I am Oscar Grant...

Today it seems like I'm the only one on this side of the United States affected by the verdict in the Oscar Grant murder trial. The officer shown in the video above, Johannes Mesherle was convicted of involuntary manslaughter after what seems like an obvious shooting of Oscar Grant in the back. Days after this happened there was a firestorm of video and eyewitness testimony about the shooting. There was a lot of outrage in the public, including my rant from January 9, 2009. After the several cases of police brutality against Blacks here in America with little to no conviction I came to a shocking revelation: I am Oscar Grant.

I say I am Oscar Grant because as a young black male I could easily be the target of some "misunderstanding" with police and my murder, the mourning of my passing, and trial of the officers who will have gotten off scott free will have been in vain. What will it take for justice to be served in these cases? Incidents like this further extend the gap of trust that exist between African American men and law enforcement. Incidents like this are why Oscar Grant may have resisted initially. And incidents like this are why Oscar Grant, Sean Bell, and others will end up as the faces of police injustice in the United States.

I am Oscar Grant, Trevor Casey, Sean Bell, Johnny Gammage, Ousmane Zongo, Nathaniel Sanders II, Amadou Diallo and even Mike Brennan; an African-American teacher beaten by two off duty officers in Austria as he exited a train. I am a nameless faceless individual who, sadly stands a chance at being beaten, hospitalized, or killed because of the color of my skin.

Unfortunately this is nothing new. Incidents like this are the fodder for movie plots old and new. In Set it Off, Stony (played by Jada Pinkett-Smith) lost her brother to a barrage of police bullets after being stopped, told to lie on the ground and attempting to remove a celebratory bottle of wine from his jacket before doing so. Training Day shows the side of abuse from the perspectives of the officer who commits the abuse and the partner who is internally charged with stopping him. Ironically, Denzel Washington won an Oscar for this role. Finally deceased rapper and son of former Black Panther, Tupac Shakur who had his own issues with the law wrote"...cops give a damn about a negro, pull a trigger kill a nigger he's a hero." A sobering truth was said by Jay-Z on The Black Album in that, "this ain't a movie, dog!"

So where does this leave us? Whether it's one shot by one officer or fifty shots by four officers, the highly recognized and referenced cases above say one thing: the unlawful assault and murder of African American men by law enforcement carries little to no sentence. With all of the names listed above only one survived. Police brutality against Blacks has been prevalent since the Jim Crow era and it seems that although laws have been changed to recognize Blacks as humans, Black men are still hunted by men with guns who won't serve any time for their murder.

When caught in the flashing lights of a police cruiser, we might as well be deer as we are stunned as to what will happen next. With each confrontation with an officer of those charged with protecting and serving Black men are in some cases sitting ducks.

Like Oscar Grant, I am a man with a daughter. Being in that position I have to wonder what my daughter would be told if it were me who lie on the floor of a San Francisco subway station being arrested for God knows what, and then being shot in the back. The court of public record, youtube, and other sites would allow her to research my case and even witness my murder. But the court of law would have let her fathers murderer off with what equates to a slap on the wrist. That's why I am Oscar Grant. Like a math equation, my name, yours, or the names of millions of other Black men could be plugged in as the variable and the outcome would equate the same.

No justice no peace; Know justice know peace.

Modern Day Classics: John Legend's Get Lifted and Lyfe Jennings 268-192

Today I had the pleasure of taking some time to listen to two CDs I hadn't heard in some time: John Legend's Get Lifted and Lyfe Jennings 268-192. These two albums are classic but for two totally different reasons. One is modern day Motown, it's the stereotypical story of relationship redemption but with a different twist to it. It's fresh, even today, and he and the lady they sing to live happily ever after. The other is raw, gritty and a poorly produced classic. Don't get me wrong, I'm not downing the album. Going back and listening to it made me appreciate it that much more. Lyfe also has a story of redemption. On the album, he starts envious of the posessions of others, falls in and out of love, goes back and forth to prison, and at the end the listener can envision him walking out and shouting out to his boys still on the inside.

My personal experience with both of these albums and artists goes back to 2005 at Nashville's Dancin' in the District. It was a series of concerts, mostly country music, that people could pay $5 and hear some of their favorite stars. Due to the popularity of him being around Kanye West, I already knew who John Legend was as it was his turn to close out the show. But what was surprising to me was my introduction to Lyfe Jennings. At the time, Lyfe had a van with his picture on it, some background singers, a band, and his boys. Though his album had been out for a while, he thanked Nashville for helping it almost go gold. I sat down with my wife and we listened and were amazed by what we heard. We bought the CD the next day.

Lyfe's first album was modern day blues. It was a brown liquor album that you could sit back, sip, and grit your face to because the stories and examples were so true, vivid, and relevant to the story he was telling. After first hearing "Hypothetically" I remember damn near swerving my car when the female singer said "...and I just can't say for sure if the baby's yours." It was twists like that that made the album like a good book. It set it apart from everything else up until that point because, if you've ever seen life perform, you can just picture him and his guitar. He talked about dating women with kids and the war within himself on how it seemed "wrong to him, exposing them to a man who may one day decide he's tired of the family life." The album was good and introspective. He dealt with a lot and made it a complete package.

John Legend had your typical album release. 'Used to love U' came out and it did well. So did 'Ordinary People.' After listening to the entire CD. He also deals with alot. He goes from being tired of his girl because he's broke and she's apparently a gold digger to being drunk talkin to another man's girl to cheating to making up to struggling to making it. During the album Legend embodies the story of lots of men. On one hand, we don't mind taking you from your man. Sometimes we mess up and mess around. But when we realize you're the one, you've got us for life and we'll do anything to make you happy.

That night after being in the presence of both entertainers and getting my money's worth I can honestly say that's one of the best concerts I've ever attended. Both entertainers gave a full albums worth of performances and rocked it. I'm sure, simultaneously, they created life long fans.

I think the reason why I appreciate both of the albums so much is because they represent me at two different times in my life. On one hand, Lyfe's album is kind of the struggle of a guy trapped in his city and inner circle yet trying to do something positive. Legend's album is a guy who's been through a little somethin' and is now viewing the world from a man's perspective and experiencing life and relationships from that vantage point. I think that's why they are my two favorite albums. If I blogged back when they came out, I woulda reviewed them then, but better late than never right?

Tiger Woods Y'all

Sup everybody? Yall 'memba me? I know it's been a while. I got a life that took over my blog and forced me to rant in public (amongst friends and friends of friends). Shit happens, get over it.

So this Tiger Woods situation apparently is a big deal. It's all the media can talk about. Thank God President Obama is making speeches and increasing the troop levels in Afghanistan, otherwise we'd have coverage on this for hours on end like a high speed chase. This is interesting because there are so many different dimensions and questions and so many people sitting wondering WTF?!

I'll start in order?

That Tiger Woods? The KaBlAsian that plays golf??

How many ladies are mad they missed out? You? I know you are. You with the red shirt on, you saw him in person a few years back. It could've been you. Oh well.

Ladies, on the list of potential celeb partners, where does Tiger Woods fall? Between George Clooney and Bokeem Woodbine? Exactly. Nobody had Tiger on their radar. Maybe that's why he was so successful with the ladies. Tiger Woods isn't exactly the guy you'd be jealous if you saw your woman talking to him either.

"Hey baby, was that Tiger Woods? Yeah. Didja get me his autograph? Boy, He sure can swing a stick. That's what she said. What? Oh, nothing dear ;-)."

I'm sure his wife probably thought the same thing. She got a billion-dollar nerd who was the best golfer in the world. He had to be faithful, right? Turns out they didn't call him Tiger for nothing.

"Who would've guessed Swedish women were ghetto?"

Elin Nordegrin gets my first ever honorary "LaTaquisha Award." The LaTaquisha Award is bestowed upon women who, in times of finding out about marital infidelity, proceed to thrash the property of her significant other. Afterwards, she makes attempts to stay, as long as there are no other hoes. She also is going shopping once it's all said and done. Because if he wants to make this go away, he's got to come off that cash. LaTaquisha recipients also have a bit of Mya from Girlfriends in them. "Oh hell no, Tiger! You cheatin? Where you going?!" As rap music has been to blame for various deaths and acts of violence, this LaTaquisha honoree channeled Jazmine Sullivan as she proceeded to bust the windows out of his car.

So congratulations, Elin. I know the situation sucks, but because of you, professional athletes everywhere are giving a little more respect to the white women in their lives.

So what he had a side chick?! Don't all athletes?

This was how a lot of men felt at the time when it all first came out. We didnt tell our wives that, but that's how we felt. I mean seriously, how could she not know? Maybe she didnt. I always thought it was a given that if your significant other is an insanely successful athlete, he's gettin some strange somewhere. Maybe I'm wrong. With the rumors of, and confirmed reports of infidelity, with Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Charles Barkley, and Dwayne Wade, I just thought that's how things went. I thought the unwritten rule was "Don't have any outside kids, Don't bring home no STDs (pronounced steeds), and Don't get caught." Initially, I thought Elin was mad because Tiger got caught and now "he puttin' all they bizness out there.*"

* remember, Elin's ghetto.

RIP Steve McNair and all, but didnt you learn anything?!?

Shout out to all waiters, waitresses, servers, hosts, hostesses, and the like. I love yall and I tip great service, always. But in Tennessee, some waitresses get paid $2.13/hr plus tips. So, if I'm a waitress and I get Tiger Woods at one of my tables you better know I'm doing whatever's necessary to get a tip (I just channeled my inner hoe, don't judge me). In today's day and age where nothing is private, I'm surprised he thought he could get away with it. Hell, I'm surprised he got away with it for this long. While I don't feel sorry for the man, I've gotta shake my head at him. He's in some pretty deep doo-doo.

A Porn Star?

Now, it's no secret that every heterosexual man wants a woman that can get down like a porn star.

"We want a lady in the streets, but a freak in the bed."

~ Ludacris

We want to applaud the performance after it's over. It's also no secret that most men wouldn't get down with a porn star. While her professional life may be documented, if you know she's been in more than 10 videos that might be a little risky. I mean, what about her personal life? You can't see those people or what they look like. I'm sure one might argue that you can never truly know the sexual proclivities of anyone unless you were with them every minute of their lives. That's true. However, the induction of evidence into the equation changes everything. With most women, the men in their lives don't have evidence of her experiences with past partners (I hope). So, while you know what the act of sex looks like, you don't have to see her with anyone other than you. With a porn star, you've got evidence, and sometimes tons of it. So, if you want, you can go back and review the tapes, ughh! It's clearly not something I find alluring. Tiger likes what he likes, though.

Tiger didnt know how to cheat...

Not that I do, baby. You know, you're all I need and more. But I'm thinking, if I'm gonna bone someone else, she's not gonna call my cell phone. At least not my main cell phone. Why doesnt Tiger have a throw away cell phone, a carrier pigeon or a guy in his entourage that who's job is to solely act as Tiger Wood's courier and relay messages. Tiger didnt plan to be a player, he just realized other women noticed him now. This was evident when he called the waitress and said "Hey, it's Tiger..." While he was panicking and thought he was going to get a favor granted, she heard "Hey, it's Tiger. My wife went through my phone and is calling peoples numbers (another characteristic of a La'Taquisha award recipient). She knows I'm cheating so you can go ahead and hire Gloria Allred and publish all the voicemails, texts, dead skin cells, and write your tell all book. Be sure to go on a book tour and get 'pizzaid' for boning a billionaire. Call me back when you get this message."

Where the hell was his Buick Enclave??[/end]

Some of yall aint sh*t...

More than once on facebook I've seen "Dear Tiger Woods, we cant help you like we did MJ OJ and Kobe, Remember you dont consider yourself one of us," written from the perspective of all Blacks in reference to Tiger being inclusive and adopting his Korean, Black, and Asian heritages. For everyone that posted and reposted this, you aint sh*t. First of all, you don't have any social clout. Black people don't have any social clout. For those of you who posted this, did you disconnect your BatPhone that puts you in contact with Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, and Michael Baisden on issues of social justice that effect Black people? This aint racial people. This is what happened, Tiger Woods got some new booty.

"Tiger Woods, yall! Tiger, Tiger Woods, yall"

Then he realized he could get more new booty. So he proceeded to raise the roof like that white man on the snuggie commercial and get more women. This soon spiraled out of control until it became the media circus it is today. So, who should be mad? Tiger. Elin should be disappointed, angry, and hurt, but Tiger should be mad. All this came about because of good old fashioned irresponsibility. He got some on the side and now it caught up with him. This isn't something someone did to him. He did it himself. Now he's gotta pay. I feel like it's gonna take some slow soul music, getting hit with hot grits (again, Elin = ghetto), and about 2700 'Baby please's' before this is all rectified.

So what's the lesson to be learned here? If you want to cheat, tell your wife. If she says ok and doesnt bust out the windows to your Escalade she might be ok with it.

September 11, 2001: The day I became a man

2001 was an interesting year for me. It was the year I graduated high school, got accepted to Tennessee State and consequently, became a man. You see, college has an eye opening effect on most young men and women. A lot of times when we leave for college and make that first Thanksgiving trip home, our worlds no longer look the same. We see what we once knew and took for granted as a child through a different shade of glasses. Interestingly enough, that's what September 11th did for me.

On September 11, 2001 I was a freshman at TSU in room 319 in Watson Hall. I hadnt quite grasped the concept of I had to wake myself up for class so I missed my 9:15. A little before 10am my brother called me and sounded scared, like someone in the family had died. He told me to turn on the TV to channel 4 (WSMV) and within 30 seconds of me turning the TV on, I saw the plane crash into the building. Classes were cancelled for the rest of the day. Everybody was walking around campus in a state of shock. Since then, the world hasnt been the same. I guess that day was my introduction into adulthood because any childhood innocence I had left was gone upon realizing I was witnessing the deaths of thousands of people live on TV.

A good friend of mine lives in Brooklyn, NY. She was still in high school at the time of the attacks. The school she attended was in Manhattan. I remember buying a calling card after scraping up $5.00 in change (then going to the cashier at the burger king to get a solid $5) to buy a calling card to call her I had her number memorized by heart (no cell phone with a national calling plan then). By the time I got through it was close to 6pm my time. I remember the trembles in her voice as she told me how some of her classmates had parents who worked in the World Trade Center and that they were being told that their parents had died in this horrible tragedy.

It was a surreal experience for me. Here I am, a young 18 year old from Clarksville, TN going to school in Nashville, TN getting a story first hand from someone who'd witnessed the tragedy as well as knew people directly effected. The assumed Thanksgiving effect happened early for me and on a much broader scale. Instead of the home I grew up in being seen differently, it was the world I lived in. I realized then that everything as I had known it was about to change.

Prior to that, I'd pretty much existed in my own space, but September 11, 2001 was the day the world became a little smaller for me. As I laid in bed that night, I pondered the potential magnitude another attack could have. For the first time, I was afraid for my country. Grasping the magnitude of what had happened combined with the speculation of what U.S. retaliation was going to be was overwhelming. "Was their going to be a war? If so, were they going to reinstate the draft? Maaan, I just got to college! I knew that selective service was some BS on my FAFSA!" Ironically enough, a day before I visited the AFROTC office because I was knocking around the idea that college wasnt for me.

As all Americans searched to gather ourselves in the days following we, if but only for a brief time, were United. For a short moment we were all Americans. We weren't White Americans, Black or African-Americans, Asian - Americans, etc. We were just one. We were countrymen. We briefly understood patriotism without party lines. We understood our call to service and the necessity to support the decisions made by our elected leadership, whether we voted for them or not. We had the souls of champions, a resiliency that kept us in a time of national mourning and sorrow.

We should make an effort to get that feeling of unity back. It shouldnt take a tragedy to realize that we're all in this thing together. Your national deficit is my national deficit, your cheating congressman is my cheating congressman, your war is my war, my fight is your fight, my struggle is your struggle, my successes are your successes, and we all share a circular relationship on the ride of valleys, peaks, challenges, wins, losses, failures and achievements. At the end of the day, when it's all said and done, no matter how we hyphenate it, segregate it, politicize it, or criticize it we all share the same title: Americans.

May we never forget.

One Fourth Random | Exclusive

Yesterday one of my good eFriends put out a call for bloggers to write about the good side of relationships. I decided to answer her call. I wrote a piece about my wife and I.


Feel free to check it out!

http://www.onefourthrandom.com/guest-post-youre-all-that-i-need/

The First 48: Documenting Genocide

A&E has a hit series called 'The First 48' in which it documents murder cases and the efforts of policemen and women to make an arrest within the first 48 hours of the crime. The series documents the efforts of police departments in major cities across the U.S. (Memphis, Miami, Dallas, Phoenix, etc) and gives a synopsis of what goes into catching criminals. The TV show is very well produced and packaged, I haven't researched but I'm sure they've won awards. I do, however, have a slight beef.

Now, my beef isn't with the show, its producers, nor is my beef with the detectives or the police officers that work hard to keep neighborhoods safe. My beef is with the stars of the show. The stars of The First 48 are unpaid. They are often in wardrobe synonomous with their neighborhoods colors lacking belts, haircuts, and a sense of what life is all about.

The stars of The First 48 often look like me.

Young. Male. Black. 5'10"-ish. Medium to Muscular Build.

Now to someone whose never seen The First 48, my above paragraphs may lead you to believe that I'm only discussing the people who end up arrested. Unfortunately, this is not the case. While the criminals are the stars of the show, their co-stars are often the people they've allegedly murdered. Those people, like me, often fit the desription:

Young. Male. Black. 5'10"-ish. Medium to Muscular Build.

While most people view The First 48 as a hit reality drama, I see it another way. I think 50 years from now The First 48 will provide the first visually documented accounts of economic evidence of why the income and education gaps between Black men and women will be so far off. Sista's (and by that I mean Black women) have been complaining for years that there are no good Black men out there. Soon, that will be true. Robberies and homicides amongst Black men continue to rise everyday. And all for what? Turf? Colors? Respect?

At age 26, I've already had friends killed by gang violence. Eight days before my 26th birthday, I got a phone call saying that a guy I looked at like a little brother died after being shot several times. So with all that said, I'm wondering what will be our legacy. This post focuses on Black men but this is a societal problem that extends outside of the Black community. The ripple effect of mothers crying, children without fathers, and prisons being built in our back yards effects citizens of all races. So what do we make of this? We have people, groups, and governmental legislation raising money to save polar bears and melting ice caps, but what will we do to save our sons?

I'll leave this up for discussion either here, in your homes, at your local barbershops, starbucks or wherever else.

The lack of action we take now will be directly proportional to the quality of our futures.

How to Eat for Next to Nothing at Arby's

Image via Wikipedia

In this recession a cheap meal is very hard to come by. This is why Arby's is gonna save the American marriage. Arby's is offering a Free BBQ Bacon Roast Burger (with any soft drink purchase). This is great because it gives you a drink and a sandwich for $1.65 (the price of a small drink at Arby's in Nashville). But it gets even better.

On the back of the receipt, you can call and get a free Regular Roast Beef or Beef 'n Cheddar for doing their survey. So you can literally go to Arby's with about $2.00 and eat pretty well.