Directer Allen Hughes On the Mind of Tupac

Menace II Society and Book of Eli director, Allen Hughes, offers us a glimpse into the mind of Tupac Shakur. What I took away from this interview is that Tupac was vastly more intelligent than he let-on or allowed his music to suggest. He was a man in control of his image and someone who created his persona. I'm not certain if the screening Hughes referenced was the inception point for the creation of the image we know today, but it very well could have been.

From the interview, we see that Tupac was employing strategy. It was all a mental thing. One of the reasons I teach the value of expanded consciousness in the academy is that everything in physical creation was at first a construct in the mind of man. So, all of the wealth in our world is the produce of human ingenuity and the master-minding of ideas. It's a beautiful thing when we can find evidence of the creative process that leads to eventual greatness, which is why I wanted to share this.

James Power

Why We Love Django

Comedian and activist, in an interview said, “Every second you miss Django you are doing a disservice to your DNA.” As an observational metaphysician, someone who observes our culture through the lenses of philosophy, spirituality, science, signs, and symbols, I had a feeling Quintin Tarantino’s Django Unchained would be something special months before its Christmas Day theatrical release. Thing is – I didn’t have a clear picture of the magnitude with which this film would have an impact on moviegoers everywhere. People are raving that this is Quintin Tarantiono’s best work and one of their favorite films of all time. Hey! Dick Gregory said he saw the movie nine times.

Well, I only saw it once. Still, just one week after its release, according to RottenTomatoes.com, 89% of critics and 94% of its audience proclaim they enjoyed this film. Considering that Django Unchained is a spaghetti western (most people don’t even know what that is) with a run-time that approaches three hours, to see the audience erupt in applause after the closing scene nearly brought me to tears. As an artists and a creative person myself, I found the audience’s reaction profoundly inspiring. Every artist is trying to convey a message. It is each artist’s hope that the audience gets what is being conveyed. And, in the case of Django, the audience ‘got it.’ What is remarkable is that some of what was to be ‘had’ in seeing the film unfolded in the days following viewing it. It is not a film one forgets five-minutes after leaving the theater. On the contrary, it has excited dialogue among moviegoers, who are also mounting a strong case that folks should at-least see the movie before levying any critique of the film. I would suspect that most resonated with the movie’s message – that ‘love conquers all, even slavery.’ Some might view that theme as a bit naïve given the historic context, but when coupled with the theme of redemption it worked well in Django Unchained.

For African-American moviegoers, there is the obvious. In the 100-year history of Hollywood films, there exist very few mainstream films that depict the black guy getting the girl or even having a girl at-all. In fact, the black man is often the first to be sacrificed, as someone who is too inept, unsophisticated, and unintelligent to survive the first act. Imagine having to stomach hundreds of films where the only man who looks anything like you is seen as nothing more than fodder for the graveyard. For African-American filmgoers, Django Unchained was in stark contrast to the status quo. For once, almost every white person in the film was evil and a black hero survived the unspeakable and inescapable horrors heaped upon black innocents.

One of only a few other American films to gain mainstream popularity in addressing the atrocities suffered by blacks in America at the hands of slavers was Alex Hailey’s Roots. So, what Django Unchained did for a people whose story has remained for the most part untold is provide a measure of justification for a collective position and disposition held by so many for so long. Django Unchained can be viewed as an answer to questions like – “Why are you all so angry?” and “Why don’t you just get over it?”

The psychological, sociological, and spiritual damage caused by slavery cannot easily be expressed in words. Generation after generation, many have tried. This film approaches a depiction of what it must have been like. So, contrary to Spike Lee’s opinion, I think the ancestors would approve of this depiction. It’s almost like they are screaming out from the grave. “I was that woman! I was thrown in a hole like that.” Or, “I was that man. I walked hundreds of miles with no shoes on my feet.” Or, “I was torn apart by dogs. The petition for my life and my humanity went unheard.” Or, “There was a guy who sold me out like that on Massa’s plantation. He sold everyone out.”

Quintin Tarantino should not be viewed as some great white savior, but as a writer and director who managed to strike a chord with his audience. Some will certainly question his motives, but I much more prefer to focus on what he did than to speculate on why he did it. And, while Django Unchained will likely not be final or most enduring message about slavery and the sojourn of blacks in America, I don’t see Django as distracting from that discussion. Quintin Tarantino’s got people talking. That’s a good thing. And, that’s why we love Django. Something pinned-up in the collective consciousness of blacks in America was unchained with the release of this film.

Copyright. James Power. 2013

Once Again, Down the Rabbit Hole I Go...

I'm a traveler - not so much one who travels the world, but someone who likes to take excursions into new realms of thought. I am an idea connoisseur, if there can exist such a person. And, my guess is that there can, especially since I was able to put that into words.

I know me. I'm not a bad guy. It's just that I was born in the Year of the Rabbit. So, I have a slight penchant for frolicking through life. I'm an idealist. So, mines is a romantic life, where I am somewhat preoccupied with the notion that love and beauty are the most important things.

I state the above, because I am a bit more cautious now. I realize when and in what ways I can be my own worst enemy. I know that not every rabbit hole leads to some magic wonderland where new and wonderful things are to be discovered and explored. So, I am wary about starting anything new. However, when I do decide to enter into any star-gate, it is 'to boldly go where no man has ever gone before.'

Well, I've decided to venture down the rabbit-hole once more. This particular trip comes as part of a decision to launch a blog. Why a blog? Well, it is the proper forum to express my viewpoint. While I regularly publish videos on the MetaChannel and post on Facebook, I find that videos can never be as precise and to-the-point as the written word. Further, Facebook isn't really the forum for my ranting and raving about life, especially if I want to be heard.

So, I've developed a few blogs. And, ultimately, as these things go sometimes, I could allow myself to get caught up in developing these ideas for another two years. That wouldn't make any sense. So, I decided - it really is time to simply get started and see where this goes. Initially, I had a website, but those things require an awful lot of energy to maintain.

So, since it's about the message and not the presentation, I present to you Who's W.I.S.E. or Who's Who In Scripture Everyday. I believe that our contemporaries are writing scripture for future generations, whether they realize it or not. So, this is a forum designed to give me an outlet to talk about just that.

I hope and pray you all like what I have to present. Feel free to share or contribute to anything you see on the blog in the form of a comment. Well, here goes. See y'all on the other side...