I'm Rolling, They're Hating...

Rather than disturb everyone in a ten-foot radius of me with an annoying ringtone of some simplistic contemporary Hip-Hop tune, I choose to keep my phone on vibrate. My phone goes off. I reach and pull it out of my change pocket of my Polo jeans. “Hello?” It was the homie Chuck Dukie; excuse me, I have to take this call. From the cheap seats, where the rancor usually originates, comes “Check out Mr. Fancy Pants with the new iPhone.” Yeah. Check me out. Take notes as the pimp quotes and maybe you’ll perform better tomorrow without the use of Viagra. Incredible how a device as innocuous as an iPhone can cause calamity in the household and race wars amongst similar-looking people. I had a Blackjack, but that shit was horrible. You never think that when you’re paying a few hundred for a phone that it is going to perform worse than the Motorola RAZR that you just upgraded from. These new fandangled phones all have one shortcoming in common; their respective operating systems are the worst. The mobile Windows OS that the Blackjack is ran from is the absolute worst phone operating system I have ever encountered as it somehow how made every single function of the phone horribly difficult to operate. Even to take a picture or text was a chore. It shouldn’t be as arduous as it is to merely play an mp3 on the Blackjack, but it was. The battery life was horrible; the best thing about the phone was that it came with two batteries. Even the blazing speed of the 3G network meant absolutely nothing as the Blackjack can’t compute fast enough to take advantage of this feature. Fuck the Blackjack, time to upgrade...

The hate has been pouring in since I first slid my thumb over that sleek touch screen like I slide my thumb over a pretty young lady's labia. When introducing my buddy Harrison to this cute Indie-Rock girl, I got a text and had to check it, naturally, I pull the iPhone from the pocket to perform this action. “Oh, why don’t you pull out your iPhone again?,” I hear faintly via my left ear in a New Hampshirean accent. So, yeah, I pull it out again. Last weekend in New York I actually lost the iPhone in a cab, but was fortunate enough to have had it found by an honest person. The iPhone even has divine intervention on its side. I think when Christians call on Jesus Christ, Jesus first sees your picture on the touch screen and then sends the call to voicemail, since we know that Yahweh answers prayer when the time is right, not necessarily when you may want him to. On the way to work riding the S4 bus Southbound down 16th Avenue NW, I spotted this little man with the new iPod Nano. There's a bunch of elementary and middle school kids that ride that bus to school, so it kind of takes me back to those good old days on the yellow bus; the normal sized one, not the short one, although, that is a story for another time. Little man was watching Family Guy on his Nano and all the kids on the bus come over to his seat and are on some "oooooooooh!" shit when they see the iPod Nano in action. I was pumping some disco, nothing like a little Chic to start off the day. The vibe was changing and I felt like switching to some Style Council, so I pulled my iPhone out of my jacket pocket and started to flick the album covers displayed on the screen like an old retired lady does spinning that rainbow wheel on the Showcase Showdown. One of the kids saw my device out the corner of his eye and was like, "Ooooooooh!!! He's got the iPhone!" Then all of the kids rushed over and crowded around me and started asking informed questions about my device. The little man that had the Nano was looking at me like I just took the girl he had a crush on and he owed me an ass-whooping which was to be administered after school, at the flag pole. Yesterday I dropped my iPhone on the ground and my so-called comrades cheered with delight, “Yeah! Fuck the iPhone! I hope that shit is broke!” Alas naysayers, try as you like, but your ways of abomination will never build a strong nation.

I have promulgated the arrival of the technocracy and have discovered that there is no way I will be able to use a regular cell phone again. The iPhone, while being the best phone ever, does have its faults. The ringtone situation, for those middle school girls that are into them, is dismal to say the least. Apple is trying to fuck over the people once again by having them pay for ringtones from iTunes all because they won’t allow one to make a song that you, yourself, put on the iPhone, the ringtone. Even on the wack-ass Blackjack I could make “Egypt, Egypt” my ringtone if I so desired. There is no 3G support, but Apple said that was due to the inefficiency of power management when using the 3G network. All in all though, I would have to say it is the best phone thus far. Picture me rolling...ld e

Go OJ! Go!

"Men die for freedom, but black men die for white women, who are the symbol of freedom. That was the white man's will, and as long as he has the power to enforce his will upon me, force me to submit to his will in this instance or in any other, I will not be free. I will not be free until the day I can have a white women in my bed and a white man minds his own business. Until that day comes, my entire existence is tainted, poisoned, and I will still be a slave-and so will the white woman."

...the voice of the accused
"The Allegory of the Black Eunuchs"
Soul on Ice
Eldridge Cleaver, 1968

White people and their liberal use of "the N word" have proven to be their downfall. I heard this morning on WTOP a headline that stated that “justice will finally be served.” I thought they were about to say that Black Americans were finally about to get their 40 acres and a mule with a side of reparations, but instead they tell me that the “justice” concerns OJ Simpson and his zany antics as of late. Interestingly, Orenthal has become a figurehead for Black America. Whites see OJ as the ultimate criminal; a Black man that slaughtered in cold blood a beautiful white maiden as pure as the driven snow she plowed into her nose, who then got away with the crime. With the blood that OJ supposedly spilled, came the exoneration of all past atrocities that the white race has committed against Black Americans. A reverse-Jesus if you will. OJ killed both his wife and Ron Pearlman simultaneously with his bare hands and no assistance according to the average white American. OJ was deemed guilty before he got out of that white-ass Bronco. Finally all of this Negro wailing about slavery, lynching, institutional racism, Jim Crow and unequal opportunity would come to a swift, airbag-unleashing halt because one blond woman had been killed.

All this illustrates is that racism is oh, so prevalent in our society, even today. The racist foundations that penetrated almost every facet of American life, kept our contemporary legal system and the American citizens, regardless of race, from objectively looking at the crime and assessing the situation accurately. If they wanted OJ’s head, they should have charged him appropriately. In their mission to systematically and physically destroy OJ, white America decided to try and “hang” OJ. Instead of charging him with something that more realistically applied to his offenses, like conspiracy to commit murder, they tried to convict him as the murderer of two whites. I have always thought OJ didn’t himself, directly kill his wife and Pearlman, but rather, he had the murder committed by some other party, but chose to hang around and watch being the sick fuck he is. Lest we forget that Nicole was in debt to cocaine dealers to the tune of $250,000. I think someone wanted this money and the Juice refused to deliver. Instead of monetary reimbursement, the blood shed from her and Pearlman became payment for everybody’s sins. I still see it as physically impossible for Juice to have sliced up two people on his own without either one escaping. Even for the Juice would that have been a difficult task. But he had to have been present at the scene of the crime, for the Bruno Magli footprint was present, however, from the beginning, there seemed to be no conclusive evidence that he actually killed them himself. Whites wanted OJ’s corpse swinging from a tree at picnic time. Many even began to place bets on the outcome of the trial. Well, when you put a racist-ass cop from one of the most racist jurisdictions on a case in which a big Black buck supposedly slaughtered a lily-white princess and her suitor, there’s bound to be an issue. Mark Fuhrman’s dumb-ass had to first, lie about the fact that he used to liberally flip “nigger” off his tongue while under oath, and then, the dude invokes his Fifth Amendment right to shut the fuck up, which usually just means “Yeah. I did it, but I ain’t about to narc myself out,” when asked whether he had planted or sabotaged any of the evidence in the case. Idiot. They used to love you OJ. When you where non-violent, you had friends. They even deemed it acceptable for you to be in the company of a white, Anglo-Saxon blonde. Watch how quickly the fair-weather fans leap to the other side when the forecast is black. White America… you had your Emmett Till in the form of Nicole Brown-Simpson. OJ could've been lynched way back in 1995 if Fuhrman, like most other white Americans, had had the chutzpah necessary to simply admit that he liked to refer to Black Americans as "niggers" in the privacy of his home or while reciting his favorite rap lyrics.

Quite unexpected was Black people and their blind faith in OJ’s innocence. OJ never seemed to give a fuck about being Black. He had long denounced the plight of the underprivileged Black American, opting rather to entertain white Americans on and off the football field. OJ was one of those fun-loving, non-threatening Negroes that stood as a paradigm for successful assimilation. He’d hop over anything for Hertz. He chose to endorse Pioneer Chicken and even owned a couple of extensions of the franchise. He allowed his caricature to be the face of Dingo Boots; he became a Black cowboy rounding up America with his smooth voice and school boy charm. OJ’s last communication with Black America was when his case became a mockery of justice and was transformed into a racially-influenced fiasco. A lot of Black people really thought that OJ represented them and that his conviction would be a blow against civil rights in America. I remember the day the verdict went down. We were at Viking Hall putting one up. The jury read the "innocent" bit and everyone white in our dorm was pissed and Black people rejoiced like some legislation had been signed. But OJ was no warrior for Black people. He represented what wealth can do for anyone, regardless of race or sex, in America. He was no Paul or Malcolm or Martin or Huey. He was an opportunist that played whatever position necessary to gain advantage; pretty much like his role on the Bills as running back. When the alliance of Black America became opportunistic to him, he reverted back to his All-Star ways and came running back to his Blackness. Black people, being loving and trusting individuals, gave it to him. Our fault. That motherfucker had something to do with that coke head bitch and her paramour’s death. No matter, OJ’s true colors have shined through again, and this time, white America’s got you. Such a shame, as now there exists an equalizer to white America’s heinous crimes against the people of color in this country. OJ will be lynched, one way or another, and now we’ll never get our just due because Judas somehow always makes assists for the other team.

Since I prefer to remember people at their personal best, like the Thriller-era Michael Jackson, let's go back to a time when they loved the Juice...

Gabagool...

I was fortunate enough to have seen the last show of [one of] the greatest American show ever. (The Wire comes in [first] {ed. note... after re-watching the entire run of The Wire in anticipation of season 5, I have decided that The Wire has far more replay value, thereby trumping The Sopranos. At least to me. 1-10-2008}) Me and my homies were lucky enough to have a lovely little red-headed lady let us watch it in her abode when their electricity went out 20 minutes before show time. My thoughts on the last episode? At first I thought the cable got fucked up. Then I realized, "Wow. That's the ending? America is gonna hate this shit." I knew that I couldn't judge it until I watched it again, so I did. Now, rather than being confused, I admittedly think it to be brilliant. The writers of this show never cease with the insight, wit and humor. If you agree with me, then you believe that Tony didn't die. Without getting too Georgetown deep with it, that last scene was merely an opportunity for the audience to experience the life of a man that is, and will forevermore be, constantly paranoid. Notice how he was intensely surveying everything? Every single person that came in that front door of the diner? Every muthafucka that was dining? I believe that the audience thought the guy sitting at the counter that went to the bathroom to be a threat, be it police or criminal, because Tony saw him as a possible threat. Such is life for the Don. If you've been paranoid before, you'll empathize. That scene was filmed perfectly, and if you didn't like it, I urge you to watch it a few times again. But, no matter what people think of the last episode, it did exactly what it was supposed to, make folks form their own thesis and elucidate said thesis at the water cooler. It made, for one, me want to watch the entire run again. Now I only have Entourage and The Wire to look forward to. Once those are off, what in the fuck am I gonna watch on TV? Surely not those new HBO shows. That John From Cincinnati is as wack as Cincinnati, and let's not even talk about that shite with those two metrosexual New Zealanders... HBO, up that game, mayne... And people, please. I know muthafuckas read blogs and never leave feedback, but at least on this one satiate the inner dork in me with your thoughts on this monumental series finale...

And... for anyone who has forgotten any of the seasons prior to season 6.2, check this 7-minute Sopranos synopsis...

Hit Me...

Truth be told, I don't need a Blackjack. But I own a Blackjack. It's sexy like the lady to the left doing the Diane Parkinson. I use it like my brain though, only at 11% capacity. I never stream any fucking videos. I own an iPod, so I don't use the audio player, as It kills the battery anyhow. I rarely use the camera, even though it does take decent photos, admitted. Hardly have I a need to read emails on the go. Check it a few times a day, and say fuck it. In instances requiring immediacy, people are more likely to call me. For shit that ain't time-sensitive, a text message is convenient as fuck. Now you can text-google Google, so you really don't even need the Internet on a phone. Granted, sometimes that shit does come in handy, but more times than not, it's another extraneous feature that you pay for, but do not use enough to justify the expense. Sometimes I miss the days of pagers. Muthafuckas had a pager code. Mine's was "711", cause I'm such a propitious guy. Hit someone up on the hip, put in the landline and chill... and when dude can get back to you is exactly when he'll get back with you. No rush. Usually you had to get to the phone first, and the person that beeped you usually understood that. Texting is like alphanumeric pagers, merely on the phone. In my fucking opinion that is the best mode of conversation nowadays. Sometimes I don't be wanting to pick up my phone when people call, but the expectation is that if someone is calling then you must answer. No matter locale nor situation. Fuck that. Most of the time I be screening calls. If I didn't I'd be like Russell Simmons except for the fact I ain't gone be talking about money all day. Merely cosmopolitan epicurean philosophy, which I love, but prefer in person. I could honestly do with the Nokia 3360, but alas... Vanity... why hast thou smitten me so?

"Reprogram", like Channel Live said...

what up folks? i was commisioned to write a real short piece on african-americans and african immigrants and my thoughts on our relations. so i did. what follows is what i wrote. hella honest, ignorant, but honest. it would have been way longer, but i had a 400 word count that i blew by 200 words anyhow. i have a better story that envolves me, alibe, chris adams, one fine-ass latina, a taxi cab, one african cab driver, and the time alloted for said taxi cab to travel between fell's point and sonar (bodymore, murdaland for those not in the know), but i won't tell that one right now...
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To observers of non-African origin, it may be difficult to comprehend the complexities involved in African and African-American relations. I have heard the biases against Africans frequently amongst fellow African-Americans and I am also quite familiar with the stereotypes that Africans have against African-Americans. The sad fact is that our differences are bred in the common ignorance that we share of each other’s culture. I can only comment on that which I have lived, and I have two anecdotes that can exemplify the ignorance better than I can explain.

March 1988. Roxbury Middle School. Cleveland Heights, Ohio. My Spanish class was an area of hullabaloo in which the students had more authority than the teacher. Our refusal to say “negro” for the color black would have indicated as much. Friday was considered casual learning day, so we rarely did anything but “crack”, or talk condescendingly, about each other and each other’s mothers. In the class was one West African boy named Rupel, who normally did not engage in our verbal spars, but for some reason on this particular Friday, he did. It didn’t take long for us to tear into him with more epithets than were necessary. If I were to write the words used, one would think that this were a Klan meeting and not a middle school classroom full of African-American students. The insults continued unrelentingly until Rupel put his head down and cried. No one had anything to say except for our usually timid teacher, who sent us all to the principal’s office as she shook her head muttering, “Sickening.”

March 2002. Club Vietti. Roppongi, Tokyo. Myself and my good friend, Chris Adams were partying like two Tokyo businessmen after a 90-hour week. We were fortunate enough to find a Hip Hop club in the foreigner-friendly Roppongi ward of Tokyo. Two lovely Japanese ladies that were appreciating our style offered to purchase us some drinks. Drinks turned to conversation, conversation turned to dancing. I noticed a large group of Nigerian men that were staring at us in not the most friendly of fashions. I was told by one of the girls that the reason for the attention that we were attracting was due to the fact the two girls had been involved with two of the Nigerian fellows previously. I wanted to return the favor of the drinks, so I go to get more libations. While returning to the table, I accidentally bump into one of the Nigerian fellows. Realizing my mistake, I promptly say, “Excuse me my brother.” The Nigerian fellow turns slowly and looks coldly at me and says very steadily and calm, “You are not my brother.”

I have been guilty of prejudice against Africans, as I have also been victim of the same prejudice. It is an inexcusable action on the part of all people of African origin. Whether we were transported to a foreign land by Europeans or had our native lands occupied by Europeans, we are all facing the trials of achieving in a world that directly benefited from the blood, sweat and tears of our ancestors. Our stories are similar, only the settings are different. Hopefully we can one day stop using the conditioning that we all received from the Occident as the basis for our relations and opinions with each other.

Black Republicans

Damn...it's been a long time...i hope everyone is cool and i hope someone reads this considering how long i have been out of the game...maybe i'll write about it once the statute of limitations runs out...

i wonder why people feel the need to write shit to me. first that Christian dude, and now a republican has the gall to send me an unsolicited spam ass email. this one needs a little history so here we go...

for all of you not in college, there is this website out called "the facebook" It is like myspace.com for college fucks. i was bored one day and made a site. i rarely check it, as i prefer my space, but i really don't even dig on my space too much. people occasionally send me a friend request and i'll ok it cause it's usually a cool muthafucka i wouldn't mind catching a drink with... but today... i got a letter from some dude asking me to be in a group called: Every Time a Democrat Patronizes Minorities a Part of Me Dies. i'm like fuck this shit... i can't stand republicans. well, i don't mind the good ol' boys cause they're republican cause they like to shoot and don't wanna lose their guns and would give their pissing calvin rear window sticker and/or tazmanian devil calf tattoo just to go to war, so i don't really mind them. but the stroms, the trents, the w's, the rush's, the klan... those fucks i abhor... anyways along with the invite to the group this dude, the one standing far left of rush "speed" limbaugh, sends me this (at 5 in the morning nonetheless... fucking loser...):
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01.05.06 4:49am

Anthony: Dear Mr. Bilyeu, I'm just writing to say that I find your membership in "Every Time a Minority Supports a Republican, a Part of me Dies" to be incredibly offensive. Skin Color should not dictate how one thinks; one's life experiences, academic research, and personal soul-searching does that well enough. Because you are a staff member at the University, I find your membership all the more troubling as you are in a position to influence students. I ask that you please consider removing your membership. I recognize that you have a right to free speech, but please consider those you are offending. Feel free to contact me by email at anthonybonna@gmail.com . Thanks for your time, With Respect, Anthony
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So y'all know I jump at this type of shit... unleash the hounds...
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Hello Anthony,

This is Chad Bilyeu returning your unwarranted junk mail.

Firstly, I would like to say God bless those troops. They certainly need it whilst fighting for Iraqi freedom and democracy.

With that out of the way… I am wondering what in the DC tap water gave you the hubris to even think the thought that led you to depress the "d" key on your keyboard before you wrote this unsolicited piece of spam to me. I do not care one iota that you are offended at my affiliation with a group on Facebook; a website that is not under the ownership of Georgetown University. Yes, I am a staff member at this university, this is true, but I am also a student in the College of Liberal Studies, therefore I happen to have some friends at the university. One of these said friends sent me an invite via the Facebook, the title is humorous, and I empathize with the message, so I join the group. Simple. Do not think that for a moment that my affiliation with this school is anything other than a temporary means for me to extract free tuition and a diploma with the Georgetown name on it. I have no responsibility to curb my tongue or affiliations or anything for that matter because I work at Georgetown University. I have no interest in affairs of the university or its student body. I come here, do a job, get paid, get benefits and go back home. I do not pledge allegiance to Georgetown University, and yes, I do step on the crest at Healy Hall. And if students are influenced by the political beliefs and affiliations that I hold, then they need to find some new heroes, for I, like NWA and Ron Artest, am not a role model for the Georgetown University students or the youth in general.

Please realize that when you are addressing me that you are addressing a 30-year old, to use the clichéd term, "grown-ass man". I have been paying my own bills and out of my parents' respective houses since the age of 18. I have no respect for privileged children that think that all people are on a parallel level and that you can address anyone about anything at any time. I have lived through things that you can only barely fathom from schema base formed from fifth party accounts. I have lived through the 80's and 90’s and have directly been afflicted from and seen, first-hand, the ramifications of the Reagan-Bush regime on people, predominantly people of color, from the lower socio-economic class status. I was voting in 1993 when you were 6 years old. Do not tell me of what offends you for I have no interest. Learn to show deference to your elders.

What offends me is that an 18 (possibly 19) year-old student figures he has the right to preach to me about politics. What you fail to realize is that your party, the Republican Party, is the party of Trent Lott and Strom Thurmond. These are your heroes; those that have tried to impede the progress of my people. I am sure you are familiar with the racist segregationist platform that your South Carolina senator used to run for the presidency and I am certain that you are familiar with the Mississippi senator’s remarks of "I want to say this about my state: When Strom Thurmond ran for president, we voted for him. We're proud of it. And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over all these years, either." Your party is the representation of Senator Joseph McCarthy. Should I mention your party’s most famous transvestite, J. Edgar Hoover? These two men did much to damage the progress of civil rights through their war against the supposed Communist threat in this country by labeling anyone with a hint of liberal thought and opine as a Communist. How about your picture pal Rush Limbaugh? A boisterous, ill-informed OxyContin, Lorcet and hydrocodone addict who frequently sent his housekeeper to the “hood” to get him his fix. Which way do you think the Ku Klux Klan votes? Left or Right? Unfortunately the diverse population of this country is forced to vote for only two parties. I do not believe that the current bipartisanship that we have in place represents the myriad of social, economic and moral concerns of the constituency, but we are stuck with it. It just pleases me that ignoramuses, racists and other conservatives that wished they could have conserved the good ol’ days when they had their own entrances and water fountains, just so happen to vote for the party that you align yourself with.

You state in your spam, “Skin Color should not dictate how one thinks; one's life experiences, academic research, and personal soul-searching does that well enough.” I both concur and dissent with your statement. True, skin color should not dictate how one thinks, however, in this less than perfect bastion of capitalism we call America, it not only did, but still does. Life experiences, academic research and personal soul searching do have a major influence on how one thinks, however those actions are first influenced by other factors such as sex, race, class, education, interests, diet, upbringing, family relations and peer influence. In a country such as America, in which race directly influenced the social ranking of people there is no way to claim that race did not and still does not influence our society. As I am sure you know, Africans were rapaciously removed from Africa by various groups of Europeans and brought to America to work for free. This new form of European administered slavery was unlike any other slavery that had taken place before it, for it was an institution that a person was born into due solely to the color of their skin. American Europeans considered Africans to be less than human and treated them with a complete disregard towards basic human rights. During the formative years of America, when Europeans were buying land and establishing wealth, Africans were not allowed to be educated, own land, or accumulate wealth. I liken this to coming late to a game of Monopoly and all of the other contestants have rounded the board six times and then trying to play. They already have bought property, they have collected rent, gotten rides on the railroads built by the Africans and the Asians, received refunds from the community, taken a walk on the Boardwalk, and collected more than their share of $200 allocations while passing Go. Alright, now it’s your roll, try and get around the board, buddy.

Black Americans were the victims of 246 years of dejure chattel slavery. What was created from slavery was an intergenerational atrocity. Slavery is the cause for the inequalities that are commonplace in many black communities presently. Financial capital deficiencies, human capital deficiencies, and social capital deficiencies all took hold during slavery. Many blacks have not been able to escape these same deficiencies. Even though the black middle class is growing at an unprecedented rate there are many other statistics to consider. In 2003, 48.1% of all blacks were homeowners compared to 72.1% of all whites. In 2001, the median net worth of all black households was $19,000 compared to $121,000 for all white households (this being the result of the real estate boom). The median income for black families in 2003 was $34,369 as compared to $55,768 for white families. In 2003, 24.4% of all black families were considered to be living below the poverty level compared to 10.5% of white families. Only 17.6 percent of blacks in the year 2004 had a B.A. or higher. This compared with 28.2% of all whites with 4 or more years of college. As of 2003, blacks males accounted for 586,300 of the total prisoners in the nation. This is in comparison with 454,300 white male prisoners. It should be noted that according to the 2000 census, blacks only comprise 12.9% of the total U.S. population, but 42% of all U.S. prisoners. The facts have frequently been overlooked by your Republican Party when advocating their conservative agenda.

Race does make a difference in this society and one would be a fool to ignore that point. Why does Amadou Diallo get shot 41 times in New York City while reaching for a wallet? Why does Stanley ''Tookie'' Williams get the death penalty but Charles Manson is eligible for parole in 2007? What you do not realize because you do not have to is that there are many different Americas. We all have to deal with the conservative white America while at work, but do you think that black, Asian, and Latino communities have the same concerns and opines as yours? As a black man, I am forced to live in two worlds, the world in which I confront white people within their sphere of influence and the world in which I deal with black people in our sphere of influence. The two are extremely different. To exist in your world I have to, whether I want to or not, assimilate to at least a certain degree. White America does not understand our unadulterated language, communities, concerns or desires. Few even know about the class-based problems that plague the black community within itself. There is no need for them to do so because if white people so choose to, there is no need for them to involve themselves in the world of the non-ruling peoples of America. However, as a member of what is considered to be a minority group, I have no choice but to be able to maneuver within your world. Because of this I consider myself to be at an advantage. I know your people, while your people know nothing of my people. And ignorance is bliss, so I assume that most white people know nothing of black America. Certainly, one may feel they know blacks if they listen to rap music or say “what up” to a minority in passing or while in the confines of a predominately white classroom at Georgetown, but believe me, you know nothing. There is no way that you could ever understand what I have gone through as a black man in America.

The only time I see Republicans in predominately black neighborhoods is during election time when they try to appeal while in church on a supposed commonality of Christianity. But even Christianity is different amongst our people. Black Americans used Christianity as a tool for strength and perseverance through means of love, patience, faith and hope. Remember the sit-ins? White Americans used Christianity to justify the slave trade and the blatant disregard for our human rights. Remember, or should I say, do you presently see the Ku Klux Klan? White people that have tried to empathize with our plight such as John Brown were, and in many cases still are, considered to be race traitors by many members of your Republican Party. Some members of your party may argue that the Republican Party is the Party that freed my people (people who should not have been enslaved in the first place), however, if you think that Lincoln freed the slaves because he so loved black people and not primarily to weaken the South and to keep the Union, then you must be out of your cotton picking mind.

It can be argued that your party is no place for any one poor, but there are many poor people that have chosen to align them selves with your party because of their views on the second Amendment, affirmative action, abortion, Christian morality, and this accursed war against Iraq. I will however swear on my life that the Republican Party is no place for any person of color. Any person of color that aligns themselves with your party has chosen to ignore the struggle of their respective race. To be a person of color and to vote for your officials is to vote against one’s interests. I am a very liberal young black man that was not raised wealthy, who is pro-choice, not Christian, pro-affirmative action, pro-reparations, and anti-war. Why on earth would I be a part of a party that is the antithesis to all of my beliefs?

I will leave you with a true story. One day in the spring semester of 2004, I was fraternizing with a good friend of mine, one of your nemeses, one of the Solidarity kids. We decided to have a blast and go over to the Young Republicans table and stir him up a bit. I ask the representative at the table, “I gotta question for you. What can your party do for a young black man with a felony that is fairly liberal and not trying to completely assimilate into white culture?” The representative gives me that buddy slap on the shoulder and says, “We’ve got room for you so long as you vote Republican.” I slap him back on the shoulder and say, “I didn’t mean me, it was a hypothetical question. Naw, but for real, why would any black American want to be a Republican? How could you guys possibly be of benefit to me?” The oh-so eager 18 year-old Young Republican tells me, “What we can do for you is make you accept responsibility for your position in life and how not to expect handouts.” The black man’s welcome to the Republican Party…

Blog Beef...

forgive me all for not posting sooner. my life has really been looney like those tunes, and when it all comes to a conclusion, i will surely be writing about it. until then, here's one to tide y'all over...

i got a response on my "the dark continent" piece from some obviously religious, but unrealistic and lame father. the dude's name is harold gibson. his blog is at: http://incidentalame.blogspot.com/

now if you have yet to read "the dark continent" piece, do yourself a favor and check it out...it's classic material. any how, harold's comment went as such:

"This is not the kind of post you want to read when your child is considering a school like Howard.

Alcohol is a serious problem in our community and your lightweight treatment is not evidence of intellectual growth or artistic expression.

Thanks for this revealing inside look at the Mecca."

cute. my reply to harold went as such:

(if you think i'm an asshole, that's cool. just post the comment)

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hello mr. gibson,

i am the one known as "black bacchus". i believe that you left me an opine of sorts on my blog: http://blackbacchus.blogspot.com

the comment went as such: "This is not the kind of post you want to read when your child is considering a school like Howard.

Alcohol is a serious problem in our community and your lightweight treatment is not evidence of intellectual growth or artistic expression.

Thanks for this revealing inside look at the Mecca."

well, firstly i believe that "intellectual growth" is apparent, because, well, i do attend college, i actually go to georgetown now. and "artistic expression" is also apparent being that i actually took the time to retell the story in a very concise, accurate and humorous way. now what one considers to be "good" concerning the "artistic expression" of another can be debated. i read through your blog and wasn't necessarily entertained. but this is all relative, and opinions are like various body parts. we all have one.

true, alcohol is a very serious issue in our community. however, if you actually went to college (i believe that you did) and depending on exactly how christian you were at the time, i am sure that you are familiar with, or possibly have even engaged in said parties before. i was not making light of anything. what i did was to give you a story as it was lived. i understand that many supposedly pious people cannot deal with the fact that not everyone lives like them. some of us do party. and some of us do have a bit of fun. and on occasion, usually more so than not, some sort of inebriatorial device will be in the equation. we were not on the corner, hanging out all day asking passers by "hey main main, you gotta dollar?" no. we were students at the premier black college in the world, relaxing after busting our chops all week and remaining on the dean's list. y'nahamean? i am particularly surprised that this is shocking to you. what do you think college students do when they are not studying? we party. and quite frankly, would you rather your child having a drink or having sex? which does happen on the howard campus. if you think this is a revealing look inside the mecca of black schools, maybe we should do coffee sometime and i can tell you how meridian got nick named "the sex palace". or maybe i can tell you about how the weed man lives comfortably off of the student population via funds from parents such as yourself. maybe we could get into various teams and the young ladies that are willing to do anything for them. but i am sure that you are far too gone in your convenient, and uni-faceted christian bubble to even entertain such a thing. i've got news for you, and you can remove this post if you'd like, but the fact is: not everyone is christian, not everyone believes what you do, not everyone is lame like you, and yes, college kids do party and have premarital sex. get a grip and face reality. some of the biggest sinners at howard are the ones that sit in service sunday morning and smell of saturday night's debauchery. it leaves a taint on the fingers, the soul, the mind and the genitalia... i did not create the black bacchus, i merely assumed the role from someone in your generation... peace... alpha onasuss maximus

Click the comments below for the subsequent comments...

never ignorant, gettin' goals accomplished [n.i.g.g.a.]

the above acronym was stated (probably not concieved though) by the late tupac shakur on his first album, 2pacalypse now, on this one cut, "i don't give a fuck". (which alot of you new jacks have probably heard on grand theft auto san andreas-if you've heard it before that, good for you) there is a perpetual debate on the usage of the "n" word. we all know the origins...no need to get into that (i hope at the least), i'm actually focusing on the legitimization of its use. i have heard that the spelling has been altered, and through this misspelling, the meaning of the word has changed. i have also heard the argument that because black people use the word affectionately, it has waned the negative connotation of the word, so now the word "nigga" is similar to "saint" or "samaritan". whatever...get the fuck out of town. i too ignorantly use the "n" word. i have tried to stop, but can't. maybe it's because i listened to so much schooly d and nwa that it is indelibly imprinted to my subconscious. but unlike the republicans and christians, i refuse to blame society's ills on gangsta rap. it is very strange that we as a people cannot give this word up. it is not cool to refer to black people by any other term. what are you going to say? brother or bro? that shit ain't cool enough. you heard beyonce and those other 2 less attractive sideshows...they a need a soldier...where they at, where they at? they don't need no nigga trying to be learning the white man's wayz. fuck that. they need a nigga in and out of jail for petty ass crimes to be their lover...ya heard? so dudes please, a lot less cornell west, alot more young buck. i also have a problem with black women that get all black woman-ish at the first mention of the word "bitch", but who readliy refer to the black man as "nigga". but that's a topic for another day. as far as a pronoun for the african american folks, we need something more abrasive. something that shows the beautiful dichotomy of our situation in this country. what better to call a group of people that embraced the destructive nature of their oppressor to such a degree that the oppressor is actually able to deal with other pressing matters and not have to worry about oppressing these same said oppressed folks? on some willie lynch shit, call 'em what the oppressor called them...

i know that alot of the time i write shit on here distinctly for black folks and i feel that i leave out alot of people. so this time i am going to address the "n" word and its usage by folks of other races, especially white people. my mandamus is simple...do not use the word...no matter what your excuse my be...yeah, i know maybe you've got some black friends and they call you the "n" word. better yet, maybe your mate is of the black race. maybe you're having a great time quoting your favorite gangsta rapper. maybe you are even at that gangsta rapper's show. i don't give a fuck what it is, what it was, or what it shall be...people of other ethnicities cannot use this word. the only possible exceptions would be if someone were reading huckleberry finn out loud in class. (it's funny-i have been in so many college classes and have heard white folks use the "n" word in so-called "intelligent discourse". i think alot of white people get a kick out of being in a predominately black classroom setting, and saying "when blacks refer to themselves as "niggers"...". i can't stand that shit. i feel as if they are using the safety of the classroom to say "nigger" around a bunch of niggas that can't really beat their ass like they want to, since the word was used in the context of "intelligent discourse" [most conversation in college classes is not really intelligent, it is realy just ass-kissing. we do get graded on participation-you've gotta say something])

i had this conversation once with 3 folks from georgetown. 2 ladies and one dude, all white. all liberal. the dude was arguing the fact that it is difficult for white men in today's society. sorry, i didn't get that memo. anyhow...i asked him exactly how is it difficult for white men in today's society? so you know what the first thing this muthafucka said was? "do you know what happens if i use the word "nigger"?" great...so you feel oppressed because you can't say "nigger" freely. great...

finally, i have just realized that acronyms can make even the most abrasive, derogatory terms alright. we already went through what n.i.g.g.a. means, but i have another...p.i.m.p., an acronym coined by one intelligent hip hop genius, nelly. pimp now means: "positive, intellectual, motivated persons". hmmm...i don't know any real pimps personally (just a bunch of broke fucks that think they're pimps), so this may be unfair to say but i'll say it anyways. albeit pimps are certainly intellectual (can y'all make ladies do what they do? i think not. and even if you could, could you make that same lady give you all the money) and they sure are motivated (i would guess money would be the motivation), but they sure as fuck ain't fucking positve you stupid muthafuckas!!! obviously the supreme court is made up of nothing but pimps because they voted in favor of the use of the word... check it...

peace,
cmb