A Black Image- HBCU's in America

 HBCU's in AMERICA

I watched Charlamagne Tha God's podcast earlier today, and I saw him whipping around the same agenda he has for the past couple of years. He may be a clout chaser in actuality, but one thing his is, is consistent. Some would call him avidly pro-black. However, nothing against him, the reason he would receive that label is what is disturbing. Blacks have a severe and systemic issue that is more mental than physical. And one great example is the HBCU situation.

 

 I'm not a political individual, as I've always stated, but I am a realist. Over the entire election period, I heard numerous cries from the black community that Charlamagne voiced on his radio show. With all of the issues that are existing in several communities across the country and for years, prior to the very latest police brutality and murder cases, especially George Floyd's, there was petitioning for reparations for slavery to be on the table, and legalization of marijuana. Those were the main voter issues according to Charlamagne at that time. It wasn't until the high-profile cases that erupted, where blacks saw other nationalities coming to the defense of the innocent, that the cry began to include those issues being fixed.

  This world and country are very focused on entitlement. And it isn't one that is earned. Everyone wants to be great without having to do anything great. You can't vicariously attach yourself to a progressive cause and identify with it by osmosis either. This generation has to learn to stand on their own feet. Have original ideas. There is far too much passive emotion, where people act outraged and go over the top to overcompensate for feelings they don't have or understand. Everyone wants to be on autopilot and follow a script or rhetoric on how they should process and receive anything.

  Why isn't there a push for free, quality education period? Not just education for demographics that is still out of the reach of a large portion. I've never benefited from these pushes. I have, however, gained a lot of knowledge. I would like to see a revolution where that can mean something. I mentioned to colleagues some time ago that there should be assessment examinations or series that you could apply your knowledge to and obtain respected degrees. Even if they charge a small fee for them, they would be worth it. You could still have universities, but this would be for those like me that obtained skills and credentials over a wide range of outlets. I appreciate how much you can learn from things like Udemy, Coursera, and even Youtube. But if you have practical knowledge in that discipline, you shouldn't have to double back to a college and pay $100,000 to legitimize it.

 The problem is that it is a scam from the ground up. Universities and the government have disgusting agreements, where you don't receive clearance for certain fields unless you show evidence that you paid the passing fee of a tuition. Once they know you are in debt for that in some way, and have the degree, only then can those doors open. And they don't care about knowledge. In my field, they have changed requirements so that you must show a bachelors in any field you want and you can sit for the license. They don't care if it is in bank robbing. They just want to see that you paid the passing fee.

  I've taken enough extra courses, and embarked on enough self-learning to fill at least a Master's Degree. But I can't even take my IT certifications to University of Texas, who sponsored my program, to finish a degree in an affordable way. Simple because, they can't risk me getting even a bachelors, if they know I wasn't gouged for it. Tell the HBCU's to fix that.

New Album- Maybe the Last- The People vs. J. Addae vol. 3

 

 To be released at the beginning of the year, somehow, I completed a somewhat complex project that I thought would be shelved for at least another year. There has been a great deal of stress lately, and while I thought that it would be a distraction, it was actually a catalyst. I had contemplated another novel, but then I realized I was long overdue to release a poetry collection. I had a few poems that I wrote over the last year, 1 that I meant to release with my first collection back in 2007, and several that were in my last couple of novels. The one from the 2007 collection was actually written in about 2005, and was entered into a collective compilation with other poets. Somehow, it  got lost, and the site went down. I literally had to remember the poem about 2 years ago, which took me a couple of weeks to do. So I started working on the collection. It will be released in the next few months hopefully.

  I had a concept for a 3rd People vs. J. Addae album, and I already had the title in mind, but I was thinking of doing a novel with it, as I want to make it a huge overall project. However, what deterred me from that is the fact that the story arc of the series is not cohesive or continuous. The first record is about my character standing on trial and falsely accused, while the second album and novel is about the inner laws that control claustrophobia and other social disorders that go unnoticed. There is not continuity there, so it made no sense to attempt bridging the story. This third record is about the title character of the 3 albums being on a far away island, contemplating time and saying farewell to everyone.

  The title is "This Man is an Island." It will be out January 1st.  The album cover is here.