Uncle Toms, Duke, Jalen Rose, and Grant Hill

The New York Times, today, released an Op-Ed wherein which current NBA player and former Duke star Grant Hill responds to the comments made by Jalen Rose on ESPN's "Fab Five" documentary. During which, Rose made the claim that Duke only recruited "uncle Tom's" and had no interest in the likes of he or other black players from urban, violent, impoverished neighborhoods. Rose went on to express the resentment, which at that time boiled close to a vitriolic level, toward Hill, and black athletes like Hill who were from less humble beginnings. Today, the Times published a piece where Hill feels the need to defend black success stories, in particular his own, and others from the Duke program. The piece can be found here. Grant Hill is either completely aloof or deliberately abstruse regarding Jalen Rose's comments. His Op-Ed was a rebuttal toward a comment that was never made or implied. On top of that, I find it extremely misfortunate that many on the blogosphere, Twitter, and the comment section of that very piece are lauding Hill for his writing ability, vernacular, and "class". It is without question that Hill deliberately wrote the piece in such a manner as to disparage Rose, selecting only from the lexicon of academia, while passive aggressively patronizing the members of the Fab Five.

Not once in the documentary, though, did Rose disparage Hill for actually being from a warm and supportive family, rather, he expressed a bitterness and a resentfulness toward it. He was spiteful and jealous. One could certainly see how a youth from an at-risk area such as Jalen Rose could harbor such feelings. For Hill to dismiss these thoughts shows a real ignorance on his behalf. Rose has nothing to apologize for, unfortunately, the word police, the thought police, and the race cowards will continue to applaud Grant Hill. But, at what end? Further dismissing the realities of millions of minority adolescence in low-income areas with broken families and dysfunctional homes? I certainly hope not, as this will only further the gap between "black elites" and "urban blacks" at a time when unity amongst all blacks is especially key.

Teach For America Not For Yourself

Richard Cohen, Op-Ed Columnist over at the Washington Post, wrote a column today in defense of Teach For America. The real point, a point by the way in which I wholeheartedly agree with, was that Tea Party Republicans are trying to slash programs they don't like under the guise of budget cutting. In reality, you don't get rid of "useless" programs, such as Teach For America and expect all of our problems to wash away. Swing for the fences. Eviscerate the defense budget. Tax the hell out of the top earners in the nation and reinvest it into those who never stood a chance. But, that's just an opinion and it's not what this blog is about. I'm not going to blast Cohen, because frankly, I just think he is ignorant - a fact which he essentially admitted to in the column - about Teach For America.

In full disclosure, I was one of the 48,000 Teach For America applicants this year. I was not selected for an in-person interview. Only 5,300 were, so I guess at first I didn't feel too bad that I wasn't amongst those invited to partake in the cause. Then again, I never really stood a chance did I? For one thing, the TFA Corpse is largely an Ivy League affair, about 1/5 of the graduating class from Harvard applied to the program. Plus, I'm white. I'm from a relatively middle class family and I grew up in a suburb of Washington, D.C., not exactly the redemption story that would captivate the application reviewers. But, perhaps, the cookie-cutter billboard faces that illuminate the TFA ads adorning college campuses across the country aren't actually the answer to the education crisis. They're not the type of people capable of making a difference. Not in my mind anyway. A potential flyer might highlight the plucky Latina from Los Angeles, or Joseph, the Jewish guy from New York City, or Derrick, the good-looking black guy who rose from the mean streets to the ivory towers going back into urban school systems to change lives. Sounds great on paper. Sometimes, I think that's all that matters to a lot of people.

All the while, the types of people who genuinely could make a difference are bypassed in the selection process to make room for self-serving, pretentious, frauds. It starts from the top at TFA. No doubt, the program is noble in its ideals and perhaps, sometimes, in its practice. I certainly hope that dividends are yielded, but I fear that the people at the frontline are not properly equipped to invoke change, let alone inspire a revolution. In my experience, the types of people who apply for TFA, try as they might to convince you or prove to you otherwise, are more interested in garnering the revere and praise of their peers for their "nobility" than actually making a difference. What about staffing yourself with people that genuinely care about kids? People who sincerely want to see others actualize their potential. They do exist, believe it or not. People that kids can relate to. They don't have be black, or latino, or white, or whatever, they just have to be funny. Or be passionate about real things, like sports, or music, or movies. Things that people can relate to, because without that nobody can trust you, you're just another stiff teacher that doesn't get it.

If we're going to spark a change with the youth, we need to enlist more real people, not the heroic University graduate who so humbly is donating their precious, valuable time throwing the less-fortunate a bone. What about hiring a man of the people, rather than someone who somewhere in their subconscious can't wait to write Teach For America on the resume so that their future interviewer at some Fortune 500 Firm can laud them with praise? It's pathetic, almost a way to equal military service for the "intellectually elite," an Iraqi war for the educated; let's go help these poor people turn their lives around so they can turn out to be just like me. The arrogance is astounding.

Thirsty Turtle: The End of an Era

With the recent stabbings that occurred at the Thirsty Turtle in College Park, rumors are swirling that the polarizing bar will be shut down for serving alcohol to minors. The Turtle has long been known as the easiest spot to utilize your fake I.D. in the region (I've always said that if a girl had a pulse, she could show the bouncer a baseball card and he'd let her in.) The bar is generally packed on Thurs-Sat nights, but also on their $2 pitcher night on Tuesdays and has a reputation for being a "freshman bar" as well as a place to meet women of "ill repute" whom one could take home with little to no effort.

Many in College Park, however, are completely oblivious to the overt racism that goes on at this establishment. Being a person with a diverse set of friends and, as has been on display in this blog for years, a keen sense of racial relations, I was quick to notice the way the bar treats it's non-white patrons. For instance, the bar on most nights has a policy that you must be a student at the University of Maryland to gain entrance, however, white people are never asked to show student I.D.'s while, specifically black and latino people are. I have seen on a number of occasions, droves of white people - most of whom were clearly underage - enter the bar with no hassle at all, while a black friend of mine was given trouble beyond belief at the door. On one particular night, a black friend of mine who attends another University had gained entrance earlier in the night, paid his $5 cover, and shown a legitimate I.D. to get in. When he returned a half hour after leaving the bar, he was told he would not be able to re-enter because he was not a student. No refund was given. He was told that if he did not leave, they would call the police. On another, even more egregiously racist occasion, I witnessed two UMD students in line at the same time, one a white student, one a latino student. Both wearing white t-shirts. The white student showed both forms of I.D. and was let in. The latino student does the same, but was told he may not enter due to a policy they have wherein which "no white T's are allowed".

So, while even the staunchest Turtle-goers would concede there is a certain "douche-factor" to the place, they can write that off as a sort of charm. The racist practices, though, can not be written off. It amazes me how few people are even aware of this, but that really just goes to show how most people are generally only concerned with themselves and their own trivial life-dramas. I'd also like to point out that I don't blame the bouncers for this, because I am positive that they were trained to do exactly that. I personally would never work a job that would require such practices, but, I'm not going to knock a guy for making a buck. This clearly came from management, and management is now getting exactly what they deserve. So sure, I feel bad for the people who made their living at that bar, the people who got enjoyment out of going there every weekend, etc. but am I outraged or even slightly bothered by the place getting closed? No chance. Good riddance, I say.

Conservative Bias in Collegiate Economics

Below is an e-mail I sent to my Macro Econ professor this afternoon, hopefully she will respond and I can put her answer on this blog. She also, ironically enough, said something that completely contradicted my previous blog on drugs/Mexico and enraged me in class again this morning. I will certainly send her a link to this blog and continue to question her on her conservative biases throughout the semester.

Hello,

My name is Jason Harlow I am a student in your Econ 201 course. On the first week of classes you made the implication that wages are inelastic, or rather, that people would be unwilling to accept certain paycuts because they could not maintain their way of life. As an example, you said that someone who had to pay their mortgage and put their child through college would not accept a paycut from $25/hr to $10/hr. Over the past few weeks, though, this statement has bothered me quite a bit, considering it is the basis for much of economic theory in this course, I felt it prudent for me to e-mail you my concern. Over the course of time we have seen that those in 3rd world countries have accepted pittances for wages, because those are all that employers are willing to offer. The "banana replublic" in Central America, for example, is notorious for offering wages of a mere $1/day. Certainly not enough for anyone to send their child to university, and yet, throughout the state people beg for the jobs in banana fields, or any job that will pay them any wage at all. Would it be possible for you to defend your statement or correct me if I misunderstood the position you assumed? In class or by e-mail works for me. Thanks so much for your time.

-Jason Harlow

Homeless Man Beaten in D.C.

Absolutely ridiculous... people just let the guy sit there passed out on the curb in critical condition without doing a damn thing or even calling 9-11. What a world.

Dagger... Los Angeles man kills his 5 children, wife, self after being fired from Kaiser

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-me-children-killed28-2009jan28,0,4523206.story

Armed with a handgun, Lupoe evidently roamed room to room starting as early as Monday evening, fatally shooting his wife and five young children -- including two sets of twins.

Early Tuesday, Lupoe faxed a bitter, rambling two-page letter to a local television station blaming his employer for his actions. Though his wife and children were already dead, he also called the station threatening to kill his family, investigators believe. He followed this up with an incongruous call to police saying that he had returned home and that "my whole family has been shot."

...Kaiser Permanente confirmed in a statement that Lupoe and his wife, Ana, were recently terminated from employment at the health network's West Los Angeles Medical Center. Hospital officials declined to provide details, saying only that they were cooperating with investigators and "deeply saddened' by the deaths.

Seeing a Movie Alone (in theaters)

Personally I have never done it and frankly, I find it appalling. I've often considered it... especially for something like an 11AM showing of a movie that has been out for a while, but I could just never pull the trigger because in my opinion, once you start seeing movies alone you're in full blown psychopath mode. I instantly envision a 36 year old man with a bag full of Werther's originals in his pocket at Madagascar 2 or Twilight trying to lure 6th graders into his van after the credits roll. Anyway, for those of you who have seen a movie in theaters by yourself, what was your experience like? Was it weird? Did you feel like a creep? Who did you whisper your mid-movie zingers to?

Also, for men out there, what is the etiquette on seeing chick flicks or movies about the gays (e.g. Milk) with other men? I for one am all for the gays, I love the gays, I wish I was gay, I consider gay to be the new black, but I refuse to see a chick flick with another man. It's just a line I won't cross. What about with rentals? When I go to a Redbox for example, sometimes I like to dabble in the romantic comedy genre (Definitely, Maybe is a solid flick), so what I'll do is pretend I'm talking on the phone to someone as I'm browsing through the machine... "whats the name of that stupid movie you wanted to see again?... oh that's right [insert chick flick here]" and then I'll rent it and still have my man card in tact.

Stay tuned for more hard hitting news, courtesy of IMJUSTLIKEMUSIQ.COM

Friday Night Lights, Fink, and More

If you don't watch Friday Night Lights you might be a little bit clueless. It's probably one of the most slept on shows out there right now, it generally appears on NBC and is returning for a 3rd season on January 16. If you are lucky enough to have Direct TV, though, they are already airing the 3rd season. If you aren't that lucky it may or may not be in your best interest to click here (<-- clickable). I'm just saying. The first two seasons are all available at Hulu, click here for the link. It's a dope show, the football scenes are surprisingly strong, but it's also a perfect "date night" television show. In other words, something that you and your girl would both enjoy. Or, if you a girly man like I am, you might just be in heaven. So, check it out.

I was watching the show though and they were playing some pretty good tunes from this English singer/songwriter Fink. I'm probably years late on this dude but he rocks a little bit. Usually I link you to rap or soul music, but my interests are wide ranging. Give this guy a listen:


Anyway, thanks for staying with me here at the blog everybody. Also, if you get a chance remember to check out my new website http://www.MyWayOrTheParlay.com, we've been pretty hot the last few days, including a 4-0 night yesterday evening. So, give us a chance over there, but I'm going to keep it strong here at the blog, too. And one more thing, we need to cheer up a little bit. I know I'm a cynical pessimist just like everyone else, but god damn if enough isn't enough already. I know its cold, wet, and windy. I know the economy sucks. But, the holidays are practically here and it's time to just put all that to the side for a little bit, I'm not saying we ignore the problems in our lives, but let's stop feeling sorry for ourselves and crying all the time. Everybody has problems. Go see a movie. Don't put your whole life on facebook. And that's all I have to say tonight. Peace.

Starting a New Project

The Skins got creamed and if we don't beat Baltimore the season is over. That's all I have to say about that, and truthfully, I don't feel like talking about the Clinton as secretary of state news because I've already addressed that a number of times, so I'm going to take this time to let you all know about a new project I'm going to be working on. Well, not really new, but sort of. As many of you know I'm big into sports betting and the science behind why teams are favored by however many points and then trying to "beat vegas" with a number of hair-brain teasers and parlays. About a year ago I started up MyWayOrTheParlay.com, but it had a very limited run after I had some trouble with the webmaster and the site eventually died. I recently regained the licensing rights to the domain name though, and I am bringing the website back, probably under the same URL, though I may begin using OurWayOrTheParlay.com because I don't plan on being the only person giving betting news/advice/tips/etc. Anyway, I just thought I'd give you all the heads up that I'll be working on that for a while so the posts here might come a little slower than usual. Peace.

The Night of the Election - How I'm Feeling

I am by no means a gifted enough writer to put into words the emotion that has overcome me tonight as Barack Obama won the presidency of the United States, but I will give it my best shot. To be a part of the generation that elected the first black president into office enthuses me more than you could ever know. If you are reading this I’m sure you know my political leanings, I am very liberal and have been pretty vocal about my stances on politics for the past couple of years now, but this is bigger than just domestic/foreign policies. This is the affirmation and a new chapter in racial relations in the United States, even the most pessimistic can never deny the fact of what just happened tonight. This is a surreal moment in time and has not even really sunk in yet that our president elect is Obama. People were celebrating all night, in Chicago, New York, Washington D.C., outside my College Park window, and God bless them, but not me. Tonight, I just sat and watched and reflected and tried to soak it all in. Then Obama came on and put into words everything that I was feeling but could have never orated. I don’t need to remind any of you what a great speaker he is, but make no mistake about it; he captured the essence of what just happened better than anyone ever could. So, if you were part of the raucous celebration and missed it, enjoy…

The 44th President of the United States of America; Barack Obama

11:00 PM EST, NBC News has called it, Barack Obama is our president. This is one of the greatest moments of my life, I'm sitting here in my dorm with goosebumps running up and down my arms and legs. Probably one of the most monumental occurrences in the history of our country, I honestly can't believe what I'm watching. Grant Park in Chicago, Illinois is going crazy right now, I wish I had the words to describe how I'm feeling at this exact moment, but I'm not that gifted of a writer. A simple message of hope and change, that's what this campaign started as and it grew and grew and grew across cities and towns all across the country. This campaign was never about Barack Obama, it's about all of the people who never had a voice in the decision making. I am on cloud nine right now, this is the most proud I have ever been to be an American citizen. Surreal.

I Just Baracked the Vote

Just getting back from the voting booth and I have to say it went off without a hitch. No lines, no wait, no issues, I was in and out. Obama got my vote and I've got to tell you I do have a sense of accomplishing my civic duty, for as much as I protested against the stupid voting policies in this country, I'm glad I got out and made my opinion heard. It's also really good to know that no matter what, my vote was a part of history, because make no mistake about it, this is going to be a historic night. So, I hope you all did, the results should be coming in pretty soon now, so things should heat up quickly. It seems like this election so far has been free of any major disasters, which is good, but there is still a lot of time to go.

Episode One - 4 Guys 3 Mics

Episode one is officially in the books, it may not be the best technical radio you've ever heard, but hopefully you'll enjoy it. Download/Listen here:

http://www.zshare.net/audio/1952394664f19b08/

This edition of the show features an attempted show hijacking by Steve, some Obama/McCain talk, a couple campus news stories, and even some sports talk sprinkled in. Enjoy.

Oh, and here is a video diary of the night's events:

A Lesson in Subtle Racism

I was thinking today about the word "wigger" and for the most part, what I was wondering was, do people who use this word realize that they are being incredibly racist? For one thing, lets break the word down and ask ourselves what does wigger mean? Well, most people say "a white person who acts black". Before, I address that foolishness, let's literally look at the word at it's core: Wigger = White + N***er. Essentially, you are just people calling people a shortened up version of White N-Bomb. If you won't say the elongated version in a derogatory manner, don't say a shortened version, its that simple. Secondly, when people would counter and just say, oh its just a common term for people who try to act like they're black, but really aren't. Well, retard how do you act black, I often ask? By using language patterns that come off as uneducated? Do you realize what you are implicitly calling all black people, by saying things like that? Wake up to reality you idiots and dead this word.

The American Dream?

As we well know, a state is the physical boundary that defines the legitimacy of a country, it is a legal entity defined by a sovereign government, a human population, and is recognized by other countries. A nation, though, is a congregation of people with a shared sense of belonging and community. It is directly tied to an emotional connectedness with others in your "nation", those others often share similarities in race, culture, ethnicity, or language. A nation is essentially an imagined community, that may or may not transcend state lines (i.e. Nation of Islam). Then, there is the nation-state, and while no country fits this definition in it's purest form, some countries, Sweden for example, are quite close. A nation-state would require an entire nation of people to be the only group within a state. America is not a nation-state in that sense of the word, but it prides itself on it's "melting pot" mantra. What makes America, in the eyes of most American's at least, the greatest country on earth? Most would answer, the ability to be anything you want to become, or rather, the idea of "The American Dream", that if you work hard you can become whatever it is you want to become in this world. Well, I've got news for you, the American dream is a crock. The fact that we continue to sell pipe dreams to these kids, that anyone can be a doctor or a lawyer, is only handicapping the mentality of people, who conclude their life with an inevitable disappointment after falling short of the lofty goals that American politicians and figureheads lay out in front of them when they are children. It's easy for arrogant college students to say that if people work hard, like they did, they can wind up in a college classroom well on their way to a successful life. Now, don't get me wrong, wealth is not always the best way to measure success in life, but, for the time being we will define a successful life as getting the job you desired, being adequately compensated for that job, and having a fair crack at achieving your dreams. Unfortunately, what many fail to realize is that when you, your parents, and your parents parents, dating all the way back to the first World War, were systematically and institutionally set up for failure, it is not so easy to pull yourself up from your bootstraps and become a success story. Sure, you can find examples of successful individuals who came from the worst situations you could imagine, but, the reason we know so much about them is because they are exceptions to the rule. Take a walk down Southeast, Washington, D.C. and talk to the people you see. Ask them, why they didn't just work hard like all of the American heroes we read about, ask a woman who works three manually taxing jobs to support a family why she didn't just work harder and become a dentist. Go ahead. See what kind of responses you get. You people need to wake up and realize what's going on in the world around you, stop basing your knowledge of everything in life on what you see in movies and base it around what actually happens in the real world. Stop telling kids that they can be whatever they want, instead tell them about the obstacles they will invariably face, and if you can, throw some knowledge their way about how to get around those obstacles. I could go on forever, about this, but you get the point.

Bens Chili Bowl: Renegade Survivor or Beneficiary of Gentrification?

Today's Washington Post celebrates 50 years of Ben's Chili Bowl, a Washington D.C. landmark restaurant. It is a great feature article, but I feel that the author, Keith Alexander, may have missed what actually happened at Ben's and how it is emblematic of what is going on all throughout Washington D.C. and in other major cities across America. The well-known story of Ben's begins as the restaurant opens in the late 1950's when U Street was oft referred to as the "Black Broadway", where many of the most prominent black performers, including names such as Duke Ellington staged many live shows. As many well know, the late 90's and early 2000's saw a change of demographic in the inner-cities. In D.C., this started close to 1998 just after the Verizon Center (then the MCI Center) was built in NW D.C. More and more wealth poured into the city looking for a taste of urban living, property taxes sky rocketed and black owned business after black own business shuttered its windows. All along U Street businesses were forced to shut down or relocate, making way for brand name chain retailers, such as T.G.I. Fridays, Starbucks, and others of the like. Ben's Chili Bowl was one of the lone exceptions of a black owned business remaining open and succeeding on U Street despite the raised property taxes. Why is this? Well in my estimation, which differes from that of the Post's staff writer Keith Alexander (who credits its success to a community rallying together and uniting all races, religions, and ethnicities to keep a family owned business in tact), is that all wealthy people cling to certain establishments in inner-cities to make themselves feel more authentic. That is half the reason for gentrification, to get out the suburban monotiny, and while the creature comforts were constructed, many feel it necessary to get the "real" city-life experience. Whites, Asians, and yes, even Black people, for whatever reason chose Ben's Chili Bowl above all the other black owned businesses (which the Washington Post never addressed or even asked why the community wouldn't unite to save), perhaps because it is the best product or maybe by pure happenstance, but the point is Ben's is no renegade survivor of the evils of gentrification. Get real.

I Do What I Do, But What Do I Do?

Im thinking about starting a podcast that I will post on here, what do you think about that idea? Anyway, I just realized I have been doing this blog and I've nearly hit 50 posts and I've never even told anyone "about me". So here it goes...

I have never been good at describing myself, it is a daunting task if you think about it, especially for someone as young as myself. If I had to guess, my troubles in creating a relevant and meaningful ''About Me'' paragraph stem from the fact that I have yet to truly discover what ''makes'' me who I am. However, I do know that my passions in life include politics, rap and soul music, talk radio, and sports, all in no particular order. I have spent time working in a number of different fields, starting with a 3-year stint as a youth sports instructor at the YMCA. Next was a 2-year period working retail, and I have since moved on to bigger and better things as an intern at a major health care provider. While my internship has given me an amazing opportunity and I am extremely gracious to be spending my summers in a professional working atmosphere, learning a bevy of useful things in the IT field and having insight shed upon me regarding the bureaucracy and politicking that goes on in the business world, it has really opened my eyes to the fact that, while financially lucrative as it is, I do not want to spend my life pushing papers. I feel as though I offer unique perspectives on current events, worldly topics, and life in general, and am hoping to find an outlet be it through radio, print, television, or some other medium in which to share my ideas with the world. Hence, why I started this blog. Mostly, though, I just hope to find happiness and joy in life.