Good Man

What makes a good man?

Is it the guy who works or has his own?

Is it the dude with multiple sex partners who hangs out in the streets from sun up to sun down?

Or does it include the settled man,  with a wife and kids,  who coaches little league on the side?

Better yet,  maybe it's the cat who sags his pants or has swagger without a care in the world?

Or could it be the Harvard or Morehouse fellow who runs the world?

Which is it?  I'd like to know!

The Minimum Wage

President Obama and Democratic members of Congress want to raise the minimum wage to a whopping 10.10 an hour.  Such a hike could hurt the recovery after years of economic decline. The president should instead focus on rebuilding the nation's crumbling infrastructure, including a stagnant manufacturing base.

The country's roads,  bridges,  sewer, and mass transit systems, or lack thereof, need immediate care in most instances,  causing businesses to make tough decisions on where to locate or expand,  especially in urban areas.  For example,  scores of unemployed workers in Clayton County,  Georgia,  a sprawling,   predominantly African American suburb just south of Atlanta,  can't find work due to the lack of a public bus or rail system linking it to wealthier communities elsewhere.  The same can be said of Detroit,  Michigan, or Gary,  Indiana,  where massive budget cuts have taken a toll on government-run transportation.

Raising the minimum wage isn't a bad idea.  However,  it can't be viewed as an annual stopgap solution to fight poverty.  Reconstructing America from the ground up by stopping the flow of jobs abroad,  investing in technical education, and reclaiming abandoned buildings would do far more, in the long run, to increase workers' wages by ten dollars an hour with better benefits to boot.

Update:  The citizens of Clayton County now have transit buses that run to the nearest MARTA or rail station in Atlanta!!  And raising the minimum wage to 10.10 an hour or higher would be a great idea!!

Akon - Lonely

Akon - Sorry, Blame It On Me

Ne-Yo - Miss Independent

Ne-Yo - So Sick (AOL Sessions)

Slavery

Slavery or colonization did a hatchet job on people of color in this country.  It's something affirmative action,  civil rights, or higher education can't heal.  It's like being constantly beaten as a child and then cut loose at eighteen to succeed in the world.  Most will struggle to make it, and even those who do well will bare the vivid scars of Jim Crow and racism in the form of high unemployment, crime,  colorism, and low self-esteem.  It exists in every walk of life in the black community,  covertly or otherwise,  something an African American president or attorney general can't fix.  I don't view the past as a crutch or something to hang failures on,  but the aftermath of slavery or Apartheid in America,  which only ended in 1965,  can't be easily denied or overlooked.

Stuttering

Stuttering disrupts the lives of millions of Americans every day.  Stutters are not dumb as many may think.  They're just the victims of hyperactive brains, unlike those of typical individuals.  Moses supposedly stuttered as well as the late President Ford,  and some may even say Barack Obama without a teleprompter!  It disrupted my life early on as I descended into the world of the underemployed despite having the equivalent of a master's degree.  It's a disorder that ranks with the worst of them as a national health issue and deserves urgent attention as men and women who suffer its unyielding pain finally come to the forefront. 

Gay Marriage

A coalition of black ministers has called for the impeachment of Eric Holder,  the first African American U.S. Attorney General.  They oppose his backing of a 2013 U.S. Supreme Court ruling which states legally married same-sex couples are entitled to federal benefits.  Even though the institution of marriage is in free fall,  the church shouldn't play politics with such a hot-button issue,  especially in the black community,  where scores of allegedly gay pastors preach the gospel in churches across the country,  as evidenced by the Bishop Eddie Long sex scandal a year ago,    when three young men accused him of sexual misconduct.   Similar incidents involving other black men of the cloth have surfaced as well.  Moreover,  Luke 10:25-27 in the case of the Good Samaritan demonstrates the importance of showing compassion for those whose lifestyles may differ.   No one knows the exact cause of homosexuality.  Therefore,  individuals who may be homosexual shouldn't be ostracized or made to feel inferior as a result.  Yes,  gay marriage is quite a stretch of the law, but it deserves credible debate.

Gil Scott Heron "Winter In America" (1974) HIGH QUALITY