Soledad O'Brien: Why are you so God Damned Chitlin' Eatin'?

CNN - The Chitlin' NEWS Network sank to an all time low in my book tonight with the Negro in America miniseries.

In true Chitlin' eatin' fashion, the mulatto too asheamed to be a negro, Soledad captures all of the wonderful tidbits of what it means (in her bi-racial, irrational, white mind) to be black.

I still find it hard to believe that a person who has made it her life's work to avoid being classified as black, would have the ability to host such a segment.

CNN gets an F and so does Soledad.

I am seething as I write this, but I needed to get my knee jerk reaction out first.

F*CK YOU SOLEDAD, YOU DIZZY ASS! (Thanks for checking me on that focusedpurpose; you are indeed correct and I apologize.)

Amen.

Desensitization to Crime, Apathy, and No Snitching ... Unless There's a Monetary Reward

This morning I decided to take a stab at riding the Metrobus because I had to attend a meeting with a branch of the DC governement. After stopping at Starbucks for my usual Venti bull's eye (regular coffee with 3 shots of espresso), I boarded a bus heading in the direction of my final destination and overheard several people talking about the rash of weekend violence that claimed the life a 13 year-old in Washington, DC.

Now to put this child's senseless death into context and to discuss what I overheard, I think it's woth mentioning that the neighborhood in which the shooting occurred has been designated as a NSZ.

NSZs or Neighborhood Safety Zones are implemented in Washington, DC by the Police Department. Checkpoints are set up around a perimeter of the NSZ and police require all vehicular traffic to stop, identify their purpose for being in the neighborhood, and require drivers to have valid identification. In true DC reactionary, knee-jerk fashion the NSZ was implemented in a neighborhood that police had forgotten about until the rate of gun-related homicides began to increase exponentially. As a result the NSZs were announced, the residents of the NSZ complained and are suing the city (with the assistance of the ACLU) for violating their Civil and Constitutional rights.

I'm ambivalent about the efficacy of the NSZs because of a variety of factors, but since I do not live in a NSZ (yet... DC is GHETTO... all of it!), I can't necessarily sicount them completely.

As I listened intently to the conversations occurring during my semi-short bus ride I became enraged and then disgusted and then ashamed and then mortified. Apparently, people in DC are so accustomed to crime and lawlessness that fear isn't keeping them from engaging in crime prevention and community policing; apathy and opportunism are.

The 13 year-old boy was killed during a drive-by shooting in which his 23 year old cousing was the target. The 13 year old was visitng from Mobile , AL and was staying with his great-grandmother during her initial chemotherapy to treat her cancer. His mother was also shot but was not critically or seriously injured.

The animals who killed this 13 year old approached the grown cousin and said " wassup" then began to rain gunfire on the man on the boy. When the smoke cleared, the boy was fatally shot and the grown man still alive. The killers were never apprehended and the 23 year old isn't talking to police too much. a 50,000 reward has been offered for information leading to the arrest of the punks responsible for the shooting and apparently that's not enough for the people on the bus to be motivated to "snitch" on someone.

Much to my chagrin, the excerpts below are parts of a conversation that burned in my mind as I began to think about writing this post.

Overheard:

"Chile Fiddy Thowsin!?!?! (with expression of incredulity for emphasis)" , "Dat ain't no munney ta git me tawlkin! Ah needs about Two hunnid befo' ah snitch!"

I looked in the direction of the man stupid enough to actually utter such nonsense and my facial expression radiated my disavowal, disapproval, and disbelief. As if random acts of murder, rape, and violence aren't enough, people now have to have an incentive to take pride in their community and actively engage in crime prevention.

Overheard:

"Yeah, Ah know whut you sayin' cuz my cuzzin was kilt ovah in Muhrilyn and dey ain't git nobody ta tawlk unteel dat munny got right."

I sighed as the conversation had just gone from bad to much worse. At this point the bus driver chimed in.

Overheard (from the bus driver):

"Well, Ah grew up in da hood, but Ah'm a big ole' SNITCH and Ah need dat fiddy thow! Ah wish ah knew sumthin'! Hell, I'll tell on you anyway if you doin' sumthin' wrong! Ah werk too hard to be scared in mah own damn house! Damn that!"

I SMILED. Then I began to join the conversation. I asked the man why a 13 year-old's life isn't priceless and why ANY reward money is necessary for anyone to do the right thing in the first place. He responded by telling me that he was just keeping it real and that he didn't want to be a snitch. I got off of the bus because I had reached my destinantion although I missed my stop because I was running my mouth.

It's okay for him to be an opportunist though and the sad thing about this whole sordid conversation was the fact that many people on the bus, all of whom were black, nodded in solidarity. Then I thought to myself, Is this why our communities and families remain broken? Have we become so jaded by crime that in order for us to do anything about it we have to expect some type of monetary compensation?

A while back, Gina McCauley coined a phrase, "immoral indifference" to describe Black Leadership's response to a brutal gang-rape that happened in Dunbar Village. A few month's ago I cross posted a piece by Professor Tracey of Aunt Jemima's Revenge about The Soul on Ice Effect on the lives of black women. While Professor Tracey's piece was specifically related to the lives of black women and children, it has implications and relevance to this discussion.

What a sad chapter we've reached in the annals of black life that makes us collectively, immorally indifferent to crime.

What would you do if you knew information about a crime?

White Flight has Ended and Negroes were too Stupid to Realize how it Happened

Conner Doherty of The Wall Street Journal, one of my favorite papers, wrote an interesting piece on the end of "White Flight" and the acceleration of gentrification in America's chocolate cities.

He describes how some blacks have adapted and how some are still struggling to remain a part of the urban fabric.

Read the full story here.

CNN PRESENTS: Black in America on July 23 and 24, 2008

This should be an extremely intersting series that I am looking forward to. I hope it's not as disappointing as Soledad's previous attempts at trying to explain blackness to Americans.

I was already turned off by that spoken word teaser about this series, but to be fair, I will watch it.

Black In America- A CNN Investigation-Airing July 23rd &24th
Uploaded by thatsfunny

This is probably one of the few times that I'll be glued to the television. Watch the teaser trailer and plan to tune in to CNN!

JESSE JACKSON, Sr.: Portrait of a Chitlin' Eatin' Negro

So I am sure that many of you who read this blog are aware that I am not a fan of the self-appointed, reverendish, media-whoring, negro leader types. It's not that I am anti-Christian or anti-black leadership, but rather, anti-status quo. Jesse Jackson represents the worst of Civil Rights Era rejects who are struggling to maintain relevance. Dr. William Jelani Cobb poignantly talks about this in his nationally syndicated column.

Although I told my blog sister, Professor Tracy at Aunt Jemima's Revenge, that I was going to refrain from posting about this, I'll have to take that lie back because Jesse Jackass, Sr. needs to be gotten together!

Obama gave a very stirring speech about black fatherhood on Father's Day at an Apostolic Church in Chicago that boasts 20,000 members. Unfortunately it was met with mixed reviews by blacks and whites alike. There were two principle arguments that people took to make their points.

One thought was, "Yes! Tell it like it T - I - is!"

The other thought was "Stop going all Bill Cosby on black people! You can't talk down to us in front of white people!"

My thought was "Yes, Barack... take some of these fools to task because the only time they think of fatherhood is while they are getting a nut after getting their dicks wet."

So why is Jesse Jackass the focus of this post? By now I am sure that you all have heard the story circling the internet, that "Jesse wants Obama's nuts". He chided the Illinois Senator for being condescending to amoral black people, specifically men. He also scolded the Senator and candidate for POTUS and got a little pissy with him because Obama stepped on his toes. Jesse Jackass, Sr. is a philandering, womanizing, hypocrite. Armed with a hard dick teeming with active sperm, he sired a bastard child with a black former UGA history professor (yes, she had a PhD and STILL CHOSE Jesse), Karin Stanford. Where is this child, Jesse?

Why are you conspicuously absent from this child's life? Why do you want Obama's nuts in your hand when you can't even hold on to your own?

To the chitlin eatin' negros credit, he immediately issued an apology, but to me, he still hasn't manned-up for it.

Instead of criticizing Obama for calling SOME black fathers out for being trifling, call yourself out for being the very man Obama was encouraging some men not to be.

I am not too sure that Obama's remarks were disparaging or embarrassing for black people because black folks know the truth. Sure, there are some great black fathers, but they are NOT in the majority.

Black households are still headed by single parents and those people, the majority of them are WOMEN. The men are absent.

Let's cut the bourgeoisie bullshit and own our problems so that we can create solutions. The first thing we can do as men is be RESPONSIBLE providers for ourselves and families. For black boys, let's become more involved in MENTORING them and engaging them in the rite of passage from boyhood to manhood, whatever that may be. Let's abandon the contrived, uber-sexual, ideal of black masculinity and teach our boys that it's okay to be married, partnered, or in a stable and loving relationship before trying to sow their oats. In cases where the traditional nuclear family isn't applicable, let's still teach men to be providers and protectors and define what that actually means.

For those of you concerned with how black folks calling other black folks out looks to white folks, I've got news for you. White people already know that black people, black men in particular, are fucking up royally. I don't think they even care because they are too busy trying to sanitize their own image.

What makes Obama's remarks resonate with so many people, even if they disagree with his approach, is the fact that Obama has the moral authority to make such statements and take such a stance. Jesse can't do it. Cosby can't do it and Al can't do it.

Criticize all you want, but that man has a point about black men needing to take on the onus of rearing, protecting, and providing for their families.