Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Not Surprised, And Not All That Hurt

I do not know why anyone wants to act surprised because some old white person said something racist. Didn't shake me. What you do in the dark will come out in the light one way or the other... So when Donald Sterling said whatever he said to one of those bitches he could afford, I did not bat a lash. Racism exists, and for people to act offended by it in today's society only do it for the notoriety. This move is just as political as anyone who told you to vote whichever way they wanted YOU to vote. The only people who has ANY reason to feel offended is The employees and players for the Clippers organization, and Magic Johnson. Outside of that, the opinions and thoughts from anyone else, holds no weight. That is my opinion.

This pouring of "let's all hate this guy because of this thing," is the latest of things to happen to show that we as a country are willing to allow the words of one, to determine how we should feel. I am in no way saying that he is right, because he is not. I am just saying that there are more things in this world to put more energy behind other than the stupid opinions of a self made billionaire. Racism still holds a sting for a lot of us. For example, a couple of weeks ago, one of the students at the school decided that she would use the N-word in her every day vocabulary... I checked her on it... Few minutes later, she did it again. I kicked her out of my "office" (I primarily work out of the laundry room, but it's my office). She apologized, but she is still not back on my good side... Not going to sugarcoat what I felt, and I for damn sure am not going to accept it.

I do understand why everyone is mad and wants to react, but, The Miami Heat did the stupidest thing tonight by doing exactly what the Clippers did the night before in their silent protest. The Clippers wore black socks and black wrists bands in a show of solidarity... Miami, for some reason, wanted to do the same... Last I heard, NO ONE in The Heat Organization said ANYTHING racist, to anyone... Why in the FUCK are the teenage girls of the Association, doing this? Makes no since. Stupid move in my opinion. And yet, here we are talking about 1 man, when we could be talking about how AMAZING the NBA and the NHL First Rounds have been! But for the last 78+ hours, all that has been circulating on the sports networks. To hell with the scores... To hell with the games, and your favorite team... Let's talk about Donald Sterling. America is treating this the worst way possible... In order to get over and beyond someones ignorance, do what Dani Alves of Barcelona did.

The same weekend that Sterling went out of his way to make an ass of himself, A fan of the same Barcelona team that Dani Alves plays on, THREW A BANANA on the pitch as he was setting up for a corner kick... Being from Brazil, and living in Spain for 11 years now, Alves has had his fair share of racist taunts... But this latest one is getting all the attention the world over. Why? Because of what he did... Instead of getting mad, and throwing a fit, Alves picked up the banana, peeled it, ate it, threw the peel behind him, and finished the corner... THAT is what should be happening in the U.S. right now... When the world throws you a banana, eat that shit! It has a lot of potassium! That shit lubricates the muscles! So that one racist asshole, just helped his team win over Villarreal this past weekend. He was asked about it, and he had a quote that I can't find... But he ultimately said, that the power in racism lies in how you deal with it.

I, as a black man, could give a shit about Donald Sterling. I as a black man, can't change the ideologies of little white girls who has no idea about how to be... I can't change their minds. I can't educate the ones who aren't willing to learn... I can't tell a fan how to be smart... All I can do is deal with it when it comes... It bothers me that it still exists, but it will NEVER surprise me that it exists at all. There will never be change in this aspect. Racism still exists because we allow it to. How? When was the last time, black person, you went up to your black friend, and instead of calling him by name, you said "What up, nigga?" Yeah. What about you behind closed door, white person? When was the last time you said "The niggers I work with are getting under my skin." Of course. When was the last time you decided you wouldn't see a movie by Quentin Tarantino, because of the grotesque use of the "n-word?" Didn't stop you yet... What about the last time you celebrated Cinco de Mayo? Did you wear a sombrero, and drink tequila, and Corona, or Tecate? Not to mention wearing green and claiming to be Irish on St. Patrick's Day... Not to mention the that Asians aren't the only bad drivers out there, nor do they "love you long time." All big asses ain't Ghetto. Not every Jewish person is stingy. Not every black person celebrates Kwanzaa... Not every white man is trying to hold you down.

So, lets all just eat a banana, call it a day, and starve those who wants to be assholes to us for whatever reason, by not giving them the time of day.

Sunday, April 20, 2014

Your Part

In this life, what's your part? Think about it! Where do you belong in this sphere? This question came about while watching Lorde's performance at Coachella tonight. I was thinking about that day that I discovered her... It was about a year ago, and I was on buzzfeed.com, and while on there, There was something about artists you should fall in love with immediately... And as I clicked on Lorde, I was seriously seconds away from turning off the song, and moving on... But when the music changed to the chorus of "The Love Club," I was hooked from that moment on... I COULD NOT get enough of this voice, this sound, and this accent that was prevalent I knew this young lady was destined to be a star... Following her through interviews and YouTube, I just knew that she would be something huge, and she would not be something worth keeping for myself. At every opportunity that I had, I shared her name, and her song with anyone who was looking for GOOD MUSIC! It surprised me to learn how young she was, but listening to her, I know she has her head on straight, and she will not end up like certain pop stars that had humbled beginnings as well.

She was born to be an alternate voice of the youth, and the young at heart who was waiting on someone to say what we thought. She has touched me, and millions all over the world, and she never thought that she could do that. She knows her part. Me, I love music and I love movies... I see myself behind the scenes making beauty the only way I know how... with my imagination. I wanna write or edit. I want to be as far behind the scenes as possible. I want to have a quiet life not in front of a camera or in front of a microphone, but you know what? What I wanna do, may lead me right into that position. There may be some who wants to be in the front, but want to be in the back... and the same goes fro those who wants to move from the back to the front... who knows. You do. So what are you going to do to make sure that you are in the position that you are suppose to be in? How are you going to play your part? What are you going to do to make sure that you are in your role? What about if you aren't where you suppose to be, but this is the hand that is dealt to you? Figure it out.

Make it work for you the best way you can. Even if it takes a little longer than you would've liked. I'll see you when you land.

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

DREAMS!


Most days, when asked, "Hey Jarrett! How you doing?"  My response is usually "Living the dream!" But am I really? This past weekend, I was watching Coachella as it was televised on YouTube. And one of the bands that I was surprised to see play is a band that consists of 3 black pre-teens who plays metal... Those boys are SO. FUCKING. GOOD!!! They are known as "Unlocking The Truth." One of the members, co-founder Malcolm, addressed the crowd saying to them: "Y'all having a good time?" To which the growing crowd responded with a cheer... Just before Alec's bass was fixed, and they started playing again, he said "This is a dream come true." He was referring to playing Coachella. These 3 young men started playing metal because they did not want to be like everyone else, who's all about hip-hop, in their Brooklyn neighborhood. With parents who lovingly allows the noise of electric guitars and heavy drums fill the halls of their house, these boys self groomed themselves to be bigger than they could imagine, and I am proud to say that I am a fan of theirs, and wish them nothing but the best from here til Kingdom Come. They have played with the likes of Motorhead, and other legends of rock and metal... These kids are going to be around for a long long time.

But back to the subject... Am I really living the dream? Am I really giving my all to be the best that I can be every day? Nope. I can honestly say that I am not. BUT, can that change? Yes! Will it? It has to! The heart strings are being tugged to do something. So, getting up and moving will be something I will do... Being the best that I can in school will be something that I will do as well. I love school. I love my teachers, I love my subjects, and it just makes me feel good, and accomplished. I have to start looking for a job in the field one day soon as well... We shall see how it all works out. But am I living the dream? What does dream living consist of really?

Well, as we all are pretty familiar with, the American Dream is what you make of yourself in this life... That can be said about someone from Canada, or Rwanda... Are they living the Canadian or Rwandan Dream? Is it the same thing as the American Dream? Well, my dream is to be a successful film maker in the concentrations of editing and writing. Even if I am not the best, I know that is where I will find my happiness. So, I am doing what I can to make my dream come true. And I hope that one day, when I say "Living the dream," its not for laughs, but for real. Something I can smile about. But even in joking, I feel like I am truly living the dream... Despite self-questioning and answering, I know that I am living the dream. I am employed, I am educated, I am loved, I am accepted, I am liked, and I am happy... I don't have the white picket fence, or the garage full of cars, but one day, I will... Things will not bring happiness... Working hard at not working anymore, will.

Monday, April 14, 2014

I Love This Love, And Hate That Love

So, my Twin found happiness, and I could not be any happier! For her safety, she will be known to you as Twin. To me, she is the best thing in my world. And no, I do not have a flesh and blood twin. My friend and I met back in high school, lost touch, regain touch, and been really close since. She lives in Canada, and its very few and far between we actually see each other, but, we know our relationship, and I am there for her, like she is there for me. I recently told her that if her now boyfriend somehow breaks her heart, he has a brand new enemy. No matter where I am, I will find a way to fuck up his world. There is very few things that you do to get me pissed... But the one thing that gets me upset is when you fuck with my family... And trust me, my family is HUGE... But yeah, anyways, on to the subject at hand...

I recently told someone that I am done with love... I am done with the search, the hope, and everything that has to do with dating, and love.... There is a huge and complete difference between the levels of love, There is man and man, man and self, man and nature, man and God... And in that "man and man" love, there is definitely degrees in that. I have a lot of great friends, who I love to death... Like I always say to all my favorite people, "Thank you for allowing me to fall in love with you." I love all my friends, and all my relationships with those people. Recently, I met my friend Christina's boyfriend. As long as me and Christina have been friends, she has talked about Mike. Never met him, until recently, when I realize that our paths, me and Mike that is, have crossed years before! Small world, and the smaller city. Anyway, I love them! They are awesome, and I am blessed to have them in my life.

But when it comes to love, and passing on my name, I think it stops with me... Like I mentioned in a previous blog, it definitely requires some things that someone has to live up to in order to be considered, at the least, look-at-able... So, I am done, and I have said so before, but this time, I am for real. Do I have hope that I am wrong? Yes! God knows that the one thing I definitely want is to have a family of my own. However, I don't want to do it the wrong way. I believe in the order of things... Meet, date, ask, plan, wed, sex, baby, repeat steps 6 and 7 as many times as you want, do more 6 than 7, provide, nurture, let go, wed off, grand kids, get older, and die. But in today's world, that will NEVER happen. Why? Because more and more people are coming out of the closet (not a problem, but its definitely a trend), social media have set boundaries around meeting someone in real life, all we do is keep up with whats going on with the lives of others as we sit across from someone who may have a problem that you need to deal with, AND, the big one, porn is so easy to access! Seriously... you can turn to your left, there is tits and dicks, you turn to your left, pussy and assholes! It's no reason why no one wants to get married... Its too easy to get what you want without moving from your chair, all the while stuffing your face with Doritos! Not to mention everyone who finds satisfaction in making someone else's life as miserable as possible with limitations of self, and worth.

Love, somehow, is not what you have in common, or what you don't have in common... It's now all about what you did/didn't do on the Facebook or the twitter, or the whatever... My year off of the social media sites is almost up, and I can tell you it has been awesome... The people I met, the bands that I love now, the memories that I kept to myself has been more than what I could have thought... And because of all the encounters that I manage to have with these people, I have fallen in love ten-fold. The missed connections, the new addition to my world, it has been awesome. But finding someone to love for the purpose of a life of happiness, It stops. But if it finds me, cool. If it doesn't I am cool with that too. No need for me to rush into anything. Plus, I have me to take care of. I love me, but there are a lot of things to correct, and a huge margin of time to improve me. Can't wait! Except, I have to wait til this pollen passes for me to do what I really wanna do. Ok. Done. Night.