THE STOP WATCH IS AT 15 SECONDS

"15 Seconds Before The Wake-up Call" This is when (some) Black folk are just waking up to learn that they've missed the opportunities presented to them because they were sleeping for 7yrs. Others are going to sleep until the last second and then the few left over will wake-up 15 seconds after that and will be LATE altogether.

At this point, any criticism of the President and First Lady is moot. Their job is done. The two have done everything that they can and were allowed to do, with and without the support of the (Black) people. The psychological reality is that America will soon go back to its traditional Social, Economic, Racial, Spiritual and Judicial business of the Pre-Obama era and Post-Black influence within the White House, the result will shock the National senses. A near decade of Hope to soon become a new decade of crust in waking eyes asking the question, "What did I miss?" The last time this type of national cultural/psychological energy occurred was in the 10 year transition from the Civil Rights era of the late 60's early 70's to 1982 (the post-Carter to Regan years). Alfonzo Rachel is only capitalizing on the building fear/disconnect of an Obama-less World and like others, the social commentary rants will become the new trend as we count down the last seconds of President Obama's term. Picking and collecting gripes for these people has more to do with self-criticism and a lack of accomplishment of not doing during the Obama's Presidency than Barak Obama himself. Life and History coming full circle, these type of videos/criticisms are exactly like the videos/criticisms that were thrown at both the President and First Lady when Obama first announced he was going to run for POTUS. Taking a page from a previous article published (DON'T PUT WORDS IN MICHELLE'S MOUTH - Feb. 20, 2008) this is just more of the same posturing for relevance as we move into a Post-Obama World where careers were made and broken because of it.

Alfonzo Rachel, like many others have made a living, or an Internet liking, for condemning Black folk on their lack of action within the politics of America, lack of influence, progress, the limited fundamental shifts needed to bring the "Hope" and "Change" proposed by President Obama. The easy and more sensational aspect of his and many others (i.e Byron Allen) career is based upon "pointing fingers", inflated theories of the extreme attitudes of the Boule and Niggaism. Using common script

and language of modern media to expound on the insignificant, Alfonzo Rachel doesn't touch on the very basics of why Black folk have and will miss the mark come the "zero count". At no real point did African-Americans collectively move beyond the pulling of the "voting lever" and moved beyond the first lesson of Voting 101, which was to hold those voted for ACCOUNTABLE after the vote. Nowhere and no one among the many Pundits, Social and Civil leadership or even the handful of Black Super Rich made the charge simple and clear that voting was the easy part, what was needed next was in chapter two of the book of VOTING 101. Those that did the homework had and are passing (i.e. Womens Rights, Gay Rights, Immigrant Rights, Tea Party Rights, Senior Citizen Rights, Gun Rights, Animal Rights). Those that thought they were moving beyond this point, were just researching on why they weren't and thus avoided the true test altogether; being Active.

Michelle Obama and her Commencement Address was very insignificant to the overall Big Picture. This is the real truth Alfonzo was using in distracting his many YouTube followers from. It is not about Michelle Obama. It never was. Its about Alfonzo Rachel's lack of real and authentic contributions to Black America since 2008 and his report card results come 2016. Funny. He actually quoted an African-American Elder scholar about this very same thing. The only problem was, instead of using it against Michelle Obama, the words were actually meant for him.

STEPS TO BECOMING A GENIUS

 At a fundamental level, this is how we begin to fix what is broken in our community, specifically with young talented Men who fall between the cracks of our broken educational system. Too often, Black boys are ostracized and profiled as not interested in learning when the obvious is that the standards and methods for learning are outdated for the advanced minds of contemporary youth. Children embracing the "other" America, the one that is easily attainable by shortcuts, guile and imitation, a lifestyle where it requires those of weak resolution and determination to be rewarded, kills all chance for innovation, true creativity, collective work and responsibility to self-determination as a society. To be better than all Peoples as well has creating a legacy much like royalty to pass down like wealth and pride, we need our talented to be elevated, matured and ready to be better than the generation before them. We need to consolidate our geniuses.

 How to become a genius:

1. Consider yourself being a genius and act like one in every moment of your life and you will very soon feel that you are one.
2. Work out your time in such a way that every hour is properly utilized and put aside as much time as possible on becoming better.
3. Established a good skill on recognizing data that is valuable and vital.
4. Learn something new and valuable each day.
5. In anything you read or observe, make sure you understand it. Clear up the words you don’t understand and ask or look up anything at the moment to understand observations which were not understood. Never pass by something you don’t understand.
6. Carefully choose a profession in which you earn your money for living and at the same time enables you to enhance your skill and abilities.
7. Read a lot and carefully select which literature to read in which to gain the most valuable and vital data.
8. Evaluate, look and make conclusions on anything you read and observe.
9. Expect much more of yourself than what is expected from others.
10. Help people around you to the best of your ability and establish friends who can support you if needed.
11. Be very self-confident and certain but on the same time be open to listen, look and reevaluate to make new conclusions.
12. Know that no matter how good or skilled you are you can always become better and never cease to become more skillful in anything you have selected to do.
13. The true genius knows that it is not enough for himself/herself having reached sky high levels – he has to take the rest of mankind with him up and has dedicated his life in making it happen.
14. Never refer to yourself or others as being "smart". Intelligence and Smart are polar opposites in meaning, intent and potential and should be considered an insult.
15. Leave a record of your evolution for others to follow and or continue. This is your gift to humanity.

As defined:

Genius - an exceptional natural capacity of intellect, especially as shown in creative and original work in science, art, music, etc.

Intelligence - capacity for learning, reasoning, understanding, and similar forms of mental activity; aptitude in grasping truths, relationships, facts, meanings, etc. The faculty for understanding. Evolution in aptitude and potential.

Talent - a capacity for achievement or success; ability

Smart - having or showing quick intelligence or ready mental capability, socially elegant; sophisticated or fashionable. Witty.

THERE GOES THAT CHURCH AGAIN

You know, I am hard on comedians that cross the line. Since the question is always, “Who determines the line and where is it placed for crossing?” is as much a matter of personal opinion as beauty is for a Mother pretending her ugly baby is cute. Now that was supposed to be funny but for those Mothers out there with ugly babies, its personal and I am sorry.


You see, for saying something like that, and “Me” not being a comedian, I’d have to apologize for offending people with slighted feelings. As much as some people would think that was funny (and some of you are still laughing) it isn’t right to place judgment on people. Call it Karma, call it respect, call it the uniqueness and variety that make up Humanity, you often get back whatever energy that you put out in the Universe although I have yet to see many comedians get back in “spades” what they put out there for laughter – unless you are Flava Flav. Again, that was a joke.

So what’s the big deal about what is funny? Some would say to do that you need to have a license to be funny, a track record for knowing when and what to say or "timing", a PhD in the area of the Punch line, a working knowledge in being quick on your feet. Like the thousands of people who audition for American Idol each year, we get to look at them all and shake our heads and say, “Oh no she didn’t just sing that? Why?”

We get hit hard with the “Slippage of the Lippage” (I just made that up so you all better pay me if you try to use is as a new catch phrase like Billery or Bradjolina) and when Non-Comedians try to be funny (i.e. politicians or your drunk Uncle Tommy) the results can be often damaging. We all remember the "Macaca" scandal by ex-Senator George Allen of Virginia and his bid to be “funny”. His attempt cost him his seat in Washington DC and opened the door for a relatively unknown competitor to waltz into a relatively easy win.

Even comedians can “cross the line” of Political Correctness. Cross it so far that even fellow comedians can distance himself or herself in a “HOT OBAMA REV. WRIGHT MINUTE” (again another joke). Last I heard, Michael Richard, the fallen from grace comedian famous for his role as “Cosmo Kramer” on Seinfeld, is now sitting on top of mountains calling on his Higher Power to get his “chi” back because somewhere between being funny and calling a room full of Black folk the “N-word”, he lost his MIND. And let us not forget the “Nappy-Headed Hos" and "Jiggaboo” comments from Don Imus. Although this was washed over the media as the sensation for the moment, the hurt still lingers in the halls of funny enough to see that the numbers of those that aren’t laughing are more than those laughing. In a Blog posting entitled “Punk Ass Damon Wayans”, I talked about how in his bid to be funny on the couch of The View, Damon Wayans evoked the Nappy Headed Hos comment and tried to justify its validity as a piece of Creative Comedy on a Daytime Talk Show created by a Woman, for Women and hosted by Women. With the couch shared by three other Comedians, his ability to escape intact was a miracle at best, BUT what was most important was that in his comments, there was no TRUTH to his justification. His time spent on the couch only came off as a desperate need to make a few dozen people begin a chain of uncomfortable giggles thus giving room and validation for others to follow in concert.

“It has been historically noted that the Fool, the Trickster, the Jester and other similar characters were always walking the line of social and political correctness. Even today we honor the kid that can make us laugh as the Class Clown. And that’s who comedians are, Clowns; people who wear masks to hide the truthfulness of both their humanity and ours. And in our laughter he subconsciously laughs at our strengths and weakness, the beauty and our ugliness. BUT you have to be funny with an underlying message to elevate society because that is ‘ART’.” – The Poet: Shazza Blog (November 23, 2007)

We now go back to the “Whats” of funny/satire vs. offensive/politically incorrect in society. It is safe to say that America, as a culture, allows comedy to dance on the line of acceptability and once you begin peeling back a few layers, deep within the cultures, funny is considered a “Blank Thang” with each ethnic group filling in the “blank”.

The cable channel Comedy Central has an array of ethnically diverse comedians that universally are accepted by everyone. You rarely, if ever, hear people say they do not like a comedian because they are a particular "Race" but more so because they are either Funny or Not. I would almost place bets that Comedy Central is the MOST ETHNICALLY DIVERSE NETWORK CHANNEL in existence for its purpose. You have Black, White, Asian, Latino, Native American, Old, Young, Men, Women, Blind, Handicap, Gay, Lesbian, Straight, Overweight, Overly Thin, The Beautiful, The Visually Challenged, Arab, German, Jew, Muslim, Atheist, The Political, The Anarchist, Red Necks, Rated G to Rated PG R and all making fun of you and all the socio-political groups that exist. Actually it is prerequisite to make fun of yourself before others. It’s in the "Official Rule Book of Comedians"; “Thou Shall Make Fun of No Man or Woman Before Not Making Fun of Thine Self.” So when you have a comedian come on stage ranting about others without first talking about themselves, we get a since of uneasiness and eventually reserve our laughter for someone a little more talented since this BUSTER is a HATER. And even with bad comics, there is always that “Shield of Anonymity” that protects the comedian from being called a Terrorist, Anarchist, Ex-Patriot, Racist, Sexist or any host of Anti-American sentiments.

“You see when you consider yourself an “Artist” you create for yourself a ‘Shield of Anonymity’. You pull this infamous philosophy provided by the Constitution and its FREEDOM OF SPEECH. Sadly to say, the Racist of our nation do it equivalently and or in worst degrees practicing the same rhetoric.” – The Poet: Shazza Blog (November 23, 2007)

So here we are again with Rev. Jeremiah Wright back in the spotlightt although not as front and center as we’d like. This time, the Man with the satire in question is another GUEST speaker of Trinity United Church of Christ, Father Michael Pfleger. Now I will be honest, I don’t know a thing about the man so I can’t promote myself to a place high enough to throw stones BUT I will say this much, from what I know and saw (in the sound bytes flooding the media like a monsoon in the Pacific Ocean) HE IS FUNNY. He’s funny because it’s a BLACK THANG and I wouldn’t expect Non-Black Folks (maybe some Brown Folk) to get it.

“I won't lie, I watched the Father Pfleger and found it funny, almost MAD TV/In Livin' Color funny but I will also be honest and say what Rev. Michael Pfleger preached (is) what and how BLACK FOLK think and talk behind closed doors everyday about this election so for Black people to be up in arms and pointing fingers at the MEDIA, we all need to OWN UP and Keep It Real. The way Black folk talked, voted, turned on Black politicians, Super Delegates, Tavis Smiley, Julian Bond and many others we need to watch out for all those stones we are dropping in the Glass House.” – The Poet: Shazza on Jack and Jill Politics (The Obamas Leave Trinity)

The reality of those not culturally connected to the stage in which Father Michael Pfleger spoke on would easily sit “stone faced” and “pruned” over the comments while Black folk laughed, bounce and cried tears of uncontrolled laughter on par with a SANDMAN SHUFFLE off the stages of the Apollo Theater. Most of America isn’t remotely knowledgeable of the going ons of what takes place within a Black Church and will not get the Theatric component. "Fair or Fierce", Black Churches sway, swoon, dance, cry, become inspired, laugh and yes, have opinions about Politics and Politicians. STRONG opinions. Black Churches can be ruthless in its HONESTY because it is the only place where Truth (regardless of one’s spiritual perspective) can be spoken without condemnation. The Church can allow for personal emotions as well as opinions to wear on one's sleeve for an entire community to share. Or so we (Obama) thought. Knowing all of this, we still have to ask the question, why was Father Pfleger funny?

If all the World’s a stage, then for Black folk that stage represents the Church; which for its people is the center of the Universe. What happens in the World and beyond is explained clearly and colorfully every Sunday on this stage. So why was Father Pfleger funny? Because on the Black Church stage, he had a license to BE funny. It is part of the formula which Black folk have embraced. For Black folk, it is human to laugh just as much as it is to sing and dance and cry and love and the whole range of human experiences held together with prayer. Some may find it difficult and even a bit alien to be part of a church that does not sit quietly and reflect but Black folk are active participants during Sunday services. Outsiders may think that Father Pfleger was pandering to the members of Trinity BUT he actually part of the norm of its expectations. As this Nation changes (really as it begins to open a book and or get over its “fear” of avoiding dialogue with people different from his or herself) you will find that the Black Church is traditionally NOT A QUIET PLACE or a place to wear masks.

I have watched as Jay Leno, David Letterman, The Daily Show, Dennis Miller, The Colbert Show, Jimmy Kimmel and others have begun their shows, dedicated whole monologues to ridicule Politicians more so Bill and Hillary Clinton for more than 20 years. Some have “crossed the line” of good taste and other jokes that are timelessly hilarious. The difference is that as a Religious figure, you are not suppose to be licensed to be funny, at NO ONE TIME EVER. Even if within the comedy, there is truth, it is taboo to place it, state it, do it from the pulpit. Not for the Black Church. Here, you use whatever tools needed to get the message of Truth out. If laughter bring you close to your truth, than so be it, you use it like a tool for building the gateway to the Lord. To ignore a sense of humor is a bold example for ignoring the grand design of human expression because even GOD has a sense of humor.

Am I saying what Father Michael Pfleger said was right? Well being me, and my political and social views on People of Color in America, I plead the FIFTH, but for being funny I would have been in the mix of laughing patrons. NOW if he was in any other church, speaking before a college graduation or at a Political rally my option would change but in the Black Church … I’m not so offended. I actually would like to have had an encore performance though, possibly with John McCain, George Bush, Condoleezza Rice or anyone with embedded rhetoric needing to get “Churched” on Sunday.

HOW SEVEN YEAR OLD BOYS SING

Stick for stab
Jumpin grab
Getting the fuk out
Bitch muthafuk forget the shout
Got my piece
Bought not lease
Taggin
Mackin
It’s da real for real
Black all you know da deal

Flip bip an' pow
I got da raw shyt now
Cumin hard
I got yo sweet card
Slow whine down on me
I got da bling for you baby
Turn da ass around
And da around
Breakin yo back
Big Black yo Mac attack

Get wit my program
Oh damn
Like a rubba check
My Ho on deck
You betta be ready
Point yo shyt steady
My Glock on automatic
Fanatic
Nomadic
Top of da 9th Homerun Addict
I’m gonna bat it
Mad Hat it

I crush it like Hannibal
Man handled
Burnin you flammable
I got that work fo you
Unmoveable
Own da room on you
Titan true-able
Beyond liable
The Black Buck
Mack truck
Heavy Load drive
The Lord of light alive
Prison proof
Raisin da roof

I don’t play
I don’t play
Nigga I don’t play
Fuck yall Niggas
Get off my tip
an' go away
I da true Nigga
Multi-Million Figga
Breakin yo back
Big Black yo Mac attack

How Seven Year Olds Sing by Shazza Nakim
Copyright © by Peace of Mind Publishings and with permission by Shazza Nakim

THE POLITICALLY CORRECT NIGGA

Don't say African, say Slave.
Don't say Slave, say Nigger.
Don't say Nigger, say Negro.
Don't say Negro, say Colored.
Don't say Colored, say Black.
Don't say Black, say Pan-American.
Don't say Pan-American, say Afro-American.
Don't say Afro-American, say African-American.
Don't say African-American, say Nigga.
Don’t say Nigga, call me the Jigga
Jigga this my Nigga that, say it Politically Correct.

Correct me if you may.
Is there something wrong with what I have to say.
To think my essence is still the same,
Yet my true being existing in a hollow frame.
Not knowing what to be called
When I enter a room filled with gasping breaths of people awed.
Whistled and jeered,
Shunned and revered.
And all in all I still do not know my name,
Oh mother and father, what a crying shame.
Who is to blame? Me. Myself. I
Really do not know if my existence is but a lie
When my pictures and books do not open up to tell me.
Not showing me what my skin is suppose to be.
So says philosophy, psychology, history, sociology
All of which painting my world in shades of mythology.

I may never know why I am king no more.

The Politically Correct Nigga by Shazza Nakim
Copyright © by Peace of Mind Publishings and with permission by Shazza Nakim

THE THEORY OF A LOST GENERATION by Phillip Jackson

There is no longer a need for dire predictions, hand-wringing, or apprehension about losing a generation of Black boys. It is too late. In education, employment, economics, incarceration, health, housing, and parenting, we have lost a generation of young Black Men. The question that remains is will we lose the next two or three generations, or possibly every generation of Black boys hereafter to the streets, negative media, gangs, drugs, poor education, unemployment, father absence, crime, violence and death.

Most young Black Men in the United States don't graduate from high school. Only 35% of Black male students graduated from high school in Chicago and only 26% in New York City, according to a 2006 report by The Schott Foundation for Public Education. Only a few Black boys who finish high school actually attend college, and of those few Black boys who enter college, nationally, only 22% of them finish college.

Young Black male students have the worst grades, the lowest test scores, and the highest dropout rates of all students in the country. When these young Black men don't succeed in school, they are much more likely to succeed in the nation's criminal justice and penitentiary system. And it was discovered recently that even when a young Black man graduates from a U.S. college, there is a good chance that he is from Africa, the Caribbean or Europe, and not the United States.

Black men in prison in America have become as American as apple pie. There are more Black men in prisons and jails in the United States (about 1.1 million) than there are Black men incarcerated in the rest of the world combined. This criminalization process now starts in elementary schools with Black male children as young as six and seven years old being arrested in staggering numbers according to a 2005 report, Education on Lockdown by the Advancement Project.

The rest of the world is watching and following the lead of America. Other countries including England, Canada, Jamaica, Brazil and South Africa are adopting American social policies that encourage the incarceration and destruction of young Black men. This is leading to a world-wide catastrophe. But still, there is no adequate response from the American or global Black community.

Worst of all is the passivity, neglect and disengagement of the Black community concerning the future of our Black boys. We do little while the future lives of Black boys are being destroyed in record numbers. The schools that Black boys attend prepare them with skills that will make them obsolete before, and if, they graduate. In a strange and perverse way, the Black community, itself, has started to wage a kind of war against young Black men and has become part of this destructive process.

Who are young Black women going to marry? Who is going to build and maintain the economies of Black communities? Who is going to anchor strong families in the Black community? Who will young Black boys emulate as they grow into men? Where is the outrage of the Black community at the destruction of its Black boys? Where are the plans and the supportive actions to change this? Is this the beginning of the end of the Black people in America?

The list of those who have failed young Black men includes our government, our foundations, our schools, our media, our Black churches, our Black leaders, and even our parents. Ironically, experts say that the solutions to the problems of young Black men are simple and relatively inexpensive, but they may not be easy, practical or popular. It is not that we lack solutions as much as it is that we lack the will to implement these solutions to save Black boys. It seems that government is willing to pay billions of dollars to lock up young Black men, rather than the millions it would take to prepare them to become viable contributors and valued members of our society.

Please consider these simple goals that can lead to solutions for fixing the problems of young Black men:

Short term

1. Teach all Black boys to read at grade level by the third grade and to embrace education
2. Provide positive role models for Black boys
3. Create a stable home environment for Black boys that includes contact with their fathers
4. Ensure that Black boys have a strong spiritual base
5. Control the negative media influences on Black boys
6. Teach Black boys to respect all girls and women

Long term

1. Invest as much money in educating Black boys as in locking up Black men
2. Help connect Black boys to a positive vision of themselves in the future
3. Create high expectations and help Black boys live into those high expectations
4. Build a positive peer culture for Black boys
5. Teach Black boys self-discipline, culture and history
6. Teach Black boys and the communities in which they live to embrace education and life-long learning

More Facts

- 3 7.7% of Black men in the United States are not working. 47.0% of Black men in Illinois are not working. (2006 Joint Economic Committee Study chaired by Senator Charles E. Schumer (D-NY))

- 5 8% of Black boys in the United States do not graduate from high school. 65% of Black boys in Chicago do not graduate from high school. (2006 Report from the Schott Foundation for Public Education)

- Almost 70% of Black children are born into female, single parent households (2000 Census Report)

- About 1 million Black men in the United States are in prison (U.S. Justice Department)

By: Phillip Jackson

SAGGIN' SPELLED BACKWARDS IS .......

My best friend called me the other day to talk about one of those moments where you need to talk to another person SANE ENOUGH to find balance. Well this day my friend called and asked if I had seen the recent Dr. Phil Show. Before the pause, I immediately replied that I don’t watch Dr. Phil. To be honest I have never seen an entire show and had the desire to. Personally it's something about “Dr. Phil” that’s annoying. Maybe its his voice or the judgmental way he talks to his guests (as a therapist, throwing judgment at people seems a bit unprofessional and contradictory to your intentions for helping). The show that got my good friend in a huff was entitled, "THE BAGGY PANTS DEBATE" which I thought would have been misleading since BAGGY PANTS are not the same as SAGGIN' PANTS. One is a fashion Design and the other is a fashion statement, but I'll get into that meaning and differences a little later in this post.

Anywho, I’m on the phone when my friend asks, "How do you feel about the passing of a law to arrest kids with SAGGIN’ pants”? I took a long pause and a deep breath because I knew that based upon how I answered, the conversation would rank up there with GOD and POLITICS. So after looking for my inner voice on the subject I answered, “I’m for it. I hope they arrest every last one of them.”

Now it was my turn to get THE response, which I knew shocked my friend. “Why would you say something like that? You know that the law will arrest Black kids disproportionately to White kids?”

Still thinking about how I was going to respond I said, "Yeah. I know. That ain't news. You asked how do I feel about the making of the Law, not the people who are MOST effected." While getting deep into the conversation I began to think about the last time I talked about the effects of SAGGIN' in communities and its perception to others and ourselves. I looked back at this blog posting I made a while back. This is a little bit of it:

Cop Frisk Boy With SAGGIN Jeans - Entry for November 01, 2007

This Video was floating around the Internet with the caption "GAY COP GOT A TASTE 4 A FIGGA"

On so many levels, the caption piss'ed me off, but its a daily thing to confront ignorance so I take a deep breath and count to 10 and open the email. Anywho .... I take a look at the Video and here you have a young black boy standing, hands above his head being frisked by a White police officer. So I ask myself, "What makes this Video so popular"? I guess, in my opinion, it is suppose to be HOMO-EROTIC with this officer frisking the kid and in his attempt to see if the person had any drugs or weapons, he touched the kid's penis and asks, "What is this?" Either the kid had a hard-on or it was the fact that his pants were hanging off his behind so low that the officer couldn't do anything within the standards of frisking but touch the kids private parts. If anyone whom have been frisked can tell you, even well dressed, you will get situations of a brushed hand on the privates. So its not unusual.

I know some people may have mixed emotions on this, mostly funny, but I didn't laugh. All I could think was, "This Mofo dressed like a fuckin' Hobo is standing up here getting stripped and treated like a criminal." The whole frisking and touching, and excuses/apologies meant nothing. Its almost embarrassing to watch. To think that its circulating as eye-candy and a Gay thing also bothers me because at first glance it isn't .... unless this kid was stopped at a location frequented by Gay patrons either looking for or selling their bodies for sex? Either way, its hard to come down on the officer when there are so many things WRONG before you even acknowledge the frisking by the police.

Was this a Gay Police Officer trying to "cop" a feel? Does it really matter? Why are we even giving this that much energy when the real question is ... "Where is that boy's father?"

So now that you have a little background on how I feel about the subject, I answered back, "You know, looking at this from the perspective of a parent, an adult Black man fighting daily against negative stereotypes, and blessed with Common Sense, I believe that if the parents don’t feel that having their kids dressed dysfunctionally, the community not stepping up and making a statement that wearing one’s pants down to their knees is not socially acceptable and the only explanation for dressing this way is because its Hip-Hip, then I can see how Moral Law unenforced naturally evolves into a Social Law."

Of course we went back and forth with the Constitution and Freedom of Expression and I retorted back that Freedom of Expression covers those areas or Protests, Verbal and Written Speech, Art, and Religion. Since dress can be considered under personal expression, it should not be allowed so far as it fringes upon the common society standard or moral behavior UNLESS it is for the purpose to OFFEND AS A MEANS OF PROTEST. Like burning BRAS, burning FLAGS , Re-enactments or growing your HAIR long. In these cases, your have a need to express and Challenge the status quo and with the ending of the protest of expression, you move freedoms forward by challenging an UNJUST LAW. Prior to the new community laws being passed, there was no LAW existing that banned SAGGIN.

Since the NO ONE COMES BETWEEN ME AND MY CALVIN ads in the 1990’s, societies have allowed for the freedom to show the BRAND NAME of one’s underwear. The issue is, those labels now come accompanied with the totality of one’s ASS and thighs and from the front, “a little NECK”. (For those unaware of the term “a little neck”, it means the showing of the top of the groan or shaft of the penis. This is equivalent to a Woman showing cleavage in a low cut blouse or dress.)

In my many interviews with youth on the “whys” for SAGGIN I only get the general responses, “I like the way I look”, “I’m down with the Hip-Hop Nation”, “This is how my Boys roll” and my favorite, “This is how you are suppose to wear them.” That last response is also highly JUSTIFIED by the parents since they seemed to think they would be condemned or punished for suggesting to their children that wearing pants properly is NORMAL. Since the Fellahs are wearing the boxers, the Sistahs going SAGGIN substitute the THONG making the imagery (much like the Prison Culture of its origin) of EASY ACCESS a visual reality.

So my friend and I were going back and forth about Women wearing Sports Bras in public and I responded that they were also banded until WOMEN PROTESTED. Now a woman can walk up and down the street all day with MASHED BOBBIES. I brought up the fact that I personally would not have a problem with women walking down the street TOPLESS but that won’t happen. In a PROTEST women can go topless in designated areas so now the BREAST PATROL hang out down on the beaches of Sandy Hook, New Jersey. Again, there was a PROTEST to make that happen. There was the fad of wearing underwear over the clothes pushed upon susceptible suburban girls by Madonna. That cam and done. Recall MC Hammer Pants? The Biker-Short that hijacked Men’s Testicles and displayed them for the World to see. As much as I liked those days (I got plenty of HOOKUPS back then), that came and left like all FADS but the SAGGIN stayed. Not only did it stay, it got more reveling and more crass. So if SAGGIN isn’t a fad, as everyone believes, then it has to be a PROTEST. And if SAGGIN is part of some GRAND PROTEST, what is it. Do the kids even know? As an OLD FART I may not know but I do care. I am tired of Black kids in any generation dressing like CLOWNS. There was a time when Black dress was that to be admired but like all things Urban, it has been dumbed down and turned into spectacle or comical. There was a time Urban Gear had Black folk dressing like futuristic Space-walkers with wet hair (the Gerri-Curl), then we evolved into walking rainbows in circulation-cutting attire, then on to walking clowns in Bold Stripes and Poka-dots. For a brief moment we were wearing clothes BACKWARDS (Remember KrisKross). Once fashion became more militant in dress, almost OVERNIGHT the Po' Dirty Boy and Ex-Con look became standard and stayed. Now you have the kids holding up their pants in order to walk across the street ignoing belts and belt loops to keep them up. As a mental game, I try to guess how many times a SAGGER pulls up their pants between blocks. My best guess was 18 times (remember New York City has long blocks). I guess the the real question for me with urban fashion is, WHAT'S NEXT? So does society. If you take the evolution of SAGGIN, the next stage is either No Underwear and pants down to the knees or No Pants and only wearing long designer underwear. "WAIT, aren't the kids wearing pajama bottoms and long white t-shirts already?"

So if locking up a few thousand kids (BLACK kids because we all know that they will be arrested disproportionately to WHITES) then maybe, JUST MAYBE the PROTESTING will begin to define the REASONS why SAGGIN exists and why the FAD stayed longer than any other in America. Just Maybe we will finally make the argument clear for not only the community BUT the kids walking around like SHEEP …… my bad PENGUINS.

DEFINING "Superman Dat Ho"

I was in a situation where the television was watching me when a CNN Reporter was talking about the phenomenon of Soulja Boy. "Crank dat" was the topic, how the Boy's music is#1 in downloads, ring tones, instructional videos, how cheerleaders are doing it at football games and etc. The Reporter when on about how fun and exciting Soulja Boy was and how he's a role model for future youth musicians.

Doing my usual research online and fell upon this article about Soulja Boy and how lyrics reflect the commonalities in Youth Culture. In response a young man replied to the online discussion with the following comments. Before I judged, I had to step back a bit and look at the BIG picture and examine if in my youth would my friends or I would have done what this person suggested by decree of Soulja Boy. Although I personally would not have done this act, I'd have to say that even in the enlightenment of my generation, there would be a percentage that would have, its just the actual numbers I am at a lost at confirming. I then looked back at that CNN Report and thought as well, in all her praise, she never broke down this little fact in her presentation, no mention about the lyrics BUT much praise to the BEAT. Interesting don't you think? Here is the online response of this kid on Soulja Boy:

ANONYMOUS AUTHOR: "So here's the deal. Most dudes (myself included) has been in the situation when you've been trying all night to sleep with a certain young lady. Y'all have been messing around for hours and you've tried everything from "I'll still respect you in the morning" to "Just let me put the head in" but she keeps shutting you down hard like a faulty car trunk. Well, according to our songwriter/rapper Soldija Boy, now's the time to give up and "Superman Dat Ho"!!! I'll try to keep this as clean as possible for those of you who read this at work. So basically, you let her fall asleep and you commence to "take things into your own hands", you know, make it a party for one! Hopefully you catch my drift by now. You then "release" on her back while she's sleeping...Next, you take the sheets and cover her up with your little soldiers still on her back. What happens next is actually the funny part! Throughout the night, your liquid love will dry and wind up sticking the sheet to that lovely lady's back. When she awakens the next morning, she'll stand up with a sheet stuck to her back like a cape! My friend, you have just Supermanned dat ho!!! LOL LOL LOL It don't get any better than that. I will say that I've never done it but, I can't front, I kinda want to now LOL LOL!!! She has a cape!!! LMBAO! Are you kidding me?!?! Even funnier is that, I came across this little jewel of information cuz my boy B-Hop found out from his teenage cousin! The dude, Soldja Boy, who sings this song is 16!!! What the hell is going on with youth! In the words of Jay-Z,..."I'm afraid for the future…" i AM

SO GOING TO TRY THIS OUT !!!"

GETTING MY MENTAL FOOTING ON

I walk down the streets where I live and it takes every bit of my spiritual energy to get through my day. I honestly think I need my own private island somewhere far. I find my patience with people is getting shorter by the day.

People.

Really its ignorant people. Not ignorant rudeness, its more in a sense that I run into Ghetto Acting Folks and Clueless Privileged White Folks more and more with the numbers growing, its more like the lack of people even trying to move towards getting better with evolving beyond their assumed limitations. And when you do find something that just might be a ray of hope -- BLAM !!!! A freakin pile of shyt in front of you.

Today my friend told me about this new CD that I had to hear. Being a music lover I said let me check it out. Looking at the artist I wasn't quite sure because the name seemed familiar. Then I really looked closer at the package and noticed that it was Marsha Ambrosius from Floetry. I'm thinking, 'Yeah Man, this is gonna be some HOT SHYT'. Even though the CD was entitled, Neo Soul is Dead, I still looked past that and started pumpin' the tracks.

Uugh!!

Marsha Ambrosius' Neo Soul Is Dead, it was some Ghetto Stripper Pole Smelling Dirty Crotch Having, Baddest Bitch Wanna-be Female Rap Shyt. 'Ol Girl Sold Out. I get it .... Neo Soul is Dead because it takes too much effort to be creative and Marsha Ambrosius wants to get paid.

I sat back and listen to the whole CD. I contemplated keeping it for future reference but my consciousness was debating to whether keep it as "art" or "research" or to designate it as garbage since there is so much of that particular style of music out there (most of which is either collecting dust on the shelves or bootlegged 6 million ways to 1).

I kept it and put it in the "research" category. You'll find me referring to it sometime in the near future to prove a point.

What got me bugged about the CD was the fact that with the limited "conscious" music that is out there in R&B, Rap and Hip Hop, Floetry was one of those groups you could depend on when you needed to detox from the madness people call music these days. To hear Marsha Ambrosius talking about POW POW, YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE CLIT ... and other perverts messages overlapped with tacky and over used sampled beats .... I felt I had lost a dear friend and as a result, diminished my faith in music that much more. And if Marsha Ambrosius' CD is true to who she really is, then even worst, she lied to me all that time and Floetry isn't quite the art that influenced and cultivated my spiritual state of mind.

Breaking Niggaism At Its Roots - Ujima Kwanzaa 2007 and Beyond

Corporate executives hire Black people to create and cultivate Niggaism in media. This isn’t a theory or a speculation; it is in deed a fact. The Media not necessarily a Think Tank of individuals around a triangle type table with some King Arthur figure at its point, media in this case being; music, film, television, Internet and news. With many of these sources greatly consolidated into the hands of single individuals, the practice of “Niggaism” perpetuates and compromises the collectivity of quantity as oppose to the actual quality of Black culture. The practice of how many Black people will buy into to this is simple, sweet and a cheap commodity. Niggaism is a formula that people in America into the World has bought into, becoming the norm for which all others see Black people as being. We can see evidence of this in Music Video and Television Shows which centers on Black life, often in the form of comedies, local News reports where a daily dose of horrible crimes concentrate on Black Families and or Black on Black crimes, International News where the continent of Africa is a cesspool of death and disease and genocidal wars, or the traditional political and cultural debates between Black Leaders in America jocking for who shouts the loudest for the African-American cause.

You don't have committed Black adults who are in the position to dictate their images, their profits, or even their value to their communities or the world for that matter. So Blacks become subservient to the controls of an industry’s design without major influence to change or effectively challenge the status quo within the industry of Media. In essence, Blacks become bit players of a large chest board of media and capitalism. It isn't until Blacks have survived the pitfalls of the industry, if even, do they begin to understand the impact that they have globally. Lets refer to this as the Rapper Baby Daddy Effect. That is when a Rapper has children and discovers that he doesn’t want his child influenced by “HIS” art. Like all things generational, youth have no ears for elders and by the time they do, the damage is done. Chalk this up to good old fashion Marketing and Political manipulations.

That is why the old school of leaders, musicians, writers, speakers and politicians are still here and holding on to a psudo-sixties reality of People and community. Why that time period? This would be the official time when the Civil Rights movement slowed to a crawl and veered in a direction that seemed to chase the mythology of an American Dream and not the true reality that the Black presence in America is still in a state of economic slavery and there Masters are the benefactors of their ignorance and generational servitude. Too often you hear Black youth claim that the older generations don't teach and show or lead as examples but it is also equally said that the youth are selective learners and listeners. Especially if the words of what is right means to sacrifice money or fun, or being what is canonized as being the American Way of Life.

If “African-Americans” begin to think in terms of being Black as oppose to being African-American, we can begin to think globally and relate to other Black people around the world as oppose to just being American or just Niggas. That in turns would open up Black minds to see the connection between the individual to those of Africa, the Caribbean, South America and Asia. It will begin opening eyes to see that we have more in common with Latin peoples than Europeans. Latinos will then see that they are not a “race” but part of the evolution of Native Americans with cultural influences from their enslavement by Europe and forced to into servitude with their African Brothers and Sisters. That is where our commonality lies. It will also be the dismantling and break down of what is American and thus doing that, we re-write the very history that has been one-sided since the days of Columbus.

"Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility) To build and maintain our community together and make our brother’s and sister’s problems our problems and to solve them together."

BAD ASS KIDS

I love kids. I do. Really I do so I get offended when people assume that I have it in for little children. Hell, I am a kid at heart. It takes very little effort for me to spoil a child and get down on the floor and play with the same toys, games and color in the books. I like to engage children to see where their minds go, how they work and determine if they have the insight for great things or do I label them "special" and give them the "tard" card. Its that teacher aspect in me to challenge the mind and spirit of all the people I become engaged with. Often adults (mostly parents) complain that I am a spoiler of children. Spoiling in a sense that I would take whatever troubles or stress a child have and let them forget them for a moment. Tell a child they can't have candy and guess what, there is candy in the kids pocket. Can't have the Playstation? Guess who has Playstation for their birthday? I can honestly say that in my youth, I have had some very happy moments and I hold on to them like Angles hold the word of God. With uncles and older cousins, neighbors and grandparents that saw that as a child, I listened to my family, did my house work, did well in school and overall respected my place as a child, my reward to outsiders may have been seen as spoils, but I saw them as rewards for being a decent child.

My child raising philosophy is pretty basic, "Protection and Honesty" with children is what holds children in the esteem of adults and in return we hold "Structure and Discipline" for them as a foundation for proper living. It’s in degrees that we exercise structure and discipline that we struggle with as a society. Its in that old adage of "Spare the rod spoil the child" debate is where we divide as a nation culturally. I am a "rod" person believe it or not. So where am I going with this you ask? The following events all happened within a three-day period so bare with me as I vent a little.

Day 1

Long day and my energy level wasn’t at the highest and I know I needed to be indoors as soon as possible. I watched the kids running up and down the street with their costumes on going door-to-door looking for candy and treats. Trick or Treat ringing in the air all in unison. All this activity reminding me of my youth when I knew my bag of treats will be the death of the thousands of dollars in dental work my parents put into my month but it was the one day I knew I could get high on sugar and have my parents wish they could commit me to a psyche ward for overt hyper-activity.

So I’m walking home knowing my day will soon be done so I can lock myself behind the door of my personal sanctuary when all of a sudden, POW. Right in the jaw I get hit with something hard. So hard, I grab my mouth to see if blood was drawn. As the shock of the impact begins to wear off and the pain begins, I turn to see a kid try and hide behind a tree. The kid must have been about 11 or 12. I didn’t care if he was 1 or 91 because I immediately went into a red zone. As I begin to commit a major crime, a group of kids cut me off and begged me to listen to them telling me, “It wasn’t him, it wasn’t him!”

Clearly the hiding kid, who I KNEW, hit me with a rock was the person. I still marched toward the kid knowing that I was going to beat them like Sofia beat up on Harpo in The Color Purple. When I get half way to the kid who now sees that I was an adult (better yet one of those crazy adults that have no problem going to jail for murder) he begins pleading to me that it was someone from some phantom building behind him that was throwing rocks – mind you I’m getting more piss’ed because he thinks I’m stupid now. Just as I begin the action to choking the boy my Guardian Angle snapped me out of my rage and tells me, “BABY, TODAY IS HALLOWEEN, A DAY WHICH CELEBRATES DEMONS AND DEMON LIKE BEHAVIOR. GO HOME AND GET YOUR MIND RIGHT."

So I paused, took a deep breath, looked at the boy (who was clearly in a panic) and his future Junior Mafia rug rats, and I let it go and left for home. I took a long hot shower as soon as I got in, ate a light meal and chilled in peace watching a slasher movie to release from that moment.

Day 2


There is this family that live above me. Mind you, I don’t like stereotyping people but they are from somewhere south of the boarder. Now the wife just had a baby, which by no account is a crime. The thing is, she has four kids all of which are a year apart. There is the husband who I know for fact is working two jobs, and the grandfather, old as dust. So the total number of people in their apartment is seven. Mind your, it a studio apartment that would be crowded if you only had two people living there. Since they moved in, I have had many discussions about noise and each time they shake their heads and agree to work on the problem until they close the door.

Now you recall me saying how much I like kids? Well these kids I don’t like. Not because they are kids but because their parents allows them to do whatever they want and do not listen. For a group of children less than 90 pounds combined, they move like 300-pound linebackers. These kids run, jump, drop spin, roll furniture, march, stomp, skip flip from 8 AM until 11 PM just before the father comes home.

So on this particular day these kid, possibly after O.D.’ing on candy, were Off-the-Chain. I must have knocked on the door at least 5 times asking the mother if you could control her kids. Her responses in broken English, “I try but they are hard to listen.” By my third visit I asked, “Do you want me to help you? Because I have a very good method that you can apply.” She said No.
By 8 PM, I was kicking her door. When she opened it I wanted to talk to her husband. YES I demanded to man of the house. Then Girl tried to jump bad at me saying she is sick and tired of me knocking on her door about her kids. Mind you, her kids are running around in the background writing on the walls, butt naked with food all over their face and dirty hands and feet. So then I told her she need to reign in them BAD ASS KIDS or begin looking for a new place to live because as of today, I am involving management. Then she played the, “I don’t speak English card”. And to her my response was, “But you do speak Immigration? Have your husband come see me if you have an issue with my knocking on your door.”

Now I know that was bad. I know I need to ask for forgiveness. BUT since then, it’s been quite and now I can sleep and enjoy my peace of mind.

Day 3

Had to go to the doctor. My annual check up. Again, not in the best of moods but it was going better than I had expected. So I’m in the waiting and looking to have a seat when the nurse tells me to have a seat near the door. As I get the seat, this little African kid about 4 years old decides to jump up on the chair. Not sitting but literally standing in the chair. So in my sweet voice I ask the kid, “Can I sit there please?” the kid looks at me and says, “No”.

OK. I look at the kid and then I look at the person next to the kid thinking that maybe she was his mother. Since she didn’t react I really didn’t know what to think, so I asked the kid a second time with a more firm tone of voice, “Can you get down so I can sit young man?” to which he said, “No”. And he stood there in the chair will an attitude as if he had marked the territory for ownership by peeing on the property.

“Boy if you don’t get off that damn chair I will beat your ass until you pass out! Now move before I snatch you up out the way!” I yelled at him. The kid didn’t expect that and in a moment of shock, he got down and stood across from me as I sat down in the chair. Now I can tell this was something new and unexpected but personally, I didn't care. The waiting room was quite as they all looked at me. I looked around at the others in the room and noticed that as the faces looked back toward mine, they all had a look of simple satisfaction. It then occurred to me that this kid had terrorizing everyone in the waiting room prior to my arrival but there was a fear to actively do something. I also noticed I was the only adult male in the room as well.

So I sit in the seat and begin to read a magazine when I feel this wind rush pass my face. I look up from my reading material and see this little kid swinging his fist inches in front of my face. At this moment I channeled my mother.

Now let me break from script down a little. When I was younger, my mother had a low tolerance with BAD ASS KIDS and did not have an issue with beating other peoples’ children. If the child crossed the line with profanity, vandalism, disrespect to elders, or just stepping outside a child’s place, you got beat. And if the mother had and issue, too often my mother and the other parent had at it as well. Momma didn't play. In this case, this Little Ashy Bea Bea Bush Baby from Darfur allowed my mother’s spirit to flow freely into my veins.

“Who’s kid this belongs to?” I bellowed, as I grabbed the kid by the collar. The boy’s eyes were as wide as saucers. The woman sitting next to me then grabs me and tells me that the mother is outside in the hall; and she’d go get her. She takes the little boy and sits him in a chair across from me and proceeds to get the mother. While gone, the child then begins a staring match. I was giving this kid that silent look that spoke volumes and all I thought about was seriously knowing who his father was so I could whop on his ass for busting his nut to bring this creature into existence.

The mother arrives with a dismissive attitude asking what was the problem and what did my child do to you? For which I replied back that her child had crossed a serious line with adults and you really need to address this before something happens beyond your control.

“Well did my child hit you?” she said.

“It don’t mater if he did or not, your child should know better than to raise his hand at an adult and how to behave in pubic with you here or not, especially when he thinks he can swing his fist at an adult and think there would be no consequences.” I said.

Not only was I surprised but also every adult in the waiting room when the mother’s response was, “I don’t see what the drama is all about, he’s just a baby.” She then proceeded to pack her things and left with her child.

Once she left the waiting room, the woman then got the mother from the next room (the same woman that I had initially asked if she was the kid's mother and ignored me) tells me she is a Corrections Officer for Rykers Prison and got involved because she know that if I had hit that child, she would have been forces to arrest me and she didn’t want to see that happen. (I laughed at her logic). She then continued, “Don’t worry, I’ll see him behind bars in about 8 years. Its his destiny with a mother like that.”

Soulja Boy Pissin Off A Balcony

This is why it's important to practice an "Each One Teach One" philosophy in our communities, Soulja-Boy. The more I keep on top of what today's youth read or (or as teenagers and teenager wannabe's say) generation write and listen to (and that's almost laughable since kids are reading less and watching TV), we need to intervene with a sense of pro-active consciousness and responsibility. Now that TI is on a PATH TO PRISON, the new assault on youth behavior are in the actions of people like AKON, SEAN COMBS (ain't he almost 40?) and Soulja-Boy. Certain actions might look like fun and comedic but there lies actions that cross the line of inappropriateness and illegality.

Just the other day I was talking to an associate of mine whom I hadn't seen in a few years. We were discussing how the neighborhood had and is changing and why Whites, through gentrification and the politics behind it, were moving People of Color out especially since the kids on the street just don't care or respect enough to join in the fight their community. Within minutes, and I swear, as if on cue, I was in a Boondocks episode when a young Black kid no more than 16, walked down the street pissing straight out in front of himself, penis whipped out, just striding down the street talking on his cell phone as people and children approached in the opposite direction. There, just leaving a trail of urine as he sauntered to his destination. He had no care, no conscious, no modesty, no respect. JUST NASTY.

THAT'S NOT HIP-HOP NOR RAP OR EVEN BLACK

But, here I am working on a writing assignment when I get a piece of video from a writing buddy on Soulja-Boy and I am smacked in my Common Sense again. Yet another example of how not to represent ones power, influence or roll to model for our youth. Watch the Video first before continuing:

I DIVERT MY THOUGHTS FOR A SECOND

After watching a recent episode on The Boondocks (The Story of Thugnificent) where the show's premise was an infamous rapper "Thugnificent" moves to the neighborhood of Woodcrest, with his friend Macktastic and Flonominal, eventually leading to Granddad becoming annoyed with his new neighbours. Your basic older generation conflict of image control and respect vs the Niggaism of youth and just not giving a damn. After watching this episode, I took a second to examine if I was coming off too hard on Black youth because I am now moving into the point in my life where I am becoming my parents and envying my loss of youth. Then I later watched a program on PBS where teachers had gone into the slums of India and rescued children of prostitutes and sent them to school. All the while these children are learning, they are aspiring to become doctors, lawyers, engineers and business owners so they can come to America and become something greater than the children of the streets. There was common sense, a drive and a chance to capitalize on opportunity in each of them and that was when I said, FUCK NO !!! Regardless of their assistance, the help, the possible MOST FAVORITE IMMIGRANT STATUS, they would still have to put in the work to become what their goals are. With the amount of resources we have in the US; libraries, mentors, apprenticeships, community advocates, churches, libraries, sports and music programs (and I am not referring to Government Sponsored Programs), and even in the poorest academic settings, there are still outlets for additional resources if you actively seek them out, I can only say that our youth are just lazy, embarrassing ignorant and it's by choice.

Don't Call Me Uppity !!!

How I was raised worked out well for me. Now I know to some that might sound 'Uppity' but hear me out on this. I did not come from a fatherless family with a prostitute mother, my upbringing was not an easy story to read nor one traveled. My parents were not wealthy or anywhere close to wealthy. I wore all the stereotypical ghetto attribute labels but the one thing that divided me from my friends and family was that I did not want my conditions to define me. I made opportunities happen and I took advantage of all things that came my way. Not like a hustle but as distinct decisions that build upon the next as steps toward success. A sacrifice of what was "fun" verses what was "work". The payoff in the end was my goal(s). I made my progress on my own and not something community based. Because in the end, your successes and or your failures are your own. yes there are people who can and will help but you need to know where and when to ask for it or avoid those things that will pull you away from your growth. Do I have mansions and millions? No. But I do know where I came from and its a lot better than where I was. My choice.

When I look at my friends from my youth, we all had the same opportunities/possibilities and I can honestly say that in my desire to move toward my personal success, their choices were their own. Their decisions where based upon "fun" as oppose to "work" and now that we are all adults, when we speak, their thoughts often go back to the point in their lives where they step away from that path and walked in a different direction.

Who's Fault?

For these kids from India, the bastard children of prostitutes, it will work out well for them and they will be in America. The actions of that boy relieving himself in public like that, I'm not so sure. He was ignorant and nasty considering the fact that we live in a civilized nation with plumbing, running water and bathrooms. You can't tell me that no one ever taught this boy that what he was doing was wrong. He clearly just didn't give a damn. No excuses. Worst case, the boy could have crossed the street and walked into the park -- AH YEAH, THERE WAS A PARK ACROSS THE STREET. He could have relieved himself there. Then there were a number of shops with bathrooms along his walk. Hell, the shop that I stood in front of talking to my friend had a public restroom. How do you begin to address the "disconnect" when no one want to listen or even try?

The Soulja-Boy video, (outside of the fact that you have a 17 year old in a room unsupervised), the kid was in a hotel room. Last I checked, hotel rooms have bathrooms. WHY ARE YOU DROPPING URINE ON THE HEADS OF PEOPLE? Not to mention the balconies of the people below. THEN YOU VIDEO TAPE YOUR STUPIDITY??? Even more so, you are more concerned about having your tiny penis being filmed or having the stigma of being "gay" than being arrested and thrown out of the hotel? GO FIGURE?

I have been told that I sound like Bill Cosby ranting about the poor. I really don't know how to take that. I mean I do believe in a lot of what he has to say yet I am also part of the community he is talking about as well. In being that, and having an open mind, much of what he preaches is true and behind closed doors, inner city parents, clergy, educators, small business owners, and others agree whole heatedly. It just seems that those whom scream the loudest opposing Bill are those who capitalize on the disenfranchisement and perpetuation of Niggaism in the poor as it relates to People of Color.

Bill Cosby has a book out entitled, "BLACK PEOPLE, COME ON", which should be the focus of Black People for the next ten years. Say what you want about the man, he has a serious point to make and we are missing it because all we only see is Bill Cosby as a comedian when he is a man who wants to re-connect the disconnect in all of us by keeping our youth from pissing on the path which lies before them.

Why I Am Not Your Nigga

Why I am not your Nigga ....... What is interesting about the whole phenomenon of the usage of the word "Nigga" in dialogue is that as People of Color (specifically African-Americans, not excluding Americanized Caribbean and Africans) use the word and consider it as a "term of endearment". It’s meaning in the new millennium transformed into a word of love, respect and unity. Blacks not accepting to be referred to as Nigga is, in a growing movement, being considered 'Uppity' or not a part of the 'Accepted Community' or even as low as to be considered ‘Acting White’. Regardless of their reasons for not wanting to be addressed as such, Black people's validation for self-identity is negated by the numbers that feel the N word’s past association is over and its new association should now be embraced.

What is understood, regardless of one's intelligence or ignorance is that Whites, when speaking, say what they mean. Irrefutable, if Whites are naive and or in absolute understanding of their immediate environment, in the choice of their words, Whites are very exacting in their meaning. Whites socially either like or dislike you, it is expressed not only in action, but also in their choice of words. So when Whites use the word "Nigger" or "Nigga", it is understood by history that it is a word that was, is, and will forever be an American word used to epitomize the "disenfranchisement of Africa", the dismemberment of the infrastructure of Africa, the experiences of the Middle Passage, the barter and selling of African slaves on the auction block, slavery within the Americas, the erasure of Black identity, the fight for civil liberties in the Americas, lynchings, church fires, bombings, and the assassination of Black leaders just to name a few atrocities. So when People of Color use the word "Nigga" or "Nigger", we interject that which we want to use it for. A unifying sub-culture of disenfranchised peoples. There is an association difference when Whites use the word Nigger, and Blacks. When Whites use it, they want it for its historical connotation and social merits where as Blacks use the word for its social experience and inclusion. Last examined, Whites were never included in the attrucities of the Black American experience and yet they all were benefactors of it active or passive.

With the logic that social perception is a representation of social reality, Whites will interpret African-American’s use of the word Nigger (Nigga) as Black people on a people, not to be taken seriously for their philosophy of the Nigger usage isn’t genuine and an obvious double standard. This meaning that Blacks can refer to each other as Nigger (Nigga) but Whites can not. Whites then see this inconsistency as African-Americans not being able to say what we mean and as such should not be taken seriously which is the one thing African-Americans have fought for since the auction block. The communicating of this concept has now become part of the Black political, cultural, and social frustration for validity in solidifying existence in America. The African-American fight for injustice and double standards in society, in regards to the word Nigger (Nigga), is a self imposed social prison where the walls of cultural and historical respect is regulated to non-existence. Ultimately, Blacks place upon themselves the double standard of respect vs. disrespect in communicating ‘endearment’ through the word Nigger.

Contemporary leaders of the modern generation argue that “Nigger” is just a word. It has no power, no sting, nor a place in current social standards. Still others say that by embracing the word “Nigger”, it becomes transformed into something that people will understand as endearment and or social frustration. The reality is, the word and its history can not be re-invented because it makes some people feel good, or sell records and films, or it makes Black Men more masculine or loved. Peoples' support of the word "Nigger" such as Whoopie Goldberg, Michael Eric Dyson, Nelly, Isiah Thompson, Eddie Griffin, just to name a few would argue the later and feel that to embrace the New-Nigger is only to move away from the pain and into a future of true acceptance. But acceptance by whom? Closely examining the “N” word, it would seem that Blacks are the only culture that allows for the World to be comfortable to use Nigger as a social norm when referring to BLACKS as well as other non-Blacks.

The word "Nigger” is a word of historical and ethnic disrespect for more than 400 years or more. Anyone knowing basic World, American, or Black history can not refute that fact. It's a reality. It doesn't matter if you colorize it as "Jigga" or "Nikka" or "Nicca", it’s still the same disrespect that people were dying for to over-come in America’s dark past. It’s as obvious as the color of skin that labels it a Black word. A word not to do or re-define, but to keep from the lips from every individual that wants to use it as a label for anyone regardless of Color or Creed, National Origin and Religion as a catch phrase for cool. This thus becomes a cultural responsibility. A Black Legacy. Black Responsibility.

It simply amazes advocates against the usage of the word “Nigger” that African-Americans feel more disrespect when Americans resist to accept Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's Birthday as a National Holiday yet not acknowledge that millions of dollars in Rap, R&B, and Hip Hop music has entrenched the word "Nigga" as a label of Blackness on a Global level. Jay-Z, an award winning rapper and business-man, in an interview stated it surprised him that he had gone to Japan, where no one spoke English, yet knew all the words to his songs. As amazing as it was for him, it never occurred to him, that even though the people didn’t speak English, they did know how to say “Nigger” and the fact that he taught it to them. Jay-Z, a Black man, from America, whom had no history behind the words to his lyrics, is now seen as a messiah for new language and social teachings for a people no more attached to Black history and the African-American experience than Whites.

This responsibility isn't just an African-American issue alone. Jews, Asians, Indigenous People to the Americas and others share in the responsibility of keeping their harmful and hateful words from entering America's daily vernacular. African-Americans, unfortunately allowed “Nigger” to flourish and take root for all to see systematically, the levels of disrespect that has historically been fought against yet negated for each and ever individual Black person. Now African-Americans can only now react with apathy because the problem is now on a global level where all of Black culture is inundated with its effects. No other ethnic group allows this to happen to their communities accept African-Americans.

A word cannot be re-invented to give specific people its own special meaning. That defeats the whole concept of language and communication. Granted words do evolve such as the word “silly”. Once considered a word meaning holy, now it's closely referred to as immature or one without focus; childlike. This evolution did not take place within one or two generations but hundreds of years. Slang however does have the same lines of historical evolution as most language and far inbetween as a word of negative connotation been transformed unilateraly into a word of acceptence, love and or spiritual meaning. truth of the matter, the word,, how ever used in the American lexicon, “Nigger” isn’t slang, a fad nor a recent cultural phenomenon. Nigger is a word as significant to the English language as grammatical structure is important to comprehension. The "Us" feel better about ourselves notion does not and cannot work when using the “N” word because millions of Blacks have died because of the intent and meaning of it. Ultimately it’s a lie, a deception, and pure fantasy to think that Nigger can be used as a word of endearment. Even more so, if it is/was possible, we dismiss the very history, the very nature of who Blacks were, are and will evolve into being.

The word "Nigga" is not a European concept or an African word, nor is it an American word but it is a conception disrespect. Whites do not use or even try to re-invent vulgar words demeaning themselves as words of Power or Endearment. This can also be said for other ethnic groups. Why is this so? Because other ethnic groups recognize and respect words that exist to remove people of their power.

Recently, the word "Nigger" has become one great privilege some desire to use again without retribution since the 1960's. To legitimize calling someone Black a "Nigger" has been dancing the tightrope of vicious slang to proper English since its "artistic" non-constraints of the 60's until now. Today, by right, Nigger is a proper word with significant meaning. So now we are faced with Nigger (Nigga) and having the stigma of "intent" behind it duel or singular, bias or impartial how does one poll the true desire to speak the N-World as endearment? At its core Blacks have to intellectualize the definition and then psycho analyze the person saying "Nigger" (that is if you are Non-Black because if you are Black, you get a pass). By the way, did anyone ever poll the African, the Caribbean or the South American on his or her desire to be included in this fraternity of disrespect? Do African-Americans even care?

Being part of the English (a standard language spoke internationally) as a word recognized within the legal text of our American language, it isnow a free-for-all for whomever wants to direct it’s many meanings. Whites now have that right, at any time and any place, to have it freely flow from their lips and not hide behind the legal "shield of intent" backed by The Freedom of Speech thus bypassing any speculation of a Hate Crime. So until a court case is brought before the public where a corporate executive refers to one of its (Black) employees as a 'Nigga' and the case is dropped because the word is not considered offense by definition, then and only then will the real debate begin?

Why I Am Not Your Nigga by Shazza NakimCopyright © by Peace of Mind Publishings and with permission by Shazza Nakim

nig·ger - The term nigger is now probably the most offensive word in English. Its degree of offensiveness has increased markedly in recent years, although it has been used in a derogatory manner since at least the Revolutionary War. Definitions 1a, 1b, and 2 represent meanings that are deeply disparaging and are used when the speaker deliberately wishes to cause great offense. Definition 1a, however, is sometimes used among African-Americans in a neutral or familiar way. Definition 3 is not normally considered disparaging—as in “The Irish are the niggers of Europe” from Roddy Doyle's The Commitments—but the other uses are considered contemptuous and hostile.

–noun

1. Slang: Extremely Disparaging and Offensive.
a. black person.
b. a member of any dark-skinned people.

2. Slang: Extremely Disparaging and Offensive. a person of any race or origin regarded as contemptible, inferior, ignorant, etc.

3. A victim of prejudice similar to that suffered by blacks; a person who is economically, politically, or socially disenfranchised.