Music is integral to life. Whether you are young and rebellious, stressed from a hard day of work, or out with friends on Friday music is something that is ingrained as part of our lives. And in this current Presidential election cycle music has taken an unprecedented importance.

Senator Obama has had several songs and music videos made about his historic nomination as the Democratic Presidential candidate (even though Bill and Hillary Clinton might dispute that). The most recent came from an unexpected source, ensconced in wording that insulted everyone that heard it – including Senator Obama. Such is a song by rapper Nas (real name Nasir Jones).

But lest you believe that the only music in the nation or appropriate for a Presidential candidate is gansta rap or hip hop, John Rich would like to prove there is alternatives.

For those unfamiliar John Rich is part of the multi-platnium country music duo Big & Rich. He can also be seen on the popular Nashville Star television program. He’s sold over 5 million albums, and was part of People magazine’s music industry ‘power’ list. In other words he’s no slouch.

John Rich is also a conservative and Republican. And after observing all the hoopla surrounding the Obama videos and the insults made by Nas, he decided to even the playing field a bit.

“If I can make them understand about where John McCain has come from and the journey he's been on, there's no way they cannot respect him for that. The more you get to know John McCain, the more you respect the fact that he's both a patriot and an independent thinker, a rebel when it means staying true to what he believes in. Hopefully my song will help those people out there who are starting to pay attention to him to realise what kind of guy he is."

Labels: Big and Rich, John Rich, music video, nas, Nashville Star, Presidential election race 2008, Senator John McCain, Senator Obama

Continued from The Black middle-class is not better than 5 years ago Part 1...

The point of this is that while one part of our society is extolling the perceived improvements in our society, the other part is reeling from the reality. Is there any wonder why inner city schools are not getting additional funds they need. Or that police departments are still biased in their actions or that hate crimes are increasing yet hate crime statutes are unevenly applied?

Something needs to be done. The facts are out there, but without action the numbers will just continue to degrade. That action must come from both sides of this disparity. Just as no one side is singular in fault, no one side can fix the problem.

I say we need to remove the welfare system. Its inception, in the current form, has created benefits only to single parents with multiple children. It has enforced the single parent household, and is a malaise in the Black community. In its place I say we go back to the original concept from the depression era. Everyone works, no matter how trivial the job, and for that they get a wage.

I suggest that ½ of all police officers must come from the communities they patrol. Only those with a connection the citizens they protect do so with an even hand.

I suggest that inner city schools are the priority in getting funds. Every school must have enough books for all the students, and those books should be current to within the last 5 years.

I suggest that we hold the media accountable. No longer will music videos depicting violence, degradation of women, drug use and sale be allowed on the airwaves. I respect the right of artists to be free to express themselves, but at the same time the public has the obligation to not be shown promotions of these base acts.

I suggest that major news media becomes more responsible. An even hand and fair reporting is more essential now than ever. Rather than consistently showing only minorities every time a negative trait in the nation is discussed balanced images should be shown. Instead of 95% of all Amber Alerts, and missing persons reported on the news being only Whites, a fairer look should be done. Black children are missing too.

News stories involving African Americans deserve airtime too. The Jena case did not just happen; it’s been discussed for months by bloggers before the media bothered to pay attention. The Megan Williams case, which has been ignored, is more important than 2 days of discussion about Ellen DeGeneres losing a pet.

These may be small steps in appearance, but they are answers to the roots of a problem that has been ignored for too long. They are simple steps. They are responsible acts. And they will benefit the nation. But to continue in the manner we have will result in steps backwards to a time and acts some assume only existed in the shadowy past of America. But all shadows never disappear completely, and given time they can grow long in their reach.

America cannot benefit from 70% of a class of its people being unable to attain the same or better than their parents. America should not have such a situation to contemplate. We are better, and we can do better. All of us.

Labels: African American, Black community, education, Ellen DeGeneres, inner city schools, jena 6, music video, news media, welfare

I was reading an opinion piece by Laura Vanderkam and I started to wonder a few things. Parts of what she spoke about apply to me and other men I know that are college educated, especially those that are African American. I have been told that some of her comments are true of African American women too. But there is a bit that I don’t agree with, and do not see at all. This could be a factor of where I have lived, or just being a man. I’m sure the ladies that are frequent readers will let me know.

I am constantly surprised when I hear women say they need to dumb themselves down to be with a man. In part I think that there is an assumption made commonly that presumes that this is what a guy wants. Kind of like the thought that men prefer women to look like models, or be similarly thin. That has never really been the case. Yes, many like a woman that is of a moderate build, but I’ve never known a single guy who wants a woman that looks anorexic or a bunch of sticks. Every man I know agrees that we prefer a woman with curves. In this same manner, every man I know prefers women who can hold a conversation.

There may be a difference when culture is added to this though. African American men these days do enjoy the ‘music video girl’ look. Having a girlfriend with those looks is nice, but none of them would hardly be described as a model. This has no bearing on intelligence though. Yet the guys I am aware of that prefer this look in their women, tend to also have great interest in the thug life. Those men tend to be less educated, but exercise a great deal. I’ve seen African American female lawyers and doctors who date these thug types. An odd mix at best. In every case I’ve known, the guy was about as intelligent as a brick. Often the woman with him had to jump into the conversation and did in fact, dumb it down, significantly. But that was due to her choice in a mate. To say that another man, African American or otherwise, would need her to disavow her intelligence is over-generalization.

Of course the fact that there are fewer married people in the nation is another factor. In black culture today there is the fact that up to 60% of women are single parents. This would make it harder to get married, especially as the culture advocates not having the father involved with the children. [what I like to call the baby-momma syndrome.] It would also help explain why some get married later in life, intelligence is not a factor. But this is a bit specific to one culture.

Perhaps Ms. Vanderkam has grown up in a different time in NYC than I, or it’s the difference in culture (I grew up in the Bronx) but young women having children is not a new thing, nor attributable to any pop star. Especially the, in my opinion, marginally talented Mrs. Britney Spears. The need for nannies and/or $700 strollers might be though.

One thing that is related to this is the question of what age do college educated African American men get married? There are fewer men that fit in this criteria. Considering the estimates that Black males are dropping out of high school at a faster pace than ever before I really wonder about this. In just a cursory thought on the subject it would seem that Black women that are college educated might have to be older to get married, as the pool of Black men that are their intellectual equal is smaller and more difficult to find. This fact is not one that is changing quickly. Nor does it have a readily available answer.

I’m sure I’m only scratching the surface of this. But tell me what you think on this subject.

This is what I think, what do you think?

Labels: African American, Black culture, Laura Vanderkam, music video

In a recent conversation I had with a friend, I was told that “no disrespect, but you’re not black.” Now this is a friend and I understood the context in which he was speaking, so I wasn’t upset. But it’s not the first time that I’ve been told this. Considering my Puerto Rican, Irish, Native American Indian and Taino Indian background, I agree that I’m not just an African American. But that isn’t what was meant. It was more in reference to the fact that I do not live in a thug lifestyle, speak proper English, and dress in suits more often than jeans.

But that got me thinking. What is it to be Black, or African American. I mean there is a huge economy based on just that thought. Music videos, rap songs, clothing lines, billions are spent world wide to capture an image that is “black” and “keeping it real”, whatever that means. But can that really be all there is to being black? Is the culture that superficial these days?

Mr. Juan Williams wrote an interesting opinion piece recently, Missing: A black voice for economic equality, that addressed the fact that many are asking about the next Dr. Martin Luther King. In that opinion he mentions the fact that 100 years ago prominent Black African Americans, such as Mr. Booker T. Washington, stated the key to improving the quality of life is self-help. This same message was repeated by Dr. King and Mr. Malcolm X.

Yet those messages have been mostly discarded. What else can be said when the chances of a young Black African American male being killed or jailed by 25 are greater than the chance to graduate high school. That the chance of a young Black African American woman having a child, out of wedlock, by 25 is higher than her chance of getting thru college. Obviously there are problems and they aren’t getting answered.

The insistence within the Black culture on living as thugs is a self-limiting expression. The fact that the youth of today want to be pimps and hoes, criminals by any other terms would make the fore-fathers spin in their graves. I cannot imagine that Dr. King or Malcolm X, envisioned a day were equality was considered the ability to father children without the attempt to take care of them, or the inability to communicate socially with others. In fact by the standards of today both of these men would not be considered black either.

At least in that respect I’m in good company. So what is being black today? Is a rapper black? Is a thug black? What about a stockbroker or a doctor, a sanitation worker or a teacher? Must any professional also be ill-spoken and brutish or risk being a sell-out? Can a person like other genres of music, or styles of dress and still be what they obviously are by birth.

Without opening my mouth, I am Black and Puerto Rican. I look in the mirror and I am just that, so why do some presume that I must also act, speak and look a certain way to confirm what I am. I understand when friends say I don’t match the popular norms associated with being African American. But why should anyone have to match a set of criteria? Is this an isolated thing? I’ve never heard anyone tell a White person that they aren’t White. The same with Asians. So why does this division exist?

This is what I think, what do you think?

Labels: African American, Dr. Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Michael Vass, music video, puerto rican, rap music