Time is Short But...

School Sucks - My blogging is sucking as of late because of time constraints, I am left to do updates, so bare with me for a few weeks as I struggle in this damn statistics class, which I am failing as we speak.

I took the first test this past Monday & got a 50% on that bitch. I am not giving up though! If I have to take it again, at least I will have a leg up. Stay tuned!!!

My New Whip - Last week before the trip to NYC, I picked up my new car & got rid of my gas guzzling SUV. I did not get the Prius like I wanted because of the jacked trade-in drama (poor me)! I winded up getting the Saturn Aura XE, which I liked from a far, I just wanted a hybrid. . I got a great deal on the car, 2000 cash incentive, GM discount & the have me 10k for my car (Toyota tried to give me 8k).

After riding high for the last 6 years, I’m getting used to riding lower but I keep bumping my head when I get in & out. The ride is very nice & super quite & ooooooooooooo, that new car smell is sexy enough to make me juice my draws.

Like most guys, I don’t like to read instruction manuals, which means that I am still figuring out shit. Today I saw that I had lumbar support & automatic seats, this discovery made me smile.

One thing that I’m really loving on the car is the XM radio that it came with. I discovered a really nice jazz station “Watercolors” & “The Move”, which is a nice house station. My kids are digging the Disney station but it gives me a headache.

I Love Getting Packages – Who says money cannot buy you friends? For 460 bucks, my new Nikkon 50mm f/1.2 lens will be my friend for life! He arrived straight from Japan just at just the right moment yesterday & we have been having some fun. This new friend will take some getting used to because he is a manual old school lens.

I meet this young guy in NYC last week and he had one on his camera & I asked to see it & he was like sure it I let him play with my 85mm f/1.8. We swapped for about 30 minutes & I knew I had to have a 50mm f/1.2 for myself. This lens is starting to get hard to find in the US especially new. Stayed tuned for some kick ass night shots taken with this bad boy.

Politricks – Yesterday, when I was walking out of my office, my cell rung & it was from some weird number but I still answered. It was a woman from the Obama campaign calling to tell me that they just opened up a campaign office in my area & she wanted to know if I would be interested in volunteering. Like a fool, I said yes, with excitement, like it was him asking me himself.

I go for the orientation next week, & I told her up front that I am not doing the door-to-door thing. Since I am all ready pimped out for time, I will be limiting myself to helping out to 2-3 times per month. Yes, I am caught up in an Obamafied state, but a brother has to watch his time budget.

Speaking of Obama, I ordered some campaign buttons 2 weeks ago & my shit better show up this week or I’m jumping the fuck off!

So today Ralph Nader put his foot in his “white speaking” mouth & said “… I haven't heard him have a strong crackdown on economic exploitation in the ghettos. Payday loans, predatory lending, asbestos, lead. What's keeping him from doing that? Is it because he wants to talk white? He doesn't want to appear like Jesse Jackson? We'll see all that play out in the next few months and if he gets elected afterwards..."

Honestly speaking, I feel what Nader is saying, he just said it sooooo very wrong. And from my recollection, he is right, I have not heard anything comprehensive from Obama on these issues, but I also have not heard them from Nader or McCain. Who ever becomes president will have to address issues in the Black community but he will also need to address the nation as a whole. I just know that we will put a lot of stock into Obama to help solve our collective needs but we need to also look at the big picture.

Moving on, last week, while at dinner with blogging buddies, I asked them if they thought Michelle Obama would rock some corn-rows up in the White House if Barack got elected. We all laughed but all said that she would. What do you think?

The question that is circling my mind this week is, if Barack was elected, would he apologize for slavery if the issue came back up from Civil Rights groups or if it was reintroduced in Congress. Actually, if I attend another town hall meeting & have the chance to ask the question, I will ask him myself. It’s not a deal breaker for me but I want to know what he thinks. I would also ask the same question to Turkey Neck McCain. Thoughts???

Other Bullshit News - Is the Supreme Court out of their fucking minds??? 1st, I think capital punishment needs to be in all states because some mutha fuckers just need to be killed for some of the shit that they do; point blank!!! Today, them Supreme Court fools stated that it is unconstitutional to issue the death penalty to anyone convicted of raping a child, assuming that the child is not merked.

What about the child being damaged for life physically & mentally???

If anything tried to lay a hand on one of my daughters, it will be a scene out of John Grisham’s novel “A Time to Kill” jumping off up in this bitch!

Will someone shut Don Imus the fuck up! I listened to his comment a few times over the last few days & his excuse is just not gelling. I think he needs to get dropped off on 29th & Broadway so the “Niggas” that were about to beat my ass have a little talk with him.

All It Takes Is One Drop

I was at a diversity conference recently & during a Q&A session, someone asked  Susan Molinari (fmr rep. congresswoman) how she felt race was going to impact the presidential election.  She then went into this grandiose rant about how beautiful it was going to be for the democratic process & talked about how proud she was to see a woman [Hillary Clinton] crack the glass ceiling & how awesome it was to watch a  Black man [Barack Obama] become the first legitimate Black candidate of a major political party etc etc.

After her bullshit comments, & considering many more that I have heard about BO’s race, I wondered why it seems like white America is so quick to dismiss his white mother & grandparents that raised him.  Is he not white enough?

Why do we as Negroes accept anyone that is “Black” openly based on the one drop rule.

I guess at least Barack and many other mixed race individuals accept the “Black community” & operate in & around it.  Then you have your Tiger Woods people, who seem to deny their Blackness & are far removed.

Should the one drop rule be addressed & confronted like many controversial words.  Should we be following the rule of “Partus Sequitur Ventrem”?  What makes sense???

I really don’t know what I’m saying but I just think the factors are interesting.

Complex[ion] Issues

I posted this image on Flickr about a week ago & really did not expect much feedback because I thought it was blah but you never know how others will interpret the vision.

Some of the comments asked if I was giving viewers the hand or was I shying from the camera all in a playful context.

One comment from a Flickr Friends made me think though:

“man, i love our creator!! 



those of us with brown skin have those wonderfully color-coordinated lines in our hands. is so becoming. 



as a kid growing up in nebraska, i was ashamed of my color line. it reminded me that i was not a white kid. most of my classmates were white, i was usually the only brown face in the room. it took many, many years for me to accept my color and to be proud of how the creator made me. seeing your hand photo makes me feel warm, welcome, and reminds me of how wonderful it is to have brown skin.”

Stephanie aKa Nandeni 2008

Negroes come in many shades, eye color, hair texture etc making us pretty diverse within our own but I know some of us have problems with our given features, some even ashamed of what makes them them.

As a kid, I used to feel ashamed to be so yellow (I have gotten darker as I got older). I felt that way because my baby brother used to tell me that I was white, & that I smelled like throw up like them white people. My little sister would often join in on his taunting but then she had her own issues being the darkest in the house & often thought that she was not pretty. My brother has a caramel complexion so I guess he thought he was perfect???

Years ago when my little sister Sade came to live with us, I know that she had some culture shock being in a house filled with light skinned[ed] Negroes & questions if we were white & why she was different, why was her hair different from Olivia’s & why did we smell like marsh mellows (I made that one up playing on stereotypes). We dealt & with her Black girl issues & let her know that she is beautiful with what she has & in life differences occur (I hope we are doing a good job navigating these issues in my house).

With all this said, have you had to or are you currently dealing with your own Black boy/girl blues? Were you not good enough for whatever rewson because of self-doubt or because of what others said.  Feel free to throw out any cultural/cross cultural experiences within the Diaspora.

Rain Drops: When it Rains it Pours

My post title is inspired by Maysa Leak’s "Rain Drops” from her self titled debut "Maysa" 1995.

“I feel alright
As long as the sun is bright
Soon as the clouds come rolling by
Big tears form in my eyes

Can't explain
How I feel when the sky is grey
I sit alone and I just pray
For a sunny day

Rain drops keep falling down
Your voice keeps calling me
Such a familiar sound
Those rainy nights keep haunting me”

I was not going to post this but I loved how it finished up. I mentioned before that I am really inspired by the rain and how could I not be when it looks this good. As a gardener, rain is my friend.

OK, I know I said I would stop posting about politics/poli tricks, but I am finding it hard not to do so. Since I do not go to a barber shop or salon anymore, I do not have an outlet to discuss such things with other Negro folk in real life so I have been depending on my blog for that missing discourse.

Speaking of rain drops, when it rains it pours for my boy Barack Obama. Before I jump off; I do not why people do not know if he is a Christian or not. Can they not read, do they not watch the news and how are they making decisions to vote or not to vote for whoever if they are not educating themselves with basic information.

Wait before I get to Barack, let me visit NY's David Patterson 1st. Why is the media obsessed with who is fucking who??? When I got to work today I almost spit out my cranberry juice when I read “N.Y. governor: State employee among my several affairs” on CNN.com. Why is that relevant? And what tripped me out is that him and his wife was getting their creep on. Things must have been really fucked up! Anyway after reading the article and a few more on the same subject, I joked to myself that he may be blind but he can definitely find some pussy!

Back to my point: I know you heard snippets or read about Barack’s riveting speech today. I must admit that I almost teared up a bit. He really put it down! His critics may talk about all he is speeches, but when you can be so inspired by words, then you are showing power, knowledge and experience.

"I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community," "I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother - a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe."

Barack Obama 2008

The big thing now is to see how his words will play out in the polls in 5 weeks. Will he be able to capture the white man’s vote???

Can you really help who you know. Should I disown a cousin who burned down her girlfriend’s house, who is also linked to prostitution and drugs? Should I disown my uncle who murdered like 8 people? We know who we know but that does not make up or character, intentions or personal ideology.

That’s all!

Hottentot Venus

Rarely do I totally bite a post from other blogs but after I seen't this video over on Concrete Loop & just had to bite. Yes, I do read Concrete Loop! Most often I read shaking my head in disgust sighing oh hell no; what is wrong with some of these damn Negro celebs, who the hell are these "new" singers/actors, & am I the only person in the world sick of hearing about B-yon-say, that Um-ba-rell-a girl & other no count talents??? Occasionally the Concrete Loop put me up on something that I am talkin' bout, which I guess gives it some balance after all they are one of the most popular Black blogs ever.

So I officially got me some black history this week.

Thx Concrete Loop!
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Hottentot Venus: The Story

“Je est an autre” – I is another – A. Rimbaud

Saartjie Baartman was a Quena (or Hottentot) woman who was brought to Europe in 1810, to be exhibited for public inspection as an example of her tribe. Like many African tribes, the Hottentots were a significant part of ethnographic study during the 19th century. Indigenous tribes around the world provided cultural and intellectual challenges to European notions of civilisation, spiritual belief, and human body ideals – beauty and health.

The Hottentots were particularly interesting to Europeans not only because of the unpronounceable click in their language but also the physical characteristics of their women. The most significant of these were their external hanging genitalia and their large, pronounced bottoms – both of which posed a significant contrast to the bodies of women in Europe.

When she arrived in Britain and later France, Saartjie was confronted with the astonishment, curiousity and cruel heckling of a public that had limited contact with native Africans, but already had preconceived notions about them. In London Saartjie was displayed as a freak show display piece amidst the hairy women, vitiligo sufferers and obese people of the time. Since the freak shows were established on the premise of exhibiting difference, Saartjie was a marketable attraction.

Georges Cuvier, an anatomist who was familiar with the Hottentot natives, noted his astonishment about Saartjie in particular:

“What is striking about her shape is the enormous size of her hips, wider than 18 inches, and the protuberance of her buttocks, which was more than half a foot” – Georges Cuvier, 1817 Extraits dobservations

African women in particular were viewed as exotic and represented a ‘native’ eroticism, relative to ‘forbidden’ sexual life. In France, black women were used to promote brothels and their visual presence amidst white prostitutes on postcards and later in photographs, usually ensured successful patronage. Saartjie’s extreme physical difference to the established black prostitutes in Paris made her an instant target for lurid sexual advances.

Saartjie died of an infection in 1816 after prostitution and excessive alcohol abuse had consumed her body. Following her death, Cuvier made a cast of her body and dissected her brain and genitalia to be pickled in jars for ethnographic display at the Musee de l’homme in Paris. The jars remained on public display there until 1985, when they were finally put into storage.

The subject of Saartjie’s remains highlights the problematic history of acquisition and display in museums. Since Europe had a complex power relationship with Africa, it stands to reason that the development of ethnographic collections was driven by beliefs about Africans as savage peoples from a dark and uncivilised continent – notions which colonialism help to quantify.

‘Rare things or beautiful things here learnedly assembled to educate the eye of the beholder like never before seen all things there are in the world’ – Inscription Musee de L’Homme, Paris

Worldwide collections continue to grapple with the legacy of this history, and the foundations of the Musee de L’Homme were shaken when the Khoisan people (descendants of the Hottentots and Bushmen) officially asked for Saartjie’s remains to be taken back home. Since 1994, the museum has battled with the politics of her display and continued to stake their claim to her remains.

In a significant and historic feat, human rights activists, the South African government and the Khoisan people ensured that in 2002 her remains were taken back to South Africa where she was given a traditional burial. (Source: The Image of Black)
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Google for more info
If you are interested in large African clits click here

Just the Facts or Just Wrong

I 1st saw this video last night over on the Jovan Miles Blog (a great read) & was like damn; homeboy is really putting it down. Then after watching it a 2nd time, I really felt bad for the woman & questioned the approach/anger of the brotha on the mic.

During lunch today with Cousin Dee, I told her about the video & replayed it in my mind & was like, you know what, not matter how much I agreed with homeboy on the mic, I would have never approached an opposing viewpoint like that unless, my life was in jeopardy (maybe that is extreme but…).

My bottom line POV is that this is vicious & uncalled for (kinda like a pitt bull taking bite out of a chihuahua’s ass) but I am feeling it at the same time. Have a look & share your thoughts.

Clever Sales Tactic???

So today, like most Mac geeks, I was on the Apple website today surfing for information & images on all of the updates & offerings that were announced today during the Macworld Conference & Expo keynote address. I was really getting geeked about the iPhone updates & could not wait to get home to upgrade my little baby.

So while surfing the Apple site, I ran across the ad (unedited) above. At first, I was like hmmm, that’s catchy. Then I took a second look & was like wait a minute; you hardly find people of color on Apple ads but on this one advertising a “free human”, you have a Black woman standing predominately in front of a white man.

While I get the base of the message, the image totally fucks things up. Maybe I am race baiting but why not advertise a free white woman or man predominately & leave people of color out of this one. In my mind this is just fucked up.

I told Suite Suzy about it & she told me I was set tripping, so I tried to think differently but I kept coming back to the same message. So officially consider me to be a set tripper.

Is it me or does this advertisement for an “iSlave”, just seemed fucked up?

Yet another disappointing ad move from Apple!

Tigers White Pussy Matrix Dilemma

Tiger Woods’ wife must have him pussy whipped like nobody’s business!!!

By now, I am sure that you heard that a white female golf channel anchor “jokingly” stated that Tiger needed to be lynched.

I first heard about it while watching CNN Wednesday while on the elliptical @ the gym, when I saw the clip of the racist comment, I fucking stopped moving because I was so shocked. Later in the program that had “the Black community’s representative” Al Sharpton on who is calling for that trick to be fired.

I forgot who the reported was that Al was talking to, but Al got into his mutha fuckin ass & I was like tell his ass.

Since Wednesday, I have heard many segments covering this issue & I have been so fucking turned off by what white news people have been saying (and I sure that other whites feel the same way). Basically, they have been saying that is was a mistake; it was a slip & so forth. I say, who gives a fuck if it was a slip or a mistake, that bitch needs to pay & get the fuck fired. Shit my uncle said that it was a mistake that he killed them 12 people but the judge & jury did not give a fuck & sentenced his ass to life to the 5th power. When you fuck up like this sorry will just not due.

And what is really fucking me up is that Tiger is like, we are friends & I know that she was not trying to hurt me, it was all innocent blah, blah, blah. That mutha fucka is so caught up into white pussy that he cannot see the forest for the trees. I respect & lift Tiger up for changing the golfing game & showing other minorities that they can break barriers but, I think overall that he is a dumb ass. As dark as he is, he claims not to be Black. Way back when he said that shit on “Ofra” his black as daddy, should have slapped the taste out of his mouth. I mean with them damn bubble lips, how in the fuck are you not Black.

Al & others had it right when they said, fuck how Tiger feels & I don’t care if he accepts her bullshit apology, she offended all Black people in America.

Why can’t white people just get it?????????????????????? Maybe the golf channel is starting to get it after taking days to suspend homegirl. Next step should be out the fucking door or she should show Tiger how sorry she is by giving him some of that powerful pussy.

----- Check out all three videos. I though this was good stuff -----

Quick Notes on Race: Follow Up

All shit, a modern Emancipation Proclamation has jumped off by way of the US Sentencing Commission! I'm tired & do not feel like being very original with my response, but I did want to follow up here. In general, this is good news but I guess I am concerned about the wave of cons that are about to hit the streets (hard), some literally, & some figuratively.

How many of you will have cousins coming home early. Me first; I do. Lil' Man Man & Big Stank. I hope them niggas do not come a knocking at my door!
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Commission makes crack sentencing changes retroactive

(Source | Los Angeles Times)

The U.S. Sentencing Commission voted Tuesday to retroactively reduce the penalties for using and selling crack cocaine, making thousands of federal inmates eligible for early release, some as soon as March.

Despite Justice Department warnings against releasing thousands of criminals, the commission voted unanimously to allow inmates to seek reduced sentences if they were convicted under drug laws passed in the 1980s. Those laws have come under criticism from civil libertarians and many judges for treating crack cocaine offenses more harshly than powder, which has resulted in stiffer penalties for blacks.

Tuesday's vote, which ultimately could affect some 19,500 federal prisoners serving time for crack convictions, came a day after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that judges may deviate from the strict sentencing guidelines developed during the "war on drugs." The two decisions amount to a repudiation of federal law-enforcement policies and a return of power to judges in dispensing justice to defendants in federal courts.

The potentially massive reprieve would be unprecedented. More than 2,500 inmates would be eligible in the first year. No other single rule in the two-decade history of the Sentencing Commission has had the potential to affect so many inmates. The numbers, which amount to 10 percent of all federal prisoners, dwarf even the grants of presidential clemency afforded draft resisters and conscientious objectors after the Vietnam War....
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Cocaine Sentencing Decision at a Glance (Source | AP)

A look at the U.S. Sentencing Commission decision to allow federal inmates convicted of crack cocaine offenses to apply for reduction in their prison terms:

Who:

• Inmates serving sentences for crack cocaine crimes. An estimated 19,500 inmates — out of more than 36,000 crack cocaine convicts — could be eligible for reduced sentences.
• Eighty-six percent of federal inmates convicted of crack cocaine crimes are black.

How:

• An inmate, federal prison officials or a federal judge can start the process. All applications are reviewed by a judge, who has final say on whether to reduce an inmate's sentence.

Limits:

• A two-year reduction in prison time is the maximum most inmates can expect.

When:

• The decision takes effect on March 3, 2008.
• Nearly 10 percent of the eligible inmates could be released on the effective date.
• About 23 percent of the qualified inmates could be released in the next year.
• Almost half the inmates (47.3 percent) could be released by the end of 2010.
• Two of every three eligible inmates could be freed from prison by the end of 2012.

Thanks for What

As I was preparing the vegetables for Site Suzy's corn bread dressing, I was wondering to myself why US minorities celebrate these white holidays. I was wondering if Native Americans celebrate Thanksgiving & when they sit around (if) the table are they thankful that they ancestors helped save the "pilgrims" or do they have some type of angry pow wow wishing that they offed those bitches??? I wondered if the Natives knew that the white man would eventually kill millions with disease, rape their women, cheat them out of land & eventually force them onto reservations that have some of the worst living conditions (not all). Well maybe a few Native Americans are just cool with it because they got the casino game outside of Las Vegas on lock down??????

I know niggas celebrate because we are just brain washed & we loves us some chitlins (not me), greens, a good cheap ham (I prefer honey baked) sweet potato pie & banana pudding (Suit Suzy makes the best!).

We’re not Americans, we’re Africans who happen to be in America. We were kidnapped and brought here against our will from Africa. We didn’t land on Plymouth Rock–that rock landed on us...” Malcolm X

I was thinking so deep about how exclusive Thanksgiving is and I cut my damn finger while chopping celery. My militancy just got my holiday hating ass cut up & wearing a Dora the Explorer band-aid.

Anyway on a somewhat related note, I will never forget the Thanksgiving day of 1992 when my mom was in her bedroom eating a plate full of chitlins & she winded up dropping the remote control to her tv in the sopping wet bowl of pig ass tract. The remote never worked again & she was made as hell because the tv was brand new. To this day we still laugh about it.

Can't Stop Listening To: U, Black Maybe

I was not going to say anything here about Common’s new CD “Finding Forever” because so many sites have deep intense posts about the album. On the Mindspill I prefer to post about music that needs to be heard but hard to find. I love “discovering” & putting people up on Indie artist.

Like a true Negro, I had been listening to “Finding Forever” for weeks before it came out thanks to some of my favorite Black gossip blogs but eagerly awaited the release so that I can fully support Common.

The day the album dropped, I left the job (on break) to cop the CD (+ I copped "300"). When I got back to the office, I popped it in & jammed all day. A well spent 12.99.

Commons’s music to me is what hip-hop is! Finding Forever is not packed with misogynistic messages or full of bling & self-glorification etc.

My favorite song hands down is "U, Black Maybe"! The beat is cold, the lyrics are powerful & reaching + the hook by sung by Bilal is banging.

Yesterday I was driving to pick up lunch & repeated the song like 5 times before I got back to the plantation. I am not sure if they are playing this song on the radio but if not, they need to because there are many people in the community trapped in a Matrix of self-hate, self-suppression etc that need to hear a message that seeks to uplift & inform.

Of course I know Common is not the only brother out there that is seeking to change the game but he is on majorly on my radar. Perhaps in a few weeks I will be feeling Talib Kweli & his new album “Eardrum” after I get over how incredibly stupid he sounded during his latest interview on News & Notes with Ferai Chideya.

Back to Common: Do you have “Finding Forever” is so what are you feeling right now on it? If you don’t have it, what they hell are you waiting for???

Before I pour my 1st glass of wine tonight; I leave you with:

"Can't come around
They gon' wanna bring you down
No one knows just what's inside
Doing dope and doing time
Why they messing with your mind
Black maybe

I heard a white man's yes
Is a black maybe
I was delivered in this world
As a crack baby
Hard for me to pay attention
And I act crazy
Gotta get over from the tip
I watch the fat lady sing a song
On how we guerillas in warfare
And I'm the kingest kong
They say we dreamin wrong
Them same strips that them older cats lingered on
Now the walgreens is gone
Hope is killed fiends are born
We leanin on a wall that ain't that ain't stable
Its hard to turn on the hood that made you
To leave We afraid to the same streets that raised you
Can aid you. What other black births came suit
the rage up in harlem and the southside
Brothers is starving with there mouth wide open
Floating across state got the workout plans so they can move weight
The fate of the black man, woman, and child maybe...

...When we talk about black maybe
We talk about situations
Of people of color and because you are that color
You endure obstacles and opposition
And not all the time from...from other nationalities
Sometimes it come from your own kind
Or maybe even your own mind
You get judged..you get laughed at..you get looked at wrong
You get sighted for not being strong
The struggle of just being you
The struggle of just being us..black maybe..."

Why You Wanna Make Me Go There III

I swear to you that I am not trying to reinvent the when posting links to interesting topics like so many blogs do. Over the last few weeks, I have find it quite fun to do a weird lead in to a story that made me think, laugh or trip the hell out. I have also enjoyed your comments & often found myself laughing hysterically in my office making people near by wonder what the fuck is so damn funny.

So anyway…

If you like BBQ but are tuned off by sexual deviants then click here. (thx for the link Suite Suzy)

If you think that Black pussy can be mastered by good or bad Black dick then click here. (warning if you are afraid of terms such as dick or pussy or all up in that ass, do not click!!!)

If you ever wished all lawyers could get their ass beat for one reason or another then click here to read about an ass beating with a fucked up twist that went way wrong.

If you visit my blog via a highspeed internet & think Negroes who dial up need to stay out of TJ Max, the Korean beauty supply & the local Applebees so that they can upgrade their internet service then click here.

If you saw the Black Love proposal a little over a week ago linked here & love the visual tale then click here for the real deal. (if you mnissed it, the slideshow will be back up soon. It was taken down because it got over like 1 million hits & the webhost could not handle the traffic.)

Why You Wanna Make Me Go There

If you want to get pissed off while laughing, click here

If you want to get pissed off & then bitch slap the next mutha you see, click here

I found both of theses sites had links to my blog when I was checking my latest vistor & link stats. Talk about a surprise! Some people just do not have shit else better to do than be ignint’. Shit likes this contributes to my racial exhaustion but also makes me wanna fight for the cause!

Apple iPhone: Maybe it’s Just Me But…

Since Steve Jobs introduced the worked to the iPhone @ the Macworld Conference back in Jan 07, I have been anxiously awaiting for them to go on sale.

Yes, I know they are at a minimum going to cost 499 bucks but dammit, I want it! Everyday, I check some of my favorite Mac sites to see if there has been any new news in regards to the phone that will change the face of the industry as we know it. Most days there is nothing but then when there is a memo leak from either Apple or AT&T (you can only get an iPhone if you have service with AT&T), I get excited and the sad part is more often than not, the leaked info is really nothing special. Maybe that is the geek in my jumping out.

Anyway a few weeks ago Steve Jobs announced that the iPhone was going to actually ship/be on sale starting June 29, 2007 & I have been trying to figure out how I was going to fit the so unnecessary item into my budget (I am still trying). To make my desire worse, Apple started airing commercials on TV announcing the iPhone & showing some of the cool features etc, which is making me want one even more.

So today, while bored at my desk, I decided to go to MACNN to see if there is any new news on the iPhone & I see a link to a story that looked interesting, so I clicked it & started to read. Again this turned out to be nothing special but what I noticed was another white hand holding onto an iPhone, which got me to questioning Apple’s advertising strategy. Does this ubiquitous white hand mean that that they are targeting white consumers only.?.

After this is in my head, I leave for lunch (Taco Bell) & call BFB to see what he thinks about this. Basically I ran down the details to him; a) each commercial for the iPhone where it is being held, is being help by a white hand b) each print or web advertisement where the iPhone is being held is being help by a white hand.

BRB’s initial response was that I was over reacting & then he stated that they (Apple) know Ngroes ain’t gone pay 499 for a damn phone. Although I agree that many Blacks will not even bother with this phone, I think that Apple’s campaign should be more diverse. Where are the hand models of color????????

In response to BRB’s claim that I was over reacting, I stated that as a Black consumer who is willing to pay for this, I want to see a goddamn Black hand on the screen, shit make me like others feel included!

By the end of the conversation we were on the same page in thinking & shifted the focus to how the movie industry markets or not specific to Black audiences.

Now I’m wandering if I should get one or not based on their marketing campaign. I know this is not the 1st time in history that there has been an advertising “Black Out” or a perceived one but this is the first time that I have paid attention & feel affected.

Tell me, am I really tripping, have you noticed this & if you are a Negro, do white hand models & lack of advertising diversity get you excited about products that you may want to try?

Wait before I end, I found this on Youtube, which drives my point home on who Apple is trying to market to & why come Samuel L Jackson is the the only Negro, Cameron Diaz the only Hispanic & Ben Stiller the lone Jew out of about 32 people in the commercial?

Precious Other Little Ones

Here we go again, another white child has come up missing & this precious cherub (somewhat speaking sarcastically) is getting more media coverage than the war in Iraq & the next presidential election.

While the media coverage is not really a surprise, I am shocked because the missing girl (Madeleine McCann) is not even a US citizen; she is fucking British & came up missing while on vacation with in Portugal.

Her stupid assed parents left the damn girl in a hotel room while they had dinner at the hotel where they were staying. What parent in their right mind would leave a 4 year old child alone while they left the general area to stuff their pie hole. To me the whole story sounds fishy & I bet by the time all is said & done, the parents had something to do with it.

Today when I was watching the "Today Show" break down this story, I was like who cares, it is not like she is in the US, what the fuck are US citizens supposed to do. Don’t we need to focus on finding our missing children??? As with anything else, you need to start at home before you try to help anyone elses ass.

Anyway back to my intended point, this girl is getting attention around the world & currently there is a 5 million reward for her return (not sure if it is dead or alive). To top it all off, the parents met with the fucking Pope for prayer & shit. That blew my mind & I wondered if she is like some kind of Golden Child.

So I guess by now you can imagine where I am about to take this; yes I am wondering why Black children get shunned by the local (not all of the time especially in Detroit) & national media when they are missing.

Some Quick Stats:

• Approximately 797,500 children of 18 & under are reported missing each year & 203,900 were abducted by a family member in the United States, based on the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).
• 33% of all abduction cases are Black Children
• U.S. Department of Justice research reports that 65% of the victims of nonfamily abduction are Black

I do not discount or make light of any missing/exploited child, I am just pointing out that we need fair media coverage across the board.

I hate to play the race card on such a serious issue but it is what it is!
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Find a Missing Black Child

Missing Kids
Missing Black Angels
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More Slavery Regrets: What Now

When I 1st reading the story below, I was like wow; these slavery regrets/apologies are happening like once a week!

I’m happy that “they” (in the larger sense) are finally starting to fucking recognize but what do all of these apologies really mean?

Are these apologies going to really right wrongs, are they going to make Negroes feel loved & what are they going to change current conditions that exist because of the sins of “their” forefathers?

So you can imagine that I am thinking restitutions & if you are, that you are a smart mutha!

I am not necessarily thinking of cash as I think that the average Negro will just fuck the money up & get a new Caddy or Lexus etc. Come on you know it.

What I am thinking is more along the lines of some type of tuition program for college at the very least.

This story talks about how “our” ancestors built the University of Virginia & worked slaved there for 46 mutha fuckin’ years.

I wonder when Alabama, Louisiana & Mississippi will make their apologies for slavery & aggressive Jim Crow support etc. You know what my last statement made me think of Nina Simone’s Mississippi Goddam.

“...Alabama's gotten me so upset
Tennessee made me lose my rest
And everybody knows about Mississippi Goddam…

...You don't have to live next to me
Just give me my equality
Everybody knows about Mississippi
Everybody knows about Alabama
Everybody knows about Mississippi Goddam...”

You know what, I just had to check my facts right quick & Alabama has "approved" an apology for slavery this past Tuesday (story here)

What are you thinking about these apologies & will “America” ever be able to reconcile for the decades of torture of Africans in America?
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U.Va. shows its regret for slavery
By Jamie C. Ruff
Times-Dispatch Staff Writer

The University of Virginia's governing board has adopted a resolution expressing regret for the school's use of slaves, including those "anonymous laborers" who constructed its first buildings.

The resolution, unanimously passed by U.Va.'s board of visitors on April 13 -- the 264th birthday of school founder Thomas Jefferson -- expresses the school's "particular regret" for its use of slaves from 1819 until 1865. The university opened in 1825.

School officials believe their board is the first to pass such a resolution.

"The board expresses its particular regret for the employment of enslaved persons in these years and . . . expresses as well its profound respect for the contributions of these women and men, by whose ingenuity and labor much of what is now admired at the university as a national and world treasure came to be," the resolution reads in part.

The board was inspired by the Virginia General Assembly, which in February passed a resolution of profound regret for the state's role in slavery, said Thomas Farrell, rector of U.Va's board of visitors.

It also was following up on U.Va's erection of a memorial stone at the Rotunda that recognized the role slaves played in constructing the signature building and the Lawn, he said.

The resolution also declares that the board is re-committing itself to the "principles of equal opportunity and to the principle that human freedom and learning" are inextricably linked in Virginia and the United States.

"It is very important to us . . . not just to look back but recognize the commitment of the administration that all types of people are treated fairly for now and in the future," Farrell said.

Warren M. Thompson, chairman of the board's special committee on diversity and whose great-great-grandfather was born into slavery and lived about 20 miles from Charlottesville, said some board members considered the resolution well overdue. (Read more here)

Race: Something Old & Something New

I was surfing YouTube today for some fun old school videos & ran across this video clip of "The Electric Company". While looking & reminiscing, I was like, wait, this Negro looks & sounds a little familiar, then I realized that it is my boy Morgan Freeman.

Looking at this as an adult now (based on body language), it seems like Easy Reader was riding Carmelita way before he was driving Ms Daisy.

If I was in a radical mood (I'm racially drained), I would address the cooning going on by "Easy Reader" but there has been enough of this for the week.

While in the midst of writing this post I stumbled across the article below, on a racist furniture label found in Toronto. Upon seeing the image, I threw up in my mouth a little bit. Not only was I turned of by the color description, I was also turned off by the drawn on eyebrows. Only certain woman can rock this look & she is not one of them. Actually, I just do not understand the concept of shaving one's eyebrows only to paint on some. My mother & sister both do this & I think they do it well so maybe I am biased.

According to the Internet Bible Wikipedia, the main function of the eyebrows is to prevent moisture, mostly salty sweat and rain, from flowing into the eye. Anyway the point is not her eyebrows but this fucking sofa color.

Racial slur on sofa label stuns family
Toronto Star: Jim Wilkes

When the new chocolate-coloured sofa set was delivered to her Brampton home, Doris Moore was stunned to see packing labels describing the shade as "Nigger-brown."

She and husband Douglas purchased a sofa, loveseat and chair in dark brown leather last week from Vanaik Furniture and Mattress store on Dundas St. E.

Moore, 30, who describes herself as an African-American born and raised in New York, said it was her 7-year-old daughter who pointed out the label just after delivery men from the Mississauga furniture store left.

"She's very curious and she started reading the labels," Moore explained. "She said, `Mommy, what is nigger brown?' I went over and just couldn't believe my eyes."

She said yesterday each piece had a similar label affixed to the woven protective covering wrapped around the furniture.

"In this day and age, that's totally unacceptable," Moore said.

Douglas explained the origins of the word to daughter Olivia, telling how it was a bad name that blacks were called during the days of slavery in the United States.

"It was tough, because she really didn't understand," Moore said. "She'd never heard that word before and didn't really understand the concept of it."

Moore, who has a younger son and daughter, said she's heard the word used many times, although it has never been directed in anger at her.

"But it's a very, very bad word that makes you feel degraded, like you're a nobody," she said.

Moore said she called the furniture store the following day and three other times since, and feels discouraged that no one has returned her calls.

When interviewed yesterday by the Star, Romesh Kumar, Vanaik's assistant manager, passed the buck to his supplier, Cosmos Furniture in Scarborough. (Read More Here)
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Back to me:

How in the fuck did someone come up with this shit & do they have an Indian Red or China Yellow etc? The store owner is a damn fool & should be just as outraged as he is a brown person himself. The label could as easily been slated toward his people & shit as well all know, there are some pretty dark East Indians.

If you got this sofa & saw the same label, what would you do?

On a Light Note: Nappy Headed Hoes

My boy Ray-Ray works in HR, so hit me up if you plan to attend!

On the way home, the only thing on my mind was "nappy headed hoes" & how fucked up that sounds but don't be mad at me because the more I thought about it I started to laugh inside & just how ridiculous this phrase is. I am in no way downplaying the media firestorm over the stringy headed media hoe Imus situation but merely focusing on how sometimes language takes me there.

In the words of Nikki Giovanni:

"English isn't a good language to express emotion through
mostly I imagine because people try to speak English
instead of trying to speak through it..."
~ My House (1972)

Nappy Headed Hoes & The White Standard of Beauty (Updated)

If you read blogs daily as much as I do then you no doubt read about “shock jock” Don Imus’ recent comments about Rutgers women’s basketball team.

If you missed this display of racism, let me fill you in. Taken from he commentary of Don Imus & Bernard McGuirk during a NCAA women’s championship game last Tuesday:

Imus - "That's some rough girls from Rutgers."
McGuirk - "Man, they got tattoos!"
McGuirk - "Some hardcore hoes!"
Imus - "That's some nappy headed hoes there, I'm going to tell you that."

There are so many things wrong in this dialogue, that I am not even going to trip & analyze but it broke down starting with calling them girls.

As it stands the initial dialogue was bad enough but then they started to call the Rutgers team Jigaboos & the Tennessee team Wannabees (a throw back to School Daze).

Over the past few months, this type of racist activity is hardly shocking & goes to show that racism is alive and well.

So Imus apologized the other day (a day late & a dollar short) but after months of these types of apologies, I now realize that they mean nothing.

"I apologize for an insensitive and ill-conceived remark we made the other morning referring to the Rutgers women's basketball team.''

"It was completely inappropriate, and we can understand why people were offended. Our characterization was thoughtless and stupid, and we are sorry.''

What good is an apology if you really stand behind what you said or did but got caught looking like a fool in a public audience. Not only should this bastard lose his job, he needs to enter rehab for racist but I think the best punishment will be if one of the nappy headed hoes from Rutgers showed his ass what a nappy headed hoe can really do as she beat the white ff of his ass.

To be devil's advocate, Black men in particular rappers call Black women hoes & bitches all the time, where is the community outrage on this. Instead of being pissed of for being respected, woman buy the very music that degrades & objectifies them. Why come???

Moving along on a related topic, when I 1st heard this hot mess of a story, the one thing that ran through my mind was, Imus’ sentiments are why we (Negroes) have such a negative self-image. Specifically referring to how the majority of our women wear their hair, how many Black women around the world use bleaching creams to lighten their skin & I can go on & on but I think you get where I am coming from.

Last weekend a woman complemented me on my locks & asked me how I got them & how long I had them etc. She then said that she thought about getting them herself but was not sure. I then told her that the 1st step was rejecting & getting rid of her European beauty addition & start to embrace what Oshun blessed her with. After I put her on front, she shook her head like it was going to fall of saying I don’t know if I can do that.

As I walked away, I was like, what a poor lost soul.
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FYI:
Oshun is the Yoruban (Nigerian) goddess of love, sexuality, beauty and diplomacy.
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The Update:

Today, MSNBC publicly announced that they will suspend their Imus simulcast show for a period of 2 weeks starting April 16th.

Imus has called for a meeting with the Rutgers team, parents & school officials. The meeting is on hold while Rutgers considers possible options against Imus & the show.

Oh & yeah, Imus sis get his ass chewed out by Al Sharpton today. While shooting the shit Imus kept referring to himself as a good person and the claimed:

"Here's what I've learned: that you can't make fun of everybody, because some people don't deserve it," he said on his nationally syndicated radio show Monday morning. "And because the climate on this program has been what it's been for 30 years doesn't mean that it has to be that way for the next five years or whatever because that has to change, and I understand that."

He pointed to his involvement with the Imus Ranch, a working cattle ranch for children with cancer and blood disorders in New Mexico. Ten percent of the children who come to the ranch are black, he added."I'm not a white man who doesn't know any African-Americans,"

I think he just fell short of saying that some of his best friends were Black & that they come to his house all of the time.

Lastly, his apologies still don't mean shit, no matter how many he makes!

Term of The Week: Magic Negro

Before reading my boy's blog (The Free Slave)post about "Black Snake Moan" (I will not be seeing this movie BTW) I had never heard the term Magic Negro. Well after I read it about it there 1st, I started reading other posts in the Blogosphere referring to Barack Obama as a "Magic Negro".

So of course I had to go to Wikipedia to see if there was an entry on the Magical Negro & without a doubt, they did not fail me & I now fully understand the term Magic Negro.

So now that I am enlightened to the term Magic Negro, I feel that I am a Magic Negro most of the time when on the plantation (If you are Negro, you know where I mean (if not read between the lines)).
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According to Wikidepia:

The Magical Negro (sometimes called the Mystical Negro, Magic Negro, or our Magical African-American Friend) is a stock character who appears in fiction of a variety of media. The word "Negro", now considered archaic and offensive, is used intentionally to emphasize the belief that the archetype is a racist throwback, an update of the "Sambo" stereotype. The term, which may have been in use since at least the 1950s, was popularized by Spike Lee, who dismissed the archetype of the "super-duper Magical Negro" in 2001 while discussing films with students at Washington State University and at Yale University.

Description:

The Magical Negro is typically "in some way outwardly or inwardly disabled, either by discrimination, disability or social constraint," often a janitor or prisoner. He has no past; he simply appears one day to help the white protagonist. He is the black stereotype, "prone to criminality and laziness." To counterbalance this, he has some sort of magical power, "rather vaguely defined but not the sort of thing one typically encounters." They are patient and wise, often dispensing various words of wisdom, and are "closer to the earth."

The Magical Negro serves as a plot device to help the protagonist get out of trouble, typically through helping the white character recognize his own faults and overcome them. In this way, the Magical Negro is similar to the Deus ex machina; a simple way for the protagonist to overcome an obstacle almost entirely through outside help. Although he has magical powers, his "magic is ostensibly directed toward helping and enlightening a white male character." It is this feature of the Magical Negro that some people find most troubling. Although the character seems to be showing African-Americans in a positive light, he is still ultimately subordinate to whites. He is also regarded as an exception, allowing white America to "like individual black people but not black culture."

To save the white protagonist, however, he would do anything, including sacrificing himself, as Sidney Poitier did in The Defiant Ones, the prototypical Magical Negro movie.
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Back to Me:

Wikidepia & other online sources listed movies with Magical Negro characters & I found myself laughing because amongst them were a few of my favorites, which include:

• All Whoopi Goldberg movies with the exception of the “Color Purple”
  
  • Black Beauty
  • Jumping Jack Flash
  • Corrina, Corrina
    
  • Ghost
  • Etc…
• The Green Mile (Michael Clarke Duncan)
  
• Forrest Gump (Mykelti Williamson (Bubba))
  
• The Matrix (Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) & The Oracle(Gloria Foster))
  
• Bringing Down the House (Queen Latifah)
  
• House Guest (Sinbad)
  
• Far From Heaven (Dennis Haysbert)

Do you have any favorite movies with a Magical Negro & most importantly, have you ever felt like a Magical Negro at any given period in your life?

Oh & for the record; I do not think that Barack is magical; he’s just a Negro that has my vote!

@ The Movies: Shared History

Last month I received an email from a Felicia Furman who is the producer of the awesome "Shared History" documentary. The timing of her contact was very ironic because I had done a post & discussed with friends about the significance of Black history, Oprah’s slave roots, background research & her direct link to Africa in addition to all of this, our communication was right before Al Sharpton revealed the news about his genealogical research that reveled that his descendants were once owned by racist Strom Thurman’s descendants.

Anyway, Felicia was contacting me because she was interested in getting my opinion on her production. Of course I could not resist this great opportunity especially after she told me that she had been checking out the Mindspill.

While Felicia & I were exchanging emails she shared with me that the film was about the interactions among a group of contemporary black and white people connected to each other by a plantation in South Carolina, so after checking out her site & viewing the trailer, I was even more excited to see what she had to offer.

Now it is a little over a week later & I have “Shared History” in my hand & I could not wait to pop it into my baby (MacBook Pro). I had originally hoped to get some friends together to watch but the weather was horrible & I could not wait so I took the journey alone.

Shared history is really Felicia’s history as she is a descendants of author William Gilmore Simms, the last slave owner at Woodlands. This made the story even more intriguing for obvious reasons (well the reasons should be obvious, if not read between the lines).

So after I watched the film, I immediately email Felicia & stated the following:

“I watched Shared History last night & all I can saw is WOW. It was very interesting hearing accounts from the various perspectives on any given story like the sale of the property where there were several truths & then the reality.

While watching, I had a range of emotions from laughing to tears, very powerful & thought provoking!

I am going to do a review for my blog as an ending note for Black History Month. Ironically your story came to me as the Al Sharpton/Strom Thurman story hit the news.

You truly did a remarkable job pulling this together & I appreciate you contacting me with this GEM.”

As mentioned in above note to Felicia, one of my favorite moments from the film was when one of the slave owner’s descendants recounted the story of the slave owner giving a large piece of property to a former slave as a goodwill gesture & then the truth came out. The slave descendant was like hold up what a minute, we, were not given anything, we paid for this. Then she produced the documentation showing that her ancestor really did pay for the land, which meant that the slave owner was not as generous as people thought. I laughed out loud at this point because I could see it on her face how bad she wanted to say BOOYAHHHH!!! Then there was that social security moment, for which you have to see & heart to really believe.

My bottom line on this is that it is a must see especially for those of us that have a desire to dig into our own pasts but are afraid of what or who we may find.
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Other important & prominent individuals from this real life story:

Charles Orr is the great grandson of Isaac Nimmons, the slave coachman of Woodlands who left after the Civil War. Charles is a social worker in Detroit, a writer, historian, and a collector of African American popular art.

Rhonda Kearse is a descendant of Jim Rumph, who was born in Africa in 1810 and died in 1922 at Woodlands. His descendants remained closely connected to the white slave-owning family—the Simms—after the Civil War. Rhonda was born in New Jersey and is an architect with the New York/New Jersey Port Authority.
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Advertised Movie Synopsis:
Woodlands Plantation was the home of William Gilmore Simms, a 19th century American literary figure. He lived there with his family and approximately 70 members of enslaved African American families. The descendants of some of these families have maintained a connection with the Simms family and the land to this day. Woodlands is still owned by the Simms descendants.

With an extraordinary collection of historic images and documents, oral histories, as well as family photographs (19th and 20th century), “home movie” film footage (beginning in 1942) and “home video” footage (from 1968 to the present), this unique program documents the living descendants’ efforts to examine the persistence of the relationship and expose the myths that sustained the connection through more than two centuries.

The descendants of slaves and slave owners of Woodlands Plantation have for generations passed down stories and anecdotes about the relationship that existed between their families. It was while independently researching their families’ history that three descendants of the families met and began to uncover through family interviews and archival evidence the unspoken “truths” about the old relationships.

• View the trailer here
• Purchase DVD here

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To wrap, I would like to share with you a Q&A correspondence between Felicia after I viewed the film.

Bygbaby: After you completed the film how did you change your perceptions on racism & the current effects of slavery on African descendants?

Felicia: I can’t say that my perceptions of racism necessarily changed after the completion of the film. I guess I’ve felt more deeply the debt this country owns to African Americans for building the US and that we all benefit—even (or especially) those who’ve only “just arrived.” No one can claim they have not benefited from US slavery. I’ve always believed that slavery didn’t happen so long ago. It is still very much a part of who we are—it is who we are-- and continues to cause tremendous grief.

Bygbaby: How are people reacting to it?

Felicia: Most people have responded positively to the film. It seems to give black and white people a chance to identify with at least one of the “characters” so that they don’t necessarily (at least at first) have to think of it personally. In other words, people seem lulled by its “softness” and aren’t fully aware of what I’m getting until the end of the film, so they stick with it.

Bygbaby: Have you considered possible blood ties to Rhonda, Charles or others?

Felicia: Charles and Rhonda and I and others have had many discussions about blood ties. Rhonda’s family doesn’t think so. Charles has never heard any family lore about it but he and I have worked out a plausible scenario that would connect us. I think we can assume that over a connection of 260 years, SOMETHING would have happened.

Bygbaby: What's next for the film?

Felicia: The film has been screened at several US and European festivals. In April it will be part of the program of the Collegium of African American Rese