Vintage Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson was my first crush. I was a nine year old girl when I first heard this song on the radio and saw the Jackson Five perform on 'American Bandstand'. In 1970s, you'd be hard pressed to find a little black girl who didn't have crush on Michael Jackson. From there, Michael and his brothers became an important part of my life. We rushed out to buy the next new Jackson Five single, created dance steps for every Jackson Five song and fought over who was going to be Michael's girlfriend.

My love for all things Michael Jackson and the Jackson Five continued into my teenage years. I never missed an appearance on 'The Ed Sullivan Show', 'American Bandstand' or a concert if they were in my town. All I know is I would have died if I had missed a Jackson Five concert. Luckily for me, my mom understood the earth-shattering importance of this and saw to it that I had tickets for every concert. I think I first saw Michael Jackson live in 1972 and probably have seen him more than a handful of times since then. I was never disappointed.

Although I have enjoyed Michael's music over the years, I have a particular fondness for his music from the 70s. No one could tell me, 'Stop the Love You Save' was not a bombass song. I'm not as fond of his newer music because the memories aren't the same. After his classic 'Off The Wall' album was released, Michael began to change. His nose got thinner, his skin got lighter and his hair got straighter. He was no longer that beautiful black man I fell in love with. 'Thriller' was the last Michael Jackson album I bought.

Michael first achieved his fame as a young black kid from Gary but by the time he died, he was as far away from this as he could possibly be. It was his marriages, first to Lisa Marie Presley and then that odd one to that homely Debbie Rowe and then it was the children. No one was willing to state the obvious about Michael, his intense self-hatred. Though he sang "it doesn't matter if you're black or white", he was clearly becoming a white person before our very eyes. And then the children, was I the only person wondering why or how he fathered white children? No one, particularly black folks, said a word about it. I know I wasn't the only one who thought this was both bizarre and sad at the same time.

Michael Jackson had enough fame, talent and money to transcend racial barriers. To his millions of fans, his skin color didn't matter but to him it seemed terribly important to leave his black skin and features behind. That more than anything makes me sad. I can't lie, I'm going to miss him but I know now he will finally be at peace. R.I.P. Michael Joe Jackson, thanks for the wonderful memories.

Crocodile Tears in Argentina

Republican South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford is in some deep shit. It wasn't because he disappeared for seven days and his wife and staff claimed to have no idea where he was. It wasn't because he was grandstanding over not taking $700 million in stimulus funds but was forced to take them anyway.

Sanford was in trouble because he lied to his wife. In an odd news conference today where he was incorrectly identified as a Democrat by Fox News, he admitted to having an affair with an Argentinian woman for the past five months. Now he's known her for eight years and their relationship didn't become romantic until then. Okay Mark, if you say so but I'm not buying this version of the story. Sanford who was vociferously opposed to taking stimulus money to help his state, didn't have a problem spending taxpayer money to fly down to Argentina to see his mistress.

As much as I'd like to think being a Republican is a character flaw, I'm just going to say there is a whole lot of hypocrisy going around especially amongst politicians. At the moment Republicans seem to have a monopoly on adultery and lies. Sanford made a name for himself over rejecting stimulus money and now, here he is embroiled in one of the weirdest scandals of the year. Sanford was protesting too much and now I know why.

As far as scandals go, this probably won't be the biggest scandal of the year but it doesn't look good for a self-professed family man and fiscal conservative to get caught in such a messy ordeal. He has betrayed his wife, the citizens of South Carolina and the Republican party.

I'm sure his wife Jenny could have put his ass on blast months ago but she was being a good political wife. Now that they've released the emails between him and his mistress, he just needs resign and disappear as soon as possible. He has humiliated his wife and his four sons and if you can betray your wife and kids, you are just not worthy at all.

Although Sanford admits to spending the past five days crying in Argentina, I don't believe him. He's trying to wrench the last bit of sympathy out of us. I'll be looking for him to resign as governor and if his wife is as disgusted with him as I think she is, she'll be divorcing his ass soon. This drama is better than scripted reality TV, Jon and Kate have nothing on Mark Sanford.

About That Apology

It's nice to know that the U.S. Senate finally passed a resolution to apologize for slavery. I know, I'm late it was done a few days ago, just in time for Juneteenth. For those of you who don't know, Juneteenth is a holiday commemorating the date that slaves in Texas got news that slavery had been abolished. It took two years for the news to reach them but they celebrated anyway.

For ten years, the idea of apologizing to the descendants of enslaved Africans was one that members of Congress could not agree on. The idea has been debated for years but could never get enough votes to be passed by the House of Representatives or the Senate until now. The Senate made sure that their version of the apology excluded the possibility of reparations.

I'm going to assume that the only reason this was done is because Barack Obama is President. The fact that our president identifies himself as black and is of Kenyan descent has nothing to do with slavery. He is more likely the descendant of slave holders than slaves. Since black folks are not allowed to have diverse opinions, values and experiences, the widely held belief that we all think, act and behave as a monolithic group appears to be in play here. Random white people have approached me to tell me how much they like President Obama, they never did this when George W. Bush was president.

Senators Tom Harken from Iowa and Sam Brownback were behind this legislation. I feel special that two of our country's most privileged citizens feel compelled to apologize for 150 years of systematic enslavement and institutional racism against black folks but it was too little too late. It's like trying to reattach someone's head after they've gone through the guillotine. Moving on...

The Problem with Sarah Palin Supporters

Radio talk show host and Sarah Palin supporter John Ziegler is a jerk. He agrees to go on MSNBC to be interviewed about his documentary on Palin but ends up attacking Palin's critics. Like the typical Sarah Palin supporter, Ziegler feels the need to defend her honor at all costs. These people are ride or die. Never mind the self-destructive interview with Katie Couric, the embarrassing appearance on Saturday Night Live and the anti-intellectual persona, Palin dug her own hole and fell in it. She's not even in the top five of GOP party leaders according to a recent poll. What a surprise!

For laughs, you can catch Ziegler and all of his arrogant snarkiness here:

Michael Steele's Reality

Michael Steele continues to be an embarrassment, not only to himself but the Republican Party. At least once a week, he's making some kind of ridiculous statement or proclamation. I know he’s trying to be hip and trying to stay relevant but the man is a buffoon, a modern day minstrel and the Republican’s simple-minded idea of affirmative action--pick the least qualified, least threatening woman or minority for the job.

Steele is the token of the RNC, he has no power. He’s been spanked by talk show host and racist Rush Limbaugh after he called him an entertainer and denied that he was the leader of the Republican Party. Like everyone else who has dare question Limbaugh’s leadership of the party, Steele apologized and admitted to being inarticulate. He doesn’t have a backbone either, another weak black man who has sold his soul to the devil and stands for absolutely nothing.

Since he assumed “leadership” of the RNC, Steele has done very little to woo women or minorities. I can’t name one thing he has done that would convince me to consider being a Republican. That ridiculous hip-hop makeover he was promising has never materialized. I knew the minute he said was a fan of P. Diddy he was doomed. I mean who listens to P. Diddy? This lame admission is a further testament to how far removed he is from something he claims to love. He doesn’t know shit about hip-hop. Something tells me he’d do better talking about Frank Sinatra.

Last week at the College Republican conference, Steele was asked about his efforts to reach out to African Americans and the inner-city. According to Think Progress, here's how he responded:

“What? To reach out to black people? I ain’t doing anything. Black people don’t vote for Republicans, why would I bother with them? […] I’m just messing with you. That is the point I wanted you to get to. Stop it, I know what you meant. But I wanted to illustrate a point. And unfortunately you were at the wrong end of that point. But this is my reality. I look in this room and I see one young black woman here.”

Steele was right, this is his reality and the party he has chosen. As long as he continues to make an ass of himself, sending “slum love” to American born Bobby Jindal and praising the likes of Sarah Palin, he will continue to be the only black person in the room at Republican events. I’m not even going to get into the elitist, xenophobia and overtly racist overtones coming out of the Republican Party. You can’t simultaneously welcome diversity while bashing immigrants, blacks and the poor. Personally, I think Steele likes being the only black guy in the room.

Dumbassness of the Day: T-Pain's Big Ass Chain

Image taken from BallerStatus.com

So much for time off for personal reflection, I had to come out against this dumbassness. Rapper-singer T-Pain claims that this ugly ass chain cost him $410,000, weighs 10 pounds and is 197 'carats'. I hope he's lying because if I were this damn stupid, I wouldn't be posting this ish on Twitter or telling anyone about it.

There are plenty of questions I could ask about this but it would be too much like writing a real blog post and asking some serious questions about the prudence of spending an obscene amount of money on a BIG ASS CHAIN that looks like silver electroplate and rhinestones. I predict T-Pain will be broke in 5-4-3-2-1....