Where's the Outrage?

Apparently these two clowns Fist Chris Brown and Drake went at it in a nightclub last weekend or something like that.  Seems that Chris Brown sent Drake a bottle of champagne, Drake decided to send back a note reminding Chris that he (like the rest of Hollywood) is still screwing Rihanna and that's when ish went left.

Actually, no.  The whole damn thing started off wayyyy left.

First of all, you have two spoiled, entitled, thugs award winning artists who are dealing with the same woman on some level, one of whom is still on probation because he beat the living crap out of her.  The other who is more sensitive than the skin in his own pants.  Anyway, these clowns first missed the fact that they are not special, everyone in the industry has done, is doing, will do Rihanna at some point.  This is not a secret.  Drake even tweeted about it. So to start off, they're really fighting about nothing.  Trash.

But if they like it, I love it.  Anyway, the whole thing turns into a melee, bottles are thrown, pictures of stitches are being Tweeted and Instagram'd all over the place and...Tony Parker is suing the club for $20 million?

Wha...?

Doesn't all this sound ridiculous and stupid to you?  Why is this always black people?  Why can't we be out in large numbers at a club and have a fun night without a bunch of drama popping off?  This is why we can't have nice places to party because we always want to fight about something,or in this case, nothing.  When is the last time you even heard of two white celebrities publicly fighting over a woman?  When is the last time a white club had to get shut down because there was too much fighting?  Sure it happens, but look at how much more often it's us doing this stupid sh*&.  Then those of us who actually know how to act in public get turned away from certain bars and clubs because they look at us and see how stupid these and other clowns before us acted.

Really?

We get mad as soon as someone points out how stupid we look or act and people want to get mad at white journalists who call Drake or Chris Brown "thugs".  Their behavior that night was petty, childish, and yes, thuggish whether someone white is saying it or not.  Be mad all you want, but it's the truth.  Both of them AND the thugs they were clubbin' with that night exhibited thuggish behavior and that's what they should have been called, I don't care how many records they've sold.

What else is sad about this is how they've handled things since, with Drake's camp saying they won't cooperate with the police because they don't "snitch".  Then on the other end, Chris Brown cooperating fully with the police because he's on probation for beating the hell out of the slut they've been fighting over.

This whole picture is all messed up here.

But this, yet again, is black on black violence at its pettiest and yet, there's no outrage from the black community at the fact that these celebrities are, yet again, not only a poor representation of the best of us, but a poor influence as well.  No outrage that, yet again, another black celebrity is setting a bad example and making us look like a bunch of gang banging thugs.  No outrage at the fact that these are the people that we're allowing to influence our children.

Have we desensitized ourselves to that point?  We couldn't really be that deeply in denial, could we?

We get outraged when white people kill us, like George Zimmerman, but how come we don't get outraged when we kill each other?  People like George Zimmerman aren't the ones shooting young black men on street corners, THEY ARE KILLING EACH OTHER!  We don't need help from murderers like Zimmerman, we're doing just fine destroying ourselves, thank you very much.  How come we can turn on the TV and sit and watch story after story about how one unidentified black male is dead after being gunned down by another unidentified black male but we don't blink an eye?  I haven't heard about a single march in Chicago this year, where forty and fifty people have been getting shot in SINGLE WEEKENDS.  Where's our outrage at that number?

There are some broken things in our community that need to be fixed.  We should be outraged with ourselves that we've allowed it to go on for this long and we need to start being outraged at anything that sets out to destroy our community.  We need to stop standing in our own way and stand in the way of the destructive forces that we've allowed to reign for far too long.  Even if the problem is us.

BREAKING NEWS: THE NFL IS DANGEROUS!!

What?!

You mean two- and three-hundred pound men running around a field at top speed towards each other and crashing countless times over four quarters is RISKY?  That playing a sport requiring its players to WEAR HELMETS could possibly result in permanent brain injuries or Alzheimer's later on in life?  That a sport that has to have a RULE barring bounties on players for hits could possibly cause brain damage?

*crosses arms*  Well, this hopelessly-addicted-to-watching-football gal just doesn't believe it. 

But there's good news!  Looks like I'm not alone in this, my utter disbelief.  Apparently, LOTS of former NFL players and their families agree with me.  I mean, they're suing the NFL because they say the NFL intentionally hid the dangers permanent brain injury from playing this sport they know inside and out.  Now they want the NFL to pay for their medical care and monitoring for future signs of brain damage.  They say the league relied on biased studies about brain injury that were self funded and presented that information to the players as fact in an effort to hide the dangers of the game from these, the PLAYERS OF THE GAME, who know it so well.  I do have a question for the plaintiffs though:  Would any of you play football in the NFL without a helmet?  No, right?  But why?

BECAUSE FOOTBALL IS DANGEROUS!!!!

Every single one of you knows this when you first start playing the game!  I know that if my nephew gets out there on the field we're just going to have to buckle our seat belts and monitor our blood pressure.  Those of you who had both parents at home remember the argument they had when they discussed you playing football and how your mother freaked out at the thought of you getting hurt out there.  Think she was worried for nothing?  You are all made aware of the rules and the dangers of getting hit, you're even taught how to hit properly to avoid injuring yourself (Troy Polamalu did NOT listen, clearly).  You get an extra ten, twenty pounds of padding to put on, not because the game is so safe, BUT BECAUSE YOU COULD GET HURT OTHERWISE!!

Let me ask another question:  How many of you are ready to sue the NFL because of that achy joint or bone every time it gets cold because of that injury you got on the field?  No one?  But why?

INJURIES ARE PART OF THE GAME!!  Yes, even brain injuries.

Now I realize that a lot of you aren't the sharpest tools in the shed to begin with.  No one's fooled, we know a lot of you did very little of your own schoolwork, especially in college.  But this is basic common sense.  Of course, judging by the number of you that don't have enough common sense not to blow away $50 million dollars in less than ten years, I realize asking some of you to embrace common sense may be a bit much to ask.  I wonder how much of this lawsuit IS about the fact that in 2009, Sports Illustrated estimated that 78% of you are bankrupt within TWO YEARS of retirement.

Wrapping your head around THAT can cause permanent brain damage!

That aside, take responsibility for your own personal safety and health.  You can get a degree and do something besides play a sport that requires pads and a helmet for safety.  There are other ways to make lots of money that don't involve putting your health and the security of the families you may have at risk.  If you're that concerned about football, I encourage you to try something else.  Don't blame the NFL for letting you play, most of you would have played no matter the cost so this lawsuit seems not only ridiculous, but pointless at that.

Now...is it September yet?

"Father" of 30

I need some help figuring this one out.

In 2009, 30 year old Desmond Hatchett appeared in a Tennessee court to answer to them regarding child support.  Tennessee has verified through DNA tests that this guy, who works ONE MINIMUN WAGE JOB has fathered 21 children with 11 different women.

Anyway, they wanted him to explain to them how he intends to pay child support since all the mothers are on welfare with some of them getting less than $2 a month for child support.  Half of his minimum wage paycheck goes to the eleven dumbasses that allowed him to knock them up.  More on that later.  Anyway, he asked for help and was declined.  Good for you, Tennessee.  Get another damn job!  Are you serious?  I have NO children and have worked THREE jobs at a time, what the hell?!  Lazy bastard!

When interviewed after court, he said he was pretty sure he was done having kids.

If only he wasn't full of s**t.

Fast forward to May, 2012.  Yep, last month.  Dirty Desmond the Dynamic Dick Distributor is back in court.  THIS time, he's again asking for a break on child support payments.  Only now, there are 30 children.

WITH THE SAME 11 WOMEN!!!!

See, that's what messed my head up.  Sure, it would have been bad if new women had gotten knocked up by this trifling man when his face has been on TV, but these women are TEN TIMES more trifling than he is for this.  You mean to tell me you already have a child or more than one with this man, so you already know about all the bastard children he's not taking care of.

HOW COULD YOU EVEN SLEEP WITH THIS MAN?!?!  You are ALL disgusting and you make women look bad.  Period.  Clearly, none of you trifling women are worried about diseases that could leave your children orphans so it's obvious that you not only don't care about yourself, but you don't care about your children.  Funny enough, women like this are the first ones somewhere hollerin' about how they want better for their children than they had.  That doesn't mean they have an XBox AND a PS3 when you only had an old school Nintendo, it has nothing to do with material things.

If you want better for your children, you don't want them to be one of thirty siblings!  You can't provide for them!  You can't get any money from him and you knew that in 2009 so why would any one of you dumb broads keep breeding with this bastard?  Clearly you're not the only woman he's with, doesn't at least THAT matter?  You know you can get condoms ANYWHERE, right?  If you're on welfare I know damned well the state will pay for your birth control.  Obviously, you're not breeding with him for the money because clearly he has none.  Bastard won't even get a second job or try to better himself so he can get one job that pays more than minimum wage.

These women just don't care, and it makes no sense.  You got any ideas?  Cause I can't figure out what the hell is wrong with any one of these stupid women.

John Edwards

John Edwards got off.

Shocker.

It was more of a shock that they brought the case at all.  Clearly, this guy is about the biggest narcissist politics has seen in a really long time and definitely the second biggest cad (that award firmly remains in the hands of Newt Gingrich).  He cheated on his wife as she battled, and later succombed to, cancer.  He didn't use protection, not only exposing his sick wife to STD's, but also knocking up his TRASHY mistress Rielle Hunter.

Of course the money was to cover up the affair because he wanted to be President.  I doubt very seriously that he was all that worried about his wife finding out, a guy this full of himself couldn't possibly have put this in motion to benefit someone other than himself.  Especially since he cheated on her as she battled cancer.  But there was just about no way they were going to prove it.  A waste of too much taxpayer money desperately needed for more important things.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to have seen this jackass pay for what he did to his wife and how he tried to fool people while he was running for office.  This guy cheated on his wife as she battled cancer, and with one of the TRASHIEST, loudest, classless women I've seen since that Armenian chick on reality TV.  Let's be honest, Edwards is a very attractive man who seems to be aging pretty well, probably got a few good years left in him.  Could he not do better than a woman in her 40's who approaches him and tells him he's "hot"?

Really?

Then he (because he is such a narcissist) goes and does the interview with Bob Woodruff saying there's no way Quinn is his child, that he didn't know about any money being paid to his trick.  Good luck with her when she finally sees that video.  But the icing on the cake is the press conference you KNEW he was going to give after the trial.  "I don't think God's through with me yet...", "To my precious Quinn (insert obligatory fake choking up emotion)..." "...me and me alone..."

Yeah Johnny, we know.

News in the Trayvon Martin case...

George Zimmerman has 48 hours to report to jail for being a liar.

Today a judge determined that both Zimmerman and his wife lied about $100,000 they had in a PayPal account.  I'm not surprised at all.  When I found out how much had been raised, I knew he had to have had at least some of it at the time of his bond hearing.  And it was easy for me to tell she was lying during that testimony, trying to be all careful with her words.  Girl please.

Then it comes out that Zimmerman turned in a passport that he had reported lost or stolen and had since had replaced.  Problem is, he held on to the replacement passport that he got, which is valid so he still had a passport and $200,000 in his PayPal account.

Now why would anyone want to hide money and a passport?  Hmmmm....

Not the best picture he's painting of himself.  He's now painting himself as a liar.  We all know how it goes.  If he hasn't done anything wrong, why keep money and a passport hidden while you're facing trial for something he says was self defense?  Why lie about anything if you didn't do it?

Don't let the doorknob hit ya...have fun in solitary.

Cannibals...????

So now we have people snapping the hell out and not just killing people, but eating them afterward.   What the entire fire burning hell is that all about?

What do you say about someone who eats off someone's face?  What do you say about someone who kills someone and then eats their brain and other body parts?  What can you say about someone who videos themselves killing someone, then chops the person up and starts mailing their body parts all around
Canada?

With the face eating guy, it was supposedly bath salts.  I know they sniff or swallow it to get high, but now I don't even wanna put it in my bathwater.  Bubble bath anyone?  Damn.  Then the guy in MD that at his roommate's brain after killing him, then dismembered him and hid body parts in the house for his dad and brother to find...no one knows what the hell was wrong with him.  Aside from his nutty Facebook posts about death cults and the decline of black people, no one really knows why he flipped out.  Then the guy in Canada mailing arms and isht, this guy was apparently making a snuff film.

This is some sick isht right here.  Clearly some people will get high on ANYTHING, regardless of what it is.  Just sick.  All I got.

Update on school

Soooo...today was officially my first day of school.  It was supposed to be yesterday but I had to start today due to some technical difficulties.  I spent hours in the online campus learning my way around and I actually got three homework assignments done.  I had to make myself stop because I still have to log in and participate four times a week.  Since I only have one really easy assignment to do, I figure I'll knock it out tomorrow and submit it another day.  But I'm still excited.  I'm still determined to get this degree too!

I have three weeks of orientation and then the real stuff starts on June 25.  I'm looking forward to the new things I'm going to learn and maybe even some of my classmates as well.  Interested to see what they're like...the ones in my orientation seem to have sense for the most part so that's good.  Might be kinda boring though...but oh well, it is only three weeks.  Hopefully someone will provide some entertainment either way!

Miss Unpopular

Yep.  That's what you're probably going to be calling me really soon.  Why?

I've noticed over the last few years that doing the right thing, telling the truth about things and being in general honest and not fake, has become extremely unpopular.  Everyone wants their hands held, regardless of the fact that they act like idiots.  People want to continue to be wrong and live in and enjoy their wrong-ness but they don't want to be told they're wrong.  And these same clowns go around demanding respect from everyone else like the world owes them something.

I'm so over it.

Y'all know I've never been one to hold my tongue for much but believe it or not, there are a lot of things burning in me that I've held my tongue on in the past.  That's about to change.

I'm done caring what people think about what I think.  I'm sick of people feeling like they can't speak the truth about certain things without fear of being silenced by people who are offended by the truth that's being spoken.  A truth that while ugly, needs to be told nonetheless. 

You might not like me for it, but I'm done caring whether you do or not. 

Houston Family Chronicles

Yep.  Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, who made money off Whitney Houston when she was alive has signed up for a reality show so that they can keep making money off of her now that she's dead.  They're using the whole "Oh we were going to do it anyway, this was in the works BEFORE Whitney died..." excuse. 

Right.

Every single member of that family has been talking to the media NON STOP since she died and not one of them mentioned anything about a reality show having been in the works at the time of her death.  Do you REALLY think they would have missed the chance to bring that up?  Not with all the media whoring they've been doing.  The reasons for Whitney's problems are becoming more clear the more these people run their mouths.  No wonder she had so many issues.  Seems like she's better off where she is now.  Yeah, I said it.  Am I that far off base?

Headlines - Hudson family murder trial, Balfour found guilty on all counts

William Balfour was found guilty of being a complete madman.  What he did was so despicable that I really don't even want to repeat it, especially what he did to the baby.  But I've always been a big fan of Jennifer Hudson's and my heart broke for her when all this happened.  I pray that she and her sister stick together, stay strong and live their lives with happy memories of their loved ones.  I pray especially for Julia, I can't imagine she hasn't felt any guilt behind this horrible thing that someone else did because she married him.  But who thinks of the unthinkable?  I pray she for no reason blames herself.  This probably isn't the end of it because he can probably try to appeal, but it had to be a HUGE relief.  Jennifer and Julia have handled the whole thing with a lot of class publicly...so well, in fact, it would be hard to imagine that it's any different privately.


I continue to admire these ladies for how well they've been able to navigate the media circus that's surrounded this from the beginning.  The Houston family could really learn something from these two ladies.  Go ahead, read the next post and tell me I'm wrong.

Headlines - The Bain girls are home.

This week two little girls were reunited with their father after days of being held by a maniac with a gun who deprived them of food, water and shelter for three days.  This after strangling their mother and sister to death, with help from TWO female family members and God knows who else.  Rather than face justice for his unspeakable crimes, he decided to further traumatize two innocent girls by shooting himself in the head right in front of them as the police closed in on them in the woods where he'd been hiding them.

I don't think there's anyone who isn't grateful that these little girls are alive and physically ok, despite probably dehydration, poison oak, and maybe some malnutrition.  I'm sure we're all hoping these little girls are able to help the police with their investigation and that they're able to heal and live lives as close to normal as possible.  What I'd love to see is them hooking up with Elizabeth Smart or Jaycee Dugard or both of them.  I'm sure these little girls would benefit immensely from speaking with either of these women who have endured tragedies similar to theirs, I just think that the courage these young ladies have displayed would help a lot in this situation.  Either way, may God keep His hand on Alexandria, Kyliyah and their family.  There are very difficult days ahead.  But if God be for them...

What's new with school

I start orientation on the 28th of this month and my classes start at the end of June!  I think we're waiting on one more procedural thing and then I'm all set so I'm excited to get started.  Now I have to work on doing some math refreshers, this'll be fun.  I don't suck at math, I actually like it and majored in Accounting when I went to school before...but at no point have algorithms been involved in my studies.  I hope I get that out of the way soon so I can put more work into it before I go back to work full time.  I'm looking for a part time job somewhere for now so I can focus more on school for the first few months, at least.  

My internet connection with Sprint is garbage so I'm going to have to end up getting cable internet.  Because Cox is all we have here in Hampton and they're a bunch of rip-off artists, it will be cheaper for me to get both web and TV because I'd be paying close to $100 per month for one or the other or both.  Whatever.  I'm going hard with school so TV will probably be a very infrequent luxury.  Til September, when it becomes a necessity, particularly on Sundays!  But anyway, as cheap as I am, I don't like the idea of having another bill because the internet I've already had for years with Sprint isn't even sufficient to complete a freakin' federal student loan application.  I had to go to the library to finish it.  Smh...can't believe I had to sell that crap to people.  Anyway...

You should see the list of software that I have to have, it's ridiculous.  Good thing I'm filing all this stuff on my taxes next year, who knows how many hundreds I'm going to end up having to spend.  It'll certainly be worth it, yes I know, but dang.  I kinda wanted to get something for myself this year.  Hell, a hairbow, something.  Til then I'm just getting excited about starting a new chapter...essays, homework and all.  Hitting the lottery wouldn't hurt in the mean time.  This ain't gonna be cheap.  But my education is priceless!

What's Going On?

I haven't mentioned it much, but at the end of November I had a really nasty injury to my low back that resulted in degenerative disk disease.  Sounds worse than it is, but when you sit 40 hours a week, it is not a fun condition to deal with.  I missed three months of work, went back a month, re-injured myself, went back out again, and finally got terminated from my job this week as a result of all the time missed. 

Eh...it is what it is. 

I knew it was coming and had long prepared myself for the possibility and planned my next move if it did happen.  Those close to me know how I feel about no longer being employed by Sprint, but no one loves the idea of not having a job, unemployment or not.  Fortunately, I live far below my means so I'll survive until unemployment kicks in, however, donations certainly wouldn't be turned down.  ;o)  But, in the interim, I have decided to go back to school. 

Pick up your jaw, close your mouth.

Voluntarily.  No weapons or force involved.  Yes, it is really me writing this blog.  No there is not a gun trained on my big ol' forehead as I type.  I WANT to go to school.  I am going online, however, let's not push things.  I wanted to tell y'all a while ago but I figured no one would believe me and you would all think it was an April Fool's joke.  I'm hoping to start classes at the University of Phoenix in June and I will be working towards a degree in IT, hoping for a career as a software engineer or maybe something in networking.

For years, I've SWORN on everything holy that I would NEVER return to school.  Just not doing it.  Not for me.  I'm not doing it and you can't make me.

Not so much.

I need my paychecks to have more digits and the only way to make that happen is to train in a field that really can only go up.  Good thing I like math a little.  I'm excited about the change.  I need it and as many of you know, I certainly haven't shied away from it in recent years.  Rest assured, I will be blogging plenty about it. The rantings of a workaholic, single, childless woman who suddenly finds herself without a job, deciding voluntarily to return to school?  Should be pure comedy. 

Ride along with me, and feel free to have fun at my expense in the comments!

Love, Nik

Trayvon Martin - UPDATED

Trayvon Martin was visiting his father in a gated community in Sanford, FL on February 26, 2012.  He had walked to the store and was walking back in the rain with Skittles and a bottle of iced tea when he caught the attention of George Zimmerman.  Zimmerman was a self-appointed neighborhood watchman who had a habit of calling the police for the smallest things and of being a bit hairtrigger in his tactics.  He had called them on this night too, saying he was watching a suspicious looking guy that looked like he was "on drugs or something" because he was walking around in the rain looking at the houses.  

Seriously?

According to the 911 calls and witness accounts, Trayvon notices Zimmerman watching him.  Trayvon runs from Zimmerman, yells for help, struggles with the older, bigger man and is then shot dead.  Trayvon was 17. 

Trayvon Martin could have been my son.  Your son.  My nephew.  He could have been anyone.  Anyone's kid walking home from the store with candy and iced tea.  He wasn't doing anything that made him suspicious.  This kid was shot because he was black.

Why do I say that?  Maybe because Zimmerman was a known racist.  Or maybe it was because the boy was UNARMED and all he was doing was WALKING!  Maybe because he had the nerve to be present in a gated community, of course he didn't belong there so Zimmerman had to go and teach him a lesson.  Why else would he approach someone if he felt he saw someone suspicious and possibly dangerous enough to warrant a call to the police?  Why would he follow him when he ran off?  He didn't see him do anything other than walk in the rain with candy!  If he was that concerned for the safety of his neighbors, why would he chase a kid who may have been trouble right into the neighborhood he claims he was trying to protect?  

Any WHY is the police department allowed to overlook this cold-blooded murder and do their level best to sweep it under the rug?  What makes them think it's ok for a 17 year old kid to be shot dead and his killer to walk the streets free?!  Why are they covering up what this guy did?  If they weren't trying to cover it up, why did it take so much time and pressure from so many in order to get them to release the 911 tapes?  Recordings which clearly show that Zimmerman was the aggressor in this incident and that Trayvon was screaming for help BEFORE he was shot in cold blood.  Why are they downplaying or trying to coerce witnesses into altering their statements? 

Do I seem angry?  You're damned right I'm angry!  Everyone should be angry!  This is someone's CHILD that is DEAD for NOTHING!  For no other reason than because he was somewhere being himself.  I don't care what color you are, no one should have to worry about their children looking suspicious because they have candy (something a few kids like, just so you know) or because they're the wrong color.  Trayvon represents EVERYONE'S child.  He represents every murder that goes unpunished and every victim of some psychotic wanna be cop who puts himself in charge of the neighborhood watch. 

Now before I continue, I have to do a little disclaimer.  You see, I know this blog has a good amount of Christian readers.  It's one of the reasons I waited so long to blog about this story.  Yes, I wanted to wait to hear the 911 tapes first, but I also wanted to get my language right before I put anything up.  Don't want anyone not to read about something this important because of a few choice words.  Having said all that, I apologize for the language going forward (really isn't that bad) but there is one thing about this that REALLY pisses me off...

Why the HELL hasn't my BLACK ASS PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA had ANYTHING to say about this?!?!  Because he knows DAMNED well that before he got Secret Service protection, SOMEBODY at the country club he was patronizing asked him to fetch them another glass of scotch.  He, of ALL people, should be front and center on this because this has been him before I don't care how light he is.  The most I've heard from the White House (ain't that some sh*&) is this bullsh*& right here:  "[O]bviously we're not going to wade into a local law enforcement matter".

What the hell is that supposed to mean?  So a 17 year old black boy gunned down in cold blood doesn't bother my black ass President because it's a "local law enforcement matter"?

You know what...

I don't mess with politics here and I'm definitely going to stick with that since this is not about politicians.  This is about Trayvon Martin, a boy who I don't want to see die for nothing.  So just like so many of you fell all over yourselves reposting the Kony 2012 video, post about Trayvon Martin until your fingers bleed if you have to.  This could have been your son, nephew, brother, friend, student.  

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."  Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

UPDATE

In fairness, President Obama did make a brief statement regarding Trayvon's death yesterday at the White House.  A link to the video is here:  

http://cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/us/2012/03/23/president-obama-trayvon-martin.pool.html
 

It's clear that this is a difficult statement for him to make and yes, I do understand that especially now, as commander in chief, he has to maintain a degree of impartiality.  Having said that, his delay in making this statement is still troubling to me.  Nonetheless, since the FBI and company have become involved so for now, I'll assume he's saying a lot more with this action. 

Occupy, RIP. Linsanity, RIP. KONY2012...???

So many people are "shocked" at the news of the bizarre incident involving Jason Russell, the guy we have to thank for the whole #Kony2012 phenomenon.  He's the founder of Invisible Children, the organization behind the video that so many sheep flocked to watch, share on facebook, and retweet blindly without taking five minutes to look into the organization behind it.

A small amount of time spent on Google would have brought you plenty of information about the questionable spending habits/priorities of the organization.  People are a new level of unscrupulous these days and will not hesitate to use a real issue like child trafficking/slavery to tug at your heart AND purse strings.  Wake up and do a little research before you just throw your time, effort, and money behind the cause o' the day.  

We saw it with "Occupy" some time with other people who should be looking for jobs, we saw it with Linsanity, and we're about to watch it happen again.  Problem is, this is a real issue that deserves attention.  The RIGHT kind of attention.  Jason Russell's bad trip bizarre behavior did absolutely nothing to help this cause.  At all.  My hope is that the movement has gained a lot of new people who are sincere about helping to stop this man's atrocities and that they can weed out the bad apples.  This cause deserves nothing less.

Happy birthday to me!

I just celebrated my 38th birthday yesterday and, like most people, a bit of reflection was involved in my day.  Especially considering everything I'm going through right now.  We won't get into it, this is all about positive things and awesomeness!  I am so blessed to be walking this earth, had a couple of close calls but God has me here for a reason and I'm kind enjoying myself so I appreciate every day I get on this earth.  Even though on occasion I feel my age, most of the time I don't feel it or look it.  Thanks to my mama's awesome bloodline!  And the grace of God!

It's another day I get to call the people I love and tell them I love them.  It's another day to fight with the snooze button on my phone Monday through Friday from 6:30 to 7:30 when I actually get out of the bed.  A couple of weeks ago I couldn't even do that and as much as my job irritates me, I'm grateful I had it to go back to after months of being stuck at home.  I get another day to listen to Mike & Mike in the morning on the way to work and pray I don't get stuck in traffic and end up late.  Another day of that damn beeping in my car that won't stop and I can't figure out why.  At least I have one.  Another three minute ride to a beautifully unspoiled beach with my laptop.  One more day of being hunched over it, writing the latest whatever comes to mind...one more day to hit "publish".  

Some of it seems so silly to some people, but I appreciate the good, the bad, and the ugly because I'm here to experience it all.  It all happens for a reason anyway, so I might as well make the most out of all of it.  "See God in everything."  That's my motto, and I gotta say it does me pretty good!

Gotta love America

Michigan has done something that makes sense!  They have stripped a woman of her $200 monthly food stamps after she went on TV bragging about how she was still getting them even after she won a million dollars on a lotto game show.

She cleared a bit over $500,000 after taxes.  Showing her age (24), she went out and bought a car and two houses but she forgot to get a job while she was out doing all that.  It's been a LONG time since winning $500,000 could get  you "set for life" or even legitimize going on a huge spending spree with real estate and cars, especially when you have no job. 

She'll be broke again in a few months (if that) and when she goes back for food stamps this time she'll actually qualify, although for being that much of a loser she wouldn't deserve one penny's worth.  Especially since they're being paid for by those of us that have jobs.

I never will understand how people think they can sit on their behinds and do nothing and that everybody else is responsible for them.  Oh wait a minute.  That's how welfare works, isn't it?  What a joke.

"Shut up, woman!" (Part Two)

So Rush Limbaugh issued an apology for the mind numbingly sexist and ignorant remarks he made about Sandra Fluke.  Most likely because he was bleeding sponsors and he probably felt he had no choice.  Just like I said, he'll probably be on his best behavior for a good while, but he'll still be around, spewing the same narrow minded thinking he always has.  I truly couldn't care less.

What I do care about is what this says about how far women have come in this society, how far we still have to go, and for heaven's sake, why?  Why do we even have people who think it's right to have a discussion about an issue that affect women without having at least one woman involved in the discussion?  Why is it that there are people like Limbaugh who think it's perfectly acceptable to make remarks like that about women in a society where, at least by law, we're all created equally?  I mean, supposedly women have equal rights.  Or is that only as long as we "know our place"?

I believe that we, as women, have to accept our share of responsibility for the fact that this type of mentality still exists.  We have to conduct ourselves in a manner that commands respect.  If we want to be seen as women and not objects, we can't objectify ourselves by doing things that demean us as women.  We have to respect ourselves first and make that self respect OBVIOUS to those around us in the way that we behave and the way that we conduct ourselves.

We have to start using our brains to get ahead, not our bodies and our looks, which fade I don't care how much plastic surgery there is.  Women spend so much money buying fake breasts, behinds, lips, and hair because society wants us to believe that the more attractive we are physically, the more money there is for us.  That may be the case for a little while, especially if we want to be video models or strippers, industries created specifically to exploit women.

We need to spend money on educating ourselves instead of buying body parts that we weren't meant to have in the first place.  If more of us start using our brains to get ahead instead of using our bodies we may have more opportunities presented to us that require the use of our brains and not our looks.  Then we may be taken more seriously.

It's much hotter to be a smart rich girl.  When the wrinkles on your face stop you from paying the bills, you always have the ones in your brain to fall back on.  I think we'll do ourselves a great justice to put this into more frequent practice.

"Shut up, woman!" (Part One)

So this whole recent firestorm about the birth control issue and Rush Limbaugh and his big mouth has me pretty irritated.  First, the whole situation is a mess to begin with.  How do you have a panel to discuss women's reproductive issues that consists of a bunch of rich old white guys?  Didn't we straighten this whole thing out back in the 70's?  LAST century?  Why is it being brought up again and why in the world is it being addressed by everyone but the people who take the pill in the first place? What a JOKE!  Guess that's why so many prescription plans pay for Viagra but don't want to pay for the pill.  The plans that do pay for the pill are probably behind this whole movement, but I'm sure they'll still help with your Viagra buddy. 

And then you have Rush Limbaugh's mouth.  Rush seems to think that Sandra Fluke is a "slut" and a "prostitute" because "she wants to be paid to have sex".  Extremism at its finest, ladies and gentlemen.  But he didn't stop there.  The next day he says that if we're to pay for her birth control, we want video of all her sexual exploits so that we could all watch.  The hell?  Would ANYONE in radio have DARED to make a remark like this about a man?  What kind of idiot says this stuff and thinks it's ok?  But it probably will be.  Let's face it, next year this time, Rush will probably still have his radio show and he'll still be spewing complete ignorance that a lot of people like and he'll do something stupid like this again very soon.

It's really too bad, to me, that women are still so low on the social totem pole and still so sexually objectified.  To the point that a politico who doesn't like what a woman stands for uses sexually charged terminology to voice his disagreement with her views.  Here's a young woman studying law, being brave enough to step in front of the world and voice her concerns.  This after getting doors shut in her face because there was no room at the table for a woman to debate birth control because the table's full of men.  Ms. Fluke should be seen as a role model for young women and girls who want to study law or who are afraid of what may happen if they stand up for something they believe in.   Yet because she decided to speak up for what's important to her, she's publicly degraded and in a sexual way because she's a female.

If he was trying to make the point that if you can't afford to pay for birth control you shouldn't have sex, well, it's an excellent point.  I actually agree, however, that is not the reality of the world we are living in today.  That may well have been the case in the 30's, which is apparently where he thinks we are now, but we're actually in 2012 Rush.  We should certainly have evolved enough that we remember that we're all created equal.  I would hope things have improved to the point that if people feel a need to insult someone because they disagree with someone else's point of view, they can do it without such a filthy way of insulting the holder of the offending opinion.  But what I wish people like him would do is just sit somewhere and shut the hell up.

I mean, that's basically what he wants Sandra Fluke to do, right?  Why so much vitriol in his remarks?  It's this whole, "Shut up, woman!" mentality.  Joan of Arc, Hilary Clinton (though I wish she would), the Suffragettes, hell, Gisele Bundchen!  They were basically told to go somewhere and be seen and not heard.

(to be continued)

Tell The Truth And Shame The Devil!

I keep seeing stories surrounding Whitney Houston's death from "unnamed sources" who are speaking about Whitney's erratic behavior in the days prior to her passing.  I see reports about her finances, her declining health, how Bobby isn't being allowed near Bobbi Kristina because Whitney's family doesn't want him to try to get his hands on her money, how he's not invited to the funeral...so much is being said. 

I saw Kelly Price on GMA talking about her now infamous appearance at her pre-Grammy party celebrating Kelly's two Grammy nominations.  I saw a woman who spun so much denial it was ridiculous, saying that Whitney appeared sweaty and disheveled because she'd been there for a long time and it was hot and she'd been dancing.  Whitney came stumbling out of that party looking about as coherent as Ozzy Ozbourne on his best day dripping blood down her legs with scratches on her arms.  Story after story has come out of that party about Whitney's behavior there in the days since she passed.  It appears she got into some kind of verbal altercation with a contestant from X-Factor named Stacy Francis that may have stemmed from Francis approaching Ray J who has apparently known her for a long time.  During this altercation, reportedly she pushed pregnant R&B singer Keke Wyatt, telling her to get out of her face.

Also, during that party, she was seen drinking heavily and being belligerent.  One thing is clear:  she wasn't surrounded by the right people.  It seems as if all reports from her camp claim she was just fine in the days leading up to her death, that nothing seemed out of sorts.  Yes, she liked a drink or two but she didn't go overboard, making excuse after excuse for her behavior.  It's clear they are still in denial and making excuses for her, even after her death.  While she may not have been doing "hard drugs" as they like to call it, she was on enough pills to cause a pretty dangerous reaction if she wasn't careful.  Combine them with even a small amount of alcohol, much less how much she'd reportedly been drinking, and you get what we have here.

Then all these reports about the family blaming ex-husband Bobby Brown for her downfall and not wanting him hear Bobbi Kristina for fear of him trying to get a piece of Whitney's estate.  First, reportedly Clive Davis was paying ALL of Whitney's bills for some time prior to her death, Whitney was obviously broke.  True and sad, Whitney will be worth more now that she's gone, one look at iTunes should tell you that and Bobbi Kristina will probably end up being a very wealthy young woman in the coming years.  But she's his daughter and Whitney was a great love of his life.  I understand that everyone grieves in different ways, but to place blame on someone that you have no choice but to acknowledge in your life is just ridiculous.

Whitney was a grown woman who had an addiction long before she met Bobby Brown, in her own words.  Continuing to try to blame anyone other that the person responsible for making up her mind every day is pointless.  Whitney is still gone, drugs of some kind are probably related, and it still won't be Bobby Brown's fault or anyone else's.  What they may be better off doing is asking who let her feel like it was ok to drink as much as she was drinking taking the medications that she was taking.  The woman failed a basic physical for a FACELIFT for Heaven's sake!  She had no business drinking ANY alcohol - "a drink or two" or not! 

I keep saying it, enablers do the devil's work for him and they don't even realize it.  Unless an addict has a consequence to consider, the behavior is going to continue.  If they run out of people to get money from, if they run out of sofas to sleep on, hotels that allow them, etc., then they have other things to deal with.  If they're willing to sink low enough to getting it from the streets, then let them do it.  They can't get it if they can't get it.  I speak from experience...something I'll talk about more later.  But I do know what it's like to live with an addict and what it's like to have to deal with CONSTANT enabling from people who just want to be close to the addict no matter what it takes, not realizing they're KILLING the addict.  It ends badly, it did for my father just like it did for Whitney and Michael Jackson.  I'm not disrespecting the dead, we're talking about people I adored.  What I hope to do is shine a light on not only my take on this, but also a facet of addiction that is so often overlooked, enabling. 

Monsters Get Scarier Still

The husband of Susan Powell seems to have planning the murder of his own children for some time.  Authorities are now saying that the home he turned into a fireball and used to murder his kids was nothing more than an elaborate ruse to ward off raising red flags with the authorities.  He went so far as to furnish the home with beds for the boys, presumably for an eventual transition to overnight visits with them.   It takes a particular type of evil to dream up and carry out something like this and this goes to show that he could not have been stopped.  This guy was crazy and patient, a terrible combination.  Thankfully his body will rot in a location apart from those beautiful babies and NOT beside them a his family demanded.  I can't imaging how the Cox family will feel in the coming weeks and months as more details emerge.  I wonder if they can get his father to provide a few from the cell he's sitting in right now.  They remain in my prayers.

Goodbye Dear Whitney

I have no words that describe how I feel about the loss of the incomparable Whitney Houston this afternoon.  I can't wrap my head around the fact that she is dead.  I have adored Whitney since I first heard that incredible voice singing "You Give Good Love".  Whitney had her struggles with addiction and it's looking more and more like those struggles may have cost us her presence on this earth.  I always prayed that she would conquer her demons and start blowing us away with that voice again.  If anything good can come of this, I hope that it shines an even brighter light on addiction, particularly how dangerous enablers are to an addict.  Maybe someone out there will check themselves into rehab because of this.  I really hope that people start talking about it more, that they become more aware of the signs of addiction and learn how to help the addicts in their lives stay alive.  My prayers to Bobbi Kristina, Bobby Brown, who just lost his father, and all of her family and friends.

sigh  We love you Whitney and there will never be anything close to you ever again.  May your tortured soul finally find peaceful rest.

Sweet Angels and Scary Monsters

So most of you know by now that the sons of Susan Powell, who went missing from her home in 2009, were brutally murdered by their father.  Charlie and Braden were being dropped off by a social worker for a supervised visit with their father, one of several since November, when the visit turned into a nightmare.  In less than ten minutes, the house exploded into a fiery inferno at the hands of the monster that was their father.  He had locked the boys inside, luring them with the promise of a "big surprise".  He proceeded to take a hatchet to his own sons' heads and necks before rigging the place to blow up into a fireball and making sure his flesh and blood had no chance of escaping the flames and smoke.  No chance of telling the story of what their father had done to their mother the night of their "camping trip".  No chance of them putting him in prison for the murder of their mother with statements like "mommy was in the trunk".  All the while, their social worker tried frantically to get inside and then get help as the gasoline fumes, then flames overtook the air. 

Elizabeth Griffin Hall, the social worker assigned to their case, did everything she possibly could have done given the circumstances.  She tried to get the police involved, but the 911 operator seemed to be a bit high on himself and informed her that he didn't know when the police would be there because they had to respond to life threatening situations first.  This clown really needs to be dealt with.  I mean I have no idea why the smell of gas in the air and an unresponsive parent who won't let in a social worker for a supervised visit should be considered life threatening.  None at all.  He picked a bad time to be an ass on purpose.  Is it ever ok to speak to people that way when they're saying they have an emergency?  There's a way to say everything.

There are already a lot of Monday morning quarterbacks who think things could have been done differently and they'll swear that if they were in charge, they'd have made sure that this didn't happen.  There's no way to know that.  The only thing we know for sure is that their grandparents are now grieving for them the same as they've been grieving for their mother since she disappeared.  Susan Powell is still gone, the fact that she's probably dead hasn't changed, and what really happened to her probably died with her husband in that house.  Ms. Griffin Hall, though scarred, vows to continue on as a social worker forever changed by the fate of her two young charges.  A fate beyond her control, though it unfolded only steps away from her reach.  We can only take comfort in the hope that Susan and her sons are together again, wherever that may be.

God bless both families.  May those who are still on this earth that know what happened to Susan speak up and give the Cox family some sort of solace.  Allow them to bury their daughter with her children.  Charlie and Braden, finally you're safe.

And you wonder why...

With Valentine's Day fast approaching I've seen a lot of people talking about their relationships, or the absence of them.  Year round, I have a lot of people ask me why I'm single.  My usual response is "How much time do you have?" as the list goes on and on.  So I was on Twitter earlier and saw a tweet from Dondre Whitfield (one of my first TV crushes who is married to the gorgeous Salli Richardson-Whitfield, another of my favorites) that went like this "W/all these women out here w/o a man, the simple actin women who mistreat the GOOD 1's need to be on a reality show called #WutDaF&&kRUDoin".  He brought a lot to my mind and I just had to share.  My response was basically that these tramps make it pointless for us loyal women because brothers are just waiting for us to start acting crazy like them.  But you wonder why I'm single?  I'll tell you why.

You have these women out here who call themselves together and put up a great appearance that they are.  You meet them somewhere and they have those nails done, not a hair out of place - real or not - and the latest designer clothes and shoes on.  She then struts to her barely hanging on Chevy (credit too busted to afford anything else) and drives home where she lives in her parent's basement because she's so bad with money she can't keep her bills paid and she barely works.  She could care less whether or not her kid did their homework because she usually leaves that to mama so she can do her thing.  You get to come over as often as you want because she knows "mama got the kid".  And every time you speak she wants something from your wallet.  Til she finds someone with a bigger wallet.

Then you meet a chick who might be at home with mama because she got laid off and spent a few months between jobs and is just about to get her own place.  A brother will miss out because he'll just assume because she's down that she doesn't want to improve her situation and that she's going to be all in his pockets just like the last one.  He'll miss out on being inspired by and falling in love with her determination to dig herself out of a temporary hole and be better than she was before because of it.  He won't be around to see what a good example of perseverance she'd be to their children because he just can't go through that again.

Or the chick who spends all her time talking about her ex and how triflin' he dealt with her.  You know the relationship beginning to end, some conversations you know word for word by now.  You can't say hello to another woman without it being a woman he slept with before.  And what if he did?  Just because your ex was still doing his ex while he was with you doesn't mean the new man is.  He can't get a text message that he's not willing to answer in front of you either.  "Why you ignorin' that?  Oh, you don't wanna pick it up 'cause I'm right here?"  Maybe he's comfortable in that spot he found to put his arm behind you on the sofa and he's really into the chick flick YOU FORCED HIM TO WATCH WITH YOU and he doesn't want to move?  Simple broad...but that's the one he'll remember when he's dealing with the next woman.

So he won't even want to give the time of day to the woman who has dealt with men enough to know that sometimes they cheat (so do women) but that doesn't mean they all do.  Sometimes it just doesn't work out.  He won't see that she realizes that relationships end for lots of different reasons and that - gasp - IT ISN'T ALWAYS HIS FAULT.  There are women who understand that there are men that will not cheat and that treat their women like they deserve to be treated and that just because she may not have met that man yet, that doesn't mean he doesn't exist.  That means God hasn't put them in each other's paths yet.  Or He has and they haven't figured each other out yet.  But that may not be enough by the time he meets her.  He'll just be expecting the accusation.

Then there's the chick who can't be with just one man.  Tr*&k, you are no different to a man that you would call a "ho" or a "dog".  You want him, but you want everybody else too.  But you let him think you only want him because you don't want him stepping out and doing what you're doing behind his back.  With his friends, his relatives, people he works with, Ronnie, Bobby, Ricky, Mike, Ralph, Johnny (NE4LIFE...sorry).  Just punking him publicly, everyone knows about it...except him.

You keep letting him think it's all about him because you don't want anyone else to have him, heaven forbid someone else benefits from having a decent man in her life.  You know what, you're selfish.  It's just like I tell men, if you don't want to be with that person and that person only, let them go and don't let them believe it's exclusive if it isn't.  If you really cared about that man, you'd let that man be happy with someone who wants to be faithful to him.  You can't have your cake and eat it too.  You want to hold a good man because you know he's a good man, but you want your little piece on the side too, because you can't bear the thought of him being happy with the kind of woman he deserves.

So then he meets a good woman who still believes in monogamy (some of you need to look it up, like do that NOW) and just wants to be with one person until she dies because THAT'S WHAT GOD SAYS!!  She prays and believes that God will put her with a man who believes the same and she believes you are that man.  She could not be bothered to have any dealings with a man that she isn't fully committed to, she's not interested in having a bunch of flirtatious relationships with "male friends" just in case things don't work out with him.

But he'll be so damaged by the hurt from what the last woman did that he won't be able to bring himself to believe that there really is a woman who wants to be with just him, who couldn't care less what he has besides a job, a roof, and DRIVE because she knows that with her by his side she'll help push them BOTH to success.  Money will come and they'll both be able to appreciate what they BOTH worked hard for as a team.  He may think he doesn't have enough money, or sexual prowess, or he'll feel emasculated because he keeps ending up with scandalous women. 

Then you have my favorite:  the stupid women who put up with being treated like yesterday's leftover's.  You let these men sleep in your beds when they have wives at home.  You let them pass you STD's and believe them when they swear you must have had it before you got together five years ago.  You give them money whenever they tell you to, whether they work or not.  You let them hit you.  You put up with them not paying their child support or spending time with their children without going to court.  You repeatedly let them get away with cheating on you.  You allow them to mistreat your family and keep you away from the people that matter the most to you so that they can't talk some sense into you and you do it over and over again and these men get with a woman like me and think that's acceptable and can't deal with me when they realize I don't accept that.  Lots of us don't.

So to keep the next one from getting his money, he'll just take her time, but he won't take her anywhere.  He's done with dates.  Or to keep from being hurt by a cheater, he'll go cheat first so that it won't hurt as bad if he finds out you did too.  Or he'll avoid women who even mention God because all he can think about is how badly his chest heart when he got his heart broken by the last "church girl".  Or maybe he'll just give up altogether and a really wonderful human being will miss out on being a best friend, loving husband and father.  He may watch me walk by, but he won't talk to me or any of the rest of us looking for him and others like him.  By now he's convinced we're all the same.  He'll either give up, or turn into the guy you don't want.

We'll all stay single, and we'll all keep wondering why.

No more horsheshoe

Two things have become increasingly clear over the last few weeks.  The first:  Peyton Manning will play football again.  He's been cleared by two different doctors, one of whom performed his most recent neck surgery.  The second:  Peyton Manning will play in a different city, wearing a different uniform.  Sorry people, but there's no way Jim Irsay (the owner of the Colts) is going to pay Peyton the $28 million option in March and there's no way he doesn't draft Andrew Luck. Peyton is 36 years old, still a young man, no doubt, but no spring chicken when it comes to the NFL.  Irsay would have to have lost his mind not to draft Luck while he has the chance, he HAS to draft his future quarterback now and he will.  Not to mention the public sniping between Manning and Irsay.  Now that Peyton is healthy and able to play, I think it's only a matter of time before we hear the announcement that Peyton and Indy are parting ways.  The next question will be:  Where WILL he go?

Since we're talking about Peyton Manning, the answer's gonna be pretty much anywhere he wants to go.  What would make the most sense is for him to be with a team that he can win with because my bet is that if he's not in Indy (TWO QB's taking up all that salary cap?  Nah...) he'll go somewhere where he thinks he can win.  Just about any team in the NFL would improve their chances (ticket sales too) with Peyton with the exception of maybe a couple of teams.  The question then becomes where he thinks he has the best chance of winning; I HIGHLY doubt money will be an issue here, the guy's already worth over $100 million. 

I've heard that my team, The Redskins, might go after him.  As much as I would LOVE to see that happen, I'm not convinced that Dan Snyder has that level of intelligence.  Joe Gibbs?!  I thought the guy was dead...sheesh.  That would make too much sense.  But maybe he went and bought himself a clue and will do something that actually makes sense and court the hell out of the pretty girl at the dance without a date.

I've also heard that the 49ers and the Cardinals, even the Jets may be interested.  What's for sure, things are about to get realllly interesting.  Like I've heard it said...get your popcorn ready!

The Sad State of Black Entertainment

This year Octavia Spencer won a Golden Globe for her performance in this year's blockbuster hit "The Help".  Golden Globes are often seen as a precursor to the Oscars so they generate lots of Oscar buzz whether the performance did or not.  So, of course, there's been lots of Oscar talk about the talented Ms. Spencer and Viola Davis, a co-star of the film and fellow nominee; the kind of talk that takes me back a few years to when Denzel and Halle won for Best Actor and Actress.  They made history and their wins were celebrated by black and white alike, but there was a quiet, vocal group that protested.  Why, you wonder?  I'll give you my take on it.

Denzel was quite memorably passed up for the Oscar he DESERVED for "X".  While it wasn't the only role he gave an Oscar worthy performance in, if he deserved an Oscar for anything, that would have been it.  Yet when he does win, it's for playing the filthiest and dirtiest of cops who cheats on his wife, has a secret family, and runs drugs on the job.

Halle played the hell out of several roles before finally being nominated for what, to me, was not her best performance.  Not to mention the fact that for about five minutes it turned into a softcore porn film (the hell was that about?).  The movie made no sense and she played a role that she'd played before.  Well, no doubt, but she'd already done it.  I guess the added element of sex on screen was all Hollywood needed.  

It seems as if art is imitating life here.  Watch the news.  You'll see plenty of reports about all the crimes that "we" commit when the numbers prove that other groups are committing more crime than us, there are just more of us in jail.  You would, however, be hard pressed to get the mainstream media to talk about the young black mother of six who went missing in Detroit months ago.  We did, however, hear for weeks about a young white woman who lost an ear and a hand to a helicopter.  Now let me be clear, I am terribly sorry this young woman walked into the propeller of a helicopter BUT WE KNOW WHERE SHE IS!!!  No one has seen Kalisha Madden since November 28, 2011.  Have you heard anything about it?  No.  Probably because she happened to be a stripper with six children.  Yet we heard ad nauseum about Robyn Gardner who went missing after she went off to Aruba with a man she met on a swingers website who was someone other than the boyfriend she left at home without much mention, if any, of how she met him.  You'll hear all day about what crime we committed or what we're complaining about this time.  Yet you don't hear of our history and our accomplishments. 

For those of you not familiar with the movie "The Help", it's about black maids in 60's era Jackson, MS who work for a group of rich, white Junior League Old Mississippi women.  Some of these maids had been willed down from prior generations like furniture, most of them were forced to use separate restrooms from the white families, heaven forbid they should pass any of their strange nigra diseases to them since their diseases are different and all.  The unmarried, "free spirit" of the bunch decides to save the day and make all their lives better by convincing them to talk about what it was like working for these white families, anonymously, of course, and write a book about it that she hoped would draw attention to their plight and somehow save their day. 

Powerful performances were turned in by the ENTIRE cast, but we all know that anonymous or not, what they did would have gotten those women killed before they even made it to the second meeting.  Now if the point of the movie was to tell a fairly tale, then it was a great story.  But if the intent was to allude to any truth about life in that era, that truth stops at the fact that these women were still slaves to the southern whites they worked for - they just had bills now. 

Spencer and Davis should be recognized for their performances, no doubt, and they likely will at the big dance.  What is also likely to happen, I fear, is that these women and other black actresses may indeed be offered more roles - but as maids.  Or nannies.  Or old wise women who exist for the purpose of someone for the white actor/actress to play off of.  Anything other than what we are or what we strive to be.

We hardly ever play police or authoritative figures unless it's on TV.  It seems we're almost too desperate to see ourselves on TV.   We'll get excited about anything without thinking thoroughly about what we're perpetuating when we tell everybody to spend their money or time to go see something because the cast has more than one black actor.  You may think I'm being too deep with it.  I say you ought to sit back and think about it for a minute.   Then take a deep breath.  You're probably about to hate me.  

Tyler Perry is a talented guy, let's establish that.  BUT, his shows and movies feature a lot of HORRIBLE acting, tired storylines, and the same characters over and over again.  Somebody's always getting married (and getting in a fight), going to a funeral (and getting in a fight), having a family dinner on Sunday (and getting in a fight), getting in a fight and going to jail, etc.  It almost looks as if we CAN'T get creative and come up with other ideas when I KNOW that's not the case.  

Everybody is not cussing someone out at the drop of a hat and we need to stop acting like that's cute because it isn't.  Every brother is not beating and tearing down his woman, and every brother isn't leaving his family to start another one with someone else.  Everybody can't be smoking weed all day, getting by without working, or raising their grandchildren because no one knows where the crackhead mother is.  Come on, man.  (I do realize that this means Tyler Perry will not be giving me my big break as a writer/actress, but I've lived with it so far...)

We've never had a mainstream "black movie" featuring a spy, or a police department or a bunch of Wall Street investors or anything else like that.  You know what our movies are about?  Our men tricking off multiple women, fatherless families, us dealing drugs, robbing banks, etc.  We just throw something on paper, find black people willing to act out this crap for a check and then put it straight on DVD so our dumb a$$e$ can go rent it at Blockbuster.  We're not going to get better entertainment until we insist on better and stop supporting anything less.  It's gotta start somewhere.  

Now I'm not bashing Tyler Perry, there are enough people that have that covered.  I do want to ask him if he's really interested in improving black entertainment.  It would seem to me that if he truly is, he'd consider hiring better actors.  Better still, before he built a studio, an in house acting school would have been a better investment.  The presence of the great Cicely Tyson can only cover so many sins.  If his movies and TV shows featured better acting performances and writing, then we might see a shift in the tides.  It is his gift to use as he chooses, and I'm not here to tell him how to use it.  I'm sure he knows that as long as the name "Madea" is in the title, he can thrown on a wig and a dress, surround himself with absolute GARBAGE, put it out and we'll still go see it because it's a "black movie"and we'll SWEAR it was better than anything we've seen in a long time and DARE anyone to say otherwise.  Yeah.  Getting a little uncomfortable?  Too bad, I'm still not done.

Look at it this way.  Say, for example, you hero-worship your brother, then he  ends up being this serial killer.  Yeah you still love your brother, but you know what he did was wrong.  Are you going to say it's ok that he chopped up ten people because he's your brother?  If you would, please never read this blog again and forget forever what my face looks like.  For the normal ones who would say "I'd still love my brother but I can't condone or support what he did."  I ask you this:  Why would you keep supporting movies and TV that kill our image and paint us to be something less than what we really are?  We come from royalty, warriors, and people with a strong work ethic...why do we continue to accept lesser portrayals of ourselves?  No I'm not comparing anyone to a serial killer.  Focus.

We get all excited about a new TP show featuring...wait for it...characters from his movies, of course, and we LOSE OUR MINDS over crap TV like "The Game".  But I wonder how many of us got that excited and our of our minds to go see "Red Tails", a movie Hollywood DIDN'T want so bad because of its all black cast that George Lucas had to fund it himself?!  This is a movie about AMERICAN history that could not have been made without the presence of the Tuskeegee Airmen.  Black fighter pilots?  Trailblazers?  Heroes?  Count me IN!  This I can give up my money and time for.  Not garbage like "Meet The Browns" which would be DEAD without the existence of one character.  When I see "Madea Gets A Job" or "Madea Gets A Degree" or "Madea Takes A Break (To Take An Acting Class)", then maybe things will be looking up.  Just sayin'...

Now this is a HOT mess!!

Apparently there are people in the black community that believe that Jay-Z's song about his daughter (I can't with the name), "Glory", will inspire young absentee fathers to do a better job at parenting because they will look to Jay-Z as a role model.  Bless their hearts.  The idea that swarms of deadbeat fathers all over the land or even five of them will suddenly "see the light" and decide they're going to be good fathers because Jay-Z made a song about his daughter is pretty desperate.  His job is to make songs.  Helloooo? I'm pretty sure single parent homes have increased since Stevie Wonder released "Isn't She Lovely".  Pretty sure that fact can't be attributed to him.  At least not by anyone with more than one functioning brain cell.

Newsflash:  Jay-Z already has a 9 year old son with Shenelle Scott, a video model from Trinidad, and to a WHOLE lot of people, this is NOT news.  We knew about it when he supposedly bought her off for a million bucks and bought her a house in the islands to keep her quiet.  Google, people.  He supposedly provides very well financially for them and while I have not heard anything about whether or not father and son have a relationship, I have seen the readily-available-on-the-internet pictures of the boy and you can see the resemblance.  Fortunately, the boy is still cute as can be, his mother to thank for it. 

Now, according to Beyonce', she's been riding her camel with her husband for ten years.  This is what she said in the same Australian interview where her "stomach" folded over when she sat down.  Do the math, but not even my point.  Here's my question to those who think he's Cliff Huxtable 2.0:  Does a good father acknowledge one child and hide the presence of another for the sake of his image?  Is this what people want to see more of?   I would hope not, I think we have quite enough of this as it is, that's how people end up having three eyed babies with their siblings years down the line - trying to hide kids away.  That's how the community got so fractured to begin with and this is why we're so messed up with our mindset on this.  We started letting fathers just walk away from their families and deny the fact that they even existed.  Then they'd go off to another city or state and make another family to dump somewhere else.  Guess that's how they want their families to look.  I'll pass.  I'd prefer to see our community do BETTER in this area.  Idolizing someone who has demonstratively missed the mark would only make the problem worse. 

What say you?

One of very few "political" posts you'll see here...

I didn't watch, but I'm sure by now many of you have heard all about last night's CNN Southern Republican Presidential Debate.  I'm sure just as many of you have heard about the ex-wife of Newt Gingrich giving an interview during which she claims that he asked her for an open marriage and she refused, resulting in their divorce.  Hey look, the whole lot of them (Democrats, Republicans, the like) are up to much worse than that I'm sure and if I had my way I'd fire every single one of them and replace them all.  But I don't do political discussions so anyhoo...I'm talking about this because it's a sad state of affairs that moderator John King chose to OPEN the debate by asking Gingrich about his ex-wife's allegations.  Now, I'm sure most of us figured it would come up at some point, but to begin it that way?  A question like that deserves the ire it got.  Way to keep it classy America.  Come on, people!

RIP Madame Etta James

At Last, you rest in peace.  We'll miss you.  For those who may not know a lot about Etta, I encourage you to do a little digging.  Her life is interesting stuff. 

Oh REALLY, Marky Mark? (stupid people saying stupid things...)

So apparently Mark Wahlberg told Men's Journal in an interview that "If I was on that plane with my kids, it wouldn't have went down like it did.  There would have been a lot of blood in that first class cabin and then me saying, "OK, we're going to land somewhere safely, don't worry."  This idiot is, of course, referring to Flight 93 that crashed as passengers attempted to overtake the hijackers.  Maybe he should have just stayed Marky Mark and made garbage "rap pop" music and faded off into the abyss a la Vanilla Ice.

The widow of one of those heroes he couldn't be if he begged, Dena Burnett-Bailey, had this to say in response to this clown insulting the memory of her husband Thomas Burnett, "Does Mark Wahlberg have a pilot's license?  Then I think hindsight is 20/20 and it's insignificant to say what you would have done if you weren't there.  The plan for Flight 93 was foiled by heroes.  For him to speculate that his presence on board could have stopped everything is silly and disrespectful.  Sounds like someone is grandstanding."  I know that's right.

Anyhow, he quickly apologized, saying "To speculate about such a situation is ridiculous to begin with.  I deeply apologize to the families of the victims that my answer came off as insensitive, it was certainly not my intention."  His publicist didn't do too bad with that one.  I actually think he'll manage to keep his career if he doesn't say anything else stupid.  Our society likes to forgive.  He'd better hope they do so he can feed all those kids he keeps having.  Who does he think he is, Chuck Norris?

The Village Is Dead

 

It used to take a village...

Our children would do what an adult told them to do whether they had your last name or not but somewhere along the way they decided that to discipline your child to keep your seed from dying on the concrete instead of growing into a rose was to abuse your child so we let our children run wild and we cry when mama gotta bury her seed and that rose ends up on top of that baby’s casket.  Where was the village?

The only time our children had any business on the block was to shoot hoops and jump loops, play hopscotch and four square and everybody knew they betta have they ass inside before the street lights came on  - now the kids on the block hold guns and dope instead of balls and rope and the only chalk you find on the sidewalk now is in a never ending line in the shape of a girl who grew up on the block and got shot a week before med school.  Where was the village?

When it became ok to look the other way while our children went astray, where was the village?

When parents decided to let TV, HD, PS3, BET, MTV, VH1, Keesha from up the street, and anything or anyone other than themselves take on the responsibility of raising their seed, where was the village?

Our daughters grew up playing with dolls that looked like babies, now they’re havin’ ‘em while they still are. 

Our sons used to wanna play with toy soldiers, now they pullin’ out different soldiers and the battle becomes life long. 

Our parents used to care about how their children ended up, who their friends were, who their mothers were, what time they went to bed, what they watched on tv, hell even what they ate. 

Our parents used to be concerned about the grades our kids brought home, how they conducted themselves in school cause you better not get up in there and embarrass me! 

Our parents used to come up to the schools and meet our teachers, they used to actually show up for field trips and conferences and hell, they even signed permission slips. 

When our parents stopped helping our kids with their homework and teaching them to read and write because then they’d act white, where was the village?

When our sons and daughters started making babies together, and people stopped parenting their own damn children and started throwing them away to the Crips and the Bloods, where was the village?

What’s wrong father?  Oh right, you weren’t ready to be one, so you just bounced over to the next chick you ain’t ready to have a kid with.  Do you have a son or a daughter?  Do you know?

What happened mother?  Too busy trying to “get yours” that you didn’t notice your daughter was getting hers too?  Congratulations Grannie.  35?  No, that’s not too young to be a grandmother! 

How about you neighbor?  When did you stop caring enough to stop that 17 year old boy from taking that little 14 year old girl behind the building because he wanted to show her how much he LOVED her?  Why don’t you tell her father who planted the seed of his grandchild in her womb since she ain’t sayin?  And don’t worry about calling the police on that teenage boy selling dope right in front of your house.  Don’t look down on him now.  You shouldda done that back in the day when he still looked up to you.  But you decided to sit back and watch his stare turn to dope boys with blue rags and shake your head ‘cause you just don’t understand what’s wrong with kids today.  What difference could you have made…villager?

When we decided to let our seed die, let their dreams die, let their futures die, and let their minds die, therefore letting ourselves die, did we let the village die too? 

Where is the village now?

The village is dead.