Kool SUMMA

What’s up people?

Much RESPECT to the Man City Football Club (Toure Brothers) for demonstrating fantastic quality and heart by prevailing as the English Premiere League Champions to cap off a phenomenal season in the BEST football match of the year. It is now time to root on my guy DROOOOOOOGBA and the rest of the Chelsea Football Club in this weekend Champions League Final on Saturday. Now while all of this is going on, here on this side of the Atlantic we got Lebron STINKING up the joint again in the NBA playoffs. The best part is watching him get PUNKED on the court while his taking L’s all in the same game. Here is a little truth about sports; you either have that “DOG” in you or you go hiding when it comes to crunch time. Lebron got no “DOG” in him.

Ok people; let me get focused…

So Memorial Day weekend is around the corner and I still do not have an answer to what I accomplished the first part of the year. This past few months have been rough but you know I got that DJ Khaled hook in my head right now that I plan on Ridin’ out to all summer long. It goes “Working all winter…Shining all summa”. That’s how your man “P” plans to get it in these coming months. I personally look forward to the autumn and winter seasons every year because that is when I get to foster my wardrobe and catalog the best. Now as for this summer season, I think I am going to attack it as if it were a Five Guys Cheeseburger and go all in.

So I got to thinking, what are some of key ingredients that make for a DOPE summer anyways?

The Heat – All my life, my American friends have always teased and looked taken aback with my strong disdain for the Heat. The first thing that comes out of their collective mouths is “How can you come from Nigeria and hate the heat”? My response typically is “Just because am Black don’t mean I LOVE Chicken either”.

BBQ & Watermelon – You know it is BBQ & Watermelon season when you start to get random text messages or emails from people you have lost touch with an out of nowhere folks want to know when you having a cookout?

Amusement Parks & Jet Ski – I have some friends that love amusement parks and the excitement of a Jet Skis. “P” don’t do NUFFIN’ that is not on land. The only thing I do that is remotely close to a thrill in the air is boarding a plane. Let’s keep it moving.

Vacation vs. Stay-cation – If you keep deep pockets, make good use of a nice summer vacation for pleasure or with the family. If your pockets is crying and barely able to fill up your gas tank like yours truly then be creative and organize a Stay-cation that is equally exciting and less costly. Just recline in your lazy-boy chair, close your eyes, play some SOCA music as if you were on an island somewhere.    

Reunions – What is summer with no sort of reunion to look forward to? Be it the annual BBQ where everybody shows up to shoot the breeze and talk the good ol’ days or the custom family reunion when relatives catch up to build on the family legacy. It is always LOVE.

Style – You can’t talk summer and leave out the fashion that comes along with it. I mean the ladies do their thing. So this summer am going keep it simple and just be “Mr. White-on-White” in my native Nigerian garb.

Summer Banga – If you go through an entire summer season without an anthem then you know it was WACK! Be it a Byrd anthem for the females or a Hood banga for the fellas, it must be a certified hit.

Eaaaaaasy Mon.

Mother’s Day…The African Way

What’s up people?

First and foremost, I want to wish the GREAT Mother’s out there an early Happy Mother’s Day. You are truly APPRECIATED! So English Premiere League (EPL) season comes to an end this week and this is going to be a problem. No “Beautiful Game” for the next four months? NWO! I think am going to take up Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Boxing and get my Dee-Bo on or take some cooking classes to fight off the serious withdrawal I foresee happening. Life without soccer is utterly PAINFUL; it is like sitting in a casino for hours with no money to play with and your only way home is that bus ride that doesn’t leave for another six hours.   

Ok people; let me get focused...

You know what, I thought about writing on at least five different things this week. Then I came to a realization that I do not recall writing about Mother’s Day last year nor its significance in African customs. For starters; growing up in Nigeria there were no such holidays I recall that paid tribute to parents until recently. I believe Nigeria those have its mother’s day celebration now and I presume father’s day as well but only very few even know it exist. I guess that is one of the better things the western world will always do way better than so many other parts of the globe, creating and marketing hallmark holidays whenever possible to generate revenue for their respective enterprises. But if there were one Hallmark holiday definitely worth celebrating it would have to be Mother’s Day without a doubt.   

Now this is not a blog about African mothers versus outside of Africa, but more about shedding light on the struggles and the commonality in GREAT Women who embody the term MOTHER. It is generally understood that a mother serves as the caretaker, nurturer and backbone of a family because of her selflessness. And just like I stated last week that there is an inherent difference between a Dad vs. Father; there is also one when comparing “Baby Mama vs. Mother”.

As noted by scholars on the subject “motherhood in Africa is seen as a God-giving role and for this reason it is sacred”. The big concern going forward is how this notion be it naïve or based on genuineness is losing its place. Take the Yoruba custom in which I come from that has a saying “mother is gold, father is a mirror”. The meaning behind Mother is gold; valuable, true and central to the life of a child. I do not see this necessarily being the case when I look around at some of the women bringing and raising young innocent lives into the world these days. Especially, in the communities of those of color where the “Kids Raising Kids” phenomenon is vastly gaining momentum and does not look like it is going away.

So my wish is for the wonderful mother’s out there to help groom and teach the misguided youth of today the TRUE meaning of motherhood and the responsibilities that go along with it.  

Motherhood is a commitment.

The Most Interesting Man is…

What’s up people?

Writing a blog every week truly can become a very daunting task. It is so hard to come up with something fresh, creative, educational and original all at the same time. But you know what; I won’t stop, can’t stop. God blessed me with the talent to express myself in my own words and through my worldview so I do not plan on giving that up no time soon. Hearing about the passing of another former athlete I grew up watching in the NFL in the form of a suicide this week also helps to reassure that all that is glitz is not glamour.  

Ok people; Let me get focused…

Hands down the Most Interesting Man in the World is by far the Dos Equis beer man on television. His SWAG game is Ba-na-nas. I mean that is one Kool a** old head and is it me or don’t he look like he could be a porn star from the 70s? Oh, I forgot to mention that his also my uncle Javier. Loooool.

All jokes aside; commercials are entertaining and provide laughter but this is no funny matter. Who is the Most Interesting Man in the World? We can go the typical Forbes and Time magazine route and list the popular cast of characters such as Obama, Gates, Putin, Cameron, Zuckerberg, Tebow, Linsanity, Capital P, etc…

The truth of it all is that the Most Interesting Man in the World should be the one that helped bring you into this world and raised you. Time and time again I see too many of us looking up to celebrities and the world of entertainment as a measuring stick on success, happiness and fulfillment. Our thirst for opulence continues to come at any cost as our communities continue to lose its moral fiber. It definitely becomes extremely difficult when over 70% of African-American children are raised in homes without fathers. They say numbers don’t lie, well that is one ugly statistic to look at; better yet acknowledge as a fact.     

Being a father to your child(ren) for me is not even a race discussion. It is a human discussion. And you know what; over the years I have grown to understand that being a Daddy and being a Father are two separate things. I remember many years ago when the infamous Charles Barkley “I am not a Role Model” Nike commercial drew the ire of so many in the media and the world of sports. The bottom line is that Barkley despite reading from a script was DEAD-ON in his statement that parents should be role models not athletes.

If you want or allow television to continue to raise your children then the Most Interesting Man in the World will become those personalities in the world of sports, politics, entertainment and music you so much aspire to become. Do remember; those characters are only a short-term fix and your negligence as a Father to not properly develop the appropriate safety-net in the lives of your child(ren) could ultimately rare its ugly head many years from now.       

There are no quick fixes…