John's Words of Wisdom Week 8 (Nas = "Untitled Album")

Hey crew,

Recently, one of my favorite artist, Nas was on the Tavis Smiley show speaking about the current affects of media and his latest album titled "Untitled". There was a lot of controversy surrounding the release of the album. A lot of people was upset with the original title and the controversial content display on the album because it displayed a lot of fact that modern day American's are afraid to address on a daily bases. I feel that , a great deal of the content taught me more about myself, and that the information will help me to better understand why there is so much negative media being promoted today.

Nas FULL Interview with Tavis Smiley
Uploaded by Bounce2dis

In a few paragraphs, I would like for you all to respond to controversy surrounding Nas's latest "Untitled" album. Response Directions:

1. Create a gmail account (if you haven't already)
2. Reply to this post via blogger.com
3. Type in a 2 paragraph response in the reply section
4. Feel free to embed video or audio codes to assist your response.
5. Post Response
6. Ask for help if you are having trouble understanding the activity.
7. If you are having trouble viewing video on blog search for them on this link:
http://www.pbs.org/kcet/tavissmiley/archive/200801/20080109.html

Also, Check out this interview Tavis Smiley did with Lupe Fiasco. He tells Tavis how he sneaks difficult, social subject matter into his music.

TAVIS SMILEY | Lupe Fiasco | PBS
Uploaded by pbs_usa

John

John's Words of Wisdom Week 7

Hey Crew, A buddy of mine happen to be flicking the channel a few days ago and ran across a Missy Elliot song that she released in 1999. Am I missing something is the video She A B%$#& supposed to be good. She was wearing the sacred Ankh (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ankh) while spouting the horrific lyrics.

Ankh

See the lyrics to the song below. We just selected a Black president. Now we have a new song by a top artist hitting the airwaves. Is this what young Black girls will be singing and dancing to tomorrow in schoolyards and playgrounds...

Video 1: She's a B!@#@

Artist : Missy Elliot
Album : Da Real World
Song : She’s A B!@$@

To the M-I prrrrrrrr, cat like a semi
Nigga stole my car, why’nt you get my
Give yo’ ass a black eye
Oh, say bye-bye
I’mma give your body to the sky
Run through your clique
Nigga, you pissed on trip
I’mma have to bust you in your lips
And the whips better have a whole lotta chips
Cuz I ain’t for no nigga givin’ tips

She’s a bitch
When you say my name
Talk mo’ junk but won’t look my way
She’s a bitch
See I got more cheese
So back on up while I roll up my sleeves

1 - She’s a bitch
You can’t see me, Joe
Get on down while I shoot my flow
She’s a bitch
When I do my thing
Got the place on fire, burn it down to flame

Roll up in my car, don’t stop, won’t stop
I’mma keep in rockin’ til the clock don’t tock
I’mma keep it hot, light my ass on fire
I’mma grab a philly, go and roll it at the bar
Whatcha talk ? Whatcha say ? Huh ?
Gotta flow, gotta move it slow, huh ?
Better you runnin’ out the door, huh ?
You gon’ be a long lost soul, whacha say ?

Yippe yi yo, yippe yi yi yay
Put me on stage, watchin’ niggas feel me
Put my shit on wax, watch it blaze like May
Go yippe yi yo yippe yi yi yay
55, 65, hike
75, 85, test the mic
95, Missy wild for the night
105, I’mma keep the crowd hyped

2 - She’s a bitch
When they say my name
Talk mo’ junk but won’t look my way
She’s a bitch
See I got mo’ cheese
Back on up while I roll up my sleeve

She’s a
What ? What ? What ? What ?
What ? What ? What ? What ?

Whatchu know about Timothy, lemme know
Eat an MC like Cease, lemme know
If he get drunk lean on me, lemme know
I’m about to bust like pee, feel me now
Anybody know my skills, what the deal
Anybody feel my skills, it’s the real
Anybody wanna come fuck wit us still
Anybody gotta get the hoe by they pill


Video 2: Ladies First

Also, if you all are having a little trouble finding directions for John's Words of Wisdom check out the video and Lyrics below to one of the most powerful and influential hip-hop tracks of all time. "Hip-Hop is reflective of our larger society, where sexism, albeit more covert than older versions, still lurks, For females, the very act of pursuing their dreams and desires, even for an aspiration like dressing up Santa Claus for Halloween, can be groundbreaking and barrier shattering. Gender shouldn't stop anyone from following her heart. When I see Queen now receive an Academy Award nomination, represent lovely on cosmetic commercials, or release a jazz album, she doesn't have to say one word. I already know. Ladies." ( The Message, by Felicia Price 10/07)

Artist : Queen Latifah f/Monie Love
Album : All Hail The Queen
Song : Ladies First




[queen latifah]
The ladies will kick it, the rhyme that is wicked
Those that dont know how to be pros get evicted
A woman can bear you, break you, take you
Now its time to rhyme, can you relate to
A sister dope enough to make you holler and scream

[monie love]
Ayo, let me take it from here, queen...
Excuse me but I think Im about do
To get into precisely what I am about to do
Im conversating to the folks that have no whatsoever clue
So listen very carefully as I break it down for you
Merrily merrily merrily merrily hyper happy overjoyed
Pleased with all the beats and rhymes my sisters have employed
Slick and smooth throwing down the sound totally a yes
Let me state the position: ladies first, yes? (yes)

(yeah, theres going to be some changes in here)

[monie love]
Believe me when I say being a woman is great, you see
I know all the fellas out there will agree with me
Not for being one but for being with one
Because when its time for loving its the woman that gets some
Strong, stepping, strutting, moving on
Rhyming, cutting, and not forgetting
We are the ones that give birth
To the new generation of prophets because its ladies first

[queen latifah]
I break into a lyrical freestyle
Grab the mic, look into the crowd and see smiles
Cause they see a woman standing up on her own two
Sloppy slouching is something I wont do
Some think that we cant flow (cant flow)
Stereotypes, they got to go (got to go)
Im a mess around and flip the scene into reverse
(with what? ) with a little touch of ladies first

Who said the ladies couldnt make it, you must be blind
If you dont believe, well here, listen to this rhyme
Ladies first, theres no time to rehearse
Im divine and my mind expands throughout the universe
A female rapper with the message to send the
Queen latifah is a perfect specimen

[monie love]
My sister, can I get some?

[queen latifah]
Sure, monie love, grab the mic and get dumb

[monie lovie]
Yo, praise me not for simply being what I am
Born in l-o-n-d-o-n and sound american
You dig exactly where Im coming from
You want righteous rhyming, imma give you some
To enable you to aid yourself and get paid
And the material that has no meaning I wish to slay
Pay me every bit of your attention
Like mother, like daughter, I would also like to mention
I wish for you to bring me to, bring me to the rhythm
Of which is now systematically given
Desperately stressing Im the daughter of a sister
Whos the mother of a brother whos the brother of another
Plus one more; all four
Have a job to do, we doing it
Respect due, to the mother whos the root of it
And next up is me, the m-o-n-i-e l-o-v-e
And Im first cause Im a l-a-d-i-e

[queen latifah]
Contact and in fact, the style, it gets harder
Cooling on the scene with my european partner
Laying down track after track, waiting for the climax
When I get there, thats when I tax
The next man, or the next woman
It doesnt make a difference, keep the competition coming
And Ill recite the chapter in verse
The title of this recital is ladies first


Overall, I would like for you all to explain in 2 to 3 paragraphs your thoughts on this track?

Remember to Click on the John's Words of Wisdom link and comment to the post. If you can't view the video on the post navigate to my Profile, click on view all videos and watch the 2 videos titles JWW7.

John's Words of Wisdom Week 6

Hey Crew,

I hope you all are enjoying your time off but still, keeping the overall goal of Digital Media in mind. Which is to create positive and conscious media for all. This week in John's Words of Wisdom I would like for you all to take a look at the videos below.

Video 1: Market for Ni$$gas Videos and Poems by Taalam Acey
Taalam Acey is considered by many to be the central Spoken Word artist of the current generation. He's published a novel, a comprehensive collection of poems, an award winning memoir and 9 Spoken Word CDs. Taalam has been a full time traveling poet since 1999. Tens of thousands of people own his work and hundreds of thousands have watched him live or via television and the internet. Acey performs regularly in more than 50 cities in the US and abroad. On average, he is on a plane once every 3.5 days. That's 100 flights per year to promote Spoken Word. (CDBaby.com)



Video 2: A friend of mine ask we to come view a live video shoot where one of his buddies was producing a talk show to shop to the new Tyler Perry television network. I though this was a pretty interesting event and decided to share some of the footage with you all. I don't have the current name of the poet speaking in the video below but I know the theme of what he does is called "Disco Poetry".



Overall, I would like for you all to explain in 2 to 3 paragraphs your thoughts of the most effective footage and why?

Remember to Click on the John's Words of Wisdom link and comment to the post. If you can't view the video on the post navigate to my Profile, click on view all videos and watch the 2 videos titles JWW6.

John's Words of Wisdom Week 5

Hello all,

I hope you all had a safe and fun Halloween. Now it's time to get back to busy. The next installment of John's Words of Wisdom is below. I'm going to make this one short and to the point. There will not be a video to watch this week. However, I would like for you all to blog about today and how you feel about the current elections. By the end of the day we know that their will be a new president of the United States. I would like for you all to explain in 2 to 3 paragraph your thoughts.

Remember to to Click on the John's Words of Wisdom link and comment to the post.

John

John's Words of Wisdom Week 4

Hey Dv Team,

I hope you all was able to get some rest this weekend. I sure didn't. lol This week in John's Words of Wisdom I would like for you all to take a close look at this documentary about the Freedom Rides of the civil rights movement I found on youtube.

In 1947, the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) planned a "Journey of Reconciliation," designed to test the Supreme Court's 1946 decision in the Irene Morgan case, which declared segregated seating of interstate passengers unconstitutional. An interracial group of passengers met with heavy resistance in the upper South. Some members of the group served on a chain gang after their arrest in North Carolina. The Journey of Reconciliation quickly broke down. Clearly the South, even the more moderate upper South, was not ready for integration.

Also, I would like for you all to provide your thoughts on the second video I found on youtube as I was searching for videos. I thought it would be a good discussion topic for John's Words of Wisdom this week. Let me know what you all think?

The steps to completing John's Words of Wisdom are below:

1. Read Articles Below and check out this website: http://www.watson.org/~lisa/blackhistory/civilrights-55-65/freeride.html

2. Watch the videos below.

Video 1

Video 2

3. Click on the John's Words of Wisdom link above.

4. Reply or Comment to the Blog and Explain in 2 paragraphs your thoughts.

John's Words of Wisdom Week 3

Hey Crew,

I hope your weekend was fun and productive. This week's John's Words of Wisdom is Below:

I met an influential and outstanding poet this past weekend at the Book it Back To Bronzeville Book Festival at the Afrocentric Bookstore on the Southside of Chicago. The wonderful Poet's name was Nikki Giovanni click link to read more about her. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikki_Giovanni

I took some of the footage and decided to turn it into John's Words of Wisdom this week.

Nikki Giovanni touched on a little bit of everything at the book fest. She spoke about her new books (Hip-hop Speaks to Children, Lincoln & Douglass), politics (Alaska Governor / Republican Vice President Nominee Sarah Palin) , and Tupac Shakar. Meeting Nikki Giovanni was one of the best things that ever happen to me. I went into the the book store empty and confused and left full and ready to help change the world.

What I would like for you all to do for John's Words of Wisdom this week is watch the Video below and paraphrase the video in 2 or more paragraphs. From the paragraphs I would like for you all to try to develop an article for the next version of the iSwagg magazine. So please take your time and make sure that you watch the entire video. After you watch the video let me know what you think about Nikki Giovanni and her impact on America.

John's Words of Wisdom Week 1

(Who is the Real Uncle Tom?)

Hello All, it's that time of year again. John's Words of Wisdom is back and in full affect. This week I would like to address the Uncle Tom Cabin's Theory. There are many stereotypes out about who Uncle Tom really was.

Some say he was a backstabbing turncoat type of individual that turned on his people, others think that the Uncle Tom Cabin theory help to perpetuate the stereotypes of blacks during the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many others think that Uncle Tom was one of the main conductors of the Underground Railroad that help to free slaves. What I think, it really doesn't matter because I would like for you all to form your on opinions about who you think the real Uncle Tom was.

The steps to completing John's Words of Wisdom are below:

1. Read Articles Below and check out this website: http://www.uncletomscabin.org

2. Watch the video below.

3. Click on the John's Words of Wisdom link above.

4. Reply or Comment to the Blog and Explain in 2 paragraphs who the Real Uncle Tom was in your eyes.

John

John's Words of Wisdom Week 2

(Do We Really Need to Turn off Channel ZERO?)

Hello DV Team,

I hope you all had a productive and eventful weekend. This week in John's Words of Wisdom I would like for you all to do some research on the "Turn off Channel Zero documentary". I met Professor Grif from one of the best Hip-hop groups of all time, Public Enemy a year or so ago at the Afrocentric Bookstore and Betty Shabazz International Charter School here in Chicago. During the event, Professor Grif brought to my attention that he would be assisting with gathering information for this documentary.

Film Details:
“Turn Off Channel Zero,” a new film by Opio Media, attempts to broaden that image and get everyday black folks interested in the ways they’re represented in television, film and popular music. The documentary features commentary from Professor Griff of legendary hip hop group Public Enemy, alongside media personalities including the Last Poet’s Abiodun Oyewole, journalist Davey D, radio programmer Paul Porter and Dr. Ray Winbush, Director of the Institute for Urban Research. -otherside-media.com

I have video footage of my first meeting with Grif that I might show during program this week to help give us all a better understanding of the documentary. I would like for all of you to form your own opinions about the "Turn off Channel Zero" documentary in the mean time.

The steps to completing John’s Words of Wisdom are below:

1. Check out this website and read entire article:

Publish Post

http://otherside-media.com/?p=19
2. Ask John where you can watch the Documentary.
3. Click on the John's Words of Wisdom link above.
4. Reply/Comment to the Blog or send me a email to valdingy@gmail.com and Explain in 2 paragraphs your thoughts on the film.

John

'Our Chicago' Podcast

Introducing iSwagg: Chicago's Hot Style Magazine, By Youth For Youth... More Swagg, More Fun

Click Here to View iSWAGG Magazine Vol. 1

Writing

The project our group was working on was the magazine.iswagg,yeah that's hot ain't it cherish, which is one of the members of the writing crew came up with it.well, we came up with what was gone be our main topic,and we picked fashion. We have a couple of sections in the magazine like, dating advice from a womans perspective, fashion do's and don't s, poems and a whole bunch of other stuff. It was kind of hard but, we almost finished with it. this was a good experience, and i never thought i would be making a magazine, and about fashion, that was a big thing to me cause i want to go to college for fashion to be a fashion designer. I learned alot of things like how to work a computer better, i think i broke out of my shell just a lil bit so you know, that was something good too. It was fun too, when i first came here i was like aw man it's gone be boring, but it was cool, i mean everyday wasn't fun i ain't even gone lie. some days i didn't even want to come. It was alright though. The people was real cool, even all the instructors, they could be strict when they wanna be but they was still cool.

Our project is entertaining people by dancing,singing,rapping, and spoken word. The dance team is dancing to '' Late Night Special'' and ''Touch it''. The singing crew made a song called ''They Will''. The rapping crew made a rap song called ''Represent''.

The people in the dance crew are: Charnele, EJ, Dashon,Brandon. The people in the singing group are:De'Shaina,Andrea, and Dashon. the people that are working on the rap is: EJ, Dashon, Manky, Cherish, and lauren. The people in the poem group is Antoinette, Sparkle, Cherish, and Lauren.
the reason why we decided to do these projects is because we want to entertain the people. another reason is because it shows what talent5s we have and how we can all work together.

Video Group

The project that the video group is working on is an "Our Chicago"video. The video basically give an overlook of all of the trips we've been on . So far we are still editing the videos and working on adding animations and other visual effects. Today we are going to finish editing the video and stuff like that .
So yea thats the whole u digg - u digg?

Big day tomorrow get prepared!!!!!!!!!

The video team will also be practicing for the recording of the show.

Rashad Allah & Sparkle Le'Star Rucker

Media Makers

This summer in icamp, Geontae, and I Lauren, worked on our project, about global warming.
Global warming is basically the warming of the earth's surface, caused by green house gasses, getting trapped into the earth's atmosphere. This is also caused by human activities such as, pollution, smoking is also a contributor, using chemicals, and when people cut down trees. The video will also give you a hint of what contributes to global warming.
The purpose of this project was.....

The whole meaning of this project was to get people to understand the seriousness of global warming and trying to get people to understand the connection between what we do and how its affecting the earth's as a whole also were trying to get people to cut down on actives that messes up the earth's atmosphere which messes with the air we breath and it's can be very well the end of the earth existence .

The Documentary

'Our Chicago' is the forthcoming length documentary by the iCAMP Collective that explores some of the most poignant issues currently stirring Chicago's communities and schools. Youth take the lead reporting, performing, dancing, writing poetry and creating media that explores their city. Check out the trailer clip below.


Find more videos like this on Word. Sound. Life.

Credits
Mentor - John Lester
Camera - Sparkle, Rashad, Geontae, Earin, Vincent
Editing - Sparkle & Rashad

Contents

• Conversation with Al Hawkins (Director of the film The Will to Survive)
• Summer 2008 Field Trips (Loyola University, Millennium Park, Artistic Jeanius)
• Hyde Park Tour (Frontline Books, WHPK, Little Black Pearl)
• PSA on Global Warming & Green Growers (by Geontae & Lauren)
• Girl Talk featuring Katrina (hair designer) and (make-up artist

This documentary will be available on DVD (August/September). Individual segments will be available for preview on Word. Sound. Life.

Our Chicago

The Mixtape

This mixtape was produced by the iCAMP Crew out of the NTRC Northwest Tower located at 1170 W. Erie St. To submit original works for our next installment, lalaharmonie@gmail.com.

Voices iCAMP

iCAMP Advocates

Urban Youth have often felt frustrated about the limited opportunity during the regular school day to take on the kind of engaging and challenging community service learning that they are offered after-school in media or arts-based projects/workshops.

With the support of ASM (After School Matters) and NTRC (Neighbordhood Technology Resource Center), 20 iCAMP Advocates will receive training in community media education organizing throughout the summer in partnership with local groups and community-based organizations across the city. These advocates will be students who have formerly served as Youth Staff in any ASM-affiliated program, classroom or workshop, who apply and demonstrate their readiness for this kind of work.

iCAMP Advocates use the social network for digital media learning (www.wordsoundlife.org) to manage their online career portfolios and collaborate with peers/mentors on projects.