An epic weekend in Atlanta: 26 Born day Edition

Ladies and germs....what does it do??? Now I know been away from this blogging thing for a while, and a lot of things have taken place on the blue rock that we call earth. I will address those things in a later post but for today's read, I will share will you, the readers, about the events that happened about two weekends for my born day. It was truly one for the record books that I will never forget anytime soon. So on that note, lets get on with the post.

THURSDAY
So my actual born day was two weeks ago on Thursday, but I wanted to celebrate it for the whole weekend. What better place to bring it in than the capital of the south aka Atlanta, GA? I have everything planed for that weekend so the only thing left to do was to get the rental car. I go to Enterprise to pick up the rental and I get stuck with a Chevy spark. Now for those who don't know, a spark is basically a really small car. Keep in mind that I am 6'3, round 244, and wear a size 15 in shoes. My big behind had no business in that car. It was so small that I let the seat all the way back and my knees were hitting the steering wheel. The struggle was way too real for a young king like myself. So after a phone call, I got everything fixed. Now before the new rental car, I went to IHOP with my mom for my born day breakfast. Everything was going good. I got my eat on and I was almost out of the door until my mom told the them it was my born day. Of course, they came around me and sang happy born day to me. After it was said and done, I trade in that small spark for a grown my dodge charger. After loading up the car, I was on my way to the A.

After a good two hour drive, I finally arrived at the aquarium. Now since it was my born day, I got in for free. When I got inside, The kid that lives within me was in full affect. I have never since something as amazing as this before. I went into the different displays and saw all types of marine animals. The one that had me in awe were the whale sharks. To describe how big they are would not do them justice. It just one of those things you just have to see. Despite whole big they are, they swam so gracefully in the water. Some other animals I saw were sharks, otters, sting rays, bottom nose dolphins, and an albino alligator. After spending a some time in the aquarium, unfortunately, it was time to go. Before I headed to the car, I grabbed a bit to eat, paid for parking, and then headed to Lenox square.

On may way there, I ran into that awful Atlanta traffic. It took me close to a hour to get to the mall. I braved traffic, and finally walked into the mall. Now when I got in there, i got lost since it was only my fourth time in there. Once I find a map, I stopped by urban outfitters and hanged with my amiga for a while. We caught up, helped me pick out a shirt to buy, and then it was time to part ways....for now.After I left, I was on way to my friends place, but there was just one problem: My phone kept dying on me. Lucky enough, I found a Starbucks and charged my phone just enough to get on the road. At about 10 pm, I arrived at my friends place, caught up with them, and got my drank. After it was all said  and done, it was time to hit the day to prepare for the next day.

FRIDAY
Friday comes along, and of course I am still bring in my born day. On this night, I had a little get together but before we get into this, we have to talk about what happened before to the party. I get up, grab something to get, and then start drinking. I mean why not, it was happy hour somewhere in the world. Around 2, my friends and i decided to got my favorite pizza place in Atlanta. No normally that would have been a 20 minute drive but because the interstate was backed up, we decided to that the back way which ended up being close to a 40 minute drive. After we arrived, we ordered a pitch or beer, a pizza, and some wings. since it was my born day, I got a free shot on the house. after that, we head to a party store to pick up some supplies for the party, the liquor store to get some beer, and then we went to see my homies at work. After it was all said and done, we got back to the crib around 6:30.

So before the party started, me and my friend deiced play beer pong to kill some time. Big mistake on my part since I suck at that game. By the time the game was over, I have drunk about three cans of beer and i started to feel drunk. Keep in mind that I had been drinking all day. To get sober, I drunk a little over a gallon of water, and ate some crackers. I stayed using the bathroom for the next hour and a half. After a game of phase 10, I got sober just in time because folks started arriving to the party.

During the party, of course there was a lot of drinking involved. I mean what kind of part would it be without drinking. During the course of this party, I was drinking, I was drinking. I mostly had beer with a few shots of vodka. I was feeling nice. We were playing all types of drinking games, and the music was banging. Everything was going good until i made the foolish choice of taking two shots of Henny during true of dare. From there, things went down here for me. After the party was over, i slicked passed out. After waking up, I headed straight to the bathroom in which I proceed to throw up. It felt like i was throwing up my soul. While i was throwing up, I kept thinking "why did i put all this poison in my body?" Lucky for me, I felt better and then passed out on the couch for the remainder of the night.

SATURDAY AND SUNDAY

Basically, Saturday and Sunday were basically the same day in this epic weekend Besides one or two differences, I did the exact same thing on both days, but they both were amazing. On Saturday, I woke up from my liquor induced coma with no hangover. Yay me. After drinking some water, I started to look for something to eat. Lucky I had the mind set to get some waffle house the night before. While I am eating that, everyone starts to wake up and begin to eat as well. Throughout the whole day, all we did was look at YouTube videos, eat, and talk about  different topics. Around 11, we went out to wet willies and meet up with some folks we went to school with.After we left there, we went to the grocery store, watched some Netflix, and then went to sleep around 3.

Sunday morning, we all woke up slowly one by one. We started off by watch Dexter on Netflix. After about two episodes, everyone went back to sleep. When everyone got up for good, we basically chillaxed the whole day. We finished up season three of American Horror Story, and then got something to eat. After about 2 hours of looking at YouTube videos, we picked up our friend from work. Then about 10 minues later, I got on the road, and headed back to my city.

All in all, I had an amazing weekend. it was truly one for the record books. If someone were to ask me what was the best part of that weekend, I would have to say spending time with my friends. Don't get me now, all the other things I did that weekend was EPIC!!! I had an amazing time, but being around my friends truly made my weekend special. I don't get to see them everyday so when I do see them, it always special and never a dull moment with them. Well folks I think that wraps up this post. As always, life, be great, do dope shit.

What if......

So today marks seven years  to the day that something  happend to me. On this every day, 10-30-207 on a tuesday afternoon,  I met someone  who would life a very lasting impact on my  life.  Now if you have read my previous  post, you know who am referring  to. For those who haven't,  read Nothing  Was The Same. In a nutshell,  I  met someone  special  that day who at the time was nothing but a perfect stranger,  but as time went and passed, she would evolve  from a friend to a person who  means the world to me. Since I  did my last post about  her, has anything  changed.? Did I tell her exactly  how i feel about her? The  answer  to those questions  is no.

The reasons why  is that i still don't  know how to tell her, I didn't where she stayed at, and i knew she was happy.  Well since then, I  have  found  out that she still lives in Atlanta and after talking  to friends, I  came to the conclusion  that I  could  make her happy  as well. Even though all of the advice,  I still haven't said nothing  to her. Part of the reason i haven't  said nothing  is my feelings  for her go on and off , but they stay on must of the time. The other reason  is i honestly  don't  know  what will happen.  As the day has went on, I have been living in the world  of  "what if" about this situation.  "What if".....a world I strongly  recommend  no one pays a vist to.

WHAT IF.....
What if the reason we met that day was for a reason?
What if i had realized  my feelings  for her earlier?
What  if i told her how i feel? 
What if she has/hade the same feels for me as I do her?
What  if we become  a couple?
What if we are  meant  to be/soul mates?
What if all this is happening  to  draw  us together  down  the  line? 
What if we had done this from the start and not wasted  so much time?
Last but not least. ...What  if we are not meant to be?

To be honest, I will probably  never  know the answe to some of these "What ifs" since the  answer to them only  lie in the past. I can speculate  on them as much as I  want, but at the end of the day it wouldn't  change a thing. All I focus  on  is the here and now and the facts.  The facts are; we met 7 years ago, we haven't  seen each other in 6 years, and we haven't  spoken  in a out a year. The facts are that alot of things can happen  during of all of this  time. I know i am definitely  not the same  person I  was back in 2007 and I  know she is not either. If we were to meet, I don't  know if i would  feel  have the same feelings  for the
2014 versions like i do for the 2007 version.

At the end of the day, I can completely  change this whole situation by being up front and just tell her the truth. Tell her how much she means to me. Tell her that I truly miss her. Tell her that i just want her to be happy.  In a nutshell, l can tell her all the things i should  have  told her from the start. After that, the rest is up to her. She can either take accept  my feelings  and return  them, she could  reject them, or she could put me in the infamous "friend zone" area. Anything  would be better than living in a world of "what if". Eventually, I will man up and tell her everything  one of these days and I can move on with my lif3, whether  for better or worse from the  situation.  Hopefully  next year, I won't be writing again about telling her my fellings.  Well folks  that  is all for now.  I usually  say live, be great,  and do dope shit at the  end  of  my post but for this one, I will end it by saying live your truth  no matter  what it maybe.

Current Mood: BLAH

I don't know what is going on, but lately I haven't been feeling like my usually, awesome self. One my say that I am in a runt. I don't know when this actually began, but one day I just felt nothing. I didn't feel happy, sad, or anything in between. It's like all my emotions have left the building, and I am just a empty, soulless, shell of my former self. It seems like all my creative juices, and awesome vibes have been replaced with just working all the time. In a nutshell, you can say that I Have become a cooperate robot....*Plays horror music*

Now to be fair, I can not blame my current issue on just my job. Everyone has to work in order to do just about anything. I see plenty of my friends working, but still find the time/energy to have fun and enjoy life. Some find time to travel, some find time to party, hell some even find time to start up their own businesses. If everyone else is doing such awesome things, then why can't I do the same as well? To be honest, I don't know.

If I am to be completely honest with myself, I am doing the one thing I am tell people not to do: just exist. I truly not living life to the fullest. In fact, it really feels like I am just settling. Settling with having a job that pays less than $8 a hour. Settling for still being in my hometown while just about everyone i know from her has left and started a new phase in their lives. Settling for living at home with my family. Last but not least, settling for the fact that my dreams, goals, and ideas or just too unrealistic to come true. Boy, when did I turn into a lame version of myself???

What can be down to get my groove back? To be honest, the answer is so simple. Basically I need to do three things. The first thing is to get back to what made me who I am/was in the beginning. That means getting back to my art, getting back to discovering new and exciting music, getting back to writing, and getting back to following my dreams and making them a reality. Basically, I need to reignite, and follow my passion. The second thing is I need to move. I am believe your environment has a huge factor in the energy have. Lately, my current surrounds have not been sparking the creative energy that lies within me. Every time I leave and go out of town of the other hand, I feel inspired once again the the mojo comes back in full force. Last but certainly not least, I have to trust and have faith in the plan that God has for me. Everything happens for a reason, and I do believe all of this is a part of a bigger picture. I believe that for to do what God has planned for me, I have to go through all of this to become a strong and better person than I am currently. The good book say that God will not put more on than you care bear.

In summary, am I a slump right now? Yes I am. Will things get better? Eventually, I don't know when.  In reality, all I truly know is this is happening for a reason. What that reason is I have the slightest idea. Whatever the reason is, I hope that will be able to see it, and learn from the experience. All in all, while things may not be ideal in my life right now, things could be way worse. I won't complain about how things are right. I just going to embrace this phase in my life, learn from it, and my the necessary changes to it. Sooner or later, I will return to my awesome self once again. As chance the rapper say in Good Ass Intro, "Even better than i was the last time baby ohh ohh ohh ohh ohh I'm good." Well folks, that is it for now. Until next time...Live, Be Great, Do Dope Shit.

One for the record books

Ladies and germs, once again I am here to say some things and hopefully y'all will read it. If you read it, I appreciate it. If you don't read, whatever. Now usually I have a topic that I write about that can be talked about on a broader term,and sometimes I write about something that has happened in my life. Well folks, in today's edition I will be writing about a personal event that recently taken place. Now if you follow me on the gram, the book of many faces, or twitter, then you already know what I am talking about. For those of you who don't, well I am talking about one of the best experiences I have had thus far in 2014. I am talking about none other than the best concert of the year.....Outkast At Last.

Now before I go into details about this amazing event, lets back track to how this all started. So on a random weekday on a hot June day, I was chillaxing as usual and looking through the different social media networks that I am apart of. At this point, I am on the gram when all of a sudden I see a post about an Outkast concert that was taking place in Atlanta in September. Before I got all hyped about what I just saw, I had to reread what i just saw. Outkast....having a concert....near me.....in a few months.....needless to say a young king like myself made it my personal mission to be at this concert.

 A few days later, they revealed when the tickets would go on sell, and it just so happen that day would fall on a day I did not have to work. It seemed as the universe was telling me to go to this event. They also revealed who would be their opening act for that day who just so happen to be two of my favorite artist; Kid Cudi and Childish Gambino.The tickets were going on sell at 10 in the am, and I was determined to go to this concert. I went to be bed early so I could get up and buy a ticket. In the back of my mind I knew would be at this show. Boy was i mistaken......soft of.

Its the day when the tickets go on sell. I get up at 9:30 am, and I am pump to get my ticket. For once reason or another, I end up falling back asleep and waking back up at 10:45 am. To say I was in panic mode would be an understatement. As soon as I got on the Ticketmaster website and tried to buy a ticket, the message SOLD OUT appeared before my eyes. As the words set in, I was truly depressed my one chance to witness the best concert of possibly all time was out the window....or so I thought. It was after reveled that Outkast would be selling tickets for a second show at 2 pm.There was no way I was going to miss this show. When the time came, I had my phone, laptop, and tablet on the website because there was no way on Gods green earth was going i going to miss this chance. So after a hour and 15 minutes, I finally got the all sought after golden egg known as an Outkast concert. 

Fast forward to three months later, it is the day before the concert and I am so ready for it. I have the next four days off so I can truly enjoy the weekend and all that it has in store. I get up and go get my rental car for the trip. I went and got my work out on, then around 1:30 I load up the car and got on the road to Atlanta. About a hour and a half later, I get in Atlanta and then link up with my family. They were in the process of helping my cousin move so I decided to help out. What I thought would be a quick way to kill some time turned out to be about a five hour moving session, but I didn't mind since that is my family. After that, I had to Stone Mountain to hang with my college friends. While I was there, I got my eat on, played some games, and got my drank on. Needless to say after the drinks I was in no condition to drive to the place I was going to crash at for the weekend. So I end up crashing at my friend's house that night. The next day, I wake up with liquor still in my system but after getting some food in my gut, I was back to normal. After a few hours, I got in the shower and then got on the road, heading to Outkast concert.

Now after getting lost a few times in downtown Atlanta, I finally get to my destination. Its about 3:30 pm and there is a line of people that are waiting to get into the venue. After a few minutes, they begin to let us in. As I walked in, the first thing I noticed all the tents that were set up in the park. Then as I walked farther along, I finally saw the stage in which I would witness a performance of a lifetime. Near the stage, they had three screens. On one of the screens, it displayed what time each act was supposed to preform. First up would be Janelle Monae, followed by Future, 2 Chainz, and last but not least Outkast. The first performance wasn't to start until 5, so I walk around searching for something to eat there. As I looked around, I saw that they have pizza, hot dogs, fries, fish and chicken among other stuff. Then they had water, soda, beer, and wine there as well. One thing I notice was the price of everything was high as hell. I mean $9 for one beer??? The fuck??? Nonetheless, I end of up getting my eat on then about an hour later, the show began.

It is 5:20 pm and no one has hit the stage yet. All of a sudden, this dude comes on the stage and starts rapping. Apparently he is a local rapper because the crowd, mostly made up of locals, knew all the words to his songs. This lasted a good 15 minutes and then the real opening acts came up to perform. Each act did their own thing differently, but gave the show a ton of energy. The first person up was Janelle Monae. That is one beautiful woman. She performed songs from both of her albums. There are three things that made her performance amazing. One was she had a live band. When she performed Prime Time and the guitar solo came up, it was just magic. The second thing was that she had fun, and you could tell. She was dancing, acting randomly, and playing around. She even jumped into the crowd for a few minutes. The third thing is the connection to the crowd. You could tell that the energy she was receiving from the crowd was given back to us in tenfold. After she got done, the  DJ played a few records while the next artist got ready to hit the stage. So about 5:45, Future came on the stage. He got the crowd hyped up or "turnt up" as he would say. He performed songs from his mixtapes and albums The one song that he didn't performed that I was looking forward to was Tony Montana. He was on stage for about an hour then the DJ start playing some more records. About 7:20, 2 Chainz aka that artist formally known as Titty Boy came on the stage. Now I not the biggest fan of his so I really did not get into this segment of the concert. He preformed songs that he was the star of as well as song that he is featured on, which is a lot. During his performance, he brought his kid on stage and they seemed to have a good time together. After his last song, he thanked the crowd and exited stage left. All that was left was for Outkast to hit the stage. After the DJ played more records and teased the crowd, Outkast had finally hit the stage.

When they hit the stage, it was about 9:30 in the pm. Big Boi represented Atlanta with the Braves jacket that he had on. Andre 3000 had on a black jumpsuit with a red price tag hanging on the side. He also was rocking a blonde wig and some white shades. As soon as they stepped on the stage, the crowd went wild. OUTKAST!!! OUTKAST!!! OUTKAST!!! OUTKAST!!! That chant went on for about 3 minutes and then they started to perform. They perform songs for all of their albums. They rocked the crowd with those hits, and the crowd were singing the lyrics word for word. Some of the songs they performed together was Rosa Parks, B.O.B,Git Up Git Sum, So Fresh So Clean, SpottieottieDopelicious, and the Whole World just to name a few. During their performance, they brought out Sleepy Brown, Bun B, and Big Gipp from Goodie Mob. About half way into their set, they separated to preform their own songs.First up was Big Boi. He preformed Kryptonite,The Way You Move, and Ghetto Muisck just to name a few. Next up was Andree 3000, and he performed Prototype, Hey Ya, and a few other songs. While he performed He Ya, he brought a few females from the crowd and they were dancing to the song. They would get back to perform a few more songs together. Towards the end of the show, the introduced their band, and the back up singers. After one more song, the show had ended, They had performed one encore, but I didn't stay to listen to it. The park was packed, and a young king was not trying to get stuck in the park, downtown Atlanta, and/or in that traffic.

All in all, I had an amazing time at this concert. It was everything that I expected and more.The music was great, the energy was amazing, and the crowd was crazy. This is probably the best concert they I have been to in my 25 years of living. I will have memories that will stay with me for a life time and then some. Hell if I ever have kids, I will most certainty tell them about the time that I almost didn't see Outkast performed, but had an amazing time at their concert. Well folks, once again it has come to the part where I end another post. Thank you for reading this and as always.....Live, Be Great, Do Dope Shit.

366 days and counting

Well folks, it has officially been a year and day since I began the current chapter of my life; working at Dixie road express. Now I bet yall wondering exactly what I do over there or what is it. Well, basically I'm working at a gas station "shopette" on an army base in Fort Beginning, GA. Now through out this year, I been going through the ups and downs with this job. At first it was alright to work there, but now I just ready to quit. To understand how I gotten to this point we have to start at the beginning.   
 
Let's rewind back to January of 2013. A young king like myself was a newly college graduate.  I was on top of the world at this point.  I believed that I could get any job that I put in for in a heartbeat. Boy was I wrong. At first, I was just applying at jobs that were paying a good amount.  I figured that I would land one of these jobs with no problem.  Unfortunately that was not the case.  After a few months of getting rejected from these "good jobs", I started applying anywhere.  I applied at grocery stores, fast food places, clothing stores, and basically anywhere else you can think of. You would think that one of these places would have hired me, but no.

One rejection that stands out to me is the one I got from Target. I had a phone interview with the manager and I told everything was going great. In the back of my mind, I knew that I had finally landed a job. Again I was wrong.  After the interview,  the person who was conducting the interview told me that not only did I not get the job, I was not qualify enough for the position.  Not qualify???? How hard is it to be a store associate? Even if I didn't know certain things, I would learn them since they would have to train me. Apparently, Target did not share the same mind set as me.

After months upon months of getting rejected, I honestly gave up on the fact that I would get a job. At this point, I got rejected either because I had a degree or I didn't have enough experience.  It seem like all my friends were landing jobs and I was just doing nothing with my life. My family and friends would tell me that you will get a job eventually. It seem that my eventually was taking forever to get her. All of that would change one faithful Tuesday afternoon.

One random Tuesday on a hot summer day in June, I get a call from my dad talking about a possible job opportunity.  He gave me the number to one of his friends, and after talking to her I went on to apply for the job. About a month and a half later,  I got a call for an interview for the job I had applied for. I went to the interview,  killed it, and got the job. Finally after months of apply, hoping, and get rejected, I finally landed a job. 

Now since I been working there, my experience there has definitely had its ups and downs. When I first got there, everything was good. I was glad to be working, learning new things,  and earing some money.  About 4 to 6 months in. I definitely wanted to quit.  The reason why was I wasn't happy with the job anymore,  I wasn't making much money, I was bored,  and it felt like the job was draining my soul. Then after may of this year, there have been times that if it wasn't for my mom answering my calls while I was on break, I would have definitely quit. Besides the reasons I mentioned earlier,  I wasn't getting along with the new manager *still not by the way*, and to be honest,  I just didn't care anymore.  I didn't care if was late coming to work,  I didn't care if I got in trouble,  I just didn't care about the job at all. Quiting/getting fired would not have been the worst thing to happen.  Over time, I have started to care again, but not that much.  I just in the mind frame of just keep quiet, do what you are told, and leave.

My first official day of working for the company was August 13th and I have been there ever since.  If you would have told me I would be working here for over a year ehen I started, I would have laughed and just say ok if you say so. During my time here, I have seen people come and people go. In fact, there are only 6 people who have been there longer than me. All my other coworkers have left for mostly the same reasons that I have given. I have had plenty of ups and downs with this job. There has definitely been some interesting things happened there as well. The one thing that I am most thankful for is meeting some of the people there. I consider them my good friend.

With all of this said, I am so ready for a new job. I believe I have learned all I can from this job, and with more bills and these student loans piling up, a young king definitely needs some better. Even though I have been rejected by jobs and it seems like history is repeating itself,  I am not worried.  If it took me a long time to get this current job, then I know that something will come along eventually.  As my mom always ssy, I will get a better job when I least expect it. I just gotta keep faith and keep putting in eork, and that is what I plan on doing. Well folks,  that's all for now.  As always,  live, be great,  and do dope shit.

The day the world became less funny

I had just gotten home after a long and hard day at work. First thing I do, as always  is say hello to the family, eat dinner, and change clothes.  After I do all of that, I usually get on my phone and see what people are talking about on the social sites. As I scroll down my time line on Instagram, I saw news that really shook my soul and hurt my heart.  On my time line, people were given their condones to an actor/comedian who was found dead in his home. This person has brought a lot of joy and laughs to the heart's of millions. This person that I am talking about is Robin Williams.

Now at first, I did not believe it because someone is always getting killed of via social media every week. I need actual proof that this great man had left this plane of existence.  As I went on the Internet to confirm this information, deep down I hoped that this was just a hoax. I hope that Robin would make a joke about this mistake. Sadly,  this would not happened.  As soon as I googled his name, two distinct headlines popped up. The first one was that Robin Williams had died.  The second one was that he had died from apparent suicide.

Why would a man who brought such much joy and happiness into people's lives decide to just end his own life? As the hours went by, the answer to that question would be revealed.  According to his publist, he was suffering from serve depression lately. As other news sources would reveal his long battle with depression and his struggle with drugs, it just caught me off guard.  I would have never thought some one who was has wonderful as him would be battling with such tough demons. As i proceesed all of this information, it saddened me that he felt so down that he found death as his only solution. It also makes me sad that he felt like he couldn't tell someone about what he was dealing with.

It has been 24 since thus news has broke,  and to be honest I am still hurt and sad about his passing. I think i have seen just about every special tv has been shown about him. This man was a huge part of my childhood. He played in so many movies that I watched as a kid. These movies brought me laugher and joy, and left fund memories of an exciting time in my life. Even as I write this piost, I can't help but to think of some of my favorite childhood movies such as Hook, Addlian, Jack, Ms. Doubtfire, and countless other movies. This man not only touch my life, but countless others as well.

As I close this post, I will leave on two notes. Robin Williams was a great person who brought great joy, laughter, and happiness while he was on this earth. His legacy will be never be forgotten, and the he made us feel will remain with us for life. The other thing is it is OK to get help if you need it. No matter how bad things are going, it will get better and suicide is not the answer.  If you are going through something or know someone who is, then talk to someone and/or get help. The world would be a really dim place without your light so don't blow it out. Once again, rest in paradise Robin Williams.  You will surely be missed,  but definitely never forgotten.

Three things to live by

Well once again,  we have another addition of Life and Times of an Extraordinary Original.  Now for this post, I will talk about something that I always say in all of my post; Live, be great, and do dope shit. Now in an earlier post I did touch on this subject, but for some reason I feel the need to talk about this again. Could I say the same thing all over again? Well that is a strong possibility, but if someone learns from this then so be it. Each thing has its own meaning/value, but it all adds up to one thing in the end : HAPPINESS.

Live
"To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all." - Oscar Wilde
From the time you are born, you have a life. Depending on certain things, you can either have a short life or a long life. Rather you are alive for 8 years or 70 years, you can either live or merely exist.

To exist is to do just that, exist. You don't do nothing worth anything. You just go along with the status quo, play it safe, and basically all you are doing is living in the background. You may have dreams/goals that you want to achieve but you don't try to go after them because you are afraid to fail. You just let you dreams die and you live in the world of shoulda, woulda, coulda.
To live is one of the bravest things to do. There's a reason why people say everyone dies but everyone lives. To live means to step out of your comfort zone. To live means to doing what you love. To live means to step out out of the norm. To live, in a nutshell, means to do exactly what you want to do, no matter what other's say.

If I had to give an example of living vs existing, I will use this example. A person is working a normal 9 to 5. The job pays the bills and is a OK job, but this person doesn't like the job. The person has a dream/passion that burns within them that they want to go after and make come true. The person who just exist will not go after their dream, continue to work at their job that they don't like,  and one day say "I wish I would have." The person who lives will go after their dreams. They will be willing to do any and everything to make this dream in a reality.  It make take the person months or years to may their dreams come to. Hell the person may even fail but at least the person has tried and didn't let themselves fall by the waste side.

Be Great
"Success comes in can, not can't" - Unknown
What does be great mean? It means whatever you do, be great at it. It also means to be the best version of yourself. Each person has a something that they are good at. Whatever that may be, be the greatest at it. Don't let nothing or anyone stop you from being great  Each day as a new chance to do something that will improve your life or someone else life.

Every person has the potential for greatness within themselves, yet few people live up to their greatness. Why is that?  Well one of the biggest things that stop people from being great is fear. Whether it be the fear of failing or the fear of rejection, fear will cause a person with God given talent to just settle for less. In order to become great, the first thing you have to overcome is fear. Once you overcome that, you can truly start being great. Most people see fear as a sign to give up. I believe otherwise.  A wise person once said "If nothing never scares you, then you are not dreaming big enough." Don't see fear as a sign to give up. See fear as a sign that you are on the right path.

Another thing that stop being from being great is what people say. A person may have a goal that can come true, but because of what people may say they give up before they even begin. You going to hear people say things like that is a dumb idea, I hope you have a back up plan just in case, or I wouldn't do that if I was you. No matter what you do in life, there will be at least one person that will try to say something that will make you want to give up. I here to say don't do it. Continue to follow that dream that you see, and prove everybody wrong.  Success is the not only the best revenge,  but it also the best way to prove the naysayers wrong.

Do Dope Shit
"Life is what you make it" - Unknown
Each day that you are on this plane of existence is a new change for you to do something amazing. With the amount of time you have in a day, you can do something dope. Now what is considered dope various from each person. What I consider dope is doing something new, being yourself, doing exactly what you love to do, etc.  Doing something dope can be as simple as going to the park to enough the weather or something complex like starting up your own business. Whatever you choose to do, the most important thing is to enjoy it. Life is unpredictable. One minute you are here, the next minute you gone. While you are still, why not do something worth remembering.

At the end of it all, these three values are add up to one thing: HAPPINESS. No matter who you are, every body wants to be happy.  There's no drawn out path for happiness.  Some people will spend their whole life trying to find happiness. Now I am not saying this is a sure fire way to be happy. Each person has their own way to be be happy. I just suggesting a possible way for for something to find true happiness.  If I can help someone find what makes them help, then this post has done something worth wild. That will bring a form happiness to me. Well people, that is all for told. Just like this post say, live, be great, do dope shit.

Pretty vs Beauty

Ladies and germs, here we are once again. By now, yall should know that these topics for my post are totally random. I don't sit down, and think about what I going to talk about.  This ideas just going to me, and this topic is no different.  As I was on the gram *instagram for those who didn't know* I was looking at some random pictures.  As I looked on, I saw some pictures of different females. When I looked at the photos, I saw that all of the pictures showcased pretty females. I saw a few pictures of female that looked gorgeous. As I continued to few this picture, I noticed that not one picture that I saw was showed a beautiful female. I then began to question what does it mean to be beautiful vs what does it mean to be pretty, and ladies and germs that I what I will try to explain on this post.

What does it mean to be pretty?  Well according to dictionary.com, pretty is defined as "pleasing or attractive to the eye, as by delicacy or gracefulness: a pretty face". To be pretty is something from a physical standpoint.  In general, to be pretty you have to only look good. Just by that standard alone, there's a lot of pretty people in the world.  There are people who will pay top dollar to be considered pretty in the world's view. While being pretty is OK, what else will that get you? You can get all the complements in the world for you outward appearence, but what about the inside? You have to process more than looks. I have seen a lot of pretty females in my life, but their attitudes make take away from their appearance. Kanye West once said in All Falls Down "the prettiest people do the ugliest things on the road to richest and diamond rings." Looks will only get you so far in life, and after they fade away what do you have left? Nothing, plain and simple. Now that we have defined pretty,  let's move on to beauty.

What does it mean to have beauty?  Once again, we go to dictionary.com for the definition for this words. Beauty is defined as" the quality present in a thing or person that gives intense pleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind, whether arising from sensory manifestations (as shape, color, sound, etc.), a meaningful design or pattern, or something else (as a personality in which high spiritual qualities are manifest)." To further go on, beautiful is defined as "having beauty; possessing qualities that give great pleasure or satisfaction to see, hear, think about, etc.; delighting the senses or mind: a beautiful dress; a beautiful speech." Beauty is subjective. If you ask what makes a person beautiful, you will get a million different responses.  Since I am writing this, I will tell you what I found beautiful in a female.  What makes a female beautiful to me is a number of things. It can be as simple as the way she smiles,her laugh, her eyes, and the way she carries herself. It can be complex as the way she views the world, the conversation that we have, her mind, her personality, and other things. I find one thing that really makes a girl beautiful is if she can stimulate my mind. These things among others are what makes a female beautiful to me.

So after reading all of this, you may be wondering what makes me the expect of pretty vs beauty. Well yo be honest, I am not an expert. I just speaking on the experience that I have had. Like I said earlier, throughout my 25 years on this earth,  I have seen my fair share of pretty females.  After getting to know some of these females, their basic/bad personality overshadowed there looks. After that happened, then they just became a basic female.  When it comes to beauty, I can honestly say that I have met a few females that had a few beautiful qualities,  but I have truly have met only one beautiful female in my life.  She had all the qualities that I have mentioned that makes a female beautiful plus she also had a X Factor to her. I would go on about her but that's not what this post is about.

Once again folks, we have come to the end of another post. I gave yall my opinion on what the difference between being pretty vs being beautiful.  At the end of the day, it is up to each person to define the difference between these two terms. As the old phrases goes, "Beauty is in the eye if the beholder. " Well that is all for this post. As always,  live life, be great,  and do dope shit.

The 24 Year Journey

Well ladies and germs, it is the third Sunday in June which mean it is father's day. Now this day is meant to honor the father's or a father figure in a person's life.  That what the holiday is meant for, but over the years this day has morphed into different things depending on who you ask.  Some people still honor the true meaning of this day. Some people treat this say as a second mothers day. Some people decide to take this day a bash their dads. Now everyone has their own right and reason to treat this day in however way they choose to. This post is not meant to bash no one. This is just my journey on the 24 years it took me to say happy father's day to the one person I used to detest the most. To get to where I could say happy father's day, we got to start at the beginning.

For much of my early life, I didn't know who my father was. I knew I had one but if I had to pick him out from a group of people,  I would fail at the task. The earliest I think I remember seeing him was like when I was 4 or 5. I think he came by and visit me but again I am not for sure about this. Now every since I could remember, I would get a call from him around my birthday and I would always get the one thing I asked him to get me.  At the time that was cool with me since I never asked to see/know him. To know I had a dad was good enough for me. All of that changed one faithful Saturday afternoon. 

When I was either 10 or 11, I was doing what most kids did on a Saturday morning;  wake up super early just to watch cartoons.  Well just as Power Rangers was just about to come on, my grandma tells me that there's someone here to see me. Rather than go right away to see who the person was, I was trying to keep on watching Power Rangers.  After 3 minutes,  I got up and went to see who this person was. I go to the living room and I see this man sitting there just staring at me. After a few minutes he asked me did I knew who he was. After I said no, he told me he was my dad. Most people would have been shocked, mad, or happy to finally see their dad. Not me. To be honest, I didn't feel one way or another.  I was just glad I had a face to put the voice too. After about a 30 minute talk, he got in his car and left. When he left, I didn't see him for a long time.

The years that followed this meeting,  I started to get mad at him.  It wasn't for him not being apart of my life. I was mad because I thought I would see him more but I didn't. I knew he was in the army and that took up his time, but trying telling that to a growing teenage boy. During our teen years,  nothing logical makes sense to us. He would still call and give me the one gift for my birthday,  but after a while that wasn't enough.  In the purest and simplest way, I just wanted my dad. During this time,  I got the idea that I didn't want to get marries because I didn't want to have kids and leave them like he did to me. I didn't want to become my father.

Fast forward to my senior year of high school,  everything was going good for me. I was making good grades and I was on track to graduating. Then one day,  my mom tells me that my dad was coming in town and wanted to see me. At first,  I didn't want to see him or want nothing to do with him. On the day of the meet, my aunt told me that no matter what he was still my dad. Just hear him out and forget about the past. With that in mind, I went and saw him. Little did I know that he would bring along my little brother that I would meet for the first time.  So we spent the day together. We talked,  laughed,  and had some real father/son time. All of that,  all of the ill feelings I once had for him went away. 

After that day, things changed.  We talked more, email each other, and had our own version of father/son time. It didn't matter that I didn't see him cause I felt for once that he really cared for me. He came to my high school graduation, and I spent a whole with him and my step mom for a whole week. For then on out, I thought nothing would come between us.  Boy was I wrong. Everything changed when I got to college.

Now I am on my own. I was having my first taste of freedom.  I really didn't have a care in the world other than my school work. While I was in school, the talks between us became fewer and fewer. Eventually,  they didn't happen at all. To be honest. I couldn't tell you why this happened. Then one day, I get a call from my mom that my dad had stopped putting money in my account.  This came out of nowhere. He didn't even give me a reason for this.  After that,  I wanted nothing to do with him. Then after eight months of not talking, we soft of made up with each other,  but it would not last long.

It is the week after my 20th birthday and I was home for Christmas break.  On one Saturday,  my mom tells me that my dad is on his way to pick me up. Now I at this point,  I not mad at him. I just didn't want nothing to do with him. He comes by and picks me up. We try and have a conversation, but that was a waste of time.  We get to the mall and he ask me have I ever had pedicure before.  I tell him no, and he says let's go get one. I tell him no, he asked why I didn't want one and I tell him that I don't want no one messing with my feet. At this point,  I can clearly tell that he is pissed off. We get to the food court and we start talking.  He asked me did I know when was he birthday.  When I told him I didn't know,  he flipped.  He would go on to say "You wonder why I didn't call and tell you happy birthday this year?  It is not because I forgot. It is because I didn't want to. If you are not going to tell me happy birthday then I won't tell you happy birthday neither." When he said that, I was crushed.  At that point, no one had ever hurt me like he did. He hurt me so bad that I want to cry. The reason that hurt me so much because it was like he was telling me that I didn't matter to him anymore.  I told my mom what happened,  and she would tell me don't worry about him because everything would be alright.  Even though I said ok, deep down inside I knew it wouldn't be alright.

For the next three years. I didn't talk to him or have shit to do with him. He was basically dead to mr. If anyone would ask when was the last time I talked to him. I would instantly get mad. I didn't want him to be apart of my life and I didn't want to be a part of his. My old ideas of being alone forever came back and were stronger than ever.  I Honestly felt like that was the only way not to turn out like him. I would speak to him until Thanksgiving of 2012.

He called my phone and I ignored it. I didn't want to talk to him. Then he called the house.  Even though I didn't want to talk to him, I was forced to.  After about 3 minutes into the phone, he asked why I haven't called him.  At that moment,  I just unleashed on the pinned up emotions I had about him. I let him know exactly how I felt. Even though my family heard me, I didn't care.  Afterward,  he asked did I want him at my college graduation.  At first I told him he could come if he wanted to, but then I just told him to come. Before i said goodbye, just e would drop a bombshell, telling me i had a little brother and sister.  After I hung up, I was wondering why I said he could come to my graduation. In retrospect,  that was probably the best choice I could have made.

Here is the day of my college graduation.  The day I have been looking forward for the longest. I was not going to let anyone or anything ruin my day. Hearing my named called and walking across the stage to get my degree has been one of the best feelings I have had do far. After graduation was over, I spoke to everyone and took some pictures. Then about an hour and a half later, we go to chedders to have my graduation dinner.  Now while we was waiting to be sittied, my dad was just sitting by himself. My grandma told me to go over there and talked to him. As I was going over there,  he got up and went outside.  At that moment is when I realized I was doing to him what I felt like he was doing to me all these years.  I didn't want him to feel like that.  I went outside and talked to him, and from then on everything has been good between us.

We talk like twice a month about any and everything. It really feel like that I am wanted, and loved by my dad. That is what I wanted all of this time. It even gotten to the point that I did two things that I never thought I would do. Last I told him happy father's day. Then when his birthday came around, told him happy birthday.  He would go on to tell me that meant the most to him since I never told him that before. It made me happy that I could make him happy.  To this day, we keep in contact on the regular.  Nothing could be better between us.

Well ladies and germs, that is my story.  What is the point of this story you may ask? To be honest,  it doesn't have a point.  If you can take one thing away from this stroy is that it's never too late to start a new beginning. Even if are mad at your father, be grateful that you have one. If you know who your dad is, get in contact with him and start/strength your relationship with him. If you don't know him, just be thankful that he help give you life and tell the father figure in your life how much you love/appreciate him.. Just keep in mind with out our dads, none of us would be here. Well folks, that is all for this post. As always live life, be great, and do dope shit.

New Legends

Well ladies and germs, today's post is made on a somber and hopeful out look.  As you make know, we lost a hero, a pioneer, a trailblazer,  and most importantly a legend.  The person in who I speaking about is none other than Dr. Maya Angelo. Through her life, she was a champion of freedom and equality.  She touched the world through stories, poems, and music. With her 86 years of life,  she received many awards, honors, but more importantly, she changed the world.  With her words, she inspired people to love themselves, respect themselves, and thrive for greatness.  As she transcend into a higher plane, we are left with one less light in the world.  With her passing, I start to think about the legends that have left their mark on the world and how they are leaving this plane of existence.  I as being yo think about who will fill in the void they have left behind.  In a sense,  I started to wonder "Who and where are the legends?" 

Now before we begin look for our new legends, we have to figure out what qualities qualify a person to be a legend. These qualities my vary from people to person, but at the end I believe there are a few qualities that all legends share. One quality is a urge to change an aspect of the world.  Whether they be equal rights for all mankind, rights for animals, or just peace. Whenever there is a need for a change in the world, these people take the charge and set out to make that change. Another quality is that people believe in their cause. You can have a great movement/cause but if no one supports it,  then the message will not grow.  A great cause is just like a fire. It takes only a spark to set it off, but without the right environment, the fire will surely die out. Another quality that I believe is needed for a legend is something dramatic has to happen to the person to change the person for the person.  This event can either directly or indirectly happen to person. Most times, this event with set in motion the process of a person becoming a legend. At the end, i believe these are the most important quality in a legend.  One is when the person becomes the face of movement/cause they have either started or became a part of. Even after the person is gone, they will be remembered as the face of that moment. The other quality is the X Factor.  The X factor is something that can't be described.  It is just something that you feel and see. The most important quality in any legend is the power to influence other people.

Now when I think about legends, the people who come to mind are people like Nelson Mandela, Maya Angelou, Malcolm X,  Martin Luther King Jr, John Lennon, Steve Arwin, Bob Marley,  and Ghanda. What makes these people legends are all the things that I have mentioned plus so much more. These people have changed the world in various ways.  In fact, these legends have inspired other legends in the process. Along the way, these people became well known, had a following,  and begin changing the world. As they became famous and powerful,  ne thing that these legends did not do was let it go to their.  No matter how well known these people became, they did not look down on other people/think they were better than anyone. 

Now that we have talked about these past legends and what it takes to be a legend,  the question is are who are the new legends in today's world? To be honest, I have the slightest idea. I have not seen anybody who is legend. Some people may say that our president,  Barrack Obama, is a legend. I do not see it like that. If anything, he is a great speaker, and depending on who you ask he b is a great leader. He has could be a legend one day, but as of right now, he cannot be called a legend. Back to the question at hand, while right now we don't have any new legends that we know of, I honestly believe that we have people who are in the beginning process of becoming a legend.  The crazy thing is that these future legends don't even know what they will become. The interesting part is legends come out of all walks and of life and can be anyone. Hell, chef keef could be a legend that change the world one day. Just keep in mind that before he became Malcolm X, he was once Malcolm Little.

Where are the new legends?  There are out there in the world. They  may not be known to the world right now, but one day their influence will be felt through out the world and they will eventually change the world. They will cause people to wake up,  and challenge people to think and question what they believe.  Who knows who will become a legend.  Every one has the potential to become one. Who knows, the person who read this may become a legend.  Hell even I may be a  legend some where down the line. Now that would definitely be one for the record books. Well folks,  that's all for now. As always, life, be great, and do dope shit.

The Struggle Is Real But God Is Greater

As I look at my phone to see what time it is, the first thing that comes to mind is that I should be sleep because I got work in a few hours. Even though I should be sleep, I can't go to sleep. Why you may ask? Well I have been thinking about the things that have happened within the past 48 hours. To be honest this have not been the best few days, but today was really when i felt like I hit rock bottom, As the day continued on, I got to start thinking about everything and realized that everything is not as bad as it seems. As I was about to sleep, this whole thing kept on being on my mind. I believe I supposed to write about this to not make to just tell my story, but to also help someone who may be going through something similar. So with that being said, here we go.

Wednesday, there was a job fair so I decided to go to it in hopes of finding a better job. When I got there, there was companies there, but they were for jobs outside of my city. On top of that, it was mostly for jobs outside of Georgia. I go to the different booths to see want jobs they had, but nothing really caught my attention. After a while, I got to one booth and talk to the man representing the company. Now we was  talking for a good minute so in the back of my mind, I felt like I was going to hear some good news. Sadly this was not the case. Basically in a nutshell, he said he couldn't think of any positions that would fit me. After that, I felt the job fair. Later on that day, I checked my email. I receive an email from a job that i had applied for. When I read the email, it said that they have found another candidate that was better for the job. I have gotten so used to this emails that it doesn't bother me now.

Fast forward to Thursday, things really turn south. Now I was at work when this happened. I was on my break and once again decided to check my email. Turns out that the first email was from the company that I work for. It was regrading a job opening that had at another store. It was basically the same job that I have now. The only difference is that I could get holiday/vacation pay, and there could be chances to move up in the company. Before I opened the email, I that I was going to get this job. Unfortunately, this was not the case. The email stated that they have found other candidates that was more qualified for the job. The first thought that came to mind was "What The Fuck? How am I not qualified to do the EXACT SAME JOB?" To say that I was in a funk would be an understatement. When I got back from break, I did not want to be there at all. I really just wanted to quit a few times that day.

 As the day went on, I calmed down and thought about it.I just didn't think about these past two days, but just life in general. I was thinking why do I keep getting turned down for jobs. When i say i have applied for just about every job that I can think of, that would be an understatement. If you look in my email, you would see the many "thanks for applying for the position but we have found a better fit candidate." Like what do In have to do to work for you? I also thought about own it seems like I do almost do everything at work, but I still make shit. Like my cousin makes more money than I do, and I am the one with the college degree. As these thought flooded my mind, I was reminded of a quote that I saw on the internet. "Rejection is God's Redirection." That one quote made everything clear.

Why am I not landing the jobs that I apply for? Well to be honest, I maybe either not the right person for the job or these people think I will just quit when another job comes along.....which is true. In the bigger picture of these, I not supposed to be working at those companies. The other people who are more qualified for the jobs probably needed those jobs more than I do. that job could be the blessing that God has placed in that person's life. Another reason could be that I am not in the right place for the right job, and honestly I truly believe that. One more thing that I believe is that those jobs could distract me from doing what I am truly meant to do on this earth. With this blog, I feel like this will open doors for greater opportunities. Along with the blog, I also want to start a t-shirt line. I feel like my my t-shirt line can really be great. In the end, I know I am meant for greatness, and those job could have stopped me from achieving greatness.

"Rejection is God's Redirection." What is God is redirecting me to?  I have no idea. Only he knows what is in store for me, and what it will take for me to get to where i am meant to be. Maybe God is testing me. Maybe he is seeing if I will still praise him doing this hard spot.  Maybe all of this is to humble me. Maybe this is all setting me up for something else. Who knows but only god. Until the time comes, i will continue to work for the little money I make, work on my passions, look for better jobs, and  continue to have faith. At times like this, two bible sayings always pop in my mind. God always have a ram in the bush, and all you need is faith the size of a mustard seed. To close this out, I will say to anyone who is going through a hard time in life is trust in God, and trust in the process. Everything we are going through is all apart of a bigger plan that we can not even think of. Also, there is no such thing as a bad experience. Everything we go through is meant to teach us something, help us grow, prepare us for something great, or a little of all three. Well folks, that's all i have to say. As always, live life, be great, and do dope shit.

In the Case of Donald Sterling....Was Justice Served

Well it has been a very crazy few days in the world of the NBA.  This pass weekend,  the owner of the LA Clippers was heard on tape making racist comments toward black people.  How was this convo heard one may ask? Well his side chick recorded the convo  and then released it for the world to hear it. In this tape, he was heard telling his side piece that he did not want her to be seen with black people or wanted black people at his game. The professional sports world went in to a craze.  To think that a 80 year old white man, who is a billionaire,  did not want blacks at his team games was must have been a huge shocker to them. *Insert sarcastic voice*

After this convo was heard, an uproar was heard. People took to social media to declare their opinion to this issue.  From snoop dogg/lion to the everyday person, one thing was universally agreed upon; Donald Sterling had to go. People knew that he would get in trouble, but no one knew the extent of his punishment.  Everybody want him to be suspended indefinitely,  but ultimately his fate rested upon the hands of the NBA commissioner. Boy he did not disappoint with his ruling on the matter. Yesterday, a press conference has held to disclose the fate of Mr. Sterling. The result was as followed;  Donald is banned for life from the NBA,  has to pay a 2.5 million dollar fine, and will eventually be forced to sell the Clippers. When I first heard about this, I was happy. By doing this, the NBA has stated that it will not stand for/be associated with any form of discrimination, no matter who or where it comes from. After a while, I began to really think about this whole situation. When I finally got a grasp of what had happened and who was involved, I thought to myself "Did he really get punished or did he get a tap on the hand?"

Donald Sterling is a billionaire, and he is 80 years old. Now let's look at his punishment. He is banned for life from the NBA, has to pay a 2.5 million dollar fine, and will eventually be force go sell the Clippers. This man is 80 years old, not 40 years old. What good is banning a person his age going to do? Now I not wishing death upon no one, but at his age, how much longer until his becomes worm food. STRIKE 1. He is also required to pay a fine of 2.5 million dollars,  the maximum fine under the NBA rules.  Now that make seem like a lot of money to us, but once again, this dude is a freaking billionaire. What is 2.5 million really going to do to him? Nothing at all. That is chump change to him. He probably makes that in his sleep. STRIKE 2. Last but not least, he eventually will be forced to sell this team. The key world in that last sentence is EVENTUALLY. As pointed out by a great friend of mine, until he is forced to sell this team he will be still be making money via both ticket and merchandise sell. Since we don't know when he will sell this team, let's assume that his bank account will continue to increase. Then when he does sell the team, he will still be getting money from the sell. STRIKE 3. If you looking at it from this angle, Donald Sterling is really getting a early retirement with service pay.

At the end of the day, who willing got who? I mean it is a great thing that the NBA did something about this.  It also great that Donald got exposed for the person that he really is.  This isn't the first time that Donald gotten in trouble for his racist ways. With all of that being said,  all of this punishment will not affect Donald in one bit. Yes we lost money and the hate from a lot of people, but you have to remember that he is a old racist billionaire that is set in his ways. He doesn't have to work for the rest of his life if he doesn't want to, and this punishment doesn't solve the issue here which is discrimination. No amount of punishment,  loss of reputation, or lost of money will change what a person wants to believe. Donald is just one of many people with the same position of power/money that share the same viewpoint. The only difference is the other billionaires had it better, and don't have a side piece recording them. So was justice really served? Well ladies and germs, that is for you to decide. That's the end of another post people. As always live, be great, and do dope shit.

Four Day Weekend PT 2; Adventures in the A

Ok ladies and germs, we are once again. Now as promised, I will cDamnntinue the tale of a epic weekend that the young king, aka myself, had in Atlanta. If you haven't read the first part of this story, I suggest that you do that like right now. Part one just was my exprience of the Childish Gambino concert through my eyes. Now part two is the recap of the rest of my epic weekend in Atlanta. Now for this installment, I will be breaking it down by each day. Depending on how how long this post is, I may just have to break this post down into two post. With that being said, grab a snack, a drink, a good sit, and enjoy the epic recap of my weekend.

FRIDAY
After I got a some sleep, I woke up about 9 in the am. I do not understand why I got up that early on my day off, but that is neither here or there. As always, I said my prayers, got some water, and checked what was going on with the world. As i was slipping on some H20, my homie Travon got up. We talked for a quick second before he got raedy for work. About an hour later, he got his skateboard and rode his way onto work. Now at this point, I am the only one who is up in the whole house. I decied to go back tos leep at this point, but that was a fail. So there I was, just playing games on my phone, waiting on someone to wake up. About 11:45 am, folks started to get up. As the house echoed with the sounds of music, espn, and random movies, I decide to get up.After I got dressed, I listened to my favorite morning radio show The Breakfast Club via Youtube. As i am listening to this, one of the roommates and I have a convo about the show.  After that went off, my stomach started growling. At that moment, I knew it was time to eat.

While deciding on what I was going to eat, I asked one of the roommates about places to eat. At first , I was just looking for for a subway so I went have to spend much money. He suggested I go to a burger place called Five Guys. They have one back in my town. but I never been to one. So after I decide what I going to eat, I get dressed and get ready to leave. Before I leave, I ask everybody did that want?need anything while I was out. Everyone said no, so I about to leave the house. As i head to the car, one of the females gives me five bucks, ask me to pick her up a drink, and "females hygene products." Now I have the most confused look on my face, like why she wants to get this stuff but I didn't say anything.  With the the additional quest, I headed out to get my eat on. 

I got to Five guy's and I scanned the menu for something to eat. I need up girl tying the regular cheese burger and a medium fry. All of that cost almost 10 buys. YIKES!!!! After I got my food, I head to target for part 2 of the quest. Now getting the sprite was no problem.  The "female product" was the tricking part since I never been shopping for is like that before. I didn't know there were so many options for that stuff.  Since I didn't know what to look for, I went to look for someone that worked there for help, preferably a dude. Unfortunately I had no such luck,  but I eventually I found what the girl wanted. Now here goes the part I dreaded the most; going to the check out line. Once again I was looking for a guy cashier but, once again I had no such luck. I head to the female cashier for the most awkward ,minute of my life. To make things worse, or girl didn't have enough money so I need up putting in the rest.  Do you think I got reimburse? So after that, I go back to the spot, drop off her stuff and enjoy my five guys. Man I had a mouthganish eating that. Then after I finish eating, I called my homie and then I was off onto my next adventure. 

I got to my homie house after been lost for about five minutes. We take for a quick second then we each took a shot.  After about a hour of chilling,  we got on the road to head to a place called Jack's.  When we got there, I was amazed with the place. It looked like something straight off of the original teenage mutant ninja turtles movie. There was graffiti everywhere, good music playing in the background, and all shorts of people there. The vibe Of The Place Was full of positive energy and awesomeness.  We ordered our food. It was a Friday so you can get a 40oz and a slice of pizza for under 7 bucks. That's my kind of deal. There we were, eating pizza, drinking 40s, and taking pictures for instagram. Then afterwards,we both got a shot of tequila. In this moment we were truly living b life to the fullest. We paid our bills then it was back to her house.  After a quick stop to the bathroom,  we said our goodbye and then I was off to the next destination. 

After about 25 minutes of driving, I get to my friend's place in stone mountain. When I knocked on the and he opened up,  the first think that came out his mouth was "Damn sted, you lost weight. After you on drugs or something?" Keep in my that I haven't seen him in about two years.  When he said that, I started laughing. So while I was there we started catching up and watching tv. He brought out some liquor so we drank that while discussing various topics from comcast to marvel movies. This lasted for about two hours before I got back on the road. Before I left,  I got something to eat, said my goodbye, and headed to the place I was staying at.  

I got back to the spot and I just chilled for a second. After my friend got home from work,  we talked for a quick second, then it was time for me to get ready to head out. After I ironed my clothes and took a shower,  I said my goodbye and headed out for a night on the town. I get to my destination around 11:50, and the first person I see is yet another one of my friends. Before we head in the club, we had to pay for parking. Atlanta,  imma need yall to longer parking prices because 20 bucks is insane.  It's now 11:56 and we get outside of the party. Now because I thought ahead, I got in the party for free before 12am. With 30 seconds to spare and some help from another one of my friends, we got in there free.

We head in club Privve, and it was jumping.  I look around and I saw a few people celebrating their bornday. I also saw a female having what seem to be a bridal party. With in the first 30 minutes of being in there, I have my first of three drinks of the night. Throughout the night, the music was jumping, the ladies was looking nice, and people were getting there dance/two step on. The atmosphere of the place was amazing,  and the energy was in another level. As my time in the club continued, I saw yet another one of my friends. We start catching up, and talking about old times at Fort Valley State. Half way during the club night,  we get in V.I.P. selection where I spend the rest of my time at. I get my other two drinks, and at this point I just start getting my two step on. I meet back up with my friends and hang with them until the end of the night. After the club ends, I said my goodbyes to my homes and head back to my friends house. I get there, take a shower,  and go to sleep. 

All in all, this day was EPIC. It was definitely one for the record books. I saw some friends, get my drink on, and just lived life. Nothing could have made the day better. Well folks,  I didn't expect of this post to be soo long. So I guess I have to make a part 3 to tell yall what happened for the rest of the weekend.  Well folks, that is all for right now. As always live life, be great, and do dope dhit.

Four Day Weekend PT.1 Deep Web Tour

Ladies and germs, once again we are back at it. I am here to let a store, you are here to read it, and *hopefully* be entertained by it. In an earlier post entitled Live Your Life, I mentioned that I had taken a four day weekend and would talk about it later. Well people, the time has come. Now my weekend was so awesome, that it would not do yall, or my experience, any justice by trying to compressed that into one blog. In light of this, I will break this down into two parts. Now I will get into the bulk of my weekend in part 2. For this part, I want to focus on the main reason why I went down to Atlanta for that weekend: To attend the Childish Gambino Deep Web Tour. 

On thursday afternoon, I went to get a rent a car. Usually I get a Nissan but they did not have one so I went with a Mazza 2. I went to the house, packed up my clothes, got some food in my gut, and got on the road, Before I actually got on the interstate, I went to the mall, went to Radioshack, and saw about getting an audio jack. Now for some reason the one I had got thrown away, but I had got insurance on it. Lucky me right? Well unfortunately for me, it did not cover lost/stolen products. Sigh, the struggle is real. I ended up buying a new one. After all of that, I hoped in the car, plugged up my ipod, and got on that interstate.

Now I am on the interstate on my way to Atlanta. It was hot as hell outside so I had the windows rolled down and shit starts flying all out the window. After I got the window issue figured out, my drive went smoothly. On my way down there, I was jamming to Because of the Internet by Childish Gambino. As I am listening to this album, I begin to really get into the songs. I mean I had  the audio system fully blasting, head just bobbing and a little fist pumping in the mix too. I bet the other drivers was looking at me like "What is that ninja in the car doing?" I really did not care because I was just living as usually.

 After about an hour and a half, I got in Atlanta around 3:45 pm and I was greeted by that Atlanta traffic. That was so not the move at all. When i got out off the god awful traffic, I got to the parking lot only to be told it cost to park there. As I began to look for the nearest gas station to get some cash, I got lost. After a good ten minutes of just driving around, I finally find a gas station. I go in, get some cash, drive back and finally got to park. Boy did it feel great to get out of that car and just walk around. Now the concert offered a shuttle bus to the concert, so I hopped on that bus along with the other people. The people on the bus was so diverse. Any and everybody was there. This was only a sneak people of who was going to be at the concert. When we got the the venue where the concert was been held at, it was packed. Everyone from all walks of life was there. There was even some people that was the age of my mom and grandparents. While we were waiting to let in, we could hear Childish Gambino doing his sound check. He was singing a few songs off his album, and he was singing a few Michael Jackson songs. While listening to this, the first thing that pops in my mind is "This concert is going to be EPIC!!!!"

After a hour and a half, they stated letting people into the venue.  As the people were going into the outside concert, the crowd started chanting "WORLDSTAR, WORLDSTAR, WORLDSTAR. WORLDSTAR."
When I into the area that was holding the concert, the first thing I see is the stage .On the stage were the instruments, a couch, a two chairs, and plenty of alcohol. Since the concert didn't start right away, I went and got me some pizza and a beer that the venue was selling. As I go into the crowd, all you can hear are the people taking about how they can not wait for Gambino to hit the stage. The crowd got restless as they were waiting for the concert to start. "WORLDSTAR, WORLDSTAR WORLDSTAR!!"  As the chants grew down, out of no where, a poptart hit the guy next to me in the face. Before you know it, more poptarts was thrown into the crown. Now while this was happening, I was thing "Please do not let one hit me in the face." Then next thing you know, folks start throwing water bottles . The energy was crazy, and people were having a ball while all this was going on.

About 7 pm, a DJ came to the stage. I guess was the warm up to the main show. When he got to the stage, he introduced himself and gave a little background info about himself. He was from Chicago, and he is the personal DJ for Chance The Rapper. When he said that, I was for certain that Chance was going to come to the stage. Sadly, this was no the case. After he got the crowd hyped up, he started doing his thing on the wheels of steel. When I said he was playing any and everything, he really played everything. He played songs from Rock with You by Michael Jackson to Knuck If You Buck by Crime Mobb. Some of the songs he played I had not heard since I was In college. While he was playing these songs, the crowd got really into the set. They were singing the words of the song, and  they were dancing. During his performance, he played a 90s set, a Kanye West set, and a Michael Jackson set. While this was all good, people wanted to see the person they came to see. When the DJ got off the stage, they started to put up the screen for the show. After that, it seem like it took for ever for the tech guys to get the projections lined up. After all of that, after the long wait time, at 8:10 pm EST, Childish Gambino finally graced the stage,

When Gambino got on stage, the crowd went wild. Everybody pushed to the front to get a better view. The once comfortable space I had quick went away. At that point, I knew how it felt to be in a can of sardines. I did not have no room at all, but I did not care. The person I came to see had finally hit the stage, and I knew I was in  for a epic experience. Before he started, he thanked everyone for coming out to the show. Then, the show began. As he was dress in a black sweatshirt and some above knee shorts, he rocked the crowd. He performed all of the songs form Because of the Internet. During his performance, the digital background changed to make the mood and the song he was doing. In between sets, they would be a digital skit as well. The was hype throughout his whole performance, but to me, they were the most live when Gambino performed Sweatpants, 3005, The Worst Guy, and the Worldstar. My favorite song song he performed was Pink Toes. During the performance, his crew had brought some females to the stage, and they began to drink while enjoying the show. While he was performing, Gambino truly looked like he was having as much fun as the crowd was. He was laughing, jumping around, and dancing throughout the show. He was giving the crowd as much energy as we were giving him.

After he preformed the last song off the album, he gave the 4000 people an encore. He would perform hits from his first album as well as song from his mixtape. One of the most memorable part of the encore is some random chick threw her panties on the stage. Gambino asked who threw these on the stage and when the girl reveal herself, he said "They smell good by the way." The crowd went wild, and I was thinking, "Look at this ninja here." After he was done,  the crowd chanted "ENCORE, ENCORE." At this point, you can see that Childish is tired and he is almost on E. Somehow, he did one more encore. It was like the crowd chanting his name gave him all the energy that he needed. He brought another rapper on the stage, and together they had a freestyle session. He was spitting some mad rhymes, and the crowd was hanging on every word of it. After 6 minutes, Gambino thanked the crowd, and exited the stage.

When people realized that there wasn't going to be another encore, they started to leave the area. It took some time to get out of the gate. As I slowly walked towards the gate, I saw some Gambino shirts they were selling. I wanted to buy one of the shirts, but the price of those shirts stopped me from getting one. Near the exit, there was some music playing, As I turned towards the bridge that hovered near the exit, there was a band performing. They had colored smoke coming out, and they were having the times of their lives. When I was a few feet away from the gate, I heard someone call out to me. When I turned around, I saw my pal from college J REED. We caught up for a few minutes, exchanged numbers, and went our different ways.

 I left from concert grounds, and looked for the bus that brought me there. When the bus came and I got on, there were no more seats left on the bus. I though the driver would let me and the rest of the people standing off the bus. That was not the case as the bus took off while we were standing. As I was holding onto the seat is when it hit me why the bus driver always said "sit down while the bus is moving" back when I was in grade school. That was so not the move at all. We finally got to our cars, and I was on my way to my homie Travon crib. When I got there, I caught up with Travon, meet his roommates, and drank some more alcohol. I talked to the to females that were there for a while, and then went to bed.

All in all, this day was definitely one for the record books. I went to my first outside concert on this day. I got to experience an amazing concert, I was around a ton of positive/amazing energy, and I left with memories that will last with me forever. I would not trade this experience for all the money in the world. Well folks, that is all for this part of my weekend. I will tell yall how the rest of my weekend went in part two. As always folks, live life, be great, and do dope shit.

Live your life

Yesterday *it was supposed to be uploaded on Tuesday but apparently it wasn't* was my first day of work for the week. Now normally i work at least one weekend day out of the week, but not this weekend. I had requested, and got four straight days off. Originally, I just wanted to take off a thursday to go to the Childish Gambino concert but I thought about taking Thursday through Sunday. After thinking about, I just said fuck it and i just took those four days off. That was the best choices that I have made in a while. not going did I get four days off, I got to  experience new things, caught up with good friends, and just lived. Now I will go into details about my weekend in a later post, but for this one I just want to talk about the importance of living life.

We live in a world where the almighty dollar seems to be the most important thing to most of the world's population. The reason behind thins is you really can not do anything without money these days. in the words of method man, "Cash Rules Everything Around Me C.R.E.A.M." With money, you can bill your bills, put food on  your table, clothes on your back, invest it in the stock market, and save it for retirement.  The only way to gain/earn money is to work and/or hustle for it. For this fact, we see people working jobs they hate, doing illegal things, and working long hard hours to obtain money.  It seems like the only thing people do now a days is work. With the cost of living growing seemly everything day, no one can blame a person for choosing work over living live. At the end of the day, though, this can lead to problems down the line.

While working to make money/earning a living is all good, the one thing work can not give you is life/ memories, and those two thing are something money can not by.Have you ever met an older person that have said" Oh I wished I worked more?' Yeah, neither have I. We  have become so consumed with working that we forget to stop and smell the roses every once in a while.  We do not time the time to just relax and recharge our batteries. Working all the time can led to stress, and it takes time away from ;living your live. You do no waht to look back on life and all your life says about you is you were are a harder worker that never missed a day of work. To avoid this, you can do easy steps to ensure that you will live your life.

One sure fire thing every one can do is pick up a hobby. Whether its is building models, dancing, or painting, doing something that you like or interest you. Another way to live you live is try new things. Now this may scary at first, but you never know what you will like unless your try new this. You have to step outside of you confront zone every once in while to expend yourself. Another thing you can do is go out every once in a while. You can go to a a party, bar, or a club. No if these things do not float your boat, you can catch a move, sports event, comdeny show, open mic, etc.  There are a lot of things a person can go to and have a great time. You can go with you co workers to after work places, or just hang/catch up with friends. The most common easiest way to live life is to travel. Go to different cities,states, countries, and continents and see what lies beyond the place you call home. Fully dive into another culture, try mew things, and imere into new, different, and interesting things.

Now that we have gotten to the end of this post, let me say that in no way, shape, or form am I telling anyone to stop working. All I am saying is that there is more to live than just working all the time. Yes money is important, but at the end of the day, you can not take money with you when you die. Do not become so consumed with working that life is passing you by. Find the perfect balance between working and living so you can make money, h ave a career, and live life to the fullest. Take time to enjoy life each day, even if it is just for a moment. As always ladies and germs, live life, be great, and do dope shit.

Monday motivation: Dreams/Goals

For some reason, I felt the urge to take about dreams/goals this am. I don't know why, but maybe this is will be a part of somebody's process on their road to greatness and success.

In life, what do you want to do? What do you want to become? If money was not an option, what would you truly do in life? Do you have people that think that your dreams/goals are unrealistic and suggest that you "wake up" and live in reality? 

The reason why I asked all of these questions to make one point: FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS/GOALS. In today's world, it seems like the age of dreaming is slowing dying out. We have people who are not doing what they truly want to do in life. They are settling for a normal life when they are meant for much more.  You were not meant to life a normal life. You were created by the most high for amazing things, but you won't do these things by just playing it safe.

In order to follow your dreams/goals, you will go through a lot. I won't lie, you will have make a lot of sacrifices along the way. Sometimes it will seem like you maybe are wasting your time, energy, money, and life on something that is not either going the way you would like it or not getting the reception that you would like to have. People may/will tell you to give it on it. Hell there will be times that you will convince/talk yourself out of or continuing the road that is ahead.

No matter how hard things may seem, no matter what people will say, no matter how hopeless things may seem, DON'T GIVE UP. If following your dreams and making them reality was easy, everyone would do it. Nothing were having comes easy. It takes the bold, the brave, and the strong will to do this. Just think of every body who wa/is successful. Two things they all have in common is they didn't give up and they worked their asses of until want they wanted became reality. Even after their dream/goals come true,  they still work to keep what they have and gain even more.  They didn't quit before they even got started,  and neither should you.

If you didn't get nothing from this post, I just hope that you will at least think about I have said. If you have a dream/goal that you want to see come true,  then do it. Nothing or no one can stop you unless you allow them to. Dream dreams that no one had ever dreamed,  and then make those dreams and goals a reality. As I close this blog out, I will leave you a quote from the Oscar wining actress Lupita Nyong'o; "No matter where you are, your dreams are valid. " As always, live life, be great, and do dope shit.

The perfect day off

Well the birds out back, the bugs are biting folks, and the weather is FINALLY hitting up. You know what this means????? SPRING IS HERE!!!!!! Now usually I am not excited about spring, but this year I am. The reason why I am so happy spring because it has been a hard winter to say the least. It was super cold, it rained, the wind chill was crazy, and it snowed. Now for most people, they would be excited for the snow. Hell I was until the aftermath of the snow/winter storm. Now I live in the south so it rarely snows down here, but no one was ready for what the snow/sleet/winter storm would cause. Because of the snow/winter storm, the roads frozen over, ice was on the road, people were stuck in traffic for countless hours, and whole cities were shut down. Now that spring is here, we can say goodbye the cold/winter and embrace spring.

Now yesterday was the official first day of spring, along with being the international day of happy but more importantly, I had the day off. If you knew the ish I deal with at work, you will understand why I greatly look forward to my days off but that is besides the part. After i went to a job fair that was a totally bust,but after that, my day was perfect. It was around 1 ish when i felt that job fair and I was hungry. I was in the downtown area so I decided to grab something from there. I went to one of my favorite pizza places and got two slices of meat lovers pizza with mushrooms. Since the weather was so amazing, I decided to eat my lunch outside.\The sun was shinning, there was a little breeze in the air, and the people outside that were also enjoying their food was also enjoying their would while giving off positive energy. All of these elements combined set the stage for the perfect atmosphere to be in/around. That food was so good, a young dude like myself had a mouthgaism. Just thinking about the food is making me want some like right now. The food struggle is so real right about now.

After i spent my time outside enjoying lunch. I wanted to check out the local art museum. I had never been to this museum so you can image that i got lost trying to find the museum. After a good ten minutes of getting lost, I finally found the art museum. Now the museum wasn't that big, but want luck in size it made up in content. Before in get into the art, let me talk about the building for a quick minute. The museum is in an old warehouse. you can see the expose, and somewhat weathered look that gave the building character. When you walk inside, the wooden beams separated the museum into different sections. The inside had a high exposed sealing, and two semi big windows that gave a view of the outside while also letting in sunlight into the room. You can tell I watch HGTV a lit. Now the museum displayed pieces from local artist, as well as pieces that were brought by the museum. The pieces ranged from mixed media to watercolor art.The museum displayed work that was abstract art to realism art. Some of the pieces could even be brought. I did see a piece that I would like to own, but at $1000, that mixed media piece of art stayed hanging on the wall. Maybe one day that piece of art will be apart of my future collection.

After that, I really just stayed at the house. I talked to some of my friends, hanged with my family and jsu enjoyed the rest of my day.All in all, i had the perfect day. I really did not do that much, but I truly enjoyed my day.I think the only thing that could have made that day even better is if I could have share that with someone special, but oh well. As I sit here typing out my replay of yesterday, it jus makes me want another day like the one I had. For now on, once a month, I just going to go around the city and explore it. I  will go to different events, go to new restaurants, and discover new things. hell I make even take a mini road trip and just let the wind guide me along the journey. Well folks that about all of for my description of my perfect day. As always, live, be great, and do dope shit.

12 years a slave??? More like 300 plus years a slave

For today's edition of this blog, I going to talk about a somewhat touchy topic.  About a month and a half ago,  I was talking to my brother from another mother khris. We were talking about random stuff as usual.  As we were talking, we were talking about this blog and all kinds of stuff.  During this convo, he made a suggestion about how I should do a post about the Willie Lynch letter and to put it in today's time. Now I was going to do this sooner, but the idea got lost among the many other ideas running through my head.  So instead of putting it off until later,  I thought I will do it now. With all the things that happen in our culture, I couldn't have picked a better time to talk about this because in order to improve the future, you have to deal with the past and the present. 

Now whether this letter was real or not is up for debate. For the sake of this post, we going to say that this actually happened. Now little is known about Willie Lynch, or even if he was real, but what we do know is that he was a slave owner that lived in the West Indies that was brought over to America to help slave owners to better control their slaves. In 1712, Willie Lynch would deliver a speak along the James River, in the Virginia colony, that would affect African Americans of the past and their descendants. The  aftermath of this speech can still be seen and felt among African Americans of today.This speech would be forever known as the Willie Lynch letter.

Now for those who may have never read this letter before, here is a link to this letter. Take a few minutes to read and fully think about this letter. http://www.iupui.edu/~blacksu/PDF%20Documents/Documents/WillieLynchLetter.pdf  Now that you have read this letter, lets continue with the post at hand. What is the most interesting thing about this whole thing is that a lot of these this issues that were that was brought up in this speech is a lot of things that black people deal with in today's time. The ways that Willie taught the masters that he felt would  control the slaves can be summed up into three categories: distrust, a lack of understanding, and not knowing our value.

Now in the beginning of this speech, Wille talked about people going against one another. He talked about the young vs the old, light skin vs dark skin, and male vs females as one way of controlling us. He also mentioned how it was necessary for the slaves to love and depend only on the slave master. We see this played out everyday. One of the biggest vs that goes on with in the black community is the light skin vs dark skin thing, aka the dumbest thing ever. You can go on the internet and see various menes about light skin people be like, or dark skin people be like. Another thing that I see is the idea that light skin blacks are better looking than dark skin blacks. We also see males vs females played out. We hear females say that "niggas aint shit", and dudes say that "bitches anit shit." We also see that theres is a sense of drift between the old and the young generation. It is like the older generation sometimes forget that we are young, we going to be make mistakes on the way, and that they were once young, wild, and free. On the flip slide, the younger generation can learn a lot form the older generation as well. Instead of  thinking we know it all, just stop and listen to what the older people have to say because they could say something that may save you.

Now as far as the part where he mentioned that  it was necessary for the slaves to love and depend only on the slave master, I see this happening as well, but not in the way Willie might have pictured it. The way this happens in todays time is we really do not support our own race. We do not not support local black businesses, whether it be a drugstore, grocery store, or a car tune up place. It seems as we would rather spend our money else where expect for these stores. Now is this done on purpose? I do not believe so. What I believe the root of this issue is that we are so used to other business that we don't support our own businesses. I mean why would a person put there money towards something they do not know about rather than put there money towards a sure fire thing. As much as I see this trend happening, I also see this trend starting to die down. At least where I live at, I see people supporting these local businesses. Th major brand stores still pull in there money, but not as much as what they used to.

Willie would continue to state different ways of controlling slaves, but he would give a warning as well. He told the slave master of the danger of the slaves knowing the language that the slave master were using, but really, he was warning them about the slaves learning. If the slave learn, then the masters can not fool the slaves. The could figure things out, and that would end the slave system according to lynch. Another interesting thing that he said that the slave must forget their language. Now if one looks at this from face value, one can say the reason behind this is so the slave could be easier to control. If one looks deeper into this, one can argue that in order to control someone, you must make them forget were they come from. Why would you want for people to forget where they came from? Well before blacks were kidnapped and sold into slavery, we were a big deal. We were leaders, warriors, and royalty. We had power and were proud of our history. To take that away from the slaves, and break them down was the only way that the slave masters could gain control. A wise person once said "In order to know where you are going, you have to know where you come from."

Is the Willie Lynch speech/letter really happened. To be honest, we may never know. Some people will tell you that it is real, while others will say that it is just a myth. Whether it is real or not, the affects of this letter can still be seen and felt among the African American community. Although we are physically free, there are some who are still mentally bound. How can we break this cycle? to be honest, there is not a clear cut answer to this problem. There are, however, ways that can eventually lead to the solution to this. Two of this these are understanding where we come from, and knowledge. When you have wisdom and knowledge, the world is yours. No one can take that away from you. Then learn about your history. People like to say that we, as African Americans, have come along way. Well to those who say that, all I can say is that you have not looked back enough. We are the descendants of royalty. Once we start acting as such, people will start treating us as such. Thats the end of this post folks. As always, live life, be great, and do dope shit.