Blogs

Early Life:
Blair grew up in a middle-class neighborhood on Kalamazoo's West Side. In his Junior year at Kalamazoo Central High School, Ed formed the hip-hop group Da Heartthrob with friends. Many of Ed's earliest performances took place at The Strutt in Kalamazoo. At Maple Street Magnet School, some of his teachers ridiculed his aspirations to become a musician but a teacher by the name of Rasaan Hawkins encouraged Ed to make music his focus in a class he taught called hip-hop hits in which Bl

As a performer and historian, The ZYG attends historic event, kicking of the collecting of memorabilia and memories of the Hip-Hop movements growth and development in Massachusetts, parallel to the New York scene.

Part of being a Griot is being a historian and keeper of information about those things that led to the present. After absorbing the available history of Hip-hop in the Bronx, the next logical step was to look at Hip-hop's evolution in cities like Boston, where it's contributions and in

by Gloria Dulan-Wilson ~

   I am not a religious person, but I do have a deep and abiding faith in God the Living Spirit Almighty.  And you know, you just gotta give God a lot of praise because he just keeps handing us these monumental gifts, signs and wonders, despite the fact that we keep squandering them, and then begging for mercy for our errors. 

First, He gives us President Barack Obama</span> to lead us out of the mess that the Bush administration and his predatory supporters put us in,

August 25, 2011 

Raynard Jackson

With all the attention being focused on the life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. this week, I have been pondering what he would have to say about the state of his legacy.  In the immortal words of Lionel Richie (former lead singer of the Commodores):

“I may be just a foolish dreamer but I don’t care

Cause I know my happiness is waiting out there somewhere

I'm searching for that silver lining

Horizons that I've never seen

Oh I'd like to take just a

May 26, 2011

Raynard Jackson

Essence Magazine used to be the preeminent magazine for Black women in the U.S.  They, like many Black publications, have lost their relevance; and in the process become an embarrassment to the very group they claim to target.

Essence was founded in 1968 by Ed Lewis, Clarence Smith, Cecil Hollingworth, Jonathan Blount, and Denise Clark.  Their initial circulation began at around 50,000 per month and now is estimated to be over 1 million per month.  It is a monthly pu