And still...silence

This past August I dropped a post on this blog remarking on how remarkably silent the Black star athletes and entertainers were behind the shooting death of Mike Brown Jr. Now that there will be no indictment of his killer, I waited in the hopes that finally someone of non-political significance would have something to say other than the usual suspects. You cowards have once again let me down.

Why does the President have to speak up on this and issues like it when that argument could have been taken up by the myriad of rich to wealthy Black and brown entertainers? Where are the eloquent ones with something to say, who can think for themselves, and are not worried about taking a financial hit? Right now the world is hearing from jack asses like Charles Barkley who thinks this about racial profiling, "sometimes it is wrong and sometimes it's right." Charles isn't smart enough to realize racial profiling is ALWAYS wrong no matter if someone gets caught red handed with weapons of mass destruction or nothing but lint in their pockets.

There's this guy I was just made aware of named Alfonzo Rachel, a Black republican who had said some truly repugnant words about Mike Brown Jr. and yet, no push back from ANYONE! Pharrell "Happy" Williams also chimed in about Mike Brown being a bully or exhibiting bully-ish behavior, forgetting for a second that Michael was just 18. Forgetting that at 18 we've all done something to cause us to hang our heads in shame. Thankfully he's walked his words back after the push back on social media, but where were his peers?

Where are the voices that can speak intelligently to this and other matters like it? Why is the Black (financially) elite so silent? Afraid of losing a check? Afraid of white people pulling their support from you and your future projects? Where is Oprah on this? Where is Tyler Perry? Where are all those actors, actresses, singers, dancers, and athletes? Why is the wide receiving corps of the St. Louis Rams football team the only ones willing to make a silent show of solidarity with the protesters?

I'm sure no one honestly expected an indictment of the murderer Darren Wilson but to say absolutely nothing is appalling on damn near ever level that the rage in me has subsided and has given way to shock. I am shocked at you cowards. Shocked and ashamed.

No Indictment, No Surprise.

Am I hurt? Absolutely. I hurt for the multitude of Black Men and Women abused, assaulted, and murdered by those that swore to protect them and I hurt for the future victims. Make no mistake, they are coming. As surely as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, they are coming. Now that police officers all over this country know that they can kill someone that looks like me-whether I am armed or unarmed-with impunity, they can let the bullets fly with no worry of consequence. It would not surprise me either if the ranks of those now wishing to become police double if not triple over this non-indictment. Now every racist's kid, the young ones who have been brainwashed to believe that they are somehow superior to me because they have no melanin in their skin can get paid for killing those that look like me. Let that point sink in. They can get paid for killing me and see no jail time.

Do not call me American. I hereby reject the term African-American because America isn't my home anymore. Yes I live here but in truth this country doesn't recognize me as a citizen, if it did then I would be able to get justice for crimes perpetrated against me by everyone from the mugger in the park to the crooks in D.C. This country is not my home. Home is supposed to be ones sanctuary, it's supposed to be safe. I awake this morning knowing I can be killed by the hands of the law and my killer will not be punished for taking my life. That realization has eroded my feeling of safety. This country you call America is not my home, it never was. It is enemy territory and that's why I reject the term African-American.

Nothing can ease the pressure building in my chest or chase away the bile bubbling up in my throat. Nothing can soothe this headache I suffer with or the fear that is now draped over my shoulders like a James Brown cape. While I am not surprised at darren wilson not being indicted for the murder of Mike Brown, I am somewhat surprised by the insecurity and anger I feel about it. I knew the racist officer wouldn't be indicted, I think we all knew this. It's virtually impossible to indict a cop in this country for a shooting but I am considerably MORE uncomfortable around the police now than I was yesterday. They are paid to protect me from crime and criminals, but when they turn out to be the criminals there is no recourse. There is no one I can turn to and give an officers badge number to and say "this person violated my civil rights". I am, in effect, powerless. I have never liked the police and I have never, in all my years met a "good" cop. I firmly believe they are like dinosaurs, extinct. And it would take a monumental effort for someone to prove to me "good cops" even existed in the first place. No one can convince me that the murderer of Mike Brown was a "good cop" no matter what's said and how many say it. Much like I knew in my heart that the murderer of Trayvon Martin would walk free, I knew there would be no indictment but it's still so hard to swallow.

I now have NO protection when I walk the streets and because of that I feel like I am living behind enemy lines. Every little misstep or sideways glance can bring them running in my direction. If I don't "move it along" fast enough, protest some injustice, or ask a question I can be arrested. If I don't pay the fare for the subway I can end up being smashed in the face with a baton. I have been a law abiding citizen all my life. I have never broken the law but do the boys and girls in blue know that when they look at me? NO! All they see is a Black man who "fits the description" of another Black man who MAY have committed a crime. I have been fitting the description since the day I was born. Can you imagine that? Do you know what it's like to have that stigma over your head from day one? If you aren't Black or brown then you can't. If you aren't Black or brown you have no idea what I am talking about and honestly...I envy you.

I am not surprised by the outcome of the grand jury but it has told me one very important thing, that this is not my country, I am living behind enemy lines, and I need to start digging my tunnel to get the hell out of here.

A Head Scratcher

I am scratching my head as to how something like this could even be possible. The math just doesn't add up no matter how you cut it. Many white people in this country seem to wonder why many Black and brown people seem to distrust the police and the justice system in this country. To those whites who can't seem to put a finger on where that suspicion comes from, that's due in large part to them never having had a bad experience with law enforcement. When they get pulled over, only in the most extreme cases of law breaking is a white person handcuffed and hauled off to jail but usually they are issued a warning to be more careful and are allowed to go about their business. Black people aren't nearly as lucky.

In all the years of my life, every experience I have had with a police officer has been acrimonious at best. There have been times where it felt like they were baiting me to lash out and take a swing so they could slap me around, slap the cuffs on me, and throw me in jail. One night, after hanging out with friends and stopping off in a store before heading home I was approached by at least six police officers and they all had their guns drawn. When they asked for some ID from me, I looked into their eyes and didn't move a muscle. I told the lead cop where my wallet was and told him to reach in and retrieve it. I wasn't about to get shot over my wallet like Amadou Diallo was. I also wasn't going to put myself in a situation where I was going to be at the mercy of the courts and the justice system. I rarely stepped out of line as a youngster, worst thing I ever did really was jaywalk and yet it seemed like my skin color made me a prime target for police to harass me and get me to lose my mind so they could get me into the system.

I say all that to say this, crime in this country, for the most part has been on the decline. Key word there being decline. The numbers on crimes of all sorts are either dropping off the table or slowly lowering and yet the prison population has exploded. That's where the head scratching thing comes in. To a rational human being, regardless of ones skin color that just doesn't add up. How can crime be going down and yet more and more people are being arrested and thrown behind bars? What are they being arrested for? In the town of Ferguson, MO. there are three warrants for arrest per household. Think about that staggering number for a second and then add in that the police force issuing those warrants is damn near 95% white and the town of Ferguson is 70% Black. So you have white police issuing warrants left and right for who knows what on the predominantly Black population. If it's happening there, you can rest assured the same types of things are happening all over this country to Black and brown people everywhere. Think about this...

Today, there are more African-Americans in the US Justice system, either in jail, on parole, or under some form of correctional control than there were slaves. 

All this leads me to one conclusion, that in this so called post racial America, with an African-American President, racism be it industrialized or otherwise is more rampant, evil, and corrosive as ever. The numbers bear that truth out and numbers when calculated correctly, never lie.
 

I Am...Scared.

Which shirt do I wear as to not appear threatening? How tightly should I pull my belt in order to keep my jeans from looking too baggy? Which route should I take so I don't run into any trouble that could potentially get me slain? Hat or no hat?

Those are the primary questions I am asking myself far too often in the morning these days, and it shouldn't have to be that way. Yet here I am. Here I am, living in a borough, a city, a state, a country, a world where what I wear, how I wear it for my comfort, and where I travel could potentially get me killed. You think I'm over exaggerating? You think I'm hitting the panic button? Am I playing the race card perhaps? Well since my race cannot be ignored, and since studies have found that every 28 hours an unarmed Black person is murdered in this country by law enforcement, you damn right I'm hitting the panic button. If you were in my shoes, you would be too.

When I shave I have been told that I look almost twenty years younger than my actual age. I think that's coming from people with bad eyesight personally but I do look significantly younger when clean shaven. And I LIKE being clean shaven, but now I have to wonder if walking around scruffy looking is better for my health. If I looked my age, would the police leave me be if something went down and I were in the vicinity as opposed to approaching me with guns drawn because I "fit the description" while clean shaven? Which has already happened in my life.

How do I walk as to not attract any unwanted attention? I know my swag runs deep and that the bop in my step is natural, it's me and something I have a hard time curbing. Now though, I feel that maybe if I walk differently, do my best to not bop, to not appear at ease, to not be myself then maybe this man can make it home safely no matter that time of day. Speaking of that, how late is too late for me to be out and about safely without worrying about being accosted? My white friends always want me to join them at their house, a bar, or some event that's going to run well into the evening. My concerns for my safety regarding travelling home sometimes never enters their minds because they aren't Black. In their minds why wouldn't I make it home safely?

I am scared, not solely over the potential loss of my life, but for those that love and care for me, those that think I am adorable, those that consider me the smartest, bravest, and strongest man they know. What happens to them if something happens to me during an encounter with a cop that goes horribly wrong? How would they feel? Can they get justice for me? Will they be alright in the wake of my death? God, these questions can go on and on. All I hope is that I get to live out the rest of my days in relative peace and harmony while screaming at the tops of my lungs, "NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE!" and fighting injustice everywhere.

Maybe I should leave my headphones home too then.

The Ice Bucket Challenge

I was just wondering, when did ALS aka Lou Gehrig's disease hit the forefront of America's consciousness? Everywhere I look now, some other special idiot is dunking ice cold water on themselves or having it thrown on them, video taping the spectacle, and then nominating (daring) some other idiot to do the same. I bet everything in my pockets right now (a stick of gum, a loaded  Metrocard, and about twenty dollars) that more than half of these people have no CLUE what the symptoms of ALS are or how many die from the disease yearly. I bet more than half of them don't even know what ALS stands for and I bet you they don't give a shit. For the majority of them it's just something to do because everyone else is doing it, plus it makes them look like they care which is always important. Everyone from the average citizen to celebrities have done it, been nominated to do it, or are planning to do it. Hell, even Oprah recently did it.

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis is a neurodegenerative disease that affects the nerve cells of the brain and the spinal cord. I know this because I did my homework on this disease years ago because a friend told me she was diagnosed with this killer. Yet I watch these ice bucket challenge videos and no one is stating any facts about ALS before the dunkings. It's like the facts don't matter, just dunk ice cold water on me so people think I'm a good person but I bet they don't know...

As per the ALS Association website:

• The incidence of ALS is two per 100,000 people per year. 
• More than half of the 5,600 people diagnosed yearly live more than three years. 
• People diagnosed with ALS have a life expectancy from two to five years afterwards but there are many that live with the disease for five years or more.
• It is estimated that no more than 30,000 Americans have ALS at any given time. 
• 93% of the patients in the ALS database are Caucasian.

That being said, as much as I am all for killer diseases being fought and as much as I am all for people wanting to do whatever they can to help fund the research to fight those killer diseases. What are these same people doing to fight the most dreaded disease of all, racism? Is there an ice bucket challenge for Mike Brown? For John Crawford? For Trayvon Martin? Where are the ice buckets for Sean Bell, Amadou Diallo, Eric Garner and thousands of other unarmed Black men murdered by those that swore to protect and serve them? Someone come up with the challenge to do away with racial profiling, racial discrimination, mandatory minimums, or the one for putting the word justice back in the justice system. The system that jails Black people far more and for far longer than whites who commit the same crimes.

Those issues affect far more people than ALS can ever dare to on a yearly basis. While ALS can strike anyone at anytime, a person's skin color can seemingly get them shot and killed at anytime by the police for no apparent reason other than their melanin quotient. So what's more dangerous? What's more lethal? What's more insidious? ALS or being a young Black man in America? You tell me, I'll wait.

Russell Speaks...Sort Of!

Russell Simmons has blessed us with his words, whether or not they are words of wisdom is for you to decide, but he has finally opened his mouth. He actually typed the words for his Huffington Post blog entry, well, maybe he didn't type them, maybe his assistant did, but he wrote them, I think. Maybe he dictated them and someone else wrote them down, but you know what I mean. Look, when you have as much money as Russell has you don't really have to do anything for yourself ever again. Anyway, I have to say that after reading his blog entry, Russell Simmons is currently suffering from "affluenza".

I say that because it seems that Russell has forgotten where he comes from. He sounds like he's always come from money instead of hustling to get what he now currently has. He created the most iconic hip hop record label ever, the seminal Def Jam. Russell has made a lot of money off the backs of young Black kids that were routinely harassed by cops and yet he says, "Police in general get a bad rap, and the vast majority are good, loyal souls". I say prove it Russell. Show me a "good, loyal soul" that wears the shield because as a Black man, I have NEVER met one. I am at the point where I think it's harder to find a good cop than a bad one. That the kind of cops you're talking about are like unicorns, if they DO exist, they are impossible to find. Why don't you talk to Public Enemy or better yet, DMX about the good and loyal souls of most cops. I am pretty sure they'll look at you and laugh in your face.

Hip hop and the police force hate each other, I can find no other way to say it and for Russell to finally offer his take in regards to what's going on in Ferguson, MO. by riding the fucking fence is offensive to me. I tried my best to not see red when I read where Russell said, "Although we do not have all the details..." regarding Mike Brown's shooting as if we need them. Regardless of what "details" come to light, an UNARMED BLACK TEENAGER WAS SHOT AND KILLED IN BROAD DAYLIGHT! What more details would you like Russell? It wouldn't have mattered if he stole gold bullion from the Federal Reserve, he did NOT have a gun so that officer, Darren Wilson couldn't have possibly feared for his life. Isn't that the bullshit line that cops give us when they've used deadly force? Isn't "I feared for my life" what those good, loyal souls" said when they pumped more than 50 bullets into the car that Sean Bell was killed in, another unarmed Black man. Or how about Johnathan Ferrell, the college football player gunned down by Randall Kerrick, another "good, loyal soul". Ferrell was seeking help after being in a car accident and Officer Kerrick shot an unarmed Ferrell 10 TIMES!

When Russell stated towards the end of his...blog that "The community must also receive training on how to deal with the police..." I damn near threw up. What Russel fails to understand is that when someone becomes a cop, they've been HIRED to serve and protect. I didn't get HIRED to be a Black man so I don't need or require any training and neither does anyone else from the community. When you get a job, you get training, when you're born you weren't hired, you were born. I laughed out loud when I read that line. The entire thing made Russel Simmons appear seriously out of touch with those that look like him, as if he forgot where he came from, and how he made his money. He once said that Public Enemy was his favorite group, after reading what he wrote I have a really hard time believing that.

You can read for yourself what Russell said here...

Russell's Words.

Gilbert Arenas Showing His Ass Again.

You ever wonder how some people just aren't dead yet? Do you marvel at how long they've been able to stay alive when you think about just how stupid they truly are? In my fastidious mind I have often thought some people are so dumb that they need signs throughout their homes telling them to breathe in, and then breathe out. Not inhale, then exhale...that's a little too complicated for them. I put ex NBA All Star and all around dumb ass Gilbert Arenas in that category.

First off the man destroyed his career by bringing four loaded guns to work. I can't imagine what would have happened to me if I brought just one loaded gun to the office, let alone four. Gilbert's place of employment at the time was the crowded Verizon Center Arena where the then lowly Washington Wizards played. He's been the butt of gun jokes since (see what I did there?). Now it seems he's taking to self hatred like poor whites to the conservative party. He recently lambasted Rev. Al Sharpton for showing up in Ferguson, calling him a coon. Now other than a Black man calling another Black man a n*gger, calling one a coon is almost as bad if not the same.

He goes on to denigrate Sharpton further by explaining that whenever the good Reverend shows up somewhere to protest some injustice that's happened to Black people, he usually sways the jury in going "the other way", whatever that means. He also calls Al a THOT, something which I am sure Gilbert has first hand knowledge with being that he played in the NBA and all. This is just sad on so many levels but most of which is that Gilbert was too stupid to figure out that maybe he should be in Ferguson WITH Al instead of bad mouthing the one person who is on the ground and showing support to the people of that suburb so they don't feel like they are fighting this thing on their own and not going to his instagram account and publicly calling out an social activist and TV personality. You don't have to like Sharpton but trying to tear him down and minimize his effect is just what "they" want us to do.

I guess Gilbert misses the spotlight and wanted just a little bit more of it before he ignominiously rides off to the land of irrelevancy. Gilbert, fire your PR rep/firm for not stopping you from making this mistake and next time, shut the fuck up!

Read the article here.

Foot in mouth disease strikes Gilbert Arenas

    

The Silence is Overwhelming!

I am ashamed of you.

I am ashamed of all of you that have made your money, bought your nice house, took care of your mother and family, and then turned your back on us. I am ashamed of you today. You, who drive around in a car most can't even pronounce the name of, wearing your custom made tailored suits and dresses, who live in a zip code and tax bracket high enough to make noses bleed. Those of you who get richer when we buy your music, see your movies, buy your jerseys, go to your concerts or your games, you have made an enemy out of me for I will no longer do any of these things.

I won't be going to your movies Denzel, Kevin Hart, O'Shea Jackson, Taye Diggs, Terence Howard, Morris Chestnut, Sanaa Lathan, Halle Berry, Morgan Freeman, Michael Ealy, Samuel L. Jackson, Anthony Mackie, Forrest Whitaker, Queen Latifah, Will Smith.

I won't be buying anymore of your music or seeing you in concert Jay-Z, Beyonce, Jamie Foxx, Nas, Drake, Patti, Anita, Mary J., India Arie, Prince, Usher, Babyface, Alicia, Mos Def, 50, Kanye.

I won't be seeing you do your thing on the court Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade, Ray Allen, Kevin Garnet, and the rest of your league of silent cowards.

Your silence is deafening...and I am ashamed of you.

Where are you T.D. Jakes? Where are you and your Nation, Minister Farrakhan? Your silence is profound Tavis Smiley! Michael Eric Dyson! Cornell West! Where is PUBLIC ENEMY? James Brown would curse you all to your name. Sammy Davis Jr. and Tupac would do the same. Everyone is quick with a negative word about him but at least Rev. Al Sharpton is in Ferguson, Missouri, doing whatever he possibly can. Where are you Spike? Where are you Dave Chapelle? Where are you Bill Cosby? Where are you Chris Rock?

For you to be silent while the police continue to kill unarmed Black men is horrifying to me. You, who have made money off of Black people supporting and championing you, your silence Tyler Perry disgusts me.

We need to see more than a tweet, more than an instagram picture, more than a damn facebook post. How do you all not see this? SPEAK UP! SAY SOMETHING!

I am ashamed of every last one of you, those named and unnamed.

You have made an enemy out of me this day, for life.

What Will It Take?

I wasn't sure about blogging on this and honestly I'm still not. I need to vent though. I need to get this shit off my chest and what better place to do it than on my blog? I'm scared ya'll. Scared and frustrated truthfully because we seem to be living in the days where police seem to have NO problems killing UNARMED Black men. They are either gunning us down in broad daylight or using illegal choke holds and choking us to death. And yet, there hasn't been a single thing said from any athlete, musician, actor, producer, so called civil rights advocate, or religious leader that I have heard of. If something HAS been said I must have missed it.

Instead it seems to be business as usual and that's what scares me. The majority of us are still asleep at the wheel or we are condemning those in Ferguson, MO. for rioting. I do not condone nor do I condemn the rioting of those that are engaged in that brand of civil unrest over the senseless murder of Michael Brown, but I do understand it. What I do not understand is why the same thing isn't happening in Cincinnati where John Crawford was gunned down inside a Walmart when carrying nothing more than a BB gun in an Open Carry state. Or here in NYC over the choking death of Eric Garner? People should be losing their minds and they aren't. That's both frustrating and frightening to me. We are now so complacent that the unjustified murder of three Black men, four if you now add Ezell Ford, gunned down by police while lying prone on his stomach in Los Angeles, doesn't move us to unify, organize, and mobilize to demand better treatment for our communities and justice for the fallen.

What is it going to take for us as a people to stand up and shout, "NO MORE!" Who or how many must die at one time for us to say enough is enough? That is what scares me because Black men, it is open season on us and while I know some who will tear down the walls of heaven should something happen to me, would anyone join them or would they be too busy living their own lives, happy it was me and not them, "There but for the grace of god..."

It took the deaths of 3,000+ civilians for airports to change their policy of stricter boarding practices. What is it going to take for us as a people to do the same? Right now in this country every Black man should be an angry Black man and that anger should move us to fight, if not physically then financially. Boycott stores, keep your money in your pockets, only buy what you need, forget what you want. That anger should move us to fight politically, run for a city council seat, a judgeship, or even local sheriff. We need to see more of us when times get harder than they usually are for us. That anger should move us to hold our entertainers and athletes and scholars feet to the fire, to make them speak up and speak out instead of being Michael Jordan-like silent. That anger should drive us to demand more from the church. Instead of worrying about where your soul  is going once you die, trying saving the lives of the people still living. The church was one of the many backbones of the Civil Rights movements, where is it at today? Praying for those that are killing us? That anger should be what makes us stand up as men and say "NO MORE!" instead of waiting for the next batch of murdered Black children to come across our headlines because the next one could be yours.

America Is Not For Black People  

How Wealthy White Men Always Get What They Want.

So LeBron is going back to Cleveland. I have to tell you, this incenses me to no end. I am pissed off about this whole thing and before you start thinking this is because I am a Miami Heat fan, save it. I could care less about the basketball world right now and I have never been a Heat fan. This quite simply is about PRIDE and HONOR. Two things which seems LeBron is either lacking in or knows nothing about. I'll explain why I say that.

Back in 2010, the day LeBron decided to "take his talents" to Miami instead of res-signing with the sorry Cavaliers, the owner of those Cavaliers penned an open letter to the fans of his sorry ass team. In this letter he called his now ex superstar "cowardly", "selfish", "disloyal", and "cursed". I don't know about you but to me, when a wealthy white man refers to a Black man that has worked for him and his organization the way LeBron did for the Cavaliers that way, I hear the dog whistle and I vividly see the racial sentiment behind those words.

It's like Dan Gilbert, the man who penned that letter was telling his fans that LeBron was an ungrateful and disloyal negro who has left the plantation. "But don't fret dear fans of mine for he will never be successful because since he couldn't win here then he is most certainly and obviously "cursed". Miami will see the error of their ways by signing someone so "selfish" and "cowardly". That letter stayed up on the Cleveland Cavaliers web site for four years.

It came down only a few days before Lebron went back to the plantation.

The Letter

Yet Dan Gilbert has spoken on the mistakes he's made and he sounded quite contrite in the process. He talked about how LeBron has matured and is a family man now, as if that had something to do with that letter staying on the site for four long years. If he weren't a family man or hadn't matured would the letter have come down?

Speaking for myself, no person could ever call me those words and expect me to deal with them on any level ever again. Especially a white person, let alone a wealthy one. Were I LeBron, I would have initially told Dan to fuck off and stay away from me, if he persisted and groveled accordingly, supplicating himself correctly then I would have demanded a PUBLIC apology for ALL the world to see. Then I would have stipulated that the public apology video go up on the Cav's website and remain there for four years.

You just aren't going to call me anything you like because you've been butt hurt and expect me to be understanding. LeBron is looked up to by so many young Black boys and girls, what kind of message does this send to them, where someone can call you such incendiary words and yet you go back and play for that person and try to deliver the Larry O'Brien trophy to that persons organization? All the while putting more money back in that man's coffers. That's exactly how I saw things the moment I got the NBA alert on my phone that he had re-signed with Cleveland. That alert told me that I expected too much from LeBron, that I thought he had some pride and honor. I see now I was wrong, mistaken in thinking he was different, mistaken in thinking he was more than just a basketball player.

When he spoke on on Donald Sterling saying someone like that has no place in our league I was stunned. The so called great Michael Jordan would have never said ANYTHING like that. Jordan turned and ran from anything political or controversial his entire career. Yes I know others remained silent but none of those players had the stature and impact of Jordan. LeBron stepped up and spoke up and it made me proud. For a second I thought I saw a Black man who gets it, who understands what's going on, who isn't afraid to speak truth to power. Then I got that damn alert on my phone and all that pride I had for him went down the toilet.

LeBron is nothing more than another negro playing basketball on Dan Gilbert's plantation up in Cleveland. I understand that now and I while I never hoped for a Black man to fail, I honestly hope he never wins another thing as long as he wears Gilbert's brand, that Cavalier jersey.

Malcolm now?

So now it's another member of the Cash Money Records team that just doesn't seem to get it. Last time it was Lil' Wayne incorporating the name of Emmett Till disgracefully into a song, and now we have Nikki Minaj doing something that just feels worse than what her label mate did.

Taking the iconic image of Malcolm X staring out of his window with his rifle in hand and making it her cover art for her latest single, Lookin Ass N*gga is a step too far. Who is the ignorant ass running that damn label and what do they not get? Who's next on their list of African American icons to shame, embarrass, and use for money, Rosa Parks, Betty Shabazz, Dr. King?

I understand the image is hardcore and the followers of Malcolm love that picture because it is just that, hardcore. To use it with the language associated with the song however, a word Malcolm refused to let himself be referred as just goes to show that when someone isn't taught history, they are doomed to repeat it.

Hopefully the label will find their conscience (along with their common sense) and change the cover art. And since they seem clueless about their history, hopefully they'll hire someone that will keep them from making this kind of egregious mistake going forward.

Hunting Season.

Everyday I wake up, rub the sleep out of my eyes and read the news I am confronted with more racist and vile shit from whites directed to Blacks. If it's not the ignorant right wing tea partiers  denigrating the President, it's some frat having the temerity of celebrating MLK day with a "Black" party and then having the stupidity to document it with pics on social media outlets.

If it's not one thing, it's always something else. It's open season for Black people in this country it seems. Either it's happening more or I'm just hyper sensitive to it, whatever the case is, it's simply not safe to be a Black man today no matter what age you may be.

Case in point, a 62 year old West Virginia man shot and killed a 61 year old Black man and his 60 year old brother because, and this cracks me up (not to mention pisses me off), he thought they were breaking into a shed he thought he still owned. Now the men who were killed were again 61 and 60, they were fathers and grandfathers, husbands, friends, and brothers. The men, 60 yr old Garrick Hopkins just purchased and was inspecting a building with his brother, 61 yr old Carl Hopkins Jr. They were checking it out not sometime during the evening, in the shadows, no. These men were inspecting the new purchase at 2 pm on a Saturday afternoon.

I don't know about other 60+ yr old Black men out there but the ones I know can't break into a damn thing without some assistance by someone far younger than them. Yet 62 year old Rodney Bruce Black (funny last name here) thought that was exactly what these golden aged men were doing, breaking in. Read the article here...

Shooting in West Virginia. 

Now I can't help but think if Garrick and Carl were white, Rodney would have approached wondering if they needed any help and if he could be of assistance. Had they been white, more than likely they brothers would be alive and well today.

May they rest in peace!

There WILL be blood!

This must be a declaration of war, it has to be. How else can it be explained? How else can this be seen as. They have finally declared war and it's time for Black people and Black men in particular to stand up and see it for what it is. It's time for us to put the cowardice in the closet as we reach for our capes and guns and prepare ourselves for the coming battles. War is coming gentlemen and there will be blood!

I know, we've been fighting for our survival since setting foot on this accursed land in shackles. Brought here to be an economic benefit for white people, free labor for hundreds of years. Making them wealthier by the day while we got by on what they deemed fit to give us. Read out the Bible that slavery was God's will, and then convinced us that he was our God too. The "father" of this country, George Washington Jr. was taught to us as the man that could not tell a lie, yet the fact that he was one of the biggest owners of humans in the history of slavery was never mentioned. The bullshit Declaration of Independence was written by a man that wanted to throw off the yoke of English Imperialism, yet not only owned slaves but bedded them many times over as well. The hypocrisy is astounding. War is coming gentlemen, and there will be blood!

Today we have the likes of Trayvon Martin, Sean Bell, Michael Stewart, Eleanor Bumpers, Amadou Diallo, Anthony Baez, Johnathan Ferrell and so many more that I can't name, all unarmed and all slain by the police or those pretending to be police. The latest case, as far as I know has been Johnathan Ferrell, a college student in need of help after crashing his car. Someone panicked, called 911 and Officer Randall Kerrick showed up and shot him TEN times. According to the families lawyer who viewed the dashboard camera footage from Kerrick's car says the man eventually stood over Ferrell's already prone body, shot him four more times, and THEN handcuffed him. And yet with all of this evidence, the Grand Jury that was convened for this case failed to indict the white officer who slayed the Black man. I see that as a declaration of war, pure and simple. Read about it for yourself in the link below...

War has been declared.

War is coming gentlemen, and yes...there will be blood!

More Florida MADNESS!!!

I think it's time we cut the state of Florida loose from the main land. I mean I know it can't happen but if it could then we should. Since we can't, how about we erect a giant wall on the border that lies between Georgia, Alabama, and Florida? Wait, let me get my grandfather out of the state first.

There has been yet another shooting of an unarmed young man in Florida by another man that pursued him. Now the reason you may not have heard of this case, and why Fox news hasn't been shouting about it from the mountain tops is because the shooter is a Black man. Thirty two year old Claudius Smith pursued, shot, and killed twenty one year old Ricardo Sanes after Sanes was spotted crossing through Smith's yard.

Claudius then hoped his fence and tracked Sanes to an apartment complex where Smith claims he killed Sanes in self defense after feeling threatened. He thought the hooded Sanes may have had a weapon because his pants were sagging and his hands were in his hoodie. So this may yet be another stand your ground case and I am WAITING for Fox to pick this case up and report on it in the same vein as they did the Trayvon Martin case. I expect to hear them call Smith a hero and claim Sanes got what he deserved. Read about the case yourselves in the link below...

"Stand Your Ground" the sequel.

You tell me, should I hold me breath?

Now...about that wall...

Black on Black

It's one thing for some white right wing republicans to open their mouths and have some foul nonsense come flying out. Honestly, in this day and age don't we almost expect it? Hell, Sarah Palin just told President Obama to stop playing the race card on Martin Luther King Day. Talk about audacity, but her comments really didn't take the world by surprise and if they did, you need to come out from under that rock more often than you do.

Comments made by Rush, Hannity, and the rest of the talking fools on that sorry excuse of a news network called Fox about the President and his reign have come so fast and furious that we expect them. They really don't inspire anger or frustration anymore in me anymore. I don't know about you but I just laugh at them now. Those white folk spit their artificial vitriol because they want high ratings and they know that's the best way to get them. It's not news, it's entertainment programming for those that continue to vote republican even though voting that way has done nothing but hurt this country, but I digress.

The strangest thing in the world to me is a Black republican. They do exist and that alone is surprising, but when they say worse things about the President than the talking heads at Fox, I realize they are just trying to get a piece of that pie. It's very lucrative these days to be a Black republican, but if you want to get put on you have to do it subtly. Being over the top just makes them look stupid and desperate. Case in point: Joshua Black. This Black republican is running for a seat for the state house in Florida (yeah, I know), and had the nerve to agree with someone saying this, "I'm past impeachment. It's time to arrest and hang him high." I shit you not, read the article here...

Ladies and Gentlemen, Joshua Black.

This man threw his crazy hat into the pot with the other crazy hats and tried to outcrazy the crazy. So much so that other republicans called this man out on his craziness. Look Joshua, I can understand wanting to eat from that pie, you want to be invited on Bill Maher, Fox, and the Sunday morning talk shows to make a name for yourself. I get that, I do, but if you overdo it they won't touch you with a ten foot pole. And the voters of Florida should follow their damn lead.

Freedom for Marissa...NOW!

It's taken them WAY too long to do the right thing, but no one said the state of Florida was smart. In fact I am certain the entire country now realizes just how slow and backwards Florida really is. Case in point, when you compare George Zimmerman's case to that of Marissa Alexander's the state clearly wished to exhibit just how ass backwards it was and still is.

The world knows the case of Zimmerman by now, an armed person of color (he is half white, half Peruvian) who killed an unarmed young Black man because he was walking slowly in the rain and "looked suspicious". Thanks to that states ludicrous "stand your ground" laws it took law enforcement days to even arrest Zimmerman and when he finally was, the political right jumped to his defense. I think that had to be the first time the political right jumped to the defense of ANY person of color in this kind of situation, EVER actually. The reasons are obvious to all those that don't live in this racist country with their heads buried in the sand.

The world eventually found out about Marissa Alexander and her case. It was the case of a Black woman who had had enough of being abused by the man who swore to protect and cherish her before friends, family, and God. According to the details Marissa, a woman standing 5'2" tall did what she could to ward off yet another attack from her 245 lbs. husband by shooting a warning shot in their kitchen wall. Please note, this is a man that had previously been arrested for domestic violence against Marissa. Yes, unlike so many other women in this country that get beaten by their boyfriends, fiances, or husbands and never press charges or testify against them, Marissa did. Honestly, due to the argument of the prosecution that Marissa endangered her husband when firing the warning shot, I feel had Marissa just killed her husband that she would be free now. Though I'm sure they would have found a reason to give her life behind bars had she done that.

George Zimmerman kills a teenage Black boy and walks free. Marissa Alexander defends herself from a convicted abuser, someone she had an active restraining order against during the time of the attack, by shooting nothing but the wall in their kitchen and she gets sentenced to 20 years behind bars.

George Zimmerman has a bag of guns and can travel this country freely as if he had done nothing wrong in his life while Marissa Alexander's bond was almost revoked and she sent back to jail because she was in violation of her home detention by going on trips not authorized by the court. If she takes another unauthorized trip, Marissa will be back behind bars for a crime any woman in her right mind should have committed.

I truly think if Florida ever asks to secede from the union, we let them. EXONERATE THIS WOMAN!!! What in the world are you waiting for Florida?

Happy Birthday Dr. King.

Happy Birthday Dr. King. You know, whenever your birthday rolls around I often wonder what you would have thought of us, your people today? Would you be proud of us and the progress we've made or would you be disheartened at the fractious nature of the African American community?

You were one of the greatest orators of our time, with a warm voice coupled with impactful words and a building style, you captured the imaginations of a generation. While I may not have completely agreed with your approach in trying to obtain rights for Black and brown people, I have always respected you and the struggle you undertook. You laid the groundwork for us to build on, and despite the things you have been accused of by the Federal Bureau of Investigations, you are nothing but a hero in our eyes.

On the day where you would have seen your 85th birthday had there not been a sick and twisted man hell bent on your destruction, I want you to know that you will never be forgotten for as long as mankind continues to breathe. Thank you for your sacrifice for your people, thank you for all you've done, and may you continue to rest in eternal peace, sir.

Goodbye Amiri

Saying goodbye to you is hard, I ain't about to lie. While I've not read a lot of your work, shameful I know, I have admired you and thought of you as a member of my family and a mentor. Your outspokenness and fearlessness to tell it like it was was something that always inspired me to do the same. This goodbye is gonna suck.

So I won't say goodbye, I'll move this into one of those "see you soon" kind of things. That feels better than a goodbye so that's what I'll run with. Your passing won't have the same effect on me that Malcolm's assassination had on you, but just like his passing moved you in such profound ways, your passing will leave a large void in my life.

People should be celebrating your life and dancing outside of your house like South Africans did in front of Madiba's when he passed. Finding out about you and learning of your works should be taught in EVERY school across the land, yes even your more controversial works and opinions.

I will miss you Everett LeRoi Jones. I will miss knowing you are out there, watching us, and knowing that if we displease you that you won't hesitate to tell us about ourselves in creative yet searing ways. I will miss you Imamu Amiri Baraka but you have earned your rest. You have fought the good fight and left behind an untouchable legacy. I thank you for that in ways I cannot put into words. Rest in peace sir.