Haven't written in a while

Starting today, I will blog everyday to get my thoughts out . I haven't written for a while now. So i am going to do my best to get in touch with my writing again. Feel free to give me feedback :)

Feeling Silly, Ambtious, Funnny, Weird..

Hello my Peoples,

So much has happened these past few months! Crazyness. I've experienced numerous blessings. Just to give yall a run down. I have several projects on that I have spent months working on that have or will be finally hitting air. 

First is the Garth Trinidad Project, which features Common and the Lovely beautiful Jill Scott, and the hot up and coming duo J*Davey. It will air hopefully sometime next month. The link is listed, if you look below. Or when you get a moment just go to my profile and it will immediately play there. www.current.com/people/spiral9 

I also have another piece called Cuddle Party that is also on Current TV Rotation, Peep it when you get a moment :)

I'm back in Los Angeles, for some of you that didn't know I moved to San Francisco for a cool minute. But now I'm back ready for some action, get some big things poppin :) 

I've decided that I will continue leaving updates on this blog. I know I've been terrible, but honestly i totally forgot my password. I finally was able to retrieve it. Woohoo for me!

Portrait of Tania

Check out my girl Anju: She did this amazing portrait of me in oil painting and marker. She's truly amazing!

Her link is: http://www.myspace.com/bluewingfairee

Slavery Still Exists

Slavery Still Exists? Freedom Still Exists?

Why do people ignore Slavery, when it exists? It could be mainly because slavery is not thrown in our face everyday. For me witnessing slavery first hand in my face changed my entire outlook on the world. Suburban America puts you in a bubble where you aren’t exposed deliberately to dire situations in the developing world. I do believe slavery exists in America also; it’s just not as explicit.

In developing countries slavery is everywhere; it’s so bad that it can’t be hidden.

Slavery

You go outside for a stroll in a Rickshaw, and slavery is right there watching you through a blind man’s half empty voiceful eyes—sadly, he was just begging for food, not money. The Rickshawallahs also suffer from a type of slavery. Most Rickshawallas are young men who moved from the rural areas to make money in the cities. Due to malnutrition and excessive driving of heavy loads of people…they suffer immensely and die within ten years. I also saw slavery in the markets outside: young boys running to carry your groceries home. You ask them how old they are, and they don’t even know. I can’t believe I come from such an ageless society. A world where my people, don’t even have records of their history…Isn’t that slavery? Jobless, uneducated, impoverished nations have the most slaves…

Slavery Business:

In Bangladesh Slavery is seen as a business. Much of the poor don’t have access to food, and shelter so they travel to middle class/upper middle class homes for some type of stability. 90% of these cases are women. It’s a very grim reality because they have to choose between working for food or prostitution. The men possess competitive advantage in this situation for they can seek work other areas due to their freedom. The slave/master relationship in this case is very unique. Being a silent observer and watching the relationships first hand, I learned that two emotions really exist in this world: fear and love. Begging is a business…I saw many of the beggars with broken limbs communicating with each other through body language indicating which person is giving more or less money. I also learned that the Beggars cut a percentage from their “pimps” who run the streets they should work on..

Forced Slavery: Poverty forces women to be sex slaves. The parents usually are tricked into giving their daughters away, for they think they are giving their children a better life. The Cyclon SIDR for instance took the homes of many people, leaving room for many traffickers to come in and take women…

Slavery is different today. According to Kevin Bales (an extraordinary author on Slavery) two shifts have occurred. Today the price of human beings have collapsed, which has caused people to become disposable. We live in a world of 32 billion disposable people. Freedom can benefit an economy. We can work bottom up or town down.

Kevin broke it down simply. Freedom in a poor family in India would mean just $130.00. Freedom for a poor boy in Ghana would only take $400.00…If we calculate a grand total, it would cost 10.8 Billion (Which is what American’s spend on organic food per year) The return in investment would be $21.6 billion.

Slavery is an economic crime used to make money through targeting at the poor. Do you want to live in a world of slavery? Take initiative educate yourselves!! Why don’t we care? I don’t get it…

www.freetheslaves.net

Vote My People!

MAKTUB

In this world there is always one person waiting for another, be it in the middle of the desert, or in the middle of a big city. And when those two people pass each other and their eyes meet, past and future lose all importance and the only thing that exists is that moment and the incredible certainty that everything under the sun was written by the same hand, the hand that awakens Love, and that makes a twin soul for everyone who works, rests, and sees treasure under the sun. Without this our human dreams would make no sense. ~Maktub~* IT WAS WRITTEN*

Pizza Hut South Asian Style

Walking into the South Asian Pizza Hut was a very interesting experience. Pizza Hut is considered to be one of the most glamorous restaurants in South Asia. In fact the one in Bangladesh happens to be the largest one in South Asia. I remember at ten going to Pizza Hut in the states,. I'd simply order my food to go to eat at home. The Pizza Hut in Bangladesh however does not have that "fast food" pace to it.

Upon my entrance, a guard opened the door, and a flute player greeted us with his music. With the impacts of globalization, I expected the food to have a syncretic feel to it. I wanted to see "chicken masala pizza" or naan sticks, yet the impact of soft power has hit South Asia full force with Pizza Hut. In fact, the pizza tastes as same as the food in the states.

There were many formalities involved. I sat down with my family, and we discussed what we were going to eat. It was huge deal. The waiters were very well dressed with their pizza hut outfits, and I had my menu in hand. We ended up ordering a "vegetarian pizza."

The food was mediocre...I managed to try and enjoy it. I kept thinking about the power of homogenization. It’s striking to see the influence of the west in the East. The funniest part of this experience was listening to Snoop, and Justin Timberlake. There was this artificial bubble created for the foreigners to adjust to the chaotic environment. It was a place to hide. I didn’t like it. I didn’t want to hide. I know I didn’t fit in. But I enjoyed not fitting in. I saw lots of white people there. There was also Pizza Etiquette there. We had to eat with a fork and knife, and the waiter continuously came to our tables to make sure everything was okay. My waiter in particular was very happy to wear his Pizza Hut outfit.

We sat, ate, listened to the commercialized hiphop and left. Upon leaving the flute player continued to play his music. The streets were the same, and I was out of "the bubble." **Sigh**