A September to Remember, Part I

What's good, AFA fans, friends and supporters! This past September was a crazy month for the Ant Farm, the d_Cyphernauts and myself, personally. Among the major events of the month was the 6 year anniversary of September 11th, the 2 year anniversary of Enter the Cypher, the "Line in the Sand" record release event in DC and the Baltimore AFA show, the NY Hip Hop Summit and the "Hip Hop as a Positive Force in the Community" panel. Wow, that seems like lot of stuff... So, here's a bit of reflection on those events...

SEPTEMBER 11th

September 11th, 2007 was a refreshingly miserable day. It was pissing rain and the traffic in and around NYC was gridlocked. Every year since the 2001 attacks, my family and I make a sort of pilgrimage to Ground Zero and to the Ladder 4 Engine 54 house where my father worked. Up until this year, those days have been brilliantly sunny and warm; vivid reminders of the actual day of the attacks. I don't know what it was about being out in the windswept rain this year that seemed comforting, but I think everybody at Ground Zero felt it.

It seems to me that America may be suffering from "9/11 Fatigue", a desire to move on and forget what happened that day. That's a luxury I don't have, and a philosophy that is narrow-minded and limiting. There was something very pure about that day in 2001, about the contradictory nature of life in it's strength and fragility that we shouldn't be so eager to forget. I also wish that we could get back some of the compassion that we felt for each other in the days after September 11th, 2001...



ENTER THE CYPHER turns 2!!!

So, in case you missed it, it was our biggest night yet! If you haven't been out to Enter the Cypher at Cousin Larry's in Danbury, what are you waiting for?!?! If you have been, keep coming, live hip hop needs your support. It is also a consistently dope show.

This month we had blistering performances from Workforce, Phenetiks, Expertiz, Sketch, Yogi Figgs and the Nauts. The highlight of the night was a BLAZING performance by RISING SUN QUEST, who finished his set glowing like Bruce Leroy from the Last Dragon (he was actually wearing a very similar hat) and stepping off the stage (actually, it was just Larry's checkerboard floor)to the thunderous applause of his legions of fans and supporters. In keeping with tradition, our September Enter the Cypher is always a fund-raiser. At this event, we raised $360 for the Yellow Ribbon Fund, which provides support to injured soldiers returning home from duty. If you get a chance, check out the good work that they've been doing and make a donation to support our troops.



A LINE IN THE SAND CD RELEASE EVENT

So, September 21 found us in Washington DC to kick off the release of the
Iraq Veteran's Against the War benefit cd, "A Line in the Sand". The event also kicked off a week of civil disobedience and protests meant to draw attention to the anti-war movement and, in particular, to the Veterans who are opposing the war. Many of the folks that we were rocking with on Friday night and many of the veterans that we were rocking for, ended up getting arrested on Saturday outside of the Capitol. These guys have our admiration and respect for not only serving our country, but for having the courage to raise their voices against what they believe to be an unjust war.

So, I got plenty more to share with you, but let's leave it right here for now. Part II will focus on Hip Hop as a Positive Force in the Community.

Peace!
Othello- d_Cyphernauts