Maybe it's my time spent in the South, maybe it's a cultural shift and a sign of the times - but I've grown to appreciate to booty.
But that doesn't mean that I've forgotten about the tiddies.
This year will mark the fifth that I've hosted a Breast Cancer Awareness Benefit at the club.
When I first started I'd have to pay for everything and beg people to participate and any donation made would come out of MY pocket.
But not this year.
This year I have five Black-owned restaurants providing food, I have a Black-owned car dealership as a sponsor, I have more door prizes than I can give away, I have so many Black-owned businesses participating that the white elites in our town have asked if they can participate.
And so the rogues gallery of race-baiting political polemics begins to form..
The NAACP? When was the last time they were even relevant?
Jessie Jackson? Ninja-pa-lease!
The new student wouldn't heed the teacher's request to put her phone away.
The student defied the request of the Black vice principal to leave the classroom.
The student would not leave when the school's resource officer gave her orders to leave the classroom.
The student is tipped to the ground, yanked back up and thrown across the room and later taken into custody.
One classmate stated that the student, '...don't got nobody...' while another stated that the officer (his football coach), '...is a cool dude, he is no racist...' (Some have pointed out the officer's Black girlfriend as proof of this.) and that the student, 'wanted to prove that she was bad.'.
By most accounts, Spring Valley High School is a good school in a county that is 48% white and 47% Black.
(The school itself is 52% Black and 30% white.)
The school receives five stars on the Great Schools website.
Twenty-eight percent of the school's students are enrolled in AP classes and 78% pass the AP exam.
Thirty-five percent of the students receive free lunch while another 7% are eligible for reduced lunches.
The teacher involved is said to be a good teacher.
The school did have a controversy over the hiring of Dr Baron Davis as it's first Black principal a few years ago because it was said that he 'wouldn't understand the culture' of the school. But Dr Davis has since been promoted to assistant superintendent of the district.
I've seen some bad-assed kids and I've met some bad cops, but in the battle between the two - the first round went to the po-po.
The jokes on you.
"Motherboard" didn't react, they did their homework to discover that the alleged outrage over there being too few PWC (People Without Color?) in the newest Star Wars trilogy and outrage that it caused as being a hoax perpetrated by Internet trolls.
But that the protagonists of the newest film are a woman, a Black and a Latino?
Hey, hey, wait... Slow down now.
The greatest execration to the meme was on the side of male PWC who see themselves as victims to their perceived loss of power in a society largely divided by class, race and gender.
News outlets and social media jumped on the story with either anger or agreeance in an effort to be sensational and first.
While this take on people of color and women becoming the alphas was false, I still understand your consternation.
I understand that Affirmative Action caused the loss of your positions of power up to and including the presidency.
I understand that your feminization has caused some of you to become mass murderers.
I understand that your fear and resentment towards minorities and women has caused some of you to extirpate a once honorable political party.
I understand that your lack of game has made some of you even less desirable to many of the women you thought were your own.
I understand the influence upon your children of a pop culture that is dominated by those you once considered as being 'other'.
I feel your pain.
But don't worry, your position is safe.
White males are still the heroes.
White males always save the day.
White males are always the wielders of and in positions of the real power.
Other than in the *Fast and Furious franchise, the white male is still the alpha in a sea of minority and female betas.
Don't forget, Star Wars takes place a long time ago in a galaxy far away.
(In other words: not now and not on Earth.)
*I liked the franchise and it's diversity. While set in LA, I grew up under similar circumstances and demographics a few towns over. I have never been the sidekick even when I was in predominantly white situations. Sure Bryan and Dom were pretty much equal stars, but Dom could kick Bryan's ass (and I'm sure that Bryan was always aware of this fact).
When Boris Kodjoe joined the cast as the only alpha male in the Resident Evil films I was sure that he was going to die in a heroic effort to save the white hero at the end the movie. But he lived. Being that there are only a few humans remaining on earth, and that he plays a virile alpha surrounded by the characters; Alice, Jill Valentine and Claire Redfield - he was bound to eventually have a dalliance with one or all (It would only be natural and make sense.) I'm sure the directors and producers have thought of this so I doubt that he'll be in or live through the next installment of the franchise.
Almost everyone seems to say that they are in favor of everyone being equal and that everyone should have the same opportunities.
Sure, this sounds nice but this is not reality - nor will it ever be (at least, not in this world).
Raven Symone seems to be taking a lot of hits from social media lately and most of her problems seem to be caused by the things that come from her mouth.
Raven is seen by many Blacks as being out of touch with her heritage, history and culture.
Ms Symone seems to be speaking from a position of 'privilege' (You know, that elusive thing that is supposed by some to be endemic to white people in America).
Ms Symone is said to want freedom, liberty and the pursuit of her own happiness while denying the rights of others, less fortunate, the same opportunities to enjoy the same.
Ms Symone is said to be exhibiting 'internalized racism'. (Whatever that is?)
Some see Ms Symone as a real life 'Uncle Ruckus'.
Ms Symone is so blind to her own color that she fails to understand her 'proper place' in a racially divided America. (But wasn't that the goal of all those sit-ins, marches and protests?)
Honestly, in my business I deal with A LOT of Black people from across the country and from many cultures and socio-economic backgrounds.
Most of the conversations regarding race include:
Dark brotha's and sista's resent light skinned brotha's and sista's.
Light skinned brotha's and sista's look down on dark brotha's and sista's.
Uneducated Blacks see most of the more erudite brotha's and sista's as 'acting white'.
Ghetto brotha's and sista's think that they are 'keeping it real' while many see those with more stable lifestyles as 'Uncle Toms' and 'Sell Outs'. (Those few successful Blacks who still retain a sense of street-cred are those who have mastered the task of being Black+ or Black++)
Light skinned Blacks perform better because they have to fight against ghetto dark blacks from behind and rich white people in front of them. (This argument may have some merit so I'll have to look into it further at a later date.)
'Internalized Racism', 'Black Pathology', 'Colonial Mentality' and the rest of the terminology used by 'educated Black folk' are just natural occurrences in any social order regardless of race, ethnic group, country or culture. It is the exploitation of these types of fears by those with real power that keeps those without without.
If you believe in these theories put forth by those in REAL power - you'll be broke, they'll be rich - in the very same hour.
If you want to see an example of the game and how is played, just look at The Sneetches and who ultimately gets paid.
Back when we were kids, my youngest brother and his friends would sneak booze from our parents' liquor cabinets and go play in the surrounding hillsides to have 'shootouts'.
The sight of ten to thirteen year olds drunk and shooting at each other with Daisey pellet and BB-guns was amusing to us older kids.
We'd laugh at our younger brothers when they'd come home bruised (and sometimes bleeding) from these shootouts.
I only remember one kid - Robbie Beverly - shooting his eye out.
(Well, he didn't really shoot his eye out but he did need surgery and had to wear a patch for a while. After that the boys would wear sunglasses in an effort to protect their eyes from a stray BB.)
Back then, in that area - kids with pellet guns were a common sight
Most kids would use their guns to shoot at snakes and gophers.
We would place targets in front of a hill to create practice ranges and we'd we've competitions to see who was the best shot.
When the po-po would roll up they would instruct us kids on safety and the proper way to hold, aim and shoot a pistol and/or riffle.
They'd tell us that shooting at cans was alright but that we weren't allowed to shoot bottles because of the danger and resulting litter.
(The police academy was less than a mile away on a neighboring hill so police patrols and their training runs enabled us to actually get to know quite a few officers.)
No kids were shot by the police.
A recent girlfriend's son and his friends had shootouts in their neighborhood here in Texas.
One day the kid asked me if I could paint his orange tip black so that his pistol could look more like a real gun.
'Hell no!', I answered.
'That orange tip is what keeps you out of trouble', I said.
(And then he received a lecture and was told stories from my childhood.)
A few weeks later his crew was approached by the police. Someone had called 911 reporting that a group of Black kids were shooting at each other.
The kids tried to hide their guns but it was too late.
The po-po rolled up and warned the kids that they couldn't shoot animals, people or property and that they should limit their shots to below the chest as a safety precaution.
After this run in, the boys decided to limit their shooting to the nearby Air Soft ranges.
No kids were shot by the police.
What ( if anything) is different from my experiences with the po-po, kids and fake guns and the experience of Tamir Rice?
Most people park their cars for long periods of time during work hours.
Why don't businesses and municipalities use at least half of their parking spaces as shaded parking spaces that would recharge worker's cars while they sit idly all day?
With the second great Jihad of 1453, Islam conquered Constantinople and took away Europe's land routes to the East.
This set the stage for what indigenous people would have thought of as being a Christian 'Jihad' in the Americas.
The subjugation and/or dismemberment of non-believers, rape, looting and pillaging, the forced conversion of those of a foroegn faith...
Al Qaeda has nothing on the destruction and atrocities committed by those seeking to spread the faith of those who refused swim the Tiber.
(I know violence in the Americas existed before Columbus, but so did original America.)
Well, I'm not a fan of the host's style - the show is a'ight..
The thing about Bar Rescue is that it's easy to improve sales for a short period of time but do the establishments become anchors in the community over an extended period.
About 25% of the rescued bars end up closing but this is better than the 75% failure rate of most bars/clubs in their first three years.
Given that each bar is essentially made into a new bar with media/television exposure, all of the bats on the show SHOULD have increased sale.
In reality, there are not many rules when it come to running a profitable bar.
(In no particular order of importance.)
a) Know your market.
The customer ISN'T always right but it IS the customer who is buying your product. Know and understand what people are willing to pay for in your market.
b) Plan to lose money.
No, not forever but for a year or so until you establish a consistent and growing clientele.
c) Don't be your best customer. (Okay, THIS is the most important.)
You are at work, you're not there to drink and have fun - you are there to make sure your customers drink and have fun.
d) Never hook-up/sleep with any customer or employee.
One will cause social problems while the other will cause legal problems.
e) Pay your people - even when it's slow.
Your people come to work. You are building assets, they are there to make money.
The first question I ask during interviews is whether the applicant would like a drink while we're talking. A 'yes' answer is an automatic disqualifier. One can teach another skills but he cannot teach character and discipline.
My girlfriend is not allowed at the bar often or for extended periods of time. I'm there to work, l'm NOT there to entertain friends and family. They are a distraction.
I'm kind of 'mean' to my employees. They are at the club to work for me, they are not there to be my friend. (But my employees are loyal to a fault. My employees are the highest paid in the market. My employees have a lot of autonomy but the responsibility that goes with it is known to all.)
This past month I received a negative review on Yelp. On the night in question, l was just hanging out on a night off. The only part of the complaint I cared about was the lack of personal service. (The rest of the complaint I don't really care about - we cannot be all things to all people.) Even when I'm off
I can never be 'off'. I cannot be tired or sick or in a bad mood or distracted.
Even when I'm off, I'm not there to have fun - I'm there to make sure everyone else has fun.
Sometimes I hate reading Black blogs - it seems that the only thing that Blacks are expert in is "Blackness".
I grew up in a town that was 6% Black - there really weren't enough Black people to justify any further type of delineation.
In some parts of the South, some Blacks break it down to; Black, brown, light, bright, Redbone, Creole, mixed,... .
On another blogger's page some commented that mixed-race Blacks weren't 'real' Blacks.
(In all honesty, I'm fine with that - people can call me whatever they hate (it has no real impact on my life).)
But what cracked me up was that these same 'militant' comments often dismissed Obama's Blackness while citing the works of other mixed-race Blacks (Frederick Douglas, W.E.B. Du Bois, Booker T Washington and mostly Malcolm X).
Dumb-asses. Black is Black.
(But Black is NOT limited to; ghetto, poverty, ignorance, victimization or and other negative stereotype.)
While laughing at a troll on another blog, I commented that he didn't really hate Black people (he didn't know enough of them to form such a judgement) but that he only feared and resented them.
His fear is media driven and his resentment is predicated on his own failures.
The thing that kind of confused him was that of all the wars that 'his' country fought - most of them were against OTHER WHITE PEOPLE.
Both of the World Wars, The Cold War, The Civil War, The Mexican-American War (the Spanish are European, as he agreed), The War of 1812, The American Revolution, and The Seven Year War.
I also brought up that most white people moved to other countries in an effort to escape OTHER WHITE PEOPLE.
Man, it cracks me up when racists claim to want 'their' country' back.
Everyone cheered near the end of Star Wars when the Rebel Alliance succeeded in blowing up the Empire's 'Death Star'.
As a people - we seem to favor the underdog, the oppressed, the rebel...
Most people don't seem to have a problem with power, authority or being governed - just as long as those in such positions understand that their power is a responsibility and not a luxury.
(The oppression and subjugation of others are not requisite for those in positions of power.)
If I were a Southern plantation owner during the antebellum period, I may have viewed the federal government as an oppressive power seeking to alter my traditional way of life, my culture and hindering my ability to earn a living.
I would have viewed those like Nat Turner as terrorists.
But how can one oppress another whose existence is predicated on the oppression of others?
Shouldn't good always trump evil?
The IRA, Black Panthers, and those involved in democratic revolutions centuries ago are usually thought to have been Freedom Fighters.
While Southern Rebels, ISIS/ISIL, the KKK, Bloods/Crips,.... are thought to be terrorist groups.
In today's world - has the United States [through it's internal (police) and external (military) overseers] become the newest and most villainous Evil Empire?
Will the world cheer when this empire falls?
Does the once oppressed always ultimately become the oppressor?
