Biggies Words Ring True

I met up with an old friend of mine recently and he was pulling out all of these Cd's with OLD SCHOOL HIP HOP written all over them. We popped a few in and it took me back, way back to the days of my youth. It was great to reminisce about how we used to hang. But he had this one CD is his case, that I had to have, "Ready to Die" by Biggie Smalls, my favorite CD when I was a younger. I must have heard that CD over 100 times, but as I sat in my car listening to the songs now, I asked myself, did I really LISTEN to the songs or did the words just breeze through my ears and the beat just mesmerize me.


I am sitting in my car now, playing all these tracks, and wondering, how did I ever get the songs to play in my house and my mother not beat me down. I mean, every other word is MF this and MF that. I mean, geeze, I can't even listen to it now without trying to remember when those parts are coming on so I can lower the volume. I might as well just turn it off, because their is no way to avoid it.


But as I try to truly listen to the words, I realize something, we as kids in the ghetto, looked at Biggie as, hey he made it, he got out of jail and made it. He sold the drugs, lived the illegal way, got caught and still became someone that kids looked up to. Someone right out of our backyard in Brooklyn, straight to stardom. And his words were something of excellence.

Well at that time, that is what I thought, but listening to this CD now, I only wonder if the kids that have listened to his words, did it hold them back from truly achieving their dreams. Did they look at the easy way out or think "hey if Biggie did it, so can I". I am sure many youth back in the day and possibly today, made that mistake and now they are paying for it.

I bring up this issue because as we are facing a new chapter in our politics, a new President to be elected, I only wonder which candidate will give much thought to all those youth in the ghetto that have to live a life the way Biggie rapped about. Biggie brought it real, he was an artist that painted the ghetto exactly as he saw it. I remember, the struggles my friends faced, but could it have been avoided, can it be fixed now. Which candidate today will be the one to come in and help out the youth in the ghetto. To give them a better future than looking up to people that did not live a legal life, and still made it to stardom, should they follow that path, or have opportunities like the youth in better neighborhoods. My question is real easy, who will stand up and say that things need to change, that a change is in order, that all youth in this country will have opportunities for a better life. We have heard enough about the oil, the health care, the war, the hatred, the radicals, Roe v. Wade, Gay Marriages, but how much have we heard the candidates speak about what they intend to do to help out the people that need it the most. You can't hold people's hands and walk them to their future, but you can give them a way out of no where.

I only used Biggie as an example because his words ring so true, but we need new words, ones that will propel the youth in the ghettos to greatness.

These words can no longer be the anthem in the ghetto:

"To all the teachers that told me, Id never amount to nothin, to all the people that lived above the Buildings that I was hustlin in front of that called the police on Me when I was just tryin to make some money to feed my daughters, And all the niggaz in the struggle"

We need to change this now, we need to give our youth a better future, better options, or we will continue to lose them to their environment. Who will stand up and take this under their wing??

Did McCain Go Too Far?

I have been monitoring all the rhetoric between Obama and McCain. The TV ads, that don't seem to stop, on how McCain votes for this and that and how Obama is not suitable to be a President, or how his faith is a question, etc... What I am waiting for is Wilmer Valderama's MTV show "Yo Mama" to come to the next debate so that these two can really battle it out.

But on a serious note, McCain and Palin have been having a very good time taking what they have heard out of their camp about Obama, his connections to known terrorists, his connection to Acorn, his college record, and spewing it all over the place. At rallies, in TV ads, anywhere that they can be heard. But that all came to a crashing halt when McCain was at a rally and the crowd started telling him that they hated Obama, that they wanted to get rid of him, and that they felt he was an evil person.

Woman at rally: I don't trust Obama. I have read about him and he's an Arab.

Sen. John McCain: No ma'am, no ma'am. He's a decent family man, citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues. That's what this campaign is all about. He's not, thank you.

So McCain, had his chance to basically side with this woman and lay it all on the line. I mean that is what they were waiting for, he had been building it up all along the trail, that is why these people came to the rally, not to hear about what he stood for, but to hear him agree with their fears, and when he down played it all, they started to boo him.

So how do you come back from that, do you reverse your strategy and stop all of the none sense, but if you do, you lose all respect of your voters, is it worth it, I think so. Because honestly it shows that they are not voting for the right reasons. Hopefully when McCain went home and was able to access what had happened that day, hopefully he will realize that he could have incensed people toward hatred and that is not what this country needs at this point. Because no matter what anyone thinks about Obama, he is a Family man before he is anything else.

I was in church on Sunday and the one thing that they preached about that stood out was that when a home is in Division, it will not stand. When a country is divided, it will not prosper.

We need to stop all of this bickering and get down to what really matters. Because when it is all set and done and the next President is elected into office, we can not be a divided country, we need to be a UNITED country.

Is Obama a Radical?

I have heard many stories, have seen a special on this topic and also there is a book called "Obama Nation" that focuses on the people of whom he has a relationship with and I have to ask, can there be truth to all of this. I mean you can argue both sides of this, but it just seems to be too believable. I mean, I understand that anyone can write a book and make things up, but the special that was on Fox-News this past weekend, just makes you wonder, is all of this possible, can Obama truly be apart of a secret union that is planning to undermine the American people once he is in office. Or even if it is true, it is all innocent and won't effect anything if he is elected.
Now not to undermine any one's intelligence, but I am a smart man, I read and understand things, I may not research as heavily as most, and I do not allow others to sway my thinking, but you have to admit, if you saw the special that some of it seems to be very believable. Now of course all the Obama supporters will denounce this because how dare you even think it, and all the McCain supporters will say, I told you so. But what is the real truth in all of this.

Is this a way for the Republican Party to just ruin Obama's chances of being our next President, or is the Democratic Party actually withholding this important information. Now others may think it is no big deal, but if at all this information is true, to me I feel it is very scary. I mean, to be friends or even acquaintances with a known terrorist and with middle eastern terrorists, and to think that a person with those kinds of friends can be our next President, I have to say is scary.

Or is it just propaganda? I mean, it does sound farfetched that such a thing can elude our media and after what happened on 9/11, it wouldn't be deemed as an important piece of news is alarming. So since it really hasn't been brought to every one's attention, how truly important is it.

Fox News Special, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6.

Now I am not saying that it is all true, I have no proof to prove yes or no, but think of it this way, if McCain was being accused of the same thing, would it make you question it or just push it to the side. I think for me I would question it either way because it effects my freedom and the country in which I live in. I guess you can argue both sides and that is why I posted this entry, to open the door to both sides giving their input.