Beyonce's New Ivy Park

The news of Beyonce's "Ivy Park" athletic clothing line became another shock to the BeyHive! Keeping her very feminist mindset she explains that her inspiration for this is because she feels the need for women to celebrate their body at the same as bettering themselves. After releasing her new song Formation and then presenting a world tour afterwards, who would think this busy bee has the time! Time after time this queen has proved to us that she is able to set a new standard and continue to raise the bar. The collection of clothes has a variety of work out wear that will make any girl feel comfortable while continuing to build themselves in all aspects. Her new line shows how inspired she is from her child hood and how it will become reassurance for women all over the world. Everyone seems to be overwhelmed by the many new things that Beyonce has set out to do but we know it will not be the last!

White vs Black Privilege?

The term black privilege has rung many alarms throughout the black community. It makes you really question if the black community has gained a lot of privileges since our civil rights? Because we have a months worth celebration of our history we are very much more privileged than any other race…a months worth of celebration? It is believed that "In America you can't even talk about whiteness, If you try to embrace being white, you are portrayed as being racist. If we had a white history month, that would be viewed as a racist holiday. "
It is agreed that if the white community were to have a month for their race that it would be considered racist this is only because white HISTORY stems from racism. Once upon a time white people owned black people so this would easily be looked upon as racist. Does this come across as black people

  having a privilege? Think for yourself, African Americans as a community have came from so much and many things that contribute to the progression that put us where we are today. Caucasians also have a lot to celebrate but their holidays are equally distributed throughout the year in almost each month. Black privilege is a highly questionable term, it should be phrased into Black celebration. African Americans are able to continuously celebrate their race without it being portrayed as racist…Being Black from an American view will never be seen as a privilege.

Total: Self

In the 90's the various amount of girl's R&B groups was a growing momentum. Every group with their own different style so that the phase would never grow old. In 1994 after the infamous "Juicy" by Biggie Smalls was released everyone questioned: Who had the great vocals for the chorus? No longer than a year later did everyone know who these talented vocalist were. Total quickly became known as the girl group fueled from a man's perspective under the direction of Bad Boy Records. Throughout the 90's the battle between the music of both the east and the west became overwhelming and rocky, Total was able to remain solid and become the peace for Bad Boy Records.

 Total's self-titled album released on January 30, 1996 obviously had many songs that people felt would become a hit from the first listen such as "No One Else", "Kissin You" and "Can't You See". These 3 songs had very distinctive vocals than any other girl group out at the time which made them so intruiging to listen to. Although at many times Girl R&B groups can become very strenuous to listen to at times because it always is that one lead singer who always seems to hit the same note in every song and their must always be a Michelle of the group,Total was not that. With each girl having their own expressive voice portraying through their vocals, Total became a group that you could not get tired of listening to.
Throughout the album you get a variety of R&B experiences that you hear from different places. Their melodic sound makes the music relatable and easy to listen to. Every song becomes something you can listen to at any time or any place. "Kissin' You" turned into a summer time hit, the repetitive lyrics and distinctive beat. Overall the entire album was great and will be remembered as the best album throughout their career.

Album Review- Beyonce 2013

On February 16, 2013 Beyonce Knowles asks the question of "How much do I reveal about myself? How can I put soul and make it popular?" in her HBO Life Is But A Dream documentary. Finally on December 13, 2013 the world knew that she certainly understood how to do both as well as reveal her life without revealing too much. With a new born baby and many things going on about her relationship in the media it was a thought that "maybe she just doesn't have time to create a song right now". But when Knowles album dropped on iTunes unexpectdly the entire Bey hive was in shambles! Through her album Beyonce her fans were able to get a view of the many different perspectives she has on life as a woman. Beyonce shows a side of this artist that we have never got to see!
You have to admire Mrs. Knowles for her secrecy in creating this wonderful work of art.
Beyonce conveys a story of motherhood, insecurities, sex and both the ups and downs of being in love. With her very blunt lyrics from Blow gracefully singing "I want you to turn my cherry out" we all knew that we were certainly in for a new style from Beyonce. The outstanding overtly sexual album made you question this new side of Beyonce that we were beginning to see. The enticing beat and exciting lyrics pulled you into the album more and more after each song. Mrs. Knowles finds a way to keep each and every 19 songs unique in a way that makes you want to listen as well as provides a different moral in each song. After listening throughly to each song, once you finally get to Flawless everyone knew the message that Mrs. Knowles was trying to convey in this album: Womanhood is a very difficult part of life where you feel all different emotions. Thinking back on the HBO Life is but a dream the artist seems as though she is trapped in by feeling she's not able to speak on the things that actually make her life difficult.
You can tell by the end of this album she had found her way to set a new standard for herself as an artist.
   Dropping an album with no promotion or singles dropped also set the standards for various artists. Soon after artists such as drake and rihanna began releasing mix tapes and albums without promotion. Beyonce has been breaking barriers throughout her entire career and this was just the beginning. She certainly is Queen Bey!

Song Review-White Privilege 2

http://www.whiteprivilege2.com

Living in an era where black people as a race are still being victimized its a big topic among social media. Macklemore's song "White Privilege Two" speaks on the many tragedy's that black people have faced from a white perspective. Other than the compelling beat that Macklemore provides the lyrics will catch anyone's attention. The native Seattle rapper gives a distinctive input that most white artists in the music industry would be scared to say, he reflects on how he has received his voice from african american culture but is it actually his place to say something about the tragedies that are occurring in our culture? Macklemore's heartfelt vocals can keep the interest of any audience that has an overwhelming opinion upon white people being involved in the movement of Black Lives Matter. The continuously changing beat keeps you interested as though its an ongoing story line which is exactly the case for this movement.For any african american that believes that white artist don't want to be involved in this movement or think anything of the injustices that continuously happen to us then this song will surely change your mind! Macklemore states "What if I'm aware of my privilege but do nothing at all?", this is not the only verse that adds a uniqueness to a white man
speaking on a black problems. As the song continues to go on he questions artist as to why they take so much from black culture but can't pay attention to black lives? Overall the song, with its clever lyrics and powerful beat recieves a 10. Not only because of the lyrics but listening to this song will surely give you a great long lasting impression upon Macklemore that will inspire you to listen to other songs and the viewpoints he has on various subjects.

Is HBCU vs PWI a real debate?

College has always been that one thing that most people know from the jump was going to happen. "College is a great experience, you will make friends that will last you a lifetime." or at least thats what I was always told. What I wasn't told is that where you go to college really does shape the rest of your life. Going into my junior year in high school I had a mother who was a proud graduate of Howard University, a sister who went to Ohio State, another sister who entered her freshman year at Temple University and a brother who just graduated from Temple University, I was so sure that I would be content with applying to Penn State University and enjoying 4 years of furthering my studies in Mass Communication. Attending a predominately black high school it was very likely that you heard my classmates talking about the HBCU's they wanted to attend and how they just can't wait to go to college! Then it came to "Nia where do you want to go?", my answer never got as much excitement as the next person. It was more like a "why? Girl you not going to have any friends! You're going to be the only black girl there! Your going to come back to DC a totally different person!" This is whats wrong with our generation, PWI stands for PREDOMINATELY White Institution. If I were to be the "only black girl there" it would be called an AWI (All White Institution). 

      Although I  continued to tell people PSU was my top choice, I did begin to question the decision. Soon I took it upon myself to visit the school and as soon as I got there my decision was changed. I did not want to be attending Penn State University in the Fall of 2016. I couldn't see myself in the atmosphere that the school had and I just knew that if I forced myself to like this school the next 4 years of my life would be miserable. Yet my choice wasn't determined by the lack of black people at the school nor is my top choice now NCCU due to the great amount of black students at the school. The PWI vs HBCU debate continues to live on because people seem to think that they can determine what is best for others and thats not the case at all. Regardless of if you are black, white, yellow, green or pink if you decide that a PWI is the best decision for you then thats up to you. Even though you'll continue to hear "your missing out on the most memorable experiences of your life by going to a PWI" then thats something you choose to live with.

  Another sad misconception is that black students choose to go to an HBCU due to them not wanting to invade another races space. As an African american high school student, who had a variety of PWI's in her top 10 choices for college, I can honestly say I have or never did care about the amount of other races at a school as long as it was the best decision for me! I know that their are a lot of others who think like this. If black students were afraid to invade another race's space then there would be not be any at PWI's. To be black is a wonderful thing, I guarantee you it will last you your entire life so the idea that your "getting away from people you've been around all your life" by going to a PWI is a joke. Its black people EVERYWHERE so going to either a PWI or HBCU you'll be around people you've been around all your life regardless. The decision is yours to make, just make sure you are able to experience each school for yourself before making a choice. Diversity at a school will not build you up or break you down, its up to you what makes you a better person.

A Dream Well Done?

Nia Crawford

1 December 2015                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Dawayne Hill

Imagine working day in and day out, for a dream that you know you’re capable of achieving and still noticing that you have to work harder next time. This was the unfortunate reality for many DC athletes. Throughout Dawayne Hill’s 4 years of playing football at McKinley Technology HS in Northeast, Washington DC he had aspirations of receiving offers from numerous colleges

Hill states “High school football, I want to say it was a great experience. For me playing football is everything, I love the sport so much it's crazy.” And Hill believes that this is shown through his talent on the field.

Towards the end of his senior football season Dawayne Hill began to notice the lack of recognition from college coaches. With a mindset of receiving at least one offer, the senior desperately began to send out his highlight tapes to any coach that he could come in contact with. The district of columbia has been known to produce great players such as Daniel Muir, Tavon Wilson and Edwin Williams. So why does this happen?

“I was a product of NO exposure and, even though I was an exceptional talent nothing happened for me” Hill reveals.

Patrick Johnson, a former player at Mckinley Technology High School, after his ninth and tenth grade year playing varsity decided to further his football career at Bullis High school in Potomac Maryland.

Patrick Johnson

“Being at Tech, I wasn’t able to receive the exposure I deserved in my recruiting process because McKinley Tech wasn’t known as a recruiting site for college coaches. I strongly believe that before my time at Tech, there was players that deserved to play for some of the top college football programs in the nation.” Patrick says.

With Patrick realizing that the results he wanted out of football he took it upon himself to make the best decision for himself, “It wasn’t hard to leave McKinley and the team after my 2 years there. I approached the situation with a business mindset picking the best decision that has the best outcome for me. Now I'm a University of Wisconsin commit.”        

Dawayne Hill also received the same results during his time playing for a DCPS high school, he says “They don't expose the great talent that DC had to offer and the blame deserves to be put on the coaches and the schools itself. I look at ESPN and see high schools from all over the country getting TV exposure and I can’t remember the last time a DCIAA school was on ESPN.” Being a captain of his football team, he felt as though he couldn’t leave his team, although he still wanted better for himself.Two players, with hopes of the same dream, with a similar skill set went two separate ways to test the adversity of building yourself without exposure. Yet one came back with different results than the other. Currently, Patrick Johnson has finished out his football season with Bullis High school and will be leaving to play for University Of Wisconsin in the summer of 2016. Dawayne Hill, freshman at Towson University, with plans on achieving the same dream he has always had by walking-on the football team in the spring of 2016.

“My future aspirations were to play in the NFL but I'm starting to realize that those in the NFL had great exposure throughout their life. I didn't and my dreams of playing in the NFL look like they aren't going to happen. However, that won't stop me from trying to accomplish that dream.”