Breaking Loose
Hey friends! We hope you’re well and enjoying the simple pleasures of summer. This week, we had a quarantine date at In-N-Out, our first dine-in experience since our travels: who knew neapolitan shakes and animal style fries could be so exciting! We also baked cheese biscuits and coffee cake, so we’ll be putting on extra slimming Zoom backgrounds next time we see y’all 😀
Food for Thought
Over the weekend, we watched Shake the Dust, a documentary about the impact of hip hop on youth living in the slums of Uganda, Yemen, Colombia, and Cambodia. From broken families to war torn nations, young people turn to breakdancing for community, healing, hope, and a sense of control over their lives.
If you’ve ever seen breakdancers perform, you might be familiar with the headspins, windmills, and flares. These show-stopping moves demand strength, but also knowledge on how to defy and wield the laws of nature, like gravity and the centripetal force. It takes mind and body to achieve impressive feats.
In the film, teens talk about growing up in the slums of Kampala, Uganda. They don’t have much in material wealth, but they know poverty is more mindset than physical lack. And, while it’s easy to reduce the slums to impoverished living quarters, they redefine it as “Social Lessons Useful for Mind,” a classroom to learn about community, collaboration, and change making. As breakdancers, the teens conspire with their reality to strive forward.
We’re fortunate to live in abundance in the United States, but especially during the pandemic, we’ve been more familiar with lack, unable to access people, places, and experiences in the ways to which we’ve been accustomed. Although we can’t control everything, Shake the Dust reminds us that we still have ownership over our lives. What are you learning about lack, and what limits, mental and/or physical, will you break to make the most of your circumstances?
Better Together
It’s been a tough four months, without a clear end in sight for the pandemic. Healing, health, and well-being for our communities have been top of mind. If it’s been a trying time for you, please feel encouraged to fill out our weekly connection card (anonymously, if you prefer) so we can keep you and your loved ones in our thoughts and prayers. We read every submission, and reach out to connect when it’s appropriate. Either way, you’ll be in our hearts.
Shoutouts
Though it’s been more than a month since the murders of Ahmed, Brianna Taylor, and George Floyd, we want to continue honoring their lives and advocating for racial equality. Our girl, Kiron Chandy and her team at Consult Your Community has put together a visual essay on how to be anti-racist from college to the workplace. In addition to stories about racial bias in everyday life, it offers practical guidance to create a more diverse, inclusive world. We encourage you to read, like, and/or share with family and friends. For those who want to commit to anti-racism, please feel free to sign the pledge of support at the end of the document. @Kiron - Thank you for taking a stand and empowering us to be your allies!
Follow Kiron Chandy or Consult Your Community to access The Banality of Bias:
Instagram - The Banality of Bias (@consultyourcommunity)
Soundtrack
“Get By (Remix)” by Talib Kweli (feat. Yasiin Bey, Kanye West, Jay-Z, and Busta Rhymes)
Hip hop emerged from the Bronx in the 1970s when minority communities were oppressed with poverty, crime, and violence. Hip hop became an outlet for youth to express themselves through their words, music, art, and dance. We rediscovered this tune from Shake the Dust, which captures the struggle and striving that makes hip hop relatable around the world.
Shake the Dust also turned us back on to this classic breakbeat. Kurtis Blow sings about catching all kinds of breaks, mostly tough ones. But Blow also bends the definition of “break” (including homophones like “brake”) in one of the earliest displays of intricate lyrical wordplay in hip hop music. It was also the first rap song to include a chorus. Pump it loud and use it to practice your six-step and toprock.
As always, please keep in touch! We’re so lucky to have seen so many of you in the months since we’ve returned, and we hope to keep seeing even more of you with each passing week. If you’re in the San Francisco Bay Area and are open to a socially distant hangout, just holler! And, don’t hesitate to shoot us emails, texts, chats, or video invitations—you’re all the best part of our days!
Love,
Jen & Jay