MLK Day

Once again passes the day during which we observe and celebrate the pivotal and indispensable leader of the Civil Rights movement we had in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

There will be a lot of volunteer work done on this day; a lot of remembering of harder times; many facebook status updates relevant to the occasion; much rest and relaxation with loved ones of course and naturally (though perhaps to not as high a degree as these aforementioned things) some education/enlightenment...inevitably.

This day is one in which its too easy to go through the motions of a holiday. A day off, a buzz line or two popularly associated with the time, some hugs, well wishes for the fallen King and back to the grind the next day. I just hope that those who've never taken time to thoroughly examine this day and those events on which it is predicated, do so; and also that those who've done so put some effort into making the visions of Dr King and his peers fully understood which would ultimately serve to bring them to full fruition.

Everyone is well aware that King had a dream...what is not oft realized by the masses is that he had a lot of thoughts and experiences before that. King only makes mention of his dream a little over half way through the speech, and that dream itself is too often misinterpreted. King called for equality and everyone took that to mean "treat everyone like white people."

"We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by a sign stating: 'For Whites Only.'"
—Dr King, from the "I Have a Dream" Speech

"as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood..."
The actual idea was to be fully aware and cognizant of our differences BUT, not let those difference dictate how one is treated in inappropriate situations: "treat everyone as white peoples' equal." Dr King never wanted to be a white man. White men are white men, black women are black women, east asian people are just that, latinos and hispanics are latinos and hispanics, and none of us are the same as another...we're not meant to be. To blend everyone into one uniform pattern of treatment is color blind racism. My hair has different needs than that of an asian man's, black women are more susceptible to certain diseases than are white women. Our differences enrich and vary our lifestyles, allowing us to celebrate in and benefit from the achievements of each others' talents and achievements and unique qualities. It's a betrayal of nature, a travesty before any God you so choose to believe in (if you so choose at all), to simply ignore these gifts granted us in the form of these differences. The message is to treat everyone as an equal...not as one they are not.

I encourage all to listen to and read the full speech. I'm not saying we should all become one of those super buffs who could recite it word for word or readily quote any part of it. To those who can do so, I applaud your scholarship and attention to history, but I only ask that everyone understand it...get the basic idea, and at least bother to pick one favorite quote from it that does not involve Dr. King's dream.





©Brandon Baker, 2010

The Label (Live)

From my last CAF performance with Purdue University's Black Cultural Center:



©Brandon Baker, 2010

Yo I Got a BODY...of work, lol

So after much talk, suggestion, and watching everbody else around me launch their own despite the fact that nobody really need one more than me, I finally gave up the time and effort to put da blog together ladies and gentlemen: ta-da.

Its a better display case for what I do I think. I posted all my old stuff and in doing so realized that I have a pretty nice, fairly sizable body of work. A..."problem" of mine is that I don't often like to revisit my old work which leads to me forgetting about some of my stuff sometimes. It was nice runnin it all back though...I had a much more active pen back in the day...

Well there'll be more stuff up here. Words galore most definitely, plus some video and photos too (I be on my shutterbug thang sometimes haha), so pay attention.

Ravens taking it to the Colts today...you might have the records and all dat Peyton, but we're da better team none the less. Post season is he ONLY season and we just handle that better than you do...410 UP, Baltimore ALL DAY!

Rockin the Ravens jersey today, smiling, smashing @ IHOP. Excited for no reason...a good problem to have and one I've missed.

I gotta come up with a good valediction for these joints haha. I guess its jus...
deuce, for now.
Bakes

A Story

With the foresight of what was to take place,
he pulls her close,
begins a loving embrace.

Chin bound to her should her,
so tightly he holds her,
‘til he’s able to remove the fear and doubt from his face.

Every ounce of will gathered,
he starts to disengage.
There’s work to be done
if this girl is gonna be saved.

Blood pressure droppin:
there’s a gash in his leg,
but urgent the situation, no time for God’s grace.
he pulled the scrunchie from her hair,
stretched over his hand,
told her to run—and about noting give a damn.
Don’t cry weep, think, look back, or worry for me
‘cause he could never die at long as he owed her that scrunchie.

hinges explode:
the door crashes in on the foyer.
The hit-squad floods in
fills every corner
while up in the mezzanine, he’s checkin his magazines:
9 shots in one, and the other minus 3.

Locks, loads, and readies, he blazes the kerosene
knowing that downstairs there was more than 17.

Thinking make everyone of these count,
tellin her to stay down,
use the smoke, and slip out behind me
straps a knife to his sleeve, and On 3…
2…

Safties off,
he makes his debut yellin MOVE!
guns steady blazin in directions 2.

Ready to finish this little war,
he’s bringing the fucking noise,
pops 3 shots, drops 5 boys.
Space formerly void, is now consumed
bullets, and smoke fillin the room,
a tight grip is assumed—

on her lungs,
by the fumes
as she scrambles through the room,
vision tunneled on the exit,
just like he told her to.

Weapons empty, he pulls the knife:
ready to rest in this room.
His epitaph: a blade, and a hand-to-hand doom.

Blood in his vision,
he makes the next move,
outside she boo-hoos,
final violence ensues.

Smoke and screams of pain billow out of the room,
the situation culminates in a BOOM.

Blinded by her tears, she only screams WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?!
question answered: he hobbles out of the plume.

The only thing on his mind, approaching his future bride,
removes the scrunchie from his wrist, pulls her hair back and ties it.
Whispers I Love You while fighting his eye lids,
hears it back as they embrace...

...a smile crosses his face...

and shortly after,
she collapses,
under his dead weight.


©Brandon Baker, 2010

A Toast for the Occasion

Life is a procession of fleeting moments, all of which collectively represent our chance do do something major, to change something; make a difference in what we call our lifetime.
On January 20, 2009 at 12:05 p.m. we all bore witness as that penultimate goal of two of our fellow men came into fruition in the form of the inauguration of Barack Hussein Obama as the 44th President of the United States and the first of African American descent.
Let this serve as a reminder to us, strengthen our personal resolves: reinforce us. Impossible is no longer a finite and unreachable deterministic state...but merely a class of phenomenon one need only work a little harder on to realize. To Dr. King and the fruition of his dream in Washington D.C., 40 years later on the opposite end of the land on which it had been deferred by his untimely death. May the legacy of this and all other men who've contributed continue to manifest themselves in the improvement of this world. To President Obama, Congratulations and all respect due. And most importantly, to change, prosperity, and the pursuit of happiness.

1968-2008, what happens to a dream deferred is its realization at the right time.
 Wednesday, 21 January 2009 at 11:21

It's Time

Memories...
like those—
are the ones I need to get over.

The flashes and glimpses of life together...

...everywhere we'd been, all we'd ever seen,
All the things we'd done, ALL the 'we' that's in between...

...the sum of all words spoken
and the feelings to which they lead...

...all this damn 'us'—
recollections of every scent,
every color, EVERY second spent,
so many shards of life w/ her in my mind—

Every time I close my eyes
the recall splashes vibrant
on the canvas of the back of my eyelids.

These emotions click and spark in the darkest recesses,
then the darkness recesses...

body jumps to life,
the energy refreshes states of enamor
that I can no longer handle—

soular wind vibe,
make the tension relax,
pulse reacts: heart murmurs double syllables

the beat: steady, then snaps—

Sympathetic nerves volley torrid synapses,
forcing these spasms, ready to fly out those memories—
trying to fly, fighting for flight,
calling, YEARNING for the sky,
wanting to fly,
dying to fly,
dying to fly,
ready to realize that sometimes its time...
©Brandon Baker, 2010

Cuz Dat Chick on the Bus was FLY!

Now I want you to know this:
that you, by far and large, have NOT gone un-noticed
like the magic midnight lotus in the sea of yellow roses
you standout in my world, possessing attractive power

So without pause or hesitation, one question, but no patience
how to — approach you
bus ridden and waiting on the same coaches that I do

See I would LIKE to express my intention to court you
sittin' close, evasive stares, I'm as guilty as you too
but my only one problem is as words on wind do
I gotta make moves, crazy enough

the only one way I came to meet you
is wit my clock on tweak
late to work by hours, a little over 2
but
once or twice, yeah, that's shame on me
3 times and more means I'm into you

So whassup wit tonight, I'm tryna date you boo
How bout a Lake Shore stroll and sunset for two?
Let's change the numbers, after work I'll get at you
and don't worry bout the L, dats on me too.

. . .yeah, dats what I'ma say.
got it all together, lets make this do what it do

"s'cuse me miss, can I—"
"ain't this you?"

"uhh what?"
"you fit ta miss ya stop."
"MUTHAF—"

. . .eh, 2 hours late: whas a 3rd gon' do

© Brandon Baker 2010

Chemistry

Pleased, the pressure of lover's warm body creating sweet fusion;
Sweat the hot cohesive bond joining our bodies as one,
inside the other, inside the latter
let the fluid matter run
in this threesome
you, me, and we some endless
loop of recursive re-entry

and so love be a chemist.

Love — shapeless, smooth and free like milk;
catalyst for the sensual —
becomes friction's solvent and lets our body melt.

Potions pooled amidst our retirement
we flow,
skin becomes silk,
and moving like satin
we inherit a caress, from the kinetics.

Commencing a head count
beneath our thread count,
love rolls off the tongue
drips down the chin and
returns to the lap.
We: ready and anxious to give it back.


©Brandon Baker, 2010

Things Revolve Around Her

I saw that things revolved around her...
attention not exempt because she's always grabbin' it.
her voice was a natural attractive force:
that's to say she was spittin' gravity.

So it was no surprise to find that likely
her universe of affinity was ever-so expanding;
so damn demanding,
heliocentric works if on helios she's standing;
that is, if the sun she was manning.

But so far beyond the stars,
she had the other chicks in the galaxy maddening;
on that quantum shit, she was
stealing my physics and they simply wasn't having it.

Not that there was anything they could do about this black hole like gravity.
steady pulse like solar wind, push the haters off when they come snappin and shit.
absorbing me into herself,
she had a telescope through my mind while she was trappin it. . .




©Brandon Baker, 2010

Literary Personality

If one could be read as one reads a book,
Then surely her person produces that like "War and Peace,"
And she is of the finest of literature.

You can't judge her cover for it varies,
It buries, concealing her inwards.
To turn her pages is to cycle through infinite paper;
This book as no endin';
There's no point spendin' eternity looking for it.
You can't summarize, paraphrase, or skim through this.

So I read end to no end;
Every page, passage, and complex sentence
so intricately written,
She has me; Nothing else matters, there's no intermission
'cause her plot is this pleasantly mysterious entity in several quiet forms.

Her dialogue foreshadows forthcoming events;
My chest warms, my interest reaches new lengths,
But for sure: I feel my heart melt from the sound of her dialect`

She spreads streams of consciousness to dreamy tributaries,
I'm seduced by her alliterative song she's got me something kinda high
Seein' purple, pink, and green canaries;
It's like taking a drug, except nothing's wrong; it's not against the law.

I don't even like to read,
But for her my eyes are bleedin',
watering, swelled with intrigue,
since her slant rhyme pays heed to no one's reason.
To edit her verse is the highest lyrical treason.
To change her vocab: a superb injustice.
The thesaurus is based on her ‘cause normal poets can't touch this…

Beauty of syntax;
language's grace;
a textual perfection;
the poet's birthplace.

Not deserving,
merely fortunate am I to look upon her face,

Not to impose,
but I beg the queen, spill ink upon the pauper's page.


©Brandon Baker, 2010

F(Black)

...Through media hype and the limits as I approach society,
I'm tryna find the derivative of the integration of the function Black of Lack of Hate in Generation A...

minus the Log base B of the degradation of our culture equals
Y at some point (x,y) we don't ask Y?
Exponentially consumed by the Logistic majority vultures,
Our statistic is sadistic; we made this word "black" vulgar.
Sliding off the backs of the sacrificed in the name of black culture,
the slope is negative, our people's rate of change less than zero when its supposed ta
Reverse.
The concavity should be flipped, facing upwards,
but materials form our tangents away from the earth…

©Brandon Baker, 2010

Maintain the Path

When relationships begin, two roads merge and proceed in a "NEW" direction...not either of the previous ones from whence the union comes. This is why when we break up, it is said that we "go our separate ways." If there's going to be a good and healthy relationship, you have to let it keep moving in the new road's direction...if you re-route it to where ever you used to be going, that means your partner is covering extra ground emotionally/spiritually to move in what is essentially the opposite direction of his/her own original direction;, this means he/she gets worn out faster than you do, and that is the seed of disunion. The compromise represented by the forging of the new road is what ensures that the two of you stay in it for the long haul.


©Brandon Baker, 2010

Wedding Vows

So while awaiting the expiration of the 3:30 minutes required to heat water to a temperature where my mandarin green tea (I'm EXTRA on my AOX now that I'm tryna prevent myself from getting sick) would brew, I plunged myself into random thought about Wedding Vows (no i'm not getting married anytime too soon, please don't even ask)...

Actually it wasn't entirely random, i remember exactly how i arrived at that train of thought. I was running that song "Like You'll Never See Me Again" by Alicia Keys through my head because I at that point really felt like hearing it...I LOVE that song...

------>

Sidenote:
I've made up my mind that I'm in love wit Alicia Keys...She's jus way too EXTRA cool a person to not pay attention to. I'm firmly decided that i would marry her on site without hesitation. Alicia Keys is definitely the answer to all those theoretical "If you could ____ with any celebrity..." type questions for me. Back to the original thoughts...

------>

...and in the middle of my meta-cognitive concert i started thinking "I don't think I'd mind gettin' married to this song...yeah...i could kinda see it"...this is a semi-habit i picked up from somebody. Anyway my water reached the ideal temperature i sought, so i returned to my desk and my computer at work and found to my delight that the song was actually playing on the radio back in bmore which i was streaming over the net (YESSSS...good looking out Lord, lol)

But, In my Psych of Women class we had recently been talking about relationships and the like, and naturally along with the discussion came a lot statistics about marriage, and cohabitation, and divorce etc... and not surprisingly they all basically said marriage is a failure better than half the time. With that on my mind i ran the scenario of a typical wedding through my mind and felt like "its no wonder...what IS a wonder is why MORE don't fail given the way we do this."
My reasoning like is like this:

Both men and women too often step too far outside their world and purposely discomfort themselves. Its too often the case that we go places or say things we shouldn't (or aren't ready too). And this is due in large part to the fact that nearly every aspect/institution of our society has us acting like someone else in order to get somewhere. Think about a wedding and what typically happens in the general and most traditional sense; We spend exorbitant amounts of money on food and drinks we often haven't heard of, probably cant pronounce (neither the ingredients, nor its supposed "lay-name"), and definitely wouldn't normally eat; We invite obscure members of our families that we, in most cases, hadn't even know about or heard of (i'm talkin bout dem 12 times removed cousins tha was livin in tokyo your whole life and somehow managed to figure out that you was engaged all the way back in baltimore); We sterilize and where things WAY beyond our normal price OR style range; Granted, such a joyous and monumental occasion deserves quite a bit of extravagance and is definitely worth adding a couple of extra miles to your life for a little while because after all i can't stunt like i might not do a lot of the same thing since a wedding is in part a gift to the wife most of the time, and every sincere "husband-elect" would want to see her happy. So i guess there isn't really a whole lot wrong with these things, what bothers me the most really is all the formatting that alters everyone's behavior drastically...actually i was thinking specifically of the vows when i got the volition to write this note as the title implies.
So many people "recite" vows when they get married...

re·cite [ri-sahyt]
–verb
1. to repeat the words of, as from memory, esp. in a formal manner: to recite a lesson.
2. to repeat (a piece of poetry or prose) before an audience, as for entertainment.
3. to give an account of: to recite one's adventures.
4. to enumerate.

...so essentially spittin somebody else's words back at the person they claim to want to spend their life with. That's what i mean by people stepping to far outside of themselves and saying things that shouldn't be said. I feel like marriage shouldn't be occurring if you gotta recite ANYTHING. Whoever wrote those knew what the were saying and understood how THIER relationship was to be...but all people are different, there's no "one size fits all" for this kinda of thing. The same goes for those questions the priest (or rather "wedding agent" i'll say, not everybody has a priest or pastor, etc...) asks for each the bride and the groom. Why is the "wedding agent" speaking for anyone during the wedding...how do HE know what the bride wants from the groom and vice versa. Think of all the movies slash tv shows you seen...whenever the relationship runs into issues or a divorce is eminent there's always an allusion to the promises "recited" in those questions the "wedding agent" asks: "when we got married, you promised to blah, blah, and most of all blah..." right?

And now I'm sittin here like (in a general cognitive response to all such situations i've bore witness to): Well uhhh..you yourself never asked him/her to be what you wanted him/her to be in the union...you just stood in front of the altar while wedding agent spit this and that, then both of you was like "yeah, what he said" and he pronounced you married. So are those things what you really wanted? Is that all you wanted? This is kinda both of yall fault, yall should have spoke more at your own wedding...

Yeah, so needless to say, if and when i marry i plan on doing a lot of the talking...and in my own dialect. I feel like its impossible to be sincere when you're speaking as another would, which is why i don't often bite my tongue or switch my vocab up in situations where most others feel its "socially appropriate."

This ended up being a lot longer than i envisioned it...oh well.

©Brandon Baker, 2010

Well..

New experiences in this different place and my continuing studies of the human mind in general teach me more about myself all the time...crazy thing is: in my earlier years i had seemed to have defeated a lot of the "flaws" or "weaknesses" of mind in a somewhat maladaptive lifestyle, but i find myself re-adapting them...on purpose, in order to be happier. ironically enough i had probably cast them off in the first place in order to avert (i hate using this word because its so common and plain, but for lack of a better one) sadness. Typically one might think being happier and averting sadness are one in the same...but I question that notion now. My thoughts are inspired in part by a Sociology class i took over the summer (SOC 220 for the purdue heads) entitled Social Problems.

In discussing race relations as they relate to the state of society, my class exposed me to a different perspective about equality and civil rights. They proposed to me that having everyone treated equally might not be the best idea...that there could be a sort of "color-blind racism" as its referred to in the text books. This is the idea (and it doesn't have to be strictly a color thing) that logically equal treatment of all people could be just as racist as segregation; well maybe not quite. But think for instance about certain things in life (this example is for the minorities) we take for granted or don't really give too much thought too. How many brothas (like me) came here from out of state and spent at least 8 months wit a bush on their head because they didn't know a barber around here. I mean not just any barber right...someone who understands and knows how to cut and style your shit. Same for the ladies who keep theirs braided or done up somehow, or for those who are going or have always been "natural." Yall know what I'm talking about...if we followed the prototypic call for equality, it would be like there's no difference between us at all...we'd be getting mousse and styling gel to put in our hair from target like er'body else instead of picking up the do-rags, hair wraps, and oils we need to cultivate our shit from the Chinese shop. There's clearly a difference between EQUAL treatment and FAIR treatment.

That was an extra long tangent though, the point is that I'm feeling the same way about finding happiness vs. averting misery (yes! i thought of a much better word). I've made so much cognitive and emotional progress since i moved up here two years ago to come to school and this note & the last one I've written are both proof of that in themselves. I know its supposed to be all about the grades, but this whole experience (pain in the ass it may be at times) has been so much more for me be cause of the things i had to learn to make it here, the adaptations i've had to make to to keep life moving...and in large part because of the people I've been fortunate to surround myself with; a select few in particular who should already know who they are, ESPECIALLY this one chick...(lol).

Though i came to be way more mature as a younger man than most would expect one to be, I still arrived in West Lafayette, IN 47906 on August 13th at 11:47 a.m. a statue...of a fool made of stone (naaaaaame it aaaaaf-teeeerrrrrr meeeeee, hahahahaha). I ran at my new life half-cocked and full of answers...though the set wasn't comprised of them all. That was made evident by my reckless spending and terrible GPA (the price for both of which I've paid, and lessons from both of which I've learned). My main answers though consisted of:

"I'm all I got"
"If its not a happy feeling, dismiss it"
&
"be not concerned with any issue, ignorance is the key"

back then i would've meant ignorance as in "ignoring everything" but now I'd readily let all dimensions of the word ensue in the thoughts of others who would read this. Basically i thought if I never felt anything, I'd always be happy...and I was quickly corrected upon getting here. I was "averting misery" very well indeed...but that was far from making me happy.
I figured out that every once in while, I need to trip on something...to get upset...
I learned that i need to feel distraught at least once...
...that jealousy is not always an evil feeling, but that more often than not, it means you REALLY love somebody (though its still a bitch to deal with)...
...that occasionally it will be necessary to piss someone off...
...that if you're friends have never snapped on you because of something about you they DIDN'T like, something was wrong...
...that even though that happen...it doesn't matter so much because yall are friends, and that won't change for anything so little...
...that if you've never had a major depressive episode for any reason or short period of time, you're definitely missing something...
....though having that episode doesn't mean you're psychopathic, that's a normal emotion among human beings
...and speaking of emotions, you kinda need those; you can't just take 'em off ya roster whenever YOU feel like they're not working out

Since i've been here a group of writers pushed me into the rest of the public;
a group of dudes i live, work, eat, and play with taught me acceptance and help me well define my swag;
and one important lady taught me a lil bit about feeling and communication that i didn't know before;
I call these and a host of other contributors to an improved me a blessing.

I been going through a few things and will go through more, but lately I've been forgetting to count those and have been letting things bother me a lil too much.
I could give a damn bout what purdue, the government, or charlie brown say...i know how ta find happiness...and I'm living a "good" life. Makes me mad a little, but I couldn't trade it...
and so i guess the random 3:47 a.m., cognitive ramblings of this kid from Bmore become a thankyou?

Yeah, i guess I could do that...though i never saw myself writing anything like this...least not 'til graduation, but...

Thanks.
(from Friday, 19 October 2007 at 05:14)
©Brandon Baker, 2010

Re-Cursive

Everyday I think and feel in 30 million directions at once,
after my dreams give rise to the sun
i ask a new day of life..."what ima do with this one?"

then every morning I begin 30 million processions
dispersing the life force of the devil's agressions;
constantly reaffirming my own soul's progression
reconfiguring for new issues I'm addressing,
behind a battery of smiles.

I situate my self's defenses,
destroy, and rebuild them, fighting life's depressions.
exerting so much confidence in my "swag..."
my indomitable spirit, so precious,
so necess-
-ary
it be there to be wary, cautionary of the threats to my threshold crossing...
...give me a reason to keep my chest all throbbing.

Because I lose my hands when i reach for my dreams,
the heavens cross me,
or maybe my timings just bad,
either way it always cost me.

There's been too many times when optimism done lost me,
dream killers hold me back,
I'm reverting to lost B...

or just Brandon...
now THAT dude, long time no see,
I was kinda hoping Bakes and B all but murdered the old me.
...

(continued, so this is to be...my resolve is still hard, I can't let nothing fold me...)


©Brandon Baker, 2010

Timeless

Up the stream of river time,
Against the grain of the ages,
I will wait for it, with the patience of the Sages;
Anticipate it as history turns its pages;
Tempest fuget: I’ll stand against Chronos’ rage.

Come w/ certainty will many novel faces…
They will find ambiguity with the passing of life’s phases:
Like fertilizer, they cultivate it.

I’ll watch the world die countless times as the season changes,
But when Spring reclaims it:
Bear witness to its vibrant resplendence.
Mother Nature smiles in celebration of my
Horologic independence;
My chronology’s evanescence.

Yes much will occur before “this,” long awaited…
Its distance is great and tediously faded.
I feel its temporal proximity decreasing daily.
I’ll surely see it consummated.

My heart, the bleeding pulsar, continually fuels my waiting.
Long lost is time to me, thus I know it won’t ever fail me,
It won’t…fail me,
It…didn’t…fail me…


©Brandon Baker, 2010

Still Waiting...

Instigated and perpetrated,
frustrated thoughts of a yearning sated...
only to be negated
by reality's hatred for the imagination;
yielding me to the revelation,
or rather reaffirmation of my
feelings slain.
My heartbeats belated on mention of her name...


©Brandon Baker, 2010

Some damn good fuckin...

Its been a while since i done had someone that can do me right.
I mean they get me up...but they can't take it for the entire night.

This matter be too much for they mind.

They be doin it like some virgins
they clearly can't handle mine,
so I'm please to make your aquaintance.

You up on some DAMN GOOD FUCKIN!
..and thats apparently hard to find.

See I know I'm in for some GOOD shit witchu,
its sumtin burnin in ya eyes.

I watched you wrap your lips around the situation
...you took it ALL inside?!
Oh its OVA,
I'm definitely finna get mine.

Yeah, i noticed your body beauty;
that euphoric purgatory in your eyes.
Diamond-chiseled lips,
coke-bottle hips...
hot sine waves movin thru that onion behind
proceeding to entropy thru the gate of those thick ass thighs
that contain the softest place on earth and URGE the invite...

now that I'm looking,
GOT DAMN shawty!
...and the lord said "LET THERE BE FINE"

Sorry, I would've noticed sooner,
but u was giving me head...call me preoccupied.

Amidst your brain, I just died upon a kiss.

Since your assertion the fifth,
i been stuck on this.

I've had elation from our conversation,
This-Shit-Feels-Gooood...like electric relaxation.

I mean it!

...and I know we just met
but you got dat lexicon divine,
I'm already on my third orgasm,
cuz you been fuckin the SHIT outta my mind.


©Brandon Baker, 2010

About all this ho vs. wifey bulls***..., part 3

you cool, don't have to worry about belaboring the topic...the way i keep alluding to tangents, I feel like i could get a doctorate thesis or two out of this for Psych.

but lets see...
we can't ever really "always be this way," there has to be introduction to, and reinforcement of all socially accepted behaviors, attitudes, etc. Groups and intense social situations on any scale wield an immense power to change attitudes and behavior very quickly. It doesn't even have to be a group, but merely a charismatic leader who takes advantage of great opportunity created by the right situational factors. The best historical example is Hitler's rise. It will make sense if you bother to check out the real stories behind the end of WWI and all of WWII, I won't get into that because its way off topic.

As far as biological inheritance of attitudes, i can't really pose a clear cut response to that. The nature vs. nurture dispute is one of the greatest and most famous in the psychological world. Biology tells us that character traits are not inheritable and child psychologists have assert us that no child under the age range of 10 - 12 is capable of forming his/her own opinion...constructing his/her personal preferences, beliefs, attitudes and habits mainly from informational influence of those around him/her, primarily the parents. Many people still find basis for a belief in some natural transfer of attitudes though...for instance there's a theory out about the generational learned helplessness of the black race a a whole. I don't know a lot about that nature side, so i can't pose a balanced argument...I'll just leave that one up to you sort out for yourself.

As far as males accepting things with belief that they won't change...i don't think you should shift your thinking that way at all. That actually epitomizes the concept of learned helplessness. The human mind is complex and cannot be calculated in any sense, only predicted and guessed about. Everyone thinks in different ways and is influenced by certain things more so than others. its possible that the situation you pose is the case for a lot of men. learned helplessness occurs when one complies with or accepts something believing that it cannot be changed or helped. This happens after very strong reinforcement of failure; in this case, the persistence of norms we don't agree with. But as i said, children usually can't form their own opinions and attitudes until considerably late ages. Many men may receive such thinking in their every day childhood influences and come to believe it. Then you have to remember the power of society and norms. No one wants to be seen as to independent, as non-conformity comes with heavy prices, namely ostracism among others (holocaust, slavery?). men not agreeing with the norm but following anyway reminisces about the idea of cognitive dissonance. the men rationalize they're behavior with the need to fit in. There's also Groupthink to consider, and the different dimensions of persuasion. There are to many angles to approach that idea from, which is probably why they dedicate an entire class to the topic of gender in society alone. The sentiment you expressed may not always be the case with a person in question, but sadly it seems the idea behind it forms part of the basis for the perpetuation of these attitudes.

On the perceptions of women:
I'd say such perceptions, as part of cultural attitudes, were both socially constructed AND motivated. Very few parts of any person's attitudes or views of the world are constructed from the ground up , completely by that person and that person alone. Those parts that are, are done so primarily through personal experience, but obviously no man can "personally experience" every woman in the world (that sounds kinda nasty) . Like i said, most childrens initial attitudes are handed to them by the others around them. No kid comes out of the womb, saying "women are only good for fuckin!" They get that from somewhere. There are two basic types of influence:

Normative influence, which drives us to act, think, and feel as others would expect us to in order to create a favorable impression. and,

Informational influence, which changes our attitudes and behavior base on what we learn from other around us. For example, if you had never been to a poetry lounge, and after hearing someone deliver you stood and clapped loudly only to find all other around you snapping, you would snap for the rest of the night. that's informational influence, you learned how to cat from the others around you and changed your behavior accordingly.

People are exposed to both of these everyday...so its either a teenager on the corner objectifying a woman's body because his friends think its cool, or some American dude overseas slapping a Czech woman on her ass because that's how they say "hello" in the Czech republic. Everyone is influenced by everyone else, and everyone influences everyone else. Strict individual construction of attitudes is near impossible since your family and parent's tell you how to think until puberty, when peer pressure from middle and high school then influence your thinking, and then you have to kiss up to executives in the rest of the world to be successful career wise. I'd say the point at which one is most likely to have the greatest control over one's own attitudes is the first 1-2 years of college, where many are completely thrust away from all social groups they previously associated with (out of state students) and have not much reason to let anyone change their thinking accept for learning the ways of their new location...informational influence which mostly elicits only temp change in behavior and attitudes, lasting as long as the situation does.


©Brandon Baker, 2010

About all this hoe vs. wifey bulls***..., part 2

First of all, the base of this conversation:

http://purdue.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=2223662907&ref=mf

And now lets step back to who wrote this note. Previously I asserted my belief that it was a woman and asked that you accept that as true w/ no justification for the time being. Well here's justification.

I'm basing my assertion primarily on the phenomenon called the fundamental attribution error...which we're all more familiar with than you think. Stemming from Self serving bias, "the error" occurs when observing others. What happens is when we attempt to explain the behavior of others we almost invariably attribute their actions to intrinsic character traits, which, in the case of bad behavior, we see as character flaws. An easily imaginable scenario is when riding elevators. You might call an elevator from the second floor, board it when it comes and find yourself in another's company. When this person gets off on the next floor, the first natural thought is often that that person is lazy, having used an elevator to ascend one floor. When attempting to rationalize one's own actions, they are attributed to some external cause For example, when your elevator is halted on the 4th foor to pick up another passenger, and you disembark on the 5th floor, you won't consider yourself lazy for going up one floor on an elevator. You'll instead blame it on the fact that someone stopped your elevator one floor before our destination. In most cases, it will never cross your mind that the same might have occurred for the person you called lazy prior to your own incident.
Ok, getting to the relevance...the language in the original note attributed the supposed general behavior of all men to supposed internal character flaws of all men.
On further thought, I'd readily surmise that the writer was "wifey" or "thought" she was. Ciara brings up a good point, no woman in her right mind would relegate herself to being a bitch or a ho, unless she was self handicapping, but that's an entirely different direction to go in. Most every woman would consider herself "wifey material" for obvious reasons...self serving bias. Everyone's primary goal is self service and we would all clearly do anything to boost our own self-esteem and self concept. This is done less readily, but i don't think its entirely outrageous for any woman to consider herself a "boo," BUT, i do think that would only happen after time reveals to her her real place in a man's heart. Feeling like "wifey material" and then losing your other to another woman would cause a lot of cognitive dissonance, basically a discomfort caused by the need to rationalize the difference between what one thinks and what is. If this scenario were to occur to a woman, i believe she would readily explain what happened by deducing from th situation that she was i all actuality, a "boo," taking the title as a sort of "second place" or consolation prize.

For those reasons I'm not looking at this as the women putting themselves into categories, but I don't think its the men either. The men more or less, are just agreeing with what women say about each other.

As agreed (excuse the assumption, but i don't have reason to doubt it) no woman in her right mind would call herself a bitch...but what about that "bitch" tryna steal her man?

My hypothesis is this: naturally every woman reserves the high title for herself. at a low point, some might claim the second...but for the most part, the inclusion of the other three ranks are there to serve no other purpose than the being the infrastructure of a sort of caste system based on a woman's relationship with a man, to be used in primarily downward social comparison. The things that are most important in our societies become social criteria, and in this case, that's what a woman's relationship with a man is. Its analogous to your family's wealth, or where you live, etc. in American society. In american society: i got more money = i'm higher class. In this case: i'm more important to him = I'm higher class.
The lower ranks serve two purposes...two promote (one's self that is), and to discourage. Higher class "wifeys" will downwardly compare themselves to "ho's" to, again, boost their own self image. Parallel to that, they will also use the lower ranked labels to ostracize. We use ostracism to both punish deviant or unacceptable behavior in society, and to elicit the proper behavior and create conformity. "bitches, hos ,and boos" commit "crimes" within this little society and are accordingly punished. judgment depends on the intentions and relevance to the person judging, so its not exactly fair at all. For instance, one who thinks of herself as a "wifey" may only be a "boo" in a man's eye, as his actual "wifey" views the "boo" as a "ho" while the "boo" sees her the same way. and then there's all sorts of wierd situations that just make the whole system wrong...think of a scenario like "the one that got away." What if she comes back and the man she left once before still wants only her, but is in another relationship. does that make "the one who got away" a "ho?" there's too much ambiguity.

So do i think men created or dictated all this? I believe that they are 2000 years of strong social norms ans supporting stereotypes that do dictate/characterize a lot of the differences between, as well as behaviors and beliefs of men and women. I think that largest, most famous, inclusive, umbrella stereotypes are mostly created, perpetuated, and occasionally update by men, but i also believe that women play a more than critical part in the stereotype game as well. As i said before...everyone stereotypes, because it makes the world easier to deal with when we do. Women could be creating a complex web of sub stereotypes under those which they feel they can't escape...so that if they are to be thought of in a certain way for the majority of their lives, they can at least have their own system of control that allows them to accentuate and define all the more intricate details that the overly general stereotypes of men don't cover. Thus creating a somewhat false sense of individuality and distance from the norm. That is to assume, of course, that the stereotyping is one way. Women have been in control of some stereotypes about men as well. It's just that in a patriarchal society, the female opinion/belief is often (unfortunately, and please know this is not my belief) of little consequence. I've got a lot of theory on that, but that is yet another road to travel and this is long enough already.

Peace, be easy.


©Brandon Baker, 2010

About all this hoe vs wifey bulls***...

*smiles* this coincides so perfectly with my current studies in...I'm focusing on prejudice at the moment...specifically gender roles and prejudice. I love it when my education finds application.

First of all, Omari, and Juanita you might find this interesting given the little newsflash you issued in your response: I can tell you with superlative certainty that the words in question were arranged by a woman, either scorn or merely fearful of scorning. My justification is another post in itself, so take my word for it for now.

Given that, and one of the responses, from a man, to Cynequa's original post,
I'm inclined to elaborate on Omari's final statement by saying that the culture isn't losing its values, but is instead (and this is more disdaining) *adopting NEW values.* My studies teach me that Attitudes are comprised of beliefs (stereotypes like those presented) and behaviors (acting in accordance with those stereotypes). Further than that, the sad fact has been revealed to me (through countless studies) that members of stereotyped groups ACCEPT those stereotypes, a statement I'm sure we can all find plenty of examples for. This is the basis for the perpetuation of incorrect and/or overly generalized attitudes (particularly negative ones) that pigeonhole groups of people (like ourselves) into societal situations like the one black people are constantly facing.

Juanita's correct, at least for now, in her statement of the intentions of every woman, but since that note is circulating around and men are agreeing with it, I would not bank on such and attitude remaining true for too long. Soon, it MAY BE the case that every woman (at least of this and proceeding generations until something new comes up) wants to count herself among what appear two be the two superlative ranks of "Boo" and "Wifey."
We always say that actions speak louder than words, and we (humanity in general) found this to be true. Attitudes DO follow behavior, and if the newer generations continue to perpetuate these "standards," for lack of a better term, than this stereotype may become reality. That is assuming, of course, that has not already begun to occur. I say such a thing because people form stereotypes in order to generalize the world...to make it a little easier to function in. Stereotypes help us to know what to expect and how to act with a minimal amount of friction in other groups or cultures (Consider things like "dining ettiquete" or "political correctness," which is a just a form of subtle, patronizing prejudice in my opinion, but thats a joke to talk about another day.) So the fact that this one has formed, may be implicative of some cultural change that has already occurred among the next generation of black men and women, as when numerous outliers break our stereotypes and perceptions, we react by either extending previously existing ones or creating new ones...for example, refer to your common perception of an Olympian, and then consider wheel-chair Olympians, senior Olympians, and other such spin-offs of the concept.

I'll speak no more on the subject for now. I have to apologize if anyones feels as though i'm making this to empirical.

But this does bring one other interesting fact to mind...kind of off topic, but consider this:

Question: "Misogyny" is the hatred of women. What is the corresponding word for the hatred of men?
...
...
...
Answer: In most dictionaries, no such word exists.

the original note for refrence:
http://purdue.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=2223662907&ref=mf

Juanita's response and rest of conversastion:
http://purdue.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=2225923607&ref=nf

Peace, Be easy.


©Brandon Baker, 2010

I Thought of You Today

The volume of the world muffled and colors became more vibrant.
Muscles non-compliant, I borrowed a listless gaze from the azzure sky.

People surrounded me on the street
screamin stuff about fatigue.
"I THINK HE'S DEhydraa-"
...that voice fades.
My mind careened into daydreams,
call me spirited away.

I was weary indeed: vexed,
I knew of bliss unseen,
and that knowledge made the coming experience deep.

In a profound state,
displaced from the body
I walked with the spirit,
I talked to the heart,
saw the flame in my soul
and rested upon its hearth.

I climbed the sairway to heaven
simply to fall again,
but not before I would query:
"Why fall in love, when we can stand?"

I ascended again, to the greatest altitude of my mind,
and there witnessed what would've drove any common fool blind.

I saw a sunrise on the horizon of my thoughts,
and I feasted on its rays
as a rainbow quenched my thirst with its iridescent haze.

Once sated I sat
catching every fast paced grain,
that tried to pass my face.
Nothing could pass this plane,
I had a firm grasp of time and space.

And with it I built a higher mountain
of the sands that time provided me;
the hopes, dreams, and plans born inside of me;
with all of the capability I didn't know applied to me,
and by the beat in my heart that had always been there to guide me.

It was mostly me, mastered.
It was captured shortly thereafter,
enraptured in a portrait the colors of the wind comprised.
To me, the heavens cried,
and to them I replied.
I courted divinity simply to find that a sobriquet;
a rose by another name.
When I kissed that rose, a stifling light hit the gloom on the grey.
I came back to consciousness, as she pulled her lips away,
and with those lips, predictably, she would say
"What happened? Are you feeling okay?"
To which I could only reply "Fine, I just...thought of you today."


©Brandon Baker, 2010

DatCS(Dude.Writes)

...I have no trouble admitting it when I'm incorrect OR right,
I've conquered weakness, i just handicap myself for the insight;
they say the pen defeats the sword, so with the sword sometimes I write.
I've got the patience of a saint, satan: a million ways I spite.
I'll rid the world of evil 'fore the next forty days and nights.
Through this language, with this verse is how I choose to bring the light,
I'll float your brain on sumtin prolific like a lyric'lly stringed kite...
I'll toss your thoughts, throw you random, blind your brain with ideas bright...
lend an ear, ill share my world, to my thoughts you've gained invite,
and if a pseudonym for me, your intelect, it will excite,
then simply call me:
...DatCS(Dude.Writes);

©Brandon Baker, 2010

Individuality

I am. The Individual I've grown to be has come to fruition as the result of some need this planet and the other individuals on it have, and their lack of the ability to produce or provide it. I, like you and those you know, am a different person because no one else on this planet is able to perform at least one of the indespensible talents or purposes bestowed upon me as well as I. The anomilies I cause in life and society provide countlesss amounts of knowledge and experience vital to others, and are in and of themselves, Necessitiy. Thus I am her son: the supplemental solution of Invention; only the unique combination of thoughts, emotions, character traits, metamoprhic physical eminence, proposed metaphysical existence; and perhaps other components beyond humanity's cognative faculty, that society has affectionately labeled "Brandon," can create them.
Therefore, I embrace my Individuality.


©Brandon Baker, 2010

Stand In It

Why "fall" in Love, when we can STAND in it?
Love is a DEEP, tender, ineffable feeling of affection and solicitude toward a person. Thus, if we "fall" in Love and stay there, as we often do, we drown in it.
It beomes fatal, and therefore contra-indicative to its purpose of improving the lives of those who experience it.
"Falling" in Love is the cause for the need to "rebound" or "revive" one's spirits when a relationship ends.
So why continue the destructive path?
Love is a DEEP feeling...one we can stand in.
So the next time you feel like you're "falling" in Love...stand up, and Love "should" follow your shoulders. If it remains with your ankles, move out of the shallow end of the pool.

©Brandon Baker, 2010

A Definition by Words

A definition by words is a means of decieving one's self;
a method...for exploring the meanining of one's self;
construed correctly, a tool for esteeming one's self;
molded righteously, the path to freeing one's self;
beckoned in times of need, the one called help
when reality doesn't agree with one's self;
An inherent duality...the flawed creation of self.
a definition by words is a means of deceiving one's self,
and is thus, meaning-less before the truth.


©Brandon Baker, 2010

...don't ever forget the moment you began to doubt
transitionin from fittin in to standin out.
BEEN between the cracks to catch you when the safety nets fell out
console you, and show you what dis new crowd was all about.

Even the outcasts form a new class,
and e'rybody take da red pill in rehab,
but e'ry so often we all tenda slide back,
peak over the fence, and worry bout the verdancy of the grass...

And what we ain't up on is an emergency of the past.
The urge to make it relevant will also soon pass.