forgotten kwanzaa principles

today's kwanzaa principle.

harambee, brothers and sisters!

as you may or may not know, we are currently balls deep in Kwanzaa time.  if you know that, then you also know the seven principles of Kwanzaa–umoja, ujamaa, koochiechakkakhan and all that jazz.  or rather–you know what you THINK are the 7 principles.

what you DON’T know is that there are actually, like, a gazillion principles, but in The Man’s efforts to keep black folk from havin their own shit, they have been buried in the margins.

uncomfy moments in “Histeria” history

not pictured: the kid in a Gestapo uniform.

Do you guys remember the WB catoon “Histeria?”  It was an Animaniacs-esque show that sought to entertain children while teaching them about world history.  Now, to a history freak like me, this show is just what the doctor ordered.  The Animaniacs is one, if not, my favorite cartoon series ever, and history is just freaking awesome, so the combination of the two really works for me.  But to the average 8-14 year old kid?  There aren’t many ways to make history cool, fun, or exciting.  Unless you sing and joke about it.  Which is what they did.

The problem with this… much of history is grim, bloody, and violent, and this show didn’t gloss over things like war, racism, and genocide.  They just.. did cartoony things with it, which, in retrospect, gave some often uncomfortable results.  Here, in kind of no particular order, are 5 of the most uncomfortable Histeria moments on youtube.

being natural in kentucky

natural hair MEETUPS in ky?! NO WAY!

i’ve been meaning to write this entry since a few months after i moved back to kentucky from philly, but i guess it’s better that i didn’t do it so soon.  after being natural for two years and spending one of those years in louisville, ky, i’ve had a lot more time to really examine the experience.

Vote for the These Damn Cans of Glory Greens Are Dented Party!

so we’ve all seen that slightly batshit yet somehow awesome Jimmy McMillan in his quest for the governor’s chair in New York on the The Rent is Too Damn High Party.  i am inspired.  ladies and gentlemen, i would like to take this opportunity to declare my intent to run for governor of any state of your choosing on a brand new platform to be known as the These Damn Cans of Glory Greens Are Dented Party.

mj + titties.

we just put this up at Splackavellie Central, but it’s just too awesome for me to not put here too.

shout out to ae!

streets is bloggin

Everyone needs a sassy gay friend. [Awesomely Luvvie]

Modern day ambulance chasers.  [Fly Black Chick]

Dear Naomi Campbell… [DirtyPrettyThangs]

Cracker Barrel: uncomfortable deliciousness.

so this past week i took a relaxing trip to the country with my family to get away for awhile.  i was only half excited to go in the beginning, to tell you the truth, because i knew at some point i’d end up on a hot ass bank of some hot ass lake doin a half assed job at fishing, where i’d probably catch nothing but a stick (note:  I WAS RIGHT).  but there were two incentives:  there was a pool where we’d be staying and i’d get to work on my much needed tan (note:  i’m so almondy!)  and, most importantly–we were gonna stop at Cracker Barrel for breakfast on the way.

FUCKING WIN!  kind of!

hair of the day

…surely this can’t get any worse.  right?

MOTHERFUCKER

(found via this lovely lady’s flickr)

two things you should absolutely be doing.

1 – you should definitely be watching Deadliest Warrior on Spike TV.  as much as i big up this show, you’d think they’re paying me for it.  nope.  it’s just the most awesome show ever created.  read my description of the show here; check out the show’s actual website up there.

2 – you should most assuredly be checking Splackavellie Central every week for the r&b version of this show, creatively named Deadlies R&B Warrior.  it’s pretty much what you expect.  each week, two r&b superstars are pitted against each other and they fight to ther motherfucking death (in my imagination).  episode 1 was al b. sure vs ginuwine.  episode 2 just went up:  jodeci vs. silk.

check em out!  i put up a notice here @ bmcp just in case yall aren’t checking Splackavellie Central.  and if you’re not checking Splackavellie Central, I’M BREAKING UP WITH YOU!

on race, humor, and subjectivity.

if you laugh, you're racist!

i don’t know if you’ve been peeking at it or not, but each year here at the blog, i have what i call a Black History Month Extravaganza.  this consists of made up black history month facts and fictional interviews with black celebrities (or their body parts).  this year i took the party to the Twitterverse and some random tweets there led to this:  a Little Known Black History Month Facts blog that i started on tumblr.  again, made up black history month facts.  all in fun.

not everybody found it funny, which was not surprising to me.  humor is a very subjective thing, and my brand ain’t for everybody.  i get that.  i got a total of two angry comments left for me there, one of which was anonymous.  the other had an email address associated with it, so after he (i am assuming this person is male given his name) left his initial comment, i reached out to him, thanking him for his comment, and encouraging any further questions or comments he may have.  i don’t give a shit about pissing people off, but it’s not (always) my aim; and issues of humor and race have always interested me, so if he wanted constructive discussion, i was very up to giving it to him.  i won’t lie:  my first instinct was to be an asshole about it and fire off some smart-ass ‘satire, motherfucker, do you understand it??!’ response.  but i’m civil sometimes.  welcome to one of those times.

i want to share the exchange with you and welcome your thoughts and opinions on the matter.  largely because the gentleman complaining demanded challenged asked me to.  read his initial email here, my initial response here, and his reply to that response here.  what follows is my response to his response.  confused yet?  lol.  it’s kind of repetitive but…that sort of felt necessary.  mayhaps you’ll see why.