Thank You Dr. Martin Luther King: Powerful quotes

On a day that is set aside to remember Martin Luther King, I think it would be important to get the words from his speeches that have impacted me. Since college, I made it a point to study the influences of Dr. King, as well as famous quotes, in an effort to better understand the man whose actions and words led to changing opinions and feelings about how we should treat others. MLK Day is usually preceded by nights out on the town and skipping of work or school, with little regard to the reason why this is a national holiday. So since you're probably not going to church, or discussing the merits of a truly selfless individual, I'm going to bring some of his words to you.

I accept this award today with an abiding faith in America and an audacious faith in the future of mankind. I refuse to accept despair as the final response to the ambiguities of history. I refuse to accept the idea that the "isness" of man's present nature makes him morally incapable of reaching up for the eternal "oughtness" that forever confronts him.

I refuse to accept the idea that man is mere flotsam and jetsom in the river of life unable to influence the unfolding events which surround him. I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality.

I refuse to accept the cynical notion that nation after nation must spiral down a militaristic stairway into the hell of thermonuclear destruction. I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right temporarily defeated is stronger than evil triumphant.

I believe that even amid today's motor bursts and whining bullets, there is still hope for a brighter tomorrow. I believe that wounded justice, lying prostrate on the blood-flowing streets of our nations, can be lifted from this dust of shame to reign supreme among the children of men.

I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits. I believe that what self-centered men have torn down, men other-centered can build up. I still believe that one day mankind will bow before the altars of God and be crowned triumphant over war and bloodshed, and nonviolent redemptive goodwill will proclaim the rule of the land.

"And the lion and the lamb shall lie down together and every man shall sit under his own vine and fig tree and none shall be afraid."

-Dr. King's Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech, Dec 10, 1964

Like anybody, I would like to live - a long life; longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land. So I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.[1]

-Dr Martin Luther King Jr. LAST speech. The conclusion of his last speech. This was used by many people, but a recent placement in Jay Electronica's Guru Tribute song "Jazzamatazz," and since I've heard it, it's been on my mind. Nobody was more hardbody than the Kaing. In the face of certain death, he still demonstrates that his life is in God's hands, something that I think we all could strive to be like.

These are just a few of my favorites. Feel free to do your internet and your life a service and check out some more of MLK's best. These are words than anyone of any faith or creed can appreciate. May the Lord bless your life, and let's make peace and understanding a priority for all people, not just those who think or believe like us. That's word.

-JK

Disappointment....

The life of a sports fan is rough. The ups, the downs, the all-around sensations that cause your heart to rise and sink in a matter of seconds. One of the few sensations you can feel without literally being on a roller coaster. One minute, you're high. The next, low. Insanely low, in some cases. It's a mistress that reduces grown men to sobbing, blithering idiots. And like any good mistress, the stress reliever of every situation usually involves alcohol.

I can say these things, because I'm an expert in this field. I've studied countless hours of patrons of alcohol-based establishments. And truth be told, I am a fan of such places. Everything comes from an original idea, so God bless the man that thought it would be a good idea to combine sports, beer, hot wings, and good looking ladies to bring me these things. He should be knighted at the very least.

That was off on a tangent, my bad. But sports can really mess with your emotions.

I get up early today to watch my beloved Arsenal go two goals up at halftime. I'm lovin' it at this point! I'm gettin my git on at 8:02 am on a Saturday because my favorite football team is doing work against f-ing Tottenham, our biggest rivals for the stupid, in our own house, We're supposed to hold the home fort down, but we've been a TERRIBLE home team this year...ironically, much like the number one sports team in my life, my beloved Cornhuskers. Long story short, 3 goals in the second half for the f-ing Spuds. 3 goals. 1 penalty on a dumb ass handball off a free kick from a PHANTOM foul, 1 header that should have been won in the air by Squidward [Squillaci] and 1 goal of a turnover in front of goal, and I go from dancing in my living room to bench pressing in my basement to release some rage. I wanted to cry. We lose 3-2 and look like totally fools. They are dancing in our house. I'm ready to kill someone.

Dangerous mistress, sports can be. But it will all be better when my Huskers kick the Aggies dead in the ding-a-ling. I mean wreck the so-called "wrecking crew." T-Mart, bidges! Huskers bout to get me in a better mood. But no MP for me. I gotta work today. And my Huskers are on, I don't wanna miss it. Because they gotta get me right. Arsenal, get your s%$t together. I'm not feeling this laying down at home thing. That's some mental mistakes, tighten that ish up.

Few things:
-Boise crushed Fresno. It wasn't even close. It made me think, they did that easily to even the so called good team they played. Is beating 7-2 VT really the only worthwhile thing they did this year? I'm starting to think so. Fresno was supposed to compete but it was men versus boys out there. Boise was still on the gas at 38-0, and the second team easily went down the field. That who you play argument is not going away, and I'm starting to think it holds water.

-No way does Jon Kitna put the "We'll win 11 games" curse on us only to lead us to a defeated season, and then come back to BEAT us. Lions gotta win this game. And I believe in Shaun Hill [because I basically have to. Of all my sports teams, my love for the Lions is the most abusive relationship I've ever been in. Every year, I also hold out hope]. But yeah....Shaun Hill vs Jon Kitna, BATTLE OF THE CAREER BACKUPS! We better not lose...

-Go Huskers.

I'm out.

-JK

I Wish 2Pac Was Still Here

I Wish 2Pac Was Still Here

I wish Tupac was still alive. From the complexities of a thug poet, budding actor, and truly tortured soul, I wonder what direction Tupac would be heading now. Would he be a transcendent actor, known for playing a multitude of roles, similar to Will Smith. Smith's career started with a successful rap career which he parlayed into a mega-star, featuring in summer blockbuster after the other. Or, would he stick to his musical roots? Many of Hip-Hop's founding fathers are still toiling with life after fame, suffering from meager record sales, lack of label security, and younger artists constantly attacking their elder statesmen. LL Cool J, once popular foundation of Def Jam, now deals with a lack of purchasing fanbases and even less prominent movie roles, currently plying his trade in prime time cop dramas. Or, would he have become the revolutionary figure that he strives to become? Commanding a nation of millions of young Black, and white 18-40's, 2Pac of the mid-90's preached of a distrust of government and societal norms. The radical rapper believed in many conspiracy theories that he claims was all enacted by the will of the controlling powers, a secret society called the Illuminati. Many ultimately believe that Tupac's murder was a response to his constant opposition of the Illuminati, along with his ties to the Black Panther Party.

Personally, I think the latter would be more likely. Tupac, at the height of his fame and success, began speaking out his beliefs, with a following of millions to listen to his messages, Tupac felt he had a path to enlighten his people through his influence and music. I just don't believe that a Tupac who would have been allowed to continue to live and grow would ever reduce himself to not only a heavy consumer influenced, false reality system that now rules Hip-Hop, nor would he allow himself to be silenced in society. I am somewhat comforted believing that the game would be so much different if we didn't lose Pac or B.I.G. They say that if you killed a butterfly in the past, it could completely change the future. Well, if Hip-Hop's greatest were allowed to fully flourish, we could be in a whole different place, and here's to hoping it is a better one.

Rest In Peace, Tupac Amaru Shakur.

PS. "They'll never take me alive, I'm gettin' high with my four-five,
Cocked on these suckas, time to die
Even as a youngster causin' ruckus on the back of the bus
i was a fool all through high school kickin' up dust
But now I'm labelled as a trouble maker who can you blame?
Smokin' weed helped me take away the pain
So I'm hopeless rollin' down the freeway swervin, don't worry
I'm about to crash up on the curb cause my visions blurry
Maybe if they tried to understand me, what should I do?
I had to feed my f--kin' family, what else could I do
but be a thug
out slangin' with the homies
f--k hangin' with them phonies in the club
got my mind on danger
never been a stranger to homicide
my cities full of gang bangers and drive bys
why do we die at an early age
he was so young
but still a victim of the 12 gauge
my memories of a corpse
mind full of sick thoughts
and I ain't goin back to court
so f--k what you thought I'm drinkin' hennessey
runnin from my enemies will I live to be 23
there's so much pain..." - Pain, from the Above The Rim soundtrack

-J.O.-

I said I write in this...5 months ago.

-Redirection/dedication-

The grind continues. I thought I'd be doing a lot of things right now, but it seems that my square peg plans still don't fit into the round hole. That's life, right?

I would love to say all of it is that I have tried and failed, that I balanced my time properly and in everything I tried, that I went all out, giving my best effort. Sadly, I can not say that. I've committed a common mistake. I've tried to multi-task, while not having all my best priorities highlighted. My failure to plan and follow through has doomed two projects, while my increasing schedule of trying to make ends meet has caused an idea to die. Wordtoem.com, my project and hopefully, my meal ticket, has not been focused and has stopped growing, due to the grind of making money.

So how to re-correct my heading and start over is my new project. Finishing school is now the sole priority, with Wordtoem taking a backseat for the time being. I've been in school for 2 Olympics now. I missed a chance to go to the World Cup because my funds weren't right. It would have been my second World Cup trip since I graduated high school.

Basically, it's time to grow the hell up. For the times I have failed, for everytime I've said A and did B, for everytime I've met deadline and missed deadline, for every cruel word when all that was needed was a kind one, I must turn my direction around, I must lead myself into a better future.

And I must keep writing, because in writing, my focus is maintained.

Till we meet again,
-James O.

So back to this blog...

So I'm going to start posting to this as a way to help me remember that I have a website that needs maintaining. Sorta like supplementary reading. And my boy V got his going, and he can't have a blog better than mine....so competition breeds quality, I guess! Cheers!

Life's A Bitch...Then You Die

Just so everyone knows, I REALLY don't feel like writing this. I was supposed to be writing about something happy. I was SUPPOSED to be writing about my trip to Nebraska. I should be posting pictures about a victory over hated rival Oklahoma. I should have a story on how I went to Howie's and got tanked with some old friends at Woody's in Lincoln. I should be nostalgic about how I never should have left the best football school, the best university on the planet, the place of my birth. But I had to sell my plane ticket, my game tickets. I had business to attend to.

I never really understood that phrase. Life's a bitch, then you die. It's almost been two years since I lost two of my best friends, Nate Butler and Jason Dimmick. This past week, I lost my cousin James Williams, and Rachel Newell, someone I've known since she was a baby. Our parents worked together, and I was childhood friends with her older brother, Ralph.

My cousin James, or "Little J" as we liked to call him, was the son of James "Big Jamie" Williams. Forever, I've been called Jamie, and most people from Midland, West Virginia, Georgia and Nebraska, know me as Jamie. Even though I thought it was a girl's name, he used it. Granted, he was 6'5, 255 pounds. I loved him because when my brothers picked on me, when my cousins picked on me, he always had my back. We were both reserved, quiet kids.

He died on my birthday. I cry every birthday when I think about him. He was older than my oldest brother, but close enough to Midland that I could see him a lot. He frequently had me in Detroit with him, when he could get time off practice. He was a Detroit Lion, and he's the reason I cheered for them, even to this day. The only club who'd give him a chance became a lifelong love of mine. I was his shadow. Everyone in my family called us "the Jamies." He was "Big Jamie" and I was "Little Jamie." When he had his son, I told him to name him Jamie. I'd like to think when he named him James, it was because of me. He became "Little Jamie." I was just Jamie after that. I told my cousin when he died that I would take care of "Little Jamie." When "Little Jamie" grew to be "Lil J" as we called him, I promised again, every time I went to my big cousin's grave, that I would help train his son. With Lil J's death, I feel an overwhelming sadness that I never thought possible. More than just losing a cousin, I feel like I failed my cousin Big Jamie. I couldn't protect him.

I've been getting the typical messages, all messages I've given others along the way. Put your trust in the Lord; we're praying for you, so on and so forth. It's surprising how little comfort those words can give after weeks like this one.

I guess I understand that phrase a lot better now.

The Great Debate - Hip Hop Version

It’s been a minute since we dropped something thought provoking for you, so we think it’s about time to drop something for you to think about. This weekend, your boy J.O. [that's myself for those who don't know] and Stig [our other E.I.C.] were just chillin with the crew, and that topic jumps up again. I think by now, we all know what the “Great Debate” is. Jay-Z versus Nas.

“I from where n****s pull your car, and argue all day about/Who’s the best MC’s, Biggie, Jay-Z, and Nas?” – Jay-Z “Where I’m From”

Maybe the God-emcee knew where his career was headed. It’s near the end of 2009 and still, the “Great Debate” continues. We are all sitting around watching football, and when the debate starts, the calm, mild mannered brothers around the table get hype, quickly. We post up, listening to all the banter back and forth; “Jay-Z got all these great albums,” “Nas got mad quotables,” “Jigga’s got papers,” “Nas holds the struggle down.”

A variety of all the same. Except for the first time, I get a new perspective. There is really starting to be a backlash from this long debate. One of the newer perspectives that arise comes in the form of an anti-Jay-Z backlash. A new common perspective is that Jay-Z fans elevate him so much that it caused people to hate him. I dig Jay, and Reasonable Doubt is one of my favorite albums ever. I just picked up Blueprint 3, and I think it’s pretty hot. I also dig on Nas, and Illmatic is a classic. I’m anticipating that Distant Cousins LP with Damien Marley. I am a big fan of both.

I haven’t seen this big a division between Jay and Nas since “Ether” and “Takeover.” The ironic part of it all, is that they are currently cool, no beef, Jay has (or had) Nas on the label. Just picked up some audio with Nas and Jay touring Europe, though most of the audio has been deleted, we got a little gift for you. Listen and/or download….but listen nonetheless.

Worst enemies wanna be my best friends. Best friends wanna be enemies like that's what's in.

Jay-Z and Nas Live in London

Another notion I heard was that Jay-Z is better on the basis that his rhymes are easy to recite. Cats were yelling across the room, spit a Jay-Z verse, which is pretty easy or hard, depending on the song, its’ popularity, so on and so forth. Then our Jay stan yells to spit a Nas verse. I’m not going to lie, while I can spit more Jay verses, Nas a few real memorable ones. But you can’t determine who is better based on if you can spit the lines. I can probably recite, no, DEFINITELY recite more Kris Kross lines than Nasty Nas, but that in no way means that Kris Kross is superior. It miffed me a bit to hear that. Nas has been known for having dynamic, and often advanced concept raps. Jay-Z uses more common words, but his usage of words is unrivaled.

I like to refer to sports, my default settings, when comparing Nas vs. Jay-Z. I call it Michael and Shaq. There is no doubt that Shaq is the most dominant big man ever. All the past greats had the height advantages, but Shaq would have abused those other great centers because of sheer power. I give Nas the Shaq designator. Nas is a beast on the mic, and his word play and story telling is his dominant trait. Both Nas and Shaq have this primary trait in common; they never get the respect they truly deserve because their games aren’t flashy. But they get the job done, and are not going to be dominant by one person, ever.

Jay-Z gets the Jordan comparison, and he get this because of his overall appeal. His staying power, his length at the top, and his ability to dwarf his peers because of his sheer skill at winning. Plus the retire/ un-retire drama doesn’t hurt Hov get this title. Album after album, Jay delivered winning product. In the streets and the suburbs, Jay-Z and Jordan enjoyed success, fame, and their size fits their accomplishments.

The problem arises when people try to compare Jordan versus Shaq. Jordan has more titles than Shaq, sure, but Shaq can’t shut Jordan down in his comfort zone, the wings. In the post, however, Shaq would murder MJ.

Just like the Shaq/Jordan example, Nas and Jay dominant their respective fields. Street stories and block tails are Nas’ post. No one does that better than Nasty. The “Ether” was Nas grabbing the rock at the post, pivot, turn and slam. The “Takeover” was a good effort, I mean, all those Jumpman poses were dunks, gotta go to the post to make those moves, but in Jay’s case, the post is Nas’ territory, and when he decided to go into Nas’ area, Nas had to punish him, swatting that weak junk out there. I liked “Takeover,” but we still call getting killed in a battle the “Ether,” so what does that tell you? In the wings, or the public view, Jay wins all day. But to those of us who know Hip Hop was born off the block, that was a rather emphatic victory for Nasty.

Either way you stand, be open to both artists, they are a perfect example for Hip Hop’s yin and yang. Neither is the all-encompassing standard, so we NEED both, and its important that people know that. That’s my word…