Leave Marshawn Lynch Alone!!!

Most days I marvel at how far I've come at remaining calm and positive. Except...
...when I'm driving. When I'm driving in LA, I just want to run some of these drivers off the road. I'm fresh in the door from once again contemplating ways to get away with performing the PIT move on a car while doing 70 in the fast lane. LA has some of the most selfish drivers in the city. These drivers want to go 45 in the fast lane because they're text messaging and driving until you pass (or attempt to pass) them. Once that happens, they think it's Fast and Furious and their Toyota Prius is now a 10 second drift car. (Woosah!!!) That was my rant.

This week was pretty good.

I went to the Valley to help Matthew find an apartment. It wasn't that bad. The Valley is still a pit of despair    but I had a good time. AND I escaped. I got to golf and eat good food. And I finally got a wheel alignment!

Je parle francais tres bien!

I love my French teacher. She's my type of hippie. She drinks wine and lusts after MUCH younger men. She's into participation and pronounciation. And because I keep getting As on the tests, I'm excused from doing homework. My type of hippie. As opposed to the ones that smell bad and try to force their beliefs on everyone else. Tres mauvais!

Which brings us to Marshawn Lynch. I don't watch post-game interviews. However, I get to see the highlights online and/or via social media. When I first saw Marshawn Lynch refusing to talk, I thought it was amusing. By this year's Super Bowl, I'm tired of it. Not tired at all of him. I'm tired of the NFL and the press even bothering to try.
And then I found out the NFL is making him speak. WHY???
There  are 56 players on an NFL team. That's 111 OTHER players to talk to other than Marshawn Lynch. Hell, that's about 44 starters. Everyone is not out going. Why worry about 1 man when you have TWENTY TWO starters to choose from on each team? WTF

Marshawn Lynch is not an asshole. He's articulate. He has a good sense of humor. And, most important, he gives back to his community. He has a REAL charity. Not a tax write off like most people. Let him give what he gives in his own way. Fam 1st is much more valuable than any soundbite.

I hope this is not a Craig Hodges situation. The difference might be Lynch's value to the Seahawks. In general, NFL running backs are becoming expendable. Marshawn Lynch is not the typical NFL running back. Beast Mode is real. Marshawn Lynch is ALL the running backs Seattle will need win the Super Bowl. (Prediction!)

But then again, there are 55 other players on the Seahawks and Lynch is only one man. One man who means a whole lot to his community...

So please NFL! Leave Marshawn Lynch alone.

Decision 2015!!!

It's hard to believe three years have passed since Decision 2012. It seems like some much has happened.Either way, election day is upon us again and I have some more decisions to make.

I have been thinking about my dating life since coming back to Los Angeles, it's different than I expected to say the least. I have a lot more alone time than I imagined having when I first left Georgia. And that time has led me to reminiscence over my dating history.

I've been a pretty good boyfriend/partner. I've never cheated. I do flirt, A LOT. But it's probably not in me to cheat. I don't think I have the time.

I've come to realize that no matter how casual the relationship, it's still a relationship and I barely want to sit on the phone and chit chat with my girlfriend, so i definitely don't want to chit chat with a side piece. Think about bootie calls. In theory, it sounds nice. You call at 11:30 (The bootie call hour), ask for some sex, and you get some sex, no strings attached. But there are strings! It's a racket. What they don't mention in the description is the number of calls at 5:30 in the afternoon (or some other ungodly hour when I could be doing something better). They don't mention the inordinate amount of chit chatting that is requisite in a booty call relationship. I'm already trying to minimize the chit chat so side pieces AKA cheating won't work. And I ain't paying....

Hell, I ain't even getting a hotel room, which probably means I"m not going to have much sex at all until I move out of mom's house... SMH. My maximum expenditure in direct relation to sex is condoms. I don't count dates as paying because I usually only take women places I was going to go alone to anyway.

Shout out to the genius who wrote "Dr. J was compelled to say something on this subject because he couldn’t grasp a non paying participant on a date calling the payer cheap. "
Cheap is placing ANY economic value on human interaction. 
But I digress. Back to my decision.


It's simple.
I'm getting married soon. And like Andree told me, I'm not wasting my time.
Men and women have standards they wish to acquire. However, when it comes to dating, they put those standards to the side for some of the most ridiculous dating rules. For instance, I've scanned past a GANG of online dating profiles of women who list  their relationship goals as "casual/nothing serious..." After talking to them though, they want to be married. Why do they do that? That's the rule. Don't seem too serious. You might scare a lot of guys away.
Fuck that.
You want to get married, say so. I'll go out on a limb and guess that every woman only wants to marry one man. Why be worried about scaring away a lot of men? Isn't the goal to scare away most men and filter it down to one? If you want casual, say so. No need to waste time pretending to be in a serious relationship when you may not have time for one.
Be true to your priorities and the Law of Abundance will give you what you want. Fear and dishonesty will bring you the opposite of your priorities. Don't be scared of getting everything you've ever wanted. I've known what I wanted for a long time. I've been told to not pursue it. I've been distracted from what I want. I've been afraid. I missed out on a few good women... So, I'm going to always say I want to be married until I'm married. I'm always going to talk about marriage even after I'm married because my wife and I will always work on our marriage. I'm working on my marriage now alone and, hopefully, my wife is too. And, one day soon, we'll work on it together.

So, since once it's said, I'm obligated to live it. I'm getting married. Soon. And I probably know her already. #nolongerdistracted #focused #brave

P.S. - The wedding's going to be in New Orleans. (Some things never change)

The Agenda

Marching is fine. It's a symbol of unity. A symbol that the people are dissatisfied and feeling under represented.

                What we are missing is an agenda. I was initially distraught at so many people I look up to repeating March, March, March and wished they would stop saying march and get to work. However, as it seems to be the case so often lately I must be the only one willing to do the work. So, since no one else is willing, I have some ideas...

                Police brutality in America, especially New York City, has become expected. The deaths of black men young and old at the hands policemen across the country has nearly become the expected end to police brutality. As tragic as these recent events have been, what is most disheartening has been the response by the 'representatives' of these affected neighborhoods. The severe lack of representation in Ferguson, MO and other cities like Tompkinsville, Staten Island is devastating. That there can be a city like Ferguson where the vast majority of its citizens aren't being represented should be a signal of distress across the country.   What the people demand is proper representation in the pursuit of justice. These citizens have been begging for representation long before this year. It took these tragic events to catalyze them into the streets.  Now is the time to act. Attorney General Holder is holding a civil rights investigation. The White House must come out of that investigation with some concrete actions. The following is what the citizens of this country demand and I expect:

1. There will be immediate elections in cities, like Ferguson, where the officials are obviously not able to represent the interests of the citizens of the city
2. There will be empowerment of organizations like the Staten Island Community Board to "police the police," to do the job they were created to do, represent smaller communities within larger cities like New York.
3. There will be mandatory body cameras on policeman all across the country. 
4. There will be election reform across the country to make it easier for citizens to vote and virtually impossible for any other interest to restrict voter access.
5. There will be a, new, national committee focused on collecting data to ensure the above actions are being fulfilled.

This is just the beginning. There will be more specific demands as the people continue to see holes in their representation that need to be filled. We will continue to march until justice is served. Justice can no longer be subjective. Today justice is not available to all of America's citizens. We must make it so. It is for each of us a sacred duty.

The time to act is now. We have the freedom to ask, as well as the freedom to act. We will be free.

Nicki Minaj Only Apologizes to Jews...

The title of the article that started this was - '

No Surprise here: Nicki Minaj apologizes to Jews for her most recent video'

It's just funny. This weekend it occurred to me to download the mixtapes Nicki Minaj put out before her studio album. It made me sad for her. A man with her talent may have also had to dumb down to get to her level of pop stardom. But he wouldn't have had to go through all that she has. (If you haven't listened to her early mixtapes, LISTEN before you respond.)




What the article (if you can call it that) missed was Nicki's history of being a provocateur. And we always fall for it. Or, that is, she always gets the appropriate amount of attention. [Sidenote : As long as ANYONE named Kardashian gets payed for being alive, I CERTAINLY support Nicki Minaj despite her hi-jinks] This generation has a ridiculously short attention span AND we have been seriously jaded. Add to that being a female artist fighting to be heard at even 70% the level of a male artist and you have Nicki Minaj. You have Looking Ass Nigga. You have Anaconda. And know you have 'Only'. These singles aren't the pop ballads that comprise 50% of her studio albums and 0% of her mixtapes. They are the solid hip hop tracks that wouldn't get a first listen without the surrounding controversies.

And now the serious stuff. The article that brought this song to my attention mentioned a preference for the sensitivities of Jews over African Americans. I will note that as I post this the video that is offensive to Jews is available online in its entirety and the album cover that was offensive to African Americans is only available in reference to the controversy on Wikipedia and within articles like mine. In this instance, I would consider that argument void.

In other instances however, the article brought up some valid points. The talking heads that represent the Jewish community do get a better response than other communities, especially ours. In fact, all lobbies from other communities get a better response than ours. And that is because we don't have a lobby. We don't have an ADL. We don't have a Rotary Club. We don't have a rainbow flag. All we have are separate individuals trying to be heard with no force behind our words.

Until we do, our artists will have to continue operating like Nicki Minaj and others if they want success and we have nothing to say about it.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Donald Sterling, Ferguson, MO and Bruce Levenson (The Non-Racist Racist)

My boy Mic Drop beat me to the punch and so did the founder of the ASU at UCLA. I finally got to read the email Bruce Levenson wrote and decided that he doesn't need to sell this team, although the rumors are that he was looking for a way out. Unfortunately for him, some other enterprising owner may see the business innovation that lies in Atlanta. It may be too late for Bruce Levenson but it is not too late for the black community.

This email demonstrates a huge problem in the African American community. We don't fully participate. That's the reason cities like Ferguson, with a vast Black majority, are not controlled by blacks. Too often, we depend on white Americans' morality and ethics, asking them for jobs and ceding leadership. Then we cry when they fail to satisfy our needs.

The black population in Atlanta is more than capable of purchasing season tickets. They, just like the black population in New Orleans, don't see the benefit of that type of expenditure. Those two chocolate cities often struggle to even get there games on air but it only takes a minute in either city to see they have a substantial fan base. Unfortunately, they also have high black populations who don't want to spend money on sports entertainment. The black population of these cities is maybe too used to their sports teams being dependent on the white fan base.

This letter's only failure is in seeing the solution. The solution is not as formulaic as getting more white fans. It is in changing the culture in chocolate cities. Although, from a business standpoint, that requires spending money on a new marketing campaign to encourage the citizens of cities like Atlanta to make investments in their cities and their teams, focusing on the black citizens. It is radical both socially, politically and economically. However, current events demand a radical change not just in America but in the chocolate cities and black communities all over world.

Hopefully, that enterprising and radical owner will use the services of a emerging black business owner who sees the opportunity to both stimulate and lead the black economy out of the dumps and into a much brighter future.

Donald Sterling and Black America's Responsibility

 I’m not happy because none of my questions were answered. And I have a ton. Unfortunately for Black America, they aren’t for Donald Sterling or the NBA. They are for the rest of America, the 99%. I like how every is scrambling to distance their selves from Donald Sterling. However, they cannot distance themselves from all the questions and revelations I’ve had since Friday. And they are legion. 

I've known that Donald Sterling was racist. I did forget about it because I don't think of him much. What I do remember is bringing his racism up in the 90's and being met with excuses to keep supporting the NBA and pro sports from some of the same people feigning outrage today. I've supported the Clippers despite Donald Sterling for a long time. I will continue to do so without him now. 

I don't know what makes people think their team's owner is any different. His friend Dr. Jerry Buss advised him to buy an NBA team so many years ago. What if their only difference was management styles? And even if no other NBA owner is as racist, elitist as Donald Sterling, aren't there some bigger economic issues with the structure of professional sports and their main feeder system, college athletics?

This thing got so big so quick that my economics professor had to make a connection as she was describing how the Confederacy convinced poor white men to fight and die for rich white men. "Americans have a tendency to connect with their betters" But why? Why does every black person believe they are the specific black people that he doesn't want in his seats? Does she have some special charity where she puts gold digging to the side and dates middle class black men? You, the middle class black people, are more than welcome in the Staples Center. Just don’t sit in his seat and don’t touch his gold digger.

Speaking of gold digging, who made the tapes? We now know it was the mistress. Who sold the tapes? TMZ admitted to paying someone for the tapes. Obviously it was also the mistress. Who stands to benefit the most from them being “leaked”? (Tearing another team down is of no benefit to any other team, so it's not the Lakers) Sterling is actually estranged from his wife who was supposed to have been given the Clippers as a gift. Maybe she wants her team…

Some questions for Black America:
The NAACP is hoping that no one will ever question them for obviously selling a lifetime achievement award. Something tells me Donald Sterling is not the only one. How many of these ‘leaders’ and organizations are complicit in selling out our community for the maintenance of the status quo. I listened to this woman who was 'active' in the community call in to Front Page with Dominique Duprima Monday morning call for a rally and a panel... Basically, she wanted to get paid to, once again, stand up and cry for change but never enact any change.

This constant begging for justice from outside our community is disheartening. Justice is always in our own hands. I’m reminded of the common saying, “There is no justice, it’s just us.” What’s wrong with it being just us? Why can’t we be responsible for our own destiny? Whenever we encounter an employer from outside our community mistreating us, it occurs to me that we could just employ ourselves. I am reminded of how quickly we abandoned the Negro Leagues after Jackie Robinson’s success. I am reminded of the decline of HBCUs in the years following Brown vs The Board of Education.

Why speak on boycotting the Clippers? Donald Sterling owns A LOT more than The Clippers. Why wasn't their initial reaction enough? Why can’t we ever wait for a proper response? Someone tried to compare the inside out jerseys to the 1968 Olympics.  Tommie Smith and John Carlos won and made their statement from the winners stand. Why can’t we support our players for 14 more wins and let Doc Rivers and Chris Paul make their statements with trophies in their hands?

Tony Muhammad made the statement, "This is a moment in history" and the problem is that we keep waiting on "moments in history". We keep waiting on jobs instead of creating jobs. Sometimes when people talk about us walking around with our hands out, they are not talking about welfare programs. They are talking our refusal to be responsible for ourselves. This is and always has been a country of owners. On that level, we refuse to participate. We’d rather be employees instead of employers.

I keep hearing people talk about eradicating racist ideas from everyone’s minds. None of that matters. There is this crazy idea that we can force everyone to be nice or, better yet, that someone being nice or not has any effect on our success. We can't and it doesn't. This event is a call to action for Black America. We can continue to keep our hands out for whatever scraps the rest or America sees fit to drops us. Or, we can build/rebuild/create strong businesses and institutions within our community that will withstand whatever name calling/bigotry others will try to distract us with.

I will not stand by and maintain the status quo. We cannot afford to let any of the traditional institutions stand. They have all failed to serve anyone but themselves. Jason Mitchell called for the pulling of the Los Angeles NAACP‘s charter. I call for a complete abandoning of the NAACP. They’ve been for sell to the highest bidder for over a century. We can start supporting and encouraging the building of black business. That is an immediate MUST.  The current black business leaders are fine but we need more. We need enough options so that Magic’s ownership group doesn’t have to include people from outside our community. 

What I Learned On My Way to Church

10/6/13

Milton called the "sideline hustlers" out when he said if you don't have a business licenses and aren't paying taxes, you don't have a business. Michael learned a hard lesson about trusts and pre-nups last year. And Lanisha just said I need a mission statement for my newest child, RuggeD Posterity. So, as I was writing my oldest nephew a letter, I had to reflect on my life, my hustles and my future. That meant meditating on what I will leave behind for my family and community. And then I pulled up the scriptures for church so I could read before I got there...

Habakkuk is three simple chapters with huge implications. Habakkuk looked around him and only saw disaster after disaster, war, famine (depression), corruption... He called to God. "Where are the miracles you are famous for?" God's answer - write down your prophesy in stone so you never forget where you are going. Never forget what you are doing. See, the bad times can distract you from your purpose. We must focus.

It's very timely that I was introduced to a man (Ja War) who insisted on reminding us to write letters to our children. Those letters become manifestos. Those manifestos become trusts. Those trusts are legacy so we can leave something more than debts and habits behind. That is real wealth. That's a true inheritance.

There was a boarding house in my family. Was!. There was no trust. And so, there is no legacy.

We don't have to be the most verbose people to deliver instructions to our proceeding generations. We can give a real testimony. Second Timothy minds us that we have God's spirit and that spirit ain't no punk. So why are we always afraid to be our best selves? Why are we afraid to declare what our futures will be? We don't have any reason to be.

Some of you are familiar with a practice in churches called giving a testimony. That's where members of the congregation stand up and talk about what has happened to them. They usually point out God's presence. The rest of the congregation claps and cheers for God. Some people reflect on their recent past and see God was there too.

How many times, if this is your type of church, has anyone stood up and proclaimed what WILL be? Let's change that. Let's only proclaim what will be. And let's write it in stone for all posterity. Let's leave a mission of prosperity just in case the bad times come again and/or our progeny get lost on their journeys.

I usually don't extend the gospel reading beyond the verses read in church but the beginning of Luke 17 is major. Two things. You all know we stumble. Sin is everywhere. But Jesus says, the one that makes you stumble has his/her issue coming... Woe unto them! But here is where we must be bigger and better.

We must forgive them if and when they repent. Each and every time. This ain't an easy road I'm walking but it’s going somewhere worth far more than the journey.

“9 Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? 10 So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.'"

This one is important, how many of yall do this - looking for the glory. "I go to church every day. Let me get a miracle God." “I pay my tithes. Let me have..." "I go to work, on time even, everyday. I need a raise." "I go to school..." "I take care of my children (AKA keep them alive)."

Someone is doing all those things and not asking for anything but more work. Who do you think is going to get their blessing first?

As the father said yesterday, "We don't do good deeds for the reward, we do it because of who God is" As we become more Christ like, we learn that God is in each of us and the connection with God is a connection with others. Jesus could drive out demons because he could see the light in the darkest of places. That power is in us. So we learn to Love without expectation, to give without return. That is the greatest commandment - to Love. And when we learn, we teach the people around us. We create a legacy and tradition to be handed down from generation to generation.

Our manifestos don’t have to be anywhere near as grand as Dr. King dream, but they should be in the same vein. Instead, or in addition to, the daily play by plays that are our journal entries, we can leave blueprints/treasure maps/unfinished puzzles to our descendants. We may not make it all the way to final goal but each generation should be closer to it than we were when we passed. THAT is the true wealth. That is what any and everyone has to give to their children. That is our mission. That is hope. That is faith. That is Love.

…for eternity…

Start writing…