THE INDYPENDENT/PAPER TIGER FILMS PRESENT: RIGHT TO THE CITY!!! (...RIGHT ON!!!!!)
Indypendent Magazine & Paper Tiger Films gathered footage from the rallies and condo canvassing of Right to the City from this past year. It's a FREEKIN sweet introduction of the campaign and the full scope of our demands. Surprisingly, I'm even in it :-)
Enjoy!
UH-OH!!!! HEADS UP CUZ WE DROPPIN SUM SHIT!
And now, to take a commercial break from my rage...
ALL MY FAVORITE HOMEGIRLS R BAAAAAACKKKKK...AND SOME NEW ONES!!!!
Nneka, Nigerian/German tell it like it T.I. IS sistah, is soon to drop her album, Concrete Jungle, next year. In the meantime, I've been dousing myself in her '08 release, No Longer At Ease. Peep the video for the pounding yet low-key protest track "Heartbeat", which takes you through the streets of her hometown, Lagos, Nigeria:
(not to mention, she's FREEKIN gorgeous.)
Her new new joint is "The Uncomfortable Truth", which really has me clawing for her next release:
And theennnnn...
Shareese Renee Ballard, aka RES, finally returned with some older and newer joints packaged in her FREE release Black.Girls.Rock. Honestly, I'd heard half of these songs back in '06, but they were nowhere to be found! If you missed who she even is (which is easy, her promotion SUCKED), she dropped the oh-so-severely slept on classic album How I Do back in '01. Because she was hard to pigeonhole--too hip-hop and soul to be rock, and vice versa, she slipped under the radar. But got DAMMIT, she's PHENOMENAL nonetheless. Go for the goal and hit the link for the album:http://www.okayplayer.com/news/Res-Black
MOREOVER, much of her time has gone to teaming up with Talib Kweli and Canadian MC/Singer Graph Nobel for their trio, Idle Warship! This project is the dream mix of lyricism meets-Saturday night sloshing debauchery. I'm in love. Peep their new joint, Party Robot:
And last but certainly not least, my homegirl, Georgia Anne Muldrow is BACK with an album under her government name (the previous Patty Blingh/Dudley Perkins & Ms One albums also CRAZY) with Umsindo. Hellz to the YESSSSSSSSS. Y'all needa really keep ya eyes on shorty, she's the fucking greatest thing since Prince, playing ALL her own instruments, singing, emceeing...so full of goodness.
The neverlution has left the buildin when they step in. There may actually be some hope left...stay tuned!
ALL MY FAVORITE HOMEGIRLS R BAAAAAACKKKKK...AND SOME NEW ONES!!!!
Nneka, Nigerian/German tell it like it T.I. IS sistah, is soon to drop her album, Concrete Jungle, next year. In the meantime, I've been dousing myself in her '08 release, No Longer At Ease. Peep the video for the pounding yet low-key protest track "Heartbeat", which takes you through the streets of her hometown, Lagos, Nigeria:
(not to mention, she's FREEKIN gorgeous.)
Her new new joint is "The Uncomfortable Truth", which really has me clawing for her next release:
And theennnnn...
Shareese Renee Ballard, aka RES, finally returned with some older and newer joints packaged in her FREE release Black.Girls.Rock. Honestly, I'd heard half of these songs back in '06, but they were nowhere to be found! If you missed who she even is (which is easy, her promotion SUCKED), she dropped the oh-so-severely slept on classic album How I Do back in '01. Because she was hard to pigeonhole--too hip-hop and soul to be rock, and vice versa, she slipped under the radar. But got DAMMIT, she's PHENOMENAL nonetheless. Go for the goal and hit the link for the album:
http://www.okayplayer.com/news/Res-Black.Girls.Rock-Free-LP-.html
MOREOVER, much of her time has gone to teaming up with Talib Kweli and Canadian MC/Singer Graph Nobel for their trio, Idle Warship! This project is the dream mix of lyricism meets-Saturday night sloshing debauchery. I'm in love. Peep their new joint, Party Robot:And last but certainly not least, my homegirl, Georgia Anne Muldrow is BACK with an album under her government name (the previous Patty Blingh/Dudley Perkins & Ms One albums also CRAZY) with Umsindo. Hellz to the YESSSSSSSSS. Y'all needa really keep ya eyes on shorty, she's the fucking greatest thing since Prince, playing ALL her own instruments, singing, emceeing...so full of goodness.
The neverlution has left the buildin when they step in. There may actually be some hope left...stay tuned!
AND TO THINK, I ALMOST THOUGHT WE HAD IT.
Even though, as I've countlessly stated, marriage equality should not AT ALL be the main issue we focus on with us LGBTQ folks, I shud really change my name to FUCK U MUTHAFUCKAS.
http://ny1.com/1-all-boroughs-news-conte
38-24 nays to yays in the New York Senate, and the audacity of State Senator Ruben Diaz to say their votes reflect the votes of the people. The people voted 51 to 33 in SUPPORT of the Marriage Equality Bill. Ugh. Makes me feel like a true forgotten soul. Again.
And yet, this--this is why I love our penly lezbo Speaker Christine Quinn, who says "My life isn't any better today." This shit is bigger than politics, muthafucka--This is LIFE.
http://ny1.com/1-all-boroughs-news-content/top_stories/109767/-span-style--font-size-18pt--line-height-1-2--state-senate-rejects-same-sex-marriage-bill--span-
38-24 nays to yays in the New York Senate, and the audacity of State Senator Ruben Diaz to say their votes reflect the votes of the people. The people voted 51 to 33 in SUPPORT of the Marriage Equality Bill. Ugh. Makes me feel like a true forgotten soul. Again.And yet, this--this is why I love our penly lezbo Speaker Christine Quinn, who says "My life isn't any better today." This shit is bigger than politics, muthafucka--This is LIFE.
Paint Me a Rainbow Fairytale and Tell Me It's Better Now.
...We gettin our heads decapitated.
As many of y'all might've heard, there is an escalating amount of violence against LGBTQ folks happening globally. We are, and always have been, enemies of the global state. From Puerto Rico, to my hometown B-more, my heart is crushed more and more as I attempt to feel safe in a world that overwhelmingly fears our existence. And yet they see marriage as a win.
Two weeks ago I had the charm of going to a rally at the Uganda Embassy to protest their "anti-homosexuality bill", which is as follows:
The existing law, Section 140 of the Ugandan penal code, penalizes "carnal knowledge of any person against the order of nature" with imprisonment of up to 14 years...The draft bill tabled today seeks to imprison anyone convicted of "the offense of homosexuality" for life.
ANNNND:
This new draft bill includes a provision that could lead to the imprisonment for up to three years of anyone, including heterosexual people, who fails to report within 24 hours the identities of everyone they know who is lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender, or who supports human rights for people who are.
Now this is not to demonize my African people, but other countries are pushed to follow suit as well. How delicious.
And then I get home, only to find out about Jason Mattison, 15 yr old who was raped, gagged, and hung in his aunt's house in West Baltimore, AND George Steven Lopez in Puerto Rico, found decapitated and dismembered on the side of the road. Worse was the fucking police agent who stated, ON TV, that "people who lead this type of lifestyle need to be aware that this will happen". I want people who lead ur type of lifestyle, aka, law enforcement, to be aware that YOU get dismembered.
Three words: Fuck 'em all.
My girlfriend reminded me that we must fight hate with love, and that those that hate are the overwhelming minority. I really want to believe that as truth. The next post is a poem of mine dedicated to all my beautiful, fearless, queer people the world over who will not let fear dominate who they are. Hearts.
As many of y'all might've heard, there is an escalating amount of violence against LGBTQ folks happening globally. We are, and always have been, enemies of the global state. From Puerto Rico, to my hometown B-more, my heart is crushed more and more as I attempt to feel safe in a world that overwhelmingly fears our existence. And yet they see marriage as a win.
Two weeks ago I had the charm of going to a rally at the Uganda Embassy to protest their "anti-homosexuality bill", which is as follows:
The existing law, Section 140 of the Ugandan penal code, penalizes "carnal knowledge of any person against the order of nature" with imprisonment of up to 14 years...The draft bill tabled today seeks to imprison anyone convicted of "the offense of homosexuality" for life.
ANNNND:
This new draft bill includes a provision that could lead to the imprisonment for up to three years of anyone, including heterosexual people, who fails to report within 24 hours the identities of everyone they know who is lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender, or who supports human rights for people who are.
Now this is not to demonize my African people, but other countries are pushed to follow suit as well. How delicious.
And then I get home, only to find out about Jason Mattison, 15 yr old who was raped, gagged, and hung in his aunt's house in West Baltimore, AND George Steven Lopez in Puerto Rico, found decapitated and dismembered on the side of the road. Worse was the fucking police agent who stated, ON TV, that "people who lead this type of lifestyle need to be aware that this will happen". I want people who lead ur type of lifestyle, aka, law enforcement, to be aware that YOU get dismembered.
Three words: Fuck 'em all.
My girlfriend reminded me that we must fight hate with love, and that those that hate are the overwhelming minority. I really want to believe that as truth. The next post is a poem of mine dedicated to all my beautiful, fearless, queer people the world over who will not let fear dominate who they are. Hearts.
WE WANT-WE WANT-CONDOOOOS!
Yesterday, my organization NYCAHN/VOCAL, along with 17+ other grassroots organizations in the city took it to the streets to introduce Right to the City-NYC to, well, NYC. For about two years, this coalition has existed, and was born out of a response to gentrification. Org's like FIERCE, Families United for Racial and Economic Equality (FUREE), Community Voices Heard (CVH), Make the Road (MTR), Mothers on the Move, Picture the Homeless, CAAAV, and Jews for Racial and Economic Justice (JFREJ), are a part of the coalition.
Our policy platform has 10+ demands ranging from the right to environmental justice and public health, to the right to community decision making power, and the right to public space, but the most widely and deeply felt was the right to affordable housing.
In your city, my city, and every city, there is a condo crisis. Developers got trigger happy, thinking they were gonna suck the life, heart and soul out of every 'hood for some quick bucks, and THEN a recession hit, and now they ain't got SHIT. Instead, what exists are skeletons of 6-32 story buildings, laying dormant, unfinished, or vacant in the same neighborhoods as low-income apartments, public housing, and in many cases, the homeless.
THIS IS A FUCKING INSULT.
This little economic BOOM that developers are waiting for simply CANNOT be the excuse for thousands of vacant units in NYC alone. Sure, wait on your upper income gentrifiers to regain back most of their stocks, and stomp their business shoes/artist shoes/NO shoes (hey, I went to Hampshire, I know the rich when I see 'em) into these neighborhoods. But ask yourself: do we not deserve to live in these luxury spaces? People that have lived in these neighborhoods for generations? Or even someone like me, who, yes, is a transplant to New York, but has never tasted what it even feels like to be MIDDLE class?
Christine Quinn and Co. in City Hall created what is called the Housing Asset Renewal Program (HARP) in July. This is their $20 million pilot response to the increasing housing crisis in New York, to turn 50+ units of these dormant condos into "affordable" housing, their way of looking out for the little guy. But, to qualify for HARP, a family of four must make no more than $100,000 to rent, and a single person, $70,000. Yeah, affordable housing.
AFFORDABLE FOR WHOM?
I honestly don't think they got the memo. PEOPLE ARE POOR in this city. These figures are middle to moderate income ONLY, and don't even scrape the fucking plates of New York's poor. Of course, in our coalition, we discussed that the income should be $30,000 or less, to count us low-income or NO income folks.
We surveyed 6 neighborhoods in NYC where most of our org's are located: South Bronx, Harlem, West Village/Chelsea, Downtown BK, LES, and Bushwick, on foot, to locate these condos, and found 601 total buildings that qualified. This figure makes me gag a little, and even more when I found the city's Dept. of Buildings only tallied 454 IN TOTAL FOR ALL OF NYC. With a city that only has 10 beds left in its ENTIRE shelter system, 601 newly built, vacant, and unfinished condos in OUR neighborhoods are a crime against humanity.
SO, WE TOOK IT TO THE STREETS:
- WE DEMAND THAT BLOOMBERG AND QUINN CONVERT THESE BIGASS LUXURY CONDOS INTO AFFORDABLE HOUSING FOR LOW (AND NO) INCOME PEOPLE.
- WE DEMAND THAT THESE CONDOS ARE PERMANENTLY AND TRULY AFFORDABLE;
- WE DEMAND THAT 100% OF THESE BUILDINGS ARE FOR LOW AND NO INCOME PEOPLE;
- WE DEMAND THAT A NON-PROFIT DEVELOPER MANAGE THESE UNITS, AND ANY PROFITS MADE BE PUT INTO COMMUNITY TRUST FUNDS;
- WE DEMAND AN OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE COMPRISED OF LOW-INCOME PEOPLE TO ENSURE THE PROGRAM IS FAIR AND TRANSPARENT.
- NYCAHN/VOCAL ALSO DEMANDS THAT A PORTION OF THESE BUILDINGS BE CONVERTED INTO AFFORDABLE HOUSING FOR DRUG USERS, USING NY NY III FUNDING.
Stay tuned for more progress...
HAVIN A '93 MOMENT...(ONE OF MANY)
SHOUTOUT TO ZHANE (PRONOUNCED JAH-NAY, AS THEIR ALBUM SAYS LOL) for this classic "Hey Mr. DJ". Aside from just bein' an ill party joint, I'd like to say they popularized the guns-into-your-chest-as-you-roll-down-to-the-ground dance, or what I just called the "Raven Symone" when I was 5.
Where are they now? Do they have weaves? Whatever happened to that Naughty By Nature affiliate emcee? So many questions.
Flo Jo, kick the music...
Where are they now? Do they have weaves? Whatever happened to that Naughty By Nature affiliate emcee? So many questions.
Flo Jo, kick the music...
CAN I TAKE YOUR ORDER!?!?!?!
Dude. It's real. It's really freakin real.
On 43rd and 5th lays a juicy, medium well chunk of my childhood nestled between two buns, lettuce, tomatoes, and onions.
As minstrel as they may be, I kinda miss Kenan and Kel.
NY CITY COUNCIL PASSES 30% RESOLUTION!
Earlier this summer, Speaker Quinn and Councilwoman Rosie Mendez crafted a resolution to urge Albany to pass the 30% Rent Cap Bill for low-income New Yorkers living with HIV/AIDS. On Wednesday, Sept. 30th, Quinn and Councilwoman Annabel Palma (from the BX) joined NYCAHN members and leaders on the steps of City Hall for our press conference around the Resolution, which was voted on later that day. The Resolution passed UNANIMOUSLY at 3:20pm in the Council Chambers.
Speaker Silver? Governor Paterson? WHAT'S GOOD?!?!?!?!!?
This is NOT a matter of budget, of cost, of anything that the Assembly is claiming makes this bill disadvantageous to pass. This bill is life or death for 11,000 low-income New Yorkers paying 60-80% of their income towards their rent.
SAY WHAT? A BLACK BARBIE THAT AIN'T LIL' KIM???
Look what new good ass hair the wind blew in...ON A BLACK BARBIE. Several of 'em, in fact.
If I must take it back to '95, I recall getting a baby doll who was pretty similar in idea to this Mattel one named...uhhhh...KENYA?
The most exciting pieces about Kenya dolls were:
Aside from the fact that most of these dolls look EXACTLY like Tyra Banks, I guess I am overjoyed that I don't have to--as much--see these blonde biddies subconsciously damaging my little sistah's minds, having them scream "bad hair" and "bootyscratcher" before they lose their two front teeth. Or maybe the Aqua Curl will do that for them anyway.
If I must take it back to '95, I recall getting a baby doll who was pretty similar in idea to this Mattel one named...uhhhh...KENYA?
The most exciting pieces about Kenya dolls were:
- there were three shades of her to choose from, if you were light, medium, or dark-skinned
- you could choose to keep her hair curly, or use a lotion to make it straight
- SHE WORE KINTE CLOTH. OUR ROOTS WERE FINALLY ACKNOWLEDGED ON A DOLL.
Aside from the fact that most of these dolls look EXACTLY like Tyra Banks, I guess I am overjoyed that I don't have to--as much--see these blonde biddies subconsciously damaging my little sistah's minds, having them scream "bad hair" and "bootyscratcher" before they lose their two front teeth. Or maybe the Aqua Curl will do that for them anyway.
PLEASE, PUT DOWN THE CORK, PART 1.
My revamp requires that I start up some themes. PLEASE, PUT DOWN THE CORK will highlight some of my favorite moments in coonisms, which DEMAND to be discussed in such a "post-racist" society.
The first in this series is one that pretty much turned my own heart into burnt cork:
(Sigh) Where in Beulah's name do I begin.
The self-proclaimed "black conservative" wouldn't have been much trouble for me, aside from the fact that we're the SAME DAMN COMPLEXION. It would've been swell if he were from, say, LA, say, Bumblefuck, Alabama, but this muthafucka had the AUDACITY to be from MY hood, B-More. And he may have even grown up in the SAME fucking housing project that my grandmother raised her children in. (I mean, there were only four highrises. It's worth a chance.) Why don't you take a look for yourselves, if you can bear it through the 9 minutes of absolute self-hatred stemming from his big ass lips. I, myself, slammed my computer screen after 2:46.
See, this cut me SO deep I was on my NY OIL shit, "Fuck him, HE SHOULD BE LYNCHED". I am no longer deeply offended by the likes of the O'Reilly's, the Hannity's, or whoever the fuck FOX News is championing. But when it's OUR faces attached, WITH our consent, and he's BLATANTLY being the fucking puppet with whitey's hand up his ass, mouthing their words as his OWN, then I got a serrrrious problem.
The only thing that's gon' take this negro out of this mindset is a beatdown or a bullet.
If y'all can still bear it, peep this "2010" song he sang at this lynch mob of a rally against Obama:
He might actually have enough coon in him for the next THREE "PLEASE, PUT DOWN THE CORK's."
The first in this series is one that pretty much turned my own heart into burnt cork:
LLOYD MARCUS.
(Sigh) Where in Beulah's name do I begin.
The self-proclaimed "black conservative" wouldn't have been much trouble for me, aside from the fact that we're the SAME DAMN COMPLEXION. It would've been swell if he were from, say, LA, say, Bumblefuck, Alabama, but this muthafucka had the AUDACITY to be from MY hood, B-More. And he may have even grown up in the SAME fucking housing project that my grandmother raised her children in. (I mean, there were only four highrises. It's worth a chance.) Why don't you take a look for yourselves, if you can bear it through the 9 minutes of absolute self-hatred stemming from his big ass lips. I, myself, slammed my computer screen after 2:46.
See, this cut me SO deep I was on my NY OIL shit, "Fuck him, HE SHOULD BE LYNCHED". I am no longer deeply offended by the likes of the O'Reilly's, the Hannity's, or whoever the fuck FOX News is championing. But when it's OUR faces attached, WITH our consent, and he's BLATANTLY being the fucking puppet with whitey's hand up his ass, mouthing their words as his OWN, then I got a serrrrious problem.
The only thing that's gon' take this negro out of this mindset is a beatdown or a bullet.
If y'all can still bear it, peep this "2010" song he sang at this lynch mob of a rally against Obama:
He might actually have enough coon in him for the next THREE "PLEASE, PUT DOWN THE CORK's."
FOR ALL THOSE BORN AFTER 1980...
In my recent purchasing of my "Soul Glo" t-shirt, I decided to do some diggin' beyond Coming to America for the inventor of the Jheri Curl. Just who was this muthafucka that had everybody from my mom, to my grandmom, to my uncle's ex-wife who STILL got Care Free Curl swingin down her neck, lookin greeeeasy as all hell, callin it the style?
The first damn guy who thought it was a smart idea to put vitamins and minerals in hair products. The guy who created Nexxus (Nature and Earth United With Science, LOL) hair products, which became a second nature product to me, since they lived in my grandma's bathroom cabinet. The first guy to make pH balanced shampoos. You gotta wonder, did he ever use his own products????
And we thought Madame CJ had our backs.
Where's the Bronner Bros. when u need 'em?
R.I.P. Jheri Redding, your essence can be found on aging plastic-covered couches in black households everywhere. And on my uncle's ex-wife's pillowcase from last nite.
JHERI REDDING.
The first damn guy who thought it was a smart idea to put vitamins and minerals in hair products. The guy who created Nexxus (Nature and Earth United With Science, LOL) hair products, which became a second nature product to me, since they lived in my grandma's bathroom cabinet. The first guy to make pH balanced shampoos. You gotta wonder, did he ever use his own products????
And we thought Madame CJ had our backs.
Where's the Bronner Bros. when u need 'em?
R.I.P. Jheri Redding, your essence can be found on aging plastic-covered couches in black households everywhere. And on my uncle's ex-wife's pillowcase from last nite.
LMAO OF THE MOMENT: Mos Def, Yeezee, & Jay Leno
So uhhhh. Let's start here.
Unlike most folks, i literally LAUGHED MY ASS OFF with my friends around the TV screen watching the VMAs when Kanye snatched the mic right out of Taylor Swift's transparently white hands as he proclaimed, "BEYONCE HAD THE GREATEST VIDEO OF ALL TIME." Cuz honestly, I didn't think her ass should've won either. I later did my wiki research and realized that she actually sold 4 million records. I'm doubly out of touch--my almost 22 yrs makes me 6 yrs removed from the pulse of youth, and I damn sure don't listen to country, so I wouldn't know. Maybe it was her moment, her first to really shine, but my black bmore ass didn't really give a shit when I saw who she was up against. Now saying B's video is the GOAT may be a stretch, but damn did that set the precedent for the VMAs, even with the steady slope of respect that they have as an award show nowadays.
But of course, they kicked his black ass out, and his glow in the dark girlfriend, for committing the ultimate crime of the Big Black Bad Wolf and Little Red Riding Hood. The Bear vs. Goldilocks. Savage vs. Eva. U kno the history. Like I expected, they were gonna rip him a new asshole, and maybe even lose a lot of his white fanbase. But alas, I'm speculating here, though history shows a negro's place in the spotlite is REEEEEAL fragile and short lived when u start fuckin w/ Whitey.
Then, you have Mighty Mos coming to the rescue in the most BK way possible after watching Jay Leno ask Kanye the only question that could bring him to his knees: "What would your mother think?" OOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHH. Damn Jay, did u REALLY have to go there? I mean, he didn't slap the girl or do anything physically or even mentally harmful. Mos replies,
"And Jay Leno, with your banana boat face having ass, you need to apologize to Kanye West for having him with his mother [would say], what she would think, she would think she'd need to smack your fucking banana face having ass face off for trying to be slick."
L M A OFF. Couldn't have been said more eloquently.
Stay tuned for more visions of my mind. Gotta get back to work.
Holluh,
UniQ.
Unlike most folks, i literally LAUGHED MY ASS OFF with my friends around the TV screen watching the VMAs when Kanye snatched the mic right out of Taylor Swift's transparently white hands as he proclaimed, "BEYONCE HAD THE GREATEST VIDEO OF ALL TIME." Cuz honestly, I didn't think her ass should've won either. I later did my wiki research and realized that she actually sold 4 million records. I'm doubly out of touch--my almost 22 yrs makes me 6 yrs removed from the pulse of youth, and I damn sure don't listen to country, so I wouldn't know. Maybe it was her moment, her first to really shine, but my black bmore ass didn't really give a shit when I saw who she was up against. Now saying B's video is the GOAT may be a stretch, but damn did that set the precedent for the VMAs, even with the steady slope of respect that they have as an award show nowadays.
But of course, they kicked his black ass out, and his glow in the dark girlfriend, for committing the ultimate crime of the Big Black Bad Wolf and Little Red Riding Hood. The Bear vs. Goldilocks. Savage vs. Eva. U kno the history. Like I expected, they were gonna rip him a new asshole, and maybe even lose a lot of his white fanbase. But alas, I'm speculating here, though history shows a negro's place in the spotlite is REEEEEAL fragile and short lived when u start fuckin w/ Whitey.
Then, you have Mighty Mos coming to the rescue in the most BK way possible after watching Jay Leno ask Kanye the only question that could bring him to his knees: "What would your mother think?" OOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHH. Damn Jay, did u REALLY have to go there? I mean, he didn't slap the girl or do anything physically or even mentally harmful. Mos replies,
"And Jay Leno, with your banana boat face having ass, you need to apologize to Kanye West for having him with his mother [would say], what she would think, she would think she'd need to smack your fucking banana face having ass face off for trying to be slick."
L M A OFF. Couldn't have been said more eloquently.
Stay tuned for more visions of my mind. Gotta get back to work.
Holluh,
UniQ.
PS. NOT TO MENTION THE NEW CUTZ...
so, my official "dyke in nyc" hairstyle is on. like many others, i did the daunting task of getting a frohawk (my girlfriend gave me shit for appropriating the style, which i deserved...but also refuted with black girl entitlement that "i just like the way it looks").
as i arrived...ya might've caught me around town with this, aka the "twist and shout":
or maybe even this, the nappy fro:
then, i got bored. and now, i'm gettin all these strange stares, as if half of the pop in nyc doesn't already have a mo/frohawk of some sort:
annnd the other side, FRESSSHHHHH (for those who arent astrofreaks like myself, that's the symbol for sagittarius. ain't it obvious that i'm one?)
and these are the only pics you'll ever see of me up here.
ta-ta for now...
SHOUTOUT TO KHANE KUTZWELL FOR THE HOOKUP!!!! If u're in BK and need sum designs (and are queer, real talk), y'all needa go see about him!!!!!
SHOUTOUT TO KHANE KUTZWELL FOR THE HOOKUP!!!! If u're in BK and need sum designs (and are queer, real talk), y'all needa go see about him!!!!!
BEEN SLEEPIN FOR TOO LONG: UNI Q'S REVENNNNNGE!!!!!
peeps, friends, foes who knows...
ya gurrral is back.
and it's been a helluva turnaround since last november (on my last post, i wasn't even 21 yet!)
but now that i've graduated from hampshire college, gave them my proverbial black gay ass to kiss with a graduation speech in front of thousands, got a SICK position as a community organizer in brooklyn (whoop-whoooop!) with new york city aids housing network/v.o.c.a.l. (voices of community advocates and leaders), i'm ready to make sum nooooiiiise again. in fact, i don't just want to. i NEED to.
upon arriving here to bk, LITERALLY fresh outta school with only a 2-week "break to reflect" at home, mostly spent w/ my peoples anyways, i saddled (sic) right into work. and this--this is no orrrrdinary work.
my job, new york city aids housing network (nycahn)/v.o.c.a.l. is one of few org's in the nation that organizes low-income people living with hiv/aids (plwha's, oh the acronyms) and former/active drug users to change laws and policies impacting their lives. so i as staff do the daunting task of outreach, through teach-ins, doorknocking, phonebanking, etc to ensure that we maintain our membership base of directly affected individuals. this is unlike anything i've ever seen or been in, as in my homebase b-more, and other cities across the nation, i've only ever witnessed advocacy groups--u kno, the ones that "speak on behalf" of individuals who are directly impacted. that, to me, reinforces hierarchy and doesn't change power dynamics for people who are living this shit EVERYDAY. i, for one, know i'm not hiv+ or an active drug user (outside of the magic dragon lol), so how would i know what the issues are?
these folks put face to name for politicians who create laws and have the power to take away the fucking little that poor folks already get. so folks who are living with the virus live in a variety of means: emergency housing or Single Room Occupancies, which the city pays $2000/month for a ROOM, supportive housing, or independent living, ie, your own apartment. but check this: IF YOU ARE A LOW-INCOME PLWHA IN NYC WHO RECEIVES HASA (public assistance for plwha who are hiv symptomatic) AND A SUPPLEMENTAL INCOME (SSI/D, veteran's benefits, etc), YOU ARE REQUIRED TO PAY UPWARDS OF 60-80% OF UR INCOME TOWARDS YOUR RENT FOR INDEPENDENT LIVING. HENCE, YOU ARE LEFT WITH $344 TO LIVE OFF OF FOR AN ENTIRE MONTH. $11 DOLLARS A DAY.
in what fucking world is this alright?
so, instead of bitching on about how this isn't alright/humane, nycahn gathered directly impacted people to urge albany to pass a law mandating a "No More Than 30% Towards Our Rent" campaign. For some reason, these 11,000 new yorkers are the only low-income group that have to pay more than 30% of their income towards their rent, EVEN with a comprimsed immune system, and the necessity of basic needs constantly looming overhead. HASA hasn't changed the $344 number since the 80s. Believe it or not, it WAS $330 until last month, when there was a--YIPPEE!!!--FOURTEEN DOLLAR INCREASE.
in my nearly four months of working here, i've witnessed some serious strides with this bill, and relearned everything from my american government class--even the "i'm just a bill" song played through my head a few times. it's currently stuck in the ways & means committee in the more progressive assembly, though it passed the conservative senate with a SWOOP of a 52-1 vote. SHOUT OUT TO SENATOR TOM DUANE FOR HIS PASSIONATE 3:30AM SPEECH TO PASS THIS BILL, SINCE IT IS HIS BILL AFTER ALL:
politics bore me to shreds still, but the art of lobbying is something FIERCE and so satisfying and movement-shaking. i've been back and forth to albany with members, getting the hang of these pow-wows where members talk to politicians as if they were old buddies in order to PUSH this bill, figure out strategies to get it passed, who else do we need to meet with, what action/protest we might do if an xyz politician isn't persuaded, etc. willllld shit. to think that a bill like this was not introduced UNTIL 2009 means that thousands of people have lost their homes, and have had to move back into SROs, which often aren't kept tidy, don't have kitchens, and have some of the dimmest fucking wall colors i've seen. again, the city pays $2000/month to maintain these one-room shacks that aren't even the size of cubicles for upwards of 45-60 people in a building at a given time, INSTEAD of paying the share for people's rent. in the long run, it would save the city MILLIONS. POINT BLANK.
PHEW! i don't know when to shutup. but when i sign on for something, it literally becomes me. i haven't thought about myself in 3 and a half months--though that's ALL i thought about in school, locating me and my grew up poor-black-darkskinned-queer ass, and suddenly, i'm working with communities that force me to take 10 steps back to recognize even my own privilege as a college graduate who's employed enough to move away from home and support myself at 21. it's very rare i meet someone my age, as everyone's at least 10 yrs older than me. for one, i'm the only female-bodied person on staff, also the youngest (not the only Black, thank God), and brand fucking new in new york. so i got dues to pay, asses to whoop, and maaaad shit to prove.
but now, it's time to reclaim time for myself. here's one of my ways.
i'm sharing my world again. hope ya listenin.
<3
uniQ.
ps. i ain't even get to the drug user component of my work! that woulda been an essay...stay tuned...
ya gurrral is back.
and it's been a helluva turnaround since last november (on my last post, i wasn't even 21 yet!)
but now that i've graduated from hampshire college, gave them my proverbial black gay ass to kiss with a graduation speech in front of thousands, got a SICK position as a community organizer in brooklyn (whoop-whoooop!) with new york city aids housing network/v.o.c.a.l. (voices of community advocates and leaders), i'm ready to make sum nooooiiiise again. in fact, i don't just want to. i NEED to.
upon arriving here to bk, LITERALLY fresh outta school with only a 2-week "break to reflect" at home, mostly spent w/ my peoples anyways, i saddled (sic) right into work. and this--this is no orrrrdinary work.
my job, new york city aids housing network (nycahn)/v.o.c.a.l. is one of few org's in the nation that organizes low-income people living with hiv/aids (plwha's, oh the acronyms) and former/active drug users to change laws and policies impacting their lives. so i as staff do the daunting task of outreach, through teach-ins, doorknocking, phonebanking, etc to ensure that we maintain our membership base of directly affected individuals. this is unlike anything i've ever seen or been in, as in my homebase b-more, and other cities across the nation, i've only ever witnessed advocacy groups--u kno, the ones that "speak on behalf" of individuals who are directly impacted. that, to me, reinforces hierarchy and doesn't change power dynamics for people who are living this shit EVERYDAY. i, for one, know i'm not hiv+ or an active drug user (outside of the magic dragon lol), so how would i know what the issues are?
these folks put face to name for politicians who create laws and have the power to take away the fucking little that poor folks already get. so folks who are living with the virus live in a variety of means: emergency housing or Single Room Occupancies, which the city pays $2000/month for a ROOM, supportive housing, or independent living, ie, your own apartment. but check this: IF YOU ARE A LOW-INCOME PLWHA IN NYC WHO RECEIVES HASA (public assistance for plwha who are hiv symptomatic) AND A SUPPLEMENTAL INCOME (SSI/D, veteran's benefits, etc), YOU ARE REQUIRED TO PAY UPWARDS OF 60-80% OF UR INCOME TOWARDS YOUR RENT FOR INDEPENDENT LIVING. HENCE, YOU ARE LEFT WITH $344 TO LIVE OFF OF FOR AN ENTIRE MONTH. $11 DOLLARS A DAY.
in what fucking world is this alright?
so, instead of bitching on about how this isn't alright/humane, nycahn gathered directly impacted people to urge albany to pass a law mandating a "No More Than 30% Towards Our Rent" campaign. For some reason, these 11,000 new yorkers are the only low-income group that have to pay more than 30% of their income towards their rent, EVEN with a comprimsed immune system, and the necessity of basic needs constantly looming overhead. HASA hasn't changed the $344 number since the 80s. Believe it or not, it WAS $330 until last month, when there was a--YIPPEE!!!--FOURTEEN DOLLAR INCREASE.
in my nearly four months of working here, i've witnessed some serious strides with this bill, and relearned everything from my american government class--even the "i'm just a bill" song played through my head a few times. it's currently stuck in the ways & means committee in the more progressive assembly, though it passed the conservative senate with a SWOOP of a 52-1 vote. SHOUT OUT TO SENATOR TOM DUANE FOR HIS PASSIONATE 3:30AM SPEECH TO PASS THIS BILL, SINCE IT IS HIS BILL AFTER ALL:
politics bore me to shreds still, but the art of lobbying is something FIERCE and so satisfying and movement-shaking. i've been back and forth to albany with members, getting the hang of these pow-wows where members talk to politicians as if they were old buddies in order to PUSH this bill, figure out strategies to get it passed, who else do we need to meet with, what action/protest we might do if an xyz politician isn't persuaded, etc. willllld shit. to think that a bill like this was not introduced UNTIL 2009 means that thousands of people have lost their homes, and have had to move back into SROs, which often aren't kept tidy, don't have kitchens, and have some of the dimmest fucking wall colors i've seen. again, the city pays $2000/month to maintain these one-room shacks that aren't even the size of cubicles for upwards of 45-60 people in a building at a given time, INSTEAD of paying the share for people's rent. in the long run, it would save the city MILLIONS. POINT BLANK.
PHEW! i don't know when to shutup. but when i sign on for something, it literally becomes me. i haven't thought about myself in 3 and a half months--though that's ALL i thought about in school, locating me and my grew up poor-black-darkskinned-queer ass, and suddenly, i'm working with communities that force me to take 10 steps back to recognize even my own privilege as a college graduate who's employed enough to move away from home and support myself at 21. it's very rare i meet someone my age, as everyone's at least 10 yrs older than me. for one, i'm the only female-bodied person on staff, also the youngest (not the only Black, thank God), and brand fucking new in new york. so i got dues to pay, asses to whoop, and maaaad shit to prove.
but now, it's time to reclaim time for myself. here's one of my ways.
i'm sharing my world again. hope ya listenin.
<3
uniQ.
ps. i ain't even get to the drug user component of my work! that woulda been an essay...stay tuned...
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