The Foreign Exchange: Connected

       The Foreign Exchange, an odd pair of men. One black (Phonte), one white (Nicolay), creating that foreign exchange. On the album Connected produced by Nicolay, Phonte speaks of the life and struggles of an MC and his fading relationships with the people around him. As an artist, time is consumed and one is frequently taking trips away from home. It is difficult to stay in touch with the people you love on a physical level because of business trips/tours. He really goes deep into this aspect of being an MC in the song "All That You Are". Phonte explains that even though his family knows about his work life and what he has to do to get money for them, it still hurts them that they remain departed for so long so frequently. Imagine having a person you love be out of your life so such long periods of time worrying about their safety and being lonely until they come back for only a weekend.

Luckily he doesn't speak only o. The negative. He brings in a positive vibe earlier in the album; "Let's Move". An upbeat song speaking only about building and creating an empire in the long run for the people we love. Implying that all the hard work and brokenhearted family and friends with pay off for everyone when. The success hits. A certain hustle like this one calls for a hell before heaven. His explaining this gives the listener a better look at their situation weather it's being an artists or any other hustle they have to deal with in their life just to get where they need to be.

"Connected" connects the dots from problem to solution one track at a time.

'White is the new Black'

       "White Privilege; the belief that being white comes with an unearned advantage and everyday perks." But have you heard of the alternative, "Black Privilege"? Is this a thing? Should this phrase have even come into existence? Perhaps it is trues in one way, which is being politically correct. In the past, we all know that America was built off of laws and morals that are favorable to the caucasian race. Now, in the year 2016, there are some who feel as though African Americans have the upper hand.

       A post on CNN called "It's Time to talk about Black Privilege" stated that "… in America, you can't even talk about whiteness". The only thing black people have the upper hand in is being politically correct now-a-days. Anything outside of that is to our disadvantage. Being politically correct is not enough so live a content and peaceful life. We still struggle everyday of our lives just for being a shade darker than the "most supreme". Finances, social latter, law; black people are always on the wrong end of the stick. This has been going on for hundreds of years and will continue. What they see is the chains being loosened from our necks and wrists, but there is a second chain that has bounded our minds to this corrupt way of thinking. Race will FOREVER be a factor, in a negative way, so to say black people or any minority has it better, is like committing a verbal sin. I rest my case.

50 Shades vs. A Mother's Rage

       Angry mother vs. teacher. How should his play out? A teacher allows her softball team of majority 17 year year old view the movie "Fifty Shades of Grey'. This seems okay, until you realize there is a 1 year old in the vehicle as well. The mother finds out somehow as becomes furious and believes that the teacher should be penalized for exposing her child to this type of content. Rethinking the situation, the teacher should just get a slap on a wrist.

       Usually if a child is raised a certain way they speak up on what their parents would or would not allow them to see/do/hear. It is partially the child's fault for staying silent when the 17 year old asked to watch this content. A mother can not be upset with a situation if their child had a say but didn't speak up. The teacher should only be restricted from being a chaperone. Being fired or fined would be taking the situation entirely too far. With that being said, the case should end in the teacher's favor.

Be who you wanna to be "B-A-R-B-I-E"

         

         Growing up as a female in this generation, almost everything is about image. Tither you have the look or you don't. This generation has grown off of role models and celebrities who all look the same. (i.e. Nicki Minaj, Iggy Azalea, Kim Kardashian) All of which resembles a mix between video vixen and a barbie doll. Although it's too late for us, we can still attempt to save the next group of children youngsters coming up.

       DNews has a segment on how barbie influences body image. It introduces us to the "new barbie on the block" which is the Lamilly doll; a realistic fashion doll. This doll was created to show natural beauty and to prevent our youth from the distorted vision of beauty the public is trying to shove into their minds. The link above shows an experiment, seeing what children think of the realistic doll vs the Barbie with the impossible image. The results are impressive regarding the fact that these are children who may have already been introduced to the regular Barbie doll with the hour glass shape.

    
       Dr. Rebecca Hains write an article giving us 5 reasons not to buy barbie, including that the doll promote a dangerously unhealthy diet and impossible image goals. This barbie alone has influenced a number of women including a woman, Cindy Jackson, a woman who was highly influence by barbie, and the famous barbie look-alike, Valeria Lukyanova. Al though Valeria Lukyanova used her publicity to display her spiritual beliefs, she still understands that it is the "look" she contains that attracts her audience. She also maintains her shape with an almost ALL liquid diet and rock climbing. Any teen or child following similar diets could be digging their own grave. We need to make sure our young girls do not go down the materialistic path our generation regrets. Let our children use their tooth fairy money for candy, not their pending cosmetic surgery.