they say the opposite of love isn't hate
it's indifference.
they also say opposites attract.
that explains a lot.
TransGriot NFL Picks - Week 4
4 years ago
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Monday, June 23, 2008
Coming soon.
New blog topics coming soon:
The Measure of a Man or The Problem with Penis Envy
Everything I Know About Drag Queens I Learned at U of L or Making the Case for "Dragqueenology"
Below the Gaydar or Why the Fairness Campaign is no Longer Relevant
The Measure of a Man or The Problem with Penis Envy
Everything I Know About Drag Queens I Learned at U of L or Making the Case for "Dragqueenology"
Below the Gaydar or Why the Fairness Campaign is no Longer Relevant
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Brother Outsider or Louis Coleman does not care about black (gay) people.
Rev. Louis Coleman of the Justice Resource Center
was quoted in the November 16 issue of the
Courier-Journal that 'he worries that expanding our
school district's harassment and employment policies
to protect against sexual orientation discrimination
will open the door for gay and lesbian employees to
push their beliefs onto students.
"I just don't think policies should be put in place
to protect habits or behaviors."
That's news to me since he was a Fairness supporter
back in the day.
Fellow Frank Simon-flunkie Rev. Charles Elliott said
that the fight for equal rights for LGBT people is
nothing like the struggles of black folks during the
civil rights movement. "We were fighting a race
problem back then, not a habit or behavioral
problem…Being (gay) is a choice. We didn't have a
choice to be black, we were born that way,” he
insists.
Being LGBT isn't a 'choice' as he disrespectfully
put it either.
Mike Slaton, organizer for the Fairness Campaign of
Louisville, said no one is suggesting that anti-gay
bias is the same as racism. "Hate hurts no matter
who it is directed at. We all deserve fairness
regardless of our race, sex, creed, sexual
orientation or gender identity. No one chooses to be
the object of discrimination."
While Mr. Slaton’s attempts at mitigating the gay
rights movement are admirable, he is only half right.
Anti-gay bias is indeed the same as racism, sexism and
the other isms. The fact is that all oppressions are
linked and injustice anywhere is a threat to justice
everywhere.
In our society, the heterosexual, middle-class, white
Christian male is the benchmark against which all
others are measured. Generally speaking, the less one
of us measures up to this standard, the lower we find
ourselves on the totem pole of social justice and
public opinion.
As long as some people believe its okay and have the
misguided idea that their religion makes it's okay to
discriminate against people, then it will be necessary
for political leaders to pass civil rights protections
for the low people on the societal totem pole.
Changing this negative paradigm demands that we all
work in coalition with others (yes, even gay folks) in
the social justice movement without leaving anyone
behind.
LGBT people have no more of a choice in deciding
our identity than black folks, heterosexuals or
women. The only 'choice' we make is either to hide
who we are or to live openly as gay, lesbian, bisexual
and transgender people. Religion and political
affiliation are choices that are currently protected
by JCPS nondiscrimination policies, so why are Coleman and crew
getting upset about the proposed addition of sexual
orientation and gender identity to those policies?
I’d like to point out to Rev. Coleman and those who
think like him the story of Bayard Rustin, an
influential black civil rights activist who did much
of his work behind the scenes. Rustin was the
principal organizer of the 1963 March on Washington in
which Dr. King delivered his famous 'I Have A Dream'
speech.
Bayard Rustin injected Gandhi’s non violent protest
techniques to the Black civil rights movement and
helped sculpt Dr. King into the iconic Nobel prize
winning international symbol of peace and nonviolence
that he would became.
Only one problem. Bayard Rustin was gay.
Some of Rustin’s contemporaries in Dr. King's inner
circle decided that Rustin’s audacity to be true to
himself as an openly gay man overrode his blackness
and diligent work for the movement and was a
liability. Then-Senator Strom Thurmond and the FBI
attempted to raise public awareness of Rustin’s
sexuality and even circulated false stories that
Rustin and King were romantically involved -- all in
an effort to undermine the civil rights movement.
Those scare tactics worked in 1963. NAACP Chair Roy
Wilkins wouldn’t allow Rustin to receive any public
credit for his major role in planning the March.
It’s time that black LGBT people stand up and refuse
to be the Rustin to Frank Simon’s Thurmond and Louis
Coleman’s Wilkins. It’s time that black LGBT people
refuse to be silenced, bullied, overlooked
disrespected or disregarded simply because we have
the audacity to live in our own truth.
Black LGBT people need to recognize our individual
and collective power as a community. Gay and straight
folks alike need to recognize that black LGBT people
have always played and will continue to play important
and indispensable roles in the struggle for the rights
of all people, whether it be the labor movement,
women's liberation and, even the fight for the rights
of blacks and Latinos in America.
It’s time that religious conservatives stop skewing
the Bible to justify their hatred, fear and
loathing of LGBT people.
And time’s up for all the cowards who sit idly by and
don’t speak up against injustice and bigotry in our
country. After all, as Edmund Burke eloquently said, the
only thing necessary for evil to triumph is that good
men do nothing.
A year before Bayard Rustin died in 1987 he said, "The
barometer of where one is on human rights questions
is no longer the black community, it's the gay
community because it is the community which is most
easily mistreated."
Actually, I think it’s both communities that are
human rights barometers, and there are more
similarities in their struggles than either would care
to admit.
was quoted in the November 16 issue of the
Courier-Journal that 'he worries that expanding our
school district's harassment and employment policies
to protect against sexual orientation discrimination
will open the door for gay and lesbian employees to
push their beliefs onto students.
"I just don't think policies should be put in place
to protect habits or behaviors."
That's news to me since he was a Fairness supporter
back in the day.
Fellow Frank Simon-flunkie Rev. Charles Elliott said
that the fight for equal rights for LGBT people is
nothing like the struggles of black folks during the
civil rights movement. "We were fighting a race
problem back then, not a habit or behavioral
problem…Being (gay) is a choice. We didn't have a
choice to be black, we were born that way,” he
insists.
Being LGBT isn't a 'choice' as he disrespectfully
put it either.
Mike Slaton, organizer for the Fairness Campaign of
Louisville, said no one is suggesting that anti-gay
bias is the same as racism. "Hate hurts no matter
who it is directed at. We all deserve fairness
regardless of our race, sex, creed, sexual
orientation or gender identity. No one chooses to be
the object of discrimination."
While Mr. Slaton’s attempts at mitigating the gay
rights movement are admirable, he is only half right.
Anti-gay bias is indeed the same as racism, sexism and
the other isms. The fact is that all oppressions are
linked and injustice anywhere is a threat to justice
everywhere.
In our society, the heterosexual, middle-class, white
Christian male is the benchmark against which all
others are measured. Generally speaking, the less one
of us measures up to this standard, the lower we find
ourselves on the totem pole of social justice and
public opinion.
As long as some people believe its okay and have the
misguided idea that their religion makes it's okay to
discriminate against people, then it will be necessary
for political leaders to pass civil rights protections
for the low people on the societal totem pole.
Changing this negative paradigm demands that we all
work in coalition with others (yes, even gay folks) in
the social justice movement without leaving anyone
behind.
LGBT people have no more of a choice in deciding
our identity than black folks, heterosexuals or
women. The only 'choice' we make is either to hide
who we are or to live openly as gay, lesbian, bisexual
and transgender people. Religion and political
affiliation are choices that are currently protected
by JCPS nondiscrimination policies, so why are Coleman and crew
getting upset about the proposed addition of sexual
orientation and gender identity to those policies?
I’d like to point out to Rev. Coleman and those who
think like him the story of Bayard Rustin, an
influential black civil rights activist who did much
of his work behind the scenes. Rustin was the
principal organizer of the 1963 March on Washington in
which Dr. King delivered his famous 'I Have A Dream'
speech.
Bayard Rustin injected Gandhi’s non violent protest
techniques to the Black civil rights movement and
helped sculpt Dr. King into the iconic Nobel prize
winning international symbol of peace and nonviolence
that he would became.
Only one problem. Bayard Rustin was gay.
Some of Rustin’s contemporaries in Dr. King's inner
circle decided that Rustin’s audacity to be true to
himself as an openly gay man overrode his blackness
and diligent work for the movement and was a
liability. Then-Senator Strom Thurmond and the FBI
attempted to raise public awareness of Rustin’s
sexuality and even circulated false stories that
Rustin and King were romantically involved -- all in
an effort to undermine the civil rights movement.
Those scare tactics worked in 1963. NAACP Chair Roy
Wilkins wouldn’t allow Rustin to receive any public
credit for his major role in planning the March.
It’s time that black LGBT people stand up and refuse
to be the Rustin to Frank Simon’s Thurmond and Louis
Coleman’s Wilkins. It’s time that black LGBT people
refuse to be silenced, bullied, overlooked
disrespected or disregarded simply because we have
the audacity to live in our own truth.
Black LGBT people need to recognize our individual
and collective power as a community. Gay and straight
folks alike need to recognize that black LGBT people
have always played and will continue to play important
and indispensable roles in the struggle for the rights
of all people, whether it be the labor movement,
women's liberation and, even the fight for the rights
of blacks and Latinos in America.
It’s time that religious conservatives stop skewing
the Bible to justify their hatred, fear and
loathing of LGBT people.
And time’s up for all the cowards who sit idly by and
don’t speak up against injustice and bigotry in our
country. After all, as Edmund Burke eloquently said, the
only thing necessary for evil to triumph is that good
men do nothing.
A year before Bayard Rustin died in 1987 he said, "The
barometer of where one is on human rights questions
is no longer the black community, it's the gay
community because it is the community which is most
easily mistreated."
Actually, I think it’s both communities that are
human rights barometers, and there are more
similarities in their struggles than either would care
to admit.
Sunday, November 26, 2006
No Fun Being Gay Anymore: A Haiku
Used to be skinny
age came and brought fat along
both can kiss my ass
age came and brought fat along
both can kiss my ass
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Brown Packages or Put on a Happy Face
To paraphrase Miss Sophia in The Color Purple, I'se been feelin mighty low lately. I'm only 25 years old, yet I feel like I live the life of a miserable old man (or woman, depending on who you ask ;-)). I have a demanding school schedule, mounting financial debts, demanding family obligations and an overwhelming relationship. The proverbial icing on the cake is that all my closest friends live hundreds of miles away in other regions of the country. Misery loves company, but dejection demands it. But I digress.
Interestingly enough, I recently came across the lyrics to "My Favorite Things" from the popular Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The Sound of Music. In the number, Julie Andrews sings of raindrops, roses, kittens and apple streudel as some of the things that always cheer her up. [My favorite line of the song, of course, refers to brown packages waiting to be unwrapped. Yes, Gawd.] When the dog bites, the song goes, When the bee stings, When I'm feeling sad, I simply remember my favorite things, And then I don't feel so bad
Over the last few months, I've discovered a few things that always make my blue eyes brown again, and I'd like to share a few with you. [Shout out to Oprah. Holl' atcha boy!]
1.) Celebrity Gossip/Pop Culture Blogs
Pink is the New Blog, Concrete Loop, and Crunk and Disorderly are the three best things that have happened to me in a while.
2.) Peanut Butter and Chip Ice Cream
The United Dairy Farmers make the most bomb ass ice cream ever in their Homemade label. It's relatively hard to find, as this particular flavor is only found at low end stores like Pic Pac. Once you hunt it down, though, it is pure ecstasy. Eating it is the epitome of oral sex.
3.) College boys that wear gym shorts or sweat pants to class or around campus.
Hey, I take my thrills where I can get 'em.
4.) Reality TV
I'ma drop an extensive list of my favs later, but really almost any reality show will do, especially those with black or gay people. Who wouldn't cheer up after watching the shenanigans of Flavor Flav, Aneesa or Bobby & Whitney?
5.) A Good Book
'Nuff said. Right now I'm reading "The Sport of the Gods" by Paul Lawrence Dunbar. Anyone read it?
So, anyway, these are just a few of the things that have helped me to feel better today. What does it for you? Let me know.
Here's to Julie Andrews, tasty ice cream and all of our favorite things. May our lives always be filled with inspirational musicals, delectable deserts and big brown packages.
Monday, January 23, 2006
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Shut up, Bitch!
7.) I am such a reality TV fanatic. Fa real, it's a shame. I am Pop Culture's whore.
8.) Speaking of reality tv, why was Fatty Koo's TV show on BET so much better than the group's albulm?!?! I got the CD for my Bday and I was too amped, only to discover a lackluster product. :-(
9.) Y are black gay bloggers just like black gay boys in real life? The chilren will find something to fight about, LOL. It's like, yo, this shyt is virtual make-believe. With all due respect to bloggers everywhere, it unlikely that the shyt we say or do in our blogs is changing any lives, at least as far as the young black gay community is concerned. As with many issues of relevance to young SGL people of color, the people who most need to be reached by our messages are hardly on the internet regularly -- and those that are damn sure ain't reading no blogs. Catch them on Adam4Adam or Men4Now.
Stop taking ya'll cyber selves so damn seriously.
10.) Y do people always gagg when they find out I am a ball kid, as if it is such a bad thing? PRESTIGE POWAH! LOL
11.) Y do I sometimes agree with them?!?!?
Monday, August 08, 2005
Aight, people. Ya boi is back and with a brand new spirit. It's been a minute since I last posted...and almost as long since I was able to read all of my fav blogs...but now I'm back in action. Since we last got together, yours truly has turned a year older: I am officially a quarter of a century old. So, in honor of being 25 years old, over the course of this week I will post twenty five random thoughts, issues and observances..
1.) I may grown old physically, but I'm determined to never grown old mentally. Over the weekend my family and I went to Gatlinburg, TN which is a kind of touristy, mountain resort town. We stayed in a chalet in the mountains for the weekend and the group dynamics basically broke down to: the adults (my 2 sets of cousins/spouses, and my mom and aunt), the teens (my lil bro and his friend, both 17, and female cousin 13) and the kids (3 bad ass lil cousins ages 8, 10 and 12) and then there was me who is in an age range of my own, as all of my family members are substantially older or younger than me.
One night at bedtime after I'd fallen asleep, two of my cousins (one each from the teens and the kids) snuck up to second floor where I was sleeping and nabbed my cover and one of my pillows. I was too far into a good sleep to do little more than grumble and grab for the thin ass sheet that was now my only source of warmth. When morning came and I say the mischievous little brats with my pillow and blanket, my first inclination was to snatch the items from their beds and give them a thorough tongue lashing about fuking with people while they are sleep and takin people shyt and yadda yadda yadda. DING! It seemed 24 was ringing my inner doorbell, yelling sumthing about remembering what it was like to young. Sumthing about how I used to to the same thing to adults when I was a youth and then I remembered how fun it really was to steal covers and pillows from sleeping adults. The reminiscing was bittersweet, though, because I realized that my younger cousins see me in the way that I saw 25 year olds at 9: as grown ups. OMG!
So, anyway, I'll never been the kind of grown up who loses his sense of humor or his affinity for fun. I hereby and henceforth pledge to be old enough to know better, but young enough to not give a fuk!
2.) I miss living in DC, so much! I think of DC every single day and I patiently await the day when I leave Louisville, KY and return to "home" to DC. I am trying my best to stay put and finish school but I am applying for a position in DC at an agency on whose Board I used to sit, and if all goes well and I get the job, I'm hitting it! I'm thinking DC before the end of the year. DC or Bust!
3.) East Coast boys make the best lovers. It's like that Luda song where he's like "don't even ask"... the best bruthas are in DC, Philly, Bmore, and NYC etc. Everytime I hear a DC boy's accent, my body starts to quiver. Now, I ain't saying East Coast boys are a better fuk than boys elsewhere...I'm saying in general DC boys are more secure in and aware of themselves than Midwest boys, they know how to romance a nigga and be romanced by one, and they come in so many varieties for all my taste buds.
4.) What does one do when they are in a situation that is unhealthy for them and that they don't want to be in, but don't know how to get out of? Maybe more on this topic one day.
5.) The thing in my life right now about which I am most unhappy is my size/weight. A year ago this time I was rocking Guess Jeans in a size 32 (34 if I wanted to sag). Now, my Sean Johns are a 38 or 40. (I hate Urban Street Wear!) My waist is not that big, but ya boi here got a nice size ass on him, so I gotta by my jeans a lil big to contour my ass so I don't walk around looking like one ole bottom. Nonetheless, I am definitely bigger than I have ever been in my life. I have, like, 10 pairs of designer jeans stashed away at the top of my closet awaiting the day when they can again comfortably snug this body. I used to be able to walk into a store, grab my size, pay and leave. Now a nigga gotta try shyt on and shyt. Late.
I joined a gym about 2 months ago, but I haven't been going the last few weeks as I finished up my summer classes. My Moms has been going religiously and she's definitely getting results, which is inspiring. I am not an overweight dude by any means, but when you are used to looking like a swimmer and now you look like a footballer...um, can you say depression? Of course ain't nuthin wrong with Fat Bruthas (shuttup, Trent), I'm just used to being slim in the waist and cute in the face, LOL. I'll have to upload full body pics so ya'll can see me in all my glory. Oh, The cause of this weigh gain has a lot to do with my environment for the last 15 months (See #4).
6.) The thing in my life right now about which I am most happy has to be having a biological gay brother. Just after Halloween last year, I reconnected with my little brother Xtopher after like 10 years of not being in each other's lives. I am the only child of my father and mother, but he also has 4 other sons with his wife and Xtopher is the second oldest of those. He is 19, about 6'1, slender, caramel and totally delicious. He is so me six year younger, 30 lbs. skinnier and 3 shades lighter, LOL. Since I was not terribly close to any of my maternal brothers or cousins growing up, I always wanted someone I could relate to and be a model for. Ta-da: I find out my brother is gay! Anyhow, he always comes to see me on black night at the club where I work on Wednesdays and on weekends I usually sponsor him into the club. He is always giving me gifts and cards and I am always stealing his jewelry. He is like me in so many ways, but he gets a little more attention than me now that I am no longer his size. He wasn't around when I was, so he doesn't understand the power and pull of IQ, but when I drop this few sizes I'm show him how it's really done, big brother style. LOL We don't yet see each other much outside of the social scene, but I'm working on that. I'll post pics tomorrow of my cutey pootuty brother.
More tomorrow.....
1.) I may grown old physically, but I'm determined to never grown old mentally. Over the weekend my family and I went to Gatlinburg, TN which is a kind of touristy, mountain resort town. We stayed in a chalet in the mountains for the weekend and the group dynamics basically broke down to: the adults (my 2 sets of cousins/spouses, and my mom and aunt), the teens (my lil bro and his friend, both 17, and female cousin 13) and the kids (3 bad ass lil cousins ages 8, 10 and 12) and then there was me who is in an age range of my own, as all of my family members are substantially older or younger than me.
One night at bedtime after I'd fallen asleep, two of my cousins (one each from the teens and the kids) snuck up to second floor where I was sleeping and nabbed my cover and one of my pillows. I was too far into a good sleep to do little more than grumble and grab for the thin ass sheet that was now my only source of warmth. When morning came and I say the mischievous little brats with my pillow and blanket, my first inclination was to snatch the items from their beds and give them a thorough tongue lashing about fuking with people while they are sleep and takin people shyt and yadda yadda yadda. DING! It seemed 24 was ringing my inner doorbell, yelling sumthing about remembering what it was like to young. Sumthing about how I used to to the same thing to adults when I was a youth and then I remembered how fun it really was to steal covers and pillows from sleeping adults. The reminiscing was bittersweet, though, because I realized that my younger cousins see me in the way that I saw 25 year olds at 9: as grown ups. OMG!
So, anyway, I'll never been the kind of grown up who loses his sense of humor or his affinity for fun. I hereby and henceforth pledge to be old enough to know better, but young enough to not give a fuk!
2.) I miss living in DC, so much! I think of DC every single day and I patiently await the day when I leave Louisville, KY and return to "home" to DC. I am trying my best to stay put and finish school but I am applying for a position in DC at an agency on whose Board I used to sit, and if all goes well and I get the job, I'm hitting it! I'm thinking DC before the end of the year. DC or Bust!
3.) East Coast boys make the best lovers. It's like that Luda song where he's like "don't even ask"... the best bruthas are in DC, Philly, Bmore, and NYC etc. Everytime I hear a DC boy's accent, my body starts to quiver. Now, I ain't saying East Coast boys are a better fuk than boys elsewhere...I'm saying in general DC boys are more secure in and aware of themselves than Midwest boys, they know how to romance a nigga and be romanced by one, and they come in so many varieties for all my taste buds.
4.) What does one do when they are in a situation that is unhealthy for them and that they don't want to be in, but don't know how to get out of? Maybe more on this topic one day.
5.) The thing in my life right now about which I am most unhappy is my size/weight. A year ago this time I was rocking Guess Jeans in a size 32 (34 if I wanted to sag). Now, my Sean Johns are a 38 or 40. (I hate Urban Street Wear!) My waist is not that big, but ya boi here got a nice size ass on him, so I gotta by my jeans a lil big to contour my ass so I don't walk around looking like one ole bottom. Nonetheless, I am definitely bigger than I have ever been in my life. I have, like, 10 pairs of designer jeans stashed away at the top of my closet awaiting the day when they can again comfortably snug this body. I used to be able to walk into a store, grab my size, pay and leave. Now a nigga gotta try shyt on and shyt. Late.
I joined a gym about 2 months ago, but I haven't been going the last few weeks as I finished up my summer classes. My Moms has been going religiously and she's definitely getting results, which is inspiring. I am not an overweight dude by any means, but when you are used to looking like a swimmer and now you look like a footballer...um, can you say depression? Of course ain't nuthin wrong with Fat Bruthas (shuttup, Trent), I'm just used to being slim in the waist and cute in the face, LOL. I'll have to upload full body pics so ya'll can see me in all my glory. Oh, The cause of this weigh gain has a lot to do with my environment for the last 15 months (See #4).
6.) The thing in my life right now about which I am most happy has to be having a biological gay brother. Just after Halloween last year, I reconnected with my little brother Xtopher after like 10 years of not being in each other's lives. I am the only child of my father and mother, but he also has 4 other sons with his wife and Xtopher is the second oldest of those. He is 19, about 6'1, slender, caramel and totally delicious. He is so me six year younger, 30 lbs. skinnier and 3 shades lighter, LOL. Since I was not terribly close to any of my maternal brothers or cousins growing up, I always wanted someone I could relate to and be a model for. Ta-da: I find out my brother is gay! Anyhow, he always comes to see me on black night at the club where I work on Wednesdays and on weekends I usually sponsor him into the club. He is always giving me gifts and cards and I am always stealing his jewelry. He is like me in so many ways, but he gets a little more attention than me now that I am no longer his size. He wasn't around when I was, so he doesn't understand the power and pull of IQ, but when I drop this few sizes I'm show him how it's really done, big brother style. LOL We don't yet see each other much outside of the social scene, but I'm working on that. I'll post pics tomorrow of my cutey pootuty brother.
More tomorrow.....
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
F*&% a dime...I'm a, er, silver quarter?
In 4 days I turn 25 years old. Actually, that should read: In 4 days, I turn 25 years old?!?!?
The Bible says that the Lord looks after babies and fools. Perhaps I'm worried because with each passing birthday I realize that I am (hopefully!) becoming less and less of either?!?!
More later....
Friday, July 15, 2005
Trent Jackson is on Fire!
He calls himself the gay Wendy Williams. 'Nuff said.
Shout out to my new friend Mr. (or Miss, I guess, depending on who you ask) Trent Jackson, without whom the blog world would be much less interesting and scandalous. Most of ya'll who currently read my blog probably do so because of him, or at least you already know how F-A-B-O he is. No need to preach to the choir. But if you don't know, check him out. He does these interview thingys that are quite interesting.
So, in honor of Trent Jackson, I will list my favorite A and B list celeb rumors, gossip and interesting occurances:
1.)The supposed existence of a tape featuring rapper Loon taking it up the rear from psueduo-rapper P. Diddy. Coincidentally, Wendy Williams is the alleged source of this info.
2.)The picture of Fred (Limp Bizkit) Durst's weenie that someone hacked from his camera fone. I've got the pic for interested parties... 0-:-)
3.)Bobby Brown talking on his reality show about digging that doodie outta Whitney's tail when she was constipated. That's LOVE, honey.
3.5.) The rumor that Whitney is replacing Paula Adbul-Clark on the next American Idol.
4.)Pepa (from Salt n Pepa) on the new season of VH1's "The Surreal Life". She looks 110% better than ever in life. I'm talking fresh two toned weave and everything. I am so glad she's softened up. After a few episodes, the show has brought up Pepa's celebrity stock while bringing down Janice Dickinsons. Janice shoulda kept her ass where it was: "ANTM".
5.)FOX is making Paris and Nicole fulfill their contracts for another season of "The Simple Life." Since the ladies are not on speaking terms, FOX is getting creative with ideas for the next season's theme, including the Paris and Nicole making up and Paris and Nicole planning their upcoming weddings (seperately, of course).
Here's to Trent Jackson, bitch!
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
Supersize My Income
My college financial aid residual money is about spent up, and my mother says I need to get a job. "Even if it's just McDonalds or something," she says.
I went to the McDonalds by campus on Monday and I was hired without so much as an interview. Well, she did ask what size shirt I wear, which didn't really make a difference because all they had in stock were Smalls anyway and I am clearly no one's small... This was probably warning sign number one. I don't remember much of what happened next...She said something about $5 an hour [yes, five dollars] and everything else is a blur.
I've never made anything close to minimum wage in the almost 11 years I have been in the work force. My goodness, I miss the comfort of working in a cozy, technology-equipped office at my neighborhood nonprofit. It's so tempting right now to say fukk this college shit and go back to working full time and living comfortably. But then I remember that a boy can only make it so far without a stupid degree. All this knowledge, passion and experience I have, it'd be a crying shame if the only thing to keep me from a lucrative and influential career is my inpatience with higher education. I am fenda start waiting tables or selling sex or sumthing, cuz a brutha needs some income. I'm a Party Monster, so being broke is truly a scary concept to me.
I went to the McDonalds by campus on Monday and I was hired without so much as an interview. Well, she did ask what size shirt I wear, which didn't really make a difference because all they had in stock were Smalls anyway and I am clearly no one's small... This was probably warning sign number one. I don't remember much of what happened next...She said something about $5 an hour [yes, five dollars] and everything else is a blur.
I've never made anything close to minimum wage in the almost 11 years I have been in the work force. My goodness, I miss the comfort of working in a cozy, technology-equipped office at my neighborhood nonprofit. It's so tempting right now to say fukk this college shit and go back to working full time and living comfortably. But then I remember that a boy can only make it so far without a stupid degree. All this knowledge, passion and experience I have, it'd be a crying shame if the only thing to keep me from a lucrative and influential career is my inpatience with higher education. I am fenda start waiting tables or selling sex or sumthing, cuz a brutha needs some income. I'm a Party Monster, so being broke is truly a scary concept to me.
If I Were a Poet or There May Be a Reason Why
I saw Nikki Giovanni on Def Poetry the other day and it made me think of something. Back in like 2000 when I lived in DC and was still wet behind the ears, I met The Greatest Poet of All Time Nikki Giovanni at a conference for a national youth organization. I had just been elected a youth board member and Miss Giovanni was a luncheon speaker or sumthing. As the title of my blog hints, "Ego Trip" has been my favorite poem since childhood, as it was the first bit of poetry to which I could actually relate (blush). Appropriately, I was delighted at the opportunity to meet the woman who has written my manifesto. She was a delightful woman and she autographed for me a program booklet or sumthing, which I long ago misplaced.
In the years since, I've discovered more of her (and others') poetry. If there is to be one single other work that I relate to and appreciate as much as that first poem, here it follows. My only question is why is it taking the rest of the world, AND ESPECIALLY BLACK FOLK, so long to figure out what Nikki Giovanni realized some 30 years ago?
A Poem/Because It Came As A Suprise To Me
By Nikki Giovanni
homosexuality
(an invention of saul
as played to perfection by the pope)
is two people
of similar sex
DOING IT
that`s all
By Nikki Giovanni
homosexuality
(an invention of saul
as played to perfection by the pope)
is two people
of similar sex
DOING IT
that`s all
Monday, July 11, 2005
Visitation of Spirits or "No, thanks. I'll stand."
So, I go to visit my mother yesterday as I try to do everyday, but on Sundays especially.
"Have a seat," she says. "I have something to tell you."
Now, I don't know about ya'll, but ever since childhood there have been two things that this son dreads hearing from his mother:
1.) My presence being requested via my full name: "First Middle Last, get in here right now!"
2.) and any variation of "Sit down. We need to talk."
Both situations usually ended with bad news or a sore bottom. So here I was yesterday -- at nearly 25 years old -- nervously taking a seat so my mother could to talk to (or at) me.
"Is it good or bad," I asked, in case I needed to exercise my adulthood ability to bypass the convo, exit the premises and return my headquarters should I discover that there may be disappointment -- or discipline --awaiting.
As it turns out, my grandmother (July 19, 1925 - Dec. 15, 2004) visited her early that morning with a message for me. Nana says that she wants me to finish school this time and she says that I will be successful in the field of Communications, though she doesn't remember my specific arena. She wants me to do well and school and in life.
My mom also told me that in life we can't choose our mother and fathers and she apologized for the lousy job my biological father has done. Of course, she didn't need to be sorry for the actions of my father, but she says that Nana told her to apologize for that.
I guess I haven't fully dealt with my grandmother's passing from cancer. I'm too busy trying to be strong for my mother, who cared for my bed-riden grandmother for the last 6 months of her life. This from the woman who passed along her fear of all things medical to me! I wonder, though, why Nana didn't visit me? I miss her terribly and I sometimes worry that when I close my eyes I may no longer be able to visualize her face. And it's only been a few months. Perhaps Nana knew, though, that Ma needed to see her more than I did. Maybe she knew that after all these years Mom still needed any encourgaing word from her mother just as I do.
Anyhow, thanks for thinking of me Nana. You stepped in because you knew what weighed on my head and my heart; You reassured me that I am not forgotten. And I promise to do well in school and in life...I mean if I didn't listen to you while you were here, I'd have to be a fool not to heed some celestial advice. You always said a hard head makes for a soft ass. LOL.
Thanks for the visit, Nana. I'm willing to sit down and talk whenever you wanna.
Langston Hughes - The Negro Mother
Children, I come back today
To tell you a story of the long dark way
That I had to climb, that I had to know
In order that the race might live and grow.
Look at my face -- dark as the night --
Yet shining like the sun with love's true light.
I am the dark girl who crossed the red sea
Carrying in my body the seed of the free.
I am the woman who worked in the field
Bringing the cotton and the corn to yield.
I am the one who labored as a slave,
Beaten and mistreated for the work that I gave --
Children sold away from me, I'm husband sold, too.
No safety , no love, no respect was I due.
Three hundred years in the deepest South:
But God put a song and a prayer in my mouth .
God put a dream like steel in my soul.
Now, through my children, I'm reaching the goal.
Now, through my children, young and free,
I realized the blessing deed to me.
I couldn't read then. I couldn't write.
I had nothing, back there in the night.
Sometimes, the valley was filled with tears,
But I kept trudging on through the lonely years.
Sometimes, the road was hot with the sun,
But I had to keep on till my work was done:
I had to keep on! No stopping for me --
I was the seed of the coming Free.
I nourished the dream that nothing could smother
Deep in my breast -- the Negro mother.
I had only hope then , but now through you,
Dark ones of today, my dreams must come true:
All you dark children in the world out there,
Remember my sweat, my pain, my despair.
Remember my years, heavy with sorrow --
And make of those years a torch for tomorrow.
Make of my pass a road to the light
Out of the darkness, the ignorance, the night.
Lift high my banner out of the dust.
Stand like free men supporting my trust.
Believe in the right, let none push you back.
Remember the whip and the slaver's track.
Remember how the strong in struggle and strife
Still bar you the way, and deny you life --
But march ever forward, breaking down bars.
Look ever upward at the sun and the stars.
Oh, my dark children, may my dreams and my prayers
Impel you forever up the great stairs --
For I will be with you till no white brother
Dares keep down the children of the Negro Mother.
"Have a seat," she says. "I have something to tell you."
Now, I don't know about ya'll, but ever since childhood there have been two things that this son dreads hearing from his mother:
1.) My presence being requested via my full name: "First Middle Last, get in here right now!"
2.) and any variation of "Sit down. We need to talk."
Both situations usually ended with bad news or a sore bottom. So here I was yesterday -- at nearly 25 years old -- nervously taking a seat so my mother could to talk to (or at) me.
"Is it good or bad," I asked, in case I needed to exercise my adulthood ability to bypass the convo, exit the premises and return my headquarters should I discover that there may be disappointment -- or discipline --awaiting.
As it turns out, my grandmother (July 19, 1925 - Dec. 15, 2004) visited her early that morning with a message for me. Nana says that she wants me to finish school this time and she says that I will be successful in the field of Communications, though she doesn't remember my specific arena. She wants me to do well and school and in life.
My mom also told me that in life we can't choose our mother and fathers and she apologized for the lousy job my biological father has done. Of course, she didn't need to be sorry for the actions of my father, but she says that Nana told her to apologize for that.
I guess I haven't fully dealt with my grandmother's passing from cancer. I'm too busy trying to be strong for my mother, who cared for my bed-riden grandmother for the last 6 months of her life. This from the woman who passed along her fear of all things medical to me! I wonder, though, why Nana didn't visit me? I miss her terribly and I sometimes worry that when I close my eyes I may no longer be able to visualize her face. And it's only been a few months. Perhaps Nana knew, though, that Ma needed to see her more than I did. Maybe she knew that after all these years Mom still needed any encourgaing word from her mother just as I do.
Anyhow, thanks for thinking of me Nana. You stepped in because you knew what weighed on my head and my heart; You reassured me that I am not forgotten. And I promise to do well in school and in life...I mean if I didn't listen to you while you were here, I'd have to be a fool not to heed some celestial advice. You always said a hard head makes for a soft ass. LOL.
Thanks for the visit, Nana. I'm willing to sit down and talk whenever you wanna.
Langston Hughes - The Negro Mother
Children, I come back today
To tell you a story of the long dark way
That I had to climb, that I had to know
In order that the race might live and grow.
Look at my face -- dark as the night --
Yet shining like the sun with love's true light.
I am the dark girl who crossed the red sea
Carrying in my body the seed of the free.
I am the woman who worked in the field
Bringing the cotton and the corn to yield.
I am the one who labored as a slave,
Beaten and mistreated for the work that I gave --
Children sold away from me, I'm husband sold, too.
No safety , no love, no respect was I due.
Three hundred years in the deepest South:
But God put a song and a prayer in my mouth .
God put a dream like steel in my soul.
Now, through my children, I'm reaching the goal.
Now, through my children, young and free,
I realized the blessing deed to me.
I couldn't read then. I couldn't write.
I had nothing, back there in the night.
Sometimes, the valley was filled with tears,
But I kept trudging on through the lonely years.
Sometimes, the road was hot with the sun,
But I had to keep on till my work was done:
I had to keep on! No stopping for me --
I was the seed of the coming Free.
I nourished the dream that nothing could smother
Deep in my breast -- the Negro mother.
I had only hope then , but now through you,
Dark ones of today, my dreams must come true:
All you dark children in the world out there,
Remember my sweat, my pain, my despair.
Remember my years, heavy with sorrow --
And make of those years a torch for tomorrow.
Make of my pass a road to the light
Out of the darkness, the ignorance, the night.
Lift high my banner out of the dust.
Stand like free men supporting my trust.
Believe in the right, let none push you back.
Remember the whip and the slaver's track.
Remember how the strong in struggle and strife
Still bar you the way, and deny you life --
But march ever forward, breaking down bars.
Look ever upward at the sun and the stars.
Oh, my dark children, may my dreams and my prayers
Impel you forever up the great stairs --
For I will be with you till no white brother
Dares keep down the children of the Negro Mother.
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
Let's be Frank...
Aight, so here goes nuthin:
I've had this problem with inspiration lately. Seems I get all excited about this and that and making this happen and starting that project...only to look back a few weeks (or months) later and wonder what happen. Seems the fire in my belly and the oil in my midnight lamp were long ago extinguished. This explains why my first and only post prior to this one was almost 2 months ago.
I've been peeping the webspots of a few other people for quite some time now. I was particularly inspired to start my own after reading that of Frank Leon Roberts for a while. Even though I am back here in boring ass Kentucky, I still consider myself extremely progressive and I try to keep up with all the goings on of the Social Justice movement. I've known of Frank Leon Roberts for sometime, firstly as a board member of the National Black Justice Coalition when they first came around a few years ago, and then as a "ball kid" in the house of Khan. Needless to say I was in awe of the notion of a young black brother doing big things with his life while being in the life. For the sake of space, check out his blog's bio and see what I mean.
I say all that to say that I recently read a remark by Frank Leon Roberts that referred to a blog network -- a circle, if you will -- of progressive, intelligent black gay men and I decided that I MUST become a link in this brotherhood. Trivial as it sounds, I'm stuck here in good ol' Ken-Tuck-Kee and now that I'm back in school it doesn't look like I'll be going anywhere anytime soon. I'm SO afraid of closing my eyes one night and awaking the next day as just another one of these apathetic, uninspired don't-know-which-way-is-up sorry ass Kentucky niggas.
So, here goes nuthin, folks. Even if no one ever reads a word of what I write here, at least I've allowed myself an opportunity to vent. And believe me, I got lots to vent about. I've got an awfully lot to motivate me, but nothing to inspire me.
Knock knock, Mr. Roberts. Your circle got room for one more?
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
John 1:1 or In the beginning was the Word...
Welcome to my spot, ya'll. My name is IQ and I live in Louisville, KY. I've been checking out other folk's blogs for a while now, and today I am inspired to start my own. If you've even been a black gay man here before, you know that Louisville can be a very lonely place. Most of my closest friends live elsewhere -- and I did, too, until recently. I've been back in "Da Ville" for about a year and a half now [which is like the longest amount of time I've spent in this city since I first escaped it '99] and I doubt I'll be going anywhere anytime soon. That said, it gets awfully lonely 'round here, especially with no one to talk to. That's where U come in.
Sit back, relax, grab your favorite cocktail and enjoy the show. I don't promise you it'll always be pretty, but it will definitely always be interesting.
Amen.
Sit back, relax, grab your favorite cocktail and enjoy the show. I don't promise you it'll always be pretty, but it will definitely always be interesting.
Amen.
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