366 In Leap A Year

As we close down Black History Month and transition into Woman's History Month, I figured I had to set a few ground rules for myself. First, I'm going to do my best not to mention Paris Hilton or Britney Spears this month, their contributions have my abysmal! Next, I won't bad mouth Oprah this month. That is, unless she gives Pontiacs away to an audience full of white women again, speaks negative about hip-hop, gives Dr. Phil another TV show or starts hugging white women again (that is going to be tough!). Third, I won't say anything about Tyler Perry all month (it's the 29^th!). Finally, the 80's flashbacks completed with Motown 25 today (wait for the book), so for three Fridays in March (I'm on vacation the 24^th – 28^th) I'm going to talk about the women who've inspired me the most, my mother and my two grandmothers (my aunts will be sprinkled in too).

I got an e-mail from The Beacon Theatre today promoting a new play called "The Greatest Love Story Ever Told" and it is a Chitlin' Circuit classic filled with Black television retreads. It stars Tatyana Ali and Uncle Phil, the Rev. and Thelma from Amen, and the dude from Sparks. I only said one name, but yall know who everyone is. The crazy thing is that it's scheduled for 8 shows in NYC, so they are expecting a rush.

On the flip side of that, "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" hit Broadway last week starring Terence Howard, James Earl Jones and Phylicia Rashad, but I haven't heard that on Hot97. Maybe I'm always looking for something that ain't?

I was thinking the other day; you remember when there was a push for Colin Powell to run for President or Vice-President. Never mind his military record and service to America, people were always commenting on his oratory skills (Chris Rock parodied those sentiments in one of his stand-up specials), saying how well-spoken he was. When Barack first began his push, Joe Biden said he was 'articulate', amongst other things. If being articulate or well-spoken was a pre-requisite for a Black Man to be President of these United States, shouldn't James Earl Jones have be Presidents years ago?

Enjoy your weekend!

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Things Ain't What They Used To Be (The Ecology)

I have not gotten mail all week! How is that possible? Not a bill, a Shop-Rite circular or one of those little cards with a missing child! I remember the mailman that used to deliver my grandmother when I was coming up. I never knew his name, but I knew he would be there everyday by 1pm. He had a mail truck, a uniform (polyester shorts in the summer, a poncho when it rains) and the mail was there like clockwork. Fast-forward 20 years and my mailman drives a Cutlass Supreme, delivers mail in sweatpants and I get my mail at 5:30 (if it comes at all!).

Things ain't what they used to be!

Barack Obama and Oprah Winfrey have made White people way too comfortable around Black folks. I was at a basketball game last night sitting with a friend with plenty of empty seats in my row, the ones below and above me when I feel something brush up against my right arm. An older White dude sat directly behind me and had me sitting like he was going to braid my hair! I immediately moved and told him that wasn't very heterosexual of him, I don't even sit next to my daddy at the movies, how am I going to sit between another man's legs?

Makes me holler, throw up both my hands!

With Black History Month coming to a close, I've been really thinking about how it will be honored for years to come. I mean, we're 40 years removed from the Civil Rights Movement and already at a point where a few generations have no relationship with that point in history. Black History Month may regress to being Black History Week or Afternoon. At the rate we're going, it may be Black History Hour! I can see the programs now, "...then were slaves, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Michael Jackson used to be Black, Barack Obama was elected President on November 4th, 2008 (assassinated on the 5th) and 50 Cent got rich (may have died tryin').

Way they do my life!

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Can't Get Off My High Horse

(sing along) And I can't let go, you are the one who makes me feel so real, (start the hand clap) ooh what am I supposed to do when I'm so hooked on you...

Here we are at the top of the hump, looking over trying to find out where we'll land come Friday. I want to clarify something from yesterday (The Re-Negrofication of Barack Obama). I'm not saying people shouldn't be cultured, being cultured and enjoying various types of music, theater and literature is one thing, but to totally engross yourself in something that doesn't represent your voice, views or is not a representation of whence you came, turns my stomach!

I'm constantly asked why I refuse to stand for the National Anthem? When that song was written, I'm quite sure that no one that looked like me was even thought of. That song doesn't reflect the lives of everyone at that time. Please do not forget that we were 3/5 of a man (still?) at the time, so to stand, remove my hat and gaze at that flag will compromise my beliefs and I just don't do that. There are many of you in your responses say some pretty nice things to me & suggest that what I do should be published somewhere; thank you.

But, here's the thing...Most of my daily e-mails are published to a blog along with a few things that you may have never read. I log in a few weeks ago and there's a notice from Google saying something to the effect that due to objectionable material you have to agree to move forward to read the blog. There's the rub. I cannot have what I decide to write marginalized or censored, I cannot be told what I can or cannot right about, who I can talk about who I can't or I can't be critical of so-called institutions on America. I wonder what it was that I said, could it have been that Tyler Perry is gay, Oprah wants to be White, Britney Spears is a dopehead, White people are evil or OJ did it? Sorry for telling the truth about things...

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The Re-Negrofication Of Barack Obama

I knew it was coming! I knew at some point on this magic carpet ride, someone was going to remind Barack Obama just how black his skin is. What I didn't expect was that it would be Hillary Clinton. But, desperate times call for desperate measures. Hillary called Barack a "foreign policy novice" whose naïveté will put national security in danger. She said he’s a danger to World (we need security in the World Craig!). Essentially she said, “This Nigga is not the person to take over after Dubya.” She’s hitting below the belt before the super-delegates steal the nomination.

So it’s time for a Re-Negrofication for Barack Obama. I know you’re looking at your monitor to decipher the word and probably think I’m making things up, like Niggerdom (see November 2005), but Re-Negrofication is basically bringing a person back to their senses about their Blackness. Obama has done a great job talking about change. Americans need change, America needs a change, it’s time for change, a change is gonna come, can you spare a Brother some change. However, he hasn’t been the strongest on the issues, but my Blackness won’t allow me to vote for anyone else.

That is, until he skipped The State of the Black Union this past weekend. I don’t have issue with him having prior commitments or conflicting schedules (Hillary was there), but trying to send your wife so you can kick it in Ohio? Of course some fuss was made and Tavis Smiley was pissed, but there were other people who weren’t there, Oprah, Me and Rollo from Sanford & Son didn’t attend. We all know what he wants to do, he wants to lash out at Hillary and tell her to stop hating, but then he may lose Middle America.

He probably received his most damning endorsement this past weekend when the Honorable Min. Louis Farrakhan all but asked him to the prom during his Saviour’s Day speech. That may have scared the white off of some people to think that Barack Huseein Obama is being publicly backed by Louis Farrakhan. Now, all we need is Jesse Jackson to ask the voters in “Hymietown” to hold Barack down and “Ladies and Gentleman…President of the United States, John McCain.”

Who else is in line for a Re-Negrofication? Oprah, Bob Johnson, Wayne Brady, Bryant Gumble, Larry Elder, Issac from The Love Boat and countless other sellouts publicly known and on your family tree. How do you know if you need to be Re-Negrofied? If there are five new television shows starring black people (imagine that) and you have no interest, it’s time to regain your Blackness. If you’d rather see Celine Dion than Beyonce, call the Drop Squad. Remember that movie? It was a crude attempt at getting people to examine their allegiance. Seinfeld? Are you serious?

I by no means am the authority on Blackness, but if you’re not interested in the struggle or asking yourself right now, what struggle, call me at 1-800-ASK-A-NIGGA and we can see how we can get you back in touch with who you really are. It’s really hard for me to wrap my head around how people find themselves enjoying so much from other cultures in spite of the greatness of their own. Diversity is good, but submerging yourself is whitewash! The contributions and advancements by African-Americans in the Arts, Entertainments, Sports, Education, Business, Government and other places is overlooked enough by the Establishment, it’s just sad when it happens from within.
If you haven’t said to yourself by this point, “This Nigga crazy!” you too may need a Re-Negrofication!

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Burn Hollywood Burn

First they killed, Cochise, then they shot Cornbread, now Omar from The Wire was assassinated, what's a playa to do? I figured with the African-American representation being so low at the Oscars (again), that I would offer my two cents about Black Hollywood.

When I say Black Hollywood, I'm not talking about Will Smith, Denzel, Eddie Murphy, Samuel L. Jackson, Spike Lee, Halle Berry or Martin Lawrence. Only because their presence in Hollywood transcends race, many of their roles are interchangeable with white folks, Beverly Hills Cop was written for Mel Gibson.

I'm talking about Taye Diggs, Gabrielle Union, Morris Chestnut, Sanaa Lathan Black Hollywood. The portion of Hollywood that offers limited opportunities and even more limited resources for films written, directed or starring a predominantly Black cast. You know the movies we laugh when we see the trailer and then get to the theater the first week only to find that the movie sucks!

Your boy Tyler Perry (Mr. Black Hollywood) has a new film on the horizon starring Rick Fox?!? C'mon people! Taye Diggs, Omar Epps, Richard T. Harris, Boris Kudjoe, Terrance Howard, Harold Perrineau, Duane Martin, Mekhi Phifer, Wood Harris, Idris Elba, LL Cool J, Sean Nelson, Isiah Washington, Katt Williams, Tracy Morgan, Mike Epps, Cole from "Martin", and Nipsey Russell were all busy? Or, does Tyler Perry get to keep his budget down by giving the role to Rick Fox? Hence, he profit is larger because you know Negros are going to flock to see it.

Here's my problem with BET, well one of them. All of that talent I just named and we haven't even talked about the actresses and directors and we can't get more out of them than Hell Date, Baldwin Hills and Keyshia Cole? We have natural resources within our community that are more than capable of providing quality television for the viewing public.

When Bob Johnson sold out, I mean when he sold BET, he sold the right to control programming to a media conglomerate (Viacom) that has no interest whatsoever in programming that demonstrates our character, talent, collective insight and historical worth. For Christ's sake, we've had three season of Flavor of Love! But, Black people don't support Black Television anyway. That's more than likely the thinking, Girlfriends was cancelled at the conclusion of the Writer's Strike and a stink was raised, but if more than 1.9 million people were watching, they could have continued their run. So, we have no one to blame but ourselves.

Outside of Law & Order, I really don't watch much on TV without a strong Black presence. Never seen Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy sucks, Sex & The City was garbage, and please don't get me started on Friends and Seinfeld (Michael Richards was a star).

Black actresses have it even worse, they've gone the way of jobs in the US, being outsourced to other races. I mean, Eva Mendez got the lead in Hitch and Out of Time. I like Eva Mendez and all, but I could've seen Nia Long, Vivica Fox, Kerry Washington, Regina King, Angela Bassett (maybe not after the Halle comments), Tamala Jones, Gabrielle Union in something with a big budget. I'm not against interracial dating (really I'm not), but we're talking equity in Hollywood here, so I would love to see a Black woman opposite Will Smith in his next blockbuster.

I can't wait to see how many people watch A Raisin in the Sun tonight, being that it's running opposite against Flavor of Love 3...

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Let Me Tell You What I Ain't...

Chauvinist, misogynist, sexist, woman basher or anything else that tends to run through the minds of people...
I suppose I'm guilty of bringing truth to the forefront and that makes some people uncomfortable. Tough! On any given day my target could be Tyler Perry, Oprah, BET, women, illegal immigrants, Britney Spears or myself. No matter what I decide to discuss, it all gets the same scrutiny.

They talked about Jesus, who am I to think I'm special...
It's always funny when I someone is really offended by something they've read. Some mornings I wake up with the intent of pissing people off, I believe that it helps for critical inspection, so I do it purposely. So, when the name calling begins, I just laugh.

I ain't no ordinary Nigga!
Everything I write is off the top of my head, so at times I don't even know what's going to come out. Sometimes I want to go a lot harder, but I pull back a bit for many reasons and censor myself (my mother does read this yall), but I offer no cut on my commentary.

The World is always performing, so someone has to be a critic...
I stand on my soapbox and offer my social commentary, guess it's just my two cents! I'm not an expert or authority on anything in particular aside from being me, but I enjoy creating these offerings for you to read.

If you're feeling some type of way...
Good! It costs me nothing, I pay you no mind!

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I Know What Girls Like, They Like Me!

I predict this to be the day that I lose some readers...

Nearly a week after Valentine's Day and love is still in the air for some, well on the mind of many. My friends and I are entering a phase of our lives where marriage, family, civil unions and things of that nature are creeping to the front of our minds, well stamped on the foreheads of some. Most of my male friends are married, have kids or both, with the exception of my boy Will. Shoot, one of them is even heading towards divorce already! My female friends, aren't having the best of times getting it together.

You all know where I stand, married with kids is not really how Teef has pictured himself, so once that becomes everyday conversation, I'm gone (ask about me)! I happen to consider myself to be a lottery pick of sorts; I'm 30ish, no kids, on a decent career path, decent level of intelligence, no kids, great set of teeth, no kids, never been married, no kids, not putting my name on ziploc baggies in the freezer, still fairly cute, no kids, a sense of humor, did I mention no kids?

Those are a few of the attributes that even with all of my baggage puts me in a great position. I can find what I want in a woman and not have to settle, even if I am my father's son (check back if you have no clue what that means). If I happen to want a chick that's as dumb as a bag of nickels, who wants nothing more than Boone's Farm and to watch Flavor of Love 3, that's cool if I want that in my life for a week or two. But, like many men, I'm out there for what I want in a woman and a relationship.

This is where I lose the female vote...

Conversely, many women are out there with the impression that they are searching for what they deserve in a relationship. Like it is God's Will for them to have the Fortune 500 CEO, with the LL Cool J body, Barry White voice, Denzel smoothness, 50 Cent thug appeal for a husband. They deserve to be a housewife and to have the Spanish nanny, French pool boy, 2.5 kids, summer home in The Hamptons and jet set around the world like Beyonce & Jay-Z.

B#$%h please!

Now, I know your mama told you that you were precious and you deserved a man that would treat you like a queen, buying you diamonds and doorknocker earrings, take you all around the world and so on and so forth. But she was helping to build your self-esteem, my mama told me I would be 6'5, she got the numbers right, but they are reversed! Someone has to get with the balding, 32 year-old with the gut that works two jobs to save for a house! Not everyone can hit the lottery of life and have LeBron's kids.

Furthermore, if you have too many "ain't gots" what exactly do you deserve? You know the ain't gots; ain't got a good job, ain't got a sitter to watch the kids so yall can go on a date, ain't got no money in the bank (walking around the club all stank), ain't got a pleasant attitude, ain't got this, ain't got that. Guess what else you ain't gonna get?

Now, I know there are a lot of Superwomen out there (Hi Mom!) and you've made it all happen and you're doing great with or without a man, so many of you are cussing me out right now, this is not for you. To borrow from Kanye West a bit, too many women be on that independent kick, but will trade it all for a husband and some kids! I've never understood how it is possible to sacrifice what it is that you're about for the need to be married. I come across far too many women with the dream of marriage in their head so strong, that they lose sight of self. I just don't get it.

Far too many women have lost themselves in the eyes of so no-good nigga (writer not excluded), set their goals to the side, had a kid (or kids) by this fool and are now trying to figure out where it went wrong? So here they are looking for love...in all the wrong places. You know where they are, the club, the bar, church, MySpace, everywhere but within themselves to find the love that never stops. That love your mama was trying to show you way back when you had the Cabbage Patch Kid in your arms.

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Dead Presidents

Most of you are fresh off a four-day weekend, many of you had to work yesterday and I created my own combination yesterday. Somehow, I ended up taking a half-day and taking a trip to Atlantic City to see a few basketball games. Either way, we're back at it today and in some news that is potentially delightful to the U.S. government, but terrifying to Assata Shakur, Fidel Castro resigned overnight as President and Commander-in-chief of the Cuban military.

Presidents' Day was acknowledged across the country yesterday, celebrating the birthdays of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. But what about the other great leaders of this country? Does Presidents' Day include FDR, JFK, LBJ, Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan (Sike! Checking to see if you're awake!)? Or will it ever include the Prez who gets this immigration thing together?

Give me your tired, your weary and your poor was the creed nearly 200 years ago, but now, it's a free for all and we're stuck footing the bill for much of it. I know that this is the land of milk and honey aka the land of opportunity and everyone should be allowed to come to America and for the pursuit of happiness, wealth and white women, but there are laws to be followed.

First, you can't sneak in the country in a crate of Mexican beans and expect to have rights. That lifeboat that you sailed in on does not guarantee you a say in the local election, even though your rights are constant hot-topic amongst politicians. File the necessary paperwork and start from scratch.

I know I am far from politically correct, but I saw someone get into a car accident and take off running into the woods last night, most likely because he was illegal or didn't have car insurance (I'm racist right?). So, while we continue to support illegals who aren't taxed on their wages and don't pay into Social Security, I think I have the right to be a bit upset. However, if they are all deported, who's going to cut the lawns, clean the hotel rooms and cook the food in almost all of the restaurants?

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I Can't Stand The Rain...Against My Window

A special shoutout to everyone who made the trek to work on this Hump Day. I know it's kinda dicey out there and it may only get worse as the day goes on. There were over 120 accidents reported yesterday and I can imagine that quite a few will happen today, be careful out there.

Another sweep for Barack Obama as he took D.C., Maryland & Virginia and became the Democratic front-runner. Hillary fired another member of her campaign team, but she's set her eyes on Texas, Pennsylvania and Ohio. Plus, the super delegates who aren't require to publicly endorse a candidate and can shift allegiance at any point. Going to be a marathon, not a sprint like the GOP where Huckabee won't say die!

Now that the Writer's Strike is over, when will our favorite shows be back on? What's the chances the writers kept formulating ideas for the day the strike ended and are ready for immediate production?

Mr. Biggs is still in the "Big House" a judge denied Ron Isley's request to be released from jail and have his 37 month sentence thrown out after he was convicted on Tax Evasion charges in 2006. Can you picture what his hair looks like?

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Got A Light Skin Friend That Looks Like Michael Jackson, Got A Dark Skin Friend That Looks Like Mich

"You must use the light skin slaves vs. the dark skin slaves and the dark skin slaves vs. the light skin slaves"

Except from the "Willie Lynch Speech"

Of the many schisms within the African-American community, we have created our own color line, perpetuating mainstream stereotypes and fallen into traps that allows us to publicly fight a war against our own race. There are many battles that happen within our community, the middle-class vs. the poor, those classes vs. the elite, generational, regional, and the beat goes on like Scotty from The Whispers would say.

I am not exempt, has anyone seen a pattern in my choice of female companionship? What's the big deal; we're all black, well ain't we? The origin of this internal race war most likely traces back to the plantations when lighter skinned slaves, most often the product of Master creeping (sing it for me four times, creep, creep, creep, creep) into the slave quarters late at night to have his way with a female slave, were perceived to be treated preferentially or given jobs in the big house.

Octoroon, mulatto, redboned, hi-yella have all been used to describe the lighter shade of black over the years. Mainstream media has made it the "accepted" shade of Black beauty by pushing Lena Horne, Halle Berry, Beyonce, Tyra Banks and other light-skinned women as sex symbols. I suppose the fairer shade of our people have it bad, still Black, yet despised by many of a darker hue. When so many women are wearing weaves, faces caked up with makeup, eyelashes extended, along with their nails and the enhancement of boobs and bootys, gastric bypass to replace good ol' fashion Jenny Craig, who's image of beauty are we living up to? Black, white, dark or light it all seems silly to me.

Spike Lee famously depicted the divide in "School Daze" with the classic "Jiggaboos vs. Wannabes'" song and dance routine in the hair salon. Is it really about long hair vs. short, curly, straight vs. kinky (nappy)? Don Imus' off the cuff remark about nappy headed hoes on the Rutgers women's team was born out of the contrast to the appearance of the Tennessee women, most notably Candace Parker, who has light skin and long hair. It appears as if the media has decided what's beautiful to us (again!) and it really seeps into our psyche.

Remember when light-skinned Brothers went out of style? Right around the time Wesley Snipes laid in that bed with Angela Bassett, dark-skinned Brothers became the "IT" thing in the hood and Hollywood! Michael Jordan, Morris Chestnut and Tyson Beckford were among the beneficiaries of that trend. While El Debarge & Al B. Sure! fell off the face of the Earth.

“Your mother is so black, when she went to night school, the teacher marked her absent!”

It’s been there with us all along, whether it was called the dozens, cracking or hiking, jokes aimed at the darkness of one’s skin were a favorite, along with insults against intelligence and weight, but did we know then it was a form of intra-racism? No, it was all for laughs, all for that momentary win by putting down someone else. I’ve told your mama jokes about people whose mothers weren’t even dark or fat, but that wasn’t the point.

How are we to know what someone internalizes about the color of their skin, hard enough find comfort in being Black, but to compound it by being dark-skinned when the media and your community doesn’t value its beauty, has to be hard. Hard enough for Michael Jackson to diagnose himself with Vitiligo, to explain how he has morphed into a white woman over the years. Now, my great-grandfather had Vitiligo and it was most notable but the patches that he had on his hand and on his face as he got older. I guess Michael has a severe case, like West Nile Vitiligo!

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Word To The Hyphen In My Name!

A L L A T E E F makes a world a difference without the hyphen, but one place where it doesn't, is if you're saying "The N-Word". Contract, abbreviate, make it PC all you want, it means the same thing. So don't play with it, it devalues the historical content and empowers its currents usage by doing that, because now a pass is given to use it on the news and other media outlets.

In 1964, Dick Gregory released his autobiography "Nigger" and it went on to be a best seller, selling over 7 million copies worldwide. Fast forward to 2008 and Nas is naming his new CD "Nigger" and Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, & The NAACP are crying foul! Funny to me how in the heart of the Civil Rights Movement, when the word was synonomous with Black, Negro and Colored, the book was released, accepted and widely read. Yet, here we are after so much "progression" and everyone wants to change or censor Nas' new album.

We know how the word is used around the community and a whole bunch of shorties throw the word in their rhyme, but we're not about to have the "er" vs "a" argument. There's a double standard when it comes to the usage. 35 years ago when it came out of Richard Pryor's mouth every other word, where was Jesse? That nigga was sitting front row at a Richard Pryor concert! When Al Sharpton's wearing that nigga perm talking about someone saying nigga and throwing up the Roc at the 40-40 Club, isn't that a nigga moment? White people still can't say it, we own the patent. "Er" or "a", don' try it! Fat Joe and other Hispanics love to use it to, because they seem to identify with the experience when its conveient, but J-Lo couldn't use it?

There's no handbook or guidelines on who can or can't say it, when is not the right time to say it or what age should you start ot stop saying it. Banning the word or hoping that it will dissipate is out of the question and as long as their are poor people out there, who feel a "nigga" existence, there will be niggas and people will say nigga. Not to mention as long as white people think they run everything, there will be niggers!

There was an episode of The Boondocks this season that deals with a teacher calling Riley a nigga, it was taken directly from this case, check it out...

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Most of My Heroes Won't Appear On No Stamp!

As Barack Obama inches closer to making history in his Presidential run, it came to me that I had not made a reference to Black History Month yet. The honest question is why? The simple answer is like everything else I can't relegate the importance of African-American culture to the history of these United States and the World over to one month, my blackness won't allow it! Besides, I make Black history everyday, so February can't contain the achievements of many made throughout this thing we've come to call history.

When Carter G. Woodson first came up with the concept of Negro History Week (the second week of February to commemorate Frederick Douglass & Abraham Lincoln's birthdays), the climate was such that it was imperative to carve out a niche for Negros. With the "progression" since, being confined to 28 days (29 in a leap year) seems like rehab.

Is that where we are, history rehab? Well, that'll get you a few Grammy awards, but what does it do for your soul? Coming up in school, contributions to American his-story by African-Americans was reduced to Crispus Attucks, Frederick Douglas, Harriet Tubman, Booker T. Washington and Martin Luther King. As I got older and teachers began to expand that box, Malcolm X, W.E.B. DuBois, Sojourner Truth and others entered into the conversation. Carter G. Woodson himself, "The father of Black History", has not received the due recognition deserved of a man who set the wheels in action to what has become Black history.

Yet, as a student of history, I began to find others who contributed to the building of our community and country that you weren't taught about in U.S. History I or II. So, a few African-American history classes and a couple thousand dollars spent in Borders later, I've developed my own style of appreciative reverence for African-American history, history in general. As "Negro History Week" morphed into "Black History Month" it's time to transition into a way of life that honors the days gone by for the sake of what's to come.

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When The Rainbow Ain't Enuf

Super Tuesday has given way to Hump Day and what do we know that we didn't know yesterday? John McCain is the Republican front-runner and Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are virtually deadlocked heading into the next round of primaries and this summer's Democratic National Convention, the way its supposed to be.

But keep in mind, the Presidential Election is not won by the popular vote, but by the electoral college. Although Barack won more states yesterday and is claiming momentum, Hillary won the states with the larger number of delegates and maintains a slight lead. It's a long way to go and yesterday told us what?

So let them eat cake as Marie Antoinette would say, allegedly. Over time things are told to us and we've come to believe them simply because of historical value added to certain items. She never said "let them eat cake", when her original quote is translated it speaks of a fancy bun they ate at the time. So, over the years that bun has become cake and we've ate it every since.

Much like the belief that black folks and other minorities should be Democrats. Keep in mind that the Party of Lincoln is the Republican Party, but over the course of the years as the Republicans began to want to protect their finances, popular vote for the poor people began to swing to the Democrats. Personally, I don't claim allegiance to a party (another reason the Primary is not for me), instead I choose the candidate who best represents my sensibilities.

Another instance of taking things at face value is "The Willie Lynch Speech" which was supposedly presented back in the 1700's by a West Indian slave holder to American slave owners and stressed how to break slaves and keep the cycle of slavery in tact. It has also been said that the term "lunching" is derived from his name. Historians have disproved both, based on word usage, historical inaccuracies and birth records that show that no William Lynch had even existed until the 18th Century.

Yet, the internet gave birth and life to this speech which is little more than a commentary about African-American's internal fight. Much like that rumor about Tommy Hilfiger. To borrow from Ntozake Shange, the rainbow ain't never been enough for me, I want to know what caused the storm.

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The Bullet or The Ballot - The Super Tuesday Edition

Super Tuesday, Super Tuesday, it's on the tip of everyone's tongues. Barack vs Hillary, Hillary vs Barack, John McCain should cement the GOP. 21 states are voting in the primary today (Vote or Die!) and they say by the end of the day we should have a clearer picture of each party's leader. I say its nothing more than a survey, therefore for I'm not voting today, I don't do surveys! I don't even do the survey to get 20% off of your meal at Red Lobster if you call the 1-800 number.

Here's what's going to happen: If Hillary maintains her slim nationwide lead over Obama, people all across the country are going to go into Anti-Hillary mode. If Barack manages to win, he's going to die in the morning! I kid, I kid, but the country would go anti-Barack. Please believe that we're going to get a race out of this!

I watched Chris Rock's Head of State last night, which is of course about a black man running for President. here's a very interesting line in the movie which made me think about this election, the Senate majority leader had designs on the White House in '08 wanted to put a minority candidate in the election to gain the support of the minorities for the party for his Presidential run. I'm not sure who the Democrats could have lurking in the wings, but to push an African-American and a woman this election could lead to some votes down the line in case it doesn't go well for either come November.

I realized today that in six months I turn 30, depression has started to set in

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Death, Taxes...and Britney???

In life all you're guaranteed is to die and pay taxes, but it seems as if you're destined to have some sort of Britney Spears news. They hauled her off to the hospital (again) to have her observed for a few days, I wonder if Dr. Phil will be stopping by this time. Die already!

Speaking of taxes, Wesley Snipes was acquitted of the most serious of charges that he was facing, but convicted on three misdemeanor charges for failing to file a tax return. It seems as if around the same time as meeting his Co-D Eddie Ray Khan, Wesley thought it was against his basic human rights to pay taxes and just chilled on cutting checks to Uncle Sam. His co-defendants on the other hand were convicted.

Snipes still has to pay like $12 million in back taxes, that's a small thing compared to that 16 long he was facing if convicted. If you think of it, it was kinda Revolutionary of Wesley to take a stand against taxes, this was his form of protest. Not quite sure I would've lied about my income when its basically public knowledge when a actor signs on to a film. He got $10 million for the 'Blade" sequels and claimed he made something like $40,000, like that Nigga works in the office next to mine.

Anyway, he beat the system (somewhat) and now we can get a few more direct-to-DVD films out of him. Well, I'm off to call my Uncle to see if I can file some taxes for the first time in three years, wonder if Uncle Sam will come after me?

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