The Rant Bar

The last time I committed murder I was George Floyd and I was killed because I couldn’t breathe.  I was Tamir Rice and I was killed because of a toy gun.  I was Breonna Taylor and I was killed because I was scared because WTF.  I was….Ohhh, there’s a long list.  Whomever is keeping track, knows this.  Every time I look in the mirror, I am me.  And me stares back at me, and wonders when was the last time I committed murder again, remembering it’s as recent as Ralph Yarl’s attempted murder and the string of murders continue to occur because everyone must have a gun in order to satisfy their fears.  I want to ask you a logical question, “Should Black people use their fear of prejudgment by Whites to guide their need to be safe and shoot first and ask questions later?”  Is this what Black people should do, run around like chickens with our heads cut-off, stomping at trees in our way, barking at White people driving by, telling them not to look at us, asking them why and how do they drive that nice car, wanting nothing more than for them than to disappear and be more than happy to use Our Guns and our professions to make it happen?  There’s no need for this…

I have committed murder because I am African American and marked as a troublemaker in the eyes of blinding racism and prejudiced biases, hurtful, painful, reckless, dangerous, assumptions being made about why I exist.  At some point, you have to see right pass the chalk line of the sport of “killing unarmed Black and brown people, particularly Black men,” and call a spade a spade.  You have to see right through Florida’s rambunctious fun of making laws that attempt to deny the undeniable evil and racism still flowing through White hearts and communities in 2023.  It’s as if we kidnapped ourselves, enslaved ourselves, raped ourselves and kept ourselves from reading, and more, did all these things to ourselves and we’re just lying and our history therefore should be wiped from schools and libraries, from even existing on paper and in archives.  When the spade is DENIAL. The spade is Unspeakable DENIAL. No matter who kidnapped, raped, beat, killed, pilfered our spirit and souls, or enslaved whom first or last, slavery was/is an evil thing by any measure.

We could go on planting rose bushes.  Planting tomato vines watching them grow ripe blooded flowers and fruits, imagining every tomato representing our ancestor’s blood, their sacrifices and their pain; creating instead undertones of our pain, anger and intolerance towards deadly overt actions by Whites. That’s the pain of ALL children having the right to know and especially Black and Brown children being denied their history, witnessing the revelation of continued global injustices, wrongs needing made right, calling for an Equal Rights America with the most beautiful multicultural remedy that cannot be denied. We want to teach all other atrocities, legacies and injustices of a people, but not the people of the mother land. The human race is beautiful when everyone is FREE to obtain life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness without detriment to their culture and skin color.

Let’s Break Every Chain of Murder and Mayhem…Let’s kill it with Love, Facts and NEW Laws by Any Means Necessary…Amen.

The Rant Bar – Commentary by Darlene M. Fenrick Washington, Copyright DMWBooks.com/DMW Publishing 2023 All Rights Reserved

Yeah, ”I Wanna Dance With Somebody!”  I always have wanted to dance with somebody who loves me. Imagine dancing with someone who doesn’t. Sometimes I can’t watch certain movies because of the pain or sadness that may ensue. Any Whitney Houston bio of any sort is always heartbreaking. And Naomi Ackie certainly made us feel her true existence.  Whether you loved Whitney or not, she didn’t want to be a prisoner of our imaginations of who she was.  She just wanted to be herself, and still be loved. What’s wrong with that? Always note where people are born and raised.  Remnants of that existence may remain buried until they burst through their life’s choices.  Whitney was one of those people. And even when people grow up after being raised with certain values that they don’t appreciate, you will still see another part of them that reflects the opposite of what was taught or accepted. 

I would like to blame Bobby Brown, her brother, her father, her mother, the wind, the people who booed her, the people who sold her the drugs, the devil, I blame them all. But, whose fault is it?  You must know that life’s pressures cause people to break.  Life’s hurts and pains cause people to break. And some people won’t accept that they are breaking until they are broken.  Yet, Whitney drowned in her sorrows from a drug addiction, and then her daughter joined her.  It’s the most brokenhearted, a parent or anyone, who actually loved her, could be. I think when Black people realized the gem that she was, they finally changed their tune receiving what was undeniable. But I was a fan from the very beginning.  Whitney and Mariah would battle each other via stereotypical reviews on Black Radio and Whitney would win, cause she was more celebrated as a Black artist at the time. “Mariah just screams,” I remember someone saying on the radio.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Both ladies were in their own prime.  Both ladies are talented beyond belief.  Whitney’s own daughter aspired to sing, after all, weren’t both her parents singers…?  What a crown she would have had to wear.

I’ll tell you, you better know who you are. You better know what you want for yourself in life.  Cause if you don’t, someone will take you by the hand and lead you on their journey for you.  Till one day you wake up confused as to who or what you actually are. When just before the other day, you knew your vital statistics and you knew those vital statistics were yours and yours only.  And now today, it could be anyone’s.

The only thing I know for sure is that Whitney’s entire existence was a witnessing of God’s gifts upon us.  I remember watching the Mozart movie years ago, Amadeus.  Remembering, how jealousy was portrayed as the demise of this immensely talented man child. Well, just like we don’t pick our parents, we also don’t pick our talents; they emerge as we go about life.  In the case of these two artists, Whitney and Mozart, as depicted, neither of them seemed to cope very well with life’s realities. They offer you a feather in your hat for your brokenhearted dreams and expectations of lives not our own. They send you away, numb and cold.  Warmth left at their deathbeds from their body’s heat, and not from concerned or ordained hearts.  Truly concerned or ordained hearts would have been able to save them from the shadows in their lives. Truly concerned and ordained hearts would have met death at the door and turned it away…The truth lies in what you believe.  And if you’ve ever tried to save someone….

Oh, My Jesus…

Okay, this ain’t really about basketball.  It’s about double standards on and off the court.  I’m sure everyone “woke” (aware of racism and racist actions and speaking out about it or something, but not ignoring it…) has been sounding the alarm about the racial difference of the same actions of one white girl (Caitlin Clark) vs. one black girl (Angel Reese) and the public results from their actions.  How’s that? A white girl waving her hand in someone’s face during the game is ok, but if a black girl does the same thing during the game, it’s time to “ridicule, shame, think of violent things to do and say “not”, yell and write obscenities about her).  Oh my…It’s chilling and exhausting to see that much hatred still floating around America in the veins of its White citizens. 

But we live in double standard America, “where everything you do is only all good if you’re white.” I ain’t gonna lie to you, it hurts, it feels disgustingly wrong. Complacency during these moments by ANYONE is ruining our chances for An Equal Rights America. There’s no justification for this kind of hatred other than “Egoism.” There are so many events that have shaped America which involve minorities and especially Black people (the Black History that some people don’t want taught, cause not knowing about these things keeps you thinking the negative things you do about them) that made America Great and revealed a literally insane ego trenched, self-righteous, illusion of supremacy.  Because you can deny all day long the major contributions of minorities worldwide and especially Black people to America, but it doesn’t make it a lie.  It makes you blind to the truth.  It makes you disillusioned about your existence and the things you did to get where you are. We’re all evolving into a greater species, technology and genetic science is assuring this happens. All this while the planet is being destroyed…And we expect to still be living on it and breathing its air. That can’t happen without each other.  The various contributions to our society are ESSENTIAL to our CONTINUED LIVING…Don’t be foolish with hate, envy, greed and denial.  If you just get in court and begin to celebrate our differences, you’ll see how much we ALL ACTUALLY NEED EACH OTHER. 

And lastly, “The Champs Court in Basketball” says that the champs get to be celebrated and received the same as any white team that would have won.  Dare we tailgate or tailgate party in basketball, just think about what happens before, during and after those wins…

The nurturing of a child is a human and humane responsibility.  It belongs to the parents and/or guardian of the child. When we, as the human race sit back and allow unspeakable atrocities to happen to children and still wake up in the morning feeling “Ok” about everything, everywhere contributing to their subtle humanity being shredded turning them into emotionless, damaged human beings, WE have failed the proper progression of our future. Our children are our stars, and they are everywhere.  Without them, we cease to exist.  Never forget that….

You cannot ignore the fact that people who are now criminals, sick and twisted in their minds ended up that way because of something their parents and/or society did wrong? Perhaps, we failed to help and/or protect them. Failed to give proper discipline.  Failed to give the prescribed meds. Failed. Failed. Failed.

And yes, I know, sometimes no matter what we do, it can still happen this way. But please don’t play a negative role in their demise.  Don’t sit there and do nothing at all.  I pray that we can be better human beings to each other: In Real Time – Disallowing physical and/or cyber bullying, pilfering of any sort, child labor and abduction, you know the things that turn babies into the labeled monsters you see today, while never even receiving any turmoil in our hearts. We continue to torture their families and friends for having known them and having their blood in their veins. We stand liberated in our hurtful actions because it makes us feel powerful and cause that’s what we feel they deserve.  After all, aren’t we God…

And yet, we must prevent further loss of life and humanity. We are all God’s children, shooting stars burning brightly till the end. That’s where I live.

The Rant Bar – Commentary by Darlene M. Fenrick Washington, Copyright DMWBooks.com/DMW Publishing 2023 All Rights Reserved

Will Smith ain’t no bitch! Ask his momma, his wife, his friends and family or even me, or anybody who actually loves him and they’ll tell you, “Hell naw, he ain’t no bitch!”  But if you ask Chris Rock, he’s a straight up bitch! Why?  Cause he made a bitch ass move.  I don’t need to recite it, but it involved a bitch slap that hurt feelings, split egos up and down in a bad way. And drove people to think that Chris was a punk. Right, so you wanted Chris Rock and Will Smith to be fighting on the Oscars stage turning the event into The Source Awards. Who black getting an Oscar after that?!   Seriously!  Like he said and I agree, he took that hit like Pacquiao! Now Black people can still attend the Oscars and feel good about their presence.

Will in all his glory is a sexy, intelligent, warm hearted, fun loving, cool dude with a rock star career.  Is Chris not the same?  You don’t think he’s sexy too? Funny is sexy whether it’s powerful commentary or in your face charm.  The swagger on these men is real….You don’t think Chris deserves his “Selective Outrage” at this moment, from the location of the event, to his all out attack on both of Will and Jada. What chu want a boxing match?!  How much longer did you want him to wait to unleash his fury?  Give ‘em his flowers. He had unkind words for a reason! He’s a comedian! It was funny.  It was insulting and deserving.  My best motto, “Don’t start none, won’t be none.”  Dare sit in the same room with a comedian and see don’t you learn a knew perspective on how you’re seen by others. 

Giving Chris his flowers doesn’t hurt Will Smith.  Will Smith already hurt Will Smith and Chris Rock in the same sentence.  Will did a Hancock, okay.  Now, somehow, I’m picturing Will in Legend, the Ali movie commercials and the robot movie.  Okay…back to the bull crap.  Please leave Chris alone.  He ain’t no worse than Dave Chapelle, another ride I’ll take any day. I’ll stand in line for that ride.  So perk up your baby ears and enjoy adult entertainment. Leave your tender feelings in the tender box for a minute.   

Dave Chapelle, I mean Chris Rock, I mean Will Smith, oh I’m so turned on right now…Remember, Will Smith Ain’t No B*tch!

The Rant Bar – Commentary by Darlene M. Fenrick Washington, Copyright DMWBooks.com/DMW Publishing 2023 All Rights Reserved

One day you wake up and you’re Chris Rock making history conducting your Selective Outrage Live Comedy Special on Netflix. And it was well worth the time and attention given with all of its laughs and critical opinion theories presented in the name of comedy entertainment. Chris Rock, born with the talent to make people laugh uncontrollably, but apparently not when it comes to Jada Pinkett-Smith. Just ask Will Smith, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and husband of this beautiful and very bald Black woman. A joke about her baldness at the Oscars prompted Will to casually get up, walk up on the stage, stroll up to Chris Rock and Slap him with the power of a Pacquiao stance. He did! He did take that hit like Pacquiao! And so did the rest of us! It burned our butts! If you love all three of these people from an entertainment standpoint, feel like they could be your sibling or best friend, it just don’t feel right…

All three of these people are seriously Godly gifted and we are grateful. Aren’t we y’all, to have this level of entertainment? Chris has never been a “sneak up on you with the insults kinda comic.” It’s usually blatant irreverent fun! He’s made a living spewing his comical genius on a MULTITUDE OF TOPICS, not just women, or even particularly Jada Pinkett Smith, who now claims he’s obsessed with her. Hosting his event in her home town is not obsession, it’s Chris’ indirect (passive aggressive) “I’ll talk about you in your home town!” Name me one comic that doesn’t keep tapping a source of comedic inspiration that yields the desired results. Apparently, Jada’s, ONE of his muses. It was quite ballsy of him to do so with Big Willy lurking around free to do it again.

You can be hating on Chris Rock all you want! Turning his comedic genius into attack topic zones. I mean damn, it was clearly sarcasm about abortion, clearly sarcasm about Meghan Markle, clearly fucking sarcasm and satirical! Yeah Meghan Markle should have known she was diving deep into the heart of racism. And women, damn you ladies, freedom to have an abortion yes! Killing babies due to laziness (failure to protect yourself from having to choose death to your own child), our right not to abuse it! He spoke to that. What else? Bring it! It’s comedy. Will and/or Jada should have also used comedy to retort the comedic situation, but No. Jada gave Will the look and he went up there with his Tupac and Williams’ sisters dad state of mind and defended her honor with violence. Bet sex was good that night! Or perhaps it was making love…Or maybe there was another slap that wasn’t heard by the world!

For those of you who think he should have hit Will back, and disrupted a hesitant Hollywood audience and judges desire to award us Black mucka suckas anything, well aren’t you just cute! Imagine that Black people fighting on stage at the Oscars. Saweet…. So yeah, He took that hit like Pacquiao! Give him his flowers and his Selective Outrage….

The Rant Bar – Commentary by Darlene M. Fenrick Washington, Copyright DMWBooks.com/DMW Publishing 2023 All Rights Reserved

“I am not my ancestors!”  Like hell you’re not!  If you’re still out here perpetuating racism, and Jim Crow like leadership and laws, refusing to teach your children the truth about slavery and black people, finding no real reason to hate people of another race, other than the fact they’re of another race, then…dare I say it. Yes, Black Lives Do Matter, cause ALL Lives Matter.

Slavery was the most evil, twisted, ego driven mind fuck of the human race, no matter who was slaving or enslaving, it wasn’t right.  It was demented in every way, much like Hitler’s serial killer genocide of the Jews, The genocide of the Tutsi in Rwanda, and the continued domestic terrorist race acts against black people.   Slave owners convinced themselves of the most ridiculous observations and muses to condone their greed and evil ways.  If you look at black history, the history that Ron Desantis doesn’t want taught, it exposes the depth of the lies and disillusionment.  Many whites have come forward who are tired of the craziness, the disillusionment that white is always right and better than everyone, especially black people.  Racism is a global problem.  It’s global!  It’s global because, there’s hardly a place you can go on the globe where some racist chant or action will be admonished against black people for just being black people.

I implore you to educate yourself!  Don’t get incorporated into being hateful.  Incorporated into blaming others for your unhappiness.  Incorporated into robotic automation as if to be a programmed drone floating on lies and acting on ignorance. To get started, land on solid ground:  National Museum of African American History and Culture, DuSable Museum, and here are a few black facts to consider from Oprah’s Daily.  Us all gotta learn some time!

When you study the financial, justice and health inequities of the world against black and brown people and how disproportionate they are to other races, you will begin to see what you simply care to ignore.  Or prefer to refute for your levels of comfort. 

Meanwhile, you are not your ancestors, until you are your ancestors.  Remember people, “Less Illusion, More Inclusion!”  Live in truth….Racism is the Genocide of Humanity.

Spread Love, Not Hate!

The Rant Bar – Commentary by Darlene M. Fenrick Washington, Copyright DMWBooks.com/DMW Publishing 2023 All Rights Reserved

What is the superego? Well if you ask Sigmund Freud…The supergo is the ethical component of the personality and provides the moral standards by which the ego operates. If you ask me, it’s the driver for racism everywhere. The superego is responsible for the many injustices of the world. We, Humans, get so high and mighty, we find in our spirit the desire to commit the crimes of racism, slavery, murder, predatory lending and financial fraud, ungodly health and social experiments and detriments, classism, bullying on and offline, and any other “ism” that exists. We think the color of our skin gives us the right to do whatever we want. Then deny, deny, deny any accountability or understanding of the crimes committed; or act as if it’s still “Ok” or a lesser crime when it comes to skin color. The superego makes us the mad scientist in our own heads, creating whatever delusional, ego induced zombie that emerges. Thought to be unstoppable, because it is what it is. It’s only kryptonite, THE PROOF OF THE TRUTH!

When you address the statistics on disparaging health, wealth, education, police brutality and every pursuit of life and liberty, minus the happiness, there’s no denying the proof of the truth. There’s only Ignoring it. Ignoring evidence presents judgment for or against a person or situation and could mean life or death and if you don’t care about that, you’re part of the problem. This ain’t a conspiracy theory. Currently, American History is being re-written to exclude the truth. Some people want to hide the truth from our most valued members of the future, Our Children. To bury past sins, as if to say, “So what. You don’t matter. It doesn’t matter what we did or continue to do.” Einstein said it best, “More the Knowledge, Lesser the ego. Lesser the Knowledge, More the Ego.” If you want a better humanity, we have to make it happen!   

Why is deniability, plausibility? Because it ignores the proof of the truth. The hypocrisy that is in America and abroad about racism is painted everywhere. It’s in the passengers on London trains, airplanes, online/offline, in food service and preparation, lab diagnosis, breast cancer, advertising commercials and beauty standards; it’s every damn where! Everywhere. The psychology and sub-psychology that white is the best, the best, while all others should take to the back of the line and wait until they’ve had their fill. Anyone else agree with this? 

Let me tell you, it would help a great deal if we all see our superego for what it is; harness it to quiet the temper tantrums, and tell it, “Other people can be great too! There’s a bar for sustaining humanity; it gets way too low, when we think it’s ok to oppress others with misdeeds, murder and mayhem.” Then and only then can we all sustain a prosperous unified humanity… A Fabulously Equal Rights America! A More Globally Humane Society.

Thanks for your time and consideration…

The Rant Bar – Commentary by Darlene M. Fenrick Washington, Copyright DMWBooks.com/DMW Publishing 2023 All Rights Reserved