Rebuild. Be Encouraged.

Speaking of the Homeless

I've been purchasing the Streetsense newspaper for the homeless in D.C. over a year now and have made a very good acquaintance with Jeffery McNeil, a homeless man and vendor of the newspaper.

I think his article reflects a very refreshing and open perspective about the poor and homeless while revealing his own downfall and realization of promise for himself. His articles are the ones I read the most.

Checkout his article --> http://www.streetsense.org/2012/08/fightinghomelessness/

Def wanted to share. Be Encouraged.

Kevin Clash holding his 2009 Day-Time Emmy Award with his created character of the Muppets, the infamous, ELMO

In lue of the current 'Muppet' movie, out in theaters now, I would like to inform of you of the man behind the of the most lovable puppets of all-time (arguably). Yes, I know most of y'all probably know this lil' tid-bit but you'd be surprise how many do not know. Kevin Clash, a native of Baltimore County, Maryland (DMV area stand up!), has won 9, I REPEAT 9, Day Time Emmy awards for his personally created character, Elmo.

I know some of y'all remember the "Tickle Me Elmo" craze way back when it started in 1996; doesn't seem so long ago does it?  I had a hard time find total number sales but I know for fact since then "Tickle Me Elmo," "T.M.X.", & "Elmo Live!" have sold MILLIONS but I don't know if Mr. Clash receives royalties nor am I 100% sure he has the copyrights to the character Elmo (but my intuition is telling me he definitely does), anyway, i'll let you "do the dishes" on that one.....

-juskev

Kool & The Gang's "Love & Understanding"

I have been assisting local underground DC DJ legend, DJ RBI, in mentoring kids on hip-hop and the art of DJing at the non-profit, Words, Beat & Life. I randomly select an album from my collection and then try to tie it in with the WBL's theme for the current session. The theme for this current session is Sun Tzu's "Art of War". Definitely a good way to teach the youth about how to handle both external and internal conflicts with themselves and society.

Just wanted to share little bit of the many things I get myself involved with, especially when it comes to music.

And in lue of this particular album, I will leave you with this:

With their Universal Sound, people Come Together with Love & Understanding during Summer Madness to share each other’s Cosmic Energy encouraging folks to Do It Right Now while giving sweet harmonies of music, Sugar, to energize people who want to get down on the Hollywood Swinging.

-JusKev

Looking through the Opaque?

In the Examiner, one the free local DC metro area newspapers, I found this picture of Attorney General, Eric Holder and President Obama.

The title of the picture reads " A secret meeting on transparency in government was held by the Office of Information Policy in the Justice Department..."

Any time I've picked up the Examiner, I could hardly picked find anything positive on President Obama and his administration. So finding the pick of irony the paper found was no surprise but I found it funny nonetheless and wanted to share

Given up the Green, For the Community

Larry Powell, a Fresno California school superintendent gives up his $230,000+ salary and for the same job is now earning $31,000.  Mr. Powell will be done with his term in 2015 and is also retired.  He is taking the pay cut because he knows budget cuts towards education will be fierce in California; chippintg to do his part to save education.  I think this is EXTREMELY commendable and deserves all the praise in the world.

But I don't know what his current living situation his allowing him to do such a noble

Is he in a position where he is able to take that kinda pay cut and be just fine as opposed to others who can barely survive with that type of salary? Probably so.

I just don't want folk to not forget that folk who are truly struggling.  So at the same time, I would like to share the positives in the world, as I usually attempt to do, but also raise the issue of education and lack there of, within impoverish communities and the teachers that are truly unpaid.

A respectful bow to you Mr. Powell BUT a salute to all the teachers, especially unpaid, out there in the world....

~juskev

Lil' DeMarcus, Yo Name is Toby!

Reportedly, a fourth grader teach of Norfolk city public school in Virginia implemented a mock slave auction.  She separated the children by race; white, black and latino.

Yes, yes, I know, how can these 10 year old kids understand enslavement and its extremely dramatic effects on the human psyche and destruction of a culture of people? Shameful we should show kids the reality of the history of our nation at such an early age, right?

Well this teacher is not the only one to have gotten this bright idea.  An elementary school teacher in Ohio also felt this was a great idea.

In this day and age, children at that age are comprehending much faster than my generation (80's babies) could even imagine and much much faster (no offense) than generations before that. But that is because of the world we live in, things can become obsolete with the blink of an eye.


So is this truly appropriate? At what degree of detail do we show our children these realities, if we are to give them a kick of reality in history?

It seems with this generation of adolescent, we are ready to give insert into their minds the realities of sexual conduct but yet don't believe their minds can handle understanding discrimination at the age of 12?  I remember my first encounter of being discriminated against was when I was 10, being called a "Nigger."  I am still not saying what this 4th grade teacher did was right OR completely wrong. But what if she did not separate the children by race at all and simply did a mock slave auction where everyone's ethnicity/race was involved?  Isn't it OK wanting the kids to have a foundation of compassion towards a culture that almost completely stripped and destroyed?

I know many of you still say that an activity like this does not belong in the classrooms but I think this was a good concept with HORRIBLE execution.

I wanted to make this a thoroughly researched topic but instead I'd rather just spark interest of others reading for their own purpose of researching if they want to.  Simple as that.  Now, I will leave you to "Do the Dishes..."

~juskev

Muhammad Ali is a Punching Bag

"reALIze" by Los Angeles artist Michael Kalish.  Uses 1,300 punching bags, five miles of stainless steel and two miles of aluminum tubing. This is pretty amazing being an artist of his kind, having his publicity start with the DMV and being COLORBLIND

I found this to be something amazing and boxing being one of my major hobbies right now, definitely catches my mind.

Another gift from the Higher Power to give to the world....

DOING IT RIGHT: 100%

Big UPs to the young men of color graduating from Urban Prep Academy in Chicago, Illinois.  100% of these highly bright and intelligent young men have been accepted to 4 year accredited institutions.  Definitely want to share this story to the world! CONGRATULATIONS GENTLEMEN!

>> Read More...

My T.G.I.F.

I know some of yall remember these days....

Good look to my boy B. Aziz on this one!

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Kids to Hell or Go to Jail?

Where are the "Mr. Jaime Escalante" teachers when ya need em?...

School vouchers. Vouchers, for those are able to receive them, help families in need, who are unable to afford a better education for their teens. But they also, arguably, are a temporary fix to a broken system and do not go to directly to the source of the problem; the broken school system.
Tough choice of morale, indeed.

Now comes a desperate mother wanting the best for her children, at least that is what we can assume since they live in the Projects in Akron, Ohio. Well known for its impoverished areas.

The law is the law, right? She tricked the system that was failing her, so she should be jailed, right?

I don't know....
 
Read more --> http://www.blackeconomicdevelopment.com/black-mother-jailed-for-sending-kids-to-white-school-district/

What's Wrong With This Picture?...

Yeah ummm.... Tyrese, brother, gotta make sure you interpret your dreams correctly...

And yes I know I may be a little late on this but I wanted to jump in on the fun

Shout out to On.Us.Tees blogspot (which can be found the blogs I follow) for this one!

The deadly sin of Burgers ~ The Luther

We are all doomed but at least we will have smiles on our faces....both a service and disservice to the late and great Luther Vandross...

The Luther was recently rated the number 1 burger in America. No, obesity is NOT a problem in this country, sike!  I can't remember the last time I saw children playing outside after Christmas with their new toys.  I remember when my parents would not let me come inside until it got dark on any given day.  What happen to parents forcing their kids to play outside and get some exercise?

I am not going on a rant, I am sure most of yall get the picture...

Remembering my paved path (continued)....

~ 1968, he knew...

Effective Barbershops: A Dying Breed?..

The good ole barbershop; the home away from home for annoyed husbands, the underground neighborhood retail store, the place where any man can freely express his opinion and have discussions on just about anything.

Remember when haircuts were just 10 dollars? I know those of the older generation can remember when it was 3-5 dollars. Now 16 dollars is considered a steal deal. I will use the cliche phrase "in the economy", barbershops can not efficiently run their shops on the prices we all used to know but I have noticed something as the prices have risen quality of some of the barbershops have gone down, well at least in my opinion.

So Kev, why not just cut your own hair?

Funny you'd ask. I definitely would have no problem in doing it myself and believe, over a short time period, could learn to do a great job.

BUT, I see going to the barbershops as a sound investment in the community. Very often barbershops and salons are at the center of the community. Involving themselves as sponsors for local businesses, little league athletics ect. Lately its been hard to find the good ole barbershops these days. You know the ones where they have the one elder man who shares stories and offers an abundances of conventional wisdom and experience to the youth... Don't see none of that really too much. But the baby boomers of the world won't live forever.. Understanding they have a business to run, shops have become more efficient in doing things by appointment instead the good ole walk-ins. But that doesn't leave much room sometimes for people to sit around and discuss/argue the ill and deals of the community and world.

Maybe it's just me... I'm what you may call, "old school at heart" type of man. So I appreciate the nostalgic idiosyncrasies brought forth by those who have been here for a while.

Aiight those are my randoms thoughts, just got the fresh cut...I'm out

-juskev

A World Hard To Keep, But Easy To See

There are tons of things going on in the World, too much for me to even attempt to keep track of. Everything from the recent South and North Korean head bumping, to continual European bank failures, to Nicaraguan bullying of the Costa Rican border...

In lue of that, I would like to speak of my many travels this year; 7 countries, which included a 2 day driving trip through 5 European countries (U.K., France, Belgium, The Netherlands, & Germany); being the best man in a wedding in Montego Bay; flying to Costa Rica for week, driving through the country side.

I want to encourage others to see the world and gain more perspectives, break your comfort zone. I personally also do it for those who can't, which include much of my immediate and close family. I will leave you all with just a few pictures to enjoy from my year of many travels....

open your eyes,
no fool, with ya mind,
see, ya so closed minded,
you been walking blindly on this earth,
comfortable in ya dark, afraid to step in the light,
cause when first felt, it made ya eyes hurt
just because your dollar makes sense (cents),
doesn't mean another's wealth, has no worth
come to find out most of the world doesn't live or think like you,
so when the truth speaks,
we find ourselves in the dirt looking for the pieces of reality,
we fail to keep,
open your eyes with ya mind....

~juskev

The Power of a Pen The Power of a Vote!

Let's get it people!

Who makes the top 10?

 No this is not a "David Letterman" top ten but hilariously interesting nonetheless.  Just randomly came across this article....Amongst the top ten in this list are Francis Scott Key's son and Democratic congressman Barney Frank....

Yes, a good quick read......congressional scandals

Fact Drop: Third World

Cold War map of 1st, 2nd and 3rd world countries

Just wanted to share the actual meaning behind "Third World" when referring to another country.  We, the citizens of the U.S., have decided bastardize the meaning as we do many other meanings of words.  It simply refers to countries, that did not align themselves with capitalism (1st world) or communism(2nd world) during the Cold War.  These countries, whom of which decided not to jump on any particular bandwagon were usually were neutral (and had their own financial system already set up).  Now, yes our bastardization of the word does have some substance because many of these countries are impoverished. They include some African nations and some South American (or American) nations as well as a few Asian nations (i.e China Communist).

Alexandria VA a place for cocktails!

Not exactly the biggest national notoriety but in reading my subscription of GQ I came across Alexandria,VA on GQ's top 25 places (Alexandria placed 8th) for the best cocktail bars in American.

Its at PX in the elegantly classic area of Old Towne (and HELLA expensive) Alexandria.

Big Up, VA!