2009 an Unfortunate Year for Black Men

Barack H. Obama kicked it off.

He was this cool and collected, Ivy-leagued educated individual who openly played basketball and dissected national policy between hoop shots and presidential candidacy debates.

Healthy, proud, intelligent black men were envogue.

All eyes were on the specimen that has been tagged, profiled, and degraded in unmeasurable ways.

Suddenly, the brothers were popping up everywhere other than sports. We saw black men as news commentators to panel discussants to CEOs. They all became the face of something other than a mug shot.

And black men, for once, were able to breathe, a little, as America fought for their humanity and applauded their leadership.

Ahhh we thought, but for how long? Oh, not too long.

Obama who was lifted up in high-esteem has now been scraped from under every damn bus you can imagine. His backbone, somewhere surfing in Hawaii.

Folk from every walk of life who swore he was going to do something are frustrated and very disappointed. This air of discontent provides excellent breeding for more anti-Obama rhetoric that has consistently been vehemently racist, volatile, and inaccurate.

And then report after report flooded the news of all types of black men who were taking hits from their temporary star status. And this time there was no discrimination. All brothers, from coons to cool and everything in between got twisted in these interesting and disturbing ways.

Van Jones, who enjoyed a very brief tenure as White House Environmental advisor, was quickly cut up and dismissed.

Tiger Woods, the highest paid athlete in the world, who is now in rehab, has totally shattered his life and is now known as the whore magnet to working white trashy chicks with horrible blonde tints and fake tits.

Former Detroit mayor and ex-convict, Kwame Kilpatrick (dumb ass) is now the face of urban apocalypse in America.

Kanye West became the negro you'd love to hate when he grabbed the microphone from Lily, pristine, innocent Taylor Swift.

Chris Brown was crowned, "woman beater of the year," and became the lesson for all emotional disturbed white feminists and domestic violence classes while Charlie Sheen's knife-to-the-throat act has been swept under the rug.

Lil Wayne, T.I., Lil Boosie, Jim Jones, Juelz Santana, NAS, Kid Cudi, and damn near half of black male rappers were either convicted, arrested, or shot.

FOX who has mastered all gutter tactics in propaganda fired back by guest black male commentators to speak against any-and-all Obama. Established coons such as: Larry Elder, Shelby Steele, Armstrong Williams, John McWhorter (gagging right now), Earl Ofari Hutchinson (on-the-fence buffoon), and my current unfavorite, Juan "Porch Monkey" Williams have kept the ball of house-negroism rolling.

Though they claim they are boot-strapped and successful, they validate the racist structures they so coldly defend.

But when Republican National Committee responded to the Democratic's "HNIC" by electing Michael Steele, former Lieutenant Governor of Maryland as their chairman, the house negroes quickly understood that they are simply pawns.

Steele was stunting like a peacock and talking big shit about how RNC was going to change and include more minority visibility and blah, blah, blah. Sounded like good sound bites until he challenged "Good ole boy" and admitted drug addict, radio host Rush Limbaugh's leadership deft. Shortly thereafter, Steele's chest was deflated and he was silenced.

If you didn't know, all the members of the Congressional Black Caucus are currently under investigation. From what I've heard, it is a political move because most of them are ranked high due to seniority (though all of them need to be ashamed of their bullshit).

But let's talk about Congressman William Jefferson out of Louisiana for his corruption conviction due to taking charges from a Nigerian "businessman." Then had the audacity to run and win in the midst of the mayhem.

And do you remember the stinky little situation between Congressman Jesse L. Jackson, Jr and Roland Burris on the scandal regarding who got to take Obama's senate seat after his election. It resulted in an FBI investigation that shut up Jackson real quick.

As well, how could Congressman Charles Rangel out of New York, the most tenured representative, and the most powerful, "forget" to pay his taxes from rental income.

From the troubles, tragedies and bad judgements seen in Plaxico Burress, to Michael Vick, to Chris Henry, to Allen Iverson's groveling, and finally, Tiger Woods, the black male athlete's image has been minimalized to nothing more of a brute.

A $40 million dollar slave, as William C. Rhoden accurately points out. Black athletes have money, but lack fiscal and political wealth because they have yet to conjure the courage to break free of the imprisoning entertainment sports system that has dictated their every move since they were dreaming to make it big in middle school.

Add on scandalous affairs and ugly divorces, Michael Vick and Tiger Woods represent where black male athletes will be deduced to, miniscule contracts and public images that are at the mercy of franchise shareholders and sponsorship.

My brothers had a rough year, from Gods to Dogs in a matter of seconds.

And this is just a side note. Why in the hell does Al Sharpton still have the nasty perm in his hair?

Blog on EcoSoul

Breaking NEWS! Nigerian Terrorist or American Patsy?

And the plot thickens. I got this video from an excellent news source, Black Agenda Report, who posted a commentary questioning Umar Mutallab's credibility as a "terrorist".

When I heard about the incident, I doubted it when I heard the pieces of info, but let me not tell you, Imma let someone who you think is more "credible" do it. This video is from RT or Russian Television, an online news source out of Russia and the first web news source from the region that boasts correspondents from all over the world.

Like Public Enemy used to tell us, "Don't Believe the Hype."

Check out the video below by clicking this image.

Myth of Black Male Shortage

What you want my make you cry/What you need might pass you by/If you don't catch it

What you need ironically/Will turn out what you want to be/If you just let it

Lauryn Hill "When it hurts so bad."

For the last three days, I've been seeing these broadcasts about the shortage of black men and I want to throw my shoe at the television and my computer screen. This is such a myth that has black women looking for love in all the wrong places.

But there are many inaccuracies about this myth that are not tackled. This encompasses the lie that black females were told growing up. It was hammered into our psyches that if we did good in school, didn't act like a hoochie-coochie in public, and got a degree, we could have any man we wanted. Then we were instructed to only get men of a certain, how should I say this, status.

Additionally, the brothers today not only have to have a good job, good credit, and a fabulous wardrobe, but he gotta have this Obama-Jay Z swagger. OHH fucking eMMM Geee! The expectations have become incredibly unattainable.

And these women, with their nice Ann Taylor three-pieces, are sitting all dolled-up in the church pews, with half of the qualifications they ask of, praying to God for "Mr. Right."

Oh, and this one gets me. When a woman meets a man with these qualifications, she complains when she has to be the perfect housewife, career woman, supermommy and a stripper rolled into one.

Today, many of those women, married and single, are crying the blues for a host of reasons.

For some of us, two abortions, bad credit, four relocations, a restraining order, and an assault case later, we are still lonely.

Where are the good men? We cry.

Right under our noses, and in many cases, not from the United States.

When I was in Atlanta, I complained to a male friend of mine that I was going out with some of the most shiftless Negroes I came across. These suit-and-tie fools, who were Morehouse graduates, walked around like cocks in hen-pens. They were so arrogant because they thought they had a huge pick of hens, but so confused because they kept selecting chicken heads.

My friend gave me advice that I thank him for to this day. He said, "EcoSoul, real men are not afraid to ride the Marta (public trains)."

This snapped me back into reality. Silly me, I had been closed-minded to an area of brothers who are eligible, honest, and loving; however, I have heard a lot of sisters suck their teeth in disagreeance, or worry about what their family and friends would say if they brought home a blue collar man.

And, if they do go out with one brother who is not a "working professional" and the experience is horrible, they blame it on their social status and go right back to chasing sport-fucking attorneys and cornball corporate types who bore the shit out of them.

My father being a truck driver, and my mother being an intellectual, I grew up in a household where my mother married and stayed with a man who socially did not "fit" her status. But six children and 36 years later, they are still thriving.

Which gets back to this shortage. Not only must women be open to the pool of men they are selecting, but not be afraid to look at black men from other countries.

This goes for women who are not just African-American, but women who are African and Caribbean who all turn their noses to other black ethnicities for not being their type of man.

Truth be told. When you are dating the West, the rules change for everyone. Black folk from other countries do not operate within the context of their ethnic/cultural heritages, but adapt to the hybrid conditions.

I hear my African sisters and West Indian women tell me their stories about men that want them to cook and act like their mamas, and then look and fuck like Beyonce! Tsk, Tsk.

My sisters laugh at me when I tell them to travel and go off the resort and meet brothers who are working in the business sectors of Africa, South America and the Caribbean. These places are teeming with eligible black males.

Now, I'm not saying to pick up of those resort prostitutes. There are successful black men in every black country who needn't worry about Visas and Green Cards. But there are also honest working men that you might find.

Now, I'm not saying that the shit is not tricky. Just like in US, every place has dudds, but everyone is not hopping and jumping to scam.

Be open and cautious. There are places that specialize in selling sex. There are African-American men who flock to Brazil to pluck g-string female beachgoers who are really prostitutes combing the sands for a John. In the end, these brothers walk away with drawers full of TNT or in some cases, a record.

An AIDS test, a family check, and a courtship.

Another suggestion is to leave the "Stella Got Her Groove Back," mentality behind. You see where that got the author of the book, a Jamaican who came out of the closet after he cha-chinged.

Anyway, the last thing you want to do is exoticize black men in other countries because you will get what you think, someone who is more freakier than you fantasized about.

HO hum, I know some people are saying, EcoSoul, you are really going there. And yes, I am. There is no shortage, sisters gotta do what nomads have been doing for thousands of years. When the land is dried up they go to another place and find fertile soil.

Attempted Terrorist Attack? It's All About AFRICOM, Nigerian Oil and NWO (new world order)

Many Arabs should be relieved because there is now another face added to the face of terrorism, that is African people and all people of African descent.

And if your life has been like mine, people who are not African, or black, or have dark skin cannot tell the difference between an African and an African-American. Moreover, most people who are not African or black care not to know the difference.

With that said, black folk are once again on the terrorist watch and that sigh of relief that was made in 2001 is gone.

Of course when Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab was arrested, I heard little whispers of, "Those damn Nigerians."

And I could just imagine what Nigerians across the world have been saying, or thinking, especially those who have been dogged with the stereotypes of this West African country. The main descriptor used for Mutallab is that he is Nigerian, not Muslim, not insane, not confused young kid, but Nigerian.

More importantly, the botched airplane attack, that has so many holes in it, has generated much more than an American scare. This is no more than a bait-and-switch, meaning, we will use this incident to implement more control for things that have nothing to do with security, but everything to do with securing control over the people.

Mutallab incident has quickened the worldwide security measures that will eventually exclude those who are plugged into the matrix, to those who are removed from the global GPS tracking devices. And that means Nigeria.

Best believe when you travel there will be the high tech securities you used to see in the movies and thought were not real. There has already been an announcement that mandatory X-rays will be taken for international flights at airports. In Europe, I have seen it, you have thumb prints and eye scan data bases that are being collected.

Now of course, there are people who will buy the whole deal.

This argument is saying that they will agree to have public pap-smears and colonoscopies to have a safer flight, but several bombings and attempted attempted terrorist attacks later (that go on through the world), shit still is popping off.

And with the flight passengers whooping that ass, who needs security when folk is coming to the airplanes ready to rumble.

So lets talk about the coded shit that is happening, but most don't know about...

The United States will use this incident to push AFRICOM into Nigeria. Most people have not heard of AFRICOM, or are not clear of its purpose, but it is the US setting up military heaquarters in various locales throughout the continent of Africa. Ironically, in strategic positioning to China's strategic posts in Africa because China and Mid-East countries have profitted from a very lucrative (and pimpalicious) relationship with Africa.

AFRICOM's "purpose" was supposed to be provide a diplomatic presence to issues in Africa instead of military force. Yeah right. Smack dab in the middle of some of the world's worse human rights issues, you can send guns, goons, condoms, dated medicine and old cans of Spam, but not remove American companies that are hiring henchmen to kill people from Sudan to South Africa for land, raw resources, and free labor. (Click here to read excellent blog about AFRICOM)

Anyway, while countries like Ghana, Senegal, Kenya, and South Africa accepted AFRICOM without a fuss, Nigeria gave America the middle-finger and accepted with deal with continuous verbal complaints from officials and Nigerian citizens. This refusal was based on a plethora of reasons, but I would like to point out the most obvious, OIL.

Nigeria has the the third largest oil reserves in the world. With the US losing the battle in the Middle-East, oil will the next biggest loss. Ultimately, damaged relations with the oil barrons of Saudi Arabi, Dubai, etc. and especially after the recent stock plummet in that region, of which the US turned their backs (and also helped fuel the damn thing with bad investments), the question of where to get oil becomes a glaring issue.

US-Nigerian oil relations have been extremely contentious since the 1950s. In fact, this oil issue is also linked to England and all of Europe.

In the mid-1900s Nigeria went through a huge petroleum-boom. A former colony of the British, it was seen as the jewel of Africa by the Brits, thus becoming the model of modernity for post-colonial Africa. The Brits thought that Nigeria would usher in a new Africa through a system that incorporated the West dipping heavily into Nigeria's financial coffers.

Nigerian opened up its doors to Europe and the US to build oil plants around the Delta region. BP (British Petroleum), Royal Dutch Shell (Shell), and Chevron set up shop in areas that housed Nigerians who had been living there for generations. Towns and villages were displaced with the promises that money will flow back into the area as petroleum, the raw resource before being refined as oil, was flowing out.

At first, Nigeria began to enjoy the benefits of the petro-arrangement and began to build an infrastructure that bragged of modern government buildings, roads, houses, and cosmopolitan cities such as Lagos and Abuja.

At one point, the Naira, the national currency of Nigeria, was worth more than the American dollar.

Nigeria began to place itself as a global economic heavyweight. Nigerian businessmen who were becoming wealthy from business deals involving petro started setting up manufacturing plants that would transfrom it into oil so they could sell it at a higher rate.

It wasn't just petroleum that Nigeria was beginning to manufacture, but also cocoa because it was and still is in huge demand from the Western countries.

Nigeria's position was that they could make more profit taking their own raw material, refining it and selling it rather than sending it to the West for pennies, only to have to buy it back at a much higher percentage than they were selling it. So instead of buying Nestle, they would make their own.

As time went on, the Nigerian elite, who had access and political ties, as well as tribal clout to the oil-rich lands, took back door deals and gave their land to Royal Dutch Shell and BP to create Nigerian based companies such as Shell Nigeria.

These deals cut out the local folk. Now Europeans, Americans, Asians, and Austrailians were hired to abstract the oil instead of providing local jobs. What made it much worse, there were not any type of environmental laws these companies had to adhere to, thus creating an ecological wasteland on once fertile farming lands.

Simultaneously, the West constructed an economic plan that would cut Nigeria out from attempting to be world leader. In fact, these inequitable trade agreements undermined all of Africa, the Caribbean, the South Pacific and South America's attempts to be economic contenders by using Nigeria's model.

It was most critical that Africa was deleted from all-things that involved legitimate financial world supremacy because Africa then and now holds most of the world's natural resources that are used in every product the world's population uses.

An African-American international attorney who has been working throughout Africa since 1996 told me that every products that all of the planet consumes has some type of raw resource from Africa.

So Nigeria, who was teeming in riches by mid-1960s (just after it received its independence) was cut out of deals and its manufacturing plants were not supported by Western countries. With the back door deals of greedy countrymen who sold land for big oil companies, the Naira plummetted and Nigeria's hopes of being a world dominion was lost.

In order to keep Nigeria economically poor, you had to maintain a political environment that was even more impoverished.

The Biafra Wars, or the Nigerian Civil War between 1967-1970 divided regions, tribes/ethnicites, religion and power. This war was a result of colonization, when Europe carved countries in Africa that never existed. This resulted in dividing tribes and clumping others together that never were considered comrades. As a result of the failing economy and bubbling political conflicts, this made Nigeria ripe for internal chaos.

On top of all that, the war became about who sided with British post-colonial order and who did not. Who used the military as a means of control, and who used the power of raw resources.

Resultantly, the war ended with four major ethnic groups vying for power to this day. The Fulani and Hausa (who are mostly Muslim) have military control. The Igbo or Ibo (mostly Christian and Catholic and some who carry the traditional system) have control over the oil lands. The Yoruba (most Christian, but with a visible traditional spiritual system) have the political power.

Puppets replaced legitimate politicians in Nigeria.

Military Thugs were hired by BP, Shell, and other manufacturers to terrorize villagers who were living in petro-rich areas. Human rights activists in the country attempted to expose the US and British involvement with the massacres.

One activist-journalist-writer by the name of Ken Saro-Wiwa who was a Niger-Delta citizen and leader of the Ogoni people, photographed and videotaped one of these massacres of his people.

Plus Saro-Wiwa documented the gross oil spills that damaged village water and crops, a main subsistence of local people. Saro-Wiwa was subsequently executed/assassinated by Nigerian officials in Port Harcourt in 1995.

In June 2009, Shell finally settled with the Saro-Wiwa family, paying $15.1 million, but not admitting its culpability in the murder.

Now with the recent "terrorist scare" of Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab who is allegedly being linked to Al Qaeda, and ultimately, Osama bin Laden, someone the US still has not located, the world is being turned upside down.

This is very interesting because you've had oil tankers three times the size of an airplanes being hijacked by so-called "Somali pirates" on the daily, but you don't see any security measures being taken. Even after that incident a couple of months ago where the US stepped in and killed several Somalis, the next week it was back to jacking ships as usual.

Nigerian women protest Nigerian issues, one of them being the petro-corruption. Partial nudity is the ultimate sign of women saying, "Don't fuck with me today, you piece of shit."

Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab, terrorist my ass. More like a crazy guy who was probably talking to someone he thought was Al Qaeda, but was some undercover Joe-Blow egging him on.

This reaks with bullshit all over again.

By the way, happy travels, dammit.

Sorry pops, gotta check your diaper.

Off-Broadway Plays, Bootleg Movies and Bullshit Music

I don't know why art is not moving me the way it used to. There was a time I could feel a stroke of a brush, or a simple prose, even cry at a critical line in a play. Now, I just yawn, literally.

I attended the traveling Broadway show, The Color Purple at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center this week, and it was good. It was pretty good, but I could not connect.

The singing, flawless. The acting, convincing. The spirit, flat.

I sat in the front row right next to the orchestra, so my two ears were tuned and my four-eyes saw clearly, but my soul---sorry no motion.
At first, I thought it was me, but my partner began to yawn as well. He admitted that he really enjoyed the play, but it didn't wow him.

Maybe it was the woman sitting next to me who was checking her damn messages and left the ringer on.

Or maybe, I was being a typical moody cancer like I can be, but I must say, I didn't love it.

Also, I must admit, there hasn't been a movie that moved me in a long time. That is why I make an oath to catch it on a bootleg.

Especially ones I continue to roll my eyes in repulsion that portray the "white man" saves the day like the recent, Avatar.

Here you have a white, paraplegic, ex-Marine who finds new legs, some new ass, and a new life by embedding himself into an indigenous population of multi-shaded blue people with cornrows who worship trees. And of course the ex-Marine mates with a chocolatey-blue sister, and the princess. What a way to go Devildog.

About 30 minutes into the movie, I said, here we go again, "the white man" saves the day and takes the punnany. I swear this is Pocohantas redux, and I am frankly tired of it.

Or, the movie, the Blind Side. Before I even went to the site, I asked myself, why see this shit when I already know the plot. Ms. Lily has compassion for Jimbo and saves him too.

Then there is the opposite, the black villain. And it seems like Nigerians are taking over in the villainous roles.

Like in the X-Men Movie about Wolverine, the scene opens to corrupt Nigerians killing local villages. I wanted to shout, as I watched the very clear bootleg, where the fuck is the Western governments who supply the weapons and steal the oil?

Then, this disgusting sci-fi, District 9, that takes in South Africa, and portrays Nigerians as cannibalistic thugs that will sell their mama for power. Well...now that you say that...hmm, okay, I will not go there.

What I really want to point out about that stinking District 9, is the Nigerian actors were played by South Africans who were also using their language to depict a Nigerian dialect. How tired is that, especially since South African/Nigerian relations are extremely horrible in South Africa, hence the ethnic riots that broke out this year. These mobs targeted people they thought were Nigerian. How conveniently this movie added fuel to the fire.

Plus, who saves the day, old white man himself. I find it quite interesting that a white man or woman (Lara Croft I despise you) can go in the middle of jungle, desert, hood, village, tropical maze, forest, war zone, shanty town, refugee camp or non-white population and out-throw, shoot, run, fuck, and out-think anybody who's ancestors have been living on the same land for generations. On top of that, he never gets on mosquito bite, or catches something that will make his dick look like he got a bad case of elephantitis.

But beyond the plays, and the movies, is the bullshit ass music. Tell me, what the hell happened. I feel like I am having the driest sexual experience of my life. I am so tired of horrible-rhyming, auto-tune, pop singing, nasal -dripping whiner, raspy voice, wanna have deep lyrics, but the medication won't let me go deeper, so-called performers.

I need to breathe, and be, not be stuck in a mindless rotation.

I love Lauren Hill, E-Badu, Maxwell, Mos Def, but if I hear them one more time, I think I will choke on neo-soul vomit in my sleep tonight.

Honestly, I think we have killed the honesty in art, thus we have dampered our souls. I have a theory, we poured so much sugary-hope into our pitcher of koolaid, we have now come to an end of our high and are plunging to a diabetes death.

So please, please, save a sister. I need my art back. Click T-Pain image for a funny cartoon.

Behind the Scenes of 2009: Things You Need to Know but Weren't Told

Between Lions, Tigers and Madoff, there were some important issues that somehow, got away from most of the press this year.

Here are some things that were not reported, or barely covered, but play an important part of understanding some of the craziness that will be going on in 2010. Hopefully, I will have more.

1. Black farmers of the US finally won their lawsuit and got a $650 million dollar settlement. The catch was that was a fraction of the $2.3 billion needed to save all of the 100,000 farmers who filed racial discrimination against the US government. Out of that number almost 64,000 farmers’ claims were rejected.


2. Gold prices jumped exponentially, as well as the purchase of guns. In some cities guns and ammunition has not been able to be kept in stores. Although the dollar is not backed by gold, it is a metal that is up for grabs. Look at all the commercials buying your gold. That is because jewelry is considered private gold and will not be confiscated by the nation if they decide to seize gold. There is public gold, connected to the Federal Reserve, but remember this is not owned by the US, it is a private company determining US money.

3. Amero, is the new North American Currency that was initiated by Bush and will be instituted within the next several years after the American dollar tanks. The Amero is a unified currency of the Canada, US and Mexico. Hmm, how will that change rap songs, and classical rap that talks about the “dollar” like God. In fact, the US has put in billion of dollars to develop the Amero.

4. Verichip, the company that developed the hand microchip, you know the one that was supposed to be implanted in our hands by the year 2000. It had a plan to embed prisoners and immigrant workers, but the plan was thrown out due to the lightening-fast evolution of technology; however, the company has changed its name to PositiveID, and says that it is a credit reporting agency and identity-theft agency.

5. People are arguing over climate change, but the Genetically Modified foods have seeped into every agricultural and food industry, even organic foods that scientists have found out, contains some percentage of GMF.

6. Universal Healthcare debate, on any side, does not address the disparity of healthy, fresh and non-GMF foods in urban and areas of color.

7. Universal Healthcare debate, on any side, does not address the disparities in the quality of life in all communities. In places like Compton, Philadelphia and Newark, it costs more to live due to high car/house/life insurance, abusive housing costs where many people rent, and food costs than upper-class areas.

8. In spite of promises that the real estate market will get better it is getting worse and will decline more next year. Plus, the tax credit to buy a house will extend to 2010 and those who rushed to get a house are kicking themselves for not being patient.

9. Real estate corporations and investment groups are buying foreclosed homes by the acre, thus dwindling individual home ownership.

10. Computer hackers were on a roll this year, breaking into the most sensitive data around the world, but they never go to jail. Why? They start working for the government.

11. For years, conspiracy theorists have been rebuked as lunatics, but never in the history of mainstream press has some very interesting things been covered by these so-called crazy people such as:
a. The existence of an elite group has been controling the world's switches.
b. The dollar is on a rapid death.
c. Much more war in 2010.
d. A shift to military focusing on monitoring US populations due to the so-called
threat of domestic terrorism and civil unrest with the fucked up conditions.
e. Presidents really are puppets, but who is the puppet master?
f. Unpredictability of the people is one of the best weapons of revolution

12. People are arguing over climate change when communities across the world are dying of toxic and nuclear wastes by governments; however, to focus on climate change like carbon emissions takes the onus away from water and soil that is absolutely deadly for all.

13. As much as Obama rides for Israel, the state treats black people, such as like the Ethiopian Jews and Sudanese refugees, who live there like shit. And, there have been reports of young Israelis, and even those who have dual citizenship between Israel and USA, referring to Obama as a nigger.

14. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict gets news when areas in the region that live peaceful coexistences, such as pockets in Haifa, are disregarded.

HIM

him is my breathing poem
my prose in real time
the one who stands up on command
falls back into my shine

him who told me to not budge
when professors questioned my intelligence
rubbed my pulsating cranium
strummed sexiness over a plate of theoretical madness

him gave me his last dime to catch the train
worked overtime so i could stay on my phd track
i feel his love, he feels my pain
him got my flank, front and back

him with his vocational pedigree
illusionary genius
well traveled, well read, underestimated
pharoah god-king

him, i say his name

with love ecosoulintellectual (baby, we completed one more semester)

Serena Williams Talks About $92 K Fine

While one black athlete is taking serious hits, another one learns how to dodge and deal with the legendary double standard. This is a blog by Serena Williams found on Global Grind. In it she talks about her controversial fine for her assertive conversation with a line judge in the recent US Open tennis championships. Finally, she has a voice! Speak sister, speak.

Hey Guys!

As the world seems to know or for those who don't I want to speak about my recently dubbed "outburst" and how I feel.

I have recently been fined by the Grand Slam Committee of the ITF (International Tennis Federation) over 82 thousand dollars for getting mad and using the "F-bomb" at a line Judge.

To clear things up FIRST I was NOT fined 82 thousand dollars. I was fined 92 thousand dollars! I paid 10 thousand dollars on site immediately after the U. S. Open. So for the record, I was fined $92,000 not $82,000! The biggest fine EVER in tennis.

Also for all those that don't know, I felt incredibly bad, and miserable for losing my cool, and most importantly not representing the person I really am spiritually and the role model I want to be to my young fans. I have been a very feisty player all my life, but when the time came for me to be calm and cool, I did not exercise a mild temper. How I regret not being a better role model and person to all of my fans. I apologized to my fans and even wrote a personal letter to the lines woman with my apologies. She understood as she often witnesses this as it is not uncommon in my sport, or any other sport. She was extremely supportive and said that she did not think any further actions should be taken against me.


A few years ago in a most important match being watched my millions; I was blatantly cheated and robbed of a US Open title by yet another official. I was again on the wrong side of not one or two, but several other bad calls. This incident however changed tennis. Because of what was incorrectly done to me, the whole sport of tennis adapted new technology for a player to challenge the calls lines persons make if the player feels they were wronged. I was expected to take solace in the fact even though I lost the U.S Open title (a dream I've been working for since I was 2 years old). At least others won't be wronged in the future. I am always happy for the next person. I always am. I received apologies from the USTA, the Lines Official, and the Head of the US Open. However I don't recall EVER receiving a note, a phone call, a letter even a text from anyone at the Grand Slam Committee ITF apologizing about the wrong and disastrous call one of THEIR officials made.

When I was a teenager I was booed by an entire packed stadium at Indian Wells. In my new book "On the line" I talk about how I remember crying on every changeover in the towel. Praying and wishing I could lose and the match would just be done with. When the match was over I thanked the crowd those that cheered for me, and even those that did not. Looking back I am still amazed how I remained so calm and positive, and even managed to come out on top.

The fact is every professional athlete gets wronged in one way or another. And every athlete gets upset. We have been working, sacrificing, missing out on numerous things, things we will never get back or experience for the sake of our careers. For the sake of that one moment in time where we have a chance to shine through.


Imagine for 20 years working day in, day out, sacrificing on countless things to get this job, that will make all your hard work and endless efforts worthwhile. Try to imagine having that promotion in one moment being taken away from you because of a slight over sight, by someone overseeing your work. 20 years gone away. Time to start over, dust yourself off and try again. You work harder make positive changes. It happens again.

"Dust yourself off" you say. "Try again"

You do just that. You work even harder than before, spend longer hours. Then it happens yet again. Another slight oversight.


Well this is what happened to me, and to be honest I believe I reached my boiling point. After yet ANOTHER wrong call I began to wonder- Was I being "overlooked" or wrongly judged on purpose!??? Is this being done to keep me from achieving my best? Why does this keep happening at the same place?

Throughout my career I have remained calm. But I guess I finally reached my breaking point. A point I should have never allowed myself to get to. Everything seemed to have surfaced. As you know, losing my cool cost me over 92 thousand dollars. 92 thousand dollars! This is more than most people make in a year. 92 thousand dollars! Answer this: Why is it another player who also lost HIS cool not to a line judge - like I did - but to the main officiating judge- using the same "f word" why was HE only fined 10 thousand dollars. Was what I did 10 times worse than what he did?!

There is another HE who was fined less than half of what I was fined after someone in his camp actually physically ATTACKED an official!!!!

What about the famous HE who made arguing with officials "cool". Cool for "MEN" I guess.
Is it because they are all HE's and not a SHE like me?

It is indeed a massive difference. Being American I guess the 1st amendment, freedom of speech, does not apply to a SHE in this case? In any event the Grand Slam Committee, ITF and its staff did not hesitate to call, send a note, text, nor write letters after this incident. Ironic is it not?

I don't mind being fined. If I did wrong I accept the repercussions. All I ask for is to be treated equal.

When I was fined the 92K, I asked to see if I could donate some of it to different schools, and programs I'm involved in. My request was denied. So, I decided to match the fine by raising money and donating an additional 92K to my 2nd school that I am opening up in Africa, as well as to schools that I am helping here in the United States. I also want to educate women about what I learned from this whole experience. How we as women are still treated as less than equal. I am going to turn this 92K into a positive!!! And I have decided to call it Serena's 92K mission!!! Go to Serenawilliams.com to learn more about my 92K mission.


Xxxx,
Serena Williams

A Response to Writer Jesse Washington's Article on Black Folk and Tiger Woods

I know I am putting a lot out there, but bear with me, this is long.

On a day that I vowed to focus on my dissertstion proposal, I have been inspired to deviate and respond to a deeply disturbing AP article written by Jesse Washington titled, "Tiger's Troubles Widens His Distance from Blacks."

(Photo of AP Writer Jesse Washington looking intellectual constipated)

In this article, Washington claims that discourse among black folk and in our circles illuminates our "resistance to interracial romance." He further comments that black peoples antagonism toward Tiger Woods illuminates the following:

This vexed some blacks, but it hasn't stopped them from claiming Woods as one of their own. Or from disapproving of his marriage to Elin Nordegren, despite blacks' historical fight against white racist opponents of mixed marriage.

But Woods has declined to identify himself as black, and famously chose the term "Cablinasian" (Caucasian, black, Indian and Asian) to describe the racial mixture he inherited from his African-American father and Thai mother. (click here for story)

Jesse, I'm sorry dude, but the issue goes a lot deeper and is traced much further than that. So as an African-American woman, I will respond to some of your Negro-esk comments that paint the African-American community as racist, social inbreds who cannot get over slavery like white people have.

When people like Washington erroneously point out "blacks resistance to interracial romance," not only does he homogenize the positions of black people, but he inaccurately explores an issue his small little brain cannot wrap around.

Then Washington insinuates that black people are also resistant because Tiger Woods' ascension as an icon in professional sports replaces two black men (Mohammed Ali and Michael Jordan) who competed in sports that were more colorized than gulf. The underlying implication is that these men also had black wives.

Washington never addresses the issue of how a sport gets to be exclusively played by whites, or is disproportionate in any racial category, thus removing racial segregration from the truth of the equation.

Even the sports of boxing and basketball, and all of the other major professional sports in the United States, were heavily segregated. Hell, recreation was segregated and limited to who had access.

In the case of gulf, it is who can get to a gulf course, but overarchingly, who has the money to play such an expensive game.

Furthermore, Washington does not even know that there are pockets of black people who compete in sports that blacks have not traditional been in such as hockey, swimming, tennis and surfing, and are still discriminated against. Didn't you read about the Philadelphia pool? Or you up on the Williams sisters?

And in the case of Tiger's creation of his own racial category, "Cablasian," black people were not in a tizzy that he attempted to recognize all of his ancestral DNA. It is the fact that this "plane-as-day-black-man," attempted to distance himself from his obvious African ancestry as much as possible---especially when we looked at his black pappy.

In many ways, Woods' distancing from his black heritage made him a more comfortable fit in a sport that did not accomodate darker hued faces. It is a known move where people of color must make xenophobic people feel at ease when they have not been around browner skins other than them cleaning up their houses or dancing a jig on the stage.

On top of all that, it was the shoulders of black atheles that Tiger Woods stands. Whether he wants to acknowledge it or not.

If it wasn't for people like Hank Aaron the ability to even get his black ass on a gulf course as a gulfer in a white country club known to discriminate against blacks would be a harder road to travel?

Like all people of color in the United States, it is through the struggle of African-Americans that pushed better race relations for all, even his Thai mother must say thank you.

However, in Woods' case, he probably doesn't even know that John Shippen was the first American born gulfer, and the first African-American gulfer to play in the US Open. Shippen was cultivated and trained at the first African-American social and country club called Shady Rest in Scotch Plains, NJ. (click here to read article found in the Star Ledger)

If it weren't for John Shippen, Tiger Woods would be playing put-put in flip-flops on a miniature golf course in Cypress, California.

Woods' Cablasian-ness, somehow eradicated his blackness, when clearly everyone saw him as a black man who had diverse heritage, rather than a white male with complex racial and ethnic roots.

Complicated Notions of Interracial Romance in Black Communities
Black people, specifically black people in the Americas are some of the most open people to of interracial couples.

As we were subjected to miscengation for hundreds of years, we have been the community to have to rear majority of the interracial children produced since Columbus' crew of men set foot on these shores.

Black communities have loved and reared these children and embraced them in spite of the social and political ramifications that were created when a child's DNA represented the oppressed and the oppressor.

Then when opan interracial black/white couples started to surface in the 60s, they were usually found in communites of color rather than white ones because often times white male mobs (especially when the man was not white) would assault or kill them.

The heart of the issue in black communites is that many of the interracial couplings we had were not romantic. Also, the atonement needed to reconcile for the pain of these forced relationships have never been on the agenda of race relations in the US. In there lies a problem.

Many people joke and are repulsed when they speak about how black women vocalize disdain when a black man dates a white woman.

Though sometimes, hell, most times, it is phrased as a bitter, black bitch who is complaining once again that she can't get a man; nevertheless, the uncomfortable and unanswered pains of black people, sexuality and mate selection is neglected.

Black women speak with a historical reference specifically embedded in the centuries-old unrelentless and socially acceptable sexual abuse by white males and the subsequent, and often forced reproduction of mixed race children by white men.

Black women and their white male rapists were the major produces of black/white offspring, not black men, or white women.

And because white males then and now still hold the upper echelons of power and perceived power, black women hold much of that pain and humiliation in our history of oppression.

Unbeknownst to most, there are horrific stories that we have heard or have been indirectly told of these narratives by female folk in our family.

So common was the rape of black women by white men from 1400 to 1975, that raping a black woman was not considered rape.

My grandfather was biracial due to his mother who was repeatedly forced into a sexual liason with the patron of a house she cleaned.

She was a married woman who had children with her black husband, and several biracial children with her post-slavery master, oh excuse me, her employer. They reared them as their own. This was in the early part of the 20th Century, but that was the order of the day.

And this is not some old slave tales. Look at the rape case between the North Carolina LaCrosse team and the African-American woman who provided gentleman's entertainment. She was coded as a stripper, thus unworthy of having any credibility. Never once did the media identify her as a college student who attended another school at a nearby campus and used stripping as a means to make money.

However, the waitress of Tiger Woods, and the escort of former Governor Spitzer have not been coded as a gutter jump off who used her sexuality to make money.

In addition to this, black women have uncomfortably been placed at the bottom of the aesthetic scale of Westernized beauty. Yes, we've been exoticized, hence Beyonce. We have even been called gorgeous, hence Halle Berry.

But these lighter-skinned young ladies do not define what is the standard and uber example of beautiful. It is still today, a white, pale, thin woman, with long, blonde, un-coily hair is the standard and occupies the top category of what is worshipped as striking.

This discussion is also traced in the oversexualization of black men who are still seen as volatile, sexually brutes who cannot control their sexual appetites. In the past, they were lynched by joyous white mobs for what was often false accusations (and in some cases consensual affairs) of engaging in some sexualized act with a white woman.

So salient was the fear of black men raping white women that the most distributed and seen movie to day is, "Birth of Nation," a racist film that highlights the killing of blackface white actor acting like a black man who attempted to violated Missy.

So when a black man decides to engage in interracial relationships, some of the black women who disagree are not only inquiring as to why she is not good enogh, but also she is asking, "Why does it have to be a white woman?" Meaning, "Why must you consort with the very icon that has oppressed black people?"

As well, there is an underlying secret that black men would be better off with a white woman because she knows how to act and thus treat a black man sexually, attitude-wise, and as a support system. As opposed to a black woman who still wears the stereotype of being uncouth, unattractive, disempowering, and an unsuitable mate.

If I cannot prove this in numbers, stats show that most black men in interracial relationships are with white women. This would be understandable if only black and white people lived on the planet, and especially in places such as the United States, but white people specifically are the least amount in numbers?

In direct and indirect ways, whether the people involved in interracial marriages want to admit it or not, in America, this romantic choice signifies black men selecting not only a social-cultural taboo, but agreeing that in their eyes, a white woman is the aesthetic and mate preference instead of black women.

Even though, this essay does not talk about love, I do know that love is a very real thing. I do acknowledge that love manifests in many ways. And I know that there are people who have wonderful interracial relationships (and especially for some reason black men who have slept with a white woman) who will disagree with these comments, but I had to put it out there.

For someone who has been approached by everything under the sun, I stand firm that choosing what we love, how we love it, and if we love it is a conscious (and unconscious) decision.

As one white gentleman told me that I was racist when I turned him down because I said I exclusively dated black males, I smiled and thanked him for the compliment. Shame me twice, I love to make love to people who look like my daddy.

Blog on, EcoSoul

I love this interview


Think about this...


Check out the list. It had me scratching my head.It is an old list, but I can add more.

NJ Nets Need Newark Love

I made history with the Nets last night. I was one of the sparsely seated audience (I dare not say fan) who took the giant step with the Nets garnering their horrible record of 18 straight losses in the first 18 games of the season.

I swear it looked like one of my old high school games. Lots of ass whooping by the Mavericks and the poor Nets were just running up-and-down the court without a clue. Hell, I felt like going onto the court and hacking Jason Kidd like I used to do as an off-guard who rarely got off the bench.

But I refrained. Tiger is already hemmed up on some bullshit. Allen Iverson has been humbled by going back to the 76ers at 100 years old (in NBA league years). How many other black athletes need to be shamed this week?

As I ate nasty french fries in the Izod Center last night, I was doing the classic black woman noise with famous phrase right after, "umph, umph, umph, this is a damn shame."

But Imma tell you what the problem is, the Nets need to permanently relolcate to Newark's Prudential Center. Word was that they were supposed to come this season because ticket sales were horrible.

To test out the move, there were two pre-season games in Newark and they sold out, even though the Nets did the predictable, lost both games; however, somewhere down the line someone pulled back on the deal and they are still at the stale Izod Center.

Now when they were in Newark, it was on and poppin'. Ain't no party like a Newark party! In the midst of them losing I had soooo much fun. The fries, the wine and the funnel cake were delicious.

Since there isn't shit to do in Newark, we were all happy to be engaged in something at the Prudential other than dodging the police during hockey night.

Too bad the white folks who had to trek over from Hackensack were scared. Oh well, comes with the territory.

Nets need to bring that ass here to Newark. Kiesha, Rahsaun and dem waiting. Holla!

Missy Gets Pissy: The Woods' and the Case of Double Standard Domestic Violence

(Please fill this in with your own comments regarding

this photo of Elin Woods tells Tiger Woods)

When Rihanna and Chris Brown's domestic violence incident hit the media, feminist organizations and middle-class mothers who watch Oprah were all over it. They wanted blood and Brown's testicles in a black'n blue hue. I could see it now, furious well-manicured house moms snatching their daughters' iPods and banning, "With You."

Today Chris Brown is hoping to fill up a 500-seater auditorium, to hell with Madison Square Garden.

What happens when it is reverse? In the case of Tiger Woods, absolutely nothing. In fact, it becomes a comedic moment for mainstream news and bloggers.

Not only is this double standard bullshit, it brings to question who really wants change and domestic violence to end when both genders are not held accountable for irresponsible and destructive actions.

Domestic violence against men is not only underreported, but not taken seriously by authories, or the public.

This translates to gutter-bucket women not only getting away with assault and battery, but even in some cases, them using the fact that the police will believe their side before their male companions and getting innocent men locked up.

I know several males who have dated the wrong woman and got the shortest end of any stick. A record and anger management classes that were based on lies.

Women who specialize in targeting professional athletes as meal tickets really need to take notes from Elin Woods and consider golf and hockey...well maybe not hockey, they are more likely to walk away with three teeth.