A Strong Black Man Who Knows When to Cry

It was looking to be a bad week for black men "up top" — brothers ascended to high places. Over the weekend there was Barack Obama's shameful Embrace the Change (Your Sexuality) tour, emceed by gospel singer Donnie McClurkin, who says God delivered him from homosexuality. Time Warner had to deny rumors that CEO Dick Parsons might be on his way out. And now CEO E. Stanley O'Neal has gotten the boot, or the golden parachute, at Merrill Lynch.

Shame to see black men of supreme achievement caught up in scandal, rumor and shake-outs.

Then I sat down to watch my Packers play the Denver Broncos on Monday Night Football. During the pre-game, ESPN ran a piece on Packers receiver Donald Driver. His is a sports story so classically wonderful, in the hands of even the best Hollywood writer it would be nothing but cliche. Donald growing up with absolutely nothing — not even a roof over his head. Raised by a single mother, he makes some mistakes ... some serious mistakes. But he turns himself around and vows to lift his family from poverty. He gets a chance to play pro ball. He makes the team. And he now thanks God for every catch he makes, knowing what every catch he makes means — that he is able to provide for his wife and children.

I called over my young son and replayed the segment for him. At the end of the piece, Donald Driver begins to cry. Nothing major. Not like Ellen DeGeneres over a dog. Just a single tear from one eye.

Now, whenever my boys get those little injuries that are constant afflictions of youthful males — a scrape to the knee or a bump to the head — when they begin to tear up, I tell them to quit it. Strong black men don't cry. I don't say that to be tough on them or to inject them with some fake sense of racial strength. I want them to understand they can't grow up whining about every sharp elbow they run into in life.

But there's Donald on the flat screen crying in HD and my son says: "I thought you said strong black men don't cry." To which I reply: "A really strong black man always cries when he's talking about how much he loves his family."

There are, of course, millions of Donald Drivers out there. They quietly go about their business of being strong black men. It's unfortunate the media tends to focus on black men when they're acting like, or actually being, thugs. Or only after a Jena Six-type miscarriage of justice.

So, thank you very much to ESPN for delivering a powerful reminder.

And to Donald Driver for being a strong black man in a week when we could use a few.

7:32 PM ET | 10-31-2007 | permalink | comments (47) | e-mail post | trackbacks (0)

Why I Hate Animal Lovers

I like animals. I like people who like animals. I hate people who love animals to the point they lose their sense of reason. I'm talking the "my computer wallpaper is my dog," "I hang a Christmas stocking for my cat" crowd.

Ellen Degeneres shows she also cares about inanimate objects at the 34th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards in June 2007.

Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

I was reminded of my hatred for this bunch during the Ellen DeGeneres/Iggy the Euro-mutt saga that's "so insane" (those are Ellen's words) that I'm not going to bother detailing it. It's linked here, but I'm guessing your local news gave the story more coverage than Turkey's parliament authorizing military action into northern Iraq.

Anyway...

I like Ellen. Ellen's funny. So it's not that I have anything against Ellen falling apart on camera over the plight of Iggy. It's not that I got my ire up just 'cause Ellen's so stressed by the Iggy deal she had to shut her show down for a long weekend (a word for you, Ellen: Petco). I guess I'm put out by the animal-loving crowd that loves animals so much some of them have made death threats against the woman who runs the shelter that gave Iggy a second shot at life in the first place. Death threats for having the audacity to follow her shelter's guidelines. I guess there's some sort of twisted logic in threatening violence against a human over a dog.

If you value animals over humans.

I like animals, as said. However, I don't value them over beings who walk upright, have opposable thumbs and can one-click their music over iTunes.

But animal lovers -- the "when I die I'll bury it next to me" hard-core ones -- have always had a misguided sense of proportion.

Like with Michael Vick. For his involvement in the doggie death matches he was sponsoring, Vick's facing charges from the feds and the state of Virginia. But it makes me wonder why there's been less media attention -- and less public haranguing -- directed at a genuine thug like Adam "Pacman" Jones. Jones, as some will recall, was the football player who allegedly slammed a dancer's head into a stage at a Vegas strip joint. And shot a bouncer. And bit his ankle.

Allegedly.

Not that Jones is getting a total pass. He's facing criminal charges accusing him of inciting a melee and a civil lawsuit. And he was suspended from the NFL for at least 10 games.

But, then, Vick's been suspended indefinitely and without pay.

Clearly to a lot of people in the NFL, the media and the gen pop, cruelty to animals is more heinous than cruelty to people.

Maybe people are making a bigger deal out of Vick because Vick's more famous than Jones. But Jones' victims were more human than Vick's.

Human enough they deserve some on-set tears from Ellen. But apparently that kind of emotion's reserved for those who drink from toilets.

4:00 AM ET | 10-19-2007 | permalink | comments (99) | e-mail post | trackbacks (0)

The Courage of Shirley Chisholm

U.S. Rep. Shirley Chisholm speaks at the Democratic National Convention in Miami Beach, Fla., in July 1972.

Pictorial Parade/Getty Images

I missed filmmaker Shola Lynch's documentary Chisholm '72: Unbought & Unbossed the first time around, but I just caught it on Netflix. Amazing. It's a must-see for any of the current presidential candidates — be they John McCain or Dennis Kucinich — who fancy themselves mavericks. It's a gotta-see for all the liberals who think of Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton as being the first "viable" black or female candidate. And for all of us, it solidifies the bromide, "Those who don't learn from the past..."

It is absolutely heartbreaking to see Shirley Chisholm suffer through the same inane questioning of her "blackness" (her mother was from Barbados, her father from Guyana) and to see old-school blacks line up against her because she threatens their power. It's mind-boggling to watch "feminists" of the era abandon her because they feel she can't win.

Or...

Is it heartbreaking and mind-boggling in retrospect because you realize that in 35 years things haven't really changed?

And lemme add this:

For all who think that Obama is a good public speaker, and he is, Chisholm is absolutely galvanizing. When she exclaims that she is running for president because she has the "courage, the balls and the audacity" to believe she can win, it is as tough and as inspiring as any words spoken by any present-day politician.

Basically, she possesses that unforgivable blackness that I so admire.

When asked, Chisholm said that she did not want to be remembered as the first black woman elected to Congress. She did not want to be recalled as the first black woman who ran for president. She wanted people to remember her as someone who wanted to change America for the better.

Watch the DVD and take a minute to remember Shirley Chisholm.

10:35 AM ET | 10- 2-2007 | permalink | comments (10) | e-mail post | trackbacks (0)