In the Spirit of Thankfulness...

Thank you.

To the unconscious force that governs everything in the Universe, from life to the movement of the stars, thank you.

I thank you that (as far as anyone can tell) you didn't allow my grandmother to suffer when she passed away on Thanksgiving morning. I am thankful that she was alert and coherent and active up to the end. I am thankful that my grandmother, who was born in 1921 and lived through the second most segregated period of United States history (after slavery), lived to see an African American man elected to the presidency of the United States of America. I am thankful that though she was alone at her final moment, she was not alone as she approached it.

I am sorry I was not able to see her on the 15th of October, her birthday, when the rest of my family came down to visit her. I could not afford to make the trip. I am ashamed and embarrassed of that. I was close with her. With the loss of her, I lost a part of myself. When I couldn't make it for her birthday, I vowed nothing would stop me from coming down on Thanksgiving. I almost didn't make it, and my mother even told me it wasn't necessary. Eventually, we decided to come no matter what, but my grandmother died while we were en route. I hadn't seen her since 2004. I didn't view her body. I would never see her again.

I am thankful for my brother, Clifton, whom, despite everything he has dealt with and continues to deal with, has become a remarkable (though somewhat angry and tense) young man. I understand his anger and tension. I love him for it, as well as for everything else that is a part of him.

I am thankful, as well, for my brother Herman. He continually (unwittingly) teaches me to be thankful for that which you have because it could always be worse. For the wrong reasons, he also reminds me to stay on my toes, and to be completely covered in love - but not blinded by it.

I am thankful for my mother, who, among other things (through her actions), has demonstrated to me that a human being can withstand absolutely anything, as long as they have a firm belief in something. Hers is God (though tainted by religion). Mine is something else. But as long as one holds a firm (though not unchanging) belief in something, they will always have a place to draw strength from.

I am thankful for and to my fiancee' Simone, for any number of things - too voluminous to articulate. Most recently, I am thankful for her ability to watch a man shed tears as he watches the early stages of his family's collapse.

I am thankful for my cat, whom is far more independent than any cat I've ever known or known of, and who brightens every evening I come home.

I am thankful that I have the opportunity to live like a near-prince in Cleveland - one of the top four poorest cities in the nation. I came from one of the wealthiest cities in the nation, where I could no longer afford to live, to one of the poorest, and found work relatively easily in a place where no one else can.

Still can't afford a car. :)

I am thankful for so much more, but no less.

I'm a Hardcore Rapper... (A Hip-Hop Parody)

(Beat: I Get Money - 50 Cent)

I'm a hard ass rapper -
I kill for fun -
I drive a tank to board meetings and
I text wit' my gun -
These rhymes are real serious -
I'm so damn hard -
That if I tripped in your driveway -
I'd shatter in your backyard -
And when you cleaned up all the pieces -
I'd slice your damn hand -
Because I'm not just hard I'm sharp -
Like the edge of a can -
I'm a murderer, a pusher, pimp, a player and plus -
I drive an 18-wheel SUV; I call it "the Bus"
It's made of solid gold and platinum -
With diamonds for wheels -
And you can see the sparks a-flyin' when I drive it to Sears -
I use it like an ice cream truck except instead I sell crack -
They had me drive it through the sand to make trenches in Iraq -
And my chain is SO BIG; people think I'm a slave -
I tell 'em "slavery is over it's just how I behave."
Nevermind the fact I'm all about the whips and the chains -
I'm a rapper so it's all about the head not the brains -

I wrote it for fun. Still, that's about the gist of hip-hop's message these days. I could probably go platinum with that.

The Incivility of the Many...

"Doesn't he ever get tired of writing about society and politics?" you may ask. The answer is yes. I do. But when I see so much that is wrong, I can't help but say something about it. After all, if you see something, say something, right?

I was recently reading an article on gay marriage on CNN's Website, and there was a post at the bottom from a citizen in response to the article. Among many other incorrect and incoherent things in his post (and other posts), this caught my eye:

"There was a vote, the majority does not want gay marriage. That's how it works in America. The Bible clearly states that marriage is between and man and a woman."

What? Firstly, of the many things wrong with this statement, let's pick on the pettiest first. This is not America, this is the United States of America, meaning the United States is in America. Mexicans, Brazilians, Ecuadorians, Canadians, Jamaicans, and anyone else in the Americas can ALL, with complete accuracy, call themselves Americans. If there were a law in France barring the baking of baguettes on Tuesdays, you would say "that's how it works in France", not "that's how it works in Europe." It would be a French law, not a European law. It's a European law in that France is in Europe, in the way that a Frenchman is a European, but a European is not necessarily French.

Secondly, what the Bible says has little to do with legislature (in principle). Our system of government was specifically designed that way. It would seem (from the many embarrassing statements over several decades) that many of those who believe we should legislate religion, have not ever actually read the Constitution of the United States of America, or any part of it. Nor, it seems, have they paid any attention in any American history class that they have attended. The United States was founded specifically ON (among other things) the principle of separation of church and state. No legislator, executive, or judiciary figure should EVER make a determination on the law based on their religious beliefs, but rather, only in the best interests of the nation. Of course, in practice this is not easy and it certainly has not worked perfectly. If you believe Issue X is morally wrong based on your religion, how can you write Issue X into law? But that is why we have the checks and balances - which also are not perfect, but this was all set up with the idea of making the church and state as exclusive of each other as possible. This is for good reason. Remember when the Catholic church controlled 80% of Europe? And that's just one (widespread and historically prominent) example.

Thirdly, and for me, the worst of the wrong, the idea that "the majority does not want gay marriage. That's how it works in [the United States]." Wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. And, this is where terminology gets dicey, because the United States (as many people incorrectly believe) is not a "democracy". It is a republic. A "democratic republic", yes, but nonetheless a republic. This distinction is important, because though they operate in an EXTREMELY similar manner, they have some important differences. A pure democracy is "majority rule". All of the citizens in that democracy gather someplace and a poll is taken on a particular interest. If half plus one vote one way, that is what is implemented. If the United States were that, the person who wrote that post on CNN would be correct. However, they were wrong because the United States is not a pure democracy.

Without going into encyclopedic depths, The United States of America is a democratic republic, which means a representative form of government, which already eliminates pure democracy, AND the Constitution of the United States establishes a republic, which is based on protecting the civil rights of the few from the tyranny and incivility of the many, by use of the majority. Becauise if all are protected, the majority is protected. That incivility may be racism, sexism, or any other "-ism", but our government is designed to protect the oppressed minority from the tyranny of the masses. It can be complicated, and obviously, has not worked perfectly. Slavery, of course, comes to mind most easily. This contradiction was "corrected" by slave owners with the "3/5th's of a man" rule, where a slave was not a full person, but property. This allowed for slavery to exist without legally contradicting the principle and law of the Constitution, though in spirit of course, it still did, because one doesn't take property to church and teach it Christianity, one does that to (or forces that onto) a person. Because, at the time, since one did not have robotic aides with interactive voice recognition software, one didn't ask their property to clean their house and work their fields, one asked (or forced) another person to do that.

The structure of the United States government, as set forth in the Constitution is the great genius that allows for this nation to correct its past mistakes. From slavery, to women's suffrage, to the release of Japanese-Americans from our concentration camps, etc., etc., etc., it is the structure of our government as a republic that not only requests, but requires us to protect the rights of the few over the tyranny and incivility of the many. As a "white-talkin' ", black male atheist, I know all too well what it is like to be an outsider and a minority, and I'm thankful that our forefathers forethought this point. By the way, many of the forefathers that created this genius-in-principle, imperfect-in-practice system were the antithesis of the people who invoke them when they discuss this great country. Many of them were the progressive, LIBERALS of their time. The same CNN poster said the "... fore fathers are probably turning in their graves..."

They are. Because of him.

It is true, we are one nation "under God", but that statement is meant to make the point:

"Aided by our religious beliefs, we as men will do what is best for men to get by, but we will not infringe on the rights of others to do as they will. We are all under God; Let God judge us and them accordingly",
not
"Our God is the end all for all".

Let God judge us and them accordingly.

Rappers for Obama...

Hypocrites. Manipulators. Liars. Fools.

These are just some of the nouns that could be used to describe the majority of rappers that supported Barack Obama in his presidential campaign. Why? Well, let's examine that.

Most rappers drive large, gas-guzzling, air-polluting SUV's and often travel in motorcades of multiple large, gas-guzzling, air-polluting SUV's.

Many rappers have clothing lines. These clothes are produced overseas in China for slave wages. They often employ black designers, but if you're a black person just looking for a job sewing the clothes together to make your ends meet, hope you can afford a long-term move to the Far East.

Most rappers support the degradation of women. Period.

Most rappers vehemently denounce homosexuality.

Obama ran on:
Energy reform - new and reusable sources of energy and the decrease of our dependence on foreign oil.

Penalizing companies that ship jobs Americans need to overseas locations to save a buck.

Respecting women and personal responsibility - financial and social.

Fighting for the rights of homosexuals (save for marriage).

Hmmm.

Clearly, rappers don't subscribe to Obama's platforms.

So why did rappers support Obama? Just because he was black?

Anyone have an answer?

Martin Luther King Jr. Was an Uncle Tom...

Yes, you read the title correctly. And not only is that my opinion - it's fact.

Martin Luther King, Jr. stood up for what he believed in, despite what others said he should do and say. Martin Luther King, Jr. fought for the rights of all oppressed people, but African-Americans in particular. Martin Luther King, Jr. did not personally believe in violence - even in self defense. Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed for his principles.

The character of Uncle Tom did all of these things. Those who invoke the character of Uncle Tom whenever they encounter a black person who simply does not see things the same way they do, discredit themselves and do a great disservice to Dr. King, Mohandas K. Gandhi, and others like them, as well as those whom these men fought for. As well, they embarrass themselves because, clearly, they have never actually read the book, but are just spitting up what they've heard someone else say. When you hear someone use the "Uncle Tom" term, ask them if they've ever read the book, then ask them (if they say "no") how they, then, arrived at their conclusion on what the term meant.

Uncle Tom did not go out of his way to appease whites. His subservience was in an effort to embrace non-violence and to protect those BLACKS whom he loved. He harbored no love of what whites did to him, but he harbored no hate for them as people. That sounds like Gandhi and King to me.

These same people shout "By any means necessary" and have the image of Malcolm X holding an AK-47 at his window locked in their minds. Ask them about the man and his principles, and that is all they can tell you. They don't tell you that not long before he died, Malcolm had come closer to King and Gandhi's views.

To black people who speak English well, write with correct grammar, have opinions that don't always involve what "Da Man" has done to them, who dress to give the impression that they are NOT criminals, who have career interests other than rap and sports, and who don't listen to Hip-Hop religiously, take pride. The ones who do all of the above and try to pass it off with homogeneity as "black culture" when it is just "street culture", they are the Uncle Toms. They are selling out to what society wants. They are marketing themselves as minstrels and baboons to the financial pleasure of corporate executives internationally. And no matter how much money some of them make ("Diddy" comes to mind - among [several] others) doing it, you are actually the ones waking up from the matrix - not them. They may have the money to travel the world, but they have learned nothing from it.

Educated, multi-interested, worldly black people unite! You have nothing to lose but your gaudy gold chains!