This Is Book’s Music

There’s a band out there called State Shirt, but they’re not a band nor are they a they. It’s one man, Ethan Tufts, and he likes to wear state shirts. See how that works? Cool.

You may have heard of his album This Is Out (released through Los Fucking Angeles Records but also available directly from his website) on radio or maybe a website or two, but now you can see what State Shirts is about by checking out the video for “Fell Out Of The Sky”

The old school has let people know where they’re at and where they’ve been, and in the last few years some have wondered what happened to Bahamadia. She, Roxanne Shante and the incredible DJ Shortee, along with Toronto’s Eternia and Detroit’s Invincible was part of the We B-Girlz European tour sharing the true unity of hip-hop among the ladies in the house. Check out the above video, hopefully a full length DVD will be on the way.

History in the making, and it was an incredible moment. A lot of people have something to day about the events of today, and I’d like to share mine.

I was listening to something on NPR this morning where the commentator said he was speaking to a few teenagers and they feel that because Barack Obama is now the 44th President of the United States of America, racism will no longer exist. It sounds naive at most, but I go back to when I grew up in Honolulu, living in a place that to me seemed perfect even though my parents sometimes went out of their way to “talk stink” about certain “other” people. It struck me as odd since both my mom and dad are mixed, but as the old song by Keola & Kapono Beamer, “Mr. Sun Cho Lee”, states, it is about tolerance, and through tolerance a bit of understanding so that we can all live in the same place. I grew up hearing all of this but coming up with my own opinions, and it was great to live in a place where I associated myself with friends like Traya, Bernaldes, Estrada, Chow, Chang, Bollig, Oki, Matsumoto, Kinimaka, Shimooka (in case any of you are curious, I am indeed talking about surfer John Shimooka, who was a grade above me when we attended Royal Elementary), Pimentel, Domingo, Savea, Mauga, Ramirez, Horio, Hong, and Ball. It was never a major issue, and a lot of us who were mixed never made it an emphasis to talk about being “mixed” because that was an automatic part of who we were/are. We talked about “the chinese guy” or “the girl who is hapa”, made fun of each other in a way that was indeed childish. You know, “your dad Filipino, he must work for city & county, right?” or “your mom is haole, I can tell because you half ugly”, or “your dad is Samoan, I hope he doesn’t pound you like he pounds your mom”, the stereotypes are out in the open and while it may seem funny at first, you go out of your way to learn and understand cultures, discover the truths and falsehoods, and then slowly get rid of what you may have heard at home.

When my mom moved my sister I to the mainland, it was truly a culture shock. The ways I learned, my comfort zone, seemed to erode immediately when I became the target of other people’s stereotypes. When I was enrolled in a middle school, they looked at my papers and they said that I should not have levels this high, that I can’t be *that smart* and they put me down two levels on every subject. I felt like an alien, and at that moment I felt “why not me, why can’t I be that smart?” when I was? Perhaps they felt no one from Hawai’i could be intelligent, and I was immediately hit with my first dose of racism. I would slowly put up bricks to my personal wall, and I became more adamant about who I was, where I came from, and what I want to do. I never had to fight or defend my own mind as I did when I became a resident of the contintental United States, and it was as if I was “different” just because that’s what others thought of me. I think I had to work four times as much as the next man, and I then became a part of the fabric of a country where there were millions of others just like me. The different is that I did not come from a different country, I am from the Aloha State. I am Hawaiian/Chinese/Portuguese/Filipino/German/Austrian, and I represent those who came before me. I never forget those who paved the way, and yet I read countless articles, seen many movies and documentaries about a country that continues to forget the old and pave way for the new, because new is better.

Welcome President Barack Obama.

A lot of people are taking to him because it feels that he is “one of us”. He is the common man who wants to help the people, and everyone wants to find something in him that we can take to heart. People put avatars on online forums or wear My President Is Black T-shirts with pride. Some will joke and make up shirts that say My President Is Also White, and yet that concept, of someone being of two different ethnicities, two different worlds, scares people. Obama has been a people person, but people are quick to talk about all of his flaws, even though as I write this he has been president for two hours and nine minutes. People look at his middle name and think “oh, he is the ultimate anti-Christ and he will force all Americans to believe in Allah?” or “will he open us up to terrorists?” You know there’s someone out there right now going “will Burger King now be called Burger Kaing, will McDonald’s be changed to Micky D’s?”, people will reach to the lowest levels of their capacity and dig up crap in order to smell their own richness.

Obama represents all of the United States, but as a man he represents his black side. He represents his white heritage. Yet I read somewhere that people are irked because while he calls himself black, he is “not black enough” because he was born and raised in Hawai’i, had a different mentality and upbringing, and according to a recent newspiece on The Today Show, does not have the same credibility as rapper 50 Cent. It’s almost as if one has to fit the established stereotypes in order to be considered what you think you are, and when you’re not, you’re forever an outsider.

But you know what? We now have an outsider not only looking in, but working within. He brings his knowledge, expertise, and hard work ethic into The White House, and that truly scares people. People like to talk shit about Hawai’i since it has been reduced lately to nothing more than a tourist resort, but it’s a place that is much more than that. It is a place rich in history, rich in its customs, rich in its people. It is the place that shaped President Obama in some form, a man that doesn’t mind talking about his love of Spam musubi, Zippy’s or Rainbow Drive-Inn, and may introduce people in his cabinet to the wonders of manapua, pork hash, and malasadas with his love of churros, BBQ, and coffee. Yes my friends, we have a president that loves good food.

A part of what I grew up with, a part of what my parents passed on to me with their hanabata days stories, I clearly see and feel with our new president. He has a charm, a smile, and a sense of determination and confidence which says “I’d rather work together with you than against you’, which goes back to playing Wall To Wall in the playground when you knew of yourself, knew of your friends, and simply stated “the more the merrier”. Maybe Hawaiians still have the small town mentality, where things are more intimate, more about family and friends, more about being together, wanting more when you don’t have as much as you think you want (or deserve). You spread that out to the rest of the world, and it’s almost revolutionary. There’s a bit of that in what Obama wants to achieve, and those who have never experienced it have no idea what it is, that “Obama Magic” people seem to love. Hawai’i had a part in molding the man he is today.

As someone who has been in support of alternative energy, I hope he will be able to move people to think, live, and work differently. One doesn’t have to be a part of the assembly line, a part of the template, or come from a cookie cutter to live and exist. You can be an individual and be who you are because this is who you are. I feel he is giving a lot of people hope again, and I hope that he will be effective enough for another four years come 2012. Will the country change? It has to change in some way, and I think the actions of the previous regime had led the people to want to seek and advocate change, we’re on that path. Now we move one step forward.

I say all of these things after hearing President Obama’s incredible speech, I was moved almost to tears to see someone who is ready to work for the people. He has a lot ahead of him, but I hope all of us in the United States will be moved to work towards a better country, and a better world.

McTuff are a Seattle four-man band featuring Joe Doria, Skerik, Andy Coe and DVonne Lewis. Anyone who loves the power of the Hammond B-3 in jazz will get into these guys big time, especially with Doria’s skills. Add to that the saxophone work of Skerik (who has played with pretty much everyone), and the tight rhythm section of Lewis and Coe, and it’s sickness from start to finish.

The group will be playing a few dates in the Pacific Northwest this week, if you are in the area, I would recommend checking them out in the following spots:

Jan 20… Portland, Oregon (The Goodfoot Lounge)
Jan 22… Eugene, Oregon (Sam Bonds)
Jan 23… Seattle, Washington (The Tractor Tavern)
Jan 24… Olympia, Washington (The Eastside)

Music is on their MySpace page (linked above) but if you want to download some free MP3’s to your player, click to Joe Doria’s McTuff page