On Black People and Visiting Museums

Ok. I saw this article that said Michelle Obama attacked American museums by saying they are only for White people. 


This particular sentence stood out, "If black kids don’t think that museums and other such places are “places for them,” then that is a problem with black culture, NOT our museums."


All I could say was GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE WITH THAT BULLSHIT!!


Really? So that's licence for the curators to team up so one could talk about the exhibits while the other can follow and stalk the kids?

I remember going on a field trip to the Old Courthouse and the Jefferson Memorial as an eighth grader in the St. Louis Public School system. There was another school that was there as well, so we all went together. I kept thinking, why were the White kids were touching everything? The curators specifically told us not to touch anything because the oil on the fingerprints will degrade the artifacts over time. That was told to us before we even started the tour. Well a couple of Black kids noticed (including myself) so we were whispering among ourselves about the situation. We decided to perform an experiment. One of the Black kids tried touching the same artifact after one of the White kids did. The vigilant curator ignored the White kid touching the item, but was quick to tell the Black kid that they couldn't touch anything.


This happened throughout the museum. I didn't learn anything pertaining to the curriculum aside from what I already knew. But I learned more than I bargained for.

I suspect the kids didn't learn anything either. From that point on, every time I hear about the Old Court House and Jefferson Memorial, all I could say is "Maaan Fuck those places! "

All I came away with was. "That predatory behavior really takes the fun out of learning."

BUT today, I try to visit art exhibits whenever I can. And I always have that feeling of people watching me with piercing eyes just to make sure I'm not touching anything, or "getting too close".

Good Cops verses Bad Cops

I know what you're thinking. You're thinking I'm HELLA late with this post.  For that, I'm sorry. BUT as for right now, here is my take on it.

Any time a police brutality incident pops up, people are quick to put on their cape and say, "Not ALL cops are bad."

Well, let's talk about that for a minute, shall we?

Usually, someone that says this sort of thing may have a loved one who is a cop. They feel like the loved one is unfairly getting bashed because of their profession. They see it as a personal attack on their family.

I get that. 

But relatives belonging to the cops mentioned in this article complete with FBI statistics  may have said they were "good people" and "good cops" as well.
Here's what happens when "good cops" do their jobs:

This particular officer tried to stop her partner from brutalizing

 someone. She reported it within the precinct. As a result, 

she was fired, and denied pension.


This officer was fired for going "rouge", and was terminated because of how she handled several situations. She considers herself as a "peace officer"

This particular whistleblower decided to expose the fact that 

Oxnard police officers would go get tattoos after they 

shoot people.



And here's a facebook page dedicated to "good cops".

Now, of course that's a small bit of information regarding good cops, but what I'm seeing is that the good cops end up being retaliated against for reporting bad things being done by fellow officers. They also get fired. 

But there was one cop who worked in such a hostile environment between his coworkers, that he ended up writing a manifesto and decided he'd expose the corruption and go after the people who treated him wrong.

That officer's name was Christopher Dorner.

And that's why I tell people to GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE whenever they say "Not all cops are bad." Because the only reason the good ones are still in the precinct is because they turn a blind eye whenever corruption within the force shows up. 

On the Baltimore Riots, and WHY

After all of this mess that has been going on, you'd think people would understand the message. I mean, history tells us that Black people have been killed by various methods, lynched, burned, beaten, killed, spat on, and countless other morally reprehensible things done to them that postcards and footage from the Civil Rights marches didn't capture. They have been kept out of schools, the opportunity to own property and get loans with FAIR rates only to be met with a fake meager attempt of forced integration when it came towards getting employed.

Not only that, any time some sort of perceived success has been made, all the shade gets thrown by various methods, be it getting pulled over,somebody accusing said Black person of being an Affirmative Action case,or somebody damaging your property as a passive aggressive attempt to put you in your place. And when that isn't the case, their intelligence gets ignored, undermined and snubbed.

And THEN people want to say things like "I don't understand why they tear down where they live... I don't get it." I refuse to engage with people who don't "get it". They "don't get it" because they refuse to look at it. They don't want to get it. They just want to perch up in their chairs and survey the situation and play stupid.

Then they say " What if that was your business getting looted?" I'd say the following:

If it was my business getting tore up, I would defend it. BUT I would also make sure I am a part of the community by hiring people in it, and I would invest money into it, and I would invest in the product I bring into the community. Not only that, I would make sure the people know me, and appreciate me. That should be basic business etiquette.

People tore up the neighborhood because they pay taxes anyway and are still not being treated fairly. They figured, why pay for mistreatment, and disrespect after they've asked for it to stop over the course of many years. They don't actually own any of the stuff in the neighborhood, so they realize it isn't theirs. Taxes pay for that. Their taxes.

So a combination of paying for a bunch of shit that isn't even theirs, that's owned by people who make sure they keep reminding people about their lack of ownership, while harassing them whenever they DO get a little bit of ownership (car, decent job, etc), to the possible point of getting beaten up or killed because of it. And having to raise their children in that environment << THAT'S why they tore it up.

Last time I checked, it sounds like the people are rioting because of taxation without representation. And as long as it continues, shit will get tore up. I'm just saying.   

"This is NOT your hood. You don't own that"... << On Protest Chants.

For those who don't know. I've been active on the social justice front. Two particular chants that had been circulating around the Ferguson protests have made me cringe. That chant went as follows:

This is what democracy looks like! Whose streets?! OUR STREETS.

Newsflash people...


This article is what democracy looks like. Pay attention. These are not your streets.


This article is exactly why I cringed so hard when people were chanting about democracy and who owns the streets. Read this article and read it carefully. I've been trying to tell people about my feelings towards those chants and why people think I've "changed" a bit. I have not changed. This article clearly explains my thoughts. Think about that the next time (because we KNOW damn well, there will be a next time, after all how many people have died after Mike Brown in Ferguson?) you go to a protest and decide to chant with the people, or come up with your own chant. Think about it. That's why that chant could GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE WITH THAT BULLSHIT.That is all.

Baltimore and Freddie Gray

I will spare you from the typical rhetoric regarding riots, MLK, "destroying where you live" and "respectability politics".  All I have to say is this:


Remember how the media will portray you.

Watch how you move. Be swift, be calculating, be deliberate.

Be Smart.

Watch how people move, and move accordingly.

Consider all angles before you react, and do so with precision.

Stay safe, and follow that method, Black people (and anyone else who may be out there protesting).
Learn from everything that happened in Ferguson.

That is all.

Will Stack: I Know You're Young, BUT Courtesy Won't Save You

So apparently, a young man by the name of Will Stack weighed in on how a Black person should behave once they find themselves dealing with police officers. The people loved it. Here's a link to the article regarding how the response went viral. WMC Action News 5 - Memphis, Tennessee




Here's my take on it.

If the cop has it in his head that he wants to mess with you, he's going to do just that. Now, I was in a situation where I was arrested for a very short period of time. They took my mugshot and everything. I had a warrant for a very short time due to being out of state. Once I returned, I went to court and paid the fine. BUT not before the officers talked about me like I was a rare fish they caught last weekend while out on the lake. One had his hand on his gun, and was joking about the situation. I thought I was going to either get tazed and beaten, or killed, so I did what I thought would work in this situation: I looked at the officer whom had his hand on his gun. I looked at him dead in his eyes and then slowly looked at his gun, and then gradually raised my head to look at him in his eyes again. I paused and stayed like that for at least 30 seconds. He lowered his head as if he knew what I was trying to say. His smirk turned into a troubled frown, and he looked ashamed of himself. I remained cordial and calm. Long story short, they ended up just giving me a ticket and banning me from the area for a period of time. I never shopped at that mall again.


Needless to say, I could have been shot that day for selling cologne on mall property. I was in a situation where there were four cops in a small room. There was only one witness who could testify on my behalf, and I suspect that wouldn't happen, since she was only given a warning. I suspect that she would have just gone the easy route in order to save her own ass.


Now, granted, I shouldn't have been there. I should have been doing something else. BUT that doesn't give anybody the right to decide whether I should die or not based on the fact. I just find it funny that people will call a child abuser/molester , "troubled" and will want to seek help for said person, but will advocate death for someone who may or may not have stole some small item, had a broken tail light, not paying child support, or (insert any minor crime here).


Now they have this kid all up in the spotlight, telling people to be cordial to the police. They are making this kid some kind of poster child/young adult in order to further their agenda. They want to say "See? If he can do it, so can you. Just don't be rude to the cops." I will tell you that cops will kill you if they get it in their heads that they could, and you could be as cordial as you want to be. It doesn't matter.

The Kyle Jenner Challenge << My take on the matter.

So I saw this thing called the ‪#‎kylejennerchallenge‬. It's a method that allows a person to plump up their lips by sucking on a shot glass or something similarly shaped to the point of bruising themselves. I have to say something about this because I remember White people making fun of those with "big" or "thick" lips. In fact, they also made fun of women with big butts. The women they talked about were Black. And now, they're clamoring to get big butts and lips in order to achieve that look. In fact, when Angelina Jolie got popular, folks were saying how beautiful her lips were, but would twist their faces up in disgust whenever they saw those same lips or butts on Black people.
I just find it interesting how trends are mostly started BY Black influence, but the Blackness is never appreciated in its original form. That seems to go for ALL American art, fashion, etc that started through Black people.
I'd like to take the time to let people know (I'm sure quite a few of you already know this, so I'm probably preaching to the choir at this point. ) that Blackness is NOT a commodity