The pariah.

So the Tavis Smiley Negro shunning continues. This time it's his former friend, Tom Joyner, saying less than flattering things about him.

"On Inauguration Day, television personality Tavis Smiley and his friend former Princeton professor Cornel West lashed out at President Barack Obama for using a Bible belonging to Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. for his swearing in. (Never mind that the King family gave Obama the Bible, and attended the Inaugural to witness its use.) That same day, Smiley’s onetime friend and host of the show that made Smiley a household name among many black Americans, slammed Smiley’s comments, saying his former protege is “fascinated with his own legacy.”

Noting that Smiley said in his latest attack on Obama, this time on CBS Sunday Morning, that “Obama is a politician, and a pretty good one, but King was a prophet. And while I can appreciate the president’s fascination with King’s legacy of unarmed truth and unconditional love, I’m feeling some sort of way about King being used symbolically for public pomp and circumstance, but disregarded substantively when it comes to public policy,” Joyner had this response:

… I believe that Tavis is the one fascinated with Dr. King’s legacy, but more importantly Tavis is fascinated with his own legacy, and that’s not good. He wants more than anything to be remembered the way Dr. King was, and to some how make that kind of mark on the world.
Dr. King wasn’t concerned about how he would be remembered, he was concerned with doing good and doing right. In the end, that made him great. Tavis has done a lot of good things but his obsession with becoming great is destroying him. The whole issue with the inscription on the King Memorial illustrates the differences between Tavis and Dr. King. Days before he was killed, believing that death was imminent, Dr. King dealt with it publicly in his Drum Major speech.
Dr. King knew good things would be said about him in death and he was humbled at the idea of it. Tavis is afraid of what will be said about him and it’s driving him crazy. …

Smiley became a regular commentator on Joyner’s top-rated, syndicated morning radio show in 1996, but he and Joyner parted ways in 2008 in the wake of scathing criticism of Barack Obama — who Joyner actively supported — by Smiley, including during his daily commentaries. Joyner has since become a fierce critic of Smiley and West, who have taken every opportunity to attack the Obama administration and the president himself, often in very personal terms.
Much of Smiley’s enmity toward Obama is said to stem from the then-Senator rebuffing an invitation to attend Smiley’s annual “State of the Black Union” panel, which was held on the same day Obama announced his presidential campaign in Illinois. Tavis has denied that, and said he is simply attempting to hold the nation’s first black president accountable." [Source]

I don't think that you can find 20 black people in America who believe Tavis. Of course he is mad because O didn't kiss his ring. And so are a lot of other traditional black folks in the civil rights establishment game. (I see you Cornel)
Obama was smart; he knew that black folks would support him no matter what and that the folks who like to take the lead on civil rights issues would become irrelevant once he gained a national profile. He didn't need their money (not that they have any); he got plenty from left leaning liberal white folks. And he sure as hell didn't need their organizations to help him organize a ground game and help with manpower. He had young white folks and true believers -of all colors- to do that for him as well.

Then, of course, there is the ultimate trump card: his wife. No matter what Obama does he will get a pass among black folks because of his wife. They know that, at the end of the day, they will always have that person whispering something like this in his ear at two o'clock in the morning: "Barack, you know that's f****d up right, you know that should have gone to that little girl's funeral. But don't worry, I will go. " 

Sorry Tavis, as long as O and Michelle are doing the whole Ashford & Simpson bit, your hater-aide is only going to get stronger with each passing day for the next four years.


*Pic from theGrio.com
  






 

Musing From My Barber's Chair

Today I headed to my barber to get that straight razor on my dome. (The Bic throw aways can only go so far) Of course, while in my man's chair, I had some thoughts.

So here are a few of the things that were running through my mind today:

What the hell is wrong with Tim Hardaway's ignorant ass? Not only is he a homophobe, but he is a stupid one at that. He goes on a popular sports program in South Florida and declares to the world: "I hate Gay people". My brother, maybe you should reconsider your position. Especially given the fact that your ass belongs to a class of people that ain't exactly loved, if you know what I mean. All those NBA dollars must have made you lose touch with reality. You have nothing to fear from Gays. It's that straight ass white man that's sitting next to you that your ass better start worrying about.

And while we are talking about foot in mouth. Did the Prime Minister of Australia, John Howard, really suggest that Barack Obama is the Al Qaida candidate? Or some such dumb ass thing. Mr. Howard, may I suggest that you "slip another shrimp on the barbie" and shut the f**k up!

I am thinking that now all of a sudden the MSM has grown some, and are starting to get tough on the frat boy and his Iraqi war policies. Well too late. Where were you during the run up to this war, when the frat boy and his minions were lying to the American people to sell this fiasco? I will tell you where you were. Waving flags and cheer leading with the rest of the idiots over at the FAKE NEWS NETWORK. So too little too late as far as I am concerned. I will never trust the American media again. I will just as soon get my world news from the British press or any Third World rag which employees real journalist.

I am wondering why I can't get into Barack. I mean it seems every one else is, black, and white. Every thing seems in place with him. But something about the brother just doesn't sit right with me. Still, I am not going to knock him just yet. I am glad he is on the national scene and exposing white folks to a brother that's....well, articulate.

I am definitely not feeling Hillary. And I am not sure I get all the black love. I can't forgive her flip flopping on this war, and her seemingly perfect answers to every question. Girlfriend, could you let your hair down for just a minute? You are like a f*****g machine.

This blogging thing keeps popping up in my mind. I saw over at My DD where they are still talking about the "blogger apartheid ". (Yeah, they really do care) And I saw where a poster over there said I had some faux anger issues. "So the rage against the machine bit is self created. If you want to talk about Iraq, or oil, or campaign finance reform, or deficit/debt...there's none of that on FieldNegro" . No partner, my rage against the machine issue is not contrived. There is lots to be angry about. Maybe not for you, in your America, but the America I see everyday makes me really angry. So excuse me if I am not "happy" enough for you. If you want to see or hear happy black people, may I suggest you watch BET, or turn on Tom Joyner in the mornings; that's some happy for your ass. If angry black people scare you, you might want to stay the f**k out of the fields. ~~~sorry Mr. Barber, I was just thinking about something~~~ See that My DD poster, thinking about your ass almost got me a nick on my dome. My barber likes me to be very still when he is working his razor.

So I am thinking about this Anna Nicole thing, and how she allegedly went and hooked up with "Dexter" down in the Bahamas. Girlfriend did not play. But I wonder if she is going to be still America's pseudo sweet heart after that little nugget becomes known far and wide. Somehow I doubt it. I mean multiple lovers of the white persuasion is one thing. But Dexter? You see what happened to Madonna's ass, she had to move to England. Too many "Dexters" in her past.

Is that Colin Powell's picture I saw on the back of my milk box this morning? Where the hell is that brother? I am thinking he is with Condi somewhere, drinking shots and cursing the frat boy.

Thank you Mr. Barber, my dome is looking right. Sorry about flinching there for a minute, I was just thinking about some things.

The Pursuit Of Happiness

Over the holidays I went to check out my homey Will Smith's new flick, "The Pursuit of Happyness". A true story about a self made millionaire, and his struggles with his young son out of poverty. I gave it a thumps up, and I won't front, that bad boy had me tearing up from time to time. But you know me, as usual, I had some issues. Not so much with the movie itself, but with the basic premise of the movie, and some of the hoopla surrounding it.

I will explain: Folks, I have some serious issues with people making parents who do what the f**k they are supposed to do with their children out to be heroes. My home town paper, the "Philadelphia Inquirer", had a front page piece on black fathers who are doing a good job as parents, and how this particuler movie should inspire more to do so. Sorry, I can't glorify Fathers -black or white- who want some kind of recognition for doing what they are supposed to do in the first place. So Will Smith's character being a loving and caring father throughout the movie is what I expected, and unlike I am sure 90% of the movie audience, his doting over his young son did not move me one little bit. I was more impressed with how he had to struggle to overcome the obstacles that were facing him, and his perseverance to make something of himself.

So now that I have got that out of the way, let me mention something else that bothered me. Well, besides Thandie Newton's skinny behind. Thandie, it's called food, you should try it sometime. Is she competing with Nicole Ritchie to see who can disappear first? Geeez!
But back to the movie. There is a scene where Will Smith's character talks about life liberty and the pursuit of happiness; and he pontificates about the the brilliance of Thomas Jefferson inserting that little clause, "the pursuit of happiness" in the Declaration Of Independence. Will's character becomes fascinated with the whole idea of pursuing happiness, and understands that the authors of the declaration did not mean that we should have a right to happiness, just the right to pursue it. This is when the light goes on for him, and to him, this is what life is now all about, it's what motivates him, and ultimately leads him to a life of success and wealth, and off the streets of San Francisco.

But it got me to thinking. Just what is so great about that little clause; "The pursuit of happiness?" Why is that a good thing that Americans value the pursuit of happiness, right up there with life and liberty?I mean I get the whole John Locke thing, and the new settlers trying to carve out their own utopia away from mother England. But maybe that's what's wrong with our country. Too many people just pursuing happiness. It's probably why we have so much crime and violence-can't pursue happiness without money-and probably why we have so much selfishness, and ultimately such a shallow population of people. Quick, who is the Prime Minister of India? Don't know? Quick, who was the lead singer of Destiny's Child? I know I know. Of course you do; Beyonce is helping us pursue happiness. Who isn't happy every time we see that booty shaking?

Maybe Thomas Jefferson, when he inserted that little phrase, didn't realize that there would be so many things to make us happy in 2006. It seems that there is so much happiness and the pursuit of it in America, that everything else is way on the back burner. We will do anything to be happy wont we? Take drugs, spend all day on our PlayStations, drive around all day in our whips, chase the skirts....hey, just pursuing happiness. And my question to black folks is this: Just what the f&*k are you so happy about? It's a laugh a minute with us. I mean my man Tom Joyner does some good things, but have you ever listened to his show in the morning? Yuck yuck yuck just a constant laugh track with that crew. Happy! Pursuing happiness on the radio, what a great formula for success. Especially with black folks. But the framers might have been smarter than we thought. Stick that clause in there, and keep black folks pursuing happiness, they will be too preoccupied with that pursuit to do anything positive with their damn lives. And when they realize that they are not happy; just still poor broke and miserable, they won't look at us, we just guaranteed them the pursuit of happiness. No one ever told them that they would be happy.

Why can't we pursue spiritual gratification, peace of mind, a healthy outlook on life, self worth, and dignity? I mean if we had all those things, or at least strive for them, wouldn't we be happy? It just seems that we have it all backwards that's all. Pursue happiness and hope the other stuff should come, when it should be the other way around.

In the movie, Thandie's skinny behind does a ghost move on Will. -She just wasn't happy, Will never had any money and she was always working- so in her pursuit of happiness, she left the most precious commodity she, or any other human being can have, her child. Isn't it ironic, by pursuing her own happiness she hurt the one she should love and made his life unhappy, leaving poor Will to pursue the happiness all by his lonesome.

I hope I didn't ruin the movie for you. Again, it was good and definitely worth seeing. So please don''t let my ruminations dissuade you from seeing it. Once you get over Thandie and the whole Darfur chic thing, you will be fine. Just remember to keep the whole pursuit of happiness thing in perspective. Before we can get to the happiness part, we have to go through the pursuit; and trust me, the pursuit part is hard work. As long as we understand that folks we will be fine, then we can enjoy the happiness part a whole lot more.

Before I go, I want to give some props to Oprah Winfrey. Yeah I know I have been hard on girlfriend in the past, and I have killed her before on this site. But you know what? Girlfriend just dropped 40 million of her own money to start a school for troubled girls in South Africa, and that's alright with me.

Now some folks are complaining; "why couldn't she have done that here in America?" Well get over that s*%t. Why should she? It's her money, and there are plenty of very good schools and opportunities here in America already. Our kids don't need more schools , they need less Play Stations, and MP3 players. They need to get their lazy behinds in some books and get motivated. All the money in the world won't help some of our kids over here, it takes something much deeper, and Oprah realizes that. She realizes that these girls in South Africa are motivated, and they will make a difference in their country one day.

In the fields book, that's all good, because the world does not end at our borders.

So go on Oprah with your bad self, I might even have to reconsider my Aunt Jemima comments about you.

The field is out.