National Natural Hair Meetup Day - Beantown edition

Check out the video from this sista who will be speaking tomorrow at the National Natural Hair Meetup Day (#NNHMD) event here in Boston. All of the info on the event is included in the description box of her video. I will be attending, taking some pictures, and maybe a little video so that I can blog about it afterward for www.itsjusthair.com! I'm also looking forward to checking out my girl Veronica, who will be sharing info on her amazing company, My Crowning Jewel!

A Fashionable Farewell

When I was a pre-teen, my mother used to take me shopping on Newbury Street now and again, helping to nurture my love of fashion. One of our favorite stops was always the Betsey Johnson store. Bright pink, unique and girly with strength and edge, we always enjoyed browsing the iconic looks and innovative designs of both the clothing, and of the store itself. These trips were the first thing that I thought of when I learned that Betsey Johnson had filed for bankruptcy. The second thing I thought of was cartwheels.

Sadly, Betsey Johnson stores across the country will be closing, including all of the Massachusetts stores and my beloved Newbury Street location. My mom and I will be making one last trip there this afternoon to reminisce and to check out the sales, which begin today (at all stores in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. I believe). While I probably won't give in to temptation and do a cartwheel in front of the store, and I am sad to see the end of place filled with fun memories, I am looking forward to another girls' day there with my mom and to checking out the incredible discounts from one of my favorite designers.

Get Your Dance on Day

This Sunday, the Dance Complex in Cambridge is hosting one of their periodic open houses, where they offer free 20-minute mini dance classes all afternoon. It's a great chance to check out a potential new class, or just get some free, fun exercise. Many of the teachers are incredible, world renowned dancers, such as the legendary Ramon de los Reyes, Founder and Artistic Director of the Spanish Dance Theater, Inc., and patriarch of an incredible family of dancers. Learning flamenco from him is truly learning from one of the greats!

Check out the schedule for the upcoming open house:

1:00-5:00pm on Sunday, May 6, 2012.

TIME	TEACHER	CLASS
1:00	Ramon de los Reyes	Flamenco
1:20	AnaLinda	Tango
1:40	Matei Livianu	Salsa
2:00	Matei Livianu	Bachata
2:20	Wendy Jehlen	Modern
2:40	Sheila Eghbali	Iranian Dance
3:00	Rozann Kraus	Easy Modern
3:20	Rachel Werkman	Samba
3:45	Carolisa	Belly Dance & Zumba
4:10	Julianne Corey	Nia
4:35	Christina Harrington	Tap

Boston Biolab?

I received the following community alert in my email yesterday. This definitely looks like something worthy of some time and attention:

COMMUNITY ALERT

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF HEALTH PUBLIC MEETING

APRIL 19TH  @  6:30pm

ROXBURY COMMUNITY COLLEGE

1234 Columbus Avenue - (Media Arts Building)

A public hearing on the third and latest risk assessment for the NEIDL (the Boston University bioweapons lab) has been scheduled for Thursday, April 19, 2012, from 6:30-9:30 PM at Roxbury Community College,  Media Arts Building, 1234 Columbus Avenue, Boston, MA 0212.  The closest T stop is Roxbury Crossing.

For almost ten years, the Safety Net (a Roxbury-based community group) and the Stop the BU Bioterror Lab Coalition have successfully fought to prevent this dangerous high containment  biological laboratory from being opened in the densely populated Roxbury/South End neighborhood.  High-level containment laboratories do research on pathogens that can cause severe illness and death. The highest level (BSL-4) labs study lethal diseases that can be transmitted by air and for which there are no vaccines or treatments.  The lab is located in an Environmental Justice neighborhood which already faces significant health and environmental hazards.

Two previous risk assessments have been severely criticized by the courts and by a National Research Council panel of experts.   This latest 1700-page effort can be viewed at http://nihblueribbonpanel-bumc-neidl.od.nih.gov/,   The National Institutes of Health have scheduled the April 19th hearing because they are required to offer community members and other concerned citizens an opportunity to comment on the risk assessment.

We must make it clear to BU, NIH, and the political establishment that this lab is not acceptable to us.   It is essential that we turn out in large numbers.

I don't know a lot about this particular biolab, but I do know that I received a phone message from a close family friend this morning, encouraging me to either attend the meeting and help stop the development of this biolab, or to think about moving far, far away. :-/ 

I'm definitely interested in learning more about this issue and about the potential ramifications for Roxbury residents. If anyone has an solid info to share, please hit up the comments section below.

"Femcee" Fashion

As a HipHop fashion aficionado, I'm always on the lookout for the newest trends, styles and fashion phenomena in the culture. Trace Urban recently put out the video above on some up-and-coming female emcees (I'm so not a fan of classifying artists by gender, but that's another topic), focusing a bit on the styles each of the selected young ladies likes to rock. The video focuses mainly on artists who are currently generating some mainstream buzz. I would have loved to have seen more unsung/underground sistas like Boston's own Letia Larok, the young sista being presented by 9th Wonder, Rapsody, or even some international talent, but that's just me I guess. Ironically, most of these buzzworthy beauties also have a lot of similarities in their steez (I'll let you figure out what they have in common yourself) and while the video makes brief mention of the role of marketing in the visibility of these artists, unfortunately it doesn't go into an in-depth discussion of the ways in which marketing directly impacts the image-making process (especially for female artists). Alas, it seems that the era of Lil Kim, Foxy Brown and Trina is back in full effect (*sigh*). Hopefully, we'll also get some future Lauryn Hills, Queen Latifahs and Rah Diggas to balance things out. 

Oh, and since we're talking about women in HipHop, check out this interview with 9th Wonder on the subject.

If there are any fresh new female artists you think I should get put on to, feel free to hip me in the comments section below. In the meantime, I'm gonna keep Rah Digga's ridiculously ill Tyler the Creator diss track on repeat.

Kicks Convention

Today is the Deadstock sneaker convention at the Fourth Wall Artists Space in the Fenway. The event runs from 12pm-6pm at 132 Brookline Ave Boston. Sneakerheads will be rolling out from far and wide, so break out your flyest kicks and check it out!

Town Halls for Trayvon

There are more local events in support of Trayvon Martin coming up. Check the flyer above for details on the April 6th Community Town Hall Forum at Hibernian Hall in Dudley Sq. It's cool that they already have some specific ACTION items outlined for this event, so that it won't simply be the choir standing around singing to itself. 

There is also going to be a community dialogue at the Worcester Public Library sponsored by Press Pass TV (a really cool local org to check out if you haven't already) on April 3rd:

Press Pass TV hosts a community forum and dialogue about the image of young men of color in our news and media. Facilitators community members dismantle the myth of the "superpredator" and address the consequences of these persistent media narratives that Black and Latino boys are dangerous, violent and out of control. What can we do to change the media so that it reflects the whole scope of our humanity so that every one of our children can walk down their street without being seen as "suspicious?" Find out how to get involved in the Respect in Reporting campaign and take action and brainstorm with your neighbors how we can start here in Worcester.

If anyone knows about any other local events related to the Trayvon Martin case, please leave the details in the comments, email me, or dm me on twitter, so that I can share the 411.