New Orleans’s Soul Rebels

Most people start their weekend activities on Friday night. But my anticipation usually builds up for Thursday nights at Le Bon Temps Roule. Because I’m addicted to meeting new people (which happens every night), good conversation, food, and liquor. I live for the sweat dripping off my body (ok, not so much, but comes with the territory) as I dance to the brass and beats of local celebrities, Soul Rebels Brass Band.

Look at them march. If you’re ever in New Orleans and looking for something to do Thursday night (for that matter, any night…it’s New Orleans, something’s always going on), check them out. I promise you’ll be happy you did. Not only is the music great, but you won’t leave without meeting someone new in this friendly and casual environment.

If you’re wondering what the hell New Orleans has to do with brass band music, then you possibly don’t read or watch t.v. much. However, never fear! Keep reading our blog as we enlighten. In the meanwhile, your homework assignment is to listen the wondrous Soul Rebels here.

10,000 BC: Greatest Movie Ever?

Yeah, no, it sucks. We saw an advanced screening of it and I’m glad we didn’t pay to see. It was trying its hardest to follow in the footsteps of 300 and be inspiring, but it just kinda fell flat. It was so cliche that I picked out which characters were going to die and how before the movie really got started. If you get the chance to see it for free, then do it. I’d go to the popcorn stadium to see any free show, and I did.

If you don’t get the chance to see it for free, then wait for it to come on HBO. It may be good to watch on a lazy day.

Mumbo Jumbo

I finished reading what is possibly my favorite book ever: Mumbo Jumbo by Ishmael Reed. It’s weird to read, to say the least, but it’s worth while if you can get through the first few chapters.

Before I put you off to it, I want to say that the book is not hard to read, or particularly hard to follow, it’s just that Mumbo Jumbo is meant to be like a blacksploitation movie in book form. For instance, when you open the book you will notice that there is no title page, copyright page, and etc., and instead the story just begins. That’s because, like a movie’s soft opening, they are a few pages in, after an initial setup. After that, the scenes to change randomly and if you don’t think of it as a movie, you’ll probably get lost.

Honestly, the reason I love it so much is its blacksploitation elements. Mumbo Jumbo takes place some time during the Harlem Renaissance, but the main character, Papa Labas, dresses like a 70′s pimp and some of the characters use 70′s-esque slang. That plot revolves around the Laba’s attempts to save Jes Grew, a disease that causes people to dance and act like black people, from the mysterious Wallflower Society.

This definitely ain’t a book for everybody. Read it a little first, then buy.

Langston Hughes Film Festival

W’sup, people? The Langston Hughes African American Film Festival is coming up soon in Seattle. If you want to go, it is taking place on April 12-20. It seems like it’s going to be pretty good, but unfortunately time, and our shallow pockets, won’t allow us to travel all the way out there. If anyone is going, we’d be glad to hear about it. If you want to know more, go to Langstonblackfilmfest.org

Karmen Gei

Since we’re on the topic of dropping panties, let’s talk about a woman who could get the manties off at a drop of a dime. Dorothy Dandridge in Carmen Jones (1954). I’m sure many of you females envision scoring man after man and dropping them at will (sorry Papa), as I sometimes do; but Carmen had it down to a science. That is why I was excited when I heard that Senegalese director, Joseph Gai Ramaka, would be presenting his adaptation of this classic at the local Fair Grinds Coffeeshop (www.fairgrinds.com). The intimate and casual setting welcomed Papa Labas and me. Popcorn, candy treats, and pre-film conversation allowed us to meet Mr. Ramaka, a soft-spoken, French speaking man and some of the attendees. We learned that his film, Karmen Gei (2001) was banned in Senegal, due to the sexual content and use of Muslim text in a Catholic Church.

Of course controversy intrigues me and I was immediately taken by the lead actress’, Djeinaba Diop Gai, potrayal of Karmen. With her lively attitude and seductive dances, Karmen easily becomes my favorite version of Carmen (move over Beyoncé). Ramaka’s interesting adaptation gives the viewer a chance to explore Africa’s vibrant culture as well as remind us of transcontinental connection. Oh yea: I also updated my “sensual seduction” checklist.

Checkout more reviews at Rotten Tomatoes.

Claude McKay

He may not look like much, but Claude McKay was a bad mutha f**ker. While he’s most famous for his poems on lynchings and Black issues in general, he also wrote poems that will make panties drop and legs open. Yes, they are that good. I had a teacher say that girls in his class would start to get pregnant after he taught McKay’s poems. To give you an example, this is one called “Flower of Love”:

The perfume of your body dulls my sense.
I want nor wine nor weed; your breath alone
Suffices. In this moment rare and tense
I worship at your breast. The flower is blown,
The saffron petals tempt my amorous mouth,
The yellow heart is radiant now with dew
Soft-scented, redolent of my loved South;
O flower of love! I give myself to you.
Uncovered on your couch of figured green,
Here let us linger indivisible.
The portals of your sanctuary unseen
Receive my offering, yielding unto me.
Oh, with our love the night is warm and deep!
The air is sweet, my flower, and sweet the flute
Whose music lulls our burning brain to sleep,
While we lie loving, passionate and mute.

If you don’t know what he’s talking about, I’ll give you a hint: he’s talking about oral sex. Guys, if you have a lady who likes poetry, use Claude McKay on her. Hell, even if she’s not, slip it her pocket and she’ll be hot and ready once she reads it. Trust me.

New Orleans African American Museum of Art

To begin this post, I want to say that neither of us are to knowledgeable about art, so in order to educate ourselves we decided to go to the New Orleans African American Museum of Art. It wasn’t what I was expecting, but I was pleasantly surprised. I guess that I was expecting more in the way of traditional, more straight-forward art, but we were treated to a lot of nice contemporary stuff. A lot of it I got, and a lot of it I didn’t, but it was a good experience either way.

There were also a lot of African things there, mostly taken from the Congo. The were a lot of masks, and statues, but also some large pieces of metal that I mistook for swords at first. Turns out that they were a type of currency used for trading. They had been forged from iron and, from what I could gather, were shaped that way as a sort of extravagance. I wish I had a picture of it, but that’ll come later.

The museum itself is in the Treme Villa, an old creole villa with three buildings and some beautiful old New Orleans courtyards. Unfortunately, some of the exhibits were closed in order to prepare for a Martin Luther King, Jr. celebration, but it was still not something to be missed. If you’re ever in New Orleans be sure to go. All the info you’ll need to know is here.

Intro

W’sup, people? This is a new blog dedicated to the exploration of Black art, music, literature, and entertainment in general. We came up with this idea because we became tired of the same old stuff; all black music is starting to sound the same, our mainstream films are generally C+ at best,  and Black books and art don’t seem to get the press they deserve. Through this blog we want to be motivated to explore different aspects of our culture and provide another venue (albeit a small one) for Black artists to get their names heard.  Hopefully, we can get some other people to join us in our search.