Support Your Local Basketball Sensation

I am watching this Hornets game on NBA-TV and I would like to apologize to Chris Paul and the rest of the team. See, I have been mad at Byron Scott for two years about some comments he made when the team was in Oklahoma City and I haven’t been to a game since. That has been a mistake. I spend all this time following the Saints who sometimes play with absolutely no passion whatsoever and possibly the MVP of the league is representing every night with my city’s name on his chest. Not only is he a great player, he also has high character and a young brother like this could be an example for some of these young soldiers walking the streets. This kid is a role model plus he’s got mad game. He reminds me of a young Isiah except he hasn’t punched anybody yet. I hereby endorse going to as many Hornets games as possible.

Add buying Hornets tickets to the list of things to do in 2008.

This Blog needs a musical interlude

No Hope For A Great Idea

My community is divided into two frames of mind, “I made it in spite of the obstacles” and “I made it so there are no obstacles”. This housing development situation made me question myself about which side I stand on.

I love being black. The love I have for myself extends to everyone who looks like me. Whenever you read anything about me going off about the actions of another brother it’s because I love them and want them to do as well as possible. I have love for the people I am about to rant about in this blog.

I may be a foolish dreamer but I want the best for my people. I will never accept substandard conditions and circumstances because we don’t deserve that. We are better than that. That’s why I think not re-opening the old housing developments is a good idea. Why should my people have to live and survive in dilapidated conditions just because they haven’t been able to make it out a system that is designed to keep them where they are to begin with. The struggle is hard enough without having to live in a second class environment. The projects of New Orleans were no Taj Mahal. The people want, deserve, and should have much better housing options.

We all knew this was coming. I don't think anyone was surprised. So why did the unanimous decision piss me off so much? There has been nothing I have seen in my lifetime that makes me have any confidence in the government to replace this housing. For that reason the buildings should stand until we have the money in the bank. Let the buildings stand as a reminder of the mistakes of the past. I feel if the buildings are gone then its no longer a worry and we need housing to get our people home. Get the money, sign the contracts and then start demolition. There is no way in my opinion that a black person who has lived in this city could think that after decades of false promises and stolen money, all of a sudden everybody that’s been screwing us is now going to turn around and create an urban paradise. Excuse me if I can’t wrap my mind around that notion but people don’t usually let their prostitutes sit at the table with family overnight. I personally find it disappointing that some of the folks in the community are so comfortable with their position now since they have slightly better pimps than the rest of the hood. If the KKK would have known that all they had to do for our best and brightest to turn their backs on the less fortunate was to give us a few 401k’s and let us move to their subdivision, segregation would have ended in the 30’s. Make W.E.B DuBois a housing secretary. Appoint Marcus Garvey as the Director of Urban Development and give him a take home car. It’s fascinating how we forgot that in the first rebuilding plan for the city none of our asses would be here. A bike trail was going where my house is. The mayor practically told us that if we come back there wasn’t going to be much done for us. Now we are so much more worthy than the rest of our people like our neighborhoods are a sparking example of development. One of those negroes on that council or the mayor should have spoken for those people. They have been living here too long to look me in the eye and tell me they are that confident in this working out easily or at all. The unanimous decision was a joke. Somebody needs to wake up Dorothy Mae Taylor.

Lately I have been wrong about a few things. I really want to be wrong about this. If I am wrong, it would be the first time that I can say that the government as ever done anything right by us since this storm. I will gladly take everything I just said back and delete this entire blog if someone can send me an example of anything in this city that actually got accomplished under 5 years or ever. I’ll delete it and apologize. No one is going to send me anything.

Sittin On My Porch - Part III

This is one of those periods of time when I feel like heading down to the Ninth Ward and sitting on somebody's porch...but no one is down there. This post may suck.

You have to love the holiday season. It's the time of year when parents spend way too much money on things their kids don't need or won't play with more than a week. I still contend these kids would be happy with a ball, a stick and a box. We could put all that money to their college educations. When I was growing up, my favorite toy was a homemade skate mobile. All you needed was two old 2x4's and a pair of old skates. I got stuff for Christmas but by the first week of the new year it was all boring or broke............

Isn't it amusing that parents always talk like this when spending their money? If my parents wouldn't have bought the Atari 2600 when it first came out I would have ran away from home for a few hours.

It's time for all stories blaming Barry Bonds for the destruction of baseball to cease and desist. After the Mitchell Report was released, I think it's fair to say that Barry Bonds would have had to take something just to keep up with the rest of the drug addicts. That includes Roger Clemens. I am sure he is going to take a nice vacation and the media is going to let it blow over.

The tearing down of the housing projects in New Orleans has started. I won't call the decision to do this racist yet. I won't call Alphonso Jackson an uncle tom and a George Bush flunky yet. I won't accuse the elite of all colors of this city of running out poor people yet. I won't even question the thinking about some middle class black people here of thinking this is a good idea even though they are one or two missed paychecks from needing help their damn selves yet. If a year goes by and all of those spots are empty lots. I will call out all of the people I just named. I hope the poor of the city will look at this in another way and realize that the truth of the matter is no one is responsible for your well being more than you. I know you want to come home. If you really want to come home and make sure you stay, get your stuff together and make sure you can afford to live independently. If that levee breaks again the government won't put another dime into public housing.

My choices for president were narrowed down by one with Hillary Clinton played the cocaine dealer card on Barak Obama. It would be a pitiful shame if she received any black votes after that no matter how cool black people think her husband is. To me this is unforgivable. It was bad enough that they made fun of his kindergarten paper like a young brother can't dream big. The only way I will vote for Hillary is if she is running against Mitt Romney. Let's face it, if Mormons were running the country we would just be at the Jim Crow stage as a people. He has a right to run, I just can't vote for him.

It's been a few months now and the only person that has went to jail in this corruption crackdown so far is Oliver Thomas. If Jim Letten doesn't get a few more names for a lot more money, the racial divide is going to get wider and wider in this city. You have to get someone else for more money. It would also help to get a caucasian or two so it doesn't look slanted. There many people on edge because it looks like a big plan being implemented to keep people away and take back certain power.

Finally, I know I am a week late on this. Last week when the Saints played the Falcons on Monday night, I couldn't help but notice some of the players on the Falcons team with the number 7 on their face paint and on their t-shirts. It made me wonder where was all this love a few years ago when one of them could have pulled him to the side and told him to get rid of all that stuff before he destroyed everything he worked for. Apparently hood love only kicks in after the person has made a shamble out of everything.

A Superstar Rebuilds The Hood

While Avery Alexander, A P Tureaud and Morris F.X. Jeff roll over in their graves.

While local black politicians fight to keep their reputations and try to hide from Jim Letten.

While “black leaders” all over the country sit by their television and wait for the next Don Imus or Jena Six to jump off.

Guess who’s down here on the ground actually helping poor black people rebuild their homes?

The guy in the picture up there.


I’m not sure if I agree with the color choice for the exhibit but I appreciate the fact that he has spent so much time trying to turn attention to the issues of the people in the Lower Ninth Ward. Those pink blocks are an eye opener at night. Before Katrina he probably didn’t know it existed. It's something to ride to the Lower Nine on a Tuesday afternoon and see Brad Pitt just walking around the hood with work clothes on. I’m not sure if I have mentioned this before but every time I saw a group of volunteers cleaning, gutting, and rebuilding houses it’s been a group of white college kids and religious groups on a vacation or school trip. I am still waiting for the Rainbow Coalition or the full gospel bus full of brothers and sisters in work clothes to come drive a few nails. I guess they will be back next Katrina anniversary to help us sing.

Brad Pitt is now an honorary resident of the C.T.C. We need to get him a t-shirt made or something.

The Project Dilemma

This project dispute is crazy. I could see the benefit in tearing down the old projects and replacing them with better mixed income homes. On the surface it seems like a good idea except for the Lafitte Housing Development. Those buildings are in decent shape and it would take three Katrina’s to knock it down. I wouldn’t have had a problem with the rest of them at first. Then I thought about how our government does things. I thought about all the people in Duncan Plaza and under the Claiborne underpass sleeping in tents and on concrete. Then I thought about August 29, 2005.

Who gave any of these jerks in power the right to decide who’s worthy of coming home and who’s not? Who gave them the power to determine who’s a worthy resident or not even though the federal government’s faulty levees cost everybody? There wasn’t a bunch of brothers from the St. Bernard Projects jumping up and down on the wall of the 17th St. Canal and made it fall. Uncle Sam's spotty work did that. Where is it written that people coming back to the projects will bring extra crime? What about all the crime going on now from people in houses? I guess the next step will be tearing down all the rental property too. You will have to be a homeowner just to get a New Orleans pass. The real issue is our lack of ability to change the conditions of our citizens. I find it sad that a city that has done nothing to make the lives of these people better would now choose to keep them out of here instead of coming up with anything progressive to change the situation where they want to live. Let other cities take care of all the people they stole from and oppressed. I would love to see my people in better facilities than some of the current developments. Lets be honest, it will be ten years before the government puts forth the effort to rebuild all of those apartments if they ever do. I have no confidence in the powers that be to replace all the housing they are about to tear down.

On the other side of the coin I have a few concerns. The first concern is that these fools will come back with the same kind of violence that causes the local media to salivate and run story after story to prove a point. My other concern is that after two and a half years why are people willing to fight this hard to get back into some of these apartments? I know you should have the right to come home, but have you done anything to make things better? I still don’t understand coming home to New Orleans to be homeless when there was available housing in other cities.

How about this idea. What if we repair these apartments, let the people come home with a commitment that in 5 years we will cut the occupancy level in half? Imagine how many creative ideas could come from that kind of commitment.

Never mind, that’s a horrible idea. I forgot that in New Orleans progressive thinking is worse than that stomach virus that’s been going around. Let them all come back home. My quality of life won't get any worse with the extra people.

Sometimes You Run Into People

When I was in the ninth grade I hooked up with a bunch of crazy young men. We all thought we were tough. That was probably from listening to too much NWA music. We called ourselves The Six Man Posse. Everybody had a posse or a crew back then. I feel so old. Out of the six of us, I can only account for two still being alive. That's really messed up since I am only 33 years old. The craziest fool in this group was Dee. I used to go to his house in Gentilly, get a free haircut, drink Crazy Horse Malt Liquor and play basketball at the school around the corner. That was about 120 pounds ago when my jump shot was so sick it needed medication. We had the unstoppable pick and roll game. I loved those cats. Just like I mentioned the other day when I was talking about decisions, I had to stop hanging over at Dee’s house because no one else in the group was getting up to go to school. I loved my boys but I didn’t have time to drink and smoke all day long. A few years ago I was sitting at my desk reading the obituaries in the newspaper and saw Dee’s picture. At the age of 25 he was gone. I found out why but I won’t mention it here. I had spoken with him a few times. He had lost a lot of weight and wasn’t the same vibrant guy I used to know but he was still my boy.

Yesterday I was just thinking about how frustrating it was that I always seem to run into people since Katrina that remind me of stuff I don’t want to be reminded of. Part of my responsiblities at work is training people to enter data into a software package that we use. There was a bunch of older black ladies in class today which was cool with me because there presence automatically keeps me in line and this stomach virus has me off my rocker. One of the ladies looked really familiar. I looked at the sign in sheet and her name looked real familiar too. As the day went on I became pretty sure about who she was. I wasn't 100% sure so I decided I wasn’t going to say anything. You just don’t know how stuff like that affects people. I mentioned who she might be to my co-worker and she made a good point. Maybe she needs to hear what you have to tell her. So many times young brothers leave us and the world just adds their name to the running total of wasted potential. Maybe a cat like me could tell her something to make her smile. I was discreet about it. I waited until the class was over and the people who didn’t know her were leaving.

Cliff : Excuse Ms. K? I don’t mean to be out of line or anything, but did you live on Myrtle St. in Gentilly around the corner from the school?

Ms. K.(eyes lighting up): Yes I did.

Cliff: I thought that was you.

Ms. K: I was trying to remember your face all day.

Cliff: Can I just tell you, your son could always make me laugh. I had a lot of love for that fool.

Ms. K (Smiling widely): Cliff, wasn’t he a character?

Cliff: Yes ma’am, he sure was.

Ms. K: He would be happy to see you doing well.

In light of that, I am dedicating Talking All That Jazz by Stetsasonic to The Six Man Posse; Dee, Dave, Renell, Truck, Doug, and Cliff. You couldn’t fade us…………….Those were the good ole days.

The Mold is Finally Fighting Back

Medical Watch: Norovirus could sideline the afflicted for days

You know what the most upsetting thing about this virus is besides the uncontrollable stomach contractions. There is a guy on this article that said he lost 13lbs. I have been going to the bathroom since Saturday morning and ain't lost a damn pound. I guess I have that built in big body gene from my family lineage. All the weight in the world couldn't handle this damn virus. I thought my stomach was feeling this way because Jackie Clarkson got sworn in.

Still Down With Reggie

Dear Reggie Bush,

I am willing to risk being called an over zealous fan to write this letter. Listen Reggie, I know you left the Dome yesterday without talking to the media. I won’t blame you or that because honestly I probably would have drove my car home in full uniform. Let me just get to the reason I am writing this letter. We have never had one single player with the superstar status as you Reggie. You are the first Saints player I have ever seen on non sports stations on weekdays. You are the single most visible resident of our city. Actually, Lil Wayne is probably just as popular but I don’t think he will be on any United Way commercials anytime soon. I know you put a lot of pressure on yourself Reggie and I don’t want to add to that. But I need you to do great. I need you to shine Reggie. I’m not going to put you down like some people. When the city needed a boost you came through last year when you could have pulled an Eli Manning and refused to be drafted by the Saints. That will always put you on top in my book. You just have to stop looking like you forgot how to play football. I know how it is to lose your confidence sometimes. Even the simple things that you can do in your sleep seem really difficult. That’s probably why you are dropping all those passes and letting everybody throw you around like a rag doll.

When I am not feeling too well about the way things are going, my daddy always tells me that if you can wake up from it the next day then you can overcome it. Just remember all the opposing players and media that have said you can’t get the job done. Stay in town this off season and workout with the team instead of hanging out in California. Add about 20 pounds so you can take the pounding. Watch some film of Brian Westbrook from the Eagles to learn how a smaller back should run between the tackles. Come back next year, have one of those highlight reel seasons and stick it to the haters. Even if you never have that season, it’s ok. You can still stay in New Orleans. The next time I have a fight party you can come over and get a plate of red beans and some BBQ hot sausage. Hell, bring Kim Kardashian with you as long as you don't mind her signing a copy of my King magazine with her on the cover. You always have a home here in New Orleans. Just promise me that if Sean Payton makes that call again you pretend you don’t hear him and keep the ball.

#$%#$%^%#^%#!$!!!!!

I have been a Saints fan my whole life....That was the worse play call I have ever seen.

It is times like this when I realize just how much Hurricane Katrina changed my perspective on life. If Sean Payton would have called that reverse about five years ago, I really think I would have drove to his house, parked outside and waited for him to come home so I could challenge him to a fist fight. Now, with my new priorities about what’s important, I only want to find his phone number and make a few anonymous calls to his office voicemail calling him so many cusswords that he gets the number changed.

I know Tom Benson believes in getting the most for the least amount of money possible. If he gives me 20% of Reggie Bush’s salary I can get to the line of scrimmage and fall down. I might even catch a pass or two for no gain.

We could have kept Joe Horn and Fred Thomas around if we were going to do this. At least they were like family and I wouldn't feel so bad.

How Much Street Cred Does This Give You?

Cities all over the country have gangs, and crime, and corrupt police officers. How many places can claim firefighters running a drug gang on and off duty? It's time to give these guys another pay raise.

New Orleans firefighters indicted on federal drug charges

06:12 PM CST on Friday, November 30, 2007

WWLTV.com

Four New Orleans firefighters were among six men indicted Friday on federal gun and drug charges, U.S. Attorney Jim Letten announced.

According to Kathy English, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, all six men were named in a 24 count indictment and charged with conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of crack cocaine and 100 grams or more of heroin. Additional charges were applied to each of the six men named.

The firefighters were identified as Milton Joseph IV, 25; Wayne Williams II, 28; Aaron White, 24; and Eddie Sandifer III, 22. The other two men named in the indictment were 34-year-old Lawrence Honore and 40-year-old Damon Burkhalter.

English said court documents indicate undercover authorities began to investigate the six men in late May 2007. The indictment also said White rented a home in the 1400 block of North Derbigny Street for the purpose of storing, packaging and selling heroin.

If convicted, Williams faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, a fine of $19.5 million and five years of supervised released if he’s ever let out of jail, English said. Likewise, Joseph faces life imprisonment, as well as a $6.25 million fine and five years of supervised release. White could also be sentenced to life in jail if convicted, pay a $5.25 million fine and undergo five years supervised release. Burkhalter, Honore and Sandifer each face life imprisonment, a $4.25 million fine and five years of supervised release.

Joseph, Williams, White and Sandifer are currently employed as New Orleans firemen, but have been placed on suspension pending the outcome of a trial, English said.

Decisions to Make

This post isn’t directly about Sean Taylor. I decided to write it on the way home while listening to talk radio. I didn’t really want this kind of inspiration. I’m not going to write about the killing part. Nobody knows what happened yet. I want to talk about choices. I heard a few of Sean Taylor’s old friends and teammates talking about how he was trying to change but had a lot of negativity in his life because of his old environment. Someone even said he was frightened whenever he was in Miami.

As rough as New Orleans gets sometimes I am usually never scared. That‘s because my name doesn’t ring out in many circles. The reason for that is I made a conscious decision to not be popular. There are people who grew up blocks away from me that have no idea who I am. Me and my grandpa had a conversation one time about making decisions. He told me one time that if you make a decision and you think it’s right, all you have to do is live long enough and sooner or later what you did will make a lot of sense even to the people who didn‘t like it.

One day when I was 16 years old, a conversation started at my friend Donald’s house. There were about 7 guys out there. The subject was what we were all going to do in a few years when we were “grown“. I don’t want to play the high and mighty role so I have to say that I wasn’t the only one that had a real plan. The thing that opened my eyes was the passion and the spirit of some of my boys when they were talking about their plans to rob a dope house or how they wished a drug dealer would drop some of his product and they could find it to get their business started. Right at that moment it hit me. I had to get the hell from around there. I went inside that evening and never hung our around that corner again.

Now, don’t think I am about to say that I never talked to those guys again or how I moved away from the neighborhood and got all these smart intelligent friends. I have love for every one of those cats. When I see them it’s all good. The only difference between me and them was some intense parental involvement. I love the neighborhood. I just realized that day that I wasn’t trying to rob any drug dealers or find any dope. Some of those guys were going to be on that corner forever. They chose their path and I chose mine. I probably missed out an a few really fun parties and a few escapades with some shady young ladies but that’s ok. I’m having more fun now.

We have to start making decisions based on living well for a long time.

Prove Me Wrong Ms. Clarkson

I am trying my best not to be so negative about my city. There are a lot of good plans being announced these days. Plans around here are just like opinions. Everybody has one. Something that I can’t get on board with is Jackie Clarkson being on the city council again. I have been ranting and raving about Ms. Clarkson but I don’t know if I have done a good job of clarifying why.

Jackie Clarkson looks and acts just like my sixth grade English teacher. It’s probably her cousin or something. She’s got that same hairstyle she’s been wearing since the 60’s. She wears those DH Holmes outfits. She’s got that pompous way of talking in that New Orleans accent that implies she is always right and nothing you say makes any sense to her. It always feels like she is looking down on everyone. I can still remember my 6th grade teacher correcting the way I speak no matter how hard I tried to tone down my New Orleans accent even though her twang was worse than mine.

The point I am trying to make is that I have known people like Clarkson my entire life. She is back on the council with one goal and one goal only. That goal is to make sure that the class of people she hangs out with does not get any part of their good life disturbed. This was proven when she held up all the early trailer sites and altered the plans of thousands to save the fun of a few golfers. There were people who’s neighborhood’s were still in the dark and she wasn’t bothered at all. What makes everyone think she’s really worried about the homeless or affordable housing? New jobs don’t mean anything to this crowd either. Their kids have jobs set aside for them by the time they pass to the eight grade.

After Eddie Jordan resigned when I said he wouldn’t, my physic skills have taken a hit like Ms. Cleo. I am going to predict the next few years in city government. The French Quarter, Algiers and any non flooded neighborhood will be in good shape. All you people who are not making enough money to afford decent housing or want to sit around in public all day and not work, you better look out. Ms. Clarkson hates to see people sitting outside and she doesn’t care if you don’t have anywhere else to go. I just hope Arnold Fielkow is progressive enough to fight back the “ they can come back as long as it ain’t around me movement”. The vibe in the city is about to change. You know what the saddest part of all is? Cynthia -Willard Lewis is the exact same kind of person that Clarkson is. She’s just a few shades darker and we don’t want to admit that there is a high society of black people here too. Jackie’s crew is also less likely to steal from the government because they already own and control most business in the city anyway. I hope I am wrong again and things get better for the hood. We have already had too many years of the privileged passing around money to one another.

In Search Of Inspiration

I'm having major issues. I am in serious need of some inspiration. The news is just too damn depressing to want to write about. Jackie Clarkson got re-elected. The local media celebrated the majority white city council so much that as a black man I started to feel played. Former Councilman Oliver Thomas got sentenced to three years in prison because he didn't want to rat on anybody. He's either been listening to too much rap music or the political scene in New Orleans is just like the mafia. Nooses have been popping up all over the country and I just know one of these instances is going to lead to a scene that is going to make the Jena 6 case look like child's play. By the way, anyone who gets the beat down behind a noose deserves it. Who in the hell wants to talk about all this negative stuff? I need something to get me going.

I'm trying to stay out of the gentlemen's club because it's too close to Christmas and the iron in my blood is too low so I can't sell it to make up for the lost money. I was going to buy me some property today but when I went to the New Orleans Tax Sale website and noticed that 70% of the property was from the Lower Ninth Ward I got pissed and made some anonymous calls to city hall cussing out whoever answered the phone. I know the sale is legal in all but how about a little understanding of the situation. Isn't that like the city of New York sending someone who was parked in front of the World Trade Center a bill for an unpaid parking ticket? Maybe it's just me. It was too close to the third straight holiday without the Lower Nine in full bloom to see that junk.

I bought a book by Juan Williams that is so hard to read I feel confused when I try to get through a few pages. I even want to buy a Wii game but I have talked so much trash about men over 30 being obsessed with video games that my hypocrisy won't let me fully enjoy RAW vs. Smackdown 2008. You can actually stand up and do wrestling moves. If this would have been out when I was younger my entire teenage life would have been different. Every time the commercial comes on I get more and more drawn in. At least if the Saints were in first place I would feel a little energized. Well, at least my fried turkey didn’t burn and the doctor side my cholesterol was only borderline high. Nobody wants to hear about that junk.

If anybody out there has something to inspire me please let me know.

I got a little inspiration……………..Breez won a car. They should have given you some rims.

Free Barry Bonds!

I have understood white people being obsessed with O.J. Simpson. You have to wonder if he spent that much time around white people trying to be one how he doesn’t understand it. I never had a problem with it. I like to think realistically. If that would have been a famous white athlete that sliced up two black people we would have never stopped picketing his ass until he confessed. O.J. going to jail doesn’t bother me.

What am I bothered by is the public anger towards Barry Bonds. The sports media is obsessed with this man because he did the same thing hundreds of athletes have been doing but happened to be so talented that he smashed all the records. If you listen to sports talk radio during the day you would swear that Bobby Bonds helped plan 9/11. They act like Barry Bonds is a master chemist and invited the cream and the clear. They want him to do time in prison. They want asterisks by all of his records because he cheated even though there is no record of a positive test. The questions I have are this. Are the owners who made profit from all the games that Mark Maguire and Sammy Sosa were chest bumping and hugging Roger Maris’s family going to give that money back? What about these 45 year old pictures still throwing a baseball 90 miles per hour? Are we going to throw out every stat from 1990 until now? If the answer is yes to all of those questions then go ahead and curse Barry’s name. If not, you are all a bunch of hypocrites.

Barry’s main problem is that he doesn’t kiss the ass of mainstream media and they hate that especially when a black man does it. If treating the media with disrespect got you this kind of treatment then how did Bobby Knight coach so long? The only thing I wish Barry would have done for my enjoyment was to get to home run number 716 (passing Babe Ruth) and then retired five minutes later. That would have been awesome! I would have called in from work just to watch ESPN and see Mike Lupica have a heart attack.

Sitting On My Porch - Part II

I have been trying to think what to write about the last few days. I have read about 100 blog posts trying to be inspired. I’ll share those later. I had something in mind when I got home but that all went out the window. While I was in my bedroom getting my clothes ready for work tomorrow the phone rang. I was alerted that a car was slowly making it’s way up the street headed for our Nissan. Some kids jumped out of it while it was running when the police got behind them and the car kept rolling. If it wasn’t for the work of the good police officer that was able to slow it down it could have been a catastrophe. Thankfully it wasn’t wrecked. Have you ever tried to console a person when there car gets wrecked and it wasn’t their fault? It would have been a long night. While I was out there looking around to make sure the guys weren’t hiding in the back of my truck, the sight of that stolen car made me think about my dad. I thought about the night of my grandpa’s 88th birthday party when my jeep got stolen and me and my dad turned into the black Starsky and Hutch to go find it. How much street cred do you get for tracking down your own stolen car? If you have never drove through the Lower Ninth Ward after midnight with your daddy hunting down car thieves, you have missed something in life.

If anyone out there wants to see an example of friendship and the positive side of black men at it’s best I advise you to find out when Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel is coming on HBO again and check out the story on Ron Springs and Everson Walls. Any guy regardless of race who has a friend that they truly love should watch this story. If you want to see the worst in men watch I Love New York.

I heard on the Tom Joyner show this morning that there was a study done that showed black men’s wages over the last 30 years have went down and that our women are doing far better than we are. While I don’t dispute the accuracy of this report, I do have some questions.

How do these studies keep getting funded? Is there a bill signed into law that keeps money flowing in order to find more information to lower my self esteem?

Are they counting all the brothers that cut hair, make tattoos and cut grass? I know a cat who makes 100,000 a year doing piercing in his FEMA trailer. We might be able to close the gap with his information.

When sisters hear stuff like this does it make them feel good? If that’s true, shouldn’t they feel bad about feeling good ? We are proof divide and conquer works.

I have been hearing reports like this since I was a little boy that told me how I wasn’t going to live long, be healthy, have money or take care of my kids. Let this be an example of why when you meet most successful black men they are egotistical and arrogant assholes. They have to be to get through all of the low expectations society has for them.

I would like to ask the asshole that feels free to come to my desk and take stuff to use when I go home to at least have the decency to put everything back the way it was. I turned my fan on this morning and papers flew everywhere because someone took it, turned it on oscillating at their desk and then put it back on mine without changing it back. This is what happens when you don’t show your ignorant side at work and people get too comfortable. Tomorrow I am going to dumb my paper shredder bag all over the kitchen table if the person who keeps using it doesn’t change it.

I want to send a shot out to G and say sorry for missing the book signing. I was on vacation learning that it’s not a good idea to grow a Suge Knight beard when taking kids to a theme park. It just attracts strange attention especially when you dancing with little girls and singing the Winnie the Pooh song. I also learned I’m about 20 lbs away from the rollercoaster bars not fitting on me. I am going get the book this weekend.

I didn’t know Detective Thelonius Dukes personally. I know some good people who knew him personally. By all accounts he was a good brother . It’s a shame this man is gone after a random act of violence. He was shot trying to defend himself and his wife from a home invasion a few weeks ago and died yesterday. I want to send my condolences to Mr. Dukes and his family. The strangest thing about this whole story is the guy who was hanging out with our ex DA’s girlfriend is a suspect. Even by New Orleans standards some crazy stuff is going on. Stories like this one along with all the other senseless murders leave me in a state of confusion. The reason I am confused is the black community of New Orleans sometimes seems like one big ass ghetto. I spend too much money on bills to feel this unsafe. I know a lot of smart people with enough income to move to the suburbs and not be around this stuff all the time. We live in these neighborhoods within the city limits with limited resources, limited progress and unlimited threats from a criminal element. I shouldn’t need a pistol to walk to my truck after dark. I never get into a deep sleep because I am too busy listening for noises and watching the motion lights. I guess the thugs have me paranoid. When I lived outside of Jackson, Mississippi after Katrina I never felt like this at night.

We are the people who’s friends and family in other places call crazy. As a close friend of mine loves to say “Cliff, you need to represent the city from afar”. Times like these make it hard to disagree. My reply to that statement is always the same. What’s going to happen to the city if we all leave? Someone with good intentions has to stick around the inner city. On the other hand, how much of a cost do you have to pay for a dream that may never come true. For months after Katrina I campaigned for my parents to move back to the Lower Ninth Ward. That was being selfish. The truth of the matter is that when I ride up St. Claude Avenue to their house and think about the neighborhood they live in now, there is no way I could promote moving back to that area. You can't compare the two enviroments and hard working people should be able to go outside without looking over and around their shoulder. Maybe getting closer to me would be nice but I wouldn’t sleep if they moved back to the original spot. That makes me sad to admit. The strangest thing about our people is that element that has nothing is running away the only people that are willing to give their ass a chance. If the working and middle class black community leaves this city, the ghetto doesn’t stand a chance. They are just to ignorant to realize it. My spirit is running low. I’m ready to leave it all to the thugs and illegal immigrants. My next vacation is going to be a permanent one.

This is dedicated to Fatt who lost her brother and Tina who lost her son……and my boy Renaldo Cains who’s murder 14 years ago made me realize there was nothing cool in losing your life that young for no reason.

This Is How It Happens

I just got back to town from vacation and it didn’t take long for something to piss me off. I would never condone hitting a woman. I am not really endorsing hitting one now. However, if anyone knows this little boy’s mama……….and his daddy for that matter, please feel free to whip their asses for me. It’s bad enough the boy was alone in the gas station with no shirt on. Neither one of his parents went down there to get the child. See, this is why police and district attorneys have nothing to do with crime. You take a sweet kid like this one and make his circumstances at home so rough that he is taking care of himself at the age of five. Then you give him a piss poor education and no guidance. Twelve years later when he is seventeen, he will be kicking in someone’s door or in a vacant building making a drug deal and everyone will make him a monster. He’s not a monster. The truth of the matter is that he never stood a chance of making it as a regular citizen. No one wants to do a damn thing about the future that he and many of these young brothers face. They just want to build billion dollar facilities to make his legal slavery as comfortable as possible until he gets stabbed on the recreation yard. Maybe his mama letting him wander into that service station might be the best thing that ever happened to him. Instead of wasting all that time worrying about Imus and Dog the Bounty Hunter, we need to figure out how to keep this stuff from happening. Where are the plans and the rally to stop this? Somebody call Bill Cosby. I’m going to the store and find out how to send this baby some clothes. I hope we can find out what happened to him since the Times Picayune put the kid on the last page of the Metro section in a small little box. If little Timmy from Metairie would have been lost and abandoned he would have had his own section in this morning's paper.

Tuning It All Out Today

I truly love my job. I am one of those cats that get ready for the next work day as soon as he gets home from the previous one to make sure the morning goes smoothly. There are some Mondays however where the only word to describe how you feel about getting the work week started is………………SHIT!!

I guess today is one of those days. During days like this I am usually not up for any real stimulating conversation. I’m blocking things out. I guess that applies to this blog as well. I could write a letter to George Bush thanking him for making me realize how he screwed our recovery to make Blanco look bad from his comments last week. I could use the fact that there was a sellout crowd at a football game in San Diego to make the distinction between the fires and Katrina. I could make fun of all the email invitations from all these Myspace clones like Facebook, Multiply, Tagged and all that stuff. Why does it seem like the same person is joining these new networking sites and sending you an invite? Are they just sitting at home searching for them? I should be thanking that person for making my personal life feel a little less pitiful. Anyway, I won’t talk about any of that today. What I will do is share my Blue Monday mixtape. This is how I made it through the work day today (written as I played them). Feel free to put on your headphones really loud to mute the voices of your co-workers. Just make sure that if you are listening to something with explicit lyrics you hit the volume button when the cussing comes on and don’t sing along out loud. Yes, I have a catalog of music saved on my work computer. That’s a benefit of paying dues. At least I deleted all the Buffie The Body pictures.

1. Back on my Grizzy – Lil Wayne (I’m guilty of liking this fool’s music too much)
2. Groove Swing – Roi Anthony (Look it up!)
3. Spirit in the Dark – Aretha Franklin live w/ Ray Charles
4. Ms. Fat Booty – Mos Def (played 5 times in a row)
5. Big Things Poppin – T.I.
6. Soul Soul Soul – Wild Magnolias
7. Mothership Connection – Parliament
8. Sweet Sixteen – B.B. King
9. My Soul Ain’t for Sale – Jazzy Jeff featuring Raheem Devaughn (Theme song)
10. Be Alright – Zapp & Roger
11. Adrenaline – The Roots & Beanie Sigel (played 10 times in a row)
12. International Players Anthem – UGK ft. Outkast

Eddie!!!!!

What the hell are you doing brother?

What happened to the dude in the cool hats prosecuting Edwin Edwards?

What is going on with you?

You wouldn't have gotten this far in your career if you displayed the bad judgment you are displaying now. You know once you fired those people without a legitimate reason everything had to go right to keep things together. Until this drama blows over, don't let anyone visit your house that you don't know personally. I read the story and I realize you didn't have anything to do with the robbery, but damn Eddie. You need to be working an evening job to come up with this extra cash to pay this settlement. If you don't one of your ex employees will be renting out the second floor of the traffic court building once the court seizes it.

Looking into my crystal ball I can already see what's about to happen. Eddie Jordan is going to run for re-election. Some group is going to run an ad that goes over the line and gets too racial. Community leaders are going to jump all over that and rally around Eddie. The city is going to be right in the middle of a color war. Black people will get up and vote for Eddie out of spite. He will win. The next day the Times Picayune will be flooded with letters from people saying they "have had enough and are leaving this awful place forever!" Then, I will repost this the day after the election and look like a genius. I'm no genius by a long stretch. I just know the local formula.

If you think he's going to step down you can forget it. Everyone in local politics is tied to these organizations with the catchy names like SOUL, GUMBO, PUSH, etc... They control so much money and influence that it would take years to recover from someone stepping down in shame. That's why William Jefferson ran again and why no one will ever ever ever turn against Marc Morial. They have to protect the machine. The same people who foolishly advised him to layoff all those people will also tell him to take the heat and not resign.

Maybe I am wrong and he will step down. We will elect a new district attorney and everyone will feel safer when he convicts a few of the hardcore criminals. Then, a few months later the crime stats will go back up and we will realize that the district attorney, sheriff, police chief, or the mayor have nothing to do with the large amount of young men who feel the need to engage in criminal behavior. Maybe the new DA will prosecute every member of the school board for the last 40 years. They are responsible for at least 40 percent of this crime problem.