Money Trees
I wrote this listening to one of the best poets of our time, Kendrick Lamar. My solution for everything is music. It helps me to relax and meditate. The song Money Trees has so much meaning. Everyone’s coping mechanisms are different. See, we are in the middle of a strange election. Yeah, I’m watching the news more than usual but it’s important to show your kids transparency. Don’t hide the fact that this country was founded on racism and it's still rooted in our core as a country. The United States is a beautiful, loving country when she is complemented by who she chose to be accompanied through this human experiment we are all experiencing. She is so beautiful with ugly truths we cannot discuss on because everyone is so defensive. Just imagine if we can come together and no, not to sing songs, but just have real open conversations. See everyone wants the same thing. We all want to take care of our families, health, and wealth. We are more the same than not. I promise you, if you strip us from the political parties we are foolishly attached to we can excel in life. It’s not going to be easy but the road ahead would be more promising. See they got us at each other’s throats over red and blue states. Does it sounds familiar? Like gang related? Just saying. But in all seriousness don’t we want to make sure we protect “OUR” amendment and have the right to “bear arms”. We just don’t want semi automatic guns sold to the public so easily. Why when we see a problem we run and point to the constitution. Do you know most countries in the world change their constitution in average between 5-10 years (Google it). The point I’m trying to hit here is that we have to adapt with the times. Adapt with the people. Gay marriage shouldn’t even be an issue. Yes, we need law and order but we need conscious law and order. We need to motivate ourselves to write new amendments and start writing a new constitution. Crazy right? Crazy to think we can be as smart as our ancestors or even may I dare to say…smarter?
The Enlightenment Period 2.
See right now I am just brainstorming ideas to trigger something in people. I want to say something to the people that believes voting doesn’t matter. I just want to say, I hear you. Honest to God, I thought the same thing but we cannot sit in the sidelines and wait for change. You want to legalize marijuana? VOTE. You want better income with lower taxes? VOTE. We complain about the unfair practices of the corporations against the average civilians but we sit here and believe we have to take it because that’s “how the government works”. Yeah, that is how the government works when we don’t make moves. For example, a black woman named Cori Bush protested for Black Lives Matter after a shooting of a unarmed black teenager in Ferguson, MO. But not only she was an activist for BLM, she ran for office and won on Tuesday. A black woman won in Missouri. That’s huge for that state if you read up on their history. I love stories like that. Also, read up on Ella Jones, the first African-American woman elected mayor of the city of Ferguson, MO. So many positive stories behind the fatigue of the old ways of politics. We can no longer hang out on the side and wait. We have to take action by propping individuals that are trying to make change and hold them accountable. If you don’t, you are doing a disservice to yourself.
Just listen to Money Trees and sing the hook…
It go Halle Berry or hallelujah
Pick your poison tell me what you do
Everybody gon' respect the shooter
But the one in front of the gun lives forever (the one in front of the gun forever)
Peace and Love
Celebration
It’s a celebration bitches… I have been gone for a while. Strategizing a way out the system. A system that is often unfair and misrepresented. Yeah I often rant my opinions and my views but one thing I couldn’t give satisfaction to some. So in the midst of everything I felt mad betrayed and disappointed. Mostly I felt those feelings about myself. I remember I gave a company 10 years of my life. My ideas, my blood ( I was a heck of cool but cut my finger during valentines rush). A company that didn’t offer any benefits (health insurance, pto, paid vacations). I told myself I will never get too comfortable living someone’s else dream. At the time I was young and just wanted to be a good worker. A dependable worker but I was laid off due to “bullshit”. Six years later here we go again. But this job had all the benefits the worker bees desire. Including imaginary freedom. See a company will tell you their policies and say “ we accept changes” and offer steadily quick rise to be a superior but in reality it’s all a gimmick, really it’s Propaganda.
So here I am a free agent again and now I am more focused than ever. I have to prove myself that I am not those things they said. I was told to open up more and talk(gossip or fake friend your way around the office) to people. I was told I wasn’t a leader even though my supervisor at the time will use passive aggressive as a tactic. Often lie to everyone around her including her superiors. Gossip about people personal lives and failures at work. I could keep going but that is what she will have to deal with when the time comes. We have to realize one day we have to face ourselves in the mirror. Do you like what you have become? I really blame myself to believing corporate America won’t let me down but again life is full of lessons. Maybe it was the Wegmans sub I ate but my mind is on full writing mode. Fuck it my soul ain’t for sale. This is why I am celebrating… I feel liberated… I am finally free…It’s a celebration Bitches
Peace and Love
The Yellow Album
One of my favorite artist Dom Kennedy’s album is a gem. Listening to the Yellow Album made me think of all the creators we have right now. My city is thriving in young entrepreneurs. See we hungry, Rochester ny is one of the poorest city per capital in the United States. Hustlers are born poor. But we have to make something out of nothing. We have to create our own respect. When you are from the bottom there’s no respect factor. I seen it before where the person you work for looks down on you and also say things like “you lucky right now for having this job”. I was told that when I work for a racist man that wanted all the minorities working but didn’t think we could run as his management. A Hustlers mentality got me out of there. Honestly I thought I was stuck but I kept going doing what I do and searching for my love. It’s a fact if you love what you do it doesn’t matter about the payday because you know you deserve everything coming to you. You do something out of love and you have already won. That’s what the young hungry people are starting to see while the city burns of corruption. We push everything to the side and keep hustling. I am so proud of that. King and Queens keep pushing regardless the negative spirits around the city. Move away from it and think big!!! We will win!!
Peace and love
The Graduation
Hope everyone is growing and expanding their mindset. You deserve it. No matter what the doubters say. Some people hate facing themselves. So don’t let them bring you down with their limitations of a life. They often put their fears on you because they can’t see your vision. My advice is don't tell no one your vision till it’s complete and then they can realize you reached a status they only dreamed of. The more I experience life it’s not about proving them wrong it’s about reaching your potential. The only thing that matters is your happiness and peace of mind. At this point of my life that’s all I give a fuck about… my Peace my happiness. I hear the rumors, the assumptions, and i am truly honored that you keep my name in your mouth. But I have to graduate from that mindset and live a life meant for me. I wish y’all wealth and health. Live y’all life and remember “Respect the game, that should be it
What you eat don't make me shit”
Peace and Love
More Life
Enjoy the sun. Smile more. Don’t let your past ruin your future. Know your worth. Don’t be blind. Greatness is in you. Everyday is not blue skies and sunshine so enjoy it while you can. When it rains take time to brainstorm your ideas and reset. It’s ok to feel your feelings but make sure you don’t dwell. Remember nothing last forever. No matter what be good to yourself.
Peace and Love
Donuts
Listening to J Dilla. While the beats play in the background I think of all the deaths our brothers and sisters have endured. Life is tough enough as it is. Imagine being born disenfranchised, poor, uneducated and growing up trying to make something happen out of nothing. There is a reason why America only has 1% of their people that live comfortable. Malnourished by a system that promote poison. Raise prices on healthy foods and medicines. How can you believe in GOD and starve your citizens. You survive all of that and now you have to worry about being stop from and to destinations. You have no gun…the police stopped you for no reason. If you ask any question they can escalate to the highest degree. They the PROTECTOR supposed to guards us and shield us from violence. The irony. We THE PEOPLE pay for their salaries. Pay for their fancy new computers in their cops cars and gold badges. The bigger the badge the worst pain they have punish the black and brown people with their clubs. Why is that we demand more of us than the people shielding us. Why when we lie it’s perjury but when the abuser does it we have to learn to accept it. Our voices have to be heard. Our mayor has lied to us. A woman raised in our community has lied to us and covered up the ugly truth. The system has to be eradicated (depict the roots exposed). We cannot let this slide under the empty promises they are schedule to tell us. Voting works to an extent. It’s obvious it’s the system that’s has to change. The qualifications has to change. The integrity of the man and woman have to be aligned with the PEOPLE. We have to understand we are paying their salaries and they are acting like the all mighty heroes. This must stop. Forget electing new puppets. Think of this time as the new enlightenment era. It’s time to rewrite history. The United States of America was great for one kind of people. Now it’s time for us to be heard and rewrite history to make sure every poor American is heard(including the white men and women). Why are we so afraid to change as a country, in fact as a world. We are killing ourselves for nothing real (capitol). We cannot let the dead have been sacrificed for no apparent reason. Sorry for the rant but fuck that I want change. Real change. No more symbolic wins. The hunger games have started and May the odds be ever in your favor…
Peace and Love
The Revolution will be…
Love that the sports world decided to stand up. See it’s people with a voice who needs to lead. People with voices have to demand change. The dream was beautiful but now we have to make it a reality. Peace and equality for ALL. Justice for all is what we should thrive for in our lifetime. We have been to complacent and lazy to care what is right. This is just the beginning…. keep speaking up in your own way for change.
Peace and Love
KOBE
Life is precious. You can admire people careers, life and understand they had their own challenges but still appreciate their art. Life is about what you create and craft. Love what you do even when the process is grueling. See I love writing. Create stories from scratch and see where I can take the characters is my favorite thing. I love it. So when I saw KOBE doing what he loved to do, it was truly special. Competing for every possession like it was his last. That was his art. He worked on it and loved it. There is many things to learn from his death including cliches like like everyday like Is your last but what I learned the most is to be the best me I can be. Work on what I love even though some people find it corny or boring. Work on myself to make sure I’m the best father I can be, the best role model even when I fucked up. Own it and conquer it. Today it’s Kobe’s birthday and it means today Is about Mamba mentality. Attack the day, own it and you will see success is what you make it to be. I’m not going to let anyone define me, in fact I’m going to change the game.
Peace and Love
Stop the Violence
Stop the violence. We have to win. We have a bigger purpose. The tons of shooting in the past few days are alarming. Raising our kids in a society where killing is normalize it’s pretty scary. Trauma has fed into people’s mind, hurt people hurt people. We have to make sure we do better. We have to learn how to heal better. Stop the violence.
Peace and Love
A Seat at the Table
This album is motivating and a classic. Sometimes you have to mix some soulful music into your journey. Today Joe Biden officially announce his Vice President and for some reason it gave me some confirmation maybe things can change in this rigged system. You might ask “how can one person do that?”. My answer is simple, we needed this. We have to show we are not afraid to break barriers. We have to welcome the challenge. I love that my daughter is 13 and excited about this. I love how we are unifying behind this choice. Now we have to prepare for the slander that is coming her way. Not only because she is a prosecutor. But because she is black and a WOMAN. I know us men are sometimes blind to the fact of the injustices situations of the opposite gender but I have seen how ugly it could be. No I’m not a woman but me and my wife had deep conversations about it. It is all around us. We are so busy trying to push them back in the kitchen that we do not see our own failures as men. We are all created EQUAL. We have to do better has a society. I know Queen Kamala can handle herself but remember these white men are going to get nasty and bash her. Even though some donated to her campaign in the past. Get ready for the inappropriate conversations and I am not talking about politics. Right now it’s time to stand next to her and make sure we VOTE for what’s right. These few months are going to get ugly especially when we get closer to the finish line. Understand we need everyone at the table including WOMEN but especially WOMEN of COLOR. Understand that we need more than a movement we need to change our lifestyle.
Peace and Love
I wonder
This is truly Kanye West best. Really listen to the lyrics. I hate that I love people that don’t love me back. Why do we do that to ourselves? Lately I have been better. Especially with family not loving back but sometimes I just want to talk to them and ask if they have truly forgotten the trauma they been through. See I faced my demons and look into the mirror. I am not scared to blame myself for 95% shit that happened to me. I also don’t want my misery to spread like wildfire. I want people to feel joy when around my energy. So I dug deep, cried, and found myself. Yeah yeah I have to be tuff but no it’s okay to let go and be vulnerable and truly know your self. Be truthful to your heart. Know you full of shit half the time and stop wasting people time. See when you don’t deal with your trauma it makes it impossible for people to be around you. When you tell yourself “what’s wrong with them” make sure you look with in yourself because most likely that’s where the problem lays. Today’s rant is brought to you by all the foolery people try feed you. The most difficult thing to do is to stay positive through trials and tribulations. Stay positive through the bullshit people fake in your face. I’m just lucky my wife stays on my corner so I can’t lose focus on what’s more important in my life. Love yourself. I wonder… if you know what that means
Peace and Love
By Your Side
Today on my daughters birthday July 30th reminded me we have to stand up together with women for equality. We need to support our women. We need to normalize fighting for our mothers daughters and wives economically. You can argue they deserve if not the same amount in salary maybe more. They deal with harassment, negativity, ignorance. Believe me I seen it. Today is my daughter 13th year and I do not want her in her 20s making less than anyone because she is a woman.We have to do better. Last nite I saw a man attack his lady and try to hurt her on tv. Supposedly on a reality tv show. Men we have to stop doing this. We cannot conquer hate when we cannot love our own. Men if you are dealing with trauma go talk to someone and release that pain, but do not put your hands on a woman.We have to do better. No excuses for domestic abuse . NONE. Look at the stupid comments Draya a Instagram model said and im paraphrasing she wants a man that will shoot her in the foot then she knows he loves her. Why do we always make have an excuse when a woman is being abused? Remember woman, REAL men are always by your side. We fight for you, not fight you. We want you to succeed. So don’t be quick to judge us, let’s us show you. Equality for everyone!
Peace and Love
Starman
Sometimes we need to realize our potential. It’s important to listen to your heart. Go do whatever you please. This world needs creators and it’s starving for originality. Be you and believe me that’s enough. I know doubt will set in when your journey feels unfulfilled but that’s when you push harder, your closer to it than you think. See being rich doesn’t matter if you don’t have your mental health or your heart is full of hate. You have to love what you doing, fall in love with the process no matter what. I believe in accountability. Don’t look back. Learn your lessons and keep moving. Life is short. Make sure your life means something to YOU. Remember it’s never too late. Be original, take risk. Be the first black men/women.. be the first Hispanic… Reach for the stars…
See you there
Peace and Love
Who We Be
A classic song. Lately I have been feeling like we need to call out our so called allies to fight injustice. If you believe in fair and equal economical freedom look at yourself to see what exactly how are you helping the cause. Are you giving us opportunities? Everyone could talk a good game but few act on their words. For example, I am looking at corporate America and see tons of minorities working in the bottom of the totem pole. But few getting opportunity’s to jump from a entry level job to more a supervisor role. This is why we have to start our own businesses and be able to progress this movement. It’s disturbing that our liberal allies don’t see it but you have the power to change that. Give us economical empowerment. How? You ask. Well just don’t create a “task force to understand minorities”, actually promote us. Promote us to a better salary job, don’t be scared of change. I know we are scared of things we do not know about but our people work hard. Most of us know we have to work harder just to get recognize. It’s not that we do not like constructive criticism but most of the time we believe they are not fair or rules don’t go the same for “others”. See my rant today is about everyone being in the same playing field. A fair one. We need to change the old mentality of “they are taking our jobs” to there is enough money to go around. See when you hire a minority and promote that person(him/her) you empower them. Then the minority person can work hard and provide for their family. Not work check to check but actually save and have room to pull his family from the bottom to at least middle class. This is just an example of what happens when you give a minority a Fair shot. Its about more than buying your employees lunch or even creating competition for gift cards. It’s about economical opportunity. The time is now.
Peace and Love
John Lewis
R.I.P John Lewis. A true HERO. He deserve every flower. He deserve every recognition. That man dedicated his life to the cause. For us. Walked with Dr.King. We have to keep pushing. We are not close to solving the issues but that don’t mean we give up. Thanks for EVERYTHING.
Peace and Love
No Role Modelz
Listen closely to this song. In this week episode we have learned that we should Own our tv networks, sports league, EVERYTHING. First let me say I don’t like comparing struggles/ oppression. For example the holocaust to slavery. People have died. Period. It happened and we have to gather ourselves and forgive people. I get it. Mentally we are conditioned in the worst way. All we know is pain. Some try to get away with substance abuse, even hurting themselves. Daring life to cut yourself short. But why we cannot have difficult conversations. We are ready for it. Soon we say “ history has taught us…” things get weird and people get fired. I know Nick Cannon said some shit to piss people off but he was just having a conversation. See this goes both ways. When a white person says the N-word in my opinion we shouldn’t kick him/her off the island(tv,radio,or some non important thing)but we should educate them. Take them to the ghetto and show them what oppression looks like. Let them work minimum wage jobs for two months and see if they can pay their bills with it. I feel like we have to educate! This is why I love teachers. The ability to expand a child mind with useful I formation is a great thing. But that’s were we fail at the most. I was talking about history not is not in the books and my wife says “ they should be teaching Juneteenth in the classrooms”. I simply laughed, only because I been preaching this my whole life. I feel like teachers should be getting paid the most. They are essential workers right next to doctors and nurses. I remember reading a textbook of world war 2 and it went like this… the axis (Germans, Italy, Japan )provoked the U.S and forced us to go to war. D-day happened and we won the war. Amazing story. How can we learn anything that way. Sounds like propaganda, doesn’t it? See we did not learn of the holocaust, slavery, the women suffrage, the killing of native Americans. In fact we celebrated colonizers and rapist. The point I’m getting to is that we have to educate ourselves because this rigged system is a failed state. Shit I didn’t know anything about my heritage and my Puerto Rican people till I read our history. Most of us are disconnected. But we can fix it. We have to start with the foundation. The word TEACH is the key. Do not fire people. Teach them. Once educated the are no excuses. I know there are going to be people that will never change their minds of their bigot ways but at least we can try to do some real change. See there is no real role model that can show you the way. Read your history. Read all of history. It repeats itself. There is a misunderstanding among ourselves. When you see why we have to own our own shit, It’s obvious and when you are ready for that conversation let me know.
Peace and Love
Represent
Breonna Taylor. Her name is Breonna Taylor. A hard working Black woman. A tax paying Black woman. Her name is Breonna Taylor. When she laid down to rest she didn’t know she will not wake up the next to day to continue her life. Instead cops knocked her door down and started shooting. She was killed in her sleep. Oh and I forgot the cops barged into the wrong address and just started shooting. The person they were looking for was already apprehended. Cops constantly make mistakes and some will say “ they are human”. What will you say if a regular law abiding citizen makes the same mistake and kills someone. Go in a house and just starts shooting. What will you say? This is enough. We get it we all human but some have to be regarded in a higher standard. We have to stop immunity for certain people. They are taking advantage of the law. We have to stop this genocide. We cannot let another Breonna Taylor die. They deserve better. Why are we living like we in a video game and we get to comeback as a different avatar. Her name is Breonna Taylor. Look up on how to help. Sign petitions. Breonna Taylor. We have to arrest the cops. There’s no room for mistakes. Breonna Taylor. We have to Represent for our people that didn’t get the chance. We cannot fail Breonna Taylor. I want the people that defend police when they shoot a unarmed person please defend this action that killed a INNOCENT Breonna Taylor. Never mind just stay quiet. Her name is Breonna Taylor.
Peace and Love
Worth the Weight
One of my favorite songs. So a WNBA co-owner that so happens to be a senator of Georgia wrote a letter to the league to keep politics off their sport. The irony. This is one of the reasons why we should put off playing any sports. They do not care for our causes. A perfect example. If you do not play it will put pressure on the owners. They have the power. They put money into the politicians pockets and influence legislations. Look it up, Google is your friend. They often ask for new stadiums and make promises to politicians. Your naive to think otherwise. We have to get that power for we can exceed. We are not in those front offices. NBA players should not be playing. We have the worlds attention right now let’s keep pushing our agenda till we get something out of it. I promise you we will lose if we keep playing and entertaining the world with our skills and still have no OWNERSHIP. Our people have been fighting for decades, centuries, we have fallen in the back burner. Right now it’s the time to rise. Look how EVERY industry a minority have thrived in is jailed (selling marijuana just to name one) and they have legalized it and made millions. Has all the suffering been Worth the Weight?
Peace and Love
For Whom the Bell Tolls
I love to study people. I like to analyze people’s intentions behind their actions. You know how sometimes you sit there and think of all the bullshit you did and see why did you reacted a certain way? See growing up I had a lot of rage (due to certain issues I will mention in later blogs) and thought that raising my voice was the only way to get my points across. I notice the more I screamed, the less they heard the point. It got drowned by their anger of being yelled at. See my intention is pure gold. I want you to win at everything in life. But the one thing I won’t take is disrespect. I cannot allow someone to get away with it. That’s the only thing that triggers my anger now. I am in a peace state. Sometimes I tell my friends that I hate I am in this state of mindset because it seem like the spirits are constantly testing me. You know when you trying to do good but you are confronted with some bullshit. My intentions are good behind everything I do from family to friends, even associates. I want you to be a better person but not at the expense of others. With all that, I am promising myself that I am through with dealing with people who have not dealt with the trauma in their lives. I saw a counselor for a few years and spoke to someone about my past trauma. I made sure I am relieved from the burden. Its more than speaking to your spouse about childhood shit. People who do not deal with trauma often do not grow. “I’m grown” is a common thing they say, when in actuality you say something they don’t like and they explode and probably stop talking to you. You cannot grow if you cuddle with trauma. You have to confront it and then leave it. I struggle with this. Sometimes it comes from your own family and because blood is “supposed” to be what matters most, it will hurt the most. Bottling the pain is not good for you or your soul. You will become distant and bitter. The human experience is supposed to be a social thing. Laugh and love one another. Talk to someone. It won’t make you weak but it will make you stronger. When you are mentally drained; reset… meditate. If someone hurt you, look at the intention behind it. If you really think someone is hurting you so they can prop themselves up leave them. Leave. That word is so powerful because it signifies the beginning of your peace. Your world doesn’t have to be a broken glass — it’s half full and don’t let anyone knock it out of your hand. I am not saying don’t feel but yes, feel the pain and move on. You don’t have to explain yourself to anyone when your intentions are pure gold. I am not a saint, but I am a caring father, husband, brother, and son. So far in my 33 years, I have been wrong in many moons but I also have been right under the sun. I have over reacted but if you really look at people intentions I reacted reasonably. I am done apologizing for shit I didn’t push myself to. My reaction is to people’s inability to see their own shit. Stay away from people that can keep the person(s) who traumatize(d) them closer than the person trying to pull them out of it. If you sit here and say to yourself, “I didn’t do ANYTHING wrong”. You might be the problem. Look in the mirror and see who you are. I know it’s corny but if you don’t know yourself you will damage everyone around you. You will drain their energy. Take time on this beautiful Sunday and reflect. Reach out to that person you pushed away when they tried to help and tell them “sorry, I miss you”. Be a great HUMAN. There is nothing wrong in being wrong. It the best feeling is when you can own it and grow from it.
Peace and Love