What Does It Means To Be Gay?

Gay is simply another census category. It’s a way for society to further classify its populace, in an age when information in all it’s detail rule. We live in a society where the more we know about an individual’s private life the better. We are slowly relinquishing our civil and personal liberties, i.e. right to privacy. People are very open with their personal lives nowadays. That’s the difference between then and now. Before, we kept these kinds of things in the closet, not because they weren’t accepted – each fetish, addiction, and so-called perversion has always had its social circles and outlets- but because we are human and understood that everything had its place. These kinds of things could run amuck if uncontrolled.
We each experience desires that society at some point or the other has stigmatized as unacceptable and abnormal. This was done because we are primarily driven by our emotions rather than our minds – it was societies way of checks and balances. Though our minds create the experiences for us, we allow ourselves to get swept away in our emotions. Thus we render ourselves prisoners to a world based on reaction and response, rather than creation and evolution. We look at creation and evolution as sciences to be studied rather than experiences to be lived.
So today, we allow our closet desires to define us. I am mostly disturbed and offended with the fact that it has become socially acceptable for a group of people to be identified by their sexual orientation, and for this distinction to be socially identified by the corruption of civil and equal rights laws hard fought for by blacks and women during the Civil Rights Movement and the Women’s Movement (E.R.A.). The social liberties that our ancestors worked so hard to ensure for future generations have been misused through the flexibility of society’s laws.
Gay is an upper class fantasy. Thus the ease with which the homosexual phenomena has been integrated into society. It saddens me that the rest of society, especially blacks, has endorsed this trend. I like how older societies, suck as the Victorians, French and Romans, handled homosexuality. It wasn’t cast in the corner, for there are numerous plays and literature (see Shakespeare, O. Wilde) that exhibit the influence of homosexuality in these cultures. But it was primarily an elitist indulgence, with the occasional corruption of a lower class youth.
Gay is not heredity. It’s a mental state, where we allow our lives to be controlled by a fantasy. This fantasy becomes the fabric/foundation of our lives, around which we weave the story in which we are happy, euphoric. Yet, if there is to be happiness there has to be despair. Thus are created the tragedies of the gay experience.

Why South Florida Doesn't Love It's MARLINS?

How much games was it exactly? Let's be generous and say, "What if these 2006 - lowest payroll in baseball, team full of the most rookies ever on a major league roster, with a gutsy, young manager who never skippered on any level of baseball - Florida Marlins had won ten (10) more games?" Answer - They would be battling in the playoffs right now and possibly challenging for a third World Series Championship, primarily because of their three (3) major strengths: 1) a strong and steady line-up, 2) consistent and dependable pitching, and 3) one hell of a NYC trained manager.
Seriously! Let's look at the 2006 playoff teams as they stand right now. The Yankees and Twins are out. Oakland and Detroit are good teams but beatable. Who doesn't believe that the World Series Champs are coming out of the National League (NL) this year? Yet, the front-runners in the NL - the Mets and the Cardinals - have major deficiencies that throw monkey wrenches in their championship hopes. Both teams have injuries to key players and suspect pitching rosters not up-to-par for a playoff chase, i.e. injured starters and suspect bullpens. The Marlins pitching roster was prime for playoff domination, considering their five (5) strong starters. So, why are the Marlins home teeing off, while some lucky team is going to win their World Series?
Baseball pundits could blame management for not supporting it's hand-picked manager and just let him manage the team and they administrate - like government, there must be some separation of power on and off the field - or management's inability to go out and trade for some pitching support in preparation for the stretch run - showing that their cheap azzes gave up on the season before it was even over.
Management could bitch about not getting a new stadium deal, lack of local government support, and an over-achieving team - all the while patting themselves on the back for reducing expenses and so masterfully putting together such a promising young roster, that set numerous major league records.
Yet, the real problem lies with the fickle sports fans in South Florida. I am a New Yorker of over 20 years. I grew up watching the Yankees but loving the Mets. Here lies one of the major issues with fans in South Florida! We are New Yorkers aplenty or from Chicago or Boston. So those of us who really love baseball, root for other teams and we have yet to completely embrace the Marlins as OUR team. Even myself, who now regularly root for the Marlins as my hometown team, used to root for the Mets when they came to town. Now, I'm teal all the way! I believed in this years Marlins. I watched Spring Training. I knew that Joe Giradi would get these guys to play competitive baseball as the season progressed.
The Marlins of 2006 did not disappoint, as a team. Everyone ruled them out. Everyone forgot how weak the so-called competitive teams in the NL truly are. The Mets bought a team, trying to build a dynasty - like the Yankees - on the back of used-to-be the best players. But this is it for them - 2006 or never. I love Willie Randolph but Omar Mineya is gonna f-ck things up in Queens by bringing in any and every body Latin. (note: The Marlins will sadly regress in 2007 for making the same mistake by choosing Freddie Gonzalez over Giradi. Yes-men don't win championships and there's only one George in baseball.) Besides, there's only one Ozzie Guillen and he's putting his foot in his mouth constantly. Poor guy because I like Ozzie - he has love for the game.
The Cardinals and Tony LaRussa are chokers come playoffs. Nuff said! Houston is caught up in burn-out and steroid controversy - two things that can destroy team chemistry come playoffs. Philly is the only other team worth mentioning and their pitching is suspect. Although, I believe its between them and the Marlins who have the potential to dominate the NL for the next 3-5 years, if managed correctly.
But, back to the subject of fan support in South Florida. If the major fan base is not rooting for the Marlins, what of the others? Well that's the thing. One would think that with such a large Latin population, South Florida would be ideal for baseball. Latins account for 25% of major league players, yet they fail to support the Marlins - and I'm not even calling out the richies. I'm calling out the working class because it is them who support sport franchises. The fresh cut grass, pretzels, hotdogs, beer, roaring fans, the vibration from their stomping feet , the seventh inning stretch, the home-run, the first pitch and the last out. These experiences bring families and friends to the games! Its the experience of the smells, sights and sounds that stimulate the senses.
Yes, we South Florida fans are disappointing. Imagine how more fan support during the season could have accounted for 10 extra wins, a playoff spot and another World Series appearance. Imagine the possibilities, if this team of youngsters had a stadium full of cheering fans through 10 close games. Maybe that extra hit or out would have gone in the Marlins favor.
A lot of maybes and what ifs but still no fans at the games. Me included.

UM-FIU: Another Thug Story or Big Kids at Play?

According to the Miami Herald (Oct. 17, 2006), "the UM-FIU game Saturday was billed as a 'Salute to Florida High School Football'". No one, however, would predict the intensity of youthful emotions and pride backed by hulking, physical tuned bodies that erupted into a fullout backyard brawl. Yeah, there are those of us, who initially had WWF flashbacks and automatically started rooting for Hulk Hogan or Sgt. Slaughter, both characters we love to root for but what happens when they go up against one another. What side do you choose?
Most people, including UM Pres. Donna Shalala and Coach Coker, chose UM when in this case there was no choice to be made. Both team, players and coaches, plus the referees of the game were at fault for letting a skirmish escalate into the cage match we witnessed on national TV. There are those individuals who blame the kids, opps...I mean thugs playing the game. Kids being the optimal word. People forget that on any given Saturday during college football season, 100+ teenagers and young adults take a field to pummel each other in the name of sport and entertainment. Our modern day Roman Gladiators, in training. How is it that no one is blaming the adult responsible for educating and training the youngsters in the sports of football and LIFE? Where were the coaches and assistant coaches getting in the middle of this fracas and controlling the out of control emotions of their players? Where was Larry Coker hanging off of Brandon Meriweather's leg while he was busy stomping an FIU player? And what the hell are referees for if not to control the game and prevent this kind of situation from developing?
Simply put! The adults involved in controlling just this type of behavior and situation are once again passing the buck. Funny thing is, there's not much passing of the bucks to these same thugs when those game revenues roll in. The U of M administration and Coaching Staff are failing these young men, by failing to properly educated them, and continuing to properly exploit their talents. Wasn't Coker praised just three (3) years ago for turning around the culture at UM? What happened all of a sudden? UM is losing more games than anticipated and The U of M is losing out on those much anticipated football revenues.
I am sick and tired of everyone blaming and stereotyping these young black men in training, as THUGS. I say young black men because they are being singled out, when I saw a lot more white players initially involved in the incident. (UM Center Anthony Wollschlager, on an FIU player's claim that he started the brawl-that he couldn't finish-by pushing FIU Safety Marshall McDuffie to the ground: "I was defending myself. I didn't start anything.") Yet, when the black players came to the rescue of their white brothers, who gets all the blame and suspensions? Sh-t, Wollschlager isn't even one of the 13 suspended UM players, but FIU brass felt it necessary to ruin McDuffie's future by dismissing him from the team. Yet, Donna S. continues to support her players because after reviewing the tape she saw the truth. Can't hang them good-ol' boys out to dry.
In the End, 13 UM and 18 FIU players were either suspended indefinitely, dismissed from team, or suspended for one game. But here the big kicker and ultimate difference in culture between UM and FIU administration: FIU players were disciplined more like NFL players (professionals), with all players involved suspended from the team indefinitely and two dismissed, i.e. no longer playing for FIU (see FIU Safety Chris Smith's article: "Worth the Wait", Published on October 5, 2006, Page 1D, in the Miami Herald); on the other hand UM players were given a slap on the hand (like little children), with all players involved suspended for only one (1) game and another suspended indefinitely (and he was just coming off the injury list). How could starting UM safety and All-American Meriweather, who taped stomping an FIU player, get only a 1-game suspension (that 1-game is against lowly DUKE) when Albert Haynesworth of the NFL Titans was suspended 5-games plus pay for the same infraction.
The message has, is, and will continue to be the same! The U of M, its revered administration, and its coaching staff has once again put $$$s before character and education. Failing and exploiting young, at-risk men in the process.

The Price of a Slave - part 1

This is where and how it started in America - the profiteering from black lives. Today it’s different but the same, none the less.
If I could only explain in words how long it took me 2 formulate this article. Anything I had 2 say on the subject could only b biased, so I stopped searching, waited and observed - the lives that we as black people live. What I learned and what I knew could never b told in these few lines. This is my outline of sorts and each month I will continue this Title as a series, until I have completed the purging of my soul.
Let's start with the increasing negative impact that law enforcement policies in America continues 2 have on the demise of the black man, the black family, the black community and ultimately our future generations. The first pledge/law of every law enforcement official is “to serve and protect”. The question, however, is who do they serve and protect?
Black people understand that we became a commodity long before we stepped foot on American soil. 4 2 long we have been prisoners in a capitalist system - n e system that uses people as profit, 2 generate cash flow - that continues 2 rob us of the one thing that all people r endowed with from birth - LIFE & the freedom 2 live it in pursuit of happiness. How is it that we have allowed this 2 b taken away from us? Was the lure so much better than the wait? Who was it that taught us such little value 4 LIFE - our life, our neighbor’s life, n e life. This is the fall of the black man!
Shackled and chained he is led in straight file through the doors, down the darkened tunnel that echoes the cries of stolen freedoms. Stolen because sum1 else is profiting from this caged energy, while we r robbed of the vitality & creativity that these lives bring. Now, I am not condemning capitalism, for then I’ll b condemning society. Rather I only look 2 present what history continues 2 shows us daily – that 4 the black nation more than n e, there is a need 4 creative action towards a way of life other than that which we have lost so much 2, yet continue 2 gain so little.
How can we as a race of people continue 2 live under such dehumanizing conditions and still expect 2 achieve? When will the growing inequalities and losses (of freedoms and lives) b enough? When will we stop waiting for our “40 acres & a mule”? Though this issue has grown into a global beast, affecting peoples from all walks of life, I speak 2 the black nation because we created, feed, and perpetuate the existence of this beast.
Every aspect of the black experience is a microcosm of things 2 come for society as a whole. Look at the history of the world and how closely it mirrors the history of the black nation. It has long been known that with the enslavement of the black nation, so goes the enslavement of the world. However, there r ways around this. If it is up 2 the powers that b, the black nation will b the next extinct race. Just like the native Indians who now count their numbers in eights rather than a whole.

Black man arrested for walking in the street! That is what should b printed on the front page of the herald. While walking home from the store one afternoon, a young black man happened 2 cross on the wrong side of the street on the right way home. Before he crossed, he noticed a black impala parked in front of a house. Sitting of the hood were 2 black youth apparently talking with a hispanic youth, who was standing on the street side of the car. The young man figured cool, no problem. But upon passing he was called out by the hispanic youth, “Yo, come over here!” “Who the hell r u?”, he answered back. Then he saw it, shining in the darkness…the gold shield. “Show some ID!” “For what!”, he answered. “For walking by and disrupting my business! U should know once u peeped game, not 2 cross this way.” At this point he figured this cop had just stopped these 2 under suspicion – 2 them all young, black men r criminals. Upon hearing the story, I figured this was a crooked cop handing his business on the block. U go figure. Either which way, it ended with the 2 youth going free and the passer-by being arrested. Reason – suspended license. Now was the passer-by walking or driving, I forget?
So, the message i’m getting for this city officials is that it is no longer safe 4 a black man 2 walk the streets without being harassed at the slightest whim. This takes in2 account racial profiling (can’t drive without stress) and a penal system created to further enslave the black nation, separating black families and destroying black communities. I have 2 take a break here, if not I risk going off in2 tangents - other casual factors related 2 the issue at hand.
C U in a few weeks.

Mad At the F--king World!

George Carlin's "You Are All Diseased" is share genius. Here's a man who uses intelligence, and common sense plus an extremely colorful vocabulary to make us all bust a gut, all the while laughing along at ourselves. Most people are laughing because he makes them laugh at themselves. Some laugh at his humor because he says exactly what intelligent individuals, who know themselves and see the sometimes ugly truths behind our society, see but never speak of. All of us however appreciate him because he says those things that we have been conditioned not to say in public. Those things that may offend others; he criticizes the abnormal behavior of Americans. He shows us that the big picture is a really f--ked up picture.
Carlin speaks the truth his way - which is, what everyone else is really thinking behind their masks, but would never admit. Why do you think so much Americans embrace his brand of humor? Carlin speaks out about racism, hatred, excess, consumerism, propaganda, and all the ways he thinks the American public is getting shafted by government, big crooked corporations, mass media, but most of all ourselves. Yes, ourselves because we willingly give up our individuality, our civil rights, our human rights for a perception, an illusion of safety, a veil of security.
"The entire country has been full of sh-t since the Declaration of Independence. One big steaming pile of sh-t. Red, White, & Blue All-American Bull!" George Carlin, 2006

Lil’ Child, Runaway Wild!

According to the Miami Herald, a Miami-Dade high school, sophomore ran away from home last week - all the way to Cuba. His father is trying to get him back.
Now there’s an extreme case of running away from home. Damn most kids normally go to a friend’s house or the mall for the night, and then come home to face the consequences. But this dude, 14-year old Alfredo Diaz, left this country – land of the free, land of opportunity – for Communist Cuba and Fidel Castro. Well, not exactly. Supposedly, the youth man swiped his passport and Dad’s credit card and booked two flights over the Internet, one to Bahamas and the other to Cuba, in pursuit of a summer love. You know like in that movie “the Notebook”. This minor got through airport, post-911 security, without so much as a peep from airport or airline personnel. He then boarded an American Airlines flight; watched the in-flight movie; had something to eat; took a nap and no one even wondered why this little youth was travel alone, much less to Cuba. I guess in a city where the problem is Cubans sneaking into the country, one Cuban heading back home was a sign of good things to come, to some of those airport personnel. LOL.
Personally, I commend the kid for his perseverance and fortitude in achieving his goal. Nowadays, not many youngsters can focus on a goal and see it through to the end, much less plan it out and prepare for it. Lil’ Man Diaz knew what the hell he was doing. He didn’t just get up one morning and say, “you know what, I’m heading to Cuba to get with that chick I met over the summer.” He planned his shit out. I don’t blame him. An island paradise and a hot lil’ chica, what youth wouldn’t trade life in America for such a carefree life. Shit, my little brother did the same thing when he was a sophomore in high school, only thing not for a chick. The ladies are a bonus of the carefree island life. Plus, I could imagine the lore of a place not completely corrupter by American ideals and consumerism.
Way to go Alfredo Diaz! More power to you!

T.O. TO’d!

Terrell “T.O.” Owens was TO’d by the news media today. News media, always on the search for “the” sensational story to capture the readers and viewers attention, has once again jumped to preconceived conclusions in quest on “the story”, i.e. ratings. In the process, they have begun to smear the character of a man, whose character is already up in the air, before the facts are even known. ESPN is the major culprit in this case, running the story exclusively on four of its stations.
Edward R. Morrow would be doing somersaults in his grave right this moment, at the irresponsible behavior of today’s news media. Where are the morals and ethics that they so passionately preach about? The principle goal today is “the story” because “the story” leads no to the truth but to increased readership & viewership, which leads to increased advertising sales, which ultimately leads to increased profits.
News reporters are blatantly trying to create a story a story about T.O. supposedly swallowing X amount of painkillers, in a supposed suicide attempt. I am not even going to justify this supposition anymore but rather I discuss the issue of the reporters’ unethical behavior. The reporters covering this T.O. story have all attempted and in fact violated T.O.’s privacy rights, if not personally then medically. Why do they continue to ask police and fire rescue officials private medical questions about the incident? Are they trying to validate their story by hopefully getting one if not both of these officials to slip up?
Don’t they understand that the Federal government, since 2003, has instituted the Health Information Privacy and Portability Act (HIPPA), which protect the privacy of an individual’s medical information? “No entity or official in possession of an individual’s health care records can divulge information from said records without the written consent of that individual, under penalty of law.” Health care privacy has become a major issue in political circles. In today’s society, large amounts of money are generated from the exchange and sale of information. HIPPA is the government’s way of further protecting our individual rights, in this age of technology and high-speed information transfer.
At least, back in the day of the good ol’ newsroom that kid of reporting but do behind closed doors. We the people never knew. But what we were shown today, is that we as the consumers of this news information, we who put our trust that the reporters as disseminating factual information to us, their audience, we are no longer considered when delivering these stories. It is assumed that we will blindly eat up whatever stories and information are sent our way. Are we just a mindless audience?
I am shocked and appalled by ESPN’s and the news media’s blatant violation of T.O.’s rights to privacy, forcing a story where there is little factual evidence to support this story, as of yet. Even if the information linked to this story was leaked to the news media, is it not their responsibility to follow the laws and protect T.O.’s privacy until he authorizes otherwise? The issue is not T.O. but the handling of the story and information related to it. If the news media feels that they have the right to violate the privacy rights of a public figure, then what of you or I?
There are no longer any scruples in the news media. ESPN has continued to diminish the value of its news information by selling out to the machine. I miss those struggling guys from back in the late 80’s and early 90’s. Those guys stuck to their responsibility as news reporters, they never sold out for “the story”. My hat’s off to Sal Paolantino, the only reporter who called “for integrity and responsibility, as reporters, to stick to the facts and not speculate and jump to conclusions”. He calls for caution before ESPN continues down the slippery slope of today’s news reporting. TA-DA-DA, TA-DA-DA!