little flag poles decorated with cloth flags that read “Possibility City.” There is a new initiative that is geared toward attracting more professionals to the Derby town. The Greater Louisville Project is a current endeavor that seeks to compose a greater Louisville in order to attract new families and outside professionals. The project believes that Louisville can become a great city via three major drivers; education, quality of place, and employment.

As Louisville seeks to improve its image, it still is hindered by old practices and issues. Some of the city’s black residents have often felt like they were never apart of the so called new image of the city. Some of the city’s black residents have complained of being harassed by police and business owners when they have ventured downtown. Good old Wikipedia goes on to state, Fourth Street Live! has attracted occasional controversy for its dress code policy enforcement. On August 4, 2006, a judge ordered two clubs to publish their dress code and apply it to “blacks and whites equally”. A federal judge eventually overturned the order to post the dress code, and found no evidence of racial discrimination.

Currently, there is a new case that has come up on the horizon, The Courier Journal states, in its article titled Makers Mark Lounge Sued, The former director of promotions and marketing for Makers Mark Bourbon House and Lounge at 4th Street Live has sued the bar claiming she was instructed by management to discriminate against African-American patrons.

The Highlands

When the 23 completes its journey down Broadway, the city opens up to the Highlands. As a writer and artist, I have always loved the way the Highlands welcomes inquisitives with its varied stores and restaurants. This is the closest I will ever get to my beloved Brooklyn, and I smile every time I enter the neighborhood. The Highlands is a mixture of young and old urban professionals, artists, and business owners. The energy here is higher than the energy that is being reinvented on Fourth Street. Places such as Ear Xtacy, the 24 hour Qudoba, and the 360, have become memorable landmarks in a neighborhood that celebrates creativity and individualism.

The Highlands is the fastest growing neighborhood in the city. Young families are comfortable nesting in this enclave of old historic homes and yuppie values. People are proud to live in the Highlands and the neighborhood boasts Cherokee Park, one of the most beautiful parks in the city. When I pass the Highlands on the 23, I have a strong desire to leap off the bus and wander in and out of the many stores, boutiques, restaurants, and galleries that choke up the block. Wikipedia goes on to state, The Highlands is an area of Louisville, Kentucky which contains a high density if nightclubs, eclectic businesses, and many upscale and fast food restaurants. It is centered along a three mile stretch of Bardstown Road and Baxter Avenue.

Aptly nicknamed “Restaurant Row”, the Highlands is famous for its infamous traffic and noisy nightlife. As I pondered where I would live, I did not choose the Highlands because of the busyness. Instead I chose what I call a copycat neighborhood that resembled the Highlands without all of the fanfare, the Clifton neighborhood.

The Highlands does contain a certain level of diversity and this is witnessed via the many stores and restaurants. As people from other cultures are finding their way into the neighborhood, they are establishing businesses and melding into the landscape. Louisville’s population is growing due to an influx of new immigrant families.

The East

I consider myself to be a city girl and rarely do I like to venture out onto Hurstborne Parkway. I consider this to be “too far out.” A trip out to Hurstborne can try the nerves of the most seasoned bus rider. Rarely, have I ventured this far from the inner city. The last time I traveled this far, via 23 , was when I met someone “halfway”, who lived further out then Hurstborne. I remember getting off the bus and stepping onto some grass. There wasn’t much curb or a bus stop. I got the impression that in this part of town they didn’t welcome bus riders, and they were not trying make it comfortable for us either.

Hurstborne Parkway is a commercial thofare that contains a Super Walmart, Sprint’s corporate headquarters, hotels, a major bookstore, and upscale strip malls. It is the major shopping and business resource for residents of Louisville’s east end. The east end is associated with the middle class to slightly rich folk. I have nothing against rich folk; it’s just that, for me, the city loses some of its character due to all the new housing and developments. I am a sucker for an old house that creaks when the soles of your feet hit the hardwood.

The east end has created somewhat of a new city for itself, so that its residents don’t have to venture far, as it relates to shopping and entertainment. This new city has produced a state of the art movie theatre, posh restaurants, and its own police force. The neighborhood that surrounds the parkway is predominately Caucasian and prides itself on being exclusive. You have to have a car to live out here. I recommend it and I consider myself a staunch supporter of public transportation. The east end , as far as I know, will let you live within its boundaries, as long as you have the cash to hang with the big boys. The east end has been a subject of debate as housing activists work to penetrate the area’s tight zoning policies. The Metropolitan Housing Coalition goes on to state that in Louisville, Zip codes with 80 percent of land zoned single family had an average black population of less than 3 percent and a median household income of $59,309.

Newburg

Newburg is an outer lying suburb of Louisville. Because I am a committed city dweller, I have not had the pleasure of riding the 23 to this neighborhood. I have ventured out to Newburg as a passenger in a car, visiting friends and family. Newburg is steeped in history, as it relates to early black settlers and freed slaves. After the civil war, freed blacks bought land in the area and started farms (Wikipedia/Newburg).

My cousin lived in Newburg. Her family was part of the migration of black families that moved from the west end to a more settled and upscale way of living. Suburban sprawl reached the area by the 1960’s and it became popular with middle-class blacks leaving the city for the suburbs. The area remains predominantly black (Wikipedia/Newburg). My uncle Billy (her father), who was an R.N., lived on street called Quiet Way. I used to love to visit my cousin. She lived in a nice house, in a nice residential neighborhood. Crime was nonexistent and a sense of pride and ownership existed amongst the residents.

My aunt and uncle moved out the neighborhood in the early nineties. Things started to change in Newburg once the nineties came into full swing. Newburg became synonymous with gangs and crime and folk were fearful of visiting their own flesh and blood. Community leaders and activists have worked diligently, to improve the community’s reputation. With the help of the Library Foundation and community support, a new education and technology driven $ 1 million dollar branch library was completed and opened in August of 2009 (Wikipedia/Newburg). Many residents still celebrate the annual Newburg Day festival, which commemorates Newburg’s great history.

Transfers

To me, Louisville is a work in progress. It moves along, like the 23, steadily toward its appointed destination. Its passengers are a motley crew who are increasingly speaking in foreign tongues. Sure, there are cities that are years ahead of Louisville, the city has yet to introduce a subway, let alone a light rail system. I have a feeling though, that one day ,it will be the city of many possibilities, and I will be there to witness it, peeking out the big bus window. No doubt.

So...do you wanna know what's goin on in your city?...check out Louisville's Metropilitan Housing Coalition's special report titled 2010 Metropilitan Housing Report..click here to access it

The Tongue

The Tongue

by

t. semakula


The tongue sits in one’s mouth like a neglected apparatus; its goal is to create. There is much to say about the power of the tongue. The tongue holds soo much prowess. Think about this tongue of ours, something so small, so loose, and soo hidden. The Bible summarizes the tongue as a spark, or a catalyst that if used correctly creates an abundant life. However if it is wielded in the wrong direction, it can compose total destruction.



The tongue is soo powerful that if we are apt to speak death over ourselves, without fail, we will find ourselves void of oxygen. So why is it that very few folk heed to this bit of wisdom that graces the pages of the greatest book ever published? We speak so we are. We speak ourselves into poverty, divorce, depression, loneliness, black holes, etc. We blame our situation on outside circumstances and forget that our tongue has spat out most of our destiny.



God was the first example, as to the power of speech. As the boom of his voice formed the word light, the earth became exposed to the glorious sun, the tint of the stars , and the huge glow of the moon. We thank God everyday for the light as there is not much that can be achieved once the sun goes down. Without the light we find that darkness creates the balance between start and stop, activity and rest.



There is power in simplicity. The tongue is a simple tool that sits inside the cavity of the mouth; it sits in between two layers of teeth and is held back by our lips. James who was Jesus’s blood brother states… Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. The tongue is the rudder that stirs one’s life, it would be mindful for us to know that the tongue carries more weight than ten thousand stones and has more power than one thousand volts of electricity.



So what’s up with all this tongue talk, aren’t you an entrepreneur? Yes I am, but as one who finds herself motivating others, I feel that entrepreneurs’, socialpreneurs, ministers and revolutionaries, need to learn how to tame the tongue. How can one achieve a vision that has not been spoken? Can we speak ourselves into a vision, a business, into success? Yes we can, however we need to start with the correct tools in order to bring things into fruition. You can compose a solid business plan, proposal, or sermon, but it will all mean zilch, if you have not spoken these things into existence.



Let your tongue be the compass that leads you to success. Let it guide you to those high places that sit just a little beyond the clouds. Speak well of yourself and others. Speak to the air and tell it your dreams. Speak success to your failures and motion to those things that have stalled. Speak life to death and speak joy to pain. Speak abundance to poverty and speak salvation to the damned. Speak fairness to injustice and speak love to hate. Go ahead, speak. What did you say?

Young, Talented, and Broke..But Not For Long

Young, Gifted, and Broke ... (But not for long, the broke part that is)


By T. Semakula


(text in italics are compliments of Ms. Ariel Gore)


Ariel Gore hits the mark in her book titled How To Become A Famous Writer Before You Are Dead …You don't have time for rejection letter home improvement projects. You can't afford to sit Zazen while your cherished manuscript languishes in some nameless agent's slush pile. You got maybe a hundred years on this planet. Less if you smoke. And you want to be a lit star, man!

To be paid to write is like icing on a good knockout lemon punch cake. That's what most writers aspire to. We aspire to have money to pay our bills, to travel, to walk around New York City and not work around New York City. It's one thing when you work at McDonalds in Times Square, it's another when you are just piddling around after finishing off your novel and you just happen to have a taste for a nice Oreo Mc Flurry from the McDonalds that sits inside Times Square.

You'll need a bulletproof ego and a juicy humble core…I often think about the famous writer Zora Neale Hurston and how she used patrons to get her through her many creative pursuits. These patrons had taken an interest in her as a writer and researcher. She was able to secure an apartment here and there, a trip to Haiti to do some research on culture, and she traveled quite extensively. However Zora, who is considered one of the most brilliant and talented writers of our time, died alone in a small green house in Florida. Her unfinished and rejected manuscripts were burned along with a pile of her personal belongings in her front yard. The only thing that was left was a charred patch of grass and a woman whose bones were resting in an unmarked grave. It was apparent that the interest, that her patrons had in her, had evaporated. It took a decade and a half later after her death, for Alice Walker to pen the article in Ms. titled "In Search of Zora Neale Hurston."

When it comes to being paid for your art, some writers come from the good old school of hip hop- by any means necessary. Us folk, who were weaned on Tupac and Biggie Big, clung to the immortal words of Chuck D-Hip hop is the CNN for black folk. We formed our own networks, created our own means of communication, laid out our own cable wire via hip hop and street corner shout outs. Self –publishing, self promotion, making something out of nothing is the mantra that more writers are grabbing hold to.

Zora took the traditional route of sending out her work. She waited for folk to respond. She waited for folk to pay her in advance. She waited for folk to acknowledge her and keep her from obscurity. Sure, writers still take advantage of sending out their work blind with the SASE, but they are also learning how to promote and market their own work.

Most people would like to receive and smell the flowers that folk have brought for them while they are still alive. I am sure that Zora would have appreciated the much deserved respect and revenue that her creative ideas and pursuits have admonished. To be young, gifted, and broke is a punch in the face to any writer. It doesn't hold any ground as we enter the age of the internet, with advanced printing and media tools which are available to the emerging writer via their own personal computers and laptops. No more waiting for someone else to make it happen, sometimes you have to make it happen yourself!

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Passion!

Excerpt from Buttafly's upcoming book titled How To Walk On Water (What It Takes To Be a Community Entreprenuer)....

Passion

You’ve heard that old lie, it takes money to make money. A lot of potential entrepreneurs, leaders and innovators have listened to this lie and have yet to compose a viable business, community organization, or venture that would have a definite impact on the community. They were told that they lacked the capital to get started. Keep in mind that they only focused on the monetary capital that may be needed to get things poppin. What about the emotional capital?

You need passion to start a business, a ministry, a nonprofit, a community organization, a movement, a cause. Wikipedia defines passion as an intense emotion, a compelling feeling, enthusiasm, or desire for something. So what is the thing that you are passionate about? What is the thing that wakes your lazy butt up in the morning and lulls you back to sleep? What is that one thing that you would do for free, regardless of the monetary rewards? What is the thing that you would work for, 23 hours a day, seven days a week? Can you think of anything? If you can, I am sure that within that thing, you will find your passion.

Passion is more powerful than money. As a matter of fact, passion produces money. That’s right. Passion produces money. Let’s say that a minister has a passion for youth ministry (however she has no money). So she devises a strategy to raise money for her youth ministry. She creates a free weekly blog (which is filled with her passionate mini-sermons and community resources) and she forwards her blog to everyone on her email list, Facebook Page, and Twitter Feed. She includes a donation button via PayPal and gives folk the opportunity to donate to her ministry via PayPal. Soon enough, donations start coming in via this blog. Wow, her passion produced the funds that were needed to get her youth ministry off the ground.


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Starlight..Starbright..In Search of Madonna

Starlight, Star bright (In Search of Madonna)

by T. Semakula

Looking for Madonna

Do you remember Madonna? She was the material girl that kicked it in thrift store clothes, lace hand gloves with the cut out fingers, mismatch earrings, and a fake mole. She was the one that sashayed across the stage in her lace drawers, worn out Doctor Martins, and a bullet bra. I remember Madonna, she had me hooked when she belted out Borderline and showed any respectful black girl how to wax poetic to an R&B cut. She was the New Yorker that was from upstate, an undercover Italian who was too cool for her hometown. She was soo fly that the diehard urban Nuyoricans claimed her as the queen of the city.

Looking in the Music

Can you find Madonna in the music?

Madonna has been traipsing around on a
new tour, selling out tickets, and performing in front of record crowds. There have been crumbs, to say the least, only memories of the Madge’s hey day. In order to bring her sound back to the forefront, she has partnered up with Pharrell of the Neptunes and has even returned to the street rebel R&B that put her on the map. I ain’t gonna lie, there has yet to be a hit that comes up to the standard of Holiday, and her anthem Papa Don’t Preach, would barely make a teen these days gasp with surprise.

So where is she?

It would be an insult to say that she has popped up inside the guises of Lady Gaga. Any diehard Madonna fan, would be quick to say that there is no comparison. Lady Gaga, the new Madonna? Yeah right. Madonna News states that Madonna has sued her number one competitor, Lady Gaga, for plagiarism for the song ‘Alexander’ similar to her hit’ Like a Prayer’. Lady Gaga says her intention was from the outset, to pay tribute to Madonna. Lady Gaga has been prancing around in all these ultra rebel costumes that are truly one of a kind creations. Madonna started out in dollar store scraps and made the look the desired outfit for most teenage girls during the mid –eighties. Plus, what is up with all that blood spilling out all over Gaga’s clothes during her performances, yuck!

I think I found her

Of course, Madonna has made her appearance as the somewhat laidback twice divorced mother of two. She has settled in to being an icon who has influenced many new performers who are willing to slap the word rebel on their foreheads. Sometimes I think I catch of glimpse of Madonna disguised as the confused artsy types who refused to give up their outdated army boots, crop tops, and leather spiked hand bracelets. These types consider the thrift store a new form of Macys and are committed to shoving up against the status quo. All things that Madonna stood for (freedom, expression, opportunity) seem to be available to those who are willing to seek it out. So I guess now, some of us are living Madonna. We don’t need to find her, she has found us. She is inside our hearts. She is living inside our dreams. She is there, the working class chica from upstate who made her dreams come true, once she hit the big city. She will never be lost. Never.

MADONNA Here

by MTK 6/11/2010

Came on the scene
“Like a Virgin”
For the very 1st time
Lighting up the stage

And her Fans
And the World (2X)

Was in Awe. . .

Then she became the –
“Material Girl”
Dancing to the Beat
We all fell for Her - -
Oh, So Sweetly. . .

“And the Beat goes On”. . .

As the years passes
As she grew - - Caring
For all the Children in this
World of Chaos & Confusion

Made a Home – Taking
Care of those in Need
Raising her Children with,
Joy and Loving Care. . .

Madonna, Madonna, Madonna

We Love, We Respect you always
For your spirit lighted the Path of Love
For All to Feel – To Know – To See
Nurturing the Children of this Earth. . .

Thank you

Welcome To Brooklyn!

Welcome To Brooklyn !

by t. semakula

I love Brooklyn, it’s fat with culture ….from the dread headed Rastas, to the Ricans and Afriques that be poppin off in East New York. Daily, Brooklyn is housing former Manhattan refugees who got tired of the sky high rent and the turned up snozzles of the super rich. These new expatriates are happy to find a new residence in a borough whose motto states… in unity there is strength . I cannot hide my love for Brooklyn. I remember when I slushed from the Bronx to Brooklyn on the train. I took the four to the two, and was happy to shoot out of the subway to get to the library that sat across from Prospect Park.

Brookly is 2.5 million strong. It has birthed the likes of Jay Z, Spike Lee, Mos Def, and the one and only Biggie Big. It’s known for being a city that gives a new meaning to the word ethnic. When you arrive in Brooklyn, you step into a stew of folk that represent different countries around the globe.The International African Arts Festival is held annually in Brooklyn as well as The West Indian Day Parade Carnival and a host of other ethnic festivals, and parties.

Brooklyn has been able to pull off the ultimate heist, it stole the spotlight from Manhattan. Where Manhattan failed ,with its sky scraper rent and infamous lack of livable quarters, Brooklyn became the perfect compromise. Low rent, spacious housing, a good mixture of professionals and the working class, a fifteen minute subway ride into the city, and a fifteen minute subway ride right back out.

Brooklyn has not voted for a Republican in a national presidential election in the last 50 years… with its liberal values and ability to attract artists, freaks, families, and intellectuals. Brooklyn has been able to match, or in some cases, outdo Manhattan when it comes to cultural activities and resources.

But in the end…I heart Brooklyn. When I pass under the Soldier’s and Sailor’s Arch at Grand Army Plaza, or cop a beef pattie and some coco bread, I can’t help but think that I am home. Maybe it’s because I am a writer, an artist, a dreamer…and we are the folk that gravitate toward Brooklyn. We are comfortable, knowing that Manhattan is just around the corner, its borders pushing up against the bridge that took fourteen years to stretch over the East River.

Article Sources

Brooklyn.Wikipedia. (2010) 21 January 2010.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooklyn#Government_and_politics

What's goin on in BROOKLYN?

Uncle Luis's Brain Damage Open Mic...is poppin Off in Brooklyn!........

Who's The Cultural King Of BROOKLYN?

Learn More About Artist Danny Simmons on Global Grind

A poem by a poet that lives in Brooklyn

Metrocard

by Luis Bernard

Metrocard is a passport.

A seat between a thug Hare Krishna and a Muslim eating an egg roll.

Dark-skinned people sit in the front.

Window view partially blocked by a fruity Sunday hat.

Annoying symphony of needless cell phone conversations.

Fallen forgotten patriots extend dirty hands to beg for change.

Young lovers make plans on park benches inspired by the sunshine.

Luxury cars parked in front of the projects.

Pigeons take aim. Heh-heh-heeee.

Children begin grown portion of life by committing suicide with cigarettes.

Secret society of adults smoke addictively, huddled in alcoves on break time.

Private men bargain with public prostitutes.

Stilettos are from 9 to 5 now.

Rite-aid’s everywhere.

But babies are still pushing strollers.

Liquors stores on every corner until the streets only have 2 digits and the bodegas are extinct.

Rejected def poets stand on corners with signs that read, “Repent”.

In just six weeks life can include becoming a Paralegal,Getting a G.E.D.,Speak EspanolHabla English,And have great-looking Dr Zizmor skin.

Young boys replace penises with handguns.

The homeless get younger.

The return of the space cowboy.

Direct T.V. forest’s litter low income housing rooftops

Minstrels still beat buckets, beat box and break dance on cardboard without blackface.

People rushing to get home to sit down.

Big Ballers Shot callers with escalades carefully counting out single dollar bills for a order of wings and fries.

Ghetto kids get rich and buy symbols of status quo from those who stole their ancestors in order to show successful they are.

Suburban kids try to show how hip they are by trying to look poor.

Hollywood elite stroll down 125th with the lastest must have accessory…African orphans

Monochrome niggers who eat barbaque chicken with a knife & fork.

Abused women who do not leave because they still believe that when the sky is on fire that he can put it out with the sun.

Thugged out gangsters who be lamping & flexing rolex’s, but is of no value because it does not let them not it is time to put down their guns and pick up their babies.

Funny, always heard the roller coaster was the worlds greatest thrill.

Bored to Death’ Brooklyn Is the New Noir

Is Brooklyn the new noir...Click here to read more about it

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