Obama's Blueprint for CHANGE

Since lots of political pundits have questioned whether or not he's just a motivational speaker as opposed to a politician who has a vision for this country (read: more than just rhetoric), here's Barack Obama's "Blueprint". No Jay-Z or KRS ONE.

The Black Bonnie and Clyde

This is the type of ish we really need to be on when we talking about Bonnie 'n Clyde, "ride or die" chicks", etc. This isn't some 'ole hood shyt, it's some of that GOOD SHYT!

I didn't get the opportunity to blog about it yesterday but I am sure - unless you had an emergency medical procedure, your child was born, or you are oblivious to anything current in the news - you know that Barack sewed that shyt up yesterday.

Obviously, congratulations are in order. But if we think he had a fight on his hands with Billary, just wait...

But back to the picture above. That picture really makes me proud and happy. It's makes me smile to see how she looks at Barack. You KNOW she loves this dude. And I might be the only dude bloggin' that'll admit it, but I'm looking forward to seeing that look.

Barack and Michelle can have such a positive impact/influence on Black folks just by being in the position that they're in as a married Black couple with children. A Black President? A Black First Lady? And they look happy too?! Sheeeeeiiit! We NEED to see that. Even if he doesn't win, I hope they continue to show them together smiling, nurturing, and supporting one-another. Because more of US need to see that and have that shoved in our faces on a daily basis instead of all the other crap we see/hear.

The Writing is Officially on the Wall

And it reads: "Bow out gracefully."



Props to Jay Smooth for the video.

Reverend Wright: This Focking Guy

"That ni99er crazy girl! Don't say nothing to him!"


Ok, he probably isn't crazy. But he doesn't seem all that bright at this point either.

When the shenanagins surrounding Reverend Wright (now known as Obama's former pastor) first started, I remember having several conversations with friends asking: "Why didn't he just come out and immediately say that his statements are just that, HIS statements. And that they may or may not be a reflection of the beliefs, principles, or politics of Barack Obama." That's like giving Barack an alley-oop for what most people think was a slam dunk (his speech). Opportunity squandered I guess.

When asked, most people responded along the lines of: "He and Barack probably talked about it when it first hit the fan and Barack probably asked him not to say anything." Reading between the lines, I think people meant this to say that Barack didn't want him to say anything so he could seize the opportunity to give his speech on race. I didn't so much buy that idea and I still don't. I don't think they spoke about the comments Reverend Wright made when they were first aired to the American public and I definitely don't think Barack asked him to not say anything.

What I do think is that there is tension between the two that probably existed from the moment those videos first hit the airwaves and the tension increased exponentially after Barack straight-up denounced Reverend Wright's comments (which didn't seem all that crazy to me anyway). I'm sure Reverend Wright didn't appreciate that considering he's known Barack for quite a long time.

But Reverend Wright could have spoken up a long time ago and separated his sermons from Obama but he did not do that. Instead he sat in the background for a month and a half and probably contacted Obama after the speech (in which Obama denounced his statements) and I assume Barack said something like:

"Look Rev, I respect your opinions and I understand why someone might have those thoughts and suspicions. But you have to understand that you are focking up my run for the presidency so I had to say something. There's no way I can do what I want to do for this country if I am associated with statements that I don't believe in or feel are conducive to bringing this country together rather than dividing it. So I'd appreciate it if you just do you and Imma do me."

I'm sure this conversation might have hurt the Reverend's pride a bit considering he is the man up in Trinity and Barack is really just a church member (not even a deacon for that matter).

So perhaps, after some time to think about it, the reverend decided he needed to speak up for himself and tell people how he really felt.

"M*therf*cker for WHAT!?!"

He waits a month and a half to reintroduce himself (and more importantly, his controversial speeches) back into the spotlight. And seemingly just so you can try to assuage your own ego while saving a little face? I don't get it! Reverend Wright gets the media all worked up (again) about an issue that was losing steam and in the midst makes himself look like the lead character in a minstrel show to those who don't understand the nuances of how Black preachers preach. Once you take that style of preaching out of the pulpit and to the American masses, someone's going to NOT understand. A lot of us Blacks know that in a lot of Black churches the pastors are almost like entertainers. Charismatic and humorous but at the same time poignant and uplifting. But the rest of America doesn't necessarily know this. They haven't sat through those sermons. Reverend Wright has to realize this or he's an idiot, which I don't think is the case at all.

But let's be real here. I'm not naïve enough to think that the media isn't manipulating these videos and how they are presented to the mainstream American public. And the man has a right to say what he wants and also a right to defend himself if he feels it's necessary. But why wait so long? Why do things during your (post-controversy) speeches that could be completely re-purposed and misrepresented? Why not just turn the volume down a little in hopes of not undermining Obama's run at the White House?

It seems like Barack is wondering the same thing and also trying to separate himself even farther from the Reverend. I don't blame him!


(Props to Notes from a Different Kitchen for posting this video.)

I think what we have here is a case where Reverend Wright felt like Barack betrayed him, which is not something I completely disagree with. But there's a time and a place for everything. I'm not so sure this was the right time for him to come back into the spotlight. At least not this way. Barack just lost Pennsylvania and needs to re-gain some momentum and the heat had died down a bit from those Reverend Wright's videos that were brought to light. But it seems to be more about Jeremiah Wright and his selfish pride than about the larger goal of getting a man in office who may be able to do great things that change the American landscape to the point where Reverend Wright won't have to make those "God d@mn America" comments ever again. But the Reverend seems a bit short-sighted and self-centered if you ask me. Not that you did, but still.

Put yourself ahead of the greater good. Serve your own personal agenda and potentially undermine Barack's run at the White House just to save some face fairly long after the fact? I don't get it. As religious leader I'd think that Reverend Wright would want to serve the greater good rather than himself and his ego. Or maybe I've got this entire situation confused.

Be A Ni99er Too...What the Fock is NaS Talking About?

Maybe I'm just slow and I need to think more like NaS is suggesting in the picture above
After listening to NaS's new track, "Be A Ni99er Too" a couple times I couldn't help but find myself trying to figure out exactly what the hell is his point. What is he attempting to say in this song? Is there some sort of cohesive, sensible message that he's trying to convey? I swear I can't tell.

So I figured the best way to attempt to figure out what he's saying would be to transcrib the song and read the lyrics. And that's just what I did...

NaS - Be a Ni88er Too

Turn your radios up. You are now allowed to listen to the radio. The real ni99ers are back, on the radio.

No slacking, no beggin, no asking, no fasting/
No disrespect to Islam no Imam or pastor/
No answer to questions the media's asking/
Why we fight each other in public/
In front of these arrogant fascists/
They love it/
Putting old ni99ers verse the youngest/
Most of our elders failed us/
How can they judge us, ni99ers/
There's verbal books published by ni99ers/
Produced by ni99ers genuine ni99ers/
So I salute my, ni99ers/
Not mad cuz Eminem said ni99er/
Cuz he my ni99er, wi99er, cracker friend/
We all Black within, ok/
We all African, ok/
Some Africans don't like us no way/
A killing happened in Johannesburg(?) yesterday/
Slain artist name Lucky Dubai(?)/
Hijacked, some say NAACP keep us sidetracked/
But I don't buy that, I buy Aston Martins/
Faster cars than, NASA causing, sparking while riding/
Critics, eat a d*ck! Journalists see I'm rich/
With this N-Word jargon I'm just starting, b*tch!/

[Hook]
I'm a ni99er, he's a ni99er/
She's a ni99er, we some ni99ers/
Wouldn't you like to be a ni99er too/
To all my k*ke ni99ers, sp*ck ni99ers/
Guinea ni99ers, Ch*nk ni99ers/
That's right, ya'll my ni99ers too/
I'm a ni99er, he's a ni99er/
She's a ni99er, we some ni99ers/
Wouldn't you like to be a ni99er too/
They like to strangle ni99ers, blaming ni99ers/
Shooting ni99ers, hanging ni99ers/
Still you wanna be a ni99er too/
True

Wake up in the morning/
Shake my third leg in the toilet/
Uzi on the nightstand/
I'm the man you go to war with/
Not the man you go to war against/
Patience, I get you/
If that means I can't sleep a whole year/
Imma get you/
I'm official not a tisket or a tasket/
I put you in the casket, with biscuit or the ratchet/
The smoke of biscuits that plants your trees/
Advance shyt weed (?), don't forsake us/
Ya'll all are fake bloods like movie make-up/
I flow tight as Tootie braces, who he hating us/
I'll be on the state bus in shackles if my 8 bust/
Cause ya'll some tellers, opposite of bankers/
I'm the shyt for ages, my clique still real cubie gangstas/
Clique still moving like Free Masons/
So if I'm on the flow from the law/
It's lodges all across the nation/
NaS is bred for the plan/
To hold a Grand Dragon's head in my hand/
Come and get me here I am/

As can sometimes be the case with NaSiR, he seems to be all over the effing place with his content. But giving him some credit, there are other times when he can be pretty on-point (ie - American Way). But in this song, there are only a couple places where he seems to make some points that are cohesive: the hook and a couple bars in the first verse. Which is to say that overall, this song has no real cohesive theme other than exposing his desire to say ni99er as many times as possible. Now that's some ni99er shyt.

In the first verse, NaS goes from asking why we (by we does he mean ni99ers or Blacks or both...WTF?) embarrass ourselves by fighting each other in public and how the older and younger generations of Black people have difficulty understanding one-another. He even goes so far as to ask how can our Black elders judge us when they're ni99ers (in the eyes of whoever NaS wants the oppressor to be, he's not very clear on that either by the way) just like us. I interpreted this as a direct diss of Bill Cosby. But hey, that's just me. But after making those semi-thought provoking set of statements he goes on to make a couple statements that I'm not sure how to interpret.

When he says, "there's verbal books published by ni99ers, produced by ni99ers, genuine ni99ers" and then salutes his "ni99ers", is this something I'm supposed to embrace and be proud of? Or is it some form of verbal satire that NaS is entertaining himself with? I can't tell. After that, he goes on to let us all know that he's not mad at Marshall for saying "ni99er" which no one (myself included) ever really cared about years ago when it was dug up from some recording Em made when he was 16. But for some reason NaS needs to address it 4 years later but also call Em a wi99er and cracker in the same sense. Which I interpreted as a sort of ghey way of dissing Eminem. And last but not least, NaS stops to give the NAACP an indirect shot-out before talking about how he buys fast cars and is rich (again, is this part supposed to be satire or what?).

As I mentioned before, the hook is the only place where NaS seems to have all his thoughts together. Unfortunately, it comes with the price of listening to him run through a littany of racial slurs before poking fun at those who want to ridicule ni99ers while simultaneously wanting to be a ni99er (too). This is a point that has some validity to it but it would have been nice if he expounded upon it a bit in the last verse. But of course, he starts off the final verse with a description of some ni99er-esque shyt that he (and TIPPORD) would do followed by his plan to hold a Grand Dragon's head in his hand. So maybe that whole verse was about tooling up to battle the KKK and/or other white supremacy groups? Maybe. Or maybe it was just NaS prevaricating indirectly about a means toward Black supremacy/equality the same way he's prevaricated about being gangster-ish when everyone knows he watched all that shyt from his "Project Window". Ha, made you look!

I'll admit that I thought NaS was crazy for calling this album "Ni99er". I figure it's mostly a publicity stunt. But I don't mind that so much if he brings attention to some serious issues and suggest ideas for moving forward (not like dumb-azz Damon Wayans trying to trademark the N-word and use it to sell clothes). Bringing attention to racial issues and suggesting ways to move forward is what people were calling O'Drama courageous for when he made his speech on race (which by the way, has seemingly been all but forgotten about a little over a month later), right? Maybe NaS is gonna go off on some more Black Republican Democrat type ish.

But I'm starting to become fearful (after hearing this song) that NaS is going to have his heart in the right place but end up doing a horrendous job of conveying the points he's trying to make and thereby turning this opportunity into a fantastic debacle.

Think about it, NaS does have a history of building up momentum and then not living up to expectations.

But, time will tell.

---

UPDATE: It sounds like NYOIL and (gasp) Peter Rosenberg agree with me. Specifically in NaS not using this whole N-word album title to really drop some knowledge. I gotta admit that I'm not a fan of Rosenberg's interviews because he tries too hard. And NYOIL is of "Ya'll Should Get Lynched" *fame* so it's not tough to see why he might feel the way he feels.