Knock the Vote

"The young generation don’t want to hear anything about the odds are against us.

What do we care about odds?"

If you're having a voting registration event and you only concern yourself with getting new voters without educating them, then you are no different than a drug dealer giving a kid a gun and having them shoot blindly into the crowd. The irony is that the "street" rappers are the ones who host these events so they can say "they did good for the community."

Every four years this tends to happen. Election season kicks off, then typical rapper realizes:

"hey, if I hold a voter registration event I'll be seen as a do-gooder amongst my people. I'll give out prizes like my new mixtape, some t-shirts, and maybe backstage tickets to my concert. Have a basketball tournament too, yeah, that'll get 'em!"

Now, these events are set up to where you have to register to vote to get access to all the freebies.The line is wrapped around th block with people, waiting to see this ball game, win some poorly made t-shirts, and see the "fuck the cops and government they don't do shit for me" rapper. Write a fake name, address, whatever to get in. Better yet this happens: You register and all you get is, "make sure you get out and vote, now go enjoy yourself the concert starting soon." So now 10,000 people show up, only 4,800 truly register, and nobody knows nothing about the Affordable Care Act while attending. Yet, I guarantee you said rapper will say he/she got over 11,000 people to register to vote that day. It's all politics as usual.

Now that election season has begun, it's time for all the cable channels to begin their "Vote or Die" campaign to get ratings. Telling you to go "register and vote, make your voice heard." being that it is a presidential election, everybody comes out the woodwork selling you a product if you come register to vote you will get.

"...if you’re not ready

to pay that price don’t use the word freedom in your vocabulary."

After experiencing a political function as big as the Democratic National Convention, what can be absorbed is that the election process and system is still held true by many Americans across the country. The world still views us as the blueprint for a voting system. For people to be out there and not give proper information for those who are new to voting is just as ignorant as not voting.

Also,

Vote for whom you choose. Just inform yourself on who the candidates are, watch a few debates, websites (www.AverageBro.com is one that comes to mind), Sunday political news shows, or go to your local Democratic or Republican center and learn. This isn't just for the presidency either, this goes for every office, local, state, and national. There's more to it then just "Are you registered to vote?"

Average Mans Guide To Packing For A Weekend Trip

Its the summer, time to use all those hard earned vacation days to go somewhere, meet women, jet ski, meet more women, drink, and do Cirque De soleil tactics to sneak out of their hotel room. Before you can begin using a fake name and number, you got to make sure you pack the necessary items to make the vacay a success. First things first; if you like to pack 5 pairs of sneakers for a 3-Day getaway, this is not for you. Matter of fact, Man Law states this is a act of feminine ways and your Man Card should be revoked for the summer. No man should be packing more shoes than a female, no one. One luggage just for you jordans and dunks, hope you didn't forget your make-up kit.

Make sure everything fits in a carry-on

Its only a weekend trip, you got no time to be waiting for baggage claim when you spotting some cuties already leaving the terminal. You got to get off that plane and be ready to go, hail a cab or jump in the cab with a lady and begin the weekend right.

Keep the shit simple when it come to clothing

  One pair of jeans, Two dope shirts, One dress shirt. The whole point is not to keep going back and forth to the hotel to change. Most of the time when you get back to the hotel, you want to take a quick nap, which ends up being 5 hrs wasted. Have a drawstring bag (no fanny pack) and keep a towel (this is clutch for the hot weather places), and undershirt, just in case. Slippers, 2 sneakers, should do the trick. Make sure one has that "night life" look, like Dom Kennedy said "can't where Lebrons to the club. That shit is corny."

....But Q, what about draws, socks, and shit?....

That's personal preference. What I look like telling another man how many boxers he should pack. A carry-on gives you ample amount of room to carry as many as you want. There shouldn't be no amount. Sometimes, your boxers get ripped from one of those kinda nights, so from my experience, cop fresh pack of boxers, socks, and t-shirts (or wife beaters) and you're good to go.

Toothbrush: the fuck you think...

Deodorant: the fuck you think...


Along with the usual cologne, lotion, and condoms, this one should always, and I repeat ALWAYS, go into your luggage. This one tool can keep your confidence at 109% every time you step out on the town:

Andis T-Outliner

                       

Forget all the clothes, shoes, condoms, whatever, you have these clippers in your weekend arsenal your shape-up, baldy, beard can be in tip-top shape.

One thing for sure, make sure you carry a positive attitude. Leave the negative vibes at home. Make sure you music player has good music to keep your energy up. Because there's nothing worst then being that person who's ruins all the fun. You're there to enjoy yourself so do that.

Book in Review: The Deferred Dream

“I remember a lady came up to me after the NO STAGE shoe in Pittsburgh and she was in tears. She said to me, ‘I wish my son could be here to see this. This would have saved his life.’ I knew it was on from then…”

Here is a collection of poetry and short stories in the book “The Deferred Dream” by Jo’rell Whitfield, also known as Lyrical the Lyricist, one half of Writing for My Life with Archie the Messenger. What’s here is not the usual “the sun as the galaxy collides when the comets align, I am not my hair, I am pro bono” kind of poetry. It’s what I call the shit you need to hear when you to scared to listen to yourself. Everyday words from an everyday man and this book is a collection of those words.

“I’m only human. I make mistakes, I miss birthdays, forget names…can’t recognize faces. Sometimes I’m racist. Sometimes I rebuke it, sometimes I embrace it. I’m ambitious, yet complacent.” - Excerpt from "Only Human"

Whitfield, Jo'rell H. (2012-02-26). The Deferred Dream (Kindle Locations 602-605). BookBaby. Kindle Edition.

Also in the book is a snippet of Jo’rell’s next book “The Chronicles of Hope,” that’s about a man and four of his friends just graduating from college and having to go through the challenges of life. Which could range from, paying Sallie Mae that money back to that one girl who want to poke that hole in the condom because you’re one of the “good ones” so she got to get you now before “some white bitch will.” It’s safe to say that I will be looking for that book for sure.

“Thank you for birth, and abortions. Thank you for confederates, gays and lesbians. Thank you for terrorists, or as we call them: Racist Americans.” - Excerpt from “Gratitude”

Whitfield, Jo'rell H. (2012-02-26). The Deferred Dream (Kindle Locations 851-853). BookBaby. Kindle Edition.

You can get the book by clicking the link below:

Amazon.com: The Deferred Dream eBook: Jo'rell H. Whitfield: Kindle Store

http://amzn.to/LQ5NBE

Be sure to check out www.Writing4MyLife.com to get updates on upcoming events, such as No Stage, which will be all over. Starting in Buffalo, NY this June.

Randumb Words and Thoughts: The Power of Money

“…bitches don’t appreciate nothing man.

2 dollar bitches with 3 dollar haircuts…” – Lost Boyz

This has to be by far the best article I’ve read in Black Enterprise in a month or so.  If this shit don’t put things in perspective for you then by all means drink bleach because only the ignorant will not understand what this means. If you can, definitely pick up subscribe to Black Enterprise magazine and put it on your table so you and those around can learn something besides the usual mediatakeout.com, WSHH, and BET garbage.

This issue they have a series about women and money, yeah I know, it should just begin and end with “spend your own shit and stop stragging for the next mans money.” As I was reading, they had this insert about the wealth of the single black woman. This is when shit gets real:

Inspiration Is There...

“Even shit has trace nutrients in it” – Old Man at the bar

This conversation lasted hours, not because we were bored, but because we were bored and drinking. As there were many choices, we had to condense it.

Prolifik: TV raised us man. Can you admit that?

Q Double: I mean, yeah, it raised us in ways, Sesame Street and Mister Rogers had us at a standstill.

Pro: Think about it man, we can quote “The Wire” for hours; we can break down a scene from “The Godfather” into life lessons. Shit man, TV and movies got the best life lessons out there.

Q Dub: Like the scene with Omar and Bunk in “The Wire,” where they talking about the days when the game was more structured and how it changed for the worse.

Pro: Indeed, that scene right there says a lot about the code and what----

Q Dub: Code! Code! That shit long gone.

Pro: Man! You know how many times I watched that scene. Muhfuckas would just hear the dialog, I paid attention to everything. The background, foreground, and paint color, all that shit. One of my favorite scenes from the show.

Q Dub: Fam, you really got to stop smoking.

Pro: Why the fuck for?!!!

Q Dub: *sigh* My shit is the scene in “The Social Network” when Sean Park talking to Mark about what he did to change the industry. Sean Parker basically said “fuck the rules, those days are over! Get money, do drugs, and fuck models!” That’s my go to movie when in a slump.

Prolifik: Yoooooooooo!!!! What about the Kid-n-Play dance scene in “House Party.” If you could pull the whole dance routine off you were the man.

Q Double: That’s when it was cool to dance; before we found out that being a wall flower was a better way of enjoying yourself.

Pro: House parties were epic man, epic! *opens up another beer*

Q Dub: That scene with Bodie and McNulty is Fire too. We he finally realized he just a pawn on the chessboard.

Pro: That was that full circle moment, do remember in the first season where D’Angelo was trying to teach them about chess. He really didn’t listen then. Now he finally got it, but it was too late. *sips beer*

Q Dub: Fake ass Socrates. *opens up another beer*

Pro: The Game is rigged man.

Q Dub: Greatest scene ever then??

Pro: When Michael got Vito killed. Shit was deep man.

Q Dub: Nah, whole Godfather was great, hard to put that into scenes.

Pro: Aiight, what you got?

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