21 Questions

You don't have to like her views but you have to respect where she came from.

1. By the time they reach two years old a baby can mimic almost everything you do. Why is it so difficult to potty train them?

2. Why is it that when a white person gets killed the news report shows their picture, gives their name and a profile but when a young brother gets murdered he's just another young black male? (We have to start putting a face on the epidemic of black on black violence. No one feels sorry for statistics.)

3. Is it possible George Bush couldn't find one woman or Hispanic worthy enough for the Supreme Court?

4. There is constant fighting in Iraq and bombings in London and Egypt. Just how many terrorist are there?

5. Is the Iraq war really doing anything to stop it at all or is making things worse?

6. When is the American media going to classify these bombings as a large global movement endorsed by millions instead of random acts by a few extremist?

7. Although we criticize her for being with George Bush on most of his policies, isn't Condoleeza Rice just as much of a role model for black people as Oprah? ( I don't agree with her politics all the time but you have to give her credit.)

8. Shouldn't she actually be more of a role model because she succeeded in an arena where very few black women or men get to thrive? (Sorry everybody but Oprah has a talk show. Lot's of people have talk shows. Only one sister has been a Secretary of State.)

9. Since the Michael Jackson trial is over, doesn't it feel strange that there isn't a major scandal involving anybody black right now?

10. Why are there so many fourth and fifth graders in New Orleans that can't read on their grade level?

11. Is there something in the genetic makeup of New Orleans residents that will always keep us from having a competent school system? (Everybody that tries to fix it goes through the same thing. )

12. Does that same genetic flaw make us blame every single thing other than ourselves for the fact that we raise our children to be illiterate?

13. Does 50 Cent have an agreement with radio stations that one of his songs must be played at all times? (I think I heard Candy Shop on the classical music station. )

14. If a rapper can't sit down and formulate a statement that explains his violent and misogynist lyrics, should he be allowed to have any time on TV or radio to promote that junk?

15. Why are there so many women that love those misogynist lyrics and sing along with pride?

16. Why do so ,any young women say it's hopeless to find a good man but have never even had a real boyfriend yet?

17. Do any of them really know what a good man is?

18. Since Luther's passed away, who is the next great soul balladeer? (If anybody says Reuben Studdard they need to be ashamed)

19. The next great soul singer should be R. Kelly. But isn't he just too ignorant and caught up in trying to be a teenager to do it right?

20. Shouldn't our community be taking the fact he SLEPT WITH LITTLE GIRLS AND FILMED IT more seriously?

21. Why are there so many sisters on the internet with inspirational poems, biblical scriptures and all those words praising themselves as black women but have profiles with pictures of themselves bent over in a thong right below?

Mind Blowin Volume 16...Who Do We Vote For

Why are so many black people Democrats without knowing their platform? I am not saying we should be Republicans either but lets review where sticking to one party has gotten us today politically. Democrats take us for granted because we are the given number in the equation. They have absolutely no reason to go out of there way for any type or resources for our community. They know we will vote for them anyway. On the other hand, Republicans feel that they have no need to address any of our issues because we never ever vote majority Republican. The reason is kind of understandable.
The Democrats have the congressional black caucus on their side. Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Barak Obama and all the other brothers support the Democratic agenda as the being the best interest of their people. In some cases they are right. In other cases they are wrong. It’s been a long time since the Democrats ever had to worry about losing our support.
It is hard to take the Republicans seriously. They have Trent Lott, Tom Delay, and Dick Cheney and not to mention the great David Duke who almost became governor of Louisiana and single handedly eliminated the black population of the state. We don’t expect anything from that party and they don't give too much attention to us either.
That is why I think we should move our entire agenda right down the middle and hold our vote ransom for the highest bidder. Do you know how much chaos we could cause if we actually voted for an independent or Republican candidate based on his or her platform?
If you really think about it, allot of black people, especially my generation, are closer to being conservative than we think. How many of us talk about the fact we are getting tired of all the people in the hood doing nothing with ourselves. We want more respect for our women. Everybody’s talking about how our men need to be more responsible. We speak about crime. That’s called family values. We want opportunities to start our own business and control our own destiny.
This may be just my foolish opinion but I don’t think that welfare and government assistance has done anything for our community but give us an excuse to have absentee fathers and lack of independence and commitment. Even though I just said that, we are also at the point where we do need some extra resources to help us get things going. This is why we should not claim either party. We should let it be known that our support is only predicated on who will do the most and give the most to us. We have to control our ballots and our dollars or nothing will change.

Mind Blowing Volume 15

• I notice allot of my friends are starting to create their own blogs to write on and that's cool. Just make sure you express yourself and write something that makes sense. The best part about it is that there is no editing and no censorship on anything you say. That doesn't mean you can be wrong and misguided and still feel smart. It's freedom of speech at it's best.

• When you are a black man growing up in the city of New Orleans, or any inner city for that matter, you are expected to like certain things. How many times have you watched MTV cribs and saw all the rappers and basketball players holding up Scarface as their favorite movie or have a big screen with a playstation in their house. Those things are cool. However, it's time we as young black men start expanding our minds and interest. We all can't just watch the same shows, wear the same clothes or like the exact same music. Lots of us have already and are just too chicken to admit it. Here are 5 of the things that I willing to admit to. I am prepared for any laughter or ridicule that comes my way. Sorry Daddy.

1. I know the words to all the songs from the movie Grease.

2. I own a wrestling tape collection and Ric Flair is one ofmy heroes.

3. I like taking bubble baths.

4. I like Madonna's music.

5. I don't really like Scarface.

• I haven't been talking about sports too much because we are in that dark space before football season starts but how do you fire Larry Brown and replace him with Flip Saunders? Do the Pistons think that their team is that good they can hire a man that has only left the first round one time with a top five player and still go back to the finals. The minute Rasheed gets less playing time so they can put Darko into the mix is the beginning of the end for this team. If anybody in D Town thinks Sheed is going to sit and watch Darko play they are crazy.

• I want anyone that reads this post to click on this Link Right Here and tell me how Terry McMilian didn't know that brother was gay. Now, I am not hating on the gay brothers but if you are going to be gay then stay that way and stop getting all these women infected and paranoid. The same thing goes for you bi sisters. Pick a sex and stick with it. Star Jones better be careful.
  

• Finally, there have been many comebacks in show business. Some people have hit rock bottom and returned to stardom using talent and hard work. There has been no greater rise back to the top of the charts than Toni Braxton. I have to keep it real. Almost all men keep a secret list of top ten women in their minds. For allot of brothers, Toni had fell out of the rankings for the last few years. I just saw her video for her new song Breathe. I have to say that when you take into consideration she is 35 years old, had two kids and a messed up breast implant operation, she is looking mighty good and is now in the top ten again. I won't say what number she is exactly but it's somewhere after Gabrielle Union but ahead of Venus Williams (yes, Venus is flyer than Serena in my opinion). I guess true beauty always comes back. Now if Whitney Houston can get her act together..

Mind Blowin Volume 14....Who's in Control

Karl Rove is the most powerful man in America and it's time that everybody realized it. Why do you think that George Bush called him "The Genius" during his victory speech last November. There is no way Karl Rove gets indicted or gets fired for anything concerning the White House leak about Joe Wilson's wife. I don't care what he says to the press. The Republican party owes Karl Rove too much for bringing them to power to ever watch him fall. He would have to do something really drastic for that to happen and this leak isn't enough. If you watch Fox news and look at the way he is being defended, you can tell they know he is the key to any decision that George Bush makes. Anything you hear the Republicans say they believe Basically, Rove is the puppe tmaster in the White House and Bush absolutely needs him more than anyone else. If it wasn't for Karl Rove, John Kerry would be president right now. I wonder how many people in the inner city even know who is the man with the power to total cripple any chance of anything progressing. My people just don't watch the national news enough and stay inform. They have no idea who Karl Rove, Karen Hughes, Bill Frist, Tom Delay and a host of other people are that are making decisions about our lives. They could reverse the civil rights bill and these fools wouldn't even know why they had a separate fountain and a crowd at the back of the bus. It drives me crazy to speak with one of my friends and mention Donald Rumsfeld and they look at me like I am speaking Russian. That ignorance to current events is what allows people like Bush, Rove, and Cheney to send young people to war to keep you occupied while they do all kinds of other things and no one is paying attention enough to create any public outcry. The rich get government contracts and the poor lose benefits and get No Child Left Behind. Four more years of Bush and that is all because of Karl Rove's ability to make Middle America fear gay marriage and Janet Jackson's breast.

Office Space - Dedicated To The Work Day

I think I am getting tired of coming to the office. Some of the people are just a trip to be around. I don't feel like working so I will write about the office. There's a few in every office. Certain people that do these kinds of things everyday. A few of them may even be me. The names of the people who inspired these characters have been concealed to protect the guilty and to keep them from being mad at me.

The Oh My Goodness Here They Come Worker
This is the person at your job that no one really likes or wants to be bothered with. They have bad jokes. They smell a little. Sometimes they are just not that good of a person. The only thing that keeps them around is that they are the CEO's cousin or related to someone else in the company. You have to fake like you want to be around them without saying anything that may get back to mid management. This is the person that never comes to happy hour.
The 30 Minute Breaker
This is the person that is never at their desk because they always have a reason to take a break. These are usually smokers or have a friend on another floor that they want to talk to all the time. You always have to hurry up from your break because they have sucked up all the free time. Every six months you need to have an argument with this person once the break time gets out of hand.
The Potluck Co-Worker
This is the person that can't cook but always wants to have a potluck dinner. Every three months they plan one of these stupid things and ask everybody to bring something. Their dish is usually the worst one on the table. I hate potluck dinners. In every office there's a person that is just a little nasty looking. You try to get them to bring the plates or the cups but they always want to whip up their special recipe and put right at the beginning of the table. They stand there and look to see if anyone eats it. Now everybody has to put some on their plate and figure out how to get it to the trash when no one is looking.
The Company Manual Monitor
This is the fool that actually went home and read the new employee kit after orientation. They know everything about every procedure and always want to point out stuff that is not right. They follow the dress code. Their breaks are 15 minutes exactly. They go to lunch for 60 minutes, clock right back in and go to their desk. These people don't have allot of friends because usually they have gotten a real popular person fired by being so damn correct all the time.
The Wanna Be Manager
This is my least favorite person. This is the fool sitting next to you that makes the same money and has the same title but has been with the company 5 years longer than you so they feel they can tell you what to do. The reason they are in the same position is because they have absolutely no management skills and never get promoted. The wanna be manager always sees the company manual monitor as a threat and they never get along. These are the two that the supervisor manipulates to do all of their dirty work.
The Harassment Dude
Ladies, this is the guy at the office that thinks every woman wants him so he makes all these lewd comments. These guys always get fired for harassment or abuse of the e-mail system. You can always find the harassment dude just standing in the hallway or at the elevator for no reason but to play on women. The funniest thing about the harassment dude is that 80% of the time he works in the mail room or cleans the bathrooms. He still exists because there's that one pitiful woman somewhere in the building that actually breaks him off and gives him reason to keep going on with his routine.
The Hoochie Clothes Girl
This is the biggest test for a young brother working in an office environment. This is the girl who is getting her life and career on track and has never had an office job before. All she has to wear to work are the clothes she wears to the club. Usually, this is mini skirts, tight pants and shirts that show off her tattoos. Hoochie clothes girl is like kryptonite to the harassment dude and extremely distracting to every other guy. As long as she is a nice girl and doesn't manipulate the situation too much everything is cool. A scandalous hoochie dresser can destroy an entire department.
The Gossip Woman
The most dangerous person in the building. This is the person that claims to know who's messing around, who's about to get fired, who's having marital problems, and everything else they really don't know. All of the other people on this list can survive in harmony until the gossip woman is hired. The strangest thing about the gossip woman is that she herself is never in any rumor and no one is ever mad at her. Somehow she knows how to throw the match into the gasoline and pull it out before it burns her hand.
The Potential Postal Worker
Now, I know what you are thinking. You are thinking this is the guy that is probably going to come into the building and spray everyone with bullets. That's true. However, this person is usually really popular and gets along well with his co workers. He is cool with everyone in the building that is not a supervisor. Postal potential hates authority and pressure. He's usually the guy that does something so specific and complicated that it's almost impossible to replace him so the manager puts up with all his tripping. This is the guy that walks out of meetings. He is the one that refuses to work overtime. He is the one no one asks to work on any kind of special projects because they know he is just itching to go off. He knows he will never get promoted and he doesn't care. The funniest part about the postal man is that as soon as he clocks out and hits the streets he instantly becomes one of the coolest people you have ever met. Clocking in is just like turning Dr. Jeckyl into Mr. Hyde.

Memories To Get Me By

Sometimes things come to you in the strangest ways. I have been real negative lately and complaining allot about everything. I was outside feeding my dog Sandy a few minutes ago. I was noticing how she was fully recovered from having a liter of puppies that she tried to kill the day she had them. She destroyed half and the rest went to the SPCA the next day because they were just too small to take care of without her. Then I realized something while watching her bounce around. She had no mental effects of losing all of her puppies. There was no grief, no depression, or any nightmares. Think about if a woman would have lost 8 kids on the same day. If she lived to be 100 years old she would recall that day for the rest of her life. She could never out grow or out live that thought. The event might actually be too much for her mind to take and drive her insane. I lost one three years ago and not a day goes buy when I don't think about it at least once.
The human brain is what sets us apart from all the other animals in the world. It's what puts us on the top of the food chain. I'm not a scientist but experience has shown me that the quality of human life is dictated by how good or bad the memories in your life are and how good those events affected you. Good memory can make you smart, depressed and sometimes crazy. With the exception of names, I am one of those people that can close my eyes and picture exact places and events in my life. I remember very specific times in my life, good and bad ones. All of those have an influence on me everyday. A song, a building, or something on the TV can send me into a time machine and the replay starts. I can not tell you how much money my parents made when I was a coming up. I know it wasn't allot but I couldn't give you a figure to save my life. I would never remember that. I do remember playing LIFE in the kitchen and Michelle getting mad when my daddy would sue her. I remember crabbing trips. I remember the Solomon Burke record my mama used to play. My little Jennifer scheduled her entire day in a composition book. I remember driving to Florida in a rusty pickup and my crazy brother Walter trying to swim with a broken arm. Jerald needed to have Big Bird's Big Red Book read ten times in a row. I remember my grandmother bringing me cinnamon rolls and that crazy song she used to sing before she gave them to me. I remember my other grandmother's sugar cookies and I remember getting up early to go get ice for the family BBQ with my grandpa. When you add all that up with the other ones, you get a pretty swell life even with all my complaining. That's not too bad for a brother from the Ninth Ward.
When I am in a really hopeless mood, I'll drive around with the radio playing and suddenly something will pop into my head. I'll think about watching Monday Night Football with Daddy. I'll think about catching the bus to work with my grandma when I was small. I'll think about the crabbing trip I took with my brothers when I threw the bait away to soon. Sometimes I think about making wrestling belts with Devin out of liquor boxes and black shoe polish when I was a youngster. It makes everything go away for a few minutes. This is the kind of memories I want my children to have. I want my daughter to say to herself "man, I don't know what my daddy did for a living but I remember when me and him played on the swings". If I can get that I will feel at peace with myself.
Young adults tend to live in the moment at hand. The bills are due. The kids are growing and need you more everyday. The people that raised us are starting to get older and they need you more too. There are so many things currently going on that if you ask how life is going the answer may be not that good. Sometimes you just have to put on a good record, grab a drink and close your eyes. If you take a few minutes and use the memories in your mind to draw on good times, that life question may not be as negative as you think. I know I have way more good memories than bad ones. Judge your life on the totality of all the good things from beginning to end. Don't think mine's hasn't been sweet so far.

Knowing Love the Way I Do....Top Ten Luther Songs

Luther


I'm not going to type a whole bunch of stuff about Luther. I didn't know him personally so I can't say all that stuff. I did love his music so in the that regard I am listing for you the top ten Luther songs in order. Rest in peace Luther.

1. House Is Not A Home
2. So Amazing
3. Since I Lost My Baby
4. Superstar
5. Dance With My Father
6. Nothing Better Than Love w. Gregory Hines
7. Never Too Much
8. If Only For One Night
9. I Who Have Nothing
10. Any Love

Mind Blowin Volume 13

This might be the longest I have went without posting in a long time. Things just got too hectic for a minute. Between a doctor visit, tropical storms, and power outages there just wasn't any inspiration or time to attempt to write anything of quality. I hate covering things that have happened days ago and talk about them now. That means I have to come up with something else to write about off the top of my head. I had several things in mind all week and now that I have sat down to post them they are all gone. I can't remember a thing. Not one single piece of information or idea. I guess I will just give a brief statement of a few things that happen recently.

• After all the calls for protest and boycotts, the Essence Festival had record numbers last weekend. That means the tow trucks, meter maids and overpriced drinks were in full effect. If anybody reading this plans on staying at the Downtown Hilton in New Orleans, make sure you don't cause trouble and give my best friend Cedric any problems. He told me how his people treated him last week.
• There is no sadder show in the history of black entertainment than Being Bobby Brown. I don't know if I should laugh or cry about it.
• Lil Kim got a year in jail and Martha Stewart got 5 months. In America crime doesn't pay unless it's for over a million dollars .
  
• Whenever the majority of the population starts to question the war in Iraq, Al Queda or some terrorist group does something like the London Transit bombings and makes people think dropping a few bombs on the Middle East isn't a bad idea.
• Luther..........gets his own post.

So now I am back to speed I think. Hopefully tonight I will remember the other stuff.

Mind Blowing Volume 12

People always talk about life being a roller coaster ride. Lately mine has been feeling like a water slide. Going down with no way to stop it. I guess I couldn't get the 6 months of regular, boring life that I asked for. Oh well, I guess that's how it goes. I was going to do my normal quick thoughts but since I started writing this I decided to give you the list of sayings that I hate for people to tell me when something is going wrong.

1. "Everything happens for a reason" - What if the reason is to benefit someone else?

2. "Someone else always has it worse" - How am I supposed to feel better because someone else is miserable.

3. "He never gives you more than you can handle."

Guess I will have to pull out the old saying by Clifton that says "If you can wake up the next day from it, it wasn't that bad". Even that one is stretching it right now. Lets just move on to the next thing and stop being so negative.

Mind Blowing Volume 12 Part II

Now back to regular scheduled opinions........

"With the fourth pick in the 2005 NBA Daft, the New Orleans Hornets select Chris Paul from Wake Forest University!!"

• That was music to my ears when I heard David Stern say them. I'm glad everthing worked out in the top three so we got the best fit for our team. This pick cannot go wrong. We got the right kid with the game and personality for this city.

• Normally I would be pumped up to see Venus Williams beat Sharapova today in straight sets at Wimbledon. This is laying the foundation for Serena Williams to start working out and destroying everybody at the US Open. Richard Williams is a genius. Instead of defending his girls, he has been dissing their games publicly and has tapped into their willingness to please their daddy. Everyone on the tour should be afraid.

• After listening to Donald Rumsfeld and George Bush this week, I now realize that in five years we will have a military draft in this country. There is no way we can stay in Iraq as long as we will need to and not expect another country like Syria, or North Korea (the other countries in the Axis of Evil) to start tripping. The most fascinating part about the whole thing is that whenever they make a speech on a base, or visit the troops they find the most gung-ho, Rambo wannabes to make statements afterwards like all the troops think being Iraq is a cool thing. All the cats I know over there can't wait to come home.

• It's Essence Festival weekend in New Orleans. We are ready for good music, good food, increased prices on hotel rooms, increased cover charges at clubs, hundreds of cars getting towed away without any posted signs, more parking tickets being written than any other event and a bunch other moves that prove New Orleans is the most predujice city in the world even though 85% of the population is black. Lets just hope no one gets killed at Razoos because he has on the wrong shirt.

Breaking the Man Code....Things Women Should Know

I have been having conversations with women about their relationships lately and I am starting to feel kind of bad. Why? Because they all seem to be having problems trying to figure out certain things about men and how we think. With that in mind, I am about to do something I swore I would never do. I am about to break the code of silence and let all the women that may happen to stumble upon my blog into the inner workings of a man's mind. If you pay attention to the following things and apply them correctly you will be on the road to less argument and frustration.

Lesson 1 : We Don't Want to Always Share our Opinions Immediately
Ladies, how many times have you told your man a story and he just looked at you afterwards and started watching TV? If this happens do not be alarmed. He heard what you said and he understood. He just doesn't feel like commenting on the situation at the time. There are several reasons he may not want to comment. He may want to surprise you and take care of it for you. He may still be thinking over what you said and doesn't want to give his first reaction. Or, he may know that if he doesn't agree with you it will start an argument and the game is about to come on. It's better in our opinion for you to be mad from silence then mad from our opinion. The next time this happens, wait a few hours and then ask again. He should be ready with his comment by that time.

Lesson 2 : We Are Not Planning on Having a Relationship with Every Woman We Date
Ladies, sometimes a man sees an attractive woman and starts talking to her he is not looking for a wife or a girlfriend. Single men like to go out and have a good time with a good looking woman. There is no guarantee that he is going to take you out again or even call you the day afterwards. The problem some women have is that they assume that if they tell a man they are looking for commitment and he still takes them out that means he is looking for the same thing. This is not true. If you meet a man, and you are searching for a husband ask him what he is looking for. If he says he is just trying to have fun, don't go out with him. If you do, it is not his fault if you feel like you got played at the end. It's yours because he told you and you still went.

Lesson 3 : Sex Alone Will Not Keep Us Happy
All I will say about this is that you can't be mean, arrogant, uncooperative, offer no support, selfish, and lazy and think that just because you are good in bed a man is going to want to stay there with you. The physical need for a man is so great that he can be with you and detach emotionally. Don't think your skills will win his heart. You would do allot better waiting awhile and letting us get to know you as a woman and a friend. We are less likely to be able to just get up and move on at that point. Some dialog and time might even let you know if you even want to be bothered with him in the first place. If you are in a relationship with somebody, eventually you will have to have some other strong points besides the body.

Lesson 4 : Don't Take it Personal if We Want to Deal with Certain Things on our Own
We are men. We have been raised to be strong and take care of things. If we have a personal issue and close you out leave us be. If we need you we will tell you. I understand it's your nature to want to take care of us but respect our nature and give us some space. It doesn't matter if you have a better idea of how to handle something than we do. A man needs to try and fail every now and then to build some character. Just let him try to handle it first and then step in if the ship starts sinking. You ladies get too frustrated when you are trying to help or find out what's wrong and we won't let you in. It's not a reflection of how we feel about you. We are just trying to be strong for ourselves. When we need you we will let you know. Stay close by and ready.

Lesson 5 : If You Know What you Want In A Man, Get It From the Beginning Because We Won't Change
I saved this one for last because it's the number one problem I see. Ladies, if you meet a man that has never held a job, he probably won't become a CEO anytime soon. If you meet a man that has been to jail for domestic violence, it's a pretty safe bet that if you make him angry he is going to go out like Joe Frazier and knock you out. The point is that you need to find what you want from the beginning and eliminate the stress of waiting for the frog to turn into your prince. That only happened in the book. You might find this hard to believe, but men do this all the time. If a man is with a fast, wild woman that is what he wants at that time. He knows pretty much knows that she is not going to be a housewife. If a man dates a woman that works all the time and is not domestic, he knows it. I bet you he won't be buying her an apron for her birthday. The error women make is they look for a man that fits what they want externally and then they try to change him internally. Men have long figured out that sometimes when you want certain physical attributes in a woman, you have to let some mental and intellectual things slide. That's why we don't get hurt as much. If we dated her because she has nice legs and breast, we don't care what her reading list is. It doesn't even matter if she can read at all. We know what she is there for. Women go out and find the most sculptured, GQ looking man that is dumb as a bag of bricks and then turn around and expect him to write speeches and books like W.E.B. Dubois and Langston Hughes. Sure, there are some brothers who are both physically and mentally enhanced but find that out before you make the decision to let him into your world. You can't waste good years of your life thinking you have Cliff Huxtable and deep down you know you have Albert from the Color Purple. The signs are always there. You ladies just didn't pay attention to them.



These rules do not apply to men that have the following characteristics; tattoo tears, more than three gold teeth, two strikes on their record, pants that hang low enough to see their drawers, no knowledge of where their kids are and not knowing who the mayor, governor, or president are. The only rule for these fools is to stay away at all cost.

Mind Blowin Volume 11

A jury in Mississippi convicted Edgar Ray Killen of manslaughter in the death of two civil rights workers in 1964. He is 80 and sick. Basically, he has lived a nice long life and that wipes out any form of justice this verdict carries. The only thing I could see to make everybody feel better would be to give the family of the victims 10 minutes each alone with him in his cell. Then force his eyes open and put on Good Times 10 hours a day. Other than that this verdict is only symbolic. It always amazes me how long it takes them to solve a crime done against black people. Emmitt Till's body was just dug up to look for more evidence. If what happen to Emmitt happened to today, and he happened to be white and the assailants black, they would incarcerate every black man in Mississippi. Imagine what they would have done in 1955. There's a double standard in this country. It took 41 years to bring Mr. Killen to justice. God bless America.

You know how special America can be sometimes. Saddam Hussein was supposed to be the number one threat to the country and the most evil man in world. According to this article, he is living better than most tax paying citizens while awaiting trial. It was reported today that the US is delaying his testimony. I hope so Saddam gets up on the stand and tells of all the weapons he had purchased from the CIA when he was fighting Iran and how much money he has made from making secret deals with American oil companies.

Who in the hell gave Bobby Brown a reality show? The show is titled Bobby Brown show but you know everybody is going to be watching for Whitney. I hope she put on a few pounds and got that skin fixed up before the cameras started rolling. This show might be as bad for her as the Michael Jackson interview when he was spooning with that little boy was. I can't wait to see it.

Did the Runaway Bride just get a TV deal and half a mil for her story? Is her fiance still with her? This was one of the biggest hustles in American History. You make the entire nation go out looking for you while stereotyping the Latin American brothers and what do you get? You get rich and get to keep your man.

The best part about the final was this excellent article from Scoop Jackson on ESPN.Com about Ben Wallace. The problem with this series has nothing to do with the players. I like how both of these teams play. The problem is Larry Brown, Phil Jackson, and the refs. They have all taken away from this series with either their own agenda or bad calls. Game 5 was close because that was the first evenly called game during the finals. Both teams were on even ground and it came down to one shot. Lets see what happens tonight when the Pistons start playing project defense again since they are facing elimination. David Stern and his people need to go talk to Paul Tagliabue at the NFL office to find out how to handle his teams and media relations. There is no way that Phil Jackson would have did all those interviews and press conferences during the NFL playoffs. They just wouldn't have it. The entire focus should have been on the playoffs. It shouldn't have been Phil and Kobe, Shaq, Larry Brown or anybody else. You are basically telling the fans that what's going on in other places is just as or more as important as the game.

My 31 Favorite Hip Hop Songs That Nobody Ever Talks About

I'm sticking with my "31" theme for a while. The following songs are the 31 best songs in my book that are not considered traditional hip hop classics. Everybody loves the standard classics but these songs get heavy rotation in my house.

1. Freestyle Fellowship - Ghetto Youth
2. Beatnuts - Reign of the Tech
3. Odd Squad - Fa Sho
4. Brand Nubians - Wake Up
5. Freestyle Fellowship ft. Daddy O - Inner City Bounderies
6. Big Mike - Playa Playa
7. Naughty By Nature ft. Freddie Foxx - Hot Potato
8. Kwame - The Rhythm
9. Salt and Pepa - I Am Down
10. M.C. Lyte - Poor Georgie
11. Just Ice - Going Way Back
12. Trendz of Culture - Who Got My Back
13. BlackStar - Brown Skin Lady
14. Beastie Boys ft. QTip - Get it Together
15. D-Nice - Crumbs on the Table
16. Saafir - Just Riden'
17. Chino XL - Kreep
18. MC Ren - Same old Sh#@
19. Casual - Later On
20. Public Enemy - Ties Goes To The Runner
21. OC - Times Up
22. Black Moon - Buck Em Down
23. Saafir - Light Sleeper
24. X-Clan - Tribal Jam
25. MC Breed ft. Tupac - Coming Real Again
26. Above the Law - Black Superman
27. E40 ft. Ice Cube - Behind Gates
28. 2 Live Crew - Check it Out Yall
29. Channel Live - Mad Izm
30. Group Home - Superstar
31. MC Eiht - Heavyweights (from DJ Muggs CD)

Should have been Platinum, Hip Hop Classics that Didn't Sell

The hip hop industry is a strange genre of music. Most of the best music does not make any money. It has basically turned into a situation where anything with Eminem, Nelly, G-Unit and Jay Z appearing will sell regardless of how it sounds. Lots of classic material falls through the cracks and no one gets to appreciate it. Actually, allot of the times it's better music than the popular songs but no one pays attention. In honor of that argument, here are the best hip hop albums that I ever owned that didn't make enough money for the quality of the material.

Krs One - Return of the Boom Bap, 1993: My Philosphy and Still Number One are my all time Krs One favorites but from top to bottom, Return of the Boom Bap was his best album from start to finish. There are no filler songs and no guest appearances. It's just Krs One ripping the mic. This album got lost in the G Funk era and nobody paid attention to how good it was. Dj Premier and Kid Capri on production set it off. If you find a copy of this CD, check out the song Uh Oh. He could perform this song in 2005 and it would still have the same meaning and hit you the same way.

Common - Like Water for Chocolate, 1997: I still own Resurrection and that's the bomb but for me this is Common's best CD. I guess it came along at a time when I was maturing and getting tired of all the gangsta stuff. It's best listened to straight through without any fast foward. It seems to flow it's best that way. This CD was released right around the Puff Daddy, shiny suit era so not enough people were feeling it at the time. The songs to check out on this CD is Payback is a Grandmother and Assata's Song.

Trendz of Culture - Trendz, 1993: This is just my opinion but if the hip hop community was half as smart and up on things as they say they are this album would have at least went gold and possibly platinum. I still own this one too. We have another selection that should be played from beginning to end without any fast fowarding. Most of this music from 93 was lost in the G Funk and gangsta stuff so it never got any press. Check out Who Got My Back and Old Habits.

Brand Nubian - All for One, 1990: This is a top five album in my opinion. I am a Grand Puba and Brand Nubian fan. Every song on this album is dope and the lyrics are on point. One of the best Grand Puba songs appears on this CD and one of the best and most positive hip hop songs ever appears on this CD as well. If you dig this type of music check for the songs Step to the Rear and Wake Up (Reprise in the Sunshine)

Gangstarr - Moment of Truth, 1998: Out of all the Gangstarr albums this was my favorite. Just a solid effort all the way around. Another one of those CD's that needs to be listened to from beginning to end without interuption. Royalty, Above the Clouds and The Militia featuring the legendary Bumpy Knuckles are my favorites. Guru and Premier should have really been bigger mainstream stars.

Brand Nubian - In God We Trust, 1993: Another G Funk era casualty that might have not been everybody's cup of tea. I gave it a 9.5 out of 10 in my opinion. This entire CD was great especially Love Me or Leave me Alone and Steal Ya Hoe. Brand Nubian have not sold enough records to match their talent.

Odd Squad - Fadanuf Fa Erybody, 1994: This CD was country and ignorant but it was good. FaSho is a classic song in my book and if someone from New York or LA would have recorded that song it would have blew up in my opinion. Also check for Here to Say a Lil Somethin and Coughee.

Bumpy Knuckles - Industry Shakedown, 2000: The fact that this album did not go platinum is proof that the majority of hip hop sales go to people who have actually no idea what real material is supposed to sound like. I actually bought this CD just to finish off a special at the record store and this is the only thing I listened to in the car for about 3 months. Is there a more underrated under appreciated mc in the history of hip hop than Freddie Foxx aka Bumpy Knuckles? There is no way cats like Nelly and Bow Wow are supposed to be on MTV Cribs while Bumpy is out here grinding. You have to give him credit for not being so angry that he made a few dis tracks and destroyed 20 careers and a large percentage of the hip hop mainstream. Part of My Life, Tell em I'm Here and R.N.S. are the best songs but don't sleep on any of this CD.

Open Letter

Hello Gentleman,

Two weeks ago a 16 year old was shot by sheriff's deputies when he tried to put the stolen truck he was driving into reverse. He was hit sixteen times. That is one bullet for every year of his wasted life. The news cameras were on the seen as his friends, dressed like they were going to a BBQ, carried his body to his final resting place. I couldn't help but to be overwhelmed by the words of his father looking into the camera and giving all young brothers notice that they were being hunted. That may be true, but he also should have said there is no way he should not have known where his son was that late at night. Where was his acceptance of responsibility in the matter? When I was 16 there was no way I would have been far away from home in a stolen truck that late at night. The reason is really pretty basic; my daddy would have killed me instead of the sheriffs.
Sunday is Father's Day and I am always intrigued at how little fanfare there is for it compared to Mother's Day in the Black community. There's good reason for it. Fellas, we are not taking care of business like we are supposed to. We are not reinforcing the image of a positive male presence. Sure, mom can teach you manners, and respect but it's ten times more powerful if you see a man that looks like you doing some of the things she is trying to tell you about. If she tells you to respect women and be an honest man, it does no good if daddy beats her up and steals the rent money to get high. Boys and girls feed off of what they see other people around them do. If there are brothers around to validate the words then the actions are set in motion. As a good friend told me this week concerning her son, "no matter how manly I tell him he is, it takes a man to activate that masculinity."
I had one of the best mothers a man could have. Allot of my characteristics are hers. She thought me allot about life and being a good man and a good person. As a man however, there are some things I learned were ok for a man to do without losing a hint of masculinity because of my daddy. I learned it is ok to be educated. It is ok to dance. It is ok to show affection. It is ok to play with your children and have a good time. Every now and then it is ok to be a little silly. It is ok to cook, clean and even sometimes follow your wife’s lead without feeling like less of a man. Clifton taught me all of that and I didn’t have to go around the city looking for him to do it. Every day for 25 years when I woke up in the morning he was in the same house. I am 31 years old and still learning from the man. I am blessed. Not only did I have my daddy with me every single day of my childhood, I also had my grandfather and uncles to show me things and give me lessons in life. While I had one great dad and 5 or 6 other strong men around me, most young brothers don't have one. It doesn't even have to be their biological fathers. If only a few brothers in the community would take some of their cousins, nephews, friend's children, or neighbors under their wing and helped them out things would be much better. There have been toomany years of us sitting back and letting everything that's going on spiral out of control. We can't wait until our sons are in their teens running wild to step in and try being in charge. By then, they have no respect for any type of authority. That's why we have young boys shooting at the police over a traffic stop and beating up their
teachers. They have no fear of anything. We can't wait until our daughters are 16, expecting their 3rd child and sliding down the stripper pole to try and step in to show her what real love from a man is supposed to be. It's too late by then.
We have too many excuses black men. Being a father is basic stuff. The notion you have to be a college graduate and make 50K a year tobe a good dad is not true. All of that stuff does is enhance your material possessions and has nothing to do with how your kids will turn out. Too many of us are sitting around all day feeling sorry for ourselves and punishing everybody around us for our own shortcomings.
My grandfather lived 89 years as a black man in the South with little education. He was married for 68 years and raised 5 children successfully. He passed away seeing all of his kids, grandkids and great grandkids living productive lives. In the 30 years I shared the Earth with him and got the privilege to talk to the man, I never heard him make an excuse for anything. He could have looked around one day at his five children, thought about the fact that he might need to work day and night to feed them since he only had a fourth grade education and just packed up and left. He could have been focused on all the personal things he wouldn't be able to do since he had to provide for them and left. He never did. As a matter of fact he raised some of his grandchildren too. The point is that a real man makes no excuses about being responsible. He just gets up and does it. Your reward is in the lives that your children lead, and if that's your only success in life that should be enough. We have let outside forces dictate to us what makes us a man. We don't walk as tall as we should because we feel the need to be validated by someone or something. We have to validate ourselves. No one can do it for us. Our women can't do it. Money can't do it. Television can't do it. Only we can do that. One thing we need to do is stop placing an emphasis on being cool with everything. Everything we do is not cool gentleman. We are now accustomed to being negative and ignorant. If you need some help distinguishing what is cool and what is not let me help you. It is not cool to curse around or disrespect the elderly. It is not cool to either have a baby and not take responsibility or have one and abuse it. It is not cool for grown ass men to prey on little girls and take their innocence. It is not cool to run around with your pants by your knees exposing yourselves to all the sisters. It is not cool to be violent or kill another brother over anything except the safety or your family. It is not cool to be a brother on the DL infecting the future mothers of our race; and it is definitely not cool to celebrate being uneducated, addicted or incarcerated. We are cheating ourselves out of so many great things that life has to offer. Many of us are so content with nothing it erases all hope in things getting better. Our flaws and shortcomings are not pre determined. Some are not our fault but it does not matter. Just like Walter Harris, all you have to do is get up and do it. Our women will help us if we put forth the effort. No sister wants to sit around and carry the weight of an adult male that is not making an attempt to carry himself like a grown man. We have to carry and conduct ourselves as men first and everyone else will give us the proper respect. That means taking care of our own homes and neighborhoods. As my daddy likes to say, in this world we live in, you will only be given a small space to rule and you have to do what you can to make it the best it can be. The bottom line is that until we take care of our own, no one outside our community will ever respect us for the kings we were born to be and there will be more fathers like that deceased brother's father trying to figure out what went wrong. Until we do better, the hunting continues.

Sincerely,
Cliff

Dedicated to my daddy, Clifton Joseph Harris

Rest in Peace Walter Harris and Leroy Baker

Mind Blowin Volume 10

Well I am 31 now and the birthday was cool. You can tell when a brother's getting older when a birthday card can make you cry. That was the best birthday I have had as an adult with absolutely no money in my pocket. I can get back to talking about other things that are on my mind again.

Fear of chicken pox brought me and my daughter to the clinic this morning and for the first time since I have been taking her, there was more than two fathers in the building. Today was an all time high with a whopping total of six! That might not seem like allot to some people but here in New Orleans where men seem to be walking meaninglessly through life that is pretty good. If we could just multiply that five by 20,000 we will be alright.

Mike Tyson quit in the middle of a fight Saturday night against a guy who have needed medical attention if he fought Mike in his prime. Now, I don't feel sorry for Mike for blowing all his money and waisting his oppurtunity. Saturday night I was happy for him. The reason why I was happy was because he finally has perspective on his life. As an adult, the only way to grow is to review the past and see how others have effected you and how you have done things to yourself in order to learn. If he never would have realized that he needs to take responsiblity for what has happened to him then he would be on the verge of killing somebody by now.

In the last three weeks about 4 people have been shot locally by the police. None of these brothers were unarmed. Fellas, you've been watching too much TV. You can't win that battle no matter how bad you think you are. Just get out of the car and live to see what the jury might say. Stop making law enforcement officers paranoid. Someone innocent is going to get shot because of a wrong move due to all this.

Nothing gets your week off to a good start like a conversation so funny that when you laugh it feels like you are about to have a stroke. That subject will make you laugh all week. This is dedicated to the Davids and for the dudes dancing on the lake Sunday.

Well Well Well

Well well well,


I have a question. When black people celebrate a celebrity getting away with something, is it because we are rejoicing in the system working against the grain for a change or do we really think that somehow this is a victory for us? It's no victory that Mike went free. Regardless of his innocence or guilt, he is still one of the most tragic black men of all times. Between he and Mike Tyson alone (who quit Saturday), we could at least have some computers in inner city schools. I'm not celebrating.

30's and What I am Looking Forward To

• In my 30's I am looking forward to lots of things happening......
  
• I'm looking forward to finding the meaning and purpose of my life on this planet.
• I'm looking forward to watching my children grow.
• I'm looking forward to being a good man and a good husband.
• I'm looking forward to good health and prosperity for all of my loved ones.
• I'm looking forward to my professional life finally taking shape.
• I'm looking forward to good times and memories with my family.
• I'm looking forward to black on black crime decreasing.
• I'm looking forward to black on black love increasing.
• I'm looking forward to buying a jaguar.
• I'm looking forward to kindergarten graduations.
• I'm looking forward to somebody allowing me to write a column for a magazine or website.
• I'm looking forward to having my own magazine or website.
• I'm looking forward to enjoying some part of everyday.
• I'm looking forward to experiencing inner piece.
• I'm looking forward to my brothers and sisters finding their true passions in life.
• I'm looking forward to hip hop becoming more responsible.
• I'm looking forward to fathers taking back control of the community.
• I'm looking forward to the Saints in the Superbowl.
• I'm looking forward to applying everything my parents taught me into being a good parent myself.
• I'm looking forward to hopefully having a son and being as much of a man to him and daddy was to me.
• I'm looking forward to growing in wisdom and learning something new every day.
• I'm looking forward to watching the sun set over the lake.
• I'm looking forward to mastering BBQ.
• I'm looking forward to the day black men finally recognize the dignity they have inside.
• I'm looking forward to the day black women cherish that dignity.
• I'm looking forward to my 40th birthday and all of this has came through.

Five Things I Should Have Done Differently

When it gets close to your birthday you start reflecting on your life more than you normally would. With that in mind I would like to think about some of the things I should have done differently.
I Should Have Left New Orleans for college. I think I would have did a little better if I had left. There wouldn't have been any girls, friends, or nothing else going on to distract me from just enjoying the college experience. I stayed home to spend scholarship money and take the easy way out. I should have just struggled in Tuskegee where I wanted to go and got the experience of being away from home and making it own my own. I will always regret not doing that because I really can't correct that one. Those days are over.
I Would finish college first instead of getting a full time job. I am still feeling the affects of this decision today. The job market is volatile as it is and its ten times worse when you don't have at least a bachelor's degree. As well as I have performed at jobs I have had, I have never made the money or gotten the advancement I feel I deserve. The reason is I am always started at the bottom because of the lack of credentials to get in at the top or the middle. When you have that problem it takes years to climb the ladder, especially when are not going to kiss up or play politics with anybody.
I would quit Autozone three or four years earlier. It took me six years of working day in and day out in a situation that made me miserable to finally get the nerve to step away and go in another direction. One thing I didn't have in my early twenties was the ability to see certain things happening before they did. I hung around way to long and fell behind about 5 years. Once again, I should have listened to my daddy. He told "quit now before they start paying you too much to quit". That's exactly what happened and it cost me three years off of my game plan.
I would not "date" half of the women I did. It was only fun on the day of the encounter. I am not going to elaborate too much on this one. I will just say that I wasted allot of time, energy, and money on breast and legs. I'm not blaming the women. Lots of them genuinely liked me as a person. I just wanted everything I saw that I thought I could get. Nobody told me to spend all that time trying to be a player. I will say it before and I will say it again the swinging bachelor's life is overrated and unfulfilled in the end. I met about 7 potential wives and I messed up every one of them trying to work my way into 70 potential booty calls.
I would try to talk to some of my friends and keep them out of trouble. Every man is ultimately responsible for his own actions but I had a little more insight then some of those brothers and I didn't share it. I sat back and watch my childhood best friend become and addict, one of my best friends is high school was murdered at 19, and one of my best friends now, was homeless and incarcerated for about 5 years. In each one of these cases I think I had enough respect from these people to talk to them about what was going on and offer my hand to them. I'm not saying it would have worked. I'm just saying I could have tried.

17 Years Old....I still had a neck