[HOW TO] Nefertiti inspired headwrap!

A lot of friends have asked me and I'm sure many more people are wondering how I did my Erykah Badu/Nefertiti headwrap that I've been rockin recently.

    Well I made a tutorial here:

Beauty of the Black Woman

Beauty of the Black Woman(BOTBW) is a photoblog which shares beautiful images of Black woman.
Every photo is taken by photographer Damion Reid.
I had a very successful shoot on Friday, here are the photos:

     My outfit is funky yet sophisticated. I bought the acid wash skinny jeans from a boutique in my neighborhood and the high-heeled sneaker boots are my all time fave. This whole is just my style 100%.

     More photos can be seen on the Facebook page  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Beauty-of-the-Black-Woman/1400572206821692 as well as Reid's tumblr page. http://damionkare.tumblr.com/

Happy New Year! New Video

     I haven't updated very often in the past few months but I had to make an end of year video. In this video I'm talking about how I wore my hair in 2013 and my goals for 2014.

Fall Fashion show at FIT

   Just a few weeks ago I walked in a fashion show for the very first time! Modeling has always been a dream of mine but the opportunity has not easily presented itself. Until this one. I was on the train talking to my best friend about being approached by a model scout when a young woman sitting across from us over heard our conversation and asked me to walk for her. She gave me all of her information, I emailed her with my information and then I was ready to go.
   The big day, I arrived around at FIT around 3pm, met with the designer(Eva Mohrman)and the other models and headed backstage. Backstage was pretty hectic with models running around, lining up, running through, practicing fitting, hair & makeup. It was so fun. I chatted with a few other girls but before I knew it, it was time for eva's design's. My outfit was a long sleeved houndstooth crop-top and a red fur jacket which were both created beautifully. Here's Eva's video:

I didn't do my best but hey, now I have modeling experience.

To Binge or not to Binge ?!

Over the past few months I realized that NetFlix has it’s own original “TV” shows. There is no waiting for next week to see a new episode, no pilot, no fear of the show being canceled; everything is right there. These raise the question “To binge or not to binge”. NetFlix users can watch an entire season/series in one day.

House of Cards is one of those shows.

House of Cards is a suspense/filled political drama. We get the entire inside information and all of these lies and scandal that can easily be happening in the White House right now. This show has a great plotline, each episode draws attention, and all of the characters are well developed. The entire concept and the storylines that come along with it are perfect. “Perfect” is a strong word but this series almost seems flawless.

Our star Frank Underwood is indeed the protagonist but is also the bad guy, and he does not have one true nemesis, it seems that everyone is Frank’s enemy. He has lied, cheated, denied, manipulated, and even killed this season. Keep in mind, this is only season one. All of the intensity is built up and then hits the viewers hard, in every single episode. No one is to be trusted, and it does not seem that any of these characters should be idolized by viewers either.

The series kicks off with Congressman Francis Underwood being cheated out of the position of Secretary of State. This affects Frank greatly and he immediately kicks off this intricate plot to influence, control, and basically exploit everyone around him to get what he wants. That is, besides his wife. We soon meet the character Claire. She is Frank’s wife and partner; as a couple and separately they are very well known political figures. Claire and Frank tell each other everything; besides being married they are also business partners and will do anything for each other.

Then, there is Zoe Barnes. She is introduced to us from the very beginning as a smart-mouthed, spunky, low-down dirty reporter. Well “low-down” and “dirty” is subjective but she does not shy away from that. She corners Frank with a proposition, and he obliges but it seems as if he was using her; then the question comes up “For what?” So many questions come up and even go unanswered throughout this season but I think a few important ones are about Zoe. Why is Frank working with Zoe? Why is Zoe sleeping with Frank? Why does she love Lucas? What does she want in life? What does she want from Frank?

What makes a character a good one is when there is conflict, when we viewers see what they want and the fact that they are having a hard time getting that want. This was not too clear when it comes to Zoe Barnes, as in her overall goals and reasoning for why she does what she does; but it is quite clear with the other characters.

As I said, the character development in this series is impeccable. Each character has a story, a want, risks, and small things about them that viewers can notice. I guess the man whom we can dub the “Antagonist”, being that his importance was almost at the same levels as Franks at one point, is Peter Russo. Peter is another character we meet in episode 1. He is sleeping with his assistant; he drinks, smokes, and solicits prostitutes. He is the bad boy. In attempts to clean up his image for his campaign for governor, he is set up; he relapses, and then dies; all because of Mr. Underwood. Frank was the Puppet Master throughout this ENTIRE series. It was incredible. One element which was crucial to Frank’s characters and a lot of the sticky situations was “Breaking the fourth wall”. Frank turned and literally spoke to us the viewers. When he lied he told us the truth, when he denied something he told us why, when he was suspicious or untrusting of someone he told us that, it was great; especially since Frank is not necessarily and “Good” person, it kind of allows or forces us viewers to be on Frank’s side. We can not hate his sneakiness because he lets us in on the secret. We’re sneaky too!

House of cards is an amazing show. Knowing that it was a political I thought it would be similar to a cop show my grandmother would watch, like Columbo. But House of Cards is not Columbo, nor is it Law and Order.

Although I watched each episode weekly, this show has proved to me that binge watching is the way to go, well if the viewer has time of course. I do not encourage drop out of school or miss work to watch House of Cards! But I certainly suggest that Netflix users watch as much episodes in a row as they can. This show is almost like a long movie, a saga. It keeps you at the edge of your seat and builds so much suspense there is no way one can resist watching the next episode, especially when it is right in front of you. There is nothing wrong with Binge Watching, you just have to strategize.

The CNN article Binge-watching makes TV better written by Aaron Riccio explains this clearly:

“Instead of watching live each week by “appointment,” viewers are taking a full day (or weekend or even week) to watch a show’s entire season or a series from beginning to end. This may sound gluttonous and monotonous, but bingers see it differently — a richer and more contemplative form of TV watching in which every nuance is savored and analyzed.”

The article is plainly saying that this “appointment” form of watching television is dying out. I fully agree with this notion. I am not a Netflix user but I do have DVR. I rarely have time during the week to watch news episodes of my favorite shows, so I record them. Usually by the time I have time the season is either half-way finished or completely finished and it feels like a treat being able to watch most to all of the season in one day or weekend.

Another article House of Cards: Netflix’s experiment in binging pays off written by Christopher Williams. Describes how the original drama’s success is almost revolutionizing the way people watch television shows. A significant number of viewers “binged” while watching this series and will continue to.

House of Cards and their other original series along with the privilege of Binge-Watching, NetFlix has struck gold. House of Cards is a great show and I am highly anticipating clearing a whole weekend to watch it all.

Women of Color and Identity Conference:Detangling From the Root

     In our heads about our hair is a documentary film about Black women and the hair norms of society. The standard of beauty is long hair, the standard of beauty is hair that one can easily get a comb through. As most of my followers know my hair is natural and always has been, I support this "movement", and I run a blog all about box braids(a popular Black/Natural hair style).

     The screening of this film was apart of an entire conference held at Brooklyn college on November 20th. Guests were greeted in the hall with a sign-in sheet and free samples of hair products from Khamit Kinks. An audience of mostly women gathered and the event started with a panel discussion with three Brooklyn College students, women with natural who described their journeys and even battles embracing their own hair. One woman described how she kept her hair very short for years and although it has been natural she hasn't necessarily embraced it, another woman shared that she was in the military and her sergeant approached her saying that her appearance did not fit the guidelines though she was certainly following all of the rules, it was about her hair.

     Then the film began. Created by Anu Prestonia and BC alum Hemamset Angaza. We are given several images of Black women with natural hair and several different accounts. It was so tastefully done, there did not seem to be any bias from the creators of the film. Of course each opinion was bias. Of course even some women with natural hair sounded a little close-minded. But a segment I admired was when men on the street were questioned about Black hair/Black women. It was rather humorous to hear what these men think and there wasn't much hate. It was also great to see some of the couples who were interviewed. So many men love and support their women and their hair choices. I was a little hesitant in attending this conference, especially watching the film because these are conversations I have everyday, as a black woman. However, In our heads about our hair is such an eye opener and such an enjoyable film, there was no over kill. I would certainly watch this film again, with some friends.

    Here's the trailer:

    After the film, lunch was served, there was a spoken word segment. Poets BC Alum Diamond Bradley, BC Slam Team member Katherine George, and Nasiyr Abdullah son of the keynote speaker Sonia Alleyne. Unfortunately I could not stay longer to hear from the keynote speaker or other panel discussions but this event was great.

New Fefe Dobson!

     Canadian Punk music artist Fefe Dobson is back! While watching music videos the other day "Legacy" started and I was so excited because I had no idea she had new music. I was very impressed and pleased with this new song and video. Watch for yourself:

     Legacy, the song and video affected me in many ways. First the entire premise of being cray and being in a psych ward is something I've written about myself. Then the fact that she is dressed as and emulating celebrities who have passed who we all love was incredible. The second the Amy Winehouse scene started, the tears fell. Amy's death was devastating and I immediately thought of Michael Jackson. The most I've ever cried for any reason is certainly when Michael passed. Then the MJ scene started and I couldn't take it. What makes it more beautiful is the lyrics, not only is she saying that she honors these artists and carries them with her wherever she goes but she is also saying that her herself wants to leave a legacy behind. This entire song and video represents where I am in life right now and things I need to keep in mind. I feel that it speaks to a lot of people, not just artists and not just music artists. Legacy is beautiful and I am so excited for fefe and her music.

BlackFish

My class watched the film BlackFish this week, if you are unfamiliar his is the trailer:

     Black Fish is a documentary about SeaWorld and other “Sea” theme parks which actually put the animals and their trainers in danger.
     There is a build once the film starts, it seems to be pleasant. Several former SeaWorld trainers are giving accounts to how they started and why. They list where they came from, their interests in sea animals, when they started, and what they thought about SeaWorld. Then there is a change of mood when they talk about Dawn Brancheau. I knew she was the trainer who had been killed right away because there was slow, sad music playing in the background and they showed old footage of her.
Dawn was killed in an attack by one of the killer whales right after a show on February 24, 2010. Her death seems to be the driving force of this entire film. SeaWorld’s denial of this death being the whale’s fault or even their fault is the main conflict. The OSHA sued SeaWorld on behalf of the Government but SeaWorld keeps fighting to keeps their trainers in the tanks with the Killer Whales. I understand the idea behind this and it is money. Big corporations often get caught up in some “fishy” business and to this day SeaWorld is a large attraction and a staple in our culture. What really brings in the audience is all the tricks that the trainers physically do with the animals.
     The film continues to go back in forth, giving the viewers a bit of a history lesson. One aspect I did not like was how each story was out of order. We are told about Dawn Brancheau’s death first (seems to be very important because it is most recent), then we are told about how the Killer Whales were first captured in 1970, then we were told about the trainer who was killed in SeaLand(Canada’s park) in 1991. There is a correlation between all of these stories obviously, but the film seemed to be a little confusing and very intense because of the order the stories were told in and all of the information that is given.
     What I do appreciate is that this film is educating its viewers. Black Fish gives us facts about Killer Whales and parallels them with untruths trainers are told to tell visitors of the park. We learn so much about Killer Whales from this film and we are given accounts from so many trainers. One question which came to mind throughout watching this is: Who is the victim? The whales or the trainers? Trainers are being killed but the Whales are being tortured. Either way, anybody who watches this will come to the conclusion: SeaWorld is wrong for what they’ve done and what they are doing. This is what makes this film so good; the creators of this film are not necessarily pointing the finger, they are simply presenting facts and the truth. The trainers were lied to about previous deaths of other trainers or were just flat out not told. There is an intense control that SeaWorld has over the entire situation and I am disgusted.

Noir Chicks! A new webseries

A friend of mine, Chante has started a webseries called "Noir Chicks" and I gave her a little critique. Here is episode 1:

    Overall, as a pilot episode I just wished she showed more. More about each character and their relationships with each other, and the main idea of the whole show. I noticed that  there is a main character narrating and she takes on a Carrie Bradshaw role. Is she the main character? She is also a blogger, does the whole series revolve around her blog? I feel that based on the title each character should have equal "power" like maybe they should all blog if blogging is the focus, with that being said, this is the pilot. I think it should have been more introductory, where we would have a peek into each of the character's lives.
    For acting I think that the heated statements should have literally been shouted, as if the two girls were really going at it. I pretty much enjoyed the production and dialogue, and I can't wait to see what is done with the other episodes.
     Episode has been posted and you can keep up with the series here: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRpgHiXH0ysXxLC1kCaSJlA

La Haine

    La Haine is a 1995 French black-and-white drama/suspense film about riots in France during the 1980’s. It was written, co-edited, and directed by Mathieu Kassovitz. “La Haine” translates to “Hate” in english. This film is very dramatic but done in a way where there is no overkill. It is truthful and expresses themes that are relatable. The reason why the inner-city or “urban” french people are rioting at this time is because of police brutality. Sometimes police officers go on a power trip and feel since they are protected by law they can violate the right of the people violently and get away with it. This kind of case happens all around the world and people revolt. The problem with rioting is that people riot in their own towns and destroy her own stores, schools and property. Then the problem does not even get solved.
    I think La haine raises a lot of questions and brings issues to light. The three main characters Said, Vinz, and Hubert are all different and are all reacting to what is happening differently. Said seems to be the most passive yet plainly and simply refers to all police officers as “Pigs”. Hubert seems as if he is cracking under pressure, he is strongly affected but at the same time he know right from wrong. Whereas Vinz is the crazy one. He is very angry and just wants to kill each and every “pig” he sees.
     A reoccuring theme is the film is the riddle or story about the man who jumps off of a skyscraper, on his way down he keeps saying “So far so good”. This fall represents their community falling apart during this time and how they might “land”. That was a very effective and helpful element.