"DMX" and "Church" In The Same Sentence??

Have you ever made a change in your life that was so drastic, so far out there, that the only person who understood why you did it was... you? Ever know anyone who did something like that?

If you listen to rap, then you definitely know someone who did. His name is...

D - M - X!!!

That's right. DMX, also known as Earl Simmons, also the rapper of classic hits such as this, has taken a turn in his life. See, DMX has widely been known to not only have some anger management issues, but he is also known to be a person who is a little too familiar with the internal workings of the incarceration system. In the past, he's been arrested on gun charges, violence charges of many kinds, animal charges, drug charges, etc. On top of that, his music was the epitome of what people either loved or hated passionately, in terms of rap music. Lots of killing, lots of bitches, lots of gay bashing, and lots of bling. That is what he was, and he seemed comfortable with it...

Or was he?

His music also had elements of wrestling with his inner demons and questioning his life in the eyes of God. He didn't do that much... but it was almost a requirement that he'd have at least one track per album about God, then follow it up with the music that he's REALLY known for.

So with that said, DMX is catching a little flack for making a change. See, this past weekend, DMX was scheduled to throw a fundraiser. He was scheduled to throw it in a high school. The money would be used for repairs on a church. And he's doing it for free. (If you went, you'd have to pay $35-40, so it's not free to you). The money raised from the concert would be used to do repairs on the church. And the kicker... he doesn't swear anymore.

Not even a little bit.

So no songs with lyrics like:

What the fuck you gonna do
When we run up on you?

Fuckin with the wrong crew, don't know what we gonna do

I'ma have to show niggas how easily we blow niggas

When you find out there's some more niggas

That's running with your niggas

And that really sucks that the people didn't hear that. If he didn't swear, I'm not sure I would've went. If you paid that kind of money, you'd have to be a really big fan of DMX, or a really big fan of that church. I'm not sure of what the turnout was for the concert. Since I'm neither one, I'm not sure I would've went if I had the money, the time, and lived right next door to the church.

But back to the subject. He's getting some heat for the concert. The man who turns swearing, violence, and acting like he lost his damn mind into an art form... has straightened out? And he's trying to do something to benefit someone else? And he can stay out of jail long enough to do it?

Is it really fair for people like me to let him have it? I mean the one we've come to know and adore is gone and replaced with... someone else. And we don't recognize him, and we're not sure if we really want anything to do with him. Granted, it's pretty sweet that he's doing something that seems good on the surface for something other than to sell records (from what we can tell anyway). But still... he's ryde or die! What ya'll niggas want?!?!

**Update**

The concert was actually cancelled, not by DMX, but by the high school. Apparently when the word got out that DMX was heavily involved, the school wanted nothing to do with him, despite his advertised change of ways. Even with the cancellation, he doesn't appear to be the same person that we knew, which has still thrown some people off.

So sound off on this one and help me out. What do you think?

White Girls Can't Step

White girls can't step. It's that simple.

Or can they?

Hmmmm...

As a matter of fact, who knew that white girls knew was stepping is? And who knew that a white step team could beat a black sorority at their own stepping competition?

And who knew that the black community would be PISSED about a bunch of white girls coming in and winning a competition founded by black fraternities and sororities, and pretty much kept within that realm?

Lost yet? Here's the short version of what happened. Zeta Tau Alpha (or Zeta), a white sorority, entered itself into a step competition against two black sororities. Zeta won with the routine seen in the link below (I don't know how to insert the video in a blog yet, so be patient with me). Because they won, a lot of people are trying to figure out how in the hell it could've happened and what it all means. Did they win, because of special treatment as the novelty white team? Did the judges cheat? Or were they just better? Or is a white step team winning a black competition a step toward equality, in the same sense that a black person winning a white game is a step in the same direction? Hmmmm... (as a sidenote, there was so much noise about the white girls winning, that a black team was named as a co-winner after the fact.)

White Girls Stepping

Theories abound, but this has become a pretty big deal in some parts. There is a long history of black culture being stripped by white people, then exploited for some kind of gain. It's happened quite regularly in music, language, clothing, and demeanor. Stepping seemed like it was something that could not be taken by white people for any reason... and what do you know... there it is. Zetas in the house.

The interesting thing about this is that black people are now at the other end of the table. There was a day in time when black people were denied first-class citizenship. And when we finally were allowed to sit at the table with whites, our abilities were analyzed under a microscope and questioned beyond reason. Do they really deserve to be there? That's not fair that they can do that, now is it? Now the Zeta team is under that same microscope with the black community doing the observing. Should they really be doing this? How the hell is it right for them to even compete, let alone win? It's just not fair!

I have mixed feelings on this, mostly having to do with the historical context and what it means now. But I'm curious... what do you think about this the concept of the exploitation of black culture in general, and the white girls beating the black sorority at their own game in particular?

Show Some F*cking Initiative!

One thing that bothers me is ideas without action. It's great to have a fantastic idea, but it doesn't mean a whole lot if you don't turn that idea into something. This concept, at least for me, generates into an ideal of personal responsibility. Here's what I mean. Take the state of health for example. People are bitching about health care, and most of the bitching isn't productive. It's bitching just so our elected officials can get their neatly groomed faces on camera. No one has really said anything about how little we take care of ourselves has impacted the cost anyway. Idea into action, while acknowledging that healthcare really is a flawed system, would move past this bitching and do whatever you can to make things better... maybe start some kind of movement for people to take better care of themselves, which would be an alternate route to driving down some of the costs. Now some people are better at educating people to take action. Some people prefer the action themselves. But bitching just to bitch gets on my nerves.

This is why an article on CNN.com damn near brought tears to my eyes. One of the things that people bitch about is education in general, and literacy in particular. We complain about how messed up education is, from the financing to testing systems, but we really don't do a whole lot... other than bitch. But is there anything that we could do to at least make some kind of improvements, even if it's in our own little sector? Absolutely. Just ask Luis Soriano.

Soriano is a teacher in Columbia. Being a part of the system himself, he is accutely aware of the problems with kids getting their educations. Some live so far away from a school, they either go irregularly, or they don't go at all. Even if they did manage to go to school, they still didn't have access to books to further help their reading. So literacy has become a growing problem. Is this a problem that could be taken care of by the local government if resources were plentiful? Yes. Is this a problem that a person who believes that some hands-on action born from a good idea could have an impact? Hell yeah.

So what did he do? He bought two donkeys, strapped some books to their backs, rides into town once a week, and acts as a library in poor areas.

That's right. The Biblioburro came to fruition.

Though it's not a solution that will solve the problem for that entire region, he is making a HUGE impact on these kids, who may then make an impact on others and so on. That is f*cking awesome.

THAT is how you do it. See a problem. Stop the bitching and think broadly about a solution. Act on it.

Congress should take some notes from this guy. As a matter of fact, a lot of people I know and don't know should take some notes. Bitching just to hear your own voice might make you feel better for a second, but it doesn't get you anywhere. When you bitch and bitch and bitch, you close yourself off to being open to other ideas that may help on a macro level. But when you shut up, take a few minutes to digest it and realize that there is a solution to everything, you may inspire yourself or others to conjure up something positive on the micro level, which could grow into something bigger.

And when you bitch (not you, but "you" in general), take a minute to ask yourself what the real problem is, and what you can personally do to fix it. Once you take some f*cking initiative, instead of waiting for someone else to do it for you, it'll go a long way. You'll realize that the next day when you have one less thing to bitch about.

The Art Of The Apology

I was watching the news this morning... I'm not sure which morning show it was. And the show had an image consultant. He was talking about the image repair that Tiger Woods is going to have to do. Now it's pretty much agreed that the Tiger we used to "know" is dead and buried. He's no longer the clean-cut American boy we loved. Now, he's a scruffy, smutty little man who can't keep it in his pants. And while this image is somewhat enjoyable to some, it won't continue to get him paid. Just ask Gatorade, Tag Heuer, and Accenture. Tiger's lost a lot of money, and I'm sure he wants to get it back. That may be part of the reason he's getting ready to come back with a warm-up tournament right before the Masters. And that may also be why he has hired an image consultant... to help him regain, at least in part, the money-making face and lifestyle that he lost in the pile of random panties sitting next to his wife's bed.

During the interview, the consultant spent most of the time disputing the statement that a person made regarding apologies. The person said something along the lines of, "if you need a consultant to apologize, just skip the apology and go straight to the course. You shouldn't have to prepare an apology, so just get back to work and forget about putting on your sorry face." The person then started referencing the latest slew of apology ceremonies from Gov. Sanford to Eliot Spitzer to John Edwards and going back to Kobe and Hugh Grant. They had image consultants that prepared them in every way, shape and form. They set up the stage to apologize, what they wore, what to say, when to change their facial expressions, where and how to stand, who should be around them and where they should be standing, etc. All the preparation going into the apology takes the sincerity out of the apology, if there ever was any in the first place (which begs the age-old question - are they sorry they did it, or sorry they got caught... but that's not the point).

The image consultant vehemently disagreed with this statement. He said that celebrities are just like anyone else... they make big mistakes. But because they are celebrities, they are scrutinized at a higher level, which makes showing how they truly feel even more important. The image consultants supposedly respond to the wishes of the celebrity in need, and help them to project that image while they are trying to regain and retain their celebrity status - a balancing act that normal people don't have to worry about.

I tend to agree with this person who had the criticism for the image consultant. It's insane that the apology has become big business within the last ten or twenty years. If it wasn't for celebrities f*cking up in the public eye, that image consultant wouldn't have a job, which, to me, is why he disagreed so much. An apology should be something sincere. You shouldn't have a prep course and a team of consultants prepare your apology. Just get it out of the way as soon as possible in your own damn way, then get on with your life. People are generally smart enough to read through the bullsh*t sat in front of us through the apology.

And as a matter of fact, the ONLY person who they should be apologizing to are the people they screwed over. None of the celebrities owe us anything. It doesn't matter if we pay their bills. We'll keep paying their bills if they get back to work and act like they have some sense. So we should stop acting like we're entitled to an apology. The only people they should be apologizing to is their wives, kids, family, and friends. Tiger Woods doesn't owe me a damn thing, so I won't even tune in to see what he has to say.

But I should stop fronting. Seriously. Because I had a discussion with my image consultant too. He told me that I need to apologize for all the wrongs I've committed in the blogging world. So here goes. And don't get your tears on my apology tuxedo.

- I'm sorry that I don't like putting my own pictures on my website. I figure that the pictures that make me laugh and smile are better than any mugshot-style pictures I have taken.

- I'm sorry that I unknowingly blog-jacked Michelle and used it for my own gain. I hope that she can find it in her heart to one day forgive my sincere, prepared apology.

- I'm sorry that I occasionally block out the swear words. When I blog during the day, I do it from my work computer. I'm not sure what the policy is on emailing and blogging with a potty mouth, but I'm pretty sure that it won't help me get a raise anytime soon.

- I'm sorry that I don't care for the internet political debates for people on the far right OR the far left. Yes, I do have an opinion as a left-leaning independent, as you know. However, it just bugs the sh*t out of me that both sides act like their side has the only damn solution to the ills of the country. The inability to listen to the other side and digest what they're saying, let alone the ability to compromise, are part of the problem on the micro and macro level, and I choose not to get into it... most of the time.

- I'm sorry that I like to read more than one type of blog page, which has created problems... as people I have "friended" have beef with each other. If it makes you feel better, I'll have no problem deleting you off of my page, so that everyone can be happy.

- I'm sorry that I'm running out of things to apologize for.

I hope that you'll forgive me for my blogging wrongs. Please continue to read my blogs while I revamp my image while trying to abstain from committing those blogging wrongs, starting...... soon.