Can A Sista Rock A Mic? Grand Opening: Dionne Farris & more

Renaissance Reduxx : Solo works by Kelly Castillo

Kelly Castillo is an artist intertwined in the underground emerging artist scene in Southern California. Not only an urban contemporary artist, she is also a gallery owner & an arts Commissioner for the City of Anaheim, CA. The premier of her 2010 series, Renaissance Reduxx, is a feminist critique of the modern day Renaissance women submitting to and breaking out of societal confines. Renaissance Reduxx follows the pursuit of women out of the banality of the traditional roles that subjugate women, portraying them on the verge of their journey in finding more exotic pursuits by way of eastern religions and empowered sexuality. 


The opening night will be June 5, 2010 6pm - midnight 


This exhibit will be showing  June 5, 2010  - July 5, 2010
 
Location: Art Whino Gallery
173 Waterfront St.
National Harbor, MD 20745

Russell Simmons at Ferebee Hope Community Charter School

Many celebrities talk about giving back to the community but you never see them or the works they claim to do.
Well, Russell Simmons is really walking the walk.
He walked into Ferebee Hope Charter School in SE Washington DC with little to no security. He walked around stopping in class rooms to speak to students before settling into the library to speak to a group of parents and teachers about meditation & financial literacy.  Initially, I was like “Oookay, what in the heck do meditation and money have to do with each other?” but as soon as he begun to speak it made total sense. He started off saying how he would like to see meditation in schools and that he was on the advisory board for Community In Schools Charter Schools. He believes that teaching children abundance will enable then to achieve more in life and that if children “believe they have everything they will be able to get anything”. This really struck because we so often act from a place of not only lack but starvation. Our children see things on television and when they can’t get them they immediately whine and cry about how so and so has this toy and object and why can’t they have it?  But as Russell  was saying if we teach our children to be grateful for what we have and how blessed we really are then they will be happy and operating from a happy place is what brings wealth.
I know this all sounds a little kooky to some folks, but honestly what miserable unhappy person do you know that has achieved real success? I personally don’t know any.
Russell’s short but timely talk was very inspirational and motivating. It was good to see him reaching out to the community and promoting change in real, tangible ways.

Russell Simmons is a fashion and music icon and the author of the book; Do You!: 12 Laws to Access the Power in You to Achieve Happiness and Success

Bassey World LIVE

If you are on Twitter and you are not following Bassey Ikpi, you just aren't doing it right.period.
Bassey Ikpi is a 5 time Def Poetry Jam Poet, blogger, writer, and all around hilarious woman. Her live poetry is amazing...I saw her do a poem on Britteny Spears mental breakdown and it actually made me care about Brittney for like two seconds.  At Bassey World Live Bassey will be performing spoken word, discussing pop culture, current events and relationships whilst being live streamed and interacting with her 4618 followers on Twitter. Accompanying her will be Danielle Belton (www.BlackSnob.com); Yesha Callahan (ww.fungkeblakchik.com) and many others.  I know I say this a lot but you don't want to miss this...no, you can't miss this.  So go get your tickets here. 

Info:
Bassey World Live will be performed at Liv Lounge 2001 11th Street NW Washington DC
Tickets: $13 @ the door (but I think some are left on Event Brite)

Sustainability Lab May 1 - 8; June 3 -12, 2010

Transformer and Brooklyn-based cultural worker Jeff Hnilicka  explore emerging models of cultural production, the sustainability of these models, and their impact within communities though a series of workshops, talks, skill shares, potluck dinners, and artistic actions. Discoveries made during Sustainability Lab will be shared at the Open Engagement conference in Portland, Oregon (May 14 – 17) exploring similar themes. Hnilicka will then be back at Transformer further investigating and interpreting outcomes of Open Engagement.
 For more information click here

Friday Link Love

Pardon my laziness, but I have to clean out my office today in preparation to move, but these three links are pretty darn cool..so what this post lacks in quantity it makes up for in quality.

Green Wedding Shoes 
Yes it's a wedding blog and before you ask..no I'm not getting married anytime soon. I just love the vintage images and inspiration on this site. It's not your typical big white dress, shiny things wedding blog.  They have very interesting, whimsical photography and fashion inspiration all through this blog. So, if you are planning a wedding or not check it out!

Flwrpt Brooklyn
Great music blog.  The writer makes amazing mixes and highlights hard to find recordings. A crate diggers dream!

Big Bad Bag
I like bags and I hate to sound stereotypical, but I am going to guess that most women do.  This a tumblr site filled with nothing but dope handbags of kinds. Oh yeah and I created the blog..so, uh...yeah go there now. Please and thank you!

Africa, Africa, Africa!

I have been listening to this  DJ Underdog mix all morning!  It's full of afro beat and heavy drum tracks. Trust me it will to get you in the mood to kick today's a$$.  Give it a listen and download it for free at Lunch Box Theory

C Love performing at Liv 4/30/10

I saw this brother do his thing in the Deez Nutz production. He is very talented, not only can he sing, and play the guitar he has a stage presence that can not be denied.  Catch him perform with Messiah, Tamika Love Jones and many others. Buy your tickets in advance..you don't want to miss this!

Info:
Liv Nightclub is located at 2001 11th Street NW Washington DC (on the corner of 11th and U Street)
The tickets are $12 in advance purchase them here:  http://clove.eventbrite.com/

I haven't blogged in months. I haven't written or submitted in months either. Since July (the last time I wrote on this blog) so much has happened a lot of good and some not so good, but I am still alive so that is all that counts.
To cut to the chase, the reason I haven't been updating this blog is because I'm not sure exactly where I want to go with this now. It's like when you reach that point in a relationship where you have "the talk". Yeah, well me and this blog are at that cross roads. When I first started Chocolate Milk DC it was all about arts and events, so I covered a lot of gallery openings, museum exhibits, etc. Then I started interviewing artist which was cool. I have a love/hate attitude towards interviewing people, though. I love talking to people and getting to know folks but I am not really the nosey journalist type, so it's hard for me to just sit and ask some random person a bunch of random questions.
Shortly after that I started publishing more of my writing in other places; web sites, anthologies and magazines which made me want to use this blog as a way to some how advertised my own work but that just felt like shameful self promotion.

Which brings me to the present.

I've thought about turning this into a fashion blog (since I majored in Fashion Design in college) but while I love fashion and textiles, sometimes it seems more label driven than arts driven. I am not a huge music head, so this couldn't be a music blog and I'm just not angry enough to have a "I'm angry, so I am going to complain about life" blog.
All that being said, the post from here on out are going to be pretty random until I find my niche, again.

New stuff

Check out my new Tumblr blog:
Sunday Bliss

Link Love

Twitter is annoying sometimes. I like tweeting while I am riding the bus home from work, but that's pretty much it. But, every now and then I come across a tweet about something cool, like the blog: Le Coil. The pictures on this blog do something to me that I can't convey in words. There are so many different representations of beauty on Le Coil...

Joyism

This event is going to be simply beautiful...
Click the flier to buy tickets and for more information

I think I am in love....

Lunch Box Theory Presents: Afro Beat

Who can resist Afro Beat, Cubanismo, and other cultural funky sounds, a DJ (DJ Underdog) who actually spins real records (yeah none of that digi crap) and face painting!

Friday April, 24, 2009
Selam Bar and Restaurant
1524 U St NW
Washington, DC
Cover Price: $1, yep you read that right 1 damn dollar!

Gotta Upgrade...

Okay, so I am following the wave and moving over to WordPress. I am still in the process of getting the blog right and all that jazz. So, on Thursday I will have moved completely and will supply you wonderful guys and gals with my new web address.

See you on the other side.

Forgetful me..

I here about a lot of interesting events. Some appropriate for this blog, some not so much. Often times I forget to blog about events, bands, etc. that I set out to. So, if I have ever or when I do (the 1st step is acceptance...lol) forget to blog about your stuff, please forgive me!
Thanks guys.

This is it, what.....

Yep, yep, Camp Lo tomorrow!
4/16/09
8:30 PM - 2:00 AM
LIV : 2001 11th St (11th and U)
Washington, DC 20001
(202) 299-0800

To buy tickets click the flier

Interview w/ Camille Peace

How long have you been designing and creating jewelry?

I have been creating jewelry since January of 2008. I started because some of my favorite jewelry pieces broke. In order to fix them I bought some basic tools, fixed my things, added new components, felt empowered, and expanded.

What is the artist community like in St. Louis; it doesn’t really strike me as a very progressive town?

Hmm... That's a tough one. It's not very cohesive. It’s hard to penetrate, even harder to link up, share ideas and build. Sort of a crabs in a barrel mentality. I tend to keep to myself, and do what I do best.

What are some of your inspirations?

I find inspiration in nature, in parks and on my hikes. My hometown San Diego, CA is a big inspiration to me; incorporating elements I used to find when I walked along the beach. Shells, mother of pearl, leaves from kelp, water, etc. I am also inspired by the music and style of Erykah Badu, India Arie and Jill Scott. I design with them in mind. I use materials that look beautiful against black skin; brass, sterling, wood, etc. I also flip through Vogue magazines, I constantly scan Google images and study other cultures to be influenced by their simplicity and use of color and texture. I often times purchase accessories from discount stores, break them apart to make new, original pieces. Textiles also influence me, food influences me, stories influence me, and emotions influence me. I feel everything and put it all into what I make.

You've been known to snap photos and DJ, what other art forms do you
indulge in and how do these affect your jewelry?

I love, love, love photography. I work everyday to get better at it. And, naturally, taking great photos helps me market my jewelry. People do not have the option of holding and touching my pieces before they purchase them, so they rely on an expressive photo. Photography teaches me to see things from various angles, and to detect beauty that isn't so in-your-face. It teaches me about lines and composition, texture and color. I am grateful to my fiancé for teaching me how to DJ (DJ Trackstar).

DJing involves the use of the ears, eyes, soul and technique. When making jewelry, technique is important. How you hold the piece you are working on, etc; and I am guided by my soul when I create. I rarely sketch. I am very much hands-on.

Check out Camille's online store: PEACE IMAGES

Sunday Link Love

Two things I love to do on Sunday's is read Post Secrets and search the 'net for dope blogs.
Here are my findings so far this morning:

Kounter Kulture/ Really cool indie-ish, quasi hip hop art blog. Lots of pictures and interesting links.

Real-I-Rising/ This blog is self described as;self movement through holistic well being, creativity and culture. Very good info here on various rituals, yoga, energy work, etc. For the hippie in you.

Dear Old Love/ A co-worker of mines turned my on to this one, so I can not take full credit. Dear Old Love is a blog filled with short, one liner, confessions about old loves. Be careful this one is addictive because it's something we can all relate to.

That's all I got right now. I will be updating throughout the day....