E-RANTS AND INSIGHTS

Because Black History Month can be a weapon of mass destruction if used improperly. Black History Month can fukk you up if you aren't careful. This is a time where elementary schools teach all the wee folk about Jim Crow, segregation, Brown vs. the Board of Ed, Rosa Parks, MLK, Malcom X, Shirley Chisholm, Jesse Jackson, Oprah Winfrey, and Michael Jordan (or maybe its just GA?). They're all taught to respect and admire these people for their benchmark successes and national contributions.

They also could foster subtle (or overt) bigoted positions against White people. As a child, if you never understood why Uncle Leroy always got so angry at the family cookouts whenever race became a topic, you got reeeally clear during Black History Month. Case and point: Last year, my then 5-year old goddaughter had the following conversation with her father while saying her bedtime prayers.


But the funny part is how all of the Black leaders surface with their shiny shoes and meditative expressions. And all of the Jackson-Sharpton-Rainbow-Civil-Farrakhan-Black People Need to RISE UP!-NAACP- Let My People Go- We Shall Overcome- Keep the Dream Alive- No Justice No Peace- Free OJ- Fight the Power-Reparations NOW!-the Revolution Will Not Be Televised- oppressed Black minds of America (who still see the world through a lens called the 1940's/50's/60's) rally behind them, chanting and praying militantly, supporting the tail-chasing.

All of the "Black leaders" of the past 10 years need to be reviewed. This should be an annual thing and they should post the review on the internet at www.whatidonedid.com. That way, we can see what has all been accomplished other than perpetual "Blackness". What bills were passed in favor of Black people? What laws did you help change and what was your role in that? How have you advanced the quality of life for Black Americans? How much money do you make? How much money have you given to charity and which charities did you donate to? How many speeches were you invited to give? How many times have you been arrested (protesting or not)? What CDs did you buy this year? What are your Top 5 accomplishments of the past year? Can you understand and re-create the sentiments of each generation? On a scale of 1-10, how much do you embarrass your mother/wife/children/family?

Once the probe is completed, everyone should be allowed to pick up their chains, grills, basketballs, baseball bats, footballs, microphones, turntables, pimp cups, Manolo Blahniks, lacefronts, iced-out whatevers, and proceed to the conference room where the meeting of the minds will ensue.

Black History Month is a time when McDonald's acts like your best friend and all of old school heads talk about how f'd up Black people are today. The young bucks roll their eyes and turn up their iPods, and the baby boomers get reeeal quiet (cuz they know a lot of it is their mess). A generational divide on display at its best.

"Guess I'm just too close to the mirror to see what you see in me."
--- surprisingly profound lyric from cheesy gospel song heard last Sunday

I know ya'll are going to think I'm tripping when I say this. I can already imagine the emails, calls, texts, and comments of "concern" this might warrant, BUT...

So I leave the house around 8am to get to work at my designated time of 9:30am. Typical morning. The first 30-minutes of high-traffic areas add to the day's predictability, and I'm torn between two radio shows and Brian Tracy's "Million Dollar Mind". Okay, so traffic is getting uber slow and I'm shuffling around my options and I munch on a banana. Then panic sets in as I realize that I'm not anywhere close to where I should be at the time of 8:54. I call in and leave a message. I soon learn that traffic lights are out in the downtown area, along with some huge conference at the World Congress Center. Do you know that I didn't get to my desk until NOON!?! Turns out Donald Trump and Colin Powell are here as well as a chicken farmer convention.

So along with having to park 5 blocks away because of full parking lots, I realize that I left my ID badge at home. So in checking in, I run into someone from my elementary school. She didn't recognize me but I recognized her because I saw her on one of the judge TV shows last year. I didn't say anything. I didn't really know WHAT to say. But sure enough, after I handed her my license she asked (in a partial squint) "What elementary school did you go to?" DAMMIT! I answered and she introduced herself and filled me in on some of the other girls we went to school with. It was all good until she said, "I didn't recognize you until I saw your name. You look so different. Like that girl...what's her name..." I just stood there in silence, growing annoyed at the potential of hearing what I always do. She said what I thought and I just smiled awkwardly as we said our goodbyes.

This just in folks...

Y'all know I love SuperPimp (my cell phone).

I love him with all of my heart.

He's handsome and stylish, and he swivels 180 degrees to easily convert from a cell phone to a 1.3 mega pixel digital camera with a 2.3 inch 262K color screen.

His extended memory card allows me to do things that should be illegal.



So you can imagine my guilt after hearing about the new iPhone, right. I'm faithful. SuperPimp is definitely going to have to leave me for us to part but dammit I'm not blind. He hasn't seen me stealing looks at the iPhone but I definitely have.

Aside from being labeled a cheater, there are other reasons why I won't drool over this phone.

This chick will not be denied. Granted, I have never heard her talk or read any interview on her but she OWNS her thing, you know? I just have this sense about her that NOBODY is going to pimp her for anything. Like PETA-fied Pamela Anderson and even Melyssa Ford: they own their image and NOBODY is going to play them for profit.

She ain't selling world peace here. She's selling dreams.
The non-dry types for the young adolescent males and the 3-letter versions for grown men. And the girl does the damn thing, okay? Have you seen the "Buttons" video??? Ladies, tell the truth...did you not wanna be a PCD after seeing this?


So way back in 2001, she won a spot in a pop group from the WB reality show Popstars. The winners of the show formed the group Eden's Crush and the rest was history--as in finito, flopped, expired. She didn't give up and she didn't alter her dream of stardom either. She simply licked her wounds and did it again. She tried out for Puffy's Making the The Band: Season 3 and didn't even make the final cut. (Irony:look at what's up now)