Quirky Black Girls

i've had it up to here (picture me standing on my tippy-toes, hand extended past the sky) with the radio. it's bullshit. really. "becky" is not a real song. it doesn't merit the royalties that the entertainer and his producers earn every time we listen to it. in fact, the man who signed off on sending it to the radio... no, even better, the label exec. who nodded his head in approval the first time he heard such tired lyrics, flow, and music should receive a restraining order that prohibits him from going within 1,000 ft. of a recording studio. and not just him. there have got to be more creative rappers out there than lil wayne, and if we gave them even 30% of lil wayne's rotation time it would diversify the airwaves in infinite ways. and jay z - can't let him off the hook either - how about bringing your experiences with addressing poverty to your songs instead of referencing your past life as a drug dealer (cause after x number of records, we get it) or boasting about the expensive shit you do that i can't afford and don't care to afford.

my beef is with the liberal talk show programs as well. npr - i don't want to hear a review talking about how impressive a crass comic book author's illustration of the book of genesis was for you. nor would i like to spend an two hours discussing michael vick and the state of dog fighting in america. instead, i'd love to see some more people of color hosting programs on democracy now, bringing to light a wider range of experiences and concerns that people in this country face every day.

SO, last night, i called moya to talk about utilizing our QBG network to establishing an alternative black feminist media "something" (network, station, publishing house, etc.) she reminded me of lex's podcasts and cds, mai'a's proposal to create a magazine which can be circulated as a pdf, and fallon's cyberquilting conference coming up in the spring. the foundation is there. i'd like to take it a step forward to tap into our rapidly expanding network and create 3 major meetings/workshops in 2010 - possibly in chicago, atlanta, and durham. this would allow us to get together and build community, in addition to educating each other on the technologies available for producing new media... thoughts?