Comments for Black President at http://www.okayplayer.com , comment 1 to 53 out of 20 comments http://www.okayplayer.com Mon, 23 Nov 2009 02:36:27 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://www.okayplayer.com/stories/fashion/black-president-200811056772/#comment-19776 are u serious - imara Wed, 22 Apr 2009 13:30:50 +0100 http://www.okayplayer.com/stories/fashion/black-president-200811056772/#comment-13596 That`s Dope.I`d rock it for sure. - LoneFox Sat, 24 Jan 2009 00:15:35 +0100 http://www.okayplayer.com/stories/fashion/black-president-200811056772/#comment-11514 Wow. Art with a brain. And courageous enough to stir the pot a little. - ThisOrThat Thu, 11 Dec 2008 13:37:45 +0100 http://www.okayplayer.com/stories/fashion/black-president-200811056772/#comment-11028 Nice dialogue here. Good work, Diggs. - Good Tue, 02 Dec 2008 12:28:59 +0100 http://www.okayplayer.com/stories/fashion/black-president-200811056772/#comment-10563 P.M. http://www.latincollector.com/exhibitions/past/lang/en/?viewMode=detail&yr=2005&folder=101705&img=01 will take you to one of the three photos I donated to the event. - DwayneRodgers Fri, 21 Nov 2008 04:23:36 +0100 http://www.okayplayer.com/stories/fashion/black-president-200811056772/#comment-10562 P.M. Glad you asked about which causes. This allows me to say BUY SOME SHIRTS SO THERE WILL BE PROCEEDS and it also allows me to talk about my past charity work and remind the big person upstairs about my place reserved in heaven. This was one of those moments in life when I became a force of nature. The last time I raised money for anybody other myself was in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina. Calling in a very big favor I was able to secure a beautiful 5000 sq. ft. gallery space in Tribeca, NYC. Through the good graces of many, many people I was able to get 65 great photographers to donate their work to a charity auction. Post-humously I would like to thank Mr. Gordon Parks for donating his iconic photo of Muhammad Ali. (Thank you Leslie Parks for making that happen and thank you Nicole Ari Parker and Boris Kudjoe for opening the checkbook for that photo.) Also here a shout out to Barron Claiborne for creating a 13 panel piece especially for the event. I also thank Jamel Shabazz, Ray Bangs, Renee Cox and everybody else for their beautiful contributions. That evening we raised $20,000. After I bought new shoes in many colors, took my girl out on 4 dates and got my hair did, I gave the rest to the Southern Poverty Law Center. Here are some links about the event: http://www.latincollector.com/exhibitions/past/lang/en/?viewMode=thumbnails&folder=101705&yr=2005 http://www.nyartsmagazine.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3869&Itemid=206 PeaceMaker: buy a shirt and spread the word. BLACK PRESIDENT is an Obama/Fela mash up, but most potently BLACK PRESIDENT is a concept.... - DwayneRodgers Fri, 21 Nov 2008 04:15:43 +0100 http://www.okayplayer.com/stories/fashion/black-president-200811056772/#comment-10551 Dwayne, I would like to know what progressive political causes the proceeds will be going to? - Peace Maker Thu, 20 Nov 2008 22:05:30 +0100 http://www.okayplayer.com/stories/fashion/black-president-200811056772/#comment-10485 I don't think that some of the folks who've replied to this are naysayers against the art, but are people who are offering reasons as to why these two entities shouldn't be 'mashed' together. It may give people who only have a superficial knowledge of Fela and/or Obama a false sense of what the two actually stood for. Either or, I respect this piece and suggest those who have no idea who Fela Kuti is (other than what was said about him in the interview) to research the life of this great ancestor, compare/contrast it to Barack Obama and make whatever judgement their lil heart desires. To the artist.. keep doin ya thing and expressing yourself. Peace & Blessings p.s. I agree with Firstsep I think the artist is a lil trickster too! :) - Yep Thu, 20 Nov 2008 11:31:26 +0100 http://www.okayplayer.com/stories/fashion/black-president-200811056772/#comment-10446 Strong image. Want to commend the artist on a great concept. Keep it interesting. The naysayers would be happy if you just created more bad black mall art that leaves you feeling just the way you felt the first time you saw that crap --unmoved. Be as sophisticated and tricky as you wanna be black man! (D.R. might be the real trickster here.) - Firststep Wed, 19 Nov 2008 18:19:00 +0100 http://www.okayplayer.com/stories/fashion/black-president-200811056772/#comment-10408 Ghandi:Hitler Fela:Obama ? ? ? Alas, nuance is clearly not the strong suit of this discussion. - Dwayne Rodgers Tue, 18 Nov 2008 23:27:54 +0100 http://www.okayplayer.com/stories/fashion/black-president-200811056772/#comment-10403 I have been following this blog for awhile and at first I wasn't going to comment. Reading what the person who created this image had to say has provoked me to speak. The African people who have commented in protest to this t-shirt are the ones thinking outside the box, it is those who support it who are linear in their thoughts. This is a serious issue, it has to do with African cultural identity and spirituality which is the foundation of who we are. This in no shape or form should be taken lightly or casted to the side. Fela represents WHO WE ARE. Just as we would take offense to Ghandi's face being placed on Hitlers body, we he have to guard the figures who dedicated their lives to African knowledge of self. The combination of Ghandi and Hitler seems revolting so is the combination of Fela and Obama. The mere similarity that Obama and Fela are both African is the conclusion that a young child can draw. But to be a thinking adult who logically concludes that these two men are are an archetype proves that we have a long road ahead of us. We should not waste our time and resources on useless material that promotes us to be walking zombies accepting the status quo. That is counterproductive to our development and Fela's Movement. Barack is not a spook. He is a black man who is a politician who is well connected to the hierarchy of this political structure. Why would any African (black) man want to add being president of us to his repertoire? There are three types of people. Those who know the truth, those who know and try to hide the truth, and those that are just deaf, dumb, and blind. Ignorance must be pure bliss and very profitable. Sincerely yours, Tigeress of Juju - Tigeress of Juju Tue, 18 Nov 2008 21:53:25 +0100 http://www.okayplayer.com/stories/fashion/black-president-200811056772/#comment-10395 When I first saw the picture, I immediately raised an eyebrow. My initial thinking was.. Dude put Obama's face on Fela's body.. Balls man.. Balls. These are two men who stood/stand for, and have two totally different and conflicting ideologies. From what I've learned of Fela (in which my knowledge has been building for a short time yet) he stands for Afrikans and those in he diaspora to reclaim their Afrikan minds.. and everything else pretty much falls into place after that. With Obama, from what I understand, he is trying to bring politics back to the people. He is attempting to unify everyone and even out the playing field.. Now I don't know how "equal" we all will ever be (or free for that matter.. because our freedom is defined by entities outside of ourselves) but I am willing to see what Obama has up his sleeve. I have my own personal agenda while Obama attempts to do his thang. But I digress... My Spirit interprets the art as two men being mashed together, not necessarily being compared to one another but simply demonstrating the revolutionary design of each man as individuals in their own right. Of course there is no true comparison between the two. To think so wouldn't be intelligent. HOWEVER I (kinda) understand both sides of the gamut and the arguments that they represent. Peace, Blessings, and courage to gain K.O.S. - Concerned Reader Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:40:39 +0100 http://www.okayplayer.com/stories/fashion/black-president-200811056772/#comment-10384 Oh my people. I thought non-linear, associative thinking was supposed to be one of the hallmarks of the African mind. Apparently not here. Take this image and my words surrounding it for what they are: a suggestion, a hint, an invitation to discuss these two very different, archetypal men who share a title and are both very powerful within the respective realms. The BLACK PRESIDENT lives at the intersection of what one black man called himself and what another black man will be called by the world. Just down the street is the house of language and the invention of a fictional Self (Fela) and to its left is the house of the same language -Black President- used to describe what was until recently unimaginable but is now a reality (Obama). Hmm, President of the United States of America. Yet another role I can chose to play. I welcome the addition to the repertoire. The fullest expression of humanity is the ability to be whomever you want to be in your mind, with your intimates and in public. One Black President wore a g-string on stage, made beautiful music and started fires everywhere he went. The other Black President wears a suit pretty damn well, can turn a phrase on a dime and will live in the White house. Go figure. Apparently nothing is simple anymore relative to Black men. Oh wait....it never was. To the list of books, manifestos and treatises I would add Blue in Green by Miles Davis, a Love Supreme by John Coltrane and almost anything by JB the Funky President. Oh shit there we go again with this President thing again.... - Dwayne Rodgers Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:06:27 +0100 http://www.okayplayer.com/stories/fashion/black-president-200811056772/#comment-10382 "Based on that logic, we should put Ghandi's face on Hitler's because they both were great organizers and inpsired millions." -Radius AMEN Brother, Amen!!!! - Ifeyimka Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:42:02 +0100 http://www.okayplayer.com/stories/fashion/black-president-200811056772/#comment-10377 Dr. Martin L. King makes a great observation of our position in 1968 and what we need to do in order to advance to win against other nations. I really appreciate how Dr. King spoke of us as an independent people competing against nations economically. No one likes to talk about this conscious evolution of Dr. King. In reference to placing Obama on the face of Fela and comparing him to Dr. King is inappropiate. Mr. Obama is the president elect of the very nation that not only has robbed us of our culture, spirituality, traditions, names and languages but created a foundation for this to be a self perpetual process among our people. Anyone who markets themselves as a leader of our people and does not have a plan to recapturing our Afrikan mind is against us or clearly doesn't know what the problem is. Fela Kuti used his music as a weapon against imperialism, colonialism and oppression. He was of the people. Fela addressed our problem as a Universal Afrikan problem that only we can cure ourselves. This is not the ideas of Obama nor his plan. Just because they are both influential doesn't mean Obama's face should go on Fela's. Based on that logic, we should put Ghandi's face on Hitler's because they both were great organizers and inpsired millions. Memphis TN April 3, 1968 Now the other thing we'll have to do is this: Always anchor our external direct action with the power of economic withdrawal. Now, we are poor people, individually, we are poor when you compare us with white society in America. We are poor. Never stop and forget that collectively, that means all of us together, collectively we are richer than all the nations in the world, with the exception of nine. Did you ever think about that? After you leave the United States, Soviet Russia, Great Britain, West Germany, France, and I could name the others, the Negro collectively is richer than most nations of the world. We have an annual income of more than thirty billion dollars a year, which is more than all of the exports of the United States, and more than the national budget of Canada. Did you know that? That's power right there, if we know how to pool it. - RADIUS Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:53:54 +0100 http://www.okayplayer.com/stories/fashion/black-president-200811056772/#comment-10376 Now the other thing we'll have to do is this: Always anchor our external direct action with the power of economic withdrawal. Now, we are poor people, individually, we are poor when you compare us with white society in America. We are poor. Never stop and forget that collectively, that means all of us together, collectively we are richer than all the nations in the world, with the exception of nine. Did you ever think about that? After you leave the United States, Soviet Russia, Great Britain, West Germany, France, and I could name the others, the Negro collectively is richer than most nations of the world. We have an annual income of more than thirty billion dollars a year, which is more than all of the exports of the United States, and more than the national budget of Canada. Did you know that? That's power right there, if we know how to pool it. - Martin L. King Jr. Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:39:25 +0100 http://www.okayplayer.com/stories/fashion/black-president-200811056772/#comment-10375 The Black Revolution June, 1963 Truth will open our eyes and enable us to see the white wolf as he really is. Truth will stand us on our own feet. Truth will make us walk for ourselves instead of leaning on others who mean our people no good. Truth not only shows us who our real enemy is, truth also gives us the strength and the know-how to separate ourselves from that enemy. Only a blind man will walk into the open embrace of his enemy, and only a blind people, a people who are blind to the truth about their enemies, will seek to embrace or integrate with that enemy. Why, Jesus himself prophesied: You shall know the truth and it shall make you free. Beloved brothers and sisters, Jesus never said that Abraham Lincoln would make us free. He never said that the Congress would make us free. He never said that the Senate or Supreme Court or John Kennedy would make us free. Jesus two thousand years ago looked down the wheel of time and saw your and my plight here today and he knew the tricky high court, Supreme Court, desegregation decisions would only lull you into a deeper sleep, and the tricky promises of the hypocritical politicians on civil rights legislation would only be designed to advance you and me from ancient slavery to modern slavery. - MALCOM X Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:32:56 +0100 http://www.okayplayer.com/stories/fashion/black-president-200811056772/#comment-10369 Really Winthrop Cunningham? Really? - Popkitty Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:46:12 +0100 http://www.okayplayer.com/stories/fashion/black-president-200811056772/#comment-10363 I want to start off by taking a moment of silence for the savior has arrived...................................................... there I'm done. To all the Black Nationalist, Afrikan Nationalist or those who still think they are African; you all need to love America or leave it. We are free, we are not oppressed. Obama being the first president who happens to have an African father is living proof that we are no longer oppressed. Sure African Americans have a lower median income than White/European Americans, Asian Americans, Latino Americans and Non-Citizens as presented by http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/income.html . Sure we have 20% of our people below the poverty line, 24.5% of our people without healthcare; this will all be over now. Obama is the answers to all our prayers. We are now free. This slave ship that we have been suffering on is now being captained by one of our own and guess what? He is not stupid enough to take us back to Africa mentally, culturally, spiritually and definately not physically. He will continue the course of sail, headed straight to....well you know the rest. Hey, the point is...we all have to go through a middle passage to reach the New World. This is our New World. All of our ancestors who were raped, castrated, beaten, seperated from families, exploited, tortured and killed wished they had the oppertunity to vote and eventually have a black Oversear, excuse me I meant president. So please stop complaining about this gentlemen's work of art. Honestly, I didn't care to much for Fela Kuti until I saw this picture. I think Mr. Obama's face on the body spiced it up a little. So I say congratulations to the brotha who did this. Your work inspire me to continue to stay blind, live in the Matrix and love America. Isn't this place so beautiful. Everything is perfect now; I have a European name, speak a European language, practive a European religion and celebrate European holidays. The president was the missing link. So I'm very grateful. I will end with saying...Love America, Love Jesus and live prosperous. - Winthrop Cunningham Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:31:03 +0100 http://www.okayplayer.com/stories/fashion/black-president-200811056772/#comment-10344 Book list 1. Breaking the Chains of Pyshcological Slavery by Na'im Akbar 2. Visions for Black Men by Na'im Akbar 3. Falsification of Afrikan Consciousness by Amos Wilson 4. Introduction to Afrikan Civilization by Dr. John Jackson 5. Black Man of The Nile by Dr. Ben Jochonann 6. Africa: Mother of Antiquity by Dr. Ben Jochonann 7. Destruction of African Civilization by Chancellor Williams 8. Wonderful Ethiopians of The Cushite Empire by Dr. Drusilla Dunjee 9. Christopher Columbus and the Afrikan Holocaust by Dr. John H. Clark 10. African Origins of Civilization: Myth or Reality by Dr. Chiek Anta Diop - The Library Tue, 18 Nov 2008 12:23:45 +0100