Media Mass Medium of Violence

As a woman, I don’t think that we can ever think of a time when we were free of violence. Even if some of us were lucky to live a healthy childhood, we would still be violated by watching a particular movie or by someone in school or at work.

What has been so blatantly obvious is that the media does not care how violent a message they send, as long as they get ratings. Ratings rule them, shock factor, anything to keep the population glued to their channel, station, or website.

Last week, a 50 year old West Coast Rapper spoke words of physical, mental, sexual and emotional violence against women and girls. He was trying to give some advice to young boys about how to violate a women in school. It was a video clip that he and XXL Magazine (Harris Publication) edited and posted on their website.

Not the Editor at Large, Shaheem Reid, nor Vanessa Satten, Editor in Chief, nor the Publisher, Jonathan Rheingold; saw it or stopped it.

It is unnerving, that they call XXL Magazine “Hip Hop on a Higher Level”. They do not promote the Hip Hop culture I am a part of, they only promote the studio produced rappers that violate women, men, and our children at every tongue lash opportunity they get.

They never use famous Hip Hop Legendary photographers, movie producers, dancers, writers (graffiti artists), DJ’s, Emcees or Publicists and Agents that work with the architects of the Hip Hop culture. They never once promote the events of Rock Steady Crew, Tools of War, Zulu Nation events, nor Graffiti Hall of Fame.

XXL Magazine and KING magazine are NOT HIP HOP. And they will never be part of the HIP HOP culture.

Now these magazines ratings are so twisted, that their teams of staffers allowed their site to be a medium that encourages violence against women and girls.

None of them were conscious enough to understand, that it is wrong for a 50 year old rapper to tell their audience how to assault a women and girl, because they were expecting the sex crazed audience to stay tuned to XXL Site and wanted to give them Shock Value.

I guess Harris Publication doesn’t think that the shock value of seeing KING sold to minors is not shocking enough. Harris Publication, who makes millions of dollars off of our Public Universities for Alumni Directories, also creates Porn magazine: KING so that your boys can look at naked women of color without being carded.

In addition, they provide telecommunications, and website services for the Air Force Association, The American Society of Public Administration and for The Reserves Officers Associations.

All three of these associations are Public institutions, that are predominantly comprised of people of color and also are funded by our tax dollars.

Harris Publication is delusional thinking they can remain a mass medium of violence. They must choose between American Public and Federal Institutions or keep making money from XXL Magazine and King magazine. It is a crime to deteriorate the mentality of our youth, and remain a mass medium that encourages them to violate each other in school all for a buck!

For the Love of Dogs!

We have a beautiful Dog named, Raiden. He is so protective of our daughters and home. He’s a big boy and my husband can’t stand that even though a lot of people have smaller dogs, they still don’t pick up after them!

We can’t believe how many people walk their dog and can’t seem to understand that it’s bad for other dogs to walk on sh!t. Not to mention other people have to clean up after your dog, even if you have a small dog.

Do people think it’s beneath them? If you are sick of this ignorant behavior please join us and put your complaints in the comment section so we can send it to the city’s sanitation website:

http://www.nyc.gov/html/dsny/html/contact/requests_lot.shtml

Also please support the effort and purchase a: “Yo! Curb that Dog!” T-shirt.

May you have a great walk with your best friend!

Hip Hop and the misused word

Hip Hop is a culture that was created by the poor forgotten children of the ghettos.

The different elements, was really the childrens creative expression that created movements. Movements in art, writing (graffiti), dance (poppin’, lockin’, bgirlin’), Dj’ing (Disk Jockey playing records and making music with records = scratchin’) and of course the spoken word (jive, emcee) and the expression of their own sovereignty against the daily affliction of the current political and socio-economic policies.

These children knew no one cared, for how could you tell a child, a society cares for them, when landlords are intentionally burning their homes to get an insurance payment. When drugs are rampant in the streets, but no one has the funds to even travel to the countries where these drugs are grown and created. Where rare diseases seem to pop up out of no where and only be in there neighborhood. And where the only highly profitable job opportunities for them is in selling black market commodities (drugs), but if they try to be a capitalist and pursue their happiness they go to jail.

These realities, is what pushed these children to creative outlets, which is still viewed as criminal to this day.

These different expressions were free, and these children freely expressed themselves to escape the harsh realities they were living. They put all their energy into creating, so they could escape the gangsters, the drug dealers, the cops, their parents and whatever dramas awaited at home or in the streets.

Now, forty years later, though the movements were put together and a term, Hip Hop was given to it, by Afrika Bambaataa; we see this term misused. Hip Hop is not only DJ’ing. It’s not only dancing. It’s not just writers. It’s not only rappers, nor is it only activistism.

These movements collectively is what makes it a culture. There is respect to our elders and our women. There are rules, even though they may not be written. There is a complete joy all who partake in the culture, of the unity, peace and love that we have for each other. We do unto others as we would have them do unto us.

All of this cultural richness is obscured with one element, the misused word (rap). The one element is being labeled by those who do not partake any of the elements of our culture and they Rappers, mass produce them with some beat and call these rappers a part of Hip Hop.

Most of these rappers are not even part of our culture, and now these rappers have defined themselves as being a part of the Hip Hop culture, because they know how to rhyme a bit and act like disrespect thugs, but they know nothing about it. Magazines, Record labels and the Media use the term Hip Hop when referring to rappers that have no artistic skill, no mental consciousness and no recognition of the value of their word.

They do not inspire, they do not uplift, they do not teach, they do no advocate. They just hate, hate, hate. They say hateful words, they hate their community and they hate themselves.

I say this because when a rapper has no concern for the audience, no concern for the community, no concern for their own integrity, they speak of violence, they speak of misogyny, they speak of words that have no value to humanity. They put their barely rhyming words together to a beat, and because someone or people dance to a beat. They think they are rappers or that they are part of Hip Hop. They are NOT HIP HOP and they will never be accepted as HIP HOP.

This is easily proven by the company they keep. Most rappers never attend any HIP HOP cultural event. They do not do any type of community outreach, unless it’s their own organization. They stay away from all the architects of the HIP HOP culture, because they know that the living legends will ask them questions about what they are doing with the community and they don’t want to be told they have no place in our culture.

For years now, rappers use this term Hip Hop and they have no clue what they are speaking of. Hip Hop now is perceived as this misogynistic culture, that is violent and full of unconscious people who have no respect for themselves or others.

That is not Hip Hop. That is rap, that is record labels putting thugs on a mic and putting words against a beat and not caring about the audience (poor urban children). Rappers are not role models, most of them do not have real talent, nor do they advocate for their own people or the communities they came from.

For those who can’t tell the difference, because you may not know be a part of the culture. Just listen to the message. If the message is teaching you something about some political, historical or spiritual situation that you have never heard before or that makes you look a persons name up that you’ve never heard before, it’s Hip Hop. If you are listening to a message of misogyny, violence against women, disrespecting women, materialism, sex crazed and full disrespect of life over anything physical, then you are listening to rap.

One empowers and educates (Hip Hop), the other destroys the fabric of our society (Rap).

Get with this (Empowering and Educating), and forget that…..(Violating Women and Stepping over everyone to “Make It”)

Queen Dream Makers

Reflection from "The Stoop" Festival Collection

Alice Mizrachi, is an artist, curator, arts educator and YOUNITY founder.

HOW OLD WERE YOU WHEN YOU DECIDED ART WAS YOUR PATH?

I was 16 when I discovered art was my path. I was coming home from my studio art time at high school. I usually stayed late after school and one day while walking home. I saw cracks on the sidewalks that looked like people. That’s when I realized that everything is Art, and I’ve been on this journey ever since.

HAVE YOU EVERY DECIDED TO CHANGE COURSE?

I never changed course, I have always been into ART.

TELL ME ABOUT YOUNITY, HOW DID IT COME TO BE?

YOUNITY was founded in New York City in 2007 by myself and Toofly. I built up my presence in the art world throughout the years of making art, showing art, and teaching art. YOUNITY allowed me to unite women artists globally and provide a platform for what we do.

WHAT MEDIUMS DO YOU USE TO WORK WITH CLIENTS?

It depends on the client. Most of my collectors and people who buy my work like to visit my studio, that’s how I usually sell work. As for teaching artist gigs, I get those mostly through referrals. I do work with youth, so they call or email me. The rest of my business, I would say is done via email.

WHAT BRINGS YOU JOY AS AN ARTIST?

I love seeing how people feel when they buy one of my pieces; it is truly inspiring and gives me energy to create more.

WHAT POINTERS CAN YOU GIVE SOMEONE LOOKING TO ENTER THE ART WORLD?

Follow what YOU love to do, make your own lane and focus on your growth cause that is what will differentiate you from the rest.

WHAT DO YOU DO, TO MANIFEST YOUR DREAMS?

I visualize my dreams, write them down, talk about them and trick myself to believe they are happening and they do!

HOW IMPORTANT IS IT THAT WOMEN DISCOVER THEIR DREAMS?

I think if we all do what we love and really focus on enriching our communities with those gifts our world would be a better place. If each one teaches one through example then we’d be good.

HOW DO YOU DEFINE A QUEEN?

A queen is a woman who knows who she is and what she is here for and is willing to share those strengths with the world.

WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE QUEEN AND WHY?

Frida Kahlo, Because through all her pain and suffering she still smiled and created beautiful work. She could have easily lived her life ’til the end doing nothing, but instead she endured and made the best with what she had.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A PRINCESS AND A QUEEN?
A princess is a queen in training

WHAT MAKES WOMEN CONTRIBUTIONS IMPORTANT?

Without women we wouldn’t be here so I would say our contributions are pretty important. We are mothers, sisters, daughters, fighters, lovers… etc. We contribute to the balance of this life.

WHAT WOMEN IN YOUR LIFE IMPACTED YOU MOST?

My mom has had a great impact on me. She taught me all the basics on how to take care of myself. She taught me how to use my hands to create. I am blessed to have had such a nurturing childhood- my mom is DOPE!

If you’d like to take a look at Alice Mizrachi’s Art or learn more about Younity check out her current shows:

“Canceptual”- Crewest Gallery in Los Angeles, CA
September 8th to 25th
“GODDESShood”- Yonkers Public Library in New York
September 10th to December 4th
“Citizen Jane Mural”- Lower East Side, New York
September 10th

www.am-files.com
www.theyounity.com

Remember the Past and the Living

My Dear Fallen Heroes:

So many years have passed and it seems just like yesterday you never came back home on this day in September. First, I want to say that I miss you; we long for your presence and we mourn for you always. I thought by now we would have brought the people responsible for your death to justice, but I’m so sorry to have to tell you, I don’t think that has happened… I don’t know what justice looks like anymore.

Following the 11th, I have struggled to make my life full of purpose, and determined to never live in regret. I did my best to save people anyone I could get my hands on. I went to army recruitment centers to talk young men out of joining, telling them that war would be upon us, and they may never come back home if they sign up. I remember trying to explain to a young man that war is neither benefiting to him nor us. Now, ten years after the fact, I think those men now understand my reasons for my concern.

According to USA Today in January 2011, soldiers, both active duty and on inactive status, died by suicide at the rate of 25 per month in 2010, Army figures show. In November (2009) that suicides had doubled among National Guard soldiers who were on inactive duty in a year when the Army was seeing a slight decline among active-duty soldier suicides. The Army released final year-end statistics Wednesday. There were 301 confirmed or suspected soldier suicides in 2010, including those on active duty and reservists or National Guard troops on an inactive status, the Army reported Wednesday. This compares with 242 in 2009.
The Marine Corps reported a decline in suicides from 52 in 2009 to 37 confirmed or suspected cases in 2010. Among active-duty Army soldiers, there were 156 potential suicides in 2010, down slightly from 162 in 2009.

After escaping the towers and living that horrific day of war, the trauma left me in a state of haunting memories. It kept me wondering how I could honor your lives with my life? Did I do enough today to make my life count? It has been so hard for me to be at peace. This vicious cycle continued day in day out for years, and I would work myself into complete exhaustion.

Now that it’s been ten years, I am back at square one, asking myself, what have I done these last ten years of life that I’ve been spared to live? I want to tell you each and every lesson I learned, and tell you all about my wish to build purposeful ventures in business for our community; that I’m now a wife and a mother of two daughters, and I am loved every day. I’ve tried to be a model for those around me, but I still feel the pain of you not being with us and it still makes me feel inept. I am not a soldier, but if September 11th has left me with all these emotions, trauma and stigma, I can only imagine what our soldiers think of these past 10 years.

We cannot deny the emotional, physical and spiritual harm war does to us personally and collectively around the world. Our anger for what happened ten years and our grief, will never go away. But we can choose how to respond to this anger and choose how we act. With our social and financial problems at this time, it worries me that no leader is trying to dramatically end these wars. So many years of war, our soldiers need to be home with their families. We cannot afford these wars. We’re broke, and instead of considering ending these wars we consider cutting Veteran services, for them and their families. How can any leader dare to speak these words!

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the Iraqi war can cost anywhere from 9 Billion to 13 Billion a month. That’s 156,000,000,000 Billion dollars a year, only for Iraq. We’ve been at war for 10 years now. The new jobs bill presented a day or two ago, is only 105 Billion, so basically less than one year of the Iraqi war, we could improve the incentives for job hiring in America.

It is Patriotic to save American Lives and our American Financial Lives too. This war, has brought us all to our knees, we have no jobs, we’re homeless, we have higher gas prices, we’re billions in debt, and we allow our soldiers to kill and be killed for empty campaign slogans.
It is time for us to heal, and to stop living in denial.

We were deceived to believe Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and Osama Bin Laden is dead. We cannot bring back our loved ones from September 11th and we can never bring back our fallen soldiers. Our lack of action for peace is making the suicide rate among soldiers rise. They rather not live this life, than continue killing and dying year in year out. “Among National Guard soldiers on inactive status in 2010, there were 101 confirmed or suspected suicides, more than double the 48 deaths among Guard members on inactive duty in 2009.” USA Today

In addition to soldier suicide rate rising, so is our debt for paying for these wars. Most of the contracts are not open bids, so there is no competition. There aren’t any methods set in place to verify that we (Our Country) got the services we paid for. There isn’t competitive bids, so people who have a relationship in place, like Halliburton who became KBR or Black Water who have become Xe, International Development Solutions or U.S. Training Center, still get the checks. The pentagon only has a 2% goal for enhancing competitive bids and they have no system in place to know the difference between these subsidiaries. It is betrayal to our soldiers and to all Americans to pay a private army more than our own soldiers, and with our tax dollars, adding more to our debt.

“According to data provided to the House panel, the average per-day pay to personnel Blackwater hired was $600. According to the schedule of rates, supplies and services attached to the contract, Blackwater charged Regency $1,075 a day for senior managers, $945 a day for middle managers and $815 a day for operators. An unmarried sergeant given Iraq pay and relief from U.S. taxes makes about $83 to $85 a day, given time in service. A married sergeant with children makes about double that, $170 a day. Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Baghdad overseeing more than 160,000 U.S. troops, makes roughly $180,000 a year, or about $493 a day. That comes out to less than half the fee charged by Blackwater for its senior manager of a 34-man security team.” by James Joyner, Outside the Beltway.com

After the 11th, I yearned for us to observe our anger, to stop our own suicidal tendencies and to stop our ill-intended economic policies, so we could look at ourselves and reflect. We may have caught our breath, but as a whole we continued with the same lifestyle and it has pushed us deeper into dysfunction, and economic collapse.

The emotional trauma that September 11th and these wars have caused will have a lasting impact, but we can choose to stop the bleeding and put pressure on our leaders to end them. These wars keep us unable to act for the future and each year September 11th re-opens our wounds. We are smarter than to let the pain of September 11th, re-ignite our anger and continue re-energizing these endless wars.

Although on this day what I feel is overwhelming grief, compassion, and gratefulness for life. I pray for forgiveness to our fallen heroes. Now that it is 10 years, I am writing today to ask you all, to please ACT and save lives. Please take all that you feel about this day, and tomorrow call your congress person (both Representative and Senator). Make it clear that we need to end these wars and have our soldiers back home. Let’s save the lives of our soldiers, something that is in our power to do now.

With all my love and heavy heart

Thursday March 7, 2002 – Living For Security?

I just got dropped by Anthony, his conversation got me motivated to write. I was remembering how I wanted to write about my experience regarding the 11th and then relate it to my view of our condition right now.

Because I wanted to put so many facts, I lost the momentum and trying to make a livelihood also added to my distraction. So many things have surfaced since the 11th that adds fuel to my fire but I don’t necessarily want to research all those findings. Sometimes I feel it just takes me away from my thoughts and feelings and doesn’t allow others to see me and understand my paradigm.

I’ve also gotten to the place where I believe in life so much that I don’t have to be secure like others. What is security? Have we changed or created this word so that our feelings are safe? How can this word exist when reality repeatedly shows us, there is no such thing.

We have seasons to remind us to never secure ourselves with a moment in time. Our change of climate tells us that nature is the all most powerful. Then we have people that come and go, and we don’t have any relationship secure in our midst. To add to that, death pursues us, though we never like to be at peace with this part of life, it still never stops. We all know we are going to die some day.

Security, why live for this? Why plan our lives into this mold, to enslave us in it and have people to remember you by it when it will all be taken away; sometimes by other places, sometimes by your decisions and at other times, due to just natural forces that must be and their beingness caused your security to flee. How can we live unattached and hopeless? It makes this world seem very impossible to come to grips with when we do this.

And yet there is so much suffering and peace that comes with our security being taken away. Yes, the mundane gets easily taken away when we lose our security and a beautiful light is lit. The freedom of life becomes alive, because you actually realize that you are alive and the fact that you are alive is priceless and oh so precious, what use to be important isn’t anymore. And your aliveness is what makes you understand that it can all end for you in an instant.

This is the aliveness that escaping death gives you. This intense energy, because you finally feel your energy inward and outwardly. You see how your energy impacts others and whether you understand it intellectually or just physically, you finally feel the power of self.

This power became intoxicating to me, because I began to do what I felt. Whatever right or wrong I felt, that was my truth and that was my reality. I no longer lived in the “Grey”. For what is grey? Basically taking time to decide, but when you feel alive and when you realize you only this moment, your time scale for weighing this or that becomes minuate. You soon start realizing you only have seconds to judge a situation, a person, what have you and you must cut off and decide. The pleasure of sitting on the fence no longer exists because you know that life also cuts off and so you must make a decision on the spot, right or wrong, with only your thoughts, your sensations and your emotions.

This type of living is also so freeing, because no longer is the perception of others a factor. When you feel compelled you act. Not worrying about, what others will think nor worrying about the reactions of others. You simply know, you will deal with the situation as it comes, just like life.

What September Brings..

Every year as September 11th rolls around, I always find myself burying my broken heart and sharing my thoughts and feelings with only my close friends and family.

I love life and love people, so I have tried to keep my survival story a secret. When you experience horror, sitting on the fence becomes impossible. There is no more grey, just black and white.

This year is different, for it marks 10 years of life I have been spared to live and with that comes an even stronger obligation to those who didn’t survive September 11th. Throughout these past 10 years, I have always strived to make my life count. I now feel that my missing piece of fulfillment, has been sharing my story and my wisdom with the world.

What I will share in September will be from my collection of writings throughout these past 10 years. It is for those with strong stomachs, resilient spirits and people who yearn for untold truths. If you have nothing to learn and no one to love, then I may not be able to serve you.

With a Heavy Heart and a Dream for Peace,

Lynne McTaggart Sharing Wisdom & Truth Principles

The BOND TELESERIES is a free, life-changing 21-day online event launching July 25, hosted by internationally renowned bestselling author, researcher, and lecturer Lynne McTaggart. The worlds foremost thought leaders are joining together with the public for this very special summit to help shape a new blueprint for change for a better, fairer world. Our intention is to make sure as many people as possible can take advantage of the information as well as the wisdom of the speakers featured.

The Bond Teleclass delivers a five-day curriculum featuring The Bond author, Lynne McTaggart, communicating and teaching newfound transformational principles from her new book to further cultivate wisdom and truth.

The Fairness Campaign Summit is a daily series enabling registrants to learn from 23 prominent transformational thought and wellness leaders including Jack Canfield, Steven Covey, Ivan Misner, Paul Scheele and Hale Dwoskin, Marianne Williamson, Michael Beckwith and Eric Pearl, Barbara Marx Hubbard, Jean Houston, Janet Attwood, Gay and Katie Hendricks and Arielle Ford, Bryan Hubbard, Arjuna Ardagh, Marci Shimoff and Howard Martin, Katherine Woodward Thomas, Bobbi De Porter and Lisa Nicholas; Dea and Don Beck.

The Bond Teleclass & The Fairness Campaign Summit will commence on July 25th, with each teleclass & speaker engagement beginning at 4 p.m. PST each day through August 15th. Participants can subscribe to the free event by visiting: http://bit.ly/mctaggart. Subscribers will also have the option of purchasing the complete program in a variety of packages through the website and can listen to each show for 48 hours free of charge.

Acceptance and Acne (via Lozi Lifestyle)

Many of our skin issues have to do with our internal health verses just what we put on our skin. If you have an acne issue, have you accepted your whole self? Acne is a result of disliking yourself and not accepting yourself. Take a moment and reflect on what Louise L. Hay says in her book, "Heal Your Body". Read this affirmation and internalize it: "I am a Divine expression of life. I love and accept myself where I am right now." Our body is one … Read More

via Lozi Lifestyle

Manifesting What You Want

Manifesting What You Want.