Why I believe Donald Sterling should not be forced to sale the Clippers

Did the NBA owners and their appointed “Commish” throw ol Don Sterling a bone? It is my contention that he should continue to own his franchise and not be forced to sale. I do not want to imagine a world where unpopular beliefs or statements can result in the forced sale of a person’s property or business.

Donald Sterling made some negative statements about minorities. His true feelings came out or at last we finally paid attention to what has been demonstrated to be in his heart for some time now or at least in the times he has owned an NBA franchise. It seems that it took his words not his actions to bring about a change, not typical! NBA owners, coaches, players, and even the fans ignored his antics for years and now in righteous indignation we want what could amount to his last days to be a horrible public experience.

I believe the owners threw Donald Sterling a bone when they committed to “force” him to sale his franchise. Imagine this scenario: Donald Sterling was forced to keep his franchise. He would be forced to watch as his Clippers franchise dwindled in value as sponsors dropped, fans refused to show for his games, and players dodged the pit that is the LA Clippers franchise. With these, the franchise would become a sinking ship that spilled money as it nosedived to the depths of an ocean of financial ruin. Organically these things would have happened if they just fined him and left him alone. This would have created a buyers’ market on the franchise and ol Masser Don would have been ORGANICALLY forced to sale at a price that would be significantly lower than the Clippers are valued at on 5/2/2014. With no sponsors, no players, no fans, and no pity he would have been forced to make the wise business decision of offering his business for sale at a cheap price (by NBA standards of course). Instead the owners of the other NBA franchises publicly call for his head while behind closed doors assuring that ol Masser Don is guaranteed a good price on his way out the door as Oprah Winfrey, Floyd Mayweather Jr, Oscar de la Hoya, Magic Johnson, and even Dr. Dre and Puffy want to put in bids . What they did is created, prematurely, a war of these various groups that are willing to help drive the price of his franchise up to no doubt record numbers for an NBA franchise…WATCH and see! Do you really believe Donald Sterling is upset about this…hmmm?

I can’t help but feel this was part of the plan. Remember, Donald Sterling is an old member of this fraternity and his frat brothers are still his frat brothers in finance. Could they have outsmarted the rest of the world behind closed doors by telling Sterling to pretend or even actually fight the sale to drive the price further north?  As for me I am glad he did what he did. An outed racist is a better for me and those that look like me than the ones under the white sheets. At least I know Donald Sterling doesn’t like me! As for the rest of the NBA owners, the jury is still out.

No one is going to really save us but US!

Somehow, the Social Inertia that has led to us to think and act like savages and blame all of OUR issues on others has to end. We have to find another object to act against the object in motion. Right now WE are blindly seeking the grace of God without willing to help ourselves. The people you blame for “OUR” issues are not going to save us so giving them the blame solves NOTHING. We have to save our own, starting with our children, one at a time! It is better to be in a position to receive GRACE (on the frontend) than to ask for MERCY (on the backend)!

It shames me that we are perpetually looking to others for the blame for our wrong doing or looking to blame others for our current negative situations. The problem with this is that you cannot get those that you blame to change a thing. Until you begin to look at your issue like it is your issue, nothing happens to mature a solution. I had to learn the very hard way that taking ownership of my issue is the one and true way to master it with a solution. It does not matter where the issue began, it is mine now and only I can fix it. Waiting on the stimuli that caused it to somehow fix it set me into a cycle of nothingness of just that…waiting! Why would the thing that created my problem help me to solve it? That thing will not help you to solve it until it has been reformed and the originators of our racial problems lack reformation or even acknowledgement that they originated the issue. Left on an island an entity will choose to survive or wallow in what it is that got them to that island. I choose to survive and focus on getting off the island. The broken vessel that got me to the island is not going to come to my rescue. Acknowledgement of this fact is the first part to getting to the solution.

Looking to God to supply a magic carpet ride off of this island will lead to a slow and painful hunger followed by an even more delayed death. Take notice that there are resources around you that may suffice for survival or better yet for getting off the island and saving oneself. All you have to do is make sure not to ignore the resources and take a step into the woods to go and get it. The fruit that drops from the trees has to be gathered and the animal has to be hunted if you plan to have nourishment to survive. The ship that gets you off the island will not build itself. If you are dependent upon the ship that got you there (welfare) to supply your needs once a month, it will stop coming ONE DAY. This I promise. Someone is paying for the ship to visit you once a month and they will some day, when you are no longer of use, stop visiting and leave you STRANDED.

Grace is the providence of things that are not deserved. This is sufficient if you are in a position to receive it. Mercy is the lack of what you really deserve. He who does not hunt will not eat. Asking that the mercy of nourishment is endowed upon you is a stretch and a chance that you do not want to worry into. Provide for yourself and grace will remain in the forefront. Waiting on others to provide for you and HOPE that there is mercy behind you and your misdeeds, is a losing proposition eventually.

We owe it to ourselves to take ownership of our issues and to supply answers to out many problems. Then and only then will what we have be enough and our children can follow the path that has been blazed for them, by our own footsteps. This blame that we give to an unseen “spook” is at its end as he will not come back to receive it or reconcile its fruit. We have to fix our own problems, no matter who caused them.

Where you stand dictates what you see

In life it is said that you are either heading into a storm, inside of a storm, or coming out of a storm. There is no prescribed amount of time for either of these parts of your individual life. I think that this is a true statement, at least by the experiences of my personal journey through life. What is more than challenging about this is the perspective at which we stand in the midst of these parts of the journey. Most of this comes from preparation and the understanding of a person as they travel. From the perspective of a person who has planted nothing a storm can be an unwelcome hindrance to continue the busy life of achieving null. For a person who has planted seeds for sowing, a storm can be a necessary giver of life, a sustainer of sorts. A storm can be a reminder that better times are ahead or a gut check to pay attention to where your assistance comes from. You see, the perspective comes from where you are situated and where you stand

physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

Prosperous people are the enemy of those that never really intend to live in the prosperity brought by their own sweat. Prosperous people, to them, are those that have too much, or those that need to give more, or those that are “food” for them to eat. The perspectives of those that live by the sweat of their brow see the prosperous as something totally different. They are to be looked upon as examples of what is to be achieved with hard work, dedication, and diligence. It really depends on where you situate yourself as you take sight of the lives of others.

Taking from others when you are capable of getting your own is a perspective shared by those that stand and view from a negative perspective. Never is there enough from where they stand. They intend to take until there is nothing left to take. Those with this perspective rob from the people that are in REAL need of the generosity and charity of the prosperous.

Standing in a storm and only seeing the rain can mean that your perspective is not allowing you to witness the rainbow or the flowers that will bloom. After the storm passes you only see mud. What a terrible place to be in. One of the most beautiful things about life is that you can change your perspective and view to be able to see more clearly…you just simply have to want to. Sometimes the herd you follow are lemmings and you just haven’t noticed until the cliff is behind you. From one perspective a rose is filled with thorns, and from another it is filled with vivid colors and unbelievable scents to be enjoyed. Where you stand very much dictates what you are able to see.

Martin Luther King was standing at the mountain top in a dream when he wrote a famous speech. From that perspective he seemed to be able to see the future of Black America. He seemed to be able to see much of what is evident in today’s society. He seemed to also foreshadow his not being able to get to a promised land just as Moses was not able to enter into the land he saw from Mt. Nebo that was promised by God. He seemed to enjoy a perspective that was one that could see past the storm. I often wonder what my world would be like had he chose to stand somewhere else.

A child can be a blessing or a curse. A job can be an albatross or a gold coin. A life can be one filled with the joys of overcoming challenges or a pitiful succession of concessions. You can see an approaching storm if you are not prepared or an opportunity  or you can see the beautiful rain given for your seeds to be fed. Remember the earth is fertilized with waste. What smells the most can be a giver of life if you stand in the right place and have the right perspective. A perspective can be one enjoyed or one to run from…..It just depends on where you choose to stand.

I'm getting my revenge....I think?

Best of all forms of getting back at an adversary is living a successful good life. Almost everyone has a person with which they owe a little “get back at you” to. Often it is the father or mother of your kids (trying not to use baby-mama and baby-daddy too much in 2010), or it is the people that talked the worse about you while you were growing up. First, I have to say this. If you haven’t moved on from such situations you probably need to look at the person in the mirror and find out where the deficiency lies. Your life should have been filled with enough joys to cancel out this spirit.

Many times the accused will not remember the silly things that you think they did to you. It is insignificant to them, as it should be to you…if you are an adult that is. When trying to position yourself to “show them”, remember how bad it made you feel and attempt to rise above such small-minded antics. If your focus is on you and yours, and not theirs, life will take care of your situation. My parent’s used to tell me that living a good life is the best revenge. I translate that to mean that a good life is the ultimate way to combat the negatives that fight against you.

If people that intended to hurt you are still in the childish business of bringing you pain, they will be aghast at your success and your good life. There it is if you just have to have it, your sweet revenge. Your positive, good life brings it back full circle. Don’t throw it in their face. This is ungodly and just childish not to mention it makes you look quite pea-brained. It also shows the person the power that they still hold over you, the weak-brained individual. Move on and let your life speak for you. Nobody that matters really cares that you make six figures, drive an expensive foreign car, or have a wonderful job. If all of this is true about you, they will know without you saying a word. If they are the ones that matter to you, they will be proud of you. In some manner you will know this. Be humble and thankful that your life is in some way helpful to someone else and let the past go! A good life is the best way to get back at the ones that will hate you. Just know that you seem as small as they do by acknowledging the fact that the past still haunts you. Be driven by being a good and successful person not by the bitterness of showing off.

Things can’t be fixed because no one wants to acknowledge that they are a part of the problem

In our community it is much easier to be entertained by the marks on the clothes of others. More often than not we are not willing to look at our backwards progression as issues. They are mere “choices” that we make these days. This is of course the case as long as it is someone else perpetuating the issue that we take notice of. There can be no progress without the realization that a problem exists. Usually this is not your particular problem but it IS a problem in OUR community nonetheless. Of course no one thing is exclusive to each individual situation. There is no one size fits all.

Increasingly I notice that people who fail to identify their issues pass them on to their children and community by not acknowledging an issue exists. It is too painful to point out that you are not living in a manner that is consistent with assuring progression for your people. I know! I have been guilty of this and I am still guilty of this. Three years ago in my life I realized that I was not all that I could be and set out to make a change. I am still in the process of making that change and working diligently to see it through. I had to first recognize that the thing that I was doing or not doing was not a benefit to my community, family, or to myself individually. I began working to be what I want other black men to be and am still trying to get there. I am working to make sure I can lead by my example and not by my words. I am taking away my sons ability to tell me, “Why do I have to do it, you didn’t!” I am noticing the marks on my clothes and trying my best to wash the garments clean.

There are many issues in our community that we do not want to face because it would cause discomfort to those we hold dear. We all know someone or a person who perpetuates the stereotypes that we so dearly want to make go away. We all fail to let them know that these behaviors are not positive behaviors and are a detriment to the strengthening of the black family and community. What was at one time real issue in our community are now just simply choices that people have made and it is none of your business. You may be right that it is not my business….but it is yours. No matter how you look at it …is…yours!........................AND THE COMMUNITIES!

Black men are dropping out of college at an alarming rate, black mothers are raising their children without the fathers at an even more alarming rate, many by “choice”, black parents are not as involved as they should be in the lives and education of their children, black women are chasing the wrong attributes in a man, black fathers are absent, black children are abandoning their opportunities to get an education in the inner cities of this nation, black love is choosing to co-habitate instead of marry, welfare IS the income of many black families, and we refuse to talk about any one of these that individually describes our situation. All of this and we are very willing to address the issues of others, just don’t look at mine. Without identifying your issue as a problem, it continues to exist and pass on to the next generation.

It seems that the days of making a REAL mistake and learning from it are over. No longer are these issues called mistakes to be learned from, now these are matters of choice that the rest of us need to ignore as our community rots from the inside. I vow to start with me by calling Trent out on any of the issues that were previously named and work to make my negative a positive. It is the only way I can be in a position to correct a younger generation. Be careful when telling me about my issues and problems, I just may bring your undivided attention to what you need to change!

We are not meant to exist from the benefits of welfare….that MUST CHANGE

We are meant to raise children with two parents……… that MUST CHANGE

We are not meant to be uneducated…………………. that MUST CHANGE

We are not meant to be absent from the lives of our children black men ….. that MUST CHANGE

We are not meant to live together without a commitment……… that MUST CHANGE

WE ARE NOT ALLOWED TO REDEFINE OUR ISSUES AS “CHOICES…….that too must change!!

We are not allowed to redefine what we have done in a manner that is not about the progression of our people and tell our kids that it is OK if they decide to do the same.

Is acknowledging that you should have done things a different way that uncomfortable to you?

We must stop eating our young!

Watching older generations criticize the young can be very educational. Never is the current generation of people or their antics good enough to stand the scrutiny of the past times of the immediate preceeding generation. The decisions that are made by the youth today are abominable to say the least. We just can not understand what happened to them.

Recently, I have noticed the harsh words we throw toward “our” stars and our youth. More black people hate Labron James, it seems, than the great number of Palestinians that hate Jews. It seems that we truly forget that he is a young black man who is despised by the system that created him because he is what he is. At this point in his life he needs our prayers and our love more than he needs our unrighteous indignation because he made a decision that he thought best for his family. I do understand that people were rubbed wrong by the “Decision”, but  if YOU allow the entire world to scrutinize EVERY decision your child makes you will quickly notice how many people truly love or hate your little one! My bet is that they will eat him/her up, what a shame! In that moment, your child would love to have the loving protection of the community(village) to allow him/her to learn and grow from such a mistake. With LaBron, we killed and ate our young, what a greater shame. People seem to be overjoyed that he was not able to win an NBA championship….YET!!

Our young stars that seem to be so out of control makes us long for the days of “Self-Destruction, and “We’re all in the same gang”? Really??? We forget that our generation of violent concertgoers and Bloods, Crips, VC, Folks, and Gangsta Disciples. Our youth didn’t start this, even if they think they did. Times are getting no worse; we are getting better and more sensible as we age, as does every generation. You don't really want to know what Granny was in her 20's, TRUST ME on this one. Since the1920’s each parent has wished their children partied like they did only because they have blocked out the unsavory parts of that time in their life. Since the 1920's gangs and shaking heads of adults who don't undestand what happened to the youth continue to exist.


REALLY!!!!



I don’t remember any of the parties I went to as a youth being without the threat of violence, the disrespect of certain youth, the disregard for elders (remember your Rockford Fosgate speakers that you didn’t turn down in your grandmothers neighborhood). I remember crack dealers on each corner and car-jackers possibly at every drive through. Hell in Houston we closed down all of the drive-inn movies because the generation that was so much better than the kids today could not control themselves and lives were lost! We eat our young because consuming them helps us to somehow forget that they are just like us. We eat our young because we like to pretend the times are worse and they deserve it, We eat our young because we have lost the will to direct them and to pray them out of bad circumstances. We eat our young because it is easier than admitting we created these monsters. We eat our young because we have neither intention nor the will to slay the monsters of our creation. Labron is ours; Lil Wayne is ours, just as Tupac was our parent’s angel and demon, all of our parents!! We have to stop consuming our young and learn to nurture them even from a distance. We have to learn that they are not to be thrown away when incarcerated. We have to realize they are the future that we mold and they will also think that their children are worse than ever. There is nothing new under the Sun. What ever they think they are doing, we already did and so did our parents and so did their parents and so did………..



I don’t suggest you get with it and suddenly perpetuate the wrong of our children. I am saying they are young and they too will one day laugh at their shenanigans. They will turn into you, God willing, and you will have to remind them not to eat your grandchildren, you will have to remind them of their high-top fade, Afro, sagging pants, mysterious jewelry, dashiki's, afropicks with the fist, and strange noises that they called music. You have to remind them that their kids that are just terrible will grow to adults too, someday! When this happens the cycle continues. One day Lil Wayne and Kanye will be on the afterhours Time Life old School CD commercials. You don’t have to love their generation, but you do have to understand that they are not all that they are called to be yet. Be patient with them, God is not finished with them yet. This is the only way you can save them from being eaten and consumed by these "horrible" times!

When your woman stops trippin with you...she is really TRIPPIN!!

That thing that your woman does that bothers you furiously, that thing that we like to say is nagging. You want to go out with the fellas and she gives you a hard time about it, she blows your phone up because she can’t locate you, she constantly tells you to help around the house, she wants you to be more affectionate. Yeah, that thing that bothers you so much that you look at her in a different way. That thing that bothers you to the point that you just consider, just consider, ending this thing we call a relationship.


Many times this is her way of letting you know either she cares (in a strange Women are from Venus way) or that you really need to address this issue. Often times this happened before the marriage or before the kids so you knew fully what you were getting into so don’t sing me the sob story. Grown men can ignore a lot because of a big butt and a smile (Poison). You knew what you were getting and didn’t consider if you could stand it in the long run. It got a little more worrisome when her mid-section added inches. She started to get on your last nerve when her butt was not as bikini ready as it was when you met her. The big butt and smile blinders were lifted and it got to be unbearable when she stopped doing that “thing” that you enjoyed so much because circumstances changed and responsibilities mounted, and there were considerations other than making you smile 24 hours a day. Get over yourself MAN!

Well, brother, it aint what it seems when she suddenly stops “trippin”. Many of us are so full of our self –anointed righteous hegemony that we simply ignore the forest because there are too many trees. Everyone is not equipped with the ability to rationalize and think through thoroughly, a situation that changes suddenly. Many of us think that we are the cause of the change of action.



Maybe you are, maybe you aren’t!



Put this one in your bag of knowledge to share with the younger brothers (because this information is too late for many of us). Usually, when she stops trippin with you it is not that she all of a sudden became cool, straight, chill, impassive, levelheaded, or she just plain finally got it. Many times she stopped trippin with you because she found someone else to trip with (let that soak in). Yeah, that’s right; her concern is no longer what you are doing because it now is focused on Jody and what he is doing. Brothers, that don’t get it are too busy doing what they are doing to pay attention to a shift in their relationship dynamic. Come on in late, she doesn’t really care. It gives her more time to give to someone else. Stop going places with her, she refuses to keep begging. It is because “he” is probably going to meet her there. All of a sudden she stopped blowing up you phone, I bet you that Jody’s number is peppering that cell phone bill.

The next time you think that she is trippin, you should really be entertained and comforted by the fact that SOMEBODY is trippin with you when you are not right. You knew she would do this. Hell, she started when you met her. It is only when she is no longer “trippin” that things are not what YOU think they are….believe me. Lessons learned from having four sister playa!! Play the game right.