MEET THE PRESS

"The power of the periodical press is second only to that of the people."

-Alexis de Tocqueville

It sure seems like the media has an unusually cool, calm and un-clamoring relationship with Barack Obama. Could it be that the most powerful, yet tainted and unsavory news and entertainment outlet has finally come to terms with its iniquitous ways? Or, is Barack such a breath of fresh air (their words), that he gets a media pass—in the truest sense of the word? Before we begin to whip out the book of baby names, searching for what "Obama" really means; let's examine a few brothas the media dubbed "safe":

Cuba Gooden Jr.
Let’s face it, the media skipped right pass the Boyz In Da Hood section of his resume. In fact, when the media mentions this good Negro's accolades they tipically start his infamous “fetchin’ line from Jerry McGuire. Sadly, John Singleton gets the same amount of credit for jump-starting Gooden’s career as Keenon Ivory Wayans receives for propelling Jim Carrey’s career on In Living Color.

Tiger Woods
I guess you see where this list is going, huh? Wal-Mart pulled all of the Fuzzy Zeller promotions when Zeller suggested (after Tiger won his first Masters tournament); “Just don’t bring any of that Collared Greens and Chicken up in here.” Who the hell does Fuzzy think he is, Michael Richards? I heard Tim Hardaway called Tiger and said "damn, I cannot believe that fruit said that. I think Zeller is nuts!!" (no pun intended).

Clarence Thomas
Conservative news and talk could not get enough of this Supreme Negero nominee. Blacks are certain to be happy with this selection, the media touted. Then, the press turned on Pimp Thomas when Anita Hill (reluctantly) emerged with can of Coke and an upside down smile. Thomas claimed this hairy situation was nothing short of a "high-tech lynching." Thomas leaped pass the more cliché race card and reached straight for the slave slogan.. one that would make David Duke uncomfortable. You may not be able toargue with Thomas' merits, but you sure can question his motatives. At least he still has his wife.

Michael Jordan
What can I say, if you are a good Negro that is usually enough for the media... Add running and jumping to the mix… well, the press is likely to give you a key to their teen daughter's tree house. Jordan’s press pass doesn't even have an expiration date. Mike Nice can gamble on NBA time, plant a black seed in a white woman (think Juanita's lawyer knew that?), trade marriage secrets with Amad Rashaad or dunk on Bugs Bunny. This is all possible just as long as that Wall Street NIKE swosh at the bottom of the CNBC ticker doesn’t show a negative, he'll be as positive as a Strong Thurman DNA sample. I remember Jordan was once asked: "why don't he speak out against the slave labor/ Third World “employees” that are handcrafting his NIKE Airs... The same ones that black kids are killing each other for in Chicago?" Jordan said, ah, what can I say.., Republicans wear sneakers too. Great. I wonder if those same Republicans are still searching for the REAL perpetrators that murdered his dad? I think Kobe is more like Mike than he realizes.

I know Taye Diggs, Halle Berry and Oprah Winfrey assumed I forgot about them. Hey, don’t worry your day is coming.. Today, however, Obama is the focus. I have to admit Barack will be a formidable opponent—mainly because he is focused and (seemingly) fearless. I sometimes wonder, though.. if you are smart enough to be president, you should be wise enough not to run. Right Colin?

I find it funny how the most conservative right-wingers delicately handle Barack… come on you've heard them: "He is so clean," "he speaks so well," "he is so credible." Do you think Barack will ever tell those ass-less conservatories that, unless you are Flavor Flav or the governor of California those attributes are not compliments? Obama may find out really soon that black people are more likely to vote along the party lines versus the racial ones (ask Sharpton). Who knows, Barack may know that... After all, I don’t really know much about him… of course, I am not pressed.

1 love,

Ray Lewis

Any Given Sunday

A man without ambition is dead. A man with ambition but no love is dead. A man with ambition and love for his blessings here on earth is ever so alive. Having been alive, it won't be so hard in the end to lie down and rest. --Pearl Bailey


Have you ever wondered what would happen if the world ended on a weekday? Wait, don’t answer that yet. We’ll come back to that. I've noticed that many city streets in Anytown, USA are fairly empty from 7am-1pm on Sundays. There are probably several reasons for that fact. Here are a few non-litmus reasons that I observed:

A) The club-hoppers are pooped and are sleeping off the alcoholic reminisce of the night before.

B) Most criminals—because Saturdays are such busy days for them—are sleeping late on Sundays, probably plotting next week’s strategy sessions.

C) The rest of the nation, particularly the Christian congregation is posted up, repenting in a mega-plex near you. And, this is where life gets real quizzical.


At this point I want to suggest… if your pastor drives an automobile named after a white character on the Jefferson’s, you may want to exit this page now. Go on, I’ll wait. For those still reading....…

The church, ah, the Church…, the worship hall for the flawed and mortal…, the temple to avoid the doom. The sin-less social scene where the congregation gathers to be seen. The Holy Land for the Heavenly band. Just think, if only 144,000 are slated to make it Home, that means three-quarters of the people attending TD Jakes’ annual Mega Fest will be left holding T-shirts that say: … "My friends went to Heaven and all I got was this lousy t-shirt."

On many given Sundays I've sat (window-stationed) at a neighboring eatery and watched Officer Friendly direct thousands of congregational cars, steering them into the secular world that they just spent two hours cleansing themselves from. It is truly an interesting sight. One day a lady stopped in this eatery for a snack and she still had last night’s armband on from Club Underground. I wonder if she’ll “get in" the eternal Home or will she be left with the “in” crowd here on earth? I went to Lithonia, Georgia's Club New Birth once and an actual service broke out!! A good service too, unfortunately most of the so-called “regulars” missed a good word because they saw The Bishop was not preaching that day, so they ran the Ushers over heading for the exits. I don’t think they’ll "get in" with that attitude.

I am sure Martin Luther King Jr. is "in," although he may want to come back and break up the fights that are going down on the mean city streets bearing his name. I know my mom is "in", despite the fact that her son is writing this. One thing I know for sure is, if I don’t make it, it will not be her fault. I hope Mike Tyson makes it "in", he really seems like a nice guy (hardly the criteria)—but his life on earth seems almost JOB-like. Tyson's entire boxing career just seems to be trapped in that on-going church traffic. You see, if just one of the mega-members pulled Iron Mike aside, and told him how much God loves him, instead of feeding him the conditional love the world feeds on, he’d probably "get in." In fact, he still might. How cool would Heaven be if Denzel is there? I’d train for that day. One day, on Meet The Press, Rick Warren (The Purpose Driven Life), said: “It’s not a sin to be rich, the real sin is to die rich.” that quote cannot make the Hilton sisters comfortable. If George Bush "gets in," that simply means that someone adjusted that 144,000 number. I’d love to be on line after him.

I have been studying the difference between "being religious" and "being spiritual." And, from what you've observed above, you can plainly see that I don’t have many good answers—just interesting questions. This only makes my life that much more purposeful. My mission on earth (which is condensed and captured here) is to show how ignorance bubbles when you pass judgment.

Let’s all make a pack today; a pack to help each other make it to Judgment Day, even if it falls on a Wednesday.

1 love,

Ray Lewis