Joga Bonito

Okay, so I haven't written here for a while. Everytime I try something comes up and I don't get to finish it. I came to realize that the hustle and bustle of it all was more in my mind and less in my actions. I mean, yes, I have been "keep moving" and trying to get things done, but some things wouldn't have to be done now if they were taken care of before. For example, I moved to New York to pursue acting and artistry as a career. However, since I have never done this before, so to speak, I didn't quite know where to start. What I have learned, or re-learned, is that a career is exactly what it sounds like: a career. I have been jumbled up with work-for-survival responsibitilies, both pleasurable and not so pleasurable, since I came to NY and it is affecting my focus on my artistic ambitions. Although the places that I work for are respectable institutions with valid missions and credible curriculums, my tasks there don't fully further my ambitions. Now, to part ways or recreate relationships with them that are more in line with my vision for my future has taken me one day, one email, one conversation too long because I am a sucker for positive causes in the world. Yet, my personal cause is slowly fading into oblivion as I attempt to assist others with theirs.


Stepping into and up to your destiny is a personal decision that requires courage, confidence, persistence, and patience. I have to admit that I have been lacking in the arena of confidence to go at my career goal with full vigor and a one-track mind. I used to think that it was selfish to focus solely on what I wanted to do but I have changed my mind. It is not selfish. It is self-love. I am not hurting anyone by focusing on what I want to do, what I believe I have been put here to do. Nor am I hurting myself, as I have integrity and class when I approach my art. In addition, I have my own ideas of how to contribute positively to the world through the formation of institutions and/or foundations. Yet, they will never be realized if I don't actualize my intentions and stay true to their course of growth and development.


Joga Bonito. I play Capoeira Angola. It is a Brazilian-African dance-fight-game that requires a lot of athleticism, flexibility, and cunningness. The ones who master, or attempt to master, these traits in tandem with each other are known to play beautiful, or what we call joga bonito. Like in life and your destiny, you must approach the game of capoeira with courage, confidence, persistence, and patience. You need courage to try new moves, confidence in yourself that you can actually do them, persistence to keep trying, and patience to know when to try them. If you stay on this path, you should reach your goal of expressing yourself freely while still safeguarding yourself from threats and entertaining, more specifically edutaining, an audience at the same time. I guess this could be seen as one way to reach the people while still having fun
:-D.


So, in conclusion, this entry is about reclaiming your right to your destiny and taking control of it with the confidence you need to do it well. The whole world is a stage and people are watching. Give them a show. Be the example that they want to emulate. Be the example for others to learn from. Go back to your destiny and play this game of life with athleticism, flexibility, and cunningness. Express yourself freely. Have a little swagger, it's all right. Yet, still safeguard yourself from outside threats and be humble along your path. There is always someone bigger or better than you (God, for example) and they may not always be as nice as you are. However, when it's your moment to reap the rewards of the path you've sown, own it, flourish, dance, smile, jump, skip, sing, trick and sometimes treat, just never stay down if you so happen to trip. Just joga bonito, people, joga bonito.

Chike

P.S. The clip below is a demonstration of a joga bonito. After watching this last night and speaking to my brother this morning about approaching your destiny with confidence and a little swagger, I was inspired to write. Hopefully I'll capture more of these moments in the future and enter more entries into this online journal.

P.P.S. This is not me in this game. I don't have too many videos of me playing yet but I am becoming more conscious of the importance of seeing myself within the roda, not only to study my movements but also to record the history of my participation and contributions to this beautiful art form. Alright, enjoy.

Mama said knock you out

Despite another primary election between Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama is occurring today, no one seems to be talking about it.





No "watching parties" are scheduled, no overwhelming excitement has mounted. I think it is because many people got tired and uninterested after the numerous other (Super) Tuesdays that passed and no clear winner seems to be emerging. Well...let me retract that. Actually, a clear winner does seem to be emerging. However, it is just taking too long and most people don't have the patience for politics. Being a graduate of Political Science and now relying on Youtube and Yahoo TV to provide me with some brief snippets of what is currently happening in the world (I don't have a t.v.), I really can't afford for my patience to run thin on this election. Besides being interested in the outcome and the process of this primary battle, it is simply one the most exciting "shows" to follow out of my options right now. Needless to repeat again, another primary is occurring today.


Last December, before heading out to Nigeria to bring the year to a close, I told a co-worker that I think Senator Barack Obama is the right man for the job...and I think he could win. This was before any primary had even taken place. She reminded me, a black woman, that this country is still very racist and that America is not ready to see a black man in office. I told her I believe this country is indeed ready for change but that his candidacy is just as much about us -- the people -- than it is about him -- the representative. Plain and simple: If we the people step up and vote and be activists for this cause, he will be sworn into the White House next January and we will have a new president.



We continued to discuss his chances but didn't come to an agreement. Fast forward to April, five months after that prediction, and everyone seems to be on the bandwagon now. African-Americans who originally didn't think he could win are supporting him in record numbers. Liberal white Americans are falling in line too. College students seem to be his bread and butter constituency. Yet, with all of this support, people's endurance are still starting to stagger. It seems like there is still some doubt of his chances of winning, suggesting that the longer the primary goes the more chance there is for Sen. Hillary Clinton to win the nomination. But I wonder and ask, did they genuinely believe that Sen. Obama could win in the first place?


As I told my co-worker 5 months ago, and others since then: every president Nigeria ever had was black. And every president Ghana, Zambia, and Ethiopia ever had were black too. Plus, Liberia has a woman president now and that's just in Africa. There have been other women presidents and prime ministers around the world before Senator Hillary Clinton arrived, if she were to win the presidency. The point I am making is that we shouldn't base a candidates likability on their race or gender. Although we have been trained and socialized to do so, I think we all know that innately that is a flawed argument and couldn't pass the test of time. Moreso, when that characteristic is stripped from a candidate's "presentation", what is left? If you believe in that "what", then that is the candidate you should endorse. I endorse Barack Obama because he is an ambitious change agent and willing to attempt to change this country...radically. I don't believe he will be about the same old politics that we have endured for so many years. I believe he is indeed someone who will fight to change America and change the world, from the ground up. Yet, I don't think he will be perfect at doing this job either, as he himself has said this, but I do think that he is the best person in position to do so in this election cycle. His understanding and connection to the youth, his common sense and common cause intelligence, his good writing and speaking abilities (I don't think this ability is as stellar as everyone wants to make it out to be), all contribute to his superior vision for this country that surpass any other candidate running. The fact that he is black comes secondary to why I would like to see him in the Oval Office...although it would be a nice thing and very much welcomed visual and cultural adjustment to our national landscape. However, as I read from an interview of the talented Q-Tip this past weekend, if Barack wins, "it's great, now everyone get to work and create more history."




So, this blog today is dedicated to the politics of this nation. If Barack wins this primary today he would effectively have beaten Hillary Clinton in the numbers game. If he doesn't win today then the primary will continue on and we won't know who gets the nomination until much later...although it is still likely to be Sen. Obama. But I want him to win today, deliver the knock out punch. No one expects it today, but that's what makes it even more exciting. He is trailing in most polls by 6 points, give or take 3 points for the margin of error. But I think he can do it though. I have the audacity of hope. I too am getting a little tired of this drawn out process. But I am even getting more tired of talking about politics by myself. A win for him today can attract everybody back on board and we can keep the train moving. So for those in Pennsylvania, those democrats who believe in this Senator from Illinois, do the rest of us a favor who are not voting today....and knock Hillary Clinton the f*ck out!!!!

Tomorrow today

Okay, so it's been about a month since I wrote in this blog. Man, how time flies. It's been a busy month though. I made my NYC stage debut with a Hip-Hop musical called "Apple Turns to Cider".



It was a good play and good experience. Sometimes I wished I had a bigger role, but the story was what's important and the story is always bigger than me. So on that note, it was a good story and good production. Big up to everybody that made that happen. Let's see, oh, I also dug deeper into that acting class too. And it's a little deeper than I thought it was. Acting is such a way of life. You've got to be it. I wrote a little this month as well, but not as much as I wanted to. Time and energy would get small, as I was also practicing capoeira and my mandinga... jogo de dentro. Add business and work on top of all of this and I had a lot of things going on. Yet, I kept going on. I think it was a combination of wanting to challenge myself and allowing the universe to fully challenge me that gave me the strength, dare I say audacity, to keep on. It was rocky trying to meet all of these demands but I knew I wanted to meet them. So I tried. And I failed. And now it's April. So I'm trying again again.

Who knows what this month will bring? Who knows what any month will bring? All we can do live in the moments and pass each day with intention and purpose. The rest is up to the will of the greater creator. One thing I do know though, something that I have learned, is that the way forward is not behind you. Tomorrow looks more like you than yesterday does, yet yesterday is precious because you gave birth to it and are living with it now. But tomorrow? Tomorrow is your individual picture in the mosiac of all of life's image. Comparatively, that's small in the grand scheme of things, but it's yours all the same. The trick is that you can make whatever is yours as big or as small as you want it to be. It's all a matter of perspective, imagination, innovation.



I am going to stop writing here. Not because I feel like I made some point for readers to go away and think about, but rather because I just need to prepare for tomorrow (it's passed midnight and I have a full day's work waiting for me in a few hours). Either way, I didn't write as much as I wanted to last month and I just needed to get it back going again. I needed to get back in the groove with it, into the rhythm of all of my endeavors. I will try to post at least once a week now and stay on beat with that commitment. Until then, allow me to excuse myself here. Tomorrow is waiting for me....and I don't like to keep myself waiting.

Be well,

Chike

I think therefore I am....I am therefore I do

The great acting teacher Stella Adler once said, "Your talent lies in your choices". I couldn't agree more. Everyone is talented in some way or another. Some could shoot hoops and run fast; some could sing and play instruments; some could even talk numbers and politics very well. The point is that we all have something to contribute to the world. However, how we develop those contributions solely lies on our shoulders....and not all can bare the weight of their own potential.



I took my first acting class this week. Having only started studying and pursuing the art a few years ago but still getting work (I don't think they were all because of my nice smile), including a lead role in an indie film, I finally decided to get some counseling and direction from someone or some people who have been doing it a lot longer than me. Initially I was supposed to start classes in January with the Actor's Theatre Workshop but I unfortunately had a "falling out" with the assistant of the program before the start date, which led to her revoking my Master Class Status and diminishing me to a 6-week Workshop. Not willing to accept an inferior offer of class quality and commitment, I denounced her egotistical attempt to have me "get started and then see how it goes from there". Moving on, I searched throughout New York city for another school that I felt would fit my needs and schedule. I have concluded with the Lynette Sheldon Actor's Studio and loved every minute of my introductory class on Monday. She is lively, humorous, knowledgeable, and blunt. "She is hard on you but in good way," a student commented about her. And that same hard on you but in a good way challenged me this week to live up to my own potential by applauding my work (she said she could see me as a young Forest Whitaker after reading a cold read from "The Crying Game") and then giving me much research and work to do for the next class. Wanting to truly grow and flourish in this art form, I conceded with her words and took on the assignments in full force regardless of the rigor.


So what does all of this have to do with thinking and doing? Well, Rene Descartes famous Latin statement was referring to the idea of existing. If one is capable of thinking, then they undoubtedly exist. Modern interpretation has evolved this saying into meaning that what I think about is undoubtedly what I am. I agree with this charge, ultimately accepting that we become what we think (given the premise that we already exist and can't possibly not exist). So, if I think I am a medical doctor, I should practice physically healing people. If I think I am an architect, I should practice drawing and possibly even building things. Likewise, if I think I am an actor, I should practice the art of representation; study cultures, dialects, and diction; understand the psychology of myself in relation to others. Our talent lies in our choices. For me to grow to this place of maximized potential, I will have to choose to be it. I could have easily told my acting teacher that the four plays she told me to read (of which I have already finished one and in the middle of another) and choose a monologue for next class was simply too much work. I have a job(s), I am already in a play now, and I am even trying to pen my own play in conjunction with another writer. However, the choice of following her direction and trusting that it will benefit me in the long-run is paramount to how I approach these scripts in the future if ever revisited in an audition. I am choosing to be a well-trained thespian. I am choosing to be a disciplined, multi-dimensional artist. I am choosing to live up to my potential, to consciously pursue my destiny.





With all of this been said, I will conclude that if you say you are about something you should try your hardest to act like it. That's what the art of acting is about. That's what the philosophy is about. You are living truthfully under the given circumstances. Those circumstances are the thoughts that you create for yourself, your interpretation of the script of your life. So, those circumstances become you. And if you are, you must do as you are....otherwise, you are just lying to yourself and unconvincingly fooling your viewing public.

Trying

step forward
slip back
move on
fall flat
get up
no tears
can't move
new fears

concentrate
hesitate
die alive
resuscitate
second chance
same dance
elevate
God is great....

Keep trying.

I think I have a crush on Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Is it possible to like a writer's writing so much that you start to become romantically attracted to them as well? Well, that's exactly what seems to be happening to me. I just finished reading the excellent debut "Purple Hibiscus" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. This breakout first novel was shortlisted for the Orange Prize and the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, as well as longlisted for the Man Booker Prize. In layman's terms, it was the shit when it dropped.



I totally understand and support the awards and accolades that Ms. Adichie has garnered for the release of this book. Not only is it a powerful read, complete with complex characters, a challenging yet engaging storyline with an optimistic apex, and a drummer's touch rhythm to the way her symphonic language flows, it is also simple in nature, almost without intention, just being because the these beings exist. What I like the most about it all, on a personal level, is that it was based in Nigeria and within the Igbo culture, the root of my Afropolitan claim. Being born and raised in the U.S., finding books with Igbo subjects in them is like finding a two dollar bill in your wallet. You just don't see them that often. However, this book, in its apparent rarity, has managed to become quite familiar to thousands of people worldwide, transcending the limitations of an "African Literature" title.

Now, beyond Chimamanda's obvious talent to stimulate our senses when reading her work, she is becoming more and more alluring to me because she is what I think a 21st century African woman should be. She is educated, yet still knowledgeable about her roots and tradition. She is traveled, yet still prioritizes Africa. She is expressive, yet respectful enough to be humble. She is well-spoken, yet still sings the language of her forefathers (Afropolitans could be an exception here). She is political, yet still human enough to be an artist. Not to mention, she has a nice smile too :-)





What I am getting at is that I think she can stand as an example for the African woman who is coming of age today. Maybe I am biased because she is Igbo, however, I believe many can learn from her example. After reading her first book and many interviews she has conducted, including a YouTube clip of a presentation she made at the Christopher Okigbo International Conference at Harvard University (I am not a stalker, just an admirer), I think her respect is well-deserved. She is calm, collected, creative, conscious. If you get a chance, check out her work. I highly recommend "Purple Hibiscus". She has another book too that I plan to read next, Half of a Yellow Sun, a people's story that takes place during the little talked about Biafran-Nigerian War between 1967 - 70. I am expecting that one to be just as good as this one given the reviews. I am looking forward to reading it, becoming emotionally and psychologically involved with the characters and plot, interpreting the message in all the ways that I was meant to interpret it, oh, and of course, developing my crush all over again.

Is this movement for real?

Okay, so I haven't started the work for my job yet. Rather, I've been on the job for my work. Anyway, I just came across this video from The Miller Boys (Master P and Romeo, remember them?) on YouTube and was kind of taken back. Maybe I'm late, but Master P and his son Romeo are on some I'm fly but educated tip. After watching the video and doing some more research on their current happenings, I came to find out that this family has been trying to push this idea for a couple of years now. The product: Take a Stand Records (www.takeastandrecords.com). It's like conscious street music, not street conscious music. Is that what needs to be done? Brag about your billions while genuinely being about the children? Flash your bling but highlight you still shop at Walmart? Brag about how hot you are while actually getting your degree? I dunno. Maybe this approach, a less preachy but still teachy method, will spread and reach the masses. Maybe it won't. Who knows? All I know is that the Miller family from New Orleans is keeping it gutta but keeping it growing. Consequently, this video and The Take A Stand Records movement has inspired me enough to write and post about them. If you get a chance, check out Romeo's myspace at www.myspace.com/romeo and/or Take A Stand's myspace at www.myspace.com/takeastandrecords. Lol, bounce music that will make you take a stand!


Tell 'em who my people is (Animated Version)


(Official Video)