The Most Unhappy Man of Men

Haiti means Katrina in French.

What are Wordsworth?

Toussaint, the most unhappy Man of Men!
Whether the whistling Rustic tend his plough
Within thy hearing, or thy head be now
Pillowed in some deep dungeon's earless den; -
O miserable Chieftain! where and when
Wilt thou find patience? Yet die not; do thou
Wear rather in thy bonds a cheerful brow:
Though fallen Thyself, never to rise again,
Live, and take comfort. Thou hast left behind
Powers that will work for thee; air, earth, and skies;
There's not a breathing of the common wind
That will forget thee; thou hast great allies;
Thy friends are exultations, agonies,
And love, and Man's unconquerable mind.

I'm Scott Free, Baby! Get It?

Polkadotted Stripes

Don't let anybody make you think that God chose America as his divine, messianic force to be a sort of policeman of the whole world. God has a way of standing before the nations with judgment, and it seems that I can hear God saying to America, "You're too arrogant! And if you don't change your ways, I will rise up and break the backbone of your power, and I'll place it in the hands of a nation that doesn't even know my name. Be still and know that I'm God.  -- Martin Luther King, Jr.

I, Too, Have a Dream

It's the MLK holiday, which probably means that you're not reading this.  Or if you are lucky, perhaps your boss gave you the day off, which means you've just stumbled out of bed still hungover from that extra night of clubbing, regretting updating your status message while drunk, and contemplating whether or not to participate in that day of service with your fellow frats and/or sorors.  It's tempting, I know, but forget about it.  Tutoring inner city kids in math for one day doesn't really help at all.  So just make yourself a Screwdriver and finish reading this blog.  There's a better way of showing how seriously you take the legacy of Martin Luther King, and you don't have to listen some to black intellectual bloviate through a King Day lecture, or pretend you care enough about a cause to actually march about it.  You can show your support for the King holiday by joining my campaign.

It's This One Thing (That Got Me Trippin')

One more thing about Pat Robertson.  I failed to say anything about "Christy," the black woman sitting next to Pat during the video as he spews his diabolical racist drivel.  I've read a couple of people dissing Christy.  I get it.  She's sitting next to a dude spitting vitriol against her brethren, just nodding her head to the point where we might question her level of comprehension--does she actually believe what Robertson is saying?  Does she agree that Haitians made a deal with the Devil?  Gifting their souls in exchange for their freedom?

Then again, I wonder if Christy is just dumbfounded.  Admittedly, I don't know anything about the woman.  To add, her affiliation with Pat Robertson probably indicates that she deserves our wrath.  Yet I've also been silenced by racist words, been so stuck thinking "Wait a minute.  Is this person actually saying these things to me?" that I couldn't muster any noise, let alone a serious and coherent response.  I don't know about other folks, but whatever wit I might have has escaped me on those few occasions when someone says something incredibly racist to me.  Esprit d'escalier f'real.  By the time the exchange is over I'm still at, "Wow, I can't believe (s)he just said that."  It is/would be so much easier to respond when/if they('d just) call you nigger--for me, least.

Simple Math: Let's Make a Deal

One thing that really irks me about white supremacy is that it allows folks--mostly white men--to say really bigoted and racist things, and make lots of money doing it.  Racism is not just the process of institutionalizing prejudice and methodically discriminating against black folks and other people of color, it's also a very lucrative business, a capitalistic endeavor that allows purveyors of the commodity to make mad dough.  And, as always, the kids with melanin doing the hustlin' make the least amount of money.  Sure, I suppose Flavor Flav got a nice stack per episode, but Pat Robertson is worth at least $200 million--and he gets to be a racist bigot in the name of God!

I've Been Thinking

I need to become a better blogger. The stuff I've written here and over at BYP hasn't been inspiring, well thought out, interesting, or disclipined.  I need to work on that.  I need to get my sea legs.  I can see the writer/blogger I want to be, I just haven't taken the time to get there.  I'm going to do it.  It's only mid-January.  I got plenty of time to change, right?

Today in Post-Race History: What I (Had) Meant to Say Was...

There are 3 things my Grandma Charlotte used to tell me all the time:  1. That books are my friends; 2. That she is always right--even when she's wrong (she's right); and 3. It's not what you say, it's how you say it.  I remembered that last point when I heard about Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's comments about then-candidate Obama.  If the extent of Reid's comments were what I read in the HuffPo article about the book, Game Change, the interview appears in, then I'm really not all that mad at Senator Reid.  In fact, I agree with him.  He's only in hot water because we need a dose of (racial) honesty.

Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid apologized on Saturday for saying the race of Barack Obama – whom he described as a "light skinned" African-American "with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one" – would help rather than hurt his eventual presidential bid.

Um, this is racist?  Let's take it point by point.

grin-DING!

LOVE. THIS. SONG.

Yes, Black Thought.  Yes.

By the way, Black Thought is like the greatest emcee name ever.

Can You Hear Me Now?

John Lennon said, "Life is what happens to you when you're busy making other plans."  Yeah.  I suck.  But it's not my fault--this time.  I just spent more than 2 hours at a Verizon Wireless store because my Nokia Twist broke (in half).  Ok, so maybe I broke it on New Year's Eve.  Anyway, the point is, I spent way more time than I'd planned with an incredibly nice and chipper customer service rep at the Logan Square VZW, which means I'm just now sitting down at the computer, which means my blog is hella late, which means I'm not doing well in keeping resolution number 5.