Gutterfly: the Original Soundtrack

Yesterday, Portland's finest, the Lifesavas dropped Gutterfly: the Original Soundtrack. I can immediately say that this concept album has not only a smoother listening flow than Spirit in Stone, but the production of the individual songs are far more complete. Spirit in Stone was like most debut albums for gifted hip-hop artists: a collection of excellent songs. With Gutterfly, JUMBO, Vurs, and Shines have given themselves the extra challenge of telling a story in film format, with only songs. They take on alter-egos throughout, but remain true to the essence of their hip-hop chemistry. Through only one listen, I heard references to Public Enemy, Tupac, Wu-Tang Clan, and many other lesser-known MCs. They don't bring in any other Quannum MCs which is odd, but they do have a wide collection of other underground stars like dead prez and Smif 'N Wessun. They even bring in Seattle's own Jake One to produce a few tracks, and if we know Jake One it is probably from his work on Gift of Gab's 4th Dimensional Rocket Ships Going Up, or his recent work with E-Real as Universoul. If you are an early fan of hip-hop this album probably wasn't made for you. I feel it was probably made for hip-hop heads, heads enveloped with headphones, hands busy scratching out hopeless rhymes, feet tapping to the snare. But it's great listening--so give 'er a spin!

The Lifesavas are celebrating their album release in Seattle on May 9th, at Neumo's. While Neumo's isn't exactly my favorite venue, the Lifesavas put on a great show (I've seen them twice) and it should be a ton of fun. There is a 21+ bar area and an all-ages area too, so everyone should come down with us and get crazy!

First Response to the Manifesto

04.16.2007

I've just begun reading An Emergent Manifesto of Hope, and already have been struck deeply--only one chapter and 32 quickly-consumed pages in. I sit, though shaking, in the East Holly Street downtown Bellingham Starbucks. They keep brewing Gold Coast, and I keep coming in to drink it.

Part One of my new book is written by Mark Scandrette ("a writer, spiritual teacher, executive director of ReIMAGINE"). He writes quite prophetically that as the Emerging friendship progresses, we must seek a deeper friendship than that which we've surely been left unsatisfied with. We need to have a more "Jesus friendship." He recognizes the mis-interpretations, mis-representations, and even the mis-givings and mis-guidedness of people who make up the Emergent conversation, while still clinging to the hope that their confusion, "lost-ness," and awkwardness will somehow bear a variety of good fruits in a world that we are all slowly recognizing is taken for granted and as a beautiful creation of God, deserves our true "Jesus friendship." Scandrette only skims over the current state that the Emergent conversation is born from and surely is a response to. This is probably best, bcause most of us interested are most likely critical and cynical to a fault. His no doubt conscious choice to move on with his submitted essay recognizes this over-critical nature of his audience, friends, and probably himself. I can only hope that any contributions and conversations I facilitate can do the same. Progress, in a progressive way, to the deep, tragicomic hope that Jesus allows us to have.

I have only recently felt interested in hosting "conversations" that cultivate a healthy, conscious awareness of how Christians are changing, and how we must change in the midst of such a chaotic culture. I am convicted to facilitate dialogue(s) among my peers that demand a more conscious approach to the language we employ to express our emotions, tell our stories, and flesh out our spirituality. Shedding language that contributes to the sterility of our faith can be the catalyst for shedding ourselves of anything else that deters us from a more genuine approach to God. I find that most of us are trying very, very hard to read the "right books," attend religiously the "right church," pray aloud the "right words," vote for the "right candidates/political party," have the "right friendships," the "right marriage," feel the "right way" about the "right controversies" and issues, pursue the "right degrees" that lead to the "right jobs," give the "right amounts" to the "right organizations/causes," and all with the "right attitude" and "right reflection" of God. That is just too much pressure. When submitted to that kind of pressure, one knows that he or she is bound to fail, and from that fear, we allow a shallow defensive pride to represent us to the world that we falsely accuse of pressing this weight upon us. So we tell everyone we know what book we read last (with little to say about it except that it was either "so good" & "you should read it," or that it was "not that great"), or that they should really come check out the church we idly attend, put bumper stickers on our vehicles that boastfully associate us with some politician we've never met (much less shared a meal with), subtly interject the fact that we tithe in to otherwise spiritual discussions, portray ourselves as missional renegades in money-hungry career fields, all the while casually sipping a latte, surfing the web, scrolling on our ipods, and feeling like we really ought to be reading our bibles.
We work and work and work, foolishly deceived into believing deeply that what God really wants us to be is tireless, relentlessly optimistic busybodies with an appreciation for our privilege but a secondary desire to share the privileges to anyone not born with such luck. True, serving out of conviction and the idea of potential shame is incomplete service. But perhaps we all need to start somewhere, and this is where the privileged class enters the age-old internal debate of what "service" is.

Do we know what God desires of us? Can we know, and translate that in to a tangible orthopraxy? Our bible only provides stories of how our ancestors responded to these critical internal wrestlings. We have to leave those in their own contexts. The only case in which we get to see an example of how God practiced life was of course, through the example of Jesus. Jesus responded to the Roman Empire and it's societal misgivings by having many conversations that sought manifestations of Truth, shared meals with the powerful & the powerless, and eventually accepted that his prayers and actions both would be held under the soveriegnty of his father, God. Jesus did not respond with pride, "right practice" alone, or monasticism. Nor mere criticism or righteous anger. Surely he employed these things in his time, but always understanding that all comes from God, and all shall return to God. So he refused to work to be right, and instead worked to honor the Truth by spreading it, one person, one meal, one conversation at a time. Let's look at this example, strip down all else, and let's do it now.

-hvc

Devendra + LB + Killa Bees = Kick-ass Bumbershoot

I was excited to read Bumbershoot 2007's partial lineup released last week! As always there is a decent mix of artists from various genres, including some of my favorites. Lyrics Born, straight out of Oakland, CA will be performing--here's to hoping he gets some of the other Quannum guys in the door, too--those could be some crazy shows. I saw him a while back at Neumo's in Seattle and he definitely is worth the price of admission.

Much to my surprise, the nine-and-only Wu-Tang Clan will be there. How many of them will actually show up o the day of is highly questionable, but for the reigning supergroup of New York hip-hop, I'll be happy with whatever I get. If you go make sure you are ready for some crazy fun combat rhyme slingin' and an even crazier crowd for sure.

Finally, I was actually happiest to see that Devendra Banhart is performing. The whole freak folk movement is moving forward as we speak, and it sure is fun to watch. Devendra is maybe the most visible member of the movement, but there is a lot of talent spread throughout. Another great band you could classify in that movement is DeVotchKa, and they're set to play too. So get down to Bumbershoot this year!

And remember, there's still plenty of more artists to be booked and announced over the Summer. You never know what could happen.

Check it out at Bumbershoot's official website.

Dr. West speaks

Most of you who know anything about me know that I am a big fan of Dr. Cornel West and his literature. It is always interesting for me to read a person's writings and also be able to see them speak their mind. The process of producing words is quite different when spoken and written. I have supplied here some links to some of the best short videos of Dr. West I have found online so far. God bless the internet. Check them out if you've got a minute to watch a brilliant man (and Toni Morrison, too!) speak on the essential.

-HVC


This is a 3:34 clip of Dr. West speaking about Barack Obama's accountability and his notable absence from Tavis Smiley's Covenant with Black America Conference:

Watch the clip here

This is an episode of the Tavis Smiley Show (PBS), which features Dr. West. It is 24 minutes, and they cover just about everything. This was my introduction to Dr. West:

Watch the show here

A one-minute clip of Dr. West with Toni Morrison, discussing Jesus as part of the Roman empire, and how his story is relevant to us, as part of the American empire:

Watch it here!

This one is a clip from the same seminar as the one above, and features Toni Morrison more than Dr. West, but a very important piece of understanding is shared, and you can see that even Dr. West is a bit blown away by it. It regards the American reaction to 9/11:

Watch Toni & Dr. West here

I hope you appreciate the videos! There are always more if you search under Google video. Most are longer, so I didn't include them this time. But see for yourself!

"I can feel the city breathing, chest heavin', against the flesh of the evening"

"The new moon rode high in the crown of the metropolis
Shinin', like who on top of this?
People was tusslin', arguin' and bustlin'
Gangstaz of Gotham hardcore hustlin'
I'm wrestlin' with words and ideas
My ears is picky, seekin' what will transmit"
- Mos Def (as Black Star)

Just over a week ago, I returned from my 5th and probably final INN mission trip. We spent a week in Vancouver, British Columbia. I won't try to retell all the stories I find relevant, or share all the processes I went through as a result of the trip, but I will share something. Regardless of how something changes me, whether I think it to be good or bad at the time, it is not for me to decide how I am changed, nor through what avenue(s). So I'll just start typing.

To be honest, I didnt' have a great time on the trip. It was the first trip I can say that I honestly don't think I had a whole lot of fun. Is that good or bad? Not for me to say. Maybe on my other trips I had too much fun. I found myself discouraged, frustrated, and tense most of the week. Maybe it was because I was holding myself responsible for helping Seth & Karen lead the trip, and that was making me think differently than I thought I would have to. Maybe it was because I didn't really connect & relate to hardly anyone on the trip that I didn't already have connection with when this whole thing got rolling. Maybe it was because I didn't really believe in most of the organizations we hooked up with while we were up there. Whatever it was, it was that way, and I don't think of that negatively now, a week later, but I sure did then. I was disappointed that I didn't mesh easily with the folks I was with, but that was probably because I was feeling like they just plain didn't like me. Which, even if that is the case, shouldn't bother me that much. I didnt' like most of the organizations we were with because they didn't seem as transparent as I would hope that I would have been. Some people had great connections and experiences with these same organzations, which is wonderful; however, I did not. There was one organization I did like an awful lot, but I will mention them later. So my week was met with unexpected challenges that I didn't anticipate or like having to work through.

I didn't connect with my team very much for several reasons, probably. It doesn't matter so much I guess, but I am curious about one in particular. Like I mentioned, I felt semi-responsible for helping facilitate healthy processing of the new experiences some students would be having, and I was happy to be there for that. I feel very blessed to have seen and done the things I have, and to be there for some folks who haven't seen and done those things yet was a true honor. Unfortunately, without my knowing it, I believe I detached myself from the group in order to be able to gauge their processes, and thereby isolated myself from the shared experience. So even if my teammates were trying to connect and share with me, I was indirectly rejecting them by standing outside the circle, looking in. My fear is that my teammates feel I was standing outside looking down, which is something completely different and not at all intended. In any case, I now feel like the ways that I tried to show leadership on the trip just probably didn't translate in to people's immediate scope of their process, and that despite that, I can just hope that any minor influence I may have had will hopefully contribute to the leaders they become someday.

A great example of that has to do with the organization that I really took a liking to. It is called Agape Ministries, and it is a group that works in service to the women of Vancouver's Downtown East Side (mainly E. Hastings Ave.), the poorest, most densely populated, "roughest" area of town. Every night people from the ministry walk in red jackets through the streets, handing out bags of candy and other sweets to the women who will take them. It is strictly a women's ministry, and the men know that they cannot receive gifts from the folks in red coats. The women though, wow! The women. They came running across busy streets, flagging us down, so overjoyed to choose between 2 or 3 little bags of "Fun Size" candies. As a man, my role was to walk behind/beside the women we volunteered with, and wait for conversation to be initiated with us. We weren't to initiate ourselves. The ministry does this ground-level stuff beautifully. Give a small leisure gift to a person who assumingly receives very little leisurely choices in her day-to-day life. I watched eyes light up like stars, faces brighten like a sunrise, tears emerge like a bursting dam. Happiness and significance is strictly commodity here. And Agape contributes! But even better than that, they talk to the women. They learn names, faces, personalities, stories, birthdays, anniversaries, backgrounds, prayers, everything. The women met every night can pray and be prayed for, can receive a warm and non-threatening embrace, and have a relationship with a person who for perhaps no understandable reason, loves them and affirms their humanity. Beautiful. Agape also provides resources to drug rehabilitation centers, safe housing, medical treatment, and most any other basic human need that they can help meet. They are set on affirming the women they know as loved by God, lovable as humans, and able to love fully and purely as women. Truly a wonderful, useful, necessary thing that is happening in Vancouver.

Well, that leads me to my example. Some of our students (or should I say, all of us) were pretty overwhelmed by our few hours spent face-to-face with the reality of the street life. As I stood and listened to one young woman talk, all I could think of was, "Wow. This really is the belly of the beast." Drug trade and sex trade run rampant and unhidden on E. Hastings. Most of our team had obviously never witnessed with their own eyes a sight like this. So naturally, they were responding purely on instinct. Being somebody who cares very deeply about the consciousness of language, my ears and mind were pierced by some pieces used by some teammates. For example:

"I never would have believed that I would go out in Vancouver at night and hand out candy to prostitutes."
"Why don't they (B.C.) make a food stamp program instead of cutting big welfare checks? It's just feeding the problem (drug abuse, sex abuse)."
"After talking to a few of the homeless guys, I realized that they're just regular people."
"Those people are just living in a different world than me, and I don't think I'll ever really understand it."

I held issue with all of these types of statements, and I did my best to graciously push our young team toward a more conscious way to express what we were processing and beginning to wrestle with. No, I don't believe we handed out candy to prostitutes. I believe we gave candy to women. We know their names. Why we fall in to the despicable pattern of dehumanization by confining them to a stereotype we don't even know is founded in truth, is a mystery to me. I suppose that as young, white (most of us) Americans, we are just raised to believe that we are inherently superior to any and all other people, and to prove it, we will classify every other person in to a subtly self-denigrating people group to make it easy for us to scoff at them. We don't even include them in our minds when we say "we". As I tried to stress these points to the team, I found a room full of blank stares and a few bored sighs. I asked that the team stop using the terms "those people," "these people," "poor people," "prostitutes," and any other inherently segregating language. I don't think it got through that day, or that week, but hopefully it will make sense some day. One thing I've actually learned through Starbucks' leadership training is that strong, effective leadership doesn't have to generate immediate positive response; instead, the strongest and most effective leadership is better gauged by the long-term. So I guess I just have to be happy with that.

So that is what I have to say about the INN mission trip to Vancouver, B.C. If you know me, you probably know that I am prone to wander off when bored and pace around city sidewalks alone. I did in fact do that quite a bit in Vancouver, whether it was known or approved by Seth & Karen, the official staff leaders. One time because I was asked to leave a church service, but all the others because I feel most in tune with the city when I walk it's streets. I used that great quote from Mos Def as the title for this post because I believe it to be true of myself. I walk in cadence with the inhale and exhale of the city, and hope to forge a connection with the heart of the city, by simply walking on it. In that sense, I suppose I can say that the trip I took to Vancouver was overwhelmingly satsifying.

-HVC