Thursday, May 3, 2018

Stop It Kanye West: The Final Fight Edition



There will be mistakes, there will be flaws in the way I communicate. Because we're human beings, we're flawed. I'm not media trained. I'm not studied in that. I'm not trying to say the right thing. I'm just trying to say exactly what I feel out of love.”

Which is why you should stop it. This is the fourth time I've written about Kanye West. (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3) West has been on a very public downward spiral for years now which has seemed to amplify in recent weeks. I started this off with a quote from him stating that he is not media trained because he is using it as an excuse for his behavior. Everything he says is covered by an excuse, or if you wanna be politically correct, a reason. It is because of drug use. It is because of stress. It is because he was scared. It is because his mother died. It is because of you, the public.

For every good thing Kanye has planned for his future projects and the future of Chicago he has two more ideas that make people question his mental health. Recently he posted a conversation between him and Dr. Jan Adams. If you are not familiar with his name he is the doctor that was tried in the death of Kanye's mother, Donda West after liposuction. Kanye blamed himself and where he moved his mother for her death saying that if he had not moved her to California she would still be alive. Adams in his response to Kanye which is the nicest way of saying “Nah, I'm good, bruh. But thanks” said “I am impressed that you want to 'forgive and stop hating'. That's impressive. More of us need to adopt that philosophy...I don't want to seem ungrateful. I just think that if in fact this conversion to love is genuine on your part then it's inappropriate to drag the negativity of the past with it.”


Speaking of the past, one of the things that got this whole ball rolling was Kanye posting a picture wearing a Make America Great Again hat. In a new “song” he rapped Make America Great Again had a negative perception/I took it, wore it, rocked it, gave it a new direction” and “See, that's the problem with this damn nation/All blacks gotta be Democrats, man/We ain't made it off the plantation.” You talk about politics and I roll my eyes so hard that they can see into the past and I try to figure out how I ended up in this discussion. Many people do not like the president for a multitude of reasons and some do for whatever reason. I don't like politics, politicians, or talking about either even though sometimes I have to. If you say you are a fan of him and refer to him as a brother of yours, particularly if you're Black, people are gonna be baffled, angry, and disappointed. On TMZ he said:


When you hear about slavery for 400 years - for 400 years?! That sounds like a choice. Like, you was there for 400 years and it's all of y'all? It's like we're mentally in prison.” I'm not sure if he knows how slavery worked. I mean, I wasn't there but I have a pretty good idea of how it went down. I've said in the past that I have way too much bitch in me to have been a slave. My survival instinct isn't a percentage of what my ancestors had. You aim a whip at me and I'll do what you want. You hit me with it I'll do something to get my ass killed because fuck that life. I am shocked by how many managed to survive even after slavery was abolished. But to say that slavery was a choice is one of the most ignorant things I've ever heard someone say and I've heard some ignorant shit in my life. I've also written some of it. He makes it sound like each slave was a slave for 400 years. And it was actually closer to 250 years, not 400. So let's stop putting that false information out there.


The actual CHOICE or Option A. when it came to slavery and being a slave was being strong enough to survive and endure that shit and having faith that one day it'd be over. Option B. was straight up killing yourself. If people had not been strong enough to take whippings, beatings, rapes, torture, and all the humiliation that came with it I would not be here today. Children bought and sold the same way people adopt pets these days, except those pets get better treatment. I think people somehow got tired of hearing Black people talk about slavery when in fact I am shocked by how little it is talked about. We have an idea of what slavery was. Tales. Drawings. Some photos including terrible ones of scarred bodies. But when you really think about when it technically ended that shit was not that long ago. 250 is a few lives. My great grandfather was born into slavery and owned by his father. Not my great-great-great-great-great grandfather in another country. He was born here after his mother was raped by the guy that owned her. He had my grandmother, she had my mother. That is how recent the shit is so you'll have to pardon people that are still a tad bit upset about statements like Kanye's.

Someone else that was upset by Kanye's words was Van Lathan of TMZ. And by the look on Kanye's face you could tell that 1. He does not talk to normal people. And 2. People do not talk to him like this. “I actually don't think you're thinking anything. I think what you're doing right now is actually the absence of thought. And the reason why I feel like that is because, Kanye, you're entitled to your opinion. You're entitled to believe whatever you want. But there is fact, and real-world, real-life consequence behind everything that you just said. And while you are making music and being an artist and living the life that you've earned by being a genius, the rest of us in society have to deal with these threats to our lives. We have to deal with the marginalization that has come from the 400 years of slavery that you said, for our people, was a choice. Frankly, I'm disappointed, I'm appalled and, brother, I am unbelievably hurt by the fact that you have morphed into something, to me, that's not real.”

Trevor Noah of The Daily Show, who is biracial from actual Africa, commented “Going blond is a choice. Both are terrible but one is easier to undo. Although when I think about it, slavery was a choice- for white people. White people were like, 'Hey, should we keep doing things ourselves or make other people do it for us? Hmm...yeah, other people. That sounds good.” He continued. “Normally, I would care what Kanye West says about slavery or black history. But what does suck is that now every member of the tiki torch club out there is going to use Kanye's words to justify their hate. Basically, the way Kanye samples old-school soul music is how racists are going to sample him now. Kanye may think he's just being a free thinker but the truth is, there's nothing good coming out of this. Except maybe an idea for a new movie.”

On TMZ Kanye also brought up the fact that he got liposuction. Surprising after what happened to his mother. “I had plastic surgery because I was trying to look good for y'all. I got liposuction because I didn't want you to call me fat like you called Rob (Kardashian) at the wedding and made him fly home before me and Kim got married.” He also got addicted to opioids during this time and is currently taking multiple medications when he feels like it. So he risked having the same surgery that led to his mother's death and say he got it because he didn't want to be made fun of. For as much shit talking as he does he for sure has some terrible self esteem issues. It is something men don't like to admit to having physically.

Not even counting all the confidence issues I've had regarding my ability to talk to others, be around them, or work with them I've had issues with myself in terms of my height, weight, skin condition, teeth, hair, and my voice. What helped me was talking to others and not saying “Oh, I feel better because they got it worse than me!” but knowing that everyone, no matter how perfect you think they are, have an issue with something. It can be physical, mental, spiritual, or all three. For the past few months I've been exercising almost every day not to attract someone or to get someone else but because my family has a shitty health history. Even if I could get surgery to help I wouldn't because doing shit yourself feels better. If you do something for someone else that is all you're doing. The problem with Kanye is that he is doing things for others while saying he is doing it for himself to help others...for himself.

Whether you want to admit or or not Kanye has an influence on millions of people. Be it through music, fashion, business, or inspiration. So when he says some silly shit there is likely a huge percentage that thinks he is making perfect sense. And that is dangerous. You can think that words don't hurt but anyone over the age of 2 knows that is not true. Most words can sting more than actions. I'm tired of telling this dude to stop it.

Click here for previous Stop It Posts.

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