Hurston’s “Spunk” Still Sings
Spunk Still Sings: Hurston's blues tales shape performance By Kwan Booth Fiction writer and folklorist Zora Neale Hurston was one of the most celebrated and controversial black cultural figures of the 20th century. Her feminist stance and dedication to traditional...
Passing Strange
For the last couple of weeks, downtown Berkeley has had a serious Negro Problem, and it's name is Stew. Since mid October, Stew has been appearing in the play, "Passing Strange", a coming of age travelogue that follows a young man's search for self, art and "The Real"...
Kenyan Hip Hop Comes to Oakland
Kenyan Hip Hop in Oakland By Kwan Booth For the last three years, Emerge Media Group has produced events promoting positive interactions between African and American Cultures. In 2005 the company produced the film "Hip Hop Colony", documenting Kenya's developing hip...
Kenya’s Hip Hop Colony
Hip Hop Colony: The African Hip Hop Explosion By Kwan Booth (October 06, 2005-Whatchusay.com) Hip Hop Colony, the new film by Director Michael Wanguhu and Russell Kenya, explores the emergence of Kenyan Hip Hop culture and it's struggles to gain legitimacy. The film...
Turn Off Channel Zero
Turn Off Channel Zero By Kwan Booth ( April 12, 2007-Whatchusay.com) It's no secret that mainstream media's coverage of African Americans is severely one- sided. From the nightly news to "reality shows" like "Cops" and "Flavor of Love" to almost every music video on...
WOME: The New Writing on the Walls
The New Writing on the Walls Kwan Booth (March 14, 2007-Novometro.com) The bay's graffiti scene has long been one of the hottest in the country with artists like CUBA and TDK Crew laying paint in San Francisco and Oakland for well over a decade. And thanks to...
Festivals Combine Hip Hop and Education
Weekend Festivals Combine Hip Hop and Education By Kwan Booth All across the country, educators are seeing the benefits of using Hip Hop and youth culture as educational tools. While many older institutional figures continue to clamor about the music's social...
Russell Simmons: “Do You!”
Happiness, Success, Hip Hop By Kwan Booth (May 28, 2007-Oakland Post) Last Tuesday in a scene that resembled a southern baptist revival, Russell Simmons, the hip hop entrepreneur behind Def Jam Records, Def Comedy Jam and Phat Farm Clothing, shared the secrets of his...
Hip Hop, Chess and Martial Arts
Power Moves: Combining Hip Hop Chess and Martial Arts By Kwan Booth Staff Writer Ever since the 1993 album "Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)" brought kung fu samples and chess metaphors into hip hop's vocabulary, the culture has harbored a deep fascination for both...
Nathaniel Mackey wins National Book Award
Nathaniel Mackey wins National Book Award By Kwan Booth (November 22, 2006-Oakland Post) Staff Writer In a turn of poetic justice, African American poet Nathaniel Mackey has been awarded the 2006 National Book Award for his latest poetry collection, "Splay Anthem."...
