SirReal Photography presents Signature: blax·ploi·ta·tion A genre of American film of the 1970s featuring African-American actors in lead roles and often having antiestablishment plots, frequently criticized for stereotypical characterization and glorification of violence. Gordon Parks described his blaxploitation projects as “a picture people go to see because they want to see the black guy winning.”  Being a late 80’s baby, I always found it quite difficult to understand the Black community’s attraction to blaxploitation films let alone the term.  But growing as a Black artist has...

Last month Anthony Hamilton let it happen. He dropped…Back to Love. Here’s what a few folks had to say… Odeisel from planetill.com: Back To Love is a well-rounded Anthony Hamilton with a little swagger added and less of the weight of the world on his shoulders. It’s house cleaning reality music, full of emotion, delivered by a guy that could sing. Evan Rytlewski from the www.avclub.com: With his fifth album, Back To Love, Anthony Hamilton becomes the latest neo-soul veteran to outdo himself. Where Hamilton’s past albums have lured in listeners with their slow, sensual pull,...

MTV recently announced a casting call for Black women ages 15-28 for its reality show TRUE LIFE. The subject: Black Women Going Natural. The series seeks to document the black woman’s journey of transitioning to natural hair. The natural hair aesthetic is a popular trend now as it has gone from being an underground notion to now being seen on CNN and Fox. On this subject, Claudio E. Cabrera of TheRoot.com says that, “throughout the last few years, black women’s dependence on what many call the “creamy crack” has declined as many find the advantages of going natural....

It is the end of  the 7th, and final, day of KWANZAA. Today we celebrated IMANI (Faith). Today we renew our BELIEF in God, our people, our teachers and our leaders, and the virtue and victory of our struggle  - IMANI! When we speak of faith as it relates to the principles of the Nguzo Saba, one way we can practice Imani all year ’round is to always, always, always search for common ground amongst the desires and struggles of our peoples. This search is grounded in a FAITH that we all seek create a more community for our legacies. However, there are so many things that separate people in...

2011 was a tumultuous year in the Garden. We have gone thru a lot of changes, growing chaotically, organically along the way. Some folks have moved on while others have joined us followers and cultivators and we were fortunate to share some exciting times and provocative adventures along the way. One of these exciting experiences was Yemi Toure’s Midnight Erotica. It was an evening in late summer and a few of the images from Pangea’s UdoU Series were included in an Afrocentric erotica art show featuring paintings, drawings, sculptures, photography and spoken word. Nobella body painted...

I want to start this post by saying that Love & hip Hop is a disgrace to all things Hip Hop but I have to at least acknowledge the superficial nature that does exist within the new Hip Hop Culture. I can’t help that in seeing the name “Love & Hip Hop”, I actually expected to see a show of real artists showing their love for the music and community, expressing how Hip Hop has inspired them, showing their influence on hip hop. I expected to see a few battles, hear some good beats, see some records spinning, and be taken inside the studios. I wanted to see some dude in dirty jeans kicking...

I hope you are having a happy Holiday!

Cooling winds of winter are approaching in these days before the holiday and I looked back and remember the blistering heat of a summer past. It was a long stroll with earthSista Chadoe in the early days of the Garden as an online community and she was one of the its rebel cultivators. Curious and liberated, the self-made young sista and I strolled casually in the sweltering sun of the day. It was the perfect time defy convention and bare all. The breezes were light and rare and precious. And the sun made Chadoe glow. The intensity of the heat was only matched by the intensity in Chadoe’s...

EXCERPT ”How to Build A People’s Army” by Kalonji Changa (www.ftpmovement.ning.com): Everything that exists within the universe has an order and anything that doesn’t have an order is chaotic. Whether we are dealing with reproduction, how we breathe, how we eat or how we walk, there is an order as to how things work. Taking on the task of being a community organizer, a freedom fighter, a revolutionary or what have you is no different. You must organize yourself, your immediate family, your extended family and then the masses. You start with your house, your community, your...

Signature: The Dandettes One of the most important accomplishments you can make as an artist is to establish a fingerprint for your work that is signature to you. SirReal Photography debuts photography series Signature. Signature is an organized display of some of Dex R. Jones’ most signature past and upcoming pieces that is unmistakably signature to SirReal Photography. Originally shot as a follow-up to the Dandy Lions collection, the first installment to Signature will be The Dandettes. The creation of this image collection is captured in this documentary of the behind the scenes of...