hoofing it

habitually bruised and battered
my feet are the tattered remnants
of the souls of my ancestors
scraping the earth's surface
in search of purpose and poise
yet so coy with their fetish
instead we relish the punishment we get
for tepid dreams, scorned gazes, and silent screams
i dream a world of flip-flops
so we can hip-hop to life's rhythmic pulse
entranced by the heels of our fears
and enthralled by the tears of our peers
i hear twinkle toe cheers

I'm getting looser than a crackhead's hair weave

"I'm energetic, poetic, athletic, with good credit
So just move like I'm Simon and I said it"
Grand Puba, "I Like It"

I came upon this interesting article not long ago. It was about the new revision to the credit scoring system and how the changes could possibly affect consumers. It was revealing because I, for one, thought that they were planning to completely jack things up and make it really confusing, kind of like how they did with the SATs. You know how it went from 1600 being a perfect score to 2400? Well I thought they were going to seriously throw off what an 850 used to mean. But I was wrong.

FICO scores will still range from 300 to 850 -- the higher the better -- and the model will continue to look at the same factors, including consumers' level of credit indebtedness and payment histories, length of credit histories, number of recent credit openings and inquiries, and the type of credit used, to determine scores. But the new model will more finely slice and dice the information in consumers' credit files to do a better job of separating the "good risks" from the "bad risks."

I knew nothing about credit scores coming out of high school. And I didn't really catch on to those financial workshops during freshmen year either. By sophomore year, I had three credit cards. I eventually figured it out own my own, but also to my own detriment. The youngins got it easy nowadays, yo. Next thing you know they going to be doing seminars on how to tie your shoes for graduating seniors. Anyways, I was initially worried how my score would shift. But now, I am really not that concerned in the least. I believe I have fairly frugal and conservative in monitoring my credit and doing the right things to remain in good stead. But you still need to make your your credit reports are accurate. Just holla at the three-headed monster and handle that. Plus, there are all kinds of how-to guides explaining every minute detail of what to do to get your ish straight. Not enough heads really realize the long-term impact of poor financial management and credit history. I've made a serious come-up and actually followed through on a couple of resolutions from 'old' years past. Now, if we could only start pooling our resources more and really spur some economic development and philanthropy among young black professionals, then it'd be really on an popping. Only time will tell.

make the streets run red like a stop sign

"Toys for guns, I got guns for toys
Silencers bring the heat without bringing the noise"
Talib Kweli & Cocoa Brovaz, "Gun Music"

Meet Bill Willis. Bill is a black man. Bill is a police officer. Bill is a good dude.

Suffice it to say, many black men have been almost trained since an early age to be suspicious and skeptical of any humane qualities of any given cop. No matter the officer's color, we've been spoon-fed a deep sense of mistrust and hypertension when encountering the law. But not every cop is a bad cop. I have known that my entire life. Just like people in general, you cannot immediately tell the real from the fake. It involves instinct, experience, and candor to really get to know someone. Yet, as much as some would argue this point, cops are not the primary threats they are made out to be in today's hoods.

On the other side of the tracks, when the block is hot, that means stay your a$$ inside. My man GhettoUprising and I were talking one day and we both came to the conclusion that it safer to be white in the hood, than be black. White sheets have been replaced by hoodies. It's a strange twist on a former urban myth. White folks didn't go to the hoods because they feared being assaulted or shot/stabbed or whatever. But if you really think about it, a Black man is prone to being a victim just about anywhere, and especially in his own backyard. It is a sad reality.

Nobody really wants to be shot in the hood. So Officer Willis created a documentary and it is available on YouTube in 6 parts. I encourage you to check out each and every single one of the clips when you have an hour to spare because the interviews are straightforward, the conversations full or real talk, and the topics is one that is always on my mind.

My mother came up to visit for the holidays. She got to see and hear me perform my poetry for the first time. I don't recall why or how it happened, but I admitted to her the inspiration for when I first started writing. It spanned back to my first year of college. It was around the four-year anniversary of a incident that occurred on the very street we lived on. Every year, I would get the most chilling sensations in my body that would literally shake me to the core. It was a night that left an enormous impact on my life. I just so happened to be taking an Honors English course and poetry came up and I just went at it. I have no clue where that piece is now, but it is a visual and literary reminder of the road we so often have to travel to find ourselves.

I have had a fear of being shot in the hood since that night. I have awoke sweaty and panting from dreams where I found myself sprawled out on a sidewalk as a crowd began to form. I live nonchalantly because I know how precious life is and yet, even i can take some things for granted. I am still trying to find myself and will probably forever seek my comfort zone. I can only hope that when I do leave this world, I did all that I could to make a better life for my loved ones and to positively influence the direction of others like me who started on bleak paths but ended up on solid ground without sacrificing anything but their free time. I see the God in you. Do you?

And just when you thought you strayed far away, here comes gravity to save the day

RESOLVED: work smarter so you can play harder. word.

"Instead of trying to question the unquestionable
You try to claim the unknown
The unknown claim you
Gravity is what we must submit to"
-Da Bush Babees & Mos Def, "Gravity"

Background Article: Innovative Minds Don’t Think Alike

I found this article pretty interesting. It's not an unusual concept, especially for us folk of color. Just replace foreign co-worker with person of color and you see how bringing a new perspective to the table transforms the dynamics of doing things the way they've always been done. It's why some companies hire senior management and top executives from outside.

When it's time to accomplish a task, those in the know get it done the way it has always been done, stifling innovation as they barrel along the well-worn path.

zero-gravity thinkers...keep creativity and innovation on track.

When experts have to slow down and go back to basics to bring an outsider up to speed, it forces them to look at their world differently and, as a result, they come up with new solutions to old problems."

Apply such mental diversity to life and this information could prove useful at work and in your extracurricular activities as well. Start thinking like a zero-gravity thinker every now and then and see if it helps you to see the world in new ways. Step back and take a minute to reflect before immediately reacting to your environment. Won't hurt to try it once. Anyways, happy new year and do you.