If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. I Corinthians 13: 1-3

I never really talk to much about love, yet my heart is filled with love. Sometimes I try to ignore the heart, I remember reading in the bible somewhere that the heart can deceive you. Please, I might have read and experienced that in some form or fashion (LOL). However the love verse in the bible is one of my favorites, it follows right after the above verse and it speaks volumes to what love really is rather than the superficial love we see on television or possibly chase in our own relationships. Today’s verse to me more so resonates with love as it relates to your passions. How love relates to the driving forces in your life.

Love is the basis for creation, when you love something you nurture it. You care for it, and do anything in your power to see it grow. This may be a person, this may be an idea, or this can be one of your favorite pastimes or hobbies. The scripture tells us we can do all things but without love we have nothing. Look at rich people who have the world at their feet but they still commit suicide, use drugs and destroy their bodies; for what. Listen to some of their interviews and you will hear that they lack love in their heart. Not love in the sense of a significant other but the love that you feel when you are trying to achieve a great feat. In order to grow something, anything, we need love; our love is the passion that drives us past our fears and towards our goals. Peace and Grace be unto you.

Time’s a wasting, don’t you waste your time young man!

City of Ruin

Torn by a situation, life is everything you make it, everything you will it to be.
Young black men wine and cry about the knowledge their fathers never taught them.
Beautiful black women confused by what their daddy didn’t show them.
Moms play a Part TOO!
Young black men spoiled by their mothers attention and affection. Longing to be spoiled by their women in a similar fashion. Sometimes creating unrealistic goals of a relationship that is supposed to be reciprocal.
Young black girls caught up by their mothers imperfections. Either they were silent so she learned nothing or they spoke chords of wrongness and those chords echoed into empty halls of mindlessness that became stone.
So what is this confusion, these mind games, these strange feelings. I call it
LOVE

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hhp3KWMEhJU&hl=en]

What it means to be a NIGGER

A few weeks back as I sat and watched the red carpet section of the Grammy’s I saw my fellow Virgo grace the camera with his wife donning a t-shirt that said “NIGGER”. Wait a minute rewind that back, I saw Nasir Jones better known as “Nas” and a group of supporters of different ethnicities in “NIGGER” Fashion. This is clearly a sign that the times have changed, television has become so liberal, when I was a child they would have blurred out the image at minimum to say the least. Nas was interviewed about his “message”, there were no censors over the word and things went relatively normal. I mentioned earlier that Nas is a Virgo because they are the thinkers of the zodiac and very strategic in their movements, so maybe Nas is titling his album NIGGER and grappling after the publicity that it is causing so that we can have intelligent discourses like the one we are about to have.

Wait one second, before you lose interest in fear that I am about take you on a historical voyage enduring the plight of black people and the socialization of the term Nigger and how we need to accept it to empower ourselves, I promise you I will not. This is not the typical discussion of whether this is a term of endearment or mental slavery. But to understand what the concept of the term nigger we must first look to one of the great writers of the Harlem Renaissance, James Baldwin.

Baldwin says, “What white people have to do is try to find out in their own hearts why it was necessary to have a nigger in the first place. Because I’m not a nigger, I’m a man! But if you think I’m a nigger it means you need it. If I’m not the nigger here and you, the white people invented him then you’ve got to find out why?”

Baldwin paints us such a vivid picture when he speaks about the system needing a nigger. You see the term nigger is about an institutionalized inferiority complex. The system, those proponents of white supremacy need a nigger to belittle, they need a nigger to make themselves feel better than another group of people because they lack self-esteem. The nigger is needed in order to perpetuate systems of control, a hierarchy within this great land from sea to shining sea. Unfortunately today the term nigger has become synonymous with black people. However this is not the case, this is not the fate of black people; this has been the position of various ethnic groups in America. I will chronicle the stories of three niggers who have been bastardized by a system of oppression and blatant racism in this country without ever painting the picture of a black face!

If you are of Middle Eastern decent, or even look like you could possibly be of the Islamic faith after 9/11, I regret to inform you but the United States has declared you a NIGGER! Your rights were stripped from you; you became the victims of police brutality, random search and seizures, and you are always pulled aside at the airport for more questioning. Why is this; because you fit the “description”, you look suspicious? But none of this is true; it is merely the pigment of your skin and the religious affiliation that you are suspected of practicing which garners you such attention. You watch your faith and belief system ridiculed daily on television, you have become the butt of all jokes. You’re fearful when your children go to school because other children will torment them; forgive them for they know not what they do. You came to this country with hopes of reaching the American dream however you are now living the American Nightmare! The ultimate insult is no longer to be black but it is to be Muslim. Your beautiful, peaceful culture has been tainted by slander; you are now judged by the few who make it tough for the many. Welcome!

Tune in tomorrow to see who else is a NIGGER!

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START SNITCHING

We see it glorified in old mob flicks, rap records hail it as the sin of all sins; the number one code of the streets; “don’t snitch”. LOYALTY, I understand the concept very well, but when does it border stupidity and become a cause in fact of the violence and destruction of our neighborhoods. The “Stop Snitching Campaign” was subliminally etched into our minds long before the celebrated t-shirts with stop signs and the word snitching embedded within. Well please forgive me, for I am about to break the ultimate code of honor, I’m about to become the rat of all rats, because my charge for us as a community is to… “START SNITCHING”.

There, I said it, START SNITCHING, start snitching if you want your children to live to see past their elementary school graduation. Start Snitching if you want to stop living in fear as you walk to the corner store. This is heavy, because as a people we have a strong distrust for law enforcement. I mean, why wouldn’t we, after seeing many of our leaders crippled by this system of American Justice. We vividly remember news clips of the Civil Rights Era, watching police officers brutally attack people of color with water hoses and K-9 dogs? Many of us can attest to the “random” car stops, the harassment and brutality that our people face on a daily basis from those who are supposed to protect and serve. Yet I still say START SNITCHING, far too many of our children are becoming victims in the crossfire of drug wars, domestic disputes and other various forms of crime that begat violence.

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