Mark Your Calendars!!

Meet me at St. Ignatius Loyola Academy for my first book signing! Get your signed copy of Fate's Destiny and be sure to bring someone with you who may want a copy as well! Looking forward to seeing you :)

Dame Dash Interview or a Business 101 Course...?

Just when you thought he was gone for good, Dame Dash is back in the public eye. Dame has gone and set the internet and social media on fire with an interview he did on The Breakfast Club morning show that's already turned into a classic.

Known for speaking his mind and not biting his tongue, Dame spoke at length about a number of topics. His most controversial and biting remarks, however, came when he spoke about being an employee versus being your own boss. Dame more or less quoted Sonny's "the working man is a sucker" speech from A Bronx Tale, saying that there was no pride in coming to work everyday and having to answer to another person. Dude essentially gave the entire morning show a lesson in how to start a business.

He definitely lived up to the perception people have of him--fair or not--of being arrogant, and came across as condescending at times as well. But the underlying message he was striving to deliver was a good one. Now Damon Dash has been called a lot of things in life, no doubt, but no one can ever call the man stupid. While his delivery could have been better, Dame essentially wants to see black people put up their own money and own their own businesses and companies, working together while doing so. I couldn't agree with him more! There's nothing wrong with wanting to see people take ownership and become their own boss. He wants people to take the lumps and bruises that come with starting a business and veer away from the safety of a 9 to 5 gig, so they can have something to give to their future generations. It just boggles his mind that others don't want the same for themselves.

This is in fact nothing new for Dame. Just peep these excerpts from an interview he did with Vibe Magazine months ago:

I can't necessarily agree with him wholeheartedly however. Not everyone has the luxury of being able to up and leave their job and start their own business. At some point, we all have someone to answer to. A person with responsibilities to those dependent on him, such as children, a spouse, elderly parents, etc., can't be expected to simply put themselves out there when the risks greatly outweigh the reward. And frankly, some people simply don't want to deal with the hassle that comes with owning a business. I see where he's coming from when he pushes for people to be their own boss, but at the same time I can't knock someone who has no desire to go down that route. But that's just me...

He later states in his Breakfast Club interview that there is in fact nothing with having a day job and generating a source of income for yourself--he just wants black people to want more for themselves. After you get the money that you work for, take that same income and then flip it by investing in something that you own so that eventually you can become your own boss.

The interview in its entirety is below. It's a bit over an hour long and has some tense and hilarious moments, but definitely a good listen.

Southern Hospitality

Special thanks to the crew of The Mississippi Link for the review on Fate's Destiny and introducing me to their readers in Mississippi! Just might need to take a trip down there myself :-)

Click on the link below and check out the review on page 15 of the e-Edition of the paper.

Thanks again for the support!

Fate's Destiny a Powerful Read

Latest Article in The Catholic Review

I forgot to post this, but here is the most recent article I had published. It was published in The Catholic Review newspaper here in Baltimore on February 12. I wrote a feature on three people who were chosen by their parishes to receive the Mother Mary Lange Award. If you care to read the feature article, the link is below!

Mother Mary Lange Award Recipients Honored to be Chosen

Kanye West: Hero or Villian?

Kanye West, hip hop's hero without a cape.

As many who know me can attest to, I am a HUGE Kanye West fan. In my opinion, he's one of the few rappers who has consistently put out good music throughout his career, all while taking risks musically in order to grow as an artist. As far as I'm concerned, the man has yet to put out a bad album--his two polarizing albums, 808s & Heartbreak and Yeezus, showed that you couldn't pigeonhole him as a typical rapper. 808s featured his best overall work as a producer and his most emotionally honest and vulnerable lyrics; Yeezus was nothing short of a canvas eloquently painted with his creativity.

And yes, I know I'm a bit late with this (more like EXTREMELY late with it lol) but Kanye's crashing the stage at the 57th Grammy Awards was seemingly done in jest...that is until he explained why he did so afterwards during a post-Grammys interview with the E! network. Kanye lambasted the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences for its lack of respect towards hip hop artists and the music they create. He initially criticized Beck, who won Album of the Year over Beyonce, but later clarified those remarks, saying they were meant for the Academy, not Beck. His words and actions predictably caused its fair share of backlash. But that's because many don't see where he's coming from.

Talented artists or culture vultures?

Ironically, the same people who ridicule the Miley Cryruses and Iggy Azaleas of the world for profiting off of black culture and not respecting it don't see that that's what Kanye is truly upset with. It's like the powers that be that is the Academy says "y'all can win a Grammy in your own category, but that's as close to the table as you're gonna get." Think about it--when was the last time a hip hop album or song won a major award at the Grammys such as Album of the Year or Song or the Year, or Record of the Year, despite the fact that hip hop dominates the airwaves and pop culture itself?

Sam Smith and Adele essentially sing R&B tunes...but the Academy will categorize it as "pop." That's where the man's beef lies, in the Academy not respecting hip hop as an art form nor its artists. And frankly it never has. Kanye's problem is his message always gets lost in his over-dramatic delivery. He has admittedly stated in the past that he's not the best at getting his points across in a diplomatic fashion. Be that as it may, that still does not change the fact that what he's saying is true. He wants the powers that be to give the artists their just due. Maybe he's asking for too much and is overly ambitious in his desires, but you can't fault the man for wanting his genre to be respected, especially with all of its undeniable influence and indelible thumbprint on society.

Kanye's Shakespearean tragic flaw just might be his ambition.

Now, I am by no means a Kanye West apologist--I don't agree with everything he says and does the same way I don't agree with everything my friends and family members say and do--but I often understand where he comes from when he goes on his "rants." It's so easy for people to dismiss someone and what they say when they don't say it how we want them to say it. It's much harder to discern the root issue, and gain understanding of a person and why he/she feels how they feel.