Artist 🎨 Tony Puryear #Gankstas #JasonVass #LosAngeles #California #DowntownLosAngeles

AYCE GUEST BLOGGER * MY SMALL STORY " * REFLECTING ON 100 NYC STORIES

THERE ARE 8 MILLION STORIES

IN NEW YORK CITY

MY SMALL STORY 

HAS OFFICIALLY CAPTURED 100 OF THEM!

A MONTAGE OF THIS MOMENTOUS OCCASION

DETROIT TO NY

"MY SMALL STORY MIX"

AYCE BLOGGER HIGHLIGHT * MY SMALL STORY * UPLIFTING MEN & WOMEN

VERY TRULY UPLIFTING STORY

KEVIN GREEN OF NEW YORK

IS LIFTING THE LIVES AND SPIRITS 

OF THOSE WHO OTHERWISE

MAY HAVE LOST HOPE

WITH HIS NON-PROFIT ORGANZATION

"UPLIFTING MEN"

ENJOY THIS SMALL STORY

AYCE PHOTO FEATURE * "BEFORE AND AFTER (BP)" * BY ARTE-FACTUAL

THIS PHOTO FEATURE BY ARTE-FACTUAL IS AN AMAZING BODY OF WORK 

 WITH A PICTURE BEING WORTH 1,000 WORDS 

TAKE IN THE REAL STORY OF THE INFAMOUS BP OIL SPILL IN LOUISIANA

VIA THE ALL SEEING LENS-EYE OF ARTE FACTUAL'S ANTONIO MONCADA

 ...NOT THE END...

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM AYCE MEDIA GROUP * AYCE TV * AYCE BLOG-AZINE!!!! * 2011 *

 

AYCE BLOGGER HIGHLIGHT * MY SMALL STORY * HARLEM RENAISSANCE HIGH

PHENOMENAL STORY

AMAZING STORY

NO NEED FOR COLORFUL DESCRIPTION

WATCH AND BE TOUCHED

MY SMALL STORY

AYCE MUSIC * FACT OR FICTION: JAY Z DEVIL WORSHIP + MASON + ILLUMINATI

* DISCLAIMER THIS IS NOT AN AYCE MEDIA ENDORSEMENT *

WITH ALL THE RUMBLINGS ABOUT MEGA-ARTIST JAY Z

AND HIS ALLEGED ASSOCIATION WITH ILLUMINATI

AS WELL AS THE "DEVIL WORSHIP" RUMORS

THE SINGLE MOST COMPELLING CASE THAT HAS ANY EVIDENCE

EVEN REMOTELY VALID COMES FROM A TOTAL UNKNOWN

CHRISTIAN RAPPER "BIZZLE" 

HIS LYRICS AND IMAGES DEFINITELY GIVE CREDENCE

TO THE CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT OF REFERENCES IN JAY Z'S MUSIC

AND MUSIC VIDEOS

YOU MAY HAVE TO WATCH THIS VIDEO AND LISTEN MORE THAN ONCE

YOU BE THE JUDGE...

* WARNING PARENTAL ADVISORY - LANGUAGE AND IMAGES *

AYCE BLOGGER HIGHLIGHT * MY SMALL STORY FEATURING "THE RENT IS TOO DAMN HIGH"

"MY SMALL STORY" TOOK TO THE STREETS OF NEW YORK
SEARCHED * AND FOUND REAL REACTIONS 
TO THE POLITICAL SENSATION THAT'S SWEPT THE NATION
"THE RENT IS TOO DAMN HIGH" PARTY
CHECK OUT WHAT TRUE NEW YORKERS THINK 
GENIUS OR INSANITY????

AYCE POLITICO * NO WEDDING NO WOMB…NO REAL COMMUNICATION #NWNW

[photo credit]

 WHEW!!! JESUS BE A BOXING REFEREE!!

The all too hot topic of “No Wedding No Womb” has unleashed the beast of twitter, and the beast is BEASTING!!!  The alternate name for this piece was “Twitter.com – Angels & Demons”. 

The previous post supporting NWNW was primarily an announcement of it's launch [Original Ayce Blog-azine NWNW Post] and a follow up episode featured the views of author/blogger/Political mouthpiece Brandale Randolph * AKA @Brandale 2221 . Views expressed in this installment are those of N. Maurice Williams.

First and foremost, while I still have you reading in a somewhat objective state, I support the BASIC CONCEPTS of NWNW. 

The CONCEPTS of 1) NWNW is a CONVERSATION moreso than a MOVEMENT.  This bit of semantics is very important when anal-izing and scrutinizing this CONVERSATION. One could argue that by definition, "No Wedding No Womb" is a movement, however by the organizer's own definition to me, it is a nationwide conversation.

2) The concept of the IDEAL being – a child has 2 involved parents committed to his/her growth and development.  Married, divorced, boyfriend/girlfriend, shackin’ up or whatever other scenario suits your personal beliefs and values. ALL INCLUSIVE.  The FOCUS of this conversation being on CHILDREN and not on our personal political, sexual or socio-economic beliefs. CHILD HAS 2 INVOLVED PARENTS…hold on to that concept please.

3) The concept of 100+ bloggers who all may have different views or roadmaps, but all share the same DESTINATION…THE CHILD! (did I mention…)

Complete and full disclosure, I am the father of an OOW child in her late teens.  Early on we were extremely close and at some points joined at the hip.  This was the light of my life and I literally fought at times to be a part of hers.  In later years, for WHATEVER reason(s), I became less involved and unfortunately co-parented a lot less (at some points not at ALL) with her mother.  To date, I’m working with my daughter to repair all that’s suffered in our relationship so we can BOTH have more balance and happiness and we’re blessed to have a host of family and friends who’ve been there for us both over the years.  This is not the forum for airing all personal matters, I state these facts as a point of reference and insight into the author.

My personal upbringing was one that was also on both sides of the NWNW fence.  Parents divorced very early in my life, one re-married and formed a 2 parent household, one did not, and I split time between the two.  One household was very strained and not an experience conducive to raising a balanced citizen/Black Man (the single parent one), the other very nurturing, cerebral, positive and balanced (2 parents).  Very fortunate for ME, I had an interest in psychology at an early age, even to the point of playing toy box therapist to some of my friends in elementary and junior high school.  That blessed me with an objective view of the difference between a single parent household and one with 2 parents – and the effects of both.

Fast forward to Tw-ornado, Tw-urricane, Tw-irestorm (Twitter+Firestorm…get it) “No Wedding No Womb”.

[photo credit]

IN THE BEGINNING THERE WAS A TWEET

“Organizer” (GOD don’t tell her she’s a leader! GEEZ!) Christelyn Karazin put up a tweet, not sure how I ended up “following” her, but it was asking for a singer to perform a song that was already written and done musically, just needed a voice.  I replied with a couple of young ladies I know personally who might be interested and are actively involved in music.

Novel story put in Cliff’s Notes, Christelyn and I had a phone conversation and I introduced her to the person you hear on the “NWNW Theme Song”, writer/vocalist Kyndra and Producer Leland Sharp.  Now, very real and open talk, there were a NUM-BER of areas in which Christelyn and I did not and do not agree and have different methodologies.  I wont state them point for point, but at the end of the day the CON-CEPT of NWNW and improving the lives of children and the community were/are a common interest we share and with that I offered my support (in my non-committal Sagittarian way) and have since counseled with her during the course of this NWNW conversation.

[photo credit]

As much as I do not agree with her on issues such as the source of the problem and some reasonable solutions, from my own life experience I support her passion for getting people together as a think-tank for solutions and expression.  Some of the bloggers for NWNW have made some very good points, and a select few are on a hair-brained mission to put hydraulics on their pedestal.  My personal experience with Christelyn herself says that her position has been to not CENSOR ANYBODY, FOR OR AGAINST NWNW.  In her defense (ducking tomatoes) she has posted blogs that both praised and demonized the CONVERSATION (exit MOVEMENT).  Bashing someone who’s actually doing things “The American Way” in the way of freedom of speech and “we’re all in this together” just because you don’t agree with what you THINK is the premise of the conversation, is ignorant and careless.  No matter what you think of the words “Wedding”, “Womb”, “Values” or “Price of condoms in China”, we should all (SHOULD ALL) agree that the I-DEAL for a child is 2 caring parents raising them.  Add your own grandstanding and pontification AFTER we all say in unison…THE I-DEAL!!!!

Feminist, Pro-Gay Marriage, Pro-Single Mom/Dad or Pro-Raised by a Pack of Wolves, the I-DEAL…

[photo credit]

 “JUST SAY NO”

When I was a young yute [sic], there was an anti-drug campaign titled “Just Say No”.  Basically, when someone offers you “drugs” (one’s the government doesn’t make tax dollars directly from), JUST SAY NO!

Independent of the birth of the crack epidemic and growth of marijuana use, this was most definitely a large scale smokescreen and publicity stunt.

Such the running joke, that I’ve often heard the slogan “Just Say No” as a joint was getting passed (no admission of guilt!) or during other times of drug indulgence.

What is understandable about this “Just Say No” campaign/conversation/movement is that it is an EXTREME measure being used in order to fight the crack/drug use problem that had grown to epic proportions.  It was a simplified way to say “Don’t be a crack addict who steals your family’s VCR, pawns it and uses the money to buy crack or has sex with the dope man to get a hit or walks around begging for money to get $5 dollars together just to get your afternoon high on…” (WHEW! MOUTHFULL!)

“No Wedding No Womb” in TITLE and to some extent in theory, just as many ad campaigns or movements (circa “Nike – Just Do It”) struck me as being similar from the time I heard it.  I have my OWN youth related programs and have been involved in child development for some years now, and my focus is at the source of these problems. So although I never openly say or promote the concepts in the NWNW conversation, ultimately that’s a part of what my soon to be nationwide programs are about.  The vision of my programs also extend beyond just youth, and incorporate parents/adults in order to have the resources and lessons given to youngsters supported by those closest to them.

Christelyn Karazin is not the first person on planet earth to say “Hey this is a problem” and she’s not a pioneer in putting it on a nationwide jumbotron, but for some reason we’re ALL ENGAGING in not only her NWNW conversation, but a deeper convo of morals, standards and where the bar is in the Black community as compared to others.

“SEX LIES AND TWITTER RANTS”

The angels and demons of Twitter have come together in a “Clash of the Tw-itans” (c) and all of this for the WHOLE WORLD TO SEE!! PEOPLE THE WHOLE WORLD…that’s all I’ll say in that respect, however, I wouldn’t be true to myself if I didn’t point out my personal observations and opinions…PART II of this NWNW piece (because I have a LIFE and have to get BACK TO IT!! LOL)  is dedicated to 1) Unfortunately naming some names and exposing some games and 2) Stating my own proposed solutions, as I make it a point to state solutions in any instance that has me pointing out problems/issues – even if it’s with my beloved sports teams!

POST SCRIPT!!!

I will NOT be defending my words or beliefs on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace or the corner of Crenshaw and Adams (L.A folks) nor debating in comments, that’s part of the problem.  Anything I’m saying publicly is either already on my timeline (@NMaurice) or said in PART 1 + PART II of this piece.  Just so we’re 200% clear.  I will, however, engage in positive progressive solutions with anyone who's actually in agreement that this is a problem that needs solving as my aim is to get to aiding...the children.

PLEASE RETURN FOR PART II OF “NO WEDDING NO WOMB NO COMMUNICATION"

AYCE GUEST BLOGGER * DEREK FERGUSON "TV WASTELAND"

AYCE GUEST BLOGGER, GLOBE-TROTTER/HARVARD ALUM/U.S.+COSTA RICA RESIDENT DEREK FERGUSON WITH A VERY TELLING AND COMPELLING EXPRESSION * A REFLECTION OF HOW DESENSITIZED WE ALL MAY BE...READ, ENJOY AND RE-THINK!

 

TV Wasteland

Packing up my things here in CA, getting ready to head to Black Rock City for this year’s Burn, and had the tube on for some mindless background filler. It was some show featuring weapons, lots of weapons. There were a couple of youngish white guys going on about “stopping power” and “lethality” of the various automatic weapons they were fondling. Now, clearly, none of these guys had ever fired a shot in anger or felt a bullet whizz by their ear, but, like W. that only seemed to pump them up more. One particularly offensive exercise involved a black guy who looked like he had, in fact, seen some combat, floating down a river on a little skiff and firing an AK-47 at some red-goo filled mannequins about 50m away. The white squibs sat safely distant and marveled as homeboy delivered nice, tight circles in the kill zone of the dummies, making the goo spooj out everywhere. Then they sat around afterwards with big smiles saying shit like, “oh yeah, for sure, this guy’s dead! Look at that—right in the balls! GREAT shot!”

Now, I’m pretty sure this programming isn’t available in Afghanistan or Nigeria, or any of the many war torn parts of this dumb rock hurtling through space, and for good reason: War and violence viewed up close tend to lessen the appetite for such fictional recreations. Still, there must be American viewers who have lost children (say, in Afghanistan or Iraq, or even in Compton or Detroit) to automatic weapons fire. What a death blow to your psyche, to see this faux violence in celebration of real violence. What a statement about our macho posturing that we indulge in this crap, and that Spike TV pays these pricks (and in turn, reaps revenue) to recreate gory death for the benefit of a bunch of armchair, wannabe warriors in the suburbs. In the trial of America as the Great Satan, let me offer this as Exhibit A. We can’t even seem to grasp the offensiveness of it since most of us are so far removed from any real threat of violent, machine gunned death, and thus somebody’s grim reality gets presented as TV dinner fantasy, and eaten with gusto. It’s tantamount to having a show on slavery or human trafficking, and the hosts sitting around chortling over the shackles or simulated rape of (somebody else’s) daughter.

As if this wasn’t in enough bad taste, they pitted sharpshooters against each other and graded them on kills and how many times their guns jammed. So, death dealing as real life video game. And in a fitting coup d’grace (for me anyway, I couldn’t endure it past this scene) of tastelessness, they had a dude attack a pig carcass (head and feet removed, to make it, you know, less lifelike) with a grappling hook, and judged him based on the time it took to literally rip it to pieces (not sure if they awarded style points). The pig was a step up from the mannequins, because at some point, somebody had to kill it. Or, more likely, the pig was put through a processing plant, where the killing was done via automated machines, allowing further distance between the ultimate human consumer, and the eviscerated prey.

I raise pigs (and other livestock) on my farm in Costa. They are raised for slaughter or breeding, and there is a constant and necessary awareness that I’m the caretaker, and also ultimately responsible for life and death. The animals must be raised in a species appropriate manner, with fresh air, freedom, safety, cleanliness, and ultimately, dignity. This is not how the factory farms do it, of course, and the consumer in America never sees the grisly business of slaughter, nor usually do they see the pig in anything but a processed pork product that doesn’t make them think of Babe. This is the necessary separation of reality from fantasy, and what keeps most people obliviously eating meat. A chicken to them is some bird, but chicken breast is not.

I believe in eating meat, but I also believe in doing the slaughter, at least once, yourself. And I stridently oppose the factory farms that treat animals as units instead of individuals, and bend them to a ruthless, economy of scale mentality that holds no respect for life. Not just the animal’s life, but you, the end user’s life, is disregarded. You’re fed animals who ate other animals, chemicals, potions and pills meant to make profit, not health, the priority. With this detachment, we go on living in oblivion, our Earth scorched by the factory farms with their CAFOs, GMOs, organophosphates, runoff, and monoculture. The list of criminal offenses against animal, vegetable, and mineral is long. The verdict is guilty.

So when I saw the grappling hook rip the flesh, the real blood spill forth, the guy in the role of the game, completely in character as a “killing machine” who wasn’t killing anything because it was already dead, I had to turn it off. I had to weep for the blood of innocents, human and otherwise, and wonder at the wraiths of the industry who perpetuate the businesses of War and Agribusiness (because it damn sure isn’t agriculture). They shove shit down our throats, from lies of WMDs to frankenfoods, and we eat it up, unquestioning. We think we’re free, but really, the pen encircles us, and the masters sit outside, laughing as we consume what kills us, banking on our stupidity, as we bleat and bleed.

AYCE POLITICO * "THE BI-DEOLOGY PROJECT - PART 2" * ARIELLE LOREN

PART 2 OF DOCU-SERIES "THE BI-DEOLOGY PROJECT"

FURTHER EXPLORES THE ISSUE OF BISEXUALITY IN MATING/DATING
IN PART 2, FILMMAKER ARIELLE LOREN GETS MORE FEEDBACK

BOTH FOR AND AGAINST THE CONCEPT OF WOMEN DATING MEN WHO'D LIKE TO HAVE THEIR CAKE (AND PIE) AND EAT THEM BOTH TOO
*MATURE SUBJECT MATTER*

AYCE POLITICO * "THE BI-DEOLOGY PROJECT - PART 1" * ARIELLE LOREN

IN CONTINUING WITH TODAY'S "POLITICO" THEME

THIS VERY TELLING DOCU-SERIES "THE BI-DEOLOGY PROJECT"

SHEDS LIGHT ON THE ISSUE OF BISEXUALITY IN MATING/DATING

FILMMAKER ARIELLE LOREN GETS UNDER THE HOOD

AND ASKS ALL THE QUESTIONS YOU'RE AFRAID TO HEAR THE ANSWERS TO!

*MATURE SUBJECT MATTER*

AYCE POLITICO * NO WEDDING NO WOMB 2010 FOLLOW UP * "BRANDALE RAW"

IN OUR FOLLOW UP TO THE ONGOING "NO WEDDING, NO WOMB" DIALOGUE, AYCE POLITICAL HEAD BRANDALE RANDOLPH  

ADDRESSES THE REACTION TO HIS #NWNW BLOG

CHECK OUT PART 1 + PART 2 OF THE VIDEO HERE AND CHIME IN!!

AYCE POLITICO * NO WEDDING NO WOMB 2010

 "No Wedding No Womb" is a nationwide dialogue officially opening up on September 22, 2010.  The primary theme of this dialogue entails the alarming number of out of wedlock children in the African American community.  On this day, nearly 100 popular bloggers across the U.S.A will blog in harmony on the subject, providing both insight and solutions to the epidemic.

From founder/organizer of the "No Wedding No Womb" movement Christelyn Karazin, comes a FAQ overview about the cause, for all who may question any element of what NWNW stands for:

• Is No Wedding No Womb! about bashing single moms?

Absolutely not.  NWNW calls for both MEN and WOMEN to put the needs of children first, and advocates that couples abstain from having children until they are emotionally, physically and financially able to care for them.

• When you say, NWNW, are you saying that everyone should get married?

In my opinion, marriage is the ideal.  However, if marriage is out of the question, NWNW parents are “wedded” to their commitment to their children, providing daily emotional and physical nurturing.

• Are you bashing black men?

Lord, I’m trying not to.  Deadbeat dads come in all melanin spectrums.  But as a black woman, my focus for NWNW naturally hones in on the black community first. No other American culture has an astronomical 72% out-of-wedlock birth rate.  Only males have the ability to fertilize an egg and create a baby and never be heard from again.  Women hold that embryo, who becomes a baby, who becomes a child, who becomes an adult.  Mothers can not physically be both mother and father, otherwise God would have created us in the likeness of hermaphroditic amebas.

• When you say, “No Wedding No Womb!” are you advocating that women get abortions?

Urhm…no.  I’m advocating for women to think more of their bodies and their future children BEFORE sperm meets egg.  I’m advocating for men to STOP spraying their seeds all over The Creation.

• Aren’t you being  judgmental?

No.  I see a lot of finger-pointing and fire breathing from men and women, blaming each other for the mess we’re in.  If those people would look down at the child looking up at them for a moment, and take into account the damage being done, then ask what the child needs to thrive, the question of judging flies right out of the window.  As my friend Roslyn Holcomb said, “Children thrive in families.  Period.  Full stop.”

• What gives you the right to do this?

I’m a baby mamma’ LISTEN TO MY MISSION: 65535 NO WEDDING NO WOMB-2.’  I do this for my daughter, and my daughter’s daughter, and all the children of our future.

And with that being said, every super-movement, needs a theme song.  The "No Wedding No Womb" theme song has a very organic back-story that has and end result ripe with potential.  Music producer Brian Alexander Morgan provided original music, songwriter/Autism activist Lorraine Spencer penned the lyrics that made their way to vocalist Kyndra + Producer Leland Sharp.  Ayce Media Group's N. Maurice Williams along with Christelyn Karazin are Executive Producers and helped bring the vision of a theme song to fruition.  The end result...hear for yourself below!!

No Wedding No Womb Theme Song! by LJpress

ALSO CHECK OUT THIS DYNAMIC SHORT VIDEO BY ACTIVIST-FILMMAKER JANKS MORTON (SEE HIS WORKS HERE)

AYCE POLITICO * GUEST BLOGGER BRANDALE RANDOLPH A.K.A @BRANDALE2221

 THIS GUEST BLOG POST IS A MUST READ FOR PEOPLE OF EVERY RACE, CREED AND COLOR * "COMBATING THE POVERTY CRISIS IN BLACK AMERICA"
IS A RE-PUBLISHED PIECE BY POLITICO VOCALIST 
+ AUTHOR OF "ME & MY BROKE NEIGHBOR" BRANDALE RANDOLPH

ENJOY WITH AN OPEN MIND
(COURTESY OF THELOOP21.COM)

Combating the Poverty Crisis in Black America

While the recently released figures by the US Census Bureau under state the magnitude of the crisis of poverty in Black America, there are immediate solutions.   

The US Census Bureau has just released its annual figures on poverty in the US.  (Download the census data here) While headlines everywhere scream and point toward the overall figures of a record 43.6 Million Americans living below the poverty threshold, there is very little focus on the poverty crisis among African Americans.

Out of the 43.6 Million Americans living below the poverty threshold 9.9 million of them are African American. Before we dig deeper into that we need to establish how poverty is being defined by the Census Bureau. The Poverty threshold figures are as follows and apply only to households under the age of 65.

Poverty Threshold for 2009 by Size of Family (Appendix B)

One Person       $11,161

Two People      $14,787

Three People    $17,282

Four People      $21,832

Now let’s recap, 9.9 Million African Americans don’t even meet the above poverty thresholds.  As stated in last weeks post, an overwhelming and growing number of African Americans are among the working poor. In other words, because of many of the factors mentioned in that post many African Americans whom are not considered to be living under the above poverty thresholds are struggling to make ends meet.

The next chilling statistic found in the report is the data related to median household income. Median Household income is different than the average income. The average is when you add everything up and divide by the number of people. Obviously, the presence of billionaires and millionaires would throw these figures off.  Therefore, the Census Bureau uses the ‘median’ to get a sense of the normal income for African Americans. The figure is just as upsetting.

African Americans have the lowest median household income of among all of the races in the United States. The median households for other races are as follows.

Asians:                               $65, 469

Whites (Non Hispanic):     $54,461

Hispanics:                          $38,039

Blacks:                                $32,584

Two more troubles statistics also came from this report. First, a whopping 67.9% of African American Households have incomes of less than $50,000. And once again, according to figures in my last post, it takes slightly more than $50,000 to raise a family in many of the metropolitan cities here in the United States. Of the 67.9% of African American households who don’t earn at least $50,000 in annual income, 23.5% of African American households don’t even earn $15,000 per year.

To put that in perspective, the federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. Working a 40 per week job at $7.25 per hour for 52 weeks will be approximately $15,080. Yes, just earning minimum wage for a 40 hour work week is a struggle for 23.5% of our households.

That was me being the thermometer, now I will shift gears and become the thermostat. Lets change the temperature.

How do we as a people fix the crisis of black poverty in America? We have to effect a three prong approach.

The three most immediate ways of fighting African American poverty are:

1. A renewed focus on formal education
2. The pursuit of 21st century jobs & Career training
3. Frequent exercising of our collective local voting power

Education

The discussion on the eradication of poverty begins and ends with a renewed focus on education. Though higher education is not a guaranteed ticket out of poverty, there are no statistics that indicate that formally educated African Americans suffer poverty, unemployment and incarceration at the same rate as undereducated African Americans. All of the recent reports, indicate the exact opposite. As race, we need to make formal education a renewed priority in our homes and communities.

In the coming weeks, several of my colleagues will be speaking on public education reform, please be sure to read and review all of the related post on the subject.

The Pursuit of  21st Century Jobs and Career Training

Many of the jobs and places of employment where our parent and grandparents found work are gone. Now is the time and the perfect opportunity to invest and focus on retraining for obtaining the jobs of the future. The new ‘green economy’ has not hit much of America yet. While there are those who would rather have us blame illegal immigrants for ‘taking our jobs’ , many of those jobs are not the kinds jobs that we as a race should desire. As a matter of fact I would argue that we should get ourselves in position for careers in clean energy, sustainable living & construction, mass transportation, multimedia communication and health care. We are and can be qualified to engage in these careers once they hit our economy.

Exercising our local Collective Voting Power

  

Yes, using our collective voting power is a tool that can effect change in our poverty rates. Immediate changes in the two areas mentioned above can be made if African American got serious about their voting power. While we focus too much on the president and what Washington is doing, many African Americans are not holding our local politicians accountable for the present state of our communities.

Do you want to see real public education reform in your community? Imagine 15,000 angry parents in a local school board meeting threatening to oust the entire school board during the next election, if changes are not made to the local public school system.

Do you want to see more 21st Century jobs and facilities for 21st century jobs made available in your local community? Organize a phone-a-thon to your local city councilmen in which he is questioned about the federal stimulus money that was supposedly dedicated to create jobs in your community.

We have a very long way to go to deal with the poverty situation here in America, the quickest way to get moving, is not to continue to go in the same direction.

    

AYCE GUEST BLOGGER * DEREK FERGUSON "A TIGER TALE"

Tiger Woods is still the greatest golfer around, despite his recent bumblings and fumblings on and off the course. His impressive string of infidelities may have been kryptonite for his game, but I for one, was sort of glad to see the dark side of the man. Up to that point, I was concerned he was a robot, programmed for golf domination and little else. He was, in a word, bland. And nowhere is this evinced more acutely than in his logo, that pathetic, middle school graphic design combo of  T and W. Really Tiger, is that all you got? I mean, your name is fucking Tiger! Woods! OK, really it’s Eldrick Tont Woods, but Tiger is yours. Why not use it? I mean, what’s cooler than having a Tiger for a logo? Surely, with all those PR flacks, somebody in some marketing meeting had to say, “Hey, how about we take the head of a Tiger and use that as the logo? Maybe it could be peeking out of a forest or something?”

What, were they afraid people would think of Tiger Schulmann’s Karate School?

 (Now, that’s a seriously kick ass logo, btw, and I’m shocked, shocked, Tiger’s people couldn’t do something at least on par with that, pun intended. Like maybe the T & W coming together to form a tiger’s face?)

Did Eldrick say, “No, sorry, a Tiger…that’s just too suggestive and dangerous. Let’s go with this flack’s TW idea.” Perhaps he feared his inner beast, and saw negative connotations instead of positive ones (a predatory person rather than just a fearsome competitor), things that might harm his marketing potential (highly ironic in light of current revelations that he’s a Tiger in the sack, rending fresh stripper meat nightly). Instead of Tiger, he was going for Tigger, a staid, Disneyfied representation of the man that everyone assumed wouldn’t matter anyway, since his game was undeniably great. Why risk offending anyone? 

Now, compare Eldrick with Greg Norman, the biggest, most successful, and charismatic golf star of his time, who shrewdly appropriated the nickname “The Shark” (and not just any shark, but a freaking Great White) simply because he was from Australia. Bloody brilliant, that. He slaps the shark logo over everything his Great White Shark Enterprises can crank out concerning golf and the “golfing lifestyle.” So, twofold brilliance: steal a nickname simply because you were born Down Under, and then apply it to the least threatening game on the planet. “I may be a 50 year old pudgy bank manager, but I have a Great White on my pleated pants. Now, watch this drive.”

Should we then, from something as seemingly innocuous as logo choice, delineate the larger distinctions between the men? Norman famously choked at Augusta, where Tiger has dominated like no other. Tiger famously choked on his marriage to a fellow golfer’s nanny with a bunch of cougars and shabby porn stars, and will likely lose half or more of his considerable fortune, not to mention untold dollars in lost or cancelled endorsements. Norman manned up and faced the media after his fiasco; Tiger waited months, letting the intrigue build (neither smart nor brave) and then gave a 5 minute statement without allowing questions. Weak. Norman has stamped everything from visors to vineyards with his shark logo, and has made more money off of his personality than he ever could from his game alone. (Two majors is nice for you and me, but Tiger has septupled that figure and will likely add a few more as he goes for G.O.A.T. in golf.)

Eldrick, for all his purported prowess, has Nike do the heavy lifting for him—he’s a brand accessory, not the brand itself, his TW subsumed by the Swoosh. Nike, in this case, is the tiger, and Woods is something decidedly more domestic. As such, the scope of his influence is quite narrow: golf stuff and little else. Planet Shark ranges from course design to restaurants to residential communities, and one gets the impression that Norman is resolutely in control of his image and actions, not simply mailing it in by proxy.

How would Norman have handled Tiger’s recent dilemma? Likely with a toothy grin and a wink: “Sorry people, if you want to talk about golf or my Australian Grille, I’m here for you. If you want to talk about my non sanctioned events, you’re out of luck.” At the very least, he would have been in command of the situation, not relying on a focus group to field test his faux contrition.

This is not to be construed as a Norman love fest; the guy actually comes off as a cocksure prick in my book, but he gains my grudging respect for having parlayed his specific golf talents into a thriving and diverse portfolio of post golf activities. Both have made a ton of money, and achieved varying degrees of golfing immortality, but as a measure of success, that’s insufficient. Tiger, with all his on course victories, mopes along from tee to green to practice tee and gated (and utterly boring) Orlando, enclave, in a circuit of dogged determination, but devoid of spontaneity, of life itself. Despite his talent, he remains a grinder, unsure of his place in Golf history, which is, apparently, the only legacy he cares about. His security is circumscribed by numbers: beat Jack’s record for majors, and then he can be the Man. If it says so in the record books, it must be so. He finds the hole, but misses the point.

Norman, I’m sure, could give a toss. Presidents on holiday stay at his crib (and when they fall down his stairs and rip their knees up, a la Bubba, they don’t sue), and people kowtow to his image to such a degree that there’s actually a Greg Norman Australian Prime beef product out there (a nod to his beefcake status I assume). Clinton goes where the party is, and it’s not at Tiger’s house (check his hotel room instead). In short, The Shark has fun. He surfs. He enjoys the good life without apology, with relish. He doesn’t waste time looking back. Norman and Woods both have their Gulfstream jets, but only the Shark is a pilot.

Eldrick needs to get on a new track. Divorce the wife: it’s a sham marriage at this point anyway and you’ll be excoriated by her regardless. You’ve got enough cash, so pay up and move on. Date a reality star or Sasha Grey instead. Do so without remorse, with gusto even. Maybe really take some time off from the game, and when you do come back, return to your original swing—you know, the one that scared the piss out of the field but also made you nervous because its aggressive form threatened the longevity of your career. You’re 35, and the time to win is now. Dominate and be done. Go for the gusto, grab Jack’s brass ring of 18 majors and sail away on the Privacy for a booze cruise to end all booze cruises. Have the balls to be a Tiger. And if you can’t quite be that, at least stop being such a pu**y.

AYCE BLOGGER HIGHLIGHT * MY SMALL STORY FEATURING STACEY MCKENZIE

MODEL + TALENT DEVELOPER STACEY MCKENZIE ENCOUNTERS "MY SMALL STORY"

LARON BATCHELOR FINDS THE JAMAICAN BORN ELITE MODEL IN TRANSIT

HER SMALL STORY AND PRESENT WORKS ARE TRULY INSPIRATIONAL...ENJOY!!

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El Mexican