Danielle Scruggs

They stop homegirls too

Sat, 19 May 2012 09:53:24 -0400

One day I’ll write, in detail, of the numerous times I’ve been stopped by NYPD. Finally trading in my big black Jeep for a sleek BMW to minimize interaction. They stopped me everyday, sometimes twice a day in the Jeep. Only stopped once in the sleek car, by a crazed officer on the GWB… I was on the phone with my mother when he practically jumped on the hood shouting obscenities. Watched as his face distorted, twisted in hate - and for a brief second transported back in time, before my existence mattered. I wondered if he’d shoot me in front of so many witnesses, or if they’d even care. Imagined marches in my name and my grief stricken mother’s heart giving out. As he reached for his belt, my son woke up from back seat slumber, frightening dude…. the officer recoiled as he probably imagined the shame he would bring on his family, should he shoot an unarmed Black woman and her young son. We’ll fast forward to a post 9/11 world… Where intimidation, fear, and overt bigotry rule. Public transport another place to assert power/control. I have been stopped, and made to empty pockets, bags, etc. at least 300 times since 2004. If you live here, you’ve seen the table, about four officers standing there..you may have snickered as brownish folk, buying metro cards were pulled over. It’s no picnic. One day I was stopped four times in two hours. I gave up, gave in, hysterical. Cancelled the rest of my meetings, went home and hugged my kid. I’ve repeated the stories many times to friends, who laugh (especially the men) and tell me “yes you look middle eastern so we understand why you’re stopped,” (yep even minorities practice intolerance) or “maybe the officers think you’re cute and want your number.” Just wanted to remind people… They stop homegirls too. And touch us inappropriately, follow us home cat-calling, make our lives a living hell. We know your pain….believe that.

BOSCO, Black Cat, 5.13.12

Wed, 16 May 2012 00:46:00 -0400

BOSCO, Black Cat, 5.13.12

tobia: Mustafa MalukaSpeaker for the dead2009 Oil on and...

Sat, 12 May 2012 21:26:38 -0400

tobia:

Mustafa Maluka
Speaker for the dead
2009

Oil on and acrylic on canvas. 183 x 133 cm.

»Galerie Bertrand & Gruner.

tobia: Alek Wek by Gilles Bensimon for Elle US (April 1997).

Sat, 12 May 2012 21:21:33 -0400

tobia:

Alek Wek by Gilles Bensimon for Elle US (April 1997).

Trayvon and Tracy Martin. Family photo.

Sat, 12 May 2012 08:56:41 -0400

Trayvon and Tracy Martin.

Family photo.

seanpadilla: fuckyeahfamousblackgirls: Tarika Wilson, the...

Wed, 09 May 2012 00:13:33 -0400

seanpadilla:

fuckyeahfamousblackgirls:

Tarika Wilson, the 26-year old unarmed, bi-racial mother of six who was fatally shot by police officers during a raid-gone-wrong in early January of 2008.

She was likely on her knees and complying with a SWAT team’s orders to get down when she was hit in the neck and chest, two experts testified.

A forensic pathologist and firearms expert each said that bullet wounds indicate that Tarika Wilson wasn’t standing or struggling with officers.

She was holding her 1-year-old son on her knees when she was shot. The boy also was hit and had a finger amputated.

This tragedy set off protests and debate about race relations in the city (LIMA, Ohio), where one in four residents are black.

It saddens me that this is the first time I’ve seen her name in print.

This is my first time hearing about this story as well. My goodness.

Mambu Badu at work. Taken by Kameelah.

Tue, 08 May 2012 22:40:46 -0400

Mambu Badu at work.

Taken by Kameelah.

yodithinprogress replied to your quote: GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Start with believing,… Is...

Tue, 08 May 2012 21:30:34 -0400

yodithinprogress replied to your quote: GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Start with believing,…

Is the second paragraph your response to the horoscope? Or is that the astrobarry site keeping it real?

No, both paragraphs are from Astrobarry. He’s been keeping it trill lately, haha.

derica replied to your quote: GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Start with believing,…

yay for gemini! although I feel like barry’s being a bit harsh on us lately yo. haha.

He has been!

isaunter replied to your photo: Sunday Funday taken by Kameelah is that allison in the stripes? Yes!

Tue, 08 May 2012 21:28:28 -0400

isaunter replied to your photo: Sunday Funday taken by Kameelah

is that allison in the stripes?

Yes!

"GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Start with believing, Gemini. The page always turns. The present always..."

Mon, 07 May 2012 21:35:06 -0400

“

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Start with believing, Gemini. The page always turns. The present always passes… and in its falling-away, a future always arrives, with countless ‘pull-here’ tags that’ll open up surprising treats with a single tug. Even when periods of trial or tumult to stretch on seemingly longer than any person could handle (though, in fact, we can and do), I promise you, they always end. Your life-story, however, holds the potential to drone on with the same tired themes and plot devices for all of eternity as long as the narrator—who, duh, is you—keeps repeating a predictable narrative-arc (due to a lack of imagination?), or doesn’t afford the protagonist (also you) to draw any significant meaning-lesson from the events. If you want the deus ex machine, drop-from-the-sky plot twist, discontinuous from the prior line and ripe with the divine promise of transcendence and delivery, you have to believe it’s available to you… and you have to be brave enough to pull the story in that wild direction, with the author’s authority, because that’s where you feel the character wants to go. If this is to be a heroic tale, you must be willing to be the hero. Heroes, first and foremost, always believe.

—-

Please, oh please, oh please, stop telling yourself you think you’ve figured out which direction ‘all of this’ is going. These are only the earliest fledgling stages of whatever’s going to happen next, Gemini, and you don’t know shit about it. Sincere congratulations on that, by the way. The only value that’s exceedingly important to prioritize right now, over all else, is fresh input. But the more urgently you attempt to cram these fresh encounters and experiences into a cubbyhole that already bears a name or a label, the more quickly you limit its influence on your personal development. Leave everything nameless… and instead, just pay attention to its dimensions, the mood it conveys, the sensations you feel in your body when engaged with it. When lobbing wishes to the sky, describe the result you’re hoping for in the most general overarching terms. Be esoteric, even, in how you articulate the intentions—and allow for the sentient wish-granting universe (or whoever pulls its strings) to fill in the blanks with prayer-answers you couldn’t possibly have conceived of with your conscious mind. You must believe such magic happens every day. Remember: It always starts with believing.

”

- astrobarry.com — Horoscopes that keep it real

Last couple of horoscopes. Hmm.

Sunday Funday taken by Kameelah

Sun, 06 May 2012 17:06:32 -0400

Sunday Funday

taken by Kameelah

Postscript: Adam Yauch : The New Yorker

Sat, 05 May 2012 10:45:28 -0400

Postscript: Adam Yauch : The New Yorker:

R.I.P. MCA.

Stop.

Thu, 03 May 2012 11:25:38 -0400

Stop.

Left of Black S2:E30 | April 30, 2012 Remembering the LA...

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 23:59:37 -0400

Left of Black S2:E30 | April 30, 2012 Remembering the LA Uprising: A Digital Mix

April 29th marks the 20th Anniversary of the week-long civil unrest popularly known as the LA Riots. Violence erupted throughout the city of Los Angeles in the aftermath of the acquittal of four LAPD officers who were accused of beating African American motorist Rodney King. The beating was famously captured on a held-held video device. In this special episode of Left of Black, scholars, activists and artists reflect on the 20th Anniversary of the LA Riots including Marc Lamont Hill, Lynne d Johnson, Kimberly C. Ellis, Allison Clark, Kim Pearson, Moya Bailey, Blair LM Kelley, Christopher Martin (Play of Kid N’ Play), Treva Lindsey, Jasiri X, Michelle Ferrier, Jay Smooth and host Mark Anthony Neal. ***

Left of Black is a weekly Webcast hosted by Mark Anthony Neal and produced in collaboration with the John Hope Franklin Center at Duke University.

(via NewBlackMan: Left of Black S2:E30 | Remembering the LA Uprising: A Digital Mix)

"Men don’t take the time to end things. They ignore you, until you insist on a declaration of..."

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 21:59:56 -0400

“Men don’t take the time to end things. They ignore you, until you insist on a declaration of hate.”

- Mad Men Recap: It’s Dirty — Vulture

toinedtmd: DTMD - Let’s Go! (Feat. Oddisee) if “Different Now”...

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 23:20:00 -0400

toinedtmd:

DTMD - Let’s Go! (Feat. Oddisee)

if “Different Now” had a B-Side…

vintageblack2: Aretha was one of the few major stars who spoke...

Sat, 28 Apr 2012 22:30:57 -0400

vintageblack2:

Aretha was one of the few major stars who spoke up for Angela Davis. She even offered to post a quarter million dollars in bail…This could’ve been career suicide.

Source: Jet Magazine (Dec 3, 1970)

mpdrolet: Brazier, Westside Wolves/ part of an ongoing...

Sat, 28 Apr 2012 18:08:00 -0400

mpdrolet:

Brazier, Westside Wolves/ part of an ongoing series

Mark Peter Drolet

+

click through to see larger

—

Beautiful lighting.

'If you want to appreciate what Barack Obama is up against in 2012, forget about the front man who is his nominal opponent and look instead at the Republican billionaires buying the ammunition for the battles ahead. A representative example is Harold Simmons, an 80-year-old Texan who dumped some $15 million into the campaign before primary season had ended. Reminiscing about 2008, when he bankrolled an ad blitz to tar the Democrats with the former radical Bill Ayers, Simmons told The Wall Street Journal, “If we had run more ads, we could have killed Obama.” It is not a mistake he intends to make a second time.'

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 00:14:08 -0400

'If you want to appreciate what Barack Obama is up against in 2012, forget about the front man who is his nominal opponent and look instead at the Republican billionaires buying the ammunition for the battles ahead. A representative example is Harold Simmons, an 80-year-old Texan who dumped some $15 million into the campaign before primary season had ended. Reminiscing about 2008, when he bankrolled an ad blitz to tar the Democrats with the former radical Bill Ayers, Simmons told The Wall Street Journal, “If we had run more ads, we could have killed Obama.” It is not a mistake he intends to make a second time.'

nikitagale: Last weekend at the Painters Panting opening at...

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 23:42:15 -0400

nikitagale:

Last weekend at the Painters Panting opening at ACAC.
Photo: Karley Sullivan

—

Gorgeous. ALSO: check out Nikita Gale’s work if you haven’t already. It’s the doings of a thoughtful, ambitious, and careful artist.