"Danny, see your future, be your future. May, make, make it, make it. Make your future Danny...." - Ty Webb talking to Danny Noonan in Caddyshack

We did our weekly mentoring session with our 7th and 8th grade boys today at a local middle school. Talked about peer relationships. At some point we got into talking about all the fights that these boys get into. I brought up how interesting I thought it was that all the kids assumed that they could get into a fight, and always just walk away with just a busted lip or something. "Don't you know of people that come to a fight with knives and guns?," I asked. "Yeah," was their reply. Just matter-of-factly. Do they hear what we're saying?

One young man said he didn't regret any of the fights he's been in, cuz he learned from them all. He didn't seem to grasp the fact that they could have ended up with someone dead. Especially in the fights that he gets into.

This kid was 13 years old, and already in a gang. No, I'm not saying that he's just hanging out with a bad group of hooligans. I'm saying he's literally a card-carrying member of a group that people make documentaries about. And he's thirteen.

We explained to him (one of our members knew a lot about the local gang activity in our community) that the next step in his membership process was going to be participation in a drive-by. He casually agreed that such a thing was probable.

Here I am sitting 3 feet away from a little boy who's looking down the very imminent path of starting a life filled with crime & punishment. And I can't even tell if he's hearing the message we're trying to speak. It didn't seem like he was even entertaining the idea of alternatives. Not that he was one of those who refused to listen to advice - he was listening to us. Not that he had violent tendencies - he was a sweet little kid. He just happened to be a 2nd-generation member of a family immersed in the _____ gang - most of his family were in it, and he admitted that most of them were in-and-out of jail.

And he's thirteen.

After the kids left, my colleagues and I just sat there quietly for a few seconds.

Now what is we gon' do?.....

"But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience, persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me...." - II Timothy 3:10-11

In the book of Timothy, Paul is mentoring his apprentice Timothy. I can imagine that Timothy felt very blessed to have someone like Paul as his mentor. I look back on the many mentors in my life, both those that I acquired formally as well as informally, and I can say that they definitely had an impact on my life.

But I found it very interesting when Paul says that Timothy has "fully known" about Paul's life. As if to say, "you know good 'n well about what I been thru", or, "don't act like you don't know a brutha!". :-) But more importantly, BECAUSE Timothy knows about Paul - his life, his walk, his hardships - it's for that very reason that Paul's testimony and teaching in Timothy's life is so real! Paul brings up the fact that Timothy knows about his life in order to punctuate why Timothy should heed his words of advice.

What do people know about me? Is my testimony as effective as it could be if those that I talk to don't know about me, and where I've been, and what God's brought me thru?

But, I don't like folks in my biz-nazz, tho. :-) Nevertheless, when I read this I thought, perhaps it's a good idea to be more conscious of opportunities to "tell my story". Certainly, we should all be able to receive a word from someone about our situation, even if they haven't experienced it themselves. But how much more do we listen to someone when we know they've gone thru the same thing we're going thru!

Maybe I'll try to share a little more of my biz-nazz... not too much, just a little. Cuz they ain't ready for the WHOLE story!... ;-)

"No Malcolm X in my history text
Why is that?
Cuz he tried to educate and liberate all Blacks
Why is Martin Luther King in my book each week?
He told Blacks if they get smacked
Turn the other cheek..."
- Tupac Shakur, "Words of Wisdom"

I saw Michael Eric Dyson on TV speaking at a bookstore for his new book. As I waded thru his machine gun barrage of big & complicated school words, I heard him speak on how the media did not correctly report on the Katrina aftermath. He talked about how the numbers reported of death & violence were not as bad as was thought, how they said white folks were "finding" food and Blacks folks were stealing it, and he even suggested that the "thugs" that the media claimed were shooting at helicopters were doing so not so much cuz they're some crazy nigras, but because they were trying to say "Hey! We're down here, too! Come get us too!"

I'm one of the last people who you'd have to remind to be skeptical of the media, but I must admit I had to check myself and remind myself of how irresponsible the media can be as it relates to our Folk. I can remember letting the media coverage at that time paint for me a picture of the Katrina situation, but instead I should have been constantly suspicious of everything they reported. Shame on me. I have to remember that the media has an agenda also, and someone is telling the story that they want to be told - writing history as THEY see it. And this Somebody is usually not someone interested in MY best interests.

Not that Dyson is necessarily telling the truth, either. But the point is, question everything.

"It's been a long time...We shouldn't have left you
Without a little beat to step to...." - Timbaland

"The Fat Boys are back [back, back..]...
And you know they can never be wack..." - The Fat Boys

[Chuck D sample] "...Once again back is the incredible..."
"It's the return of the Wild Style fashionist
Smashin hits, make it hard to adapt to this
Put pizazz and jazz in this, and cash in this
Mastered this, flash this and make em clap to this..." - Rakim, "Guess Who's Back"

Whoooooaaaaaaaaa!!!!! It's been like 3 months since I posted on this mickey-fickey! Daaannngg!

But The Ric' is back, and now the only question is..... do I have anything to say?

Of course I do! I mean, Life gets so busy some times, it be like Life is telling me to shut the ___ up. .....I be quiet.... but when it's not so busy..... I be talking again... :-)

Yo, but where does a brother begin??? Shoot, lemme just do an M3™ on you (Mental Medley Moment, patent pending):

• "Boondocks" continues to be one of my favorite shows. So glad that a Season 2 is in the works! And big ups to Asheru (who spits the verse in the intro). Check out his other music - nice.
  
• The new Sergio Mendes CD ("Timeless") is off the hook! - includes John Legend, Jill Scott, Will-I-Am, Black Thought, India Arie, Stevie Wonder (my all-time favorite), Pharoah Monche, Mr. Vegas (Heads High!), Erykah Badu, Jurassic Five, and Q-Tip! So far, the best album of '06!
  
• Yo - wutchall think about this Covenant book? Does Tavis and dem be caring about Black folks, or is this another way for them to pay the rent? Is it practical and profound? Or political froo-froo?
  
• In a couple of weeks, me and the brothers from the 100 Black Men will be doing our book club on the book "Warrior Method - Raising Black Boys". No, Angie and I are not expecting, but still - I need to be prepared, right!

Lemme stop there. I'mma talk about all this stuff in due time. But for now, it's back to the grind... As the young urban youth like to say - "I'll holla!"

"...Stepped out the house, stopped short, "Oh, No!"
I went back in, I forgot my Kangol.." - Slick Rick, "Lodi Dodi"

Am I the only one that is now forever unsure about the lyrics to 'Lodi Dodi', ever since Snoop re-versed it? I sit there thinking, "did Slick Rick say:",

"For all my dogs keepin' y'all in health..."

Or was that just Snoop's rendition?

And why is it that, in my time I've seen people close their eyes, tilt their head back and sing like they're in the church choir when it gets to the part:

"It's all because of you,
I'm feeling sad and blue..."

And am I the only one that remembers where he was the day that Snoop's "Doggystyle" album dropped? Was I the only one who had friends that waited in line outside the store before it opened to purchase it?

Hmmm...I'll just ask the questions...

Elaine: "Ohh, no! The city shuts down 5th Avenue; they never let anyone thru! We're never getting home."
Kramer: "Alright, I'm gonna check it out. ...Aieee! ...mucho trafico."
- Jerry, George, Elaine & Kramer stuck in traffic during the Puerto Rican Day parade, Seinfeld

On Saturday my wife and I went to Dayton to see the fam. We left to head down I-70 East towards home at about 9:45pm. Icy rain had begun to fall about an hour prior to that.

About 10:05p, we noticed that traffic coming in the opposite direction (70 West) was very light. Within a few minutes, it was more than light - there was not a single car going West on I-70. This wouldn't have been so strange except that we had been driving about 25 minutes and still not 1 car. That was kinda creepy. Obviously there must have been a big accident.

Nevertheless, we were still riding smooth down 70 East..... I spoke to soon. About 10:30pm, we hit a dead stop 30 miles outside of Columbus.

We didn't move again until 6:00am Sunday morning.

Yes, we spent the entire night sitting in the car on the highway in 25 degree rainy weather. I'll spare you all the details (or maybe I'll talk about them in another blog, after I recover from the trauma. At least that's what my therapist recommends.)

We later learned it had something to do with two semi's jack-knifing, and maybe a 20-car pileup. But don't bother looking for the details on any news media websites. Apparently if stuff don't happen conveniently enough for it to make the 11pm news, reporters say "screw it". What the...??!!!

Well, at least my story can be told here for the world to see. Remember me, and my struggles... :-)

"....(smacking lips)...Don't nobody go in the bathroom for about 35 or 45 minutes..." - John Witherspoon in "Friday"

I'm still digesting my Thanxgiving food - I'll get back atcha later...

"When I see [pee] coming, I move! When SHE saw [pee] coming, she stayed!..." - 8-year old Riley Freeman in defense of R. Kelly in "Boondocks: The Trial of R Kelly"

Another new show that I like - Boondocks on Cartoon Network. Maybe we truly have come a long way in terms of race and culture in America - we must have, if a show like this is allowed to come on. :-) You'll have to see it to know what I mean, but imagine a scene where Cornell West is kung-fu fighting a group of protesters, and another where a self-hating Black man sings "Don't Trust Dem New Niggas Over There" to a group of white folks at a garden party.

Classic.

Hans: "Do you really think you have a chance against us, Mister Cowboy?"
John: "Yippee-ki-yay....."
- Detective John McClane responding to the villainous Hans Gruber in "Die Hard"

Last night in my men's small group bible study, we read Joshua chapter 1 verses 1 thru 9. I came across a great verse:

"...No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you..." - verse 5

Actually, this is not the first time I've read this verse. For one, as I talked about a few days ago, I've finished reading thru the whole Bible, cover to cover (Praise the Lord!). So even tho I might not remember a verse, I know I've seen it before!

But, when I read this in my old King James Bible that I've had since I was 13 years old, I had that verse highlighted, and I could tell from the paleness of the yellow coloring, and the nearby hand-written notes on that same page, that it was a long time ago when I highlighted that verse. Problably still in my teens.

So I'm betting it spoke to me as loudly then as it does now. God promised Joshua that most people would not be able to stand up against him. (Insert sound of tires screeching to a halt) No, no, no - it actually says NO ONE will be able to stand up against him! I believe God is promising that to us today also! It reminds me of another verse that I've loved since childhood:

"The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?" - Psalm 118:6 (KJV)

God assures the believer a victorious life. But why do I find it so hard to remember these promises? I tell ya like I told my group last nite, the Ricardo that remembers and believes that NO ONE can stand up against him when he's doing God's will is a different Ricardo than the one who doesn't keep that promise in mind. The former Ricardo is much more spiritually bold and confident - willing to take more risks for God. Willing to walk over into the land of giants and say, "Yes, there are giants over there, but we can still win!"

I'm going to try to start my morning Bible reading with these verses, every morning for a few weeks. Try to get it to sink in. :-)

Speaking of my small group (Men of Joy), I'm glad to finally be back meeting with them again. We took a 40-day break to participate in a church-wide ministry. That was a loooooong 40 days! I gots to have my Men of Joy fill-up every week! Big ups to the MOJ!

Inigo: "Who are you?"
Westley: "No one of consequence."
Inigo: "I must know."
Westley: "Get used to disappointment."
Inigo: ".....okay"
- Inigo & Westley during their sword-fighting scene in "Princess Bride"

I just met a new, random brutha last week. Turns out, we have all kind of people in common that we know.

I'm going to a party this weekend / Yeah, I'll be there, too, cuz I know so-and-so.

I've got a friend that does what you do / Yeah, I know him too, we were hanging out last weekend.

What are the odds? I guess it really is a small world. Be careful what you say with folks you don't know - you might know them more than you thought you would. And they might know you, too. :-)

"...Yeah, this is a story of a famous dog
For the dog that chases its tail
will be dizzy
These are clapping dogs,
rhythmic dogs
Harmonic dogs
HOUSE DOGS...." - George Clinton in "Atomic Dog"


I read a post from a friend of mine today where she talked about her dog. It made me think of my babies. :-) We gave them away a couple of years ago. Selfish reasons - we didn't want them messing up our new house. :-( Seemed like a good idea at the time, and even tho I've got less time now than I did then to take care of some dogs, I still miss them from time to time.

So I guess that means stay tuned for future posts where I tell fun stories of the antics of my two puppies (I know, the pictures make them look big & bad, but they're just some lil' puppy dogs IMO) - they're names were Crunch (aka Captain Crunch) & Mansa.

I'm pretty sure Mansa (Rottweiler Shepard mix) was a human masquerading as a dog - he was way too smart and crafty. Every day I just expected him to finally speak and say "Hey, Ric. How's it going? I'm hungry, dude."

Crunch (Boxer) was a brave soldier. Never aggressive to anyone, but I've seen scenarios that made me believe he would "take care of" anybody that messed me with me, my wife, or even his buddy Mansa. Like the time I had a helium balloon hanging in the living room. Crunch was SURE that this was the Enemy. He snorted and stood perfectly still and alert, watching it unwaveringly until I finally took it away. (Meanwhile, Mansa had run into the kitchen like a little b... well, you know what i'm saying.) :-)

more to come.

"...But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you...." - John 14:26 (KJV)

This morning I came to the end of a very long journey - I finally finished reading the Bible from beginning to end (Genesis to Revelations, in order)!

I started almost 2 years ago I think (or maybe it just seems that long). The journey began when I signed up for a Walk Thru The Bible class, where in 1-year we read thru the Bible, 3 chapters a day. I quickly fell behind. I soon dropped out.

But....

SIDENOTE: (don't you just love the word "but"? Especially the way it's used in the Bible:
- "Man is sinful in nature, and destined for damnation. But...."
- "Daniel was in the lion's den, about to be eaten. But...."
- "They threw the 3 Hebrew boys in the fiery furnace. But...."

But, even tho I dropped the class, I kept reading on my own. Not 3 chapters a day, but I just kept going at whatever pace I could handle. Eventually, thru both practice and by wanting to put God first, I started habitually reading at least 1 chapter every morning, AS SOON as I woke up (no breakfast, no shower, no teeth brushing). They say it takes 30 days to develop a good habit - it's true. Now, I do it unconsciously - I don't have to try to remember to read in the morning - IT'S THE FIRST THING ON MY MIND!

Long story short, I kept reading, and now I've read the whole Book all the way thru. It's a good feeling.

Word of advice - if you're trying to get thru the whole book, use something like the NIV version. There's no need to struggle with King James English when you're just trying to get some Word in you. Now that I'm thru the Bible, I can go back and tackle the intricacies of KJV. But to get the meat of the matter - give me modern-day plain English.

But I digress.

I also feel a little more spiritually confident also. A good friend of mine, who also read the Bible all the way thru, reminded me that the best reason to do it is this: if the Spirit is going to bring something to your remembrance to help you in your situation, he can't pull out of you what's not there! Now that I know that I've seen every word in the Bible, I feel like the Spirit is better able to use me. No, I don't have a lot memorized. I don't understand everything I've read. But it's a start. And it's the stepping stone to my next level of spiritual development.

"...If you're not in the paper, you're not popular!..." - policeman pulling over Sean Paul in "Police" skit, "Dutty Rock"

Am I the only one that thinks that folks are going a little overboard with the whole death of Rosa Parks? Have you seen some of the photos of her funeral? Looks like a president died.

Speaking of presidents, they were there, too.

Everybody wants to be down with Rosa. Apparently she did something that no one else ever did. Not.

It's been done before. But apparently, if ones actions aren't legitimized in some way by the mainstream, you gets no love.

Is this a slap in the face to all the unsung heroes who did even more & bigger "I won't give up my seat"-type of actions?

Is it right to celebrate her legacy so extravagantly, as if we're really so very far from the days when we were second-class citizens? What would a New Orleans Lower Ninth Ward resident say to that today?

Hmmm. I'll just ask the questions....

"...So shall it be written, so shall it be done..." - Yul Brynner as Rameses in "The Ten Commandments"



In a million years, when the aliens come from Alpha Centauri to look at the remains of the civilization called Earth, and they study our culture by looking thru our books and archives, and watching our movies and listening to our music, I bet they'll be amazed at how powerful an effect the "N" word had on some earthlings. They'll probably laugh....

"...There's no earthly way of knowing
Which direction we are going
There's no knowing where we're rowing
Or which way the river's flowing...." - Willy Wonka

My lil' nephew just finished his soccer season. I just had to travel down to Cincy to see him play in at least 1 game. It was just the most adorable thing I've ever seen. :-)

Of course, at 4 years old, none of them really have much of a concept of what they're doing. It's mostly a lot of running indiscriminately, with a ton of confusion. One kid is usually kicking the ball, with the other 9 kids wondering why all the parents are suddenly shouting at them.

In fact, the biggest challenge for the kids is figuring out the right direction to move the ball, so they can score. No matter how much pointing and explanation the coaches give them, they seem to have already made up their mind which direction they plan on going when the whistle's blown, and it's usually the wrong direction. The coaches are good - they're very patient. They try their best to make the kids see the object of the game. To see that they can easily score if they'll just follow the directions that the coach is giving them.

I would laugh, but then I realize that we do the same thing in life. How many times does Coach Jesus tell us to go one way in life, and we're so anxious to go the opposite direction, the direction we just know is the right one - the direction that will never really lead us to the fulfillment of our goals in life. God is so patient with us. Even tho we're enthusiastically getting it all wrong, he makes sure that we're still staying in the game, and he keeps blowing the restart whistle to give us more chances to get it right. If only we'd listen to Coach Jesus, we'd see that we can score every time. Even if we're not good kickers - He loves us so much that sometimes he moves the whole goal into the path of our ball to make sure we make it! :-)

My nephew's next sport is basketball - I wonder what lessons I'll learn with that.....