So I haven't posted in a while and even this post is a couple days late. I apologize to all 3 people who actually read this blog. (And no, my mama isn't one of them. That may sound sad to some, but my mom isn't exactly tech savy, nor would she appreciate some of the language I use. Fuck it.)
Well, the world has been a crazy place since I last posted here. Governors are emailing their sexy South American mistresses. Senators are making sex tapes. And several celebrities have psssed on to the other side. Billy Mays (more of a cult celebrity), Farrah, McMahon...but none larger than the King of Pop, Michael Jackson.
Now, I'm not one to gawk and all over celebrities, so I wasn't pressed to watch all the media coverage. Or to watch all the people who put their lives on hold to stand around the hospital. But it was, and still is, the biggest story going.
BET had about 3 days to put something together in the form of a tribute to this icon before their awards show aired. And what did they come up with? TRASH!!! HOT, SMELLY GARBAGE!!! Only reason I tuned in to the show was to see them pay tribute and just ended up wasting 3+ hours of my life.
Now, the show overall was a train wreck. If you were on Twitter or Facebook during the show, you saw plenty of commentary. But the largest disappointment of the night had to be the attempted tribute to Michael. Having people talk about their favorite MJ memories was good...well, except that one guy. Keri Hilson trying to recreate that scene from the "Bad" video...not good. (Keri, we could still kick it, but you were tryin to do too much.) Showing Chris Brown's MJ routine from however many years ago, good. (Having him actually BE THERE would've been much better, but you know...people don't like Chris Breezy right now.) Jamie Foxx and Ne-Yo singing, that was alright. But for the love of God, those 2 were singing the whole damn show!!! But where was the video montage? He was known more for his dancing and videos than anything else, so why not showcase that in the final portion of the show? Naw, we just gonna show these two dudes standing on stage.
Jamie Foxx said "He was ours. Michael was OUR icon" blah blah blah...I think he made a joke about MJ's nose before he moved on. Well, if that's how we're gonna treat "our" icons and such...don't do me any favors. That tribute looked more like the first half of the movie "Kingdom Come", somebody dies and the family just randomly gets together.
I understand that they "only had 3 days" to put something together. But if you only have 3 days, you don't try to make the WHOLE SHOW about MJ. You plan 3 or 4 HIGH QUALITY segments and make sure you have his hit songs in heavy rotation during the breaks.
But let's be honest with ourselves. There's a reason many of us don't watch BET. A failed MJ tribute is just one more straw on the camel's back. Too bad the camel was already in full body traction...
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Saturday, June 6, 2009
To My Anonymously Gay Friend
So a mystery friend of mine is gay. (See, told you I have gay friends, I'm up to like 5.) And this person left some anonymous comments on my last post about gay marriage in California. You can check them out if you like. But instead of adding another comment, I figured I'd make this a separate post. So "Anonymous", I hope you get around to reading this.
So the question is, what if I were "in the crosshairs"? What if the people were to rally behind the cause of denying blacks civil rights? Well, after I went medieval on those...people, I would do exactly what I suggested in my post. I would reach out to the people in my community (whoever survived), urging them to reconsider what they've done. If it's about getting the popular vote, you have to reach out to the people who are voting. And that's really what I'm advocating for, people to speak their own minds. That's the thing about a democracy, everyone has a voice. True, some of those voices are what we would call "ignorant" or "intolerant". Some of them preach a message of hatred, some advocate for violence against those who are "different". But at the end of the day, I would like to believe that those voices would be outnumbered by the voices of tolerance, acceptance...or at least a voice that says "It ain't that damn serious."
As far as the issue of biological proof in my post, I used that to illustrate the difference between innate traits and those that are not. Being black is something inherited, it's genetic...I was born this way. Same way humans are born (generally) with 10 toes. I inherited dark skin from my parents. Homosexuality, arguably, is not innate. I'm not gonna say for certain it is or isn't, cuz I don't know. But if it's a choice, then what you've chosen has consequences...one of which being you can't get married. If someone were to discover a "gay gene", hypothetically, my argument really wouldn't change. I would still hold that, given the system we are working with, the vote of the people should reign supreme. I do, however, think that the vote would be drastically different. People often use the "it's not natural" line when arguing against homosexuality. Showing it is a natural, biological trait...well that would shut them up, wouldn't it?
Now, on to "Responsibility". Whew...that's a big word. Tellin me what I'm "supposed to do". I'm not big on telling grown folks what they "have to" or "should" do. You're SUPPOSED to work to earn money and support yourself and your family. You're SUPPOSED to...well, it's hard to come up wit much more than that in my opinion. When you talk about moral/ethical responsibility, it's tricky because all of that centers on your own belief system.
Why do some people donate to charity? Some believe doing good will come back to them. Some do it for that "good feeling" they get when they know they've helped someone. Some do it for tax write-offs. Some just say, "It's the right thing to do." But if you look at it, most of the reasons people give for volunteering their time and/or resources are, on some level, self-serving. "I" feel good. My good deeds will come back to "ME". "I" get a tax write-off. Now the tax write-off is a tangible return, but not all returns on good deeds have to be tangible.
This goes to my point. People do what is in their best interest. (Or at least what they think will be.) If it's better for you to donate old clothes to charity, go for it. Why? Cuz it'll warm your heart, make you feel better bout yourself, etc. as opposed to just throwing them away and feelin that you wasted your money.
So should blacks stand up for gay rights? I can't say they "have" to. It would be nice of them, I mean "us". Maybe gays should've tried to piggy back on the Civil Rights Movement or Women's Lib. You know, while everybody was going around giving out equal rights, just sneak in line. But you gotta start somewhere, right?
Honestly, I think the real issue here isn't about blacks vs gays. You know the jokes about black families...we all at least got a gay cousin. It's RELIGIOUS BELIEFS vs Homosexuality. I took a class on the New Testament in college and we held a debate about whether or not the New Testament deemed homosexuality a sin. My team was on the side that argued Homosexuality IS deemed a sin. (It was randomly assigned to me. I'm not gonna fall into the trap of telling you what I think about that one.) I won't be ashamed to tell you...my team won. :brushes shoulders off: It was a narrow margin of victory, but we pulled it out. But in my preparations for it, I really did see some evidence that practicing a homosexual lifestyle is condemned as a sin in Christianity. Our opponents tried to argue that the New Testament was condemning an archaic form of homosexuality, not our current form. (I'm still scratching my head to this day tryna figure out how many "forms" of being gay there can be.)
But I wouldn't say that the SAME arguments upholding slavery are being used in this case. Or at least I fail to understand how they could. Religious defense of slavery sounded more like "They were born into this position. It's God's Will that whites dominate other races." Religious arguments against homosexuality sound like "YOU'RE GONNA BURN FOR YOUR ABOMINATION AGAINST GOD!!!" (Imagine my finger wagging.) (Again, we see the issue of being born into a life versus choosing how to live it.)
But I really think that religion is the strongest opponent to Gay Rights. This country, since it's inception, has had a strong Christian foundation. (Don't let reality TV fool you.) And if "Jesus said being gay was wrong"...um, gonna be hard to convince people otherwise. But what's more important, in my mind, is that Christianity teaches "Love thy neighbor." Jesus didn't roll wit a morally elite crew. Peter would cuss, fight and even turned his back on Jesus...but that was Jesus' homeboy. So regardless of what you believe, it's not cool, in my mind, to do all that condemnation and such. Jesus also said, "He who is without sin, cast the first stone." And like I said, I got more important things to do than worry about who YOU'RE having sex with...like finding some lesbians who'll let me join in. I KID, I KID!!!
Well, I don't know who you are...well, I do, but I don't know that I'm talkin to you. But I hope for 3 things:
1. My argument makes sense. Maybe it's not practical, but I just hope it's logical.
2. My views don't prevent you from considering me a friend.
3. If you're female, can I watch? PLAYING!!! JUST A JOKE!!! But maybe we could go pick up some girls? At least let me be your wing man? If you're male, well...all that stuff would be out. But we can still kick it.
So the question is, what if I were "in the crosshairs"? What if the people were to rally behind the cause of denying blacks civil rights? Well, after I went medieval on those...people, I would do exactly what I suggested in my post. I would reach out to the people in my community (whoever survived), urging them to reconsider what they've done. If it's about getting the popular vote, you have to reach out to the people who are voting. And that's really what I'm advocating for, people to speak their own minds. That's the thing about a democracy, everyone has a voice. True, some of those voices are what we would call "ignorant" or "intolerant". Some of them preach a message of hatred, some advocate for violence against those who are "different". But at the end of the day, I would like to believe that those voices would be outnumbered by the voices of tolerance, acceptance...or at least a voice that says "It ain't that damn serious."
As far as the issue of biological proof in my post, I used that to illustrate the difference between innate traits and those that are not. Being black is something inherited, it's genetic...I was born this way. Same way humans are born (generally) with 10 toes. I inherited dark skin from my parents. Homosexuality, arguably, is not innate. I'm not gonna say for certain it is or isn't, cuz I don't know. But if it's a choice, then what you've chosen has consequences...one of which being you can't get married. If someone were to discover a "gay gene", hypothetically, my argument really wouldn't change. I would still hold that, given the system we are working with, the vote of the people should reign supreme. I do, however, think that the vote would be drastically different. People often use the "it's not natural" line when arguing against homosexuality. Showing it is a natural, biological trait...well that would shut them up, wouldn't it?
Now, on to "Responsibility". Whew...that's a big word. Tellin me what I'm "supposed to do". I'm not big on telling grown folks what they "have to" or "should" do. You're SUPPOSED to work to earn money and support yourself and your family. You're SUPPOSED to...well, it's hard to come up wit much more than that in my opinion. When you talk about moral/ethical responsibility, it's tricky because all of that centers on your own belief system.
Why do some people donate to charity? Some believe doing good will come back to them. Some do it for that "good feeling" they get when they know they've helped someone. Some do it for tax write-offs. Some just say, "It's the right thing to do." But if you look at it, most of the reasons people give for volunteering their time and/or resources are, on some level, self-serving. "I" feel good. My good deeds will come back to "ME". "I" get a tax write-off. Now the tax write-off is a tangible return, but not all returns on good deeds have to be tangible.
This goes to my point. People do what is in their best interest. (Or at least what they think will be.) If it's better for you to donate old clothes to charity, go for it. Why? Cuz it'll warm your heart, make you feel better bout yourself, etc. as opposed to just throwing them away and feelin that you wasted your money.
So should blacks stand up for gay rights? I can't say they "have" to. It would be nice of them, I mean "us". Maybe gays should've tried to piggy back on the Civil Rights Movement or Women's Lib. You know, while everybody was going around giving out equal rights, just sneak in line. But you gotta start somewhere, right?
Honestly, I think the real issue here isn't about blacks vs gays. You know the jokes about black families...we all at least got a gay cousin. It's RELIGIOUS BELIEFS vs Homosexuality. I took a class on the New Testament in college and we held a debate about whether or not the New Testament deemed homosexuality a sin. My team was on the side that argued Homosexuality IS deemed a sin. (It was randomly assigned to me. I'm not gonna fall into the trap of telling you what I think about that one.) I won't be ashamed to tell you...my team won. :brushes shoulders off: It was a narrow margin of victory, but we pulled it out. But in my preparations for it, I really did see some evidence that practicing a homosexual lifestyle is condemned as a sin in Christianity. Our opponents tried to argue that the New Testament was condemning an archaic form of homosexuality, not our current form. (I'm still scratching my head to this day tryna figure out how many "forms" of being gay there can be.)
But I wouldn't say that the SAME arguments upholding slavery are being used in this case. Or at least I fail to understand how they could. Religious defense of slavery sounded more like "They were born into this position. It's God's Will that whites dominate other races." Religious arguments against homosexuality sound like "YOU'RE GONNA BURN FOR YOUR ABOMINATION AGAINST GOD!!!" (Imagine my finger wagging.) (Again, we see the issue of being born into a life versus choosing how to live it.)
But I really think that religion is the strongest opponent to Gay Rights. This country, since it's inception, has had a strong Christian foundation. (Don't let reality TV fool you.) And if "Jesus said being gay was wrong"...um, gonna be hard to convince people otherwise. But what's more important, in my mind, is that Christianity teaches "Love thy neighbor." Jesus didn't roll wit a morally elite crew. Peter would cuss, fight and even turned his back on Jesus...but that was Jesus' homeboy. So regardless of what you believe, it's not cool, in my mind, to do all that condemnation and such. Jesus also said, "He who is without sin, cast the first stone." And like I said, I got more important things to do than worry about who YOU'RE having sex with...like finding some lesbians who'll let me join in. I KID, I KID!!!
Well, I don't know who you are...well, I do, but I don't know that I'm talkin to you. But I hope for 3 things:
1. My argument makes sense. Maybe it's not practical, but I just hope it's logical.
2. My views don't prevent you from considering me a friend.
3. If you're female, can I watch? PLAYING!!! JUST A JOKE!!! But maybe we could go pick up some girls? At least let me be your wing man? If you're male, well...all that stuff would be out. But we can still kick it.
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