It's Always Personal

I continue to struggle with who gets to define who is a real Black man. Or what a real Black man represents. At a point, can I really be concerned with being a real Black man? 50 Cent, 45 year old, just posted a photo on Instagram to congratulate La La Anthony for her latest TV project. Then, he asked, "Who these other b!tches? Lol" in reference to Issa Rae and two other women. They were Anthony's...

Former ESPN personalities Cari Champion and Jemele Hill have landed on VICE TV with their show Stick To Sports. They recently had YouTuber and undefeated boxer Jake Paul on, and asked him if knocking out former NBA player and multi-time Slam Dunk champion Nate Robinson was racist. Outkick writer Joe Kinsey told his Conservative readers the race war rages on with race baiters like Cari and Jemele....

Pres. Barack Obama sat down for an interview with The Breakfast Club to promote his new book A Promised Land. And, of course, he had school Charlemagne the God on the reality of politics and "simple math." Then, I went and got involved with the infamous comment section of TBC's YouTube clips. This sent me head-first down a rabbit hole with the critiques of Ta-Nehisi Coates and Byron Allen of Barac...

Black men seem to be waging a few wars that... to which I'm just going to have to be a conscientious objector. The reaction of Black men to a Malcolm Jenkins Open Letter to Black Women on YouTube is beyond concerning. Secondly, hip hop just can't keep it a buck on violence in the Black community. I take a look at some lyrics from "Rock Bottom", a single from rapper Rasheed Chappell on his new albu...

I hear a lot of woke cats talking reparations, but I honestly feel like they're great with super chats. If we're going to do it some real talk, and most importantly action, has to follow "Reparations..." BET founder and America's first Black billionaire, Bob Johnson, has thrown out $14 trillion as his cost of reparations. I hear Me. Johnson but he lost me when he got to a certain part of his propo...

Blacks currently serving in the armed forces became collateral damage recently as 45 ordered U.S. troops onto the streets during the ongoing protests sparked by police brutality and the killing of Blacks by law enforcement. Alright, I encountered an Instagram account referring to a black soldier as a "slave", and I had to speak on an age old discussion. Guest Tony Gomes, retired USN, joined IAP fo...

Not trying to knock anybody for how they want to participate in the Justice For George Floyd protests. And, I'm in awe of people, globally, putting feet to pavement. I'll apologize ahead of time, but I'm sorry, but protests (alone) don't necessarily equate to the change I'd like to see. Attorney Bryan Stevenson, the central figure in the movie Just Mercy, is my kind of activist. I just recently wa...

Candace Owens has George Floyd effed up, but I got bro's back. Rush Limbaugh and The Breakfast Club talked at each other on-air. Black people should've gleaned something important - struggle or strive. And what do you know LeBron James already suggested a solution, aloud, to what Owens is so disgusted by Blacks about.

George Floyd becomes the third unarmed Black person to be killed just during this COVID-19 pandemic. Like Louisville's Breonna Taylor, 46-year old Floyd was killed by police in Minneapolis during an arrest that primarily involved Derek Chauvin, along with three other officers. Conservative speaker Candace Owens would demand Blacks to refrain from acting like "trained f----- chimpanzees" when you s...

Long story short, saying 'Happy birthday!" to Malcolm X on his birthday is about as deep as it gets for some brothers online. Speaking out on injustices like Ahmaud Arbery would only be one facet of Malcolm. There's much more that could be improved in the Black community by focusing on his powerful example in terms of his comportment. That's more than a caption or a tweet though. Pay me no mind.

Holidays for my family have been the bane of my existence for about seven years. And, largely due to no fault of my own. Seriously. The joy of Mother's Day 2020 didn't last beyond 10:00 AM, following a call to Ma Wood to wish her... Happy Mother's Day. My takeaway was this, an audio-only Wood-styled episode of "This Is Us" I should pitch.

I first encountered a black person being killed in a hate crime in 1998. I'm tired of seeing video footage of unarmed black people, men usually, being killed. Lynching made it to 2020, and the practice can't go unaddressed. Sorry and RIP Ahmaud Arbery.

The personal and financial impact of Covid-19 is challenging for everybody. However, I think up and coming boxers with families, are among some of the most vulnerable athletes in the entire sports world. I had the opportunity to check in with rising undefeated heavyweight Stephan "Big Shot" Shaw, a 27-year old husband and father of two, who hails from St. Louis, Missouri. Don't miss his wife's rea...

James Baldwin had a quote from a documentary called I Am Not You Negro that just came to mind when I observed former boxing champion Ishe Smith engage in a war of words with a highly organized, influential group of Black boxing fans. Smith's views on a controversial boxing issue opposed the online group's opinion, and the former champ was deemed a sellout. How does this situation always play out l...

Taking apart Jay Electronica's long overdue debut album A Written Testimony. Is it what we expected?

Historian Abdur-Rahim Muhammad displayed a great deal of responsibility in putting together his life's work - Who Killed Malcom X? The 6-part documentary's title, literally, tells all about the project's final destination, but it's 'must watch' for everything viewers learn along the journey. For IAP, host Wood just shares some reactions to the facts of Muhammad's investigation.

The lights dimmed on STARZ' popular glitzy streets tales drama Power after Season Two. I just kept fucking around with in hopes that in the end, all the fuckery would've resulted in some payoff. Last night the series finale aired... and there wasn't anything to any of the show's chicanery. All the characters died senselessly, never having gained or wielded any power.

The recent untimely passing of 41-year old NBA great/husband/father Kobe Bryant, his 13-year old daughter GiGi and seven other people rocked the world this week. Some people chose to put their "best self" out to the world... The reactions to Kobe's death, and a random text message from my mother, brought to mind the concept of "strongholds" immediately. In short, there's only one way to respond in...

There's a dope IG video of Poor Righteous Teachers' emcee Wise Intelligent giving his perspective, or a timeline, on when and why hip hop switched to be so negative. Several recent hip hop documentaries, mostly found on Netflix, featured white record label executives who initially championed some of the genre's greatest voices. Maybe they're owed some gratitude.

Loni Love said Black men are No. 1 at cheating. Do we want her to be wrong or just quiet? "Iron" Mike Tyson believes his kids probably saw him wildin out, and now want 0 to do with Black folks. The f*** we look like???

The first episode, I detailed my failures in leading others as a 21-year old. I figured I'd detail a couple other situations, as I've tried to lead others in some of my endeavors as a content creator. The results are much better, but how I carry these experiences isn't as unhealthy in terms of protecting my own aspirations.

For years I thought I'd really done something great, as a younger man, with a life choice involving a group of friends. Years later in a class I was taking for my MBA, I was taken back to this bold decision that I thought was the right decision. I realized I never even gave a younger me a real shot at something I was decent at doing.

Look weight gain and a lack of a joint commitment, in our mid-40s, to a workout plan is a growing challenge for my wife and I - and our love life. Real talk. The discussion can be heard by clicking play, but I had to share this conflict after my wife rejected baked chicken in favor of fried chicken, as a pairing with macaroni and cheese.

Episode one was gonna be about my wife and I and our need to lose some weight. Then I saw Megan the Stallion on one of my favorite platforms for real music. The fuck???