Black Assumptions: A Tired Discussion

I was at in n out burger the other night. I ordered my food and went to sit down. A young couple of another race had their laptop out. I don't know why I was admiring the machine as if I'm brand new, but I was. They noticed me looking at the computer and they're faces said it all. I snapped out of it and realized how rude it must have been of me to stare, all be it 5 seconds. I must have looked like a gigabyte starved animal. But hey...look... I'm 40 years old and 250 pounds. There's no way I'm gonna snatch it and get away. But should I expect them to factor that into their reasoning for being anxious about my presence? Not at all. So whatever... I sit down and next thing you know I feel her looking at me. I look over and she was looking and nervously putting her laptop away. I was gonna Tweet and FB status what happened but changed my mind. I couldn't prove my Blackness is why she put it away. And even if it was the reason, it's her right to do whatever she wants. I decided to contribute to the more responsible self sufficient me and keep my assumptions to myself. It felt a whole lot better.... more Zen.

Free Sum & Free Some

Free Sum (revision)

the sustaining flow escapes

and runs down the back with hate

irrigates the seeds of freedom

the harvest of 1600 seasons

after he loses the war

be something he never saw

be everything there is to be

balance the pain of history

the weight of skull duggery

is crushing me... freedom is luxury

to go up north...so exspensive

life senseless… heart relentless

journey endless or so it seems

to get away go in teams

know the schemes to recapture and

block the freedom you're after

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FREE SOME (original)

the sustaining flow of life escapes

and runs down the back from the hate

it irrigates the seeds of freedom

the harvest begins in 1600 seasons

after the master loses the war

become something he never saw

thought he was everything there was to be

those who wasn't he put in custody

skull duggery is just too much for me

the weight is crushing me freedom is luxery

the cost of a trip up north so exspensive

this life is senseless… my heart relentless

the journey is endless or so it seems

if you really want to get away then go in teams

know the schemes they use to recapture and

block you from the freedom you're after

Oh Ching Chong Ling Long Ting Tong Ohhh!

Ok this chick from UCLA is an insensitive bitch. I could say more but I won't.

Thess guys have the right idea! Fight ignorance with humor. It doesn't matter how huffy and puffy you get about racism, there will always be racists. I believe I may be a little bit racist because I think about race so much. But I would never oppress any other race though. Unless it was in a movie that was only meant for adults 18 and older to view and it starred me and Tera Patrick (WARNING: PORN ALERT!) Any way enjoy the videos I've posted here and remember this one thing.

IF YOU WANT FREEDOM OF SPEECH TO WORK FOR YOU, YOU MUST ALLOW IT TO WORK FOR RACISTS TOO!

I could translate this but I think blondie has already done enough damage. Peace in the Far East baby. WON♥

The Black Superhero by RodneyRamsey

Most black super heroes don't actually have super powers. So a question occurred to me, what is a superhero? Blade is a vampire, Superman is an alien and Batman doesn't have any special abilities, unless being a rich white guy could be considered a super power. Wikipedia suggests a superhero is a" fictional character of unprecedented physical prowess dedicated to acts of derring-do in the public interest". In which case our highly under appreciated and relatively unknown class of black super heroes is indeed worthy of the title.

Since the metamorphosis of the comic book culture to the mega blockbusters in today's theatres, the black superhero has gotten a raw deal. It has become commonplace to portray white super Heroes as altruistic, god-like creatures who only momentarily lose their way. From the beginning black superheroes have been plagued by gang affiliations, hand me down special powers and of course drug abuse. It would seem as though the black super hero is actually nothing more than a super cliche.

It is clear that stereotypes have infected the comic book world when the most popular black superhero in modern cinema – Hancock - is an alcoholic homeless man with a bad attitude. Hancock can't even fight crime without causing serious harm to those he's trying to protect. Who ever heard of a hero that can fly, take bullets straight to the forehead but can't handle a bottle of rum? That's like Superman getting addicted to crack (probably sold to him by the Green Lantern), and then watching him fly to outer space so he could hit the pipe on the dark side of the moon. It's ludicrous to think of Superman as a crack head, yet it's no stretch of the imagination to believe that a black man has fallen on hard times and turned to booze for answers.

Unfortunately the black super hero's career in the movies has been consistently sub par. Whether comically ridiculous or morally questionable, black superheroes always seem to lack the heroic qualities embodied by their white counterparts. Blankman, for example, was a ridiculous hero played by Damon Wayans. The story is about a man who is genius enough to build a bulletproof super suit but is too stupid to use it properly. Claiming to be the most low budget super hero ever, Blankman is arguably one of the most insulting of all black superheroes only rivaled by Halle Berry's brilliantly awful role in Cat Woman. In Halle's defense, competing with the white cat woman was a losing battle from the start. Michelle Phiffers cat woman was directed by Tim Burton, starred Danny Devito as the Penguin and Michael Keaton as Batman. Halle Berry's co-star was Sharon Stone. Enough said.

Arguably two of the coolest and most respected of cinemas black superheroes are Spawn and Blade. Spawn's entirely malleable cape controlled by his mind is bad ass. Blade's sword and ninja vampire fighting skills kind of make you wish you where half black and half undead too. Unfortunately both of these crime-fighting brothers indirectly worship the devil. Blade is a vampire and Spawn is actually from hell! Not the kind of guys you want saving your grandmother from a purse-snatcher.

The struggle for racial equality, it seems, has flown past the tangible world of equal rights movements and marches on Washington and found a valid battleground in the imaginary realm of comic books and action movies. The situation may seem grave on the surface but the black super hero has come along way. From the dark days of DC's black spider man who got his super strength by weight lifting in jail, to the hit Blade trilogy is progress. So stay strong black super hero, for one day the color of your skin will no longer determine the budget of your special effects or the quality of your super suit.

A Percieved Notion Of Beauty By Idiots

A few weeks ago I worked security at an art gallery. Two of my co-workers were talking amongst themselves as an exotic looking Black lady walks by. She was thin, very dark, with tall leopard print boots and a colorful head wrap.

I was coming back from my break and my co-workers didn't see me walking up. When they both noticed me one stepped away trying to quiet his hystericcal laughter. The other maintained his composure as if he didn't say anything at all.

I saw them looking at the woman and they saw me looking at her. The laughing guy gave me the break sheet to sign back in. And that's when he chimed in with this gem, "Hey Steve, you're just like us. We're trying to figure out WHAT THE HELL THAT WAS?" He said it with a straight face too.

I thought she was beautiful and exotic. I wonder what they really thought of this African beauty. All I ask for is a little bit of PROFESSIONALISM in the fucking workplace! Is that too much to ask for? I don't think so.

Young And Blasphemous

I used to sing in the choir as a child because my mother made me. My sister and I didn't mind because it allowed us to have an extra day to hangout with our church friends at choir rehearsal on Saturdays. On Sundays we got to sit together in a group. This allowed us to crack jokes and laugh at the grown ups jumping around and convulsing in the holy spirit. However, the fun stops there. Forgive me "Lord" if this all sounds a bit disrespectful. I don't mean to be.

I lacked a certain amount of heart strung attachment to the songs we would sing. I won't directly say I never really believed in the lessons we were taught in the songs: I just didn't feel the songs themselves very much. The words to the song I disliked the most went like this: WERE YOU THERE WHEN THEY CRUCIFIED MY LORD (WERE YOU THERE).

"What?!"

"Were we there?"

I wouldn't say anything to the lady that taught us the song but I was so irritated. I would make my friend John laugh during rehearsal.

Under my breathe I would say,

"Hey lady I'm 11 years old. I barely remember where I was last week!"

"And why do you have us singing this sad song about death?"

"Hello, we're kids!"

"It's 1981, hell naw we weren't there!"

"Shoudn't we be singing songs like: THIS LITTLE LIGHT OF MINE, I'M GONNA LET IT SHINE!"

"I think that's a little more age appropriate don't you think?"

Appropriateness of church songs really didn't matter much to me on a whole I suppose. I also had problems with a song we would sing in Sunday school as well. Editing the lyric of this one particular song would often satisfy my needs for laughter and attention. The word "SUNBEAM" would be exchanged for "ZOMBIE". Without fail I would kill at the end of every Sunday school session. The song now goes: A ZOMBIE... A ZOMBIE... JESUS WANTS ME FOR A ZOMBIE..... A ZOMBIE... A ZOMBIE... I'LL BE A ZOMBIE FOR HIM." I don't really believe Jesus wants me for a zombie.

I am singing a different song these days though. I think AC/DC said it best!

I'M ON THE HIGHWAY TO HELL!!!!!