Cedric the Entertainer

Cedric the Entertainer is at the White House Press Correspondents' Dinner. He came on just after Laura Bush. George is up on there on the dais as well.

I think it's cool that Cedric is up there. As much as I may not like the president, he is still the President. You don't have to like or even respect the person, but the office itself should be respected.

Irony

While flipping through channels I've come upon vh1 a.k.a. MTVLite. I'm watching what appears to be a show about hip hop. It is...sort of.

It's the 40 Least Hip Hop Moments.

You know what the irony of the situation is?

The show in itself is probably one of the "least hip hop moments."

When did vh1 become an authority on hip hop?

The first hip hop video I ever saw on vh1 was Will Smith's "Wild Wild West," which is actually more like hip pop (no offense Mr. Smith).

Aw man, now they're clownin' "Gettin' Jiggy Wit' It." Et tu, Brute?

vh1 used to be like MTV in it's early days- as white as the driven snow. But since cash rules everything around me, once White suburban kids started buying hip hop everything changed. 75% of the purchasers of rap music are non-Black.

Of course on the flip side, one could argue that what we have is an example of the economic opportunity that comes along with living in the United States. True dat, true dat.

But my beef is that Black people don't have ownership of hip hop culture- it's becoming recognized as everybody's culture now. To be clear, I'm not talking about culture sharing. I'm all about culture sharing. However in order to share on an equal plane there must be equal recognition of who is contributing what.

For example, just because you can buy a can of Chef Boyardee ravioli off the shelf at CVS, doesn't mean that ravioli isn't a distinctly Italian dish.

Rap music and hip hop culture as a whole is not only a distinctly African American- and to an extent Latino American- form of expression; it's roots lie in the struggles and turbulations of African descendants in North America for the past 400 years or so.

Georgia Erases 'Jim Crow' Laws - Yahoo! News

I don't even know what to say about this one...

Mic Check

Mic Check one two one two

Previous post hasn't shown up yet so I'm trying to make sure everything is all gravy

War for Oil?

No war for oil huh?

Even I didn't harp on the war for oil bit- it just seemed too obvious, too shady.

But Ahmad Chalabi is going to head Iraq's Oil Ministry?

Are you kidding me?

The dude who was Bush's boy? Rollin' with Rumsfeld?

But then fell out of favor over allegations of passing secrets to Iran?

And was accused of "selling" the war the Bush Administration?

Seriously though, does anyone else find this a bit fishy? Something seriously doesn't smell right.

Is it a coincidence that oil prices are rising, the Bush Administration is under political pressure to do something about it, and the Administration's "former" pal is now running the oil ministry of Iraq- which has the world's second largest oil reserves? !

You know who's #1 right?

That's right....

Saudi Arabia.

Didn't Bush just meet with is ol' buddy Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia- yes I believe he did. What did they discuss? Um, I think it was OIL!!!

So Bush, whose family business is oil, is now tight with the #1 and #2 oil countries in the world.

I gotta continue this later...Agents

Oldie But a Goodie- and Still Valid

Q: How many Bush Administration officials does it
take to screw in a light bulb?

A: None. There is nothing wrong with the light bulb;
its conditions are improving every day. Any reports
of its lack of incandescence are a delusional spin
from the liberal media. That light bulb has served
honorably, and anything you say undermines the
lighting effect. Why do you hate freedom?

Witness to a Hero

A few weeks ago God bestowed his blessings upon me in allowing me to meet one of the great heroes of the 20th century- Dr. Dorothy I. Height.

I meant to write about it when it happened, but I didn't know what to say. I didn't know how to properly articulate this encounter.

Dr. Height has played an enormous role in the re-shaping of American society over the past 70 years or so, working with other human rights leaders such as Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

I feel very grateful and very blessed to have met her.

She was at a booksigning, discussing her book Open Wide the Freedom Gates: A Memoir.

I wasn't there for the actual event, I was just in the vicinity doing something else- which is another reason this was such a blessing.

We gotta carry on Dr. Height's legacy. We gotta keep marching, onward and upward.

White Man's Burden No Longer

Yo, I'm watching Lou Dobbs Tonight on CNN. Lou Dobbs is talking to Congressman Mark Foley of Florida about illegal immigration.

They were complaining because of the number of undocumented immigrants who are receiving treatment in hospitals at taxpayer's expense.

To think- people who need help are actually getting help...for FREE?!?!

And they're "illegal immigrants"- which of course means they're some shade of brown.

Sound the White Man's Alert!

Those daggone smelly liberals have sold out the country to the darker nations and lazy bums of the Earth!

Let us rally around King George and his Dick Cheney, and reclaim the empire--er, uh...republic!



C'mon man...you got beef because people who are sick went to the hospital? What sense does that make?

So what if tax payer money is partially spent on their care?

Sharing is caring.

Have some compassion. Seriously, where's the humanity? What if YOU were in another country trying to survive and you got sick. What would you do?

And don't say "I wouldn't be in that situation...blah blah blah."

What if you were in their situation, what would you do?

What if you went to the hospital and they wouldn't let you in. What if you just needed some penicillin, just a week's worth?

But they told you "NO."

What would you do?

The United States of America is a great country to live and grow, and anyone who lives here should feel extremely fortunate. And we Americans are known for representin' at every possible moment....

...but don't be that kid.

You know...

....that kid who brags about how big his house is, or how cool his video games are, or how great his food tastes- and then doesn't share.

That's just not right.

And you know your mother raised you better than that.

Will Smith: Lost and Found

Okay, I've been stalling enough on this Will Smith review. The problem is I'm not too sure what to think of it.

It's obvious listening to this album that the artist formerly known as the Fresh Prince put a lot of heart and sweat into the tracks.

But I do believe that honesty is the best policy...

...and I was dissapointed when I found out "Switch" made the album. Actually I was more dissapointed when I found out that was his lead off single. "Switch" definitely is not one of the better tracks.

"Here He Comes," which samples the theme song from the old Spider-Man cartoon, packs a fierce punch and sets the tone for the album as a serious attempt by Big Will to re-establish himself in the game. I actually raved about the verse he spit on this track in an earlier post, when I thought it was freestyle and over a different beat. To be honest, I think the original beat I heard it on was better, but the Spider-Man flow is still tight.

Smith definitely has a club banger with "Party Starter"- there's plenty of bass to get you hyped and lookin' for someone to dance with. It doesn't really sound that much different from some of the bass filled songs out there (WHAAAT?!), but it has enough of it's own flavor to stand up on it's own.

That kind of brings me to one of the downside of the album- quite a few of the tracks sound eerily similar to songs by other artists, most notably Eminem, 50 Cent, and Jadakiss. "Could U Love Me," for example, closely resembles "21 Questions."

I'm not quite sure if this is intentional or not, as Will Smith may be trying to make a statement as expressed in "Lost and Found." The title track is actually one of my favorites because Will expresses the frustration of so many hip hop heads with the same-old cookie cutter "n*gga, thug, b*tch" records.

Lost and Found may be signaling the era of Adult Rap, a natural evolution of a musical genre as the pioneering generations grow older.

If you're only hooked on G-G-G-G-G-G-G UNIT!, then you might not find this your cup of tea. However if you're a true hip hop head and appreciate hip hop's diversity and maturity, you should definitely pick this up. Likewise if you want some music that sounds like what's out there- but don't want to be afraid to listen to around little kids.

Miseducation

You know, I'm really tired of all the lies and b.s. that we see on the TV, in the news, in books, etc.

I'm tired of the gross misrepresentations of African history.

I was in Egypt this past summer, and I visited the Cairo Museum.

I saw for myself the DARK SKIN, KINKY HAIR, AND BROAD NOSES of some the Egyptians.

I saw for myself the Black faces displayed in Egyptian military art- representations of those to the south with whom the Egyptians battled at the time of King Tutankhamun.

I saw for myself how the Egyptians engaged in commerce with people from the Kingdom of Punt- which is present day SOMALIA.

Ancient Egypt was a vast civilization that spanned THOUSANDS of years. The Washington Monument is a big obelisk, which was used to honor kings and queens in Ancient Egypt.

And the "Egyptians" called it Misr (MISS-rr). The word "Egypt" is derived from Greek. Don't get it twisted.

Timbuktu was represented as a "dusty town in the 1820's" on Jeopardy the other day- Timbuktu, in present day Mali, was an international center of learning during the middle ages.

The African continent has had urban centers of international trade for thousands and thousands of years.

STOP THE MISEDUCATION!!!

No News is Good News

I've decided to stop selecting news stories from the web and putting a link on the side bar to the right. If there's a news piece I want to share I think I'll just put it in a post from now on. It's too much maintenance to keep up, and I'm not technically savvy enough to have it done automatically.

If anyone objects speak now or forever hold your peace.




Or until you lose sleep over it, which ever comes first.

Black Embarrassment Television

I was going to go on a rant about BET, but I think I'll just ask one question:

Do we not have the capacity to do better, or the will?

What's So Different?

Ahh...I have a headache. Not a major one or anything like that- praise be to God- but significant enough that I know it's there.

I hadn't intended on blogging this evening because there's a wealth of stuff I want to write about, but I didn't want to get sucked in and spend my whole evening blogging (it can be very addicting).

But why not?

Lost and Found

Do yourself and hip hop a favor by going out and buying Will Smith's new album Lost and Found. I'll tell you why you should in a bit.

Five Dolla Holla

Check out this article from Black America Web about the MLK Memorial.

If every Black person just gave $5 we would have more than enough funds.

So, what are you waiting for?

DONATE

Still a Nigger 2005

Click the post title link to check out an article on the new National Urban League report which shows that Blacks still lag behind Whites economically.

Why does this issue persist? Because even if you got dough you're STILL A NIGGER.

Pardon me- NIGGA- does that make you feel better?

First of all, as I said earlier if we use White America as the standard we will always be behind because our self-worth will only be measured as compared to them.

Second of all I think it's real funny that some cats think just because a few Negroes got some high-profile jobs that things are supposed to wonderful across the board.

It's only been 40 years since the wave of civil rights legislation made America start practicing what it preaches- that's not enough undo centuries of mental and physical slavery.

This is one of those things that really irks me- a group of people that have been kidnapped and enslaved on another side of the Earth, systematically stripped of their religion & culture & language, declared by LAW to be nothing more than property, brainwashed to believe that they are nothing and will be nothing without the benevolence of the very people who enslaved them are not going to just "snap out of it" because of Affirmative Action and the Voting Rights Act. And the only reason we got to where we are today is because of the rivers of bloodshed by those seeking a better life.

Willie Lynch may or may not be an actual historical figure, but the philosophy is deplorably real- any U.S. ghetto will show you that.

The sadly ironic fact is that the American dream of freedom, justice, and equality is part of the fuel which has driven the engine for Black liberation since 1776.

MESSAGE TO BLACK PEOPLE: Wanna change things? Reconnect with our brothers and sisters in the Diaspora. Love the bling bling? Ice? Where do you think all that comes from? Diamonds, gold, etc.? You could be buying straight from your brothers and sisters in the Motherland. We have purchasing power they have resources; together, we can achieve freedom.

Brother King

Two days ago, April 4th, was the 37th anniversary of the assassination of Brother Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

I know I should have posted on the actual day, but I did not. Excuses are tools of the incompetent.

Although we celebrate Brother King's life during the national holiday, let us not forget his death. Let us not forget how a champion of truth and justice was murdered at the hands of White supremacy and lust for power.

As we remember, let us re-committ ourselves to building a better world for all. A world of truth, justice, and liberty for everyone.

Let us continue the struggle until every human soul can finally cry out, "free at last, free at last, thank God almighty, we are free at last."

Public Schools

It's no secret that our nation's public schools are abysmal, especially in urban areas. The champion of freedom and democracy- the United States, world's only superpower- mentally enslaves and disenfranchizes millions of youth each year by subjecting them to a woefully inadequate educational system.

Is there a solution? I believe so. I believe we need to build more schools. If it sounds simple then that's because it is. We need more schools with much smaller class sizes. Of course this is not a panacea, but until the swelling is released from our over-crowded and over-burdened system, public school will continue to just be a place that kids are supposed to go during the day. Kindergarten in New York City Public Schools averaged 20.3 in 2004, and the number goes up in higher grades, reaching 27 in 9th grade. I personally would like to know the median in order to get a better picture, but nonetheless overcrowding is not a new issue.

Now, how are students supposed to get the individual attention they need if they're lost in the sauce? More schools can also bring economic development: construction crews, more teachers, janitors, cafeteria workers, etc. Isn't that worth a few billion dollars?

No, you say?

It's all good- how about corporate sponsorship: General Motors Foundation Elementary School. Then it would really be true that what's good for General Motors is good for America. That'll ease the "burden" on taxpayers... How about a fat tax write off for Microsoft, Dell, and Apple to hook up the technology for the kids?

We can fix public schools by forcing public officials to act on our needs and demands. We need to be proactive- nobody else is going to do it for us.

Johnnie Cochran (1937-2005)

May the Peace and Blessings of God be upon Johnnie Cochran.

Pope John Paul II (1920-2005)

May the Peace and Blessings of God be upon Karol Wojtyla.

Original Work

Whatup everyone. Here is some stuff I wrote. I hope you like it, and even if you don't, thanks anyway for reading.

why so much desolation/isolation/perspiration/I feel the heavy weight/of holdin' up/the whole Black Nation/I'm just a man/flesh and blood/just a human being/and I feel powerless/at all the pain/that I been seein'/I try to live right/be good/act smart/I want a better world/am I'm just tryin'/to play my part/too many times it seems/people blinded/by the green/give up they soul/for the gold/actin' so obscene/it's all on different levels/we got to work together/at times I can't take/all the messed up ways/we treat each other/people drink and drug/to hide them/from they facts of life/they question their existence/when they go to sleep at night

Back on the Grind

Man, I really don't like to have gaps in my postings. If I had my way I'd have multiple postings every day; but alas, the nature of the daily grind forces us to prioritize our time.

I got some encouragement from one my boys today; that felt good. I wasn't sure if peeps was actually reading this. I gotta get a Site Meter account or something like that. Big ups to Shuttabug for dropping some comments and showing me love. Much appreciated.

I went to a hip hop show tonight- y'know, rhymes, spoken word, etc. Usually there's more going on like breakdancing and such, but I arrived late so maybe I missed a few things. I was hoping to read some of my own stuff but the open mic was over by the time I got there.

I've been thinking about posting some of my stuff...maybe I will.