The G-HAMP Movement

Recently the movie, “Obsessed” came out starring Beyonce, Idris Elba, and Eli Larter. I haven’t seen the movie, but I’ve read what the movie is about and saw the trailers for the movie. To sum up what the movie seems like its all about to me; successful black man is stalked by ‘black-man loving’ white woman. Its funny how Hollywood can capture and portray some of the biggest stereo-types in life, but refuse to capture the essence of basic attraction between man and woman.

To note, I haven’t seen the movie yet. But “Obsessed”, to me, promotes more hate than just trying to “prove a point”. I’m an African-American male in my 20s, a college graduate, nice job, and very ambitious about achieving future goals in life. Because of this, should I believe the majority of white woman want me and are obsessed over me? Absolutely not. If anything, I would believe that any woman who’s looking for a man/companion would want a guy who’s ambitious, charming, successful, and overall…has a head on his shoulders. Same for a man looking for a woman/companion.

Many decades before, we were taught to believe the stereo-type that every black man wants a white woman. Even till this day. You see some of the comedy shows making jokes about the African-American entertainers or athletes constantly having a Caucasian woman by their side. We see this and paint a picture that black men can’t get enough of white women. Now, society is painting a reverse stereo-type that’s showing white women can’t get enough of black men. When are we going to stop this foolishness and just let people live their lives. I’ll tell you right now, I’m not a fan of people who have racial preferences when it comes to picking and choosing a person of the opposite sex. Me personally, I love WOMEN…nothing more, nothing less. She can be big-bone, skinny, black, white, puerto-rican, haitian, you name it. As long as we share a common attraction for each other and dig each other’s company, I’m with it…can I get a witness ????

I definitely plan on seeing the movie, “Obsessed” for entertaining purposes for the most part. I’ll also pay close attention to the portrayal of the whole interracial attraction in the movie. They definitely have some good actors and actresses in the movie like my dawg ‘Stringer Bell’ from “The Wire” and my ex-wife, Beyonce’ (LOL).

Lets kill the hate overall. If a black woman is with a white man because they love each other, let them be and wish them the best. If a puerto rican man is with a haitian woman because of the basic attractions between man and woman in general…let them live and be happy. Other arguments are legitimate towards mine and I’d love to talk about it with you. Please share your comments and opinions and we’ll have a open, responsible discussion between us mature intelligent adults

ONE LUV…

George H. (G-HAMP_CEO)

Are you a product or a person? (I’m not an ATM and you’re not a hoe)

You ever notice in the black community, we have a way of dehumanizing each other, the way we use the n-word, the b-word or the hoe word in our speech toward one another? There is a lot of productizing of our people into these things. You see it early. Why do guys like certain girls, because “she has the biggest butt or she’s easy”? And why do girls like certain guys because “he has the nicest clothes and it looks like he has the most money”? When we dehumanize people, it’s easy to treat them with disdain; we abuse them, because we are not treating them according to their God given purpose. That’s why brothers can’t see past a sistah’s body. Nor a sistah will not date the average looking brother, because we are looking for products and those people don’t have good commercials or strong advertising campaigns. I’m all for being with someone who makes you happy, but looks is only one part of it.

Human beings have hearts, minds, souls, spirits and personality to be considered. They are not bottles of soda to be consumed and then tossed in a recycle bin. That’s why it’s easy to not commit to the woman you have your child by or choose a man worthy of being committed to. 71% of our kids are born out wedlock, uncommitted relationships. By contrast only 27% of our white counterparts are born out of wedlock. That’s why it’s easy to shoot your brother over sneakers, coat and/or gold chains. There is a reason why the AIDS crisis is so acute in our community. Because of the way we look at ourselves, the way we look at leather coats, disposable. You can see it in our abortion rates and our high black on black murder rates. It’s hard to play a sister if you knew her family loved her and that she would be deeply hurt by your selfishness or emotionally crushed. It’s hard to shoot a brother, if you knew is family was counting on him and his father is looking forward to seeing him. Or his grandmother is waiting for him to pick her up. It’s easy to do when you see human beings as products, hoes and banks, but hard to do when you see that person has a life worth living.

We have to start seeing ourselves in a more positive light, human beings to be respected, cared for and treated with dignity. If we don’t treat ourselves with dignity and respect, what other community will? If we don’t invest in ourselves, who else will? When we go to buy a house or start a business, we have to put collateral up or a down payment. We need to put some collateral up. If you see a sister call her beautiful whether she’s young, old, short, fat, tall dark or light. Let a brother know he’s doing a good job whether he’s an analyst for Fidelity or a bus driver. People will not think better about us, if we first don’t think better of ourselves. I know we have to put some standards around this positive thinking and I’m not the one to hand out ninth place medals, but we have to start somewhere.

Intelligent Brown Man

Her are more links to view that’s related to today’s blog post:

http://www.childtrendsdatabank.org/indicators/75UnmarriedBirths.cfm

(Oldie but a goodie)

This seems to be a topic that’s not spoken about often and I wanted to really touch the subject of single family homes.

A single parent seems to be such a common thing in household now a days that I’m always asked how’s my mother doing, but never my father. I call this family censorship (being sensitive to the fact that the person only has one parent). What was once abnormal has now become our societies norm.

I remember my first time hearing about parents separating, I was in the 6th grade and my friend Dennis told me about his step father. I didn’t know what that was, than he explained to me about a divorce and remarrying. and a few kids in my class were also in the same boat. At. That tender age ignorance kicked in hard, so I thought anything could happen and my parents would break up. What I saw as a strong bond at that point seemed so fragile.

Recently I found it interesting when I had a conversation with a friend and she was shocked to know that I had a father. I was telling her how annoyed I was with all these errands my father was asking me to do for him. She just blurted out “you’re father is still around?, and he lives in the same house with you? Man you’re the only person I know who’s father is around.”. Of course I found her just exaggerating a bit, but at the same time it took me back that someone would just assume that I was in a single family.

It kind brings up something really interesting, what happened to the people who looked up to the Cosby’s. All the talk about of wanting to be parents like the Huxtable’s or having them as parents. I remember wanting to go Hillman, having a family, and having a loving wife to build that family with. So, what happened? What happened to the generation who looked up to Cleavers, Partridges, Brady’s and Huxtable’s. A question which will go unanswered for a long time.

I just don’t know why there are some fathers and mothers who were raised in single family homes doing the same, willing depriving their children of both parents. This was just a thought, but it really seems to be a norm in our society and communities.

Think about it people where have we failed or gone astray.

The New York Times report the other week that the situation in Darfur has worsened as Sudan has expelled major foreign aid organizations. This is making an already bad situation worse. Many people in refugee camps are going with out food and any form of medical attention.

But what is going on over there and why should you care? From wikipedia:

The War in Darfur is a conflict that is in the Darfur region of western Sudan. Unlike the Second Sudanese Civil War, the current lines of conflict are seen by some reporters (such as those with USA Today and Slate magazine) to be ethnic, rather than religious.^[6] However, a United Nations report^[7] states that the various tribes under attack (chiefly the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa tribes) do not appear to have a distinct ethnicity from their attackers.

One side of the armed conflicts is composed mainly of the Sudanese military and the Janjaweed, a Sudanese militia group recruited mostly from the Afro-Arab Abbala tribes of the northern Rizeigat region in Sudan. They are mainly camel-herding nomads. The other side comprises a variety of rebel groups, notably the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army and the Justice and Equality Movement, recruited primarily from the land-tilling non-Arab Fur, Zaghawa, andMasalit ethnic groups. The Sudanese government, while publicly denying that it supports the Janjaweed, has provided money and assistance to the militia and has participated in joint attacks targeting the tribes from which the rebels draw support.^[8][9] The conflict began in February 2003. ~ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darfur_conflict

The Janjaweed with support from the Sudanese government are attaching villages in Darfur. They are killing the men, women and children who live there and burning everythying down so the survivors can not return. Villagers are forced to moved to crowed reffiugee camps where food is scarse. Women must travel miles to look for food and risk getting raped. Rape in this culture is viewed as the women’s fault and many women can not even tell there own families members for fear of being exposed. I herd a story of a women who told her mother and her mother told the tribale leader who proceeded to have the villagers stone the women.

I have to ask: How can you not care? These are clear human rights violations and these are real people suffering. I know we have our own problems here with the economy and people loosing jobs but we don’t have to fear our homes being burned down. Or fear getting asulted going to the grociery store.

To me its hard to believe that in this day and age these crimes agianst humanity are still happening. In school we learned about the Nazi’s and the million of people they killed as a result of ethnic cleansing. Here we are 50 years later and the these same type of horrific acts are still being committed.

In my own country of El Salvador kidnapping was a way for the goverment to punish anyone who suppored the rebelion. I have friends who were taken way from there homes by the goverment and who had to watch as their parents were killed. I have seen first hand the pain these acts can cause. Thats why I think its so important that we do something to help the people of Darfur.

I know this isn’t a an easy topic to hear about and its almost easier not know what is going on, but I encourage all of you to look into it. I have talked to people before and they aren’t sure of whats going on. They ask me “But what can I do to help?” Well at the very least you could sign up for the newsletter over at www.savedarfur.org. This will give you regular updates about the situation and what you can do to help. Even if its sending a letter to the local representative it all helps. They make it really easy to do this by providing a template. You just enter your name and address and hit send.

Now that Sudan has expelled many of the groups that are providing aid they need your help more than ever. Please, please do something. Donate or sign up for the newsletter or help spread the word. They need YOU to speak up for them.

Here is a short vidoe about the current situation.

Why is it that we are just hunting down Al Qaeda, but avoiding another group terrorized America? The KKK has been terrorizing this nation way before Al Qaeda for more than half a century. After watching a documentary on the KKK I’ve come to believe their belief isn’t too far from Qur’an. I want to break down the comparison and expose what I feel is the terrorist on our own soil.

Al Qaeda we’ve learned through out the last few years are a hate group of radical Muslims. This group terrorizes the lives of people with murder, talk of hate, and the teaching of hate to others to gain a larger following. That isn’t much different from the KKK. This is happening right in our backward in the United States.

Both groups wrap their message using religion; the Klan specifically is of the purely white protestant community. The Holy Cross, which is Christianity holiest symbol is used to intimidate others. Burning of the cross to them is more of a ritual and as it lights they sing religious hymns. In this documentary they were singing “Amazing Grace.” The Al Qaeda followers on the hand felt that they are doing the work of Allah, and follow the holy Qur’an. These men truly believe in their “cause” and that it is just.

Early on the Klan had to try and prove to the public that they were doing their community a favor. For example in 1915 D. W. Griffith filmed the silent movie called “Birth of a Nation.” The movie depicted the Klan as heroes trying to save women from the lustful beast like black man. When screened @ the white house Woodrow Wilson said “It’s sad, It was all so terribly true.” Our own Commander in Chief boasted the hate that was being spread by this terrorist group and supported terrorism.

Till this day the KKK is terrorizing communities and spreading and breeding their hate. The only difference between these two groups is that the Klan thinks they are American Revolutionist and sadly have American followers who support their “cause.” Followers such as the Aryan Nation are small portion of the seed created through the Klan. Which to me

So why aren’t we hunting down these terrorist? These are terrorist whose doors we can knock on, and not have to look into caves. The KKK has violated the lives on millions of men and women on American soil; that’s more than Al Qaeda. I don’t support what Al Qaeda is doing and I wouldn’t want readers to get that notion, but I feel if we’re trying to win this war on terror we need to also focus on what going on around us at home and not give out “free terrorist pass.”

(This piece does not solely represent the beliefs of G-Hamp Apparel; I’m simply sharing my personal feelings)

Definition of persevere: To persist in or remain constant to a purpose, idea, or task in the face of obstacles or discouragement.

My favorite movie right now is the “Pursuit of Happyness”, based on the true story of Chris Gardner’s life. Watching this movie reminded me of average, hard working people trying to keep their head above water. A person I met from a previous employer I worked for was looking forward to moving into their new house. They got a raise and the purchase was made to move in their humble abode. Than all of a sudden lay-offs were made and that person become part of it. Not knowing how you’re gonna pay your bills to stay in your home can be very frightening.

The thought of becoming homeless, broke, out of a job, not having food to eat, can cause a person to do immeasurable things. Things that can damage their integrity, character, and overall person-hood. There was a sad, recent story in California where a person killed his whole family including himself because he couldn’t handle being laid-off from his job. These struggles are real and people battle them every day…but thank God we have the will to persevere.

Not only Chris Gardner, but countless others have persevered and overcome their obstacles. Lance Armstrong beat cancer and was able to win countless more pro-bicycle tournaments after. Anthony Robles (born with one leg) won the nationals in college wrestling competition. Jackie Robinson becoming the first African-American to join Major League Baseball at the time of segregation in America. Tyler Perry who was homeless before he hit it big in Hollywood.

No matter the obstacle, no matter the challenge. Know that you can persevere and be rewarded abundantly in your life. Not only will you succeed, but your mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual well being will become stronger. Whenever you’re feeling down and need a lift, check out these blog post on persevering through struggle:

http://mahogonyd.multiply.com/journal/item/333/KNOWING_OURSELVES…_a_must_read

http://thewelltoday.blogspot.com/2009/03/day-5-until-revive.html

http://mfclingan.blogspot.com/2009/03/deep-thoughts-and-reflections.html

http://www.lisacharleyboy.com/2008/12/how-much-would-you-give.html

After watching this video I had to really sit back and reflect. Could this be true, 70% of black women are single? The number seems ridiculous and unbelievable, but when I sat down reflected and I thought that it may actually be possible.  A majority of my female friends and relatives are single. The reason range from not having time, their too busy, men are intimidated, and/or he gotta have what I have.

What may seem as excuses are actually not. I’ve hung around or spoken to women and these reason very much relevant. The independent woman has become more of a dominate woman and some men aren’t ready for that. And the men who think they are seem to fall pretty short and disappointment these hard working women.

Its not because these women are high maintenance, but there are standards to be met and there’s comes a certain point in life where settling is not an option. Now for example the man who has no access to a vehicle, but wants to take a woman out on a date. Now riding the bus and holding hands isn’t as cute as it was in high school. This falls in line with having what she has, women want to at least be met half way although they’re independent   they still want to be treated like a lady.

Seems when it comes to the hard working woman it becomes something with time. I’ve heard stories where a man actually pouted and even went as far as cussed a woman out because he wasn’t feeling appreciated. These “war stories” as I call them are sometimes hilarious and at times sad. I bet of the 70% of the single women probably half of them are single by choice and the rest if broken down are fed up or have adapted to the way of life.

Now as a man I can’t beat up on my brothers. Not all of us fall in this category of let downs. These men that I speak of I’ve given them a specific name and category. These men I call BlackPlanet rejects. These are men who have no aspiration to be more than they are, don’t respect women, are liars, and so called pimps or players of the “game.”

It seems to me that many women fall victim or prey to these men leaving good men behind. So when it was brought to my attention I spoke to a friend about it and she explained to me how she always wanted to have a speed dating event. At first I was skeptical about it, because there were so many dating websites. Eventually after speaking to my friend she sold me to the idea, it’s easier for a woman to get a feel of a man’s character in person than it is over a monitor.

So I’ve decided to lend my hand with the networking connections I’ve made through G-Hamp and school. G-Hamp is about giving backing and uplift. If this is a chance for me to be apart of lifting someone’s spirits, than I’m all for it. I know that I can’t change the percentage of single black females or females in general, but I’m willing to try and put a significant dent. So be on the look out this summer for the “Young Professionals Speed Dating Event.”

“Never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.”
-Harriet Beecher Stowe

We’re all hard workers striving to make ends meet in our lives. Working 9 to 5 jobs while maintaining a stable family or building a business on the side. All that we do on a daily basis can feel overwhelming, but still keep a positive outlook.

A couple of weeks ago, my girlfriend and I went to the movies to see Tyler Perry’s, “Madea Goes To Jail”. It was a great movie (almost as good as the play version) and it shows the genius in Tyler Perry’s screen-writing. Tyler Perry had created many movies and plays with huge success…but it wasn’t easy. He saved up $12,000 for a play that ended up bombing. After this he lived in his car for many years, but he didn’t give up. He continued to work hard and kept a positive mindset until one of his plays became a success. Tyler Perry went from living in his car to becoming a millionaire.

We strive for progression when it comes to our jobs, our exercise routines, our finances, our living situations, etc. The key to progression is all about the positive mindset you bring towards yourself and others. Daniel Irving, creator of BDMack Design is an up and coming web designer and photographer. Speaking to him, he explains that money is important, but primarily he wants to see others succeed and that is the way to future progress for himself.

Lets keep our attitudes positive and keep God first in our lives. Sooner or later you’ll see the progression in your lives.

God Bless

I was sitting a few days ago watching the news and watching the latest breaking news on a missing child. My heart really does go out for the family and I could only imagine the grief that they are going through at the moment. Something about the newscast bothered me though. The problem I had is that there was a repition in the news that I was receiving. It seems whenever a child is white and from a prominent neighborhood they are breaking news and become America’s little sweet heart.

Granted there is an Amber alert system which has made significant progress, but there are some flaws that still bother me. About a year ago there was an Amber alert sent out for Rodlyn Petitbois who kidnapped his kids and the mother. The children and mother were found safe and unharmed and I was truly relieved (although it came to light that the mother helped Petitbois flee to New York and she was also arrested). The coverage was well documented and I commend the local media for being so responsive. The issue though continues with the media, because it wasn’t national breaking news.

When Elizabeth Smart went missing all of America was tuned in just about everyday. The coverage was on 24 hour cable news networks and my local media. It made me think what was wrong with these kids that they can’t have national media coverage. If this was gang related, having to do with illegal immigrants, or a tragedy it would’ve become a bigger issue than the kidnapping. This seems to be the only way the black, Hispanic, and other minority groups can bring in national awareness.

Although we have the Amber alert, what about the ones that don’t get Amber alerts. There are plenty of posted pictures missing children in our local neighborhoods of kids you never knew were missing. The names are never familiar to me, but the story is always the same. Missing. So how do we help these families? That’s a question that still plagues me at times. I want to be able and reach out to these families bring awareness of what they are going through and help end their grief. We can’t count on the news media anymore because we don’t fit their criteria. So lets use the resources we have at hand, lets go to our local independent radio stations- Big City 101.3 FM, Choice Radio 102.9 FM, and Touch 106.1 FM. Also the national center of missing and expolited children (NCMEC).

Again I don’t mean to offend anyone, but lets keep it real. This is the truth!! Does anyone care??

As I browse the web I come across a lot of great sites that are all about making REAL change happen. Here are a few that I have come across recently. If you have any of your own please post them in the comments!

Whitehouse.gov:

If you haven’t checked it out already website of the president whitehouse.gov as been completely overhauled.  They have a ful blog and even a section for Obama’s weekly video updates. There are also lots of information about policies and what is going on in the goverment. Its pretty cool to see the changes Obama is bringing to all aspects of the government.

The Shift:

This ones come from the legendary McHammer. I follow him on twitter ( @McHammer ) and the other week he shared this site/video about making cahnge happen. http://www.theshiftmovie.com/ I for one can’t wait to see this movie when it comes out. We here at the G-HAMP Movement are trying to make change happen here in Boston. Let us know what you are doing to make change happen and we will post it here!

Citizen Schools:

Citizen Schools is a great program started here in the Boston area and is now all across the US. They bring outside “citizens” into after school programs to help kids apply what they have learned in the class room to real life. One just needs to watch this short video about the program to realize the impact they are making. My good friend Eric Whitney has work for Citizen Schools for a number of year and is telling his story in an effort to help fund raise. Please check it out and donate if you are able/willing: http://www.firstgiving.com/whitneyforcitizenschools