Niggarization
On my lunch break I am catching up on the news and see the outrage that Republicans (I would not say it's the right) have made over Touré's use of the term in regards to the way the Romney camp is trying to characterize our President. I could actually go multiple directions with this piece but I would like to look at the way we use words in society.
I recently purchased a new car with Sirius. I am a hip hop head to my heart and was rudely awaken to hear the amount of curse words used. These wordsmiths use the term Nigger/Nigga/Niggah like it's on sale. Too often they try to say we now own the word. How can we own anything of the sort if we are still the minority. We say it's ok for us black people to say it but not for whites. What we don't realize is that white America keeps the hip hop industry alive in regards to album sales and radio advertizing. We may own the lyrics but they own the labels.
The term itself is what's so interesting. Nigger is a noun in the English language, most notable for its usage in a pejorative context to refer to black people. It is a common ethnic slur, usually directed at people of Sub-Saharan African descent and suggests that its target is extremely unsophisticated. So in our new found sophistication we are redefining what it means to be unsophisticated. I don't think it works that way. To make it worse it is my generation that is behind this yet we have done NOTHING to earn it. I feel sorry for our elders as we tarnish the legacy they have laid out for us.
As a 33 year old professional if I refer to myself as a Nigger/Nigga/Niggah I am saying?
Broken Heart
Let's discuss having a broken heart. Now this isn't a reference to love but a reference to will.
Have you ever seen someone who is on top of the world. I mean a man among men. Someone who is a king among kings. Then this individual is deflated like a flotation device once the summer is over. I have a friend who is the embodiment of this analogy. This individual was cooler than Ron O'Neal.
This person was put in a role where they were in charge of a decent size group. This is something this person had done for years. Command and control is what we often called this in the military. Big Brother at the DOD calls it "the exercise of authority and direction by a properly designated commander over assigned and attached forces". Now don't get me wrong this individuals is a really nice person. They were the ideal boss.
Ooops wrong pic.
Here is a better example.
So back to the story at hand. We have a great boss who tasked to lead a group of workers in something he has excelled at for years. This is all you can ask for right. Well here's the catch. Every boss has a boss.
So this boss has had to answer to someone who was their opposite in everything they do. Both people were amazing at getting the job done, but found two ways to get from point A to point B. An outsider could learn a bunch from both. Now here comes the point of a broken heart. A broken heart comes from a broken back. The bigger fish was able to control the smaller fish
Talented men leave your organization.dead wood doesn't-Azim Premji, CEO - Wipro
Plans For Tears
Have you ever experienced tears from the heart
When something that should be the start
was more of the conclusion
leaving it to feel like a collusion
between future and your fears
again bring about tears
crafted from those dreams of yet to come yet shall not be
seems like happiness moves to sympathy
sympathy to your hopes and plans
sympathy to holding what you created in your hands
sympathy to improving on all you have done
sympathy to knowing your legacy cannot be undone
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome
so in my heart beat beats a drum
a pitter patter not of feet but anticipation
Think this not an aberration
but instead an opus to the strength of love
a commitment to my God above
Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.
I will take all sorrow, sadness & pain & it I shall remand.
Wake Up Call
I missed this short film from Malice of the Clipse. Pay attention to the message and you might get something from it.
Wake Up Calls from Malice of the Clipse on Vimeo.
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Shoutout A Phi A
Alpha Phi Alpha to boycott Arizona
Moving annual convention to Las Vegas
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., the oldest integrated and historically black Greek-lettered organization in the world, today announced is moving its 104th Anniversary Convention from Phoenix, Arizona.
“Late Thursday, April 29, our national Board of Directors voted unanimously to rescind the location of Phoenix, Arizona as our meeting location of the 104th Anniversary/90th General Convention in July, and to denounce the egregious immigration act signed recently by the governor of Arizona.,” said Herman “Skip” Mason, the fraternity’s national general president.
“It was the full opinion of the board that we could not host a meeting in a state that has sanctioned a law which we believe will lead to racial profiling and discrimination, and a law that could put the civil rights and the very dignity of our members at risk during their stay in Phoenix Arizona.”
The event, which was scheduled to take place from July 21 to 25, will be moved to Las Vegas, Nevada. The convention, and the fraternity’s special Summit on the African-American Male, was expected to draw up to 10,000 visitors to Arizona—adding hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue to the Phoenix economy.
The fraternity, formed in 1906, at the Ivy-League Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., is considered one of the most influential groups in the United States. It includes among its membership: civil rights leader and former U.S. Ambassador to the UN Andrew Young; McDonald’s President and COO Don Thompson; National Urban League President and former mayor of New Orleans Marc H. Morial; CNN Political Analyst Roland Martin; White House Deputy Associate Director of Intergovernmental Affairs Michael Blake; and several high-ranking members of the U.S. House and Senate.
It is also the fraternity of the late Martin Luther King Jr. and Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. President Ronald Reagan named several members to key posts during his presidency as did former Presidents George Bush, Bill Clinton and President Barack Obama.
“Our late Alpha brother the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, in a letter he wrote while sitting in the Birmingham Jail, ‘injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.’ Alpha Phi Alpha’s decision to boycott Arizona continues that same fight, fought during the Civil Rights era.”
“We will not only speak with our voices and our feet, we will speak with our economic clout; and we will not spend our money in Arizona and urge other organizations and people who believe in equality under the law, to do the same,” said Mason.
Dining Out For Life
What's better than partying. Partying with a purpose. We're going to have music, dancing performances, paparazzi and so much more.
What’s going to happen is the restaurant has been generous enough to donate 25% of the night’s proceeds to ACCESS AIDS Care.
The address for Plaza Del Sol is 2200 Colonial Avenue Norfolk, VA 23517
10 friends you need by age 30
(The Frisky) -- From the time you were in pre-school and your mom picked your play dates, you've been building relationships with people. And sometimes, when you have things in common and get along with one another, you become friends. You might think that you have enough friends in your life, but really, can you ever have too many? Plus, you never know when you're going to need a hand saw, so you better have someone in your cell phone who owns one.
Before you turn 30, these are some friends that would be handy to have around.
1. The Style Guru: Everyone needs someone who can help them figure out which dress is appropriate for "black-tie optional" weddings, and whether you can get away with wearing a green sweater with a red belt. (The answer to the latter is "probably not," unless you are a Christmas Elf.)
2. The Mr./Ms. Fix-it: You bought a new bike online, but the instructions for putting it together appear to be written in a language you do not speak. It's time to call the friend who has a knack for building things and owns all the right tools.
3. The Good-Time Gal: If you're feeling antsy with nothing to do on a Friday night, call this friend, who is generally up for doing anything at any time. She'll cook up plans that involve dancing on banquets or singing Madonna's "Like A Prayer" in the time it takes you to change out of your work clothes and slap on a fresh coat of mascara.
4. The Health Nut: During the times when you suddenly decide to start working out or eating food other than take-out and delicacies from the frozen-food aisle, it's good to have someone who reads every health and fitness magazine and loves to dispense instructions on the proper squat form and to pass along recipes for protein-rich meals.
5. The Ear: You had a sucky day at work and hate everything in your closet. What do you do? Call the friend who will calmly listen to all of your problems and then, at the appropriate time, give you a few pearls of wisdom.
6. The Do-It-Herselfer: Hemming vintage dresses or whipping up a crème brûlée might not come naturally to you, but with the help of a skillful friend, you'll develop new talents in no time.
7. The Culture Guru: If you like the idea of going to see that new up-and-coming band perform, befriend someone who knows who's playing and what exhibits are on display.
8. The Healthcare Professional: Make friends with a doctor or nurse. Then, when you wake up with ginormous swollen glands, you won't have to wait for an appointment to get medicine to cure what ails you.
9. The Legal Adviser: We all make mistakes. A need for speed can lead to you getting pulled over, and a lively party might end with a noise violation. If you have a friend who's a lawyer, at least you won't be alone when you have to appear in front of a judge.
10. The Travel Buddy: There are those who like to stay in the same place and find solace in their homes. And there are others who need to get out and explore the world. If you've caught the travel bug, find a friend who has it too. It's way more fun (and much safer) when you share adventures with someone else.
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Response to McDonnell
What I see happening from this is with less money going to the education system we will not be able to recruit and keep the best and brightest educators. This will lead to an inferior education experience for most students. There will be an increase in drop out rates. Based on a 2009 Washington Post article VA has a 9.9% drop out rate for high school students. Now lets compound this issue with the fact that our police departments will be hit by cuts. So we will have more individuals without proper education in our population. That can lead to an increase in crime. Let's say it doesn't what jobs can these individuals afford? Some of the statistics I found for Hampton Roads cities with the highest poverty levels is Norfolk (19.4%) and Portsmouth (16.2%). We are also cutting pregnancy prevention funding so one could extrapolate an increased rate of broken families and juvenile child birth.
I will personalize my thoughts. My family was not poor but due to brain cancer in my baby brother's brain medical bills were extreme and my mother could not work as she normally would have. My father was in the Navy. My brother and I both participated in a school lunch program when my mother was able to work and became involved after school to save money on after school programs. We even both served as Student Body President of our respective schools in the same year. We both lettered in over 4 sports each in high school. We also both were in the Gifted and Talented Program. Every single one of these programs are going to be affected by these budget cuts. I wonder if I would truly be who I am today if these cuts had gone into effect when I was in school.
Currently my wife is a state employee. She has not seen a pay raise in three years I believe. Though she has a college degree she makes under 30K a year working for our alma mater. Now she is being required to take furlough days as well. In her office as well as many others there are state employees who have been working for years making much more than they deserve. We have individuals who are not proficient at computer usage, even the basics, yet they have ballooned salaries due to experience. We need to force retirements and cut back on benefits for seniors. We need our next generation to succeed where our last generations failed.
So quickly we state it is because our Governor is a Republican. He should be a Virginian first. Personally I could care less about party affiliation. Vote them all out and start from scratch. My generation could do no worse.
Portion Size, Then Vs. Now
By: Liz Monte
Over the past few decades, portion sizes of everything from muffins to sandwiches have grown considerably. Unfortunately, America’s waistbands have reacted accordingly. In the 1970s, around 47 percent of Americans were overweight or obese; now 66 percent of us are. In addition, the number of just obese people has doubled, from 15 percent of our population to 30 percent.
While increased sizes haven’t been the sole contributor to our obesity epidemic, large quantities of cheap food have distorted our perceptions of what a typical meal is supposed to look like. These portion comparisons, adapted from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s (NHLBI) Portion Distortion Quiz, give a visual representation of what sizes used to be compared to what they are today.
Two Slices of Pizza
Twenty years ago Today
500 calories 850 calories
Those extra 350 calories, if eaten a two times a month, would put on two extra pounds a year, or forty pounds in the next two decades.
Urban League Breakfast
This morning I had the pleasure to attend the Urban League of Hampton Roads. It was titled the Changing Lives Breakfast. It was an amazing event. It showcased some of the great events and feats of the organization. Highlights of the speakers included a very talented young lady who though successful, was on the verge of losing her home. It included the parents of a young lady who through the mentoring programs of Urban League, was able to gain entrance to William & Mary and has become very successful in the mass communications field. The final highlight was on a young man who was left alone after his mother unexpectedly died of cancer. Though he was nearly homeless, the Urban League assisted him on getting on the right path with his life. There was a who's who of community involved individuals. I attended with Curt Anderson, founder of Mygoodlyfe.com, Norfolk commissioner for Redevelopment and Housing Administration and manager of the Palace on Plume. Also in attendance was Jummy Olabnji, the attractive young reporter from the local CBS affiliate WTKR. My good friends and proprietors of Posh Retro, Amber Ivey and Tomeria Allen were in attendance. I had the pleasure of sitting with the men from Best Kept Secret. This group desires to lower inner city violence by mentoring young men and providing free hair cuts to them.
The Urban League was established nearly 100 years ago. It was made to assist rural African-Americans who were transitioning urban cities. Today Urban League has become an outlet for aiding those facing foreclosure and those seeking home ownership. Urban League also works closely with small business to aid them in reaching a move level playing field through technology and education.
I encourage everyone to check out your local Urban League. In my area it is the Urban League of Hampton Roads www.ulhr.com. Nationally you can go to www.urbanleague.org