Rahsheen Porter. I am a technology and productivity blogger, musician, social media and new media strategist, health & fitness coach, consultant, early adopter, and father. Visit my website http://sheenonline.biz
jungle of concrete
where streets meet glass that scrapes sky
beautiful towers piercing through cumulus
contrasted by section eight housing units
busy pavement of the jungle valley
vehicles of mass transit, luxury, and taxi
making connections at intersections
from trip’s inception
to rush hour gridlocked rubbernecking
here, nature is intentional, yet minimal
and postcards promoting city’s skyline
are designed to hide and isolate ghetto behind
here, dreams are encouraged and flourish
and others blurred and deferred, malnourished
here, white collars chase bonus and options of stock
and hustlers holla, chasing fiends, pushing crack rock
and at night, socialites vie for limelight
while others are declined, forced to decide:
“do I pay for lights, or eat tonight?”
where one man’s shine correlates to another man’s plight
beautiful city of bright illuminated lights
where jealous ones envy their neighbor’s station
causing competition, leading to ill gotten gains and sin
here, the successful thrive, while countless others…
struggle to survive
in this beautiful and tragic…
jungle of concrete
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I am more Miles than Mos, yet on most days, the blue notes in my mind are black on both sides. Bebop and Hip Hop combined. My Trane of Black Thought(s) are rooted in sentimental moods, on lazy afternoons. Read more of my work at Speaks Beliefs: Wordplay.
Ashlei Mayadia is a member of The 144Elite, a conscious Hip-Hop and R&B collective. She is a featured artist on The 144 ELiTE debut album, AgreeAbles +vs- DisAgreeAbles. Her upcoming album is titled the “Mayadia Project.”
Year: 2007
Statement: These are newspaper clippings of all the crimes that Blacks were doing in Columbus, Ohio during the summer of 2007. Behind the clippings is Martin Luther King’s I have a Dream Speech. The bleeding bullet wounds represent the Dream that King had and what our society has done with it.
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Lauren Luna is the Owner/Lead Artist at Lauren Luna Ltd.Positive Energy Activates Constant Elevation
For Ihsan Bilal, music has always been a passion. The Moreno Valley, California native first expressed her musical talent at the age of six. She wrote songs and performed them with her four younger siblings. They were often called the modern day “Jackson 5.” She also performed several shows with her father – keyboardist Lyndon Bilal.
Over the years, Ihsan and her family won many talent shows. She eventually branched out and started an all girl group in when she was in 7th grade and continued to impress audiences with her talent and style.
In 1999, Ihsan was accepted into the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, D.C. While there, she won awards as best vocalist and most improved student; wrote, arranged, and composed her senior class song; and participated in the first ever jazz workshop course, show choir, gospel choir, all-school choir, and opera workshop where she played the lead role in Madame Butterfly.
During her senior year, Ihsan was accepted to the Berklee College of Music but she declined to pursue her music career. At age 19, Ihsan joined the D.C. based “Black Alley Band.” They opened up for Kanye West, Jadakiss, Lissen Band and many other local artists.
Ihsan is currently working on her solo debut album “BiG red BoX” due for release later in 2010. Visit her website for more information.
Preach Jacobs is a writer, ph0tographer and musician from Columbia, South Carolina who has shared the stage with the likes of 50 Cent, George Clinton, Nelly and more. His writing has been featured in Vapors Magazine, Potholes in my Blog, HYPE (print publication in South Africa), Usoul Magazine and more. Visit his website http://www.preachjacobs.com
“Isaiah,” says Abeni. “Can you connect any more of your lives like this?”
“Isaiah is not available,” says a high-pitched voice. “He is with the eternal master.”
“Who do I have the pleasure of speaking to?” asks Abeni.
“This is Tehuti. Isaiah is a special soul. He is a holy person that is protected by his ancestors. He remembers these lives because the memories are imprinted in his genes. He is the living testimony of the one bloodline that reaches back to the first thought and it is through him that humanity will remember that this oneness is the only reality. I can answer on his behalf while he is with the eternal master,” says Tehuti.
“Alright, please tell me how he can remember more than one life at once?”
“Every life is just a piece of the one life; the everlasting life. Nothing is separate. It only appears so. It is true Isaiah and Kam have been connected since before time existed. They are descended from the original souls that are soon to return to your Earthly realm. The end of the suffering will happen within his lifetime. As for the past lives, his seed traveled over the seas and sprouted anew in the land now called the Americas. His life as a rubber tapper reintroduced him to the people he came from; the ones from across the sea that were stolen by the ghost people. You call them Africans. The woman he fell in love with was a princess and priestess from his original society descended from his royal Kushite lineage. The children they had are Isaiah’s ancestors in this lifetime. The children of the slaves became the parents that ultimately bore Kam and Isaiah. Again, nothing is separate. It only appears as so.”
“So you are telling me Isaiah is in essence reading the memory stored in his genetic DNA? This is truly remarkable!” exclaims Abeni.
“The history of your race is encoded in every person that is born and dies.”
“The African race?” asks Abeni.
“No, the human race,” replies Tehuti. “Humans’ early ancestors could communicate with us, the divine beings. Only recently have humans remembered how to do this and that is part of why we are communicating through Isaiah to you. Work like this and the work of others like you bridge the gap in genetic memory that will reconnect human beings to their divine ancestry. You will recall the original names of your people and land and the coming generations will lead your species back into cosmic balance with nature and the universe.”
“I will take what you are saying to heart,” says Abeni.
“You must. Also, you must tell Isaiah that his father is still and forever will be with him. He died because his heart would not grow. Kam was not letting love into his life and it is ultimately love that causes the heart to pulse. He refused to acknowledge this and thus his heart gave up on him. However, do not tell him until the time is right, you will know when. Now, Isaiah is done speaking to the eternal master. I am leaving you for this time but you must continue your work if the future is to be fulfilled.”
Born in 1982, the artist known as Nap Nat the Napi Natural (real name Jesse Childs) is the spearhead of the “Afromerican Project”; a movement that strives to unite so-called African-Americans and Africans living in America and throughout the Diaspora. By moving to Chicago at the age of 18 Childs was exposed to a more intense environment than his native home of the southwest USA (California, Colorado and New Mexico). Ten years, one Bachelor’s degree and a novel later, the author/musician now lives in Oakland. His first novel titled Isaiah Elevenwas published in 2008 and the follow up novel, Kam Remembered is due out June 2010. In addition, the books come with an accompanying music soundtrack of original music produced by the “Afromerican Project.”
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