LifeSounds...

The Love Jones Lifestyle sounds like....The Charlie Parker Beat Tape*. Why, you ask? because it's a mixture of Harlem Renaissance era cultural creation, and hip hop era sensibilities. Both carry the voice of our people while simultaneously engaging in conversation with each other, creating a polyphonic conversation that takes us back to our roots. The Love Jones Lifestyle team is made up of "real", "regular folks"...we hail from the country, are first generation urban, or not urban identified at all. We live on the coast, mountains, near rancheros and simultaneously amongst urban blight and gentrification, some of us live in multiple spaces and places geographically, and always occupy multiple spaces socially.

Yes, we promote a lifestyle, but, really what we promote is much deeper than that. I am a Libra on the Zodiac, and one of the Libra qualities is that one's love of beauty and nature would can cause one to be seen as superficial. I don't want this blog space to be taken as such. Indeed the Love Jones Lifestyle is about beauty, love, art, creativity, politics and community. All of these require intense commitment, focus, understanding, maturity and a critical mind/eye. Therefore, do not mistake the lifestyle for one in which "reality" is forsaken. No...it is a communal space, just like the friends at the table, calling forth truth. It is a space of creation, like the jazz lounge. It is a space where we think, speak, and do.

We urge one another forth in seeking solutions to our community's problems...we push one another into fulfilling our dreams...we define success on our own terms...we believe that healthy spaces between black families, friends, and lovers do exist, and we revel in those spaces. Love Jones, the film simply provides a template for one slice of life...Enjoy the gifts.

 *shout out to the folks at bamalovesoul.com and HEXSAGON