Yes, Jay-Z is a role model, too.

You can't dictate who another race's role models should be.  I know it's hard for some white conservatives to understand, but you can't tell black people that their role models need to meet your approval.  Well, you can, but we're going to ignore you.  No matter how much you think Condoleezza Rice would be better for black youth than Jay-Z, you don't get to make that decision.  If it were up to you, do you really think Superfly would have taken hold in the 70s like it did? 

Pretty random topic, right?  Well, I had a conversation with a lady on Twitter today about this exact thing.  I should have been focused on my work, but this was way more interesting.  Because what kind of person tells me (as an example, just to make this sentence work) that my role model isn't good enough for them?  You've got to have some big balls, lady. 

Why shouldn't a kid look up to Jay-Z?  The man is rich and famous, and since kids are stupid and shallow these days, that's really all they need to know.  But he was a drug dealer, that lady said, and drug dealing rappers who glorify drug dealing are not worthy of role modelhood.  I'm paraphrasing, because she was way more long-winded.  Also, in my mind, she was wagging her finger at me.  "Tut, tut," I think she said.

On the surface, she might be right.  After all, these are the things that they say about Jay-Z on Fox News, and we all know they're never wrong.  At least they picked someone who has rapped about the drug game, unlike the time they went after Common.   But yes, Jay-Z did sell drugs - almost 20 years ago.  And if the crux of your argument against rappers being role models is something one used to do 20 years ago, you've lost the argument before it even started.  I mean, if you picked Nicki Minaj for this debate, I would have agreed with you, unless the goal was for your kids to become clowns.  It would have nothing to do with her drug history, because I don't know if she did or didn't.  I just wouldn't want my kids to act like that.

Also, let's not start digging into the past of some of these conservative heroes, because I won't even need to leave the decade before I get a hit.  But we're talking about Jay-Z.

Anyway, he's changed his life since those days.  Yeah, he got a little stabby there at one point, but all in all, he's turned things around.  You don't see him getting into fights or arrested for marijuana or gun possession.  He built companies, bought others, run other companies, sold those companies, and built more.  He's produced movies.  He was a minority owner of a sports team, and now, he's a sports agent.  A guy that was a drug dealer from Brooklyn.  Now, he's got an art film out on HBO and had Samsung buy his album to give away for free.  He's married to the biggest singer on the planet.  He can call the President.  What about his life doesn't make him a role model? 

What, the music?  You can disagree with the music all you like, but the life story shows people that no matter where you are, no matter what your circumstances, you can change them, and you can get out.  However, since you brought up the music, well, for one, I know you haven't listened to any of it.  Jay-Z had exactly two albums about drug dealing, and one of those was actually about a movie.  The other one was about why you shouldn't become a drug dealer.  All of his other albums were about being rich, famous, and sex with women.  Money, cash, hoes, in essence.  And the time he shot his brother.  And that one song about his mom.

So ever since that first album, Jay-Z has rapped about his life after he stopped being a drug dealer.  If you're going to accuse him of something, at least know what you're talking about.  Now, if you want to get on him for misogyny?  Fine, he probably wasn't the best on gender relations.  Cussing too much?  You got me there.  Defending the use of the n-word?  We'd be on the same side.  I think he's got a lot to be proud of, though.  He has a creative mind, a hard-working individual, and knows his business.  So if anyone is going to get through to some of these kids, it would be him.  They can't say he hasn't been where they've been.  

That's not to knock Condoleezza Rice, because she's a role model as well.  She's a positive woman who came up during segregation, played all kinds of musical instruments, taught at Stanford, advised two Presidents, and was appointed to the Cabinet; fields that are almost always dominated by men.  No shade on Condi at all, even if she does have Bush's stink on her.  But to cast Jay-Z aside because of the decisions he made in his past is really discounting his value.  Not only that, I guess black people just accept flawed individuals more easily than white conservatives do.  One of the benefits of so many of us going to jail, I guess.

The fact that he sold drugs, grew up in a fatherless home, shot his brother, and still managed to become what he is today is what makes him a role model.  His life is the life that a lot of kids of all colors see every day.  He's not pushing the drug life on kids, he's shining the light of redemption.  And if you can't see that, then I don't have anything else for you.

Don Lemon was right. Yeah, you already knew.

Don Lemon said some real stuff on CNN the other day and folks got pissed.  They were suddenly butthurt for a number of reasons, but I wouldn't know what most of them are, because I try to keep ignorant bullshit out of my timeline.  I just know what I didn't like about it, but we'll get to that later.  First things first, though:  Don Lemon was right.  And if you disagree, you're probably part of the problem.  Because who can argue with shit like pulling your pants up or finishing high school? 

He didn't even say "go to college."  Just get a diploma.  Be more respectful.  Don't throw trash on the ground.  Simple, basic things.  He's not telling you to cure sickle cell, and be grateful he didn't, because if you're fighting him this hard on proper pants height, imagine how rough the discussion on nucleopeptides is going to be.

He basically said on TV what many of us have said to each other:  "You look like an asshole wearing your pants like that."  "Hey, stupid.  Read a book."  "I ain't nobody's 'nigga.'"  What, because he's on CNN, he's not supposed to say it?  Well, would it make you feel better if I said it?  I don't have a show on CNN, but if you reread this paragraph, you can still get the message. 

Seriously, y'all.  You wanna go to war over "pull your pants up," "finish high school," and "stop littering?"  Get the fuck outta here.  If you're worried about Don Lemon looking down on you for that, if it helps you feel better, I'm broke and I still look down on you for at least two of those.  You're fighting the wrong battle here.  Instead of being mad at Don Lemon, how about you get mad at some math problems?  How about you go to war against that dropout rate? 

I guess some people are feeling like he was judging them, but if you couldn't finish high school and don't have a good excuse, you probably should be judged.  Still, he wasn't judging you, he was telling you that you can do better.  I'm not saying that we don't all make mistakes (I swear, a bunch of y'all don't need to be parents.  Can't you just give your kids to someone else?  Because under your care, you're just creating the next generation of criminals.), but it doesn't mean you can't make a better life for yourself.

If you have kids, would you want them walking around like that?  If the answer is "yes," you probably weren't going to read this anyway, and probably would have given up after I said, "nucleopeptides."  But for the rest of you, I'm sure that you have higher goals for your kids than an appearance on WorldStar. 

It's not even about trying to look good for white people, because there are plenty of black folks who have been screaming this shit for years.  Lots of us are just embarrassed by what we see now.  I know I am.  Hell, I was embarrassed 15 years ago, when Bill Cosby said it.  And the same folks that complained about him are probably the same ones complaining now.  Lemme guess, you don't want anyone messing with your food stamps, either.  But this has got nothing to do with white people.  Maybe I'm crazy, but I'm tired of seeing young black men on the news for home invasion. 

But maybe that's what people don't like, that he said it in front of the white people.  Well, we've proven that saying it in private doesn't help, because look at where we are now.  I'm sure Bill Cosby and Don Lemon weren't the first people to try to give you some advice.  If you weren't listening either of those two times, then what else are people supposed to do?  No one's asking you to save the world, but can you stop going to jail?  Is that too high a bar for you to reach?  Are repeat visits really necessary, or did you not take in the entire experience the first time? 

The only problem I have with Don Lemon is that he said, "Bill O'Reilly is right."  It almost de-legitimized everything that followed, because Bill O'Reilly is never right.  It's like siding with the cast of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia."  You're agreeing with terrible people who are only looking out for their own self interests 100% of the time.  Bill O'Reilly doesn't give a shit about anything that black people do unless they're on his set, and only after security has patted them down.  This is the same asshole who told Marc Lamont Hill that he looked like a drug dealer.  This is the same asshole who said that he was "shocked" that the black staff at Sylvia's, a restaurant in Harlem, could speak without cursing. 

I'm probably not the best example of that right now, but who gives a fuck with Bill O'Reilly thinks about black people?  He didn't have shit to say about black-on-black crime until (like every other right-winger in America) it became a talking point, because they were sick of people talking about Trayvon Martin.  Fuck Bill O'Reilly and anyone who looks like him. 

That's the only mistake Don Lemon made.  He did Bill O'Reilly a favor, one that will never be returned.  I get that he was trying to make a point, and he wanted to show that he was actually fair and balanced, but there are plenty of other non-hate filled people to use as an example.  It doesn't even matter if Bill O'Reilly was right (and I will never say that he was).  Don Lemon sided with one of the worst human beings in America.  Otherwise, I would have taken up for Don Lemon from the start. 

The best I can do for him now is say that calling him an "Uncle Tom" is extreme.  He's not an "Uncle Tom," because it's not like he's Crystal Wright (she's like "Aunt Ruckus," if you're unfamiliar).  Again, he wasn't wrong, and it didn't hurt me.  If anything, I deal more with the fallout of that stuff, because when someone sees me, they expect me to be like the stereotype they've heard about, and I'm in my mid-30s.  Like it or not, we're viewed as a group, and that's hurting us way more than he is.  He has a job, a platform, and isn't an embarrassment.  What do you bring to the table? 

So Don Lemon shouldn't lose his "black card," or "hood pass," or whatever the fuck we're calling it now because you're sensitive about your life choices.  Are his suggestions going to fix all of Black America's problems?  Of course not; no one's stupid enough to think that.  But if we can't even respect each other enough to stop calling ourselves "nigga," how are we going to fix the bigger stuff? 

A White Conservative Educates Me About BET

After a discussion with a white conservative today, some things have come to my attention about BET, and it's purpose that I was not aware of.  I'd like to thank you, Ryan Cracka (@RyanCracka on Twitter), for opening my eyes.

It was always my belief that, for all of its faults (and there are many), BET was created to fill a void in the black community.  At the time of its creation, there was no programming that was controlled by black people.  With the exception of "Soul Train," the shows that did star black people back then were created, controlled, and owned by white people.  In addition, we are only 12% of the population.  Even if we managed to get a show on the air, every black person in America would have to watch it to keep it from getting canceled, which is impossible, unless the show is called "Good Times."  So that means for a show featuring black people to stay on network TV, white people had to like it, too.  It's the reason why almost everything from "Living Single" to "My Wife and Kids" got canceled. 

This is all stuff I believed. 

I also believed that BET wasn't created out of hate for white people, like so many white conservatives think, because that would be a breathtaking level of stupidity.  Watching TV to make white folks mad?  I'm pretty sure they would have taken us up on that.  I guess we'd just give that James Evans glare to the TV, and they'd keep running the world, guilt-free.

My thinking was that it's a numbers game.  It's harder for black people to get and sustain a show on TV that doesn't have white support, because our 12% is smaller than their 55%.  So, instead of fighting to get shows on channels that won't support them, why not start a channel just for us?  I figured white conservatives would like that, considering how much they talk about us not being self-sufficient.  Some might wonder, though, "What's wrong with having shows that cater to everyone?"  The answer is, "nothing."  But I believed that a black channel would be good, because we don't always like the same stuff, which is why there wasn't a large influx of black people watching "Friends." 

(Yes, I know, there were black people watching "Friends."  But usually, they were the only ones in their entire family and circle of friends who were.  Seriously, anyone know two black people that watched "Friends?"  The first time, not reruns.)

So, that's why there was a need for BET, or so I thought.  Black people wanted to watch stuff with black people in it, and white people didn't always want to deliver.  And it isn't because of racism that we don't always have shows.  It's economics.  I didn't understand all of this backlash, because no one give Latinos this kind of grief about their channels, and that's probably because no one understand what the fuck they're saying on Telemundo.  Hell, they have their own cable packages that include Spanish Disney Channel, Spanish ESPN, and Spanish CNN.  If we had our own Disney Channel, they'd probably riot. 

That what I was thinking.  But thanks to Ryan Cracka, I see the truth now. 

. @ThadOchocinco No, Thad. It comes from a fallacy - instilled by The Left - that we want to exclude you in the first place. #Colorblind
— Ryan (@RyanCracka) July 21, 2013

Brainwashing.  The only logical explanation.  And if I know anything, it's that a guy named "Ryan Cracka" is gonna have his finger on the pulse of Black America.  He continues: 

. @ThadOchocinco You are likely smart enough. But conditioning and brainwashing are poweful tools even against smart people.
— Ryan (@RyanCracka) July 21, 2013

He couldn't finish educating me, because he said I was putting words in his mouth.  I was only trying to interpret his words into a form that I could use, because we're not smart enough to figure out shit on our own.  Here I was thinking that black people wanted to see themselves represented in television, media, and politics, but that's crazy talk.  The simple answer is obviously 30 to 40 years of training freethinking human beings to succumb to the will of your political enemies in an attempt to gain voter loyalty.  Obviously. 

The best part is, it's not even our fault.  It's Nancy Pelosi's fault, evidently.  Or, uh...George Soros, I guess.  Whoever keeps getting that thoughtful Sean Hannity so worked up.  I would be more familiar with Fox News, but I've been brainwashed to segregate myself by watching BET.  In fact, I gotta wrap this up, because there might be some reruns of "The Game" on.

And only conservatives care enough about us to fight this injustice.  After all, you don't see them taking on Asians or Indians for segregating themselves, and they've been doing it for longer than America's been in existence.  So, the next time you see a Republican on TV using coded language like "thugs" or "welfare queens," trying to roll back voting rights, editing all of the slavery out of history books, or cutting spending for funding at HBCUs, just remember that they're doing it for you, to make things fair for everybody.  Because once we all hit rock bottom, we're going to look up and see the white conservatives standing over us again.  Just like they think it should be.

You bleeding assholes.