Michael was the "greatest of all time" . . . so?

I know I've ruffled a few feathers already with that title. Just wanted your attention.

Ever since Michael Jackson's untimely passing, I've gotten quite a few long-faced "Don't mess with Michael" comments. I dare not stomp on the man's grave. Karma is a mutha. But acting as if it's the end of talent, as we know it? C'mon, man.

I really find it disturbing on the level of pure entertainment. How about this? How about we celebrate his music while cheering on the next big star, whoever that may be? I take comfort in knowing that a little encouragement could influence the next generation of entertainers in a special way. 'Cause Pretty Ricky ain't gonna get it.

What are we doing in this inspiration-starved society to encourage the next one who will be the "greatest of all time"? Are we telling him that he will never measure up or are we telling her that now is her time to rise and shine? As a native of New Orleans, I have access to people with limitless talent. The first person who comes to mind is Kurt Brunus. Here is a guy who can play the piano and trumpet at the same time, yet he has to go all the way to Brazil to get properly "jocked" (as we used to say in the '80's).

And, New Orleanians, please spare me the "I know that fool so I shouldn't have to pay to see him perform" speech. If you wanted support on your journey towards success, you would want folks to hold you up and not tear you down with the ol' "familiarity breeds contempt" attitude.

Part of our problem, as music consumers, is that we have made the grievous error of trivializing the value of music education. There are thousands of music teachers ripping their hairs out because society is constantly telling them that it's useless to teach the works of Bach, Mozart, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, The Beatles, Debussy, James Brown, Kidd Jordan (non-New Orleanians need to get hip to this man) and others. Debussy, in fact, influenced many a jazz musician. The Beatles' sound was influenced by Baroque music. Earth, Wind & Fire's sound was heavily influenced by Maurice White's innovative use of the Kalimba. This foundational knowledge has proven to be the difference in many a superstar's career, truth be known.

This is why the innovation of Go-Go music and New Orleans' Brass Band music wows me. Here we have two musical styles which are indigenous to their respective urban areas. The creators of these forms of music may not be the greatest but they all reached deep down inside to pull out sounds that are hard to duplicate and easy to enjoy.

So I ask you. When that kid is singing his heart out . . . when that young lady is dancing until her feet can't take it . . . when that group insists on perfecting the unified, harmonic sound of the Jurassic 5, how are you responding? Are you trashing them for not conforming to Pop Culture, are you telling them "You ain't no Michael Jackson", or are you encouraging them set their minds free so your a$$ can follow?

Black America's kryptonite---low self-esteem

Eleanor Roosevelt provided one of the most profound quotes I have ever read. She wrote, "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." It's like the classic tale of Dracula. The only way he could get into his victim's home was with an invitation. It pains me to see people let low self-esteem into their lives only to watch that low self-esteem suck their energy away. I should know. I battle low self-esteem on a constant basis.

As a Black man it kills me to see what low self-esteem does to other Black folks. Self-esteem, for a person, is knowing that he/she has worth. It is that person's knowing that he/she has a voice or a place in the world. Where we fail each other, in Black America, is we seem to effortlessly beat each other up. Forget the physical beating and infamous Black-on-Black crime. I'm talking about the constant verbal, mental and emotional abuse that we thoughtlessly administer at times.

Where are we most vulnerable to the specter that is low self-esteem? I wish I could tell you that this is based on months or years of research and quantifiable elements, but it is based more on observation and intuition. Believe it or not, I believe that there are three areas where we need to start working on a better Black America.

EDUCATION
Seriously, do we even give a DAMN anymore? Sure, we give education lots of lip service. We keep telling our children to stay in school and to get their educations. But when the rubber hits the road, meaning it's time for that kid to either go to school or stay in school, too many of us wimp out on making children do the right thing!

We quickly offer up that wildly successful people like Sam Walton and Bill Gates dropped out of school, but we also fail to tell the rest of the story. Sam Walton was a once-in-a-lifetime figure. People like him don't come around often. Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard, which means he had to be educated enough to get into Harvard. Tell the WHOLE story.

I think that we have lost sight of the fact that education is a process and a badge of honor. It has a beginning, a middle and an end. William Butler Yeats said, "Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." In other words, knowledge provides a spark for one to understand a problem and intelligently craft a solution. Without knowledge, however, a person is left in an eddy of confusion. He/she does not have the confidence to discover how a sharp mind can create a wonderful, profitable life.

An education is not some sweepstakes to see how much money one can earn. It is a process of gaining knowledge in order to lead communities and the world. It is easier to lose money than it is to lose knowledge.

ROMANCE
On a recent edition of "Real Talk" I could have ripped my hair out. We (the host Wayne and I) asked whether or not the Black Male is endangered. Of course the first couple of callers were ticked off Black women who believe the sky is falling and there is not one good Black man left in the world. I guess Michelle Obama married the last one.

We find it so easy to beat up on each other. If a Black man doesn't do EXACTLY what a Black woman wants, he is the sorriest thing walking. If a Black woman doesn't do EXACTLY what a Black man expects, she's either crazy or a b****. We base our present and future relationships on past failures and expect more bad news AND have the nerve to get upset when the bad news arrives!

The biggest crime is that we fail to recognize and sometimes admit, that our deficiences are fodder for unstable relationships. In other words, we have a problem, know the problem, yet refuse to admit that it is OUR problem and no one else's. To make matters worse, we treat our Blackness as if it is a part of the problem.

What we have to do is work on ourselves. It has been proven that African-Americans avoid counseling like the plague. Now, I'm not suggesting that everyone in Black America rush the doors of the nearest wellness facility, but I am pleading with us to stop viewing therapy as some sort of admission of insanity. The key to a healthy relationship, I believe, is a person who genuinely believes in and takes care of him/herself. After all, I can't love you if I don't love me.

BUSINESS
To support or not support Black business? That is the eternal question, is it not? On one hand, we complain that we don't serve each other well enough in Black America. On the other hand, we complain that we're bad customers. So what gives? Does Black business suffer because of bad customer service or because of bad customers?

Whatever the answer is, a business leader has to recognize that he/she is just that---a leader. The crappy thing about being a leader is that you have to take all of the crap that is shoveled your way a lot. When we assume that a Black business will do bad business, we don't help its image. When a Black business assumes its Black customers will be bad customers, it doesn't do itself any favors.

Sure, we should be honest with one another. At the same time, don't keep going to Mickey Dee's if you consistently get poor service, but turn around and swear off a Black business that has made one mistake. Also, how can the dollar circulate in our communities if we try to live by the hook-up? But Black business owners must remember to do their due dilligence, in the first place. At the end of the day, wouldn't it feel good to not only watch a Black business grow but to celebrate its success?

These are three of many examples how low self-esteem tears us apart in the Black community. It may come across as reaching for something but trust me on this. When a person's self-confidence is compromised, it keeps him/her from reaching any goals.

Social networking habits reveal you

Social networking is what you make of it. Everyone has his/her fair share of complaints about every social networking site but it always returns to what the user wants out of the experience. Jump from site to site and observe how folks use the resource.

I belong to several sites and the one (to which I belong) that seems to be the most misunderstood is Black Planet. I personally like the site. But I can't help but notice the polarizing opinions of BP. That would make the site a great case study for this blog entry.

If I've heard the complaint once I've heard it a ka-zillion times. "Black Planet is nothin' but a booty hunt site!" Really? I suppose if it's a booty hunt you want, it's a booty hunt you'll conduct. But is that what the administrators of BP have in mind?

Notice that there are three distinctly difference sub sites for professionals, jobs and *GASP* dating. This tells me that BP dedicated themselves to serving different types of users when they did a great overhaul of the site. So what's up with the mentality of these folks who only see a booty hunt?

OK, OK, OK, I get it. There are those users who are shameless about showing body parts to the world. You get that on BP, MySpace, Tagged, Facebook and everywhere else. The reason is some people like to show themselves off and relish the attention---period. No rocket science there. But do you blame the site for that? Do you blame social networking?

I'm not psychologist but this is where I recommend that everyone in existence take an introduction to psychology class. What folks do on social networking sites is simply human nature. More importantly it reveals who they are. If you have no scruples, the world will soon know. If you believe in handling yourself with dignity, folks will see that. If it's all about the hunt, that will be obvious. What makes the difference is how you react.

Here are your options:
a) Ignore foolishness
b) Engage in foolishness
c) Acknowledge foolishness but mind your business
d) Leave the site

Simple, isn't it? It is! Social networking fits in the category of "Don't hate the player, hate the game." As long as people understand that people are people, you won't be able to do much about . . . people.

Hey, boss, YOU should be thankful, too

My guess is that they have become the most uttered words to employees and among the American work force in the past few months---"Be thankful you have a job." I am most thankful for my jobs, more notably my career. But my question to bosses all over America is, "Are you asking me to choose between misery and your charity?"

"Be thankful you have a job" drove me to go on an almost 5-minute rant on the April 4th edition of "Real Talk" on Q93. Among my comments I stated that there 3 common denominators among bosses who insist on making their employees "see the bright side". These people are most likely 1.) greedy, 2.) selfish and 3.) insensitive to the needs and struggles of their employees.

For more than six years I proudly worked for the education division of Monster.com. Jeff Taylor, the founder of Monster, developed the web site and company based on the philosophy that people should be happy with their jobs and careers, no matter how tough times are. Even the name of the company, Monster, was created to encourage people to come up with "monster" ideas to advance their lives. So the company came to encourage among its web site users and employees an attitude of using jobs to develop a sense of personal pride, purpose and achievement in order to create bigger career opportunities and a better quality of life.

Now, not every company is a Monster, but does the "be thankful for your job" argument sound like it's coming from someone who is happy with his or her life? Let me help you, HELL NAW.

I'm not letting underperforming employees off the hook. Folks who come to work with a bad attitude or an attitude of entitlement, create their own problems. Constant complaining and undermining co-workers does nothing for the team. And, for my folks in New Orleans, DOING your job counts. You should be thankful for having a job, in the first place.

I have a gripe with that jerkoff who sits in his/her office waiting for folks to kiss the ring. This is the one who needs to take a look at what his/her employees accomplish for the betterment of the company. This is the one who hides behind his/her title and loves to be the boss. This person is NOT a leader. A leader finds a way to get people to rally and accomplish something as a team. A boss simply likes to point and order.

Dr. Ron Wright, the chancellor of Delgado Community College has a great philosophy about this. I heard him speak on the campus of Dillard University, and he made the aforementioned distinction between being a boss and a leader. Within his explanation he offered that what has made his job easier has been his willingness to reach out to all of his employees from adminstators to maintenance people. He said that people are much more willing to give helpful information to a leader than they are a boss when they feel the communication from a supervisor or manager is genuine.

So, here are some suggested statements that I have for bosses across America if you're interested in becoming a leader of your employees:

• "Be thankful that I'm not a bigger butthole than my peers."
• "Be thankful that you're not a brown-noser like some of your co-workers."
• "Be thankful that you have the intestinal fortitude to take my crap everyday."
• "Be thankful for labor laws."
• "Be thankful for unions (that actually protect workers)."
• "Be thankful for checks and balances."
• "Be thankful for that bail-out."
• "Be thankful that you have other co-workers, beside yourself, willing to go above and beyond to make us all look good."

And here's one more . . . "Be thankful that we ALL have our jobs."

Got role models? Not in New Orleans.

Two weeks ago on the February 14th edition of "Real Talk", Wild Wayne and I talked about role models, and lack thereof, in our society. Our conversation was riddled with mentions of Lil Wayne's interview with Katie Couric, Michael Phelps' bong hit and the old Charles Barkley "I am not a role model" Nike ad. In the midst of the conversation I mentioned that I have some choice words about lack of role models in New Orleans.

I love my city. I believe that New Orleans is a city filled with charm and wonder, but the adults are full of ka-ka. It hurts to hear folks from out of town criticize my fair city but their criticisms are often undeniable. Even when you compare more dangerous urban areas to our city, the specter of New Orleans' reputation demotes it to even lower depths. What hurts us is our leaders' collective inability to present themselves as a collective competent think tank.

From where I sit this is no accident. Just deal with any politician, businessman or other leader in New Orleans; and there's a good chance that this individual will bog you down with big talk about his/her connections and glory stories about . . . whatever he/she is feeling vainglorious about. This lends itself to egotism which creates an inability to simply sit down and negotiate policies and issues for the betterment of an already struggling population. There is also an inability among New Orleans leaders to deal with issues without involving pointless emotions. This is hardly the way we want to teach our children to live their lives.

So what does a 14-year-old 6th grader from an abusive background have to turn to in order to have an example of better living? In my estimation when you have a populace that insists on letting individual decisions be governed by emotions, you're teaching children to do what they feel and not what they think is the right thing to do. So that 6th grader, who should be in 9th grade, continues to react to his challenges in life not manage his responses to challenges. By the time he realizes where he could have made improvements in life, the adults have already let go and he's probably 41 years old, anyway.

In other words, we adults in New Orleans are so self-absorbed and undisciplined in our decision-making that it rubs off on those who take their cues from us. And our refusal to simply grow up destroys kids' chances of properly developing.

I love New Orleans. We have an exciting, creative culture full of food, music, fun and revelry. But you can't carry that kind of attitude into city council chambers, the boardroom or educational institutions and expect to be taken seriously by the rest of the country. Only when the adult community learns to sacrifice good feelings for progressive thinking will we serve as effective role models.

I'm articulate, black and funny. Can a brotha be all 3?

I appreciate those who empathize with us stand-up comedians and the degree of difficulty of our craft. Trust me when I say your thoughts, prayers and musings are more than welcomed . . . by most of us. If you really want to exercise some empathy, try being a black male stand-up comedian who does not thrive on gutter humor or screwing with the folks in the first row to have a good set.

I am, by no means, a member of Mensa but I have to use my brain. I wouldn't say that my references are as intellectual and Dennis Miller's. I am very envious of the man's historical and intellectual references. My humor is actually really simple but there's some storytelling involved in my act.

What's funny to me is that some have gone so far as to label my act as intellectual. I belly-laugh at that. And trust me, that's a hell of a laugh. Well, what folks view as intellect is actually articulation. I'm an articulate speaker . . . that's it. There's really nothing to it more than that! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA! That's the belly laugh ("LMAO" just doesn't do a good belly laugh justice).

The black male comedian has earned quite a reputation from mainstream America. The mainstream American mold of our kind has been set by Richard Pryor, Bill Cosby and Eddie Murphy, for the most part. The brothers who have come afterwards have been viewed as either profane like Pryor, clean and family-oriented like Cosby, or profane and obscene like Murphy. In other words mainstream America developed a template for black male comedians mostly from these three. Curiously, Dick Gregory's political and social material gets left out of the mold unless he's being referenced by a bleeding heart, tree-hugging liberal who will always remember Kent State, happenings and how great the drugs were back then. To mainstream America's credit, they have created a new mold for Chris Rock, who some ironically look at as a cross between Gregory and Pryor.

So all of that means that mainstream America has a problem with its perception of the black male, even in comedy. Actually AMERICA, including black folks, has a problem with the perception of the black humorist. A funny black man either has to curse like Pryor, Murphy or Rock in order to be considered "legitimate" or has to be clean like Cosby in order to be considered "family-oriented". And most black folks have a dialect that makes them distinctly African-American (or whatever label we agree to answer to these days). There's nothing bad about that, as people ignore ignore the fact that a wealth of black folks in America speak well but possess a particular dialect.

So where does this leave me? Yeh, let's talk about ME . . . me, me, me (in the voice of Agent Smith from "Matrix Reloaded"). I'm an articulate comic who talks about life, politics and society like most others. But people listen to the way I speak and get all weird on me. I don't know what these people hear but they get confused about how to label me, even black folks. But I don't give a damn what anybody says, I'm funny! Yeh, I said it!

So here's what I'm selling to you. My stuff is observational and social with a smattering of politics. I'm a physical storyteller who doesn't screw with people on the first row when I run out of material. I never had aspirations of appearing on "Comic View" or "Def Comedy Jam". I'm just working on taking the cursing stuff away. Seriously. I am.

By the way I have a show on January 18th at Sweet Lorraine's Jazz Club at 7 p.m. Hope you can make it.

Educated Black Males: We can come out now (thanks to Obama)

I don't have a Ph.D. but I am educated, and I use what education I have relatively well. As great as that first sentence may read, the problem is that being educated has been more of a curse than a blessing at times for me. Many other educated Black males can provide the same testimony, unfortunately. Thanks to President-Elect Barack Obama, however, we educated Black men can come out of hiding. Come on in, brothas, the water is fine!

Pop Culture makes no bones about is contempt for educated Black males. Music videos and flashy Black athletes dominate the air waves and mainstream America's collective perception of Black America with trash talk, "bling" and "video vixens" while we professional Black males struggle to legitimize our presence. Black Generation Xers and Millenials, in particular, constantly fight to convince our bosses and even our own families that our appreciation for having received a quality education is genuine. While we all respect our roots, we have also worked hard to receive our respective educations in order achieve our dreams as well as support our families and represent our communities well.

For educated Black males, though, our degrees can be quite the burden. Let me offer two examples. When I got into the radio business the first words I uttered on the air waves were on a Hip-Hop station. I grew up on Rap music and I still listen to it at 38 years old. Yes, this Loyola grad can "spit" rhymes. But when I opened the microphone to speak to New Orleans my then-boss told me that I sounded "too educated" for the audience.

Then there is my very modest stand-up comedy career. Performing in front of Black audiences proves to be an issue many times because some view my material as "not Black enough." As for White audiences, I just flat-out confuse some of them. I get these weird RCA dog looks that suggest a few could not figure why I don't sound like Eddie Murphy (because all Black Eddie's are the same).

Most upsetting is the perception that educated Black males are weak. We are saddled with a reputation for being soft if we are articulate. And, no it does not just come from other Black folks, it also comes from those RCA dogs. This is where we all tilt our confused little "Is-that-Black-guy-really-speaking?" heads to the right at one time and say, "Er?" Pop Culture has successfully convinced the nation that "legit" Black males tilt their baseball hats, sport "grills" (bejeweled teeth . . . please try to keep up) and white T-shirts, and sag their pants.

The frustration of being an educated Black male is more than people know. We are sick of being asked why we "talk White". By the same token we are sick of hearing, "You speak so well!" Articulate Black male athletes are sick of being treated as if they are exceptions to the rule. As I shopped for groceries the other night a store associate, a young Black woman, referred to me as "Obama" as she passed by. Seriously, he's a good-looking guy but he's no me.

President-Elect Obama gives us educated Black males hope. His victory inspires hope among us that we will no longer be penalized for correct subject-verb agreement in both the board room and the 'hood. He has sent a message to the entire country that the educated Black male's existence is no fluke. His victory has also sent a message that Black males should not feel obligated to hide evidence of their education among the homies. Heck, I think I'll go so far as to blast Debussy out of my Saturn if the mood hits me. At least I'll be keepin' it real.