I'm Sayin....

I have to admit, it has been a struggle to write anything of substance. I have tried everything to stoke the fire and....nothing. So I switched the style up

welcome to: the HARLEM experiment.

NOW.....IS THIS THING ON???????

I owe my wife a public apology.

I scoffed at your pod casting and dismissed it as some passing distraction from things more "practical". Not only did I scoff, I failed to provide the kind of support a husband should always be willing and ready to provide. Love, among other things, means having faith. I should have assured you of and asserted my faith in what is clearly your passion. Yours has been the most wonderful kind of love a man could ask for. With this apology I wish to assure you that you have my support and any insight I possess 100%. I will always be your rock and rock with you through whatever. I love you and all that connects us. Once again, I am sorry.

I owe my friend DP aka King Jaffe Joffer of the Palace at Funkytown aka David Parrish an apology as well as I have been the worse at calling and keeping up. This despite the fact that in him I have a true brother in the struggle. We may not always "a" alike, but we be alike in more ways than one. Thank you sir, for your friendship...it remains highly valued...my apologies.

"Its like you gotta be disrespected and thrown out the exit to get the message" -Talib Kweli

Experience didn't do it. Readiness didn't do it. Sex didn't do it. Race didn't do it. What should we expect next from the Clinton campaign? If I had my way, nothing. I thought about Tavis Smiley's view that Hilliary shouldn't drop out of the Presidential race unless she's still trailing in July. April, May, June, July...hmmm. Nah. I don't like it. Its a great thing that Hilliary inspires little girls, women, and a lot of Republicans. Its a wonderful thing that she has the experience of being a first lady, senator, and black woman. But I wonder about Hilliary. There's a "realness" about Hilliary that's missing for me. Its not that I'm a guy. I work for an institution who's expressed mission is to inspire and educate women. I take my work in that mission very seriously. Hilliary just seems more and more plastic every time she opens her mouth. Furthermore, I'ma just say it. There is no way in hell I'm going to vote for a white woman before I vote for a black man with all things being equal...which they aren't. Obama's better and that's that. Yo. Hilliary. Bounce. Nah, for real yo.

The South

This is not an indictment of anyone, but I've officially lost it for southern living. I've been trying to give each of these southern cities (Memphis, now Atlanta) its fair shake. Memphis was just a loser city, and I was losing big time. Atlanta is a fraudulent city. This place is dressed as a progressive city but in reality its just another pretty prison. More and more, i'm feeling isolated between trips to Walgreens and home, trip to work and home, trip to the Wal-Mart, and home. I'm sorry, but I've just decided that I'm going to work to make it back home. I miss New York, not because its perfect, but because I know it, I'm a thirty something and I don't want to feel retired. Living in Atlanta, I feel like I'm retiring, slowly dying, instead of really enjoying my life. I can't take my wife bar-hopping, because you gotta drive every damn where. I can't take my kids to the park, because the nearest park is god-knows-where. My wife will not like to hear this, but the south just doesn't do it for me. I'm ready to bounce. About the only thing keeping me here is her desire to be here and the fact that for the first time, in a long time, I love my job. Beyond that, I want to go home. I came down here to better myself, and put myself in a better position to do something "big". What that "big" thing is I have no idea, but I'm not convinced anything "big" is going to happen here. As defeatist as that may sound, its just a reality. I guess my problem is that I'm just not seeing where the big improvement is besides the fact that cigarettes are cheaper. Places like this make you sit on your ass and become complacent. Some may say, well that's not true, because that's not me, but when you're used to walking around the corner for something, and now you have to drive a half-mile for the very same thing, it fucks with you. I'm not even sure I like the effect the south has had on us as a family, but that's a post I'll never write. I spoke with a family member today and they said something true as hell...there's no place like the home in your heart. New York will always be home for me and in truth its the only city I'm going to be happy in. Leaving, in my opinion was a mistake, but not a fatal one, and not one we can't overcome. For now, ATL it is.....ugh.

Beisbol! Beisbol!

Its April, the season has begun, and I still have the same issues with the game of baseball. Its a tragedy that there are fewer and fewer black men in baseball. I've read article after article that claims it isn't. All of those articles were written by White men. MLB refuses to develop young black talent in a real way. Yes, we have the RBI program, but the RBI program isn't a developmental camp where players are signed to contracts at 14 and 15 i.e. what you have in the Dominican Republic. Everytime I see Dontrelle Willis struggle on the mound, I cringe, because I know he is one the very few black pitchers in professional baseball, and if he keeps getting raked, he's gone. Some will say it shouldn't matter, that's the bullshit they sell you to keep you from really being pissed off. The fact is there are millions and millions and millions of reasons why it should matter. Contracts are have fattened, the game is more popular, and young, black, men have been overwhemingly told they can't join in the reindeer games. Baseball is largely dominated by latin players. Okay, but the only reason why latin players can even step between a major league diamond, is because a black man suffered through vicious racism for their right to do so. It is a tragedy and something ought to be done about it. Go Yankees!