My Lease Is Up.... Got Damn

Oh my goodness I'm about to have a nervous breakdown. My lease will expire on Feb 16 and I am virtually homeless. Well.............not really but my situation does not look good. I love the look of my apartment it's huge and the amenities are great. But then I have other issues that I can not deal with. For example it's obvious they did a lipstick job when they rehabbed the apartment and used the cheapest material they could find. For example I can hear my neighbors downstairs so clear it feels like we live together. My bedroom is over their bedroom and at night I can hear everything. I've hear my neighbor's boyfriend snore... I hear her clear her throat.. I wake up every morning at 5:00 am because when their alarms goes off it sounds like the clock is setting right on my night stand. Did I mention that they have a Siberian Husky who howls all night. Then there is the 40 steps I must climb to get to my apartment. So with that in mind I decided to look for another place. Then I found the perfect place that was everything I ever wanted in a home. First of all it was a house...no stairs to climb..two fire places, a sun porch, backyard and two bedrooms. And the rent was cheaper than my one bedroom apartment. Everything was fine until last Friday when the real estate agent called and said there was a problem with the owner and they were no longer able to lease me the home..



WTF... I have to move out of my apartment in 9 days and I do not have another place lined up. I have been looking high and low but unable to find something to my liking. I am very picky, I prefer everything to be rehabbed or extremely maintained. My bathroom and kitchen must be up to parr, they are my favorite spots. So when I look at places with old cabinets, ugly refrigerators, unsightly linoleum, and small bathrooms I cringe. Plus with this being income tax season many places have increased their rent amounts.

So if I do not find anything asap...I will be chilling at Mom's until I find a spot. Yes a grown ass woman at home with Mom. I found an apartment that is 200.00 cheaper than my current apartment. But it is a shot gun style apartment, very very small and there are kids in the apartment. And when the landlord called my references she asked them how I handle conflict. WTH...my friend asked me what the has to do with renting me an apartment. So needless to say I am a bit nervous about dealing with them. I want to know what type of conflict I might encounter at their apartment.

Then there is the other apartment that is 20.00 more than more current rent. It's a gorgeous apartment. I love it...but it will not be ready until April. Although I love that apartment the street it located on is extremely busy. The street is in a business district and people are always walking up and down the block. Some of the people look like they would rob you in a heart beat. But the area is currently at the point of gentrification and soon will be the new hot spot.

So I gotta move up outta this place next weekend and the only sure spot I got is mama's. So if you see me and I look pissed off and sound crabby just know at this time I am homeless and irritated right now.

Koreans and the Black Hair Business

In the late 70's most beauty supply stores in my neighborhood were black. As a matter of fact, there were not very many and the ones that existed were very small. Suddenly around the late 80's early 90's I noticed beauty supply stores started popping up on every corner. This time they were bigger, offered more products and strangely enough ran by Koreans. Soon enough the small black beauty supplies began to fade away, finding it hard to compete with the Koreans who had more products and at a cheaper price.


We all know that black women are serious about our hair. We buy relaxers,wigs,weaves, detachable ponytails, hot curlers, ceramic flat irons, pressing combs ect. So basically the beauty supply and distribution business is a billion dollar industry. With all the beauty supplies in the hood and all the sistahs flocking to buy merchandise, who profits the most from the sale?

We all know that Madame CJ Walker made her first million in the beauty industry. Well it may be hard to find a black person in today's market making million(s) of dollars selling or distributing beauty supplies. The reason for this is the Koreans dominate the market. Some even refuse to sale products made by black distributors. In many cases the Koreans will allow a limited amount of black made products in their store....then after a short while they will start making their own brand of the product and refuse to sale the black made product.


I respect everyone hustle don't get me wrong the black beauty industry was an open market that went virtually undeserved for years. However, many of these Korean run shops never invest in the neighborhoods they serve. Hell in most cases you will never see a black person even working in the store.

I am so happy that I went natural because I no longer contribute to making Koreans richer. This issue is wayyyy bigger than I can cover. But trust and believe it is a big deal. If possible try to find and shop and a black owned beauty supply store. If you are unsure where to find one goggle Black Owned Beauty Supply Association. Understand.. it is very important to put money back into the hands of people that look like us. Yes...the product may be a bit higher priced but it's worth it.

My Thoughts on the Inauguration

I’m sitting at my desk feeling might proud. Not only am I feeling it in my spirit.. I also feel proud to be called a citizen of the United States of America. Similar to our First Lady Michelle, I’ve never experienced a feeling like this before. At least in this moment in time, I really feel that we are one.

I’ve always felt a connection to the past struggles of black people. When I was a kid every February they would show the biography of Martin Luther King and the United States resistance to basic civil rights for African Americans. I remember being 8 years old and feeling angery, connecting with those that came before me. I had the same feeling in junior high when I had to write a story about slavery. Again I was very angry and it infuriated me that my people suffered so harshly in a land we help build.

Well my friends today I watch my president Barack Obama get sworn in as President of the United States of America and it felt good… it felt damn good. I felt like reparations had finally arrived. I watched the inauguration in the presence of my co-workers. We all gathered in the lunch room and watched it together. There were people of all races watching the first black president take the reigns. People sat in that lunch room with smiles on their face; some even let a few tears slide down their cheeks. It was a glorious site to behold; I felt united with humanity not just my race.

For my grandparents and my ancestors I wanted to shout HALLELUJAH! My spirited thanked the people that came before me.. the ones that paid the price in blood, the ones that had enough faith that they knew one day we would be unstoppable. My spirit thanked those who faced the dogs, hoses, lynching, fire bombs, and untimely death at the hands of racist.


I know all of our racial issues will not evaporate in the air with the election of President Obama. Lord knows Barack is facing a nation looking for a quick resolution. Let’s not expect the man to work miracles; fore he is a mere human. But we can pray that he become equipped with supernatural wisdom, that he obtains a high level of discernment, that he hears and obeys the voice of God, that his cabinet work in an orderly and divine manner, that he stays spiritually and physically refreshed, for his marriage, the safety of the Obama’s, that he never let his power go to his head and that he always stays connected to the people.


Finally they can stop calling him president-elect… and starting calling him PRESIDENT OBAMA

Umemployment and Black Men

Nonfarm payroll employment declined sharply in December, and the unemployment rate rose from 6.8 to 7.2 percent. Payroll employment fell by 524,000 over the month and by 1.9 million over the last 4 months of 2008. The unemployment rate for black men was 11.9 percent , almost twice that of white men, and up 4percentage points from a year earlier.


Within the last two years the unemployment rate has skyrocketed wreaking havoc on all racial demographics in the U.S. However, black men have been hardest hit by the recent economic down turn. Washington has released half of the billion(s) dollar bail out funds …. the money has yet to reach the black man on Martin Luther Dr. I’ve personally watch a black man look for a job for 9 months with barely any luck at all. He’d get a job as a temp and would be laid off two weeks later. With each passing week his self confidence and esteem seemed to slowly dissipate. Add in the fact that this man served time for a federal crime 8 years ago and it seems almost impossible for him to find work. In an effort to seek employment this man began to apply for jobs at fast food restaurants, when these places did not return his call… he felt into a deep depression. Last week I was listening to News and Notes on NPR and a caller who happened to be a black man from California was telling his story about the struggle with finding employment. This caller was a veteran and was laid off 6 months prior. When I listened to him tell his story I felt the hurt in his voice. While I understand we are in an economic recession, I must ask why are black men being hit harder than the rest of country?

Algernon Austin, director of the race, ethnicity and the economy program at the Washington, D.C.-based Economic Policy Institute states, “during recessionary periods, it really goes from bad to worse.”One factor in the spike could be discrimination, citing a recent study by two Princeton professors that showed white men with criminal records were as likely to be hired as black men without criminal records.

The job market is tougher for blacks with criminal records – and rising incarceration rates in recent decades might be a factor in a faster-rising unemployment rate. Education is another factor, said Mike Walden, an economist at N.C. State University, who's seen similar trends among black men in previous downturns. In tough economic times, businesses are more willing to cut lower-level workers before higher-level employees, he said

Issues such as the mass incarceration of black males, the failure of public schools to educate black males, the high unemployment rate among black male workers, the disproportionate number of black males who are homeless, a juvenile-justice system that houses black male youths for prisons, voter disenfranchisement and the alarming homicide rate of black males are just a few of the realities that negatively impact the social and economic status of black males in this country.
Unfortunately, black males are neither influential in the political landscape nor collectively able to employ lobbyists to put those issues before the candidates. Consequently, issues affecting black males are being ignored.

There are lots of reasons why men choose not to work. Some are in school, others are ill, and some may have taken early retirement. But the gap between the number of Black men without work and White men without work is astounding. What would happen if half of all White men did not have jobs? Can you imagine, from a policy perspective, how people would respond and what would happen? Would there be a revolution? A refocusing of national priorities? A massive jobs creation program? If this would happen in response to high White joblessness, why doesn't it happen in response to high levels of Black joblessness?

If you know a black man that is looking for employment, be of assistance to him. Let him know of any jobs that may be hiring. Being unemployed for long periods of time has negative psychological effects on people. Looking for jobs in the paper and the internet can be fruitless at times. We must help one another if we as a people are going to move past this. We can’t wait for Obama and the government to come to our rescue all the time. Sometimes waiting the government comes too late…….remember Katrina? In times such as this we can’t be so selfish that we don’t help our neighbors stay afloat.

Is This A Joke

I sincerely hope this is McDonald's version of a joke. Because if it's not then I may take offense to this stupid attempt of R&B. Not that R&B is so great these days.. but not all black people listen to such crappy music. When I look at some commercials I wonder who are they trying to attract...who is their demographic audience, what are they trying to do. Seriously....when you look at this video do you think they want you to laugh or start dancing down to McDonald's singing their "catchy" tune?


Can you imagine a boardroom full of white people attempting to come up with a concept that will attract young black people to McDonald's. I can envision them turning on their local R&B station for inspiration. They hear Lil Wayne asking a woman to lick him like a lollipop.....then they hear T-Pain get frustrated when a stripper will not cuddle up with him and he feels chopped and screwed...then Beyonce lets them know that a diva is a female version of a hustler and finally they listen to Jamie Fox explain how is girlfriend is just like him......popping bottles in the club and giving all the dudes hugs.

With all that inspiration they came up with the wonderful mcnugget song. By favorite line is "girl you got a ten piece don't be stinggaaaay"

You Are NOT the Father

Imagine the mail man asking you to sign for a letter addressed to your cousin. You like many others would sign without second guessing your actions. Well this is where all hell broke loose on poor Walter Sharpe.

You see Walter signed for a certified letter addressed to Andre Sharpe. The letter ordered Andre Sharpe to attend a child support conference in Dauphin County, where Andre’s baby mother lived at the time. Shortly after signing for the letter for his cousin, several letters began showing up in Walters mail box ordering him to come to child support court for Andre’s daughter. Walter believed it was a mistake and ignored all the letters sent to him by the courts.

When Andre nor Walter showed to the child support hearing the judge ruled Walter as the father of Andre’s child. Although Walter was paying child support for his own four children: the county family welfare agency began garnishing wages from his job to support Andre’s daughter. Walter paid 12,000 towards the care of his cousin’s child between 2002-2005

To make matters worse Walter served four six-month jail terms for not keeping up with support payments and lost his job. Petitions he filed for DNA testing were opposed by the court’s domestic relations officials and denied by the judge.

In May 2007, the paternity order against Walter Sharpe was overturned after the girl’s mother and grandmother failed to show up to a court hearing. But the judge ruled in October that Walter Sharpe was not entitled to compensation. The judge claimed that Walter brought this whole tragedy on himself when he ignored the letters urging him to come to court.

And to add further salt to the wound, Andre had been taking care of the child financially from birth. Andre obtained legal custody of the child in late 2006. The baby mama took advantage of the system… she knew full well that Walter was not the child ‘s father. I’m not sure of the mother circumstances but I hope she is looking forward to the big ole kick in the ass from karma. But this crap does not lay solely on the shoulders of baby mama…where the hell was Andre when his cousin was going through this drama? Why didn’t he show up to court with his cousin and claim the child? Then there is the system… they are quick to pull people in and slow on rectifying the problem.

I truly hope this guy gets compensated and if possible the baby mama prosecuted and the judge kicked off the bench for incompetency. Yeah I know I am dreaming but that’s what they deserve.

Why Your White Neighbors Are Moving

I was browsing the web and came across a study done by Du Bois Review: Social Science Research on Race. Researchers at the University of Illinois, Chicago and the University of Michigan surveyed a large representative sample of households in Chicago and Detroit. As part of this highly innovative study, every participant was handed a laptop and was asked to view a series of video clips showing different neighborhoods. The set of neighborhoods remained constant. But the video was altered to manipulate their make up, to show either whites populating the neighborhood, or blacks or a mixed-race population.


The study sought to determine was "whether whites are colorblind in their evaluations of neighborhoods or whether racial composition still matters—even when holding constant the quality of the neighborhood." The results clearly show that whites rated the neighborhood much more favorably when whites dominated the make-up. And the more negative the stereotypes a white individual held of African Americans generally, the more likely they were to negatively rate the identical neighborhood with a visible black presence.

I am not surprised by the results, although in many cities gentrification is taking place everyday. St. Louis is a very segregated town and many of the best areas are populated with a majority of white people. The sad thing to me is when black people get a little money they follow the white people. The study found that blacks did judge schools to be of higher quality in mixed-race and all-white neighborhoods. I often wondered if black people could imagine a beautiful, safe and productive all black neighborhood. Would my people still value an all black neighborhood if there were no white folks in site or would it been seen as another ghetto, regardless of class or income.

What aggravates me even further is “white flight”. When too many black people move in a neighborhood white people begin to slowly but surely move out . Yet some of us continue to chase them…hoping to happily co-exist. Personally I would love to live in a productive all black neighborhood. I would love my kids to attend an all black school, with great funding and teachers that care. But I know this can never happen until blacks have a change of mind set, black home ownership increase, and we begin demanding a better education for our kids. Just for the record I am not a segregationist , but I would like to see black people place value in one another. White is not always right ya know.