The Bruhs....

I found a moment to hang with my line-brothers. It's been a pretty hectic two weeks with classes and mock trial competitions. Yes, I am still in the competition, (more on that later) but I got out on the town for a hours. I went to a step show at LeMoyne, its been a minute since I have been to a show. All I gotta say is, I never thought I would see the day, where I would either be embarrassed or have the desire to boo my own bruhs off the stage, but dammit I came damn near close to it. It was the most tasteless and non-stepping display of stepping that I have ever seen. In fact, I thought I was at one of those wack azz black plays, cause there was more skits in it than tstepping routines. Put it this way, if the Alpha Bench on the yard comes up missing.........yep....... Spike, Doobie and GP.

Most of my LB's have moved out of state, so its rare we all get together to hang. Its always good to get together to discuss our successes and disappointments etc...Collectively the Significant Seven seem to be doing our thang, representing professionally, family wise and all that good stuff. College Days Swiftly Pass, Imbued with Memories Fond. Them cats look old.......lol

You know when you get a bunch of folk together, there is always one that is just out of control. Leave it to Golden One.

Whoa...

Somebody get New York off Pumkin.....

Hazing Jr.

Yes!!! I finally chalked up a win in mock trial. I had previously been shut down in moot court, (which I assert is really gay anyway) so I was really looking forward to mock trial competitions. Hopefully we can win a few more rounds, I seem to be learning a lot about evidence, so hopefully the competition proves to be more beneficial than I thought it would be. I have to shout out my witnesses BB and Los. Ya'll were great. Thanks!!!

Barak Obama was in Memphis to help Ford Jr. campaign for his run for the Senate. I was looking forward to hearing Obama speak, and he delivered a very thoughtful and perhaps inspiring tale of how he was able to overcome the odds in winning his senate seat. He mentioned how that off the bat he had to overcome the issue of his name. (I can certainly relate). Nonetheless he was not a frontrunner when he was running. He was able to get his message out to the voters and he was eventually elected to the Senate. I think Barak stole some of Jr's thunder in that Jr. has been was eyeing the senator before Barak came onto the scene. In addition, Jr., had been the Democrats golden boy in a sense, so when Barak was elected he became a focal point in the party. Barak has not been in the Senate long enough for me to form an opinion on his politics and how he has voted on the issues, but at this stage I have to respect him for his accomplishments thus far and hope his politics are for the people and not a continuation of the current bullshit that is being served in D.C. Yea I know its blurry, my bad.

As it relates to Jr., he put it out there that if it appears he is playing the middle, he does so because he is about helping all people. Hmm....I dunno if I am going to buy that. I mean in the real world, you want an elected official that is going to play fair and by the rules. But we are not dealing with this type of reality with the current administration. These Republicans are saying we have the ball and you cant play unless you play by our rules. I want an elected official that is gonna have the balls to say, fuck that, and make moves/waves/. Jr. is a Blue Dog Democrat. But this District is not a blue dog district. How is this district benefiting from Jr's desire to play ball with the Republicans? I mean its one thing to try to meet the opposing party half way, but what is he getting in return that helps his district? Nada......For those who are asking, what the hell is a Blue Dog Democrat? I've already expressed my disdain for his support of the Iraq War, I am speaking about before we went to war, his endorsement of the war was foolish, and I do not recall him coming back to Memphis for a townhall meeting. Then there is that jacked up Bankruptcy bill he signed off on. Mind you Memphis is the Bankruptcy capital of the world. Nuff said on that one.

"The Blue Dogs are less fiercely partisan, and they do not all hail from the South. They seek to build ideological bridges to the Republican side of the aisle, are known for their independence from the leadership of their own party, and tend to be more pragmatic than partisan. Blue Dogs are closer in purpose to a former coalition of southern Members of the House known as the “Boll Weevils,” whose heyday was in the early 1980's. These Members defected as a group from the Democratic party to vote with Congressional Republicans on budgetary and tax bills. However, all Southerners, they were named after the insect that infected and often destroyed cotton crops, so the name “Boll Weevil” had a pejorative implication."

Even with my disappointment in Jr. as my elected representative, I can't say I will not support his candidacy for the Senate. Would I prefer him in the Senate, or a full fledged Republican? Which is worse? At least I know the Republican is gonna vote Republican. Jr. needs to be hazed by those of us in his District who believe he is abandoning his base. Who knows what the hell he is promising while he campaigns in conservative East Tennessee. We better get to him before it is too late.

Malcolm X was gunned down on this day forty-one years ago. I figure I will close with a quote from him. "I believe in the brotherhood of man, all men, but I don’t believe in brotherhood with anybody who doesn’t want brotherhood with me. I believe in treating people right, but I’m not going to waste my time trying to treat somebody right who doesn’t know how to return the treatment." Speech, Dec. 12 1964, New York City. Dig that.......

Flavor Flav please get rid of Pumpkin...........that's all I gotta say!

Convincing?

Mock Trial competitions have commenced and I am determined to pull off a victory. These times of the year are a trip cause you find yourself competing against some of your going up against folk you have never had a conversation with. In my case, my partner is someone that I had words with about the war. An older true southern Republican type. Talk about a mixmatch. It's good for me though. I am forced to put my own personal beliefs to the side, or even over look the positions of others to try and be successful in the competition. Who knows, may be I gained a new friend.

Your Honor, members of the Jury, My name is Spike Zee together with my co-counsel D.J. Paul, we represent Mr. and Ms. Ronald McGee. The family has filed a wrongful death suit against the school board for the loss of their twelve year old daughter Rebecca McGee which occurred on 10/08/04/. Rebecca was tragically stuck and killed by a vehicle as she attempted to navigate across a six lane road. How Rebecca was put into a position of crossing a busy six lane road is why we are here today. This is a case about the how a series of negligence acts by the school board and its employees led to the ultimate death of little Rebecca. Their negligent acts in this case were kind of like how a giant wave forms, it builds up and builds up, becoming so large that it takes out everything in its path. Except in this case, this wave of negligence led to the death of my clients twelve year old daughter. The school board assumed a duty to ensure my clients that their daughter would be safely transported between the school and their home. The school board failed to do so. Rebecca got on the school bus like she did everyday, except on 10/8 she never made it home. The school board has a duty to ensure that its bus drivers operate the buses safely and in compliance with its rules and policies. Well, on 10/08, the evidence will show that the driver of the bus, Mr. Chris Allman was not a school bus driver put a physical education teacher who never drove a school bus before. Testimony will show he was not even familiar with the particulars of the route when he was handed the keys to the bus. The school board has a duty to ensure that the person it selects to operate its buses are properly licensed and operates the bus in compliance with all board rules and policies. There will be testimony that shows that Mr. Allman was driving the bus in violation of state law as he did not have the proper license to drive the bus. Once again, the board failed in this duty. The board failed in each of the duties which it owed to little Rebecca and to my clients. This pattern of negligence placed Rebecca in a position she had never previously been in. You will hear evidence that the Driver did not follow the correct route and let Rebecca off on the wrong side of the street. And while Rebecca was attempting to navigate across the final three lanes, she was struck by a driver who tried desperately to avoid hitting her, but in the end was unable to. The school board and its attorneys are going to stand before you attempt to blame others for this accident. It was the driver Dana Dalton who struck Rebecca who was at fault, the school board may even have the audacity to blame Rebecca for her death. I am going to tell you now, such blame is misdirected. The school board had a duty and breached that Duty to get my clients child the door steps of her home. Their actions were the proximate cause of Rebecca McGee’s death. Members of the jury, remember this, but for the many negligent acts which begin from the time Mr. Allman cranked the ignition of to the bus, to the time Rebecca was lets off the bus to cross six lanes of traffic, my clients child would still be alive to day After you have heard all of the evidence, we ask that you return a verdict for the family of Rebecca McGee finding the negligence of the school board the proximate and only cause of her death. Thank you for your time and attention.

I Plan, and So Does God

Lets see, I left class, drove to the airport, got there an hour in advance, got my strip search on, all with time to spare. Oh, it was raining as I was driving to the airport. Last night as I was about to go to bed, I checked the local forecast, all the talking heads predicted rain late in the evening on Friday, so I was like cool. Well, when I boarded the plane, it was raining still, I grabbed the complimentary blanket and got all cozy in my seat, awaiting my voyage to begin. Then something happened, I looked out the window, and noticed it was snowing a little bit. From my seat I was like cool, its snowing how nice. Anyway, I guess the snow came hella fast, cause by the time we got through rolling to the runway, the pilot came on talking about we gonna check to see if we need to de-ice. So we sat on the runway for about an hour, while the de-icing truck made its way to us on the runway. I look out the window and I see three brothers, (bruhs don't do snow) any way them cats looked like they did not know what was goin on. I can imagine their conversation,

Bruh 1 - Hey, we gotta go de-ice some planes man. Bruh 2- De-ice? What negroe? Bruh2- I aint doin shit, its snowing out there, and its cold, what you say we gotta do? Bruh 1- Main, we gotta hose the plane down to make sure there is no ice on the plane, you gotta get in that lift and spray the plane. Bruh 2 - All hell naw negroe, I aint getting in that thing, look outside fool, its snowing.

The conversation had to have gone like that cause, I glanced back out the window to see them cranking up the truck and all this black smoke came out the exhaust, (a sign that the de-icing truck aint been cranked in years) Then there was a standoff between the bruhs as they debated on who was gonna drive the truck and who was getting in the lift. By the time they agreed on who was driving and who was spraying, the pilot comes over the intercom and announces, the snow is too heavy to leave and we need more gas before we de-ice so we are gonna go back to the gate. I saw the bruh's hi-fiving each other as they hopped back in the truck. Mind you, the Fed-Ex jets were getting de-iced while these two cats were negotiating a deal. So by the time I got off the plane, we had been on it about two and a half hours. Oh, I forgot about the little bad azz kid sitting behind my seat that kept kicking me in the back and the lil bastard farted, yea, it was his little azz. So, I pull a lil stewardess to the side, and asked her if she could put me on the next flight out, I really gotta get to Durham. About five minutes later she came back and told me she put me on the last flight out. I was appreciative and kool with that, so I grabbed a quick bite and chilled for the next two hours. Finally, they announced my new flight was boarding and they started allowing parents with babies to board. I was like yea, its all good, I'm out finally. They announce my section to board, and I SWEAR, as soon as I got my azz up, some one from the plane came out and announced the flight was cancelled. I was like hell naw nicca, aw hell mf naw....naw naw, not today, not the kid. Then this country dude, who was on the previous flight with me, got on the bandwagon adding a few choice words. So I marched my azz up to the counter, put my diplomatic face on, and was like, ok um...so uh, when can I get to Durham? How bout 6:00 pm Saturday? Damn Damn Damn. Uh, can you go get my shit off the plane? If I tell the story about how I finally got my luggage, well lets just say.....I'm just gonna take my disappointed self to bed.

On a serious note, Judge D'Armey Bailey was scheduled to be the keynote speaker at the convention. He was on my first flight, and did not get on the second flight. Hopefully he will make it down there. That would suck if there was no guest speaker at the convention.

Off to Raleigh, N.C.

Off to empower myself and get motivated again. I am on my way to the BLSA Southern Region Convention. I look forward to all the seminars, and meeting others whose goals are similar to mine.

Congressional Black Caucus Aint Feeling Ford Jr.

See what the CBC thinks of Junior's voting record. http://www.blackcommentator.com/169/169_cover_cbc_report_card_chart.html Lets just say his record is piss poor. I am curious to see how much further to the right he will go as he pursues a the Senate. Barak Obama stole Junior's mojo when he was elected to the Senate without putting in work as a Congressman. Now, Junior who hit the class ceiling when first elected as Congressman, can only be elected to the Senate by selling out his base. It's unfortunate for him, and his constituents.

They Playin Basketball...

Considering there is very lil time to do anything these days but school, I've found a lil time to participate in our campus intramural sports. It's Basketball time baby!! My team is the current Intramural Flag Football Champions, so it figures we should have a pretty decent team right? Wrong....... Let's just say we got served in our first game. But since none of us had played together prior to our first game, its understandable. We will re-group. Check out Los, in his throwback gear for the game. Rocking the Chuck's and the high socks. How did those cats back in the day get all that air in those damn shoes? Los thinking bout his skills back in the day. Man he reminded me of Rickey Smiley in his P.E. skit!