"City Livin'" Uncut

A few folks have asked to see the full "City Livin'" piece.
So here you go:

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I Don't Know

I wound up discussing Amel Larrieux with friends today, so I thought I would post one of my favorite songs featuring the songbird, "I Don't Know" by Soulive.

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"Untitled"

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My latest

I think it might need a little extra something, but this is it for now...

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Black Beauty

The way these women and girls feel about their natural hair is just plain sad.  (I'm also saddened by use of the "n word").  They all described their natural hair as:  horrible, less feminine, less sexy, not nice, disgusting and the worst one:

 "Later I will try to marry a white guy. That way, my daughter will have cool hair for sure."

I'm all for experimentation and if their decisions to sport straight 'dos and weaves and/or extensions were based solely on the need for a change sometimes - I would take no issue with that. What bothers me is that all (except perhaps one person) seemed to choose their hairstyles with self-hate being their primary motivation.

Having seen this mentality to varying degrees in my lifetime, obviously I'm not surprised;  yet that doesn't diminish my sense of outrage - especially since these ladies are definitely each an extreme case.  I feel like someone needs to sit them down and bombard them with positive images of Black beauty (all types) while forcing them to repeat the following mantra, "Black is beautiful. I am beautiful. Black is beautiful. I am beautiful."  For God's sake, have some pride!

That reminds me:  On one of my occasional trips to the hairdresser for a press and trim last weekend, an Asian girl came in asking for a relaxer (she had curly/wavy hair). I shook my head violently at her and her boyfriend while wondering whether she was like an old friend with the same type of hair who was half Japanese and half Chinese. Immediately, I figured a few things:

#1 - Her hair was gorgeous the way it was and it was only "unmanageable" because she had never learned how to take care of it (just like the women in the aforementioned article)

#2 - Her hair would most definitely fall out if she puts a drop of relaxer near it

#3 - Our ideas of "beauty" are so subjective

The women mentioned in the "What's up with Black Hair?" article would probably kill for her hair, yet she couldn't stand it.  My hairdresser told her that she could put a mild relaxer in her hair but advised against it.  Holding my hair up as an example, she pointed out that mine was far more difficult to straighten (especially since I don't do so on a regular basis) yet she could get it straight with pressing.  The girl responded,

"But that's only temporary, right?  I want it permanent."

So, she took a card and will likely return to get her luscious locks fried.

I guess we all have our issues.

Read the rest at Vice Magazine: POP VOX - WHAT’S UP WITH BLACK HAIR? - Viceland Today

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Ouch!

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Weekend Music

I've been listening to a lot of Afrobeat and Latin Jazz lately. Both keep me moving during the workday (the ambient/electronic stuff put me dangerously close to nodding off a few times).

Here's one of my faves. Enjoy and have a good weekend:

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