Rebelistic Quotes from the 20th Century | feat Bob Marley, Nina Simone, Nikki Giovanni, Josephine Baker & more

Rebelistic Quotes

Different people rebel against different things. Some choose to stand up and sacrifice their lives for different causes. Given the time period, the demographics, the upbringing, a person’s passion can become apart of their legacy.  The following, features some prominent figures and their passions that manifested and inspired movements. These quotes also manage to reveal the rebel within them as well in the most settle and robust ways. The rebellions, whether large or small can be considered a part of culture that was expressed in a very necessary way to approach sensitive subjects ranging from unification,  equality, desegregation, anti-oppression, or just simply F R E E D O M.

Though these quotes come from a wide variety of time slots in the 20th century from an array of celebratory figures of different backgrounds and origins such as entertainers, writers, poets , their mantra is still relevant and resounds loudly in today’s global environment.

Bob Marley

“I’m a rebel, soul rebel
I’m a capturer, soul adventurer
Do you hear me
I’m a rebel, rebel in the morning
Soul rebel, rebel at midday time”

“Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery.
None but ourselves can free our minds.”
― Bob Marley

“The truth is, everyone is going to hurt you. You just got to find the ones worth suffering for.”
― Bob Marley

“Who are you to judge the life I live?
I know I’m not perfect
-and I don’t live to be-
but before you start pointing fingers…
make sure you hands are clean!”
― Bob Marley

“The good times of today are the sad thoughts of tomorrow.”
― Bob Marley

Nina Simone

Photo Courtesy: Violentsuccess.com

“I’m a real rebel with a cause.”
-Nina Simone

“You’ve got to learn to leave the table
When love’s no longer being served”.”
― Nina Simone

“There’s no excuse for the young people not knowing who the heroes and heroines are or were.”
-Nina Simone

People, let a lone, musicians don’t exist like these two any more. Bob Marley inspired generations of people with his music and activism for black unification and Nina Simone was an artist that challenged the status quo of beauty through her music. These are self-proclaimed rebels that lived and died for a cause in the hopes the leave an impression and change the world. Entrenched in their ancestral roots, they understood their present day, prayed for a better future and put their soul into their artistry.

Maya Angelou

Photo Courtesy: Dorkmuffin.com

“I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it.”
― Maya Angelou

“Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.”
― Maya Angelou

“Everything in the universe has a rhythm, everything dances. ”
― Maya Angelou

“Courage: the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can’t practice any other virtue consistently.”
― Maya Angelou

Nikki Giovanni

Photo Courtesy: Ironboardcollective.wordpress.com

“Mistakes are a fact of life: It is the response to the error that counts.”
― Nikki Giovanni
“Deal with yourself as an individual, worthy of respect and make everyone else deal with you the same way.”
― Nikki Giovanni
“Black love is black wealth”
― Nikki Giovanni

James Baldwin

Photo Courtesy: Blackhistorynow.com

“True rebels after all, are as rare as true lovers,and in both cases, to mistake a fever for passion can destroy one’s life” — James Baldwin

“Love does not begin and end the way we seem to think it does. Love is a battle, love is a war; love is a growing up.”
— James Baldwin

“Perhaps home is not a place but simply an irrevocable condition.”
— James Baldwin

“You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read.”
— James Baldwin

Unforgettable poets and unparalleled literary figures, these three are unmatched in many layers of their being. With both Maya Angelou and Nikki Giovanni still among us, they shed life on black life and black survival that many simply ignore and continue their activism and writing today. James Baldwin was unique in his approaches to sexuality and religion and the black race as a whole. These three artists are definitely Rebels in multifaceted ways.

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Limitless Looks, Timeless #Trends: Afros, Funk, Mod & More

The social culture and different music eras can impact our looks in one way or another. Some looks are just fads, and some reappear. Just like history, fashion repeats itself, but in due time. Some people are eclectic, and are capable of breaking the time and space continuum rules of fashion, music and art. From mod, funk, bald, afros and more, some looks don’t seem to die. See Esperanza Spalding, Marsha Hunt, Twiggy, George Clinton, and more.

Credit: cocoandcream.com                                          Credit: sodahead.com  

Afros became famous in the late 60’s and 70’s with many people trying their best to grow their hair out. Having a comb and constantly fluffing it throughout the day was the thing to do because bigger and fluffier was better. Afros have returned in the new millennium and it’s not really about the fluff, but more kink. Marsha Hunt was famous for her relationship with Mick Jagger in the 60’s but she was also a model and entertainer with an awesome fro.  Today, Grammy award winning jazz artist,  Esperanza Spalding rocks her afro is many different ways sometimes with kink, sometimes with fluff.

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What has Jamaican Artist Patra Been up to Lately??? Was she supposed to be at the BET Awards??

This summer the 2013 BET Awards closed out the show with a reggae/dancehall set with big names like Dawn Penn, Beenie Man, Elephant Man, Chaka Demus and Pliers. Apparently other popular artists were invited to be apart of the showcase but they did not come for one reason or another. Patra and Shabba Ranks are alleged to be those other artists, but their camps allegedly declined the invitation to the BET awards show for one reason or another.

Beenie Man and Elephant Man discuss working on the BET awards.

Patra has been MIA from the music scene for quite sometime at least in the Jamaican and American spotlight. Romantic call and Queen of the Pack were popular tunes in the 90’s that had people look at dancehall and reggae from a feminine and sensual perspective. She also had hit songs featuring artist such as Salt and Pepper, Aaron Hall and others.

In this interview she says she doesn’t consider herself a reggae artist. She also considers herself sensual and romantic as opposed to having a “bad gal” persona one would assume she has.

Patra also discusses performing in Jamaica again and talks about a project titled Sweet Reggae Music which she has been working lately.

I look forward to hearing more from her. Its way overdue.

The State of Florida v George Zimmerman: What is this case REALLY about?

The State of Florida v George Zimmerman: What is this case REALLY about?

The idea of George Zimmerman v. Trayvon Martin is a microcosm into major injustices in the American system, and some can even go as far as to say this is a global issue. This is a global issue of class, privilege, race, resources, justice and an array of many other things ranging from the fear of black men, gun control, the prison industrial complex as well as the media industrial complex.

It is a major problem when a grown man can shoot and kill a child and not get arrested for 45 days. I cannot imagine someone killing someone (whether it was accidental or intentional) be questioned by the police, and be sent home to go to bed in the same night without a thorough investigation or toxicology test.  Instead the teenager who lost his life was tested… Really? Why? Is this justice? Not many of us can imagine someone we know in a realistic scenario that would even similarly render those circumstances.

The national attention this case received is because of those circumstances. Race was always a factor. However, because the circumstances was just that, there would have been an outcry just the same if a grown black man shot and killed a white teenager in the dark in Florida and got questioned and sent home by the police in the same night.

But that scenario is practically impossible to fathom.

Over those 45 days while 17year old Trayvon Martin’s family and loved ones had buried him and mourned the outcry grew louder. It was over those 45 days the intensity grew and passions got stronger and then we realized the issues of privilege and class were going to be put up against one another. Over those 45 days Zimmerman was able to do interviews with Sean Hannity on Fox News and raise enough money to help out with his legal fees and more. In fact he was able to raise more than the Martin family, the family that actually lost their son. According to HLNtv.com as of August 2012 Zimmerman had raised more than $250,000.  In May 2012, according to metro.us the Martin family had only raised half that amount through charities and the Trayvon Martin Foundation. The Martin family has since settled in a wrongful death suit filed against the homeowners association of the sub division where Martin was killed, according to the Huffington Post.

This case is unique and actually negates to show the dominate part of the American legal system where typically, a case does not reach trial. Actually more people plead to a charge and only go to a court room to hear their penalties. According to Danny Well truth-org Nov 2012, “More than 90 percent of ALL criminal charges are resolved through plea bargains.” This is where issues of privilege and resources come in to play. Had this circumstances been reversed with a black man on trial, (or anyone not in the upper class of the status quo) more than likely he wouldn’t have been able to raise the funds necessary for a substantially expensive legal team.

Now that the case has reached trial the focus has shifted from the initial issues and have gone to the right to self defense and who was the aggressor. It seems the message exuding from George Zimmermans defense is; you should fear black men, especially in the dark. With one of his witnesses taking the stand to testify her home in the same neighborhood was burgarlarized months prior to the incident in question, by young black men, one would think her message to the jury was you should fear black men, because they are scary.

Its a psychology that not only exist starkly here in America but all over the world. The fear and intimidation of the black man is real. The fact that so many of them lose their lives and are incarcerated each year due to both violent and non violent crimes can attest to that. Ask a black man you know if he has ever been in a situation when he was unnecessarily feared.

We all sit here with our eyes glued wide shut to this trial being aired live on news channels with the majority of its resources thoroughly covering the case. Infact one could argue the media’s coverage is more thorough than the overall police’s investigation of the case.

The age of information and technology is mutually exclusive with sensationalism. The “#ZIMMERMANTRIAL” has silenced and dimmed a lot of the other major headlines that has been in the news such as issues with the voting rights act, food stamps being separated from the farm bill for the first time in 40 years, as well as the increase on interest rates on college student loans.  What is so fascinating about the zealous media coverage in this case, is the argument about gun control has mysteriously escaped it.

Somehow the gun control argument has been completely nonexistent in this case and it is puzzling. Is it because he was “legally” carrying his gun? Oh, George Zimmerman was a responsible gun owner. No. Clearly he was not. Its difficult for a person to comprehend the fact a young child cannot go to the store for a snack run at night and not make it back home and their is no accountability for that. Trayvon isn’t the first or last young person of colour we are going to lose to gun violence however we can continue to try to make a difference in our communities.

Now we await the verdict and will someway feel either vindicated, defeated or even confused.

Justice for Trayvon!!!!!

May he sleep in peace 

An “Unsung” Comedienne Tribeca Film Festival 2013

We are in the second decade of the 21st century and some entertainment, history, art, people, etc becomes forgotten and slowly transforms into faded memories. It’s important to keep the memories and legacies alive of those who left their marks history. Whoopi Goldberg tackled an enormous task when covering the famous and almost forgotten first black female stand up comedienne from the 19th century Moms Mabley!

Watch Whoopi’s commentary below!

Whoopi Goldberg at the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival discusses her debut documentary