American Whiner

I’ve been a fan of talent competitions as far back as Star Search and even before that with the Spring Concert at Ravenswood High (shout out to Captain Crunch & the Soul Bunch). It didn’t matter if it was singing, dancing or acting, I loved it all. But it was the talent I enjoyed not the so called story behind the performer. We didn’t fall in love with Stevie Wonder because he was blind we fell in love with him because he aspired to showcase his many talents in spite of it. Lately I’ve noticed that these talent shows, The Voice, American Idol, So You Think You Can Dance etc. all want to play on our emotions. It started several seasons ago on American Idol with the guy, his name I’ve thankfully blocked from memory, whose fiancé had died. At first I was like everyone else, “Oh how sad”. But then every time he would sing they would run a montage to show how lonely and pathetic his life had become since she had died and how he was struggling to continue. They would show it over and over every damn week until it got to the point of being intrusive and I felt like, sorry for your loss buddy but you know Sam Cooke was born by the river in a little tent (that’s right a damn tent) and he didn’t sit on the river bank crying…enough already! What about the talent? It’s not So You Think You Can Make Me Cry, quit whining and sing.

Last year on the X Factor they had this white guy who was a recovering drug addict and he definitely looked the part. Seriously, dude looked like the poster child for crack heads. I’m not saying I didn’t feel for the guy but where was the talent? Your tragic life is not going to make me like you more, especially if you can’t sing. When he sang (I guess that’s what you call that scatter walling) my ears would bleed a little and pop like I had just landed from being airborne for six hours. He would then have the nerve to stand there triumphantly waiting for applause like he was Pavarotti, Domingo or that other guy from The Three Tenors. Honestly, he couldn’t hold a note if you spotted him a bucket…and not to be picky but he was sorely in need of a dental plan. Even though we knew Fantasia was a struggling single mother and high school dropout, it wasn’t the primary focus. In fact the producer’s didn’t even want us to know about it. She didn’t offer up some B story plot line from One Life To Live to win, the girl could sing and that’s why she succeeded.

This year on The Voice we get the same loser character from last year’s X Factor, only this time he’s mixed race, peppy and cleaned up…but just as irritating and a little too happy for my taste. He and his stupid hats and those way too skinny jeans have got to go. Oh and by the way, I’m happy you’re clean and sober but I don’t want to know what you did to feed your drug habit when you were strung out…way too much information. Even when they can sing the producers feel the need to play up some sob story. Maybe Jesse Campbell, who really could sing, would still be there if he had just sung instead of playing on our sympathy with the heart tugging story about him and his daughter living in his car. Which if it’s true, someone needs to have a conversation with the pastor at my church where Jesse is a regularly featured soloist. Seriously, living in his car? What happened to charity in the church? (Remind me to go back to that subject another time.)

Any hoo, where was I? Oh yeah no talent cry baby, look at me I fell down, sniveling can’t sing so I’ll make you cry victims performers. These shows need to take a cue from Live at the Apollo where if you can’t sing or dance your ass is booed the hell outta there. Instead of judging on votes received they should have the Sandman tap dance in and shuffle their sobbing asses off and directly into the cast of the next Lifetime movie…and bring in some real singers damn it!

Who The Hell Is Hoolia?

So after three months out of work I finally rejoined the workforce about two months ago. I gotta say when I tell people I was out of work for three months and they say, “Oh, well that’s not really a lot time to be off” it really bugs me. Three months of worrying how you’re going to pay your mortgage, car note, various credit cards, medical insurance (which ain’t cheap) food, telephone and gas & electricity is a very long time. In fact if I had not had the vacation and personal time saved, which my last employer had to pay me, I may not have survived. I really don’t understand how anyone lives off of unemployment. Even if you receive the maximum benefit, it’s not that much.

It goes without saying that things have changed a lot in the last 30 years or so since I first entered the work force. To begin with everything involved in your job search is now done online. No more perusing through the classifieds and calling up the HR Director to make an appointment…they won’t take your calls. No, instead you submit your resume through an ad online and if you’re lucky you may make direct contact with an employer. Otherwise you must shuffle through the countless ads from recruiting agencies (back in the day we called them Headhunters) and submit to a series of insulting interviews where they ask you those fresh out of college questions like where do you see yourself in five years or what kind of job are you looking for…how about one that pays and will keep me employed for the next five years dumb ass. Unless you fit the profile of exactly what they are looking for at that moment, you won’t hear back from them. Persistence is the key. You have to call constantly so that your name is embedded in their minds and they either find you a job or stop taking your calls…I ended up leaving a lot of voice messages. Somehow I got lucky and answered an ad that got me directly to the employer. After a series of interviews I landed the position of Controller, which is a step up in both position and salary…woo hoo!!

I remember when I first became a manager, at the time my goal was to make the company I worked for as Black as possible. By that I mean my goal was to hire and promote as many qualified African-American candidates as I could. This was to be my contribution to the cause. But a funny thing has happened in those thirty years, the work landscape has changed dramatically. I began noticing a shift about ten years ago where the office workforce was becoming more & more Latino to the point where now every one of my subordinates in my new position are Latino. Even the service tech who comes in to do maintenance on the copiers is Latino. My assistant, who is Native American, and I are the only non-Spanish speaking two in the entire finance department of nine and these folks are not shy about slipping into Spanish in the middle of a conversation. Seriously, why the need for so much Spanish? Are you talking about me and if not what are you saying that you don’t want me to know? I worked here for over a month and listened to everyone refer to someone named Hoolia in inventory control while thinking to myself who the hell is this person. Finally I received an email from Julia the warehouse supervisor and realized I had spoken to her on almost a daily basis.

So what happened to the up and coming African-American office pool? Has our contribution to the number of college graduates decreased or has that of the Latino population increased? And let me be clear I’m not putting down Latinos, more power to them and I don’t want to get into a debate about the weight placed on our economy due to the influx of illegal immigrants. I’m just questioning the obvious absence of young African-Americans in the workforce. Has anyone else noticed this trend or is this maybe a California thing. Oh and does anybody know where can I get my hands on a fresh copy of Rosetta Stone for Spanish?

Mixed Emotions

I’ve got mixed emotions. I want to be happy that George Zimmerman has been arrested for the murder of Trayvon Martin but I have way too many emotions running through me to take time to celebrate. I worry that in spite of the arrest, justice still will not be served. I worry that disregarding all of the evidence, 911 calls and eye witness statements some crazy jury will side with Zimmerman and buy into his whole ridiculous self-defense argument. I worry because we still live in a world where the life of a teenage Black kid is devalued to the point that he is profiled, pursued and murdered simply because he wanted skittles and a soft drink.

I feel for the parents and I mourn their loss. This could have been any one of our children. I feel their hurt when the conservative media labels their beloved child as a thug or a hoodlum. I worry that some profiling Zimmerman is lurking around the corner waiting to stalk and kill one of my grandsons. I fear for their safety in a world that assumes a Black kid wearing a hood in the rain poses some sort of threat. I worry that when they perceive someone is following they may panic and run only to be hunted down and murdered like some wild animal…I worry that it will then be classified as justifiable homicide. Meanwhile two White men were arrested over the Easter weekend for a shooting spree that left three people dead and terrorized the Tulsa, Oklahoma Black community.

I’m angry at all of the Talk Show Pundits, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Right Wing whackos and Conservative bigoted politicians who claim racism is no longer alive simply because we have a Black president. I’m angry at all those who say we choose to see racism where it doesn’t exist or we victimize ourselves when we point out that it does. I’m sick of those who say we should just get over it, I mean after all they weren’t slave owners their ancestors were. And I’m confused by those who point out that because Zimmerman has a Hispanic mother that he couldn’t possibly be a racist, as if he has not been affected by the residue of hundreds of years of racist and bias legality and stereotypical and negative portrayals of African-Americans in movies and television. I’m pissed at all the angry White people who call it reverse racism when we seek justice through affirmative action programs or start businesses to target our own community.

Finally, I’m tired of those who say political correctness has restricted their right to free speech. I’m tired of the moral Commentators who spout bigoted theories absent of logic and incite racist behavior and of southern governors with ranch names like Niggerhead. Or those who believe the right to free speech allows them to call me a nigger or any derogatory term they can think of if they want to. Well you have the right to call me a nigger, a coon or even a jungle bunny but guess what, I also have the right to kick your dumb ass if you do…it may help me with some of the anger and mixed emotions I’ve been struggling with.

Please take a moment and click on the link below to read the Affidavit of charges against George Zimmerman filed by the Florida State Attorney. This man absolutely stalked and murdered Trayvon Martin.

http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/pdf/Zimmerman_Probable_Cause_Document.pdf