November 7, 2012 by bbgcmac

Sermon on The Mount, or Cee-Lo’s Revenge!

I do not plan on speaking much on this election. I hope to say what I have to now and not much after this. Truth is, regardless of who won we have great challenges in our nation and we have a lot of work to do. No need to recite all the details regarding the economy, jobs, education, the military and so forth.

Still, I don’t mind acknowledging that this election was different than any other I have been involved in. The first time Barack Obama was elected it was special. It was unbelievable to me. I never thought I would see a person of color in the White House. And for those thinking that’s all I’m about, you would be wrong. In other words, I could have voted for a Colin Powell presidency, while Clarence Thomas’ supreme court appointment and Herman Cain’s candidacy can go kick rocks! Most people who look like me can joyfully celebrate accomplishments by people of color from a historical perspective of where we’ve come from, but we are not hung up on color for the sake of color sake. As the old folks used to say, “Everyone who’s my skin folk, ain’t necessarily my kin folk.” I voted for The President the first time because I believed in his vision and what he stood for. His skin color was a caveat, not even close to a deciding factor.

That being said it wasn’t hard at all to recognize and understand all of the racist vitriol surrounding the White House since Obama was elected four years ago. From the beginning as surprised as I was that he was elected, for racist Caucasians, they were equally enraged. Rush Limbaugh exclaimed, “I hope he fails!” Joe Wilson went ballistic with his “You lie!” blast in a display of disrespect to the office never seen before. Mitch McConnell let it be known that his #1 priority was making The President a one termer.

John Boehner stood opposite whatever President Obama stood for, even if Obama changed to Boehner’s position.

The First Lady couldn’t even promote fighting childhood obesity without being attacked.

Jan Brewer put her finger in the face of The President as if she was ready to scrap!

I could go on. But let me get to my points. I’m exhausted. The President, myself and a whole lot of black folks, progressives etc. have taken a lot of shit over the last four years. We have heard it all. Now it’s our turn. Others can say what they need to, but I will speak for myself! In my Cee Lo Green voice, I present “F#@! YOU” notices to the following:

Mitch McConnell: F#@! YOU, 4 More Years! Try working for the American people and not against the black guy for a change!

John Boehner: F#@! YOU, 4 More Years! Focus more on helping our nation and less on your tan!

Rush Limbaugh: F#@! YOU, 4 More Years! Looks like YOU failed! Send your Mexican nanny to the pharmacist for more drugs you fat assed blubbering dope fiend!

Todd Akin: F#@! YOU, 4 More Years! Guess the women of Missouri “did that thing” to shut your ass down!

Tavis Smiley and Cornel West: F#@! YOU, 4 More Years! Yep I said it. You have toured the nation perpetrating the fraud about a “Black Agenda” while you never asked Bush, Clinton or any other president to do the same. My president cares for all people… including black people. It was insulting and ignorant that you tried to lay ever problem within the African-American community as his feet and expect him to focus on those and those alone. You both are frauds!

Fox News: F#@! YOU, 4 More Years! Hey look at it this way, your ratings will remain steady with the racist who will tune in and hear you whine, lie and avoid the real issue which is that White male domination is blowing away with the wind. Another generation and a half, and you may only have 7 viewers listeners using a CB radio!

Sara Palin: F#@! YOU, 4 More Years! How’s that for “shuckin’ and jiving?”

Business Owners who threatened their employees: That what foul what you did trying to intimidate your workers. Quite desperate too! None of Obama’s policies hurt your businesses especially. You get every tax break in the world! If you fail, its more likely because of your shotty business decisions. F#@! YOU, 4 More Years!

People who said Colin Powell voted for Obama because he was black: Yea, how many of you voted for McCain and Romney because they were white? Yea that’s what I thought…. F#@! YOU, 4 More Years!

Republicans, those who tried to disenfranchise minority voters: Them days are over! We aren’t allowing you to get away with that any longer! Get a clue! You lost in every court, including the Supreme Court! And the only people who were caught attempting to commit voter fraud were REPUBLICANS! F#@! YOU, 4 More Years!

Franklin and Billy Graham: (And all the other radical white and black evangelicals) You actually sold out your Christianity for racism. I guess you can put Mormonism back on the cult list now! F#@! YOU, 4 More Years!

Mitt Romney: Oh yea I ain’t forgot about you geechie! F#@! YOU, 4 More Years!… sincerely the 47%!

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a 4:20 flight to catch to Denver.

Holla!

October 4, 2012 by bbgcmac

Round 1 to the Challenger

Full disclosure. I’ve only watched the first presidential debate once. Last night when after returning from work before I could turn on the DVR and watch the recording, CSPAN had already begun their replay. I enjoy watching CSPAN’s version of most any political debate because they don’t have as much hype and sensationalism with their programming. This is why I never watch anyone’s pre-debate shows either. I would rather go into the debates and listen to the way things play out without anticipating anything in particular, and let the partisanship bullshit slide by the wayside.

While winding down both mentally and physically I took in the show. And these are my observations:

1) Mitt Romney was as feisty as a horny young teenager. He was so excited and wide-eyed, that if I didn’t know better, I’d say he sniffed a few lines before coming on stage. The look on his face said from the beginning he was prepared, had a game plan, and was confident he could execute it. Since he’s had plenty of time to prepare, he had his talking points queued up. The second portion of his strategy was to bulldoze his way through the moderator, filibuster, redirect the narratives and keep the POTUS on the defensive. This was a clever strategy and it partially worked. Sure he lied about a shitload of topics, but that’s besides the point. Folk like me and every other politically astute viewer noticed the many lies he told regarding the policies he has campaigned on for months. Romney fork-tongued his way through his presentation as if he were Lord Jeffrey Amherst, and the 47% of us Americans were actually the original Native Americans he was offering a nice set of blankets to in the winter of 1763. Of course he was going to leave out that little thing about the smallpox.

2) To the novice, much of the this strategy worked. However, part of it was because the narrator Jim Lehrer got owned by the ‘Mittster!’ Every time Lehrer even suggested that Mitt’s time was up or that it was time to move on, Romney told him to STFU and let him talk. Lehrer was bitch-slapped to biblical proportions. I’m sure Lehrer had way more questions on his little cue card than he got out. In the words of Lauryn Hill, Romney defecated on his Lehrer’s microphone rendering him huddled in the corner naked and in the fetal position. Lehrer need Mackenzie from The Newsroom to call upon his inner Will McElroy giving him instructions and direction to move him along. But alas, instead of the microphone of an executive producer, all that we could see in Jim’s ear was Mitt’s dick! Plain and simple. Romney even threatened to put Lehrer out of job by cancelling funding for PBS. How gangsta is that? Lehrer was all but tossing Romney’s salad as if he was some old felon on Oz looking for protection. This was really obvious as at one point when Lehrer actually tried to press on the time, it was when the president talked at 1:55 of his two minute time limit. I just shook my head.

3) The president looked tired in my opinion. Some of this is understandable in that he does have shit to do being the president and all. The last time we saw Obama in a debate, it was between he and Senator McCain and neither of them were president. Therefore they both had ample time to prepare their talking points. Obama’s moonlighting as a debater came through. Not that he didn’t make his points and tell the truth. But in that he often stumbled over his words while doing so. He wasn’t so professorial as some have said in my opinion, he just wasn’t terribly passionate. So while he wins on the facts, again his target has to be the people who aren’t astute; Who don’t pay attention to the day to day but are tied up in their own lives until the election comes around.

As an Obama supporter, I ain’t mad at him. If he’s going to pick a time not to shine then the first debate is definitely the one to do it in. There are still two more to go. No one knew how Romney would perform or what his game plan would be coming into the debates, other than him lying and flip flopping. The president has seen Romney’s best shot. There is no doubt in my mind about that. The next time Obama will definitely have his fight face on and be ready for battle. No way I believe this next moderator is going to be the p#ssy that Lehrer was. Otherwise, it’s like boxing; you see what the opponent is doing, adjust and fight the fight the way you trained in the first place. I’m confident that is what we will see in the next two debates.

September 24, 2012 by bbgcmac

To Hell With Politics, This is WAR!

Several months ago I thought to myself, “You know, I hope President Obama wins a second term and I believe if he does he can get more things done than even his first. But if Mitt Romney becomes president, it won’t be the worst thing that could have happened.”

Sure he’s pretty slick, but he certainly didn’t appear to be an off the chain loony like some of the previous candidates, i.e. Rick ‘Niggerrock’ Perry, Rick ‘No Birth Control’ Santorum, Michelle “Blame Obama for Everything” Bachmann and Herman “999 White Honeys I Screwed” Cain. Romney seemed like the reasonable choice among republicans. Much of his policies and politics in Massachusetts were fairly moderate for a Republican.

Since becoming the Republican nominee, I’ve done 180 on Mitt. I’ve always said I don’t mind having a president whose policies I may differ with as long as I believe he/she truly cares about the nation and wants to serve it’s citizens. Yes, one has to be ambitious to want to be the president, but ambition as the sole motivation presents a clear and present danger to the citizens of whom this person seeks to govern.

Mitt Romney is very rich. I’m perfectly fine with that. However, when one has such a monetarily prosperous upbringing, it can be difficult to be in touch with or understand the plight of those who aren’t so prosperous. Even that in itself shouldn’t be punished. What is problematic instead, is when that same person has no interest in being made aware this plight. What is downright unacceptable and morally reprehensible is when this same person goes out of his way to judge, demean and attack said people. This is what we have in Mitt Romney.

Every time Romney opens his mouth regarding the majority of Americans he says something that either shows his willful ignorance or complete disdain for those who are not like him.

To college students at Otterbein University in Ohio he told them that if they don’t have the money to start a business to, “borrow money from your parents.”

****Keep in mind that the median family income for the 89 counties in Ohio is less than $60,000 per year.

When he showed up in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Isaac, (I have no idea why because he couldn’t do anything about it) he consoled Jodie Chiarello, 42, who lost her home in Isaac’s flooding by telling her, “There’s assistance out there,” go home and call 211.”

**Well, he must meant her SECOND or third home. Well as it turns out she doesn’t have one of those.

Now in speaking at a private fundraiser he really let his true feelings known.

Exhibit A: On the disadvantages of being a rich White male in America:

“My dad, as you probably know, was the governor of Michigan and was the head of a car company. But he was born in Mexico. And had he been born of Mexican parents, I’d have a better shot of winning this… But he was unfortunately born to Americans living in Mexico. He lived there a number of years, and I mean I say that jokingly, but it would be helpful to be Latino.”

**Apparently he believes this so much he painted his face in such a dark brown so that he can look the part!. It’s hard to imagine this rich white man actually wants us to believe that he think he would be better off if he were Latino. How amazing is that?

Exhibit B: On people who are not the wealthiest and richest in America:

“There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That that’s an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what.”

…”So my job is not to worry about those people, I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives. What I have to do is convince the 5 to 10 percent in the center that are independents that are thoughtful, that look at voting one way or the other depending upon in some cases emotion, whether they like the guy or not, what he looks like.”

Juxtapose that to what President Obama said about those not voting for him in 2008, “What I said on election night was, even though you didn’t vote for me, I hear your voices, and I’m going to work as hard as I can to be your president.”

Look, this guy doesn’t want to show us his own personal tax returns over the last decade because he’s afraid of what they will reveal. He has a shitload of off shore accounts to hide his personal fortune, and not only criticizes 47% of Americans who cannot afford to hide what little money they have in Switzerland or the Cayman Islands, but admitted that he doesn’t cares about them anyway!

As far as I’m concerned, the dye has been cast! This is a guy who after passing universal healthcare in the state he governed, that the emergency room is an acceptable plan for folk who don’t have insurance now. This is clearly THE most expensive way to handle ‘healthcare’. Not only that, this defeats the purpose of the emergency room…which is to treat emergencies! It’s not healthcare!

So memo for a few groups out there.

Racist White Conservatives: You can continue to believe the hype and buy into this racial crap if you want to. But if you aren’t making serious bank Mitt’s policies are not going to pay dividends for your family! Would you rather have a money in your pocket with a black man as president, or be broke as a joke with a white one? I know many of you would take the former, but I’m appealing to some of you who have better sense and will think about your finances and get over losing the Civil War!

Black Conservative Christians: I’ve already talked to you before. The bible says to get wisdom, and with that get understanding. Mitt isn’t going to overturn abortion. And he can’t outlaw homosexuality. That horse it out of the barn! You’re going to have to deal with gays and lesbians for the duration. Regardless of what you believe personally or scripturally, you still have a responsibility to vote on more than social issues. We are already making less than white folks as it is for the same jobs. Unemployment and incarceration hurt us more than anybody else. Don’t be fools and end up more jobless and broker than ever, only to end up praying in church to God about delivering you from financial ruin! So many of the challenges we face are not the devil, it’s you and us making decisions totally opposite of what is in our own best interest.

Pastors, if your congregation ain’t working, ain’t no tithes and offerings coming through the door! Smarten up and lead the people with a purpose beyond what mainstream White Christians and White Christian radio is telling you!

To the rest of us, I say make sure you get out there and vote for Barack Obama. Make sure your friends and family members are registered to vote and do the same! Don’t take anything for granted. Mitt, the hard right Republicans and The Tea Party are not playing with you. You better take this seriously and understand the ramifications of the times we are living in. This is indeed war on American and American families! You best to soldier up unless you want to get run over!

Think about yourself and your families! Participate in the destinies of our lives so that we can have the best possible chances at thriving in our America too!

September 9, 2012 by bbgcmac

The Politics of Race, Religion, and the Person of Jesus

This is a serious question for my Evangelical Christian friends who are hoping that Mitt Romney is the next president of the United States. I am not being flippant at all but wanting to understand a question central to your faith in Jesus and the way you generally express that faith as it relates to local and national politics.

My question is how do you justify supporting Mitt Romney for president when he is a Mormon?

My personal experience in church, evangelical churches in particular focuses on the central personhood/divinity of Jesus Christ as not only the Son of God but being God Himself.

Matthew 16:13-18

¹³When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?

¹⁴And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.

¹⁵He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?

¹⁶And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

¹⁷And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

¹⁸And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

This has been the litmus test for a ‘legitimate Christian’. And truth be told regardless of the denomination, this central core of the identity of Jesus at the very least united the fold.

Mitt Romney

This is slightly different than Catholics. Even the hard right ones tend to vote for the political persuasion of candidates rather than looking for them to specifically be Catholics. JFK is the one Catholic president we’ve had. Therefore, being Catholic is not a deal breaker when voting for president.

Evangelicals don’t share that same standard. For instance, George W Bush’s conversion to Christianity after alcoholism was a really big deal to White and Black Conservative Christians. In addition to his alignment with the pro-life, anti-gay, anti-stem cell stances, he was an easy choice religiously; so much so that the rest of his politics were automatically supported.

The subject of Mormonism had come up earlier in the primaries. Initially the Evangelical community were tremendously reticent on supporting Romney for this reason. It was only after the likes of Perry and Santorum were dismissed that the litmus test was rescinded.

In the Christianpost.com, a potential conflict played out between the views of mega preacher Joel Osteen of Lakewood Church in Houston and Robert Jeffress of First Baptist Church of Dallas differed. Osteen who many would consider a less controversial and less confrontational preacher said he accepted Romney as a ‘believer’ in Christ.

Said Osteen, “What I see about Gov. Romney is that he says ‘I believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He’s raised from the dead and he’s my savior.’ I see him as being a believer in Christ like me.”

Contrast this with Robert Jeffress, who said, “Rick Perry’s a Christian. (Former presidential candidate) He’s an evangelical Christian, a follower of Jesus Christ. Mitt Romney’s a good moral person, but he’s not a Christian. Mormonism is not Christianity, it has always been considered a cult by the mainstream of Christianity.”

Robert Jeffress

This certainly fits with what I understood Christians to believe for many years now. I was taught this about Mormons in my own church experience. More specifically, the differences centered on several scriptural beliefs that including the one aforementioned regarding the person of Christ. Here are more from an article also posted in Christianpost.com.

Other differences that Mormons don’t believe that are key to Christian doctrine are items such as the Trinity. Mormons don’t believe in it. Nor do they believe in original sin of Adam, salvation through grace and faith in Jesus Christ, and among other things that the Book of Mormon is equal to the bible. Further study of Mormonism would reveal a lot more than that Christians would find strange and rather off beat in comparison to their own beliefs. I won’t get into those specifics here but I wanted to focus on core doctrinal differences in posing my original curiosity.

Ironically enough, since Romney became the Republican nominee Jeffress has now changed his tune saying that he endorsed Romney all along. He goes on further to say that President Obama ‘opposes biblical principals.’

Lets just see now… Barack Obama, Christian man who has been married to one woman, father of two, the quintessential family guy, claims Jesus Christ as his savior, church going and former community organizer opposes biblical principals. This president even targets his policies and campaign partially on issues that Jesus Himself found important according to scripture, i.e. the poor, the downtrodden, the sick and so forth. But the Mormon whose religion Christians have been calling a ‘cult’ for decades, who has not done anything to show forth the works and concerns of Jesus in the marketplace should now get the vote over Obama? It doesn’t add up!

President Obama & Family

Strangely enough, Jeffress believes Romney and other Mormons are going to hell. He also says that he believes that President Obama is a Christian. But yet he will vote for the man he believes is going to hell not the one he believes serves the same lord and savior he claims to serve himself.

Now in hoping that my friends on the right are willing to give me honest and sincere answers, let me first offer two answers that won’t cut it.

A) Obama is not pro-life.

I have yet to meet anyone who is pro-abortion. The ability for a woman to choose whether to carry pregnancy to term has several complicated factors within it. They range from poverty, rape, incest, life of the mother and so forth. Church denominations have always differed in the level of importance they’ve held to this topic. Most do not see this as a central theme of faith but a personal choice whose merits will ultimately be decided by God’s providence. Even former Vice President Dan Quayle said that if his wife were raped and became pregnant she would have a DNC. This is clearly a distinction without a difference. The truth is that rich women have and always will be able to obtain the safest care in terminating a pregnancy regardless of the laws or what they claim to believe in public. With all of these factors, surely one cannot with a straight face make a presidential choice based on an opinion that he has that is already the law of the land anyway.

B) Obama’s faith is not ‘like ours.’ Look at his former pastor Rev. Jeremiah Wright

Christians cannot legitimately rail on Wright as an excuse to say bad things about Obama’s faith. Not when they have their own pool of radical preachers who’ve said controversial things like Pat Robertson, who said of the US State Department in Washington DC, "Maybe we need a very small nuke thrown off on Foggy Bottom to shake things up." Then there’s Jerry Falwell who said, "AIDS is the wrath of a just God against homosexuals. To oppose it would be like an Israelite jumping in the Red Sea to save one of Pharaoh’s charioteers … AIDS is not just God’s punishment for homosexuals; it is God’s punishment for the society that tolerates homosexuals." I can only imagine what would happen if Wright had said something encouraging terrorism and violence against American citizens.

Obama has had one wife and two children. He’s never had any family scandal, and his wife and kids are a reflection of the American dream. They show what one can do when starting with little and making the very best of what they have. They were not born into wealth. They are both highly accomplished people in large part because they worked their asses off and on top of that, they used those talents to help others not just themselves. Till this day. President Obama’s biggest income generators has been the books he’s written. This is more of an example of Jesus than any other candidate that has run for president in several decades in the least.

So I am asking for real answers. It seems to me even when it comes to Christianity, many Christians are willing to compromise when it comes to the politics of race. I can only imagine if President Obama were claiming some other religion where there was a history of polygamy, an unwillingness to ordain white men in ministry as recently as less than 40 years ago, there is no doubt to me that this religious thing would be a much bigger issue than it is now among White and Black evangelical Christians. He would be perceived as having an un-American womanizing anti-Christ belief system. Right leaning Christians would easily be comfortable rallying against him all the way through November on faith principals alone. Instead, right wing Christians have totally given Mormonism a free pass, while turning their backs on the Christian already in the White House. I’m merely curious as to how it is justified.

August 21, 2012 by bbgcmac

Things of Kings, Queens, Jesters and Social Media

In this fun and entertaining tool we use called Facebook to amuse, share, rant, and express ourselves, I often read little signs with quotes about what makes a good man, a good male partner. I tend to agree with most of them but rarely if ever do I see any signs for what a woman should aspire to as it relates to what is expected of them. So ‘imma’ share a little ditty of what I’ve learned over my time.

Ladies: One vital quality that GOOD value in a woman is loyalty; Loyalty in terms of loving and supporting him regardless of his status. In other words, does he know you have his back and do you celebrate him the when he has little the same as when he has much?

What about when he loses some confidence. Do you pick him up and believe in him and make him feel safe in the confines of your embrace? Or do you kick him and make him feel less than a man, as if his value is based solely on his performance. In other words is it like the NBA where he gets in a shooting slump and instead of sticking by him saying, “No worries, you’re my guy keep on shooting,” or do you want to put him on the trading block and bring in a free agent?

Do you trust his counsel and believe in his vision? Or must you hear the same words he gave you from the preacher or an outside source in order to believe it? I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard brothers say, “Man I told my lady ‘such and such’ for a long time. She always dismissed it. But when the pastor preached on it she got a revelation.

Do you invest in the relationship as much as you did when you were trying to get the dude in the first place? They say, “The man is the head. But the woman is the neck that turns the head.” Do you speak to him politely using your charms to influence his heart, swing from the poles in the bedroom dazzling him with your sexual exploits with great enthusiasm like you did back in the day to keep it hot and smoking? Of did you become comfortable and less ambitious? “I ain’t got to do all that no more.”

Hey, I agree that it’s hard out here for women. I really do. And that’s why I used the word GOOD when describing this kind of man. I wouldn’t ask or expect you give all of your goodies to a fool. I would say leave the fool to foolish women in turn. Don’t try to make a good man out of a fool, cause then you’re playing yourself! . Give the kingdom to a fool and it won’t make him king worthy! He will merely destroy it. And if you went that route and failed, then don’t blame the good brother for the crimes of the fool you chose to try to make into a king.

But if you got a good man, a man that is not only dedicated to you but to being the best man he can be for you and the things concerning you, treats you like gold etc.; then dammit you need to learn how to treat him and how to work it. And trust me when I tell you, when you know how to work it and make that dude the priority he needs to be, giving him that input, the wisdom, love, and encouragement that only you can, you best believe you will in turn receive ALL of the rewards on the other side of the storms that life will bring. So if you want a king, be a queen!

Now think on THAT!

(pictures from the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater)

August 1, 2012 by bbgcmac

The Weight of the Individual

So after a three day weekend of partying, eating and debauchery I messed around and gained 7lbs. After 3 days of intense workouts and training I lost 9lbs to get back to my goal weight. I learned a few things within that process.

1) The human body is a funny thing. If you feed it junk it will desire and crave junk even more. What starts out as feeling loaded down and tiring will soon be your addiction. Additionally, if you never work out and are lazy, the body will reinforce that tendency even to the point of death. One must work hard to break these personal trends.

2) The opposite is true. If you feed your body healthy foods for the most part it will desire and crave more of these as well. If you exercise often the body will respond positively to more and more of it. It will prompt you to keep it up and build on your progress. Furthermore, one would have to work hard to undue these healthy habits and desires as well.

3) The body is a machine that programmed to quickly adapt to whatever you train it for. A well trained and disciplined body or temple will serve you well. A body full of garbage and inactivity if not retrained will literally drive itself to what I call 2nd degree suicide. Most of the unhealthy foods I ate over the weekend I consumed simply because they were there. I wasn’t hungry for most of it, but I didn’t want to waste my money.

The feelings I had inside my body told me to stop as it was rejecting the oversaturation of grease and fats. But I kept on going till I couldn’t stand it anymore. Fortunately for me, I was still in shape and motivated enough to quickly shake the damage I had done to myself.

Our bodies will be trained one way or the other. Let’s train our bodies to live and to live abundantly!

July 25, 2012 by bbgcmac

The Pioneering of another Jefferson

Before there was Idol, Hoarders, Snookie, and the Real House Porn Stars of Insert City; when people actually sat down and wrote content for entertainment, there was a ground breaking show called, “All In The Family.” In addition to the comedy, that show dealt with many of the issues America was dealing with at the time such as class, race, liberalism vs. conservatism, abortion, and so on. That content and quality of the show holds up today, though one would never see such a production today nor it’s fierce unapologetic critique of our ignorance unless Seth MacFarland sets it in animation.

Sherman Hemsley’s George Jefferson character on All In The Family and his verbal analytical challenges to Archie Bunker’s view of White Americanism was so impressive to the producers that they added a spin off show around George called, "The Jeffersons."

George represented something that was never seen on TV at the time. Unlike the pervasive and all too common ghettoized back drop of Good Times, George was a business owner (Jefferson Cleaners) and lived in a high rise apartment in Manhattan. Not only was George not anybody’s servant, hell he even had a maid. And the genius of having Marla Gibb’s Florence Johnston’s maid character was that she actually had the boldness and freedom to say the things that so many maids wish they could say to their white bosses.

And boy did we laugh because although George was rich, with that also came a type of detachment he had to certain realities that most regular American people were dealing with. George was just as prejudice against his neighbors interracial marriage as Archie Bunker would have been, giving them something in common.

That show lasted for 11 seasons. And best believe without George Jefferson there is no Dr. Huckstable.

Thanks for your contributions Mr. Hemsley. R.I.P

July 17, 2012 by bbgcmac

Baseball, BackStopping and the Power of Unity

As I reflect on my experience during the 60 Hour World Record Baseball Game benefitting BackStoppers, there is so much that come to mind.

Many have asked how I became involved with this group of people. It started when I donated time as a basketball referee for the World Record Basketball Game benefiting Joplin tornado victims. I was so impressed with the dedication of the players, I knew I wanted to be a part of the next challenge they embraced. When Chuck Williams sent me the email asking if I wanted to umpire for the 60 Hour Baseball Game, my answer was an unequivocal ‘no.’ I wanted to extend my commitment past a few hours and complete the entire task with the group. That decision proved far more rewarding than even I anticipated.

With that said I wanted to offer a few shout outs to some very impressive people. Please keep in mind that for me name recognition is limited and I am in no way trying to discount anyone’s contributions of whom I am not aware. I am basically the new kid on the block.

Team Traube

1) Steve Pona and Chuck Williams are some visionary and giving individuals. I am grateful to know them and to have worked with them. In addition to their regular full time jobs, these charity events require a totally separate full time obligation in order for them to succeed. These guys make it look very easy. I saw much of just what they went through during the event let along before it to help make things run smoothly. It only takes one or a small group to spark a fire for a great cause. Steve and Chuck are a force to be reckoned with.

2) Michelle Bommarito Pona, and Cari Atkinson are warriors above and beyond the call of duty. I can’t even count the amount of things they had their hands into from breakfast, lunch & dinner; to ice, managing logistical snafus, and last but not least dirty stinking laundry in the wee hours of the night after working all damn day! Cari scared us a bit when she suffered some effects from the heat. But she wasn’t going home until the deal was done. I witnessed her arguing with EMS and Jeff Lange as she lay on the floor with ice bags all over her. Even the Sargent (Jeff) couldn’t ‘detain’ her to house arrest. I don’t think I recognized Lynn Coats by face, but she was so instrumental with helping me finalize my silent auction item. Of course there were many more whose name I never learned. But their faces were familiar throughout the process and we all leaned on one another.

3) My teammates (Liebe) were just awesome. Great guys to hang out with who kept it light, fun and competitive. Most of us proved extremely unselfish in being on time for shifts and picking one another up. Some of us needed extra time for rest or to nurse an injury. The support was plentiful as it should have been. The point was to finish strong together and we did just that. Kevin Wheeler was a hitting machine who was really fun to watch. Matt Savoi caught about 100 innings. And lord knows how many innings Todd Hinderliter threw. Through the heat, the midnight/sunrise hours, and the sore muscles, boy was it fun! I had some of the best laughs ever, most of it laughing at ourselves.

4) Speaking of sore muscles, none of us would have made it without the help of our friends from SSM Health Care! They became familiar with me rather quickly. Many of us sought them for Biofreeze as if they were street dealers. “Give me just one more package! I promise not to ask again!” Seriously they took great care of us and were just awesome!

Baseball during 4th of July Fireworks

5) What I will remember about the opposition (Traube) most is that boy did they want to win. After shooting out to a 30-4 lead, the few times we almost caught up they made their minds up to put it out of reach. Sure we had a lot of light and care free innings. But when I got picked off at first at 5 something in the morning I knew what time it was. (LOL) Charity be dammed they wanted to win! That was cool though as they are a great bunch of guys. I don’t recall the catcher’s name but he actually helped me get out of my slump by giving me some suggestions about my approach.

6) Sponsorship was vital. Liebe Lettering and Traube Tents provided great jerseys for both teams. Great tents! We truly thank all of the sponsors who donated time, food, balls, (Markwort) bats, (Area 51) clothing, and so on for lending their name and products. Being pregnant with a vision doesn’t cost a thing birthing it out cost big $$$$$$$!

SSM Healthcare

7) I am so proud of my umpire brethren. Before the basketball game for Joplin, I sent request to every basketball official I knew. Unfortunately, though we had some support, there were plenty of times the guys had to call their own fouls and independently run their games. The umpires commitment was so significant that I don’t recall seeing anything less than a 4 man crew for the entire 60 hours. Even one of my crew chiefs who shall remain unnamed (Greg Willem) paid one of the other umps $5 to ring me up on a bogus strike three call. (100% true story) If that ain’t love I don’t know what is.

8) The BackStoppers family which was the motivation behind this entire event is something special. Chief Ron Battelle is such a gracious and honorable man. He’s one of my favorite kind of guys. He walks softly and carries the proverbial big stick. Not because he flaunts it, but just the opposite. His leadership is founded upon and revealed within his heart to serve. This is why people follow him. Needless to say meeting Officer Matt Crosby, and Julie Weinhold and family brought the issue right at home. It is for them and the 60 other current families being served by BackStoppers that made this all worth doing. For these families whose loved one have given the ultimate sacrifice WE are grateful!

To all I say thank you for everything. I look forward to the next cause…the next act of love!

And lastly, don’t get it twisted. The game is over but we are still taking donations!

June 20, 2012 by bbgcmac

The BackStoppers! A Commitment Worthy of Investing!

Important Update:

On Sunday we had our meet, greet, and practice session for the World Record Baseball for BackStoppers at T.R. Hughes Ball Park. (July, 3 – 5) I got to meet the guys and we discussed what our 60 hour baseball game will look like logistically and otherwise. It’s going to be a great event in of itself. Not to mention the Heritage Festival and 5K run event that will be going on just outside the ballpark during the 4th of July week.

What was most significant however, is that we got to meet some of the people whom BackStoppers assist.

Officer Matt Crosby with Chief Ron Battelle

First there was Matt Crosby. Matt was a police officer in Rock Hill who was shot while investigating a domestic disturbance in 2010. That shooting has left him paralyzed and wheel chair bound. Matt told us about how Chief Ron Battellle (Exec. Dir. of BackStoppers) came to the hospital to present him with a $50,000 check shortly after he was injured. Since the incident BackStoppers has been in lock step with Matt and his family so that he has not had to worry about medical and living expenses..

Second there was Julie Weinhold and her four children. Julie’s husband Officer Eric Weinhold was killed in the line of duty in 2000. The BackStoppers allowed Julie to raise her children at home. This has been such a blessed investment as the two older boys are now in college and the girls thriving in high school. BackStoppers has been so committed to this family, that even after Julie got remarried and her husband was laid off, they continued to assist assuring that their family continues to move forward. This is what I call COMMITMENT to the sacrificed.

As excited as I was to play this game and support this cause, meeting these great people just fired me up all the more. Chief Battelle (a retired 40 year police officer) couldn’t even introduce Matt and Julie without breaking down in tears. Helping these officers and their families is a serious mission for this man. His compassion is contagious and his spirit strong. He told us that there are 56 other cases right now just like Matt and Julie’s that are being supported.

I share this because I want to let you know how much BackStoppers has done for our community. Police, firefighters and EMT workers are vital to our safety and security. To know that there is a community organization that supports those who have made the ultimate sacrifice is heartening.

I noticed something else too by the way. Of all of the players and organizers that I saw on Sunday, I was the only person of color. This is especially significant because BackStoppers does not discriminate against those in need. All who are served within our community should give back and support those who serve us. I have no problem representing my community. I would like to ask those who look like me especially to help contribute to this case by donating something to The BackStoppers for this event. It doesn’t have to be a large amount. (Contact me via email c_mac220@yahoo.com or inbox me if on Facebook)

This is not just about the money either. Personally, I won’t have health insurance until September. Though there will be a medical staff on site, I have already signed the forms to be responsible for my own health risk. My family fully supports this decision as we believe in what we are doing.

After the game, I plan to find out how I can help The BackStoppers in the future.

This is a great organization! Let’s come together and support it!

Julie Weinhold and her children

May 30, 2012 by bbgcmac

Basketball At It’s Finest

I love the game of basketball. It’s a great game; A game of strategy, intelligence, talent, athleticism and teamwork.

I started watching the pro and college games in 1980 when the Showtime Lakers won their first championship Magic Johnson’s rookie year. Though I am a Laker lifer, I’ve always enjoyed watching other good teams play. I remember the Milwaukee Bucks of old with Moncrief and Pressey, the 76ers with Doc, Toney, Moses and Bobby Jones, the Celtics of course and so on. These teams were fun to watch and watching them taught me how the game was played on the highest level.

The resurgence of the NBA was ushered in by the rivalry of the Celtics/Lakers series and of course the duality of Magic and Bird. Basketball came up again and drew many fans from many demographics. The Michael Jordan apex happened at a time when cable TV and the 24 hour sports expansion of media and marketing went to a new level. As great at Jordan was as a player, in so many ways the game itself suffered as many of the upcoming players only focused on Jordan’s individual one on one exploits. They rarely took notice of his all-defensive team selections, or the genius of the Triangle Offense. Those things are affective and essential to winning championships, but the NBA doesn’t market the game this way. They continue to focus on personalities and individual glamourized talent. They want us enamored with LeBron James, but not Tim Duncan. But you see Tim Duncan has four championships, and LeBron has none.

This is what I thought of yesterday as I watched Game 2 of the Western Conference finals between San Antonio and Oklahoma City.

For me the “Triangle,” when executed properly is probably the most poetic and fluent offense that I’ve witnessed. It gives multiple options to each of the five players on the court. But what I saw last night for the first three quarters from the Spurs was nothing short of basketball perfection!

You talk about mastering the pick and roll, spacing, dribble penetration, drawing the defense in, making the extra pass, then making shots to a point of making the game look like an award winning work of art. The Spurs were like an orchestra owning the stage and captivating the audience. I was awed by what I saw.

What Tony Parker did to Russell Westbrook was a crime. It was an execution. Parker basically took Westbrook over his knee and spanked him for thinking he could compete on his level at playoff time. Watching Parker was like watching Pete Sampras and Roger Federer at Wimbledon during their hey-days. If it were a play they would have called it, “Murder at the Alamo!” Westbrook like the basketball child he is, failed to see the irony of what was happening to him and tried to dribble and one on one his way out of his whooping.

By the way… James Hardin is a way better basketball player than Russell Westbrook. I’m just sayin. But I digress!

This is what basketball is up against. TEAMS win championships, but individuals are marketed and packaged to sell the game more than they should be. It’s not like I can’t appreciate the talent LeBron and others have. The problem is that they feel they have to rely on that talent alone to prove their perceived worth to those of us watching as well as those reporting.

I see this as a basketball official. At lower levels a talented individual can definitely win some games for you. But I witness more than I can count the number of teams that I see who can simply pass, shoot, rebound and defend as a unit methodically crucifies the teams with better individual talent.

Look at Spurs coach Greg Popovich; He’s been with the same team his entire career, has won, lost, and now is winning again. Unlike other coaches, his voice has never worn on his star veteran players. I think that speaks volumes for veteran guys like Duncan, Parker and Ginobili. What about the job RC Buford has done with the personnel? They have managed to add Stephen Jackson, and Boris Diaw to a group of savvy veterans and ultimate team players to make this run. It’s amazing. Yet the league will not sell them to the public.

You need not be a rocket scientist to see what is going to happen here. The Heat and the Spurs will be in the Finals. And the Heat, even with the greatness of Wade and the talent of James, don’t have a chance!

I just hope that young people who play this game are paying attention.

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