All I Want for Christmas...

An amusing conversation between me and my friend Ty, one of my many gay boyfriends...man he would be the perfect gift... if he was straight...

Ty: "What do you want for Christmas?"

Me: "A man who is intelligent, sensitive, caring, affectionate, educated and on the path to success and establishing himself. He will be a good father, a great husband and an amazing lover. He will have the spritual grounding and inherent manhood to protect and lead a family. Let me find that gift wrapped under my tree."

Ty: " Girl, you need to build a man like that. You should have told me this in 1998 so that I could have started construction on him. Now you gotta wait till 2012."

Me: *sigh* "Dammit. (pause) Well in that case, someting shiny from Tiffany's..."

The Current State of Hip Hop-- Why I Am DISTURBED: Part 2

So hopefully you've had a chance to ruminate and perhaps even look up some of the songs that I chose as examples of the STEEP decline of hip hop music in America. Well, I should say mainstream hip hop because there are plenty of underground and not-so-underground hip hop artists that are still artists and express incisive and relevant social commentary with tongues as sharp as double edged swords. More on them later... first, I need to lacerate my chosen vitims and crow over their bloodied and mutilated "bodies" if you will.

Let's proceed in order shall we?

Laffy Taffy- MY DEAR GOD IN HEAVEN, THEY WILL GIVE ANYONE A RECORD DEAL. You don't even have to be able to produce a complete, let alone coherent thought to be able to make a song and get it into heavy rotation. The whole 3+ minutes of this "destined to be a classic" song is a string of half- assed, half constructed, gramatically and linguistically disconnected... just... SHIT that talks about a woman's "assets". Even the DJ on the radio was like 'Damn, y'all like any song, don't you?' I can't even think about it anymore-- Every second longer I think about it, I feel my brain cells beginning to rebel.

"Here We Go" by Trina- Many of you may not know this but before she joined Slip 'N Slide Records as the "Queen of Miami" (HUGE double entendre there, since Miami is populated by a lot of queens... Drag Queens, that is) Trina was a relatively normal, non descript real estate agent. Then she met Trick Daddy... and it was all down hill from there. The classic first single you will remember her on is "Shut Up" whose lyrics are echoed in her newest piece of bovine filth-- "Here We Go". They were eloquent then, and they resonate with the soul even now **snicker, giggle, guffaw*...DAMMIT, I knew I couldn't say that with a straight face. I don't know why I even try...
The fact of the matter is that, as we will see with many of the songs heretofore, it is the BEAT that sells the songs... And she had the BALLS OUT NERVE to use Force MD's "Tender Love" to talk about her man cheating on her. This was my cousin's wedding song for crying out loud! I think she was going for irony... she missed the mark. BIGTIME. It just sounds stupid. (I remember when I first heard the song on the radio. I was so excited to hear the 80's R&B classic and damn near crashed into the car in front of me when I heard her voice and what she was saying. I couldn't believe it. I called the radio station and was like "What the f**k?") I dare you to listen to the vocals of this song without the production and not vomit...or at the very least feel mildly constipated. I think the saddest part is that an entire generation who never heard the original song is going to completely miss the beauty of it, ecause she mauled it into something ugly and mean.

" Oh I Think They Like Me" by Dem Franchise Boys- Admittedly, this song is a bit of a guilty pleasure for me. When I go out dancing and it comes on, I find the nearest boy and work him out. Because of the beat. Its hot. The lyrics.... are not. Correction: most are not. Da Brat and Bow-Wow who guest appear on this record actually do a good job. However, Da Brat is a lyricist. She knows what the hell she is doing on an album (see: Funkdafied). Bow-Wow could stand to sharpen his skills a little, and become more well read, but he has potential. He's young, fearless and has the potential to be dangerous if you put some education into his hands. Something like Kanye West/Andre 3000 with some 'booty bounce' thrown in so that it will get played in the club. BUT the rest of 'em... go back to wherever you came from with that nonsense and stay there. And don't EVEN get me started on Jermaine Dupree. I'm still trying to figure out how he managed to land Janet Jackson... maybe he really is a 'cunning linguist'...

"Run (Cum) Girl"- When did radio get so bold? I heard the unedited version when I was out one night and damn near fell out. I mean... just... wow. BOLD. The song is basically dirty talk. Don't get me wrong, dirty talk turns me on. But not when my 8 year old neice is spewing it out of her mouth. And since it is in HEAVY rotation on the radio, I see 5 year olds that are reciting the lyrics... and don't even know their ABC's yet. That's not cute. Its SAD.
Also, if you are going to make a song like that, fool me into thinking I might actually want to screw you. Be seductive.... not sexual. Guys who are blatantly sexual in their every day discussion, or when they are rapping generally are the ones who will think they've rocked my world until they look over and see that I was reading a book the whole time.


"I'm Sprung" by T-Pain- All I have to say is "ewww." He tried to be like Roger Troutman and Keith Sweat at the same time and managed to just f**k the whole thing up. Regardless of whether or not you like Roger Troutman or Keith Sweat (or even know who they are) you must realize that they are untouchable and that trying to imitate them, with a whack song no less, will make you look like a fool.

"I Should Have Cheated" by Keisha Cole- Ok... promotion of the spread of STDs? Thank you soooo much. No, you shouldn't have cheated. You should have confronted his insecurity about your relationship like and adult and talked about it. I run a teen mentoring program where the girls love this song and have started spewing this kind of farcical thinking about relationships as if it was gospel truth. This is why everyone claims the youth of America are in danger-- they listen to this type of crap all the time. It only takes 7 exposures for something to work its way into your character unconsciously. This song is in heavy rotation on 4 major radio stations. And they wonder why teen STD and HIV rates are through the f**king roof. This chick comes onto the scene with this song... what the hell happened to her in her life? Also, when was the last time she went to see the gyno? She should work on that.

Well, I anxiously await your comments and feedback. I'm dying to know what you all think. There will be a part three that is currently in the works.... until I get there, I encourage you take a journey through underground hip hop and neo-soul. There you will find people who are actually talking about things that matter in this world.
To help you out here are some artists worth checking out:

Angie Stone
Amel Larrieux
Guru
John Legend
Choclair
Aceyalone
Jazzyfatnasties
Floetry
Leela James
Jaguar Wright
Jill Scott
Little Brother
Outkast
Dilated Peoples
Mos Def
Talib Kweli
The Roots
Black Eyed Peas
Nas
... the list goes on and on and on....

The Current State of Hip Hop-- Why I am DISTURBED: Part 1-- The Prelude

Ok... the current state of hip hop is... vomit inducing at best. To prove my point, a sampling of the songs that get the most airplay (since I hear them 12 times a day)

"Laffy Taffy"
Lyric of note: "I wanna duh nah nah, cuz you so thick... girl shake that laffy taffy..."

"Here We Go Again" by Trina
Done over the instrumental to "Tender Love", the classic 80's love song
Lyric of note: "Sounds like blah blah blah blah blah blah blah, I'm like 'Ok, uh huh, wassup, SHUT UP!"

"Oh I Think They Like Me" by Jermaine Dupree
Lyric of note: "Oh I think they like me cuz they heard me on the other one, so its only right that I hit you with another one."

"Run(Cum) Girl"
Just a nasty song... and the guy who raps has the nerve to NOT BE CUTE!
"Run (cum) girl, I'm tryna get your body (p***y) wet. Work that, let me see you drip sweat."

"I'm Sprung"
A whining song that tries to be like Keith Sweat and FAILS miserably
Lyric of note: "Now I'm feelin kinda lonely, on top of that I'm pretty horny." (At least he's honest)

"I Should Have Cheated"
A very poorly written song that promotes the spread of STD's
Lyric of note: "I might as well have cheated on you, as much as you accuse me of cheating."

Since its late and I have to be in class tomorrow morning, I'm going to let you ruminate upon the above sampling of songs, look up lyrics, correct and fill in the blanks if you like or leave comments.
Then I will return with a vengeance to deliver an incisive, perhaps mean, and definitely venom filled commentary later....

For now, I bid you adieu.

It Ain't My Fault

For all of you who know the song by Mystikal (It Ain't My Fault), it should be playing in your head right now. Former FEMA director Micheal Brown's testimony to the Congressional Committee invesitgating the government failure in response to Hurricane Katrina said that all members involved in the response should share the blame... except himself of course. His arguments ranged from his requisitions for improved response equipment being sent to the chopping block by Homeland Security down to Gov. Blanco and Mayor Nagin's inability to sit down at a table together and talk despite their "differences" to blaming the President himself for ignoring his "concerns that this was going to be a big one."
In that case, for all intensive purposes, I suppose he was vacationing in Tahiti when Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast. It seems to me, from his standpoint, that he wasn't even there.

Well, he does admit one personal failing. "My biggest mistake was not realizing by Saturday night that Louisiana was dysfunctional." Ummmm... ok... so what? True, Louisiana may have been dysfunctional. Perhaps their commmunication and evacuation plans were not up to snuff. That their disaster security protocols were a little ill prepared. Then isn't it the governement's role to shore up those areas so that people don't die? Not according to Brown. "Those aren't FEMA roles." I guess that's the kind of response you would expect from someone who LIED on his resume and used CRONYISM to get his job. Why should he know what FEMA is supposed to do if he's never done the job before.

And by the way, let's not talk about saying he did his job last year during hurrican season. Let us not forget 3 things:

1. It was an election year.
2. Florida belongs to the President's baby brother Jeb, and
3. Many people whose homes were damaged by hurricanes are to this day being low-balled by FEMA for funds to repair their homes.

But I digress...

Pardon me, but I thought FEMA stood for Federal Emergency MANAGEMENT Agency. All of those responsbilities that he said should not have deferred to FEMA are part of EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT. If they failed at the local level, government should be able to step in with a plan, developed AHEAD OF TIME to prevent complete and total chaos. Otherwise, what the heck do they do over there all the time? Play Tiddly- Winks? Or maybe its the $1,300 lunches on our tax money... *shrug* who knows?

Governement did screw up on all levels... this is true. But placing blame instead of placing resources, arguments over "juris-my-DICtion" bulls**t, and at the end of the day saying "but it was a HURRICANE!" is not going to save lives or prevent the same thing from happening again.
A responsible ADULT and LEADER would have said "Yes, its true, there were screw ups all over and we had our fair share. For that, I sincerely apologize and we are working to make it right." The American people deserve at least that.

Micheal Brown... you should be ashamed yourself.

The Other America... I know I said I'd leave it alone...

...But its MY blog, dammit, and I can reopen a dialogue if I feel like it. And I do.

Awesome Newsweek Article here:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9287641/

For as long as this link is active, you can read this article that echoes what I've been saying in recent weeks. Namely that Hurrican Katrina, while catastrophic and heart breaking, was a necessary evil. She put a mangifying glass over issues that have been present in America that no one has wanted to talk about for quite some time. Well, they're talking about it now.

And since the "president's" approval ratings are so low, this would present an excellent opportunity for him to create more for his legacy than this useless war.(Oops, did I say "useless war" out loud? My bad. Damn this truth/venom spewing tounge of mine!) It would also save him from bearing the windfall of his mother's statement, made during her visit to the Houston Astrodome.

"So many of the people in the arenas here, you know, were underprivileged anyway. So this (living in the Astrodome with 10,000 of their closest friends) is working very well for them."

I'll give her the benefit of the doubt and attribute this statement to her impending senility-- unless she's just really that ignorant.

Just some friendly and free political advice for our "leader."

Photo credit: Newsweek

Response and Closing

Point well taken "Me Again." Everything is NOT about racism. You are absolutely correct in that respect

Sometimes it just sucks to be poor. In some cases, being poor is worse than being of another heritage. In this world, it is DANGEROUS to be poor. Lack of access to adequate healthcare, preventative medicine, education, safe housing... the list goes on. So if you want to let the race issue go, that's fine with me. But there is no denying the fact that most of the people in the affected areas are not as affluent as other people in this country. The South in general is disproportionately poor compared with the rest of the country. Not just the people... the state governments have far smaller budgets than some northern and midwest states of comparable population size. In fact, its widely known that Mississippi has the unfortunate honor of being per capita, the poorest state in the Union.

There are so many factors that play into this that its hard to isolate and issue and point a finger of blame at someone or a particular group. However, its a little difficult to ignore the fact that these people overall contribute less to the national budget than other states. In fact, I remember last summer when Florida was pummeled by 4 hurricanes that people in the North were up in arms that FEMA disproportionately benefits the South, which overall contributes less to the fund.

All I can say is that it takes a catastrophe like this to place a magnifying glass on the issues and problems that we all know exist, but have been swept under the rug and forgotten. For instance, people in Philadelphia, my home town are OUTRAGED that Mayor John Street is offering temporary to permanent housing, health and economic relief for 1000 displaced families from New Orleans. The reason? They claim that he has ignored the issue of homeless people in Philly for his entire administration, but is willing to extend services to people who aren't Philadelphians.

That is a prime example of what I'm talking about. No one really seemed to want to put a spotlight on that until Philly decided to accept survivors from New Orleans. No one wants to talk about how majority of the people who were victims of the governments slow relief response were in fact poor blacks, asians, latinos and whites. No on wants to talk about how New Orleans was set up for disaster by blocking legislation and not issuing evacuation orders early enough to get the people out who could not do so for themselves.

But I'm going to stop talking about the negative. While the government failed, the American people succeeded. The moving response has been amazing and it gives me hope by reminding me that above all the issues, people really are good at heart. And that's what matters the most.

I'm now closing the dialogue in terms of responding to comments on the recent posts. If you want to continue posting comments, I will continue to read them.

Battle of Wits... Unfair advantage to ME.

Thank you to the two people who left such articulate comments on my most recent post. I have one word of admonition however: before you challenge me on a topic upon which I hold a degree in, read up on the subject. I do not engage in battles of wit with those who come ill prepared. Its too easy to tromp over you like a mealyworm in my front yard. However, I'm at work, between meetings and slightly bored.... so....

To commenter number one: prejudice and racism are 2 different things. Prejudice is an adverse judgment or opinion formed beforehand or without knowledge or examination of the facts. Racism is discriminatory or abusive behavior towards members of another race. While it is true that many black people may be prejudiced against whites, they are incapable if being racists. How you ask? In order to excercise racism, you must be a member of a group of people that has control of a majority of a region's resources and are therefore able to withold access to those resources from other groups. Since, to my knowledge, black people do not absolutely control access to ANY socioeconomic resources in America ( you could argue sports and entertainement, but COME ON... like those two areas actually MATTER), they CANNOT by definition, be racist. I'm sorry you are having trouble accepting your sordid heritage but every group has ancestors that have done things to be ashamed of. White people have just managed to continue to profit off of it for hundreds of years AFTER the fact. NOW THAT'S SKILL.

To commenter number two: I think its time to face the ugly truth. If it weren't about racism, then the following facts would not be true. The levee broke on Tuesday (Monday night if you want to get technical) sure. The section of the levee that broke is in the 9th Ward which is (GASP) the PROJECTS. If you look back over the legislative history of the past 3 years in New Orleans, the Bush administration you so proudly defend VETOED legislation that would have:

1. made the funds available for the Army Corps of Engineers to employ more people who would have had the task of examining the structural integrity of the levees which were falling into disrepair and
2. provided the funding for them to DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT... like augmenting the system so that they could stand up to storms stronger than a category 3... but let's not get to technical with design flaws... I digress...

"But, since New Orleans is a Demoratic stronghold in the Republican South, why bother saving those poor Black (and White!) wannabe Yankee Blue Staters anyway? They didn't vote for me."

Alright.... I'm bored with lacerating the two of you. Have a nice day ;)

Addendum to Aftermath--2

I was aggravated to hear a black reporter say the following...

"America is a fast food nation and we want what we want when we want it. The people in 3rd world countries often fare better in natural disasters, because they are more accustomed to having to wait for aid than Americans."

Give me a break. Give me a freakin' break!

Newsflash: THIS IS AMERICA!

The whole reason why we're not used to things like waiting for aid and rescue is because we shouldn't have to. This is the reason we pay taxes, we encourage people to join the National Guard, that we have organizations like FEMA. We trust that if we are law abiding, tax paying citizens, that in our time of need, our government will come to our aid.
That is the very reason why people in third world nations break their necks trying to buffet unjust immigration policies to settle here. It is the hope of a better life, of a government that will take care of its own before looking outside or to its own interests.

Unfortunately, this is not the case. If you're poor and black that is. And yes... I am going to harp on the race issue because every other international news agency is not shying away from it. Only American news agencies are scared to inject the race issue and raise the difficult questions. But you can't ignore it. You cannot. Can you imagine if this disaster struck Martha's Vineyard? The Hamptons? Would the fine residents of those cities be waiting for 5 days to be rescued from rising flood waters? I don't think so.

What do you all think?

The Aftermath...2

I'm moving beyond hearbreak to sheer and unadulterated rage right now. I'm not the only one who is angry, but since I have a forum for expression, I'm going to use it, dammit. I'm sitting here (supposedly working from home) watching our illustrious "President" touring the disaster stricken area.

I'm SO PISSED, SO FRUSTRATED THAT I'M MOVED TO TEARS... you will have to forgive me if I blather on.

It SICKENS me that this country has the money to spend $50 million per day in Iraq on a war that is not supported by at least half of the population is JUST NOW sending relief convoys of National Guardsmen, food, water and supplies to striken New Orleans. That the lawmakers of the United States wonder if they will be able to pay for the repairs and relief neded by the region. That they are letting people die in the floodwaters to ease the burden of the rescue effort. It has been fully 4 days since Hurricane Katrina tore through the Gulf Coast and people who have been trapped on the roofs or in the attics of their homes are just now beginning to see signs of rescue. Are you kidding me? This is America? This is the country that takes 1/3 of my income in taxes? This is what I'm paying for? UNACCETABLE. Every single person in this country should be completely OUTRAGED.

But as much as it sickens me... it does not surprise me. Let us look at the facts, shall we?

New Orleans is a southern city where 2/3 of the population is poor and Black. The mayor of New Orleans is a Black man. Majority of the people who were left in the city were the elderly, indigent, poor and infirmed. They had NO WAY of being able to evacuate, or were unwilling to leave behind relatives for whom the journey would have meant sickness or death. When you look at the images on the nightly news, you can hardly believe that its America you are looking at.

The leader of this country just arrived today in Biloxi, Mississippi to survey the devastation. TODAY.... 4 days later. The people of that region are in a desperate situation and he just arrived today. Some say he has alread seen the devastation, but and aerial survey from the comfort and safety of Air Force One doesn't seem to count to me. He should have been there days earlier. Even more so, there should have been a federally mandated evacuation ordered when there was even the slightest chance that a Category 5 hurricane was heading toward a city that is boardered by water on 3 sides and sits below sea level. Even if the storm had missed entirely, the cost of evacuation will be exceeded by leaps and bounds by the human cost we are going to incurr.

New Orleans is now a public health nightmare. Look at it from whatever angle you wish. Those floodwaters are a petri dish of waterborne illnesses like cholera and dysentery, amplified by the presence of the decaying dead. There is not adequate water, food or emergency healthcare. The average temperature in New Orleans for the last week has been 90 degrees with 75% humidity, which will lead to heat exhaustion. Perhaps the saddest situation is that the youngest victims, newborn and premature babies trapped in waterlogged hospitals could die, before they even have a chance to live

Meanwhile "President" Bush is down there listening to these disaster stricken families cling to him and tell their stories, surrounded by the press like this is damn a photo op. When I saw that today on the news, it took all I had in me not to vomit.

Part of my outrage is personal in nature. I have friends who are desperately seeking their family members and fearing the worst. They are wondering aloud to me why something isn't being done faster. Why are they relying on Houston's Astrodome and Relient Center (which by the way can only hold about 40,000 people between the two of them) for shelters? Why wasn't there a more effective plan in place for this inevitability? WHY DID THEY SEEM TO HAVE THE ABILITY TO AIRLIFT DOLPHINS FROM THE AQUARIUM TO OUT TO FLORIDA, YET PEOPLE ARE STILL STRANDED IN THE CITY? WHERE ARE THIS COUNTRY'S PRIORITIES?

As the people of New Orleans, and indeed the rest of the nation wonder what is coming next for the Crescent City. Will they ever be able to rebuild? Will the Big Easy ever be easy again? Or will this jewel of the south, and its people, be wiped from the face of the country forever?

The Aftermath

My heart goes out to everyone on the Gulf Coast who is suffering through the misery left by Hurricane Katrina. This shows what kind of fury God's earth can unleash. I heard one forcaster say during the hours before the hurricane made landfall that if New Orleans took a direct hit, the city would never be the same. I thought it was a hyperbolic statement at the time; the news has a tendency to overblow things for the sake of ratings. However, watching the devastation... its true. The city of New Orleans as we knew it will never exist again. I visited New Orleans once before and hung out in the French Quarter and the Garden District. I had a fabulous time with my friends and soaked up the beauty and history the city had to offer. I breaks my heart knowing that when we are able to travel to the Big Easy again, its quite possible that many of the places where I have fond memories will no longer exist. What hurts my heart even more is that the people who live down there... their lives have been destroyed. Their homes, possessions and memories have been washed away. Who's to say how many will actually return? Will the city of New Orleans return to its former glory? Will they even think to rebuild in the same risky location? Think about it... who thought it was a good idea to build a city below sea level in a bowl shaped depression between massive Lake Ponchartrain , the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico? Didn't someone think that one day, something like this was going to happen? They know now that its very possible that it could happen again. In my true nerdy fashion, I looked into some almanac weather forecasts. Apparently, this episode, not to mention Florida's devastating hurricane season last year, is just the beginning of an active hurricane trend that could last anywhere from the next 8 to 35 years! I truly think that the risks should be weighed when considering rebuilding New Orleans. If there is anyway to move the city to a safer location in the area (say, above sea level) that option should be explored. Relying on a system of levees to protect them obviously did not work. Its time for an engineering miracle to emerge from the nightmare.

I'm praying for the people down there... in particular:

Bunchie- my friend Nechi's grandmother
Teach for America- New Orleans Corps Members
Daniel Konecky and Family

I'm planning to help in any way I can. Our local news station KYW-3 on CBS is sponsoring a telethon in conjuction with The Red Cross. It called Operation Brotherly Love (yay Philly!)
The link to that website is in the title of this post and below. Its a small way to help, but if everyone does a little, the results will be great.

http://www.kyw.com/

2 Fer!

Yay for me!!!
I am on my way to bigger and better things! YAY!!
Yesterday I was offered a position at the Southwest Community Center in Philadelphia as the Program Director for the Teen Mentoring Program. Part time hours and full time pay... no benefits, but I'm young and healthy...

And... I just got into graduate school at Drexel University's School of Public Health. I'll be studying epidemiology and biostatistics in hopes of working with the AIDS crisis in Sub-Saharan Africa.

All this good news to share.... LOVE ME!! Just an update... wish me luck!

Thine eyes have just seen the glory.... 

Journeys In Verse

Alright...
My public has been asking and I am now going to oblige. People have been asking to have access to my poetry, particularly since I'm not performing much of my spoken word lately. Between work and school, I can barely spend time with loved ones, so unfortunately, my craft has slipped from a place of priority.
To remedy this and appease my restless spirit,
This page is dedicated to all those who believed.
Believed in my talent as writer...
Believed in my talent as a performer...
Believed that I had a God given gift with words...
Believed that it was worth giving up a Friday night to support me on stage...
Believed that not pursuing my writing was folly...
For all those who believed in me...
THANK YOU.
Peace and blessings...

TO GET TO THE POETRY EITHER CLICK ON THE TITLE OF THIS POSTING OR CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW


http://journeysinverse.blogspot.com/

Who IS this VAPID WHORE and why should we CARE?

Alright... I have reached critical mass concerning dealing with psudo-celebrity bulls**t. The newest "wanna- be- famous" ass to become a blip on my radar screen... Karrine "Superhead" Seffans (No, I will not desecrate my page with a link to her site... Google her yourself, dammit).

"Who?" You may ask. That is EXACTLY my point.

It seems that this chick's claim to fame is scandalous at best... sordid in truth.

You may have seen this 'lovely lady' grace such cinematic heavyweight pieces such as Mystikal's "Shake It Fast" video (now there's someone who can launch your 'career'), numerous Jay-Z videos (each one distincitve in their own right) and the boxoffice smash "A Man Apart" starring alongside Ice T and Larenz Tate.
But the above listed credits are not her preferred modus operandum toward garnering fame and fortune.
No, no... she is more commonly known among her friends (clients) as SUPERHEAD. No, this name does not suggest and amazing intellect and acadmic prowess (though she claims to have been blessed with both in addition to 'stunning beauty'). Rather, the name suggests exactly the not so innocent behavior you are thinking about. You naughty thing you. ;)

It seems this girl's claim to fame is that she has been invovled in many sordid sexual trysts with many promintent members of the hip-hop community and Hollywood celebrities. Seems she's left her lipstick print on the underwear of everyone whose video she has appeared in, certain Hollywood playboys and some players in the NBA. Yeesh!

Apparently, the lovely Karrine has come out with a tell all book exposing every dirty, nasty detail. Talk about kissing and telling.... hmmm... more like f**king and telling... EVERYBODY. In the whole world. I hope Usher has his lawyer ready... and has been to the clinic for a check up. She was apparently his "Christmas Present" from a member of that pointless group of people that follow him around... you know, the ever important entourage.
I can hear Usher now..."Yo Dawg! Good lookin out! Thanks for the case of herpes!" Actually, she writes that every time she and Usher hit the sheets, he used a condom. Well at least he knew he was bangin' a skank whore. Or as one person put it "the most delightfully well used orfice in hip-hop and Hollywood."

In addition, this "Sperm Depository" is going to make money off of selling the rights to her book for a movie deal. So I guess now she can be classified as a "high class" whore. Maybe we can even upgrade her status to prostitute. It took a little while and a few thousand "tricks," but she's finally going to get paid for all of her hard work.
My major concern about all of this is the fact that she has a 6 year old son. What are the repercussions of mommy dearest revealing all of her dirt to the world going to be for this young man? This ignorant boob has failed to consider the fact that her son is most likely going to be tormented with comments like "I heard your mommy f**ked P.Diddy... and Jay-Z.... and Jadakiss... you're mommy is a ho." Sadly, its the truth. And one way or another, its going to hurt him. Look out future leaders of America... you may have a sexual preditor on your hands in years to come.

Oh, and apparently, she is in a "very satisfying" relationship with none other than Bill Maher. YIKES! Billy Boy, have yourself tested for every STD known to man, ape and swine IMMEDIATELY!!!!

What is the world coming to... Vapid Whores having attention paid to them for being... well... WHORES.


I've spent enough time lacerating this B***H. She deserves no more of my precious time.

This time-- I AM A HATER... AND PROUD OF IT.

Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now..

Hi Good People...

Its me again, just giving you the quick n' dirty update on ya girl. Well, I'm still "jobless" but very happy. I'm not unemployed (doing temporary contract work) but as my wonderful Godfather put it, I'm in a time of "transition." Having decided that corporate America is NOT my cup of tea, I'm heading back to my education roots. There's still a lot of politics there, but at least you can self-medicate against realizing that reality by telling yourself "I'm doing this for the children (greater good, society, etc.)" Anyway, I'm waiting for a couple of offers to pan out and in the mean time, focusing on getting myself into grad school. For what, you may ask? Public Health. Yes, my roots are deeply grounded in public service and since I've always been a bit --ok, a lot--of a science nerd (ask anyone who's been around me for 5 minutes; I've probably told them the exact chemical composition of their meal, shampoo or spit by then) I figured that PH would be a great career move. With the gentle prodding of my overbearing yet well meaning mother of course.

I'm totally excited about it and can't wait to start.

Relationships... I have discovered that I don't stay single for very long. Its not like I go out looking for a man. They just seem to fall in my lap. Maybe its the universe paying me back for having to be painfully single throughout high school and a significant portion of college. Let's just say he's wonderful (so far) and I'm VERY happy. Truth be told, there could be wedding bells in the future with this one. We'll see...

All in all, I am at peace. I feel like my journey is being directed by God and therefore I am fearless. Ok, maybe not fearless, but worries about the future have stopped keeping me up at night. And that is a DEFINITE improvement from 3 months ago.

Like my Godmother said to me a long time ago "My dearest, you are destined for Greatness."

That's my new mantra these days, and boy is it powerful.

Peace and Love

Its been a long time...

Shouldn't have left you, without a hot beat to step to. LOL
What's up good people. I has indeed been a long time, nary 2 months since I last shared myself with you all. A lot has happened since then. I turned 25, ended yet ANOTHER relationship and resigned from my job. YEP. Lot's of life changes. But they're all for the positive I believe.
Rather than belabor you all with updates on each of those three significant events, I'd rather like to share some of the revelations that I have had as of late. Maybe its that whole "turning a quarter century old" thing or that "taking stock of life" thing but I've learned some hard lessons recently, and I've arrived at a place of considerable peace.

Revelation #1: Never define yourself by your job.

I was always a person who's self worth came from being regarded as highly intelligent and a high achiever. When I was going through the difficulty of my early teens, I felt that the only thing I had going for me were my brains. Even as my definition of self expanded to include my sparkling personality and KILLER good looks (hee), I still placed a lot of value on being a high acheiver. However, I have learned that no matter how well you do in life (and for someone who just turned 25, I've done a lot) there are people who, for whatever reason, seek to destroy your confidence in your ablities. My mother (and many others around me) attribute that phenomenon to the fact that I am a young Black woman who is on the come up... and although we're not living in the 50's anymore, there are still people who are uncomfortable with that idea. I encountered those people in my most recent job.
I loved my job. I loved what I did. It was challenging, stimulating and I worked with a lot of good people. However there were some who were just plain phony... one could argue even borderline evil. These were the people who had their hands on the puppet strings and were forcing me to dance a little jig for them.
The misery came when I started letting their ideas about me crowd out my own perception of self. It came to the point of being physically ill at the thought of going back to that place for another 9 hours that was the straw the broke the camel's back.
It was either me or them and since I have no desire to spend time in a place that makes me miserable OR catch a case for going "postal,"I left. It's funny the things you find out when you leave. Those people who really cared about what happened to you (and you may not have who they were while you were there) and those who were so ready to be rid of you. But in any case, I learned a lot about myself and what I can do... but more importantly I learned about people and what they are capable of. The world-- especially the business world-- is a funny place.

Revelation #2- Never compromise yourself to make someone else happy.

Guilty, guilty, GUILTY as charged! I'm not sure when it happened, but I know the EXACT moment that realized I handed over my values in order to maintain a realtionship. That ultimately became unhealthy. All the sweet talk and sweet gestures mean NOTHING if you lose yourself in a relationship. When my ex- beau disappeared on me (the cirmumstances of which are pretty damn ugly-- we'll just say it involved legal issues) it gave me time to really process what had been going on during the course of our 5 month relationship. Being the classically trained economist that I am, I did a cost benefit analysis. I had been giving away pieces of myself and getting very little of him in return. The costs outweighed the benefits by an astronomical scale. Not to metion that we came from two completely different back grounds and while that should never define the ultimate success of the relationship, if you are not headed in the same direction, then you're headed for disaster. That being said, I had to end it with him. He's still trying to win me back, telling me that he's going to change whatever he needs to... but if he's changing for me and not himself, then its not going to last. The minute he thinks he has me, he'll go right back to his old ways. That's just not good enough for me.

Revelation#3: Keep yourself grounded however you need to.

Maybe this should be number 1. Whatever you turn to recenter yourself (be it your sprituality or somthing like that) make sure you make it a consistent part of your daily life. I am amazed at that amount of peace I have despite the fact that I am currently unemployed, decidedly single and 5 years off of 30. If not for my deep spiritual roots, I would be a complete basket case right now. This is so not where I saw myself at 25, but I'm ok. I was the girl who planned out life to the very last detail and no where in my plan did this scenario exist. Peace that passes all understanding, that's what I've got and its worth more than gold.
Remember that no matter how bad life seems right now, it could definitely be worse. You could be dead.

So there are some things I have come to understand. For those of you who already understand these things, then I am happy that I finally have some of the same wisdom you do. For those of you still struggling with these issues, I hope this helps you.

Peace and Love....

I'm Just Sayin Though-- Week 2

I don't know what Black entertainment is coming to, but this is ridiculous.
I was talking with my brother who is overseas and he was asking me what music I'm listening to these days because there seems to be a lot of redundancy in the typically "Black" genres of Hip Hop and R&B. Nowadays I listen to mostly neo-soul and underground hip-hop... the commercialization of the generes has become almost too much to bear. Case in point, Ciara (if you don't know who she is, its ok, I barely know either) and Usher, the target of my last rant, are both slated to receive the Sammy Davis Jr Entertainer of the Year Award at the Soul Train Awards tonight.
HUH????!?!?!

Ciara…

I have to start my rant by asking the third grader question…. So forgive me.

Who the hell is Ciara and what has she done to garner the Entertainer of the Year Award?

Oh Lord have mercy, what is going on with Black entertainment that the BEST person they could come up with for The Entertainer of the Year award is Ciara. I mean, I can understand Usher. Sort of. Barring, the fact that he’s a little full of himself (ok, a lot) he’s still a pretty entertaining person. I could sit down and watch Usher, and be entertained. The man can sing, he can dance and admittedly, he looks pretty good with his shirt off. That’s entertainment. But Ciara? What exactly has she done in her 18 month career that prompted the powers that be over at Soul Train to think that she is worthy of an award named after a man who is, arguably, one of the most entertaining and pioneering figures in history? Hmm…. Ciara, eh? Maybe the qualification for the award has been changed from someone who pioneers in the area of entertainment to someone whose studio produced voice and great tracks can get the club CRUNK. Cuz we all know how important it is to get it crunk.

I think its time we boycott… dammit.

I'm not a hater, I'm just sayin...

I'm Just Sayin Though-- Week 1

Yeah, I know its been a minute... a sista's been busy, ok?
So in addition to my sporadic rants on people who make the world a less pleasant place to reside in, I'm making a concerted effort (on the "gentle prodding" of a fellow blogger) to have more regular installments.

So I have decided to have a weekly entitled "I'm Just Sayin Though..." where I will discuss the hand basket we are all in and where its going at such a breakneck speed. This week, in honor of Black History Month we will talk about that giant in the advancement of Black People-- Usher-- and how its time he finally got his due for his contributions (yeah, uh huh... no I haven't been smoking crack, just bear with me. This is good, read on.)

Fresh off his three wins at the Grammy Awards, Usher will be honored again -- this time by his musical peers at the Atlanta Chapter of the Recording Academy. The R&B crooner and civil-rights activist Coretta Scott King will receive the 2005 Heroes Awards at a gala event April 21. Usher and Coretta are being recognized for their contributions to Atlanta's music community.

Ok... I know what you're thinking...

Well now you must understand that Usher has made many many significant contributions to the advancement of Black People such as
1. Perpetuating the stereotype of a happy grinning dancing singing negro
2. Showing people that yes, it is alright to dance on stage in your boxer shorts
3. Telling men, if you have a girl on the side and get her pregnant, but BEG like a mug, your girlfriend might be dumb enough to forgive your ass.
4. Letting Ludacris and Li’l John think they can make slow jams
5. Showing people that wearing shades at night “cuz my future is so damn bright” is an intelligent and safe activity… not to mention high fashion!

I could go on, but why… just look at this short list and you will see why he matches BEAUTIFULLY with Coretta Scott King for this event….

I’m not a hater… I’m just sayin…