Am I Troy Davis?

Wednesday, September 21st, 11:08 p.m.

An innocent man died. Troy Davis. He was set for execution for the alleged murder of a cop back in the late 80s and last night, he supposedly paid for it.

I didn't follow this story much. Quite honestly, I'm not too well versed on the news these days, but this story is just unfortunate. Twitter was all the rage for the execution of this innocent man in Georgia and the Supreme Court, the "highest court in the land" didn't stop it. A crowd gathered outside of the prison for his defense; a large group of African-Americans that realized the evidence wasn't there, the testimonies invalid and the crime fabricated. I was watching CNN to hear the crowds cheer around 7:00 pm; the time he was supposed to be executed, for the Stay of Execution passed by the Supreme Court to review the case. Nobody expected four hours and eight minutes later that their hopes would be executed along with Troy.

The thing about social media is that it has a bandwagon-like behavior to it. Everyone on Twitter and Facebook was rightfully disgusted, as well they should have been. I'm not saying people being angry and upset about the execution was exaggerating just to receive affirmation from their other friends who are upset. I'm saying sometimes people aren't aware of stories like these, or are uninformed about the issues and when things start getting real, they are quick to say that things are messed up and it's not fair. This was the status I put up on Facebook last night:

"Though I don't know much about the Troy Davis case, it is sad to hear about injustice. It reminds me of Mumia Abu-Jamal; innocent black men trailed and even put to death for something they didn't do. The law is definitely not on our side. I could be like everyone else and say Troy created an example of us all waking up, but even with our eyes open, these injustices still occur. Don't wake up, be alert. RIJ (Rest In Justice) Troy Davis"

I didn't post this status because I wanted to be like most of my friends on my FB timeline, this is genuinely how I feel about the case. A lot of other people started to claim that "I am Troy Davis." The same quote occurred when Sean Bell was brutally shot and killed by police officers. I don't know how to feel about this statement. I know it means that anyone of us (in particular, African-American males) could have been in Davis' shoes, but at the same time, would anyone have changed to Troy Davis if the execution was cancelled?

It seems that we all connect to some who is not being treated fairly and we try to personalize the tragedy by saying we are in the person's shoes. If that is the case, everyday while he was in jail, we should have been him; when he was on trial, we should have been Troy Davis, not just when he gets executed by a crooked justice system. As African-Americans, we are all at risk of being persecuted for a crime we didn't commit. As I mentioned in my FB status, Mumia Abu-Jamal (if you don't know who he is, Google him) is still on death row for a crime he didn't commit. Nobody seems to be claiming to be him unless he gets executed.

The whole point of this point is that as awake as we can be to the justice system in America, which is not on our side, we must be more alert to the monstrosities occurring and figure out a way to combat it. Unfortunately, the system has been corrupted for years. So to answer my question, I am NOT Troy Davis; I am a man who can potentially be next.

-Video Vix[o]n

Cut Off My Lights (Extra Dark Cut)

The idea for this video came out after Joshen and I worked on the H.A.M. music parody. It made sense that we wanted to make another music parody to tie into the video with Kanye West. Seeing that I am the best Kanye impersonator I know, we got the lyrics down and the song produced early. The only thing that got hindered was the execution. I feel like at some point I was making excuses and stalling for it to get done, but after finally decided to get off the Procrastination Station, I pull up my sleeves, put on my 'Ye shades and got to work. I'm proud of the video because it looks good, was fun to make, and I've been getting positive feedback on it so far. Now that the official video is live on Youtube, here is an exclusive cut to the song that shows how Kanye and Rihanna interacted in the dark.



-Video Vix[o]n

Mistakes and Out-takes

Throughout my time on Youtube, I've been showing everyone my videos and they have enjoyed them for their comedic, serious or informative messages. I'm always striving for perfection, so when people see what I have done, they can say that it was well carried out and executed nicely. I've know more these days that I'm not perfect, and the video making process is not perfect either. I mess up; in videos I mess up, which leads to some interesting and funny content.

While watching all of my videos to find some blooper-worthy material, I notice that the best way I got over a blooper was by growling or making a loud noise. Don't know why that is probably, but it just happened. Also, I noticed that I didn't have that much bloopers than I thought. That's because whenever I make a mistake, I usually delete the footage and only keep the "good" takes, so editing can be easier. I learned now, after making this blooper reel, that it was a big mistake.

Messing up is apart of life, and it should be no different in the "video" game. We mess up on words, we say things wrong, we trip, fall and get messy. That's what makes up who we are. I'm not perfect and the footage that I capture should reflect that. To me, a blooper is more natural than any sort of acting because its a piece of imperfection that we have in all of us. Joshen actually wrote a post about bloopers being a good tool in building an audience, and I think I will start incorporating them on my Youtube channel as things progress.

Also, it was nice looking back on all the videos I've done (or at least had access to) and seeing how I evolved during the past year and a half. It's a good feeling. I've been through so much and I'm grateful to have my friends and family around to support me and give me criticism on my work, as I strive to make better content in the future. Expect to see more bloopers in the future.

Remember, I'm not perfect.

-Video Vix[o]n

Going Places

Yesterday, I had another chance to get out the house and create some content with Joshen, and to my surprise, being out and about resulted in gathering much attention. Throughout the day, we've been approached by multiple people, including an influential community leader who invited us to speak to some young people around our age about alternate career paths outside of "basketball and rapping." It made me feel good because I rarely consider what I do to be an alternate career choice; just something that I decided to do with my life. It's like my camera is Mjolnir (the hammer), and I am Thor. My camera basically gives me my power.

I've said that I should carry about my camera to more places to get attention and after yesterday, I realize that if Youtube were real, I would have gotten about 3-4 subs by people just asking what I do. Joshen and I are constantly figuring out ways to expand our audience and sometime we forget that the biggest social network is right outside our doors. It's funny how everyone who approached us asked if we were students working on a project because it seems the only accepted way you can be involved in videography is if you're a film major at a fancy film school (no offense to any film majors in any fancy film school/programs). One idea we had was to shoot our weekly shows in different locations to gather an audience and generate attention, which I will definitely keep in mind in my future video endeavors.

I know not everything I produce is going to be a hit or any idea I have won't be executed well, but I can succeed at getting my face out there and making people notice me more, so when I do make good videos, people will look out for me. Everyone else seems to be going places, I just have to go somewhere close by to make a huge difference.

-Video Vix[o]n

We Are Not Musicians

My latest video was inspired by well-known Youtuber, Mystery Guitar Man. The idea just came to me and the song was inspired by the rain, just a way to make sense of it all. Granted, I'm not musical prodigy, but in some ways, music has had a small, but intricate part in my life.

Most of you don't know this, but I had a small rap career back in my freshman year of college. My roommate and I formed the rap group, "New Playas," and to us, we were a hit (well to us, at least)

My rap name was simply "V-Jay." Me and him came out with a rap demo and everything. We were proud of our success rapping off of my microphone and laptop. My biggest musical inspiration at that time was Kanye West. I was all Kanye everything when I started college and I tried to emulate that through raps and poetry. I even tried going solo and tried making my own album. After some more episodes of rapping glory with some other friends, I put up my musical boots and got more involved with my passion of video-making. I knew my days of my amateur rap career was over.

Fast forwarding to last year, when I started making videos on Youtube, I realized that in order to make my channel more interesting, I would act as my favorite artist. By throwing on some shades and a cardigan, I became Kanye West, which lead to creating my first music video ever.



After working with Joshen, we realized that making music was the way to go in order to go viral on the internet. Parodies were the name of the game and that lead to other hits such as "Ball In A Cup" and the "H.A.M." parody





With these musical pieces out in the universe and more to come, I realize that my early rap career may never be relived, but through Youtube, there may be a way to live up to my musical roots and make them flourish. Until I pick up the mic again, you'll have to stay tuned.

-Video Vix[o]n