tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2866163939819752362024-03-08T03:58:45.410-08:00The Thinking CornerKevon Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12448711738775795411noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-286616393981975236.post-49017512982155512672013-01-26T17:09:00.002-08:002013-01-26T17:09:17.762-08:00Where I'm From PoemIn one of my classes this week we opened it up by having each student write a poem describing where they came from and talking about what made them who they are today. Here is the one I wrote:<br />
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Where I’m From</div>
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I am from Kelly and
Greg.</div>
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From New Jersey and
the Universe, mixed </div>
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And spilled with particles
from nature.</div>
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I am from the Bible
and the Bottle, weaving </div>
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And shifting between
two mindsets, two different ways of life.</div>
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Developed around the
parks and the between the pages,</div>
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Because there is no
better example than those before us.</div>
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I am From Luther and
Little, because even though</div>
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We should encourage
peace, I know my path and I will not be denied.</div>
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I am from the books
that preserve our past, dark and dusty until opened pulling </div>
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me cultures, ideas
and centuries away.</div>
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From Washington and
Garvey,</div>
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who said to follow
your heart and lay each brick with care.</div>
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Derived From Jackson
and Jefferson,</div>
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Who taught us to lead
with our minds but guide it with our hearts.</div>
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Pulled from every story
and show we’ve ever seen,</div>
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Because the TV screen
was our teacher.</div>
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I am from every mind
before my time,</div>
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Because before now I
was just a fantasy.</div>
Kevon Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12448711738775795411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-286616393981975236.post-39401156453440251432013-01-24T07:22:00.001-08:002013-01-24T07:22:45.363-08:00New Website for updatesAs I prepare to release my sophomore novel 'Sticks, Stone and a Broken Heart,' I have put all my information in one place on my new website. I hope you all check it out and let me know what you think! A lot of new moves are under way and I will do my best to keep everyone posted!<br />
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Thank you!<br />
Kevon Brown<br />
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http://wr86brown.wix.com/kevonbrown<br />
<br />Kevon Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12448711738775795411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-286616393981975236.post-28690260558001602512012-09-05T08:49:00.000-07:002012-09-05T08:49:11.032-07:00It's 2012...and Patience is still a virtueI have to say I am very impressed how far we have come in the last decade technologically. Faster computers, impressive phones, more and more methods of communication with each passing year are created. Yes we have taken leaps and bounds from those computers that needed a whole room for space to now. But one thing I am noticing that we are struggling with is patience. Yes....patience. Like I bet right now you want me to get to the point and tell you what I am talking about....you would've actually rather me not even open with an intro and just get to the point....in fact some bullet points would've made your life a whole lot easier.....most of you are probably leaving the page right now...<br />
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Here in the United States we have a lot of sharks, people with the mindset of producing and producing fast. The faster you produce the better off you are, the faster you produce the faster you get profits, and that is all that's important right? Well this mindset is starting to spill into other areas, ares where it does not fit at all. Everyone wants to see results RIGHT NOW, we don't want to wait for anything anymore. Don't know what I mean? Check this out:<br />
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In pro sports, fans are screaming for a winning team. Coaches are getting fired left and right, players are demanding trades, owners are moving teams, hell we even got players coming together to make 'super teams.'<br />
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In relationships, we are all falling in love in two days and breaking up a week later. We want to get married in a month just to divorce several months later. In reality most of us don't know what we want because we don't even know ourselves and the sooner we admit that the sooner we can actually move forward (even though I have a theory that none of us know what we want until we see it, so this is all irrelevant to me). Hell, some of us are just saying screw the relationships and are just living the good life jumping from bed to bed, hey why wait right?<br />
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In the entertainment industry, we are just putting sorry to say it but Bullsh@t out there just to sell. Of course this is a result of corporate America jumping into the arts just trying to make a dollar (yes I considered music art before they took it over) Now we got songs with no depth, no thought at all and it's trashing our little brother and sisters brains. Don't get me wrong a few of these songs here and there is not an issue, but what we listen to is what we become. We listen to music more then anything else in our lives. So just like your friends, you are what you listen to. All the people my age and up aren't going back in our music libraries listening to 70s, 80s and 90s music for nothing.<br />
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These are just a few examples that are easy to see, but if you look hard enough for yourself you will see this all around you. We have become the right now nation, everything has to happen now or it's almost like what's the point? I have caught myself in this mindset several times in my writing and I've had to relax myself and remind myself it will come when it's ready ('Sticks, Stones And A Broken Heart'-Fall 2012). But just remember, anything that is worth having is worth waiting for. A lot of these things involved in the business world we can't control but in our lives we can control the foundations we lay. The relationships we build. The love we choose understanding that if you care about that person you will be patient. Just because everything else is faster doesn't mean human nature will be as well.<br />
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I guess they call us the microwave generation for a reason.<br />
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Thank you,<br />
Kevon BrownKevon Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12448711738775795411noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-286616393981975236.post-32954083629751414772012-08-29T07:08:00.001-07:002012-08-29T07:08:06.910-07:00Top Ten King of Pop Songs with HeartDoing my part to celebrate what would've been Michael Jackson's 54th birthday, I've decided to make a top ten song list. But not any list. Let's face it, making a top ten MJ song list is nearly impossible. There are so many great songs to choose from you would drive yourself crazy. So I figured I do it a little differently. I've always let it be known that MJ is one of my biggest inspirations, and it was his hard work and how he poured his heart into everything he did. In my journey so far as a novelist this is what I have tried to do. I just don't see the point in souless writing, I want my audience to feel what my characters and sometimes I felt. So I decided to create the top ten MJ songs from the heart, the ones that have inspired me the most and I know others as well. Honestly the order isn't that important because all these songs have pulled alot of different triggers helping me with my writing.<br />
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10-Whatever Happens</div>
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Invincible</div>
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9-Heal The World</div>
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Dangerous</div>
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8-Will You Be There</div>
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Dangerous</div>
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7-We've Had Enough</div>
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Single</div>
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6-Human Nature</div>
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Bad</div>
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5-Leave Me Alone</div>
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Bad</div>
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4-Man In The Mirror</div>
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Bad</div>
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3-Earth Song</div>
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HIStory</div>
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2-Who Is It</div>
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Dangerous</div>
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1-They Don't Care About Us</div>
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HIStory</div>
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I would love to hear what you guys think! So comment, let me know what songs you think should've been on the list, was a song too high, too low? Like I said I did it based on what songs inspired me and then in order by my favorites. Some of these songs aren't well known MJ songs so some people will be surprised to see them on this list. It's all to celebrate a special day in one of my inspirations lives.<br />
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Thank you,<br />
Kevon Brown<br />
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Kevon Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12448711738775795411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-286616393981975236.post-73198636619683152532012-08-27T20:38:00.001-07:002012-08-27T20:38:45.843-07:00HERO-The Manipulated PerceptionLast year with a ton of ideas and concepts floating around in my head, I pulled it all together and published my first novel HERO. I got a lot great reviews and encouragement and still do as my audience continues to grow. My passion to string knowledge and entertainment together into story has taken over as I look forward to publishing my second novel 'Sticks, Stones And A Broken Heart' in the fall. I have a lot of future novels and plans to take this to the next level and I wont stop until I do. It's not a matter of if with me its when. This past year I had my nose in just about any book that I thought would help me improve my writing, helping me find a flow in my storytelling that I thought was best for me. There are a lot of stories out there that I believe need to be told, and I'm going to write them. To follow me on my journey, check out some of the links below that will help you stay updated with any updates and of course when SS&BH is going to come out.<br />
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Thank you,<br />
Kevon Brown<br />
Twitter: @Prodigywitapen<br />
Facebook Page: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kevon-Brown/205308069529786">http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kevon-Brown/205308069529786</a><br />
Authors Blog: <a href="http://prodigywitapen.blogspot.com/">http://prodigywitapen.blogspot.com/</a><br />
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HERO-The Manipulated Perception</div>
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Get your copy today!</div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hero-Kevon-Brown/dp/1465388354/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1346124542&sr=8-1&keywords=kevon+brown">http://www.amazon.com/Hero-Kevon-Brown/dp/1465388354/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1346124542&sr=8-1&keywords=kevon+brown</a>
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Kevon Brown Breaks down HERO</div>
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HERO-Video Trailer 1</div>
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HERO-Video Trailer 2</div>
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HERO-Video Trailer 3</div>
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Kevon Brown's first Interview with WRNU</div>
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Interview with 7th Level</div>
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Sticks, Stones And A Broken Heart</div>
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Coming Fall 2012!</div>
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First Book Trailer Coming Soon!</div>
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Kevon Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12448711738775795411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-286616393981975236.post-76082853576629681482012-08-27T20:17:00.003-07:002012-08-27T20:17:38.052-07:00Just Another Quick Thought<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.513513565063477px; line-height: 17.992992401123047px;">Nowadays everyone is sitting in thier corners in the fetal position. We're all afraid to take risks, we don't want to be seen as weak or be looked down at by everyone else. We don't want to be hurt. So we play it safe. But what we don't understand is this is not living at all, you might as well be a stick floating in water. Are we all really willing to stand in a line and watch life go by? I think I'll pass on that one. We all go through too much just to play this thing safe, best believe I'm getting everything I came for. And if we fall and you call us weak and abuse us for trying, its only because you hate that we had the heart to live. Because that's what it means to be ALIVE.</span>
Kevon Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12448711738775795411noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-286616393981975236.post-65787594391316078942012-08-17T20:01:00.000-07:002012-08-17T20:01:24.859-07:00The Curse<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 17.981481552124023px;">Let me ask yall something...how often do you see Whites and Hispanics verbally tearing each other down? How often do you see Chinese and white teenage kids tearing down dreams amongst each other before they even have a chance to start? This is why we have so many bitter blacks, some of you are tearing each others dreams down from the start and life didnt even start implementing outside obstacles yet. Most of them are angry because they didn't have the courage to stick with </span><span style="line-height: 17.96666717529297px;">their</span><span style="line-height: 17.981481552124023px;"> own so now they believe the world is cold. But what nobody was there to tell them was it's all in your head, you are what you think you are. But really though think about it race aside, how do you expect anyone to be successful around all that negative energy? It's a mental battle alone trying to instill confidence in yourself on a day to day basis when all you have is doubt. For someone to instill doubt is not only wrong, its a curse. Just something to think about. </span></span></span>Kevon Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12448711738775795411noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-286616393981975236.post-74469892203769289512012-05-24T12:46:00.002-07:002012-05-24T12:46:38.761-07:00Switching Gears: Welcome to the Wild Side!Even with everything I have going on, alot of different things always seem to catch my attention. For the last week or so between social networks, talking and texting some friends the subject of relationships has popped up. Of course everyone has thier own opinion, everyone looks at this from different angles (which I always love hearing). But when I break down everything and look at it all together I see for the most part two sides; traditional and what I like to call the Wild side.<br />
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We all know traditional, you date, you save yourself waiting for the one (whens the last time you heard that?) and you get married and spend the rest of your life with that person. Compared to what weve seen evolve coming into the 21st century this is classified as conservative, this is the simple way to do things, in my mind anyway. Now we could get into finding "the one" (in my mind theres no such thing as "the one"-discuss another time), being mature enough to actually marry, soiling your royal oats, getting pregnant, doing right by your children, blah blah blah. But thats not why Im writing this today.<br />
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Then theres the wild side, most of my friends live here (as do most people in thier early-mid 20s). If I know one thing about my generation I can truly say this, we love to party! Thanks to pop culture and its "party everyday, smoke weed, SEX SEX SEX, and YOLO approach, most people have been sucked up into this way of life. Its the fast track, constant change, always "on one", Ima do me, SPEND SPEND SPEND, I think you get the idea. Basicly we have a bunch of manipulative predators running around(<b>male AND female</b>, no doubt about it!). Of course this mentality spills into the way relationships are designed creating confusion and "mind games" as I like to call them that we all play everyday.<br />
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You can look around you, youll see it everywhere, whether its a young couple arguing over one of them having crazy pics on Facebook from last nights party, or dudes disrespecting women because they saw someone in a video doing it so now its cool. These two mentalities are clashing everyday. People are switching sides everyday. You know the saying "once you turn a good girl bad, shes gone forever." No doubt thanks to our influences, cultures, surroundings and friends <b>we are all manipulated in some way, lets get that out of the way right now whether by choice or we just dont know but we are</b>. But when you choose this life there are a few things that we must understand.<br />
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The longer you stay on the wild side, knocking shots back every chance you get dancing in the club, the harder it will be to actually have a stable relationship in the long run. Thank about it, its a clash between two different mentalities EVERYDAY happening in just about all of us. We all were brought up in some way in the traditional manner. But in this life theres the rush, the blurry nights, the freedom. You go out every night and you have no clue whats ahead of you, thats the beauty of it. For some of my friends, your in bed with a different female constantly, always a new story, always a new face. Who wouldnt like that?<br />
<br />But thats the fun part, the sad thing is alot of us dont learn to slow down. Its like a drug. To have a life sitting next to the same person everyday sounds like death to some of us. More and more of us are getting married later, looking at our friends crazy when they decide to get married in the mid 20s. How do you go from switching faces weekly to laying with the same one every night?<br />
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Now the even harder part is when you have two people on different wavelengths. This can only end bad for somebody. Someone feels locked down and the other one cant understand why he/she is not good enough for their partner to slow down. Bottom line is; <b>Traditionial+Wild=somebody is getting hurt</b>. I see this all the time and someone always gets hurt. One of them care enough to try in the beginning but like I say all the time you are what you are. Very rarely can somebody change to that degree (just because we see it in the movies all the time doesnt mean it happens that frequently).<br />
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All I say is choose wisely. Before you take that step to the Wild side remember that the deeper you go the harder it is to come down and live a traditional life. I mean unless your both wild (rarely see stablility here either) then go ahead and knock yourself out.<br />
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And for all my traditional ladies and gentlemen out there, there are some good sheep out there. But dont go to the club looking for them, thats where all the wild things are.Kevon Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12448711738775795411noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-286616393981975236.post-29714119403466697952012-04-27T17:59:00.001-07:002012-04-27T17:59:26.737-07:00Goodbye Christ: Hello SpiritualityIn my survey of American Literature class, we were assigned to write a paper on a poem of our choice that we had read in class. I chose a poem by Langston Hughes 'Goodbye Christ.' Because of my christian background and all the years of spent on both sides of the world (good and bad in a way) I was able to put a twist on the poem with how I feel about religion. If you have not read Langston Hughes poem I suggest you check that out first. I did a little explanation on what I was about to write and then I did the poem which you'll see at the bottom. Comment and tell me what you think!
http://donbryant.wordpress.com/2008/02/20/goodbye-christ-by-langston-hughes/
A single mind has no power, only so many outlets, only so many perspectives. But the minds of millions together have a power misunderstood even by the few that control it. We lock on an idea and force it to be true, one yes at a time. With each yes, each nod of approval it gains power. Now that seed that one man carried has become even greater than the beanstalk that Jack struggled to climb sitting amongst the clouds. Its strength reaches into each of our brains giving us full belief. It’s just one of the many programs that are double edged swords, but even with the bad, it is a must in a structured society. These old proverbs and parables that we lay on paper have become iconic, worshipped and followed yet not fully understood. They’ve been passed to us jumping through centuries, and despite the forever growing knowledge and new technology of our changing world, they never budge. But the people have, moving with the decades and opening their minds while several dozen of our parents and grandparents hold onto the rock that is religion. As Hughes stated, “And step on the gas, Christ! Move! Don’t be slow about movin’! The world is mine from now on-.” Well, even now people continue to carry the rock on their backs as everyone sprints by them. That song has sang its last tune, danced to its last encore, turned its last page.
With the combination of a growing free world, the development of capitalism, and the millions of citizens with their faith, it was not hard to predict that we would be here. Christianity has become one of the biggest businesses (that is not a typo, I know you thought I would say religions) in the free world. Its credibility has been tarnished with the huge temples and leeching preachers and its spill into the entertainment business. They saw a chance to make a dollar off a Bible, and they decided not to stop there. And my generation has had enough! We are more educated, we have more access to information using modern technology, our logic has been expanded. All this with a combination of a more competitive job market and we have pushed the bible aside and pulled out more textbooks. We need results, and sitting in a church for three hours while also paying tithes isn’t going to cut it anymore. A religion that has dominated in families for generations stops here. Why keep giving the man upstairs money if we could save that to buy that home that we keep praying for?
Its not that we don’t believe anymore. For many of us, it has been imbedded in our minds for so long that we will always look up to the sky, but a shift has taken place. This world is moving along and it’s moving fast, and Jesus is not keeping up. People are attempting to pray their way into the big office on the top floor of the building while their co-workers actually stay working late nights to get it done. Our greed has become a virus, spreading creating more sharks out of tuna on a day to day basis. Like one of my friends said, “life is simple, your either standing up or sitting down.”
Alright, Chris,
I see your still floating around,
Your spirit is light in the trail of dead presidents.
On the top they rant and rave about you while they stand in glorious temples.
On the bottom they do the same in their shacks with empty pockets.
They are blinded by their ignorance,
For if we are all equal, why is there such a difference?
We worship the same being, yet we get different result.
We watched them as children,
Singing out of their hearts only to get hope in return.
Praying out loud only to get hope in return.
Paying their tithes only to get hope in return.
Well it all stops here,
Years of anger and frustration will not allow us to go any further.
So back up Jesus,
We don’t want your Bible,
We don’t want your teachings,
We don’t want your pamphlets.
That is not going to help us live the dream,
The dream that our grandparents never got to see.
And to replace you,
We need nothing but what is inside.
Individuals before us helped create this and were shot down,
But we have a crowd now.
We have opened minds now,
We have more books now,
We have living idols now!
So Goodbye Chris, Hello Spirituality!
Because we don’t want progress, we want results!Kevon Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12448711738775795411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-286616393981975236.post-66420773635506278482012-04-27T16:58:00.000-07:002012-04-27T16:58:22.059-07:00Music Decoder!My love for music cannot be touched! My large selection leaves my friends and families with thier jaws dropped. I believe every song has a message, different for different people. But whether its a club banger or what I like to classify as 'pondering music' every song has a purpose. And to celebrate that, I will start breaking down some of my favorite songs and everything that comes with that. Every song I listen to tells me a different story, takes me back to a certain time, helped me get out of a dark tunnel. I think its time to decode these bad boys and see what everyone else thinks!Kevon Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12448711738775795411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-286616393981975236.post-16927903388215104092011-09-02T21:26:00.004-07:002012-04-04T06:21:12.690-07:00The stuff you dont wanna hear: The Psyche of Western Civilization Culture<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"></span><br />
<div><div style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em;">For some reason Ive been hearing over and over again that one Im radical and two that Im "different." At first I was upset by these remarks but the more I thought about it the more I stick my chest out even to this day. I did alot of observing this summer (more then I usually do) and more and more Im starting to realize the sad truth; most of us as Americans are psychologically trapped. Were trapped in a place where by design we dont think for ourselves we just follow and emulate what we see. And on the forefront of this machine are our main forms of entertainment; <strong>music and television</strong>. With alot of us having a household of only one parent (if that many), were left alone to find our own way. Just think about it, how many of us grew up sitting in front of the television watching Sesame street and Reading Rainbow? In this situation, we were left to find someone to follow, almost setting a blueprint to the rest of our lives. Obvously shows like Sesame Street taught us the simple things like words and numbers, but as we got older we needed more answers. In our teenage years people like Jay-Z and 50cent became almost big brothers to us through the TV. I seen my friends model thierselves after them, walking thier walk, talking thier slang, almost becoming them in a sense. We see thier success and the people who envy to be them and we take them as a blueprint to growing up to be successful. This is one of the major reasons I fear for our next generation, with many of them growing up without a father figure or any good example that will teach them to think for themselves were gonna see alot of people wanting to be like the likes of Souja Boy and Kim Kardashian...imagine that! The truth about this whole machine is that we are the drivers of this culture box we call America where fads and stars come and go but the<strong> fans will always be there looking for an example they can relate to</strong>.</div></div><object width="420" height="315"><param name="movie" value="http://www.freado.com/includes/lpwidget.php?t=HERO-The+Manipulated+Perception&i='dd6246d07b260824f1657173a6802510.png'&a=GET%20HERO%20Today!%20eBook%20only%203.19!&l=Buy&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.freado.com%2Ftrack_LPWidget_click.php%3Fu%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FHero-Kevon-Brown%2Fdp%2F1465388354%2Fref%3Dsr_1_1%3Fs%3Dbooks%26ie%3DUTF8%26qid%3D1333510631%26sr%3D1-1%26b%3D12466%26t%3D2&key=CF9pppXhFPO6rnA9gVGx4KQ32rTpoG8tVy5NVlvlLPM&type=large" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="wmode" value="opaque" /><embed src="http://www.freado.com/includes/lpwidget.php?t=HERO-The+Manipulated+Perception&i='dd6246d07b260824f1657173a6802510.png'&a=GET%20HERO%20Today!%20eBook%20only%203.19!&l=Buy&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.freado.com%2Ftrack_LPWidget_click.php%3Fu%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FHero-Kevon-Brown%2Fdp%2F1465388354%2Fref%3Dsr_1_1%3Fs%3Dbooks%26ie%3DUTF8%26qid%3D1333510631%26sr%3D1-1%26b%3D12466%26t%3D2&key=CF9pppXhFPO6rnA9gVGx4KQ32rTpoG8tVy5NVlvlLPM&type=large" wmode="opaque" width="410" height="315" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always"></embed></object><br />
<div style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em;">Just think about this: we work day in and day out to the bone in the night hours slavin'! Most of us at my age arent in our careers yet so we not makin no more then $15 an hour at some job we most likely dont like. We work 40+ hour weeks dealing with angry bosses, testy customers and even some annoying co workers. Year in and year out you work, working dreaming of a better life. You get your paycheck every few weeks or so and what do you do with it? You go buy the newest $150 Jordans, the $300 purses, the $400 cellphones, even the $50 shirt that you might wear once. You spend a whole paycheck or months paying off credit card debts because of what? All to impress each other, meaning your boys, your family, or more then anyone else the opposite sex. We do all this to either cover up our own insecurities about ourselves or to try to stand out among the everyone else. So we work day in and day out to the bone on 8 hour shifts to buy stuff from people who not only know nothing about our lives and our struggles but dont care about nothing else but how much money you have. Our willingness to sell out our own inner self so we can fit in with the rest of the world is not only sad, but its unbelivable that its gone on for this long. And people dont understand why people are so depressed and afraid to open up to the outside world, people are tired of being judged because they dont have the newest Jordans.</div><div style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em;"><br />
</div><div style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em;"><br />
</div><div style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em;">This note wont change anything. People will continue to spend all thier hard earned money on stuff they dont really need only making the rich richer in the process but its at least my job to help you understand what your doing in the process. I know people hate reading so if you do anything check out this video an old friend showed me a while back that I found VERY interesting. Remember, Im not here to make you hate the new proda bags or those $400 phones we all love to buy Im just here to make you think.</div><div style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em;"><br />
</div><div style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em;">**Just be yourself!! if people dont like you for who you are then your in the wrong group, dont waste your entire life being miserable and being something your not!!</div><div style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em;"><br />
</div><div style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em;">Heres the link:</div><div style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em;"><br />
</div><div style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em;">http://www.storyofstuff.com/</div><div style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em;"><br />
</div>Kevon Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12448711738775795411noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-286616393981975236.post-5915808350217712042011-09-02T21:23:00.001-07:002011-09-02T21:23:48.951-07:00Its the falling in Love.... Part 2<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"></span><br />
<div style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em;">Theres a battle that has been going on way before any of us were even born, and to this day its all around us, a mental tug of war that to be honest will never be won. The moment you were born and they said boy or girl is when you chose sides (with some exceptions), many of us being culurally raised to fight mentally or sometimes physically against the opposite sex. This would be the battle of the sexes, yes many men are wondering why Im about to do this to myself but its my job to talk about the things that nobody wants to talk about. </div><div style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em;"><br />
</div><div style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em;">In this tug of war we play, there are alot of mind games involved. There are alot of arguments, and hearts being broken some broken to never be fixed. In my observation Im seeing that there is alot of bridge building going on, meaning people are not cleaning the skeletons out of thier closets. There are some people who are still mad about things that happened years ago and to this day they are taking it out on thier partner, or even worse a whole other person they are dating at the time. The day we understand and learn why we must let things go is gonna be a huge step for all of us. Nobody can ever have a healthy relationship when their carrying baggage into it from the start, that is unfair to the person your with and even more very troubling for yourself. The problem is pride, nobody wants to look weak in front of a woman or vise versa because we always feel like were gonna get taken advatage of, its a giant circle of broken hearts, broken trust, and misunderstanding.</div><div style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em;"><br />
</div><div style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em;">Just like humanity in general, I believe until somebody is willing to put thier pride away and show some compassion trying to right the wrongs we have done we will never break this circle. Nobody wants to show emotion anymore, were all so mute and believe we must keep our armor clean. Showing emotion and being wanted is part of being human, so in not doing these things were not being human! Everybody wants to be excepted, if you say you dont youve just been hurt so many times that youve locked yourself away not letting anyone in, and thats how you end up alone and depressed. </div><div style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em;"><br />
</div><div style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em;">Love is just a place where these issues are the most obvious, people dont understand why people are committing suicide and going around killing people like animals. America's culture which is a "me first" independent mindset has us all pulling a "every man/woman for themselves" mentality everytime any kind of pain is brought upon us. Alot of us are alone, but what makes it worse is our pride has broken in and wont allow us to admit this. </div><div style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em;"><br />
</div><div style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em;">My question is when there comes a time where were all gonna need each other (and there will be) how are we gonna respond? Are we gonna let our pride get in the way and not do anything? As the days go by and I hear people giving up on other people this seems to be the inevitable answer for us. </div>Kevon Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12448711738775795411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-286616393981975236.post-10668925697659407382011-09-02T21:21:00.001-07:002011-09-02T21:21:53.634-07:00Its the falling in Love.... Part 1<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"></span><br />
<div style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em;">Its spring, well....you wouldnt know that from the weather but its that time of year we all love. The tempature starts rising back up and everyone is starting to come out of hiding. That time of year where you just wanna chill outside for just a little bit longer just to see if you see some new beautiful faces walking around the corner on campus. Of course with spring comes breaking and building of relationships left and right, everyone is working out getting ready for the summer when the "games" begin. Dont act like you dont know what Im talking about we all at one point were the victim or heartless lover who took an axe to someones heart.</div><div style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em;"><br />
</div><div style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em;">Talking to some people and even just over the years Im starting to see that people are afraid to fall in love anymore. Weve all fallen into a cycle where we dont give people our "whole heart" and at that we pull on several strings at a time just to play it safe. Thanks to popular culture, lust has become the new love in America, in a country where the divorce rate is sitting at a coin flipping 50%. Everyone getting married is looking for that "hollywood romance" relationship where at the end everything is just perfect and romantic. The day men and women wake up and realize it will never be like that will be the day we save some serious time, hollywood has put it in our minds that a perfect marriage has a happy ending.</div><div style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em;"><br />
</div><div style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em;">On the dating side of things, its not that nobody wants to be faithful, its just that everyone is afriad to, a domino effect has started and everyone is just falling in line with it pressing the safe button keeping thier options "open." And those poor ladies and gentlemen who do fall in love and give thier heart to someone (the ones who didnt get the "options open memo) end up getting drop like a sack of potatoes. Some of these people will be resilient and get back up and try again, while most of the other will fall in line and follow the cowardly method we have going on right now. </div><div style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em;"><br />
</div><div style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em;">For those people who have actually been in this place we call love its something you will always remember. Its a world where your mind has no say over anything, your heart and whoever your with runs the show. You can go ahead and say it, your love drunk, stupid, whatever your friends who dont understand call it. But its like having a massage for the first time; it felt like heaven, every once in a while it creeps back up on you again to make you smile, and you always want more. I dare someone to say love is stupid or it isnt real, those people either have never been in love, or just have been hurt so many times that they refuse to let anyone in anymore. </div><div style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em;"><br />
</div><div style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em;">I just got one question for you, when your 50+ years old alone with your pet cause you didnt wanna risk giving your heart to someone, whos fault is it then?</div><div style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em;"><br />
</div><div style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em;">*Read*Think*Comment*</div>Kevon Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12448711738775795411noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-286616393981975236.post-44841120505901239152011-04-03T10:52:00.000-07:002011-04-03T10:52:12.272-07:00Distractions...Distractions...Focusing in the 21st Century<div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Anyone that is like me, in college always on the move busy understands that your time is very precious, and anyone whos anal like me wasting time will change your mood really quick. Once upon a time managing your time and doing what you needed to do had a few distractions, but it wasnt hard to push these things aside. You didnt need to take time to discipline yourself on how to move the bs out of the way and get stuff done. Well thats not the case in 2011, where the internet has found a way to be another factor along with, television, videogames, and cellphones. I find it funny but also chilling at times that most of us in our everyday routines are staring at screens more than anything or anyone else. Besides our usual circle of friends we see everyday most of us talk to friends and family using social networks such as Facebook or Twitter. Theres nothing wrong with this, as it expands our world and helps us keep in touch with others. But at some point this went over the line from being a luxory to being a problem. I cant tell you how many times Ive logged in on Facebook and was just looking at stuff playing games messing around doing nothing, and I look at the clock, and about three hours has went by! That is about the most frustrating thing to me knowing I just wasted time doing nothing. In todays world we have to be even more focused then ever if you wanna get something done,<strong>learning to balance business and play has become an art in its own right.</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Once again Im not saying that Facebook and twitter are bad at all, the leaps and bounds we have made in technology are unbelivable. I feel like with this new technology we have not learned to adjust to it and be able to move on getting work done in our everyday lives. The bottom line is we must remember that the<strong> long term is much more important than the short term</strong>, dont let checking your Facebook go from a five minute blink to a two hour operation! Now in honor of me writing this I cut it short so you wouldnt be reading for days. Now get off of this computer and get some work done because I guarantee most of you are supposed to be doing something right now (I know I am!)!</div>Kevon Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12448711738775795411noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-286616393981975236.post-79980611754719668742011-01-19T18:02:00.001-08:002011-01-19T18:02:36.078-08:0021st Century Ambassadors: African American Icons And thier Influence in America<div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">I'm quite sure out of all of us growing up as little kids very few if any of us were saying we wanted to be like Martin Luther King Jr. trying to keep all the kids getting along on the elementary school playground fighting for recess and snack time rights. There were most likely more of us singing TLC or trying to emulate Usher's moves in his videos (I know I got a few old heads reading but you guys gotta bear with me I guarantee someone is searching TLC right now). I can definetly speak for black people when I say the entertainment industry had a great influence in our growing up and how we went about our everyday lives. As much as I hate it, I fully understand and see we look up to these people and emulate them. Biggie Smalls being a great example, he told stories in his music of the struggle and how hard it was to be successful let alone break out of the poverty ridden ghettos in Brooklyn. 2pac told us to keep our heads up and to not let them above us bring us down, and Nas told us we could be whatever we wanted to be. These and many more artists inspired and motivated us on a day to day basis to push forward and to be the best we can be. I can't even count how many days music has brought me out of a hole and helped me get through the day. These people represent us, they pull us up and motivate us to do better, they are our 21st Century Black Ambassadors. </div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">With all the love we give these Ambassadors, almost twice as much jealously and hate is received through the media, and even from other Icons in the industry. Any man or woman who inspires millions and helps bring about a wave of change is bound to criticism, no matter who they are. Look at it this way; it would be a lot easier to go after the leader of the flock rather then to take down all his followers one by one. That bird represents the best of what they have, someone every single one of them looks up to in some way and is very proud of. So they attack the flock leader, they make up lies about him, start rumors, destroy their image the best way they can. And if that person is that much of a threat they might even go as far as kill them, even though their message will still live on. Thats what Jesus Christ was, thats what Biggie was, what Malcolm X was, and more then anyone thats what Michael Jackson was. </div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">All these men at some point even with their drive and will to succeed at their respective purposes in life at some point came to a conclusion that it had become bigger then just them. They carried a city, a country, and in some cases the world on their backs, never having the intentions to let them down. And we followed, knowing that they were maybe not our only hope, but without a doubt our biggest. </div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Each part of the country had or has their own Representative; Biggie Smalls was the East Coast, 2pac was the West Coast, Lil Wayne is Louisiana, I could go on for hours. Everyone had or has their own representative that they praise and poster up on their walls. And just how Barack Obama is blamed for everything that the U.S. does from the outside in, so are these guys for their respective areas. But when it comes to star power and their impact on the world nobody comes even close to our biggest African American Representative; Michael Jackson. Say what you want about Michael, but his impact on the world even after his death has been amazing. His music brought millions to their feet, his heart and willingness to give to the less fortunate has touched the hearts of millions. Hes brought people from all kinds of backgrounds together like I've never seen before. And like I said before when you get as much praise as this man has, the false accusations come, the rumors, the lies, the harassment. Their objective was to take the best of us and make him look like a fool, like hes nothing, tearing all of our hope away from us. They were jealous of Michael, even worse they were jealous of us, because he was the best of African Americans! Sadly for many blacks I talk to, their view on Michael thanks to the image created by the media is at the least bad. Blacks don't understand that<strong> this is what they wanted to do, this was their intentions, to tear Michael down</strong>. People lost hope in him, they called him all these names, mocked him and made him into a joke. This was the best of us, and yet everyone went and turned their backs on him, yet he did nothing wrong but care. Nobody had it as bad as Michael did, and yet he kept on fighting. </div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">I'm not trying to make you love Michael Jackson, or hate those who oppress him, I'm just trying to make you think. Black Ambassadors represent hope, they represent every single one of us in some kind of way. So for anyone to just off and turn their back on them the second they're accused of something, is a mockery in itself. Thats like Biggie Smalls going off and writing a I hate Brooklyn song its just straight up being a traitor, he would never do that to us. You didn't see white people turning their back on Eminem when he wrote a crazy ass song about killing his ex wife. Take pride and love in what you got, because just like 2pac, or Biggie, or Malcolm, or Dr. King, or even Michael as were all learning now you don't know how good we got it until its gone.</div>Kevon Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12448711738775795411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-286616393981975236.post-17405510721468900612011-01-19T18:01:00.000-08:002011-01-19T18:01:15.674-08:00Strength In Numbers; The Power Of Black America<div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">One thing I really can't stand is a person with excuses. I know people who will make every single excuse in the book to explain why they can't do something, why they cant go somewhere. Almost every single person that is making an excuse is just plain wrong and lazy. A thing I can't stand even more is when a black man makes an excuse, saying "the white man is holding us down, they wont give me a job." I can almost guaranteed that the person that said that to you probably messed up somewhere down the line and expects someone to just hand something over to them. As messed up as this country is, I believe that everyone has a chance to be successful somehow, its just a matter of HOW BAD YOU WANT IT. I've heard stories of blacks pulling themselves out of the ghetto and climbing out to be successful no matter what the circumstances, they didn't care what they had to do, they refused to live that lifestyle anymore.The ones I love even more then those lazy excuse makers are the ones that say " the black man has no place in America, we have no say in the government." Anyone who is dumb enough to believe that really needs to sit down and read what I have to say. </div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">In the 2008 election, 16.1 million African Americans voted for our next president of the United States. The voter turnout rate for ages 18-24 was at 55%, the biggest turnout rate for this age group. Now this is the interesting part of this to me, Barack Obama won the election 69.5 million votes to John McCain's 59.9 million. Whites definetly do dominate the numbers game being 75% of the United States Population, but being that they split down almost to the middle besides some swing voters (the lost ones) they actually almost cancel themselves out. This leaves the minorities to sort out the results in the election. And who is the second biggest race group in the United States? Africans Americans take that place holding 12.5 percent of the population. Obviously people under 18 can't vote but to put it in perspective a little bit Ill have you look at it like this; lets say 5 million of the blacks that voted for Obama decided to vote for McCain instead, thats only less than a third of the blacks that went out to the polls, McCain would've won the election. What am I saying? If we as a race could come together and figure out what we wanted and needed we could decided who's in the White House calling the shots. The interesting thing about this is only 55% of people from 18-24 who could've voted went out and did! So next time someone says to you that we don't have a say in the government and that the white man is holding them down, ask them did they vote in the last election, and if they didn't tell them to shut up because they had a chance to have thier say but they didn't take advantage of it. </div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Black people we need to understand that its not the 60's or 70's anymore, were really coming up as a race and fast. To prove this, let me show you a few facts I came across while doing some research:</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">-In the fall of 2008, there were roughly 2.5 million black college students, this is roughly double the number from 25 years ago.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">-Among blacks 25 and older, 1.5 million have an advanced degree (masters, doctorates) compared to 900,000 in 1999.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">-In 2007, reciepts for black owned businesses totaled up to 137.4 billion dollars, up 55.1% in 2002.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">If you wanna look at the website yourself its here: <a href="http://www.infoplease.com/spot/bhmcensus1.html" rel="nofollow" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://www.infoplease.com/spot/bhmcensus1.html</a></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">The day that black people understand the power and say we have in American is the day that things will get brighter for us, I can guarantee that. I'm not trying to make you hate Republicans or love Democrats, I'm trying to make you think. I want no more complaining from my people, we control our destiny if we get out and stand up for ourselves.</div>Kevon Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12448711738775795411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-286616393981975236.post-86705756686143653682011-01-19T17:49:00.001-08:002011-01-19T17:49:47.097-08:00The Power Of Perception: A Wakeup Call To Our Generation<div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">You hear people say the expression all the time "dont judge a book by its cover," yet we as humans fail to mold this into our day to day lives. We all watch television from time to time and even the news, but many people dont understand how a point of view can be created even in a simple news story about an Afghan American being strip searched in an airport ( I dont need to say anything else, you already know where that was heading). In America things have been simplified, we have cellphones, we have microwaves, we have remote controls. It feels like everything is being done for us now, yet we still dont have time to do anything. But are we getting to the point that we dont even have enough energy and time to form our own opinion anymore? Now you can see news stations doing it for you, making you a democrat or republican overnight (Im just gonna mention the green party here because they never get any love, dont worry I know you guys are out there).</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">A great example of this is the presidental election of 2008 when we elected Barack Obama as the first black president of the United States. Before I move any further, I just wanna say that whether he was Black, Hispanic, or Mexican I would've been proud. His being elected in my mind measures the strides that we as Americans over the generations have been making, where color doesn't matter as much anymore. Yes there were still some "messages for the deaf robots" but Ill save that for another time. Now back to the election, if you look at the money raised by each candidate you'll see a trend here. Ralph Nader came in third place with about 738,000 votes, he raised 4.5 million dollars, a good amount of money right? John McCain came in second with about 60 million votes, raising 347 million dollars, talk about some door to door action! And of course our president Obama came in first with 69.5 million votes raising 513 million dollars!!! Just another note for you When George Bush ran for president in 2004 he raised 367 million dollars to win compared to John Kerry's 326 million (got all this info from the federal elections commission). If you didn't know most of this money is spent on advertising, and commercials to reach out to us the voters. We've all seen the commercials where they try to talk up one candidate and bash another, its an old thing thats been happening for years. Now, how many Ralph Nader commercials did you see last election? In fact Ill go even further, do you know the candidate Ron Paul, member of the U.S. house of representatives from the Texas 14th district? Of course most of you don't, as even I didn't and I felt cheated not knowing some of these candidates and what they represent. But its nobody's fault but our own, as we as Americans fail to dig and research and know about the potential person who will run our country (when you put it that way it seems a little more important). Bottom line is that based off this trend the more money you get, the more commercials and face time you get, which means your more likely gonna win. If this was maybe 20-30 years ago before the internet age picked up I wouldn't have any problem with that. But with all the ways we have to research and find information ( I found that fundraising information for both those elections within seconds) theres absolutely no excuse for us to not know about all the candidates and ensure we pick the rightful winner. But our "perception" during the 2008 election was that Barack Obama was definitely the right candidate to turn these hard times around for America. And how couldn't you, his face was on the TV every hour on the hour telling you to vote for him and that change was coming. Nobody saw the one commercial in Texas that Ron Paul had talking about cutting the military and bringing our troops home. </div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Everyone that knows me well knows how I feel about BET (Black Entertainment Television) and what it does to the black image in America. If you don't here it is in a nutshell, I don't like BET, as a representative of what black people are (our only major representative outside of sports) the station doesn't do a good job of showing a lot of the great intellectual successful black people we have. All I see when I turn that channel on is asses shaking and money flying all over the place. They give you the "perception" that all black people care about is money and "getting ass." And you gotta see this the way I'm looking at it; imagine your a foreigner and you just came to America. Straight off the boat you've never met or seen a black person in your life, and you turn on BET. All you see is blacks smoking weed, shooting at each other(lyrically or literally) and occasionally selling drugs, with a dose of sex on the side (sometimes its all sex, wait until the midnight hour). Now your gonna assume (because its what we all would do) that MOST black people do all these things. Your gonna assume that most of your black friends can get you weed. Your gonna assume that most of your black friends are involved in some type of gang. Your gonna assume that most of your black friends can rap, or have been to jail. I'm not saying that BET is horrible, but what does BET stand for? Black ENTERTAINMENT TELEVISION, meaning that most blacks are entertained and can relate to this, so what do you think people are gonna think? I know most of you will say "who cares what people think, they can think what they want," well when your being disrespected because you look like that guy from BET who was getting high all the time and nobody takes you seriously then see how much you care. We as black people need to show off our intellectuals more, I'm tired of hearing about Lebron James or Jay Z more then Al Sharpton or Jessie James.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">I'm not here trying to change your "perception" of the world or how you feel about anything, I'm just trying to make you think (some of you seem to have forgotten how to do that). If you gonna come on here and say something ignorant and that makes no sense then just don't say anything (you'll only be making BET officials look like geniuses). Just understand the power of Perception in todays world, don't be the idiot that believes anything you here. </div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Like Malcolm X said; "A man who stands for nothing will fall for anything"</div>Kevon Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12448711738775795411noreply@blogger.com0