WHAT IF I TOLD YOU.............PT 1

When you are faced with diversity you have to go head on with the issues at hand.

I have to admit that I think about where I would be had I not been blessed with people in my life that decided not to give up on me. At the age of 19 I had to meet them half way and check into a facility which in turn would change my life forever.

The day I walked into this place, my first thought was to turn around and walk right out back to the only life I had known. I was a scared 19 year old. During this time I hadn't known anything but the hustle. The street was my only friend and the drugs felt like I was cheating on my wife. It felt great but when it was all over the regret set in and I was feeling like a confession was in order.

My addiction was a little different. My best friend at the time was my neighbor that came from a broken home but both parents were actively in his life. His mother was a nurse, but I wasn't sure what his father did for a living, but it was lucrative enough to make sure his son's needs was always met. Although I had an urge for that life, I was clearly fit for the street life. I would play catch with my boy during the day, and I would hit the street at night.

I better stop here for now...................

WHAT IS THIS ALL ABOUT

I can think of a few things that will have us all wondering what this nightmare is all about.

When I was a kid the craziest thing going on was happening in sports.

I remember baseball was all about stealing bases, and now its about the home run.

Basketball was brutal, everybody was trying to kill each other for going into the paint, and now the 3 pointer is the highlight every night.

Football was crazy fun to watch. Watching receivers catch passes and drop to the ground when Ronnie Lott was in the area was fun to watch.

Now it's more like tag. This one bothers me the most. Although I understand the satiety issue they are still only looking to protect the Quarterback. What about the receivers?  They do matter as well. But the reality is that the bottom line is the QB is the cash cow. The NFL is really going away fast, and if they don't  get it together soon, it will be sooner than later.

Not to mention showing how racist they are based on allowing abusers to remain in the league, while they collude with players that perform peaceful protests. The funny part is that they are crazy enough to continue this abuse of power feeling repercussions are no where in sight, and from the looks of it they may be right. But I will never take silence as weakness.

STAY TUNED!

KHALIL MACK - THE MAN IS A BEAST

Kahlil Mack is the man. Well sometimes when you are having a pissing contest you have to be realistic when the chips fall. Jon Gruden and the Oakland Raiders refused to budge to get this man signed and decided to trade him instead. I must say that the picks they received in return is a build for the near future, but Mack was a cornerstone of the Raiders PERIOD.

They gave Gruden $100 million when his last season in the league wasn’t steller. This was a hype signing, all the Raider fans always loved this man, but I’m curious to know how they’re feeling after losing Mack. Not only did they lose him, but they also lost their first two games of the season.

This is still a wait and see for me……….

THE TRUE MEANING OF BEING BLACK

I truly love my blackness and yours. this is something we all need to say more than once a day. My children and grandchildren will know what it is to be black, the good and the bad.

This story has to be told because the book that is being written in the media along with what the government feels about us is only half the story. I have had many run-ins with cops and racist people and guess what? I'm still standing. You want to know why? Because I know what it is to be black.

I remember riding in a white neighborhood with a white friend that lived there and I saw a police car to my left while I was heading south to the freeway. I looked over at my friend and told him "I'm about to get pulled over" he with a quick response he replied "no you're not" not even two red lights later I was pulled over for speeding. I just looked at the officer without saying a word when my friend told him I wasn't speeding.

I gave him my licence and about 5 minutes later he returned and had the damn nerves to tell me to slow down. Because we had a 35 minute ride ahead of us we were able to have a sensible conversation about race. Although he was shaken and in shock, that day had given him a perspective of what it was like to get pulled over based on the color of your skin. This is something that we go through all the time and getting used to it is not an option.

KAEPERNICK IS THE FACE OF NIKE AND THE NATION

  When looking around the internet all you see is haters.

Colin Kaepernick has been assigned a campaign by Nike for a full rollout and all the so called flag lovers are burning all their Nike gear claiming to be angry. If this was really about the flag then:

1. He hasn't kneeled since he was blackballed from the league.

2. Instead of burning all this stuff, why don't you all donate it to the homeless veterans.
  That still hurts to say out loud or on paper.

Since the rollout Nike has been winning. Up 31% in sales and they are still unbothered. The funny part about all of this is the sales will continue to sore. The NFL has committed to Nike for the next 10 years so there's a two edge sword.

This just make me laugh everytime I think about that. This proves that for the NFL its not really about be patriotic it's about the bottom line- THAT MIGHTY DOLLAR

LOVE AND RESPECT

What is it about relationships?

No matter how hard a brother try we always end up fighting the fact that women are just looking to change you. Growing up with a house full of women did help me understand them to a degree. Although love plays a part in wanting to make it right, I find it to be a bit lopsided that we have to be the ones to conform to all the little rules.

This issue has to be addressed; you wonder how we should go about doing it?
Well:
#1 Confront with some rules of your own, but dont be as unreasonable as she usually is.
#2 Take time to compromise her wishes by not giving up but giving in basically. This may sound strange, but this will work.
#3 Make sure you become attentive and distract her with just being a man that loves his woman, she enjoys a man that doesn't need to be told what to do.

Relationships can be complicated and at times inconceivable. They can be enlightened by laughing and talking and not thinking sex is the fixer of all confusion. When you begin to equate sex with love that's when it becomes a danger. What you build outside of the bedroom is what making love special.

So just remember to take time to learn someone before you think you found the right one.

HATERS IN YOUR FACE

                         There comes a time in your life where you have to consider what your future should look like. I have seen some people look into a crystal ball and strive for what they see while others reach goals that may have been set for them by others. But at the end of the day however you get there, just make sure you do.

                           There are things we use as motivation; our family, our friends and most of all our haters. See- sometimes your haters always look for you to fail and that motivates you to do better. While some people tell you what you want to hear, they are privately waiting for your demise. We live in a world that has so many angles. Their agenda is to have someone to talk about, someone to be able not to deal with their own failures.

                           



                         

DUBNATION - Failing or just in a funk?

   


The Golden State Warriors staring down the barrel of a 2 game losing streak but does not look to be in panic mode and I believe they have no reason to be. The beat down they took from the Denver Nuggets (29-25) was seen as a game that was caused by exhaustion. Then came the Oklahoma City Thunder (31-24) coming into Oakland led by Russel Westbrook was just a ass whooping with no excuse. Even Draymond found a way to get the hell out of there. He was ejected and didn't seem to be grieving about it.



I am a big fan and I will tell all that this is not a downfall of whats to come, but more about re-calibrating. At least their not the Cleveland Cavaliers those dudes got beat down by a lottery team. Lost the game by 20 after leading by 21 at point of the game.

It didn't help that the refs were making bad calls all over the place, They did not seem to care, this was a message to us all that this ref thing has to be re visited and something has to be done about this not so rare travisty.

TIME FOR A CHANGE

There comes a time when you have to be honest with your children. This is a cruel world for they young black young men/women. They have to work twice as hard to reach goals. It takes major motivation to process in the system where you always have to start on the back of the bus, but if you hold on, maybe just maybe one day you will be driving that bus. 



So now here we are progressing in the cruel world. But you have to always remember where you stand in the line. By no means am I saying to conform, but actually the opposite. It's very rewarding to be able to see what is coming instead of going in blind. 

One thing for sure they cannot take away your degrees, your knowledge of your right to be proud of who you are or where you come from.

EAGLES SWOOPS THE PATS AND BRADY

Yep, the Patriots has lost another Superbowl. The Eagles beat the Pats 41-33.

Ending the game with a Hail Mary from Tom Brady to Gronk that was heavily covered in the endzone while the entire world was holding their breath.

I will be the first person to say although I didn't watch it, it was great to see how it ended. No matter what you may think about Tom Brady he is lucky to have played in an era that the QB is treated like a piece of precious crystal vase.

The Eagles played with determination and when it mattered the most.

SO congrats to the Eagles in beating the Patriots!

PRISONER OF YOUR OWN MIND

One day I was having a conversation with someone and wanted an honest opinion about what they thought about race relations. And the funny part about this is that I know for a fact that he has issues with black folks. Though he somewhat is admittingly a racist I still wanted to hear why.



As the conversation carried on he began to rant about welfare and how this was ruining the fabric of the country, and made people lazy and used this as the excuse on why immigrants come here and get businesses.

FACT: The difference between blacks and whites on welfare is neck extremely close. So next time someone tries to say black folk is dominating the system, tell them to research their information before making assumptions.  CLICK HERE FOR STATS

This conversation had gotten heated for a moment and then he reverted by blaming Obama for the failures of the white people that had become dependent on the system, but the fact is this has been statistically true wayyyyy before Obama had become President. That's the racism coming out as usual.

Its unusual to think that people would be able to live in a world where we don't see racism. Being judged by the color of your skin and not appreciating what we ALL have to offer. See- when we maintain a status we as black folk will always no matter our status will always be the poor ghetto ass black people that has to home raising.

This is where you have to stop thinking about how people think about you and learn to love who you are and keep pushing to be better. Never allow anyone to detour you from your goals.

I went to the doctor one day and expressed some concerns about not being able to do enough to help my daughter get through school and her only solution was to take her out and send her to some JC.
It was clear to me that she didnt care, she just didn't want to see a young black woman being educated and possibilities of being more educated than one of the counterparts. This is something that you will run across daily. Wanting young black men/women taking to lower of higher learning while they fill these 4 year universities with their own.

THE N WORD

The first time I was called the N word I reacted in a way that i shouldn't have.

My mother explained to me how important it was to remember my value, and never allow someone else

to define me with words. This was a way for them to control the minds by making us believe we are

something they wanted us to be. The only way that works is when you allow them in your mental.

I remember like it was yesterday. I walked into a school where I was in the G.A.T. E. Program.


This program was for the gifted. Needless to say not many people were there with my complexion.

While walking through the hallway with a teacher and a student guide, a group of kids were walking in
our direction one said “here comes another NIgger” I blacked out and assaulted the kid and was
arrested.

I was hearing my mother’s voice telling me that I needed to realize that she didn't name me that.

The importance of that was to understand  the undermining and and pinning us down with the slave

mentality will always be their mission. Have you ever sat down and read about where you come from?
If you haven’t- you should. There is so much information that is at the fingertips.
There is a time in your life when it will be important to understand the intricacies of your culture.

Being called a name that was given to us as slaves has found its way in out language.

Yes I am guilty of using it myself, but if I were forced to explain the difference it would be a simple result.

See when we started using it in songs, and in comedy etc. It softened the blow when others wanted
it to impact us in a negative way. The end result still needs work but hey- all things worth fighting for
comes with hard work.

Now that its 2018, how many people are ready to deal with the "new year, new me"?
For me I can live without it. Every year its the same old quote and the same ole people not really doing anything to progress.

I must say for me- I loved my 2017 and is looking forward to the progression in 2018. Time has come to grow and continue to do so. Never allowing anyone to detour your dreams.
Although this past year has brought my family grief, I am absolutely proud of the strength that this family posses. Sometimes its the tragedies that allows us to know how strong we really are. Yes- death is a part of life, but no matter if you realize this will be all of our destinations eventually, the people we leave behind will have to find a way to live through it.