Perez got pretty slammed on the Brooklyn blogs for her comments. “As much as I find Rosie Perez to be a decent actor, sexy and certainly part of NYC’s charm, I must say comments like these make me want to kick her in the shins,” wrote one commenter on Brownstoner. We cornered Perez after the show, and she was happy to clear up what she worried was a hostile comment. “What I really wanted to say was that, yes, I’m nostalgic for the past, but I’m also excited about the present and hopeful for the future,” she explained. “Things do change. Water always has to flow or else it becomes stale. But with change, you can bring along some of the good minerals that came from the top of the waterfall.” She said she’d read some of the blogs and seen the nasty comments. “I think it’s their guilt of being the gentrifiers. They don’t know how to take it,” she said. “But I had to look at myself and I realized it came off a little hostile, to be honest.”

What Rosie meant to express was that the neighborhood has a growing sense of elitism. “I live in Clinton Hill. The gentrification is not only the mom-and-pop shops getting displaced, residents getting displaced, people getting priced out even of the Associated markets,” she said. “It’s the sense of entitlement that people bring with them to the neighborhood.” People seem to think since they’re paying a premium for the lovely neighborhood, they don’t have to say hello, and they should be able to rule the space. They’ll think to themselves, Perez groans, “‘This is our place in the park, I don’t care if you played soccer here, we want to put our baby strollers here.’ What? Excuse me? That is not the feeling of New York. That is why New York City is the only place where you can come, whether you’re gay, straight, transgender, freak, geek, and live a fairly decent life and not get killed. If you do get killed, it’s probably a tiny, tiny percentage because of the color of your skin or because you want to wear a pink tutu on your head. But if you do that in Arkansas, you might get killed. In NYC, your chances [of getting killed] are very slim because it’s called tolerance and respect for your fellow humans. And saying hello to your neighbor is a great start. Even if you’re in a bad mood, just give me a nod.”

Next time we’re in Clinton Hill, Ms. Perez is certainly getting a tip of our hat.

by  Emma Pearse copied from www.nymag.com

we used what we had to explain to our 9 month old what was going on.  enjoy the photo essay.

(drapetomania definition)

click the pic and enjoy: ) this is from the good people at the site www.thegreatschlep.com

p.s. to whom it my concern, we need to talk

Cody Chesnutt – one of the most eclectic artists of the past 10 years – has peeked his head above ground once again to give us an audio jewel for the campaign season. please know that you’ll be hearing this in a future DJ set…stay tuned.

Ok so since i seem to be ahead of the curve on the “tar baby” thing,
(see my post from about a month ago) I’d like to talk for a moment about voting.

I tell this to people all the time when they say they don’t think their vote matters: It’s not about now it’s about tomorrow. It’s about being on the record.

Actually I feel it’s a direct dis to our ancestors and those of all color who fought and died for the right. You could vote it for no other reason than to pay homage. Even if they don’t count it, it doesn’t take long.

My question to you hard core, bitter non voters who want change, is what are you doing that’s more or as effective as voting. What are you doing that voting would hinder or destroy your efforts?

Believe it or not, there is such a thing as the lesser of 2 evils… it’s not what I want but it is what is. I’m sure enslaved black people and white abolitionists could have just waited for the perfect person to come into office before they started agitating, resisting, escaping, protesting – but they didn’t. They did what they could, every minute they could.

Now. About the “Tar Baby” situation.

From cnn.com:

Snow’s briefing also produced a couple of backpedals, several pointed rejoinders — and at least one turn of phrase that raised eyebrows.Asked repeatedly about reports that the government has collected records on millions of Americans’ phone calls, Snow said, “I don’t want to hug the tarbaby of trying to comment on the program, the alleged program, the existence of which I can neither confirm nor deny.”

The expression, which refers to a character in the most famous of the fictional Uncle Remus stories, is sometimes used to portray an inextricable situation. But, as the word also has been used as a derogatory term for blacks, it raised eyebrows when spoken from the White House podium.

Snow’s statement was inappropriate, insensitive, and offensive.

Later in the briefing, Snow was asked what he meant. “Well, I believe ‘hug the tarbaby,’ we could trace that back to American lore,” he said

Racist ass Uncle Remus… WORD? ‘American lore’ has a lot of potential references to describe the position he was in. He chose the most incendiary one possible. Why?

The hubbub around the term has obscured the question he was dodging… probably one of the most important things to be talked about in the entire press conference.

This guy is no dummy
He works on television
He worked for FOX
He knows words and how they work

This was his first press conference, and he says something so wildly inappropriate that everyone focuses on the “bad word” and not on the issue he was “not going to hug” –

The NSA
Spying on you

And while we bicker over this phrase, the constitution is being shredded before our eyes

If you want to be offended, be offended by the dministration’s appalling response to Katrina and the fact that it might happen again this year
Be offended that the dollar is worth less
Be offended that the cultural reference that Snow made will be wasted on a country full of barely literate people of all races that are currently going through the public school system.

Exercise your rights before you get flabby
And stay focused

My jaw is still on the floor after seeing this on C-SPAN the other day.

The speech Steve Colbert gave at the White House Correspondents Association Dinner was awesome if for no other reason that people he was satirizing were all in the room. Here is a link to thankyoustephencolbert.org, a site with links to the performance, transcripts, etc.

Over the past few months I’ve been watching several historical films that deal with race in America (a solders story, crazy in Alabama, glory, in the heat of the night) and at the same time have been mulling over in my head the use by both public figures, my friends and myself of the word “nigga”

What is it about that word that’s so attractive?

Why is it ok to say it on TV and you cant say “shit?”

It’s supposed to be such an ugly word but it feels like it’s becoming increasingly common in our pop culture. My mind instantly flashes to a club that my friend took me to that was populated primarily with white people who where all dancing and having a good time and then the DJ spun the #1 song in America at the time which was “gold digger” by Kanye West. Everyone went crazy, as was the tradition at the time and started singing the song VERY LOUD! Tension built as the hook approached and to every ones credit no one said “nigger” but Kanye.

Which brings me to the question why? Why is ok for any one to use it? I mean, sure we can say whatever we want I’m not challenging that. I’m challenging the hypocrisy of it being called an ugly word but still being used casually. I don’t know how many interviews and talk show appearances I have heard people/artists say “when you use it enough it takes the power out of it” or “we use it for a term of endearment”

2 thoughts run through my mind
#1 we still got a lot of healing to do(not just black but this entire country)
#2 we are not being creative enough.

There were several words besides “nigger” that were used to denigrate and demean us that I feel should be used more often until the power is taken out of them, as well. Here’s a short list
- spade
- jigga bo
- tar baby
- egg plant
- spook
- sambo
- chimp
- ape
- snow flake
- spear chucker
- booty scratcher
- coon

Really try substituting those words in your mind for how you’ve herd the word nigga used.
“yo, that’s my Jigga bo”
“where my tar babies at?”
“all the real fly coons throw your hands up”
“ I ain’t sayin’ she’s a gold digger be she ain’t messing wit’ no broke spear chuckers”
See. Its got a little sting to it that I think “nigger” has lost…and if all else fails emphasize the “ER” that was at the end of “nigga” before it was dropped for the “A”