Just a Moment

This is sparked from conversations with my dawgs Jai and D-Train. 

After you read this, please take between 45 seconds and 2 minutes to give God praise for Jesus Christ.  If you don't want to get traditionally chruchy, just say something like:
God, I really appreciate that you had in mind to have Jesus die for sin so that I wouldn't have to.  I understand that You hate sin and refuse to tolerate it; so somebody had to pay for that.  But for some reason, you allowed Your Son to do that.  Also, You made it possible that I could know who He is and could chill with Him.  Now He's my best friend and I know You better because of what He did.  Thanks a lot, real talk. 
Or something similar in your own words.  He is the absolute reason for my personal joy (not necessarily happiness), strength, health, and survival.  Although the Lord has watched and shown mercy to me since I got here in 1978, when I acknowledged that Jesus was the Son of He who is great, my prosperity began to increase rapidly.  Not only that, because one Sunday in the early 2000s I decided to call His Name, I am living and breathing. 

Get Real This Time

Several African American media markets that I have given my attention to (Richmond Free Press, the Voice, black social media, etc.) are buzzing about the onslaught that the Republican party and its allies are giving the Democrats; or more specifically, President Barak Obama, over the ever present national debt situation.  For some reason, these writers, commentators, and others are appalled that the opposing political party would have the audacity to cultivate and magnify the current American financial crisis so it can be a rock-solid political platform against the incumbent president (of rival party status).  As if this tactic has never been used in politics on any level before, they can't believe that someone would bring up an issue that has secretly plagued the stability of "the greatest nation on earth" for decades when the white politicians never mentioned it; even as they were perpetuating the problem.  Therefore, because of the overwhelming prevalence of misguided opinions from very intelligent people, peep game...

Blind Take - Pelican Bay Hunger Stike and Counting

Issue: On July 1, inmates at the Pelican Bay State Prison (Security Housing Unit) in Del Norte County, California began a hunger strike to protest the "inhumane" treatment by the prisons' system and staff towards the inmates.  In addition, inmates in many other California prisons have joined the effort.  The strikers in PBSP have 5 demands which are for the prison to stop group punishment, cancel the "debriefing" policy and change the prison's gang status criteria, serve better food, expand programs and privileges for long-term SHU residents, and comply to a 2006 report by the U.S. Commission on Safety and Abuse in America's Prisons.  Around 1,000 protesters are still striking, and it seems nearly certain that some strikers will either be forced fed or will die.  The strike has also put an intense strain on the medical staff at the facility; as many are working around the clock hours to deal with the crisis.

Leaning

There is a theme that is woven in the fabric of capitalism that disturbs me more with each passing year - I will call it the do-whatever-for-the-dough (money) age.  This ideology implies that an individual should be willing to investigate all avenues and opportunities to bring in the desirable income without yielding to any legal or moral roadblocks.  As a matter of fact, in many respected business' it is commonplace to have this down to be able to compete with the other sharks.  And obviously the rappers love to use this attitude to validate how serious they are about their financial security.  Most recently Ace Hood has released the same song under different names back to back (Hustle Hard and Go N Get It), where he emphatically proclaims that his struggles have lead him on a no holds barred mission for the cash.  He displays this by scoring a hit, repackaging the hit to steer away from the lack of creativity he may have, and selling it back to the consumer.  Shameless attempt to say the least.  Still, when most of us think about this "whatever-for-the-dough" notion, we tend to think about the individual or group who projects the viewpoint as evil and vile--particularly when it comes out the mouth of a music artist or a large business executive.  However...

It's Broke

Thanks to my mother and her Cobblestone magazine collection (only the sons and daughters of the educators would know what this is) I've always been a fan of the study of history.  Along with that, I was able to go to school and really have a different perspective on many things that my Confederate influenced schools taught me.  For example, I always thought Lee-Jackson-King Day was ignorant; and each one of my teachers at Chamberlayne Elementary didn't explain to me why we were celebrating two military officials who were proponents of slavery and a civil rights leader on the same day.  I also thought early on that ideally communism was the better government.  At the time I couldn't understand why it wasn't conveyed that way on the news; but later in life I was able to determine that it wasn't a system error, but there were evil people controlling the system--just like capitalism.  I think when we look at any time of organization, group, or business and begin to criticize its actions; we need to determine if the problem is with the system or the individuals running it.

This is Our People

I was going to speak on this...then I decided not to...then someone asked me to...then something related happened...so now I'm talking about it.  So...

How Casey Anthony Got Off

Chippin' Away

Sad to say, none of us can recall a time when the United States was a Christian nation, because it never was such a thing.  Please don't get 'escaping from religious persecution' confused with following Christ.  As a matter of fact, many of us, including Christians, have pushed for it to not be one.  Instead, we have endorsed the many freedoms that the U.S. has afforded to its gullible citizens and relished in the toxic runoff these liberties have produced.  Because America was founded by  rebels posing as business men, and furthered through the terrorism of the colonial rebellion towards Great Britain (commonly referred to as American revolutionists); we can never assume that 'One Nation Under God', the phrase that graces every American dollar bill, was a reference to Jehovah (or the many names that the true and living God is called by humans).  It could be more accurate to state that our founding fathers were referring to the dollar bill itself; or maybe even themselves.  But what is certain is that those men and women who chose to to secede from the Union of Great Britain did not sincerely have God in mind when they carved out this One Nation.  And what is also dead on is this current government propels similar attitudes.

Bring the Heat Anyway

Back in the U.S.A...once again it's on...

Please understand this; Gospel music is the only real music there is.  When I speak of Gospel music, I'm not just referring to the traditional Sixth Mount Zions, the Marvin Sapps, and the Yolanda Adams'.  But all music that includes the message of Jesus Christ--whether it has R&B, hip-hop, country, bluegrass, reggae, soca, or pop roots-- is included.  I find this to be true because of the fact that the Son has been around since the beginning of the beginning.  In sharp contrast, coming is a time where our jobs, social clubs, governments, and all earthly materials and accolades that we work and play so hard for will be forgotten.  Everything is temporary except His Word, and no matter how any artist makes us feel that his or her story is real and/or is real to us, it can only be partially authentic because it is not a permanent entity in the eternal life each one of us has.  With that said, and with the understanding that the topic of the saving grace offered by Jesus Christ and His indescribable sacrifice is an unshakable reality, why is there such a lack of creativity with regards to popular African American Gospel music?