Sunday, March 28, 2010

“Can I get A Window Seat?”


For those of you who haven’t seen the video yet, shame on you! But this is what I’m here for! Firstly, I appreciate the evolution of Erykah Badu as an artist and an advocate for the empowerment of black women all over the globe. This video was a visual approach to the assassination of individuality by the concept of “Group Think,” which brings me to the topic of conversation today. On twitter, Erkyah asked what people thought of when they hear the word “Group Think;” this is my opinion.

WATCH NOW!







Group think is present-day propaganda in most instances. Many of us fall victim to what we hear on the news, radio and read in the newspaper. I know we’ve all learned in our History classes about how countries used these mediums to instill a sense of “unification” and “patriotism” during times of desperation and war but it is considered “brainwashing” when the information is bias, and most of the time just complete untruths. Group think represents the mind-control that the “Powerful “(the group) has over the “powerless” (the individual). In this day in age, Majority rules, but little do we know that the majority of our country is minorities! We’re doing this to ourselves. Think about it. They (as in We) keep us (ourselves) separated and under-educated so that we believe whatever is show to us on television and lose our ability to analyze situations for ourselves. In the movie District 9, a reporter was contaminated by an alien fluid which caused a transformation from human to alien. He was captured and probed for testing. He escaped from the testing facility. In order to catch him, the government broadcasted via TV News that he was contaminated after having sex with an alien and he was very contagious. The people of the city, being so brainwashed by Group Think, believed what was being told to them. He was forced to retreat to District 9, like a bull pen, he was contained and would be easy to identify and capture much like a political prisoner.





Erkyah states at the end of the video that people want to assassinate what they do not know or understand. There is such a thirst for being different that it, too, has become trendy. We all fall victim every once in a while, but the most important thing to take away from this video is that we must be knowledgeable. We must read and converse with one another. We must question things that don’t add up, we must express ourselves accordingly and let our individuality guide us in the right direction. Don’t be afraid to be criticized; they travel in packs. Though there are strength in numbers, there’s even more strength in truth. Be true to yourself! It only takes one person to initiate change. If you continue to learn and evolve, change is inevitable. Even if it’s just within yourself, you’ve already the defeated “Group Think” by just being… YOU!

nkefce

PS ---“A single person within a circumstance can move one to change…” - Erykah Badu

Saturday, March 27, 2010

H1gher Learning X HolaOla Presents: BYOT




Tonight was AWESOME! With my recent loner attitude, it’s been hard for me to find a crowd in which I feel as though I fit in and I could have a conversation involving a little more than weed, alcohol and big booty girls. But tonight, I attended the BYOT (Bring Your Own Tee) Event at Tin Roof in West Ashley, a great dive bar. It was the perfect atmosphere for this event; with free admission, a rockin’ DJ and screen printing on pretty much whatever you like from leggings to plain white tees to Ralph Lauren Polo crew neck sweatshirts! I had an amazing time! Thanks to my brother from another KJ, creator of The Brown Derby Haberdashery, I was able to meet Ayoka, style editor for Charleston Magazine and Khalil, Owner/Manager of Suite Life Marketing & Management Agency, along with so many other amazing folks making their dreams come true in Charleston.




It was rather inspiring to me to get back to my fashion/model dreams. The excitement in everyone’s voice in accord with the mellow mood of the night made me feel great! It was definitely a change of pace for me. Lately, I’ve been surrounded by narrow minds and it was refreshing to be around dreamers, doers and achievers. With that said, look out for me on Ayoka’s Style Blog on the Charleston Magazine site. You may just see more of me in the Charleston Fashion Scene. Do I smell Charleston Fashion Week 2011? Ha! …I might be.


nkefce

PS ---my HOROSCOPE for today:
Go back to the beginning if you want inspiration to keep going. Reflect deeply.

Friday, March 26, 2010

“…Never Throw A Stone and Hide Your Hand.”


So a friend told me that his mother always told him, “never throw a stone and hide your hand.” ---Basically, take responsibility for your actions and stand behind what you say and do. This struck a nerve with me because just recently, I was in a situation where I felt like certain people where volleying the line of friend and foe. I use the term “foe” lightly, because, it’s not so much and enemy …more like a person I just don’t want to be around. I personally feel like if you’re going to do something or say something then you should OWN up to it. And take whatever consequences that derive from your actions. I’m so not a follower so I can’t quite grasp how people flipflop opinions on the same situation to appease the group of individuals they are around at the time.
Like for instance, if everyone in Group A doesn’t want to be around Group B, Freddy Follower goes along with Group A until he’s around Group B and vice versa. I can’t be around ANYONE like that. I’m so confrontational that I will call them out on their bullshit, first name, last name and all. I’m my own person, I’m practically a loner because I only fraternize with a VERY small group of individuals and it’s not even on a regular basis. If I badmouth someone, it’s based on a truth that I have inferred from the interactions that I’ve had with said individual. I mean, of course, it’s my own personal opinion and it just may be judgemental, bias or skewed but honestly, I don’t care. I mean whatever I say when I say it. My opinion may change after conversation but at that moment in time I meant it. Some people, on the other hand, have the tendency to speak or do things that they are too embarrassed, ashamed or scared to own up to. “Never throw a stone and hide your hand.” If that’s the case, then you should have never said anything. No one forces people to speak negatively about others yet, it happens all the time and when they are approached about it, they DENY. DENY. DENY! ---I guess I’ll never understand and maybe that’s a good thing. Once I lose respect for someone for “hiding their hands” after they “throw a stone,” it’s practically impossible for me to ever think of you as more than a follower and I don’t need that in my space. I’ve had followers in the past and it’s quite annoying.
Just a word of advice: If you’re going to hide your hand, just make sure the people that saw you throw that stone are properly compensated because well, …you get the picture.

nkefce
PS ---my horoscope for today:

Your ability to see through people is strong now and while you may not want to call every last person in the world on their lies or self-deception, it does help you navigate the complex social territory.

Monday, March 22, 2010

...what's that thing called that slithers around on it's belly and can move relatively undetected until it's ready to unlock it's jaws and devour its prey...? Umm. RIGHT. a SNAKE. if you think about it there are so many people in life that progress with this attitude. like snakes in tha grass, they slither around until they find someone they want to attack and they do so. these types of people need to be shoot, gutted and put on public display. i'm not saying that with everyone you meet you must befriend them, but at least show some type of respect.

i hate people with this slick shit attitude. i try to keep myself far away from people that exude any snake-like characteristics because i have an awfully bad temper and i'm prone to fuck somebody's life ALL tha way up. ---as we get older, we learn to pin point liars, cheaters and snakes better than when we were young and naive. but there's always going to be someone that slips beneath your radar and ends up snapping at you. And sadly, that's life. I just know that if i EVER catch a snake in my grass, i'm KILLING it.

word.

nkefce

Saturday, March 20, 2010

.First Day of Spring.

yeah. so i haven't updated in about 6months. no particular reason why... life just got a bit overwhelming and i had to get "back right." ---not saying that i couldn't hve blogged while handling my issues, i just prefered not to. but anywho. i'm back...


HAPPY FIRST DAY OF SPRING!!