The Scary Lady

There are many, many scary ladies out there.  Scary for many reasons, but to me, this lady is a true, living  nightmare.



I saw this clip about four years ago and it has stayed with me ever since.

It might sound dramatic but shows like this are sometimes too much for me. This is not just television...shows like The Wire and The Corner are frighteningly accurate depictions of life in the inner city, and of people like this lady, who are vehemently and violently opposed to any type of positive change.

How do you deal with someone like her?

After you meet her, you recognize that her son needs even more help than you thought. And besides help, he needs protection...FROM HER!!!! For those of you who don't know, in other episodes she belittles him for not being a better drug dealer, refuses to work and places the burden of financial support on her teenage son.  It may seem extreme, but people like her do exist, and in some areas, they are the norm.

Here are some of the questions that would come up in my team meeting:

• Do you continue to talk to her son against her wishes?
• Do we attempt to remove him from the home immediately?
• What if she slaps you?  Lol, but seriously.  What if? 

Thank God, someone was able to stop her reign of terror...

It seems like no matter what, she was dead set on her son ending up dead or in jail.  In her mind, dying in the street over drugs, or rotting in prison is the real definition of a "soldier," and she obviously respected drug dealers a hell of a lot more than teachers.  Whats even worse, is that her son had decided to choose a different life and she was there at every point to guide him back down a negative path.  Scary indeed.

Why Kells Why?

I love music...any kind of music...

Especially music that inspires, uplifts, reflects our times and tells our stories...

I found myself in a dilemma this week after hearing two GREAT songs by the preeminent crazy-ass story-teller of our time...the Pied Piper himself, Mr. R. Kelly.

First, I saw the video for Sign of AVictory: An incredibly inspiring song and video, reminiscent of I Believe I Can Fly, but even more inspiring and uplifting.  The message and the music of this song give me chills. Check it Below:

I could cry...

And then I saw this...


Its like Rafael Saadiq, mixed with a heaping portion of Sam Cooke, and topped off with a dollop of sparkling white teeth and shape up.
Everything. The mics, the photography, the suspenders, the craziness at the end...I just love it.

Just as I begin to feel the happiness come over me, I think of all that nonsense that went on a few years back. I work with girls so when something like that happens I wonder how the public is supposed to react and for how long. Back when it first happened, the public outcry was strong, every scholar wrote articles, every comedian made jokes, and everyone else was mortified.

But then, it seemed like it was all good again...it became one of those things that we just overlooked and didn't discuss, especially when he came out with hit after hit. It was crazy...and it still is to me...I don't know. Maybe it was a mistake and it wasn't him, or maybe it was him and we should have rode him out of town on a rail.  For me, and my purposes, I just wonder if its possible to be committed to serving women and girls and also jump around and sing with R. Kelly...or bob my head to Chris Brown. I wonder if appreciating their music and talent means that I (directly or indirectly) support the choices they make when it comes to women.  Yikes...I sure hope not.

Bearing Arms in the Hood: Does Owning a Gun Make Me a Part of the Problem?

So...a bullet came through my window last night...

And flew into the kitchen cabinet...

I heard the shots, and although it startled me, I had no idea it came into the house until I woke up this morning. Thank God no one was injured. I'm sure it wasn't intended for us but I couldn't help but be scared, and the thought of explaining it to my daughters is sickening.

A few weeks ago, a guy they know was shot across the street. A while ago, my oldest daughter had her phone stolen out of her hand by some jerk while she was walking down the street...he was never caught and she still sees him often. And now this...

Hot Lead

Unfortunately, for us, I chose an area populated by a bunch of baby thugs...unsupervised miscreants who would rather shoot someone than work out their real issues. You know...the kind of kids that get a reality check in jail once they found out who is really tough... I get that they're misguided... victims of every negative thing our society has ever birthed, and I feel for them...but I'll be damned if I'm gonna let one of these little bastards take anything from me.

I work in the community, and I'd do anything in my power to help someone change their lives for the better. However, too many times, you hear of the basketball coach giving his everything to help kids, only to be shot dead on the very court where he helped others learn. Or the social worker beaten to a pulp for giving a damn about the welfare of someone else's children.

So...several times recently, I've contemplated buying the biggest shotgun possible,
and actually daydreamed about blasting a whole in the chest of an unexpected intruder...sick, I know. The only problem with buying a gun is that I'm afraid of the karma that comes with it...

I feel like if you surround yourself with negative things, you draw negativity into your life...like, I'd never really need a gun until I actually have one, get it?
The thought of purchasing a gun makes me feel like I'm going over to the dark side...and becoming part of the bigger problem at hand.

Even though in every city, every day, innocent people are robbed and murdered, and even killed inside their homes by stray bullets I know a gun wouldn't have protected me against this stray, but protecting my home and my family is my top priority, and it seems like the bad guys have the upper hand. They don't even think twice about having guns, or about robbing little girls or shooting innocent people.

I don't know...I want to be a part of the solution, but more than that I want to feel safe in my own home...but who says guns equal safety...more questions than answers.

Does owning a gun make me a part of the problem? What do you think?