Block party

A block party or street party is a crowded party in which many members of a single community congregate, either to observe an event of some importance or simply for mutual enjoyment. The name comes from the form of the party, which often involves closing an entire city block to vehicle traffic. Many times, there will be a celebration in the form of playing music and dance and activities like pony rides, inflatable slides, pop corn machines and BBQs. Block parties gained popularity in the United States during the 1970s, particularly within the hip hop community. Block parties were often held outdoors and power for the DJ's sound system was taken illegally from street lights, as referenced in the song "South Bronx" by KRS-One.

Block parties are reported as a World War I innovation originating from the East Side of New York City, where an entire block was roped off and patriotic songs sung and a parade held to honor the members of that block who had gone off to war. Traditionally, many inner city block parties were actually held illegally, because they did not file for an event permit from the local authorities. However, police turned a blind eye to them.

Block party (disambiguation)

Block Party may refer to:

Organizations

Popular culture

Other uses

See also

Block Party!

Block Party!, released on September 7, 2013, is the 2013–2014 robotics competition for FIRST Tech Challenge. In the competition, two alliances, each consisting of two teams of high school students, compete to score blocks in plastic crates atop alliance-colored pendulums. Block Party! is the ninth FTC challenge.

Announcement

The contest rules were announced at the headquarters of PTC in Needham, Massachusetts on September 7, 2013. A live audience of about 200 high schoolers and their mentors watched the unveiling by David Price (Regional Director of FIRST), Loretta Bessette (MIT Lincoln Labs and FIRST’s FTC game design team), Don Bossi (President of FIRST), John Stuart (PTC SVP of Global Academic Programs), and Lisa Freed (iRobot STEM Outreach Coordinator). The event was also live streamed.

Alliances

In each match, the four teams competing are organized into red and blue alliances. The members of an alliance compete together to earn points. Alliances are selected randomly prior to the start of each competition.

Missy Elliott

Melissa Arnette Elliott (born July 1, 1971), better known under her stage name Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott or simply Missy Elliott, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Elliott embarked on her music career with all-female R&B group Sista in the early 1990s and later became part of the Swing Mob collective along with childhood friend and producer Timbaland with whom she worked on projects for Aaliyah, 702, Total, and SWV. Following several guest appearances, in 1997, she launched her solo career with the release of her debut album Supa Dupa Fly, which spawned the hit single "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)" and "Sock It 2 Me". The album debuted at number three on the Billboard 200, the highest-charting debut for a female rapper at the time. Her following album Da Real World (1999), produced the singles "She's a Bitch", "All n My Grill", and the top five hit "Hot Boyz".

With the release of Miss E... So Addictive (2001), Under Construction (2002), and This Is Not a Test! (2003) Elliott established an international career and followed with the hits "Get Ur Freak On", "One Minute Man", "4 My People", "Gossip Folks", and "Work It", the latter of which won her a Grammy Award for Best Female Rap Solo Performance, eventually winning five Grammy Awards and selling over 30 million records in the United States. Elliott is the only female rapper to have six albums certified platinum by the RIAA, including one double platinum for her 2002 album Under Construction. Elliott is also known for a series of hits and diverse music videos, including "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)", "Hot Boyz", "Get Ur Freak On", "Work It", and the Grammy award-winning video for "Lose Control."

Block Party (Stacy Lattisaw and Johnny Gill song)

"Block Party" is a song performed by Stacy Lattisaw and Johnny Gill from their duet album Perfect Combination. The song was written by Narada Michael Walden, who also wrote her uptempo 1980 hit "Jump to the Beat". It entered three Billboard charts in total.

Track listing

1984 release

Chart position

References

Bloc party (politics)

A bloc party (German: Blockpartei) in politics may refer to a political party that is a constituent member of an electoral bloc. However, this term also has a more specific meaning, referring to non-ruling but legal political parties in an authoritarian or totalitarian regime (most notably Communist regimes) as auxiliary parties and members of a ruling coalition, differing such governments from a pure one-party state, although such parties are not considered opposition parties or alternative sources of power.

Sometimes, bloc party is called a satellite party.

Background

The concept has its roots in the Popular front idea where Marxist and non-Marxist political parties and other organisations would belong in an umbrella organisation. Following the end of World War II, elections were held in areas already under Soviet influence who would become members of the Eastern Bloc, while giving voters choice, would be seen as a step towards a totalitarian, Communist-led regime. Bloc parties were able to retain their non-Marxist orientation, but in practice were always subordinate to the ruling Communist party, and all legal parties and civic organisations were required to be members of the official coalition. Elections were not competitive as the composition of legislatures was generally pre-determined. Parties only occasionally dissented from the line of the ruling party. Some parties were pre-existing, others had been newly formed, to appeal to specific sectors of society. However, during the fall of Communism, many hitherto subordinate bloc parties would begin to assert their independence and play a role in the democratisation process, while others would be unable to continue functioning either due to a loss of guaranteed yet artificial representation (granted to them by the ruling Communist Party), or due to the stigma of being associated with subservience to the Communists, and would either dissolve or fade into obscurity.