My Mic Sounds Nice: So Why Am I Scene, (But) Not Heard?

BET Videos

"It's almost chivalry...but not really" --- Jean Grae

"Whew, I know the pressure, Sista, I do..." --- Roxanne Shante

Initially, I only caught the tail end of BET's premiere of "My Mic Sounds Nice: A Truth About Women in Hip Hop". I thought it was very good and the visual array of "Femcees" (Female MC's) whom have blessed my life made me feel good about the foundation of artistry that encapsulated my dome as a girl and young woman. And speaking of foundation...

Dancing was my artistic foundation. I am, as the saying goes, "Once a dancer, always a dancer." This is fact. So, I missed the premiere because I was totally focused upon LaToya winning the Oxygen Channel's "Dance Your A__ Off" in the finale (she did!!!). As a dancer who's gained weight over the years and is trying to lose it, you understand how this show caught my attention, yes? Alright, don't judge me and let us continue...more on LaToya later...

But thanks to the DVR, I watched "My Mic Sounds Nice" in peace a few days later. Time for self-reflection...

My stage name-now company name-now nearly replacing my birth name, Dr. Goddess, is undoubtedly inspired by the Femcees who blessed my life. I grew up listening to Miss Harmony, Queen Latifah, Monie Love, MC Lyte, Salt N Pepa, Bahamadia, JJ Fad, Roxanne Shante, B Angie B and many more. So, when it came time for me to find a stage name for myself as a Spoken Word poet, I easily adopted that which had already been suggested to me upon graduating with my doctorate---Dr. Goddess. It's hilarious, on so many different levels and for so many reasons.

In "Dr. Goddess!: A One Woman Show", however, I have two female Hip Hop artists---DJ Special K and MC Daisy B---who remain crowd favorites whenever I perform them and my trailer opens with "Gimme the Mic and I'll change the world, change the world, change the world." So, you know, the Women in Hip Hop mean alot to me.

Naturally, I was destined to love "My Mic Sounds Nice" and it took me back to the varied Hip Hop influences upon my life. I had so many beautiful and interesting mirrors in which to look and feel good about myself. I was built like Queen Latifah, looked a bit more like Roxanne Shante, danced my butt off like Salt N Pepa (and, to this day, blame them for how long it took to grow my hair out after my asymmetrical do) and, a bit later, was as crazy as Missy Elliott while thinking like Lauryn Hill. And I tried to replicate Big Lez's dance number during the opening to "Living Single" like she was about to hold auditions for peeps to join her. Oh Ladies, you have given me so much! Thank you!

I feel so sorry for any girl growing up today who didn't have the exposure to the variety of Femcees that I had. It was even revealed in the documentary that the category for "Best Female Rapper" was taken out of the Grammy nominations from 2005 - 2010 because there weren't enough contenders for the category. Now, that's absolutely disgusting. Just imagine if we found out that a company had to stop making guitars because there were no more Princes coming along. That's how I feel about this disgusting array of misogyny and apathy.

This is why MC Lyte's poignant observation that it's hard to imagine the space for a female MC when the misogyny in Hip Hop has cultivated a palate antithetical to and relatively unwelcoming to a female voice in the public sphere. (Shoutout to Gwendolyn Pough's Check It While I Wreck It: Black Womanhood, Hip Hop Culture, and the Public Sphere).

But I do have beef with some of the ideas espoused in the documentary (surprise):

Smokey Fontaine - Lauryn Hill's disappearance is not tragic. She gave us "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" and we can hit "replay" anytime we want. If anything is tragic, it's the music industry. Focus on that the next time you'd rather lay blame on Lauryn's person or any of her circumstances.

Trina - Lauryn Hill and Missy Elliott prove that men can and do listen to women with clothes on. Define, don't be defined.

Ladies - Don't be fooled by the notion that you need "so much more than the men do". Umm, NO. Just because you need hair and makeup, don't let these cheap industry execs try to cost-effect your voice into silence. Men get dressed, too. They get designer jeans, shirts, shoes, haircuts, hats and weigh themselves down with bling. Men also need greater security and higher insurance costs cuz they're always taking their beef off-wax and they inspire violence. Add up the lawsuits, the funeral costs, the bail money, the list goes on... Please, please don't let these people fool you into thinking YOU are more expensive to manage. No, you are cheaper. Period.

Overall, what I most appreciated about the documentary was hearing the sisters' voices. It was just so refreshing, so wonderful and so many of them are brilliant, even if lacking in a bit of self-awareness and empowerment (Trina). The editing of the documentary was a bit questionable, at times, but I'm so appreciative, I won't focus upon its imperfections. Just getting a documentary such as this on BET is a feat in and of itself, so let us all bow our heads and say, "Amen"...or "Awomen" as the case should may be...

As usual, all glorious moments occur on Twitter these days and we all started tweeting femcees who tweet. It was so beautiful seeing Monie Love (@mobrocka) tweet her memories of performing and building, it felt good to see Bahamadia (@Bahamadia) getting the love she's always deserved and watching young femcees like Mia X (@TheRealMiaX) and Invincible (@InvincibleDET) appreciate the foundation Queen Latifah (@IAmQueenLatifah) built for them and seeing the tweets of appreciation to Rah Digga (@TheRealRahDigga), Tiye Phoenix (@TiyePhoenix), MC Lyte (@McLyte) and Jean Grae (@JeanGreasy). I made sure to give a special shoutout to Glennisha Morgan, who keeps "The Fembassy" (@thefembassy) alive. It's a beautiful thing and when we do Twitter well, we do it best.

More Femcees are coming at the bottom of this post. 

And a few good tweets:

RT aisha1908: Bahamadia + Precious P + Heather B + Rah Digga + Paula Perry + Nicki D #femcees ♫ http://blip.fm/~vt5g4

Plus, we hashtagged it on Twitter, so check us at: #mymicsoundsnice

Now, despite the fact that I teach aspects of Hip Hop music and culture in the classroom or in workshops, I was saddened by how much I did NOT know about these women and their stories. It's truly a travesty. Every last one of them deserves an epic film showcasing their stories.

Which leads me to Maori Karmael Holmes, her Karmalux company and her fantastic documentary which debuted in 2005, entitled, "Scene Not Heard, A Story of Philadelphia Women in Hip Hop." While Philadelphia is called the "City of Brotherly Love", the ladies have a greater claim to this legacy, in my mind. First, you had Phillis Hyman who was actually from Pittsburgh but (I guess) had to claim Philadelphia to bolster her street cred. Most of us love that city because it gave us "Jilly from Philly". That's right, Jill Scott. Love that woman. But I digress...

I first saw "Scene Not Heard" at the Pittsburgh Hip Hop Film Festival. I spoke on a panel at the Kelly-Strayhorn Theater, which I believe was organized by journalist, Brentin Mock. Gee, I wonder if this is even on my resume? #CareerFAIL

What I most appreciate about Maori and this fantastic documentary is that she was a Black woman filmmaker, doing a film about Black women, talking about being a woman in Hip Hop. Pay attention to her angles, to what is included in film, to what she chose to represent via her lens. It's extremely important and although I tire of the Tyler Perry controversy, my major emphasis is to make sure that Black women get to tell our own stories, in our own way and in our own time. We don't need anyone to speak for us. We can speak, quite perfectly, for ourselves, thank you. This requires supporting Black women filmmakers, writers and directors who allow Black women to speak for themselves.

And speaking of speaking for ourselves...

Most persons have seen Byron Hurt's fabulous documentary, "Beyond Beats & Rhymes", which deconstructs notions of masculinity and explores the abuses of unbridled patriarchy---and I do love it. But I MUST point out that his documentary seems to be more popular, despite the fact that there is only about 20 seconds where any of the Black women in his documentary speak for themselves (it's the scene where they are in Florida and say that they are NOT b*tches just because they chose to be scantily clad on the beach).

The DC Film Festival got it right and did a dual screening of Byron and Maori's films, back to back. Even Byron agreed that his documentary is BEST viewed in a dual mode with Maori's, since she allows Black women to speak for themselves and own their own voices. Maori also took herself out of the film and does not speak in the first person or center these MC's' narratives around her own growth process. There is something to be said about that type of filmmaking.

So, you may have seen "Beyond Beats & Rhymes" but allow me to (re)introduce you to "Scene Not Heard". Enjoy and let me know what you think:

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Why "They" Don't Understand What Black People Do on Twitter

President Barack Obama Signs BrownTwitterBirds into Law
Original Graphic by http://lidia-anain.com/

Yesterday, Twitter was all a-flutter for yet another ignorant article trying to tell readers about Black people. For me, the best response to the Slate article on "How Black People Use Twitter" was not the poor manner in which the article did NOT explain how Black people use Twitter. Rather, it was the immediate response of one Tweeter named @InnyVinny who, in her frustration, wrote on her blogsite in all caps, "BLACK PEOPLE ARE NOT A MONOLITH" and then went on to, literally, remix the basic brown twitter bird with the diverse array of Black people---on Twitter. Hers was a visual art protest that parallels, if not supercedes the artist who created the Fail Whale and other popular images on Twitter. In one fell swoop, (now a hashtag: #browntwitterbird), @InnyVinny put on display what is so painstakingly obvious for most of us --- "you don't know me! You don't know my LIFE!"

You see, in this list are the loc-wearers, the wig doners, the sports enthusiasts, the hometown reppers, the Afrocentrists, the ghetto fabulous, the afro'ed up, the regal ones and the graduates, the lovers of Prince, Michael, Rick James or even Grace Jones...and the hi top fade. Other than the celebrities, it's clear that not only Slate but the rest of mainstream America has no real idea who Black people are, no real clue about our humanity, in general, so of course they would have no real idea what we're doing on Twitter and how we express our culture. For us, Twitter is an electronic medium that allows enough flexibility for uninhibited and unfabricated creativity while exhibiting more of the strengths of social media that allow us to build community.

Sadly, when the mainstream attempts to describe or otherwise represent us and our lives, they choose the #browntwitterbird with the boombox, watermelon (and no Blackberry) in hand, standing next to the bucket of chicken. Yes, mainstream America, that is how you see us and, truthfully, that's a slice of how some of us are (at times). You, however, think it's us in totality, so we laugh at your lack of intelligence and observation skills and continue to 'Make Me a World'. This is why @InnyVinny's Brown Twitter Birds were adopted, in less than 12 hours, as a revolution on Twitter, by throngs of users expressing, adopting and requesting customized birds that reflect our beautiful, Black and multifaceted selves.

Indeed, the best part of the Slate article (outside of the wisdom of quoting @Baratunde Thurston and @ElonJames White) were the revelations that more Black Twitter users than not create a far more balanced, reciprocal relationship to one another, as opposed to the silly, somewhat mindless, stalking behavior of "following" a celebrity and never receiving a response:

Nevertheless, Brendan Meeder thinks he's got a good hypothesis about what's going on. Meeder, a Ph.D. student at Carnegie Mellon University, has downloaded the tweets of more than 100 million users. (Twitter gave him special permission to do so for research purposes.) He's been probing this collection to see how Twitter users interact with one another; he's particularly interested in how trends begin and spread through a social network. While analyzing his database a few months ago, Meeder noticed something strange—he found a cluster of hundreds of users whose profiles were connected to one another. When he looked up the users, he noticed that a lot of them were black. It's in exactly these kinds of tight-knit groups that Twitter memes flourish, Meeder says.

Understandable, right? But it gets better!

Not only are the people who start these trends more tightly clustered on the network, they're also using the network differently. Most people on Twitter have fewer followers than the number of people they're following—that is, they're following celebrities, journalists, news organizations, and other big institutions that aren't following them back. But according to Meeder, the users who initiate blacktags seem to have more reciprocal relationships—they're following everyone who follows them.

For the record, Black people use Twitter hashtags, thanks! But one final piece of wisdom from the only person to do any actual research here (Brendan Meeder):

These patterns suggest that the black people who start these tags "are using Twitter as a social tool," Meeder says. "They're using Twitter like a public instant messenger"—using the service to talk to one another rather than broadcast a message to the world.

Actually, we talk to each other AND we broadcast a message to the world, hence the popularity of the Trending Topics and Twitter usage, yes? Now, if only we were left alone in the real world the way we are on Twitter, perhaps we could effect more change.

It's not until the third to the last paragraph that, authour, Farhad Manjoo chooses to explain, in any intelligent manner the obvious flaw of the entire article:

There is an obvious problem with talking about how black people use Twitter, as many of the black Twitter users I spoke to took pains to point out: Not all black people on the service are participating in these hashtags, and there are probably a great many who are indifferent to or actively dislike the tags.

Okay, so "many of the [B]lack Twitter users" Manjoo spoke to "took pains to point out" how we are not a monolith and, yet, you all over there at Slate (editors and all) still decided to run with the title, "How Black People Use Twitter", eh? Brilliant.

Further, Manjoo wonders (aloud) how and why the trending topics begun by Black people on Twitter are so "successful" without bothering to consider the numbers game. How do I explain that comedian, MarlonWayans, who, with his brothers, captured the attention of the next generation with hilarious films such as "White Chicks" and "Scary Movie", has been a source of some of the sillier hashtags ever since he arrived on Twitter? At present, he has 310,00 followers, quite enough to produce a Trending Topic all by his lonesome, yes? And with masses of Black teenagers following him, it just makes sense, right? I suppose this was too logical an answer...

Thus, if they can't understand something so simple, then they wouldn't understand why, even though we are really (really!!!) appalled by both home invasion and rape, we love the Antoine Dodson story and find he, his sister, Kelli, (and his other family members) so funny.

And if that's the case, they REALLY wouldn't understand why a remix (auto-tune) song was made of his rant, why Antoine has 13 Twitter accounts, a website, is selling T-shirts and has a hotline---all this from the attempted rape of his sister by a roving rapist in their Huntsville, Alabama, Lincoln Park neighborhood. America, gotta love it.

As for what trends, I wonder if we should bother sharing that in addition to the more fun, unpredictable, silly or outrageous Trending Topics, we can also (proudly, thankfully) add the hashtags of #OscarGrant and #AiyanaJones to the list. And would Slate's audience even know who these people are? Probably not, which further exemplifies the segregation of our communities as well as the problem of race in the 21st Century.

Dare I even mention the Black Weblog Awards or would that be going too far and doing too much? Would we overwhelm the populace?

Over this last year, I observed the fascinating manner in which Black people were expressing their culture and building community on Twitter, particularly those of us in the "Hip Hop Generation", which is why I decided to focus upon how we were using the medium to effect change. Thus, I put a panel together for Netroots Nation 2010. As it turns out, not all of my panelists could attend but "Tweeting the Revolution: How Hip Hop Transformed 140 into 360" was, nonetheless, an excellent panel---and videotaped and live streamed just for you!

I felt the need to frame our conversation (because unlike Slate, I KNOW Black people are not a monolith), so I wrote up an introduction (which was a gamble), that proved to be quite fruitful and elicited major response from attendees. And it's funny because I was in my room typing up the last edits and trying to add some of my favorite Tweeters' names and folks who had answered my questions prior to the panel, so I am glad I did the intro. During the run down, comedian and co-panelist, @ElonJames White (This Week in Blackness) tweeted "@drgoddess is giving a State of the Black Twitterverse speech". Hilarity.

I promised to provide it for you in written form---and I shall. Oh yes. I shall. <-----[Melodramatic repetition included for ultimate effect and to inspire shivering due to fright and/or impending doom}

In the meantime, for the mainstream and those trying to figure out Black people on Twitter...

Jesus Be a Brain and a Human Heart.

(Special Thanks to @Punch_VJ @EbonyStarr55 and @Vizionheiry for the links!)

Wyclef for President of Haiti?! NAW!

Well! What a difference a day and a filing of election papers makes, yes? Whew! The dialogue has been off the charts about Wyclef Jean running for President of Haiti. Did you see his arrival and welcome in Haiti, yet? Look no further!:



While we were gone, I thought of 10 facts that should be clarified about Wyclef but I will save that. Instead, I will give you the Top Ten Criticisms I have read, heard or seen for why Wyclef should NOT be the President of Haiti. I am still excited about his candidacy but here goes:

1."Wyclef couldn't keep The Fugees together." Lauryn's mad at him. Pras isn't even endorsing him and if he couldn't keep his own band united, what makes him think he can unite the country enough to take it into the 21st century? For me, this is the funniest and probably the most irrelevant criticism. If Wyclef ran the predatory music industry, then I might be able to concur but since he doesn't, I can't.

2. "Wycelf did a bad job with the books for his charity foundation, Yele Haiti, so he shouldn't be in charge of Haiti". This past January, months after the earthquake hit Haiti and after Wyclef was on television fundraising for Yele Haiti, The Smoking Gun published an article claiming impropriety and illegal activity. Clef hadn't filed taxes for 3 years (turns out, if you've not made money during the first 3 years of your non-profit organization, you did not have to file taxes. They have since changed the rules. Darn you, Wyclef!). Still, it wasn't illegal. Further, TSG alleged that Clef's tax return showed payments to himself for a charity show he did (it was lazy book keeping) and later on, TSG accused him of paying off a mistress who was also an executive in the organization. None of these accusations have been proven, to this day and the media became suddenly silent. You know what that means, when they accuse you on the front page and then print the retraction in a tiny box on the backpage. Just shameful. In any event, there are still doubts out there and many of Wyclef's critics are saying just to be in this situation, to do a sloppy job with one's own charity demonstrates one's inability to run a country---and certainly the budget. I agree with the latter but not the former but let me stay focused here. The mistress question leads me to:

3. "Wyclef is a Lothario who has demonstrated bad judgment and bad character." I certainly can't deny this. We all know the story of Lauryn & Wyclef by now and if you haven't heard, then listen to the song, "X Factor" off of the album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. For the record, I still love Lauryn and I blame Wyclef for this. But as Warren Buffet says, "every saint has a past and every sinner has a future." Besides, let me know if a hungry Haitian gives a damn about Wyclef's infidelities if his belly's full. That's how we felt about Bill Clinton and our economy, right? Right. Let's stop being so hypocritical here. But I digress...

4. "Wyclef supported the coup with his Uncle Raymond" (currently the U.S. Ambassador to Haiti---or is that the reverse?), who also supported it, against democratically elected Jean Bertrand Aristide, still presently in exile in South Africa. Now, I don't exactly know what "supported" means in this case but perhaps you should listen to this interview Wyclef gave with Davey D in 2004 and let him explain how he felt about Aristide.

5. "Wyclef supports Bill Clinton." Ooookay, so did/does the majority of African America and for far less than bringing business and tourism (which translated into millions of dollars) to a country we own. Hell, we like Bill Clinton for playing the saxophone and eating McDonald's and had the nerve to call him the first Black President. Now that we have Barack Obama, aren't you ashamed of yourself for thinking so low of us? Tsk. First Lady Michelle Obama replaced McDonald's with the first, organic Whitehouse garden and Barack doesn't sing, dance or play an instrument. Thank God!

But back to Bill. Supposedly, Bill Clinton wants to turn Haiti into a neocolonial business venture for himself and the U.S., paying $1 - $2 per hour for Haitians to work in factories and to engage in tourism. It's all relative. If $1 - $2 an hour is the equivalent of minimal wage in the U.S. and it can provide food, clothing and shelter, it might not be so bad, especially to get the country up and running and remain "open for business" as Wyclef said.

This is an ongoing debate. On the one hand, brilliant Civil Rights Historian and friend to Bill Clinton, Taylor Branch offers this analysis he presented in 1994. And on the other hand, this is a scathing criticism of Bill Clinton's legacy in Haiti.

I know we all want to revel in ideological perfection but, my people, we are dealing with people who are destitute but still prideful, illiterate but still trying. If the Haitian people are okay with this general set up, then please let them shape their lives as they see fit. If they are NOT okay, then let us raise our voices and assist in the best manner we can. Until then, it would be great to hear from some economists about the best path with which Haiti should take.

6. Sean Penn is upset with Wyclef because, as he said on Larry King Live (hosted by Wolf Blitzer that evening), he has not seen Wyclef around much, he was appalled by the "vulgar" display of large vehicles rolling (undoubtedly Hip Hop style) through Haiti, he wants to know where $400,000 of aid that allegedly came through Yele Haiti's hands have gone and stressed that Haiti doesn't need a social revolution built upon the cult of personality.

It appears as though Sean Penn has some real concern for Haiti, so I won't clown him for talking about the "vulgar" display of vehicles but he should understand that the people dream of precisely what they see on television and in ads from the country Penn represents---America, not Haiti. Media culture is America's greatest export and Sean Penn has been quite the beneficiary of the film industry, so I feel it's something called "you reap what you sow". If it's vulgar, it's vulgar because it's what our own hands have wrought and we sell American pipe dreams all across the world, so much so that everyone thinks Americans are rich. Obviously, since most of us are literate, we have running water, public housing and clothes on our backs, we ARE richer than the rest of the world but the gaudy display of spoils is misrepresentative and certainly not Wyclef's fault. I won't pin that on him for the people wanting to see such a display themselves.

I also found Sean Penn's unwillingness to address the class disparity and signifying involved in that "vulgar" display to be rather interesting. In any event, Wyclef responded to Sean Penn, stating:

It is unfortunate that Sean Penn is unaware of Wyclef's magnificent commitment to the people of Haiti and his independence.  His campaign has nothing to do with corporate or special interests and everything to do with his calling and belief he can lead and make a difference.  Some of Mr. Penn's comments seemed so out of sorts that those close to Wyclef worried about Mr. Penn, who has also done important, life-saving, inspirational work for the people of Haiti. This is a time to think productively about solutions and long-term strategies to rebuild, not to insult anyone who dares to care.  Haiti needs everyone to collaborate for a 21st century safe, productive nation..

 That actually sounds like an answer from Wyclef's PR team but I'll take it!

7. Many Haitian Americans aren't satisfied with the idea of Wyclef as President of Haiti. I'm getting a lot of pushback from Haitian Americans about Wyclef running and it's understandable. Many Haitian Americans also have dreams for a better Haiti, came to the U.S. for better opportunities and with staunch intentions to assist their beloved homeland. I get that. I also get that there is a great level of debate regarding what ex-pats are doing throughout the Diaspora, how much they are or are not sharing and why the brain drain remains consistent in Haiti. So, I don't know. I enjoy hearing from Haitian Americans, though and I intend to keep an even closer eye on Haitians who will be voting. It's important to see, hear and feel what the people want whose lives will be most affected by the election.

8. "Wyclef is just a rapper who thinks he's in a Hip Hop video. He's an opportunist of the worst sort." This is probably the weakest argument against Wyclef. As a rich Haitian man who "made it" in America, Wyclef could do absolutely nothing, spout platitudes and continue to travel around the world making music and earning more millions. We should keep in mind that before Hip Hop became a curse word, we had (and still have) some great artists in the genre. Wyclef is one of them. Before Hip Hop was dumbed down by corporate media, Wyclef was reppin' for Haiti and policitizing his music, like most of the Old School. And before Hip Hop became synonymous with apathy, sloth, hedonism and narcissism, Wyclef, Pras and Lauryn emerged on the scene as a group called "The Fugees". You cannot make that up or recreate history. Their music was presented upon an historically collective platter, so eat that up if you can. Besides, he's not the only entertainer who has taken political office, get off his back.

9. "Wyclef is not educated enough." According to this article, Wyclef graduated from a Newark, NJ school with his high school diploma. Since he has not gone to college or earned any professional degrees, he is not qualified to be the President. I disagree with this assessment but I have heard it frequently. I find it elitist and inaccurate. Wyclef is not running to be the Secretary of Education for Haiti. As President, he can hire excellent staff and appoint persons to his cabinet whom are supremely educated and can pointedly map out an excellent plan to increase the literacy rate and prepare Haitians for the 21st Century. Why does he have to be a rocket scientist just to articulate the needs of the people? He doesn't. Let's move on to another criticism:

10. "Wyclef doesn't have enough experience". This pointed criticism is probably the most valid anyone can offer to Wyclef. Because, in truth, he doesn't have enough experience to just jump up and be the President. And if he does not intend to have an extraordinarily strong cabinet with persons who will support and challenge him when necessary, then he will be doing the country he claims to love, an incredible disservice.

There are 19 other persons who believe they can do a better job than Wyclef, including his own Uncle Raymond!!

I still believe in Wyclef. But I thought you should know there are at least 10 reasons why at least a cadre of other people are NOT excited about Wyclef's candidacy and potential win to become the President of Haiti. We must remember, however, to let the Haitians speak for the Haitians. Fas a Fas!