BOBBEE BEE AND THE BLACK MAMBA

by Eric D.Graham

NORTH CAROLINA (BASN)-On Wednesday, December 5, 2012, against the New Orleans Hornets, when Kobe Bryant scored 17 points in the first half, he became the youngest player in NBA history to reach the 30,000-point plateau.

In accomplishing this incredible feat, Bryant surpassed Wilt Chamberlain‘s previous record of 35 years, 179 days and joined Chamberlain (31,419 points), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387), Karl Malone (36,928) and Michael Jordan (32,292) as the only five players in NBA history to reach the 30,000-point plateau. Therefore, in honor of Bryant’s basketball brilliance, we decided to publish this article.

In 1996, the Charlotte Hornets (now the New Orleans Hornets) did the worst thing possible when they traded the sixth overall pick in the NBA Draft to the Los Angeles Lakers for Vlade Divac. After that, the rest is history. So in the essence of Hip-Hop, we give props to one of the greatest basketball players ever to lace up a pair of high tops — Kobe Bryant.

The Most Hated

The Most Motivated

He’s Jordan Updated

I know, it’s been Debated

But, he was born with Killer Instinct

And I don’t care, what you think

Nobody is better than Kobe

If there is, then show me

Cause I am about to SET IT OFF

So, let’s get ready for the Playoffs

And I am sorry, Kevin Durant

But it’s like comparing a Giant to an Ant

And I can’t lie

I love this guy

Cause he is the Last Samurai

With a Jujitsu Jumper

Same game; Different number

So don’t HATE number 8

Because he is still great

And I still want to see more

Can I get an encore?

Now, it’s 24

And I still get chills when he walks on the floor

Cause he attacks the rim like a Viper

A.K.A, the L.A.Sniper

Clutch Shooter; Poor Loser

No need for College Recruiters

Because he went from High School

Straight to the Pros

And we all know



There ain’t No need for Passin’

Because he is an Assassin

A Big Game Gunslinger

With Five Rings and Nine Fingers

And he is still number One


Because I have seen him drop 81

Against the Raptors

Sorry, Philly Haters

He is a Big-Shot Maker

Future Hall Fame Player

The Greatest Laker

And I must confess,

He is the Best in the “WEST”

And Phil Jackson, you can’t teach GREATEST

So, please forgive me,

I’m simply stating the FACTS

But he did it without SHAQ

Besides, The Black Mamba is BACK!!!

His dunks are still Acrobatic

This is Supreme Mathematics

He is better than Magic

Greater than Kareem

He is a One-Man Team

And he’s WORTHY

Of all the Praise

Ever since he graduated from the 12th grade

Because he is smooth as silk

With a jumper sweeter than Jamal Wilkes

And, even New York’s Spike Lee

Knows KOBE

Got’s Game

Just watch the way he glides down the lane

And listen to the way the crowd screams his name

And I am not talking about LeBron James

So, check him out as he dribbles between his legs

Along the baseline

Watch his Hang time

Now press rewind

Because, the more you press rewind

The more you will find

Kobe Bryant

The “Greatest of All Times”

Eric D.Graham can be reached at graham_34_99_2000@yahoo.com

If you like what you are reading, contact me at lbiass34@yahoo.com

FANNIE FOUR EYES: MESSAGE TO LITTLE BLACK GIRLS

In my quest to find love I have failed many times....

Yet recently I came to the realization that in order to find true and healthy love

I must first be in love with myself!

So I'm starting an empowerment movement to ask one million Black woman to fall in love with themselves!

If I was a Black girl in love with myself

I would need to just sit alone with myself to know myself.

I would know that being alone does not mean lonely. I would sit with my fears and try to figure out, why I'm afraid of the dark, scared of silences, terrified of having to sit alone with myself.

If I was a Black girl in love with myself

I would choose healthy relationships. One's that help me grow, make me a better person, feeds and nature me.

I wouldn't settle for anyone else's husband or man. I wouldn't sign up for partnerships that are physically or emotionally abusive.

I would be clear that I deserve better.

If I was a Black girl in love with myself?

I would choose someone who has fully chosen me.
Someone who wants to work (THINGS) out with me! He/she desires to wake up with me.

Someone who deep belly laughs with me.
I would choose someone who makes my tummy flips, who misses me when I leave the room. Someone who encourages me to be a better and kinder person. If I was a Black girl in love with myself

I would actively work on being less critical of myself.

I would look in the mirror and not wish you away.

Instead, every day I would loudly declare, "I'm going to take care of you!
You are beautiful!

I'm proud of you!
I love you!
I love that KINK in your hair your beautiful nose, your wide spread grin, your crooked tooth, that scar on your belly.

I would exercise, walk a few steps daily to just honor you! I would not compare you to other womyn's bodies.

I would give thanks to God that he gave me another day with you.

If I was a black girl in love with myself

I would spend less money on expensive shoes and more money on therapy. Because I would realize I need to do soul work and not sole work! I need to heal those child hood scares. I need to learn how to forgive all the people who did not do enough to make me feel loved, important, or wanted.

Therapy would help me to be ok with asking for what I wanted from my family, my partnerships, my friendships. Therapy would help me deal with the depression that often creeps in leaving me feeling lonely, suicidal and unworthy.
If I was a black girl in love with myself

I would take the time to examine my sista' circle.
Do my friendships support unhealthy dynamics of petty jealousies, back biting, subtle put-downs?

Am I everybody's super woman, am I always the shoulder to cry on, am I that "go to girl" and yet there's no place for me to go too?

If I was a black girl in love with myself.

I would question all the spoken and unspoken "TRUTHS" that my mother told me about myself .

Did my mother counsel me from a place of fear, anger, hurt, and ignorance?

I would lovingly accept that my mother did the best that she could but that doesn't mean that her best is now MY best!

I would view my mother in the same loving way that I view myself, as a person who tries but sometimes fails.

I would know that I'm not a replica of my mother or grandmother. I do not have to repeat unhealthy family cycles or dynamics. I would forgive my mother

If I was a black girl in love with myself.

I would write my father a letter.

Mail it to him.

Never mail it.

I would tell him all the things that I wanted him to do and be for me.

I would tell him all the things that he doesn't know about me.

I would tell him that even as a grown woman

I still look for him and need him.

I would tell him about every super daddy hero story that I created and how he lived up to a few of them but failed me on so many~

I would forgive him

 If I was a black girl in love with myself.

 I would whisper in my daughter's ear each night how beautiful, smart, creative and amazing she is.

 I would not publicly shame or embarrass her in order to reprimand her.

I would not believe that beating or spanking her is good for her.

I would know that sitting with her and explaining right from wrong is better for her tiny soul and body.

I would encourage her to disappoint others and me in order to remain true to her spirit, her soul and to herself.
I would tell her that no matter what she did I could never stop loving her.
 I would address in therapy all hidden jealousy, fear, and anger that her tiny presence stirs in me.
I would know that these are my issues and are not the burden of my daughter to carry.

If I was a black girl in love with myself

I would cry often.
Do big public ugly cries.
Allow my tears to flow down my beautiful brown face.
Cry because I'm hurt.
Cry because I feel joy.
Cry because I feel angry.


I would not believe that I need to be given something to really cry about!
I would know that is safe to say that I'm hurt, it's ok for me to NOT have all the answers.
I would know that I don't always need to be strong, in order to carry everyone's hurt and shame on my too small back.
I would know it's ok to cry about the sexual secrets that I was told as a young girl to keep.
It was not my fault.

I give myself permission to cry in my car at a sad song on the radio.

If I was a black girl in love with myself.

I would rest.
That doesn't mean I'm lazy or lack ambition. I would light a candle.
Read a book. (Perhaps, you can heal your life!) I would do nothing.
Sit in my pjs all day. Bake a chocolate cake and share it if I wish, but perhaps eat it all by myself!
The world will not fall apart while I rest.
I don't need to be completely drained in order to rest.
The most loving act I can do is take some time to rest.

If I was a black girl in love with myself.

I would have mini conversations with God/Universe in my bed, in the shower, at my desk at work.
I would thank God for everything he has given me.
I would ask him to show me a path.
I would trust that everything in my life is in divine and perfect order and that God has a plan bigger for me than I could even imagine!
 I would dream beyond my circumstances!
If I was a black girl in love with myself

I would smile at every black girl regardless of their response to me.
I would view them as allies and not my competition!
I would cheer on their victories as if they were my own!
I would connect amazing black woman with each other and encourage them to get to know each other.
I would offer to babysit their kids!

I would have potlucks and sista brunches.
I would write empowering and loving messages on their facebook pages.
I would send them this piece! I would randomly tweet how amazing they are.
 I would encourage my sista's to be as smart as Michelle, as outspoken as Whoopi, as creative as Shonda, as loving as Oprah, and as wise as Maya.

 I would create safe places for them in my heart. I would send a black girl some flowers just because... and send myself some too! www.blackgirlinlove.com

BOBBEE BEE: THE END OF UNIVERSITIES AS WE KNOW IT

by Nathan Harden

“In fifty years, if not much sooner, half of the roughly 4,500 colleges and universities now operating in the United States will have ceased to exist. The technology driving this change is already at work, and nothing can stop it. The future looks like this: Access to college-level education will be free for everyone; the residential college campus will become largely obsolete; tens of thousands of professors will lose their jobs; the bachelor’s degree will become increasingly irrelevant; and ten years from now Harvard will enroll ten million students.

We’ve all heard plenty about the “college bubble” in recent years. Student loan debt is at an all-time high—an average of more than $23,000 per graduate by some counts—and tuition costs continue to rise at a rate far outpacing inflation, as they have for decades.

Credential inflation is devaluing the college degree, making graduate degrees, and the greater debt required to pay for them, increasingly necessary for many people to maintain the standard of living they experienced growing up in their parents’ homes.

Students are defaulting on their loans at an unprecedented rate, too, partly a function of an economy short on entry-level professional positions.

Yet, as with all bubbles, there’s a persistent public belief in the value of something, and that faith in the college degree has kept demand high.

The figures are alarming, the anecdotes downright depressing. But the real story of the American higher-education bubble has little to do with individual students and their debts or employment problems. The most important part of the college bubble story—the one we will soon be hearing much more about—concerns the impending financial collapse of numerous private colleges and universities and the likely shrinkage of many public ones. And when that bubble bursts, it will end a system of higher education that, for all of its history, has been steeped in a culture of exclusivity.

Then we’ll see the birth of something entirely new as we accept one central and unavoidable fact: The college classroom is about to go virtual.”…

We are all aware that the IT revolution is having an impact on education, but we tend to appreciate the changes in isolation, and at the margins. Very few have been able to exercise their imaginations to the point that they can perceive the systemic and structural changes ahead, and what they portend for the business models and social scripts that sustain the status quo.

That is partly because the changes are threatening to many vested interests, but also partly because the human mind resists surrender to upheaval and the anxiety that tends to go with it. But resist or not, major change is coming. The live lecture will be replaced by streaming video.

The administration of exams and exchange of coursework over the internet will become the norm. The push and pull of academic exchange will take place mainly in interactive online spaces, occupied by a new generation of tablet-toting, hyper-connected youth who already spend much of their lives online. Universities will extend their reach to students around the world, unbounded by geography or even by time zones. All of this will be on offer, too, at a fraction of the cost of a traditional college education.

How do I know this will happen? Because recent history shows us that the internet is a great destroyer of any traditional business that relies on the sale of information.

The internet destroyed the livelihoods of traditional stock brokers and bonds salesmen by throwing open to everyone access to the proprietary information they used to sell. The same technology enabled bankers and financiers to develop new products and methods, but, as it turned out, the experience necessary to manage it all did not keep up.

Prior to the Wall Street meltdown, it seemed absurd to think that storied financial institutions like Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers could disappear seemingly overnight. Until it happened, almost no one believed such a thing was possible. Well, get ready to see the same thing happen to a university near you, and not for entirely dissimilar reasons.

Nathan Harden is the author of Sex & God at Yale: Porn, Political Correctness, and a Good Education Gone Bad (St. Martin’s, 2012). He was a 2011 Novak Fellow at the Phillips Foundation and is editor of The College Fix, a higher ed news site.

To read the entire article go to www.americaninterest.com

BOBBEE BEE AND HUGO CHAVEZ

Hugo Chavez: New World Rising

by BAR executive editor Glen Ford

“For 14 years, they have painted the Bolivarian Republic as illegitimate, dictatorial, primitive.”

The darker majorities of Latin America mourn the passing of the people’s champion, President Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías, the man whom the racist white Venezuelan elite called ese mono – “that monkey.”

Since 1998 – with a 48-hour break during the 2002, U.S.-sponsored coup – the four-fifths of Venezuela that is some variety of Indigenous-mestizo-mullato-African – like Chavez – has known power for the first time since the conquistadors of Western Europe launched their 500-year war against the rest of planet Earth.

South America’s emergence as the most promising zone of resistance to U.S. imperial savagery is inseparable from the dark awakening in the barrios, favelas, rural villages and native highlands of the continent. Chavez’s triumph, and that of the Aymara-descended Bolivian president, Evo Morales, in 2005, are the most dramatic expressions of what has been called the “Latin Spring” – a reclamation of national patrimony that is, by historical necessity, socialist. As a result, a large majority of South Americans now live under relatively progressive governments.

The Cuban Revolution of 1959 was, of course, the great hemispheric breakaway from Yankee empire in the 20^th century, the seminal event in the disintegration of what later came to be called the “Washington Consensus” in Latin America.

Chavez’s victory, almost 40 years later, was the other shoe dropping, a phenomenon nearly as racially-weighted, in Latin American terms, as the Haitian Revolution that culminated in 1804. Fidel, the son of a Spanish soldier, declared that “the blood of Africa runs deep in our veins” and that Cuba is an “African Spanish” nation. However, that reality was hardly visible in the Cuban hierarchy.


NOT so, with Chavez, the pardo whose lineage was obvious and proudly worn. "My Indian roots are from my father's side. He is mixed Indian and black, which makes me very proud," said Chavez – a circumstance of birth and pride that made the whites of affluent east Caracas neighborhoods like Altamira spitting mad, hysterical in their hatred.

The racial-political color line has long been plain to see in the complexions of pro- and anti-government demonstrations in Venezuela.

“The ‘Latin Spring’ is, by historical necessity, socialist.”

The purported “ambiguity” of race in South America is largely limited to those who belong to the innumerable subgroups of the Not-White, in all their flavors.

However, for the fraction of the population that believe themselves to be purely European, there is no ambiguity; they know precisely who they are (or claim to be).

Color lines may be fuzzy among the mixed race majorities of much of Latin America, but white elites quickly bring these boundaries into stark relief when fundamental questions of privilege and power arise. Popular power means the rule of people like “that monkey,” Chavez – illegitimate and bestial.

U.S. corporate media speak the language of the pale denizens of Altamira. For 14 years, they have painted the Bolivarian Republic as illegitimate, dictatorial, primitive.

Chavez is delegitimized as a “strongman,” rather than a remarkably popular politician and icon who has won more elections than any other head of state in the western hemisphere during the same space of time. As former U.S. president Jimmy Carter said, last year: "As a matter of fact, of the 92 elections that we've monitored, I would say that the election process in Venezuela is the best in the world."

In assessing Chavez’s “legacy,” the global bourgeois media cite the “divisions” that plague Venezuelan society and, in the words of Business Week, an economy in “shambles.” But, Chavez and his comrades would have been abject failures – and been tossed from office – had they not drawn lines between the oppressed majority and the privileged exploiters. Division is good and necessary. Consequently, the economy has succeeded in reducing the proportion of households in poverty from 44 percent in 1998 to 27 percent in 2011. Chavez has served the people.

“The racial-political color line has long been plain to see in the complexions of pro- and anti-government demonstrations in Venezuela.”

Just before Chavez’s last electoral victory, former Brazilian president Lula da Silva, a product of the post-1998 wave of leftist triumphs at the polls, said: "A victory for Chávez is not just a victory for the people of Venezuela but also a victory for all the people of Latin America … this victory will strike another blow against imperialism."

Last week, as Chavez was fading, the opposition leader, Henrique Capriles Radonski, traveled to New York, Miami and Washington – presumably, to get his marching orders.

Washington hopes that Venezuelan socialism cannot survive without Chavez. In their state of desperate decay, the imperialists are willing to throw whole regions of the world into chaos rather than be eclipsed by new alignments of trade and international relations. Venezuelans have every reason to expect a renewed U.S. campaign of destabilization, in the wake of their leader’s passing.

Chavez tried to give Barack Obama the benefit of the doubt. On election night, 2008, at a rally in Caracas, Chavez spoke this way of the president-elect:

“We are not asking him to be a revolutionary, to be a socialist – no. We just want the black man who is about to be the U.S. president to have enough stature for the times the world is living through.

"I send an overture to the black man, from us here, who are of Indigenous, black, Caribbean, South American race. I am ready to sit down and talk ... I hope we can, and I hope we can enter a new stage."

But the Black man in the White House is smelling like sulphur, just like his predecessor.

BAR executive editor Glen Ford can be contacted at Glen.Ford@BlackAgendaReport.com.

BOBBEE BEE: SLAM DUNKING!!!

by Eric D. Graham

NORTH CAROLINA- (BASN)

Black guys do it.

White guys do it.

Even girls can do it.

But no single play in sports can compare to it, not the homerun in baseball, the knockout in boxing, the hole in one in golf or the touchdown in football.

It is only worth two-points And for that reason alone, it is considered by many to be the most overrated shot in basketball.

As a result, many coaches despise it.

The league even tried to ban it because of “Lew” Alcindor.

But we fell in love with it.

And are still fascinated by it.

Matter of fact, we are obsessed with it.

Honestly, most of us started dreaming about it even before we were able to walk.

Even before we could dribble a ball, it gripped our imagination.

Hour after hour, long after midnight, early in the morning, we visualized ourselves dunking a basketball.

We practiced by jumping off of one foot, off of two feet, even barefoot in order to do it.

Why? Because it amazes us, leaves up bewildered, and defies the Laws of Gravity.

As a result, we awe at its acrobatics, cheer its creativity, and became dumbfounded by its devastation.

We love it so much; we even created contests to showcase it and named its ariel dynamics.

There is the Rock the Cradle, the 360, the Tomahawk, the Reverse, the Windmill, and the Double-Pump.

As children, it was all fun and games. But as we got older, it became a symbol of power, of coolness, of style, and of sexual prowess.

Why? Because…..It’s Orgasmic.
And leaves one breathless and speechless.

Quite frankly, it’s a religious experience, which causes some of us to shout… Oh my God!!

And Good God Almighty!!

Why? Because scientifically , it seems impossible.

I know on Sunday mornings in the pulpits of Black churches preachers preach about Jesus walking on water.

Well, I have seen it with my own eyes… Jordan walking on air.

Cedric Ceballos do it blindfolded.

Serge Ibaka glide from behind the free throw line.

(Sorry, Dr.J) Darryl Dawkins shatter a backboard.

Shaquille O’Neal pull down the goal.

Vince Carter spin counterclockwise.

J.R.Rider throw it down while taking the ball between his legs along the baseline.



Shawn Kemp make it rain.
Dominique Wilkins make it thunder and lightening.
Spud Webb climb the sky. Jacob Tucker do a summersault.
Antijuan Ball do a back flip.
Kenny become a “SKYwalker.”

Gerald Green blow out a candle on a cupcake.

Larry Nance do it with two balls.

Javon McGee do it with two balls in two goals at the same time.

The Air Up There do a 720.

Philly’s AO throw a lob off the shot clock, Nate Robinson jump over a man 7-foot tall, and Dwight Howard dunk a goal 13 feet high.

And just when, I thought, I had seen it all.

Blake Griffin jumped over a car.

Yes, Blake Griffin jumped over a car.

But before you get too excited, Guy Dupuy did it much better when he dunked over a car while going between his legs on the And 1 tour in Poland. …

Yes, one good one can psychologically change the outcome of a game.
And one great one, changed my life forever.

Man, what a Dunk!!

Now, Magic Johnson is willing to pay Lebron James $1 million to participate in next years Slam Dunk Contest
.

Eric D.Graham is a graduate of Winston-Salem State University, where he received a B.A in Mass Communications, with a concentration in Radio & Television, with a minor in History, with a concentration in African-American Studies. Currently, he is the Managing Editor of Black Athlete Sports Network, where his thought-provoking articles and cartoon Here Comes The Hater appears on a weekly basis. He can be reached at lbiass34@yahoo.com

BOBBEE BEE: I HAVE THE POWER!!

By definition power means mental or moral ability to act; one of the faculties which are possessed by the mind or soul; as, the power of thinking, reasoning, judging, willing, fearing, and hoping. As a result, let's take at look at Robert Greene and Joost Elffers 48 Laws of Power. Cause we all have the power to change the world and ourselves.

Law 1

Never Outshine the Master

Always make those above you feel comfortably superior. In your desire to please or impress them, do not go too far in displaying your talents or you might accomplish the opposite – inspire fear and insecurity. Make your masters appear more brilliant than they are and you will attain the heights of power.
Law 2

Never put too Much Trust in Friends, Learn how to use Enemies

Be wary of friends-they will betray you more quickly, for they are easily aroused to envy. They also become spoiled and tyrannical. But hire a former enemy and he will be more loyal than a friend, because he has more to prove. In fact, you have more to fear from friends than from enemies. If you have no enemies, find a way to make them.
Law 3 Conceal your Intentions

Keep people off-balance and in the dark by never revealing the purpose behind your actions. If they have no clue what you are up to, they cannot prepare a defense. Guide them far enough down the wrong path, envelope them in enough smoke, and by the time they realize your intentions, it will be too late.

 Law 4

Always Say Less than Necessary

When you are trying to impress people with words, the more you say, the more common you appear, and the less in control. Even if you are saying something banal, it will seem original if you make it vague, open-ended, and sphinxlike. Powerful people impress and intimidate by saying less. The more you say, the more likely you are to say something foolish.

Law 5

So Much Depends on Reputation – Guard it with your Life

Reputation is the cornerstone of power. Through reputation alone you can intimidate and win; once you slip, however, you are vulnerable, and will be attacked on all sides. Make your reputation unassailable. Always be alert to potential attacks and thwart them before they happen. Meanwhile, learn to destroy your enemies by opening holes in their own reputations. Then stand aside and let public opinion hang them.

Law 6

Court Attention at all Cost

Everything is judged by its appearance; what is unseen counts for nothing. Never let yourself get lost in the crowd, then, or buried in oblivion. Stand out. Be conspicuous, at all cost. Make yourself a magnet of attention by appearing larger, more colorful, more mysterious, than the bland and timid masses.
Law 7

Make other People come to you – use Bait if Necessary

When you force the other person to act, you are the one in control. It is always better to make your opponent come to you, abandoning his own plans in the process. Lure him with fabulous gains – then attack. You hold the cards.

Law 8


Win through your Actions, Never through Argument

Any momentary triumph you think gained through argument is really a Pyrrhic victory: The resentment and ill will you stir up is stronger and lasts longer than any momentary change of opinion. It is much more powerful to get others to agree with you through your actions, without saying a word. Demonstrate, do not explicate.

Law 9

Infection: Avoid the Unhappy and Unlucky

You can die from someone else’s misery – emotional states are as infectious as disease. You may feel you are helping the drowning man but you are only precipitating your own disaster. The unfortunate sometimes draw misfortune on themselves; they will also draw it on you. Associate with the happy and fortunate instead.



LAW 10 Never appear too Perfect

Appearing better than others is always dangerous, but most dangerous of all is to appear to have no faults or weaknesses. Envy creates silent enemies. It is smart to occasionally display defects, and admit to harmless vices, in order to deflect envy and appear more human and approachable. Only gods and the dead can seem perfect with impunity

If you like what you are learning please leave a comment at lbiass34@yahoo.com

BOBBEE BEE:PLAYING THE NAME GAME (strong language)

by James C. Collier

I ask this question, my mother ask me this question, and I figure non-blacks must silently (if they are wise) ask it too. No right appears more sovereign to socio-economically disadvantage blacks than naming their offspring some phonetic combination of sounds, apostrophes, prefixes and suffixes that mimic what is believed to represent an African name.

If such naming correlates to reduced life outcomes, including income, as studied by Freakonomic-economist Steven Levitt and Harvard economist Roland Fryer, we are left to wonder why parents, especially mothers, choose this route.
I will postulate that naming one's offspring is a non-trivial extension of the ultimate expression of independence, that of bringing a child into this world, such as it is. For the downtrodden, however they come by their downtrodden-ness, control over their lives is practically non-existent. From birth to the grave, others tell them the measure and direction of their every move, less they end up in some worse place or shape.

 The decision to have a child and what to name them is, sadly, part of the one time in their lives that they get to do exactly what they please. Never mind that the child might forever pay a price. To the parent, the name is a lasting show of independence to a society that will forever force them, and their child, to conform to what others think is best.

Some might say that such naming is selfish, and it might be, but Levitt and Fryer offer that correlation is not cause. Being born poor is the greatest influence to adult disadvantage, not your name.

A 'black' name, like Roshanda, does not cause the holder to live a life of social and economic disadvantage, but rather it is still the choices that Roshanda and her caregivers make in her life.


The choice of studying well and working hard, even as the playing field is un-level, is still hers. I have met many impressive, accomplished, funny-sounding named people, of all colors and backgrounds.

However, let's be clear, the naming objective of all parents, throughout the ages, has been the reasonable accommodation of self-expression and placement of their child on a proper road to success, including one of minimal ridicule.

Those parents who choose self-expression alone are telling the world where their priorities come to rest.

If you have any comments send them to lbiass34@yahoo.com