Dialectical Ruminations

Jones, a man hasn’t tooted his own horn in a long time. But I shall regress, make up for my past offense and do so. Albeit, I am at war, and there is an extreme lack of scholarly and well-versed mother fuckers of similar ethnic persuasion that can have my back in the rudimentary aspects of verbal joust and dialectical rumination (the name of the 2nd sbm album in 1988), I will do so hesitantly.

I am resistant, like I said I am at war and I am a scholar. In these times a nigga would prefer to spend 25 stacks on a watch rather than half and library or 10,000 shares of GG – Gold Corp out of Canada. This means that the bevy of folk well–read in multi displinary subject matter is limited, and one has to keep their own intellectual deftness up to par without the assistance of others. When I was in undergrad, at Morehouse, there was plenty folks like this. As there were plenty of folk like this from South Parkway, Castalia, Glenview, Bunker Hill, Alcy and Orange Mound back at the cut.

But for the record, with respect to my own horn, I will say that I am as prolific as pro football. Not to many folk practice the cannon like the old school did. See, I’m a writer. I write if I make loot, folk read me, or not. I do not just pen novels. I’m old school like a quart of Stag. I write essays, in fact I love them but I also write novels, plays, and non fiction with short stories being equal to essays and verse. I have a book on the Transition to Democracy in Nigeria when I lived there in the ninety’s. I have a book of plays scheduled to come out at the end of the summer via print on demand. I will speak of it later.

I have finished 3 novels, a book of plays, 6 books of verse and an epic in iambic pentameter (Memphis style) and 4 books of short stories. I write like the old school folk. Fittingly, I admire the prose of Frantz Fanon, Poe, Dumas, Hughes, Angelo, Ninn, and Neurda. Moreover, of the 16 finished books, I have 5 published; with 3 more expected this year (Look out for Freak Type Scene).

I'm not afraid to write about anything, but my preference is what comes from my heart, experiences and personal purview of the world i live on. Writing is like my blood, I mean, even my momma said it was my woman. So give me a break when you read what I write, because I write how I think and talk, and what I feel and believe.

soul searching

just wrote this left the essay i wrote last nite at home

What if, you were madly in love with a person, and they were your woman or your man. You decide to take them out and ask what they would like to do but they are undecided and cannot make up their mind. Then all of a sudden, they say they wanted to hang out with their Ex, how would your feel?

I asked this question to four people, one man (myself) and three women. All three women said they would be mad, disheartened and upset. The man said it would be disturbing, since the person could not make up their mind to state what they wanted to do with him, but had obviously planned earlier to hang out with their ex, which to him meant they had been thinking about this a while and desired to spend time with that person more than him.

The women also indicated such a position. They could not understand why a person they were in a relationship with would even say such a thing, knowing that they wanted to go out with them. It just makes me think that we as people are never completely truthful with our situations and are never satisfied. It also makes me think that we do not value what they have when they have it for such a situation would indicate – at least to me – that the person who would say such a thing knew that such a statement may engender pain and/or indifference to that person. But I guess when you pretend to care for a person and really don’t you do things to intentionally hurt them – go figure. Bottom line is we all need to do some serious soul searching when it comes to relationships, because if we don’t make ourselves happy, we will likely make others miserable.

us or them

Why is it that when good old U.S. citizens are in need, the government (federal, state and local) turns the other way and even seems to slide something up the anus without any Vaseline? This is what the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is doing to the folks who have been uprooted from their homes and livelihood as a backlash of Hurricane Katrina. In fact FEMA has issued a statement suggesting that that evacuees from hurricanes Katrina and Rita will loose funding for hotel accommodations.

This means more than 12, 000 families (New Orleans alone) made homeless last year will have no place to stay. To make things worse, people who lose homes can only get federal rent assistance as opposed to their mortgages replaced. I just don’t know why we always fucking over our own kind. Other than the fact that they are mostly African Americans, it just doesn’t appease the senses to try and understand such behavior.

Thanks to U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval these families will have no where to go on short notice, but the government, will no longer have to foot the bill, which has thus far accrued a cost of nearly 275 million dollars for accommodating these individuals in hotels. In total, about 54,000 families were still living in hotels in hard hit states of Georgia, Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

My problem is that we do not have money for these individuals but we still continue to give – willy-nilly money to rich countries that do not need such assistance. Over the period from 1974 to 1989 alone, the U.S. government gave Israel a total of $16.4 billion in U.S. grants based on congressional research. Since 1949, or the creation of Israel, we have given the Israeli government about $84,854,827,200 according to figures from the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. This means that on average, Israel gets anywhere from $3 billion to $5 billion annually from the US – money of which they are not required to pay back.

I suggest that we take this money and provide for our own kind, unless the US is prepared to get some land in Israel and send these folks there. The League of Nations/UN did such in 1949, why not do such now. We just take the Israeli land and it will be all good for these 50,000 plus families. They way I figure it is either us (the US and the citizens of this country) coming first or them. No if ands or buts.

Leroy, I mean Dick Cheney

Wonder what it would be like to shoot a man at point blank range, about 3 feet away, three times and not get arrested or do any jail time? Well that’s what happened to the Vice President, Dick Cheney. Over the weekend, Cheney had shot and wounded a friend while out shooting people – I mean quail.

I guess having such name recognition was why it was not made open to the public for nearly a day after the event. How could it be, I mean a man is shot, and there is not police report or nothing on the news for an entire day? The man, Harry Whittington was hit in the face, neck and chest by the Vice President. At the time they were on a 5,000 acre private ranch south of San Antonio. First, how can you actually call yourself hunting when you are on a controlled ranch, with Quail that are farmed raised and can’t fly like real Quail?

All The Vice President got was a warning citation for not having a special bird-hunting stamp on a Texas hunting license he had purchased by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. I speculate if he was of a different hue, he would have gotten the complete business, let alone if it were Leroy Cheney we were talking about as opposed to Dick. I bet even if he dies, as a result of the heart attack he just had as a consequences of a piece of birdshot moving to his heart, the white man who shot him won't get charged with murder nor manslaughter.

So the long of it is if you are a white vice president, you can shoot a man three times, in the face even, at close range and say you were shooting at some birds that cannot fly. Instead of a mug shot, purp walk and finger prints, all you get is a warning and a fine of seven dollars, the cost of an upland game bird stamp.

these niggas shootin' again

Yesterday, I was consuming food and beverage in a favorite as well as conveintly located venue after work. It was Friday, and I was preparing for the weekend. Mind that, I had just finished an essay a few day earlier on the stupidity associated with some folks in lieu of having seemingly infinite fiscal resources. What happened?

Well, after meeting with my folk, I was preparing to leave for the cut. As I was exiting, a kid down with this rap clique in the ATL limped in coming through the door. He and a few of his folks, who were recognizable to me by name, sat across from me the whole time as I read the wall street journal and drinking a Pabst Blue Ribbon 16 oz. They consumed pink colored drinks which I concluded were cranberry juice and Grey Goose. Any who, he limped passed me; dripping blood on the floor of the restaurant from is right leg/foot. I had heard four pops outside, but I paid it no attention, but was now reminicing on the sound formulating that they could have been the sounds of either a four-pound or nine double M’s going off.

His folk passed me running up the street saying that he was gone kill them mother fuckas while at the same time, his boys pulled up in a suburban, helped they folk in the car, and speed off. Now I’m still walking to my truck. And see another man (innocent by-stander) shot lying between two cars parked next to my vehicle. As I’m looking at Jones, and telling his folk in the barbershop behind me to get him some blankets to help prevent hypothermia from setting in cause its cold and he bleeding all through his shirts, i'm just tripping.

My home boy, who owns a recording studio less than a block away from all of this, walks up and asked me what had happened. I told him and he said “Damn, these niggas shooting again; it’s hot around here, L (innocent by-stander) got shot last night, punk ass nigga shot him in the back.” The story was that he was trying to help another aquaintance of ours, the little brother of a popular singer who had done a song with a popular rapper in the city, who the boy who had been helped to the car was folk with. He says they were trying to rob him. I won’t go into any other details, for the sake of my folk who are really on the sideline. But when will all this stupidity stop. Seems like the adage – the more money the more problems – maybe true, But on the real, it is our feculent stupidity that continues this trend of urban violence. And the and thing is, that if it is beef, it aint edible and it’s unfortunately connected to people who want to be gangsters for no apparent reason. Nothing wrong with being hard, but there is something wrong with not being smart.

Rampant Mediocrity

In the world we live in, there seems to be a downward trend in ethics regarding hard work, mastery of ones craft and being exemplary. This can be seen everywhere one looks from movies, to literature, to political discourse to even the construction of buildings. A while back, which really was not to long ago, one was lauded based on the mastery and the quality of the products they produced. Now days, it seems to be the reverse, that such quality and exceptional works are rare and that thing that are just bland, average and the run of the mill same old, same old are the most sought after and available materials.

This is certainly the case for movies and music. In both situations, we see that trends and popularity is more essential than skill and eminence. With regards to movies, it appears that people need to see certain things and display certain things, to appeal to the masses which are sub-par in intellectual prowess and capacity at best. When people who have worked on the craft for years are les desirable than a face from the music industry, it is not unusual that

In music there is a similar outlook. Whatever is hot at the time is more important than creativity and attempting to challenge the cerebral sphere of the genre. Literature too is not immune to this for we see the focus, at least in African American literature and fiction is on what can be simply put as trash versus literary fiction – fiction that shows skill that is unique and does not follow the ubiquitous feeling that some writers show as “following what will sale.” I do not write to sale, I write because I love it and feel that I owe the canon of literature for even if I did not publish and sale my books, I’d still honor my craft.

Yep, we live in an age where mediocrity is rampant and exceptional quality and craftsmanship is rare. Maybe one day we will see this, and put all of this trash where it belongs – in the dumpster.

Stupid Mutha Fuckas Unite

introducing the ASMFFBI

From the look of things there is a new movement that needs to be recognized. I would like to take the opportunity to label this as the Association of Stupid Mutha Fuckas and Fuck Boys International.

Case in point: In New York over the weekend, there was another scene of needless violence in an environment that should have been the least likely for such to occur. A video shoot, I figure should be a festive event, not to mention an event in which most of the persons involved are either paid, entertained, or offered in-kind financial outcomes in the form of cameos for public relations purposes.

Trevor Smith, also know as Buster Rhymes, while shooting a video for the first single on his latest Album, lost Israel Ramirez, one of his personal body guards as the result of a fatal gun shot wound. Initially, the rapper said that he did not witness what had happened but Israel Ramirez wife/widow told the New York Post that Trevor Smith called her and said he saw it all.

Complicating this is that it is speculated that all of this is the result of some stupid nigga shit commonly called beef, between a few anal pores - Rhymes' producer Swizz Beatz and G-Unit rap-group members Tony Yayo and Lloyd Banks. Supposedly the shooting may have been the product of an impassioned spat between Swizz Beatz, Tony Yayo and Lloyd Banks inside the soundstage area of the video set. They way it is asserted, Banks and Yayo got something against Beats, and Beats dislikes Banks and Yayo – go figure.

In theory, these niggaz have all that their little materialistic minds can crave – money, women, infidelity, drugs, jewelry and guns. What more can a nigga with an IQ less than 85 desires, outside of respect and legitimacy? It just strikes me as strange, that in a world where our children can’t be assured quality health care, a good education, or living above poverty and in a world without violence, that sphincters like these members of the ASMFFBI still fail to see and count their blessings and move our community in the direction of prosperity, betterment and collective self-empowerment.

I’m tired of this shit, and wish that somebody would look at the big pictures and re-align the priority of what is best for the sustainability of the community and neighborhood from which we come. I wrote about fuck-boys before and I would love to stop. But until they disappear, I will continue to call them out and say what I perceive needs to be said. I am not scared. I was raised on Medgar Evers, martin King and Malcolm X. So if these folks don’t like what I am saying, I work at Morehouse School of Medicine and I ain’t Casper – meaning I’m not invisible. Find me if you want or don’t like what I say. But my momma said you can never be afraid of a fool or a person who doesn’t use common sense and judgment. I guess I will never be a card carrying member of the ASMFFBI.

hard 4

Man, man, man, what a nigga gone do man. I love sports, I love football, but I do wish that officials did not have as much a part in the outcome of the game as I have seen now, in Super Bowl 40. At first, I thought that at this time of the year, the striped shirt Jones would be basically invisible. Now I realize they want attention too. It started with the offensive pass interference – which was make believe and resulted in a touch down being taken off the board. But I let that slide. That is until; the Seahawks were driving and had made a completion for first and goal on the one, only to have it turned back because of another cal that I refer to as the invisible phantom hold. It was both invisible and not there. Add to this that there was an interception thrown in an effort to make up yardage and the Seattle Quarterback was hit with a penalty for going low on a blocker when he made the tackle. I never wanted to admit that the NFL front office had a favorite or rather the officials had a favorite – sop much for neutrality. I’m not going to even mention the fuble that they had to review because they, the best in the NFL missed the call. Why can’t they let folks leave it on the field, like the greatest Super Bowel ever between St. Louis and My Tennessee Titans? Now that was a game, and the officials were basically invisible meaning the players handled their based on skills alone. Damn man, a nigga sure does miss hard four. Maybe it's the flu I have or the fact that I don't have a woman to nurse me while I have the flu, regardless the men in stripes will always be the MVP

Trick or Treat

Yo, I am a father. I have the greatest son any man could ask for and recently, I added a daughter to the fold – not like she a yearling or something, but rather my newest clan member. I love the both to death and I have fears for both as well, but the fears I have for my son are completely different and not as scary as those I have contrived to develop for my daughter. Namely because as a man, you can accept some things as being inevitable, in particular as an Africa American man. But my daughter, I am just afraid to think.

With the new focus of our individualistic culture, I am afraid that my daughter will value something other than herself as being the most important commodity she has. As it stands, with videos and music, women are nothing more than hoes. Even in the movies, television soaps we see the same imagery. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m the kind of man who liked hoes, tricks, freaks, and bitches and unfortunately, via my south Memphis up-bringing referred to them as such. Even in the understanding that I did not regard the women in my family (with the exception one cousin) as being this way.


Now with a daughter, I am scared. I am scared that she will turn out to be one of these women who defines a man by how much money he has, or more specifically, how much money he will spend on her. I am afraid that if a man offers here a few hundred dollars, or a purse, she will get on her knees and service him orally. I’m afraid that she may end up doing something and selecting a man that may result in her being in a porn movie or worse, dead along some remote rural highway. Dang, I never thought being a father was so hard, but when you have little girls, it’s an entirely different picture. I just hope she will not be a trick, but rather a treat. Guess her mother and I got a ot of work in front of us.

214-216

This is a new America; one resemblance of place Adous Huxley or George Orwell ruminated. On Wednesday, February 1, the House of Representatives voted to send President Bush legislation that would cut spending on federal benefit programs about $39 billion over the next five years. Ironically, it was signed right after his State of the Union address. The Budget Reconciliation Bill passed just barely, by a vote of 216 — 214.

The bill has cuts in it for Medicaid, child support enforcement, and student loans programs. From its language, it is not a wonder why many feel Bush is anti-minority as well as anti-American. By slowing the growth of such programs that have traditionally served as a net for the working poor, it may result in lower wages for many single parent households and reduce the number of individuals trying to improve their social standing by going to college or trade schools. Any one that desires to go after a student loan now will have limited fiscal resources with the proposed $11.9 billion in cuts to the student loan program, not withstanding the supplement of higher interest rates on such loans.

In addition, folks that receive Medicaid will now have to pay higher co-payments and deductibles, on prescription drugs and emergency room visits for non-emergency care. Some folks made out like bandits. Rich dairy farmers get a $1 billion income subsidy program physicians get support the loss income from cuts in Medicare fees. Then there is the House version of that bill would broaden tax cuts for capital gains and dividends for the wealthy.

I don’t know what will be next on the Horizon, but it is evident that things for the poor, minorities, women, children and the elderly are getting worse while the friends of the politicians are lounging. 216 to 214, talk about popular support.