A.D. Wright's Blog, page 5
February 11, 2013
Passion vs. Pay: What would you do if money didn’t exist?
Anyone who knows me personally has most likely listened to me rant about passion vs. pay. I struggled with the often competing ideas of Capitalism vs. Altruism. The inspirational video below is an exert from a speech named ‘Career Advice’ by Alan Watts. Watch and comment.
January 31, 2013
The Wanderer by S. Marisol
I’ve come to think the best writers are wanderers. They stroll blissfully through the mind on an unprovoked quest to find their way through a story, to the end. Each turn is a new beginning, each person a new twist, each thunderstorm a Segway to a new segment of a tale. And the vagabond who galavants through the corridors of the mind, connecting all the dots with glee and then leaving each memory behind, is a truly joyful soul.
He wanders freely. He drinks in moments and spills their dregs upon each page to chronicle the past. He is without regret, chasing no passion and no dream. Instead, walking down memory lane only to share stories. Skipping into meadows of flourishing ideas and picking each, one by one, without a care in the world. He knows they will grow back. He soaks in their scent and all of their beauty and moves on, blowing the seeds of the dandelion so that other weeds may grow. He watches them blow in the wind and politely sighs as new seeds sow themselves into new stories and bloom.
The wanderer walks right into them. His actions are thoughtless and without consequence, but his scripts are strategic. They weave together the roads on which he has traveled to get here. He has no deep disdain or desire, no great ambition or end goal. He only wants to record that which is, and has been. He only wants to wander, to ‘be.’
-Sydney Marisol
January 8, 2013
Top ten most destructive movies for Black Culture
After thoroughly enjoying Django (twice), I started reading critic and movie-goer reviews. Some people seemed to be “outraged” by the use of the N-word. I immediately dismissed it as fashionable disapproval of a controversial topic, but it made me think about the films that actually had a negative impact on the ever-changing direction of African American Culture. Here’s my top ten list:1. Superfly (1972) -[the cool drug dealer] This was the first mainstream movie to glamorize the idea of the cool Black drug dealer. He as tough, well dressed, pretty women like him and the movie ended with him unscathed by his “haters.”
2. The Mack (1973) – [the pimp] Like Superfly, the Mack glorified the life of a pimp. This film was widely popular and has effected the minds of men for generations since it’s release. I recall seeing this movie in high school. The next day, I applied some of the “lessons” learned about controlling women’s minds. Needless to say… it worked. What should be mentioned is that years later I had to unlearn that crap to have healthy relationships with respectable women.
3. Scarface (1983) - [the god of gangsters] The idolized thug maxim, Scarface is about a immigrant who took no guff from anyone in his ruthless conquest of the Miami drug trade. The ideals in this movie have been romanced in popular Black culture to a near religious degree. I can envision a young underprivileged teenager watching this film and seeing it as the blueprint to a better life. I can’t prove it, but I’m pretty sure this movie has lead a lot of young men straight to prisons and funeral homes.
4. Birth of a Nation (1915) – [the savage] The undisputed most racist mainstream American film ever created. I don’t know where to begin… white actors in black face, the black characters are mindless rapist, the Ku Klux Klan are the heroes, and the movie was scene as a masterpiece at the time. It was the first motion picture to be shown at the White House and President Woodrow Wilson supposedly said the film was “like writing history with lightning. And my only regret is that it is all so terribly true.”
5. The Madea Collection (2005) - [the buffoon] It’s popularity is what makes it dangerous. If a robust variety of Black films existed, Tyler Perry’s movies would simply be an easily ignored or privately enjoyed sub genre of lighthearted buffoonery. Unfortunately, few Black movies have the impact and national distribution of Tyler Perry movies. I liken it to the difference between when the a family member laughs about his/her family dysfunction versus when an outsider laughs.
6. Soul Food (1997) – [the big mama] Soul Food is about a black grandmother, aptly named Big Mama, who demonstrates her love by feeding herself and her children unhealthy southern style food. After losing her leg to clogged arteries and eventually dying from her eating habits, her family reunites for a Sunday dinner to eat the same food that just killed Big Mama. No lesson was learned and no one thought to change his or her diet. The end… of us.
7. Hustle and Flow (2005) – [The rapper] This movie is sort of a modern combination of all the above films in an award winning burrito of stereotypes. I think the most detrimental part is the ending. Djay brutally assaults a popular musician, empowers one of his prostitutes to market his song “by any means necessary,” and becomes a hood legend / successful rapper for it. And the saga continues.
8. Precious (2009) – [the dysfunctional family] I think the chief film critic of The New York Press and the chairman of the New York Film Critics Circle said it better than I ever could. “Not since ‘The Birth of a Nation’ has a mainstream movie demeaned the idea of Black American life as much as ‘Precious,’ ” Mr. White wrote in his review. “Full of brazenly racist clichés (Precious steals and eats an entire bucket of fried chicken), it is a sociological horror show.”
“Black pathology sells,” Mr. White said in an interview. “It’s an over-the-top political fantasy that works only because it demeans Blacks, women and poor people.” – Armond White
9. Gone with the Wind (1937) - [the mammy] Another award winning travesty, the film features the quintessential broken grammar, dim witted, happy to help, subservient slave-like worker. In his Autobiography, Malcom X notes the deep shame he felt as a child. This stereotype has been repeated throughout films such as Driving Miss Daisy and the more recent film, the Help.
10. Dangerous Minds ( 1995)- [the uneducated] In this film, a white savior comes to the ghetto to civilize some uneducated Black and Latino savages. It’s a tale of racial inferiority and the inability for urban Black kids to compete with their suburban Caucasian peers. Hollywood has since made dozens of films just like this one to re-emphasis the stereotype.
Did I leave any films out? Do you disagree with my choices? Let me know.
December 20, 2012
[Review] Hoodwinked: A Documentary
The film begins asking passersby, “Name a positive stereotype about Black people?” Needless to say, they (including Howard University students) were stumped. The next question he asks sets the tone and reveals the premise for the documentary. Are there more Black men in college or in prison?The answer… in college! The national media and specialty media outlets like Ebony have all reported the contrary. Unfortunately, these “news” outlets did not fact check the study that originally reported that claim. The truth is 1.2 million Black men are in college and 841,000 in prisons. Furthermore, that 841k figure represents males of all ages, while college age is considered to be between the ages of 18 and 25 years old.
The film disabuses the audience of many of the misconceptions attained from the false facts and misleading statistics, including but not limited to, dropout rate, graduation rate, male to female ratio, marriage rates, etc.
Why do these negative, slanted statics exist? Money. In order for non-profits and special interest groups to get grants and sponsorship they have to seem like they are the solution to a compelling problem. In turn, they oversell the worst in order to do “good.”
Constantly bombarding young Black minds with negative statistics and stereotypes creates a self-fulfilling prophecy. Black kids grow up hopeless and are easily convinced to become the hoodlums the television, radio and their community told them they would be.
“They have scaled down their dreams to the level of their current experience.”
December 18, 2012
No Budget Marketing
In the fascinating worlds of low life pimping and high finance, there is a saying… more of a mantra. “Scared money don’t make money.” Basically, one must accept risk in order to reap rewards. But what if you don’t have any money? Luckily for you, it’s also commonly held that time equals money, and unless your dead and reading this from the beyond, you have some time. Using the transient property, we can conclude that spending your time being complacent or afraid is not a good use of time or a way to acquire wealth.
Being a great fan and admiring student of guerrilla marketing, I recently embarked on a quest to market my novel without exceeding my budget of “I’m living on my own, I owe tens of thousands in student loans, and I’m living check to check.” My journey began with the popular assumption to use social media because it’s free and everyone is on it. Yeah, its also free to walk outside and yell, “I have a book for sale!” Marketing on social media can be just as effective if you don’t have a strategy.
Strategy? How do you tailor a strategy for your widget in an ever changing market filled with people bombarded with millions of messages every minute? How do you standout without spending Superbowl ad money? How do I get you, someone I don’t know, to believe in me, someone you don’t know?
The answer is that there is no answer. There are, however, techniques taken from others’ trial and error attempts. Some will work for you and some may not, but all are low to no cost. Timing and positioning are critical aspects of any strategy especially marketing. First, you’ll have to really get to know your target market and their worldviews. This may take some effort, but using social media to “spy” on your target is free and easy. Just “follow” and watch. They will willingly and unknowingly tell you all about their worldviews, habits, and behaviors. Gotta love the Information Age!
Unfortunately, you’ll have to do your own research on some creative marketing tactics. I’m not crazy enough to admit to doing some of the legally ambiguous marketing tactics nor stupid enough to share the ingenious tactics I’ve found to slaughter my competition. I will say that I’ve found that the riskier the tactic, the more likely it is to have an impact. [Google: Banksy]
What’s worst that can happen? In most cases the worst thing that will happen is no one notices, which leaves you back at your starting point. If you decide to undergo a high risk marketing stunt, please take this advice with you – “If you’re not lucky, you better be smart.”
December 2, 2012
10 things I would do if I won the lotto
1. Find the childhood homes of my enemies, bulldoze it, and turn into a helipad. (When you’re rich, the people you don’t like are called enemies)
2. Buy a helicopter for my new helipads.
3. Buy a 100 acres in Tanzania, build some cottages and a farm. (For when World War III or the zombie apocalypse happens. No Country for Undead Men)
4. Buy ATV’s, shotguns, bullets, and an apparatus that launches melons for target practice (Can’t be to safe e.g. Zombieland)
5. Get the first paragraph of I Live: a novel without heroes tattooed on my chest. (Like the bible verses that everyone used to get back in the “I think I’m 2Pac” days)
6. Buy a swimming pool for the Tanzanian getaway and fill it with solid gold ball bearings. (I’m going to get my Scrooge McDuck on)
7. I’d film myself using the earlier mentioned melon launcher to skeet shoot alarm clocks. The title… “Killing Time’ Cause I’m Rich Bitch, an A.D. Wright Joint, Narrated by Morgan Freeman” (It’s like a Tribe called Quest. You have to say the whole thing. Yes, every time.)
8. Buy a beloved work of art and smash it to pieces while filming it for Youtube (I’m going to be bus driver uppercut famous)
9. Take a vacation to different “gentleman’s clubs” across the world and document my journey. (I’ll call it “Eat, Love you while I’m in town, Pay”)
10. Invest in whatever chemical is used to cut coke. (Scared money don’t make money!)
November 28, 2012
10 things I would do if I won the lotto
Yesterday my mom called me and urged me to buy a Powerball ticket. “It’s $500 million. You can’t win if you don’t play.” I sighed, and informed her that the odds of winning are worse than the odds of earning it. I don’t have actual numbers to substantiate my claim, but I’m pretty sure she’s not going to fact check me. (I learned it from watching Romney) That being said, I bought two Powerball tickets and began dreaming of what I would do if I won the lotto. Aside from giving money to family, friends, and charity, what would you do? Here’s my list…
1. Find the childhood homes of my enemies, bulldoze it, and turn into a helipad. (When you’re rich, the people you don’t like are called enemies)
2. Buy a helicopter for my new helipads.
3. Buy a 100 acres in Tanzania, build some cottages and a farm. (For when World War III or the zombie apocalypse happens. No Country for Undead Men)
4. Buy ATV’s, shotguns, bullets, and an apparatus that launches melons for target practice (Can’t be to safe e.g. Zombieland)
5. Get the first paragraph of I Live: a novel without heroes tattooed on my chest. (Like the bible verses that everyone used to get back in the “I think I’m 2Pac” days)
6. Buy a swimming pool for the Tanzanian getaway and fill it with solid gold ball bearings. (I’m going to get my Scrooge McDuck on)
7. I’d film myself using the earlier mentioned melon launcher to skeet shoot alarm clocks. The title… “Killing Time’ Cause I’m Rich Bitch, an A.D. Wright Joint, Narrated by Morgan Freeman” (It’s like a Tribe called Quest. You have to say the whole thing. Yes, every time.)
8. Buy a beloved work of art and smash it to pieces while filming it for Youtube (I’m going to be bus driver uppercut famous)
9. Take a vacation to different “gentleman’s clubs” across the world and document my journey. (I’ll call it “Eat, Love you while I’m in town, Pay”)
10. Invest in whatever chemical is used to cut coke. (Scared money don’t make money!)
November 12, 2012
Your life is killing you
While I was re-watching the Wire for the third time and a particular line struck me. “It’s not difficult to kill people who are already in the business of killing themselves.” I know… It’s a little dramatic. Even though the line refers to the murderous cycle of drug using and dealing, it is relevant to our seemingly mundane lives. Like the addict who pours poison in his lungs and veins to temporary escape his own realities, we have become addicted to the fast paced American lifestyle of greed, materialism and the quick win.
“The sum total of the habits of a man is his nature” – Bhagavad Gita
Simply stated, we are what we do. I asked in an earlier post, are you an accidental expert? The things we do repeatedly [read, watch, listen to and eat] become our expertise. Moreover, our environment becomes our expertise. We are experts on our family, our best friends, our favorite restaurant, our favorite music genre, our favorite TV show, etc.
Marketers have a great understanding of human behavior and have used this knowledge to herd the masses toward certain products, services or ideas. They aren’t going to waste their time and money attempting to change a groups view in order to sell a product. Instead, they match a products “benefits” with the group. Health food marketers search for people interested in a healthful lifestyle. Bail bonds marketers look for people interested in avoiding jail time. Basically, you will not find a a bail bonds commercial during a healthy cooking/living show nor will you find an ad for Wholefoods during a VH1 reality show.
What is the opportunity cost of spending our limited time on earth doing things, eating foods, and communing with people that may offer temporary escape and fleeting joy but cause us long lasting pain, sickness, and suffering in the end?
It seems like common sense to avoid the things that will make you sick and unhappy and embrace the things that will make you healthy. It also seems like common sense to someone who has never done PCP or Crack to not risk trying it. However if you ask anyone who lived in a highly affected area during a drug epidemic, you will hear him say, “everyone was doing it or it just seemed like the thing to do.” When everyone is doing something, [regardless of how insane or self destructive that thing is] our minds have a difficult time believing that thing can be wrong.
As highly social human beings, we have a strong biological urge to be mentally herded like sheep. It’s why we blindly believe people with credentials and idolize the rich and famous. The more sheep a shepherd has herded, the greater he must be.We trust that our shepherds will keep us safe and happy. They’ll tell us the best places to graze [shop] and the best path [attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors] to get there. Even if we know better, we convince ourselves that so many sheep [friends, family, community] cannot be wrong
“The mind is its own place, and in itself, can make heaven of Hell, and a hell of Heaven.” – John Milton
Our decisions, actions and intentions shape our lives. The foods we eat, friends we keep and the environment we choose to be in create our reality. We can choose to subscribe to a popular culture that honors destruction or we can choose to seek a better way of life.
After all, “It’s not difficult to save people who are already in the business of saving themselves.”
September 15, 2012
Cutting the junk out of your life
Foremost, this post was inspired by a conversation I had with my friend and mentor Coach Be coupled with watching the “Marley documentary”. Coach Be and I were talking about his passion for helping people eat better (these days getting people to do what is in their best long term interest is a hard sell.) A few hours later I happened upon Marley, an amazing and inspirational documentary about the most famous human being… ever. I asked myself, “What would Marley do?
Bob Marley lived for what he loved. He lived and died for the opportunity to spread his message of love and freedom to the masses through his music. As most people know, Bob was Rastafarian and as part of his “way of life/religion” he adhered to a Pesca-Vegetarian diet (fish is the only animal source of protein.) He believed that the body is God’s temple and should be kept as strong and healthy as possible.
He also held to the firm belief that if he could not dedicate himself totally to creating change for the better in his own way then life was not worth living at all. Anything that hindered, delayed or distracted his mission was simply moved aside. He lived simply and purposefully and will forever be known as one of the most influential musicians in history.
What could cutting out the junk do for your life?
August 28, 2012
Tipping Point of Hip Hop
Hip Hop has become a satire of itself. Don’t believe me? Try to make a hook/chorus-line that’s so outrageously ignorant that it’s funny. Did it sound something like the Billboard Top 5 rap songs for the week of Sept 1, 2012? Is it just harmless entertainment? Lupe Fiasco doesn’t think so and I agree.
Billboard Top 5 – Week of Sept 1
1. No Lie – 2 Chainz feat Drake (Song about money, drugs and sex)
2. Bag of Money – Wale feat Rick Ross, meek Mill & T Pain (money and sex)
3. Lemme See – Usher feat Rick Ross (sex and money)
4. Mercy – Kanye feat Big Sean, Pusha T & 2 Chainz (sex and money)
5. Amen – Meek Mill feat Drake (money and sex)
See a Pattern? Can you imagine how many times the top 5 songs are played in rotation on the radio?
Recently Lupe Fiasco released ‘Bitch Bad’(video embedded below). A satire on the satire. His lyrics warn about the danger in the bombardment of hedonistically themed music on society and culture.
These songs are marketing at its worst. By pandering to our lowest common denominator (the hood,) these song convince the unsuspecting public that obesity, frivolous spending, and self-loathing are healthy, wealth and wise. Weak-minded individuals, including impressionable children, absorb the images and lyrics in these rap videos and aspire to become the revered figures that everyone seems to admire. As sad as that is, it’s not the tipping point.
What is a tipping point?
Malcolm Gladwell defines a tipping point as “the moment of critical mass, the threshold, the boiling point.” His book, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, seeks to explain and describe the “mysterious” sociological changes that mark everyday life. As Gladwell states, “Ideas and products and messages and behaviors spread like viruses do.”
What’s hip hop’s tipping point?
Hip hop has always been boastful, but the tone of the No. 1 song, ‘No Lie’ is the small psychological change that will create mass sociological change. The boast has gone from “life is better with all of these luxuries” to “life is worthless unless you have all of these luxuries.” This slight change in the way information is presented has an enormous change on how hip hop’s audience views itself.
Example:
Recently there have been many albeit small uproars about natural hair vs. weaves and relaxers. Most natural hair advocates became alarmed when the tone of the hair conversation changed in the same way as and due to hip hop’s boasting. How damaging is it to the self esteem of a woman if she believes that her natural hair in its natural state is inferior and ugly? The mentality that Eurasian hair is prettier is kind of sad, but the mentality that African hair is shameful is cataclysmic.
This mentality that one’s natural state is inferior to a superficial one is the driving force behind high debt, dropout-rates, teen pregnancy and crime. Television, music, and peer pressure are proven to have a greater influence over an individual than any other force in his/her life. So the next time you’re singing “bands to make her dance,” keep in mind the effect that thought has on you and your community.
I’ll leave you with a line from No. 5 song ‘Amen.’
“Bottle after bottle until I overdose / Pull up in the Phantom watch them bitches catch the Holy Ghost / Every time I step up in the dealer I be goin’ broke / Shorty wanna fuck me I say get on top and roller cost… / I say Church, Preach, Amen.