Freedom Fighter: Harriet Tubman

“I never ran my train off the track, and I never lost a passenger.”

“I had crossed the line. I was free; but there was no one to welcome me to the land of freedom. I was a stranger in a strange land.”

- Harriet Tubman

Today we celebrate the life of a warrior, a revolutionary, the mother of liberation, Harriet Tubman. Mama Tubman passed on this day March 10th, 1913. Her Birthday, as with most slaves of the south, is unknown.

Mama Tubman is probably the most prominent abolitionist in American History. Her stance as a liberator, educator, and freedom fighter put her in the same company as John Brown and her good friend Susan B. Anthony; but was also deemed a “Terrorist” and “Outlaw” by those who opposed her endeavors.

Tubman is most known for her use of the “Underground Railroad” to smuggle slaves out of the south and was responsible for liberating thousands of slaves. She also assisted General David Hunter, and Colonel James Montgomery in recruiting slaves and anti-slaves in to the Union Army to defeat of the Southern Confederates - which resulted in the Abolishment of Slavery (whether this was circumstantial or a direct result of the war, is a separate debate.)

Harriet Tubman, a true hero, an agent for change and a CDT Freedom Fighter.

120 Seconds by Tony Peralta

M.Tony Peralta, Artist + Graphic Designer :: 120 Seconds from friendswelove.com on Vimeo.

Bigups to Tony - A friend of mine, and a dope artist. Tony Peralta’s art is riddled with his socio-political views and Latin-American culture. Take a few moments to listen to him build about art and what inspires him.

Peace.

Fan Mail: Buss Ya Gun???

A few weeks ago, we received mail from a supporter who posed an inquiry/suggestion about our Buss Ya Gun.. t-shirt.

Instead of bust your gun I think empty your clip could work better if you are thinkin’ of advocating less gun violence. Love the stuff either way… Just an idea if you are reprinting them….
One Love - Ben

Hey Ben,

First off, thanks for your thoughts. I like the fact that you didn’t just criticize the design, but you offered a suggestion. And what a great suggestion it is, indeed. I really appreciate that. Oftentimes, one complains or criticize without offering a solution. The only way to come to a common understanding is to propose an alternative perspective that promotes thought. That’s the first step.

The bust your gun design came as a result of witnessing the advocacy of the right to bear arms through hip hop, the streets and through pro-arms supporters of the Second Amendment of the Constitution. We are not major supporters of guns on the streets, however we questioned what would be reasons why someone would want to “bust their gun”… in a way to provoke thought on this topic.  So, we listed a few “responsible” reasons why someone would want to bear arms:  Knowledge, Wisdom, Understanding, Freedom, Justice, Equality, Food, Clothing, Shelter, Love, Peace & Happiness! Which we acknowledge as the “12 Jewels of Life”. We also added on more to the equation…Family!

Knowledge, Wisdom, Understanding: this represents education, the passion of expanding ideas and perspective. Throughout history societies have been robbed of this basic principle, leaving them in both mental and social bondage. The church, governments and monarchs have deprived their constuitents of the later..forcing a revolution of sorts.

Freedom, Justice, Equality: this is what our constitution (America) was supposedly founded on. All the revolutions and wars thereafter sort to defend this creed (atleast perceptively - this is up for debate, however.) Lets keep in mind that many of the rebels of the American Revolution consisted of property owners, farmers, and just regular citizens protecting their country, and liberty from the Brits.

Food, Clothing, Shelter: the basic necessities of living. I believe if anyone is delibritly held away from this long enough will be force to bear arms to feed themselves and their families..or atleast defend it!

Love, Peace Happiness: these three elements are the principles of harmony, and without harmony leaves chaos. Chaos is the only reason why there are guns in circulation in the first place. Personally I choose not to bear arms. I beleive in martial arts as a mechanism to maintain harmony and self defense. However, we must be able to step outside of our own comfort zone, or perspective to get a wholistic view on things. As with many other topics I may not choose to bare arms for myself..but I could see why one may find the need to.

Family: This is self-explanatory. Protect the home and loved ones from harm!

Peace.

Be Present As You Experience Life

Be open, always present as you experience life, Life is our greatest teacher, the watchful eye, receptive heart and open mind, each are keys to wisdom. Many are good at observing the world and ways of others, a truer wisdom is revealed when we are able to observe self with the same ease.

Peace

daoud

Desire Is The Word

This Morning, I was sitting on the train meditating and got a flash of inspiration to write some ideas down in my journal - which I now would like to share with you. My ideas are related to the subject of desire - the seed of creation.

As long as we desire things of quality and work toward their actuality, we are alive, inspired, and motivated in our life experience. To desire is to express the ether of life. We must remain motivated or we will lose our vigor. For this reason we set goals; have dreams; develop intention with our efforts.

There is nothing more disconcerting than seeing someone lose that vigor. That swag. That enthusiasm in life. We see this with our families all the time. Our parents (or any other love ones) who may just give up hope and aspirations, as they feel the urge to conform… Settle for the life they feel is “realistic.” But is it truly what they feel? Or is it what is impressed upon them by educational institutions, media,  and social norms? Perhaps! I believe reality is what you make it. Someone else’s idea of “normal” or “success” shouldn’t be your own, unless you truly value that same understanding.  What do you want? What do you desire?

We must not run out of desires. If you deliberately plan to be less than your vast number of possibilities, then you are sabotaging your own potentiality. This is what may inhibit one from success. Its inevitable. To quote Earl Nightingale: “Your success (or rewards) in life are in exact proportion to your service.” And that sums it up. Your success already exists, it just waits for you to accept it as your own and walk toward it. By doing the opposite, you are rejecting it, and keeping your self further away from your true desires.

I suggest we use our imagination more often. Imagination inspires creativity, creativity is transmuted into effort, and effort results in creation!

Lets create! Lets continue to inspire each other to create. Create until we do not have a single breath left. Making use of our life experience by becoming living examples of our desires by expressing our true potential.

-Rasupreme

What’s In A Name (Word Power)

While researching vibrations I thought bout ancient languages the old knowledge and how words and names of things in many ways were chosen by the way the sound related to the object or context of what it was designated to describe. I thought about the fact that my name Daoud is Arabic also connected to hebrew both are ancient languages that have strong conection to sound. I began to think about the meaning of my name  ”beloved of god,” that all my life young childern have always been infatuated with saying my name, my neice turned it into a song when she was 1 and only had a basic vocabulary I would hear her in the house singing DAAAAH-OOOOO-DH.With this in mind while sitting home alone I used my name as a meditative sound, chanted it like ohm, DAAAAH-OOOOO-DH, the affect amazed me. It made my body tingle like when something inspiring happens, the feeling we get when listening to spiritual music or prayer.

Sound & the way it affects life, is a crucial understanding, our names and the words we identify our selves with cast spells on us and the people who speak them, they shape our experience. I have always understood the blessing in the name i was given, it’s been my mantra, when in doubt I always had a definition of my place in the universe. This was the intention behind names and the giving of names in indigeinous and ancient cultures.  The name was the gift to the child, it helped guide them and identify their energy, also as a right of passage into adult hood one would be renamed or chose a name based on the person they proved to be.

If your name doesn’t inspire you in this way, if it doesnt connect with your heart, choose one, find a name to call yourself in public or in secret, you will find that as you begin to indetify with this name you will  inspire great change with in self  and likely in the way others relate to you.

PEACE

Daoud

Teach The Babies: Team Academy

Check out this clip that features our brother Sha Reagans and the Team Academy and TEAM Charter School initiative. They are using creative methods, innovation, and a bit of an unorthodox system, Team Academy’s staff are striving to “Living To Change Something” by truly “Teaching the babies.”

We are proud of you Sha!Shawadeim Reagans

TEAM Charter Schools - The mission of TEAM Charter Schools is to create a network of schools in Newark, New Jersey, that instill in their students the desire and ability to succeed in college, in order to change the world. TEAM was founded on the belief that Together Everyone Achieves More (TEAM). Both inside and outside of the classroom, students are consistently engaged in character-building teamwork with the motto: Team always beats individual.

Another Group Artshow: Superfriends

Tonite checkout my peeps, including members of the coup d’etat Arts Collective, in a group show titled The Superfriends show at the Gallery Bar today, Feb.23 is one not to miss.

Artists: LICHIBAN, PESU, CONCEP, and FERNANDO MORA.
Where: Gallery Bar 120 Orchard St.
Time: 7pm - 10pm
Exhibition Dates: February 23rd (Reception) through March 2nd.

The Challenge of Giving

I am a avid reader to Seth Godin’s blog and came across a post the other day about “the hidden power of a gift” that really moved and inspired me to add my two cents.

I firmly believe that life is a gift and we must use our gifts to our greatest ability to make some form of an impact…or simply, a change! This is the reason behind conception of coup d’etat Brooklyn. It is our main endeavor to change the way people view things; even if they may not agree with our points of view, as long as they have evaluated other ideas before making a choice - then we feel we’ve made an impact.

Lets take the concept of the Super Hero vs. Villain: They both posses special abilities/powers or “gifts.” However, the only thing that separates the two is by the choice they make. They chose whether to use their powers (gifts) for good or for evil. Thats just it…Choice! It’s the most powerful thing we possess as humans. We can chose to be ignorant, or chose to be educated. We can chose to be a bigot or chose to humane. We have the choice to be a indoctrinated or a free-thinker, or to be a Conservative or Liberal. Regardless, it all comes down to choice.

I challenge you to use your gifts (or lives) to add on to the collective quality of life here on this planet. Make an impact! Its easy, just start with sharing… If you possess something that someone else needs, share! If you have information that would benefit someone else, share! Give.. Be a gift by using your gift! Change someone’s life… Become a superhero. I dare you!

Here is the direct link to Seth Godin’s Blog post:
The Hidden Power Of A Gift

Through Lichiban’s Eyes…

Peace,

Its funny how life works at times. The day of the CDT Artshow back in November, the guy that was supposed to video capture the event for us, pulled some funny business and didn’t show up. As annoyed as I was, I just brushed it off and continued to host the exhibit without a hitch. Regarless, We had pictures gallore, but no footage…. Until now! Thanks to Lichiban!

Lichiban is one of the artist featured in the artshow, and took the initiative to do a walk-through of the exhibit. See the “Live To Change Something Through Art” Exhibit through Lichi’s eyes.

Enjoy!

‘Live To Change Something Through Art’ group art show, Brooklyn from Lichiban EV [Electric Vision] on Vimeo.