I Still Got It...

Some of y'all know the story already.... Those who do not will just have to enjoy the story for what it is.

Over a late lunch.... I said to her, "Ya know.... I've got to be honest with you. I was really under the impression that you have been flirting with me since we met... I know you have a "boyfriend", but I hate to think that I would misinterpret your friendly banter...."

There was a pause.

"Well," she said. "You know I have a boyfriend."

"Oh yes I do," I replied, leaning even more comfortably into my seat.

"So... yeah, I'm sorry."

"Hmmmmm..."

"What?"

"Well.... this is what those of us in the industry call, not answering the question." I said. "I wasn't trying to make you uncomfortable or anything, and to be perfectly honest, I probably think that half the women I see on the streets are secretly in love with me."

"Yeah.... I got that impression already."

"So...." I was really letting my passive-aggressiveness kick into full gear. "I apologize if I read you wrong, ya know... It's a side effect of thinking that the sun and the earth revolve around you. My Bad."

My words, apparently had done their job.

"So.... why are you here then? If you thought I was flirting with you, " she made a face as though the thought itself was as likely as gay unicorns, "and you know I have a boyfriend."

"I'm a naturally curious person, my friend. I am intrigued by intrigue. NOT knowing frustrates me, especially when I can find out what I want to know just from opening my mouth. I found out. It's worth it to me to know."

"Oh..."

"When we met, the way we were drawn to each other... come on, you were there..."

"Yeah"

She wasn't eating any longer.
I sipped deeply of my thai iced tea.

"Aren't you seeing anyone?" she asked, accusingly.

BINGO

"Me?" I asked, innocently. "Sista, I work two jobs, for somewhere in the neighborhood of 70 hours a week."

"Oh... so you don't have time..."

"Nah.... if I was seeing somebody, I would just work less."

I soon had to excuse myself, and we parted ways... After the formal, "Yeah, we should keep in touch, okay, yeah we should, okay, you got my email address, you know where I work, blah blah blah"

I walked my way.
She walked hers.

I glanced over my shoulder, knowing what I would see...

She was watching me....

I Still Got It...

Tookie

A Friend sent me an email this evening,

"I know you aren't from the LA area, but what is your take on the Tookie Williams clemency hearing?"

Rarely at a loss for words, I wrote her this, and after review, decided to share it with all of you...

I don't live in LA, any longer. I lived there for a number of years, but I don't think residency or location has much to do with my opinion on this subject.

I am 100% against the execution of this man. Paris, the rapper, made a statement on Friday Night Vibe (Bay Area "Real" Hip Hop program, runs on Pacifica Radio). He said, and I agree:

"I fully believe in 'an eye for an eye', I really do. But I'm completely against it if only the white folk enforce it."

My personal opinion, I wouldn't care if the Brotha was found guilty of one million crimes. I wouldn't care if he had a written and videotaped confession stating in detail every crime he supposedly committed.

You and I both know the extents to which Mr White Folks will go to get what he wants. Violence, torture, threats against family... So no matter what, i would never accept a trail as "evidence" of Guilt.

So... there's that, and that's usually enough for me, but in Tookie's case- seeing the work he has done behind bars, Brotha has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize FIVE times, not to mention that we was awarded the President's Call to Service Award for OUTSTANDING service to the community.

This is a lynching. This is murder.

This is an attempt by Mr White Folks to silence a voice that is speaking with too much potential, too much power... even from behind bars. The Brotha is changing lives... inside and outside of the Pen.

White Folks want to make sure that Black Folk only recieve messages of consumerism, materialism, messages that REJECT the concept of Soul, Spirit and Community.

This is why 50 Cent has a movie and a video game....

This is why tomorrow I will stand outside of the gates of San Quentin, the very prison that my father spent almost 20 years as a Chaplain...

I will stand against this. I will fight this. For Tookie, for H Rap Brown, for Geronimo, for Assata... For my father, my mother... My blood siblings who have been battling crack and other demons. For you, for me.

They kill our leaders while Black America stares blankly at a blur of music videos and reality TV, eyes heavy from malt liquor, 'henney' and weed.

This is my "take."

Folks... if you haven't taken the 10 minutes to write a hand-written letter to the Governator, shame on you.

If you haven't taken the 10 seconds to send an email, shame on you.

If you do nothing...