Brave New Voices

Spoken word/slam poetry has always been one of my favorite art forms. I have the utmost respect for a lot of these poets. The way some of these cats are able to rhyme and twist their words and make them flow so freely often from the depths of their most inner and private thoughts is a really beautiful and powerful thing to see. So when a new series like "Brave New Voices" comes along, from producers Russell Simmons and Stan Lathan, the same dudes who brought us "Def Poetry," I know it's going to be good. And not just good, but great. Fantastic. Mind-blowing, even. And the minute I get hooked on it like a crackwhore the gotdamned cable company takes away my HBO.

SO to feed my fix I am reduced to watching YouTube videos of performances from some of the young poets on the show, as well as revisiting old "Def Poetry" performances, some of my faves which I have posted below. Also, some of the poems are NSFW, so make sure to wear headphones (but if you have shitty sound on your computer like I do, the headphones might be handy either way).


Zora Howard, 13, "Bi-Racial Hair". She really brought the house down with this one. It's amazing how young some of these poets are, and yet possess the talent of someone way beyond their years.



Jasmine Mans, 17, one of the poets on "BNV" Incredibly powerful, she really took it "there."


Sista Queen, "Try Being a Lady". She's a beast with words.


Shanelle Gabriel, "Why I Love You". This poem is probs why I love Shanelle...so witty.


Phylicia Rashad, "On Status". This woman is something of a living legend, whether on stage or on the small screen as my all-time favorite TV mom. I can personally relate to this poem.


Carlos Andres Gomez, "Distinctly Beautiful". Ummm WHERE can I find a man like THIS? He really speaks the truth on men and women and gender roles in modern society. Male feminism is sexy.

The Secret Life of Bees

I've been seeing the trailer for the new movie The Secret Life of Bees a lot on the tube lately.



It's directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, the same woman who wrote and directed Love and Basketball, and adapted from the novel written by Sue Monk Kidd. I'm loving the all-star female cast: Alicia Keys, Queen Latifah, Jennifer Hudson (who unfortunately seems to be playing another 'magical negro' role--let's hope she doesn't turn this into a career habit), Sophie Okonedo, and Dakota Fanning (who's grown up a lot and seems less annoying). What I love even more are the natural hairstyles these women were rocking on and off the set:



Alicia Key's puffy afro

Jennifer Hudson's two-strand twist out

Sophie Okonedo's gorgeous curly 'fro (at the Toronto Film Festival)

I don't know if it was a conscious decision of the director or whomever for the actresses to have naturals, but I applaud that choice. I think natural hair is beautiful--whenever I see a natural style that I really like, I'm going to post it here, because I think natural hair should be celebrated, not criticized or shunned, and the whole idea of "good hair" vs. "bad hair" should be obsolete. That's such an old-school way of thinking. It's 2008. In the words of Bob Marley, "Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery."

Miss Black America

There's this really interesting documentary directed by Rachel Goslins called Bama Girl that's been making its way around the Indie film festival circuit. The film is about Jessica Thomas (pictured above), a student at the University of Alabama and president of the school's chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. Bama Girl documents her campaign journey to win the title of 2005 UA Homecoming Queen, an honor that's normally awarded to upper-class, white sorority girls, many of whom are members or chosen by members of "The Machine," a kind of superfraternity that's like UA's version of the Yale secret society Skull and Bones. The Machine is made up of roughly 27 fraternities and sororities on campus that pretty much dominate the student government, much like the members of Skull and Bones dominate the corporate and political worlds (I'm looking at you, Bush). There's this article from Esquire Magazine that talks all about the Machine. It's a little outdated (April 1992), but it takes a good look at race issues, "southern traditions" on the UA campus, and the often times corrupt greek system that tends to control college campuses across the nation. The documentary is making its Alabama debut at the Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival in Birmingham on Sunday.

The festival opened tonight with Adventures of Power, which is directed by and stars Ari Gold (not to be confused with Vincent Chase's high strung, fast-talking, egomaniacal agent on Entourage - although I do believe the character was named after him) and Adrian Grenier (who plays Vincent Chase on Entourage) in a Napoleon Dynamite-esque comedy about a dude whose goal in life is to play air drums.


Also check out Ari and Adrian's band, The Honey Brothers. They're like a mix between Ween, Weezer, and Flight of the Conchords. My favorite song of theirs is "Some of Them Are Nice Days."

[Crimson White]