This month marks the one year anniversary of the suicide of 11-year-old Carl Walker-Hoover. If you’re unfamiliar with his story, after being taunted relentlessly with gay slurs, Carl hung himself at his house — shortly before his mother was set to go back to his school to discuss her child’s bullying.
A month ago an Irish immigrant killed herself after enduring her own bouts of bullying. After that, one of her bullies took to Facebook to say, “Mission accomplished.
Though I didn’t flat out say these sorts of bullies should’ve been swallowed, I do chime in about Walker-Hoover’s mother’s call for a support of the Safe Schools Improvement Act.
Also, a year ago I wrote the deaths of both Carl Walker-Hoover and another young boy who also killed himself within that same month. Although school officials later cited another reason for Jaheem Herrea’s suicide, his family maintains that it was due to bullying.
Whatever the case may be, I touched on how confining notions of black masculinity pose dangerous consequences. In that piece, I wrote about my own dealings in homophobia and as a result, for the first time wrote openly about my own sexuality. It’s also the piece that led me to coming out to my own mom. But I suppose I should save that story for another day.
You can check out “When Bullying Leads To Suicide” here.
I can’t stand Michael Steele because I find him to be patronizing, annoying, nonsensical, and ridiculous in the worst ways possible. Now that he wants to play the race card he previously lashed out at others for using to defend himself, I can now add hypocrite to the list of reasons why Mr. Steele needs to change his name to Bobby.
Got a new piece up for AOL News on Steele’s recent comments about race and “slimmer margins for error” and how the former doesn’t excuse his mistakes.
Everyone that knows me really well says I need a vacation. That’s because as a freelance writer, I’m constantly working to make sure the rent is paid, my fridge is full, and that bitch Sallie is off my testicles. Look, I’m all about U-N-I-T-Y (that’s a unity), but Sallie Mae is turning me into a misogynist.
Not to mention as a freelance writer you often have to take on the role of bill collector. “Bitch better have my money indeed.” See? I just can’t stop saying the word.
With obvious pressures building I’ve decided that I need start trying to enjoy myself a little bit and have an actual vacation. And by vacation, I meant somewhere where I can relax but still have Wi-Fi around me.
Unfortunately, it’s like a recession or some bullshit so my options are not as grand as I would presently prefer them to be. Over the past few months I’m been thinking about my options, but after this clip I know there’s one country I can officially cross off my list.
At the rate we’re going, there’s a strong chance that one in three of the next generation of black men will lose their right to vote. This is due to current laws among various states that bar ex-felons from voting.
I wrote a piece in favor of the Democracy Restoration Act bill that was recently introduced to congress for AOL News. The site has paired my work with someone from the Heritage Foundation who takes the opposite stance on the matter (shocker).
If you’re interested in checking it out, you can click here to read the piece.
It’s not that I have anything against fat kids. In fact, I myself used to be a fat kid. However, I’m aware of the reasons why I got fat and about 20 of them involved a chicken nugget. Yep, at one point I started to devour 20 piece nuggets all by lonesome at the age of 11. Sure, I was growing but in one area more so than others. And now we’ve reached a point where 1 in 10 minority children are considered obese.
Granted, I was never pegged as obese, but I mention the 20 nuggets to say exercise and nutrition go a long way – especially when you think about all of the mystery ingredients these food companies use to make our “food.”
While there should certainly be some federal investigations into that, right now, I think it’s best we start supporting efforts like those enacted by Michelle Obama. Being fat doesn’t make you unfit, but there are way too many kids who look like they eat what I bench press in one setting.
Naturally, some people disagree and I’ve already received their emails. Somehow, I’m an evil racist henchmen of the far left using AOL News to spread Michelle Obama’s Marxist rhetoric. Clearly, someone’s been topping their hamburgers with poisonous and sprinkles of stupidity.
Whatever the case, you can chime in with your opinion by clicking here.
You don’t have to watch more than a minute of this video to get my overall sentiment: I wish President Obama could slap the taste out of this man’s mouth. Of course, that would not be very presidential of him so I’m glad he’s managed to show restraint.
Still, I really wish Barry would stop entertaining FOX News. I’m not going to make the same argument against the news station. By now if you can’t tell they’re nothing more than a propaganda factory parading themselves as a credible news station there is no hope for you.
This is me jiggin’ to the sounds of passionate black power chants of the 1960s on audio. Well, no, not really but let certain folks tell it this is what we do late at night whenever we gather around. I’m pretty sure Clifford H. Bell Jr. thinks this judging from the email he sent me this morning.
It read:
Play your race card you idiot!!! Spewing your (black) venom is what keeps you black people down, when are you black people going to understand that??
Whew, I feel the rage and it’s troubling my soul. Or something. When I saw this I instantly thought, “Hmm, that AOL piece I did must be up.”
Actually, it went up yesterday and I’m surprised that I only got one hateful email versus a dozen the way I do any other time I write about issues that deal with race. I always find it interesting when people get riled up about the things I say when I often have to state them in the mildest of terms. For professional sites, that is. Sometimes I have free reign to just be, but more times than not editors like the PG-13 version of me. Or G. I get it, but you know.
People get very very offended very very easily. Please read that sentence in your best Elmer Fudd voice if you can.
Anyhow, in this piece’s particular case I target black people than white. I didn’t say anything about white people per se, but I suppose when you reference systematic factors that have paved the way for the problems minorities face today some will feel a certain type of way no matter how you word it.
The topic may be a bit stale to some now, but it’s not to those currently suffering and those who sure would love to capitalize off of it.
So, if you have a moment, check me out over on AOL News by clicking here.
Then join me in singing this:
You know what? Would I be wrong if I emailed this video back to him along with the message, “Thank you, Sandra Bullock. I’m most grateful for you helping me see the error of my ways?” He sounds angry and in need of a morning jig.
I swear you would’ve thought I wrote in the article that black people need to free themselves from the man and start throwing buckets of fried chicken at them on site.
Yesterday Farouk Shami lost his bid to be the Democratic gubernatorial candidate after getting that ass handed to him by former Houston mayor Bill White.
With Shami knowing he was a heavy underdog in the race he made a last-minute decision to release this campaign song in the form of an ad.
In my head I picture some poor misguided soul telling Shami:
1. Rap
+
2. Ad
=
3. Youth (or probably just black) votes.
Whoever the mastermind of this advertisement is, I hope they enjoy their new life pushing KFC’s new boneless chicken filets.
I never thought Jay-Z killed auto-tune, but I definitely think Farouk just put another bullet in its already fledging appeal.
I’m not mad at the artist J. Xavier because a check is a check, but I hope he uses said check to pay for tuition because a successful career in rap seems about as likely as RuPaul posing in Playboy now.
I know some of you have recently shown me a full eclipse in light of the infrequent updates over the past few weeks. To that I say: Thank you for pushing me to blog regularly, but until I turn a profit from this thing some days won’t see any updates. Ya’ll trying to have me sell pills and parts.
And since [the man] took away my health insurance, I have to save. I’m driving a Camry, folks. I could be riding dirty so unless I take my brother’s advice and fake an accent in an emergency room, chances are I might need to worry about a potential bill.
That said, if you’re wondering what I’m doing in the meantime I’m still writing.
My most recent piece for AOL News deals with homophobia in Africa. A lot of our fellow black people are out there being persecuted among several nations. If they’re not being jailed for simply being who they are, they’re being slaughtered for it.
And indirectly, many Americans are helping facilitating this criminalization of homosexuality.
If you know you can’t stand gay people and don’t want to read this, no worries, I’ll be back to scolding Wacka Flocka’s English teacher in no time.
However, if you’re open to hearing a different perspective on the matter I invite you to read this piece. Then retweet, Facebook, and email it.
I don’t have a problem with black conservatives in theory. That is, those who fall in line with the pull yourself by your own bootstraps philosophy that conservative ideology is largely based on. I disagree with it as it relates to the role government should have in most instances, but I get it.
Yet for the life of me I’ll never understand these silly colored conservatives who spew out as much of the nonsensical bullshit as their common sense deficient white counterparts do. Most specifically, the asinine accusations and dimwitted theories related to President Obama. I would like to give them more credit than that, but again and again I’m shown instances that tell me that I shouldn’t bother.
By no means do I think the name Barack means, “Slim, Trim, He Is Who Without Sin,” but really, did this jackass just suggest that Barack Obama has something to do with the increased incidents of domestic violence?
He can’t really think something that stupid, can he? I imagine he’s simply saying this for the sake of of garnering himself attention. As pathetic as that may be it at least alleviates my fear that someone slipped wite out into his mama’s breast milk as a child.
Or maybe he is really that simple?
If you don’t remember James T. Harris, he’s the guy who stood up at a McCain rally and said, “I am begging you, sir. Take it to him.” Him would be a then Senator Obama.
I think the left side of my brain tried to commit suicide after seeing that video played over and over again throughout that day’s news cycle. Stupid is as stupid does indeed.
Speaking of stupid, the other day I was greeted by a conservative writer who purposely misinterpreted the recent gallery I wrote for The Root. He tried to say that I placed black conservatives on the same level as dictators. Nevermind that the gallery specifically noted that it spanned pop culture and politics and that those on the list only had one shared characteristic: they’re perceived to be embarrassing.
Truth be told, it wasn’t my idea to include the dictators as much of the post was done in jest, but really, their inclusion didn’t really negate that the gallery was obviously intended to be tongue-in-cheek. And to be blunt, if you see Dennis Rodman, O.J. Simpson, Clarence Thomas, and a dictator, do you really think they’re all equally as offensive?
It would make too much sense to just go with something plainly spelled out to you as is. No, you have to go one step further and remix it so it can point to your invented truth and give you something to bitch about.
This was a white conservative writer, mind you. Apparently he was picking a “fight” all in the name of defending Clarence Thomas. Of course, Alan Keyes was also on the list but he sure did leave him out of the “argument.” I’m sure Alan wouldn’t mind, though. He’s an obedient pet for the GOP.
I suppose the same can be said of James T. Harris.
I guess if you can’t beat ‘em you pretend he’s helping others get beat. Funny how the party of personal responsibility never wants to accept responsibility for its actions. One thing that isn’t funny is how ass backwards so many of the talking heads are.
I’m not shocked that this stray from the last presidential election would mouth of this nonsense, but I still find it no less pathetic.
Do people have no shame?
No need to answer, I know. I want advocate violence in a post themed around heinous accusations of helping facilitate it, but I’ll just say I wouldn’t be mad if his tongue ran away from home the day of his next booked appearance on Fox News.
Writer. Music head. Political junkie. Pop culture whore. Funny black boy. Looking to have a voice in the world -- with a few good sponsors.
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