Thoughts by WillieBeyond
I know February is Black history month, but I feel during this month a lot of the focus is on the past, that is very distant from the present. Not that this history isn’t important, but I feel as we talk about the past we forget some of the things we are doing in the present. Everyone one will say the greatest thing to happen in Black history recently, would be the election of President Barack Obama. I have mixed feelings about that statement. This post isn’t about recognizing what will be in a book fifty years from now, but more about realizing the important events that have happened that won’t be recorded. I would like to have Black History Month changed to Black Culture Appreciation Month or something like that. I feel a lot of the troubles people get into is because they can only think of the good times of the past, but not of the silver lining in the clouds of the present. Remember, segregation was no joke, but now we celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King because segregation isn’t legal now (kinda sorta, depends on who you ask). So lets think of the things that are happening now.
One of the things I feel should be marked and mention this Black Awareness Month (yeah, I like the sound of that) is Dave Chappelle. Now before anyone gets upset, I am not one of those people who looks to celebrities, as a guideline for how to be happy. Chappelle just happens to be a really good person to remember for one major reason. Now we can all Wikipedia the info on Dave Chappelle, but I want us all to think of his actions. The one I am mostly referencing is his decision to not do a Season 3. He had the number one show and it was rising, but he stepped away for ethical reasons. I think that should be something that is marked down in history. Everyone presented his refusal to do Season 3 as either a smart business move to make more money, or as just stupid and an effect of his mind spiraling out of control. No one said it could just be for him wanting a better place to work (in an “I can sleep a night kind of way”). Here is someone who had the integrity to step back and go “I don’t want to work at a place where I can’t feel good.”)
I think this action speaks louder than anything else as far as personal standards in my lifetime. And yes I know Jerry Seinfeld also quit when his show was on the top. But the huge difference in my mind is Chappelle had a wider resume than Seinfeld and Seinfeld was starting to peak, while Chappelle was still rising (look at season 4 and 5 of Seinfeld and tell me season 9 was as good). But what do I know, it is just my opinion. Also, because it doesn’t really matter, I feel I should take this time to point out Chappelle is a Muslim. That’s right all you people who say Islam and Muslim is bad and yell out I’m Rick James (you know it…don’t lie to yourself) you were laughing a Muslim’s man sense of humor. Also I don’t want this to be a thing where we forget about the person. Yes, Dave Chappelle is a Muslim, yes he made us all laugh in one way or the other, and yes he got paid, but most importantly he is a man with a family. He never let that escape his thought process. He is a man who has to live with himself, and that is what makes him one of my role models.
One year after the inauguration of the first African-American President, MSNBC will present “Hope and Fear in Obama’s America,” January 18, 2010, 10 p.m. ET, an extended discussion surrounding race and post-racial identity in America. Moderated by “Hardball’s” 
Joyner reassured his listeners, that “of course, the traditional, easy way to tackle these topics is to get the same old people to say the same old things. Not knocking any of the people who have sat on panel after panel after panel to talk about race in America in past years. But it’s almost impossible to get any new perspectives on issues unless we solicit information from varied sources, and from what I can see, at this point, that’s what this MSNBC town hall Meeting will attempt to do. Chris Matthews and I will not talk to a panel of your “usual suspects” about hopes and fears in Obama’s America.”
