A SINISITER LAWYERING GAME HAS ENABLED THE LEGAL MURDER OF BLACK MEN FOR CENTURIES IN AMERICA! WILL THE GAMES EVER END?

JUSTICE CLOTHED AS INJUSTICE: A CLOSER LOOK AT THE LAWYERING GAME IN AMERICA…

A SINSITER LAWYERING GAME HAS ENABLED THE LEGAL HUNTING AND MURDER OF BLACK MEN FOR CENTURIES IN AMERICA

WILL THE GAMES EVER END?

When we witness an event playing itself out before us as clear as day only to see it transmogrified into an unbelievable nightmare by our justice system it is time to break that system down to its very foundations and begin anew!  I had not wanted to admit that our country had degraded to such a deplorable state until I replayed the ghastly events leading up to Freddie Gray’s death, a lamentable chain of thorns that began when he encountered his two murderers, clothed as law officers on an otherwise ordinary day.  From that time on the vicious details of his assassination began to tear at the flesh of America’s conscience. We all knew, glancing at the limp, broken body of their victim, Freddie Gray that they had played a vile and dangerous game with his evanescing life thinking to absolve themselves of guilt by calling a paddy wagon instead of an ambulance to disguise the brutal and fatal beating they administered to an innocent unarmed man.  An eyewitness came forward testifying that Gray’s lifeless, mangled body had bounced around the inside of the vehicle in the manner of a man who had been completely paralyzed and could no longer support his weight or summon control of his limbs.  We knew that the critical information and footage leading up to the time Gray’s paralyzed body was forcefully packed into the vehicle had been conveniently lost, where were the witnesses? Where were the witnesses?  We were all hustled onto a virtual train that completely forgot the moments before this violently murdered man had been spirited away by a spurious alibi on wheels.  But we all knew or suspected what had really happened there.  

So my question is, “If you build a lie while deliberately suppressing what could be a viable alternative theory in order to convince everyone that the alternative does not exist, does the alternative really exist”? 

Why are Baltimore City officials prosecuting a case that everyone knows does not exist?  What could the outcome possibly be for a misfired trial?  If evidence suddenly, miraculously become available verifying that Mr. Gray was in fact brutally and fatally injured prior to entering the police vehicle proving that his mortal wounds were not an could not have been a result of a “Rough Ride” what would that say about the ability of our elected officials to accurately interpret a crime scene and follow-up with an appropriate strategy of enforcement, charging and sentencing?  Do we catalog this trial with the one in which another police officer stood on the hood of a civilian car and fired dozens of rounds into the passenger’s bodies but was freed? 

Has justice in America degenerated to a sick and depraved game of lawyering?  Have we allowed legal loopholes and other such circus acrobatics to strangle the purpose of law and civilization itself?  Are Americans so paralyzed in the face of pure and determined evil that they have lost their ability to challenge what is certainly a mockery of and challenge to their very existence?  Is there such confidence that no matter what evil they do some people will always be kept safe from justice?

Police work is a very physical occupation and there are bound to be skirmishes and close calls even some unexpected and unintended injury.  We have been more than understanding for the most part regarding the nature of this business because we understand nobody wants to be incarcerated even if they should be and know they have done wrong, there is bound to be a tussle here and there.  So we kiss these mediocre skirmishes up to the skies, knowing the world is not perfect and that these officers certainly were acting in the best interest of the community.  We have to allow a certain buffer for officer/civilian interactions because of the heated emotional and physical potential they inevitably unleash.  As long as both parties can move on with minimal bruises and it is clear that the officer was merely doing his job in the interest of law and order the public is generally satisfied.  But we also have to draw a clear line when something critical occurs such as a homicide!  A homicide is an extraordinary outcome and when a policeman murders a civilian it is an occasion for us all to pause not only scrutinize what is being presented as evidence but also to use our common god given sense; in the vulgar it is called simply, “Horse Sense”!  So when we add up the chips and we discover that our count does not actually add up to what we should have we have to go back again and ask how did we get where we went and try to see if the path really makes any sense at all.  That is the job that Baltimore officials must do now in order to save face with the world. 

During what was called the “Riots” of Baltimore the world witnessed buffoons like Heraldo Rivera take the side of the police on global television while the cameras showed that thousands of simple human  beings were clearly upset with them.  He clearly failed to connect with the very phenomenon he had come to explore because he came to exploit it!  The lawyering of the judicial system has spirited away the truth in this as in countless other assassinations of black men by police.  Police brutality against black men has evolved for hundreds of years in America to an art form and those who enjoy this sadistic privilege are reluctant to stand down, they must be broken down! They must be stopped by any and every legal and peaceful means necessary!  Furthermore, our corrupt elected officials who continue to ignore the truth and empower lies and laws that ultimately result in a climate where black men can be hunted down like beasts must be uprooted! 

We live in a time where lie and law are synonymous!

FIN

PROUDLY WRITTEN BY BIGDADDY BLUES

TO GET STRONG MEN WE MUST GROW THEM...

PRODIGY

Black boy,

let me watch you grow,

Into a man as big as Africa,

your face,

every man will know,

son of the men who built America,

black boy,

let me take your hand,

this is the journey where you become a man…

Written By: BIGDADDY BLUES

THE PRIDE OF MANHOOD!

If you are the type of man who thinks, waking up every morning, reveling at all times during the day and reflecting before going to bed each night, “I Love Being A Man”!  Then you have what I call “PRIDE OF MANHOOD”!  Pride of Manhood is not vanity at all and anyone who misinterprets it to be so has fundamentally missed its humble handsomeness.  Pride of Manhood it is a profoundly warm and comforting sense of belonging that intimately ties a man to his family, community, other men and women; it is like being an official representative of your sex.  It is like being a member of a special and elite club that is solely responsible for the preservation of gentlemanliness.  It is a powerful commitment to uphold the most ancient and handsome traditions of manhood. 

Pride of Manhood is an emotion that I have felt since I was a boy dreaming about becoming a man.  I watched every man I encountered for clues and examples of the magnificence I would eventually inherit upon crossing that threshold.  I watched the way my father and other men dressed and walked and talked, studied the content and manner of their conversation, their deportment the way they groomed themselves, everything about being a man fascinated my imagination.  Today that passion and excitement has actually grown.  I am excited about just being a man, I love to hear the stories of men young and old because for me it represents the fulfillment of life itself.  As a man I am part of a great and glorious continuum that will mark my presence among so many great men in history, I am privileged to share with them the one truly great commonalities; that of being a man.

When I begin to define Pride of Manhood I think about my father and how close to his sterling example I have always followed.   I am so proud to be his son and to have had the ability to be blessed by his wisdom.  So I have defined for you the intrinsic, soulfulness of manhood and entreat all men to join in its resplendent celebration.  But there are other offerings to manhood more simple and more tangible,  that bring its ideology into a practical tactile realm.  Examples might be the way a man holds his cigar, the way he swings his golf club, or the way he places the feather in his fedora.  These are the practical manifestations of the spirit of manhood and create their own handsome aesthetic.  The way a man cleans his shoes or holds his braces, the chain he selects for his pocket watch or the way he unwittingly adusts his trousers… all of these define the extrinsic side of a man and should be celebrated equally as much because they bring the conceptual aspect of manhood into 3-dimensional reality, being assigned with color, texture and sound they define the visible man we encounter every day of our lives.

So today and every day I live I cultivate and celebrate Pride of Manhood, not as a phenomenon self-consciously manufactured for everyone to see but rather for my own fulfillment.  In a world where fineness of human character and integrity are diminishing I want to express my passion to shine as an example of resplendent manhood the extent that my effort I can serve as a model for others as well as a driving force for my own self-improvement in the arts of manliness!  I love being a man and that dynamic, fulfilling life-passion is what fulfills me with a true Pride of Manhood!

FIN

Written By Bigdaddy Blues 

OUTCOMING A JOURNEY REALIZED BY LOOKING IN

OUTCOMING 

A STORY BY BIGDADDY BLUES…

When I was a young adolescent of 15 years I was suddenly thrust into a world I had never imagined, it was the world I came out to and I was completely ready to immerse myself in it. I was a typical athletic, rusty-butt teenager and doing the things most boy’s do who are able to be free to enjoy their youth. The gay world I came out to was completely alien to me… it defied nearly everything I had understood about life up to that point. I knew the first time I stepped into the life that it would never feel like family because my own family was so warm and supportive, nothing could take its place.  I perceived that many of the men around me were scared or lost, other than signifying they appeared to have no other raison d'etre; i felt they had run away from some other world to any world that would accept them. After all, how interesting could a bar full of middle-aged men drinking alcohol be to a teenager who was still riding his skateboard as a primary means of entertainment?  But the gay lifestyle, I would discover was a world that would only accept a man on its terms and those terms could be as brutal as the world from which a man had nearly escaped. In the case of many men coming out would ultimately include a rigorous process of indoctrination into what is called “The Life”. The life is a subculture with its own language, rules of operation, ethics, aesthetics and consequences… To be honest, the gay culture I experienced as a teenager was far too harsh for my liking, I enjoyed being able to talk to men who were passionate about art, architecture, music and literature and clubbing but that is where the romance ended for me… other than conversation I had nothing in common with the men with whom I associated and I flirted with the life more as a means of ephemeral entertainment (not sex) when I became bored with my straight friends. As a teenager I was a big nerd, I hooked school to hang out in the museums sketching and studying the paintings and sculpture of the old masters. I sketched wrote poetry and painted into the wee hours of the morning and while I could have been running the streets. I spent the rest of my time exploring the woods and creeks behind my house. On Fridays I hooked school to go thrift shopping all day for unique club clothes having developed a love for antique tuxedos, smoking jackets, sharkskin and zuit suits… I loved the big band era and the delta blues and used to imagine that I was a musician living in those golden days so I began to dress in the style of the 1930’s through 1960’s. I’m quite certain that my passion for history went completely over the heads of my heterosexual friends but my gay friends totally got it!



I came from a close loving family, so I was not looking for acceptance within the gay milieu. I was not looking for a father figure, I already had one.  My dad and I had our odds but he was always there for me, I admired and loved him, I would try on his colognes and cufflinks and neckties when he was at work, I wanted to be just like him, he was suave and confidently masculine, he was the epitome of a gentleman and I knew how deeply he loved me although I sometimes took his fatherly devotion for granted. I did not understand it at the time but I lived a privileged and sheltered life, I had no unhappiness, I was just a typical, happy teenager naïve of and eager to explore the world around me.



The first issue I had with coming out was that all of the other males were far too effeminate for my liking, they seemed to be obsessed with being beautiful according to female standards. I honestly could not identify with them at all but I wanted to belong to this new group of people still knowing I did not really vibe with them on many fundamental levels.  So I pulled back emotionally because I could not find anyone who I could identify with at that time. Well, there was one brotha I was deeply attracted to, he was just a regular guy like me, naturally masculine but he was not attracted to me for reasons I would understand later in life. Nobody told me about the tradition in the gay lifestyle  that a masculine man was expected to be paired up with a feminine man.  I opted out of the dating game altogether focusing on being me. Being gay at that time was really very different, it seemed that most of the men who were out were very feminine. I could see vestiges of their former masculinity still shine through but as the years passed their manliness began to fade until many of them eventually crossed over the line.  So I kept a safe distance and observed less intently knowing that the gay lifestyle as a primary focus was not for me. I longed to find naturally masculine male-identified men that I could befriend or form a relationship with to make up for the overabundance of feminine gay men that seemed to come from everywhere… fortunately graduating from high school and going to college pulled me away from that crowd and thrust me into a world that I really did identify with. In college I met lifelong male friends who shared my passion for manhood so I never looked back again. I loved the gay friends of high school and I mourned them as they perished one by one during the AIDS epidemic until they were literally all gone. Afterwards the gay men with whom I made acquaintance were all male-identified men like me and we operated within our own circles of like-minded men. I found great affection and understanding within my circle of male-identified men and we worked out the issues of being gay and masculine together. We operated as our own support group because we truly had only ourselves to turn to. Today most of my gay friends happen to be male-identified, we are mature now, professional and accomplished and we understand our journey within the mainstream of gay culture has rewarded us with the ability to honestly say that we kept our true identities. I have seen so many men transform from the regular guy next door into something else for no apparent reason other than perhaps they had no positive role models to show them how to love and cherish their manhood. I understand that these men needed to belong to something when they came out so they joined the only groups of gay men they could find, I do not begrudge them their choice or their lack of resilience. I do know that we have to offer male-identified gay men an alternative community of support that does not cost them their manhood to belong. Within the diversity of the gay community we must create institutions that actively help male-identified men retain their identity as men! So I live the exemplary life as a male-identified gay man, a role model others can identify with… I am the peaceful lover of traditional manhood and my name is BIGDADDY BLUES!




Now I am an American man and so my concept of manhood is necessarily coloured by my Americanness! I am also a scholar of the world who has studied the cultures of every continent and though I am no anthropologist I can confidently say that the ideal of manhood is not so very different as you move around the globe, no culture has a patent on manhood.  Given the cultural and ethnic diversity of humanity it would be impossible to postulate a truly universal standard for manhood so I have become comfortable with a happy fusion of them all… Manhood is not defined only by superficial folkways, traditions, technique-ways and behavioral mannerisms it is obviously founded upon a more substantial core that is also genetically and physically rooted in our practical makeup as an organism. But the unique characteristics that comprise the world of manhood are essential, edifying structures, valid contributions to the broad and complex definition of manhood. The science of human social culture has evolved unique, (though arbitrary) identifiers such as apparel, to codify the roles that men are expected to play in their communities. Who is to say that these identifiers are bad? They can only be bad if they serve to oppress as a consequence for those who elect not to subscribe to them.


 Children do not see gender the way adults do but when they wake up to adulthood they must be equipped to manage the vicissitudes of life that nature and society will present them. After having spent the past 100,000 years of human existence evolving cultural standards to distinguish men from women I seriously question why humanity should suddenly be asked to ignore the beauty and relevance of nature’s design. In our zeal to perfect humanity we should examine our unhappiness with nature and try to live in closer harmony with it. We cannot reduce the argument of sex and gender to science alone, we cannot condemn it with religious argument and we are bound by every principle of humanitarianism to respect every man’s choice to live as the gender of his bliss.

The message that Bigdaddy Blues has to share is that coming out is a private affair between a man and his conscience; nobody else need be present! Fundamentally the man you are before just you come out is the same man you should be seconds after you have come out, nothing except your ability to be honest about yourself has really changed. A man who is naturally masculine and male-identified should devote careful thought to any pathway that would cause him to forfeit the culture of manhood he has cultivated all of his life. He should seek the friendship and advice of like-minded men who will help him establish community and ideological support. If he cannot find a healthy gay community that is accepting of him as he is  then he should summon a robustness of conviction to identify and conserve his fundamental values of manhood until he is in a better place to further explore them. Furthermore, every male-identified gay man should live as close to an exemplary life as he can to model for others in the formative stages of their self-actualization as male-identified gay men.

FIN

BIGDADDY BLUES

ON WAKING UP THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF BLACK AMERICANS: A REFLECTION ON THE MEANING OF MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.

ON MARTIN LUTHER KING’S LEGACY AND THE RESPONSIBILITY OF BLACK AMERICAN MEN TO THEIR COMMUNITIES:

Kings legacy reaches beyond the millions of Black American men whose passion and suffering his own reality was closest to as a Black American man himself.  Today black men in America must honestly ask themselves if they have kept his prophetic teachings sacred living lives exemplifying their principles… have they maintained family and community integrity laying a firm foundation for generations to come...To many who have striven to uphold King’s dream it may appear as if many black men have died unto their responsibility for the perpetuation of peaceful humanitarianism becoming social, ethical and moral corpses… We must all ask ourselves if it is possible that this is true and commit ourselves to honestly answer that question. The black community is dying fast, this is not a prediction or probability it is a grim reality.  As resilient as black people have been to slavery, racism and literally one form of oppression after the next there is a real physical limitation that any people can endure and for black people in America that fateful time appears to be already behind them, what is left are shreds of an embittered struggle now lost now won now lost... The Black American community has long since deteriorated beyond all reasonable recognition as a functional and cohesive community,  what is left in it's place is a corrupt and confused shell of bravado and forgetfulness. To say black people in America must confront issues they have conveniently ignored such as black on black crime if they ever hope to become strong enough to survive let alone combat external racism is an understatement but a truth every other race and ethnic group is clearly aware of except Black Americans. If this is not self-induced blindness what is?

Black on black crime is an internal cancer preventing the black community from moving forward, in order to move forward black people must eradicate drugs, crime and ignorance from their streets and homes, they must make it clear to criminals returning from prison into their community that they will not tolerate the furtherance of violence and crime and demonstrate their communities ability to have criminals who challenge their rules returned to jail thereby allowing their families, children and business to thrive. This means that the black intelligentsia must step up to the challenge ending their ivory tower isolationism, they must seize control over the black community replacing spurious icons manufactured by a profit driven media caring nothing for the stability of family and community life or for the great legacy of black peoples in this country. If  the Black cannot do this they will certainly fail as a peoples and even Dr. Kings magnificent dream will not suffice to resurrect them! It is historically difficult for the black community to absorb and process this kind of criticism because they have an autonomic response to the abuses of racism dealt to them over many hundreds of years.  So I offer this sober message deliberately presented as a real and perilous landscape so that it will wake black men up and not sugar-coat the issue, (if there is any),  of their failure to rise to Dr. King’s challenge! Therefore,  I say if any black man fails then all black men have failed! That sufficiently raises the stakes bringing all black men into full responsibility… I say this lovingly but know that my eyes and my heart see a grim picture and I do not know if real possibility that the black community can revitalize itself because hope and actuality are two very different things!

WAKING UP…

Prophets whisper into corpses ears,

a ritual throttled by a bitten tongue,

in a mass-eulogy inaudible to the young,

a lurid vision conjured for sleep-walkers to hear,

relics like the dead on their glorious day,

are soul-less fragments of expired dreams,

men need humbling immersions in a saintly stream,

awakening minds despair has spirited-away…

BIGDADDY BLUES

OF MAMMIES AND PICKENENNIES: HOW TO EMBRACE A DIFFICULT PAST!

MAMMIES AND PICKENENNIES!

I can’t make you love yourself,

I can’t make you cherish your history,

I can’t, no indeed I can’t

Keep you from seeing mammies and pickenennies,

Instead of your own hard-fought history,

I can’t make you embrace the enslavement of your ancestors,

I can’t, no indeed I can’t,

I can’t make you cherish the humble lifestyle they endured,

No more than I can make you stop hating yourself,

I can’t, no indeed I can’t,

I can’t make you understand,

How to celebrate your history, its every nuance now,

If you choose to erase it in your shame,

I can’t participate in your self-hatred game,

I can’t, no indeed I can’t,

When your history is erased you will not have a name,

Your pathway will be lost, and others will claim,

The history you failed to love,

Because you saw mammies and pickenennies,

Instead of you,

Brotha I can’t, no indeed I can’t,

Nor do I have any hope for you,

you've sold your legacy down the river,

there's nothing more that I can do

I can't, I certainly can't

give another thought to your treachery,

or to you...

FIN

BY BIGDADDY BLUES

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