Monday, January 17, 2005

Martin Luther the King!

Happy birthday, MLK! You've done a lot for this country and the world for that matter. Just proof that one person with vision and a strong conviction can make a diference. There is still hope....

Except when you are in the grocery store and they are playing the worst R&B song of all time: "Walking In Rhythm".
Walking in Rhythm
trying to move on
thinking 'bout my baby
trying to get home.


UGH. That is straight garbage. How the hell did that song make it in the Old School rotation? Whenever I envision them singing that song, I see 4 brothas with their hair slicked back, tiny litle mustaches, and black "Members Only" jackets. Just disturbing, man.




Back to MLK Day. One thing that Dr King touted and desired was the equality among all; but particularly between Blacks and Whites. Ever notice how white people reference people by using the first and last names? like "Who was that on the phone?"
"Mike Jeffers. He invited us over for dinner."
Whereas Black folks reference people based on a commonly know fact like "Who was that on the phone?"
" That was Mike."
"Mike who?"
"you know....Mike with the buck ass teeth. He invited us over for dinner."
There is never a last name always Tim the Barber, Theivin' Ass Dante, Tonya's Chris, etc.

Another subtle difference is our senses of direction. Whites have a tendency to be specific about direction. " They're south of here". For Blacks, its always "up there". "Is it cold up there? (even though the person of reference is further south,or maybe even west for that matter.)

Other culture differences:
Whites Blacks
funnel cake fried dough
running shoes tennis shoes
basketball shoes
etc
chopping block cutting board
Martin Luther Martin Luther "the" King
King Jr

Ok, the last one is a push, but I've heard it more than once. Regardless, let's keep the dream alive.
King Jr

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Too funny! Great post, Gato.

TheManagement said...

hmmm...I am white, live in the north, and still say "im going up to" wherever it is im going..north, south, east,west...I wonder if that is from growing up in the south???..interesting. I do not wear 'running' shoes, wear tennis shoes, and use a cutting board (or the counter top, whatever is available) I like your posts, they always lighten my day! Thank you!

Brother Kojak said...

And I like the responses I get from everybody. Actually LIKE being proven wrong because I grew up in a very diverse community, but returning to B-more every other weekend and every summer, the racial divide was more highlighted. Maybe its just the simple fact that the white people who respond to my posts are just cool like that! hehehe...no, they are the people who help keep this country from being an ostrasized pool of anger, ignorance and disregard. I appreciate you, as does the rest of your community. Peace and blessings.

Salsa Lover said...

I am wondering what a chopping block is? Who uses that term? Martin Luther? Maybe in the Methodist community only... I would say the rest of the whites have no clue who he is and he is certainly not to be celebrated like MLK.

And yes - some of us are just cool like that... get on with it.