Speaking on Our Thoughts...

Good Morning,
i just got off another great roundtable on NPR with Roland Martin (www.rolandsmartin.com) and Dr. Mary Frances Berry (www.maryfrancesberry.com). i have a lot of fun rapping with those two and Ed. the crew really has great perspectives on what's happening in the world, and it's been an honor sitting in. click on the NPR link if you want to visit some conversations, or you missed it on your local NPR station.

so i'm sitting on the deck of the coffee shop, swatting flies from my bagel, sifting through email, and it hits me: College is starting back. yeah! that means i get to see many of you over the course of this coming academic year. several people have visited me here on the site, especially since the movie came out, and put in an inquiry to have me come and speak to their campus, or perform my one-man show. i'd like to visit each and every one of you over the next several months, so do me a favor. check into the booking area and make an inquiry. i have the best time when i'm on the road interacting with people.

the cool things i'm working up this season are:

1) Screenings with a Talkback for "The Second Chance." it's a great dialogue on race, class, spirituality and/or diversity. perfect for the shaping of young (and old) minds through discussion

2) The re-vamped presentation of "How Blak Kin Eye Bee?" for those ready for some in-your-face, at times satirical views of "African-Americanizms," we're going to have some fun.

3) Inspiring Minds one group at a time. i'll be behind a podium and/or microphone discussing issues in a forth-coming book called _______________ (yeah, it's a secret for now! but i'll let you get the inside info before it drops).



here's a shot of me with my Performing Arts Academy kids in Nashville, Tennessee. meeting people and discussing our lives and issues has been the biggest blessing of my adult life. that, and watching a squirrel come right up to my plate and eat the last bite of my wheat bagel with honey brown sugar cream cheese. THAT was cool. he(she?) winced a little when i raised my camera phone to get a fuzzy pic. i think he thought i was going to try to bust him in the noggin. but since i'm a vegetarian, and my father was probably the last man in our family to have dined on his kind, he didn't have anything to worry about.

ok, back to bid'nezz. i'm looking forward to meeting a lot of you. hit me back (i check my blog pretty regularly) or send a booking inquiry and let's work something out. until then, you have a blessed day.

obafemi

hey ya'll
i was just in my daughter's room, strumming two chords and singing "there's something happening here..." that's all i know, so it couldn't be called a song, 'cuz songs take three chords and the truth (as the age-old saying goes). i guess it was a bit-of-a ditty or something. either way, she finally got her sleepy but out of the bed to get ready for church.

i have a meeting today, so i'm gonna miss church. she's going to go with her grandmother, the same woman who took us all to church when we were lil' ones. my father, he didn't go a lot when we were little, but he died a deacon. i tell you, you just never know. i sometimes wonder, in a world where church has become such a big, corporate, world-matching part of everything we do, how much influence it still has over the kids.

look at it like this: when i was coming up, in a medium sized baptist church, "the world" was this kind of crazy place, something to be wary of in a watchful sense. it was something that could suck you up and brainwash you into become a dollar-chasing, materialistic, soul-less zombie. the message was simple: "seek ye first the kingdom of God," etc.

but now, it's the church people who have the most expensive cars; the pastors have mansions and planes and 15 thousand dollar watches...AND it all now is a demonstration of living "in God's divine purpose," which is for us to be wealthy. i'm not preacher-bashing. i've done that to all of us before. i'm just asking the question: if, in the end, the almighty dollar is the measure of success, then what makes the difference between the church and the world? is it the PRODUCT that makes one wealthy (i.e., a hip-hop cd vs. gospel or a self-help book vs. a porn video, both of which are addictive) that makes the difference?

weigh in and tell me what you think. i'm going to ponder these things during my meeting, and i'll compare notes with ya'll and see what we come up with.

o

today's topic: co-parenthood in the face of dee-vorce (or nevah-married-hood).

i spoke recently with Lawrence, a good brotha who has been struggling with the mother of his kids. seems as if he's been doing alright since they broke up. both had moved on with things. they worked out visitation and all was really good (or, as good as it could be, considering they were oil and water). he was content with being super dad, and wasn't bothered when she got connected with someone else. as a matter of fact, she was more pleasant in dealings. he eventually connected, also, with someone who made him happy. all good, right?

then, the ex-broke up with her current, and soon, things went south.

all of a sudden, the kids were being subtly turned against Lawrence's significant other, although they had established a great relationship with her up to this point.

so...what's up with that? what do you think the problem is, and how should Lawrence respond? how can he arrest the behavior without destroying the minds of his kids?

speak on your thoughts.