I regret to inform you that doctors have found that major reason for Senator Ted Kennedy’s seizure like symptoms stem from a brain tumor. More information can be found on this matter at http://www.cnn.com We should all keep the Kennedy family in our prayers during these trying times.

While sitting at home last night with some good friends yapping about relationships and the double standard between men and women somehow the channel gets changed to the season finale of Flavor of Love Part III. Utter trash, while watching this and surfing the internet I wondered how this is the highest rated show for Black Americans, as Roland Martin has stated the figures represent this show to be.

I remember being a little boy and wearing a medallion and feeling a sense of solidarity of my blackness from members of Public Enemy and the knowledge they shared with me through their records. I had to start researching and see if Chuck D, whom I have a great amount of respect and admiration for was co-signing this coonery. I was happy to see that he was not on board with Flav and this nonsense but still considered Flav a brother. That’s important to me, similar to what Obama said, we can not disown our families but we do not have to agree with some of their idiotic behaviors.

So Flavor Flav can be seen on VH1 setting the black race back with his modern day minstrel show and his minstrel video hoes. Yep I said video hoes, these women parade around selling sexual images, in their scantilly clad outfits for the world to see in hopes of a break. It worked for New York and a few of the other women who have graced this tv show but what the hell are they thinking?

The winner, her name on the show is “Thing 2″! What kind of degrading nonsense is that? Come on Flav you have to do better than this. Please do not mistake my tone for one of the black bourgeoise whose head is stuck too far in the clouds to laugh. Look through the blog, I laugh all the time but Flavor Flav disgusts me with this chauvinist nonsense. If you were ever looking for the epitome of a NIGGER, or a COON, a dis-credit to the black race than look no further than Flavor Flav. How do you sit and learn with PE and spew knowledge to generations of hip hop heads and then turn around and be the largest proponent of despicable images of black men and women.

I guess you’re laughing straight to the bank Flav, well keep laughing away your self respect. Flavor Flav SUKKS!

MTV Sucks for thinking that their horrible round table discussion about who the hottest MC’s in the game right now is relevant. I am just amazed about how these commentators view Hip-Hop! Big Daddy Kane, KRS 1, Rakim, Kool G. Rap are constantly disrespected via this mainstream Hip-Hop nonsense.

Their arguing who the Hottest MC is and have the nerve to have a serious debate about Soulja Boy. Like are you serious, now all of the sudden Soulja Boy is a staple in Hip - Hop. Lyrics were at the bottom of their discussion every time. This debate alone destroys the credibility of this list.

AND WHERE THE F*** IS COMMON ON THE LIST? MTV SUCKS

HOTTEST MC’S IN THE GAME

10. T.I.

9. Andre 3000

8. Young Jeezy

7. Lupe Fiasco

6. 50 Cent

5. Snoop Dogg

4. Rick Ross

3. Lil Wayne

2. Jay-Z

1. Kanye West

CONGRATS TO YEEZY, I JUST DON’T UNDERSTAND HOW COMMON IS NOT EVEN ON THE LIST. THE NUMBERS ARE ALL MESSED UP!

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

For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak and not lie: thought it tarry, wait for it because it shall surely come……. Habakkuk 2:3

A close friend of mine sent me this scripture a few nights ago. Prior to receiving it we had been on opposite ends of a conversation about how to handle certain things. So as a fool does, when I received this scripture, I read through it but I did not try to understand it. When our own ignorance is bliss sometimes we do not see when a lesson is being presented before our very eyes. I try not to stay ignorant for too long and I went back and read the word again. I started to allow the words to resonate within me, searching for the reason that this particular scripture had been sent to me.

For the vision is yet for an appointed time. My vision, your vision but most of all God’s vision for the greatness that we will achieve. Many of us get worn out, and frankly become tired because we feel that our dreams are taking to long to come true. Our prayers are lying in wait and while they sit in limbo, we live in the world daily with these thoughts on our brains. It takes a wise person to realize the dream is still in the universe, the prayer will be answered and when it is, it shall speak truth into our lives. However, it is not the time; what you mean it’s not the time Ced? Don’t get mad at me; I’m asking the same question with you. But just maybe if tomorrow we could achieve our greatest good, our destiny. Just maybe at this time in our lives we would not be able to appreciate it or handle the greatness we are to become. The Lord says though it may linger, have faith because his blessing will surely come to us. We are all being tested daily in our ability to have patience and to have faith in the Lord. I’m down to wait; I pray for all of us, that what we receive doubles our expectations and we laugh when we remember that we had little faith at one time and how blessed we have become. How blessed we were all along. Peace and Grace be unto you.

Proverbs are the daughters of experience

Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest? Luke 12: 22-26

Brittany Spears, Amy Winehouse, and Lindsay Lohan are just a few of the names who grace our newspapers with drug riddled stories and pictures of them visibly high off of controlled substances. The media has been extremely reckless in their portrayal of these people who actually have serious problems that need to be addressed. A close friend of mine inspired me to write the piece “Our forgotten family” about reclaiming our people who are lost to drugs and substance abuse. I challenge the media to start tackling the issues of drug abuse in our society in a much more responsible manner. Whether it’s a celebrity or the local garbage man, the horrifying reality of drug abuse needs to be discussed responsibly. R.I.P. to the saxaphonist of Haggist Horns, Jason Rae, the husband of Corrine Bailey Rae; he recently died of an alleged drug overdose. This is not a white issue or a black issue, this is a people issue, let’s reclaim our forgotten family.

Our forgotten family

“What’s going on”, these are the words sang by the late great Marvin Gaye in the 1970’s. Here in 2008 this question still needs to be addressed and this time we need to move toward solving the many ills that face our communities. I had a conversation the other day with a close friend of mine and we were discussing substance abuse in our society. Drugs are raping and ravaging our communities of our brightest and most beautiful minds at a rate that leaves us dazed and confused and desperately searching for a resolution.

I thought about the negative images that are bestowed upon drug abusers, the disrespect that they face daily. Everyone has a vice, but these people are treated as if they are sub-human. Do we not all know someone who may be addicted to drugs or someone who may have had a problem with substance abuse in the past? What’s even more amazing is how we turn our backs on our own people in a time when they need us most. Is a crack head, or junkie not someone’s mother, father, sister, brother or maybe just a friend? Why do we leave our people at their weakest times and allow them to fall even deeper into their despair, helping them sink to even more desperate measures to obtain that “high”.

I started off this piece with adults in mind, I thought about all of the adults that I see in urban areas addicted to drugs looking for their next fix. But then I looked at some startling statistics and to my dismay I saw the increasing numbers of young teenagers who are smoking crack. No longer can we push drug abusers to the outskirts of the community and the abandoned houses in the neighborhood. Drugs are infecting the brilliant minds of tomorrow at record numbers and if we continue to ignore this problem we may be looking at the destruction of our communities as we know it.

Of course it is not our fault that people resort to drug abuse, however what we forget is it is often not their fault either. We all handle hardships and pain differently. Some feel the need to escape using alcohol; others resort to hard drugs, while some of us use promiscuity as a way to alleviate our stressful lives. None of these vices are correct but we have no right to neither judge nor condemn these people. In fact our judgment becomes a part of the problem rather than the solution.

Imagine it is your own mother who’s abusing drugs, or your little brother. Because these people are somebody’s brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, aunts and so on and so on. The first step in helping to solve this situation is to embrace those with drug problems, perhaps volunteering your time at a local rehabilitation center. The effects of drug abuse are very dark; when people feel abandoned they only crawl deeper into a space where no one can see them. It is in this space that addicts become violent stopping at nothing to reach their high because that high is where they feel comfortable amongst others who feel just as lonely. We need to reclaim our brothers and sisters who have fallen by the waist side. If not for them and their benefit, then for the benefit of our children who see this lifestyle and attempt to emulate it. It happens more often than we would like to believe.

Our approach to drugs can no longer be to sweep this taboo under the rug because it is seeping into our living rooms like a poison and killing entire families in our communities. Besides volunteering and drug rehabilitation programs, the way that we address people who have substance addictions needs to change. Drug user or not these people are human beings who deserve to be treated respectfully and encouraged to get back on the right track. A simple hello, can I get you something to eat never hurt anyone, in fact it may save someone’s life. Lets take the lid off of this problem that is so drastically raping our communities and be proactive in speaking the message of drug prevention. Let us volunteer at programs, and if they do not exist create programs that help to teach job skills, programs that address the depression issues that may have started someone down the path to illegal drug use in the first place. Let’s reclaim Our Forgotten Family, let’s Make It Happen!

February 21, 2008

As he drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside by begging. And hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what this meant. They told him, Jesus of Nazareth is passing by. And he cried out, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me! And those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, Son of David, have mercy on me! And Jesus stopped and commanded him to be brought to him.  And when he came near, he asked him, what do you want me to do for you? He said, Lord, let me recover my sight. And Jesus said to him, Recover your sight; your faith has made you well. And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God. 

– Luke 18: 35-43

Good morning, I had to read this one a few times because at first all I saw was the man recovering his sight by way of his faith. However, when I looked a little deeper I saw so much more and I wanted to share my thoughts. Things were running through my head, like our destiny, and the journey we must travel to get there.

He cried out for Jesus because he knew that he could help him. Men sat right there and knew that the man needed help yet they rebuked him. Here a man in need is almost turned away by his fellow man despite his cries for help. Think about your dreams, think about when you are in need and some people try to hold you back, they don’t help push your dreams forward instead they attempt to hold you back. Should you stop! The man didn’t stop, he cried louder, cried out for the Lord louder. Here the man shows how determined he is, he knows the works of Jesus; he knows that this moment right now may change his life. He won’t allow any adversity to stop him from reaching his destiny, that’s what his cries represent to me.

Jesus heals him, but his words are so real, your faith has made you well. Your faith; what you believe in is how you reach your destiny, that is how we achieve. Believing in the creator, having faith that we do not exist here alone, the man had faith in the power of the Lord and he was healed. He didn’t take that healing and go chill, like “I’m good”. Instead he followed in the way of the lord, giving praise to God. He took the blessing the Lord gave him and showed it to everyone who could see so that they could know the power of the Lord. Sometimes when we read a passage like this, I know I imagine a dirt road, and from that point on this man followed Jesus around. But today I looked at it like he followed in the ways of Jesus; he followed in the teachings, and allowed his new sight, him reaching his destiny to be a testament of the Lord’s work. We get blessings everyday, when we are blessed maybe we should take from this man and show others the blessing so that they too can be blessed. I like how the man went on to show others his blessing despite the fact that others had tried to keep him from his blessing.  Peace and Grace be unto you!

A man with too much ambition cannot sleep in peace.