Photos of President Obama at CBC Dinner

I had the wonderful occasion this past weekend to attend once again the Congressional Black Caucus Black Tie Dinner. President Obama delivered the keynote address and I was able to take get some excellent pictures. Enjoy

President Obama Calls Kanye West a “Jackass”.

ABC News has apologized to President Barack Obama for posting on twitter his off-the-recond comment in which referred to rapper Kanye West as a “jackass” after he hijacked  country star Taylor Swift’s acceptence speech at the Video Music Awards show.  The President knows full well that every word he utters makes news, and must have realized that his comments would be seized upon. He only said what almost the entire country believes already, that Kanye was extremely out-of-pocket and has probably expedited the end of his career. The boy was, as we used to say, drunk as a skunk, and clearly needs some kind of help. His behavior has become increasingly bizarre over the years since the passing of his mother, and its clear that at this point he’s completely out of control.  TMZ got a copy of the President’s remakes.

Did Black Women Destroy Chivalry?

I was recently castigated (thank God not castrated) for trying to honestly examine the reasons why some successful Black men are not marrying successful Black women. In this post I should like to continue that discussion, realizing full well that the subject is quite raw with an extraordinary amount of pain in our community. Let me state up front that it is not my intention to exacerbate that pain or to launch any kind of attack against Black women. My purpose is only to open up a frank dialogue between both genders in a sincere attempt to bring about healing and understanding.

In short, Black men who have something to lose –  meaning they have successful careers and are responsible people, free of the criminal justice system, produce children within wedlock, and free of  substance abuse - are deathly afraid of marriage if not the Black woman herself! This fear is not based on any s0-called “stereotype”, but on the real and profound pain that many successful Black men have endured at the hands of Black women, especially the professional, “independent-minded” types. 

Dr.Conrad Murray Killed Michael Jackson…”Allegedly

 

Well the autopsy results are in and we now know that Michael Jackson died of  a lethal drug cocktail potent enough to kill an elephant! Jackson’s slimy “doctor” Conrad Murray, “administered” high doses of valium, lorazepam, and midazolam, all before delivering the coup de grace, the anesthesia called propofol.  

Last week the creepy doctor death released a youtube message thanking his supporters while invoking the name of God in his plea of innocence. Watch the above clip and decide for yourself wheather his plea is credible (hilarious spoof).

Black Man Seen Carrying an Assault Rifle at Obama Heathcare Rally.

Has this Negro lost his damn mind! What is a Black man doing at a health care reform rally, conducted by the first Black President of the United States, with a LOADED AK-15 semi-automatic assault rifle strapped over his shoulder? I’m for the Second Amendment myself but this is insane! For a black man to be sending this kind of message, in a country full of racists determined to kill the President, is nothing short of contemptible! This fool is probably one of those lunatic “Birthers” who say that Obama isn’t really a citizen. This guy is a moron!

Too Many Highly Educated Black Women Can’t Get Married.

 

 

I found an interesting and sobering article which tends to verify what many of us have already known; a frightfully high percentage of well educated and accomplished Black women will never marry or have children. There are to be sure many reasons for this sad fact, a number of which are spelled out in the piece. But from what I have discovered living in a city like Washington, DC, high achieving, well educated, professional Black women tend to be too independently minded, controlling, materialistic, and just plain bossy. They also have oppressive notions of perfection when meeting eligible men and tend to be too judgemental; a serious turn off to be sure. Oftentimes, you will find these women engaging in unnecessary power struggles with their men; a kind of madness that most successful brothers just don’t want to deal with.

I perfectly realize that my views only constitute a subjective opinion, but I think there’s something to it, I really do. However, being reported on the extremely liberal MSNBC website, the article of course leaves out one of the biggest complaints of successful Black women; the high number of gay Black men.

Anyway, I’d like to get some feedback on this. Am I off base?

Michael Vick is NO Jackie Robinson!

Convicted Dog Fighter Michael Vick

 Yes, I agree like most Black people, that the campaign to make Michael Vick a social pariah for operating a Pit Bull fighting ring has gone too far. The people leading this charge are motivated by a perverse belief that there are no real differences between a human being and a canine. It is this sick and perverse belief that has these people calling their dogs their “children”. They speak of these dogs as being “adopted” and living in “foster homes” for crying out loud! If you can believe it, they’ve even got something called “animal acupuncture”. A sampling of this kind of anthropomorphism of dogs can be found in this article on the miserable creatures ”rescued” at Vick’s estate.

Having said all of that, for Jesse Jackson and Black sports writer William Rhoden to argue –  as they both tried to do this weekend –  that Michael Vick is somehow being treated in a way simular to baseball legend Jackie Robinson because no NFL owner will sign him,  is not only ridiculous but also a complete insult to the legacy of Mr. Robinson.

Robinson’s only “offense” for which he was denied a contract to a big league baseball team was that he was an African American”. Michael Vick was already signed to an NFL team to the tune of 100 million dollars, but because of his ignorance and cruelty he blew it all and is now looking for a second chance. He doesn’t have a God-given right to a second chance at making the kind of money unimaginable to most human beings! It is this sense of entitlement that got his ass in trouble in the first time.

Jermaine Jackson: Heir to the Legacy?

 

Jermaine Jackson appeared on Larry King Live this week…again, leading curious minds to ask; is Jermaine becoming the face of the Jackson family and heir to the legacy? I must honestly admit, I thought the guy was washed up a long time ago, and had major problems with his having babies by Randy’s ex girlfriend (making both men’s children siblings and cousins AT THE SAME TIME).

However, since watching this deeply moving rendition of the song Smile at his brother’s memorial , as well the very dignified way he’s gone about representing Michael’s life and work in recent interviews, I’m beginning to acquire a new found respect for the man. Clearly Jermaine Jackson still has talent, and was perhaps never able to get out from under his brother’s enormous shadow. This single performance put him back in the spotlight, and could possibly revive his singing career to become heir to the Jackson musical legacy. Time will tell. Good luck anyway to you Jermaine.

The Passing of Khalil Islam (Thomas 15X Johnson), The Man Wrongly Convicted of Killing Malcolm X

I received a call late last night that Brother Khalil Islam, formally known as Thomas 15X Johnson, the man wrongly convicted in 1966 of murdering brother Malcolm X, passed away on Tues. Aug. 4th. He was 74. His funeral was scheduled to be held today, Aug 6th at the 96 th Street Masjid in New York.

I got to know Khalil many years after his release from prison, and he impressed me as a man committed to his religion and loyal to his leader, Imam W.D. Mohammed. Deeply spiritual, he accepted his fate as the will of Allah, and would often tell me about his days in the Nation of Islam when he sometimes acted as Malcolm’s driver. I last spoke to him in May of this year, when we were attempting to get him booked on a local NY television show (which never materialized for reason’s that are still unclear to me). From the time he left prison in 1986 he worked to get his conviction officially overturned and his name cleared. I would listen to him sympathetically but never had the heart to tell him that that was never going to happen. As far as the New York criminal justice system is concerned, the Malcolm X murder case was closed a long time ago.

Writer Ishmael Reed Serves it Up GOOD to Skip Gates.

Parties to the Beer Summit

Where does one begin to make sense of this Henry Louis Gates arrest? My own thoughts about it are somewhat conflicted, for I do feel that all things being equal, an elitist white A*#hole professor of Harvard would not have been arrested for behaving the way Gates did. On the other hand, for Skip Gates to scream racism where there initially was none was ridiculous and embarrassing. President Obama, being the President of the entire nation and not just Black folks, should of stayed out of it until he had all the facts. The so-called “Beer Summit” was just plain stupid and condescending. So much for the “teachable moment”.

Anyway, Gates (and to some extent the President) appeared to stab their angry black supporters in the back by first appearing to condemn racial profiling, only to turn around and chum it up over beers at the White House with the white arresting officer James Crowley.

Add to that, we also learned (as many observers suspected) that Henry Louis Gates Jr. suffers miserably from a Tragic Mulatto Syndrome, and in the aftermath of the incident bizarrely babbled on about being “half white” and for 25 years having had a white wife! Huh?! Just listen to this madness.

What most people may not know however is that many Black scholars don’t like or respect Skip Gates, and criticize him (never to his face of course) for any number of things, least of which for being a second or third rate “scholar” who made his name by signing on to the   homosexual/ feminist agenda and by attacking or undermining other more accomplished Black scholars. Esteemed writer and professor Ishmael Reed (whose pen you never want pointed at you) has decided to dress down professor Gates and reveal to the public some of the Black academic world’s dirty laundry. Reed’s piece entitled Post-Race Scholar Yells Racism leaves some people asking the intriguing question; IS SKIP GATES DAMAGED GOODS? His completely nonsensical article on The Root leads me to believe that he at least thinks so. Man talk about “flipping the script”!  Will he continue to be the darling of the white liberal establishment after this embarrassing fiasco? Although it is somewhat lengthy, this is Ishmael Reed at his best. Enjoy.