Layne Harper - Don't Hate Me (Produced by Kanye West)

An Interview With "Play Date Memphis"

An Interview With "Play Date Memphis"

Blue in Green by. Miles Davis

The Semi Spread Collar : A Must Have !

The semi spread collar dress shirt is a must have for any man that wants to make a clean, clear yet simple fashion statement. This type of collar allow for to types of effects to be given off when it comes to dress. The main being a business professional dress and/or a casual relaxed professional dress. The semi spread collar dress shirt will allow for any tie worn to be accentuated tremendously. Whether the tie is a skinny tie or a regular tie it will be displayed in an awesome fashion. Wearing a semi spread collar shirt without a tie still brings tremendous power to any setting. Going tieless with a semi spread collar still gives a professional look yet it allows for relaxation at the same time. The semi spread collar with the tie or without the tie gives men the option to still be fashionable and professional in any setting.

Memphis Breeze...

~Clothing Fit~

Your clothes must fit you. Style is about being able to wear something and people being able to see how you wear it. Your clothes should be form fitting, not too tight and not too small and definitely not too big. Either wear your exact size or at the most a size or half size bigger than what you are measured at. You buy shoes that fit your feet correctly, so you should do the same when it comes to your clothes. There are exceptions, especially when it comes to tailored clothing. Tailored clothing is made to be specific to your body, therefore tailored clothing will fit you like a glove, but you will still be comfortable. Remember there is nothing cool about wearing clothes that are so big that they fall off of you and clothes that are so tight that you can't walk around comfortable.

Lakers on Soul Train, 1983

Phil Jackson wearing Jordans | JordanDepot.com

Michael Jordan Steal From Penny + Ball Fake/Layup ['96 PO]

Bulls vs. Bullets: Jordan 47pts (LaBradford Smith Game)

My Favorite Things - John Coltrane

What Is BET ?: What Is BET ?

What Is BET ?: What Is BET ?: "What is BET? What makes BET? What was BET? Do we have BET? These are questions that we have to ask ourselves when we begin to analyze the..."

What Is BET ?

What is BET? What makes BET? What was BET? Do we have BET? These are questions that we have to ask ourselves when we begin to analyze the station titled BE, an acronym for Black Entertainment Television. BET was a station that was initially developed, as a source for African Americans to have a network that catered towards their entertainment needs in the realms of music, media and film. Since the stations inception in 1980 there has been a drastic change in the infrastructure of the network that has led to the exploitation of a race of people, whether it’s intentional or not. Robert L. Johnson founded the network in 1980 and developed a format that brought him much success and eventually allowed him to become the first black billionaire. The community, good music, culture, religion and positive reinforcements within the black community were the points of emphasis for BET from the years of 1980 to 2001. A 21-year time span of productivity within the entertainment world from the viewpoint of blacks. There were many instances of a story that took place within the blacks community that never received the proper amount of publicity if any from the other major networks of the world, those networks being NBC, ABC, CBS and CNN. BET allowed the world to have a clear view of things that were going on within the black community not only musically, but also politically, economically and spiritually. "BET News" provided national news as well as community news that personally affected the black community. Statistics that greatly affected the black community were diverged upon the viewer. Statistics involving HIV infection rates, the percentage of blacks affected by high blood pressure, diabetes and hypertension were beat into the head of the viewers, thus stressing the importance of health and the importance of going to the doctor to prevent themselves from becoming a statistic. From this time period I can recall no memory of Video Soul, the music video show for the network ever having any performances or videos that displayed complete vulgarity, degrading of women and/or negative stereotypes of blacks. Fast forward to 2010 and there is not any many if any videos played on BET that doesn't have sometime of sexual overtone, violent overtone or that reinforces the negative stereotypes that have been made about black people that will not allow stereotypes to die. I feel that one of the most detrimental moves made by BET was the cancelling of the show "Teen Summit." "Teen Summit" was an avenue for the youth that watched BET to be reached. Shows were dedicated to discussing topics such as drug use, teen pregnancy, education and overcoming the stereotype. The fact that teenagers and young adults led the discussions on this show allowed the show to be a direct line of communication for kids that would not listen to the same things being said by their parents, guardians or teachers. The cancellation of this show flat lined an avenue for communication to the youth and spearhead an age of lost adolescent which eventually became the lost adults of today's society. The fact that BET no longer airs any of the shows correlates with the current state of the black community and the troubles that plague our youth. The network now seems to only display foolery that reinforces the negative stereotypes that those that try to be successful in their lives try to overcome everyday. So with that being said my question to you is BET really Black Entertainment Television?

DEA : Ebonics Translators ! Are You Serious ?

Wanted by the Drug Enforcement Administration: Ebonics translators. - CNN

The current state of our country is not stable. There are many lives that have been altered and destroyed due to errors made by the local, national, state and federal government. President Obama made it a point to inform us all as American citizens that there would be millions of jobs created; yet I personally do not think he intended for a job as an "Ebonics Translator" to be developed by the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration. The creation of this job position may be one of the most racist and stereotypical things that this country has ever done. First the label of Ebonics being an "African American Language" is the most ignorant thing I have ever heard of in regards to the depiction and representation of a group of people. Do people of African descent or from the continent of Africa speak Ebonics ? Is Ebonics the language of Africa or any other country world wide ? During my years of studying in formal school, undergraduate, graduate and doctoral learning, I have never taken a class in Ebonics. I have taken required courses in English and I have taken French, German and Spanish by choice, but I have never seen an Ebonics 100 class in any of my college catalogs. The fact that this language has been placed upon black people as their spoken language is another complete slap to the face and to any educated black. EBONICS IS SLANG : PERIOD ! Nothing more and nothing less than spoken slang. Blacks, whites, Europeans, Asians etc all speak slang. The fact that this has been turned into a completely unnecessary obsession by the DEA is unwarranted and very unnecessary. Every culture has words, sayings and terminology that is used in conversation. This is a fact. Northerners may say that they want a "pop" or "soda" in reference to a coke or sprite beverage. Southerners may say that they want a "coke" in reference to any beverage that is carbonated ( whether its a coke, sprite or Pepsi it may be called a "Coke"). This is understood and not questioned to the point where a restaurant may feel the need to hire an interpreter or translator to help them figure out what type of drink the customer is trying to order.
The next take on this will focus on Ebonics and daily use. Listen to pretty much any form of music in 2010 and there is slang strewn throughout the course of a song. Hip hop is filled with slang as well and non slang words. Hip hop has artists from every ethnicity in the world. The language of Hip Hop is universal. So my next question is, "Would The DEA Feel The Need To Question All Musicians About Their Lyrics ?" Slang has become apart of culture worldwide, especially here within the United States of America. Turn on your television at any time and you can see commercials that may have Ebonics spoken in it by black people and white people. Even McDonald's has realized the influence of hip hop culture and the use of slang (Ebonics, improper spelling, etc) and has used this to sell food products. McDonald's slogan "I'm Lovin' It" is not even spelled correctly. Now would I need a translator to interpret to me what the intended message is ? No I would not. From my viewpoint I see this move by the DEA as not only a racist and stereotypical move, but I also see this as a complete waste of money. When you say that Ebonics is the spoken language of African Americans, you are basically saying that the drug problem is enormous within the black community and that we need help in trying to eradicate the drug problem by speaking their language. First of all the problem does not lie within a person speech; the problem lies within an action. I as an individual can speak in "Ebonics" all day and not be talking about drugs, drug use or drug dealing. A person can use a word at any time and give it meaning to whatever they choose to give it to. This seems to be a smoke screen for the DEA to lock up many individuals that they feel could potentially be involved in drug dealing without any actual evidence. This is really sad that the United States of America would allow something like this to take place and to feel that this is necessary for the improvement of our country. It pains me to see that we can invest money into hiring translators for "Ebonics" but we still have not been able to invest enough money to find and capture Osama Bin Laden. That does not make any type of sense. Its illogical.

Justice...PLEASE !

Is he not justified to have a little emotion pouring out from his soul ? Do you think he is not a human being ? Do you believe he has had any pleasant days over the last 27 years ? How do you think you would feel if you were put in his situation ?
In 1983 an 18 year old Michael Anthony Green was charged and sentenced to prison for a rape that he did not commit. He was given a 75 year prison term for a crime which he did not commit. However the fact that he was innocent and the accusers faulty identifying him as the perpetrator did not save him from the prison term. The advancement of analyzing evidence through the development of DNA and the act of bringing a piece of evidence to the equation that was left out of the trial 27 years ago are the two things that allowed Michael Anthony Green to become a free man. This new found freedom was to become his reality initially on July 29, 2010. However he was denied his release to the free world due to the fact that his attorneys and the judge agreed that he was too emotional to attend his bond hearing. Now this brings me to the question of "How would you feel if you were wrongly accused of a crime that you did not commit and was imprisoned for 27 years ?" This man was 18 years old when he was incarcerated; barely an adult. He has missed a great portion of not only his life, but also the life of his loved ones, even missing the funeral of his mother. He missed all of these things due to the fact that he was incarcerated. 27 LONG years. Nobody can begin to imagine the things that he witnessed within those walls on a daily basis. The simple fact that he was sane enough to continue to fight for his justice and not resort to physical harm of himself or others, even suicide shows the fight and sanity that this man encompasses. Now these things factor into one source of his "anger" that he displayed vocally en route to his bond hearing. Now another factor is the fact that he stated prison guards tightened his handcuffs and shackles and threatened him on his way to the court room. The prison guards were treating this INNOCENT man as if he were a slave. There he was, proven innocent of a crime which he did not commit, yet he is still treated in the same manner in which a serial killer is treated; and he was disrespected on top of that. I fully believe his statement about how the guards treated him; he has no reason to lie about the treatment, he didn't lie about his innocence. In our society we have glorified the interactions between law officials and civilians. There have been many video reality shows which have shown motorist pulled over by police officers acting completely disrespectful and making threats to officers which have resulted in no type of penalties or offenses being levied against the motorist. Michael Anthony Green is in a totally different situation and is sequestered to another day in prison for expressing an emotion. This was not right and this will never be right. The day of freedom came on July 30, 2010 for Michael Anthony Green. He was officially released from prison on that day. Although he will never be able to get the time back that he lost as an innocent inmate, he is able to take a single step to normalcy that was taken from him 27 years ago.

R.I.P. Lorenzen Wright

Another senseless killing. True enough, nobody knows the details of any of the events which have transpired, but we do know one thing ; Kids lost their father, brothers and sisters lost a brother and parents lost a son. The unfolding of the tragic death of Memphis native Lorenzen Wright further reiterates the problems which have plagued this city for sometime now : CRIME ! Lorenzen Wright was a native son of the city and he did what every kid that picks up a basketball aims to do; HE MADE IT ! Lorenzen Wright took the honest road to his life's goals and he was blessed to be able to do what he loved doing for a living. The one consistent thing about Lorenzen Wright was that he never forgot where he came from, he loved his city. This was evident in the fact that he gave a free basketball camp to the youth of the city of Memphis. FREE ! This very gesture shows where his heart was in regards to being a stand up sincere person in the community. He volunteered his time and efforts to ensure that the kids of this wonderful city of Memphis were able to experience, only if for a week a sincere love from a fellow Memphian that made it and that had not too long ago been in their shoes. He was blessed to have the opportunity to not only represent his city on the collegiate level, but also on the professional level as well as one of the "Original Memphis Grizzlies." Although his career took him to play professionally in Los Angeles, Sacramento, Cleveland and Atlanta he was and always be a Memphis Hero. There are three basketball Gods within the city of Memphis; Larry Finch, Anfernee "Penny" Hardway and Lorenzen Wright. These three individuals are the ones that come to mind when Memphis basketball is mentioned not only within the city, but around the country. They were the representation of the city of Memphis when it came to basketball, especially before an NBA Team was brought to the city.
There are so many questions that will never be answered or understood. The only thing that people can choose to do from this tragedy is learn from it or not learn from it. By learning people can see that violence does not solve anything; violence is an endless cycle. Nothing comes out of violence but hurt and sometimes with the hurt comes retaliation which continues the cycle. By not learning crime will continue and there will not be a common ground for a right or wrong decision due to the fact that people will be reacting rather than thinking.
During this time of sorrow we all must pray for the family and especially the kids. There are now 6 more kids in the world that will grow up without a father. Everybody remember the love Lorenzen Wright showered over the city and lets all do the same thing.

R.I.P. Lorenzen Wright

I have a question : Do black people value themselves and each other ? If so do blacks value themselves as much as they did 40 years ago...20 years ago...even 10 years ago ? If not why is there no value ? This is a sad question to have to ask, but it is a question that has to be asked do to the fact that there is not a valid reason for why the value of a group of people has degenerated so much over the last few decades. The world has changed for the better in regards to opportunity for all people of this world; yet it seems that black people as a whole have regressed instead of progressed along with the accommodating changes of the world. I challenge any and everybody to answer this question that I have. It may be the spark needed to provide hope for the future generations of blacks not only in America, but in the world. The biggest change that can obviously be seen in the value or lack thereof is in the family structure. During the 1960s and 1970s up through the 1980s the black family was the one stable structure within the community, along with the church. This stability allowed for their to be a common denominator between taking the wrong path in life and taking the right path in life. A household that had both a mother and father within its structure allowed the opportunity for a child to see how he or she should ACT and this in turn embedded the importance of structure within the child's head unknowingly. A child that knew he had to answer to a mother and father understood the importance of decision making and how their decisions and actions affected the consequences which they incurred, whether positive consequences or negative consequences. This cycle led to stability being visible in the black family for many years; children are going to repeat what they see, both good and bad. Somewhere along the line the structure was infiltrated by an outside subsidiary that subliminally led to the devaluing of each other by black people. Lets think about something : There was a time in history where segregation ran the United States of America. This was true on all levels; socially, judicially and financially. Here's another thought. During the times of segregation, civil rights movement and black oppression from the time of post slavery (1863- 1970) there were a plethora of black owned business, homes that contained "MARRIED" mothers and fathers and overall a generally healthy sense of "Black Love" & "Black Pride" that was prevalent everywhere in the black community. Keep in mind these positives within the black community were evident despite the social antipathy displayed by races other than blacks towards blacks. There was a sense of "VALUE" that despite the visible obstacles that was common place during that time period. Fast forward to 2010; Segregation is not legally accepted, there is equal opportunity for all races (in general) to pursue social, educational & economical opportunities. Yet the value blacks have for each other as a people is on the negative side of the number line. In 2010 there are less black owned businesses than there were 40 years ago. Blacks make up less than 20% of the US Population but make up more than 50% of the prison population. The percentage of single mothers without a father in the picture is raising their children is more than 50% (in the 60s & 70s nearly 70% of black households were led by married couples) in 2010. The black on black violence is not necessarily limited to physical violence; there is a such thing a mental violence and destruction which has played a major role in the destruction of the value blacks have for each other. This mental destruction is visible in not only music, but in television and also in print. The simplest example can be seen in music. Music from black musicians from any time period prior to the late 1990s focused on uplifting each other, having fun, being positive and enjoying life. Although not all of today's music has strayed from this "Structure" the majority of this music prevalent in by today's black artist focus on the vices that have led to the destruction of our people and the "devaluing" of our race ; Sex, Drugs, Robbing, Murdering and being IGNORANT has become a staple of a lot of our music. Being continuously fed this type of diet will result in a product which we have today within our community: kids that don't value education, having more focus on obtaining drugs, jewelry or instant money, people that feel sex is needed to be cool and excepted, and the belief that women are objects rather than essential pieces to the stability of a family. EXCUSES seem to flood they black community in 2010. During the 50s, 60s and 70s there was a valid reason for blacks to make an excuse for not excelling but excelled in spite of. Today we have too many that make excuses and become enamored with the ideas of these excuses for why they are not excelling and reaching goals (if there are any goals set). I feel that blacks have to get back to loving each other and uplifting each other DESPITE ! This will lead to the return of structure within the community and this will lead to more positivity and more PRODUCTIVITY.

Time Heals, Time Reminds, Time Enlightens & Time Passes

Have you ever taken the opportunity to sit back and think about yourself and simply take a complete inventory or yourself ? There are many times when this is necessary for a person in their life, whether they are at a crossroads in their life, trying to decide which direction he or she needs to take; and there are other times when when a person is about to embark upon a new journey in life, whether it is a positive journey such as a new career, new hobby, new love interest, or a new void in life, such as the loss of a loved one or the ending of a friendship or relationship that had become a big part of your life. Then there is the unplanned self analysis : The analysis that takes place when you hear a particular song, see a special person, smell a specific scent or see a certain movie. This analysis allows you to really be in touch with your innermost most thoughts, thoughts that you didn't even know existed within your soul. All emotions, thoughts and actions are triggered by some type of starter. When these types of analysis take place a person is able to personally witness how they have been able to come full circle within a TIME in their life. Heartache, learning processes, past experiences that have prepared you for the moment your are currently at and for where you may be in the next 30 seconds in your life are all things that TIME Produces. Its is up to a person as an individual to determine if they will allow TIME to be their friend, their anchor or their springboard.

20 years ago today, the world of college basketball lost a star, but the "Heavens Above" gained another star. Eric "Hank the Bank" Gathers died of cardiac arrest during a collegiate basketball game. Gathers a star forward for the Loyola Marymount Basketball Lions was on the cusp of realizing his life's athletic ambition ; A career in the NBA. At the tender age of 23 years old gathers suddenly died from a heart condition which triumphed over him after he scored on one of his trademark dunks. Gathers passion for success and drive to succeed is what makes his story so inspiring, yet so sad. Hank Gathers was a living testament of the old cliche' "You have to find something in life that you are willing to do for," and Gathers found this in basketball. A communications major, Gathers had his track to success not only outlined athletically on the basketball court, but also academically as he was a regular summer intern for the KTLA as a newsbroadcaster. His career planned before him, his life was a testament of not only how to plan life to be successful and set goals, but also as to how not to take one day for granted, and maximize all of your life's opportunities and ambitions. Remember Hank "The Bank" Gather.

The "Cold" Blooded City Of Memphis

The temperatures have not reached no more than 35-40 degrees in the city of Memphis over the last few days. There have been ample warnings about potential snow storms and freeze warnings thrown from the meteorologists of the various news outlets not only in the city of Memphis, but nationally. Tonight the city of Memphis is on the eve of what has the potential to become an extremely, bitterly cold snow storm that is supposed to blanket the city tonight and remain for the next couple of days with temperatures dipping down to the single digits by this weekend. This week alone has produced 3 deaths that according to police reports have been weather related (Hypothermia). I'm guessing these weather related deaths have led the city to take drastic measures, which in this case means putting up "TENTS" that will help shelter the homeless from these frigid temperatures that the city of Memphis and surrounding areas isexperiencing. This is a plan that while has good intentions behind it, is an ultimate fail for the city in addressing the needs of the homeless during this most needed time for shelter. I propose that the city of Memphis opens the dormant venues, The Mid South Coliseum and The Pyramid as temporary Shelter for the homeless during this dire time. This step of resolution would offer the city a chance to help the homeless tremendously while getting a positive use out of both buildings. This is something that does not have to become a permanent effort, but could definitely become a temporary BENEFICIAL UPLIFTING for the City of Memphis. There has been so much negativity in this city this venture would allow for a positive opportunity for the city to come together and be of aid to the less fortunate. Lets take a look at would could possibly happen if we do not use accessible means to help the homeless. You have many individuals that commit crimes to go to jail and receive a place to sleep, take warm showers, and eat. This is costing tax payers of the city millions of dollars annually. In many cases, homeless people do not have anything to lose by going to jail, but they can gain more than they had by committing a minor offense and going to jail. For one they know that they will be out of this horrid cold weather. This approach may be beneficial to the homeless but once again it is costing the tax payers. If the tax payers are going to go in debt, let the tax payers at least go in debt with tax dollars being paid on these two venues (The Pyramid and The Mid SouthColiseum) being used to (A) aid the homeless and ( B) potentially minimize pre-meditated crime from homeless people trying to obtain shelter.

The "Cold" Blooded City Of Memphis

The temperatures have not reached no more than 35-40 degrees in the city of Memphis over the last few days. There have been ample warnings about potential snow storms and freeze warnings thrown from the meteorologists of the various news outlets not only in the city of Memphis, but nationally. Tonight the city of Memphis is on the eve of what has the potential to become an extremely, bitterly cold snow storm that is supposed to blanket the city tonight and remain for the next couple of days with temperatures dipping down to the single digits by this weekend. This week alone has produced 3 deaths that according to police reports have been weather related (Hypothermia). I'm guessing these weather related deaths have led the city to take drastic measures, which in this case means putting up "TENTS" that will help shelter the homeless from these frigid temperatures that the city of Memphis and surrounding areas is experiencing. This is a plan that while has good intentions behind it, is an ultimate fail for the city in addressing the needs of the homeless during this most needed time for shelter. I propose that the city of Memphis opens the dormant venues, The Mid South Coliseum and The Pyramid as temporary Shelter for the homeless during this dire time. This step of resolution would offer the city a chance to help the homeless tremendously while getting a positive use out of both buildings. This is something that does not have to become a permanent effort, but could definitely become a temporary BENEFICIAL UPLIFTING for the City of Memphis. There has been so much negativity in this city this venture would allow for a positive opportunity for the city to come together and be of aid to the less fortunate. Lets take a look at would could possibly happen if we do not use accessible means to help the homeless. You have many individuals that commit crimes to go to jail and receive a place to sleep, take warm showers, and eat. This is costing tax payers of the city millions of dollars annually. In many cases, homeless people do not have anything to lose by going to jail, but they can gain more than they had by committing a minor offense and going to jail. For one they know that they will be out of this horrid cold weather. This approach may be beneficial to the homeless but once again it is costing the tax payers. If the tax payers are going to go in debt, let the tax payers at least go in debt with tax dollars being paid on these two venues (The Pyramid and The Mid South Coliseum) being used to (A) aid the homeless and ( B) potentially minimize pre-meditated crime from homeless people trying to obtain shelter.