Time Machine Tuesdays: Souls of Mischief - 93 ‘Til Infinity
“Brothers can’t hack it / They lack wit / We got the mack shit / 93 ‘til infinity… kill all that wack shit…”
A Munk Known As Mango
Lecture by Dr. Johnnetta B. Cole
“I Greet You Whole”: Assemblage & Connections in African & African American Art
Dr. Johnnetta B. Cole is visiting the University of Maryland campus to deliver a lecture reflecting this year’s James A. Porter Colloquium on African American Art theme: The role of stewardship and scholarship in public and private collections of African American Art & Art of the African Diaspora.
What: A lecture by Dr. Johnnetta B. Cole
When: Thursday, April 19th, 2012. 6:00PM with a public reception at 5:00PM
***RSVP by April 12th, 2012 at (301) 314-2615 or driskellcenter@umd.edu
Where: The David C. Driskell Center. 1214 Cole Student Activities Building, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742
Who: Dr. Cole is the Director of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art. She has served as the President of Spelman University (where she was the first African American female President) and Bennett University. She holds a Ph.D in Anthropology from Northwestern University.
She has directed the Black Studies program at Washington State University, and has served as the provost of undergraduate education. She has also taught at UCLA, UMass - Amherst, Hunter College, and Emory University.
She serves on the Board of Directors of Merck & Co, The Coca-Cola Company (the first woman to do so), and the United Way of Greater Greensboro. She had previously served as the Chair of the Board of Trustees of United Way of America. She is the Chair of The Johnnetta B. Cole Global Diversity & Inclusion Institute, at Bennett College.
Presented in conjunction with the 23rd Annual James A. Porter Colloquium on African American Art.
Time Machine Tuesdays: Aly Us - Follow Me
The house track everyone knows. Soulful feel-good shit.
“Follow me… follow meeee-eeee-eee-ee…”
So I was digging through my computer, and I came across my college application essay. It’s jy corny, and I probably spent a grand total of three hours (if that) on it, but sadly I think it’s better than anything I’ve been writing lately… smh I need to get back in the lab (can you say that for writing? dancer colloquialisms anyone? Voila:
What is the meaning of life? This question has been contemplated, speculated, and cogitated since humans could philosophize. No other question is so simple, yet provides so much hope of a greater understanding of everything. The problem is as follows: finding the absolute, definite meaning of life is a fruitless task and such a musing is mere mental clutter. Indeed, on such a quest a philosopher might come upon deeper insight into themselves and society. The metaphorical path which people seem to follow, however, is a closed-circuit: metaphorical end lies atop the metaphorical beginning. Perhaps, then, humans should approach this question differently.
The efforts of a philosopher – veteran or green; professional or amateur – should not be invested in discovering how we, as humans, got here, but instead in determining how we should spend our time here. What should we do here? Why should we stay here? A philosopher’s mental energy should be spent pondering not what life means to the entire human population, but to him or herself individually.
We should all take some time to reflect and decide what it is that’s important to ourselves. Who else will we be forced to live with for our entire lives? Consider this: truly charitable people extract joy from helping others. Conversely, truly selfish people are primarily concerned with things which will benefit themselves. In an odd twist, they are the ones who have the courage to stand in the face of the general public ideal of generosity and show their true colors. In addition, selfish people appear to be genuinely happier than those who appease others simply to appease society. Although selfish people are certainly not to be lauded for their actions, neither should they be scorned. They should instead be treated with pity, for they are condemned to be looked down upon by the general population. It is by chance that a person who genuinely loves to help others is regarded positively by most societies.
We should seek what is significant to ourselves. This is essential to satisfaction in life. Everyone has the right to be selfish; the key is to not take such a statement and run, interpreting it to countenance any act of greed. The selfishness must be spiritual, not superficial. We must find what is truthfully and individually important to us and pursue such things with priority. That’s what this whole life thing is all about: being able to live with ourselves.
What is the meaning of life? Perhaps there is an answer to this age-old question. Perhaps it is one which is both universal and unique to every individual. Without doubt, much energy and time has been invested into this problem of problems, this inquiry of inquiries. However, the answer is truly very simple. When the intellectual dust settles, and the philosophical smoke clears, the true answer will finally emerge:
“The meaning of life is to find the meaning of your life.”
“ Dance first. Think later. It’s the natural order.
Samuel Beckett
