Apparently the nature of the relationship between LeBron James and his mother is vastly different than that of my relationship with my mom.

In Monday’s game against the Celtics, LeBron’s mom jumped up - maybe to defend for 6′ 8″ baby during a wrap up with Paul Pierce. I don’t begrude her that, I bet a lot of mom’s may have instinctively done the same. Kevin Garnett was kind enough to assure her that no harm would come to her child.

What is a problem (or at least would be in my family) is how LeBron reacted. He told his mother - yes, I said mother, to “Sit your A** down”.

Huh?

Say that? To my mother? Even under my breath, as a grown woman?

Not in this, the next or any future lifetimes. I guess the nature of their relationship (or friendship) really is just a bit different than what I’m used to.

As some of you may know, I’m an aspiring writer. My genre - hold on to your weaves and wave caps - is science fiction/fantasy. I know that some of us have no place in their lives for whatever isn’t “keeping it real“, but I’d argue that science fiction may be the true mother of invention.

That cell phone you like? Those doors that automatically slide open on your approach? Talking computers? Thank 2001: A Space Odyssey and Star Trek.

Anyway, my purpose is not to convince you of the virtues of embracing the speculative, the unexplained and the wonderful possibilities of the future. That should be a nobrainer. Inventions and advancement come from people who can imagine the previously unimagined. Would you really want to live in a world where today’s reality is the only thing you will ever have? Luckily, the Black science fiction community (readers, writers and enthusiasts) is much larger than I originally thought. Check us out over at the Carl Brandon Society , SciFiNoir , and the Black Science Fiction Society.

I’ve always been an avid reader of just about anything I could get my hands on. As a child, I even started my own library (nobody actually checked out any of my books though), but not until a couple years ago did I discover that I wanted to write.

I’d gotten compliments from friends and professors and inspired by my favorite sci-fi author, Octavia Butler’s, thought - I can do this. She wrote strong Black characters in a time before it should have been possible. So many others have followed in the path, there are too many to mention - maybe I’ll do a post on them all, but for now, check out my friends: Dr. Nnedi Okorafor Mbachu, Carole McDonnell and Charles Saunders.

With some urging (ok, hard pushing) from my significant other, I picked up a copy of Orson Scott Card’s book: Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy and the rest is history.

Only my history hasn’t exactly begun yet. I’ve written one novel, two short stories and have the beginnings of an outline on my next novel, actually a trilogy, but so far no bites from publishers. Submitting my stories to critiquing groups and publishers has been a challenge. It seems that writing characters of color isn’t all that well received in some circles. I’ve even received a comment to make one of my characters “more Black“. What that means to me is probably some white male exaggerated perception of what it means to act and be a Black man. Sigh.

Will I give up? Not a chance. Would I like success in the realm of the Stephen Kings of the world - of course, but it won’t define me. I love writing, just for the sake of doing it - it’s something nobody can take away from me.

My words will always be mine and if just a few people feel me, then I’m cool.

We have a tendency in this country to glorify our athletes and movie stars. I could debate about the reasons for this strange phenomenon, but that’s not the purpose of this post.

Thanks to Gina over at What About Our Daughters for tipping my hat to this one. Apparently, recent Buffalo Bills draft pick Demetrius Bell is the son of none other than former Utah Jazz forward Karl Malone. The problem you see if that Karl was 19 or 20 when he fathered Demetrius with his 12 or 13 year old mother Gloria. You can pretty much imagine how the rest of the story goes but suffice it to say Demetrius didn’t meet Karl until very recently.

Check out the story, reported at AOL Sports.

It seems that Karl has a history of this type of behavior. If you recall, he also didn’t acknowledge his twin children until they were grown as well.

Like Gina, I’m sickened that mainstream media hasn’t latched on to this story, but I suppose that’s because it involves Black women - and we know how they feel about us.

I feel compelled to talk about the election, about the Democratic nomination and about Rev. Wright. So I will, and then again, I won’t.

See, all i want to say is that I’m sick of it all. I’m tired of the political process and it seems anyone with an ounce of intelligence would feel the same. Does this whole thing not seem as ludicrous to you as it does to me?

I’m sure the practice of redirecting focus from real to non-issues has been part of politics since the beginning - in truth this is an affliction that affects people in general. We’re much more likely to rant and rave over immaterial, inconsequential things than we are to spend a quarter of that time addressing a real issue in our lives that needs resolution.

I don’t think we need another debate, nor do I want to hear any move about Rev. Wright. If at some point in the near future, the candidates (and their interviewers) seriously debate (without silly distractions) - in depth, their plans for healthcare, education reform, prison reform, foreign policy and taxes, give me a call.

Until then, bring on the NBA Finals.

Go Cavs!

I generally don’t blog about entertainment or entertainers, but this week, a change is called for. So, our friend Wesley Snipes is headed to lockdown.

There have been a string of Black entertainers thrown in jail recently - Wesley, Sean LeVert, Ron Isley, all for what I consider questionable reasons. You see, this post isn’t so much about them as it is about the American prison system.

I recently read an article expounding on what most of us already know - America has more people in jail than any other country. China, for instance has a population of over 1 billion people and has 1.6 million in prison. America has only a quarter of the population, yet almost double (2.3 million) the prison population. Why is that you ask?

The answer is complicated. Do we commit more violent crimes? Maybe. Do we just have more degenerate or felonious people? That could be argued too. But I think a major contributor is the nature of the crimes that we imprison people for. You see, Sean, who unfortunately died in prison, was there for failure to pay child support. Ron and Wesley, for failure to pay taxes. Our jails are also filled with drug addicts, bad check writers, etc. These are all offenses which many other countries don’t garner a prison sentence.

Let’s not get it twisted either, am I a proponent of not paying child support - duh, no. Nor do I feel good about the government sticking me up for outrageous taxes, but I pay them. The point is, nobody is arguing the validity of the crimes, just the punishment.

Was the mother of Sean’s children going to get her money any sooner with him being in prison? Are drug addicts helped in any shape form or fashion by being thrown in jail? Doubt it, from what I hear, drugs are even more plentiful there. I think treatment is a better option. Taxes? Fines yes, garnishments, maybe even a seizure of property, but jail - I don’t think so. Where’s the benefit in that? Same thing could go for failure to pay parking tickets.

There are people in our society who have to be jailed, no argument there. I also think we need to focus more on rehabilitation for those that are there (will save that for another post), but I believe society would be better served (the multi-billion dollar prison system wouldn’t agree with me though) by finding alternate punishment for certain crimes. Our nations should be ashamed of having the honor of largest incarcerator in the world, and I think not jailing for these types of crimes is one way to remedy that.

Your thoughts?

Yes, this post is a week after the viewing, but between work and other commitments, it’s been a busy week. To begin, I really enjoyed the documentary. I think it should be required viewing in schools throughout the country.

Though it would be difficult for me to have the same type of dialogue with my a descendant of my ancestor’s owners, I could appreciate why Mr. Wilson decided to do so. I think the outcome was powerful - the dialogue between the two was honest and open, you could almost feel the racial barriers falling away. I think they’re both better for it and Mr. Wilson’s subsequent trip to Ghana was just icing on the cake.

A couple of things disturbed me. First, it was the repeat of the test where young Black children are presented with Black and white dolls and asked a series of questions. Essentially, things like, which is bad, which is pretty - you get the idea. It’s no surprise that decades after the first study was done, the results were the same. The Black children consistently saw us as bad, ugly losers - no wonder we’re plagued by self hatred and the violence that comes with it. I’m not the type of girl given to fits of crying, but I admit I fought back tears. In talking with friends, I’ve often heard the comments: Well, you know how we are or what about You know what happens when Black folks get involved, or what about the ever popular, You know we don’t know how to act.

We say these types of things (and much worse) to each other - repeatedly, obviously with our children within earshot. Wonder how these kids have developed such negative attitudes toward their own? It’s us!

The next thing that got under my skin was the impression the older kids expressed about Africa. Again, I shouldn’t be surprised. America has done a mind job on us and we’ve bought in hook line and sinker. I meet and hear far too many African American adults speak the same rubbish - poverty, crime, AIDS and yes - that the people are ugly. Some of us still believe it and refuse to take the few steps necessary to find out what’s going on in the continent for ourselves. Yes, Africa (like many parts of the world) has some extremely poverty stricken areas. Yes, they have crime and yes, AIDS is an issue - but haven’t you heard these same issues right here at home? It’s also high time we let go of the slave mentality and embrace all shades of our beauty - it’s incredibly ignorant not to. I understand the ramifications of being the minority and having to be bombarded with images that are counter to what your own beauty looks like, but we aren’t drones, we can think for ourselves and need to start exercising that right.

Finally, I was disappointed to see the usual cast of characters on the stage for the subsequent discussion. I also think it was a slight to invite a professor for another university and not to have one from the college that hosted the event. I believe the dialogue that Mr. Wilson wanted involves parties from both sides of the fence. Somehow, the white people that were involved all had the same viewpoint as the Black panelists. I think we all would have been better served if everyday people were included on the panel - people with opposing viewpoints. That’s the discussion that needs to happen, not the usually litany of anecdotes about slavery and the ramifications. I fully understand that we need to understand and embrace history, so that we can examine the cause and affect relationships between the institution and our behavior today - but if the discussion ends there, so does any potential for advancement.

If you watched the documentary, what were your thoughts?

Members of the Black Blogsphere are coming together today to bring focus to an issue affecting our brothers and sisters in Darfur. Reposting from The Electronic Village below:

Participating as part of the In Solidarity: Global Day for Darfur called by Modern Musings and supported by All About Race, A Political Season, Black and Missing But Not Forgotten, BlackPerspective.net, Black Women Blow The Trumpet, Black Women Vote, CEO Mum, Darfur: An Unforgivable Hell on Earth, Eddie G. Griffin, Electronic Village, Mrs. Grapevine, Musings of the Night, My African Diaspora, Opinionated Black Woman, Regina’s Family Seasons, Slant Truth, Sojourner’s Place, Take Political Action, The Jose Vilson, The Unapologetic Mexican, Trav’s Thoughts, UltraViolet Underground, Vanessa Unplugged and others.

Take your time and browse through the eight (8) links below. I encourage you to share a link with this post on your blog even if you aren’t participating in the blogblast today. We need to ensure that this genocide does not continue on our watch!

1. The Current Situation
2. What Needs to Be Done
3. Crisis Group Analysis
4. Current Information on the Humanitarian Situation
5. News & Other Reporting
6. International and Local NGOs Working on Darfur
7. Important Documents
8. What You Can Do

I’m troubled by something going on the NFL - in truth, it’s happening in society at large, but I’m hearing far too much of it from the particularly small group of men.

Just in the last 2 years, 3 Pittsburgh Steelers - all Black men, have been charged with domestic violence (Santonio Holmes, James Harrison and Cedric Wilson). Check out an article here. Now, even though charges were dropped in Santonio’s case, both he and James Harrison are still on the team. Cedric Wilson, not a starter, was summarily dropped. Team owner Rooney says Harrison was “trying to do a good thing, taking his son to be baptized.” So apparently, something went wrong in the hand-off and Harrison was justified in roughing up his child’s mother? It’s this mentality and lack of accountability that continues to foster acceptance of this behavior.

It’s hard to imagine anything more punkish than a football player beating up on a woman. I only wish that more women could react like the woman that William Green (former Cleveland Brown) attacked, she grabbed a knife and took care of business.

The question is, what gives? Am I paranoid or are far too many of our brothas extremely pissed off at us for some reason? Do these men feel so powerless in their outside lives that the only way they can exert some level of control and regain some semblance (in their sick little minds) of that power is through going after someone they KNOW can’t fight back?

Yes, there is always 2 sides to a story. Sometimes we push, I’ve heard stories of women becoming physical - throwing things, hitting, etc. For the record, I don’t condone women hitting men either, and if you do, you’d better be prepared for the repercussions. Some men can walk away from you, but as we’ve seen, quite a few won’t and have no problem finishing what you started.

For my male readers, what is missing in a man’s life that makes him think having power over his woman will make up for it?

Today marks the sad anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King. We’ve made some advances, but we still have so far to go. I’d ask us all to consider today what we can do to help Dr. King’s dream come to fruition - no blaming, no whining, just action.

Figure out what you can do and simply do it.

Yes, I’ve been away for a bit, but was in the middle of a move. I’m happy to report that I’m mostly settled in now and back in business.

I came across a documentary that I want to share with you all. It’s about an African American man who goes on a quest to find his African roots and trace the history of race in America. Thanks to Izzy for bringing this to my attention.

The documentary will air on MSNBC on April 11th. Tune in and post your comments and thoughts.

Here’s a brief excerpt:

David Wilson, a 28-year-old African-American journalist, journeys into his family’s past to find answers to America’s racial divide. Along the way he meets another David Wilson, the descendant of his family’s slave master. This discovery leads to a momentous encounter between these two men of the same name but whose ancestors were on the opposite sides of freedom. Through DNA testing, David determines his African roots and returns to his native land. Click here to check out the website.