Happy Valentine's Day!

It is noon on Valentine's Day, and I am still in bed by myself, waiting for the painkillers to kick in so I can start my day. My multiple sclerosis is kicking my butt, once again. 

But do I feel loved?
 
Yes, I can honestly say I do. 

Thank you, family and friends, for sending your love to me so splendidly throughout the year. Every day has been Valentine's Day for me!

 

Lil Wayne and Emmett Till

Below is a before and after picture of 14-year-old Emmett Till -- before he was brutally tortured and murdered in 1955 for allegedly whistling at a white woman . . . and after. 




And below is an excerpt of the lyrics in Lil Wayne's verse on the new Future remix Karate Chop: 

"Pop a lot of pain pills
Bout to put rims on my skateboard wheels
Beat that pussy up like Emmett Till
Yeah….
Two cell phones ringin’ at the same time
That’s your ho, callin’ from two different phones
Tell that bitch “leave me the fuck alone!”
See, you fuck her wrong, and I fuck her long.”

What are your thoughts?

In an interview given shortly after the song came out (and posted below) the late young Mr. Till's family shared theirs:

“To compare his murder and how beaten and how bullied, beatened, and tortured he was to the anatomy of a woman was really very disrespectful,” said Taylor in a video posted on RapRadar.com. “We found it dishonorable to his name and what his death has meant to us as a people and as a culture. It was offensive not only to us, but to our ancestors and to women and to themselves as young, black men. I just couldn’t understand how you could compare the gateway of life to the brutality and punishment of death. And I feel as though they have no pride and no dignity as black men.”
Taylor then went on to state that not only is the Till family concerned with Till’s image, they’re also concerned with the young people who happen to be immersed in Lil Wayne’s music.
“Our family was very offended, very hurt,” Taylor revealed. “Disturbed by it…Our young people they emulate what they see, what they hear, and what they’re immersed in. And then we question them as they grow up and become citizens and they’re supposed to be productive in society and they’re not productive. And society is already criminalizing our young, black men at every opportunity they have. So it just really concerns us that here you are using Emmett Till’s name in such an egregious way and you’re not having any respect for yourselves as well as our family. And that’s the biggest concern. We’re concerned about our young people as well as the image of Emmett Till.”

 I'm going to be honest . . . up until now I was a big Lil Wayne fan (remember how you cringed when I first told you that, Nzinga Oyaniyi? LOL), and thought he was just in need of little guidance, and a lot of spiritual cleansing. 

I now think he is beyond help, and I'm getting rid of all his music.

But let me clear . . . this is NOT an indictment against hip-hop music, or the hip-hop generation. There are quite a few young rappers in my opinion, that have at least some sense of consciousness. And there are even more young non-rappers with a hell of a lot of consciousness.
 
No... my post is this specifically regarding Lill Wayne.

Here's The Real Deal . . .

Ever sat next to someone whose body odor was so bad that when they brushed up against you your clothes began to smell, too? Happened to me a couple of days ago while I sat in an airport. 

Ugh!

Happy Oya's Day!

Hekwa Oyansa!

I'm Feeling Kinda Cute, here!

i Haven't been feeling great this past week, so it was great spending the morning with Sharai Robbin who took me out for some pampering. 

Manicure.

Pedicure.

Eyebrows done. 

I look cute, y'all! And yep . . . . even got a design on my index fingers and big toes!

 

Awww . . . I'm Feeling Kinda Famous, here!

So, I'm in Home Depot today, and a woman says, "Excuse me . . . are you Karen? Karen Miller?" 

Turns out she recognized me from a picture she saw on the back of one of my books. 

Can you imagine how good I feel? (wow!)

Here's The Real Deal . . .

If I'm so smart, why did I decide to fry pork chops while bare-chested. 

Come on . . . say it with me: "Burnt Boobies!"

Hey . . . It Seems I'm Quotable!

A couple of friends woke me up this morning . . . not just to wish Happy New Year . . . but to tell me to turn on my computer because  . . .



I have to admit . . . it's kinda cool to have the mayor of Newark quoting me on Twitter. <smile>

And, look! 427 people retweeted me!!!!!!!

ROFL

The Best Advice I Can Offer A Writer

Here's the thing . . . if you're a writer, you're a writer. 

If you've written a book, you're an author. 

Enuff said, right?
 
Maybe. 

I cringe when I hear writers telling other writers what they HAVE to do in order to be a success. The most important thing a writer needs to do is to be true to his or herself, true to his or her story, and true to his or her characters.

HOWEVER, I cringe even more when I hear writers diss people whose advice they don't agree with. You can disregard advice, you know, without dissing the adviser. Perhaps not all advice is given as a way to offend;, maybe sometimes it's actually as an offer of help? 

I've said before, and I'll say again . . . all writers should forever be students of the craft. And you can't grow without criticism. The trick is to take what you feel applies to you, and gracefully disregard what you believe does not. 

The bigger trick is being objective enough to know the difference. 

We all want to think we're already experts (I think so, everyday, for about five whole minutes!), but when we get to the point when we can say, "Shyt, he can't tell me nothing," then we've made a conscious decision to stunt our own growth.

So, yes . . . always do you, and be true to what you write, but always be open to improve.

That's my advice. 

For what it's worth.

School Prayer? No, thanks!

December 14, 2012 - 26 people killed in a Connecticut elementary school; 20 of them are children. 

A true tragedy. And along with people using this as an opportunity to call for gun control, we also have people saying that this tragedy proves that we should have school prayer. 

But here is my question . . . how would school prayer have prevented the massacre? For those saying the school shooting proves we need school prayer- please stop using this tragedy to push your own agenda.

Do you think having God put back in our school would stop the school shootings? Is is it because you feel group prayer will stop devastating violence? If that were the case, would it have been possible for four little African-American girls to been killed in a church basement while readying for Sunday school in Birmingham, AL back in 1963?

School is a place to learn academics and secular things. Church and home is the place to learn about God and spiritual. To put God back into the school, would be to disenfranchise those who are either atheists, or who do not worship God in the way of the community majority. 

How would you feel if your Christian child had to sit in the classroom and pray to Buddha every morning; or to Allah?

I do think that children should be exposed to prayer every single day… And as a parent you should lead them in that prayer - and not expect the school to do it for you.

I am fervent about prayer, and I pray every day. And when my child was young and living with me, we prayed together every evening and every morning before she went to school. 

But to say that prayer should be practiced in public schools, with children of all different beliefs means that you are saying that the way you practice is the practice that all children should be subjected to.

Unless, of course, you are advocating for prayer in all of the different religious paths… Including allowing the Muslim children to make prayer five times a day in the classroom if it is their custom to do so?

 
Or do you only want the type of prayer that you practice brought back into school? If that is the case, then you should send your child to a private religious school.

The prayer that we choose, should not be forced upon others. The form in which we pray, should not be forced upon others. The religion in which we believe, should not be forced upon others.

I believe that prayer, religion, and faith in God… Should be taught at home and in our places of worship. Not in public schools.