A few thoughts on immigration

With all the immigration talks going on lately, I thought I'd weigh in my $.02 on the issue.

See, us black folks have a whole different type of struggle when it comes to the immigration debate which makes it hard to take a stand either way. The way a person (any person) feels about the immigration issue is a pretty good indicator about what type of cultural value system they have. So I'm not saying I really HAVE a strong position on the issue, but here are some of the thoughts that go into my thinking on this.

First, there is this misconception that permeates the immigration debate that I have a problem with and that is the belief that all immigrants are very hard working, and blacks are lazy and won't work. I'm not saying there aren't any lazy niggas in this world, but what I AM saying is that there are both a lot of hard working black, and a bunch of lazy Latinos too.

One of the arguments I hear a lot is that these are "non-American citizens" taking jobs away from "american citizens". Well, who has the authority to define what an "american citizen" is? Please tell me because people are coming here in the same way that our forefathers came here: without a dinner invite. So we're no more of an American citizen by right to land than they are... Now, if you want to introduce cultural issues into the debate that is a different issue. I can tell you from first hand experience.. Me personally, I don't have much in common with Mexicans. I've been there, done that and really tried hard to make the link, but culturally our backgrounds are very different and rooted in two completely different histories for me to find a common ground with the Mexican chicks. (of course it's all about the chicks.)

I read in an Economist article that nearly 1/2 of blacks in urban areas are unemployed. No fucking wonder every time I go house shopping in "up and coming areas" there ain't nothing but niggas hanging out washing their cars!! I'm thinking to myself, damn, my car needs a car wash too!!! It's that and folks sitting on steps braiding hair.... I shouldn't judge, because maybe she was trying to get herself looking right for a job interview.... BUT the fact remains that we as a people are struggling economically in many respects, so I find the urge to be against the free importation of people with lower job set skills that would increase the pool of applicants that my lower skill set brethen are competing over. Lastly on this note, Cosby is right. We aren't doing enough at home, and we've pointed the finger at a racist and unequal educational system for too long. We have to start solving our own problems and quit complaining about the 4 million (or whatever the number is) immigrants that are coming across our borders every year.

Also, there is a long history of Blacks and Latinos working together in the struggle for equal rights in this country. I recently read in one of my MLK books where he was praying for Coretta to have a safe flight to California as she was on her way to go visit Cesar Chavez in prison. But this current movement does not feel unified in the least bit. Besides random press releases from Jesse Jackson (who always takes the opportunity to be in front of the cameras), it has a "we don't need the Negroes this time" feel to it. It could be a self-empowering move, which I would understand, but I've heard in a number of different ways "You had your movement, and now we're going to have ours." But that does nothing to rally blacks behind the cause, if anything it makes us say, "well, cool, go do your thing then, because we still have a lot of work to do ourselves."

I think its important to realize that this isn't JUST a Mexican issue either. This country has huge discrepencies in it's imigration tactics, mainly based on politics that it has enacted for years. For example, we let every Cuban that arrives in our waters stay, yet we send every Hatian home. The "anti-" rhetoric which begins as "Go back to Mexico." can quickly become "Go back to Asia or Africa." I don't know much about the minutemen, but their practices of taking up arms against the "brown others" and goverment empowering them to use force if necessary is eerily reminiscent of the KKK of the 60's.

Ultimately, like so many other things in this country, it all comes down to money. As long as companies are allowed to exploit immigrants, bring them into our restaurants, homes, & construction sites at rates 10 times better than what they would receive in their country of origin, they will continue to find ways to come. It's clear that they want the same things we want: a good job, a good home, be able to take kids to a movie and out to Red Lobster at the end of the day, and is there anything so wrong with that?

~C

Strippers in public

So, what do you say when you bump into a stripper on the street?

I was walking down the street minding my own business when a sexy lady stopped me and said, "Hey Curtis!" At first, I couldn't remember where I knew her from, so I'm playing it off like I remember her, "HEEEEEEYYYYYYYY!!!! What's going on??? How have you been?" etc... So after chatting it up for a few minutes of BS, it hit me where I knew her from! The Royal Palace!

It wasn't until I asked, "Hows the job going?" when her answer clued me in. She was talking about how slow its been, but she had one of her regulars who comes in and always tries to take her home hit her off with $500 just to sit, hang out and talk with her all night. I'm thinking to myself, damn, BS conversation for 5 bills??!!! I could do this shit!!

The Royal Palace is a hole in the wall strip joint nearby where I work and if I get off late and want to have a beer and unwind a bit, I go there from time to time. I figure, I could have a beer in a bar where I don't know anyone and be all by myself, OR I could have a beer in a bar where I don't know anyone, be all by myself, and have some titties in my face. The choice is an easy one.

So as we're chatting I realize this is one of the hardest conversations to have! But then I realize she has the same problems we all have. The feeling of being overworked and underpaid seems to permeate all of our jobs, and she was no exception. All of the hours in the gym making sure she stays fit, the inability to eat whatever you want, and of course work drama. Some girl stole one of her shoes because one of the regulars likes her now instead of Passion.

I was going to ask her what her real name was, but then it dawned on me that I didn't really care. I much prefer her as background titty for my after-work drink than one of my homies that I can go kick it with. I realize that might sound harsh, but if I'm hanging out with some strippers... nevermind....

She asked me when I was going to come and see her again and I told her soon, but now its going to be weird I think... When I used to bartend there was a crew of strippers that used to come in after they got off work, but THAT was cool because I knew they were strippers and nobody else did... the whole "I know something you don't know" thing has an empowering feeling about it... They were always good tippers too....

So I'm rethinking me feelings about strip clubs. This girl ruined it for me and no longer lets me go and let the ladies simply be objects to me. I've always treated the ladies with the utmost respect whenever I go, but in my mind, they were still objects trying to extract as much cash out of my pocket as possible... now I don't feel that way, they are being exploited by "the man" (no pun intended) just trying to make a dollar like you and me.

Lesson learned: Strippers are people too.

My new painting!!

agm6002fine, originally uploaded by cinnamon.stick.

I've been itching for a long time to get a piece of art I can be excited about.

Well my trip to Jamaica this weekend, brought me face to face with that painting and it was such a surreal feeling.

I was in Jamaica for a wedding which took place on Saturday at 4:30pm. Well as many of you know, the NFL draft started at 11:00am ET on Saturday. So all of the men were trying to figure out how they could get away from the ladies so they could watch the draft uninterrupted.

Since I don't really care about the NFL draft, I took one for the team and offered to go shopping with the ladies. Our first stop was the Gallery of West Indian Art which has arguably the best collection of original Carribbean art anywhere.

So we're wandering around the art gallery then BAM!!! I turn the corner and my whole body just kinda froze and as I'm sitting there speechless, I finally mumble, "that's hot." The wife of one of my best friends turns the corner, sees it, and in her ever-so-confident way looks at me and says, "you know you gotta get that right?"

... and she was right. I had no idea how much it was, but I knew I had to get it. So I did.

I don't even have a place to put the MF, and I can't imagine how much it's going to cost me to frame a 60" long painting.... so now my house hunting search is completely predicated upon whether or not the house has the right wall to hang this painting...

how crazy is that?? I'm going to base my home buying decision on whether or not it has the perfect place for this painting...

It is by a Cuban artist, Abel G. Matos and is laquered acrylic painted on canvas.... can anyone tell me the difference between acrylic and oil paint??? I almost got one by J.B. Louisius which is the original Haitian artist whose work is often imitated on the streets, but can't quite stand up to the originals. I was equally fascinated by the work of Dieguez but the Matos painting just was calling me from the moment I first saw it.

Oh yeah, and Jamaica was absolutely WONDERFUL!!!

... don't hate.

~C

Ringtones

I hate Nextel and this "chirp chirp" shit with a passion man.

They seriously need to make these fools take a mandatory cell phone etiquette course before you can purchase a cell phone. People's cell phones go off EVERYWHERE mayne???

And how come all the brothas from the hood and big booty gangsta chics all have Reggaeton ringtones on volume 20!!!

... got gasolina ringtones

...and whenever they press a button, it sounds like chacletas and shit...

THEN have the nerve to look at me crazy because I'm shooting you the "ignorant eye". IT'S CUZ YOU IGNORANT MAYNE!!!! GASOLINA RINGTONES ON VOLUME 20 WHILE RIDING THE TRAIN IS SOME IGNORANT SHIT!!

and you KNOW it don't take nobody 4 rings to answer their cell phone... Ain't nobody's cell phone THAT far away from them that I should hear the verse, chorus, and bridge of the damn song...

... then we wonder whY folks stereotype us. It's because we are loud.. we are loud all the time for no damn reason. OR maybe it's not that we're loud, but everyone else is quiet, and we just don't give a fuck.... which is a whole other problem I suppose...

and.. we're slow... I'm always caught behind my people walking on the sidewalk, on the trains, getting out the doors, up escalators, in line at Chipotle... we are always slow... ain't never in a hurry to get back to work... that's for damn sure....

It's so bad, I don't get in line behind black people anymore. Nowhere.

If I see black people in line, or a black cashier, I go to a different line. because my people are slow... I love them to death, but we have two speeds... SLOW and SLOWER... and I don't know what to do with that...

NO MORE REGGAETON RINGTONES!!

~c

Extra Credit

So how come it's the people that are lazy all semester, sleeping throughout class and shit are the FIRST MF's to be all gung ho about some extra credit.

I'm thinking to myself, " Self, THIS MFer didn't do the REGULAR work!!! what in the hell makes me think you're going to some EXTRA work??!!" Actually, I can tell you right now, extra credit is a farce. Some MFer that slept all semester and barely showed up half the time, wrote half-ass effort papers and is obviously going to get a C in the class THINKS he can do the extra credit and magically turn that C into a B. shit ain't happenin' playa.....

Let me tell you who extra credit is for. Extra credit is ONLY for those folks that are JUST BARELY on the border of a grade... A/B or B/C. If youre grade for the semester is a D or a C, you most likely didn't work too hard throughout the semester and just barely did what you had to do to float by, ain't no way the extra credit is going to bring you up a grade.

The good part is, the extra credit is some real hard shit. It's interesting shit, and the sad part is that the people who don't need it are the ones who are going to go all out of their way to do it. The ones who need it the most, are going to copy it from the ones who made all the effort to do it.... slackers....

I've quickly become that professor who doesn't give a damn about those who don't want to learn. Ive decided that you can only teach those who want to learn. For example, I gave a pop quiz the other day and left the room for a second, when I came back in the room, saw two of those slackers in the back cheating... didn't fail them, but called them out and said,

"Y'all two cheating off each other is like the blind leading the blind!" and let them cheat. Now there is this other dude who has a smart ass girlfriend he's been riding all semester and I was on him like a hawk!!! But he really has the potential to be pretty good. Poor kid needs a fashion consultant (brotha wore a lime green suit to a professional function), but he's from the Carribbean so I forgive him. But he's a perfect example. His girl is an A student who will go do the extra credit... because she wants to learn... he'll copy hers and reap the benefits of her knowledge...

That's why the more I do this, the more I realize, grades don't mean shit. It could be the smartest MFer in the class that gets an A but doesn't learn half of the shit they could because they can get A's in their sleep. Then there are students who will bust their ass, learn a TON and just barely get a B because they can't write worth a shit. I've given up on a few, but I'll start all over with new crop of students again next year. I just have to figure out the losers a little quicker next time.

~C

CD of the moment: Dave Chappelle's Block Party

My manicure nightmare

Well this is the last time I'm going to "Lovely Nails" to get my manicure!!! Sheesh!!

I'm sayin, I know it's been a minute since I've been to get one, so my cuticles were slightly out of control, but ole girl has 6 out of my 10 fingers begging for mercy this morning.

They are so sensitive right now I can barely type! And you don't realize how often you bang your fingernails on shit until your cuticles are all sore and jacked up from a polynesian digging at your nails for 30 minutes.

The funny thing about it is, I don't know why they try and talk to me because as soon as I respond they just node their heads and smile, then start talking to the other manicurists in their native tongue... but it's that same nod and smile that they give you if you would've responded with some blabber about dog doo-doo.

her: "you cuticles bad."
me: "yeah, the last time I had a manicure was about 4 months ago so I've been meaning to get back out to get one for a while. So where are you from?"
her: ..... blank stare.... big smile.... nods head........
me: "............................ okay, I'll try to keep the conversation to a minimum."

I don't know what that shit is they put on your nails, but it makes my fingers feel like butter dude, for real. Ever since this friend of mine from Georgetown took me to get a manicure about 10 years ago, I've been hooked. I was in college and wanted to hang out with her, and she said, "well I'm going to get my nails done, wanna come with me??" ..and since at the time I wanted to hit it so bad I'd stoop low enough to go hang out and watch the girl get her nails done, I went with her.

Sensing my boredom, she bought me a manicure and afterwards I had my nails all shiny and polished with clear nail polish. I'd go out of my way to point at things to try to get people to look at my nails and shit.... what can I say, it was a whole new thing for me and I've been hooked ever since..

but I'm NOT going back to Lovely Nails.... got my fingers feeling all sore and stuff...

`C

my "homeless" guy

So, you live and work in the city, and rather than hitting off all the homeless people with spare change all the time, I find it's easier to just find one that you get food & cigarettes for from time to time. Plus it makes me not feel so guilty for ignoring the rest of them.
So I go by my man today who has on these huge darth vaderesque glasses on. So I say: "new glasses?" and he says,

"Nah, I had eye surgery to take care of my cataracts and my optometrist is making me wear these stupid looking glasses for a month. She's cute so if you need an optemetrist, holla at me."

... I'm beginning to wonder how "homeless" my man really is. How many homeless people do you know that have an optometrist? I'm thinking maybe he's really just an old retired man who like to dress scraggly and hang out outside and talk to folks all day...

~C