Disqus - Latest Comments for BrownManATL

Re: BREAKING NEWS: Tavis Smiley is a sellout, and a Slave Catcher.

RiPPa — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 23:49:36 -0000

Brown man, as a brother who has worked in sales and marketing for the last 18yrs, I had to try and bring this as simple as I could for people to understand. Over at JJP they wasn't feeling me the other night. Like you said, there is no way he knew "the game".

Re: BREAKING NEWS: Tavis Smiley is a sellout, and a Slave Catcher.

BrownManATL — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 21:12:17 -0000

I was in the mortgage biz for almost ten years - may have to go back into it - the bottom line is this is a sticky wicket.

Tavis could have trumpeted the low low fixed rates we could have gotten for these seminar attendees from the rooftops - they wouldn't have taken them.

Prequal a negro in the ATL for 150K at 6.00% on a 30 year fixed back in those days and your ass would be eating a air sandwich for lunch.

""I got PAY $4500 at closing? My girlfriend got money back when she bought her house. And we got the same job, same pay, and she got a loan for 200k. What I care about a FHA?"

So long as a 100% financing was out there, talking about responsible borrowing was a waste of breath.

The mortgage business fucked itself, though, by telling every bag boy they could sling loan apps - too many people with no real understanding of financial planning principles, including those who worked at Washington Mutual and Wells Fargo, were sitting there supposedly "advising" a borrower on the biggest financial decision of their lives.

I had borrowers telling me "I need to run this by my pastor." For what? So he could pray about it?

Tavis was sold a bill of goods by the marketing people, whose spiel has no relationship to the Mafia style shit that goes on on the sales floor.

Tavis had no idea what yield spread premium was. Or why house fees are often bullshit instant profit margin boosters. Or how certain lenders (non-FHA) would take an appraisal from any cowboy with a camera and a computer who could shoot them somebody's supervisory license.

I don't like Tavis at all, but I had to write this because the assumption here is that Tavis should have been able to see them coming.

He can't.

YOU can't.

These people are good.

They are somewhere, right now, thinking of ways to fuck you out of your money without technically breaking the law.

Re: Obama Indoctrinates America’s Youth Using NASCAR Drivers

BrownManATL — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 00:41:00 -0000

Where Are The White People With Good Sense?

EXCERPT

"Where are the white people with good sense these days?

Are you out there?

Because a frenzied subset of our paler population are withdrawing their budding genuises from school today so that Little Johnny will not have to be subjected to listening to that bad, bad man, Mr. Barack Obama himself, otherwise known to us real Americans as the president of the United States."

Re: Van Jones a Communist ? The "Community Orgnizer"? Uh oh, those smart Negroes are always up to something aren't they?

RiPPa — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 15:16:26 -0000

I'm trying to continue along the path of truth, but some people are just in denial, when it comes to race matters

Re: Van Jones a Communist ? The "Community Orgnizer"? Uh oh, those smart Negroes are always up to something aren't they?

BrownManATL — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 02:42:28 -0000

Rippa, you should write longer posts like I do - it would keep some of these crazy people off of your site.

They only go to the "Obama Hate" post I did a year ago that looked at the kind of hatred against him that was swirling around the web - probably because its the post with the most pictures and the least amount of words.

The good thing is the sensible majority of americans are moving closer to accepting the Obama presidency as the normal course of events with every day that passes, which will very shortly leave this kind of anachronistic thinking high and dry.

Losing UPS was a big blow to the Glen Beck show.

The banshees will be howling louder with every cancellation - "hit dogs will holler."

I say "howl baby howl".

Keep hitting them where they live, Rippa.

Re: JJP Call For Open Feedback On Writing, Tech And Community. Survey!

BrownManATL — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 21:41:00 -0000

JJP is to my internet as The Tom Joyner Morning Show is to my radio - I gotta have it or my day just ain't going to go right.

The only thing I would like to see is a way to harness some of the energy of your fellow bloggers like me to come up with a way to run an adjunct think tank, an entity that we the black blogging community can use to expand the nation's political narrative by releasing our own studies or reports so they can be dissected, and more importantly, QUOTED by the MSM and other news venues.

We bloggers are not putting enough of our raw meat into the sausage they end up calling news in TV and newspaper land.

The right wing has more think tanks and foundations than you can shake a stick at, all publishing all manner of arcane and obscure studies or reports that are only meant to dominate the political discussion of the day.

Also, I am ready to buy my ticket to "Jack and Jill Politics: The Documentary" that shows what goes into running a 7 day a week internet enterprise on a shoestring budget.

Congratulations again to all of you on keeping the flagship of the black political blogosphere running like a top!

Brown Man
www.brownmanthinkinghard.com

Re: It’s Getting Heated Now….Brown Man has some thoughts

Plantsmantx — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 23:26:12 -0000

I'm not going to spend a lot of time on the Jena 6 thing, but what you don't understand is that it wasn't a matter of black people having their heartstrings pulled by the Jena 6. It was a matter of self-preservation. One doesn't have to think they did the right thing in jumping on Barker in order to see that...any more than anyone had to condone what Ernesto Miranda did in order to appreciate what came out of his situation with the law.

Re: It’s Getting Heated Now….Brown Man has some thoughts

Plantsmantx — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 23:26:12 -0000

double post deleted.

Re: It’s Getting Heated Now….Brown Man has some thoughts

BrownManATL — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 22:04:03 -0000

I guess its time to go spend a little time with the real life fam - this has been great today, duking it out here with the JJPer's - this will always be one of my favorite sites on the web.

Since we've been talking a lot about white people today, I think this series I did last year will do a better job than I can today to illuminate where I am on this:

White Americans And The Politics Of Race: A 5 Part Series

although I think I only ended up doing four parts, and this one might give you a better sense of where I am with regards to what black Americans need to be doing:

What Do We Want: A Five Part Series

Enjoy

Re: It’s Getting Heated Now….Brown Man has some thoughts

Mirandalynn — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 21:47:32 -0000

If I'm not mistaken, i think they had contests for certain things too. All I remember is being the "prop" for a cousin in the cosmetology class when I was about 9.

Re: It’s Getting Heated Now….Brown Man has some thoughts

Val2 — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 21:32:38 -0000

Hi Brown Man - no need. you did the right thing. I posted a response to Miranda below that should clarify everything. Today was a good day all around. I have valuable/usuable materials and perspectives to take to my fellow volunteers. No need to go back and do a thing.

Kudos to JJP posters.

Enjoy your night.

Re: It’s Getting Heated Now….Brown Man has some thoughts

Plantsmantx — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 21:05:02 -0000

"Tighten up that diet"? I don't know...I'm 5'11", 170 pounds, I don't consider myself "assimilated", and have no desire to become so. Watching my diet isn't "acting white". You seem to think it is. This seems like deja vu, because I think I've typed these words on this blog before, but whose eyes are you looking at black people through?

"We've got to quit hoisting up artificial boundaries."
It's not so much about hoisting up boundaries as it is about recognizing the ones that are already there, and not trying to pretend they aren't there. As far as I can tell, Town isn't worried about assimilating. Seems to me that she was pretty explicit in saying that.

Re: It’s Getting Heated Now….Brown Man has some thoughts

BrownManATL — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 20:47:27 -0000

My school had the same thing - they called it "COVEC" - half a day tyope thing.

Guys almost came to blows trying to get into body shop class.

A couple of them rebuilt their own cars in that class.

Re: It’s Getting Heated Now….Brown Man has some thoughts

BrownManATL — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 20:45:02 -0000

I'd go back and list the names of those posters who irritated me, but I need to do something real quick - I guess you can just take it from me, now that you guys have hammered your point home, that Town and I are saying essentially the same thing - although I am having a problem with the assimilation thing, but I'll table that for now.

Re: It’s Getting Heated Now….Brown Man has some thoughts

BrownManATL — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 20:41:51 -0000

Jena 6 was my own addition.

I was probably more pissed at the kinds of slack assed responses her (his?) post brought - don't know this poster, but a lot of the buster assed posts that followed hers veered so far of the track into insanity I had to write something.

I'm going to say the same thing to those on this board (which may not include you, P.) that I say to the teenager in this house - "if you keep your hand closed, nothing can get in it. If you open it up, you might just get a helping hand when you need it."

I never thought about having white friends that much growing up, but now that I've had them, some of them for decades, it doesn't seem like that big a deal.

We've got to quit hoisting up artificial boundaries. Quit worrying so much about assimilating. You might just lose a few bad habits along the way. Tighten up that diet. And broaden your horizons, without having to leave the country to do it.

White people will not eat us. And after we remind them that we won't eat them either, it is surprising how well we can get along.

Most of the white people you will know in your life don't have the power to do anything to you. They can't afford to sell their homes when you move next door anymore. They can't afford to quit the job when you become the boss. So they learn to live with you.

The ones who you need to be worried about are the ones who can afford to segregate themselves - the rich. And these days, not even all of them.

I'd take all this excess energy we use worrying about white folks and put it to use getting RayRay's ass off that corner.

Re: It’s Getting Heated Now….Brown Man has some thoughts

Mirandalynn — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 20:38:32 -0000

You could take remedial everything in my high school twenty five years ago. Even the slow kids graduated in 4 years.

hmmm....that reminds me to ask my Dad something.
I dont know when it started, but I know it ended in the early 90s...but in the county I grew up in, students who were not on the college track or military track, once they got to the 10th grade - they could go to the technical school for half a day. They took the core basic math, english, social studies, history in the morning, then went to the county technical center. This center taught trades...students could take cosmetology, plumbing, electrical services, auto mechanic, etc..a plethora of trades. You decided which you wanted to be, and for the next 3 years,that's what you learned - and that was half of their high school credits...so by the time you graduated from high school, you were ready to take the final steps to being licensed for that trade. For some trades, students who turned 18, could go ahead and take the tests and be all set upon graduation. This was an excellent program from all accounts. Students could learn a good trade and have the tools to be productive. It was just yanked away and I cannot figure out why. As you can imagine, the drop out rate at my old high school is 20 times what it was before they took that school away.

Re: It’s Getting Heated Now….Brown Man has some thoughts

Mirandalynn — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 20:18:04 -0000

Ok I'm missing something. I read your post...I read Town's post..but i dont see any opposition (perse), and the other comments lead me to believe I should. I just saw different points being raised about a common problem. I would expect that since different people will see it from different perspectives.... but both you and Town stressed the exact same conclusion...education is key. What did I miss?

Re: It’s Getting Heated Now….Brown Man has some thoughts

Plantsmantx — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 20:13:46 -0000

I read what she wrote too, and I didn't get the sense that she's "Afrocentric"; I didn't get the sense that she believes pursuing an education, etc. is "acting white", or that she's afraid of being charged with that offense. Most of her comment concerns how many racist whites try to check blacks and minotities at every turn. It's the truth-why not acknowledge it? Acknowledging it isn't "being afraid". She didn't say anything about the Jena 6. She didn't reject education:

"I think black and hispanic communities should stress education NOT as a way to assimilate and gain acceptance into the larger white society (that’s never going to happen) but stress education as a way to build up their own communities instead."

Re: It’s Getting Heated Now….Brown Man has some thoughts

BrownManATL — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 19:56:18 -0000

These things Pearl listed DON"T COST ANY MONEY. As a matter of fact, some of them will save you money.

They are things we CAN START DOING TODAY.

They don't require any drama, TV crew, government grants, or exotic psychological protocol.

Re: It’s Getting Heated Now….Brown Man has some thoughts

BrownManATL — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 19:52:20 -0000

I don't have to make any assumptions - I can read what he wrote.

Some things are period dot.

Educating our black children, even if it hurts them, and God forbid, give their parents a little extra knowledge to boot, is not an option.

Its as necessary as oxygen.

Jena 6 protests are bullshit when we are not graduating from the very same schools.

But education doesn't tug at the heartstrings like "injustice".

Re: It’s Getting Heated Now….Brown Man has some thoughts

ochyming — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 19:37:16 -0000

An education doesn't guarantee anything…

OH, no!
I was stupid enough to snob going to college (15 year ago) to became a pharmacist, i chose to teach myself how to paint in order to become a painter. If i could go back in time …

Proper training is key in becoming economically independent (2nd best thing after emotional independence.).

Re: It’s Getting Heated Now….Brown Man has some thoughts

Val2 — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 19:31:51 -0000

DAMMMMNNN Brown. Where is your blog. I am linking up TODAY!

Brilliant.

Re: It’s Getting Heated Now….Brown Man has some thoughts

JunePearl — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 19:30:54 -0000

Tell. Them.

We are :here:

Re: It’s Getting Heated Now….Brown Man has some thoughts

BrownManATL — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 19:17:42 -0000

Almost half of black high school students IN THE NATION are not graduating on time - from FUCKING HIGH SCHOOL. You could take remedial everything in my high school twenty five years ago. Even the slow kids graduated in 4 years.

Now nobody gives a damn.

Getting the president to throw money at the problem isn't going to do shit.

Worrying about how it sounds politically, whether its liberal enough or right wing enough or maybe even emotional bereft enough so that those who need help will not be offended makes my ass itch.

I grew up in a college town - the managers at McDonalds had college degrees. And guess what? They don't work there anymore.

Ill prepared children without trust funds - that means US and our black children in the hood - aren't going anywhere.

Which means the Wild Wild West on the streets of our nation's hoods are going to get worse.

Am I supposed to just stick my NAACP card in my pocket, shut the fuck up and smile?

If you are wrong, and many of us are wrong, a lot - then I owe it to you to give it to you straight. Your president owes it to you. Bill Cosby owes it to you. Lil Wayne owes it to you too - to tell you you've got a better chance of being in the NBA than having a hit rap record.

An education doesn't guarantee anything, except that its recipient will have the ability to see the world better than they can without one. And for many of us, who are currently looking through poverty colored glasses, that little bit of improvement in our vision is all we need to see our way forward to our next way station.

Re: Town breaks it down….again….

Val2 — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 18:19:28 -0000

"The only thing that will be "good in the hood" is when the last light finally goes out.

They play rap music in the suburbs too.

Cats at my Starbucks wear more Sean John than black folks.

We would still be black, though, if we never rapped, break danced, ate collard greens or corn bread, or ripped a jazz solo.

Trust me."

Say it loud!