We Real Cool

We real cool. We
Left school. We

Lurk late. We
Strike straight. We

Sing sin. We
Thin gin. We

Jazz June. We
Die soon. - Gwendolyn Brooks

In an effort to escape from the desert that is mainstream hip hop, we here at brooklynsista have decided to search high and low for innovative and hype beats and rhymes. In that spirit, here are The Cool Kids with "Black Mags"

rock the vote, pt. II

In my English class, "The Weary Blues: Mourning in African American culture", we discussed the tradition of the messianic figure in black politics, aka the Chosen One. And I'm not talking about Neo. Nat Turner, Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., most of our black political leaders have died in the line of duty. And now as we move closer to primary season and the fight for votes gets even more heated among the Democratic hopefuls, a lot of black folk have been asking themselves - does a vote for Barack mean the kiss of death, literally?
When the news constantly purports stories that black people aren't coming out in droves for Obama, they are missing a large piece of the story. It isn't that we're crazy and hard to please (well...), its more complicated than that. Many of us still think of Clinton as our brother from another mother, so we're down for the next best thing - Hillary. And we are also sending a message to his campaign that he has to earn our votes, meaning our blackness doesn't necessitate pulling the lever for him. Most importantly, many of the older generation are legitimately concerned for his physical well being. We have a 400 year history with crazy racist zealots, hankering for some Negro blood. But I hope we don vote based on our fears, but rather on our findings of the candidate most willing to fight for our needs. We have to stop worrying about the racist factions within our nation and worry about ourselves.
In the meantime, I'll be zipping up my fly BaRack the Vote hoodie, and hitting the streets in support of my legislative homie.

Loving you is like food for the soul

In celebration of Thanksgiving (my favorite holiday), here is a lil sumthing from the movie "Soul Food". Lets rewind back to a simpler time, the mid 90s. When Vivica Fox was still a somewhat natural beauty and black films weren't simply an amalgamation of other black films (Stop the Yard, Drumline, You Got Served, anyone?)
So as you unbuckle your pants and sit down to the delicious spread, remember what Big Mama said to her wonderfully dysfunctional clan -"We got to be that fist!"

*but please go easy on all the yams, ham hocks, collards, mac and cheese, and ox tail folk. We already had enough health problems as it is, no need for the emergency hospital run- keep safe ya'll!*

lyte as rock

So bare with the poor quality music video for this inaugural throwb(l)ack Thursday video. But MC Lyte's flynest comes through regardless as she kicks this one for Brooklyn. So peep Positive K trying to kick game to the Lyte.

do the ladies run this?

For a while it seemed as if I could only get my dose of female MC greatness by watching Salt and Pepa's VH1 reality TV show. And as much as I enjoy watching them try to patch up their relationship, I wished there was more mc'ing involved. alas.
As I buckle down and work on my thesis, grad apps (pray for me) and general school work I like to play some music that I can move to that keeps me wired. And out of the dearth that is today's watered down mainstream hip hop and R&B (can anyone say Rihanna?), I finally get hip to artists like Santogold, Nola Darling, and Kid Sister. Who said that the female MC dead? And I'm not talking about folk like Trina, Khia, Jackie O or any of that sorry cadre of half naked girls. I looked back to the golden days when MC Lyte, Queen Latifah and Missy held it down (drop another album Miss!)

So peep Kid Sister's myspace page, and become a believer again. Ladies first, ladies first, ooooo ladies first.

paint the white house black

During the Amherst Blackademic Quiz Bowl, I learned that Frederick Douglass was the first African American to run for president, and not Jesse Jackson like everybody thought. African Americans have been throwing their hat into the ring since before we had the franchise.
As the election season heats up and the nation watches our first viable black presidential candidate traverse the country, in an effort to win votes and gain supporters to join team Obama, I've been thinking about running myself. But my candidacy would be a little different since it's for a post that hasn't been created (yet).

Although I plan on pulling the lever for Sen. Obama on February 5th (my bday!) during the NY state primaries and I light a candle in prayer for an Obama/Edwards or vice versa ticket, I would like to run for president as well - President of Black America.

If elected as president, Sen. Obama will not be able to address all of the needs of black Americans because as president he has to represent the interests of ALL Americans. However, in our democracy we as a group have traditionally have our interests and needs circumvented due to the nature of our representative government. Our democracy is a rule of the majority, which seems fair, but really isn't when one considers the fact that we have marked underclasses - blacks, other people of color and the poor. Since all of these groups are minorities, they will never enjoy full representation. A flaw in our great republican system ( I might be a radical black girl, but I do recognize a good system when I see one, and we have the best).

Thats where I come in as President of Black America. My office would specifically address the needs of black Americans through direct federal action.
I would enact a system of reparations for the descendants of African slaves, which would be include good housing opportunities (low mortgage rates, etc...), a trust fund for all children under the age of 18, and passports of all black Americans with a airplane voucher for a trip to any nation in the African Diaspora - Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. However to access the trip, the people will have to attend a minimum of 5 therapy sessions with a trained counselor- hey, living under 388 years of racial oppression hasn't been easy.
Apart from the reparations plan, my administration would work with the federal government to roll back the unfair minimum sentencing laws for drug offenses. We would expand the Head Start program, ensuring that all 3 year olds have the opportunity to enter school. And of course we would develop a plan to sharply reduce the cost of medical care in our communities, with the eventual goal of universal health care.

Its a pipe dream, but this pipe dream would help us realize the dream that Reconstruction never realized. Hopefully Obama can pull some of it off.