I’m not even sure what to tell you:
And while I fully respect her hustle, I am DEFINITELY not a huge fan of Amanda Diva as a MUSIC ARTIST. But I think it works OK here.
Hip Hop Recovery: That dream is over… (c) Lyte January 23, 2009
Say, have you heard the new Q-Tip album?
And by new, I mean new to me. It’s been out since Election Day (November 4th, 2008 )
I did… finally… and it’s fabulous- go cop it. Nuff said.
Why so late AmbiJawn? That’s not like you.
Correct. Music has traditionally been a priority for me, especially staying up on the new and fabulous. Let me explain!
Two Main Reasons why I have fallen off:
1) My ipod and macbook were stolen within a few months of each other, thus drastically reducing my capacity to obtain and listen to music.
2) I’m in Hip Hop Recovery.
Hip Hop Recovery? What’s that??
Well, you know 2008 was a rough year. Jay-Z can’t seem to retire like he promised me. Hip Hop “legend” Ice Tea was beefing w/ the young school innovator Soulja Boy on youtube (google it). Some dude named Plies showed up on the scene to make the most unsexy sex songs to ever happen to my ears. To top it off, no matter how hard I try, I cant seem to convince Kanye to PUT THE AUTOTUNE DOWN. I mean, how is T-Pain suppoesed to stay in the game when ‘Ye keeps hogging the ball??
I had to go ahead and check myself in.
Hip Hop Recovery is an integral component of my winter survival plan. The only way to make it through this treacherous season is to involve myself with all things life sustaining. Yoga, This American Life, Lemongrass Soup- they all help to keep me balanced and healthy. Hip Hop didn’t make the cut.
Hip Hop, shocked by my sudden departure, has tried relentlessly to woo me back by sending me Hip Hop related gifts (which i could not accept). I had to turn away countless limited edition pumas (size 5):
Several priceless Black Swan recordings:
And even my personalized two finger ring:
Tough times.
But these are the sacrifices we must some times make. Without struggle there is no progress.
Hope this clears things up!
MC Lyte- Take us to the Bridge!
Inaugural Connections: Not Bragging, Just saying… (c) K. Brooks January 21, 2009
When I was thinking of things to share with you (blogosphere), I made a note to self to post the 2nd verse of “Lift Every Voice and Sing” (aka The Negro National Anthem).
After revisiting this hymn shortly after the election, I was struck by the prophetic nature of the poem, penned by James Weldon Johnson in 1900:
- Stony the road we trod,
- Bitter the chast’ning rod,
- Felt in the days when hope unborn had died;
- Yet with a steady beat,
- Have not our weary feet
- Come to the place for which our fathers sighed?
- We have come over a way that with tears has been watered,
- We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered,
- Out from the gloomy past,
- ‘Til now we stand at last
- Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast.
(the bolded part is when the tears start flowing.)
Turns out Rev. Joseph E. Lowery and I were on the same page as he chimes in with the 3rd verse:
Not bragging, just saying. I’m honored by the connection.
Not trying to get too deep with y’all on a Weds 
And honestly, I think it’s kind of weird that the main-stream media has been focusing so intently on slavery in connection with the election of our first “black” president- but that’s a whole ‘nother conversation. Just thought I’d share.
Until next time….
“…we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get in back, when brown can stick around … when yellow will be mellow … when the red man can get ahead, man; and when white will embrace what is right.”
(c) Rev. Lowery
(amen)
((hehehehe))
(((it’s OK, even President Obama had to chuckle)))
Ambi-Narcissism: Nobody Knows The Trouble I’ve seen January 21, 2009
It’s true. No one understands what it’s like to be different.
Nobody Knows
Ambi- Narcissim is a subset of a traditional “persecution complex“ experienced by a certain Ambi who endured much race-based taunting and harassment while growing up. Although this phase of her life is over, the scars of past ridicule remained along with the belief that NOBODY could possibly understand her the depths of her isolation.
Nobody knows-
Except for maybe Mello…
AmbiJawn: “Girl, You Just don’t know- I was the ONLY mixed girl in school”
Mello: Girl I’m from LA, being Non-Mixed was a novelty…lol.
Or perhaps Angelica C., Uncover-Ambi
AmbiJAwn: People love my hair now, but they made fun of it everyday in 5th grade 
Angelica: My hair might be straight now, but as a child it was curlier than yours- I had the NAPPIEST HAIR IN THE STATE OF INDIANA. (OK I’m exaggerating here ‘Gels didn’t use the word “nappy”, but she assures me- that’s what she meant!)
Maaaaaaaaybe Kermit (you know, the Frog):
It's not easy being green.
((Probably YOU if You’re Human))
(((Your cousin JuneBug from NOLA.)))
But nobody else!
Hopefully you are getting the picture by now. As a child I felt like NOBODY could possibly understand me, or my experiences. As I continue to grow, I’ve learned that people are more the same than we are different. Change the face and the name, on the inside we are all the same.
MJ, take us to the bridge:
Some Much To Say January 20, 2009
Not Enough time to write it out now. I’ll be back later…Till then- Let’s get this party started 
Ambiguously Indignant: Because sometimes, it’s like that! January 20, 2009
I feel like it is our responsibility as humans to be as positive as possible (believe it or not!) Really, If you have nothing else to give the world, the best you can do is to offer positivity. I mean it!
I'm not hating on haters, I'm just saying. (that's my ambi-brother on the left)
Don’t get me wrong, staying positive is not always easy. It come naturally for some, but for most of us, it is serious work! We all get a little discouraged sometimes. Sometimes, you have to get it all out. Sometimes, you just have to vent. And if you’re gonna vent, you might as well be the BEST venter you can be! That said, I can’t think of too many people who vent better than this man:
Cory Richardson: Vexed in the City.
His blog Vexed in the City is super comical, and unwaveringly on point. You don’t have to agree with him (although it’s likely you will), but you’ll have to admit: He has a point. Some people call it harsh…but it’s just a little truth telling–no one ever said it wouldn’t hurt!
Now go pick up some tips on how to make the most of this inaugural season ;D
We Honor You. January 15, 2009
We Honor You.
Martin Luther King Jr. was photographed by Alabama cops following his February 1956 arrest during the Montgomery bus boycotts. The historic mug shot, taken when King was 27, was discovered in July 2004 by a deputy cleaning out a Montgomery County Sheriff's Department storage room.
Ambi-San Speaks to Winter, a Haiku January 14, 2009
Ambi-San Speaks To Winter, a Haiku
Okay, we get it.
Don’t take things too far, Winter.
My face might freeze off.
–
Unlike these Guys, The Jawn is not built for all this.
To all my Winter Warriors out there- Hold your head. We Gon’ Make it.
((I would link the Alchemist cut, BUT I don’t have the audio and I wouldn’t want to subject you all to JADAKISS video. Holla if you have the instrumental!))
Ambi True Life: I’m an Ambi who thinks she’s Black. January 10, 2009
Hey Y’all. How are you? Today we’re gonna talk about Ambis Who Think They Are Black. Namely, Me. I would like for my readers to have a solid understanding my background and how it informs the psychology of Adventures in AmbiLand, some context if you will. Blogs, like anything else, benefit from a good foundation. So let’s start at the beginning shall we…
Part One: Ambi-Enlightenment
It all started when I was a child attending an all white private school. I thought I was white too. I mean, I knew I was biracial– my dad was black (he was mixed too actually, but that’s a whole other story) and my mother is Italian. I thought mixed people turned out black or white, one or the other. My dad had a white mother and black father, but he had turned out black. My older brother and I, on the other hand, came out on the opposite end of the spectrum. This conclusion seemed logical enough considering the only time I was significantly darker than my caucasion classmates was in the summer time when my skin would tan effortlessly, taking on a deep olive tone. The only thing is, my hair was crazy curly (much to my school-aged dismay), and even as a youngster, the early signs of my thick thighs and mixed girl booty* were already apparent. Naturally, I thought I was a DEFECTIVE white person.
I's Negra!
There is no telling how long I would have internalized these faulty beliefs had it not been for one pivotal moment. I owe it all to my beloved cousin Z and a conversation we had when I was nine-years old. Zeta, as we called her affectionately, is a cousin on mine from my father’s side. Seven years my senior, Z was the person I looked up to the most. She was so beautiful, and so stylish, and most of all, so knowledgeable about the ways of the world. I wanted to be just like her.
It was the summer of 1988 and Zeta and I were in NYC visiting relatives. One day we decided to head down to SoHo to do some shopping. But first, something had to be done about my appearance, I was looking a 9-year-old mess. In an effort to rescue me from my devastatingly bad hair and unfortunately boyish clothes, Z did what any other amazingly stylish older cousin would do: gme a mini-makeover. It was the only right.
She taught me how to properly fix my hair that morning, dressed me up in some of her cute clothes- leggings and a ethnocentric jersey dress. We completed the look with some 2″ silver hoops and a little mascara. By the time we hit the sub, I was all glammed out (in a 9yo sort of way). During the train ride, I was telling her how and how I hated my hair how my thighs were too big, and how I didn’t fit in with the other white kids at my school and-
“Wait- Did you say other white kids?” Zeta asked me
“Yeah, the other white kids, like i’m white, and their white. But everyone is always asking me “What are you?” beacause my hair’s so curly and–”
“Ok Lauren, let me explaian something to you and I’m gonna put it plainly. You’re Black.
You’re black, you’re black, you’re black.
Your dad iss black, your brothers are black, we [your cousins] are black and so are you!
End of story.”
“Reeeeeally?” I said, nine-year-old eyes widening in amazement.
Suddenly it all made sense. I felt different from the white kids at my school because I was different. My cousin’s clarification freed me in a sense from my futile struggle to conform to the dominant culture. It gave me some context in in which to begin to form an identity. My perspective was forever changed.
“Your parents never talked to you about this Lauren?” she asked incredulously.
“Uh-uh” I shook my head no. ”I guess it, you know, never came up.”
And that was that- I never has another moment of confusion about it. My journey as misinformed mixed child had finally ended. My
Adventures in AmbiLand, however, had only just begun.
Not Reading All That?
While Lauren (AmbiJawn) may look ethnically ambiguous, AmbiJawn thinks she is black.
*Not a huge fan of the word “booty”, but it seems appropriate in this context!
F#ck You Penguin’s take on the Friend Zone January 10, 2009
FU Penguin's take on the friend zone.
Hilarious.
((warning this site may contain profanity))
