Why trolls eat Jell-O

I don’t like Jell-O. No, "don't  like" is too mild a term to describe how I feel about Jell-O. I loathe it, yeah, that's a better word. And, because I loathe it, you will never, ever, ever see me eating Jell-O. Now, before you start thinking this post is going to be about my disdain for Jell-O, let me get to the point.

Humor me for a moment. Ok, so knowing how much I loathe Jell-O, if every time you saw me, or heard from me, I was complaining to you about how much I loathed it, yet I continued eating Jell-O almost daily, what would you think? Would you think my anger was justified, or would you wonder why I continued eating something I claimed to hate, and then look at me like this...

It's ridiculous, right? But, what I described is exactly what internet trolls do. They pull the "I hate it, but I'm gonna keep eating it" Jello-O move all the time.  Yeah, see, I've noticed that trolls will spend hours looking for and commenting on posts that focus on topics that they say they don’t like, or don't agree with, just so they can ignorantly and hatefully express to the people in the discussion how much they don't like or agree with the topic.  Now, don't confuse trolls with the people who may post opposing views to enhance the dialogue, or those who unintentionally spark a heated debate or cause anger, because that's not the same thing. Trolls, are intentional. They don't care about anyone else's point of view or about trying to gain a better understanding of a particular topic. No, they just want to cause discord by being as inflammatory as possible.

Then, once they've accomplished that feat, they are off to another forum about a topic they claim not to like or disagree with so they can wreak havoc there as well. So basically, they go looking for Jell-O to eat, even though they say they hate it. 

But, recently, I figured something out about trolls. In mythology, trolls  are hungry all the time, and they like to eat humans. But, they don't eat anything that requires hard chewing. Also, when they find a human to eat, they rip off the human's head because, get this; trolls don't like the taste of brains.  

Now you know where I'm going with this, right?

Internet trolls always try to devour the conversations of those whose intellects they know they can't digest. I think that's what makes trolls so angry.  They can't handle heavy conversations because just like people in hospitals who've had throat surgery, trolls have to stick to Jell-O until they are able to move on to solid food, or in their case conversations that require critical thinking and logic.  The problem is, trolls never move beyond the Jell-O phase, which is probably why they are so angry and miserable.  And since we all know misery loves company, then...  

For me, the definition of frustration is trying to have a dollar conversation with someone who has a nickel brain, and that definitely includes trolls. But once I figured out why trolls eat Jell-O, now, when I encounter them, I just post a photo of a box of Jell-O followed by the words "Bon appetit."

SHUT YOUR PIE HOLE!!

WARNING: If you are easily offended or are allergic to the truth, STOP READING NOW!!!  I repeat, STOP READING, AND STEP AWAY FROM YOUR COMPUTER...NOW!!!

Everyone else, please continue.

If you are a Black or White person (or anyone else) who thinks Martin Luther King, Jr. would be "rolling over in his grave," regarding the present unrest in our country because he only supported peaceful protests (which MOST have been), but you don't know that MLK said this mere weeks before he was killed, "It is not enough for me to stand before you tonight and condemn riots. It would be morally irresponsible for me to do that without, at the same time, condemning the contingent, intolerable conditions that exist in our society. These conditions are the things that cause individuals to feel that they have no other alternative than to engage in violent rebellions to get attention. And I must say tonight that a riot is the language of the unheard," then...SHUT YOUR PIE HOLE!!

If you are a White person, and you believe the justice system works and that Black people only get upset when the system doesn't work for them, yet almost 20 years later, you are STILL upset about the OJ Simpson verdict, and bring it up whenever an issue arises involving race because you believe the system failed, then...SHUT YOUR PIE HOLE!!!

If you are a Black person who has made any of these comments about protesters blocking traffic and/or staging die-ins, "THEY just need to stop blocking traffic because it's not going to do any good." "Protesters getting in the street need to be run over." "What is protesting going to do?" "Why is everyone so upset?" "Protesters in the street made me miss my hair appointment." Or, "Those Black people are making all Black people look bad." YET, you have benefited from the Black people who protested years ago so that you could have some of the luxuries you enjoy today, then...SHUT YOUR PIE HOLE!!

If you are a Black or White person (or anyone else) who has said, "What about black on black crime?" yet do not speak out about " white" crime...period, which is OVERWHELMINGLY higher in 25 of the 28 criminal statistics main categories for TOTAL arrests of ALL people, and higher in the 2 sub categories (check the FBI stats for 2012 -the most recent year- if you think I'm lying), and then...SHUT YOUR PIE HOLE!!
http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2012/crime-in-the-u.s.-2012/tables/43tabledatadecoverviewpdf

If you are a pastor of a church, and you are perplexed by the racial divide in our country, yet your congregants are predominately one race (Black, White, etc.) and you have no outreach programs to bring ALL people to your place of worship, yet, you preach about going to Heaven where you will worship with all your other "Brothers and Sisters in the Lord," then...SHUT YOUR PIE HOLE!!

If you are a member of the media (in any capacity) who has expressed an opinion about Mike Brown, and you have not read ANY of the Grand Jury report that was released or looked at any evidence that may explain the worldwide outrage, yet you still believe the Grand Jury did its job, and/or if you are publicly defending the police officer who killed Eric Garner, or the shooting of Tamir Rice because ratings are more important than facts or compassion, then...SHUT YOUR PIE HOLE!!

If you are too busy posting selfies, food, quotes, fight videos, self-promotion information, photos of animals (dead or alive), x-rays, bunions, photos of your children, etc., without the slight bit of interest in our society because you are either completely oblivious to anything that doesn't revolve around you, or, you're just apathetic, then...MOVE TO MARS!!

If you are tired of the way things have always been, and you want things to change. If you understand that in order for us to even begin to come together, we are going to have to open our minds, our ears, and our hearts more than we open our mouths, then...SHUT YOUR PIE HOLE, and GET INVOLVED!!

I can't go blind

farsighted

my eyes are the color of

emmett till, medgar evers,

and 4 little black girls

who even with 20/20 vision

couldn't see the bomb coming.

my glasses are tinted with

the blood stained cotton from

mississippi, and the strange fruit

hanging from the carolina pines,

where the red, white, and blue

stands for blood, cotton, and bruises.

my prescription hasn't changed

in 400 years, even though

my eye chart reads  L

                            A N D

                         O F T H E

                         F  R  E  E

maybe i'll get another doctor.

maybe i'll get a new prescription.

or maybe...maybe i'll just

go blind.

I wrote that poem 12 years ago after channel surfing and finding a special commemorating the 10 year anniversary of the Rodney King riots. What an odd thing to commemorate, I thought, and I changed the channel. However, the images of Rodney King being beaten were stuck in my mind, so I wrote this poem.  I hadn't really thought about the poem much...

until now.

Watching the protests, reading hate-filled comments about Eric Garner, Mike Brown, and just people in general, and then reading the #CrimingWhileWhite stories on Twitter made me think about the poem I wrote, and the fact that even though it was written 12 years ago, about an event that took place 22 years ago, that same poem could have been written 2 minutes ago.

Images from 50-60 years ago are flashing before my eyes. I keep blinking thinking they will go away, but they just keep clouding my vision.  I'm trying to see the future clearly; heck, I'm trying to see the end of 2014 and the beginning of 2015, but there's little light; it's getting darker and darker.  

But, I can't go blind.  Nope, no matter how blurry, dim, or dark things may seem, I can't and won't turn a blind eye to injustice, division, ignorance and apathy that is so pervasive. Nope, I'm gonna get a new extra strength prescription so I can see things clearly; then I'm gonna make sure my next eye chart reads 

                                  J     

                            U S T I C E

                            F O R A L L

America's piano is out of tune

Years ago, Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder recorded a song titled, "Ebony and Ivory."  In that song contain the lyrics, Ebony and Ivory live together in perfect harmony. Side by side on my piano keyboard, oh Lord,why don't we?

Hmm, why don't we?  Well, due to the fact that as a nation, we have lost our collective minds regarding race relations, or should I say the lack of race relations, I'm prone to believe that we can't live in perfect harmony because, although we are people and not piano keys, just as the ebony keys and ivory keys on America's piano are not only playing out of tune, but also not playing the same song, neither are we.

Let me explain.

My paternal grandmother played the piano for many years until she was no longer able to do so.  And what I learned is that the main reason piano strings change pitch or get out of tune is because they move, due to humidity and temperature.  But, check this out, even if a piano isn't played, the tension in the strings will get weaker and weaker, and the piano will still go out of tune.

And the latter is what's happened to America.

For far too long, too many people have lived under the false notion that we live in a post-racial society. Laws were passed that allowed the "ebony keys" on our nation's piano to sit beside the "ivory keys" in restaurants, theaters, and anywhere else.  Heck, ebony keys could even use the same restrooms and go to the same schools as ivory's. Too many thought that electing the "First Ebony President," meant we not only had the ebony and ivory keys playing in perfect harmony, but that we were also playing on a Liberace styled grand piano.

 But we were wrong, and we got comfortable.

Those keys just sat together on the keyboard without trying to create music...together,which caused us to become more racially divided and out of tune with each other than ever. Why? Because the tension, the strength that all of us "strings" had, and tension we needed to hold us together just got weaker and weaker, and now, all of the notes are falling flat.

See, too many people are trying to play the piano who have never had a lesson.  Yeah, there are particular "ivory pianists," who only know how to play the ivory keys, but who somehow feel the need to chastise the ebony keys about the way they sound. These certain ivory pianist believe their songs could have the same sound if they didn't use the ebony keys. For them, the ebony keys are disposable, and should be happy they are even included on the keyboard with the ivory keys at all. Thus, these particular ivory pianists are focused on the ebony keys that may be out of tune, instead of focusing on the fact that because there are more ivory keys, those keys being out of tune could be the reason for the majority of the disharmony and thus may require more tuning than the ebony keys.

Then there are those "ebony pianists," who only want to play the ebony keys because they believe the ivory keys feel they are superior, so they want to make sure the ebony keys know they are needed. Yeah, those ebony pianists also believe that the ebony keys could make better music on their own, and thus try to play songs that use ebony keys exculsively. The problem is, some of those ebony keys have gone without being tuned or even heard for so long that when they finally have the chance to have their strings tightened, their keys stick, and they are unable to make a sound. They've given up believing they can play beautiful music or even be included in the song.  But, get this, there are still other ebony pianists who don't believe they truly belong on the same keyboard with the ivory keys, at all. So, they have no problem relying on the ivory keys to provide the music they feel ebony keys lack, and will themselves neglect to play the ebony keys as well. But here's the thing, when pianos are tuned, all the strings must be tuned at some point  because all the keys, ebony and ivory, are needed in order to give a song its perfect harmony.

Now, although all the strings must be tuned, not all the strings are tuned at once. During piano tuning, sometimes, a "mute" is used to silence strings that are not being tuned. That could be because those strings are already hitting the right notes, and don't need any extra tuning, or because they were tuned the last go round.  However, regarding America's piano, those who are already in tune to what's really happening are the ones whose notes need to be heard the loudest.  As a matter of fact, I think America's piano might play a lot better, if the "mute," were used on the keys who have been making the most noise, even though every note they play is flat.

All I know is, the song American is playing now is not music to my ears, and it's not one that needs a refrain. So, why can't we live together like piano keys? Because although we may be ebony and ivory, unlike piano keys that are tuned by one technician, 2 or 4 times per year, we, as individuals, have to tune ourselves... daily. We are the ones who have to come to the realization that we will never be in perfect harmony until we constantly check to make sure the tension in our personal strings remains tight and that we don't become weak. Otherwise, America's piano will remain out of tune, and we, as a nation will continue to hit sour notes.