Wheatley at Boston Women's Memorial, Bronze/Granite, 2003

As a famed writer who transcends educational constraints in an attempt to secure freedom, Phillis Wheatley’s approach to liberation is intriguing and all so familiar. While Wheatley urges readers, Christian and Negro, to “join the angelic train,” a metaphor of the Christ-like railway to heaven, her most harsh critics call her a conformist to Western thought (220). But aren’t we all western conformists in some form or fashion? Nay-sayers scold Wheatley’s choice to abandon her native West African ideals and anti-slavery jargon. But, did she really have a choice?

While others use language to express and expose the misfortunes of slavery, Wheatley, in order to maintain her career as a poet, avoids such controversial issues. In a country where blacks were once merely pieces of cargo with no legal rights and sparse financial freedom, Wheatley had very limited room for contentious speech. Not only would such rebellion bring unwanted attention to her master, John Wheatley, it would make her a prime target for racial hatred. And it’s hard to say whether Olaudah Equiano, at the height of his intellectual career, would defend her objective position and protect her well-being from hundreds of miles away.

Although many disagree with her stick-in-the-mud approach to poetry, she deserves a sincere pat on the back for her eagerness to raise the intellectual standard for subsequent minority writers in search of freedom in its most fluid forms. Wheatley’s definition of freedom starkly contrasts that of her African slave counterparts, causing a clear disconnect between her and her literary peers (i.e. Equiano and Jupiter Hammon). In her letter “To Samson Occom” she writes, “In every human Breast, God has implanted a Principle, which we call the Love of Freedom” (225). For Wheatley, freedom oozed through her artistic capabilities. She did what she knew to do, using her available resources to travel, write, and be happy. How can any critic fault her for the pursuit of happiness?

Wheatley, Phillis.  ”On Being Brought from Africa to America.”  The Norton Anthology of African American Literature. Ed. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Nellie McKay.  New York:  WW Norton and Co, 1773. 219-20.

Wheatley, Phillis.  ”To Samson Occom.”  The Norton Anthology of African American Literature.  Ed. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Nellie McKay.  New York:  WW Norton and Co, 1774. 225.  

Lucky Brand Jeans

Mr. Moore’s theory:  In a world where the environment seeks to reclaim its territory – preying on humankind through a biological emission of energy – the refocus of attitudes toward nature and love for mankind can save the world from destruction.  Who ever would have thought the  mood ring to be anything more than a flower-child fad.  Today, it’s going to save the world!  

Okay, that might be a huge stretch … but let’s admit it – the concept behind the mood ring is an innovative thought.  Mood rings contain thermotropic liquid crystals which detect body temperature from inside a quartz or glass shell.  If body temperature really correlates mood, then why are we still spending big bucks for blood diamonds? I won’t lie, I’d probably take a diamond over a simple quartz ring any day.  But if I had the opportunity to make life a bit easier for me and my loved ones, I’d consider spending a few dollars on a mood ring.  Why wouldn’t you?

Skeptics want to know, ‘does it really work?’  Dr. Anne Marie Helmenstine says yes.  ”As peripheral body temperature increases, which it does in response to passion and happiness, the crystals twist to reflect blue. When you are excited or stressed, blood flow is directed away from the skin and more toward the internal organs, cooling the fingers, causing the crystals to twist the other direction, to reflect more yellow. In cold weather, or if the ring was damaged, the stone would be dark gray or black and unresponsive,” explains Helmenstine.  In other words, mood rings work, just don’t expose them to extreme weather conditions.

And if you’re so over the ring thing (like some men tend to be) but you’d like to stay in tune with those around you, check out the new Gearfuse Robometer.  It’s a super-high tech “mood ring for the next generation” with a more masculine touch – although it’s more of a wrist watch than a ring thing.

I know this may sound a bit, well, radical … but I like the idea that emotional state can be detected through something as simple as a ring.  Imagine how much happier the world would be if we all had emotion detectors.  To avoid my hysterial PMS antics, I wonder if he’d know when that time of the month rolls around.  And they say women who work or live together form the same cycle.  I can see it now … a less hostile world.

So if you’re any thing like me, masterminding ways to make life less stressful, here are some color codes for your new mood ring.  Happy Mooding!

BLUE: Happy; PURPLE: Horny, BLACK: Overburdened and Confused; REDDISH BROWN: Insecure;  CLEAR:  Your ring is broken; GREEN: Amused; GOLDEN YELLOW:  Tense; WHITE: Bored; RED: Passion; PINK: Afraid; ORANGE; Wanting.

*Note: All of our chemical make-ups are different and colors may vary from person to person.

"The Beauty of being able to draw, or paint, from an early age is that you never feel trapped, least of all by your immediate circumstances." -Bill Blass

By Kara Yates

Although we’ll always remember American fashion designer Bill Blass and his exquisite eye for crisp, modern sportswear, it is hard to believe after 38 years of ageless innovation, his baby has been swallowed whole by the troubled economy.

There was a clear view of the road’s end for Bill Blass, Ltd., after being acquired by NexCan Brands, Inc. in 2007.  And now that the company is closing down all 550 showrooms and terminating the remainder of its employees, we sadly wave farewell to an iconic company of American design.  Bill Blass, Ltd. has an illustrious history and deserves a place in the Designers’ Hall of Fame. 

After buying out Maurice Rentner in 1967 and changing the name to Bill Blass, Ltd. in 1970, Blass injected sophistication and class to the New York fashion scene.  Thanks Bill for bringing back the little black cocktail dress in the 70′s.  Oh how treacherous life would be in long gowns, concealing perfectly shaped legs and stunning stilettos.  A huge fan of ornate fabrics and scintillating colors (especially red), Blass had a way of making women feel glamorously beautiful, even in the most simply tailored designs.  

Although the Blass-look has long faded into the background of pop culture – behind the empire waists, plaid patterns, and skinny tailoring of today’s trends – Blass’ list of highly fashionable, dedicated supporters was extensive … including Gloria Vanderbilt, Nancy Reagan, Barabara Bush, Jackie Kennedy, Candice Bergen, and Brooke Astor to name a few.  Indeed, Blass’ designs were of the haut monde once upon a time.

But let us not discredit poor ol’ Peter Som for his extreme efforts to rescue Blass from the past.  Although Som’s reign as the latest designer was short lived (he resigned in October), he tried desperately to revive the company with male-order trends, eyelash fringes and grandiose beading.  Check out the end of the road (Fall 2008 RTW).  

But no offense Bill, times are just hard.  We still love you and I’m sure we’ll see you reincarnated in some form or fashion next year, gracing the runway in your signature classic look.  Lord knows your expertise is needed, because these young designers have no idea what it means to be TIMELESS.

Rest in Peace Bill Blass … and Company

Bill Blass RTW Fall 2008

Okay, so I’m secretly in love with Mr. A to Z.  

I never knew I’d find such soul and intellect wrapped inside some easy-going kid from Mechanicsville, VA.  And even though Jason Mraz is pure genius (sorting out words like a true artist), he’s kind of cute, too.  How many white boys do you know who rap just as fast as Twista … but to an acoustic soul track?  Uhhhh, I bet none!  Below, check out Dynamo of Volition (Atlantic, 2008) to hear for yourself.

While collaborating the distinct sounds of the djembe drum and guitar, Mraz infuses love, passion, and a zest for life into his music.  Mraz, scheduled to tour the world with his new album, We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things (Atlantic, 2008), is a breath of fresh air with a reinvented sound.  

Im Yours (Atlantic, 2008), peaking at number six on the Billboard chart and nominated for a Grammy, induces nothing but feel-good enzymes, making you dream of clear water and pearly sand dunes … even if it’s drearily winter where you’re from.  So, by all means, escape your little drab world for just a moment and INDULGE!  It’s on me … and Mr. A to Z.

Kara Yates

      I see it all, even with my eyes closed, and this is reality.  I feel it all, even beneath sweat bullets and clammy palms, this is reality.  I taste it all, even the mint from last week … because this is reality.

      A week ago, I sat in on a lecture taught by belle hooks, also known as the lady with the lower case name.  I hadn’t eaten all day.  The only thing I could find, not wanting to miss even a second of hooks’ wisdom, was a mint at the bottom of my purse.  She has this alluring presence and a way of bringing one to a place of re-evaluation.  Shouting to the roof tops the importance of “self-love,” a notion that many of us only think we have grasped, she brings us back up to reality.  Nothing more than transcendent reflections, we are divinely elevated to a place where we so rightfully belong. 

      What seems like a flaw to the non-introspective eye is actually Beauty.  It was John Keats, one of the most noted romantic poets of the English language, who stated it best, “Beauty is Truth and Truth, Beauty.  That is all you know on earth and all you need to know.”  The subservient mind functions and relies on the normalized systems of society to shape and reshape Truth. 

      ”I am the most interesting person I will ever meet,” says hooks.  

      And although I’m in a room full of women who find themselves interesting, my mind only grasps the sweetness of the mint on my tongue; its solid substance rolling along a languid plateau, and the knocking sounds between my teeth making its presence known.  My tongue and the mint do a funny little dance within the metaphorical exosphere of my mouth.  Indeed, the dance is a real one.  Although such an engagement may seem a bit vague and unexciting to the one who values not the Beauty of life’s simplicity, it was the most entertaining dance of my life.  Embracing Truth and Beauty means embracing, from the most authentic sources, everything that makes up one’s being… and I do mean everything.

      And just as the music starts, and the dancers around me begin to move about in time and space, the reality of the mint dancing in my mouth becomes merely a memory of the past. But the dance has by no means ended.  Embracing every real, tangible part of the human condition is a constant dance with Truth and Beauty.

      She had literally lost her mind. 

      Her head had been surgically detached at the neck, the product of some crazed incident that she knew not of.  The fact the she lived to tell this miracle is a miracle in itself. I can only imagine the discomfort of walking around with her head tucked beneath her arm, constantly, nervously, breathing the damp odor of her pits and viewing the world aside meaty iris’ that see nothing yet feel almost all of what women feel.  But when she was half-way returned to a whole, she somehow failed to thank Him for reminding her of what it means to be one in mind, body and spirit. In her absent mindedness, she found herself on a dilapidated boat on the feisty waters among some people whose identities will forever remain unclear.

      Although the hinges were loose and any wrong turn could send her head wobbling off its post and into the river, she somehow maintained her composure.  Afterall, she had been there before, floating endlessly in deep water, hoping the chances be in favor of a right-side-up position toward the infinite sky instead of drowning in the depths of rapid waters.

      Just as the tides seem unbearable, and her cheek formed a ninety degree angle to her throat, the frame freezed.  Someone must have pressed pause outside her warm aura, making her the only being functioning in real time around a group of unknown, psuedo citizens.  As the vessel sat atop a great white crescent, gelid in time and surrounded by the silent viciousness of nature, she thought of the cold, senseless body she’d be without her mind, her head, her memories, her thoughts, her vision, her sight, her hearing, her brain, her perspective … these things all the same.  In a palpable world, there’d be no doubt that a senseless body couldn’t thrive without the veined, muscled, skull-protected master.  But, although she could feel the teeter of a loose bolt at the core of her being, this realm was by no means real. They, these simulated souls, in whispering voices that only echoed from unmoving mouths, kept inquiring the obvious, 

      ”Is there something on your mind… mind … mind?”

      ”Oh my … What happened to your head .. head … head?”

      ”Is there anything I can do to help you … you … you?”

      She began to fix her fanciful lips, painted in the blues, to address all these irrelevant questions, but they only quivered without audio as a result of the illusory hypothermia.  And just as she began to convince herself that there would never, ever be anyone, including herself,  to put her pieces back together…

      She awoke to reality; thawed out, sweating bullets, and poise as ever.  

A sad story never to be told, 

Yet the vitreous humour  you emit through the matrix of our lives

Fills  voided spaces, bringing laughter and merriment to one’s soul

They are unjudgmental of us worldly creatures,

Teaching the tongue of tolerance and empathy;

Even among our most hideous features

Your love condemns not for what the human eyes choose to see

Endangered are those eyes from their globular origin;

But they blink, blink and inevitably recollect;

Your soul’s tenacity has spoken for my safety

And only your words seem so indirect

Infinite they are like the circle of life

A never ending change of what the inner you recites

    Is the idea of political resistance becoming just as global as the hip-hop industry?  Are Hip-Hop lovers loosing power over which political ideologies they accept and reject?

    Some may argue in favor of this idea, claiming the rising danger of radically expressive musicians and their power to challenge formal systems of governing.  Some may argue in opposition of this idea, steadfastly believing that certain nations will never loose their control to the temporary influence of a trendy musician.  Regardless, it cannot be denied that M.I.A., with her racy lyrics and radical style, is pursuing a path toward owning a degree of political power.

    Mathangi “Maya” Arulpragasam, better known as M.I.A., is a Tamilian hip-hop artist and rapper of Sri Lankan descent, born in Hounslow, London and raised in Sri Lanka.  M.I.A. grew up during a perilous civil war between the Tamil minority of Northeastern Sri Lanka and the Sinhalese majority of the southwest.  In London, M.I.A.’s family attempted to escape the violence that the civil war produced.  Her father’s involvement with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was a major determinant in the relocation of M.I.A.’s family, forcing M.I.A. to experience a diverse cultural perspective, which she exerts through her music today.  LTTE wishes to regain national legitimacy by resisting Sri Lankan colonization and reclaiming national territory in the Northeastern region.

    M.I.A.’s father, Arul Pragasam (also known as Arular by his fellow Tamil Tigers), is a Tamil military activist and founding member of the Eelam Revolutionary Organization (EROS).  The stated last name of M.I.A., Arulpragasam, is a combination of the first and last names of her Tamil father and an obvious reflection of her dedication to and involvement with the political issues that plague her native country. Additionally, her choice to entitle her first album Arular, after her father’s nickname, is representative of M.I.A.’s dedication to her father’s political endeavors.

    In a 2002 interview with Pitchfork, M.I.A. addresses the initiatives of her father, stating, “He had idealistic views about changing the world for the better and fighting for people who don’t have a voice.”  Pragasam’s desire to change the world influences M.I.A. to take on the same globalist initiatives.  As the Hip-Hop music of M.I.A. continues to globalize, her resistance to the political powers imposed upon third-world countries, like Sri Lanka, is examined through her lyrics and sense of fashion. The political ideologies that M.I.A. so interestingly resists in her lyrics and style of dress include capitalism, neo-liberalism, colonialism and orientalism.  This analysis of M.I.A.’s resistant, yet entertaining public persona is important because it influences fans across the world to also oppose political ideological structures.

    Since 2002, M.I.A. has internationally entertained viewers of all class categories, including the less economically fortunate, with her politically potent music.  In fact, Hip-Hop has always been a musical outlet for the disenfranchised.  Rachel Sullivan, author of  “Rap and Race: It’s Got a Nice Beat, But What about the Message,” examines the hidden space of political messages in rap music (Sullivan 605).  M.I.A., on the other hand, is in no way discreet about her political agenda.  Her image utilizes the historical tradition of Hip-Hop music, spreading politically filled messages to Sri Lanka, London, the United States and other nations that support Hip-Hop’s political acknowledgements.  Her vocal style embraces the Hip-Hop and Rap traditions known for crossing national borders into a global industry.

    Scholars have established Hip-Hop as a global industry that impacts the lives of various cultures all over the world.  Tony Mitchell, editor of Global Noise: Rap and Hip Hop Outside the USA, argues, “hip hop … has become a vehicle for global youth affiliations and a tool for reworking local identity all over the world” (Mitchell 2).  The market of young people that make up the global audience are influenced by this genre of music that was once specific to a local group but has become extremely mainstream and global.  In agreement, Russell A. Potter, author of Spectacular Vernaculars: Hip Hop and the Politics of Postmodernism, states, “Even as [hip-hop] remains a global music, it is firmly rooted in the local and the temporal; it is music about ‘where I’m from,’ and as such proposes a new kind of universality” (Potter 146).  Not only does the local originality of hip-hop influence young audiences globally, it also allows one to share a unique perspective of their own locality and position themselves on political issues, be they American or British-Asian.

    M.I.A., with her British-Asian heritage, exerts her own identity by sharing her political experiences with the world.  David Hesmondhalgh and Caspar Melville, in “Urban Break-beat Culture: Repercussions of Hip-Hop in the United Kingdom,” cultivate a direct analysis of British-Asians and their artistic endeavors to present themselves through Rap and Hip-Hop music.  They proclaim, “What unites British-Asian rap is … a desire to assert a more complex sense of identity” (Hesmondhalgh and Melville 96).  Indeed, M.I.A.’s artistic identity is complex, continuously picking up a larger and more curiously interested fan base.  As M.I.A. popularizes, her MySpace page has become a place where one witnesses, first-hand, the impact she has on fans from all walks of life.  Posted on M.I.A.’s MySpace page, a fan exclaims, “I love your Swagg.”  A swag, or swaggar, is defined in the Hip-Hop culture as one’s fashionable style and/or way in which one carries them self.  Music lovers across the globe are impressed with M.I.A.’s unique style and ability to express her political dissatisfactions in an entertaining way.

    Hip-hop, since its birth, has been a tool for expressing political frustrations among the disenfranchised. Many British musicians, like M.I.A., understand “that to merely transpose U.S. forms would rob U.K. hip hop of the ability to speak to a disenfranchised British constituency in the way that U.S. hip hop so successfully spoke to, and for, its audience” (Hesmondhalgh/Melville 92).  In London and abroad, M.I.A. takes on a verbal and physical image that addresses various political ideologies.  Her lyrics and fashion are directly reflective of her position on political issues.  Most importantly, fans are drawn “to aesthetic and cultural features of the form as much as to the direct expressions of political anger contained within certain versions of” Hip-Hop music (Hesmondhalgh/Melville 95).  In other words, her politically radical “swag” is what is most alluring about this 28-year-old global Hip-Hop star.  M.I.A. declares that her “problem is that politics is the first thing that defines who [she is]” (Pitchfork 2002).  Her dedication to political Hip-Hop and her use of ideologically resistant lyrics is what makes her public persona successful.

    Patrick Neate, author of Where You’re At, quotes Michel Foucault in his narration on the freedom of speech, saying, “We know perfectly well that we are not free to say just anything, that we simply cannot speak on anything, when we like, or where we like” (60).  Contrarily, M.I.A. says what she feels and withholds nothing from her viewers. There is a sense of freedom in her lyrics that is reflective of the liberating position she bargains for in her real life encounters with war, politics and violence.  Her lyrics are a true reflection of her personal perspective on political endeavors.

    “Fire, Fire” is a song about guerrilla warfare, military training, and the use of firearms in an underdeveloped society.  Potter notes, “There is a violence … underlying hip hop’s linguistic militancy” (Potter 85).  “Fire, Fire” allows M.I.A. to express the violence she witnesses as a native of a country involved in a devastating war, resulting in over 65,000 deaths since 1983.  She sings:

Competition coming up now

Load up, Aim, Fire, Fire, Pop! (Arular 2005)

    The violence of Sri Lanka and the violence illustrated in M.I.A.’s lyrics are a direct affect of the colonial advances placed on the illegitimate nation of Eelam by the Sinhalese government.  “Paper Planes” also implies the presence of colonization resulting in violence (specifically bio-chemical warfare).  She sings:

bird flu gonna get you

made it in my stable

from the crap you drop

on my crop when they pay you (Kala 2007)

    According to a study done by the Asian Pacific Development Journal, there are agricultural “controversies surrounding the post-independence period” that now affect the instability of the industry due to the civil war.  M.I.A.’s lyrics directly resist the affects of colonialism that cause agricultural adversity and instigate bio-chemical warfare.  Potter refers to Frantz Fanon’s analysis of colonialism, stating, “Frantz Fanon’s theorizations of violence as a means of resistance to colonial regimes are highly pertinent” (86).  M.I.A. resists the ideology of colonialism that forces an inferior group, like the Tamils, to submit to a superior group, like the Sinhalese. 

    As defined by Ania Loomba, in “Situating Colonialism and Postcolonial Studies,” colonization is “an implication of an encounter between peoples, or of conquest and domination” (1100). Violence is a result of colonization. Fanon elaborates, “For a very long time the native devotes his energies to ending certain definite abuses” (Fanon 1).  M.I.A. devotes her musical energies to end the effects of colonialism that the Eelam nation continues to uncomfortably experience because of their illegitimacy as a nation.   In doing so, M.I.A. acts as a public voice for a body of disenfranchised people.

    According to Potter, Hip-Hop includes “lyric narratives of endurance … describing the alienation of the impoverished and the depression of marginalization” (Perry 1).  In “Pull up the People,” M.I.A. resists the ideals of neo-liberalism.  Neo-liberalist concepts, as Lawrence Grossberg describes, favor the self-interests of ambitious entrepreneurial individuals.  M.I.A. implies that the collective body of people deserves recognition like the selected few from what Karl Marx, in “The German Ideology,” calls the “ruling class” (656).  She sings:

Pull up the People, Pull up the Poor

Yeah, me got God and me got you

Every day thinking bout how me get through (Arular 2005)

    Frantz Fanon in “The Pitfalls of National Consciousness” argues, “unity can only be achieved through the upward thrust of the people, and under the leadership of the people” (Fanon 7).  “Pull up the People” offers a critique of the lack of regard for the mass of marginalized individuals by neo-liberal governments.  M.I.A.’s music is just as reflective of her political resistance as is her style of dress.

    Mary Ryan Shaw, in Clothing: A Study in Human Behavior, examines fashion as an extension of one’s unique expression.  Ryan Shaw states, “clothes are an expression of self” (Shaw Ryan 82).  Therefore, analyzing the fashion choices of M.I.A. helps one to better understand her political position.  M.I.A.’s style of dress varies from music video to music video. According to Mary Ann Roach and Joanne Eicher’s “The Visible Self: Perspectives on Dress,”  “dress has meaning as well and form.  The total visual effect or total form of dress can be analyzed by breaking it down into elemental aesthetic forms” (112).  Furthermore, these elemental forms are representations of the individual’s total being, giving it meaning and substance (especially among radical musicians like M.I.A.).

    XL news has announced the upcoming fashion line of M.I.A.  Her interest with fashion forces one to look deeper into the political significance of her fashion choices.  M.I.A. is often seen tugging at a T-shirt that offers some politically racy message.  In an image posted online by The Magic Cauldron, M.I.A. wears a read shirt with white and blue letters that boldly reads: “RUN FOR YOUR LIFE. M.I.A.” Her T-shirt is a warning sign of the potential danger lurking behind her lyrics.  As she clearly states in her song, “Paper Planes,” “all [she] wanna to do is (BANG! BANG! BANG!) and (KA CHING!) Take your money” (2005).

    “Sunshowers” also contains violent innuendo.  However, the imagery in “Sunshowers” contains an ironic undertone of happiness. In the accompanying video, M.I.A. wears light colors of green and beige that accentuate the beautiful day and blend in with the foliage of the jungle.  Considering her usual Hip-Hop flavor, the setting of the jungle makes a daring statement about Sri Lanka’s maintenance of its nature and culture.  Contrarily, she sings: 

Sunshowers that fall on my troubles

Are over you, My baby

And Some Showers I’ll be aiming at you

Cause I’m watching you, My baby (Arular 2005).

    In her lyrics, M.I.A. differentiates between two different types of sun showers: those that bring joy and those that metaphorically represent the pouring out of bullets from a semi-automatic handgun.  Regardless of the strife that the ongoing civil war causes and the many lives that have been lost, M.I.A. attempts to hold on to a sense of happiness among her people.  M.I.A.’s lyrics contradict the joyous imagery of the women and children splashing around in the river and playing with an elephant.  “Sunshowers” illustrates her desire to maintain the stability of the community during such a hazardous time.

    M.I.A.’s song and video “Galang” is not only a similar exposure of violence, it is also a critique of capitalism.  According to XL News, “Galang,” in Jamaican patois, signifies the phrase “Go on.”  She sings:

Galang, Galang

They say the River’s gonna run through

Work is gonna save you
…


Sell it out to sell you

Sell it out to sell you (Arular 2005).

    M.I.A. provokes and sarcastically encourages the capitalist industry to “go on” and exploit the disenfranchised.  Furthermore, M.I.A proves to be unafraid to violently challenge the capitalist empire in defense for those who cannot speak for themselves.  Amartya Sen, author of “How to Judge Globalism,” supports this notion stating, “contemporary capitalism…has established rules of trade and business relations that do not serve the interests of the poorer people in the world” (20).  M.I.A., as she addresses the capitalist concept of a free market, is an activist for the victims of globalized capitalism. 

    Her nineties hip-hop style of bright colors and oversized gold earrings, reflects a period during hip-hop when political resistance was common among iconic African-American artists like Jay-Z, NWA and KRS-One.  Patrick Neate, a fellow native of London and scholar, interviews Jay-Z to gain his perspective on capitalism.  Jay-Z states, “it seems that these days the empire…is the free market and its only interest is profit” (Neate 57).  M.I.A.’s style symbolically reflects this common perspective on politics by pioneer rap artists in America.

    In Karl Marx’s “Wage, Labor and Capital,” a critique of capitalism, he states, “labor power…is a commodity” (Marx 659).  M.I.A. addresses Marx’s theory of capitalism as a construct where laborers are exploited for the benefit of products that are sold for more than they cost to make.  Not only does she resist capitalism through her lyrics, she also resists the political ideals of orientalism through her style of dress.

    M.I.A. resists orientalist ideologies in her rejection of traditional Tamil Indian styles of dress in Sari wraps.  Instead, M.I.A. wears everything from jeans, to T-shirts and shorts.  Edward Said, in “Islam in the News” examines the dichotomy between the Orient and the West, categorizing the Orient as exotic and unknown.  M.I.A attempts to establish the notion that there is no ideological separation between the West and the Orient.  She cleverly brings both stylistic traditions together, resisting ideologies that support orientalist ways of thinking about culture.  In her video “Jimmy,” M.I.A. embraces her Indian heritage by wearing a traditional Hindu dance costume decorated with gold coins, beads and hair ornaments.  However, she also wears bright textiles and short dresses in the same video, displaying her identification with Western fashion.  Although M.I.A. resists the political ideologies of capitalism, neo-liberalism, colonialism, and orientalism through her lyrics and dress, what she does embrace is the ideology of globalizing her work with the intention of influencing a vast population of fans. 

    In “Bukky Done Gone,” M.I.A. wears a nylon jump suit that favors those worn during the peak of Hip-Hop by African-American Hip-Hop stars of the eighties.  Around the waist of her jumpsuit she wears a belly dancing hip scarf, adorned with gold beads and coins.  Her outfit references two distinct and very different cultures: the Indian and the African American culture.  She sings:

London, Quiet down I need to make a sound!

New York, Quiet down I need to make a sound!

Kingston, Quiet down I need to make a sound!

Brazil, Quiet down I need to make sound (Arular 2005)!

    This choice to address a variety of cultures reflects her embrace of global initiatives to erode the separating lines between nations, especially the lines between the cultures that have a direct influence on her music career and ideological perspectives.  Patrick Neate plainly states, “hip hop is a global business” (Neate 58).  This conversation about hip-hop as a global industry is important.  As rising artists, like M.I.A., continue to address political resistance, it influences listeners across the globe to do the same.  Karl Marx, in “The German Ideology,” proclaims, “the ideas of the ruling class are…the ruling ideas” (Marx 656).  Indeed, M.I.A., as her image continues to globalize, is becoming apart of the music industry’s ruling class.  As viewers, it is important to consider the kind of effects her lyrics and style has on her fan base.

    It is difficult to get away from the remnants of globalization.  Sen explains that even “the so-called anti-globalization protests have become among the most globalized events in the contemporary world” (22).  Therefore, listeners are influenced today more than ever by musicians all over the world, making it more of a task for individuals to conceptualize their unique perspectives on political ideologies.

    The discourse regarding the political agenda, among artists like M.I.A., is addressed in John Storey’s “Cultural Studies and the Study of Popular Culture,” an examination of political pop music.  Storey notes, “Politics is about power and pop music can be powerful” (126).  Storey supports this notion that M.I.A.’s politically provocative lyrics can have a powerful impact on the way individuals view and respond to political ideologies.  Thus, the reader is led to question M.I.A.’s ability to shake the political arena. 

    Neate feels that “just because hip hop is accessible globally, that doesn’t make it good” (Neate 59).  This analysis challenges listeners to discover for themselves what “good” entails. Forget that fact that MetaCritic.com ranked M.I.A.’s first album, Arular, number seven among thirty other albums in 2007.  Just because M.I.A. makes violent expressions sound hip, has a cool “swag” and she was rated the top British singer of 2006, does that mean it is acceptable for others to follow in her clearly radical footsteps? Storey admits, “There can be no doubt that the music industry has enormous cultural and economic power” (Storey114).  However, individuals must determine what aspects of the ruling ideologies he or she wishes to accept and reject on there own terms, not because the ruling class says so.  Individuals must not be influenced by the political power of globalization or by the notion that “the world is becoming a ‘single place’” (Lechner 2).

    As Hip-Hop continues to become more and more of a global industry, musical artists like M.I.A. will have a greater affect on the ideological viewpoints of individuals from all over the world.  M.I.A. has a great degree of power associated with her political lyrics and style of dress.  Naturally, Hip Hop lovers will gravitate toward her style because it is hard to avoid an image that so frequently presents itself in many locations across the globe.  However, it is best that fans take a deeper look into the experiences and ideological perspectives of influential musicians like M.I.A. in order to gain a better understanding of the “ruling ideas” that effect one’s political standpoint.

Works Cited 

Fanon, Frantz.  The Wretched of the Earth. Ch./Art: Ch. 3 – The Pitfalls of National

            Consciousness p. 1-24 as reprinted. pub. Grove Press 1965.

Grossberg, Lawrence.  Caught in the Crossfire: Kids, Politics, and America’s Futures.

            Ch./Art: Ch. 4 – Neoliberalism; Ch. 5 – the New Conservatism p. 111-145.

            Pub. Paradigm Publishers 2005.

Hesmondhalgh, David and Caspar Melville.  “Urban Breakbeat Culture: Repurcussions

           Of Hip Hop in the United Kingdom.” Global Noise: Rap and Hip Hop Outside the USA. Ed.Tony

           Mitchell.  Middletown, CT, Wesleyan University Press,

           2001, 86-110. 

International Federation of Tamils. “Tamil Eelam: A Reversion to Sovereignty.”

            Towards a Just Peace seminar. London, University of London, 1992.

Loomba, Ania.  “Situating Colonial and Postcolonial Studies.”  Literary Theory: An

            Anthology.  2^nd ed. Ed. Julie Rivkin and Michael Ryan.  Malden, MA, Blackwell

            Publishing (2004): 1100-1111.

Mitchell, Tony.  “Another Root- Hip Hop Outside the USA.”  Global Noise: Rap and

            Hip Hop Outside the USA.  Ed. Tony Mitchell.  Middletown, Ct, Wesleyan

            University press. 2001, 1-38.

Neate, Patrick.  Where You’re At.  Riverhead Books, New York, 2004.

Roach, Mary Ellen and Joanne B. Eicher.  “The Visible Self: Perspectives on Dress.” 

            New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc., 1973.

Edward, Said.  “Islam in the News.” 

Shaw Ryan, Mary.  “Clothing: A Study in Human Behavior.”  New York: Holt, Rinehart,

            And Winston, Inc. 1966.

Sen, Amartya.  “How to Judge Globalism.”  The Globalization Reader.  3^rd Ed. Ed. Frank

            Lechner and John Boli.  Blackwell, 2004.

Storey, John.  “Cultural Studies and the Study of Popular Culture.”  2^nd Ed.  University

            Of Georgia Press, 2003.  110-29.

Sullivan, Rachel.  “Rap and Race: It’s Got a Nice Beat, but What about the Message?” 

            Journal of Black Studies 33.5 (2003): 605-22.

    On April 4, 2007, John Donald “Don” Imus, host of WNBC’s Imus in the Morning, called the African American women of Rutgers basketball team “Nappy-Headed Hos.”  His remarks were hurtful to both the women of Rutgers basketball team and the African-American community as a whole.   Many American’s were shocked and appalled by his comment, questioning the status of race relations in this country.  What does the black community have to do to completely eliminate such discrimination from this country?  

    For years, African-American women have struggled for acceptance as beautiful beings, often considered less attractive and less feminine by White American standards of beauty.  The literature on scholar’s perceptions of black women’s beauty regimes is extensive.  Broadly, scholars believe some black women conform to these standards of beauty by relaxing their kinky hair, cutting it to rebel against society, and gluing long weaves to their scalps in order to appear more European and less African.

    However, hair is not a symbol of oppression and conformity among African-American women.  Instead, black women’s hair is a symbol of triumph over social injustices among the Black community. In order to overcome public discrimination, such as the impertinent comment made by Imus, black women must recognize their hair as a symbol of strength, community, influence, and economic growth.  These symbols of hair are empowering, aiding black women to surmount racial denunciation and the wishes of racist whites to oppose upon Others their European standards of beauty.

    In order to overcome discrimination, one must find strength within, to keep from crumbling.  Instead of folding, the team continued on, seemingly unaffected by Imus’ insensitivity, to win the Final Four.  These women displayed a great deal of strength by achieving an accomplishment during such an adverse time. 

    The Black is Beautiful social movement, of the 1960’s, illuminated the strength of black hair by confirming it to be beautiful regardless of what the mainstream American media believed.  The Black is Beautiful social movement, a theme within the Black Power Movement, aimed to eliminate the notion that the natural features of black men and women were less beautiful than those of white men and women.  The Black is Beautiful movement encouraged blacks to refrain from straightening their hair in order to embrace their natural blackness.  Tracey Owens Patton, literary scholar of the National Women’s Studies Association, reiterates the importance of this movement, “Hair…became one of the tools or mechanisms that African Americans could utilize in order to confront the damaging Eurocentric standards of beauty that African-Americans were unable to attain.   For a brief moment, African-Americans were able to create and reify their own standards of beauty” (40).  Black women, as they sported naturally kinky or coiled hair, were empowered by the Black is Beautiful movement. 

    Even Jenny, an interviewee of literary scholar Rose Weitz and African-American woman with an afro, “considers [herself] in a constant state of protest about the realities of cultural alienation, cultural marginalization, cultural invisibility, discrimination, injustice, all that.  I feel that my hairstyle has allowed me…to voice that nonverbally” (Weitz 680).  African American women find strength and contentment with their natural differentiation from the socially constructed standard of beauty (Owens Patton 40). 

    The Late American Feminist Florynce R. Kennedy stated, “For power and authority, women have to avoid…looking too feminine and…not looking feminine enough.  Their hair must be medium length” (Synnott 396).  Kennedy proclaims that there is strength and power in a women’s hair, depending on its length.  Some of the most prominent black women in society have medium length hair.  For example, Oprah Winfrey, multiple Emmy Award winner and host of the highest ranked television talk show in the county, The Oprah Winfrey Show, wears her hair at shoulders length in an often wavy or curly texture.  Condoleezza Rice, 66^th Secretary of the United States of America, wears her hair just above the shoulders with her ends flipped outward.  Debra Lee, President and COO of Black Entertainment Television (BET), wears her hair right below the shoulders in a jet black roller-set look. Other powerful black women who sport medium length hair styles include, but are not limited to, Anne Fudge, Vice President of Kraft; Marian Wright Edelman, Founder and President of the Children’s Defense Fund; and Cathy Hughes, Founder and Chair of Radio-One, Inc.  In order to earn a degree of respect from both men and women, these black women find balance in their image, appearing neither too feminine nor too masculine.   Black women’s hair is a representation of the power that they hold in American society.

    In Connie Koppelman’s “The Politics of Hair,” she confirms, “Women’s hair has been…interpreted as a sign of strength” (87).  The black woman’s kinky hair is of a strong and resilient texture, only weakened by chemical treatments (Lester 209).  Black women’s hair is a symbol of strength in its texture, length, and its “support by the broad social movement” (Weitz 684).

    Not only is hair a symbol of strength among black women, hair is also a symbol of community.  The sense of community among black women is important to the triumph over social injustices because women come together on common ground to fight for what is right.  Imus’ remark sparked disgust among black women.  Although black women’s response to Imus was not a potent as it should have been, as stated in April R. Silver’s “Invisible Woman? A Black Woman’s Response to Don Imus’ Most Recent Sexist-Racist Remarks,” there is no doubt that women have the power and strength to stand up for their livelihood.    Silver exclaims, like many, “I lamented for Black women, then I went back to doing what I was doing” (Silver 1).  As stated earlier, black women own much power in this society.  Although Imus’ remark was ignorant and crude, he exercised his First Amendment right to freedom of speech.  Yes, Imus’ remark was insulting!  However, black women must accept Imus’ seemingly sincere apology and move on toward solving larger issues and enhancing the black community from the inside out.

    Hair brings black women together in great conversations, in moments of bonding, and in black-owned hair salons across the country.  A morning at the hair salon is often a time to bond with other women, gossip, inspire and encourage each other.   Imus’ remark was probably a hot topic of discussion in black salons across the nation.  Queen Latifah, star of the 2005 motion picture Beauty Shop, talks about her experience in the Hair salon and the sense of community that surrounds hair:

We talk about men, we talk about issues, we talk about everything. And everything has got a feminine touch to it.  It can get raw, but it’s from a woman’s point of view so the whole conversation tends to differ. We tend to talk more about men and families and our kids and what so and so did and where so and so’s been. We kind of get into some of those issues. We get into political issues, of course.  I think a lot of our conversations are the same when it comes to things that we all care about, politics or who said what on “Jay Leno” last night. That kind of thing. Well, maybe not “Jay Leno,” maybe on “106 and Park,” but we kind of get up into the same conversations, but then some things that are basically women’s things (Latifah).

    Hair is a symbol of community because it brings people together on common ground.  The community environment of hair salons also embraces the differences among black women, be they light skinned, dark skinned, long haired, short hair, or no haired.  Owens-Patton talks about difference, “Beauty differences within the black community are considered good, because one is being creative in their own individual beauty standard, rather than looking for outside acceptance” (Owens Patton 41).  Hair is a symbol of community because it brings women together in a single environment where they respect one another for their uniqueness. In order to gain respect in society as whole, black women must respect each other.  Hair is a symbol of the respect that the community environment creates.  Furthermore, the strength and community atmosphere that surrounds hair is admirable in the larger social setting of the world.

    In Weitz’s definition of power she states, it “refers to the ability to obtain desired goals through controlling or influencing others” (Weitz 668).  Some scholars believe that black women hold no influence in this society, deeming them powerless.  Owens Patton notes, “In media, many African American women who are glorified for their beauty tend to be …women who have long, wavy hair,” she continues, “It is often not our [black women’s] image that becomes the vision and standard of beauty” (Owens Patton 39).  Beyonce Knowles with her honey blonde tresses, Oprah Winfrey with her wet-n-wavy weave, and Janet Jackson with her long brown curly extensions, are examples of black women who are categorized by scholars like Owens-Patton for falling subject to the American standard of beauty. 

    However, in Owens Patton’s own discussion of the “Standpoint Theory,” she fails to recognize the many black influential women who reject the White American beauty standard of light-colored, long, soft-textured hair.  The Standpoint theory “allows one the ability to validate the self by resisting participation in the continuance of the hegemonic order” (Owens Patton 43).

    Erykah Badu is a grammy award winning neo-soul songstress and song writer who wears her dread locks wrapped in an ethnic sarong.  When it comes to beauty she said, in a 2003 interview with Joy Bennet Kinnon, “I love my natural hair, I love my skin the way it is, I love my breasts the way they are.  I don’t want to be augmented in any way” (Badu 2003).  Lauren Hill is also a Grammy Award winning R&B songstress and actor.  It wasn’t until 2003, when Hill replaced her dreadlocks for a jet black, asymmetrical, bob cut wig that, according to Essence Magazine, “fans and close associates believed they were witnessing a genius come undone. The fly-girl persona had been replaced by a defiant woman that audiences responded to by withholding their purchasing power” (Morgan 2007).  India Irie, neo-soul songstress and song-writer of the hot single I Am Not My Hair (2006), shaved her head before the 2003 Grammy Awards, stating it “indicated spiritual cleansing” (Golden 2007).  Similarly, Yaya Decosta, runner-up on the CW’s America’s Next Top Model and nominee for Teen Choice Award’s Best Female Break-Out in Take the Lead (2006), wears her hair natural and refuses to straighten it to conform to America’s beauty standard.  These women make considerable influences in society, but are not widely acknowledged for their contributions to the Standpoint theory, a rejection of “the current hegemonic order” (Owens Patton 32).  

    In Weitz’s agreement with Owens Patton’s articulation of the Standpoint theory, she says, “Women find a sense of power… through broadening the definition of attractiveness…These new definitions explicitly challenge the…dominant appearance norms” (Weitz 679).  The hair of black women is a symbol of influence, whether these women conform to the beauty standards of America or not, because “many white women are incorporating black beauty standards into their regime” (Owens Patton 44).  In deed there are women of different ethnicities who sport curly perms, cornrows, and even dread locks.  The natural black hair is just as influential as the American standardized black hair.

    Aside from black women’s hair as an influential symbol, it is also a symbol for economic growth, an important factor in the achievement of social respect.  Hair products and services are thriving businesses in the black community because the maintenance of hair, be it straight or natural, is very important to African-American women.  In 1905, Madam C.J. Walker invented the hair softener and hair straigthening comb for coarse hair, becoming the richest black female entrepreneur of her time.  According to Kevin Chappell, author of “How Black Inventors Revolutionized America,” Walker “revolutionized the [black] hair care industry” (50).  Clearly, Walker’s multimillion-dollar industry, surrounding hair, produced many jobs for blacks, and stimulated the economic growth of the black community. 

    More recently, the natural hair industry for blacks has also become a huge success.  Natalie Hopkinson, journalist for The Washington Post, quotes Glynn Jackson, organizer for the Golden Scissors Awards, “natural hair care is probably the largest revenue generator in this [hair] market” (Hopkinson T23).  Natural hair, like straight hair during the early 20^th century, has become a major economical growth stimulator among the black community.  Hair, once again, is a symbol of one of the necessary ingredients for social justice, economic independence.  Economic independence is important to the achievement of social justice because it gives the black community a sense of stability, confidence, and competition.

    Hair for black women all over the world is a symbol of social uplift.  There will be times when black women must stand-up for social justice.  Black America hopes that Don Imus’ apology to the Rutgers basketball players was sincere.  However, his remarks will not be forgotten.  Imus’ crude comment, as a reflection the social injustices that still exist in this country, only give black women more strength to overcome discrimination.  Black women may be “nappy headed hos” to one man, but to the black community, black women are triumphant, influential and naturally beautiful.

 Works Cited

Bennet Kinnon, Joy.  “Erykah Badu: On Her Career and Her Romance with Common.” Ebony

            Magazine.  Sept 2003.

Caldwell, Paulette.  “A Hair Piece: Perspectives on the Intersection of Race and Gender.”

            Duke Law Journal.  1991.2 (1991): 365-96.

Chapell, Kevin. “How Black Inventors Revolutionized America.”  Ebony (February 1997):

            40-50. 

Golden, Fran. “The Bald Truth: Women Shave their Heads for Lots of Different Reasons, often

            Professional.” The Associated Press.  Feb. 26, 2007.  

Hopkinson, Natalie.  “Redefining Notion of ‘Good’ Hair; A Return to Roots with Natural

            Styles.”  The Washington Post.  Washington, DC.: Oct. 4, 2001. T23.

Koppelman, Connie.  “The Politics of Hair.” Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies.

            17.2 (1996): 87-88.

Lester, Neal A.  “Nappy Edges and Goldy Locks: African American Daughter and the Politics

            Of Hair.” The Lion and the Unicorn.  24.2 (2000): 201-24.

Morgan, Joan.  “They Call Me Ms. Hill”.  Interview.  Essence Magazine.  Summer 2007.

Murray, Rebecca.  “On the Set of Beauty Shop with Queen Latifah.”  Interview. 

            www.about.com.

Owens Patton, Tracey.  “Hey Girl, Am I More than My Hair?: African American Women and

            Their Struggles with Beauty, Body Image, and Hair.”  NWSA Journal.  18.2 (2006):

            24-51.

Synnott, Anthony.  “Shame and Glory: A Sociology of Hair.” The British Journal of

            Hair.  38.3 (Sept. 1987): 381-413.

Weitz, Rose.  “Women and their Hair: Seeking Power through Resistance and

            Accommodation.”  Gender and Society.  15.5 (Oct 2001): 667-686.