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.

Take a Chance or Chance it...

I'm going to turn 36 this year. WOW. I'm speechless. (Never.) But, I'm really unprepared. I think the trick to getting older is how well you cope with things NOT going as you planned AT ALL. If you can cope with how life unfolds, you'll be okay. But, if you're like me, still struggling with how you feel your life has exploded out of control...aging sucks. I feel like a gerbil in an exercise wheel. Running with all my might and going in circles. Not moving ahead or backwards. Anyone who knows me can say she's been in a quarter life crisis for YEARS. I want to be happy with where I am, with who I am, with how things are progressing...but I'm always reminiscing about the past. Lamenting the future. Overlooking the present. Crying over missed opportunities. Did I go to the right college? Should I have picked this profession? Did I break up with him for a good enough reason? Should I have moved to my dream city and made it work? All the while, the present is slipping through my fingers, passing with every second, minute, hour, day, week, month, and year. It's twenty ten! I have another nephew who will be one year old. I have a niece that grows an inch every week! My sweet parents are getting older. I'm getting older! I really would like to be content. My desire to be satiated with life is real, but seems unattainable. Doesn't seem to be in my personal makeup. I'm just not a happy, contented person. I'm realistic. I know dreams don't always come true. I know that life is sometimes boring. I know that true love doesn't come to everyone. I know that good people suffer and bad people prosper. Life is not fair. I know this and it keeps me from seeing the glass as half full.

I'm wondering whether to take a big step and do something or chance that the situation will present itself and I won't have to take a big step...the step will just happen in a natural progression. I'm literally running out of time. I keep going on back and forth, back and forth...what will I do? I always seem to have more questions rather than answers. Very frustrating. Such is life.

I know I shouldn't be in love with this person. But I am. He's just so plain good at it.

HealthCare Reform 2010

Passed with 219 votes. Thank you to POTUS, Speaker Pelosi, and all the people that have true Christian, Islamic, and Buddhist hearts who love their fellow man, woman, and child.

We are chipping away at the corporate control of American life.

YES WE CAN!

I'm not loving anything right now. I'm sure this not good chi or karma or wonderment for the universe. My nerves are racked & my hate is @ an all time high.

The nice conversation did inspire me. My little baby cousin inspires too. I gotta stop wasting time & do what I gotta do. The PRESENT truly is a gift.

What am I going to do with my life? I need some direction. I need some major inspiration. I need some motivation. I may need a drink.

The American Taliban

I'm not the first to make this connection or observation, but I have been saying it a long time. The religious conservatives in this country are twisting the American dream, American ideals, and American values. Their belief system is steeped in superstitions, illogical reasoning, and fallacies. The hatred of science and reason is downright appalling.

The idea of America was/is a fascinating experiment. Our system of justice is envied around the world. In the United States a criminal defendant will not be indicted, tried and executed in one day like so many oppressive or corrupt countries in the world. Surprisingly, the religious zealots would condemn any defense attorney for doing their essential and crucial job in the system. Liz Cheney would have criminal defense attorneys be tried themselves as criminal or terrorists. The world is so black and white to these people. They have no time for complex thinking or complex situations.

Not only do these religious people ridiculously hold on to ideas that can be easily debunked, disproved and called into question, they claim that any opposition to their beliefs means the opponent is not a "true" or "real" American. Science and reason baffle them. If you explain climate change or conservation they see it as some crazy liberal idea curtailing their freedom. The funny thing is their ideas are all cooperate inventions that have inveigled there way into the epicenter of the conservative belief system. The ideas they claim so fervently are nothing more than cooperate notions to keep the bottom line as high as possible with no regard to the General Welfare of the people of the US (or the world for that matter). Cooperate lies are believed and repeated as if they are from the Bible. I would call cooperate America immoral, but Olbermann explained one night on Countdown the more precise term is amoral....without any moral regard for right or wrong, neither moral or immoral. They have but one goal: make money.

But I digress, from my main point: the American Taliban. The religious conservatives want to control every aspect of life in America: Teach the Bible in school (because this is a really a Christian country despite that pesky 1st Amendment); Control women's bodies (good women don't get jobs and if they do they only support men and good women don't get abortions or use contraception); Control everyone's bedroom (only they know who you should have sex with and how you should be having that sex); and the list goes on and on.

These beliefs are no different than Afghanistan Taliban with its hate of modernity and stance of imprisoning women in the home. Both talibans hate the modern world. They are afraid of science, reason, secularism, and the peaceful co-existence of a divergence of beliefs. They both want their belief systems to supersede everyone else's because they alone are right, they alone have the single path to salvation, and they alone are one true religion.

America's promise always looks beyond the horizon. No matter how fucked up we are now, we know we are striving for something better, more just, and more fair. These religious conservatives need to read and study a non-revisionist history of America and understand where we have really come from and what we as Americans are really about. The founding father could have easily made this a Christian nation, making Christianity the supreme law of the land, but they chose religious freedom for all. The founding fathers could have established a justice system based on guilty until proven innocent with Draconian punishments, but they chose a system that adversarial with checks and balances so the accused have a fair and just trial.

I say we rebel against this American Taliban. I say we stop giving them a legitimate place at the discourse table. We need not encourage their lunacy, bigotry, or hate in the name of hearing all sides. Some sides aren't sides at all...there're just stupid jibberish.

Just linked my Palm Pre with my blog. Expect some quick thought, observation, etc. all in 140-160 characters. Q? Can you be inspired w/ 1 friendly conversation?

Lies

I have you ever been told a lie so disrespectful, so lame, so pitiful, that the lie itself was more of a disappoint more than the actual infraction??? If you choose to lie, take time to make it plausible. It's like a kid saying "the dog ate my homework." Home lame is that shit?? There are a dozen better things you could say, but don't spit the person eye with a lie so ridiculous you're insulting the person intelligence. Of course, the truth is something you could try. I'm just saying.