The Ball is in Our Court…

First off may I say that John McCain’s concession speech was easily the best speech I have ever heard him give. It sounded sincere and genuine. It was the first time I was moved by him since this whole thing started. Also he looked truly annoyed when his crowd started booing Obama. Sarah Palin… not so much. Obama’s speech was amazing to watch. My heart beating three times as fast. My eyes started to tear. I felt like he was speaking directly to me.

There were many times throughout these past few months when I wondered how much Obama could actually change. How much one man could do. Winning the presidency is big, just as so many of the challenges he faces are big, but if you want a good measure of what kind of change we are witnessing you have to start by looking at the little things. When I went out to work this morning you know what I saw? I saw black people smiling. For no reason and without pause. Just smiling. I woke up this morning to a different world. 

Now here is the thing…

“This victory alone is not the change we seek – it is only the chance for us to make that change.  And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were.  It cannot happen without you. ” – Barack Obama

I’m putting you on notice black people (and by black people I mean all us minorities). The “man” is not to blame for your bullshit anymore. We have an opportunity here to really push forward. To take the dreams of Martin and Malcolm and so many others and truly make them a reality. To rise from the fringe of prominence to prominence. So here are some basic guidelines to follow going forward if we are going to make this happen:

Read a Book – Look I love X-Box just as much as the next guy, but it cannot be the focal point of your existence. Go to a museum, see a play, head to the library once in a while, do your homework, help your kid do theirs. Stimulate your mind a little. EXPAND YOUR HORIZONS! Don’t be so god damned predictable.

Dress the Part – Alright this one is very important. Let’s break it down into three steps;
1) Stop wearing clothes that look like some shit out of the Lisa Frank catalog. You are a grown fucking man. Sherbert colored should not be part of your wardrobe. The worst part is that for the same money that you used to buy this ugly shit you could have bought a suit.
2) Learn your proper waist size. How the hell are you 5′ 9″ and 140 lbs, wearing a size 40 waist? That shit makes no sense. While on the subject of wastes, underwear go inside your pants. It’s why they are called UNDERwear.
3) It is absolutely unacceptable for you to not own a pair of dress shoes. Especially if you are past the age of 18. How the hell is it that you have a pair of patent leather sneakers for every color of the rainbow and Jordans 1-40, but you don’t own one pair of real shoes. Damn shame.

Hennessy and Weed are not Breakfast Items – If they are for you then you have a fucking problem. Get help.

The Day Does Not Start at Noon – Get your lazy ass the fuck up out of bed. By the time noon rolls around there have already been five white people interviewing for the job you should be going after.

Fried Chicken, Watermelon, Ribs, and Kool-Aid – Still delicious, still acceptable to eat. Mmmm.

You Do Not Have to be Gangsta – You know who’s not “gangsta”? Barack Obama that’s who. Yet he is about to hold the highest office in the land. FUCK 50 CENT! Stop trying to be harder than everyone else. Go to fucking counseling, get some Ritalin and calm your ass the fuck down.

Ho Can No Longer be an Acceptable Career Choice for Women.- Stop idolizing Lil Kim  and start finding some new role models. Here is a good one to start with.

Stop Using White People as an Excuse – And start using white people. Learn their ways. You will get further by learning to adapt to your society than by letting it drag you down. Here is a newsflash for you. A black man is president. Furthermore a black man who’s last name rhymes with Osama and whose middle name is Hussein is president. Of the United States of America. And you mean to tell me that you can’t get that job at blockbuster?

I could go on, but for now I’ll leave it at that. In all seriousness black people the ball is in our court. I look at kids these days and I see how fucking retarded they are and I hope that we can begin to set a better example. They have a chance to be great. All of them. Let’s not take this chance for granted. Obama cannot do it for us. We’ve got to do it for ourselves.