Yes, I’ve seen this sort of thing happen before; yes I have, and it was after Spike Lee released Skool Daze. It really didn’t take off; but, for a minute their was a Nappy vs. Perm war in the late 80s. I must say that it’s been cool seeing sisters having the courage to go against the grain and rock it natural in recent years. That’s right, score one for that one brother listening to Brand Nubian’s One For All and still selling incense on Fulton Mall out in Brooklyn; you sisters make him proud.

Now ladies, I’m not advocating that you all go natural, or for women who do. However, I’m sharing what I think to be some very good information in the interest of your health and well being. Do with the following information whatsoever you wish; frankly, I’m more concerned about the kinks in your mind, rather than what’s on your head. That said, check out the following from blackdoctor.org:

A new study in the American Journal of Epidemiology has linked hair relaxers to uterine fibroids, as well as early puberty in young girls.

Scientists followed more than 23,000 pre-menopausal Black American women from 1997 to 2009 and found that the two- to three-times higher rate of fibroids among black women may be linked to chemical exposure through scalp lesions and burns resulting from relaxers.

Women who got their first menstrual period before the age of 10 were also more likely to have uterine fibroids, and early menstruation may result from hair products black girls are using, according to a separate study published in the Annals of Epidemiology last summer.

Three hundred African American, African Caribbean, Hispanic, and White women in New York City were studied. The women’s first menstrual period varied anywhere from age 8 to age 19, but African Americans, who were more likely to use straightening and relaxers hair oils, also reached menarche earlier than other racial/ethnic groups.

While so far, there is only an association rather than a cause and effect relationship between relaxers, fibroid tumors, and puberty, many experts have been quick to point out that the hair care industry isn’t regulated by the FDA, meaning that there’s no definite way to fully know just how harmful standard Black hair care products really are.

Now see, I thought it was just me that noticed how young girls nowadays were becoming physically developed much earlier than they were when I was in junior high. All this time I thought it was something the white man had put in the fried chicken. I figured since he wasn’t able to make money off our sisters through slavery anymore, his plan was to get them all thick and curvy and put them in rap videos. But a sneak attack by using hair relaxers as his tool? Um, yeah; I didn’t see that one coming at all. First they tried to kill us by introducing crack cocaine; yep, and now this?

(PHOTO BY NIKKI BOERTMAN)

As usual, the self-proclaimed experts on relationships and issues surrounding them – including intimate partner violence – are the people who least understand certain components and variables in how complicated they truly can be. For example, I have always maintained my issues with people saying things like, “if x ever happened to me, then I would do y.” I contend that some circumstances require having experienced a situation in order to know how a person would truly act and/or react.

And then, there’s the case of Rihanna’s assault at the hands of Chris Brown. In my professional and academic experience, the case was not out-of-the-ordinary; in fact, the only major difference in this case and others was the amount of coverage and resulting opinions. Everything, from Rihanna’s rescission of the restraining order, to Christopher’s public behavior that was illustrative of someone who is abusive. In fact, if the readers of this blog are of the seemingly billions on the internet who do not understand the dynamics of why people abuse: physical violence is not the red flag or number one indicator. Abuse is about power and control, dominance over another person, and violence is just a manifestation of that controlling behavior.

In the beginning, when Christopher was charged with the crimes resulting from his violence toward Rihanna, there was a very strong division. There was the manifestation of #teamBreezy on twitter: young men and women who supported Chris Brown and pardoned his behavior. Several people radically blamed Rihanna, equating her being the primary aggressor of abusive behavior in the relationship because she’s a Bajan woman and women from the islands are (insert stereotype here). Several advocates for women’s rights rallied behind Rihanna, because..well, victim blaming only creates a world that is accepting of such behavior. Additionally, regardless of what any person does, nobody has a right to violate them in any way. Period. The photo of Rihanna and her injuries were heavily circulated throughout the internet, further victimizing her, and not long after the incident, every media outlet wanted her to speak about domestic violence – completely forgetting that she is a human being that had just endured a traumatic event.

And life went on, but it didn’t really; because, you see, every where on the internet were allegories of the incident. Christopher remained seemingly publicly unapologetic, and despite #teamBreezy being equally unapologetic, people often reminded him of the incident. This often resulted in twitter-tantrums and a career boost, except that one time where he cried on BET and danced himself back into the hearts of the CB-afficionados who were on the fence. Rihanna got flack for creating the songs “Rude Boy” and “Man Down”, and people continued to blame her apparent hypersexuality and hot-headedness for the incident(s) that occured. Every move either person made was reflective of either party being involved in intimate partner violence.

After the exchange of tweets, came the accusations, insults, minimization of the incidences of abuse. From what I observed, they were mostly directed at Rihanna being deserving of whatever may come to her in the future.

“I think it’s disgusting that @rihanna is featuring her abusive ex-boyfriend on “Cake”. She once said she wanted to be a role model. FAIL.”

“Well if Ike & Tina can always get back together as well as Bobby & Whitney, I guess its no harm @chrisbrown & @rihanna gettin back together.”

“Wow. What a message to send to victims of domestic violence. By collaborating with your abuser on your latest single. #rihanna”

“Rihanna basically is telling the world she deserved them LICKS…she was outta pocket with Chris. Smh”

“If Rihanna gets her head pucked off and you guys feel bad for her all over again you’re just as nuts as she is. Foolish!”

“Rihanna has zero self respect.. How much more desperate can u be to go back to a guy who beat you?”

“Passion marks are hickeys, bruises and scratches right? No. It’s that thing that was over Rihanna’s eye.”

Well, I will say, dear internet, that it is not uncommon for people who have been victimized at the hands of an intimate partner to return to that partner. No matter their socioeconomic or celebrity status. Despite a victim/survivor experiencing and successfully escaping a severe traumatic set of experiences (and in Rihanna’s case, much public shaming and embarrassment), there are several different reasons for returning. We could speculate all day about why Rihanna and Chris Brown are even communicating (like some on twitter are and have), but it’s unproductive. She could be communicating with him, having sex with or dating him because she misses him. That isn’t uncommon. She could also have been caving to the public pressure and judgment of whether or not her account of the incident was exaggerated, as many victims of intimate partner violence are made to feel. I’ve learned that asking “why does she stay” is an exercise in futility without addressing the real problems of intimate partner violence. Also, the public (and, perhaps, private) push for or against communicating with Christopher is not the proper route to address a victim of intimate partner violence because it takes away a person’s choice in any matter, only further victimizing them.

Moreover, the issues with the internet experts assessing the issues with Rihanna and Chris Brown fail to realize that the more important dynamic in the situation: whether or not Chris Brown has grown and learned. I know a lot about a lot, but I don’t have that answer. I’d like to think that I don’t have a personal opinion on the matter, either, because while Sir Breezy may have whined and shouted and aggravated the bejeezus out of me, I only have an opinion of his personality based on his behavior on public forums. I will say, though, that if he successfully completely the batterers intervention program that he was at one time required to go to, he may have promise. In fact, batterers intervention programs have shown some successes in eliminating re-offending, which in turn correlates with recidivism. This does not mean that Christopher will never strike another person again; however, it means that if he uses the techniques that he learned in dealing with abusive situations, he can acknowledge what behaviors are appropriate in maintaining a healthy, violence-free relationship with whomever. (I’d just like to remind the internet that they only tweeted each other and released the remix to a song, for crying out loud.)

Am I saying that we, the entertainment-fearing public, should just move on without worry for Rihanna’s safety? Well, no. Hardly. I am saying, though, that perhaps the uninformed and closed-minded should pipe down for a while. Being concerned for Rihanna’s safety without immortalizing her as a “victim” or typifying her into what you desire a true/perfect victim/survivor to be is, in my very humble opinion, the most appropriate route in dealing with whichever decision she chooses for herself. Having worked in situations with victims of intimate partner violence, I’d have been more surprised if the two never publicly addressed one another again; however, the attitudes that are being thrown around on the battleground of twitter are reflective of how people may deal with victims in “real” life. If you want to vocalize concern for Rihanna, do so and provide her with options and support without judgment and disapproval.

Recently, XXLMag.com did a spot with former rapper Too $hort did a column in which he gave “fatherly advice,” in which he explains to prepubescent boys best practices on how to “turn girls out.” Yes, I know that Too $hort was still releasing albums as recently as about two weeks from when I type this, but none have charted worth mentioning since 2000, so he is a “former” rapper and currently a cartoon pimp character. In the above link, you will find his instruction to boys is to skip right past the (presumably consensual and decently innocent kissing) and to–… wait, I will excerpt.

“When you get to late middle school, early high school and you start feeling a certain way about the girls… I’m gonna tell you a couple tricks. A lot of the boys are going to be running around trying to get kisses from the girls… We’re going way past that. I’m taking you to the hole.”

Then it got REALLY fun, when he continued by asking the women off camera to cover up their ears and continued…

“You push her up against the wall, you take your finger and put a little spit on it and you stick your finger in her underwear and you rub it on there and watch what happens.”

My specific concern, as it relates to this is quite heavily influenced by the little miracle that entered my family on July 15th. Yes, as a father of a daughter who I am more than willing to admit has me wrapped around her little fingers right now, the “what happens next” is most likely to be a very violent felony on my part the very instant I catch wind of it.

So What Are You Saying, Todd?

My quest would start at the school with the individual who decided to take Too $hort’s rape instructions seriously and escalate up to and through his father – provided he or his mother knows who he is.

When I read of the article this morning (the original was taken off, but is available elsewhere), I was just about to be shocked, then I remembered who we were reading about, and my shock simply turned back to imagination of just how badly the unlucky bastard to try this with daughter or nieces would be. Let’s just say the outcome involves an anonymous phonecall from a just-purchased Net10 phone to my brother and best friend to meet me in the middle of the woods and to have a couple of big holes already dug.

I know there was a time where I had thicker skin for this kind of talk; usually ending it with “meh, it’s just music,” but something about the situation in which the person posting this from the position of a now-former rapper (pending earlier explanation, naturally) at age 45 and presumably a father, one would hope that one just wouldn’t take it this far, especially not providing specific rape instructions. I guess achievement of the ripe old age of 32 and the presence of a 7-month-old all too willing to show me her two teeth changed that.

What it also boils down to, to me at least, is plausibility. I mean that to say that when someone commits ANYTHING to a rap record, you take it with a grain of salt or simply don’t believe it at all – similar to my lack of belief that Beyonce actually CARRIED that baby – and it is more easily cast aside. But when someone comes OFF of a record to say something like this, there’re no grins, no fun and games, only the stated advocacy of pre-teen sexual deviance. To this point, no one has walked back any of these comments beyond removal of the offensive posting, and when one considers the outpouring of far lighter things that people are bludgeoned into empty apologies for every single day, that really bothers me.

Oh well, not like I have EVER paid for anything Too $hort has released, so no changes forthcoming there.

-Phlip
callmephlip.blogspot.com
@callmephlip

Dan Freeman, the titular protagonist, is enlisted in the Central Intelligence Agency’s elitist espionage program as its token black. Upon mastering agency tactics, however, he drops out to train young Chicago blacks as “Freedom Fighters.”

As a story of one man’s reaction to ruling-class hypocrisy, the book is autobiographical and personal. As a tale of a man’s reaction to oppression, it is universal. The novel and the film also dramatize the CIA’s history of giving training to persons and/or groups who later utilize their specialized intelligence training against the agency.

This one happens to be one of my favorites – check it out below:

As the site Little Green Footballs points out, there are over 5000 comments on an article covering Housrton’s death. And quite a few of them were not-so-kind, and quite frankly, were very racist. But hey, what else can you expect from the knuckle-draggers who support Rupert Murdoch’s endeavors. As pointed out in a recent study, there’s a direct correlation between low I.Q., Conservatism, prejudice, and racism. My guess is that if you doubt the validity of it’s findings, just take a look at a few of the following comments for yourself. I think the following is evidence is evidence enough:

A tragedy is when someones passes away from a terminal disease or something else that no one saw coming.Whitney is just an inferior lo w life ni gg er that needed to go,no tragedy,no loss.

[…]

Any death is a tragedy you heartless bástard.

[…]

not nignogs their death is a plus

[…]

SHe couldn’t even sell issues of “the national enquirer” anymore. Everyone was tired of the TNB. Niqqer flaps her lips and screeches, niqqer becomes rich. Niqqer ends up nearly broke after spending all of her money. Niqqer in constant fights and drug binges. Niqqer ODs when she learns she’s nearly broke and she is so wasted physically she can’t make another album. Niqqer hit the end of the road, niqqer thinking and niqqer behavior led her to where she had nothing. She couldn’t face life without the “bling bling”, she knew she would never have any more “kaching kaching”

[…]

I am now patiently waiting for the grand messiah Obama to have a blk fundraiser in honor of Whitley with Kevin Costner as guest of honor with all the Hollywood elites invited along with Alan Colmes, Al Sharpton, Jeremia Wright, Charles Rangel, etc. with a menu featuring blk eyed peas, grits, Imported Kobe steak, Dom Perignon, sweet potato pie and a mus lll im scarf as a momento of this great occasion.

Of course the door prize will be an all expense paid trip to Kenya to visit the Obama tribe and birthplace of his ancestors while the American people still look for this imposter’s birth certificate in Hawaii !!!

[…]

This is typical of the blk gene pool; it happens all the time. They cannot handle fame and fortune whether it’s derived from music, acting, sports or just plain entertainment. Too much fame and too much money at one time will ki ll ll you.

How many blk people have died from drugs including alcohol that have been in the sports and the entertainment industry or screwed up their married lives like Tiger Woods or worse, OJ Simpson !!!

This is the same disease that got Obama voted into the White House.

[…]

i don’t even consider them to be included in the human race let alone on a pedistal. the people that do are a bunch of loosers.

[…]

Story goes Obama sh0ved to much cr@ck up the wh0res @zz when he was going to sniiff it…

[…]

Obvious the use of to much hair strengthener did her in.That s__t will peel paint!

[…]

unfortunately like most nignog crack hoes she was able to apply her trade on “da streets”

[…]

Another nignog off the public social rolls

[…]

BIack females are the fattest segment of the population. BIack males are the most murderousss segment of the population. Africans have the lowest IQ of all people.

[…]

Like most of her species, she suffered from chronic stupidity.

[…]

tough break niqqer.

[…]

Nothing wrong with Coors, what is good about it most_n i g g e r s_ don’t like it

[…]

oh niqqa please,nigga please.

[…]

one of the only b l a c k chics i would have ever banged…..once you go c r ack er…..you dont do cr a c k

[…]

Woo Hoo One less obama voter

[…]

Whitney who?!? some /\/iggress music artist that had a couple of hits in the early 90’s. She’s since been forgotten and now she’s dead.. Who cares..

[…]

Africans love their drugs.

[…]

Jungle Buggie ??

[…]

This is a good lesson for all of you God loving Christian girls out there, stay away from “Jungle Love.”

[…]

One less bIack crack addict in the world today. Not such a big loss.

[…]

We Whiteys dont care about some monkey crackhead, change the headline!

[…]

How funny would it be if they fuckedup the tombstone.

WHITEY HOUSTON

[…]

Their are B L A C K S and their are N i G G A S, which class do you put her mentor Bobby Brown into??? Whitney chose ???

[…]

Who cares? Black_trash gone is enough.

[…]

She is just like any other gh e tto queen.I hope the rest of these worthless piles in the inner cities follow her act .

[…]

What a waste of a good slit.

[…]

HER REAL NAME SHOULD BE KUNTA KINTI OR MOGUBA MAGABA, WHY AFRO-AMERICANS ARE USING ENGLISH NAMES AND LAST NAMES?….SHAME ON THEM!!

[…]

You know what you call Whitney Houston in a bathtub? A dead n i g g a h

[…]

Another buckwheat supporter bites the dust, oh well.

[…]

hatesandniqqers 3 hours ago

phuk you w hore,,,,,,,,,

[…]

Buckwheat is ne gro trash!

[…]

Bammy should not have given her crack from his personal stash!

[…]

B l a c k s have little to brag about about so they strut and crow about anything. The politically correct whites whine and cringe and try to be b l a c k themselves and identify with their “brothers”. Great singer but as stupid as her pal, the malignancy in the white house

[…]

she still be voting for the head niggg this nov

[…]

To bad it wasnt the monkey in the White House

Lord forbid, but should Barack Obama die while in office, don’t be surprised to see a ticker tape Klan march in the nation’s capital. I must say, as evidenced my some of the racist comments on this very site, the anonymity of the Internet sure brings out the best in people; yep, even in death. But as someone pointed out in a recent comment here at TIOMAR, these are the children of the same people who can be seen pictured smiling at the swinging feet of dead Black men hanging from trees across the country in days gone bye. Whitney is dead, but ignorance continues to thrive.

For a while, I was purely of the opinion that “they” was the name you used when telling a story about someone that might wind up being inflammatory in nature to avoid having to fight them later. Using “they” instead of a real name leaves the proper level of vagueness for the teller to deny what might have been said later on.

Nowadays, though, I am pretty sure that “they” is a real person, and is the most dastardly individual any of us has ever caught wind of at that.

Now, I could go in on specifics about the things that “they” do, but that would take food out of the mouths of those who are paid to tell us what and how to think. Any televised news outlet will tell you that “they” are the tool du jour of both liberal and conservative factions, that “they” are both the major harm and saviors to our kids, that “they” are allowing our jobs to go overseas, but at the same time taxing companies to bedamned sending them there.

One thing we COULD do, though, is look at the considerable body of work of the things that have been credited to “they.” “They”…

• Took our jobs
• Stole our dignity
• Got the price of gas fast approaching $4/gallon
• Knocked down the Twin Towers
• Killed Kenny (you bastards!)
• Ruined my credit
• Don’t control their damned kids in Wal-Mart

Say all kinds of dastardly things when “they” think no one is listening

I could go on, but I think you get it.

To no apparent end, it seems that “they” will remain the scapegoat for strategically passive-aggressive shift of blame without delving into the unprofessional direct pointing of fingers. It comes down to time to simply accept that “they” as discussed has quite a bit of pull, if we’re being fair with the power that the person assigned blame should hold.

This was the ultimate Twitter nightmare. It can be argued that a clear understanding of how twitter works, and what it’s reach is might have helped avert this situation. Even if he himself was unaware those around him – or there should have been some around him with an understanding of social media networks, Twitter especially since he frequents it so much.

How is it in the African American community who has such a high rate of users on twitter and other social networks, that it appears many are unaware of how this level of engagement TRULY works? There are some that know, but silence appears to be golden. Not so golden for Mr. Martin and others who have fallen prey to errant tweets. No one in this dimension can lay claim to the intent behind words on a screen. Technology is good but it is not yet that good to determine whether or not the text you see on a “screen” is authentic and any  more realistic than the device you use to connect in the first place.

The backlash was somewhat expected and even more so when one contemplates the fact that there are many of his co-workers and fellow journalists that are part of the LGBT community – at best this spells hostile work environment. The backlash TO the backlash was to be expected as well there has already been a Facebook page/group started in support of Roland Martin (Bruhs for Roland Martin)

Understandably, there has been a measure of what would be deemed an angry response from members of the African American community who feel that Mr. Martin was scapegoated, and or unfairly treated in this case.  One wonders if any  of those folks realize the kinds of contracts one has to sign in order to work for any organization of that size and magnitude and especially be in the public eye. Contracts often contain morality clauses or clauses that stipulate that if one’s behavior is not perceived to be in line with corporate policy – it is grounds for termination or breach of contract.

One also wonders if those screaming about the unfairness of Mr. Martin’s suspension have ever considered the creation of a news organization or media outlet LIKE a CNN and that would be minority owned and provide an alternative for individuals such as Mr. Martin so that situations like this would be non-issues.

With very little competition organizations can craft and execute whatever strategies they wish with very little impunity.  Having choices allows for more opportunities for fairness to exist. Having few choices means someone or some group gets to dictate to everyone else.

In the end, regardless of the “side” you may wish to take – reality says there are no sides because we are all humans in the end warts and all. Bad jokes or statements aside we still all bleed and we all feel. Not knowing Mr. Martin personally, the human side of me can and does feel compassion for what appears to be a situation that got quickly and totally out of hand. For all those celebrating this turn of events be careful what you Tweet or say online. The job/life you save may be your own.

Something tells me they are an overlooked crime syndicate given the strength of their voting block. Yep, pretty soon stupid Republicans will try to go after the Amish vote, by creating another wedge issue (read here). Yeah, something tells me that it won’t be long before one of the four stooges Republican presidential candidates will say that president Obama is trying to force Amish people to drive cars so as to open up a new market for his union buddies up in Detroit, as part of the auto bail out deal.

It’s either that or the GOP will spin this to be yet another one of their victories by saying that he “caved”, as I am sure some of my Liberal buddies believe. A pretty stupid assessment if you ask me, because everyone comes out smelling like roses on this one.

Because of today’s ruling by the White House, the Catholic church wouldn’t be forced into performing abortions as idiots on the right would have you believe. However, the burning question now, is that since the so-called “war on religion” has ended with not as much as one Bible tossed, what will the GOP do now? I’m telling you, their desperation will lead them to Gunther.

Systemic racism? What the hell is that? They ain’t burning crosses and hanging Black folks anymore. Hell, we’s post-racial now, RiPPa! Yeah I know, stories or studies like the following and the one I shared recently about Black folks and bankruptcy are all made up. Yep, studies such as this one aren’t valid. That is, unless they come from white comedians in Blackface on college campuses across America. I mean, why even listen to complaining Black folks, right?

A new academic study of 58,000 federal criminal cases has found significant disparities in sentencing for blacks and whites arrested for the same crimes. The research led to the conclusion that African-Americans’ jail time was almost 60% longer than white sentences.

According to M. Marit Rehavi of the University of British Columbia and Sonja B. Starr, who teaches criminal law at the University of Michigan Law School, the racial disparities can be explained “in a single prosecutorial decision: whether to file a charge carrying a mandatory minimum sentence….Black men were on average more than twice as likely to face a mandatory minimum charge as white men were, holding arrest offense as well as age and location constant.” Prosecutors are about twice as likely to impose mandatory minimums on black defendants as on white defendants.

In federal cases, black defendants faced average sentences of 60 months, while the average for white defendants was only 38 months.

The report concludes that sentence disparities “can be almost completely explained by three factors: the original arrest offense, the defendant’s criminal history, and the prosecutor’s initial choice of charges.” (source)

At any rate, what does it matter to have information like this if nothing is going to be done about it? Yep, simple-minded readers will say this is yet just another reason for people like me to “hate whitey,” I suppose. Rather than act in the interest of justice and equality. I’m pretty sure someone will digest this info and suggest that it’s better that Blacks are locked away longer, because we are genetically predisposed to commit crimes. Sounds crazy, but people actually believe we are.

The issue of mass incarceration is almost never discussed within our political discourse. That is with the exception of the occasional racist Willie Horton ad if you’d like to give the impression that as a candidate, you’re tough on crime. This is one issue that I suppose many see as a political liability. I mean how dare anyone running for president speak about the racial disparities in sentencing, the prison industrial complex, or even the opportunity cost of it all, right?

Clearly I don’t have to tell you that “his side” meant getting cozy with right-wing nutjobs in an activist setting. OK, so I read his spill, and what really struck me was one line in his sales pitch. He said that I as a Black man, should be against president Obama and his ruling that mandates coverage for contraceptives by Catholic-run institutions. His reasoning? Because as a Black man, I should be concerned about the “Black Genocide” that is the abortion of Black babies. Yep, imagine that; apparently Obama is killing Black babies now. See wha’happen when you don’t pay attention?

Now my first instinct was to go smooth the fuck off and ask him where was he and his concern for “Black Genocide” about four hundred odd years ago when Black folk were brought to this country in chains. But I decided against that because to do so would not have been fair. Yep, never mind the fact that he probably wasn’t alive.

Instead, I asked him if he was concerned about said “Black Genocide,” why then he didn’t spend his energy to end it on the continent of Africa since he has a newfound love for Black people. You know what he told me? He said, that if the government would stop funding Planned Parenthood, then maybe those funds could be reallocated to ending “Black Genocide” in Africa. I really got heated then, but I decided to give him a pass because it’s Black History Month, and I ain’t trying to sin by cussin’ out white folks. But hell, who knew Planned Parenthood was standing in the way of saving the lives of Black folks in Africa. Hell, it makes me wonder why I even bought a We Are The World t-shirt that went to buying some starving kid in Africa some Ramen Noodles. You mean there are millions of people dying everyday in the Sudan, and it’s due to the gov’t wasting money by funding Planned Parenthood?

I swear, y’all white folks right-wing nutjobs have all the answers.

Speaking of which, did y’all hear about the white comedian in Blackface walking around the campus of BYU asking folks about Black History Month? Yep, I know what you’re thinking, and you’re right: his punk ass would’ve never pulled that shit at an HBCU. Nah son, we ain’t that post-racial. But then again, maybe we are? I mean I’ve always wondered if white people in America took Black History Month seriously, or whether they even cared. My guess has always been that collectively, a vast majority of them didn’t. I mean it’s not like that white folks are going out of their way to give Black people jobs this month as messed up as the economy is. But stand-up comic, Dave Ackerman in the following video has helped me to realize that I’m right. Sure he wore Blackface in Black History Month which I’m sure will make some of my cousins upset. However, what he exposes with his “fighting ignorance with ignorance,” campaign, in one video, shows that some people truly just don’t care or wish to. Now that I’ve seen this video, I can honestly say, that I wished I would have cursed out Mr. Random White Guy who emailed me this morning, for his ignorant slaes pitch.

You may think that a white man wearing Blackface may be overboard and insulting as Ackerman does in the following video. But since there are many white folks who refuse to listen to Black folks like myself and others when it comes to racism. Maybe this is what it will take for them to get it.

Love may conquer hate, but maybe there’s something to ignorance fighting ignorance: