Stop Frontin'

"And yeah, what's the difference with the west and the east
I feel there ain't no difference, so spread the news I spit
And since I got you listening, I guess I'll prove the shit
There's niggas is lacking over there, niggas is lacking over here
Some niggas is dying over here, and niggas is dying over there
" - Wise Intelligent

First off, to all Haitians, friends and family of Haitians I want to express my sympathies and will keep you and yours in my prayers.

From the tragedy that struck earlier this week a beautiful thing has come about. People from all over have rushed into some form of action to help the victims of the earthquake. There have seen prayer circles, collection sites for donations set up and some of our armed forces are being deployed to Haiti. Efforts are being made by everyone, young, old, white, black, rich, poor, male, female, military, civilian and any other category that is out there. It is such a beautiful thing.

However, as you engage in assisting relief efforts do not let the magnitude of this tragedy blind you from the other tragedies that occur in your own backyard. We all have experienced or know someone that has experienced their own "earthquakes" in life. Due to the sheer numbers, they all cannot be covered by the six o' clock news with film at eleven. They can however be addressed by us just as we are addressing Haiti and the survivors. The same way we are finding clothes, food, money and time to donate to the Haitian Recovery efforts we can find the same clothes, food, time and money for the homeless person we pass en route to and from work; maybe it's the child that has lost a mother or father that needs our help in recovery; maybe it is an entire community just as it is all of Haiti. Please bring the same vigor that we have shown in response to this terrible event to the rebuilding of our communities.

We as a society have a tendency to go all out at first but when the novelty, for lack of a better word, wears off we return to our regularly scheduled program of a life. Need proof?
1) what happened to the grassroot changes that we were gonna make in our lives and communities, riding the wave of the Obama campaign? "Yes, we can" became "but we didn't"
2) of all the people that flocked down to Jena, LA two years ago, how many can tell you what became of the Jena 6 case?
3)brothers are still killing each other over nonsense just as they were prior to the Million Man March, the Day of Atonement, and the Million Family March.

As I said earlier, I pray for Haiti, the Haitians, their friends and families but I also pray that those participating in the recovery efforts are doing so not because it's the politically correct thing or the cause of the moment but because it's the right thing to do and that they will carry the same spirit and efforts to the recovery of our communities here.

Peace and Blessings in all your endeavors born of a positive thought fueled by positive energy to k.y.m in a positive direction. One!

Are we there yet?

"Took a brother's life with a knife as his wife
Cried cause he died a trifling death
When he left his very last breath
Was I slept so watch your step
Back in the sixties our brothers and sisters were hanged
How could you gang-bang?
I never ever ran from the Ku Klux Klan
and I shouldn't have to run from a black man" - Kool Moe Dee





Sadly, I believe very much so. This 1989 classic should not be relevant to what goes on in our communities in 2010 but it is. AAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!! We put a black man named Barack Hussein Obama in the White House but we can't stop killing each other? AAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm Mad

"My life story I tell straight from the heart
When suckers tried to crash my shit straight from start
A young black kid, destined for success
No Old Gold, no cocaine, or buddha cess
Straight up hard work, no sleep and no shorts
Brainstormin' with the skills that Pop Duke taught" - EPMD


I'm mad because people are sheep. We finally have pro athletes marketing affordable shoes to the community yet there are people out there claiming they're of lesser quality becasue they are not as expensive. These sheep are the ones that fail to realize that they are paying for the advertising (how else could Mike and LeBron be paid up to 90 million to endorse these shoes?). Our communities already have a problem with the youth not having the self esteem to mature into healthy roles in society and here some of us are inflicting more damage.

I'm mad because those of us who have elevated to higher roles in this society are not maximizing their influence to the benefit of the communities that lifted them to these heights. There is no reason that in NY Al Sharpton is still the most visible when there is a case of police brutality. where's Russell?, where's Hov?, where's Diddy?, where's Jeter?, where's the Knicks, Mets, Yankees, Giants and Jets? The recent episode involving Plaxico Buress should serve notice that they are not above getting the Nigger wake up call. Let's stop going to the games, let's stop buying the records, let's stop buying the clothes. While they may argue that they have provided jobs for many who couldn't find employment elsewhere, that is good to a point. Many of those they hire I'm sure are friends from back in the day and the loyalty is commendable, I dig that, I love that, I'm down with that. However these friends would be better served by funding their education, so they can get that degree and then slide into a position within the organization. These guys are making money but their mindset is that of the streets, big money, big car, popping bottles, chasing models. Re-educate them into thinking big money- big responsibility- sound investment, pay it forward. While they are getting educated those that have their paper already can fill the open positions that exist. To whom much is given, much is required and even more so in our communities because it is the community that lifts us to higher heights.

There is no reason why our communities cannot be self sufficient. If T.O has 137 grand to drop on earrings; that is a house somewhere, fully paid free and clear that can house a family or two in need. The return on that investment is far greater than the return provided by the earrings. We have bought completely into the white man's American Dream and the sad or funny thing depending if you also bought into it or not is that the white man doesn't chase that dream. The white people with money don't floss like us blacks who trying to make money floss. We gotta have the Escalade, rimmed up, chromed up, fully loaded while the white people with money will drive a Honda Accord with factory wheels and maybe a sunroof. We gotta sport Jordans and LeBrons and authentic throwback jerseys while the white man is rocking clearance rack sneakers and t-shirts or replica jerseys.

But the white man invests the fuck out of his community. You'll never see drug dealing on Frank Sinatra way but we treat Malcom X Blvd like it was Malcolm Little Blvd. We just don't give a fuck and that needs to change.

Help make the change, reflect, realize, re-invent and resurrect. Do not accept "reality is" as an excuse to let things just be, we make our reality. Before election night in 2008 the reality was a black man would never be president of the United States but that night when the numbers were tallied the reality was that a black man is the President of the United States. we make our realities. Join a movement in creating a better reality for us.

Peace and Blessings in all your endeavors born of a positive thought fueled by positive energy to k.y.m in a positive direction.