Several years ago, when walking across Harlems 125th Street, a quote written on a wooden fence caused me to pause and take out my pad and pen. Attributed to the Dalai Lama, it said When you lose, dont lose the lesson. Michael Vick lost. Its important that he and his young black male peers dont lose the lessons. Lesson one is to realize that as you move along in life you have to, every now and then, do an inventory on your homeboys and find out who is really a friend and who is on a fast road to nowhere and trying to take you along. Lesson two is to recognize the difference between positive arrogance I am as good as anybody and can accomplish what I put my mind to and negative arrogance I got it all going on and dont have to listen to nobody. The latter will eventually jam you up. Lesson three is not to believe for a single moment that having

millions of dollars will enable you to transcend race in a nation where white supremacy is one of, if not the major force. Millions may allow you to avoid some of the more insidious aspects of white supremacy, but they wont enable you to totally escape the challenge. There are many Whites out there, including sports writers, who deeply resent black athletes making all that money and will pounce like lions on a gazelle at the slightest opportunity. Lesson four is not to mess with dog lovers. They are fanatical, relentless, unforgiving opponents to encounter and will follow you to the ends of the earth. I am a dog person, but not one who equates the killing of a dog with the killing of a human being.



The Iraq War

One of the most misleading myths being spread during this political season is that most of the American public is fed up with the travesty known as the war on Iraq. That is simply not true because if they were many troops would be on their way as this is read. The public may talk the talk, but it wont walk the walk to force the Bush administration to withdraw the troops from Iraq. They dont do so for a very clear reason. Probably 99 percent of the people in this country are not directly affected by the war. Every few months the Washington Post publishes two or three pages of photographs, home towns, and ages of American military personnel killed in Iraq. Almost all of them are from small cities and towns that most people have never heard of which means that they are mainly the children of low-income or working class Black, Latino and White families. As long as these people are willing to send their children, sometimes for three or four tours of duty, off to be maimed or killed in a war of choice launched by chicken hawk politicians and intellectuals, the overwhelming majority of the people in this country will take no action to stop the war.



Harlem Week

While recently visiting Harlem for the closing weekend of Harlem Week with my 15, 12 and 13 year old granddaughters, I told them to observe carefully because the Harlem they have heard about and read about will be history by the time they are in their early twenties if committed Harlemites dont join together with unity and determination. Some people, including significant number of Black folks, have no problem with the changes that include, among other things, a Mormon Temple in the heart of Harlem on 128th Street and Malcolm X Blvd.
Lenox Avenue the buying of property by the Scientologists on 125th Street studio apartments renting for 1200 per month and Columbia University once again planning to gobble up blocks of apartment buildings for its own use. Other people are angry and determined to resist what they consider an invasion. Their position was expressed on a t-shirt in words that I had never before seen. Instead of saying I Love Harlem, it declared, I Love Black Harlem.



Max Roach

Max Roach was one of truly great artist/visionaries of his time. Unlike too many so called artists, past and present, who believed that telling like it is and keeping it real are sufficient, Max used his extraordinary vision to tell it like it can be, like it should be, like it must be if our people are to continue to grow and create.