Message From CWA: Verizon Strike

My mother & her fellow CWA workers at Verizon would like me to get this message out.

Who we are and why we're out here

Thanks for taking the time to read about who we are.

We are the unionized workers of Verizon. We install and maintain both the traditional copper services and the fiber optic network based Fios; and it's associated services, such as high speed Internet & television programming.

This strike is not due to "greedy union workers", as some would lead you to believe, his strike is the result of a multi-billion dollar corporation thumbing it's nose at the workers, who have been productive and instrumental in allowing Verizon to reap and maintain BILLIONS of dollars in profit. We do not work for a cash-strapped municipality or in an industry in need of a government bailout. We work for a company who, even in this economy, has made BILLIONS of dollars in profit.

As a unionized workforce, we have been able to negotiate and fight for decent pay and benefits in exchange for our hard work. It is important that you know we were not given these things, we earned them. We have worked in adverse, and often, dangerous conditions and we have been on strike numerous times.

As our contract with Verizon expired, the unions involved attempted to negotiate, in good faith, as partners in a bargaining and negotiation of a new & fair contract. Verizon, however, felt that the time was ripe and the economy was bad enough to force our hands and REFUSE TO EVEN COME TO THE TABLE AND BARGAIN AS THE CONTRACT EXPIRED. We didn't walk out the door, we were pushed.

Verizon has forced us to fight, so that we can raise our families and pay our bills and taxes with the help of a decent paying job. We hope that you can show us some support, with a fist pump or a wish of good luck. Perhaps you could delay that Verizon Wireless visit until our strike is over, but if not - we understand. If you need a Verizon service call, perhaps you could tell them that you want a unionized worker from your community to perform it. If you don't wish to show your support, we are sorry for any convenience our struggle causes you. If you could show your support for us, it would be greatly appreciated.

CWA

But right now, it's just too many fine ladies out there, to choose one from! I'm trying girls out, just trying girls out!!

This morning, after walking the dog, I watched one of my favorite movies from the 90's, "Higher Learning". If you don't remember or never saw this wonderful movie, it's basically about racial and sexual tension at college during the 90's. I'm not going to go in on an attack on Tyra Banks' horrible performance, I'm going to just say, that when I walked out of the theatre after viewing this, I wanted to hurt a Caucasian, not because I'm racist, but because the movie just enraged me to that exact point. Lets say, during that time period, it was seen as being "Pro-Black" to if not hate, at least, resent White people. Almost every African-American driven film produced during the late 80's and early 90's had a strong "Black people being held down by the Man" view to it. From "School Daze", "Do The Right Thing", "Cry Freedom", "Driving Miss Daisy", and "Mississippi Burning", films during this period made Black people want to hurt White people. I don't really want to get into those types of racism related films, I want to bring up a different type of racism related films, "forbidden love stories". Movies like "Jungle Fever", "Mississippi Masala", "Zebrahead" and "A Bronx Tale", explored the workings and social stigma of interracial relationships. I'd being lying if I didn't say that when I was a younger man, I entertained that oft heard opinion that people of different ethnic backgrounds shouldn't date. But as I've grown older, I've learned how ignorant and idiotic that particular notion is. And that brings me to the point of this blog post.



The other day, I received my copy of "This Christmas", a story of an African American family coming together for Christmas. A main plot device in the film is the acceptance of one of the children's Caucasian wife. It threw me for a loop, this being 2008, the President-Elect being of mixed ethnicity, and interracial couples everywhere. Maybe it's because I live in New York City, where there are so many people, there's a great chance of you being in an interracial relationship. Seriously, I know that racism is far from dead, but hasn't most of America gotten past interracial couples (I mean, we still have the NFL)? It seems idiotic for films to explore this subject, seeing as it is out of most peoples' head. Even in the new millennium, movies still attempted to tackle this non-starter, with "Monster's Ball", crappy films such as "Save the Last Dance", "Something New", "Lakeview Terrace", and "In the Mix". What is Hollywood going to do next, produce a remake of "Aaron Loves Angela", a story of a Black man and a Puerto Rican woman being in a relationship (make it a Dominican, and then they can just record my life)? Is it really possible that a large number of people still have a distaste for interracial dating? That kind of scares me!



I know that when I was younger, if I would've brought a White woman home, my father would have reacted in the way that families reacted in those films in the 90's. But now, I could care less, I'd date a girl of any persuasion. I've been around America and I've seen beautiful women of every race and ethnic background. I understand that there are still, and there will always be, ignorant people, that look down on people because of their race. But honestly, when whats the problem with me dating a White female? And it can be because she is taking a Black man away from a Black female (especially since most Black women don't like me anyway). Is it because, if I had children, my children wouldn't know which race to identify with? It can't be that, especially since our President is multiracial (and my kids will have that kinky mixed kid hair, word to Cree Summer). When I was young and dumb, I didn't fully understand why I thought the way that I did. Maybe it was too many Louis Farrakhan tapes? But as I've grown, I've learned to take people as they are, no matter what race or ethnic background they are. Why has Hollywood not realized that the idea of interracial dating is not taboo at all in this point of time?



Remember the world is Diggie. Even the "Doodlebug" told you this was a Diggie-ble Planet. I'm cool like that!

Now you caught my heart for the evening, kiss my cheeks, moved in, you confused things!

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?uestlove, "Game Theory" & "Things Fall Apart"!

I know a few of my fellow Hip-Hop heads saw ?uestlove and the titles of two albums by The Roots and asssumed this entry would pertain to music, sorry, your mistaken. This entry is more or less about the relationship between men and women(the quest for love, get it!), the courting rituals in modern society("Game Theory"), and the desolution of relationships("Things Fall Apart"). Let me take the time out to say that I couldv'e used Black Thought, "Do You Want More?!!!??!", "Rising Down", "Tipping Point" and even "Phrenology"(I love the idea that the shape of a head can determine characteristics), but I couldn't find anyway to use "Illadelph Halflife", "Organix", or Malik B. Anyway, lets get back to our previously scheduled blog post. First, lets start with "Game Theory", or as my Country Killer Cousin, Ricardo, would say, "that G Force". See, every dude with an ounce of confidence believes that he has this mystical energy known as "game". Throughout history, men have always tried to use some sort of ploy or tactic to impress the fairer sex. In Biblical times, the man with the most sheep or cattle could batter his way into a womans life. In the times of Neanderthals, the man that killed the best and was the strongest, won over the women. Even in the animal kingdom, animals such as lions, show off their mane, peacocks show off thier tails, and so on. But as man became more "civilized", he began to shape his "game". It moved away from the best cattle or the most skilled hunter, and "game" became defined as a mans conversation skills, his understanding of feminine needs, his style, and to some extent, his social status. Even though some may say that I am wrong, I believe that men do most of the things they do to impress women, and upgrade their "game". Men go to gyms and upgrade their physique, buy cars to upgrade their social standing, wear expensive clothing to upgrade their style, and face multiple rejections to upgrade their conversation skills. And its understood that it is the mans job to "pick-up" the woman, and men need "game" to outdo the other men vying for female companionship. So, lets say you go to the club, you notice that hot Puerto Rican female at the bar, you walk over and commence to courting. You make eye contact, you open with anice joke, she laughs, you move into introductions, and then conversation from there. After a while of "Jedi Mindtricks", you leave the bar with a new phone number of a potential significant other or "jump-skeezy". From there, you began to date this Boriqua, investing time(and money, of course, money), and eventually "falling" for her. "Love" has been defined many different ways, from "the rush of endorfins", "the psychological link between two persons", and many other things. But in our scenerio, you have "falling" for this female and succumbed to "love". You two become inseperable, as one, a "couple". But, in time the "love" begans to fade, and just like the title of The Roots' album "Things Fall Apart". I wrote this whole blog, not as an essay, but as a question. What is this love-quest that everybody is on? Why must I extend myself and upgrade myself just to find this undefinable thing called "love"? Why call it "game" and then take the end result of "love" so serious? I don't know, maybe I was just bored tonight and been watching "The Pick Up Artist" on VH1, but I just wanted to write down some things I was thinking.

And ladies, "The force is strong in this one!".

Peace, I mean WAR!

She lives in my lap / forever my fiance / she lives in my lap / don't need no chain!

So, I was having a conversation with a friend of mine about finding romance, love, a relationship, a buddy, whatever term you want to use. My friend told me about going to clubs every weekend, looking for that counterpart to make him whole (so gay). He told me about meeting women in the clubs and then going out on dates with them, only to realize that they weren't compatible. Then he told me about how he met this female online and they started talking online and built a totally non-visual relationship. They planned a face to face meeting, and the relationship that worked without actual relations imploded and died. My brother went speed dating a while ago, so I told my friend about it and he decided to give it a try. He came back to me and told me about his short "dates" with random strangers, which turned up no real winners. So I suggested that he go about this the way our forefathers did, meet a nice girl in church. To make that long horrible story short, he met the "craziest chick in the fucking world" (in his words). He said that she became obsessed with him after two dates and even tried to introduce him as her man. He decided to try the whole internet thing again, and the last I checked, he was going out with this girl he met here on MySpace.com. I hope his search for his counterpart goes well.

Now, to me, I'm not really on the same search as my friend. I'm hoping to meet someone that I could have a good time with. I'm not going to go thru all the speed dating (unless I have a slow Saturday afternoon to burn), the internet hook-ups (unless, one of you ladies reading this can convince me otherwise), blind dates, etc. I'm not an explorative type of person I guess, unlike my friend, I'm waiting for something to fall in my lap. You know, I watch a lot of romantic comedies, and they always bump into somebody and a relationship blossoms (who writes this stuff). I guess I'm waiting for that special girl to bump into me when I'm walking out of the strip club or Applebee's. I don't know if that'll ever happen, but without dreaming we're just sleeping (philosophical, aren't I). But anyway, I met this cute girl at the club on my cuzo Jay's birthday, let's see how that goes. I got a couple prospects from the hood, we'll see if anyone of them makes the draft. And I've been eyeing a couple of my MySpace.com friends, let's see if I have to send them a message. Until it drops in my lap, I guess I'll keep visiting my friends at a little spot in Brooklyn, where I know someone will be in my lap (shout out to my home girl, Paris). And to my female friends, the boy is single and searching, holla at the kid.

Peace, I mean WAR!

Can it be Vanity from Last Dragon?

So, I'm watching "The Last Dragon" last night (if you've never seen it, you should be exiled from civilization), and I'm like, damn, Vanity was (is) fine as hell. The other night I watched "Coming To America", and the love interest in that, Shari Headley, is fine as hell, as well. I watched "A Piece of the Action" (with Bill Cosby and Sidney Poitier) a couple nights ago, and the main actress in that film, Denise Nicholas, was bad as hell too. Then I noticed a connection between all these women, they were all light-skinned. It goes back to slave times, the lighter a woman, the better she was, and that image stuck with Black America well into now (at least, it stuck with me). Be it Salt from Salt-N-Pepa or Sheila E. back in the eighties or Alicia Keys and Beyonce right now, it has always been a light-skinned girl infatuation. Like back in High School, the hottest girl in my school had to be this one light-skinned girl. Or when I was down in Georgia, everybody was looking for that infamous Georgia red-bone. Or trying to hook-up with Dominicans and Puerto Ricans because they were lighter than most Black girls (not me, I hooked up with them for the Arroz con Pollo). Dudes would stand on the corner watching females pass, looking for that light, bright & right (L.B.R.'s, that's copy written), that red-bone, that high-yellow girl, that transparent girl, that almost white girl, any female lighter than the palms of their hands. And even though I would consider myself one of those dudes, I've never really dated a light-skinned girl (gave the bidnezz, not dated). Maybe, it's true what they say about men wanting to be with a woman like their mother, cause my mother is a light shade of mellow-yellow. And it's hilarious to me that the shade of brothers goes in and out of style as well. Men will say things like, "light-skinned brothers aren't in style, anymore", "Morris Chestnut is bringing dark-skinned brothers back", or whatever pigment bias lines brothers got. Me, I've never felt like I was light-skinned or dark-skinned (word to them mid-way, caramel brothers), so I never knew if my skin tone was in or out. I just find it kind of sad that beauty is graded with paint samples and brown bags. Some say "the blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice" (from experience, not always true), some think that the closer to white, the better looking a person is. I'm just maturing and starting to figure out that we're all people, no matter the amount of Melanin in our skin. I don't care where your skin tone falls on the color wheel, if you're cool, then we're cool (and shawty, I'd most likely give you the bidnezz). A mate is defined as a counterpart, so don't pass up that person because of their skin tone, he or she might be your "true definition" (like how I brought the title into play, impeccable wordsmith that I am). Anyway, to the entire light-skinned, caramel, dark-skinned, white, Hispanic, Asian, etc, women that read this, I love all of you.

Happy Valentines Day!!!!!!!!

Peace, I mean WAR!

I think I'm in love again! You are the prototype!

I've been searching for a while for something, I don't know what it is, but I've been searching. It's hard to find what you're looking for if you don't know what your looking for. A couple years ago I thought I found this amazing thing called love (don't let that get out and ruin my gangsta rep), but I realized it was just familiarity. I met this girl and after months of hanging out, I thought I was in love. After a while of being a sucker duck (like Nas and Jay-Z), I regained my composure and got back to my "fuck you" state, where I've been since. Then I tried to move out of that state, I went out with some chick from Georgia and it was going good, but I received a collect call from my "fuck you" state and I accepted charges. So I moved on, and went back into that suspended animation. Then I came back up top to New York and I met a couple females that were inviting, but that "fuck you" state of mind reared its head every time. Then I met this girl from New Jersey and we went out a couple times and I decided to lower my defenses (like Bush in Iraq), and that opened the flood gates. The insurgents attacked my senses and I tried to make this happen. I did all the things a good dude would and you all know the saying "good guys finish last" (I still ain't finish that race). So you know what happened next, I move back to my "fuck you" state. I frequented strip clubs to gain a false sense of closeness, I engaged in meaningless tryst to keep from letting my defenses down again. I met a female from Brooklyn, and I maintained the "fuck you" state of mind and pulled out before the bodies started dropping (Bush should learn). And right now I'm at the border of my "fuck you" state looking out at my boy that just got married and my other boy just had a kid, and where am I at. I still have a gang of my closest friend as my neighbors in our "fuck you" state, but I think it's time for a road trip out of this state. I don't know yet if love truly exists, but I'm willing to do the research now. I hope that is what I've been searching for, because if it isn't and I get stuck in a relationship, I'm going to hate myself. And my brother will probably make me the butt if his jokes. And if your a female and you're reading this, you can sign up to be a subject in my experiments, just e-mail me.

Peace, I mean WAR!

Lowered Expectations

Is it just me, but does everyone in the world look for unattainable, crazy goals in their lives. I'm not talking about having a mansion, a luxury automobile, or a yacht, those are very attainable (just ask P Diddy). The unattainable goals I'm talking about is the perfect mate, the perfect family, you know anything perfect. To be human is to err, so how can anybody expect anybody else to be perfect. Everybody has a fault, and I mean everybody. For instance, take Beyonce, a lot of men consider her perfect, but I used to work in the airport, screening bags, and her panties had tread marks in them. Take your family for example, I'm sure there is a drunken uncle somewhere or an insane aunt up your family tree. So I've embraced my family being a little left of the sanity meter, hell, I am. I've embrace the fact that Alicia Keys probably has some beat up ass toes or something. I've stopped shooting for perfect, but unlike most of my friends (they shoot for easy) I'm shooting for damn near close to perfect. I'm dead sexy and I can never settle for a girl that ain't as sexy as the God!

P.S. : Beyonce, its all good, I had streaks in my drawers before. I still love you baby!

Peace, I mean WAR!