the passion of the poverty pimp

The story hit the media like a sonic boom. Four young men filed suit against Bishop Eddie Long, pastor of the twenty-five thousand member New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Georgia. The men claimed that Long coerced them into sexual relationships after showering them with clothing, free trips, and electronics. Most people were shocked, others not so much. I mean, we’ve heard the story before. An influential pastor in charge of a huge fundamentalist congregation gets caught playing hide the sausage with one his parishioners. The only difference this time was that Eddie Long is African-American and New Birth is one of the biggest black churches in the nation.

But once you get over that difference, what’s being reported to have allegedly happened isn’t new at all. Black folks have known for a very long time that something wrong has been brewing within the sanctuaries of black mega-churches. The community at large has been exposed to rampant homophobia, sexism, and financial impropriety and it’s shameful. Even more shameful that these churches are more popular than ever. The Exclusionary Gospel Of Prosperity has taken a frightening hold over modern theology. It’s disgraceful.

And Bishop Eddie Long is one of the biggest perpetrators. Now when this story first hit, there were only two suits filed. I was still a bit iffy, but when numbers three and four were filed, I was like, “Something in the communion wine definitely ain’t clean”. I was even more disgusted by the sanctimonious responses from other Christians. “We need to pray for Bishop Long and his family” and, “Some of you all have fallen short of the glory, it’s just that your dirt isn’t on front street.” Yeah, whatever with all that. Even the Bishop himself during his petulant and smarmy speech this morning admonished those who were “lost” to come to the altar for prayer. Excuse me Bishop Lacefront, I’m not the one being accused of passing out iPADS for ass, okay? Maybe you need to try a little less projection and a little more humility. I guess I’m asking for too much though.

I mean you have a whole lot more to lose than me. I can see how you wouldn’t want to let go of the reins of your empire. I saw the pictures of your palatial estate. I’ve seen you wearing those shiny suits and sporting that sparkly jewelry. I’ve also heard you preach intolerance of gays ,the subjugation of women, and the love of money. The poor nose-led followers of your flock have responded to your perversion of the gospel by throwing themselves and their cash at your feet. But now some of the chickens are coming home to roost at the feet of the poverty pimp.

I really don’t care if this makes me sound mean or judgmental. To heck with all the guilty until proven innocent crap. Even if Bishop Muscle Shirt manages to worm his way out of this situation, he still has a whole lot to answer for.

first do no harm

A tragic story out of San Diego this weekend, a month old infant has died from whooping cough. You read right, whooping cough. A disease that was supposedly eradicated in the U.S decades ago. Now, health officials in San Diego county are reporting an alarming increase in cases of whooping cough in the area. What could possibly be the cause? Is there a vaccine resistant strain going around? Hardly. It’s mainly a result of parents refusing to immunize their kids due to religion or fear.

I’m not going to be the one to tell a parent how to take care of their child ( I’m really not), but can I ask that if a parent does decide to eschew vaccinations, please keep your diseased riddled ankle biters away from other children.  No matter what conspiracy you adhere to, Vaccinations cause autism or the government is placing ID chips in the shots, REAL, NON DISPUTABLE , scientific data is overwhelming. Vaccinating children saves lives. Preventing your children from catching a life threatening illness is the ultimate height of selfishness. Exposing non-vaccinated children to others is downright criminal.

So go ahead and follow Jenny McCarthy and her anti-vaccination crusade if you want to. The result will always be the same. Refuse to or delay your child’s immunization will lead to sickness and death.

Story link: http://www.fox5sandiego.com/news/kswb-baby-dies-from-whooping-cough,0,1588182.story

new year; new direction

As you all may have noticed, I have not been updating my blog as regularly as I have been. A lot of this has to do with some life events. Some of it has to do with frustration. When I first started this blog, I just thought of it as an outlet to vent my feelings about the 2008 election. I then started to write about my interests: tennis, movies, and music. The thing was, there a million plus political blogs, and another million tennis, movie, and music blogs. What could I possibly say that was any different?

Soon I began to become dispirited with blogging. What was the purpose? What exactly was I trying to say? Was I writing for myself or for attention? These are questions that I have yet to answer. I haven’t decided to stop blogging, but I need to find my voice. 2010 is the time for me to really find my passion and to commit to it. I invite you to stay along as I embark on this journey. I want this to be fun instead of agonizing.

Wish me luck and stay tuned…

crimes of the black elite

As the reports come in of the murder of Derrion Albert, an honors student from Chicago who was beaten to death in the street, discussions of gang violence are once again cropping up among the media and the black intelligista. It’s always the same: poverty and lack of educational opportunities in blighted communities breeds violence. Lack of parental guidance compounds the problem, along with disparate sentencing, racial profiling, and a dearth of rehabilitation services available. Yada. Yada. Yada. They talk amongst themselves. They debate on CNN and then the discussion dies down and people move on the next incident. However, little seems to change in the lives of these young people living day-to-day in these communities. Rarely do you hear about one of these talking heads actually making a trip down to one of these neighborhoods and engaging these children face to face. If they do, they make sure there are a lot of cameras around. They’ll make a fiery speech about personal responsibility, blame some random white menace, shake a few hands, then hop right back on the plane.

The few who choose to stay and try to help are faced with apathy, lack of funds for programs, and endless red tape coupled with empty promises from local and state governments. Then what happens, more kids fall through the cracks and the violence continues. My point is this, black youth violence is a home grown problem and we are going to have to be the ones to try to solve it. Not with fancy words and PSAs, but with real action and real money. How sick am I of hearing about a black academic traveling somewhere on a book tour, bemoaning the fact that they don’t often see other people of color come out in support. How tired am I of seeing another rapper or sports figure launch a clothing and handbag line, making a grand appearance at Fashion Week or some shi shi boutique in Los Angeles.

The very people they claim to write these books and make this clothing for are the very people who can’t afford it. These kids are killing each other over status items they can’t pay for and for blocks of concrete they don’t own. They are repping housing projects that contain asbestos that give them asthma and lead that gives them cancer. They are willing to die for the right to brag that they live on trash strewn streets, littered with liquor and payday loan stores. The so called leaders of the African American community rage at the fact that things need to change and they are demanding that our black President do something.

But what are they doing? Hosting fight night on the WWF, selling everything but their souls to Wells Fargo, making hip hop albums, and planning speaking tours based on the fact that some white cop got rowdy in their house. That’s what they are doing. They’ll pontificate and theorize. They’ll do specials for Cable News, but they won’t go into the trenches because well you know, it’s not really their job. I’ll give them that. They can’t save everyone. They can’t make people listen who don’t want to listen, but their inaction aint helping either. And sorry, if they want to be to the “go to” people for blackness, a little bit more is expected of them.

It’s too late for poor Derrion though.

mad nutters

Rachel Maddow is angry, and you know what? So am I. Operation “Destroy Acorn” is in full flight and the level of hysteria has reached a fever pitch. During the Presidential campaign last year, The Right tried to make ACORN an issue by trying to link Barack Obama the organization because waaaay back in day Obama worked with the precursor of ACORN to register voters in Chicago. He also represented ACORN in a lawsuit in 1995 along WITH the Justice Department in order to compel the state of Chicago to grant more access to polls for the disabled. He said some nice things about ACORN during his run for the Presidency and lo and behold, The Right tried to make him out to be the Creator and Supreme head of whole she-bang. You know since he was a “Community Organizer” and everything. Because according to them, ACORN is this evil and corrupt cabal of liberals that want to take away the rights of hardworking Americans.

Please. ACORN is an organization that helps the poor and disenfranchised vote, get adequate housing, and employment. All the things that the Powers That Be don’t want them to have. They’ve challenged banks, finance companies, and state governments who have tried to cheat and deny the less fortunate of those unalienable rights guaranteed by the Constitution. You know that document that those on The Right say they revere? Voter Fraud? Hardly. Voter Registration irregularity that would not have been known unless ACORN itself reported it. When the Bush Administration tried to go after ACORN for voter fraud, the DOJ attorney assigned to case couldn’t find any. He was fired and you know what happened when the Bush Administration strated firing attorneys. Hmmm.

Oh and that Prostitute/Pimp “scandal”. You mean the entrapment scheme set up by right wing operatives? Have there been arrests? A trial? Any convictions? Did anyone in from the mainstream media bothered to do some actual reporting to find out that these boobs went from city to city, getting kicked out of ACORN offices far and wide because they were so transparent until they found two morons out of an organiztion of 400,000 to illegally videotape? But hey, it was FOX News so it HAD to be true!

Now the IRS is cutting ties with ACORN after congressional pressure from the very people who would benefit the most from ACORN being destroyed. It smells to high hell and they aren’t being called out on it. So yes, Rachel Maddow is mad because the press aren’t doing their job. I’m mad because the crazies from The Right ARE doing their job: dismantling a group that stands for social justice.

tears and tears

*Sigh*

Being a Rafa Nadal fan I should be used to this by now. Some big tall power hitter has the best two weeks of his life and decides to blow Rafa off the court. The victor this time was Juan Martin Del Potro and he demolished Rafa 6-2, 6-2, 6-2. Nothing was working: The serve, the backhand, the forehand. Nothing. He was pushed back to nosebleed seats and failed to convert all 5 of his break point opportunities. But with usual good cheer, he smiled, waved to the crowd, and signed autographs for the kiddies. Not before being ambushed by Pam Shriver to give a post ass whupping interview on court. Really? Who’s bright idea was that? Yep. That’s the first thing a player wants to do after they lose, talk about the loss in front a full stadium!

But anyway, Rafa explained later that he had been playing with a muscle tear in his abdomen which restricted his movement. Amazing when you think about it. Getting to the semi finals of the U.S Open playing with that kind of pain. Rafa is a warrior, no doubt. The loss was painful for his fans, but I think I can speak for many: He made us proud. Plus, he’s back to #2. Yaaaasss!

The ladies final was pretty much a foregone conclusion. Nothing was stopping the Clijsters train, especially a novice finalist. To make a short story short. Kimmie won in straight sets and the tears flowed as Jada joined her Mommy on the court. More tears flowed as the hubby joined in the on victory celebration. Don’t get me wrong, Kim’s run was spectacular and made a wild women’s event even wilder, but I’m still stung by the events of the semi final. It’s not her fault, she just went out and played the best tennis of her life in a tournament wrought with ridiculous officiating and rotten decision making. No, the fault lies with the USTA. Their handling of everything was a complete disgrace.

The Eagles have landed…with

Michael Vick: NFL Superstar, turned felon, turned NFL superstar? Excuse me? Michael Vick is back in the NFL after the Philadelphia Eagles signed him to a  2 year contract? And here I was thinking that the Town Hall protesters were crazy. What a country we live in when a dog killing, herpes spreading, felon can be reinstated back into an elite sports league.

And when I mean elite I mean less than 1% of African American males in this country are NFL football players. Being part of that select group of athletes is a privilege indeed. If they are really good (and most are) they can earn millions of dollars in salary and bonuses and even more in endorsements. NFL athletes are adored, reveared, catered to, excused, and even worshiped. At one time, Michael Vick was a part of that exclusive club. He had the world at his feet. How could he eff it up so badly? And how can he be asked back?

A privilege I say, NOT a right. As an athlete Vick is entitled to try to make a living doing something that he’s trained for years to do. What Vick isn’t entitled to is a welcome mat back into the league in that he treated with such selfish disdain. As much we all like to say that only parents should be a child’s role model, we know in our hearts that it’s not true. How many of us have fed the dreams of young athletes we know with exhortations of, “Keep it up and you can get into the NFL like so and so!”  We buy hats and jerseys with our favorite athlete’s name on them, and we spend a small fortune for tickets just for the experience to see players do what they are so handsomely paid to do.

Which leads to the question, what do these guys owe us? Us, who by our ticket purchases get to play in huge stadiums. Us, who stock up on sports drink, tennis shoes, car, and beef jerky brands that endorse the athletes. What should we expect? How about respect for the law for starters. A lot of sports fans get up everyday, work hard, pay our taxes (taxes that help maintain those big stadiums by the way) , and manage to stay out prison. We shouldn’t expect that our favorite team isn’t piled with former jailbirds? Yeah I know about  Leon and Ray and you know what, their asses shouldn’t have been allowed to play either. And how about a respect for life? Lest we forget, Vick supplemented his hefty income by financing and watching animals rip each other apart for kicks and  when that animal could no longer fight, it was killed. Think about that. Think about how absolutely sick and souless that is.

How should a man be viewed? How he treats those he considers equals or how he treats those deemed less than he is? True, Vick has served his time and he has expressed regret for his actions. That’s all well and good but saying you’re sorry doesn’t always mean you get to pick up where you left off. Sometimes you have to really earn redemption.  The Eagles hiring Vick has little to do with altruism, I know that. But think about how much money and future grief they can save by focusing their resources on a young, hungry, upstanding player who will not be so easily tempted to take that chance for granted.

sell crazy somewhere else because i’m not buying

I just want to go on record as saying that this whole Birther movement is a crock of poop and that the people behind it are nuttier than squirrel shit. In the beginning, these wackos were mainly seen as a joke. They comprised of your garden variety conspiracy kooks, disgruntled Hillary Clinton supporters, and Right Wingers who were searching for another Democratic Presidential Nominee to destroy. But now, their craziness has trickled into the mainstream and even Press Secretary Robert Gibbs found himself answering questions about the Administration’s response to the madness. What’s even more sickening is that there are elected Republican officials who are overtly and covertly supporting these fools.

Look, if anyone hasn’t bothered to tell you, I will: Ya’ll are a bunch of whacked out racists. Deep in your hearts you KNOW that Obama is a natural born American Citizen but your hatred and fear will not allow you face that truth. So instead you file your little lawsuits, post your crazy blogs, ambush moderate Republicans, and spam any site worth reading with your drivel. You’ve even recruited some equally crazy and self hating Negroes like Alan Keyes (putting the C in crazy all day every day) and Reverend David (Robbin’ and Stealin’) Manning (P H of D) to help your cause.

You idiots.

As if legitimate state and federal agencies would ever let a black man become President without checking him from back to front, sideways, up and down and perpendicular. The only reason why Barack Obama was able to successfully win the election is because his enemies could find nothing on him. Nothing! For him to be able to pull this great scheme off, he would need to cooperation of every state and federal entity available going back 47 years. Let me reiterate; there’s no way a brother could get the Justice Department, The Supreme Court, the Department of Homeland Security, The House of Representatives, The Senate, and the states of Illinois and Hawaii to buy into the hype no matter how smart he was or how big his grin is. Not even a safe negro like Bill Cosby could pull that shit off. Please!

Face it, the only reason why people are actually paying attention to you freaks is because it is the human tendency to laugh and mock those who lick windows in their spare time. It boosts us regular folks’ self esteem when we see middle aged white women screaming about how they don’t want the flag to change. It also makes those of of who lean slightly to the Left feel good to see those on the Right dig their graves a little deeper by trying to pass laws that require candidates to provide birth certificates.

Call this a dose of tough love if you will.  Get some help. Get a new hobby. Switch tinfoil brands. Look for a new conspiracy. (Look! Another C Street resident is caught doing the horizontal mambo with a chick who isn’t his wife!)  Do something else besides try to bring the national discourse down to the lowest common denominator because you can’t accept the fact that a black man now occupies the White House. The shit is old and it’s tired. This type of crazy is so 1994.

Get over yourselves, please!

dummies of the day

So I took a few days off from blogging because I had a serious case of writer’s block. I mean, I could have written about the increasing number of Republican idiots lining up to kiss Rush Limbaugh’s fat behind-but then everybody’s writing about that. I could have submitted a little blurb about Serena beating Venus in an exhibition in Madison Square Garden last night. But what’s new about them beating the crap out of each other on the court? Besides, I had a serious case of hater-itis because I couldn’t be in New York to see it for myself. Eff the recession, man!

So I decided to write about the obsession over The Bachelor. Folks are all up in arms because this year’s jerkoff, Jason dumped Molly for Melissa and then turned around and dumped Melissa for Molly.  You would have thought that this was the plot line from some silly rom-com starring Katherine Heigel. In actuality, it was scripted by some coke sniffing ABC execs to boost ratings. Hey, they had to top “The Bachelor 2007″ which had the douchebag dumping both finalists before skipping off into the sunset with his twin brother. Gotta keep those creative juices flowing and the masses satisfied!

I guess I’m just surprised that the public watches this tripe year after year.  It’s not like American Idol where the idiots get showcased at the beginning of the series knowing there’s no hope in them winning. No, with The Bachelor the biggest idiot gets chosen. I believe it’s an actual prerequisite that the chosen lady BE a blithering paste eater.  Seriously, have we devolved to a point where it’s entertaining to see a bunch of desperate women filled with “hubby and white picket fence”  hopes giggle, sneer, cry, and beg a man to notice them for a chance at a showmance? Considering the dismal stats; not one featured bachelor has married his chosen dolt, do we still believe that love can be discovered on a television show?

Certainly not, but the network sure does a job in trying to convince the masses it does. They go all out with it too: Dream dates in exotic locales, perfect lighting and ever ready make up artists help to sell the dream. They count on their audience to suspend all disbelief and logic  in order to stay glued to the boob tube and fantasize that romance can be like it is on teevee! But it’s nothing but a ride-a nauseating amusement park ride filled with colors and bells and whistles. In the end, all it does is leave you dizzy and feeling gypped.

This aint no knock on romantic love. It is real and it can be great, but it can’t be created in a board room by Writer’s Guild rejects. Real people with real emotions fall in love-not wannabes who after not getting a rose, go and do beaver shots for “Girls Gone Wild”. As hilarious and entertaining as some reality shows are, I have a deep belief that there is something inherently not right  about people who have no problem with exposing themselves on national television.  What sticks in my craw about the crap merchants on The Bachelor  is that they are hawking a kind of snake oil that when taken in makes people believe that there is something wrong with them because they don’t have some hand picked mannequin taking them up on a hot air balloon ride. Like, your dream man does shit like this, you need to get you a piece! 

Please. No he doesn’t. My dream man likes playing Collapse 3 and discussing Shaw Brothers movie history. He’ll tell me he loves me without Camera A poking him in his eye. He’ll know that roses are expensive and that I prefer daisies. He won’t have to go out on 5 group dates to know that I’m the woman for him. He’ll know that relationships are work and there’s no way in hell he’d wait to see me until the damn reunion show.

Try to tell me I’m wrong when message boards are literally on fire about the results of The Bachelor. Shout me down about folks leaning over their cubicles giving Jason the one-two over what he did. Convince me that these dummies don’t want you to be a dummy too.

so lemme get this straight

We are supposed to assume that a cartoon in the New York Post about a crazy chimp getting shot by police who say, “They’ll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill.” isn’t a racist knock against the current president? We’re to think that it was just a humorous view of politics tied to a tragic event? Well then, dammit, we’re just too sensitive for our own good. I mean, people can’t take a joke anymore?

No we can’t.  We can’t see the humor of the association between a mad chimpanzee that nearly  mauled a woman to death and the President of the United States. And we are making that association because the New York Post saw fit to print a picture of President Obama signing the stimulus bill on the very next page. What are rational thinking adults supposed to conclude other than that two random events inextricably linked together by some buffoon isn’t racist, stupid, and mean?

And please don’t give me that tired excuse that this cartoon is meant to be provocative and humorous.  It’s neither. Don’t rail at me about free speech because everyone knows that free speech isn’t free. Just as anything that’s put out in the universe, you get what you give. If one is prepared to engage in this type of hateful communication, then one should be prepared to get called to the carpet for it. Wrapping racism in humor is still racism. If that’s the real intent-then have the cajones to say so. Don’t brush it off and attack those who bring that intent to light.

Just in case there are some readers out there who aren’t clear: Associating black people with monkeys and apes is dehumanizing. I post all over the net under different names. One particular place I frequent is a tennis fan board. Recently, the player with whom the message board was dedicated to played someone of African descent. I was shocked to see several posters refer to the player of color as a “gorilla”. When confronted, these posters begged off saying that they didn’t mean any harm. They weren’t racist. It was just that the player had, “gorilla-like tendencies” because he would hit his fist against his chest after winning a point. Even after me giving a mini history lesson, they still didn’t get it. Instead, I got an apology and a high five because Obama was elected. Strangely enough, a few days after that incident, the OTHER player was described as an “ape” in a British newspaper and a damn riot broke out on the board. So yeah, it’s okay to refer to a one player with dark skin as a gorilla but it’s not okay for another player with white skin to be called an ape.

See how uneven the playing field is? And it never will be even. I wasn’t one of those progressives who likened the former President to a chimp, because for one-it was stupid, and two-I knew that by doing it would give those on the other side an excuse to say whatever they wanted to about opponents. All they had to do is say, “Hey, you called Bush ’Chimp In Chief’, why can’t we say that about Obama or anyone else?”.  A white person calling another white person  a chimp simply doesn’t carry the same weight as when a white person calls a black person one, because calling a white guy a chimp connotes bad manners. Calling a black guy a chimp connotes Jim Crow, lynchings, Eugenics, police brutality, fire hoses, vicious dogs, gerrymandering, redlining, and minstrel shows.

Obviously the cartoonist and the editors of the New York Post just didn’t understand that fact of life in 21st century America. Or worse yet, they just didn’t give a damn.  And no one’s smiling.