Sitting On My Porch Part Fifty Two

I want to start off this post by giving a shout out to my baby brother. Yesterday he had an accident and wrecked the family vehicle. He’s okay but it could have been really bad. Since I am the big brother and knew he needed some perspective I called and told him the story of my very first car. I bought my first car for six hundred dollars from a guy didn’t want me to test drive it. The first night it broke down twice. The second night it broke down three times. On the third night I took all my friends cruising through New Orleans and it stopped running four times. When it was about to stop for the fifth time I panicked and ran a stop light. I hit this guy’s car and he was nice enough not to call the police. It cost me nine hundred to get his car fixed. My car never ran again. I spent fifteen hundred dollars to drive for three days and had to catch the bus forever before I saved enough to buy another car. The moral of the story is sometimes you do things as a young man you can learn from. The other moral is never purchase a car from a guy without any teeth in his mouth and if you do take your dad and not Big G because it will cost you.

I’m inside under the air conditioning vent and a ceiling fan because it is 95 degrees at night time. I went to work today and the heat was brutal. Right now I am sipping on a Red Stripe and trying to watch a Canadian football game. Watching Canadian football in place of American football is like getting a lap dance through a bulletproof glass. It looks like the real thing but doesn’t feel the same. We can’t talk about real football until the great Rickey Jackson enters the Hall of Fame. That’s going to put me in the right frame of mind to defend the title.

I bet you the people in Alaska are really pissed off right now. The Exxon Valdez spill happened in 1989 and they are still cleaning up 21 years later. The Deepwater Horizon spill leaked for months and was supposed to be even bigger than the Exxon Valdez and yet magically the oil on the Gulf Coast appears to be disappearing in record time.

Despite our modest non profit budget, our computer network is set up where no one can install anything or view certain files without the technology director’s password. How was someone able to download and expose Afghan war secrets?

The fact that people are discussing tearing down the Claiborne I-10 overpass shows what gentrification and changing demographics can do for parts of the city. I don’t know what it means to live in New Orleans without the interstate running through the city. I walked under that overpass almost everyday in high school. If you talk to any older people that grew up before the interstate was built you know how much they loved Claiborne St. It just so happens that those neighborhoods were the historically black ones and that’s why no one gave a damn when they made the decision to run it right through the heart of that area. Ten years ago if someone would have went to a City Council meeting and brought this up they would have cut the microphone off and called security. Now in 2010, you get some new residents and a television show named after a historic neighborhood and tearing down the overpass is a serious discussion. I find this fascinating and eye opening.

I wouldn’t be against that kind of project if we had extra money left over after building hospitals and new school buildings. Give me about ten new complete school buildings and two hospitals and I might be on board.

Things going on in the news and around the city lately have been just as aggravating as always but personally I have been in a very good mood. I don’t know why but I am. I hope I didn’t just jinx it.

A Complicated Issue With No Simple Solution

I had a good vacation but I made one mistake. I watched too much news. I got to see and read too much coverage about the Shirley Sherrod, NAACP, Tea Party and Fox News fiasco. It was hard to watch that stuff. It seemed like everyone except Mrs. Sherrod wasn’t thinking clearly. After the health care debate got out of hand I have been able to deal with these racial issues because I know three things. 1. The president’s administration won’t have your back when the drama starts. They don't want any parts of the race debate. 2. Organizations like the NAACP have watered down the issue of race to the point where it’s become limited to name calling and hurt feelings. That doesn't take away anything these groups have done in the past. I respect and honor that but fighting racism in these days and times is much more layered than just someone saying the N word and we have trouble dealing with it. 3. What Fox news is doing is way more about brainwashing white people than it is about me. When we play along we just help the process.

The saddest part about things like this is the way people keep trying to put the issue of race into one box. It’s either has to be all the way one way or the other. In 2010 race is a complicated thing. There are so many ways you can talk the situation that it’s almost impossible to come to a clear conclusion about anything. My opinion changes from situation to situation. I’m much more serious about the systematic things like education and the justice system. I’m much less affected by the name calling and stereotypical things. Only people willing to be opened minded should even attempt to discuss it openly. There are so many other things to take into account than just skin color. There’s education, geographic location, economics and all kinds of other factors. A lot of the issue has to do with life experiences. That actually makes racism more confusing because people can ignore personal experiences in favor of generalizations. We could be living in a country where no two people have the same exact views on race unless they are too dumb to think for themselves and just follow what someone else tells them.

I can only speak for myself. The best way I could describe my attitude about race is that I have a necessary acceptance of a certain amount of superficial racism. I’m sad to admit that but it’s true. Too many white people have done things for me in my life to paint them all with a broad brush. It would be unfair and dishonest to sit here and tell you that I think all white people are trying to hold me back. I couldn't look those folks in the face again if I did that. Besides, I was raised to believe that I could make any person respect me if I carried myself the right way and that’s been true 95% of the time no matter what race the other person is. At the same time I listen to talk radio, I read blogs and internet comments. I know that there is a section of the population that is judging me based on something they heard on the news or watched on BET. I realize that no matter how well I treat my kids, or how hard I work, there will always be someone that looks at me as inferior.

When me and my friends go to a nice restaurant or Best Buy there’s going to be someone in there thinking to themselves that their money is paying for my steak or buying my new television. I can’t do anything to change their minds even if I showed them my check stub and made them realize I make more than they do. That’s their problem and not mine. Why should I be miserable and let them mess up the taste of my steak because of their closed minds? The funny part is that the person doing it is probably telling it to his son and they are both wearing Reggie Bush jerseys. My main focus is my own actions and making sure that the next generation has even better opportunities than I have. That’s the way to move past all of this in my opinion. We just have to work and educate ourselves through it because talking isn’t working.

Some of the people who read this won’t agree with me. Then there will be some others that wonder why I am being so lenient on the white man. Others will read it and say I am lying and can’t wait for the next FEMA check like the rest of the blacks from New Orleans. I could respond to all those people all at once and tell them to get together to kiss my ass but then we would be right back where we started from and that’s exactly what’s happening now. That’s why we need to start ignoring some of these things in the media if they are not going to deal with it seriously.

CP3 Wants To Leave Us

I am not upset that Chris Paul wants to be traded. Basketball is his business and if goes to New York he will have more opportunities to make money. When you are a fan of small market teams that’s just how it goes. I love the Saints as a team more than any individual player because none of them are obligated to have the same passion for my city as I do. I love what they do but I am always prepared for them to leave for better situations. Even though the Knicks have sucked for years and besides the few years in Patrick Ewing’s prime when they got close haven’t been able to win jack, I understand why Chris Paul wants to go to New York. It fits the group of players that he's friends with.

I say let him go as long as the trade doesn’t end up being like the one Memphis did when they sent Pau Gasol to Los Angeles. We need to get at least two starters and a first round pick from someone or it’s no deal. He can stay here and sit out 40 games with a sprain thumb ligament like NBA players do when they want to be traded. Baron Davis already gave us a sample of that stuff a few years ago so we know what’s coming. I was just hoping he at least gave the new coach and general manager at least a season to show him if they could turn things around or not. I guess the people the Hornets hired couldn't match Pat Riley's stature. That's how it goes.

The only thing that’s really going to piss me off is the brown nosing reporters that work around the NBA. They are going to take every opportunity to dog New Orleans like somehow we didn’t do right by Chris Paul. They are going to make it seem like Chris Paul had to escape this dysfunctional place and do the best thing for him and his family(This does not apply to Adrian Wojnarowski). Lebron James had that same message on his Twitter account yesterday. I just want to tell the world that ever since Chris Paul was drafted all the people of New Orleans have done is give him nothing but love and praise. Until this offseason you would have trouble finding anything written or said about him in a negative light in this city. I guess being in a city where you could make the most money and get treated like a hero isn’t as important to a player and his family as it used to be. Maybe I'm just too New Orleans to understand anyone wanting to leave without a good reason.

You know what….. I think I’m just going to go ahead and blame this one on the oil spill too. That way George Shinn can file a claim for all the tickets he won’t be selling if Chris Paul leaves.

Let's Try This Again : New Money Repost

Back in December 2008 the city was having the same problem with the budget as we are now. Mayor Nagin came up with some ideas that the public shot down. Back then I wondered when anyone was going to discuss how to generate more money from new sources so we wouldn't keep having the same issue over and over. Mitch Landrieu is the mayor now and we are having the same problems only everyone seems to be calmer and more level headed because it's him and not Nagin trying to make the numbers work. I wrote this post called "In Need Of New Money" back then and I am posting again because sooner or later I think we need to take a chance on something different. Of course this was written pre oil spill and it seems a little dated but just ignore those parts. The main idea stills stands.

This city budget process is giving me a headache. I am trying to pretend like I care about the odds and ends but to me city services already suck so what’s the big deal. I have been reading and watching but it’s hard to pay attention to. It’s seems to be lots of finger pointing, excuses and division with nothing being done to change the situation for the long term. That’s been the usual routine lately. Why do we only have 30 days to approve a budget anyway? With the circumstances of this city shouldn’t this process have started a few months ago? That way everyone has a chance to go through everything a few times before they decide to cut anything. Here’s what I never hear but I would love to. Why isn’t anyone talking about how to generate new revenue for the city?

There are some folks in the blogosphere that have convinced themselves that all of the extra city money is at Ray Nagin’s house. The truth is that ever since I started following city politics in high school they have had budget issues. Marc Morial used to ask for extra tax revenue every year and never got it. We have to figure out how to get some new money. We might be paying too much for garbage collection. I am certain we didn’t need to spend a dime on crime cameras. Real criminals don’t give a damn about a camera. Even if we corrected all of that we would still be broke.

We need to think outside the box. We got a big river and a port. We own the airport. There’s even an amusement park out in the East even though it’s kind of rusty. I don’t know what the plan should be but since it’s obvious no one wants to pay any extra taxes someone needs to come up with something. Remember when Ray Nagin first got elected mayor he said he wanted to package and sell our water? I guess after watching all the things floating during Katrina we can’t sell that idea anymore. All I know is that there is no disaster loan money left after this budget and I don’t want to hear all the crying when there are about 5 streetlights still lit and a pothole so deep you can reach China.

Just for the record: Cliff wouldn’t be against paying a few more cents on the dollar for the health of the city. We just need to come up with a way that no one would screw with it.

Where Are The Guns Coming From?

Mayor Mitch Landrieu had a press conference with Chief Serpas and other officials here in New Orleans last week to announce they were going to use Project Safe Neighborhoods to try and track down the source of illegal weapons in New Orleans. Personally I wish we could ban all firearms but this is America and we have the Second Amendment plus the NRA so that won’t ever happen. I guess Project Safe Neighborhoods will have to do. If it helps makes the streets safer then so be it.

I’ve known a few cats that operate outside the law but I can’t honestly tell you I have any idea how someone would purchase a weapon like an AK-47. I am sure you could probably find out if I tried but I think that’s a level of access to the underworld that I don’t have. If I knew I would make an anonymous phone call and put law enforcement on the right track. I’m sure there are some people who could do this right now but they won’t because of that dumb ass snitching code. We are going to keep our mouths closed straight to endangered species status. You would think that it wouldn’t be too many places you can get some of these weapons because they are so powerful and deadly. Wal Mart isn’t selling stuff like this. You would think only people with government clearance could get their hands on some of this stuff. How can a teenager who society barely lets out of his own neighborhood get his hands on an entire arsenal of them? I will never understand this and it pisses me off.

While I don’t know how to find a major gun dealer at a moment’s notice I do know that one big problem we have is all the regular honest people who buy guns for protection that eventually end up on the streets. A lot of people arm themselves knowing they don’t really have the heart to shoot another human being but it makes them feel more secure. I know that happens here because people don’t trust the justice system so they feel like they have to do it themselves. They just want to feel safer and I understand that. The problem with this is that there is very few times someone actually gets to use their weapon to fend off a criminal. You might hear about that every now and then but those stories don’t appear to stop other people from trying to do the same thing the criminal that got shot tried to do.

The other thing is that no matter how the stories may appear this is not the Wild West and the majority of us have to go to work and different places. They leave guns in their cars or at home during the day and many of those weapons get stolen and end up being passed around between groups of friends if something happens and they want to use it. I know people have guns around the house to feel safer and they won’t stop having them but I just hope everyone thinks really hard about that decision. Unless your willingness to pull the trigger is as strong as the person you are trying to protect yourself from you don’t need a gun. You might just be adding extra artillery to the streets.

Random Thoughts On A Lazy Sunday

This blog might be kind of long because I am bored and have nothing to do but sit here and type whatever comes to my mind. It’s either this or watching shows about hoarding and murder all day because it’s not football season. I’m hoping it storms today because I spent all day yesterday in the hot sun and I don’t want to do it again. I love the water park in Gulfport but they really need more shade. You know what the sad thing about going to that park is? Half the people in the park are from the New Orleans area. We really should have one of these in a closer distance. If we start planning now a water park can replace the flooded Jazzland in ten years. That's about how long it will take to find people willing to invest in New Orleans East.

Normally on Sundays I would be getting ready for the work week but I have another five days of vacation. These vacations when I stay in the city would be more fun if I had more unemployed friends. The rest is good either way so I am glad I did it.

Excuse this moment of ego but I used to have 60 blog followers and now I only have 59. I want to know who the person is that stopped following me but I try so hard to act like it doesn’t matter if I have followers or not that I never studied the list long enough to have an idea who it was. I hope no one else stops following me because I have rejection issues.

You know we are living in stressful times when so many adults got choked up at the end of Toy Story 3.

The client management software we use at the job has warnings at certain points just to make sure you really want to do what you are about to. One of them says something like “Are you sure you want to add this client as a new client? Have you already checked to make sure this client wasn’t already in the system?” I really wish Twitter and Facebook had them for people who can’t control themselves when they type. It could read something like “Are you sure you want to leave this comment on the internet using your real name when family members, work colleagues and even people at your kids’ school can read this?” Social networking is killing discretion. I know way more about the personal lives of casual acquaintances then I ever wanted to know and they willingly shared it with me and 500 other random people. I have been blogging on this page for six years and I still manage to keep a lot of things to myself. You have to get your point across without going over the line because you never know whose reading.

New Orleans just managed to buy an old hospital building in New Orleans East and hopefully will have it open by the fall of 2013. It may seem like three years are a long way away but the old mayor had four years and couldn’t get a deal worked out. Between deals like this one and people just being prosecuted for crimes that happen during Katrina, it really feels like we are three years behind where we should be.

Is it okay to call the wildlife that gets moved to another state because the place they were living before was destroyed for something that wasn’t their fault refugees? The next time Jeff Corwin is on MSNBC releasing pelicans in Texas I want him to refer to them as refugee pelicans.

We are in the middle of a recession that includes high employment numbers and budget cuts all over the country in state and local governments. I’m sure there is an answer somewhere between the right and the left provided everyone just sits down and talks it through just like people do at their own homes. Somehow media personalities and people who have no bearing on anything like the New Black Panther Party and some guy name Mark Williams of the Tea Party that no one knows have turned the situation into a racial showdown. Whenever my dad would hear about some feud between neighborhoods or housing projects he would always say how stupid it was for them to be fighting when they were all poor, black, and part of the same system. I feel the same way about this current discussion.

The people who sent all those jobs overseas and who gambled with everyone’s money on Wall Street care about one color and that’s green. Now, if you honestly think that one of the reasons the country is in debt is because your tax dollars are being spent to take care of people in the inner city who don’t want to work then spend a few days in your nearest hood. I can guarantee you won’t find a utopia full of happy folks. You will probably find hundreds of people who would gladly switch places with you except no one gave them the education or access to do it. It’s not your fault personally that they didn’t have those things just like it’s not their fault you can’t find a job. Everyone knows its BP’s fault so let’s unite against those assholes.


I’ve been rocking this Sir Lucious Leftfoot album by Big Boi for the last week and all I am asking for is another Outkast album before I make 40. That gives them four years to put it together. I think that’s reasonable.

87 Days Goes Fast

After 87 days BP has finally managed to stop the oil leaking from the Deepwater Horizon well. So many other things that were supposed to do this have failed so miserably that I think it’s a good idea to wait until the weekend is over to accept this. You don’t want to think this is over and wake up Saturday morning with the Spillcam back in action. I think the official term for it is cautiously optimistic.

Hopefully that part of the drama is over and we can move on to figure out how many gallons actually leaked, how long will the cleanup take, what’s going to happen when a hurricane comes, will all the dispersant turn our hair green, when can the fisherman go back to work, how to pretend that BP had the only blowout preventer in the world that doesn’t work because we can’t stop drilling for even a day to check things out, and there’s the issue of wildlife to deal with too. We also have to spend some time trying to figure out how the state is so broke despite having a natural resource that is so vital to the country that we put the entire coast in jeopardy just to get it. We have so many wonderful things to deal with if this cap works and leaking is over. Keep your fingers crossed until Monday.

Saints, Second Lines, and Denial: The Danziger 7 Indictment

There is no reason to be happy about the officers in the Danziger 7 case going to jail or possibly getting the death penalty for the shooting of those innocent people. If they are found guilty it will be a good day for justice but a sad day for the city. I’m glad this will be over soon thanks to Jim Letten and the federal authorities. Outside of the families of the officers accused and some of their hard core friends on the force we can all agree on that the officers involved on the bridge deserve to be punished. That part is pretty cut and dry. The part that keeps me up at night is the question of how much do my life and the safety of my people really mean in this city. We try our best not to talk about these things because it makes people uncomfortable. There are a lot of things we choose to ignore in order to keep from feeling stupid about living here. I know I am guilty of doing it to. If we really embraced all the way we have been treated like second class citizens we would have to start a revolution or move and never come back.

It took nearly five years to bring these charges. During that time we had a police chief that never read the report. Our mayor screamed about “Chocolate City” but he never really seemed that interested in what happened on the bridge. There was a district attorney that was so incompetent that the case wouldn’t have ever been tried if the federal government didn’t get involved and it was helped along by a judge that was damn near one of the accused officer’s family. Then there was that whole scene the first time the officers turned themselves in when all their fellow officers and supporters were giving them a hero’s welcome. Now we have to let bygones be bygones and move on even though no one is going to apologize for that spectacle. Then there’s the local news media and their investigative teams all getting together with the “community activists” who can were going crazy behind where Mayor Nagin took his wife to dinner but no one seem to be as concerned with the death of innocent people by people sworn to protect them. Reading about the Danziger 7 is a reality check that we have a long way to go. I guess I’ll take a deep breath and go back into denial mode. It’s almost football season and it’s easier when the Saints are playing because everything is magical. I need about two more months of telling myself the people that live where I do and look like I do have the same value as everyone else and it will be all good.

Sitting On My Porch Part Fifty

This blog post is oil spill free….....

For the last week I haven’t blogged about anything because I was trying to be distracted by trivial things so I could focus on work long enough to take a vacation without being paranoid. I was doing well with my plan thanks to the Lebron James sweepstakes ending with “The Decision” on ESPN. Then the owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers Dan Gilbert and Jesse Jackson had to mess that up and bring up slavery discussion involving a 25 year old multi millionaire living on South Beach. I prefer to keep my racism and sports separate. I will say this. If the slaves could have ran to Miami with 100 million dollars I don’t think that letter would have pissed them off that much.

Chris Paul needs to not play with our emotions in New Orleans and just say he wants to leave and play with his friends like Lebron and Chris Bosh did.

How am I going to avoid the 20 Mel Gibson movies that I love since he's gone crazy?

I read this story about the majority of Americans lacking faith in President Obama. According to the story nearly 60% of Americans lack faith in the president to make the right decisions. That would be even more horrible if the same poll didn’t show that 68% of the same people lack faith in other Democrats and 72% lack faith in Republicans. This is just where the country deserves to be. Nobody trusts anyone. Now we just have to figure out how those same people that no one trusts are going to fix the same problems that we don’t trust them to fix. I’m going to start collecting aluminum cans. In my opinion there are two main issues I see that’s stopping everything from moving past the gridlock. The first thing is independent voters. Stop taking answering these polls about whether you are leaning left or right. You are supposed to be independent. Every time you change your mind before and issue is resolved based on something you hear on television then that side just keeps the same rhetoric until the polls stop moving. You are independent because you don’t associate totally with either party so keep it that way.

The other people I blame are everyone who lets emotion override their ability to think openly about what’s really going on. New Orleans is the perfect example of what happens when everyone votes on emotions instead of looking at the bigger picture. We voted to keep black political power we fought so hard to acquire but some of these people we voted for didn’t know what the hell they were doing. I think that’s happening in America as a whole now because everyone is emotional about what’s going on instead of trying to decide if the person stirring up the emotions knows anything about fixing the situation. There’s a difference between a campaign promise and just talking crazy. If a candidate tells you he’s going to go to Washington D.C and cut the deficit in half with tax cuts and eliminating entitlement programs then you can vote for him if that’s the philosophy that you think is best. On the other hand, if a candidate tells you he’s going to Washington D.C to cut the deficit by stopping the Health Care Bill because President Obama is training a commando unit of the New Black Panther Party that will still the first white baby born in each household then you need to shut up if you vote for that jackass and he doesn’t know the first thing about how a bill becomes a law. The worst thing your leaders can do to you is insult your intelligence and play with your emotions to hide their lack of ideas.

By the way, all the folks that follow Fox News like the gospel need to know that the average black person couldn’t name one person in the New Black Panther Party. I know you are trying to make the president who was raised by his white mother and grandparents who loved and adored seem like he hates white people but you have to do better than The New Black Panthers. There has to be more mainstream black racists than that. If the country is going to be divided for nothing then use someone we care about so we can participate too. Stop believing the hype.

A Crazy Ass Strong Woman

I’m sure everyone has one friend that gets on their nerves. I’m talking about that person that you have all the love for in the world but as soon as you see their number come across your phone you start shaking your head in aggravation. I have one of those and she drives me crazy. Ever had someone going off in a high pitched 7th Ward accent for an hour straight? She’s always going on and on about people I don’t know and it is always too personal. I think in a 15 minute phone call I might say five words. No matter how much I don’t respond she keeps going until I shut her up. Sometimes I get mad and start yelling. Other times I pretend there’s a call on the other end. There’s only so much I can take.

I know that doesn’t sound like a ringing endorsement of my people. See, 14 years ago she found out she was having a baby right as she started her career as a teacher. Because her son’s dad is a loser and disappeared before he was born, she stopped teaching and took another job that paid more so she could take care of him. Back then teachers in New Orleans made less than I did working in retail. Once he got old enough to go to school she took a pay cut to get a lower level job because it allowed her to be home during the evenings. She’s been struggling ever since. She made it worse by paying for Catholic School his whole life to keep him from the rough terrain of public school. She even moved out of Orleans Parish to a safer spot. Then her mama got sick and now she’s taking care of her. Her son just started his freshman year at St. Augustine High School. She sent him there because she said this was the first time he would have a consistent male influence in his life. That means for the next four years she will continue to make herself crazy trying to pay his tuition and buy the things he needs without any child support. Through all of that she has raised one of the most well behaved young men I have ever been around.

Every now and then I kick out a few dollars for gas money or some groceries so she can make it to payday. I might have to change a flat tire. Worst of all, I may have to sit on the phone for an hour once in awhile and let her vent about everything and everybody even if I don’t know them like I did this morning. As much as all that whining and screaming in my ear aggravates me I love and respect her dedication to making sure her son has the best life possible despite the odds so I take one for the team and do that I have to do. I would love to tell her all of this but then my cover would be blown and she would never be quiet.

Sitting On My Porch After Going To The Essence Festival

It’s 9:00 PM and I just realized that I didn’t take my ribs out of the deep freezer for tomorrow. I like to season my ribs the night before but I guess I won’t be doing that because right now they are frozen solid. Sometimes you have to take a stand. I’m letting everyone know right now that if it’s over 90 degrees tomorrow I am not standing over a pit full of charcoals and suffering until these ribs and pork steaks are done. I will be sitting under the AC and preheating the oven to 350 degrees.

I would like to direct you to a short but heartfelt post written by Bayou Creole titled “Hello It’s Me”. I just want to congratulate her and say that I am slowly approaching that point myself. She’s ahead of the curve because not only did she find herself, she actually can admit she wasn’t the same. You would be surprised at how many people haven’t been able to do that. Go to her page and show her some love.

In keeping with that theme, last night I went to my first Essence Festival night since Hurricane Katrina. It wasn’t the night I would have picked but I took one for the team and sat through Janet Jackson’s 15 wardrobe changes. That lady has a lot of energy. She would probably still be going now if she had to. I had a good time despite not sneaking in my own drink and having to pay Superdome prices. I even saw Rickey Jackson and almost turned into a ten year old kid for a minute until I realized other guys were looking. It also was the first time I wore a fresh linen outfit since the storm. I may have gone again tonight but unfortunately my body isn’t prepared for two late nights in a row so I am home. I still think we should have boycotted due to Maze being taken off the last night but the city needs the money.

Speaking of money and the city, I am looking forward to the mayor’s state of the city speech on Thursday. I hope he keeps it as realistic as it can get so everyone knows that we are in a slow jog to doing better and not a sprint. Mayor Nagin isn’t in office anymore so we should be back to thinking rationally.

Chris Paul needs to keep it real and just say he wants to go play with one of his free agent friends who have been talking to him about being traded. He already knows that the Hornets don’t have a lot of cap space and can’t really change the roster right now. I know he keeps saying he loves the city and all of that but the national media will ignore that and the fact the Hornets have bad leadership and blame the city. You can’t blame New Orleans if the Hornets aren’t successful. We have over 40 years of experience supporting horrible teams and unlikable ownership. Tom Benson hasn’t always been a champion of the community and the Saints have a waiting list for tickets. If the Hornets fail in New Orleans it will be because of the NBA and their elitist attitudes that encourage its best players to abandon small market cities. If you don’t believe me ask those poor people in Cleveland who have had to listen to the media talk about the 2010 free agency season since Lebron James signed his last contract.

When I read about this giant oil skimmer that can process up to 21 million gallons of oil a day being tested in the Gulf in July, the only thing I can think of is why in the hell is this big son of a bitch just being tested in July. Was there another environmental disaster in April that had it occupied? See, if this thing works it’s only going to make everyone more pissed than they are now. That was my oil spill comment for the week to meet my quota as the stupidity continues.


I know everyone went to the first night of Essence for Janet Jackson. She did good but Charlie Wilson was the highlight of my evening. I have to show Charlie some love with some old school Gap Band.

We Don't Need Haters

Yesterday I went to a training seminar for mentors and future mentors. It was an enlightening and energizing experience. There was a lot of good information and exchanging of ideas and opinions. The main topic was ways of dealing with conflict and anger. There was a 21 year old guy in the group that was so motivated by the conversation that he decided to get some mentoring for himself. He was 21 years old with his own business and he wanted to know the best way to control his emotions when people older than him didn’t give him the proper recognition and respect for all the good things he is doing. He said he was tired of people treating him like the typical 21 year old from the hood. I could tell he was really upset by it too. Everyone wants to feel good about what they are doing. He asked the question to the right group because there were a bunch of older people that were eager to give him some good advice. There was a lady sitting behind us who gave him a piece of advice that stuck with me. She told him “Let the people who hate on you be your motivation”. I understand that’s supposed to be a positive statement but it got me wondering when did the lack of acceptance from our people become such a driving force in our everyday lives.

I don’t think I want anyone not liking me because I am doing well. That’s never felt like a good thing to me. Hate is a very negative word. When you hate anything it takes a lot of your energy away. We like to take negative things and change them into a positive. We’ve been trying to do that for years with the n-word but it’s always hard to maintain any boundaries on something like that. There are too many things left up to interpretation. Now we have too many dismissing constructive criticism from people around them as just a bunch of haters in their business. It’s like the only way for anyone to be acceptable in their world is if they agree and cosign on every decision no matter how bad it is. I hate on my brothers and friends all the time because I love them enough to tell them if I think they could do better. I expect them to do the same for me. You need those people around you.

I bet you Tiger Woods would be better off today if one of his inner-circle would have hated on him and told him he needed to calm his hot ass down and stay home with his wife and children. There probably was that person around just like I think someone was telling Michael Vick that he was about to blow 100 million dollars messing around with those dogs. That’s not hate. That’s love and we got it confused.

The brother at the training didn’t need to be motivated by those guys hating on him and the guys who are hating don’t need to be hating either. Negative energy shouldn’t be empowering. That creates a situation where there can be no outreach between both parties to figure out how they can all be successful together. I hate the fact that we take all of this negative energy and try to change it into a positive instead of just getting rid of the negativity all together. We have to turn the haters into lovers so we can all live better. I don't think the negative energy is going to get us very far.

My Mentor Chronicles Part 1

Yesterday I finally met my little brother in the mentoring program. I was a little nervous about it because you never know what you are getting into with kids in this city. I don’t think we need to beat around the bush or sugar coat it any. Some of these kids have rough situations. The kids themselves have no choice but to act a certain way to survive. After talking with his grandmother you can tell she’s trying to keep him from getting to that point. She seems to be calling on every resource she can to make sure he has a positive influence. I respect her openness and honesty because she didn’t try to hide anything. She gave me the full story. It was almost too much information for me. I guess she wanted me to know everything going on with him. It probably would have scared me if I didn’t grow up with kids just like him. I looked at him and thought about my friends and I know that unless someone intervenes early on a lot of these little boys are headed for the newspaper as the victim of a crime or the perpetrator. I have a good friend working in juvenile probation so I know the situation is critical.

He’s just a big baby. At ten years old he still has the little boy in him. I remember when I was ten years old and a lot of my friends were still playing and having fun. Somewhere around the age of thirteen things started changing and by 16 it was basically all over. I don’t want to think that I am going to be responsible for keeping my little brother from making that change to the streets. Feeling that sense of responsibility is one of the reasons why my dad told me not to get involved in programs like this. He knew I might get too wrapped up in everything. He might be right as usual but I am going to give it a shot anyway.

To my benefit I am still a big kid at heart so we had a nice conversation on professional wrestling and the positives and negatives of John Cena. I told him I was more of an old school cat and would turn him on to some Junkyard Dog clips. I knew watching that stuff for 30 years was going to come in handy one day. He was a little too young to be impressed with the fact that I could still name the starting lineup for the ’86 Saints off the top of my head but I knew the 2009 version so I was still winning. We will see how things go from here. Don’t send me any comments congratulating me because I haven’t done anything. I’m just trying to be part of the village since we all have to live here. I’ll keep you posted.

Sitting On My Porch Part Forty Eight

This week has really sucked because of my back. It’s not just the pain and discomfort. Nothing makes you feel quite as old and out of shape as back pain that came about for no reason at all. My co-workers have been looking at me all week and saying “Cliff, where’s your swagger walk?” You can’t have a swagger walk when you are leaning to one side because it hurts to stand up straight. I even took a sick day on Thursday. I never take sick days. If I had taken one more today I would probably be close to 100% but I just had to go to the office. Right now I am writing this with two pillows propping up my heating pad so I don’t have to lay down the entire evening. The only problem is that every time it seems that the heat is finally getting good my beer is empty and I have to cut it off to get up. It’s really a sad sight. I wonder if I can bring a pillow to the arena tomorrow when I go to the circus.

Now that Ray Nagin is no longer the mayor, I hope everyone can have a rational discussion about what to do about these deficits every year because I don’t know how much more we can cut.

I would like to thank Congress for messing up the flood insurance program.

For weeks after this oil spill started story after story about our dying coast and culture have had such an impact that hundreds of people call here everyday wanting to know how they can volunteer to help out. The country was rallying behind us while we waited for the federal government to come in and do what is right. Well, the feds came and in a move to assure that the other deep water rigs were safe they wanted a moratorium on drilling while they checked everything out. BP even set up a fund to pay everybody for the time they were out of work. When this happened our local leaders were outraged and rallied against the same people were demanding to come and take control of the situation. Look, I understand the oil industry is supposed to be a big part of our economy but can we at least admit to someone in another state that’s been watching us cry for the fishing industry for weeks that this could be confusing? I’m thinking that it’s probably weird to defend the oil industry publicly as long as the Spillcam is still going.

There’s a lot of money in oil and all I am hearing is how it’s such a big part of the economy. Jefferson Parish is in the direct line of fire from the oil flow and they just laid off 196 teachers today. Either we are not getting the amount of money from oil drilling that everyone says or someone is stealing big time. I hear everyone talking but the conditions in our state isn’t matching the risk. If the Texas governor was speaking on behalf of the oil industry I would say a word. If we were getting the proper revenue for ourselves I wouldn’t say a word about my governor doing it either.

I was going to comment on the bar being opened in New York named Ninth Ward. I was going to tell everybody that I wasn’t offended. Then I read the story here and in the comments section was the following from someone who calls himself rucass:

Ninth Ward style is gunfire, poverty, 40 oz.' s , nickle bags,... at least before Katrina. Do they evoke that as well?

Now I am against the whole idea and I hope Rucass has an STD. I don’t really hope he has an STD. I’m just tired of people picking on my hood for no reason. I thought we got past that shit.

Michael Jackson passed away a year ago today. This is my six year old daughter’s favorite song ( don’t ask me why) and in my opinion the best song by a marching band during a parade.

Between Creighton and Albert

I am sitting here on the first day of summer thinking about last night’s episode of Treme. That was the best episode so far. Last night it was confirmed that Creighton Bernette did indeed jump from the ferry and into the river. There was a scene were his wife Toni told her friend that he quit. I think the line went something like “The whole city is on its ass and he quit!” What you have to do is take that scene and compare it with the scene where Chief Albert Lambreaux and his gang are trying to finish their Indian suits for St. Joseph’s night. Then you take the scene where they finally get to come out on the streets after all that hard work. Those are two different men from two different backgrounds and circumstances. It would appear that Creighton was the weaker of the two because he gave in to the pain while Albert defied everything to preserve his culture. I guess it would be easy to come to that conclusion seeing that Creighton had his home intact, his job, a book deal, and a hijacked public school for his daughter to attend while Albert was sleeping in a bar room that barely has electricity yet still managed to stage a housing protest and make an Indian suit. Those are two extremes of the post Katrina experience.

In the real world I think most of us are in the middle somewhere and swing back and forth depending on the day. On my birthday I feel more like Albert because after everything that happened I am still here and grinding through almost out of spite for all the people and obstacles that make it hard to be here. On my grandmother’s birthday I feel like Creighton. I look around at all the places where things I cared about used to be and wonder why in the hell are we dealing with this bullshit anyway. The New Orleans I know is dead and I just want to punch someone in the face. Everyone I know is somewhere on the line between Creighton and Albert. You have to lean on the ones that are close to Albert and hug the ones that are closer to Creighton. As far as the folks who are all over the place like I am, they can always start a blog or something and exchange rants with random people. It seems to help out a lot.

Color Him Father....Color Him Love

This post was originally done on in 2006. I want to post it again today for all the daddies out there with a special shout out to my big cousin David. Your daddy would be proud of the father you are. Have a good day everyone.

What makes a man a good father? It's not what he can buy you or how much child support he pays. It's not how many things he lets you get away with. It has nothing to do with education, status, or his IQ. Character, presence, accountability, and respect and love make a good father to me. You have to try and be there for everything. I lived in my father's house for more than 20 years. Every single day when I woke up in the morning he was there in his room. There was nothing good or bad that my siblings and me went through that he didn't participate in. He went to dance recitals, football games, awards dinners, report card conferences and anything else. He played with baby dolls, washed his daughters hair and even played Power Rangers with my baby brother. He's all man but he has never been afraid to show his tender side when it was needed. I cannot think of one single time that he was not there for me. Actually, there have been times where I may have needed him and didn't call because I knew he would disrupt his whole schedule trying to get there.

Every mother and father is not going to get along like my parents do. I understand that sometimes men and women have to be apart for the benefit of everybody; living in another place has nothing to do with how much effort you put into being a dad. I honestly don't know how brothers can walk around and not know what’s going on with their kids. Being there for them is a true test of manhood because it means that you have to love them so much that you are willing to do whatever it takes to give them what they need and expect nothing in return. That's a real man above all the romantic images we praise these days. Real men just do what they have to do and don't look for acknowledgment. The best you could hope for is to be like my grandfather and get treated like a king by your kids and all of their kids until your last day. He got to live his payoff. Even if you don't get that it doesn't matter. You have to be there anyway. That's the kind of men I come from. I hope to be in their league one day. The things your kids take from the time they have spent with you will always last much longer than your monthly payment. I never miss the days when I wasn't a father.

Yesterday I was at the park working out. There was a guy there with his son standing on the bridge looking at the ducks feeding. His son may have been about 4 or 5 years old. I am not sure exactly what the topic of the conversation was but I could tell that his daddy was using the ducks as a metaphor for whatever it was he was trying to tell the young brother. I remember being a little boy and having those kind of conversations with my dad and sometimes with my grandfather. That little boy was probably thinking to himself "Why is this man telling this?” I used to think the same thing all the time. His dad understood. He knows that 20 years from now his son may be in a situation related to whatever the topic was yesterday. He's going to be sitting around thinking about what he should do to make it right and that's when the lesson with the ducks he heard from his dad that day in 2006 is going to pop into his head. He might even find himself quoting that kind of stuff all the time to other people that need some advice. That's what being a good daddy is all about.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY TO CLIFTON JOSEPH HARRIS SR. AND ALL THE OTHER MEN IN MY LIFE WHO HAVE EVER GIVEN ME ANYTHING POSITIVE TO USE IN LIFE.

Anybody out there who has a man or men that helped them be who they are, show him some love.

Happy Father's Day

Sitting On My Porch Part Forty Seven

Isn’t that the best looking world championship ring you have ever seen? Hell yeah it is! I can't wait until jewelry stores start selling the knock off version.

This is your favorite ghetto intellectual and I am coming to you from the land of not enough oil boom, budget deficits and brass band curfews. I’m writing this post under the influence of my favorite maduro cigar, a glass of brandy, and some confusing back pain that is causing me to walk like Fred G. Sanford. We are going to try and see if I can make it through this long post without mentioning much about the oil spill. I should just get that part out of the way first.

Watching Tony Hayward give those lame ass answers in front of Congress made me realize yet again why I can’t be a politician. There’s no way I could have sat through that without losing it. I guess he was still weary from the 20 billion dollar shakedown the day before.

I sent some cats the information for the oil clean up work but there are a few issues. I won't put them on blast but I will say that you might not have every credential needed when an opportunity comes your way but you should have all of the basics together to give yourself a chance. Have a valid driver’s license or state ID. Make sure you are able to pass a background check. Be able to pass a drug test. Don't have things in such disarray that people are reluctant to help you and risk losing their creditability.

I wish they wouldn’t have announced how much money BP gave to pay for claims. They should have just given it and kept it quiet. The reason I say that is I have learned after Katrina that Americans can’t comprehend when you ask for more assistance when there are stories of big money already being spent. In a lot of national stories about New Orleans still needing help the media would throw in a line like “So far, 5 billion dollars has been spent on Katrina recovery.” If you try to tell the world you need more money after that it looks like you are trying to get over.

Do you know how good a half shrimp/half oyster po boy taste when you eat it thinking it may be the last one you have for a long time?

Congratulations to the Lakers on winning the championship last night. Just for the record, I roll with Kobe. I was also happy for Ron Artest because he didn't choke anyone. I thought the Celtics showed a lot of heart and Rajon Rondo has a new fan. That seven game series was a great distraction for a lot of people. There was a online trash talking war that I really enjoyed. Now I am ready for American football to start. I have been watching some of the World Cup and I know understand how the sport isn’t number one in America. We can’t take the ties. In our major sports there has to be a clear winner and a loser. Remember when college football games used to end in ties? That drove everyone crazy so now an overtime game in college can last forever just to make sure we know who the winner is. Soccer would make gains in America if they add sudden death overtime. I have to be fair and say their crowds are way cooler than ours. We need some of those songs that everyone in the crowd seems to know the words to.

I wish I was in South Carolina just long enough to vote for Alvin Greene.

I am not sure if I am supposed to admit this so I am going to type it in whisper print…...I like Congressman Cao and unless someone runs against him that sweeps me off my feet I am going to vote for sending him back to Washington D.C. My reason is that he seems like the kind of guy you could talk to and he actually uses the information to make a decision. He’s not just a brainwashed zombie that tows the party line the way other people do. Even if I don’t agree with his votes I can get him to explain it. That’s good enough for me.

I want to make a comment on the column written by Jarvis DeBerry in today’s paper. You can read it for yourself but I just wanted to add that another reason that 15 year old kid didn’t go to the police about two brothers that killed his grandmother is that he might have been scared for her and the rest of his family. The police department needs to stop contributing everything to vigilante justice. Crime in New Orleans is a complicated thing.

I noticed that people like to label themselves as being a certain kind of person. In my opinion this is not a good thing whether your label you want to promote yourself in a positive or negative light. I don’t want to limit myself into any box. You don’t need that pressure. I would rather be able to go to the parent meetings on Saturday mornings and hit the strip club that evening with my boy without having to explain my actions to anyone. You don’t have to call me righteous, a soldier or a family man. Just call me Cliff and we will be okay.

Sunday is Father’s Day so I thought I would close this post with one of my favorite daddy stories. My daddy likes to write letters and notes. When you are a little boy this can translate into some strange messages from inanimate objects. I used to have a problem with leaving things out of the fridge and the cabinets after I used them. It would have been easy for this man to just tell me to put it back. Instead I would go to sleep or go outside and come back to find a letter on my bed that would go something like this.

Dear Chippy,
I am a lonely bottle of mustard.
I feel so sad sitting out here all alone on the table.
I hate being away from the mayonnaise and ketchup.
Could you please return me to the refrigerator with my friends?


People wonder why I am such a smart ass. I love that dude. This song is for Big Cliff.

Fight The Ticket In Court Next Time

Yesterday everyone kept passing around this video clip of the Seattle police officer punching a teenage girl in the face during an altercation with her cousin. I know everyone is not going to agree with me on this because I have already had a few heated discussions about it. I’ll admit that it’s not a good thing for a grown man to punch a girl in the face unless his life is in danger. It didn’t look like she was doing anything overly threatening to the officer so maybe he could have handled it a different way. That’s what the rational politically correct side of me thinks.

The side of me that grew up on the avenue looked at that same video and thought she got off pretty easy for stepping into a situation where an officer is trying to arrest someone. I was thinking she was lucky she was in Seattle because she and the friend and everyone they were with would have been going to jail with a knot upset their heads especially since the friend was fighting the officer tooth and nail to keep from being arrested. Seattle must not have the same tension in the streets like some other cities because that officer had a lot of patience with the girl he was arresting. I'm not picking on the New Orleans Police Department but if this would have happened down here there wouldn't be many videos because they would have cleared that entire block. I’m not condoning the police hitting anyone. Police brutality is wrong but if two people confront an officer like that there’s nothing much he can do without using some kind of force. I hated to see the young sister get punched in the face like that but who knows what a taser or billy club to the body could have done to her health long term. We have to try and eliminate all the incidents we can through our own actions. Next time just go to court and fight the ticket.

Trying To Be Distracted

Last week I had some things on my mind but instead of blogging about it I watched the VH1 Hip Hop Honors show dedicated to the dirty south. It was the most beautiful, ignorant, ghetto piece of work I have witnessed in a long time. I loved every minute. Last night I started typing this post and I decided to watch the movie Role Models instead. I laughed my ass off. I wish I would have watched it sooner. Tonight is game six of the NBA finals. Boston is up 3 games to 2 and that’s not good for because I roll with Kobe Bryant. Even though the obnoxious Celtics are winning I have found the trash talk rather bonding and refreshing. It’s worth the six-pack I may have to buy from picking the wrong team. I wish the series was going ten more games just so I could have something that distracts me from crisis and negative news.

We are entering the perfect storm of stress and anxiety. We have hurricane season about to kick up. The five year Katrina anniversary is on the way. All of this is taking place while thousands of gallons of oil are still pumping from a well 5000 feet below the ground and we can’t stop it. Everything is set up for the worst case scenario. It’s pretty hard not to imagine a storm missing the Gulf of Mexico all together. Even if we don’t get a direct hit all it takes is the water in front of the storm to push oil into different waterways. What are we supposed to do? All you can do is be mentally prepared as possible for when the bullshit reaches a new level. I think the next level is coming unless we have some divine intervention. You have to take your mind off of this stuff sometimes so while the rest of my local blogger friends are driving themselves crazy watching the Spill cam, I will be watching wrestling clips on YouTube or something. Katrina already made me crazy. The oil spill won’t have the same opportunity.