A Grand Adventure or Nada!!!

I finished the documentary on Tyga the rapper.  It took about 2 months.  And a handful of people were allowed to see the finished goods.  But in the process of creating it, I decided that I didn't want to release it.  The film quality was excellent and the editor did an amazing job with the piece.  But towards the end of the process I became more troubled.  I realized that you can't separate the messenger from the message.  I decided I didn't want to release a doc to high school kids that puts this rapper on a pedestal of a role model.  I'm sure like all of us, he's a mix bag of great, admirable qualities and horrible elements, he's human.  But I'm not sure he would even be comfortable with the notion of "role model".  Soooo I canned the project and that was painful. A part of me still wants to release it because it demonstrates the price of one person becoming FEARLESS.  It shows a young kid in a classroom giving everything to his craft, having setbacks and years later, persevering. And I wanted kids to see an example of someone who worked through his FEAR, and what is possible for them.  But what has he done with his fearlessness? Is he raising awareness for a cause?  Is he teaching young boys from the hood his path to entrepreneurship?  Isn't that MORE IMPORTANT than overcoming fear itself?  What will we become on our hero's adventure? But I am severely biased.  I want too much from my students.  And he is still young and has plenty of time to decide his path GRRRRRRRRRRR!

Ah the hypocrisy of being a teacher.  We want what we want from our students.  But great teachers know that we teach students to think independently even if it pains us.  I am also slanted of course in my judgement of Tyga.  I've been called a light worker, an idealist, a martyr, an underdog, and an outlier.  I suspect all of those are somewhat fitting. It is not enough to be courageous to me.  One has to do something to leave this Earth a bit better.  And who am I to judge perhaps?  Even those who do harm in one area (degrading women on videos), many times do good in other areas (donate money to schools). 
Overall, this project made me realize what I cared about the most: Helping to raise people's awareness. And getting rid of everything this year has left me with who I am.  It's been a scary and thrilling ride. I like to call this period in my life "reconstruction".  After all, we are the builders and destroyers of our own path.  We determine how high and distinctly beautiful or appalling the structure.  This may be a big shocker to some.  Many people still believe that life is about blowing in the wind without a rudder or purpose.  This couldn't be further from the truth.  And yet, the secret is YOU determine that purpose.  You decide what it will be and if you are willing to pay the price for what you want out of this life which takes a nice helping of COURAGE.
   
Hellen Keller said, "...Life is a grand adventure or nothing at all."  I couldn't agree more.  Since leaving my stable, well-paid corporate gig, I have finished the documentary that I didn't release, lol.  I have acted in 2 other film projects that I co-wrote one involving filming on the 405 freeway, so much fun.  Annnnd I'm finally finishing a book about FEAR and how it destroys lives.   Lastly, I'm applying to a teaching residency for a charter school program.  Oh and I became a part of SAG, the official union for actors, blah, blah.  I used to think there was a blueprint for success.  In fact our logo was based around this notion.  But what I realize now is that success is about doing what you want to do and being who you want to be.  And for me that entails raising the awareness of others in society.  I'm happy.  And I thank the Universe, God, Allah, Jesus, Buddha and anyone I may have missed for allowing such a grand adventure at such a young age.  Encore!!

P.S. Check out this article by Steve Pavlina.  http://www.stevepavlina.com/articles/courage-to-live-consciously.htm

Shak
100. 

Become on Fire!!!!

It's been almost a year since my last post, at least I think.  It had occurred to me that I was starting to spend too much time watching other people's grind instead of actively working on mine so the blog has since suffered.

It's easier that way.  You know, sitting on the sideline, pointing out the highlights and lowlights of a person's career.  But what about us?  What do WE want to accomplish?  I think that's the right question. But then there's the hard part.  Making a decision!

Do we DARE to go after what we want?

What would happen if you allowed yourself that desire to want what you REALLY want.  Most of us can't stand the thought of desiring something because we don't think it's at all possible to attain.  But what if it was? Very few peeps have dreams that are totally out of reach and yet they still DO NOTHING to move towards them.  We get stuck.  Should I go for that new job?  "Naaaaah!"  Should I talk to that cute girl?  "I dunno what if she doesn't like me?"

What to do?  Show no FEAR.

Take one little, baby step towards it.  And who knows, one thing propels you to the next thing, and before long you're moving in the direction of your dream.

I've had these tapes of film in my closet FOREVER.  It was just sitting there, getting nice and dusty like most stuff that just sits.  One day I had the bright idea to transform the tapes into digital files to see what was actually on the film.  Who knew the film would contain an amazing story just waiting to be sculpted and plucked from obscurity.  6 years ago I had an idea of highlighting what young MCs and Skateboarders do (they grind).  So I wrote/directed a story and hired a production crew without any experience of course.  When you have something you Really want to do, you just DO IT.  The TV pilot was called Grindin'.  I decided to bring along a kid I was helping at the time.  It was his energy.  It was his passion.  He was a MC before he was a MC (CARS, $$$, LADY FRIENDS).  Rappers do that you know.  They're some of the biggest believers.

6 years later.  Tyga is HUGE!!!!

And on film, I have what I saw 6 years ago.  A kid,  (Unknown but On Fire).  It's what I've been trying to tell  anyone who is willing to listen.  "BECOME MORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRE!"  "DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARE MIGHTY, INSANE THINGS", "FIND WHAT YOU LOVE AND GRIND".  I have witnessed and helped many on their hero's journey.  And FINALLY I was clever enough to capture it all on film.  YES!!!!  Maybe by coincidence.  I doubt it.
Now, for the fun part.  I have to get the story out to millions.  On to the next challenge.  And so I'm off on my own adventure again.
Shak
100.

P.S.  I'll post the short documentary of Tyga when finished.  :)

I'm Inspired By: Tyga & The Kids at Jordan High (Watts)

On 2/23/10 I spoke at Jordan High school to a group of 250+ teenage girls. 

I was supposed to speak about Dreams/Success. But what is success? Is there a formula to obtain your dreams? The definition of success in Webster is to obtain a desired goal. Well that’s great but how do I tell these kids HOW to obtain a specific goal? I was told my whole life that success would come from working hard and getting a good education. But my experience has taught me that’s not nearly the case. We all know plenty of hard working folks who are still not exactly as successful as they would like to be. We also know plenty of educated and talented individuals who are very far off from obtaining their goals. Hard work, education and talent are only a part of success but there has to be more. I’m sure the teachers weren’t going to be too happy when I explained that piece. What then do I tell the kids? This kept me up almost the whole night. To top it off, I was speaking to kids who lived off grape St. in the projects, so giving them a pipedream wasn’t going to get it.

I was prepared to speak to classes of 20. However, during the last workshop because of a “logistical problem” (the girls/boys were getting to rowdy to continue to move from class to class); I was placed in the auditorium to speak to over 250 students. Although, one of my main goals in life is to speak to large audiences, I wasn’t prepared for it yesterday. I think we have to be careful of what we want in life, of what goals we set, because when the opp comes we’re often not prepared. I want to personally thank Cira; who sent an email yesterday saying when in doubt tell a story. And that’s exactly what I did.

 I told the story about a young dreamer who was struggling in school like many of them. He hadn’t found school very relevant to what he was preparing to become. That’s the last thing I thought the teachers would want me to discuss, another renegade kid who didn’t like school. But this wasn’t for the teachers it was for the kids. So I began the story.

 “Randomly” I received a call back in early 2005 from my sorority sister in ATL. She wanted me to have lunch with a young rapper from LA and her friend who was the kid’s play uncle. At the time, I was just an intern at Interscope. When I met with them, I told them I had no “pull” to further his career. I only had ideas of what he could do to become better. Over time I became great friends with his uncle and met with the kid’s mom. When he was really messing up in school, I did what any friend/mentor would do. I talked to him about the importance of education, and I brought in two other friends to help “guide” him. At one point his mother was so fed up with his performance in school that she told us she was out of options and was ready to ship him off to live with his uncle permanently.



But he was different that the other kids I had mentored and tutored. He had a definite goal/purpose in mind. And all his actions; and all his pursuits were in line with that goal. If he found someone who could help move him a step towards that goal, he seized the opportunity with 100% dedication. Hell, I was green in the music industry, how could I help him become a “rapper”? I wasn’t a rapper; I was just a young enthusiast of Hip-Hop who happened to think people could reach their dreams. Not knowing much, I invited him over to write to several beats given to me by my friends. Now these beats weren’t famous producers, but I told them that they were going to be huge one day. And he believed me, silly kid.

 Telling the story, I realized that’s one of the truths that is often overlooked. We don’t become anything in life, we are who we are or we aren’t. People think their environment affects them but it’s the other way around, we affect our environment. And the kid came over to my house, and grabbed a pen and paper and just started writing to my friend, Dame Taylor’s beats. He acted like he was in a real studio. I told him that one day I would have an in-house studio but at the time it was just a room with bare walls. About a year later, Dame would become my roommate and he would turn that room into a real studio and create a beat there that he later sold to G-Unit… but I digress. I told the kids, maybe there is power in pretending; don’t let anyone or any adult tell you different. I’m interrupted by one of the girls in the audience. “Was he as good as Lil Wayne”? I told her, “His talent as a rapper was about average, but I remember telling the kid that he reminded me of Lil Wayne”. In fact, Lil Wayne was his source of inspiration.


By late 2005, a group of us were creating a reality show pilot with school age kid rappers and skateboarders. It seemed like a cool concept. 2 years earlier I had met Stevie Williams via a friend who was also an inner city skateboarder. I thought, well, why not throw the kid rapper into the project…it would give him another chance to compete. Of course this wasn’t sponsored by MTV; it was just 3 chicks producing it. Just like I had never been a rapper, I mos def was never a reality show producer. But we were just having fun…pretending, dreaming. It still amazes me to see so many young urban kids riding skateboards in the city 5 years later; I don’t remember seeing any of them back then. Another girl yelled out, “But this kid had an opportunity. We don’t have any opportunities in Watts.” And I told her, “then you guys have no choice but to create them”. I asked them, how many of you skate board? About 20% of hands went up. I started smiling. And said, “Sometimes you have to create and imagine what you want to see around you”. Last time I came to Watts there were no skaters.


The kid lost the battle on our pilot show. And a year later, I saw him in the Fox Hills mall with an entourage. He told me he was on tour with the group Gym Class Heroes. He had met Travis in a sneaker store on Melrose. Long story short the two became friends and the kid bugged him until he got an opportunity to perform. He later got signed to their label. If he would have quit after not “winning” that one opportunity the story would be over. But there’s more. Today, ironically, he’s signed to Lil Wayne’s label. And has a song/video out with the young money crew right now, it’s in heavy rotation on the radio. It’s called “Bedrock”. Tyga is one of the featured rappers.


I told the kids that Tyga’s story wasn’t about becoming rich and famous. It was about a kid who had “unwavering faith”, determination and talent. But after witnessing many talents in Los Angles, I’m convinced that finding a person with belief is much rarer than finding talent. I remember our ride home together when he lost the battle. He asked me, “Shak, yall rigged the competition so I can lose”. And I told him “No, Ras Kass and the other judges thought the other boy was better today”. And he looked at me with total disbelief. And said, “They must not have been listening”. LOL Maybe blind faith is what’s necessary to go to the top. It’s the type that is childlike (sees no limits), imaginative (creating as you go) and totally unreasonable (doesn’t accept defeat).


Shak
100.