Nicotine, Fear and Solidarity

To: Lance, Nazer, Adonis and affiliates
From: Just ray



I wasn't sure where to post this, but after reading lance's recent post I felt it made sense to put it here immediately after. I won't pretend as if I know a lot about politics, but in a lot of ways I do keep myself informed of generally whats going on. Quite honestly i don't think i have to flat out say who i will be voting come november. My background alone should give a reasonable answer to the question of "who are you voting for?" That being said, a McCain presidency truly scares me. Especially lately with all the ignorance and pure hatred that is directed towards Obama.

Truth is the stigma towards obama has always been there, news casters and political experts can argue that race has not played a factor in this election. But thats all bull shit, because it clearly has played a large factor at least in my eyes. I wont quite get into all that, but if you want to hear what i think just ask me another time.

What i really would like to get at is the fear that comes full circle all across the board. It is obvious that recent ads about Obama and Ayers clearly instilled fear into blue collar white America. Even watching the video below, where the elderly woman says she has been reading about Obama and he is "an arab" scares the shit out of me. There is kind of a dual reaction i think to all of these things. The fact that people can actually begin to believe that Obama is in fact a terrorist puts chills down my spine. It also just shows the stigma to folks of middle eastern heritage. As if the big bad "arabs" are out to get you. I know what we could do lets tell are children stories that arabs hide in your closet while you sleep and under your bed too!!!

Folks like to talk about the civil rights movement and equality between all people as if everything is all good now. As if after the 60s and 70s we all of a sudden started holding hands and singing a whole new world together. Lets be real for a second folks. Race is an issue as of today so stop acting like it isn't.
I do however give McCain a bit of credit for "defending" Obama. ALthough it was just a bit to late for all of that. Fear and racism have a sort of snowball effect. Picking up every ignorant person along the way and fusing them with stupidity.

The main thing that bothers me really is the fact that everyone seems to put a lot of pressure on Obama. Obama promises change through out his speeches, however even if he were to become president the responsibility doesn't solely rely on him. We as a nation have to take action ourselves. We can't expect him and his administration to carry all the weight. We have to lighten the load and do our parts as well. For fear of getting to carried away and ranting for way to long heres a new piece from your friendly neighborhood poet-

Nicotine, Fear and Solidarity

A lot of people ask
Why it is that I smoke
And I know
That it is a bad habit
That I need to kick

But personally
I’m not quite ready yet,

See while I’m slowly killing
Myself grit after grit

I would rather be inhaling the
Nicotine
Rather than drowning in the
Hatred

That lingers in the air
And comes and goes like the wind

And can damage your soul
The way earthquakes
Damage the earth
Like some form of
Cruel and unusual
Punishment

Punishing my future children
For simply being themselves

And I am greatful for every scar
On my skin
Because it reminds me
That I am capable of feeling something

Something rather than being numb
Numb to my senses
Numb to the pain that motivates
Me in every single solitary way

And as my heart grows heavy
I hope for a better day
But the truth is I’m walking towards it,
but every step I take it seems even farther
Away….

We fear the unknown
We fear the other
And it has us questioning

Lost human connection
Through conversation
Leave it all up to
text messaging

I hate that even though
My ancestors are island people
I am generalized as being
Chinese or Mexican

The media fuels the flame
Towards chinky eyes
And brown skin

While magazine covers
Encourage our beautiful women
To be thin

While fox news criticizes
A black candidate
On the basis of his name

Quick to jump the gun
Point a finger
And redistribute
The blame

Blame the government
All you want

When universally as a
Whole we could care less
About our health

So fuck those
Who claim their
Down for redistribution
Of wealth

When we as a people
Can hardly organize
And redistribute
ourselves

When shit goes down
We look to the highest
On the ladder

Instead of standing at the bottom
Looking each other and asking
What the hell really matters?

To afraid to dialogue
With one another,
When we need to
Figure out what’s been
wrong all along

Fighting a war on terror
In the name of god

Muslims against prejudice
all praise due to Allah

Its not that I don’t
support our military troops,
But even more
I support our underprivileged
Illitary youth

Some complain that
We have hardly have classes
Addressing people of color

Even though the support
Is hardly their from my
Sisters and my brothers

While our parents
Only solution
Is to pray for peace

When it seems as though
It becomes so helpless
That God needs to bend his knees
And start fucking praying for me

I am positively
Desperate for
A more positive me

But were too intimidated
Of our potential as a collective
Afraid of what
we could possibly be

We as a people need to
Educate, organize and mobilize
In solidarity

Fuck relying on the few
When what we need
Is many

Fuck mountains out of mole hills
Cuz all we doin’ is digging
Holes we can’t get out of
Because shits too deep

Fuck dodge commercials
Because a ignorant white girl
Told me and my friends
“Go back where you came from
This is my country”

Fuck hiding behind the crosses
We wear around our necks
Because it wont protect us from
The monsters in our sleep

I hope for the day
I can stop worrying
That my children
Will be called,
CHINKS
GOOKS
BITCHES
HOS
NIGGAS
SPICKS
BEANERS
DIKES
MONKEYS
FAGGOTS
As they walk down the street

Give me a call when your ready to make a REAL change
Because for now leave me alone and let me smoke my cigarette in PEACE.

-Just Ray

Talk Louder Muh Fucka

Nazer and I are the shit.





I think i might have killed the mood ahhhh well...look at erwin and lily's reaction in the background love it.

The sole video from STUDY JAM

Disclaimers:
I told you my skills are so crazy the camera cant even capture the lighting around me for fear of to much coolness captured into one camea not to mention Trish and I rock the mic

insert *SHAMELESS PLUG* here

Reasons to go to STUDY JAM:
1. Just Ray will be performing.
2. Just Ray now talks about himself in the third person.
3. Its a fundraiser for an organization I'm now a part of called ANAKBAYAN SD which is fairly new in SD, but is a smaller organization that spawns from a larger org called BAYAN USA and there are multiple Anakbayans throughout the US.
4. It is free for you broke ass niggas but drop a dime or 2 for the cause.
5. You'll be able to say you did something other than SMASH,WOW,DOTA,homework,eat,etc.
6. I promise to have something memorized for a change.
7. Spoken Word PWNS
8.Just Ray will be performing if thats not enough reason than i don't know what to tell you fuckers.....
9. Oh and all the cool kids are doing it so you should to!
10. Maybe you'll have a spoken word BONER! (coined its done)

you might get to witness the anomaly that is my hand gestures as I spit


P.S. i will be making the cool kids first ever video blog for our trip to irvine/house of blues this thursday so look forward to that shit

Smells like Patis in Here

No doubt we as the cool kids collective are some of the funniest individuals that San Diego has to offer. Better yet the funniest group that the UNIVERSE has to offer. No issue is a stranger to our blog. From Disney to Politics, Creativity to Procrastination, and even the age old question of who is more fun to pick on in a blog, Nelson or Adonis. Personally I have to say that they are equally fun to pick on. Stay tuned for future blogs by me, "Water Thicker than Liquor: The Nelson Vuong Story" and "Where Not to fall asleep when your drunk:Adonis' struggle."

As far as entertainment and the media goes Filipino representatives are virtually non-existent. So we as (an unintentional) group of Filipino's regardless of our willingness represent the Filipino Community. Now before you get your panties all twisted this post isn't to discuss Fil-Am obligation or anything of that nature. Instead I just wanted to share some vids of some folks that I think rep almost as hard as we do.








I know their not exactly a new group, but I stumbled on their shit again and still funny so enjoy. insert funny boner here.

Spoken WHAT?: Fist Pumps, Finger Snaps, and Head Nods(Not another new dance craze)

So I'm not gonna post a BEST OF 07 tribute post because theirs just to much to recall I am attempting to post a real post instead of just a video because that's all i've been contributing lately. So here it goes...

Now that I'm sitting here trying to do this i honestly have no idea what so ever as to what i should talk about. So I'm gonna go ahead and speak on a topic that i know a lil something about and that my friends is, Spoken Word. Spoken what? Spoken word. Oh yea, that's right i said it spoken word. insert- fist pump, finger snaps, head nod -here.

Spoken word is a form of literary art or artistic performance in which lyrics, poetry, or stories are spoken rather than sung. Spoken-word is often done with a musical background, but emphasis is kept on the speaker. (wikipedia)

Now i don't mean in anyway self promote myself or toot my own horn so to speak, but i have been known to get down on the mic with some poetry *ahem* *ahem* if you don't know now you know...



i know its hard to tell that its me, but i have so much substance and passion for mines that the camera has trouble capturing the moment...

memorable quote by adonis after watching this performance "my breath smells like longaniza"
that being his best attempt at appreciating and grasping the message behind the poem. (that quote is taken out of context and isn't even what was said) oh adonis we love you



All narcissism and funny adonis pics aside, (note to self: possible group post topic favorite adonis pics) we live in an age where popular culture seems to dictate our every decision. It is important to aknowledge an art form that almost literally can and does say FUCK THAT!

Spoken Word not only is a form of expression, but it means so much more to me as well as many others. It has become a movement that has allowed thousands if not millions to be inspired to make a change and in my opinion has helped to create a level of awareness not only in our country, but all across the globe. The Spoken Word community has become it's own sub culture consisting of Poet's who speak on topics ranging from sexuality to politics, racism to love whatever the human mind can thing of is a potential poem. Of course i come from a pretty biased point of view, but one can't help but have some level of apperciation for Spoken Word.
As a poet i believe in writing for myself as well as performing in order to build a connection with other people at the same time addressing issues that i feel need to be addressed. Tupac said it best when he said "i'm not saying that i'm gonna change the world, but i guarantee that i will spark the mind that will change the world..."

Instead of continuing on and on about this i figure i'll just post some videos and other forms of media to create a visually eye catching hook to my whole spiel.

Adriel Luis- Slip of the tongue


If my memory serves me right this video actually won a emmy for best short film or something like that. Anyways the poet's name is adriel luis and he's a 1/4 of the group iLL-literacy a spoken word group/collective that travel the world moving crowds with their poetry. iLL-literacy also consists of Nico Cary, Ruby Veridano-Ching, and Dahlak Braithwaite. All of whom have are amazingly talented.

iLL-literacy promo video


watch the iLL-Literacy movie at ill-literacy.imeem.com

Last Spoken Word related video for the night...

Shihan-This Type Love


special thanks goes out to Brent and the 198 kids for helping to make it extra hard to finish this post cuz i had to go to the bathroom like 5 times cuz i got the alcohol shiets from last night