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,...

3 What Family Reunions Mean to Me

By: Marvin DeBose Yesterday, I attended my family reunion, which my family coordinates annually out in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park.  It was a sunny, yet cool day. People danced to songs like "The Electric Slide" and "The Cupid Shuffle". Smiling, energetic sweat-drenched young children played dodgeball and had sack races in the fields. Yet, while I was helping to serve food, I got the opportunity to do a little bit of people-watching and I began to notice something disturbing among some of the family members. This was the fact that many didn't seem to understand now appreciate the importance of a family reunion. This lack of...

0 Nice People... Where'd They Go?

By: Marvin DeBose When I was a residence hall coordinator at Edinboro University. I once had someone show me how powerful being nice to someone really is. It was the the beginning of the school year, I was just starting grad school and beginning my graduate assistantship as a hall coordinator as well. Although I was familiar with the environment since I was an RA the previous semester, like anyone going into a new job, I had my doubts. "Do I even know what I'm doing?" and "I don't want to mess up" were some of the recurring thoughts in my head. That day, one of my friends checked into my building. At the time, I'd only really known him for...

0 Growing up and "Getting Old"

By: Marvin DeBose Recently my 10-year old sister was talking about her upcoming birthday in September. Like most kids, the fact that her birthday is less than two months away makes it a reason to talk about it incessantly. "I want a party, at [whatever place that 10-year olds like to go to for their birthdays (I wasn't really paying attention)]." My younger brother and I, naturally felt the need to tease her as if we weren't going to celebrate her birthday this year. "You're not having a party", my brother said. "Mom and Dad are saving all the money for my 16th birthday party this year." Then I jokingly chimed in, "No, neither of you are...