& the moral of the story is...

*Kills a horse. Beats it with a stick*

So, Plaxico Buress is going on vacation for two years. We all (should) know the story by now; big-time football star carries unregistered firearm into a club. Said gun discharges in club & wounds him in the leg. He's taken to the hospital, then to jail for the incident. After lengthy trial, Buress is sentenced to 20 months for numerous charges. I guess the judge isn't one of those-"oh, he shot himself, so I guess he's learned his lesson"-types.

Donte Stallworth killed a pedestrian, while driving drunk, & was sentenced to 30 days, but anyway.....

Now, Plax is scheduled to start serving his time immediately, as if he's a flight risk. He probably can't run as fast as he could before, but nonetheless, the judge is taking no chances with a guy who got paid to run faster than most men. Blacks stay losing.

No racism, but high-profiles White folk get away with so much. Hell, even low-profile Caucasians stay on the lenient side of the law. I could go in on the (lack of a) justice system, or the on-going battle for respect & equality, but I'm tired of beating that dead horse.

*Throws stick down & walks away*

Plaxico had a target on his back from birth, being an American of African descent. He beat quite a few odds by not being murdered in his front yard &/or not ending up a part of the prison system's revolving door policy. The fact that he made it out of the hood, & into the limelight without a negative push makes his a story of success against all odds. So.....why the fuck did he walk into a club with a gun?

It couldn't have been for protection. Dude can probably knock fire from the average sized man's ass [||]. Maybe not a Kimbo Slice, but definitely a Taye Diggs or Tyrese. It shouldn't have been to prove a point, because being young, rich & Black is a point proven in & of itself. So the question still stands, to which the only answer I can find is that he is a dumb ass.

As Black men, we need to step our game(s) up. In fact, it's not a game, so we need to step our living up. We have too many eyes on us, from the government, to our children & wives, down to the criminals, haters, & crabs that aim to pull us back to the bottom of the barrel. As long as every other step is the wrong one, we will stay losing. The good guys are over-shadowed by the bad ones, & we know this to be fact. Thats why Gucci Mane sells waaay more albums than Mos Def. That being the obvious case, we must try twice as hard to be the best men we can be.

I don't believe in role-models, but I believe in positive examples. Barack Obama has enough on his own plate, so I can't expect him to shoulder a community's burden worth of exceptional leadership. I should be able to get some help from some neighbors, rappers, thespians & athletes as well, because when my child(ren) leave my supervision, they're under yours.

No judgment, I'm just saying. We, Black men, are capable of the greatest feats. It's time we show America, if no one else, that they brought us here for a reason.

Fuck fighting the power; it's time to BE the power.