Are you a bouncer or a promoter?

Let's pretend that salvation is the biggest party in the history of creation. There's going to be a ton of food, a ton of music and you are invited. I've known about the party for a while and I hadn't felt like going. I saw the attendees. They seemed kind of fake and stiff and I didn't see myself fitting in there. Plus, anytime I got close to the entrance, an individual or a small group of people would tell me I wasn't dressed right. Or I couldn't get in because I had been drinking already, even though it was just a beer with my dinner. They didn't like my tattoos or my beard. I couldn't wear a hat. They told me that in order to get into this party, I needed to fix all these things. So I bounced. See ya. I can't fix all these right now.

Then I started noticing that people I really respect are going to the party. These were some people I could see myself hanging with. Now I'm really thinking about going. But wait, I have to fix these things. Well, lets just get to the door and see if those bouncers are there. They weren't there! I got in! I was just inside the door and then, boom, another group of folks. They didn't even mention my clothes. They shined a flashlight in my eyes and asked me a bunch of questions. “Do you believe we live in a Christian country, founded on Christian values? Are you yay or nay on gay marriage? Do you believe in Heaven and Hell? Do you believe in creation or evolution?” The list went on a bit, but I could see very clearly that I wasn't going to make it in this time either.

I went home and thought about it for a while. I couldn't get this jaded feeling to go away. Why are there so many stipulations to get in there? It was one of those situations where I didn't even want in anymore but I knew that I needed a party like that. When I was leaving that second time, I did notice a group of dudes that looked a lot like me. They were dressed like me and were in a circle by themselves. I wanted to ask them what their deal was. How did they get in?

For months and months I stayed home, read my Bible and prayed by myself. The Bible is a giant invitation to the party and other people are inviting me like every 2 weeks. On a random day, one of those guys that resembled me sat in my chair to get a haircut. What a coincidence! It took me a while to get to it, but I finally asked if he was at that party. He emphatically stated, “Yes, but I’m different.”.

“Okay, how?”

“I don't know everything about everything. I know one thing: God loves me and he loves you and that's all I need to know. That's all that matters. Inside that party are ex-cons, ex-prostitutes, ex-fiends. They all have immeasurable worth to God. He created us and wouldn't want to see one of us excluded from the party. When you accept that fact and you live from it everyday, you see the world through his eyes and you cannot keep anyone out in the cold anymore. If we accept the invitation and walk through those doors, we all get in. That's what I told the bouncers and they stepped aside”

I simply replied “Thank you”

Are you a bouncer or a promoter? For the Kingdom of God, there are people who attract others and people who act as a gate keeper, picking who “gets in” and who doesn't. Which one are you?

Hip-Hop Shaped My Life

My freshman year at Framingham State College was full of me making an ass out of myself. I grew up in Medway, MA where we had a 1% racial diversity. The only black guys I knew were dudes I met through music. I was ignorant. Typical ignorance had me asking every kid that was a shade darker than khaki, "Do you rap?". Wow. Just in case you were looking to make a new friend, here's a racially charged conversation-killer. Have fun! My intentions were only to build with people though. I always loved talking to anyone about music and the techniques of rhyming and making beats. I did end up meeting a few cats that shared my obsession. I'm still close with one of them today. (What up Pete!)

If you're a Hip-Hop head, you can skip over this whole post. I think this is more for the new generation of scared parents. My folks are still trying to figure it out. I would be blasting Public Enemy's Apocalypse '91 and they would shake their heads. Mind-blowing messages for a 12 year old boy and super-scary, hold-onto-your-purse, black-rage for a couple of white, middle-class, suburban parents. What they still, to this day, don't realize....and I'm 34 years old as I write this....I was learning everything they couldn't teach me in school. When hip hop had a real message, it had real fans and a real movement that could be stopped by very little. Hip-Hop is a powerful teacher.

Here's 5 ways it shaped my life:

5. The choices you make directly affect your life.

There are countless songs about the wrong path and how you can ruin your life forever. The most notable are probably “Children's Story” (Slick Rick) and “Just to Get a Rep” (Gangstarr). They were songs about losing your life on a quest for notoriety. Another song, “Tearz” (Wu-Tang) taught me how real STD's and AIDS were. It was a first-hand story about the guy's friend. I couldn't learn that in my public school.

4. There is a separate U.S. History they don't teach in schools
   
   
   Public Enemy had me looking at the country different. They were letting America know that it ain't all good. The country is messed up for young black people. “911 is a Joke” had me like “Huh?”. And of course N.W.A.'s “F the Police” was a face melter. I'm 10, 12 years old thinking, “Cops are a problem in your neighborhood?”. These were the go-to guys when you needed help in my town.

I learned about Malcolm X, Minister Farrakhan, Larry Davis, Mumia Abu Jamal, Nat Turner. Look these dudes up. They are important pieces of U.S. History that somehow got left out of my text books.

Knowledge is so important. Different points of view are so important. This is how we learn as a society.

3. Question everything.

You should ask why a lot. It only leads to the truth. Don't just eat what your fed. KRS-ONE was a monster at breaking down the things I learned and just accepted as truth. His self-titled album had me buggin out on a few topics. Mostly on my Christian faith. On the way home from church, I asked my mother if she knew that the cross was a form of capital punishment and why would we all get on our knees to worship it? I was 14. She was dumbstruck. No answers that day. I had questions for everything and I had a couple of cool teachers that would field those bombs I threw. Thank God for them. Bottom line: Ask questions. You'll be smarter in the end.

2. Always have a message

When you have a mic in your hand and people in front of you, say something. Share something. Share with them, what's most important to you. That's the only way I can learn about you and your point of view. Don't get me wrong, I love a good trash-talking battle rap with clever punchlines. And I love party joints that get the place rockin, but the underlying message is the meat, the protein, the nutrition. We can't survive without it.

1. Be yourself

By far, unequivocally and with out question, the most important thing Hip-Hop taught me was to be me. You have to be yourself. God made you with a purpose. He loves you and wants you to be the light that shines. You are awesome the way you are, and you should go be that to the tenth degree. Don't try to rap like this dude or make beats like that guy. All they're doing is being themselves too. So go and be the best “You” you can be and let the next generation look at you as an influence.  

What stage are you in?

There's a period in life when you are trying to figure out what works for you. Which phone, which cable service, which jeans, which car, which foods you can eat, which foods you can't. Add on whatever you want here because it's pretty much everything.  

Then you're in a stage where everything is fine and your start to wonder if you have all the best things for you and your situation. 

Then the stage of trying new things comes and you usually get burnt in a couple of sour deals. Or you try the grossest coffee or whatever. You get discouraged and go back to what had been working.

But then comes a critical stage where you may refuse to try new things.  Technology is changing and you're changing and you may get left behind.  

You have to stay alert to the new stuff and learn how to differentiate between what is going work and what is a not going to work. What's going to help and what's not going to make things better or easier? 

It's a constant temperature check to make sure you have the best tools working for you. 

What stage are you in?

THOUGHTS: Genius

Genius cannot be recognized in a people pleaser. You cannot flex your genius skills when you're constantly attempting to please the people around you. They will not understand you. They are not supposed to. So get over it as soon a you can. Please.

THOUGHTS: "I find it hard enough dealin with my own biz"

Last week, I was in traffic, behind a car with a bumper sticker telling me that their son is a Marine. Okay. I'm very proud of you. I really can't say enough about the sacrifice our armed forces make. Here's the thing....... I don't care. I don't care who is a Marine and who isn't. I don't care if your kids an honor student or if you're involved in Franklin youth hockey. I don't know you and I don't need to know anything about you. What if I just walked up to you and said "I cut hair."?

I've been taught my whole life to mind my business. It was a golden rule in my house. That and don't rat on people unless it was life or death. Fast forward 15 years and every half-wit with a qwerty keyboard is telling you how hey feel about the lady in line at the bank, their coffee, their breakfast and how sucky their life is.

Every reality tv show is up in someone's life, airing laundry. Their business is on blast for everyone to observe. C'mon.

I'm trying to be the man my pops raised while being bombarded by a bizarre bevy of business that isn't mine.

Stop. Please.

THOUGHTS: "The death of me"

Have you ever heard someone say something like, "Oh my God, these stupid shoes are gonna be the death of me!"
Are you sure? The shoes might kill you? How's that? And why do you say it with such a medieval flair? "The death of me" Of who? Oh,you? Whoa. Don't die! Please don't let those shoes make you die.

You're metaphorically dying from too much awesome stuff and others are dying from hunger.


Just sayin

THOUGHTS: Have You Seen My Creativity?

I tapped this out on my phone a couple weeks ago. I just found it. Thought it was pretty funny.

"Creativity is on the otherside of this wall. This wall, right here. I can hear it and envision it but I can't touch it. The wall is too thick. All my responsibilities and desires are thickly woven together to form a barrier. I'm still on this side. Not because I choose the side but because I incessantly add new pieces to the wall. I make no time for fun. I. me. Not her. Not you. I wish life was less boring routine and more fun but who made my life this way? I did. I chose this over that and that over this for a few years now and have landed myself in a rigid box.

I will now destroy this box. I will destroy it with my anger and self-worth. I need a new perspective before I pull an Alexander supertramp. All that's left is a crummy photo and an in-depth journal that doctors will study and share theories on the path my brain went. They'll say brain but it's MIND and we all know that.

I keep spurring on wih the notion that someday, I'll have time for my dreams." .