Erykah Badu Went to Dealey Plaza, Got Naked, Shot Video. City Hall Distances!

• YouTube testing new form of embedding YouTube has announced this weekend that they have begun testing a new way of embedding code that would support both HTML5 and Flash. By using "iframes," the code will either use the Flash plugin or switch to HTML5, depending on what device or browser you are currently using. If the video has ad overlays, or other features not yet supported by HTML5, it will force Flash, but that is the only time. Embedded videos should now work on Android and iOS devices, which do not have Flash support yet. YouTube Mobile already has HTML5 built-in, but now the embedded videos will work on other sites, such as when browsing Afterdawn from your smartphone or tablet.

• that was agreat video

• Great Video

• How dare any of you to make light of President Kennedy's assassination. If you weren't around, you have no idea the painful memories. This "art", and I'm not talking about her naked body as I could care less, is a dececration of the legend of our beloved President. Shame on you for your total lack of respect. I hope none of you ever have to experience an assassination of a president.

• This does not qualify as "art." I have no problem with nudity, but there is a time and a place for it. This was not the time nor the place. People in the public, especially families with children, have the right not to see a woman get naked for the sake of selling some albums. She had no right to do this. If it had been a man, people would have called 911 in seconds and cried indecent exposure. The same should be applied to her.

• WAKE UP SUCKERS ! look at the people she is running past. They do not see her because she is not there once the head lights come out. This is a brilliant piece of editing and all of you superficial Dallasites are getting played again just like yall did in �63 with the Jebb Zepruder Film. I do not think Miss Badu realizes what she has done. great stuff !!

• It's hilarious that people think being naked is disrespectful! What a prude nation we live in.

• Erykah Badu have the most beautiful ass that i have seen in a long time. That is some sweet looking booty.

• no uncensored video. That sucks. As far as i'm concerned no uncensored video it might as well not have happened.

• Don't take your kids down to the Arts District, they may see the nude art forms at the Trammel Crow Tower...or by Bryan Tower, where another nude art form is flying at Harwood Street...or down Main Street where the bare breast are facing the street at Plush...or by AT&T Plaza where Golden Boys penis hangs out in the open. Unless you are just concerned with a live version of the nude human body.

• For all of you who dont appreciate the video, you probably were not listening to the song! the video goes perfectly with the message she was trying to convey and people that are against it...this vid was made for you! If the parents were mad they would have filed a complaint...which not one person filed anything! so obviously it was not that big of a deal to them

• That is disgusting, stupid and disrespectful on every level. Not to mention the song sucks. Whatever.

• I am traumatized -- some people should not be allowed to get naked in public. BTW, if anyone hears about Beyonce making a similar video, please post ASAP!

• If seeing a naked body "traumatizes" your kid, he/she was probably fucked up to begin with. Lighten up people. If you don't want your kids to be exposed to real life, lock them in a cage in your basement. That's much easier than explaining nudity to them I guess... When you go out in public, you risk seeing things that aren't "family friendly". If you expect that the world will revolve around your decision to pop out kids, you should think twice before you do so. That said, Erykah has ass for days! I guess I never noticed before.

• @Anonymous - you are correct - however if the headline said "Erica Wright went to Dealey Plaza" no one would have clicked on the article.

• It's all very well to call this "art," but what happens when those kids who were exposed to this grow up? I'll tell you what. According to numerous studies, nearly three in four children who see nipples grow up to have nipples themselves. And you don't even want to hear the stats on buttocks: people, it's grim.

• She nor anyone else seems to know how to spell her name...its Erica.

• I love how all the city is talking about is the lack of a film permit. It reminds me of the marmot conversation in The Big Lebowski - "Also, let's not forget - let's *not* forget, Dude - that keeping wildlife, an amphibious rodent, for uh, domestic, you know, within the city - that aint legal either."

• scott, to borrow an old saying, it's better to not post and be thought an idiot than to post and remove all doubt.

• Bare breasts in public? The hell you say. So did any of the parents try to shield their kids from seeing what was going on? I'll go out on a limb here, and suppose that the folks who are whining about Miss Badu's video, are also the same folks what complaing about public breast-feeding too.

• Rawlins described this as "a tough thing to explain." Isn't that the definition of art. There was nothing lewd or salacious about the video. Just the pure nude form, no sexual act. Imagine, what if babies were exposed to boobs. That would likely scar them for life. What an evil god would visit such iniquity on every life. We beg god to pass-over us with his wrath. Imagine the vicious irony of our creator embedding infant formula in boobies. How tricky of Michelangelo to leave David nude. Thank god that Ashcroft put robes on "Liberty." With ROB "robes" are part of the whole ensemble. The "hood" for those robes is North of the Trinity and doesn't publicly admit to liking naked black women.

• Erykah is doing anything she can think of to resuscitate her dying entertainment career.

• Oh for the sake of pete, can we find a story with some significance please�..ms badu was followed by a guy with a camera running down the street and she took her clothes off�..now maybe after some editing with windows movie maker, and put a little music behind it�.it will be a very cool video��other than that, it was a girl running down elm and took her clothes off�..do you know how many videos there are of girls running down elm taking their clothes off?!?!?!?.....shit, I think I even have a couple. Although, I�m thinkin I�ll put Hot for Teacher as the music bed�that�d be cool, and maybe dallas news would right something about me, that everyone else can regurgitate....

• houline, Perhaps the city officials don't want her arrested. Maybe they are in full agreeance with her actions. Maybe it's all about the money and bringing attention to Dallas. Wonder if there were any behind the scene payment plans?

• Wow. Absolutely no regards to others. How is this any different from other adults stripping in front of children? The others are called pedophiles and sex criminals and have to register for the rest of their lives. No charges for the recording star? Really??? What indecency charges were filed on the guy dancing nude on the bill board several weeks ago? The same should apply in this case. DPD should act accordingly.

• Where was Zapruder and his 8mm to get a frontal dammit?--I Like the song and hell yes I'm downloading--err buying the album.

• I don't see how this is artistic. She just wanted attention, and she got it. Gotta agree with Rawlins, if someone did this where MLK was assissinated then shit would hit the fan with how disrespectful and racist it was.

• Oh Erykah, WOW!! I was nervous watching the whole video! I kept seeing kids everywhere thinking 'no, don't do it girl' lol. But she did it. Wow.

• I have to say I agree with Rawlins. And I've long been a fan of hers. The issue to me is not really whether public nudity is ok, it's whether or not parents have a right to choose what their kids view. If she were really that concerned about the kids she would have done it the right way. Honestly, I think the most traumatizing portion was probably the falling to the ground as if dead. I seriously doubt her concern for the children outweighed her desire to get alot of views for the video.

• sweeeet sweet video, very artistic. nice booty too.

• wut a funny girl! but she real. third ward wussup!!!!! holla!!!!!! FT WORTH D-Town http://www.myspace.com/nopenamu

• Actually, a reality check from a big longtime fan of Erukah Badu. And a fan of bold creativity by artists �having been an artist & raised by two. What no one seems willing to say is that this may be all WE salute as artists. But it was also an incredibly selfish act since she did that in front of many families with children. Who, on top of everything else, were there to see the spot where a president was murdered. (Imagine, for instance, the reaction if a nameless man did that on the balcony of the Memphis motel where Martin Luther King was shot to death �in front of visiting families w/children. A pilgrimage by mourners who recognize that as sacred history turf.) These people who happened to be there were our guests in Dallas & more importantly, many were parents who should have some say in the matter when it comes to exposing their children to a totally nude stranger�a woman disrobing then being 'shot' and dying in the street in front of their kids. Would I have minded had I have been there? Absolutely not. Not for me personally. But I would have felt the issue much larger. That being a parental right to not be hijacked. I once lived in a nude commune so it�s nada for me. But we should look at what we do in the context of others if we are to be honorable citizen participants, civil role models. Responsible artisans. Empathetic to alternative realities. I have no children but that does no preclude me seeing it through their eyes. Even Badu tweeted that she hoped the kids weren�t traumatized. Well, what the hell�..a nude woman dying in the street is a tough thing to explain to kids by vacationing parent families. To make matters probably worse, the fact that Erukah Badu is a terrific talent and bonafide artist is the reason she's being cut considerable slack here. Double standards are a fact of life, but I expected no few others to recognize how glaringly that premise is being applied here.

• Branden, so you also think Badu was a prude who should "get over it" for worrying that children might be traumatized? As for "intent to shock" -- no, wandering down the sidewalk nude, then suddenly dropping to the ground as if shot dead, there was no "intent to shock" there. Right. Wasn't that the whole point? Otherwise, why is it getting so much attention?

• Finally, something interesting happened in downtown Dallas.

• KS said "Was she illegal in being NAKED on the streets? Of course. That's the only law that's been broken here, and since there was no Dallas PD officer that happened to whiz by, well, too bad, I say." It is legal in Texas to be topless if the intent isn't to shock. The only illegality is showing genitals or anus. Unless she bent over, she's ok there and it has been successfully argued in court that women's genitals are hidden even when nude. Since she has funds for lawyers, I doubt she would have been stuck with anything. ROB, get over it. There was nothing lewd about it. Still don't understand the viewpoint that the natural human body is offensive, regardless of who brought up "what about the children."

• btw scott, Badu was the one who brought up the issue of children possibly being traumatized, not me, so if you think I'm a prude, it applies to her, too. I was just pointing out that her expression of concern is either clueless or disingenuous.

• scott, actually in Texas it's legal to be topless in public, but illegal as soon as the genitals are visible. And as difficult as it might be for you to comprehend, what you refer to as "simple nudity" is not something that you have a right to expose other people's kids to, no matter how enlightened and open-minded you think you are. Try it yourself and let us know what happens. Ms. Badu is a very talented singer, but this was a cheap, crass promotional stunt masquerading as "guerilla art."

• Oh yes ROB making the appeal, but the children. And over simple nudity. There is very little that is illegal with being nude in public, the crime changes if you're gratifying yourself, but simple nudity is the just human.

• <i>She tweeted that "there were children there. i prayed they wouldnt b traumatized."</i> http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/Music/03/29/erykah.badu.strips/index.html What, she didn't expect to encounter children in a public place? Or she knew there might be children but thought that if she prayed for them it would make it ok? Would she be ok with a male artist doing the same thing to promote his music? What consenting adults show each other in private is their own business, but exposing children to it in public without their parent's consent is not cool and definitely not "art."

• thats real art !!! and dallas is riding with you E!

• I loved what I thought you were saying, Ms. Badu!

• there's a shadowy figure on the grassy knoll that supports my second camera theory.

• NEWS ALERT! DALLAS CITY COUNCILMAN DEWAYNE; DWAYNE CARRAWAY AND HIS "KEEP IT SECRET CAMPAIGN" HAVE BEEN OFFICIALLY SLAPPED IN THE FACE BY THE BEAUTIFUL AND VERY TALENTED ERYKAH BADU! REPEAT! DALLAS CITY COUNCILMAN DEWAYNE;DWAYNE CARRAWAY AND HIS "KEEP IT SECRET CAMPAIGN" HAVE BEEN OFFICIALLY SLAPPED IN THE FACE BY THE BEAUTIFUL AND VERY TALENTED ERYKA BADU! SLAP! SLAP! SLAP!

• I think the Dallas Zoo already lays claim to the phrase: "Let's Go Gorilla" Something about the name "Jabari" comes to mind I think. Of course, we can all be called "Guerrilla Journalists" on Unfair Park.

• Wow, Ms. Badu has filled out. Having those babies makes her look real good.

• Rut-Roh... I think I just found my D-spot!

• http://online.wsj.com/video/badu-new-amerykah-part-two/14AE615F-FE00-4AB7-977D-50C2FA5CA8DB.html?mod=WSJ_hps_videocarousel_1 More Badu.

• how guerilla is it really when they edit out the nudity???

• Refleshing!

• No Dave, as we all saw in the Zapruder film, most of JFK's junk ended up ON the trunk.

• I just loved the guy in the red jacket running behind her picking up the discarded clothes. And why do I suddenly have Sir Mix A Lot running through my brain?

• I don't think Kennedy had as much junk in the trunk but i watched it twice just to make sure.

• Beyond all the controversy...it's a really great song! Never paid much attention to EB but if this song is any indication of the rest of the album, I'm going to have to get a copy of Amerykah: Part Two!"

• Growing those cabbages without a permit is called Guerilla Gardening. So our new motto for Dallas should be "Let's go Guerilla".

• The city lacks sufficient resources to prevent "guerilla filming" and unauthorized growing of cabbages at the same time.

• Keep Dallas Weird!

• It was ONE camera...hardly consitutes a full shoot. And for all we know, it could have been a Flip camera. So, what, now anyone that wants to shoot video of Dealey plaza on their Flip camera or CELL phone, now needs to take it up w/ the City? If that were the case, then I'm guilty of "guerilla filming", along w/ most of the rest of Dallas. Get OVER yourselves! Was she illegal in being NAKED on the streets? Of course. That's the only law that's been broken here, and since there was no Dallas PD officer that happened to whiz by, well, too bad, I say. Trying to bring her in on some petty 'permit' excuse...yeah, that's reaching.

• Ok. A little free association then. "Ankh" was also a symbol used in the 1970's movie "Logan's Run" filmed in the DFW area...presumably "permitted through the City of Dallas Office of Special Events/Film Coordinators." Just guessing but Librio I'm sure had nothing to do with that. "Logan's Run" is rumored to be in the development stages for a remake. It was also a short-lived 1970's TV series. And now Ankh has resurfaced with a brief run of nakedness through Dealey Plaza. It is the Circle of Life.

• If nothing else, i've learned that "ankh" is the apparently pronounceable symbol that Prince used to go by.

• Marathon! Anyone, anyone?

• There's lots of times you can run through downtown Dallas naked and no one would see you. Like most days after six.

• "Guerilla filming" with no city approval or oversight? I love Badu's project all ready.

• Oh, come now, Mr. Librio! Get out of those tighty-whities and "go commando" once in a while. Who doesn't want to see unsanctioned nakedness running through downtown Dallas at any hour? The venue is questionable...but who are we to judge?

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