St. Louis Police Get Their Kicks In...

For those of you who haven't already heard or read about this, here's a story of yet another alleged police brutality situation involving a black male.

I only know what I have read and what the video shows. So here's what I think.

1) When you run from police, you get f&cked up if they catch you. Every young black male assumes this and they expect this. It's NOT to say that is right and should be accepted by any means, but that's just the way it is. So when you run from the cops AND ram a police car, you're gonna get beat down excessively. Why? Because when you run you piss police off! I remember when I was in high school and me and my boys got caught up and we had an opportunity to try and run from the police. The officer said "Don't run! Because when you run and I catch you, you're gonna pay for all that running I did!" Even before that experience, I knew that police will beat the crap out of you if they feel the need. So to ram a police car might get you shot (not just beat up)! This dude rammed a car. In a police officer's mind, this probably means that their life is being threatened. And even if it's not, they're so mad that you had the audacity to ram a police car that they're gonna take their frustrations out on you.

2) This may not be the popular opinion among Black folk, but I think that this wasn't all that excessive. I mean, it was some extra kicks and ankle stomps in there that were unnecessary. BUT, I can imagine the struggle that went on and I am pretty sure that this dude wasn't exactly saying "Okay fellas, just cuff me". He was resisting arrest. And as we always see. These supposedly well-trained cops really just turn into scared human beings like the rest of us and go into survival mode when they have to subdue someone who's not trying to get cuffed. Again, I am not saying that they needed to use as much force as they did b/c I would have to have been there to determine that. BUT, I have seen worse and I think that dude set himself up by running from them and on top of that ramming a police car. He didn't deserve it, but he should have expected it.

3) If you don't commit the crime, then you don't have to worry about getting your a$$ beat down. Don't run from the police. Don't ram a police car. Then maybe we won't even have to worry about determining whether you were beat to a pulp or beat just enough to cuff you and laugh at you in the squad car on the way to the station. CRIME DOES NOT PAY!

R.I.P. - Coretta Scott King

For those of you who have not heared already, Coretta Scott King (wife of Martin Luther King, Jr.) passed away today.

If you're like me when you think of her you think the phrase "Strong Black Woman"! And it's not even about being black, but moreso being a strong woman. R.I.P.

Decisions

"The man who insists on seeing with perfect clearness before he decides, never decides."

-Henri-Frédéric Amiel

Some decisions in life are extremely hard to make. It appears they can affect how the remainder of your life plays out. They cause mental confliction, confusion, frustration, hesitation, and procrastination. These are the toughest decisions any human being has to make. These are the decisions that we wish we could see into the future and tell what the outcome would be. The options are clear but the possible outcomes seem cloudy. In the end, the fear of not knowing will eventually be suppressed by the internal pressure to make a decision. Hopefully that decision leads to happiness.

The fear of making the wrong decision also crosses in your mind. But the fear of not making one at all leaves you with no choice but to decide. Is it the right one? You'll see in due time.

REVIEW: Match Point

Went to see this last night with T. It was okay. Much better than having to see Brokeback Mountain I'm sure so I can't complain too much. The movie was okay (even with all the Brit-ish accents) up until about 20 minutes from the end where it seems that writer and director Woody Allen got writer's block.

The plot of this story is that an old tennis player (Chris) becomes a tennis instructor and ends up being an instructor for a rich British guy (Tom). Chris and Tom become friends and Tom introduces Chris to his sister (can't remember her name) and his sister is smitten by Chris. Chris is eventually introduced to Tom's girlfriend (Nola, played by Scarlett Johanson). Chris basically falls in love with her at first sight. So now Chris is in love with his good friends girlfriend while he's dating his good friend's sister. Eventually (even after sleeping with Nola) Chris marries Tom's sister. Throughout the marraige he has an affair with Nola (once she has broken up with Tom). Of course, at the end of the movie all things come to a head and Chris has to make a fatal decision. I can't give the rest of the story away though...

It's worth seeing for a matinee price if there's nothing else to see in the theatre. I can't say that I enjoyed this movie all that much. Yet, at the same time, I can't say that it was horrible either. If you just want to go out and see something and there's nothing else available, check this one out. Just remember that I warned you about the lack of good writing toward the end of the movie.

RATING: 3/5

VIDEO: American Idol...My pick so far

Okay, I'll admit it. I am kinda becoming a follower of this show. Normally I am a like a MTV teeny bopper following all the MTV reality shows (except that one with Travis Barker) and Big Brother, Flavor of Love, the Joe Schmoe Show, Beauty and the Geek...All that stuff people say "Why would anybody wanna watch that stuff?" to...That's my main source of entertainment. Aside from Sportscenter, of course.

So anyway, I watched Idol a few days ago and only one person stood out to me on this show and it was Katharine McPhee. Take a look for yourself:

VIDEO: American Idol...Second Episode I Kinda Watched

Last night's episode was entertaining (as the first few usually are). However, there was one moment in the show that pretty much made my jaw drop. Some dude comes on and sings "Let's Get It On" by Marvin Gaye and prior to singing, he makes it obvious he's got a "thing" for Ms. Abdul (she's ayight...why not, right?) So anyway, homeboy proceeds to sing "Let Get It On" pretty well and he's kinda got me thinking "Okay, I'd give this dude a 'Yes' for going to Hollywood." Then he gets so pumped that they're feeling it that he starts serenading Paula personally and keeps asking her to come up so they can dance while he sings.

First off, I didn't think paula would do it because of last year and all the Corey Clarke (I'm upset I remember this clown's name) stuff. But then I thought: "This guy's of age, go get you some Paula!" So eventually both Randy and Simon get Paula up there and homeboy slow-dances with her while he's singing. And once he's done the judges vote on him (with Paula standing there beside him like she's his girl or something).

So anyway, they all give homie a "Yes" and he's pumped. So pumped that he picks Paula up and carries her off to the door as he's leaving.

HERE'S THE RINGER:

As he's carrying Paula to the door, his WIFE is coming in the door to congratulate him. YES! WIFE! This dude was in there basically hitting on Paula "Str8 Up Now Tell Me" Abdul while his wife was outside. I thought it was some effed up shyt to do myself. But after watching how he acted even after his wife was there, I can tell that he's got some sort of Jedi-mind trick on her.

This whole thing caught me off guard because I KNOW that no matter how siced I was about the Idol, I'm not picking up ANY WOMAN and carrying her with her legs wrapped around me out to celebrate with my wife. As Whitney would say, HELL TO THE NAW! That's just not something I would do. His wife seemed cool about it. But I kinda thought he made her look silly...To me at least. Anyway, you know ya boy got video of the whole thing...See 4 yaself!!! Now YOU tell ME that this whole situation is kosher...

VIDEOS: East Coast -ish

Not that I'm showing favoritism here but I just found these online and I remember when this used to be my SH&T!

Various Artists -- John Blaze
("Even if I stuttered I would still sh-sh-shit on you!" - Pun)



Capone - N - Noreaga (CNN) -- Ya'll Don't Wanna
(When a dude mentions his paralyzed finger in a song, he really means what he's saying.)

Official Street Cards

I am not so sure about these cards:



http://www.officialstreetcards.com/

Seems like these are going to tread the line between humorous and offensive pretty closely. I like a good joke here and there, but oftentimes I find myself laughing while simultaneously saying "That's just wrong!" This might be one of those situations. Just like watching the Boondocks the other night and they had an episode where Martin Luther King, Jr. was still alive and gave a sermon/speech at a rally (that was actually promoted as a party) and used the word "nigger" incessantly. That kinda made me laugh but at the same time had me saying "Damn, that's kinda effed-up!"

Anyway, alot of times I think that products like Street Cards and other Malibu's Most Wanted type products are created by people outside the black community who have no true knowledge of what they're really depicting. But a lot of times these companies hire people from these neighborhoods who are used to give them ideas for these products. So while I may find some of these cards funny (I ain't gonna lie, I may), at the same time I will have this internal confliction as to whether or not I should be upset by it or humored by it.

One of my favorite songs/videos...

I recently got a mixtape called "The Best of Jay-Z" from my man BHill and it's got Jay'z verse from the song below (4 Da Fam) on it. It reminded me of how much this song siced me when it first came out.

"You gotta drop Amil cuz if you gonna cop suntin' you gotta cop for real!"

Damn Kobe!

81 points??? Did anybody else even score?

http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/5270892

As much as I dislike this dude's "punkish" personality, I have the utmost respect for what he does out there on the court. He is pretty amazing sometimes. Gotta respect his game!