"A True Disgrace to TV and a People"

There was a time when African-Americans desired to have their own. Their own neighborhoods, their own schools, and even their own television networks. So what happened? Well, the world gave them what they wanted. Then what? Let's just say that some things should just have restrictions.

This year's B.E.T. Awards were intended to be dedicated to the King of Pop Michael Jackson, in rememberance of the legacy and impact that he made on this world. B.E.T.'s CEO Debra Lee announced at the awards ceremony that the network had been working around the clock for three days to see to it that the entire show be dedicated to the King. Well, in my opinion if that was a revamp of the entire show, the station once again became the best of the worst.

Sure, there were a few performances dedicated to Michael, and when the stars accepted their awards they said their condolences to the family. But was that enough? NO!!!! Not by a landslide. MTV, VH1 and CBS all featured hours upon hours of segments and television specials dedicated to the King of Pop all in a matter of hours after his death had been confirmed. How is it that a predominantly white station could show so much more effort in honoring this icon whilea predominantly African-American station does less than the very least for this international incon? It's a mystery that even I cannot solve...and I know I am a great problem solver.

B.E.T. and its networks have notoriously disappointed its viewers with outlandish sitcoms, degrading and ignorant reality shows, and have displayed African-Americans as uneducated and unsuccessful people. It is true that there are other stations that feature other races as being ignorant as well. But the African-American race should be able to count on its own people to portray them in such a way that is completely opposite of the majority of society. The sad fact of the matter is that even we as a people can't even do that. I find it very shameful that this network would rather show hours of black women being degraded rather than being celebrated for their strength. I find it horrifying that this network would rather give two "hood rich" women a reality show about living a ghetto fabulous lifestyle than featuring a segment that teaches smart financial tactics. I find it just down right rediculous that this station would rather portray our men as uneducated street walkers and thugs rather than glorifying the men that live successful lives and pursue degrees at universities and colleges.

The fact of the matter is that B.E.T. needs an entire makeover as far as I'm concerned. It makes no sense the things that they put on this station. It seems that this stations becomes more and more of a disgrace to the African-American race each and every day. I don't think that this station will ever get better. It doesn't accurately portray the black race and it definitely doesn't know how to put together a good dedication to an icon. B.E.T. should simply stand for Bafoonery Entertainment.

"Icons Live On"

Thursday, June 25th, 2009 will be a day that will go down in history as the day the earth stood still. The Bible says that Heaven rejoices even when one person comes to the Lord and is saved. I believe that Heaven and Earth also rejoices together when the legacy of an icon is celebrated. This time that icon is the King of Pop Michael Joseph Jackson.

The impact that Michael Jackson had on this world is indescribable and is also a rare circumstance. Who would have thought that a young child from Gary, Indiana would lead the world into believing that when you look at "The Man in the Mirror" one could "Heal the World"? I don't even think Michael Jackson himself knew the impact that he would have on this world. His mother Katherine Jackson always said that she knew her son Michael was special. Now, we can all see why she said such.

Too often we as a people are so stuck on ourselves that we forget to love one another. Michael was not afraid to reach out to each and every country that he could and tell everyone that "We Are The World" and that we should help one another. In fact, he was one of the first individuals to reach out to continents such as Africa and inform the world of their struggles to live let alone find happiness and hope in living. It was through his acts of humanitarianism that the world came in contact with developing countries filled with hungry children and wars that break up families. As Americans, we grow to be so selfish and find pleasure in hurting others rather than simply giving someone a hug and let them know that they are loved. Michael wasn't afraid to do that. His acts were a testimony that said if you want to "Start Something" then simply let someone hear you "Say You'll Be There" for them.

I can't describe in one blog how much Michael Jackson impacted this world. But if there is one thing that I know he was and always will be, it's an inspiration to all. He was a voice to the voiceless; a healer to the sick; a humanitarian to those in need. He was more to others than he was to himself and what I like most about that is that he was humble about it. He didn't have to brag about his cars, money, women as most musicians tend to do today. He sang of love and helped take down walls that separated races and genders and told everyone that it doesn't matter if you're "Black or White". He sang of a day when all would come together. And you know what? I know he is in a better place smiling and realizing that the day he passed was the day that the world began to be healed.

Thank you Michael...We love you and your legacy will forever live on.

"A Responsible Mother"

"I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart. Unable to endure the aspect of the being I had created..."
-- Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.

Now one would wonder why is this quote even worth analyzing? When most think of Frankenstein, they think of the monster created by a mad scientist whose work drove him nearly crazy. However, if one really takes an in-depth look at the themes and meanings behind the actual novel Frankenstein, one would see that the role of responsibility is something that many of us fear and will run from at least once in our lives.
As we walk through life each day we make decisions. They could be good or they could horribly alter our lives or the lives of others. We make the decision of whether or not we will perform our daily work tasks, whether we will voice our opinions of something, and even whether we will allow someone or something to shape our day. Either way, each day is filled with decisions that we must make. But what happens when even the smallest decision makes such an impact on our lives or the ones around us that we are forced to deal with the responsibility of that decision? Do we run from it? Do we hide from it? Or do we just take responsibility for our actions?
The thing about Frankenstein is that he worked on his goal of creating life for so many years and so intently that the question of whether his work became an obsession began to come about. However, after his work had finally been completed, he began to become disgusted with his creation and began to run away from it rather than take responsibility for it. His lack of responsibility ultimately brought about fatal circumstances to himself and the people he loved as well.
When we make decisions, the bottom line is that we have to take responsibility for them whether we want to or not. Too often we hear about mothers and fathers abandoning the creation of life that they brought into this world and never take responsibility for that life. As a result, that forgotten life takes on a form of its own where the dangers of society began to shape and mold that once innocent life into an inner image of lifelessness and numbness.
So often we take extreme joy in the toils and adventures of life that we often forget to ask ourselves, "How is this going to look tomorrow?" or "Who may this affect later on in life outside of myself?" We tend to become so selfish that we don't ask such questions and simply act on an impulse and in the end when it comes time to take responsibility for our actions, we simply run away from it, in hopes that everything will just disappear and things will go back to how they were before. If you're going to play the role of Frankenstein and create life into a decision, take the road of responsibility and don't let a small thing become a reckless monster terrorizing us all.

"Crawl, Walk, Run, and Soar"

As babies, we grow to have a curiosity about the world and have an eagerness to explore it and see how things operate in this big world. With each passing year throughout that stage, we learn and grow. In the process of learning and growing, we develop ourselves inside and out. As we enter into elementary, teenage, and then adulthood, we learn and continue to grow even more. But with each of those transitions, we have to learn to accept that sometimes we may just have to make those transitions alone. Unfortunately, that means that the same people that we used to be with may or may not be able to handle it.

There is a little thing called maturity that each and every one of us has to encounter at one point or another and for some that may be a scary thing. Some of us don't like the idea of having to move out of our comfort zone and go on to encounter new things. We would rather sit and stay in the vicinity that we are most familiar with along with those that feel the exact same way. We don't want to grow and leave behind our former ways. But how can you get better in life and succeed in life when you just merely keep the same mentality as an adult that you had when you were in the stages of a teen? The answer is simply this...YOU CAN'T!!!

I see this alot in college especially. It seems that alot of the men and women that I once used to run with, can't seem to leave a certain type of "hood" mentality behind with childish ways. They seem to feel most comfortable walking, talking, and acting the way that they did during younger years and as as result, cannot seem to advance in life at all. They may say that they are a grown man or woman and that they are doing it "big" but it seems to me that the ones that can't leave that mentality behind are simply defining "big" as what is at the end of their block, failing to realize that the world doesn't end there.

For some of us, this experience isn't the best feeling in the world because it hurts us to have to leave those childish ways and people behind. We thought that those particular "friends" of ours would grow with us and continue to be there to this day. It turns out that those people that we once used to run next to are still in the stages of crawling and have yet to realize that they need to get out of their own comfort zone and mentality in order to grow in life.

Though it may seem like a diss to those that don't grow as fast in maturity, to see it that way would be considered childish anyway. One can only crawl first. Once you learn to crawl, you have to walk. Once you learn how to walk, you have to run. Once you learn to run, you have to soar. Once you learn to soar, no one can stop you and bring you down. Don't be afraid to leave childish ways and people behind for the sake of growing in life. God brings people in our lives for seasons. And once that season is up, it's time to move on. Crawl, walk, run, soar and you can never fall.

"Going Beyond the Gate"

So this is the first blog entry that I have written for the year 2009 and I must say that I have some serious stuff to reflect on. My thoughts actually all came on my 21st bday no last week. I realized that each year one should be able to advance further in life than what one did the year before. A new year should bring about new thoughts, new decisions, and simply a new life in general. But what happens when you realize that moving forward may hurt so much that you are afraid to even move at all? What happens when you may just end up at the other side of the gate alone? My answer to those questions and the like is simply this: How will you know what is even on the other side of the gate if you don't even go at all?

There's a story in the Bible that talks about a small group of men that had lepracy disease. They had been traveling for quite sometime until they got so tired that they just sat at the temple. After doing such, one of the men simply propsed a thought: why bother just sitting here waiting to die? Now, that may seem to some to be a simple question, but it's a question that brings about many thoughts. Sometimes we as a people have a tendency to just sit and wait for things to happen simply because that is what is most comfortable. Rather than go through the gates of the timple, we'd rather just sit at the steps and wait. My question is, wait for what and how long?

Oftentimes, when we see that the majority is doing something or the majority decides on a common thing, it will be accepted and become the general norm. But haven't norms been broken? Haven't there been so many people throughout history who refused to stand at the gate like everyone else and become what we call innovators? Why bother just sitting at the gate and letting time pass? Why not just go through the gate and see what the temple holds?

We may tell ourselves that since the steps is where everyone else is sitting, maybe we should do the same thing. We may just grow to accept that maybe the steps is the best place to sit. It's comfortable to sit there rather than just get up and walk. Some may grow so tired of walking that the steps is just the place to be. But my question for those step-sitters is this: if something is already being done by many, why bother reinventing the wheel? Why not start a new trend? Why not step out of your own comfort zone and go further? It can't be that hard. What have you got to lose anyway, you've already come that far.

"Don't Forget..."

You ever had one of those moments where you feel like you've been forgotten? Like you've just been hung out to dry with no one to care for you? I think we all have had moments where we had to walk alone with no one to have our back...or front for that matter. But I think sometimes those of us that feel forgotten just might feel that way because we have forgotten someone ourselves.

Usually when we feel forgotten it's most likely because we have become so caught up with the things that we do on a daily basis that when we finally get a chance to breathe, we ask ourselves where did everyone go? We come to the end of a long journey of work and want to celebrate but realize that we don't have anyone to celebrate with. How is that? Well, it could be because we may have left some people behind that would have otherwise been there for us to celebrate with.

It's funny how just when we think we are alone, someone that we had forgotten about ourselves comes along and reminds us that he or she was there the whole time. They just had to step back for a while and let us do us. But I believe that when those people come along and make themselves available again, they are showing us that they themselves will always be by our sides, front, and always have our back.

Maybe there are some people that we have forgotten about while we were so busy with our own lives. Maybe it's not just us who have been forgotten about. Take some time out of each day and make sure that you don't forget about those that have been there and always will be there through it all. That's what real friends do.


Inspired by: A Christmas card from my sophomore year roomie "Bernie". Thanx girl!!!

"Blowing It Up!!!"

Have you ever saw something or someone that belonged to someone else and you wished it was yours?  Did you grow envious?  Did you develop a hatred for that person?  Did that hatred drive you to insanity to the point of almost killing that person either in your mind or in real life?  Even if we haven't gone to the last point, we have all had that moment of envy.  But what happens when that envy hurts the person or thing that you have?  Well, that's a different story.

I think that sometimes when we see something that we want, our eyes grow so big that we forget to look at what we already have.  What we have all of a sudden doesn't have the same value in our eyes as it did when we first got it; its luster, shine and glossiness doesn't appear to be the same anymore.  It's almost as if it's an old toy and we throw it aside to make room for a newer and better toy.

But I think that we fail to realize that even if we were to get that new toy, it's only a matter of time before we find another new toy and that first new toy doesn't become so new anymore.  We fail to realize that there will always be something that is better than something else.  If that's the case, why bother even putting in the effort of trying to get anything else new?  Now that's the real question.  Another real question is this: What if we can make that old toy have a lasting value that outshines anything new?

Value is something that only we as the owners can create for our current possessions.  Sure, it's ok to have new possessions, but value doesn't come with something as soon as you get it.  Value can only be added after time has taken its toll on the possession.  Even after the possession has gone through battery, dirt, grime and oil that value is still there and continues to rise each and every day.  Don't throw away your old possessions because at the end of the day, their value will always outshine those possessions that are new.

Inspired By: An argument about old vs. new