Check Yourself: Chippy D

Montana Fishburne, daughter of Laurence Fishburne is starring in a sex tape in an effort to catapult herself into the spotlight and land serious acting roles. Inspired by the publicity and subsequent celebrity that Kim Kardashian’s sex tape afforded her, Montana, stage name: Chippy D, hopes to have the same type of success. "I'm impatient about getting well-known and having opportunities and this seemed like a great way to get started,” said Montana B.K.A. Chippy D recently.

First off, Chippy D is not at all an improvement over Montana (alias FAIL) and more importantly, porn is not a stepping-stone to serious acting roles (master plan FAIL). If one wants to be well known for their sexual prowess and is excited for opportunities to perform fellatio for compensation, then yes, porn is an excellent idea. But if one wants the opportunity to act in critically acclaimed films or movie franchises, porn is a terrible idea.

Adult film stars are not known for their incredible acting ability or range of emotion. They are more easily recognized by their body parts than their headshots. As such, more often than not, their goals of mainstream stardom are hampered by their previous works.

Before rushing off and releasing a sex tape to garner fame: develop a talent, a penchant for hard work, and a viable plan of action, maybe even ask your actor/director/producer/playwright father for a little advice or a few introductions. Just remember - all publicity is not good publicity and there are usually ramifications for poor decisions. Especially when those decisions are imprinted indelibly on (celluloid) the Internet.

Check yourself before you wreck yourself. A reputation is a terrible thing to waste.

Anger Mongers

Have you ever watched someone in the throes of indignation? Seen their complexion change as their blood boiled? Heard the deluded excitement of their rage-full rants? For some Anger is a perverted happiness. They revel in their malcontent. These people coddle minor irritations, fanning their flame when they threaten to dissipate, thrusting them forth when they inhabit only the dimly lit corners of their mind. They do this to divert attention from things of actual importance. Instead of finding the solution to a problem, these people prefer to rest on the laurels of the problem itself. The concept of forgiveness is as alien to them as a blossoming plant is to arid land. They don’t realize that forgiveness is more for oneself than for whomever it is that has committed the violation. So, they allow anger to put down roots and entwine itself with their being. They nurture this negativity, unwittingly at first, but eventually it delights and defines them.

Sanctioned Savagery

A friend of mine recently posted a link to an article about a young man who was gunned down by police on New Year’s Day. In addition to the link was the following comment:
“What happened in Oakland was way worse than what happened to Rodney King”.

What Happened in Oakland:
A Bay Area Rapid Transit officer shot 22 year old Oscar Grant in the back. He was unarmed and laying prone on the ground with an officer’s knee in his back when he was fatally wounded. Grant had been pulled off of the train, along with a few other gentlemen, following an altercation in one of the cars.


What Happened to Rodney King:
Four Los Angeles Police officers viciously beat 25 year old Rodney King. He was unarmed and had been tasered multiple times before the beating commenced. King had been pulled over for driving recklessly and for suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol. King did not immediately pull over when he was instructed to and he also resisted arrest initially.

There is absolutely no need to compare two instances of excessive violence. I understand a life was lost in the shooting of an unarmed man who was face down and visibly subdued by officers, BUT four officers beating one man over 50 times with heavy duty weaponry AFTER said man has been tasered isn't anything to sniff at either. Excessive force by the police is reprehensible and obviously has not been dealt with strongly enough in the past and I am of the opinion that you belittle the experiences of others with statements like the one my friend posted. Police brutality is sickening period point blank.

to read a more detailed report about Grant's murder go here:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/01/06/BART.shooting/

Ignoramus

1.) "Everybody and their mama are trying to get out of Africa."

Reverend Jesse Lee Peterson is of the opinion that because Africa is plagued by various conflicts, people are trying to leave en masse. People may very well flee Africa for a life of greater mobility/stability. But what is the root of the conflicts that leave their nations war torn and in abject poverty? A large part of the difficulties facing African nations can be traced back to colonialism. Colonizers educated Africans with basic skills that benefited the colonizers and did not afford Africans the chance to develop their intellect or skills that would be useful in building and maintaing their own communities, independent of colonial influence. In addition to being poorly educated, demoralized and debased, colonizers divided Africa amongst themselves and paid no attention to language, cultural boundaries, or the religious affiliations of the people whom these arbitrary borders grouped together. They forced people with different beliefs and methods of communication to co-exist under one banner. Bishop Desmond Tutu summed up one of the many tolls of colonialism when he said:

"When the missionaries came to Africa they had the Bible and we had the land. They said,“Let us pray.” We closed our eyes. When we opened them we had the Bible and they had the land."


2.) "The white man came and brought us to the greatest country in the world."

Reverend Jesse Lee Peterson is thankful slavery bought blacks to a nation better off than most in Africa. BUT...It wasn't great until slave labor made it so. Should not this "great nation" be thankful for the African labor that tilled the land and bought great wealth and opportunity to its European settlers? Or maybe it should be grateful for the rich cultural influence of slaves and their descendants? Or for the myriad inventions and technological advancements brought into existence by Blacks? The answer is vehemenently YES to all questions posed above!!!


3.) "The ride over was tough...but no worse than riding on a crowded airplane when you're not in first class."

Reverend Jesse Lee Peterson believes that not having adequate space to stretch one's limbs, not having fresh air to breathe or water to drink, being whipped mercilessly, living in immensely hot quarters with an unbearable stench and being exposed to all manner of disease and human rights violations is no worse than dealing with a poor selection of in-flight beverages and the poor attitudes of surly flight attendants.


4.) "Thank God for the Arabs who sold us and the white folks that bought us."


5.) "The pain for freedom was tough...the pain was all for the sake of freedom."


I don't have the strength to adequately address those last two gems but I will leave you with this: The negative effects of slavery on blacks are innumerable and thus greatly overshadow any supposed benefits. Reverend Peterson should think about the toll slavery took on the African continent and the psyche of Blacks both deceased and unborn before making any other abominable comments.

Prop H8TE

Hate is a vile emotion that poisons our psyche and blinds us. It stifles our thought process. It causes us to make decisions out of fear and ignorance rather than clear reasoning and legal validity. It has no place in our heads and hearts and it definitely has no place in government. This sentiment is made abundantly apparent in the Equal Protection Clause.

The clause is a portion of the 14th amendment to the United States Constitution. It states that all citizens are entitled to equal protection under the law. This means that no matter what your race, gender, or sexual orientation you’re entitled to equal respect, equal dignity and equal representation.

On May 15th 2008, 4 out of 3 California Supreme Court Justices voted to overturn a ban on gay marriage. They did this because marriage is a basic civil right and denying any person this right is unlawful. They did this because persecution based on sexual orientation should not be tolerated. They did this because, as former Supreme Court Justice John Marshall Harlan once wrote, “In view of the Constitution, in the eye of the law, there is in this country no superior, dominant, ruling class of citizens. There is no caste here.” Which means no group of people has the right to deny any other group of people their basic rights.



On November 5th 2008, Prop 8 did just that! It overturned the decision made by the California Supreme Court seven months prior and amended the California State Constitution’s definition of marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Prop 8 ultimately declared that Gays were second class citizens capable of being stripped of basic rights because religious zealots and other small-minded people found the thought of same sex marriage sacrilege and/or revolting.

The reasoning behind not wanting gay marriage is illogical. The fact that it was even on the ballot is utterly ridiculous. This past Saturday, November 15th 2008, a nationwide protest against the ratification of Prop 8 was held. Massive amounts of people rallied in support of gay marriage and civil rights. It was a hugely important step but the fight has just begun. I implore everyone to get involved in their communities and do what they can to reverse this decision no matter what their personal view or tolerance level towards same sex relationships is. One of the most often quoted phrases from the declaration of Independence has something to do with man’s inalienable rights. They are listed as being “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”. Denying gay people the right to marry those they love is a blatant denial of their right to pursue happiness. It is hateful, it is wrong and you have the power to stop it. Choose to.

And watch the vid below. Ashton is cute and his passion is inspiring.