Brandelyn: Lyrical Contradiction

Happy Super Tuesday!!!

Oh what a glorious morning! I woke up this morning AMPED! It is so exciting to know that we as a people have the chance to make history. I know that record numbers of young people are out voting and it does my heart so good! I am not here to endorse a particular candidate, but just to know that people are actually doing their part in ushering positive changes in our country feels so good. I know I will be glued to my TV tonight, waiting to see what happens. I cannot wait!!!

But before I get too excited, let’s discuss my actually voting experience. Ahem…so I go onto yahoo maps to try and locate my polling place. I have never actually heard of the street it was on, so I had to do a little research. When I typed in the address, Yahoo maps gave me a door to door map from my house to the same street in Macon Georgia and was happy to tell me that the trip would only take 38 hours to drive. Um, let’s try this again. I reentered the address making sure to add Oakland CA to it this time and was happy to see that according to Yahoo Maps, my polling place was only half a mile away. So this morning I threw on my Ugg boots, my “Why I Vote” t-shirt and headed out the door. 30 minutes, three miles and one ignorantly steep hill later, I found my poling place, cursing yahoo maps and the fur inside my boots the whole time! I get to the poling place and I am told that I need to go downstairs to the basement because I was at the wrong station. I follow the dozens of arrows leading me downstairs to the basement and was dismayed to see sheets of paper taped to the doors with all of the constituents of that precincts name, number, address and voter information available for anyone who can read to take a look at. There was a woman at the door telling anyone who attempted to step into the promised land that they need to verify that they were on one of the sheets before they were allowed to step in. I found the sheet displaying all my business to the world and made sure home girl knew it was me before I entered into the room. I went to the table she pointed me to and after they searched their sheets, they told me once again that I was in the wrong spot. Thankfully there was an elderly woman who worked there with some sense and she looked at the sheet according to the names and found me. Somehow I was registered for the wrong party, so I had to get a little crunk, just a little and demand a democratic ballot. So, with ballot in hand I head over to the plastic table with the plastic barrier and proceed to try and make history, except there are no pens. No worries, ever the writer, I grabbed one of the fifteen I had in my purse and got to work. I filled in everything that needed to be filled and headed over to turn it in. When I first got my ballot they handed me a folder to place it in for confidentiality, so imagine my dismay when the guys who took my ballot to put it in the machine pulled out my ballot and examined it before sliding it into the machine. Then he turns to me and “Barack hunh?” My response was… “Criminal Acts hunh?” He shut right up and handed me my sticker and I was on my way. I decided not be miffed by the invasion of privacy because I had the chance to vote today and speak my peace. Today is an exciting day and I can’t wait to see what happens! Peace Y’all
B

Posted by Brandelyn at 09:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

UM!!!! Okay, so I’ve been trying very hard not to talk smack about the things I have been learning in working with various higher ups here on campus, but I have to speak my piece. For those of you who knows me, my unofficial middle name is Brandelyn “Go Bears” Castine. I love my school. I am an extremely proud Golden Bear and an even bigger hater of all other schools, but most specifically, USC and UCLA. However, the focus of this blog, is UCLA. Now, just a bit of background, UCLA was the second UC to be created, after CAL was created. That is why they have similar colors (or the same colors if you look at their band) they have the same fight song, a miniature version of our mascot and everything else you would need to make yourselves feel like a real school. However, last year, UCLA came under a lot of heat because of their admissions process. They admitted a little of a hundred black students, over 60 percent of which were athletes. Where Berkeley was the only UC to have an increase in Black applications and admits. Go Bears. So clearly, UCLA figured that they needed to step their game up. So who did they run to? That’s right. Papa Bear. We spent the summer training them on our admissions process and low and behold suddenly they had more black admits. Miraculous. THEN! Because they are UCLA and they know that they will never be as amazing as Cal, they decided to offer each and every black student a scholarship to try and entice them to come to UCLA. Although, when I take off my blue and gold jacket, that is an amazing opportunity for black students, but is a thousand dollars really worth getting a second rate education? Apparently not because Berkeley had more black student register than UCLA. Again I say, Go Bears.

            Just a few moments ago, my co-worker came into my office and showed me an application for a summer program UCLA is now trying to start, that is supposed to be similar to the one we have been running for the past few years. WHY did the application have our organizations Letter head, contact information and why was the application the exact same application we use for our summer outreach program?  Basically all they did was change the title of the program and send it out. At least take our name off it!!! How are you going to try and steal our program and not even be slick about it? Like I said, second rate education. UCLA is a mess. That’s right I said it! A mess. I mean really how raggedy can you get?!!

            I apologize for the rant and the rave but I needed to get that off my chest. Raggedy, raggedy, raggedy!

Posted by Brandelyn at 01:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Greetings!

This whole situation has turned so interesting. Apparently the company we are targeting has launched their own "counter attack" but placing our personal emails and information on their website and encouraging people to email and harrass the protesters. Rather than give their efforts any attention, we will move on to the postive. The Oakland tribune wrote an article on the situation and we are extremely excited about the publicity. Here is the link if you want to check it out. http://www.insidebayarea.com/business/ci_5816622

Things are progessing and the movement is in no way over. We now have major supporters getting behind us and I will definitely have an update!!

Peace

B

Posted by Brandelyn at 10:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

            Yesterday was one of THE most beautiful things I have ever participated in. Before I get into it, let me give those of you who didn’t get my one million emails a quick background.

            Most of you know about the Rutgers Nappy Headed Ho’s shirt that we were able to have removed from the store Futura here in Berkeley. However, on Tuesday night I received a bunch of frantic phone calls telling me that the store had a shirt with a clown in black face hanging in the front window, next to a t-shirt depicting several bodies hanging from a large tree. Needless to say, something needed to be done.

            The following day, yesterday, we rallied over 70 Black, Asian, Latino, and Native American students, graduate students, alumni and staff together on Sproul. Channels 5, 11, and 2 were there along with the Daily Cal newspaper and a radio station. Donning Ragamuffin Clothing Company and “Represent” t-shirts the entire group walked down Telegraph Avenue to Futura. It was amazing. I wish I could have been there to see it from the outside. So we walked in and I asked to speak to the manager at which everyone in the store got extremely nervous. The store manager came down and with three news cameras and microphones and reporters there, I explained to him that WE were offended by the t-shirts that were being displayed and that WE demanded that not only those shirts but every racially offensive shirt in their store be taken down. I also let him know that WE would be staging a formal boycott against their store until they reversed the negative images the constantly reflected in their store.

            The entire event was beautiful. I did most of the talking along with my dear friend Keyanna and it was so amazing to look behind me, in front of me, all around and see people of color standing together in solidarity. It gives me chills literally to think about it.

            To his credit, the manager was completely willing to help, and allowed us to do a walk through and take down all of the offensive shirts and is truly willing to search out other vendors who have t-shirts reflecting positive messages. So if you all know of anyone, please email me their information, let’s get the movement going.

            As of today, I had a phone interview with the Oakland Tribune and they are also going to be turning the focus of this issue away from the companies that make those terrible shirts back onto companies that are about change and uplifting people. That’s what it’s about. I’m getting all kinds of emails and phone calls from media and attorney’s and other interested parties who want to join with us in making a change. No one can tell me that change can’t happen. This is one of THE most beautiful things I have seen.

            As for the next steps, the boycott is still on. Ragamuffin Clothing www.ragamufinclothing.com , a clothing company a friend of mine started a few years ago, met with the manager of Futura this morning and has sold several designs to be carried not only in Futura but in Rasputin, which is a music store, owned by the same person. We are now seeking out other vendors who carry the same message of positivity. We are continuing our email campaign against the company that created this shirt and hopefully with all of this press and media attention we will be able to break ground. 

            It is amazing to me that this type of change can happen in such a short amount of time. I am excited to see what will come of all of all of this and I will definitely keep you all posted!
Peace Y’all

B

Posted by Brandelyn at 12:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Hey Everyone! If you are interested in getting involved in the movement, I am pasting a copy of the press release and the template of the email we are sending out here on my blog. If you have any questions let me know!

Press Release:

For Immediate Release    

May 1, 2007

On Saturday April 28, 2007, I went into Futura/Bear Basics/T-shirt Orgy, a local store near the campus of UC Berkeley and was shocked to see a t-shirt that read “Rutgers Nappy Headed Hoe’s Basketball Team” complete with a picture of a basketball with an afro and an afro pick. When the management was asked to remove the shirt, I was told that most of the shirts they sold were offensive and that they were not willing to remove the shirt because of one complaint.

Immediately a group was created on the popular networking website Facebook calling for students and alumni to call, email and fax Futura demanding the removal of the shirt. Quickly over 200 students from various college campuses, not only in the bay area but nationwide, joined this effort in support.  The following day the store was bombarded with the efforts of the group members and we were successful in gaining not only a removal of the shirt from the display, but a complete removal of the shirt from the store altogether. To their credit, the management and staff at Futura were extremely quick to respond to our efforts and in granting our request.

Upon further research, we were able to find the name of the company that created this shirt and was surprised to find that they were based right here in the progressive culture of the Bay Area, in San Leandro, CA. After looking over their website, we were shocked to find racially and culturally specific t-shirts that were equally as offensive, including a shirt with a picture of a young man wearing a sombrero crossing over the United States border with the words “Go Diego Go” written above him. This company needs to be stopped.

Our next move is to target the company, Deez Teez by using the same tactics of phone calls, emails and faxes, but on a much larger scale. This group is growing with support from various individuals, organizations and companies of diverse ethnicities and backgrounds and the goal of this burgeoning force is clear. We are uniting to compel Deez Teez to discontinue the sale all of their racially offensive shirts and to end the blatant disrespect of their message. To date, an email has been sent to the company requesting the discontinuation of these shirts and we have given them until the close of business Monday April 30th^t, 2007 to respond, or over 300 supporters of this effort are prepared to launch a full blown campaign demanding that this type of disregard and disrespect comes to an end.

We would appreciate the support of the media in our efforts.

Please contact: Brandelyn N. Castine at Beencee@gmail.com if you have any additional questions.

Thank you,
Brandelyn N. Castine

UC Berkeley Class of 2004

Deez Teez Contact Information: Website: www.deezteez.com, Email: info@deezteez.com, Phone: 510.483.8339

Email Template:

Subject: Order Information

Posted by Brandelyn at 12:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This past weekend a friend of mine was in town and wanted to go to campus. So we hit up all of the usual places including a store called Futura, which I have frequented myself on more than a few occasions. We went downstairs into the basement and I was shocked to see a t-shirt that said “Rutgers Nappy Headed Ho’s Basketball team” complete with a  picture of a basketball with an afro. To make a long story short several students and alumni were able to stop selling that shirt all together and now we are targeting the company that created that and several other extremely offensive shirts. I am extremely excited and proud of the people of all ethnicities who are taking part of this effort but that is not the purpose of this blog. I have a bone to pick.

            In order to rally people who cared into this effort I created a group on Facebook. There was an immediate response and people were on it. I was so excited. But then came the back lash. People began leaving posts on the wall of the group not only discounting the efforts of the individuals involved but also in the overall purpose of these actions. In addressing this I am not discounting the validity of their statements. There are huge problems in the Black community. There is a blatant lack of respect and subtly. The entertainers do need to be held accountable. Parents need to start teaching their kids to respect themselves and each other. There is an epidemic of AIDS and HIV in the black community, yes, all of these things are ramped in our community and there ARE efforts being made to combat these problems. But the things that bothered me the most about these comments were A. The sarcasm, B. the lack of knowledge and understanding on the topics that were being discussed and the efforts behind them and C. and most importantly, the lack of action behind them.

The problem with complainers is that complaining is usually all that they do. I created this group and am pursing this goal because for the most part people would go into that same store, see the shirt, shake their heads and walk out irritated, but not doing anything about it. In fact I almost did the same thing until I was told that the shirt would never be taken down and I needed to get over it by one of the sales associates. I personally love a challenge, and now the shirt is gone. Why? Because I took action; and that is the moral of this story.

            Complainers always have excuses as to why they can’t make things happen. I’m too young, I’m still in school, no one else cares. Complete and utter excuses. I say if you are going to complain about the issues in the black community and look down your nose at the efforts of people who are trying to make a change, no matter how ridiculous you may think it is, then you better have a laundry list of real activities underneath your belt because otherwise you are making yourself look bad. What good does it do to point out all of the things that aren’t being done if you aren’t doing anything about it yourself? What good is it to complain about groups on campus throwing parties, playing rap music that use explicit language, talks about degrading women and promotes a materialistic lifestyle, when you are there, paying your money, dancing to the rap songs that degrade women and doing just as much to support these things you are against? What good does it do to complain about groups raising money for the so called wrong reasons when you have just as much space and opportunity to do your own fundraising for the right ones? I’m sure that there are no complaints when people are recipients of the scholarships and awards these campus groups raise money to give out. The city of San Francisco has an AIDS walk annually, do you participate? The City of Oakland hosted the March of Dimes walk this past weekend. Where you there? It is very easy to whine and complain and be upset and displace your own inaction by pointing out flaws in someone else. But the cliché ‘actions speak louder than words’ was said for this specific reason. If you want to get angry and discount the efforts of your people and the work they are doing that is your right. But I have to answer a question that was asked.

“When will black people stop being blind to their own reality? When will black people start to realize that they are their own downfall? When will they start to care?”

            The answer to that question is EDUCATION. Perhaps before we start asking questions such as these we should research and become a part of organizations that are working to make changes. Perhaps before we start asking these questions we should have a firm understanding of what the real issues are instead of standing underneath the umbrella of generalization and yelling out that AIDS are killing our people. Perhaps once you actually get involved with conscious efforts and start actually invoking these changes you would like to see then you would stop complaining and asking these types of questions and start asking What can I do to help.

Peace Y’all

B

Posted by Brandelyn at 12:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Sometimes I feel like my life comes full circle and the things that I experience are not new or even surprising. The other day, my friend and I went to see Blades of Glory and we had about an hour before the show started so we went to Borders to hopefully find a good book. Yeah right. We rolled to the minuscule black section, which was literally one small shelf and I don’t know why, but I found myself shocked by the titles that accosted my eyes. “The Good Girls pole riding club” and “Thong on Fire,” sat right next to the 30 copies of “Their Eyes were Watching God” and “The Color Purple.” As I continued to glance over the dozens of Zane books, I really began to wonder, where is Black America heading?

            Last night I found myself excited about watching the finale of I Love New York. The show I swore up and down I would not support, eventually became a part of my weekly routine. As I watched a Black woman behave in a truly sad manner, and as I watched a black man berate her, I really got sad. Every day it seems that there are more and more negative stereotypes being perpetuated around Black people. The truly sad part is that the media isn’t even responsible anymore. We are. We are the one who are falling into the ‘Sex sells’ trap and allowing our brothers and sisters to be exploited so some higher up can sit in his office and collect the dollars. Our sections in national bookstores are filled with Toni Morrison and Zane, with very little in between. It truly is no wonder why our kids are starting to have sex in elementary school and discuss their sexual exploits with pride, young brothers earning an invisible badge of honor for each young woman they desecrate. It is no wonder our young sisters don’t know that it is okay not to give a man your body just to get his attention, and that it is not a sign of affection to call your friend Bitch as though it was her name. Where are the positive role models? Now even the teenage television shows and music is focused on sex and getting ahead. Where are the mentors and adults who are willing to step out of their “I gotta get mine” mentality and teach our kids that this is not okay?

            We need to take back our culture. We need to take back all of the beautiful and powerful pieces of our past and apply them to our future. Or better yet, we need to take those things and apply them to our right now. Maybe I’m getting older, but it irritates me to see young black kids standing on the corner screaming and running around and cussing and looking like they are ready to fight. Who can teach our kids to have more pride in themselves, in where they come from? Allowing our children to assimilate into “popular culture’ is going to eventually kill off any sense of self we may have. Pretty soon drinking water will be completely replaced by drinking red soda. Reading will be completely replaced by television and I wouldn’t even be surprised if Black face came back into the mainstream. Something has to be done. Some changes have to be made. I long for the day when I can walk into a book store and not see images of Black women sliding down poles and bending over to show their thong on the covers of books. I long for the day when music videos will make sense and being half naked won’t be the mark of success.

            To all of my fellow artists, it’s up to us to start taking things back. We have such an opportunity to do something powerful.  Maybe this revolution can start with us. I know I’m ready.

Peace Y’all

B

Posted by Brandelyn at 11:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)