Urban Culture

In Honor of Black History month, HSK will daily highlight a person, place, or event that was significant for the progress and development of black american culture and values….

Zora Neale Hurston is one of those people

—————————————————-

How It Feels to Be Colored Me….
by Zora Neale Hurston (1891 – 1960)

I am colored but I offer nothing in the way of extenuating circumstances except the fact that I am the only Negro in the United States whose grandfather on the mother’s side was not an Indian chief.

I remember the very day that I became colored. Up to my thirteenth year I lived in the little Negro town of Eatonville, Florida. It is exclusively a colored town. The only white people I knew passed through the town going to or coming from Orlando. The native whites rode dusty horses, the Northern tourists chugged down the sandy village road in automobiles. The town knew the Southerners and never stopped cane chewing when they passed. But the Northerners were something else again. They were peered at cautiously from behind curtains by the timid. The more venturesome would come out on the porch to watch them go past and got just as much pleasure out of the tourists as the tourists got out of the village. Continue Reading…

On Saturday, I rolled out to the Laemmle Sunset 5 theater for the premiere of “Monkey Gang” – a movie that’s part of the 2011 Hollywood Black Film Festival.

Monkey Gang is a mock documentary covering today’s hip hop culture, and guess what? It was pure comedy!

When the screening came to an end, the audience applauded as the film’s director Mr. M and writer Casey Gane-McCalla took to the stage for a session of Q&A with the audience. Know why? Because Mr. M and Casey wanted to hear what the critics had to say mane.

Mr, M and Casey McCalla both formerly taught Hip Hop in the Bronx, New York. They’re street dudes who completed a project about their urban environment, and I appreciated it – but the critics (who reminded me of uppity blacks from the Bladwin Hills area) had a lot of negative commentary.

Here’s what one critic had to say: Continue Reading…

A Tampa, Florida, Afro-American company named Hood-Lynked Entertainment is throwing a party Klansman David Duke will be proud of. Know why? Because the Afro-American company Hood-Lynked Entertainment is throwing “Da First -Eva-Coon-O-Ween Party” mane.

The folks over at Hood-Lynked Entertainment are saying they’re a Afro-American company and the party is for Afro-American goers and guess what? The word Coon is a radical slur is Tampa Florida.

Here’s what was reported: Continue Reading…

For more, check out the new edition of Star — on newsstands now….

Hey Jacky,

You must of heard about the senseless murder that took place in Mississippi early this week, where a group of white kids drove 16 miles into the “ghetto” and beat and killed the first black person they saw, which happened to be a 45 year old male getting off work. Anyways I feel rappers owe it to us (loyal fans who fund their expensive lifestyles) not just to to raise awareness to events of such matter, but also to voice a reasonable opinion and/or provide some type of social commentary.

I know rapper The Game did something like that with his record 911 is a Mothafucken Joke, which is one of the only reason I still have faith in Game. I know he complained about the repercussions that record had and how other artists were scarred to jump on the track which I understand. But rap is a huge machine that has a huge voice and I feel rappers need to bring attention to certain issues that keep getting by unnoticed. For example in the last years there has been dozens of police beating that although make the news, aren’t pressed as they should be and end up going unresolved. What are your thoughts towards the subject?

Thank You

Jacky’s Answer Here

How can you criticize a person as a racist for commenting on Kim K. getting kicked off of a stage for not dancing with the host while ignoring the brutal racial violence happening in the north east groups of blacks attacking white people.

I would think that violent racial attacks would be more news worthy than twisting a comment made by Mr. Stern into a racial slur.

I’d love to read your reply either publicly or privately.

Jacky’s Answer Here

Hi Jacky,

I would like to know your opinion on gangster rap music. A lot of people say that gangster rap marks a turn for the worst in hip hop culture and is partly responsible for the death rates of young black males.

I heard somewhere that based on statistics, homicide due to gun violence is the number one cause of death for black men around the ages of 15-26 but I’m not 100% sure about the exact age range.

What are your thoughts on this? Is gangster rap music bad for society? If this is true I find it really disgusting for the senseless killings especially since rap and hip hop first started to empower and uplift the black community, not to help it self destruct. Is there any way to reverse this effect and bring a more positive influence through hip hop and not allow other cultures to prematurely judge or look down on the rap culture saying that it promotes violence.

Even though hip hop originated from people being angry at the system and wanting change, could it be expressed more positively instead of negatively influencing the younger generation to become a more violent culture, but a more motivated one that could ” fight the power” and also be intelligent enough to know the steps to take in achieving that goal.

Amy

Jacky’s Answer Here