passport harlem

"black like having yo' cousin back." - andre 3000

[mattyrab]

Historical moments in shade throwing, Inauguration Edition 2013. Keep your eyes on FLOTUS’ reaction to what Boehner said to her and POTUS.

[passportharlem-blog]

I can't stop laughing at this. I know that look. I know it!

[passportharlem-blog]

Did u ever write that post about election time and not voting ?

I did. You can read it here.

[passportharlem-blog]

I wrote a something really long:

To be sure, I understand our desire to go hard for Michelle Obama. I get it. But beyond noting how astonishing it is just for her to live in the White House, I hesitate to call her choice(s) revolutionary, and not a seemingly feminine extension of a kind of conservatism that has been attractive to black folks for decades #bookert #malcolmx #obama. Beyond the scene, there’s nothing new here. Lauding the choice to personify a respectability that, frankly, won’t ever solve black people’s alleged problems seems counterproductive to me. But speaking truth to power and putting one’s self in danger so that others might begin to see this and other things differently? I’ll raise a fist to that.

[passportharlem-blog]

Are you voting this year? If so would you mind speaking up about the candidate you support. If you have progressive politics and do not believe in either candidate is it best to choose the one that is more likely not to cut social programming that have better benefits to blacks, gays and Hispanics?

I am not voting this year. I voted for Cynthia McKinney in '08, but I won't be participating in this aspect of the process anymore. I'll probably write a post about this.

I think it's up to you to determine what's best. I'd be inclined to vote for someone who wouldn't cut the kind of programming you mentioned, but for right now I think I'm going to hibernate until I can find out a way to channel my nihilism on a macro level. 

Thanks for your question!

[passportharlem-blog]

I've had two Whitney Houston dreams in as many weeks. I don't know if it's because I associate her with my mother, but I can't stop thinking about her. I never thought I'd take the death of a famous person harder than I took MJJ's, but the death of Whitney Houston reminded me that one should never say never. 

I just, I don't know. I'm fucking sad all over again. Peace to Bobbi Kris.

#shoopforjesus

[passportharlem-blog]

Are you psyched for USA Basketball?

Absolutely not. I prefer competition that's actually, well, competitive. That said, it's very clear they're not the Dream Team #kobecray.

[passportharlem-blog]

I'd pay cold, hard cash to hear Murphy imitate Obama. #blackgenius DETAILS: Do you think Murphy will ever tour again? Chris Rock: Barring financial ruin, I don't think so. I think we'll see a Richard Pryor hologram on tour before we see Eddie Murphy. DETAILS: Does it bum you out to see him in less-than-successful films? Chris Rock: We all do stuff that doesn't work. It bums me out when I'm at his house and he's making a bunch of people laugh and it's so effortless. His Obama impression? Amazing.

[passportharlem-blog]

“In American literature, African American male writers justifiably write books about their oppression,” she says. “Confronting the oppressor who is white male or white woman. It’s race. And the person who defines you under those circumstances is a white mind – tells you whether you’re worthy or what have you. And as long as that’s your preoccupation, you’re defending yourself against that. Reacting to it. Reacting to the definition – saying it’s not true. African American women never do that. They never write about white men. I couldn’t care less – I didn’t want to spend my energy refuting that gaze.” #blackgenius

[passportharlem-blog]

I wrote something:

My dismissal of [Anderson] Cooper on the technicality of privilege, I imagine, might lead one to think that I find more significance in Frank Ocean’s Tumblr post wherein he discloses that his first love was a man. After all, Ocean is young, black, not BFFs with Kathy Griffin, entrenched in hip-hop, and might have been interviewed by Cooper back in 2005 had he not left his native New Orleans due to Hurricane Katrina. Still, I didn’t flinch. I almost treated Ocean’s “announcement” in the same way I reacted to Cooper’s. But since I kept getting hit with waves of reasons why my equation should read: Frank Ocean coming out > Anderson Cooper coming out, I realized that perhaps it might be more beneficial to explain why I cannot properly compute that mathematical sentence.

[passportharlem-blog]

What was the tastiest juice you had during your juice fast? Not necessarily talking about sweet, but sweet is fine. Thanks!

I do enjoy pear and apple juice. Sometimes I juice strawberries and add to that combination. That can be kind of sweet, though. When I was fasting, fruit juices were my dessert. 

My go-to veggie juice is greens--cucumber, kale, celery, spinach--and carrots. It's prolly my fave.

[passportharlem-blog]

Are you following the Draft at all? If you are, what are your hopes for the Bulls and that 29th pick?

Draft and otherwise, the bulls have done nothing but depress me.

[poetsandwriters]

“Inscriptive Restorations: An Interview with Natasha Trethewey,” Callaloo, Vol. 27, No. 4

[funnyordie]

The Wire: The Musical with Michael Kenneth Williams

Michael Kenneth Williams stars alongside The Wire’s Sonja Sohn, Larry Gillard Jr., Andre Royo and Felicia “Snoop” Pearson in “The Wire: The Musical,” depicting America’s failing drug war through the magic of song!

[passportharlem-blog]

I'd pay Broadway ticket money to see this.

[passportharlem-blog]

They rappin' 'bout where I'm from. So I love this with everything in me. (And I'm prolly related to at least one person in this video.)

[passportharlem-blog]

I've had many a conversation about the folks Quest lists and others. Why isn't there a book on black genius? (Is there a book on black genius?)

I tell Rock that Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, the drummer for the Roots and one of D's closest collaborators, has ticked off much the same list. Questlove has a theory about what happens to black genius—what he calls "a crazy psychological kind of stoppage that prevents them from following through. A sort of self-saboteur disorder." Rock says he understands.

I ask Questlove what he thinks has held D back. He says it's not just the way "Untitled" turned D'Angelo into "the Naked Guy," though of course that didn't help. It's something bigger. "We noticed early that all of the geniuses we admired have had maybe a ten-year run before death or, you know, the Poconos," he says. "That renders D paralyzed. He said he fears the responsibility and the power that comes with it. But I think what he fears most is the isolation"—the kind that fame brings

[furthermucker]

D’Angelo!! (GQ, June 2012)

[passportharlem-blog]

Amen.

[passportharlem-blog]

This is how I feel about Jay-Z's (and pretty much any other celebrity's) support of the POTUS' "endorsement" of same-sex marriage.