Goodbye Don Cornelius

Wasn’t Don Cornelius Already Dead?

           

So I woke up this morning feeling good. I’ve started a new morning and night meditation routine. It’s wonderful! (Ask me about it later.)

            I made my breakfast and sat down to get caught up on Facebook. I heard Don Cornelius was dead from an apparent suicide…

Wait…

…Don Cornelius was alive? I needed to do some research.

            So what I came up with was an obvious conspiracy to keep us hooked on Soul Train by dangling Don Cornelius in front of us for nearly twenty years. I gave a sigh of relief. It was over. I was off the hook. No more wondering. No more WTF moments as a tall gay zombie ambled across a stage in another attempt to display “life”. SMH [Don Cornelius Zombie ‘Old Train’]

As I sat and reminisced on the iconic figures and images from Soul Train, I was amazed at how long it’s actually been. I was even more amazed at how long it had been since Soul Train was over for me. It’s been almost twenty years since Don Cornelius stepped down as host. It wasn’t much longer after that when I gave up trying to watch Soul Train. A couple of friends got approached to dance and they didn’t make it. I still don’t know who Mystro Clark and Dorian Gregory are. I only heard about Shemar Moore in 2008, two years after soul Train ended its 35 year run, the longest in syndication.

            I was remembering Lou Ski and Cheryl Song, thinking I was remembering the 90s. It was in fact the 80s I was remembering and it made it all that much longer since I had really cared about Soul Train. What happened?

            There are many shows I wish would have lasted forever. There aren’t many I actually thought would last forever. Soul Train was one. And then I started seeing things like this:

In 1987, I didn’t even get it. I was born with hip-hop in 1978. How could anyone not like rap music? Maybe Don Cornelius could see the future of rap way back then:

Don Cornelius had a knack for seeing the future. From the day in 1970 when he saw how big an urban dance show could be, to the day when I thought he was just swaying to the beat. He knew he was about to fall down soon so he sat down behind the scenes.

            Don Cornelius was truly a pioneer. I’m not sad he’s gone. He left a brilliant legacy. We don’t celebrate death. We celebrate life and he lived. Though some have tried, you can’t even list all he’s done. What’s sad is that other’s haven’t followed his lead and created more. What’s really sad is the way he passed. What’s saddest is the trend we have taken. Hip Hop has changed. Institutions like BET have gotten dumber and dumber.

            The saddest thing was him being drug around while in all the pain, psychologically as well as physically, he must have been in this past decade. That’s right! I said decade. When was the last time Don Cornelius was anywhere looking coherent? The man was a genius who had already given us so much and we wanted more from him. Why?

            He was so much more than an icon, so much more than an image. He was a true leader. I don’t even want to say pioneer. He showed us the way and did it well for longer than anyone of ANY race. He showed us what is possible in this country and the world. A few have followed. Very few…

It’s up to the rest of us to catch up. Being a pioneer is meaningless if no one follows the path. It’s there to follow, along with many others.

            Many people were even sadder that he passed today. Today is a perfect time for us to begin looking at the lives our many, many pioneers. Let’s rediscover the many trails that have been blazed, the doors that are still open, the opportunities that are still available because of these leaders.

            Thank for living Don Cornelius. Thank you for leading. Thank God for your influence in our lives. We will carry on. We will follow your lead and lead others. Good Bye Don Cornelius…

The Soul Train line will never end because of you!

The King Children

Current mood: argumentative
Category: Life

So I live in Atlanta (The Metro Area). My church is across the street from the King Memorial and around the block from the King childhood house. The King family still holds a little weight around these parts. However, since Coretta passed, all HELL has broken loose.

Most recently, Dexter King is suing Bernice King and Martin Luther King III claiming they've opened competing centers. In July, Bernice and Martin sued Dexter to get him to open the King Center's books.

So, too sum up. the middle remaining child is throwing a public tantrum over the oldest and youngest children's new toys. All of this is probably in response to the oldest and youngest's previous tantrum over the middle child taking over the old toybox. Three 40 and 50 year old babies acting out because they miss mommy and daddy.  

I'll tell you no one misses Mommy and Daddy more than the rest of us. Martin Luther King Jr. is a rare breed not because he could walk on water like Jesus, and he didn't starve himself like Gandhi. He was like all three because he gave up being a regular husband and father to be our leader. His connection with the world went beyond his family. Maybe that's is the biggest sacrifice he made. Even bigger than his own life. Because all we left with is his legacy and three crying ass babies.

People always ask if we are living Dr. King's dreams today. Barack is going to win the presidency, largely due to the help of "The Queen of All Media" Oprah Winfrey. We feel a little less scared to talk crazy to white people. Some people say we still have a way to go.


I wonder what Dr. King would say.

And now it's his children showing their asses. So, even in a family that represents unity there is discord. We may be working so hard to get the outside world to accept each other that we are neglecting our own families, our own communities, our own congregation, and our own co-workers. Are we being lazy and disguising it as lofty ideals. "Yeah let's save the world. Who cares if MY child falls off, I'll be a hero to the world."

We forgive geniuses for having messy rooms. We marvel at the successful business woman with a meticulous house and the messy love life. We pay tithes to pastor who can't keep his dick in his pants. It's been OK to neglect certain parts of our lives for success in others. How can we feel complete as a community if we look down on some and look past others?

Church members look into each other's bedrooms, love lives, businesses, bank accounts. Let's stick to the basics. Make sure every member has a bible. Make every member knows how to read. Let's do what we can for our family members. If we are getting played and playing games in our own family, what are we going to put out to the world when we go out there? If we can't keep it real with people we've been around all our lives, who is going to trust you outside your house.

What do you all say? Is it OK to neglect your family to focus on the world? Is the King family just keeping it real? Don't all families have problems? Or is that the problem with the world? Is it wrong that we assume families should be dysfunctional?


Let me hear it. All I know is I'm tired of fighting over dumb shit!


well my brotha you have brought up a good point. Have many of us gotten so focused on what the world thinks that we have forgotten about family. Are we to buy trying to make a dollar instead of spending quality time with our children. What are we teaching our children about family. You know they learn rom example. Have many of us gotten to tired and lazy to even take the time to focus on family. Or are we to busy minding others business and judging others instead of caring. What did Martin give his life for. I thought it was for us to have the freedom of caring for our family as a people not individuals. Why does it seem like other races are taking full advantage of the door Martin opened when he opened it for all of us. Makes me wonder. So many people need to stop talking and start listening and doing something positive. Change is now and these fools don't even see it. So sad.

THIS IS MY SISTER EVERYBODY!!!

That's how we ROLL!

Hey Jason...(jus wanted to say hi first)..anyhoo do u remember the times when ur parents would leave u and ur sibling(s) @ home alone? Same thing..let the chaos begin... Being the middle girl of three girls there was always some sorta double teaming going on and sometimes I was on the outside of the duo determined to cause some mess.. "It's a family affair" that's what they say...even the Cosby's(in real life) didn't live upto the persona they displayed on television. Bill possibly fathering another child (proven to be false but he clearly had an affair)...Lisa Bonet's sex scene @ age 19 in "Angel Heart" It's all simple til that child starts to see themselves as an individual and there decisions grow beyond deciding on what cereal they want in the morning....nurturing, loving, and caring for them doesn't always determined that that seed will grow into a beautiful "Afican Violet".. Thank u for Jason Pearlicia

Oh yeah when the parents left...

But I'm no porn addict or sex fiend. (I think) In fact, I am pretty sure that all the unsupervised shenanigans in my life were over ruled by what I knew my parents believed was best for me. I'm not a perfect child and a far from perfect as an adult but I work towards honoring my parents with the work that is my life. I'm an individual but I still come from a family and maybe it's the competitive edge in me but I want my family to improve not disintegrate.

I think that the family is having every regular family problems, but since their family before them were public figures, it gives them another way to whine and cry about the others.
We have a local lady who owned a pizza place, and had 4 kids. The one moved back, and forced the other two into lesser roles, so they opened their own. The mom and sister immediately blocked them from using any recipe's that the old place had. But it didn't get into the public eye, because they didn't have the popularity that Dr King had obviously.
Unfortunately, people like to surround themselves with yes people, and not common sense people, so we get stupid things like this

Damned Yes people! That's why I only deal with people different than me. Everybody is not supposed to match all the time!

All families are dysfunctional. All you have to do is catch them when they think nobody's watching. The question becomes how readily do we throw our business into the public spotlight? How eager are we to put each other down in order to uplift ourselves? I am the oldest of 4 kids. My mom worked hard to make up for what my dad wasn't around to do. We fought like cats and dogs when she went to work. But when she got home she'd line us up like little soldiers. I can almost remember the speech word for word... the theme was that this world is full of obstacles and it is the family's responsibility to always uphold and support the other members. We were punished more severely for hurting each other than for any other offense. Even as adults, we know that we are not perfect, and we don't always agree, but we never tear each other down. No matter what. Charity starts in the home. That's how you build good citizens.

Wonderful family values! The problem with people in public demand sometimes is they have to sacrifice the home life for the public one. And we see what happens to the neglected children, no matter who their parents are.

The Week In Review

Since I haven't been able to make church these past few weeks (due to sinning[lots and lots of sinning]NOT REALLY but probably), let's see if I can't get some clarity with a little reflection. In my church, after communion, we kneel to pray. This prayer more reflection time. I usually go over my week and thank God for stopping me from slapping the shit out of people I've come into contact with.

So let's pray:
Lord, thank you. Thank you for giving me patience when customers call to see if the car lot they just drove by has any cars for sale. Help me stay strong when everyone around me keeps asking me to lie. (You know - Am I getting on your nerves? Sale this car. Does this car run good? At $700? This 2002? Absolutely!)
Please Lord, look out for my people. Help me find a way to convince my cousin to stop lying on his dick about ugly women. Forgive all the nakeddickers (8/25 Word of the day 2) who just couldn't sit they triflin asses at home on Black Out Friday. Forgive "The Dog", he didn't mean nigger in a bad way. Plus, he doesn't even know Al Sharpton and he never knew we now say "nakeddicker" instead. If anything, forgive his nakeddickedness. Maybe, I'll forgive him for not reading my blogs.
Bless Denzel and his new movie. I know so many people couldn't wait to watch the bootleg. I hope they were as eager to pay $10 (or more) to see it in the theater. Bless T.I. when he goes back to prison. He's a cute little guy. He may need your help. Bless Oprah. She didn't know women could be pedophiles and on the down low too.
As always, bless the children. Just because they come from retardation and nakeddickin' they don't have to be doomed to the same.

(Meditation...)





In Jesus' name.....














SLAP!!!!!!

LMFAO, you are hilarious, I love it!!!!!!!

So I've heard its best to pray "Lord have your will" than to request "specific blessings" because it minimizes our disappointments when our prayers aren't answered in in what we'd consider a timely fashion or according to our liking. And often times, what we pray for may not be in our best interest or the better interest of whom we've asked God to bless. Perhaps God has already blessed Oprah, The Dog, T.I., Denzel (and dare I include the NAKEDDICKERS too) with the very same "issues" you've requested their deliverance from... we're all in need of the occasional reality-checks to keep us real with God!


Thanks for the blog invite... I've enjoyed this mini trip into your would of thoughts... and am looking forward to reading more. Peace out!

What's a Nakeddicker? =)

LMAO!!!

Yall Trippin: Nelly for President

This is to all the people who keep talking about how much money Oprah has. YALL TRIPPIN! She don't even have no bling. Have you seen how many chains Nelly has!?! CRAZY. What Oprah got? Books?!? Books don't shine! Shit! Even I got spinners! (On my keychain). And people keep saying she getting paid for producing. I ain't heard her name screamed on no records. And we play all the hot shit at Club Crunk. QUIT TRIPPIN! Forget Barack Obama. Its all about Nelly for president.












I'll bet multiple people all around the country have these dumb assed thoughts. When did we decide to support our insecurities. When did over compensation become confidence and waste spell success? We look up to some of the most insecure people on the planet and end up guided by their fears. The result being a radical multiplication of our own fears.





So maybe when we complain about Oprah not being in the "hood" all the time, maybe she is actually doing more for us by not misleading us than some others are who continue to mislead us everyday.






[This blog is almost 12 years old. Below are the comments from my MySpace readers.]




hilarious but sad cuz it's oh so true!


WOW..
im frightened



Keep keeping it real bro. Keep Keeping it real.



Oprah doesn't need to be "hood." And a lot of those rappers aren't all that "hood" either. Anytime they're trying to go to Hollywood and shit. It's the dumb followers who buy into that bs. How can LIL Wayne be gangster if he's working on everyone's cds. lol I met him in person and despite all the tattoos, he's an intelligent lil guy.

I would like to meet Oprah one day because she understands the concept of do what u can, when u can. How much money does a person need to live off on? Think Bill Gates.



I appreciate this blog and the recognition of this thought and breakdown.