CHICAGO

When you see the word Chicago, what is the first thing that comes to your mind? For me I think of home! It's the city I was born in. I think Southside versus Westside, Cubs versus Sox, Lake Shore Drive, Barney's Pizza, Harold's Chicken, snowy winters, beautiful summers, Sears Tower, and the Taste! I think of that Frank Sinatra song (my kind of town, Chicago is!). I think gangsters too, but that was just a part of the lore that is Chitown. You knew crime was possible and that some areas were gentrified and segregated, but you loved it because it was home. Lately, the perception of Chicago has been mostly negative. Violence in Chicago has been an issue for years, particularly in the impoverished neighborhoods that the Black and Latino population people. What has changed is the public perception of the city. Even though the statistics indicate that the homicide rate in the city (save for an uptick last year) has steadily gone down over the last 20 years, many pundits are lamenting the "epidemic" that plaques the city and it's youth.

Chicago has gotten a new moniker recently, Chi-raq. The idea is that more citizens in Chicago have been murdered than all of our troops fighting the War on Terror in Iraq. And your point?! I agree that any homicides that occur are tragic, and the statistics supporting this are very telling, but why so much media outrage now? Where was all this outrage and angst in the 80's and 90's calling for the National Guard to come to the city? Where were the people screaming for martial law at when there were nearly double the homicides in the city in the 90's? This wouldn't have to do with a certain President in office that has Chicago ties could it? Now way! It can't possibly be heightened national media attention to Chicago because President Obama has lived in Chicago and his wife is from the Southside! I will admit that I am being cynical, but it frustrates me to see the perception of the city taking such a hit. People love to love to showcase the rampant violence in Chicago yet nary a peep is heard nationally regarding what happens in Philly, Atlanta, Oakland, D.C./Baltimore, Cleveland, or New York. In fact, people swear up and down that New York is among the safest cities in the world! Worse still, is how we glorify the violence and wear it like a badge of honor. But is all this outrage highlighting the problem, or masking the root cause of a lot of the violence? Let's not forget the drug epidemic that plaques communities across the country, the discursive hiring practices that limit minorities, the gentrification of neighborhoods that led to businesses fleeing the area, the food deserts that don't offer citizens in these neighborhoods quality options at affordable prices, and the numerous budget cuts that have stymied young minds from blossoming into our future politicians, scientists, musicians, and skilled workers. I could not imagine where I would have wound up if my mother had not encouraged me to participate in programs that foster growth and development. I certainly would not have gone to the University of Illinois and earned my Bachelor's degree.

Chicago, like many cities, is struggling in a complex economic downturn that has affected millions. Despite all of the negative publicity surrounding the city, it is still the third largest city in the United States. All of the talk about the Midwest population being in a precipitous decline contrary to the twelve million that still call Chicago home. The talk of out of control violence would cease if over 50 Chicago Public Schools had not closed their doors and had the necessary tools to nurture our youth. Chitown is still a great city with great amenities and even better people. The people are who can change how our home area is perceived. Let's stop calling it Chi-raq and call it by its proper name. We need to rep our city and our region with pride. LeBron James had the right idea when he wrote his letter explaining why he returned to Cleveland. In that spirit, I'll end with this: Chicago was were I was born, Country Club Hills is where I'm from, 708 all day! I'll always be proud to say that until I die!




http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/29/bomani-jones-donald-sterling_n_5233565.html

http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/May-2014/Chicago-crime-rates/

TREAT YOU RIGHT

I used to hate Gay people! Not the people themselves, but I hated the agenda that was being promoted. I hated how men had to be on guard to check and see if the woman they were interested in was really a woman. I hated how the flamboyant, often ostentatious manner in which gay men acted could cast doubt on another man's own sexuality if he did not exude the extreme hubris that must accompany any man. I hated how lesbians wished that all men would die and how women should rule the world the way the mythical woman of the island Amazonia did. I hated how these women did not want to be women and tried to mimic how men behave. I hated bisexuals as well because I felt they were untrustworthy and misleading. But most of all, I hated how many in the gay community compared their struggle and the discrimination that they faced with the struggles of the Black community! How dare you queers who chose to be this way compare your struggle in anyway to what my ancestors had to endure and what we as Blacks continue to battle to today. If you are Latino and comparing your situation to ours, that makes perfect sense. If you are a woman and making that comparison, I was doubly sympathetic because you had to deal with the added sexism that comes with being a woman. It really offended me that gay people tried to create a kinship with other oppressed minorities when we were born this way and did not choose to be this way. I was never outwardly homophobic, yet I was no less prejudice than any extreme bigot would be towards me because of the color of my skin. That all changed once I joined the Army!

While it may seem corny, I served with people of all races from all walks of life. I served with some closeted homosexuals as well as some that were very open about their sexuality. As I got to know them, I realized that how they lived their lives has no bearing on how I live mine. More importantly, serving with them shattered all preconceived stereotypes that I previously had about the LGBT community. The gay men enjoyed sports as much as I did and could get into arguments about who the best rapper was with the best of them; they just happen to be attracted to men. None of them were salivating like zombies to rape us heterosexual men at every opportunity, and many were in committed relationships. Lesbians didn't want to eradicate men from the planet and were not our biggest threat to our ability to pull women. They were hard-working, professional women who just happened to be attracted to women. It was not a fad to be gay or lesbian, it was who they were. The more I encountered this truth, the more my fears and apprehensions waned until they were non-existent. Gay people were not trying to earn a seat at the table at the expense of the other disenfranchised minority groups, they were a part of our disenfranchised group.

I am not the most religious person in the world nor do I claim to be. I believe in God and Jesus Christ our Savior. I realize that the Bible states that sleeping with someone of the same sex is an abomination and can lead to condemnation in hell, but I also feel that the Bible can be construed to fit a truth that can be counteractive to the true human spirit. Do racist whites not use the Bible as justification to abhor interracial dating? Do they not compare it to bestiality? Do they not sight scripture to state how interracial dating is a sin against God? If this is true, are we not all condemned to damnation since we are all of mixed DNA? It is not our right to judge those among us on Earth since we are far from omnipotent. We are all God's children and it is up to him to judge us when we reach our day reckoning. Even if you do not believe in Christianity or Islam, it is simple common decency that is germane to every religion we subscribe to that preaches the Golden Rule. "Do unto others as you would have other do unto you".

Michael Sam (NFL Draft prospect and College Football All-American) and Jason Collins (13 year NBA Veteran) helped to push this discussion forward this year in the world of sports. The reaction to these two men coming out as gay has been met with a mixture of apathy, support, and derision. It was striking to me to read some of the negative comments about Sam and Collins. In many ways, they were similar to the negative and racist posts that appear whenever race is the predominant issue in the news story. Why do you guys gotta push your agenda onto us? You're making it a bigger issue than it needs to be by talking about race/gay issues all of the time. You don't hear us (White people/homophobic people) talking about our issues they way you guys do? We don't have a BET/LOGO type channel that supports us! These comments hearkened me back to my original stance against gay people. These rude comments and others like them prove beyond a doubt that the LGBT struggle is indeed akin to the struggles we face in the Black, Latino, Asian, Middle Eastern, and Native Indian communities. This doesn't even include the sexism that women endure, the classism taking place all over the world, any religion that is not Christianity, or the discrimination against people with disabilities. I've heard the argument that the so-called Gay Agenda only serves to push the Black Agenda into the background and is a trick of the White man. This agenda is also a conspiracy to make all Black men gay (never mind that this same agenda is present for all to see); it is the same rhetoric use to explain the so-called Jewish plot to make all of us marry interracially. Alrighty then! Believe that if you want to but the fact remains that you are an uneducated, close-minded prejudice person. And to all the Black people that say the Gay Agenda is undermining our agenda, maybe if we rallied together in a more unified manner, we would be right up there with them. Or better yet, maybe we are right with them and instead of fighting them, the Latinos, Asians, etc., we can come together to truly become a world that truly would be in God's image.

This blog was inspired by my former high-school classmate's own blog post listed below.


http://jkwest.com/evolving-on-homosexuality/

NOTORIOUS B1G

As the clock ticked towards zero and the Michigan State Spartans flooded the field at the Rose Bowl to celebrate their triumph over the Stanford Cardinal, a wry smile crept across my face. Finally! As in finally, a Big Ten team won the Rose Bowl. Finally, it can be said that the league is a legitimate power along with the SEC, Pac-12, and Big-12. Finally, I won't have to hear about how the South has such superior athletes, coaches, standards of living, and love for football! Yet my elation was short-lived as Ohio State promptly lost a close game to Clemson in the Orange Bowl. Here we go again I thought. Let the criticism reign supreme about the virtues of the SEC and the general ineptness of the Big Ten. Our only real retort is that "at least our kids graduate!" (yea that's showing them!). While most of the SEC schools (save Florida, Vanderbilt, & Missouri) lack the mythical academic prestige of Big Ten member institutions, it's not like these fine schools are trade schools. Attendance at any of these universities provides you with a quality education in whatever field you choose. Smart SEC fans know this and quickly dismiss the weak taunt from the Big Ten. As Marshawn Lynch says, "I'm bout the action boss!"

Even casual football fans recognize that the SEC is the best conference in college football. Look no further than the upcoming NFL Draft or the most recent recruiting rankings for evidence of that. ESPN's new mega television deal with the conference is another example. If you have had a member school win seven out of the last eight national titles, you have reason to beam with pride and arrogance. Yet something about the narrative still gives me pause. While football is an integral part of the southern societal fabric, I cringe at some of the driving force behind some of the crowing. I could spew the usual rhetoric about population shifts and whatnot. I could burden you with statistics that demonstrate how and why the SEC is leaving the Big Ten in the proverbial dust on the football field. Those indisputable facts have been discussed ad nauseum and are not central to my disdain for the SEC fans braggadocio. I always get a visual of Confederate pride in my head whenever I hear about the superiority of the SEC. "Athletes" has become a pejorative for "Blacks" in much the same way "thug" has to describe any Black athlete that is a demonstrative personality. If you were to crash-land from another planet and land in Alabama, you would think that the NFL is filled only with SEC alums.

Football should not become the vehicle to espouse the return of southern dominance over the north. Too often the conversation focuses on this as oppose to the results on the field. If the SEC is beating the Big Ten, it's because of the organizational strength of the individual institutions. Alabama was mediocre before Nick Saban took over, Florida has been a mess every since Urban Meyer (now at Ohio State) departed, LSU has risen to new heights under Les Miles. All three are not even remotely from a southern state. The Big Ten must modify its' model in order to compete top to bottom with the SEC in football. The SEC would be mediocre if Vanderbilt was its' best team. As soon as Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin, Michigan State, and Nebraska all are good at the same time, it will be a boon for the Big Ten conference.
There would be no talk of population shifts and just simply caring more about football than the north.Other than Florida, Georgia, and Texas, none of the southern states have near the population of the northern states. Some inherent advantages the SEC enjoys will never go away (weather, football-centric culture) but to be the best, you have to beat the best. Often times, the only way to do this is to beat the best at their own game. Until then, I'll continue to lament how the best linebacker in Illinois chose LSU!