SAMO's story or Famous Negro Artists...

Samo's Story, a day in the life of my main man Jean-Michel. So if you got some time, fix up a pot of Joe, kickback and peep game.
Downtown 81

PART1


PART2


PART3


PART4


PART5


PART6


PART7


PART8


Recognize Great Black Art!!!

That's my peoples people.

The sons of the city, that's my peoples people. People from Oceanview, Bayview, Fillmore, Balboa Park and all of the other locales that we the colonies of black folk who migrated to the city by the bay chose to reside. This is were I was created, by a man whose family rose to prominence through hardwork, a sentiment long forgotten. We were bus drivers, we worked the shipyards, we painted houses, we owned shops within the community. We were the community. We went to socials, we played sports, we loved life in the city by the bay. Country boy done gone to the beach, and met him a pretty girl from Mississippi with an angelic face, and as they shared space, their space grew, and grew.

The story I recommend to you all on this Sunday, is the story of my peoples people. The story of Black folk by the bay. What Happened to Black San Francisco?

"The year was 1943, and Jackson's family was arriving along with thousands of African Americans from the South, mostly farmers. Many blacks came here to work in the shipyards and steel industry associated with World War II, but they also worked in restaurants, hotels, hospitals, construction, anything that was available. Between 1940 and 1945, San Francisco's African American population grew more than 600 percent. Many moved to Bayview-Hunters Point"
Jaimal Yogis

This story touched on so many issues within the history of my family, it was like going home again. I remember the tales of work in the shipyards, the yards that would take both my Father's and Grandfather's lungs away. I remember the stories about coming of age in the city, the Sheiks, the Van Dykes, the White Shoe boys, and how "gangs" were different back then, it reminded me of a black version of the "Outsiders". I remember stories of great athletes from the city, who would go to another city by the shores just a few hours south and would become one of the greatest to ever play the game, some people know him as O.J. but we knew him as the "greedy ass boy" at the party. This story talked of where I got my values from, my fathers mentors: The men that were influential to my father, whom I had the privilege to meet. Old men who wore coveralls with they good shoes on, clean shaven and all ways had something to do. These were the trips my father took me on, trips to meet the men who inspired him. Little did I know that this would be the reason why I work so hard today, even when I'm not working.

I remember living in Bayview we had a big ass crib right off Gilman heading towards the Stick. This is where I played with my Daddies friends chillens and we got in to all kinds of bad ass stuff. I remember when they had the 49er helmet that used to drive down the street and into the city to promote the game and how we would make sure we pelted the smack outta that thing every Sunday (this was the pre Joe Montana - Renaldo "Skeets" Nehemia era so you can dig the tension). I also remember when we moved away, but I knew we really had'nt "moved away". It was only until Mom's and Pop's (the official title of my grandparents) who stayed until the end of their days had passed, that I considered us officially moved away, the day the Pillars of the Family passed on. You see all of the children moved away, some far, some close, but the now City was no longer home.

Take a look at Jaimals story, its the story of my family.
Peace

Props to: Negrophile Good looking out.

From the second chapter...

People with intelligence will use it to fashion things both true and false and will try to push through whatever they want with their clever reasoning. This is injury from intelligence . Nothing you do will have effect if you do not use truth.

Yamamoto Tsunetomo

I see it every day...

Peace

Black Aristocracy

A long time ago, there was a renaissance, of culture, of spirit, of the soul. we need this again...

A time when we traveled the earth, and wrote of our adventures.

A time when we created new forms of dance, new forms of music.

A time that we still feel to this very day.

The Digital collage above was made from a photo by a man from this era, a man who became one of the most prolific photographers in the world. James VanDerZee was the visual historian for generations of our culture.

Peep game, and remember that every minute of your life is black history...
Peace

Black Schooling...

Documentary By Diamond Dallas Dudley, for Black Studies 6 Course at the University Of CA, Santa Barbara, Summer 2006
part1

part2


part3


part4


The schooling of a cali kid. I been that kid, seen that system, and what I see now is even worse. A la John Taylor Gatto, the system needs interventions from a new source. Propers to my man Dallas for dropping the video in summer session no less!

Peep the Science, my joint collabo with MIKO, girl where is that dissertation at?!!! (lmao) BECOMING AP a look into the world of the advanced placement program brought to you and your chillins by the COLLEGE BOARD, yeah the same cats who been hustlin that wack ass Test they use to continue the institutional apartied we endure in so many ways, every day...
Holla

"Schools always in session fool"
NARO%

Bougie Niggers...

*****Editorial note******
If there is one thing I hate a little less than a WS, it's a Bougie ass nigger with a disdain for black folk. That shit reeeeaally gets me uptight. I ran into one of these cats yesterday, I guess you could call it an inverted BCM (Bill Cosby Moment) but any ways, I can smell the shoe shine on these niggas lips bout 2 blocks away from kissing so much feet, and then they wanna look at me funny? NEGRO PLEASE!!!Get yo shit right, because you really fucking it up for the rest of us, especially when you try to "come on home" after the inevitable unleashing of the anti-nigger machine, so please stop with the "Mr Tibs" funky ass, these niggers are below me, before you catch some of this drop squad, Beeeeotch...
and oh yeah! wipe the polish of yo fat ass lips stoopid! Now thats what I call a REAL "EMBARRASSING NIGGA MOMENT"


"Niggas be frontin"

Petroleum Icons: Hell's Motor Oil

Happy Birthday Lil' Shorty.

Children come in all the colors of the earth-
The roaring browns of bears and soaring eagles,
The whispering golds of late summer grasses,
And crackling russets of fallen leaves,
The tinkling pinks of tiny seashells
by the rumbling sea.

Children come with hair like bouncy baby lambs,
Or hair that flows like water,
Or hair that curls like sleeping cats in snoozy
cat colors.

Children come in all the colors of love,
In endless shades of you and me.
For love comes in cinnamon, walnut, and wheat,
Love is amber and ivory and ginger and sweet
Like caramel, and chocolate, and the honey of bees.
Dark as leopard spots, light as sand,
Children buzz with laughter that kisses our land,
With sunlight like butterflies happy and free,
Children come in all the colors
of the earth and sky and sea.

Sheila Hamanaka

Happy Birthday Lil Shorty Daddy misses you...

More on Adoption.

The videos listed below represent a snipet of what I was able to find on youtube in relation to adoption. My only inputs were the word Adoption placed in the search bar. I came up with some interesting returns, China is definately producing some happy families for those in the west, while the rest of the world (at least those representing on youtube) are way behind, waaaaay behind. I was hard pressed to find video stories of any kind on black children (all of them) period. If this is some thing that is of interest to you please read more at:

Rachels Tavern

One way to look at racism is to think of adoption as an industry. While adoption agencies may be full of well meaning people, adoption is a market, like it or not. In the adoption market children are the commodity, and these commodities are assign monetary values. Sociologist Amanda Lewis has studied race in the adoption industry. In a presentation I saw in 2004, Lewis noted that Black children are put into a separate category in most adoption agencies. Lewis also found that the prices quoted for adopting Black children were significantly lower than those assigned to white children. In the adoption industry, healthy white babies are in high demand and low supply. I hate using economic language to talk about children in the ways that we talk about cars, jewels, or houses, but racism assigns a higher value to white babies. While love is certainly important in the adoption process, money and power are also important. There are more whites who want to adopt white babies and have the financial means to do so. Unfortunately, in some cases white families decide to adopt black children when they are unable to find or afford a healthy white child.


Talking about adoption.

Subject shares her experiences as a foster parent and goes into some detail about the process of becoming one.

Our Gotcha Day

Another of the many (on youtube) stories about families adopting from China, the title caught me a little of guard until after viewing several video's I saw that this was a particular term used in international adoption (or at least in China).

Bring me hope

The Chinese videomercial for adoption. Very polished and tailored to a specific audience (guess who?)...

Mia Rene: The Road Home

A South American Story. This appears to be a personal account of 2 people adopting a baby girl from Guatemala.

New Life Home

This is a story on the New Life Home, I am positive I have seen this one BET on Sunday afternoon during the paid programming sessions.

The Adoption of Shen

More from China. Notice the adoption center scenes quite a few white people in the waiting room...

Gay Adoption: Colbert Quickie

Colbert being Colbert.

Haiti adoption

The second of a very few Black adoption stories that I found.


Losing Isaiah

This is the court room scene where Sam works his way through the "love is blind" defense/stance/approach/method. Question, why do we have to playout every funky ass streotype imaginable in this movie?

Once again this was/is a continuation of my blog entry on the NYT Transracial Adoption piece, and after reading Rachel's take I decided to revisit this from the experiences of others via youtube. Your thoughts would be appreciated...
Holla...
NARO%