SEPTA Attack

I am a resident of Philadelphia...and it seems that in addition to global warming, a rising recession, and more canines being treated with as much care as the inspection of Jon Benet Ramsey's death-gruesome VIOLENCE has also risen.

There are so many theories: 'People in the North get less intense sun rays and less heat, therefore we smile less...and we operate in a manner that is more stoic than those of the South...and West'. We all know that Philadelphia [in contrast to the rest of Pennsylvania] has a lot of Colored Folk...which to some explains why brutal attacks occur here.

However, none of this explains why a middle aged Black man would get on the subway, give his son a kiss, direct him to a seat, then grab a hammer out of his bag, and attack a man;drag this man off the train and attempt to throw him on the tracks...
I watched the video...These two people did not make eye contact, nor did they exchange words. The victim was listening to his iPod, like many of us do while riding alone.

After the victim got his bloody head cleaned up,taken to Temple Hospital and received staples in his head; He stated that he did not know the man. He thought the man was trying to kill him.

Just like a majority of the people who have seen this story; I too wonder what the motive was...and why would he do this in front of this little kid.
There were about 10 people on the train as well, and none of them helped rescue the guy from being beaten so brutally. "Snitches get[ting] stitches", and minding one's own business has been taken far too seriously. These moved their seats, and sat some man was almost killed.The one thing worse than people always trying to be the SUPERHERO, is people's fear of being the SUPERHERO.

WOW.

Be careful people. Be mindful of your surroundings. Do not walk at night with iPods on. Most of all...PRAY! Pray for yourself...Pray for your family and friends. Pray for the people that may run into crazies like the man on the train did.

But do not walk in fear.

-Johnston Michaels

A.A.S.U.=More than bad Fashion Shows & Bake Sales!

[sighs]

No pussyfooting on the blog today.
No beatin' round the bush.
No being evasive.
No PHancy intro to say something so simple.
No convoluted banter to spin a larger web of propaganda.

OH NO! Not today!!!

I am going to get right to the point.
[LOL...I couldn't help myself]

Here it is FOLKS!
Join the African American Student Union at your school.
Maybe at your institution it's the People of Color Clan.
Or the Brown, Black and Tan Party...
whatever the hell it is! Join it.

This year my school has accepted more freshman into the music department. Thankfully, we have a lot more Peppers; but the amount of the SALTS has increased tremendously. That means the chocolate chip cookies are still ONLY being dipped in the big glass of milk!

I have never felt so lost. All my teachers are part of the pale party...and most of my classmates are too. Lately, I've been going to class terribly overwhelmed and uncomfortable. Even though my pigment interrupts the monotony of my class...I still have to speak louder and strategically plan my every move to make sure my $38,000/yr goes to good use.
I realized that the A.A.S.U's @ universities are so important...They are our hub; our haven; our voice; our campmeeting. We have to invest time in them, and take them more seriously than a lot of us do.

That's it.
I'm done.
No fancy conclusions.
No long endings.
No excessive sentences just to be cool...
;-)

Johnston Michaels

YOU GOT CHANGE FOR A 20?

My GOD!
We have not posted something in sooo long! Normally I would apologize on our behalf of ...but we don't feel sorry for swift transitions. hahaha. It's a good sign.
We just havent had time to BLOG BLOG BLOG it up. Everyone in the collective is feeling the pressure of Season Change [including but not limited to the weather; with some of us moving to new apartments (take notice of the BROOKLYN RENAISSANCE that is occuring), preparing to be counselors/advisors for incoming freshman at our colleges, job switching, and entrepeneurship, Peace has been a luxury.

However, in the midst of trying to follow plans, budgets,deadlines and schedules..."THE REAL" caught up with me.
A few afternoons ago, I was on break from Freshman orientation training. These 9 am mornings and 9pm nights are not for the feeble hearted.When lunch comes, I barely want to eat or bear witness to the -Itis...I just want to sleep...Moving on with my story...I was in the line at The Cantina [yes,my school has no real cafeteria].I had fruit snacks and a Nutri-Grain bar in hand. I went to pay for my sweet eats and the cashier told me the total was $1.55; The only cash I had was $21.
I dug and fiddled around my pocket, twirling my fingers in between the lint and keys... At that moment I was so pissed off that I didn't have coins.
I HATE breaking big bills because then the money seems to spend so much faster and be out of my control. So I huffed and puffed and basically had a "RESPONSIBLE ADULT TANTRUM" [I just made that term up]. With a calm voice and subtle smile, the cashier encouraged me not to fret. He then made a simple remark, "Change is part of life." And it caught me by surprise. I was so entangled by my mini financial crisis, words of reason were foreign.
I smiled and told that man I was going to quote him. Okay, so it may not be the newest phrase or even the most enchanting interpretation of this old idea;But for me it took new shape...it had new meaning!

I have been making some drastic changes in my life. Risks have been all up and down my alley. I don't even think I would recognize the old me if it sat right next to me. I have control over everything...yet I have control over nothing. And thats been frightening me lately...I've been saying a lot of "I just have to figure it all out." BUUUUUT I CANT!
So I write another epic long blog to say this simple bit----CHANGE IS PART OF LIFE!!! Love it. Don't just deal, EMBRACE IT. Be good stewarts over your time and your money and blessings will surely be in your cycle. Most of us accept that, for the BIG changes. But be sure to keep that thought in pocket when you only have a $20 and you want a Fruit Roll-Up. LOL.

Thank you cashier man.



Another Moment Brought to You by The Black WillyWonka,
Johnston Michaels

Either YOU have to SHUTUP...or I MUST STOP Listening!

Okay...so this post's title is rather long; but it abbreviates what I intend to tackle in this passage.

Often we are confronted with these 2 choices >>> Listening to our internal voice [the God within] vs. listening to the external parties that be...that BE...THAT BE inhibiting us, and prolongs our advancement.

We are all PHans of Kanye West; whether we envy... or pride ourselves in despising his shameless arrogance. But even he had to admit that being unteachable is not the way to go. Which he made clear in his pseudo satire/review of himself >>>>"CANT TELL ME NOTHING".

There IS a healthy place between total unreceptiveness and self doubt.
There is a confident space in which all HUEmens and artists alike, must reside.

If you are not keeping up with the actual Olympic games, you should at least stay abreast with the news concerning it. There are morals in these stories we can all learn from.

Rau'shee Warren, a flyweight boxer [on the American team] had a match against Korean opponent Lee Oksung last night. Now Brother Rau'shee lost the match.And not merely because he was not physically apt or resilient, but because he was positive he heard someone in the crowd yelling "MOVE! MOVE!".
You see, in the boxing realm- that cry means that he had the chance to win, and that all he needed to do was avoid getting punched. Much to his disappointment , those yells Rau'shee heard were NOT in his favor! The final score was 9-8. Oksung took home the gold medal. Our Black brother Rau'shee, had been anticipating the moment to take that medal home to his mother Paulette,for the past 4 years.However, he forfeited that opportunity when he took advice from THE CROWD [even though his coaches were yelling a different message].

When I was made aware of this news I was so deeply hurt. It's not just the fact that he lost. It's how he lost that leaves a deep scar. I usually do not preoccupy myself with the lastest sports updates.But I have learned that games in the rings...on the courts...the fields...WHEREVER... are reflections of how we perform in life. The manner in which people conduct themselves in physical competition is more than just an indicator of there brute strength, but shows the way they view there opponents [and what they represent] along with themselves in the context of the task.
The symbols & real world application of each sporting event can be further dissected psychologically.

With that said, I find it so interesting that Mr. Warren paid closer attention to what the audience was saying,rather than his coaches. Sometimes we forget that we may only have 2 real friends in this lifetime...very few individuals are really in our corner. Yet we remain so curious of the masses' opinions. I am not passing dissension. I am an artist; I am victim of the same thing. I second guess myself and ask a million people for their opinion on projects...when I know that my idea is GOLD...only to later realize that I should have proceeded with the concept-with no advice from anyone.

Along this path of confidence absence we have OUR IDEAS STOLEN. People model themselves after us. We are forced to reinvent ourselves.

It's an extremely rocky path. Sometimes we have to take chances and go with our gut. A wise woman once told me "There is only one chance in music." I dare to say that there is only one chance in all performance arenas. This encompasses performance art, public speaking...SPORTS!
God, I know it's hard. But let this note encourage you to trust yourself. Do not slight your footing in response to yells like "MOVE! MOVE!" from bystanders. Do not doubt yourself because spectators criticize. We must take chances. Safe living is not safe at all.
There were remarks made about rules discouraging vocalized spectator advice. But the crowd will always be the crowd...the key is that the performer in the ring not respond to such antics. We must develop a ring of focus. When we submerge ourselves into environments where people have the opportunity to speak...WE MUST provide ourselves with center.

YES...back to my ending...STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS IS REAL. lol.
Art can ONLY be art if we take a risk. But make sure that risk is worth it. Let's work wise...not hard!
Sooo I think I have supplied you with enough one liners for the day. C.O.I. [Chuckling On the Inside]

Carpe diem brethren.
Until next time...


Shalom-mubaraak*


Sir Johnston Michaels

Kinda overdue...but still GOOD!

Some of you may be familiar with the new Nike Commercial that features a song by SAUL WILLIAMS called "List of Demands".

Some of you may have & should have been down with him for a minute, since he is NOT a new artist at all. LOL.

Well, to those of you who are unfamiliar with this genius... GOOGLE HIM BABY [much like Teyauna Taylor instructs you to ]! Find his words. Youtube him. Take a break from the fashion blogs and ingest some quality work.

NIGGYTARDUST. that's all I'll say.

Do what you gotta do. But if you consider yourself a progressive artist in the least bit , he needs to be in your library at some level.


THE END.

-Johnston Michaels
(the black willywonka)

A Lovely Day

I would like to call upon the great words of Bill Withers

Sometimes I think it's just important to note how lovely life is.

I don't have much more to say beyond that...yet I have a lot more to say within that!
But life is good. The universe is sooo cylical.
Reading pretty much satiates me.
I know my Mother; I have a few good persons in my cycle that care.

I am blessed to be in school.
I am smiling.

I believe THAT is important enough to write a blog.

I'm done.

-Johnston Michaels

Don't Apologize!

As huemanity continues, it appears to me that people are becoming less HueMANe and way more politically correct. The politeness that our mothers taught us when we were young seem to kick in when we feel the most guilty or the need to address issues we don't really know how to handle.

Now my statement above may seem like mere speculation...but when I read the news [I'd like to thank CNN.com for my blog inspiration] and see that The House desires to apologize for the enslavement of millions of West Africans, AND THEN there are these privileged-insensitive albino mutant kids in South Africa that feel laden with superficial guilt for making a tape that mocked black housekeepers and serving them stew seemingly laced with urine...[which is nothing more than embarassment from public slandering] I realize that these apologies are utterly flat.

*(please excuse me if that was a run-on passage)

Now granted the representatives for Tennessee and the other states are not "slaveowners" themselves , but the damages to the African-American psyche and the American socio-political construct are irreparable. An apology without action is FUTILE, FLAT, SUPERFICIAL ...AND JUST PLAIN DUMB! The house states that they will stop "the occurrence of human rights violations in the future." But that peace word is not good enough for me or the members of my community.

We need the illegitimate & brutal law enforcers acquitted of their jobs. We need funding for our public school systems...especially the ones in Florida.
What about the fan fare that went on for Jena 6...then silence...or the injustice to Amadou Diallo...then silence...Mumia Abdul...Sean Bell...Rodney King 2.0...OH my Lord, the list goes on! It's the the quiet things that happen in "intimate" settings that go unaddressed.

So I am not pleased with an apology. Although it's awfully cute.

Native Americans have been apologized to,given the opportunity to run government regulation free casinos but direct financial/proper housing from the GOV. still hasnt come their way. So many of them continue to live on reservations that make 'hoods look like Beverly Hills. Come on now AMERICA!

I guess reparations just are not in the budget.

I don't know what you want to do with this bit of information. I just thought I'd add a little fire to the inherent angst existing within all of us.


-Johnston Michaels