Words In My Head (A Targeted Attack)

GO Ducks. Its got to be our year!

2010-11-26T15:08:00.000-08:00

Just came back from a trip to Oakland. My wife, my dad, and his friend were planning to see the game. I did not want to pay for tickets so wanted to walk up Cheapskate hill and try to catch the game from above the stadium. We were asking for directions while my uncle drove us around. While stopped asking for directions the most incredible thing happen. A man we called over offered up four tickets for everyone in the car if we promised that the Ducks would go to the national title game. Of course we did and we got into the stadium for free. That was the nicest thing that could have ever happened. Ducks we got to go all the way.

10/10/10

2010-10-10T23:55:00.001-07:00

Poetry and Animation

2010-10-10T23:13:00.000-07:00

STOP Muslimphobia get educated

2010-08-26T22:03:00.001-07:00

Stop the hatred, stabbing, and war provocations that are happening all over the country. We can not continue to let this hatred spiral out of control. Black American muslims and west indian muslims have been a part of the history of this country but creating an intolerance for religious expression will be a fundamental compromise to our principles as a country and this could be the first step towards national succession.

Here is some powerful education tools: http://bit.ly/a47pYu and http://bit.ly/bBHwyn

--
Ty Regis Cuffy Schwoeffermann

LEARN1

2010-08-25T23:22:00.001-07:00

Don’t fight culture

This is so true that you can not force the subject. You must use patients and understanding to begin breaking through barriers. It is also important to adapt to your surroundings before making making and crazy moves.

New Earth Army wisdom

2010-08-25T22:57:00.000-07:00

Those who strive after the truth and travel extensively in their quest are known as warriors. They are capable... they get the job done. Good soldiers are also known as warriors. THE FIRST EARTH wants the action orientation of the warrior... but tempered with the patience and sensitivity and ethics of the monk. The are the soldiers who have the power to make paradise. Why go for anything less.

- Use the new age Samurai

S - eek your own personal path to God

A - ctively improve your physical condition

M - aster mental self control for combat

U - nderstand others

R - einforce team interdependence

A - ctively serve people & planet

I - ndulge in happiness and humor

Oregoonies Presents: The Dance

2010-08-13T17:28:00.001-07:00

Caribana 2010 Toronto Family Trip

2010-08-03T20:53:00.000-07:00

What a Great Weekend.

More Pictures

Black History Month HIP HOP Mix - DAVEY D

2010-03-05T17:29:00.000-08:00

http://odeo.com/episodes/25663226-25-Joints-for-Black-History-Month

01-Dismasters ‘Black and Proud’

02-Def Jef ‘Black to the Future’

03-Jungle Brothers ‘Acknowledge Your History’

04-Queen Mother Rage ‘Slipping Into darkness’

05-Dead Prez ‘They Schools’

06-Paris w/Public Enemy ‘Winter In America’

07-D’Labrie ‘Stay & Black and Die ‘Jacka, Shamako, ‘m1′

08-Divine Styler ‘Word Power’

09-Professor Griff ‘Jail Cell’

10-Kofy Brown ‘Playing Field rmx’

11-KRS-One w/ Channel Live ‘Free Mumia’

12-Jurassic 5 ‘Freedom’

13-Common w/ Dead Prez & Last Poets ‘Panther’

14-Paris ‘Escape from Babylon’ (Davey D Stokely Carmichael rmx)

15-Jahi ‘Realer than Real’

16-Yo Yo ‘Girls Got a Gun’

17-Ice Cube ‘Us’

18-2Pac ‘Panther Power’

19-Poetess ‘Best in Me’

20-Queen Latifah ‘Evil That men Do (MLK Davey D rmx)

21-X-Clan ‘Grand Verbalizer’

22-Kam ‘Never Again’

23-The Coup ‘20,000 Gun Salute’

24-Nas ‘I Can’

25-Wise Intelligent ‘genocide’

26-Jasiri X ‘Just a Minstrel

27-Akrobatik ‘Remind My Soul’

28-KRS-One ‘You Must Learn’

29-Public Enemy ‘Anit Nutting Butta A Song’

Typhoon Review Miss Black Oregon 2010

2010-03-04T23:41:00.000-08:00

Miss Black Oregon 2010

Typhoon presents Typhoon studios Typhon Inc. Typhoon corp Typhoon Ph. D President/CEO Typhoon Special thanks Typhoon. I am the REALEST Typhoon

It was a warm February night in Portland. The moon shined bright above the tall majestic Scottish Rite Lodge downtown. It was the perfect setting for the 22 year old tradition of crowning this years Miss Black Oregon.

On my walk up the escalating stairs leading to the auditorium I gazed over a crowd of proud parents, eager friends, and a host of local celebrities including Senator Jackie Winters. All I could see were pressed pants swede jackets and dark evening gowns no one held back for this high stakes event. In many of their heads they wondered who would take this years crown among other more pressing issues. Like the economic struggles, health costs, a foreign war, and brutal police state. The state of the union could be worse of though. This was a night of celebration and a rejoicing of a new generation and time of power shifts.

The clear purpose of this program is to "elevate young black women self esteem, achievement through hard work and determination, and a concentration on education. This is a venue for women to pursue scholarship through education" said Veronica Alberti who is the Oregon State Director.

How will the 13 women tonight express their blackness and womeness in front of a packed audience? Who will emerge as a leader tonight?

These questions will be answered but I am more curious of; what kind of powerful symbols and messages will define a black female Oregonian? Will there be a pop culture influence of these young women in their expressions? Will we see a distinct counter culture emerge that is unique to Oregonian women? Will there be any representations of international or other cultures?

My Name is Ty Schwoefferman and I attended the Miss Black Oregon 2010 scholarship pageant and I took thorough notes during the event to capture the essence as I saw it. My purpose was to combat the the idea that the current youth generation are drug and sex addicts, obsessed consumers, and disengaged in the political system. Prove them wrong ladies.

The night started with 9 of the young women dancing a smooth choreography from Felicya Garcia and Andre Baker of Liquid Moves. The women had obviously practiced together because they danced as one. This lead into an introduction of all of the participant with each standing proud at the microphone and proclaiming who had guided or role modeled for them in their lives. The contestants were in order 1. Breanna Probasco Canda Graduate Student in Advertising 2 Amani Thrower of Grant High School 3 Jhaizmine Smith of Jefferson High School 4 Amber Trimble of Benson High School 5 Catherria Turner of University of Portland 6 Genesy Roberts of Portland Community College 7 Charay Brown of Jefferson High School 8 Toni Fields of Portland Community college 9 Erica Jones of Jefferson High School 10 Tiffany Harper of Oregon State University 11 Sable Scott of Portland Community College 12 Kaela Smith of Franklin High School 13 Kari Herinckx of UO ED Graduate school.

Each spoke of one person who has had a big influence in their lives or has been a role model for who they want to become. Each named national and local figure like Mrs. Sobomehien, Soujournor Truth and Mitchell Obama to name a few. Making the connection between past and present champions who have paved the way for their dreams to be possible. Powerful opening.

Next was the all important talent show which the contestant used to highlight their god given gifts. Several chose spoken word as their talent re-sighting, Tyler Parry monologue, Poem "Painted", "fences" monologue and "Ain't I a women" speech. Several chose dance including two praise dances, and a Caribbean cultural dance. Two chose songs Mariah Carey, and " I wrote an ode to God". These women most definitely represented their talent the highlight of the evening was Kari Herinckx's signing of "I Wrote an Ode to God," which was a very moving rendition.

Next was the women's fitness athletic wear. It was a nice to hear that these women were both talented, brilliant and athletic. Many of the women claimed sports that they competed in competitively and some mastered multiple sports. This is a fresh reminder that women are making big inroads on the athletic field as well. Catherria Turner proved herself on the basketball court as a college athlete and now is an Women"s assistant coach at the University of Portland.

Now for the moment we have all been waiting for the evening gowns. Each had purchased their own gowns for this showcase. Each one had chosen complimenting dresses that represented styles both modern and classic. Elegant were all the contestants as they walk smoothly across stage. I would highlight Catherria Turner, Genesy Rogers, Amber Trimble, Kari Herinckx and Sable Harper for great taste and for being so graceful in their presentation. Beautiful expressions of one important element of the the pageant.

The last and I think the most important segment was the question and answer section. This was a chance for the 13 women to really express who they are and what they stand for. The questions themselves covered religion, environment, women at work, education, senior citizens, and judicial system. I was impressed by the shear range of questions. It must have been challenging preparing responses for nearly 100 possible questions. There were some easier questions also like "who is your role model?", and "what is a black women?". The contestant who really shined were Kari Herincks, Breanna Probasco Canda, Tiffany Harper, and Catherria Turner. Their answered were with substance, poise, and great expression.

The one story that really stood out in my mind was Breanna Probasco Canda talking about her greatest achievement which was giving birth to her son and being a mother. I was very impressed by the responses of all the young women to some really challenging topics but I believe that they proved to be informed on some of the top challenges of of the day. Tiffany Harper also addressed the question about the aging of our population an issue that she seemed really passionate about and was on-point with her answer. Born leaders everyone of them.

The final five were selected as Tiffany Harper, Genesy Rogers, Sable Scott, Catheria Turner, and Kari Herinckx. No Complaints with the top five they are all wonderfully successful women but I would have added Breanna Probasco Canda for having a good showing in the talent section and really nailing the question answer section.

In the final questioning the judges mistakenly asked two questions which had previously been answered by contestants which I hope they did on accident. There is nothing worse then answering the same question twice with the same answer. All the top five contestants really nailed the answers and I thought Kari Herinckx really distinguished herself with an a discussion of improving the education system for young people and closing the achievement gap, it helped that she is starting her masters at UO in education and being an advocate and activist for several years in Eugene. Given that the theme of this event is education there were more then four questions focused on education for all the contestants. That theme really got driven home throughout the event.

Kari Herinckx had leageons of screeming fans when the announcement happened the entire balcony erupted with "Kari, Kari, Kari" chanting. The President and Vice president and other student representatives made the trip from Eugene to attend the event. The were "so happy that she won" one said "I believed in her the whole time" another said as they celebrated. Kari took one last walk with her crown loosely fit on her head and awards lining the stage it was a beautiful moment of achievement in Oregon history. She congratulated all of her new friends as she took picture after picture with all the contestants and friends. She will now go on to represent Oregon with Miss Black Washington as the Northwest contingent in the national competition in Washington DC.

Final awards
1. Salesman of the year (sold most tickets) - Kari Herinckx
2. Best Talent - Kari Herinckx
3. Best Academic - Sable Scott
4. Best Evening Gown - Catheria Turner
5. Business Women (selling most advertisements) - Kari Herinckx
6. Peers Vote - Breanna Probasco Canda
7. Spirit Award - Kayla Smith and Erica Jones

4th Runner up - Tiffany Harper
3rd Runner up - Genesy Rogers
2nd Runner up- Sable Scott - $500 scholarship
1st Runner up - Catherria Turner - $1000 scholarship

1st place. Kari Herinckx - $2000 scholarship + $7500 International air academy scholarship + $300 Gown Certificate + $300 May Kay Beauty Products

"My dreams are coming true, maybe I could be Mitchelle Obama's aid" she said out loud as she smiled wide eyed. Kari will certainly take this crown and role model for many young women what it is to be a Black women in America today. She has proven that above all else that achieving your dreams takes hard work, dedication, and guidance.

In the tradition of the event these women will gather one more time as a group before they send off Miss Black Oregon to Washington DC. "Over the past years of organizing this event it has made me give more to the community." Veronica Alberti told me at the conclusion of the event "It is gratifying to see all the achievements of these young women. These women have transformed themselves."

She said that many of the contestants gain more self esteem for themselves. Past contestants have gone on the do big things. Former Miss Oregon Marnita Lewis became an aid for the late Senator Ted Kennedy. Also a 17 year old winner who had struggles in her personal life and family including drug addiction went on to night school and eventually to Portland State where she is now. She was the first person in her family to graduate from high school. There are many more story of success she said.

All and all this event was a spectacular conclusion to Black history month in Portland. There were many highlights of the evening and very high caliber performances by the 13 young women. I congratulate all the contestants for bravely expressing themselves through talent, fitness, intelligence, and fashion. Theirs 21st century brand of feminism one of leadership with strength, involvement in the community, and career independence. These women will no doubt break through some of those highest glass sealing that their mothers were chipping at.

I feel confidant after this night. I really believed for a moment that leaders are easy to recognize. I saw 13 of them tonight. From this event I know that the next generation will have mighty presence in the community. Many well qualified leaders will develop in the years to come with events like Miss Black Oregon grooming our future. Pass the torch to the next rulers of the new global village.

Congratulations Kari Herinckx, "I love my ducks"

Miss black oregon 2010 Karebear
Miss black oregon 2010

Typhoon and Kusikia concert 3/4/2010

2010-03-04T23:05:00.000-08:00

Typhoon presents Typhoon studios Typhon Inc. Typhoon corp Typhoon Ph. D President/CEO Typhoon Special thanks Typhoon. I am the REALEST Typhoon

tonight was the first blog for a bit. 3/4/2010 Kusikia show.

Went to a concert to night featuring some young Portland talent. They were to say the least interesting. First off someone had the nerve to share my night sake. Who ever shares my name must first demand and conquer that name to its fullest. This group did not deliver.

Typhoon and Kusikia were the only two bands I had time for.

Kusikia was a surprise. Looking around the crowd I saw was mostly "hipster" generally in the sense that every female wore black leggings with fo-leather jackets. Most also dawned tight black or cackie colored ankle jeans. Is the new hipster look for men is red fat lined plaid shirt. There is nothing that stniks worse then ugly felt. Man enough complaints because I could go alday about hipsters fashionable imbalance but I don't want to kill you with my words yet.

At first glance at Kusikia I saw a tall lanky white guy and a shy 20 year old college student. They the show started and these artists transformed in the a psychotic mind melding duo of drummer and electron guitar. Whaling heavy on the strings and drums equally at high rate and low rate. These two did a wicked rendition of Nina Simone which was a touching ode to self determination and black power. I was especially impressed by the ability of two musician to stay in sync even when it seemed so disjointed kind of reminding of more nuanced punk that once ruled the land. Impressive over all incredible display of talent and skill these young artist don't hang with pot smoking types that frequent the Portland night scape but they do seem like celestial explorers looking for music notes that will answer the worlds problems. I sugguest trying out their unique remedy.

Typhoon the group its self was not worth much breath. All I can say is if your band is going to double in size make sure that everyone can fit on stage. Instead of placing an off beat precussion artist on center stage put that singer who was stuck in the corner up front at least then we would not feel like we were in the middle of a barbershop quartet concert. Please use the lead drummer better he was a one man show. I liked the lead singer but he seemed to more of a folk singer then a rock band lead. Give me my name back bitches! You have to earn that shit. Not yet.

At least I didn't make the trip for nothing Kusikia rocked... At least enough to get the hipster crowd tweekin a little bit apparently that is dancing to them. PUZZEL: Lewis and Clark and ____ HINT: four letters and you can find this city on the east coast.

Music makes the world go round...

2008-12-10T10:03:00.000-08:00

Everybody say HO! Christmas Hip Hop mix.

www.hiphopismusic.com/uploads/sayhomix.mp3
01. RUN-D.M.C. "Christmas in Hollis"
02. Dana Dane "Dana Dane is Coming to Town
03. Beastie Boys "Sure Shot"
04. Sweet Tee "Let The Jingle Bells Rock"
05. Da'rel Jr. "This Christmas"
06. Braille "Blessed Man"
07. Sojourn "Definitely Special"
08. Flying Lotus "Roberta Flack Ft. Dolly"
09. Surreal "First Chapter"10. Poems "Love"
11. Nicolay & Kay "Tight Eyes"
12. Choclit Kennedy "On & On"
13. J Dilla "Won't Do"
14. Othello "Silhouette"
15. James Brown "Don't Tell It"
16. Red Astaire Ft. Caretta Bell "You Dead Wrong"
17. Theory Hazit "Grizzly"
18. Grand Puba "Amazing"
19. Charles Brown "I'll Be Home for Christmas" (Ohmega Watts Remix)

UO History

2008-11-28T22:34:00.000-08:00

A History of Activism at University of Oregon
By Diego Hernandez, Josué Abrahan Peña-Juárez, and Ty Schwoeffermann

2008-11-28T22:26:00.000-08:00

This is my first Hip Hop video Check it out:

The Phormula "This is Who I Am"

I am getting Married

2008-06-04T01:56:00.000-07:00

Yo, great News everybody... I am not too young to get married. Going on 24 years old. You need to know that I have found the woman with whom I want to spend my life. Cimone Lauren Campbell. She is everything my heart desires and more. We will decide on a date soon... That is right ladies I am officially taken for good. Cimone "I want to MARRY you isn't that what you WANT too."
Love Ty Regis Cuffy Schwoeffermann (yeah we have some work to do on the names)

My Cultural History

2008-06-04T01:54:00.000-07:00

I wrote this for a class so I thought I would post it for all you readers.

My Cultural history
By Ty Schwoeffermann

I have divided this cultural historical narrative into three distinct parts youth, young adult, and adult. In each of these time periods I have reflected on myself as a racial person by pointing out important events and experiences. I have had direct and indirect understandings of race that have shaped the way I think about myself today. I have not always had a healthy understanding about race, but I have in recent years tried to learn about what race truly means to me. I want to unlearn some of the bad stuff I learned, and develop a love for my mixed race identity.
My mom is from the caribbean, Dominica to be exact, and she is of African decent. My mom was highly educated and worked as a teacher and a social worker. My Father is 3rd generation American, of european decent. He meet my mom during his experience in the peace corp in Dominica. My mom is part of a large family network in the caribbean region, and her father was a hard working plumber and handyman and mother was known for her farming and service to the community. My fathers family is located in the United States, and his father was in the air force and mother was a house wife. My moms extended family is much larger then my fathers. My father and mother married in Dominica and shortly after Irene (name of my paternal great grandmother) was born, then they moved to the United States to start a new life together in Portland, Oregon. I was the first one born in Portland and my brother Tamu followed shortly after. My mom took close care of Tamu, Irene, and I for years as she ran a day care and went to school part time. My father started up his own computer software company with his partner Pat Ledgerwood.
I have determined that over the years tensions of between families had slowly created a wedge between my mom and dad. Several factors lead to my parents eventually getting divorced. My mother being the dominant leader of our family. Also my mom had the tendency to abuse my sister and I especially, verbally, physically and emotionally. My fathers alcoholism and social network of friends put a strain on our family. Finally I think that my mom choose to marry my father and move to the United States conditionally, only if she could send her children back to Dominica to study and spend time learning about her family equally. This agreement apparently did not seem to get upheld possibly because of financial reasons and also immigration rules. My father also decided to recycle all of my mothers school papers and citizenship documentation while she was on a trip to Dominica and many other things she had been storing in the basement. There was so much stuff he decided to get a large dumpster container and he even had me and my brother help him. we did not know what we were doing at the time but later I found out that we had thrown away all of her documentation that proved her citizenship which is a ten year process. Another factor that was very draining for my mother was my fathers involvement with the Oregon Hash House harriers who drank heavily and cause my father to get several DUI violations and maybe should have gotten more. These folks loved to run from bar to bar and drink and perform drunk singing rituals and sexual rituals as well. It was all good fun at the expense of his relationship with my mom. Many other factors also contributed to our family eventually separating but these were some of the key factors that I have determined.
The youth years (4-12) helped me develop some complex understanding of my racial identity. As a youth my experiences concerning race largely was influenced by my interactions with family. I often found that race was never really taught to me or my two siblings by my parents. We had to teach ourselves from our own experiences, which meant our understanding of what race was cloudy as a youth. My brother and sister and I were always very close because my mom kept it that way. We had a small family living in Oregon and my mom had been accustomed to a large family on her island Dominica to living in here put a strain on her. My father has family all over the country so we spent more time meeting them. The trips that we did go on to Dominica were always short so I never got a full perspective of what life was like on the island.
Irene, Tamu, and I always played together and with other kids from my neighborhood who my mom took care of. Our experiences together helped us understand race. As youth we decided that we were not black or white that we were somewhere in between. In our creativity we came up with the concept of art in which the combinations of black and white made us grey. That is how we described our racial identity for a long time after that moment.
One experience at Ainsworth, Tamu and I’s elementary school, shaped my understanding of race for a long time after that. Cedric was a kid I rode the bus with and he quickly became my sworn enemy. I remember he used to talk bad about my mom. and would punch me, spit on me, and call me names. One day he scream at me “Nigger,” and I started crying. All I know after that was I ended up in the principles office and my mom and dad were informed. I don’t know exactly what happened but I remember that greatly effecting me.
My understanding of my family is still being shaped by what I have gathered over the years, yet there are still many secrets that I have yet to learn. The divorce cause my sister and brother to choose sides, my sister and I initially choose to go with my dad, while my brother was forced and complicity decided to stay with my mom. I quickly returned to my mom when I realized that I could not leave my brother, and I felt a sense of obligation to him so that I could protect him from any abuse from my mom. My sister and father went through a hard time period together because in the following years my dad would see his company fall apart and his relationship with Irene became strained. Irene and my dad had always been close but they kind of lost touch when my sister started developing an ethnic identity that was more closely identified to my mothers side of the family and her spending one year in school in Dominica helped further that growth. She went through a racial identity development almost on her own, but occasionally invited us to things like NAACP and her church African Methodist Episcopal in north Portland. While I was able to escape my mothers iron fist to experience conferences and church services my brother stayed home. My mother to this day has not really forgiven me for leaving with my father the night they split up, even despite me trying to maintain a relationship with my mother throughout the divorce and afterwards. Tamu, Irene, and I were completely absent from all court procedures for my parents divorce. The judge determined that my mom would get custody of me and Tamu and Irene would live with my dad. This all happened while I was in middle school and starting high school. I was severely depressed during this time because both my parents were very angry for what seemed like forever. My sister went off to Howard University in Washington DC after spending one year at PSU with a full ride scholarship. Tamu excelled in school and became fluent in spanish. I focused most of my energy in sports where I became one of the top athletes in our district.
In sports my experience as a racially other person were varied. I would often get comments about my natural ability, and I remember how they put me at ease, but at the same time I choose to challenge those boundaries of race. My mom is responsible for getting us involved in sports, my dad also encouraged it especially for me he wanted me to do baseball and basketball. I particularly liked swimming and I excelled in it. This was however a sport that I realized very few black athletes participated in, and I often was encouraged to do sports where I would find more black people. My mom did not like that I was great athlete. She wanted me to put more time and focus on my schooling and less on the sports field, because she had determined that I would get exploited if I went any further in my sports career. I also started to realize at this age that women had an obsession with my body. I had developed muscles from sports and women found this very attractive, but I became uncomfortable with this kind of attention because these women did not have a real appreciation for me other then my body or my fitness. I found my self doing things to be undesirable to women because I had no intention of getting in relationships on such shallow notions. I did have one or two relationships but they were not very serious, however I did appreciate what I learned in high school. I found that I had no real racial preferences for women, but rather a social group preference. I noticed that I related more to working class people, because my mom instilled in me that boujie people were too pretentious. My sister seemed to want me to find a nice black girl and my mom also insinuated that I should marry black.
Another experience that shaped my racial identity was being called out by one of my friends at a fourth of July celebration. Each year our neighborhood comes together to have outdoor celebrations for the fourth, and we always end up at the Sellwood bluff to watch the fireworks get shot off on the Willamette river. This year was the same as usual Jake’s dad did his usual crazy fireworks display in his American flag full body suit while Jimi Hendricks music blazes the air. While I was enjoying my time Dane Teachmen comes up to me and says, “you are the least black person I know.” I was set back for a moment, and upset at the same time. I did not know what to say about all that. He apparently let me know that I was not white, but not black, so I guess I took that as a compliment. Later on It made me angry because he said I was the least black, and I thought no I am not because I was clearly half black, and I knew there were other who were 1/4 or 1/8 black so he could not have meant it in that sense. What I realized is that he was saying that I don’t meet the black stereotypes, which I guess for himself he had determined were true accept with me.
This concludes my cultural history, I have cut it short because I do not think I am ready to start reflecting on my college experiences yet. But when I am, I will have to talk about my experiences in activism on this campus. Being a member of the Black Student Union and the Co-director this year. Writing articles for the Oregon Daily Emerald that all had strong political messages. Finally developing a biracial identity in a polar world.

Life after the BSU

2008-06-04T01:49:00.000-07:00

I have officilly steped down after Donnell, Ebony and I hired the new staff for next year. Here is the New Staff Getachew and Kari will take charge. James, Ashleigh, Carla, Rachel, and Curtis will also be on staff. I am so excited. And I hope that this group can find a way to work together as well as This years BSU staff. To Bryce, Donnell, Ebony, and Getachew it was nice working with you. I can step away knowing that there are great improvements coming on the horizon.

Celebrate Good Times... CumONn!!

2008-05-19T21:52:00.000-07:00

This has been a Month of great fortune, good luck, and celebrations. Yeah to the Capricorns. A happy Hippie birthday to Tamu my brother. The best news is that Cimone and I are engaged to be married in 2009. The love is strong and both of us have committed to each other a lifetime of joy and happiness. I love her so much. She is my heart and soul. You have to see the fat ring that I got her, bling.. BLING. Cimone has experienced much deserved fortune herself by getting into Grad school at Portland State University for a Social Services Masters degree. And she may have a place to live at my fathers house in Portland. Yeah...! If I did not have her, I don't know what I would do. Our planning for everyone who wants to know, is moving slow, partially because I have to focus on my graduation for the time being.
To note, my schooling is nearly finished at University of Oregon. Only a few Spanish classes left and my senior thesis. I am so excited about my experiences in this city, Eugene. I have learned so much from so many people. I can't wait to put my learning to application. Jobs on the horizon are all very appealing to me as long as they offer the right price and benefits. The good news about the graduation ceremonies is that I have been recognized by my peers and the community in three separate ceremonies. Friday I received the prestigious Jewel Bell award from Office of Multicultural Academic Services. It comes with a cool certificate and a nice 500 bones for my pocket book. The next day I got a Centurion award from the university, which is cool and all but I DON'T CARE about the presidents office as much as my peers honors. On Saturday the Black Women of Achievement gave me one of the greatest honors for a man of color, the Ebony Man of the Year award for 2008 AKA the King Rames II award. I accepted it with great appreciation for what it represented in my community, and my acceptance speech was a little corny but I tried to show that I was humble and appreciative of all the gifts that I have received in my lifetime. Big ups to Khahn, Kit, Jordan, Cory, Jason, Mark, Kieth, Rodrigo, and so many more who have shown me what it takes to be a man who supports his community. The biggest thanks of the night went to my beautiful and intelligent Fiance Cimone who has helped me get through all the trying times with love and support. The award is like the biggest honor you can get as a man of color on this campus in my opinion. Ashliegh Callier-Wells handed me a massive trophy as my prize. Thanks so much. As the co-director of the BSU I hope that I have made a big impact on the lives of the other members, men and women alike.
Because the BSU is my heart, I have put so much love and care into that organization. I only hope that my effect has a lasting place in the future operations of the leaders.
Last week I put in a Over-realized committee funding request on behalf of the BSU. May 15th the senate confirmed an important request for the future of the Black Student Union. We asked for roughly $19,625.00, which is possibly the largest funding ask this year or the years in the past. This confirmed our place and status as a UO group, MEChA and BWA, our allies, also asked for roughly 35,000.00 and 65,000.00 respectively. Our request was a two folds request the first half of the money which was to cover 10,000.00 of cast for the national and regional Black Student Union conferences, in Illinois and California, as a leadership training priority for the future leaders of our community. The second half of our request only received 6,000.00 for a complete BSU office remodeling. I hope next years staff uses the money productively to liven up our space and our community. This is a great thing for our people, we are finally getting the respect that we deserve as an organization and as leaders. We don't ask for much, although why shouldn't we get what everyone else gets. Big money gets handed out every year so now it is our turn. We will show that we have the ability to be responsible in the way that we decide to spend the money and all of the spending will greatly impact the community.
With all of this in the last few weeks and only a few weeks left I have to begin reflecting on what a great experience this year was. I see the future of the people around me is improving. My friend Aarons business is taking off. Ashliegh Callier is making things happen. Tech and Ariam are happy and in love. Ryan, Ariana have had healthy babies, and Dominique is about to have one too. All my good friends are graduating and I am moving on with them.

HU... HU... BSU! HU... HU... BSU!

2008-04-25T23:51:00.000-07:00

Eugene is on the map BABY! This has been a rockus year for me but I have only been enjoying myself because I have been working with a strong crew of people who have done it BIG! The Black Student Union is hot. No doubt the best group of people I have ever worked for. We have done some new innovative creative things this year and we have also really put our name out in our community. Yo, it all started when we sent a few people traveled to Illinois for a national conference for other student organizations that represent people of African decent. From that point on we were rollin, large and in charge. Spring started with ten people going to UCLA for a similar event, and all who attended it LOVED it, so hopefully this will become a regular staple of our organization.
The BSU
Kicked off the year right by protesting extreme punishment for the Jena 6, and We had a kick ass Kwanzaa event, A bomb MLK week celebration (w/a panel about the education system), and the black heritage ball was bangin! If an organization could be tighter then our that I hope you tell me how it got that way. We have had bowling night, freestyle fridays, potlucks, game night, and some real cool kickin it sessions. I have had more fun at school then I have ever had and I am going to graduate. The best part about all of this action is that I have had all of this fun being drug and alcohol free. This is particularly important to note because drugs seem to be associated with fun around here, and unfortunately I have been to further this belief. But I have grown to move from that as often as I can by integrating fun routines into my life that involve other cool people who don't need drugs to have fun. Not to mention that we started an intramural basketball team this year called TEAM SUPREME, check out the previous blogs. Health is great.
ME, Typhoon, PHOON, the Maroon Dude, AKA the General AKA Black Isis (Nick names I have acquired this year)
I have really enjoyed the freestyle fridays most of all, as you should tell, it has allowed me to get to know people on a deep level in a short period of time. The knowledge produced by some of these brothers and sisters on the mic is really cool. You will be hearing some music recorded real soon. I cannot give up this organization for the life of me. I am too connected. I would love to become an adviser to continue the momentum created by the crew this year. But that is just a passing thought. I wonder if I will get the Ebony man award this year again? Hmmmmm. I don't believe that I deserve too much recognition because I realize that I know people in the past have dedicated their live to a different level then we are willing too these days. Non-profits and volunteerism seem to have a very low priority in our society. So I still think we owe our elders far more then the props that often give ourselves. All the cats that I have been able to rap to this year has really been a blessing. They have taught me how to live life and I thank them for that, Johnny, Warren, Ken, and so many others have helped me out a lot on my growing process. Thanks.

2008-03-26T14:48:00.000-07:00

Friday March 21st Obamamania hit Eugene, Oregon with a bang. I had made the trip from Portland only because I could not make it to his Portland appearance. I had a much better chance to get in thanks to my connections. I knew that I could make it in to Mac court, I just had an inkling that everything would work out. The Amtrack bus dropped me off at around 6 pm, and I immediately walked home where I took a break for a bit. I checked the TV in time to watch the end of the Ducks game, of course we lost to much better team Mississippi State, but I later found out that we blew a 13 point lead, sounds familiar. Game set match, so I left after Diego gave me the word that Mac was filling up fast. So I jogged over there quickly. When I arrived I looked to my left and then to my right both ways I say thousands of people. I looked for my friends in line, I saw Maria sister, but I didn’t think about getting in line with her, I kept looking, and looking and my prospects look bad. I looked straight ahead of me and found a door just recently open up, only a few people really noticed it. When I got in line my friend Abdul called me and I told him to head my way, unfortunately could not find me in the crowd. An Obama organizer started guilt tripping me and others for getting in the line, I did not budge because I felt that I fairly entered the line just like everyone else, I just was lucky to pic a shorter line. When I entered the building I was surprised to find that security was really stripin people, I searched my wallet, pockets, and metal detecting. I skweeked through that quickly and headed up stairs behind the stage and the giant “Change we can believe in” sign. When I looked around to see a large crowd and tons of media units, bright lights, and security. A lot of folks had those cheep Obama shirts, and I found out that they were provided by the Obama campaign for the volunteers. I took a seat a little dissatisfied with my positioning. I looked on the floor and saw all my friends and a bunch of other folks I had never seen. I asked my self, how can I get on the floor? I asked my man Saaid, I asked him if I could borrow his volunteer badge to get to the floor. He hooked it up, thankfully. I went to the floor flashing my badge all along the way. When I found my place with all my friends I brushed off my excited grin and took a seat waiting for Obama. After about 2 hours of fluf. A roar came from the crowd, and an old man came out, he was some kind of war general or something, then Obama followed. The crowd roared louder then I had ever heard in Mac court before. The stadium was packed to the limit, he could barely get any words out because of the hype surrounding his name. The Cameras zoomed in, and he began to speak after he told the crowd to quiet down. Everything he tried to say would get cut off by loud cheering. He spoke gracefully and powerfully and often flashing his big smile. Today I won’t get into the details of what said, but the fact that he made it to Eugene Oregon is surprising in itself, I am glad that he came. I am proud to know that he cares about us here, I don’t know if he swayed voters with his poli-talk. But I do know that he charmed thousands of people, many young men and women were there soaking it in, while older folks also expressed the same joy of witnessing him. All and all I think he did a good job, at least the best he could have done for a crowd of over 15,000 people, many of whom were getting more then a little impatient.

Athletics is Education

2008-03-14T20:21:00.000-07:00

I have always been a sports junkie. My mom got me into competitive swiming by the age of 7. I have had a long and nearly healthy career. I have also been a winner since I can remember but I did not have the luxury of the formal expencive training that some kids got, I got the public educational minimum and a lot of self diligence on my part. In highschool I was considered one of the schools top athletes. I recieved all kinds of awards including a few MVP's and I varsity lettered a 13 times for in four years of sports. My sports of choice were Cross Country, Swimming and Track and Field and also Water Polo for one year.
This year I am in my fifth year of college at a big time sports school UO. I have played on one intermural basketball team and I decided to organize another one this year with my friends from the Black Student Union. I have always been a part of Coed sports but I have never competed directly with women in an organized fashion so I thought that I would try it out this year. After some harrasment of a couple known ballers I rounded up the team you see in the picture, from left to right Sara, Hanible, Lexis, Me, Getachew, Kari, and Ashley. Our team name was Team Supreme. This was the team that I ended up learning a lot from individually and collectively.
The season started off quickly won our first two games decisively. I learned that my team mates had talent. Lexis was fearless and often got excited about gaurding or going up against guys. Ashley "big Mama" always stayed positive and had a lot of fun playing, she could consistantly hit those on the run jumpers from the corner. Sara had nice game, she ussually got a lot of steals but was sometimes to afraid to shoot though she hit the shots most of the time. Hanibal could take the ball in down low and use his hight or shoot from out side. Getachew was our team leader, he often drove to the hole and made nice passes though he turned the ball over a lot. Kari was often busi with school and politics and could not make the first two games but when she did play she had a lot of hustle and smiled when she got the ball, she also took some tough hits in the last game, including one from me (sorry). I was a mean guy when I played I imtimidated and defended hard I had a couple big scoring games also. Lexis must have been our leading scorer, no won could really contain her energy. Our team had won the first four games. We felt confident going into our last game and the playoff when we lost a close one. It was a hard loss, and it seemed to spill over to our next game also which we lost in the first game to playoffs. But despite the loss I was all smiles because I got to have fun with some people whom I would probably not have spent to much time with otherwise doing something positive. The sseason was over but not completely.
I have never really thought too deeply about gender and sports until ashley asked me an important question in one game. Girls can't gaurd men? That made me think about my own preconceptions about what womens roles in sports was all about, and why we live in such a devided world where women play seperately from men and often never compete against eachother. I had learned from that coed experience how to recognize each others strengths and to think about team basketball. How to have fun. How to learn from one another. How to keep people involved in the games. I wanted the experience to never end, but unfortunatley it did, we took this picture at the end of the season. May be this tradition will continue next year in the BSU, it sertainly was a healthy one rich with fun experiences. GO TEAM SUPREME!!

Sports at the University of Oregon

2008-02-10T23:33:00.000-08:00

I post my second blog. I know I sure am slow at this thing. I still haven't really figured out what I want to do with this whole thing. Today I write a opinion about what I feel about sports as a student at the University of Oregon. Yeah I am a Duck. But not a blind Duck. Yeah I do get down, when I go to Autzen and Mac court and yeah I was on the Pit crew one year. But i do also have a very critical perspective that sees sports a a very political environment that is intrinsically linked the national politics.

The Ducks have had a big time national reputation in NCAA sports the football team was ranked #2 at one point last fall and the basketball team surprisingly made a run to the final 8 last march. We have seen unparalleled era of success in the University of Oregon sports program. I have enjoyed it but I have also questioned some interesting and possibly illegal actions that the Sports Department has participated in.

I want to start off this piece with a story that capture the joy me and my friends shared in the success of the Basketball team in the march madness. Last March my friends Roman, Bill, Joe and I ventured to the redwood forests for what I call a typical college camping adventure. The four of us packed into my moms blue camery hatchback. We spent one night in drenched tents at Jedidiah smith camp ground. In the morning we all had one thing on our minds where can we get dry and how quickly, we all pilled into the car after packing all of our drenched gear into the back of the car, and we headed to the nearest city. After taking care of all of wet close at the closest laundry mat, we ended up at a local bar managed by a former boxer. They were still cleaning up, and the part time boxing coach was a little surprised that we were ordering pitchers at 10:30am, but we explained to him that the Ducks had made it to the not so Elite Eight in defining game versus Florida. The four of us were glued to the TV and also to the sticky bar counter as the Ducks played their hearts out against an obviously superior foe. We all believed in the spirit that had propelled the unranked Ducks through a series of spectacular wins. The Ducks lost that day, but the joy that my friends and I shared in the success of the Ducks season felt great, so we all smoked bowls in honor of the players on the windy beach front of Cresent City.

I returned from that road trip with a new found appreciation for the athletes at UO especially the Black Athletes. Why the Black athletes? Well if you have every been to Oregon you would quickly point out that there are very few African Americans in Oregon, so we must take pride in any of our achievements. My high was quickly killed the next week when I realized that school was starting up again, which meant I would have to get back on the grind, not to mention I was running a half ass political campaign for Student Body President the following week. On the subject of Athletes I felt compelled to voice some political opposition to the Athletic Departments academic support of black athletes as a point on my platform. This came about after I wrote a shabby research paper last year on the historical significance of the Black Athlete connected to Academics. That spring an interesting article also came out about the low achievement gad of "minority" students, it was a clear smack in the athletic department face. This issue in the midst of unparalleled success and on the eve of a new era of Department Director Pat Kilk. The school has not addressed this issue to this day, at least to my liking.

I am a fan of sports but my principles conflict with the goals of the UO athletic departments exploitive nature. In my tenure in school I have witnessed many concerning situations. When I was a sophomore I was paid by a certain athlete to write a 14 page paper on drug abuse. Morally I felt conflicted but the money was enticing at the time I needed to pay rent and had other bills pilling up, I have since ask god for forgiveness on that issue. I certainly felt that I was doing a normal thing at the time, and it was not the only paper that I had written for money, it seemed like a normal practice with no risk of plagiarism charges, which I have gotten once before in an English class for which I recieved an F. Secondly a female friend of mine once vented to me about the restrictions that this school has for track athletes, they are forced to only where nike products, why is this concerning. Well it seems that Nike has a monopoly in a public university, can anyone tell me if this is legal. Ok maybe there are contracts that student athletes sign that they agree to only where certain shoes and obey certain laws, that other students ignore daily. Why are these students following a different code? third, I am very concerned about the number of student athletes that tell me that they are prevented by their coach from doing degrees that are too time intensive, that require lab time, such as Architecture, Chemistry, Biology, and almost all science degrees or Education degrees. Is this fair? To prevent a student from his or her number one choice, to settle for an option that will fit work out schedules, business and sociology and favored by coaches.

I am for a hourly wage for student athletes. I am for a reduced practice time for all athletes. I am for an actual ammature sporting industry where athletes have power and control of their destiny. I am for unbluring the line between professional and ammature athletics. I am for an anti racist exploitation of athletes in the NCAA's. I am for ending public funding for corrupt athletic departments including UO.

CHECK OUT THESE AUTHORS: Harry Edwards and Dave Zirin, they drop some real bombs on the issues that I described. Stay tuned for more from UO.

Looking Pool

2007-11-15T11:47:00.000-08:00

I start this blog with a beautiful eye full of my favorite pond. I know how excited you are to read what I have to say about everything, so I thought I would start with a look into the future. What better way to get things started then to give you the kind of insight that could change your life.

I start with this picture because it happens to be the most beautiful looking pool that I have ever seen. The pool had a miraculous shimmer when I took the picture like a blue crystal ball. If you think of something hard enough while looking deep into this looking pool, in a mystical way, it will tell you the answer to your questions.