Crap load of vloggs I'm should have loaded awhile ago.

Crap load of vloggs I'm should have loaded awhile ago.

Friday, July 31, 2009

The One 'Wise' man

With all the talk about race over the past few weeks whether the reasons for that talk were legitimate or not depending on you point of view I thought I could share something with you.
Once again I was on was searching my usual websites and I found a video clip from a public speaker by the name of Tim Wise whom some of you may now. Mr. Wise gives 59 min lecture on racism, white privilege and how we are all regardless of race are affected by it.




A lot to think about till next time

Monday, July 27, 2009

Not A Good Idea; No No No

I thought I would try something different with a new blog I call Not a Good Idea. Each week if I find some news story on the web that I think sounds like a recipe for disaster I'll write about it.

So while surfing the web I checked out World Star Hip-Hop because you never know what craziness will be on there. There was a video clip from CNN that caught my attention simply it’s of the most bizarre things I have ever seen. There is a car dealership in Kansas City that is giving vouchers for AK-47 if the customer buys a truck. it's promotional sale they've done before except last year it was hand guns.



For starters I 'm not a theologian but I don't think Jesus would've have carried a hand gun much less a AK-47. The second amendment was written when the biggest gun you could have owned at the time was musket that had to loaded with powder, then the bullet before being fired each time and even if you were proficient at doing that you could still only kill one person at a time. AK-47 is a military grade weapon made for open combat situations were there is no law enforcement to provide assistance.

Yes I believe in the 2ND Amendment too but with in reason; owning a hand gun, shotgun, or a hunting rifle should be more than enough for any man. Given the recent down turn in the economy, unemployment on the rise, and hate crimes on the rise are more semi automatic weapons on the streets a good idea? No no no, even good law abiding people can snap and having readily available AK-47 could be more of a curse than a blessing.

As for the if only they had a gun they could have stopped the tragedy before happened argument; owning a gun is not the same thing as owning Lion-O's Sword of Omens it will not give you sight beyond sight to see that something bad is about to happen. Unless that man the car dealer is talking about had been siting in his chair with the AK-47 pointed at his door waiting like Bud in his trailer waiting for Uma Thermon in Kill Bill Volume 2 more than likely the same tragic event would have taken place.

Ask the family of Vernon Forest who was killed Saturday night after being robbed for his wallet by a man at a gas station and proceeded to chase after that man if owning a gun was a good idea. He was approached by a stranger who asked him is he had any money and Vernon pulled out his wallet only have it stolen by the stranger. Vernon had his gun; you know the gun that should have given him the foresight to pull that out instead of his wallet. Vernon chased after the suspect and fired a shot but when he turned his back he got shot several times by multiple assailants. If you go by the logic and reasoning of that car dealer in Kansas City, Vernon just possessing a gun should have protected him and his belongings. He should probably still be alive because he had gun to protect him. No I'm sorry it just doesn't work like that; in the wake of Vernon Forest death along with many others I wish it did.

My foresight is telling this is a bad idea; I understand the dealer ship is trying to sell cars but how about grocery voucher instead a voucher for a fire arm. I'm pretty sure in this economy a lot of people would like to save some money on their food shopping.

(I go over my blogs many times before I post them but I'm only human so please excuse my errors)

Saturday, July 25, 2009

A Familiar Story

In the aftermath of the Professor Henry Louis Gates’ racial profiling incident there was a lot of talk about President Barrack Obama’s remarks last Wednesday about his friends arrest by Cambridge police.

On Wednesday night while the President was giving an address about Health Care Reform a reporter asked him about the incident. He stated he had some bias because he knows Gates personally and anyone (of any color) would be upset to have police officers accuse them of breaking in their own home even more show after presenting ID that proves they live there. The president also stated that he wasn’t there but from what heard the police acted “Stupidly”.

The president caught flack from a lot of conservative radio (wow what a surprise) and 24 hour TV news pundits who felt that he shouldn’t have said anything. He even caught flack from everyone’s favorite TV dad Bill Cosby who said he needed to “Shut up”.

They all seemed to have a problem with Barrack using the word “Stupidly”, even I think that were a few others words he could have used in its place that would worked just fine. Illogically, irrationally, and hastily come to mind. Those are softer more diplomatic words I might have used to describe how the police acted.

There was something else though; something that I noticed about some of the conversations got on my nerves. There were number of people who said the same thing over and over again. Barrack wasn’t he doesn’t know happened so how can he speak about something he didn’t’ see?
Well there were only two black people on the scene at the time of the arrest; Henry Louis Gates and one the three police officers.


Obama wasn’t there, I wasn’t there, and any black person reading this blog wasn’t there but we’ve all been there. What happened to Gates was hot news but it wasn’t new. A lot of black and brown people have heard this story because a lot of them have a story with the same main theme. The theme is racial profiling; it’s when law enforcement of any kind from police to mall security treat people like suspects before they committed a crime based solely on their skin color or ethnic background. Here is a video that I think illustates this point.





Now I wasn’t in that park playing ball with those kids either but I know exactly how it feels to be playing ball with other kids and have the cops harass us because they think were up to something because its similar to something me and my friends experienced in our neighborhood one time. A lady called the cops on us because she thought were ganging up on somebody when the truth was were picking teams for a half court pick up game. Two police officers showed up and one of them had nasty attitude. When they realized nothing bad was going down he and his partner let us be but by then we were so mad we didn’t want to play ball anymore. It's something a lot of young black men experience and apparently some older black people too.
It is an angry feeling to be treated in negative way becasue you're percieved as being a criminal.

Normally I try not to write as if I’m speaking for all of black America because I don’t want to contribute to the stereotype that we all think alike because we don’t. I will make in exception in this case because I know that every black person I know, don’t know, related to, and not related to have a story about a negative encounter with the police where in which they felt they were being treated unfairly based on the color of their skin. These stories are infused into the collective DNA of every black person in this country much like the stories of slavery, segregation, and Jim Crow. I haven’t experienced those things either but these stories and memories have been passed down to me by my family.

Side note; I have a theory as to why movies like Rosewood and Once Upon a Time When We Were Colored don’t do as well as say movies like Friday and Madea’s Family Reunion. It’s because we as black people have heard about all the pain and suffering from our kinfolk all our lives. We’ve heard about violence, hatred, and the overall struggle so much that when movies about this particular subject matter are made we don’t want to go see it because we can easily turn to those same kinfolk and they will a happily share their history with us. I’m not saying it's right but I can understand why we as a people won’t pay for a movie ticket for something we can get for free.

Anyway to my fellow white Americans who may not understand this; when it comes to racial profiling even if it’s only a perception I’m in that story, president Barrack Obama before he became president is in that story, every black and Latino male is in that story whatever that story maybe. We’re all in that story because it can happen to anyone of us regardless of class, or level of education. Our skin color only tells one part of our collective story and while a lot of people including police officers know there is more to that story there some who only see the cover and act on what they think the rest of the story is because they too have a history infused in their DNA. A story that tells them that certain people should be treated a certain way according to color, ethnicity, or how low their jeans are hanging (pull ‘em up guys) and that story needs to be changed.

No I wasn’t there but it’s a story that’s sounds awfully damn familiar.


( I read over my blogs several time before I post them but I'm only human please excuse my errors)

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Post Racial? Let’s ask the Professor!

Okay you’ve come home from a long trans-Atlantic trip. You’ve crossed times zones, dealt with TSA agents, sat around waiting for your luggage and you probably have jet lag. Finally you get your luggage and you come home. You can’t get in your house because the door is jammed so you ask your driver to force the door open for you because your 58 years old and you’re handicapped. You get in your house and you start to call maintenance to inform about the door and…I’ll let the Professor tell the rest.



It was an unfortuanate incident that at least to me quiets all the talk I've heard about this post racial world we live in now that we have a black president. Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. teaches at Harvard and his known for his studies race in america. He's an author, a father, and has no prior record to speak of. Despite all of that he was coaxed out of his home and arrested by Cambridge police. He spent the weekend in jail but luckily for Gates he has the friendship and respect of many people in high places so he made some calls and got out of jail. Gates is in a luxurous postions a postion he earned but a luxurious postion nonethe less. Most black men in that situation would probably still be in jail.

Racial profiling is alive in well in America even in the age so called age of Obama. What the professor experienced is something that has happened to far too many black and latino males in the country. You can try deny it if you want to, alot of people will was part fo thier over all defense of lawenforcement in this country. Now for the sake of fareness and because I've know a few police officers in my time I firmly beleive that most police officers are good honest men and women who want fo enforce the law fairly and with compassion. There his however a small percentage that seep through that have preset notions about minorities based in racial stereotypes. Those particular offiecers of the law when thier actions prove so need to be weeded out not just for the sake and safety of black, latinos and poor whites but also for the sake police community relations.

The fact is there is crime in all of our neighborhoods, especially in these hard economic times where desperate men are more prone to commit crimes and we need police officers to work with all our communities to prevent and discourage crime. To quote the late Tupac Shakur "Them same crime white people are affraid of black people are affraid of". Law abiding black and latino citizens want to raise thier kids in safe and neihborhoods and be able to take trips knowing that thier homes and property will be relatviely safe. They also want to be able to come back to thier homes and not be arrested by police officers for what I call LNNWB, living in a nice neighborhood while black.

Friday, July 17, 2009

What do Michael Steele and Martellus Bennett have in common?

What do Michael Steele and Martellus Bennett have in common?

Let’s tart with my favorite Black Republican Michael Steele the Chairman of the RNC. The Abbot of appeasement was speaking at the Young Republicans Convention in Indianapolis. Someone actually recorded an exchange between Michael Steel and some young Republicans and of course like so many things nowadays it was up on YouTube for all to see and hear. When asked by a young person about his plans for more diversity and inclusion in the Republican Party Michaels Steels response was and I quote “My plan is to say Y’all come cause a lot of you are already here, I got the fried chicken and potato salad”. Here video so you can have the full context.






"Fried chicken and potato salad" you said?

Look I’ve gotten nothing against Michael Steele personally. Like I said before he is an appeaser; he wants the Republican Party to be more inclusive but my problem with that is at what cost. The answer is we may already know cost. The cost he’s paying is his self respect which is a high price for any man to pay. The sad thing is he doesn’t seem to mind paying that cost and I have to believe it’s because he so single minded in his cause it’s blinded him to just how bad he looks when says things like this.

I had a certain amount of respect for Michael Steele before this year because I feel like we need black people on both sides of the political isle. However, when Michael Steele back downed in the face Rush Limbaugh I lost a lot of respect for that man.

I mean I already found his positioning as the Chair of the RNC to be suspect it timing with Barrack Obama becoming the first black president. My suspicions we’re well founded when in my opinion RNC real Chairman Rush Limbaugh vocalized his hopes for Barrack’s failure as president. Steele called him out on this he quickly learned who is really in charge of the Republican Party when Limbaugh punk'd him on his radio show. Michael apologized instead of standing up for himself and the party he wants so much be more inclusive. So his whole fried chicken and potato comment doesn’t surprise me but does solidify what I’ve thought black republicans like Michael Steele for some time.

If you think I’m off base about this I was listening to the Russ Parr Morning show while driving to school a week after the Michael Steele vs. Limbaugh controversy and even Armstrong Williams called out Steele for puking out to Limbaugh and you know it’s bad when Armstrong Williams who is a black man one of the more well know staunch supporters of the Republican party is more indignant about Rush Limbaugh than Michael Steele.

Then there is Martellus Bennett Tight End for the Dallas Cowboys. Apparently he has a video he and his brother on YouTube called the Black Olympics showing he and his brother participating in such events as speed fried chicken eating. He also had a watermelon eating contest with his bother also based the speed of the consumption. Thanks Martellus; thanks for reinforcing century old racial stereotypes; not that you seem to understand that.





Yes it would seem that neither Michael Steele or Martellus Bennett have had enough black history or American history to understand why their respective words and actions are so rooted in the worst racial stereotypes this country has to offer. Now obviously there is an age difference between Steele and Bennett is 22 years old ands as some one who’s worked with young people 10 years my junior or younger I can say from personal experience he’s not alone when it comes to not understanding that for mentioned history and why videos like this one are so offensive.

Michael Steele on the other hand is 50 and has to remember experiencing or at the least hearting about acts of racism and the stereotypes that accompanied it. He should know better than the 22 year old than to make a bad joke out of it but like I said before he's blinded by his own cause.

Both of these black man seperated by age, up bringing, and profession lost someting along the way like sohave as strive acceptance when we should working toward empowerment.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

(Being a Nice Guy is Hard

So I’m sitting here dressed in black. No there is nothing wrong; there is no funeral to attend though given the passing of this last month funeral is the word foremost on alot of peoples minds. No I’m dressed in black simply because it’s more slimming. Most people who are not attending a memorial of some kind are usually wearing black for the same reason. I’m not the thinnest guy in the world though I am making strides in my weight loss endeavor. Yes I want to look better and feel better: I would also like to live long healthy life. Being thin has many pluses and few minuses.


One of the main pluses is being thin is it's a good way to become more attractive to the opposite sex. Yes ladies I’m single. I’m single for a lot of reasons; some of those reasons I can’t do much about right about now but some I can do something about. Weight loss is one of them. Hey you look better you fee better; you have more confidence. That confidence makes you more sure footed and thus more out going thus more attractive.



Being confident gives you that glow; not that Soul Glo mind you but Last Dragon glow. I want that glow.













Yeah sure I’m nice guy; a gentlemen who still practices some semblance of chivalry in a steadily less chivalrous world. However I’m also a realist I likes to keep it real (pardon my Ebonics) I see myself in the mirror in the morning. I know what I look like with my spare tricycle tire, two chipped front teeth. Let’s keep it a hundred (Slang) I am pretty mediocre looking dude. I’m not model by any stretch of the imagination not even with beer goggles. I’ve been passed over by the opposite sex left and right for a good chunk of my youth.

I’ve never told anyone this before but I have often imagined my self coming out the trenches of the war of the sexes waving my own white flag of surrender. I have a megaphone in my hand and I state my terms assuring all the young women of the world that they won’t have to worry about the Big J being the bugga-boo who can’t take the Las Vegas neon light glaring sign hint that says ”Kick rocks we’re not feeling you”. I turn back to the men in the trenches; the players, pretty boys, muscle dudes, and the tech guys and I salute them and encourage them to press on with without me. I grab my bag, my laptop, a hot pocket and I do the David Banner leaves town routine off into the distance.
Ladies please don’t misunderstand I’m not mad at cha (Ebonics) I understand. I may not be what you want but I remain the hardcore gentlemen none the less.
E.G. (Example Grande)

Recently I started a dialogue with a young attractive woman who shares the same Astrological symbol as mine. I believed that maybe just maybe I would have the chance to take said woman out lunch or perhaps a movie but alas I didn’t happen. Like I said I’m a realist and I know that nothing absolutely nothing in this life is written in stone. Even if we did have something written in stone woman’s prerogative dictates she can change her mind at any moment (which apparently she did) take said stone and smash it to the ground like Moses did the Ten Commandments.

















When I spoke to her recently and by speak I mean comments on our respective MySpace pages I didn’t bring it up.









WHY?







Why didn’t I bring it up? The answer to that riddle is simple because despite all the rejection I've experienced I still practice chilvary which means I have to put on my best face and soldier on. I have to continue being the person am and endeavor to be better than I was the day before and beleive you me thats hard.

The Big Intro

So this is the big introduction blog. Hello to any and every one reading this for the first time. My name is Jason but for the sake of some kind semi anonymity I blog under the names Silent Jay, Big J, The Unknown Potato Head, and the brownhornet. I probably have a few others but I can’t bring them into memory right now.


In order to kick this inaugural blog off the right way I thought a little back history was in order.


I was born by the river…no I wasn’t I was born in at the FT. Bragg hospital in Fayetteville North Carolina. My father who is no longer with us was in the military when he met my mom; they were married seven years before I was born. Doctors told my mother that she was past a certain point in her life where having another child was possible. Luckily for my parents that diagnoses didn’t stop them from trying. I guess you can say I was a miracle baby; a few months after my arrival my father was transferred to Ft. Ord in California. Ft. Ord is northern California twenty minutes outside Monterey. I’m a Military brat; I was lived and move from Cali back to Virginia where I spent the majority of my youth.


By the way I thought about Vlogging all of this; I have the means to do so but after watching jsmooth’s latest video on illdoctrine.com and his take on Michael Jackson (may he rest in peace) and the whole video media personal validation thing I find myself wrestling with posting any vlogs though I won’t totally rule it out.


So Where was I ah yes I grew up in the suburbs of northern Virginia. I went elementary and high school there along with some junior college and more than a few odd jobs. Those jobs included Barber shops, Dishwasher, Office Clerk. I’ve done some volunteer work and even two years as an AmeriCorps VISTA in an afterschool program.


I’ve traveled a lot; I’ve seen a lot of the United States, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and some parts of Europe too. I’ve have been fortunate enough to meet a lot of different people from all over the world.


I was a published poet at the age of 26. I’ve been published over 12 times and I have even had two songs made out my poems. I’m a writer who’s currently attending school. For those ladies who may be reading this you’ll be happy to know I’m single but you will probably run for the hill when I tell I still live at home. My father passed away from a heart attack eleven years ago and I’ve been looking after my mom ever since. I have an older sister, two nephews, a niece, two grand nieces and a brother-in-law still living in Maryland. There is a lot more but those are tales to be told later.


MISSION STATMENT!
What I would like to do is expand on thoughts I usually have to cut short on Eurweb or my twitter and post them on my own personal blog. This is just my point of view; I'm not speaking for an entire group of people though I would like to believe I represent for my people with my own point of view. I read alot of these blogs and I feel (self servingly enough) my voice is different based on my upbringing. I have a few thoughts to share and if you don't mind a little reading I have a point of view you may not have read before.


Sincerely,


Silent Jay