Why I Stopped Watching Basketball Wives

OK, let me put away some more childish things - I'm going to put away "Basketball Wives" and join in on the call to have shows like that one taken off the air. It sends the wrong message about black women. I don't want my nieces to grow up and think that is an acceptable way to communicate - it's not the way grown women should behave, it's not putting our best selves forward - in fact, the brothers who used to deal with these babes are probably sitting together, high fiving one another saying 'Glad I got out when I did," or “See, I told you she was crazy...”

As crazy as The Real Housewives is, Basketball Wives is that to the tenth power. They can't go back to any high profile places – they've been kicked out of casinos in Florida, restaurants in California, and resorts around the planet. Yes, they've taken their drama international, so people all over the world expect a group of black women to bust out into a fight. So the next time you cross the pond, you can expect people to start putting away the good china - right in your face. It's humiliating to be lumped in with such a crowd. They put the ghetto in ghetto fabulous, they put the project in project bunnies, and the hootch in hootchie mamas!

Now, I will admit I got a few new catchphrases off the show. But the bottom line is that it makes it is a distraction. “You're the only Bible some people will ever read,” was the #1 lesson at Mary Kay, and it seemed trite at the time, but it translated into not leaving the house until you were in a Mary Kay frame of mind – kind, considerate, ready to give a sincere compliment to any and all. It's hard for me to imagine that these women have anything other than a punching bag to go home to, but in fact three of them run very successful businesses.

It's unfortunate that Shaunie has to wonder whether or business associates look at her and think she's a “ghetto hot mess”. Wonder no further my sister, that's exactly what they think. The question you need to ask is “Are they going to continue to think that way???? Good-bye Basketball Wives, I'm going to use that hour to make some money!

A Half Century of Progress

Things you are told that make you realize you aren't 21 anymore:

How old are you? Oh, you just need some glasses....

Well, your blood pressure goes up as you age....

Do you get hot flashes?

You're asking for a student discount?????

Hold on, I need another bottle of brown blaze glo

We need the opinion of someone who was around when Bobby Kennedy ran...

Yes, that's right... fifty years ago today the Patrice Brazil era began, and the world hasn't been the same since..... I can't even begin to list what's changed since I was born, but what I remember is that the President said that black people should receive equal treatment under the law and his head was literally blown off. His brother said the same thing and he was gunned down like a duck in a shooting gallery. Their youngest brother was one of the greatest Senators ever and when he died his Senate seat went to an idiot cover boy. So if you wonder why I'm at the Obama office every Thursday and Sunday – that's why.

I remember that learning is it's own reward. If we were as concerned about making sure everyone had the best possible education available as we are about people not jumping in front of us on the highway, we'd be a nation of geniuses! Schools that don't have more computers than students are not up to par – a child's education is more important than flower pots and new garbage cans.

I remember that a small gesture can reap large rewards. I had a temp whose vision was so bad she had to hold the paper up to her face to see the wording. I bought her some reading glasses from Walgreen's and she was as excited as if I had bought her a fur coat – she hasn't had a headache since then. A solution that simple shouldn't take that long.

I remember that you have to bring your best to the table everyday. From the first day I walked into the Palmer House to everyday I go the State, no day is the same, and yet everyday is the eternal struggle to bring the best solution to what seems at the time to be an insurmountable problem. The answer is generally how would you like it handled if it were you?

That's what I remember about the last fifty years – let's see what I can make happen in the next fifty....