drylongso

Spring 2003: Dirtywoods Arts
Focus on Atlanta's arts community

And Now From the Dirtywoods . . .
Cover Story
When I came to Atlanta in 1999, I had no idea what to expect. Sure, I had heard that “The ATL,” black Mecca of the south, the “Promised Land,” was the place to which many African Americans were returning after fleeing the racism and legacies of slavery which remain in some southern locales to this day. It offered fabulous weather, opportunities for African American entrepreneurship, as well as corporate advancement, tree-lined streets, good food and southern charm.

R E S P E C T
Feature
Georgia may have raised Black musical icons like Otis Redding, Little Richard, James Brown and Gladys Knight, but its crown city—Atlanta—was not known for music until L.A. Reid and Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds set-up shop with LaFace Records in 1989. Even then, Atlanta became the epicenter for the smooth R&B- gone-pop sound of Laface artists such as Toni Braxton and TLC. In other parts of the South, the fun-loving, booty-shaking sounds of Florida, mainly Luke and the 69 Boyz, dominated. Despite the Geto Boyz in Houston and a few others, Southern Hip-Hop was largely defined by bass music.

Biography » Bone Crusher
Feature
It’s an anthem for the little boy facing the school bully or the grown man facing his deepest fears or any one of us facing the everyday things of life. It’s an affirmation of courage and fortitude; a thunderous chant that speaks volumes. And for Atlanta born rapper Bone Crusher it’s the phrase that has made him an icon in and around his hometown.

Conversations » Louis Delsarte
Interview
"It’s good to be recognized in your life, to feel that your life is not in vain, that you went through all these years creating all this work and that you’re not just totally out of your mind. I’m an image-maker, I’m creating images. Where do they come from; that’s another thing. Recognition is a really important thing; to reach some point in your life or some type of goal in your life, most people want that."

Conversations » Kevin Cole
Interview
"And then they call it 'black art.' So those of us who are abstract, then we are not black enough, and we're not white enough. We're not gonna put you up there with the white boys because you're doing abstract. Only white boys can do abstract. But then you are not black enough. And that's what i don't like about Atlanta. You can be quickly labeled, but then you're where you're all dressed up but no place to go."

Conversations » Kevin Sipp
Interview
"Well, I'm feeling the choice should be there. I'm not saying there should be one or the other. I think that's one of the biggest problems African Americans have with their creativity in America. They get polarized. There are some days I wanna create art work that has nothing to do with politics. But then there are some days when something happens in my life and I need to respond politically to it or I will get crushed by it. So I don't think it's an either or concept."

Raising Fences, Raising Questions
Review
Datcher’s biography recounts a noble journey of one black boy with problems so poignant, yet so common to many black, male, American children. He is fatherless and without proper male role models; thus, he has to figure out what manhood means through his own childhood and young adult logic.

Evening Reflections
Fiction
“Don’t let the way he looks bother you too much, there’s no cause to worry. It’s just the stroke froze all the muscles on the left side of his face that makes him looks so strange. But he’s not suffering, not in any pain.” The nurse’s hushed tones interrupted his train of thought.

written for Allen Ginsberg
& anyone else who cares
Poetry
and somebody wanted to know / well just why write a poem? / why go to the trouble?

what he sees
Poetry
When he takes a walk around the West End in Atlanta, what he sees is. . . .

why i try to write poems
Poetry
there's gotta be a reason why, right?

Clinton Dreams
Poetry
A new definition for a classic acronym.

In My Mindset
Poetry
Some put in extra hours, just to take a hot shower. . . .

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Spring 2003: Dirtywoods Arts
Focus on Atlanta's arts community

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Cover Story
Feature
Fiction
Interview
Poetry
Review

drylongso means customary or ordinary. drylongso is news, political and cultural commentary, fiction, poetry, essays, interviews, contests, and events for thinking people of color. drylongso offers fresh perspectives on the ordinary issues, events and ideas that shape our public and private lives. drylongso presents ideas unencumbered by spin and freed of manipulative rhetoric.

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