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Op Ed

Let’s Argue About Kamala Harris

Published

4 years ago

on

Ok, Now let’s argue;

1. “She locked up black men!” Kamala didn’t lock up black men. She was a prosecutor in a racist criminal justice system that TARGETS black men / minorities. There’s a difference. She did her job and she is no more culpable for incarcerating black men than EVERY SINGLE EMPLOYEE of the criminal justice system. Please find me a prior candidate that isn’t guilty of buttressing racist practices to some capacity (Stop & Frisk, Super Predators, Busing, etc…)

2. “She’s not qualified.” Kamala is more qualified to be VP (and President) than Barack was to be President when he ran initially, and more qualified than both the current occupants of the Oval office.

3. “They only picked her because she’s a black woman and they are pandering!” Congratulations!! That’s called influence!! Get used to being considered if you ever want true representation. Who do you think they’ve been pandering to for the past 244 years?

4. “She’s not black enough.” She’s blacker than the last 45 VPs and 44/45 last Presidents. Also, I’m still waiting for my copy of the “How to be Black and Influence People, Yo!” manual that everyone else seems to have received at birth.

5. “Her politics do not align with mine!” Yet you found a way to vote for prior candidates whose politics obliterated your community. If you believe in democracy, her politics are more closely aligned to yours than 45.

6. “This has nothing to do with her being a woman. She’s just not the right woman for the job!” The right woman for the job is the woman that is qualified, available and chosen for the job. Also, not acknowledging her gender is akin to “I don’t see color;” wholly dismissive.

7. “I just don’t like her.” You don’t know her and she probably wouldn’t like you either. The only thing you need to like is if she is better for you than the current occupants.

8. “She attacked Joe Biden during the debates and now their friends? FOH!” You know Barack’s Secretary of State was Hilary Clinton who he ran against in the prior election right?

9. “No one above the age of 21 is morally fit to run for office.” If you lived in the U.S., you’ve propped up institutions that are not in your best interest on countless occasions. In other words, NO ONE is in a position to judge moral aptitude, not even the 99 percenters who complained about the 1% on Facebook using the iPhones they ordered on Amazon. #irony

10. “She doesn’t inspire me!” Are you voting for a motivational speaker or a politician that will help normalize current conditions?

“Keeping it real” is not a skill. It just means you are easily susceptible to your own emotions. Everyone’s so eager to tell the world how they really feel but this is not a feeling competition. This is politics. After you’re done pretending to like your boss to get that promotion and pretending to like someone to get sex, money, or attention, you turn around and decide to “keep it real” because you are …”honest?” In the illustrious words of Nikki Giovanni, “Lie to Me.”

Sidebar; I was personally riding with Val Demings just in case you think I am defending my own choice. Now I’m riding for Kamala. Plain and simple. Until there is equal representation, we don’t have the luxury of division so in the illustrious words of Issa Rae “I’m rooting for everybody Black!” Sidebar Complete.

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Article

Rest Easy Eric Curran a.k.a M.C Krispy E

Published

3 years ago

on

April 21, 2022

By

Almost every year for the past 6 years and on the same day, I’ve posted the same pic of me in the hospital  during my temporary and untimely demise  in 2015. A few weeks after I was back to “normal”, I asked Eric “Why’d you take the pics?” And he said, “I knew you would want to write about it if you lived.” Eric was right. Eric was often right and Eric always had my best interest at heart. I am going to miss my friend.

You ever meet someone and become friends immediately?! Well this was not the case with Eric. Before he was my manager at Morgan Stanley, I would often see this 6’4″, giant white guy walk up to the only black woman at work, say something then walk away without any hint of human emotion. Naturally I thought he was a jerk until I asked her “Yo, is that dude bothering you?” She laughed and proceeded to tell me he was a great person, which I ultimately got to experience first hand. Little did I know this Italian from Staten Island was more Brooklyn than most Brooklynites.

Eric was not with the shits!! If there were ever someone who lived their life in direct, honest and no uncertain terms, that would be Eric. He would ask me questions at work like “Why are the other consultants making more money than you?” I knew the answer to that question and so did he. Eric then proceeded to increase my salary by 15K. After arguing with all our managers that “You need to hire Alfred!”, they eventually did 1 year prior to the 2015 incident. In the hospital, one of my friends asked me, “What if you didn’t have health insurance when this happened?” I would be in debt for the rest of my life is the obvious answer. I still am in debt for the rest of my life but at least, it is to those who made sure I had a more enjoyable life and for that, I will gladly repay.

My mom loved to tell me the story of how she met Eric. After they told her I was going to be in the ICU for some time, she told the doctor “Well I’m not going anywhere.” She then hears a voice from that back of the room that says “Well I’m not going anywhere either!” That was Eric and in true form, he was at that hospital every single day until I was discharged.

Eric passed away in December 2021 of stage 4 cancer. After feeling faint on his way to my bbq, he went to get checked out and was diagnosed. During the past 5 years, Eric lost his mom, twin brother and dad. I can’t even begin to imagine what that must have felt like but I’m glad that pain he was feeling is no more.

It’s been a bit difficult to deal with it to be quite honest and I’ve been writing this in my head for years but never had the bravery or grace to accept that my friend wouldn’t be here soon. I also can’t imagine what it must be like to lose your entire family nucleus unexpectedly. In true Eric fashion however, I would like this to not be about me but whomever has lost someone and has been coping. I’ve always intimated that my life would not be as enriched as it was were it not for the people in it. The problem with that is there is also no way to deny that it feels empty without those who helped craft your path. Rather than focus on the negative, I would rather focus on the examples of duty, family and emotional intelligence. All concepts reinforced by Eric that have led me to have successful relationships since I’ve put them into practice.

From being my manager to my business partner, writer, book editor, artistic director, and most importantly, my friend, I am going to miss you MC Krispy E a.k.a “Enrique Pollazo!” And although you told me Enrique means Henry in Spanish and not Eric, it was too late!

Sidebar. The day I was discharged, while everyone was deciding what was best for me, no one had remembered that I would need clothes in order to leave the hospital. Eric shows up (unasked) with all the clothes I had on the day I coded, laundered and ready to go. I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve friends like this but i need to keep doing it! Sidebar complete.

Rest in Peace Eric. “Be Good.”

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Op Ed

And Knowing is Half the Battle…

Published

4 years ago

on

May 6, 2021

By

I’ve seen Terminator references used to argue against Artificial Intelligence, foreign movie clips used to “prove” the pandemic was a well executed plan and baseless clips from folk with large media followings telling me all about vaccines and how I should interact with science.

My concrete and definitive conclusion is that the person least likely to make a mistake is the person with the most training / experience, not the person with the most social media followers / apprehension.

We put too much faith in what lies behind a screen instead of those who actually engage in the practice. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with paring common sense and common science.

I get it though. I like to take part in conversations too but if you aren’t willing to do any work further than clicking a share button simply because you just want to engage, you were genuinely more effective sitting on the sidelines.

I trust NASA more than I trust Rocket Racoon. I trust Tesla more than I trust Cyberdyne and I trust DOCTORS more than I trust my friends, celebrities and any other schmuck burger with a social media platform propagating nonsense.

SIDEBAR I don’t know if y’all heard of this thing called The Internet but its amazing! People mostly keep their booby pictures on it but it also has something called GOOGLE that you can use research stuff. Some of y’all should check it out. SIDEBAR COMPLETE.

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Op Ed

Robbing Hoods and Stopping Games

Published

4 years ago

on

January 29, 2021

By

Ten bullet points for your reading pleasure:
  1. Every single time the stock market crashed, it was done by the “professionals.”
  2. If a group of folk can get together in a chat room and legally take BILLIONS OF DOLLARS FROM YOU IN YOUR OWN PROFESSION…IN DAYS, you may wanna reevaluate how professional you are.
  3. Retail investors had nothing to do with the Great Depression, Black Friday, Black Monday, the internet bubble or the housing bubble. That was Institutional.
  4. I’ve never seen so much call for regulation in the stock market from those who typically make the most money in my life. I believe the correct financial term is #BigMad
  5. They aren’t upset retail investors are making money. They are upset retail investors are making the market place volatile, making it harder for THEM to make money long term.
  6. Why was there not this level of concern when retail investors were losing their pensions and IRAs at all other instances?
  7. Why are hedge funds even allowed to use people’s pensions to short sell?!
  8. If you are using your rent or mortgage to invest in the stock market, you have bigger issues. #gambleholic
  9. Retail investors have never had a platform nor the income to throw markets off. They still don’t.
  10. No one has a problem with the rules until it works against their own interests.

Bonus: When you gamble, you could either win or lose. Investors don’t need to be CPAs to understand that concept.

Sidebar; Pay more attention to your money management!! Sidebar complete.

Happy Friday!!

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