all in a good day's work

today was definitely a good day. the sun came out to say hello and let all know that she has not perished although the winter would have you thinking otherwise. i have never seen snow until this last winter. never have i appreciated the sun so much than right now.

i attended a protest today at Union Square against the racism, otherwise known as the law code, of Arizona. people came out in droves. and it's so good to see how many people have been protesting all around the country. that's what you call SOLIDARITY. hell yes.

i finally found somewhere to compost. this group that comes to Union Square three times a week takes you crap and composts it. yay for fruit and veggie scraps.

and i attended a small film festival at the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute but i was kind of late so i only saw a Senegalese film, Democracy in Dakar, that was about the corrupt Senegalese government and the dissenters. some of the only dissenters that happen to be in the public eye, though, are rappers. the few that openly criticize the government have somewhat of a following outside Senegal, making acts by the government to silence them all the more difficult. one of the rappers, Baay Bia, was at the showing and performed afterwards. the film was mainly about the 2007 election in which Abdoulaye Wade, Senegal's current president, won and/or rigged. Wade apparently is building roads and tunnels for tourists, while the citizens of the country don't even have public hospitals. i would say it's pretty crazy, but it's actually fairly normal, right? what else would one expect from a politician? justice, liberty, and respect for the people? hogwash....

films or rather just knowledge of governmental corruption like this forces you to rethink your concepts about the role of a government. i read an article yesterday by some conservative journalist that was mainly saying we should regard the principles that the government should uphold as more important than the entity that is the government (i would link the article but if you've read one conservative argument, you've read them all...). but, ultimately, his point was more towards revering smaller government with more freedom. but how many countries with small governments are doing well (by anyone's standard of "well")? Somalia has a small, barely existent government, and we're dumping our nuclear shit in their oceans and stealing their resources. Rwanda and Zaire have small governments as well, and how are these countries faring? i think a government that is too big (China, North Korea) can be equally disastrous, but i do believe healthcare is a right, not a privilege. i also think housing is a right the government should provide, but i think that'll take some time.....

after that film, this guy named Blitz the Ambassador performed, and i loved it! i saw this video a week or so ago on some blog i can't even remember. and this guy sat next to me during the film, then got up and was amazing. just him and a guitarist. he didn't perform this song though. he performed the one posted below. AWESOME! love it. check him out. and he has a horn section in the video?? yes! more please. i think the man is either speaking Ga or Twi.

comment. criticize. add to your hip hop collection.

also, here's some other stuff happening in NYC.

also ALSO check out Akua who was there too.