Are You Here for the Job, or to Rob Me?

One man wore a bright, royal blue zoot suit, including the matching blue shirt, bright blue striped tie, and blindingly blue vest. It had a long silver chain as a tie stay, and a matching long chain for the wallet(Imagine that scene from Malcolm X where he's strolling down the street looking fly). To top it off, he had a pair of blue snake skin shoes with silver tips and spurs to match, that jingled every time he moved. I just know he had an equally pimpish had with a long blue feather at home that he used all his willpower not to wear.
Another man wore the world's dingiest tall tee, some extra baggy gray sweats, and what used to be white Nike's.
Unless your applying for food stamps or going for Pimp of the Year, neither of these are appropriate for an interview. Especially a job interview.
I was appalled at some of the outfits worn to a mass hiring event I attended recently. I almost thought I was in the wrong place. Since when are holey jeans OK for an interview? Apparently, these people know something I don't about the interview process. They must know that the more derelict you look, the more sympathy they have, and are more likely to hire you. Is that what people think when they go for a job?
Well, that's not the case, people.
Consider this a public service announcement. Some positive criticism, brought to you out of love. All of my people who are interviewing for jobs and don't know how to dress: Dress like someone who wants a job.
Club attire is not work attire. Don't dress like you already have the job and just got off work. Don't dress like a pimp, no matter how good you think you look. It doesn't matter that its Sean John, sneakers and sweats are not OK. They may be expensive, but jeans are only appropriate if the job you are going for is "Professional Cowboy" or "Rapper".
Shave. Dress Conservative and simple. Turn OFF the cell phone.
Don't kill your chances before the interview even begins. Love.

Has the NAACP Gone Hollywood?

When people seek justice, do they still call the NAACP?
Some say yes. They see the NAACP as the same pillar in the community and cornerstone to the civil rights movement they were forty years ago. They cite statistics, like the NAACP having two thousand active chapters, to prove their point of effectiveness.
I disagree.
Not to be a non conformist- A house divided against itself cannot stand.
I speak from a ground zero point of view. I see what the NAACP is doing, the battles it chooses to fight and the issues it chooses to stand against, and feel like they have strayed from the original path.
"The mission of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate racial hatred and racial discrimination. "
But when people are in trouble, can they really call the NAACP? When Creole Cotton called them on behalf of her wrongfully imprisoned daughter, all she got was doubt. The main people who should have supported her took the side of the bigots. The inactivity of the NAACP on local issues is becoming well known amongst the very people they claim to help. How can they claim to eliminate racial hatred and racial discrimination if they shun the common people, and only take high profile cases and issues? Racism is no longer practiced with burning crosses and publicized lynchings, but in discretion by policy and practices- like apartheid. If all you do is take on the high profile, blatantly obvious cases, then you are attacking the tip of the iceberg, and ignoring the looming glacier just below the surface.
I say this out of love. It is not my desire to cast doubt of the effectiveness of the NAACP, or for people to feel like they couldn't call them if they had an issue. I only wish for the organization to take a step back, and rediscover their roots. Otherwise, who are you really representing if not me, a man of color?

Old News

When does a story cross the line from being news worthy, to beating a dead horse? When does one's fifteen minutes officially end? Depends on who you talk to. For some, mention of the war is conversation suicide. They are numb to the daily death tolls, helicopter crashes, and suicide bombings. Those people, however, have the convenience of being distant from the reality of the subject. Ask an Iraqi. They don't get tired of hearing about the war. They never bore of death tolls, or suicide bombing stats, because there is a chance that a loved one was killed today, and a chance that they could be kidnapped, tortured, and killed tomorrow. So for them, war talk is nothing to be forgotten, because for them, your conversation suicide is their way of life.
That's why so many stories have been written about Shaquanda Cotton.
For me, and many like me, life in these United States is a war zone. There is an unspoken battle being fought everyday. Baby Cotton is just a catalyst to a movement: a spark to a flame: a battle in a war; a symbol to a revolution- representing the injustices performed against people of color every single day. Some outsiders understandably doubt the seriousness of the situation. Even some within the corrupt system fail to recognize the trap they are in, and the atrocious acts against their own. Perhaps years of bondage has instilled a sense of complacency, like one serving a long jail sentence accepting his fate, or a lion in a cage, forgetting his roots and the taste of freedom. I, however, will never mistake this Matrix for Reality. We are kings, born of queens, with royalty in our veins, and I am poised to forcefully claim my throne. My people lay wasted in bondage, but not for long. Let this be a call to all who understand me, and a warning to the peoples and systems of oppression- The time has come to arise.
Shaquanda Cotton is free. One down,- one hundred and forty nine million, nine hundred ninety nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety nine to go.