And no, this isn’t a review of the television show on BET. I haven’t watched the show and have no plans to do so. It’s on BET. AND it used to be “Hot Ghetto Mess”. When I said I wanted new original programming at BET, somehow, this isn’t what I envisioned.

Nope.

A few weeks ago now (or sometime last month) a bunch of niggas made strides for the Black community with their attempts at building our long lacking self-esteem and showing the young Black people that we can make it despite whatever obstacles, either historical or present, are lobbed our way.

The NAACP buried the n-word. Now this isn’t news to anybody clearly. This made national news and opinions were plentiful. I didn’t really pay much attention to most opinions because I felt like this was the biggest damn waste of time in the history of wasting time. This is up there with Sheila Jackson-Lee’s uber-fucking-stupid attempts a few years ago to get hurricane’s named after Black people. I wonder how she feels now that motherfucking Katrina wiped out a bunch of niggas. Somebody needs to follow up with her on that one pronto. You know Black people have too much time on our hands when we introduce affirmative action into the weather.

I mean, really.

I also think it was just damn dumb. I’m a big fan of symbolism. I really am; especially symoblism that turns a system on its ear and makes a splash.

Burying the n-word? No splash. The funny shit is that I’m not convinced that none of the niggas in the NAACP don’t use the n-word. It’s just too easy a word to use if you’re Black. It really is. I’ve actually made attempts to stop using it to no avail. No dice. I’m sure I could stop if I really wanted to, but you know what, I like the n-word. Just like I like cursing. Makes for much more spirited conversations.

My main beef with symbolic gestures like the NAACP’s is that it stops there. After the burial there is nothing. There’s no real significance. AND it just sounds like a dumb ass idea. Corny. Contrived. A waste of resources. In fact, I want to know who green lighted this idea. I sincerely hope that this wasn’t on the docket of important business for the NAACP and that somebody just threw this shit out around the watercooler one day and a bunch of niggas ran with it. If it wasted no more than 15 minutes of actual “we could be changing the world” time then I suppose I ain’t but so mad aside from the lack of significane in the aftermath.

But once again, it is the NAACP and my guess it that these niggas have nothing better to do until the next nigga comes along and screams racism somewhere…

Speaking of which, I have to say something here that might be of unfavorable view. But man, niggas owe them Duke Lacrosse players a big motherfucking apology. MAN…I’m so glad I kept my opinion to myself on that one. However it gets to a much bigger issue, and one that will need to be expanded upon in the future.

As Black people, we are so tired of being trampled upon and outcast that when something does go down, we tend to act out emotionally first. There is no judge and jury. Everybody’s guilty. And that does pose a problem. It means that we think too many of our own aren’t guilty and too many other people are guilty. It’s a legitimate reaction-solely based on the amount of shit Black people have had to and still have to go through-but its one that more times than not needs further examination.

Tawanna Brawley anyone? True, indeed, there are more than enough instances where we are completely justified in our reactions and responses, however, when we’re wrong we tend to just move on to the next shit (Al Sharpton) with very little in the way of regretting any mistakes.

Yeah so pretty much, all the problems in the Black community are Al Sharpton’s fault since he’s at the center of all the ruckus in the Black community.

Think about that for a minute.

Anyway, random I know. But its Friday, and I’m bored.

It was written.

From that title up there, you’d think that I was either talking about the recreational use of drugs or #$%^ing.

Today, I’m talking about #$%^ing.

According to a report conducted by the Guttmacher Institute–a private New York-based think tank that studies sexual and reproductive issues–at least 95 percent of Americans have engaged in premarital sex.

Including people from decades where we assumed sexual freedom and experimentation wasn’t as high, i.e. the 1940s and 1950s.

Um…wrong.

More than nine out of 10 Americans, men and women alike, have had premarital sex, according to a new study. The high rates extend even to women born in the 1940s, challenging perceptions that people were more chaste in the past.

According to (Lqwrence )Finer’s (research director of the Guttmacher Institute) analysis, 99 percent of the respondents had had sex by age 44, and 95 percent had done so before marriage.

Well if this isn’t good news I don’t know what is. This report basically tells us two things:

1. Women are definitely putting out and if you are a man and can’t get some, it’s you. Totally…you.

2. All of this mumbo jumbo about teen fucking has been an issue since like, forever. Only difference is the media coverage of such a thing. Out of sight out of mind.

And to think, we’ve been throwing millions and millions of dollars at programs and initiatives to promote abstinence amongst the youth. I think in the back of our minds everybody knew that was some non-sense but parents kind of hoped that their kids would wait.

Unlike them. Interesting isn’t it. I know I’ll probably have this dilemma. We want all of our kids to not do the same shit that we did. Do as I say, not as I do. Yet, history proves that they’re going to do a lot of the same shit that we do around the same time.

Hell, I knew there was a reason why my father said to me, in high school, in FRONT of me and my girlfriend:

Dad: “Don’t bring no babies around here!”

My Mom: “(pop’s name), stop that”

Dad: “Woman, I know they ain’t always together because they like talking to eachother.”

And boy was he right, she was so not the conversationalist. But a gymnast, you bet your ass she was.

The more you know!

*ding*

“It would be more effective,” Finer said, “to provide young people with the skills and information they need to be safe once they become sexually active — which nearly everyone eventually will.”

Amen. Why pretend that kids aren’t shellacking one another, why not teach them to be more responsible? I know its a tough road to hoe (*snicker*), but still, numbers don’t lie. Okay that’s not completely true either, you can pretty make numbers say what you want them too. However, how far fetched is this?

Not very.

I have to say here, that I must wonder about applaud people who wait until marriage to get their jollies off. With all of the temptation walking around here it’s amazing that anybody can wait.

Hell, I knew people in middle school schlumping one another. And by high school…either everybody was lying or I went to a very hormonious high school. It was also a Blue Ribbon School for Academic Excellence.

What with the number of pregnant girls walking around the two things my school was good at was math and fucking.

We believed in excelling!

I actually still know some virgins and with all of the sex that society is peddling, I’m often surprised by this. And they’re like real virgins. Not the fake chick ones who do “everything, but…”

Honestly, I hate those women…with the passion of Mel Gibson’s last two movies. And a soda on the side.

In fact, any woman who praises that mantra should be shipped to Saskatchewan with only Slim Jims and re-runs of Oprah, the fat years, at their disposal.

So essentially, I wrote all of this to say: Strap up America…she’s LYING!!!! And if he says he’s a virgin, you KNOW he’s lying.

Unless he has a pair of glasses with tape on them in which case he probably still lives at home with a bushel of duct-tape and KY Jelly…in which case he doesn’t have a shot in hell anyway.

And always remember this motto, it just might save your life–Lifestyles: Say YES! to pregnancy.

“He’s a nigger.”

Everybody in the world by this point has heard about Michael Richards’ blow up the other day. I’ve turned his name into a verb, adjective, and adverb by this point.

I called somebody a Michael Richard’s ass nigga the other day.

I wasn’t exactly outraged by the video clip. Perhaps I’ve just come to accept these things as part of society. Sure he was wrong, and sure he’s a bigot, and yes I believe he meant exactly what he said. Thing is, I don’t actually think he’s any different than any number of white people out there.

Or Black people.

Us Black people just don’t have a word that evokes the same type of historical symbolism as the dreaded n-word. If we had one, I’m sure we’d be using it too.

Mind you, none of that makes it okay. Michael Richards was wrong on all fronts. He wasn’t even funny. He seemed like a possessed jack-ass.

Well, of course, the Black community is responding to this incident through recharged efforts to stop everybody from using the n-word. I use the n-word. A lot actually. Not even intentionally. I think I’ve just been using it so long, for whatever reason, that it’s become second nature. I never use it around white people, which makes me believe that I could stop if I wanted to. Similar to cursing in front of one’s parents. I don’t curse in front of mom dukes.

Anyway, everybody’s favorite Johnny-come-lately civil rights group, the NAACP, has taken up the cause of trying to eradicate the usage of the n-word. And though I think that there are a million other problems more worth addressing, this time, I just might pay attention to their efforts because of one man.

Paul Mooney.

According to Allhiphop.com, Paul Mooney has taken to stopping his usage of the word.

Legendary African-American comedian Paul Mooney, who has written controversial material for comedians like Richard Pryor and Dave Chappelle, is well known for his using the word in his own comedy routines.

Like Paul Wall and the late Richard Pryor, Mooney has vowed to never use the word again during his routine. “I’ve used it and abused it, and I never thought I’d say this,” Mooney said. “Richards is my Dr. Phil ��� he’s cured me.”

Anybody familiar with Paul Mooney knows how often he uses that word. I mean, one of his favorite lines was that he said the word 100 times when he woke up in the morning because it kept his teeth white.

So for Paul Mooney to decide that he will no longer use the word, similar to the path of Richard Pryor and other luminary comedians of the past, at least gives me pause.

Not exactly pause enough to stop using it, but it at least makes me think. I suppose I’m somewhat of a contradiction when it comes to the n-word. For one, I will never use it around white people…ever. It just seems stupid to me to do so. However, I still use it around Black people. And I know that the hip-hop community has co-opted it into a term of endearment and legions of n-words everywhere think nothing of it as we use it daily, but it is still problematic.

For instance, we hate the Confederate battle flag, which is a symbol of the old, racist, slave-holding South. Black folks get into a tizzy when they see that flag. Yet we use the other symbol, the n-word.

My solution has long just been to do the same thing that we did with the n-word. Make it ours. I’ve planned on creating a red, black, and green confederate battle flag for years. And Lil Jon and Andre 3000 have both rocked Black and White confederate flags in videos.

Then again, that doesn’t really make much of a change now does it? I’d like to say I’m torn here, but I’m really not. I like doing things that spark controversy and a red/black/green Confederate flag would do just that. But I also like inciting some sort of emotion in racist white people…

…and defacing that flag does just that. I can imagine me walking around in Alabama with my own t-shirt version of that flag. Hell, I might get beat down because of it.

Guess that would be what it feels like for a white man to call a Black man a nigger…because white rednecks take that flag seriously.

I have no idea if I’ll ever really stop using the n-word. I suppose at some point I’ll just get tired of it or perhaps I’ll see the “light”. Maybe not. It doesn’t offend me that much. And I’m around like 8 white people in my entire life right now. And none of them would call me that to my face so I don’t even get the opportunity to get riled up about it anymore like I used to when I was in high school in Alabama.

It’s often strange to me what causes us to get active in this nation as Black people. We need some sort of impetus to bring to the people so that we can get motivated about something. People use the n-word everyday, white people I mean, but the second a famous person says it, we are able to organize into some sort of driving force.

I’m not sure how I feel about that. What’s the good of being an organization if you only act when something bad happens? You can never really create change if your only reactive. It’s transparent. If you only show up after the fire but don’t do anything in the first place to prevent it, you lose credibility, which is usually where I stand with the NAACP and lots of the once prominent civil rights organizations. No more proactivity…all reactive.

All in all, this whole discussion about the n-word is interesting. One, everybody knows all of the problems and everybody knows the most easy and effective solution. But nobody knows if it will make a difference. If nobody, whites or Blacks, used the n-word, would anything really change? Does it even count as a step in the right direction? I suppose in some ways it does…then again, I’m skeptical as race will never go away and therefore racism will never go away.

I mean, we’ll all be different colors forever.

Perhaps without the n-word we wouldn’t have to be reminded of it verbally.

Unfortunately, we’ll always be able to still feel it…

Such is life.

[***DISCLAIMER: This post might offend some of you single, well-to-do, upwardly mobile, black women out there who complain about the lack of equally yokeded black men in the population. I just figured I'd let you know upfront and ahead of time. And in case you want to spit venom my way, find your way over to www.idontgiveas***.com ***]

On Sunday, the Washington Post ran an article entitled “Singled Out: In Seeking a Mate, Men and Women Find Delicate Imbalance”. It’s a good article about a young 31 year old woman who has been trying to find a suitable black man to date in the Washington area and the sometimes trials and tribulations that go along with that task. You see, in DC (and surely in every other city across this vast nation of ours), a black woman is at a disadvantage when it comes to finding a black man who is on her “level” to date and eventually marry.

For shame.

In fact, the article points out some very disturbing statistics. Take a gander:

“…31-year-old black woman seeking to marry a black man, which lands her in the heart of the most uncoupled demographic in the United States. For every 100 single black women, there are 70 single black men, according to recent U.S. Census Bureau figures, a number that does not take into account the prison population or men living in group homes. In the Washington area, there are 83 single black men for every 100 single black women.”

Egads! As the article states, it would seem like a dating smorgasboard for me in Washington, DC.

And I suppose that on paper, that would be the case. Hell, I’m a single, educated, sexxy (back), Black man in DC. Technically speaking, I should be tired as hell from all of the women running amok looking for a man. Oh, AND, I’d like to get married (well, for this week anyway).

But there are a few things this article fails to mention. Aside from the obvious fact that there are just more women, especially Black women graduating and getting those well-paying jobs, etc….there is one little facet of human nature that all of these articles totally gloss over.

Let me lay something on the table for you, upfront: women are better people than men are. I will always believe that. I get proof of this fact on damn near a daily basis. I know lots of great men, but I know loads of great women. I see the evil that men do and the Hell that a lot of us put women through.

[***DISCLAIMER #2: This is not to say that women aren't full of shit evil bastards, either. Let's be real, just because it seems that more men are on that non-sense, there are tons of chicks who aren't shit and believe that the crap they do isn't really that problematic either. I just wanted to go on record with that one. Plus, when women decide to be evil, I think they tend to trump anything a dude can think of...youbettaknowdat. ***]

The point to be made about women being better people than men is this: men are more shallow.

Hi, my name is Panama, and I am a shallow fucker. It’s true.

Oh yeah, it’s true.

Thing is, I’m not apologetic about it either. For one, I’m not old enough to not be shallow, and b) I don’t think being shallow is a problem.

Which is where a lot of these problems come in. Allow me to make one significantly fucked up statement that I might actually dispell before I’m done writing this:

All of these single women running around here complaining about not being able to find a man aren’t exactly hot.

As in, a lot of them are unfine.

Being a shallow man, I can attest to this fact.

[***DISCLAIMER #3: Yes, I know that a lot of the women running around single are indeed fine. In fact, I'm often surprised by some of the women I come across who are manless. Which leads me to believe that some women are just as picky as they claim we are. Sure it might not be in looks, but it for damn sure is picky in other areas, like the ability to read. I hear that's a big one. ***]

Let’s be honest here. Just because there is a single man and a single woman out there who have the same levels of education, etc. Fuck it, just because you have two ninjas who are equally yoked does not mean that there should be a connection made. Ideally, it would be nice.

Unfortunately God gifted the majority of us with the ability to see. Sometimes that is a detriment to the dating process. Being the shallow bastard that I am, I’m well aware that there are some women out there who would make great girlfriends, hell, even wives…but I saw them first, which precluded me ever actually wanting to find out anything about them.

Sheesh. In all honestly, how many Hell points do you think I could get for that last paragraph alone?

My guess is beaucoup.

Plus if you throw in the chemistry factor, you’re looking at even less connectivity. We’re talking T-Mobile here…not Cingular.

I’ll use myself as an example. Since 2001, there have been three women in my life who have utterly captured my attention (they were all fine by the way…remember, I’m shallow, I refuse to fall in love with an ugly woman…and the Hell points keep coming). Interestingly, they all taught me things about myself. The first one taught me what I didn’t want in a woman, the second one taught me what I did want and showed me that there are some characteristics I just can’t deal with even if everything else is right, and the third one showed me that what I thought was impossible does actually exist…it just didn’t work out.

However, there have been a gazillion chicks in and around those women who for whatever reason just didn’t quite jive with what I wanted.

All fine. Tastefully nude, but all fine.

I always found it funny though, that nearly all of those women were ready to settle down and be with me for the long haul. Of course, this was my first experience with women really being worried about not finding a man seeing as they pretty much were willing to put up with some bullshit. Like, no lie. Did I take advantage of some of those situations, I suppose you could say that I did.

Then again, I’m also a believer that folks will only do to you what you let them do. Myself included.

My problem with these articles is that they totally leave everything to what the dating scene looks like on paper. And it isn’t only men who are tossing some of these women to the side. It goes both ways. Plus, when you add in the locations of some of these disparities, it adds a whole new layer of problems.

I mean, everybody knows that the further North you go, the more unattractive (on average) the women get.

*waiting on the WHAT THE FUCK? statements from unruly Northern women*

Yeah, I said it.

Despite the assholish nature I’ve displayed here, I do feel bad for women. The numbers don’t lie. There is a male shortage, and I can only date so many women.

That’s a joke.

I mean, 70 men for every 100 women means that no matter what happens, there are going to be some unmarried women out there. And that just doesn’t seem right. Mostly because it seems like the women with the most to offer usually end up being the odd ones out.

*hugs*

And when you throw in Black men dating white women, I suppose the number gets even smaller. That paints a very bleak picture. PLUS so many Black women really do want to marry Black men (as I want to marry a Black woman too), it just seems kind of sad.

On a side note, I’ve always found it funny how many Black women I know who have told me that they don’t know how they’d react to me dating a white woman…

…despite my mother being white.

Which is funny because I think my mother wants me to date a white woman. Or at least that’s how it feels when she tells me I need to be more “diverse” in my dating options. Of course, having a white mother but being raised by a Black woman in a Black household in Black surroundings tends to skew you one particular way…but still. I just don’t seem to get a fair shake on this one.

I do know that a lot of these articles fail to mention the attractiveness ratio that occurs (or doesn’t occur) with a lot of the women they tend to find. I mean, dude, a lot of us are still young enough to care what we’re bringing home. And if you’re like me, you have your own history to compete with. Though, I’m not actually sure I could date a woman who would be classified as a dime (10). I haven’t quite worked that one out in my head, but I think I prefer 8’s.

It seems that most 8’s tend to have come into their 8-dom over time and haven’t been fine forever, which means they don’t have the pretty-girl-for-life attitude that makes them damn near socially unfuckwitable. Basically, I like women who used to be ugly but turned pretty. They’re just more down to Earth.

Man, sometimes I amaze myself with the shit I say.

Chemistry and attractiveness are two facets of this dating demographic that always get left out and I think for our age group (25-34), they’re just as important as the ability to both know who the hell Yoyo Ma is. Besides, all of that culture shit is just what you use to impress the other party anyway. Yeah, it’s great that you’ve been to plays and all but how does that effect if we’re able to laugh at the same things? Or if I take you to my neighborhood you won’t freak the hell out because there are true to life crackheads chillin’ on the corner.

Sure, I’m glad you can read, but do you look good reading naked while we look like two peas in a pod?

Somehow, that simple question always gets left out of these articles.

…her name is Cocaine.”

That’s a shoutout to anybody and everybody who was in Atlanta in the early 90’s when a certain shitty rapper named Kilo (later changing his name to Kilo Ali) hit the scene with his first local hit of the same name, “Cocaine”.

I’ll admit, the song was hot. I just have a personal beef with Kilo. You see, he’s from the Westside of Atlanta, Bankhead Region, Bowen Homes projects to be exact. It’s long been known as one of the realest hoods in Atlanta. One way in, one way out. I have a pass. My family has a long standing history of residency in Bowen Homes. Basically, I actually know who the hell the ninja referred to as Black is.

Bowen Homes is also featured in Outkast’s “Bombs Over Baghdad” video when Dre is running through the projects with a throng of pint-sized potential criminals chasing him. There is also one killer fireworks display in there every 4th of July.

Anyway, long story short, Kilo shot my cousin. In the leg, mind you. My cousin lived after that, but I’ve hated Kilo since then. Mostly because it was over some chick. This was before Kilo was Rappin’ Ass Kilo, but still, that ninja shot my cousin.

Fucker.

I wonder if you can call it a tangent if it has nothing to do with what you intended to discuss, but you start off-topic. Like, it’s a tangent…but it’s not a tangent, ya know.

We shall call what I just did, cosine.

Math 101. Get educated, bitch!

I’m sure you’ve heard the stink about a popular new energy drink intended to rival the crack-inspired, feather-fronting drink, Red Bull. This new drink has a name unlike any other name, but it’s a name that carries appeal with people of all races being as in its normal context, its debated, disputed, hated and viewed in America as a motherfuckin’ drug (like you didn’t experiment).

Yes, the name of this newest energy drink is indeed, Cocaine.

I’m not making that up.

Like for real.

You over there in the pink Parka politicking to Portishead, you don’t believe me do you?

*shaking head*

Well, fine then, go on over here and check out the website at Drink Cocaine dot com.

Oy vey.

This might be the only time I do this, but I’d like everybody, regardless of racial or ethnic background, white, Black, Jewish, Buddhist, Christian, Muslim, atheist, etc. to repeat after me…and let’s make sure we do this one altogether, mmkay?

Ready?

Repeat after me: THAT IS SOME BLACK SHIT!

*crowd repeats in unison showing that we can come together for a common goal*

I’ve been trying to find pictures of the Board of Commisioners who came up with this idea. Despite my thinking that this was probably conceived of and executed by a group of young white people who weren’t afraid to push the envelope, they have inherently created in my mind, some Black shit.

Common sense be damned.

And it’s only some Black shit in the idea that I could see Pookie and Ray-Ray on the corner like, “yo, this Red Bull shit is that crack son!! (a notion I’ve shared on numerous occasions) Yo…what if…and I don’t think you gonna be feelin’ me Ray Ray…but for real…we should make this shit and and call it Cocaine….you know ninjas would be all over that shit!!”

See, that’s how all great ideas start. A simple conversation between two ninjas who are much smarter than you might realize.

According to the site, the name is merely a play on the effects that result from consuming the drink, which I suppose, are cocaine like in nature. I wouldn’t know. I’m like the two girls in Nas’ “Black Girl Lost” song:

“…not that white stuff…”

I treat cocaine like 7Up, I never have I never will.

I just want to know who greenlighted the idea to call it Cocaine and thought it was going to be okay. I mean, had they wanted to call it Crack…do you think they’d have gotten the greenlight?

Hell, I want to sit in on the conversation that occurred where the idea was thrown out there where somebody was like, “yo, you know what ain’t in the market place? Product names with illegal drug names. I’ve been floating this idea out there about new babypowder called PCP but for some reason that just isn’t quite catching on with the execs upstairs. But I’m telling you, its an untapped market!! Hey wait…I got one…cocaine makes people crazy and energetic and murderous and rapist, but overall energetic…we should call an ENERGY DRINK…COCAINE!!!!”

Hmm…I take it back, that is not some Black shit, that is indeed some white shit.

Actually, it’s kind of a cross section…it’s some bi-racial shit. Mixed feelings like a mulatto.

I’ll tell you one thing, you’ll NEVER catch me with a can of Cocaine in my hands. Shiiiit…do you know what the penalty is for having 300 grams of Cocaine on you?? Especially the way this janky ass justice system works. I’ll be minding my own business walking down the street, minding my own business, drinking my pre-cooked Crack, when the police jump-squad me and throw me in jail for possession with intent to distribute cocaine. Nevermind that its a damn drink.

I feel like that little fact would get lost in translation somewhere. Not much trust for the federal justice system have I.

My thing is…how come nobody’s come up with a legal product called Marijuana yet? In fact, they should start calling NyQuil, Marijuana. Same effects and I always wake up hungry. And it’s not addictive, but you sure feel better after takign a hit of NyQuil right?? Puts me right to sleep.

By the way, I’ve never smoked marijuana once in my life.

The more you know. *ding*

Since I have nothing else to say here, I’ll just say this:

Long live drugs.

One of my favorite folks from Atlanta, T, dropped off this little article in my comments section this morning courtesy of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the fine folks at Black Enterprise Magazine:

Morehouse loses top spot in ranking

Not only did Morehouse, my beloved alma mater and locale of the best four years of my life, lose its number one spot…

…it tumbled down to the #45 slot.

Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

Now I know that a lot of people out there are talking reckless, and you can bet your bottom dollar people are talking shit since folks love to knock us Morehouse fellas down a peg or two from our self-made pedestal in the Black community and HBCU universe.

Every time these bogus rankings come out (and I’ll get to why their bogus in a minute) every body who went to an HBCU loves to toss around their ranking or tell Morehouse that we ain’t shit. It’s a standard ritual. I remember when I was at Morehouse and Spelman overtook us for the #1 slot all the mudslinging that was going back and forth between the ‘House and the fine upstanding women at Spelman.

But alas, these rankings really don’t amount to shit. They didn’t amount to shit when Morehouse was ranked number one and they don’t amount to shit now.

And the crowd said…”jigga what?? jigga who??”

“Panama, what you talking about Willis?”

First of all, let’s discuss this rumble (young man rumble) from the top slot all the way down to the 45 slot. Do you mind? Then let us tally ho..

The Atlanta college, ranked No. 1 for the past two of the biennial rankings, fell to No. 45 on the latest list, in part, the magazine said, because of its comparatively low graduation rates.

This year, the magazine surveyed more than 500 African-American education professionals who rated the schools based on their black student graduation rates, academic and social environments, total black undergraduate enrollment, percentage of black undergrads and 2004 ranking.

And according to the article and an editor for Black Enterprise Magazine, graduation rates were given the highest priority.

Everybody here can read right? Good. Then let’s discuss this.

In 2004, Morehouse was ranked as the #1 best college for African-Americans. Which means that in 2004, all of the criteria that were used placed Morehouse squarely at the top. Including in 2004, an atrocious graduation rate.

Let me tell you all a little something about Morehouse. Our graduation rate blows chunks. I remember reading somewhere a long time ago where our 6-year graduation rate was only at like 66%. A whole 2/3 of all black men that came into Morehouse were actually going to graduate in 6-years. Me and my boys graduated in 4 which makes us something like some wunderkinds or something. Either way, that news isn’t exactly groundbreaking, but its a fact about Morehouse.

A sizeable percentage of men that show up aren’t going to graduate. It’s the case now and it was the case back then.

…Morehouse’s graduation rate fell from 56 percent to 49 percent in the time frame the magazine used to determine rankings…

I’m not exactly sure if that’s the 4-year rate or if that’s the 6-year rate, either way it does blow. However, you’re telling me that in 2004, that shitty rate was enough to get us into the #1 slot, but 2 years later it drops 7 points and it causes you a 44 spot slide? Granted, they said that graduation rates got higher priority, but even still, assuming everything else stayed the same (faulty assumption but without them saying we suck other places I have nothing to go on…they focused on graduation rates, not me, the fuckers), and given all of the improvements Morehouse has made in every other area from their capital plans to academic programs, the professionals surveyed must have only looked at graduation rates.

Hell, it was enough to drop Spelman, a school that even makes it into the US News and World Reports for liberal arts colleges, ranking to #5.

Dude, it’s Spelman. They graduate. And they still get dropped to #5. They were #3 in 2004. Do you really think I believe that?

Hell Clark-Atlanta University was #10 in 2004…now?? Ghost like Patrick Swayze.

But okay, according to those surveyed, Morehouse fuckin’ sucks. Okay…I can live with that.

Then again…it’s a survey. Granted, it’s one that people place a lot of stock in. Not I.

For one…it’s a damn survey. They asked 500 ninja’s of professional stature to rate the schools and assumingly gave them the main criteria to focus upon. According to the 2003 (released in 2004) rankings, they used 1,855 ninja professionals to rate the schools, so I have to wonder why the dropoff in included parties. Any person worth their weight in statistical salt knows that the greater your sample size the better the results.

There were no statistical methods used to determine this here. My guess is that they asked the 500 ninjas to look over the information that they had and give their ranking based on that information.

And maybe that’s good enough, but you can’t convince me that US News does that shit. And you know what, for all the years that Morehouse has been ranked #1 in Black Enterprise, we’ve been ranked like NON-EXISTENT over at US News.

Do you know what kind of shift you have to have in your examination of criteria to cause a school to actually lose 44 slots? That shit sounds like the school lost accrediation or something to me…and of course this all supposes that real stock is being placed in these rankings.

And you know what, people do. And people will. I just did a google search of Black Enterprises College Rankings for 2006 and all kinds of schools placed their ranking on their site. And hell, why not, if you win some shit, fuck it, run with it. Who cares if you didn’t even know if you were nominated.

Word to Michael Jackson.

This is undoubtedly big news in the HBCU community and will be cause for concern at Morehouse and to a lesser extent at Spelman and poor Clark…they just got fucked.

As my boy Maverick just said, “Like, are you seriously telling me that Clark is not one of the top 50 Black Colleges??? There are only 112…”

Indeed.

And half of them you haven’t even heard of before.

Even though I don’t put much stock into this, I did enjoy hearing about how Morehouse College ninjas thought they were the shit…

…oh wait, that won’t change, and we are.

You can tell a Morehouse Man, but you can’t tell him much.

And you can’t tell me that these rankings mean much of shit either. Like I said, they didn’t mean much when we were ranked #1 and they don’t mean much now. Sure, it was good for a little HBCU tension and pseudo-elitism. And yes, I’m sure quite a few folks are foaming at the mouth for the opportunity to put Morehouse on blast.

Then again, those are all the same folks who would tell me that they got a scholarship to go to Morehouse (or Spelman), but went to Tougaloo College instead because it was a better opportunity. And that’s no shot at Tougaloo, I’m just saying that we hear these things.

To anybody who went to another HBCU and wants to take shots at the King…please feel free. We probably deserve it.

However, it’s still Morehouse College.

Two words.

Enough said.

I spotted this blog post from my boy Matt over at 1115.org…as the Internet Kingpin Bol said, it’s a motherfucker of a blog post about Hurricane Katrina including pictures and interviews straight from the N.O. It’s powerful stuff and Matt is one hell of a photo reporter. So take a gander…consider it When The Levees Broke Part 5, if you will.

A Victory Lap For Broken Promises

And…

I just saw this story so I figured I’d share it…two posts in one day…

Now I don’t know how rampant this type of thing is down there, or if this is more the norm than the exception but it seems to have riled up some folks. And to quote the article, “where there’s smoke, there’s fire…”

So I figured I’d share.

Fell free to discuss…assuming there’s really anything to even discuss.

From the Shreveport Times:

Black students ordered to give up seats to whites

Status of Red River Parish bus driver is unknown
August 24, 2006
By Vickie Welborn

COUSHATTA — Nine black children attending Red River Elementary School were directed last week to the back of the school bus by a white driver who designated the front seats for white children.

The situation has outraged relatives of the black children who have filed a complaint with school officials.
Read the rest of this entry »

Star of the Star and Bucwild show…come on down!!!

*playing The Price Is Right Music in the background*

You’ll have to excuse me for a second because I’m about to get ignant.

Got it? Good.

Some niggas really need to be shot in the middle of the street for everybody to see. And this nigga (Star) is one of them. You see, niggas like this nigga (Star) make it hard for niggas like this nigga (me) to really love all of my black people the way that I want too. For one, he’s a fuckin’ idiot. For two, he makes the rest of us look bad by doing what he does when he does what he does like he does it for radio. And C, niggas like this have no remorse or even see anything wrong with what they’re doing. To me, he has basically sold his soul at the expense of any and all sense and doesn’t really give a shit who is in his wake. You see, this nigga is just disprespectful. And I hate him.

But I hate him now more for his utter fuckin’ stupidity on the Bill O’Reilly show, because you see now…now, he’s involved every nigga who loves and listens to hip-hop and has made us all look worse. At least Bill didn’t go down that road with him. Hell it seems that even Bill O’Reill wasn’t buying his horeshit.

Okay, I see you need some foundation. My apologies for getting a little carried away.

For those people who are not familiar with Star, he is a former shock jock for NY’s Hot 97 and moved to (I believe) Power 105 after being fired behind the Aaliyah debacle back in 2001.

What’s the Aaliyah debacle you ask?

This was when he went on air and had quite assholishly mocked the plane crash that Aaliyah was on full with yelling and screaming as the plane went down. His head was rightfully called for and I’m sure he lost some nights of sleep because he’d offended quite a few folks. Everybody wanted to whip his ass.

But being a shock jock, I suppose that’s what you do. Shock and piss people off. The more people the better.

Recently he was fired (and subsequently arrested) from his post at Power 105 because he (on-air) publicly threatened to pull an R. Kelly on the 4-year old child of rival Hot 97 host DJ Envy. He also made various racial remarks about Envy’s Asian wife and what he’d do to her. He asked the listeners to provide him the address to the school where Envy’s attended so he could go up there and pick her up himself and get his R. Kelly on.

Basically, he’s a sick fuck.

And quite frankly, I’ve always hated him. Well, now, he’s proven as to why he needs to be shot. Below is a YouTube video of him on the Bill O’Reilly show. Look, I’m no fan of Billy Boy, but he’s not stupid, and he doesn’t take to kindly to be taken for an idiot as most of us don’t.

Star…tries to play him. Just watch this stupid shit and tell me if you don’t want to shoot Star yourself.

This nigga REALLY tried to play off what he said on radio as part of hood culture…in FACT, this nigga BASICALLY blames hip-hop for what he said and places it in the realm of being okay because verbally jousting and threatening to piss on one’s child is just what we do in the ‘hood.

Umm, I ain’t NEVER even thinking of having a thought of pissing on nobody’s child as revenge, and there are STILL crackheads in my neighborhood.

Word life.

Fuck you Star…and please go die. .

Click on the link below to view the YouTube interview between Bill O’Reilly and Star.

Star on the Bill O’Reilly Show

Or at least that’s what the headline would say if I was writing for a major newspaper.

Of course that assumes any major newspaper would give a shit about what happens on BET. Either they don’t know, don’t show, or just don’t care about what goes on over at BET.

Rightfully so too.

In case you haven’t heard, it’s been reported (this article via Allhiphop) that BET has cancelled BET: UnCut after a six year run. I don’t know about you but I’m fairly conflicted about this for a few reasons.

For one, I like UnCut. Not from a quality standpoint but more from a social good standpoint. Where else are non-talented rappers and busted chicks who didn’t make the cut in quality videos going to get a shot now? Public access?? I’m sure they have some kind of screening process for public access channels. BET clearly does not, but isn’t that the joy of BET?

As much shit as I talk about BET I have to give them credit for always looking out for the little guy. Nearly every rapper on UnCut is some guy with a video camera and some luchini to spend who decides he wants to rap one day. How else do you get guys named Black Jesus making songs called “Tell Me What That Thing Smell Like”? And he isn’t talking about the air freshener. And for the record, that might have been one of the most entertaining videos ever to hit television.

And what of the guy from Alaska who’s name eludes me. In this particular video, he had video hoes shaking that ass against a backdrop of the freakin’ mountains. The guys? They had on parkas. The girls? They wore the standard UnCut paraphanalia: g-string and g-string looking bra.

I was happier after seeing that video.

BET was the place where non-talented black people had their shot. And I’ve said it before, but video hoes provide a service to the community that other women will not do. They exist so that loser men may look successful. And you can’t just manufacture that kind of commitment, it has to be sincere.

Viva la video hoes.

Another point of conflict is this: despite liking UnCut for its entertainment value (I can appreciate good ignorance) it really was quite an asstastic mess of a show and put our male/female problems right on front street. Yeah I like seeing scantilly clad women but good got damn. We sure know how to take shit too far, don’t we? Some of the shit I’ve seen on that show surprised the living shit out of me. Women really will go a long way for some shine. And men, well we’ll let women go a long way for some shine.

Then there’s the other point. BET, in all of its uberfuckery, ran UnCut for 6 years. They cut Cita’s World after a few and cut Ed Gordon’s shit for budget reasons. Which makes me think this wasn’t any kind of moral reason though I wouldn’t be surprised at some point if they tried to spin that. Hell this is the same station that claimed it didn’t show Coretta Scott-King’s funeral because it wanted to offer a different viewing experience…which was videos.

I hate BET.

Point being though, this clearly wasn’t a decision they wanted to make but it seems kind of strange as I can’t imagine UnCut was costing them money. It was probably one of the few shows where artists would pay to get some burn. Shoot uncut versions of videos, throw in some video hoes and some credit cards and voila, bingo bango…you’re on TV. I suppose my conflict on that point is that I feel like they were forced to cancel it and that’s just not fair.

Oh what a twisted web I weave.

Truthfully it should have been cancelled long ago. Women’s groups quietly protested the show blowing up with the Spelman College tirade a few years back. But BET and UnCut kept it moving. Oh yes, fuck Bob Johnson (for good measure). So why now? Why cut the show now? I know there was no social conscience, but it seemed like a cheap ass show to run.

Which leads me to my fully conflicted conclusion:

I think BET is finally going under.

I think its on the way out and I’m not sure how I feel about that. Despite my disdain for BET, I don’t openly boycott the station, I just don’t remember its there. There isn’t a single show on BET that I need to see…so I rarely end up on that station. I still think that BET could turn itself around and in some ways I kind of wish it would but the two new shows they’re rolling out (one with Keysia Cole and the other with DMX) aren’t really going to get people flocking to BET. UnCut was the staple that people flocked too.

So I’m kind of torn here. On the one hand, I don’t really give a shit about BET and it hasn’t been worth shit for years now, but what if it is on the way out?

Which brings up the most important question of all…

…where will all the aint-getting-a-shot-at-TV-nowhere-else hosts and shit go if BET goes under?

Unemployment in the black community might be on the way up.

Hold me.

You know, that is by far one of Nas’ best songs in years. Everything about that song was great.

Just thought I’d share.

Along those lines (or not really at all), it seems that violent crime was up in America in 2005, with an almost 5 percent increase in murders and a nearly 3 percent increase in overall crime.

Somewhere, Jim Jones is snickering to himself.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t think that number’s really going to come down too much. And do you know why? Because gas prices are too fucking high. Seriously, I went to the gas station in my neighborhood two days ago and it was $3.22 for low grade. Had I just driven RIGHT up the street, it was $2.99. That’s enough to make me want to stab somebody.

And I have a good job with income coming in.

So what about the broke individuals out there who live in cities or states where public transportation isn’t exactly on and poppin’? The more you have to pay for the necessary goods, the less money you have all around, causing the bills you are required to pay seem that much more overwhelming causing niggas to be upset causing niggas to do things that niggas do when niggas get upset and frustrated.

Rob muhfuckas.

Hell, I’ve contemplated getting somebody for some money before. And I can read. Well.

Now, the funny thing about this, and the reason I’m about to contradict a statement I just made a few paragraphs ago is because when I read the article, one little fact jumped out at me.

Murders rose 4.8 percent, meaning there were more than 16,900 victims in 2005. That would be the most since 1998 and the largest percentage increase in 15 years.

Murders jumped from 272 to 334 in Houston, a 23 percent spike; from 330 to 377 in Philadelphia, a 14 percent rise; and from 131 to 144 in Las Vegas, a 10 percent increase.

Okay, makes sense, niggas are broke…yada yada yada. Except in Vegas where there’s mostly white folks, but hey, we’re just splitting hairs there, right?

Crime last year increased in all regions, although the 5.7 percent rise in the Midwest was at least three times any other region’s. These states make up the Midwest: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

Say heffa say what?? Oh no he didn’t! Oh no he didn’t!

Ahem.

Do you know what this means?

Wait for it…

Wait for it…

Do you know that only you can prevent forest fires?

You ready? I don’t think you are.

It means that WHITE PEOPLE are cutting up and acting a gotdamn fool now too!!!

Sure, Chicago and Detroit are major cities in those states, but peep this little tidbit:

Despite the national numbers, Detroit, Los Angeles and New York were among several large cities that saw the number of murders drop.

Of course, when you have the kind of years Detroit has had in the past few years, it’s almost impossible for crime NOT to drop.

You know things are bad when white people are comprising the biggest increase in crimes in this country. In other words, shit is so bad that white people are having to rob eachother now. I don’t know about you, but that scares me. If it’s one thing I can usually count on, it’s the order of operations.

Black people rob black people and white people, sometimes. White people get robbed and call the police. Now white people are fucking up the rotation by robbing white people too. This has potential to bode badly for the black community. If white people start robbing, that doesn’t mean white people will go to jail for it…nope. It means that MORE black people will seem to be guilty of shit they weren’t even capable of doing.

Basically, a black man might NOW be held responsible for a crime he didn’t commit…BECAUSE HE WAS OUT ROBBING SOMEBODY ELSE AT THE SAME TIME.

As if life isn’t already hard enough out here for a pimp.

Luckily…I’m not SO worried about this. If it’s one thing white people don’t like, it’s being the victims of crime. They feel that they shouldn’t have to deal with that kind of thing. Crime is a darky problem. So when tough shit happens to white people, well by Jiminy, they do something about it. White man gets robbed, Congress passes legislation. Black man gets robbed…well, he lives to get robbed again, hopefully.

So maybe, since they have pinpointed that Middle Americans have been losing their fucking minds as of late, and at the risk of having to put white people in jail with Black and Latino people who seem to be fighting all the time, possibly over immigration and whether or not the Latinos have the right to even be in jail (don’t you love the ridiculous reaches I make sometimes), I think Officer Law and his boys in blue will find some way to get their shit together to keep white people safe.

Of course, you can’t make too much out of one years worth of information. It could potentially be that it was an abnormal year across the nation for crime. What with gas prices being what they are, maybe people just aren’t thinking straight. And gas has been a bitch since before 2006. So potentially, this will all change by the time they do the 2006 numbers, though I’m not SO sure, because even if they clean up shit for the white folks, black folks still have a big broke problem.

This just makes me think of how crazy things are around DC. Last year, in Prince George’s County, Maryland, the nation’s most affluent majority-minority county, the suburbs of DC…they amassed nearly 180 murders. That was ALMOST as many murders as The Crack Capitol itself. And this is where the rich niggas live. Though, it does make sense since nearly every black person is being priced right out of the District. Shit, they have to go somewhere. Car jackings were at an all time high in PG County.

If you can’t feel safe in the ‘burbs, where can you feel safe? And that’s why I think gas prices might start to drop at some point. This nation can’t afford to put white people on television robbing and killing eachother. It’s bad PR. And no, that doesn’t stand for Puerto Rico for the few of you who are trying to figure out what PR means.

Black people commit crimes, Latinos sneak in to the country, drive down wages…then commit crimes, and white people make this great country so great!

Except in Middle America right now where white people are shooting…

…and it’s making them look bad.

If ever there was a motivation for better crime prevention. It’s just a damn shame white people got to act crazy for me to believe the potential is there for it to exist.