A Reason to Live: The Future is Greater

Have you ever been asked the question: "What keeps you going?" ? What is your typical answer to that?
 For me depending on where I am or the context of the question, the answer varies but is usually the same.

What keeps me going?

1. My immediate family, whom I adore and admire
2. The future/Youth

Working with youth for me has increasingly grown over the years to be akin to eating and breathing. What is the point of life if I'm not investing in the future? Why even bother? They are hope, that in a fucked up world that we've created we can still make something better.

My mom almost always says to me in those 'what are you doing with your life?' phone conversations "I want my kids to be better than me." At first I would sigh and want her to stop blabbing but now I'm repeating the same thing to my youth. She also named me 'Nkeiruka' which means: 'What is coming (the future) is greater'. Little did she (or I) know at the time that I would manifest this almost to a fault (at least if you ask her sometimes).

I know it's a cliche saying that 'Children are our future' and a lot of times it's said without the meaning or weight that it carries. But for me it's pretty much one of the few phrases that matter to me in life, and almost everything I do has to be branched with that as the root.

Sometimes I lose sight or I get frustrated with the process, but watching videos (below) like these makes me inspired to see that other people are working with the same value.

So I can keep it in my head that the only thing that matters in this world is the young people coming after me. 





Happy Mardi Gras!

your neighborhood bleeding heart radical,
N

Custom One3snapshot Design Work

We recently completed the design and printing of custom screen printed shirts for an Organo Gold distributor in Lagos. It was a pleasure working with Titi who had a clear vision of what she wanted. From exchanging ideas back and forth over email and blackberry messenger, we finally came up with a design everyone was pleased with. Titi sent us pictures from an event hosted a few weeks ago, it was so great seeing it all come together.

Holiday Ideas - Greeting Cards

If you love sending out greeting cards over the holidays and even better sending out unique and creative greeting cards, Anneli has some of her art available as greeting cards for $4.95 each. You can include a customized message and all cards ship within 48 hours.

The Jaguda.com Tee Pre-Sale

One3snapshot + Jaguda.com = some really Cool Shirts. Where my Naijas & Africans at? You know there's a little Jaguda in all of us...so rep it! And for the non-Africans...you too can REP this...because the phenomemon is global. Ask what it means...and I'm sure you'll agree! PRE-SALE on these shirts is happening right now... you can purchase at a lower price and have customized tee options before they go on sale for everyone!

Get your presale Jaguda.com tee NOW! Offer ends Thursday 11/17

the 99% ignored in Arts Funding #Occupy

REUTERS/Mike Segar

 Even if you were living under a rock. You know about the occupations happening around various cities in the US. What we're also talking about is the various ways this crazy 1% plays out. This Washington Post article talk about how Foundations basically pretty much fund more wealthy-white serving institutions than it does diverse communities. This funding trend does not match up with the growing population of said diverse communities.

“It is a problem because it means that — in the arts — philanthropy is using its tax-exempt status primarily to benefit wealthier, more privileged institutions and populations,” wrote the report’s author, Holly Sidford.

Talk about keeping it in the family.

Of course it's not telling me anything that I don't know. The money just circles around and 'philanthropy' is just a guise that rich people use to keep the things that entertain them alive.

Even though seemed like an ad for the Ford Foundation (which hopefully may encourage them and others to continue diverse funding) at the end, the point of the article is still something to that can be paid attention.

Ana Goes to School

Busy Bee

Damn. It's been a minute. *insert busy rant* Basically working and trying to live a sane life. Lots of fun and exciting new and old things going on.

Working on the production of ReVulvaLution a performing and visual art event that celebrates the power of women and girls
Creating new work for my dance projects D-Fuse & Whoa!
Working on some new designs for One3snapshot ...the Whimsical Warriors collection in honor of Women's History Month in March & International Women's Day...Coming Soon

Trying to stay healthy, could be better. Will be.

Off The Clock: Restuarant Worker's Appreciation Day

I hadn't been in the Mission Neighborhood in SF in a while and I happened there last Friday and out of a lot of things that were annoying one thing made me smile. Saw this in a store window. I think it's so dope a thing to do! I'm posting it past the fact but I think it's so dope. Gotta give props to MCCLA and Young Workers United... makes me happy to see work like this in the community!

Monday, September 27, from 12-5:00pm FREE EVENT
Calling all servers, cooks, dishwashers, bussers and barbacks: This day’s for you! The Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts has teamed up with Young Workers United, Latin Dance Grooves, and many local restaurants to offer an afternoon of FREE massage, dance classes, yoga and other activities to relax your body and mind…plus complimentary food and drinks from your favorite local hot spots.

c.u.r.r.e.n.t ( in this moment)

• fruit obsession: Persimmons &; Pomegranates

• reading: Immortal: Love Stories with a Bite. not because that's the kinda shit I pick up to read, but because I'm doing a 5 for 5 book exchange with a teen (we read/finish at least 5 books given by the other). Apparently that's all teenagers read/watch these days: poorly written stories about the undead.
• song stuck in my head: Yori Yori by Bracket; Poison by Bill Bev Devoe; My Name by Lhasa De Sela
  
• creative project: Earrings for myself & friends, Dance piece for my Pocos Locos dance class, invitation cards for a teenager's baby shower 
• coordinating project: Loco Bloco's 2010 Blocura Gala
• favorite place to be: on a plane away from here
  
• event: the classic house party that i threw with like 10 other people last weekend; Nneka @ Cafe Du Nord (pics coming soon)
  
• pet peeve: none
  
• social justice outcry: ...
  
• general mental state: oppressed bliss
  
• random happening: walking out of the BART station in Berkeley with my friend, and getting vocally harassed by a bunch of young black boys; the weirdest thing was they almost let us go all the way through without saying anything to us (phew) but then as soon as I thought we would make it, they started out talking to us, and got exponentially louder and messy the further we got away. strange.
  
• current one3snapshot tee i can't stop wearing: Charcoal gray "Frida" Tee with neck line cut off
  
• social networking site: okcupid.com
• online destructive habit: reading live EVERY live feed update on fb (i do only have 200 'real & close enough' friends)
• all time destructive habit: orderings crafting supplies on amazon & other sites so I can feed my obsession about receiving packages in the mail
• pics: 

these are my obssesssionnssss

one3snapshot is now available at artillery apparel gallery in the mission @24th

loco bloco is having a gala one3snapshot is doing the graphic work and everyone's invited www.locobloco.org

some gooooodd sweet potato & pear pie (that my friend made) with plain yogurt on top.: nutritious and tasty

 

jars of applesauce from an apple-sauce making workshop with kids & families

 

bye bye

,n

r.a.n.d.o.m

The Vietnamese restaurant down the street from my job knows me. My voice over the phone and everything. Okay so I pretty much order the same thing all the time, and before I'm done, she'll say "(my name) right?". So the other day I changed up my order. I'm like "may i get some curry chicken over rice?" she asked "what's your name?" and when I said it she was all confused, sounded stunned and was like err err. And I said. "Ha I changed it up you!" I think I threw her whole day off. Haha! That'll teach her.

Other random shit

1. Coming soon: not that awesome Pics & Video Clips from Loco Bloco playing in San Francisco's Dia de Los Muertos Celebration in The Mission (highlights include me doing a dance inviting a police van to run me over, because I wouldn't move outta the way).
2. I'm gonna celebrate Sadie Hawkins Day this year. Like hardcore. I'm gonna gather some other girlfriends and get it popping. Maybe next year I'll even throw a party. Holla if you down.
3. I need a spa day.

random post. random pics

i've been on an earring making frenzy. i swear i'll be making them and not eatphckorsleep

 

outtakes from ZARA's flyest video shoot. that was a styling collaboration with one3snapshot & cocoacentric (yeah I styled those 'butlers')

outtakes from ZARA's flyest video shoot. that was a styling collaboration with one3snapshot & cocoacentric (ZARA herself rocking the 'You never Imagined I'd make it this far Tee'..., 'cos in a bit we won't have imagined it)

random cocktail hour, cos sometimes you should just rock your shades and sip som'n

the end,
N

Taxi!! Taxi!!

Oh my gosh. So I can be seen randomly championing a black cause and hating on white people. But I have to say I am relatively sheltered and naive about certain realities that apply to Black people in the United States, even as a Black person myself (possibly more on this in a way in the future post).

So a teenage black boy at my job asks for a taxi number. I absentmindedly reel off a 333333 number to him. A few minutes later he walks out the door and seconds later walk backs in like "shit what the #@!* that mofo drove off..."

I was distracted browsing facebook (of course) so it took me a few seconds after my coworker started laughing for things to register...

and i was like "what..? what?"
and it clicked
..."the driver left?"

and he replies "yeah"...
I say to the boy "Oh maybe you should have taken that black hoodie off..."

My coworker goes "yeah right! I tried to catch a cab the other day and I was dressed sharp too!! Cab driver drove OFF! They don't like black people, you see me I dress nice all the time. He did not care! As soon as he saw I was black he was gone!"

My mouth agape. "You lying!"

He goes on to say "I already had the car door opened and everything, that cab driver turned around and was like no no no and next thing I knew he was gone!"

This whole time my co-worker is laughing relaying his story, but I know he's not making it up.

I on the other hand really I'm floored. I mean I've heard all the jokes about how a black man can't get a cab. Shoot I've even had difficulties finding cabs in the wee hours in Oaktown. Eight or more cab companies in a row have hung up on me when I rattle off a certain address.

But somehow I have been in this cocoon. I thought this is 2009. This is San Francisco... Somehow I just always thought it was a joke that the Funny Black Man sure banks on for laughs while he's on stage.

Somehow...it never made say "damn" with my head hung low.



Speaking of Black Men... Here's some photos from one Black man who's doing things. Suru is a clothing line from Baba Afolabi; he introduced us to it 20 days ago on October 2 in Downtown Oakland. Photos by Kola Shobo

Suru Introduced







das all,

N