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Yo, the party's up the block. averytooley.com. I'm goin' that way. Need a ride?

Drawing the Line

Like Ambra, who breaks it down beautifully, I'm more of a pragmatic conservative than an ideological one. My politics is probably actually more like the way I play baseball: I field left but swing right. So when it comes to issues of race, I can almost always "feel" where the activist is coming from, to a certain degree. Somebody wants to argue for reparations or affirmative action or whatever, up to a point, they're not going to get any argument out of me, while somebody who would categorically deny either of those may provoke me to speak. When it comes to action, however, that historical perspective is a limiting factor. Samantha does a good job of illustrating that in The New Black Freedom Fighter. She writes,

This all strikes me as being totally ignorant of what black folk have achieved in this country DESPITE slavery and racism. When the white mobs got together to burn down black neighbourhoods they were not burning down shantytowns rife with crime, homelessness, illegitimacy, and broken families. They were burning down thriving businesses, well kept homes, churches, and displacing intact families. Why did the white mobs feel the need to carry on in this fashion? Because of the very fact that thriving black neighbourhoods existed. You can’t very well go around insisting that black folk can’t do nothin’ and are less than human with evidence to the contrary staring you right in the face now can you? So you go on crying about reparations, the negative legacy of slavery, how we got shafted, and everything else. As for me and my house, we will continue to strive for excellence in all that we do. We will not look for excuses to explain away our failures but we will learn from them and not repeat them. And we will continue to be inspired by those who came before us who refused to be stopped by the roadblocks placed in their paths.

This is pretty much where I draw the line and why I stand on the side I do. I can't really watch movies like Rosewood because they make me want to put on a black leather glove and start smacking people upside the head, but when I read about what happened in places like Rosewood or Black Wall Street in Tulsa, I'm reminded that those people were about getting it done. Forget about the governments refusal to grant them reparations, even though many of them had actually lived during physical slavery, the government was openly hostile to them and actively denying them justice. So what did they do? They got out there and did. I'm right with the activist on some things, but I step to the right when it comes to the solutions. The government is not going to do it; most things, the government couldln't do, even if the willingness was there. I mean, I can understand the thought process that says "since the government was complicit in doing things to the detriment of Blackfolk, the government should put forth the same effort in redressing those wrongs." For some folks, affirmative action and welfare (?!) represent that government redress. (Being that Blackfolk aren't the majority beneficiaries of either one of those, I don't see how that can be the case.) Whatever. Whether you think it's owed us or not, we ain't gettin' it. And this is not an ideological capitulation, it's just being pragmatic. Look, racism isn't going anywhere. Hate to say it, but that's just a part of our national fabric. And even at that, it's certainly not what it used to be, but as long as there is material gain to be had by using race as a factor in some decision-making process, racism and all those other -isms will remain. So if Black folks are supposed to wait for the last vestiges of racism, individual or structural, before we make a major move, we might as well quit now. Of course that's not the solution, and my activist friends know that too. It's the brothers and sisters with the PhD's that give the worst reports. What kills me is, they do one thing but say something else, dismissing their own accomplishments as atypical; "I've been more fortunate than the average Black person." Yeah, and you made some better decisions, too. Racism and the legacy of slavery and jim crow and whatever other historical events we'd like to point to can't explain away everything. My kids didn't not-know 12*12 because of some unseen link to their ancestors, they just didn't study. Instead of running off a list of why "the rest of us" can't, maybe it's time for us Black folks who have achieved something to focus more on why "we" did and try to break down the barriers between the two. Just a thought.

Movin' On Up

Come On Down! (c) Johnny Olsen, Rod Roddy, & Flavor Flav This will be my last day of using the blogger platform. As I mentioned last week...or whenever that was....*shrugs* I'm moving to my own spot. Stereo will still be there, looking quite different, but there will also be some other goodies and treats. Still debating whether I'm gonna sneak some hidden features in there, just to test the McGruff skills of certain readers, and for the novelty of having done it. Don't hurt yourself trying to look, because there may not even be anything back there. But knowing me, there will be hidden treasure troves (?) back in the cut somewhere. But there will be enough up front to keep everybody occupied. Soooo...enjoy this last day at the apartment and join me tomorrow at the housewarming in the new crib.

Couldn't Have Made This Up On My Best Day, pt. 5

Yeah...I miscounted last time AND screwed up my own made-up title. *shakes head* Anyway.... 'How To Be Rich, N**ga' Book Targeting Hip-Hop Entrepenuers Drops Today

Gerard Spinks’ self-published book "How To Be Rich, N**ga," was released to stores today. Spinks, cousin of boxing champs Michael, Leon Spinks and Cory Spinks, said he made millions of dollars as the owner of a technology consulting business, Spinks Technologies, based in Atlanta, Georgia. Spinks said "How To Be Rich," is a “ghetto survival guide” that targets the Hip-Hop community that details how to make more money and remain self-sufficient. "We have all seen that depending upon the U.S. Government for sustenance makes no sense and simply doesn't work,” Spinks said. “I know people who legitimately lost their jobs, needed unemployment benefits to live, and were denied a claim. Black people cannot depend upon anyone else for our rise up and college kids need to be equipped to deal with outsourcing and with a very bleak job creation outlook."

Everything he said is very true, but did he really have to add 'Nigga' to the title? Is it gonna be written in SBV? I'm gonna look for it while I'm at the book store today. If it looks worthwhile, I might even cop it. But dag, though.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T My Sisters... - Misogyny In Hip-Hop, pt. 2

It takes a man to take a stand understand, it takes a woman to make a stronger man (as we both get strong) - Chuck and Flav Last time I talked a little bit about misogynistic lyrics in hip-hop. One thing I intended to do, and either was not clear on, or simply failed to accomplish, was to make some space between the use of the word "bitch" and misogyny. That is, using the same formula for misogyny that I use for racism, where misogyny = prejudice or malice + intent + action, I'm not sure where the "tell 'em why you mad" record would fall on a scale of real misogyny. Like I said, I think there's a good discussion to be had about whether words like bitch and ho should be used at all, but I'm not sure whether their use necessarily constitutes misogyny. Just needed to clean that up a little. Now. For Part 2, I want to focus on misogynistic images within hip-hop. One area where rap is unprecedented in its presentation of "misogynistic" content is in the images portrayed in its videos. Now I had MTV (or as Chuck D calls it, empty-v) back in the day. I saw the rock videos with the big-haired (among other things) Beckys jiggling around in their little strategically-ripped half shirts. It's another case where hip-hop didn't start it, but we have advanced(?) it far beyond where it was. Of course, my perspective on this aspect may be limited because I don't watch TV and I haven't watched a show of music videos in years. Rock videos may have a whole sub-genre of strip club videos like hip-hop. Even if they do, I'm not really worried about it. I'm talkin' about hip-hop. There was a time when the worst thing people could say about the images of women in hip-hop videos was that there were no dark-skinned women. Being a sucker for redbone jawns myself, I noticed, but I wasn't exactly bothered. In the real world, beautiful Black women come in all shades of the spectrum, so it wasn't that big of a deal to me. Besides, I didn't think that the rappers actually did the casting for their videos, so only so much condemnation could be leveled at them. (Although I will say that one of the weirdest video moments came in Rakim's Check The Technique, when Rakim, a 5 Percenter, was rapping with all these bikini'd-up white chicks undulating to the beat. I remember a letter to the editor of one of the hip-hop magazines of the time, maybe Rap Pages, where the writer was like, "I have a hard time believing that any of those women is named Mahogany or Starmecca.") I imagine that the same type of complaint could be raised regarding the scarcity of big jawns. Of course, the stuff that's going on in videos now would be just as bad if they were full of "full-figured" women. (Because I'm not with that using "full-figured" as a euphemism for fat. Full-figured should mean "having ample breasts and being callipygous. But that's just me, though) Nowadays, it has gotten to the point where rappers are making two videos for certain songs, a "clean" version…meaning that the censors will let it play in the daytime, and an "uncut" version. The uncut version is, for all intents and purposes, a porn video. I have seen the unedited, un-blurred, uncut version of Nelly's Tip Drill. Trust me, that joint ain't nothin' nice. Don't get me wrong, I like eye candy just like the next guy, but some representations just cross the line. I mean, I'm sure that there are some feminists who would argue that simply having women in the videos who serve no purpose except to drape themselves over the rappers (and their hype men) constitutes some level of exploitation. Could be, but I'm not so sure about that. Was Langston Hughes being misogynistic or exploitative when he wrote, "I don't mind dying—/ but I'd hate to die alone/ I want a dozen pretty women/ to holler, cry and moan."? If we think of a music video as a representation of (the director's vision of a) rapper's wished-for lifestyle, then maybe not. As always, there is much to discuss here. But that only goes to a certain extent. I mean, it's one thing for me to have a video where I walk by and all the chicks are looking at me like, "there he goes." It's another thing for me to have a video where the video hoes are nothing but warm receptacles. Now one thing to bear in mind is that it's nothing but a marketing ploy. Everybody knows that the easiest way to get men to do something is to bring women. That's the whole concept behind having Ladies Night at the club. "If we let women in free, we'll recoup on all the guys." I think I said before that I even used that approach when I was trying to get high school volunteers for an after-school class. I figured that if my colleagues and I got enough good-looking girls to work on the project, we'd get at least a handful of guys just because they'd be trying to talk to the girls. (You know it worked.) So for a rapper, one of the easiest ways to get some attention is to put out a video with nothing but half-naked women walking around. You know the guys are gonna watch, and if it goes the artist's way, they'll watch the video enough to listen to the song when it comes on the radio, which they hope will parlay into a CD purchase. Or if they can't have that, there's at least the expectation that if they push the envelope enough with the video, it will draw negative attention and get the artist's name out there. Either way, it's all about getting noticed and making sales. In that sense, I guess that the amount of actual malice is questionable, since my guess is that if showing a jar of speckled jellybeans translated to record sales, the day of the video ho would be over. Either that or there would be a bunch of half-naked women walking around with jars of speckled jellybeans… Anyway, in any discussion of misogyny, there's a whole heap of structuralism that has to be addressed. A true feminist critique of music videos in general and rap videos specifically would pay attention to the manner in which the relationships demonstrated in the videos reflected patriarchy within larger American culture, as well as within traditional Black culture, and the way those two have filtered down to hip-hop culture. There would also be some analysis of the manner in which Black women's bodies have been sexualized and disconnected from their personhood. All valid areas of discussion, but far beyond the scope of what I'm talking about. But I'll fiddle with that last one for a quick second. A couple months ago, I wrote a post on racism. Most of the comments dealt with the issue at the level I was writing about, but then one cat got on there talking about how the Black woman is lowest in terms of desirability or whatever. Something like that. I don't remember exactly, and it's not worth quoting exactly. What is important to note, however, is that people have been saying that for a long time, but even at that, there has also long been a fascination with Black women's sexuality. Saartje Baartman. If that name means nothing to you, hit google and the wikipedia, then come back and read this quote from Patricia Hill Collins, in The Sexual Politics of Black Womanhood.

[...]This objectification of African-American women parallels the portrayal of women in pornography as sex objects whose sexuality is available for men (McNall 1983). Exploiting Black women as breeders objectified them as less than human because only animals can be bred against their will. In contemporary pornography women are objectified through being portrayed as pieces of meat, as sexual animals awaiting conquest.

Read that and then watch Tip Drill. You tell me what's going on. But then to confound the whole feminist position are "artists" like Li'l Kim, Foxxxy Brown, and Trina, who flout traditional norms and aggressively flounce their sexuality. This presents a tension to the feminist who, on one hand argues that it is empowering to show women who are "in charge" of their sexuality, but at the same time recognize that the images portrayed by Kim, Foxy, Trina, et al are essentially the same ones that are put forth by male artists. They're not regulating their sexuality by choosing chastity, they're "owning" it by being being promiscuous. (Man, that's why I miss MC Lyte and Lauryn Hill somethin' fierce! They had it to-gether! They had intelligent lyrics and they knew how to display sex appeal without showing all their goodies. Of course, it didn't hurt that they were fine.) Almost like female versions of Whodini talking about, "I'm a ho, you know I'm a ho/How do you know because I tell you so." Some might argue that at the end of the day, it's still white men in suits (read: record companies) controlling the way Black women are portrayed, but that argument basically takes agency away from the both the artists and the consumers. You know, people can complain about misogynistic songs and videos all they want, but until the artists and record companies feel it in the pocket, nothing's gonna change. I thought it was great that the women at Spelman College declined Nelly's charity drive there earlier this year. But you know what? That's not enough. That was a big, well-publicized event, but that's not the type of thing that will effect any lasting change. As just about everybody who has any thoughts on this will quickly tell you, we still buy those records and rush out to the floor when they come on at the club. If we're really serious about change, we'll make our dollars reflect our ostensible beliefs. Trust me on this one, record companies are all about that bottom line. (Not that bottom line) If you remember back to the late 80's/early 90's, there was a proliferation of 5 Percenter groups out. If you know anything about 5% teachings, you know that that's antithetical to anything most of the people in decision-making positions at major record labels believe. But what? But it was selling. Then came NWA and the Gangsta era, which ushered in the days of "authentic" multi-platinum rap albums (Hammer moved major units, but he didn't force a paradigm shift, partially because he wasn't regardes as being "real.") If we reeeallly wanna see something different, then we'll have to sacrifice; might have to pass up on buying some catchy tunes, or might have to sit down on a song, even though the beat is bumping. Might hafta decide that we're not gonna buy records by alleged pedophiles or support organizations that allow them to be nominated for major awards (he ain't hip-hop, but I simply can't pass that up. Somebody (who actually listens to Kells) could probably write thick, healthy paper (did somebody say a paper with a Sofa?) on misogyny in R. Kelly's work...any undergrads out there?) Might mean actually raising our tastes from the lowest common denominator. Might mean not-supporting broadcast radio (which we know is in the pocket of the big 5 record companies, anyway). The question is, are we gonna actually do anything, or are we gonna support misogynistic music and then turn around and bitch about it? Of course, not all hip-hop is misogynistic or presents Black women in a bad light. Tupac has a couple songs, Dear Mama and Keep Your Head Up, that are worth mentioning. Public Enemy dropped Revolutionary Generation (14 years ago?!). Black Star has Brown Skin Lady, which I love. But I think my favorite gynocentric hip-hop song is 4 Women by Talib Kweli. It's actually a remake of Four Women, by Nina Simone. What's remarkable about it is that in the last two verses, Kweli actually raps as the women in his natural voice. That's major. He doesn't play them as characters, separating the women from himself, he takes on their voice and tells their stories as if they're his own. Because really, they are. Men and women aren't opposites, we're complements. We can't advance by stepping on and away from our sisters and mothers. Let's ride out with Kweli (verses in parentheses are Kweli rapping as Peaches.)

A daughter come up in Georgia, ripe and ready to plant seeds, Left the plantation when she saw a sign even thought she can't read It came from God and when life get hard she always speak to him, She'd rather kill her babies than let the master get to 'em, She on the run up north to get across that Mason-Dixon In church she learned how to be patient and keep wishin', The promise of eternal life after death for those that God bless She swears the next baby she'll have will breathe a free breath and get milk from a free breast, And love beeing alive, otherwise they'll have to give up being themselves to survive, Being maids, cleaning ladies, maybe teachers or college graduates, nurses, housewives, prostitutes, and drug addicts Some will grow to be old women, some will die before they born, They'll be mothers, and lovers who inspire and make songs, (But me, my skin is brown and my manner is tough,) (Like the love I give my babies when the rainbow's enuff,) (I'll kill the first muthafucka that mess with me, I never bluff) (I ain't got time to lie, my life has been much too rough,) (Still running with barefeet, I ain't got nothin' but my soul,) (Freedom is the ultimate goal, life and death is small on the whole, in many ways) (I'm awfully bitter these days 'cuz the only parents God gave me, they were slaves,) (And it crippled me, I got the destiny of a casualty,) (But I live through my babies and I change my reality) (Maybe one day I'll ride back to Georgia on a train,) (Folks 'round there call me Peaches, I guess that's my name.)

Maybe we should try to make sure we're as enthusiastic about praising the good as we are about condemning the negative.

Couldn't Make This Up On My Best Day, Pt. 6

Car-prowl suspect caught while napping inside Jeep A car-prowl suspect in Redmond was caught while napping early yesterday morning.

Police found the 23-year-old Kirkland man asleep in the passenger seat of a Jeep Cherokee outside an apartment complex at the 18100 block of Northeast 95th Street, said Redmond police spokeswoman Stacey Holland. The vehicle showed signs of forced entry, and the man was holding a screwdriver in one hand and a flashlight in the other. Holland said an officer on regular patrol around 3 a.m. came upon a Honda Accord in the middle of the road with the engine running. After noting signs of a break-in, the officer called for reinforcement and began looking for the suspect. The suspect was discovered in the nearby Jeep. The area where the man was caught has had a high number of car prowls lately, Holland said

I'da woke his ass up with a .38 (c) Robin Harris

Whas'nEVER I Play, It's Got To Be FUNKY - When A Bad Jawn Walks In

Today's list is a bunch of songs that I think would make good background music for a good-looking woman to walk in the door. In some cases, it's based on the title and/or words in the song, i.e. it would be really ironic if she walked in while this song was playing. In other cases, it's all about how her walk would interact with the track. Heartbeat - Tanaa Gardner Freak of the Week - Funkadelic Passing Me By - The Pharcyde Everybody Loves the Sunshine - Roy Ayers Weak At the Knees - Steve Arrington Smiling Billy Suite - Heath Brothers Let's Do It Again - Staples Singers You Haven't Done Nothin' - Stevie Wonder Stranglehold - Ted Nugent Electric Relaxation - A Tribe Called Quest Cardova - The Meters Climax - Ohio Players More Bounce To The Ounce - Zapp Joy - Isaac Hayes Star of the Story - Heatwave I Wanna Get Next To You - Rose Royce Be My Beach - Funkadelic

Lotsa Lovin'

Put out some rough stuff today. To cool it off for the night time, I thought I'd take it down a notch. This is something I saw the first day I started blogging. I did a cut and paste and put it into Word, so I don't know where I got it. It's hot, though. Check it out. Kids will be kids. Pure, innocent, naive.. That's what makes them lovable. Enjoy. A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year olds, "What does love mean?" The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined. See what you think: "When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love." Rebecca - age 8 "When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You know that your name is safe in their mouth." Billy - age 4 "Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other." Karl - age 5 "Love is what makes you smile when you're tired." Terri - age 4 "Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK." Danny - age 7 "Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss" Emily - age 8 "Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen," Bobby - age 7 (Wow!) "If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate," Nikka - age 6 "There are two kinds of love. Our love. God's love. But God makes both kinds of them." Jenny - age 8 "Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it every day." Noelle - age 7 "Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well." Tommy - age 6 "During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore," Cindy - age 8 "My mommy loves me more than anybody. You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night." Clare - age 6 "Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken." Elaine-age 5 "Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford." Chris - age 7 "Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day." Mary Ann - age 4 "I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones." Lauren - age 4 "When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you." Karen - age 7 "Love is when Mommy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it's gross." Mark - age 6 "You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget," Jessica - age 8 And the final one -- Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child. The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his Mother asked him what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, "Nothing, I just helped him cry."

You Know I Spell Girl With A 'B' - Misogyny In Hip-Hop, Pt. 1

"They get mad when I put it in perspective but let's see if my knowledge is effective" - Ice Cube Misogyny is one of those words like "racism" that has a nebulous, broadly understood meaning, but is much more slippery when it comes time to actually grab it. There are lots of things we can agree are misogynistic, but are they really, or is it just some behavior that takes a misogynistic form but holds no content? Take using the word "bitch" for instance. For most people, that's a pretty good indicator of some misogynistic tendencies. (And if you keep wondering why I keep writing 'misogynist,' it's just because it has a 'y.') But does it really mean anything? Ice Cube, to use a prominent example, penned the song, "A Bitch Iz A Bitch," dropping the gem,

A bitch iz a bitch So if I'm poor or rich I talk in the exact same pitch Now the title 'bitch' don't apply to all women But all women have a little bitch in 'em It's like a disease that plagues their character Takin' the women of America And it starts with the letter 'B' It makes a girl like that think she better than me See, some get mad and some just bear it But yo, if the shoe fits, wear it. It makes 'em go deaf in the ear, that's why When you say hi, she won't say hi Are you the kind that think you're too damn fly? Bitch, eat shit and die. Ice Cube comin' at you at a crazy pitch. (why?) I think a bitch iz a bitch.

And don't worry, we'll get into the actual words in a minute, but first I need to set up some boundaries. Now, according to some people, the above verse represents views that are hateful to women. Only thing is, Ice Cube's manager was a Black woman. On "When Will They Shoot," he rapped, "A Black woman is my manager, not in the kitchen/ so could you please stop bitchin'." What's more, on Amerikkka's Most Wanted, he has a skit towards the end that's dedicated to "the pretty young ladies who wouldn't give us no play before the album" which is a collage of rappers saying the word "bitch." (And also the first place I heard my catchphrase of 10th grade, "Back up off my tip for the simple fact you on it like a gnat on a dawgs dick…" If I had been a senior that year, I probably would've tried to make that my yearbook quote.) But here's the wrinkle: after all that bitch-calling, there's a voice saying, "Wha'chu say about my mother, man?" Like I said, easy to see but hard to catch. To bring it even closer to home, I've said before that while I was in high school I, like Cube, "spelled girl with a 'B'. At the same time, like Posdnuos, I "never played a sister," so what's the deal? Did the use of the word bitch constitute some real misogynistic feelings, or did it was it just a linguistic feature that some could argue took a misogynistic form? Like I said, just trying to sketch out the boundaries before I start painting. Now, on the real, Ice Cube's verse in "A Bitch Iz A Bitch" is probably fairly lightweight as far as misogynistic expression in hip-hop goes. He says the word "bitch" but that's about it. I don't even necessarily disagree with him that the title doesn't apply to all women, but all women have a little bit in em. (Some of us just know how to bring it out, I guess.) Either way, there's much worse out there. There are several questions that stem from this: • Where does this misogyny come from? Does it originate in hip-hop? • Is it confined to rappers' words, or does it extend to their actions? • To what extent is misogyny in hip-hop reflective of the larger culture? • Do female MCs challenge these roles/norms, or do they support them? I think I wanna start with the third question. Let's work from general to specific. My general perception is that hip-hop, even at its hedonistic, materialistic, vulgar worst, is actually reflective of America. It's not about what we claim to be, or what we wish we were, it's about what we are. We like sex, drugs, guns, and money. Not each and every one of us, of course, but between those three, all 50 states are covered. (Note, I just said 'sex' not 'fornication' or 'adultery', so you're in there too.) Hip-hop is all-American like Allen Iverson is all-American, but just like AI, many Americans are too myopic to see how accurate the reflection really is. See this article, which really expounds on this point. (I may hafta write about AI pretty soon myself. All this AI hate is starting to get to me. Seriously.) So I don't think it's right to point out the misogyny that exists in hip-hop without acknowledging that it doesn't originate there. Whatever your definition of misogyny is, whether you use the hardcore feminist definition, or something decidedly less, my bet is that people were thinking, talking, and behaving that way before 1979. Maybe not, but probably so. As bell hooks writes,

The sexist, misogynist, patriarchal ways of thinking and behaving that are glorified in gangsta rap are a reflection of the prevailing values in our society, values created and sustained by white supremacist capitalist patriarchy. As the crudest and most brutal expression of sexism, misogynistic attitudes tend to be portrayed by the dominant culture as an expression of male deviance. In reality they are part of a sexist continuum, necessary for the maintenance of patriarchal social order. While patriarchy and sexism continue to be the political and cultural norm in our society, feminist movement has created a climate where crude expressions of male domination are called into question, especially if they are made by men in power. It is useful to think of misogyny as a field that must be labored in and maintained both to sustain patriarchy but also to serve as an ideological anti-feminist backlash. And what better group to labor on this "plantation" than young black men

(yeah, you didn't think you'd be gettin' no bell hooks, did you?) Now I ain't gon' hold you, I don't really subscribe to all that talk about patriarchy and sexism and whatnot. I'll probably take some time and do some writing on gender at some point (promises, promises) but for now, suffice it to say that biological determinism is beyond suspect to me, but the idea that gender is solely a social construct doesn't exactly pass muster either. Either way, it didn't start with the "refrigerated gangstas." It didn't even start with Funkadelic, who had the jam, "No Head, No Backstage Pass", or Muddy Waters, the original "Hoochie Coochie Man." So again, when we talk about this, it's fine to recognie that there is misogyny in hip-hop, but let's not act like it started there, or even that it's more prevalent in hip-hop than it is on other elements of our culture. Now within hip-hop, I'd say that misogyny is displayed in two ways: lyrics and images. Lyrically, there are a couple different forms. There's the fussin-cuz-I'm-mad, "Bitches Ain't Shit" type record, the attempt at defining, "Bitch Iz A Bitch"/"Bitches and Sistas" record, and the pimp record. Of the three, I'd say that the pimp record is probably the most purely misogynistic. The first two, while some things are probably better left unsaid, represent fairly common occurrences. The women in those stories are usually portrayed as gold diggers or hoes (but not actual prostitutes, since they ho for free.) I don't know too many dudes (read: none) who can listen to one of those songs and honestly say they've never felt what the rapper's expressing. There may be some out there, but I haven't met them. The pimp record is something altogether different. Now, I guess I hafta specify that not all pimp records deal with real pimping. Some cats who talk that pimp stuff really mean getting-all-the-girls. But like my friend told me, "It ain't pimpin' unless you gettin' paid." That's the case on Jay-Z's 'Big Pimpin'," where' his lines really belong in a gold digger record,

Just because you got good head, I'ma break bread so you can be livin it up? Shit I.. parts with nothin, y'all be frontin Me give my heart to a woman? Not for nothin, never happen I'll be forever mackin Heart cold as assassins I got no passion I got no patience And I hate waitin.. Ho get yo' ass in

That's not real pimping because his interest in the girl is primarily sexual. He's not trying to get paid off her, he's just not trying to giver her any of his money. Contrast that with 50 Cent on P.I.M.P.

Now shorty, she in the club, she dancing for dollars She got a thing for that Gucci, that Fendi, that Prada That BCBG, Burberry, Dolce and Gabana She feed them foolish fantasies, they pay her cause they wanna I spit a little G man, and my game got her A hour later, have that ass up in the Ramada Them trick niggas in her ear saying they think about her I got the bitch by the bar trying to get a drink up out her She like my style, she like my smile, she like the way I talk She from the country, think she like me cause I'm from New York I ain't that nigga trying to holla cause I want some head I'm that nigga trying to holla cause I want some bread I could care less how she perform when she in the bed Bitch hit that track, catch a date, and come and pay the kid Look baby this is simple, you can't see You fucking with me, you fucking with a P-I-M-P

Now that's pimping. At any rate, hip-hop is loaded with records that describe that gold-digger/ho stereotype. I could probably throw the "chickenhead" in there as a sort of generally dumb road who's easy to trick into performing sexual favors. Now, I can say from personal experience that gold-digers, hoes, and chickenheads do, in fact, exist. But it's not a question of whether or not there's any veracity to what the rappers are saying, it's a question of the accuracy. Dres of the Black Sheep once wrote, "I talk about a ho/ because a ho I know/ and if you knew the honeys too/ then I guess too you would talk so." Only thing is, all women aren't hoes. If you listen to the "definition" records, the rappers even make sure to point out this fact, and delineate the difference between a "bitch" and a "sister" or a "queen" or a "lady." In little ditty on Jeru tha Damaja's "Da Bitchez," Michael Eric Dyson writes, "Of course the main problem is that it's still a man—relying on the tried and true practice of surveillance and the male privilege of definition—who wants to determine for a woman what kind of female she should be." For Dyson, there's some a degree of misogyny, or at least patriarchy, implicit in the attempt by any man to define any woman's role. Like I said before, I ain't buyin' all that. But that's another discussion for another day. As far as the definition records go, I'll just say that I think we've reached the saturation point. We already know there are some women who could be described as "bitches" or "hoochies" or "hoes" or "gold-diggers" or "chickenheads." There's a juicy discussion to be had on whether those terms should be used at all, but I'm not gonna do that here. (This joint is gonna be long enough as it is.) Just let it suffice to say that those chicks have gotten enough shine. It's about time for more songs like Black Star's "Brown Skin Lady," Tupac's "Dear Mama," and Goodie Mob's "Guess Who." To be honest, I've got ambivalent feelings about definition records, though. As long as somebody is writing from his heart based on his experience, this type of thing will come out. Again, it's possible that those types of records shouldn't actually be recorded, or released for public consumption, but there will always be somebody-done-somebody-wrong records, and the definition record is just a subset of that. Pimp records, on the other hand…that's dead. I can easily dialogue on the reasons why pimps and pimping have entered the lexicon, and I can say exactly what elements are being spoken to and what's not. As a matter of fact, I did. And on the real, pimping may never die. That don't mean we need to keep making records about it. I said before that it's time for a new paradigm, and that applies to hip-hop too. The days of Goldie, Iceberg Slim, and Willie Dynamite are over. (Although I reserve the right to use the name Willie Dynamite at any point for any reason.) Not saying that pimping still doesn't go on, but there weren't that many pimps in the first place, and there are certainly fewer now than there were then. Yet, because people idolize pimps and project some fantastic, lavish lifestyle onto them, we keep hearing these same old stories. Only problem is, if they came out with positive stories, I'm not sure people would buy it. For part 2…the images.

Couldn't Have Made This Up On My Best Day, Pt. 4

Need more space, you should move. (c) Robin Harris

A man who found his flat in the city of Metz too small, knocked it into his neighbour's flat and moved in. When the man's neighbour returned from work he found the 28-year-old cooking dinner in his kitchen. The owner tried to convince the intruder to return to his own apartment, but the man refused, and police were called. The man insisted to officers the enlarged flat was his. He also told them he was a pharaoh who lived in the labyrinth of a pyramid. The man has been taken for psychological evaluation, says the gva.be website.

What more can I say? (c) Shawn Carter

Go Team USA!

Okay. I'm tired of the incessant crapping on the USA Basketball team. I know I had some disparaging remarks before, but enough is enough. Since when is it American to root against Americans in the Olympics? Jason Whitlock has an answer. Keep this up, y'all gon' make me tell you why people really hate Allen Iverson. And trust me, I'm the last person you want to get started when it comes to AI.

Flagged Off

La Shawn had the hot conversation jumping yesterday when she wrote abou an artist's plan to lynch the confederate battle flag at the Republican National Convention. In the comments, there was a roiling discussion on whether the cbf is improperly associated with the Republican party, since most of the people flying it in its hateful heyday were hardcore Democrats. Now, that's historically accurate, but I don't think any of us seriously believes that the Dixiecrats of yesteryear would belong to the same party as Jesse and Al without a major paradigm shift. I wrote about my feelings on the cbf earlier this year, but I think I want to expound a little bit. Basically, the cbf belongs in the same category as Saddam's flag and the Nazi flag, among others, as the representative of an opposing force that was crushed by the American Army. Period. I would be willing to bet big money that no cbf apologist would fix his lips to say "Iraqi citizens who were loyal to Saddam have the right to fly his flag if they want." What's the difference? Moreover, we're not talking about one of the other flags used in the confederacy, we're talking about the confederate battle flag. The one they flew as they were fighting to maintain slavery. (And I know, the "War Between the States was not about slavery, it was about States Rights." Wrong. I may break down the reasons why at some point when I really talk about why DC is the beginning of Down South and express my dismay at the fixation some people have on the Civil War, but that's not my point here.) And I know, I know, "it's not about believing in what they were fighting for, it's about recognizing their bravery in fighting for what they believed in." But that's just stupid. What they were fighting for is wrong, and whatever bravery they displayed is sullied because they were being brave in an unjust cause. Put it like this: when you see a Palestinian throwing rocks at a tank, you don't think about how brave he is, even though I'd say that it takes a certain amount of bravery (and foolishness) to go against an armored vehicle with some hand-sized stones. That ain't no adulterating woman. Ain't no stoning a tank. But because most of us side with Israel in that conflict, we see more foolishness than bravery in the Palestinian's actions and condemn him because he's fighting for the wrong thing. The other argument I hear cbf apologists make has something to do with some nebulous Southern heritage. Now, I'll be right up front and tell you that I love it Down South. Ever since undergrad, I have been planning to move down there at some point, and not to Atlanta. I'm talking about back in the cut Down South. But let me tell you, nothing that I appreciate about the South is represented by the cbf. That's a piece of the history of the South, but that's not its heritage. I wouldn't care if my great-great granddaddy owned a plantation and worked his way up to general in the confederate army, I would still refuse to capitalize confederate and I would still say that no matter how brave he was, he was pure-d wrong. That would be a part of my family's history, but that don't make it my heritage; my legacy would not be that of a slave-owning Black man unless I chose to embrace that. But okay, let's switch the focus off the past and look at the present. What does that flag represent that's worth arguing about in 2004? To my friends who are cbf apologists, I ask this question: if you came to my spot and saw the flag of the Black Panther Party, would you make some assumptions about my ideology what I think about white people? What about if I commemorated Huey P. Newton and H. "Rap" Brown's (still the best nickname ever) birthdays and talked about what great men they were? After all, the Panthers did some good things like feeding children before they went to school. Is that what you remember about the Panthers, though? Could be, but I doubt it. But just to take it up a notch, let's say that there was an organization that not only voiced rhetorical opposition to whites, but actually had the power in the community to systematically subvert justice away from them; they could drag a man outside in front of his family and kill him, and even though everybody in town knew who did it, nobody would be penalized. And then let's say that I flew their flag and posted their emblems. You wouldn't even come to my virtual home, let alone want to associate with me in person. But just to sew it up, here's the logic: "The klan flew/flies the confederate battle flag...I despise everything they represent....let me fly the same flag as they do." Come on, now. We can do better than that. Look, people can do what they want with their private property. If somebody wants to fly the cbf, that's his prerogative. I'll even admit that flying the cbf or being an apologist for it doesn't necessarily mean a person is a klan sympathizer. But why play in that gray area in the first place? Because just like it's his right to fly that flag, it's my right to keep a suspicious eye on him and to keep my hand on the nearest (decimal point-named) implement.

The Almighty Gangsta MCs

Thinking about Miller's celebration of the 50th anniversary or rock 'n roll made me think of something: Rapper's Delight came out 25 years ago. Now it should go without saying that Rapper's Delight did not mark the beginning of hip-hop, but it was the first rap record to achieve major sales. As such, I don't think it's entirely out of line to say that it's the beginning of rap as a commercial genre. In the intervening quarter century, hip-hop has undergone a couple major paradigm shifts and several other smaller adjustments. I tried to do a general overview in my posts on the hip-hop generation gap, 1 and 2. Neither of those was completely exhaustive. There are lots more factors to be accounted for and reconed with in order to paint a completely accurate picture. However, suffice it to say that nobody involved in making Rapper's Delight could have possibly imagined that hip-hop would be the global behemoth that it has become. For the longest time, rap was condemned as a fad. Nay-sayers predicted its demise every year for the first 10 years. It's still here and stronger than ever. How strong is it? It's gone from being a passing fad to carrying the blame for the ills of society. How's that for a passing hoax? In his poem, "The Domino Theory (Snoop Dogg Rules The World)", Kenneth Carroll puts the game in the proper perspective:

[...] snoop dogg started the transatlantic slave trade doc dre was captain of a slave ship & easy motherfuckin e led the south to secede it is all so clear let the pundits come forth let the congressional hearings begin we have found the enemy & they are dressed in chinos & plaid shirts & county blues gangsta rap did it tupac was responsible for jim crow it was ice cube not gov. Wallace that tried to deny us equal rights it was som forty oz drinking jheri curl wearing indo smoking low riding conspirators that pulled off watergate will someone call NOW gangsta rappers, screaming bitch, ho, skeeze defeated the equal rights amendments will someone call c delores tucker tell her we have found the enemy recording on death row records backed by a funky ass george clinton groove it wasn't capitalism, racism, sexism, homophobia hell naw it was ice-t & ice cube & just ice & all them refrigerated gangsta niggas that screwed up america spice 1 imported all the cocaine to america, elect ollie north! it was the south central cartel that traded for guns in nicaragua before he died eazy e bashed in nancy kerrigans knee killed nicole simpson & ronald goldman & caused the peso to plummet let the pundits come forth call jesse jackson gangsta rappers are threatening affirmative action call dick gregory gangsta rap causes obesity & malnutrition call ralph nader gangsta rappers invented the corvair, the chevette, & the pinto [...] (c) Kenneth Carroll

Not bad for 25 years, huh? Only thing is, that poem is 10 years old. Gangsta rap had accomplished all that in just 15 years. Since then, we have uncovered 50 Cent's role in Three Mile Island, Eminem's spreading of the smallpox virus to the Indian population, and Jay-Z's connection to Al Qaeda. The Blueprint did drop on 9/11/01. Hmmm.... Of course, the gangsta/hustler paradigm of hip-hop is problematic and I'm gonna fully explore that in the coming week. (I don't know exactly what I'm gonna do for day 1 of averytooley.com, but it's gonna be hot. At least, that's what I'm hoping.) Either later on today or tomorrow, I'm gonna try to get at misogyny in hip-hop. But for right now, just reflect on those lines. Did gangsta rap really do it? And if it didn't, why do we try to lay the blame at its feet?

"You Better Sing The Song Like I Told You To..."

Jared has a thought-provoking post on his reaction to seeing an argument between a man and a woman that had abusive overtones. He writes,

What I saw this morning has been bugging me all day, really, which is why I'm writing about it. Makes me want to go beat the devil outta that guy...and hold the door open for his girl. I know, I know...violence begetting violence, etc. You know what, though? Some people need a beatin'. A guy who'll abuse his spouse is definitely in that category, if you ask me.

I'm with him in principle, but I will think twice before I step into any domestic situation. I know of too many situations where the "hero" winds up catching it from the "damsel." My "little brother," who's a police officer tells me that when he goes to a call for a domestic situation, he lays it out for the woman as soon as he walks in the door: "If you hit me or my partner, you will be wearing these cuffs and you will be going to jail." He has to say that because there's a decent likelihood that she'll try to do something. And it's not even so much about thinking that the woman is being ungrateful, it's a simple matter of personal safety. Fortunately, I didn't grow up in that type of environment, but my grandmother was a hairdresser. I grew up getting all the low-down. For whatever reason, some people are just at home in that type of situation. As strange as it seems to me, there are some people who think that physical abuse is proof of affection. Or something. And I know there are other circumstances that have to do with it, like financial dependency and having grown up in households where abuse is prevalent that confound the situation. It's bad all the way around. What's just as bad but seems worse in some ways is the scene when it's the woman who's beating the man. Mary Mitchell had an article about it a few weeks ago, but apparently I can't link to it any more. But suffice it to say that I feel bad for guys who are in that position. Obviously they're conscientious enough to keep from hitting a woman, but that woman takes his non-physicality as a sign of weakness. Just throwing this out there to see if anybody bites: 1. Would you/ have you ever intervened in a domestic situation involving strangers? 2. Would you be more or less likely to do so if the woman were beating the man? 3. What, in your opinion, should a man do when he is being physically accosted by a woman?

Ummm...

Somebody needs to break this down for me.

August 24, 2004 -- LAURA Bush delivered a diss to Sean "P. Diddy" Combs by refusing to appear alongside the hip-hop heavyweight at last night's grand opening of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, sources said. Combs was supposed to join the first lady, actress Angela Bassett, U2 frontman Bono, Ohio Gov. Bob Taft, Sen. Mike DeWine, Black Entertainment Television CEO Bob Johnson and other dignitaries at the ribbon-cutting ceremony, but Bush's office nixed the photo-op with Combs. "Her reps made it very clear to Freedom Center that they would not have Laura Bush appearing in the same photo-op as P. Diddy," tattled our source.

Now let me get this straight: there were supposed to be several people in the picture and she refused to take the picture because of Puffy P. Diddy? I could see it if they were supposed to take a picture together, but as a part of a large group? Come on. What's that all about, really?

Miller Time?

I'm not gonna get all deep on this situation with the Miller Brewing Company's lack of foresight in recognizing Black musicians in their 50th Anniversary of Rock & Roll campaign. For a minute, I was thinking I was gonna go to town on this whole thing, but I'ma pull back for a couple reasons. 1. I'm not mad that they're not putting a Black man's face on a beer can. The fact that there would be no rock 'n roll without Black folks notwithstanding, I'm cool with not seeing a brother's face on a container of alcohol. If we could cut down on the number of brothers lookin' at the can in the first place... 2. It seems ludicrous on its face, but there has to be some science behind this move. It's hard for me to believe that this marketing campaign went through the entire chain and nobody realized that there weren't any Black artists being honored. At best, I'm thinking that they meant rock specifically as a genre and therefore didn't think of Black folks, although that in itself is a major misconception... I just hope they don't try to rectify the situation by putting pictures of rappers on 40 oz bottles.

Politics, Man!

I've probably said 100 times that I don't do politics. There are too many things in this world that I enjoy and too much that I really care about for me to hitch myself to a party. That doesn't mean I won't express political thoughts, but even then, my intent is to to frame issues as challenges to be worked on, not ideas to volleyed. Don't know if I always succeed, but that's my goal, at least. I like to talk politics at the concrete level, where ideology takes on much less significance. Having said all that, I know some people who loooove to talk politics. If you're at my crib, then I know you've been around the corner to La Shawn's. If you haven't been already, then you need to check out the rest of the members of the Conservative Brotherhood, too. There are some sharp political minds in there. They got that. I bring all that up because I got wind of this editorial by Robert Oliver, Save The Drama For Your Mama, the other day and it's definitely worth reading. It separates the truth from the rhetoric with regards to the Democratic Party's claims of historic inclusiveness. When pressed, I can do politics, and if I did it would probably look something like this piece, but since there are people who actually talking Republican v. Democrat, I'll leave it to them. But here's a quote from the article that had me rolling on the floor laughing. And Bill Clinton (who was sued while Governor of Arkansas for violating the 1965 Voting Rights Act and signed into law "Confederate Flag Day") is a member of the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame? If Clinton was our first Black president, wasn’t he an Uncle Tom and an Oreo cookie? Now that's funny.

Hip-Hop and Politics

Hip-hop hating conservatives are gonna have to step to the rear because looking at recent statements and events, we got a chance. A couple months ago, I did a point-by-point breakdown the platform of Russell Simmons' Hip Hop Summit Action Network. I'm not wild on the polemics, so I just kinda pointed out some areas where the agenda could stand some refining from being a nebulous idea to an actionable achievable plan. I ain't gonna lie, though, in my own mind, I was quietly convinced that the HHSAN was just as much a front door for the Democratic party as the NAACP. I was wrong, though. Watch this:

In addition to the registrations, the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network honored Maryland’s Republican Governor Robert Ehrlich and Lt. Gov. Michael Steele, also a Republican, for their work on the drug laws in Maryland and their efforts to improve businesses in the African-American community.

Now, to be fair, I seem to recall the NAACP giving Condoleeza Rice an Image Award two or three years ago, but I don't know how much weight that carries now. I'm not so sure Dr. Rice would have been welcome at the NAACP Convention a couple months ago, but I can't say that the NAACP has shown utter contempt for Black conservatives...just a general dislike. Anyway, Russell Rush's organization is in its nascent stages of formation. It has no real victories and no real defeats with which to cement its ideological focus. If we stand to the side and do nothing, then it will shrinky-dink down to being a vehicle for one party over the other. It doesn't have to be that way, though. "The Democrats do not own Hip-Hop," Simmons said. Now I'll be the first one to tell you that not all of Rush's ideas are compatible with a conservative/moderate mindset (man,I hate labels) but we can't really hash those issues out as long as we stay away from the table. But it's not just Rush. LL Cool J performed at Clinton's first inauguration and he performed at the Democratic convention this year, and maybe at some other events in between. Here's what he had to say:

AllHipHop.com: Did you recently just go to the Democratic Convention in Boston? LL: I went to the convention, but I went to [perform at] the Rock to Vote concert. And what I said after I finished performing was, I’m not here to endorse any particular candidate. I said that if there is any candidate that is looking for my endorsement, we have to meet face to face and I need to know what their plans are and how they are going to affect my community, and then America as a whole, and then my community within America. I have to know what the plan is. I’m not going to lend my name and my credibility. I respect them of course. And I said it respectfully because you have to respect the people that are running for the leadership of our country because this is a great country. And I do love this country because it has given me a great opportunity. Regardless of what our ancestry is, ultimately we are all here because of our ancestry. So whether good or bad, at the end of the day we are here now and we need to take advantage of this opportunity of being Americans. At the same time, if I’m going to endorse somebody, I can’t just endorse him or her just by default. We have to sit down and talk. I have to see what’s going on, and how what you do affects the people I love. AllHipHop.com: Have you followed any of the candidates? LL: A lil’ much. I haven’t been stimulated to that point. When I hear someone talking about something other than what Bush has done wrong, then I can listen a lil’ better. But at this point I don’t know anything about what anyone is saying but what Bush did wrong. That doesn’t help me. There’s a whole focus on the problem but what’s the solution?

Now let's not jump the gun and give LL some kind of ideological label, but let's recognize the fact that there are some inroads to be made. I'm telling you, if we can emphasize the economic benefits of the conservative agenda, we're in there. I don't think there would ever be a conservative majority within hip-hop, but I think that we can have a significant presence. But for me, it's not even about some ideological version of Stratego, it's about doing something. If we're out there doing what we're supposed to be doing; the things we talk about and the things we know are right, the rest of that will follow.

Couldn't Have Made This Up On My Best Day, Pt. 3

It was a divinely beautiful Sunday morning, and double-murder suspect Lyndell Swinson thought he'd go to church. Unfortunately for Swinson, he picked the Mount Airy Church of God in Christ, where one of the ministers is also a Philadelphia police lieutenant. After yesterday's 11 a.m. service, Swinson, 26, left his pew and walked out onto the church steps and into the arms of a waiting SWAT team... It was unclear why Swinson chose the church on Ogontz Avenue, which has a congregation of more than 4,000 people; more than 1,000 typically attend Sunday services. He wore a red-and-white football jersey, baseball cap and jeans, and had shaved off his beard, cut his hair, and trimmed his eyebrows, police said. But check the clincher Philadelphia Police Lt. Norman Davenport had just finished preaching his first sermon - on dealing with difficult circumstances - when one of the deacons told him someone had recognized Swinson. What more can I say? (c) Shawn Carter

Funk For My Mother

This is a short list, but I it's a work in progress. These are not songs by gospel artists. These are songs by secular artists that have an overtly gospel message. No euphemism and double-entendre, where the "you" could be God or some chick, it's out there plain. Save Their Souls - Hamilton Bohannon Help Is On The Way - The Whatnauts Is Anybody Gonna Be Saved - The Ohio Players Told you it was short. But as I go through these 6100 songs on my mp3, I'm sure we'll uncover some more.

Moving

On 1 September 2004, we will be heading over to averytooley.com. We'll try to have the blog nice and categorized for easy viewing, as well as a few more goodies like some creative writing, and whatnot. I'm in the process of putting together the new design right now.

Talkin' Bout Talkin'-- Some More

I'm in a seminar for the next three days. May get to post, may not. So what we have for you today is some extra goodness. With all the talking about language that's been going on over the last couple days, I decided to sit down and have a chat with my "tag-team partner" in this endeavor, Ambra. here are the links to the "discussion" as it's taken place over the last week or so. me - 12 August - Stats Is High Ambra - 16 August - So You Say I Talk White me - Talkin' Black So what we have today is an edited transcript of an IM conversation we had on the topic of language and "talking white" and whatnot. So before you get to the goodness, here's a couple things you need to know. Ambra is the one speaking standard English. I'm the other one. I'm big on idioms and shortcuts. Here's the breakdown: Yahmeen = you know what I mean y/m = yahmeen jawn = can hold the place of any noun, most frequently refers to a woman, however it could be anything. Watch the context carefully. iono= I don't know. Avery: so the other day, you was talkin bout you talk white, right? then I started breakin it down into regional differences, as well as racial. yahmeen, so you think sometimes them two get confounded? like I had a reader point out that within MS, black folk and white folk got different vocabs, cadences, and whatever, so within that specific area, i could be said to be talkin "white" even though if i went up to illadelph soundin like 'an one of em, they'd say i sounded anything but white. Ambra: Right. So yes I do think that there are regional distinctions that are separate Avery: but then race can also layer on top'a that. cuz you got the traditional new yawk accent, right...the BK jawn. Ambra: Yes and that's thick Avery: but even wit a white cat and a black cat from BK, you gon' hear the new yawk jawn, but you still more'n likely gon be able to tell who's who. Ambra: Okay you're pullin' strong Gully talk right now Ambra: But I think for me the distinctions are more with words and phrases and less with accents Avery: yeah, vocab's a big part of it too...but y/m, wit hip-hop takin over like it has, the lines are blurry. Ambra: The lines are blurry how? Avery: cuz hip-hop give "black" speech, which for you means mostly vocab and idioms, a wider audience and it's appropriated on more levels. Avery: Zack be tryin'a keep it real so he talk like Fiddy (50 Cent). Avery: cuz you know it's white cats that be usin nigga self-referentially. Ambra: That's a whole other phenomenon Ambra: But what about the Puerto Rican aspect of hip-hop's roots? Avery: what about it? Ambra: Umm, nevermind, just wondering if you thought there are ways their speech filtered itself into the genre or if hip-hop is 100% driven by black culture Avery: naw, the latino brothers and sisters definitely made some contributions and done been integrated, y/m. Avery: hip-hop, at least the MC'in portion is still mostly driven by colored folk cuz look, there's only a certain type of hip-hop speech that's gonna get mainstreamed, anyway. Avery: i done heard white cats call themselves nigga, but i ain't never hear no 5%-type talk where they callin each other 'god' Ambra: This is true Avery: or 'wise intelligent' or whatever. Ambra: Yeah now you're gettin' deep...but back to the topic Avery: so yahmeen, it's all a matter of proximity. Ambra: Expound Avery: so aiight, if craig done lived his whole life around molly and zack 'nem, that's what he gon sound like cuz that's what he always hear. Avery: ain't no affectated element to his speech, y/m, that's just him. Ambra: but see I somewhat disagree because I think there are often built-in differences in vocal range by ethnicity Avery: Nope. Ambra: You're just gonna say "nope" and leave it at that eh? Avery: naw... Avery: i'm sayin', let me adopt li'l young lou or whatever...i bet that joker sound just like me. Ambra: perhaps Avery: not the specific vocal range, but inflection and diction...guaranteed. Ambra: I absolutely believe that children/people/etc. easily adapt to the style of speech they're immersed in Avery: sho nuff. and they can pick up what they wanna pick up, too. Ambra: what I'm saying is, I believe that there can be certain inherent vocal differences based on cultural background. Ambra: this is what I was getting at in my last post Ambra: hmmm...okay the only example I can think of is not really related but hear me out... Ambra: Samoans...I'm just going to put it out there....they're big people. They're not overweight, but they are not built according to the traditional image of the bodily frame our society projects Avery: yeah... Ambra: To put it plainly, 'round my neck of the woods, we'd call it "big-boned", or if you really wanna get real, "big-boneded". Vocally, they often sound different too. I have a hard time thinking this is just based on atmosphere.... Avery: do they still be speakin they native language or just english? Ambra: English, well, both, but mostly English...so I'm still working on this theory, but I believe God really has created different races of people for specific purposes.. Ambra: This is rather politically incorrect to say I know, but it only makes sense Ambra: I use the Samoans as an example because some of the differences are so blatant. I know there was/is/will be a greater purpose for why He created them to look and sound they way they do. Okay so that was rather scattered, but I'm hoping you kinda catch where I'm going. In some of my travels I've come across black people of varying backgrounds. It AMAZES me that no matter what country, there is still that tinge on the vocal chords that resonates in me that they actually sound black.....even with british accents Avery: sorta...but not always. look at'cha boy Keyes. if you heard him before you saw him, it'a be over when you came around the corner. Ambra: Right, I call him out as an exception Avery: but it's a whole lotta them. Ambra: And there are lots of exceptions (said simultaneously) Avery: yahmeen. Ambra: That's why I've never made it a blanket statement. I say "often" you can tell, but not always Avery: but what i'm tal'n bout is, they ain't really exceptions. Real deal is you can't really separate language from other interactions. Ambra: okay then, 50/50 Ambra: Can't separate language from other interactions? Explicate Avery: cuz like at Parablemania last week or the week fore last or some'n, Jeremy was tal'n bout Black folk in Nova Scotia and how they ain't have NO trace of nigro speech, but they a self-contained community and been that for a long time. Ambra: Define Negro speech Avery: sbv...or for you, the "black" sound in the voice. Avery: however you wanna take it, y/m. Avery: they sound like white canadians, i'm sayin'. Avery: can't distinguish em from around the corner. Ambra: NOOO Avery: yeahhh. Ambra: see this is what I'm saying...SBV and the black sound in the voice are not one in the same in my opinion Avery: i get that. that's why i said however you wanna define it. No matter what criteria you use, you can't tell the differnce. Ambra: But often I can. Avery: aiight, holmes. Ambra: I'm not saying it's a straight shot. But I do think it's worth consideration. I find it hard to believe that if voice is not affected by the body you're born into. Avery: peep game: Ambra: Your eye color is, hair grade is, why not voice? Ambra: (peeping) Avery: when a baby is born, it babbles in all the sounds the human voice make. Avery: so you know it's certain sounds that's made in the chinese language that native english speakers can't hardly make Ambra: yes. Avery: but if you take young tyrone, before he learn to talk, when he still babblin, and send him over to shanghai or whatever, then when he start talkin, he gon make them exact sounds. Ambra: (you and assigning these names...it's hilarious by the way, this conversation has been politically incorrect for about 25 stanzas now.) Avery: and then when come over here, his english pronunciation is gon' be dictated by the fact that his throat muscles is used to constrictin themselves in certain fashions and not others Ambra: I'll give you that.....but Avery: so when he get around craig and smokey 'nem, he gon sound chinese. Avery: same thing wit my li'l rainbow tribe. Ambra: Males and females have different sounding voices. Avery: right, but that's a matter of pitch and frequency. Ambra: are you sure that's it? Avery: R Kelly can't sound like Marvin Gaye under NO circumstances, y/m. Ambra: And Jaleel White can't sound like Barry White Avery: zackly. Avery: but they both black. Ambra: But they both have deeper voices than I do Avery: right... Avery: which is a matter of frequency. they got longer vocal chords. Ambra: soooo then, it's not just a matter of pitch and frequency, and what determines who gets born with longer vocal chords? Avery: how? the frequency of the vibration of the vocal chords is what determine the "depth" of the voice, holmes. Ambra: I'm not as dumb as I may be letting on....holmes Avery: naw, hardheaded...look at it like this: Ambra: so frequency and vibration of vocal chords comes via the stork? Avery: riiiight... Ambra: wrong Avery: how don't they? Joker born w/ that. Ambra: Exactly Avery: but a racial "sound" ain't based on frequency. Avery: watch this: Ambra: Are you going to turn on a television or something? Avery: when them british "soul" singers make a record, they take black mannerisms and stylizations. Avery: e'ry once in a while, one of 'em do it so good you can't really tell. like lisa stansfield back in the day. Ambra: Oh brother Avery: but sooooon as the record go off and don cornelius get to interviewin' em, you know what the deal is. Avery: and f'real-f'real, it ain't even gotta be soundin black necessarily, they just sound american. Avery: when the needle come off, they sound british as they did in the first place. Ambra: I agree with all of the above Avery: that's somethin' you learn how to do. Ambra: So you don't believe that under any circumstances a person's vocal intonation is determined in the womb? Avery: nope. Avery: they hear they mama talkin that way, but until they start tryin'a talk, they don't drop the unused sounds. That's howcome you supposed to expose your kids to as many languages as possible as early as possible. Ambra: So if I'm a male, and I am raised purely around females, I will have a female-sounding voice? Avery: they don't know NOT to use they voices in certain ways. Avery: nope. a woofer can't be a tweeter no matter what you do to it. Ambra: translate please (for the other sane people who may read this) Avery: ...well, as long as it's not surgically altered. woofer=bass part of the speaker. tweeter=treble. Ambra: duh. Avery: the woofer is bigger cuz it carries waves on a longer frequency. Ambra: So then you admit there is an aspect of vocal intonation that is determined in the womb. Avery: nope. that ain't intonation. Ambra: Okay, then let's pick a different word. I'm not liking that one either Avery: put it like this: i'm bout to make up a number. Avery: say my voice is 970 khz. Avery: that don't change. Avery: whether i call my mother's sister "aint" "awnt" or "ant" depend on who i grow up around. Ambra: Errrrrr Avery: yuuup. cuz if you hada growed up in ms'sippi, you'd be talkin bout aint janie just like er'body else down there. Avery: what's an accent? Ambra: Yes, the above is agreed. What I'm saying is that if your 970 khz voice is formed in the womb (well, actually way prior to then if you want to get theological about it), and clearly it is based on being male or female, but why couldn't race play a factor in that just as it does with all our other features? Avery: nope. Ambra: "What's an accent?" Save that convo for another time Avery: cuz race ain't really what we think it is. Ambra: Of course it's not, which is what I'm getting at. Avery: we categorize people based on a certain set of phenotypical traits, but it could be a whole other bunch of things. Ambra: It's entirely socially constructed, in fact I think there are more distinctions between "Earthsuits" as I like to call them then we give credence to Avery: iono...we like .2% different or some'n. Ambra: This is because it's politically incorrect to say such things like certain races of people may be more physically inclined in certain areas Ambra: But why not? Ambra: This earth is huge and God created different groups of people for distinct purposes Ambra: Black Africans are dark for a reason Ambra: Samoans are big for a reason Avery: yeah, cuz they be in the sun. Avery: and high yellow is high yellow cuz they got some white in 'em. Ambra: White people don't get as easily cold as we do Ambra: I mean these are all things that are DIRECTLY related to ethnic origin. Avery: maybe not, iono. i be the first one gettin cold. Ambra: Don't argue me on this one...I've read numerous studies..HA Ambra: In which case, you're really a white man Ambra: Ah HA! I knew it. Avery: sorta, but i bet a white person born in africa get cold before a black jawn born in seattle. Avery: why? cuz that's what they used to. Ambra: Remember, there are no black people in Seattle Avery: yeah...cept sir mix-a-lot, the sonics, and the seahawks. Ambra: But the point I'm making is all evidence proves that the lighter persuasion didn't originate in Africa. Okay, well actually that's a slippery slope...but again, the Garden of Eden is not what we're talking about here, but you see what I'm gettin' at Avery: everybody from africa. awwwwlll y'allll. (c) Tre Styles. Avery: yeah, but i'm thankin that on the real, it ain't that much science to it. it's all a matter of variety. Ambra: Whatever you say Avery. You're the man. Avery: God coulda made it so every man was 6', 175 wit 7% body fat. Ambra: I'm just opinin' here. Ambra: Stretchin' the mental capacity Avery: so anyway, he could'a made it so e'ry woman looked like Halle. Avery: that ain't how it went, tho. Ambra: It really does us no good to speeculate on how God coulda made people. Point is, he didn't...so why did he do what He did Avery: hypothetically speakin, yes-- i can see the argument that different peoples may have developed different talents/abilities. Ambra: I shall spend the rest of my life on that particular quest for knowledge...such is the process of Him restoring humanity back to Himself Avery: i read some stuff on this before. Ambra: I'm sure you have So that's where I'll cut it off for now, although the actual conversation went on longer. Please don't hesitate to weigh in. There may be some actual hard research out of this eventually. In the meanwhile, enjoy.

Summer Jams

It's August, the days are getting shorter, and the semester is about to start. Summer will be over soon. Buck Whylin' by Terminator X came on the ole MP3 player and it reminded me that Valley of the Jeep Beets was my album in the summer of '91. I listened to some others, but I literally wore the writing clean off that tape before the summer was out. That got me thinking: how far could I go back? I think I bought my first recorded music in 1987, so I'll start there. 1987 - Bigger And Deffer - LL Cool J 1988 - Benny Carter Meets Oscar Peterson - Benny Carter, feat. Oscar Peterson Quartet 1989 - It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back - Public Enemy 1990 - Fear of a Black Planet - Public Enemy 1991 - Valley of the Jeep Beets - Terminator X 1992 - The Low End Theory - A Tribe Called Quest 1993 - Slaughta House - Masta Ace 1994 - Street Level - The Beatnuts 1995 - Return To The 36 Chambers (The Dirty Version) - Ol' Dirty Bastard 1996 - Stakes Is High - De La Soul 1997 - Funky Good Time Anthology - The J.B.s 1998 - Here, My Dear - Marvin Gaye 1999 - Sons of Soul - Tony Toni Tone 2000 - At The Turn of the Century, disc 1 - Stevie Wonder 2001 - Purposeful Design - Fred Hammond In the spring of 2002, I bought a (then) brawny computer with CD burning capabilities, so I stopped listening to pre-recorded albums. I had ripped most of my CDs to the hard drive, so the concept of listening to a whole album kind of stopped right there. What follows are my top 3 jams, as evidenced by being burned to multiple discs. 2002 Scorpio - Dennis Coffey Ashley's Roach Clip - Soul Searchers Watch Out - De La soul 2003 Simon Says (Remix) - Pharoahe Monch A Touch of Jazz (Playin' Kinda Ruff pt 2) - Zapp Thought @ Work - The Roots 2004 Get Out of My Life Woman - Joe Williams He Can Hear Me Sing - Milton Brunson One Monkey Don't Stop No Show - Joe Tex

Reparations or Preparations?

Thanks to Alan Keyes, I've had the opportunity to sit down and think about reparations. Nothing too in-depth, still, because it's such a distant prospect that it doesn't warrant my immediate attention. That's like me worrying about what brand of shoe I'm gonna endorse when I'm running back kickoffs for the Eagles. Even before I stop to consider the likelihood of it happening (or the lack thereof), I think there are lots more pressing things to worry about. Even more, there's something we can do in the meanwhile. I don't think I'm against reparations in principle. I've seen lots of arguments, both pro and con. I'm not gonna rehearse them all here, and I'm not gonna borrow anybody else's points. I'll just say that labor deserves to be paid. Don't tell me about the Civil War, like that was payment, because the enslaved fought in that war, as well- on both sides. My great-great (great?) granddaddy can't pay his own reparation. And don't tell me about Affirmative Action, like that's supposed to fill the bill, because it's not like Jim Crow didn't happen. If anything, Affirmative Action was meant to redress racist actions in the 20th century, not the 19th. But whatever. Labor deserves payment. If it's not, then a debt is incurred. The debt remains until it's paid. I don't really see a whole lot of room for debate in that aspect. As a practical matter, it's something altogether different. Whenever I hear about reparations, the first thing I think of is the Reparatons Day skit on the Chappelle show. In Alan Keyes' formulation, there wouldn't be any money actually distributed, there would simply be no witholding of income tax. This way, General Motors and Phillip Morris (or whoever sells Newports) won't get all the money and there won't be 20,000 new record labels. (That skit is classic. I highly recommend it.) Again, I don't have a problem with the proposal in principle, but some questions remain. Principal among them being the matter of who would get the exemption. Last spring, Carol Channing came out and said that she had a Black relative, and there was no money at stake. I'm betting that for a 40 year tax exemption, people all over the country would be finding that one drop. But again, that's so far down the line (?) it's not even worth worrying about. The question the Chappelle Show toyed with is really something we can concern ourselves with right now. Yesterday, Booker Rising fixed the GDP of Black Americans at 728 billion. That's a lot of money, y'all. What are we doing with it? And I'm not really coming at it with some nationalistic bent, like all Black money should be spent in the Black community, although I definitely believe it should stick around a while before it leaves. For a lot of us, the money is gone as soon as we get it. There are many possible explanations; the truth is probably some combination of all of them. Certainly conspicuous consumerism plays a role, as does lack of home ownership, bad credit, which leads to higher interest on loans, and other, more general unwise spending decisions. That's a point we can start on right now. I remember a few months ago, Jabari Asim of the Washington Post pointed out that even though the income gap between middle class Blacks and whites is closing, the gap in wealth remains the same. Quoting researcher Thomas Shapiro, he says:

Income is the money people receive from our jobs or substitutes for jobs such as Social Security or unemployment," he said. "For most people it's a paycheck, which the majority of us use to reproduce our existence," i.e., buy basic necessities and keep a roof over our heads. "We use wealth as much more of a storehouse of assets rather than a stream," Shapiro said. Wealth typically takes the form of home equity plus savings accounts, stocks and bonds.

Wealth doesn't come quickly, cheaply, or easily. Given that the Black middle class is really just now achieving income parity, I don't know that it's reasonable to expect parity in wealth yet. However, this should be our focus. We know it's attainable. Not that I'm not planning to wear adidas if I ever make it to the Linc.

Ain't Havin' It, Either

6 People Beat Up Alleged Peeping Tom

NORTH ROYALTON, Ohio -- An alleged peeping Tom is in the intensive care unit after reportedly being assaulted with a tree branch, NewsChannel5 reported. Officials said Mario Russo, 44, was attacked after he was spotted outside a bedroom window wearing his pants around his ankles and watching a 5-year-old girl who was sleeping outside the Bunkeridge Apartments. Russo was reportedly hiding in bushes. Police said after he was discovered a group of six people, include the girl’s mother, aunt and their boyfriends attacked him and brutally beat him for more than an hour.

I'm ambivalent about this one. I've got a 5 year-old daughter, and I know if I caught some fool with his pants around his ankles watching her, there would be trouble. That's grounds for a two-piece with a biscuit. I don't have the patience to beat somebody for an hour. Once I've knocked him out, either I'm gonna call the police or I'm going to jail. If it were just the beating, I wouldn't have too much of a problem with this. However, they did more than beat him. They sodomized him with a tree branch. That's a little extra.

Couldn't Have Made This Up On My Best Day, Pt. 2

Pimp and Ho Halloween costumes for kids. What more can I say? (c)Shawn Carter. (but I am kinda glad the models ain't Black.)

More On Dialect

The sneaker v. gym shoes v. tennis shoes situation developing in the Talking Black comments reminded me of a similar discussion up at Parablemania a couple months ago. He links the results of a dialect survey, showing a regional breakdown in different names for common items. I know it's the former English major in me, but this stuff is hot to death. Check it out.

Don King, Though?

I'm not big on politics and breaking down what the Democrats or Republicans are doing because I think that large-scale movements are necessary for overhauls in policy, but have very limited effect in the life of a given individual. Whether Bush or Kerry is elected in November, the kids I tutor will still need to shore up their basic skills (or get some in the first place), people that were hungry before the election will be hungry after the election, and so forth. And even if all the President's (new or incumbent) policies are enacted exactly as he is proposing them now, it's gonna take a while before it means anything to the average person on the street. Casey Lartigue expresses my ambivalence beautifully. He's talking about the difference that the new Superintendent of the DC School system will be able to make, but I think it applies to any bureaucratic entity.

I'm someone who is skeptical that public policy can do much to help a person advance in life. The best thing public policy can do, rather than trying to create jobs, is to remove barriers. We should be pleased that the schools are safe and that kids learn the basics, forget about higher expectations about what a superintendent can do. No child left behind? Sounds fine, but no child should be left behind on purpose. It sounds cruel to say it, but if you've worked with kids, you know that some are more motivated than others. The Board of Education of the 1980s may have been led by politically motivated misfits, but could a Board of Education led by altruistic geniuses do much to motivate the unmotivated to become motivated about book learnin'?

Having said that, I'm just a little dismayed by President Bush's embrace of Don King as a campaign spokesman. Don King, though? Seriously. Don King? Bush might as well call Snoop to see if he can link him up with Bishop Don Magic Juan. Don King, though? Man, if I was running for public office, I wouldn't want Don King telling people that I love babies and puppies, let alone trying to advocate my policies. I understand that the Republican party is trying to reach out to the Black community, but dag! If they think Don King is a figure with any type of credibility, they're more out of touch than I had imagined possible. Don King has name recognition, but that's about it. The opening paragraph from this article at Alternet pretty much sums him up:

Don King is a hustler who rose from the depths of a manslaughter conviction to the heights of boxing promotion by dint of a well-honed ability to play the angles. So, it's really no surprise that King has thrown his lot into the reelection campaign of George W. Bush; he's playing the angles.

Don King is a hustler, baby. If I had any game at all, I'd write him talking about I was his nephew. Even if he didn't believe me, I bet game would recognize game and he'd take me on anyway. Don't get me wrong, I'm not necessarily anti-Don King as a person. I mean, everybody knows he's dirty but nobody can prove it, so that has to count for something. He's right there with Al Sharpton as public figures that most people find contemptible but for whom I have a limited admiration. Say what you want about Don or Al, but the fact that you say anything about them at all means a lot. If there's one thing to learn from them, it's that cojones and game can take you as far as you want to go. All that notwithstanding, come on, y'all. I'm really not sweating the outcome of the election either way, but really, though...Don King? Whoever promoted this match needs to be in the soup line right behind the people responsible for Oreo Barbie.

Talkin' Black

Unlike Ambra, I have never been accused of talking "white." Never. When I was 14, I called a rental car place and the agent thought I was a woman, but that was about all the vocal mistaking I've ever had to deal with. To my knowledge, nobody has ever heard me speak and then turned around and been surprised when they saw me. And in my case, it's by choice. Ambra does a good job of separating the components of "talking white" into elements of linguistic strucure and vocal intonation. That's an important distinction to make. When I hear some knucklehead talking about standard English synonomously with talking white, I have to check him real quick. Those two are not the same. Now, right up front, I'll tell you that I don't use the phrase "proper English" or "talking proper" or any construction that suggests rightness or wrongness. Language, like water, is shaped by its container. What's right and wrong or good and bad depends almost solely on the context. When I wrote about cussin a couple months ago, I used the shoe analogy. Just like I can't wear sneakers (or gym shoes if you grew up in the Midwest like I did) when I go to the club on Saturday night, I can't jump out talkin any which-a-way in certain situations. It's just improper. At the same time, I can't rock my Stacy Adams wing-tips when I get ready to shoot some ball. That's just not the way it's done. Likewise, when I hafta do a presentation, there's a certain manner of speaking that I must appropriate in order for my ideas to be received. Same thing goes on the corner, though. Or if you remember Airplane, that brother would'a died if that old white chick hadn'a known how to talk Jive. So as far as I'm concerned, there is no such thing as proper English. The English language is a hodge-podge amalgam of countless sources. There is almost no universal consistency. (I have two homes with rodents, so I have houses with mice. What? House -> houses but mouse -> mice? And that's just the first one that popped into my head. Everybody who reads this and everybody they talk to can come up with at least 5 examples of their own.) I know the rules of English because I grew up speaking it, but that don't mean the rules make sense. If it's arbitrary, then there can no good or bad, only appropriate or inappropriate. Recognize. Vocal intonation, on the other hand, more closely approximates my concept of what talking white means, if it actaually has any meaning. Ambra uses the example of Alan Keyes as one of those brothers who would shock you to death if you heard him before you saw him. She's correct in saying that there is no genetic pronunciation. There is, however, regional dialect. You can take the word "region" however you want, because at every level there are some linguistic distinctions, whether you wanna talk about national, groups of states, individual states, counties, metropolitan areas, cities, neighborhoods, blocks, or households. People talk like the people who surround them. Period. As anybody who's studied linguistic formation in children can tell you, babies babble in all languages. That is, they make the sounds necessary to speak in any language. It's only as they are spoken to by their parents and the people around them that they repeat certain sounds and drop off the others, which gives them their native tongue. For a long time, I wanted to adopt an Asian child so he could grow up talking with the same rubber band tongue as me. In that respect, then, he might be said to be "talking Black," although he really wouldn't, because that would be his natural speech pattern. To say that someone is "talking [insert race]" insinuates a certain degree of performance; "he don't really talk like that, he just tryin'a front for those people." But when I said it's regional dialect, I meant more than just the way certain words sound. The other element of dialect is vocabulary. Vocabulary is a subject that's near and dear to my heart. I'm a word nerd. I read Zora Neale Hurston and Mark Twain with highlighters, so I can jump on hot expressions when I come across them. Now most Black folks are at best 3-4 generations from the South, so that Southern dialect is still a major influence. I think it was Hurston who described Southern speech as coming from the land and being particularly picturesque and thick with simile. I don't feel like getting up and finding the exact quote, but it's out there somewhere. And it's the truth. That, I think is one of the great limitations of that New York-Washington axis of Standard English. There's no real creativity in it, no room for delicious new variety of speech to tickle the tongue. I think that's partially why hip-hop has taken hold the way it has, because in addition to all the other elements, sometimes it's just nice to say things because they're fun to say or because it's a creative way to express a common thought. Nobody tried to holler at me when I brought it up before, but truth be told, talkin' fly part of what makes people think it's cool to be a pimp. You gotta have game to be a pimp; your verbal dexterity gotta be stronger than Bluto. And this is not to make some binary pair out of the issue, like black talk is creative while white talk is rigid and inflexible, because it doesn't break down along racial lines like that. However, there's a reason I liken Standard English to a Stacy Adams shoe while SBV (or just about any non-mainstream dialect, for that matter) is a sneaker. The latter is much more flexible and much, much more playful. That's why there aren't that many white cats who can do the dozens. My own use of language is informed by the fact I just like words. Some proper, some vulgar, some long and very literate-sounding, some monosyllabic grunts. I just like the way some words taste in my mouth. Once in a poetry class, I made, in haiku form, Doritos a metaphor for the word "motherfuker." Other people may not like the residue, but it just tastes good. Same thing goes for "callipygous," only callipygous has the added benefit of being an uncommon word for a very common thought, so I could be ribald and cerebral and speaking in code (talking sanskrit, one of my friends calls it) all at the same time. But even beyond regular words, I like to make up words when I just feel like it. In some post over the last couple months, I broke out "exorcistic," as in the exorcistic beating Jack Johnson laid on Jim Jeffries; he beat the devil out of him. So for a while I was talking about being exorcistically confused or whatever. Then I took it to the scatological next step, laxativistic. I don't care if it's not a "real" word, it gets my point across. Same thing with the seating chart. They're just words, there for us to play with and enjoy. Water's good for work, but it's also good for play. Same thing here. The idea of "talking white" is both understandable and utter nonsense at the same time. If I had grown up with a white family from suburban Chicago, I would sound like they do. If I had grown up with a white family from Biloxi, I would sound like they do, but I bet I'd only get 1/2 as many comments about sounding white. Based on this construction, I believe that "talking white" has as much to do with class line as racial lines. In other words, if you read Huckleberry Finn, it's clear that Huck and Jim don't talk the same. But neither of them sounds anything like the narrator in Tom Sawyer. Likewise, I know of students who take classes to scrub the Southern dialect from their tongues so they can sound more "white," if you will. It's not about race, it's about power. Northern Standard English acts as a gatekeeper. If I want access to certain levels of power or prestige, I must communicate in a certain way, using a certain pronunciation and certain idioms. It just be's that way sometimes.

But Before We Go Any Further...

What the devil? They lost to Puerto Rico?! This ain't fantasy basketball leagues, y'all. This hodgepodge all-star thing doesn't work, especially when the starriest of the stars stayed home. Come on, now. Seventy-two points? Are you kidding me? *shakes head in disgust and walks away flapping arms.*

Social Justice?

La Shawn has an interesting post on watchdogs for political content in sermons. My initial take is that it's dicey business, at best. I can easily see a situation like that devolving into a witch hunt based on political affiliation and ideology. We don't need all that. What's more interesting to me is the question she asks about the definition of social justice. As always, I think there are different ways to analyze things. We can try to dichotomize and isolate things into binary pairs or we can look at issues as if they are on a continuum. I'm with the continuum. There are polar opposites, but most of life, at least as it exists on the physical plane, is somewhere between the two. Social justice is one of them. There's a way to look at along Democrat/Republican, liberal/conservative axes, but I don't know that that really gets at the issue. To me, that's just a means of dismissing it as something not worth interrogating instead of looking at as a potential corrective for complacency and inaction. As I've said before, I think that the church is primarily a spiritual institution, but if it is properly carrying out its mission, then it will reflect in ways that register on the social justice scale. I think that social justice seeks to navigate the space between what is legal and what is right. I think there is a tendency to conflate those terms. For example, to go to one of my favorite examples, Dr. King's Letter From A Birmingham Jail was not addressed to politicians or to klansmen, but to a group of Christian ministers. Segregation in the South was legal at that time, but that did not mean it was right. Nevertheless, the ministers addressed in the letter were more concerned with upholding the law than confronting the moral limitations of the legal edict. Churches emphasizing social justice follow that model. That one was easy, though. Nowadays, the issues that social justice concerns itself with are much more slippery. In Ambra's post on this very topic, she highlights homelessness. I know that some churches look at gay "rights" as a matter of social justice, as well as affirmative action and any number of other challenges. That's why it normally breaks down to that binary we-they setup, because "we" have our positions on the issues, and "they" have theirs. "Our" position is right because "we" have rightly divided the Word, "their" position is wrong because "they" have allowed "their" own selfish wants to lead them to an improper eisegesis. The problem is that the truth and political opinion rarely converge, especially partisan opinion. It's a classic case of Who's Right v. What's Right. For instance, on the issue of gay rights, I just don't believe there's any biblical justification for homosexuality. I've read some attempts to make Romans 1 gay-friendly, but I really don't think that interpretation is valid. It just seems incompatible with everything else that's being said there. Because of that, I don't think the church has any business validating homosexuality as a lifestyle. At the same time, I don't think it's appropriate for the church to hate on gays. It's one thing to speak the truth in love but it's another thing altogether to use the truth as an excuse to spit venom. You know, it's one thing to say "That's not biblical." Or even to explain the consequences of remaining in sin and say "if you keep that up, you gon' wind up in hell right with the rest of that lineup in Romans 1:25-32 (which is everybody)." To jump out like "God hates fags" though? That's not righteous. Neither is it righteous for the church to sit idly by while other so-called Christians spew this nonsense. Jeremy has an excellent post pointing out the inconsistency of the mainstream church in its declaration of the threat gay marriage poses to the institution of marriage while portraying divorce and cohabitation as less-serious threats. Let's face it, gays are easy to pick on. They do stuff that the majority of us find physically repulsive and there aren't really that many of them. Moreover, as a political entity, they're pretty aggressive. That makes it easy to let the discussion break down into name calling and general dislike. And I'm not advocating for some special treatment for gays, or some special set of laws or anything like that, but let me put it like this: if you saw a gay person being beaten, would you step in to help him? What if he was being verbally accosted? What if the attackers were self-proclaiming Christians? In some instances, I think the church, on both sides of the political aisle, has become a bunch eighth graders at a dance. We get comfortable where we are, talking to our friends, who think like we think and do what we do, but we don't get out on the floor and mix it up. Social justice means sometimes dancing with that person we don't like or the one who looks funny or smells bad. It's not about the teachers making us dance, we should be out there because it's the right thing to do. Sometimes it will take courage to get away from the partisan cool kids who want to play the wall all night, but in the end, we'll all be better for it. Somebody go get a record.

Favorite Album Wrestle-Off #2

De La Soul Is Dead vs. Buhloone Mind State All told, De La Soul is probably my favorite hip-hop group. I think I am more in awe of Public Enemy and I intellectually understand that OutKast has put together a longer uninterrupted string of excellent albums, but De La is just my favorite. Period. One of the things that I believe makes Tupac the figure he is today is that his words resonated with a lot of people. For me, De La Soul has that exact same resonance. I'm quick to talk about how we often times feel like we "know" celebrities because they come into our homes via some mass medium like the television or the radio, and I'm also quick to admit that I do it too. But in this case, the rhymes Posdnuos and Dave (nee Trugoy) write, generally speak exactly to where I am or where I have been. Not to mention the fact that the production on their first three albums was eclectic and quirky and funny in and of itself before a word was laid on top of it. As I mentioned a long time ago, I got into De La late. I wasn't really feeling them on their debut, Three Feet High and Rising. I have since grown to appreciate that album, but it's doesn't contend for being my favorite by a long shot. Stakes Is High, the first De La album that I bought, was in its own way almost as revolutionary for me as hearing Rebel Without A Pause. When I bought that CD, the first thing I did was put the title song on a 15 minute cassette tape so I could listen to it over and over again in my walkman. I think I listened to that song 20 times a day for the first 6 weeks I had it. Stakes Is High wasn't just a song, it was my manifesto. Until I went to the used CD store and ran up on Buhloone Mind State. Shortly thereafter, I bought De La Soul Is Dead. Since then, De La is on instant buy with me. If they put out a record, I'm putting out money. No pre-listens necessary. Of their first four albums, all of which I would give Classic status, I think De La Soul Is Dead and Buhloone Mind State are superior. I'm having a hard time breaking these two down, because even though they're by the same group,they're two very different albums. De La Soul Is Dead I have heard some people opine that De La Soul Is Dead is the most perfect album ever recorded. I don't know if I'd go that far with it, but it's definitely up there. The album's title and cover art represent a separation from the image that De La had as a result of the songs and imagery from 3 Feet. On 3 Feet High, they constantly referenced DAISY (DA Inner Soul Y'all) and their videos showed peace signs, causing many to label them as "hippies." De La Soul Is Dead sought to extricate them from that box. And it did, costing them sales, but creating a much more enjoyable product for me. I think my favorite thing about De La Soul Is Dead is the production. Prince Paul pulled out samples from everywhere. On Peas Porridge Hot, the guys are rapping over a Brother Bones tap dancing track, with their delivery matched to that style. Peas is a song that to me, even someone who doesn't like sampling in concept would have to admit is creative. Anybody who can wrap a rap around a tap track can't be all that wack. Most of the other samples on the record are more "pedestrian," meaning that they're not entirely unlike something that could be heard on any Native Tongues track, but they're still well done and creatively employed. To get a taste of the wide variety of sources, go to thebreaks.com and look up De La Soul. Chances are, no matter what your musical background is, you'll see some records on there you currently like, or would like. The best find for me from De La Soul is Dead was Serge Gainsbourg's "En Melody". That was my first record in French. Most of the songs on De La Soul Is Dead are pure fun. There's A Roller Skating Jam Called Saturdays, one of my favorite jams, Bitties In the B.K. Lounge, My Brother's A Basehead, and Afro Connections at a Hi 5 (In the Eyes Of A Hoodlum), an early critique of the gangsta/ playa lifestyle, written as a heavily coded satire. But then on one track, the album just gets dark. Millie Pulled a Pistol On Santa, a song about child abuse, is haunting. Millie is easily one of my top 5 De La tracks. I don't know, maybe I'm just not listening to the right people, but is anybody making songs like these any more? At any rate, where DLSID loses points with me is in its length. After the two skits that follow Millie, there's only one song I really listen to, which is Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey). If it stopped at Millie, or even Who Do You Worship, it would be a perfect album. Buhloone Mindstate While I liked Stakes Is High a lot, this is the album that ended its reign at the top of my playlist back in '96. First off, the intro has an unvarnished sample of Deep Gully. That's points right there. Buhloone Mindstate is just a different album. It's as different from DLSID as DLSID was from 3 Feet High. Utilizing the same formula of complex, playful rhymes with dense, creative samples, in one sense it's just like its predecessors, but it's not. Of the 15 songs on Buhloone Mindstate, there are probably fewer songs that I like as much as I like within the first 15 of DLSID, but Buhloone has the advantage of having songs that I am just much more passionate about. First is Patti Dooke, which is about the pressure to cross over and sacrifice artistic integrity in order to gain in sales. The song itself is dope, but then it's built on an organ sample, which earns extra points from me, being the sucker for a Hammond B3 that I am. Another song I really like is In The Woods, which has a nice, thumping beat and features this female MC named Shortie No Mas. I don't know what happened to her, but she was nice. I definitely wish her discography was healthier. She had the goods. The song that tilts the scale in favor of Buhloone Mind State, however, is I Am, I Be. This is the song that snatched the belt from Stakes Is High as my personal anthem. First of all, over a sample of Lou Rawls' recording of "You Have Made Me Very Happy," they have Maceo playing. That's right, Maceo Parker! That alone is grounds for top 10 status. But then, over a track that seems made specifically for introspection, Pos and Dave drop sober, almost melancholy lines, reflecting on their lives. Check Pos:

This is not a bunch of Bradys but a bunch of black man's pride Yet I can safely say I've never played a sister by touching where her private parts reside I've always walked the right side of the road If I wasn't making song I wouldn't be a thug selling drugs But a man with a plan and if I was a rug cleaner betcha Pos'd have the cleanest rugs I am

When I heard that, I almost had to throw the headphones off my ears. Those words could've been coming out of my mouth, but they were coming into my ears. Then came Plug 2, sealing the deal.

I keep the walking on the right side but I won't judge the next who handles walking on the wrong Cuz that's how he wants to be I'm different, see I wanna be like the name of this song, I Am

Game over. So in a contest of strong albums, Buhloone Mind State win on condensed potency. I would have no problem with a decision that goes the other way, but this is just how I see it. The list so far: Songs In The Key Of Life - Stevie Wonder Mama's Gun - Erykah Badu It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back - Public Enemy Love Alive - Walter Hawkins Buhloone Mindstae - De La Soul

Whas'nEVER I Play, It's Got To Be FUNKY

Try A Little Tenderness - Otis Redding Hard Times - Baby Huey Four Women - Nina Simone The Truth - Beanie Sigel Midnight At The Oasis - Minnie Ripperton Everyone's A Little Bit Racist - Avenue Q Soundtrack Watch Out - De La Soul Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana Rock It - Herbie Hancock Ebonics - Big L Slippin' Into Darkness - War Soul Finger - The Bar-Kays Far East Mississppi - Ohio Playes Emerald City Sequence - The Wiz Soundtrack Even When - Debra Killings A Song For You - Donny Hathaway

Ain't Gonna Have It.

Women kill rape suspect in court. Initial reports said about 14 women and several children forced their way into the courtroom and knifed the accused, Appu Yadav, to death.

Pix-Slapped

I guess it's all a matter of perspective. The New York Times has an article describing some people's reaction to the Black characters in the new Grand Theft Auto game. Critics claim that it promotes stereotypes. I was one of the first people to jump on the GTA bandwagon, way back when the first edition came out. I promptly got off when I got into a minor fender-bender in real life and the first thought in my head was to snatch the other guy out of his car and drive away. Since then, the game has made quantum leaps in terms of realism and plot twists. I stay away from it, though. I know how addictive that first edition with the birds-eye view was. I would be up here stealing and killing all night if I bought it. Grand Theft is problematic on several levels, but I'm not gonna get into all that right now. Suffice it to say that there's a good discussion to be had on the degree to which "entertainment" like that is healthy. I know, because I can argue both parts. I can also argue both sides on the stereotyping issue. It's dicey. On the one hand, it's undeniable that certain stereotypes have been propagated in order to justify the subjugation of Black people in this country. Entertainment is rife with portrayals of Black folks that have been used to justify racist thoughts and actions. There's just no getting around that fact. However, I'm not exactly comfortable with the idea of playing find-the-stereotype either. Like I said up top, it's all a matter of perspective. For instance, Amos & Andy is almost universally regarded by academics as one of the worst examples of stereotypical television ever. Don't tell that to my grandmother. She loves Amos & Andy. Why? Because the characters actually remind her of people she used to know. Likewise, part of the reason I love Sanford & Son so much is that Fred is like an uncouth version of some of my relatives. Added to that is the fact that GTA is a video game. Anybody old enough to play the game knows that it isn't real. So when, as is the case in the article, a person talks about how the game is not suitable for a seven year-old to play, I get suspicious. Of course a child is not supposed to play it. It says that on the label. So if a child is playing it, who's responsible? Is it Rockstar Games, the store, or the parent? Don't front, you know it's the parent. So when it comes to stereotypes prevalent in GTA, everybody looks bad. It's not as if there are virtuous characters in there but none of them are Black. The whole game is full of thugs, thieves, and dope heads. Moreover, in the previous editions, if I recall correctly, there weren't that many Black characters. That's partially what slowed me up from buying, there wasn't a killer I could identify with. I don't wanna be some white cat killing; if I go on a rampage, I want the character to look like me. But maybe that's just my hangup. Bottom line, this is one of those cases in which I think there's a little too much attention paid to something that's only of marginal significance. The degree to which violence in video games and pop culture as a whole has a damaging effect on people's real lives and behavior is debatable. The degree to which game producers are responsible for the behavior of people's children is a matter for even further debate. What's not in question is that, particularly among Black folks, a little more time away from the television in any context, broadcast or video game, and a little more time spent exercising the mind would yield significant dividends. (You know I had to slip that in there.) Maybe we should concern ourselves more with planting and cultivating the right seeds in our children's minds (and our own, for that matter)and getting out and experiencing other people so that stereotypical images have less validity. Just a thought.

Saddened but not Surprised

George Clinton got caught doing crack back in December. He has to do 200 hours of community service and 2 years' probation. I've been hip to this story from the start. I was saddened, but not surprised. I wasn't there, but I've heard about some of the things that have gone down at P-Funk concerts in the 70's. Still, that was a while ago. I guess I was hoping that he would've transitioned into a more "normal" life by now. Who would have thought Dr. Funkenstein would turn out to be like that old man at the club who doesn't know when to let it go?

Stats Is High

Ambra has an interesting post on the misleading nature of teen sex statistics. According to one survey, 84% of parents think their teen children are not sexually active. What? So all this sex is being had by just 16 kids? Come on. Self-reporting surveys are a mess. Particularly when there's some sense of status involved. Who's gonna admit to some stranger taking a survey that their daughter is a ho? Most parents, even when confronted with the evidence like the beginning of Ice Cube's "Givin' Up The Nappy Dug Out" would refuse to believe it. Oh, I'm sure they would go demanding an answer later, but at that instant they would deny everything unless it could be independently corroborated. Well that's a problem. And it's not just about parents who have no clue of what their children are up to. Everybody thinks it's somebody else. No matter what the situation is, it's always "them" with the problem. Either "they" started it or "they" aren't doing "their" part to fix it. It's time to cut that out. Seriously. We can all run off a litany of problems globally and locally. The question is, what are we doing about them? As a benefit of having a whole bunch of new visitors to the crib, I've gotten into a lot more conversations today. One of them centered on the debate over Standard Black Vernacular (SBV)/Ebonics. First of all, let me say that most people don't have a clue about this topic. They hear the term "ebonics" and wanna start talking about "proper" English or whatever without having the background knowledge to really advance the discussion. It's like knowing that the ball goes through the hoop but not knowing that you can't move unless you dribble. Stop and recognize that SBV is a linguistic terminology and has to be dealt with according to principles of linguistics. If you don't know the difference between a pidgin and a creole (and I ain't talkin' bout some high-yellow chick from New Orleans, either) then before you start opining, you need to hop in a book and learn the fundamentals. Then try to bring your argument up the court and see if you can score. Just had to get that out of the way first. Like I was saying though, I can break bread on SBV all day. But there's a difference between me discussing it as one of my intellectual curiosities and me talking about it as it pertains to youngsters (and some old heads)who can't construct a sentence in standard English. I've probably said 50 times that I'm not a prescriptivist, linguistic or otherwise, and that's true. I ain't gon' lie, when I talk, it's SBV all the way, unless there's some significant reason I shouldn't. But the rub is that in those situations when it's not appropriate for me to be talkin' about some "yahmeen" or whatever, I know how to construct sentences according to Standard English and make sure to tack on that terminal consonant and all that good stuff. Even the people who argue for the legitimacy of SBV don't use SBV to do so. They have to break out their polysyllabic, latinate vocabularies with crisp diction and fully-branched sentence trees. They know it. So when I start talking about "them" (people who don't use Standard English) to the other "them" (Standard English prescriptivists) I'm quick to justify and explain and elaborate all the reasons why SBV is perfectly legitimate as a language form. And then I might go back to some other college-educated Black folks and talk about how racist the prescriptivists are for not recognizing what I'm talking about. But at the end of the day, has my pontificating "on behalf" of the linguistically challenged really done anything except display my intellectual perspicacity and verbal dexterity? No. I've just pointed out the problem with two "thems" and solved none. What's the point in that? When the rubber meets the road...or whatever else the rubber might meet, it's all about friction. Nothing is going to change as long as we remain in our cocoons of comfortable knowledge and do nothing. It's not just "them." In most cases, "them" is "us," except we don't want to admit it. If you look at my post on racism, you'll see that I'm not big on that term at all. It's worn out like the super band waist band on some 10 year old Fruit of the Looms. But even at that, racism still exists. (Bear in mind that racism and prejudice are very different. See the prejudice joint for my take on that.) The question is, what is each of us going to do about it? Are we going to point at people who are more "racist" than us and at people who seem to be obsessed with finding racism and stay where we are, or are we going to try to eliminate whatever racism does exist? It's easy to say how much better it's gotten, but are we willing to do the sometimes uncomfortable work it takes to make things even better than they are now? Part of the reason parents don't know what their kids are doing is that they're too uncomfortable to ask the tough questions and make the tough observations. As Ambra says, far too many parents depend on the news for statistics on their own children instead of actually getting involved in the lives of their off-spring. Likewise, each of us needs to step out the statistics and deal with people. Real, live, breathing people. Don't just talk about "the poor", get in there and help them. And I'm not just talking about throwing money at them via some faith-based institution or charity organization. TV ain't goin' nowhere. We can miss a few episodes to help some people and catch up on the reruns later. Let's stop the yappin' and make it happen.

Say WHAT??

Governor James McGreevey resigned because he had a gay affair? (click the link for the text) Wow. Sometimes you just never know what's coming next. post script: That down-low stuff is catchin'!

Censorship?

Back in the early 90's, they started putting that parental advidory sticker on album covers. I remember getting upset about that act of "censorship." Of course, it really wasn't. At the time, we thought it was an attempt to kill hip-hop, but it really had no impact. If anything, it helped me know which records to buy. If an album didn't have the sticker, I knew to pass it by. Of course, censorship isn't about private groups getting private record companies to put an emblem on their records, and it's not about an artist's sales dropping if their non-musical actions or opinions run afoul of their fan base. That's just the market at work. When the Kansas Attorney General keeps about 1600 recordings out of the library because he feels they "don't reflect the values" of the majority of the residents, however...that's cutting it close. It's one thing for a parent to determine what types of information come into the house. When I lived with my mother, I had to go by her rules because she paid the bills. Even now, when my mother is at my house, where I pay the bills, I still accomodate her in the choice of records I listen to. One time "You Sure Love To Ball" by Marvin Gaye came on. She made me turn it off. But that's one thing. That's a private choice. For the Attorney general to make that choice for the whole state is something altogether different. Because if I'm not mistaken, the library is not a private entity. But okay, I'll take him at his word and say that he's looking out for the best interests of the majority. That leads me to some questions. Well the first question is whether there's anything on a rock & roll or rap CD that hasn't been published before. Wouldn't the community standards that Attorney General Kline is seeking to uphold be violated by a printed work just as well as they could be by an album? Or in other words, is it permissible to have a book with a suicide scene but not have Ready To Die? (In fairness, the reasons behind the removals is not discussed in detail, so this is a purely hypothetical example.) Is written violence really less offensive than audio violence? What about movies? Does this just apply to new library material or is it retroactive? I don't have a problem with disallowing materials based on community standards, but I think that the state is much too big to be considered a community. What's cool in Wichita may not go over so well in Cottonwood Falls, and vice-versa. It's one thing to say that I would have to go to the next town to get an Outkast record from the library. It's something different to say that I'd have to go to the next state.

Hello...

We'll have some fun now, with me and all the gang learning from each other, while we do our thing - Fat Albert Theme Song At first I was gonna act like nothing had happened, but I can't front: I'm geeked up about the National Review article that mentions the Conservative Brotherhood. Y'all be sure to check out Cobb, Uncle Sam's Cabin, Rambling's Journal, Crispus, and Blacks For Bush too. They didn't get any shine in the article, but they're definitely worth reading. If the Conservative Brotherhood was the Juice Crew, I'd just be the Master Ace among a whole bunch of Big Daddy Kanes and Kool G Raps. (And if that last sentence means nothing to you, stick around. )

Hip-Hop Intro

Realizing that a good percentage of the people who stop by here probably have no real familiarity with hip-hop, and certainly no first-hand experience with quality hip-hop, I'm gonna recommend five songs. These aren't necessarily my 5 favorite songs...actually definitely aren't, but they represent what's right with it. In some cases, you might hafta look past a cuss word or two, but I doubt it's anything you haven't heard before. Respiration - Black Star, feat. Common I Am, I Be - De La Soul Liberation - Outkast People In My Hood - Masta Ace Emcee - J-Live In the event that anybody takes me up on this and actually listens to these songs and wants to dialogue, please do not hesitate to inbox me.

Hypocrite

What's a hypocrite? When I was little and my mom used to have me read a chapter from the Bible at night before I went to bed, that was one of my favorite words. Number one, it hat a 'Y', and number two, it sounded funny. Hypocrite. Take away the meanings and the sound alone is still amusing. What's not so funny is the way that the word is wielded as a weapon against people who try to speak out against something that's not right. In the advertisement above, parents who have smoked weed are encouraged to talk to their kids about refraining even though the parents smoked weed in their day. While the sprit of the ad is good and its heart is definitely in the right place, it's a little misleading. I'm not a hypocrite if I, having smoked weed, tell my daughter that she shouldn't. I'd be a hypocrite if I told her not to smoke while I secretly had a stash in my top drawer. Telling her not to even though I did only means that I know better from experience. There's a difference. As I've mentioned a few times before, I used to be a wrestling coach. Suppose I went to practice talking about, "I got pinned one time when I was in high school, so it would be hypocritical of me to tell you not to get pinned." That's as ridiculous as JJ's union suit pajamas with the lightning bolt on the front. I would have been lax in my duties as a coach and as somebody who generally knew better if I hadn't constantly drilled them on how to keep from being pinned. If you can't feel the wrestling example, pick your favorite sport or activity. As you mature in that process, you learn what to do and just as importantly, what not to do. Anybody you come into contact with as you mature will more than likely be the recipient of whatever wisdom you have gained along the way. That's how it's supposed to go. Nobody called me a hypocrite for telling the kids not to get pinned, so they shouldn't call me a hypocrite for telling kids not to smoke weed or engage in premaritial sex or whatever. The postmodernist in me recognizes that the "hypocritical" argument might not be so much about the act as it is about my having had the opportunity to engage in the act and then seeking to deny someone else that same opportunity. But again, what am I, as someone who has been where they are and probably know better, supposed to do? Experience is the best teacher, but sometimes a good tutor can help smooth the learning curve. I can't in good conscience let somebody make the same mistake I made even though I'm "restricting" his choices. The fact that I know better doesn't mean that I'm being self-righteous, it means that having lived through the experience, I can say with certainty that the value of the knowledge is not worth the cost of the experience. All this is rather straightforward and simple until we inject another ingredient. Once ideology or faith is added to the mix (let alone both of them), people start to lose all their sense. All of a sudden it becomes a matter of me trying to impose my morality or trying to impose my religious beliefs, provided I haven't done the thing I'm advising against. If I have done it, I'm gonna be called a hypocrite. My thing is, okay, but Holmes: at what point, or by what logic is it proper or justifiable for somebody who knows something to not point it out? It's never right for me as a teacher to let some child go around thinking that 6*7=35. And even if certain moral choices are not as cut-and-dried as a mathematics problem (some would argue that they are, but just for entertainment purposes, say that it's not)the likely consequences are not exactly unknown. Can't say D will definitely happen as a result of A, but A usually factors in there somewhere. Knowing that, I am remiss in not advising against A, particularly when factors C and D are present, which make outcome D much more likely. Moreover, if I believe that G is a consequence which will be dealt with later, then I'm more wrong than I would've been at any point in the first instance. But to take it out of the nebulous hypothetical terms, and to even de-criminalize and de-religify the conversation, let's go back to Bill Cosby. People have called him a hypocrite because he made Fat Albert, in which all the characters don't speak standard English, yet he critiqued young folks today who don't speak standard English. Well I'll put it like this: I am willing to concede that there may be a generational disconnect there. Can't say it for sure, but there may be, so I'll allow for it. Even at that, I think - I can't remember for sure one way or the other- that Fat Albert and the gang had enough of a grasp of the language that they could have style shifted when it was necessary. Fat Albert at 20 would not have trouble expressing himself in standard English, I don't think. I could be wrong, but I doubt it. See, I'm not sure, but I don't know that Cosby was suggesting that Black Standard Vernacular be abandoned altogether. I think he was being critical of people who don't seem to recognize that there are instances in which that linguistic construction is unsuitable, but nothing beyond that. What I think is more hypocritical than Cosby's supposed hypocricy is the fact that Black intellectuals were so quick to run out and castigate Cosby, as if he said something wrong; like we didn't alreay know what he was talking about. I haven't heard all of them speak with my own ears, but I would be willing to bet that none of them uses BSV all the time, or has never not-used BSV in certain situations. I can understand wanting to defend the poor and the defenseless, but sometimes they need to step their game up, too. If my stated objective is to help someone advance and I know that some element of their behavior will be an impediment to that advancement, then what I am doing and what I am saying are not in agreement, which would make me a hypocrite. The fact that I did the same thing at an earlier point does not make me hyprocritical. If anything, it should give me additional validity.

Daddy, What's a Callipygous?

WARNING: Sexist and/or racist stuff to follow. Seriously. If you're looking for political stuff, check the archives or look under Delicious & Nutritious. This is NOT nutritious...this is a Honey Bun. Don't say I didn't warn you. I got ambushed. There I was, minding my own business when I got sidetracked by this article on white girls with butts. I've been trying and trying and trying to avoid writing about this, but at this point, it's out of my hands. I've been provoked. Now in order to properly discuss this, I have to break out the seating chart I devised a few years ago. Inspired by the lyric from the James Brown song, I'm a Greedy Man, where he goes, "You got to have somethin' to sit on/ before I carry you home" I came up with the following schedule for butt sizes: -Bar Stool -Folding Chair -Banquet Chair -Easy Chair -Love Seat -Sofa -Park Bench Now let' break this down. A bar stool has no cushioning and barely enough seating to get comfortable. A folding chair, while having no cushioning provides better coverage and support. A banquet chair is like a folding chair with cushioning. Everything from the easy chair to the sofa is similar, differing only in literal size. A Park Bench is simply too much. So draw your parallels. I don't do pictures or graphic physical descriptions because even with a scale and objective-sounding names(or maybe just objectifying), it's still a matter of taste. What's a Love Seat to me might be an Easy Chair to one of my friends. (The beauty of this scale is the limitless number of iterations.) First thing to point out is that in general discussions, women tend to have no understanding of what's important. Because clothing makers use 'hips' as a measurement, they tend to think that that's what guys are checking for. And to tell the truth, there may be some guys for whom the shape of the hips is the most important thing. I don't know any of them, though. It's all about the cheek. And again, there are definitely varying opinions on this, but for my use of the above terms, the differentiation is based on the amount of retro-protrusion. Wide is one thing. Fully-packed is something altogether different. Moreover, wasit-to-cheek ratio plays an important role in determining a place on the seating chart. Even if a chick had what would qualify as a sofa, if that midriff ain't together, then her overall rating goes down. But that's just me. I know one of my boys, he likes them big jawns, so again, his scale would be totally different than mine. So when it comes to white girls with butts, the first thing to understand is that most white girls fall somewhere around a folding chair. Occasionally you may see a Bar Stool, who looks like she just has a very long back, but that's infrequent. For the most part, there's a little shape and a little protrusion, but not much. The average Black dude would call that having no butt. (The Bar Stool is nearly concave.) But like I said, white girls have been coming up. Only thing is, people are blowing it out of proportion. The grading is curved. (no pun intended) There has been an increase in the number of Banquet Chair Beckys, and every once in a while...verrrry rarely...you might see an Easy Chair Becky, but that's about as far as it goes. Love Seats and Sofas? No. What's interesting to me is that the celebrity who brought the mainstream's attention southward was Jennifer Lopez. I think she really started to get noticed when she played all those roles where she was a dark-complected white chick, so people started to think it was okay. Black women have always been packin'. (Not that there aren't Folding Chair Rasheedas out there...)J-Lo got a nice Easy Chair, maybe edging into semi-Love Seat-ness, but that's about it. For sure, she ain't got no Sofa. Serena got a Sofa. Another thing to mention here is that it's important to differentiate between that which God made and that which clothing makes to appear. It's time out for some of these fashions, because people just don't know what they're doing. A woman with anything less than an Easy Chair has no business wearing pants with writing across the back. Maybe I'm wrong for saying it, so if need be I'll get some woman I know to come and cosign, but truth is truth. Last spring I mentioned the girl who was walking around in some sweatpants that said 'Net' across the back. They were really supposed to spell 'Northeast.' The converse is true as well. I've seen chicks with Park Benches out there stretching 'BVD' to 'Boulevard.' Certain things just ought not be, my friends. Of course, the key to all this is that every woman must be convinced of her own attractiveness in her own mind. It doesn't matter what standard of beauty the mass media projects if a woman is comfortable in her own skin. Being comfortable in your skin doesn't necessarily mean showing as much of it as possible, however. If she reeealllly got a Sofa, she won't need to wear hip-huggers to show it off. That mug would be recognizable through sweatpants. But then to take it beyond the physical a little, it's all about confidence anyway. I won't argue that some women wear revealing clothes because they are confident in their looks, but I'd be willing to bet that more dress that way because deep down they are uncomfortable with themselves and want attention from dudes to give them some validation. My thinking here is that if a woman is really comfortable with herself, she'll dress more-or-less appropriately for her body-type. And I recognize that the whole concept of "appropriate" in this is problematic. What I think displays good fashion sense may be altogether different than her perception. But if you think about it, it's not that people are coming from left-field and trying to make a new style, it's that they're trying to dress like they're built one way when they're not. I make the parallel of guys going to the gym and trying to lift to look impressive instead of lifting for what their body is actually capable of. The person who knows his body and isn't ashamed will get on the bench and lift that "wimp" looking weight because it's not about the appearance of being strong it's about actually getting strong. Same thing here. It's not about putting on the appearance of sexiness, it's about being it and letting it exude through whatever outfit she's wearing. I know. I've seen women in suits who would turn my head before 93% of these chicks out here wearing next-to-nothing. By the way, 'callipygous' is only my favorite word. It means 'having pleasantly shaped buttocks.' You didn't even know there was a word for that. But you know it now. Spend it wisely.

The IB And Me

The Hall of Fame Game, the inaugural contest in the 2005 NFL season, was last night. I didn't watch it. I don't have a televison. On purpose. August, 2004 represents the 3rd year in a row that I have lived free of an in-house idiot box. Not like I haven't seen any television in three years, but not at my house. There are some days when I miss it, like Sundays and Monday nights during the fall and winter or during the first two days of March Madness (or however long my team is playing), but for the most part, I'm cool without it. I wasn't born this way, though. I first started to become television independent one summer during junior high. I was watching TV while a brawny thunderstorm rumbled through, taking the power with it. When the lights came back on, the television didn't. My mom was like, "I told you to cut off that TV, didn't I?" So she decided not to buy one until the end of the summer. Fortunately, we had lots of books, magazines, and records. That was the summer that I first started learning how to draw. At that point, I knew I couldn't go back to endless hours of television viewing. Now, this is probably not for everybody. It certainly isn't for anybody who doesn't have access to information from some other source. Everybody needs to be able to be able to find out what's going on in the world. Just about a month after I had gone TV free, 9/11 happened. If my ex hadn't called me and told me, I would've gone all day, oblivious to the whole thing. I might have noticed that there weren't any planes flying, but it probably would have taken a couple days. Even after I got the call, I tried to log on to the New York Times, but of course they were getting so much traffic that my little dial-up couldn't get through, so I wound up having to walk to my grandmother's to see what was happening. Even aside from the informative purpose, I can respect that everybody doesn't share my preferences in entertainment. That's cool. That the average Black family watches 70 hours a week is not. What did Flav say? "Why'on'chu back up from the TV! Read a book or somethin'! Learn about your culture!" If there's one thing that could get me cussin (and there are a lot more than one, let me tell you), this is it. There's nothing wrong with watching some television, but keeping that joint on as a steady stream of smoke hazing up the room, that's bad news. What really gets me is the line people give me when I step to them about it: "There's educational stuff on TV." I have a stock answer too. "Yeah, but that ain't what you be watchin'." Anyway, I see this as an opportunity for bridge building between the right and the left, but more than likely it would only lead to more wall-building. Let some conservative make a big deal about cutting off the television, and all you would hear from liberals is complaining about people being holier-than-thou and trying to make moral judgements. Let some mainstream liberal groups (because there actually are some groups that advocate this, and I think they are left-leaning) come out with the exact same message and conservatives would counter with arguments about liberty and personal responsibility; eventually there would probably be an article describing the economic consequences of such foolishness. Meanwhile, my people are awash in mind-numbing, vapid representations of abnormal normality. I bet even the Jesses, as long as they don't know what the other has said, would agree on a 35-hour a week cap on television viewing. Just leave Madden out of this.

Oops.

I thought I had put Deep Gully by the Outlaw Blues Band on my playlist, but apparently I didn't. I sure meant to. Talk about a bass line... One of the things I do when I sit at my computer these days is try to see if I can pluck out the bass line of songs I like. Deep Gully...I'm not even gonna attempt until I can actually play. Not that I can't break it down, it's just out of pure respect. That bass line is a beast. I thought about telling a girl she was as pretty as this bass line is funky, but without her having any reference to the song, it's pointless. Plus, the word "Gully" is in the title, which throws the compliment off. But suffice it to say that this bass line is hurtin' em. That is all.

Soul Flower!

I've been deliberately avoiding the whole Ricky Williams discussion. The main reason is that personally, I think too many people are acting like it actually has some bearing on their lives; like the fact that Dread decided to retire from football leaves them in a lurch. In most cases, that's just not the case, except for some fantasy football pool or something, and in cases where his departure actually has left them in a lurch, that says more about them than him. If his mama can deal with it, the rest of y'all should be able to get along too. Part of the problem is the fact that we deify celebrities. For the most part, our behavior says that if a person comes into the house via the box, their life must be better/worth more examination than mine. Sports and entertainment stars are especially prone to this type of superficial judgment. We talk about these people as if we know them; like we grew up around the corner from them and our mothers are old friends. We refer to them as if we're on first-name basis, and why? Because they're weekly "guests" in our home, either via their actual game/show or via one of the many shows dedicated to tracking the goings-on in their lives. Of course the real truth is, we don't know them and they don't know us. The whole "relationship" is false. (And I'll be the first to admit that I do it too. Get a conversation started on Kobe and see how quick I jump in. I'm not better than anybody else, but I readily acknowledge the fact that the whole behavior is ridiculous.) So in the case of Ricky Williams, it's slowly but surely coming to light that his marijuana smoking played a role in his retirement decision. I only bring it up now because Bill O'Reilly has weighed in on it. (Of course, it wouldn't be a Bill O'Reilly rant if he didn't find a way to mention Ludacris in there somewhere. Sometimes I just kinda wonder...is there really that much legitimate obsession a man can have with another man? Seriously.) His arguments about the degree to which our culture is awash in intoxicants is valid, so I can't beef with that. What caught me off guard was this gem: "Think about all the good Williams could have done with the money he was earning." Say what? Like I said, this all boils down to the fact that we think and act like we know people just because we know their names and their salaries. We act like the knowing somebody's salary gives us the right to run their budget - even as our own debt accumulates. Personally, I think the argument against the legalization of marijuana is specious at best. Every point that can be made about weed can be made - more strongly - against a controlled substance tht's currently legal. Seriously. The laws against marijuana possession are pure-D draconian, particularly considering the potential degree of harm involved. Weed makes people goofy, hungry, and sleepy. Maybe horny. That's about it. Over the long term, there are some more detrimental aspects, like increased risk of lung cancer and other potential damage to bodily systems, but again-- it's nothing worse than stuff I can go to the store and buy now. There's no reason to do physical jail time over a joint. There's just not. The fact that it's against the law in this case is irrelevant, because it's the law that's flawed. But whatever. As it is now, weed is against the law and Ricky kept flunking the test so he bailed from the League. That's his prerogative. Ricky Williams is a grown man. He decided that living the way he wants to is worth more than the money he was being paid to play football. While I am fairly certain that I, Avery Tooley, would not retire from the League at 27 unless it was simply medically impossible for me to continue, it's not my decision to make for Ricky Williams. Nor is it the decision of any of those sportswriters and fans who have gone apoplectic in the past few weeks. "If I had all that talent and/or money...," they start. Okay,if all us spectators were participants, we'd still be in the League. Whatever that means. Just like I can say, "If I was getting X millions to play basketball, I'd be at practice on time every day." Whatever. That's easy for me to say now, when I'm nowhere near that situation. If Ricky wants to travel and puff herb, that's on him. I think we all have enough in our own lives to be concerned about.

Whas'nEVER I Play, It's Got To Be FUNKY

Silly Billy - Ohio Players Hip Hug Her - Booker T & The MGs Different Strokes - Syl Johnson This House Is Smokin' - B.T. Express Gangster Boogie - Chicago Gangsters Gratitude - Earth, Wind & Fire Funky Bird - Galactic I'm Bad Like Jesse James - John Lee Hooker Glide - Pleasure Space - Galt MacDermott Magic Shoes - The Main Ingredient Let's Play House - Parliament The Root - D'Angelo Whiskey Drinkin' Woman - Lou Donaldson Hoochie Coochie Man - Muddy Waters Free - Denise Williams Love And Happiness - Monty Alexander

Knee-grow, Please!

"You must be lookin' somewhere else like Biggie Smalls' lazy eye.." - Rass Kas A while ago, I fooled around with my ambivalence towards the use of the word "nigga". It's getting out of hand now, though. I don't care what the politics or who they think they speak for, white liberals ain't got NO business throwin' hat word around like they got some claim to it. Let Dick Cheyney use that phrase and Kweisi 'nem would hafta get in line to throw rocks. And they would have a right to. What, Ted Rall and Janeane Garofolo get passes because they were talking about Condoleeza Rice and Larry Elder, respectively? Come on, hops. This is bad in for two reasons. First, it's bad because, as I said, they actually said it. But second, it's bad because they're just repeating terms they've heard from "authentic" Black voices. Who gave them the courage to spit the term "house nigga?" Where did they even hear it? From "our" so-called leaders and/or spokespeople. Even if the average serious redneck put the two words together, I'm not sure he could tell me the house nigga's counterpart. White liberals, having more contact with Black folks, know those terminologies. It's sad. What's even worse is that because they're just parroting terms they've heard, they're not even fair game to bring to the Dozens ring. I'm probably being prejudiced here, but just look at it: when Al and Jesse step up to the mic, you know that even if you don't agree with a word they say, they're gonna have those words flipping like Dominique Dawes. I haven't heard that type of game out of very many white libs. Sooooo, since they want to joint in the name-calling game, they should be prepared to be dispatched very quickly. I had some 7th graders that could've handled both of them at the same time. Read La Shawn's take on this.

Below The Funk

I was born...city they call Buffalo Zero degrees BE-low...too damn cold and funky (pass the joint) R.I.P., Rick James A little history on me and that lyric...I first heard Below The Funk at my babysitter's grandson's house when I was 6. I remember listening to that record and seeing the album cover for Prince's Dirty Mind. After that summer, which was right before I started first grade (so was I 5?) I didn't hear that song again until 1994, when I bought the Street Songs CD. Over 15 years later, I still remembered that lyric exactly. I was amazed. I'm saddened, but just a little. Now when J.B. transitions...

Kool G. Rap Appreciation Post

I quoted him earlier this week, and I mentioned him as the most underrated MC of all time last week, so I guess it's time for me to give some shine to the Kool Genius of Rap. G Rap is an MC's MC. Not a name that a casual rap fan would know, certainly not the average anti-hip-hop pundit would be able to call. MTV hip-hop fans wouldn't know him either. But ask somebody who knows hip-hop. They'll tell you. G Rap was that man. Coming at the same time as Kane and Rakim, along with his lisp makes G Rap like the Joe Frazier of MCs. You know he was good, but you don't really appreciate how good he was because he was in there at the same time as the greatest ever. Like I said about Ice Cube last week, though, whoever the top 5 is, G Rap would give any of them fits. In fact, if there were a 64-man MC tournament, I can easily see G Rap making it to the Final Four, if not the finals. And don't sleep, if there was anybody that could see Rakim for the title, Kool G Rap was him. One thing about G, he was one of the main East Coast MCs kicking that gangsta/hustler rap in the early 90's. The difference between him and most of the other cats that did it then, and the suckers that do it now, G Rap had skills. Pull out your old English book and look up poetic elements and listen to a G Rap record. He pulled out all the techniques. Polysyllabic, mobile rhymes (at the front, middle, and end of lines), complex rhyme patterns, clever punchlines, extended metaphors, assonance, crisp detail in his stories...that's probably why he didn't sell that many records. You have to actually pay attention to Kool G. My favorite song by G Rap is probably Ill Street Blues, the story of a mob hitman. The first few bars set the scene...

I'm right in front of my front steps thinking of a plan Looking like Raggedy Ann no dough in hand kicking a can Thinking of a plot to pull some bank in Because I'm dead and stinking Soles on my shoes winking t shirt is shrinking

How broke is he? The t-shirt is getting smaller even as he wears it. Ill Street is not a song I would point out as having any redeeming social values, but there are two factors at play here: 1. I just like it. It wasn't until about 1995 that I started really caring about what a MC was talking about, and this came out well before that. Therefore, I have only positive feelings about this song, because... 2. Kool G Rap was a true MC. If he had kicked the same story using a-b-c rhymes and elementary techniques I never would have liked the song in the first place. It's not what you say, it's how you say it. G Rap said it well. I'll roll out with two verses from the song that I think best displays G Rap's dexterity, Poison. Again, watch the rhyme patterns in the first verse and the extended metaphor in the second.

This is poison so be alert and cautious Those who act courageous you will get nauseous Infected or contaminated Turn on your stereo and become radio-activated Deadly and fatal, poison the title My recital hits the parts that are vital So tune in the tone of beats and poems Polo's headphones becomes a skull and crossbones Pull out your Q-tips, clean out the earwax If you're still hard of hearing, I'mma scrub them with Ajax With maximum drum so behave and remember You're a slave to my sound wave Faster rhymes I mastermind I have to find A new method time after time Write a rhyme quick when I pull out my Bic pen Stick to an idea, the soundproof slick then Put it on paper cause I make you hyper Than any other rapper cause I keep my rapping riper Like cherries or some say berries Mandatory for the auditory and its glory Here's the story: rappers getting leery to hear me G speaks in a new technique of fury Domination of drums and noise and Yo yo yo Polo yo this is poison

A mind designed to find a rhyme that's right on time One step beyond and not behind the line That separates dogs from divine Take it as a caution, or a warning sign Whether antonyms, words I'm blending them Homonyms, synonyms, good like M&M's With Polo and while he's slicing I'll turn the mike's last name into Tyson My brain is like a factory constantly creating Material stitch by stitch for decoration Lyrics are fabrics, beat is the lining My passion in rhyming is fashion designing Now it gets ordered, cause people want to sport it You bought it, if you didn't then you couldn't afford it Poetry full of surprises, it's like a game show And my brain glows just like a rainbow Rappers and poets they already know it G Rap is a terror not a error and never will I stop reaching for better Whether wheels of steel or reel to reel G Rap will make you feel the real deal I usually rap hardcore and I know That y'all thinking am I somehow semi, so We yell "party" and girls and boys and Remember Kool G Rap, Doc the Butcher and Polo is poison

I Couldn't Make This Up On My Best Day...

Black Oreo Barbie. What more can I say? (c) - Shawn Carter From blackfeminism.org

You Boys Could Stand Some Churchin' Up...

The Dallas News has an interesting article on the decline in overt political influence exerted by the Black church. In it, several factors, including the growing number of "prosperity ministries" and a general ambivalence towards politics are cited as causes for concern.

Once, he noted, "the black church was needed for education, social justice and political activism, because segregation had shut black people out of the mainstream of American life. The church was the only institution then - and still is in some marginalized communities."

Let me put it like this: I definitely don't think the church should abandon its place as the central locus of the community, but things done changed. For the life of me, I cannot understand why people constantly hearken back to those halcyon days of segregation, unless they think the only way to motivate people is by fear. There's no denying what happened in the past, and it would be pure idiocy to act as if what happened then shouldn't inform our outlook now, but informing and determining are two very different things. The Bull Connors and George Wallaces of the world should have had a direct bearing on the way we thought and strategized for the future in the 1960's. It's the 21st century now, though. As Booker Rising points out,there are some politicians who are still in that segregationist mold, who honestly do want to turn back the clock, but I believe that's a fringe element. I could be wrong, but I doubt it. One of the great strengths of the Black church has been its involvement in the lives of its members. The church is supposed to impact all aspects of the community. That's the church's job. Ultimately it's about bringing people to Jesus, but if I can talk to a hungry man about Jesus without feeding him, then I'm just talkin' loud and sayin' nothin'. The only thing is, politics is not the most efficient way for the church to handle that function. I'll put it like this: when the church was the only institution we had, we could go there to get our needs met, spiritual, social, and otherwise. Within that context, and within the circumstances of the Civil Rights movement, the Black church became a political force. That mutation caused a problem, though. Once people noticed the potential of the church to mobilize a voting bloc,it became fair game, just as any other group, like the NAACP or the Urban League. Likewise, many ministers parlayed their spiritual influence into political power. Now, I'm not gonna be the one to question whether they made the right decision or not, or whether the political limits the influence of the spiritual, but I will say that as that the church became more political, many of the functions it served in the community began to be shunted onto the government. And I'm not even arguing about what the government's role should be. I'm not talking about the government, I'm talking about the church. We have to reclaim our position as advocate...not TO the politicians, we have to take that position back FROM the politicians. While it may or may not be the government's job to provide for the poor and the fatherless, anybody with even a little bit of exposure to the Bible knows the church should be doing it. So when preachers get up there focusing on the role of the government, I think they lose their spiritual focus and in turn damage their overall efficacy. Put it like this: I personally like Jesse Jackson, for what I know of him. He's got his blemishes, but who doesn't? The English major on me is a sucker for anybody who can flip a phrase, and he definitely has skills in that area. If he was purely a political entity, I wouldn't agree with much of what he has to say, but I would have no other beef with him. Thanks to reading La Shawn, I saw a paper from 1977 where Jesse comes out against abortion, partially in his role as a minister. Now, I don't know, maybe he has written a paper on the topic that I haven't seen, but as long as he's maintaining the title Reverend, I don't think he can come down on one side of an issue in his spiritual capacity and then go to the other side without exerting that same spiritual influence. In other words, it's one thing for Jesse the politico to reverse his field on abortion. That's his right as a person and as a politician. For the Reverend, however, there better be some Jesus-is-for-this logic in there. I've heard a lot of hazy anti-oppression logic, but I still have yet to hear any "pro-choice" minister give an argument stating why Jesus would be pro-abortion. And even then, I don't care about those jokers Planned Parenthood can scrounge up, because they had probably never said anything different. Rev. Jackson did, though. To me, it looks like he sold out his spiritual convictions for political gain. I might be dead wrong. But I doubt it. All that to say the main historical strength of the Black church, what made it such an important prize in the first place, was that it was self-sustained. Unlike the NAACP or the Urban League, there were not corporate backers, no hands in the pockets. In many instances, the church was the one institution that was Black-owned and run with Black money. While that technically has not changed, it seems that among some of the 7 traditionally Black denominations, there has been a tacit alignment with the Democratic party. They won't necessarily praise any Democrats specifically, but they'll lam hell out of Bush. That shouldn't be, for a variety of reasons, both practical and Biblical. I ain't gon' get into all that right now, but suffice it to say that I think independence is crucial. All that Sunday Morning photo op church visit crap has got to stop. If the candidate is that concerned, let him have his own meeting in the basement on Tuesday night. There was one more point addressed in the article that basically sums up the wrestling team paradigm, as I like to call it. "The thinking is that if individuals rise, so will the rest of the community. That is a complete reversal from the mission of the black church during slavery, Reconstruction and civil rights," said Dr. Harris, who has researched the church's influence on black political behavior. Exactly. The days of the basketball team, with one or two superstars who do everything is over. We're not in the slavery, Reconstruction or civil rights any more, so we shouldn't be using the same techniques. Nowadays, if the Black community is going to make any progress, then we're gonna have to combine our successes at the individual level into a sustained community-level achievement. The church should be the central point of connectivity, but only as an extension of its spiritual mission. After all, even when Rev. Cleophus James helped the Blues Brothers see the light, he was pointing to the Light of the World.

Oooh! A Battle.

"Boy come on get with this cuz you can't dis this I'm burnin' yo ass like syphllis" - Kool G. Rap I got called out! Memer has some issues with Black conservatives regarding our disaffiliation with the Democratic party. To really get the full scope of his thoughts, you need to head up the block and check it out. This paragraph pretty much sums it up, though:

[...]I don't see why it's at all necessary to be a Republican Black, when it is clear, to me at least, that you can still hold the same values within the Democratic fold. Even if you think liberal Whites, in their rush to compensate for past wrongs, have gotten so overzealous that they're pushing policies that do too much (and are actually a hindrance to progression as a people), does that justify betrayal? The intent was still honorable, and the policies have indeed helped thousands upon thousands...

My response was this: As I've said up the block, I don't do politics. That's an argument over who's right instead of what's right. It's too late in the game for that. When I was teaching, or when I'm tutoring now, my party affiliation (or the lack thereof) don't change a thing. 12 X 12 (I know I use that one all the time, but if you've seen what I've seen it would stick in your head too) is 144 whether I come as a Democrat, Republican, or registered Independent. At the end of the day, that's what it all boils down to. But on the real, I don't feel that I owe the Democratic party anything. The Voting Rights Act and Civil Rights acts got passed with bi-partisan support and bi-partisan opposition. I mean, we can talk about David Duke's Republican-ness or whatever, but Sen. Byrd was in the KKK too, and he actually got voted in and re-elected. Neither party has the market cornered on actions detrimental to the Black community. Wolf vs. Fox. Malcom pointed that out a lonnnng time ago *sets out sammiches and kool-aid* Now. My biggest problem with this whole type of discussion is that it presumes that there's some type of political "Blackness" that is legitimate while everything else is counterfiet. What happened to kujichagulia? How's any judgment assessment of Blackness gonna be legitimate if you don't allow me to name and define myself? I fell out with the Black Left a few years ago when the cover of Emerge Magazine featured a caricature of Clarence Thomas as a lawn jockey. *makes face pictured in sidebar* A lawn jockey, though? It would have been better to paint him as ho on the stroll. But I'm sure that both the artist and the cover editor knew exactly what they were doing. That's why I couldn't deal with it. Emerge was supposed to be our intellectual magazine. If there was any periodical where divergent political opinion should have been tolerated, if not celebrated, it was Emerge. Or that's what I thought. Once they went that route, as far as I was concerned, it was game over. If somebody can't think differently without being an Uncle Tom or a sellout, then there's nothing left to talk about. The thing is, at the time, Clarence Thomas could've said "water is wet" and I would've tried to argue the point. All that name-calling is just tired and boring to me. (As I'm writing, it's just occurring to me, we can wonder all we want about why some young folks call behaviors different than their norm "acting white." It's because adults, respectable, educated, moneyed adults have modeled it for them.) See me, I've never been a Democrat or a Republican. I was with Chuck D talking about, "Neither party is mine, not the jackass or the elephant." If anything, I should belong to the Republican party, since I picked Reagan and Bush in the three elections they won. I was even Reagan's campaign manager for my class in 5th grade. By the time I had gotten old enough to actually vote, however, I had read The Autobiography of Malcom X and I knew that the wolf-fox conundrum was true. Like I said the other day, I vote for my grandparents and my other (s)kinfolks, not because some politician or ideology moves me. Therefore, for as swelling and theatrical as Al Sharpton can be, and for all the ill rhymes Jesse Jackson can flip, I owe neither them nor their political backers my allegiance. And if I don't owe them anything, I definitely don't owe anything to a Republican. Besides, like sports, politics is "what have you done for me lately. Most liberal ideology seems to be based in on the concept that if you were ever down, you must still be down. Whatever. I like J.C. Watts' football analogy here: when the Buccaneers were perpetually the worst team in football, they perpetually got a handout, the first pick in the draft. Once Tony Dungy gave them some respectability and kept them playing into January, they didn't need that assistance from the league. Brothers like Al and Jesse and organizations like the NAACP play it like it's worse than it's ever been, when anybody with two eyes knows better than that. I don't think it was a good 6 weeks ago when Thomas Todd said that Black folks aren't free. If we ain't free today, then what was going on 40 years ago? I bet all those folks who sacrificed their lives and livelihoods for us to be where we are today wouldn't say that we aren't free. I bet my possible forebear, Nat Turner (yeahh...I was geeked up when my pop mentioned that possibility) would be delirious with the non-freedom that I have. Not to say that it's all grits and gravy, but it ain't pig snouts and apple cores no more, either. A couple weeks ago, I wrote a piece about the wrestling team paradigm. As far as I'm concerned, we all Black; we're all on the same team. Political affiliation, ideology, idiolect, diction, choice of romantic partners, dancing skills, soul food cooking technique, and all the rest of that is immaterial. The only thing that matters is whether that individual is for the improvement of the team. Now there are some earnest disagreements over certain issues, like affirmative action, which both La Shawn and Cobb articulate, but even at that, I doubt that anybody's opposition to affirmative action stems from their desire to keep them other black folks down. Everybody on the team don't have the same technique, even though they may have the same ultimate objective. That don't mean they wana join the another squad. Besides, why shouldn't Black folks who are so inclined go Republican? How we gon' sit up there and talk about how the Black community is not monolithic and all that, but castigate and try to excommunicate anybody who actually proves it? If we go from blue gums to pink toes physically, we should be at least that diverse politically. Now sit down and eat this sammich and drink some Kool-Aid. You bout to make me miss this Funkadelic record. *cues up I Got A Thing, You Got A Thing* I got a thing You got a thing Everybody's got a thing When we get together, doin' our thing In order to help each other In order to help your brother (c) Funkadelic

This May Be My Last Post Ever.

Quote of the day: "But I like hip-hop. I'm hopping all the time, man." - Bill O'Reilly. If you don't hear from me again, it's because I suffered laugh-induced asphyxiation. *wipes tears from eyes*

68 Questions

Fellow CB'er Cobb has a list of 68 questions from Earl Ofari Hutchinson. I definitely recommend checking them out. I'll probably have at one or two of them sometime soon.

Jesus Was A Liberal

I usually don't have any response to Jesse Jackson's column in the Chicago Sun Times. It's very partisan, which is boring to me, regardless of the position he takes. The fact that I tend to disagree with him only reinforces my non-reaction. Today's article got a rise out of me. I don't necessarily agree with it, but it's entertaining. And that's what counts. In There's No Shame In Being A Liberal, Jesse makes his case that all the major actors in the Bible and throughout history were liberal and that the people opposing them were conservative. So by Jesse's estimation, Jesus was a liberal while Herod was the conservative. Moses was a liberal; Pharaoh was conservative. Washington and Jefferson were liberals; King George was conservative. That's some fun stuff. Of course, I don't agree with attaching contempory political labels to historic figures, especially Biblical ones. Even though in this construction we know and understand "liberal" to mean "agent of change," it's still tantamount to a conflation of terms. I don't remember if I've seen a conservative writer come out and say it quite like this, but there this type of forged historical cosignature is not endemic to the liberals or progressives, though. It's just as bad to intimate that Jesus or Moses or whoever would be with us because [insert reason] as it is to say it outright. Really though, what's the point of labeling and name-calling in the first place? (Well...name calling...there's always a place for the Dozens) Even if you disagree with Jesse's assignments, it seems that there are always some people who exist to force paradigm shifts in the face of those who prefer the status quo. So would that make a Black conservative...a liberal?

Whas'nEVER I Play, It's Got To Be FUNKY

I Got A Thing, You Got A Thing - Funkadelic Far East Mississippi - Ohio Players Escape-ism - James Brown (the whole 19:06) Can't Get Next To You - Al Green (Everybody knows the Temptations version of this song, but Al took it down to Memphis and beat it with the down-south soul stick so bad, it's unrecognizable. He sermonizes this cut. If you haven't heard it yet, you need to get up on this quick!) I Want To Ta-Ta You Baby - Johnny "Guitar" Watson Fakin' The Funk - Main Source The Symphony - Marley Marl, feat. Masta Ace, Craig G., Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane The Shot Heard 'Round The World - Schoolhouse Rock The 900 Number - The 45 King (reppin' for the Ed Lover Dance...) Dreams - Biggie Harlem Clavinette - Bobby Womack Get Me Back On Time, Engine #9 - Wilson Pickett Climax - Ohio Players Hydra - Grover Washington, Jr.

All-American Name Game

I don't go by African-American. I never did. I know that when people use that term I'm generally what they mean, but there are some problematic elements of that construction. Black (capital B) works sufficiently for me. A good discussion of the debate over the term African-American can be seen here. (Shout to Booker Rising). For now, though, I'm less concerned with the technical aspects than with the cultural elements. I was one class short of being an Af-Am studies minor. What ot me was a class that was cross-listed between Af-Am and English. Since I was an English major, they just tacked it on there. Anyway, that's just to say that I'm not freestyling off the top of my head without any of the philosophical underpinnings of the discussion. I know the literature on this, and I know, or am at least very familiar with the elements of the argument from both sides. Now. It's obvious that Black people have ancestry that connects us to Africa. Anybody who says otherwise is just talking nonsense. I'm not Jesse Peterson, disavowing all connection to Africa, or acting like there's some shame in it, but I'm not also with the romanticization of the continent. Africa is neither the origin of all things evil, nor is it the land of everlasting goodness. Or maybe it is, but if it's one then it's necessarily the other. Either way, most so-called African-Americans, the ones Stanley Crouch stubbornly refers to as Negroes, specifically meaning American-born Black folk, for the most part, have no tangible connection to Africa; haven't been there and ain't necessarily lookin' to go. Now, I will say that some fairly interesting comparisons have been made between elements of traditional African culture and Black American activity. Much is made of the similarity between people pouring out liquor in the memory of friends and relatives in the U.S. and the libations for the dead done in certain African cultures and religions. I don't question the connection; people do what the people around them do and have done. That doesn't make us African, though. That's like saying that a person is African because they tote yams or goobers. Sure, there are some things that have been passed down from generation to generation, whether behavioral or linguistic. The fact that I can't trace my lineage back to Africa doesn't negate that. I reject the term African-American because I am literally American. I used to have a strong opinion on the melting pot vs. salad metaphor. Some people see America as something that transmogrifies all who enter into a new amalgam, shile others see America as a place where diversity is the very trait that gives it strength and vitality. I used to be deep on the salad side. Then I realized that some of the same folks who argue for plurality within American culture try to make a hegemony within Black culture. Not just American Black culture, though, African culture as well. To pick on a commonly used example, African people don't know what Kwanzaa is. That's something Ron Karenga smelted together. And I'm not even debating whether Kwanzaa is legitimate or whether it should be celebrated, I'm just saying that it's an attempt to forge some type of pan-African identity within American Black folk. I think it's false. At this point, I probably believe more in the salad than the melting pot, although I definitely think there is a kind of American "dressing" that we're all slathered in. Again, I've never been out of the country myself, but from what I've heard, even Black Americans are identified as American first. And even if other people didn't see us that way, Jesse Peterson would have to agree with Ice Cube when Cube rapped, "And motherfuckers that say they too Black/ put 'em overseas, they'll be beggin' to come back." It's easy to be non-American when you're here. It's easy to recognize all the flaws and imperfections of our governmental system and to see the gross inequities in wealth and healthcare and to think that something must be amiss. But I'd be willing to bet that any person who thinks their lifestyle in the projects in the pits would be ready to walk back after living in Bangladesh poverty for a few months. I could be wrong, but I don't think so. Of course, America has historically not included Black folks, and that certainly plays a role in the reticence many of us have in designating ourselves as full Americans. Again, to ignore the historical reality is just plain foolish. Even now, it's likely that if you were to ask most people to describe an average American, their description wouldn't be Black. Jeremy deals with this in his post on normative whiteness. So why should we identify ourselves as Americans, since "they" don't? Because it's ours. Like James Brown sang, "we've used our sweat and blood/ to put out every fire and block up every flood." The title "American" is not "theirs" to give or withdraw. The constitution may not have been written with me in mind, but it applies to me now, just like years ago I couldn't have flown first class, but I can fly first class now. And I take every benefit and perk that I'm supposed to get. Our forebears paid with their lives for us to be Americans. I, for one, ain't tryin' to give up what they bought.

Random Rocky Notes

Watching Rocky IV again, I noticed something. Rocky and Adrian are suposed to have been married for about 9 years. That's true in real time, but in movie time that can't be right. When Apollo fights Drago, the announcer says that Apollo hasn't fought in 5 years. Rocky and Adrian got married right before Apollo did his in-ring retirement and sat down at the count of 9. Even Rocky Jr. is about 5 years old. Of course, Rocky was suffering from early brain damage... *** I wonder what Clubber Lang is up to these days. *** I asked this before, but maybe somebody who reads now wasn't looking back then... Watching Rocky IV for the Nth time (150th? 200th?) looking at the scene before Apollo fights Drago and the question just came to me: what would a relationship between Adrian and Apollo have been like? Because on the one hand, there's Adrian, who's all low-key and mousy, where Apollo is all outgoing and mouthy. I think it would be interesting. And that's before you include any racial elements. Part of the dynamic between Adrian and Rocky was the fact that neither of them had anything. Like Rocky explained to Paulie, they each had gaps. Rocky's main gap was his lack of intelligence. That was certainly not Apollo's problem. He was by far the smartest man in all the movies in which he appeared (although definitely not the wisest). In saying that, I'm not sure what would have held Apollo and Adrian together, but I think it would be interesting to see how those two would bounce off each other. Any opinions? *** Also, when I have a reason to write it, I'm gonna break down the reason why Rocky is probably one of the best cinematic love stories ever.

Bandwagon Hoppin'

I really don't do baseball, but tomorrow is August 2, my late grandfather's birthday. To commemorate, I'm saddling up with his favorite team, the Cubs. I remember many a summer evening spent in the TV room spent watching the Ryne Sandberg-Leon Durham-Lee Smith Cubs. When they lost, he would always mutter, "Old sorry Cubs." Then in 1984, they won the NL East Pennant. I didn't know who was happier, Grampaw or Harry Caray. At any rate, for the next two months, or however long they play, I'll be representing the Cubs.

Classic Tyson

Feeling nostalgic, I'm looking at some old footage of Tyson. While there aren't enough drugs and alcohol in the world to make me say Tyson was better than Ali, I will say that none of Ali's hits will have me up dancing in circles like Tyson's. He was a steamroller; a rhinocerous. He used to literally knock guys silly. One of his victims was laying on the canvas talking about, "Dude, where's my brain?" *cues Archie and Edith* Those were the days.

Sippin' On Clorox?

Do Black kids really think it's "acting white" to excel in academic/intellectual pursuits? Dr. Edward Rhymes says no. In his article, Acting White? African-American Students and Education, Dr. Rhymes seeks to discredit disingenuous and misled pundits and celebrities who claim that there is some anti-intellectual movement afoot. Citing his personal experience with youngsters, both in and outside of the classroom, he claims that he has never heard any Black student "equivocate scholastic achievement with whiteness." Students at T.C. Williams High School say otherwise. In the article, When The Street And The Classroom Collide, several college-bound Black students report that many of their peers have ridiculed them as sellouts or "acting white" for their devotion to their studies. Something's wrong here. I would never go so far as to question another man's experience, but I will say that the evidence seems to support the kids more than it does Dr. Rhymes. Since Dr. Rhymes' article is published at Black Commentator, I will concede that bias could be a problem in the Washington Post article, since the mainstream press is partially to blame for fueling this stereotype. Or something like that. They're always on the lookout for that type of bias over there, so I'd better acknowledge it up front. I'm less interested in the Washington Post article than I am in Dr. Rhymes' article, but not so much because I think that the focus in the post is "righter" than Dr. Rhymes, but because Rhymes does a provide an interesting framework for analyzing the situation. Instead of placing blame, his stated purpose is to seek an explanation. He cites four elements as having explanatory power in the lack of academic push among Black youngsters: pop culture, curriculum, placement tests and other standardized tests, and the ethnicity of teachers. Okay, except where does any of that give the kids agency? But I'm getting ahead of myself. One thing I will give Dr. Rhymes credit for, he does a good job of pointing out the fact that the majority of the students are actually ambivalent towards academic success. All other things being equal, they would prefer to be on the smart side of average rather than the dumb side, but intelligence counts for far less than, say, physical appearance, charisma, or athletic ability. That's true. It's also true that the nerd stereotype did not originate in the Black community, so in that respect I suppose it's fair to question the degree to which people act like Black people are so anti-education vis-a-vis the mainstream society. That's a good piece of fat for some career eggheads to chew, but does it really matter? Whether Black kids don't push hard at school because they don't want to be "white" or they don't want to be "nerds" (and if you take the pop culture angle, there have only been two real Black nerds: the gay dude in the Revenge of the Nerds movies and Steve Urkel, so it's not clear that "nerd" and "white" are mutually exclusive) the issue is that they're not pushing hard at school. Not whether larger society is somehow culpable. I couldn't have cared less why my kids didn't think it was worth their time not to know how to multiply, I just wanted them to learn how to do it. The second element he targets is the curriculum. Let’s say for a moment, that I actually bought into this misconception about African-American youths’ aversion to education; when the curriculum is viewed from our social studies, history and English classes across the country, it’s easy to see how education and “whiteness” becomes inseparable. Ambra has written a good deal about the merits (or the lack thereof) of classical literature, so I'm not about to rehash that. She also has a piece about hip-hop in the classroom that's definitely worth checking out. All that to say that I can co-sign on a critique of the curriculum to a degree-- but only to a degree. Even Furious Styles, in Boyz In The Hood, stressed the importance of mathematics to his son. If the evidence showed Black kids doing well in math but poorly in courses where "Eurocentrism" could be blamed for their lack of interest, I wouldn't have an argument. That's not the case, though. I was a math teacher. I know. An eighth grader who can't immediately spit the answer to 12 X 12 is not the victim of a Eurocentric education system or one that is steeped in Americanity at the expense of facts. More than likely, he's the victim of too much idiot box, but we ain't gon' talk about that. We never do. As for Black students being steered away from AP courses, I'm not sure about the extent to which that has any bearing on this discussion. I think Dr. Rhymes' point is that Black students think high academic achievement is "white" because they don't see themselves reflected in the highest tier of coursework, but that's specious at best. I think the fact that most majority Black schools don't offer many AP courses is something that's worth investigating, but I'm fairly sure that if there were more parental demand (on the schools to provide the courses and on the students to make it worth the schools' while) those problems would be addressed. Still, that's something to keep an eye on. The ethnicity of the teachers...ehhhh. I think it can make a difference, but it doesn't have to. Much more important is the teacher's expectations for the students and the degree of tolerance that ze has for foolishness, both behavioral and academic. Black kids don't need a Black teacher to learn. It doesn't hurt, but it's not a necessity. Kids will respond to whoever cares. True enough that the teacher's worldview is passed to the students along with the curriculum, but I still maintain that that's not a deal breaker. It would be great if there were more Black teachers who could act as mentors and role models, as well as classroom instructors, but come on. Any group of students will show its collective behind to any teacher who will let it, irrespective of race. That's just what kids do. Finally, Dr. Rhymes demonstrates the difference between scholastic performance of voluntary and involuntary immigrants throught the world. Now that's some interesting stuff that I hadn't seen before. I'll definitely be taking a look at the literature on that. But... The most important element is one Rhymes brushes aside on the way to his conclusion: Although Ogbu’s studies offer some compelling reasons for the gap between African-Americans and whites in education, he also cautioned that we should not allow our righteous zeal to fight discrimination (and to break down barriers in education and in the opportunity structure), to cause us to ignore the personal behavior and attitudes that are conducive to academic success. Again, to the extent that I call myself conservative, this is why. All the rest of that stuff may play a role somewhere. Nerds on TV and in the movies or an deadening curriculum or no AP classes or a lily-white teaching corps may have some detrimental effect on Black educational performance, but none of that even comes close to the "personal behavior and attitudes that are conducive to academic success." We used to do much more with much less. There's no reason we shouldn't be doing better now.

Favorite Albums Wrestle-Off #1

In order to properly evaluate albums, the first thing I have to do is create a rubric. (What a fun word). I'm thinking that the criteria for hip-hop albums will be slightly different than the one for gospel albums, but not entirely dissimilar. After all, I'll be comparing albums within genre by the same artist, so it'll be inherently fair. Anyway, to review, this is going to culminate in a list of my 10 favorite albums...for now. The list I proposed last time was the following:

Dare Iz A Darkside - Redman De La Soul Is Dead - De La Soul Songs In The Key of Life - Stevie Wonder Love Alive 1 - Walter Hawkins Resurrection - Common (Sense) Mama's Gun - Erykah Badu Amerikkka's Most Wanted - Ice Cube It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back - Public Enemy Black Star - Mos Def and Talib Kweli Benny Carter Meets Oscar Peterson - Benny Carter and Oscar Peterson

Of those, I said that three are mortal locks: Mama's Gun, Nation of Millions, and of course, Songs In The Key Of Life. It's the other 7 that are giving me trouble. For one thing, I made that list three weeks ago and I'm not sure about several of those picks. But at least two of them are in competition to be my favorite album by that artist/group, let alone to be in my all-time top 10. So without further ado, let's get it on... For my money, the late 70's was the apex for gospel music as a genre. It was still in its most pure, undiluted form, but within that, there were some innovations. At the forefront of those innovations were the Hawkins brothers, Edwin and Walter. (Walter was also at the forefront of the pageboy-for-men innovation, but we ain't gon' talk about that.) Edwin had received a good deal of flak for his restyling of "Oh Happy Day" into a pop hit in the early 70's. Nevertheless, the rearrangement of traditional gospel songs was a central feature in Hawkins recordings. (We used to have a lot of Walter Hawkins records, so I can break that down further if need be.) Love Alive

Song selection: 10 Old School Reinterpretation: 9 Tramaine-goes-off Song: 10 Get-down song: 10 Replay Value: 10 Congregation Participation: 10 Sequencing: 10

Total: 69 Love Alive 2

Song selection: 8 Old School Reinterpretation: 10 Tramaine-goes-off Song: 10 Get-Down song: 10 Replay Value: 9 Congregation Participation: 9 Sequencing: 8

Total: 64 Love Alive and Love Alive 2, if they had been released as a double album, would probably be perfect. As it is, it's almost like listening to the same album with different selections. Even then, Love Alive 2 would be the weaker disc, but their overall combined strength would make any weaknesses negligible. The biggest difference between the two is in song selection. Simply put, LA 2 has a couple weak songs on there. I'm Going Away is just not that good. It's not a bad song, and within the context of the album, it's not so bad, but it's definitely the weak link. Come By Here, Good Lord is not that great either. The second area where LA 2 comes up short is in sequencing. Song order is an extremely underrated element of musical performance. Whether in the studio or in concert, sequencing determines the mood and helps to create the a rising or descending effect for the audience. Love Alive 2 seems too disjointed. On top of that, the last song is one of the somewhat lackluster. Having said all that, LA 2 is definitely a great album, and very likely in my top 20. It can't beat Love Alive, though. The permanent list so far: Songs In The Key of Life - Stevie Wonder Mama's Gun - Erykah Badu It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back - Public Enemy Love Alive - Walter Hawkins next time: De La Soul Is Dead vs. Buhloone Mind State

It's All Over Now

Okay, but before I get to all that, I just saw the Tyson knockout. That joint was pitiful. Mike actually hit the ropes, bounced back up, and got caught with another fist. It was like something out of Rocky. Michael King has a discusson about it. It's just sad to me. As if the world's not in enough flux, there's not even a dominant name in the heavyweight division. At least before, even though we knew Tyson wasn't the same miraculously fast, hard puncher he was in 1986, there was always that back-of-the-mind thought that he could put somebody to sleep at any moment. This time, he was actually gunning for the KO in the first round and couldn't get it. Remember the guy on the SI cover?

200

This is the 200th post. It's Saturday. Generally, weekends are for cleaning up, but I'm an old comic booker, so multiples of 50 are special issues. Conflict of interests. Scattershot thoughts or double issue? To solve this, I think I'm gonna finally deal with some posts that have been lingering around for too long. By the end of the day, I will have completed that Love Alive vs. Love Alive 2 comparison I've been selling woof tickets about for the last two weeks, and I'll probably get into something a little more substantive, like this question of "acting white" as it pertains to education. I read a couple interesting articles that deal with this in different ways, and I need to weigh in. Also, there'll be an autobiographical some'nother.

Space Giants

Does anybody remember the Space Giants? Goldar, Silvar, Zan, and Methuslem vs. the evil of Radak? That used to be my sure shot on weekday afternoons when I was in early grade school. I don't remember what channel it used to come on...maybe Chicago's channel 64 or something. One of those high numbers at the end of the UHF dial that I always got in trouble for turning too fast. Then there was Spectreman. Space Giants I remember vaguely. Spectreman, on the other hand, I actually remember the music and some of the dialogue from that. It looks cheesy now, but it's just the prequel to the Power Rangers. Spectreman was hot, though. It used to come on channel 26, WCIU. When I was in grade school, it came on around the same time as the Space Giants. Later, when I was in Junior High, it came on before school, at about 6:30. Best believe I made sure to get up and hit the shower so I could eat my Lucky Charms and watch Spectreman.

Melle Mel's MC Ratings

This is from an interview with Melle Mel. Kool Moe Dee rated him the greatest MC of all time in the book, There's A God On The Mic. At first I kind of disagreed, but then taking everything into consideration...I really can't argue with it. From my first post, I've been mentioning really breaking that stuff down, and as I approach # 200, I may honestly start some systematic breakdown. Or else, maybe that will be my inaugural address when I finally pack up and move. At any rate, these are Melle Mel's ratings for some well-known (and maybe not-so-well-known, for you non-hip-hoppers) MCs. This is on a scale of one to ten. Caz - 10 Rakim - 9 T La Rock - 7 Moe Dee - 10 LL Cool J - 7 Lil Rodney C - 6 Nas - 8 Kid Creole - 10 ( Im probably biased 'cuz he is my brother ; but he is a dime to me ) Rahiem - 10 Scorpio - 8 Cowboy - 10 Run - 7 Chuck D - 8 DLB (Fearless 4)- 7 Busy Bee - 5 (laughs....thats my Nigga , I Love him to death - he just wasnt lyrical ) Jay Z - 9 Ice Cube - 9.5 Ice T - 8 G.L.O.B.E - 8 Big Daddy Kane - 9 Kool G Rap - 11 (not a typo - eleven) Mc Shan - 8 KRSOne - 8 Biggie - 10 Tupac - 9 Guru - 8 Just looking at it, the first thing that jumps out at me is Kool G Rap's 11. Now, I'll be the first one to say that G-Rap is probably the most underrated MC of all time, but 11? With Rakim as 9? Definitely warrants further review. The evals on the other members of the Furious 5 are suspect. I dismiss those out of hand. Biggie > Kane, Rakim, KRS? Tupac = Kane Rakim? Tupac > KRS?!, Chuck D? Biggie > Ice Cube > Tupac... probably about right...although Jheri Curl Cube v. Biggie...Once Upon A Time In The Projects vs. Niggas Bleed... the very thought makes my mouth water.

Ice Cube Joint

At first this was going to be another in the occasional series on my dismay at the public adoration of Tupac. My contention is that Ice Cube was the MC that Tupac wanted to be. There are some strong parallels to their careers, and there would probably be a lot more had Tupac not died when he did. I'm not taking it in that directon right now, though. Instead of comparing him to his inferior, I'll just let it suffice to say that Jheri Curl Ice Cube was the greatest MC ever from the West Coast. Now, I'm specifying Jheri Curl Ice Cube(JCIC) as opposed to the later incarnations, because there's a definite difference in tone and quality. Death Certificate, his second full-length solo LP, I still count as JCIC, even though he had cut his hair by that point. Ask anybody who has a historical sense of hip-hop and they'll tell you that after Straight Outta Compton, everything was different. I've said that a few times myself. This time, I'm not trying to place it in any kind of sociological context or any of that, I'm just talking about an album. There had been gangsta rappers before, but nothing in the world could compare to Straight Outta Compton. Ice Cube either wrote or co-wrote all the important songs on there. Now this is not to say that Cube was a one-man show. On my breakdown of favorite groups, I said that NWA had the first complete starting 5 in the modern era of hip-hop (no disrespect to Grandmaster Flash and the Furious 5). MC Ren was nice. A lot of people front on Ren, but Ren was the truth. And even though he wasn't an official member of NWA, The D.O.C. was second only to Ice Cube in terms of lyrics and delivery. As the ghostwriter, however, Cube gets more credit. So Cube is basically the one who gave gangsta rap its name, with the song, "Gangsta, Gangsta." He's also the one who brought incessant vulgarity to the forefront. But in the era in which NWA came, nobody would have paid them any attention if it hadn't been for the lyrics. That's what made NWA so dope, Cube was a stone-cold writer. From Parental Discretion Iz Advised:

I'll be what is known as a bandit You gotta hand it to me when you truly understand it Cause if you fail to see, read it in braile It'll still be funky -- so what's next is the flex of a genius, my rapid-stutter-steppin if you seen this dope, you hope that I don't really mean this But if played, made the grade a high-top fade Is not my trademark when I get loose in the dark You guess it was a test of a different style It's just another motherfucker on the pile Drivin your ass with the flow of your tongue You hung yourself short, the after-knowledge was brung to your attention, by the hardest motherfuckin artist that is know for lynchin any sucker in a minute Stagger 'em all When I start flowin like Niagara Falls Ice Cube is equipped to rip shit in a battle Move like a snake when I'm mad; and then my tail rattle I get low on the flow so let your kids know When I bust, parental discretion is a must

Or from the brother song, The Grand Finale, from The D.O.C.'s sublime No One Can Do It Better

Picture a nigga that's raw Amplify his ass and what you see is what's on Muthafuckas I slaughter, blow em out the water Word to me, fuck the father My medley is deadly as a pin in a handgrenade 5 seconds before you get played You can't throw me, I guess you'll blow up Ever see a sucker scatter, it'll make ya throw up Then I take advantage, you can't manage To get up, all you can do is sit up, I get lit up Hit up, Ice Cube tearing shit up Like a dude you can bet on Collide like a head on Collision, stutter steppin is an incision Of a nigga saying exactly what I vision Because I'm gone, you think I left you all But I stay in yo' ass like cholesterol When I blast some solid as alcatraz And if you escape, you better swim fast 'Cause I'll catch ya, physically and mentally And the capital punishment's the penalty Sit in the electric chair, grab a hold Pull the switch, yo' body twitch, your eyes explode Out your skull 'cause being dull on a flow Is an N-O, niggas didn't know that I can go Off and show off to throw off the law Turn, take 10 paces then draw What's left is a muthafucka dead in the alley Ice Cube is the shit on the grand finale

Kool Moe Dee only gave cube an 80 on battle skills, but I beg to differ. Jheri Curl Cube was a MONSTER. Personally, I think Rakim was the best that ever did it, although I have to acknowledge that KRS-1 has a legitimate claim as well. And if Big Daddy Kane was not quite on the same tier as those two, he's only micrometers below. In any case, Jheri Curl Cube would give any of those dudes fits. The craziest part is that they were all at the top of their games in the same time period. These young cats try to tell me that '94 was the year, or '98 or somethin'...naw, dawg. '89 was the number. I'm not even gonna bring Chuck D into the discussion. For all Cube's work with NWA, it's when he broke camp and recorded solo that he became simply devestating. Amerikkka's Most Wanted was by almost all accounts an instant classic. I remember getting a letter from my friend that summer. He was like, "That's the hardest nigga I ever heard. I'd hate to run into him in an alley." But it wasn't just that. It was hard and funny and thought-provoking all at the same time. See, to tip my hand on the 2Pac argument, in addition to the elements I described before, a big part of Pac's reachability, of his "everyman-ness" was the fact that he wasn't an outsanding lyricist. He was approachable in that way. Cube, on the other hand, the average listener knew...there was no way they could ever get it like that.

Now I'm Excited

The Grind Date, the new De La Soul album, is coming out on September, 28. Check y'all at the store.

Like A Eunuch At An Orgy

What's the point of any governmental regulation of sex? Seriously. Moral regulation, i.e. pontification from a religious institution is one thing. State regulation is something altogether different. Nobody stepped to me on prostitution...whatever. Except for the element of taxation, I don't see how the government has a stake in it one way or the other.  This goes even bigger than that, though.  Texas had a law banning sodomy.  How's the state gonna decide that only coitus is legal? Or in this case, how's the state gonna decide that sex toys are illegal without a prescription? I have my uncertainties about the calls for smaller government, because as I've said many times, I think there are definitely some things that the government is better-suited to handle than private entities. There aren't many, but there are some. Determining the manner in which two grown-ups (or one, as the case may be) carry on is not one of them. I guess I just don't get it.

Some REAL News...

In my first journalism class, the professor kicked that old cliche, "Man Bites Dog...That's news." But this...this is just sick.

A suburban Chicago man is in court today facing charges he raped a female dog, facing up to nine years in prison and $75,000 in fines if convicted. Joyner faces one to three years in prison and fines up to $25,000 if convicted on each of three charges. The dog, which suffered physical injury during the attack, is reportedly recovering in its owner's care.

What I wanna know is, what was he on? I've seen guys leave the club with "dogs", but I've never seen one go into the kennel to pick her up.

Harold Washington Quote

This is the quote from Mayor Harold Washington's second inaugural address that basically sums up what I think the NAACP should be, substituting racial differences for political and ideological differences. If the NAACP can't be this, then maybe we should make something that can.

Chicago in four years has brought together black and white, Asian and hispanic, male and female, the young, the old, the disabled, gays and lesbians, Moslems, Christians and Jews, business leaders and neighborhood activists, bankers and trade unionists--all have come together to mix and contend, to aruge and to reason, to confront our problems and not merely to contain them.

For Those Who Have An Ear To Hear...

It just occurred to me that there is a sickening irony in the fact that Ice Cube's The Product is based on a sample of Sly & The Family Stone's You Can Make It If You Try. Now, I'm thinking that if I had done it, the whole thing would have been intentional. Somehow, I'm thinking Cube & his producers probably weren't setting it up that way, but what a contrast. There's a sickening blog post in there and one of these days I'm gonna bring it out.

It's A New Day

Let me put this out here right now: I don't do politics. Some of my thoughts may tend to align more closely to one end of the political spectrum, but that's about as far as it goes. I claim neither the jackass nor the pachyderm. At the party level, it's all self-serving and fraudulent, as far as I'm concerned. Not saying that all politicians are crooked, but a politicans have the same job as everybody else: to get paid. Some take their jobs more seriously than others, but that's the same as it is everywhere else. When I go to Foot Locker, one of the salespeople will really take his time and make sure the shoe fits and answer any questions I may have about fit or what I can expect in terms of the mileage per week, while the other person will just toss the shoebox at me and walk off to look at the girls that just came flouncing in the door, wandering back in my direction only if he's not getting any play. That's life. So to point out that such-and-such a politician is really principled or whatever...doesn't move me. His job is to get me to vote for him and he'll do whatever he has to to keep it. I vote solely because my grandparents couldn't. I don't just walk in the booth and punch levers at random, but when I vote, I'm doing it for Granny and all my other (s)kinfolks who didn't have the opportunity when they were my age. I won't say that voting is not useful, but I think that more hands-on person-to-person contact trumps governmental action five days a week. (Some things have to be done by the government, plain and simple.) Now. I will say that Barack Obama, who's running for the US Senate in Illinois, gets my attention. Not because of his political stances on anything; I'm not watching that carefully. I was born in Illinois, but I'm not in his constituency any more, so it really doesn't matter to me. What is interesting to me is that he may represent paradigm shift in the stylings of Black "leaders." In this article from the Times-Picayune, we see:

"I think this is really the end of an era of race and politics," said Angela Dillard, a history professor at New York University whose specialty is race and politics. "Something's shifting and changing, and people like Sharpton can't change with it, and something new and different is being created and it is about people like Obama." The old model of the black protest leader making demands no longer makes sense in an age tapped out and tired of race, Dillard said. But Obama can argue for policies virtually indistinguishable from Sharpton's in cooler, nonracial terms, while still affirming a message of racial identity and uplift implicit in his very being.

Like I highlighted in the Q-Tip interview, it's as much about style as it is substance. I don't mean that in the superficial sense here. I mean that how a person comes across is just as important as what they bring. The book of Proverbs is full of admonitions about just that very thing. It's not just about race any more, it's about the complete package the candidate brings to the table. For all I know, Obama may be to the left of Al Sharpton. No matter what his ideology, I like the fact that he's not taking it to the old 1960's style technique. Now, I don't know what's being planned for the Republican convention, or who's gonna be speaking or what, but for some reason I don't suspect that a Black Republican candidate of the same "star" quality would get quite the same type of coverage. Invariably, there would be some mention of a difficulty reconciling Blackness and Republican-ness, like they're mutually exclusive. Maybe I'm being unnecessarily pessimistic about that. I doubt it, though. Thinking about the Black Republican politicians I have seen, they definitely did not follow the Dinosaur (read: NAACP) model, but they tended to be rejected out of hand because they didn't drink the Kool-Aid and vote Democratic. We'll see what happens.

Reality

This is from an interview with Q-Tip, formerly of A Tribe Called Quest.

Q: You hear two things all the time on the internet. One is that, whenever a rapper is up for a role in a movie, people get up in arms about that casting. The other is when someone, like Jadakiss, speaks out, people say “Why should I listen to a rapper?” Hip hop has been around over twenty years. Why is it not getting the respect that rock n’ roll got? Q-Tip: There’s a couple of reasons. I would be naïve to say that it had nothing to do with the fact that the rappers are African-American males and the majority of this country is white. If you can hear the music and not see the face, if you can just hear the message you can have empathy, but sometimes if you see the face it becomes a different thing. We all unfortunately have a bit of racism in us, I think the other part of is the things we endow ourselves with. Jay Z is quick to call himself a pimp. Tupac was quick to call himself a thug. L’il Kim is quick to call herself a bitch. When you start saying these things about yourself that are clearly negative, it’s going to be like a magnet. You attract those things to you. You’re going to bring all that commentary to you and what you do. Being that those images are probably the most prevalent in the form – the hustler, the pimp – it’s going to bring all the commentary. What’s going to happen is that when cats don’t get to first base, they’re going to be disgruntled. “Why is motherfuckers hatin’ on us? Knowhuyahmean? You just lucky I ain’t out robbin’ you all.” I speak on that because I’m from the same situation. I grew up right in it, watching my uncle and them squeeze off and mainline and shit, seeing hypodermic needles and hearing gunshots. I grew up in the same New York City that a lot of us did, but I just knew that I was better than all of that. I didn’t want to project any of that. I think that those things are relevant, and they are important, but there’s a tact, and there’s a creative way that you approach it

. He's dead right. I think there's definitely a degree to which these personae that rappers have taken on have severely limited their ability to effectively speak on certain issues. Right now I'm thinking specifically of when Jay-Z couldn't move into that apartment building because the other residents were concerned about what might happen. On the one hand, that reaction is foul. At that time, and probably even moreso now, Jigga could probably buy the building if it came down to it. Nevertheless, it's his own fault. If Q-Tip had had that type of money, I don't think there would have been as big a problem (although there may have been. Who knows?) because he has never projected that hustler/pimp image. And the truth is, Jigga may not even have that much going on in his life; certainly he did at one time, but this is Jigga we're talking about, not Beanie. I'm thinking that Hov is smarter than that. The thing is, it's not just about the substance, it's about the presentation. (This is partially the appeal of Obama. I'll get to him a little later.)

Whas'nEVER I Play, It's Got To Be FUNKY - Grocery List

It was suggested to me that this weeks playlist be arranged around the concept of food. Not strictly things to eat, however. More in the sense of food as "something that gives nourishment where it's lacking." This is a mixed list; some songs are listed because of the titles, some because the message of the song is nourishing. Anyway, here goes. Sanctified Lady - Marvin Gaye Gotta Learn How To Dance - Fatback Band C.R.E.A.M. - Wu-Tang Clan New World Water - Mos Def More Bounce To The Ounce - Zapp Sister Sanctified - Stanley Turrentine Good Old Music - Funkadelic Jam On It - Newcleus You Can Make It If You Try - Sly & The Family Stone He Can Hear Me Sing - Rev. Milton Brunson & Thompson Community Choir Rebel Without A Pause - Public Enemy Jesus Can Work It Out - Cosmopolitan Church of Prayer Choir I Am, I Be - De La Soul Remedy - The Black Crowes Jesus - Debra Killings

Warmup Bout...

Told you Stanley Crouch ain't no joke. Crouch vs. Sharpton. Seriously.

Black With N.V.

Where there is no vision the people perish - Pro. 29:18   Young girls are getting pregnant because they want to.  Not all of them, although any is too many.  According to this article, nearly 25% of the girls between 14 and 18 years of age who participated in a survey in Birmingham, AL expressed a interest in being or wished they were pregnant.  I have some problems with that. Now, I could get up on my soap box and go off about how all people, but kids especially, need to save themselves for marriage, and I would be quite correct in doing so.  I'm sure there are many other people who will take that angle, however, so I'll leave that to them.  What I'm more interested in is why.  What in the world can a 14 year-old possibly want with a baby?  Some possible answers are mentioned here:

Researchers didn't look at why the girls wanted to get pregnant, but past studies have suggested that young women sought babies so someone would love them or so they would have someone to love. Studies also have suggested that young women wanted children to heal scars from their own childhood or to be independent of their families.

Those may certainly represent some major components of the situation, but I think there is a more pressing aspect.  "I think it's kind of appealing for girls who don't see a lot of positive future options," she said. Young, black women need more opportunities, Davies said.

I did some research on teen pregnancy when I was in undergrad and I came to a similar conclusion.  People who can't see the future get caught up in the present.  The pregnancy rates among girls who had solid plans for the future were significantly lower, as was the age of first intercourse.  Obviously, anybody who's active can get pregnant, and sometimes it happens to the girls who have the most to lose, but more often than not,  the girls who are already struggling to see tomorrow wind up with babies today.  I think lack of vision is clearly the culprit here, because not only do the girls fail to see the benefits of forestalling their activity, they fail to see the consequences of having a baby.  Like Common said, "Young girls with weak minds, but they butt strong." So what's the solution?  Yeah, abstinence training should be an integral part of whatever is being done, but that has to be done within a context.  You can't just tell a kid "Don't." and expect that to be it.  No matter what a given person's reason for not-doing anything is, it's based in the future.  If a person is celibate for Jesus, that celibacy is based on something beyond the present.  It's not just being celibate for the sake of being celibate.  The sooner we realize that, the better.  We can't just go in there talking about, "You shouldn't be active because you shouldn't."  Well we could, but we'd be getting the same results we are now. I think this is another example of the type of opportunities I was talking about the other day.  A large abstinence program...while it may be effective, does not have quite the same impact as a person speaking to a person, woman-to-girl (preferably) and not so much stressing the act of abstinence as the benefits of it; really, not even stressing abstinence so much as stressing the limitless possibilities that can be realized with patience and the willingness to delay certain gratifications. But it's more than that.  The point is not just to go somewhere and talk, but to be able to model it; not necessarily model abstinence, but model the possibilities of a future worth waiting for.

 

The Truth

This is why Chuck D is Chuck D:  he says what I would'a said if I had thought of it: Anti-Lectualism and dumbassification in our society has leaked into the concept of having unstealable items in your crib. For example 30 years ago cats would rob your house and take a tv or stereo equipment and sell them on the street to get good money when the dollar was longer. 20 years ago DJ and stereo equipment, Tv , and the new invent the VCR would be a thiefs theme. 10 years back a DVD player along with those others would be items. Now everything is within the brain of a computer, at the same time none of the afore mentioned items can get jack on the streets. You can get a BRAND new TV,STEREO, VCR,DVD from your nearest Wal-Mart for under a $100.At the same time, you can leave 10 crisp $100. bills under any computer keyboard and it may be safer than a vault. This in the way is a social embarrassment, knowing that if a 4 stack of SPINNING RIMS were in a corner that along with some shiny CUBIC ZIRCONIA jewelry would distract todays crook to lumber them out the backdoor even if they didnt have a vehicle.

Gospel Hip-Hop

Now this is what I would regard as authentic gospel hip-hop.  Like I said before, the message and the music aren't necessarily incompatible, it's just that it needs to be handled by somebody who knows what they're doing.

Snappin' & Cappin' Dream Matchups

Grudge match:  Jesse Jackson vs. Jesse Peterson Main Event:  Al Sharpton vs. Stanley Crouch.  (I would pay big money to see this one.) Add on if you can think of any.

Wha'chu Gon' DO Now

            "The one thing I know, everyone respects a true person and everyone's not true themselves. All these people who are heroes, the ones who have been lily white and clean all their lives, if they went through what I went through, they would commit suicide.  They don't have the heart that I have.  I've lived in places they wouldn't defecate in." -Mike Tyson I don't know anything about the source of that quote, when it's from or the question he was answering.  What I do know is that Mike is right.  There seems to be this need that we have to feel like we're somehow better than somebody else.  Mike's an excellent example because his athletic ability led him to achieve both fame and fortune, which for most people, would be a dream come true.  From the comfort of their own lives, they sit and pontificate about what Mike should do or should have done, and what they would have done differently if they were him.  I know; I've done it myself many times.  But when I read that quote, I started really thinking.  Now, since 8th grade at least, I've firmly believed that if you took any random dude and put him into the same situations that I was in growing up that he would be in about the same place as me.  Might do a little better, might not do quite as well, but our positions would be comparable.  I never took that to the next level and imagined what it would be like to live somebody else's life, though.  Now I'm neither "lily white" (although I'm fairly sure Mike didn't mean it solely in a racial sense here) nor a hero, but knowing what I do about Tyson's early life, if I imagine myself in those types of situations, it's hard to imagine a totally different outcome.  Of course my life would be different from his in some respects; number one, I'm not 217 pounds and I can't knock people out with either hand.  I don't think I would have committed suicide, but there's a strong chance I wouldn't have made it to 30. Of course, the rub is that every situation we see is the result of choices that we have made.  Nature and nurture have their place, but in the end, whether because of nature, nurture, narcotics, or nimbus, we made decisions that put us into certain situations.  It's tough to know what we would do under a different set of circumstances because our whole thought process is predicated on having seen and done the things we saw and did. I think sometimes when we conservative types talk about issues affecting poverty and poor people, we have tendency to look at it primarily from some abstract position, be it economic, theological, or some combination of the two.  Of course people are in the positions they are because of the choices they made.  Until they realize that, they will never have any agency in their own lives.  But we have to do more than that.  So what if I can shoot between water and wind to come up with an explanation for why people are poor and why it's not the result of some conspiracy to keep them poor?  That's all well and good, but if it's not making a difference in anybody's life, if it's only about the attempt to make or defend some policy that our political adversaries don't like, then it's worthless.  It's all cool to be analytical and make an argument explaining why the idea of a minimum wage or a "living wage" is actually more detrimental than helpful, but I still don't know what that does for people who work hard all week and still can't get by.  Like the old saying goes, statistics don't lie, but they can't make a hen lay. I have said it before, and I will say it again, this is our best opportunity to make a difference in the community.  The progressives, by and large, don't want to actually get out there and do it.  They want to set up a catapult that will toss money at a situation, making the government responsible to make sure things get done.  Legislate the situation away, nevermind the fact that legislation doesn't even begin to address the root of the issue.  People don't just need governmental regulation and assistance, although some do need that.  People need people.  The conservative ideology is focused on operating at the individual level, but where are we when things are going down?  We should be the main ones helping as literacy volunteers and tutors and building houses and soforth.  It's a piece of cake for me to sit off to the side and say what's not working.  Yeah, I can tell you that some public school's self-esteem program is a waste of time if the kid knows he can't multiply.  If I'm not in there helping him to accomplish things so he will have a foundation on which to build his self-esteem, then what am I doing? You know, a while ago, I mentioned tutoring in a post.  Didn't get very many comments, but the ones I did get only spoke on its ineffectiveness except as a tool for making the tutor feel good about himself.  But think about it this way:  if you were in that child's position, would you rather have somebody there ostensibly to help you, or would you rather that person decide that they couldn't make that big a difference anyway and stay home?  What's more, you never know what kind of impact you're having.  Even though it may seem like you're not getting through to that person when you can see them, what you're actually doing is planting a seed in their life.  It's not necessarily going to show right away.  It may never show.  Shoot, unless you stay involved in that person's life, it will probably never show where you can appreciate it.  Occasionally it does.  Once I was at the mall and one of my most knuckleheaded students ran up on me talking about, "Mr. Tooley!  I'm gettin' an 'A' in math!"  Wasn't quite a fair tradeoff for all the grief he had given me when he was in my class, but it was nice.  My point being, so what if I can't see how it's making a difference right away or within some time frame I've concocted?  If it's about doing the right thing, then the result that's visible to me doesn't matter.  Investing in another person's life is never the wrong thing.    Maybe if Mike had had more investors who weren't primarily looking for their own return, he may be in a different situation right now.

The Eagles

Now if we get Eddie George...

Name Callin'

"Sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me." "Well I'll get some sticks and stones and break your bones, and the name that'll hurt you will be ESTHER!" –Exchange between Aunt Esther and Grady on Sanford & Son House Nigga. Poverty Pimp. Uncle Tom. Divisive Demagogue. I'm tired of Black politics and politicians.  Seriously.  There's not even an exchange of ideas any more, except between people who already share some common thoughts.  There may be some rousing exchanges between fellow conservatives on a given issue, and probably the same types of interesting dialogue between progressives, but once the audience gets mixed, it's game over.  All of a sudden, the only thing that matters is representing your "side."  No acknowledgement of any of the "opposition's" valid points, no recognizing the limitations of their own position, nothing.  We each hunker down behind our respective banners and lob missives from there.  Sure, there are some people who wander out into the middle, but our voices tend to get lost in the cacophony. Since there's not much going on in the middle anyway, why not put a ring out there and get it on?  On Common's 1997 album One Day It'll All Make Sense there's a recording of his father saying, "I just got this urge to kick Jesse Jackson's ass…I just wanna get him in the ring in front of everybody…"  I'm not necessarily saying we should get representatives from each ideological position and have them duke it out…although I'm sure that would be very interesting.  What I am saying is that since the whole dialogue eventually breaks down in to name-calling anyway, why not just get out there and do the dozens in the first place?  Now I will say up front that most conservative types would seem to be at a disadvantage in this type of contest.  Usually, conservative arguments tend to be long on logic and short on emotional appeal.  I love to read Thomas Sowell, but I'm thinking that his dozens game may be a little suspect.  Now to be honest and tell the truth, I don't know.  He may keep his arguments logical and concise in public, but when it comes down to "Yo Mama" snaps, his catalog may be deeper than Barry White's voice.  That's an X factor.  Now the progressives are a known quantity.  Captained by the Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, they're bound to do well at this type of event.  Those two already have the public speaking acumen down, and I'm betting that Al has done his share of "freesermoning" over the years.  We already know Jesse can pull out complex, mulisyllabic rhymes at will. In thinking about this, I'm reminded of the episode of Good Times where "Balderman" Davis was being challenged by a younger candidate who was focused on the issues.  As is usually the case on sitcoms, the action goes down in the family's living room—Davis and the other guy start off talking about the issues but then it breaks down to the dozens.  Davis rolls, but the challenger refuses to engage him, wanting to focus on the issues.  Well, as anybody who watched Good Times knows, Davis won. I'm always on the thinking about ways to get an audience with the Black community at large.    For ideological conservatives, reaching the community at large may not mean much, but for a pragmatic conservative like myself, it's all about doing whatever it takes to reach the people.  Not everybody's going to cross over, or even budge from their current position, but for those who may, we should have different strategies.  Some people can be persuaded by tightly-focused intellectual appeals.  Others can be moved by seeing a conservative presence in the community.  Lord knows there's enough to be done, so we all can have an impact in our own way.  Me, I may just donate my part of my "Yo Mama" joke repertoire.  

Their Eyes Were Watching Halle

For a young minute, I've been hearing that Halle Berry is going to play Janie Starks in a television adaptation of Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God.   Some people I know have serious beef with the whole project, from the fact that it's going to be a made-for-TV movie, to the fact that Oprah is supposed to be behind it, to the selection of Halle as the protagonist.  I don't really have a problem with any of that, I'm just wondering why they can't give anybody else some shine.   This is the type of role that could be a real opportunity for a promising young actress.  Why are they giving it to a vet?  From what I understand, the director wanted Halle for the role.  I can definitely understand that, but for as much as we complain about how much work non-superstar Black actresses don't get, when the casting calls get made, we make the same choices.

Random Notes From The Illadelph

Last spring, I mentioned how much fun it is to watch men ogle at women.  Yesterday provided another stellar example.  Crossing the street in front of me was a veteran brick house.  She looked like she was in her late 30's, but could have been a young-looking fifty-something.  What wasn't in question was that at in her day, she was the truth like absolute veracity.  And the sun still had yet to set on her.  She had probably put on a few pounds since her zenith, but even the extra pounds had gone to the right places.  I watched her cross the street, interested to see which direction she was headed and whether anybody else was watching.  One guy seemed to perk up, but that was about it.  It turned out she was going west just like I was, but there was a double-length bus in the street so I couldn't see what was happening over there.  When she emerged from behind the bus, there was a line of at least four old heads, following her like ducklings.   Once again, I will tell you, if you're not watching men look at pretty women, you're missing out on some of the best fun summer has to offer. ****     There's an article on Townhall.com , Freedom Means Never Having to Take Down Your Fuzzy Dice, pitting freedom against governmental overregulation.  While I generally agree with the premise of the article, there are some things that leave me scratching my head.  To wit:   

To begin, California is banning soda in middle or junior high schools during regular school hours.  They also require that elementary schools serve only water, milk, and juice drinks that are at least half fruit juice with no sweeteners.  Sure, sugar isn't healthy in large quantities, but shouldn't parents and school cafeterias be allowed to make those decisions themselves

  The problem is not that the California legislature is taking pop machines out of the school, it's that they never should have let them in there in the first place.  Take my word for it, I know that under-funded (or perhaps properly funded but inefficiently managed)  school districts need all the money they can get their hands on, but selling sugar water to kids who are already likely to have poor dietary habits is not the way to do it.  Some kinds of legislation really are intrusive and really do constitute governmental micromanaging of the citizens' lives.  At the same time, certain things just ought not be, whether the market will allow it or not.    However…   If we take the argument made in this article out to its extreme, it goes to a very libertarian stance.  In fact, the author praises the state of Ohio and the Comonwealth of Virginia (she could've added Pennsylvania too) for allowing liquor to be sold on Sundays.  But what I want to know is, why stop there?  And I'm not being facetious here, these are just things I would really like to know:   Exactly why is marijuana illegal?  When get back home, I'm gonna run back through the book, Reefer Madness and highlight some points on the timeline that got us to where we are today.  Yes, it's an intoxicant and a carcinogen, but since when have those factors alone been grounds for illegality?   Hard drugs are one thing, marijuana is another.  And let's not get into the question over the legality of hemp.  Like I said, I'll make a note of this one so I can pay some attention to it when I get back.   Exactly why is prostitution illegal?  Illegal and immoral are two different things.  And again, I'm not talking about whether people should go to prostitutes, or what the potential damage to the family structure is or whatever, because that's a bogus argument anyway.  I don't have any hard numbers in front of me, but I'm sure there are more "homewreckers" who give it away free than there are who charge for their services.   All that to say, if anybody wants to answer, keep it on point:  why is it legal for John to buy Trixie dinner and then go somewhere and do the grown-up, but illegal for him to give her the same amount of money and skip the dinner? And for that matter, why is it illegal for Goldie to take the money from Trixie after she gets it from John?    I just wanna know.  Can anybody help me? ****    Training camp starts in a week.  I've already talked to one friend, who's a Redskins fan, who thinks the Skins are gonna go 10-6.  I'm don't know about all that, but I do know that the NFC East is going to be a tough conference this year.  I don't know what it would take for me to get excited about the Eagles again this year (probably watching two wins), but I'm not gonna let them break my heart again.  It ain't gonna go like it did last year…or the year before that.  (I'm talking all this stuff now, but watch around November, when they're 8-2 or whatever.  I'm gonna be geeked up just like it was January 2002 and none of those NFC Championship losses had never happened.)   Speaking of football, Madden 2005 comes out on August 12th.  Look out. 

Whas'nEVER I Play, It's Got To Be FUNKY - All-Onomatopoeia Squad

This week, it's all about songs with hot onomatopoetic elements.  This does not include sound effects, strictly instruments played in a way to make them sound like some element of the song.   Jungle Boogie – Kool & The Gang (Listen to those elephants!) Car Wash – Rose Royce (the popping guitar is the foam as it bubbles onto the car) Little Red Rooster – Sam Cooke (the organist is a beast, imitating the rooster, the dogs, and the hound) Jesus Can Work It Out – Cosmopolitan Church of Prayer Choir - watch the B3 as it shows the water rolling back when the Israelites go through the Red Sea Easy Goin' Evening (My Mother's Call) – Stevie Wonder - Sounds just like what it describes.  This song makes you want to sit in a lawn chair and sip some lemonade, fanning away mosquitos. Aqua Boogie – Parliament - pure submarine funk. Spinning Wheel – Blood, Sweat, & Tears - 100% merry-go-round jam

Pimpin' Ain't Easy

Evangelical Outpost has a very interesting discussion highlighting some concerns about the use of the word "pimp" as verb or an adjective without negative connotations.  Later some potential alternatives are offered.   Child molester – n. slang term used to refer to an older person who attempts to pander to the tastes of children and teenagers in order to make a quick buck. "I have to give the executives at Columbia Pictures their due credit. Those guys are the biggest group of child molesters in the business."

Rapist – n. a male who possess a broad sexual appeal to women who have a weaknessess for misogynistic losers "Yo, dude, I caught Snoop Dog’s concert last night. Man, that guy is the biggest rapist in the game! Stalker n. – term used to denote a person who often associates with celebrities. Busted for public lewdness– caught associating with famous Democratic celebrities such as Barbara Streisand or Whoopi Goldberg. "Did you hear about the head of MTV’s programming? I read in People magazine that stalker was busted for public lewdness."

   This is interesting, but I think a pimp is different from those other characters in some substantial ways.  Now, what follows is not a veneration of pimps, nor is it a justification for what they do.  It's just an analysis of why "pimp" has taken the linguistic turn that it has, and why other sexual predator terms cannot.   [autobiographical] For about 3 weeks when I was in 11th grade, I actually thought I wanted to be a pimp.  Not for any malicious reasons, but just because I wondered what it must be like to have that much game.  What in the world could you possibly say that would make a woman have sex and then give YOU the money?  The whole prospect of that was just mind-boggling to me, especially since I had ZERO game in high school.  That ended when my fool behind actually TOLD MY MOTHER. [/autobiographical]   The biggest difference between the pimp and other sexual predators, the main element that allows the pimp to be viewed as an anti-hero is the thing that fascinated me:  a pimp cannot be a pimp if he has no game.  For the uninitiated, game is simply the ability to get somebody to do what you want them to do, primarily through persuasive means.  It usually includes some measure of deception, but that's not necessarily the case.  Don't get caught up on the deception, because that's not the point.  The fact that a man lies to a woman or uses circumlocution doesn't make him a pimp. Game is part message, but just as much delivery.  It's not what he says, it's how he says it.  Even when the pimp says things that make no sense in the real world, it sounds fly. "I told the ho you better get in where you fit in before you get a check-up from the neck up."  No real substance there, and both of those phrases are pretty much clichés now, but when the first pimp spat that line, it was literally unheard of.   In a way, the inverse of the pimp is the preacher.  Not the degreed, college educated, lecturing-type minister.  He may deliver the Word, but he ain't no preacher. It's not just what's being said, it's the style in which it's being delivered.  In the Black church tradition, there are certain stylistic elements that go along with delivering a sermon.  Furthermore, there is a school of thought which disdains the use of prepared notes, preferring that the minister "freesermon" to borrow a phrase I've seen elsewhere.  The preacher who can freesermon (rapping off the top of the head (coherently, for an extended period of time.  Making up a three-line cat-hat-mat rhyme does not qualify) is called freestyling, so the preacher is freestyling a sermon.) is the flip side of a pimp in the verbal sense. (There are probably some other elements I could go into, but I'm not trying to write a dissertation here, just make a couple points.)   The other thing that a pimp has to have is style.  Actually, game would probably come under the heading of having style, but I've heard of pimps who wear t-shirts and baseball caps.  They don't have style, but they have game.   Anyway, style.  No pimping with out style.  Now saying that a pimp has style does not necessarily mean that I think what he's doing is stylish, but it is an acknowledgement that there is a degree of preparation and flair that a "square" does not put into his clothing choices.  For instance, just about everybody has a mental image of what a pimp's outfit would look like.  Whether it's fashionable or not, it's ostentatious.  That's the point.  In the animal kingdom, the male is always more adorned than females.  Think peacocks.  The whole point for the pimp is to "get chose," or have a ho decide that she's going to give him her money.  The more prosperous the pimp, the better his chances of getting "chose."  So even in the parody I'm Gonna Get You Sucka, when Fly Guy came out of jail with the stacks with goldfish in the heels, the point was that at one point, he was at the top of the pile.  Goldfish in his shoes?  Are you kidding?  That's big pimpin', baby.   But a pimp's clothing style was only penultimate.  The real deal was his ride.  It wasn't enough for a pimp to have an expensive car, he had to have it tricked out something fierce.  Again, think of the stereotypes:  ain't no pimp driving a hooptie.  That "diamond in the back, sunroof top…" that's a pimp-mobile, baby.  So when MTV talks calls their show "Pimp My Ride," they mean "take my car and floss it out like a pimp would do his Caddy."   Like I said at the beginning, I'm not trying to make pimping legitimate in any way, shape, or form, but I do think that in order to look at the ways the use of the word "pimp" has changed, it's necessary to understand the elements of game and style.  In all honesty, I think much of the use of the term has actually gotten it twisted.  Some people think that a person is pimping if he's successfully (?) juggling several women.  In that respect, they're using it to signify having a degree of "control" over women.  But like a good friend of mine broke it down for me, "You ain't pimpin unless you gettin paid."  So in one sense, most of the people talkin' about pimpin' ain't doin' it.  .

Coming Up...

Looks like I'm gonna be joining the exodus to Movable Type.  I got averytooley.com registered, so at some point I'll be packing up and heading around the corner.  A big, fat shout to my good friend, Nyki for the inspiration.  In addition to the blog, there'll be some other goodies, so stay tuned.   ***   Also, it was suggestied to me by a friend that I put more biographical info on here.  We'll see.  I will say this much, though:  I hate the half-Windsor knot.  There's nothing worse to me than seeing a hot tie looking all mangled by an asymmetrical knot.  Fellas, there are lots of ways to tie a tie.  My personal preference is the Shelby knot, but whatever you go with, let's even it out, huh?   ***   This week, I'm gonna jump into this Funk-Soul-Jazz thing with both feet.  In the meanwhile, probably later today, I'm gonna start shaking out the last 7 of my 10 favorite albums.  I'm thinking that I'm only gonna allow one entry per artist/group, so in cases where there are two possibilities, the albums are gonna have to battle it out.  Today's matchup will be Walter Hawkins' Love Alive v. Love Alive 2.   Also, I may fool around and post a follow-up to that Prejudice post.  Looking at the comments, both here and at other places that linked to it, I think most people got what I was saying but some people missed the point completely...or they tried to correct me with my own argument.  Whatever.  Like I said before, that's what grown folks are for, having different opinions.    

Point Seen, Money Gone

James Brown has a new record coming out, a 35 year-old jazz recording Soul On Top.  Best believe that I will be copping it.  Anyway, in the article, James says something that I plan to give some major consideration to in the coming weeks:"

When people talk about soul music, they only talk about gospel and R&B coming together. That's accurate about a lot of soul, but if you are going to talk about mine, you have to remember the jazz in it. That's what made my music so different and allowed it to change and grow."

  He's right.  There's a tendency treat jazz and R&B/soul as separate entities, like they had no influence on each other, but that's oh-so not the case.  Especially considering the background of James' musicians.  Not just James, though, the influence of jazz was everywhere in Soul music.  Like I said, I'll be getting into that in more detail a little later on, though.  Once, a reader asked me what happened to the Funk, or something like that.  When I scratch this up, hopefully I'll be able to answer that fully and see whether Funk as we know it is on its death bed.

Papa Don't Take No Mess

I'm tripping.  I just watched the episode of Good Times when Michael brought home the bully who had been taking his lunch money.  Now I just watched it, but I'm still not sure how Michael and Florida talked James into letting the bully, Eddie, stay for the weekend.  What I DO know is, Eddie said he wasn't gonna do any homework to James' face.  It was a case of the old quote, "Act like you want it and see if you don't get it."  Eddie got it.   Now, to Eddie's defense, he didn't know you don't fool around with James Evans.  James might joke and have fun sometimes, but he don't play.  What was funny was the sound effects of the beating while Florida and the kids were in the kitchen.  Had. Me. Dying.   Thinking about it in a larger context, though, the second season of Good Times was 1975, almost 30 years ago.  In it, we see a boy get a beating from a man who's not his father, ostensibly because the man cares about him.  Nowadays, Eddie would've been on the phone to the police, the department of child welfare, the ACLU, and anybody else he could think of.  But for all our so-called advancements in parenting, what have we really got?   This also makes me think about Bill Cosby's comments some more.  Yesterday I heard a link to him talking on the Tom Joyner show (which you can listen to here)  in regards to people who have been critical of his comments and the mishandling of the whole even by the mainstream press.  (We may get into that a little later.)  Now, I don't watch a lot of television...as in none...but I'm betting that there aren't very many shows where the parents are shown to discipline their kids but clearly love them.  Nowadays, the kids are the hip and the parents are just plugs who, in the best of cases, when the kid has acted a fool, may have had a point after all.  James was not the star of the show on Good Times, but his was the dominant presence.  If the Evans family was the 80's Lakers, Florida would be Kareem, but James was Magic.  After he left the show, it was over.  To be sure, there were a couple funny episodes, but James had that crib on lock.  The thing is, the Evans family was po- they couldn't even afford the o-r, but taking them out of the ne'er do well sitcom context, we wouldn't expect the kids to live in those same circumstances all their lives.  James had a 6th grade education but he was adamant about making sure that his kids got well beyond that; so adamant that he would beat the devil out of a kid he had just met for not-studying.  And saying it to his face.  (But come on, some things you're just supposed to know.  James was a big, solid man.  Common sense would tell you not to get in his face with a whole lotta jibber-jabber.  Same thing as Ike Turner on What's Love Got To Do With It-- there was no reason to catch a full blow from him.  Once he thumbed his nose, you knew what was next.)   Much has been said about villifying the poor or making them scapegoats for the ills of society.  Without a doubt, that goes on too.  But the fact that a person is poor, be it financially, healthwise, spiritually, or educationally doesn't mean that they have to stay poor.  Too many times I think that people who claim to be concerned about the poor don't want to do what it really takes to make a difference.  It's easy to spout off about some government program that costs millions of dollars but only means a few dollars difference to a particular family.  What's hard is getting in there and helping people to see that their present is their future only if they allow it to be.  James knew it.  That's why he had two kids who were very strong academically and one who, even though he didn't apply himself in school, was a talented artist, which requires a good deal of discipline in its own right.    If I remember correctly, Cliff Huxtable won as the favorite TV dad.  The more I think about it, that title should go to James Evans.

Why I'm Conservative

This paragraph here, from the article, The Rebirth of Psych  by Bethany Allen, pretty much crystalizes why I lean to the right.  

I know that everyone would like to believe in the American dream, that if we work hard we can overcome our conditions, no matter how low on the totem pole we start out. But I've been at the bottom and I just want to go on record to say it's just not that easy. At one point in my life, I was once what some people might have and probably did classify as a welfare queen. I know just how hard it is to pull yourself out of that station, and the so-called "assistance" measures that are in place were at times more a hindrance than help. The welfare system as it stands today is full of reverse incentives — most notably the fact that you are generally penalized for trying to save money — and provides little or no help to families transitioning out of poverty. It can feel very much like a trap because there is really no legitimate way to get out of it unscathed and with money in the bank.

What?  Easy and possible are not mutually exclusive.  I think that's the whole problem, people think that it's supposed to be easy to move up.  The American dream is not that "everybody will" it's that "anybody can."  There's a big difference between the two.  But here's the clincher:  

For people like me and Bill Cosby and the millionaire athletes he accuses of being illiterate, we were able to escape poverty because we have gifts that not everyone has. For me, though I am far from the millionaire bracket (for now) my writing career enabled me to quadruple my income in five years time, but for most people, that just doesn't happen. People like Cosby and pro athletes have exceptional talents that in addition to hard work got them out of the projects. In reality, it oversimplifies the matter to think that a strong work ethic is enough to get anyone out of poverty, especially when "the system" does so much to keep you there. This is not the assessment of an uber-liberal black who wants desperately to blame white people for my or anyone else's problems — I'm speaking from experience here. No matter what color you are, it works the same. Just try and save money for Shaniqua or little Bill to go to college — you'll lose your childcare voucher and your rent will go up, and you'll be right back at square one, jack.

Now, I'll be the first one to admit that childcare can confound any attempts to make forward progress, but let's keep it real.  First, that's a result of an active choice.  Some choices just make it harder to make the right decision later on.  That's life.  Ain't no good times without scratchin' and survivin'.  My bigger problem is the elitist attitude that masquerades itself as being one of the people.   If I'm everybody and everybody is me, then the only differences between where I am and where they are are 1) the grace of God and 2) the choices I've made.  I've always believed that I'm no different than the average person.   I'm not in some special category that makes me exempt from the things that every other brother goes through.  I've made choices that have kept me out of some situatuations and gotten me into some other ones, but that's about it.  Anybody else has the same opportunities that I have.  The way I see it, it's not elitist to say, "I did somethin' with what I have, now you do somethin' with yours."  That's keeping it real and demanding responsibility from a person.  In the biblical parable, the dude with the one talent didn't get absolved because he only had one talent.  He was supposed to do something with the one talent he had.  Nowadays, we come off like, "Of course he couldn't do anything.  He only had one talent."  Wrong.  What's elitist is to say, "I came out of those circumstances, but I'm different.  The rest of 'em can't do what I did."  What we need to be saying is, "I made it out and you can too.  Here's how."   Maybe at some point I'll talk extensively about how liberal types have made the poor a different kind of "untouchable" and what that really suggests.  

ChristCube and Missionaries Wit Attitudes?

I love Jesus and I love hip-hop, so it would seem that the hip-hop services described in the Chicago Tribune (subscription required) would be right up my alley.  For some reason, though, it just doesn't sit right with me.   I'm not exactly sure about the source of my discomfort.  I know everybody doesn't enjoy the same musical forms (and we can get into a debate on the musical legitimacy of hip-hop at some other time.  But before you speak, make sure you can account for The Roots.), and that there's nothing wrong with expressing the love of Jesus in different genres.  There's everything right with it.  Still, the idea of a hip-hop service...something seems shady about it.   More than likely it's this quote that's got me uncomfortable:  "Hip-hop is who we are; it's how we talk," Holder said. "We're foolish if we think we going to communicate any other way."  I got a problem with that.   As I've said I-don't-know-how-many times, I am not a linguistic prescriptivist.  I don't care about cuss words, I don't care about non-standard construction, I don't care about made-up words, I don't care about anything but making sure that the message is conveyed from the sender to the receiver.  At the same time, the pragmatic part of me knows that no matter how hip-hop we are, no matter what kind of street slang we talk when we're around the way, we'd better have a different set of verbal "shoes" to put on in different contexts.  I couldn't get up in the pulpit talking about, "W'sup, dawg."  I suppose there's a good discussion to be had on whether I should be able to or not, but there's no question that I can't.  So when I read    

Church leaders have gotten into the act, as well. In the presence of Kurtis Blow, one of rap's founding fathers, Suffragan Bishop Catherine Roskam concluded the mass July 2 by encouraging "all my homies and peeps" to "keep your head up, holla back, and go forth and tell it like it is."

I'm not sure how I want to react.  Part of me wants to bust out laughing.  Part of it is just that I'm not used to hearing that construction in that context.  Forget whether it's valid or not, I'm just not used to it.  I have to concede that.  At the same time, do we really need to take it there?   Personally, I think it would be one thing if there was a groundswell movement by Christian hip-hoppers who started their own congregations and held services like these.  While I would still have my qualms about it, at least it would be legitimate effluence and not a gimmick.  Yeah, the apostle Paul mentioned becoming all things to all people, but Jesus don't need no gimmicks.  What makes it gimmicky is not the hip-hop element, however, it's that the people in charge don't even have the hip-hop cadence down.  When Jesus met the apostles, he spoke to them in terms they were familiar with and could understand.  I'm thinking that he was probably not unfamilar with those terms himself, though.  With my background in funk, soul, and hip-hop, I'm probably not the best one to start some type of heavy metal outreach ministry.  I don't know the lingo, I don't have a rubric for evaluating what's good, and I don't know what's popular.  Hip-hop has the (dis)advantage of being very accessible.    Because most people think it's all about rhyming couplets with a stress on the last word, as popularized by Melle Melle in the early 80's, just about everybody thinks they can rap.  Because it's the number one genre worldwide in terms of sales and media attention, everybody has contact with it, and many people think they really know something about it.  Hence, we get all these commentators who wouldn't know Rakim from Radio Raheem, talking about hip-hop this and hip-hop that, as if that little smidgen they know represents the sum total of what hip-hop is about.  Unless a person deals with it and understands it at more than a cursory 'I-saw-it-on-the-idiot-box' level, they probably shouldn't fool with it, either to critique it as a whole or to try to use it as a tool.  Take some time, learn about it, understand the lingo, get some historical perspective, then start trying to deal with it.   All that to say I don't think it's necessarily a bad idea to use hip-hop as a tool in spreading the gospel, but I think it's probably better left to people who have already built up their dexterity.

AIDS and the church

I think I've figured it out. Not that I didn't know it before, but it has crystalized for me now. As it pertains to the Black church and institutions modeled after it (NOI), there are two directions people try to take it. Some people see it as a spiritual institution first. - Well, some people see the church as a spiritual institution only, but that's why I refer specifically to the Black church and not the Christian church in general. From its inception, the Black church has been engaged in civic/social issues. It has never been solely a spiritual institution, for better, worse, or six of one, half dozen of the other. - Some other people see it as a social institution organized around a shared theology. Now, I'm not gonna be the one to try to say what somebody's relationship with Jesus is based on their politics. There may be some other litmus tests, but even they can yeild misleading results, depending on when I make the observation. With the exception of Jesus, nobody in the Bible absolutely had his thing together. We remember them for how they finished, not how they were along the way. Look at a small portion of the wrong part of the life of Moses, David, Peter, or Paul, and you'd think they were mortal locks to go to Hell. None of us has achieved perfection, we're just at different points along the way. Sometimes people may drift off the road, but I think it's one thing to be drifting and it's another to be on the wrong road altogether. For whatever that's worth. Dawn Turner Trice writes about a church in Chicago that has had an HIV/AIDS ministry for about 12 years and is getting requests from other churches who want to start similar programs. She writes

Historically, the black church hasn't been too keen on dealing with HIV/AIDS or issues of sexuality, particularly homosexuality. But look at the statistics: In Chicago, 15,900 people have the disease, with African-Americans making up 56 percent of the total; nationally blacks make up 12 percent of the population but account for more than half of all new HIV infections.

I don't think it's that the church has been reluctant to deal with issues of sexuality - especially homosexuality - I think it's that the church has been reluctant to accept homosexuality. There's a difference. It's the church. It's not the NAACP. I have been ragging on the NAACP for two days, so let me say this right here: I don't think the NAACP as an organization is unnecessary, but I do think it has lost its way. The NAACP should be the social institution that people keep trying to make out of the church. The church, as a biblically-based instituion, has no business endorsing homosexuality. That's simply inconsistent with what the church is founded on. (Now, if some alternative church-type organization arises and tries to claim that the mainstream denominations are misinterpreting the Bible or whatever, then that's on them. That's between them and the Lord.) The church doesn't have any business accepting homosexuality, explicitly or implicitly, any more than it does accepting heterosexual fornication or murder or anything else on the list in Rom. 1:29-31. The 2ACP, on the other hand, has none of those restrictions. That's where people of varying sexual orientations and political persuasions and whatever other differences there might be should be able to debate and hash out ideas and ideals and work out a social vision and a plan for getting there. The NAACP should be the place for ecumenical conversations. Not the church. Now, I'm not saying that the church should act as if HIV/AIDS don't exist. Christians are supposed to visit the sick and care for the needy. That's our job. Conservative, liberal, apolitical, or anywhere in between, the fact that you're not fornicating is moot if you can walk around and act like you don't give a ...um... like you don't care about the sick and the poor and the hungry. Like the old song says, "everybody talkin bout Heaven ain't goin." What's more, that statement is probably more self-reflexive than most people realize. So again, the church has a responsibility to stand in the gap for people with HIV/AIDS. They just shouldn't neglect their spiritual foundation to do so. The church mentioned in Turner-Trice's article, Trinity United Church of Christ, seems to do that. "They focus on abstinence, but they also talk about healthy sexual behavior," she writes. That's a pretty muted description, but I'm guessing that it would sound a lot like this description of the AIDS prevention program at work in Uganda (thanks La Shawn)

The Ugandan leader credited with slashing HIV rates in his country insisted Monday that condoms are not the ultimate solution to fighting the AIDS scourge, saying abstinence and loving relationships in marriage are even more crucial.

Now that's how it should be done.

Whas'nEVER I Play, It's Got To Be FUNKY

Ain't No Half-Steppin - Heatwave With A Little Help From My Friends - Joe Cocker You're Right, Ray Charles - Joe Tex Love Your Life - Average White Band In The Heat Of The Night - Ray Charles Don't Want To Be A Fool - Luther Vandross One Monkey Don't Stop No Show - Joe Tex Get Out My Life, Woman - Joe Williams I Just Want To Celebrate - Rare Earth Yes We Can - Pointer Sisters Reign Of The Tec - The Beatnuts

Papa Jack

Some prominent Senators, athletes, and celebrities are banding together to get Jack Johnson a presidential pardon to overturn his convention based on the Mann Act. I've got ambivalent feelings about it. On the one hand, we all know he got railroaded. The Mann Act was intended to keep women from being transported across state lines for immoral purposes; a Chicago pimp taking his workers to Gary would be a prime candidate for conviction. Jack Johnson's got convicted because he was traveling with white women. Plain and simple. He should never have been tried in the first place; the fact that he was only goes to demonstrate how far people have gone to get prominent Black people, especially Jack Johnson, who was the first Black heavyweight champion and quite flamboyant. I got stories about Jack Johnson. At the same time, it's 2004. Jack Johnson's conviction was 91 years ago. He's been dead since 1946. Somehow I think there are probably other, more significant miscarriages of justice that need to be addressed. This is just a chance for some people to get cute in front of a camera and act like they're "down."

Some Real Hip-Hop For Ya

Devish NAACP gettin' me all worked up. I almost forgot to run this week's album. Today's album, Masta Ace's Slaughtahouse, was one of the first hip-hop albums to cast a critical eye on that whole gangsta genre. What's more, this came out in 1993, when gangsta rap was really emerging as the dominant paradigm. In their year-end review of the albums of the year, The Source (back when it was actually worth reading) called Slaughtahouse "the moral center of hip-hop." Ace wastes no time getting at the gangstas, doing a spoken word intro and then a Hardcore Rap 101 skit.

Teacher: Now when you rhyme, you hafta say that you smoke blunts. *underlines on chalkboard* Also you hafta mention that you drink 40's. You hafta mention that you carry a 9 millimeter, a tec-9, a mac 10, a M16, or an Uzi. *underlines on chalkboard* Does anybody have any questions? Student: Excuse me, but I don't have a gun. Teacher: It's not IMPORTANT if you have a gun or not. Just ACT LIKE you have a gun.

That's followed by the title song, which is in two parts. First is a parody of a gangsta act which features two MCs, MC Negro and the Ig'nant MC. Following that comes Ace, literally setting the record straight and mapping out the focus of the album. One of the strongest element's of Ace's skills is his ability to really paint a picture of what's going on in a neighborhood. Not that ludicrous Ludacris/Nelly/NWA reality where everybody's either shooting somebody or getting some at every moment of the day, but in the Village Ghetto Land sense of describing what's there. This, from Late Model Sedan:

Cause my man Shiloh, is out on the prowl With some East Medina, brothers that's foul Lookin to protect, the streets that our mothers Have to walk on, from black young brothers It's bad enough, that if I walk through a white Neighborhood, that, I gotta be prepared for a fight Why should I be scared of the dark Skin on a brother that be lurkin in the park I oughta be safe in a black neighborhood But someone's always up to no good Niggaz ain't never gonna make no progress Killin one another, but you know I guess I'm feelin thirsty, I'm goin to the store If anybody calls, I went to the store!

Oh. And somebody should spit this to Kweisi while he's trying to get at Black conservatives:

As I walk through Brooklyn, Compton or whatever, I wonder why black folks don't wanna stick together. We talk about justice, and how little we get, yet black men be killin' black men for talkin' shit... (right...right...) (";Here's the one, that one that always talkin' shit...";) [gun shots] How the hell we supposed to wage war against the powers that be when we are still our own worst enemy?

Instead of worrying about the laws going back to 1963, how about trying to get the murder rate and out-of-wedlock birth rate to where they were in 1963?

Evolve, Already!

"Preposterous like an androgynous misogynist" - Talib Kweli La Shawn, Samantha, and Michael have all written about Kweisi Mfume's comments regarding Black conservatives. Check them out for some solid rebuttals and logic questioning. Me? I'm just gonna make it plain: he's out of his wig. This is exactly what I was talking about yesterday. He's still in the Colored People mindset. Everything I said remains true, only this time I kinda feel like really getting at the N2ACP. Very rarely (and I mean VERY) do I agree with Rush Limbaugh, but when he calls it the NAA(L)CP, I can't help but admit he's right. If you're not liberal, they ain't speakin' for you. Which is too bad. You would think that if there was any place the conservative viewpoint would be respected or at least heard, it would be in the N2ACP. Only thing is, I don't think the focus is really on Advancement. I think it's really about maintaining the legal status quo, circa 1968. Like I said, I don't necessarily think the organization is altogether obsolete, but they are certainly focused too much on the past. We're not going back to 1963. Black people are not going to lose the right to vote, we'll still be able to shop, eat, and sleep where we want, and if we just feel like it, we can marry white people. The laws are not going to change. But that's all you keep hearing because that's all they've got anymore. Like my driving instructor told me, "It's hard to go forward if you keep looking in the rear view." Or to quote Satchel Paige, "Don't look back. Something might be gaining on you." Only in this case, it's not what's gaining on us, it's what we're losing. It's time for some honest dialogue. Jokers need to quit resortin to punk moves like name-calling and step to the plate with some real conversation. Don't tell me I'm a puppet because your lines ain't got no pull. I want to see somebody point out to me in practical terms, where the conservative agenda is wrong. I can accept ideological differences. Probably won't agree with 'em, but that's what grown folks are for, to have different opinions. The question is, wha'chu gonna DO? Talking about racism and classism and patriarchy and capitalism and whatever other structural elements are at work in keeping the Black man down is all good, but if that talk doesn't lead to any action, then as Nino Brown would say, it's "running the marathon." And as for the insinuation of pay for position, it's easy to lament the plight of the poor when you're sitting up in hotels, eating good. Pimps up, hoes down, right?

Welcome To The 21st Century, Y'all.

La Shawn writes about the NAACP with passion and conviction, nicknaming it The Dinosaur. I think she's dead right. Even the name is an anachronism. Colored People? That was progressive for the Aughts, when Du Bois and his backers organized in the first place, but that term has been played out, the fact that my grandmother still asks if there are "any colored" on a game show before she'll let me change the channel, notwithstanding. More problematic than the name is the fact that the organization appears to be stuck in the "protest until y'all give it up" paradigm. That went out with Nehru jackets. At this point, the main impediment to the advancement of colored people is colored people themselves. The NAACP needs to hop in this time machine right quick. On the left-hand side panel at Booker Rising, towards the bottom of the page, there is a list of statistics about Blacks in America. Take a look at it. Not as bad as you thought, is it? Certainly not indicative of a struggle. Don't get me wrong, I'll be one of the last ones to say that everything's all good for Black people in America, but I think it's about time to accept the fact that for however bad it may be (if it can honestly be called bad), it's not 1964. Should the NAACP continue to act as a sentry, watching for discriminatory practices and policies wherever they may be? I don't see why not. However, at this point, that shouldn't be the main thrust of their effort. One of the things that has always disturbed me about political/ideological discourse in this country is that it's so polarized. So when it comes to W.E.B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington, it's like we're supposed to choose sides or something. There are no sides. They were both working for the same thing. I think I said in somebody's comments one time, Washington and DuBois were the legs that we have to stand on. I would argue that while Booker T's emphasis on work and economic growth in the Black community was important, Du Bois's legal and social strategy was necessary in the early part of the 20th century. There are several examples of thriving Black communities that were obliterated by racist mobs, most notably (for me because you know I hafta work a musical angle in here somehow) Black Wall Street in Tulsa, OK. That's where the GAP Band got its name from, the three streets that comprised that area, Greenwood, Archer, and Pine. (now you know.) Economic progress without a the legal/political means to maintain it is of limited use. However, like Biggie said, "Things done changed." Nowadays, Black businesses are in more danger of being under-patronized than burned down. I'll grant that there may be some racially motivated arson and/or vandalism that goes on, but certainly not on the scale that it used to be. When a Black fighter beats a white fighter, we don't have to worry about the reprecussions that followed Jack Johnson's exorcisistic whipping of Jim Jeffries. (He beat the devil out of him.) We hardly even bat an eye any more. (But on the real, can somebody tell me why President Reagan had a phone in Gerry Cooney's dressing room to congratulate him, but not in Larry Holmes' room? Stuff like that resonates with me. Seriously.) At this point, we're past needing legal protection. Now it's time for Black America to concentrate on getting busy with the elbow grease. People can complain about classism all they want, but it seems to me that the only thing "classism" really means is that we shouldn't expect poor people to do anything other than what they're doing. Bill Cosby and his comments over the last several weeks have been keeping the word buzzing in the air, but it's even more pervasive than that. A couple months ago, when the sisters at Spelman kept Nelly from holding a fundraiser on their campus following the release of his video, Tip Drill, they were critiqued as being classist. Come on, now. It's classist to say it's demeaning to Black women to have a video with a guy swiping a credit card through her nether regions? Usually people who level that charge want to blame the interlocking systems of oppression, patriarchy, capitalism, and racism. Okay, whatever. I'll let all the rhetoric slide for a minute. My question is, what does that mean in terms of action? For all the people who claim that Bill Cosby is being classist in critiquing the way some young people speak, what do they suggest? It doesn't matter how much affirmative action is out there, if a person can't speak with a modicum of intelligence, he ain't got a chance, do he? And I say this knowing good and well that I come from a linguist's perspective, with all communication being valid as long as the idea that's being expressed by the sender is being understood by the receiver. That's cool in a theoretical discussion, but when it comes down to getting a j-o-b, the linguist's perspective means nothing. It's not oppressing anybody to say, "You need to step up your vocabulary." Didn't Pimp C say it in Big Pimpin'? ("Go get a book you illiterate son of a bitch and step up your vocab.") Classist? Yeah, if by that you mean people need to study something besides the idiot box (I will never get off that 70 hours a week thing.) So then, for the NAACP, the name is symptomatic of their larger problem. They need to adapt to the times. How bout instead of concentrating their focus on the Black community's struggle with forces from the outside, they put more effort into the problems that the Black community itself can fix? Not saying that that's not being done now, or that even it's not an integral part of what they're doing, but all I'm hearing from Julian Bond is complaining about President Bush. After Bill Cosby's initial comments, Kweisi Mfume said something like, "We've been saying that all along." To whom? And when? If that's supposed to be our leading organization, then they need to get out and lead and stop talking about who's not doing what for us and why it's okay for those of us who ain't doin nothin to keep doin' nothin. I really hope they get their agenda together in Philly this week, but after Thursday, they need to stop the yappin and make it happen.

Case For The Death Penalty

Exhibit 1: Girl killed over $100 braids. I hope these two don't even last until the trial.

You're Right, Ray Charles

Joe Tex is one of my favorite artists. I've probably said he doesn't get the respect he deserves eleventeen times. He has some fairly popular songs, like I Gotcha and one of my personal favorites (even though it's pure-D wrong), Ain't Gonna Bump No More (With No Big Fat Woman). Still, overall, I don't think Joe Tex has a whole lot of name recognition. That's one of the reasons I loved it when The Rza used I'll Never Do You Wrong on Ol' Dirty's Snakes. My favorite Joe Tex song has got to be You're Right, Ray Charles. Because I like to think about things, particularly music, I like meta-stuff. YRRC is a meta song. In fact, it's almost like a prophesy. Not really, because the phenomenon he's describing was already taking place when the song was recorded, but certainly between now and then it has gone into overdrive. Here are the lyrics:

I had a talk with Ray Charles about a month ago he said, "Joe Tex, you got an outta sight show. And if you listen to me, you're gonna make it big but you been singin' to the grown-ups and not to the kids You gotta make a song that'll make them move You gotta keep the kids dancin', keep 'em right in the groove The song don't hafta say much, just give 'em that beat They don't wanna hear the words, son, they wanna move their feet (hit it!) I'm goin' to Memphis y'all I"ma find me a band, and I'm gon' do just like Ray Charles told me to do and when I get it I'm gonna bring it straight to you And I'ma say (Ohhh!) chorus You're right, Ray Charles, yeah you right I got 'em dancin' day and night yeah, you're right, Brother Ray, yeah, you right I got 'em dancin' day and night Ray said: "I don't care if syrup go to a dollar a sop you can let the band play son, don't let 'em stop don't let 'em hold partners when they out on the floor they usedta dance like that, they don't do it no mo. Just let 'em dance is the way I do and if it works for me, Joe, it can work for you when you make this song you'll see that I'm right I'm not gonna lead you wrong, brother, cuz we're too tight

There's a couple more choruses and some adlibs in there, but the point here is not to print the lyrics. Really, the main points are all in the first verse. The only reason I included the second verse is that the line, "I don't care if syrup goes to a dollar a sop" is so hot. (Best believe you will be seeing it here repeatedly.) Now, I don't know if the events in this song are true or apochryphal; it definitely sounds like something Ray Charles would have been astute enough to observe, and given the lyrical intensity of Joe Tex's subsequent records, it's definitely possible. Either way, that's exactly what has happened to popular music, especially the sons of the soul/funk that Ray Charles and Joe Tex (among others) performed. I'm not gonna take it into hyper-evaluation, but I will say keep that first verse in mind next time you listen to the radio. Ray Charles was right.

DUH!

I don't know what kinda backseat-of-DMX's-car crack I was on when I made up that so-called favorite books list, but I don't know how I could leave off these two (especially since they're in my profile...):

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain

The Life and Loves of Mr. Jiveass Nigger - Cecil Brown

Friday Free-For-All

I think I'ma be keepin it light today. Never know, I might get inspired later on, but we'll see. At any rate, here's what's on my head. I just ran a post with some favorite books. Here are some favorite albums. I may do another iteration of this later, but I think these are my 10 favorite albums; whole albums, not just albums with records I like.

• Dare Iz A Darkside - Redman
• De La Soul Is Dead - De La Soul
• Songs In The Key of Life - Stevie Wonder
• Love Alive 1 - Walter Hawkins
• Resurrection - Common (Sense)
• Mama's Gun - Erykah Badu
• Amerikkka's Most Wanted - Ice Cube
• It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back - Public Enemy
• Black Star - Mos Def and Talib Kweli
• Benny Carter Meets Oscar Peterson - Benny Carter and Oscar Peterson

Man. That's 10 already. This will have to go through some refining, but I'm pretty sure most of these will stay. A few of 'em are mortal locks, though: Mama's Gun, SITKOL, and Nation of Millions. DLSID has competition for being my favorite De La album, let alone on my own personal top 10. We'll see if I ever get back to this and if I come up with anything else. **** What's Happening!! was a better sitcom than I had realized. I knew I liked it before, but there's some really solid characterization. Of course, most of the characters had already been kind of mapped out, since everybody except Rerun and Bill (the pop) are based on characters in Cooley High. Still, Dee as the precocious younger sibling is hard to beat. I'd take her over Michael every day of the week. The only thing I don't like is that there are too many fat jokes. Ex-girl pointed it out to me that Rerun really wasn't that fat, they just had him wear baggy clothes that made him look big. Shirley and Mabel were big, but there was no reason for that many fat jokes. (BTW, even though she's not in my weight class, Mabel King was a beautiful woman.) **** I forgot to mention earlier in the week, for my boy's birthday I got him two John McWhorter books. I tried to support the local Black bookstore, but you know they didn't have it. When I asked the dude, he looked like he didn't know who the devil I was talkin about. They didn't have but one book by a conservative author, though. Can I say I was sorely disappointed? I was about to fuss but then I saw this book highlighting all the Uncle Toms throughout history. I wasn't surprised to see the usual names, but they had Malcom X in there. I couldn't get past that one. Of course, it's easy to be brave when you're anonymous. The author(s) didn't put zer name(s) on the book.

Favorite Books

I'm bout to pull Ambra's post through Bizarro World and throw down some of my favorite books...and maybe some least-favorite records. (Now that will be interesting.) A Few Favorite Books (in no particular order)

• Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston
• Home Repairs - Trey Ellis
• Envy Of The World - Ellis Cose
• Only Twice I've Wished For Heaven - Dawn Turner Trice
• You All Spoken Here - Roy Wilder, Jr.

Some Records That Don't Belong In My Collection umm...actually, I'm gonna hafta think about this one for a while. Being all MP3'd up, I added somewhat selectively so I don't hafta look at the wack records. It might take a couple weeks, but I'll add them intermittently.

Do Your Best

This is the Walter Hawkins album I bought in Philly last spring. He doesn't have a perm, he has a permanent

Et Tupac?

Two-wheeling my way around, I came up on this article, Defending Tupac's Writings, which is a response to Michelle Malkin's article about a school district that put Tupac's book of poetry, The Rose That Grew From Concrete on their summer reading list. Both articles present valid arguments, so I recommend reading them. As is my wont, I'm gonna take the discussion around the corner, though. Like I said before, Pac was nice, but he wasn't great; he certainly was not a stellar lyricist. Being an MC is more about lyrics, however, and it was in the non-lyrical aspects that he excelled. I think his strength was in his ability to connect to the listener. I personally am more Posdnuos than Pac, but I can understand his popularity. What I don't understand is why people in academic circles are so preoccupied with him. Once again, I will say that much of Tupac's appeal is physical. If he had looked like Biggie, his lyrical limitations would have shut down everything else. That wasn't the case, though. Tupac had the looks and the charisma to be a movie star, and I'm fairly certain that if he hadn't gotten killed, he would be firmly settled in that stage of his career by now. There would be no serious discussion of him as a seminal figure in hip-hop. As I'm quick to say in debates about this, nobody was calling Tupac the best of all time when he was alive. He wasn't even thought to be that close to the top 10. Now that he's dead, however, there are people who will be ready to fight you if you say that Tupac wasn't the best ever at controlling the mic. Aside from the physical element, I think one thing that makes him interesting to write about and think about is the fact that he was all over the place. He loved women and was misogynistic at the same time. He was a thug and he was nationalistic at the same time. How can one person embody so many seeming contradictions? And again, I've never taken any of those courses, and I haven't read a whole lot of the material written about him, so I can't speak on the treatment with any expertise, but what I have seen has not been all that critical. Some obvious contradictions were addressed, but overall what I've seen has amounted to a love-in. Personally, I don't see it. I think Tupac is an interesting figure, but he shouldn't be the primary focus of a course. He was nice, but he wasn't that nice. He would make an excellent part of a survey of hip-hop or hip-hop related writing, but I just don't think he was good enough to warrant the attention he gets. At the same time, I've seen Michelle Malkin on television before (thank the Lord for good eyesight!), so I'm pretty sure that her beef here is not with the selection of Tupac specifically, she doesn't like the idea of using hip-hop in the classroom, period. Once again, if somebody doesn't like hip-hop, they just don't like it. That's a matter of taste. However, I think it's intellectually dishonest to suggest that hip-hop is somehow unsuitable for classroom consumption, particularly if a person doesn't listen to it enough to distinguish between the genres within hip-hop. Certainly there are elements of hip-hop that lack substance, and unfortunately that's what gets the most attention and makes the most money, but there's a whole lot of other records that could be useful in a classroom context. I know when I was teaching math, I couldn't wait to ask the kids what Redman meant when he said, "I hit the spot like x,y." It's not all idiot stuff. Also, I have to cosign on the Defending Tupac article by highlighting that Michelle Malkin didn't highlight any writers of color as she broke down how peurile Tupac's poems are. What, Langston Hughes wasn't worth mentioning? Gwyndolyn Brooks and Maya Angelou aren't writers to emulate? Now, I'm not the one who's gonna say that classical literature has no place in the modern classroom, but I will say that there should be more to it than just that. I'm all for teaching pastoral poems, but I bet I'd bring in Respiration by Black Star to provide a contemporary comparison.

Rap v. Hip-Hop

Here's an excellent primer for anybody who doesn't know the difference.

Whas'nEVER I Play, It's Got To Be FUNKY - Songs W/ Dope Titles

The songs may or may not be good (in a variety of ways) but the titles are.

Your Husband Is Cheatin' On Us - Denise LaSalle Be Cool (Willie Is Dancing With A Sissy) - Joe Tex Cheaper To Keep Her - Johnnie Taylor High Priest of Turbulence - Terminator X Righteous Rhythm - Rose Royce Suicide Is Painless -(gotta get the artist. It's the theme from M*A*S*H) Lady Marmalade - LaBelle Shoo-B-Doop and Cop Him - Betty Davis Gimme A Pigfoot (and a Bottle of Beer) - Bessie Smith I Can't Write Left-Handed - Bill Withers

Six Pounds, Though?

I umm...knew some people who used to chief, but six pounds? For medicinal purposes?! Now this is a case where the article seems to contradict itself and the headline is actualy misleading. Here's the lead paragraph:

PORTLAND, Ore. — An Oregon ballot measure expected to qualify this week would make it legal for medical marijuana (search) users to possess one pound of pot, create state dispensaries and allow nurse practitioners and naturopaths (search) to prescribe it.

Then in the next paragraph, it talks about how a patient could legally possess six pounds. I imagine that one pound would be for the patient's use and the rest is for some other purpose, and that the average user probably wouldn't have any reason to hold the other 5 pounds (one pound is still a lot.). It doesn't say any of that in the article, though. This is why I don't go by mass media outlets of any political bent. It's purely for entertainment purposes. There's no in-depth treatment of a subject, it's all about saying something to get the viewer's attention and then providing some flimsy pretense for dispensing opinion. Sorta like this post.

Superwoman

A friend of mine is trying to tell me that Karyn White's Superwoman is better than Stevie Wonder's Superwoman (Where Were You When I Needed You?). I told him he needs to lay off the narcotics. Any takers?

Prejudice

Is it really possible for an American to not-see race? I specify American, because I know what it's like here. People I know who have gone or were born elsewhere tell me that it's different in such-and-such, but I can't speak on that. Never been there. I know this place, though. What got me on that question is this article in the Chicago Tribune (subscription required). The subtitle is "Mixed race couples find a world that's not colorblind." That got me thinking. Is there such a thing as colorblindness? Personally, I don't think it's possible. That's like when I hear the old standby, "I don't think of you as Black." Well then what do you think of me as? I had somebody tell me that in the middle of the summer one time. It would've been bad enough if they had said that to me in December, when I'm as close to brown as I get. In the summer, though? As much effort as I put into getting crispy? I was like, "You done bumped yo head." Listen, I understand the sentiment behind the statement. I know that's an attempt to say "Even though you're Black, I see you as an individual (with whom I get along)" or something along those lines, but my thing is, instead of exempting me from being Black, why not stretch your boundaries of what Blackness is? It's not necessary to not-know that I'm Black. Besides, I don't think it's possible. Of course this is all presented within the context of interracial romantic relationhships. Like I mentioned in the comments one time, I've played in the snow before, so I know a little something about it. I can't speak on what she thought, but I don't think you're ever unaware of your partner's physical appearance. Forget race for a minute. Guys, if your lady is physically stunning- look so good she got other women turning their heads- you don't not-know. You can't forget about it. If she looks rough enough to back a dog off a meat truck, you're aware of that too. And with the pretty jawn especially, you better not act like you don't know. That's an Acela Express to the doghouse. Same thing goes if she's wearing certain outfits or whatever else. So if you're not oblivious to any of that stuff, what's with the idea that we can be oblivious to race? That's as phony as a three dollar bill. It's not that you don't know the race, or are oblivious to it, it's that you don't allow it to be a determining factor. As with any physical characteristic, the option is there to get caught up on the trait instead of the person. So like I mentioned earlier in the spring, one of my boys likes girls with big butts. Ghetto blasters, we call 'em. The question is not whether he notices if she's packing a Lasonic or a clock radio; he can't help but notice. The question is whether that's gonna be a deciding factor in how he treats her. Same thing with race; you don't not-know a person's race, you just choose to respond or not-respond to that person as an individual towards whom you could possibly have romantic feelings. It's just that simple. See, I think somewhere we've conflated sameness and equality. (I know I said that last night. Maybe I like saying it.) Equality is me treating a woman appropriately because I respect her as an individual. That's different than treating a woman as if she's the same as another woman. (That's a freefall to the dog house!) By the sameness=equality concept, I shouldn't be surprised if Molly can cook collard greens so good it makes me want to drink the pot liquor. And maybe I shouldn't. But I would. I can't even think of a word for how surprised I would be. (The best I can come up with is "thunderstruck" but that doesn't even begin to describe it.) Maybe I'm off base on this one, but I don't think so. Like I said, the important thing is how I treat her. It's like the difference between being prejudiced and being racist. Just like we have falsely made sameness and equality to be interchangeable concepts, we have done the same thing with prejudice and racism. Personally, I think it only makes sense for a person to be prejudiced to a certain extent. You know what you know and that's all you know until you know something different. So to go back to my previous example, once Molly puts her foot in the pot, maybe I wouldn't be so surprised to hear that a white chick had done the thing to some collards. Until I see it happen, however, I will remain skeptical. Not saying that there aren't any white chicks who can cook greens in the soul food tradition, just saying I would be surprised if I met one. Just like when I used to know this Black chick who had NO soul, R&B, hip-hop, or gospel (traditional or contemporary) in her collection. Was I shocked? Sho' nuff. Did it have any bearing aside from the fact that I had to make sure I drove so I could control the stereo? Nope. I didn't think she was a sellout or try to make any larger implications about her personally, and that, I think is the difference between prejudice and racism (or whatever -ism). I think racism = prejudice + malice + action. (At least on a personal level. On a structural level, malice may or may not be intentional, but that's another post on another site.) I would say racism = prejudice + action, but I'm thinking that if Molly asked me what I wanted her to cook for dinner, my prejudice would keep me from saying greens & ham hocks. I'm not sure that's racist, though. But maybe that's just me. I'm prejudiced. And I know it.

The Payback Arrangement

Somebody googled the spot again. Here goes. The Payback 7:39 Vocals James Brown Trombone Fred Wesley Trumpets unidentified (!) Guitars Jimmy "Chank" Nolen Hearlon "Cheese" Martin Bass Fred Thomas Drums John "Jabo" Starks Tambourine Johnny Griggs or John Morgan Background Vocals Martha Harvin and unitentified others. recorded August 4, 1973

Stuff I Forgot to Mention

As a cleanup to that post on Songs In The Key of Life, I said that I would break it up into sides "like it was when I got my chubby little fingers on it." Only thing is, I forgot that when they made double albums, sides 1 and 4 were on the same plate and sides 2 and 3 were on the same plate. That way, when the second record had played and you flipped it over, side 3 would already be on top. I was reminded of this because I copped the plates of SITKOL Monday. It was the full album, complete with booklet and A Something's Extra. Needless to say I was giddy. If I had'a had some more money, I would've jumped on that first Pointer Sisters album, too. So I guess I officially have a new favorite record store in Philly. I forget the name of it, but it's on 40th street btw Walnut and Locust, and they sell comics and records. I think I've said this before, but if they had been there when I lived in Philly, I would've been broke. *** This is two months solid for seeing dudes with a box. And I'm not talking about people my age, I'm talking about people who were adults when that was the style. Let '88 rest. Cuz if I see a chick rockin some doorknocker earrings, it's officially over. *** Just as soon as you make an honest decision to do something, the temptation to do the opposite comes in force. Without getting into too many details, suffice it to say that I've been seeing good-looking jawns in places I've never seen them. Amazing. *** I think I'm glad Coach K didn't take the Lakers job. I do want to see Shaq go to Dallas, however. If I could pick anywhere, I'd have him go to the Sixers, of course, but Dallas would be good too.

Wrestling Team Paradigm

One of the core elements of conservatism as I understand it (and I always allow room for me to have things twisted) is the emphasis on the individual. While I agree with this for the most part, I think it must be balanced with a concern for the collective. While some conservative writers I've read decry "groupthink", my own personal thought is that "groupthink" is whatever those people who disagree with you believe. The thinkers in your group logically arrived at that conclusion separately. Whatever. People are social beings and we "get in where we fit in." There's nothing wrong with it. It's a natural social function. Stressing the individual to the exclusion of the collective is problematic. When I wrote about young parents a couple weeks ago, this was exactly what I had in mind. I'd be the last person to say that having a two-loving-parent household is important. (Because a regular two-parent household, that may or may not be good. Remember that story about the boy who brought his parents in so they could roll on the boy who beat him up the day before?)At the same time, there are no parents who do it all on their own. At least, I haven't met any. Same principle applies to individual people. We act and choose as individuals, but our choices and decisions have an impact on whatever groups we're in, those we choose to be a part of, and those people lump us into. For the Black conservative, in particular, I think this can be a particularly challenging question. Being big on sports metaphors, I think the best way to look at it is like being on a wrestling team. (Track could probably work too, but I didn't run track so I don't know how track meets are scored.) Wrestling (amateur styles) is an individual team sport. It's both at the same time. (And the more I think about it, the more right this paradigm seems to be. Hopefully I will take this slow and handle it right.) Dealing with it as it exists in folkstyle, which is how it's done in America at the high school and collegiate levels, there are a set number of weight classes. In each match, there is a maximum number of points that can be gotten, depending on the outcome. In that sense, wrestling is one of the most egalitarian sports out there. The best guy (or girl, nowadays) on the team has the same point potential as the worst person. A pin is six points. Whether he's a stud or a fish, the most he can get is six. I this is what the phrase "all men are created equal" really means. Stud and Fish each represent the same potential number of points. The fact that one of them usually gets the six while the other gives up the six is what allows us to designate them as Stud and Fish, respectively. Nevertheless, in terms of absolute value as it applies to the team score, they're equals. See, this example is helpful in breaking the concept of equality down. Too many people have "equality" conflated with "sameness." One more time, Stud and Fish are equal, but they're not the same. Now, within each person's match, he is whatever he is. If he stinks, he stinks, if he's great, he's great. This is, I think, the level where most conservatives like to leave it. Let the stud be a stud and let the scrub be a scrub. My thinking, though, is that while that's a perfectly legitimate way to look at it, there has to be more to it than that. Put it like this: it's possible for an undefeated wrestler to be on a winless team. Just because it can happen doesn't mean it should, though. Back when I was wrestling, one of the hot phrases on hip-hop records was "each one teach one." That was also my head coach's philosophy. Individual glory is one thing, but it's even better to be a good member of a good team. One of the quickest ways to piss him off was to see somebody who was good at one thing not-trying to help his brother, who was weak at that particular skill. That was an easy way to get 50 push-ups or some laps around the gyms for the team. Naturally, when I became an assistant coach, that became a pet peeve of mine. Now, I'll be the first one to say that it's not a question of "owe." Those who have, in whatever context, do not owe it to anybody to do anything. There is no real obligation. There is also no question that while "owe" does not work, "should" is in full effect. Does Stud have to help Fish learn how to use the half nelson properly? (Coach's threats notwithstanding) No. Should Stud help Fish with the half nelson? Absolutely. Not only does it benefit Fish, it helps Stud as well. I used to tell the kids that you haven't fully learned something until you can teach it. So with regards to that all too common question about whether the Black middle class is supposed to do something, to "give back to the community," if the "supposed to" is code for "owe" then the answer is no. If it means "should," however, then most definitely. And I know that the number of Black folks living below the poverty line is much smaller than some people would have us believe, but I also know the federal definition of poverty . It's a healthy amount for somebody living in Bangladesh, and I'm sure that people 100 years ago would have been thrilled to see that kind of dough, but living in the 21st century, $18,850 for a family of four is...umm...not a lot of money. By that definition, a family of four at 20G is not impoverished. (Intuitively I would argue that, but since I'm not an economist, I'll just suffice it to say that 5G/person/year don't exactly set my heart to racin'.) So yes indeed I do believe that we, who have means should be trying to help those who don't. That doesn't mean that I think the government is vehicle for addresing it, though. Leaving it to the government is like Stud telling me he's not gonna help Fish because he's not the coach. (That's when either Head Coach or I would remind him of the difference between what he knew and could do and what we knew and could do.) There are certain things that the government is supposed to do. Personally, I think that ensuring quality education is one of them. Some people don't, but it's all open for debate. There are certain things that the government is just not as well equipped to do. That's where the President's Faith-Based Initiatives come in, but I would argue that all the things FBIs are meant to address are things we should've been working on in an organied fashion. At the same time, there's a problem when people will castigate the middle class for not doing anything but chide any critique of people on the lower socioeconomic end of the scale as "classist." I'm bout to talk about my own experience for a minute. When I taught middle school, I was in one of the worst neighborhoods in Philadelphia. I was right in the heart of Norf. (If you've ever been up Cumberland Ave, you know...that ain't even Norf, that's Norff!) I used to go to the store on my prep period and see cats my within 6 years of me in both directions, just sittin out on the steps playin cards like it was Saturday. Now I've worked both 2nd and 3rd shifts, so I know not everybody goes to work during the day, but ehhhyeeeebody don't work at night. Like I told my cousin over the weekend, I mighta been born at night, but I wasn't born last night. These are the people whose kids were comin' into my classroom- 6th, 7th, and 8th graders- and can't do 100 multiplication problems (numbers up to 12) in 5 minutes. And I was lying to the kids about it being 5 minutes. I really gave them 10. Not that it made a difference. I was still getting papers with only 15 problems answered - and only 7 of them right. Yet if I was to break up class and talk about what happened on the IB the night before (especially Smackdown), they could tell me everything The Rock said and did. God forbid I should ask them a code for Madden. But 12 * 12 would shut the game down in a hurry. That's a problem. The index of poverty at the school level is the percentage of kids who are eligible for free lunch. If 99% of the school is eligible for free lunch, I shouldn't be seein kids wearin authentic NBA or NFL jerseys. (Throwbacks hadn't really caught on yet. Mitchell & Ness was still a specialty store back then.) That's a problem. And yeah, I know there are external factors influencing people's spending decisions and all that good stuff. I can sit down and break bread on why people who ain't got a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of can buy $125 Timberlands but they kids too dumb to poor the piss out the boot if the instructions was on the heel (did I get all the cliches in there?). I can chew up conspicuous consumerism and class aspirations and all that with the best of em, but when it all comes down to it, that's a decision that was made by an individual. Fish can complain to me all day that Stud didn't help him learn such-and-such move, but the truth is, Stud is only responsible for what he does on the mat. If Fish goes out there and lays down like a...well, um...if he goes out there and doesn't wrestle well, that's on him. I can tell Stud to help Fish all I want, if Fish doesn't do anything with the help, it doesn't even matter. I haven't had the chance to read Bill Cosby's (who's an alum of the school where I taught, by the way) latest comments yet, but in my little time online, I've heard something about 'em. My feeling is, somebody has to say it. Personally, I'd like to see Black-on-television violence: every Black family should kill all but one of their televisions. But that's just me, though. Kicking this over with a friend of mine yesterday, we briefly touched on the fact that even though the "team" isn't doing so great, it's not doing as badly as we're being led to believe. The worst part is that some of the main ones telling us how bad things are for the team are the ones who are doing the best individually. Like, I love Mos Def but in his songs, he's quick to critique the American Dream as "mirages and camouflages, more than usually." That's not his life. It's one thing for somebody from Norff to give me that line. I may question the validity of zer belief, but at least zer life backs it up. Mos Def, done achieved the American Dream and then some. He got to do it and still maintain his artistic credibility and the whole nine. He should be the last person telling us how bad it is. Now, to be fair, he does stress having a positive outlook at the individual level, but I think that he places too much emphasis on the collective. If people are making bad choices, then of course they ain't gon' achieve much. Another cat who perplexes me is Randall Robinson. According to him, America is so bad that he had to move to get away from the racism. I'm like, but man- you're a public intellectual. You get paid to think and write books about how bad it is. If that's the case, it ain't that real in the field. Don't sit up there as a public intellectual and tell us how bad it is, tell us how to make moves so we can be like you. Come on, now. There's probably more I could make of the metaphor, with the elements of personal discipline and all that, but suffice it to say that it's not a question of either/or. It's not individual or collective, it's individual and collective. I think.

Gospel Records

I was listening to Aretha Franklin's Amazing Grace today. I'm not talking about having it on while I'm playing chess, either, I'm talking about walkin around with the MP3 player, paying attention to nothing but the record. You know what? Aretha could sang. I mean, I knew that before, but as is often the case with records you grow up listening to, you don't really appreciate the performance because you're so used to it. Earlier this week I was listening to a lot of Mahalia Jackson and *blasphemy alert* I think Aretha was better. (I say was because there's no way her voice can go back to being what it was at that time.) Don't get me wrong, Mahalia was great, but she was just the precursor to Aretha. Aretha was Mahalia squared. She made her money doing R&B, but when Aretha did Gospel, it was like she was coming home. Amazing Grace is not a perfect album, but Aretha's singing on there-- excuse me. Aretha's sangin on there is unbelievable. I think that Ella Fitzgerald had the best singing voice, but Aretha had the best sangin voice. Another Gospel sanger who...well I think she gets her props in Gospel circles, is Tramaine Hawkins. She had the tools. That chick could sho' nuff sang. If you listen to the first two Love Alive albums (which I highly recommend. I'm currently trying to decide which of them was better. If anybody knows those albums and has a case for 1 or 2, let me know.) Either way, Tramaine turned it out. Off the top of my head, her performance on Changed (LA 1) and He's That Kind of Friend (LA 2) are staggering.

Some Real Hip-Hop For Ya

I was actually planning to do this every week, but I fell off last week. Anyway,we're back and kickin it with the near-perfect album, Black Star, or by its full name, Mos Def and Talib Kweli are Black Star. As I mentioned before in a very tentative list of my 10 favorite hip-hop albums, this is the album that made me love hip-hop again. This album has everything right with it. There's one little piece of fast-forward material, but it in no way detracts from the whole album. The best thing about this album is that there are two real-live MCs, droppin knowledge, but not at the expense of making dope rhymes. As it tends to be, their politics are a little left of mine, but even at that, we agree more than we disagree. There are lots of great songs on here that give the listener food for thought, but the most thought-provoking is Thieves In The Night. This is literate hip-hop. Mos Def and Talib Kweli bought a book store in Brooklyn. Do Stanley Crouch and John McWhorter not know this, or do they simply disregard Black Star because Black Star doesn't lend itself to the tired, broad-brush, never-liked-it-in-the-first-place critique of hip-hop?Why can't they at least sidebar the fact that Thieves In The Night was inspired by Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye? Here's a sample of each of their verses from Thieves Talib Kweli

"Give me the fortune, keep the fame," said my man Louis I agreed, know what he mean because we live the truest lie I asked him why we follow the law of the bluest eye He looked at me, he thought about it Was like, "I'm clueless, why?" The question was rhetorical, the answer is horrible Our morals are out of place and got our lives full of sorrow And so tomorrow comin later than usual Waitin' on someone to pity us While we findin beauty in the hideous They say money's the root of all evil but I can't tell YouknowhatImean, pesos, francs, yens, cowrie shells, dollar bills Or is it the mindstate that's ill? Creating crime rates to fill the new prisons they build Over money and religion there's more blood to spill The wounds of slaves in cotton fields that never heal What's the deal? A lot of cats who buy records are straight broke But my language universal they be recitin my quotes While R&B singers hit bad notes, we rock the boat of thought, that my man Louis' statements just provoked Caught up, in conversations of our personal worth Brought up, through endangered species status on the planet Earth Survival tactics means, bustin gats to prove you hard Your firearms are too short to box with God Without faith, all of that is illusionary Raise my son, no vindication of manhood necessary

Mos Def

...I find it's distressin, there's never no in-between We either niggaz or Kings We either bitches or Queens The deadly ritual seems immersed, in the perverse Full of short attention spans, short tempers, and short skirts Long barrel automatics released in short bursts The length of black life is treated with short worth Get yours first, them other niggaz secondary That type of illin that be fillin up the cemetery This life is temporary but the soul is eternal Separate the real from the lie, let me learn you Not strong, only aggressive, cause the power ain't directed That's why, we are subjected to the will of the oppressive Not free, we only licensed Not live, we just excitin Cause the captors.. own the masters.. to what we writin Not compassionate, only polite, we well trained Our sincerity's rehearsed in stage, it's just a game Not good, but well behaved cause the ca-me-ra survey most of the things that we think, do, or say We chasin after death just to call ourselves brave But everyday, next man meet with the grave I give a damn if any fan recall my legacy I'm tryin to live life in the sight of God's memory

But there's more to it than just that. My boys would beat me about the head and shoulders if I didn't mention Respiration, which is pure poetry. All these cats talkin about Tupac, they need to check this out.

MIA

"Surprise, you wonder where I been, I've been workin" - Erick Sermon My cousin's birthday was yesterday. I've been putting together pool tables and foosball tables and air hockey tables and quick-shoot basketball games for two days. Not that I'm hating, but when I got done, it looked like my Christmas/birthday list from when I was 12. ... I hate it when people lie to me or talk to me like they think I'm some type of fool. Especially people who are younger than me and don't stop to think that I've probably done everything they've done and some more besides. I quote James on 'em: "I'm 3*7 and then some mo'." I'm like, come on, cuz, this stuff you think you're pioneering, I was doing it better than you 10 years ago. Cease and desist with the lies and alabis. ... Once again, I've missed a whole lot of good blogging this week. I doubt I'll have anything substantial tomorrow, but when I get back home, probably Tuesday or Wednesday, expect some fire.

Yeah, I'm a Hypocrite

I know I always talk about people watching TV and all that, but right now, I cannot stop watching Car Wash. (I guess that's why I done watched it 150-200 times already.) Now I'm watching for all the details and trying to formulate some life lessons out of it. Knowing me, I'm probably gonna wind up writing something very long about that movie. Car Wash. Man. And I put this on the downlow in one of the comments somewhere, but I'm brave enough to say it out loud. That hooker...she was kinda cute. When she was writing her name on the mirror in lipstick, I was thinking...Hippo might have been stupid, but he wasn't blind. (Even though it was probably the wig and the eyelashes.) Mona was the one, though. The intro shot of her walking across the street in that short waitress skirt, with the breeze lifting it ever so slightly... man! I've already said I'm a sucker for redbones and Mona was the truth. I knew that much when I was two. Although a little later, I kept thinking that she was the woman on the cover of the Ohio Players album, Honey. Actually, I was wishing that was her. Not only am I watching Car Wash, like, 3 times a day, I'm about to start watching House Party too. I'll probably break that one down at some point. House Party was tight. Robin Harris made the picture, though. It was funny and all that, but what kept it from being another one of those average teen pictures was the presence of a hard-working, no-nonsense parent. Kinda like if James Evans was the single parent of a son.

Ask me somethin'.

Naw, I'm serious. Ask me somethin.

Talkin

Following a link from Booker Rising, I ran up on this article describing Bill Cosby's critique of popular media as it pertains to language. Of all the things I talk about here, this is probably what I am most qualified to talk about. So you know I'ma break it down. I think the key to the whole discussion is contained in this paragraph:

Arnold Rampersad, Cognizant Dean of Humanities, School of Humanities and Sciences at Stanford University and preeminent biographer of Langston Hughes, believes it is misguided to romanticize African American vernacular given the educational crisis facing today's youth: "Common speech is indeed vigorous and creative, but typically only someone who is educated can see the degree of creativity in such speech, and then romanticize what is essentially monolingualism. And people who romanticize monolingualism of the type attacked by Bill Cosby (the type founded on ignorance and the active disdaining of books) need to have a monolingual social class in order to satisfy their romanticism. Mr. Cosby is absolutely correct that monolingualism of this type is a guarantee of economic and other forms of poverty -- including intellectual and spiritual poverty."

It's all about style-shifting. When having discussions about this very subject, I've described language as a pair of shoes. You have to wear the right shoes to the right function. There are some cases where it's fine to wear sneakers, and some times you have to wear shoes. Then in some other cases, only full-fledged dress shoes will suffice. Same thing goes linguistically. There are some cases when it's just not appropriate to speak SBV (standard Black vernacular). That doesn't mean there's anything wrong with it, it just means that a person is crippled if ze can't express zerself without it. At the same time, I must say that I get annoyed when I hear people say stuff like "talking proper(ly)." What is that? Going back to my shoe metaphor, while a person is more likely to run into difficulty trying to wear sneakers than shoes, there are some places where sneakers are not just the norm, they're the rule. Likewise, there are some (admittedly few) places where standard construction is contextually "improper." Being that I'm not a linguistic prescriptivist, all talk is valid to me, as long as it gets the point across. Which brings me to something I've been meaning to write about for several weeks. From Neil Steinberg in the Chicago Sun Times:

I don't know about you, but sometimes letting fly with a good old-fashioned Anglo-Saxon expletive is just what the doctor ordered. I am -- and readers of the column, sadly, have no reason to know this -- a big fan and user of obscenity, lacing my conversation with it all day long, only holding back, or trying to, before, say, my kids' teachers and while on live radio. Some say to do so is undignified. Some say it is unrefined. To me, we have this wonderful set of short, crisp, time-honored-yet-fresh words, and it is a shame not to use it, now and again, or even all the live-long day.

Unlike Mr. Steinberg, I don't use obscenity regularly anymore, but there was a point when I was working on my Redd Foxx Junior License. When I was in high school, I went from one extreme to the other. There were some months when I would rather burn my lips than let a cuss word come out, and then there were some other months when I sounded like that Bernie Mac routine at the end of Kings of Comedy, saying the word "motherfucker" 32 times a minute. Now a lot of people I know call cuss words "bad" or "vulgar." Vulgar is probably more appropriate, since it literally means "of the people." Like I said before, it all depends on the context, but for everyday usage, I think "shit" is much better than its latinate alter-ego, "feces/defecate." If you step in a pile of doggie poo on the sidewalk, which one works better? "Shiiiit." or "Feeceees." Part of the value is that it's monosyllabic, which makes it ideal as a reactive interjection. The other value is that "shit" can fill so many parts of speech. Just like Magic Johnson could play all five spots on the floor, "shit" can fill almost every part of speech. Once in a discussion, somebody asked me whether I thought Jesus would've said "shit" - or whatever the equivalent was in his language. It's hard to guess because the difference between "shit" and "feces" or "spit" and "expectorate" is purely class-based. The words we regard as "right" or "proper" only have that value because the people who used them were in control of the society at that time. Had the Anglo-Saxons been running things, "feces" would be the "bad" word. I know Jesus wouldn't have cursed, but I don't know that "shit" is really a curse. Saying that is not condemning anybody or anything. It's just a word for a bodily function and the substance created by said function. So while I'm hesitant to say that he would have said it, I can't say that he wouldn't have. Anybody got any thoughts on the linguistic aspects of this question? (i.e., don't give me "Jesus wouldn't have said "shit" because "shit" is a bad word. The word's connotative value is arbitrarily assigned, so at that time it may not have

Surreality TV

Leonard Pitts has an interesting article on the lengths to which some people will go to be celebrities and what that means for the rest of us. Thankfully, I do not have an idiot box and even when I am around one, I don't watch those surreality shows. My only guilty habit is getting my heart broken by the Eagles every January. (This year is gonna be different, though!) (subscription required.)

Whas'nEVER I Play, It's Got To Be FUNKY - Bass Inspirations

Inspired by my man, DJ $ Bill (that was my great-grandfather's nickname), I'm about this is a list of songs that inspired me to get a bass (along w/ a couple Russell Jones records I really like, just because.) Sir Psycho Sexy - Red Hot Chili Peppers Righteous Rhythm - Rose Royce Hikky Burr - Quincy Jones The Streetbeater - Quincy Jones Old Man - Masta Killa feat. The RZA & Ol' Dirty Bastard (samples Streetbeater) Stranglehold - Ted Nugent The Jam - Larry Graham & Graham Central Station Call Him Up (Can't Stop Praising His Name) - Keith Pringle Barney Miller Theme - Allyn Ferguson This House Is Smokin' - BT Express Skin Tight - Ohio Players I Was Made To Love Her - Stevie Wonder She's The One - James Brown Glide - Pleasure Givin' Up Food For Funk - The JBs The Grunt - The JBs Good Old Music - Funkadelic The Old Landmark - Rev. Milton Brunson Freddie's Dead - Curtis Mayfield Harlem World - Ol' Dirty Bastard Ashley's Roachclip - The Soul Searchers Scorpio - Dennis Coffey

Are You Kiddin' Me?

DMX has lost his mind. I wish there had been a police helicopter filming this.

Good Morning Heartache

I didn't put this one on the list, but of the versions I have, I think I like Ol' Dirty Bastard's rendition of Good Morning Heartache best. There's a woman, Li'l Mo, singing the song, keeping it very close to Diana Ross' interpretation. She's the anchor. None of the rest would work if she weren't there. Behind her is sparse instrumentalization (is that a word? if it wasn't, it is now.) led by an electric bass and a drum. The woman and the bass kill it. There's a muted sax, a guitar,and a keyboard in the background, but they're way back. On top of this modern version of the standard goes Ol' Dirty, doing his thing. If he ever took it seriously, I think Ol' Dirty could probably carry a note. On this song, he plays it straight for about the first verse, then it's on to extended off-key riffs, spoken ad-libs, and some mush-mouth sob talk. It works though. I have 6 versions of the song, but Ol' Dirty is the only one who sounds like he's absolutely torn up inside. That, I think, was Ol' Dirty's greatest strength as an artist. I don't know what he's doing now that he's on Rocafella, but that first album, Return to the 36 Chambers - The Dirty Version was tight for the same reason that this song is tight: he manages to be a fool within the structure of making a good record. At the beginning, I thought of Dirty as somebody who knew exactly how to play the fool without actually becoming one. Later, he just fell off and became one. Or maybe he was a fool that was playing like he was a dope artist. Either way, on Good Morning Heartache, he represented.

Wha'chu Gon' Play Now? - Post B'tch* II

"I need a new nigga for this black cloud to follow cuz while it's over me it's to dark to see tomorrow" - Nasir Jones Afraid The Masquerade Is Over - David Porter Otha Fish - The Pharcyde I'm Goin' Down - Rose Royce Green Eyes - Erykah Badu After The Love Has Gone - Earth Wind & Fire Highways Of My Life - The Isley Brothers Trying People - De La Soul Woman - James Brown By The Time I Get To Phoenix - Isaac Hayes One Monkey Don't Stop No Show - Joe Tex *still don't mean nothin' but Butterscotch

Idiot Box and random wildness

Three times this week, I have seen it written that Black households average 70 hours of television per week. Seventy hours. That's two full-time (35 hrs) jobs. That's literally inconceivable to me. That's 10 hours a day. In those households, the television must never go off. Or nobody goes to work or something. When is somebody gonna talk about that? Don't protest that Black folks are underrepresented inside the box, protest that we're overrepresented on the outside. Underrepresented in the library. Underrepresented in the book store. Underrepresented on the internet. Holla! ... I've been privately ranting about this ever since the throwback craze started. (Well actually before, because I was shopping at Mitchell & Ness before 93% of these fools knew there was such a place. I used to get minor league ballcaps from there. My best cops were the Kissimmee Cobras and the Santa Fe Canaries. This was back around 95. Back then, I used to be on first-name basis with the proprietor.) How you gon' wear a throwback Isaiah Thomas Indiana jersey with the name across the back? Indiana has never printed the players' names across the back. That's just disgusting and wrong. For $300+, accuracy should be paramount. And while I'm at it, why was I seein' people in the projects with throwbacks? What? That jawn cost over 3 bills; you live on the dole and got one but I can't afford one? I got a problem with that. That's why I could never be a politician. First day out I'd write a bill killing cable for anybody on welfare or getting government subsidized housing. I'd give library cards all day, but no cable. Shoot, two throwbacks and that's an entry-level Dell. Holla! ... I watched Car Wash for the Nth time today (150th? 200th?) Because I haven't seen Soul Plane, I really can't comment on it, but I'd be willing to bet that it was nowhere as smart as Car Wash. But this is exactly what I'm talking about when I say that it's a matter of taste. It would be very easy to write off Car Wash as a bunch of shuckin' and jivin', but I think there's more to it than just that. To be sure, it's mostly shuckin and jivin', and it's a precursor to some of these urban movies that are just really long music videos, but there are some very interesting characters in there; a couple of very interesting themes running through the goofines. One pet peeve of mine is that the DVD is not complete. If I didn't know the movie as well as I do, I wouldn't know this, but I've been watching Car Wash all my life. It's the first movie I remember going to the movie to see. I was 2 when it came out. We went to the Mode theater in Joliet, IL. I will never forget that. (The other movie I saw at the Mode was the 1976 King Kong remake. I don't really remember that too much, but my mom says that when Kong's eyes peeked through the bushes, I let her know that it was time for me to go.) Anyway, the cashier chick, Marsha, meets this suave dude who says he's gonna pick her up at the end of her shift. She's all excited and whatnot, but when she comes out at the end, Mr. GQ Smooth has his woman in the front seat. Marsha's date, sitting behind GQ Smooth, is a plug. They cut that scene out. It's probably only 30 seconds, but it stands out to me like missing eye teeth. One more note on Car Wash: the band, Rose Royce, that did the soundtrack for the movie, was put together by Norman Whitfield specifically to do the soundtrack. Before Car Wash, there was no Rose Royce. Considering the fact that they were able to come up with some moderate hits like "Wishing On A Star" and "Oooh Boy" later on, I think that was some pretty good band-making by Mr. Whitfield.

Hope You Come Back

Somebody googled my spot looking for The Grunt JBs Arrangement. Because I know how difficult it can be to find this information, I'm gonna put it here. The Grunt (parts 1 & 2) 3:30 Trumpets Clayton "Chicken" Gunnels Darryl "Hasaan" Jamison Tenor Sax Robert McCollough Piano Bobby Byrd Guitar Phelps "Catfish" Collins Bass William "Bootsy" Collins Drums Frank Waddy

One Step Closer To "Done Seen Everything"

I read in the World Magazing blog about this new version of the Bible. It looked weird until I got to the excerpts. It would be hillarious if it wasn't so tragic. The following excerpt had me laughing out loud, though. Kinam- imagine what our bulletins would look like if Pastor Ted had'a spit this:

Matthew 26:69-70 Authorized version: "Now Peter sat without in the palace: and a damsel came unto him, saying, 'Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee.' But he denied before them all, saying, I know not what thou sayest." New: "Meanwhile Rocky was still sitting in the courtyard. A woman came up to him and said: 'Haven't I seen you with Jesus, the hero from Galilee?" Rocky shook his head and said: 'I don't know what the hell you're talking about!'"

I don't know what the hell they talkin' about either.

If This Was My Family

I'd be on my way to jail right now. No rap. Just me, Trianthony, and my trusty Intratec.

Racism?

Samantha has a great post on the disingenuous use of the word "racist." I won't try to re-state her case, but I'll build on it a little bit. Racism is sort of like a mild cuss word in the sense that it gets too much use to be of any real meaning. There was once a time when hearing the word "bitch" on televison was shocking. Heads snapped to attention and jaws dropped in amazement. Nowadays, while some people may find it offensive, it's not exactly a surprise. We hear it so much that it's become almost passe. Same principle applies to racism. We're quick to draw the word racism or racist, but what does that really mean? I've said before that to some people, any time someone of a different race is uncourteous or shows some sign of dislike, the problem is automatically race. And I've also already said that everybody has the right to dislike anybody else for any reason. So then how can I tell the difference between somebody disliking me as an individual vs. somebody disliking me for phenotypical reasons? Honestly, I can't. Unless they just jump out of the cake and do something totally outrageous, then there's no way for me to tell. What's more, I don't want to know. If they don't know me, then the problem is theirs, not mine. I used to be the trainer at directory assistance. One of the main things I used to tell new operators is that people are extremely brave over the phone. They'll call you everything but a child of God, including any permutation of the N-word they can think of. On one level, using that epithet on a person is racist. But if that's all the person does, is the term "racist" really valid? Like Ice Cube, I used to "spell 'girl' with a 'B'," but I treated every female I knew with respect and I never called them that personally. So did my vocabulary override my action and make me misogynistic, or was there simply some tension there? (I stopped saying that when I accidentally let it fly on a friend-girl of mine. She didn't say anything because she knew I was only kidding, but the hurt look on her face washed that word out of my mouth with the quickness.) I mean, really, if somebody saying "nigger" is our biggest problem, then we've got it pretty good. Of course we know that we've got bigger fish to fry than some ignorant person's provocative vocabulary. I wouldn't care if the word nigger was expunged from history and could no longer be read/heard/spoken again, as long as cops are body-splashing Black dudes who appear to be in the act of surrendering, there's a problem. And let me say up front that 1) I don't live in Los Angeles, and 2) I don't have a television, so I really don't know what went on out there yesterday. I've seen some news reports, but somehow I'm thinkin' that a written description just doesn't convey the action. At any rate, since I really don't know what went on, I can't say that the police are wrong. What I can do is co-sign on the argument John McWhorter made in Authentically Black, which is that as long as police brutality in its current form exists, people will still believe that racism is as strong as it ever was. Bill Cosby's poundcake remark notwithstanding, we all should be concerned when we see an unarmed Black man get shot. We should remain cool enough to let a proper investigation take place, but we should definitely take an interest in the situation. What I really want to know is whether there are any unarmed white suspects who are being shot by police. It's perfectly reasonable to me that it may happen but not get much press. I doubt it, but that might be the case. I just want to know. If it's just us getting shot and beaten, then I don't suppose I need to say what that means for justice, even in 2004. I suppose there's an argument to be made that it's the fault of the criminal, even in the case of mistaken identity, as it was with Amadou Diallo (41 shots is a mistake, though? 41? Count to forty-one. That many is a mistake? Two is a mistake. Fifteen is a mistake from multiple shooters. Forty-one? Come on, now.), but I can't let it walk that easily. Richard Pryor was talking about this back in 197x, NWA rapped about it in 1989, and it's still going on today? Somebody has to step up. (On a side note, the somebody stepping up needs to be us. In Black Conservative, I wrote that the way for us to really get our position out there and heard is for us to be out there when something goes down. It's one thing for us to critique the civil rights industry and all that, but when it goes down, where are we? If we're to be taken seriously when we argue that racism is on the decline, then we should be the first ones pointing it out when it appears.) Okay, so racism is not dead. We can still see vestiges of it in personal interaction, as well as in its systematic forms. Jeremy does a good job of breaking these down in his post on the Presbyterian Church's pastoral letter regarding this very topic. However, the word itself is so overused that just about anything can be called racist. I remember a couple months ago, I read where somebody called The Boondocks racist. Racist? Leftist, yes. Angry? Maybe. Black Nationalistic? Right on! Racist? That's a stretch. (And funny. Don't forget to call it funny. "Can't lead OJ to a white woman" is the funniest punch line I've ever seen in a comic. Ever.") Just because somebody says something about "your" people, that doesn't make it racist. Larry Bird's comments a couple weeks ago (man, that chick really had me messed up. All this good conversation and I couldn't even write.) weren't racist. Personally, I don't even think they're inaccurate, but that's another post for another time. The fact is, race exists in this country and it' a factor in people's perceptions. I remember one time in a psychology class the teacher said something about a Black football player saying something about Black players having a harder time keeping their socks all the way up because they tend to have skinnier legs than their white counterpart. (Having skinny legs myself, I know about this first-hand.) He then pointed out the fact that there is no real room for discussion of observations like these; if Terry Bradshaw had been the one saying it and not