http://www.hycide.com Hycide.com Wed, 22 Feb 2012 06:13:59 +0000 http://www.hycide.com en http://hycide.com/GHETTO-GAGGERS http://hycide.com/following/hycide.com/GHETTO-GAGGERS Wed, 22 Feb 2012 06:13:59 +0000 Hycide.com 2858119 <img src="http://payload27.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2858119/GHETTO GAGGERS HYCIDE_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload27.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2858119/GHETTO GAGGERS HYCIDE_o.jpg" align="left" /> GHETTO GAGGERS: A Nation Can Rise No Higher Than It's Women Words by Jamel Shabazz | Image source ghettogaggers.com function fbs_click() {u=location.href;t=document.title;window.open('http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u='+encodeURIComponent(u)+'&t='+encodeURIComponent(t),'sharer','toolbar=0,status=0,width=626,height=436');return false;} html .fb_share_button { display: -moz-inline-block; display:inline-block; padding:1px 20px 0 5px; height:15px; border:1px solid #d8dfea; background:url(http://static.ak.facebook.com/images/share/facebook_share_icon.gif?6:26981) no-repeat top right; } html .fb_share_button:hover { color:#fff; border-color:#295582; background:#3b5998 url(http://static.ak.facebook.com/images/share/facebook_share_icon.gif?6:26981) no-repeat top right; text-decoration:none; } Share One day, I Googled negative terms for Black women just to see what I’d find. One of the phrases was “ghetto bitch,” and to my surprise, a pornographic site called Ghetto Gaggers appeared. Out of curiosity, I went to the site, which flashed images of young Black women, all apparently in their late teens and early twenties. On the home page was a synopsis of “Ghetto Gagger” videos, which feature middle-aged white men torturing the women through violence, sexual humiliation and racist mockery. The men took great delight in explaining how they degraded “hood rats.” I clicked on a video. As it begins, the women are asked, “Why are you here?” Many say they want cash because their boyfriends were “broke ass niggas” or because they needed money to support their children. “Ghetto Gaggers” allegedly pays $2,000. Some say they want to be porn stars. Some are college students or unemployed, and some are even pregnant. They have names like Mecca, Ashanti, Precious, Ebony, and Destiny. Maybe they are expecting to star in an erotic video, or maybe they think this is gag porn, in which women who sign a release form are humiliated and hurt to satisfy fetishistic viewers. But it’s hard to believe they expect the level of degradation that comes next, or the resulting emotional trauma. Some porn stars who reportedly knew what they were in for have quit the industry after starring in “Ghetto Gaggers”. “After we get through with them they’re going to have to see a psychiatrist for the rest of their lives,” one attacker boasts on camera. In a typical video, three or four men take turns physically and mentally destroying their victims. During 90 minutes of barbarism, the perpetrators spit in their faces, slap them, stomp them and force some to crawl on all fours with chains around their necks. In other scenes, the women have watermelons smashed on their heads and then are forced to eat the melon, along with the men’s semen. Some women have their faces shoved into a toilet, much to the pleasure of the assailants. During the grotesque finale, the men shove their penises deep inside the women’s throats until they vomit into a large dog bowl, which is emptied on them. As the humiliated women cry, a host promises fans there will be new girls every week! This new form of psychological warfare is gaining momentum and popularity among racists. There are now hundreds of sites specializing in the sexual destruction of the “ghetto bitch”; from the now defunct “NaziNiggers”, which featured white me in Nazi gear violating black women, to “Exploited Black Teens,” where a white man has sex with underage black girls, to “White Boys Stomp,'' where the home page trumpets “We Hunt Down Black Sluts!” Ghetto Gaggers also has a spin-off site, EbonyCumDumps.com, which shares the same concept as Ghetto Gaggers, but with less brutalization. They carry a special message to Black men: You are defeated and your women, daughters, and mothers are now our booty. According to Webster, booty is a valuable prize, award, or gain taken from an enemy during wartime. I was reading the “Seven Speeches” of Minister Louis Farrakhan when I learned this almost 30 years ago. “Through the woman, the conqueror has destroyed a whole nation of people,” Farrakhan pronounced. “The woman is the most important (component) in building a nation.” If a nation can rise no higher than its women, where do we stand when we see the systematic destruction of Black women and children played out in visual poison like this which echoes the rape and torture of Black women during slavery and Jim Crow? Why do sites like this exist? Do victims feel that they don’t have the right to press charges, merely because they might have been misled into signing a consent form? If Black men violated white women this way, how long would it take for the site to be shut down and the men to be prosecuted? Where is the outrage? Black women are assaulted every day with stereotypes that tell them they’re ugly and ignorant, that they’re bitches and hoes. From series like “Basketball Wives” and “The Maury Povich Show” the media landscape is filled with images of Black women as immoral and savage. When mainstream society can’t see Black women’s beauty, or recognize their worth and dignity, maybe the psychopathic hatred of “Ghetto Gaggers” is the end result. <img src="http://pixod.com/hycide/shim.gif" width="865" height="580"> http://hycide.com/REST-IN-POWER http://hycide.com/following/hycide.com/REST-IN-POWER Mon, 16 Jan 2012 18:15:51 +0000 Hycide.com 2615501 <img src="http://payload15.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2615501/IMG_1901_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload15.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2615501/IMG_1901_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload15.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2615501/IMG_1664_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload15.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2615501/IMG_1664_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload15.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2615501/IMG_1770_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload15.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2615501/IMG_1770_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload15.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2615501/IMG_1645_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="854" src_o="http://payload15.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2615501/IMG_1645_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload15.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2615501/IMG_1819_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload15.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2615501/IMG_1819_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload15.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2615501/IMG_1836_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload15.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2615501/IMG_1836_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload15.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2615501/IMG_1841_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload15.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2615501/IMG_1841_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload15.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2615501/IMG_1873_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload15.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2615501/IMG_1873_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload15.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2615501/IMG_1712_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload15.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2615501/IMG_1712_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload15.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2615501/IMG_1702_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload15.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2615501/IMG_1702_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload15.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2615501/IMG_1960_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload15.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2615501/IMG_1960_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload15.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2615501/IMG_1792_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload15.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2615501/IMG_1792_o.jpg" align="left" /> REST IN POWER: The Newark Anti-Violence Coalition Words by fayemi shakur | Images by Akintola Hanif function fbs_click() {u=location.href;t=document.title;window.open('http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u='+encodeURIComponent(u)+'&t='+encodeURIComponent(t),'sharer','toolbar=0,status=0,width=626,height=436');return false;} html .fb_share_button { display: -moz-inline-block; display:inline-block; padding:1px 20px 0 5px; height:15px; border:1px solid #d8dfea; background:url(http://static.ak.facebook.com/images/share/facebook_share_icon.gif?6:26981) no-repeat top right; } html .fb_share_button:hover { color:#fff; border-color:#295582; background:#3b5998 url(http://static.ak.facebook.com/images/share/facebook_share_icon.gif?6:26981) no-repeat top right; text-decoration:none; } Share Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. - Martin Luther King, Jr. Since the summer of 2009, the Newark Anti-Violence Coalition has been holding rallies across the city of Newark calling for an end to the violence plaguing their community. Fed up with murders, empty promises, gentrification and negative images portraying Black and Latino people, the coalition is a collective of activists, teachers, lawyers, gang members, church members, brothers, sisters, mothers and fathers concerned about the lack of response and desensitized reactions to violence. They held their first protest on July 22, 2009, when they walked into the middle of the intersection and blocked traffic to protest the murder of Nakeisha Allen. Allen was a mother of two children innocently killed in a drive by shooting while walking home from her neighborhood store. Their most recent protest marked their 129th rally which was held in the bitter cold protesting the death of two children, 2 year-old Mikhy Robinson who died from a gunshot wound to the mouth and 29 month-old Alexis Robinson who was beaten to death by her mother’s boyfriend. With large loud speakers turned towards the windows of the apartment building where Alexis lived, the activists called out to the community telling them to “wake up." “There used to be a time when women and children were safe. We didn’t have to worry about being robbed or shot at and our babies’ lives were sacred. There used to be a code. I don’t know when we got away from that,” said Natasha Allen, a coalition member who also lost a family member due to violence. She urged women at the rally to stop defending, protecting and relying on violent men for financial help. Similarly, the People’s Organization for Progress has been on the corner Newark’s Springfield and Market Streets since April calling for an end to the violence in Newark and the creation of jobs in the city, where the unemployment rate is 15 percent, compared to the state rate of 9 percent. They have vowed to stay there for 381 days, the length of the Montgomery boycott, which began when Rosa Park refused to leave her seat in the “white section” of a city bus, and ended when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the segregation of buses was unconstitutional. “I think that a lot has changed. We’re not at the same place, or at that same deep level of segregation that Black people experienced in 1955 as second class citizens but we still have a long way to go in terms of having better jobs, reducing the level of high school drop-out rates and the high level of poverty and racism that exists today. Since the murder of MLK, the path to empowerment has been sidetracked a bit in terms of progress and we have a lot of unfinished business to address," says history teacher and NAVC organizer, Bashir Akinyele. The Newark Anti-Violence coalition is demanding that elected officials declare the violence a public health emergency which would make the city eligible for funds for more police, better schools, jobs, mental health counseling and other services. They also demanded the firing of Newark police director, Garry McCarthy. While that demand was not conceded to directly, McCarthy has been replaced by a new police director. The violence though, continues. Newark lists 91 homicides in 2011 and 86 homicides in 2010. Last year there were 13 homicides in Irvington, 7 in East Orange, 8 in Orange, 1 in Montclair and 2 in Belleville and no homicides recorded in the other Essex County communities, according to the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office. A Newark police detective, Angel Pared was recently acquitted of aggravated assault on a 15 year-old boy although it was caught on video. Video from the apartment building where the boy lived shows the undercover cop walking up to the teen after the boy’s friend had passed him something. While frisking him the officer assaulted the boy. It turned out his friend was simply passing him a pair of earbuds. The officer said he thought it was a drug deal. <img src="http://pixod.com/hycide/shim.gif" width="865" height="580"> http://hycide.com/QUIET-WOMEN-DON-T-MAKE-HISTORY http://hycide.com/following/hycide.com/QUIET-WOMEN-DON-T-MAKE-HISTORY Thu, 29 Dec 2011 08:16:47 +0000 Hycide.com 2516925 <img src="http://payload10.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2516925/10_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload10.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2516925/10_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload10.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2516925/2_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload10.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2516925/2_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload10.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2516925/3_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload10.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2516925/3_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload10.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2516925/4_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload10.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2516925/4_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload10.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2516925/5 copy_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload10.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2516925/5 copy_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload10.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2516925/7_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload10.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2516925/7_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload10.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2516925/PHILLIS1_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload10.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2516925/PHILLIS1_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload10.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2516925/Phillis10_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload10.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2516925/Phillis10_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload10.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2516925/8_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload10.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2516925/8_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload10.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2516925/6_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload10.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2516925/6_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload10.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2516925/9_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload10.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2516925/9_o.jpg" align="left" /> QUIET WOMEN DON'T MAKE HISTORY Words by fayemi shakur l Images by Phillis Kwentoh function fbs_click() {u=location.href;t=document.title;window.open('http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u='+encodeURIComponent(u)+'&t='+encodeURIComponent(t),'sharer','toolbar=0,status=0,width=626,height=436');return false;} html .fb_share_button { display: -moz-inline-block; display:inline-block; padding:1px 20px 0 5px; height:15px; border:1px solid #d8dfea; background:url(http://static.ak.facebook.com/images/share/facebook_share_icon.gif?6:26981) no-repeat top right; } html .fb_share_button:hover { color:#fff; border-color:#295582; background:#3b5998 url(http://static.ak.facebook.com/images/share/facebook_share_icon.gif?6:26981) no-repeat top right; text-decoration:none; } Share Developing a sense of identity can be challenging for young Nigerian women. They’re taught to know their place, and there are rigid expectations about which careers they should choose. Photographer Phillis Kwentoh, 25, rejects that. “Many people have told me that I should have been born a boy. I won’t hinder myself because of someone else’s opinion,’’ she says. Her parents expected Phillis to be a doctor, but at the University of Connecticut, she switched her major from pre-med to print journalism to photojournalism. For a whole semester, she didn’t tell her parents. When they found out, they weren’t pleased. Her mother told her she was going to end up homeless and living in a box. “Nigerian parents don’t understand the liberal arts world,” Phillis explains. “They want their children to pursue something practical and safe.” “I showed my mother some of my writings in college about Hurricane Katrina and my mother said, ‘I hope you know you can’t have the kind of journalism career in Nigeria that you can have in America. They will kill you’,” Phillis says, describing the corruption and lack of equality rampant in Africa. “It’s that serious there.” But Phillis was inspired to become a photographer when she saw Robin Romano’s Stolen Childhood photos about child labor while interning at the William Benton Museum of Art, which specialized in human rights work. Ambitious but still uncertain about her abilities, she bought a digital SLR camera and returned to her native Nigeria later that summer. Originally born in Texas, it had been fifteen years since she had been back. She was captivated by the vibrancy of her homeland and developed her photos into a series about Africa. “I just felt everything around me was so beautiful and that was reflected in the pictures. Even when I went to the market, even shooting the poor people out there, there’s a beauty in them and there was color everywhere.” The museum later exhibited her work and after a successful first show in Brooklyn curated by Kareem Black at Harriet’s Alter Ego, she decided photography more than print journalism was the path she wanted to take. “I’m into portraits because they capture who a person is in that moment and it’s great storytelling. That’s part of the reason why I wanted to be a photojournalist. I think storytelling is what attracted me to journalism in the first place. It’s true when they say a picture says a thousand words. Actually it says way more.” Currently, Phillis works for Essence Magazine shooting street fashion and as production assistant on cover shoots. Her work has also been featured in Parlour Magazine and Vogue Italia. “I’m very picky about how I shoot for Street Style. I’m not so much into fashion, but I really love style - how someone adorns themselves and accessories themselves. Its not a façade that they put on, it’s a dressing up of who they are. Fashion is here and now and style is timeless. But no matter what they are wearing, she always tells her subjects to be natural. Better than posing, be yourself. I just want to capture who you are.” After four years of shooting professionally, she still feels new in the game and hopes to use her voice and creativity to become an international philanthropist. “In America there is a definite struggle for the poor but there are so many government programs that can help you. In Nigeria if you’re poor, you are shit out of luck. There’s no welfare, there’s no WIC. There are people who live in dirty dug out ditches on the side of the road.” Her advice to aspiring photographers: Don’t call yourself aspiring. Either you’re doing it or you’re not. If you’re serious then, pick up a camera and shoot. “I definitely believe all my experiences were a part of my destiny and I made the right decision in not becoming a doctor. I know my parents are still a little nervous but they see that I’m consistent about it and I am successful so they support me and I’m truly grateful.” On December 25, 2011 a sect known as Boko Hakram bombed a Catholic church in Lagos, Nigeria killing at least 39 people with the majority dying on the steps of the church after celebrating Christmas Mass. Boko Haram has carried out increasingly sophisticated and bloody attacks in its campaign to implement strict Shariah law across Nigeria, a multiethnic nation of more than 160 million people. The group, whose name means "Western education is sacrilege", is responsible for at least 504 killings this year alone, according to an Associated Press count. Phillis' story is dedicated to the lives lost, Nigeria’s unseen beauty and hopes for a more peaceful future. Tweet <img src="http://pixod.com/hycide/shim.gif" width="865" height="580"> http://hycide.com/SUBWAY-SHELTER http://hycide.com/following/hycide.com/SUBWAY-SHELTER Thu, 22 Dec 2011 04:55:20 +0000 Hycide.com 2493044 <img src="http://payload9.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2493044/6_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload9.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2493044/6_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload9.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2493044/8_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload9.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2493044/8_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload9.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2493044/5_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload9.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2493044/5_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload9.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2493044/2_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload9.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2493044/2_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload9.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2493044/9_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload9.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2493044/9_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload9.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2493044/1_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload9.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2493044/1_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload9.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2493044/7_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload9.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2493044/7_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload9.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2493044/3_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload9.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2493044/3_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload9.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2493044/4_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload9.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2493044/4_o.jpg" align="left" /> SUBWAY SHELTER Words and Images by Whitney Summer Boyd function fbs_click() {u=location.href;t=document.title;window.open('http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u='+encodeURIComponent(u)+'&t='+encodeURIComponent(t),'sharer','toolbar=0,status=0,width=626,height=436');return false;} html .fb_share_button { display: -moz-inline-block; display:inline-block; padding:1px 20px 0 5px; height:15px; border:1px solid #d8dfea; background:url(http://static.ak.facebook.com/images/share/facebook_share_icon.gif?6:26981) no-repeat top right; } html .fb_share_button:hover { color:#fff; border-color:#295582; background:#3b5998 url(http://static.ak.facebook.com/images/share/facebook_share_icon.gif?6:26981) no-repeat top right; text-decoration:none; } Share I knelt down beside the old man sleeping on the station floor. The ground was so cold, I felt the chill through my pants and immediately stood up. Yet somehow, despite the cold, the man remained dormant and completely undisturbed by my gentle poking and prodding. It was 1 a.m. on Tuesday morning, and the subway stations from Times Square to Brooklyn were nearly empty of passengers. But as I wandered through the terminals, I found more and more people sleeping on benches, floors and along dirty walls with no pillows or warm blankets. They had with them only their life's belongings strapped to their side. The faces of those sleeping on trains varied in age and appearance, although many of those found were elderly, black, sick and in dire need of medical support. Thomas, a 61-year-old former veteran, said he’d been sleeping in subway stations for the last three years. When I found Thomas, he was layered in two thick coats, tattered tennis shoes on his feet and a large garbage bag filled with his things. Crumbs were sprinkled across his jacket and his fingers were smudged with the greasy remnants of his small fried chicken dinner. His mouth trembled as he explained how his night's rest was always uncertain. While sleeping outside, he was robbed of the few belongings he had more than six times. One night, he said, he woke up to someone peeing on his body. Eventually, Thomas decided to use the subway terminal as his bedroom. Like the hundreds of other New Yorkers who use the subway as their home, he came there because it was always warm and had a police presence that rarely bothered him. In the subway, he could also avoid the restrictions of government-run shelters who force applicants to fill out long documents and stick to a schedule. As I continued to roam the subway cars, I saw more homeless people using the seats as make-shift beds. Some wore hospital bracelets and said they still needed additional medical care. A woman named Sobras, 62, used a neck brace as a pillow as she slept sitting upright on a platform bench. As Sobras explained, she had been hit by a car earlier in the year and never fully recovered. The hospital gave her a neck brace, but because she is uninsured, she couldn't continue with the recommended treatments. As a result, she decided to leave the neck brace on for almost three months after she was supposed to have it removed for fear of further harming her body. As the night stretched into the early morning hours, the few passengers riding the subway passed by the countless homeless patrons as if they didn't even exist. Almost as if the men and women sleeping on the subway station were a natural part of the environment. Many subway riders barely took a second look at the people laid up on the benches and floors, even if they were sitting right next to them. To me, it was as though the people who used the stations as their homes were in their very own world; the subway carts and floors their bedrooms, the terminals their living rooms and random corners served as bathrooms. However uncertain they were of their next day, their homes remain underground, where at the very least, they could have a little rest. <img src="http://pixod.com/hycide/shim.gif" width="865" height="580"> http://hycide.com/1-NE-DROP http://hycide.com/following/hycide.com/1-NE-DROP Wed, 30 Nov 2011 04:58:13 +0000 Hycide.com 2383558 <img src="http://payload4.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2383558/ONEDROP1_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload4.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2383558/ONEDROP1_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload4.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2383558/ONEDROP2_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload4.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2383558/ONEDROP2_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload4.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2383558/ONEDROP4_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload4.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2383558/ONEDROP4_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload4.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2383558/ONEDROP3_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload4.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2383558/ONEDROP3_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload4.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2383558/ONEDROP5_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload4.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2383558/ONEDROP5_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload4.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2383558/ONEDROP6_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload4.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2383558/ONEDROP6_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload4.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2383558/ONEDROP7_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload4.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2383558/ONEDROP7_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload4.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2383558/ONEDROP8_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload4.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2383558/ONEDROP8_o.jpg" align="left" /> (1)NE DROP Words by Yaba Blay | Images by Noelle Theard function fbs_click() {u=location.href;t=document.title;window.open('http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u='+encodeURIComponent(u)+'&t='+encodeURIComponent(t),'sharer','toolbar=0,status=0,width=626,height=436');return false;} html .fb_share_button { display: -moz-inline-block; display:inline-block; padding:1px 20px 0 5px; height:15px; border:1px solid #d8dfea; background:url(http://static.ak.facebook.com/images/share/facebook_share_icon.gif?6:26981) no-repeat top right; } html .fb_share_button:hover { color:#fff; border-color:#295582; background:#3b5998 url(http://static.ak.facebook.com/images/share/facebook_share_icon.gif?6:26981) no-repeat top right; text-decoration:none; } Share Do you know Blackness when you see it? I always thought I did. I thought I could spot a Black person from a mile away.I grew up in New Orleans, Louisiana--home to a distinct and preeminent group of folks who self-identify as “Creoles.” Creoles often pride themselves on their light skin and silky hair. A mix of African, Native American, French, and sometimes Spanish heritage, some Creoles are light enough to pass for White. We call them “passé blanc.” Other Creoles make it a point to announce, if not perform, their imagined racial distinction - not White, not Black, but Creole. One of my favorite pastimes as a youth in New Orleans was “picking out Black people’’--people who everybody else might have thought were White or “something else,” but who I knew for a fact were Black. Maybe it was the curl in their hair or the specific tint of their skin, the cadence in their voices, or the sway of their steps, somehow I knew they were Black. Even as a child, I understood the “one-drop rule,” the law that held that anyone with 1/32 of “Black blood” was Black. And somehow I made it my mission to identify Blackness any chance I could get. Maybe it was my way of retaliating against those who didn’t want to be associated with my kind – those whom I felt rejected me because of my Blackness. In my limited experience, it seemed that people whose physical appearance gave them the “option” to be something else, chose to be something else. So in my adult life, when I left New Orleans and began to meet people who were very adamant about their Black identity, even though they could have easily identified as “mixed” or “Latino” or “Creole,” or could have even passed for White, I found myself immediately intrigued. I wanted to know how it was that they came to understand themselves as Black and how exactly they defined their own Blackness. I started to rethink my understanding of race and Black identity, as well as my perspective on skin color politics and the one-drop rule. So began my journey into the (1)ne Drop project. (1)ne Drop documents the thoughts, feelings, opinions, perspectives, and experiences of a variety of people of African descent from around the world, all of whom have had the experience of having their identity called into question simply because they don’t necessarily fit into the “Black box:’’ dark skin, “kinky” hair, broad nose, full lips, so on and so forth. Most of them have been asked, “What are you?” time and time again. And all are very clear about exactly what and who they are – Black. Combining candid memoirs with the portraiture of award-winning photographer, Noelle Théard, (1)ne Drop provides living testimony to the fluidity of Blackness. Through their personal narratives, contributors provide insight into their own imaginings of Black identity and their experiences as Black people. It is from their voices that we come to see multiple possibilities for Blackness above and beyond the one-drop rule. Yaba Blay, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Africana Studies at Lafayette College where she also teaches courses in Women’s and Gender Studies. To learn more about (1)ne Drop: Conversations on Skin-Color, Race, and Identity, please visit www.1nedrop.com. <img src="http://pixod.com/hycide/shim.gif" width="865" height="580"> http://hycide.com/BT-The-Last-Days http://hycide.com/following/hycide.com/BT-The-Last-Days Wed, 23 Nov 2011 06:38:41 +0000 Hycide.com 2351424 <img src="http://payload2.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2351424/IMG_2564_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload2.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2351424/IMG_2564_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload2.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2351424/BT3_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload2.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2351424/BT3_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload2.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2351424/BT Star Ledger 4_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload2.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2351424/BT Star Ledger 4_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload2.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2351424/BT Star Ledger 5_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload2.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2351424/BT Star Ledger 5_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload2.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2351424/BT8_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload2.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2351424/BT8_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload2.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2351424/BT12_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload2.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2351424/BT12_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload2.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2351424/IMG_4966_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload2.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2351424/IMG_4966_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload2.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2351424/BT 4 1_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload2.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2351424/BT 4 1_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload2.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2351424/BT14_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload2.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2351424/BT14_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload2.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2351424/_MG_0251_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload2.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2351424/_MG_0251_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload2.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2351424/BT15_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload2.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2351424/BT15_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload2.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2351424/BT22_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload2.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2351424/BT22_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload2.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2351424/IMG_0925_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload2.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2351424/IMG_0925_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload2.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2351424/IMG_1124_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload2.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2351424/IMG_1124_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload2.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2351424/IMG_1416_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload2.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2351424/IMG_1416_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload2.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2351424/yogi bt_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload2.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2351424/yogi bt_o.jpg" align="left" /> {image 21}<img src="http://payload2.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2351424/IMG_3559_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload2.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2351424/IMG_3559_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload2.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2351424/IMG_5009_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload2.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2351424/IMG_5009_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload2.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2351424/STOP SHOOTIN 2_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload2.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2351424/STOP SHOOTIN 2_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload2.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2351424/_MG_0436_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="854" src_o="http://payload2.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2351424/_MG_0436_o.jpg" align="left" /> BT: THE LAST DAYS Words by Carrie Stetler | Images by Akintola Hanif function fbs_click() {u=location.href;t=document.title;window.open('http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u='+encodeURIComponent(u)+'&t='+encodeURIComponent(t),'sharer','toolbar=0,status=0,width=626,height=436');return false;} html .fb_share_button { display: -moz-inline-block; display:inline-block; padding:1px 20px 0 5px; height:15px; border:1px solid #d8dfea; background:url(http://static.ak.facebook.com/images/share/facebook_share_icon.gif?6:26981) no-repeat top right; } html .fb_share_button:hover { color:#fff; border-color:#295582; background:#3b5998 url(http://static.ak.facebook.com/images/share/facebook_share_icon.gif?6:26981) no-repeat top right; text-decoration:none; } Share Before and during the projects 2009 demolition, Akintola Hanif spent a year there documenting the residents of Baxter Terrace. Baxter Terrace was the first housing project in Newark, built on Nesbitt and Orange Streets in 1941. It was named for James Baxter, principal of Newark’s first school for Black students during the Civil War. Until 1950, when Newark changed its policy, residents of Baxter Terrace and other city projects lived in “partial segregation,’’ with White and Black families dwelling in separate parts of the same development. The Newark Housing Authority had high hopes for Baxter Terrace, where rent was under $25 a month. A 1947 study attributed lower rates of infant mortality, tuberculosis and delinquency to the “better housing’’ at Baxter Terrace. By the 1950s, however, conditions in the projects had deteriorated (although Baxter Terrace did manage to produce a chart-topping doo wop group, The Monotones, who sang the 1950's hit “Book of Love.’’) In 1953, a 24-year-old woman was found strangled in her apartment. In 1957, a 13-year-old girl was sexually assaulted by six boys. There were also gambling dens and an epidemic of robberies. By the 70s, Baxter Terrace was overrun with rats, despite an effort in 1939 to exterminate a half a million rodents who lived at the site before Baxter Terrace was built. Dead rats created a foul odor that permeated the grounds. Children played with the rats, while stray dogs and cats ran wild. The city of Newark razed the projects as part of a larger campaign to build better housing in 2009. “People would like to place the blame on the residents but government didn’t maintain the upkeep of these communities. They allowed them to be havens for drugs and gangs. BT was a beautiful before the drugs came. A lot of good people came through Baxter Terrace,’’ says Yusef Ismail, who grew up in the projects and is executive director of Stop Shootin’ Inc, a Newark-based anti-violence organization. “Believe it or not, at one time, all of the people that lived there were like one big family. They looked out for each other. When I look at the buildings, I see my whole life. My friends, my family, my childhood. I see all the beautiful parts that everyone else can’t see. No matter how society looks at people like the residents of Baxter Terrace, we're all human beings. The government can tear down the buildings and displace them, but the same problems and mentality remain.'' <img src="http://pixod.com/hycide/shim.gif" width="865" height="580"> http://hycide.com/OPEN-An-Erotic-Journey http://hycide.com/following/hycide.com/OPEN-An-Erotic-Journey Mon, 14 Nov 2011 01:58:31 +0000 Hycide.com 2300058 <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2300058/OPEN 91_6_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2300058/OPEN 91_6_o.jpg" align="left" caption="Akintola Hanif"/> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2300058/HYCIDE TEMPLATE PHOTO_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2300058/HYCIDE TEMPLATE PHOTO_o.jpg" align="left" caption="George Pitts"/> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2300058/OPEN 2_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2300058/OPEN 2_o.jpg" align="left" caption="Timothy Ivy"/> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2300058/OPEN 3_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2300058/OPEN 3_o.jpg" align="left" caption="Sara Banevedes"/> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2300058/OPEN 7_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2300058/OPEN 7_o.jpg" align="left" caption="Saddi Khali"/> OPEN: An Erotic Journey Words by fayemi shakur | Images by Akintola Hanif, George Pitts, Timothy Ivy, Sara Banevedes and Saddi Khali function fbs_click() {u=location.href;t=document.title;window.open('http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u='+encodeURIComponent(u)+'&t='+encodeURIComponent(t),'sharer','toolbar=0,status=0,width=626,height=436');return false;} html .fb_share_button { display: -moz-inline-block; display:inline-block; padding:1px 20px 0 5px; height:15px; border:1px solid #d8dfea; background:url(http://static.ak.facebook.com/images/share/facebook_share_icon.gif?6:26981) no-repeat top right; } html .fb_share_button:hover { color:#fff; border-color:#295582; background:#3b5998 url(http://static.ak.facebook.com/images/share/facebook_share_icon.gif?6:26981) no-repeat top right; text-decoration:none; } Share When I first started writing erotica, I was sensitive about who I told. Maybe I was afraid of judgment. The reactions I receive from people are always interesting. Some people get excited and are very encouraging. Others look at me with a raised eyebrow like I’m a freak. Being the rebel rouser I can be sometimes, I enjoy challenging the notion and culture of respectability when it comes to sex. Why do some people find erotica so off-putting? Erotica is more than freak nasty stories and pictures by people with dirty minds. And it’s better than your average “she came over and asked for a cup of sugar” sex writing. As the editor of OPEN, a new erotica journal, I’ve given much thought to the difference between erotica and porn. In an interview with my co-editor Michael A. Gonzales, master erotica writer and editor Carol Taylor broke it down like this: “I think erotica tells a more complete and realistic story that is relatable and believable, while porn is more one-dimensional, and geared to quick stimulation. Porn stimulates the body, while good erotica stimulates the mind and the body. [Erotica] blurs the line between sexual and sensual…some of the stories have no sex in them at all. They are so evocative and sensually written and the idea of want, desire and lust so beautifully rendered, that writing a sex scene would have been redundant.” Erotica has a long history. Michael introduced me to 18th-century French poets like Charles Baudelaire. I began reading the writing of Anaïs Nin, existentialist philosopher, Simone de Beauvoir and Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power by Audre Lorde. But there aren’t many erotica publications produced by people of color. So I figured I’d create my own platform, with help from my great friend Michael, to create a space to share the work of other talented artists. Why? Because if we don’t share this work, it collects dust on the micro-chips in our computers and coffee stains on scribbled paper and notebooks. I have so much respect for artists who are courageous enough to explore these topics. OPEN was created to promote sex positive healthy dialogues about love, sex, intimacy and desire. In addition to short stories and poetry by Greg Tate, jessica Care moore, Miles Marshall Lewis and others, with photo direction by HYCIDE editor-in-chief Akintola Hanif, OPEN showcases the work of four photographers – George Pitts, Saddi Khali, Sara Banevedes,Timothy Ivy and two visual artists. Kevin Darmanie shared a tribute to Italian comic book writer and artist, Paulo Serpieri, who is best known for his erotic illustration. The diverse contributors provided a great range in all the ways erotic creativity can be demonstrated in art and literature. I hope connecting erotica with existentialism, philosophy and spirituality will raise our awareness of the ever evolving parts of ourselves as human beings including our sexual selves. When we deny or repress these things, we deny a natural part of who we are. With the shift from the Piscean Age to the Aquarian Age taking place, I figured it was a good time to get OPEN for real. To preview the journal visit the OPEN website and subscribe to our private mailing list for monthly updates, interviews, fun findings and future calls for submissions. <img src="http://pixod.com/hycide/shim.gif" width="865" height="580"> http://hycide.com/CRAZYLAND-Occupy-Wall-Street http://hycide.com/following/hycide.com/CRAZYLAND-Occupy-Wall-Street Tue, 08 Nov 2011 03:51:21 +0000 Hycide.com 2269331 <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2269331/IMG_0320_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2269331/IMG_0320_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2269331/IMG_0352_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="854" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2269331/IMG_0352_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2269331/IMG_0283_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2269331/IMG_0283_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2269331/IMG_0457_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2269331/IMG_0457_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2269331/IMG_0288_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="854" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2269331/IMG_0288_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2269331/IMG_0375copy_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="2048" height_o="1365" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2269331/IMG_0375copy_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2269331/IMG_0385_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2269331/IMG_0385_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2269331/IMG_0350_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="854" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2269331/IMG_0350_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2269331/IMG_0392_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2269331/IMG_0392_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2269331/IMG_0425_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2269331/IMG_0425_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2269331/IMG_0442_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2269331/IMG_0442_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2269331/IMG_0480_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2269331/IMG_0480_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2269331/IMG_0519_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2269331/IMG_0519_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2269331/IMG_0503_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2269331/IMG_0503_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2269331/IMG_0529copy_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="2048" height_o="1365" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2269331/IMG_0529copy_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2269331/IMG_0293_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2269331/IMG_0293_o.jpg" align="left" /> CRAZYLAND: Occupy Wall Street Words by fayemi shakur | Images by Akintola Hanif function fbs_click() {u=location.href;t=document.title;window.open('http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u='+encodeURIComponent(u)+'&t='+encodeURIComponent(t),'sharer','toolbar=0,status=0,width=626,height=436');return false;} html .fb_share_button { display: -moz-inline-block; display:inline-block; padding:1px 20px 0 5px; height:15px; border:1px solid #d8dfea; background:url(http://static.ak.facebook.com/images/share/facebook_share_icon.gif?6:26981) no-repeat top right; } html .fb_share_button:hover { color:#fff; border-color:#295582; background:#3b5998 url(http://static.ak.facebook.com/images/share/facebook_share_icon.gif?6:26981) no-repeat top right; text-decoration:none; } Share Mainstream media has attempted to minimize the importance of the Occupy Wall 
Street movement, focusing on “the crazies” at the demonstrations. Some of them are impossible to ignore. “It's kinda hard to go the circus and not see the elephants,” says HYCIDE Editor in Chief, Akintola Hanif, who photographed these protestors at New York’s Zuccotti Park. It’s true. Fed up with unemployment and corruption, protesters are taking over streets, banks and even bridges, some in fanatical ways. In Portland, Oregon, protestors staged a zombie attack on a Bank of America branch to protest bank loans to coal mining companies contributing to climate change and global warming. Critics say the protesters are misguided and lack the vision to force any real reform that impacts the way greedy corporations and banks do business. Even some people who are sympathetic to the protestors are put off by the costumes and drama. But protestors have picked the right target. The "circus" atmosphere and the violent response by police have raised awareness about inequality. Protests have popped off across the country, capturing the attention of the world. Messages of support have been sent to protesters from as far as Cairo. The so-called drunks and crazies have been joined by teachers, airplane pilots, war veterans, mothers, children, and people of color, despite the occupation’s initial lack of diversity. The call to the 99 percent is being heard. Thousands of people across the country have closed accounts at banks resulting in millions of dollars being transferred to credit unions. The style of protesting in these images is called performance art or street theater and is used as a weapon, a form of social protest. Whether or not it's effective is debatable. The images of zombies and fake blood might be a bit over the top for some. But people need to express themselves, especially when the powers that be aren't listening. When the companies that represent only 1% of the wealth in America have benefited from government bailouts and tax breaks that have put a choke hold on the economy, protest doesn't always happen in a way that makes sense to everyone. It can't be denied that Occupy Wall Street has sparked major dialogue and debate including criticisms about the need for a strong agenda and demands beyond a call for economic equality. Sometimes, people just want to be seen and heard, and for the real perpetrators of corruption to be called out. So, maybe getting a little crazy has its merits. Although I can’t imagine Rosa Parks and her comrades rocking V for Vendetta masks while walking home from work during the 60’s Civil Rights bus boycotts, remember, some people thought they too were out of their minds for having the audacity to issue a call for change. <img src="http://pixod.com/hycide/shim.gif" width="865" height="580"> http://hycide.com/PINKSICK http://hycide.com/following/hycide.com/PINKSICK Thu, 03 Nov 2011 04:31:48 +0000 Hycide.com 2239690 <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2239690/SHAH_8_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2239690/SHAH_8_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2239690/SHAH SITE_5_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2239690/SHAH SITE_5_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2239690/SHAH SITE 7_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2239690/SHAH SITE 7_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2239690/SHAH SITE_3_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2239690/SHAH SITE_3_o.jpg" align="left" /> {image 2}<img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2239690/SHAH_9_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2239690/SHAH_9_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2239690/SHAH SITE_4 copy_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2239690/SHAH SITE_4 copy_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2239690/7_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2239690/7_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2239690/SHAH 4_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2239690/SHAH 4_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2239690/SHAH_6_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2239690/SHAH_6_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2239690/SHAH_9_7_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2239690/SHAH_9_7_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2239690/shah site_1_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2239690/shah site_1_o.jpg" align="left" /> PINKSICK: THE INCREDULOUS MR. WONDERS Words by Michael A. Gonzales l Images by Shah Wonders Having grown up listening to the aural science fiction of Parliament Funkadelic, while getting lost in the freaky album art by Pedro Bell, it doesn’t shock me when 38-year-old artist Shah Wonders declares, “I’m an alien from the planet Rizq. My mother was virgin who was impregnated by an alien. Even as a child, I told my mother that I had a UFO and could travel between dimensions.” Sitting across from him in the backyard of a Bushwick, Brooklyn bar dressed in jeans, t-shirt and a stylish jacket, who am I to doubt Wonder's ancestry? Like self-proclaimed aliens Sun-Ra and Rammellzee, representing Afro-Futuristism before the term was invented, the evidence of “otherness” can be seen in Wonders’ dazzling art. Working in “many styles,” Shah’s steez ranges from fine art paintings combining the hardness of hip-hop with the whimsical imaginary of Japanese anime, to more commercial images created for music videos, skateboards and t-shirts for Roc-A-Wear. “I came out the womb wanting to do art,” the Brooklyn-born Wonders says. “I told my mother if they cut her open, her insides would be covered with art like the Sistine Chapel.” Back in the 1980s, when Wonders wasn’t drawing or playing basketball, he could be found in the crib watching Godzilla movies or escaping into his vast comic book collection. “I was into Frank Miller, Joe Madureira and Todd McFarlane. To this day, I still collect comics.” Although Wonders later attended a formal arts institute, he still pays tribute to the dudes in the hood who influenced him. “Where I come from, there are so many ghetto Basquiats,” explains Wonders, who, as a teen, hung with a crew of freight train graffiti bombers. “They inspired me, but even then I knew I didn’t just want to be a train yard legend, I wanted to make the big leagues.” In the freight yards, Wonders tagged "Lemon" on trains. “A girl told me I looked like the guy from the Lemon Head’s candy box and the name just stuck.” After high school, Wonders relocated to Georgia, where he attended Atlanta College of Art and studied art history at Clark Atlanta University. However, broke as a joke, he became another kind of outlaw when he and a friend began burglarizing apartments. “We were robbing affluent houses in the suburbs and spending the money on school and strip clubs. They loved us at Magic City, but after awhile we knew we had to stop.” To his disappointment, Wonders and his homeboy got jobs as janitors. While cleaning a lawyer’s office, Wonders caught a glimpse of his first celebrity supporter, TLC member Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes. Three weeks later, he presented her with a painting of the group sitting on a toilet. “I wrote on it, TLC: The Shit,” he laughs. Lopes loved the picture, inviting the artist to meet her the following day. He showed up on time for his noon appointment. Lopes made him wait for hours. “I was excited, but also worried that I was going to be fired from my job,” Wonders recalls. “When I told Left Eye, she asked how much I made a week. When I told her $170.00, she threw me $5,000 and ordered a few cheese steak sandwiches.” Still in art school, where Wonders studied illustration, animation and photo shop, he began working as the creative director at TLC’s label LaFace Records. In addition to working with resident video director Billie Woodruff and the Geneva Films production company, Wonders also creatively spearheaded the TLC “Waterfalls” concept. “Before the song was even thought of, ‘Waterfalls’ began as a series of drawings I did for the group standing on water and underneath the falls,” Shah says. Produced by Organized Noize, “Waterfalls” was the second single from TLC’s CrazySexyCool. Wonders also contributed the cartoony illustration for the single sleeve. “The girls were suing their manager Pebbles, so I drew TLC with their pockets out, having no money.” After his stint at the record company, Wonders lived in Los Angeles where he ran the video division of Geneva Films and later started the first all-Black animation studio Imajimation with director Michael Shultz. “It was me and my partner Kenya Barris, with Michael putting-up the seed money,” he explains. Later, the Wonders and Barris sold their stake in the company, but was able to retain the rights to their intellectual properties. Back in the borough of Brooklyn, Wonders is currently wreaking artistic havoc at his studio in Bushwick. Working on projects through his PinkSick corporation while exploring alien visions, he is producing a series of paintings conceptualized around his personal ideas of sexy. “I’m a sexual being who finds sexy in everything. It may be the way you chew your food or the way your curl your toes, but that’s the moments I’m attempting to capture.” When it’s art time, Wonders sits in front of the computer screen, canvas or a black page, puffing trees and swigging from a Guinness as Biggie, his favorite rapper, Wu-Tang or Jay-Z blares in the background. Closing his eyes while sailing on his ever-present UFO, Wonders takes trips to other lands or conjures past travels. “I’ve been around the world and stayed in Japan twice,” Wonders says. When I remark that some of his work is reminiscent of Japanese painter Takashi Murakami, he quickly assures me, “I lot of people think that, but I was doing this years before I ever saw Takashi’s work. But, when his retrospective came to the Brooklyn Museum (2008) I still went and bought a catalogue.” Finishing our beers, we exit through the front door as a subway screeches overhead. Glancing at Shah Wonders, who is equal parts bizarro painter and budding media mogul, I think this young visualist just might be the ideal manifestation of entrepreneur and twenty-first century all-purpose art soul brother. You can see more of Shah Wonders' work @ PinkSick.com <img src="http://pixod.com/hycide/shim.gif" width="865" height="580"> http://hycide.com/RA-UBASTI-Fangsmith http://hycide.com/following/hycide.com/RA-UBASTI-Fangsmith Mon, 31 Oct 2011 00:06:53 +0000 Hycide.com 2224938 <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2224938/RaUbasti_pic_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="2048" height_o="1365" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2224938/RaUbasti_pic_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2224938/_MG_3938_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2224938/_MG_3938_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2224938/_MG_3974_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2224938/_MG_3974_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2224938/_MG_3996_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2224938/_MG_3996_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2224938/_MG_4000_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2224938/_MG_4000_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2224938/_MG_4076_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="854" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2224938/_MG_4076_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2224938/_MG_4143_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="854" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2224938/_MG_4143_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2224938/IMG_4099_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2224938/IMG_4099_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2224938/IMG_4205_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2224938/IMG_4205_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2224938/IMG_4833_866.jpg" border="0" width="866" height="577" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/111342/2224938/IMG_4833_o.jpg" align="left" /> RA UBASTI: Fangsmith Words by Carrie Stetler | Images by Akintola Hanif Ra has been wearing fangs since high school and sometimes dresses like the Queen of the Damned, but she doesn’t consider herself a vampire. She’s not into drinking blood and she generally avoids vampire kitsch: “Twilight,’’ Bela Lugosi vehicles, HBO series about the undead. For Ra, an artist, wearing fangs is “spiritual,’’ a practice she associates with the Egyptian cat-headed goddess Sekhmet and West African tribes who prize sharp, filed teeth as a mark of beauty. As “New York’s Only Female Fangsmith,’’ Ra sells custom-fitted fangs made of dental acrylic to clients who include actors, blood-drinkers, Latino men from the Bronx and soccer moms. When I first got my fangs, it was awesome. It was like getting a tail. It’s feral, it’s primal. When you’re in official garb and the corset fits right and your hair is done proper, it forces you into this posture. And when you pass the mirror you’re you, but a different part of you. When you’re wearing a pair of plastic CVS teeth they sell at Halloween, you act silly. You make faces, you don’t feel sexy. When you have something that looks like your teeth and stays in place, like if you licked it you'd feel that smoothness, when everything is polished and garbed, its like “yeah.’’ It’s something that your DNA forgot. There’s not this schism: humans look like this, animals look like that. In that moment, you’re crossing that line. When I got my first set made, they were too pointy and long. Now I think natural is better. When you’re speaking to people with fangs on, they react a certain way. If you’re dressed up and you have all the black on and the make up, people are like, “yeah I was kind of expecting fangs, you look like a freak.’’ But when you just act plain normal, when you’re wearing light colors and it’s all every day? I like to go up to people and see how they react. When I have my fangs in and I’m just asking for directions or something, most people don’t know how to respond. You can see them thinking, “maybe she has messed up teeth. But maybe she’s from a foreign country. Or maybe she just has messed up teeth...’’ You know people are trying not to look, but they’re looking. When the entire package looks very different from what the mouth looks like, you get some complicated reactions. <img src="http://pixod.com/hycide/shim.gif" width="865" height="580">