Erykah Badu "window seat" video

In a true guerrilla-style video shoot, Erykah & director Coodie shot the video for her new single "window seat" along the Dealy Plaza route where JFK was assassinated, stripping nude as she neared the point where the President was shot. Reactions have been swift and mainly favorable despite the fact she bared all in front of unknowing, and by the looks of the video, uncaring tourists. As she lies dying and the word "groupthink" spills in blue blood from her head wound the following narration concludes the video: "They who play it safe, are quick to assassinate what they don't understand. They move in packs, ingesting more and more fear with every act of hate on one another. They feel more comfortable in groups, less guilt to swallow. They are us. This is what we have become, afraid to respect the individual." As for the naybobs of negativity, Badu had this to say on Twitter following the debut of the video: "I expected the gossip blog sites to spin it negatively. I expected people to ride with me. ... So it is true. Being honest CAN get u assassinated. Your character, spirit,& sometimes physically. Interesting. What drives this? Keep dialoging." She goes on to tweet "I was petrified while shooting this video ... but liberation began to set in . I conquered many fears in that few moments . I am greatful. We are ALL guilty of groupthink, we have all been VICTIMS of groupthink. [There was no] closed set . [There were] no actors . Everything was real." As for my opinion, watch the video, read Erykah's explanations for it, and decide for your self.

Generation Wave

Born on October 9, 2007 out of the remnants of gunfire and despair from the Saffron Uprising in Myanmar, Generation Wave is a non-political & non-violent youth movement that uses rapping and graffiti to spread it's anti-Military junta messages to an ever increasingly receptive youth culture. Despite recognizing Nobel Peace Prize recipiant Daw Aung Sang Suu Kyi as Burma's democratically-elected president, the group is more interested in fighting for the downfall of the junta than in taking a political side. So far 30 of it's estimated 100 or so members have been arrested, detained, and in most cases imprisoned for their acts. Most of these arrests have been for violating the Unlawful Association Act, by which members have been sentenced to as much as 5 years in prison for. Members have also compiled a compilation cd that they distribute to friends during their many border crossings into Myanmar from their base in Thailand. Songs from rappers including 9KT and AK carry titles such as "let's get up" a direct call to action aimed at inspiring Burmese youth to take actions against the junta, and "please excuse, ma" a song where the rapper apologizes to his mother for his radical revolutionary ways.

After investigating Generation Wave please contact them on Facebook and get involved. There is a bill in Congress, House Bill 898, that, when passed, would direct the Obama administration to put direct pressure on the military junta to move towards a democratic state. Contact your local Congress person and call on them to support the bill.