It's getting MESSY at Greater Mount Calvary!!! Gay Men are in the CHOIR!!!

Good morning people! Let me start with a special shout out to Pam's House Blend and Living Out Loud with Darian for following the story that's the subject of this post.

I decided to take a break from my Kwame Kilpatrick rant to bring you BREAKING NEWS! It seems that there are some gay men who sing in the choir at CHURCH! Gasp!!! Oh the horror! The Shock! I am abhorred..... NOT!

For many of you who are completely clueless, gay men have been a part of gospel music since its inception. I can't remember a time in my life when I did attend church, that there WEREN'T any homosexuals in the choir.

It doesn't stop there though. Gay men are the reason gospel music exists as it does. We are creative, talented, ambitious, and we have a knack for taking charge (mainly because we LOVE attention).

Now you may all have your own opinions about whether GOD hates gays or not. I don't really care. If you express those opinions here in the comments section, please respect my blog and respect me. We can have a dialogue without resorting to name calling or condemning each other to hell. If you act like you don't have any home training or sense and I will savage your ass something terrible!

On to the story... It seems that an angry member of one of the choirs at Greater Mount Calvary Holy Church wrote an open letter to the pastor, Bisop Alfred Owens, to formally out several males and two females. In the letter she calls the people out by name and even provides details about what kind of sex they engage in, who they are currently dating and how they get together for sex parties! I'll post a part of the letter here that I read on What's Tea.com (used to be a gay gossip site but has since been turned into a porn site. NSFW), but you can actually read the Washington Blade Article here.

So to the gay men and women outed in this letter and given Greater Mount Calvary's icy reception towards gay people, why do you continue to attend church there? Why continue to be disrespected and pimped for your gifts?

Talk among yourselves; I need coffee right now.

National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day is February 7, 2008... KNOW YOUR STATUS!

All,

Just a reminder that February 7, 2008 is National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. I am posting this on today to give everyone a week or so to discover what activities are going on in your local area. Please visit www.blackaidsday.org for more information.

Since African Americans are disproportionately affected by the devastation of HIV/AIDS, please KNOW YOUR STATUS. GET TESTED. USE CONDOMS.

I have worked in this field for approximately 10 years now, first as a scientist and now as a social worker. Please don't sacrifice your health to fear and ignorance. Even if you test positive for HIV your life isn't over; there are resources available to you, your loved ones, etc. to help you live a full and happy life.

HIV/AIDS does not discriminate on a basis. Even if you have unprotected sex just once, you have put yourself at risk for contracting the virus. Please visit www.thebody.org and www.blackaidsinstitute.org for more info on how to prevent HIV transmission.

Disgraced, womanizer, hypocrite, and quintessential chilin' eatin' NEGRO - Kwame "Can't keep my D@#$ in my pants" Kilpatrick to apologize at CHURCH!

Oh what a tangled web we weave when we practice to deceive... using text messages and the CHURCH!

It was reported yesterday in the Detroit Free Press that the Dishonorable Kwame Kilpatrick, Mayor of the Motor City, that he would be making an address about his affair with longtime aide, Christine Beatty. Although Ms. Beatty has resigned, sources in the Mayor's administration have confirmed that Kwame's pimp speech will be nothing more than an apology for getting caught.

Now get this, Elder J. Drew Sheard, an official of the Church Of God In Christ-the world's largest pentecostal religious body, will host the philandering mayor at his church, the Greater Immanuel Institutional COGIC. Apparently the church will be empty and will make the perfect backdrop for a mayor who is trying to save face after getting caught with his hands in Christine Beatty's coochie jar.

While I realize that Christian principles compel christians to forgive infinitely, I have to wonder, what kind of example is Pastor Sheard setting by allowing this womanizer to use the church as a vehicle to justify Kwame's adultery, corruption, and perjury?

I was under the impression that COGIC was hell bent on holiness and as the bible states "shunning the very appearance of evil". Guess I was wrong. I guess I'm also wrong about citing hypocrisy in Drew Sheard's support of the Federal Marriage Amendment in 2004. In an effort to protect the "sanctity" of marriage, COGIC issued a proclamation condemning gay marriage. Now I have my own reason for not supporting the religious sacrament of marriage and I think that the societal benefits and legal protections conferred on married couples should be available to all people regardless of their marital status. How then can Drew Sheard support the sanctity of marriage while approving of the actions of a serial adulterer and a LIAR?

So because Kwame will make his speech from a church, I suppose that will be grounds for making this all go away. Just say sorry and EVERYTHING will be alright. I wish the residents of Detroit well, but you guys are incredibly stupid for supporting this fool, as well as the one who pastors him. Perhaps Elder Sheard's time would be better spent on counseling Kwame about keeping his dick in his pants.

(Source)

Question for the Day: Why are Black Leaders so Brazenly Corrupt and Why do Black Folks Perpetuate Their Foolishness by Supporting Them?

O.K. , it's been far too long since I've posted something that gets back to the reason I created this blog. Initially, my intention was too focus on how black people have lost their minds as a collective. At some point, I segued into "BLKSeaGoat: the Mini-Series" as a means of venting, but now that has to change. Today's post will be a lengthy one, but I need to know something: Why are Black Leaders so damn trifling?!?

My Inspiration(s) For Today's Post

People, what the hell is going on with black leadership these days? In the past 15 years we have abandoned common sense and purpose for self-service and exploitation. We engage in fraud on the regular, blame it on white people, and then attempt to save face and our sullied reputations by "finding religion". We wallow in foolishness, arrogance, and victimology, then we spin our bad behavior by comparing ourselves to white people using goose-gander analogies.

Frankly, I don't really give a rat's shaved ass about what white people do because I expect so little out of them. They have controlled political and societal constructs for millenia and have done so to ensure that they are the perpetual recipients of all the goodies that follow thereafter. I'll state this bodly with confidence and bias: I HOLD BLACK PEOPLE TO A HIGHER STANDARD! So what if white people are inherently corrupt, black people had the moral high ground to justify why institutions like slavery, segregation, and racism were wrong. Now, it seems that as they playing field becomes more level and black people are starting to climb the upper echelons of leadership and achievement, we feel that we have license to act a damn fool and NOT be called out on it!

I stated at the beginning of this post that in the past 15 years we've gone crazy, but I'm not gonna go back that far-- I don't have to; let's have a sample of what I'm talking about, shall we?

Recently I am sure that many of you have heard about the shenanigans of Detroit's ghetto-assed mayor, Kwame "the Pimp" Kilpatrick. If you haven't, I'll bring you up to speed. It seems that the mayor of the Motor City and his COS, Christine Beatty used city funds to help finance some secret rendezvous. What's so wrong with that? Well, nothing if they both weren't married, and if they both hadn't been using their city issued Blackberries TO MEMORIALIZE their sexual escapades. To make matters worse, when rumors of their affair transformed into a 9 million dollar whistle blower lawsuit, they LIED under oath about doing the nasty. Kwame even pontificated about how noble his ghetto family was and how outraged he was at the suggestion that he and Christine were lovers. The text messages stated otherwise.

To add insult to injury, Kwame has been a corrupt mayor from Day ONE. Detroit is a dead city and the slew of chitterling eating black leadership has EVERYTHING to do with it. Kwame's mother, Congresswoman Carolyn Kilpatrick is just as wretched as her stupid son for defending is silliness, but clearly hearkens back to her housing project roots with this passionate defense of her son. With an example like this is it any wonder why Detroit is a hell hole?

Jesus Loves Coochie and Spankings

Yes, I am probably walking a tightrope over the lake of fire by posting this, but I just got wind of the information. Thanks to my homegirl, DeenaJonesOne on youtube.com and her "Church Hurt Movement", I have discovered that Jesus LOVES coochie, spankings, and apparently Crystal Meth. It seems that Bishop Terry Hornbuckle of the Agape Fellowship Christian Church in Arlington, TX was sentenced to 15 years in prison for raping and drugging 3 women, 2 of which were his parisioners, and one those women being a 17 year old girl.



But it doesn't stop there folks! Renee Hornbuckle, wife of Bishop Rapist, has assumed leadership of the church she founded with her husband (while he was screwing everything in sight) and decided to take both his salary and her salary (although she had done NOTHING to justify being paid by the church... unless you count supporting a rapist as her ministry) and combine it in to one fat salary to make about 16K a month. Not bad for a church on the brink of bankruptcy after being found liable in several civil lawsuits brought by the victims of Bishop Rapist.

Apparently Jesus finds spanking a naked buttocks quite scintillating, but not enough to do it himself. Jesus instead took the form of a paddle and placed himself in the hands of Bishop Sherman Allen, also of TX. Reverend Allen has been accused by at least 35 women of both physical and sexual abuse. True to cult leader fashion, Allen explained to the women that it was God's will for him to spank their asses and then "fill them" with his blessed penis. He is currently in the Bahamian ISLANDS no doubt hiding from people.

For more information about these and other sexual predators running wild in Jesus's Name, please visit bishop-accountability.org.

Now for the ICING on this Sordid Cake

Why do we support people like this? What will it take for black people to abandon these folks and admit that these types of people are pieces of shit... without assistance from "evil white people"? This seems to be a common theme in the black community and it's killing us. Why are we so enamored with Marion Barry, Sharpe James, Bill Campbell, Kwame, Maxine Waters, Sheila Jackson Lee, Alcyee Hastings, William Jefferson and other black elected officials, that we are blinded by their serious lack of personal integrity and honesty? Why do we attend churches pastored by Rapists, Womanizers, Homophobes, and Money Hungry Hypocrites? When will we begin to hold black people accountable for their foolishness WITHOUT attributing it OR minimizing it to a diatribe about "the MAN"?

Some of us have sense, but for the most part, many of us are completely LOST.

Happy New Year!!! 17 days later... DON'T SHOOT ME!!!

It's 2008!!! I have had a birthday (I'm a Capricorn) since my last posting and I've been busy. I had to complete two fellowship applications, debate about my preparation for Law School, and determine what things I'll be improving about myself this year. The other reason for my absence has been my own undoing... laziness! I just haven't felt like writing much of anything lately, but I feel the spark today. This will probably be a very lengthy post, but so much has happened that I want to play catch-up.

New Year, New Start, New/Re-connections

My New Year was EXCEPTIONAL!!! I had an absolute ball as I spent it in NYC with some close friends and one of my cousins who is also gay. It was wonderful being back in my old stomping grounds and I was surprised that while much had changed-much still remained the same. GGG Bar and the Monster were still going strong, Chi-Chi's was the hot spot for the hot boys, and my friends had gotten apartments in Chelsea and the West Village. New York is unlike any place I've ever been to or lived in this country. I spent New Year's Eve in the presence of a very handsome man I met at Chi-Chi's; too bad he was from New Jersey and not DC. It was cool though. After a night and early to mid morning filled with revelry, I ended up visiting family and staying a few nights for the rest of my trip.

New and Re-connections

I met many new people with whom I will probably stay in touch. I also made the end of 2007 my "unofficial" time to reconnect with family members I hadn't seen since I was a child or teenager. During Thankstaking 2007, my mother's family converged on Long Beach, CA for a family reunion honoring the oldest living relatives in our family. It was quite a coincidence that we had both patriarchal and matriarchal representation. See, over the years our family had torn themselves apart over trivial squabbles that were blown out of proportion. Some of the people I saw during that time I hadn't seen since I was 7 or 8 years old; I'm in my early 30's. However, when we all got together and we began to recite the Black Family Pledge during our dinner program, people seemed to forget about all that had happened. My mother cooked enough seafood gumbo (from a recipe that's been in our family for 7 generations and she and I are the only living relatives who know it) for an army and as it seems, there were more than enough people there to devour it. Suffice it to say, we have vowed to keep in touch and we are planning our next reunion in Beaumont, TX and we'll be making a road trip to Lake Charles, Louisiana.

Reconnecting with my Spanish Side

The last time I saw my father was in 1997. The last time I saw anyone in his family was probabaly 1990. There are many reasons why I chose to keep myself from him and his people that I won't get into now. I did have an opportunity to tell why I resented him so much, why he was such an awful parent, why it was time for me to let go of all of that. I do not expect us to start having this idealized, after-school-special, type of relationship. I just didn't want to carry around anymore negative energy. Anger, hurt, bitterness, and resentment affect us in ways that we don't realize until it's too late. I didn't want too late to catch me sleeping. Truthfully, I am sure that there was some cosmic reason for him to be absent from my life when I needed him most. He was in no shape to be a father; active drug addiction, unresolved issues with his own father, and an overall propensity for irresponsibility were reasons enough. At the time that I did live with him, he convinced my mother that he was stable enough to be my father; he lied. Had it not been for my stepmother (my mother was 3000 miles away) and my desire to have a relationship with the man whose sperm created me, I'd have gone out of my mind. At this point in my life though, I think I turned out alright despite everything else. Forgiveness is a beautiful thing and I realize how liberating it is when you practice it.

On New Year's Day, after one hell of a night in NYC, I joined my father, his new wife and daughter, and the rest of the family for dinner. The women all got together and made Siparro (I don't speak spanish, so I'm sure I have butchered the spelling), a stew with vegetables, chicken, lamb, pork, and beef, while the men sat in the living room, drank beer and rum shots, and did nothing. When I went into the kitchen to start helping with the meal, the women started yelling at me (in love and jest) of course, because I didn't fit into the traditional Dominican male role.

Now in my mother's house and in our family, you better volunteer to help unless you're a guest. Even if you're a guest, when you volunteer to help my mother says that it's a sign you have good home training. With my father's family, the roles are very gender stereotypical and specific. Women cook, clean, and maintain the house. The men go out and work, but even if the women have jobs, they are still expected to maintain their domestic duties at the same level as their non-working counterparts. I was uncomfortable to say the least, but I didn't want to offend. Quite an interesting dynamic and everyone spoke spanish except for me. Needless to say, I felt isolated and I think they understood my body language because they stopped speaking so much in front of me. Note to self: Must purchase Rosetta Stone!!!

New Start

2008 promises to be an excellent year for me because I say it will be. This is the year that I'll be applying to Law School and in the fall beginning a health policy fellowship with an opportunity to work on the hill. There are other things that I have in the works, but I'll have to keep you posted as things develop.

ALL THE BEST IN 2008!!!!!