I Read The News Today... Oh, Oil!

New York Times

Sept, 3, 2010

An Oil Rig Burns, Blanketing the Gulf With Angst

Seriously? At what point do we get the message? It is brutal and cruel than New Orleans in the Gulf Coast have endured the wrath of nature's response to the human industrial complex. It also seems like a preview, fore-shadowing. Not only could it be anywhere, it may be everywhere in the not so distant future. My hope for New Orleans and the Gulf Coast is that end up contact in more quickly than the rest of us because environmental crisis has hit them hard, fast, and first. Something like Cuba, which went through the energy crisis first after Russia cut off their oil resources. Now Cuba is a role model for a post oil economy. If you don't know about this, see the documentary " The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil". You can also And in a read just about any book by Richard Heinberg.

The collage above on the left I made in response to this article in the New York Times...

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/03/us/03rig.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=sept%203,%202010&st=cse

I'm also attaching above on the right the collage I made a few days after the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion first happened in the Gulf. I felt helpless not only the situation itself but also in how we communicate my emotional response to it. Creative expression was a good place to start. It felt good using a ads promoting oil companies and transforming them into commentary on the destruction they lead to environmentally, socially, politically, militarily.

Transformative Arts Mix

TRANSFORMATIVE ARTS MIX

00:04 Golden Bowls Karma Moffett

01:25 The Prayer of The Afrika Bambaataa KRS-One

02:03 Have A Dream Common

05:38 Science of A New Time The Goddess Alchemy Project

09:57 Ganesh Is Fresh MC Yogi

13:31 What It's Worth The Goddess Alchemy Project

19:23 Five Senses Saul Wiliams

20:09 Do What You Love J Boogie Dubtronic Science

24:24 Golden Jill Scott

28:05 State of Clarity Guru feat. Common & Bob James

31:25 Believe Q-Tip feat. D'Angelo

34:17 Connection Guru feat. Kem

37:32 The State of The Union Thievery Corporation

41:48 Priority Mos Def

43:12 Witness Roots Manuva

46:13 The Healer/Hip Hop Erykah Badu

50:13 Higher Level KRS-One

55:05 What Are You Waiting For / His Message To The World Pete Rock / Mahatam Ghandi

59:09 Light (Can You See It) Mos Def & DJ Krush

1:03:44 Hip Hoprisy / Dream Pete Rock / KRS-One

1:07:54 Secrets The Goddess Alchemy Project

1:13:40 Golden Bowls Karma Moffett

Here's the playlist for the Mix I gave out in class after my presentation. Apologies for not being able to break this into individual tracks. Hopefully, having the time when each new track starts will be helpful to at least know who you are listening to at any give point in the mix. There are two tracks near the end of the mix that you won't be able to find elsewhere. They are: "What Are You Waiting For / His Message To The World" and "Hip Hoprisy / Dream." These are a combination of instrumental songs (AKA beats) by Pete Rock an old school hip hop DJ and vocal tracks by Mahatam Ghandi or KRS-One. The rest of these songs you can find on albums by the artists.

Liner Notes:

I highly recommend The Goddess Alchemy Project and MC Yogi. Even if you don't like hip hop much these are amazing musicians and poets with a very different message than mainstream hip hop. KRS-One, Mos Def, Common, Q-Tip (a member of A Tribe Called Quest) and Guru are some of the better known artist for conscious hip hop. Erykah Badu and Jill Scott are two amazing female artists that have ushered in a new era of soul music. Kem is a soul and R&B musician as well, who credits music and spirituality with his ability to overcome homelessness and addiction. D'Angelo is one of the more well-known R&B artists of the 90s. Saul Williams is one of the best known spoken word artists of the past twenty years. J Boogie Dubtronic Science, Thievery Corporation, and Roots Manuva are known as Electronic artists but each has clearly been influenced by hip hop and global beats. DJ Krush is a Japanese DJ that has collaborated with many hip hop musicians creating distinctive hip hop and electronic fusion. Bob James is an amazing jazz fusion artist known as one of the originators of smooth jazz, which incorporates R&B, funk rock and pop into jazz. He is probably the most sampled jazz musician in hip hop.

Enjoy!

Higher Self Video

This is my final presentation video for the amazing Transformative Art Seminar this summer at JFKU. Thank you wonderful women/peers for all of your suggestions at the beginning of the quarter that led to this piece! And thank you for the feedback and support you gave me last night after viewing it. The process of making it and sharing it has been transformative and empowering. I'm really looking forward to doing more with this medium. :)

Wandering Muse Painting

Here's my Wandering Muse painting. It was quite a process to get to this. It feels like good integration of the mandala work I've been doing with all the things that have come up for me in working with conscious hip hop this quarter, both challenging and inspiring! Many thanks to my muses, which includes the fabulous group of women in the Transformative Arts Seminar! Thanks to you ladies, for your wonderful comments in class about this piece. I couldn't write fast enough to get them all but here are the ones I wrote down (feel free to add to them):

-Pulsing Pink Power

-Slippery throat swirl

-Inner beautiful radiating out into the universe

-I am ready

-Yonilicious!

-Swirly magic

-I am the one I seek

-I am woman, hear me roar!

-I am the design

Blessings my Sistas!