The Hip Hop Anthropologist

 I am a man. I’ve been a man for a long time. I’m also an intellectual. I was a precocious child. For a while, I was a thug. Some would argue—incorrectly—I still am. I’m a martial artist. Not gifted or polished. But I know what I know. I can apply those skill sets in a street self-defense situation with little effort. So those who know that part of my background would call me an intelligent thug. But like most folks, I’m more than the sum of my parts. And yet—I’m scared. Not of people. Not of violence. Not of hardship. I’ve never been scared of anyone or anything in my life. But I see the precursors of something we’ve never faced before in this country. I see thoughtful, highly educated people defending a common criminal, conflating loyalty with legitimacy, and rationalizing the erosion of constitutional guardrails. What’s forming isn’t just conflict—it’s total collapse. And before we even get to that point, we need to confront what’s already happened. A high court, scared out of i...

 DEI always has been a canard, a red herring; a race-based grievance by under performing, under educated white ethnics envious of the immense strides made by educated racial minorities, who achieved upward mobility white ethnics presumed was their birthright, in spite of the huge ball and chain Black folks carry on our way up the ladder to success. Trump's entire administration is riddled by and infected with photogenic, camera-ready mediocrities who could not collectively manage their way outta a wet paper bag. If their immigrant dad was a trade unionist, they were admitted to the craft, guild, or trade. If their parents attended a prestigious college or university, they received preferential admission treatment. There was no bar exam for lawyers in many states until Blacks began graduating from law school. No exam to practice psychology 'til '65. No tuition at public colleges. The retirement age used to be 65. Ronald Reagan changed it to 67 parring back and ...

 Not to worry. The tattered remnants of the Grand Oaf Party will emerge like a specter from the ashes of our moribund democracy to push back against trumpty dumpty's authoritarian yearnings once chump the brain dead comic carnival barker aka klueless the klown starts the wholesale dismantling of the intelligence community (which has been eerily silent knowing tRump is a spy at best, a Manchurian candidate at worse), breaking long-standing treaties like NATO, the Abraham Accords, and the Paris Climate Treaty; green lights China's annexation of Taiwan, destabilizes the 27 resource-rich Sub-Saharan African [read that: "shithole"] countries on an industrial scale enabling his billionaire buddies to exploit these countries free of interference by popular, democratically elected leaders, while giving Israel free reign to totally decimate the Palestinians. The internal strife, the civil war, coupled by a House prayfully led by Hakeem Jeffries will render MAGA impotent after ...