kdizo vs. m. phelps controversy

Since people are still talking about M. Phelps…

I spoke on the subject to a group of students at MLK High School (Chi) today.  Here are some excerpts:

On M. Phelps’ Diet: Have you read about what, and how much, this dude eats??? Check out homeboy’s 12K calorie a day diet:

Breakfast: Three fried-egg sandwiches loaded with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, fried onions and mayonnaise. Two cups of coffee. One five-egg omelet. One bowl of grits. Three slices of French toast topped with powdered sugar. Three chocolate-chip pancakes.
Lunch: One pound of enriched pasta. Two large ham and cheese sandwiches with mayo on white bread. Energy drinks packing 1,000 calories.
Dinner: One pound of pasta. An entire pizza. More energy drinks.

After I read this I knew right away this mf smoked weed. And alot of it.

On Kellogs: So they drop sponsorship of Phelps because, like the late O.D.B & the Wu-Tang Clan they are, “for the kids”… Please.  Kellogs: Sugar Frosted Flakes, Coco Crispies, Fruit Loops, Rice Krispy Treats… “For the kids”??? STFU!!!

On Role Models: Athletes and entertainers ARE NOT role models. We have an unhealthy tendency to prop-up or deify people that are great at one got-damn thing (sports/entertainment). We uncritically assume that they are great at everything.  And history shows that whenever we want someone to be infallible or perfect or aspirational, it never quite works out. When you think about it, athletes and entertainers are in essence fictional characters.  If that’s how you wanna role, why not have cartoon characters as role models? They don’t f’up nearly as much as real people. Anyhoot, role models – the people we want to shape our kids – should be parents, family, friends or at least somebody that you really really know.

The War on Drugs Didn’t Work: Another reason I’m not surprised that Michael sparks(tokes)… Weed/drugs are more pervasive than ever. Especially w/ in Well-to-do White communities. I grew up in the hood and the only shit I was ever exposed to was weed, malt liquor (Shlizt, Champale, etc.) and cheap wine (TJ Swan). Think about the movie Cooley High as a point of reference in terms of inner-city drug activity.  I went to High School in the burbs – w/ wealthy White kids… Have you seen that flick Less Than Zero? Yeah. That’s exactly what it was like. Talk about drugs: weed (various kinds), hash, cocaine, acid, opium, whip-its, moonshine and all the accoutrements: scales, bongs, pipes, filters… I was shocked. I had absolutely no idea.  And the worst thing about – a lot of the drug related activity was going on w/ parental consent.

I remember being at one party in the wealthy suburb of River Hills, WI.  The Fall of ‘88.  A whole bunch high school juniors and seniors, NWA, Mc Hammer, Ton Loc, REM, The Cure… Some Less Than Zero shit… All of a sudden the party host’s father angrily bursts thru the door into the large kitchen where the majority of us were partying.

Silence and smoke.

Now, I’m the only black dude there. And I’m high(from contact). So I’m freakin’ out, about to jump over the kitchen sink and out the window because I’m thinking to myself, “shit this mf ’bout to call the cops on my black ass…”

So as I’m visually mapping my way through the crowd over the sink and out the window, the father starts yelling and screaming. Now I can’t quite make out what he is saying because a voice inside my head is like, “Now!!! Run nigga, run!!!

I shake my head to silence the voice and gather myself. Then I’m able to make out what the father is saying. Get this.  He says to his son, the party host, “I don’t ever want to have to tell you again about doing drugs IN MY HOUSE!!!”

I’m thinking to myself, “WTF??? In your house? You don’t want us to do drugs – in your house. You mean it’s okay for us to do drugs – outside – in your yard???”

I was shocked. At that point I’d had enuff. I was confused. I didn’t feel safe. I immediately went home after that – too the familiar surroundings of the hood. True story. On my G.

On a Beat Down: Michael needs to find out who took and leaked the now infamous photo and “handle that”.

input needed (black ppl only): black info for curious white people…

Obama, Holder, Steele, Tomlin, Will.I.am…Niggas is the new Black.

All caught up in the moment, many of my once moderate recently turned “toe in the water” liberal White colleagues and acquaintances have gone all Louis and Clark on me.

Part genuine curiosity and part fear of a black planet, they are readily and intensely probing all things Black.

I feel you, “here we go again”.  I dig it.  Our distant and recent social history dictates that these types of social and cultural excursions typically go askew e.g. Black face, Vanilla Ice, White folks in afro/dread-lock wigs, “whiggers”, Ghetto Life 101, CNN’s Black In America etc…

Regardless of our feelings about the matter, it’s happening.  And w/o our input.  So fuck it.  I’m feeling culturally generous.  And I see this occassion as an opportunity to begin a new and improved cultural exchange. 

That said, I’m gonna help these mofos out by acting as something akin to a visitors information center.  So, White folks, if you want your passports stamped I suggest you take heed…

Anyhoot, Brothas and Sistas I need your help.

Let’s start here:

1. What are 5 Black movies that White people MUST see (Roots, The Color Purple, Boys in the Hood – don’t count)?
2. Who are 5 Black authors/intellectuals that White people MUST read/listen to (Tavis Smily, Cornel West, Tom Joyner, Black athletes/entertainers, Al Sharpton, M. E. Dyson are not acceptable answers)?

aaron mcgruder: black jesus (he’s comin’ back)

Watch.  Gasp or laugh, or both.  And then comment…

 

a few last minute pointers for Barack Obama…

Here are some key last minute points that Barack should hammer home during the final hours of Election 2008.  In no particular order:

• Assure White America that Black folks are not going to enslave them.  Tell them upfront that we are not looking for revenge.
• Assure White America (and Black America) that Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Rev. Jeramiah Wright, and Louis Farrakhan will have no place in an Obama Administration.
• Remind all of his supporters that the fight doesn’t stop with the vote.
• Remind Black folks not to celebrate too hard if he becomes President.  Why?  Look, some White folks are gonna be very angry/scared/depressed in response to an Obama victory.  They might very well be lookin’ for some get-back.  Don’t provoke them with excessive celebration e.g. rockin Obama Tees and poppin’ Champagne bottles at the office – in a “Soul Train line” – while blasting “ain’t no stoppin’ us now”.  Do that shit at the crib or at Church.  And when you get back to the office on Thursday – on Thursday – act like nothing has happened.
• Urge people not to riot if he loses the election is stolen.
• More than a few Black people lost some tried and true White homies (Hillary supporters) over the jolting course of this social and cultural powder-keg of a campaign.  Barack should gently nudge Black folks to determine if any of these relationships are worthwhile and salvageable and if so to go about the work of rekindling these friendships.
• To assuage the concerns of some Black folks that continue to charge Barack with, “forgetting where he came from”, the Big “O” should acknowledge a few of the key Black people that helped him to arrive at this momentous occasion.  Especially his barber.  Barack’s fade, waves and line were consistently TIGHT throughout the entire campaign cycle.
• Let everyone know that if he wins the election, this does not mean that America has finally overcome the “race problem”. 
• In case the election is lost stolen, Barack should point out to his supporters that he/we came this far together.  And that we have come too far – accomplished too much to turn back now.  He should embolden his supporters to continue to march bravely forward and carry on with the great change-work that THEY started.

Humbly Submitted.

kd

Taking time off. Will Return Soon…

“Chocolate News” Reviews – Post Here…

 

Comedy Central’s “Chocolate News”  debuted last night.  I was underwhelmed.  Some of the skits fell flat – didn’t register.  And the show didn’t seem to cover any new territory.  DAG is a very smart/talented brotha, but his brand of satire/humor doesn’t tickle my funny bone.  Not consistently.  At times it seems that his sketches stretch on one too many silly facial contortions for my taste. 

I will gladly admit, that I did not cringe/recoil as much as I thought I would.  Thank God.  That said, I’ll give the Chocolate News another chance.  I’m curious to see what DAG has up his comedic sleeve.  Maybe the show will find its legs a few shows in.  We’ll see.  I wish the brotha well.

Kdizo

I’m not writing anything else about Election 2008 Until…

I’m self-imposing a moratorium on commenting about Campaign 2008.  I’m tired of all the politalking, the stump speeches, the faux-debates, the mudslinging, the absolutely useless media coverage.  And can we please do away with the damn polls!  It’s the same stories and soundbites and finger-pointing – by the same people - over and over and over again.   So, as far as I’m concerned, there really isn’t anything riveting or substantive to talk about.  That is, unless someone in the mainstream media or the blogosphere has the balls/ovaries to spark up a national conversation about the 800 lb. guerrilla in the room.  You know exactly what I’m talking about.  I’m sure you’ve been thinking about it, and maybe even discussing it under your breath.  What’s the 800 lb. guerrilla that I speak of?  It’s the persistently ignored fact that the race for the White House is as close as it is because one of the candidates is Black.  And relatedly,  the only reason that the vast majority of  “undecideds” (mostly White) remain undecided, is because on the one hand – in their rational minds – they know that the McCain/Palin ticket is a fucking joke.  On the other hand,  they just can’t quite bring themselves to vote for – gulp - a negro.  Just to be clear, I’m saying that if Barack were White, this thing would’ve been over a long long time ago.  Why isn’t anyone touching this?  Why isn’t this headline news?  Is it because the shot-callers in mainstream media don’t know?  Or could it be that they don’t care?  Whatever the reason, I refuse to contribute anything else to this white-washed amateurish real-time work of political pop-fiction that’s been over-sold to us as insightful, objective, and professional campaign coverage.

Frank Talk (like Steve Biko);

kd

McCain/Palin and the n-word: you know it’s comin’…

***SEE NEW UPDATE AT END OF THIS POST***

I called this a while back in an earlier post (here).  I can see it goin’ down sumthin’ like this:

[Setting:  2nd Presidential Debate.  1/2 way into the program.]

Tom Brokaw (Moderator):  “Senator McCain.  After the first debate there was much discussion about your outright refusal to make any eye contact at all with your opponent Senator Obama.  You received a lot of criticism from Democrats and some Republicans for that.  And yet tonight, you’ve not looked at your opponent once.  Do you think that is a smart tactic on your part considering…”

[Brokaw is abruptly cut off by a grumbling red-faced McCain]

McCain:  “Uhh yeah…I umm…I think…Hey!  Fuck you Tom!  I’m not looking at that N-!!!

[Gasps and then stunned silence.  McCain smiling, winks at the camera.  Barack stares, mean-muggin' McCain.  The silence is broken only when Michelle Obama launches from her front row seat toward the smiling/winking McCain.  Hang time. Her right arm extended. Shoe in hand...]

Don’t even trip.  It might not go down exactly like this but… Shit, Jesse called him a nigga!

Get at me…

k to the d to the izo

***UPDATE # 1:  Someone said the N-word.  I told you it was coming.  Granted, it didn’t come from the mouth of McCain or Palin, but they, and the nefarious RNC, with their fear-mongering “he’s not one of us” tactics,  are definitely responsible for creating the conditions that breed this type of hatred and stupidity.  See the Washington Post article (here).  This isn’t just negative.  This shit is Birth of A Nation scary.  Wow, just a taste of what life – black life would be like under a McCain/Palin regime.***

how to pronounce the name of this blog…

Because you’ve been asking…

kDiZi kDiZo is pronounced:

kay-dis-ee kay-dis-oh

Got it?  Good.

I’m Back!!!

Long story short:  Most of my faithful preferred this site (kdizo) to www.thisblacklife.wordpress.com

I’m here to stay.  Nuff said…

kd