Moments in Time with BLisB (B.lack L.ife is S.imply B.eautiful)

Like Jim Crow (and slavery), mass incarceration operates as a tightly networked system of laws, policies, customs, and institutions that operate collectively to ensure the subordinate status of a group largely defined by race.

A man has to think but not too much. Thinking to an extreme can paralyze a man’s actions and turn him into a passive coward.

For me to see my mother Umma’s eyes filled with tears tripled my trauma...

Everything is real. Even when you’re in Love.~Midnight.

...but when you are used to having money, even money that you bank and don’t touch, there is a terror that comes when you’re down to having none.

It became clear to me that an excellent thinker and fighter like Sensei could easily be out of balance without the spiritual knowledge that a Muslim has. And the peace that I had achieved at my young age was probably more about setting limits and enjoying more by not trying to have everything.

We just sat silently...no sex, just hugging and rocking. I thought my heart would burst.

It was one of those real bad moments , when your eyes see something, and your mind understands , but your heart won’t accept it as true.

I looked up at her face and knew she didn’t know that I intended to separate myself from her. I needed her to stop coming for me...I needed her to stay away from me for my own good, for my own sake. For the protection of the man I am and want to be.

I was thinking numbers...$80,00 for the house, another $1000 for the closing costs, including the lawyers fees, the home insurance cost, the house appraisal cost, the inspection cost, and the title search...$81,500. Then there will be the actual small house repairs , paints and supply cost, move-in fees...let’s say another $1000. Now we’re at $82,500. We’ve got $85,300 in our account. Once we buy...

Big day, Saturday May3rd I thought to myself. Akemi’s art show, the start of Umma’s classes, my workday at Cho’s and my opening game with the league, different places, different times, one man.

I decided she was the sneakiest feline roaming around down here. And I knew she felt she had waited too long for me to give her what she wanted...

I wanted to warn him but I didn’t. I knew that he was street-smart and used to dealing with the snakes. But she was a snake with no rattle and no hiss. She strikes , but there’s no warning or clues. By the time a man finds out something is wrong, she has already injected too much poison in his system and he can no longer be saved.

From what I knew about females, they don’t like to live a life without beauty and beautiful colors and surroundings...

She knew now how to get the small victories without compromising her beliefs. She wore her Thobe today, covered her body, but not the niqah which concealed her face, all but her eyes. She pretended that she was saying something so nice. But in Arabic she pointed out to me, “ These people are so arrogant and ugly. They always assume so much.”

If he couldn’t even face down a rat, how could he challenge me? I spent my African summers with my grandfather living in the same realm with the lions.

The museum was situated in what I refer to as a ‘White zone’...White zones are areas where I already know there won’t be many Black people, where I will be an obvious standout and an automatic suspect. It is very easy to get picked up in a White zone, because the authorities are all the time wondering what the fuck you are doing there and what the fuck do you want?

I decided I’d go to the dojo and clear my head. No women to entice or seduce me there. No women to arouse and abandon me there. Nobody with the power to break my heart there. No time or space or possibilities of tears there. I could just choose one of the students there and fuck him up real good to release my disappointment while calling it training.

When you...first met, you were boys. Now you are young men. There is a difference, you know. Boys play. Young men handle their business... Boys do things because they want to. Boys respond to impulse. Young men do things because they should. They are in the process of setting up to be responsible, to carry their weight. Are you young men listening? Are you understanding me? As you grow older, you...

I didn’t know if this was a test. I never seen or read a chapter in the Holy Quran that taught a man how to deal with a situation like this. And how strong is a man supposed to be when even the Quran says in one or two places that men are weak...

After the first quarter, I had the whole schematic figured out. Based on Amir’s funny stories about his teammates, I pegged who didn’t like who, who was hogging,who was hating , and so on...them mf’s is embarrassing-Amir said. Never in my life...yeah but you the captain. You gotta provide the leadership. You conquering them guys instead of building them up.

Listen, whoever gets here with the money first, gets the house first. I don’t care if you carry it in here in a plastic bag, Money is money.

I...also thought about how important it is who you allow into your personal space and trust. A woman you love, or your favorite restaurant owner, or anyone who could serve you food or drink or handle items that belong to you that you will in turn touch; has the power to poison you in a way that authorities might never trace.

It was crazy to me, how I make it my business, to lay low, to keep my mouth closed, to play my cards straight , but somehow , people, all kinds of people still think I’m showing off and shining. How could I dim my light? How does a youth keep from shining when it’s a natural thing? And why isn’t it enough that I don’t mess with nobody else’s women, money, or things? Still men wanted to have their...

It was a mad rush like everybody had the same idea at the same time and wanted to get on the same ride. But, as we stood there, I could see that every ride was packed with people trying to get on. It was a slow moving maze. Some was pushing. Some people were cutting the line. The people on the line closed in tighter, trying to stop the cutters. It was a Brooklyn crowd.