Raise the Level of the BOOM Inside Your Ear

I want you to do yourself a favor.

When you take your hoodie off and change your profile picture from Arizona Iced Tea and Skittles, keep your commitment to social justice. Find ways to be involved when it’s not en vogue. The tragedy of Trayvon Martin cannot be lost if and when George Zimmerman is arrested, because a greater crime will be committed if all of the awareness and outrage simply dies down once this is not a trending topic anymore.

We’ve reached the one month mark since George Zimmerman stepped outside of his mind and snuffed out the 17-year-old’s future, but the fervor of activism is at an all-time high as rallies are popping up nationwide. Hoodie pictures are the phenomenon, tribute songs are being recorded and justice being demanded, but what happens tomorrow? 

Read the rest at Mused Magazine

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The Hump Day Song of the Week - Public Enemy "Fight the Power"

What we need is awareness, we can't be careless...

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A Writer for Myself and Others...

Aliya S. King is a writer. Her byline has appeared in Vibe, Essence, Uptown, Black Enterprise, US Weekly, King, Teen People, and the list goes on. A few years ago she transitioned to biographies and novels, co-writing Keep the Faith with Faith Evans and assisting Frank Lucas on his autobiography Original Gangster.  But it is her debut novel, Platinum, that stands out the most in her career; that is, before the recent release of its sequel, Diamond Life.  With all of the words written, it’s the words she says that leave an impression.

I stood to the side as she told a captivated audience of college freshmen how she’s initiated the major changes in her career; she’s gone from teacher to editorial assistant to journalist to author.

Read the rest at Soul Train

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Oprah Winfrey Does Not Care About Black People

That’s what Kanye should’ve said!

Whitney Houston was barely dead a month before Oprah swooped in to participate in the exploitation of Houston and her daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown. Yeah, you were tuned in, riveted as Oprah showed so much concern for Bobbi Kris and empathy for the rest of the Houston clan. That’s what you saw. I saw a businesswoman with a floundering network that instantly recognized a ratings grab at the expense of the pain of a family, friends and community. Yeah, Oprah knew you would tune in.

I was a bit uneasy watching that awkward conversation near the piano. I felt bad for Bobbi Kris, felt badly for the decisions the adults around her had made throughout her entire life. I watched a girl barely nineteen publicly trying to deal with the loss of her mother amid a media frenzy and whirlwind of activity that have thrust her square in the crosshairs of the media and Oprah. I was saddened as she talked about lights going on and hearing her mom’s voice and how she stumbled to put together sentences when asked how she was doing, which was more of an indication of how she wasn’t dealing well.

I lost my grandmother at 18 and was extremely traumatized by the loss, so imagine losing your mother at the same age on a very public stage and then having cameras and lights in your face barely a month later? While trying to deal with all of this, you’re talking about launching a career in singing, dancing and acting, what about the recovery? Did I miss the portion of the conversation when it was said there would be ongoing therapy, regular consultations with a pastor, some form of structure to picking up the pieces? What we do know is that she stands to inherit millions.

Cue the vultures…

Auntie Pat seems to be so caring and trying to keep Bobbi Kristina so close, because she loves her and the girl needs to be loved on right about now, but it’s more likely that she’s trying to stay close to the gravy train. That was Whitney’s house where the interview took place and mostly everything they have is courtesy of Nippy, Inc. The most telling part of the conversation was when Oprah asked where Bobbi Kristina was living and Auntie Pat said she was “between homes, she stays here sometimes”, so where else is she staying?

Anyone with internet access has seen the blogs document Bobbi Kristina’s wild behavior, so now that she’s lost her mother and is seemingly estranged from her father, who’s exactly going to rein her in? I would have much rather Oprah sat down and had an adult conversation with the child, talking to her about the pitfalls that come with the newfound fortune and how those around you can drain you, much like she witnessed with her mother. Perhaps she did it privately, but publicly, she made the girl look like an idiot.

The bulk of the show was sent talking to Pat Houston, Whitney’s sister-in-law, best friend and manager, that’s a lot of hats to wear and can be quite confusing when the cameras are on. She looked like she was in business mode that night, trying to ensure she preserved the brand, but she came across emotionally detached from the situation and seemed more intent on placing herself in the top position of Whitney’s hierarchy. For all things Whitney, Pat Houston is now the expert and I’m sure we’ll see her often cashing in on the legacy. The streets are talking and saying that it was her that took the picture of Whitney in the casket, that she’s trying to hold on to Bobby Kristina because of the $20 million windfall the woman-child is said to inherit.

Another disturbing moment for me was when Whitney’s brother Gary was asked what he would miss most about his sister and his response was “singing duets” with her. Really? You’re not going to miss her fried chicken or the way she laughed heartily at times or just the conversations you had? These are some of the things we miss when we lose people, part of a relationship and intimate moments between people who love. It was all just weird to me. However, you do notice there was one person missing from the circus, Cissy. Cissy wasn’t ready to talk in front of a camera; she’s hurting, smarting from the pain of losing her daughter. She’s still searching for answers, asking God why, wondering if she could have done anything differently to avoid the pain she’s feeling.

I’m sure Bobbi Kristina is in a similar place and would rather had none done the interview, but she’s being lead to the wolves by the hounds and Oprah was there to capture it all to the tune of 3.1 million viewers. 3.1 million people haven’t watched OWN in months, but Oprah was sure that Black America would take a break from NeNe Leakes to tune in as she put pain on parade. That’s exploitation, but we’re so needy for information and to feel like part of what’s going on that we completely ignored the pain for the story.

Sad.

Maybe I just hate Oprah, but I love Black people…

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I'm Disappointed in America: Terry Crews...Again!

I understand the need to feed your family. I know it’s hard to find work as a Black actor. However, I know about pride and self-respect and these Old Spice commercials have surpassed coonery and are knocking on the door of blatant racism. I get sick to my stomach every time he flashes across my TV shirtless, yelling some incoherent nonsense that I guess is supposed to be funny or invite me to try Old Spice.

It’s not funny, not sexy and I’m offended every single time. I just want to sit down with the brother and discuss the image he’s pushing into homes 10 or 12 times per day. I would also like to have him sit with a financial consultant to get his books in order, because the only thing that explains these goddamn commercials is he needs some duckets! I know it seems like work, but there’s work at the post office! I’m combating enough troubling images with all of these damn “Wives”, rappers and “The Game” to have this ignant summmabich in hot pants breaking through my flat screen during March Madness!

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He Was Only 17 in Madman's Dream...

It’s been nearly three weeks since Trayvon Martin was murdered and George Zimmerman still hasn’t been brought before a judge or even arrested for that matter. That in itself is criminal. What’s tragic is that you’re looking at these names and drawing a blank; that’s partly because the media has been slow to pick up on the story and the rest is your reluctance to pay attention to the world on the outside of your bubble. While you’ve been busy talking about Whitney Houston, Tami Roman, and practice, someone’s son was gunned down for nothing more than being Black in a place where he shouldn’t have been.

What happened before and immediately after George Zimmerman fired the fatal shot (or shots) that robbed Trayvon of his future is still unclear, but what I see in 1080dp is that the value of Black lives in America hovers somewhere between dogs and South Dakota, but I just may be overestimating. The lack of action by the Sanford, Florida police is appalling, but the delayed reaction by the District Attorney and Florida’s Attorney General lead me to believe that they condone the actions taken by Zimmerman that day, despite the fact that 911 dispatcher told him not to follow the “suspicious looking Black guy”.

The call has now been released to the public and in my opinion paints a very vivid picture of Zimmerman’s angst to not let this “asshole” get away. You can hear in his voice that he was probably bouncing in his seat waiting for some action and regardless of whatever he was told at the time, he was going to spring into action. For those few minutes, we were able to see into the mind of a killer, a hunter, disguised as the neighborhood watch. Zimmerman appointed himself as the block captain and was armed that day for what reason exactly?  There are so many questions that haven’t been answered, hell, they haven’t even been asked.

For example, how is a slight 17-year-old with an iced tea and Skittles suspicious? Was it the hoodie he was wearing or simply that he was Black and there was no reason for a Black to be in that community. Trayvon Martin’s presence alone solved all of the recent break-ins the neighborhood suffered, at least in George Zimmerman’s mind and he was intent on making sure he did his job as the block captain.

How do you tell a mother her child has been killed for nothing? What do you tell a father when a grown man attacked then killed his son? If you’re Police Chief Bill Lee, you tell them it was a clean shoot and the man who took your son’s future record was “squeaky clean”, despite the fact he had been arrested for resisting arrest and battery on a police officer, but those charges were dropped, while charges in this case were never considered. What do you tell a community that registered at least eight 911 calls, saw a fight, heard screams for help silenced by gunshots? Obviously you tell witnesses they didn’t hear the scared teen screaming for help, it was the guy with a gun.

Zimmerman is said to have suffered a bloody nose and his back was wet from grass, undoubtedly from the scuffle that ensured when he attempted to apprehend Trayvon and before he decided that he couldn’t take an ass kicking. What do you tell a country that’s allegedly entered a post-racial era, by not acting to find justice, by not providing comfort in the form of answers to grieving parents and a shocked community? You tell them noting. Nothing but, don’t re-nig in 2012! 

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