0 Reinvent Yourself... Like Sinatra Did

By: Marvin DeBose "Reinventing yourself" is a concept which I first became familiar with as an 18-year old, reading Robert Greene's classic book, 48 Laws of Power. Greene, who wrote a chapter called "Recreate Yourself" discussing the importance of being able to change, grow and craft your image in an ever-changing environment. At first, I couldn't fully grasp the concept. I thought, "Why should you have to recreate yourself are if you're already confident in yourself and your abilities?" But as I grew older and became more aware of the constant change going on around me, it made more sense. Reinventing yourself doesn't mean being inauthentic...

2 Political Labels... and what Really Matters

By: Marvin DeBose "The liberals are ruining this country", "those conservatives are idiots", "the Republicans are trying to take over", "the Democrats are trying to take control"... Sound familiar? This polarized, adversarial political rhetoric is something that I see nearly every day. Yet, with so much talk of political groups in this country, it makes me wonder, what do these political labels even mean? Better yet, what do the people who use them think that they mean? When you get a chance, ask a few people, "what is a conservative?" Then, ask a few people "what is a liberal?" What's a Democrat? What is a Republican? Don't look for Webster's...

0 No, "Mexican" is NOT a Halloween Costume

By: Marvin DeBose Despite what some people may think, I'm no party pooper. I know that Halloween is coming up and you want to have a good time.You want your costume to be memorable, you may want to get a laugh, but you might want to think twice before you buy that sombrero for your Halloween costume. I've been in college, I heard about the parties where people dress up as different ethinic groups whether its a "South of the Border" party or a "hood" party. I've seen the pictures of people on Facebook wearing sombreros and fake mustaches. But this is bigger than just "Mexican costumes". Making a costume out of any racial or ethnic stereotype...

2 Philly Native Lives His Dreams at BET

By: Marvin DeBose September 18th, 2013 Frank 'Franky J' Jenkins, BET Correspondent The lights are on, the cameras are rolling, and a young man with the tall, lanky build of a basketball player, clad in a retro, red 76ers snapback cap and a blue polo shirt, takes the stage—not an actual stage though. In this case, the stage is a street corner. “This is BET’s 106 and Park top ten countdown, we’re going into another video right now, stay tuned,” the energetic young man says. He is animated with lively body language as he announces the next video, pausing between phrases and using his hands to accentuate nearly every word, “Lotus...

3 The Misunderstood Brilliance of Tupac Shakur

By: Marvin DeBose September 13th, 2013 "Now I understand what you tried to say to me And how you suffered for your sanity ...They did not listen, they're not listening still Perhaps they never will..." -Don McLean, Vincent In 1971, folk singer Don McLean wrote the song, Vincent, which was a heartrending tribute to the talented, yet, personally troubled 19th century painter Vincent Van Gogh. In the song, McLean vividly describes the artistic talents of Van Gogh distinctly remarking on his "Flaming flowers that brightly blaze/Swirling clouds in violet haze". Yet, what is most memorable about this song is how McLean speaks about Van Gogh's...

2 5 OTHER Things Dr. King said at the March on Washington

By: Marvin DeBose 50 years ago, on August 28, 1963, a quarter-million people gathered in Washington D.C. for the historic March on Washington. As I expected, a great deal of the focus and discussion surrounding this event is centered on Martin Luther King Jr. and his "I Have a Dream Speech".  As historic and significant as that speech was, a rather disturbing fact is that we are only taught to remember a small part of that profound speech, particularly, the last few minutes of it. What's problematic about this is that leaving out the earlier parts of the speech neglects a large part of King's message and leaves him in what...

1 Miley Cyrus and the Perception of "Hoodness"

By: Marvin DeBose Many of us saw last night's rather cringeworthy performance by Miley Cyrus on the MTV Video Music Awards. In fact, I don't know what was more appalling, Robin Thicke's zebra-striped, Beetlejuice-esque suit or Miley's "dancing". Will Smith and his kids saw it, and they looked like they just saw the box office numbers for "After Earth". But there are countless things that are wrong with not only Miley Cyrus' performance, but with her whole persona... and people's perceptions of it. Miley, who was once a Disney sweetheart and a teen idol is now one of the raunchiest, most controversial performers of her time. Miley has...

0 Youth, Teachers and Parents Rally for Education in Philly

By: Marvin DeBose August 22, 2013 Nearly 1,000 parents, teachers and students marched in the Center City section of Philadelphia this afternoon to protest the state budget cuts in education approved by Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett. The large group, mostly clad in red shirts, marched through the busy streets of downtown Philadelphia, all the way up Broad Street for a rally outside of the School District of Philadelphia Education Center, where, at 5:30 p.m., the School Reform Commission (SRC) would have its final meeting before the beginning of the school year. Youth groups lead the way in this march of nearly 1,000 people SRC, which manages...

0 Questlove: The man and the musician

There are some artists who simply make music, and there are those who live music. Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, drummer, producer and co-founder of hip-hop band, The Roots, is clearly the latter. In his compelling memoir, Mo' Meta Blues: The World According to Questlove, he gives readers a glimpse at his personal and musical roots (I couldn't wait to use that pun). Mo' Meta Blues gives us a look at not only Questlove, the musician, but it gives us a rare in-depth look of Ahmir Thompson, the man. Readers get a feel for his introvertedness as well as his calm, collected demeanor as he discussed his career highs and lows and his journey to help...

0 Why Kendrick Lamar took "Control"

By: Marvin DeBose "In Hip-Hop, the weapons are lyrical.  To be the best you challenge the best and the blessings are spiritual"  -Nas "Rule" In the past 24 hours, ironically a few days removed from the 40th birthday of hip-hop, the internet has been buzzing with talks of Kendrick Lamar's groundbreaking verse of Big Sean's "Control". In the song, Kendrick issues a fiery, cautionary message in a nearly growling voice to all of his peers in hip-hop about his place in the game. For an idea of how hard Kendrick went on this verse, let's use this example: Remember how LeBron James played in the NBA finals after his headband came off? Well,...