american black

why I don't give a f*ck about memorial day (and other reasons people hate me)

I was lucky enough to be raised by parents who didn't give a fuck about holidays. If you need a holiday to remember something is important then it ain't really that important.

Now Memorial Day is supposed to be about celebrating/honoring those who died in our nations service.

"Whatever. Just  pass me a beer."

Now as a Black man I could give you the usual rigmarole about why I don't give a fuck about memorial day. Mention all that Plymouth rock landed on me, shit. But why bother.  The truth is that Nationalism is dead but they just forgot to tell the poor folks.

Dying for your country isn't a noble thing, dying for your principles is.

My Dad was brave enough to tell me about the lies this country tells and my smart ex-wife was wise enough to take me traveling around the world. You know, the world which buys our movies and coca-cola while we buy their clothes and electronics.

My good friend Hank who told me that he like me because "If I had to bury a dead body you wouldn't ask any questions you would just show up with a shovel," deserves his own day. But actually he has it. He's in my head everyday.

He died driving home to wife and kid. Fell asleep behind the wheel. I went to the funeral with my mistress and cried. His mom told me to get my shit together because Hank loved me more than almost anybody.

Hank was a white guy who spent most of his time hanging out with rednecks. He took me to biker bars and country radio stations when we got together. I would take him to Black clubs and let him hang with my friends when he came to my town. It was our unspoken way of changing our small part of the world. Showing the friends we saw everyday that there is a world  of interesting people who don't listen to country music or wear Sean John but are still cool. Fuck tribes. Fuck nationalism. Just challenge the individuals and let the chips fall where they may.

I could tell stories all day about Hank. Like when he took me to his all white Catholic High School and  I pretended to be a student. He got suspended. The 80's were cool to us. The 90's we both moved and pursued our "careers" but  we still found time to steal my Dad's AMEX and drive to Florida to pick up girls we had met on vacation a day before. The chick I went to see became my first ex-wife.

Hank's life ended in 2000. 2000 years too soon.

Whatever.

I'll spend today  working. I'll follow the advice of some white dude: You vacate while others pretend to be working and work while others pretend to be on vacation. I'll also read more of the famous Jewish chick I offended and maybe send my second ex-wife a letter in a real envelope. I'll leave the celebration of those protecting our country from aliens to you. I'll also spend a moment thinking about Hank, like I do everyday, who really tried to make the world better.

AB Four (Prince, Babies, And A Solution To The Mississippi Problem)

We all know about Africa's precious resources are being exploited  by the West. What isn't widely known is the exploitation going on today. Not of national resources, but human resources. Black Looks explains it all.

Ashley Burwelll will graduate from Northern Vance High School today with honors. Next, she will head to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on a full scholarship. Unlike the typical college freshman, Burwell will have a little something extra with her in Chapel Hill - her 18-month-old son Traejon. Read her story.

Carve out a new state in the Delta region.  Call it New Africa, as a tribute to the Africans on whose backs the South was built.

Editorial writer and former music critic Eric Deggans wonders this: Could Prince get a recording contract in 2005?

R. Kelly, Langston Hughes and the closet

I'll be honest, R. Kelly baffles me. I've never been a big fan but is it me or has his songs gotten better since the sex video was released. Let's face it, for a man who wrote a song comparing women to his Jeep his new latest is practically Langston Hughes.

The 5-part operetta entitled "Trapped in the Closet" by R. Kelly (sans Mr. Big) has urban music lovers buzzing about the real life prevalence of bisexuality amongst African-American men.( A chick I dig used to tell me it was happening all the time. I didn't really beleive her. Now I don't know.)

In the second installment , Kelly comes face to face with the angry husband of an adulterous wife he has been creeping with and while hiding in the bedroom closet after a night of scandalous passion. In a strange turn of events, a la Jerry Springer, the husband seizes the opportunity to get something off his chest and reveals that he has a confession of his own. The ensuing conversation finds the listener in the middle of a torrid love triangle involving the pastor husband who appears to be cheating with another man, who also joins the fray.

"Trapped in the Closet (Chapter 1 of 5)" has jumped from 21 to 12 on the Billboard Urban charts; and just a half week after being released "Trapped in the Closet (Chapter 2 of 5)" has followed in its footsteps and has jumped from 19 to 10 on the Radio & Records charts. The complete dramatic operetta will only be available as a bonus DVD on his upcoming album TP.3 Reloaded

Lebron James and the Art Of The Fuck-up

There's a lot of noise being made right now about LeBron James and his decision to get get rid of his agent and to let that responsibility be taken over by a Nike intern and 3 more of his friends.

I'll be honest. I don't really know how I feel about this. I understand Gregory Moore's points:

James has probably sold his future to the corporate suits at a time where he could have been the next coming of the Jordan line. Jordan’s brand has survived twenty years and the Jordan brand name is synonymous with excellence. Look at how many winning college programs are wearing his gear. Look at the numerous athletes who are sporting the look. Heck even a jazz musician is in the fold. Can LB23 surpass that success? I have my doubts now because I believe that James has gotten rid of the one person who could have made sure that he gets Jordan like endorsements and continue to make money long after his playing days are through. Goodwin would have been an agent for a lifetime for James. It didn’t seem that Goodwin was about becoming the Scott Boras of the basketball world. It’s too bad that James and his entourage didn’t understand how much of help Goodwin would be in the future. Yet as a young man, he has to make mistakes. I just hope that this isn’t a colossal mishap that costs him millions of dollars down the road. I hope the four horsemen can pull this off. If not, this may indeed be a blood bath that would have been very preventable.

But I remember being 20 years old. I thought I was going to run the world. I worked for a major record company. I had just married my High School sweetheart. The world was mine and I was doing everything right.

I no longer work for anybody. And I can't see my high school sweetheart without the urge to punch her in the nose. I don't get to see my daughter enough.  Things change and the decisions that may taste right may not be good for you.

I was a hardheaded youth and could not be told anything. I remember my Dad telling me I was the dumbest muthafuka on the planet. I thought he must be high. But he was right. I was dumb. But you know what. I lived through it. Part of being young is fucking things up. Just ask my ex-wife.
 

The Art Of The Sellout (or How To Make Money With Your Blog)

So I'm standing behind my bar talking to this literate, kinda hot, white chick and I mention that I have restarted this blog. One of the first questions she asked was, "Do you sell ads?"

This, my friends, is the age of the sellout. Missy Elliot in Gap commercials, Companies buying ad space in songs, people selling space on their foreheads. We have sold our souls to corporate and wanna be corporate America in droves.

Great...I think.

Many in the blog world are jumping on the sellout train. Trying to get a few dollars before Microsoft owns the whole thing. Google ads, blogads, banners, Gawker, Drudge. The list of ways and people trying to make a dollar is endless.

Now in order to have ads you need to have an audience and so a small industry to drive traffic to sites has emerged. And even blogs dedicated to that has emerged (with ads from the companies which sell the products.)

I find the ads exhausting. The ads on Baldilocks fuck up my Mozilla browser when the page loads. I must really like her new picture to put up with that crap. Micheal King has a picture of himself wearing a suit and vest. To avoid 80's flashbacks you have to move your eyes to the ads and store  on the other side of the page.

You expect ads when you go to sites run by cheap labor republicans but even cool folks like Ray Garrard and Tyler & Alex keep a "tip jar" on their site asking for donations. Bol at ByronCrawford is in New York right now working on a deal so he can blog full time (no homo). If people are making deals with folks like Bol the bubble is upon us.

What's right with today's hip hop

Ballerstatus has an editorial from Mark Clark about today's HipHop. He thinks it sucks:

...Combining the lack of knowledge the majority of the hip-hop audience has, with the money hungry, C.R.E.A.M.-driven rap stars, the problem with creativity stands firm at a pause. The artists are producing what sells; what we buy, and what sells right now is garbage...

I'm sorry, but I'm disgusted over the lack of demand for quality music. I blame the artis;, I blame the consumer; and I blame the greediness of society. I blame the lack of thought and the short attention span of the listeners. No one wants to think anymore; no one wants to sit in the car and dissect the message that Public Enemy was trying to get across, or what Immortal Technique is trying to teach. They want to go to the club and get Crunk, and continue being as ignorant as the music they buy...

Man, I am kinda tired of all the old heads complaining about today's music. They sound like ...their parents. For some reason we older folks forget that we were blasting Will Smith back in the day. (Not me of course) and other corny shit just like the kids are doing now.

There is only one word to describe what Hip Hop has done is AMAZING. It has filtered into every part of society. And unlike the success of R&B in the past, we are actually running this shit. Not every aspect, but the successful aspects.

I used to work for WEA in the early 90's. The number of Blacks involved in the music business now has quadrupled at least. Especially the number making money. Mark doesn't get it. But the kids are alright.

My Open Letter To Arianna Huffington

Dear Arianna,

I dig you. You were right about the SUVs. I'm sure there are many people who wished they would have listened to you when they have to fill up their tanks.

You were right about the War In Iraq. Ask the mothers of most soldiers.

You were right about California.

But what I really like about you is that you have guts. Strong, cute women with accents, brains , and a shitload of money are rare. I applaud you.

But lets talk about your latest venture, The Huffington Post.

I love the concept. We liberals need a site like it. And having a bunch of celebrities behind you is a good idea. You are right again. But some changes have to made.

1. Bloggers are what will make your site a success. If we like it all the media bashing won't matter. We are the media now. So PLEASE make it that we can comment on the original posts. We had to wait until the former Reprise guy to responded to hand Hillary Rosen her head. Make all your celebrities take the risk of instant attack. People will dig it.

2. You may want to give some of your celebrity bloggers a single topic. Elaine and the SNL guy was a waste. I know they were trying to be short and edgy and funny but leave that to really funny folks like Larry David. I can't beleive it took 2 people to write that!

3.There are too many celebrities. Weed that shit down to a few a day. It's noisy. And the world is already too noisy. Let 3 speak a day and let them fight for entry. It'll make their writing better.

Other than that I think it's cool. The news is good. The look is beautiful (like you!) and it's gives us liberals a nice little boost.

Here's my prediction. You will be bashed by the media  but everyone will read it. Kinda like the NYT. A few months from now everyone will realize you were right (again!) but no one will say anything or give you credit. Except me.

xoxox
PrinceC

P.S.- Will you adopt me?

The importance of T-Shirts

Man, some days I feel like the only person left with any sanity left. I know that isn't true but somedays I really feel like that.

Now this blog I write is not really a personal blog. I write it to spread information about news which effects minorities they may not have heard about. Now I do throw in some personal stuff now and then but I try not to because that is not why I think people visit. I do give my opinion on the news but I am not the news.

That's why I like the site Vision Circle. It's a bit more moderate than myself (I think) but it gives me good info. But one of the writers, EBrown, pissed me off today. He wants people to boycott the store Changes for selling T-Shirts say "Stop Snitchin'". There is a problem with folks coming forward  in crimes in his city and he thinks the shirts add to the problem.

Pa-leeze.

I have spent my life wearing mildly offensive T-Shirts. From "George Bush Is A Traitor" to my latest "Save Paula Abdul". T-Shirt slogans are nothing but bumper stickers. Maybe he should be rallying the police department to better protect it's citizens. Maybe he should be screaming at local leaders to get off their collective asses and help out. But to go after a T-Shirt retailer?

Let people say what they want. Let idiots wear what they want. Censorship of any kind is a bit too Republican-like for me. Next they'll want me to scrape the "Jesus is Black" sticker off my car.

How I became a Trent Reznor Fan

I like the new Trent Reznor album. I probably check out his live show as well.

And I have a cool Trent Reznor story.

A few years ago, when I still lived in New Orleans, my ex-wife (the smart one) had a visit from her brother and one of his friends. They were both seniors in college and were having a week of debauchery before the realities of the real world came crashing down.

Well the friend was a big Nine Inch Nails fan. Since Trent lived in New Orleans, we decided to show them his funeral home turned house since my wife had recently been their for a Holloween party. (The advantages of an expensive liberal education!) (The house was recently sold, BTW). It was about 3AM.

Why Everyone Is So Dumb Nowadays

Prometheus 6 wrote an interesting post back in April on intelligence. He followed it up a few days ago with a podcast(?) on the subject. Pro seems to have a problem with the anti-intelligence streak which is sweeping the planet. As a person who has been called, among other things, an anti-intellectual by folks who think it's important to read the NYT everyday, I read the post and listened to the podcast with interest.

First, I think that he's using the wrong word. In my view, there isn't an anti-intelligence movement going on. I think the real problem is the lack of knowledge sweeping the fucking planet.

Knowledge is the awareness and understanding of facts, truths or information gained in the form of experience or learning. Knowledge is an appreciation of the possession of interconnected details which, in isolation, are of lesser value.

Intelligence is a general mental capability that involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend ideas and language, and learn. In psychology, the study of intelligence is related to the study of personality.

Of course the words are used practically interchangeably so I'm just nit-picking.

But I think his theory is wrong. This is what he thinks is the reason for anti-intellectualism:

The problem, you see, is that we humans want predictability. We want a nice, stable set of rules to operate under. But intelligence screw up any chance of stability. Intelligence changes the ground on which operations take place. And we're all past masters of ignoring the observations of other in order to maintain our stable set of rules but it's hard when the source of the new is internal.

Nah Bro'. Here's what's really happening.