Trayvon Martin

What is implicit about all this talk of that poor baby boy Trayvon Martin is white America's belief about Black men. The sentences that have yet to escape any white man's lips but it on the tip of his tongue and radiating from his dome is: Why didn't Trayvon just assent to white male authority? Who did this child think he was talking back to a white male authority figure? Do as you're told, boy.

When are we going to have frank discussion of race in this country? I mean, when are we really going to get really real? I want raw, unvarnished truth. Because if we continue to flitter around the edges of this discussion, we will be discussing race for another one hundred years.

Racism in this country has been reduced to name calling and job discrimination. The laws have been changed (not enforce fully) and there is nothing more to do unless we implement some Derrick Bell-esque racial licensing system allowing racist to post a sign and pay a fee to restrict their business or store.

We need to talk about waht's really going on: white supremancy. Yes, white supremacy. Unfortunately, it will be forever linked to neo-Nazis, skinheads, and the KKK. But, the reality--worldwide and especially the USA--is that anyone brown or black is obiltirated so completely, so intensely, and so inconspicuously; the majority is seemingly unaware of it. To arrive at sanity on the other side of constant attack is to wage battle. Black and brown is ugly, stupid, unworthy, unimportant, bothersome and utterly incapable of seeing race impartiality. The brown or black, whether she be a wise Latina, a strong Black Woman, or an ideal Black man, is per se unequal to whiteness of either gender. Whiteness is the norm; and, the brown or black is abnormal...an aberattion. There is a a phsyciatric war waging against the constant barage of being seen as "abnormal."
Let me illustrate: You woke up tomorrow in a different county. Everyone was black. The president and all the elected representatives: black. You turned on the TV and all the commercials featured black actors. All the sitcoms had black characters as well as black storylines, punchlines, and jokes. You went to the local theater and all the movies were romantic comedies with a black male and female leads. All the superhero flicks featured black heroes. There was only one or two of you EVER featured in futuristic sci-fi movies. Every magazine you opened featured black models look like Alek Wek and Tyra Banks. There were no blondes anywhere, in fact it was considered odd and undesirable to have yellow hair. You had to go to a special section in the drug store for shampoo, conditioner, combs and brushes. If you are a woman, there is no make-up that matches your complexion. Foundation color started at Halle Berry and just got darker and darker and that goes for panyhoses as well. You try to find dolls for your little girl that looked like a little “her” but you had to go to three stores to find one. All your X-mas decorations were black: Santa, elves and angels. You attend church and all images of God, saints, prophets and disciples are black. You go to Hallmark to buy a card for your grandmother’s birthday and they only feature wooly-haired, zaftig, dark grandmas wearing brightly colored Kente cloth. As you make your way to your apartment, every billboard is showing a black hand or black foot or black family. Many of the very famous or rich men that look like you have a black wife and never even acknowledge, date, or marry a women that looks like his mother (in fact, sometimes he even disparages and ridicules them). It’s hard to explain to your baby that it’s okay to have thin lips, a thin nose, straight hair and funny colored eyes. All the cartoons are black characters and have black voices and when your kid colors pictures of your family with the crayon marked “nude” invariably everyone is the color of a luscious Hershey’s bar. 90% of the doctors, lawyers, accountants, police officers, insurance agents, politicians, judges, teachers and fire fighters are black. Whenever you lamented about these facts, your friends or colleagues told you “You’re paranoid. I can sort of understand what your talking about."

This physic assualt is unrelenting. It effects every aspect of human activity and it begins before BIRTH.

And, guess what parents of Black and Brown children do to make it out with a semblance of self-esteem, self-worth, and self-love: Black/Brown power. What else can they do? Black people are more compassionate. Brown people see the world more clearly. Black people see the hidden agenda. Black people see the "invisible" slights. Brown people can judge the world as it, not as white supremancy wants to see it. Black and brown experiences of white supremancy make a better person because of the character building through adversity. Black and brown parents are attempting to balance the constant attack. What results? High achieving people that come out with only a partially damaged self esteem.

This is the world that Trayvon Martin was navigating. This is the world that we have left for the children. This is the world that continues to sink into the abyss of denial, narcissism, and arrogance.

Thank every deity that exists that violence against Black/Brown in the country can induce outrage in all races and not just the targeted group. But we cannot continue to ignore this issue. The George Zimmermans of the world will consume us in flames.

OBL Dead

I’m glad. His perversion of Islam was his greatest crime. A religion that tenants are there is no compulsion in religion was changed into a twisted tool of a megalomaniac. He was a rich kid with nothing else better to do but come up with conspiracy theories about America. Now, don’t get me wrong, America has never been that good to brown people all over the world, but America’s sins aside, the tenants of America have always been just and pure. Liberty. Justice for all. Freedom of speech. Freedom of assembly. No establishment of religion. These ideas born during the Age of Reason are what make America’s ideals the very best in the world. They promote peaceful dissent, dialogue, free thinking, and intellectual curiosity. These are the things that OBL hated. He didn’t care about women being uncovered or the Palestinians. He wanted to end modernity. He wanted to obliterate free thinking. He wanted to medieval times where people were ignorant where “lords” and religious figures manipulated and controlled the masses. Of course, there will still be terrorism. Of course, we must remain vigilant. Of course, people will still die. Of course, the world will keep on spinning. But the world is better off with OBL gone and sent back to his maker.

Spiritual Assault

Every article I read about Black Women is negative. Single motherhood. Unlikely to get married. Draining society on welfare. Personalities are unfeminine. I sick of it. It has to stop now. Most of the articles are hack jobs that delve no deeper into cause and effect than the effects of ex-lax on your bowels. The articles conveniently ignore poverty. The articles conveniently ignore the legacy of slavery. The articles conveniently ignore the legacy of Jim Crow. There are layers and layers of issues going on with all of these “issues.”

In my eyes and the eyes of many of my sisters, the Black Woman is a survivor, the mother of everyone, the strength of the human race with no time to ponder. Black Woman speak up and demand to be heard by everyone. When her counterpart refuses to raise the kids he helped create, she has her baby and soldiers on. When her counterpart refuses to marry her, she works and soldiers on. When she has no education, no skills or no family support, she accepts help and soldiers on. When she is told she talks too much, has too many opinions or seems too masculine, she continues being herself and soldiers on.

I will no longer let these provocateurs ruin my spiritual peace. In the immortal words of my mother: Fuck ‘em and feed ‘em beans from a rooftop with a slingshot!

Disappearing white privilege

The white working class, also known as the teabaggers, have a great fear of the future.  Obama symbolizes a group they believe will replace them, edge them out, push them further down the economic pile of losers: the Black Middle Class.  Although this high achieving & successful group sees little attention from the media or any other source & many of it's individual members are always praised as exceptions to their race, their existence has always been felt through programs like affirmative action & college scholarships.  Through efforts of colleges & universities countrywide (govt forced or self imposed diversity plans) , Black young adults are are bringing themselves out of poverty & the working class to establish themselves solidly in the middle class by becoming professionals & business owners.

 Now that access is open to everyone, the cream rises to the top.  No longer are the halls of colleges filled with any white male that applied, but there are standards, tests, & tons of smart kids who want a higher education. Colleges have mounds of students who are intelligent & capable to choose from.  No longer are C & D students with no friend or family strings or legacy guaranteed a spot at a college or university. For that matter, they are no longer guaranteed a spot at a company.

Black kids are doing the mythical Horatio Alger story of pulling themselves up by their bootstraps. We are beginning to see black students in college whose parents are college graduates as well.  Obama was right that only in America can a regular kid like himself rise to become President of the USA without any long history of wealth, power or influence.  His brillance, hard work, charm, & tenacity were not Jim Crowed out of the larger system like so many before him. Segregation did not drive him to drink or to insanity because his potential was stifled by no access.

Medicore whites thrived in this system. Especially in the south were poor whites were only better off than their black counterparts by one single thing: their white skin privilege.  This is slowly being stripped away.  It is no doubt still a major factor in American life, but is sliping away before everyones eyes. Instead of directing anger at the Corporation who keep wages articfically low & everyone fighting for scraps of the American dream, the teabaggers choose to absurdly rail against govt & black.

Many believed the election of Obama was the ushering in of a post racial America, it didn't..  But, the effects of Obama will be felt for generations--not only for his healthcare plan or financial reform--because little Black & brown kids will realize that they to can be president, a lawyer, or a senator.

Fantasia Barrino

I want to send prayers to her & her family (even the leeches). I'm truly sorry that she feels so hopeless. Things are so overwhelming at times. Many think that her 'riches' should have insulated from sadness, but we know that money doesn't buy happiness. As much as Madison Avenue wants us to believe that it does, happiness & joy have to be choices in our lives.

Frankly, having a PhD in Unauthorized Bedside Psychology, I can tell you that it is easy to see what has and is going on in Fantasia's life. If you believe her bio that was shown on Lifetime, she has suffered at the hands of men before. Here's my analysis: Fantasia sings like an songbird, but looks like a buzzard. No disrespect. But truth is truth. She is tall & has a more than decent body, but in the face not so cute. In her early life the father of her child kept her as a secret boo. A girl that he fucked in private & filled her head with ideas of secret love affairs & one days we will be together lies. Being a young girl who was tall, awkward, & goofy looking, Fantasia was easily susceptible to manipulation & false hopes. She becomes pregnant and this man drops her faster than a hot potato. She devastated.

She makes her lemons into lemonade, by getting on American Idol. And then she beats all the odds & wins the competitions. We all know she would have NEVER gotten a traditional record deal, because the music industry is only signing light skin, mixed, silky hair bitches who fuck for tracks (shout out to bossip). A dark brown girl with African features and short relaxed hair would never be put on these days. If you don't believe me, try to name three Black pop princesses that are dark....you can't. It's not the 90s anymore. Anyway, she wins Idol and things change. She has hit records, money and fame. Suddenly, she's becoming "attractive" to lots of men. One particular slick muthafucka, has her really wrapped. She believes everything he says. "I'm not married." "I'm legally separated." "I won't let anyone see these tapes, girl." "She's a bitch and doesn't understand me." "I love you and your daughter." Blah, blah, blah.... She is probably still starved for male attention. I'm not saying dark-skinned sisters can't get a man, I'm saying the world is filled with shallow, hateful, predatory men that know how to manipulate a vulnerable lady.

Psychiatric Help 5 cents. The Doctor is IN.

Montana Fishburne

I'm not going to lie like the rest of America. I watch porn. I enjoy porn. (Shout out to Mr. Marcus, Brian Pumpers, Pinkie, India, Carmen Hayes and Nyomi Banxxx.) Apparently tons of other people do to because it is a multi-billion dollar industry. There is something for everyone: Black, Asian, fetish, gay, straight, soft, or hardcore. Just to name a few. So, let's all stop pretending we don't like to watch other people have sex. Sex is as natural and necessary as eating or drinking water. Studies show people that have more sex are happier and healthier. Porn is instructive, funny, campy, arousing, and just plain fun. All you prudes and haters can go to hell....and meet some great porn stars.

Montana joining this industry doesn't bother me in the least. Porn is one of the few industries where women are KING...um...QUEEN. They run that industry. They make TONS of money and don't work very much. I've heard some porn actresses work one to two times a month. They choose who they have sex with and they choose what acts they will perform. It's consensual and it pays very well. Men are second class citizens, basically an afterthought. Up until recently, they didn't even have to be handsome!

I always find it curious that some people are so anti-porn. First of all it's perfectly legal. Second, no one is forced to do it. Third, people are paying to watch it. Many say it has no redeeming value. Depends on your viewpoint. And I'm not talking about people who are addicted to it, I'm talking normal viewing habits (whatever normal is). We need to stop being puritans.

All the talk about degradation of women is silly as well. If the person doing the acts does not feel degraded, then why are we transposing our own feeling on them? Everyone has limits. Some will not do oral sex (aka selfish, stupid people). Some will not do butt sex. Some people don't want to kiss. Some want to "make love" with flowers and candles every time, while others are like "will you please just pound me?" The women and men in porn don't feel like having sex on camera that will later be viewed by others is degrading. They have different limits.

If Montana's father is embarrassed. Well, that's understandable. No parent envisions this as his child's career choice. It's mortifying to him to think his daughter is having sex for the whole world to see. But, hey, its her life. Would he rather she be a criminal? Would he rather her be a stoner with no job? I mean it is what it is, Morpheus. Khalil Gibran says: "Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself. They came through you but not from you and though they are with you yet they belong not to you."

Finally, I think of all the free snatch that is giving away everyday in the name of notions of "love." I think of the pity snatch that is given away for an expensive gift to an ugly, but nice guy. I think of the all the snatch-to-make-him-like-me acts all over the country. I ponder all the I'll-get-you-back-by-shtupping-your- best-friend deeds. There are sooo many reason to have sex, one just happens to be money.

THANK ME LATER

Do Right And Kill Everything...DRAKE....came out yesterday. I bought it at 8:05 am from Target. I'm ate up.

I would like to thank Drake NOW, not later, for being such a forward thinking artist. As a Millenial, he basically grew up on "free" music. Napster debuted in June 1999 when the DRAKE was a mere 12 years old and for the next ten years he witnessed the battle between music fans, record companies, and recording artists. A little know fact about the year Napster came out: cd sales actually INCREASED the year after Napster was released. I can attest to this fact: I downloaded my fair amount of songs, mostly remixes by DJs around the country, but I did download a song or two from white rock bands that I heard in passing on television. It opened up my musical world immensely. I am a diehard Incubus fan now and turned my sister on to them as well. We have seen them in concert, and have bought every CD they have release since hearing "Drive." And even went back and bought previously releases.

Drake was on the Ricky Smiley Radio Show today not lamenting the fact that his CD was leaked two weeks before its release, but was unfazed. His rationale: I've been giving away free music for years. My fans will know what they are getting and be excited about buying my CD.

Brilliant.

Listen up record companies and RIAA, music fans are sick and tired of plunking down as much as $18.99 for music sight unseen (excuse the mixed metaphor). The music industry is a like an 8 track trying to make it in a digital world. The music industry is lacking innovation in marketing. The old models are not working anymore. The 360 deal is akin to slavery. You can't make an overly produced super ubiquitous single when the rest of the CD sounds like an fucking afterthought. I'm not with it. It's ridiculous to for an industry to make a piss-poor product and be angry when people would rather forgoe a purchase (it will be on the radio anyway) or downloading a semi-fucked up bootleg. There are tons of way to bring the industry back. Things don't stay the same. Progess is inevitable. Music industry is trying to hold on to the past with an iron grip, but it's like trying to hold on to water...it just slips out your hands.

Drake's model of free music is one way to create a fanbase and loyal customers. Another way is to slash the prices of CDs to $5. Old CD's should ALWAYS be a lower price than newer releases. Still another model: employ artists like you do any other worker. Structure a ocntract like a salesperson: base salary plus commission based on sales numbers. I mean I just came up with that last one while I was sitting here blogging.

I'm very, very, very happy with my Drake purchase. It's classic Drake (funny to say about someone's first studio release, huh?). Organic. Not overly produced. Each song could stand alone. The CD is a perfect fusion of R&B and Hip Hop. I will continue to listen to his free music and his monetized music. I will buy his CDs as long as he makes them.

DRAKE is the Truth.