TO ZION

2010-04-26T21:40:00.001-07:00

Mos Def on Yo Gabba Gabba

2010-04-03T17:11:00.000-07:00

Mos Def on Yo Gabba Gabba childrens show. Spandex, singing, flying, wig. All I have to say is wow. he kinda sounds like Dave Chappelle too.

Basquiat Documentary

2010-03-01T18:16:00.001-08:00

I can't wait till I can see this here. I loved the Film Basquiat which was apparently utterly fictional. The film is entitled JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT: THE RADIANT CHILD, and I can't help but think of all the young black radiant children I know.

I remember back in the day my English teacher saying the Basquiat was the only great black painter. If only she knew of the legacy of white supremacy and the racism involved in western canonization which was so normative to her she couldn't see it right before her eyes.

The Poem I Wrote for You on Valentines Day on my Blackberry When You Weren't Looking

2010-02-16T00:08:00.000-08:00

I.

I learned something
When dancing with you tonight
Off beat
My cheek squished into your chest
Because you are tall

To give up control
Stroll and sway
Though a different kinda vibe
As your cougar dream wifey Sade plays
And Marvin Gaye
Tevin Campbell
Janelle Monet

It was lovely
But earlier you were mad
Stuck in line in the cold
After parking
And thinking
I was treating you like a cab

I came out and kissed your face
Went back and waited in the warm
Club for you to fill up the space
A vacuum of fun without you

My designated driver
During those tipsy runs
So strong and steady
Till the night's all done

And then you fold down
Into my soft comfy pillow
Cuddle and relax

The lights get low
Your voice fades out of our
Bed time chat
And I drift
Into the stars on the tips
Of your glistening skin

A silent eclipse
As sleep sinks in
Your clutch a quiet art
The pulsing of my ear
As it hears your heart

The nights ends
And new day begins
With you beside me

II.

Your Valentine's Day gift to me
Was the book "Things Fall Apart"
Mine to you
Was the pill Plan B
The protection popped
We had to stop
You were the only guy
Who was ever
Really cared to read the box

III.

You said I couldn't have
A piece of your pizza
So I just picked up and ran away
I mean who the heck is so damn selfish
On their date
On Valentine's Day
You couldn't find me
At the Starbucks I said I'd be at
Nor the one down by Bay
I went and had a Platinum Roll at Sushi Time
And when you called
There was nothing really
You could say
You screwed up
Then I screwed up
So now we were both on the same page
I paid my bill
And then met you on the corner
It was just going to be one of those days

The Mohawk Explained

2010-02-08T09:19:00.001-08:00

My friend Kahsenniyo spitting on the meaning of the Mohawk hairstyle.

It is: a symbol of going into/being in war

Supposed to be: 3 fingers wide, and 3 fingers high

+ more

-enjoy. she goes in.

Ambush

2010-02-02T20:36:00.001-08:00

From my learnings in JA:

ambush (verb: to ambush;attack -i.e. the British Colonialists)
ambush (noun: the sacred bush used by the Maroons of Jamaica as camouflage during their revolts)

photographer: Renee Cox

Example of a British solider (Backra) getting jacked up: ..."Or a banana tree that ripe: you there to pick it to eat, and you start dead from de banana. De banana just start to lance you with knife and kill you...Ambush. "" from "True Born Maroons by (the infamous) Kenneth M Bilby.

Thanks Erica for putting me on to Renee Cox

spell

2010-02-01T20:02:00.001-08:00

Spell from Ashley McFarlane on Vimeo.

The poem below in video form.

Playing around with my digital harinezumi 2 ;0 yes that's my eye

a poem
and short video
by Ashley Alexis McFarlane

with music by Hayling Price
myspace.com/vocabproductions

Spell

2010-01-29T22:13:00.000-08:00

You know when you can slip in and out of realities?
Well I've been stuck in this one long enough to know that something is definitely wrong
It's like a spell has been wrapped around the heads of the people who exist here
So many things going on and they are oblivious to the urgency
Of the changes that need to happen in order to fix them
It's a thick one though
I can almost taste it
Like a milky goo
Covering your eyelids
Almost since birth
So used to it you think
It's the way it should be
In all the infinite universe
As if this is this is the only way things should be
Taught all your life
There is nothing beyond this
Because if you knew more
This spell could not exist

Digital Super 8!

2009-12-31T10:29:00.001-08:00

Digital Harinezumi Final Cut Pro Mash Up from Ashley McFarlane on Vimeo.

So...
I've been really thinking about this film I'm making down in the JA.
It's about remembering. I have an Super 8 camera. But not the cash to develop and digitize super 8 films (6 mins = $100).

So I learned of this camera called the digital harinezumi. obsessed over watching youtube and vimeo videos made with the little thing for hours at end. And finally bought one with the quickness cuz I needed to get it before new year.

Got it only to find out that the new model (the digital harinezumi 2) looks less Super 8mm ish. And that there is a cheaper digital pocket camera called the VistaQuest 1015 Entry (has to be the entry, not the classic) looks EVEN MORE super 8mm ish.

Anywho. I decided to keep the camera after playing around in Final Cut. My secret: Under Effects Choose: Video Generators. In the drop down choose Channels -> Channel Blur and move the Green over to about 39. Then increase the contrast and you're good. Black and white seals the deal. After all that export with Quicktime Conversion at 12 or 15 frames per second for that choppy look (I'm doing 15 cuz my additional footage is 30fps) and you're good. A lot of rendering and conversion time. But better than millions of bucks over the years and the camera is super-cute.

Only prob: the dimensions. Help!

Check my sample video above
; )

Re-membering Maroonage

2009-12-07T07:39:00.000-08:00

Re-membering Maroonage from Ashley McFarlane on Vimeo.

First full clip from a doc I'm working on called Re-membering Maroonage. A film on family, migration, and re-membering heritage across land, lives and waters.

I'm usually pretty cut-heavy. Which will get interesting as I film family. It's harder to edit family. I know if I was watching this film by someone else I'd get a little bored. I hope the images and lights floating by are a nice distraction.

As the video says I'll be going to Jamaica this January to document a mini-family reunion and the annual celebration at Accompong on January 6th. I'll also be talking to locals, and more specifically a man named Michael Grizzle about the Maroons. I couldn't find that much info so I thought, given this opportunity I have to dig the info out myself, with the help and support of course of family and friends.

A museum is also being built down there, so I will offer up my communications skills, and equipment to the community. I really support communities telling their own stories so would like to have them learn to use cameras and videos. If needed do some editing. And just submerge myself in my heritage and vibe.

Love
-a

Shot on my Canon 5D mark ii. 50mm lens 1.2

First Poetry/Photography Mix

2009-09-19T11:49:00.000-07:00

So I'll be showing my first poetry/photography art installation piece this Monday at the Youth, Colonialism, and Hope - Art Presentation and Film Screening. UofT Women's Centre. It's the piece pictured here. Open it up and explore.

Time:
6:00pm - 9:00pm
Location:
Centre for Women's Studies in Education
Street:
252 Bloor Street West Unit 2-225
City/Town:
Toronto, ON

As I already said, I'm putting together a book of poetry and images. Also doing a theatre/poetry residency program with the great d'bi young. Very excited about the work that will be spilling forth from that.

in my mind
i had a line or two
i wished to record forever last night
this morning i have forgotten them
not gone for ever
but still meddling around
in mind
to spill out
in a different form
once formed
and ready

I Am A Man: Black Masculinaty in America

2009-09-14T14:01:00.001-07:00

Thanks soo much to my friend Zainab for this video. I think it's a must for all of us and what is being said is in many ways the same for black women and all people in this soceity.

heart

Creating is Natural to Me

2009-08-30T18:51:00.000-07:00

I haven't been in the mood to create
For such a long while
I've made things here and there
Performed a bit.
Only when asked. But that's about it
I have a camera and am not experiencing deep writers block or anything
It is there
And my soul yearns to create again
Just not in the vibe state of mind I guess
Will do and be in a bit.
A retreat will hopefully bring me back to it all

Gaia Resistance

2009-08-15T14:20:00.000-07:00

This reminded me of something straight out of Harry Potter.

I was really interested in this because I had a negative view of wiccans. Kinda till now. Also my friends and I have been discussing the importance of reclaiming spirit in the decolonization and anti-oppression process.

link: http://activism.ca/wiki/G8_Calls_to_Action/A_Call_for_Gaia_Resistance

A Call for GAIA RESISTANCE
at the G-8 Summit in Kananaskis

The new Empire is having a meeting of its leaders in 2002 in Alberta, Canada at Kananaskis Provincial Wilderness Park*.

Pagans are the spiritual if not literal successors to the peoples first colonized in Europe - the Pagans colonized by the Roman Empire and its heirs the Christians. Our resistance to this latest and largest empire is the continuation of the resistance of our ancestors to the earlier empires. When we fight against the globalized McCulture so they fight through us, and by honoring our Pagan ancestors we find ourselves as indigenous Peoples reclaiming our heritage of resistance.

When the Amazon forests are cut and the indigenous peoples forced off their land, it is like our ancestorsí sacred groves being cut again. These are our sisters and brothers. When the indigenous cultures are overwhelmed and the languages and music submerged in pop pap and junk food, this echoes the destruction of our people hundreds of years ago. These are our languages, these are our people.

The Pagan religions are not the religions of the rulers and their giant cities but of the ordinary people, the peasants, the indigenous peoples uprooted to work in those cities, in those factories. Those women stitching together Nike shoes for pennies an hour - those are our people.

And we must stand with them, with them all. Our Ancestors require it, our Mother Earth requires it, our own spirit and honour require it.

Like the Roman Empire before it the new American Empire wants to make the world into its own image, where the state is the handmaiden to corporate interests. This form of globalization evolved from institutions of the cold war like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. With the WTO, APEC, MAI, NAFTA, FTAA, etc., and every new series of trade agreements we now see the outline of this transnational corporatist Empire.

In a natural dialectic there has emerged an anti-globalist radical opposition movement. This emerging movement is our ancestors reawakened in our people - it is the same part of the broad left that we have always identified with - the fertile, earthy, anti-hierarchic and complex social and political radicalism that is red, green and anarchist - socialism from below.

The most successful resistance to the Empire that has mobilized inspired and radicalized the anti-globalization movement is the Zapatista movement in Chiapas, Mexico. The lessons of the Zapatista movement are that we mobilize globally, using the Internet, while mobilizing local indigenous mass movements of opposition - cultural, spiritual and political. We are building a new mass movement in opposition to the global hegemony of the American Empire.

A New Ghost Dance Around the Globe

We will use our magicks to resist the neo-liberal globalization of the American Empire.

The mission of GAIA RESISTANCE is to bring together the Pagan oppositional currents, to develop a liberation theology and an activist magickal practice that is not purely one of resistance but also of hope and new growth - the roots finding cracks in the concrete through which to rebirth the forest.

While many in the Pagan movement have taken up this battle on their own, there has not been a global movement that has made common cause through local Pagan communities to express a common goal and practice of combative magick. We will build a political spiritual resistance movement from the bottom up. GAIA RESISTANCE has evolved out of our belief that a global resistance movement of Pagans, Wiccans, magickians, shamans and all our community must be articulated and put into practice to build resistance to globalization at the community level.

It is not good enough to have a handful of witches appear at demonstrations against globalization. We must, as communities, with one purpose, pledge to use our magicks to resist the Empire. It is not enough to practice our magicks just for our-selves, or our circles, covens, lodges, etc. It is time for us to use our magicks in service of the people against the Empire. This is our ancient right, our ancient tradition, it is the reason the state used the burning times against us. It is our most cherished birthright, to use magick against oppression, to fight to free not just our-selves but also our communities.

To make a common Pagan alliance against globalization we need to use our magicks in a concerted effort to reinforce, energize and spread the global resistance movement.

We are calling for a Grand Coven gathering at the G8 meeting in Kananaskis.

As Pagans in Western Canada we invite you to join us in creating a worldwide movement of GAIA RESISTANCE. Whether you can be here in person or not, let us use our magicks in the summer of 2002 against the empire, and in defense of the resistance.

Let us call forth the grand coven, let us make a ghost dance of resistance around the globe.

To join in this effort we ask that you endorse this call for a GAIA RESISTANCE.

On local level we call on all Pagans, Wiccans, magickians, etc. to become active in their local

Anti-Globalization Movement as part of the GAIA RESISTANCE.

Join with us in planning for magickal-political-resistance activities around the globe for the G8 meeting in Alberta in 2002.

* [This environmentally sensitive eco-region and its indigenous wildlife face the prospect of mass intrusion by the corporatist global state and its police. Not satisfied with having intruded in this wildlife area with golf courses and tourist hotels, for the 1988 Winter Olympics, now we have the prospect of global leaders meeting in private surrounded by thousands of security forces. Kananaskis is symbolic of the privatization and rape of our natural environment that results when the G8 carve up the world for the good of Transnational American Corporations.]

Ya Basta! Non Passaran! Ompheda Balasti! So Mote It Be!

Lammas 2001 (CE)
Ashtorethean Wiccan Temple of Alberta (Edmonton)
Pagans for Peace (Canada)

GAIA RESISTANCE, Box 1075, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T5J 2M1 email: gaiaresist@yahoo.ca

GAIA RESISTANCE MANIFESTO

As Above, So Below

Magick is the spiritual and activist expression of the oldest liberation theology in the world.

Magick is opposed to hierarchy, domination, intolerance, exploitation, and oppression.

Magick is the peoplesí spiritual path unmediated by priests, shamans, politicians, the church or state.

Magick is the will of the oppressed made manifest in the world.

It is a weapon, a salve, nourishment, for the spiritual will of the common people.

To be a "heathen Pagan" is to be of the common people, and their struggles.

As Pagans we use magick to aid in changing and liberating not only the self but also all of our-selves.

Our religion celebrates honours, protects, and proclaims for, our Mother Earth and all her children.

We use our magick to maintain our mother, our-selves, our communities.

It is our duty. It is required of us.

We declare that corporate globalization is a material, political, economic, social and spiritual anathema to our mother and all her children.

We declare a Grant Covenant against Corporate Globalization and evoke our magicks to resist the Empire.

Ya Basta! Non Passaran! Ompheda Balasti! So Mote It Be!

Lammas 2001 (CE)
Ashtorethean Wiccan Temple of Alberta (Edmonton)
Pagans for Peace (Canada)

GAIA RESISTANCE, Box 1075, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T5J 2M1 email: gaiaresist@yahoo.ca

The Full Moon Manifestos

2009-08-09T14:02:00.000-07:00

So,

It's been a minute since I planned on creating my first book of poetry....The Full Moon Manifestos. It turns out a long time friend of mine is obbessed with printing and wants to help me out in this personal and creative project.

So it will be done. Smashingly in colour. The universe willing.

I'll be documenting some of it up here. Teasers. and the like. I finally chose my font!! Half the battle

It will be a combo of pictures and poetry.

Stay tuned

Toronto Black Girl Style

2009-07-07T13:07:00.001-07:00

Blame it on the E-e-e-economy

2009-05-22T20:35:00.000-07:00

Michelle look a like is great.

"People taking shots of my clothes, want you to know, shouldn't be the focus, but I do look fly though we can all gleam, turn negative thoughts into positive steam"

"I'm not exactly Barack Obama, but I endorse this messaggge, I endorse this message...yeah ee yeah"

And why is a Syler look a like in this?

Classic. And I love that song.

Some of my fav Music Downloads

2009-05-22T19:43:00.000-07:00

A bunch of free and legal downloads from some of your favourites:

Mos Def Cover "Say You Will":
http://www.zshare.net/download/59140589f2c8d258/

Before Mos was an actor (well not really) He was one of the dopest mcees alive. it kinda stanner- enjoyment-only in the beginning, but gets real sweet around 8:40mins.

Q-Tip, D'angelo, Raphael Saadiq Mixtape Album "Lynwood Rose"
http://www.zshare.net/download/59777437a5b8f9f6/

D'angelo "Really Love" that famous leaked track is the hottest ever.

Lauryn Hill Mixtape "The Re-Education of Lauryn Hill"
http://www.datpiff.com/Lauryn-Hill-The-Re-Education-of-Lauryn-Hill-mid8569.html

"Guarding the Gates" was that tune for a minute.

I Heart Mr Legend

2009-05-22T19:20:00.000-07:00

I recently went back to my alma mater UPenn for Alumni weekend and to see some of my friends graduate. John Legend was the key speaker. He looked so cute like a little Harry Potter character.

People of the College of Arts and Sciences, you got Soul Power!! I know I'm not 09, but still SAS! Lol. So sexy.

Check out his Graduation Speech on Democracy Now. I teared up again:

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/5/19/a_commitment_to_truth_requires_a

Jay Z Goes Indie

2009-05-22T18:17:00.000-07:00

It seems Jay Z is now an independent artists. He bought his rights back from Def Jam for 5 million dollars.

I still don't picture him as an indie artist "I'm a business man". The man's too rich. Plus him and those Ray Bans...it just seems like he's riding on the coolness of being indie right now. No?

“I can honestly say, working with Doug Morris and LA Reid has been a unique and fulfilling experience and I respect them immensely. I’ve been in the family for almost my entire career.Doug and I spoke directly and had one of the most unique “negotiations” ever. Doug won the toss but, we both won in the end..I thank him for allowing me to be a completely independent artist. Not every artist can say they own or are given the opportunity to own all of their music.”

courtesy of bossip.com

Race and the Recession Report

2009-05-21T09:37:00.000-07:00

I'm apart of the group Allies on the Economy and they sent out a really good link to a report on inequity and the recession. You won't be seeing this on CNN.

http://www.arc.org/content/view/726/136/

From the site:

"Race and Recession: How Inequity Rigged the Economy and how to Change the Rules" tells the stories of people of color who are disproportionately affected by the recession.

It uncovers root causes of long-term racial inequities that fed into the economic crisis. It proposes structural solutions to change a system that threatens future generations.

Watch the Video. Read the Report. Take action.

Mos Def Vid Promo for New Album

2009-04-15T20:59:00.000-07:00

Mos Def - Flowers - The Ecstatic avail 6/9/09

The Escatic drops in Spring 2009!

You know what this means dont' you? Mos on Tour in Spring!!

Dilla Fall in Love Live Intrumentals

2009-04-05T14:06:00.000-07:00

Illa Dilla with a 40 piece orchestra. word on the street is it all commenced on my 24th birthday in cali.

Babtunde Olatunji - Why do you run away

2009-04-05T13:29:00.000-07:00

Some good ol Nigerian Music from an African Priest.

Common Skanking

2009-04-05T13:28:00.000-07:00

common skanking. looks like he likes those jamaican dances.

Explicit Ills looks Ill

2009-03-21T20:03:00.000-07:00

Finally movies about our lives!! Gentrification, poverty, health care and rights. Lol. I'm definitely supporting this in the theaters. Will you?

The Art Star and the Sudanese Twins

2009-03-12T20:55:00.000-07:00

An interesting looking doc on foreign adoption, especially of exotic African babies by white women.

Critical. The women knows what she's doing, look at the image, but still wants to do it. Her husband is a social anthrolopologist and by the end wants a divorce.

Screening at the HOTDOCS Documentary festival in April

Ryan Leslie: I'm in Love with a Nerd

2009-03-11T23:24:00.000-07:00

So I was on Kid Cudi's blog and it turned out that Ryan "Real Life Genius" Leslie helped him with the website probs he's been having. Me thinking it's hot that Ryan Leslie speaks Web 2.0 language did a little google search on mr leslie and discovered his gem of an artist site. it reminds me of my hype back in okp glory days.

all said in done. i got his phone number and email from the site. plus gave him mine.

Check him out in this video with him producing. Dude is hotness. Lol at the mini Trumpet. Not too much into the materialistic swag.

His site it pretty hot!!!

http://www.ryanleslie.com/category/insight/

Denzel in Post-Apocalyptic Flick

2009-03-11T23:23:00.000-07:00

A bearded Denzel Washington was spotted on the set of his latest movie “The Book of Eli” in New Mexico
earlier this week.

Washington takes on the lead role of Eli, in the post-apocalyptic action film about a man who fights his way across America in order to protect a sacred book that holds the secrets to saving humankind. It is expected to be released January 15, 2010.

-concreteloop

I'm def going to check this one out. I'm all about the post-apoc/apoc thrillers. Especially ones with spiritual/theoretical/philosophical dimensions since I think climate change is going to whip our a**

Andre 3000 New Hair and New Spring Collection

2009-03-11T23:18:00.000-07:00

Andre 3000 hit up Holt Renfrew Bloor Street to launch his new Bixby Menswear Spring 09 Collection.

So despite some of the challenges his new line has been facing, Andre 3000 was still able to sneak into Canada and show some pieces for his spring collection. Yes he was in Canada!!! I'm so mad I did not know!

I read the blog and it said Holt Renfew Bloor Street, and I was like "wait there's a HR on Bloor here in downtown Toronto" could it be? apparently it was. So mad I wasn't on this one.

New Hair too.

Who is Jay Electronica??

2009-02-03T21:06:00.000-08:00

An interview with my future hubby, e.badu baby daddy Jay Electronica. Those projects he's from look reeealll.

Broccoli City Organic Hood Clothes

2009-01-31T21:54:00.000-08:00

I can say I love nothing more than some black men lying in broccoli and looking spaced out. Delish

For more on the line check http://broccolicity.com/main.html. And don't forget to check their blog. It's pretty cute.

Did you know they booed Bush?

2009-01-21T20:55:00.000-08:00

Imagine. This man got a shoe and millions of boos. He must have went home and cried.

Obama's for the kids

2009-01-21T13:39:00.001-08:00

Video I created a little while back featuring there views of Obama as president. Most shot before the Nov 4th win with additional footage from celebrations around the world on the eve of that historic day.

The First Dance

2009-01-21T13:36:00.000-08:00

what a sight. B sounded good. And I don't know if everyone was drunk last night but I thought Michelle's dress was a hot mess. She could have done so much better. At least an up do. Come on. Lol. Love her though.

Poor Andre

2009-01-21T13:34:00.000-08:00

Is Andre 3000 too eccentric to have a successful mainstream clothing line? Probably. Especially and expensive one.

From Bossip.com:

Things aren’t lookin so hot for Andre 3000’s stodgy clothing line, Benjamin Bixby:

Sales of the rapper’s gear have failed to take off because of the ongoing economic crisis and the clothing line’s high prices and limited availability. Andre launched Benjamin Bixby in September 2008 and the line included a sweater vest with a $275 price tag and a $1,400 leather jacket.

The Outkast rapper has now been forced to slash prices and sell his clothing via discount luxury sites. “The Benjamin Bixby clothing line is facing severe financial hardships due to limited sales and excess inventory
. Because [Andre] paid so much attention to detail, his clothing line was not cheap to reproduce on a mass scale. Instead, limited quantities of the collection were made and sold primarily online through luxury fashion sites such as Barneys.com,” the site said in an exclusive report.

“The problem is no one is buying the clothing line because of the high price point and no brand equity. As a result, the Benjamin Bixby clothing line has had to dramatically drop prices in order to move inventory and prevent retailers from shipping it all back to Mr. Benjamin,” the site revealed

“It’s not a good sign to see your four month old fashion collection on discount luxury sites, but the fact is selling the inventory at a low price is better than it sitting on the shelf and not making a dime,” the site added.

Better Black Television! So Proud of Master P.

2008-08-20T08:22:00.000-07:00

HIP-hop entrepreneur Percy Miller, a.k.a. Master P, is launching a family-friendly cable network, Better Black Television.

The network will provide "positive content for a black and brown culture," according to a company statement.

BBTV, set to launch in 2009, will be a general entertainment channel running a wide range of scripted, unscripted and news programming as well as "responsible hip-hop music and videos."

BBTV advisory board members include Oscar winner Denzel Washington, NBA player Derek Anderson and hip-hop pioneer DJ Kool Herc.

-thehuffingtonpost.com

I'm so glad that he's doing this. Apparently they are already in production for the station across the states and buying up local cable stations.

Gnarles Barkley New Video A Classic

2008-05-09T16:59:00.000-07:00

Why did I model with the girl in this video in Jamaica?

I love it. My fav video of the year.

Until the Lion Tells his Story

2008-04-29T17:54:00.000-07:00

THE INTRO ALONE IS FIRE!!!

"No this ain't about Barack Obama! This ain't about Hilary Rodin Clinton! This ain't about John McCain! It's bigger than all three of them. This is about the African American Church. This is about our people! This is about our right to speak truth to power. This is about god's privilege and in particular his prophet to speak the unedited, unmarginalized, unsanitized, uncategorized word of god to the powers that be. It is not a white thing, nor is it a black thing. It's the right thing that we are doing tonight."

Erykah's Inspiration?

2008-04-19T14:17:00.000-07:00

I think this is the kind of stuff erykah is on

http://www.rootwork.com/thehoodooway.htm (copy and paste link)

My fav quotes from the site:

"the artist as shaman. every book a spell. every draft a divination."

and

"the test of a good healthy spiritual tradition is that its adherents lead good, healthy lives. brimming with strength and meaning. beauty and grace. they build strong, healthy communities. "

and

"consequently the human condition, evolutionary illumination, community empowerment, divine and destinic guidance have become prime hoodoo concerns"

Nice. Haven't read the whole page, so not responsible for everything.

Try reading while listening to Mos Def's "True Magic"

Interesting

Erykah's Blender Article

2008-04-17T22:58:00.000-07:00

She kept it real, breaking down why Pisceans are so weird and how to cure a cold with a tuning fork.

click on picture for link.

Jay Electronica Dimethyltryptamine Video

2008-04-06T14:38:00.000-07:00

Just stumbled upon this video collage created of Jay Elec's song Dimethytryptamine. Apparently the song is originally 6 mins long and it's lyrics are meant to create seemingly random yet loosely linked pictures. Much like a dream.

Dimethyltryptamine is a naturally occuring potent psychadelic drug that is found in the body. It's been linked to intensifying the dream experience.

Check the end statements by J.F.K. Never knew he was so radical.

Love it!

50 Now Supports Obama

2008-04-01T13:05:00.000-07:00

50 Cent no longer supports Clinton
Posted: 05:13 PM ET

50 Cent says he was impressed with Obama's speech on race.

(CNN) – Hillary Clinton appears to have lost a high-profile backer to rival Barack Obama.

Rapper 50 Cent, who told Time magazine last September he was supporting the New York senator's White House bid, now says he has decided to shift his allegiance to Obama.

The multi-platinum star, born Curtis Jackson, told MTV News Friday that Obama's recent speech on race was the deciding factor for his decision.

"I heard Obama speak," he said. "He hit me with that he-just-got-done-watching-'Malcolm X,' and I swear to God, I'm like, 'Yo, Obama!'

"I'm Obama to the end now, baby!"

But the musician also admitted he's lost interest in the protracted Democratic race, and may not support either candidate.

"To be honest, I haven't been following that anymore. I lost my interest," he said. "I listened to some of the debates and things that they were saying, and I just got lost in everything that was going on…Don't look for my vote, for me to determine nothing on that. Just say, '50 Cent, he don't know, so don't ask Fiddy.'

He also said he didn't think the country is ready for a black president.

"I just think there's people that might not be ready for an African-American president," he said. "It'll be an issue, believe it or not."

"You've got to be conscious of racism, period," he continued. "And it's still there. We don't deal with it as often as my grandparents did. My grandparents grew up in South Carolina, so they experienced the heart of that."

The Angola 3: Take Action!

2008-03-31T02:46:00.000-07:00

Below is an email from Color of Change. This group was on the front lines during much of the Jena 6 issue. Please read and take action by simply following the link and sending an electronic letter!

After a week of intense public pressure, officials at Angola prison moved Herman Wallace and Albert Woodfox out of solitary confinement for the first time in 35 years.1 But they're still locked up--for a crime everyone knows they didn't commit.

Together, we've started to turn things around by making it a political liability for the authorities at Angola to keep Wallace and Woodfox in solitary confinement for challenging the violence and segregation at Angola.2 We need to keep the pressure on to force federal and state authorities to intervene and release these innocent men. Will you join us?

http://colorofchange.org/angola3/?id=2275-417069

"Angola", sits on an 18,000 acre former slave plantation and its history is telling: considered among the most violent, racially segregated prison in the 70s, almost a prisoner a day was stabbed, shot or raped3. Inmates were often put in inhumane punishment camps for small infractions.

Although not activists when arriving in prison, brutal, squalid conditions and news of a civil rights movement on the outside prompted the Angola 3--Wallace, Woodfox and Robert King Wilkerson--to begin routinely speaking out against injustice. They organized hunger and work strikes and a Black Panther chapter within the prison to protest the corruption and horrific abuse, including systematic rape4, facing the largely Black prisoner population.5

Shortly after these protests became public, the Angola 3 were charged with murdering a prison guard and quickly convicted by all-white juries, based on fake evidence. The bloody fingerprints at the scene don't match any of the Angola 3. Both men have alibi witnesses with nothing to gain, while the witnesses who testified against them have admitted to being coerced by prison officials. Even the widow of the correctional officer who was murdered does not believe Wallace and Woodfox killed her husband; she's urging state and federal officials to find the real killer.6

The Angola 3 don't pretend to be saints. They committed crimes many decades ago, but they've more than served their time. They should not be denied their freedom for standing up against unimaginable conditions in prison--including violent segregation and 16 hour, 6 day a week work schedules.

NBC Nightly News7 just aired a piece this week about the plight of the Angola 3. And it's time to finally get some justice for Wallace and Woodfox. When we spoke up about the Jena 6, it was about more than helping six Black youth in a small town called Jena8. It was about standing up against a system of unequal justice. That broken system is at work again and we're joining The Innocence Project and Amnesty International9 to challenge it in the case of the Angola 3.

It's now time for the Governor of Louisiana and the Department of Justice to step in and say enough is enough. Please join us in demanding that they both intervene--to ensure justice for the Angola 3 and to bring about reform and accountability in Louisiana's prison system:

http://colorofchange.org/angola3/?id=2275-417069

Thank You and Peace,

-- James, Van, Gabriel, Clarissa, Mervyn, Andre, and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team
March 18th, 2008

Obama Girl "I Got a Crush on Obama"

2008-03-27T23:49:00.000-07:00

I don't blame you girl. I got one too.

Electronic Votes Accidently Released Results

2008-03-24T23:27:00.000-07:00

All time favorite Onion clip. It's mad plausible and makes you think "why are they changing to all electronic ballots in the 2008 elections when they have proven to be highly unreliable"??? Maybe because computer programs exist to control these digital votes? Hmmm...

Media Coverage of Politics B.S.

2008-03-24T23:25:00.000-07:00

The Onion is the best spoof program ever. Media coverage on issues today is so much about b.s. Obama said in his race speech in Philly last week that if we don't get past this "Nothing Is Going to CHANGE".

2nd Banned Boondocks Episode

2008-03-24T17:04:00.000-07:00

No worries if you weren't able to check out this banned episode of boondocks that appeared on Teletoon Sunday, cuz we got it here!

Cee-lo's character reminds me off a good few people I know with the "reach and teach the lost masses" ideology.

It's true what he said about BET too. Presenting young people with a lifestyle they want to live, but can't afford.

enjoy!

Banned Boondocks Episodes Airing in Canada

2008-03-21T16:27:00.000-07:00

One of the banned BET related Boondocks episodes apparently aired in Canada last Sunday on teletoons, with the second due to air this coming Sunday at 10:30pm. The episodes "The Huey Freeman Hunger Strike" and "The Ruckus Reality Show" were banned from the Cartoon Network in the States earlier this year, with only shorts clips leaking out onto youtube.

The Episode featured here aired last Sunday and is about BET's CEO, Debra Lee, who is depicted as "Debra Lee-vil," a sinister Dr. Evil clone who kills underlings and rants about creating a network "that would accomplish what hundreds of years of slavery, Jim Crow and malt liquor couldn't - the destruction of black people."

These two Boondocks episodes weren't banned because of language, sexual explicitness, or violence (though one of Debra's heels does get gruesomely lodged in an employees neck), but because the Time/Turner affiliations between the Cartoon Network and BET. Media conglomeration at it's best y'all. Check the episode out.

Drama on PCD

2008-03-21T00:46:00.000-07:00

Ah I love this show. And my girl Tiffany is such a drama queen! "Woo wooo wooo woo" And all her crazy singing. I hope she makes it.

As time goes by everyone gets more and more stressed out and tempers flare.

Great girly drama.

Oh Yeah Introductions

2008-03-20T21:04:00.000-07:00

Hehe. Almost forgot.

My name is Ashley Alexis McFarlane and I obviously just started TO Zion (Toronto Zion/ "to zion" cuz our city is just that hype) because I love fashion, activism, art, spirituality, life, and blogs.

I'm currently wrapping up my final year at the University of Pennsylvania in Philly. Thank god! This blog may get a tad political because I'm a tad radical, but also paradoxically interested in pop culture and the mainstream. Tisk tisk I know.

I'll be posting links to articles, stories and pages I think are worth hearing about. Yeah. And stuff.

So tell all yah friends!!! www.zenista.blogspot.com is where it's at!

Juice For Life

2008-03-20T20:54:00.000-07:00

According to a friend who just bought a juicer, Drinking your fruits and vegetables is the healthiest (and easiest) way to go. Since we're living in an increasingly toxic world where free radicals wreck havoc on our bodies day in and day out, get your 5- or however many they're saying we need now, servings of fruits and veggies daily.

My favourite juicer in Toronto is this little vendor in the food court area at DOWNSVIEW PARK FARMERS AND MERCHANTS MARKET. The flea market is located by Downsview Park - Sheppard Ave. W. and Keele. It's east of Keele and west of Downsview Station. Random yes. Delicious and good for you yes. (Haha bet you thought I was bout to say no)

When Artists Wear Their Heart On Their Sleeves

2008-03-20T20:35:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since an emcee moved me. But with the soft and reflective lines "The handling of a heart/ is such a delicate art/ because it's paper thin" I was screaming in my school's computer lab. His name was Jay Electronica, the sole inspiration for Erykah Badu's new Control Freaq Record Label. And my newest hip-hop crush. But don't tell Badu, rumor is the two are a item.

*Tear

Check out some of his mix "Eternal Sunshine" here:
http://www.last.fm/music/Jay+Electronica/_/Act+1:+Eternal+Sunshine+(the+pledge)