I'm not considered the average because I love being a introvert! However, since I like honest discourse, I find myself engaging in healthy productive conversations. Never ashamed to speak on social-political issues. From Columbus, Ohio, I spend most of my time reading and posting comments on vlogs by way of You Tube and Twitter. Lover of God and Fatherhood, outside of blogging I enjoy watching and reading documentaries and historic events.
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Nearly two years ago next month, the black church and various other media outlets and blogs couldn’t wait to dispel the latest sentiments from a message involving mega church Pastor Jamal Bryant. Bryant, who’s certainly no stranger when it comes to controversy both in and outside of the pulpit, received an enormous amount of scrutiny and public backlash when he preached a sermon that contained a line from current R&B bad boy Chris Brown and his latest song at that time, “These H**s [Girls] Ain’t Loyal.” Seems like the mega church Pastor can’t leave these ‘girls’ alone as yet another woman has come forward alleging Bryant is the father of her newborn son. According to reports from The Christian Times, the child’s mother, Latoya Shawntee Odom, a 34-year old Californian massage therapist, bare it all to Obnoxious Television through a series of text messages that she had a sexual…
After delivering such a riveting message during last week’s BET Awards, Grey’s Anatomy star Jesse Williams went from a thunderous ovation from a crowd of his peers, to a week of receiving malicious criticism from Conservative cowards; who set up a spiteful petition to have him fired from ABC. See, Mr. Williams’ words wasn’t about his blackness, playing the victim card, or him being some spoiled overpaid actor using his platform to bash cops. Not even close. His words were about what took place in Baton Rouge, Louisiana last night when a young man identified as Alton Sterling, 37, was gunned down by some bloodthirsty cops. Eerie; however, but prophetic.
In a petition started by Erin Smith on Change.Org, Smith accused Williams of a “racist, hate speech against law enforcement and white people at the BET Awards.” She also wasn’t fond of the show’s creator, Shondra Rhymes, accusing her of “condoning” his actions and even calling Ms. Rhymes a “hypocrite.” Here’s a small excerpt of what Smith wrote:
“Upon receiving a humanitarian award at the BET awards, Jesse Williams released a cascade of inappropriate, unprofessional and racist commentary against police officers and Caucasians. Had any one of his offensive words been said by any other race other than an African American, they would’ve been publicly shamed, fired from whatever job they had, lost endorsements, advertisers, etc…”
Smith’s petition–a disgusting one to say the least–has over 18, 000 supporters, needing 25,000 signatures to achieve its ridiculous goal. People like Erin and TheBlaze Tomi Lahren, really don’t want to hear about any socio-political issues involving the Negro in this country. We should instead, not focus on race because if you do, I will pull out my conservative bias talking points and remind you who was the people who freed you from slavery. According to them, the subject of race can only be addressed when they control the narrative; which always reminds us what we’re not doing, should be doing, or what ‘they’ have done to help us.
RT.com has just released the names of the officers involved in the death of Alton Sterling: Blane Salamoni, 4-year veteran, and Howie Lake II, 3-year veteran. It has also been noted that one of the officers, Lake II, was involved in a prior police killing in December 2014, RT.com reports.
Prior to today, I must admit I was not a proponent of the Black Lives Matter movement; even after today, I will hold fast to my convictions about the movement. The only movement we as black people should only be a part of, are the ones which arenot funded by white handlers. History teaches us from the Civil Rights Movement, when it was completely funded and controlled by white handlers, black folks as a collective received nothing from that movement. Unless you want to count retired or deceased Negro leaders, whose legacy left us singing spirituals, the DNC party, and no economy because we were satisfied with the white man liking us. However, even in the aftermath of this police execution, locals from the Baton Rouge area have flooded the streets in protest (which they should) being assisted by community leaders and organizers—while black America holds its breath waiting to breathe for justice.
“What we’ve been doing is looking at the data and we know police somehow manage to deescalate, disarm, and not kill white people every day”--Jesse Williams
While I may not agree with Mr. Williams’ Black Lives Matter Movement or some of the sentiments he made during his compelling speech; however, we both agree our lives matter and we shouldn’t have to include “all lives” when historically and concurrently, all lives still aren’t created equal. Peace and love y’all.
In perhaps one of the biggest and most shocking free agent signings in the history of the NBA, former league MVP Kevin Durant agrees to a two-year $54.3 million contract (with a player option, of course) with 2015 NBA Champion, the Golden State Warriors. Durant was everything ‘independent’ once he became free agent just days ago, but when the most sought out off-season talent made his LeBron esk decision today, there was nothing but fireworks on social media which drew nationwide attention. In a letter written by Durant entitled “My Next Chapter” which appeared on the Players’ Tribune, a mature Durant states he “understood cognitively what he was facing” at this stage of his life:
Although Durant goes on in the letter to vocalize how dearly he will miss those indispensable relationships he established in Oklahoma City, the 9-year veteran poignantly gets to the overall reason his departure:
As touching as this letter comes across, I just like many other NBA fans and critics was taken aback—and dismissively ticked-off—by Kevin’s decision to do the ole can’t beat em, join em with the Golden State Warriors. As if these here today gone tomorrow NBA contracts wasn’t bad enough, Durant opted to join the Warriors who compiled a 73-9 regular season record; and was the same team his Thunder pushed to a pivotal game seven of the Western Conference Finals. But I guess that’s what we’ve should have expected in this ‘new era’ NBA. Even though Durant’s loyalty to the Thunder persisted nine NBA seasons, it seemed like Durant is more concerned about not having an asterisk in his career notes which would denote him not winning a championship.
While I certainly understand how Durant may feel about the possibility of the leagues most coveted prize eluding him one day; but in this situation I feel he just totally overreacted. It’s not like I’m saying he’s wrong for exploring the market and meeting with other NBA teams. However, the operative word is OTHER teams such as Miami, Boston, San Antonio, and his hometown of Washington would have loved to see Kevin turn their franchises into a possible league powerhouse; but that didn’t happen. Instead, ‘Durantula’ will be aligning himself in sort of a contributor role (in my opinion) to an otherwise cohesive, fluid, unselfish offense of the Warriors. Though their defense will continue to be a question mark, offensively the “Splash Family” with Curry, Thompson, Green and KD, they should be the best scoring team in the sport. Just the mere thought of it has many avid fans drooling.
Now everybody wanna play for the heat and the Lakers? Let's go back to being competitive and going at these peoples!
I wonder if King James is giving Durant the proverbial side eye because it was Durant who in 2010 sent a tweet about James joining the Heat to form the “Big Three.” In fact, it was that very same “Big Three” starring James, D-Wade, and Chris Bosh, who would eliminate KD and company in the 2012 NBA Finals. So is KD simply following in James’ footsteps in what could be the new wave of NBA superiors opting out of their contracts to form elite squads? Well LeBron went back to Cleveland where Kyrie and Kevin awaited. Meanwhile, Durant is traveling west to make some new friends in the Bay Area. Just remember this day and don’t be surprised if you start seeing the Chris Paul’s, the Paul George’s, heck even the Brian Westbrook’s of the league opt out their contracts just to devise another player conglomerate. If this does catch on (and I think it will), you better pray those young NBA draft hopefuls begin a basketball renaissance of talent; because those other teams are certainly going to need it.
Originally, I wasn’t going to write about this subject because there continues to be two distinctly separate factions in black America. Some will say it’s what legendary comedian Chris Rock spoke to in what has become a one of his most famous comedic routines in his 1996 stand-up special, “Bring the Pain.” In the segment which was slightly over eight minutes long, Rock made it abundantly clear that there exists a subculture within the African-American community in which there is a definite thin line not between love and hate, rather between black people and the nefarious N-word. As controversial as the routine was, many African-Americans actually agreed with Rock due to the negative stereotypes which are attributed to black folks as a collective brought to you by the narrow-minded bigots in the media and elsewhere. These stereotypes still remain to this day and yet the outcry towards this behavior continues to be celebrated or given a pass by a certain Negro sector and even by those who considers themselves “conscious”. Now before you think I’m writing this blog to take up for people who Willie D and others of his ilk deem as ‘Coons’, then think again. I must also make it perfectly clear that I am not defending a certain black collective who think they’re above other African-Americans themselves by affirming certain political viewpoints, concepts, and narratives. Not to say that I’m totally against hard work or the mantra of “pulling yourself up by the proverbial bootstraps” mentality because there is logic in that talking point, like it or not. Nonetheless, I would be a fool to say discrimination and now covert racism doesn’t exist within our current society. So spare me the nonsense that racism doesn’t because my name isn’t Charms and you can’t play me like a sucker. I actually want to present an argument in hopes that you would think critically about the historical implications that comes with the word coon and how many black folks (including Willie D himself), are using it completely out of context. ***what we gonna do right here is go back***
For starters, if we’re going to speak on what cooning means in a historical sense, we must begin with a brief history of the Minstrel Shows and Blackface. Minstrelsy evolved from several different American entertainment traditions; the traveling circus, medicine shows, shivaree, Irish dance and music with African syncopated rhythms, musical halls and traveling theatre. The “father of American minstrelsy” was Thomas Dartmouth “Daddy” Rice (1808-60), who in 1828, in a New York City theatre, performed a song-and-dance routine in blackface and tattered clothes. Rice’s character was based on a folk trickster persona named Jim Crow that was long popular among black slaves. Rice also adapted and popularized a traditional slave song called Jump Jim Crow (http://black-face.com/minstrel-shows.htm). Rice’s song and dance routine was lauded by audiences that brought him enormous success in the U.S. and internationally. This spawned numerous imitators such as the Virginia Minstrels and the Ethiopian Serenaders; which incorporated the musical instruments: the banjo, a fiddle, a tambourine and bone castanets. Minstrel show entertainment included imitating black music and dance and speaking in a “plantation” dialect. The shows featured a variety of jokes, songs, dances and skits that were based on the ugliest stereotypes of African American slaves. From 1840 to 1890, minstrel shows were the most popular form of entertainment in America (http://black-face.com/). Among several racist caricatures which existed in blackface, the ‘Coon’ caricature (which was a mixture between the Jim Crow & Zip Coon caricatures), is among the most popular stereotypes along with the Mammie, [Uncle] Tom, the Buck and the Pickaninny.
Ferris State University, which is the quote “Home of the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia,” goes a bit deeper into the coon caricature and it has nothing to do with repeating “white supremacist” talking points:
As we can clearly see, the coon caricature was a “Sambo gone bad” so if there is any criticisms of those who spew white supremacist rhetoric, chances are they’re closely related to the Sambo (like Sam Jackson in the movie Django) instead of the lazy, buffoonish, and malapropic speaking coon. Still, Negroes will still find a way to justify calling people like Stacey Dash, Raven Symone, Charles Barkley, Stephen A. Smith, Don Lemon, black Conservatives, and basically any black person who appears on Fox News—coons, simply because they have a different opinion and doesn’t espouse to the victimhood mentality. Now while those people that I’ve just mentioned are entitled to their personal perspectives when speaking on these socio-political platforms; however, it would be very remiss of me not bring up the obvious agendas on these programs regardless of your political ideas or affiliations. In fact, it is my assertion that these ‘talking heads’ are only allowed on these programs to regurgitate ‘controlled opinions’ rather than sincere, honest ones. But then again, we do have the Sheriff David Clarke’s of the world who had the audacity to fix his face and spew imbecilic nonsense like “there is no police brutality in America”. Dude seriously?! Then to make matters worse, while I don’t agree with the whole “Black Lives Matter” movement (because it is a covert movement to actually push the gay-transgender agenda, rather than focusing on blacks as a whole) but even they didn’t deserve to be called ‘subhuman creeps’ by Clarke.
Moving right along Willie D’s ‘coons’ list we have Stephen A. and Charles Barkley. Barkley received criticism (and praise) about exposing the “dirty, dark secret in the black community” that if you speak intelligently you’re ‘acting white’ or if you’re not ‘a thug or an idiot, you’re not black enough’. Stephen A. has uttered these same sentiments (although he’s still receiving backlash on how he handled the Michelle Beadle situation and agreeing with Mark Cuban about prejudice & stereotypes) but because Smith, Barkley and nearly everyone else on Willie D.’s list (except Raven Symone) sounds well, kind of Bill Cosby-ish, they’re instantly labeled as coons. As I’ve stated before, most of the time these talking heads or pundits deliver controlled opinions on these platforms whether they truly believe their own rhetoric or not. Then there’s the notion that these people are rewarded handsomely by their white handlers for “throwing black people under the bus.” Well, by that logic what makes them any different from the rappers of the hip-hop subculture? Both are famously being controlled commercially and financially by white handlers with the lone exception that many in black America (including Mr. Coonhunter himself, Willie D.) refuse to call-out these rappers (of course not all) as coons. Because at the end of the day, cooning has more to do with stereotypical behavior that white racists believed about black people; not one’s opinion. Case in point: You had actor/comedian and television personality, Wayne Brady, being called “not black enough” by many in the black community due to he has not only a large white following, but because he sounds (intelligent/articulate) like a ‘white’ person. Here is a short excerpt from Brady on the Huffington Posts Live about being black and cooning:
At the end of the day, Negroes like Willie D. will continue call people the coon word because they’re on ‘white’ platforms but will keep quiet to the real so-called coons—who are also funded by white people! The real shuck and jive and Step ‘n Fetch will never get called out because they’re keeping it real—real hood that is—which has become synonymous with black culture. Negative stereotypes of Blacks are a staple of Black music videos that glorify gangsterism. The “buck” is now a hoodlum with an attitude and the minstrel-show plantation has morphed into a music video version of gangster life. Though the setting has changed from an idyllic plantation to the mean streets of urban America, the process remains the same; a black culture is being marketed for profit, with black performers portraying negative stereotypes (http://black-face.com/).
But I’m just trippin though, right? Peace.
Links for further research on historical black stereotypes:
Nearly two years ago next month, the black church and various other media outlets and blogs couldn’t wait to dispel the latest sentiments from a message involving mega church Pastor Jamal Bryant. Bryant, who’s certainly no stranger when it comes to controversy both in and outside of the pulpit, received an enormous amount of scrutiny and public backlash when he preached a sermon that contained a line from current R&B bad boy Chris Brown and his latest song at that time, “These H**s [Girls] Ain’t Loyal.” Seems like the mega church Pastor can’t leave these ‘girls’ alone as yet another woman has come forward alleging Bryant is the father of her newborn son. According to reports from The Christian Times, the child’s mother, Latoya Shawntee Odom, a 34-year old Californian massage therapist, bare it all to Obnoxious Television through a series of text messages that she had a sexual relationship with the popular pastor and gave birth to his son, who she named John Karston Bryant, in July 2015. The woman also freely and willingly provided Obnoxious Media a copy of the paternity tests that Bryant has requested and paid for. The test was carried out by LB Genetics, one of the most trusted DNA testing facilities in California among U.S. federal courts. The facility specializes in paternity, family relationship, and human identification testing. Test results sent to Odom showed that Bryant is 99.9999% to the 10-month-old boy.
The founder of Empowerment Temple A.M.E. Church and son of Bishop John Richard Bryant, the charismatic pastor have undergone several scandals involving women before which eventually lead to the divorce of his now estranged wife, Gizelle Bryant, back in 2008. Bryant appeared to show a level of contrition and sincerity in an interview he did with Roland Martin entitled, Drama in the Church: Temptation Ended His Marriage, Nearly Destroyed the Ministry of Pastor Bryant. In the candid 2013 interview, the then rejuvenated reverend spoke about how God restored his ministry after an extramarital affair nearly tore it apart. As Bryant explains:
“My father [Roland] asked me a critical question: ‘Were you preaching for applause? If you were preaching for applause and the people—it was a performance. But if you preaching because of your calling—your assignment; the same passion you had when there was thousands; is the same kind of intention now that you got to have now there’s been reduced to hundreds’” (…)
Since the interview, Bryant was again catapulted to the spotlight and appeared on numerous nationally syndicated platforms, reality shows as a spiritual adviser, mentor, and recently as a prominent voice in the Black Lives Matter movement. Just last month, Rev. Bryant held a peace march which signaled the one-year anniversary death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray, and the civil unrest that transpired. As reported by the Baltimore Sun, Bryant left an online message asking those listening to invite as many people as possible, and to come from all across the region. Bryant further stated:
Now with this latest scandal being added to his philanderous belt, reports have also surfaced that Mr. ‘Black Lives Matter’ Bryant also pressured Ms. Odom to have an abortion because his career—I mean ministry, couldn’t sustain another devastating blow. The tumultuous timing couldn’t have come at a more celebratory time in Bryant’s life as he and several others who I call, ‘motivational ministers’, are set to star in an upcoming show called, The Preachers.
It will be interesting to see how Bryant’s church and those in the clerical hierarchy handle or discipline the reverend this time (if at all) due to his ‘celebrity’ status. Among a plethora of issues which reside in the Negro church, the ongoing lax of church discipline when it comes to certain leaders (mostly males) is staggering. Whereas if this had of been a woman caught ‘hoeing it up’ in like manner, not only would she had been told to step down, but she would have been ostracized in front of that congregation and told to leave the ministry. The double standard is indeed frightening when it comes to these popular ministers who, no matter what they do, people will claim they have been called of God and will tell you to keep your mouth off the manned or woman of Gawd (you know, the whole touch not my anointed scripture). It truly baffles my mind because you would think if this pastor was bold enough to recite some Chris Brown’s lyrics in his sermon, at the very least you would think he’d watched himself in this current “exposure” culture. No, I’m not excusing passa Bryant for his continuous indiscretions out of the pulpit. As the saying goes, ‘What’s done in the dark will eventually come to the light,’ even if that light is for attention that could pay dividends that includes a reality show—which leads me to Latoya Odom. I find it strange that Bryant’s massage mistress would come forward with this (not surprisingly) bombshell against him even though he’s supporting their lovechild financially. The DNA test as reported and leaked by Ms. Odom herself was done last year in August according to Obnoxious Television’s blog. I guess she wants to put it all out there and not look like the typical church jump off, but to become transparent with her future audience because after all, she’s studying to become, you guessed it—a pastor herself. I guess this trial or test will become a testimony for either Bryant or Odom as well. The only surprise is who will regurgitate that line first between the two.
Yesterday night I had the temerity to watch the “Plantation Celebration” aka the “Coon Train Awards,” hosted by Mr. Hidden Colors himself, Tariq Nasheed. Mr. Nasheed is an accomplished author in his own right most notably known for his “giving you the game literature” which includes The Mack Within, The Elite Way, and The Art of Mackin,’ which has made him a New York Times bestselling writer. The brother is a self-made entrepreneur and tours the country giving lectures about the system of white supremacy, group economics, and relational advice. True indeed, Tariq has become a fixture in the black community when it comes to African (or what he calls Melaninated) history, culture, and religion, thus his popular Hidden Colors series. However, there is a “cause to pause” if you will when it comes to some of this brother’s viewpoints and ideologies. My cause to pause is with creating an award show based off a racist term called “cooning.” Now before you think I deserve one of those insignificant awards, please slow your roll. I understand there’s Negroes who are “selected” to tap dance on conservative talk forums such as CNN and Fox News. Whenever there’s a racial conversation that involves a murder or beating of a black vs white counterpart, they’re quick to always bring on your Allen West, Juan Williams, and Larry Elders’ of the world to tell what black folks should or are doing. One of the key talking points is “black-on-black violence.” This is an imperative issue that cannot be ignored, but in the case of Mr. Nasheed and his followers, it’s the white man’s fault.
Now I’m not excusing the systematic racism/discrimination which has haunted the African-American since the time of slavery and Jim Crow. That can’t be refuted or denied. Yet, many of us continue to harp on the horrible history of slavery for our transgressions in the modern era and our voting demographic displays we still act like slaves checking the Democratic box! The insanity baffles me, really. Anyways, I place a critical eye on Mr. Nasheed because he calls people who tout the rhetoric of black crime as coons. Understandably, I get where he’s coming from when blacks are used to spout what whites say on their networks but use a black face, aka a Stacey Dash. But, it doesn’t negate the real core issue that we have within our community when it comes to these inexcusable acts of violence. So while Tariq and friends were clowning or celebrating your so-called coons of black America, it doesn’t dispel the salient talking point about black-on-black violence. Case in point, I give you former Buckeye and New Orleans Saint, Defensive End Will Smith.
“A man was arrested Sunday in the shooting death of former New Orleans Saints defensive end Will Smith, who helped the team win Super Bowl XLIV, its only championship. Smith was rear-ended while driving in New Orleans’s Lower Garden District on Saturday night, causing him to hit a vehicle in front of him, police said. The driver of the vehicle that hit Smith, identified by police as Cardell Hayes, “exchanged words” with the former football player after the crash. Hayes, 28, then drew a handgun and shot Smith several times, police said.
Hayes stayed at the scene, police said, and a handgun was recovered from the area. Hayes was arrested and charged with second-degree murder.” You heard that right, Mr. Smith was shot to death by a Negro who hit his car and resorted in pulling a gun on the highly touted football star. This brings me to Mr. Nasheed and his followers.
Am I naïve in believing there’s no such thing as racism or that we as a people have “crossed over” in regards to racism as a whole? Of course not people. However, what I will say and stand behind is our senseless behavior as black men when it comes to wanting to kill a n*gga on site mentality. It is disgusting, pervasive, and an absolute scourge on us as a people. I don’t want to hear about what other ethnic groups do in comparisons to us. Quit the deflections already. Whether you agree with the “coons” Tariq talks about or not, they are not our biggest threat especially us black men. We are our own worst enemy and we can’t just toss it off and say dudes like Cardell Hayes are quote, “dusty.” These Negroes have been a cancer in our society and with the abundance of single parent homes, this attitude has turned savage. Yea, that’s right, savage is not the term I want to label them as, but it’s what the young and arrested developmental minded Negroes call themselves! It’s insane!
Again, if you think I’m trashing Mr. Nasheed and those of his ilk, then you’ve missed my overall point. You had a guy die over something so petty it doesn’t need to be repeated. How many times have we died over frivolous things such as a pair of shoes, a sporty jacket, or what some female said about being “disrespected.” This is what separates us from other ethnic groups because we can’t use the excuse of economic deprivation anymore; especially when we embrace the hood aka “Get it how you live,” culture. You know the saying, “You can’t have your cake and eat it too,” well in the case of many of us, we have diabetes. Although many people will call me names about writing this blog about black-on-black crime, just remember this: A problem only exists when one not only fails acknowledge it, but doesn’t try their damnedest to fix it. Shout out to New Era Detroit. Peace y’all!
Needless to say, last week was a very eventful one for Mr. Stephen A. Smith. After responding to Kevin Durant’s comments about him being a “liar” and that he “makes up stories;” Smith took his national program on Monday ESPN2’s First Take; and delivered what many has considered a “personal threat” towards the basketball star. Smith’s lengthy diatribe made him an instant trending topic on social media via the Twitter. As expected, there were some cheers, but there were also many, many jeers.
I will respond to @KDTrey5 on @FirstTake right now!!! Then later too, on my radio show. Like I've said repeatedly, I HIDE FROM NO-DAMN-BODY!
I really hope I don’t have to begin this blog explaining that I’m not referring to all black men. I’m strictly talking about Negro men who fit into the category of weak men. Now you may be wondering what qualifies me to make an assertion or classify a brother as weak. After all, there’re plenty of websites, chatrooms, magazines, forums and blogs, full of opinionated (and often frustrated) black women who claims there’s no good black men; and, because she’s so educated and or successful in corporate America, brothers aren’t on her level. One of the biggest problems in black America is that our women not only determine our manhood (by how many of them we’ve slept with), they define or interpret it. For those who know, raise your hands if you’ve heard a black woman either tell you or some other guy, “You’re not a real man.” It’s as…
Welcome to the information age, aka the crest of technology. While some of us are worried about the government interference and unscrupulous invasion of privacy through programs such as the NSA, the actual intruders that we need to worry about are those own the latest I-Phone. Since the advent of social media, we have regressed in many ways into an opportunistic, attention-starved, put you straight on blast culture where we look for the acceptance of people we don’t know from Adam; with the end result of achieving more Twitter/Facebook likes, or that our video would go viral. Regardless, many of our histrionic personal ways requires that we become the center of attention, no matter how vulgar or superficial it is. We demand that everyone treat us like the posthumous Tupac in his song, “All Eyes on Me.” This is why we keep our phones on deck at all times to record the often instigated street/school fight, people engaging in explicit sexual acts, private (supposed to be) conversations, even to the most surprisingly positive or humorous feats; the footage of our up’s and down’s are all available for public consumption. Apparently, this is what first year NBA player D’Angelo Russell must have thought when he secretly recorded a private conversation with his teammate, Nick Young (boyfriend of famed rapper Iggy Azalea), about a previous rendezvous with an alleged 19-year old, and why he didn’t holler at Amber Rose. The only thing that was missing from Russell’s scandalous, skullduggerish actions is he didn’t yell out the petulant phrase, “World Star!” How egregious.
While many will point to the fact that Russell broke the man or the “playa code,” Russell is only merely doing to what our culture has indoctrinated in him. While I do concur that D’Angelo broke the man code like some gossiping Wendy Williams type female; however, we can also conclude that this young, millennial, Negro wanted the cachet of social media, instead became its latest causality due to his thoughtless actions and immaturity–which is a glaring reflection of our society. Although Mr. Angelo is a public figure by way of his basketball talent; however, one must remember it is the very same public figures, entertainers, Instagram models and overnight You Tube sensations, which has enticed and infatuated the common man into thinking they are one click away from pop cultural ascension, acceptance and notoriety.
Please understand, I go easily disseminate or regurgitate what many other media sites such as ESPN are reporting about the dissension or fracas within the Lakers locker room (btw they won their game tonight vs. the Heat) ; but that’s not my angle nor the reason why I wrote this blog. This story intrigued me because it ran consecutively within the past several days of people with major and minor celebrity status that decided to put their personal business on blast by way of Twitter and Instagram. Whether it was Kyrie Irving and his suicidal girlfriend Kehlani, who was accused of cheating on Irving once an Instagram pic from some guy named PartyNextDoor surfaced. To the seemingly controversial ex-video vixen turned established author, Karrine Steffans, whose video was leaked over allegations of cheating and substance abuse with current husband, actor Columbus Short. Sadly, many of us walking dead “followers” pattern our lives vicariously through our favorite celebrity with the gap between the famous and the ordinary is just a friend request away. I truly only feel bad for Russell because he’d played his college ball here in Columbus, Ohio for that school I shall not mention because I despise their football program. D’Angelo has since apologized for his inconceivable, underhanded, and nearly unforgivable act as he was quoted in ESPN saying, “I can’t really show my face anywhere without people hating me right now.” After his Lakers defeated the visiting Miami Heat 102 to 100, Russell gave his conclusion about his shenanigans and how he doesn’t feel so isolated.
“Nah, I wouldn’t necessarily say that,” he said. “There’s been a bad vibe, but we’re human. So everybody has two cents to say. We’ve just got to clear the air, I guess.”
Get it together Russell and please, grow up! Otherwise they’ll trade you somewhere into NBA obscurity; and with the league being mostly black, one thing Negroes will concede upon is not tolerating a snitch. Peace y’all!
I really hope I don’t have to begin this blog explaining that I’m not referring to all black men. I’m strictly talking about Negro men who fit into the category of weak men. Now you may be wondering what qualifies me to make an assertion or classify a brother as weak. After all, there’re plenty of websites, chatrooms, magazines, forums and blogs, full of opinionated (and often frustrated) black women who claims there’s no good black men; and, because she’s so educated and or successful in corporate America, brothers aren’t on her level. One of the biggest problems in black America is that our women not only determine our manhood (by how many of them we’ve slept with), they define or interpret it. For those who know, raise your hands if you’ve heard a black woman either tell you or some other guy, “You’re not a real man.” It’s as if she wrote the manuscript on black manhood or at least provided a foreword in the book! Moving on, it is my understanding that men set the barometer for manhood, not women. It has been extremely unfortunate for us black men that we have based our manhood, our rite of passage, heck like Memphis Bleek, our “Coming of Age,” based around sexual encounters and conquests with our women. We have become sexual slaves to what’s between our women’s legs and they know it. Manhood is not simply determined by how much money you make, what job you occupy, or how kids you have and take care of (although these attributes are important btw), but it is how much your woman (get ready) respects and honors you! I know you’re thinking well isn’t that the same thing that you aforementioned above? No. Now follow me as I explain.
Brent Grimes fought his way to earn an NFL contract after being an undrafted free agent in 2006. His situation would begin to improve in 2007 when the Atlanta Falcons picked him up after originally parting ways with him due to a groin injury. Grimes played special teams for the Falcons in the 2007 and 2008 seasons. The very next year, Grimes recorded career-high in interceptions (6) and recorded 66 tackles. Eventually, Grimes got his payday with the Miami Dolphins when he cashed in a $32 million dollar contract ($16 guaranteed) in 2014. However, in light of his success, he had Miko—who wanted the limelight as well. She made herself known when a birthday cake was made showing her explicit talents. Since then, she has made more publicity and social media headway than her husband—a husband she’s nearly 10 years older than. Yes, when you look at this couple you see a boy and his Momma. Is this mic on, you’re seeing a sick Freudian Oedipus complex with Brent and his wife, Miko. After being arrested last year for disorderly conduct and later fired from being the host of 560-WQAM radio show; it was alleged that Brent’s new team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, told the belligerent Mrs. Grimes to delete her Twitter account. She has since reactivated her account.
I’m only speaking of Brent Grimes because there’s a sickness with many black men and it’s that they have succumbed to being matriarchal. I know you’re thinking, “He brings in the money,” but the problem is his WOMAN leads him. This is very troubling because most women don’t respect a weak man. Men are created to lead, protect, and provide; and in Brent’s case, he does not lead—and Miko knows it and openly doesn’t respect him. Women are created to submit to leadership especially towards their husbands; however, when the man operates outside of his creation-oriented role, the woman becomes the de facto leader even if she has to use her physical “assets” to do it. This seems to be the bases of their marriage as seen on VICE Sports and a birthday cake where Miko is shown performing a sexually explicit act. Apparently, Brent judges his manhood by his sexual prowess and his physical infatuation towards his wife which allows her to control him with it, thus doing whatever the heck she wants on social media and public platforms. But what do expect when she’s nearly ten years his senior.
Speaking of sexual prowess, there’s seems to be immense problem with the Negro athlete even before he reaches the professional NFL/NBA level. While I understand that many of these athletes come from impoverished backgrounds that are headed usually by single mothers; the Negro athlete is basically forced to enter the league (barring how promising his collegiate career was) due to his delinquent sexual behavior. Not excusing the women who many of them are open and secret groupies, but how many times have you’ve seen a Negro athlete on draft day or prior, state he has to go to the league to take care of his family? Now I do understand this assumption could include his direct family, but mostly it’s about him having to take care of a Negro female or two that he has a baby or two by. Notice that when you watch the televised draft that you will hardly ever see white athletes with a newborn child hanging from a girlfriend their mothers arm? Unfortunately, when it comes to the black athlete, there’s a circle full of women, a homeboy or brother and maybe, just maybe, the blacks males step-biological father.
Many black athletes set themselves coming out the gate behind the proverbial eight ball by already having children thinking their illustrious playing careers will last forever. They soon find out that alimony (if they actually get married) and child support last a heck of a lot longer than their careers. This leads me to Landon Collins who is a first year player at safety for the N.Y. Giants. It has been reported from several media outlets that the former Alabama Crimson Tide standout has impregnated 3 different women within days of each other. That’s right people. The 22-year old safety has already placed a future strain on his wallet regardless of how much his rookie salary is. It won’t be enough even IF he lasted past the NFL career average of 3.3 years. Oh, and by the way, he just got engaged; which will probably lead to another child. I guess as many other media outlets have suggested that he will be in the running to dethrone players like Antonio Cromartie, Shawn Kemp, Travis Henry, and Dwight Howard and sadly the list goes on. Whether they understand it or not, Negro athletes who fit this template of irresponsibility not only hurt themselves financially, but they continue the broken family syndrome; on purpose.
My intent wasn’t to defame or disrespect black athletes when writing this blog. Actually, it took me a few weeks to do it because sexual irresponsibility is something that many of us are guilty of. Again, many of us grow up with a matriarchal mindset so we think we are created to serve to woman’s wants—and we define our manhood and worthiness by it. However, her needs is the core issue and she needs a man to lead and if she has her mind right, she need us as fathers and husbands IN the home. I understand that every relationship is meant to be, but if there’s children involved, there ought to be a balance in parenting. Yet in our current acceptable sexually promiscuous climate, as black men we can ill afford to be irresponsible in the bedroom because the law is set up for the woman to be advantageous and unaccountable. This what makes us weak because when a woman is in perceived power, whether in marriage or not, it goes against the creation-oriented patriarchal role that is destroying the black community. Relax ladies; don’t get bent out of shape because I said a feminist hate word (patriarchal). Men were created to lead, protect, provide and educate; something which is missing when he’s irresponsible with his, well you know. Peace y’all!
a frustrated black, feminist, insomniac writer who is biding time and saving money to relocate in order to avoid the burden of navigating through white spaces.
#PaperlessThoughts80 