Maybe we're not as fam as I thought.. (In Defense of Raven-Symone)

Hello everyone, I was going to write this post on Facebook, but I have waay too much to say regarding the recent comments Raven-Symone made regarding hiring someone with a "ghetto name." (Here if you haven't heard). I'm going to try to choose my words carefully because I want to make absolutely sure to get my point across so I won't have to repeat myself ever again. A few days ago, the ladies of "The View" showed THIS video of two young boys rattling off the top 60 "Ghetto Black names." The names are over-the-top and highly stereotypical, many of which are just random objects with suffixes like "-isha" and "-iqua," etc. attached. I guess the boys thought this was funny at the time; but frankly I'm shocked that the black community is so enraged at what Raven said and not the boys themselves. Surely, their neck rolls and other stereotypical "black girl" mannerisms should've offended someone, but I digress. After the video was done, the ladies all shared a chuckle and Raven, while still laughing, said something along the lines of "I wouldn't hire anyone named Watermelondrea" (which is said in the "names" video at 0:56). Needless to say, the black community LOST IT. In the days since, I have seen some of the cruelest, nastiest comments made about Raven for what appeared to me to be a jocular statement. Don't believe me? 

Just truly awful stuff. And the youtube responses haven't been much better (here. Warning, strong language). Calling her names, insulting her appearance, it's all really juvenile and completely uncalled for. Before I go any further, I'm going to say something; and I want you to think about it. 

STOP KEEPING BLACK GROUPTHINK ALIVE. IT'S DESTROYING US.

Black groupthink is a problem for us and has been for a long time. Black groupthink keeps us from expressing our own ideas and feelings for fear of becoming an outcast. Black groupthink is what keeps black people in a box and is the reason we have such trouble making progress in this country. It's black groupthink that made my classmates feel like being smart equaled "acting white" back in middle/high school. It's black groupthink that keeps us shackled to the Democratic party when 97% of us probably don't know the party's real history nor why we even continue to give them our votes. It's black groupthink that compels us to label a black Republican an "uncle Tom". It's black groupthink that breeds low self-esteem in people who can't afford designer clothes. It's black groupthink that has every inner-city kid wanting to be an NBA player or a rapper instead of a surgeon. Black groupthink is the reason the word "ghetto" is so closely associated with African-Americans and not other races.  And it's black groupthink that gives us the AUDACITY to try to "give away" Raven-Symone via THIS incredibly snarky and self-righteous "letter to white people" because she dared to say something that went against the grain. 

"Heard you disagreed with Obama the other day. Yeah, fix that." 

Raven-Symone never said she wouldn't hire anyone with a "ghetto sounding name," she said she's not hiring anyone named WATERMELONDREA; but the media took that statement and turned it into "Raven-Symone says she wouldn't hire people with 'black sounding' names"......HOW IS WATERMELONDREA A BLACK SOUNDING NAME?!! IS THIS WHERE WE ARE NOW? Instead of being mad at Raven, we should be worried about ourselves, because if adding "-drea" to the end of a dang fruit is how black names are created now, then we've got a WAAYY bigger issue on our hands than Raven-Symone Pearman. The name itself was obviously satirical; never in your life have you met anyone named Watermelondrea because THERE IS NO ONE NAMED Watermelondrea and there never has been. I don't have to look it up, I just know. I'm pretty sure that, as a businesswoman, Raven knows good and well that she needs to hire well-qualified people, regardless of their name; if you watch the video, it's clear that she thought the video was funny and was speaking jokingly about a girl named Watermelondrea who doesn't exist...but we just swear we know people and their lives based off of a single statement. A single tweet goes out, and we have the whole story figured out from top to bottom. Smh. 

"What? He hates hip-hop? He must wanna be a white boy!!" 

In closing, this post isn't solely about Raven; it's about an overarching, jacked-up attitude in my community that I'm honestly fed up with. I find it odd that, in this era of "black unity," we African-Americans still treat our own so cruelly. I for one find it disturbing that the same people who once loved Raven and watched her on Disney Channel faithfully are the same ones now spewing the most disgusting, hateful things about her on the internet. Regardless of how you feel about Raven, she's our sister at the end of the day; and as such she deserves our love and understanding, point blank. We all have family members who say things we disagree with and may even infuriate us, but do we go on social media and air them out to the world? Do we call them everything but a child of God and disown them? Do we enact the cyber equivalent of taking a brick and beating them down til there's no breath left in their body? No, eventually we talk it out and move forward. If you don't like Raven, fine; but don't be so brutal in your criticism of her because she's fighting the same fight as the rest of us. Everyone has a reason for feeling how they feel and saying what they say, and until you learn what that reason is, there's no reason for you to accuse anyone of being stupid or a race traitor; because truth be told, none of us have all the answers. It would behoove us all to talk less and listen more. 

-Nick G. 

Mad America (Part I)

Boy, oh boy....so much has happened in America since my last post, that I don't even know where to start. But here goes. As you all know, the social climate in this country is undergoing a drastic change. It seems that for the past few years, we've all been inundated with news stories of cops killing black people (see Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, Freddie Gray, Walter Scott, Michael Brown, etc), cops using excessive force against black people (see McKinney pool party and videos like this), people making racist comments about black people (see Donald Sterling, Paula Deen), and several other stories that seem to have only one goal; to divide and anger the nation. For the past few years, the black community has slowly become a powder keg of sorts; add to that the fact that the government seems largely apathetic about affecting any change or holding anyone accountable and one begins to get an idea of the sort of danger this country is headed towards. Then a few days ago, we have THIS.

We're all the guy on the left.

The coup de grace, the icing on the cake, the cherry on top of a hot, steamy scat sundae. Dylann "shoulda jumped off a" Roof decided that he was tired of watching black people "take over this country" and that he was gonna do something about it. So he got a gun and went to the historic Emmanuel A.M.E. church in Charleston, SC where he sat in on a Bible study attended by warm, loving, trusting black people only to brutally murder most of them hours later.

Dylann Roof is a coward in the purest, most textbook sense of the word. It takes a cowardly soul to shoot and kill people who are unarmed and pose absolutely no threat. Roof is obviously mentally ill, but he wasn't crazy enough to go to the hood and try that. He wouldn't last five seconds. He says himself in his manifesto:

"I have no choice. I am not in the position to, alone, go into the ghetto and fight."

thus he decided that instead of trying to kill a lot of blacks himself, he'd set off a chain reaction that would end in whites killing them in numbers that he couldn't. Probably fancied himself some sort of brilliant war strategist, the devil.

But here's the kicker, Roof's actions ended up having the opposite effect; Charleston showed its true colors and many of its citizens, black and white, joined together to honor the lives of the 9 victims.

Just beautiful. (source)

Like a rose that sprouts from the ashes of a forest fire, the beauty of the human spirit endured through Roof's devilish actions. At the funeral for Rev. Clementa Pinckney, I was reminded of that part in "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!" where the Grinch expected all the Whos to cry over their stolen presents, but instead they stood together, sang, and celebrated Christmas anyway.

Indeed.

It's worth noting that the tragedy in Charleston has sparked debate on several topics such as white supremacy, gun control, mental illness, and most notably, the Confederate flag. I'll save my opinions on the former subjects for another blog, but for now I'd like to focus on the flag that's got Americans standing on two sides. I was born and raised in North Carolina, so I'm quite familiar with the Confederate flag and its significance in history. Growing up, I'd see it displayed on pickup trucks, classmates would come to school with it emblazoned on their jackets (or on t-shirts reading "Heritage, not hate"), I'd see merchandise bearing it in store windows at Myrtle Beach; in essence, I grew pretty much desensitized to it. I never really thought about what the flag really meant until recent years; and in the wake of the tragedy in Charleston, I'm stating unabashedly that it has no place in America.

Many southerners will argue that they display the flag to honor their ancestors that fought in the Confederacy; they'll make the case that the South wouldn't tolerate unfair treatment from the rest of the country and that the flag is a proud reminder of that. That's fine. As Americans, people have a right to display whatever flag they'd like on their property. However, I am well aware that the desire to keep and expand slavery was a driving factor in the South's secession from the U.S. That being said, there is NO good moral argument for the Confederate flag to be flown in this country. None. Zip. Zero. Zilch. Nada. Hate, not heritage. Bondage, not bravery.

Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens said in his famous "Cornerstone Speech:"

"Our new Government is founded upon exactly the opposite ideas; its foundations are laid, its cornerstone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery, subordination to the superior race, is his natural and normal condition."

If after reading that quote, you still have a desire to defend that flag, be my guest. But just know that to do so is to condone and accept Stephens' words, no matter how much you claim otherwise.

I still believe in people. I still believe that good trumps evil. I still believe that blacks and whites are not enemies. I'm so sick of talking about race in this country.

Part II coming soon..

-Nick G.

New Track Alert: Echo (Interlude)

Hello all, I'm just here to drop this track I just finished. Something I've been sitting on for a while so I figured it was time to make it public lol. Let me know what you think!



Yo, yo

(Chorus)
Said I went to outer space. Guess ya boy is a Sith
I found the Golden Voyager disc and cried when Blind Willie moaned
It made me feel so alone, made me feel so alone
Took a plunge in the sea just to swim with the fish
I sank into the darkest abyss and knew I couldn't go home
It made me feel so alone. Made me feel so alone..

(Verse)
Ladies and gents, I welcome yall to my mind
Now follow close behind and you will be fine
Don't wander off into the corridors of boarded doors
A buncha horror stories lurkin in the fourth ward. For real
Those type of memories, we all got some
Those type of demons man, we all got one
But we run and we hide. We keep em bottled inside
Til we livin like an agitated Fresca. We walkin under mad pressure
It's mad boring. Life is like a scratched record
It seems to repeat. It seems to repeat.
I try to escape to find some relief.
Cuz knowledge is great. Monotony's weak.
That's why I create, capische?
Sittin in the corner of a half-lit room
Half-sleep as I envision the moon
I make it my own. Put my flag in, make it my home
But what's the point? Cuz I'm still alone
Dag...

(Chorus)

Enough is Enough

Man, this is the third blog post I've written concerning a black man being shot and killed in some sort of scenario. I told myself I wouldn't write anymore on issues like this, but I just couldn't keep silent on this one. If you haven't heard by now, a South Carolina man named Walter Scott is the latest in a long line of black men who have been killed by the police, seemingly for no reason. I can't even say "seemingly" in this instance; Trayvon Martin? Ok, maybe he attacked Zimmerman and his murder was an act of self defense. Mike Brown? Ok, maayybe he did try to take Darren Wilson's gun and his murder was an act of self defense. Walter Scott? No. He was flat out murdered. Anyone who's seen the video cannot dispute that the officer had no justifiable reason for killing Scott. No reason at all (check it out here if you haven't yet. Be warned, it's graphic).

The media was dying to make him a thug, too..try again. 

Officer Michael Slager has been charged with murder and now faces 30 years in prison or the death penalty. I can say that this is one of the rare occasions that the justice system has worked and for that I am glad.

But I'm also angry. And scared. 

Officer Slager fired EIGHT shots into Walter Scott's back while he was RUNNING AWAY. The man was scared and running for his life; but he was shot down like a dog in the street. Officer Slager then filed a police report stating that Scott took his taser and that he acted in self defense; a claim that likely would have kept him a free man if some brave soul hadn't been recording the incident that day. I'm sorry but my faith in America's law enforcement has been severely shaken. This is a cop who shot a man dead in cold blood, cuffed his dead body, dropped his taser beside the body, then tried to convince the public that he deserved to die. I've always had a pretty good idea of how evil the human race can be, but this story has appalled me to no end. After watching the video, I had to stop and seriously ponder if this is the sort of country I want my kids living in. Would I in fact be guilty of child abuse and/or negligence to even bring a child into an environment that's obviously hostile towards them? 

Something has to be done about these policemen. Now. 

I see now what Huey Newton and the Black Panther Party were facing back in the day; black people in California were being brutalized by the policemen then also, but Huey discovered that if he knew the law, they couldn't touch him; thus, he made sure that every member of the Party carried a pocket version of the California law book at all times. This frustrated the police to no end, as Huey had figured out a way to beat them at their own game. I'm not saying that simply knowing the law will protect us from police brutality, but it's surely a great place to start.

People wonder why black people in America don't trust police...

It's hard to trust a police department that's overwhelmingly staffed by people who do not look like you nor share your interests (check out these statistics on how homogeneous police departments are across the nation). I've said for the longest that if the government wants to show that it cares about us, it needs to provide incentives for more minorities to attend police academies. As long as police departments are brimming with white men, there will be problems. I am not a racist; I'm simply aware of reality. Despite how people like Raven-Symone feel, we are different. I understand how Raven feels; yes we are all Americans, but we are DIFFERENT, and that is perfectly fine. America has long been known as a "melting pot" of people and cultures; well, you can't have a melting pot with a single ingredient, right? We are Black, we are White, we are Hispanic, we are Middle Eastern, WE. ARE. DIFFERENT. And I don't believe black people will ever truly feel protected in this country until we have people who look like us on patrol in our neighborhoods. 

Rest in peace, Walter Scott. 

-Nick G. 

80/20

Wrote this a while back and just been sitting on it for a while. Thought I might as well put it out lol. Hope yall enjoy it.


(Hook)
I'm protestin' the roach nest in ya mattress
All you ever wanna do is live life lavish
Neva went to get ya masters or bachelors
Only thing you eva maintained was ya badness (x2)

(Verse 1)
Don't judge a book by its cover
but common sense fails when the book
Has a beautiful look. The others paled in comparison
When she'd wander near to them. Homies tried to warn me
Daily but I wasn't hearin them
They were Bell Biv Devoe screamin
"She's poison." The type of woman who destroys men
I saw no malice of it. If she was poison, I wanted me
A chalice of it. So I could die me a beautiful death in
Her room. Carried from this life on a cloud of her perfume
My nose wide open. Woulda thought about proposin'
Plus a family. Yeah a lil me in her womb.
That's how she had me feelin. Her face was so appealin'
Plus she knew what she was doin, kept her nose to the ceilin'
Hard to believe I was so pressed, wow.
But after three months of talkin, I aint impressed now. Because

(Hook)

(Verse 2)
And in her mind, she's so far already.
A reality show star already. She strives hard for petty.
She loves the glam. But without a man
Yo she's barely holdin' things steady.
She got delusions of grandeur. Even got her a manager
Just to post for the Instagrammers. And speakin of cameras
She asked if I wanted to crash and I was at her front door in a flash
Soon as I walked in, I wish I hadn't. Her living room was ragged
And I'm sure that there were rats up in the cabinets
Even worse, the kitchen sink was stopped up with fake hair
Plus she said that she was late to pick her daughter up from daycare
WOAH you got kids? I aint know
Yes she replied, then start batting her eyes asking me for dough
Said she needed gas and some food for her child
I slid her a $20 and I was out.

(Hook)

New Freestyle

Check it out and let me know what you think!
 

And I'm unnervin' em. Hurtin em, how I'm servin em
Have the most heinous murderer lookin like Hamburglar
Lyrically, I'm a surgeon and spherically's how I circle em
Here at least I'm a third of what Siri would need to turn to us
Fantastic. I'm leadin a mass havoc. They wheezin like asthmatics
In need of a gas mask while I'm feedin em black ash
And I'm eatin they last apple
They oughta fear the wave like a sandcastle
I'm a street sweeper. Just ya neighborhood heat keeper
Disregard the weak, my YEET's ether
I produce power. Could illuminate the East beaches
Keep em lit for 92 hours
Guarantee I'm gonna hit em where the sun don't shine.
A lotta rappers now aint got no shine. That's why they pole climb
Live underground or be DEAD on the radio
A buncha corpses pushin Porsches. Spendin fortunes, yeah
It's quite ironic how we covet the lives of the lifeless, listless
I'm treating the game like Michael's mistress
She's not my lover and the kid, he's not my son. I aint the one
Not the two. Knock ya trunk. Like Badu "Mama's Gun"
Ground melts when I run cuz I'm the son of the Sun
You wanna catch me? Betta pick ya feet up.
You'll have a hard time tryna keep up.

Remaining Rational in Hard Times..

Hello, everyone. I've been meaning for a while to weigh in on what's happening between my people and law enforcement in this country; but finding the words has not been easy, so pardon me if I ramble here. As these events unfolded, I made sure to remember that whatever I saw on T.V. was not to be taken at face value. The media has a knack for making things seem much worse than they really are; I was not going to allow myself to become incensed and lose my train of thought (although it hasn't been easy). As you already know, our nation was just recently starting to heal from the slap in the face that was a certain grand jury's decision not to indict officer Darren Wilson for the murder of Michael Brown. Tears were shed, expletives were hurled, small-scale riots broke out in the city, but things were just starting...JUST starting to cool off...when this happened.

The policeman who placed Eric Garner in a life-ending choke hold was not indicted. He walked free. Needless to say, the fresh wound of injustice created by Darren Wilson walking free was ripped back open. People are currently protesting in New York City--blocking streets, marching, and shouting their demands--and no one should be surprised. 

My barber said something a few months ago that I initially laughed off, but it seems less ludicrous as time goes on; he said that this recent string of black murders (Trayvon Martin, Mike Brown, Eric Garner, etc.) is the beginning stage of what will eventually explode into a race war in this country. And by "race war" he meant just that; blacks and whites arming themselves and taking one another out on U.S. soil until only one side is left standing. Pretty scary stuff....but it seems less crazy now than it did then. 

That's one reason I'm writing this post. This is my attempt, however small it may be, to restore some rationality in this crazy period. After much thinking about what's happened these past few months, I had to ask myself "what is this really about?" 

It's not about "Black vs. White" 

And it's not about "Black people vs. The Police"

Read the story HERE

No, it's silly to believe that all white people are racist; and despite what's happened in recent months, I still believe that we NEED law enforcement in this country. I guarantee that America's policemen have PREVENTED way more murders here than a couple of nutcases with badges have committed. To say that all policemen are bad is no better than for them to say that all black people are bad. Simple.

No, I've come to the conclusion that the problem we have is an overarching mentality in this country regarding people of color, black men in particular. We've been portrayed so negatively for so long in different forms of media, that we're now starting to see just how hard of a time some people are having separating us from those stereotypes. When we were first brought to this country, we were animals suited only for slavery, after that we were hedonists with no self-control, looking only to satisfy our lust for white women (Seriously. Watch this), after that we were second-class citizens who were allowed to live in this country so long as we "stayed in our place", and NOW we're thugs and hoodlums who may harm you or steal your belongings depending on what mood we're in. 

And that is what will have to change before any real progress can be made. I won't pretend to have all the answers. Because I don't. Not even. But I recently came across an interesting editorial which highlights the power of "art over argument." I urge you all to read it and share it (HERE). Basically it explains that art has much more influence on people's behavior than most might think. Slavery was not considered a national abomination until Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote "Uncle Tom's Cabin" and threw the whole country into a rage. The year that Disney released "Bambi," deer hunting fell from a $5.7 million business to a $1 million business. Just that quickly. ART INFLUENCES PEOPLE. So one solution that I propose is that we, the black community, see to an increase of art that paints us as we really are--powerful, intelligent, compassionate human beings with hopes and dreams just like everybody else--so that the nation as a whole will see us as such and maybe one day stop being so afraid of us. I realize that not everyone is artistically inclined, and that's fine. But those of us who are must accept that we walk with a stigma, one that we must erase if we want to make this country better for ourselves and black youth. It's our responsibility. Let's get to work. 

P.S. Rest in Peace Tamir Rice, the 12-year-old who was shot and killed last month for walking down the street waving a toy gun. Sleep now. (Read here)

- Nick G.