I missed the first 10 minutes…..but here we go.

You know I agree with Joseph C. Phillips.  It’s not that all, even MOST of the black males in prison are innocent.  The best way to stay out of jail is not to commit a crime.  PERIOD.  All this mess about racist laws…ya know what? The law might be racist..I’ll let that slide. But even if it is, you HAVE TO COMMIT A CRIME for it to affect you. This is one more issue that WE could take control of, if we made better choices.

It’s a hot mess that employers view Black men like this. Wow@them taping the interview.  THAT’S the stuff that needs to be seen. This man did what he was supposed to do, and it’s not his fault that he can’t find a job.  Well..except for the whole having babies before you get married thing. But I admire this man….working two jobs to support his family. He’s doing what he has to do. THAT’S WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT.

Butch Warren’s story is great.  He did something that a lot of men don’t: Pursue entrepreneurship. He said, “I tried to take the best from everything I saw and put it together.”   He was told he was raising his kids “too white”.  HOT MESS. That is a self-destructive attitude. I’m not surprised at him being pulled over by the police. That’s not news to black people.

Jonathan Warren: Wow@a dozen black men convicted each week!

OK..color me surprised that D.L. Hughley was a Blood. I do agree with him that being Black makes you a target for the police.  Like him, I’ve started to have conversations with my son about how to talk to police. He’s EIGHT. But I know that teaching him this just may save his life in the future.

Acting White: If I NEVER hear that phrase again, it’ll be too soon.  Another self-destructive attitude.  I’ve had that mess thrown at me, in fact, I still do. But it doesn’t bother me. I’ll BE THAT if it means that I can form a complete sentence and speak in an intelligent manner.  I’m teaching my son to consider reading IMPORTANT. He takes piano lessons. I don’t allow him to listen to commercial radio. His favorite song (as of today) is Christ Tomlin’s “How Great Is Our God”. I am teaching him what it means to be a good husband and father (to the best of my ability). If he ever gets accused of “acting white”, I hope that what I’m teaching him now can help him shake it off.  Education is not a WHITE thing.  And if it is, the WHAT exactly is acting BLACK??

Fatherhood: My brother and I were raised without our father. That wasn’t my mother’s fault. She got married FIRST, then had us.  My father just didn’t fulfill his responsibilities.  I am now raising a boy…without a father. That IS my fault. I didn’t make the right choice.  However, it’s also his father’s fault. Every day that he doesn’t have a relationship with his son, he makes the same bad choice over and over again. No one is keeping him from being a father to his child.

So yes, I’m one of the 70% of single parent homes.  Since I live in this situation, I can say this:  I don’t wanna hear this mess about how slavery affected black relationships.  It’s WORSE now than it was then.  We’ve fallen off from what those before us did.  I don’t buy this mess about how incarceration effects a male’s efforts to be a father.  If you live a life of crime, it will definitely affect your ability to be a father. THINK ABOUT THAT BEFORE YOU COMMIT CRIMES.  IT’s nobody else’s fault if you mess up.  So if you have kids and become a criminal, then you haven’t put those children first.  I don’t feel sorry for men who make these choices and then want to blame somebody else for their shortcomings. Now..if you are doing what you’re supposed to do, I’m in your corner.  Might be harsh..but that’s the way I feel.

Coporate america: IS A TRIP.  When I worked there, it was ridiculous. I’ve been targeted because of my race.  But I applaud the men who keep it moving and don’t allow it to dictate who they are.  It’s VERY difficult. I was tempted to get the eyes and neck rolling and get “ethnic” on some folk. It IS a shame that you may be the only black person in the office..and that everyone looks at you as the representative of all black folk.  That’s tough. And then to have your own tell you you’re acting white. UGH!

How black men are portrayed:  It’s a black thing:  when you hear about a crime committed on the news, you think to yourself:  I hope he isn’t black.  That’s the way it is.  That’s what the news talks about. They don’t talk about other races so much….nor do they focus on blacks who are NOT committing crimes. So it give the impression that most black men are criminals, when that couldn’t be further from the truth. Spike Lee said it: Let’s show some BALANCE.  EXACTLY.  Face it: The media STINKS.  And we should not allow our children to get their ideas of manhood from the media!

Rap music: Don’t even get me started. While I like Rap, I don’t like the subject matter of the songs.  To me, these artists are the definition of the word SELLOUT. Up there rapping about being a thug or a gangster, about how much money they have, when most of’em couldn’t be a gangsta if you wrote it on them, and all those material things they flash around are either rented or borrowed.  But they tell our kids that they have to be like them to be cool.  The state of our young people isn’t ALL the fault of these sellouts; Parents are being lax in their duties. I can barely stand to watch these small ckips of rap videos. It’s sickening.

The Hip Hop School…that’s a cool idea.

UGH@Dyson blaming corporations. If they didn’t have willing rappers making this ridiculous music, they couldn’t do a thing.  I will not even dignify Russell Simmons bull with a response. Now..Lupe Fiasco…has earned my respect.  He’s aware of the effect he has on others and decided he didn’t want to be a NEGATIVE.  What if they all did that?

I’m gonna just go on record and say that I have never liked Michael Eric Dyson. I’ve never agreed with much of what he says. To me, he is giving black folk who don’t behave a pass because they’re poor or disadvantaged. Get outta my face with that mess!