A Full Slate...(Grey Matters)

Peace all...

OK I promised that I would hit you with the good, bad and the ugly, but all I delivered was the bad, so let's deal with some good, shall we?

The Back and Forth exhibit that was planned to be shown during February is being altered as we speak. For starters the name will be changed to Grey Matters because I'm wanting to do this exhibit in a particular fashion, but still keep the content about racial matters in America and throughout the world, but I felt Black History Month would not be appropriate for it, due to the subject matter which goes against what most people think Black History Month is all about, which is remembering the events that happened yesteryear, mainly focusing on either issues of civil rights, or the recent "achievements" made by Blacks in America. This focus kinda clouds the realities that continue to go on in America as well as on a global scale. It's one thing for others outside the community to shy away from what's really going on, but when one is on the receiving end of such atrocities that existed even in the civil rights era, their denial or refusal to confront the issues are really the true detriment to the achievement of human rights and equality. Take for instance Dallas' first Black mayor is now noted for his work with the UN in brokering "trade agreements" in the Phillipines. One must ask oneself a number of questions like why would a person whose ancestors may have been slaves themselves take part in the re-enslavement of people of color? Issues like this puts a major stain in Black History Month, forcing us to begin to ask questions about civil rights, affirmative action and so-forth. What is it really all about? We still see blatant racism in this so called "colorblind society" and now we see a covert war in our midst.

So with that in mind among other issues, I felt I could not project the exhibit in a fashion that I thought people could benefit from and begin to move forward.

Anyway I received good news from the librarian that she will be exhibiting African American Art during this month anyway, so I am in the process of hitting up a few pieces to sorta "make way for the real thing".

In addition to this ya boy Q is working on some videos to add to the repetoire, and I got my airbrush back too, so mixed media, here I come!!!!



More later, God Willing...CWATIC

The Nerve of It All...

Peace All,

Kinda thought I'd condense all of the past week's events into one blog, and call it the Bad and the Good, that way I can spill out the whole shabang about Q's News...lol

Anyway let's hit up THE BAD first shall we? You all remember last week when I put out a blog about whether or not I should voice my opinion about the continuing demise of my area and show how the public transit system is contributing to this process. Well at first I felt I may have been too hasty in thinking they would not listen to our opinions and such and take feedback in good faith, but once I saw the "DART representatives" from our area and heard the reasons for removing the 155 express bus from our area, let's just say as the Joker told Batman in The Dark Knight..."You didn't disappoint."



These people had the nerve to say the reason they want to get rid of the service is because "DART is not in the business in repeating its' routes" and the riders can catch the local rail station and get downtown in the same fashion. Excuse me, but the DART rail is far from ANYTHING EXPRESS!!! Not to mention they plan to open express busing in the West Plano area...The nerve of people to think that you can tell some people anything and expect them to believe it. I tell you, Thomas Jefferson was a bold man...



Anyway, then they proceeded to give convoluted information about the ridership of the express bus in saying that at a particular stop there are only an average of 6 people on the bus, which is besides the point. The fact is that the bus is FULL on its way to Downtown Dallas, so again, the insults to the people's intelligence rages on, all in a meager attempt to slash costs' and concentrate on people that they feel are "worthy" of patronage. Anyone with a keen sense and a critical eye can see that very little effort is being made to keep a quality standard of life here in the Southern sector of Dallas, and rather than tend to the needs of the actual Dallas citizens, these people are trying to expand and connect in areas outside of Dallas, along with spending money in the soon to be gentrified Trinity River area on an unneeded trolley system, it's clear to see what's going on here. I guess they really look at those who use public transportation from the inner cities as "undesirables".

So on that note, I abruptly left the meeting because 1)the two women there were only present to receive the barbs and the complaints from the people. They really don't have any input in the final decision making here, so why waste time, breath and energy on them? 2) The citizens of Dallas will not have a final say in what happens here, the "Board" will vote and "consider" all of the comments in March, which pretty much means if the 155 express continues by the summer, Q will be surprised to say the least.

Only God(Allah)knows the future, but I ain't optimistic in the least...Such are the Lifestyles of the Ignored



Then on top of that some fool hacked into my email account...The nerve of these fools...


CWATIC @ HTTP://WWW.REALQUWWA.COM. Click here to enter.

Peace....I'll tell you the good later, God Willing...

Which Comes First?(Peepin' the Game)

Peace all...

Just a little heads up on the next upcoming exhibit while I'm at it...The new name of the exhibit will be Grey Matters...Don't ask me now why I want to give it such a name, it's very long and extensive trying to explain it all right now, but believe you me, I thought long and hard on how to approach this next exhibit. The initial date was set for sometime in February in commemoration of Black History Month, however me being the person that I am, always trying to find something different, decided that my project will not actually fit in Black History Month, although it is dealing with issues pertaining to race in America and African Americans in particular, more on that later.

Right now I'm pressed with another issue, as tonight there is a meeting in my local library concerning route changes in the Dallas Area Rapid Transit system, this area will be affected as well with a proposal to eliminate the express bus in my area by early Summer of this year. Those who used to ride the express bus which takes one who lives in my area directly to downtown during the rush hours via the freeway will be inconvenienced instead in going to the nearest train station and taking a train to downtown, which takes MUCH longer and causes much more of an inconvenience for those who just need to go directly to downtown. Without any real reason given on the brochure this decision is made, which again affects an area which continues to see nothing of any good coming this way from City Hall except junk and increased police presence. One look at the brochure clearly shows that the focus is up north, or the newly gentrified areas of Dallas, with elaborate depots being built near downtown, express buses being shifted to the West Plano area, and a 35 million dollar trolley being built which will service the Trinity and "old, resegregated" Oak Cliff areas.



The question I have is does Q finally step up to speak his mind or continue to lay in the cut and continue to make an impression in the community? I mean even if I speak my mind tonight and begin to let these people know that everyone here does not accept what's clearly going on here, and that their gestures only add to the speculation of ghettoization and gentrification here, City Hall is not going to give two cents of concern. The only thing they will do is put me in a "troublemaker" database, and spend their time trying to isolate and incriminate me or anyone in the area who openly opposes the tactics of the greedy, and continue to misinform the community about what the real deal is. C'mon now, I wasn't born yesterday, OK? Anything tonight is only a ceremonial gesture of my support of this neighborhood and human beings' welfare in general. You don't really think these people will change their minds, do you? I've had too much recent experiences on these plantations to know the people in charge will not do ANYTHING...



But do I also continue to lay low and continue to make an impression on a community that is nothing short of lethargic, whose main concern is "husslin' and stayin' alive" or even worse, preoccupied with some of the most self destructive mechanisms of self hate, conspicuous consumption on this side of the globe, pointing fingers at the supposed high level of crime that they claim keeps the "good" grocery stores and businesses from thinking of setting up shop over here, and agreeing with the corporate media, who justifies the growing police presence, so called gang units, and helicopters flying consistently over my area as if a person can't walk the streets alone here? I mean I walk the streets here DAILY and have rarely come across any hostilities here, but what can one Black man do when the major media outlet in Dallas comes to his area and broadcasts a scene featuring 20-25 police cars, two helicopters, all over one dude who jumped out of a bus after shooting another passenger on the bus? I guarantee you this type of stuff doesn't happen at the other side of town...



Either way, Q will make a statement, God Willing....Stay Tuned...

Dining With The Wretched

Peace all,

Pardon the lack of blogging here, but I've been busying coming up with a theme for the next possible exhibit...One thing for sure, it won't be called Back and Forth as first imagined, but it appears to be something much more special, and I will fill you in on the details ASAP. The past couple of weeks have been emotionally draining on me after a couple of incidents that I've experienced, mainly regarding actions, reactions and responses from people that I've respected or had long friendships with. I've come to realize that it's not an issue of whether or not my friends agree with me, for I have friends both on and offline from different walks of life, but rather or not are you seeing what I'm seeing? I become more convinced by the moment that someone else is shaping or reshaping our beliefs and thought patterns, and it ain't God for sure. A couple of people that I would imagine would have more compassion and understanding about the plight of the poor and downtrodden have exposed some very peculiar beliefs, and after attempt to reason with them have given me very different ideas about their way of thinking. One such person who has faced discrimination and injustice for the past 10 years for issues that he has either had resurfaced unjustly or from paid his debt to society open proclaims that injustice is not an issue worth concerning with as long as he has the opportunity to get employment. This type of apathy that comes from people who have experienced some sort of injustice from this cruel and hypocritical society shows just how sad the state of humanity has deteriorated, where one is only concerned about themselves, and even moreso will judge others who may experiences the same cruelty by different standards.

In any event, it is sad to see the masses of people who are of the poor, downtrodden, or even the middle class hold themselves to such hypocritical standards, and allow the immaculately rich, oppressive and greedy few of this planet to dictate, incriminate, discriminate and exploit them all because some evil person supports the stupid notion that "if you're so smart, how come you're not rich?" when the real question is how can you possibly amass so much money? This past week we've witnessed a few of the old racist, slave states come back with discriminatory measures against the poor and people of color, and call it "welfare reform", yet the actions of the wealthy against the poor in America still go unchecked, underexposed, and no accountability is held against these internal crooks. But I'm supposed to be happy the Bin Laden and Anwar Al-Awlaki are no longer living. Yeah right.

I just finished watching this movie entitled Fierce People, a movie about the wealthy and influential and the mirage of peace and tranquility that is giving simply because one is wealthy. The special features section has the actors giving insight on the movie, and one of the directors of the film mentioned that America does have a ruling class despite the claims of Democracy, and that these exorbiant amounts of wealth are not accrued by so-called hard working people, but through inhumane and brutal measures, but an increasing amount of the exploited don't really see the problem with this, as long as they are gettting a crumb or two...Little do they know that this life is not about accruing wealth....

Stay tuned people...It get's more interesting....Peace!

Dead Prez - Stimulus Plan

Peace all, working on another blog, and trying to decide whether or not to come out of the shyness and finally do a video or a vlog....Dunno yet...lol...But still working on it. Will keep you informed...lol...just stay tuned, God Willing we've just got started...BTW scope this little ditty out...Take care all, PEACE!!!!!