Get yo hand out my pocket, yo foot off my neck and yo chip off my shoulder

I understand our people endured 400 years of slavery, many more years of oppression that has yet to subside and "WE" have not reached the pinnacle of equality that we so desperately desire. "Life for me aint been no crystal stair" Like H. L. Gates I have been unjustly arrested, multiple times, ...I have been profiled and searched multiple times, I have been ticketed unfairly multiple times, I have been yelled at and mistreated by policemen a few times, I have been racially called "out of my name" a few times, I have ridden through a Klan rally, Usurped for promotion at my job under questionable circumstances.... and even been plain old ignored at a car dealership .with a loan check in my pocket ready to buy... So when I tell you what I'm about to tell you I have every right to...I've been there and done that.

Let me start by saying this...There is a difference between Gossip, Jokes and News and i think we as a people and individuals need to learn the difference so Imma make it plain .....these are my definitions, Webster or Thorndike Barnhart might give it a slightly different meanings but for the purpose of what I have to say... this is it...

Gossip is in my definition: Rumors unsubstantiated by fact or suppported by "facts" that may not be true.

Jokes are in my definition: Are stories that are told to elicit a humorous response...they may or may not be true or may be some fusion of both but they are not news or gossip.

New is in my definition: Are the stated facts about something substantiated by verifiable evidence.

Now I said that to say this... recently I have received countless emails from people figuratively wanting me to rally the troops, get fired up, get rilled up and take arms against the social injustices that are affecting us as a people , denigrating us and castigating us and making a mockery of all that we have accomplished!!! In the name of Blackness get on your horse and RIDE !!! RIDE!!! RIDE!!!! Most have been Obama stories ..See if any of these ring a bell... He's not a citizen? He's lookin at somebodies booty? He's wearing mama jeans? etc. etc. etc... and now my new favorite, that he was snubbed by the Russians when he was trying to shake their hand... They want me to hate the country of Russia behind that LOL (WTF?) ...p.s. it didn't happen. To you I say get yo hand out my pocket, yo foot off my neck and yo chip off my shoulder!!!

We as a people have got to stop believing everything we hear (or in some cases see) making an irrational rush to judgement and then applying peer pressure to make everyone believe and act exactly like you do because you don't want to be wrong alone. We need to excercise some of the critical thinking skills that were exhibited by Martin Luther King and Malcom X and most of the people you respect because they used theirs!!! The last one frustrated me so much because the person that sent me the snubbing incident is very intelligent but adamantly chose to believe Obama was snubbed based on an anonymous edited clip with no source or reference even after I sent her several legitimate sources (Including Yahoo News, Getty Images, Associated Press, and United Press International) that accurately detailed what was depicted which was incidentally (President Barack Obama introducing Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to members of the American delegation at the Kremlin). She had the audacity to ask me "WAS I BLIND?"....No I am not blind....now I see what going on and I don't like it one bit...

We have all heard the story of "The boy who cried wolf" and "Chicken Little" right? That will soon be the story of African Americans if we don't stop yelling the sky is falling down everytime an "A.C.O.R.N." (pun intended) hits us on the head. We have to stop believing everything that is presented and start checking for ourselves and start fighting only those battles worth our effort and no those don't include JOKES or RUMORS!!! To speak about them seriously is to elevate them to the level of intellectual conversation and there's too much truth in life for me to be concerned with jokes or rumors!

So in closing stop clogging my inbox with bullshit wanting action, stop clouding my mind with fallacy you believe and stop trying to place your collective chip on my shoulder!!! YOU are the one setting us back and already for me "Life aint been no crystal stair.".