Public Enemy performs "Rebel Without a Pause" on Soul Train 1987

Peace all,

This was one of my biggest influences growing up. The group, the identity, I even remember having both of their tshirts back in the day...I had both the black and red shirts, and when I wore them in the halls and malls, believe me, it garnered attention as well as spurred thought, whether you agreed with them or not. Looking back I did not fully understand the power of imagery and the effect those screen printed shirts had on the people. Anyway this group had a profound influence on me as far as how to reach and connect with your audience. Although I am more of a visual artist now, the concept of connecting with the people and giving them a sense of hope and a voice couldn't have been expressed any better here. Even Don Cornelius mentioned that that was "FRIGHTENING" However someone posted on Facebook a quote that read "Art should bring comfort to the disturbed, and disturbed the comfortable." Maybe this is what they meant...Take care all.

New Painting!!! Complex II

Peace all... This is a picture of a work in progress entitled Complex II : Tailor Made...Please click on the link to see the finished piece with caption...http://www.realquwwa.com/events.html In order to bring my website to the forefront, I've decided to move my artwork to my website and put pictures of work in progress only on my social networking pages. I've realized that although exposing my work to the public via Facebook and Twitter may generate some buzz, it takes away from my website, which was created to give a total experience, and not just to try to sell art. It's high time I took my site seriously and promoted it as I initially intended, and give all walks of life a chance to see my expression. Hope you enjoy the journey....Till next time...

Painting(Tribute to Sgt. Hogues and the Tuskegee Airmen)

Salaam and Good Evening all...Working on other projects, will fill ya in soon. Right now check out my tribute painting to the Tuskegee Airmen...Take care!

The Power of One Piece

 Peace! I haven't forgotten anyone at all, I thought I would go right into blogging and editing the video for the Red Tails tribute that was given at my local library. It was a great event to say the least, the audience fully enjoyed the whole shabang, and I was able to exhibit my community artwork. I also met some locals who didn't know I existed, but then again there are many who don't know me in my neck of the woods. But in addition to the exhibit, my picture along with my artwork was put in the community newspaper(oh boy, I hate photographs) and I was able to present a piece that really made everybody's day. Sgt. Hogues and family could not get over the appreciation and the effort that was put into it, and I have to thank Ms. Almetta Russell, who really worked hard to get this off the ground, as well as the staff at the Highland Hills Library for their support. I have already informed them of my plans for another exhibit soon.

The event was really about Sgt. Hogues in the first place, but I got the wrong impression. I spent  days before the event telling everyone that it was also an exhibit, even though the fliers did not speak of such. I realize now the event was a community affair in his honor, and I am privileged to have shown my work at such a prestigious function. However the one piece dedicated to Sgt. Hogues of the Tuskegee Airmen stole the show, although it was not my intention.


Very few people knew about the painting. Ms. Russell informed me a few weeks going into the event that she would like to give something to him as a token of respect and appreciation for what he and the rest of the Tuskegee Airmen accomplished, especially in the face of such blatant racism, such racism that a lot of Americans believed did not exist anymore until Trayvon Martin, although some of us were telling people that the menace was still present...I won't mention names here, it's not important. I didn't show anyone the piece until a couple of hours before the event. Everyone was blown away by it, even the neighbors as I walked to the library. One elderly gentlemen quipped, "You never know what a person can do...." But he's right. Only a few in my area knew what I was capable of.

But the effect that it had on the community, the Hogues family, and me as well proves of the powerful impact that visual art can have on any society. This community has suffered and still suffers from a serious identity crisis, no one could define any landmarks or any notable presence except former basketball player Spud Webb of the NBA, but that's typical of the hood.

 Barbara Hogues, daughter of Staff Sgt. Hogues explained during the event that the family was not aware of his involvement of the Tuskegee Airmen until 2008, and he didn't receive his Congressional Medal of Honor  until 2009 from the same airport that denied him a job shortly after retiring from the military, telling him the only thing he could do was custodian work. This was AFTER the success the Tuskegee Airmen in World War II. We still have a long way to go before Blacks get serious respect here in America, especially with Trayvon Martin continually haunting America, but now Black youth, as well as White youth should realize all of those slavery stories and stories of racism and domestic terrorism still have impact, because it never left....

Overall I felt it was a victory for a small area that no one cared to remember, except in a negative light, but now we have history as well as culture to bring to the table.


May God Help Us... Peace....

More to Come?(CWATIC)

Peace all,

Actually this blog was set to drop earlier this week, especially since I was reeling from the positive response of the See What I See(CWATIC) Art Exhibit, but maybe that enthusiasm turned into brief dementia, as I goofed up and apparently erased the whole frag nabbin blog, and I wrote some stuff! I mean I wrote some quality material.

OK Q, GET ON WITH IT, PLEASE?

OK. Well the crowd was pretty moderate, considering the many promises I received from those local homeys and stuff, telling me that they will support it and show up. I mean some had reasonable excuses, family emergencies, and the librarian who really urged me to take this further had a sudden death in the family, I mean, I'm not trippin' or anything like that, but some people claim to wanting so bad to see something different being presented, but yet the continuing apathy seems to rear its face.

OK Q, AGAIN, GET ON WITH IT!!!! PLEASE!!!!

OK, anyway, those who came gave glowing reviews of the event, the content of the work which ranged from the marginalisation of Black Youth in Written Off to the stigmatizing of Blacks with usage of the words ghetto and gutter to describe certain unruly behaviour in some Blacks, especially poor Blacks, as well as delving into the real meaning and the true implications of the word itself, and why do Blacks gleefully accept this terminology or apply it to others in a double standard fashion.

OOOOOHHHHH.....

Yeah...I went there....

ANYTHING ELSE?

Of course, I mean after all it was for the community, and I only scratched the surface with this. Then there was Preoccupied Territory which may actually turn into an exhibit on its own. This piece dealt with how a neighborhood can be drawn away from the machinations of those who wish to exploit them in any fashion, being distracted from everything with useless or meaningless trinkets including cell phones, texting, social networking and the Golden Age of Wireless...

YEAH THAT SOUNDS LIKE SOMETHING THAT CAN LEAD INTO BIGGER THINGS. WHAT ELSE?

Oh, then there was Blood, Sweat And Mostly Tears, which dealt with the spurious ads one may find in the local Employment Guide. I mean people were taken aback to find ads requesting those who may have been diagnosed as bipolar or having Hepatitis C to be used as labrats, I mean when did such things become opportunities for employment? And to top it off, ads advertising the giving of plasma? In an employment guide?

And then the piece de resistance, The New Gold Rush, which explains the high anticipation of the selling of alcoholic beverages in my area, turning the gas stations into overnight liquor stores, and neighboring areas into hangout spots. This was the supposed solution offered to create revenue to fix our streets, pools and library. Now the library has drastically reduced its hours, cut employees and inserted electronic check out machines...Gotta love efficiency....Now we hear the same suggestion being used to turn the nearby city dump into the main disposal unit in ALL of Dallas....Did I forget to mention we still don't have a grocery store here, and the post office is closing down its customer service center, causing potential customers to go out of their way to send packages? All of this decline of quality of life, and yet nearby neighborhoods are blossoming and money being spent on providing trolley service to gentrified areas of Dallas? OOOPS, did I go there?

YES YOU WENT THERE...

Well, someone has to...

GO ON THEN...

There were other works, and the one entitle Not Enough really captivated everyone. Guess it was the blues that got them. Then there was a collage that wowwed everyone.

SO WHAT'S THE FUTURE FOR SEE WHAT I SEE?

Only Allah knows, but I don't think this is the end yo...

CAN I SEE PICTURES?

I'm working on a slideshow of the entries to place on my personal website...www.realquwwa.com...I'll fill you in on the haps, God Willing.

SOUNDS LIKE YOU HAD IT ROCKIN' UP IN THERE, RIGHT?

The joy of it all was the children who attended, who asked questions, and finally saw someone put their area in a different light, rather than the usual corporate media stereotyping BIRTH OF A NATION-esque fashion, showing people that we are unfit of any entitlements or any justice, rather imprisonment and exploitation....I went there again, didn't I?

YES YOU DID....

Well, bout time somebody did it...And I just begun....So CWATIC @ www.reaquwwa.com

Peace all...PS...I'm coming back up there in February, go get ready Highland Hills...I wanna know what else do you see?



Eid Mubarak to the Ummah....

Universal Truth

Peace all, I kinda kept this blog under wraps for a few days and almost decided to shelve it, but things pop up and well, ya know, you blow the dust off the ol' bloggy and copy and paste! Simple as that!

Got more things in store so stay tuned, oh also gotta tell you this story, it's from the so you think you have the power? department...lol

Today after a great frolick through the fields and a brisk walk through the 'hood, I came back home to find the recruiter from my job called, wanting to speak with me. I called back and left a brief message to call me ASAP. A few minutes later the recruiter called stating that she had bad news, referring to the new job position that I was slated to start this Thursday. Due to circumstances beyond their control, the class was completely cancelled. TWO DAYS before I was slated to appear! In the meantime I am going to take another test this Friday, hopefully I will pass the test. But you know the Q by now, right? It's time for ME!

Until next time, enjoy the blog...Peace!

Peace all,

It's 5:29 am and I am up doing a blog? Another one? I just completed a blog a couple of days ago and now I have another one? What is the world coming to? LOL

Anyway, this one is kinda different because it involves a recent occurrance where one of my Facebook friends made a comment that I took exception to. The person made the comment praying for women to have elder women counselers because as she asks "why do we continue to ask men for counsel when they have no idea what is in our hearts?"

I immediately replied that Truth has no gender, and while I believe women should be educated and knowledgeable, it should not reach the point of feminist slant, for that will only cause more problems. I will not go into definitions of feminism in this blog for that is another topic althogether, my main issue here is Truth.






Then the question was asked to the men, "what is it I said that was offensive to the men who replied?" which I immediately countered that I am not offended but I do take exception to the statement made. See people have tendencies to make statements out of emotions without checking for full content. I was raised mostly by my mother, most of my early life teachings were from my mother, not my father, who worked constantly during my childhood years. He taught me some things however became disenchanted with alot of decisions I made before his death, especially my choice of Islam. I have no physical blood brothers at all, and grew up for a major portion of my life playing with my sisters if my male cousins or male friends were not around at the time. Yes, I know what it is like to play with paper dolls at an early age, cutting out pictures from JCPenney and Sears catalogs, cutting up boxes and converting them into houses and cars. I played jacks(bald headed baby) and so forth. Most of my memories of family have to do with women. Grandmothers, aunts, great grandmothers and so forth. So most of my upbringing was around a female environment, and truth be told, many African American men can relate to my story in one way or another. This is one of the reasons I continue to be on lookout for the welfare of my mother and sisters despite my fathers' death. No I don't know everything that goes on in a woman's heart, but shouldn't we all be searching for that same Truth, that Same Reality, or is their a Feminine Truth and Reality somewhere that separates women from men although we claim to be human?


Truth be told I have counseled many women on issues in the past and some have sought out my assistance in matters from Islam to marriage and so forth. So you can imagine how I felt when someone makes such a blanket statement as this.




The more I think of the human being the more frustrated I become. This enigma called human being continues to open itself to many contradictions and inconsistencies. We raise the banner to one fight, and ignore another fight of similar circumstances, yet we call ourselves fighters and seekers for Truth and Justice. Our prejudices ooze from cracks and crevices we either don't see, failed to see, or ignore completely. Our specific rants which may hint to discrimination becomes law and Absolute Truth is mere opinion and propaganda. Yes I do believe in Absolutes, and no I am not a Sith.

Truth has no gender, race, age bracket, social class, or tribal affiliation, for Truth comes from the One Who created all of these things, but try telling that to the human being who makes statements such as "With age comes Wisdom" completely ignoring the crimes and atrocities created by elder statesmen, or "It's a Black thang, you wouldn't understand", ignoring the worldwide oppression of other peoples and in many cases buying into the propaganda created by imperialistic factions. Or the many statements some females use to separate humanness from their male counterparts or males who perpetrate the same offences. Different perspectives does not amount to different Truths, does it? To me, it's either Truth or Falsehood.

Frankly put it doesn't matter to me what kind of counsel I get, I've heard both sides and I've heard counsel from my elders, some of them who still called me boy as is I'm not a grown man. I have also been pretty much cast aside by family member who have encouraged the dissolving of my family, basing their conclusions on slander which they have refused to recognize their wrongdoing and have yet to acknowledge their wrongdoings. Female counselers may I add, who have suggested to these things not based on Truth but conjecture and other sicknesses in their hearts. In the end it's not about a black or white, or male and female, or rich or poor thing, it's Truth and Falsehood, well at least that's the way I look at it. Different perspectives is great, but last I check it's still the same road.

So you can keep your specific desires and requests. Just give me the Truth, it's all from God(Allah) anyway.