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Jesus help me!!! I can't stop laughing! The debate thing is so...so...reality-tv-ish! President Obama's face reminded me of that look I've seen on a few coworkers who slipped their way into a position they knew they weren't ready for...and I've been in that situation once too, now that I think about it. That moment when you realize: Shit! I don't know what the eff I'm doing! I guess I'm fired. Who knows how this will turn out. It sure is funny to watch though. I won't lie. I laughed at the highlights as if I were watching a comedy show. Felt like I got my money's worth out of this overly-priced satellite service I pay for each month.

Our parents were being born into this world a little more than 50 years ago. They were the children of Black Americans born three generations after the abolishment of slavery. But thanks to governmental acceptance of the institution of segregation, they remained second class citizens. Being second class citizens, they did not have access to the best schools and were ineligible for many good paying jobs. Our grandparents refused to allow this form of segregation to remain in place and demanded change. They made a choice to fight for this change by any means neccessary. This choice cost some people their lives and others their freedom. While fighting for these rights, our grandparents also taught their children to value education. Many adults in their generation did not finish high school; but they wanted more for our parents. Grandpa and Grandma pleaded with our parents to get a high school degree and refused to accept anything less. Their persistent message stuck with our parents and resulted in millions of black teenagers receiving a high school diploma. Black teenagers had never finished high school at such a high rate and this was largely due to the efforts of our grandparents. After segregation was abolished and our parents became adults; they bought us into this world. We were the first and second generation of black children born in a post segregated United States. Our parents were only expected to finish high school, but they wanted more for us. The new message was to obtain a college degree. They knew a college degree would increase our chances of obtaining a good paying job and achieving financial stability. Their own career failures led them to this conclusion. While having a high school degree got them into the doors of Corporate America, our parents weren’table to advance without a college degree. They had to settle with the lowest paying jobs and didn’t have the time to obtain a college degree. Many of our parents had to provide for us and attending college was not feasible. They did not want this lifestyle for us and made sure we heard this new message. Their persistence worked. We finished college at a higher rate than ever before. Many of us even went on to obtain post graduate degrees. Our parents used a message to help with the advancement of our race just like grandma and grandpa. While it is true that not everyone bought into this belief, their message was proven effective. There are more black CEO’s and presidents in Corporate American than ever before. We’ve even witnessed the election of the first black president of the United States; a Harvard graduate. But now our parents are the grandparents and we are the adults. We are the people guiding the next generation of Black American adults. We are left with the responsibility of helping our race overcome setbacks from the past. The message of obtaining a high school degree belongs to our grandparents. The message of obtaining a college degree belongs to our parents. What is our message? The message we must create for the next generation should be different. Our children watched us finish college and obtain post graduate degrees. They understand the importance of a good education and the role it plays in getting a high paying job. The next generation needs more. Education based messages are no longer good enough. We need to offer them a message that will fulfill the dreams of our grandparents. This message must lead to Black Americans overcoming a problem that has yet to be solve; owning the highest unemployment and poverty rates in the United States. The way to achieve this is to teach our children how to effectively manage their money. The previous generations have taught us how to earn money; now we must teach our children how to use it. Our message to the next generation must be to obtain financial freedom. We must keep them from falling into the same debt building habits we accepted. It is no longer acceptable to promote obtaining college degrees through the accumulation of unsustainable debt. They must understand the consequences of uncontrolled spending and excessive credit card usage. We can’t teach our children to allow home equity to be their biggest asset. They must be taught how to protect their net worth and achieve lifestyle goals without a serious accumulation of debt. We must teach them how to escape paycheck to paycheck cycles. Failure to spread our message will result in a continuance of financial inferiority. Our parents taught us the value of a college degree without going to college themselves. Our grandparents taught our parents the value of obtaining a high school degree without finishing high school themselves. It’s time for us to step up and help with the advancement of our race. No excuses allowed. This is our obligation to the next generation and we should fully embrace it. Make sure you support the blog and comment there also at http://moneyetiquette.com/blog.html

Well, it's Friday and since nothing much else is poppin, I'll indulge and amuse myself by putting the "Cynique" in Cynique's corner and make some observations about - nothing. Prince was in Chi-Town for a 3-day engagement. The ol boy can still generate interest and excitement. Tickets to his concert were a hot item. All of his middle-aged fans who grew up with him were hustling up the money for tickets, none of which were under $125.00; this in addition to the exorbitant parking costs attendng this event would include. My FaceBook community was all agog with anticipation. My daughter made the gesture of asking me if I wanted to go with her because I usually try to catch him when he’s in town. But I’m all laid up with an injured foot and I knew I couldn’t handle the strain. Not only that, I’m still stuck on old school Prince and you never know whose going to show up at his engagements; the Prince giving his faithful fans what they want to hear, or the Artist who wants to unload a lot of new shit on you. Anyhow, reviews of his first night were luke warm mostly because there were equipment glitches which delayed the start of the show and hampered his performance. His 2nd and 3rd nights got rave reviews, however, and to the delight of his fans, the Prince they all know and love treated them to some vintage Prince, rockin guitar riffs and dousing them in "Purple Rain", even springing Chicago’s own Jennifer Hudson on them as a surprise guest. Time may bring change, but Prince defies the years and reportedly looks and acts the same. I can remember, when my daughter was in high school, the poster she had of him on her bedroom wall, a reproduction of his first album cover, with him sporting a huge Afro. Now, 30-something years later, the afro is back to complement the indelible eye-liner and inimitable strut that never went away. All hail his royal highness! Longevity is what it’s all about. Michelle Obama is due in town this week-end to host yet another fund raiser. The damn election is almost here but these high-priced affairs are still being held to raise money for the campaign. How many millions do you need to run TV ads for 6 weeks?? Maybe the Democrats could skim a little bit off the top of the defense budget to finance their campaign, - stop spending trillions on those futile, senseless wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and use the money for domestic issues. Is it any wonder that voter registration is down? A lot of people don’t care who gets in. I, myself, may even skip the Obama-Romney debates coming up, because although everything else is expensive, talk is cheap. I guess everybody knows Chicago’s resident wife killer, the infamous Drew Peterson was found guilty. Now his lawyers are threatening to sue each other for defamation after they publicly began to accuse each other of being to blame for the verdict which wiped the smug expression off Drew’s face. Actually it’s hard to not convict a man of murdering his 3rd wife when his 4th one is now missing, and her friends report that she confided to them that ol Drew had made her lie about his whereabouts during the time her predecessor was determined to have died. The Chicago teacher strike ended with the Mayor Rahm Emanuel having his free lunch handed to him by the union. Yet, the employees of the public school warehouses still don’t seem satisfied with the increased pay and benefits they are getting for turning out bad products. Not to be outdone, a black suburban teacher was fired from his job for self-publishing his own text book, instructing young people on how to get passing grades in their sex lives, his little manual being replete with details describing how the anatomy of the female private parts differ from ethnic group to ethnic group… I wish I could come up with something more important to write about. Just be grateful I didn’t broach the subject of 2 new reality shows, one starring little beauty contest queen, 6-year-old Honey-Boo Boo and her red neck, trailer park trash family of degenerates who must be an embrassment to even the most rabid of white supremists. The other show follows the life of 22-year-old “conjoined” twins, Abbey and Brittany, - "conjoined" as in one body having 2 heads. These perky blond gals, who finish each other sentences, consented to star in their own show because they wanted the world to see how “normal” they are. (Forgive me, Jesus.) I'm done.

So I had a twitter account. Had. So it turns out my daughter was wrong. I didn't LOVE it. I found it to be the biggest waste of time. I'm following people. They're following me. What? I don't get it. I could have been writing.

IN URBAN DAILY, A GQ INTERVIEW WITH ACTOR DENZEL WASHINGTON,DENZEL SAYS BLACK MEN SHOULD LOOK INTO THE MIRROR AND ASK WHAT CAN I DO BETTER.CANNOT BLAME,PROBLEMS, ON THE MAN OR BEING FRISKED..DENZEL NOR HIS SON HIS BEING FRISKED,BEATEN UP OR KILLED BY WHITE POLICE,NONE OF THE RICH BLACK PEOPLE ARE.....IF THEY WERE THEY WOULD TALK DIFFERENT ABOUT THAT.......WHEN BLACK PEOPLE BECOME RICH THEY TRANSFORM INTO SOMETHING ELSE THEY ARE NOT BLACK, UNTIL IT IS TIME FOR A BLACK AWARD SHOW......THE BLACK RICH AMAZE ME...NOT ALL OF THEM, HARRY BELAFONTE AND MAYA ANGELOU,MORGAN FREEMAN, IS AMONG THE FEW I HAVE RESPECT FOR./

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