COMMENTARY/ by A. Dacosta Brathway

New York/ It's been almost a week now since the NBA draft has been held and it is still at the top of the sports talk list. That being said, I started thinking about what went down that night at Madison Square Garden and there was one thing that struck me. Is the "hip hop nation" now reverting back to some clothing choice sensibility? I do not usually watch the draft from year to year so it struck me as odd how sensible the brothers looked that night. What happened to those long ass preacher's jackets and those big ass baggy pants with the Stacy Adams "square toe Gators?" I can still see Jalen Rose in that hideous red (pin stripe)suit... DAMN! It reminded me of the beginning of Spike Lee's film, Malcolm X, when Denzel and Spike took that bamma ass walk through town with those suits on in those weird ass colors. But who knows what can and will happen next year? The style may go right into something even weirder than I have ever seen! I probably should have video taped the draft this year to have something to compare next year's draft with. Upon further review, why do I even care?

Poetry Dept: Real Rappers Grab Their Roscoes by A. Dacosta Brathway

Pumped up on pumped out lyrics,
Cause and effect hysterics…
Modern day mind control on
Strapped straphangers...

Hanging...

Vying for protection, and attention
Accessorizing baggy jeans w/ boots and pitbulls,

Platinum crucifixes anointed by false gods,
Preaching rhetoric to the empty domes…

Chickenheads cluck their displeasure about the negative stereotype(s) they perpetuate, while pulling that tight g-string out of their ass.

You need to be schooled so you won’t be ruled by the likeness of the Virginia Laws,
Set in place w/ all its flaws…


“Where ignorance is bliss,’tis folly to be wise,”
Behind the bravado, you can hear the cries!
Amid all the hurt, the ignorance and pain,
“The more things change, the more they remain the same!”

(c) A. Dacosta Brathway, 2005