DiezelP: Time for us to respect women

DiezelP writes over at What’s Happening PDX:

Will Hip-Hop Ever Reach Its Full Potential?

The Worth of Women

How will hip hop ever grow to its full potential when the very gender that reproduces our future artists, activists, columnists, producers, and entrepreneurs of our urban community are belittled to almost an object for the testosterone filled modern day rappers? When did the women of our culture become only useful for physical beauty and sexual activity? Why doesn’t Rap music uplift and inspire their female listeners to reach the same level of success males have?

Equal societies are safer, healthier, happier

These days have me questioning our current predicaments:   Why did we get to where we are at today? Two answers, two sides of the same coin: Greed and need.

just a joke: white man gets black man to do manual labor for him

here is the video URL: http://reviews.cnet.com/mp3-players/baylis-revolution/4505-6490_7-33357756.html

Below is my letter. Don’t know if I’m over-thinking it, but I am going with my gut on this one…

women in jazz

WOW. Grace Kelly. Y’all remember that, alright? Seriously. So I heard this amazing interpretation of “Ain’t No Sunshine” on the radio, waiting with baited breath to hear who the hell it was behind this crazy shee-it. Turns out, you have to qualify it as crazy youthful sixteen year old second-gen Korean American she-it to be accurate. Grace Kelly. Mood Changes.

In the liner notes, Don Heckman beautifully describes the casual sexism us men often carelessly throw around. Here’s an excerpt (emphasis mine):

Poem: Backlash 101308

This is one of my more recent poems.  It is directly inspired from a conversation with someone who lives across the continent from me in Canada.  One of her reactions was, “Do people really say, “y’all”?”  Yup.   I live outside of any city limits and I grew up surrounded by farms: horses, cows, crops.  I collected eggs from the chickens as part of the morning chores before school.  I have a rural “y’all,” but there are also plenty of folks with an urban “y’all.”

The conversation was about success, failure, lessons learned and processing recent advice given to me by an academic advisor, activist and mentor:  “First, do no harm.”  Simple, but perhaps something that we all struggle with.  But ’nuff said.  To the poem…

Cocktober surprise, hijacked by spongebob square rack?

Funny, how hyperlinks make surfing the internet an endless journey.  You can go from looking into the politics of poetry to staring yet another ginormous fake boob in the face in just one click (from zero to smutty in 10 seconds? I’d buy that car…).