Take life to your lips and kiss it

Recently I have seen a video on youtube that is titled Obama’s Most Ghetto Moments, and I just want to know...what’s so ghetto about anything in this video. More importantly I wanted to speak out against the improper  use of the term ‘ghetto’. 

Firstly Lets define ghetto.... 

Official Meaning: of or relating to the slums of the inner city.

i.e The Venetian Ghetto

As used in slang: substandard behavior, sometimes described as ratchet, or simply not classy. 

If you haven’t already heard his first hit single “Classic Man” then you need to.  

Here I will provide the top 4 reasons why I am currently in love with Jidenna

1. He’s a poet. 

Im not talking about how rappers today like to claim that they are poets. If you look through Jidenna’s song Classic Man there are so many subliminal messages and double entendres you have to listen to it a few times to get it. Additionally, I feel that unlike many rappers today Jidenna is actually saying something worth listening to. No shade, but I’m sorry I just don’t care about your “big booty hoes” or how much you want to “ sex me up”...like really back up. With that said let’s see how he holds up after two years of fame (*cough cough* RIP B.o.B I had so much hope for you) 

2. His swagger

Like another favorite artiste of mine Janelle Monae, Jidenna makes it known that you can be posh and still get down. As Jidenna says you can have on a white-T, a snapback, and some jeans and still look “clean” so to speak  . Essentially, Jidenna is saying take pride in how you present yourself to others. 

3.His honesty 

Jidenna as he claims in “Classic Man”  can be brutally honest while at the same time being polite. If you check out an interview he did back in March this year you will see that he throws a little shade out there to all the newbie rappers ( refer to number 1). Additionally, he is honest with himself. Jidenna knows that his style is a little...how do i put it... eccentric, and that not too many people will appreciate it. But Jidenna does not care because as he infers: he refuses to manufacture himself to fit the needs of everyone else 

4. He’s from a poor background 

As is said in Classic Man “you can be mean when you look this clean”. Meaning, you can still be hood but you don’t have to look hood ( refer back to number two). Jidenna encourages his listeners to choose better than the circumstances that precede them. 

As of late the news as well as our newsfeeds have been buzzing with opinions of not only the incident in Charleston, SC but also on whether or not the Confederate flag should be taken down. While I am still unclear as to where I stand on the matter it is necessary of me to spread the petition along. If you would like to understand why I don’t have a defined position in this matter keep reading 

I’ve decided that I’m going to do what I’ve constantly said I was going to do but never stuck with: blogging. I personally feel that it is pertinent for young people, especially minorities to use such a resource as an outlet for the struggles they may be facing as well as a network to get the rest of the country involved. With that being said it is appropriate to jump right in. 

 If you hadn’t already heard news of a mass shooting in Charleston, SC has recently invested my newsfeed and and notification bar along with insight from nearly everyone within a 100 mile radius of me. 

Today I was having dinner with a family friend when I heard news of it. I was in disbelief that I had “missed it” so to speak. I had gotten the notification on my phone around 3 am the previous night and I disMISSED it. Racism still exists within America sure, WE experience it everyday regardless of what THEY say, but hate crimes like this don’t happen today. 

As I sat at the Mahogany table covered in a  yellow-floral table cloth, I contemplated. The chandelier above me- which resembled a circle of tall white candlesticks with lightbulbs for flames- began to flicker. I contemplated. 

The words spilled from my mouth without even meaning to. 

            “What I don’t understand, is how when people of color (and more intensely when a Muslim) commit these crimes they are automatically deemed a terrorist, however when white americans do it the EXCUSE is  “he was mentally ill”, or my favorite... “we can’t jump to conclusions”. But when Delante, Trey and Tyrell do it the JUDGEMENTS that he was a “thug”, “terrorist” get thrown all over FOX News.”

Now at three o’clock in the morning, watching new footage, my mind begins to ponder even more. The Black Panther Movement which was formed to overthrown a system of government that was (and for that matter still is) broken, was targeted by the FBI as an extremist group. I can hardly believe that as much of a dunce  Dylaan Roof is, he just got these ideas entirely on his own. So where is the FBI now to do the same with extremist confederate groups?

Why is it that WE must endure unreciprocated bloodshed, while THEY sit around and mock us? But I guess that makes me an extremist. Why is it that WE must be the pun of every joke? why,Why, WHY is it in this day and age that “a [black] girl cain’t get no service ‘round here?!” Why is it that my mother, and her mother, and her mother’s mother  always told me that I can’t settle at being equal to THEM but I must be BETTER than THEM in every nature?

But most of all why is there still an US and THEM? And most importantly, why do WE ALL have so much hatred in our hearts?

In conclusion, we have to stop dismissing each other so that we may stop missing the bigger picture. 

Since I've last posted so much has happened within my life and within the world. 

This post will actually be incredibly short because people have finals to study for and whatever. 

But I did want to say that no matter what's going on either with you personally, or something revolving an issue (political or not) you're deeply involved with, keep your head up. They can take your possessions, your life, and for that matter anything/one you care about,or even put you in chains, but they will NEVER be able to take away your spirit. 

I have a lot more to say with not enough time to say it, but I will be going on break soon so look forward to more frequent posts. I have some issues that I feel like need to shared and need to be heard, so it'll be a listening experience. 

Until next time,