Love Is

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Essay published in “Souls of My Brothers” by Timothy Jones, 2003

I consider myself a good fair person. I did my best not to initiate ill feelings towards people, but I never wanted to be taken advantage of either. I would do my best not to carry hate in my heart because that would end up hurting me more than the person I held the hate for. I also had to realize that in some instances I wasn’t a very forgiving person. This was my sentiment towards my father. My father had been very inconsistent in my life and after a painful reunion with him and my brothers in 1991 I vowed that the next time I saw him he wouldn’t know I was there because he would be dead and I would be paying my respects. My mother just told to make sure that I was not harboring any hate towards him in my heart because that would be bad for my spirit. With this is mind I became numb to my father and lived as if he did not exist. I had other men in my life that were positive and embraced me as a son so I figured I was better off without him anyway.

Now let’s fast forward a few years to November 8, 1995. It is my dad’s birthday and I’m in my room writing poetry listening to “Stairway to Heaven” by the OJay’s. I began to think about my dad and the fact that it was his birthday and I couldn’t call him even if for some strange reason I wanted to because I didn’t have his number. For some odd reason in thinking about my dad on this day it brought on various emotions that hit me hard in an instant. I felt as the shell around my heart was being peeled back and I was seeing the vibrant pain that had been covered still was there. I began to think about the moments in my life that happened without my dad and I began to cry. I tried to stop the tears but that was useless. With the song playing in the background I rose from my table where I had been writing and began to talk out loud to God and my Dad because at this moment I was upset at both of them. I was upset at my Dad for doing this to me and God for doing this to me. Here’s how the conversation went:

Tim:
I don’t understand why I feel this way. I can’t believe I’m crying thinking about someone who is not thinking about me. Dad why am I missing you? You don’t deserve to be missed, no not for a second do you deserve to be missed by me! You probably didn’t even think about me on my birthday and I’m sitting crying because I can’t wish you happy birthday on yours. Lord what is wrong with me? Why am caring for someone who has done me so wrong? I feel like a punk because I am playing myself by getting emotional about a man who I haven’t seen or heard from in years. What would he think if he could see my tears? WHAT WOULD HE THINK IF HE COULD SEE MY TEARS! Me crying for my father is like watering the ground without first planting a seed and expecting something to grow. There is no seed of love in my heart for my father so all I’m creating is mud. I am a man who has made it this far without him so lord please take this pain away so I can continue on without him. My heart says that I miss him, I want him, but that is crazy because he has done nothing for me so why in the world would I still want him. He doesn’t want me because he is living his life fine. It was me who came to see him in 1991 and got the cold shoulder so why lord, why are you doing this to me? Take away this pain from me and let this moment pass. LORD SET ME FREE FROM THE THOUGHTS OF MY FATHER and please let my love to flow to those that deserve it and who will give it back!

I stop speaking and focused on the song which was the part which says “step by step.” The song is talking about taking steps towards heaven and being with God.

In my silence God spoke to me:

Do you understand that you are asking me to take away love? You want me to take away the same type of love that I have for you and my people. For all of my people have fallen short of deserving my love and I give love them that is everlasting. When did you decide that you had a choice in deciding who and how you should love? Do you think that my love for you is merit based; my favor perhaps, but my love never! I stand with my hands stretched out to a people that I died for and yet I feel the winds of time across my palm because they refuse to hold on to me and if they came to me in this moment I would love them as if they never left me. How else will a people see my love unless they see it in those that they can see that profess my name? You loving your father is worshiping and bringing honor to my name. So do this in honor of me and I too shall honor you! Until you love your father and stretch out your hand to him neither one of you will ever be free. The walk of the righteous is not steps taken when earned they are steps taken in love and service. For one day when you have a child what example will you be if you can not love the one that you call father.

I felt that I was doing well no thanks to my father being around. I also felt that since I was grown he couldn’t hurt me anymore. My Mother has always been a rock in my life so I convinced myself that I really had no ill effects from the dysfunctional relationship that I had with my Dad. I was never more wrong about anything in my life. I never knew what a healthy relationship between a man and woman was because my dad wasn’t there to show me. I was blessed to have four older brothers but I had to pick pieces and come up with a definition of manhood from watching them grow up because my dad wasn’t there. I dealt with the pressure of having to prove manhood through the acquisition of women because my dad believed that I would be gay because I was so close to my mother. The worst part of this is that I never was able to talk to anyone while I was going through my late teens and twenties about this because I didn’t know what I know now about myself. If everyone tells you that you are o.k. after a while you believe it to the point where you hide your pain because no one gives you room to acknowledge it.

There I was a shamble of myself but still believing that I was the man because through all my up and downs I still had women around. Women were my security blanket and my self-esteem. Women filled voids that I believed didn’t exist and the voids were there part in parcel because of my lack of a relationship with my dad. My lowest point which lead to my emancipation came when my security blanket was taken away from me and I had to see myself by myself and I didn’t like what I saw. I was living as my father without even realizing it. I was carrying his unmarked baggage and actually put my clothes in it and labeled the baggage as my own.

With no where to turn and feeling like the prodigal son I went to my true father, Jesus Christ. I repented and pleaded for a plan for my life and the wisdom to be able to know that it was Jesus speaking and not myself fooling myself. I was at that point where I let go because I had nothing to hold on to and let Jesus become the center of my life. That is when love 101 began and I have been studying the course ever since. I no longer practice accounting I am a Director of a Teen Program for a community based organization in Washington, DC called Martha’s Table. The Lord took me from the high office downtown to the fields in the neighborhood to tend to his harvest. I have been doing his work now for almost seven years and he has lifted me to heights I didn’t see possible in my former life. Jesus is a love that can not be measured because it is as infinite as his power. When I think it can’t get any better it does; when I think that I am worthy, I repent because I am not or will ever be. This lesson has given me the strength to begin to love.

When I look at my life now all I can see if love. I see love in the struggle to show my teens God’s love through everything that I do. I see love when I get to enter into the Lord’s house to fellowship and to worship and give praise with my family. When I look at my family I see Jesus because as he pulled me out and dusted me off and began to teach me love he blessed with a family to grow with. My wife is someone whom I went to high school with and was in the same homeroom for four years and was more of a sister because here maiden name was Jones. When I went to my ten year reunion in hopes of continuing my quest for women, the Lord put Vanessa in my tracks and my life has never been the same. At the time I met Vanessa again at our ten year reunion she had a five year old daughter name Jasmine. We met August 23, 1996 and were married August 22, 1998.

The message the Lord spoke to me on that day while I was crying out to him about my father was brought to fruition on July 8, 1999. My birthday is July 8th and on this birthday morning my wife gave birth to my son, Isaiah Jeremiah Ezra Jones. After all that I had done to fall so short but yet God’s love and mercy was upon me and better yet his favor was upon me and my wife by blessing us with a son. I cried many times since the birth of Isaiah because when he was born my prayer was that he would bring my family back together. As a teenager without my father I always prayed for a son so that I could have the father-son relationship that I never had. I promised to love my son the way he was supposed to be loved. The problem was that without Jesus in my life I wasn’t ready to love myself let alone my son. But in God’s timing everything works to bring glory and honor to him.

I now proclaim my manhood as being defined by my walk for Jesus. Jesus is everything and he is my measurement and the word of God is my instruction book. I know what love is now and I am reunited with my Father. I have forgiven him because Jesus has forgiven me. I love my father because Jesus loves me. I now speak to my father and attempt to be a comfort for him because Jesus has comforted me.

Through the love of Jesus I can see that my father was a victim of his own circumstance and he had his own baggage that he hadn’t healed from. My dad is sixty-one years old and is raising his fifteen year old son. Jesus has given him the opportunity to get it right with his son the way Jesus has given me the same opportunity with mine. My dad calls me some time and because I work with teenagers, he will ask me for advice. I talk to him about my family and I know that he is happy to finally have a grandson. There’s no greater testimony than love, there’s no greater gift because that is what Jesus is. LOVE!

“No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.” 1 John 4:12

Timothy D. Jones
Tdj6899@gmail.com

This piece is dedicated to Jesus my father and Isaiah my son!

Copyright 2002 beatoflife

Love, Lessons, Learning and Leadership

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I look back fondly on my upbringing in the housing projects of East New York, Brooklyn. My environment then, along with hip-hop, included me in its blended family. The family values that I learned early on from hip-hop taught me unconditional love and helped me to be a father in my own blended family today.

I grew up in a family of five boys and I am the youngest. My father was in the house until I was about ten or eleven. During adolescence I was blessed to be fathered by men who guided me with wisdom and purpose throughout my life. Men such as Jeremiah Jones (who headed the youth center in my projects) and the brothers who, despite their life choices, knew right from wrong and steered me away from the mistakes that they made.

I also came to know the blessings of family life through the positive influence of hip-hop. The music and the culture served as a bond that formed many relationships. This new phenomenon called hip-hop served as the rationale to put differences and personal agendas to the side in an effort to be a part of something that was bigger than the individual. Hip-hop encouraged individuals to form the positive family bonds that previously were presented to inner city youth in the form of gangs. In fact, the most renowned MCs where parts of groups or crews: LL Cool J was partnered with DJs Bob Cat and Cut Creator; Rakim with Eric B; KRS-One with Scott LaRock and Boogie Down Productions; Queen Latifah with the Flavor Unit; Chuck D with Public Enemy; Scarface with the Geto Boys; Ice Cube with NWA; and Big Daddy Kane with Mr. Cee and the Juice Crew, just to name a few. Whether they intended to or not, all of these groups promoted the value of (and need for) strong family ties.

I carried this perspective throughout my college years and it helped me form a family bond with a group of friends who I consider brothers to this day. We created our own standards of manhood and look out for each other constantly: we attend each other’s weddings, celebrate the birth of our children, and so on. In college, I was blessed to have another strong connection with a man who guided me into adulthood. He continues to be a strong father figure in my life today. Dr. Barron H. Harvey was the man who fathered me while, in my head, I was having conversations with my biological dad that now remind me of one of lyrics by Lupe fiasco: “I want you to be a father / I’m your little boy and you don’t even bother / like “brother” without the R.” my relationship with my dad had eventually became non-existent to the point where I would wonder: “You see what my problem is? That I don’t know where my poppa is.” Those were the thoughts in my head that laid heavy on my heart as I transitioned into adulthood, despite the father figures in my life.

As a young adult, with my personal and professional lives ahead of me, I met Mr. Mahmood “Billo” Harper. Mahmood invited me into his world and I saw in him a futuristic interpretation of myself as a “Hip-Hop Dad.” Mahmood showed me how to incorporate my love of hip-hop into my business and family life.

Within hip-hop culture, the crews evolved similar to how relationships develop in personal life. Rappers went from coming together to do shows and songs to coming together to establish businesses. This shift is exemplified in the emergence of Wu-Tang Clan in 1994. Wu-Tang redefined how to do business within hip-hop. The family structure of “the posse” was a new model. Hip-hop evolved from having crews on the street corner to having clans in the corner office . . . similar to how relationships can evolve from boyfriend/girlfriend status to a husband and wife union. As hip-hop continued to develop in this way, so did I. In 1998, I put aside my boyhood ways and got married. I became a husband and a father in the same moment because my wife, Vanessa, had a seven-year-old daughter.

Raising my daughter Jasmine (I never use the term “step”) called forth all the positive images and lessons that were presented to me by hip-hop and by the wise men in my life— both my elders and my peers. I was now initiated into a new sort of hip-hop crew. Within my new family, some of hip-hop’s basic values and practices applied: nothing should break down the unit, posses roll deep, and your word is your bond. And if someone in the crew presents an “outsider” (i.e., me, in this case) as being “down,” then the so-called outsider must receive the same love and support as every other member of the family . . . regardless of tenure. I joined Vanessa and Jasmine’s crew by making my wedding vows to both of them. I knew that the success of my marriage would be based on my ability to keep my promises to my wife and my new daughter. Without these rules to live by, I don’t think that I would have been psychologically or emotionally equipped to be a father to Jasmine.

By 1999, I was a happily married man in my thirties. I was still a hip-hop head and I began to notice a growing frustration within the hip-hop community—mostly centered on the issue of fatherhood. More and more, rappers began to address the pain caused by fathers’ dysfunctional relationships with their children. Though I had forgiven my father for his not being around, I could still relate to this pain. It motivated me to do my best for my daughter and for the young people that I worked with as director of the teen program at Martha’s Table (Martha’s Table is a prominent non-profit community-based organization in Washington, D.C.). Many of the teens in my program don’t have fathers or father figures in their lives. Through my work, I felt I was answering Quan’s hip-hop plea: “Can we please have a moment for children who got raped or murdered, or trapped in the system who never knew their father, never learned to dream but was guided by drug dealers, killers and crack fiends.” I have established long lasting bonds with most of the teens in my program over the past twelve years and I saw, once again, the value of the blended family.

Still and all, I longed to have a son. I believed a son would help heal any remaining wounds that were created by my biological father. In 1999, god answered my prayers and my son Isaiah Jeremiah Ezra Jones was born on my thirty-first birthday. He was named in honor of all the father figures who filled in the gaps for me and my wife. Since that day and moving forward, Isaiah will always know what life is like with his dad. His life challenges will not be based on the hard circumstances that come with growing up in a single parent home. Instead, he will benefit from my having broken a cycle of bitterness and my having learned how to love past pain. The father and the man that I become; and the man that I will raise my son to be, are deeply rooted in my belief, trust, confidence, and reliance on Jesus Christ for all things. As I continued to mature into manhood, I found comfort and joy in serving Jesus Christ in spirit and in truth, in my rewarding work, and in a faithful marriage. All these things helped me to be secure in my identity and purpose in life.

When teens ask why I am the way that I am and why I care as much as I do, I love that I get the chance to tell them that I love them because Jesus first loved me and that He gave me so many fathers to model after. I believe I must be a father for them too. I am also proud to tell them that hip-hop culture, contrary to popular belief, has been a guidepost for me to follow with regard to building a family unit—be that family in the household, in the projects, on the block, or at the local community center. The role that hip-hop has played in my life is based on an insight that was god-given. Hip-hop influences my ministry from the pulpit as a minister and I have been afforded a spiritual father who leads me as my Pastor, Bishop Larry H. Jordan, Sr. I am able to reflect on hip-hop culture in a way that many see as contradictory to how hip-hop has been defined by society. I know better. In the words of Inspector Deck I say, “Leave it up to me while I be living proof to kick the truth to the young black youth.” my life with hip-hop, family, mentors, and friends has consisted of the love, lessons, learning, and leadership necessary to mold me into what I am and all the things I will become.

By Optimus

MTCA: (S) 101 “Beat 2 the Rhyme” Creative Writing for Academic Achievement

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1picThis workshop will introduce concepts based on the 5th stage of development for adolescence (12 to 18 years) according to Erickson’s Stages of Development.  The creative writing and critical thinking assignments will focus on the following:

-          Identity
-          Social Interactions/Peer Groups
-          Moral/Ethic Issues
-          Moratorium
-          Philosophy of Life
-          Skills for High School Students (according to www.FamilyEducation.com)

Song: Young, Wild & Free (Wiz Khalifa)                                Stage 5: Moratorium

Sound Check: If you could do three things and not worry about the consequences of your actions or being disciplined by your parents or any other adults, what would they be and why?  Ask a few students to read their responses and make a list on the board.  Or you can have everyone read their top response of the three that they wrote down.

Introduction: “A psychosocial moratorium is when a person takes a break from “real life” to actively search for their identity. The developer, Erik Erikson, noted that it is a period of time “during which the individual through free role experimentation may find a niche in some section of his society, a niche which is firmly defined and yet seems to be uniquely made for him” (Erikson, 1956). During a psychosocial moratorium, a person has the opportunity to try on multiple identities and/or roles before firmly committing to one. They also finalize their sense of ethics and morals in this stage. Erikson intended for it to be the final stage of identity development, which takes place in late adolescence. People going through a psychosocial moratorium are said to be having an “identity crisis.” Erikson postulated that identity development facilitated personal functioning and well-being. If a person does not make a commitment to an identity or role after taking a moratorium, or if they don’t have a chance to take a moratorium, the person has a high risk for developing confusion about their identity and their role in society. (Erikson, 1956; Erikson, 1988)”
https://sites.google.com/site/motivationataglanceischool/psychosocial-moratorium

This break from “real life” is a prominent theme in adolescence because youth want the freedom of choice without the full weight of the consequences of their actions.  In looking at this theory further and attaching socioeconomic status to it, do we have a difference between the moratoriums for the wealthy versus the poor?  Do adult like responsibilities placed on young people from lower economic families like watching younger siblings and preparing meals impact a young person’s ability to fully engage in his/her moratorium?  Is the notion of taking a break from “real life” inherently negative, positive, or neither?  We are going to listen to a song by Wiz Khalifa called “Young, Wild & Free” and discuss whether Hip-Hop provides a sort of moratorium for youth to escape “real life”, but at what cost if Hip-Hop is presented as “real life?”

Performance: Pass out the lyrics to “Young, Wild & Free” and then play the song.  Have the students read along as the song is playing so that you know that they are paying attention because they will keep time with the song.

 Lyrics of Emphasis:
-          We’re just having fun/ we don’t care who sees
-          Living young and wild and free
-          Saggin’ my pants, not caring what I show
-          Got my own car, no job, no children

Students should choose 3 of the 4 lyrics and write (3) sentences that explain what is being said by each lyric.

Lyrical Exercise:
In the song the emphasis of being young, wild and free is on using drugs and partying.  I want you to attempt to rewrite the chorus and write a verse that focuses on other activities that young people participate in under the motto of “Young, Wild and Free.”  In the chorus you should change the first two lines to include the other behaviors that young people participate in under their moratorium and therefore not considering the consequences.  Your verse should talk about the fun that you have in doing whatever it is that you are doing and how society should really back off because you are “young” and this is what your youth is about.  Your verse should be 12 lines in length.

Performance: Each student will read their completed work in the front of the class and submit.

“Young, Wild & Free”
(with Snoop Dogg)
(feat. Bruno Mars)

[Hook: Bruno Mars]
So what we get drunk?
So what we smoke weed?
We’re just having fun
We don’t care who sees
So what we go out?
That’s how it’s supposed to be
Living young and wild and free

[Verse 1: Wiz Khalifa]
Uh, Uh huh
So what I keep ‘em rolled up?
Saggin’ my pants, not caring what I show
Keep it real with my ni*&as
Keep it player for these h*^s
And look clean don’t it?
Washed it the other day, watch how you lean on it
Give me some 501 jeans on it
Roll joints bigger than King Kong’s fingers
And smoke them h*^s down ’til they stingers
You a class clown and if I skip for the day
I’m with your b&#$% smokin’ grade A

[Verse 1: Snoop Dogg]
You know what?
It’s like I’m 17 again
Peach fuzz on my face
Lookin’, on the case
Tryna find a hella taste
Oh my god, I’m on the chase, Chevy
It’s gettin’ kinda heavy, relevant, sellin’ it
Dippin’ away, time keeps slippin’ away
Zip in the safe, flippin’ for pay
Tippin’ like I’m drippin’ in paint
Up front, four blunts, like, “Khalifa put the weed in a J”

[Hook]

[Verse 2: Wiz Khalifa]
And I don’t even care
Cause if me and my team in there
There’s gonna be some weed in the air
Tell ‘em Mac

[Verse 2: Snoop Dogg]
Blowin’ everywhere we goin’ and now you knowin’
When I step right up, get my lighter so I can light up

[Wiz Khalifa]
That’s how it should be done
Soon as you thinkin’ you’re down
Find how to turn things around
Now things are lookin’ up

[Snoop Dogg]
From the ground up, pound up, this Taylor Gang
So turn my sound up and mount up and do my thang

[Wiz Khalifa]
Now I’m chillin’, fresh outta class, feelin’
Like I’m on my own and I could probably own a building
Got my own car, no job, no children
Had a science project, me and Mac killed it

[Snoop Dogg]
T-H-C, M-A-C, D-E-V, H-D-3, high as me
This is us, we gon’ fuss
And we gon’ fight and we gon’ roll
And live off life

[Hook]

[Bridge: Wiz Khalifa]
Yeah, roll one, smoke one
When you live like this you’re supposed to party
Roll one, smoke one, and we all just having fun
So we just, roll one, smoke one
When you live like this you’re supposed to party
Roll one, smoke one, and we all just having fun

[Hook]

Sample Lesson 2

1pic2This workshop will introduce concepts based on the 5th stage of development for adolescence (12 to 18 years) according to Erickson’s Stages of Development.  The creative writing and critical thinking assignments will focus on the following:

-          Identity
-          Social Interactions/Peer Groups
-          Moral/Ethic Issues
-          Moratorium
-          Philosophy of Life
-          Skills for High School Students (according to www.FamilyEducation.com)

Song: Starships (Nicki Minaj)                     Stage 5: Moratorium

Sound Check:

“So he moves with his peers, different blocks, different years
Sittin on, different benches like it’s musical chairs
All his peoples moved on in life, he’s on the corners at night
with young dudes it’s them he wanna be like
It’s sad but it’s fun to him right? He never grew up
31 and can’t give his youth up; he’s in his second childhood” –Nas 2nd Childhood

“Time flyin she the same person, never matures
All her friends married doin well
She’s in the streets yakkety yakkin like she was 12
Honey is twenty-seven, argues fights
Selfish in her own right, polite, guess she’s in her second childhood”- Nas 2nd Childhood

(If a person does not make a commitment to an identity or role after taking a moratorium, or if they don’t have a chance to take a moratorium, the person has a high risk for developing confusion about their identity and their role in society.) Analyze the two quotes from Nas’ song “2nd Childhood” and the statement in italics and write a short paragraph for each one telling what you believe could have happened to these individuals during the period of adolescence and their psychosocial moratorium that has them in these life conditions as adults.  Ask a few students to read their responses and make a list of the reasons mentioned in the paragraphs on the board.

Introduction: We are continuing our study on Erickson’s theory of adolescents participating in a “psychosocial moratorium” as a process of establishing their identity.  The break from “real life” as the moratorium is called takes on different forms based on socio-economic status and the individual desires of the youth.  Culture can play a significant role in influencing the behaviors that take place under the auspices of a “moratorium.”  What happens when the behaviors that are being promoted are behaviors that are legally adult in nature and are irresponsible for adults to participate excessively?  The song that we will be reviewing is “Starships” by Nicki Minaj.  The song is very upbeat and promotes a spirit of partying and forgetting the worries of the day, but at what cost?

Performance: Pass out the lyrics to “Starships” and then play the song.  Have the students read along as the song is playing so that you know that they are paying attention because they will keep time with the song.

Lyrics of Emphasis:
-          They say, what they gonna say?
-          Get on the floor, floor/Like it’s your last chance
-          Can’t stop ‘cause we’re so high
-          That’s our life, there’s no end in sight

Students should choose 3 of the 4 lyrics and write (3) sentences that explain what is being said by each lyric.

Lyrical Exercise:
Look through the verses of this song and identify the behavior in the song that you deem irresponsible.  Think about the potential short and long term consequences associated with the behaviors celebrated in the song.  Write two 8 line verses to “starships.”  One verse will outline the responsible way to ensure that you are ready to fly high in young adulthood in a manner that is healthy for you and full of opportunity.  The other verse should outline the consequences of the irresponsible behavior that you identified within the original song.  Include the chorus:

“Starships were meant to fly/Hands up and touch the sky/can’t stop ‘cause we’re so high/Let’s do this one more time” before each of your verses in your poem.  You can choose which verse you want to go first in your poem.

Performance: Each student will read their completed work in the front of the class and submit.

Nicki Minaj
“Starships”

Red one
Let’s go to the beach, each
Let’s go get away
They say, what they gonna say?
Have a drink, clink, found the Bud Light
Bad b@#$%@* like me, is hard to come by
The Patrón, own, let’s go get it on
The zone, own, yes I’m in the zone
Is it two, three, leave a good tip
I’ma blow all my money and don’t give two s#$^#

I’m on the floor, floor
I love to dance
So give me more, more, ‘til I can’t stand
Get on the floor, floor
Like it’s your last chance
If you want more, more
Then here I am

Starships were meant to fly
Hands up and touch the sky
Can’t stop ‘cause we’re so high
Let’s do this one more time

Starships were meant to fly
Hands up and touch the sky
Let’s do this one last time
Can’t stop…

(We’re higher than a mother#$@%^) [x3]

Jump in my hooptie hooptie hoop
I own that
And I ain’t paying my rent this month
I owe that
But f#@$ who you want, and f#$% who you like
That’s our life, there’s no end in sight
Twinkle, twinkle little star

Now everybody let me hear you say ray ray ray
Now spend all your money cause today’s pay day
And if you’re a G, you a G, G, G
My name is Onika, you can call me Nicki

Get on the floor, floor
Like it’s your last chance
If you want more, more
Then here I am

Starships were meant to fly
Hands up and touch the sky
Can’t stop ‘cause we’re so high
Let’s do this one more time

Starships were meant to fly
Hands up and touch the sky
Let’s do this one last time
Can’t stop…

(We’re higher than a mother#$@%^) [x3]

Starships were meant to fly
Hands up and touch the sky
Can’t stop ‘cause we’re so high
Let’s do this one more time

Starships were meant to fly
Hands up and touch the sky
Let’s do this one last time
Can’t stop…

(We’re higher than a mother#$@%^) [x3]

The Sport of Hip-Hop: The Battle

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TheSportoftheBattleBy Timothy Jones for #HipHopEd

The two MCs pictured above, to the left, Busy Bee and to the right, Kool Moe Dee, are credited with participating in the first MC Battle in 1982.  Over the past 30 years the MC Battle has been implemented in various forms from individual versus individual to crew versus crew.  Hip-Hop as a culture also embraced the aesthetic of the battle in the other creative staples of Hip-Hop as well (DJ, Graffiti, and Break Dance).  If you study the landscape of the South Bronx in the 1970s which is the decade that what we call Hip-Hop today was born (1973 to be exact) you have to acknowledge the gang culture that dominated youth culture.  Within gang culture competitions were settled violently and were seemingly never ending.  The Hip-Hop Battle provided an outlet for youth to compete in a manner that was non-violent and actually had a semblance of structure.  As the development of the standards of excellence was established in the Hip-Hop arts, these standards were used as ways of determining who was the best or the victor in any battle scenario.

There is research out there about the benefits of youth competing in organized sports.  Young people develop self discipline, teamwork, sportsmanship, and confidence just to name a few character benefits of sports.  It is easily accepted in our society because of the role that sports plays in almost every fabric of our lives.  For those of us who were blessed to grow up alongside of Hip-Hop we witnessed the attributes that have been identified as the benefits of participating in sports, being achieved by those who participated in Hip-Hop Battles.  In the inner cities you had the neighborhood youth who excelled in the various Hip-Hop Arts receive the same accolades that top athletes received for staring on their high school or neighborhood all star team.

This article is not a piece to outline the history of the battle within Hip-Hop, but to introduce and reintroduce to some positive aspects of the Hip-Hop battle and it’s similarities to other more acceptable modes of competition.  The goal is to open the minds of educators to incorporate the concept of the Hip-Hop battle in its various artistic forms into the classroom as method of developing and promoting communication, collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking amongst their students.   To help present this theoretical approach, think about the academic based battles ranging from spelling bees, science fairs, multiplication/math competitions, and a game show called jeopardy.  Oratorical battles in the form of debates are used to help distinguish the best candidate for the President of the United States in a similar fashion as the audience decided who won the legendary battle between Busy Bee and Kool Moe Dee.

Over the years the Hip-Hop battle has helped sustain, rejuvenate, and expand the artistic standard of MCing and Dance.  The following is a resource of a collection of Hip-Hop MC Battles that range from the initial battle of Busy Bee and Kool Moe Dee to the battle at the end of Disney’s “Let it Shine” (Don’t laugh J).  You can use the videos as resources for professional development to educate yourself on the Hip-Hop battle and some you can show to your students to get the energy flowing in the classroom.  If you are familiar with the history of Hip-Hop there are some classic battles that I did not include in the playlist.  I didn’t want to have a list of videos of songs that served as the weapons used in the battle.  I wanted to focus on reports about battles, and footage of actual in-person battles.  Here is the link to the playlist

I would be remiss if I didn’t end this piece by making a clear distinction between a “battle” and “beef.”  In the spirit of Hip-Hop, the best way to explain the difference between two is as follows:

“Beef is when the battle goes beyond the wax and needle

Beef is when the battle spills out amongst the people

Beef is when the battle ends inside a building with a steeple

Beef is when the battle uses weapons that are lethal” – OpTIMuS

Make sure our students understand the difference between a battle and a beef so that the benefits of battling never give way to the burdens of beef!

Shawn Carter/Jay-Z & the 4Cs

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By: Timothy Jones for #HipHopEd

jay pics

In the 21st Century there has been a concerted effort to promote the message that it takes more than just a mastery of academic subjects to help a young person succeed in college and the workplace.  www.p21.org is a partnership organization that has created an equation of the skills that young people must acquire to be successful in the 21st Century.  The first variable in the equation is (3R) and this variable is based on how the following words have been historically pronounced, reading, writing, and arithmetic (rythmetic).  The second variable is (4C) and this variable is creativity (innovation), critical thinking (problem solving), collaboration (team work), and communication.

We need a “classroom mindset” where we will begin to look for “teachable moments” throughout everything that we encounter and or experience in life.  If learning shouldn’t be confined to the hours spent at school, then why should what we use to teach be confined to the materials that currently exist within the school?  The classroom mindset promotes the duality of being a student and a teacher.  The learning process is truly achieved when we show the ability to apply and or teach the lessons that we have learned throughout our lives.  A teachable moment is when an opportunity presents itself to reveal a lesson that lies within an analysis of media, behavior, thoughts, or culture as a whole.

As a developer of after school programs I focus on infusing elements within the 4Cs into my workshops and activities because most students do want to go to after school programs that mimic the content and approach of the school day.  The goal is to help students apply the 3Rs into project based learning opportunities that foster the 4Cs.  This provides a road map of transferable skills that helps students understand how they can bring the 4Cs into the conventional classroom and excel in the 3Rs.  This creates students that are confident, competent, conscious, and consistent throughout their experiences in life’s classroom.  So in essence, the www.p21.org (3R+4C) = youth who R 4C (Confidence, Competence, Consciousness, and Consistency)

Imagine a workshop that develops student’s 4Cs by studying the work inside and outside of the vocal booth of Jay-Z.  Jay-Z is many things and his impact is debated from but not limited to, the corners of Marcy Projects in Brooklyn New York, to Georgetown University and the White House in Washington DC.  The following is a proposed outline of how Jay-Z embodies each of the 4Cs and from the outline it wouldn’t be difficult to develop activities to engage students in the development and or enhancement of the 4Cs:

Creativity: is defined as the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, etc; originality, progressiveness, or imagination.  An example of Jay-Z’s creativity is in the song  “Breathe Easy (Lyrical Exercise)” and a portion of the introduction states “I’m leading the league in at least six statistical categories right now best flow, most consistent, realest stories, most charisma, I set the most trends, and my interviews are hotter Holla.”   In this portion of the song Jay-Z lays out a framework where MCs can be judged using a set of statistics that paint a picture of the total impact of an artist.  This development of a set of statistics is similar to the way a basketball player may be judged by points per game, rebounds per game, field goal percentage, three point field goal percentage, free throw percentage, and assists per game.  These six statistical categories give a full picture of the overall impact a play has on a game from the offensive stand point.  Jay-Z’s six statistics provides a similar landscape for the artistic assessment of an Artist’s impact on the rap game beyond merely sales or popularity for the moment.   Imagine the activities that can developed for students using this example of Jay-Z’s creativity to foster their own.

Critical Thinking:  is defined as disciplined thinking that is clear, rationale, open-minded, and informed by evidence.  An example of Jay-Z’s critical thinking is the first verse of “Moment of Clarity” which states:

“Pop died, didn’t cry, didn’t know him that well

Between him doin heroin and me doin crack sales

With that in the eggshell, standin at the tabernacle

Rather the church, pretendin to be hurt, wouldn’t work

So a smirk was all on my face

Like d@#n, that man’s face is just like my face

So pop, I forgive you for all the s%^# that I lived through

It wasn’t all your fault, homey you got caught

Into the same game I fought, that Uncle Ray lost

My big brothers and so many others I saw

I’m just glad we got to see each other

Talk and re-meet each other

Save a place in heaven ’til the next time we meet forever!”

In this verse Jay-Z is very honest with the change in his feelings about his father not being there for him while he was growing up.  The initial emotion of not caring due to not knowing the man that was his father to identifying with the physical dimensions of the face to connecting to the life’s journey that they both travelled on allowed Jay-Z to see his father as a victim and not just a perpetrator.  Imagine the activities that can be developed with students (many who are disconnected from their fathers) using this example of Jay-Z’s critical thinking to foster their own.

Collaboration: Is when something is created by working jointly with another or others.  There are countless examples throughout Jay-Z’s career within music and outside of music where collaboration has taken place.  The example I want to use is the Best of Both Worlds album that Jay-Z recorded with R-Kelly in 2002.  This was a huge under taking because both artists were at the top of Hip-Hop and R&B respectively.  Fast forward to today where R&B and Hip-Hop artists collaborating on songs is common place; you have to take a moment and reflect back on the first full album collaboration to create a sound that would expand the reach of both genres.   Imagine the activities that can developed for students using this example of Jay-Z’s collaboration to foster their own.

Communication: is when something is imparted, interchanged, or transmitted.  If you think about Jay-Z and everything that he has been able to accomplish and what seems to motivate him it can be summed up in the statement “I’m not a businessman, I’m a business man!”  This play on words makes for a catchy lyric but this also serves as an affirmation of one’s self worth and a personal thesis statement.   This ability to communicate has created opportunities for Jay-Z that seems to be limitless based on what he has been able to accomplish and he is showing no signs of slowing down.    Imagine the activities that can developed for students using this example of Jay-Z’s communication to foster their own.

 Timothy Jones is content developer for #HipHopEd a weekly twitter chat that takes place every Tuesday from 9:00 pm to 10:00 pm.  If you are interested in developing programs that develop the 4Cs please contact me at tdj6899@gmail.com and follow me on twitter at @tdj6899

#HipHopEd “Profanity Free Mixtape”

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Curated by Amil Cook and Timothy Jones for #HipHopEd

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On November 13, 2012 #HipHopEd featured its weekly chat session, which was operating off the topic, “Creating and Evaluating a #HipHopEd “Profanity Free Mixtape.” This was an important topic for #HipHopEd to tackle because of the realities that Hip-Hop educators face in teaching our students through Hip Hop music and culture. This chat was not trying to devalue and delegitimize the substantive value of Hip-Hop music that contains profanity and delves into seedier topics. This chat was actually the response to the continuous requests for Hip-Hop tracks that could be played in schools around our country and classrooms throughout the world, without creating ethical and professional dilemmas for these much needed and highly valued educators.

As educators and adults, many if not all of us have learned how to speak effectively in the various settings that we find ourselves in, from our classrooms, office suites, homes, and our neighborhoods.  This instinctive ability to “switch up” is something that many of our young people based on the language that they hear and speak at school and in their neighborhoods.  If you include the language in the Hip-Hop that many young people listen to and the movies that they watch, they are bombarded with profanity filled narratives that can limit the range of how youth use words to communicate.

The #HipHopEd “Profanity Free Mixtape” is a resource for educators to allow young people to hear Hip-Hop that met and or meets the musical aesthetics test of the day based on overall production, content, and delivery.  The songs on this Mixtape can also serve as examples for students who believe that you cannot effectively rhyme without using profanity.  In putting together the Profanity Free Mixtape, we wanted to be conscious of trying to focus on music by Artists with a level of commercial success so that students wouldn’t dismiss the Mixtape as an underground effort of Artists who never achieved mainstream success.

For this endeavor “Profanity Free” is focused on language with some consideration for subject matter.  We know that you can have a song with questionable subject content without being profane and in these circumstances we as the Executive producers of the project made the decision as to whether to include the song on the list.  We also wanted a list of songs that are absent of profanity which is different than edited versions of songs that are on the radio and are on sale at retailers such as Walmart.

Out of this chat, came numerous song suggestions that have been collected in one place for educators, Hip Hop aficionados and others to enjoy, share and teach with. Here is the link to #HipHopEd’s “Profanity Free” Mixtape Edcanvas, an intuitive educational media platform, that contain profanity free Hip Hop track in each of its tiles. Here is the link to #HipHopEd’s “Profanity Free” Mixtape YouTube Playlist of profanity free Hip Hop tracks.
It is our hope that more songs will be suggested and included to this dynamic and live database of profanity free Hip Hop tracks. If you have a suggestion, comment or find profanity in any of the songs let us know.

For those who don’t know, #HipHopEd is a Twitter hashtag that hosts interactive chats on a range of topics at the intersections of Hip Hop and education. These chats take place every Tuesday from 9pm to 10pm EST. Unlike many other educational Twitter chats, #HipHopEd embraces the freestyle, the cypher and inclusion of everyone in attendance. Timothy Jones (@tdj6899) serves as the Master of Ceremony, tweeting out the week’s topic on Tuesday mornings, inviting special guests and community members.

#HipHopEd was created by two top tier leading educators, Brandon Frame (@brandonframe) and Dr. Christopher Emdin (@chrisemdin). #HipHopEd has organically grown into a significant community, mission and movement, intertwining and advancing education and Hip Hop simultaneously. The community’s response to #HipHopEd was so overwhelmingly positive and enthusiastic that other participants and leaders were brought into #HipHopEd’s leadership team. Make sure you get involved with #HipHopEd and come through the weekly Tuesday night chats from 9pm to 10pm EST. Alright ya’ll, it’s time to get it! Let’s keep building!

Welcome to L.O.O.P Lyrics Out Of Perspective #1

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According the
http://www.urbaninsite.com/?page_id=788
 Kanye West’s song “Mercy” was the number one song on the Mediabase Urban Radio chart for the week of June 17th – 23rd.  Mercy was played on radio stations across America 3,862 times which is a (+469) from the amount of spins in the previous week.  The estimated audience reached through the 3,862 spins is 27.357 million (27,357,000) which means an average of 7,084 listeners heard Mercy every time it was played during the week of June 17th- 23rd.

The song is not a new song based on the fast paced world of music and youth’s interests and desire for always having the “latest.”  “Mercy” is more than a couple of months old and when the song first came out my niece contacted me to ask me was being said in the beginning/chorus of the song.  She reached out to me because I am a student of Hip-Hop music and its impact on youth culture.  I am also an ordained Minister who often will break down the messages within music to reveal its complimentary or contradictory relationship to Scripture.  Often times a rap song will have a lyric that relates to a scripture and in some instances the song will actually quote the scripture.  The perspective or “point of view” being expressed can be misleading because the scripture is taken from a passage that the listener may be unfamiliar with and or the artists is using the words from the scripture to paint their own picture in their song.

I went to www.rapgenius.com to look up the lyrics and to listen to the song.  The song starts off with the chorus which is an almost distorted screeching voice saying “Well it’s the weeping and a moaning and the gnashing of teeth.”  This line is part of Matthew 13:42 where Jesus is explaining to his disciples the parable of the tares.  To begin to understand verse 42 I will write out what Jesus states in verses 41 and 42.  Jesus tells the disciples “The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire.  There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” 

The parable of the wheat and tares symbolizes the distinction between good and evil.  The wheat represents those who have been planted by God and the tares represent those who have been planted by Satan.  The harvest is when God will send angels to come and separate the good from the bad with the good going unto the Lord and the bad being cast into a fiery furnace (Hell).  The sounds of the suffering of these individuals are described in verse 42.  These are the individuals who practice lifestyles outlined in Galatians 5:19-21 (read
http://www.youversion.com/bible/Gal.5.19.nkjv
).  The behaviors identified in the song will lead to being a tare at the end of the age as explained by Jesus in Matthew 13.

The song “Mercy” is a self promoting, materialistic song which is not new in Hip-Hop.  The lyric in the chorus is used to equate the fate of anyone who would challenge Kanye West and or G.O.O.D. Music.  Kanye’s verse also makes one think the lyric could also represent the hell the music industry would be in without his music.  We cannot allow a creative metaphor and or slang usage of a word or phrases distort the perspective of a term, phrase, or words that are scriptures in the Holy Bible.  Before you think I am being extreme in my critique remember this song was heard through the radio by over 27 million people in a week.  This doesn’t even factor in other forms of listening to music that are popular amongst youth and adults (.i.e. digital downloads and video).   Kanye also said “We formed a new religion No sins as long as there’s permission’”- No Church in the Wild

*Lyrics Out Of Perspective are an op-editorial series by Minister Timothy Jones.  Follow on twitter @tdj6899”