Dr. King's Birthday ...we are still hurting.

Today is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday. Born on January 15, 1929 he is 81 years old. Sadly, this day is no longer celebrated by the masses. As a national holiday in America, we recognized his birthday this coming Monday. For better or worse, like Presidents Day, & Labor day, MLK JR Day has become just another three day weekend, but wait.

On his birthday, today in 2010, we are awaken by the total destruction of the country of Haiti. Just three days after a 7.0 earthquake rocked the heavily populated capital of Port au Prince. Hundreds of thousands of people are feared dead, and millions of people are homeless, without power, water, food, shelter. Sleeping side by side with neighbors, friends, & enemies, in open spaces as they can't return to homes deemed unstable due to the numerous aftershocks. Many homes in the capital city and surrounding areas, including the Presidential Estate were fattened. Simply reduced to rumble by the force of this quake. The dead lie in the street. What is left of morgues and hospitals, are outdoor triage centers and overflowing. Aid has yet to arrive to all. As relief on the ground or en-route. There's a bottle neck at the airport and ports. I've been riveted to news networks CNN and MSNBC. The images are surreal and something I can't ever remember seeing in my lifetime.

So, on this King's Birthday, I'm reminded of how fragile we all are as humans, but how strong, resilient and of faith we are. My love, heart, prayers, thoughts, time and money go to the people of Haiti, and to many of my Haitian family and friends living here in the US and around the world. May we all find comfort in knowing somewhere in this universe there is peace for all of us, past and present.

We are all hurting on this day Dr. King. however your legacy, vision, determination continues enlighten and uplifted a nation of people. Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday!

The "Golden age of Hip Hop"

I was invited to a party sponsored by Red Bull, you know the energy drink. Honestly, I'm not a big fan the those type of drinks, I've got all the energy one needs, you know what I'm sayn'. Anyway, one thing good I can say for the brand is they have hooks into the underground Hip Hop scene & a real supporter of the art. This was my first time to the Red Bull space in tha city on thompson st. I was expecting to hear this band "The Cool Kids" perform and also check in on a friend that invited me to the event. I did my homework the night before. Searched the net for the group and to my surprise, yeah, I had seen the video sometime last year. Reminiscing about this "hot chick" that sent it to me swearin, that it was the next ish, wondering why she's got pissed at me 'bout some stupid comment I made in a joking manner. I guess that why they have smiley faces, huh :-P. Anyway, lo and behold the kids are all up on youtube with vids and interviews. Now months later, I guess there's a real buzz out on them and rightly so. They have re-fresh Hip Hop with honest, raw, and intelligent lyrics, re-fresh the beats from the so called "golden age of Hip Hop." Yo, The Bomb Squad ish never get's old. So, where am I going with this...oh yeah, so come to find, the kids are not performing, just one kid, DJ Chuck Inglish is djing the party, and i'm not a hater but you just have to love djs that are using the back button on Serato to blend and scratch. Damn, i need to have another convo with GrandMaster Flash. But, dude wasn't scare, played Roc a fella all-stars and jade's one hit "Don't walk away" in the same set, very cool.

Let me get to the meat, no kidz, but Blestenation from Mbugout City, wherever tha fuck that is, although they shot a video on the boardwalk on Coney Island, they get props for that...opened the set with a lot of energy and with one if the MC's claiming the be the 'ugliest guy to look good in pictures.' It's too bad the mics were horrible, but i could tell tha fellas had skillz. Next up was Mickey Factz, who? Was introduced to him earlier in the evening. I actually bump into to him as i was negotiating my entry into the spot. You would have thought Jay Z, or better Jay & Beyonce was in the building the way the door man was scrutinizing(some) folks. Dude straight lied and said I wasn't on the list. Had to get my boys to come down and expose his silly ass. Anyway, Mickey(and crew) straight murdered the stage, beat, lyrics, perfomance, XL my man! His crew, just showed their ass on stage, to the point where Mickey got mad, threw them all of the stage, told the DJ, Melo X to bring his shit back "cause that not the way he does it." Then proceeded to do a routine that had all of us in his palm.

I was happy to see some young bucks doing it well. Kinda reminded me of the old days, that "golden age" everyone is talking about.

Shout to Wes, Ran, Rich and 247hh.com, good looking! Oh shout to all the hot chickz in the venue. Nice to see you in the building!!

Yesterday was the 40th anniversary of the assassination of a great human in our planets history. Dr. King's message still lives on in the hearts and minds of all of us, young and old.

Hail to the Queen

Before Janis Joplin, Joan Baez, and even Bob Dylan. There was Odetta. Seen in the eyes of many as the God Mother to American folk music scene. Dr. King called her the "Queen of Folk Music". Odetta's performance at the 1963 March on Washington is cemented in the history of the struggle for civil rights.