gratitude.....

this song has A LOT of sentimental meaning to me. Remembering as a child maybe 4 or 5 years old my mom woke me and my younger sisters up to go to my aunt's house while she worked & went to school, and every morining at 5 I'd hear this on the clock radio.....





And the lyrics had so much meaning behind them....


(Be-e-e-e-e-e Grateful)
(Be-e-e-e-e-e Grateful)
God has not promised me sunshine
That's not the way it's going to be
But a little rain (A little rain)
Mixed with God's sunshine
A little pain (A little pain)
Makes me appreciate thegood times


God desires to feel your longing
Every pain that you feel
He feels them just like you (Just like you)
But he had to die to make you feel only good (Only good)
Then you can appreciate the good times


Be-e-e-e-e-e Grateful) Be Grateful
Because there's someone else who's worse off than you
Be Grateful (Be Grateful)
Because there's someone else who'd love to be in your shoes

but this was more than just a song (at least to me) but one of the many life lessons my mom always taught to me and the rest of my brothers and sisters throughout our life until her untimely passing back in Feb, 2009

be grateful in everything

even though she's not here to read this, I hope she knew that I was listening when she was always tellin me the same thing that the Hawkins Singers was try'na to tell us in their song....

Holiday Dinner, the good, the bad, and the NASTY!!!

you know what I hate about Holidays? The food.

I never was a big "soul food" eater, and before sum'a yawl with the dumb questions: "what? ALL black people eat soul food, whats wrong with you?" and my personal favorite: "you sure you black?"

Imma add a brief side note right quick...(Before I came to know God both dumb questions would have recieved an even more ig'nant reply laced with more than a few cusswords.)

But anyway back to the story. As we all know every holiday from New Years day, all the way back to Christmas families gather together to that one house that hosts with a huge meal prepared for the friends and family invited (or not invited, but show up anyway. But that's another topic for another blog LOL). And that meal consists of the following

Greens (collard or mustard)
Sweet Potaoes

Chicken
Ham
Turkey
Macaroni
Spaghetti
cranberry sauce
.....and the Dressing

I think I named all the foods right? Oh wait I almost forgot the Chitterlings, aka Chit'lins aka NASTEE than 2 muggs. Some may ask "How can you think they're nasty? Don't you know this is a delicasy for black people?" As my wife asked me whe she cooked some when we was first married and I repeatedly declined. But she insisted and I tried it and my theory was right.


CANT NUTHIN BE GOOD THAT SMELL THAT NASTY





even with hot sauce, as my wife said to put on it but guess what? that aint help either Because now they taste like s**t with hot sauce on it.

Now I'm aware of the fact that when our ancestors were enslaved, they pretty much had little to no choice to what they ate, so they had to make something from nothing, which was the scraps from the food that the slave masters didnt want. And I also know If I had lived back then more than likely either I'd be eatin that mess along with em but then lookin the way I look I might have been in the house.

(judge me if you want to LOL)

But Let me say this much, being that I dont like "soul food" does not make me any less "black" and I thank God for the strength of our forefathers that paid a price and sacrificed so much so generations later we would have to. So in the meantime I'll watch the clock and pariently wait until the soul food season is over, of at least until the next one and the STANK of the chit'lins is out my house.

stepping stones

ask anybody that know me and they'll tell you either....

1.) he's been dj'in like forever

or

2.) he loves hip hop, and he's been dj'in like forever (or at least since High School)

and If you would have asked me then I'd tell you that this (DJ'in, turntablism) was my calling in other words i was born to do this....



special shout out to my youngest daughter Jasmyne recording that clip of me practicing late one Friday night LOL

....but back to the topic, Ive been dj'ing since sophmore year (1987) and since then my life has taken a few turns mainly for the better. Most recently I recieved the blessing from my bishop to be in charge of a small Mission out in Elgin, Illinois(part of my church)last year, and recently we've have lately renting a place to worship for the time being, until God willing we have the means to purchase a Church out there (Elgin/Streamwood area). Which for the most part is a lot of work in itself.

I'm totally aware of the fact many of yall will say "but B, you love spinnin" and yeah you're right LOL. But does that mean I love spinnin more than God?

#NAWL

Imma be honest, I started out as a hobby, just for fun, and then later would make money off it. It wasn't consistent but it became a very lucrative side hustle that always came in handy for a young brother workin at various high volume fast food chains, you know like.....




and




...making only $5 an hour mind you but I'm grateful I had that because it kept me and my brother off the street and out of trouble. But back to the story I honestly thought that was my talent, my calling if you will but then with the change of events in my life within the past few years i'm starting to see that that music was more of a stepping stone as opposed to what I thought my calling "was" and, what it really "is"


theres a setence in Hi-Tek's joint "God's plan" that comes to mind as I type this when young buck said:



"There is NO man who can stop God's Plan"

knight rider in spanish

i actually cuffed this from my guy Nobley Nobe's blog #SUPERFUNNY

joints you aint heard in a while...its beautiful

"....I see a black man aimin' his gun
But I'd rather see a black man claimin' his son
You know the sound is pretty
Even when you got to get down and gritty
This is money in the bank like you down wit' Diddy
This a helicopter ride around the city
And we love it cuz it brought us here
It's like a young mother braidin' her daughter's hair
It's beautiful"

The Boss!

...is the name of one of my favorite insturmentals *clears tho'at* pardom me Petestrumentals thats normally played coming home from work. Enjoy.




I havent been able to play it lately because of the car situation. Yep, the 02 Dodge Intrepid died on me after 8 years and 170,200 miles later it couldnt take much more so I just got a 98 Buick LeSabre that runs excellent...but theres one small issue

it came with a tapedeck O__o so I cant play my just got off work CD LOL, at least until I can thow a CD face off in that demo

stay tuned for other joints I play after a hard day of work dealin with a bus load filled to capacity of middle school first and then elementary school chil'lins

It was on a Friday......

.....a few weeks ago, coming back from my rheumatologist appointment at the University of Chicago. On the way to the crib I stopped at my favorite fast food spot Checkers...(the last one left in the Chi at that) for 2 of my favorite things, a spicy chicken sammich and a medium fry

#YESSSS!!!

and if any of you been to that Checkers on 55th/Dan Ryan you know in and around the drive th'u you're going to see one of the 3 individuals that im going to mention

1 the dude selling socks and incense
2.that rapper tryna sell a wack mixtape/album
3.the hype out there straight beggin (sometimes they'll clean your windows tho)

and yeah sometimes I throw em a couple of singles when I can...but sometimes I don't (just being honest, dont judge me) And this day in particlular I wasnt at first, but there was this man.....and his son at the drive th'u, and I thought, I'm sure its hard enough for him to be out here askin for somebody....anybody to tey and buy him something to eat but having his son (around 3 or 4 years old mind you) with him and seeing car after car play them both like they was invisible really got to me. Mainly for the fact that seeing the child despite the situation still kept a smile on his face. In this type of situation I didnt think i just said hol' up, I'll get something for yall.

At the time I didnt think of this verse but a short while later it came to me

Matthew 25;35 "...For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me"

I havent been back to Checkers since that day back in November but I hope and pray that things turned around for that man and his son. But it also made me stop and recognize the many blessings God gave me and my family.

To be honest I wasn't gonna blog about this because I really didn't want to make it look like I was thirsty for attention, or even worse put myself out there like "yeah look what I did, wheres my Nobel peace prize at" but then I thought why not, maybe one day just like it happened to me, It may happen to you and you just might be presented with a similar scenario and may have to make a similar choice, and perhaps these words may sway you the reader to do like that Spike Lee joint from 1989




do the right thing......