Throughout your playing career and on through your post playing days into your second career as an NBA analyst you’ve always used your position in the media spot light to say what others were thinking but afraid to say (for better and worse). That’s one of the attributes that I and many others have always enjoyed about you and moreover one of the main reasons why you’re employed to opine in the first place. Being an outspoken person myself I find it hard not to appreciate those who have the testicular fortitude to wade into topical conversations that border the taboo. Your latest foray into controversial waters however leaves a whole lot to be desired. You were posited a question about what you thought of the UNSUBSTANTIATED  reports out of the Seattle Seahawks locker room that Russell Wilson was not considered black enough by some of his teammates. Your retort to the rather loaded question was the greatest gift to Merica and the Tea Party Patriots that want their “country back” since their lord and Savior Ronald Reagan ruled the world…
“Unfortunately, as I tell my white friends, we as black people, weâre never going to be successful, not because of you white people, but because of other black people. When youâre black, you have to deal with so much crap in your life from other black people. Itâs a dirty, dark secret; Iâm glad itâs coming out. It comes out every few years. I wrote a big chapter  it in my book about it to be honest with you. I said that when young black kids when they do well in school the losers kids say âoh youâre acting whiteâ the kids who speak intelligently they tell them that they are acting white. So itâs a dirty dark secret in the black community–one of the reasons why we are never going to be successful as a whole is because of other black people and for some reason We are brainwashed to think that if youâre not a thug or an idiot youâre not black enough– if you go to school make good grades speak intelligent and donât break the law youâre not a good black person. Itâs a dirty dark secret Anthony. I heard Stephen A talking about it. It ah um(inaudible jive) I hate to bring white people into our crap but as a black person we all go through it when youâre successful. One of the reasons a lot of black players go broke is because when youâre successful your friends say âoh you ainât coolâ or âyou ainât down no moreâ then you end up giving all your money to these damn losers and going broke again. But itâs a dirty dark secret in the black community that a lot of black people who are unintelligent who donât have success is best to knock successful black person down with their intelligence they speak well they do well school and they are successful uh I mean think about it⌠its crabs in the barrel. I mean weâre the only race that tells people if you donât have street cred, that means that been arrested. Like thatâs a compliment.  We are the only ethnic group that says âhey if you go to jail that give you street credâ thatâs the typical bs that goes on when youâre black man. Donât waste a lot of time on it please because itâs just so um (inaudible)- Russell Wilson has a-Uh I donât know Russell Wilson , I met him and said hello but just because he studies the play book all the time and does not go out clubbing and things like that I guess some of the other players–(more inaudible jibber jive)you see what happened with Percy Harvin they wanted him to do crazy things but he did not want to do them ~Charles Barkley
I’m not sure if it’s because you were once my favorite player or if I feel bad about the fact that your subjects and verbs remain in perpetual fight mode every time you open your mouth, But I feel an extra level of patience with you and your latest respectable negro diatribe. So much so that I’m writing this open scribe with the hope that you might read it and learn a thing or two about black people since you are obviously disconnected. Due to the non-nuanced highly conflated and context-less nature of your soliloquy it’s almost impossible to do a point by point repudiation so I’m just going to leave a few points for you to ponder based on some of what you mumbled during your radio interview on Afternoons with Anthony Gargano and Rob Ellis.
Points to ponder
1.”Unfortunately, as I tell my white friends, we as black people, weâre never going to be successful, not because of you white people, but because of other black people. When youâre black, you have to deal with so much crap in your life from other black people. Itâs a dirty, dark secret; Iâm glad itâs coming out. It comes out every few years” ~ CB
First and foremost unintelligent whites have done far more damage to the black family’s plight (and their own)than unintelligent blacks ever could. It was unintelligent whites that championed, voted to keep and even fought and died to preserve the system of chattel slavery. This is despite the fact that free slave labor meant less jobs for them and all but eliminated them as competition for the plantation owning elites within their agrarian industry. It’s unintelligent whites who have voted to keep segregation and disenfranchisement of blacks  in place, unintelligent whites are the ones that voted for all of these wars that we are still in the midst of–even though it would be them and their progeny dying and not the “intelligent  white men” that ordered these wars. It was unintelligent whites that voted for Bush and Cheney despite their looting of the national treasury. Unintelligent whites knew that Dick Cheney left the CEO’s seat at Halliburton to become the Vice President of the United States but those same unintelligent white folks never questioned the no bid tax payer funded contracts in the billions and those same unintelligent white men not even ten years later have zero recollection of their culpability when discussing the trillions in debt that their guys dug this country in. And just like yourself those unintelligent white folks are blaming the black guy and the minority black population that supports him.
2. “I wrote a big chapter it in my book about it to be honest with you. I said that when young black kids when they do well in school the losers kids say âoh youâre acting whiteâ the kids who speak intelligently they tell them that they are acting white”~ CB
WTF is a big chapter in the first place? Did you mean to say a fairly large chapter? Second of all why would you dedicate such a “big chapter” of your book to such an outdated and debunked stereotype? Ever since I was in grade school being dumb or being in special ed was never a cool thing. Â I also find it funny that you would broach the topic of speaking improper English–have you ever heard yourself speak? You have the diction of a run away slave and you are talking about blacks berating other blacks and calling them white just because they know how to speak? C’mon Chuck! You coined the word “Turrable” dude– you should have known better than to go there.
3.”It’s crabs in the barrel. I mean weâre the only race that tells people if you donât have street cred, that means that been arrested. Like thatâs a compliment. We are the only ethnic group that says âhey if you go to jail that give you street credâ thatâs the typical bs that goes on when youâre black man.”~CB
Were we crabs in the barrel when we were paying $120 for your CB34 Nike basketball shoes? Were we crabs in a barrel when we bought your jersey and the myriad other products that you were hired to be the pitch man for? Speaking of crabs in a barrel did it ever dawn on you that a barrel  is not necessarily a crabs natural habitat or environment? Crabs in a barrel are essentially headed for slaughter–how are they supposed to act? By likening black people to crabs in a barrel you are acknowledging the precarious position that black people are in while at the same time blaming them for the actions of those that are oppressing them or sending them to slaughter.  Also when you threw that 5 foot 2,  110 pound man through a plate glass window and resisted arrest way back in 1997, were you trying to get your street cred up or nah? How about the time you got that DUI charge 2008–you know the one where you told the arresting officer  “You want the truth?..I was gonna drive around the corner and get a blow job”.
4. “Donât waste a lot of time on it please because itâs just so um (inaudible)- Russell Wilson has a-Uh I donât know Russell Wilson , I met him and said hello but just because he studies the play book all the time and does not go out clubbing and things like that I guess some of the other players–(more inaudible jibber jive)you see what happened with Percy Harvin they wanted him to do crazy things but he did not want to do them”~CB
This last part makes your cringe worthy rant all the more dubious. You don’t know Russell Wilson, you never said more than hello to the guy, these unsubstantiated reports come out and you take the rumor and run with it. You have zero insight into what’s going on in the Seattle Seahawk locker room. Your dearth of knowledge as it pertains to the black community is even greater. The more that I think about it I I’m inclined to believe that with your knowledge and consent Anthony Gargano and Rob Ellis purposely and specifically sought you out to convey this kind misguided missive to their mostly white audience to assuage and placate their guilt so they could comfortably embrace the faux post-racial times that we live in. I can understand this sort of House Nigger behavior coming from the nominally talented black folks like Stephen A Smith and Don Lemon but you are part of the 1 percent. And by 1 percent I am not referring to your bank account. I’m referring to the god given athletic prowess that enabled you to be the success story that you are. You should not have to stoop to such great levels to curry favor with white America. You’re a hall of famer for Christ Sake stop acting like Felicia and channel your inner Bill Russell.
3. A racist term that whites used to disparage and humiliate blacks
4. A modern day term ascribed to black people who purposely and overtly disrespect  other black people (and black culture) for the express purpose of ingratiating themselves with white conservatives for monetary gain, societal perks or simple pats on the head.
5. Black people who affirm, uphold, support or in anyway agree with the white supremacist construct in America and abroad
example: Steve Harvey (honorable mention)Â is channeling his inner coon by offering up the black youth that his organization mentors as pawns in Paula Deens public relations re-branding scheme.
Now calling a black man a coon is highly offensive. It’s damn near fighting words. So in the interest of fairness and intellectual honesty all of the forthcoming nominees for the 2014 Captain Coon crown will be accompanied by at least one full context verbatim so that they can convey in their own words how and why they made it to the top ten percentile of such a dubious category. Without further ado I present to you the top ten coons of today (from least to greatest).
 10. Don Lemon
Now if you compare Don Lemon to some of the coons that will follow him on this list you will find that his slights to the African-American community at the behest of ingratiation with the dominant Caucasian population is rather innocuous. In fact compared to some of Don Lemon’s fellow Coon Conductor nominees he’s H Rap Brown. Although Don’s offenses towards the culture are not as egregious, constant or overt as most that will make this list, as a black man with a national media profile and platform he too often is guilty of lazy thinking and political expediency when discussing matters germane to the interest and survival of African-Americans.
Bill O’Reilly famously went on a rant berating black culture with the express purpose of changing the national dialogue from racial profiling, unequal protection under the law for blacks and Zimmerman getting away with murdering Trayvon Martin to black people being cultural pariahs.
Don responded to this ridiculously racist rant by saying âHeâs got a point. In fact, heâs got more than a point. In my estimation, he doesn’t go far enough.â
Even though he knew this was the aim all along (to change the conversation) he helped Bill O’Reilly do it and then had teh audacity to have an issue with those that took umbrage to his coonsign.
9. Stephen A Smith
Like Don Lemon the level of coonery that Stephen A Smith displays on a daily basis pales in comparison to the coonery practiced by the rest of this list but his coon credentials are far too authentic to ignore. Mr. Smith got himself in deep hot water with many in the black community for his co-sign and subsequent doubling down of Marc Cubans bigoted comments. Many were shocked but I was not. Stephen A Smith boarded the coon train way back in 2009 while making a cameo appearance on conservative talk show hosts Mark Levin’s radio show.
In a not so clever set up Mark Levin lobbed a soft ball question about the new black president and the job that he was doing to Stephen A Smith and in classic coon conditioning Mr.Smith hit it out of the park for a grand coon home run. Now criticizing the first black president does not in and of itself make one a coon–there’s plenty of legitimate things to criticize this president about. However criticizing the first black president for doing the right thing and using half baked conservative talking points makes you a certified coon.
Mark Levin: “What do you make of what’s going on today, with all of the government push and all racism charges and the rest of that stuff?”
Stephen A Smith: Well I’m disturbed to be quite honest with you… I’m very very disturbed. You know as an African American growing up in the streets of New York City I understand what poverty is all about… I understand what trials and tribulations mean but at the same time I’m looking at what we are witnessing from our president, a man I voted for, a man that I was proud to vote for at the time simply because from a historical perspective what he represented and then I’m looking at  what I consider to be a government take over.And I’m quite alarmed and I don’t think he campaigned on it. I know that his record was radical. I listen to Sean Hannity a lot and Sean makes it a point to say that every day but I certainly did not expect us to own 80 percent of AIG, I did not expect us to own part of the automobile industry…It’s one thing to put forth a 787 billion dollar stimulus package, but to drop on top of that a 410 billion omnibus package, a 3.6 trillion budget, a Cap and Trade bill and then to come with a universal healthcare that ultimately lends toward a government take over of  the healthcare system. I did not have to listen to Mark Levin, or Sean Hannity or Rush Limbaugh to recognize that this is something that should make all of us extremely uncomfortable because as a young black man growing up in the streets of New York City, no matter what you say about so many of the critics that were perceived as leaders within the community– people may have advocated for government intervention in terms of supervising things and making sure that we were all operating under a fair and equitable system but I don’t recall anybody–and I mean anybody  that has ever walked into the black community and advocated a government  take over of anything. It’s about handling your own business, grabbing yourself by your own bootstrap and lifting yourself up. We may all need assistance but a take over is an entirely different situation all together. I’m extremely uncomfortable with this and even more uncomfortable with the fact that race has become a part of the discussion. We all know racism exists to some degree but to act as it is as prevalent as it was years and decades ago is completely untrue and it serves to divide this nation which I thing is a catastrophic thing.
Mark Levin: Are you running for president because I’d vote for you!
It almost seems like he should be higher on the list huh?
8. Michael Steele
When the conservative clarion call went out for a black face to provide cover for the rampant racism that the Tea Party and the rest of the GOP establishment  was about to unleash on America, Michael Steele was the loudest and proudest  voice to step to the plate. Micheal Steele lobbied , ran ,shucked jived and cooned for the job of chairman of the Republican National Committee. He narrowly beat out another coon (Ken Blackwell)for the job.  He beat Ken Coon Blackwell largely on the promise that he would be able to deliver the hip-hop vote to the GOP (he really said that). His exact words were that “the GOP needs a hip-hop make-over”. It became the biggest running joke of his short tenure as RNC chair. He was heavily lampooned for it…
…and even the president got in on the act.
And just like Coon Steele can’t tell the difference between laughing with folks or when folks are laughing at him. But his true coon showed when sat in the hot seat with none other than coon number 10 (Don Lemon) and unwittingly revealed what most observers already knew–that him being the first black chairman of the RNC was a direct response to the country electing it’s first black president. What’s even more astounding is the fact that he believed at the time that they were on equal footing.
At the end of the day, and moreover at the end of Steels’s very short stint as a leader of the fledgling republican party his appointment was a failure–For both the party and himself. The GOP still has a black problem  and Micheal Steele lost pretty much all of his political stock and capital. It’s so bad for that guy that he can’t even get a job working for the defacto communications arm of the GOP (Fox News). Instead he has to settle for being the conservative whipping boy on left leaning cable news outlets.
7. Herman Cain
I’ve long been of the belief that conservative blacks (aka coons) were talent-less, witless, slow thinking extra mediocre individuals and no person in recent memory embodied that caricature as fittingly as Herman Cain did when his black face and calcified mind briefly became the front runner in the 2012 GOP primary race. His reign at the top of the loser leader board was ephemeral but the coontastic memories that he gave the world while leading in GOP nominees for that brief stint are priceless…
…from his penchant for pinching white women’s asses unsolicited to his viral classic brain freeze the dude was well worth the price of admission to this minstrel act. He is certainly one of the more entertaining coons to make the list.
6. Stacy Dash
Stacy resurrected her name from obscurity during the 2012 elections by taking to Twitter of all places to declare her support of the almost human Mitt Romney. In predictable fashion the Twitter back lash from Black Twitter was fast and furious. Months later she ends up getting a job as a Fox News contributor. Pretty clever for a clueless chick.
From clueless to cooning. Only in Merica!
5. Rev Jesse Lee Patterson
No caption needed…
4. Allan West
The quote in the meme says it all. If that’s not enough to convince you of this clowns coonery I’m just gonna drop this here for your enjoyment
3. Larry Elder
Like Allen West Larry Allen’s internal angst as it pertains to the black race that he was so unfortunately born into comes from a very deep place. It’s almost like he’s made at black people because he’s black. He unlike even Allen West who was able to parlay his forced military retirement into a one term congressional appointment has no discernible skill set or even end goal. He’s just cooning for the sake of being a coon. And a pretty damn angry one at that.
Now you know you cooning on another level when regular white folks–not even particularly altruistic ones are calling you out and questioning your absurd worldview.
2. Dr. Ben Carson
Dr. Carson is one of the more unfortunate additions to this list. Blessed with gifted hands but saddled with a graceless mind. Dr. Carson is a classic example of book smarts not transferring to other areas of personal endeavor. This high ranking coon actually said before a white conservative audience that the Affordable Care Act was the worst thing since slavery.
1. Clarence Thomas
This King Coon is perhaps the most insidious black force to ever oppose black people n America. His detriment to the African-American collective quest for equality is as unrivaled as it is unforgivable.
Uncle Thomas’s hit job on black america started long before George Bush Sr. tapped him to replace Thurgood Marshall on the Supreme Court Ronald Reagan tapped him to Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) where he purposely buried claims to prevent blacks and other minorities from seeking redress from employment discrimination.
Now Justice Clarence Thomas in addition to being known as an Uncle Tom purest is know to be deftly silent on and off of the bench. It’s hard to get a succinct, in context verbatim from him to prove his coonhood so instead I will simply list his great contributions to white supremacy and towards raising the misery index for black Americans by way of his voting decision making on the bench.
Clarence Thomas’s on Civil Rights
Affirmative action forever discounts black achievements. (Oct 2007)
Analyzed and advocated unpopular positions on race. (Oct 2007)
Black problems should be solved by blacks. (Oct 2007)
Preferential policies should apply to disadvantaged whites. (Oct 2007)
Affirmative action has stigmatizing effects. (Oct 2007)
Questions “adverse impact”: blacks can catch up with whites. (Oct 2007)
Black problems should be solved by blacks. (Oct 2007)
Improve black lives, consistent with conservative values. (Oct 2007)
Censure Bob Jones University for interracial dating ban. (Oct 2007)
EEOC had difficulty enforcing equal opportunity laws. (Oct 2007)
Coloradans entitled to be hostile toward homosexual conduct. (Aug 2005)
Don’t recognize GLBT as a constitutionally-protected class. (Dec 2003)
Limit employer liability for sexual harassment by employees. (Jun 1998)
Employee must prove negligence to sue city for harassment. (Jun 1998)
Tension between affirmative help and undermining dignity. (Sep 1991)
Reaching out to minorities is OK; but no quotas. (Sep 1991)
Supports scholarships & internships for minorities & women. (Sep 1991)
Sodomy laws are uncommonly silly but states can enforce them. (Jun 2003)
Sociological analysis insufficient to prove gender bias. (Jun 2011)
State laws should not protect gay rights. (May 1996)
Hate crimes must be separate crimes, not just for sentencing. (Jun 2000)
Miranda rights can be overruled by Congress. (Jun 2000)
Boy Scouts may exclude gay scoutmasters. (Jun 2000)
This truncated list does not even contain his most insidious decision to join justices Roberts,  Scalia,  Alito and  Kennedy to roll back the key provisions in the 1965 voting rights act making it harder for blacks to vote and easier for racist states to deny blacks and other minorities access to the polls.  Unlike the rest of the loud mouth coons that made this list Uncle Thomas puts his money where his mouth is. as a matter of fact he rarely uses his mouth. He’s been a silent assassin when it comes to killing the hopes and dreams of black America.
Congratulations Uncle Thomas! You are the 2014 Coon Conductor.
The short and succinct answer is hell no(don’t be ridiculous). Black women are far too beautiful and more over far too important to the survival of the species for any black men with a modicum of common sense to hate her. That’s not however to say that Black men in America  don’t possess myriad cultural proclivities within the larger Afro-American cultural construct that help to exacerbate some of the natural born fissures that exist between those of us that hail from Mars and those of us that hail from Venus.
Since such a sociological phenomenon is above my pay grade the best that I can do is hypothesize on what could be at the root of some of the behaviors and sentiments that lead many sisters to often wrongly surmise that black men by and large hate (or hate on) them. Â The following 10 educated guesses are just that guesses. Guesses about what I think may be at least part of the reason why so many of my dear sisters think brothers hate them.
1. The Human nature Theory
In some instances it’s simply human nature. Some people are just naturally miserable and since misery loves company they generally like to spread their shit like the bubonic plaque. It may at times seem like their negative vibes are gender specific but that’s not always the case. It’s like every rude ass white person ain’t racist. He’s just a fucking rude ass and as such he’s being an equal opportunity offender. You by no means should have to take it but you should also not take it personal or internalize it as being part of a larger phenomenon.
2. The Feelings of inadequacy Theory
Some dudes have low esteem and simply feel inadequate when in the presence of certain women. Often times what some women view as them hating them is in reality the manifestation of anger because that brother knows that he is out of her league and he won’t ever get a chance to get her to like him much less love him. So he does the next best thing–he forces her to hate him by being a genuine jerk. That particular theory dates back to at least kindergarten.Â
3. The DL Dude Theory
Some of them are gay on the low and simply mad that she’s getting the dick that he wants (or shares). No different than when other women throw shade your way for the same reasons. It’s one of those facts of life and the kind of hate and envy that we all at times can use as confirmation that we still got it. Embrace that sort of hate. Or at least don’t fret too hard over it–unless your guy is sleeping with the angry black birdman.Â
4. The Sign of the Times Theory
It has become a new norm to devalue the rights of women both in the press and in the national political stage. Roe vs Wade is still being debated some 40 years after passage, the Hobby Lobby decision recently rendered stripping women from exercising their reproduction rights as they see fit, Sandra Fluke being called a whore a dozen different ways by a dozen or more men in politics and media just for wanting her birth control covered by her health plan (as Viagra and Cialis are) are all examples of the Mad Men like times that we are in. It has become apropos for politicians to be overt and blatantly disrespectful of women and even flippantly dismissive of rape.  I’ve  seen and heard this more times than I wish to recant these last few years. It seems as though the woman’s suffrage movement is still a necessity with all these misogynistic sentiments resurfacing on the mainstream. Despite the most recent mindless musings of Stephen A Smith this new uptick in disregard for women and their issues is hardly being led by black men. It’s unfortunately where we are at today as a society.Â
5. The Guilt Complex Theory
Feelings of guilt for failing to protect our women and children from colonialist and enslavers. while there are myriad valid excuses for why the black man failed at protecting the African shores from European encroachment and the subsequent exploitation of the black family it represents one of the black mans gravest failures in the annals of history. Even though it’s not logical to surmise that the men of Africa could have thwarted European invasions with the advent of the gun it’s just as illogical to surmise that deep within the collective unconscious of many black men is the feelings of guilt for being powerless when it came to stopping the black holocaust that has yet to subside. A guilty conscious often leads to deep feelings of inexplicable resentment. This particular theory places the onus of understanding on the black woman because on the one hand you are happy that black men have a sense of guilt for the Middle Passage that he was powerless to stop. You just need him to better channel those feelings of guilt (if that’s his major malfunction).Â
6. The you’re far too Pro-Black Theory
Black nationalism for all of the good that it’s done the earth and indigenous cultures is very much a patriarchal movement in scope and application. Women who are heavily influenced by feminism or who posses a stronger than normal will,will naturally  question or meet with great consternation the dictates of your average Black Israelite street preacher, New Black Panther or any wanna be modern day black revolutionary. When they are rambling on about a bunch antiquated patriarchal ideals it’s easy to reduce them to a bunch of haters of women. Since I take most of these types at their word when they speak on the necessity of uplifting our community even though we differ I have a hard time believing that they hate women . They are brothers that simply need to be brought onto the 21st century fold(f possible). No more no less.Â
The problem with these dudes is they have too much New Black Panther in them and not enough energy from the old. Every time you come accross one of what I label Hotep Steppers. Share this tid bit from one of the original OG’sÂ
During the past few years strong movements have developed among women and among homosexuals seeking their liberation. There has been some uncertainty about how to relate to these movements. Whatever your personal opinions and your insecurities about homosexuality and the various liberation movements among homosexuals and women (and I speak of the homosexuals and women as oppressed groups), we should try to unite with them in a revolutionary fashion. I say “whatever your insecurities are” because as we very well know,sometimes our first instinct is to want to hit a homosexual in the mouth, and want a woman to be quiet. We want to hit a homosexual in the mouth because we are afraid that we might be homosexual; and we want to hit the women or shut her up because we are afraid that she might castrate us, or take the nuts that we might not have to start with.
We must gain security in ourselves and therefore have respect and feelings for all oppressed people. **We must not use the racist attitude that the White racists use** against our people because they are Black and poor. Many times the poorest White person is the most racist because he is afraid that he might lose something, or discover something that he does not have. So you’re some kind of a threat to him. **This kind of psychology is in operation** when we view oppressed people and we are angry with them because of their particular kind of behavior, or their particular kind of deviation from the established norm. ~Huey P Newton
7.The Extreme feminism Theory
that shit turns everybody off–even many self professed feminists. Many of these EF’s (extreme feminists) are just as guilty of being ministrants as the men that they often rightly label as misogynists. Many of them take the unbalanced approach at liberation for women by becoming just as myopically inexplicable in their angst for the opposite sex as the most egregious acts of male chauvinism. Take for instance the following quote from a recent blog post that I read:
When looking at Eric Garner’s lifeless body, I don’t have to imagine that he is my brother or my father to recognize the injustice of his suffering. My heart aches for the family he will never return to. And if the justice we speak of routinely is more than a figment of our imaginations, I pray it comes swiftly to Mr. Garner’s family.
But if the NYPD or the City of New York fail to act, I will not march for Eric Garner. I will not rally for him because I am reserving my mental and emotional energy for the women, the Black women, no one will speak for. ~ Kimberly Foster (Why I will not March for Eric Garner)
This woman clearly has deeper issues for her to create a protest within a protest. Sentiments like hers whereby she herself erects false dichotomies just so that she can stoke a flame often lead many men to abhor feminism  when instead we should be taught to embrace it. At least some aspects of it. Brothers that take the position that all feminism is bad based on the mindless missives of bloggers like Kimberly Foster should take great solace in the fact more erudite, accomplished and hinged feminist like Angela Davis have actually a far greater influence on our people.  Instead of interpreting feminism as posited by Ms Foster. We need to interpret it as posited by Ms Davis:
I want to emphasise the importance of approaching both our theoretical explorations and our movement activism in ways that enlarge and expand and complicate and deepen our theories and practices of freedom. Feminism involves so much more than gender equality and it involves so much more than gender. Feminism must involve consciousness of capitalism (I mean the feminism that I relate to, and there are multiple feminisms, right). So it has to involve a consciousness of capitalism and racism and colonialism and post-colonialities, and ability and more genders than we can even imagine and more sexualities than we ever thought we could name. Feminism has helped us not only to recognize a range of connections among discourses and institutions and identities and ideologies, that we often tend to consider separately. But it has also helped us to develop epistemological and organizing strategies that take us beyond the categories âwomenâ and âgenderâ. And feminist methodologies impel us to explore connections that are not always apparent. And they drive us to inhabit contradictions and discover what is productive in these contradictions. Feminism insists on methods of thought and action that urge us to think things together that appear to be separate and to disintegrate things that appear to naturally belong together. ~ Angela DavisÂ
The extreme feminist is a lot like the dude who is far too pro-black in his disposition and delivery of information. They do care(for the most part), they just can’t see past their ego that’s deeply rooted in the issues that they marry themselves to. There is hope for them as well.Â
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8. The Dawn of a New Age Theory
The fact that we are in the Aquarian Age where the rise of feminine energy is so strong and potent some of the us old world thinkers that were reared in the patriarchal pathologies of the former age have not yet made the adjustment. KRS-One said it best in his track 4th quarter Free Throws:Â
We are the ones prophesized to return My main concern is for all of you to learn How to live, yes through the lyrics I give and send my friend This age is coming to an end Not the world, but the age is ending Ending, listen to the astrological message I’m sending I’m sending, tell em Truth is truth, whether or not you like me We are living now in the age of Pisces When Pisces is over, at the year two thousand When the Sun of God, changes his house and enters the Age of Aquarius The Sun of God as man is hilarious (okay) When you think of Jesus, think of the Sun The flaming Sun, that’s where they stole this concept from Stop believing and read your bible logically The new testament is really old astrology Jesus is the son of God no lie But they might be talking about the Sun up in the sky The Sun, that hangs on the cross of the zodiac The zodiac with twelve signs to be exact Each sign is a house, and you should keep in mind Each house equals, a period of time The time, two thousand years and that’s a fact It’s called an age or a house in the zodiac The twelve disciples, are twelve months of reason The four gospels signify the four seasons When Jesus fed the multitude with two fishes It signified the Age of Pisces, not fish or dishes If you read the bible astrologically it’s clearer (no doubt) The next age will be the age of the water-bearer It’s called the Age of Aquarius (word) When logic and truth will take care of us So in this age, of spiritual dignity You’ll see a rise in femininity and creativity, meshed with masculinity You got to get with me, this is your true her-story (rrryyy!) Do you wanna go higher ~ KRS-One
As we journey further into this still very new age the rise in feminine energy (in men and women) will become stronger and much more potent. All men, white, black and all colors and cultures in between are going to have to learn to power share or risk being swallowed up by the universe that is ultimately the driver of the times.Â
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9. The Classical Conditioning That Is Hip-Hop Theory
 One of the hardest pills that I’ve been forced to swallow as an adult is the notion that the music genre that comprises the sound track of my childhood, life and times was and is one of the greatest purveyors of disrespect for black women and especially young black girls. And it’s not the contemporary lames like 2 Chains, Rick Ross & Lil Wayne that are to blame. Much to my chagrin the trend of disrespectful and objectifying lyrics started long before this current crop of crass emcees came on the scene. If there were such thing as a hip-hop hall of fame Slick Rick would be a first ballot entry no doubt, but it was he who coined the term “Treat her like a Prostitute”. At least he coined it in so far as my 14 year old very impressionable and malleable mind was concerned. And while slut shaming is a relativity new coinage the act of shaming women for enjoying sex as much as men in rap and prose is as old as old school hip-hop. There was Veronica Veronica by K-Love from 85, Dear Yvette by James Todd Smith in that same year and even the aforementioned and quoted KRS One who dropped The P (as in pussy) is Free on his inaugural LP Criminal Minded as a way to connect with hip-hops core audience–BLACK MEN.
If the perception that black men don’t value or think highly of black women vis-a-vis how hip-hop portrays the collective black male ethos, the casting call for the forthcoming NWA ‘Straight Out Of Compton’Â biopic should cement home this painful truth.
From the actual model vixen call:
A GIRLS: These are the hottest of the hottest. Models. MUST have real hair – no extensions, very classy looking, great bodies. You can be black, white, asian, hispanic, mid eastern, or mixed race too. Age 18-30. Please email a current color photo, your name, Union status, height/weight, age, city in which you live and phone number to: SandeAlessiCasting@gmail.com subject line should read: A GIRLS
BÂ GIRLS: These are fine girls, long natural hair, really nice bodies. Small waists, nice hips. You should be light-skinned. Beyonce is a prototype here. Age 18-30. Please email a current color photo, your name, Union status, height/weight, age, city in which you live and phone number to: SandeAlessiCasting@gmail.com subject line should read: B GIRLS
C GIRLS: These are African American girls, medium to light skinned with a weave. Age 18-30. Please email a current color photo, your name, Union status, height/weight, age, city in which you live and phone number to: SandeAlessiCasting@gmail.com subject line should read: C GIRLS
D GIRLS: These are African American girls. Poor, not in good shape. Medium to dark skin tone. Character types. Age 18-30. Please email a current color photo, your name, Union status, height/weight, age, city in which you live and phone number to: SandeAlessiCasting@gmail.com subject line should read: D GIRLS“
This casting call accurately portrays the 1989 mindset and the kind wayward thinking that was instilled in the young black males and females of that day and with time it only got worse. The Notorious BIG and Tupac Shakur are two emcees that are arguably in every hip-hop heads top five (dead or alive). As much as I to this day enjoy their music they made careers out of calling black women bitches and treating them like ho’s in video and real life. I say all of this to say that the same classical conditioning that was operative in Pavlov’s experiment with dogs salivating over food is operative in black men thirsting over and objectifying black women. Point being that it’s not hate so much that these generation X and beyond brothers display it’s simply a form of conditioning that they/we have yet to unlearn. Black women certainly have a role to play in dispelling some of the notions about them replete in hip-hop culture.Â
10. The Affinity for White Women Theory
One of the more propagated misconceptions bantered about in the ether is the notion that most black men prefer to date white women over black women. This is despite statistics saying that better than 88 percent of black married men are married to black women. Yet and still there is a persistent and pervasive perception that brothers especially when they achieve a degree of success tend prefer women of a lighter hue. Perception more often than not precedes being so even though black men only marry outside of the black community 11 percent of the time that 11 percent gets an awful lot of daylight and airtime. So it is with that vein of thought that I draw my hypothesis for this particular case.Â
Since the first white males encroached the shores of Africa (or shortly afterwards) black women have been fair game and they have had carte blanch access to their minds, bodies and souls–with and without consent. Often much to the chagrin of black men. Â Black men on the other hand could not even look at a white woman without fear of being lynched prior to about 70 years ago or so. White women to black men are still some what of a novelty and that more than anything is the impetus for seemingly so many brothers have eschewing black women for their white counterparts.Â
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Again these are merely theories from an untrained blogger who doubles as a social media fire starter. It has not been peer reviewed or timelessly tested so by all means feel free to poke holes in all of the theories because at the end of the day the goal is to dispel the notion that black men hate black women and that can only be done by dialogue and endeavoring to better understand the dynamics that engulf our respective worlds and make us tick. So please share your thoughts for purposes of continued education on the matter.
This week  (5/19)  Malcolm X would have turned 89 years old. Unlike on Martin Luther Kings birthday my timeline was not flooded with  timeless quotes from the birthday icon despite being one of the more poignant orators of not only his era, but the 20th century. I rhetorically ask why?
When we think of the Civil Rights period and the forces behind the dramatic and dynamic societal paradigm shifts that took place we often think of and credit Martin Luther King and the mostly pacifist, Gandhi inspired peaceful resistance movement as the impetus responsible for much of that change–and rightfully so.
We however tend to forget and under-appreciate the role played by Malcolm and the movements that he joined and inspired. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not feeding into the false dichotomy of Malcolm vs Martin or devaluing the work of Dr. King,  nor do I believe that any of the posthumous praise and adulation that he garners is unwarranted. What I do believe is that brother El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz should be given more recognition  to match his major contribution to the ongoing struggle of the black family in America. I’m also a disbeliever in the idea that these two men even before they began to overtly meet in the middle were as ideologically and diametrically opposed to one another as history and even their own musings might suggest. Their overlapping movements in many ways worked in concert. They were both equally effective and neither one of them would have been successful leaders had they employed their style of leadership/protest in the other persons region. i.e if King was leading a movement in the north his early pacifist style would not have played well. At best he would have simply been another Harlem store front street preacher.  For Malcolm’s part if he were leading a protest movement in Montgomery or Selma, the first time he called Bull Conner a white devil he would have had a silver bullet in his  black  ass. I say that to say that even though they may have publicly quibbled with the others respective leadership style, they were both deep enough thinkers and anti-myopic enough to know that the nature of the beast that they opposed largely dictated the style of fight that they employed. Both men made skillful use of the press and they leveraged their ability to create headlines to greatly improve the lives of not only black people but poor folks  below and above the Mason-Dixon line.
A worldwide movement was burgeoning before both Malcolm and Martin were gunned down at the tender age of 39.  They both in their own unique way successfully conveyed to the world that the American Negroes fight for civil rights was part and parcel to the global struggle of all oppressed people for human rights. By changing the goal from Civil Rights, (something that could be both granted and restricted by the man made powers that be),  to  the fight for human rights–something that only the creator is recognized as being endowed enough to give or take.  Both Malcolm and Martin became international and more importantly interracial leaders of a global movement once they expanded their respective visions.  That made them both a threat to the status quo. Hence they left us much sooner than we were prepared for.
Some 50 years after their deaths the Status quo has made a major comeback in the area of controlling, manipulating and confusing the hearts and minds of the majority populace. I was asked the other day where is today’s Malcolm X for this generations lost tribe of Shabazz. More or less the query rhetorically was suggesting one, that we needed another Malcolm, and two there are no more Malcolm’s in the ether to cultivate into an  El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz. My answer was that I don’t think it’s a matter of leadership that’s lacking so much as there is a lack unity among the people and a lack of an ability to humble ourselves before one another to achieve a common cause while furthering the objectives as posited by men like Malcolm.
In Malcolm and Kings day it really was not hard for them to find a common cause. Far too many of us are too comfortable with our own status quo to identify with a common revolutionary cause today. It is a lot harder to create an effective and sustainable movement for the masses to follow–even with the advent of social media . In many ways it  has to get collectively and exponentially worse in order for the requisite critical mass to build up high enough to birth the kind of public angst potent enough to prop up leaders like Martin and Malcolm because make no mistake about it, the genius that went into the making of those great men is not obsolete and exists to this day. It runs through the collective unconscious of more of our people today than many of us are willing to admit.  We are simply too comfortable as a collective.  So in the absence of wishing for more dire straits to visit our people (I prefer to think that the worst is behind us)instead of wishing for another Malcolm or Martin to come back I will simply remain thankful for the myriad lessons that they imparted in the truncated lives that they lived. King showed America what the black man was capable of when properly resourced from birth.  And Malcolm showed the world that a rose really could grow from the concrete.  Happy birthday sir!
I’ve often been told that I was angry. An angry black man to be exact. I used to vehemently reject that label until I took stock of all the things that pissed me off and/or truly had enough power over me to disrupt my mood. More things in this world, especially as it pertains to social justice and uplift anger me than I care to admit. For the sake of clarity I’m gonna give you 10 reasons why I’m an Angry Black Man.
To be a negro in this country and to be relativity conscious is to be in a rage almost all of the time ~ James Baldwin
1. The myth of Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was known as the “Great Communicator”. As with most labels, talking points and platitudes from the right, the moniker “Great Communicator” is euphemistic speak for something much more sinister. By great communicator they really mean to say that he was a great liar. One that is able to effectively articulate the dastardly deeds that his party had in store for the country by couching said message in between some innocuous sound bites with his signature evil grin. Our 40th president saved his best acting for his post Hollywood career because his emulating even a marginally effective sitting president was a more Oscar worthy performance than anything he ever had as the B list actor that he was.
I would have to dedicate an entire blog post to the guy  recite all the ways in which Reagan was a foul and failed president, so for the sake of brevity I will provide a truncated list of infractions
All in all the dude sucked royally and the hero worship he receives today should be enough to drive any sane man mad–so yeah, I’m angry about that.
2. Fox News and the Corporate media conglomerates that purposely confuses the masses
The Fairness Doctrine was created in 1949 due to a rise in  misinformation and outright propaganda being accepted as empirical fact by much of the public. For 50 years it for the most part succeeded in keeping the public informed when it came to matters  germane to its interest.  When Ronald Reagan took office in 1980 he immediately began chipping away at this law until it was finally abolished in 1987.  So if you ever wondered why the Bill OâReilly’s’, Sean Hannity’s and Rush Limbaugh’s of the world incessantly heap praise on one of the worst presidencies in the modern era, understand that these men would not have jobs in media were it not for Ronald Reagan doing away with a law that forbade them from being the lying talking heads that they are today–at least not unchallenged. Thus began the making of the anti-intellectual society that we currently suffer through today.
The idiot age that has finally come to fruition was not just the fault of  Reagan and his right-wing party, it was a bi-partisan hit job on the American people because not even 10 years after the Fairness Doctrine was repealed by Reagan, Bill Clinton signed the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (the very year that Fox News was born) which basically killed mom and pop ownership of local media and granted corporate owned media outlets carte blanche powers to consolidate media markets around the country. The end result is a lot more media voices with a whole lot less diversity in the perspective that powers those many voices. Fast forward to 2014 where millions of people hold steadfast to truths that have absolutely no basis in fact ,like where this president was born or what religion he claims or even more long standing and scientifically proven facts like  the world being older than 6000 years. Either way itâs enough to drive any sane person mad. So for the sake of sanity Fox is a major reason why Iâm an Angry Black Man!
3. The Ban the N-word movement
I’m personally offended that the word nigga has some how become the only word in the English lexicon that Americans ( black & white) feel need to be banned( regardless of the context). I’m not here to defend the words usage but I do question the logic being employed. What good is getting rid of the word nigga if you are doing nothing to abate the nigga condition? That’s sort of like putting on deodorant without taking a shower.
Several years ago I watched in sheer disgust as the NAACP conducted a mock funeral for the word. It was an utter spectacle and an all-time low for the organization that still calls itself colored. The only thing more ridiculous than the idea of trying to bury a word that has been an active part of the urban vernacular for most of the 20th century (and on into the new millennium) is the guy they choose to bury the word. They actually had Kwame Kilpatrick do the Eulogy.
How are you going to ask an n-word  to bury the  n-word?
If such a sad spectacle (and major fail) was not bad enough we now have the NFL commissioner stepping into the fray to give his unsolicited, unwanted and unworthy  opinion on the matter (backed by punitive measures). Now mind you this is the same guy that has neither  the empathy nor social awareness to lend a sympathetic ear to the concerns of the Native American population that take serious umbrage with the Redskin moniker.  Now he wants to interject and legislate the speech of black men in the NFL– ain’t that some shit!?! Even more maddening is the fact that I hear so many black people co-sign this foolish and morally empty gesture. They act like he’s doing this out of sheer altruism and not because of the fact that  two of his white players purposely used the word in its most offensive contexts. So basically he’s going to penalize the black players in the game because he has two white players who embarrassed the league this year. Yeah, that makes a whole lot of sense.
4. Reality Television
I’m first and foremost mad at myself for knowing who many of the characters  on these shows are in the first place.  Unfortunately for me I tend to vicariously follow these shows via my Facebook timeline every time they come on. If it was as simple as blocking (or deleting) the people that watch these sort of programs and provide play-by-play details of the ratchet optics, believe me I would. But it’s not that easy because these shows have captivated people of all walks. From the projects to the pulpits these “reality” programs have become cult like hit shows– especially with black women.   I even have sisters that religiously watch these wayward programs telling me that I should stop using the N-Word. The audacity niggacity of these particular women truly befuddle me.  It’s wrong to say the word nigga but completely okay to act out the worst of nigga behavior for all the world to see and even worse, for young impressionable minds to think that such untoward behavior as exhibited on these shows are okay to emulate.
the more of this young girls see on TV…
The more of this we will all see on World star Hip Hop…
She Watch Channel Zero was song on Public Enemy’s ‘It takes a Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back’ album that dropped way back in 1988. It no longer takes a nation of millions to hold black people back–Bravo is doing a pretty good job at it.
5. Black Conservatives and the house nigger mentality
The good Dr. Clarke said it all. Nothing left for me to add. Actually I have plenty to add but I have so much disdain to express vis-a-vis the house nigger mentality that it would take an entire blog post dedicated to the subject.
6. White Supremacy
White Supremacy is indeed one of the most wide spread un-diagnosed mental illnesses that exist today. It’s an affliction that transcends  religion, race, creed, culture, and geographic boundaries. When white people in America finally get a grip on what an insidious force white supremacy is and begin to successfully combat it, the world as we know it will begin to move towards peace. The world would also begin to see a semblance of fairness as it pertains to how the wealth of the world is redistributed.
White supremacy is not just the enemy of black people and indigenous people across the globe, white supremacy is also an enemy to most white people. Why? Because itâs a facade. A mere false notion whereby the top 2-5 percent reap 85 percent of the benefits that the majority championâunder the guise of white privilege. Â It really is high time that White America collectively wake up and realize that the greatest problems that this country face were caused and co-signed by a white majority. The wayward white male voting patterns are to blame for all of the wars and strife that engulf this nation– almost 100 percent. From the countries two longest running wars in Afghanistan and Iraq all the way back to the Civil War (and before) where over 500,000 died quite literally in the name of preserving white supremacy (99 percent of the participants did NOT own slaves).
Congressman Paul Ryan recently made headlines for what could only be labeled a “blame it on the blacks” excuse (for pretty much all of the countries financial woes).
âthere is a tailspin of culture, in our inner cities in particular, of men not working and just generations of men not even thinking about working or learning the value and the culture of work…So thereâs a real culture problem here…that has to be dealt with.â ~ Congress Paul Ryan
Now this is coming from a man that voted to go to war in Iraq (2 trillion plus tax dollars), he voted for the Afghan war (2 plus trillion tax dollars) and the Bush tax Cuts (1 trillion). Now that’s at least 5 trillion dollars alone that this man wasted since becoming a congressman. Then there’s the Medicare part D boondoggle that’s costing the tax payers 62 billion alone this year with the progressive scale that it’s on promising to raise that figure to 150 billion annually by 2019.
Now you don’t need to know algebra (or even a calculator) to come to the conclusion that congressman Paul Ryan’s proclivity for wasteful spending is far more responsible for the nations 16 trillion dollar debt than anything going on in the hood. Even he knows this. The quoted Paul Ryan musing is what you call a dog whistle. A sort of wink wink codec to white Americans to say, “once we get rid of our black problem all will be right in the country”–meanwhile he’s robbing them blind increasing their taxation while decreasing their representation in the form of tangible government  benefits and services. This of course is not a new tactic. It’s a tried and true method of coalescing their base. This Southern Strategy that congressman Paul and others in his party actively employ is wholly dependent on the white supremacist worldview. Lyndon B Johnson best expressed this phenomena when he said:
“If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.”~ LBJ
LBJ in appealing to the white Southerners common sense was able to help them help themselves by getting his Great Society programs off the ground–the very same Great Society programs that are under attack by Paul Ryan and others under the guise of fixing the countries black problem.
The presidency of Barack Obama has galvanized the dormant descendants of the Dixiecrat movement (think Tea Party) and got them reengaged in the political process and this is the fools gold that Ryan and others in his fledgling party are playing to. Lee Atwater who was a former Reagan Aide and former campaign manger for George H.W Bush is known as the modern day  architect of the Nixon Strategy. He in very laymen terms explained to Ryan and others how  to execute this strategy in 1981 when he said:
“You start out in 1954 by saying, “Nigger, nigger, nigger.” By 1968 you can’t say “nigger” â that hurts you. Backfires. So you say stuff like forced busing, states’ rights and all that stuff. You’re getting so abstract now [that] you’re talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you’re talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is [that] blacks get hurt worse than whites. And subconsciously maybe that is part of it. I’m not saying that. But I’m saying that if it is getting that abstract, and that coded, that we are doing away with the racial problem one way or the other. You follow me â because obviously sitting around saying, “We want to cut this,” is much more abstract than even the busing thing, and a hell of a lot more abstract than “Nigger, nigger” ~ Lee Atwater (as Reagan aide)
This lesson from Atwater has not been lost on anyone in today’s republican party. It however was not his last message to them or the masses. It is also one that is sadly lost on them all. Lee Atwater’s death bed mea culpa should serve as a stark and dire warning to the GOP that today employs the worst of what he had to offer the world and to the part of white america that still needs to feel a sense of ethnic and cultural superiority in order to vote for a given candidate.
“My illness helped me to see that what was missing in society is what was missing in me: a little heart, a lot of brotherhood. The ’80s were about acquiring â acquiring wealth, power, prestige. I know. I acquired more wealth, power, and prestige than most. But you can acquire all you want and still feel empty. What power wouldn’t I trade for a little more time with my family? What price wouldn’t I pay for an evening with friends? It took a deadly illness to put me eye to eye with that truth, but it is a truth that the country, caught up in its ruthless ambitions and moral decay, can learn on my dime. I don’t know who will lead us through the ’90s, but they must be made to speak to this spiritual vacuum at the heart of American society, this tumor of the soul”~ Lee Atwater (from his death bed)
Even those who have benefited the most form the white supremacist construct at the end of life regret harboring such a divisive and superficial worldview. Those in America that don’t actually benefit from such a worldview would be doing themselves (and the world around them) great justice by ridding themselves of such an ideology.
7. Stand Your Ground and The rise of the Zimmerman defense
The Zimmerman affect should be enough to raise the ire of every person of color who happens to be, or have love ones that are young black men. The gross injustice doled in the wake of the cold blooded murders of Trayvon Martin and Jordan Davis and the subsequent exoneration for the murderous intent that went into their killing is as frightening as it is maddening.
The George Zimmerman acquittal and his failure to initially be arrested for the crime of murder was about white supremacy. The fact that a mostly white jury could not bring themselves to convict Michael Dunn for the cold blooded premeditated murder of an unarmed 17 year old Jordan Davis despite mounds of evidence is because of white supremacy.
The sense of entitlement and the victim-hood displayed by both George Zimmerman and especially Michael Dunn is the most maddening aspect of their trials. The following quote by Michel Dunn in a conversation with his girlfriend sums up perfectly what’s wrong with his thought process
You know I was thinking about that today, I was like I’m the fucking victim here, I was the one who was victimized, I mean I don’t know how else to cut it, like they attacked me, Iâm the victim. I’m the victor, but I was the victim too.”
Since the untimely and racially charged murders of Trayvonn Martin and Jordan Davis more innocent unarmed black people were inexplicably gunned down by white men. Robert Bruce Black, Brian Cloninger, Theodore Wafer and Claudius Smith all joined the ranks of “victims that needed to stand their ground by gunning down a defenseless black person. Apparently it’s a dream of many white men to gun down an unarmed black kid and beat the case. They want to be like George like we wanted to be like Mike. It’s disgusting and any black man that is not angry at this seemingly growing trend is devoid of both a brain and spinal cord.
8. Black bigotry, intolerance and overall lack of political astuteness
The opposite of white supremacy is progress. White supremacy on its face is regressive and reactionary politics/policy. Policies promoted to purposely divide the populous (divide and conquer) to foster a society more ripe for corrupt capitalist to exploit.
Far too many of my so called conscious brothers think that the answer to white supremacy and all of its affects is black unity in the form of huddling the black masses (all 13-15 percent of the country’s black population) and in Marcus Garvey like fashion building our own colony away from from the “evil white man”. What such a supposition fails to account for is the inherent good and evil that exists in all men. If you talk ALL black men with you to that colony of blackness you would no doubt be taking some inherently evil and flawed minded black men with you.
First and foremost our percentages in this country are such that we need other groups to vote along side us in order to maximize a progressive minded influence. As black people we must disabuse the notion that that we are this countries most aggrieved population (even if we are) and be able to look for enough past our own historical disenfranchisement to empathize with the contemporaneous disenfranchisement of others. Even if their current plight is is not nearly as bad as the reverberations of the disenfranchisement wrought on our ancestors. If we are not going to join or co-sign the movements of the LGBT community, the immigrant community or any of the other groups like the labor movement, or women’s suffrage movement then the least that we should be doing is NOT speaking ill of those movements or worse–joining the chorus of hate and misunderstanding as it pertains to those respective groups.
One of the biggest criticisms of Obama is his lack of a “black agenda”. In that critic I often hear black people bemoan the fact that this president has done so many things for gays an immigrants, but nothing for blacks. This is a critique often bantered about by some of the more politically astute blacks. What I often find myself explaining (to no avail) to the men and women that make these proclamations is that the measures that this administration took on behalf of the LGBT community and the immigrant community were low hanging fruit. He did what any person of conscious would have done in his position at this pivotal time in history. There is no such silver bullet to solve what ails inner city America. There is nothing to repeal with a mere pen stroke. Our issues are much more deeply rooted. Â Therefore the panacea requires much deeper thoughts and far less regurgitation of bygone era black separatist politics.
At best black people comprise 15 percent of the countries population but our contribution to what made America the first world power that she is in no less than 50 percent. This country literally moves to the beat of the African drum. Wear that as a sense of pride but disabuse the notion that we are superior and are best served by separation from territories that our ancestors helped to build. While in many ways it may seem that we are regressing but we are a long way from were we started. I would not want to live in the 40’s, 50’s or 60’s. We were doing far worse collectively. White supremacy has to continue to die out. It’s dying a slow death and whatever we can do to speed up that death would assist in moving not only the black community forward but this whole nation and the world as well. One final thought to ponder…
There could be no Michael Jordan if there were no James Naismith ~ Unknown
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9. Respectable Negros
The respectable Negro is not to be confused with the House Nigger and definitely  not to be confused with the negro that simply shows respect to their fellow man.
If there was an aviator in the dictionary to  represent the respectable negro it would probably be a picture of the HRNIC (head respectable negro in charge) himself Don Lemon. If you know Don Lemon and can identify his major malfunction than you know what i mean when I speak about the anguish that respectable Negroes world wide are able to illicit in you average angry black man. If you are unfamiliar with the antics of Don Lemon then I have to apprise you on what a respectable negro is in a future blog post. For now judge for yourself…
10. Todayâs hip hop landscape
I was born in 1973, the same year that many historians of the genre credit Cool Herc with creating rap. I was also born and reared in Brooklyn NY which is arguably responsible for birthing the worlds greatest MC’s hailing from any single borough, city, county or municipal jurisdiction, so when I see what has become of the culture it makes me Mad Rapper type angry.
We went from this….
Big Daddy Kane & MC Lyte
to this…
I can’t be the only one mad at what has become of the culture.
Despite your many on court feats and your obvious first ballot hall of fame credentials, I’ve never been much of a fan of yours. I cannot and will not ever question your competitive spirit or your quest to be the best Michael Jordan since Michael Jordan. You’ve succeeded for the most part in actualizing every kids wildest dream of being like Mike (for better and worst) and to that I tip my hat. I’d also like to congratulate you on reaching another milestone Mikestone in your quest to be the greatest clone ever. You finally eclipsed Michael Jeffery Jordan in one of the areas that he was most proficient at as both an NBA player and an  executive–ignoring the plight of your biggest fans and supporters..
Way back in 1990 when MJ was just starting his reign as the best player in the game a black mayor from Charlotte named Harvey Gantt asked Michael Jordan for an endorsement as he challenged the incumbent US Senator and longtime segregationist (and rabidly racist) Jesse Helms. Michael Jordan’s response was “Republicans buy shoes too”. In other words he said “hell no nigga!” He displayed a remarkable level of obtuseness as it pertained to using his celebrity for the greater good of those that helped make him the legend that he remains today.
Fast forward to 2014 and the New Yorker interview where you were asked your thoughts on the homage paid to the memory of Trayvon Martin by the Miami Heat. I could almost hear the silent WWJD (what would Jordan do) self query prefacing your very in-artful and even less conscious retort. Sadly even MJ would have been able to side step that tough but answerable question with much less consternation and controversy. You may not ever get that 6th ring or come close to equaling MJ’s six MVP’s but as far as being an out of touch super star athlete devoid of empathy, you are the all time greatest–MJ ain’t got nothing on you.
Since you seem rather oblivious about the gravity of the situation and your statements regarding it, and you are unable to decipher the facts (a whole two years later) I’m going to be a good sport and break down just how badly you played yourself and damaged your legacy–at least among conscious basketball fans.
Let’s first start with your last statement/tweet as it pertains to this issue.
Travon Martin was wronged THATS my opinion and thats what I believe the FACTS showed. The system did not work #myopinion #tweetURthoughts
â Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) March 27, 2014
That tweet obviously indicates that you’re not a total moron and you do get the fact that a grave injustice was dealt. Why then was your answer to the question of what you thought about the Heats hoodie gesture the following:
“I won’t react to something just because I’m supposed to, just because I’m African-American. That argument doesn’t make any sense to me. So we want to advance as a society and as a culture, but, say, if something happens to an African-American, we immediately come to his defense? Yet you want to talk about how far we’ve progressed as a society? Well, if we’ve progressed as a society, then you don’t jump to somebody’s defense just because they’re African-American. You sit and listen to the facts just like you would in any other situation, right? So I won’t assert myself.” ~ Kobe Bryant
Trayvon Martin was not simply some a black kid. You have/had far more in common with Tracy Martin & Sbryna Fulton’s dearly departed 17 year old son than you care to admit. Trayvon Martin was the same age as you were when you were drafted out of Lower Marion High school in 1996. The fact that some citizen (not cop) racially profiled him before gunning him down at such a tender and time stamped age should be enough for you to at least feel some measure of empathy with those from the Heat that thought it prudent to honor the kid. Then there is the fact that this kid was actually making that run to 7/11 for Skittles and ice tea so he could get back in time to see you break Michael Jordan’s NBA All-Star scoring record which you did in a spectacular 27 point performance. One that Trayvonn tragically missed because he was busy being stalked and murdered by a boy named George. Trayvon’s body remained a John Doe despite having ID and a cellphone with the information of his next of kin readily accessible. They also tested his dead corpse for drugs while at the same time handing his murderer his weapon back– no arrest, no drug test and a seeming ambivalence towards any kind of justice for the victim. The authorities actually treated the suspect as the victim. And to this day the suspect claims to be the victim. Those were the FACTS that the Miami Heat and everyone else in the country were operating off of Mr. Bryant. As a black man that felt the pain of Trayvon’s parents I take great umbrage with your characterization of myself and others efforts, angst and protest as blacks supporting blacks simply because we are black. It’s two years later–what facts are you still waiting to come out?
It’s totally your prerogative to abstain from social movements and working to bring about a more equitable across the board treatment for all people. I mean it would be nice if you were more like LeBron James and some  of the more contentious athletes and entertainers who do make an effort to use their celebrity for the greater good of the community from which they come and more over for which supports them, but you are not automatically expected to take up such causes as you so eloquently stated. While the culture that has helped to elevate you to near GOAT status does not expect your loyalty, to deny that culture your loyalty the way you’ve done says a lot about your level of selfishness .When you first entered the league as a young 17 year old high school graduate you embraced the culture and the culture fully embraced you.Â
From taking Brandy to your prom (when we all know that a dark skin natural woman is nothing close to your style) to rapping on stage in Italian during All-star Saturday with Tyra Banks, (talk about a cornball brother) your carefully crafted image was set in a way that the average Trayvon Martin (then and now) would automatically gravitate towards your likeness and hail you as the greatest player of their generation. They bought your shoes, they made both your #8 and #24 jersey’s top sellers for years. Why would you NOT want to get a kids back like that? Does George Zimmerman wear Kobe’s too or something?
I’ve also noticed that you’ve found a surrogate and unofficial press secretary in Stephen A  Smith (aka Stepin Fetchin). For years he’s served as a Kobe apologist on First Take,  but now I see you got that brother working overtime on your behalf. In the last several months you dispatched that apologetic respectable negro twice to work on operation clean up Kobe’s image. The first was after Jim Brown spoke some harsh truths about you. Some truths that even a non-fan like me took some issue with. I thought that his critique was rather arbitrary and unfair. That was then–today I’m signing that petition to bring Jim back to the show to give a follow up.   Stephen A Smiths face in his second Kobe PR clean up job was enough to tell the viewer that  not even he was totally sold on the message that he was dispatched to publicly co-sign– hence is very dismissive quip of “when I give a damn I will I’ll let you know” referring to the majority black population that he was reminded by Arsenio that would not appreciate his latest Kobe double down. He obviously gave some sort of damn which is why he was jumping through hoops trying to explain the inexplicable.  He goes on to do an even worse job than you did in your original missive by conflating unrelated phenomenons and other partial truths with the original issue which was simply seeking justice for a young black kid who was essentially stalked and gunned down for being a young black kid.
It would behoove you to reach out to the parents of Trayvon Martin to apologize for your less than sensitive and nonsensical comments regarding the death of their son. You should also reach out to the Heat to apologize to them for questioning their gesture and the motives that went into it. You have the right top stand on the sidelines in this battle for full equality and equal treatment under the law. What you don’t have the right to do is to stand on the sideline and take shots at the brave-hearts that are willing to lose a few endorsements in order to bring to fruition a more equitable society.
People always talk about the 90’s being the golden age of hip-hop, which is true, but it was the golden age of music period. All genres of music during the 90’s was hot. In the 90’s we still had Luther Vandross Anita Baker, Gerald Levert–even the King of Pop was still giving the world timeless music to enjoy. In addition you had new comers like Mary J Blige, Boys II Men, Jodeci and the myriad other male and female groups that sprung up. Some had staying power and others were one hit wonders but they all made the radio enjoyable to listen to. You had Depech Mode, U2, Green Day, Hootie & The Blowfish and other hard and soft rock bands going strong and making great music that was aesthetically pleasing to ear-buds across all demographics.  You had Shabba Ranks, Beanie Man, Super Cat, Patra and others holding it down for the reggae/dance hall scene and they were all dope. Even the jazz genre was putting out the hits with the likes of Branford Marsalis,Kenny G and Wayman Tisdale  blowing the horn.
So what happened? How did listening to the radio go from being oh so good in the 90’s to being god-awful today? I have a theory–on both how it got so good during its zenith and on how it reached its nadir in 2013. It’s far from empirical fact or even the lone factor but, I do believe it is a major factor in why I hate the radio today.
Music in the 90’s reached its peak (In my humble opinion) because were just entering into the Information Age where the world started to shrink and cultural exchange became much more seamless. Any time you have a market place where diversity is fostered awesomeness usually ensues and that is what happened with music in the 90’s. At the same time however very sharp cuts were being made to the wholistic style of education that was once a staple of a free and balanced education.Â
When I was in school I remember everyone taking music class. In elementary and Jr. High. The nerds, the athletes, the class clowns and bullies all had to make use of that little brown flute. Whether or not you were musically inclined you were taught do-re-mi. We overstood what a real musical note was more than we even understood what it was. Our subconscious ear was therefore well equipped to decipher real music from repetitious bull shit–as is the case with the radio today.
Our kids today are being robbed of their own inner genius because as a nation we rather pay to build other nations (after we destroy them) than build a future for the children who will inherit this mess of a country that we have created.
Save the music and we might save some kids. I’m just saying…
Welp, it happened again–another mass shooting.  Mass shootings have sadly become an inextricable element of the modern day American cultural construct. It almost seems as if there’s a quarterly quota of at least one mass shooting these days. This particular shooting could be easily (and rightly) placed squarely on the shoulders of the US armed forces for their failure to deal with the obvious inordinate level of post traumatic stress syndrome overcoming the ranks of their deployed  and the bi-partisan neo-con legislative agenda that seemingly feels that war is the answer–for everything!
While as a nation can do little to abate (at least not in the short term) the kind of mass shooting spree that took place yesterday at Fort Hood we at have a general understanding of why it happened. As for the myriad other mass shootings that have become common place in America the causation and rectification is far less luminous. So in the spirit of clarity I offer ten points to ponder while mulling how we as a nation can cease being number one at one of the more dubious statistics kept–death by the gun.
1. Learn the true definition of the word compromise and that in a compromise neither side gets all or even most of what they want.
In a country of 300 million plus that averages over 8,000 gun deaths per year, the reasons for these gun deaths are many and the ramifications of any acts to remedy the problem will undoubtedly have some unintended consequences to go along with the intended ones, so any debate on gun control should start and end from a disposition of COMPROMISE. Know that you cannot and will not get everything you want, so it would behoove you to stick to the changes in the law that will have the greatest impact as it pertains to decreasing incidents of gun related deaths. If the measure being bantered about generates more angst, controversy, and fractured feelings among those who generally (at least in principal) wish to see a decrease in the gun related deaths in America than that plan she be used as tool of negotiation and should not in any way be the primary or even secondary end goal.
2. Either redefine and get more granular with the term “gun control” or find a new catch phrase to represent your cause
At present the term ‘gun control’ is an anathema in US Â Politics. The mere mention of it in certain regions and zip codes can spell political suicide for the statesman (or woman) with the best intentions, rare as they may be.
A novel idea would be to take a page from the Republican play book on semantically cleaver titling. When they want to push an idea that’s not necessarily a popular with the people (even within their own constituency )they are rather skilled in applying innocuous names to their insidious deeds. The Iraq war was not called âThe Kill Saddam and occupy Iraqâ Bill (what we actually did). It was called Operation Iraqi Freedom. Who can say no to freedom? Or better yet HR 3630 titled The Middle Class Tax Relief & Job Creation Act, passed by the House of Representatives in 2011–who can say no to more jobs and less taxes for the struggling middle class? Never mind the fact that this bill actually would have frozen federal workers pay for 3 years, cut unemployment from 99 weeks to 59 weeks, cut funding for the Affordable Care Act while mandating that the permit to begin constructing the Keystone XL pipeline be delivered. Iâd say that that was pretty cleaver messaging. Luckily for the country such a bill died in the senate but I think you catch my drift.
Perhaps instead of using the term Gun Control, those that wish to bring more sensible gun laws to fruition should re-brand to something like The John Wayne Gun Bill. After all 100 round clips and AK-47’s were not common place when John Wayne ruled the America. It may sound dumb to some but as a country we precipitously sliding further and further behind in the worldwide education stack rankings — we are far from the brightest blip on the globe so the appeal needs to be less logical and much more visceral for it to resonate with the masses.
3. Bring some new ideas to the table.
For the last 30 years people in the gun control lobby have led the debate on gun control and for the last 30 years their failed rhetoric and stale ideas have led to a stalemate. The status quo continues to exist unabated and seemingly gets worse by the generation. No offense to James Brady or the Brady Bill that bears his name but it’s to reinvent that wheel.
For as long as we have been discussing gun control it’s amazing that no one seems to be able to think outside of the proverbial box and offer new ways to mitigate the problem. For instance the barrel of each gun manufactured has a groove pattern as uniquely identifiable as a thumb print. Before these guns leave the factory and go to market, EVERY one of them should have their ballistics tested and recorded. This will leave a paper trail and such a paper trail will no doubt deter would be shooters if they knew that it would lead to them. Of course such a measure is not a universal panacea because such a trail would only apply to legal gun owners and not the ones on the black market, but it would help however nominally to bring down the yearly body count as it pertains to deaths by the gun in America.
As for the millions of guns floating on the black market a great majority of them go straight from the conveyor belt to the streets with one single purchaser on record before ending up in the hands of killers. Far more culpability needs to be mandated for both the gun manufacturer and the straw purchasers who are in effect illegal arms traders. The tobacco industryâs lobby in Washington is just as powerful as the NRAâs but even they had to succumb to  collective and class action litigation pitted against them by the affected public. The only way that the gun lobby will move is by hitting them where it hurtsâtheir pocket.
4. Stop making the banning of assault style weapons and 30 round clips the hall mark of your argument.
The chances of these weapons being banned and disappearing from the shelves of gun stores are slimmer than none. It’s a futile battle that you are fighting and even if such a ban came to fruition, we’d still lead the developed world in gun deaths by a mile.
The mere mention of banning these guns leads to gun enthusiasts of all kinds (the good, bad and ape-shit crazy) to rush to the stores to buy them. The sales of these weapons shoot up exponentially whenever the public dialog is centered on banning them. If you truly wish to see less of these weapons on the street than you should probably stop talking about them because at present state, that’s the biggest driving force behind these guns flying off the shelves. Besides they have already long been circulating through the ether. You can’t un-ring that bell or attempt to push that toothpaste back in the tube. In other words move on–that particular battle has been won/lost.
5. Stop looking for a statement from Wayne LaPierre every time a mass shooting or major tragedy involving guns takes place.
You already know that he’s going to say something stupid and counterproductive. Waiting on Wayne LaPierre to make a statement on a gun tragedy makes as much sense as waiting for Flava Flav to make a statement on your taxes before doing them on April 15th.
Wayne LaPierre works for the gun manufactures so every and any solution to gun violence will be more guns, so even as a whipping boy or poster child for what’s wrong with America’s gun culture, you are wasting your breath bringing his name up. Also, know that folks in the media when they solicit his opine or the NRA’s official statement on such tragic events as what happened at Fort Hood yesterday, they are playing a game of ratings–not bringing you breaking or worthwhile news.
6. Accept the âguns don’t kill people, people kill peopleâ adage. There is some truth to that deflective statement.
I’ve always disagreed with the above argument because it’s mostly used in its most myopic sense by the pro-gun lobby that cares more about the profit margins of gun manufacturers than they do about the carnage created by gun violence. However the fact remains that in order for guns to kill they must be powered by people– hence forth the gun control lobby needs to concede that argument to the pro gun lobby.
In concession of that particular argument, the task then should be to change the people. Just like guns don’t kill people, guns don’t create culture. People do and what the people have created is a very violent culture. From our movies, music, video games and books, to our trigger happy policemen, draconian sentencing structure and our penchant for “peace keeping” around the globe via the dropping of bombs and missiles the American culture is replete with violence. In the immortal words of GI Joe (one of the violent cartoons of my child hood) “knowing is half the battle” now that we know better it is time for us to start doing and expecting better than the violent culture that we’ve all had a hand in crafting, maintaining and perpetuating.
7. The 2nd amendment is not the only amendment to the Bill of Rights that needs redress and clarification.
On the heels of almost every act of gun violence that snatches the collective attention of the nation, the 2nd Amendment is almost always the first and last solution or excuse (depending on which side of the debate you are on) for action or inaction. This reactionary response does not speak to any of the underlying problems that lead to gun violence in America, let alone solving them.
Instead of starting with a review of the 2nd amendment it’s high time we review the parameters of the 1st amendment and the myriad ramifications of “free speech” in America. There is an awful lot of hate speak and misinformation being passed off today as actual news. There is a faction of Americans that are about 20 million strong who take the verbatim and rants from the likes of Glenn Beck , Sean Hannity, Bill OâReilly et al for face value. You can blame this group of people for being extremely guile and illogical, but itâs hard to fault them for stock piling guns and ammo when they have for the last several decades been ginned up on the fear that their government (and all non-conservatives) is out to oppress them, take away all of their freedoms and guns, throw them in a concentration camps and enact reverse Jim Crow Laws. There was a time in this country where the likes of Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity and other specious “journalistsâ and media outlets were not allowed to operate. Yelling fire in a crowded theater was not always considered or conflated with the 1st amendment right to free speech. Unfortunately today it is.
The reinstatement of the Fairness Doctrine that once prevented news outlets from spuriously misleading the public in matters germane to its interest is likely never going to come back so it’s incumbent upon those who do respect the need for a well informed public to do everything in their power to combat the false messaging that comes out of those outlets. In other words be the Fairness Doctrine. The internet and social media have become somewhat of a buffer for the lies being spoon fed us in the mainstream media and the more deceit ridden outlets like Fox News, Drudge and Infowars– but that is not enough. Since we canât rely on our government to properly police the FCC regulated spectrum that these corporate mouth pieces incessantly babble across, the only power that the people have is the power of the dollar. When Rush Limbaugh made those extremely sexist and misogynistic comments about Sandra Fluke a few years ago he started a hemorrhage of sponsors and syndicated slots that to this day has not stopped. Heâs not getting dropped by sponsors and stations because heâs a bombastic flame thrower with no moral compass (thatâs actually why he was hired and sponsored by these people) heâs being dropped like a hot potato because heâs becoming bad for business due to people boycotting and protesting those that underwrite his ability to hate speak. More energy needs to be put into removing these voices from the airwaves and replacing them with truth tellers.
8. Pay more attention to the social ills in society that serve as the precursors to gun violence
Some of the biggest drivers of gun related deaths stem from abject generational poverty, drug addiction, domestic violence, mental illness (diagnosed and un-diagnosed) and a lack of upward mobility–mostly due to failing school systems in failed neighborhoods. We however only wish to speak to these issues in tragic times when a mother has to bury her son, a family needs answers for a stray bullet entering their babies carriage or when the president has to console grieving families because some inexplicable gun massacre took place.
We need to be speaking about and brainstorming on ways to mitigate the plight of the people most affected by the aforementioned societal illsâbefore the gun violence shatters their livesânot after.
It may take a while but if as a nation we can rectify some of these root causes it will invariably affect the yearly body count.
9. Understand that Karma is real and stop being a hypocrite
Our great nation unfortunately has a long history of globally aggressive acts. It also seems married to those ways and seemingly shows no true intention of leaving them behind. It would therefore be foolish to think that those chickens wonât continue to come to the homeland to roost. Violence begets violence so if you are okay with American aggression globally you need to expect for the same kind of violence to visit our domestic shores. Live by the gun, die by the gun. If you donât bat an eye at 13 people being wiped out via a drone strike in Yemen or Pakistan but have a super heavy heart for 13 individuals being shot in an American movie theater, church or place of business, or American military base you are being a hypocriteâeven worse you are sowing bad seeds of karma. Humanity knows no geographical boundaries. We need to be more humane towards not only each other but also to the worldâas a nation we have a lot of bad karma to expiate.
10. Get out and vote!
Not just every four years when a gifted gabber comes around and motivates you to the polls, but also in mid-terms, local and state level races, judgeship’s, the sheriffâs office and even your local school board (especially if you have kids). Not only should you vote, you should also learn about the political process. Know where everyone stands on the issue of gun violence and the other pertinent issues of the day. Challenge them to do more, go to town hall meetings. Endeavor to find out who they are taking money from so that you know who they ultimately work for.
Will all of this change the problem overnight? Not in the least but it’s a start.
1 One day Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute. He went in to spend the night with her. 2 The people of Gaza were told, âSamson is here!â So they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the city gate. They made no move during the night, saying, âAt dawn weâll kill him.â ~ Da Bible (Judges 16:1-2)
Ever since the days of the Old Testament women have been able to entice, seduce and otherwise cajole men of great power and influence in to squandering  both power and influence within the span of a 24 hour news cycle–long before the advent of the 24 hour news cycle.  Samson’s super natural extraordinary strength that he got from his locks was suffice enough to escape the precarious position that his patronage of the original profession placed him in. However, as with most men with a proclivity for side piece action, Samson would keep going back to the well where his luck eventually ran out. The good book goes on to say:
4 Â Some time later, he fell in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah. 5 The rulers of the Philistines went to her and said, âSee if you can lure him into showing you the secret of his great strength and how we can overpower him so we may tie him up and subdue him. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels[a] of silver~ LeBronKing James (16:4-5)
And so began the precedent of the infamous side piece take down.
Over the years there have been countless men of great stature that went out like  Humpty Dumpty due to their inability to resist the periphery. The following 10 examples are what I call modern day Delilahs. Side chicks with a mission to seek, exploit (while being exploited) and destroy. Sometimes it’s a conscious fully cognizant effort and sometimes they are just as oblivious to the inherent destruction that they leave in their wake as the sad saps that sheepishly fall prey to their fine art of seduction, so without further ado I present you in the top 10 side pieces to ever throw that monkey wrench in a playa’s game (from least to greatest)
10. Karrine Steffans
Now Ms. Steffans makes this list more so due to the quantity of dudes that she played side piece to than the quality (for lack of a better word) of life, power or fortune that she stripped from them by becoming the albatross that side pieces often morph into.  She did however  pen a salaciously embarrassing  tell all that had to at least bring a little discomfort to her part time bed buddies. So in the absence of  quality here is her quantity –along with the superlatives she tagged her desperadoes with:
Ja Rule (called wifey dumb), Ice-T(sugar daddy), Shaq (sugar daddy) , Bobby Brown(junkie) , Usher (jerk), Puffy (on the down low), Xzibit (down low) Juelz Sanatana (hair puller) Young Buck (her favorite trick), Jay Z (hard to look at), Pusha T (chronic bad breath) Trick Daddy (energetic), Mos Def (chronic bad breath) Too Short (Too talkative) Q-Tip (asshole),  Mase (asshole), Wyclef (bad breath).
While I’m certain  most of the aforementioned did not skip a beat in so far as their climb to success in their industry, they at least had to deal with the side eyes of their respective wives and committed lovers when it was revealed that they too were  dipping in community booty and being made props to sell crappy books. Not a good look–even for a rapper.
9. Amy Fisher
This is another one where a sensationalized story was more of an impetus to this becoming fodder for new reporters and gossip columns than an actual down fall of a man who gambled it all on a piece of ass and lost. In fact one could argue that the Long Island Lolita as Ms Fisher was so infamously called helped pluck Joey Buttafuoco from  from obscurity and for a time made the guy a quasi celebrity. Though he will always where the crown of being a cradle robbing teen stalker since Amy was a 17 year old student when he decided to side piece her. But what really earns her a spot on the SPA list is the attempted murder charge she got for trying to kill her back seat lovers wife by knocking on her door and shooting her in the face.  Way to pick’em Joey!
8. Rasheeda Moore
Rasheeda Moore was a 38 year old former model and cover girl when her name became synonymous with the phrase “THE BITCH SET ME UP”.
After a series of run ins with the law (from DC to LA )the FBI approached Ms. Moore to aide and abet them in their quest to take down current Ward 8 council member and former DC Mayor Marion Barry– and boy did she deliver. While the good Mayor was busy trying to get some ass his side piece Ms Moore was busy trying to  save some ass–her own.  She damn near shoved the pipe down his throat (while he was trying shove pipe somewhere else)and he might have gotten to hits of the crack before the FBI busted in and cock blocked him out of both the crack rock and the ass crack that he originally came to the Vista hotel for in the first place.
Now a mayor of a major city and capitol of the United States, getting caught with a crack-pipe in his mouth, set up by his side piece (in conjunction with the FBI) would normally be enough to win the SPA or at least rank closer than spot number 8, but luckily the DC voters are extremely forgiving and even more forgetful because a mere four years later they voted to re-elect him marking one of the most fascinating political comebacks of the 20th century.
One a side note:  If the voters in Toronto are half as magnanimous as the pitiful merciful voters in the District of Columbia (circa 1999) than the Rob Ford re-election team has good reason to be optimistic.
7. Ashley Dupre
The Village Voice  dubbed her  the most famous hooker in America after it had been revealed that then New  York Governor Elliot Spitzer was paying out of the wazoo for side booty (upwards to $5,500 per hour).  Ms Dupre in this case inadvertently helped push Spitzer off of his perch when those massive wire transfers to the Emperors Club (the escort service that employed Ms Dupre) triggered an FBI investigation. The Governor went on to resign from office in shame. However the real shame is the fact that he raised the price of tricking to such a ridiculous figure. $5,500 an hour?  If that was the cost for all side action the world would be free of infidelity.Â
6. Monica Lewinsky
Unlike Ms Dupre Ms Lewinsky’s take down of her king of the hill seemed much more premeditated.  Now a 50 year old leader of the free world sleeping with a 22 year old intern is just bone deep dumb. No excuse for the lower chamber over ruling the upper chamber on that one. That being the case to go to such lengths as to preserve a semen stain on her dress after a job well done at least to me denotes a woman with a motive.  Even if she was devoid of  ulterior motivation her damage was pretty significant–at least it was 20 years ago. She helped get a sitting president impeached.  She would actually be higher on this list had not he been able to remake his public image to the point that he can garner 250K plus per speaking engagement. But she seems not to be done…
Monica and her sordid tales from the 90’s have recently been resurrected. First via a Rand Paul mention and more recently via her own volition as she penned a piece for Vanity Fair. Her re-introduction to public life is as curious as Rand Paul’s invocation of her name was dubious. Â And she came back with an attitude and vengeance with scorn for everyone from Beyonce to the feminist movement all the way back to the woman whose husband she borrowed 20 years ago. This is what she had to say about Hillary…
“Yes, I get it…Hillary Clinton wanted it on record that she was lashing out at her husband’s mistress. She may have faulted her husband for being inappropriate, but I find her impulse to blame the Woman â not only me, but herself â troubling.”~ Monica Lewinsky
So let me get this straight. You give fellatio to the woman’s husband, preserve the DNA evidence on your dress for proof– then when it becomes a headline story and the shit hits the fan you’re mad at the woman you wronged?
Monica sounds like she’s arrested in her development. She’s still that same little chubby 22 year old blonde brunette playing hide and suck  seek under the executive desk in the oval office. Nothing else makes sense to me.
5. Rachel Uchitel
Tiger was on top of the world before the first of his many dalliances outside of his marriage began to unearth themselves. He had just come off winning his 14th major (the Australian Open) and had  Jack Nicholas’s 18 majors record firmly insight because up until that fateful day in November of 2009  when wifey went HAM on him and his Escalade,  From 1999 to 2008 not one year had gone by without Tiger winning at least one major–he has not won a single major since Ms Uchitel among other mistresses came to light.  I imagine Jack Nicolas is celebrating with the 1972 Dolphin’s team. His record is at least as safe as theirs so long as omnipresent side piece remain in existence.
4. Mark OâDonnell
Before there was such thing as a Jersey Bridge-Gate there was a Jersey Bi-Gate. Who said that side piecery was only reserved for females? This particular man on man tryst cost the New Jersey governor his political career. Too bad that he was not a black athlete–in which case all he’d have to do was hold a press conference declaring his true sexual proclivities. Â If that were the case he’d be more hero than goat. Thank god for “black privilege” huh? Just kidding.
3. Donna Rice
If I said the name Gary Hart you’d likely say, “Gary who?” Â The reason why he’s less prominent in the history books is due to the woman sitting on his lap–or the paparazzi that snapped the now infamous Presidential campaign ending photo.
In 1988 Gary Hart was far ahead of the democratic pack when his long rumored infidelity finally came to light. Â Within weeks his campaign and poll numbers took a nose dive. He went from being the sure shot democratic nominee to lagging behind even Jesse Jackson for said nomination. Â When you have less hope than Mr. Keep Hope Alive you are officially dead in the water and that just what happened to Harts presidential aspirations. Â So while Donna Rice may seem like a rather obscure name, Â in order to fully understand her historical impact and moreover her SPA ranking one must grasp the counter-factor of what would have been.
2. Rielle Hunter
John unlike Gary had no chance of winning the democratic nomination the year that the National Enquirer caught him with his hand in the cookie jar. He still however had substantial political clout when he gracefully bowed out of what essentially became a two person race to the nomination between Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama. In addition to losing ALL of his political capital for which he would have easily been able to parlay into a cabinet position (thereby keeping his presidential ambitions alive) he lost his wife who was dying of cancer, the trust of his family and the public, Â and faced federal campaign violation charges for allegedly supporting his mistress and their forthcoming love child with donor money. Â He beat the case but the entire trial in error only served one purpose and that was to permanently bury the reputation and political aspirations of a man who in 2000 came within a hanging chad of becoming the vice president . Â His once very bright and limitless political future has been relegated to one of histories myriad foot notes of would have, could have should have…
and the SPA award winner is…
D
R
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M
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Now before we present the SPA (side piece award)winner allow me, or rather the Good Book to further expound on what happened with our boy Samson :
6 So Delilah said to Samson, âTell me the secret of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued.â
7 Samson answered her, âIf anyone ties me with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, Iâll become as weak as any other man.â
8 Then the rulers of the Philistines brought her seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried, and she tied him with them. 9 With men hidden in the room, she called to him, âSamson, the Philistines are upon you!âBut he snapped the bowstrings as easily as a piece of string snaps when it comes close to a flame. So the secret of his strength was not discovered.
10 Then Delilah said to Samson, âYou have made a fool of me; you lied to me. Come now, tell me how you can be tied.â
11 He said, âIf anyone ties me securely with new ropes that have never been used, Iâll become as weak as any other man.â
12 So Delilah took new ropes and tied him with them. Then, with men hidden in the room, she called to him, âSamson, the Philistines are upon you!â But he snapped the ropes off his arms as if they were threads.
13 Delilah then said to Samson, âAll this time you have been making a fool of me and lying to me. Tell me how you can be tied.â
He replied, âIf you weave the seven braids of my head into the fabric on the loom and tighten it with the pin, Iâll become as weak as any other man.â So while he was sleeping, Delilah took the seven braids of his head, wove them into the fabric 14 and[b] tightened it with the pin.
Again she called to him, âSamson, the Philistines are upon you!â He awoke from his sleep and pulled up the pin and the loom, with the fabric.
15 Then she said to him, âHow can you say, âI love you,â when you wonât confide in me? This is the third time you have made a fool of me and havenât told me the secret of your great strength.â 16 With such nagging she prodded him day after day until he was sick to death of it.
17 So he told her everything. âNo razor has ever been used on my head,â he said, âbecause I have been a Nazirite dedicated to God from my motherâs womb. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man.â ~ The Good Book (Judges 6-17)
Let me let me put this biblical parable in a laymen perspective for those of you who played hookie from Sunday school. This dude Samson had not one, not two, but three clear cut signals from Delilah that she was in on the conspiracy to bring him to ruins. Yet and still he gave her the combination key to his life. That’s some Queen B shit for ya.
and the SPA winner is….
1. V. Stiviano
But I’m sure that you already knew this when you read the title. Â V. Stiviano cold went Sampson and Delilah on old man Donald. Â I mean never mind the two Bently’s, the Ferrari and the 1.8 million duplex that his wife is suing her to get back, that’s nothing. That’s not even enough for her to make the list, much less be number one on it.
Ms Stiviano of black and Hispanic heritage pulled off a feat that would make Delilah blush with pride. She got a rabidly racist tycoon to expound in the most visceral fashion on his profound and long rumored disdain for black people and other minorities as if she was not one herself.  Her gangster is to be respected. She could probably teach  classes on how to win in the side piece lane because while THOT’s be searching for ballers at All Star weekend she’s busy searching for the good fellas that actually pay the ballers. The V in V. Stiviano obviously stands for victory because she’s winning.
On a side note, it’s going to kill Donald Sterling to not be able to sit court side while his million dollar niggers are playing abd remain in contention for this years Larry O’Brien trophy. Many think that ultimately he’s winning  because he’s about to make a one thousand percent profit on his 13 million investment. He’s not winning because he’s already a billionaire a couple times over and has completed no less than 95.3 percent of his lifespan which means that he can’t even spend the 2 billion that he already has in his coffers–he won’t even see the possible billion that he makes from the forced sale of his team due to all that older money in the way.
The day has finally come that his lowly, perpetual last place Clippers are playing for it all and he can’t even tune in TNT to watch them because he’s been so excommunicated from the game. Donald Sterling,  thanks to V. Stiviano is the first person to ever have his NBA League pass revoked. The struggle is real for that cat.  He might soon be worth 3 billion dollars but he’s still losing. Hell, even he’d tell you that much.
The Angry Black Rant 
