Category Archives: Opinion

LaKeith and the anti-Semitism lie

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A few days ago I was in a clubhouse room that focused on the legacy of Minister Louis Farrakhan being tarnished by what some may feel is anti-Semitism. The conversations were extremely heated and contentious.

The creator of the room made it a point to say “I don’t have a dog in this fight” as he moderated the room and allowed people to speak their minds freely. Oscar- nominated actor and frequent clubhouse contributor LaKeith Stansfield joined the room and was brought to the stage and assigned a moderator badge.

It is important to note that the moderator badge is a function of the app and allows the individual to assist in the flow of the conversation. The moderator badge does not signal that the person holding it agrees with everything that is said in the room.

To say the discussion was spirited may be an understatement considering the nature of the conversation and the tone of the participants. One of the participants took to the stage incensed, directing her anger directly at LaKeith reprimanding him for being part of the room the she claimed to be anti-Semitic and not a “safe space” for Jewish people.

This discussion was shared with mainstream media and has now become a narrative that LaKeith is “…flirting with anti-Semitism”.

The Daily Beast and TMZ have all chimed in on this discussion fanning the flames of a lie.

It is my responsibility because I was in that room to say with no uncertain terms that LaKeith was NOT being anti-Semitic in any way shape or form. We can’t allow another Black man to be maligned for simply being in a space.

LaKeith has since apologized since the onslaught of inaccurate reports hit the web. As always in these type of situations we find our brother apologizing .

“At some point during the dialogue the discussion took a very negative turn when several users made abhorrent anti-Semitic statements and at that point, I should have either shut down the discussion or removed myself from it entirely,” he said in the post early Saturday morning.

Telling our own stories and controlling our narrative should be consistent across all media. Let us not allow our brother to be dragged by lies constructed to harm him. Speak up.

-Precise

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Serena Williams is proof white supremacy runs deep

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Serena Williams

Recently a picture surfaced on the internet of a woman claiming to be Serena Williams. The post was on her ig page. Her name was by the caption and when you squint your eyes really tight you might be able to make out a vague silhouette of the greatest tennis player the world has ever seen.

In all seriousness the woman in the picture above looks about 5 shades lighter and her eyes are a different color. It begs to question. Is Serena Williams bleaching her skin?

If she is then clearly it is problematic. What kind of message does this send to millions of Black girls around the world? What kind of message does this send to her own daughter?

Many are saying that this is the work of a horrible make up artist. The thought that the lighting is making Serena look like a totally different woman is also floating around. These reasons are disingenuous and misses the point as to what causes this type of action.

White supremacy is a real thing and it is embedded in the DNA of Black people around the world. The effects of torture, raping, killing and pure disregard for Black skin travel in our DNA and presents it self in so many ways.

Racism, colorism, Black men not protecting Black women, Black women not respecting Black men are all ways that this idea of White supremacy rears its ugly head.

White supremacy is not diminished by the size of someone’s bank account or their notoriety. When you are Black, white supremacy oozes out of every crevice of the world around you. It is because of this that we must call it out at every turn and work towards a healing and destroying white supremacy at its root.

Serena Williams deserves the benefit of the doubt and heaps of grace, not because she is the greatest athlete in the world but because she is a Black person who is a victim of this poison known as white supremacy.

-Precise

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Why Cardi B admitting that she drugged and robbed men is problematic

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Cardi B (Photo credit: Eddy “Precise” Lamarre)

Cardi B, one of America’s most popular and ubiquitous rags-to-riches stories, has placed her foot in her mouth. An Instagram Story that Cardi posted three years ago has surfaced in which she admits to sleeping with men, drugging them and then robbing them. Cardi, who is well-liked because of her candor and bold disposition, is now in hot water because of it.

In the video Cardi speaks passionately about her past life.

“I did it myself, n—s must of forgot my n—a. The s—t that I did to mother—— survive. I had to go strip. I had to go oh yeah you wanna f— me? Yeah yeah yeah, let’s go to this hotel and I drug n—-s up and I robbed them. That’s what I used to do. Nothing was mother—- handed to me.” she said

In today’s #MeToo environment and the court of public opinion, it should be expected that Cardi B is called on the carpet because of such criminal acts that have helped her along her journey. Bill Cosby is currently serving a jail sentence after being found guilty for drugging women for the purposes of having sex. This is something he has vehemently denied, yet the court of public opinion, the #MeToo movement and the comedic memes helped to paint a picture of a man who was once viewed as America’s dad as a dirty old man.

We all love the story of someone lifting themselves out of poverty into success.

Cardi B’s rise has been meteoric. She has turned a stripper pole into Grammy gold and shows no signs of going back. However, we find ourselves at an impasse. Should Cardi be held accountable for the actions she admitted to three years ago? Of course, she should be, but most likely she won’t be because she is the world’s favorite type of ratchet.

Hypocrisy is running rampant in the land. Some are celebrated for the same things that others are punished for. If we allow ourselves to continue down this path, the grey between what’s black and what’s white becomes greater and our ability to make wise judgements becomes questionable.

Cardi has not left this latest scandal totally unscathed. A hashtag, #SurvivingCardiB, was created and many have voiced their displeasure and disagreement with Cardi’s past criminal acts.

Cardi obviously felt the heat and has issued a statement via her Instagram page.

She wrote “So I’m seeing on social media tray a love I did 3 years ago has popped back up. A live where I talk about the things I had to do in my past right or wrong that I felt I needed to do to make a living. I never claim to be perfect or come from a perfect world with a perfect past. I always speak my truth I always own my sh—. I’m apart of hip hop culture where you can talk about where you come from talk about the wrong things you had to do to get where you are. There are rappers that glorify murder violence drugs and robbing. Crimes they had to do to survive. I never glorified the things I brought up in that live. I never even put those things in my music because I’m not proud of it and feel a responsibility not to glorify it. I made the choices hat I did at the time because I had very limited options. I was blessed to have been able to rise from that but so many women have not. Whether or not they were poor choices at the time I did what I had to do to survive. The men that I spoke about in my love were men that I dated that I was involve with men that were conscious willing and aware. I have a past that I can’t change we all do.”

Cardi’s statement is one where no accountability is taken and she seems to place the blame at the feet of hip-hop culture and rap music. This is problematic because once again hip-hop culture is blamed for the criminal decisions of an individual.

How do we move forward from here?

Leave a comment below.

-Precise

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