I grew up in Bakersfield, California, where my father was a rabbi and my mother was a teacher. I went to Harvard in 1960, in part because it was about as far as I could get from Bakersfield, which was the terminus of the dust bowl migration that John Steinbeck made famous in The Grapes of Wrath.

I got my real education, however, when I left Harvard to work in the civil rights movement in Mississippi. I went to Mississippi because, among other things, my father had served as an Army chaplain in Germany right after World War II. His work was with Holocaust survivors, and as a child the Holocaust became a reality in our home. The Holocaust was interpreted to me as a consequence of racism, that racism is an evil, that racism kills. I made a choice to go to Mississippi.

I also was raised on years of Passover Seders. There’s a part in the Passover Seder when they point to the kids and say, “You were a slave in Egypt.” I finally realized the point was to recognize that we were all slaves in Egypt and in our time that same struggle from slavery to freedom is always going on, that you have to choose where you stand in that. The civil rights movement was clearly about that struggle. It was in Mississippi that I learned to be an organizer and about movement-building.

I went to Mississippi because it was a movement of young people, and there’s something very particular about young people, not just that they have time. Walter Brueggemann writes in The Pro­phetic Imagination about the two elements of prophetic vision. One is criticality, recognition of the world’s pain. Second is hope, recognition of the world’s possibilities. Young people come of age with a critical eye and a hopeful heart. It’s that combination of critical eye and hopeful heart that brings change. That’s one reason why so many young people were and are involved in movements for social change.

THE INITIAL CHALLENGE for an organizer-or anybody who’s going to provide leadership for change-is to figure out how to break through the inertia of habit to get people to pay attention. Often that breakthrough happens by urgency of need. Sometimes it happens because of anger-and by anger I don’t mean rage, I mean outrage. It’s the contradiction between the world as it is and the world as it ought to be. Our experience of that tension can break through the inertia and apathy of things as they always are.

Read the rest after the jump. jacked via

How do organizers master urgency to break through inertia? The difference in how individuals respond to urgency or anxiety (detected by the brain’s surveillance system) depends on the brain’s dispositional system, the second system in the brain, which runs from enthusiasm to depression, from hope to despair. When anxiety hits and you’re down in despair, then fear hits. You withdraw or strike out, neither of which helps to deal with the problem. But if you’re up in hope or enthusiasm, you’re more likely to ask questions and learn what you need to learn to deal with the unexpected.

Hope is not only audacious, it is substantial. Hope is what allows us to deal with problems creatively. In order to deal with fear, we have to mobilize hope. Hope is one of the most precious gifts we can give each other and the people we work with to make change.

The way we talk about this is not just to go up to someone and say, “Be hopeful.” We don’t just talk about hope and other values in abstractions. We talk about them in the language of stories because stories are what enable us to communicate these values to one another.

ALL STORIES HAVE three parts: a plot, a protagonist, and a moral. What makes a plot a plot? What gets you interested? Tension. An anomaly. The unexpected. The uncertain and the unknown. A plot begins when the unknown intervenes. We all lean forward because we are familiar with the experience of having to confront the unknown and to make choices. Those moments are the moments in which we are most fully human, because those are the moments in which we have the most choice. While they are exhilarating moments, they are also scary moments because we might make the wrong choice. We are all infinitely curious in learning how to be agents of change, how to be people who make good choices under circumstances that are unexpected and unknown to us.

In a story, a challenge presents itself to the protagonist who then has a choice, and an outcome occurs. The outcome teaches a moral, but because the protagonist is a humanlike character, we are able to identify empathetically, and therefore we are able to feel, not just understand, what is going on.

A story communicates fear, hope, and anxiety, and because we can feel it, we get the moral not just as a concept, but as a teaching of our hearts. That’s the power of story. That’s why most of our faith traditions interpret themselves as stories, because they are teaching our hearts how to live as choiceful human beings capable of embracing hope over fear, self-worth and self-love over self-doubt, and love over isolation and alienation.

HOW DO WE recapture that power of public narrative and learn the art of leadership storytelling?

A leadership story is first a story of self, a story of why I’ve been called. Some people say, “I don’t want to talk about myself,” but if you don’t interpret to others your calling and your reason for doing what you’re doing, do you think it will just stay uninterpreted? No. Other people will interpret it for you. You don’t have any choice if you want to be a leader. You have to claim authorship of your story and learn to tell it to others so they can understand the values that move you to act, because it might move them to act as well.

We all have a story of self. What’s utterly unique about each of us is not the categories we belong to; what’s utterly unique to us is our own journey of learning to be a full human being, a faithful person. And those journeys are never easy. They have their challenges, their obstacles, their crises. We learn to overcome them, and because of that we have lessons to teach. In a sense, all of us walk around with a text from which to teach, the text of our own lives.

The second story is the story of us. That’s an answer to the question, Why are we called? What experiences and values do we share as a community that call us to what we are called to? What is it about our experience of faith, public life, the pain of the world, and the hopefulness of the world? It’s putting what we share into words. We’ve all been in places where people have worked together for years, but there’s no us there because they don’t share their stories. Faith traditions are grand stories of us. They teach how to be an us.

Finally, there’s the story of now-the fierce urgency of now. The story of now is realizing, after the sharing of values and aspirations, that the world out there is not as it ought to be. Instead, it is as it is. And that is a challenge to us. We need to appreciate the challenge and the conflict between the values by which we wish the world lived and the values by which it actually does. The difference between those two creates tension. It forces upon us consideration of a choice. What do we do about that? We’re called to answer that question in a spirit of hope.

Our goal is to meet this challenge, to seize this hope, and turn it into concrete action. After developing our stories of self, then we work on building relationships, which forms the story of us. From there we turn to strategizing and action, working together to achieve a common purpose, learning to experience hope-that’s the story of now.

I LEARNED IMPORTANT lessons in Mississippi that underlie the art and work of organizing.

All the inequalities between blacks and whites were driven by a deeper inequality-the inequality of power. Paul Tillich taught us that the work of justice requires power, and for power to become justice requires love. All three are intimately related. We cannot turn our love into justice without engaging power. Justice is not achieved without struggle. It’s not achieved without mobilizing power. Organizing is about mobilizing power.

The Montgomery bus boycott in 1955 and 1956 was an example of turning individual resources into collective power. To resist the segregated buses, the black bus riders refused to pay the fare to the bus company, and they refused not as individuals but as a community. By withdrawing that financial resource from the city of Mont­gom­ery, they turned an individual resource into collective power.

Gandhi taught us that most systems of power are based on interdependence and require some degree of cooperation between those who are exploited by them as well as those who benefit from them. Communities get organized because there are people among them who are skilled organizers, who are skilled leaders.

Leadership is about enabling others to achieve purpose in the face of uncertainty. When there’s certainty, when you know what to do, you don’t need leadership. It’s when you don’t know what to do that the art and creativity of leadership matters. It matters even more in enabling others to work together to achieve a common purpose in the face of uncertainty.

One way to look at leadership is reaching down to mobilize the resources of a constituency and turning them into goals consistent with that constituency’s values.

We start with the skill of relationship-building, the story of self. Then we develop the skill of motivation or the story of us. Third, the skill of strategizing, the story of now. And fourth, the skill of action.

Learning skills and practices is not like learning a formula; it’s more like learning how to ride a bicycle. You can read 10 books about it or listen to someone lecture about it all day, but how do you really start learning to ride a bicycle? You get on. And you fall. That’s how you learn practices. That’s how you learn organizing.

Marshall Ganz is a lecturer in public policy at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. This article was adapted from his presentation at Sojourners’ Training for Change conference in June 2008.

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“My ni88a Big predicted this s*** exactly, Mo Money, Mo Problems, gotta move carefully….”

Above, an excerpt from Jay Z’s “Heart of the City” record off the Blueprint 1 that expresses the hardships of achieving the highest peaks of financial stability. Currently, with enough money to speed up the efforts in Haiti, Jay Z remains human and is feeling every effect of the fragile economy.It was just 3 years ago, that the mogul announced plans to bring J Hotels into fruition but they were abruptly suspended due to the infamous money crisis everyone’s talking about.

Jay-Z claims that Highland Capital Management “duplicitously stalled” efforts to hand over the deed on the hotel building site in lieu of foreclosure in order to collect tens of thousands of dollars a day in interest and fees. Now, he’s suing the investment firm and the bank on the project for $3.7 million, claiming they’re “bleeding” him on loans on the abandoned project. HC Management says it will vigorously defend itself and pursue obligations owed to the investors.

Happy 100 Jay!!! Party @ the 40/40. At least you still got those, right?

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Lil homie ain’t playing.

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Read below, an article about the history of violence that take place because of the famous recording, “My Way” written by Paul Anka, preformed by Frank Sinatra. These murders are so common that they’re categorized as “My Way Killings.” Dont believe me? See for yourself.

I got 99 problems but this definitely aint one.

GENERAL SANTOS, the Philippines — After a day of barbering, Rodolfo Gregorio went to his neighborhood karaoke bar still smelling of talcum powder. Putting aside his glass of Red Horse Extra Strong beer, he grasped a microphone with a habitué’s self-assuredness and briefly stilled the room with the Platters’ “My Prayer.”

Next, he belted out crowd-pleasers by Tom Jones and Engelbert Humperdinck. But Mr. Gregorio, 63, a witness to countless fistfights and occasional stabbings erupting from disputes over karaoke singing, did not dare choose one beloved classic: Frank Sinatra’s version of “My Way.”

“I used to like ‘My Way,’ but after all the trouble, I stopped singing it,” he said. “You can get killed.”

Check the rest of this story after the jump.

The authorities do not know exactly how many people have been killed warbling “My Way” in karaoke bars over the years in the Philippines, or how many fatal fights it has fueled. But the news media have recorded at least half a dozen victims in the past decade and includes them in a subcategory of crime dubbed the “My Way Killings.”

The killings have produced urban legends about the song and left Filipinos groping for answers. Are the killings the natural byproduct of the country’s culture of violence, drinking and machismo? Or is there something inherently sinister in the song?

Whatever the reason, many karaoke bars have removed the song from their playbooks. And the country’s many Sinatra lovers, like Mr. Gregorio here in this city in the southernmost Philippines, are practicing self-censorship out of perceived self-preservation.

Karaoke-related killings are not limited to the Philippines. In the past two years alone, a Malaysian man was fatally stabbed for hogging the microphone at a bar and a Thai man killed eight of his neighbors in a rage after they sang John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads.” Karaoke-related assaults have also occurred in the United States, including at a Seattle bar where a woman punched a man for singing Coldplay’s “Yellow” after criticizing his version.

Still, the odds of getting killed during karaoke may be higher in the Philippines, if only because of the ubiquity of the pastime. Social get-togethers invariably involve karaoke. Stand-alone karaoke machines can be found in the unlikeliest settings, including outdoors in rural areas where men can sometimes be seen singing early in the morning. And Filipinos, who pride themselves on their singing, may have a lower tolerance for bad singers.

Indeed, most of the “My Way” killings have reportedly occurred after the singer sang out of tune, causing other patrons to laugh or jeer.

“The trouble with ‘My Way,’ ” said Mr. Gregorio, “is that everyone knows it and everyone has an opinion.”

Others, noting that other equally popular tunes have not provoked killings, point to the song itself. The lyrics, written by Paul Anka for Mr. Sinatra as an unapologetic summing up of his career, are about a tough guy who “when there was doubt,” simply “ate it up and spit it out.” Butch Albarracin, the owner of Center for Pop, a Manila-based singing school that has propelled the careers of many famous singers, was partial to what he called the “existential explanation.”

“ ‘I did it my way’ — it’s so arrogant,” Mr. Albarracin said. “The lyrics evoke feelings of pride and arrogance in the singer, as if you’re somebody when you’re really nobody. It covers up your failures. That’s why it leads to fights.”

Defenders of “My Way” say it is a victim of its own popularity. Because it is sung more often than most songs, the thinking goes, karaoke-related violence is more likely to occur while people are singing it. The real reasons behind the violence are breaches of karaoke etiquette, like hogging the microphone, laughing at someone’s singing or choosing a song that has already been sung.

“The Philippines is a very violent society, so karaoke only triggers what already exists here when certain social rules are broken,” said Roland B. Tolentino, a pop culture expert at the University of the Philippines. But even he hedged, noting that the song’s “triumphalist” nature might contribute to the violence.

Some karaoke lovers are not taking chances, not even at family gatherings.

In Manila, Alisa Escanlar, 33, and her relatives invariably gather before a karaoke machine, but they banned “My Way” after an uncle, listening to a friend sing the song at a bar, became enraged at the laughter coming from the next table. The uncle, who was a police officer, pulled out his revolver, after which the customers at the next table quietly paid their bill and left.

Awash in more than one million illegal guns, the Philippines has long suffered from all manner of violence, from the political to the private. Wary middle-class patrons gravitate to karaoke clubs with cubicles that isolate them from strangers.

But in karaoke bars where one song costs 5 pesos, or a tenth of a dollar, strangers often rub shoulders, sometimes uneasily. A subset of karaoke bars with G.R.O.’s — short for guest relations officers, a euphemism for female prostitutes — often employ gay men, who are seen as neutral, to defuse the undercurrent of tension among the male patrons. Since the gay men are not considered rivals for the women’s attention — or rivals in singing, which karaoke machines score and rank — they can use humor to forestall macho face-offs among the patrons.

In one such bar in Quezon City, next to Manila, patrons sing karaoke at tables on the first floor and can accompany a G.R.O. upstairs. Fights often break out when customers at one table look at another table “the wrong way,” said Mark Lanada, 20, the manager.

“That’s the biggest source of tension,” Mr. Lanada said. “That’s why every place like this has a gay man like me.”

Ordinary karaoke bars, like the Nelson Carenderia here, a single room with bare plywood walls, mandate that a singer give up the microphone after three consecutive songs.

On one recent evening, at the table closest to the karaoke machine, Edwin Lancaderas, 62, crooned a Tagalog song, “Fight Temptation” — about a married man forgoing an affair with a woman while taking delight in their “stolen moments.” His friend Dindo Auxlero, 42, took the mike next, bawling songs by the Scorpions and Dire Straits. Several empty bottles of Red Horse crowded their table.

“In the Philippines, life is difficult,” said Mr. Auxlero, who repairs watches from a street kiosk, as he railed about government corruption and a weak economy that has driven so many Filipinos to work overseas, including his wife, who is a maid in Lebanon. “But, you know, we have a saying: ‘Don’t worry about your problems. Let your problems worry about you.’ ”

The two men roared with laughter.

“That’s why we come here every night — to clear the excesses from our heads,” Mr. Lancaderas said, adding, however, that the two always adhered to karaoke etiquette and, of course, refrained from singing “My Way.”

“Misunderstanding and jealousy,” in his view, were behind the “My Way” killings. “I just hope it doesn’t happen here,” he said.

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Check out this powerful poem by Bobby Drake. B.Drake is a League Alum and Milwaukee based spoken word artist and producer. Police brutality is real, and it’s a relic of 20th century thinking. We can’t let the bad apples continue to spoil the bunch. Go here to learn your rights!!
Bobby Drake — “I Am Somebody” by 99problemsdotorg

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Hypebeast TV: adidas x Star Wars NYC Imperial Invasion from Kellen Dengler on Vimeo.

More from the homie Snoop.

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Check out Gillian Caldwell from 1Sky chopping it up with Obama about clean coal. This is an awesome exchange.

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HBD!!!

“Tell the children the truth.”

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Weezy talking his truth!!

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Yesterday, the homie Snoop hit up Times Square with a legion of Storm Troopers + Anakin Skywalker (his momma named him Anakin, so I’mma call him Anakin.) Snoop showed up to help Lucafilm LTD push its new Star Wars collection with Adidas. Snoop rocked the Vader themed track suit.

Had me thinking, if Snoop’s Vader, who is hip-hop’s Yoda?

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?uest Love find this ?uestionable….myself as well, even if it is a great lineup of food and drink!!

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A 19-year-old man who was fatally shot over the weekend in Milwaukee was set up for a robbery by a man he knew, according to court documents filed Thursday.

Jordan G. Larson, a Milwaukee resident, was shot in the back and head about 11:15 a.m. Saturday in an alley in the 4600 block of W. Scranton Place, according to court documents. He died Tuesday night at Froedtert Hospital in Wauwatosa.

According to an affidavit filed in support of a search warrant:

Larson was conscious when police arrived at the shooting scene. An officer asked Larson who shot him, and Larson said a man named Keith Bohannon was responsible for the shooting but had not fired the shots.

Larson also told his brother at the scene that “Keith” had set him up and that “Keith’s guy” had shot him.

Larson lost consciousness while riding to the hospital in an ambulance.

Police arrested Bohannon, 18, who eventually admitted he had arranged for Larson to buy a car from Antonio L. Tatum, 26, who would rob Larson.

Bohannon and Tatum are in custody at the Milwaukee County Jail.

Charges have not yet been filed in connection with the homicide.

Jordan’s older brother Adam, says this: “my little brother noah larson and granny will b on chanel 4 news @ 6oclock 2 give u some of our feelings about the loss of my little brother jordan…any1 who kno him knows, dat wasn’t 4 him…not @ all!!..they envied his swag and he died cuz his flava..they can neva b him…I love you”

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Last year, the Pittsburgh Hip Hop Awards went head to head against the Grammys at the Pittsburgh Hilton.

This year, the fourth annual event, presented by 360 Entertainment and again at the Hilton, will be a party on the eve of the Super Bowl with performances and awards in 35 categories.

story jacked via the pittsburgh post-gazette

This year, marketing company Block Starz Music will present the PHHA winner of “Mixtape of the Year” with a promotional package worth more than $2,000.

The red carpet is at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, followed by the show at 8. Tickets are $20 advance. Go to www. pittsburghhiphopawards.com.

check out more after the link.

Here are the nominees in the performance categories:

CD of the Year: “Disco Lemonade,” Common Wealth Family; “Vintage,” YD; “Certified,” F Block; “Deal or No Deal,” Wiz Khalifa; “Audiobiography,” Boaz; “American History X,” Jasiri X; “The Atlanta Project,” Nova”; “High Life,” Mac Miller.

Single of the Year: “Statement,” Like; “Well Got Damn,” Hardcore; “Hustler,” Boaz; “Homewood Movement,” Tada Salad; “Dear Debra,” Jasiri X; “Press,” Please; “Rollin Witta Star,” Common Wealth Family; “Wham,” Mr. Rogers Ft. Freeze.

Best Duo or Group: Formula 412, Burghtown, Apex, Piff Boyz, Da Sinate, Most Wanted F Mob, Justuce Street Poets, Keystone Kyngz, U.P.S, Bully Ent, Common Wealth Family

Best Male Artist: S. Money, Joe Beast, Boaz, Wiz Khalifa, Jasiri X, 2kraze, Big Lyfe, YD, B Brixx, Kev Da Hustler.

Best Female Artist: Nina Ross, Lady Homi, Kellee Maize, Sash Mead, Donnis, Kizzi, Red Eye, Hollywood, Lovely.

Best New Artist/Group: SS, GMG, Jayvon, E Dot, Lil Brucey, Alumni, Str 8 Money Ent, Looney, Kemikal

Best Male Singer: Gene Stovall, Manny, Hutch, Hakeem Rasheed, Ambition, Vinnie Vocals, Ira Soul, Ez the Rockstar, Stevie B, LT.

Best Female Singer: Angee Gonzalez, Nadia Soul, Margot B, Dell Saunders, J’Aira, Marcelago, Alexandria The Songtress, Bianca Atterberry, Mona.

Producer of the Year: Young Hott, Juliano, Sledgren, Mindbender, Black Czer, James Webb, Mysterious, Cynik Lethal, Big Jus -Bully Ent, Big Jerm

Underground Artist of the Year: Living Proofe, Money Sl, Tjuan, Jon Quest, Furious Styles, Divine Seven, Gambino, Vaig, Common Wealth Family, Joey Fatts.

Mover and Shaker Award: Chris Schizo Hoye, DJ Goodnight, Sage Berlin, Kristen K Mo Gasdick, Ivory the Human Hustle, John Mista Scrap Wilson, Orlana Darkins, Emmai Alaquiva, Slim/Hater Magnet, Cordell Collins.

B Boy/B Girl/Dance Group of the Year: Naka Ent, Caution Crew, Pittsburgh Heat, Ambition.

Lyricist of the Year: Masai (Formula 412), Boaz, YD, Jasiri X, Wiz Khalifa, Living Proof, 2GZ, Big Lyfe, Pook, Jon Quest.

Battle Emcee of the Year: Anymal, Real Deal, Basket Case, Ajaxx, Boka, Mista Scrap.

Mixtape of the Year: S. Money, “D Boy 3″; Pyrex, “Cash Cow”; B Brixx, “Neighborhood Heroes”; J Haze, “King of Da City”; Playbizzle, “Da Greatest”; Beedie, “Most Slept On”; Wiz Khalifa, “Flight School”; Alley Mob, “Bring Back That Burgundy”; Squirm Nitti, “Hurricane Ike.”

Mixtape DJ of the Year: DJ Shef, Fast Eddie Productions, DJ Bchenk, DJ Nitro & DJ Plan B, DJ Schizo, DJ Schemes.

Best Hip Hop Video: Boaz, “Steel City”; Common Wealth Family, “Star Song”; Good Company, “Good”; Jasiri X, “Dear Debra”; Da Sinate, “New Money”; Mac Miller, “Live Free”; Kev Tha Hustler, “Heavy Hustle Boss”; F Block, “Grindin”; Living Proof, “Wake Up World”; Stevie B, “Burgtown.”

Best Inspirational Artist: Travis Malloy, Jasiri X, Curtis Lewis Jr., Brady Hill, Mele Mel, Team Excellence.

Club DJ of the Year: GQ, Bonics, Noetik 5000, Matt G, Rok & Shorty D, Schizo, Schemes, Tee Jay, Assassin, Nugget.

Read more: http://www.postgazette.com/pg/10035/1033198-388.stm#ixzz0ebdFk2GU

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Ammunition leaving innocent bodies in ambulances

Im holding up candles for the kids that didn’t really have a chance

to live life to the fullest

The cops dont stop the fights that ignite the bullets

So im naked

Because the colors i wear, i dont want the gang members to take it

the wrong way

So some days i smoke this cannabis and this locust

So i can lose focus

on whats going on with my folks

Cuz i aint supposed to see this scenery

So i stick to this greenery and think thoughts of revenge on people thats mean to me

As my grandmother sings to me

Songs from Mahalia

See, Thats the reason i aint focused on America

Because The Reality Is….

The area im living in is surrounded by killing

And in my vision i see kids getting the life sentence in prison

Yall chasing the wrong Osama

Imma tell you about the forgotten Bin laden

The cops that left ya son shot in the streets

And didnt do nuthin to prevent it

But we holding up flags representin America

Like we sharin a bond or something

Yall PROBLEMS aint nuthin compared to mine.

So as long as condoms bustin

And people rushing to hospitals for abortions

And  a portion of Milwaukee missing

Because people missin their targets

and hitting Malcolms and Martins

I aint gon take part in the starting of another war!

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Facebook, formerly known as, “thefacebook.com,” was originally intended to be a network only for Harvard students, but was later expanded to other universities and finally to everyone. Unless you were friends of Chester French, 6 years ago you wouldn’t even be invited to this free a** party so dont forget to thank Mark Zuckerberg for the invite!!!

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J Cole Live at ACES Lounge from Mike Abb on Vimeo.

jacked via nahright.com

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Check out the tailor from Bogota who specializes in making bulletproof fashion garments. He said at one point he wants to expand into the “hip-hop” market. It’s a damn shame that there is a demand for this. This was spotted at CNN.com (funny that CNN is getting hipped to Vice).

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Apparently, the kids at PS22 in Staten Island are famous for being amazing singers. Just look at them feel the music. We definitely need more of this in our public schools. Found via Frank Dix’s Facebook page.

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