The C.Y.N.I.C.A.L Side of: Tyler Perry Vs Spike Lee (AKA The Mis-Idenity of Black Media and Culture)

As I was watching the season premier of the HBO series “Treme”, I was turned –on to the conversation that Delmond Lambreaux was having with two people from New York City after his performance for a fundraiser. They were literally calling New Orleans music more of a minstrel show than other cities and Delmond just literally blew-up in front of his girlfriend. This was the trigger point to this post. Many people in the south have a culture experience that cannot be trace before the pre-Civil War days due to slavery. So if you are from the South and think you have ancestry that you can link from the days of Africa, you were either 1) born in Africa, 2) grandparents were immigrants of Africa after the Civil War, or 3) Is just in denial. So when I heard about this Tyler Perry - Spike Lee Debacle, I sat on it for a minute to chime on the issue before posting my thoughts. Here is the rundown in short about this.

Tyler Perry is a producer who has done numerous plays all across small city America (aka The Chittlin Circuit) and ended up becoming a producer of many films that are based at-times from his alter ego, Pistol packing, funny Mabel Simmons aka Madea. All the time he based his films and TV series through Southern culture and God-based issues. Spike is also a filmmaker known for his ground-breaking films such as “Do the Right Thing,” “X,” and “Jungle Fever.” During Tyler Perry career height - success with Meet the Browns and House of Payne, Spike Lee said this:

Then Tyler Perry said this:

But after having it echoed by critics and Spike Lee himself again, He just let loose saying this

I have really seen everything in newspaper trying to pit this out as Spike Lee’s “Black people, we have fight the power.” To Perry “This is what you see in our household.” I am really going to just put it out there to what this beef is really saying, An mis-identity of regional culture

What I have learned about people of all races is that you can talk about what is going on amongst yourself but you never put your business out there in the street. Black people have been a victim of that for a long time even before Dubois vs. Washington, Malcolm vs. Martin, even JayElectronica vs. RZA. I have said that northern black people culture differs from Southern black people culture, but northern black thinks they know about the southern black culture just because they went to three cities or towns under the North Carolina border (mainly Atlanta, New Orleans, one of Texas Big three, etc.) Reality is the southern culture is an experience and Tyler Perry has tap into that whether you are white, black, or any other race. For a person who really thinks that Tyler Perry do not speak for all Southern black men and women, I can tell you that he is telling these synopsis the way is it percieved in life. Most of what Perry's film come from is an upbringing that every southerner either experienced, challenges that every southerner has faced, or the way of the southerner world from the inside looking out or vice versa. Spike Lee did something that Northern blacks failed to realize. He and other African American who feel like “Black people are not like this,” criticize the experience that Tyler Perry have seen throughout his life whether it is work, art, or even life. Maybe nobody in the north know an Aunt Bam in their family, but ask anybody in the south about Uncle Curtis from the “House of Payne” and any black that is not near having their nose turned up will tell you that they have one. So Tyler Perry is dealing with a southern experience which is cool and Spike Lee deals with the northern experience. I believe that is the way it should be. Honestly, do we stereotype every Italians acting like members of Jersey Shore or the Sopranos, every Jewish person to act like Seinfeld, or even every Asian person to act like Jackie Chan? We shouldn't stereotype our own because of the culture differences because people see that and they believe, "Hey if they can do it to their own, why can't we?"

..And for the person who would say “Well, Spike did When the Levees Broke in New Orleans,” I have one word from the Tyler Perry experience, Precious.

~Stay hungry my friends

SA

When the Gas Light Is On While You're Running on Fumes

When I thought about what I was going to talk about today, I was thinking about my car that is in the shop for problems under the hood. You see, I had this car ever since 2005 and I have put some miles into this car being that it is a gas saver. It has gone to and from Mississippi to places like North Carolina, Washington DC, Florida, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, and good ole Alabama on numerous occasions. I have garnered over 200,000 miles with only tires, changing oil, timing belt, radiator problems and tune-ups. Now driving it to work one day, I noticed that this car seems like it is on its last mile and almost wanted to quit on me. I just drove it to the shop and it just starting putting on me like it just wanted to give up.

…All in all, this car is and has been a real trooper and I tip my hat to my car. I can relate my car to two people yesterday that was like this, one Maya Moore and one Mark Calloway

Maya Moore is seriously linked as being one of the best players in this women college basketball era. Don’t believe me, go to my blogging cuzzos Ed the Sports Fan and Bull City. Sunday in the last 6 minutes of the Semifinals of the Women College Basketball Tournament, Maya Moore put on a clinic that was nothing more than amazing. It was like she took it to another level of women’s college basketball driving down the lane, making threes, and scoring from anywhere that was not out of bounds.

…The funny thing is that it was the LAST six minutes of the game, UCONN was down by 12, and Skylar Diggins along with Natalie Inc. (Achonwa and Novosel) was matching her blow for blow.

After the clock reached 35 seconds, you can see that Maya Moore was gassed out and the Mighty UCONN Huskies fell to the Luck of the Irish. You know it is funny that two of the most historic program with the longest winning streaks in college basketball fell to the Luck of the Irish in a tournament (UCLA 88 winning streak actually fell in 1974 by Digger Phelps’ Irish (Cue the Digger dance)).

The other person is Mark Calloway, better known as WWE the Undertaker, Wrestlemania for the Undertaker is more of Satan’s structure than his Hell in a Cell matches. It seems like the Undertaker kick his gear into overdrive when the Spotlight is on him and when the smoke clear, he always come out on top. Every wrestler entertainer’s dream is two things, Main Event Wrestlemania and now beat “The Streak.” This year was Triple H’s turn and one thing I know about the game is that he is a true competitor. He put his all in all physically and mentally in a match so much that he is moniker “The Cerebral Assassin.” I have seen matches that the Undertaker has participated in previous Wrestlemanias, but this one is highlighted as one of those matches where a person’s body can take a toll on them. I will call this the second best match I saw. I was on the edge of my seat after Triple H’s whap him with the chair and the Undertaker was looking like he was somewhere else other than the A, but what got me is that he was always kicking out the cover. It was so bad; you can hear Triple H telling the Undertaker to “Stay Down.” To some unveil Triple H made one uncalculated move and the Undertaker clamped on Hell’s Gates to make him tap to extend “The Streak” to 19-0. After the match, you did not see the usually Undertaker finishing rise and tongue showing with fist in the air. You saw the Undertaker still laying down looking into the sky like this match took literally everything he had. His entrance theme song from the late Johnny Cash summed up what we thought last night, ain't no grave can hold his body down.

-Stay Hungry my friends

~ SA

So There Is This Other Team From New York.......

…that is creating much buzz around the world of basketball. They haven’t been a contender to make the NCAA tournament since 2000 and have not made any noise in college basketball since 2003. Their name is the St. John Red Storm.

Now when you think of basketball, you think of New York; Rucker Park and Madison Square Garden. It is a hoop star’s dream to make your name there. Now During my time the Knicks was okay with Ewing, Bernard King, Oakley, Big Mase and his many haircuts, John Starks, Reggie Miller taunting Spike Lee, Jordan, Lebron, Melo, and Wade going for 50, and the infamous John Starks rising on Jordan.

What people don’t remember is that while all this was going on. The St. John Redmen (AKA Red Storm) was the one of the beast of Big East with other teams like Georgetown, Villanova, UCONN, and Syracuse in the 80s and early 90s. The Red Storm has the 7th-most NCAA tournament appearances (27), two Wooden National Player of the Year Award Winners, 11 consensus All-Americans, 6 members of the College Basketball Hall of Fame, and has sent 59 players to the NBA Led by the one O.G’s of the “Sweater Committee,” Lou Carnesecca. The Redmen (name at that time) was a dominant force in the 80s led by one of the best playground basketball-turned NBA star in Mark Jackson and one the sharpest shooter in the NBA in Chris Mullin. It is also the alma mater of one of realist and craziest character of the NBA. This might help you out…….

Now the Red Storm has not been that team since 2003. Even Rutgers, who was always the laughing stock of the Big East was getting better player than they were. That was until Steve Lavin actually saw the Red Storm play in the Big East Tourney in 2010 and had a thought that most of the player from NYC were going to other programs such as Duke, UNC, Syracuse, Villanova, and UCONN where some of the NYC best high school players were leaving to become part of the their dynasty. He wanted to bring the NYC talents back home to play in the Mecca thus taking the job at St. John’s. This year’s Red Storm looks like the Old School Redmen, knocking off top 15 – caliber teams such as Notre Dame, Connecticut, Georgetown, Pittsburgh, and the Mighty Duke Blue Devils. Now, the Red Storm is in the ranked polls for the first time since 2000 and they are not trying to stop. Could the Johnnies be marching back into the ranks of the NCAA Elite? Only time will tell and we will find out soon if the Johnnies are back.

….but for now, the climb is waiting for the Red Storm.

- Stay Hungry My Friends!!!

-SA