Category Archives: Journal

Back in May, I talked with Detroit rapper Invincible about the reasons why her video ‚ÄúRopes‚Äù was pulled from MTV (read story here). During our conversation she introduced me to the Hip Hop Mental Health Project (HHMHP), an organization that seeks to reduce the stigma associated with mental illness and act as an informational¬† resource. The difference between the…

Photographs of boxing legend Mike Tyson’s abandoned 1980s mansion in Southington, Ohio, have been widely circulated on the Internet in recent years (see here). Last August, however, photographer Danny Wills ventured to the vacant Ohio property for an impromptu photo session and has given new life to Tyson’s former home in a haunting new series of portraits.

A new series of personal essays about job loss, mental health, and the undying pursuit of art.

When I arrived that morning, the magazine offices were nearly vacant. Nothing but the dull hum of a thousand overhead florescent lights and the distant clicking of a few phantom keyboards registered a sound. A stack of empty boxes had been…

In 2001, Dutch performance artist Iepe B. T. Rubingh ‚Äî better known as IEPE ‚Äî erected an elaborate installation titled ‚ÄúThe Berlin Miracle‚Äù in the German city‚Äôs Hackescher Market. The installation centered around a tree rooted in the center of the busy market, one that residents and commuters passed each day. But out of nowhere, the tree began to…

This past April was a particularly violent month in America. On Friday, April 3, gunman Jiverly A. Wong killed 13 people at the American Civic Association in Binghamton, New York. He shot himself before law enforcement could take him into custody. The next day, Saturday, April 4, three Pittsburgh police officers (Eric Kelly, 41, Stephen Mayhle, 29, and Paul…

This past¬†Friday, former U.S. Army soldier Steven Green was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of four Iraqi civilians in March of 2006. Green‚Äôs case, and countless others,¬†have become an example of the military‚Äôs growing¬†failure to properly screen¬†recruits prior to enlistment (e.g. Green was one of over 5,000 soldiers granted conduct waivers in 2005). And the fact…

This past February, Detroit rapper Invincible submitted the video for her track “Ropes” to mtvU for consideration in the channel’s lineup. The video was accepted in mid-March. But after MTV’s standards department further reviewed the video’s content, they reconsidered, providing Invincible with the following response by email:

It’s been a bad year¬†in America and¬†we’re only three months in. So bad that I’ve considered withdrawing what little cash remains in my savings and depositing it in a series of hand-dug ditches¬†in the woods…