Fresh Roundtable

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This week we have 5 Young Black Americans. 6 Questions.

Shakeer: 32, Higher Education Administrator, Alabama/GA

Cashawn: 35, Preschool teacher and single mom, Washington DC

Gilbert: 28, grad student, Dayton, OH

Luvvie: 24, marketing coordinator, Chicago

Rippa: 38 years old,Making Negroes Think at Nunya Inc, Memphis

Check out what our Fresh Roundtable participants discuss, and chime in on your own at the end. Kickin’ knowledge and having fun… its what FXP is all about.

1.Now that the Chris Brown apology is wrapped up, what celebrity would you be most interested in seeing apologize for a past indiscretion next?

Shakeer: None of these celebrities owe me an apology and until they do something to me or my family personally, I don’t need an apology, I just need to be entertained when I choose to support them.

Cashawn: I‘d like to see former President Bush apologize for the way he handled the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. I still feel some type’a way about that.  Bill Cosby could apologize for talking greasy to Black America, because it really isn’t as simple as he says it is and he knows it. And if Mariah Carey could find the time to eek out a lil’ “my bad” for that whole “Glitter/Rainbow” period of her career, I’d greatly appreciate it because I still have a “Vision of Love” and it ain’t in Daisy Dukes or plunging necklines.

Gilbert: I mean the whole Chris Brown situation is sad full circle… It should never get to that point where you have to put your hands on a woman but at the same time he is young.  Rhianna is young and the rest of the public doesn’t know the whole truth.  I don’t think he beat her like that for no reason but I feel that this young mans career is in jeopardy and people have to realize that this is his source of income and ruining someone’s reputation is not good.  I feel that Rihanna knows the truth and she might have even started it and needs to come out and clear the air and let it be known.  Its sad that when you become famous you want to try and lead a private life but your life becomes the public’s life.  Just the way it is.  Once again I don’t condone any type of abuse to a woman but when you young.. you make young mistakes and we should all be forgiving.

Luvvie: I think Soulja Boy oughta apologize to ALL of us for his tacky music, the bird chest he’s always so willing to show off and the 3 lines in his eyebrows. If those ain’t indiscretions, I don’t know what is. He is RUDE!

Rippa: Wow, I really have to think on this one. I don’t hold celebrities to a different standard than regular people per se. But I do think they themselves owe it to their fans to hold themselves to a higher standard of expectations. Of course they’re all human and are bound to err like the rest of us. Having said that: I want a formal apology from my man Flavor Flav for cooning out like he did with his show on VH1. I met that brother and hung out with him for an entire week when I was in college; hell he even slept in my dorm-room. The brother was super intelligent and dammit he knew better. Ok yeah, so he needed the money, but is that really an excuse? Listen, Flavor Flav if you’re reading this? I’ll need you to holla at Chris Brown and borrow his red blouse and make an apology video right now. Yeah Flav, you owe it to your fans and your dead ancestors.

2.NBA Baller Richard Jefferson recently dumped his fiancée a week before the wedding, by e-mail, and gave her a consolation prize of $2 million dollars. Your thoughts?

Shakeer: The $2 million dollar payoff was a bad deal, he should have made her sign a non-disclosure agreement; but it’s a small price to pay now for his sanity and future earnings.  He did the right thing by ending it before they actually got married, they will both be happier in the long run.

Cashawn: I think that was horrible! How spineless and insensitive can one man be? Richard Jefferson is just the worst for dumping that woman by email right before the wedding, and to add insult to injury, attempt to “console” her with a cash pay-out. I hope she has a great aunt down in New Orleans that knows how to work roots and he ends up with an unexplained rash on his scrotum for the rest of his days.

Gilbert: No wonder that broad was so happy on Good Morning America!!!  B***h was like shytttttttt.. F– a wedding I just hit the lotto, b***h was talking about just dance. WTF!!!  You dancing all the way to the bank.  B***H.  That nig** is a professional athelete… he getting p***y by the pound… nuff said.

Luvvie: Richard needs a good ol’ Tugaloo, Missississippi ass whooping for that nonsense. And someone oughta deliver him a “FOOL SADDOWN” (or STANDUP) gift basket, complete with a “You ain’t ish” shaving kit. He’s ridiculous for that.

Rippa: He got shook by all the Steve McNair news. He had to be, and that would mean that he too is/was messing with a deranged 20yr old chick from Iran. I’m just sayin, you don’t pull stunts like that unless you’re getting married at the courthouse. Throwing $2 million and giving your boys your Black card to kick it for the night as an act of contrition is jacked up even by Pacman Jones standards. But hey, it was either that or get married, and then get murked by some crazy chick who you’ve been lying to and make the news. At least he’s still alive and making money unlike a certain dead ex-professional athlete.

3.Tommy on the show Martin’s main shtick was that he had a job but no one knew what he did… What do you think he did? Do you have friends like him that have those “clear business cards”….especially in this economy?

Shakeer: Tommy had a job, he dressed too nice and spent too much time at Martin’s not to have had a job.  He may have been a gigolo (a man paid to have relations with rich older women), but he had a job.

Cashawn: I actually do know a chick like this. She seems to have unlimited time and resources. She spends her days getting up late, fluttering around town like a butterfly, being popular & perfecting her art. I call her a “woman of leisure” and I am seriously jealous her lifestyle.

Gilbert: I think that n***a was a hustlin in them streets but was lo-key like a mothaf**ka (how you supposed to do it)… I know alot of n***as like that, esp here in the city (Dayton)  Like this one n***a i know, older n***a… he’s like to me at the club one night, “you know I got me a new spot out there in Miamisburg around the Dayton mall”  Man these white folks own that spot…. COME ON DUDEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

Luvvie: Maybe Tommy worked for Pre-Paid Legal, or something. I know a couple of people who give me business cards with just their name and their Hotmail accounts on it (yes, who uses hotmail in 09?) o_O *side-eye*

Rippa: Tommy sold crack; that’s what I believe and I’m sticking to it. I mean lets be honest: the backdrop for the show was Detroit, right? My wife and her family are from Detroit, and I’ve been there. Tommy didn’t look like the GM Factory worker type, did he? No he didn’t. Instead, he looked like a broke “Nino Brown” circa 1990. Oh I know an old school hustla when I see one, and Tommy was one of them. C’mon, I grew up in Brooklyn, I know plenty of cats like Tommy. Hell, I thought everybody knew that Bruh-man’s crib on the fif flo’ was the actual dope spot in the building that Tommy ran! Where else do you think Martin got ahold of that dope that made him run down the street in the hot sun [insert side-eye].

4.In “Black in America”, the show chronicled Mia Jackson, a young black woman who owned her own house, car, and made $77,000 a year. @theFreshXpress received one tweet during the show that to paraphrase stated that the more success Mia gains, the statistical chances of her ever getting married drop significantly. If this is true, in your opinion, why are black women less likely to marry as they become more successful? Or is this not true?

Shakeer:  I think this is true and it’s unfortunate.  Mia may not get married because we as black men have ego problems, it’s hard for us to accept the Mr. Mom role and it’s hard for black women to bring home the bacon and not try to hold that against a man who is not working, or ‘not on their level’.  If we would move away from stereotypical gender roles then black women would definitely be getting married at higher rates than they are now.  The solution is for us as people to accept each other flaws and all and make it work, the world would benefit greatly from this.

Cashawn: I think Miss Jackson will be able to marry one day, but she’ll have to expand her mind as far as who she finds to be marriage material. A Black man that is her social/educational/financial equal will be hard to find, but will be even harder to find will be a Black man whose testicles won’t shrivel and retreat back up into his abdomen because he’s NOT her social/educational/financial equal.

Gilbert: As I was watching last night I thought of the same thing… like to be w/a b***h where your income is going to have to be on the same level or above cause that b***h doing it.  I mean it just don’t work the same for both genders… example a woman looks at a man as a benefit or what could come out of it; let your b***h make more money than you and yall live in the same house…. shytttt, good luck brother.  We men are for the most part physically attracted to the other mate (I’m not saying this a major determinant all the time)… for example like me for instance, i’m not to proud of it but I’ve been f***ing these broads out here for some time now and I’m like an old man stuck in his ways… I’ve gotten f***ed and been f***ing a certain way so that is how I like it.  I mean its a f***ed up way of thinking but I don’t think I can be with a b***h if we ain’t got the same stroke.  One time my cousin posed the question to me: Could you be with b***h A that has everything going for her and is on top of her game and can’t fuck for shit… or do you go with b***h B that is trying or mediocre at best trying to get to the next level in life but can f*** your brains out like a heavy weight champ????  But besides the f***ing… like Mia for instance, if you get a woman like that “you can’t have two Bull’s in the same cage”… shyt just don’t work.

Luvvie: We’re less likely to get married as we become more successful because we need both the HIS/HER closet for our shoes. NO SHARING!

Rippa: I don’t buy into that assumption. Actually, I think the reason people perceive this to be a problem for Black women as they move up the ladder, is because there is a perception that there are no Black men there alongside them. Or not enough Black men alongside them anyway. Well, the way I see it, in part this assumption isn’t a good look for all the brothers that are out there who are in fact working their way up the ladder as well. But lemme guess: the person who sent that tweet is of the belief that Black men who move up like Mia are naturally going to marry a White woman, right? Please! As that woman moves up the ladder she will have the ability to network and meet all types of brothers from all across the country. She may very well marry one of them; that’s assuming that she desires to be married to a Black man. From what I saw on the show, I doubt those 1700 people in her class had only five dudes, and never had any before or past that graduating class. As a people we should not allow ourselves to be locked in to these media driven statistics designed to as always demean or emasculate the Black man.

5.Officer Jim Crowley, the arresting officer of Professor Henry Louis Gates, said he’ll never apologize.  He also stated he was disappointed in President Obama for getting involved in a local issue. Was President Obama wrong for giving the opinion that the officers “acted stupidly” in arresting someone who was clearly inside his own home?

Shakeer:  This officer is continuing to act reckless by not apologizing for overstepping his authority.  No way in the world should this have turned out like this.  He should have said, ‘sorry sir, we’re just doing our job’ and that should have been the end of it.  The same thing happened to me in Columbus, Ohio and that’s exactly what they said and it was over.  The President was right to say what he said, the arrest was a stupid waste of taxpayer’s money and those officer’s time.  He was embarrassed in front of his boys and had to teach the good Dr. a lesson.

Cashawn: Damn! OK, he’s the President. The first man of color to hold the office ever in the history of the universe. We all know how important that is, no question. Does that mean the man can’t have an opinion, an opinion born of real life experiences as a Black man in America?? The fact is, Officer Crowley did indeed act stupidly. Arresting Professor Gates inside his own home was some racial foolywang if I’ve ever heard of any. I, for one, feel quite validated to finally have a President who can and does genuinely speak for me in a situation like this.

Gilbert: President Obama shouldn’t have gotten involved… we the public and supporters of Dr. Gates will publicize the situation.  Just because Obama is president doesn’t mean racism and racial profiling will go away.  We can’t expect Obama to comment or do everything for us.  We sometimes have to take matters into our own hands by writing letters, making educated statments, and using our collegiate capacity to its full power.

Luvvie: Obama shoulda told him “DISAPPOINT DEEZ!” and dropped the mic. Then I’da hollered “SEXUAL CHOCOLATE!” It woulda been AWESOME!

Rippa: Will somebody tell that cop to shut up! Listen, Barack was aksed a specific question. He also carefully prefaced the question and exhibited his bias due to his friendship. Having said that, what I think people – especially my republican White pals – are overlooking, is that he said the police “acted stupidly” after establishing that Gates was in fact the rightful occupant of that home. I’ve seen White folks on Cops and other “reality” cop shows curse police out after being pulled over and nothing happens to them. The way I feel right now, I’ll say eff the police. I don’t care what anyone says, you come into my home uninvited (Gates never asked him to come in, nor did the police have a warrant to do so) and then refuse to comply with my request for a name and badge number is gonna get cussed out. Barack Obama has disappointed me enough by not addressing racial issues or incidents specifically (he said nothing about the police execution of Oscar Grant to date, and nothing back when the Jena 6 was hot), and I doubt that he would have on this if he wasn’t asked, but that’s a whole different subject.

FXP in the Fire: A man was recently terminated from his employment over his wife’s porn career. If your spouse had a separate career as a porn star, which you knew nothing about, and you found out once your boss fired you…how would you react?

Shakeer: This question is crazy and I refuse to answer it on the grounds that if i answer and this happens, then they may use the FXP roundtable against me in the court of law (LOL)

Cashawn: WTF, Ft. Myers City Council?? Ya’ll didn’t have to fire that man because his wife was doing something strange for a lil’ change. I bet some of them had her videos on their computers at home. *smh* No shade to my Floridian lovelies, but every time I hear about some extreme foolishness, it’s going down in Florida. With all that being said, I’d be ready to chop my husband’s head off if I got fired behind some of his ridiculous mess, especially if that mess involved him inserting his married penis into foreign vagina. In the illustrious words of the President of the Brooklyn Chapter of the Dead Poets Society, Mr. Christopher Wallace, “there’s gonna be a lot of slow singin’ and flower bringin’….”

Gilbert: You can’t fire somebody over another persons past.  I bet his boss used to watch her porno’s… so does that make him any better???  I mean in this world my famous quote is “people love to point the finger but hate to look in the mirror”  People say they Christian but don’t do Christian stuff how its supposed to be done.  We live in a backwards society.  And the f***ed up part about it is that the husband didn’t even know… so how did the boss find out??  Do you see what I’m saying….. the world we live in.

Luvvie: I’d be PISSED and ask him “Where’ve you been hiding all them MOVES you use in ur ‘craft’ during our bouts of the Southside Slippery Slide? You are THE PITS!”

Rippa:  Yooooooooooo! Ok, ok, ok, first of all, I would be sooo heated. Getting fired for messing up on your job is one thing. But to get fired for something that 1) you didn’t do, or 2) didn’t even know about? That right there would have me heated, yo! Now, as far as plans for a divorce? I would say that would depend on if she was a pornstar who made movies. If she was a stripper, modelled for magazines, did the phone sex thing, then we might be able to work it out. I mean hey, mo’ money, mo’ money, mo’ money! I haven’t read the story as of yet, but I’d like to know if he can actually be fired for that sort of thing.

That wraps up this week’s roundtable. Let us know what YOU think about these topics in the comment section. If you’re interested in being on a future Fresh Roundtable, contact SWaltonJr@gmail.com.

Tagged as: Chris Brown, Henry Louis Gates, Jim Crowley, Mia Jackson, Richard Jefferson

Article by FreshXpress Staff

theFreshXpress.com is a collection of free thinkers and individuals that have come together to give voice to a nation of young African Americans. It is our mission to provide fresh thought, fresh perspectives, and fresh debate on issues relevant to the African American community.

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