Paid in Full

I think it is vital, especially given the tumultuous times we are in
as a community(despite Gov. Plain’s  (sp) assertion that communities
apparently don’t need organizing anymore) and as a nation, that we
never lose sight on acknowledging that behind all these dynamic blogs
and movements are real people with real lives.

(Cross posted from my Afrospear Google Group)

Because the vast majority of us conduct our online activism on a
volunteer basis, on top of everything else that we do, “real Life” has
a tendency to encroach upon our ability to fulfill our passion for
activism and community uplift.  (a fact that makes Gov. Plain’s
cutdown even more infuriating).

On August 24, 2008 I flew my sons back to Maryland to accompany them
to their first day of school.in Fifth and first grade.  I then flew
back to Texas, for MY first day of school in 15 years as a freshman at
a junior college taking a full load while continuing to work full-time
plus at my job at what I affectionately call the plantation.

Wednesday Night, my wife and I found ourselves in custody of two young
children who we didn’t even know 5 months ago, probably permanently.
They weren’t literally dropped on my stoop, because that would have
required the minimum effort of actually BRINGING them to my house.

To say the least, it has been a chaotic two and a half weeks.  Just as
it was getting truly hectic and I thought I was drowning…

A huge dose of help arrived from a member of this collective and
inspiration from another blogger who couldn’t have posted an item to
me directly, but it seemed to be done just for me.

Those two incidents, one done purposefully, one encountered by chance,
made my day and have re-energized me in all phases of my busy life.

So, on this Saturday, take a moment to look around you and offer
support and encouragement to someone around you.  This action is at
the core of our message in this group and will ultimately make the
group better.

Peace and Love,

The Ink.

(Cross-posted @ the AfroSpear Google Group)

PS…the movie was rather Meh.  This part here…was great.

The Ink’s NFL Pick em league.

You have been invited to join Inkognegro’s Private Group in Yahoo! Sports Pro Football Pick’em.
In order to join the group, just go to Pro Football Pick’em, click the “Sign Up” button (or “Create or Join Group” if you are a returning user). From there, follow the path to join an existing private group and when prompted, enter the following information…
Group ID#: 62984
Password: Twitter

Click Here to go join

Come join the fun..even if you miss tonight’s game….you can still get in by 1pm ET on Sunday.

I ain’t got all damn day. No one Does.

I wonder how some of y’all do it.

I got idols role models in this game who bring it on the regular,  Posting regularly with insights and genius day after day.

Between my sons and the plantation and the wife, not to mention my own focus issues, I do well to get one or two real posts out a week.

It isn’t that I don’t have the time, necessarily.

but by the time I get my reading and my usual online banking and bill paying done, I am way past the time regular folk should be online.

The wife says to me that I am addicted and that something needs to change.

I don’t know that I need to start hitting meetings or anything like but something is going to have to give.

The wife has decided that I spend every non working waking hour online.

Of course, this is an exaggeration, but even Barack Obama will tell you that life is much more about what people THINK is than what actually is.

So, watch with amazement while I try to be online less and get more done online.

*sucks teeth and logs off*

Permission to Revise and Extend my Remarks

As a nod to the serialized nature of this particular topic.

Previously on Inkognegro 1.75

Aside from that whole foolishness with Pastor Manning, Last night marked my most replied to thread.

In light of the intelligent answers and commentss I recieved, I thought a pulic response was in order.

As to the claim that we should clap for Dr. Fryer because he is trying hard:

If Dr. Fryer was 8, I might could roll with that.

Now while my wife is actively contemplating his death and dismemberment, I just said that the brother was off target.  I am not even saying he should pack up his ish and bounce.  I am merely offering criticism on his thesis.

As for this veiled notion that the whole community is sitting idly by watching Roland Fryer get his Don Quixote on is just nonsense.

There are MANY nameless and faceless academics out there trying to eliminate the achievement gap both privately and publicly.

One of them lives in my house.

This notion that pervades that all actions should be applauded is wackness of the most pure form.

All actions should be acknowledged and recognized.

Would it be better if I think Dr. Fryer is off track and I decide to wait until it doesn’t work and then rush in and say:

I knew it wouldn’t work all along.

(this here is typical negro behavior, btw.)

I merely chose to put out a letter to Dr. Fryer suggesting that he might be off track.

——–

Those of you who were less critical of Dr. Fryer said things such as the following:

Its no different than a kid getting a new book (like I did) or a special dinner when they bring home a great report card.

It is completely different.

New book = reinforcement of the value of education.  a Chance to make reading a lifestyle.

Nice Dinner = Cultural experience that allows for MORE learning.

Giving a kid money = Giving a kid money

Or how about programs like Upward Bound or College STEP? As a STEP alum, I got a $5,000 stipend every year I was in the program and did what I was supposed to do. I don’t hear anyone hollering about that–and Upward Bound is probably one of the greatest experiences a teenager could have.

I agree wholeheartedly.  Being a teenager is pricey and teenagers are fierce capitalists.  You NEED to show them the money.  But these ain’t teenagers, these are CHILDREN.  Puberty ain’t the time for symbolism and lessons.  THOSE children NEED money and have already developed some SENSE of the value of Education (or else THEY would be on the block somewhere making money).  Comparing the plight of 16 year olds and 8 year olds is like comparing the needs of an ipod and the needs of a transistor radio.  They are sponges and they WILL soak up whatever you give them.  This is your ONE AND ONLY chance to give them a love for learning.   You have to plant that seed before they get old enough to be influenced by other forces.  Paying children of this age only reinforces the very negative forces they will be bombarded with as they grow up.

Let me close by focusing on an issue that I alluded to yesterday.

Dr. Fryer is trying to hot-wire the system.  By paying children straight out, as opposed to giving incentives to teachers or parents he believes he is creating a neat synthesis.

inject money as a motivating factor and watch them fly.  Ok. Fair enough.  But what is REALLY being rewarded?

Acing a standardized test?  woo hoo.  Is THAT the goal here?  Think VERY carefully before you answer that.

I cannot remember the last time my SAT Score was relevant to anything.  Hell, I can barely remember my SAT Score.

It is one thing to deal with the Education Industry using their Standardized Test Fetishes as a guise for determining progress, it is quite another for those of us who have taken as our mission to deliver this newest generation to sip on that koolaid like that shit REALLY matters.  THOSE folk oughta know better.

If you want to save THIS generation,  You need to work them as hard as you love them and be the change you want them to become (Obama, 2008)

Making it rain on them will do little more than get them wet.

Real Talk in the middle of the night.

There are moments in your life that you usually look back on months/years later and say:

Yeah, that’s when it all changed for me.

Today was that day for me.

I am just over 700 days short of 40.  While 40 may be the new 30 or whatever random formula older rappers trot out to suit their own egos, my personal reality is that I have managed fritter away my youth stretching and straining to make ends meet at the expense of whatever prodigious talents and gifts God has given me.

This in and of itself, isn’t news.  What IS news is that I now understand WHY that is.

I harbor an irrational fear of failure, which extends from a lifetime of self-esteem issues.  This, of course, is a bitter irony when placed in the context of a man known to more than a few as snobbish, pompous, arrogant, and self-aggrandizing.   So, go figure.

Mrs. Ink pulled my card this afternoon and challenged me to stop ducking my destiny and to push the envelope and walk in my destiny.

Of course, she is right.  Of  Course I have been trying to make this happen for years now.  If you think fighting the power is hard, you should try fighting YOURSELF and the system in a no holds barred handicap match in a steel cage.

Honestly, one of the difficulties of Blogging for me is the insular nature of it.

I am sitting here pouring my heart and soul (or not) into this blog and Aside from a couple of REALLY close friends, I feel like I am talking to myself.   Then I realized, I am actually much more honest with myself when I actually talk to myself, so if I am going to feel like I am talking to myself, I may as well ACTUALLY go ahead and talk to myself.

And go ahead and answer myself as well.

The Second Annual BET Awards Recap

Warning: this post weighs in at just under FOUR THOUSAND WORDS.  There will be an abridged Version posted tonight  for those of you allergic to posts of that level.  Proceed with caution. the jokes flow in bunches, even if all of them aren’t funny.

• Powered by Mountain Dew Voltage(blue colored raspberry-citrus and ginseng flavored) my wife’s Hooters leftovers, and Fort Worth’s finest tap water.
  

And so it is, June 24, 2008 and it is time for another illuminating snapshot in Black History.

Yeah, folk, hate all you like, the BET awards are a snapshot in time for where the culture of our people is in 2008.

I am not endorsing this snapshot, I am merely putting it on display.

A fact that my wife just reminded me is an astounding misuse of my God-given ability.

7:00pm – The show opens with one of the many young men who should be paying royalties to Michael Jackson, one Usher Raymond Foster.

Who is apparently getting to the stage in his life where he is too old to be putting out club bangers and has been off the scene (getting his Broadway on, but still) long enough that he looks like he is biting Chris Brown and Ne-yo (who, as I stated earlier, are all biting Michael Jackson.

Speaking of Broadway, I am a bit annoyed that such an accomplished performer as Mr. Raymond is SHAMELESSLY lip-synching. As the elder statesman for male R&B singers, I find this most unacceptable. Surely he could slide in and and do a classic Usher Run or two…but, alas, no.

Michael Jackson is not going to be pleased.

MC Lyte is still doing voice work for BET.

What did I learn from all the names…That SouljaBoy’s last name is Tellem. (Tellem what?)

DL Hughley, (who clearly is the least busy of the Kings of Comedy these days) is the host this year and pretty much came out and proved why he is the ONLY King of Comedy who is ONLY collecting residuals from his show.

7:11 - Jennifer Hudson and Terence Howard prove that having Oscar Nominations won’t prevent awkward and unentertaining banter

Best Male R&B artist: Chris Brown, Raheem Devaughn, J. Holiday, Ne-Yo, Trey Songz .

Chris Brown wins and reminds us that his people skipped past the whole speech making part of artist development. Berry Gordy is mumbling about folk not learning anything from the Motown years.

The hierarchy is: Label, managers, momma, God…and then a promotion of the fans to number one.

Chrysler tries to sell us vehicles that just don’t fit in the modern $4 dollar a gallon economy. But LOTS of cool Gadgets.

Pepsi dusts off an old Super Bowl Commercial with Justin Timberlake. Apparently they don’t have anyone Black on the endorsement list.

Verizon breaks out a good random commercial.

Dreamworks highlights a movie with Iron man playing a brother. Apparently the irony is lost on them.

Hell Date is up for season number 2.

American Gangster season 2 is on DVD. Cause you don’t know nearly enough about the Criminals in our culture.

Oh right…HipHop vs. America.

7:18 - DL Hughley tells us that Jeezy is one of the most exciting rappers to come along in a long time and Jeezy shows us by appearing on stage without so much as a fuckin DJ. Flames and a big screen? Check. Some source for the music? Even a DJ as a prop? Naaaaah.

Apparently Jeezy is too big for HipHop Rule #5: EVERYONE sounds better with a live band.

Cue Kanye who I forgot was on this song. Shows you how much I listen to the radio. Sadly…The best verse is pretty much blanked out. Come on Kanye toda…surely you can clean up the verses for the chirren.

7:23 - Kevin Hart (whose claim to fame is….drumroll…Soul Plane. A Movie so bad even DL Hughley apologized for it.) and Mel B. (who IS fine, just not fine enough to overcome A. Being a Spice Girl and B. getting knocked up by Eddie Murphy only to lose him to the Former Mrs. Babyface(who went on to lose him to Johnny Gill…the Lesson? If Being fine and making a baby can’t keep a man, just being fine wont keep him either…especially if he likes OTHER MEN.)) present…well I still don’t know yet..they are STILL bantering.

Best Male Athlete.(Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Chris Paul, Tiger Woods)

Okay wait. I LOVE Chris Paul but, COME ON NOW…BEST MALE ATHLETE? He aint even the best BASKETBALL PLAYER LISTED…yet.

Tiger ain’t gonna win cause you know Tiger ain’t there. I know Kobe ain’t there cause he is off getting his Tony Romo on with Mrs. Bryant. (cause Kobe has the good sense to lose in the playoffs THEN go on vacation to Cabo).

Kobe wins. Kevin Garnett Paul Pierce and Ray Allen feel cheated…but only for a second.

Mel and her headlights show Kevin Hart the way back to obscurity.

Um..i don’t know WHO these two are pimpin that whole viewers choice thingy.

Target tries to help Usher sell records. Or tries to help remind Black women to buy records at Target while they buy their towels.

Pizza Hut sells Calzones to black people with only one black dude in the commercial.

Southwest Airlines tells you that the only thing worse than getting your Black Girlfriend’s hair wet is damaging some random Black Man’s classic Mustang.

Post shows you that regular lack folk make cereal for them.

Eddie Murphy has a movie. It’s only PG so it might be funny. Uh oh…Kevin Hart sighting…the movie is doomed.

T-Mobile thinks that Black people know who the Hatfields and McCoys are. Props to them.

O.B. sells tampons…with cartoon ants.

Baldwin Hills is back…and it’s still painful to watch.

I think DL Hughley changed his clothes, but I wasn’t paying attention.

7:31 – Keyshia Cole is singing a song I don’t know from way up in the air only to descend into a puff of smoke. with no band wearing a shredded bed spread..which gets pulled off in exchange for go go boots and shorts.

Yup…she could still get it…

Lil Kim…not so much. You know you are short when Keyshia Cole towers over you. Apparently Missy Elliot is busy.

I kinda wish Keyshia had lip synced.

7:36 - Now we see MC Lyte Read. Toni Braxton wonders if Lyte can afford to pay royalties to her for jacking her 1992 hair game.

Oh look…a Boyz in the hood reunion. Cuba, Cuba Cuba….sigh.

Best Female HipHop Artist (Missy Elliot, Eve, Kid Sister, Lil Mama, Trina)

Wow, Missy’s album isn’t even out yet…Eve dropped a hot single (or two) and was rewarded with a postponement of HER album…Kid Sister is on the periphery of HipHop at BEST(although the video is rather intriguing)..Lil Mama is fighting off one hit wonder status with all she’s got and Trina is currently best known for being the woman who broke up Lil Wayne’s marriage…We should just give this to Lyte, Rah Digga and Jean Grae and K.I.M.

Missy won, but she’s too busy finishing the album she won this award for to attend.

Hancock is coming out soon. Mr. Independence day strikes again. Hard to imagine this being another Wild Wild West.

Subway and Get Smart….hard to get whiter than that.

Chrysler is still selling that mini truck.

AT&T sells black people a cool phone with a commercial they obviously made for use during the Hills.

Two people I don’t recognize tease a show called Somebodies…BET’s first scripted show. 28 years later…I can smell it already.

Baldwin Hills again. Sigh.

DL Hughley rushes through crap written for him to get to a reasonably funny joke that fails because he mangled the lead (Ne-Yo has been with more fine Black Women than Robert DeNiro )…proving again why he is the only King of Comedy without a regular gig.

Ne-Yo gives the performance Usher SHOULD have given.Here is a hint for all yall Michael Jackson wannabes. If you run around and dance for us…we will allow you to sound kinda out of breath. We aren’t that wack.

Ne-Yo gets WAY out front on performance of the night. Shame BET wouldn’t spring for any of these folk to bring out a band. So sad.

LL Cool J leads out Ashanti. LL is so moved by the moment that he didn’t bother to dress up. (BTW…if you haven’t heard LL’s mixtape with Kay Slay…you are missing out)

Ashanti looks like she stole one of Alicia Keys old dresses from the Grammys

Best New Artist (Dream, Estelle, Flo Rida, Chrisette Mchele, Soulja Boy Tellem)

The Dream wins. He didn’t bother showing up because he was so sure Soulja Boy was gonna win.

Ashanti can’t even walk in her heels.

Diet Pepsi Max revives their Grammy Commercial.

Nissan shows Chrysler how to build a car for 2008. If you are too embarrassed to mention the gas mileage…you ain’t got the right car.

Back comes the creepy Verizon wireless commercial.

Pizza Hut and their Calzone.

Roscoe Jenkins is now on DVD, for all y’all bougie mofos too good for bootlegs.

State Farm puts out a decent commercial for Black Folk, reminding me to include them in my hunt for Life/Car insurance.

O.B. again.

Cadillac sells Black folk the Escalade Hybrid. 50% more efficient in the city…which means instead of TWELVE miles a gallon…you’ll get EIGHTEEN MPG. Yeah…that will show those greedy Oil Companies.

Baldwin Hills gets more irritating with each promo.

Yes, I will be watching HipHop vs. America II so you won’t have to.

7:54 – DL Hughley points out Queen Latifah, who clearly doesn’t have anything to plug, or else she would be ON the show. Diddy and mini-him. Then comes Alicia Keys.

Alicia Keys brought her curves and her band and her back up singers dancers. We are grateful. Greens and Cornbread clearly agree with Miss Keys.

Alicia has been in the sun lately. Quincy Jones nods in approval.

Alicia summons the spirits of SWV and gets me weak in the knees, stealing best performance from Ne-Yo.

Then comes EnVogue all of whom are STILL fine. Let us pause for a moment of silence.

Then comes T and C (L rest in peace)…T-Boz is hoarse and Chili is still Fine.

Then comes the reunion. What do we notice…that SWV sold the fewest records but have eaten the best.

8:02 - We love Neicy Nash. Fuck what you’ve heard. I love Neicy Nash so much I will watch the Style network to see her sans Reno 911 butt pad.

What passes for Comedy on BET ensues, but her delivery was on point and she’s Neicy Nash, so +100 for her. (silly me thought she was ACTUALLY trying to encourage the adoption of African-American children, but why would anyone let a critical issue in the Black Community get in the way of a good joke?)

Best Male HipHop Artist – Common, Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, Snoop Dogg, Kanye West)

David Paterson can see this one coming. If Kanye had any integrity…yup…he does..he brings up Wayne. If only he had handed over the trophy. No such luck.

The Cast of Baldwin Hills proves they can read. Still can’t act. But they can read.

Tide sells Detergent with White-Tees, Drew from Everybody hates Chris and MC Lyte on the voice over.

McDonald’s sells Big Macs with HipHop.

Wanted is coming out Friday. Hello DVD.

Toyota shows Chrysler how to sell cars to Black folk.

Baldwin Hills STILL sucks.

Ciroc Ultra Premium Vodka is pandering to Black folk.

Hell Date season Two…as if you didn’t know THAT was coming.

Wyclef Jean sells Voting in the US while wearing a Poland soccer Jacket.

BET’s American Gangster season two is STILL on DVD, in case you missed it an hour ago.

8:10 T-Pain is on stage with all kinds of props. Singing some random song that might be on his album…His lil magic Mic is working well. Noooo..hes Lipsynching.

We are regaled with all the hits Teddy Pinherass down has Sung um…. On.

Flo-Rida

Rick Ross

DJ Khaled

Big Boi wasn’t about to lip synch his verse.

Neither was Ludacris.

Let the record show that BET couldn’t be bothered to silence the N-Word.

8:17 - Derek Luke and Gabrielle Union don’t do the bad BET writing bit any better.

Video of the Year (Ashanti – The way that you love me, E. Badu – Honey, Mary J. Blige, Just Fine, Alicia Keys – Like you’ll Never See Me again, UGK n Outkast – Players Anthem, Kanye West, Good Life)

UGK wins, giving us a chance to hear from one of the smartest Rappers in the industry, Bun B.

I see Pimp C. had a wife…there is a certain irony in that just tickles me.

Big Boi doesn’t miss a chance to plug his solo project.

Target shows Black people they are classier than Walmart.

Ford makes better cars than they used to.

KFC has chipotle flavored Chicken. Seriously.

Ice Cube is STILL making kid movies. This one should be Called Akeelah and the Skinny Post. Apparently they are still trying to get the movie down to a PG rating, because it isn’t rated yet.

Lincolns are fly….even if they are gussied up Fords.

Baldwin Hills STILL sucks.

(dudes are calling women scrapes? SERIOUSLY?)

8:28 – DL Hughley just introduced Marvin Sapp as the man with the most recognizable Warren Sapp. Ima need a few minutes. *pauses the recording*

10 minutes later…

Ladies and gentlemen…the best singers still sing for Jesus. And OFCOURSE HE has a band (complete with string section)AND a choir.

8:31 cue the obligatory shot of Kirk Franklin.

8:32 so…FOUR minutes into the performance…I notice that there has been a slide show behind him…showing singular moments in our history, culminating with a shot of the Obamas in Iowa on June 6. The show SHOULD be ending right here…but this IS BET after all…and the notion of any kind of perspective is just anathema to them…so let the fuckery commence as soon as this is over.

8:34 and DL Hughley is apologizing.

8:35…Mary Mary and Lisa Lisa…I guess Mister Mister was busy.

Best Gospel Artist - The Clark Sisters, Kirk Franklin, Deitrick Haddon, Marvin Sapp, Trinitee 5:7

Marvin Sapp wins just for showing up and singing. Now someone get him back to humanity.

Dr. Ian Smith wants yall to lose weight.

Only white kids wear Pull-Ups but buy them anyway.

Go see wanted because Common is in it.

Wendy’s makes milkshakes.

What’s the best way to sell a sleek new Cadillac? White women talking bougie.

Baldwin sucks more now than it did an hour ago.

I still don’t know who this guy is BET gave a show to.

BET tells you why you should vote.

Baldwin Hills sucks but Buy the 1^st season on DVD, cause nothing eases the sucking like adding scenes that sucked so bad that it intensified the sucking to levels BET couldn’t tolerate.

HipHop vs. America II is coming on tomorrow.

8:43 – See, Ursh? Even Chris Brown is Singing…you know you dun Effed up, right?

Whoaaa….Easy with the gyrations Chris…Youll never get on Nickelodeon like that.

The shower in the back ground showed me that it was Ciara, cause my old ass wasn’t sure.

8:47 David Banner Brandon T. Jackson, Solange, Soulja Boy Tellem and Cassie represent Generation Now, even though NONE of them have had a hit in this calendar year. (no, Yaaah Bitch Yaaaah, doesn’t count as a HIT.) I had to look up Brandon T. Jackson to learn that he has a show on the N network…which I am sure I get, but I don’t know where it is.

What passes for a public Service Announcement happens.

Best Collaboration – T Pain and, TPain and, TPain and, TPain and, Keyshia Cole and Kim and Missy

Kanye and TPain win. But not before David Banner plugs HIS new album. TPain comes up in slow motion. Kanye says we should be blessed to be in TPain’s presence. This from the same cat who said Soulja Boy Tellem was on some Nas level. Kanye ya Killin me.

I wonder if David Banner knows that Nas’ album drops on the same day as his? The rest of the world knows…because Def Jam paid good money to advertise.

The recycled Pepsi Commercial with Justin Timberlake is back

So is the Pizza Hut Calzone commercial.

The Eddie Murphy movie looks funny, (it is 3am right now…so take that for what it’s worth)

Verizon sells black folk smart phones by showing a white man texting on a Black mans phone.

Lincoln sells Cars with classy innuendo. The Irony is totally lost on all parties involved.

Southwest sells flying to Black folk by showing uncomfortable white folk.

Crest shows you Black girls with pretty teeth.

Hell Date blah blah blah.

Baldwin Hills.

8:57 - John Legend gets a free plug while introducing Al Green.

John Legend misses the easiest Joke in the world by leaving out the most logical end to this comparison: Says

Al Green is Gospel He is Soul he is Rock and roll he is Collard Greens Cornbread Spades and Church Fans. But MOST OF ALL….he is Hot Grits.

Take notes chirren…see if you can learn something from this.

(and WHERE IS OUR AL GREEN BIO PIC?)

On comes Jill Scott to serenade us with an Al Green Song

No one lives Jilly from Philly like Inkognegro…but…isn’t there a certain irony in the stereotypical strong black woman singing Rev. Grits Green? Sorry…this is BET. The people who brought us Yolanda Adams singing Chaka Khan’s Sweet thing. They are impervious to Irony.

Let us bring on the man who will PLAY Al Green in the BIO PIC he deserves…Anthony Hamilton, who has finally sold enough records to not look homeless.

Uh…Maxwell steps in out of ABSOLUTELY NO FUCKIN WHERE AND KILLS simply beautiful. I think women all over southern California melted into a pool of bodily fluids and perfume.

Maybe NOW we can get another fuckin album dammit.

Ill even forgive him for the sneakers.

This is why I even bother with this damn show.

Shout out to Donna Richardson – Joyner (Ill never admit that wack yellow dude scored my favorite fitness diva)

Al sounds like he passed his speechwriters on to Chris Brown.

Then they let him sing.

But not from off his NEW album….only the young folk can plug their new shit.

Let’s stay together….and let us see random black celebrities mug for the camera.

The only thing this segment is missing is the Obamas.

So…here.

And yes…the ENTIRE crowd knows the words.

Al Green takes it to the Gutter…err Pulpit…errrr…somewhere familiar to ALL of us.

He proceeds to RIP Love and Happiness.

There is a certain poetic quality to this moment. Which BET is about to fuck up by not allowing HIM to close the show. Cause we got more Fuckery to go.

Why close the show with history…when we got Lil Wayne in the house.

Only BET would let Wayne upstage Al Green. Like he can Possibly TOUCH Reverend Albert Green.

Now I am irritated.

Alicia Keys hands over the Inkognegro Best Performance award without protest.

Target reminds Black people that Target is cooler than Wal-Mart.

Nissan reminds GM, Ford and Chrysler why they are hemmoraging money.

Go see HellBoy II even if you didn’t see HellBoy I.

Yup…Its true….KFC has Smoky Chipotle Crispy Chicken.

There is that anonymous cat with the show on BET. I think I make more than he is getting for this show that I refuse to name OR Google.

Fuck Baldwin Hills. (the show…not the place)

HipHop vs. America II blah blah blah.

Wyclef says BET says vote for Obama…REALLY subtly.

This shit is STILL on 2 and a half hours later.

Terrence Rocsi and some random dude present the Viewers choice award

Chris Brown and whatshisname – Kiss Kiss

Keyshia Cole and her and her – Let it Go

Alicia Keys – No One

Soulja Boy Tellem – Crank Dat

Lil Wayne feat some other dude I aint even know was on the song- Lollipop

Jordin Sparks and the dancing fella – No Air

Wayne gets his award and brings his family….or is that ALL of New Orleans with him.

9:30 - DL Hughley tells a Young Buck joke.

9:32 Rihanna has the unfortunate task of following Albert Green. That no one smacks the shit out of whomever thought this would be a good idea is a travesty of Robert Kelly verdict proportions.

Hey Ursh…EVEN SHE is singing. And better than usual.

And Jay-Z knew better than to send her out there bandless.

Number of obligatory Chris Brown shots during this song:

Other awards.

Best Group – UGK. Nothing like death to get you a posthumous award.

Best Video Director – Erykah Badu and Chris Robinson (Honey). But not best Video? THAT makes sense.

Best Actress – Halle Berry – did she even HAVE a movie last year?

Best Actor – Denzel Washington – DUH.

BETJ award – Raheem Devaughn. But…he aint even JAZZ?

GM talks about 0% financing….ill let that joke tell itself.

Will Smith’s kid sells McDonald’s

Verizon has the white dude texting with the black dudes phone. And then smackin the Black dude’s hand off. On BET…seriously.

The Lizard and Naomi Campbell sell that drink I remember.

Cartoon Ants and Tampons from O.B .

White folk and Garnier Fructis…can black folk EVEN USE that shampoo?

Disney tells black folk to go see Wall-E on Friday

Chrysler is STILL shilling that truck.

Hell Date….still.

Diddy and his BET Awards After Party by Ciroc ultra premium vodka.

Debra Lee comes out for her yearly appearance…and the words I am sorry don’t cross her lips ONCE. Aaron McGruder shakes his head in sadness.

She introduces Quincy Jones for the Humanitarian award. Cause NO ONE has done more for Humans this year than Quincy Jones. That was snarky. But the lionization of celebrity in our culture deserves some snark.

Congratulations, Mr. Jones.

Queen Latifah introduces Quincy Jones.

Quincy Jones says thank you. It takes a while…but he does say thank you.

Eventually.

Ford tries in Vain to keep up with Nissan and Toyota

White Folk black folk how to use Bounty Towels.

Wanted starts Friday.

Baldwin Hills

Hell Date.

Rap it up.

HipHop vs. America II….in case you didn’t see it the first three times.

Ashanti interrupts DL to talk about some stuff I don’t know ANYTHING about.

Nelly has no shirt on…Jermaine Dupri has a Jacket on…but

Now…um…this is a song about …Jordans. From a man about had a song about Air Force Ones…

Cause we ALL know what we need now is a song about Tennis shoes.

Universal must have REALLY ponied up to get Rihanna, Nelly and Wayne to close the show.

I guess Nelly knows this is his last shot to make it.

Diddy and Lauren London get their mutual Congratulation on.

Its been a Great year for Black folk.

Obama or die.

Bring out the liquor.

The fuckery is so bad my eyes are starting to glaze over.

Best Female R&B (Mary J. Blige, Keyshia Cole, Mariah Carey, Rihanna, Alicia Keys)

Alicia Keys Kills the competition….as if there actually was any.

Clearly, Clive Davis showed Alicia Keys how to give a thank you speech.

10:05 - As we approach Overtime, Lil Waynes performance is teased for the 4,532,676,111^th time.

The white dude shills for a Cadillac truckish vehicle.

Buy Toilet Paper

The really cool and smart State Farm Commercial

Southwest Airlines breaks out the shiv for the other airlines.

Pizza Hut doesn’t want black people to know they serve pasta…just pizza wings and calzones.

That show with the black kids in Southern California.

10:07 - He needs no introduction.

The perfect rapper has to have tattoos, sell a million a week, and be from New Orleans.

That’s what the boy said.

Three halves of a song later…it was over.

So…what did we learn…we learned that the show ended with Reverend Albert Green and then Universal came out to sell records.

Thank you BET.

See ya for the HipHop awards.

Dear Summer,

Just came in to blow out the cobwebs and keep things going. Being the husband of a teacher means I kinda get caught up in having fine women around and I slack up on my blogging.

It aint that I don’t love y’all…I’ll be around…when the mood strikes.

RIP - George Carlin

RIP - Mike Myers blockbuster career not involving the green cartoon and Austin Powers

RIP - My adventures with Dish Network…Hello U-Verse TV

But never fear…I WILL be Blogging the BET awards…again. You didn’t think I would make you sit through it, would you?

1.75 - the Next Movement

Mrs. Ink is in her hometown of New York celebrating the end of school by taking in (Black) Cat on a Hot Tin Roof on Broadway with her mom and some friends of her family.

Me?

I am taking this time off to get some work done and act like I got some damn sense, a task I have a tendency to fail at occasionally.

Yes, If you haven’t noticed, InkogNegro is now at stage 1.75.

You may ask yourself: Self? What does that mean exactly?

I will tell you that it’s just a sign of a shift in the narrative of this blog.

I have been blogging off and on since being asked to contribute to an anonymous group blog back in the fall of 2000.

In case you forgot how long ago 2000 was, let me help you.

In 2000, I was a 30 year old Capitol Hill Staffer with a Mets/Giants loving native of the Bronx for a wife, a beautiful young son who bore a striking resemblance to his father and shared a love for music and a name with both my father and me. I was just starting to embrace my burn to write and was looking to the internet with curiosity as a place I could work my new found craft. With my father’s death in March of 2000, I was entrusted with the task of writing my father’s

The nation was emerging from the Clinton Years with a budget surplus, and just beginning to come to grips with the amazing technological leap that had been provided by the tech-boom. Bush and Gore got their late night thriller on and when all the dust had settled…America had spoken clearly and said:

We would rather have the other guy, but rules are rules…how bad could he be?

If you thought you had an idea it would go down like THIS, kindly leave this post and take your ass somewhere with that 20/.05 Hindsight. NO ONE could have seen this ish coming in 2000.

Fast forward four years and it is 2004.

I had managed to add a son, break a family, slip into an emotional tailspin and circle the drain of my life for about 2 years before slipping completely into the toilet and emerging on the other side of sanity in Fort Worth, TX miles from ANYONE I knew.

The change of scenery and some fervrent prayers on my part along with my family, nudged me closer and closer to being a productive black man.

Four MORE years later, here I am. homeowner, happy husband, devoted, if long-distance, father. Still grinding away at this blogging thing.

I have really grown up in the past 8 years, especially in regards to who I am and what I am about. Even though I no longer Blog under my given name, my life is a story that begs telling. The next movement is about bringing my life back into my blogging.

What does this mean for YOU?

You might actually get to know me, if you stick around.

Watching the media (THEM, if you will) twist themselves into knots about the overwhelming otherness of Barack and Michelle Obama tells me all I need to know about how important it is that Black Folk be allowed to just BE and not have to slide into some easily digestible porridge for the Culturally picky. In this spirit I call upon all of us to be more engaging, not just in our opinions and facts, but in ourselves.

Barack Obama is too gracious to gloat…I, however, am not.

Posted to a Blog that died on January 16, 2007 <–note the year.

Now, let us marinate on what this truly means.

Here we have a black man man with a white mother and a Kenyan father, born in Hawaii, with a somewhat checkered past who rose through Columbia College and Harvard University Law School and the Illinois State Assembly to the United States Senate and now stands on the brink of history.

Blah blah blah.  but what does it MEAN, REALLY?

Well it means this:

For the first time in history, A man of color is positioned as a front runner for the office of president of the United States.  And he has formed a committee to explore that possibility.

More Blah Blah Blah…You aint sayin nothing to me….Give me something.  You go through all these changes to “Free” yourself and now you give me spin…..CTB….What does this MEAN?

OK.

This means everyone out of the pool…the shark is coming.  I am sure you have heard the following:

“we don’t know anything about him”

“He doesn’t have the experience”

“He can’t win because he is Black”

“He Can’t Beat Hillary”

“His middle name is Hussein”

“They won’t let him win”

Let me address these in turn.

We don’t know anything about him -  If you don’t know about Barack Obama, you don’t WANNA know about him.  He has TWO books that have been NY Times best sellers.  One is a fairly in-depth memoir that covers his background.   One is a wonkish sort that alludes to building a better America.  The man has a microphone constantly stuck in his face and is pretty much the go-to man for thoughtful progressive (liberal, for those of you who get off on such terms).  Trust and believe, if the man wasn’t the real deal, he wouldn’t be getting this kind of push.  Today, Chris Matthews said that, as a writer, he believes that if you cannot express your thoughts on paper, you cannot think.  He went on to say that Barack Obama is one of the most formidable writers of this political generation.  What Senator Obama says, comes from HIS pen.  That speaks volumes, to me.

“He doesn’t have the experience” - Experience is overrated.  Nor does Experience get you elected.  This isn’t carpentry.  This is government.  To be honest, the more you govern, the more inept you become.

Government tends to be a vacuum.  The longer you are in government, the more detached from reality you become. You lose your edge.   You lose touch with reality.  You end up doing less leading and representing of people and more…governing.  You have hearings, you hold press conferences, you go on TV, you compromise, you cease to be a representative and go to playing one on TV.

Barack Obama has been in the US Senate for 3 years. Before that he taught Constitutional Law at the University of Chicago. That is long enough to get a decent grasp on the practice of Government to go along with the formidable academic understanding of Government he already has.

“He can’t win because he is Black” - People will say that until it happens.  They said that about Mayor of Chicago, and Mayor of Philadelphia, and Mayor of New York, and Governor of Massachusetts. That isn’t really an explanation.  It just hasn’t happened, YET.

“He Can’t Beat Hillary” - This is a more useful argument than he cannot win because he is Black.  Hillary is the front runner because she is viewed as inevitable and unbeatable.  She is neither.  Hillary is polarizing in ways that confound the imagination, even in her OWN party.  Additionally there is a certain sense of fear that Hillary, because of her polarizing nature, can’t win the general election on her own terms anyway.  In terms of qualifications, even with the additional 3 years in the Senate and 8 years as first lady, I view them as equally qualified, exchanging the whole real life thing for the 20+ years of government life that she has been living. 

His middle name is Hussein - Stop.  Just Stop.  If you really think that is an issue, all the rest of this is pretty much irrelevant

“They won’t let him win” - who is this THEY?  If the PEOPLE want him, they will have him.  Will the fight from the GOP be any different than if Hillary wins?  Any different than last time with Kerry?  I didn’t think so.

One thing nags at me.  If Senator Obama is truly about change, the Secret Service better get on it’s game.

And that is NOT a joke.

Toldya.

People, Let me upgrade you.

This is the singularly most artistic moment in Maury Povich’s Life. Enjoy it.

Man life can get all up in your ass baby you betta work it out
Let me tell you what it’s all about
A skin not considered equal
A meteor has more right than my people
Who be wastin’ time screaming who they’ve hated
That’s why the Native Tongues have officially been re-instated

-Kelvin Mercer, 1996

It took me long enough, but I got it all together. Welcome back to the house that Ink Built.  I took some time off to tend to some business and mostly stand back and look at where I was going with this.  I am not new to blogging by any stretch, but the me that is blogging currently is rather new.  I am growing as a man, and as such, my blogging should grow accordingly.  I took some steps during phase 1.0, and I am content with where I ended up.

Now its time to move on to the next step.

While I was away, I took a good look at what I was doing and compared it to what I could be doing, and realized that I hadn’t gotten even close to what I was capable of.  Phase 1.5 will be s jumping off point in a more substantive mode of blogging.  I will delve deeper into what The Ink thinks more Responsive and more innovative and less posting for the sake of posting.

Boys and Girls, it is 2008 and the stakes have never been higher.  The mainstream media has proven it is completely and totally indifferent to anything that they do not feel is going to bolster their bottom line.  Sure, you can learn something from them, but as far as insightful commentary?  Well, that requires a certain amount of insight.

Insight requires a worldview that extends beyond your own biases.

God blessed me with a mind that has earned me opportunities to expand my personal footprint.  That has enabled me to see somethings and learn somethings, most notably that they (that would be the universal, mysterious They) used to have it all on lock.

Today, the door has been cracked slightly.  The magic of accessible technology enables us (that would be the equally universal and mysterious us) to narrow the gap between They and Us.

And that is making them nervous.

Who is this “they” and who is this “us”?

Good question.

“They” is anyone who has an eye on maintaining a certain status quo, be it Corporate America, the Clinton Campaign, the dominant media culture,  or the Bush administration.

“Us”, are the regular every day folk and the not so every day folk who WOULD be they, but for whatever reason see the game for what it is and have cast their lot with US.  Us is everyone from Me to my GM at the plantation, to the El Salvadoran immigrant guy who does my landscaping to the Dude who insists on selling those bootlegs on the corner of Berry and Village Creek, to Jamario Moon of Toronto Raptors.

Barack Obama?  Today he is one of “us”.  Tomorrow is another day.  But I’ma ride with dude until he proves to me otherwise.

How can you tell “they” from “us”?

They always talk about what they can do for YOU…

Us will always tell you what WE can do for ourselves…

It is a game out here, folk….and THEY is kicking the ass of US.

But we got a little bit of a run going….and the game is a long way from over.

Let’s get it in.

Let the 1.5 era begin.