Confessions of a Bougie Black Person: A Comparative Analysis

Ahh, black bougie heaven. Is that a gourmet goat cheese sample in the corner?! Two please!

As I panned through my go-to educated black people blog, Very Smart Brothers, I came across a topic that is true to many of my ilk: What is it we bougie black people do, and what makes us bougie? It’s a term that we both abhor (but not really) and secretly appreciate. It makes us “different.” It refutes stereotypes about what black folks should and shouldn’t be like. Ultimately, it’s a slap in the face of mainstream media interpretations of us. I’ve never been one to openly call myself such, but the truth is, I am.

I specifically realized this when my godfather and I were watching the news, and some Abyssinian church going folk in Harlem (the headquarters of black boug) appeared on a New York City news story. I thought to myself “where are these kinds of black folk hiding, I been missing this is my northeast experience ?!” while he said out loud with contempt “look at all those damn bougie black folk.” So these are my confessions *no Usher*.

Inspired by the musings of Panama and Champ, and the comments thereafter, I decided to elaborate on bougieness by exploring the various types. You know all us black folk don’t fit into neat boxes (a trope bougie black folk have uttered at least once in their lives), and really we don’t like boxes. But let’s be real, we can be categorized.

If you have not read the VSB article, please read it and the comments. I’ll try not to repeat what has already said, but some are so quintessentially bougie that they bear repeating. http://www.verysmartbrothas.com/bougie-ninja-best-practices/. Also, many of these are overlapping, which I will note, and there are some that transcend bougie boundaries and will be in its own separate category because we all do it. I must also offer the disclaimer that I may admittedly be projecting on some of these. Nevertheless, without further ado, the comparative spectrum of the souls of bougie black folk/people (BBF/BBP):

1. The Black Traditional

a. You know what Jack and Jill is

b. You went to a BAHBCU (Bougie Approved HBCU) for undergrad: Spelhouse, Howard, A&T, FAM (I don’t makes these rules, I just follow them) and an Ivy for grad (US ranked top 25 PWI would suffice, if you don’t know what a PWI is, you didn’t go to one).

c. You have lived in Atlanta or D.C., or have visited both frequently

d. You or your girlfriends are AKAs or Deltas, and your homies are either Qs, Kappas, or Alphas (see parenthetical from b.)

e. Ladies, you only get your hair flat-ironed or buy weave from a specialty boutique (online or stand-alone store). No crispy, greasy presses on this here dome.

f. You love, appreciate, and or respect Kanye West (and, until recently, Drake)

‘There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. … No artist is pleased. [There is] no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others.’”- Martha Graham

From movement to magic: Why I Love CiCi Kelley

You may have seen glimpses of her work in everything from major videos such as Beyonce’s “Get Me Bodied” to the cable networks A&E and TBS as lead choreographer for Toni Braxton and soul diva Chrisette Michelle, respectively, or being the featured coach on MTV’s Made. I began to appreciate CiCi personally at Gotta Dance Atlanta, her home studio where she has taught dozens of dancers and blessed them all with her humor, care, and true passion for dance. As an instructor, because she’s seen your metaphorical growth from a town in the outskirts to a steadily growing cosmopolitan city, she makes you feel like the world with her enthusiastic praises.

CiCi choreographing a Chrisette Michelle promo for TBS' House of Payne

All of this CiCi-ness lends perfectly to her next big step from dancer and choreographer to artist manager and event producer. She has a vision, and if you can find your way in it, you will become a sight to behold.  Not to say that Ms. Kelley won’t continue blessing stages, but now she’s providing blessings for others as well.

One of these blessings is her 4th annual benefit for the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America, Phazes of Love (yes, Phazes with a z, she’s bad like that y’all).  The past POL in February 2010 was pure magic: the crowd (and the champagne) was overflowing, the dancers were fierce, and all the sights, sounds, and tastes just blended together perfectly. It was simply magic in motion.

In the red carpet soiree, which she was inspired to create after her grandmother passed from Alzheimer’s, she provides a fabulous stage for the choreography talent around the country who are only a moment away from hitting mainstream success and a platform for those who have their share of successes as well. AFA has been a gracious recipient of CiCi’s drive and determination to increase awareness of Alzheimer’s and the creative arts community.

To experience this event, you can submit your choreography work and get more info about Phazes of Love at www.polchoreographershowcase.com. For more on Ms. CiCi check out www.ckp-online.com.

A Lay(wo)man’s Music Review: Kanye indeed has all that Power

So you may have read the 50-leven expert reviews of Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, but why not listen to experts when you can just hear from a girl around the way? Because it’s cooler, that’s why.

To add to the cohort of Kanye’s congratulatory pawns critics, I admit I am on Team Kanye. I’ve loved the rapper since his debut, when “Slow Jamz” was all over the radio and his lighthearted humor and clever flow struck me as refreshing in the midst of Fiddy Cent’s gangsterisms.  I also admit that he is one of the only rappers whose albums I’ve ever purchased (so how do I happen to have  TI, Drake, ‘Kast and Co. in my collection you wonder? Umm, well, it just ended up there? *Ron Burgandy question*) I have purchased every single album without fail. Beyond that, if I simply hear of the release date, I’m marking it on my calendar regardless of whether ‘Ye releases a single or not. I’m that trusting of ‘Ye’s commitment to artistry.

So, as a karate expert Kanye stan, I have become very familiar with every mood that envelopes and brands each of Kanye’s works:  from the dark soaring symphonies of Late Registration, to the humored bounce, earnest social consciousness and raw hip hop soul of College Dropout, to the indie and commercial pop/rock sensibilities of Graduation, and the vulnerable electronic melancholy of 808s and Heartbreak. I’ve loved all of them for different reasons, some more than others, but at the end of my multi-repeat listening sessions I always leave satisfied.

With Kanye’s latest work, he encompasses every single one of these moods. Instead of an entirely new experience (though there are a few new sounds Kanye explores), it takes us to largely familiar territory, reminding listeners of why we became to love Kanye in the first place. Still, each song is like a hyperbolic version of its original counterpart. There are glimpses of  Late Registration’s “Crack Music” in “So Appalled” while “Hell of a Life” serves as the male version of the gender-specific angst of 808′s “RoboCop,” among an array of equally compelling comparisons across the span of his discography.

With this encompassing nature, Fantasy gives the sense that it is uncovering the hidden tracks, pieces of coal that Ye left out of each album until the pressures, darkness, joy, and agony of his life rendered their accumulative transformation into diamonds. No track here is weak, and just when you think he has created the best song on the album, he follows with something equally classic.

While I have a soft spot for College Dropout, as his debut unexpectedly stormed out the gates and remains my favorite (I love Happy Kanye; I pine for when he can recapture that ridiculous humor from “Slow Jamz” or the satiric humor of “Workout Plan”), Fantasy is a masterpiece that is quite possibly his best work yet.

The final track, “Lost in the World,” exemplifies the all-encompassing nature of this album, as it seamlessly blends all of his genre-bending musical influences at once. It is a fitting, soaring end to Fantasy that exhibits with the grandiosity only Kanye can deliver just why ‘Ye is the greatest artist of this generation.

Thank you Kanye, woooooo!!!

My music vid debut…don’t blink :-)

A good friend of mine referred me to a dance gig for Young Money artist Shanell, and fortunately I was able to get some screen time. Shanell’s making moves on the streets (literally) and this docu-style video has a real fun, funky, 80s inspired vibe to it. Peep D. Woods (her sister) making a cameo and for concreteloop fans, Brian’s in it as well. I did a couple of scenes  so check it out :-)

P.S. I’m the chick with the curly hair. Gray top in the store scene. Pink top/silver sequin shorts (yes, silver sequin shorts…a lot going on) in the party scene.

Passion

It can seize you in the oddest of places and random of moments. After a lengthy conversation with two wonderful dancers and colleagues, I went to bed into the wee hours of the morning with an energy that made my what-should-have-been-sleep a restless 4 hours of day (night?) dreams. My internal recap of the ideas we all shared that evening transformed into a very real vision thrusting me out of bed and onto my computer in the early hours of the morning. Nothing could keep me from transcribing those thoughts.

This sense of passion is what breathes life into our actions. It wasn’t planned. I didn’t sit and try and brainstorm “what next steps can I take to do something more than what I’m doing that I can be passionate about” It just happened. Now, nothing can keep me from pursuing that vision and I thank God it landed in my mind somehow.

Our duty, when we have that spirit talking to us, is to follow it whole-heartedly. When people speak of a purpose, it is that passion that develops from our own natural instincts. When we speak of failure, it is often the result of not diligently following those instincts.

I didn’t realize I had a prayer that needed to be answered, but thank you Lord. Amen.