So lately, for some reason or another, I been having the ill case of saudades for Brazil. “Saudades,” they say, is one of them words that don’t translate. i guess the closest phrase to express the sentiment would be “missing that place something serious” or “feening mad hard to be back up in the mix.” Strange because when i left there in August (after a 6 month stint) i vowed not to even think, let alone return for a very, very long time. Now either i lied, or it’s been a “very, very long time.” Whichever way, it’s been heavy on my mind lately and i’ve already got plans to return this summer.
A place i hate to love and love to hate, but do so anyway and at the same time. So many Black people suffering so honestly. So many mercurial days filled with the purest energy of life. Brazil. A land i only half-jokingly refer to as mine (something never even hinted about the land in which i was actually born). Bahia! Oh my Bahia!…but it’s not time for that entry yet.
I’m writing because in the quest to quell my saudades, I came across this video. A few years back, Spike Lee and Michael Jackson headed to Brazil to film a video for “They Don’t Care About Us.” Filmed between the Ana Marta favela in Rio de Janeiro (one of Rio’s largest), and Pelourinho in Salvador da Bahia (my home town), the video captures some of the things that remind of the land that lives with me. And because i want goodness and niceness for you, i’m sharing.
In order to promote group participation on this blog, i’m starting a contest:
WHO CAN TELL ME WHAT IN THE HELL IS GOING THROUGH MICHAEL’S MIND IN THIS VIDEO? (Don’t you ask yourself that very question every time you see him?)
Earlier this month, 26 year-old mother of six Tarika Wilson was shot and killed by pigs in the small Ohio town of Lima. Tarika’s one year old son, who she was holding in her arms at the moment of her murder, was injured in the military raid upon the house by Lima SWAT teams. A warrant had been issued for the arrest of Tarika’s boyfriend on drug charges.
Lima Pig Chief Greg Garlock said, “because of the fact there were toys on the outside of the residence they were concerned about the fact there could be children inside and they were taking every precaution when they made entry.” Apparently, “every precaution” means shooting mercilessly a la Chicago Pigs in pursuit of Black Panther Party Chairman Fred Hampton. Pigs were so cautious, in fact, that they also murdered two pit bulls in their raid (someone call Mike Vick’s prosecutors, quick!) The chief pig declined to comment on whether anyone inside the home had a weapon or threatened an officer. Convenient. Tarika’s boyfriend was arrested on charges of “suspicion of crack cocaine.” Both crack and marijuana were found in the home. (more…)
Last Friday i almost got myself cut…twice. Felt like Martin Luther the Kang or something the way these women was right at my throat. But hold up. It ain’t even what you thinking. It was all spurred by a leisurely convo about your man Barack.
First off, i don’t vote. That’s right, i said it! i don’t. Well, maybe i would if there were a candidate worth voting for. But there’s not, nor has there ever been. And don’t come at me with that foolish “lesser of two evils” nonsense. (See the Dead Prez video attached to hear what i think of that:) That ideology makes about as much sense as a slave choosing it’s own master. i’m good on that one, thanx.
Oh my beloved new jersey. Just a few weeks after abolishing the death penalty, the Home News Tribune reports that garden state lawmakers are considering the issuance of a formal apology for slavery. If it is approved, nj would be the first northeastern state to do so. Out of the northern colonies, the dirty jerz is said to have had one of the largest populations of enslaved Africans and permitted authorities to capture and return “runaway slaves.” Beyond this, the new jeru did not ratify the 13th amendment of the united states constitution (prohibiting slavery except as punishment for a crime) until January of 1866. (more…)
