Man I tell you, living in Technology world, you have to watch what you say! I mean every other week we are hearing people’s personal phone conversations, voicemails, sound bytes from closed affairs. So in the words of T.I. “Watch what you say” Brother Jackson!

I hear the infamous Bill O’Reilly will air Jackson’s comments later on this evening, I will find the youtube link and then post the comments. But let’s be serious Jesse Jackson was probably ticked off like every other black man that Barack Obama used Father’s Day as the day that he would condemn the absence of fatherhood in the black community. Black men all over the nation are irate about this because quite frankly they do not see Barack addressing other issues head on that deal with the black population.

He was not very vocal about Jena 6, his remarks were watered down when he spoke of the Sean Bell incident, he was absent from the State of the Black Union; so people feel that Obama does not have the right to condemn black fathers and not look to condemn the absence of fatherhood as a whole across racial lines. I mean that has been his strong point thus far so black men across the country were angered by Barack’s statement.

It’s not that I disagree with Obama’s statements about irresponsible fathers or that I feel he should have addressed all absentee fathers. My issue with the speech was highlighting the negative which is already known. It’s like the bad child in the classroom, they get more attention than the students who actually do their work further making those “good” students feel under-appreciated. The same can be said for fathers like mine who work two jobs to provide for their families. Men who provide for their families should be honored on father’s day and less emphasis placed on the dead beat dad’s. Let’s lift up the brothers who are doing the right thing. Maybe our selfless praise of these men will inspire the men who are not effectively handling the business of their children as fathers.

For the rest of this story click here

UPDATE: HERE IS THE CLIP

UMM Jesse “I wanna Cut His Nuts Off” umm yea I’ll let you all be the judge!

I stumbled upon this video. While I do not agree with everything this gentleman has to say he brings up several good points that I think can stimulate a good conversation.

The following piece was given to us by Ma’at. When I first read this piece I was so in tune with it that all of the other noises in the background of my mind needed to be silenced. I truly hope that this piece engages us in a discourse about not only our current reality but the change which we wish to see within our reality. Peace and Grace be unto you!

THE AMERICAN NIGHTMARE

Rags to riches
Foreigner
Outsider to Inside
American Society
American Money
American Riches
The American Dream
Business Man
Drug Dealer
Hustler
Lawyer
Me…
See I
I too started off
Young
Hungry
Driven
Hustling
Toward the dream
My American Dream…… Esq.
So I did what anyone…everyone chasing the American Dream does
I hustled
Made those connects
Studied the greats…
The great hustlers….

Walked softly…. watched, listened, emulated
Worked my way through the system
The American system
Day in and Day out
Climbing the ladder
Shaking hands
Negotiating
Until
Until the party life…..got me
Addicted
Addicted to status
This little brown girl from Church Ave.. now regarded by society as a
member of an elite….
Better than you
Better than most
Damn that shit feels good
The high
The power..
It’s addictive
I’m penetrating you
Deeply, hard, long….
Now all you can do is say my name and hope you feel me tomorrow
How could I not fall in lust?
How could I not keep coming back?
Knowing it was starting to kill me…..

Yeah…the American Dream
My American Nightmare
Time moves….
PAUSE
I look around….I
Is this what success is all about
A bunch of bitches acting like bitches with big mouths
I’M LIVING THE AMERICAN DREAM
AND YOU KNOW WHAT,……. ITS FUCKED UP
I live a life where I am a part of a machine that rapes my people
Rapes my mind
Bleaches my spirit
Makes “America” Rich
How fitting?
How fitting that the dream in this country
A COUNTRY BUILT ON THE PRINCIPLES OF DESTROYING WHAT MUST BE DESTROYED
FOR PERSONAL GAIN
Would idealize a life that destroys those who live it for the gain of
those in power
The essence of a Hustler’s Spirit….

WAKE UP!!!!

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 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 I am interested in 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 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 searches and seizure, 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!

Rewind the clocks back before the Civil Rights Era, after the Red Scare, where if you were communist you were a nigger. No I am speaking of World War II, a defining moment in this country’s history where we joined forces with our allies overseas and toppled the Axis Powers who viciously slaughtered those of the Jewish faith and anyone else in their quest for world domination. Let us look into our backyard at today’s most successful minority, looked upon as intelligent, reserved, model citizens of this great nation; the Asian. Yes in 1942 here in America the Japanese were considered NIGGERS! Stripped of their land, businesses, and personal possessions, some 120,000 Japanese Americans were forced into relocation centers in the interiors of the country. Placed in prison camps with little to no food to eat, cramped living quarters for large families were just some of the conditions the Japanese had to experience. Propaganda spread through the media about the Japs as they were called, “good riddance to the spy’s and traitors”, these were some of the messages about the people who had only a few years prior been trying to assimilate into American culture. They too were in search of the roads paved of gold. White farmers benefited with the Japanese farmers gone, they were then able to take over their profit share and make more revenue for themselves. Even the Supreme Court of the United States permitted this racist behavior citing this exclusion did not violate the constitution arguing “it is permissible to curtail the civil rights of a racial group when there is a “pressing public necessity.” So much for Justice!

Who discovered America? Oh yes I remember we have a beautiful holiday in this country named after none other than Americas most beautiful thief, rapist, and oppressor among other names. Yes I am speaking of Columbus, when we discuss the concept of the nigger we have to speak about our beloved Columbus. You see the Indian; wait a minute what am I saying, Native Americans is the correct term because this is their native land. When we think of all the horrific things done to black people during chattel slavery our bodies quiver with fear. However, we forget that the Native American watched his woman be raped, and his family die from sickness brought by the Europeans. He watched his people become addicted to substances, his name was changed, and not just his name but also his ethnicity. To this day we call Native Americans Indians because of a mistake that an idiot made. We keep this mistake going forth, Native Americans call themselves Indians even; similar to how African Americans call themselves nigger, they have embraced the term. Last but certainly not least the Native American was robbed of his land and certainly his culture. The history that they created prior to imperialism has long been erased and they are forced to live on reservations of land and lay dependent on the powers that be. Americas first experimentation with this Nigger concept was and is still in fact the Native American!

So many Niggers over the years, and I use this term loosely for this piece in hopes to articulate the construction of an underclass. That is what it is to be a nigger. Similar to the Untouchables in India, the term nigger is rooted in not only a need for superiority but a mindset entrenched in socio-economic slavery. The ability to legally strip people of the inalienable rights that our Constitution provides for them speaks not only to a power struggle but a constant reminder of who the boss is and what can happen if the system was ever to be questioned. The term Nigger, the concentration camps, the nooses, all of these symbols are objectifiable and measurable elements of what it means to be inferior but deeper than inferiority one must know their place. You see in 2050 the white majority will actually be the minority yet they need not worry because the hegemony and institutionalized racism have made all of the niggers fearful and afraid to jolt the status quo. Nigger is a term of fear; it’s a bastardizing moment in an ethnicities history that emotionally, physically, and mentally scars the people. This fear that is instilled takes over the mind yet keeps the body, the nigger is still used for their talents but their mind will never forget that moment and how much they never want to experience such a moment again.

Malcolm X once said “If you are a citizen, why do you have to fight for your civil rights, if you’re fighting for your civil rights that means you’re not a citizen”. Niggers are not citizens, at least for the time in which they are apart of the social construct of the term. That is why the Supreme Court allowed the Japanese to be placed in internment camps, that is why we allow our media and public officials of the law to bastardize the Islamic faith. That is why Native Americans are still relegated to plots of land on reservations in a country that they once owned and were illegally dispossessed of this land. So next tie you hear the term NIGGER, or you go out and purchase the upcoming album NIGGER by Nas, be aware that this term has nothing to do with a specific group of people and more to do with a concept of how to control different groups of people. How to make one fearful, and how to make another group feel superior thus always limiting the power of one and expanding upon the power of the other.

The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their cry; the face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth. The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. A righteous man may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all; he protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken. Psalm 34: 15-20

Heaven!!!!!!! Talking bout heaven right here on earth. Stairway to heaven!!! Come on get ya shower sing on. You didn’t know I was in select chorus did you! Yessir, I was supposed to get the solo in 7th grade but they felt bad for another student. Alright I may be stretching the truth but I think I was supposed to get a solo. But here I am singing this oldie but goodie sending out this late message. Today’s C is the counselor. Often when we think of counselors we imagine that someone has a problem, that things are bad. However it may just be that a second opinion can make a world of difference.

None of us are meant to live this life alone and I am thankful for those in my life who I would call a counselor. Whether they are listening while I vent during tough times or just opening my eyes to something even greater during good times these people are essential because they help us grow. We get counsel from the Lord through prayer. His counsel may not come through your SPEAKERBOXX however it may come in the form of other people who were sent to guide you a certain way. It may come through a gut feeling or what have you. The point is the Lord is our redeemer, our ever present counselor. In fact I have found myself at times shying away from counsel because I was scared of what it would bring. All that does is cause more confusion within my spirit. I am thankful for the counselors in my life, as I’m sure you are too. Peace and Grace be unto you!

To be without a friend is to be poor indeed.

Another loser who goes to jail. The prosecution argued that Neil Entwistle was in debt and upset with his sex life so he killed both his wife and baby. The defense claimed that the wife actually killed herself and the baby and the man attempted to cover it up to restore her honor.

Both stories sound a little suspect in my opinion but judging for the Defense’s lack of a credible case it is safe to assume that this sicko killed both his wife and child.

How does on bring themself to kill their own flesh and blood. How do you kill your Queen, the very woman you have chosen to mother your understanding. Good riddance to this jerk but once again I think we need to look into programming in prisons that helps cure these people who are walking our streets with mental illnesses. Only a mental illness could drive a man to be such a heartless, cruel bastard. Strong language, I know but how dare someone take away the life of another. How dare a man give that poor baby life and then take it away. It is truly sick and I can not for the life of me understand such issues.

People like Entwistle should just!

No need in taking good people with you!

Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins. Isaiah 40: 1-2

So I’m walking in the mall yesterday strolling along, when V Cape the Legend calls. Ironically, I had missed church that morning but V Cape was calling me to tell me about his experience at church. Now this doesn’t happen too often so he had me all ears because I feel it is a necessity that as men we continue to grow each other. So V Cape was excited about what he had heard in Church; he said the Pastor spoke about the 5 C’s or five types of people who are beneficial to our growth. They are the Challenger, Confronter, Counselor, Comforter and Celebrator. He began to tell me about the sermon and it sounded amazing. I told him I would weave in some way shape or form these 5 C’s into the pardon me this week. I felt good when I got off the phone with him because even though I had failed to go to worship earlier in the day we both gained something from his experience.

Well when I went looking for a scripture this morning I was led to Isaiah chapter 40 which is the chapter that speaks of the comfort for God’s people. So comfort is the theme of today. That person who comforts you in your time of need, or weakness. When I think of comfort, I think of it being synonymous with faith, the person who comforts us holds our trust. We believe in their words because they will not steer us wrong. As God was comforting his people in the above scripture he is letting them know that their struggling is over, there time has come and they will receive the Lord’s grace. Comfort is like the warm blanket that rests upon your shoulders as you look out the window into the storm that is ravaging your neighborhood. The blanket comforts you because it keeps you warm, that warmth lets you know that this storm will be over but until then here is your comfort. You shall not be cold, for you are being protected. We must be thankful for not only the comforting person that is in our lives but we must pay homage to our Almighty Creator who always comforts us. Peace and Grace be unto you!

Unless you call out, who will open the door.

I was shocked that Soulja boy responded the way that he did. It shows a lack of respect for the older generation and leaders of Hip-Hop. I mean does Soulja Boy really think that he makes good music, like noone will remember this dude next year. And his response sounds like a immature little boy, BEAT IT!!!!

Here’s How The Whole Thing Started…

Here is Soulja boy’s response.

Soulja boy is fresh ass hell and is actually the true meaning of what hip hop is sposed to be. He came from the hood, made his own beats, made up a new saying, new sound and a new dance with one song. He had all of America rapping this summer. If that ain’t Hip Hop then what is? A bunch of wannabe keep it real rappers that ain’t even relevant, recycling samples trying to act like it’s 96 again and all they do is hate on new shit? Niggas always talk about the golden age but for a 13 year old kid, this is the golden age!!! That song was so dope cause everything he said had a hidden meaning… that’s Nas level shit… he just put it over some steel drums which is also some Nas shit if you had the 2nd album cassette with the bonus track “Silent Murder” on it. In closing… new niggas get ya money$$$$$$$$$$ Keep this shit fresh and original…. ain’t no fuckin’ rules to this shit and that’s what real hip hop is to me. - Kanye West

Now Kanye is rolling with Soulja Boy on this one. So basically if you spit on a record, loop it over a few times now you are Hip-Hop. Vanilla Ice is hip-Hop, hell if you come from the hood, make your own beats then you too can be hip hop. It doesn’t matter if you have any love for the culture, this genre of music. But clearly this is where the industry meets the culture, Soulja boy is what the industry has made. Times are changing so to say everything that is new is wack is proposterous. But for Kanye West to compare Soulja Boy to Nas is outrageous. Matter fact I am forgetting that Kanye goes on tirades and this was definitely one of them.

This is what the LORD says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the LORD. He will be like a bush in the wastelands; he will not see prosperity when it comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives. “But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit. Jeremiah 17: 5-8

Last night I was reflecting on the man I was a year and a half ago. To the naked eye not much has changed, but inside I know there is a difference. I have always had a relationship with God but that did not mean that I was working towards building a better relationship with God. I was like, I’ll stay right here where it’s comfortable, I’ll get real into the word when I get old like my grandparents. Thankfully the Lord threw some situations my way that made me realize that our connection had to get better and that we needed to be constantly working on our relationship. So I feel like this verse represents me in some ways. Not that I did not trust in the Lord, that I did not have confidence in him but maybe I was guilty of not trying to get closer to God.

Now I strive to have a better understanding of the word and how it relates to my life. Not just my life but the lives of those around me, I strive to understand how their worlds and my world have collided and what work God wants us to do together. A few months ago I was emailing Kevin Powell and I wasn’t really getting any responses. At first I was like, you know this guy is busy so it’s all good. But after a few times I became angered because I felt that I had something valuable to offer the efforts he is working on not only in Brooklyn but around the country. Well last night I had the opportunity to have a two hour conversation with the man. Someone who inspires me through his words, through his writings and definitely through our conversation. When the conversation was over all I could do was thank God. All I had wanted was an email response but now I was blessed with a memorable and enlightening conversation. Only God could make something like that possible, so I look forward to building my relationship with the Lord and working for him because it is clear that he keeps his children in his favor. Peace and Grace be unto you!

CHANGE THE WAY A MAN VIEWS THINGS AND THE MAN CHANGES HIS WORLD.