BAPTIZM BY RAIN

I get up and begin to do my thing. I have several choices, the celebration for the Superbowl winning Giants down in the Canyon of Champions or as the media puts it, Canyon of Giants, spend a day on the phone calling family and friends or spend a day walking about the town taking pictures and voting. Since I haven’t done the walking thing in a while, I decided to exercise. I decided to gear up in my Neo-Soul look and head outside when I look to the sky and see that it’s a mess. It’s cloudy, slight wind and raining. Rain coming down in a steady flow in an amazing SPRING in WINTER day. (I swear the World is coming to and end.) Not too heavy but a constant light fall. I initially was going to head back up for an umbrella and travel by train or bus but there is something about walking in the rain that is cleansing. The notion of Baptizing oneself was what I think I needed today. So I decided with the need to clear my mind and offer it for the day to fill it with ideas for creating something new, I begin my journey by foot. I picked up my camera and began to hoof in for the day.

I took my time and looked at all the new construction in the area. I made a conscious thought to look each and every person I pass, in the eyes. I know in some circles, this would be only unsettling and a bit of a challenge, even crazy but it also spills their story out to those open enough to catch them. It only takes a quick moment. A bit of shyness, a fragment of fear, a second of sadness, a smidgen of hope and you can see it in-between the whites of the eyes. People have stories that they want to tell and sometimes you have to snatch it out from a glance. OK, that’s the poet it me talking, I don’t really be stanching shyt, BUT I am in tuned to people through body language and the first place to look are the eyes.

Around town you see nothing but the signs of expansion. New housing and streets being torn up for more wiring and gas lines, I see more express trucks rolling through now than ever before (a product of online shopping no doubt) and street cleanings. Police officers are now walking in small groups as oppose to single and double file, and where there were once street signs to dictate when and where you can and can’t park, I see meter maids placing tickets on cars that have over stayed their allowed time where parking meters line residential streets. Yes ladies and gentleman, this Tuesday seemed more like a Monday after failing to hold back the sun.

Now I soon find out that my Polling area where I normally vote has changed. So instead of voting at an area that was once close, I now had to go a little further out. I think under any other circumstance it would have bothered me but I was being BAPTIZED along my journey so nothing was bothering me today. I walked along Broadway to my new voting location and noticed, another store front shop has gone out of business. I can only guess who he's NOT voting for today. As I walk I recall a poem I wrote several years back. The poem, ELECTION DAY, was inspired by hearing stories of how BLACKS, as early as my parent’s generation, were denied the right to vote. The social and political GAMES both Northern and Southern Whites played to manipulate Blacks, using threats and even murder to bar them from the Right to Vote. How the Klan and White Supremist would lynch Blacks that would even talk about participating in voting. The idea of creating Poll Taxes, Freedom Papers, Land Ownership, Birth Certificates and other “legal documents” have evolved out of that time into new forms. Today the new ploys are NATIONAL ID’s, Citizenship Verification, Chads and Computerized Voting Booths (knowing damn well that the average person can barely work an ATM machine) and a host of other radical changes. The very fact that my polling location was changed without my advanced notice is a little suspect but, I am being baptized by the rains so I move along without tension.

I am snapped into reality and see that many of the people I am passing on the street, aren’t even attempting to vote or registered to vote. I wonder what percentage CAN’T vote due to legal wrangling? Still, as I walk up Broadway, how many of my Brown Brothers and Sisters can’t vote because they are not legal citizens. YES I dare say it, there are a lot of ILLEGAL ALIENS walking the streets of Harlem, Washington Heights and Inwood and even more true, they cannot vote. As deep as these thoughts would be normally, I am being baptized today by the rains and I move on to my destination without a care. I get to my new spot. IRONICLY, the location is at Boricua College, an institution dedicated to the education of Spanish Speaking college students, and get this, the campus is the old site of the Native American Museum of New York which was closed down and moved to LORD KNOWS WHERE NOW. Talk about an AMERICAN DREAM.

As I walk into the building, it was very quite. Let me repeat, as I walked in, it was VERY QUIET. This isn’t normal for polling locations. I have lived in several places around the United States and I normally see people out front handing out flyers, waving banners, a few news and newspaper reporters asking your typical “exit polling” questions and today, all I got was, “This way” and “Where do you live sir?”

After I answered I was pointed in the direction I was suppose to go. As I enter into the room, I am surprised that there wasn’t a line. I simply walked up to my designated table and gave my name, showed ID and was pointed to THE BOOTH. As the curtains closed behind me, giving me the shadowed privacy I needed, I looked up that the five names before me. Barak Obama, Hillary Clinton, John McCain Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee and a few dozen other names that were the delegates connected to each candidate. I looked for a place to do a write-in candidate. I figured I could throw my name on the ballot as the “None of the Above” candidate. I didn’t see it. So like the good citizen I am, I made a choice. (LIKE I’M GOING TO TELL YOU WHO I VOTED FOR).

I throw back the lever and the light of the World came back. It was over, in less than 30 seconds. The weight of the World has faded and I did what thousands of BLACK people have died and even more have sacrificed to do. And to show for it, I exited into a room of silence. As I walk toward the door, I thank the woman who processed my paper work for voting as she replied back, “I wish more young men like you voted.” I don’t know what made me more distinguished, the fact that she thanked me for exercising my RIGHT to vote or the fact she called me YOUNG. I’ll take them both.

I looked toward the streets of Harlem knowing that in the next few months, I’ll be here again but under different circumstances. Over the past eight years, my journey has lead me to great disappointments because like the people on the streets I passed, I get a sense that there is no urgency in participating in a government that will again DICTATE their existence, possibly for the next 8 years.

I take the long way back and cut through the park. In photographer mode I see a few compositional shots and decide to break out the camera. I see a few people near the exit of the park and I make my way toward them. I pass a woman and child. The child is wolfing down a pastry like no tomorrow while the woman is staring into the distance. The closer I get I can tell that neither one is even paying attention to me. I can also tell that in her blank expression, there is a sense of abandonment going on. She can be anything from a woman homeless and in a shelter, unemployed or abused. In her eyes she’s was searching and as much as I wanted to capture it on film, I decided to leave this family in their moment of privacy within the park. I continued along my way to two women further ahead. Both holding shopping bags and just standing in what looked like a friendly yet serious exchange of words. As I get closer I over hear their conversation.

“If Obama is an agent of change, what change has he done in say, CHICAGO that would make me feel guilty for voting for Hillary Clinton? Tell me because I use to live in Chicago on the Southside and is worst now than ever before. But that Northside is doing well you know.”

Now I lived in Chicago for a few years and to be fair to my experience and in my time there, all I observed in the politics of the City of Chicago and the State of Illinois was a lot of corruption. I didn't see much CHANGE happening except more BLACK getting the poor, arrested, killed, harassed, marginalized to the far outskirts of the city while the cities expanded with businesses, homes and foreign investors. JUST MY OBSERVATION.

The other woman responds back, “He is only one man and he has done a lot from what I heard. Maybe for him to do more he needs to be in a higher position to make a CHANGE."

“You still ain't said nothing solid.” Said the first woman.

“I’m not just voting just for Barak Obama, I’m voting for the World. The whole World wants Obama to be President”, the second woman tell her.

Now as I continue to pass by I am working my body in one direction while dragging my ear behind to get the end of this JUICY DEBATE.

The second woman goes on to say, “People in Africa are jumping for joy knowing that one of theirs will be President of the United States?"

OK, maybe I missed something during the campaign. I don’t understand how Africans think Obama is their President and how is he going to make their lives better? Now I do know that as part of the Trinity United Church of Christ, the church Obama belongs to, their 4th tenet is, "A congregation with a non-negotiable COMMITMENT TO AFRICA", does this mean that on DAY ONE, the Africa agenda will take precedent over all other World concerns? If so, does that mean Africans see Obama as being more African than American and who will tell Americans about this? Do Africans see their freedoms from oppression usurping Blacks in the rural South or urban North? Will this be the beginning to the long delayed Marcus Garvey movement BLACK TO AFRICA? Does this mean that AFRICANS see themselves as different and apart from BLACKS in America? (I’m departmentalizing that theory for another Blog for another time.)

“It’s in the Bible, Obama will make things right in the world”, the second woman continues.

I think to myself, “ONE OF THEIRS? OBAMA IN THE BIBLE?” She said this as if Obama’s THE MASSIAH. That disturbed me big time. It disturbed me more because I recall not too long ago, the Evangelicals said the same thing about George W. Bush Jr. and reasoned it as to why the United States was in Iraq. This too was written in the Bible. Since when do each President of the United States start being part of the dogmatic fiber of the Good Book? I must have missed this in Bible Study. My fear is that all the condemning of the Evangelicals will soon be replaced by fear of the BAPTIST.

I walk about a dozen or more blocks and pass another polling station in Harlem as I move down toward 135th Street and Convent Avenue when I hear, “OBAMA!OBAMA! OBAMA!”, chanting outside the polling area with this little short WHITE guy slipping me a polling advertisement detailing Barak Obama and the delegates connected to him before of I would go in. I think to myself, “Now this is what I was expecting.” But then it dawned on me. Where I had voted was a majority Latino community and here is all Black with a few gentrified Whites. Hummmmm? I finallyget it. This is that Barak Obama comes to the Apollo crowd. So I watched a little as the BLACK folk danced, rapped and shouted the name Barak Obama like an Elder Chief of the African Plains. I couldn’t help but recall just how the very same people danced and twirled for Bill Clinton 8 years ago.

Then this tall older Black Man stood next to me as I was taking pictures. He asked if I worked for the press. I told him not, that I was just walking around taking pictures. We chatted a little as I told him my story as to where I had to go to vote. He responded back, in a Conspiracy Theory type way, “You know Obama is a Republican in Clintonian Clothing.”

I stopped with the camera then looked at this man in PURE astonishment. I said to myself, "OK NOW LET ME HEAR THIS ONE OUT." Now let me tell you this, I love a good Conspiracy Theory, its like going to the movies to see a good Sci-Fi or Horror. You know going in that everything you see is pure fantasy, BUT you just might get caught up in some of the reality aspects which would make the whole experience worth your while. Then you can walk up into a movie that is so REAL, that once you leave, YOU START KEEPING LIGHTS ON IN THE HOUSE.

He goes on to say, “He may act the part of a Democrat but his intentions are that of a Republican. Not like the Bushes, He’s more reserved than that. He’s pure Business, more like a Corporate Lawyer. Everything he does has an agenda for profit and moving it to the right hands. The thing is he needed to be polished enough to talk the talk and walk the walk that is why he has a lot of ex-Clinton people working around him. Trust me, Obama is a Republican and in a few years, you’ll see it. Just like these people didn’t see Bill Clinton's coming when he moved up here in Harlem, they will see that he’s not as BLACK as they are praising him to be.”

All I could say after that was, “Wow, now that's food for thought”. I told himit was nice talking to him but I had to leave, and I hurried out of there just in case their were SNIPPERS on the roof aiming for his BLACK ASS. I mean I have heard what the Bush Administration does with people with arab names and WATER, I can only imagine what other GOTHIC practices they had in store for someone like the TALL MAN.

The rains had stopped and my baptism was now over, I knew this because I was getting tired sooner than I thought and the Holden Caulfield in me was starting to come out. I walked on a little further and then decided to cut my journey short. I wanted to know what was going on in the world of my friends and family, which was a good balance I needed after a day of mental passivity.

THE GLOVES ARE OFF NOW ... LETS GET POLITICAL

Now I can take the kid gloves off and talk politics.

John Edwards, its time to get real. Your time has passed and you have John Kerry to blame for that. In your bid to capitalize on being a Vice President before you were seasoned (Sounds Familiar) enough in Washington, you got BURNED. America is well known for throwing away and forgetting its losers. Second is a loss. Third, and you might as well not have gotten on the starting line. Oh yeah, it’s still a loss in the eyes of Americans. Unlike other countries where the people admire and respect their political leaders (winners and losers) as much as they revere TEACHERS, there are a significant number of people in America whom have designated you to limbo. So far you have proven you can stay alive in a campaign, you just haven’t quite injected LIFE into the nation because all they see is how the ball was dropped in 2004.

Edwards, you have proven you can possibly be elected as a political candidate. You can even drive enough ambition towards doing the right thing for people and hold true to your pro-Union beliefs (or at least until it no longer becomes non-profitable). My crystal ball prediction, join the post-Presidential tour with Jimmy Carter, George Bush Sr. and Bill Clinton. You can even start the Vice-President’s Club with AL GORE (since he’s the MAN OF THE YEAR right now) and crisscross the country building effective coalitions to bring back those important UNIONS (minus the corruption) that is badly needed. Between you (labor) and Gore (environment) you can collectively bring back the DREAMS for future generations. John Edwards, you can be the very fiber for returning labor movements for the United States and the creation of the proposed GREEN LABOR MOVEMENT (since I agree with John McCain when he says that certain jobs are not coming back and we need to start looking towards creating NEW industries). We know there will a lot of opportunity in the Green Labor Movement once the new Administration is elected. Just make sure you don’t forget the BLACK FOLK. I know deep in your psyche, maybe not on the deep surface BUT deep deep deep deep down in there you are pissed those South Carolinian BLACK Folk didn’t vote for you but, I still GOT LOVE FOR YOU, because as a Northerner, I need a JOB.

Since you have been playing nice lately (you did get a little venomous and skanky at times – in a lawyer kinda way), I do know that your accumulated DELEGATES will have to go somewhere. I feel that you will end up giving them to Barak Obama. This will give Obama the seats needed to possibly beat Hillary. If you decide to do that, THAT WOULD BE A SERIOUS BUTCH MOVE. Do you know how many Black Folk would make you the second coming as the New Whitest Black President? People will actually take the "YOU ARE BLACK" Kango from Bill Clinton and give it to you on the spot. Just to let you know, with a strong move and a gift like that, it will come with a price. BUT then again, look at what your BOYS did to you while campaigning. What is your PRICE? Vice Presidency? A clear and unfettered path to a CABINET position, possibly LABOR? Or can we see a back door deal to hammer at the shady deals and atrocities the current Administration has done to throw the very nature of our nation’ stability into chaos?

John Edwards, I doubt you will just fade away. You aren’t the FADE AWAY TYPE. Just not the most politically savvy type. The savvy that you and Obama preach is the bane of Washington; which WILL eventually INFECT you as it did the “CLINTONS”? Like I said earlier, you were the GOLDEN CHILD once, you lost and now you are OLD, tired, part of the establishment and they just don’t trust you like that anymore. It’s the curse for losing. You did what all first term Senators do, YOU ACTUALLY VOTED THE WAY THEY TOLD YOU TO and now you are part of the problem. You are also the casualty of the highest level of Affirmative Action. Come on now John, did you really think you were going to get the job when you are competing against a Woman and a Black man all of which have the same credential as you and there has never EVER been one as President in over 200 years? You lost as soon as you put in your bid. Let it slide, haggle your delegates, get your deal, and take your VISION for a better America on the road. You’ll make out better and so will your family because my prayers go out to your WIFE. You don’t really want to be President. Your HEART isn’t into it nor is your SOUL.

Hillary Hillary Hillary ….. is all I can say about you right now. You are kinda like that person on the job who knows her shyt and you can chill with every now and then BUT you have to get to know her mood swing or end up on the unemployment line because you were 3 minutes or you said something about her hair being nice and got hit up for sexual harassment. You then say to yourself “What the Hell happen?” and the answer would be you just got caught up on a day when her attitude wasn't quite as FRESH.

Oh I like you Hillary but I’m not feeling a lot of your FRIENDS. I understand you Hillary. I know the demons you walk among and if there is truly a HELL, you have lived there for 8 years. In doing so, you have made yourself an expert Demonologist. You’re like Hillary the Washingtonian Slayer. If you follow politics, which I would go as far as saying 70% of American citizens don’t, all the players behind the curtains are running their own elections behind the scenes. A regular old HELLMOUTH under the WHITE HOUSE.

The Deals that were made years ago in CONGRESS are now being re-examined because no one really looked this far into the future. The ones that did are the BIG PLAYERS whom work their Mojo Internationally. Much the way the Bush Fear Tour to the Middle East went recently, their deals will continue regardless of who is in office, HOPE or EXPERIENCE. Only those unfamiliar with Washington can be caught up in the Campaign of Hope or Experience when the BIG PLAYERS, those people who even the President of the United States have to respect and call upon to get things moving are so entrenched that their roots extend back before the Nixon years. Just think, Caroline and Ted Kennedy just endorsed Barak Obama, the same Kennedy who was President of the United States, the same person assassinated for having HOPE, the same man who was an acting political inspiration in the 1960’s and whose family his entwined deeply within the very fabric of the American political system. The brand that comes with the Kennedy family is helpful and inspirational but they are also a Political Family with the curse of Promises Unfulfilled. We also know that not all Kenney’s think a like nor SUPPORT a like. Robert Kennedy Jr., who ACTIVELY works with the Poor and is a Powerful Voice for BLACK and BROWN People support the Clinton’s. Did anyone hear that SOUND BITE? We may have doubts in our country about political families such as Romney, Bush, Clinton but now you have another dynasty; the Kennedy’s, standing tall behind Obama, cousin of current Vice President Dick Chaney. When it comes to political families, my caution is not so thrown to the wind.

Who are we really kidding that any one person can dismiss those people who are part of the foundation of Washington? Who are we to assume that these people will give up their bargaining POWER because someone proclaims that they are the CHAMPION OF HOPE. Transformative politics work both ways, you transform THEM, they transform YOU. In a nutshell, in the end you will end up like a Ronald Reagan, most beloved but not really all that liked as you have a Bill Clinton, most beloved and yet not all that liked either. Like a BUFFY the Vampire Slayer and her HELLMOUTH, you’ll have to have everyone in Washington SHARE power and agree to bring down the HELLMOUTH and its Demons and then rebuild it from Scratch. Last I checked, the last person that did that is now called a RACIST because he said that same thing out loud and in public.

For his guilt by association in his, “WHY YOU SHOULD LIKE MY WIFE HILLARY?” campaign, Bill Clinton is being asked to SHUT UP and JUST GO AWAY. The last time I heard WHITE Folks say this about anyone with as much venom and disdain, was and is whenever OJ Simpson is in the public eye. HELL, even Anne Coulter gets more respect. It amazes me how this has happened after the media, the pundits, the analyst, the competition, everyone asking, “WHERE IS BILL”, and when he finally appears, The mud is thrown. OK Bill arrives at the party by invitation and then you tell him at the door, “Don’t take off your coat, just turn around and go back home.” PEOPLE, why did you even INVITE THE MAN in the first place?

This isn’t really the question. What the real question is, “Can you RESPECT Hillary enough to do what needs to be done and Bill just designating himself as the Yes Madam type." Is this a WOMAN thing, a Clinton thing, a Political thing or in her past has she, through TRANSFORMATIVE POLITICS created enemies along the way because for a while, we didn’t even think about Bill for a long while. There are real questions that can be answered when you follow POLITICS and ignore the pundits and analyst. BILL CLINTON IS HILLARY’S HUSBAND. A brilliant man, respected around the world, he knows people, he knows media, he knows Manipulation, he can cut you off from the pass before you even throw the ball. He also know that AMERICANS are slow at getting things and he plays to that as well by planting sign posts ahead so that by the time everyone gets there, they’ll know what direction to go. This is why Hillary began campaigning for SUPER TUESDAY when everyone else was concentrating on New Hampshire. That’s planning for LEADERSHIP and not MANAGEMENT. My only concern for you Hillary, and I have the same issue myself, YOU NEED TO LEARN HOW TO HIDE YOUR EMOTIONS BETTER. Girl, you having those KILL BILL expressions tight and locked up on your FACE, that ain’t right. At least control it until you get in the Oval Office.

So what we have as of now is that Obama has won South Carolina. In a MEDIA MANIPULATION of Sound Bites is the end result of the "Rhetoric vs Reality" argument at its best. According to the media, BILL and HILLARY are RACIST. Ladies and Gentleman, Smart Black Folk and Slow Black Folk, Bill and Hillary Clinton are not “RACIST” nor are they or did they PLAY the RACE CARD. I mean for crying out loud, the MAN worked for YEARS to get medical supplies (medical supplies that the US throws away amounting in the Billions of dollars) affordable medicines and treatment for HIV and AIDS to people in AFRICA … SUCCESSFULLY. I really can’t say I know many BLACK, LATIN, ASIAN, WHITE or celebrities (outside Bono and Angelina Jolie) who even took a GRAND effort to even talk publicly about it more so ACT, myself included.

As much as I say this, and truth be told, “SOUND BITES” aren’t the whole story. And yet people still listen to 3 seconds and run with the self-proclaimed awareness that they have heard all they needed to know. This is true for all the News, for Politics, Gossip and even Religion. When you have the SERIOUS news mediums referring to New York Senator Hillary Clinton as “Billary”, that should be a clue you are being DUMBED down to. And you should be MAD AS HELL AND NOT TAKE IT ANYMORE.

So now we have a new sound bite that makes BILL CLINTON a Racist for daring to compare Barak Obama to Jesse Jackson? What is wrong with comparing Obama to Jackson in a realm of Historical Significants. The truth is both Jesse Jackson (Black man from the state if IL who ran for president and won the caucus of SC, talked about Change and Keeping HOPE Alive) and Obama (Black man from IL who IS running for President of and won the causcus of SC, talked about Change and bring HOPE to the American people). Why is this off limits? One political analyst stated this was Bill Clinton’s way of making Obama BLACK. Even I had to stop typing and look up when I heard this comment. It amazed me to think that not too long ago … there was a question that Obama wasn’t BLACK enough? Now Clinton is TRYING to make him BLACKER? By doing this, Bill Clinton is igniting WHITE hate towards Obama because of his skin color. 1. If a White person was prone to NOT vote for Obama, he or she would not need Bill's permission to do that. 2. Do the media really think Americans are THAT stupid? I mean Amercans are a little slow but not stupid. with a little click and point, the Internet will detail that Jesse Jackson clearly and handedly won South Carolina in 1984 and 1988 with a commanding lead DUE to the Black vote. The Clinton's conceeded that. It might have been a bit JADED in response BUT not racist 3. Jesse Jackson is not as polarizing as the media would like you to think. Only a small margin of people dislike him and those that do can CLEARLY see that there is a distinct difference between Obama and Jackson. Even the state of Illinois isn't that Blind. Overall, a whole lot of nothing about NOTHING. This ranks up there with the media BS of the Clintons playing down the work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Wake up people, you are in the MATRIX.

How dare we question Barak Obama’s political career? How dare we question Barak Obama’s actual plan for America as oppose to his general view for it? How dare anyone ask questions that Non-Blacks would like to ask but fear they would be look upon as being Racist? My view, if you are running as an American of BLIND FAITH, then any question asked would be view as not having a racial over or under tone and would and should be answered. You overly SENSITIVE BLACK FOLK, please put down the Malcolm X Autobiography and allow for reality to settle in. This is politics and not PERSONAL. Even if those questions are coming from an ex-President who last year this time you would drop to your hands and knees and kiss his ALLIGATOR SHOES, respected Black people in all social and economic conditions, supported and loved by Black People for it, wake up and acknowledge that during his term, he helped send many Black people to college, to own homes, expand the number of churches, created jobs and career opportunities and created more BLACK MILLIONAIRES in America than any other Administration EVER. Then again, Americans do love to kick the "elderly" to the curb and so do the Baraka philosophy for the old guard. Bill you need to be in the Nursing Home buddy.

In amazement to most people, I like Obama. I like him a lot. I just don’t like how the people around him, uses him for disposing good people to the annals of obscurity and he PRETENDING that, “It ain’t me”. I don’t like people who benefit from the silent trashing of others (media and BS pundits all included). Nor do I like dirty POLITICS. The backbiting, the serpent-like behavior and the masks that they all wear in clear sight of the light.

Did I expect Barak Obama to win the SOUTH CAROLINA caucus? Yes. Jesse Jackson won it, any Democrat speaking to Black people directly would have won it. It’s a largely Black populated state and contrary to popular belief, Black People do vote as a Monolith and saying that and seeing the reality, People should stop the whinning when the truth is standing before us all. The kid gloves are off now so, "say what you mean and mean what you say". Now will have to see what the rural States of America think, what the desert States think, what the Deep Southern States think. Currently the results are 2 states to 3. Technically 2 to 4 if you take into consideration Michigan that was unofficially a Hillary Clinton win. Although Obama is ahead in Delegate seats he does trail in Super Delegates which will be the decider after Super Tuesday. Even with the moneys and endorsements from the Northeast, how will Middle Americans speak. Do they hate Hillary enough to give Obama a chance? Do they go with another candidate preaching HOPE? After giving Jesus a sales pitch, brought to them by a Cowboy from Texas, can Americans really affort to take chances with another bad President on top of tornados, floods, fires, more deployed regiments to Afganistan and the continued selling of America to foreign interest? And what happened to the other candidates who might have been still better than the front running choices? And then there is McCain. Middle Americans love their WAR VETERIANS. Since none of the Democratic front-runners have served in the military, that may be a problem even for Romney.

I wonder how many more sermon type speeches America have in them for the continued campaigns? Once you listen to the frontrunners from state to state, they are repeating the same jokes and personal stories of the people they meet. I thought I’d see more of Oprah on the road. I honestly feel that a lot of people thought they’d see her as well. We know Hollywood is in on the GAME and if you are lucky you might see a celebrity or two. What people want is The Second Coming Candidate. I am ready for Change, but I do question into what? Will that change be a metamorphous into something Bigger, Bolder and Beautiful or will it mutate into something Unrecognizable with Expendable Parts that can be cut away and discarded. That can only be answered simply by the people wanting a President that is a Manager of people who will do the Changing or a Presidential Leader who will give direction for those too lazy or stubborn for Change to happen.

What makes a person want to go into US politics? You’d be surprised at he answers. Yes I said answers. Political Office, on the surface, is a CIVIL job, an act of service to the Government by the Government, for the Government. It was never intended to be a CAREER PROFESSION. That’s the easy. The complex, Political Office is ultimately to balance the classes in America. To keep the Rich from getting too WEALTHY and the Underprivileged from overwhelming and chopping the heads off the HAVE ALLS, thus creating a REVOLUTION. This is why the emphasis is always on the Middle-Class. As long as you can keep that base happy and occasionally re-defining the definition of the Middle Class (cause I love it when BLACK Folk claim they are middle class when they are just outside the door from a homeless shelter and unemployment) you can jury-rig any election through words, faith and popularity. It’s a science. The Clintons know this. Anyone who paid attention in school, took economics, history, civics, political science and international global theories based on culture, political geography and lastly LAW, you too can become a Politician possibly President. Look at the Democratic frontrunners. All are LAWYERS. All studied the aforementioned or that with a combination of other factors. We only get into the gray and muddy when we mix up the politics with Private Sector CEO’s, Military and Religious fanatics. Just look at the Republican side. Bring all of the above together and concentrate them in WASHINGTON and you have HELL on EARTH. If this is true then maybe Hillary the Slayer is the Chosen One.

SOUL TRAIN WAS SO GAYS

My sister had a party not long ago, a self-organized self-indulgent Birthday party; it was one of those Waaaaaaaayyyyyy Over The Top Black Tie Affair Jammies. So as family do, we all attended and grinned and tolerated it for the LOVE OF FAMILY. Before the end of this "Self Indulgence of Grandeur", the DJ announced that it was time to do the Soul Train Line and he dedicated it to my sister. By the way, did I mention that my sister is a DIVA?

So we all got up and lined up, Men on one side, Women on the other. Some were excited to get up and flaunt their hot mini dresses (a shitty mess if I ever saw) and ther MOVIE HAIR, the fellahs were trying to set themselves up to get with the HOTTIE across from them (last chance for a post-party bootycall) and show just how much gyration they had left in their hips. Then there were my Parents, Brother and younger Sisters whom all had that, “Oh I am so over this” look on the face, and then there was ME, the oldest of the family and HOT to make a fool out of myself. Ol’ ASS ME, in a suit, giving everyone my best Cellie shimmy between a corridor of Black Folk bent on reliving a cultural ritual. A ritual that connected every generation in the room to each other through music, laughter and dance. Fun was had by all, and we all came home satisfied that we continued a tradition of the Soul Train Line that will out live and remain current far longer that the “slide” up to that funny Soulja Boy dance he’s pawning off.

That was then, this is now.

Lately I have been a night owl. Not a good thing on my part because now, in the daytime, I am like Fred Sanford talking to Aunt Ester, "EVIL to the core. I don’t like anything or anyone until the afternoon. Since I try not to pollute my mind with the idiot box, I temper what I watch which is usually the NEWS or the History Channel. So this particular afternoon, as I began to become normal and accept the fact that I am part of the HUMAN RACE, I saw Soul Train was about to come on. I had gotten away from the show for a while, back since the days of SHEmar Moore. I mean Don Cornelius was the MAN. That tall ass 'RANG-A-TANG of a man intimidated everyone that came on the show. Brotha could palm your face with his index finger and thumb and still slap yo’ ass with a pinkie. I LOVE IT cause you had to come correct and if you didn’t, you felt a CHILL IN THE AIR, like the music industry Mafia was waiting in the wings to bust you up some. You had to SING and DANCE and TALK, none of that scripted RAP or Fluff. THE DON had no problems asking what your mother’s name is, your church you attended and the last time you were there, if you could actually READ and WRITE music and if you couldn't THE DON asked you "WHY NOT"? He was THE DON and everyone kissed his ring for acceptance. Then SHEmar Moore took his place and that was when I knew The Don wanted a more hands off on the hosting.

I understood why Shemar Moore was there. He was the eye-candy for the GIRLS and GURLZ, with his Pretty Ass Self. Problem I had was, he was trying to play like he was hardcore and a THUG. No No No No No, Negro was a bi-racial (confused) little boy traveling the WORLD and living in AFRICA. Last I checked the Bloods and Crips didn’t quite reach that far – YET. I mean, SHEmar didn’t even grow up eating Government cheese (then again he could have eaten African Government Goat made with Rhino Blood for all I know but its not the same as the ORANGE BLOCKS here in America) but still he was not hardly HARDCORE or Ghetto so I was like “Auuggghhh, Don’t Talk!! Just smile, lick your lips and keep your shirt open and show the nipple for the ladies.”

Then there was Dorian Gregory, MR CHARMED himself. He tried the Hardcore thing too but all I kept seeing was the dorky kid that use to have a runny nose back in the day who read comic books and ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch all the time (sorry, I’m channeling MORNING TIME RIGHT NOW, I’LL CALM DOWN SOME). Then they took it a step further and was dressing him is Bozo Gear by Jay-Z and Puffy. It was like watching my father being dressed by those QUEER GUYS FOR STR8 GUYS but could only shop in 125th Street in Harlem on a welfare budget. “Come on, ladies, you can’t possibly tell me Mr. Charmed looked good in 8 Ball jackets saying Yo Yo Yo all the time?” I kept hoping those three little White girls came a chanting, "THE POWER OF THREE WILL SET YOU FREE." It never happened and eventually he was taken back to the WB or to some Never Never Land or OZ or some magical place called Hollywood.

Yet I continued to watch occasionally, even when they threw Nick Cannon up there. He was good considering the direction of the show, Young, Hip-Hop, Rap and Lip-Sync’ing. I knew then that you weren’t going to get people like Stevie Wonder, Earth Wind and Fire, The Isley Brothers, Smokey Robinson, Chaka Khan, Roy Ayers, Keith Sweat, Take 6, Brian McKnight, Aaron Neville, Will Downing, Kenny Lattimore, Regina Belle, or a Yolanda Adams to appear anymore. I like Nick and all but he is a BABY compared to these music legends and mainstays. I mean what is he really going to ask them, “So do your kids have the new PLAYSTATION and can you DROP IT LIKE ITS HOT?” That was when I stopped watching, as I can also assume, did many others that grew up on the TRAIN.


Then something wonderful happened. THE DON, in his greatness decided to NIX the Modern Train and go back to the Basics with Classic Soul Train. Now we see all the re-runs of the Train dating back 30 years. I AM LOVIN’ IT. Not only does SOUL TRAIN air the classics, where I am, it comes on in the early afternoon and late evenings. I get a double shot of nostalgia. I sit with family as we talk about the music and the fashions. It’s like looking at your parent’s Yearbook …. better yet, my younger brother and sisters looking at mine. "Yeah, THE TRAIN got it all, the Bell Bottoms, Lifts and High Heels, Afro and Afro Puffs, Big Ass Chains, Big Vibrant Colors, Tight Pants, Brothas Twirling, On the Floor Crawling, On the Floor on Their backs, On the Floor with Their Legs in the Air, On the Floor with Their Legs Spread in the Air, Splitting, High Kicking Pass Their Ears and Shaking it Harder than the Women, Colorful Ascots Around the Neck, Shirts Tied in a Mid-Rift …..HEY … WAIT A MINUTE …. YO THESE KATS ARE GAY !!! OH MY GOD, I HAVE BEEN MIND RAPED AND DIDN’T EVEN KNOW IT. "

For years I have been doing the Soul Train Line and picking up my SMOOTH MOVES from the Rocketts and I was none the knowing. "Oooooooo DON I’m coming to CHICAGO AN’ GiTTin’ Yo Black Ass." You tried to turn me out. Where’s Mitt Romney, where’s Mike Huckabee, where’s Donnie McClurkin, where is Barak Obama, where’s 911?

Man I look at my SOUL TRAIN now and not only reminisce about the good ol’ days, the music, the idea of my being at a certain place in my life when performers appeared on the show, but I am also reminded of how innocent my mind was as a child and also how deep the Black Community’s practice of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” was a big part of our culture when it came to Soul Train. It’s so much like the Church preaching how HELL has 5 Star Hotels Suites waiting for Homosexuals and then turning to the choir to lead the congregation in sending them off promptly and by first class ala the BIBLE and a little song.

I asked my mother about Soul Train and she was like, “STOP IT. That is not true. Everyone danced like that. Even you.”

Oooooooo I didn’t like how that sound. Soul Train had me a bell-bottom, big shoe wearing, Afro carrying, tight pint-striped pant wearing, shiny shirt showing, hip wiggling, multiple turn-spinning Drag Queen in training?

“Mom do you have any pictures or movies of me?”

“No but I think your uncle have a few cause you swore you were Michael Jackson when you were younger. Big pants and doing that Soul Train dance. You sure loved you some Soul Train dancing.”

Then I began to remember it all. How I channeled little Michael Jackson and the clothes and why I now have a Trick Hip and then I start the SCREAMING IN MY HEAD.

"Noooooooooo !!!!!"

Mitt and Rudy, A Waste of Public Air Space

OK I did it. I watched another Presidential debate. I have watched pretty much all of them thus far both, Democratic and Republican debates. My friends keep asking me why do I do this? Outside of my sarcastic response, “I do it to experience what the slaves of Egypt felt like when building the pyramids”, I mostly do it because I enjoy the whole political process. The nuances, the feigned emotions, the re-direct of the truth and the lies its all the best drama and blueprint for damning one’s soul to the devil. Most of all, I like examining the psychology of each candidate as they struggle forward into a position of global criticism. My cruel indoctrination into politics I remember like yesterday when I was a child and my parents forced me to watch Nixon’s debate. Years later my head hurt trying to comprehend how a Hollywood actor became President of the United States. I scratched my head in confusion when I kept seeing familiar faces in crowds when Bush Sr. was campaigning and when a hillbilly boy from the mid-west had Black people swooning and swaying for political liberation, I watched intently to see it all unfold.

In 1999, I recall watching G.W. Bush Jr., the Decider Extraordinaire, make comments that he would go to war with Iraq and this was when he was campaigning. I heard how his actions would keep America safe as well as make things right when Sadam Hussein tried to attack his “Daddy”, aka President G. W. Bush Sr. Very few people recall this dialogue or even refer to it anymore, although it was a platform for his campaign for President. I listened intently and watched his body language, the nuances, the feigned emotions, the re-direct of the truth and the lies. I studied his whole psychology and by 2000 I knew he would be President of the United States, twice. The timing was right, the people were in place and like all things, NO ONE PAID ATTENTION. Regardless of 9/11, I honestly believe George W Bush Jr. would have been re-elected to the post he and his circle worked for and we’d still be in the same situation with war and economic upheaval. The only difference is that the World Trade Center would still be standing.

So now where are we? Well without blowing up my computer up breaking this all down I will concentrate on two candidates from the Republican side of the debate, Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney.

In the most recent debate that was sponsored by CNN and YouTube in Florida (11/28/2007), there was a question related to Black on Black Crime. Let me bring you up to date just in case you missed it:

OH ROMNEY, YOU THE FOOL

Before I even go for blood with their answers lets just say this, when you answer a question like this, his “prep team” should have been smart enough to tell Mitt Romney to answer any and all questions related to Black Crime in the following manner, “I don’t recognize Black on Black Crime, but I do recognize Crime no matter what the ethnic and racial background is. No one wants to be a victim of “Crime” so I think the question you asked isn’t what I will do about Black on Black Crime but what will I do to stop the symptoms of Crime in Black Communities and all Communities?” Then Mitt Romney can answer in the tradition of “misdirect” and cultural alliterative grandstanding.
 
For the record, Hillary, Obama and John Edwards know how to do this and they do it well. So what happened here with Mitt Romney? Both he and his staff have a serious disconnect not with Blacks or even Black on Blacks, Mitt’s disconnect is with the "Origins of Crime"; or at least the crime we see that effect to poor and near poor. I mean, if you can answer questions on the origins of crime in America, you then can begin the dialogue on economics, social reform, legal equality, ethical and moral protective rights and more so, the big picture which is “the why and how we are creating chaos around the world”. 

“OH NO THAT MOFO DIDN’T!!!

Deflection of a question could have also worked but you have to come from a place of experience and expertise when you do it. Mitt Romney thought he had that when he answered that Black on Black Crime's origin come from the lack of the traditional Family. My jaw dropped when he tried that.

“Listen Mitt, I can call you Mitt since your answer seemed a bit in my living room eating my food personal, you crossed the line. Black people live in a Village for the most part. Believe it or not, we do work to make up the lack of role models in our communities with churches, volunteers, after school programs, community based programs, grandparents, aunts and uncles, written and oral histories, park activities and more."

"The large majority of BLACK PEOPLE do very well working with youth and maintaining order within communities (when government and outside private exploiters do not interfere). Statistically the numbers of people involved in Black on Black crime make up a small percentage of the overall Black population. You through a statistic that one of your research cronies dropped in your lap after glancing through Bill Cosby’s book, “Black People, Come On” would make you credible. WRONG, you came off like a JACK."
 
"What your dim-witted prep-team forgot to include from that same book was that there are other role models that are missing besides a FATHER like wealthy Blacks who left the community, WHITES who invest with destructive products and activities that distracts and entice the lowest common denominator within the community, fast food industries, lack of community services and the elitist that commandeer them for control and power over the poor, substandard education and the lack resources and then there are outside influences as well govern by back office deals from local government to DC that benefit Corporate America."
 
"Oh yeah Mitt, Black people do not own or control the plantations where drugs are grown and collected, processed and transported, no Blacks own gun manufacturing companies like Smith and West or move Military Style weapons across the nation and around the world, we don’t sit on Corporate Boards in the numbers proportional to the nations’ population, nor are we in areas that Blacks can counter-act those ills that afflict Black Communities."
 
"So Mitt, if the very best you can do is, FIND MY FATHER AND MAKE HIM MARRY MY MOTHER?, if that is your answer to BLACK ON BLACK CRIME, be prepared to write off 13% of the nation with that answer.”
 

Everybody, let me tell you, Bill Cosby’s message was for the Black Man and Black Woman to invest and or take back their own communities. There were no extra seats for WHITES to jump on and ride that ride. Nowhere in Cosby’s book (and let me remind you of the title again, BLACK PEOPLE, COME ON) did it propose that Black on Black crime is solely due to single parenting. And yes Mr. Romney, you just blamed BLACK MOTHERS FOR THE REASON WHY THERE IS BLACK ON BLACK CRIME. Those same Black Mothers that in the days of YORE were your Mammies and Maids raising your children and most likely you as well. “Man Mitt, you fucked up, stutter and all.”

IT WAS A RACE BAITING QUESTION

On the real, I didn’t think that that question was appropriate for the debate since before Black people can ask that question, one would have to have had done the work to clean it up collectively (which I personally feel we haven’t quite done yet) but there is White on White Crime which we hear very little of unless its WHITE COLLAR CRIME, Asian on Asian Crime (which exist but again we see and hear very little of it), Latin on Latin Crime (which is the double feature after the Black on Black Crime on the News), Black on Black Crime which is the opening News of the day but when there are People of Color on White Crime – that is Front Page stuff, the ratings buster, the how did the system break down stuff, the call in the experts and analyst and help us understand this stuff. its the FEAR STUFF.

If I had to do a YouTube debate question, I would have asked with my White Friend standing beside me, “To all of the candidates, what would you do to prevent BLACK ON WHITE CRIME?” Now that would be real news to talk about THE NEXT DAY.

HERE COMES THE MOB

That now brings me to Rudy Giuliani, AMERICA’S MAYOR. America’s Mayor? Where the HELL was I when they had that vote? I have so much to say about this guy but I can only drop the words in small doses. He’s like constipation, you know its coming, you feel the pain, and you can’t wait until it gets dropped so you can move on with life. What BURNS MY BUTT WITH HIM …. With this one, he actually said, "I REDUCED CRIME IN NYC?"

He did? Last I checked, New York City had gone through it largest economic boom (not with him at the helm, do anyone remember the BLACK NYC MAYOR David Dikins?) in YEARS. The whole NATION was going through the same BOOM. When people are working, they don’t have time to participate in crime petty or any other. City budgets were balanced, after-school programs were working, and non-profit organizations as well as community services were at an all time high because people had extra funds to donate as well as extra time. Parents had more time to spend with family (traditional and non-traditional), people traveled and more Black people became property owners, business developers and college graduates than any other time than ever before. Now this can also be said for all other ethics groups but when the economy radically changed (the Bush Years), Black Americans were hit the hardest.

So lets give the man his PROPERS.

Yes, Giuliani did bring down crime and took guns off the streets of New York City BUT he was also busting up the mafia and all those underground organizations that were bringing in the drugs and guns and flooding Black and Latin communities with the stuff in the first place. Many of the people busted were friends of Giuliani and his father who was a failed “Sopranos wannabe”. So in essence, HE ratted out and busted his friends for political gain.

OMG!!!, GULIANI DECREASED CRIME IN HARLEM BY 80%. ???

OK THIS IS COMMON SENSE TIME.

If Giuliani brought crime down in Harlem by 80% that would mean that only 20% of all Harlem citizens didn’t break the law or were law abiding. YOU DO THE MATH. I think he sat in too many showings of AMERICAN GANGSTER staring Denzel Washington or maybe it was NEW JACK CITY.

You have to remember, Rudy Guliani's background is law enforcement, better yet a policeman with a brain. he was able to rise through the ranks as a Prosecutor with all the tactics and Grey's Anatomy of urban guerrilla warfare. If you are not familiar with urban policing or a military background you'll miss the tone and tenor of the Guliani bravado. As Harlemites, they have heard it all too long from too many people. They have him to straight when it comes to the Guliani Agenda.

Giuliani reputation is that of a bully and an idiot and it scares me that AMERICA isn’t smart enough to catch on that he’s also a con man. Or are they?
 

One thing I know about bullies, idiots and con men is once confronted with a Bigger Bully, a Smarter Person, and the REAL PEOPLE IN POWER they become children and fearful and just follow the status quo. Does this type of LEADERSHIP SOUND FAMILIAR? -- Shazza Nikim on "The Wisdom of Power."

Back to the BLACK ON BLACK CRIME question, Black people already know what the long-term solutions are. The effort has to come from within without outside interference. Especially from those that represent the Republican Party today. Malcolm X said it perfectly, “WHITES CAN HELP US BUT THEY CAN'T JOIN US”. This might sound racist to those on the outside of the community but it is 100% true. You can’t love your brother until you first love yourself first. WHITES in America can take care of themselves, BLACKS on the other hand need to accept that WHITES don't, can't, shouldn't and will not take care of their communities. Generations have witnessed this and when Generation X wake into their consciousness, they too will find that they are disconnected from the American Reality. If there is any disconnect, first find out where that break is with yourself and then mend it. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but it doesn't have to be seamless, it just has to hold together. The Brother in a YouTube response I posted below made me applaud because he gets it and he knows that the amount of work it takes isn’t that much when dealing with "IDLE CRIME" in his community. In essence, if He Builds It, They Will Come.