A Prince in MC’s clothing

“You’ve seen the slogan, “If I can’t dance, I don’t want to be in your revolution” alongside renderings of the late Emma Goldman plastered on the T-Shirts and bumper stickers of progressives and liberals from here to Cuba. And while it’s doubtful that the famous anarchist ever actually said the line, it’s still a brilliant metaphor for inclusionary resistance and the need to balance arts with a progressive ideology.

A lesser known, but no less insightful gem comes from the 1988 Blacksploitation spoof, I’m Gonna Get You Sucka. When asked about the band of musicians laying down heavy funk riffs behind him wherever he walked, the film’s hero and resident bad ass mofo John Spade calmly explains, “They’re my theme music. Every hero’s got to have some.”

Taken together, the quotes make an interesting point: an effective revolutionary movement should be in tune with the people — all of the people: the regular folks, the artists and the creatives just as much as the political activists and community organizers. It should be inclusive and open, with just a hint of sex appeal. And while the revolution may never be televised, at the very least it should come with a bangin’ bassline and some head nodding beats.

And that’s where Ise Lyfe comes in.”

For those that don’t know Ise Lyfe is an Oakland based MC/Spoken word artist/theater performer/community/teacher/a bunch of other shit too varied to keep slashing. Young cat is nice with the words on multiple levels and one of the few people I’ve come across who can blend social conscious with a hood sensibility and not come off corny or like they just got their hands on the Autobiography of Malcolm X for the 1st time.

Filed under: Activism, Features, Music , Ise Lyfe, Prince Cometh

The Scraper Bike Movement

“Oakland is a mobile kind of town. Way beyond the “whatever gets me from point A to point B” mentality, folks here seem to take a special kind of pride in their rides while eschewing conventional transportation ideas with an almost religious zeal. We’ve got Scrapers and Choppers and Hybrids. We’ve got Fixed Gears and Art Cars and Rat Bikes. We run on pedal power and vegetable oil just as much as good old petrol, and are just as likely to be spearheading the next big transport trend in an abandoned warehouse as we are to be tricking out an old Impala in our front yard. When it comes to our wheels, Oakland definitely goes.

So it’s not surprising that the latest mobility craze to gain worldwide fame had its genesis in the Town. World, take note: Oakland is the home of the Scraper Bike Movement. And Tyrone Stevenson Jr., aka “Baby Champ,” is the Scraper Bike King.”

Filed under: Features, Hip Hop , Scraper Bikes

Remembering Journalist Chauncey Bailey

This is Bailey…

Remembering Chauncey Bailey, newspaper editor, mentor and friend.

By Kwan Booth (August 3, 2007-Novometro.com)

Deadline nights in the newspaper business are sacred. Nothing compares to that last minute rush of writing, editing and designing, trying to squeeze in that last crucial detail before going to press. When I heard that Chauncey Bailey, editor of the Oakland Post, was killed yesterday morning, “deadline night” was the first thing that came to mind.

For the last 2 ½ years I’ve been a writer and editor at the Post and Chauncey and I worked together on several occasions. Some of my best memories are from Tuesdays in the production room at 2am: huddled around a computer screen-shirt sleeves rolled up, bags under everyone’s eyes, cups of stale coffee littering every counter top. I remember some nights looking over at Chauncey and seeing the fatigue on his face. But more than that there was the joy-the man was addicted to the news and the business associated with it. These were the times he relished.

Filed under: Features, Media , "Chauncey Bailey"

PeaceOut HomoHop Festival

PeaceOut Festival Brings Homo Hop to the world

By Kwan Booth (September 22, 2007-Bay Area Reporter)

In the 7 years since its inception, the PeaceOut Festival has come a long way. When the small group of LGBT hip hop performers and fans gathered together in Oakland’s DeFremery Park in 2001, no one knew that it would be the start of a global movement.

But that’s exactly what happened. When the annual PeaceOut World Homo Hop Festival touches down at Oakland’s 21 Grand this Saturday night, the event promises to showcase a more mature scene, one with a steady and expanding worldwide audience.

“It’s important as a symbol” says Juba Kalamka, the festival’s director, reflecting on the importance of the event. “There needs to be a safe space for out queer performance.”

Filed under: Features, Music , "Deep Dickollective", "homo hop", "Juba kamalamka", Peaceout

WOME: The New Writing on the Walls

The New Writing on the Walls
Kwan Booth (March 14, 2007-Novometro.com)

The bay’s graffiti scene has long been one of the hottest in the country with artists like CUBA and TDK Crew laying paint in San Francisco and Oakland for well over a decade. And thanks to heavyweight transplants like Vulcan and ORKO, the area’s alleyways and train yards became major stopping points for traveling “writers” over the years. The scene has changed a little with the times. Some call it art; some call it vandalism, but it’s still hard to go far without seeing someone’s spray paint masterpiece.

Desi, who doesn’t like to use his given name, caught the itch at a young age, and it followed him from Chicago around the country, and finally into Oakland seven years ago. He’s a longtime graffiti artist and one of the better-known members of Weapons of Mass Expression (WOME), an “arts movement” dedicated to maintaining graffiti culture and hipping youth to the finer points of the aerosol arts.

Filed under: Activism, Art, Features , "Weapons of Mass Expression", "Weekend Wakeup"