Some Shit I Will Never Forget!

March 9th, Saturday... Living in America is a challenge! There are so many obstacles  to overcome, it blows the mind! Housing is bad. Making decent money is hard. Jobs are scarce.People are cranky. There is a gun problem....A gang problem. Education is inadequate. People are frustrated! And then there is the biggy... RACISM!!!In the land of freedom (allegedly) racism plays a big role in the demise of the fabric of American society. There is no getting around it. It affects everyone! (Even the ones in denial.)
I will never forget my first encounter with racism. It was a very cold and snowy morning on January 30, 1951. It was approximitly 3 a.m. I was the tender age of 3 seconds old when a white, Jewish doctor smacked me on my ass! (That shit hurt!) My mother did not (could not) defend me. She was too busy complaining about her back hurting. I was dangling upside down, being held by my feet like a captured slave. I was hungry and hurting. I felt like I passed through a tight tunnel... searching for FREEDOM! (Harriett, where were you when I needed you?) Ever since then, it has been down hill for me.
I don't know what other people's walk of life is like, but if it is anything like mine, they are in for a rough time. If only a little compassion could be exercised. If only people could be mindful of the fact that we need each other to make things better... Ahhh... What the hell am I thinking? This is America!

Ain't This Some Shit?

February 26th, Tuesday... Considering that this is the end of "Black History Month, I was wondering how much black youth have learned about their history? I work with a psychologist and he pointed out, to me, that Black people (my people) seem to be complacent with the idea that all is okay as long as they have a big screen TV and can order carryout!
Now, I know and have been around alot of poor black folk but the common thread has been that they have a big screen TV and I don't know any black person that does not have a cell phone! (Carryout can be ordered on the run!) Has slavery and the Civil Rights Movement not made a dent? Quiet is kept, slavery is relative. The times, housing, or the lack thereof, the 'Hood are the modern day version of slavery. Black folks are enslaved to the system. We are uneducated, even though there are schools everywhere. Prisons are still being built. Amongst blacks, the crime rate is super high! Black babies are being killed at an alarming rate by, get this, other black babies! Yet the trappings of being on the planet have been reduced to watching TV and eating fast food.
Of course this does not apply to all but it does apply in places least expected. I'm sure my opinion can be debated by those who are cunning enough to manipulate the numbers from the many surveys that aid in determining the censis count and I do not claim to have surveyed anyone. However, I do work in the 'Hood and bear witness to the mindset of the youth of that 'Hood. It's a sad deal...
Black History should not be reduced to a month. There is no limitation on gaining knowledge. A cell phone can be utilized for better use and fast food is, well... need I say more?

A Warped POV by A. Dacosta Brathway

January 23rd, Saturday/ Where was I last week on the Monday that Martin Luther King's birthday was celebrated? I usually get up at 6 a.m. by radio alarm to the Mike and Mike Show on ESPN radio. I was informed that "Greenie" ( The real thin Mike) referred to MLK as Martin Luther "Coon!" I got the information out of context so...
But, I heard that and I also heard that there is a group that is considering starting an all white pro basketball league! (No Negroes allowed!)
Here is my point... Racism is alive and well. It does not go away... EVER! It's like herpes. Now, here's the irony. If Black Americans are so disregarded and disrespected and unwanted in America, why did some dumb ass even have the bright idea to bring us here in the first place?

A Warped POV by A. Dacosta Brathway

April 10th, Friday/ I'm sorry... I cannot do it anymore! I have been doing it for years and now I have to draw the line. I can no longer sit and listen to pro athletes interview for the media. I mean, I don't know what I am listening to anymore? There used to be a time when I could not wait to hear what a popular athlete had to say. Could not wait... Now, what the hell am I waiting for? Do I want to hear Terrell Owens whine about all the attention he is getting for not attending "voluntary" training with the Buffalo Bills, when it is he who manages to be in the right place, right time, when a camera and mike are present? Do I really want to hear that over and over again from him? Change the channel...
Just yesterday I was listening to the sports news and Tiger Woods was being interviewed. I get it! He is the man! Golf was boring until he showed up. So I am sitting there listening to him explain something about his putting or whatever. My freakin' eyes rolled into the back of my head! He just kept rambling on and on... I was wondering when he was going to relate his putting to solving the economics of the globe!
Maybe it's NOT their fault. I remember when MJ was playing. He was never asked about his political position on ANYTHING! Maybe he had an opinion, maybe he did not. Maybe he was reminded about who was paying him and how much his opinion would affect his cash flow if he said yea or nea about an issue. I remember being party to conversation about my race and the expectation of me not repeating it or else.
Whatever. make your deal with the devil and live with it. All I am saying is stop beating "Joe the Fan" over the head with this bullshit. I mean, I do not want to hear an answer from an athlete about anything when I know he/she can be reprimanded and/or fined for "Tweeting" at half time while on the gig. In as much as I understand that there is a question about professionalism, I also understand "plantation" mentality and everyone involved needs to understand their place in it!

A Slice of Burnt Apple Pie by A. Dacosta Brathway

Well rounded fruit w/ a seedy core,
harvested & brought on ships
to bore...
to maintain cheap cost labor
& preserve the favor
of the mindset
of that time...
Looked upon as the
acceptable flavor
when cooked in the Southern ovens
of the cotton fields...
Baked just right
until the crust darkens
& hardens...
w/out pardons until the work is done!
False perceptions fed to like minds,
holding the image of a false Utopia,
living said lifestyle
as the juice drips slowly
from the cracks in between the crust
on the window sills of the big White House.
Sunday mornin' breakfast
is just the right time,
to quarter and make a point
to teach the lesson
by dividing the joints
& dispersed among the gods around the table
to enjoy the fruit of your labor
while you sing freedom songs in the mud
& mourn the loss of your religion & your manhood.

Funny how time just seals all wounds
but the pain still lingers as the experience
is all relative.
"Things are so much better!"
they say while you psychologically suffer,
all ignorant to your mental illness.
Back in the day you came from inventors,
now reduced to relentors
as your History escapes you because of your lack of focus,
watching the daze go by.
Used to be a welcomed sight,
indigenous & all,
now an eyesore as gentrification sets in.
The technology has replaced you
& is less labor intensive,
yet far more entertaining
'cause the "new sex" is on cable TV,
brought to you by BET
or whomever else is shooting
the new rump shaker video
& Master Bates indulges in the new taboo.

(c) A. Dacosta Brathway 2008

A Warped POV by A. Dacosta Brathway

Thursday, July 24th... Last night I watched a documentary CNN did called "Black In America" and I wondered, "why is Black life in America so fucked up?" Why did Blacks have to be schlepped on a boat from Africa to live in this bullshit? Whose bright idea was that? (Well, we know whose idea it was!) It's like it does not matter if you have money, mean and opportunity or if you are broke as hell with no place to go, the quality of life for Blacks is a pain in the ass! Maybe it's me but I find it strange that the color of someones skin can create such a prejudice, and, yet there is this mad rush to tan at every opportunity. Is it jealousy and payback for said jealousy? I mean, if there is a GOD in Heaven and He?/She?/Whatever? and there is a devoted belief to said GOD,and the belief that GOD created the Earth, shouldn't ones discontent be directed to the Creator and not a race of people? I don't get it! I guess that's why politics was created. A system had to be in place to lay the blame on when shit goes down. Politics is like the invisible man that takes the heat for said screw up yet nothing can be done about the screw up because you have to be able to prove who did it; but, it's not clear who is guilty. And, it's justified because it's just the politics of it! I gotta tell ya, my hat is off to the fore fathers who thought this shit up. How cool was it to be able to enslave a race of people, ship them to a foreign land, incarcerate them, be married and also have a concubine, have bucknaked sex with your slave whenever you feel like it in front of your wife, get your frustrations off (when your wife would not give it to you because you had bucknaked sex with your slave in front of her) by beating the crap out of your male slaves, and blame the whole twisted mindset on the politics of the times! AND, the psychological damage that resulted from such behavior has had a lasting effect from generation to generation of Blacks... WOW! AND...AND... It's not getting any better and won't get any better. If there is an "after life," is the same system in place for a Black's soul to endure the same treatment all over again? Is there such a thing as "Eternal Torture?" I mean, will my soul be able to get a one bedroom apartment for $700.00 a month or will gentification set in and my soul will be tossed out on its ass... Kicked to the curb as it were? Oy!