Guns, religion, and a vote for Hillary.

I honestly was not going to blog about the "O" man until after the debates next Tuesday, but apparently the "O" man went and put his foot in his mouth while talking to a bunch of fundraisers. So here we go again. Just when it seemed like white A-merry-cans were ready to forget his preacher, he goes out and tell a bunch of fat cat fundraisers that small town A-merry-cans are bitter, and ( I am paraprhasing here) that they are preoccupied with things like guns and religion. Well, forget paraphrasing, here is the quote: (Which, by the way, happens to be a true statement)

“You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them...And they fell through the Clinton Administration, and the Bush Administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not.
“And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”

Well Obamaholics, I don't know what to tell you this time, except that your boy is making it very tough for himself. Mrs. Field (a confirmed Obamaholic) was watching CNN tonight and I couldn't tell if she was madder at the anchor for continually playing the audio or the "O" man for being dumb enough to put himself in that position. The irony is that it was a Huf Post reporter who broke the story. ----Apparently this reporter never leaves home without their trusty tape recorder.

Poor "O" man, I understand his frustrations with small town Pennsylvanians and small town A-merry-ca. But "O'"man it's not bitterness why some of them will never vote for your black ass, it's something else. And failing to call out the elephant in the room is fine. But if you are going to do that, you should just not say anything at all. People are questioning your political skills for a reason. A real politician would not have said what you did in public. I don't care if those big wigs in California were giving you a million a pop. Just shut up. Don't give the Ice Queen and Mr. Morton bulletin board material. Now they are all over you for this latest little misstep, and once again, you gave the Ice Queen new life.

Now some clown on CNN is saying that this is a watershed moment for your campaign and that on a scale from 1-10 this is an 11 in terms of damage. Well I don't think it's quite that bad, but it ain't good. I had you losing Pennsylvania by about five percentage points, which would have been a victory for you. Now, I don't know, I am thinking you lose by at least 13 percentage points, and maybe more. This could have bad implications for you at the convention as well. Now all of the Ice Queen's Super Delegates are going to be telling the other Super Delegates to switch to the dark side, and your little California comments might just have given them a reason to do that.

So Obamaholics, I sure hope your boy survives this latest mess he put himself in. But if he doesn't, today will go down as "Black Friday" for everybody who ever jumped on the good ship "O".

Will you take a check?

"AND ACCOUNTING OFFICER.
FOREIGN REMITTANCE DEPT. (BOA) BANK OF AFRICAN,
ACCRA, GHANA.

Dear friend, TOP SECRET RE: TRANSFER OF ($6.5 USD) SIX MILLION FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS) I want to transfer to overseas the sum of ($6.5 USD) SIX Million Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars) from a Prime Bank in Africa . I would like to ask you to quietly look for a reliable and honest person who will be capable and fit to provide either an existing bank account or to set up a new Bank a/c immediately to receive this money, even an empty a/c can serve as far as it can receive money. I am DR MARTIN YARO. An accountant and personal confidant to late Mr. George A Roberts who died together with his wife in a plane crash on the October 31st 1999 on their way to attend wedding in Boston, he is an American, a physician and industrialist, he died without having any beneficiary to his assets including his account here in Ghana which he opened as his personal savings for the purpose of expansion and development of his company before his untimely death in 1999. The amount involved is ($6.500.000.00USD) SIX Million Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars), no other person knows about this account. I am contacting you for us to transfer this funds to your account as the beneficiary, I want to transfer the whole $6,500.000.00 (SIX Million Five Hundred Thousand USD) into a safe account abroad, but I don't know any foreigner. I am only contacting you as a foreigner because this money can not be approved to a local person here, without valid international foreign passport, but can only be approved to any foreigner with valid international passport or drivers license and foreign a/c because the money is in US Dollars and the former owner of the a/c late Mr. George A Roberts was a foreigner, and as such the money can only be approved into a foreign a/c. I need your full co-operation to make this work fine because the management is ready to approve this payment to any foreigner who has correct information of this account, which I will give to you, upon your positive response and once I am convinced that you are capable and will meet up with the inheritance procedures. At the conclusion of this business, you will be given 40% of the total amount, 55% will be for me, while 5% will be for expenses both parties might have incurred during the process of transferring. You should observe utmost CONFIDENTIALITY AND SECRECY in this transaction, and rest assured that this transaction would be most profitable for both of us because I will require your assistance to invest my share in your country. You should fill this form below and send to me immediately as soon as you receive this letter:



Your Full Name: ..................................... Your Telephone: .................................Your Age: .............................Sex…………………………..
Marital Status: .......................Nationality……………………..
Receiving Country: .................... Trusting to hear from you immediately.Sincerely DR MARTIN YARO"



Sorry Dr. Yaro, I will pass.



Hey how many of you get this shit in your e-mail boxes every day? These schemes from my cousins in Africa, trying to separate the rich A-merry-cans from their money. Honestly, I think the shit is kind of funny. I like reading them and seeing the different ways they try to pull off the hustle. Of course most of the time the grammar is so fucked up that it's almost laughable to read them.



And still they try. I must get at least thirty of these attempted hustles in my inbox every day. You would think that if my cousins can sit at a computer keyboard all day and type this kind of shit, they would at least try to put their skills to some good use. I mean can't one of these credit card companies hire them to do some customer service work like they do the Indians? I am just saying.



So on and on it goes, and tomorrow there will be more letters from the rich bankers in Africa.
And tomorrow some sucker here in A-merry-ca will bite.

The lollipop theory.

"Field have you ever seen a half eaten lollipop?"

A girlfriend of mine used to ask me that question. When I asked her what that was supposed to mean, she explained to me that a man will use something up until he can't use it anymore. If he sees something he likes he will always go back for more. Thus the half eaten lollipop theory. "A man will never really break up with a woman" she used to tell me, "because as long as she lets him he will always go back for more lollipop". Okay, I must confess that the "half eaten lollipop theory" never really made much sense to me, I always figured that it was a woman thing and you would have to be one to really understand it.

But now, as I get older, I think I am starting to get it a little more. I am starting to see how it plays itself out in more dangerous and sobering ways.

So having said all of that that, I have a question for the women reading this:

If you have two children by a man---- let's say they are two years apart, and five years later you find yourself alone and not receiving any financial or emotional support from him. And for whatever reason, let's say he comes back into your life. Do you now have yet another child with him, the same man? And after you have that child, do you now sue him for support for all three children, and then damn the court system when they can't force him to pay because he doesn't have a pot to piss in?

I mean if you have the potential to be a lollipop, shouldn't you make sure that you know when to tell the eater to stop.

I am just wondering. Sometimes I have to try and find ways to blog about real life shit. And sometimes you folks have to give me some real answers.

Should it be Black or black?

"It's all a bunch of crap. Americans are Americans are Americans. I am of Irish, Dutch, English and German heritagebut I am not called European-American, just American. Why can't we all just leave it at that. I you live in England, you are British. If you live in Germany, you are German. If you live in Africa, you are African. And if you live in America, you are American. ENOUGH ALREADY!"



That comment was from a poster named "Chief" who was commenting on a message board where i happened to be lurking. They were talking about capitalizing the b in black and the w in white. The question was; is it proper to do so?

Now i know that the PC set will always capitalize the B when they refer to us black folks. But please don't do us any favors, it's just a fucking letter in a word, it won't improve one public school or get one single illegal gun off the street.


This fine Afrospear blogger had a problem with the Houston Chronicle not capitalizing the b in black, and it prompted an interesting discussion. And note Francis Holland's comments in the comment section of that post: He is right of course, some white people lose their natural minds when the B in black is capitalized. As if black folks are going to somehow become empowered because there is a capital B in black. (See "Chief", that's why we can't just leave shit in A-merry-ca, because people get hung up over a capital fucking B)



But it's an interesting question, and i have gotten e-mails in the past about it. "Field why don't you capitalize the B when you write the word black when referring to black folks?" Ahhh because it's a color designation and not a reference to a race or nationality. Now to be honest, i am such a lazy ass writer, and i have such disregard for such things (just ask my grammar coach woozie) that there might have been a time or two where i might actually have capitalized the B in black, and i probably went on to write the b as lower case in the very next sentence. And if someone looks hard enough, i am sure they will find posts where I capitalized the W in white, and where i used the lower case w as well. My writing is just schizo like that.

If i am referring to an Asian, a Native American, a Caucasian, or a Negro, i will always capitalize, because that is an ethnic designation. But if i am referring to someones supposed color, well, as my man Borat says; "not so much". "But field what about the word colored?" Nope, i won't capitalize that either. That is still referring to a form of color designation, and besides, us black folks don't even like that word anymore. So "colored" will always have a lower case c when i use it. You will never see me capitalizing "colored". Never!

And a countries' first letter will always get capitalized, even if i spell it funny. So i will never start A-merry-ca with a lower case, because, well, it's a country, and A-merry-cans deserve more.

Oh well, maybe one of the smart people who comment here will tell me what is proper and what is not. i know one thing i am going back to capitalizing i. My ego can't take this lower case shit anymore. Yes, I like this a little better.

The fried chicken candidate.

"There are no automatics in life that all black people are going to support a single black candidate in a race...All black folks don't eat fried chicken or eat watermelon..."

That was my Mayor, Michael Nutter, talking about how some black folks are giving him the fuzzy eye ball because of his support of the "O" man. Indeed my Mayor is one of the more high profile African American leaders supporting the "Ice Queen" these days. It has put him front and center into the national spotlight, and has made him a must get for many media outlets who want to hear from one of the five black people in A-merry-ca who don't support the "O" man.

Now I happen to love fried chicken ( I will kill for some Popeye's), but I can't stand watermelon. And I suspect that there are some black folks who love watermelon but can't stand fried chi.....I take that back, I don't think there is a black person in A-merry-ca who doesn't love fried chicken. So you are wrong Mike, all black folks do like fried chicken. So think of the "O" man as your political fried chicken. Black folks love the guy, and as he gets closer to the White House , they are going to love him even more.

I suspect though, that my Mayor doesn't really care about that because I really don't think he has aspirations for a higher political office. And if he does, he won't need a majority black vote to get it. My Mayor has always gotten a lot of love from educated white folks and just enough of the black vote here in Philly to make him politically viable. That won't stop now, and he knows it. So why not take a shot and support the "Ice Queen"? I also suspect that there is some political pay back at work here. The "O" man supported Nutter's opponent, Chaka Fattah, in the last Mayor's race, and I don't think Mike has forgotten that.

Still, I am going to upset some of you Obamaholics and say that Mayor Nutter has every right to support the Ice Queen if he thinks that she is the best candidate. And like he said, why don't white folks ask Teddy Kennedy why he is supporting Obama and not the white candidate? You are right Mike, we don't all have to like fried chicken and watermelon, and people shouldn't expect us to. You are free to like your chicken baked, and mangoes instead of melons. But it would be nice if we got a really good reason why you are supporting lady Hillary. Especially since we know that our Governor and the rest of the party machine is supporting her. It would help if you were just honest and up front with us and told us that you were supporting her because it's the shrewed political thing to do. I don't like watermelon because of all the seeds, and for some reason it always makes my stomach feel funny when I eat it. So why doesn't my Mayor like the "O"man ? He says he likes Hillary because she understands the "tough issues facing America's cities". But does she really? To believe that, you really have to be wearing blinders. Honestly, I think that my Mayor hedged his bet a little too early. He jumped on the Hillary bandwagon and can't jump off now. To his credit, he has stuck with with his guns, and he is staying on the good ship Hillary no matter what.

All I can say Mike is that if the "O" man wins you better make up with him fast. I don't want my beloved city to suffer because of your poor political calculations. You better send him some cheese steaks, soft pretzels, and season tickets to the Sixer's games (I hear he loves his B ball). If that doesn't work, you might want to consider some fried chicken from Delilah's. I bet he likes fried chicken like the rest of us.

I can't suspend my disbelief

“I stood in line for a very long time that night to shake his hand. And he was gracious, and he was kind to lean over to shake the hand of a 14-year-old girl ... from the suburbs of Chicago, who went to an all-white church and an all-white school, and lived in an all-white suburb. But he didn’t ask me, as I reached out my hand, ‘Where do you live, what is your experience?’ He just took it and looked in my face and thanked me for coming.”
"He even laughed uproariously when I confessed that I was, nevertheless, a staunch Republican and a Goldwater supporter."

I hate piling on, but Hillary and these convenient recollections are starting to get to me. Why do politricksters do that? Why do they have to personalize every tragedy and event to find a connection to it? Does Hillary, for instance, think that black folks are all of a sudden going to vote for her because she shook MLK's hand when she was a little girl? What the fuck is that all about?

"But he didn't ask me, as I reached out my hand..." Huh? Like what the hell was he going to ask you? Assuming this story is true-- and there is a very strong possibility that it might not be-- , are we to believe that King was wondering where this little 14 year old girl lived, and whether she was from an all white neighborhood and went to an all white school? Are you fucking kidding me Hillary? Here is a little newsflash for you my former "Goldwater Girl": damn near every little 14 year old white girl went to an all white school and lived in an all white neighborhood back then. So assuming again it's true, what made your situation so special?

I keep saying assuming it's true, because something about Hillary's account just bugs the hell out of me. Has anyone ever heard Hillary tell this story before? Anybody?........ yeah I didn't think so. You would think she would have mentioned this story somewhere to somebody. To a friend, a colleague, at a previous King event. Somewhere.

Again, I don't want to pile on, Hillary has been having a tough few days and the last thing I want to do is add to her misery. Honestly, I don't dislike the Ice Queen as much as some of you Obamaholics, but it seems that the Ice Queen has been stretching the truth just a little bit lately.

"I walked into my dorm room and took my book bag and hurled it across the room."

Okay Hillary, those were rough times for all of us. But did they even have "book bags" in 1968?

I am just sayin :)

In Praise of Philly.

"I don't know what it is but I just never got the vibe. Field if you would or if you have summed up that which is black Philly point me in the right direction"


That quote from a commenter,"pamalicious", (who has a pretty *nice blog by the way) got me thinking, and inspired this post.



What is it about Philly that I love so much? I know I am always ripping my hometown, and lord knows I talk about more negative shit than positive (my running Killadelphia murder count is a good example), but honestly, I love my hometown. For every reason I can give you to hate the place I can give you two to love it.




"Pamelicous" says her Mom still lives here and she is dying to get her out. My question to her would be why? If her Mom has been here all of her life she probably understands the city,and what makes it tick. To love Philly you have to understand it. It's why most outsiders don't get it. It's why they look at the old buildings, the trash, the grime, and say get me out of here. They look at some of our old stark and bleak looking city blocks, that look like an old Eastern European City, and they wonder, what gives?




Here is the deal: Philadelphia has a soul like no other city in A-merry-ca. I know because I have traveled and spent some time in damn near every large city in this country. And none of them, not Los Angeles, not Chicago, not Houston, not D.C., not Atlanta, have Philly's soul. Notice I excluded New Orleans from that list, because they do have Phily's soul. That is (or at least it was before Bush's storm) a real city. I worked in L.A. (first job out of undergrad), and with all due respect to my man Cobb and the other Angelistas, L.A. is a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there anymore. Too far from shit, too much smog, and too many phonies. Atlanta? I know it's supposed to be the new black mecca but it's just not my cup of tea either. Too new, too shallow, and too close to the rest of Georgia. And although I do love cities like Houston and Miami, I am sorry, they are just too damn hot and sticky for my taste (I don't live in Jamaica now for a reason ).




Give me my adopted home town of Philly right here in the Northeast corridor. When you think Philly, you think Philadelphia International, Doctor J, the Liberty Bell, Cheese Steaks, and the Declaration of Independence. But Philly is so much more. For instance, I am a couple hours from D.C., just an hour and change from New York (two cities, by the way, which I happen to love). I can drive to the beach (or as we say here in Philly, the shore) in an hour, I can drive to the beautiful Pocono Mountains in about the same time, and I can catch a direct flight home to Jamaica or damn near any city in the world, right out of Philly International Airport.


There is so much untapped potential here that it's scary to think about. Hundreds of first class universities within a stones throw of each other. Including three of America's best; Penn, Swarthmore, and Princeton. I could go on and on. A world class arts program and orchestra, great restaurants, a diverse international community, five sports teams, big five basketball, unique neighborhoods, each with their own vibe.-- If you ever come to Philly make it a point to go to Manayunk. You will think you are in some quaint German Village in the Bavarian mountains--- South street, our Avenue of the Arts, (screw Broadway) The Benjamin Franklin Parkway, which is a pretty damn good knock off of the Champ De Elys in Paris. Great Jazz (Coltrane made his home here). Our Mural program is a must see in the neighborhoods, Boathouse row (sorry Baaastan, the Cambridge doesn't have shit on the Schuylkill), you get the idea.



Now there is bad shit too. The people here can be pretty edgy with very high bullshit detectors. Most of our white folks here come from three major ethnic groups, and they have zero liberal guilt. They don't think they had a damn thing to do with slavery, and they damn sure aren't going to be sympathetic to black folks and our struggle because we happen to look a little different. They will tell you how white folks really feel about us black folks, and I like that. Many of them are poor just like us black folks are. (Philly is the first place that I saw a white bum in A-merry-ca) They struggle for shit just like we do, and they fight us for their piece of the pie with unapologetic openness.


People who live and breathe this city get all of that. We understand the nuances of the people, and we love it. When we step outside the door every day we know what to expect. We know where we can and can't go, and we know what it takes to survive here. In many ways, Philly is like a Third World Country. (Which is probably why I love it so much). There is great wealth, and great poverty, and if you know the right people, you can get damn near anything done that you want to. The political parties are the biggest employers, and the taxes are high. But every Philadelphian understands that, and we chalk it up to cost of doing business. None of that self righteousness that you see in other cities. Here, we are corrupt, and we know it. And as long as our politicians deliver the goods, they will get elected every time.


I know I talk about them like dogs from time to time, but I love the people here. I wouldn't want to pick a jury anywhere else, because I understand them, and they know that. We have a trust factor with each other than only someone who has lived here and connected with the city can understand.


So "pamalicious", I hoped that helped. There is so much more, but in order to experience it and really feel it, you have to live it. Next time you come to Philly to visit your Mom shoot me an e-mail, and I will try to make a little of that happen for you.


Mayor Nutter I will be expecting a check soon.

*The blog I featured earlier on the link was "Mamalicious" and not "Pamalicious".

Sorry for the mix up ladies :(

Give him some credit.

I have to give it to Mr. Morton, it took big ones to show up in live and living color to the King celebration yesterday in Memphis. He stood up, spoke, and apologized for voting against the King Holiday in the early eighties. He knew that he would be booed by some of the folks there (and he was), but he stepped in and let the chips fall where they may. Good for him for showing an independent streak. (Maybe Chris is right about the guy)

Of course, you really have to love the fact that some rethuglicans were losing their minds. "Why did he have to do that? Don't people realize that when he voted against the King Holiday it was for economic reasons? We didn't need yet another paid federal holiday at the time. Two of our greatest Presidents (Lincoln and Washington) have to share a day (President's Day) why does King have to get one all by himself?" I am sure that quite a few people in that camp wanted to just pull Mr. Morton by whatever hair he has left, and just smack the hell out of him. And some liberals were up in arms too. The guy voted against the King Holiday in 1983, and they don't want him to forget it. Those liberals; always willing to score political points on the backs of their most loyal constituents.

Look, I know there is still probably a chance that he did it for political reasons ---Probably. Because you really have to wonder if he runs against Barack or Hillary if he could possibly get more than 5% of the black vote ---. But I will give him the benefit of the doubt on this one. He said he was sorry and he realized that he was on the wrong side of history. And the guy said that he is going after the black vote and not giving any quarter to the dems. I suspect that if the nominee is Hillary, and she uses some nefarious means to get it, Mr. Morton could be looking at double digits from the colored folks.

But there are still quite a few A-merry-cans who are on that side, the wrong side. So Mr. Morton might actually lose some white votes by reaching out to us colored folks. I don't think they realize how important King was to this country. At a time when most blacks were fed up with the so called A-merry-can dream, and were about to do something about it by any means necessary; King was telling us (black folks) that we are a part of the A-merry-can melting pot, and that this country could not be truly great until all of its citizens could participate in building it. The thought of a non violent movement in this country was unheard of. When had A-merry-cans ever achieved anything without violence? Never! So the idea of a non-violent movement was groundbreaking. Adopting the strategy that Gandhi used against the British in colonial India,worked. Embarrassing A-merry-cans into living up tho the ideals that they liked to brag about so much.

I will also cut Mr. Morton a little slack, because he was kind of preoccupied when the civil rights movement was reaching its apex and A-merry-ca's cities were exploding. The other folks, well, they don't get any slack. All A-merry-cans should be thankful for King. But they treat him as if he is a black A-merry-can hero and not simply an A-merry-can one.

So good for you Mr. Morton, I am glad you have seen the light. Now let's just hope that you can lead some of your right wing friends to it.

Too close for comfort.

I know folks here in Philly have a certain reputation for being bad asses. There is nothing brotherly about this city. We can be crude obnoxious, and downright ignorant at times.

So I was not surprised to see the "O" man confronted on a South Philly street by one of our own the other day. Honestly, it's the first time that I ever saw the "O" man actually lose his cool. " I won't be smiling. Because you're wearing me out". But Philly folks will do that to you---cause you to lose your cool---hell we booed Santa Claus for crying out loud!

What did surprise me when the "O" man was confronted by that overzealous picture seeker, was the behaviour of the people who are paid to protect him. I mean how the hell did the guy get so close to the "O" man for so long in the first place? I am sorry, the secret service agents just weren't as zealous as I have seen them in the past. In fact, I don't think I would be out of line if I said that they were damn near negligent. Which begs the question: (You know what I am going to ask next). Why this type of treatment for the "O" man? Would these agents, who are sworn to protect him, really put their own lives on the line to save the Senator from Illinois? Hmmmmmm, I am not so sure.

Hey, all I can say is thank goodness that all that obnoxious man in Philadelphia wanted was a picture. What if he had wanted infamy? What if he wanted to save A-merry-ca from getting its first black President? I am telling you, it could have gotten really ugly in South Philadelphia.

Thankfully it didn't. The guy was an obnoxious jerk, not a killer.

But did the secret service know that? I sure hope they did.

BLACKS ONLY

If you are white and you are about to read this post, stop! Do not read anymore. This post is for black folks only.......

Okay, I am not serious, this post is not actually going to be for only black folks, but I am trying to make a point here.

A judge in Atlanta recently threw everyone out of his courtroom (everyone meaning the mostly white lawyers), because he wanted to lecture the black defendants who made up 99% of the defendants who were in his room that day. Now his Honor is catching a lot of heat from folks in some quarters, and they are crying reverse racism. "How would he like it if a white Judge kicked every black person out of his court room because he wanted to lecture all of the white defendant." Personally, I wouldn't feel bad at all. Especially if all the white defendants in the court room were a bunch of juvenile delinquents who I was sick of seeing in my court room, and all the lawyers who were charged to defend them were a bunch of black guys.

I honestly understand where the good Judge was coming from. I can't tell you how many days I sat in a courtroom and had to see black defendant after black defendant being brought in to face the wrath of a white Judge, while being defended by a white lawyer. And for the record, I have seen black Judges lecture black defendants in ways that white Judges could not. And you know what, I don't have a problem with that. In many cases that will be the first time that any of them will have had to listen to a stern word or form of admonishment from a black male. So good for the Judge.

"But field how would you feel if you were a White person and the Judge kicked you out." Well, I would hope that I would be like the white folks who come to this blog. I really wouldn't care at all. Because I would understand that the Judge was frustrated and that there were certain sensitivities that only he could speak to. Now from a strictly legal point, I would probably have some issues. I would certainly want to make sure that my case was not being prejudiced in any way. But hey, that's what motions and appeals are for. Besides, the Judge told CNN that he was probably wrong to handle the situation the way he did. But sometimes we get frustrated and you know what, I can relate.

"In retrospect, it was a mistake, "Because my sheriff said to me, 'Judge, that message should be given to everybody' -- 'Don't violate the law, make something out of yourself, go to school, find a role model, somebody that will help you advance your life.'"

No it wasn't Judge, desperate times call for desperate measures. Unfortunately certain people in this country will always pin nefarious motives to situations such as this where race is involved. "Yeah you gotta watch this blacks, they stick together. He might be telling all those defendants not to worry, that he is going to give them all light sentences. See, that's why we shouldn't give them any power, they always abuse it". Give me a break!

Good for you Judge. I hope you gave everyone of those knuckle heads a good talking to. And if they even acted like they didn't want to listen, I hope you literally threw the book at them.

40 years later.

"The great civil-rights leader was besieged from all directions that season. Estranged from the White House for his stand against the war in Vietnam. Ridiculed by young blacks who thought him out of touch with the new militancy of guns and separatism. Tormented from within by depression, fatigue and a haunting presentiment of his own death.

In Memphis, death had already come.

Sanitation workers Echol Cole and Robert Walker had climbed into the back of one of the old garbage trucks to get out of the rain. But as the vehicle rumbled along, the hydraulic ram that compacted the trash started on its own. Cole and Walker were crushed. Just like garbage.

The men had complained for years about that truck in particular, about raggedy, malfunctioning old trucks in general. The city never listened. Now it gave each man's widow one month's salary — likely less than $300 — added $500 apiece, and called it square. Burial expenses alone were $900 a man.

'They felt a garbage man wasn't nothing,' Nickelberry said. 'And they figured they could treat us any way they wanted to treat us."'

~~Leonard Pitts, Miami Herald~~

As we approach the 40th anniversary of that terrible and tragic day in A-merry-ca's history, let's not forget why Dr. King was in Memphis in the first place. He was there fighting for economic justice for trash collectors in the city of Memphis. Fighting a battle for people who were down trodden, overlooked and spit on by a city, and the white power structure that ran it.

But make no mistake, 40 years later, not much has changed. As I look around my hometown of Philadelphia, I can see the look of despair and hopelessness in the faces of the working poor. Mothers who have to take the bus to the suburbs in order to take care of wealthy old white women and clean up their shit. Or old men who have to work in $7 an hour security guard jobs in the most dangerous parts of our city to supplement their meager social security checks.

So while Tom Brokaw runs around doing the television circuit, and profiting from King's death with his pabulum filled books and television specials. And while we as A-merry-cans stick out our chests because we have our first black Presidential candidate with a shot at winning the big house. Just remember that there is unspeakable shit happening in our cities every day, and it's looking more and more like Dr. King's dream will never be realized.

Oh well, back to the party: "YES WE CAN", "YES WE CAN", YES WE CAN".