dylan digits

small axes for big trees

Agnostic Atheism: The revolutionary idea that we don’t know everything

navigatethestream:

thalamtnafsee:

jewishatheist:

atheismforthewin:

…And that making shit up is not a valid answer.

I’ve got nothing to add.

I’m Muslim and yet I acknowledge that I don’t know everything; making things up is not a valid answer, yes. #Shh. 

also there are plenty of religions which preach the principle of being “comfortable with uncertainty” 

not knowing everything is not really a brand spanking new concept to atheism in the slightest 

#team know some theology before you diss and dismiss it 

preach.

For that Daughters of Dilla contest. 

For that Daughters of Dilla contest. 

who’s got his own

guerrillamamamedicine:

and in thinking about black cool. 

i am thinking towards the argument, well, the reason that new world black culture has become globally ‘cool’ is because the us is a global empire.  hell, its THE global empire. 

but i think its more nuanced than that.  in part i think that the reason that the us *is* the global empire is in part because of its dissemination of black cool. 

because i would argue that the us was not a global empire until after ww2.  and for the next 40 years there were two global empires, ussr and the us.  and the ussr tried valiantly to create a culture that would spread over the globe.  they created new art forms, new musical genres, new dances, even. that shit barely caught on…

but even before the fall of the ussr, hell, even before ww2, black cool was the definition of cool in european uber-cities like berlin and paris.   and after ww2, black cool became one of the most dominant definitions of cool globally. 

i mean the word ‘hip’ (and thus hipster) is a wolof word, brought to the new world by slaves and then percolated in us black culture for a couple of hundred years before arriving in urban (racially mixed) areas.  (and to this day hipsterism is the appropriation of black cool…)

and i feel like i am overstating my case, but even hajj malik el shabazz aka malcolm x spoke about the appropriation of black cool. 

and i see it.  daily.  wherever i go.  black cool staring me in the face.  whether it’s egyptian hip hop.  or some white berliner explaining how they aren’t afraid to use the word ‘nigger’.  or an afro-european talking about how jazz is ‘our’ music not ‘theirs’.  or one more majority white non-violent action group quoting king.  or a white radical activist with his fist in the air. and the dreadlocks on white folks (which is not a reference to us black culture, but is a reference to new world black culture…)

and  here’s the thing, i get it.  i think black cool is the cool too.  come on, yo, you cant deny that blacks define a certain laid back cool.  we make survival look effortless.  no one wants to be us, but damn, a whole lot of people want to pretend like, maybe, they could be us. 

i should end this with a hip hop quote.  and i could, there are plenty that speak to this very subject.  but instead i’ll say, them that’s got shall get, them that’s not shall lose, so the bible says, and it still is true. 

mama may have, papa may have, but god bless the child who’s got his own. 

(via so-treu)

Anonymous asked: Could you point me to the essay on polyamory you mention in the 6 Apr. 2012 post? It sounds really interesting.

It’s been a while, but I’m pretty certain I was referring to Renata Sacecl’s book Tyranny of Choice (I think the U.S. release shortened the title to simply Choice). Unfortunately I can’t find my copy to double-check. I would start there; the book is inexpensive on Amazon and can possibly be found in your local library.

OK seriously last video for tonight. But you know, Lady Saw, I can’t say no. Honey can’t stand reggae and dancehall so here I am with the volume to 11 while she’s out of town. 

blackamazon:

karnythia:

blackamazon:

so-treu:

Juvenile - Ha

and see, this is why it sets my teeth to itching, the idea that african american culture is something you can get, or can be picked up easily through MTV Base or whatever sets my teeth to itching. that it is an at all appropriate or easy thing to do. listen to how he talks. listen to that accent. listen to the references and the rhetorical devices. look at how he moves.  and we can sit and trace the foundations and influences back to somewhere, africa, but this shit right here is african american. this shit is the result of processes and practices that were unique to america, and in this case unique to new orleans. like, there’s a reason hip hop was created in america, and it matters.

MAAAAAN !!!!

Listen people get hell mad at me when I say there is a NECESSITY at looking at southern rap as it’s own beast as it’s influences are hugely more Creole /Afro-Latin based than Northern West Indian influenced rap……

There is a good damn reasons why southern rap blew up when it did and why it has certain beats and inflections… MAn look

Now you’re going to get me talking about Chicago & hip hop that is rooted in beats  foot working & women’s voices. And how, despite the hype we have a sound that is both influenced by the voices of those who migrated & that predates them & reaches back to the first settlers here & includes beats that came from intermarriage & interdependency with NDN’s. There’s a reason Common got on & stays on, that Kanye gets the shine that he does & how that has everything to do with the Black Belt & the development of Chicago’s uniquely segregated culture.

But then I’d have to talk bout Chicagos particularly specific class structure and zoning

( or why Kanye’s College Proffessor mom who took him to China and Europe repeatedly could still live in the hood but be bus rides from two of America’s to colleges)

and the Great Migration and how money and cultural capitol influenced Chicago and Detroit specifically …….

Being from the midwest myself I would read and read and read whatever you had to say on that subject. Because Chicago and Detroit? Kinda the most important cities in my music pantheon. 

Also, and perhaps most importantly…. but certainly for early morning “last one on the floor” moments.

Well so far my 2012 summer playlist consists of house music from the 90s. I’m doing this wrong. *checks manual*