Morning Mail - 3.3.11

You can never tell what's in a man's mind
And if he's from Harlem, there's no use of even tryin'
Just like the tide, his mind comes and goes
Like March weather, when he'll change
Nobody knows, nobody knows

The man I love, well, he just turned me down, he's a Harlem brown
Oftimes I wish that I were in this ground, six feet underground
He idolized me, as no other could, no, no
Then he surprised me, leavin' me a note sayin' he's gone for good
Gone for good...

And since my sweetie left me,
Harlem, well, it ain't the same old place
Though a thousand dandies smile right in my face
I think I'll mooch some homemade hooch and go out for a lark
Just to drive off these mean ole Harlem Blues
(Source: Harlem Blues, the soundtrack of Mo' Better Blues)

The first time I saw this movie I was a child and all I could tell was the my mother insisted that I didn’t see it, but a close family friend’s mother didn’t care much and let us watch anyway because she loved the jazz music. Years later I watched this same movie and it brought me closer to my mother. It’s actually my mother’s second favorite movie. Although I had never seen the movie with her until a few years ago, we’d listened to this soundtrack many Saturdays.

There’s something about the lyrics of this song that resonate. I just am glad I’m not from Harlem. But I feel that every Black man has put himself in this position at some time in his life before. Have you ever seen a woman grab hold of a man begging him not to go? I have and it hurt my heart. But it just goes to show you, grabbing hold of a man will only leave you on the ground with tears in your eyes. You just can’t predict what a man will do, or control his feelings.

That’s messed up how they did Bleek in the movie though. That’s why you have to watch your connections with your friends. If you’ve never seen Mo’ Better Blues, Bleek got into some shit because his partner had a gambling problem. Long story short, he ends up getting hit in the face with his own trumpet. And after that he is never able to play again. That’s a lesson for all Black men.

Spike always had a lesson for all in his movies.

Anyway, a few questions:

Do women judge women who don’t wear hosiery when they have on a skirt?

Have you noticed that if you pool a group of Black men, there’s almost a 50/50 split of those who like thick legs and those who like tone legs? I do not get this at all.

It’s Thursday, which means it’s time for happy hour. I love happy hour. Does it ever make you wonder why you have to pay a premium to hang around Black people? I feel like for as long as we been in America, Black people have had less money than white folk. However, when you buy a drink at a Black happy hour lounge it’s going to cost you $8, but at a white spot, it’s going to have a special for like $3. Maybe that’s sheer numbers. Do you think it’s because white people spend more money in their establishments? I know for a fact Black people will enter a spot with every intention on spending no money. Plus, I’ve also been told by bartenders that prices are higher for Black people because they don’t tip.

Think about that before it upsets you.

Life is good. God is good.