Black Women dating other races...

A few entries ago, I posted a comment on Black Men and White Women. I receieved some really good feedback from several women. (Thanks Ladies for reading my blog!!!)

One woman, a Black Woman mentioned how tough the dating scene had gotten - sticking with just The Brothers. She mentioned that she and her girlfriends of color are considering broadening their dating horizons and accepting the invitations of men outside the Black race.

How do I feel about this? Hmmm...

Well, I still stand firm behind my opinion - I do not like people to devalue their own race because of inbred stereotypes and run to the arms of other races because they think others are better because of skin color, eye color or hair type.

But, when it comes to Sista's accepting dates from men of other races. I have to say, "I understand..."

When I was a single guy, 7 or 8 years ago and I heard Black Women saying that they were thinking about going out with white guys or Latinos or Italians or whatever. I was pissed! I'm not even going to lie. I was pissed! But, I honestly think that was caused by ego. I guess I figured... "Hey, I'm a single, straight, intelligent and gainfully employed Black Man. What's wrong with me?" But it took me and my little ego some time to realize that it wasn't about Trina or Shelly not wanting to date ME per se - it was about decent Sista's just being tired of some of the bullshit that some of these Brother's were dishing out on the dating scene.

By working with countless Black women, and being fairly easy to talk too, I had heard a million stories about Brothers trying to run games on the Sista's. Of course not all Brothers try and run game, but unfortunately a lot do.

I think so many guys are allowed to get away with the lies and the bullshit that that is all they know how to bring to the table. So, when I hear about Black Women willing to go out with men of other races, I understand that it comes down to happiness and respect. Now keep in mind that these women aren't saying "Oh, I'll never date another Black Man because ALL Black Men are dogs!" What they are saying is "If Todd or Hector or Sergei calls me up and invites me out for drinks or dinner - I'M GOING TO SAY YES."

What does this mean for the Brothers?

It means that the single Brothers out on the dating scene need to treat our Black Women better. I'm not saying Brothers have to run down the isle after dating for three weeks, but they have to represent all of us better. Playing a whole bunch of games and doing a lot of underhanded disrespectful crap is only going to drive our women into the arms of the blue eyed masses.

What does this mean for the Sista's?
Never settle for less than you deserve - from within or without your race.

TTBM

The Fight of My Life...

I have to face a harsh reality.
The fight of my life is upon me.
I discovered it last night.
I dreamed about it.
I dreamed about it ALL night.

In some of the dreams, things turned out okay. In some, things turned our bad, and still in others things turned out horrible. But in none of the dreams did things turn out good or great... "okay" was the best my mind could muster.

What is my fight?
What is it I am deathly afraid of facing?

I am having problems with my Internet connection.

There, I said it. I'm having problems connecting to the Internet.

What makes me so terrified is this - there are four companies that are involved with this problem. AOL, my service provider. VERIZON, whose phone lines AOL leases to provide me my DSL. LINKSYS, who makes my wireless router. And, DELL, who makes my laptop. I am deathly afraid that I am going to have to call all four of them for help and in the past I have had the most awful technical assistance from all four of them.

AOL - always sends me to poorest speaking Indian tech people. Now, I'm not knocking the Indians who are just working to support themselves and their families - for pennies on the American dollar. I do happen to despise the companies that take thousands of jobs from Americans and send them overseas just to fatten their own bottom line... but that's another blog for another time.

VERIZON - just throws their hands up in the air immediately and says... "Call AOL!"

LINKSYS - is simply pathetic! When I first bought my Linksys router, it took me months to get it to work! Between them and AOL, I was passed around faster than a hooker at a Busta' Rhymes party! When it was all said and done and after hours of wasted time with tech support - I ended up fixing the problem myself by pure experimentation!

DELL - Oh god, don't get me started with DELL. They too like to send me to India where I have to pay several dollars a minute to struggle to understand a guy named Sanjii - who prefers to be called 'Randy.' I'm extra pissed with DELL because now that my limited warranty has expired with them, I can no longer E-Mail or Chat with them when I need technical help. Instead I have to either read their useless FAQS or PAY to talk to Sanjii.

I think I'm completely screwed.

TTBM

Black Men / White Women...

I've always been a people watcher. I don't know when it started or why, but I have always noticed people and their trends and behavior.

In the last few years I have noticed something about a lot of my black brothers, a sad and bothersome trend. I've noticed that many brothers seem to put a higher premium on white women than they do black women. Okay - sure, that might not be anything new, especially to folks that live in major metropolitain areas. But after walking down the isle in the grocery store tonight, behind a 20 something year old black guy with this homely white girl and a surprisingly cute baby daughter, I found myself thinking about the numerous times that I have seen this combination.

You have this young thugged out black kid, trying his damnedest to look hardcore while he's holding hands with some girl that looks like Rosanne Barr.

And, then I think about the countless young black girls with their 2 and 3 little black babies with no dad and no father figure anywhere to be seen. I simply think these young black males are more proud of their white women and the little babies they have with them. I find it too frequent to be a coincidence. Many of the young black males in the Maryland and DC area [and probably other places too] are simply awestruck at the idea of having a white woman. And not even talking about a pretty white woman, many of these women are just plain old, homely, and dumpy. I think I'd personally except it a little better if some of these women were attractive, at least then it would seem like - "hey, she's sexy, so you can see why I want to be with her..." but that is hardly ever the case in my personal observations!!! Now don't get your panties in a bunch - I'm not saying all white women are unattractive, that would be insane to say. But I feel that many young black guys aren't even trying to be selective. Whatever gives them the time of day is where they'll lay their head that night.

I firmly believe that many of these guys would probably love to screw a black woman, possible pregnancy-be-damned, if she gets knocked up and the time to be a man and a father comes, these same guys will run and hide from the black women and snuggle deep into the open arms of the white women. I'm being dead honest here. And, considering the current pathetic state of the Black Nuclear Family today (see my blog entries two months ago) I'm certain some of these guys are leaving the white girls too, but I have clearly noticed more young black males, aged 16 to 25, being loving and attentive to their bi-racial kids than to the kids that look to have black mothers.

I'm really disheartened to see that black men seem to be discounting the value of the women of their races - please keep in mind that I'm not saying all black men do this, probably not even a majority of black men - but the number is pretty high - in my opinion.

I often think that it is natural desire in people to produce offspring that look the same way you do. No - before anyone reading this challenges my scientific proof of this, calm down - I have no proof, it just SEEMS like the natural thing. I think that is subconsciously why people of similar ethnic groups choose to marry and have children together. My parents were both black and I look like both of them for the most part. My wife is black and my kids look like us. My friends have kids that look like them... but I find that bi-racial kids usually don't look like the parents. I think the natural physical traits of different races are so different that they tend to create a third physical characteristic. But my point in all this anthropologic rambling is this - I sometimes wonder if - deep down - black men that "agressively" seek white women to have babies with, aren't in fact in a phase of self loathing. They see something within themselves that they want to change or get rid of... they want their progeny to look different from them, they want their kids to not have their black skin, they want their babies to have different hair, they want their kids to have thinner lips and noses, they want to stare into blue eyes instead of brown... they want all these things and more that white women and white genetics can give them.

Now, after all this racial posturing, I want to make something clear. I AM NOT against interracial dating per se, because sometimes you just can't help who you vibe with, or who's smile you're drawn to. You sometimes can't and shouldn't fight against who you fall in love with. I'd rather see a black person with a white person that is going to love and treasure them anyday before seeing two people of the same race who disrepect each other and basically treat each other like shit. But I get the sincere impression that a lot of these confused black males just see "white", nothing but WHITE and figure that THAT must make it RIGHT!!!! They go to their boyz and boast about how they won't tolerate a black woman's 'attitude' - they just lump ALL black women into this one negative and unappealing group. This is what I cannot accept.

This whole phenomenon of de-valuing black women and putting a premium on white women is very disappointing to me. But, if you think I'm crazy, take a look around at the young black men and the women you see many of them with. Just look around, and if I'm wrong - then fine. But if I'm right, just remember where you heard it!!!

TTBM

Angry-as-HELL Black Man...

This is the only WARNING I'm giving to anyone the offends easily...

"If you offend easily, please STOP and proceed to another of my entries. Thank you for visiting The Thinking Black Man."

Okay...
I'm pissed off!
It seems as though 13 year old Deangelo Borras was standing in the courtyard of his apartment in Southwest Washington DC last night, talking with his 32 year old mentor. Deangelo was a bright eyed and handsome little kid that had just passed the 7th grade and was probably planning on spending the rest of the summer swimming and playing with his friends. I say 'probably' because we will never know. Three little motherfuckers walked up on the two of them and gunned Deangelo and his mentor down - killing the 13 year old.

Three young black males armed with handguns walked up to them and shot them down in cold blood. I have to ask, "What the fuck is wrong with so many of these young black males?"

Yeah, yeah - I know the 'Company Line'
"white kids commit crimes too..."
"the media doesn't focus on crimes that white kids do..."

I don't doubt for a second that white kids commit crime, but I do NOT believe that dozens of murders by white kids in DC and its surrounding counties are being covered up and hidden in some well orchestrated scheme by radio news, televised news and written news. To me that is just the argument of folks that refuse to accept that there is a problem with a frightening proportion of young black males!!! Don't try to point the finger of violent crime into the mysterious ether of "white kids that commit crimes too."

I am not too worried about white kids - there, I said it.

I am worried that it will be a young black boy that will stick a gun in my face, I am worried that it will be a young black boy that will car-jack my wife, I am worried that it will be a young black boy that will stick up my kid on the way to school. Why? Why you ask? Why is a Black Man more concerned about being victimized by young blacks than young whites?

Because my fucking eyes are open!!! That's why!!!

Now, I'm not scared of black kids. And, I believe the vast majority of our kids are bright eyed, positive and hopeful youngsters. The ones that scare me... I mean ANGER me, are the ones like these little assholes that got on the train with me yesterday - a half dozen young boys, ages 12 to 16, all with these crazy ass looking hairstyles and baggy clothes hanging off their asses, cussin' loud, swinging from the rails, yelling and like god-damn fools. When they got off the train and before the doors closed, they yelled and cursed back into the train and kicked the window where a man was trying to doze. They were like fucking animals!

And then there are the young black males wanted for the murder of Donald Victor in Tacoma, MD. These animals pulled a gun on him, demanded his wallet, made him lie down and then shot and killed him before scurrying away like the fucking cock roaches that they are. The little bastards were caught on video at a convenience store using his credit card to buy snacks and shit. He's dead and these motherfuckers are buying Little Debbie pies.

Then there are the young black males that came upon a 63 year old David Rosenbaum in Northwest DC. They beat him in the head with a pipe and stole his wallet and cellphone. He died and they used his cell phone to call friends and family and then used his cards to buy rims.

And, we have the young black male that, on May 19th, stuck a gun to the head of an infant in his mothers arms to rob and carjack the mother here in Maryland.

Then a few weeks ago, traffic into DC came to an hours long delay because four young black males had stolen a Dodge Durango and decided to try and outrun the police. Of course these lil'bastards had no remorse for innocent people or property that didn't belong to them. They pulled out onto busy New York Ave. a main artery into the city and crashed into four other vehicles injuring 7 people and causing miles and hours of delays.

I could go on and on with heinous crimes committed recently in the Maryland/DC area - murders, shootings, car jackings, robberies the list is endless. But my bottom line is this - I don't give a fuck about what white kids do out in suburbia, yeah, I know they have some sick bastards too - one of them killed two cops in Virginia a few weeks ago, but what I AM concerned about, is the fact that where I live and where I work and where I shop and where I play, and where my friends live, work, shop and play - we are more likely to be victimized, violently - by a young male with skin the same color as ours. And, that shit pisses me off!!!

TABM.

Gay Marriage and The Constitution

I love the way Republicans bring out the "gays."

Whenever election time comes around and times are looking rough - the Republicans bring out the gays and they start needing to Amend the United States Constitution. Most American's fall for this right away and they hit the panic button.

This is a beautiful ploy, I must say-

You have the ultra religious here in the US that whenever they hear about gays being subjected to ANY kind of restriction or punishment - they vote in favor of whoever wants to do it! This sneaky little tactic brings a good portion of black non-Republicans into the Red voting mindset. These poor lost souls forget that the Republican party gives less than a damn about most black folks, but when Bush thumps a bible and calls gays a 'danger' to "our way of life," these folks come-a-runnin' ballot in hand!

Then you have the rural Mom's and Pop's in the Mid-West that would absolutely die in the middle of their driveways while drinking big glasses of sun-tea, the very minute Chad and Bobby move into the nice three bedroom down the street. So they too vote with the homophobe masses.

I have to hand it to the Republicans - they are the sneakiest, most low down bastards in the world. Sadly, I find myself more angry with my party - the Dumocrats. Uh, Democrats. For all the vile and conniving of the Republicans the Democrats match it step for step with cowardice, stupidity and weakness. The Republicans can take almost any issue - good or bad and spin it into greatness for themselves and few, FEW if any Democrats manage to stand up and call lies "LIES." Most of them sit back and whisper cute little sound bites for the media, but that doesn't mean shit. Republicans set the pace and the most the Democrats do is argue that they are not that different from the Republicans, just a little. That is why John Kerry's lame ass lost the election for us. He spent all of his time bobbing and weaving and jabbing at the obstacles that Karl Rove and the Republicans threw at him. The Bush team roped that dope.

If Kerry had grown a set of balls and real backbone - something few Democrats have managed in the last 7 years... he would have been on the campaign trail - burning George Bush's ass in effigy at every single stop! He should have been screaming at the top of his lungs - "Fuck the swiftboat mob! I served! I got hurt! I kept fighting! Now let me tell you why George Bush is fucking this country up and let me tell you why I won't!"

But now, I'm getting off subject.

Like I said to begin - It amazes me how American's fall for the "gay" issue whenever and however the Republicans tell them too. Their cold, heartless calculations are unmistakeably impressive.

TTBM

Watch your kid... not me!

It's funny what people decide to pay attention to.

I went to the playground earlier with my wife and my kids. I actually got there after my wife and we were sitting near a ball field watching our kids play. My wife pointed out a woman sitting in a car in the parking lot about 30 feet away. It seems as though the woman in the car is the mother of a 'special needs' kid that comes to the playground from time to time. Her kid is a little taller and bigger than most of the other kids and doesn't really play smoothly with the other kids. I am not knocking or ridiculing her kid in any way, that is the last thing in the world I would do. Her kid just needs a little more attention, especially around smaller kids.

So, this woman always brings her kid to the playground and then she just sits in the car yacking on her cellphone. Me personally, I think parents of small kids should sit near the playground just to oversee their kids and make sure everyone is playing nicely with each other. And in her case, where her child needs a little extra attention - she should have her ass nearer than the doggone parking lot where she can't see or do anything. You can see how uncomfortable the other parents are when they have to supervise her kid when the child gets a little rough with the others or they have a hard time sharing. I think that's very unfair to the other parents that give a damn about their kids and have to watch after their kid AND hers.

I looked over my shoulder at the car and made the comment "That's pretty unfair. I guess she figures it's time for the village to raise her kid." Now, I didn't care if she heard me, one way or the other - it was how I felt, and I said it. I didn't say it loud and I didn't say it quietly. But, what happened next made me think that she may have.

About 45 seconds later, I noticed this fat woman standing about 12 feet away from us on her phone. My wife and I looked at her and she looked back at us with this strange, fake looking smile. We were talking about something else and kinda kept on with the subject at hand. The fat woman then walked past us and went back to THE CAR I was looking at with the lazy mother!!! So, then I put two and two together and figured that she heard my comment and was coming over to kinda' say, "Say it in my face!" Well, I have to say that I was glad I didn't speak to her when she walked up behind us - normally, I'm very friendly toward people and I'm quick to say "Hello." But, there was something about that fake smile that made me not even part my lips.

Now, I've got no problem with anyone that wants to ask me, "What did you say about me?" I like to be brutally honest sometimes, so I'll tell people how I feel straight up. What angered me, was the fact that this woman thought enough of what she heard me say to waddle her ass over for a possible confrontation. But she will not go push her kid on a swing, she will not help her kid down a slide, she will not help teach her kid to share toys at the playground - but she'll come over to me to, "See if he'll say it in my face!" God knows, I'd love to have that moment back - because I'm sure I'd have some words for her! I might not be as rude and nasty as I'm sure she'd want to be with me, but I'm positive that I'd encourage her to take some of that piss-n-vinegar she has in store for me, and flip it into guidance and go teach her kid how to play a little gentler with the little kids.

I'm just blown away at the fact that this woman would rather walk up to my wife and me and try to stare us down than go over to her kid and help the child make some friends at the playground. Other parents should not have to make sure her kid plays well with others when mom needs to be learning this lesson herself.

-TTBM

SHOWTIME At the subway!!!

I think 95% of the people that ride the DC metro, ride it to get from point A to point B; to get to and from work or school; to do what they've gotta' do to save some time and some gas.

But then I think there are people that ride the trains to get the attention that they desperately want and need.

Today I was treated to an awful rendition of a Whitney Houston song by a half dozen teenage girls. These girls were too old to be acting so rowdy and too unskilled to to be doing ANYTHING musical.

A few days ago, I was treated to a weird sermon by an African woman who walked up and down the Greenline rambling on loudly about something in Revelation. I really find these people annoying. I don't need or want some goofball to read scripture to me or to pretend to be a preacher. I want them to just sit down and shut up. On top of that, I'm a Christian, but I'm not a 'gang mentality' Christian - so, I'm fairly respectful to people of other religious walks. And when I hear these jack-legged subway preachers trying to spout from the New Testiment, I tend to think about the folks on the train that might not be Christian... I don't think I'd want someone standing over me at U Street Cardoza yelling from the Quran!!!

Then there are the people that want to get on the train and sign hymms. They always seem to stand right next to me for some reason. I've got no truck with religion or hymms, but I want to hear them when I WANT TO HEAR them, NOT when somebody else decides they want to perform them for me!

Oh yeah - and then there was the transgender dude that sat in front of me earlier this week. I was reading my paper and this woman sat down in front of me. She was blasting go-go music on her MP3 player. I happened to notice that she kept looking all around. Behind her, in front of her, to the sides, she was just looking all over. It was during one of these 'looks' that I really noticed her face - it was hard and manly looking. You could probably strike a match across her cheek. She was rough looking. That's when I realized SHE was a dude. Then as if on cue, she started singing with this deep and heavy mans voice. Everybody turned to look at him. Then he started throwing his hair... his uh, weave and he had these big, hard looking man hands. It was kinda' awful. After a few steps he/she stood up and pranced to the doors where he made sure everyone on the train noticed him as he left. It was weird.

And then there are the people that like to yell on their cell phones and share their personal information, as if anyone within 20 feet gives a damn. And then their are the girls that wear the skimpy outfits and spend the whole ride looking at everyone to see who is looking at them.

I just figure, this is probably the only attention many of these people get all day. So, I just schrug my shoulders and bury my face in my paper.

Never a dull moment on the Greenline.

TTBM

Alleged Reality

(A color photo of two small, dead Iraqi children - a boy and a girl, in the back of a pickup truck surrounded by grieving adult men has been removed.)

It was very hard to upload this photograph.

Not hard in the technical sense of keystrokes and downloads and that stuff... But hard in the sense of its content.

This image is allegedly from the scene of the alleged massacre of Iraqi civilians by US Marines who allegedly snapped after the death of one of their own after a roadside bomb allegedly hit their convoy.

"ALLEGED" is one of those words you hear all the time in the news. I took a journalism class years ago and that was one of the first words I was taught. The technical meaning aside, 'alleged' allows you to basically say anything without it having to be true. Allegedly, using the word allows the user to present a veiled truth, a soft truth that can be denied or confirmed later as opportunities dictate.

You know what is NOT alleged?

The following statement: "This war is a crime against humanity. The people that led us into this conflict for greed, for lies, for personal revenge, for oil, for contracts, for a place in history - they are all criminals and should be thusly tried, convicted and punished!"

You know what is NOT alleged?

The fact that the two kids, the two little kids in this picture are dead. They will not grow old, they'll never get married or have kids of their own, they'll never play again, they'll never laugh again, they'll never have a chance to be a part of the new Iraq. Considering that this war has completely destroyed the old Iraq, it seems as though this kids should have had a chance to live in their new nation.

You know what is NOT alleged?

The fact that their are some Marines who's actions, whether justified or not, have cast a shadow on the finest fighting force in the history of this country...

Let me stop for a second and can all the flowery journalistic bullshit.

This photo of these dead kids simply broke my damn heart. I get a little queezy thinking of the last few minutes of their lives surrounded by bombs going off and bullets flying all around them. Regardless of whether or not someone in their house detonated that bomb that killed the Marine, these kids and any others that may have died probably spent the last few minutes of their lives in more terror than 99% of us will ever experience. I don't really know if those Marines were right or wrong for killing those 24 people - I wasn't there, I don't know how angry or scared or confused they may have been and I just can't imagine what was going on in their minds! People everywhere are either puzzled or angry or supportive or in denial of these Marines and their actions... Frankly, to me - this war, in this modern age of digital photography, and the Internet and satellite television is bringing home the true ugliness of warfare. I'm sure war has been an ugly event throughout history, with murder and sadism and cruelty and torture in every conflict. Only now, we can see it first hand with a press of a button or a click of the mouse.

One thing that I am convinced of now is the dark side of man. What I mean is - you have these ugly things that trained soldiers do, like Abu-gharib, like Haditha, like other killings and things of that nature that have been reported... These are trained soldiers! Now, what does TRAINED SOLDIERS mean? Very little when it comes to right vs wrong. See, the problem is - these are human beings. Teaching them how to fire a rifle, or toss a grenade, or flank an opponent, or iron a crease... It doesn't take away the heart of a human. It doesn't take away feelings, fears, nightmares, hopes, dreams. It doesn't take away or change a thing in a person's soul - I mean really. Just putting on a uniform and WANTING to be an ideal, doesn't always reach into the total essence of a person. Sure, some things change - I believe that. But, not everything. Those Marines in Haditha, regardless of their training, regardless of the Marine legacy, they killed 24 people. I wasn't there, I don't know if they were justified, I don't know that they were unjustified - I just know that war brings out the worst in people, whether you think they're good guys or bad guys. The conflict of combat, the clashing of wills, the desire to prove your cause the most worthy - it brings out the darkness in man.

TTBM

Why do I hate TOURISTS, you ask?

Deep down, I hate the vast majority of tourists!

I work in the District of Columbia, in one one of the hottest spots for these spring and summer cicada like creatures. They start to appear much like the 17 year annoyances - first a few pop out after the break of winter. Then they start to multiply exponentially and before you know it they are swarming all over, bumping into you, chirping and buzzing about with the ooh's and aah's of surprised wonderment.

"Ooh, look Jethro! A three story building! They sure don't have those back home! Quick take a picture of me near this wacky sign! It says... meee... maa... meee? What's a meet-ro?"

There's so much to hate about tourists. Where do I begin?

• Well there's the fact that nothing is more annoying on my morning subway commute than having tourists snapping pictures of each other and of the train and of the station names with their little green disposable cameras.
• Then, they want to stand on the left hand side of the escalator when they can clearly see those of us with briefcases and workbags marching up the left side to get to our offices.
• Then there is the fact that once they come above ground they just stop at random intervals to stare at nothing in particular! They just figure, I'm sightseeing, so everything else in the world should stop so I can stare at the cloud in the sky that looks like Spiro Agnew. I just want to scream - "Move your ass out the walkway so we can go where we have to go!"
• Then there's the fact that when the boys and girls club from east Doo-Wah-Diddy, Idaho wants to go into a restaurant or building - the chaperones just let the kids pile up in the middle of the sidewalk completely blocking it off from those of us trying to get back from our little 10 minute lunch at Pot Bellies! I've gotten to the point now where I just walk right through them saying, "Make way! I'm carrying explosives!" (That scares the shit out of most of those kids! I love to do that!!!)
• But my biggest biggest biggest gripe is simply - I hate the way tourists treat us DC regulars. They treat us as if we are part of the scenery, part of the experience. They walk in front of us, cut us off, expect us to wait minutes at a time while they get uncle Jimbo in focus on their camcorders. The kids run into us without saying, "Excuse me." I think to most tourists, they just see each other. The rest of us are drones, shadows and phantoms that make DC... Well...DC.

Seeing the behavior of these yearly visitors has made me try hard to keep in mind the way I treat people when I visit a new place. I try to remember that everybody is a somebody, maybe they're going to work when I'm in Vegas; maybe they are going to school when I'm in LA; maybe they're just enjoying a day off in the park when I'm in New York. I have to remember that they are unique individuals that happen to live, work and play in the town that I am visiting and they are worthy of a "Hello." or a "Hey, how's it going?" - but they are not part of the backdrop, they are not sprinkles of salt on my french fries. They are people.

TTBM

(Make Exxon pay for the Valdez! It's been 17 years and not one cent of the $5 billion court settlement has been paid to the victims of the worst oil spill in history. Even after $36 billion in 2005 profits, the greedy bastards behind Exxon still thumb their noses at the destroyed lives and lifestyle of the people in Prince William Sound, Alaska)

Conspiracy Theory - TRUE or FALSE

Let's talk CONSPIRACY THEORY!!!!

With the release of this new blurred footage of "something" hitting the Pentagon on 9/11 has anything been resolved? I mean, in the age of PhotoShop and all this stuff - can we even trust photos and video?

Before I go any further, I want to state that I am 95% confident that three planes, ALL controlled by terrorists, crashed into the World Trade towers and the Pentagon and that 4th plane was shot down over southern Pennsylvania by US military aircraft. My remaining 5% is like my 3rd eye still seeking additional information.

Personally, I just can't believe a missile was used on the Pentagon. God knows I don’t trust this current regime running our nation, but honestly, the stakes to this Government and this country are too high for a broad daylight stunt like a missile strike. It is far easier to simply pull off an explosives laden truck bomb at the Pentagon and blame it on al Qaeda. And besides – Osama bin Laden has publicly taken responsibility for the attacks. Imagine if he denied them! Imagine if he said, "Sure, my guys hit the towers. But we didn't send anybody after the Pentagon! That was done by the American's themselves!" Could you imagine the uproar? Citizens would still be dragging Bush and Cheney’s corpses up and down Pennsylvania Avenue!!! There simply isn't enough for the US to gain by striking our own Pentagon.

I love a good conspiracy – but there just isn’t one waiting in the ashes of the Pentagon. Now – SHANKSVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA is another story.

I will probably always believe that flight 93 was shot down by F16’s or F18’s.
I will believe this for several reasons:
1. There was enough time from the attacks at the WTC for the FAA to discover that flight 93 was hijacked and there was time for it to be intercepted.
2. On the morning of 9/11 – Dick Cheney gave orders, “Pursuant to the Presidents instructions,” for fighter pilots to “take out” any threatening planes.
3. On the morning of 9/11 – Dick Cheney also stated “It’s my understanding they’ve already taken a couple of aircraft out,” meaning US jets shot down one or more planes.
4. The debris field in Shanksville, PA had little to no actual plane fuselage at the impact site. In addition, human remains and belongings were found over two miles from the crash site, and in a lake SIX miles from the impact site – more crash debris was found.
I believe this plane was hit with a missile, partially exploded – spraying debris across a wide area and hit the ground in a flaming, disintegrating mass .

I’m confident that someone high up made a quick decision that morning to conceal and deny the fact that the plane was shot down. It was probably the best choice that could be made at the time, with limited knowledge of what was going on and no idea of what 9/12 held in store for us. As much as I’d like to say something negative about the Bush administration in this instance, I can’t. A shoot down was clearly the best choice under the circumstances and considering that hundreds or even thousands of lives hung in the balance between Shanksville and Washington DC. A tough call had to be made, and I’m pretty confident that it was the right call. Seeing as though on 9/11 I was in that line between Shanksville and DC, so was my wife and unborn child and a great number of people I care about. That plane could have come down anywhere and harmed any of them – so I’m grateful to whatever brought that plane down.

TTBM

The Once Great Kingdom

I fully expect this blog and every other blog originating from the United States and containing the letters B-U-S-H with a capital “B” to be recorded, traced and tracked. By whom, you ask? The NSA of course!

Last week, as most people know, it was leaked to the press that the NSA was recording the numbers dialed by tens of millions of American telephone users. The Bush administration scrambled with their usual, “Trust me, I’m the president - it’s okay because I say it’s okay. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!!!” And, when people tried to say, “What about our privacy?” Bush was quick to throw out a parade of his favorite catch phrases. “Since 9/11…” and “War or terror! War of terror!” and “To fight terrorists…”

All I can say is, for any American above the age of 12 – we need to pay careful attention to everything that goes on in this presidents administration. We need to watch his nominations, we have to watch his claims, we need to watch what he signs and what he vetoes, we need to watch his government – because this country is making a rapid ascension into fascism.

Just for the record, according to the American Heritage Dictionary – FASCISM is “A philosophy or system of government that is marked by stringent social and economic control, a strong, centralized government usually headed by a dictator, and often a policy of belligerent nationalism.”

We stand here in the gap of history where-in our 230 year old democracy is quickly coming to an end. We have a president that breaks the laws with impunity; a president who had his cronies and his lackeys trump up the most unbelievable lies and tales to lead this country to war; a president who encourages his intelligence agencies not to go into the nooks and crannies around the globe to fight terrorists – but instead commands them to violate his own citizens rights and privacy and this little thing called The Constitution. And, to make matters worse – both houses of congress are controlled by the most crooked, immoral and self serving Republican party in the history of this nation.

One of my biggest, newest, fears is that somehow Bush will manage to turn this country so far around that we will never be able to get ourselves back on track and moving toward true prosperity. George Bush has alienated us from our global allies; he has lied and gotten us into a 350 billion dollar – un-winnable war for nothing more than personal revenge; he has lied and cost 2400 Americans their lives; tens of thousands of Iraqis their lives; he has put in place comfy tax breaks for the richest 2% of Americans – who he has proudly and publicly called, “His base”. I simply fear that this man has destroyed a once proud and a once great nation.

A wondrous miracle of nature...

Yay!

A wondrous miracle of nature has happened!

A female polar bear and a male grizzly bear have successfully mated and produced an offspring in the great frozen north of Canada!

While this has happened several times in captivity under the careful watch of zoologists, scientists and veterinarians, this magnificent creature was born and raised strictly under the watchful eyes of God and its polar mother and grizzly father!

I bet it was incredible to see this creature in the wild! Hunting, swimming, eating fish, climbing trees, running across the snowy frozen north through blizzards and snow squalls!

But now, its dead!

Yup, this miracle of nature, this rare genetic combination, this brand new species in the wild, is dead. Some dude from Idaho shot and killed the bear a few days ago.

I'm a little torn about that. Personally, I don't have an issue with hunting when its for food. I do however have a problem with these so called "Sport hunters" that like to kill things so they can display pelts and heads in their trophy rooms. I'm pretty sure this guy came up from Idaho so he could bring back a thick, beautiful polar bear hide to adorn his floor in front of his fire place. And now, this incredible animal is dead.

Now, I don't know anything about the guy that killed this bear. I haven't seen or read any interviews from him - but I can't help but wonder if he would have still pulled the trigger with this bear in his sights if he had known what a rare creature he was about to murder. I certainly hope he wouldn't have.

TTBM

Still Deadly...

"Ha, Ha! Hee, Hee!"
Okay – we've all had our laugh.
Or have we?

Everybody is whispering and chuckling over the latest footage of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi fumbling with an automatic rifle in the desert. People actually think this is funny.

"He's so dumb! He can't even shoot a rifle and clear a jam!"

"Ha, ha, he needed help from that other guy!"

"How tough is he supposed to be? His gun jammed!"

Trust me when I say, I am far from defending this piece of trash al-Zarqawi, but we need to get serious here and stay focused. See, the US media likes to try and spin situations and sway public opinion with little games and things like videos of people's flubs. These stunts are meant to humanize and belittle people – to make them less than what they really are. But, Abu Masab is far too dangerous a man for the American media to trivialize because of a gun jam.

As a person who has [legally] fired a high powered automatic rifle – on fully auto – there are certainly a million other 'more funny' things that can happen than a jammed weapon. And needing someone to clear a jam for you is certainly not a funny matter. So frankly, it makes the US media and the Bush Administration look desperate and scared when they have to resort to that kind of footage as an effort to shame our enemies.

Just because this man didn't know how to clear a rifle, it makes him no less dangerous. Just because this man didn't know how to clear a rifle, it doesn't make the thousands of people he's killed any less dead. Just because this man didn't know how to clear a rifle, it doesn't bring him any closer to capture by our forces.

Let's give George W an H&K MP5 and send him off to the range with a couple thousand rounds and see if he can clear a jam. Maybe we should give Dick Cheney a… nevermind – bad example! Maybe we should give Donald Rumsfeld and Dr. Condi Rice a couple of RPK74's or L86's and let them have at it for awhile and see how they handle jams. I'm willing to bet that they'd look about as inefficient as al-Zarqawi. And yet – seeing them with jammed guns would make them no less powerful and no less hungry for war and power.

When it comes to people like Zarqawi, we need not try to shame them by showing them having jammed weapons and needing help. We need to shame them by hauling them into American court rooms; we need to shame them by hauling them into the Hague; we need to shame them by putting bombs on them and bullets in them. We need to stay focused and stay serious. This is not the time for games.

TTBM

Zombies. drones, robots and Borg...

I think that if the right people, in the right place, at the right time - told the public, "You must have a giant, red, blinking light strapped to your forehead." Then thousands, maybe even millions, of people would run out and pay $79.99 to get these red lights. Simply because they heard it was the thing to do, and everyone around them was doing it.

Hell, maybe that's why I'm blogging. Who knows?

But, right now - my rant of the day is directed at all these damn Bluetooth users that walk around all day with these cigarette-lighter sized devices with the blinking blue light, stuck in their ears. They kinda' give me the creeps, because the user looks like a zombie walking about - disconnected from the sights and sounds of the real world around them and tuned in squarely with the digital audio input to their one 'connected' ear.

Women with long hair using Blue Tooths [Blue Teeth?] freak me out the most because you don't always know if their wearing one or just plain losing their minds. I was around one woman not too long ago with a Blue Tooth and out of the blue (no pun intended) she goes, "Hey, how's going?" [pause] "Yeah." [pause] "No." [pause] "Maybe." [pause] "No, I'm not doing anything!" [pause] "Yeah, sure. We can talk later!" [pause] "You'll call me in an hour?" [pause] "Okay. Bye"

I guess she absolutely HAD to have a Blue Tooth so she could be ready at a split-seconds notice to talk loudly into Cyber Space so that all of us would be a part of her little boring world.

I decided to write this particular blog because a little while ago I got on an elevator with a woman wearing this vacant look on her face. I spoke and got no reply as she just stared straight ahead and grunted once as we descended floor after floor. After steeling myself to take a peek at the drone next to me, I noticed the robotic blinking device protruding from her head. She was Blue Toothing. I have to say that I was glad to find that she wasn't some grunting groaning screwjob waiting to murder me, alone in an elevator... she was just assimilating with the digital masses... You know... Like The Borg.

TTBM

(Make Exxon pay for the Valdez! The people in Prince William Sound have still not received a penny from a $4.5 BILLION court settlement made over 17 years ago! And, Exxon recorded $36 BILLION in PROFIT last year! And, $9 BILLION in first quarter profit this year! We must stand against this thirsty and greedy oil giant!)

Greenline Fusion in DC.

Now, in the District of Columbia, on the Metro system, you are supposed to use headphones or the ever popular 'ear buds' when listening to your radios, CD players, MP3 players and anything else that makes noise of one kind or another.

This is a cute rule. It sounds good - but in reality it means nothing, many [but not all] people listen to their music so loud that the people around them are sharing the sonic expression.

I fell into a funny/funky haze on the way to work this morning. Diagonal to me, three rows away, this young guy was playing some mellow new age stuff that seemed loud to me - 10 feet away. I actually expected to see blood trickling down the side of his head from the two ruptured eardrums in his head. Then right in front of me sat this big dude in this tiny shirt which made him look like a polyester sausage. He was blasting some rap song with these crazy, explicit lyrics. Aside from F**k, B***h, S**t, and N***a... I don't really think there was rhyme nor reason to the song. But I found myself amazed at the musical fusion between the random mindless cursing and the ebbing and flowing of homeboys new age schmoz. I'm not going to say I liked it... but I found it interesting.

Then, the walking keilbasa got off at U Street Cordoza and took his lyrical grace with him. And, as fate would have it, at the next stop [Shaw / Howard University] he was replaced by this kid blasting what sounded like Heavy Metal [or Death Metal or whatever they call it now]. I tried to pick up a revised fusion, but I was unsuccessful. Had Gallery Place not been so close, I may have had time to slip into a screaming, yelling, guitar banging, flute tooting trance.

TTBM

(Stand against Exxon, Shell and Chevron! Billions in profits are criminal when they tie a noose around the necks of Americans and shake our pockets empty!)

Al Qaeda Stooges

Something about Zacarias Moussaoui has always made me suspect that he was the Al Qaeda patsy. The screw up. The Curly out of the 20 Al Qaeda Stooges.

His crazy outbursts and declarations of “Death to America!” and “Burnin’ the USA!” have always made me suspect that he wanted to… needed to die, so that he could feel like he was a victim in Al Qaeda’s jihad against America. If he inflamed the judge and jurors and public enough, then they’d order him to die. Then he’d be happy.

I’ve always believed that Zacarias was an Al Qaeda clinger on. Wanting to be just one of the guys. Basically he was the biggest loser among a group of big losers, the biggest asshole among a group of big assholes.

I imagine that his boys in the plan called him before he got arrested and told him, “Yes, Zack! You are very important to us! Make sure you meet us at the airport first thing on Wednesday, September 12th! We can’t do this without you!” Then they hung up, snickering and saying, “Zacarias is such a camel’s hump!”

Now, I’m convinced that Zacarias is a desperate fool. Now, he’s grasping at straws! He’s claiming that he and Richard Reid (The Shoe Bomber) were part of the plan for 9/11. I’m sure when Reid heard this he was like, “What the Fu*k?”

I think Reid is another loser among losers…

Let’s think about him for a second. In the weeks following 9/11 this asshole tries to strike a match on a plane, while in his seat, so he can light a fuse on his shoe. Now, how stupid is this guy? I mean – if you look up the word TERRORIST in the dictionary, you see Richard Reid’s ugly face. I’m sure every person on that plane was watching his crazy looking ass like a hawk!!! And then he lights a match… Now, I’m glad he got caught – don’t get me wrong. But he had half a brain, he would have gone into the bathroom and lit the shoe undisturbed. But he decides, ‘I’m gonna light my shoe bomb in front of the WHOLE PASSENGER SECTION of the plane. He’s so lucky I wasn’t on that plane because I would have beaten him to death JUST for being stupid enough to pull that stunt.

And now, Zacarias is claiming this guy, Reid, was his partner?

One thing I’ll give Al Qaeda credit for, they sure know how to weed out their dead weight – Moussaoui and Reid were clearly riding the little blue camel to school.

The DUKE of spin...

The Spin Doctor is in!

I see today that suddenly the police report from the night of the alleged rape of a black stripper by members of the Duke lacrosse team has surfaced. This seems to be the first time this recording has come to light. Oddly, it happens within 48 hours of the hiring of Bob Bennett as the public relations/legal advisor of the lacrosse team by a group of Duke boosters.

In case that name is faintly familiar, Bob Bennett is the spin doctor that saved Bill Clinton during the height of the Paula Jones sexual harassment case back in the day. This folks are scared down there so they are bringing out the Big Gunz for their All-American Boys.

One thing that stands out with this tape - which by the way, was made by a police officer at a gas station where he picked up the alledged victim. The officers says something like, "She's okay, she just looks passed out drunk..."

PASSED OUT DRUNK?!?!?!

You know, I'd personally like to put that cop in a bathroom for 30 minutes and let 3 of those liquored-up, athletic, Duke lacrosse players get Broke Back Mountain with his ass against his will. I guarentee that he'll be in pretty bad shape when he comes out... he may even look passed out drunk!

I don't really know what happed to that young lady at that party. All I know is that I want the truth to come out and justice to be blindly served.

But I can say this, unashamedly - if this stripper was a blonde haired blue eyed girl... somebody would have taken a perp walk by now. Even if they were innocent, somebody would have been arrested. And God forbid, if the girl was white and the basketball team stood accused... the NCAA would have suspended the team for four years, half of the guys would have taken a perp walk on all of the major networks world news, the coaches and athletic directors would have been fired, confessions would have been beaten out of a couple of guys... things would be bad down there.

But alas, she was black and they were white; she was a lowly stripper and these were the fair haired American boys... let's hope justice truly has her blindfold on tight. I'm sure Bob Bennett will be tugging at it with all his might.

TTBM
(Stop giving record profits to Exxon! Buy gas from CITGO!)

What am I missing, here?

With all the national hype over immigration and all the protests and demonstrations from coast to coast I've been watching things and feeling like I'm missing something.

I didn't know what I was missing, but I assumed it would come to me. Then I looked at the front of the newspaper on Tuesday morning and I saw it. Right there, plain as day. A young Latino man was holding a banner that read:

"TODAY WE MARCH. TOMORROW WE VOTE."

I work near the Mall in DC, so I was able to see first hand hundreds of thousands of Hispanic and Latino demonstrators coming together for one cause. How I feel about that cause isn't an issue right now, I'll touch on it in another blog - but what I saw was a glipse at the future powerbase in America.

We Blacks had better come together and begin to unite and focus on what role we want to play in the future of this country. We have gone from the number one minority to the number two minority, behind Latinos. They are steadily growing in numbers and so are we. But our numbers are largely growing in single parent homes and theirs are growing in more nuclear structured settings. In the long run, our disadvantaged children will be competing and losing economically and politically to their children.

Depending on how this whole immigration thing works out, the Latino presence in this country is going to be a significant force to deal with, poloitically, economically and socially. There have been dozens of demonstartions bringing out hundreds of thousands of people of all ages, all for one cause. We as Black people have to find a way to rally our masses to create our own agenda for the next 100 years in this country. I deeply worry that not enough of us care enough or are intelligent enough to see that this nation is on the dawn of some very significant changes. If we don't start moving to unite - then we will be divided. Once we are divided, we will then be defeated.

-The Thinking Black Man

Congresswoman Cynthia "Punchy" McKinney

I was really bothered when Georgia Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney claimed racial profiling when she was stopped by Capitol police while entering the Capitol last week.

I think what bothers me the most is, as a Black man, I have been stopped by the police so many times that I actually lost count. Granted, most of these stops happened when I was under 25 years old, but the fact remained, I was mainly stopped because I was Black.

Claiming that she was stopped because she was Black, actually takes away from the hundreds of racially motivated police 'stops' that take place every day in this country. McKinney asked to be stopped because she was not wearing her Congressional lapel pin - which aids the police officers in spotting members of congress. She was also stopped because she ignored multiple efforts by the police officer to get her attention. And while I've heard several women say that she did in fact have a real "hair style" - I think she was stopped party because she looked like Sideshow Bob from the Simpsons.

Everything negative that happens to us Black people IS NOT BECAUSE OF OUR RACE!!! We have to realize this! If we spend all of our valuable time running around fighting countless, pointless battles because someone looked at us a certain way, or didn't give us enough fries with our order, or wanted to double check our ID - we will not have the strength and conviction to fight the major battles when true racial descrimination falls upon us.

Congresswoman - Just wear your freakin' pin next time!!!

TTBM

Demand more from Hollywood...

I was asked the other day if I had seen "Hustle and Flow."
I said, "Yeah."

They replied, "I get tired of seeing blacks in the same old roles - pimps, drug dealers, thugs..."

I absolutely agreed. The only reason I saw 'Hustle and Flow' was because I'm a big Terrence Howard fan. I've seen him always in the shadows and always playing the supporting roles - 'Dead Presidents' , 'The Best Man', 'Ray', 'Crash' and 'Biker Boyz.' (Thank God that he died in the first 10 seconds of Biker Boyz - this was a truly horrible movie!) I wanted to see Terrence Howard in a leading role and I wanted to see how he could handle it. If anybody else was in that role, 'Hustle and Flow" wouldn't have even showed up on my radar.

I too, am disappointed at the role offered to 90% of blacks in Hollywood. The roles and themes of most blacks and most black movies are so unoriginal and unbeneficial to our race - that they border on being criminal.

The shameful repetitiveness includes:

• BLACK WOMEN - There are only few roles for black women in movies either prostitutes or crackheads, or fat and loud church going characters. I hate the fact that once the need for a black woman over the age of 40 comes up, she has to weigh over 250 pounds to get on camera!
• COOKOUTS - If black folks aren't shooting, pimping, rapping, dancing, playing basketball or slinging dope - they are at a COOKOUT. My god - can't we play lawyers and doctors and politicians and teachers and activists and scientists in movies? Why is the only alternative to violence the same repetitive hot dogs and baked beans at fat grandma's house?
• FAMILY REUNIONS - see 'cookouts' above.
• SAVE US MASSA' - The common theme of the hapless blacks that aren't strong enough, or smart enough or skilled enough to pull themselves up out of the dire straights that life has put them into. Therefore, the great White Knight rides in to teach the poor downtrodden black folks to shuck and jive or sing or dance or play basketball good enough to get out of their dismal surroundings.
• VIOLENT DRUG DEALING - The only way out 'of the hood' for most young black men is to master the game of the dope hustle. You watch your friends get shot and killed, you make deals with the Columbians or the Italians and hope you don't get double-crossed, you kill somebody and then discover you have a taste for it and then you 'Get Rich or Die Trying." Lame, lame, lame...

Now, if you've ever read my blog before - you know I don't mind putting in disclaimers - so here is my disclaimer for the day. Not all movies with blacks fit into the niches I outlined above, but I will absolutely say that 85% to 90% do. And, considering the small numbers of blacks in Hollywood, we have to demand more from our presentation on the big screen. We have to stop supporting the movies that focus on black drug dealers and black on black crime. We have to stop telling Hollywood - "Thank you for setting my people back 100 years. May I have another, please?"

And now, with the movie 'ATL' coming out this week, featuring Big Boi from the music group Outkast as, what else - a drug dealer - and pitched to critics as a 'coming of age' film. I see that we are headed into yet another movie season of black degradation on the silver screen.

TTBM

Look in the mirror...

I took an interesting look in the mirror last night.

I was loading my dishwasher and cleaning my kitchen with the TV on. It was 10:00 and the local news was coming on. The newscasters were all excited that George Mason had upset North Carolina to make it to the Sweet-16 for the first time in school history. But, before they could talk sports, there was "Breaking News" out of Prince George's county...

It seems as though 3 kids, all under the age of 13, had stolen a minivan and were speeding down a street called Livingston Road in a town called Oxon Hill. They passed a police car which made a U-Turn behind them just in time to see the van crash at high speed into a utility pole. The newscaster said, "All three youngsters were rushed to the hospital in critical condition..."

I glanced at the TV and then turned back to the dishwasher and started pulling out my silverware. After about a minute I realized that I didn't even bat an eyelash at the fact that these three kids were in some hospital at that very moment hovering between life and death. I wondered what that said about me.

I was looking in the mirror, and wasn't sure what I was seeing.

With me, I'm a bottom line thinker. To me, 98% of all things are either black or white, with little to no gray. They are either good or bad, right or wrong and that is usually - THAT!

So, I think when I heard some kids had stolen a van and had wrapped themselves around a pole - what was most important to me was what I didn't hear. I didn't hear about any innocent bystanders getting hurt or killed. That is what is most important to me when these little hoodlums decide to show their asses. I always worry about the innocent law-abiding citizens that fall victim to these heartless little bastards that steal cars and go speeding through red lights and hot-wheeling down quiet child filled streets hurting and killing anyone in their way.

It didn't matter that these were kids. 13 or 30, it didn't matter. Yeah - that might be a heartless way to be, but damn-it, it is how I am. These kids went tearing down a pretty busy street [I've driven right past the place where they crashed plenty of times] it is no small miracle that no one else was killed by these foolish little uncaring monsters. I'm sure plenty of people will whine and say, 'oh, these kids were probably disadvantaged...' or 'they just didn't understand what they were doing...'

While these people will coddle and make excuses for the ever growing criminal element spreading through our younger community. I look in the mirror and see the bottom line. Sometimes it is just US vs THEM. So, when WE don't take a loss and THEY do, I look at it as a good thing.

TTBM


My cause of the month...
(Make Exxon pay for the Valdez) http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/262707_exxonsettle13.html

We could always use MORE rappers...

Grammy winning singer/performer USHER will start a program to teach young black kids how to succeed in the sports and entertainment industry.

Hmmm.

Okay - I'm a little torn over this.

I'll say I'm 25% for this and 75% against it.

Why am I partially for this? Well, there are millions and millions of dollars to be made dunking basketballs, throwing footballs, cracking jokes on stage, singing in sold out arenas and rapping about your cars and your homies. Many of the young blacks that fall into any of these skill sets don't have a clue as to 'how to be successful.' Sadly, many of them waste their financial gains or they use their earnings to destroy their lives and themselves. Some simply aren't mature enough to change their 'thug' mentality and stop robbing, raping and shooting their way out of the limelight and into the jail cell. So, part of me is glad that USHER might be trying to show young people how to spin their wealth into a decent, respectable lifestyle.

But - Why am I MOSTLY against this?

Because there are far, far too many young black kids that think dribbling a basketball between their legs, or grabbing their crotches while mumbling about 'bitches and hoes' or telling dirty jokes in the back of the classroom is their only way to succeed in life. Too many young black kids lack the drive and the support and motivation to put down the basketball and pick up the text book. Too many young black kids know the hook to the latest Jay-Z single and not enough know E=MC2.

For USHER to devote his time and energy at a time like now, during his peak in popularity in the music industry, I think his idea is sincere and well intended but the message that many young black kids are going to take away from him is: I don't have to study and develop my mind and my intellect - USHER is going to teach me how to be a successful basketball player and/or rapper!

I think our young people need to prepare their minds for the intellectual changes that our people will face in the coming decades and throughout the rest of our newly started century. We must aim ourselves and our children higher than the 10 foot NBA rim, higher than the NFL goalpost and higher than the diamond studded bling of hip hop toughest gansta's! We need to mold them and prepare them for tough roads ahead. This country is quickly moving towards a technology driven society, and for those that want to deny this and refuse to open their minds to knowledge and would rather watch Sportscenter all day or rap about the party at the club and the half naked women - failure is waiting, just around the corner. We need to push them past the free throw line and into the classroom and from there to the board-room.

Survival is of the fittest, we have to ask ourselves are our children going to survive or are they going to dunk and dance their way to self destruction?

TTBM

(Make Exxon pay for the Valdez:) http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/262707_exxonsettle13.html

In Memoriam - Octavia Butler...

Octavia Butler
June 22, 1947 - February 24, 2006

Sadly, one important fact seemed to miss the mainstream media in the last two weeks...

The passing of one of the most dynamic writers in the last fifty years... Octavia Butler.

Please notice that I didn't say 'one of the most dynamic women writers...' or 'one of the most dynamic black writers...'

Octavia Butler was an innovative, highly original and thought provoking science fiction writer. Her novels often revolved around master-slave relationships which blended humans, aliens, genetics, love and hate on an often post-apocalyptic and psychosexual platform.

A recognized literary talent, Octavia Butler won the Hugo [Gernsback] and Nebula awards for excellence in science fiction writing and the [John D.] Mac Arthur fellowship for written accomplishments.

I have personally had the privileged to read her novels 'Parable of the Sower', 'Parable of the Talents' and 'Kindred.' I found them all to be some of the most intense, imaginative, thought provoking and well written novels that I have had the pleasure to read.

Her talent remains with us - in our library's and bookstores and if we're lucky, in our homes. People of all races should pay her the debt of honor that her talents, her mind and her spirit deserve.

Thank you, Ms. Butler - for your enduring legacy.

TTBM

Throwing the NIGGA out!

Very little gets me angrier than black folks calling each other - Niggas!

I'm really going to have a hard time putting all my thoughts in this one blog, so expect to see this title over and over again.

THIS MORNING...
Sitting on the subway on the way to work. These three young black kids, boys around 16 or so got on and sat near me, talking loud, being rowdy and laughing.

I have long come to accept the fact that [sadly] because the nuclear black family is a dying establishment, many young black kids don't get the love and attention that they need to develop into socially well rounded individuals. Sadly, because daddy wasn't man enough to stick around after mommy got knocked up, and mommy wasn't smart enough to close her legs after daddy left - many inner city black kids grow up in single parent homes with 3 or 4 little illegitimate siblings. With mommy trying to make ends meet between getting her GED, collecting her welfare and working extra shifts off the books at the fast food joint down the street - a large number of these kids just don't get the hugs and kisses and time and attention that a nuclear family can provide. These kids have the deck stacked against them from the moment they come out of the womb.

So, when I see this kind of behavior, I tend to accept it as a hidden cry for the attention they never got at home.

Then it started...

"What was that nigga's name that plays for Roosevelt?"
"That nigga had some moves..."
"Yeah, I saw that nigga around my cousin's way."
"I played that nigga! He got some phat game!"
"Naw, nigga I ain't scared of him!"

Eventually my head started spinning and all I heard was...

Blah blah blah NIGGA blah blah NIGGA blah blah blah blah NIGGA...

Now, sometimes what I have done when this happens is I shoot a look at the one who says it, admittedly this doesn't work often, in fact I think it makes it some of them work harder at saying it more. But, once every blue moon the kid gets the message and calms down. On a few occasions, several of the offensive little bastards have gotten off the train leaving one or two of their friends and I've sometimes pulled them aside with a calming tone and said, "Young brothers, I couldn't help but overhear you and your friends throwing the nigga out..." and I follow it up with a brief bit of positive insight as to why they should refrain from that word and that kind of behavior. I haven't gotten cursed out or shot or stabbed yet, so I guess that's a good thing.

But, today it was just so overwhelming. The word nigga was raining down all over me and all over the train. I wanted to say something to these young assholes, but I know if I said what I was thinking, the way I was thinking it, I wouldn't be THE THINKING BLACK MAN, I would have been THE FIST-FIGHTING BLACK MAN!

It absolutely devastates me to think of the tens and hundreds of thousands of black across this country that still thinks its okay to call each other nigga. These foolish asses stick to the lame rationale of "I'd better not hear a white person say it..." like that is a reasonable justification. I have actually heard someone say, "Oh, we blacks don't say NIGGER , we say NIGGAH. The AH is like the AHHHHHHH sound you make over a warm cup of chocolate. It gives the word NIGGA a newer and warmer feeling." I ACTUALLY HEARD SOMEONE SAY THAT!!! I damn near passed out trying to restrain myself from choking the living shit out of them.

But that is what we have in our community. Dumb assed black kids who have never been told that they have worth, and that they should respect themselves and each other. And who, in turn, embrace centuries of racial stereotypes and the suffering it has caused and refer to each other by the white slavemasters evil name for their forefathers. And they are reinforced by the quasi intellectual, self deprecating, neo-ebonites that feel it's okay to call each other, "My Nigga!"

That is some straight bullshit!

It fills my heart with anger, hatred and shame! When will these lost souls open their eyes and realize - We are our own worst enemy!

TTBM

Straight Thuggin'

I was sitting in my truck today near a grocery store in a modest
upper-middle class neighborhood. I was listening to a local news and talk radio station. Then something beside me caught my eye.

It was a group of four young black kids. Boys, all around 15 or 16. They were talking to each other, but they were yelling. I must have heard 2 or 3 "niggas" just as many "mother fuckers" and at least one "punk ass bitch." These kids were in full thug regalia, extra baggy pants, North Face coats, jerseys, wild-ass hairstyles and untied Timberland boots. And, they all had the same limp / bop walk as if anyone near them had better get out of their way. They walked past two black girls a little older than them and tried to get some squeeze hugs and ass rubs. For the most part it worked and when the girls walked away, one of the boys patted his chest and hollered at them, "Thug love, baby! Thug love!"

There was a time when being a thug was what no sensible person wanted to be. Actually, that time is still here - but for a large number of our young black men, who are still lost in a lack of positive self identity, they chose to be called 'THUGS.' And so not to have a title without a reputation behind it, there has developed an unspoken rule that THUGS must be vulgar, foul mouthed, violent, threatening, pathetic, horny, gun toting fools that travel in posses. It amazes me that such a negative mystic is embraced by so many young black men. Now, I know not all young black males that sport the braids and twists and throwback jerseys and Timbs are thugs - and thank god for that. But there is an enormous number that are. They talk loud and disrespectful and just do nothing to present their race in a positive light.

I have to try and find a way to bring a positive self identity to my young black brothers and sisters! Right now, so many are just wandering through the jungle that is life in modern America. They know nothing of where they come from and nothing of where they are going. They need a positive self image to wash away the 'thugs' and 'baby-mama's.'

TTBM

Sadly... "College Hill" is back.

A multi-car crash is an absolutely unbelievable event. It is amazing and awful all at the same time and it is virtually impossible to look away from. It is almost impossible to believe that cars can go airborne. It's hard to get past the sounds of metal crunching, glass breaking and people screaming. It is a horrible, horrible event...

much like COLLEGE HILL.

For those who don't know - College Hill is a BET original program, dubbed "The First Black Reality show." As a response to MTV's "Real World" Black Entertainment Television (BET) has created this pitiful, and usually embarrassing series.

Again, BET proves that it is the voice of Black buffoonery. Whereas MTV grabs 7 or 8 white kids and usually 1 or 2 blacks and sticks them in a swank house in a random city and lets them run wild - BET grabs 8 or 9 college kids from a Historically Black College, puts them in a drab little house and films them setting higher education back 50 years.

The worst part is that BET calls this BLACK ENTERTAINMENT! Exploiting the perfect mix of stupid, horny, self-conscious, arrogant, conceited, and insecure students. Like the previously mentioned car wreck, it's hard to look away because it's impossible to believe that young people that claim to want to the leaders of the future are acting like out of control hookers and hoodlums.

I'm saddened because BET chooses to bring this foolishness and exploitive programming into the very heart of Black higher education- our colleges. This season, Virginia State University is the scene of the crime. As hard as it has been, and is, for blacks to get a higher education - BET should show more respect for our black institutions. But they don't. BET only cares about the bottom line - dollars.

I hate the fact that BET is largely responsible for so many negative stereotypes that people around the world have about black Americans. Its years of hip hop video shows have presented an overwhelming image of the black man as a over-sexed, over-liquored, violent, gold-tooth wearing thug. Our women are largely presented as scantedly-clad, brainless playthings that do nothing more than bounce their asses and open their legs for the thugged-out black man. And, now stepping onto our college campuses they want to try and present our young men and women how seek a higher education in a bad light. When the images from COLLEGE HILL go out across the world, BET would have succeeded in sending out yet another false image of the Black collective. Now, many people [with few counter-images of blacks] will think - "Even the American blacks getting college education are still horny, drunk and out of control."

College Hill is a disheartening program that exploits our young black men and women and harms our racial reputation as a whole. It mispresents so many young blacks that are focused, ambitious, dedicated and mature in their pursuit of higher education, a better quality of life, and a positive impact on the future. BET should be ashamed to call this 'Black Reality TV."

And while College Hill is like a car wreck, I will find a way NOT to watch it! SHAME ON YOU BET!!!

TTBM

And baby makes two...

"I'm pregnant."

Few words in the English language, when put side by side, insight more emotion than, "I'm pregnant."

Those words have a powerful way of bringing true feelings and true character to the surface of people - especially MEN.

When a woman tells a man that she's pregnant, typically she's pregnant with HIS child. These words mean: A part of you is growing inside of me and in a matter of months your life will change forever.

Different men also hear different messages...

Decent, strong, loving, and responsible men hear:

• I'm going to have a child that I am responsible for,
• I'm going to have to make sure that I'm a good role model,
• I'm going to show my child, everyday how much I love him/her,
• I'm going to do right by my child's mother
• My child is going to be my legacy,
• I'm going to be the best MAN and FATHER that I can possibly be,
• I am going to dedicate myself to this child's well being,

Ignorant, uncaring, low-life bastard cowards hear:

• That kid ain't mine,
• She's a ho, that could be anybodies child,
• Damn, I can't afford child support payments,
• She only has my mom's address, I'm moving across town,
• I ain't trying to hear this bullcrap,
• I only slept with her twice, it can't be mine,
• I can't get tied down to her and some kid, there's booty out there to get,
• It ain't mine, I pulled out in time,
• I'm rollin'' out - that ain't my kid!

'I'm pregnant' is how women learn about the men that they've been giving themselves too. The decent men will stand up and the cowards will run and hide. It deeply saddens me that at that point, its far too late to determine the measure of a man. At this point a new life is in play. At this point, in the worst case scenario, mom is facing single motherhood and dad is about to hit the pavement.

I wish that our women and men would be more responsible with their actions. I wish that more women were smart enough to realize that a man that wants to have an apartment or a house with you and have unprotected sex with you but isn't man enough to marry you is only bad news. These men are doing NOTHING more than waiting for a better ship to come along. And if you happen to get knocked up before that ship comes along, these men are willing to fain interest in you until they can pack their sh*t and leave. HINT - if he won't marry you, but will live with you, and ride bare-back, 9 times out of 10, he's just waiting to leave. Then, baby will make two.

TTBM

Unclaimed baggage...

Sadly, there is a phenomenon in the black community that is growing out of control. It is...

The abandoned child.

Our young people are destroying the very foundation of the black community. Over 70% of black children are born to single / unwed mothers.

Both our males and our females are destroying our strength, our core and our future - The Black Family Structure.

When our males (I refuse to call them MEN) come across a young ladies, some primal desire to have sex with them kicks into overdrive. It has nothing to do with looks, or with love or with anything of that nature. It is a purely dick-driven desire to conquer that female. No consideration is given to safety or to the potential for an unwanted pregnancy. With AIDS running rampant and unchecked through the black community, it would seem that more men and women would be 'strapping up' and using condoms. But looking at the rise in the number of black children being born to single mothers, they seem to be doing everything BUT 'strapping up!'

The black females are no better than the men! These women are giving no consideration to their health or their futures. These women are willing to lie down with these various men, unprotected, and then when they get pregnant MANY (not all of them) suddenly get stupider or they suddenly get holier -than-thou. They rule out abortion. Yeah! I said it! THEY RULE OUT ABORTION! With many of these women, they are just not ready OR qualified to be mothers. They are often to stupid to realize that the guy that got them pregnant is going to leave them all alone, or they are too stupid to realize that their child is going to be at a huge disadvantage growing up the child of a single mom. Or, they suddenly get holy and feel, "Abortion is a sin! And, I ain't no sinner!" Lo, they forget their seat in the front pew of the Sanctified Mission of the Open Legs Baptist Church.

I think many young women are just oblivious to the fact that once that baby is on the way and the dad splits town or suddenly discovers that he's not ready for a committment, it is the woman that is left with the unclaimed baggage. It must not register to these girls and women that they will bare the burden of parenthood and all that comes with it - ALONE!!!

Now, not all single moms are bad moms, because I personally know some very good ones. But the ones that bother me and hurt the black community the most are the ones that are poor parental role models, the ones that do nothing more than sit at home and breed 4, 5, 6 and 7 kids with 4, 5, and 6 different fathers. These are the worse people in our community. They are creating a generation of unloved, poorly guided, un-supervised, angry, little kids with no ambition and no ability to be anything more than a candidate for the more-than-willing U.S. penal system.

We need to stop the madness! We need to teach our young women to respect and value themselves and to demand that same respect and value from the men in their lives. We need to teach them to close their legs more often and we need to teach our young men to keep those little ding-a-lings in their pants and work harder at being stronger men and better examples of black pride for our children! Our out of control people are destroying our race and turning our children into unwanted little bastards. YEAH, I said it!

TTBM