Part 2
 

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SATURDAY NOVEMBER 7, 2009
Discovery Green / 1500 McKinney St./ Houston, TX / 11am-3pm

A FREE INTERGENERATIONAL CELEBRATION OF HIP HOP, URBAN LIFE AND ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION

HOUSTON KICK OFF EVENT
RSVP HERE: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=169568978303

Featuring MC LYTE

* Live Graffiti-Making with GONZO247 of AEROSOL WARFARE

* Kid-Friendly Graffiti Workshops with CKC START STREET AND URBAN ARTS

*Soccer Games, Dancers, and More with YOUTH ADVOCATES

*Slam Poetry from META-FOUR HOUSTON and GREEN TEAM POETS Dance Performance from HAVIKORO

*Film Screening o f HOUSTON’S THIRD WARD STORIES

*Farmers Market with LAST ORGANIC OUTPOST

*Performance from THE GLOBAL MOVEMENT

* Music from DJ ILL-SET

Click here to view the embedded video.

Photos by eve rivera

Family! Take a moment to check out a weekend review in pictures… the architecture here is a mock of what we’ll be building at Life is Living on October 10

More blogs of the prebuild experience to come.

*Click on the images

Photo by cicciostoky

While we celebrate life, we also take time to remember those who are no longer with us. Death is part of life, but lately it’s gotten out of balance – too much death for too-short lives. One weekend this past summer, when there were 3 shootings in Oakland in less than a day, I was thinking: how does our generation remember the dead?

The Screen Printer

after Patricia Smith

Everyone I know

is looking for a job.

Or worried they will be

by next week.

It’s tough times, they say.

I say it’s been tough

around here for a long time.
Which isn’t bad for my business.
I studied economics for a year at Laney:

it’s all about supply and demand.

Demand for t-shirt memorials is high these days.

It’s tough times, they say.
My start-up costs were low.

No need for a storefront or ad space.

Just a computer, a printer, ink, the shirts.

And my cell of course.
I get the call.

It’s usually a brother or close friend.

The parents are too busy preparing

the suit, the flowers, the casket size.
This time it’s a cousin.

She tells me his name, how old he was.

I want to stop her there,
tell her that’s all I need.

But I’m the first person she’s talked to,

at least the first person who has to listen,

so she goes on.

She says he graduated from Tech last year,

all city-cornerback, about to start at State,

talked about opening a pet shop on Telegraph one day.

He was at school,

or the park,

or the bus stop,

I’m not really listening at this point.

All I make out is:

Wrong guy. Bullet. Cheek bone.
I take a breath, let her take several.

We agree on quantity and price;

it’s economy of scale, like anything else.

I give her my email so she can send the photo.

Just make sure his folks can tell it’s him.

I promise to do him justice,

wanting to offer her a hug or a discount,

but this is business.
Sitting on the porch,

I see another piece of mine

riding the chest of a boy

biking down the street.

I nod towards him, but he pedals away

without looking in my direction.

Good. Only my clients know me.
I see my shirts all over town.

They look fresh, never worn more than three months.

After that, it’s the back of the closet,

only to be taken out again if someone needs to find

my number on the tag to place another order.

Back in the lab,

I see the woman’s name in my inbox,

open the attached photo.
Damn. I know this one.

Seen him walking around in that football jersey,

always with a girl on his side and a smile on his face.

Seemed like a good kid, taking his time to enjoy life.

It’s a great photo she sent.

He’s laughing hard, hair lined up nicely,

wearing one of those graduation hats.

Gotta make sure not to crop that out.
I work for hours.

Sketch it out first,

add the different colors one run at a time,

make sure to put a piece of cardboard
inside the shirt so the ink doesn’t seep through.

The smell of burning polyester seeps into my skin.

Eventually, I turn out a first draft.

Or maybe it’s a last.
RIP in red,

then his name in yellow,

the photo,

1991-2009 in black.
I email her, saying she can

pick up the box tomorrow morning.

Just in time for church.
A new message pops into my inbox,

asking if I give discounts

for two faces, front and back.

It’s tough times, they say.

I take the shirt out back to dry,

make sure the ink doesn’t bleed off his face.

A note about the cost of dying…

Right now, my grandmother is fighting down the cost of living.

In a mirrored hall of financial cycles, I am her bridge out of troubles the way she was for my parents 30+ years ago. On this globally warmed, deathly hot Florida August afternoon, I sit at her table, my son nearby. I watch with wonder…her every motion an epigraph of the body I will come to occupy; gray eyelashes, retired nurse’s hands, the critical, sharp corners of her mouth turning upward, easily, playful and luminous…

I must say it kinda freaks me out to visit my grandmother.

Somewhere in the midst of the love in this visit, is a silent, neon, implicit flaw in the premise of tomorrow’s promise…

And so I trip…

Cuz I am physically fit and ALSO keenly aware of the ways I am physically reaching away from my youth. Being around my 94 year old grandma is an unsettling reminder to maybe get right with God instead of lingering on the numbing tastes of the flesh…

I am safe, and spooked in the company of the aging, smell my youth’s sense of immortality slipping away on the sweat of my skin. My new york-set internal clock begins to slow. I remember I have so much left to do…and so little time…so little time…

Today my elder needs me.

My grandmother bought her home.

Her bank will not re-up at the end of her 5-year, real estate bubble, fucked up loan.

Always paid her bills on time.

She’s 94, the banks are discriminate in taking their time to decline.

The country eats its young and leaves its elderly in the summer heat to spoil…

…and the real bug out is…

If Congress fails to act on health care reform, it will be 20 times less expensive for me to buy my grandma’s house then it will be provide health care for her or  ANY ONE in my family. 62% of all bankruptcies last year were due to folks incurring unsustainable health care costs. 1.5 million families go into foreclosure every year due to unaffordable health care costs…

my grandma is a vigorous and VITAL 94.

Feisty.

On this august day, we look at one another from across the table, silently chewing on an endgame, active in a fierce tug of war between life and debt…

Despite the complex web of health and finance, the fear of dying reminds me that life is living…

Reminds me of the murdered youth we marched to remember in Chicago last month…

Kids who probably didn’t have an opportunity to see the reaper coming before getting sickled from behind between classes…In Chicago, we focused Life is Living on the art and activity that sustains our communities…soccer, dancing, visual art, music, biking, poetry, food, gardening…we framed the day in such a way that we could all agree that just as energy consumption is an environmental issue, elder care is an environmental issue.

Sustaining the planet INCLUDES sustaining enough humanity to recognize the basic right to age in peace, without literally worrying to death about a place to live…

The blueprint of our geological accountability is ACTUALLY imbedded in our sociological accountability. A people empathetic enough to care for one another’s physical and mental health, is thusly compassionate enough to assure the safe passage of our planet to future generations

As we seek to mirror the success of the Chicago Life is Living event (big UP Kuumba Lynx), I am settled into the very personal terms of celebrating urban life in this time of economic downturn. Planning for the Oakland Life is Living leads me into the West Oakland Senior Center, and the Public Library on 18^th and Adeline, both of which border our event site, DeFremery Park. I want folks coming out of either building to be at home in the park on October 10. More than that, I want each to find home in one another…

like a grandson bearing a burden for the one who bore him life…

like a newborn finding herself in her grandfather’s eyes…

please stay tuned as we chronicle this pathway to environmental sustainability…

the path is built by and FOR people, with an emphasis on future classic traditions, and in celebration of the LIVES we LIVE… holistically fighting for financial, physical, and social health…

urban…

red…black…green…and blue…

more soon…

Part of the 12th annual Brave New Voices International Youth Poetry Slam Festival. For more info visit http://www.bravenewvoices.org/

Click here to view the embedded video.

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FREE TO PUBLIC

RSVP HERE

Riverside Theatre, The Living Word Project, MAPP International, Mighty4 and Samurai Graphix present:

Cultural Animators Series EARTH (H)OURS presents Life is Living

A public outdoor installation to catalyze deeper thought and community action around the value of life and our relationship to our planet.

Featuring:

The Estria Invitational Living Word Graffiti Battle
The Mighty 4 B Boy Battle hosted by Paulskeee

Performances by:
*Kurtis Blow’s Hip Hop Choir (www.myspace.com/kurtisblow3)
*Brave New Voices Green Team (www.bravenewvoices.org)
*Grace Kelly Jazz Quartet (www.gracekellymusic.com)

The Estria Invitational Graffiti Battle & Mighty 4 Break Battle hosted by Paulskeee
hosted by Marc Bamuthi Joseph

Visual artists will create environmentally themed, graffiti style tags with the word “lifE” on a 8X10 foot canvas. E in life = Energy, Environment, Ecology, Economy. 16 of the New York area’s most talented artists will compete for the crown in a live, one-day painting competition. Winner will be flown to Oakland in October to compete in the Finals, plus receive $500 cash (total $3000 value).

The USA’s 1st Ever Nationwide Graffiti Battle!
Part I: Harlem, NY
Part II: Honolulu, HI May 29-30
Part III: Chicago, IL July 18
Part IV The Finals: Oakland, CA October 10

Judges:
1. Tatu Xmen
2. Wane One COD
3. Mare 129
4. Doc TC5
5. Estria

Contestants (confirmed to date):
1. Bounce, TYS, winner of last 2 yrs.
2. Keo FC
3. Dezo TC5
4. Vik TD4
5. Vogue TDK
6. Cern One YMI
7. Demer Wallnuts

Featuring:

• Mighty4 Break Battle hosted by Pauskeee (with cash prizes)

• JamesTOP Blackbook Battles, one for 18 & under, another for over 18

• Live performances by Kurtis Blow & Hip Hop Choir, Brave New Voices Green Team, Riverside Inspirational Choir, Grace Kelly Jazz Quartet

• Learn about Bamboo Bicycles Demonstration, Riverside Youth Greenhouse Project, Harlem Green Mappers, The Earth Institute, WE ACT

Generously supported by Doris Duke Charitable Fund, NY Culture, New Heritage Theatre Group, The Earth Institute, American Eagle Outfitters, and Montana Colors North America Inc.

Partners

About Riverside Church
The Church seeks to be a community of faith. Its members are united in the worship of God known in Jesus, the Christ, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The mission of the Church is to serve God through word and witness; to treat all human beings as sisters and brothers; and to foster responsible stewardship of all God’s creation. www.theriversidechurchny.org

About Life Is Living
A national campaign that uses a new form of green spoken story telling — one that represents the diverse and changing perspectives on what it means to be environmentally just. This campaign seeks to inspire people to take the value they see in their LIFE, and establish it powerfully as a new voice to define what it means to be logistically and psychologically included in the new, clean and green economies. Life is worth living, and Living is Green. www.lifeisliving.org

About Paulskeee & Mighty 4
Mighty4 started in 1998 and is now the premiere presenter of break battles in 30+ cities worldwide. The annual 3-day San Francisco Mighty 4 brings in thousands of attendees to unify and preserve the four cornerstones of Hip Hop culture: Emceein’, Writin’ (aerosol art), DJin’, and Breakin’ (a.k.a. Breakdancing / Streetdance). Mighty 4 provides professional to amateur dance competitions, Emcee/Turntablist performances, dance workshops, town hall Hip Hop discussion panels, Graffiti writing exhibitions, 21+ night club preparties & afterparties, free BBQ park jams, and urban vendor market places.

Paulskeee, a B-boy and former President Rock Force Crew (1994-2008), went on to lead the veteran Bay Area crew to its first world title at the 1998 Battle Of The Year World Championship and was a finalist in 1999 (The last USA B-boy crew to win the world title since 1998). In 2000 Paulskeee and Cros 1 of Freestyle Session founded the USA’s first ever B-boy Crew Breakin Championship, Out For Fame, igniting the Breakin competition circuit nationwide. www.mighty4.com

About Estria & Samurai Graphix
Samurai Graphix is a custom screen print shop in San Leandro, CA run by Estria. Estria began spray painting in Hawai’i in 1984 and has since painted hundreds of murals. As an influential leader of San Francisco’s “Golden Age” of graffiti (1980´s), he pioneered painting techniques of characters and scenes. He is one of the originators of the stencil tip, used by graffiti writers to create thin airbrush-like lines. Estria co-founded Visual Element, the EastSide Arts Alliance´s free mural workshop that develops youth into the voice of the people. In 2007 Estria and Jason Mateo founded the Estria Invitational Graffiti Battle. www.estria.com

Resources:

Re-Use This Blog:
http://www.lifeisliving.org

Learn Green:
Riverside Youth Greenhouse Project
http://www.citylimits.org/content/calendar/event_view.cfm?calkey=10278&borough_id=1

Harlem Green Mappers
http://www.greenmap.org/greenhouse/resources/story_intro/harlem00

The Earth Institute
http://www.earth.columbia.edu/sections/view/9

Bamboo Bikes Demonstration
http://bamboobikeproject.wordpress.com/page/2/

WE ACT
http://www.weact.org/