Thumbprint and Thuggery

ringtone test 2

2006-08-13T18:13:00.000-05:00

Life I Choose ft MC Eiht

Ringtone Test

2006-08-12T12:38:00.000-05:00

This is just a test. I am not responsible if you click the link

Life I Choose ft MC Eiht

Hip Hop Congress Update 2/13

2006-02-13T18:51:00.000-06:00

Heres the Feb.13th update of HHC. Always big things!

In this Update:

Minnesota Summit at the end of this week

National Conference in Boulder Announced

Hip Hop Congress Lecture and Panel Opportunities

Texas State

Spring Break Helping Rebuild

MINNESOTA SUMMIT:

UPDATE: Amir Sulaiman ( >amirsulaiman.com ), featured on HBO's Def Poetry Jam and Host of last year's "Breed Love Tour" will also be appearing.

The Hip Hop Congress will host its First Ever Minnesota Summit: “Politics, Globalization and the Hip Hop Generation” from Friday, February 17th through Sunday February 19th, 2006.
Activities will feature a major concert featuring renowned Hip Hop artists and will include workshops, panels and discussion on prominent domestic and world issues related to Hip Hop, Race, Politics, HIV/AIDS and Globalization. Each will feature prominent artists including, Proof from the World-famous group D12, Hip Hop Activists M-1 of Dead Prez, The Bedouin and many more. There will also be workshops teaching Graffiti Art, Breakdancing, DJ’ing, and MC’ing. Youth organizing will be facilitated by People Escaping Poverty Project (P.E.P.P.) of Moorhead.

For more information, registration materials, and more hit up our website: hiphopcongress.com OR HHC extraordinaire, Amer at amer@hiphopcongress.com

NATIONAL CONFERENCE DATE ANNOUNCED:
The Hip Hop Congress National Conference has been officially set for June 15th-18th in Boulder Colorado.
Stay tuned for details on locations, workshops, speakers, and opportunities. Some important things to note are

1. There will be $20 registration fee for all members and $25 for non-members. A pre-registration system will be put in place.
2. We are currently accepting workshop proposals from chapters, artists, partners, etc. If you are interested in facilitating a workshop, please contact shamako@hiphopcongress.com
3. For all other questions and concerns regarding the conference, please contact shamako@hiphopcongress.com

It's going to be a fantastic conference, and we look very forward to seeing you.....

HIP HOP CONGRESS AND LECTURE, PANEL OPPORTUNITIES

A message from the President
What Up Everybody,
It's important to remember what kind of resources we are working with, and sometimes with all the things going on with HHC, it's hard to keep track of the opportunities that we have. There are a lot of organizations out there that are interested in working with Congress, and a lot of individuals that are interested in lecturing. Just to name some of the groups

Zulu Nation
Cassius D
Bakari Kitwana
Rapsessions
Adisa Banjoko
Davey D
Martha Diaz
Hip Hop Association
KRS-One

The list goes on and on. But if you are interested in learning more about this, please contact me at shamako@hiphopcongress.com, and let me know if there's something that fits on your campus.
Thanks ya'll.
Shamako

TEXAS STATE:

Salutations from the chapter of Texas State University- San Marcos! We had a great week: Thursday we kicked off Black History Month with a speaker from Duke University, Dr. Mark Anthony Niel. Dr. Niel has a PhD in black popular culture, and presented an amazing speech on the history of hip hop. Everyone loved it and he is definitely someone we are considering again for the future. Later in the night, we had BET comedian Genusis who gave a great show as well.

This Saturday is Bobcat Day here at the university (a day for interested high school and transfer students to come and tour the campus and check out all the organization booths that will be set up in the student center). Congress will be out there to recruit potential members.

SPRING BREAK HELPING REBUILD FROM KATRINA:

College students nationwide Plan Spring Break in the Gulf Region. For more information on Katrina on the Ground, and participating organizations, please visit www.katrinaontheground.com.

Reinventing the wheel

2005-12-22T00:40:00.000-06:00

So its been the better part of a month since my last post and I don't feel one bit of shame for not updating as I have several friends who have blogs and I only know one who updates more then me. Tom you rock....or are severely bored.

As is the case with all my posts, something in the past couple of days has come to my attention that has inspired me to write something that I want to publicize. Although publicize is hardly the correct word since only 17 people read this and most of those people only get into the first paragraph before clicking back to their porn/sports/myspace.com page. Regardless, heres what it is:

Those who know me know that I am ever critical, questioning, and detailed in life. Although laid back in nature and appearance, my mind continues to work a million miles a second to comprehend all things around me. For the most part of my life I thought I was one of the few who was cursed to think like that, but as I have grown older I have come to accept and really enjoy not only my constant diagnostic of the world but the view of others as well. (sidenote: in my personal search for knowledge of self and the world I have probably alienated a few around me, this sucks..modern karmic theory however would incur that others have alienated me in their personal searches as well..this sucks too. hopefully most of those people on both sides will return.)

In an effort to refocus myself and regain an edge I feel I have lost since graduation I am getting back into one of the things that has always peaked my attention. Reading books. The internet is great and People magazine is useful for bar banter (except with Mike Slonim) but books are a different beast. So I read 'The Da Vinci Code' by Dan Brown and 'Democracy Matters' by Cornell West. Unbeknownst to me, these books have given me a new insight into my passion of music and arts. To be honest I had never known why I had so blindly appreciated art since middle school. I thought maybe those Latin trips to Europe were just resonating in my brain and I was basically taught to like art. In the past 5-8 years my art of choice has been hip hop culture and the broader spectrum of American Jazz and Blues. I contribute a lot of this to my U.City environment, but after reading these books and taking a second look at the people I hang out with I can comfortably say that I feel I would have found hip hop regardless. If you have read 'Da Vinci Code' then I can apply it to myself as 'I didn't find hip hop, hip hop found me'.

So to continue about these two books, one of which is a NY Times Best Seller about the search for the Holy Grail and the 'truth' about Christianity and the other which delves into the history of America and the need for a true leader to re-emerge in combination with re-energized citizens to steer America away from neo-imperialism, have vague similarities in their values. However what has inspired this blog and relates to my view of art is that both books recognize the value and power art has had on history. Both reference how art might be the only true expression people can use to communicate. Two of my friends Yoni and Ron have constantly stated that music speaks to them in ways that people can't. I thought I understood what they meant until I read these books. Musical expression makes me move, makes me enjoy, makes me feel better about things around me, but it never 'spoke' to me like it did Yoni and Ron until now. Also I never thought it would. I thought some people just 'got it' better then others and that they 'got it' while I was on the outside.

But I have been getting it this whole time, I just haven't been listening to everything it was saying. In 'Democracy Matters' West spends a good portion of his book comparing the arts to the politics of the time and how many of the great artists of the time where also the most progressive thinkers, such as Ralph Waldo Emerson. Yes, the same dood who puts all 9th and 10th graders to sleep with his environmental poems of tree hugging. And the Brown spotlights all the myths (or truths) behind several ancient works of art, that are based upon political climates of their times.

Hip Hop is just the most updated version of socio/political artists. We are just starting to see the shift of political hip hop from 16-25 year olds screaming at the top of their lungs for change, to 30-45 year olds running companies, running for office (Detroit's mayor), and the academic speaking junkets. This is the progression of hip hop 'playin the game' to get the message across.

To combine all these factors, along with my progressing into appreciating more types of music beyond hip hop it has become clear that music is the tool that speaks to me most clearly while allowing me a chance to have an escapism from the evils of the world. To many music simplifies things, allows no thought and just movement. To myself and my brain, its music's complicated layers and underlying messages in other areas of interest that speak to me.

Kinda fucked up that the way my subconscious relaxes is by flexing is muscles.

Moving forward while standing still

2005-11-15T12:30:00.000-06:00

Aight its been a few weeks, time to update. Its not that I don't want to update, its that I just sort of forget....

The Crucial Album is finished and ready to be pressed up next week. The art work is dope, the artists on the album are dope, and the project is definitely gonna be a hit in the underground scene, not just in St.Louis, but hopefully nation wide.. How can anyone go wrong with MF Doom and Slug on their record. We are gradually gaining momentum with press being lined up and show dates getting set up. Its gonna be interesting to see the response to an entire album essentially produced from vinyl transferred back to CD. The sound quality is still high which was my biggest fear in the making of the album.

Look for reviews to pop up around the internet in Jan/Feb and print reviews in Feb/Mar. If you write, want to write, or know writers who would be interested in doing a review or article then let me know. I know many of you write for the student newspaper of your respective schools or have blogs of your own. Every little bit helps ya know. Originally slated for a mid winter release, it has been pushed back to accommodate more press to a mid-March date. However still look for some major show announcements for Feb.

Hip Hop Congress has been rolling along too with a major funding push. We know what information we need to gather from all 30 chapters and that was something major. The next step is actually getting this budget information from them. Every one of these chapterheads is already swamped with school work, jobs, and other activities in addition to their Hip Hop Congress responsibilities, so it could take some time to actually get what we need. Shamako went to the H2A Conference in New York last week and although we thought Hip Hop Congress was still slightly under the radar with many other organizations, it appears now as though Congress is smack right in the forefront of hip hop activism. Pretty incredible to have people tryin to be a part of what we do, rather then us tryin to fight into the scene.

In other Berk news Hats N Stuff is fun. I sell hats........I also write for Soundslam.com...reviewing bad music is fun.....J-Live was good tho.

Berk

tidbits and timber

2005-10-13T23:20:00.000-05:00

This is my online journal so i guess I am the only one gonna update it....

F5 is off and running with Crucial's album almost done and the long, tenacious and tedious process of press/promotion and distribution starts. The album is sick tho with appearances from Slug (Atmosphere), MF Doom, DJ Premier, J-Tredz (Company Flow), and MC Eiht. Plus we are getting shows lined up all over the country. New York to Indiana here we come in the winter!

Hip Hop Congress is in a very interesting place right now with a lot of exciting but splintered actions going on all at the same time. We launched version 4.0 of our website (www.hiphopcongress.com) at the start of the month and its being constantly updated and improved to best suit the needs of the organization and those checkin us out. Also we will soon be publishing the education library that so far is 500 teachers strong. Lesson plans, workshops, and learning exercises are all gonna be there for viewing and using pleasure. And of course a Congress tour is always in the works.. the organization just needs to find the right fit.. it will happen sooner then later I think.

I am up to four reviews on Soundslam.com. I can sorta consider myself published now I guess. It is one step closer to getting paid to do music for a living.

Big ups to Tom Elgin for getting his first grant, I am waiting on my first.. i guess I need to just apply to get that rolling.

I should really update this more.. how cliché..

Berk

Hip Hop Congress and Hip Hop Association Collabo!!

2005-09-21T23:33:00.000-05:00

For Immediate Release:

September 21, 2005

Hip-Hop Organizations Form Alliance

For the purpose of advancing education

The Hip Hop Congress and the Hip-Hop Association are presently creating a collection that will include lesson plans, curricula, and other teaching tools from educators in the U.S. and abroad. This collection will be made available to members of the community in the form of an electronic database and printed guidebook.

With over 500 educators between both organizations teaching at various schools, colleges, and universities across the country, this relationship will provide credible opportunities to test, evaluate and present irrefutable data. This data will be used to demonstrate to policymakers, funders and educational institutions the power of utilizing Hip-Hop as an educational tool.

In addition, Hip Hop Congress has joined the Hip-Hop Association’s 2006 H²Ed Summer Academy as a co-sponsor. The academy is a weeklong evaluation program where educators and youth practice a variety of methods to use of Hip-Hop in the classroom.

For More Information:

Hip Hop Congress

Aaron Berkowitz, PR Chair

berkowitz@hiphopcongress.com

Hip-Hop Association

Mona Ibrahim, Director of Community Partnerships

mona@hiphopassociation.org

About Hip Hop Congress

Hip Hop Congress is an international grassroots network that educates, empowers, and unites individuals by inspiring social action and cultural creativity within the community by merging with artists and students, music and community.

About the Hip Hop-Association

The Hip Hop-Association, an organization that focuses on facilitating, fostering, and preserving Hip Hop culture through media, education and community building has produced an annual education summit that brings Teachers, Organizers, Parents, Social workers, and Youth since 2003.

stuff interesting to me

2005-09-17T11:43:00.000-05:00

Since I have no job (by choice but still loserish) I have pieced together some things that I find interesting for all 6 of you to read:

On lessons learned because of Hurricane Katrina:
"This needs to be addressed, and I don't want to make it a political thing. But I grew up in U. City, which is diverse, and I thought the world would be more like U. City. What I realized is the world is not like that at all. The world is still a racist place." said by Jeremy Davenport the famous jazz trumpet player who graduate from u.city in the 80s.

Soundslam.com I have reviewed three albums now. I am a machine! check them out, especially joe budden. i rip him a new one.

Getting drunk dialed by friends to tell you that they are 'in' with bands twice in a night is kinda impressive. I either have friends who are groupies or friends who have undeniable passion for music... or maybe its both.

Keith Tkachuk is a fatty. He needs to get his ass in gear. and if the rams lose to the cardinals martz is goin down. yeah its the players playin the game but he is the one who hired that awful special teams coach and fired bobby april. what a douche.

Scope and Process

2005-09-05T08:39:00.000-05:00

Its been a mental roller coaster the past week for myself and I am sure for many b/c of the katrina disaster. I have had the extra eye opening experience of dealing with this in New York City standing beside some people who honestly care and are trying desperately to help, others who could care less b/c their personal situation is already a natural disaster, and a third group who care but don't really know how to handle it.

The direct results from my friends and family is yet to be determined (other then monetary donations that have been given). I have friends who stayed the storm out and all have been accounted for, but almost all of their belongs are gone. I have some long time family friends whose house was in front of one of the levies that busted and they know that their house is under water. I am sure we all know someone in similar, if not worse situations.

The next thing on my mental agenda came as I was close to my personal goal of working at Def Jam, as I visited the home offices. It was truly an amazing experience and I feel like I should be working there. However it also opened my eyes to the state of hip hop and how the culture is really an anomaly in terms of its success despite itself. hip hop might be the biggest catch-22 ever.

lastly the death of the chief justice came largely unnoticed to the mass public (despite headlining the Sunday new York times). Not that it was a surprise considering his health condition, but b/c of Katrina/Kanye comments/Mary Sheehan are takin the headlines people don't see that Bush has another power chip in his hands against those in the blue states (of mind).

personally i have to figure out where to draw my own line and decide a course of action to take for all the above issues.

Biede slays cultures for a living

2005-08-30T20:19:00.000-05:00

Yeah no tour, boo hoo..

Last night was the one of the most line crossing battles i have seen/been a part of. Lets just say that biede will never , ever, be allowed anywhere near Isreal anytime soon.

Serious notes
-I heard rumors that Charlie Brenean from KMOX was berating hip hop 'characters', claiming that they should be scrutinized more closely because of thier 'past' and what they look like. This is really a step back for such a mostly left minded voice. I don't need to go into why these thoughts are wrong and immoral..but i am frantically searching to find a tape of the show to hear for myself and to see if some sort of action needs to be taken. if you have a copy or heard,hit me with info

- I am also concerned about the lack of funding for hip hop grassroots activism coming from the democratic party and its progressive allies. I am not saying that hip hop is the most effective means for activism, but to totally ignore a culture that speaks to not only inner city voters, but a shitload of suburban white kids , is a fallacy that needs to be reworked. True most hip hop kids probably didn't vote b/c they are in the age range of 18-25, but don't the DEMS realize that in 15 years the President of the US is probably gonna know all the words to at least one RUN DMC song. Hell he'll probably know the words to a Jay Z song and a Kanye Song too. Also all those non-voting 18-25 year olds will become the voting older 30s young 40 year olds. many of those same suburban white kids are going to become the modern fence-sitters that the republicans have been able to work over the past two elections. It is uncanny to think that the powers that be have such a short sighted view of their target audience.

PHew.. ok got that off my back (plus a few congresspersons are gonna hear from me soon anyway).

My sisters are doin well at school, all moved in and shit.. damn i miss school. whose bright idea was it to graduate on time...

NY in 2 days.
peace
berk

Dis

2005-08-27T19:15:00.000-05:00

Notes: Looking for a new F5 Intern, they need to be practiced in excel spread sheet and have decent people skills.

Don't think I'll be goin on the tour now, details hazy.

Time to refocus my energy really. Anyone have any ideas for simple actions to get ones' self back on track. Spreading myself too thin really made for an unhealthy situation.

I started my writing career. Check out the review for Jus Allah's CD on soundslam.com

Stalled

2005-08-23T14:06:00.000-05:00

Well due to the latest funding news, as well as basically an ultimatum from the powers that be. The tour will kick off thurs night, but I will not be joining the tour until the bus rolls out of tallahassee florida on sunday night.. the personal implications of this move kinda irk me, but i am powerless really. i am just ready for this thing to take shape, roll out, and make a difference.

HHC heads need to come in force, i can't stress that enough. Also HHC and Hip Hop Association should be making some news soon. so look out for that.

freestyle session tonight "you can only get better"- thanks yoni.

Cacermento

2005-08-22T15:31:00.000-05:00

thanks shamako for telling me just how badly i can copy words from a page to a post...
thanks to jordan for making me feel pretty...
thanks to yoni for callin seth and not me for rides, moving, or plans..also for freestylin in the Delmar Lounge last night...

So I'm leaving weds night it appears and I have to finish up my last few errands. its an intense few days with my sisters goin back to Wisconsin for school, wash u kids coming back, my cousin goin to NYU Law, and even Becca takin a class over at Delmar-Harvard.

the midnight ramble was definatly an interesting event. 15,000 bikers, 25+ miles for myself, beer, and friends getting hit by cars. true urban bikers are crazy and poor. remind me a lot of bboys.

lastly for HHC family, if your interested in bringing in Eratik Statik from gravel records out of chicago, please contact me. We can get them cheaper if theres a series of chapters who are open to seeing them perform. I am highly encouraging chapterheads to get in on this to establish a HHC tour route and precendent for future up and coming underground artists.

good luck at school and moving in sarah and lizzie.
peace
berk

Tour Dates

2005-08-19T11:30:00.000-05:00

Here are the tentative tour dates.
25Aug- Wash D.C.
25Aug- Richmond, VA
26Aug- Jacksonville, FL
27Aug- Miami, FL
28Aug- Miami, FL
29Aug- Tallahassee, FL
29Aug- Brunswick, GA
30Aug- Atlanta, GA
31Aug- Memphis, TN
1Sept- Itta Bena, MS
1Sept- Jackson, MS
2Sept- Baton Rouge, LA
2Sept- New Orleans, LA
3Sept- Praire View, TX
3Sept- Houston, TX
4Sept- Phoenix, AZ
5Sept- LA, Cali
6Sept- San Francisco, CA
6Sept- Oakland, CA
6Sept- Cacramento, CA
7Sept- Reno, NV
8Sept- St. Louis, MO
9Sept- Gary, IN
10Sept- Chicago, IL
11Sept- Milwaukee, WI
12Sept- Detroit, MI
12Sept- Ann Arbor, MI
13Sept- Cincinnati, OH
14Sept- Cleveland, OH
15Sept- Pittsburgh, PA
16Sept- Newark, NJ
16Sept- New York, NY
17Sept- Philadelphia, PA
17Sept- Cheney, PA
18Sept- Dover, DL
19Sept- Baltimore, MD
20Sept- Raleigh/Durham, NC
20Sept- Greensboro, NC
21Sept- Norfolk, VA
21Sept- Hampton, VA
22Sept- Wash DC
24Sept- Wash DC
25Sept- Forestville, MD

Times and places will be updated as the tour goes along.. tour dates could be changed as needed and I'll keep things updated as best I can. If your going to be in or around those areas on those days, give me a shout or expect one from me. I'll be busy, but I certainly would like to take advantage of seeing everyone when I can.

Carpenter goes for 18 tonight and hopefully the awefence gets back on track. Molina is back but Rolen is basically done until postseason (if that). F5records.com , check it out.

peace
Berk

Bonkers

2005-08-18T22:38:00.000-05:00

aight, so another day closer to this event and I am no where near closer to understanding how it is all going to be executed. I have been getting my personal responsibilities in order, work and belongings are ready to roll. Tomorrow is an important conference call with my team members to discuss more indepth my role in the program...should be interesting.

cards had an ugly game tonight, tony is pitching the starters too far into the game and our 'pen isn't getting enough work to stay fresh. Izzy has pitched like 4 times in the past 2 weeks. not enough. king and tavarez are not gettin the job done.

f5 is moving forward nicely. rumors of increased distrobution are rampant, check cdbaby.com for just another outlet to hear the music. the fall is going to be big in terms of the Crucial Mixtape, MC Eiht, and if you all didn't know Large Pro and Grimm projects are in the bag.

Lastly i met Greyskul today. Some very nice and modest hip hop artists. they had a tour stop in town last night and managed to make it by the store. They signed a cd for me and kicked it at Andy's...more to come

peace berk

First Post Jitters

2005-08-17T12:15:00.000-05:00

So I decided to blog finally...I tried to keep away from this internet fad that contributes immensley to the clutter on the internet. However I am about to go on an incredible journy through out the United States to raise political awareness in the Hip Hop Community and I want to stay in touch with as many people as possible. Its a 30 day, 25 state, 40+ city bus tour that will be focused on the Supreme Court, educational funding, and voting rights. It is being put together by the Hip Hop Caucus (www.hiphopcaucus.org) which is a relationship put together by Rev. Yearwood to link the largest Hip Hop nonprofit organizations. Hip Hop Congress was one of the charter organizations I believe. If you don't know or hadn't known or whatever, the last 3 years I have been increasingly involved with Hip Hop Congress (www.hiphopcongress.org) which is an organization that uses hip hop to keep people involved in their communities, updated politically, and keeping things relevent socially. Currently I hold the PR Chair for HHCongress. We have a national board as well as 30 chapters across the country.

--The Tour's Focus--

The Supreme Court is the highest Court in the country – it has the final say on interpreting our Constitution and laws. Its nine Justices serve for life and the decisions they make directly influence the lives of every American. They should be fair-minded, committed to protecting the rights and freedoms of all Americans. Senators should carefully and thoroughly review every nominee and make their own judgment. And they should only vote to confirm judges who they believe will uphold the constitutional rights and freedoms of all Americans. No Senator should be a rubber stamp for nominees who would vote to weaken our rights, or who won’t even tell the American people where they stand on key constitutional issues

George W. Bush has nominated Judge John G. Roberts to fill the Supreme Court vacancy left by the resignation of Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. As O'Connor's replacement, Roberts would cast the deciding vote on countless matters of individual rights where O'Connor had been a key vote, often in a 5-to-4 split-issues like abortion, affirmative action, privacy rights, disability rights, Title IX equal educational opportunity, family and medical leave, health care, environmental protection and dozens of other crucial issues for decades to come.

Most of the states we are visiting are going to have pretty influential Senator electors in 2006 and we want to make sure that people are up to date on the issues that effect their communities. We will be hitting high schools, colleges, community events, concerts, and even the MTV Video Music Awards. This is pretty heavy lifting for anyone so I am joined by a team of 12 other bus riders and a number of off-bus team memebers. One of those members is Jordan Bromley, who will be trying to rally up HHCongress members and other Hip Hop organizations to come out to our various events. My personal responsibility is to event coordinate, make sure everything is set up where ever we are headed.

I have given some of you a heads up as to where we are going to be and when, others I will be contacting you in the future. I will release the tour schedule later this week, as I am leaving a week from today to head to D.C. to start the tour.

--
On another tip, I am going to be in the Midnight Ramble Bike Ride on saturday thanks to my co-worker Jason at Hats N Stuff...hopefully I'll be getting my new bike by then. The Cardinals are doin great. Scribble jam was crazy..best MC Battle I have ever seen. OH and for this blog, i expect you all to post, comment, and question things. This isn't 'aaron's lil diary', I want it to act more like a forum of communication for me and my family, friends, peers, associates, and others. This first post was kinda serious, but it will get more berkowitz as I get more comfertable writing again.

Big ups in this blog go to HHCongress, Yoni, F5 Records, Anh, Seth, DJ TopSpeed, Jon Toth from Hoth, MC Speak, Jordan, Jim Fong, Andy, and my family.

--
Peace
Berk