So once again I indulge my ritual. I sit here in the womb of the night, serenading the birth of a new day by contemplating, and celebrating, my youth. I think of Watts, of the Jordan Downs, the Imperial Courts, and the Pueblo Del Rio Bricks a few clicks down the tracks. I think of the 60s, of Dashikis, and the sweet sounds of Miles caressing my young consciousness as proud and beautifully Afro'ed sisters strut across the landscape of my mind - Hey, Gil, there's a morning thought.
.
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But what I think of most, are those older brothers, the ghetto griots, who constantly sought to enlighten our minds; who introduced me to Bird, Dex, Miles, and Trane, and who laid the foundation that colored the rest of my life. They planted a seed in my soul that has continued to flourish, and now bears the fruit from many days past. These, were the Eulipians; nameless heroes, ghetto scholars, and the custodians of Black wisdom. .
So all these many years later, this one’s for you, good brothers. I bring it full circle - from you, back to you, because I was listening, and I continue to walk in your wisdom: . The Eulipians . Some of the greatest minds I've ever known held court while sitting on empty milk crates in the parking lot of ghetto liquor stores. At their feet I embraced the love of knowledge, And through their tutelage defined self-worth In my own terms. .
These were the "Eulipians" — writers, poets, musicians, painters, and uncommon drunks — those shade-tree philosophers who contemplated the fungus between the toes of society; Who danced with reckless abandon, unfettered by formal inhibition through the presumptuous speculation of the ages; Who live in county jails, cardboard boxes, alley ways, and luxury Apartments. Insignificant here in Great Bruteland, but of ultimate significance in the eyes of God. . While these obscure intellectuals stood well outside the mainstream of academy, I watched with astonished delight as they sang, scat, scribed, and pontificated their wisdom and various philosophies into the mainstream of human knowledge. . Their philosophy? knowledge is free, thus, will transcend attempts to be contained through barriers of caste or privilege, leaving man's innate thirst for knowledge free to someday. overwhelm his lust for stupidity.
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THEY SAID, FREE YOUR MIND, AND YOUR ASS WILL FOLLOW.
Charlie Parker and Thelonious Monk at the Open Door Cafe, New York City in The Village, 1953
.
Jackie McLean
Who are these cats, where did they come from,
and how did they become so mean?
The beauty of their lives must be sweet as honey,
and what have their oh-so-hip eyes seen?
Their lives must be a perpetual party, just jammin’ and caressing their horns,
and traveling around to exotic places that one day I’ll have gone.
.
New York City, a town of glitz and glamor,
where the genius of Bird once spoke;
Full of beautiful women, and progressive brothers,
hanging on to my every note.
.
The man is back! But this time around
he’s come back filtered through me,
so we’re hangin' around this time,
because I’m well into my prime
and I’ve made it a point to be free.
.
We’ll avoid that monkey
who poured juice in Bird's horn, this time we’ll hold him at bay,
because noddin ain't blowin'
when the changes are flowin',
so it ain't no noddin' when playin'
my way.
.
Bird was the man,
but I had an immediate demand
if he wanted to channel his licks through me;
I loved his sweet notes,
but that jones cut his throat,
so he'll settle for gin and juice
while in me.
.
We’ll be jammin' all night, and sheddin' all day,
Sonny Stitt
and of course, we’ll leave a little time for some wooing;
We’ll sleep on Tuesdays between 10 and 2,
and then warm up for yet some more blowin’.
.
Yeah, I know,
sleeping on Tuesday between 10 and 2
is a gross waste of our time,
but we can’t disappoint our lustful fans,
so we’ve got to keep my body primed.
.
Just me and my horn, chasin’ that lick
that says, "Bird, Indeed, is back!"
But this time around we’re doing it my way,
and not stumblin’ upon stage while we're smacked.
.
I thought
my dreams of Bird and Dexter Gordon
would only age like vintaged wine,
because it was based on the culture
of a vibrant people that would
last through the end of time.
.
But now I awake to the poetic verse
of vulgar nursery Rhymes,
backed by the scratching of Miles Ahead
in something like 4/4 time.
Taking the time to learn music
is now considered by many
a gross waste of their time,
so if you want to take note of what
Thelonious once wrote
you have to go on the White side town.
Dexter Gordon
.
So it's sad to say, but we’re well on our way
to making a mark unique to this land,
by becoming the only culture
unable to perform - What We Created -
in the entire sojourn of man.
.
Thus, I batted my eyes only to find
that I’ve awaken to another time;What was once so sweet
is now a nightmare to me,
and my sweet dream has past its sweet prime . . .?
.
I don’t think so . . .
.
So I limped on over to my old dusty case
and carefully withdrew my ax;
Bird
Like an aging gunfighter,
you never forget, when something you love
is attacked.
.
Having mastered other things, unlike at 16,
a little wisdom informs what I see.
I wasted my time chasing Dexter and Bird
instead of chasing the man I could be.
.
I’ll never be Bird or Dexter Gordon,
that is now plain to see;
So the time has now come to see who I am,
because neither of them could be me.
Are Women Turning Men Off With Their Liberated Attitudes Toward Sex?
(Sorry, Fellas. I Had to Spill the Beans In the Interest of the Community)
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I want to preface this article by assuring everyone that I’m no prude, nor am I some kind of Bible-thumper trying to force my religious agenda down anyone’s throat. In addition, I don't think there's anyone on the planet who enjoys sex more than I do. I’m merely giving my honest opinion of what I think is contributing to the break-down of the family unit, and it all boils down to one thing - sex.
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Women talk to me all the time about how useless and irresponsible many men have become, which I pretty much agree with. But what women don’t seem to understand is the pivotal role that they're playing in bringing about their own frustration.
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Women have made casual sex far too readily available in our society, and that has resulted in two things that place them at a decided disadvantage. First, women have allowed sex to become so easy to obtain that men no longer have to become real men to get it. As a result, there’s no incentive for men to become responsible adults and father figures. That’s why you see forty year-old men still living with their momas and hanging out on the block wearing sideway-tilting baseball caps. That image doesn't lend itself to being a father figure or a good role model, but unlike in the past, they don’t have to be, because if they can come up with a couple of joints and a pint of gin they can get all the sex they can handle regardless to how dysfunctional they seem to be as men.
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Things were different in the past. As a rule, in order for our grandfathers to obtain sex during their generation, they had to prove their manhood, jump through a series of hoops, and wine and dine our grandmothers for months and even years - and in many cases, they even had to marry them first. But now all a young boy has to do is walk into a club with enough pocket change to buy a drink or two. That gives him no incentive whatsoever to become a responsible adult, and all the incentive in the world to continue hangin’ out in the clubs instead of focusing on what's going on around him and becoming a man.
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Women used to know how to handle their business. Even with my late wife, Val, while she wasn’t as stingy and strict as some of the ladies from the old school, when we were going together, even while secretly keeping in regular touch with my mother, she stopped speaking to me for an entire year until I caved in and adopted the kind of lifestyle that she approved of - and, thank God, she kept me jumping through one hoop are another until the night she died. If she hadn’t, I wouldn’t have been capable of writing this article. So in a very real sense, this article represents a letter to sisters from Val's grave. If she were here she’d say, "Girl, what you have beneath your dress is the only leverage you have with these turkeys, so use it wisely" - and anyone who reads this article who knew Val will tell you, I’m not lyin’.
.
The second way that the sexual mores of our society is hurting women is, even among the men who are responsible - and who are looking forward to heading families - they're finding it increasingly difficult to find the kind of woman who they feel comfortable about starting a family with.
.
The problem is, women don't understand men, and the reverse is also true. That's why most men and women can only relate to one another on a sexual level. Men think that women are impressed by what THEY think is "cool," and women think that men are impressed by what a woman finds impressive in a man - swagger, confidence, and assertiveness. But both are wrong. In many cases, what men consider "cool," women consider silly and simply put up with. And most men don’t consider swagger and assertiveness attractive in a woman at all. Those qualities boils down to aggressiveness, and that’s a male characteristic, so why would a man find a woman who acts like a man attractive? Do women find men who act like women attractive? Not really. So the very same thing is true in the reverse. Men and women have different needs. So many times, when men and women try to impress one another they either turn each other off, or make fools of themselves.
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Let me give you an example. Many women think they can get a man by acting sensuous, sexually provocative, and assertive. In a sense, that’s true. A woman, any woman, can get a man that way, but only as a sex partner, not as her man. Because men classify women in three different categories. The first category is hoe, or someone to use instead of having to masturbate. The second category is sex partner and road dawg. Men like the women in this category as friends, someone to party with, and to have as a sex partner. Unlike the women in category one, men actually like and respect the women in category two women, but not enough to marry - that is, unless they fall in love by accident. Men generally choose a woman who is sexually stingy as a wife. The reason for that is quite simple, so he won't have to worry about her cheating once they become a couple.
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Men will die to protect their manhood. Nothing is more important to us, and there’s no greater assault on a man’s manhood than a cheating woman, because it sends a message that says two things - first, that he wasn’t man enough to keep her in line, and secondly, that the man she’s cheating with is more of a man than he is. So women should understand that if they ever get caught cheating, that’s it. The man may not leave you immediately, but from that point on, he’s just waiting for the right "lady" to come along so he can replace you.
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Men are not like many women, who'll forgive and move on with the simple assurance that it will never happen again, because you’ve assaulted his manhood, and that's an unforgiveable offense. You've fallen off the pedestal that a man requires his woman to stand upon, so he'll never look at you in the same way again. So generally speaking, the women that men like to party and have fun with, are not the women that they choose for a wife, because even though he may like them, they’re perceived as being much too casual in their sexuality.
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When a man decides to marry - unless he falls in love with a category two woman by accident as a result of having repeated sex with her - he chooses a wife from the third category. These women are generally very protective of their sexuality, low-key, and feminine. Men not only feel that these women are more apt to be loyal, but there’s also a psychological component to it. Category three women are harder to get, and it’s human nature to want most what’s hardest to obtain. That’s why a Bentley is more valuable than a Ford. While they both cars will get you where you want to go, a Bentley is more prestigious because it’s harder to obtain. The same is true of a woman. A man wants a woman that other men can't get, and once he gets such a woman, he not only gets uncorrupted sex, but also, a boost to his ego in knowing that he’s lying next to a women that other men can’t have. He also knows that if she didn’t think he was special, she wouldn’t be lying next to him. That’s a huge boost to his sense of manhood, and 99% of a man’s sexual pleasure is mental. Thus, a man is not as interested in having a sex expert for a woman as he is having a woman who is loyal.
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On the other hand, many women do want a sex expert - or, at least, a man who has sense enough to consider her needs - because far too often in casual sexual encounters, women end up with men who are just interested in satisfying themselves, and then leave the woman hanging and sexually frustrated when they're done. So a woman wants a man that she knows has the sexual expertise to provide for her sexual needs. But a man doesn’t have to worry about that, because all he needs to obtain satisfaction is a warm, wet, vagina - any warm, wet, vagina.
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Thus, all a female sex expert means to a man is hoe. Because the assumption is, in order to obtain her sexual expertise, she had to have made herself available to a lot of men. Therefore, she doesn’t see him as special; he just happened to be in the right place at the right time - and if it wasn’t him, it would be someone else. Now don't get me wrong, he’ll PRETEND that the "expert" is rockin’ his world, and doing something for him that can’t be done by any woman with a warm and wet vagina, but that’s just to stroke the woman's ego so he can have sex with her whenever he feels the urge.
.
So personally, I’d rather be with a woman who’s simply capable of enjoying the lust of the sexual experience than I would somebody who’s trying all kinds of techniques on me, any day. Because the "expert’s" head is not in the right place. I want a woman focused on how good SHE'S feeling, and fixated on that tingling sensations that’s building up within her loins, not on how to contract her muscles to impress me with how good she is in bed. After all, a man’s biggest challenge is NOT to climax too soon, so why would he want somebody who’s gonna defeat that purpose? That’s also why men indulge in oral sex, because there is nothing sexier to us than a woman who’s out of her mind with lust and sexual passion. So if there’s any expert in the bed, I want to be the one.
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So when a woman starts talking sex to a man, or try to be overly sexy, she’s not doing herself a favor. All she's doing is ringing the dinner bell that brings out the predator in a man, but he automatically starts thinking in terms of fun and games with a woman of either category one or two. So just because a woman can get a man’s attention in that way - and any woman can - she shouldn’t make the mistake of thinking that she’s going to hold his attention. He’s just gorging himself on hamburger until he can find him a steak - a category three woman; wife material, a woman who’s not gonna even consider the possibly of sex until he jumps through a lot of hoops to get there. She's the prize that most men are after.
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Now, I want to emphasize that I’m not advocating any position on this issue. If you’ll notice, the title of this article is a question, not an assertion. My intent is to simply give women insight into how the vast majority of men think. How do I know how most men think? Because from the time we're little boys we spent an inordinate amount of time discussing women and girls. So whether or not what I'm saying is perceived as sexist is not my concern. I’m simply relating the truth - a truth that is common knowledge among most men.
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While many women may consider what I’ve said here old fashion, men have assessed women in the same way since the beginning of time and across cultural boundaries, and it’s very unlikely to change anytime soon. But the problem with truth, and the primary reason that so many people object to it is, it doesn’t always conform to either ideology or fashion. It simply is what it is. So efficient thought requires that we ALWAYS give truth priority over ideology. But much too often we try to give ideology priority over truth. Then when truth comes into conflict with our ideology, we try to contort the truth to fit more comfortably into what we want to believe. and unfortunately, that's what many women do when it comes to the subject of sex.
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As a result of that tendency, modern women are living under the mass delusion that because their attitudes have changed, the attitudes of men have changed along with them, but they are horribly mistaken. You see, men simply pretend to have changed because it’s to our advantage. The modern female mind-set makes casual sex much more available, and we love it - I certainly do, because I’m just as predatory regarding sex as any other man. But that doesn’t mean that I’m so accommodating to that new mind-set that I want to marry the women that I’m having sex with - and I’m very comfortable in saying that MOST men feel the same way - and that’s a major contributor to the dysfunction of the modern family structure, which is the point of my article.
.
I want to emphasize that I'm not suggesting that women should remain celibate until marriage, but I'm sure many women are going to read that into it. I'm simply saying that men prefer women who are "protective" of their sexuality, and women need to understand that, regardless to what a man may say. Women need to keep in mind that a man will say anything, and take any position, that allows sex to be readily available. But if you want to see a man’s true attitude toward female sexuality, all you have to do is even suggest that his mother or daughter is less than protective of their sexuality. You’ll end up with an extremely hostile individual on your hands. Thus, a man's attitude toward sex is very complex - while we love it being easily available, we don't want the women in our lives involved in contributing to the ease of availability.
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So the bottom line is, the new female mind-set towards sex not only creates a disincentive for men to step up to the plate to become responsible husbands and fathers, but once they are husbands and fathers, the attitude of many women outside of the marriage creates constant pressure for men to cheat. Thus, the attitude of the modern women regarding casual sex often serves to create the very Hell that many women often complain about.
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Think about it. What incentive does a man have to limit his sex life and take on the responsibility of settling down with one woman when he can have all the sex that he can handle - with multiple women - and without having to take on any responsibility at all? Not much. And what cultural incentive does a married man have to remain faithful? Again, not much. So I'm not advocating that women reverse their newfound sexual freedom, but rather, to consider carefully how that freedom is used, because every male you come into contact with certainly is. So while I'm not advocating any position, I am suggesting that women learn the rules of the game and not allow themselves to be played, because having that knowledge gives women options on how they want to play the game.
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In that regard, what's important for every woman to remember is, while many women's attitude toward sex has changed tremendously over the years, men are still very old fashion when it comes to their woman - they have to be, because the way a man’s woman carries herself is reflective of his manhood - and that's very important to a man. While I know this may sound kinda old-school to contemporary women, with all of the sexual opportunities out there for your man, how you carry yourself may be the determining factor on whether or not your man is willing to make that extra effort to be the kind of man you want him to be. And women should also remember this - as old fashion as your grandmother was, she didn’t have any problem hanging on to her man.
. Love, Pain, Passion, and Lust . HER PAIN:
. She walks alone, sweet woman-child,
her sobs flow warm against the dark;
Her need is love, not merely passion,
a mighty fortress, her broken heart.
.
Quivering bodies and breathless moans,
she remembers with great delight,
but the heat of love is the only flame,
her lusting soul craves late at night.
.
Hungry arms yearn for her shuddering body,
to embrace her tenderly with all their might;
Shivering lips lust for her succulent passion,
as she cries out desperately into the night.
.
But only true love can quench the thirst
that burns red hot, and deep inside,
so she faces the pain, again and again,
and late at night she cries.
.
Masculine shadows of delusion and lust
caress their egos more than her pain,
for her convulsing body quivers not for them,
but for her fantasy
of a warm and gentle man.
.
So, with head held high, by light of day,
but, mournful eyes, that do betray,
unspent love, and a breaking heart,
and the fear of sobs, when day turns dark.
HIS PASSION:
.
She's dark, she’s passionate, and she's lovely,
but she doesn't know herself:
.
She doesn't know
the extent her smiling eyes
devastate this love-sick heart;
The way they dance in the moonlight,
subtly beckon,
and betray the depth
of her sultry passion.
.
She doesn't know
the ecstasy of pleading moans
on a humid, Summer night, or
the maddening pleasure of glistening bodies
entwined in erotic flight.
.
And
She doesn't know
the hot breath of passion,
as it whispers between her thighs;
The gentle kiss, the sting of bliss,
the pain of pleasure
that burns inside.
.
She doesn't know
the agony of lust
while suspended in endless time,
as she yearns for sweet release,
while desperately clinging to
the sweet sublime.
.
And
She doesn't know
of frantic begging
for that of which she's run,
of the animal that leaps inside of her,
as flowing chills
begin to come.
.
She doesn't know
the embrace of madness
as her trembling loins
begin to spill . . .
.
She
doesn't know of love,
but on this night,
her pleading eyes,
say she will.
it's when the champagne is gone, and the music ends,
that true friendship begins.
It's when times are gloomy and the party is over, when one truly needs a friend, and at times like those you can always depend on my friendship kickin' in. Friendship represents the meeting of two souls, entwined in a comfortable embrace; Not merely sensual, but warm like family, in this cruel and unfriendly place. Friends validate their own existence, lending independence to the soul; They slay their dragons from a warm cocoon, with a kindred spirit to console. Friendship, like a poem, is the sweet breath of God, as he sings to a loved one's ear; A love song scored by a master, but not always for the masses to hear. So, sincere of heart I sing my song to one so warm and dear; Your smile is a treasured work of art, and its essence
will always keep me near.
Eric L. Watttree
Http://wattree.blogspot.com
Ewattree@Gmail.com
Religious bigotry: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does.
Sphere: Related Content
So, why should the President of the United States listen to me? . The answer to that question is quite simple, Mr. President. I've written you several letters over the years, and every one of them turned out to be not only right on the money, but if I may say so myself, have risen to the level of prophecy. On November 2, 2009, I wrote an article directed at you entitled Could Obama Fall Victim to a Lack of Change We Can Believe in? And I felt so strongly about the issue that I reprised it on March 22, 2011. The article said the following: . "There's only two legitimate reasons to have our troops in that part of the world. The first is obvious - to make damn sure the nuclear missiles in Pakistan don't fall into the hands of Al Qaeda. The second reason is to bring Osama Bin Laden to justice. So why can't we simply pull out of Afghanistan and deploy enough troops in Pakistan to protect the missiles, then let the CIA and law enforcement deal with Osama? That way we save both treasure and lives, and we're not creating more enemies for the United States by killing innocent people.
.
"But many Independents suspect that there's another agenda afoot. Actually, Cheney's giving it away. Independents recognize that Dick Cheney has absolutely no integrity, so when he gets passionate over an issue we know to follow either the money or power. Thus, many Independents suspect that what's actually behind Cheney's insistence that we go recklessly rushing into Afghanistan has much more to do with Halliburton's bottom line than it does America's best interest. And while Obama has shown himself to be an excellent president in many ways, his one shortcoming - and a shortcoming that may very well bring him down in the end - is his tendency to try to appease the stupidity and greed of the GOP.
.
"The President needs to recognize that there is nothing he can do that's going to make him acceptable to the GOP - that is, unless he agrees to appoint a Republican vice president, and then resign. By now it should be clear that even while he's asleep, the GOP is trying to hatch plans to destroy him. So by spending more time thinking about them than he is his base, he's playing right into their hands.
.
"I mentioned power as one of the reasons that Cheney's trying to rush the president into Afghanistan. I wonder if the president has considered the fact that Cheney just might be trying to get him to make the same kind of mistake in Afghanistan [and now Libya] that the Bush Administration made in Iraq in order to take the Iraq issue off the table for the 2012 election? If during the 2012 campaign America is bogged down in Afghanistan with the useless death of thousands of U.S. troops, all of a sudden, Bush, Cheney, and the GOP won't look all that bad. The president should think about that possibility, since the mechinations of Dick Cheney makes Machiavelli look like a trainee.
.
"On the other hand, if the president would have the CIA go after Osama Bin Laden (through the use of intelligence, instead of blindly shooting at rocks), then pull out of Afghanistan and make an agreement with the government of Pakistan to help them protect their nuclear arsenal, he'll be looking pretty good in 2012, and he won't have the deaths of thousands of U.S. troops to have to justify." .
Hmmmm, sounds like I wrote that while gazing into a crystal ball. But actually, there's nothing special about that. Many of your supporters could have predicted everything that I did. That's why many of them are jumping up and down in frustration. Because both the Republican Party, and the political landscape, are completely transparent and predictable when you're not engulfed in Washington's fog of political triangulation. So based purely on the accuracy my track record, here's my take on the best way to deal with Romney. . To Romney/Ryan: . "Your plan to resolve the deficit has gone from Voodoo Economics to Lost in Space. It sounds like it was crafted by Houdini whiile orbiting Earth in the space shuttle. You need to stop trying to tell us to believe in magic, come down to Earth, and provide the American people with some viable numbers that we Earthlings can get a handle on. Your claim that you'll negotiate the numbers with congress later is just another way of saying the numbers don't add up. If I'm wrong, at the very least you should be able to give us the numbers that you'd like to present to congress to be negotiated. But you can't, because then you'd have to reveal to the American people that your ultimate goal is to do away with Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, the Fair Labor Standards Act, and homeowner deductions for the middle class. Thus, you're pushing snake oil, pure and simple." . Thereafter you should begin to ask the specific questions that the Romney/ Ryan campaign is trying to avoid. That will get the American people focused of the fact that their plan doesn’t make sense, and the Democrats can keep referring to it for the rest of the campaign - "Here comes Houdini again." That will effectively end the Republican campaign, because the more they continue to avoid giving straight answers, the more your message will be reinforced in the people's mind. . And another thing, stop letting the Republicans choose what's appropriate and what's inappropriate to be discussed. If they start squealing over some issue - like Romney's taxes - saying the issue is out of bounds, that's exactly the issue you should jump on, and STAY on it! You don't have to discuss just one issue at a time. Overwhelm them, and the American people, with their hypocrisy, just like they're overwhelming you, and the rest of us, with their lies. That's exactly what they've doing, you know. That's their strategy. It was clear during your debate that Romney hit you with such a barrage of lies that your mind went completely blank just trying to figure out which lie to address first - you couldn't even remember them all, much less, respond to them. . And finally, with respect to this bipartisan crap that the Republicans keep whining about - you should tell them, "Hell no I'm not gonna be bipartisan, not as long as the GOP continues to put your lust for power and greed before the interest of the American people." And you should keep on saying that loud and clear until it gets through to the people. Because there's a large segment of the American population who don't see anything until they're told to look. So if you don't say it, they won't see it. . So you need to drop all the politeness and go for broke. If you don't, you're going to remembered as the nicest president who's ever been defeated. Because at this point, all that group I mentioned is seeing, are the lies they're being told by the Republican Party.
. Baby, I’m sure you know that I love you. You’re everything I need. You fit the bill of all my desires, a perfect match for all of my dreams. From the moment I first laid eyes on you, You were everything I craved - that luscious vision from across the tracks, that delicate flower, beyond my blade.
* But what you ask is foreign to me.
You need something that I’m not.
You said, just tweak my nature a little bit,
and you’ll give everything you’ve got.
*
But that "tweak" you need is who I am -
it’s my essence, can’t you see?
How can you speak of loving my soul,
but, not the hood rat that makes me, me?
*
While "hood rat" may seem trite to you,
it’s the very essence of my being.
So forget about what other’s say,
here’s what it means to me:
*
I’ve been brutally dragged through the pits of hell,
yet, managed to survive,
well educated and fully functional,
when I came out the other side.
I scrounged the lessons taught at Harvard -
because knowledge, I found, was free.
But they’ll never obtain the lessons I’ve learned -
or my knowledge of adversity.
*
While the "elite" may have heard a mournful Trane,
or Miles muted on a Summer night,
not in the context of hunger and pain,
or hopelessness, hatred, and blight.
*
So while I've lived the life of a hood rat,
I’ve reaped a knowledge that money can't buy;
a knowledge passed on to my son and daughter,
which has greatly enhanced their lives.
*
Thus, I wouldn't change a thing in my life -
I’ve faced hell and passed the test.
I have a PhD in adversity, and
it's made me much more, rather than less.
*
So unlike the people at Harvard and Yale, who try to buy intellectual clout,
they only study the genius of Miles and Trane,
while I'm who they’re talkin' about.
*
So when snobs try to slur me as "just a hood rat,"
I say, "thank you," and don’t take offense.
I take great pride in surviving the travails in my life -
That’s what gives me my confidence.
*
The Ivy League degrees of those of means
are only paper compared to mine;
they merely have a "receipt" for knowledge,
while mine is ETCHED in my mind.
*
I can TEACH philosophy to Aristotle and Plato
with the adversity that I’ve endured,
and any snob who seeks to match my wit,
will come up short, and
that’s for sure.
*
Snobs walk about quoting Socrates and such,
through their "education" they are prone;
but while they’re spewing the thoughts of various dead men,
I spend my time developing my own.
* We should never give the thoughts of ANY man
priority over our own;
You must collect the facts, and think for yourself,
that’s where Harvard and Yale has gone wrong. *
Whether they be preacher, politician, potentate or monk, whatever their philosophy or point of view, God didn't give them anything, that he failed to also bestow upon you.
*
And being seen as a hood rat has its advantages - especially against racists of limited wit;
I simply quietly wait for their condescension,
then show ‘em that they ain’t shit.
*
God made birds to fly, fish to swim,
and man to think, that's the key.
So any man who claims superiority will have to PROVE his wit to me. * Thus, knowledge is the key to set us free -
it doesn’t matter what the people say,
and there’s nothing more formidable than
a knowledgeable hood rat, and
that’s what you’re looking upon today. *
Yet, these are the things you want me to purge -
you want me to spurn the life I’ve led,
but I’m sorry, my love, as much as I adore you,
the soul of a hood rat is my edge.
*
Wattree
*
A MESSAGE TO THE HOOD
Some people take umbrage with my defining myself as a hood rat. They say that by doing so, I’m not only demeaning myself, but I’m also demeaning other Black people in the process. But people who think like that are violating one of the most important principles in life - that we should always seek to be independent thinkers. That entails being self-defining, never giving the thoughts of others priority over your own, and never allowing others to define your terms.
.
Thus, people who see the phrase "hood rat" as demeaning have been brainwashed. They no longer think for themselves. They've allowed the attitude of others to take priority over their own, and they've also allowed society to define their terms. As a result, they've embraced the belief that people with their background are somehow less than others.
.
I take pride in challenging that contention because the fact is, I grew up in the hood, so that's what makes me who I am, and since God made birds to fly, fish to swim, and man think, in order for anybody to contend that I'm less than human, they're going to have to demonstrate that they can out-think me. You see, it's not enough to merely SAY, "I'm Black and I'm proud." We must put enough work into our intellectual development to say it, and mean it. Therefore, I proudly embrace the phrase hood rat as symbolic of my challenge to society to come SHOW me that I'm inferior, since it's my contention that it's society that's guilty of flawed thinking, not I.
.
A perfect example of the flaw in society's thinking can be found in the fact that attendant to the negativity that society assigns to the term "rat" is the false assumption that a rat is something nasty, and therefore, beneath man. But the fact is, man himself is the nastiest animal on Earth. While a rat may leave droppings in his environment, and one might consider that nasty, man is so prolific with his own droppings - in the ocean, in the air, in space, and within the Earth itself - that he threatens the very survival of everything on the planet. So what’s nastier, a rat, or man?
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That illustrates why it’s so important to clean man’s droppings from our minds, and become independent thinkers. Because much of what we think of as true, is actually the corruption of truth that we’ve been taught by other men in order to promote their own self-interest.
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So while others are scrambling among themselves in an attempt to service their corruption and greed, it presents the Black community with the perfect opportunity to spend that same time becoming independent thinkers, and reassessing the mores that we've inherited from this corrupt society. Thereafter, we should replace the meaningless pursuit of the "American Dream" (bling), with the pursuit of character, wisdom, and knowledge. Because since knowledge is power, one invariably leads to the other, and much, much more.
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I’ve been fortunate enough to obtain a small measure of the American dream, but it was certainly not as a result of any kind of pursuit. I only stumbled upon it while on a mission to educate myself, because along with education comes skills. But also during my educational process, I found that what I was actually looking for was not so much the American dream, but happiness, and self-fulfillment. Yes, I wanted to live a comfortable life, but along with a TRUE education, you tend to develop a new definition of what that entails. And one of the things that I learned was that the American dream is only the illusion of happiness, since the mere acquisition of "things" can bring you neither happiness, nor fulfillment. True happiness and fulfillment can only be found in becoming the best that you can be. Our failure to understand that is the primary problem that we have as a nation - we're in much hotter pursuit of riches than we are of character.
.
I wasted literally all of my teenage years - those years between 12 and 19 years of age, when I should have been educating myself - running the street. I spent that time dropping out of school, going in and out of various institutions, and using any kind of drug that I could get my hands on.
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But fortunately, I was arrested as an adult (at 19 years-old), and an insightful cop and a benevolent judge joined forces to get me to agree to go into the military (the army, I thought) in return for not being sent to prison, and the promise of expunging my record if I came out with an honorable discharge. Naturally, I eagerly agreed. But it was only later, to my complete shock and horror, did I learn that they had also managed to get the Marine Corps to ignore all of its regulations against accepting an illiterate delinquent. But once I got in there I found out why - they needed a warm body to use as a close combat dummy in order to train the "REAL MARINES."
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But once the marines finished showing me what a gangster REALLY was, they had me take the GED, and to everybody's amazement, I did really well on it. Although I did a lot of guessing, I scored much higher than anyone expected, especially myself (I'm still convinced it was a fluke). So they sent me to the Army/Navy Academy to get an actual diploma and further my educational development (I'll be eternally grateful to them for that).
.
But fluke or not, that's where I learned a couple of very valuable lessons - you are what you think, and that knowledge is power. Instead of being called dummy, I was making a fortune writing love letters for other marines, and later I started working for my battalion commander (who later became the commanding general of Camp Pendleton), and every word that came out of his mouth flowed from this "hood rat's" pen. I did all of his writing, including the officers' fitness reports - I was his "Radar O'Reilly." It was the worst kept secret in the unit, that I was writing the fitness reports on my superior officers and the commander was simply reading and signing off on them. That gave me a lot of clout, a tremendous amount of clout ("Come on, Wattree! Why be so formal? There's no one around, so spare me the Captain crap. Just call me Larry."). I used to drink Scotch at the time (I drink gin now, when my woman ain't lookin'), and between trying to squeeze information out of me, and trying to get on my good side, those officers used to keep me in Scotch. They used to come by my personal quarters at night, and every time one would come by he'd have a 5th of Scotch with him. My quarters looked like a liquor store.
.
Then one night the commander showed up in my quarters - which he had allowed me to setup in one of the back offices of the battalion library - with two documents. One, alerting the unit that they had just been redeployed overseas, for a second time; the other, was an early discharge for me. He said, "You're outta here. Go educate yourself." I was delighted, and by that time, college was just a matter of staying awake in school, and filling in the dots.
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During my time in the Marine Corps I had fallen in love with knowledge, and I also began to realize that since what I loved most was free, it couldn’t be denied me. And as I became increasingly more independent of thought, a couple of other things also began to come into focus. First, contrary to our national values, the only mature and productive form of competition is to compete against the person that you were the day before. And secondly, I learned that the only true road to perfect happiness and fulfillment is to dedicate your life to becoming your own hero.
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That’s the knowledge that I would like to pass along to my brothers and sisters in the hood. Because our failure to understand those two very fundamental facts are not only the source of most of our misery, but to 99% of all of our problems in general. We rightly complain that we’re deprived of a level playing field, so why not dedicate ourselves to the acquisition of knowledge to equalize that situation? We should make knowledge the new "soul." The very same brilliance that went into making a Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Ray Charles, and Areatha Franklin, can be redirected toward Math, Science, and technology - and by the way, that's the message that people like Tavis Smiley and Cornel West should be preaching, instead of helping to elect Republicans by attacking our first Black president.
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So yes, I’m a hood rat, and I never let myself forget it. But I’m a hood rat with the understanding that the White man's water is no wetter than our own, and his knowledge is no more knowledgeable. In addition, since every experience in life is a source of knowledge, the experience of overcoming the adversity that we’ve endured as hood rats makes us more, rather than less. It's that very knowledge that Obama is killing them with in Washington as we speak. They could probably handle him if he was dealing with them using the knowledge that he pick up at Harvard, because they went there too, but he's whipping their natural asses with a source of knowledge that they know absolutely nothing about - the knowledge he obtained trying to survive as a Black man in America. That's a knowledge that's unique to us.
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Thus, the bottom line is this - with very few exceptions, we cannot depend on others to help us, Black or White. We're engaged in a class war, and it's everybody for themselves, so we've got to combine the unique knowledge that we've gained in the hood, with the education and wisdom that we MUST obtain thereafter, to become the masters of our own fate. In short, KNOWLEDGE, is the key to our survival. PERIOD.
.
Think about that.
Strive To Become Your Own Hero... Then Let No One Remove Your Cape.
BIO
Eric L. Wattree is a writer, poet, and musician, born in Los Angeles. He’s been a columnist for The Los Angeles Sentinel, Black Star News, The Atlanta Post, and is a member of the Sigma Delta Chi Society of Professional Journalists (http://www.spj.org/). He’s also the author of "A Message From the Hood."
Some of the greatest minds I’ve ever known held court while sitting on empty milk crates in the parking lots of ghetto liquor stores, while some of the weakest minds I’ve ever known roamed the halls of academia in pursuit of credentials over knowledge.
Am I a hater, you ask? You're damn right I'm a hater. I hate injustice. I hate hypocrisy. I also hate demagoguery, apathy, and the stupidity that allows it to exist. Hater? Absolutely. I'm a big time hater. I hate what I see happening to this country, and I hate watching the development of a culture that embraces ignorance with a stupid sense of pride. So yes, I am indeed a hater, but not only that - I'm a hater with a very low threshold for bullshit, so step off.
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