tony hey-ho

There are some things that we know are wrong and that should never be done. I guess G-Unit member Marvin Bernard (Tony Yayo) never learned this growing up. Recently, the 29-year-old hip-hop artist was arrested for physically assaulting a 14-year old child. The child was the son of Jimmy “Henchmen” Rosemond, the head of record label/management firm Czar Entertainment. The incident occurred when Rosemond's son left school and was on his way to his internship at his father's offices on West 25th Street.

According to reports, Tony Yayo and several of his friends were leaving Violator Management and saw Rosemond’s son walking down the street dressed in a Czar T-shirt. News reports suggested that Yayo then backhanded the boy with his jewelry-loaded hand and proceeded to curse at the child and towards Czar Entertainment. Witnesses claim that Yayo pushed the boy against the wall, showed him his gun that was tucked in his belt, asking why he was wearing the t-shirt and how old he was. While he was being transported by police, Bernard bragged to reporters “Fitty’ll get me out- I’ll be out tomorrow”.

The child’s mother released a news statement in which she described Yayo’s actions as a “cowardly act” and that it “was a step away from child molestation.” I honestly do not get what is wrong with folks who let celebrity and the so-called credo of violent behavior for the sake of keeping it real; make them not see right from wrong. I agree with the mother, this is a bitch move and we should not tolerate such nonsense anymore. In addition, we should be very careful about how and who we place on pedestals as a function of their celebrity status. Marvin Bernard from this vantage point is just another punk who should be in jail. The problem is that his fans, and the women how admire his lifestyle will still seek to be with or want a person like him in their life.

young, dumb and no income

It seems to me that being lazy and having little if any value for hard work and work ethic is commonplace nowadays. From my perspective, more and more people, in particular folks that look like me want something for nothing. Many times, the request to be taken care of are so vivid that they themselves do not see their own behaviors. It so bad now that people expect things to be done for them yet they at the same time feel that they do not have to do anything in return or may even posture the opinion that they are entitled to such treatment.

I write this to say that we need to evaluate ourselves and our own behavior to the point of being more realistic about our own personal beliefs. This is to say that if we expect people to do for us, then we should not have a problem with them expecting the same in return. Such practices and inappreciation for others can destroy relationships and friendships and are often the fruit of our own inactivity. Some may blame this on youth, others may blame it on a lack of home training. In most respects, it is due to individuals never having seen love or recive love in an unconditional manner.

The question is reduced to this, is it wise, smart, or realistic to expect folks to do for us, when we do not do for ourselves or those that do for us? I would not be surprised as if some folks would say it is wise. But then again, it will be those same people who cannot show compassion, passion or unconditional positive regard to others, or let alone, see that such behavior makes other less likely to do for them.

not enuff television - i think 2 much

Call me Candide (Voltaire is my favorite writer), but I was kind of anticipating a warm recognition for an anniversary last week. No, not the Biggy ten years after his death aniversary, nor the 25-year anniversary of “the message – Grand Master Flash and the Furious Five athough such is worth in these eyes.” And most definitely I am not speaking of the 25 year anniversary of John Belushi's death. I was just expecting that the 50th aniversary celebrating of Ghana's independence from Britain would have gained some recognition from African Americans over in this camp. I mean we have problems to solve but the first step in solidartity is the regonition ofg respect for mutual self determination. Ghana was the first sub-Saharan country to break with its colonial power.

Even the U.S., I mean President Bush sent a delegation to honor this momentous ocassion. The Presidential Delegation to Accra, Ghana for the 50th Anniversary of Independence was lead by Alphonso Jackson, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and included Pamela E. Bridgewater, United States Ambassador to the Republic of Ghana, John J. Danilovich, CEO, Millennium Challenge Corporation, Ronald A. Tschetter, Director of the Peace Corps, Jendayi Elizabeth Frazer, Assistant Secretary of State (African Affairs) and R. Timothy Ziemer, Rear Admiral, United States Navy (Retired), Coordinator for the President's Malaria Initiative. Leave it to President Bush to be disrespectful and send second tier dignitaries to this historic Event. As well, I can comprehend the sentiments of former President Jerry Rawlings, who criticized the event.

Sure, every body knows that on 5 March 1957, Britain formally transferred power to independence leader Kwame Nkrumah. Nkrumah was a great and powerful man and still is relevant today if you asked me. Not to mention, he wrote one of my faviorite books ever by african thinker, AFRICA MUST UNITE, inclusive of The Mind of Africa by Peter Abrahams. Africa must unite was the first bok that explained racism in terms of power (page 15). Kwame Nkrumah guided Ghana to independence on March 6 1957 and was the first black nation to achieve such in Africa. Not to mention that Ghana was once the world's top exporter of cocoa and a leading producer of gold.

I was just optimistic that there were fans of self-determination and history as I am myself. Guess the song we shall overcome will always be enigmatic for us as a collective. Or maybe, just maybe I don’t look at enough television and think too much.

the golden rules of fools

The way I see the world as An African American is very different from the manner white folks and even our women see it. For me, trust and truthfulness are the only things I have and they are manifested in my word. If I say I am going to do something, I will do it or at least do all in my power to accomplish the task at hand. This is really consistent in the manner in which I treat people. I am a firm believer in the golden rule – do unto others as they do unto you.

With that said, I also acknowledge that in our daily interactions with people, even those that we are around all of the time, many of us fail to acknowledge this rule, which means we can not honestly look other in the face and be truthful about how we feel and what we feel. I could never for example, stay in a job if I did not like or value the work that I was doing in that job. Likewise, I could never stay or be with a person whom I know I have no liking, desire, or affinity for. I mean, why hang around someone one does not like or may even despise? This boggles my mind for I feel that a clean heart is the only type of heart that can show respect and love and value and appreciation.

However, for some of us, our personal penchant and insecurities and selfish ways prevent us from ever having a clean heart for we prefer to hide, sneak, and be dishonest and insincere about what ever we feel to those we are around most or even should care about the most. I was taught that if one gave then they would receive. But I was also taught that if there is no giving that they should not receive. As an African American man, my heart is pure and clean and I know that I have no support out in this world other than myself and my work ethic. There is no one I can depend on to do for me as I do for them I don’t expect such, but it would be nice to have such. But When I offer myself unconditionally to my work, my family, and my wife/girlfriend (if I had one), it will be for better or worse and completely. I will make time to do my job well and to love those around me the same.

For those who don’t have an open and loving heart, and who can not appreciate or notice a blessing when they have them right in front of their eyes, they never will, for they will only see the world in terms of lies, deceit, and chicanery. It is these folk we have to nurture and watch out for – the ungrateful who can never give as they receive.

I'm With Stupid

One of my favorite sayings I have seen on a T-Shirt is “I’m with stupid.” Therefore, in honor of this saying, I have outlined several things that I have seen observed that would want me to stand next to a person that does or says the following:

1] Spending time in clubs, bars or on the corner instead of being around to provide for your family and nurture your kids

2] Locking your keys inn the car, with the engine running, and a baby in the back in a car seat to run i9n a store and get a lottery ticket (saw this on TV).

3] Thinking that a married man who offers to furnish another woman’s apartment is not expecting sex or anything in return.

4] Letting you cell phone get cut off after receiving a text message from the company two days before for a bill of 50$.

5] Letting your electricity be cut off because you are too lazy to go to the mailbox, check the mail, and get the bill.

6] Expecting a person to sign over private contracts obtained 7 years prior to being employed with a company, because you did not ask a person in a higher position for permission to secure the contract. When you did not work for that person at the time of employment by some 6 years (going through this as we speak).

You tell me what u think about these and give me some more I am with stupid actions. Blog will be back in full force this week.

Tort of Intrusion

President Bush has signed an $82 billion military spending bill that was overwhelmingly supported by the House of Represenatives that will, assist to create electronically readable, federally approved ID cards for Americans (the Real ID Act).. The concept, which is stated to be the barinchild of Wisconsin Rep. Sensenbrenner is outlined primarily as an anti-immigration measure. It would require State drivers' licenses and other such documents to meet federal ID standards established by the Department of Homeland Security. It is supposed to help immigration because it will prohibit states from issuing driver's licenses to illegal aliens (as if illegal aliens won’t drive if they do not have a licenses – laughable politics as usual).

In three years from nowall U. S. citizens and anyone in the country will need a federally approved ID card to travel on an airplane, open a bank account, and make use of any government service. One form of information contained on the card is"common machine-readable technology" that Homeland Security will decide on. It will also have "physical security features designed to prevent counterfeiting, or any other fraudulent activity. I take this to imply that biometric information such as retinal scans, fingerprints, DNA data and radio frequency identification (RFID) tracking will be on the card. It seems to be a waste of money first on several levels. First passports alrady have/contain radio frequency identification chips embedded in them. Then there are estimates that it may cost $120 million bills that could actually (God forbid) be employed for real security.

My concern is that the legislation REAL ID will pass because it was attached to legislation that funds military action in Iraq, which means that it basically was accepted and pushed on the people without hearings or debate anywhere. To aid salt to the wound, reports have suggested that production of the card and associated data will be outsourced to a private corporation. Reports also suggest that DHS head Michael Chertoff personally ordered this option to be chosen, which in essecence outsurce State and Constitutional rights from state DMVs to a private corporation. All that is accomplished is that the federal government supercedes states powers and states’ systems for issuing driver's licenses.

The there is the uncanny question in my mind as to why I have not heard anything about REAL ID in the newspapers or on television anywhere? Where is the open discussion on the side of liberty? All this does is help to establish an Orewllian Police State since in October 2004 the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act became law and established and put in place new security measures for driver's licenses as recommended by the 9/11 Commission Report. Welcome to the inevitable, a National ID is coming and honestly, none of this is required nor does it increase homeland security or illegal immigration. As such, this is a tort of intrusion I cannot live with.

The New Civil Rights Battle

Man, let me make one query, what is the new civil rights battle currently and of the future? No, it is not gay rights, but if you do not have an answer, I will take the liberty to proffer that it is simply to get these fools back in line in the African American community.

See, I was raised in Memphis, and I recant vividly the presence of National Guards on my street telling me I could not go outside and play in my own front yard the night Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed. My uncle along with his entire student body cut high school that day and the following day to go down town and wreck some feces. My momma worked at the hospital they took Dr. King to – pronounced dead on arrival. He was transported to the hospital in a bread truck she told me.

Now, unlike in the pass, often the enemy is we and our penchant for self-destructive behavior. Now, we have momma’s stabbing and killing their kids, Momma’s giving their sons guns to go and kill other children and high school coaches taking part in drive-by shootings. Last but not least, there is the presence of the new KKK – so called lyricist in the rap game that promote drug dealing, copulating with other men’s women, disrespect for family bonds and relationships, killing as if life is worthless and material in the form of diamond encrusted watches, teeth, and cars with spinning rims as being more valuable than thought or scholarship in the form of dialectical rumination. Ergo, I submit to you that this is the new battleground for civil rights in our community and that I find myself guilty too, if I cannot get these fools back in line.

Picking and Choosing Sin

Now i am not the churchiest person, or most religious person around, but I do acknowledge right from wrong and doing right to all by the best of my abilities. However, we all know someone or another who is vehement about not committing sin for whatever reason. This is good quality and I admire it. However, there are many folks who do this but seem to pick and chooses their top sin. Some folks may say they will never steal or other may say they living together without being married are sin - or that having sex before marriage is sin. They are correct in all respects; it’s just that it seems disingenuous if these people do other things that are just as sinful. Like getting drunk, having adulterous affairs, being unable to forgive others or even valuing material gains and worldly things more so than the grace of giving and unconditional positive regard to their neighbors.

It just strikes me as funny, that a person who would say that having sex before marriage for example, is sin doesn’t think it a sin to steal, get intoxicated, have affairs with a married person, cannot love their neighbor or all life, would have any hang ups about discussing sin in the first place.

I figure if we gone talk it, walk it and be about it. For when people feel their convictions are holier than others, they loose it all in the big picture and end up being the biggest sinners of all.

Lift up Your Skirt and Find Your Balls

As African American men, we find ourselves in precarious and difficult positions daily in life that the average denizen will never experience. Namely due to social, economic and historical factors, we have a hard job of just maintaining respect and our life. The conundrum is that we are few in many, especially those of us deserving of the title of men.

As it stands, we are a dying breed although many self proclaim the title of being a real per say, man. I just think the aforementioned has a responsibility to his community and family as being one. That includes making to the best of his abilities, a stable living environment free from detrimental factors both in the home and neighborhood. This means being responsible enough to provide and take care of our children and our women. It also entails being able to sustain tolerance for scrutiny, criticism, and plane old meanness that will be directed towards breaking us down.

We should be able to critically make decision that look at our families and communities first, even if they may be to our disliking. We should not desire outcomes such as that which lead to the arrest of former Atlanta Falcon Asley Ambrose who is reported to have pushed his wife in the face and threw a glass vase at her after she responded in self-defense. According to police reports, when she tried to call 911, thge brother of the former falcon, Naim Shakir, 24, "tackled her and held her down while Ashley Ambrose kicked her in the side and hit her in the face, according to the report."


So I guess I state this as challenge to us men who claim to be real but are never there at PTA meetings for our kids, never changing diapers, not treating the women in your lives like queens, being faithful and respecting the relationships and commitments of others. More importantly, it means if you cannot do any of these things, then lift up your skirt and find your balls.

The New Freaknic

Yesterday I read the take on the All-star game that was held in Vegas. The perspective was from a man I respect, admire, and actually personified the term student athlete while enrolled at Ball State University – Jason Whitlock. The article was called “Mayhem Main Event at NBA All-Star Weekend.” He suggested that the NBA and the local communities like Atlanta, Houston and Las Vegas have experienced this for years.

He described all star weekend as an “unmitigated failure” and said it was merely a”new millennium Freaknik. I guess the shoe may fit somewhat. After all, I consider myself old school ATL folk and was a participant at each one. Everybody I have talked to that attended the All-star game said they game itself was not the attraction, but mainly talked about the wild parties, the freaky women, folks shooting guns and smell of Purp everywhere. But then again that is what people talk about whenever they go somewhere expecting to have a wild time. Then again, it is Las Vegas, a city that sells itself on the statement “what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.” They have some responsibility for this also.

Over a three-day period, it is reported that a total of 403 arrests were made by police with a large amount of these being vice-related. Others have stated that 362 people were arrested during the All-Star Game. The say one man was shot at 4 a.m. in the front e of the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino as late as Monday and that a brawl broke out around 30 minutes later in a club at the Wynn hotel. NFL player Pacman Jones, Nelly and Jermaine Dupri were at the Minxx Gentlemen's Club. The way I have heard it from news and blog outlets, The Tennessee Titans Cornerback Jones had a bag with $10,000 worth of singles and started to “make it rain” being the College Park Native he is., took the singles out, and threw them in the air all around the club for strippers and patrons. After a few fight broke out, the club owner told him he had to leave. After which one of his boys who was sitting with him while inside went back and started shooting. It was also alleged that by the owner of the strip club that PacMan slammed and punched a stripper before the shootings.

I can expect this from Pacman, given his poor decision-making and penchant for “keeping it real” – really stupid. CBS says that the professional football player was just a “witness to the triple shooting early Monday that left two critically wounded.” The owner of the strip club with the shootings was on the radio saying one of PacMan's crew was the shooter. Also said PacMan slammed and punched a stripper before a bouncer got there and they closed the club all-leading up to the shootings.

Then there was the little altercation between Young Buck and Game. It too occurred durinmg the early morning hours of Saturday (February 17) when Game attended a party hosted by T.I and Jeezy. The event, called The Las Vegas Takeover and was held at the The Ice House Lounge nightclub. All over non sense because Buck got on stage, grabbed a mic and started a freestyle dis of Game on one of Games Tracks [ACTUAL VIDEO HERE]. Security had to hold back Game and his folk escort Buck and rapper Young Jeezy who came together, out of the club.

Now I do not get Mr. Whitlock with his nearly 350 pound self. But he sounds more like ESPN’s Bill Simmons than a brother. Simmions described the event as the “hip-hop Woodstock”. I would expect Mr. Simmions to be afraid but not Mr, Whitlock. I am 6'2" and barely 180 pounds but I am not afraid of anyone. The only thing I am afraid of is not being able to take care of, provide, and protect my family. However, Whitlock basically said that he was afraid of his own folk in 2007. Now I am hard, extremely hard on my folk but I am not afraid of them nor promote to feel uncomfortable or threatened by people that look like me. Mr. Whitlock I still respect you but let’s attempt to expose the problems without stereotyping all our folks. We do need to check our behavior. Especially those behaviors that are self-destructive and artifical and rooted around money defining who we are. However, you have picked the wrong side, and may even be the personification of what Frantz Fanon called “Black Skin White Mask.” I do respect your opinion, I am just not afraid of my own kind.