Musings of the Black Yoda

Ghetto Shots: jump, rum or gun. Or rapping to the beat of a drum. Some weed smoke snaking...

Mon, 13 May 2013 13:49:00 -0400

Ghetto

Shots:

jump, rum or gun.

Or rapping to the beat of a drum.

Some weed smoke snaking through the vents

or a piss-filled Corona at the bottom of the steps.

I know what they think—

the stink of trash bags in the hallway:

teeming with life,

ripe

and ready to burst.

Or a slow-moving procession of mourners

with the deceased spray-painted on their shirt.

Considered a blight

on-sight,

they loiter around strip malls like porch steps

while women carry plastic shopping bags

and the kids that cling to their legs.

I know what they think—

hood hair dryers, curling irons and the kitchen sink,

clientele draped in hot pink;

They think we live in a place where maraschino cherries

are considered fresh fruit

and beef with broccoli are two of the essential food groups.

They think they have nothing to do with the ghetto;

A place where golden labs became pit bulls

as chiseled and bandana’d as their owners,

unleashed and roaming;

A place where loaning

seldom leads to owning

and the sounds of late-night moaning

always come in better than the radio.

They think they have nothing to do

with this,

with me

and you.

* originally published in the Scythe Literary Journal

Drugs Bunny? :0)

Sun, 12 May 2013 20:48:22 -0400

Drugs Bunny? :0)

That’s what I like to see: A place for both kinds of...

Sat, 11 May 2013 10:19:44 -0400

That’s what I like to see: A place for both kinds of animal lovers in the same plaza. :0)

Hell yeah, I want one. I know what time it is.

Sat, 11 May 2013 10:00:32 -0400

Hell yeah, I want one. I know what time it is.

Musings of the Black Yoda 2: Who’s to Blame?

Tue, 07 May 2013 17:17:39 -0400

Musings of the Black Yoda 2: Who’s to Blame?

Musings of the Black Yoda: wormhole

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 05:33:25 -0400

Musings of the Black Yoda: wormhole

A house is not necessarily a home

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 01:32:00 -0400

Can you guess what subset of America’s children do the worst in practically everything? Black or African-American would probably be your guess. It’s not a bad guess, but there’s a group even worse off than them (although black children are overrepresented in this group as well). So what group am I talking about? The kids who have the bleakest futures are the ones mired in our child welfare system: the kids who grow up in group homes or get bounced around from one house to the next. By almost every metric of wellness you can come up with, they are going to rank near or at the bottom. High School Graduation rates? Incarceration rates? Employment Rates? OOW births? Teenage Pregnancies? The respective answers are terrible, terrible, terrible, terrible and terrible! But why are things so bad? These kids aren’t starving to death as wards of the state.They get to go to school. There are resources available to help them further their education or find employment. Why are they — as a group — doing so poorly? The answer, I think, is pretty obvious: A group home is no substitute for a loving one, case managers are no substitute for caring parents. We have kids who are not being properly loved and guided. The government can feed your body, but it cannot nourish your mind. The government can check off requirements when met, but that isn’t the same thing as someone actually giving a damn about you, is it?

So where am I going with this? Well, what’s the next (half) step up from the group home? That would be the homes where most black children are growing up: single parent homes. More specifically, I’m talking about the homes of poor, single mothers who are being subsidized by the government…the very same government that leads so many of the kids completely under their care to personal ruin. Is it any surprise that these largely subsidized single mother homes produce adults that are only marginally better than completely subsidized group homes? The government does a demonstrably terrible job in generating productive citizens, but it gets to play daddy in the majority of homes where black children live. Does no one see a problem with this? Cutting long term welfare from people is probably tantamount to cutting off someone’s drug supply. I’m sure it will be painful. I’m sure there would be unintended consequences and casualties with such a course of action. But anything is better than the current situation.

Musings of the Black Yoda: Final Wordz

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 10:01:00 -0400

Musings of the Black Yoda: Final Wordz:

Final Wordz

Musings of the Black Yoda: My problem free philosophy...

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 10:01:10 -0400

Musings of the Black Yoda: My problem free philosophy...:

My problem free philosophy

Say Hello to my little friend.

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 08:16:55 -0400

Say Hello to my little friend.

A bird in the hand is supposedly worth two in the bush. So...

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 15:35:49 -0400

A bird in the hand is supposedly worth two in the bush. So what’s a bird in your bush worth? :0)

Musings of the Black Yoda: You.Herd.Me?

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 08:56:11 -0400

Musings of the Black Yoda: You.Herd.Me?:

You.Herd.Me?

Fair-minded feminists, unicorns, leprechauns and other mythical creatures

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 13:31:55 -0400

Fair-minded feminists, unicorns, leprechauns and other mythical creatures

I got a dollar back sometime last week that was defaced. I just...

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 20:29:02 -0400

I got a dollar back sometime last week that was defaced. I just spent it and sent it back out into the universe. Where will it end up next?

A rich, influential, African-American who is morally bankrupt,...

Sat, 06 Apr 2013 13:07:36 -0400

A rich, influential, African-American who is morally bankrupt, profligate in his spending and now purportedly a sexist. Which one am I talking about?

Nah'mean?

Sat, 06 Apr 2013 13:01:57 -0400

Nah'mean?

Boss of all bosses

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 21:12:07 -0400

Boss of all bosses

"There are no secrets if you pay attention."

Sun, 17 Mar 2013 09:37:29 -0400

“There are no secrets if you pay attention.”

- Black Yoda

Breeding us to leading us

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 18:55:15 -0400

blackyodaprime.blogspot.com/2013/03/breeding-us-to-leading-us.html

I know you think I do nothing but talk ish, but here I am...

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 11:12:58 -0500

I know you think I do nothing but talk ish, but here I am volunteering this morning. Like the NBA, Black Yoda cares n’ shit.