Save #InvestInBoston

So your boy Mumbles pulled some corny stuff and vetoed Invest In Boston which passed in the city council unanimously. Please see action steps below and take them. This is Councillor Felix G. Arroyo's signature piece of legislation, we owe him this. Let's make sure it doesn't get lost in the power games of a rapidly shifting political landscape. ("thanks for feeling me on this y'all")

Another Summer (Annalisse) 4/26/07

We made it through Winter
We made it through Fall
Made it through the Spring
Hard times and all
But it feels good to see Another Summer

This morning I saw leaves on the trees
It felt like rebirth
Winters have become so cold here,
It sometimes feels like the frost will never break
The cold sets deep into the bones
The sun rarely shines
And then….in a cosmic plan
That you nor I could ever understand

What Happens When White People Are Finally Othered: @JenthePen vs @RaqiThunda

Last week on Love and Hip Hop NY, after arguing with Raqi Thunda about the dissolution of their radio show that never quite happened, Jen “the Pen” Bayer let her white privilege show.  From the street Raqi, an Algerian-Puerto Rican Muslim, jabs “Good luck getting on!”. To which Jen responds, from her chauffeured car, window half closed, “I’m white, honey. It will get done.” Everyone watching, and I’m sure everyone who worked on the show, had a gut level response to her statement. Raqi read the situation perfectly and responded by calling Jen an “entitled honky”. Live tweeting during the episode @JenthePen posted this in response to people calling her racist:

HERE is where the actual problem lies.

Race, Equity & Impact at Berklee College of Music

As graduating seniors in the Professional Music major we are charged with designing and executing a project that reflects both our studies at Berklee and the careers we will be entering. I came to the Professional Music department one semester shy of a Music Business/Management degree and four years after the birth of my son. The focus of my course work in MB/M was organizational structure, business systems, entrepreneurship, and ethics in leadership. In my life and work outside of Berklee I have been an educator, organizer, and leader in the movement for social and racial justice. Since my days as a City Music student in my teens, I had always desired an intersection of my studies at Berklee and my activism but never found the right outlet. When I met with Kenn Brass to join the department and learned of the structure of the final project I realized this was my opportunity.

Recent writings on the way!!

Last month after finding my blog one of my political connects suggested I write more. At first I was like *side eye* I write all the time. My work is writing (grants, newsletters, development strategies) and since I went back to Berklee in June I had been writing even more, just in a different manner than what I would blog. BUT since some of my academic writing is dope, I'm going to share it. I did want to offer some context though. Enjoy!!

What's Going On? (2006)

In Boston 2005, 75 people died of murder
75 mothers cried and further
If all you get from that is a statistic
The point of this,
You missed it
I don’t claim to be a mystic
But I do have faith
That we as a people are great and it is not our fate that
Dorchester 2006 looks like Greenwood Tulsa 1921
And asking each other ‘What’s Going On?’ Is not enough
We must ask the mayor 'What’s Going On?'
Ask the Governer 'What’s Going On?'
Ask the President’s puppeteers 'What’s Going On? '
Cos Marvin wrote that song in the 70’s and this shit is STILL GOING ON
We need to speak truth to power
And fighting for justice is not easy
But believe me when I say that change is coming
The masses are restless
And I dare you to test this
Cos in this chest beats the heart of a warrior
It isn't coincidence we can’t see another way out
Because the Government and big business have more than clout
They have money
And when your mother and baby are at home hungry
You will do what needs to be done
Even if it involves picking up a gun
I as one who cares know that it is not fair
Choices limited by systems we livin in.
This country cant even take care of it’s own
11 dead at the Super Dome
And a pregnant mother left alone on a rooftop for 6 days
Not enough relief workers to save the day
Because they are 15,000 miles away spreading democracy
Spreading hypocrisy
It’s odd to me that more of us are not rebelling against what we've been taught to be.
Holes in the ozone the size of ten football fields
Eleven year old suburban kids talkin bout "Keep it real"
Thousands dying in Palestine and Lebanon
And we are still asking what's going on?

Don't mess with "my" man

This shit is all about claiming. I had a cute, cerebral intro about the intricacies of relationships, but no... This is about "That's MINE." I can't help but think about all the grief Emily B has gotten for claiming a man who doesn't claim her. But I think I have solved the Rubik's cube that is the claim.

When a woman says "that's my man", what she really means is "I am his woman". She means I am dedicated to him, I support him, and I am loyal to him. To me that sounds like a declaration of fealty. Like she is pledging herself to him, which logically would make her his, not the other way around.

When men say "that's my woman" they mean "that's my woman"... i.e. That belongs to me. Not I belong to her. Now when women hear a man say "that's my woman", since we conflate our pledge of dedication with it being reciprocated we hear "I'm her man". Titling yourself or someone else does not imply they will do the same, and better yet it does not imply their behavior will be satisfactory.

So basically, we are out here reverse claiming. Next time call it what it is, not what you want it to be.