New Structure... (Brooklyn Nets)

Like a lot of New Yorkers, I was not born In New York City, did not go to high school or spend my teenage years in the city. I WILL call myself a New Yorker however, much like a large section of the world I grew up and was influenced by New York artists & and; culture as if I had lived here all my life! (having parents that went to university in New York certainly helped in forming my allegiance to the city admittedly).
My status as a New Yorker personally was vindicated by the Combat jack show stating that in order to call yourself a New Yorker you should have 2 stats to your credit, the first: living in the city for at least 5 years (check), the second:  spending a night in central bookings (check – a story for another post).  That’s why I feel  New York enough to write this.

Like most communities there are rivalries that are understated and often misunderstood to the outside world. New York is the same thing! You have a Queens/Brooklyn thing,Brooklyn/Harlem (think jay-z/dame dash)  Brooklyn/Bronx, North New jersey (yes New jersey- technically another state but really an unofficial borough), and so forth (Note Brooklyn is the common theme)  long Island is in this equation as well- somehow (don't know how.. but I digress)

The one unifying thing or rather rivalry that transcends the geographical boundaries is sports. As an example The New York jets & Giants both play in New jersey another is the fact that New jersey does not have any baseball teams so the New Jersey residents (closer to NY) support the Yankees and Mets. The majority of Brooklyn Dodger fans switched allegiances to the New York Mets (who play in Queens- but are not necessarily a Queens team) after the team headed out west...  New York teams (Hockey aside) are New York teams!! Owned by everyone here... Well until now!

Within my time here I have found Brooklyn to be the most interesting borough… I hated the place when I first got here...  I always thought “Brooklynites” where full of themselves, just the fact that they call themselves them that as opposed to “New Yorkers” like the way people from North Jersey do (you know it’s true). I have always seen Brooklynites as arrogant, more so than people from Manhattan who are now forced to call themselves “Manhattanites”. People from Brooklyn in my opinion believe they are a grade better and act accordingly. Truth is Brooklyn is its own Planet, one I have grown to understand and accept as different in an awesomely un-paralleled way.

The Brooklyn Dodgers where a source of pride and iconicaly represented the proud people of Brooklyn. To this day the people of Brooklyn  still wear Brooklyn Dodgers gear; the Jackie Robinson Expressway is probably the most important road that links Brooklyn and Queens (after the BQE).

 After the Brooklyn Dodgers moved in 1957, the city of Brooklyn has been at a lost, for a major pro-sports iconic representative team/symbol. The Brooklyn Nets have since come in to fill that void, inhabiting physically and emotionally the space left by the Dodgers.

It’s tricky (for lack of a better way to word it). The Nets have now come to represent Brooklyn, with arguably Brooklyn’s most recognizable figure at the helm (well kind of) Jay- Z. The Nets logo (as horrible as it is) and gear can now be seen all over Brooklyn &; the world, by basketball and non-basketball fans alike.

  

Brooklyn residents with the advent of the Nets have managed to further separate themselves from the rest of the NY community. A proud people with something to root for which is unquestionably Brooklyn. The Nets epitomize the American dream so to speak... A Marcy guy that grew up with nothing, helped bring Brooklyn something to call its own. You can’t help but respect it… Deep down I want the Nets to succeed.

As a lifelong Knicks fan, that lives in Queens I hope they sign Dontrevius Winters (I know, I Know Google him) Marbury, Sprewell, & every other former Knick/NYCt baskebtall icon tomorrow  AND SUCK BIG TIME!

I mean SUCK REALLLY REALLLY BIG TIME! No really... Like REALLY REALLLY REALLLY REALLY BIG TIME. 

The New York structure and sense of unity has been restructured…

Bring it!

Signed

Knicks Fans

The Signature

I am listening to Led Zepplin "Kashmir” as I write this... I rarely pay attention to status updates. I saw one by a friend that rarely posts... The statement: "You can tell a lot about a man by his signature...” Made me think about my own signature... I have a long name (I had to get my name badges in high school specially made - my first name & second combined are a total of 22 characters) My signature is very simple! The signature makes sense to me, but not much to others... I suppose everyone's is unique (and makes sense Tu...) mine looks like chicken scratch, the minimalism however is on purpose. I find beauty in the abstract and the discovery. If you asked me... I could explain the thought process that goes into every stroke & how it spells out my name. But I’d rather you figured it out. I have been looking at peoples signatures, & in most cases you can actually sit down and figure out the authors name, Mine not so much... Emotion goes into every stroke... To me it says... pay attention... get to know me... a lot is unsaid & a lot said at the same time. Have no expectations, but you will fall in love with me. Complex name, complex background... I present myself as a simple man... one you are better than in every imaginable way.. (if only you knew my full name...) The second part of my friends status update that inspired this post was... "... sometimes you may even know his name"

My blog...

kinda shit till this point (the blog) I looked at what i write and thought damn.. this is shit. For all the reading & criticism i do, you would think i could do better.. i recognize the royal shitiness

Madness

Writing is a struggle!!!!!!

The literal skills are lacking, but the concept is there...


I want to write about this song...

MADNESS

It's called Madness from the "Deltron 3030" album. I want to write about how it samples the original song by the "Poppy family"


& how it relates to the sampled songs concept. Except, It speaks to me more (as a Black man in a large metropolitan area), than the original did.

"we may act different in some ways.. but we are still grouped together"

I guess i could be defined as a hipster in 2012, (race aside). But i am black man (the reality).. This post from Gucci Little piggy kinda breaks it down... so what am I? The Hipster culture is black, so i technically should have no problem calling myself that...

I am all about indie hiphop, black empowerment and originality but somehow i feel lost. So what are we? Not hipsters for sure...

Somehow being a BackPacker* post Kanye/lupe does not quite define me (or maybe it does.. dunno)..we all wear fedoras, experiment and focus on originality....


so where does this go?



The lost portion




* Love Kevin Durant & kanye tho


MADNESS

comfort

LISTEN TO ME, NYC RULES!


Someone asked me recently which "type" of person I was affiliated to In high school? The Nerds, Cool kids etc?


I couldn't give a decent answer. I grew up away from home. In boarding schools & spent holidays in different countries. I had to grow up conforming to different communities, mobb culture ruled (ASK ANY BOARDING SCHOOL KID). I am grateful for this fact.
I appreciate the mix & diverse groups of people i lived with, shared tuck with, got punished with*, laughed with and cried with**

Somehow however i felt isolated, even though I got it, I liked what everyone else liked, but somehow it didn't speak to me. There was the mainstream, the not so mainstream, then somewhere along the line there was me..

As a last born, with 10 years separating me and my eldest brother, I liked the older stuff more, that's all i heard growing up*** .

I don't think i was ever socially awkward. I was cheeky, noisy, played A-team sports, dated or was cool with the most sought after girls in my community! You would think life couldn't be more than perfect, but Life was kinda tricky tho.

I cared more about Keith Murray, Pete rock & CL smooth than I did about Shai, jade, SWV & jodeci growing up. ( I lie Jodeci was the shiznit)

This is important because it was never mainstream (what i liked).. My point is I grew up just trying to have my peers accept what i like. so it was a fight! Maybe not so much what I like per-se... But i grew up on one thing, Having to defend what i like! Which was character defining..... (I pray i never end up with someone that asks me to conform.. to what society defines)

I remember me in form 2 in 96 trying to convince my peers how dope hip hop is, they looked at me strange (back then).

Which Leads me here.... Complacency if you will

I like me! To be more accurate I love me & how New York City works for me!
It's so fly... So many people , people my age, that can relate to how i felt growing up...(it"s a city of out of out of towners like me)

#esoteric....

I like, liking what I like.. I like it because i Like it..... New York City allows that (to like it) I just want space to grow and appreciate it (and like it)



*My whole boarding school year showed up at my mothers funeral... That made me cry, and the reason why i will always be a "saints" guy
**Nice way of saying got beat the ____t out of, by headmasters, peers and seniors when my mother died, everyone in my year came out and showed support.
*** Imagine life as a 5/6 year old helping ur older brother, write down the lyrics for KRS One's "my philosophy" off of a video tape recorded off of "Yo MTV Raps
... not audio tape, but VHS, pause rewind pause rewind

We are on a roll

Tu posts in two days

I am Treyvon Martin

I am sure that my father in his wisdom would frown if i told him that I went out to go and show my support for Treyvon Martin. A teenager that was profiled and killed unjustly because he was black... After all it is an "American" Problem.. An American race problem.. In an America that has a BLACK president.*

America will sort itself out!

America has a legal system and laws, that allow people to speak out loud and sort themselves out... This logic sounds sound to me, throw in the fact that there is no need to for me to be placed on some sort of watch list for attending a rally that technically has nothing to do with me as a Zimbabwean New Yorker
Besides in relative terms, there are worse problems back home, the thing is...



I am almost 30 years old...



The scary thing about that is that, this was my very first protest (insert side-eye here)...



Maybe Long overdue but here is my argument to my dad assuming we had this conversation.

well...

1
there where lots of "I like art type girls" in attendance

2
I live in a predominately white eastern European Jewish neighbourhood, where they look at me funny and have said racist things AT me at my local bar having a drink

3
There is a 93% chance i made it to someones youtube channel today**

4
I have lived in my building for 4 years now, I still see some of my neighbours hold onto their purses a little tighter when i get into the elevator.

5
Lots of "I like art type girls" there

6
I am more likely to get stopped and frisked because I am black

Racism is still alive and well.... Close Hispanic/White/Asian friends have admitted their parents are a little biased. This is the reality of the world that we live in 2012... Even here In New York City, the most culturally diverse city you will ever come across in the post Nokia 5110 era! Our neighbourhoods are STILL segregated all over the tri-state area, and as much as certain groups call themselves progressive or "cool" with different ethnicity's the honest truth is that it is not a universal truth.

I was touched today when Treyvon's mother said that this is not a white or black thing.. It's a human thing... Which equalled 5 exclamation marks to cap off an emotional event. Today was Human Rights Day, & on Human rights day everyone deserves to see some Bohemian "I like art type girls", and take a stand for something while doing it. In its essence is not an American Problem, African problem, but a universal problem.

It's a problem in Australia, Asia, Africa, North America (except Canada - i get this vibe everything is dandy overt here), Europe and Some other Continents i cant remember right now,

Profiling and prejudice is a universal reality, one we have all lived through.. I have been Trayvon Martin in the past.. I will Be Trayvon Martin again.. I pray circumstances will be kinder to me, as they will be to every Asian, White, Black & Latino person in the future.


* My dad would ask me these questions i am sure only to challenge my conviction, because we where brought up to have our own opinions and definitions... Although i have not spoken to him about this issue, i already know he is disgusted by what happened to Treyvon Martin (The old man lived in NYC in the 70's but more importantly a segregated and blatantly racist Rhodesia)

** will also probably have to explain to my dad what YouTube is