I wrote this poem a few years ago. It is basically a combination of things I've experienced and stories I've heard. The metaphors are based on how relationships are like seasons. As we enter 2012, its good to reflect, but remember its always better to look foward to the future. New Year, New Beginnings.
December 30, 2011
December 29, 2011
Your Typical Average Online Black Dude
by Corey
A few weeks ago I saw a post describing the stereotypical black woman on social networks. I thought it was pretty awesome and felt the need to share my input, concerning the fellas of course. I've been seeing way too much pillow-boy material on my newfeed and timeline. Maybe I'm tripping, but since when did everyone leave Mansville? If you feel that the following material is a direct shot at you, or that I am talking about you personally, good. Maybe you will negotiate your conduct and correct yourself accordingly.
So, here is my run-down of the Average Black Dude via Social Networks.
10. The Fitness Trainer
Yo, there isn't anything wrong with working out, but you don't need to give me a run down of your routines at the gym. I could've went my entire life without knowing how many reps you are knocking out at Gold's or your daily protein assumption. I could care less about how many calories you burned on the tredmill. I get it! You work out. You eat Muscle Milk and bricks for breakfast. You love wearing your Under Armor 24/7. Take it easy fam, it's just the gym.
9. Chef Boy-Are-You-Cool
Wow! You can cook? Amazing! All this time I thought you only ate at restaurants and fast food. You don't have to post ever struggle meal you devour though. Its nice to know that you have a camera readily accessible by your food, but you aren't the first person to ever feast on Swine Chops, Macaroni, Potatoes and Green Beans. To make matters worst, you have the audacity to recommend to anyone that veiws the picture to, "get like me"... Oh, okay.
8. Dr. Love
You know just what to say. Smooth talking quips and flowerful quotes makes your day go by. The more likes and retweets you get, the harder you go in... We get it. You read up on a few philosophers and watched a few chick-flix, suddenly you know how to solve relationship problems? Cool. Keep hitting them over the head with those "if he likes you, he'll give you the stars, if he loves you, he'll give you the universe" gems. You have it all figured out.
7. Hate Me Now
Its you against the world. Everyday you are battling with some opposing force that was destined to be a thorn in your side. You can't let a day go by without acknowledging any and everyone getting in the way of the fulfillment of your dreams. Those evil haters, they want to destroy you, and you must confess your undying resentment to them constantly. Only if you could ignore them just for a few moments, maybe just long enough to take a picture of your food...
6.Corn Wallace
You have maximized your ability to be the thirstiest man in the history of civilization. Adorned with that impecable charm and laced with delusions of granduer, you somehow have managed to unknowingly get on everyone's last nerve. You just can't get enough of yourself. You RT anything pertaining to you, you even like you own statuses and comments. All hail Corn Wallace: King of Swag.
5. Money Machine
You ride around, and you get it. You believe in, "if it don't make dollars, then it don't make sense," and it shows buddy. You don't seem to talk about anything except the money you make, the money you lose, the money you spend, the money you blow, and the money you don't even have. (Money money money money money money, just in case I lost you) You're a self-made, go-getting, hustling machine, and you have the facebook page and tweets to prove it! Money.
4. Huey Malcolm Martin Garvey
The revolution will be tweeted. You are so pro-active and in tune with the community, all for the sake of change. Even though you aren't a people person, you have a way of letting the entire internet know what's going on in this jacked up society. You've occupied Wall Street, boycotted Basketball Wives, and banned Soldier Boy Tell 'Em from playing Bishop in the remake of Juice. I know you have to be the change you want to see. All power to the people, unless you lose your internet connection.
3. Mr. Antagonist
Its imperative that you go against the grain fam. If everyone is praising it, you shoot it down. You solemnly refuse to hop aboard anything that resembles a bandwagon. Everybody hates Chris? You love him. The new Drake is hot? Not on your thermostat. President Obama killed Bin Laden? Show me the photos. You turn every single post/tweet into a debate all for the sake of making others feel un-hip, yet all they while, you never say anything of true value or meaning. Go figure.
2. Kid-N-Play by Play
Hey man, you are the only human being with cable television. You feel the need to live out your Marv Albert fantasies during all sporting events, award shows, and you've even taken it as far as to rapid fire updates of your day-to-day activity. Look my dude, I understand you want to feel connected to people, but c'mon man. You can't really be that blind to not see the 54 posts/tweets you've blasted in a matter of minutes. I know you think "the internet" is a hobby, but someone lied to to you jack.
1. The Local Celebrity
You sir are the creme de la creme. You have managed to shut down every party you have ever attended. You love being tagged in photos with your beverage of choice, or maybe standing next to others with lackluster significance. You love your followers, fans, supporters, and haters. You live a very normal, average life, but the moment you touchdown at that empty field on your facebook/twitter page, you become a star. You bask in the glow of the limelight and refuse to settle for being mediocre. You are applauded by your peers for being the most flamboyant person they know on the internet. You are constantly in rare form and will never miss a beat. You've stuck to your guns and have faithfully reminded us that you don't have to be a star to be in the show.
Honorable Mentions go to Spam The Wall Ent. Promotions, Seymour N. Box, DJ Youtube and The-Wierd-Dude-With-His-Shirt-Off. - PHOTOS Courtesy of Google
(Note: This is for promotional use only)
A few weeks ago I saw a post describing the stereotypical black woman on social networks. I thought it was pretty awesome and felt the need to share my input, concerning the fellas of course. I've been seeing way too much pillow-boy material on my newfeed and timeline. Maybe I'm tripping, but since when did everyone leave Mansville? If you feel that the following material is a direct shot at you, or that I am talking about you personally, good. Maybe you will negotiate your conduct and correct yourself accordingly.
So, here is my run-down of the Average Black Dude via Social Networks.
10. The Fitness Trainer
Yo, there isn't anything wrong with working out, but you don't need to give me a run down of your routines at the gym. I could've went my entire life without knowing how many reps you are knocking out at Gold's or your daily protein assumption. I could care less about how many calories you burned on the tredmill. I get it! You work out. You eat Muscle Milk and bricks for breakfast. You love wearing your Under Armor 24/7. Take it easy fam, it's just the gym.
9. Chef Boy-Are-You-Cool
Wow! You can cook? Amazing! All this time I thought you only ate at restaurants and fast food. You don't have to post ever struggle meal you devour though. Its nice to know that you have a camera readily accessible by your food, but you aren't the first person to ever feast on Swine Chops, Macaroni, Potatoes and Green Beans. To make matters worst, you have the audacity to recommend to anyone that veiws the picture to, "get like me"... Oh, okay.
8. Dr. Love
You know just what to say. Smooth talking quips and flowerful quotes makes your day go by. The more likes and retweets you get, the harder you go in... We get it. You read up on a few philosophers and watched a few chick-flix, suddenly you know how to solve relationship problems? Cool. Keep hitting them over the head with those "if he likes you, he'll give you the stars, if he loves you, he'll give you the universe" gems. You have it all figured out.
7. Hate Me Now
Its you against the world. Everyday you are battling with some opposing force that was destined to be a thorn in your side. You can't let a day go by without acknowledging any and everyone getting in the way of the fulfillment of your dreams. Those evil haters, they want to destroy you, and you must confess your undying resentment to them constantly. Only if you could ignore them just for a few moments, maybe just long enough to take a picture of your food...
6.Corn Wallace
You have maximized your ability to be the thirstiest man in the history of civilization. Adorned with that impecable charm and laced with delusions of granduer, you somehow have managed to unknowingly get on everyone's last nerve. You just can't get enough of yourself. You RT anything pertaining to you, you even like you own statuses and comments. All hail Corn Wallace: King of Swag.
5. Money Machine
You ride around, and you get it. You believe in, "if it don't make dollars, then it don't make sense," and it shows buddy. You don't seem to talk about anything except the money you make, the money you lose, the money you spend, the money you blow, and the money you don't even have. (Money money money money money money, just in case I lost you) You're a self-made, go-getting, hustling machine, and you have the facebook page and tweets to prove it! Money.
4. Huey Malcolm Martin Garvey
The revolution will be tweeted. You are so pro-active and in tune with the community, all for the sake of change. Even though you aren't a people person, you have a way of letting the entire internet know what's going on in this jacked up society. You've occupied Wall Street, boycotted Basketball Wives, and banned Soldier Boy Tell 'Em from playing Bishop in the remake of Juice. I know you have to be the change you want to see. All power to the people, unless you lose your internet connection.
3. Mr. Antagonist
Its imperative that you go against the grain fam. If everyone is praising it, you shoot it down. You solemnly refuse to hop aboard anything that resembles a bandwagon. Everybody hates Chris? You love him. The new Drake is hot? Not on your thermostat. President Obama killed Bin Laden? Show me the photos. You turn every single post/tweet into a debate all for the sake of making others feel un-hip, yet all they while, you never say anything of true value or meaning. Go figure.
2. Kid-N-Play by Play
Hey man, you are the only human being with cable television. You feel the need to live out your Marv Albert fantasies during all sporting events, award shows, and you've even taken it as far as to rapid fire updates of your day-to-day activity. Look my dude, I understand you want to feel connected to people, but c'mon man. You can't really be that blind to not see the 54 posts/tweets you've blasted in a matter of minutes. I know you think "the internet" is a hobby, but someone lied to to you jack.
1. The Local Celebrity
You sir are the creme de la creme. You have managed to shut down every party you have ever attended. You love being tagged in photos with your beverage of choice, or maybe standing next to others with lackluster significance. You love your followers, fans, supporters, and haters. You live a very normal, average life, but the moment you touchdown at that empty field on your facebook/twitter page, you become a star. You bask in the glow of the limelight and refuse to settle for being mediocre. You are applauded by your peers for being the most flamboyant person they know on the internet. You are constantly in rare form and will never miss a beat. You've stuck to your guns and have faithfully reminded us that you don't have to be a star to be in the show.
Honorable Mentions go to Spam The Wall Ent. Promotions, Seymour N. Box, DJ Youtube and The-Wierd-Dude-With-His-Shirt-Off. - PHOTOS Courtesy of Google
(Note: This is for promotional use only)
When The Internet Kills
by Tasha Burton
Last week, I saw my share of the most gullible people on earth. No one stole money from them, they weren't cheated on and they weren't accused of anything, but one thing they did do, was believe a lie. Not just your ordinary lie either. Typically, you have "reports" as I like to call them sometimes, on Facebook or Twitter about how a person's man or relative lied to them about something. Thing is, there's a lot of investigating that goes down in order to prove that lie. Yet, in the case of celebrities being whacked off by the internet, people take it at face value.
The recent story, was about the inevitable death of Bon Jovi. Apparently, he's been sick for some time and like wildfire, one solitary link spread all over my timeline and newsfeed about him croaking out at home. I saw many reactions like, "WOW" and "R.I.P. Bon Jovi," followed by statements of supposed "grief." Internet grief is different from real life grief. Internet grief lasts about 24-48 hours. Just thought I'd note that.
I chose to do some investigating to determine the validity of this story. I clicked on the link and was taken to a Wordpress blog that had only ONE entry. That one entry was about Bon Jovi's death. It's as if this person who created the blog, created it for just this reason, to get a lot of clicks and views. I'm sure that went through the roof, as so many gullible people out there just couldn't believe it! Matter of fact, it appears that the same day they started the Wordpress blog is the same day they posted the story.
Now, in typical fashion, I comment somewhere along the lines of "if I don't see it on CNN, it's not true." Even when Michael Jackson died, I didn't believe it, despite the internet going crazy, until I saw it on CNN and the national news networks. Now, the person who posted the link, decided to keep going along with this hoax. For some reason, they chose to continue to believe it, until they find out otherwise. From who? Remember when Tyler Perry was a trending topic on Twitter for buying American Airlines? This same person believed that too. The link they provided was from a tabloid site that likes to make up silly stories (think The Onion News Network). I don't think this person even bothered to look at the other articles on the site: stories about Kim K's butt exploding and a "Virgin Mary" who was auctioning herself up for marriage (in today's world, the latter story may actually be real lol). I tried to reiterate to this person over and over that if the story does not come from a reputable news source, consider it false until then.
It wasn't until about 10 people or so commented, stating that this story was false, that this person finally realized they got, got. Which reminds me of just one other instance, of this same person's gullibleness (not a word, but for the sake of this story, it is). On Youtube, the cool thing to do now, is to put "(Official Video)" in the title. Well, this person posted an "official video" of Kanye & Jay-Z's "No Church In The Wild." This person was even moved to call the video and images, "deep." The video consisted of black people playing the role of slave masters and white people being the slaves. See the video for yourself here and then tell me if UrbanMusicVEVO is owned by VEVO. I'll wait. If you think that this video is official, please disconnect your internet service and read a book.
Twitter and Facebook's ability to let us retweet and share with a click of a button has a lot of people out there looking…stupid. "Think before you tweet" is a true prophecy nowadays. There's a lot of things you can put out into the cyber space world, that you can't get back. Don't get caught up and certainly, read and research before you tweet. You never know, the internet may very well one day, kill you off too.
-Tasha Burton
Part-time writer, full-time biz owner
Part-time writer, full-time biz owner
Twitter: @heytasha
December 28, 2011
Waiting For Thirty
by Corey
I was one of the 137,547 people that actually spent their hard earned money on the 2006 tragedy known as Jay-Z: Kingdom Come. Adding insult to injury, I actually listened to it repeatedly, and sort of hated myself for doing so. To be even more specific, I had a light-weight gripe with the whole "Grown & Sexy" thing and that entire "30-is-the-new-20" declaration. To this day, I am still pondering why anyone would want to re-live their wicked 20's. I'm currently on the the exit ramp of my 20's. Truth be told, it was the decade that defined me, but its the one I pray I never see again.
No matter what knife you use, it slices the same: You are stupid in your 20's. I did a lot if idiotic things and I saw even more blatant ignorance around me. I messed up opportunities at great jobs. I got involved in unhealthy relationships. I wasted precious time spending money I didn't have on things I didn't need. I was being irresponsible, immature, selfish,young and reckless.
My excuse for such behavior: I'm old enough to know better, but young enough to not give a damn. Plus, it doesn't help when you're enlisted in the military during two wars. The GAF meter drops below average and I was living life by the unforgiving mantra "LIVE FAST, DIE YOUNG, LEAVE A HANDSOME CORPSE".
The reality is that I was living fast, but I didn't die young. Fortunately, I have been blessed beyond all comprehension. I've dodged the bullet a number of times, which only meant one thing to me: I must be invincible! What other explanation is there for my stupidity being garnished with such immaculate protection? That naiive train of thought only added fuel to the blaze, but that fire eventually burns out.
At some point you have to just man-up and be an adult. All that childish stuff gets old right around age 27, but that's if you are actually growing and maturing. The "Tender Ten" years between age 18-28 was meant to be spent getting as much understanding of the world as possible. From then on, you're being judged. Not by how you look, what you know, what you like, or who you are. You are categorized and thrown into the stereotype of Adulthood. If you haven't evaluated yourself and determined what type of person you are destined to be by now, you will ulitmately be looked upon as irresponsible, unfocused, immature.
"When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things."- 1Corithians 13:11
When I was younger, my cousin Ronnie and I would always talk about our fears. Our biggest fear was getting old and not realizing it. We didn't want to be the old guys that would make fun of the videos the kids were watching or the music that the teenagers were listening to. We didn't want to be in our 30's and 40's and still trying to dress like we were young. We ultimately wanted to embrace getting older because being grown seemed cool.
There is a certain swagger that comes along with knowledge of self. My experiences have taught me valuable life lessons and I genuinely am honored to have gone through them. The good, the bad, and the ugly have made me the man I am today. As long as I can avoid a mid-life crisis, I'll be just fine, but for now, I'm waiting for thirty.
I was one of the 137,547 people that actually spent their hard earned money on the 2006 tragedy known as Jay-Z: Kingdom Come. Adding insult to injury, I actually listened to it repeatedly, and sort of hated myself for doing so. To be even more specific, I had a light-weight gripe with the whole "Grown & Sexy" thing and that entire "30-is-the-new-20" declaration. To this day, I am still pondering why anyone would want to re-live their wicked 20's. I'm currently on the the exit ramp of my 20's. Truth be told, it was the decade that defined me, but its the one I pray I never see again.
No matter what knife you use, it slices the same: You are stupid in your 20's. I did a lot if idiotic things and I saw even more blatant ignorance around me. I messed up opportunities at great jobs. I got involved in unhealthy relationships. I wasted precious time spending money I didn't have on things I didn't need. I was being irresponsible, immature, selfish,young and reckless.
My excuse for such behavior: I'm old enough to know better, but young enough to not give a damn. Plus, it doesn't help when you're enlisted in the military during two wars. The GAF meter drops below average and I was living life by the unforgiving mantra "LIVE FAST, DIE YOUNG, LEAVE A HANDSOME CORPSE".
The reality is that I was living fast, but I didn't die young. Fortunately, I have been blessed beyond all comprehension. I've dodged the bullet a number of times, which only meant one thing to me: I must be invincible! What other explanation is there for my stupidity being garnished with such immaculate protection? That naiive train of thought only added fuel to the blaze, but that fire eventually burns out.
At some point you have to just man-up and be an adult. All that childish stuff gets old right around age 27, but that's if you are actually growing and maturing. The "Tender Ten" years between age 18-28 was meant to be spent getting as much understanding of the world as possible. From then on, you're being judged. Not by how you look, what you know, what you like, or who you are. You are categorized and thrown into the stereotype of Adulthood. If you haven't evaluated yourself and determined what type of person you are destined to be by now, you will ulitmately be looked upon as irresponsible, unfocused, immature.
"When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things."- 1Corithians 13:11
When I was younger, my cousin Ronnie and I would always talk about our fears. Our biggest fear was getting old and not realizing it. We didn't want to be the old guys that would make fun of the videos the kids were watching or the music that the teenagers were listening to. We didn't want to be in our 30's and 40's and still trying to dress like we were young. We ultimately wanted to embrace getting older because being grown seemed cool.
There is a certain swagger that comes along with knowledge of self. My experiences have taught me valuable life lessons and I genuinely am honored to have gone through them. The good, the bad, and the ugly have made me the man I am today. As long as I can avoid a mid-life crisis, I'll be just fine, but for now, I'm waiting for thirty.
December 23, 2011
Michael Jordan vs. Black People
Michael Jordan is a basketball icon, a living legend to say, but are his shoes really that important? Sneakerheads cherish and adore a great pair of Jays, especially the XI-Concords (my personal favorite).
The re-re-re-release of them December 23,2011 proved yet again that black people don't know how to act. The saying that comes to mind is, "Country Lou, got something new, don't know what to do..." We have go to do better as a people.
I opted out on a pair mainly because I'll be 30 next year and my genetic encrypted codes prohibit me to anxiously wait in lines for sneakers. I drooled over them for 4 weeks and even convinced myself I NEEDED a pair of Concords, but now that today is here, I'd rather have something more dope.
What's more dope than the Concords? Answer: $180 sitting in my savings account.
 |
| My people... smh. |
I opted out on a pair mainly because I'll be 30 next year and my genetic encrypted codes prohibit me to anxiously wait in lines for sneakers. I drooled over them for 4 weeks and even convinced myself I NEEDED a pair of Concords, but now that today is here, I'd rather have something more dope.
What's more dope than the Concords? Answer: $180 sitting in my savings account.
There is no denying how beautiful this sneaker is, but it truly does bring out the ugly.
Let's get it together ya'll.
Can I Kick It?
 |
| Click picture for details |
Check it:
A Tribe Called Quest. De La Soul. Leaders of the New School. Queen Latifah. Monie Love. Black Sheep. Chi-Ali. Busta Rhymes. Common. Mos Def. J Dilla. Pharrell Williams. Soulquarians. Erykah Badu. Vinia Mojica. D'Angelo. Brand Nubian. The Beatnuts. N*E*R*D. Jung...le Brothers. Slum Village. Prince Paul. Fu-Schnickens. Kool DJ Red Alert. Afrika Bambaataa. Zulu Nation. Forever...
On Saturday, December 24th...come celebrate the Legendary sound of the "Native Tongues". Relive rich memories+moments through sonic motivation..."Man, I remember when this came out! I was... (your memory)".
But yo, not one to get too wordy...
DJ REMINISE+DJ NEEDLES+CUZZIN B (Saint Louis' own TRUE SCHOOL REPRESENTATIVE)+CHRIS HANSON (PERCUSSION EXTRAORDINAIRE)+Some loud mouthed grey haired dude named SHADZILLA = SOME DOPE SH_T!
Plus...word on the street is...there will be a NATIVE GIVE-A-WAY of some sort. Im thinkin...3 DOPE DJ's...possibly a DOPE ASS MIXTAPE of some sort?
Hmmmm. You just gotta come and see. -Zilla
*The Vaporz*
Dope DJ's | Dope Instrumentation | Dope Sounds | Dope People.
Do For Self + Live Poets Society + Gya Arts Gallery Presents: The Rhapsody Initiative
SPOKEN WORD IS BACK ST. LOUIS!(...but it never left...)
Once a month we bring you this event featuring poets, graph artist, visual artist of all kinds, poetry slams, guest speakers, and food. Hosted by yours truly, Corey Black.
Spot: Gya Art Gallery | 2100 Locust
Time: 8pm
When: January 21,2012
Damage: Only $5
Go to TheDoForSelfInitiative.com for more info. If you want to become a guest poet or speaker email at: Info@TheDoForSelfintiative.com
Strictly Real talk, no cliche...
December 22, 2011
December 02, 2011
December 01, 2011
Africa: Amnesty International Calls For Bush's Arrest
With former President George W. Bush traveling this week in Africa to promote AIDS relief efforts and to raise awareness of cervical and breast cancer, Amnesty International is urging three nations to arrest him during his visit for "crimes under international law."
Read more at FOX News
 |
The world's largest human rights group said Thursday that "there is enough evidence in the public domain" to justify either Ethiopia, Tanzania and Zambia arresting the former president during his expected visit to the region, which started Thursday and lasts until Monday. Bush is traveling with his wife, Laura, and daughter, Barbara.
The three nations should investigate "his alleged involvement in and responsibility for torture," the group said.
Read more at FOX News
Memory Lane: I Used To Napster
I remember back when I was in high school, my boy Tony and I would take roadtrips on the weekend up to Truman State University in Kirksville, MO to hang out with our friend Dave. He was up there on a football scholarship and we would post in his dorm room and hit the parties up. I was only 17 at the time, but I would use my brother's military ID to get into the parties. Good times were had indeed.Around this time, Napster was officially the coolest website on Earth. I would spend a few hours every trip downloading music and burning cd's. The I became known as "The Guy From St. Louis That Knew Every Song."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)