The meat not fit for middle class consumption, the fruit easiest to harvested and the vegetables too lacking in quality to reach the tables of the rich, is what generations had been forced to consume for survival.
This same food made edible with copious amounts of grease and salt, hunger and heat, desperation and hard labor has become a mainstay in the diets of these people’s ancestors.
Generations continue to poison themselves for the familiar taste that is called; cuisine by the poorly informed, peddled as cost efficient grocery by cooperate America and embraced as a celebrated staple of a community in decline.
For what it’s worth, I’d argue there was reasonable doubt. That said, promise me I won’t get prosecuted and I’ll kill her myself.
Personally the story shouldn’t have been national news, we’ve got our priorities messed up. That said, a national story it is and thus my Facebook and Twitter feeds are being sprinkled with “OMG’s” and the like.
It’s a legal issue people, not a personal one. What you feel, think, or even know to be true means nothing without proof. Don’t hate the system, hate the people that are charged with fucking it.
Last night I walked into a CVS in Olney, Maryland. A tiny little town that recently adorns a much more diverse racial make up that it has in previous years. Today, almost 11% of Olney’s population is black, like your truly.
I marched into this store swiftly as I hate to dawdle while shopping, grabbed my blank thank you cards and marched just as swiftly to the self checkout. When a woman, maybe in her late 40′s turns to me and asks “oh, can you help me.” I reply “yes”, and walk her way. Assuming the bags are either too heavy or she’s having trouble with the machine. But no, she wanted me to fix her transaction. She forgot to swipe her bonus card. So I told her ‘Oh, sorry. I don’t work here.” with a smile of course. I take a few steps back and continue to wait in line, when a younger woman injects completely unsolicited “It’s the shirt.”
I thought, “really?” I looked around, and then noticed what I had failed to see upon entering into the store. Every patron at least in my plane of view was white, including these two women. Every employee at the front of the store… was black (and female if you want the specifics). I then noticed something else, all employees where wearing dark blue shirts. While I was a wearing a rather vibrant red shirt. So, how was it the shirt?
I thought it was weird, but went ahead and paid for my cards and walked out of the store before I digested what I had observed. Upon reaching the car I wondered…
Was that racist?
… and if so, what was more racist? The older woman assuming I was an employee or the younger woman feeling the need to explain away the elder woman’s assumption?
So I have this friend, he’s Jewish. I don’t mean that in the “I have a Jewish friend” kind of way, but that would be pretty funny if I did. He has this annoying habit of using the word Ghetto in inappropriate ways, or so I say.
Anyway, I found the perfect font for a creative project I was designing, but I didn’t have the funds available to buy it. I planned to get around buying said font by creating a vector from a large digital picture of the character. My friend then replies “That’s Ghetto”. The conversation continued…
Me: Again, doesn’t qualify as ghetto. Cheap yes, but not Ghetto. If anything it’s Jew of me.
Him: haha, it will be ghetto when you see it. Zoom in 300% and it’s all wonky. But yes Jew too.
Me: Ok. So the process is Jew, but the outcome is ghetto. Compromise?
Him: Yeah, that works.
For the record, I’ll buy the fucking font. So stop yourself from whining. But until I do, I’ll use this vector to mock up my first round drafts.
I was baptized Catholic. Raised in a Methodist Church. I once wanted to be a Brother of the Catholic Church.
Attended Catholic School from Pre-K to 4th grade, and again for my freshman year of High School. I later adopted the “God is a rock star. Religions are fan clubs.” mentality.
I don’t pray, nor do I go to church. I’m a spiritual man, but far from religious.
My kids are both baptized Catholic. My son prays and reads the bible every night. My wife is a God fearing Christian.
I say the above only to give my next statement some perspective. Where as I don’t hope to offend (at least not greatly) I only wish to say…
Every black man, woman and child at some point has discussed this with friends, family and yes – their non black associates. Why, because mankind is a judging race. Wether knowingly or not, we judge and compare one another based on ignorance, experience and stereotypes.
The single worst thing to be viewed as by anyone, in my opinion, is as a coon. It means you take part in acts that bring down the entire race. You diminish our accomplishments, empower our enemies and just look a damn fool. (e.g. Soulja Boy Tellem and Tyler Perry)
Coonery at it’s core is race agnostic. Perhaps better identified as bafoonery.
No matter your background, there are people who’s actions are so ill thought out that everything they do borders on that line. Sadly, VH1 for example has made a very successful series of shows out of such acts.
I think people have forgotten that there is a big difference between Michael Jackson’s music, vision, performance, style, dancing, etc and Michael Jackson the man. The death of the latter is nothing to cry about.
Radio stations across the world are jamming out to the MJ catalog and will be for some time, cool, most songs are from BEFORE 1991. And only a handful as a result of his 2001 album, Invincible. So let’s be clear, your not going to miss him. Because the reality is, for the past 8 years unless he was in the news for being sued, or having some surgery you never heard about him, except through his catalog. And the music isn’t going anywhere. It’s in the same place it’s always been, in the back of your CD book, slowly collecting dust, until some MJ anniversary, 80′s party, or other special event. When you brush them off, and jam out. Reminiscing about when MJ was the best there is.
As for those that are getting all EMO over ill humor and bad jokes sent MJ’s way after his death… grow up. How many of you know the man? Didn’t think so. So how offended can you really be. I could see if these jokes at his expense where complete random lies, but guess what, their based on his life. So if you don’t like jokes about MJ touching little boys, maybe you should be mad that he put himself in a situation to be accused of such things. For the record, I think he touched everyone of those little boys. But that’s neither here nor there.
Before another old friend calls me a hater “you know who you are”, let me explain my position. Michael Jackson, musically *was* the shit. Hell, I wanted to dance like him. He could keep the fashion though. Well he could keep a lot of things, but I can’t deny that Michael Jackson for the better part of 25 years was the best there is. But that was then, this is now. I loved and still do his music, I liked* him as a person, before he got wacko. And that’s where I get frustrated.
He’s not a Martin Luther King Jr, where he could cheat on his wife while preaching the gospel and still be acclaimed a great man. Which in my opinion is contradictory but justified. He’s more like Bobby Fischer. A genius, but some point, lost his fucking mind. And I can’t say that Bobby Fischer was a good man, after blaming American people for 9/11, disavowing his citizen ship, and making all those anti Semitic comments.
I’ve said it before, Michael Jackson, was a man. Just like 40%+ of our population. Man that didn’t just die, but a man that has been dying. The surprise and shock I am seeing displayed on TV says one thing to me, people are blind or just didn’t care. Both would make sense though, cause when’s the last time we really payed MJ that much attention for anything positive.
I refuse to mourn a pedophile, a man who’s appearance would make me not want to be alone in a restroom with him, a man who intentionally scarred himself because of insecurity, a black man that can pass for a white woman. That’s just me. I have nothing to mourn about because the music, video’s and memories that he gave me are still around and will be forever. And that* is all I care about.
