Damn it Feels Good to be a Gangster

I never knew that I was a gangster; I was surprised when theses accusations were tossed my way. Politically motivated, a scholar, father and a husband sound more appropriate. It would be rather hard to play soccer outside with my daughter while I was dodging bullets. It would be rather hard to concentrate on my school work while I was constantly looking over my shoulder watching out for the rival gang member to attack me.

I mean, we all know that I live in one the roughest neighborhoods in the world- with the constant howling of coyotes and acres of farmland that surround my small town. This really offers me the best opportunity to recruit little kids and teach them how to do a drive-by. I’m such a hard gangster that I picked my children’s school based upon the merits of the district. Would a gangster be able to write and talk about society in a manner like this?

I have spoken out against the gangster mentality that has plagued our society. I have made a conscious decision due to role models like my father and mother to do something with my life and raise my family in the most respectful and honorable way that I can. I have taught my children about accountability, the importance of an education, and the importance of love and kindness.

But accusations like these are often misdirected due to the ignorance and sometimes racist insecurities of certain individuals. Those that have no connection to the real world but would rather believe the images they have seen on the 100 hours of television they are subjected to on a weekly basis.

But this is a problem with society- we never take the time to know anyone, but rather judge them by the way they dress. People should be judged on their actions. People often spend so much time worrying about other individuals that they do not take the time to look at themselves and understand how they can improve their own lives. There is always room for improvement. Are we all where we want to be in our lives? Is there more that we can do for one another and support one another in a world that is often filled with so much evil that goals seem impossible?

I have lost friends to the streets. They should still be here today. I have seen friends locked up for most of their teenage years. Poverty has increased in America; men and women are dying across the earth fighting for our freedom. There is so much more to focus on instead of passing lies and false accusations. These actions can be connected to the term “Hater”, but I would rather take it deeper than that, and deal with the fact that we have rather sick people that feel the need to lie to make them selves feel better by always talking about others.

God truly does work in mysterious ways. As soon as I started writing this blog there was a knock on the door. It was a delivery of the pictures of me and my wife walking across the stage accepting our diplomas. A reminder that I am not a gangster, that I am striving to do more with my life and I am surrounded by some of the greatest neighbors and friends that a man could ask for.

Being a gangster is not what young men strive for. It is a social and economic issue that has plagued America. Some of these young men and women do not have a chance or opportunity to become better citizens. Some of these children come from broken homes and are surrounded in conditions that I can not even imagine to be subjected to. There are other gangsters out there as well. There are gangsters that bottle water and sell it to the people, pollute our air, and control the media with negatives images of all aspects of our society only in search of profits.

This is a warning for me and all the others that just so happen to wear a pair of jeans and a baseball cap. We are gangsters! We should not and can not be trusted! We live for the excitement of war and killing our own people. While we send our children to school, attend college, and are there for our friends in the darkest moments, we are planning the next drive-by and waiting to sell drugs to our people.

To all of those that think they are surrounded by gangsters and feel the need to lock themselves in their homes with cameras and motion detectors- while you are at it add some bars on the windows and pad the walls of your home, because you are the real nutcases out there. Not those that have better things to worry about than the dog and pony show in their own front yard. The Devil approaches with a smile and spreads lies while he is stabbing you in the back with his pitchfork.

I will see you all later. It is time for me to jump in the low-low, throw on my baseball cap, and do a drive-by with my AK-47 and hoodlum children. I think there are a couple of cows that have been talking mess about me and my boys and I think that it is time for some pay back… gangster style.

Angry Black Man Syndrome (ABMS)

I have been told many times that I am an angry black man. But those that know me understand that this is not anger but passion. I am cut from a different cloth. There have been many that have told me “You are the whitest black man that I know”. I laugh and think to myself you really do not have a clue about who I really am. Is there a certain way that a black man should talk and dress? I mean, I do wear a belt and search for the correct size jeans.

I am often embarrassed when I see black men with their jeans down to their knees, staring at their Underroos with Sponge Bob Square Paints and the Wonder Twins. Yes I am frustrated when the hottest song on the radio is telling me that I should be single for the night. I mean come on; there is nothing wrong with arguing with your mate and then having hot passionate make-up sex.

I have been pulled over by the cops and racially profiled. I have tried my hardest to let some of the comments that I have heard pass right by like a speeding train and then move on with my life. But the more I heard these comments and evaluated the constant racial tension around me, I knew that it was time to do more with my life and use my talents as a writer to reach the world.

So, you can call me angry if I won’t stand for people not living up to their potential and crying poor me all the time. The excuses are old. The truth is just that the truth. There are some that will never understand the cultural differences and accept that there needs to be real conversation and an agenda developed to combat this racial tension. No matter where I have lived there has always been someone or something that has reminded me that before I am an American, I am black.

When I lived in California I was at my brother-in-laws weeding reception and his father-in-law asked me if I was from Oakland. I looked at him and his fuzzy blonde afro and replied no, I am from Pacifica California. I thought to myself “sorry for the disappointment and welcome to the family”, while his son was standing upside down drinking from a keg. Now explain that to the kids in Oakland!

Or better yet, the day that I moved into my first house and my new neighbor called her husband in fear because I was standing outside instructing the movers were to put my furniture. I can just imagine the conversation over the phone “honey you need to come home now, there is a black man outside his own house I think he is going to rob me and the alarm has not been set-up yet”.

But don’t worry; I get the same type of reaction from black people. Like, when I am standing outside smoking a cigarette and they ask for one and refuse to take one because it is not menthol. Or when we engage in a conversation and they are shocked and say “you speak proper”. I am sorry my house is not filled with Kool-Aid packets and my kids do not run around the neighborhood out of control.

I am not angry at the world and I have friends of all races. Any day around my home I can be the minority and the next the majority. That is the beauty of living in America. I might be a little louder than the next guy, or say something controversial, but why not? I mean, sometimes there are things that need to be addressed.

I do not see the world simply as black and white, but there are issues that can be directly tied to racism and a society that has not addressed the past. I see a bright future for our country. I see little children of all races playing together and eating lunch together at the same table. But as adults we have a responsibility to make it a better place, so these children will not grow up and be upset and understand that race is something that is important.

It was hard enough to explain to my son when he was a kindergartener that it was alright for a black man to marry a white woman. After his first week of kindergarten he came home confused and stated that he thought that a black man and a white woman should not be married. I thought that I would not have a conversation like this until he was at least a teenager. So for those to say that the world has totally moved forward and it is over- think again, because this mindset was taught to a child by their parents.

Even today Obama has tapped into his passion to express his concerns on the current struggles of our economy. They called it the new approach. But I guess since I am not the president and I am not wearing a suit and tie my approach is called anger.

Choose Ebonics! The DEA Did!

Two weeks ago while watching the “make people dumb machine”, better know as the television, I noticed an interesting story scrolling on the bottom of the screen. In a short incomplete sentence the words “DEA looking for Ebonics translators” passed by with an alarming speed. I was waiting for every news channel in the world to take this story and run with it. But I was not surprised at all when there was no major coverage of the issue. This story did not have the Dr. Laura type drama that is needed to discuss the issue of racism and address the issues of the third world America that is often hidden away from the rest of the world.

The DEA was in fact, looking to employ individuals that understood Ebonics so they could analyze wire taps and close in on major drug empires that are destroying the lives of citizens in the black community. They needed translators for areas like Florida, Louisiana, and California. But the fact that the DEA is in need of translators for Ebonics should be shocking and disturbing. Is the African American community really in that bad of shape that they do not even speak English anymore? For a moment of hope I thought, maybe they are smart enough to know the DEA is listening to their conversations and have created a code to communicate… But the skeptic in me knew better.

Today’s Ebonics is no longer the dialect that was used by slaves while speaking on the planation- a dialect that was known as “Black English”. Ebonics has become a feeble offspring, spawned from the devolution of its predecessor. This is the way the children in the ghetto have learned to speak before they step foot into the hallways of an understaffed, underfunded school.

Ebonics was a cop-out from the start. Ebonics was nothing more than an excuse for a failing school system and the lack of parents being involved in raising their children properly. I will admit even I have some problems trying to understand my African American friend’s posts on social networking sites. I often have to read them twice before I can even try and figure out what they are trying to say.

But this issue points directly to the problem that America has had since after the Civil Rights Movement. The lack of leaders, role models, and people that care for the future are the real issues. Our role models focus on material wealth and ghetto fabulous ideals. The street life has been glorified in movies, music, fashion, and sports and the damage that has been done at times seems as if it is almost irreversible. Where is the outrage? Where are Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton now? They tend to steer away from issues that may be too controversial and lack the promise of profits and increased publicity.

How can an individual be productive in a society whey they can not speak the English language? Is it alright to accept failure? The Drug War is nothing but a military mission against the people of America being conducted by the police and the criminal systems. The funding for the Drug War is ten times as high as the funds spent on educating our children. But we chose to fill our prisons with users instead of dealers. Prisons have become corporations and the DEA is an extension of that company. A division publicly funded and employed by the people that is supposed to protect the people.

The drug war is a war against the people; a way to keep police officers employed, maintain a steady stream of criminals that would be better off in a rehabilitation center, and not a jail cell that keeps this vicious cycle in motion. The DEA is part of the problem, not the solution. We often scream about our tax dollars being wasted but we avoid the real issues. The African American community should be ashamed that we let our children continuously fall behind in school and not demand more.

We have an obligation to the children to create a society that offers every citizen a chance to live their dreams. But we are sending mixed messages to our children. A message that is so deeply rooted in our society that the DEA feels as if they have to stoop to the level of criminals in order to decode wire taps. And where would this qualified candidate for this position be located? Would this job be filled by a drug dealer? Would this job be offered to a “snitch” that has been turned into state’s evidence? Or would this open up new opportunities for individuals that are already serving time in prison? I can imagine a whole floor of inmates listening to wiretaps, for minimum wage.

Shows like the “Wire” offered Americans an insight in to a world that many never knew was out there. Yes this series could be seen as glorifying life in the ghetto, but that would only be to those with a 5^th grade education. The Wire offered us the opportunity to understand the life from both sides. The passion that real detectives have for saving lives, or the fact that a young black African American male’s life means nothing at all when they are involved in the world of drugs. Sometimes this life may be the only option they have when they have an education that could not even secure them a job at McDonalds.

This is a challenge to all of us. How can America be about the people when “WE” the people can not even understand one another and communicate? Fathers, pull up your pants, turn off that rap music, and decided to live life right because your children are watching. Mothers, put your child first instead of living your life searching for the right man. Malcolm X., Martin Luther King Jr., and J.F.K lost their lives so that we could live a better life. Stop using slang, and teaching your children the wrong things in life like having to have the latest Air Jordan’s and doing the latest dance on television. The blame is not just on the DEA, but the black community as well for dropping the ball after the dream was almost a reality.

Welcome!

Welcome to Winters Writes- Buckle up and get ready for the ride of your life! You will be exposed to the thoughts of a black conservative that is not scared to talk about the hard issues, and take on racism head first. I will take you on a journey through politics, education, the hood, the drug war, and anything else that I feel you should be informed about. There is always something to write about and this is not a FOX news approach. We live in a time that everyone is able to voice their opinions and present their agenda to the people. I have an agenda, and it is rather simple: Wake people the fuck up!

My grandmother would have disapproved of that sort of language but I think that it is necessary and the shock value probably almost made you spit out your coffee. Don't worry, you have enough time to catch your breath and wipe off the coffee, but be careful to not smear the screen because the next few lines are rather important.

So I am a black conservative, that is married to a white woman, and raising two kids in the middle of Texas. I am a product of the dream that Martin Luther King Jr. was preaching about. The world that I live in is one that is different from the so-called “black experience”. I understand the issues inside the inner-city and how both blacks and whites play a role in the development of many issues that plague our country.

The Tea Party, The New Black Panthers, Conservatives, Liberals, Socialist, The Klan, media, athletes, corporations, you are all on my list of pawns that play a role to keep the people separated. America has the opportunity to become a leader in the world. The economic collapse was a wake up call for the people of America to understand that our current government is a failure. The people have lost control like a Toyota with a stuck gas pedal. Bang straight into the wall of bullshit, lies and, propaganda. While others know the truth and have decided to wake up and smell the manure that has been running rampant through the walls of the government that has been forced fed pork rinds from lobbyists. Some are still plugged into the Matrix and Neo is never showing up. I will try and be your Neo, black leather not included (it is a little restricting when trying to type on my laptop).

If you want to hear the real sides of the tough issues come and pay a visit to Winters Writes. I may piss you off, I may make you cry, I know for sure I will make you laugh, but the most important thing I want to do for you is to make you think…