You yet holding on?

"Even in our imperfections, God is still perfect." - Kirk Franklin

Sometimes in life, we just need a little encouragement. We live, we learn and we make mistakes. We laugh, we cry and we get upset. That's the way it goes. And, if we're not careful, we can find ourselves caught up in the circle of life that leaves us complacent. We can find ourselves accepting "the way it is" rather than pushing ourselves to make things better. Life is funny that way. Many of us put a lot of time and effort into work, friendships, and family, that we forget about self. We forget that despite what else is going on in our lives, we are our most prized possession. Because the reality is, if the Lord sees fight to take us home, sure those people we devote time to mourn, but they will eventually get up and keep going.

I say this not to discourage one from investing in people, because I for one feel rich because of the time I invest in others. But plain and simple, we need to take care and look out for ourselves. Frustrations can arise at the drop of the dime and leave us angry, confused and borderline depressed. But we must hold on. We must to hold on because giving up is too easy. Perseverance through the tough times builds character and self confidence. So we must hold on.

We must understand that God is not going to put more on us that wear can bear, so no matter how bad things are and how you wish you could just go somewhere and scream to the top of your lungs remember, no matter how bad things are for you, there's someone, somewhere who has it worst. The key is not to give up, hang in there and hold on.

The World in Black and White

The past few weeks, I've sadly been watching the downfall of my Virginia brother, Mike Vick.

For me, it's disappointing on so many levels. I've followed Mike's career since high school, through Virginia Tech and, until recently, the Atlanta Falcons.

I always try to support the homeboys, or girls, from my beloved state, whether in sports, politics, entertainment or whatever. If they're from VA, I generally have their back. It's that way with everyone from Allen Iverson to Tiki Barber to David Wright to Pharrell to Missy Elliott and so on and so forth. Even though I may not know them personally, that fact that they and I call the same place home is enough for me. It's that way through the good and through the bad.

But there comes a point where you have to pull back. And with Mike, I have to do so. It's been hard for me to watch and listen to the allegations of the whole dogfighting mess that's been going on. It's disappointing because, whether he's guilty or not, to me, he should've known better -- or been smarter.

I was fortunate enough to not grow up in the 'hood. Unlike many I knew, I didn't have to struggle as much as others did. But the reality is, some did -- including Mike. Fortunately enough for him, he was blessed with the athletic ability, which he used to make it out, and in return was rewarded with a $100-plus million contract from the Falcons and endorsements from Nike and others.

But, in wake of the Vick dogfighting scandal, all of that is potentially heading down the drain -- for now at least.

As I stated in a previous blog, dogfighting is nothing new to me. Have I participated in it? No, but I'm aware it goes on. What has been interesting, to me at least, has been the racial divide amongst the opinions of the case. For the most part, black folks are of the opinion that this has either been blown way out of proportion and Vick is essentially being targeted by "the man" or Vick is just another young black man who has made another dumb decision and given everyone something to talk about. The white community tends not to see race in issues as much as the black community does. And in many cases, you can understand why. The black community sometimes can't accept the fact that we need to look in the mirror sometimes and stop blaming racism and other people for our indistrections.

Also, white folk tend to have a love for animals that doesn't exist as much in the black community. We sometimes have the "it's just a dog" mentality.

In a city like Atlanta, this has been the way of life for years. As much as it has progressed, there are still racial overtones there and everywhere. We can only wonder if this were to happen to someone like Peyton Manning -- what would the reaction be.

A Bay Bay

Picture above is the "rapper" known as Hurricane Chris. Probably best, and only, known for his club hit A Bay Bay, Hurricane Chris is, in my opinion, the unofficial poster boy for everything that's wrong with hip hop. Granted, when I hear A Bay Bay on the radio and in the club, I can get down with it, but that's pretty much it and that's were the problem lies. Today's hip hop lacks substance, nobody's talking about anything. Most artists today are going after one of three things. 1) A new dance 2) a club banger or 3) a new saying. For artists like the above mentioned, this can be a good and bad thing. It can give you instant noteriety and make you popular with the kids. But, on the flip side, it will probably be your only hit of your career and after the fad passes, you'll quickly fade into oblivian.

Which is why it's very easy to distinguish real hip hop from the jibberish that dominates the airwaves on the radio and in the club. Hip hop is a way of life, it's in how you walk, talk and live day-to-day. When done right, the lifestyle, whether good or bad, can beautifully be presented through rap or song. But as easily as it can make us feel good by listening to Tupac's storytelling, if we're not careful, we may get brainwashed into to thinking Party Like Rockstar is on the same level. If we're not careful, we may start to think Young (insert name here) is on the level as Jay-Z, the Roots and Mos Def.

There's an old life lesson that says what is popular is not always right and what is right is not always popular. So with hip-hop, let's remember, everything that gets us hype and makes us tap our feet is not always authenic, but it's the quality music that makes us just sit, listen and think.

Bullsh*t

As many of you know, or may not have known, I lived in Tennessee for two years after graduating from college. More specifically, I was a resident of Knoxville -- Go Vols! It was, to say the least, a major culture shock for me at that time. The lack of diversity, the down south hillbilly atmosphere, the UT culture. It certainly was an experience that helped me grow as a person and that I will remember for the rest of my life.

While I was down there, an interesting story popped up that really got the good folks in Tennessee to talking.

Back in March of 2006, in Selmer, Tenn., about 80 miles east of Tennessee, Mary Winkler shot and killed her husband Matthew in their home. Matthew was a minister at a local church and by all accounts, the two were an ideal couple who were well-liked in the community. Mary shot Matthew once in the back and immediately took the couple's three kids and left town. She was found three days later in Alabama.

This case started off fickle as, for whatever reason, people refused to believe Sis. Winkler was capable of committed such a crime (although she admitted to it) and that something this bad could happen to the perfect family. Many, including myself, called bullshit simply because it didn't appear from the get go that Mrs. Winkler was getting the same treatment for committing that that a men and, dare I say, I black person would. Some blamed the small-town atmosphere for that and many felt she was the one being presented as the victim because of alleged very and physical abuse by here husband.

Originally charged with murder, which could and should have left her looking at at least 50 years of prison, Winkler was charged with involuntary manslaughter -- a much lesser charge. While awaiting trial, Winkler was able to work at a local cleaners and walk around as if nothing had happened. When it was all said and done, Winkler served only seven months in custody and was released this week.


Seven months...for killing someone, and seemingly no uproar. Now, when men kill their wives or female partners i.e. Scott Peterson, all hell breaks loose. Or, to get all racial on ya'll, then this happens in the black community, there's no way in hell it would blow over like this has.

We already know our judicial system is suspect, but when something like this occurs, we are in a world of trouble.

Where's Leezzy?

In between watching ESPN and NFL Network all day at my desk, I often will switch over to CNN to catch up on current events. As I was watching our beloved President Bush talk about God knows what, it hit me. Where the hell is Condoleezza Rice? Maybe it's just me, but I feel like I haven't seen her since the last election. In the midst of the war, the presidential debates, the Minnesota bridge tragedy, one would think our secretary of state would at least show her face. There hasn't, to my knowledge, been even a mention of her name.

If anyone can enlighten me on this, feel free.

Senseless

It's no secret there's crime in our country. Day in and day out, crimes are committed and people are always caught up in wrong doings. It's certainly not right, but, unfortunately, it's the world we live in. However even with the acceptance that, despite the fact its not right, crime is committed, there's always an instance where in eyebrows are raised and attention is brought to the fact that crime in this country is indeed a huge problem and something needs to be done.

I was driving on the Jersey turnpike on Sunday, heading back from VA, and on Hot 97, they were discussing the fatal robbery and murder of three people in Newark over the weekend. Three Delaware State University students were killed another was injured as they young people were simply enjoying a summer evening, not causing any problems at all.

Why? For no apparent reason at all.

Senseless.

This story hit home for me on several different levels. One of my best friends from college was born and raised in "Da Bricks" and still lives there to this day. Since this young men were seemingly picked at random, I thought of how easily it could have been my boy. I have been to Newark a couple of times and while it's certainly not the 'burbs, it's as very nice city that has improved tremendously over the past few years. Also, having attended college at Hampton University, we saw a lot of Delaware State over the four years I was school. So, anytime someone from another school you're familiar with, and for me particularly another HBCU, experiences a tragedy, it hurts.

I can't imagine what was going on through those young people's minds as they were marched to their deaths. It's something I pray I never have to experience. It terrifies me to think about what it would be like for my family to receive that late-night phone call. But, the reality is, it could happen to any of us at any given time. Because of this, we must live each day to the fullest because you never know which day will be your last.