We told family, we set a wedding date, we dealt with budgets and jobs and me still being in school and all the usual things you deal with in a relationship. He shaved his head and now goes bald always. I learned to be more considerate, now that I am not one, but two people. He learned to be patient because I’d never been in a real relationship before- he used to get upset when it never occurred to me to hold his hand in public. He said I wasn’t affectionate, I told him I wasn’t Cabochon.

He got hatemail from family of hers, she’d lost 14 lbs in jus a few weeks and her friends took her side. None of them acknowledged that the breakup was mutual, she was the victim and he was the asshole. His friends and family had his back though, and while those that mind don’t matter, those that matter don’t mind. He hated that she was still a source of drama, he wanted peace for me.

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…His bed is where he broke up with Cabochon almost a year ago. I thought I would feel jealousy because she’d spent so many hours in this house, living here, making breakfast here, sitting in the parlour with this family, maybe smoking a joint or two. Nine years, I cannot imagine how many hours she’s had here and I thought I would be jealous.

But I slept like a babe in the bed, and this is why.

She may have the memories I don’t have, of making love to him on these sheets and all that, but what I’ve got trumps her a thousand times over. She doesn’t have a memory of him getting down on bended knee with a ring in his hand. She never signed a lease with him or picked out furniture with him. She never set up a wedding website with him, or tried on wedding rings, or had the engagement party that I’ll have in a few days. So after nine years of her memories, she doesn’t know that his mother never thought she was right for him….

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These sneakers are so Kelis Fresh.

I swear I could get amped and wear these

booties with a black body suit.

Via Sneaker Freaker

Via Scritch and Scratch Blog

Normally Scratch does nerdy characters,

pop culture folks or Black women. I was

surprised to see this lovely combo.

It reminds me of summer.

sneakers is probably NOT

Rainbow Zebra Sneaker.

But, if I worked at DC sneakers

that would be the name. Lols.

{via Sneaker Freaker}

One of the things that fascinates me about
Veels drawings of Black women, is the
attention to detail with our hair.

Another Banger.

She programmed the code for this site, Brooklyn Magic, and we are working on a few other websites as well.  Ann also runs a web design company Radiant Matter Media, which specializes in creating web templates for social media entrepreneurs of color.

I present to you my interview with Ann Daramola.

What are you working on now?

I’m working on websites.  All the time, every time: a website for the organization I work for, a website for three random folks, a website for church and a website for myself.

What is the one thing you you know now, that you wish you knew five years ago?

I wish I knew this: “Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” How much power does that give to the individual? And, collectively, how much power does that give to a community? Huge. Gobs and gobs.  Because that’s how we got hip hop (the culture, the beats, the rhymes, the clothes, the colors, the stories. everything); folks were creating themselves.  And creating FOR themselves. I could go on about this, but I’ll save it for the blogs

If I had known this, I would have been okay with being merely a literature major; I would have done things for the sake of doing them and not to please a handful of people who, although are blood related, beautiful and completely loyal, had already had the chance to create themselves. Create yourself. That’s my new life… thing. It drives everything I do since.. February 7

What is the most challenging thing about your work?

For me, the most challenging thing is having to charge people to create websites. I love doing this so much it seems a shame I have to attach a price to the work, especially when I know: 1) creating a website is hard to price 2) most of the folk I work with can’t really afford the exorbitant prices many companies charge and 3) it’s hard to get people to understand price != value.  (That is, price doesn’t equal value.)

You can find Ann tumbling at http://iam.simplyann.net and slow bloggin and link collecting at http://www.simplyann.net.  She can be reached at ann@radiantmatter.com.  

Ace is one of the funniest people

that I have ran into in the Hip Hop Blogosphere.

After going back and forth in the comments

section of his blog, I knew he was

Brooklyn Magic Material. With great pleasure

I present my interview with Ace Seis of

The Meaning of Dope.

1. What are you currently working on?

Simplifying my life and staying creative and

motivated. I contribute to Peace Magazine and

several blogs, but primarily barbecueorboogaloo

and themeaningofdope.

Producing a documentary film about the untold

musical history and culture

in Toronto.

3. What do you wish you knew, 5 years ago, about

what you are currently pursuing creatively?

How much autotune would take over music, so I

could at least buy shares in it or destroy the

technology so it wouldn’t leave

such an ugly pock mark on the face of

rap music.

4. What is your favorite rap magazine

and why?

They still make magazines? My favourite magazine

no longer exists, but it was On The Go at one

point.  If Steven Powers was still motivated to be

involved in print like that, I’d be right back on it.

Normally I interview other artists for

this section, but when I couldn’t link

up with the person I wanted to interview

I decided to go for self. Enjoy. I will say that it

was gratifying to see the things that

I am working on written down.

What are you working on right now?

I am working on relaunching Model Minority,

I am wrestling with a memoir, I am thinking

about a documentary on Black female sexuality,

and I am working on podcast about Gender

and Hip Hop with Raquel Wilson

titled, Representing Lovely.

What is your dream project?

There maybe a few of those. I would like

to write and direct a modern version of

the play For Colored Girls, but with a global

appeal. I am really interested in unionizing the

Video Vixens. I would also like to start

a Black feminist library at the Schomburg Museum.

What do you know now that you wish

you knew when you started?

I wish I new no matter how hard I tried not to be

a writer, that writing would be sitting there

waiting for me whether I aknowledged it or not.

Marquette Jones is a dear friend of mine, and an

amazing filmmaker as well. In fact she recently

won Panasonic’s P2 for a Cause Grand Prize.

She currently working on a short film titled,

Round on Both Sides. Her short, Streets to Suites

is available on Youtube. I am both honored and

excited to share this interview with you.

What is the hardest part about being a Black

Female Filmmaker?

Black women are taught to be supporters so we are good

at it. As a director, you have to get used to people supporting

you.

What do you wish you knew before you went to

film school?

Nothing, because it may have stopped me from moving

forward. People said things, but I paid it no mind at

the time. However, earlier as a filmmaker,

I wish I had more confidence in my

decisions. But that is not something someone

can tell you. You have to have it.

What are you working on now?

My short film, Round on Both Sides. It has a great

casts, its shot in Youngstown Ohio. In the film

the main character is woman, who is working

as a model in New York, an returns home to he

family responsibilities. She has to make a decision

to be “responsible” or continue to live her dream.

What is your favorite movie?

As a member of the audience, it would have to

be Purple Rain. It was the first movie I saw

that had me on the edge of my seat the whole

time. I had an emotional response to it.

My favorite film as a filmmaker is La Strata

and Killer of Sheep.

Marquette Jones is a Brooklyn based filmmaker

and can be reached at hotcombpics (at) gmail.com.