Why I believe Donald Sterling should not be forced to sale the Clippers

Did the NBA owners and their appointed “Commish” throw ol Don Sterling a bone? It is my contention that he should continue to own his franchise and not be forced to sale. I do not want to imagine a world where unpopular beliefs or statements can result in the forced sale of a person’s property or business.

Donald Sterling made some negative statements about minorities. His true feelings came out or at last we finally paid attention to what has been demonstrated to be in his heart for some time now or at least in the times he has owned an NBA franchise. It seems that it took his words not his actions to bring about a change, not typical! NBA owners, coaches, players, and even the fans ignored his antics for years and now in righteous indignation we want what could amount to his last days to be a horrible public experience.

I believe the owners threw Donald Sterling a bone when they committed to “force” him to sale his franchise. Imagine this scenario: Donald Sterling was forced to keep his franchise. He would be forced to watch as his Clippers franchise dwindled in value as sponsors dropped, fans refused to show for his games, and players dodged the pit that is the LA Clippers franchise. With these, the franchise would become a sinking ship that spilled money as it nosedived to the depths of an ocean of financial ruin. Organically these things would have happened if they just fined him and left him alone. This would have created a buyers’ market on the franchise and ol Masser Don would have been ORGANICALLY forced to sale at a price that would be significantly lower than the Clippers are valued at on 5/2/2014. With no sponsors, no players, no fans, and no pity he would have been forced to make the wise business decision of offering his business for sale at a cheap price (by NBA standards of course). Instead the owners of the other NBA franchises publicly call for his head while behind closed doors assuring that ol Masser Don is guaranteed a good price on his way out the door as Oprah Winfrey, Floyd Mayweather Jr, Oscar de la Hoya, Magic Johnson, and even Dr. Dre and Puffy want to put in bids . What they did is created, prematurely, a war of these various groups that are willing to help drive the price of his franchise up to no doubt record numbers for an NBA franchise…WATCH and see! Do you really believe Donald Sterling is upset about this…hmmm?

I can’t help but feel this was part of the plan. Remember, Donald Sterling is an old member of this fraternity and his frat brothers are still his frat brothers in finance. Could they have outsmarted the rest of the world behind closed doors by telling Sterling to pretend or even actually fight the sale to drive the price further north?  As for me I am glad he did what he did. An outed racist is a better for me and those that look like me than the ones under the white sheets. At least I know Donald Sterling doesn’t like me! As for the rest of the NBA owners, the jury is still out.

No one is going to really save us but US!

Somehow, the Social Inertia that has led to us to think and act like savages and blame all of OUR issues on others has to end. We have to find another object to act against the object in motion. Right now WE are blindly seeking the grace of God without willing to help ourselves. The people you blame for “OUR” issues are not going to save us so giving them the blame solves NOTHING. We have to save our own, starting with our children, one at a time! It is better to be in a position to receive GRACE (on the frontend) than to ask for MERCY (on the backend)!

It shames me that we are perpetually looking to others for the blame for our wrong doing or looking to blame others for our current negative situations. The problem with this is that you cannot get those that you blame to change a thing. Until you begin to look at your issue like it is your issue, nothing happens to mature a solution. I had to learn the very hard way that taking ownership of my issue is the one and true way to master it with a solution. It does not matter where the issue began, it is mine now and only I can fix it. Waiting on the stimuli that caused it to somehow fix it set me into a cycle of nothingness of just that…waiting! Why would the thing that created my problem help me to solve it? That thing will not help you to solve it until it has been reformed and the originators of our racial problems lack reformation or even acknowledgement that they originated the issue. Left on an island an entity will choose to survive or wallow in what it is that got them to that island. I choose to survive and focus on getting off the island. The broken vessel that got me to the island is not going to come to my rescue. Acknowledgement of this fact is the first part to getting to the solution.

Looking to God to supply a magic carpet ride off of this island will lead to a slow and painful hunger followed by an even more delayed death. Take notice that there are resources around you that may suffice for survival or better yet for getting off the island and saving oneself. All you have to do is make sure not to ignore the resources and take a step into the woods to go and get it. The fruit that drops from the trees has to be gathered and the animal has to be hunted if you plan to have nourishment to survive. The ship that gets you off the island will not build itself. If you are dependent upon the ship that got you there (welfare) to supply your needs once a month, it will stop coming ONE DAY. This I promise. Someone is paying for the ship to visit you once a month and they will some day, when you are no longer of use, stop visiting and leave you STRANDED.

Grace is the providence of things that are not deserved. This is sufficient if you are in a position to receive it. Mercy is the lack of what you really deserve. He who does not hunt will not eat. Asking that the mercy of nourishment is endowed upon you is a stretch and a chance that you do not want to worry into. Provide for yourself and grace will remain in the forefront. Waiting on others to provide for you and HOPE that there is mercy behind you and your misdeeds, is a losing proposition eventually.

We owe it to ourselves to take ownership of our issues and to supply answers to out many problems. Then and only then will what we have be enough and our children can follow the path that has been blazed for them, by our own footsteps. This blame that we give to an unseen “spook” is at its end as he will not come back to receive it or reconcile its fruit. We have to fix our own problems, no matter who caused them.

Where you stand dictates what you see

In life it is said that you are either heading into a storm, inside of a storm, or coming out of a storm. There is no prescribed amount of time for either of these parts of your individual life. I think that this is a true statement, at least by the experiences of my personal journey through life. What is more than challenging about this is the perspective at which we stand in the midst of these parts of the journey. Most of this comes from preparation and the understanding of a person as they travel. From the perspective of a person who has planted nothing a storm can be an unwelcome hindrance to continue the busy life of achieving null. For a person who has planted seeds for sowing, a storm can be a necessary giver of life, a sustainer of sorts. A storm can be a reminder that better times are ahead or a gut check to pay attention to where your assistance comes from. You see, the perspective comes from where you are situated and where you stand

physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

Prosperous people are the enemy of those that never really intend to live in the prosperity brought by their own sweat. Prosperous people, to them, are those that have too much, or those that need to give more, or those that are “food” for them to eat. The perspectives of those that live by the sweat of their brow see the prosperous as something totally different. They are to be looked upon as examples of what is to be achieved with hard work, dedication, and diligence. It really depends on where you situate yourself as you take sight of the lives of others.

Taking from others when you are capable of getting your own is a perspective shared by those that stand and view from a negative perspective. Never is there enough from where they stand. They intend to take until there is nothing left to take. Those with this perspective rob from the people that are in REAL need of the generosity and charity of the prosperous.

Standing in a storm and only seeing the rain can mean that your perspective is not allowing you to witness the rainbow or the flowers that will bloom. After the storm passes you only see mud. What a terrible place to be in. One of the most beautiful things about life is that you can change your perspective and view to be able to see more clearly…you just simply have to want to. Sometimes the herd you follow are lemmings and you just haven’t noticed until the cliff is behind you. From one perspective a rose is filled with thorns, and from another it is filled with vivid colors and unbelievable scents to be enjoyed. Where you stand very much dictates what you are able to see.

Martin Luther King was standing at the mountain top in a dream when he wrote a famous speech. From that perspective he seemed to be able to see the future of Black America. He seemed to be able to see much of what is evident in today’s society. He seemed to also foreshadow his not being able to get to a promised land just as Moses was not able to enter into the land he saw from Mt. Nebo that was promised by God. He seemed to enjoy a perspective that was one that could see past the storm. I often wonder what my world would be like had he chose to stand somewhere else.

A child can be a blessing or a curse. A job can be an albatross or a gold coin. A life can be one filled with the joys of overcoming challenges or a pitiful succession of concessions. You can see an approaching storm if you are not prepared or an opportunity  or you can see the beautiful rain given for your seeds to be fed. Remember the earth is fertilized with waste. What smells the most can be a giver of life if you stand in the right place and have the right perspective. A perspective can be one enjoyed or one to run from…..It just depends on where you choose to stand.

I'm getting my revenge....I think?

Best of all forms of getting back at an adversary is living a successful good life. Almost everyone has a person with which they owe a little “get back at you” to. Often it is the father or mother of your kids (trying not to use baby-mama and baby-daddy too much in 2010), or it is the people that talked the worse about you while you were growing up. First, I have to say this. If you haven’t moved on from such situations you probably need to look at the person in the mirror and find out where the deficiency lies. Your life should have been filled with enough joys to cancel out this spirit.

Many times the accused will not remember the silly things that you think they did to you. It is insignificant to them, as it should be to you…if you are an adult that is. When trying to position yourself to “show them”, remember how bad it made you feel and attempt to rise above such small-minded antics. If your focus is on you and yours, and not theirs, life will take care of your situation. My parent’s used to tell me that living a good life is the best revenge. I translate that to mean that a good life is the ultimate way to combat the negatives that fight against you.

If people that intended to hurt you are still in the childish business of bringing you pain, they will be aghast at your success and your good life. There it is if you just have to have it, your sweet revenge. Your positive, good life brings it back full circle. Don’t throw it in their face. This is ungodly and just childish not to mention it makes you look quite pea-brained. It also shows the person the power that they still hold over you, the weak-brained individual. Move on and let your life speak for you. Nobody that matters really cares that you make six figures, drive an expensive foreign car, or have a wonderful job. If all of this is true about you, they will know without you saying a word. If they are the ones that matter to you, they will be proud of you. In some manner you will know this. Be humble and thankful that your life is in some way helpful to someone else and let the past go! A good life is the best way to get back at the ones that will hate you. Just know that you seem as small as they do by acknowledging the fact that the past still haunts you. Be driven by being a good and successful person not by the bitterness of showing off.

Things can’t be fixed because no one wants to acknowledge that they are a part of the problem

In our community it is much easier to be entertained by the marks on the clothes of others. More often than not we are not willing to look at our backwards progression as issues. They are mere “choices” that we make these days. This is of course the case as long as it is someone else perpetuating the issue that we take notice of. There can be no progress without the realization that a problem exists. Usually this is not your particular problem but it IS a problem in OUR community nonetheless. Of course no one thing is exclusive to each individual situation. There is no one size fits all.

Increasingly I notice that people who fail to identify their issues pass them on to their children and community by not acknowledging an issue exists. It is too painful to point out that you are not living in a manner that is consistent with assuring progression for your people. I know! I have been guilty of this and I am still guilty of this. Three years ago in my life I realized that I was not all that I could be and set out to make a change. I am still in the process of making that change and working diligently to see it through. I had to first recognize that the thing that I was doing or not doing was not a benefit to my community, family, or to myself individually. I began working to be what I want other black men to be and am still trying to get there. I am working to make sure I can lead by my example and not by my words. I am taking away my sons ability to tell me, “Why do I have to do it, you didn’t!” I am noticing the marks on my clothes and trying my best to wash the garments clean.

There are many issues in our community that we do not want to face because it would cause discomfort to those we hold dear. We all know someone or a person who perpetuates the stereotypes that we so dearly want to make go away. We all fail to let them know that these behaviors are not positive behaviors and are a detriment to the strengthening of the black family and community. What was at one time real issue in our community are now just simply choices that people have made and it is none of your business. You may be right that it is not my business….but it is yours. No matter how you look at it …is…yours!........................AND THE COMMUNITIES!

Black men are dropping out of college at an alarming rate, black mothers are raising their children without the fathers at an even more alarming rate, many by “choice”, black parents are not as involved as they should be in the lives and education of their children, black women are chasing the wrong attributes in a man, black fathers are absent, black children are abandoning their opportunities to get an education in the inner cities of this nation, black love is choosing to co-habitate instead of marry, welfare IS the income of many black families, and we refuse to talk about any one of these that individually describes our situation. All of this and we are very willing to address the issues of others, just don’t look at mine. Without identifying your issue as a problem, it continues to exist and pass on to the next generation.

It seems that the days of making a REAL mistake and learning from it are over. No longer are these issues called mistakes to be learned from, now these are matters of choice that the rest of us need to ignore as our community rots from the inside. I vow to start with me by calling Trent out on any of the issues that were previously named and work to make my negative a positive. It is the only way I can be in a position to correct a younger generation. Be careful when telling me about my issues and problems, I just may bring your undivided attention to what you need to change!

We are not meant to exist from the benefits of welfare….that MUST CHANGE

We are meant to raise children with two parents……… that MUST CHANGE

We are not meant to be uneducated…………………. that MUST CHANGE

We are not meant to be absent from the lives of our children black men ….. that MUST CHANGE

We are not meant to live together without a commitment……… that MUST CHANGE

WE ARE NOT ALLOWED TO REDEFINE OUR ISSUES AS “CHOICES…….that too must change!!

We are not allowed to redefine what we have done in a manner that is not about the progression of our people and tell our kids that it is OK if they decide to do the same.

Is acknowledging that you should have done things a different way that uncomfortable to you?

We must stop eating our young!

Watching older generations criticize the young can be very educational. Never is the current generation of people or their antics good enough to stand the scrutiny of the past times of the immediate preceeding generation. The decisions that are made by the youth today are abominable to say the least. We just can not understand what happened to them.

Recently, I have noticed the harsh words we throw toward “our” stars and our youth. More black people hate Labron James, it seems, than the great number of Palestinians that hate Jews. It seems that we truly forget that he is a young black man who is despised by the system that created him because he is what he is. At this point in his life he needs our prayers and our love more than he needs our unrighteous indignation because he made a decision that he thought best for his family. I do understand that people were rubbed wrong by the “Decision”, but  if YOU allow the entire world to scrutinize EVERY decision your child makes you will quickly notice how many people truly love or hate your little one! My bet is that they will eat him/her up, what a shame! In that moment, your child would love to have the loving protection of the community(village) to allow him/her to learn and grow from such a mistake. With LaBron, we killed and ate our young, what a greater shame. People seem to be overjoyed that he was not able to win an NBA championship….YET!!

Our young stars that seem to be so out of control makes us long for the days of “Self-Destruction, and “We’re all in the same gang”? Really??? We forget that our generation of violent concertgoers and Bloods, Crips, VC, Folks, and Gangsta Disciples. Our youth didn’t start this, even if they think they did. Times are getting no worse; we are getting better and more sensible as we age, as does every generation. You don't really want to know what Granny was in her 20's, TRUST ME on this one. Since the1920’s each parent has wished their children partied like they did only because they have blocked out the unsavory parts of that time in their life. Since the 1920's gangs and shaking heads of adults who don't undestand what happened to the youth continue to exist.


REALLY!!!!



I don’t remember any of the parties I went to as a youth being without the threat of violence, the disrespect of certain youth, the disregard for elders (remember your Rockford Fosgate speakers that you didn’t turn down in your grandmothers neighborhood). I remember crack dealers on each corner and car-jackers possibly at every drive through. Hell in Houston we closed down all of the drive-inn movies because the generation that was so much better than the kids today could not control themselves and lives were lost! We eat our young because consuming them helps us to somehow forget that they are just like us. We eat our young because we like to pretend the times are worse and they deserve it, We eat our young because we have lost the will to direct them and to pray them out of bad circumstances. We eat our young because it is easier than admitting we created these monsters. We eat our young because we have neither intention nor the will to slay the monsters of our creation. Labron is ours; Lil Wayne is ours, just as Tupac was our parent’s angel and demon, all of our parents!! We have to stop consuming our young and learn to nurture them even from a distance. We have to learn that they are not to be thrown away when incarcerated. We have to realize they are the future that we mold and they will also think that their children are worse than ever. There is nothing new under the Sun. What ever they think they are doing, we already did and so did our parents and so did their parents and so did………..



I don’t suggest you get with it and suddenly perpetuate the wrong of our children. I am saying they are young and they too will one day laugh at their shenanigans. They will turn into you, God willing, and you will have to remind them not to eat your grandchildren, you will have to remind them of their high-top fade, Afro, sagging pants, mysterious jewelry, dashiki's, afropicks with the fist, and strange noises that they called music. You have to remind them that their kids that are just terrible will grow to adults too, someday! When this happens the cycle continues. One day Lil Wayne and Kanye will be on the afterhours Time Life old School CD commercials. You don’t have to love their generation, but you do have to understand that they are not all that they are called to be yet. Be patient with them, God is not finished with them yet. This is the only way you can save them from being eaten and consumed by these "horrible" times!

When your woman stops trippin with you...she is really TRIPPIN!!

That thing that your woman does that bothers you furiously, that thing that we like to say is nagging. You want to go out with the fellas and she gives you a hard time about it, she blows your phone up because she can’t locate you, she constantly tells you to help around the house, she wants you to be more affectionate. Yeah, that thing that bothers you so much that you look at her in a different way. That thing that bothers you to the point that you just consider, just consider, ending this thing we call a relationship.


Many times this is her way of letting you know either she cares (in a strange Women are from Venus way) or that you really need to address this issue. Often times this happened before the marriage or before the kids so you knew fully what you were getting into so don’t sing me the sob story. Grown men can ignore a lot because of a big butt and a smile (Poison). You knew what you were getting and didn’t consider if you could stand it in the long run. It got a little more worrisome when her mid-section added inches. She started to get on your last nerve when her butt was not as bikini ready as it was when you met her. The big butt and smile blinders were lifted and it got to be unbearable when she stopped doing that “thing” that you enjoyed so much because circumstances changed and responsibilities mounted, and there were considerations other than making you smile 24 hours a day. Get over yourself MAN!

Well, brother, it aint what it seems when she suddenly stops “trippin”. Many of us are so full of our self –anointed righteous hegemony that we simply ignore the forest because there are too many trees. Everyone is not equipped with the ability to rationalize and think through thoroughly, a situation that changes suddenly. Many of us think that we are the cause of the change of action.



Maybe you are, maybe you aren’t!



Put this one in your bag of knowledge to share with the younger brothers (because this information is too late for many of us). Usually, when she stops trippin with you it is not that she all of a sudden became cool, straight, chill, impassive, levelheaded, or she just plain finally got it. Many times she stopped trippin with you because she found someone else to trip with (let that soak in). Yeah, that’s right; her concern is no longer what you are doing because it now is focused on Jody and what he is doing. Brothers, that don’t get it are too busy doing what they are doing to pay attention to a shift in their relationship dynamic. Come on in late, she doesn’t really care. It gives her more time to give to someone else. Stop going places with her, she refuses to keep begging. It is because “he” is probably going to meet her there. All of a sudden she stopped blowing up you phone, I bet you that Jody’s number is peppering that cell phone bill.

The next time you think that she is trippin, you should really be entertained and comforted by the fact that SOMEBODY is trippin with you when you are not right. You knew she would do this. Hell, she started when you met her. It is only when she is no longer “trippin” that things are not what YOU think they are….believe me. Lessons learned from having four sister playa!! Play the game right.

Thank you Democrats for sending a mother to jail for sending her kids to learn...A DAMN SHAME!

How about a world where YOU got to decide where your kids went to school at with your own tax dollars? How about a time when you could have the option of moving your kids away from a failing school with a failing program and failing teachers? Can you envision a time and place where you could move your children to a school where the gang activity wasn’t part of the curriculum? This would be great wouldn’t it? If only such a country existed. A place where I had a choice of schools that I could choose to have my child educated at without having to the added expense of having to move. A place where the money I pay to the educational system could be directed by me. Maybe I can’t afford to move. Should my financial place in line force my child to sacrifice an education? Hell No!


Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Democrat Representative for not allowing this to happen. Because of your efforts an Ohio mother is sitting in jail. Kelly Williams-Boler sits in a jail cell because of your ignorance and desire to keep many of us shuffling on the plantation that the current house-negroes manage for their masters. I am talking to you Democrat, poverty-pimping, low-expectation having sell out “Leadership”. This is happening in America and as of today, January 27, 2011 NOT ONE of you have come to her aid! Shame on you Democrats, Shame! After all, you are the ones who put her in jail as far as I am concerned.

I think the scool vouchers that you so fiercely fight against would have made a difference in her life and the lives of her children. This is a lady who is a small amount of hours away from becoming a teacher herself. She knows what is going on, no doubt. This is why she jumped through fiery hoops to get her kids into a better situation and school, yet we allow the system to digest another of our progressive minds. They argue that the vouchers will not pay for the entire education of a student and that suburban school districts will not accept them but I say that a voucher would have given Kelly William-Boler another option in getting her kids out of the rat race that is America’s failing public schools. Who are we to say she would not have been motivated enough to obtain, in some way (God works mysteriously), the additional funds to get her kids to a better school? I would not underestimate the resources of a determined mother. I don’t want my tax dollars going to you crumbling failing schools. I want an option that allows me to spend my dollars in the school of my choice. I am sorry but I cannot sacrifice my children’s education and lives for a social experiment gone awry long ago.

America’s public schools are under-attended by students and over-attended by gangsters. The voucher program is nothing new. Why this program was good enough for white students in the 1960’s that were fleeing newly integrated schools but not good enough for OUR kids now I am cramming to understand. Damn it feels good to be a Gangster, I mean Democrat!

I say that the jail sentence and strain on the family of Kelly William-Boler is on the back of the Teacher unions that stand to be held accountable when they have to compete directly with private schools for their funds. Competition brings out the best in Americans. Isn’t the education of our children too important to trust just one source? It is on the backs of the Democratic office holders who stand to be held accountable for their continued efforts to throw more money at failing schools instead of addressing the problem: BAD PARENTS! Her sentence and the sentence of her children are on the backs of those of you that stifle and hold back the brightest among us for your personal reasons and your statistics that attempt to justify the horrible job that you do and your continued failure to your kids and ours.

A system that works in other places around the world can work here. It is high time that everyone not continue to suffer for those that refuse to pull their own weight. Why did Obama, in 2009, move to end the voucher program that helped so many minority students in D.C. at the behest of the congressional Democrats? Talk about crab mentality. Why is it that Democrats believe in choice when aborting a baby but not when it comes to my child’s education!?

I am still waiting to see if the NAACP, Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, President Obama, or any other of our “leadership” will step up to even utter a word about this fine mothers plight. Come on Mr. President, you stepped up to help a Harvard professor who was belligerent with an officer and played the race card. Can you help this sister, please? No they will not. She offers no political, economical, or publicity capital to them. Damn Shame! Damn Shame! Black “leadership”

Don’t worry about the mule, just load the wagon!!

In these days and times it seems to me that there is no shortage of people who aspire to be in charge. There are many, many chiefs and very little Indians, at least by my count. No one wants to do the actual “work” anymore. Everyone wants their input into the project, goal, system, activity, assignment, business, game plan, scheme, task, and venture, but almost no one wants to make the rubber meet the road. We all complain about the education of our youth but not many show up and get involved in the school board meetings or to even pay attention to where the district spends your hard earned tax dollars. We will tell you what’s wrong though. It is because we envision ourselves as being in charge; just don’t ask me to actually do something.

Everyone wants to GO to the church and critique the pastor, deacons, and the very few people that make the organism that is the church move forward. Did you get that…THE VERY FEW PEOPLE, I said. People show up on Sunday and walk around inspecting with the swagger of a person who actually “works” in a ministry and gives their precious time more than one day a week. Do you give to your church body or do you only take away from it on Sunday morning? Everybody wants to worry about the mule, yet very few want to load the wagon. Everyone is an integral part when the heavy lifting is done, but few are around to actually do the lifting.

It seems to me that the nation probably could have had a president that was not of exclusive European heritage if enough people had previously been concerned with loading the wagon, but that had never happened. At least in our community it never happened. President Obama’s campaign seemed to galvanize the people into loading the wagon, if for only a brief moment in time. It made me think about what else can be done if we all didn’t worry so much about the mule? Our children suffer because black men are not only out of the house but are being pushed out of the house. That’s right, I said it. Too many black women are not willing to load the wagon. You chose the mule, not let him lead the wagon or do a better job at picking the next mule you hitch your wagon to. Black men are not the total blame and some of us are getting tired of being EVERYONES scapegoat. Get your stuff together and the good black man will seek you out!!!

Are there too many maybes in your life for there to be a for sure? Stop trying to be in charge of everything without putting in the time it takes to know how to take charge. You have to follow first. Following will lead you to responsible leadership. Then and only then will you be responsible enough to lead the mule. Until this happens…..load the wagon, stop worrying about the damn mule. Stop trying to Chief before you Indian. Stop trying to lead others to the Promised Land and you have no map or navigational skills to get there. Until you participate you have no moral compass to critique the happenings at the church. You just might be the person who is meant to drive the foulness out of the congregation, but first you have to be engaged in the happenings and ministries instead of just offering your commentary(gossip).

With so many people trying to direct the mule no one is checking to see if there is even anything in the wagon to pull…A Damn Shame if you ask me.

Neo-Slavery: Welfare

In times past in the history of the American South slavery was a reality. One kind of human thought it fit and of destiny to “lift” another kind of people out of what they perceived as savagery by methods that included forceful free labor. It was this free labor that contributed to many of America’s greatest corporations being in positions of great wealth and prestige. Aetna Inc., CSX Corp. , FleetBoston Financial Corp., New York Life, AIG, J.P. Morgan Chase Manhattan Bank, and Wachovia are just a few of the more than 1,000 organizations that are still in existence that benefitted from slave ownership and/or labor. Wachovia even went as far as issuing a formal 111 page apology for the company’s offenses. (http://money.cnn.com/2005/06/02/news/fortune500/wachovia_slavery/).



Whether you belong to the group that feels reparations are due are not, the real issue is the new and improved form of slavery that exist in our country. It is in the decietful system of welfare. It differs in that the chains have been lifted and it is optional in many cases whether to remain on the plantation or to go out and make your world better from your own ingenuity, ideas, and/or sweat, but make no mistake the system is real and oppresive. The current system was started in the 1930’s during the depression. Although the intention was good, the system has over time dwindled into one that begs of its beneficiaries a state of being subjects instead of citizens. Like most government programs, it was designed to be a hand up more than a hand out. Again, like most government programs it was corrupted and used by political forces to subject the most vulnerable among Americans.

This systems abuse has crippled many people into believing that their government exists to improve their lives when in fact it controls their lives through the rationing of livelihood. This is the same mentality that slaves were taught to have toward their masters in the "Old American South". Many believed the master was good to them when in fact slave-owners shielded them from prosperity by forcing them to believe that their best option was through him and because of him. Sound a lot like your local politician, right? The master split their families, as does welfare benefits. To receive benefits in most places a woman must be without husband and without the benefit of a man in the household, cohesion and stablilty be damned! A free place to stay isn’t free at all when someone can dictate what happens in your home, inspect your home, and put you out of your home because you violated their “rules”. Ironically, one of their rules is that you are not allowed to be a traditional family, you know mother, father, children! The government becomes the de-facto parent as would the slave owner after artfully ridding the family of the head! In addition to this, didn’t the slaves master REWARD them for having more “little slaves”? Why are women in the ghetto being financially rewarded for having more “little slaves” that now vote for their parents owners in future elections? To this I say, at least the slave put in sweat equity as opposed to the new slaves that don't have to work at all.

Welfare is not a bad thing when used properly. It is intended to be a short-term solution between employments, not a long-term manner of livelihood. Some people have a need to have this helping hand all of their lives…if this is you, I am not speaking to you or of you. I am speaking to you, yes, the slave that is of sound health and mind. This is for the person that can work to release themselves from the shackles of the welfare system but refuses to do so. This is for the welfare recipients that are living in the comfort of discomfort. Whenever you allow someone else to make your decisions for you please understand that they are going to make the decision that is beneficial to them first! Hard is not impossible and telling the government to get the HELL out of your business in very much the way to go. As soon as you are able to get off of welfare, it seems that the government becomes interested in taking as much from you as they can to redistribute in their effort to make more subjects dependent upon their subsidies. I am not sure how you feel about it but I don’t like to wait on the master to come around once a month and give me what he thinks I should have, usually not enough. I don’t like the master to tell me where I can live, usually not a choice you would make for yourself. I don’t like the master to inspect my quarters, I am a grown man! I don’t like the master to sweep the crumbs off the edge of his table and think me happy to receive his waste. In this capacity the master is at ease because he knows that you are no threat to his lifestyle. A working person is a threat to a slaveowner anywhere and everywhere...you may get the dependents riled up!

His worries come when you no longer need to feed off of his teat. To be in perfect harmony with slavery is to not recognize that you are a slave indeed. My dad used to tell me, “There is nothing wrong with not knowing something son, there is much wrong with not being bothered that you do not know.” Ask yourself carefully and thoughtfully, “Why would someone give me welfare for nothing in a world where NOTHING is free?” Slavery can only exist when the enslaved is of dormant attitude and sufficed aptitude. Is welfare your new slavery or your short term solution to make sure you never need it again? Are you raising other little slaves to take your place when you leave or are you preparing your seed to live off of their own ingenuity, ideas, and/or sweat? Master is not very interested anymore in your labor. It is now your vote that counts. Eventually you have to pay the Piper back in some fashion. Can you or your descendants really afford it?



http://www.amazon.com/Souls-Black-Folk-W-Bois/dp/014018998X

http://uspoverty.change.org/blog/view/do_welfare_programs_constitute_modern_slavery

I aint really feeling Grandma2010

It is the end of 2010 and I have wanted to get this out of my head and onto paper for some time. I have been carefully considering the right words and correct tone as to not offend anyone. I do understand that as things progress, they do just that, they progress. The problem with some progression is it is not necessarily for the betterment of society en masse.

This leads me to ask this question: Why is Grandma getting younger and/or acting younger? I guess your answer to this question speaks to your personal experiences with your grandmother and how it will direct you to act as a grandparent one day. I think that most of us want to be a grandparent ONE DAY, RIGHT? Grandparents have always been the backbone of the African-American community. From their experiences we gained sage advice, an oral and often pictoral accounting of our history, a knowledge and expectation of what it is that we are to become, and a heritage second to no other group on this planet. Usually the strength of that backbone was the Grandmother. Grandma has been the family griot, banker and financial counselor, teacher, preacher, relationship expert, expert child-care provider, nurse-practitioner, executive family event planner, family chef, clan police and judge, intercessor to God, CEO, and all out Big Mama. Often all of this is accompanied by her love, care, and support of those that are descendant from her. Don’t get it twisted, Grandpa is isn’t lazy or tired, he just realizes…SHE GOT THIS!

That was, and in many cases, the picture of Grandma that sustained many generations that would have otherwise collapsed without her. In many cases the collapse happened without her. Many of you have experienced this. The concern happens when you see the new Grandma’s, Lord help me. I am talking about the Grandmothers that are not like the ones written about above. I met a Grandmother in the bar with her granddaughter and daughter one night while out with friends. I don’t think I was ready for that one. They looked like they were having a good time and I am sure that works for them but because of my own prejudices and opinions I thought this was not the Grandmother my kids needed.

I think that Grandma got younger all of a sudden. I think that Grandma didn’t get her chance to be young and free; I think that Grandma was not yet ready to enjoy the full blessings associated with being Grandma. Maw-Maw prayed that I would be protected when I went out and prayed even harder that God grant me the wisdom to avoid places that she knew were not in my best interest. I know this because she told me so. It may not have always worked out the way that she intended (God is still working on me), but I knew SOMEONE was praying for me no matter where I was and that person was not WITH ME. She had already been there done that before I was thought of.

It takes a gentle stroke of the keypad to put this in a way that is not offensive to the Grandma in the young club but here it goes: Are the grandkids really getting their bang for their buck? Are we raising a generation of kids that will not see Grandma in the same way that we did. Are the days of Grandma always being available over? Is Grandma’s social circle no longer the church? I do understand that this is not the picture that we all have of our Grandmothers, but dammit its mine and this is my blog! I say Grandma should be the pillar of the family and this she cannot be if she is out with the grandkids. Thank you God for my Grandmothers, you don’t make em like you used to!

How do you know that you love? Here is the definite definition!

Love is a complicated thing that will cause each living person to feel each and every emotion at one time or another in their life because of it or because of what they believe is it. It has been written about, magnified in song, and has even caused pain and death throughout the history of time. All historical records account for it and wars have been waged in its name. God even subjected his only son to death because of it.


Many people get the emotion of love very confused with the very real action of love. The two are different and distinct. The emotion of love can be being fleeting, cautionary, and often not authentic. The action of love only knows authenticity and cannot be any of the above for it endures because of the action itself.

I define love as this: The action of willingly giving to another that thing or those things that can hurt you the most for no other reason than to actively seek their happiness or their salvation.

Think about that. That thing or those things that can hurt you the most! It is to make yourself totally vulnerable to another for no other reason than to actively seek their happiness or salvation (whatever that may mean to you). That is much to think about when unpacked. It means that the person you have professed to love is the one that you shared your most secret secrets with, the one that you exposed all of your ugliness to, the one that you gave the extreme pains of your life to, the one person that can absolutely destroy you by what they know, have witnessed, or have the ability to steal.

If these things were not part of the deal, you really never loved that person. You see, what makes love a complicated terror in the lives of people is the fact that you must expose your vulnerabilities to others to actually be an involved party to it. It is what it means to love another. Some people are together and they assume that they love one another because of the emotional feeling, but do they really? Can they REALLY be totally honest with the person that they proclaim to love? Can they trust the object of their loving action to be as vulnerable and honest about their life ordeals with them? Do they have the ability to hold that persons well being, future, and livelihood in their hands? Can they be trusted? Can YOU?

Love will make you share these vulnerabilities even when you know that your actions will cause you to be persecuted or wronged by the actions of the person you love. This kind of love is unconditional and hardly found outside of a familial relationship. Parents and family love in this way. They give what is most precious to them to those they know are not worthy of trust. Why? It is the sacrifice of real love and at one time or another we will all pay it to a family member. That sacrifice is again giving the things that cause us the most pain to others for no other reason than to actively seek their happiness and or salvation. Many times this is done when we previously know the outcome to be disastrous.

I notice that the majority of people that I know that say they cannot find true love have a wall of protection built around them to hide their vulnerabilities and weaknesses from the entire world. That wall is built by their wits, their words, and often their keen eye for what is wrong with everyone else’s relationship. They don’t realize that connecting humanely with another person on a level attained because of love requires that they exposed themselves to another person and allow that person to share their vulnerabilities with them. That is love.

Soften that shell and let someone in. This is not a promise that you will not be hurt. It is a promise that knowing that pain is part of a life of love. If my vulnerabilities are to be exposed so that I may know that I have had a chance at love…SO BE IT! I will not live my life without as much as a taste of real love! I have exposed my darkest secrets to the woman that I love and she absolutely has the ability to assassinate my future and expose my scabs for the world to see. She has done the same for me. I promise to protect her vulnerabilities with my life even if we depart our relationship. Why? Because I love her!

You never realize how expensive the trip is when you are getting a ride from someone else.

Let’s face it; many are carrying the weight of others silently. If this speaks to you then you are to be commended and applauded for faithfully and quietly helping someone along the way. At issue is making sure it is their way. You cannot forever carry two cases for one nights stay at the inn. At some point you must allow, or dare I say force, that other person to receive the enlightenment, joy, and exercise associated with carrying their own wares.

As children we want according to our expense. As children that expense is zero so we tend to want “it all”. We did not have the burden or luxury, depending on your adult perspective, of having to worry about the price of “it all”. My children often enter stores and, in cadence, commence their request to have me and their mother purchase the entire contents of the store to satisfy their minimal and sporadic spans of attention. They find it egregious that we may have the audacity to utter the term “NO”. This is expected from children that have no earthly or cosmic perception of the cost. Along with not understanding the cost, they are also indifferent to the sacrifices and/or the labor put into being able to happily enter the shop and exchange products for money. We do not expect them to. They are kids of course and the matters of the world such as these are due in right time to be given to them.

It will one day be their times to practice this same ritual with their offspring. No doubt they will have an adult appreciation for the times we had to tell them “NO”. There is that word again. You see they will be in their right element as adults to understand that the time has come for them to develop an appreciation for an understanding of what it feels like when it is their time to give the ride to their children. They will, no doubt, make sure their children enjoy and understand fully what it is to be a child with little to no worry. After all, we all aspire to give our children better lives than we had.

As an adult, the child-like thinking is not so fly. Many adults still find it hard to understand that the ride is expensive to someone. If you are not paying for your seat in the truck, someone else is burdened with paying twice the fair. The greatest things in life are truly free; it is just the rest of it that you have to pay for. It seems that many people were never given that “NO” by their parents or they were never made to eventually learn that the trip is only cheap or free because someone else is paying your way. It indeed cost. It maybe that you just don’t pay your part to ride in comfort while someone else is worrying about how to get you there at their expense. I say let these people stand in the sun until they get their own busfare and work their way up to their own ride. I had to and they are no better than me, I PROMISE! If you are paying the emotional, spiritual, psychological, or financial cost for an able bodied adult…STOP IT. They will be ill prepared if and when your car has no more room in it because of all of your own “Stuff” that requires the space that they have abused and occupied for so long.

Stop making me a slave with your welfare...I NEED tuition help!

From Suject to Citizen: Aint no stopping me now!

I am no politician, nor am I a political scientist. I am also not an economist or sociologist so I will agree that the devils in the details are currently beyond my understanding. What I am is a citizen, taxpayer, and child of the ghetto. I have watched what works and have noticed what enslaves.




Let me start by saying that everyone cannot be saved. I understand this is opposed to popular belief, but, the Promised Land is not for everyone! Prosperity is not for all. Some people do not want prosperity (that is another subject). Some people, who are more than capable of the opposite, are content with living and managing their lives with meager means and are more than happy to exist instead of living the full life that is afforded to those that put in the hours and sweat equity. These people will forever be the ones that consume from the workers and producers. God takes care of fools and babies and in his strange manner directs those that are the workers to maintain the lives of and to share our earned resources with the consumers and takers. They will never bring bread to the table but we are directed by God’s Providence to make sure they are fed and cared for to the best of our ability It took a while for me to realize this but these people are who they are.



You also have the people that are the salt of the earth; I have no problem with these people. These are the people that have already fulfilled their ambitions. If the world were built of only limitless ambitions people there would be no one to make sure the rubber met the road. There is a need for people that are content and are willing to do the work that makes the world move. Being a child of the ghetto, I have loved and cherished people like this. I count them as family, friends, and loved ones. I have been one, and am called to be just this person depending on the client in my line of work. I am proud of my work but I am also too ambitious to put my period here.



I have often thought that it seemed a good idea to pay for the first two years of college for anyone who is raised on welfare, a parent receiving welfare, or to any young man who is from a home under a certain income level who is felony free that can reach certain scores on college entrance exams. This would be your eligible ambitous students worthy of investment. It would bridge the gap from consumer- recipient to ambitious taxpaying job creating citizen. The cutoff age would be negotiable among politicians(I would suggest 25 because the hood has it's challenges). Because this is a blog I will omit the details and share with you the concept:


If we did this we would allow the neediest among us to obtain at the very least an Associate’s degree. This in most cases creates a want and need for the graduate to pursue a Bachelors degree, almost akin to waking the apathetic sleeping giant that is the ghetto children like me that just need a little push to self-sufficiency. Let’s deal in real numbers (although made up out of my ignorance). If you could get a 35-50 percent success rate in this you could turn 35-50 people out of 100 people that would probably be welfare recipients into willing, happy, educated, taxpayers. They would then become productive taxpayers in their entire working lives instead of taking from the system in an unproductive manner until their deaths (as it is now). This would create generations that would better understand the benefit of their education and in turn usher into existence a renaissance of learning and college attendance in urban America. We already “intend” to pay them welfare for at least the next 21 years whether we want to admit it or not.



If you paid a recipient $1000 a month in food benefits and rental assistance for 21 years, the cost to the tax payer over that time would be $252,000 and you likely get nothing back from that person in the form of taxes…EVER. In essence it is a $252,000 hit to the taxpayer per household of a welfare recipient over 21 years. If you follow that logic, that is multiple taxpaying households taking care of one publicly assisted family over 21 years. If you invested free tuition at a community college for three years to that same recipient while giving them the same subsistence it would cost the taxpayer about $50,000 or less over the three years. With a success rate of 35-50 percent this would make the $8 to $12 million that you would spend on this group turn this group from costing the taxpayer $8 to $12 million over 21 years to adding $7 to $10 million to the American coffers over the same time. This is based on each paying $10,000 in taxes averaged over 21 years. We haven’t yet added the taxes that they now pay over the 21 year period for food and other goods that they would now be paying as taxpayers instead of the taxpayers paying their food subsidies. As a taxpayer, I would vote for such a plan. It would also mean a more educated urban community and fewer votes for those politicians that depend on the dependency of their constituents. Now imagine if we could get that percentage to inch up over time. Too much math for ya boy, but it could not be a bad thing.



If you want welfare reform, there is at least one step in its simplest form. We already spend this money on people for their first 12 years of schooling just to continue to spend on them if we continue to help and push them into the welfare system. What is an additional two to three more years to make them taxpayers instead of consumers as opposed to the next 20-30 years on welfare and allowing their next generation into the same bad deal? If you want the answer, here it is. A more educated constituency needs less governing and less government interference. How many politicians do you really believe want that? If you offered this plan to a politician, and I have, they will tell you it needs to be studied or try to tell you every reason that it cannot be implemented. Politicians, especially those that depend on the votes of the least educated (Democrats), will never agree that you should be on any level that puts you closer to them! In many cases, our elected leaders are in the business of helping us to remain subjects instead of citizens. Subjects work for the leader in a kingdom and the leader works for the citizen in a democracy. The last I checked, America was still a democratic republic…this is until we can get EVERYONE dependent on the government. When EVERYONE is dependent on Uncle Sam, who then will oppose him?

The problem is this: Everyone is always saying, “The problem is…”

The problem is this: Everyone is always saying, “The problem is…”


In the world of Trent I would make speaking this phrase punishable by death or dismemberment.

Ok, maybe a little too strong. I would at least make it punishable by solution. If the phrase had a speaker, that speaker would be made to offer a concise suggestion for solution. I have been hearing this phrase, “The problem is…” since I was able to decipher what words those around me were speaking. I still hear it often without the beneficial follow up that starts with, “This is what needs to be done to fix it….”

Many, many problems and very little solutions. In many instances, solving the problem creates more problems and to some that is either profitable or a hindrance to their current meal ticket. Make sure you know where that that you trust are as it pertains to either of these situations. Do we really want to solve issue plaguing our community or are we too afraid to call the people out that assist the problem in its fight to live in perpetuity? The mere mention that a problem exists causes those that create the issue to draw arms or at least show their sharp tongue. I know, it used to be me!

• Currently 1 out of 4 black children are born to a single parent.(Out-of-Wedlock Births in Black America) THIS IS A PROBLEM! Mention it as such and the people that are having multiple babies without the benefit of a two parent household will attack you instead of having effective dialogue and action aimed to solve the issue. My observations point to Black Men being the assholes that are really pretending as if a woman good enough to have your child is not good enough to marry. How’s that working out for you brauh? How can she be entrusted to nurture and bring to adulthood your most precious asset and not be good enough to marry? Shame on you brother!! Currently our welfare system encourages, by pay, our young women to have children without the benefit of planning and/or self-supplied financial wherewithal to bring this child into the world. THIS IS A PROBLEM!

• Currently some young man is leaving his parents home with his pants down to his knees and his underwear exposed to the world. That parent said nothing but, “That’s the style.” THIS IS A PROBLEM. He now knows that his parent(s) will cosign for his misdeeds and awful decisions.

• Our politicians would rather give a mother 21 years of welfare and make her a consumer of the workers wealth than to offer free tuition for 2 years of college and make her a tax-payer that eventually pays into the system. She would then have a greater chance of becoming self-sufficient and the tax-payers would not only be off the hook for supporting her for the next 21 years, she would then be adding value to her community and nation as a paying member of the taxed. It would no longer be support and would become an investment. THIS IS A BIG PROBLEM THAT OUR “PLOTITICIANS” don’t really want solved. People that are prosperous and diligent in taking care of themselves need little governing.

• Black children are increasingly being taught that they don’t have to learn to master the English language and that Ebonics is a socially acceptable form of communicating. Not so in the world of commerce and business. Somehow we let someone legitimize bs! THIS ONE IS A REAL SOURCE OF AGONY FOR ME! It is not cute when your child cannot speak! The check writers usually understand English and the check cashers sometimes need not.

• We have let our children believe that the “hood” belongs to them! What! Children and grown folks alike are claiming property that WILL NEVER BELONG TO THEM! In most cases it is subsidized property belonging to those that ALLOW this behavior in order to continue eating from that meal ticket. BUY YOUR HOME and then you can call it YOUR hood! THIS ONE WILL PISS OFF A LOT OF PEOPLE. It is not your hood if you do not own the property.

• For generations, the same people have enjoyed the benefit of our vote. Problem is we are still the same poor or poorer than when Grandma and Big Mama cast that vote for the same people. Insanity is continuing to cast that vote for these people and expecting something different to happen. THIS IS A PROBLEM. Other people tie their votes to their finances and make their representatives accountable if their financial standing changes. As a race of people we do not. I was poor four years ago when I voted for you, I should personally be doing better or you will not get my vote again.



I could go on for days, weeks, months…you get the picture. To fix and issue or problem it must first be identified as a problem. We have to quit telling our children that these issues and others are not problems in order to save face. I tell my daughter ALL of the crap that I did and thought in my younger years. I let her know that these were mistakes that are not to be continued by her or her brother. I let her know that I did it and the egg is on my face. Now what good would it do to save that kind of face?

Our solution is to call a problem a problem, then and only then can we get it fixed. Your house will flood if you think the hole in the roof is not an issue. The next generations really need no help from us telling them what the problem is without our wisdom in helping them to solve it.

Watch the ones that scream "Racist!", they usually get the least done!

I would like to share this thing with you that you should already be aware of. It is not something that is etched in the psyche of all people, yet something you realize is quite clear when given focused and concentrated thought. Here it is: Racism is alive and kicking but those that that complain the loudest among us are the least productive. There, I said it.


People that are complainers are seldom people that are producers of action. The fact that an ism is out there and it exists gives them grand illusions of acceptable ineptitude. To be racist is significantly different than being prejudice. Every one of God’s human children is prejudice. We all pre-judge others until we are brought to a realization of their true character and/or personality. We are all hard wired from experiences, either ours or someone else’s, to protect ourselves from the historical pains of others. We do this by trying to figure things out before they happen to avoid them. This is done by pre-judging a person, place, or thing based on our personal knowledge of what this person, place, or thing is capable of. Without this, kids would run up to play with snakes and tigers. The prejudice doesn’t stymie me because it can be changed immediately in most cases with some education.

The racist are the ones that you have to constantly battle against. You see racist have the institutional power to stop! It is a practice, an act that can be perpetrated on others in the name of uneducated prejudice. In most cases minorities have not enough power over institutions to be racist. We own banks but do not own banking, we own houses but we do not own housing, we vote but we are too minor in number to completely politic for ourselves in America. We have little to no power to stop the majority from doing as they will in most cases. We have little to no power to be racist. If you think that we do then explain to me Eminem!

My issue in this piece is with those among us that use racism as a point of discontinuing to move and an excuse to become the town crier. People are racist, so what! If the wall is too big to climb go around, if it is too wide to round find a way to go through, if it is too thick to go through – invent! If this fails create your community where the wall will not move. When that community prospers, EVERYONE will want to be a part and you must guard against the history of your founding being rewritten. Everything is not a cry to call others racist! Republicans are no more racist that Democrats and vice versa. We have to stop calling the one pushing scraps off of the table the least racist. They aint “good white folk” because they gave you a damn turkey during the holidays! Did they tell you how to get your own turkey? Did they impart on you the knowledge to have your kids compete with theirs? Did they really answer the real questions that you had or did they train you to not ask the right questions? I am really getting tired of people always relying on the racist card without looking under the engine. Don’t just kick the tires folks. Hell some of these black folk are racist too. Do you really believe that your local Democratic politician wants you and the family moving in next to them and theirs?

Racism hides in the form of herded black folk too. Notice the next time someone pulls the card of racism their accomplishments and actions. Are you really worthy to tell me that someone else is racist when your kids commit all of their crimes against one group of people and usually that group is their own. That is what I call racist! Be very careful the person you follow and listen too, everyone doesn’t want you in a better situation that they are in. Who then will they stand on? Racism is alive and well and no one party has a monopoly on it. Since you know it is opposing you, you are in a better situation to fight it instead of just complaining about it. Wasted energy is talking about a solution, Well expended energy is shutting up and solving it.



What ever happened to good old fashioned MEN?

It used to be that there were very noticeable differences between the sexes. Your sons did things that boys did and your daughters did things that girls did. Remember your aunts and uncles saying, “Boys stay with boys, Girls stay with girls.” Okay, maybe that was just in my family, but anyway. The times have moved us toward the dissipation of the lines that once helped us to place individuals in proper sexual perspective. To me, this is not a good thing.

A boy in skinny jeans wearing earrings in both holes and carrying European carry-alls is rather contemporary, yet new to me. Young ladies sagging, wearing fitted caps and playing middle linebacker at the local high school is something, I guess, I will need to get used to. Households are starting to show the signs of the man being away. In the natural order of things a man serves as the protector, guide, and leader of the home or pack. The lack thereof is catapulting our society into something more akin to an unnatural state of being. This may be something that is desired by non-traditionalist or those that would oppose nature in Her wisest of ways.

Imagine an animal kingdom where the male lion decided that he would no longer lead his pack, or the queen bee deciding she would relinquish her duties to move on to something that made her happier. The natural order of the collective would surely be thrown into generations of confusion, if they survived. This is what has happened to our human world, particularly in the USA and especially in the African-American community. The natural state of things is not as it should be.

Young men are told that they can no longer be too active or rambunctious. Rambunctious used to be a natural state of the untrained boy. Now it dictates he needs drugs. Men are told that we can no longer become angry, when controlled anger is what has kept our families safe and secure for generations. The Father’s discipline is disallowed and replaced with government controlled diagnoses that lead pharmaceutical investors to enjoy lofty retirement benefits. We are now told that we are no longer allowed to teach our sons how to deal with bullies and we must now “report” our issues to the bureaucrats that do no more than catalog and document for further pontification. Your home can no longer be protected lest you become the prisoner of the new laws.

Men are reduced to being parts of the whole instead of leading the whole out of danger and darkness. Was not this great national identity of ours to stand up to bullies, even for others that are less powerful than us? Were we once, as men, made of tougher things than we currently consist of? Were we once that ones that were looked up to by our sons and daughters as examples of what they should be and seek in their years toward self sufficiency?

What happened to the man that did it by the sweat of his brow and took no handout that was not paid back with interest? Where did the men that protected their OWN neighborhood go to? Why is it that the gangsters and pedophiles no longer fear the man of the house? Is he really gone never to return? Not many men even tend to their own yards anymore, or change their own oil and spark plugs.

I am thankful that my father produced a son that never looked past him to give me guidance to stop others from bullying me. I am glad that he taught me that I was responsible for protecting the Gamble kids that live in Katy, Texas. I am glad that he made me push the lawn mower and hold the light on cold nights when the starter needed to be changed. I am thankful that he told me that I have no right to complain if I refuse to be part of the process. Thank you God that my father was the first to teach me to shoot a gun, to stand and be counted, to open my mouth and get fed, to lead from the front, to be the man of my household, to analyze with great scrutiny the solutions of others and to stand straight up with ten toes pointed forward and proclaim I am a MAN. It is exactly what I will teach my son.



I love you sister but you need to stop using me as an excuse for your failures!

Behind almost every good man is a good woman driving his success or behind most bad men are women supporting their failures. Often that woman may be a mother, aunt, wife, or girlfriend. This is easily recognizable by his words and actions. No man can forgo his good blessings and deny that this is so. We understand that the rock that we anchor ourselves to has our faith or lack there of and a strong angel or powerful demon attached. Usually that angel/demon is a female. We love you ladies with all of our heart and all of our souls as well as with our resources, but you have to stop blaming us for all of your shortcomings!

I hear and read about women that are stuck in neutral because of some bad experience or relationship with a person of the opposite gender. I am often left asking why this is. It is as if some women are hard-wired to seek out the worst among us so that they may have wonderful excuses for their ineptitude. He broke my heart so I have to remain bitter for the rest of my existence, He will not take care of his child so I cannot move forward. He is in jail so I have to retard my progress in life to support his incarceration; all of the good men are married or gay. So many excuses and so little guidance from the older generation are frankly hurting the next batch of men that are brought up by single mothers.

First of all, you chose him usually knowing his shortcomings and with open eyes looking at his horrible future. Did you not think that he would try to make you a part of his plan? Again, behind almost every good man is a good woman driving his success or behind most bad men are women supporting their failures. Did you really do your part to drive his successes? This was the man you chose right? I would wager your choice was not to help him fail in life, right?

You cannot expect that every man that you meet will be a Prince. There are many frogs that need to be kissed. The issue is that many of the frogs are getting more than kisses. I think it is high time that the focus be put on the learned lesson achieved from negative experiences and relationships. ALL LESSONS COST YOU SOMETHING! It is important that you do not let the lesson cost you your dignity; it is often the last thing you have left to sell and ironically the most costly. Funnier still is that the dignity that is so costly usually is given at a cheap price and the stock on it never again rises.

I would love to see more women passing on the knowledge learned to the next generation of ladies. I would hate for my daughters prospects in life to be limited by her mother’s excuses and complaints about a man. I would hope that she would be taught that she succeeded and survived despite the fall. Her story would say that there are good men out there; they just want a good woman. Despite your experiences, are you a woman that a man with choices would choose to date? Have you overcome instead of being overcome? Have you exposed your sores to the world or did you clean, bandage, and work diligently to heal them.

I don’t want to date a woman with stab wounds still open from her last fight, oops I mean relationship, sorry. I really don’t want to hear her excuses and stories about her “baby-daddy’s sorry ass”. I want to know that she was resilient enough to not let any of that stop her and that she can get past the pitfalls of life. That is a woman that I would want to find, date, and spend the rest of my life with. Often in the animal kingdom only the strongest and most resilient get to pass on their seed. If only human beings were the same way!

Move on past the bad and talk no more about it unless you are educating another about getting past it and prospering in life. Too many times have I watched the life being sucked out of young women because no older woman would let her know that the stop sign in her life meant to look both ways before crossing and not to cut the car off and park. We need more sisters to get this across to them, REAL TALK.



Did desegregation really work out for Africa-America? Not so much for my hood!

Imagine if you will the neighborhood that I come from. It is sometime between 1930-1960 in 5th Ward Texas. The area is bustling with growth, home ownership, trailblazing good schools, doctor’s offices, dentist offices, printing plants, photography studios, many entertainment venues, professional people, and little crime relative to today’s onslaught. There are current prominent people as well as those that would make their mark on the world that are proud to call it home: Julia C. Hester (Hester House namesake), Barbara Jordan, Ruth Simmons(The very first black president of an Ivy league school), Mickey Leland, Joe Sample, George Foreman, Lester Hayes, A.K. Kelly(Kelly Courts namesake), and Lightnin' Hopkins to name a few. If you grew up with me I am sure you could easily add a member of your family to this list.

Jensen drive was the place to be on the weekend. Many Negro artists would come to Fifth Ward to entertain, not Houston but Fifth Ward. People expected their children to do well and the community did well as a result. You got fruit on Jensen and Collingsworth, your shoes were fixed on Collingsworth and 59, you swam at Finnegan or Tuffly, and kids would ride bikes from Jensen to the railroad and Clinton to Collingsworth, then came the integration of the 1960’s.

Many residents moved away to pursue other opportunities. With this came the deterioration of the fabric of life that was pre-1960’s 5th Ward. Crime started to rise, families fell into states of unrest and the “hood” became notorious for being one of the most crime-ridden and financially retarded areas in the nation. This can be said about many predominately African-American areas that were prosperous before integration. Travel this country into old Africa-America and there are still people behind that have the oral history, the American Griots if you will. They watched their culture strive and build when insulated and watched it water-down and leave behind the have-nots when emancipated from integration. Did we really want to start to look out for number one in the 60’s? Did we discontinue being our brother’s keeper and becoming integrated soloist as a result of the good fortune of integration? Were we integrated when we really wanted an end to desegregation?

The world may be better as a result of integration but areas like the area that I grew up in are far worse. These areas were left behind. The Fifth Ward was a place where everyone took care of me as a child. I knew the entire neighborhood and they knew my family. They made sure that my family knew what I was doing and where I was doing it at. This works if your family responds appropriately to the intelligence. Now the yards of many of the people that took care of me are overgrown with weeds, the homes are boarded up or gutted, the city rarely maintains their part since the taxes collected from this area are far less than other less forgotten, more prosperous areas of the city. Buildings that were once vibrant with commerce or entertainment life are abandoned, the area bounded by Collingsworth, Russell, Liberty Road and Jensen Drive that was proudly once known as  French Town has been absorbed into the rest of the neighborhood as it lost its rich Louisiana-Creole/Catholic identity. People now walk down Collingsworth as if there is no urgency in their steps, almost as if they are seeking something that has been lost.

Desegregation helped many of us to get to where we are today; it also played a part in us forgetting where we come from. Many are reluctant to remember the history and the vibrancy of what was ours alone. It was when we didn’t commercial our culture or have a lack of color on our album covers and in our videos. We were once proud to be from the Fifth Wards of the world because it meant you came from good stock. Now many look down to those remaining as if they just haven't made it out yet. We were once happy to go down to Jensen Drive for the concert. We were once asking only that you desegregate, not integrate…we could handle that part. We are losing our own and clutching what belongs to someone else in our unfocused and unconscious effort to let our history die. There was once a time when other people copied us, now our young men wear skinny jeans and speak proudly of getting white-boy wasted. If the jewels of Fifth Ward could see us now!

Conservative and Black, yeah that’s what I am

Sojourner Truth, P.B.S Pinchback(twenty-fourth governor of Louisiana and the first African-American governor of a U.S. state), Eldridge Cleaver, Frederick Douglass, Alveda King, James H. Meredith(the first African American student at the University of Mississippi), Rod Paige(seventh U.S. Secretary of Education), Colin Powell, Hiram Rhodes Revels(first African-American Senator), Condoleezza Rice, Michael Steele(chairman of the Republican National Committee), Lynn Swan(former NFL receiver and Hall of Fame member), Peter Boulware(Super Bowl Champion Linebacker), Booker T. Washington, Ida Bell Wells-Barnett(co-founder of the NAACP), Wallace Jefferson(chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court), Karl Malone, Jimmy Walker(J.J. from Good Times), T.D Jakes, Sheryl Underwood, Richard Parsons(CEO of Time Warner),and Don King to name a few.

This list represents the great diversity in thinking that is our community. I count myself a conservative (no secret to those that know me). I will not use this moment in this blog to proselytize the merits of conservatism. I will say that my belief system dictates that I should pick up the banner of conservatism as opposed to liberalism. I deeply believe in personal responsibility and in the social norms that are driven by the churches that have sustained the African-American community through many trials and tribulations.

I respectfully honor those that believe differently and will in any way defend their right to believe as they shall. This is more of a glance into the forgotten history of the African-American. By nature we are a conservative people. Although our actions are often contrary, we hold vast conservative views. We believe in the sanctity of marriage, we believe in personal responsibility, we believe in handling our own affairs, we believe that the power belongs to the people and that the government is an employee of ours. On many issues we are more conservative than most of America. Being able to believe as I do is what really makes this country great.

Personally, I am a black conservative that believes in black nationalism, I believe that any two people can enter into marriage(it’s not my business what two consenting adults do in the eyes of the law), I believe that reparation need to be paid, and I believe that abortion is an issue between a person and their God.

I also believe that excuses are worn out tools to build monuments of nothing (thanks Mrs. Clara Bailey for that one). I find great fault in those that have many excuses for many things. I believe that the government should be small to govern well. I believe that a man that can and does not labor should not have a seat at the dinner table. I believe that you are your best friend and your worst enemy, suppress one and nurture the other and your life will pay the price or reap the reward. I believe that this country is the greatest in the world. People are dying to get in and no one is even yelling to get out. Patriotism, Nationalism, traditionalism  and capitalism are essential for our lives and prosperity to mesh into success.

I join the long line of black folk that were able to leave the herd and think independently. I am a black conservative and damn proud of it. When you think about it, are you?



Some of my favorite links and some websites that I am proud to be a member of:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_conservatism_in_the_United_States

http://blackgop.ning.com/

http://hiphoprepublican.com/

http://www.blogger.com/goog_1613878626





http://blogtalkradio.com/TheBlackSphere