EPIC FAIL: @NbTpain

http://gyantunplugged.com/tv-scoop/epic-fail-t-pains-the-return-of-freaknik-is-the-execution-of-ignorance/

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10 Most Offensive Things About 'Freaknik: The Musical' - Essence.com

10 Most Offensive Things About 'Freaknik: The Musical' - Essence.com

Know Your Rights

Know Your Rights

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T-Pain's, Freaknik: The Musical, MUST DIE

If you haven’t already seen "Freaknik: The Musical" (find at www.adultswim.com), and witnessed what happens when we don’t pass on the history of our struggle in this country. T-Pain’s animation series “Freaknik: The Musical", demonstrates how instant, undeserved, misguided fame is allowed to run unchecked in our community. T Pain and other performers (not mentioned) I would like to say have gotten it confused, but judging from this ridiculous attempt to provide comedic adult entertainment has only shown just how pathetically disrespectful and ignorant they are with no excuse. This series plays into every possible stereotype that our people have fought and died to vanish from our community so that we might not be judged by the deeds of the few. Granted T-Pain and his crew don't represent the whole of the black community but because of his celebrity status and resources they've garnered enough support with the help of Verizon (an advertiser on this series) to produce and promote a product that suggest that all a young man should want is “money, clothes and hoes”, while our women can go work for a “rich, fat, white man or be an ex-stripper”. This careless behavior isn’t clever and is treasonous to the black community. If it were possible to turn back the clock and snatch success for an individual today, Mr. T- Pain would get my vote, without hesitation. This series in my opinion is just that injurious to our community and we should boycott anything T-Pain does until he receives some deprogramming. The problem with T-Pain and other insta-celebs (instant celebrities) they think by virtue of the money and the fame there’s no obligation to forge ahead with any level of responsibility. It’s as if the money and V.I.P. status renders them exempt from applying new bricks and mortar around the cornerstones laid by Cab Callaway, Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis, Chuck Berry, BB King, Aretha Franklin, Patti LaBelle, Luther Vandross and Michael Jackson. How can we stop this now and in the future because this represents our most pressing issues in our community as we move forward? We have our first black president and we know better.

(Exclusive) "Best Supporting Actress" Mo’nique, for living in truth the way millions wish they could.

First things first let me say congrats to Mo’nique on the Oscar win for "Best Supporting Actress", 2010. I’ve just become a super-sized Mo’nique fan for more reasons than the Oscar win. I must preface everything I’m about to say and admit that I’ve never really been a fan at all. In the past I felt her standup routines were pushed, over the top and stocked with unnecessary nasty fillers substituting for comedic talent. I’m not an entertainment expert so push my opinion of the routine aside.
I love her now for her commitment to living and being on her own terms. I never do this but I went out of my way last night to record her much talked about Barbara Walters Special interview. The interview started a buzz after Barbara plugged the Oscar night interview on her daytime talk show “The View”. During the plug Barbara mentioned that Mo’nique has an open marriage that would not end because her husband had sex outside of the marriage. Well because I’m suspicious when the media uses sound bites as a means of promotion I had to see it for myself and I must say the spot earned Mo’nique major cool points with me and was “as advertised”.
There are three reasons I love Mo’nique right now, first and foremost I admire when people find the strength to boldly live in the truth of who they are and make no apologies. Man or woman it doesn’t matter because when you can tap into that I think you can experience freedom/life in a unique way.
The second reason she’s getting these cool points is the way she’s handled herself with the media from red carpets to her acceptance speeches. She has clearly displayed authentic humility even though she’s from the “B-more” and she’ll “cut a bitch”. She is grounded and not changed by the Hollywood B.S.; just check her swagger as she hits the red carpet with hairy legs. Indifferent to all the media fallout, she hasn’t switched it up to suit flip floppy mainstream interest. She’s rooted in being authentic and real.
Finally her candid disclosure of the personal marital contract to the public deeply struck me as inspiring and something worthy of envy by others involved in committed relationships and marriages. Through years of life experience and disappointment Mo’nique has applied a level of wisdom uncommon in the world today. Because of her willingness to be absolute and not selective in her application of truth she has opened up a level of intimacy in her marriage/relationship that has wowed the hell out of me. I hear you out there saying “of course every man would love the Mo’nique setup”, a license to openly partake in a sex on the fly agreement. Well I’m going to say yes, there are plenty of men and women that if given that option would take it. However, I believe what people really want is the freedom to be their authentic selves without fear of judgment or rejection. People want to experience that more because it’s more intimate and last a lot longer than the occasional split/hit/forget with a “jump off.” Let’s face it, many of you are already in an arrangement where he/she will take the occasional hit and run whether you agree with it or not. Yet you are powerless to make a decision about it because you fear the “truth”. In your relationship are you truly your authentic self? Is your partner his/her authentic self? How do you know? Or was Mo’nique’s interview a PR strategy? Black American Opinion

Village where are our black children?

Yesterday, on a return from a mid morning coffee run I began to notice a sprinkling of school aged kids, scattered about the neighborhood (I live in the "hood"). As I continued to drive the more pronounce the street presence of these black school children became. I began to count them in my progression and by the count of eight I searched for reasons that might explain only remembering the school buses I saw running their usual schedules. At a head count of 12 and a block from my house I spotted number 13 on a shooter, black hooded, male black, approximately 11 years old and I just had to stop. I carefully pulled up curbside, let down the window and asked, "Hey, little man, is school opened today? He answered yeah, with hesitation in his voice. I pressed on, "so why aren't you in school?" He came right back with "I missed the bus and my momma didn't feel like taking me." I'm sitting there drying my teeth in disbelief almost told the kid to go get your books and I will take you, but decided against it for fear of being labeled a kidnapper. If it truly take a village to raise a child, Why are the village children roaming the street during prime learning time, while the elders are driving around clueless? This is an issue President Obama's education initiatives can't help if we the elders aren't holding up our end of the deal. Ironically, the "village to raise a child" proverb's origin is Africa and as descendents of Africa some could call us hypocritical in our finger pointing and blaming of a education system/schools that we can't facilitate getting our children to answer "present" when attendance is called. What can we do to do better in this area? Many of the actions require no funding, but discipline and will. Is this worth doing or will we leave this for the “good white folks” to do for us and blame them later for trying?

"Man in the Mirror" and #9

The recent loss of Michael Jackson and Steve "Air" McNair has stirred many within the African American community to serious personal reflection and mourning.  While the shock of these losses is fresh the tragedy of how and why we've lost raises questions as to the black man's vision for ourselves and our families.  Publicly these two men reached pinnacles in life of which movies are made and children dream.  Yet they both depart this world with tragic endings leaving families, friends and fans heartbroken.  What is it about the black experience in this country that renders the likelihood of a black man's life ending with violence, drugs or a combination of both so probable?  Never mind the statistical data for black men's disproportional incarceration rates.  Why can't we go out on top?  Resign and/or retire from the top paying fields of endeavor on our own terms, the house with grandchildren, dogs and picket fences in suburbia or wherever we choose?  Why are the high profile, iconic, grind iron heroes and pop culture pioneers consistently going out in bankruptcy, fetal position, morgue table, toxicology result pending, and death by club altercation tragic headlines?   How can we manage to live a publicly successful life with millions of admirers but die in a haze of media frenzy awaiting autopsy results?  Michael Jackson at 50 years needed fifty real friends and family around him to show him the love found in the word "no".  While Steve McNair at 36 years old needed just one friend to show him thirty-six reasons why is wife and sons were his best chance of enjoying life over the 4^th of July weekend.  Without judgment or finger pointing I submit to you that "I'm starting with the man in the mirror" and I'm sincerely "asking him to change his way".  Can it get any clearer?

Jesse Jackson, Old School Hater/Old Sly Fox???

Ok now that the dust has settled somewhat around the crude comments made by Rev. Jesse Jackson on Fox News Network a few weeks ago. What do we know and what does any of this have to do with the goal of the Obama agenda.
Firstly, we all know that Rev. Jackson has been in the game of pushing the agenda (whether agreed or otherwise) of blacks and minorities for forty plus years. It’s hard and almost impossible to conceive the thought that Rev. Jackson is this stupidly careless with his choice of words and more importantly indifferent to the venue (audience) Fox News (a right wing conservative news outlet). Hot or cold microphone aside we can’t be convinced that a pro like Jesse believed he could waltz into this right wing den of hounds and believe he had a pass to drop words so loosely. If he really did think that was possible, I’m embarrassed for him and for every African-American that considers Jesse our leader. At this level and with what‘s at stake, leaders regardless of color can’t operate with such a gross lapse of judgment and self-discipline. If this is the case Jesse will have to go down in black history’s top ten “play haters” list. When stakes are this high everything is a part of the overall plan and strategy and because this is so we know Rev. Jackson must be the “Old Sly Fox”. Obama’s camp has from the very beginning distanced their agenda and platform from Rev. Jackson and the old school rank and file civil rights activist and their extreme outdated strategies and smartly so. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D) IL is a key component within the Obama camp working to promote the electability of Barrack Obama. Therefore, would it make sense for young Jesse to have conversations with big Jesse about how to swing some of that Middle American “white vote” around Obama’s way? Is there anyone that sincerely thinks this couldn’t happen? This election will be fought and won over this critical segment of voters (white Middle America) and Jesse’s actions only created more perceived separation between “old school” black leader agendas and the “new school” progressive black agenda. In addition, Jesse pointed whites to an Obama speech to a black church/Father’s Day speech that in no way depicted “down talkin to black folk” , but instead showed a black man saying things that Middle America whites think already and were glad he said it. Hence, maybe they’re so glad that come November they will be prompted to vote for “Change”. Jesse, like the “Sly Fox” is helping a younger faster fox hunt for votes by flushing the white votes out of the thicket.

"Whites Clueless on Black Patriots"

In recent weeks, mainstream media and some White Americans appeared to have enjoyed a verbal slug festival at the expense of presumed Democratic presidential nominee Barrack H. Obama. Through his presidential campaign questions of his patriotism have persisted and subsequently called into question the patriotism of many from within the African-American community. Obama in a June 30th 2008, speech given to supporter in Independence, MO eloquently explained how his personal experiences with family and others have shaped his feelings of patriotism. In the aftermath of his remarks “talk radio” conservatives and liberal engaged in heated dialogue steeped in the question of what is “black patriotism” and can it exist. Many on the “right” seemed to frame their debates in the absolute assumption that you are patriotic or you aren’t and there is no such animal as ‘black patriotism”. On the other hand some liberal opinions centered on the ideal that the African-American experience in this country renders most African-Americans incapable of having a sincere sense of patriotism towards this country.
Once again mainstream American (therefore most whites) have completely missed the point, got it wrong and struck the hell out on this one. They’ve gotten this one wrong as they always do because they are supremely convinced that in order for anything to wear their labels the thing has to wear it the way “white America” wears it. In this case the label being worn is patriotism and for many of them the primary ways of demonstrating patriotism are tied to participation in ritualistic activities like standing with hand covered hearts during the singing of the National Anthem at a ball park where thirty minutes later you’ll find them slumped in their seat drunk from that fourth beer they hoisted with other hand during the anthem. This and other activities like attending Civil War battle re-enactments, American flags being flown from front porches and wearing flag pins on lapels are frankly considered phony and meaningless by many within the African-Americans. None of these activities signify patriotism levels and only mirror the effect of a suburban white family’s Saturday morning race to work on their lawns to hopefully gain the praise/envy of their competing neighbors. It’s all sizzle with no steak.
As for the question of “black patriotism”…there is no question…yes it exists and most importantly it is real, heartfelt and meaningful in ways unimagined in the hearts of white Americans. For African-Americans, patriotism is bittersweet and reflective of our history experience in our country. How could white America question the patriotism of a community that has birthed men and women that have willfully been contributors in every major U.S. military conflict this country has seen? It’s a miracle that you can find black men/women enlisting in today’s armed forces with the opposing opinions our community gives its young people considering this option. Yet year after year our disproportionate population of young African-Americans show up and serve with valor. This country’s factual history is stocked with records and accounts of our contributions to the goodwill of a country that has on numerous occasions exploited the validity of our rights as citizens much less our rights to a return on our investment in this country. In the movie “Patton”, George C. Scott’s character General Patton makes a famous address to a tank battalion in a small village in France, and in this depiction per the movie he is addressing a battalion of white soldiers but history tells us that the entire battalion was an all black battalion. The reasons for such a gross misrepresentation of the facts is not the point but more important here is the fact that black soldiers have consistently petitions to be vetted in the battles this country has fought. They have fought and fought well despite the knowledge that upon returning home not much would change in the way they were view by mainstream America. When mainstream America finally gets a clue and looks for patriotism in black American in the places where it shows up, whether it is in the heat of military conflict, the ball park or just doing the right thing. They will probably find out that yes it exists and it is one of the things that right with this country. The spirit of black patriotism is rooted in our commitment to loving a country that doesn’t always love us back. Until we reach a point in this country when the labels aren’t necessary black Americans will take our patriotic cue from every black enlisted man and woman to serve in the armed forces, the “Tuskegee Airmen”, the Black Tank Battalions of WWII, Jesse Owens, Joe Louis, Jackie Robinson and yes Muhammad Ali.

"The History in Jena 6"

I’ve withheld commentary on “Jena 6” and the battle cry over this recurring theme in our history in America. The reasons I’ve delayed comment is because I didn’t and still don’t have enough information and details of what occurred. I’m just a little cautious of any media presentations and the court records (with eye witness accounts) I haven’t found. Another reason is that I wanted to watch our reactions. Not just the reactions but the personalities, institutions, media, churches and mainly our kids. Maybe I’m just a little too old or something but my personal reaction to the incident is far from shock and ah (how we say it). The reactions of our media appointed leaders were pretty predictable and scripted, white Americans were clueless and many of our children are the same. Two things standout in my mind regarding Jena, 1) we have forgotten Emmitt Till, and countless others from our relatively recent history that we haven’t told our children about and 2) white kids make mistakes while black kids committing the same acts are hardened criminals, not the fact but by the treatment our kids receive it's apparent. Jena 6 is a perfect opportunity to sit down with our children, black and white and share some of the nightmare stories of slavery and civil rights casualties. While doing so, point out the relevance of history and make the connections to these six young men in Jena, Louisiana.