To Develop: Blog 365 Day 52 – Black Watch



To Develop: Blog 365 Day 52 – Black Watch
By Jiddoe S'Phatt


Warmest greetings! My name is Jiddoe S’Phatt. Welcome to day 52 of “To Develop: Blog 365”.

Inspiration to write comes from a number of places. For this blog I’ve been inspired by hip-hop artist Rick Chyme and producer David K. Manley of Man@Work Productions. Through a collaborative project titled #DailyPieces365 these two artists will release a new song every day for 365 consecutive days! Their impressive dedication has motivated me to write a new blog every day of 2018.

A little piece of me goes into each entry I write. I hope you enjoy this one!

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I’m blessed to wear an expensive Black Fossil watch on my Black skin. I always know what time it is.

If I’m not dressed up for a special occasion, which I love to do, you’ll often find me wearing a t-shirt. It’s usually something video game or cartoon related. Here and there I’m decked in MSU gear, one from a charity show or concert – Pop Evil, Hip-Hop for Flint, Project Cypher – or plain, nothing printed on it at all. At these times this chucky, shiny time piece of mine is visible.

Worn on my left arm, it stands out like a lighthouse. People of all ages and ethnic backgrounds sail over to compliment me on this accessory or to simply get a closer look.

I like when people choose to comment. It’s surprising how lengthy of a conversation you can have with people about watches. It shouldn’t be a surprise, though, because it’s such a universal item. Lots of people collect them. Their essentially functional bracelets.

Then there’s those who don’t say anything with their mouths. Their eyes and facial expressions say enough. It’s people of all ages and ethnic backgrounds who look at me like, “Where’d you get that?”

I always know what time it is.


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Share your thoughts with me at info@mrjoewalker.com or on Twitter @mrjoewalker.

Visit MrJoeWalker.com for more great stories!

To Develop: Blog 365 Day 51 – Afraid to Be Black



To Develop: Blog 365 Day 51 – Afraid to Be Black
By Jiddoe S'Phatt


Warmest greetings! My name is Jiddoe S’Phatt. Welcome to day 51 of “To Develop: Blog 365”.

Inspiration to write comes from a number of places. For this blog I’ve been inspired by hip-hop artist Rick Chyme and producer David K. Manley of Man@Work Productions. Through a collaborative project titled #DailyPieces365 these two artists will release a new song every day for 365 consecutive days! Their impressive dedication has motivated me to write a new blog every day of 2018.

A little piece of me goes into each entry I write. I hope you enjoy this one!

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There was a time I’d walk in a room, be the only Black person there, and honestly think nothing of it. I was little. I didn’t know any better. But you know what you learn, if that makes sense.

I’d mingle, talk with people I was comfortable talking to and just be myself.

After I got a little older I was told Black people weren’t always as welcome as I thought. So I started paying attention. I’d see the disapproving looks. I’d notice the difference in how I was being spoken to. I found out police weren’t always fair to those who shared by skin color. I learned enough to significantly disturb my comfort.

For a moment in my life I was afraid to go certain places and attempt certain activities because I was Black.

After I got a little older, after gaining experience from simply living, what I was told about Black people not always being as welcome as I thought lost its sting. I still believed it. It was true. But it’s a ridiculous, silly truth. I respected it because in some places, in some situations, you have to. It’s the same for a White person, or a person of any other ethnicity entering a space where they were the vast, even the extreme minority. But I no longer feared it.

Wherever I go I’m going to me. Who I am may be enough to change how it’s felt about what I am.

Most of all I won’t ever be afraid to be Black.

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Share your thoughts with me at info@mrjoewalker.com or on Twitter @mrjoewalker.

Visit MrJoeWalker.com for more great stories!

To Develop: Blog 365 Day 50 – Draw Richard Pryor



To Develop: Blog 365 Day 50 – Draw Richard Pryor
By Jiddoe S'Phatt


Warmest greetings! My name is Jiddoe S’Phatt. Welcome to day 50 of “To Develop: Blog 365”.

Inspiration to write comes from a number of places. For this blog I’ve been inspired by hip-hop artist Rick Chyme and producer David K. Manley of Man@Work Productions. Through a collaborative project titled #DailyPieces365 these two artists will release a new song every day for 365 consecutive days! Their impressive dedication has motivated me to write a new blog every day of 2018.

A little piece of me goes into each entry I write. I hope you enjoy this one!

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What you’re about to read is not exactly a Black History Month story. It is, however, about my past, so it’s part of my history. I also happen to be Black. Get it?

Art was a big deal during my time in grade school. I loved to draw pictures, I loved to tell stories and illustrate them. I probably looked forward to art more than I did the recess bell.

The art teacher would come to our class with assignments and projects. Some of them we could finish at school in the time allowed. Others we took home to finish, turning them in the next day. Each month had a special theme. There was Fire Prevention Month, of course Black History Month, and one of the months had something to do with dental hygiene.

One year for Blah-Blah Dental Something-Something Month, we were told to draw a picture of a dentist taking care of a patient’s teeth. I decided to draw Richard Pryor as a dentist holding a giant tooth brush. He was taking care of someone with giant yellow bucked teeth. I drew a caption bubble above his head and it read, “Let’s brush those big, yellow tooffus!” It was hung on the wall outside our classroom.

For a grade-schooler I thought I’d drawn a pretty good Richard Pryor. It made me laugh every time I looked at it.

My art teacher told me she didn’t get it.



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Share your thoughts with me at info@mrjoewalker.com or on Twitter @mrjoewalker.

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To Develop: Blog 365 Day 49 – An Appropriate Tune



To Develop: Blog 365 Day 49 – An Appropriate Tune
By Jiddoe S'Phatt


Warmest greetings! My name is Jiddoe S’Phatt. Welcome to day 49 of “To Develop: Blog 365”.

Inspiration to write comes from a number of places. For this blog I’ve been inspired by hip-hop artist Rick Chyme and producer David K. Manley of Man@Work Productions. Through a collaborative project titled #DailyPieces365 these two artists will release a new song every day for 365 consecutive days! Their impressive dedication has motivated me to write a new blog every day of 2018.

A little piece of me goes into each entry I write. I hope you enjoy this one!

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The song “Stakes Is High” by iconic hip-hop group De La Soul should have been on the soundtrack for Marvel’s Black Panther movie. They could have at least played it somewhere in the film. It’s an appropriate tune.

There’s no stakes higher than a king fighting to keep his place on the thrown, his family together, and his nation both united and safe.

Had I been executive producer of the soundtrack instead of Kendrick Lamar, “Stakes Is High” would have surely made the cut. Add “Love” from Mos Def’s Black on Both Sides album to the track list too. Oh, and “Take It Personal” from Gang Starr’s Daily Operations and “Royalty” from their LP Moment of Truth.

My musical contribution to the movie would have sounded like a 1990s basement mixtape. Given its Black History Month theatrical release, I would have been right to load the set with classics. Its first track would be “It Gets No Rougher” by LL Cool J.

Why?

Because it’s from his album Walking with a Panther.

And what color is a panther?

Black!

I’m willing to bet a not-so-substantial amount Kendrick Lamar never thought of that when he started conceptualizing Black Panther’s soundtrack. Kendrick could have still be involved under my direction. I would have made him rap to the beat of “Black Cat” by Janet Jackson. It’s an appropriate tune.

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Share your thoughts with me at info@mrjoewalker.com or on Twitter @mrjoewalker.

Visit MrJoeWalker.com for more great stories!

To Develop: Blog 365 Day 48 – No Expression of African Pride



To Develop: Blog 365 Day 48 – No Expression of African Pride
By Jiddoe S'Phatt



Warmest greetings! My name is Jiddoe S’Phatt. Welcome to day 48 of “To Develop: Blog 365”.

Inspiration to write comes from a number of places. For this blog I’ve been inspired by hip-hop artist Rick Chyme and producer David K. Manley of Man@Work Productions. Through a collaborative project titled #DailyPieces365 these two artists will release a new song every day for 365 consecutive days! Their impressive dedication has motivated me to write a new blog every day of 2018.

A little piece of me goes into each entry I write. I hope you enjoy this one!

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I saw Marvel’s Black Panther last night. I loved it. So far it’s the highlight of Black History month.

My friend TJ and I went to an event at Celebration! Cinema in Grand Rapids hosted by Totem Soul, Grand Rapids HipHop Coalition and The Love Movement Inc. We could have easily watched the movie from one of the nicer theaters closer to our homes but chose to make the trek for the fan fair.

It was worth it.

With the main character being an African king, some people were dressed in African-inspired attire. Others wore costumes inspired by characters from the movie and comic books. We even caught a glimpse of 2 people dressed as members of the revolutionary Black Panther Party. I found their wardrobe choice quite interesting.

TJ and I didn’t dress up. He wore Michigan State University gear. I went with an airbrushed Darth Vader t-shirt and my MSU ball cap to top it off. Our exterior had no expression of African pride heading into this movie.

By no means were we out of place though. Our excitement matched with everyone bustling about for snacks, photos, and Black Panther merchandise.

We could tell which adults in attendance fully bought into the hype based on their outfits. I sure hope the night will be a Black History Month highlight for them for years to come.


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Share your thoughts with me at info@mrjoewalker.com or on Twitter @mrjoewalker.

Visit MrJoeWalker.com for more great stories!

To Develop: Blog 365 Day 47 – I Heard



To Develop: Blog 365 Day 47 – I Heard
By Jiddoe S'Phatt


Warmest greetings! My name is Jiddoe S’Phatt. Welcome to day 47 of “To Develop: Blog 365”.

Inspiration to write comes from a number of places. For this blog I’ve been inspired by hip-hop artist Rick Chyme and producer David K. Manley of Man@Work Productions. Through a collaborative project titled #DailyPieces365 these two artists will release a new song every day for 365 consecutive days! Their impressive dedication has motivated me to write a new blog every day of 2018.

A little piece of me goes into each entry I write. I hope you enjoy this one!

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I’ve been listening to the song “Stakes Is High” by iconic hip-hop group De La Soul over and over lately. I’ve done this before, played their 1996 title track repeatedly. I had it on heavy rotation 20 years ago.

With a little more time under my belt the song means more to me now than it did before.

I don’t want you to think its words and message fell on deaf ears back in the day. Younger me wasn’t ignoring what members Trugoy and Posdnuos were rhyming about. They touched on the continued carryover of inequality along with the socially damaging subject matter our youth were consuming through music. I heard all of that.

It’s just their rhyme patterns in sync with late producer J-Dilla’s beat was louder. I heard more of the fun than the fundamentals. That’s changed.

Young hip-hop artists approach me regularly with their fun-loving, carefree attitudes asking me to listen to their music. Most often it’s something bouncy and bass heavy with no discernable subject matter. Apparently it’s made to attract club goers who spend every waking moment intoxicated. That’s what I heard.

I wonder if these young artists care about the socially damaging subject matter in their music. They have to realize the stakes are higher than ever.


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Share your thoughts with me at info@mrjoewalker.com or on Twitter @mrjoewalker.

Visit MrJoeWalker.com for more great stories!

To Develop: Blog 365 Day 46 – Anyone There



To Develop: Blog 365 Day 46 – Anyone There


By Jiddoe S'Phatt


Warmest greetings! My name is Jiddoe S’Phatt. Welcome to day 46 of “To Develop: Blog 365”.

Inspiration to write comes from a number of places. For this blog I’ve been inspired by hip-hop artist Rick Chyme and producer David K. Manley of Man@Work Productions. Through a collaborative project titled #DailyPieces365 these two artists will release a new song every day for 365 consecutive days! Their impressive dedication has motivated me to write a new blog every day of 2018.

A little piece of me goes into each entry I write. I hope you enjoy this one!

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The song “Stakes Is High” by iconic hip-hop group De La Soul is considered by many, including me, to be a classic. The first single and title track of their 1996 full-length studio album, this J-Dilla produced gem still resonates today.

On it group member Posdnous delivers a line that’s grown more poignant and relevant to me as time has progressed.

Pos says, “Neighborhoods are now ‘hoods ‘cause nobody’s neighbors”.

I grew up in a quaint yet tough area. The grass was green, bushes were trimmed, flowers blossomed along fences, and its trees rained plenty of leaves to rake in the fall.

Many of the families who lived there, including my own, were close-knit transplants from the south. Their children and grandchildren played and attended school together from the time they were in kindergarten until they graduated from high school. We all knew one another, cared for one another, and treated each other like extended family.

I don’t know anyone there anymore.

Most of the elders have passed on. Their children and grandchildren fled for different cities and states as drugs and drug-related crimes ravaged that once quaint neighborhood. The grass, bushes, flowers and trees are dead. Bullets reign.

My neighborhood became a ‘hood. Stakes there are certainly high.

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Share your thoughts with me at info@mrjoewalker.com or on Twitter @mrjoewalker.

Visit MrJoeWalker.com for more great stories!

To Develop: Blog 365 Day 45 – A Dirty Goose in a Chicken Coop



To Develop: Blog 365 Day 45 – A Dirty Goose in a Chicken Coop
By Jiddoe S'Phatt


Warmest greetings! My name is Jiddoe S’Phatt. Welcome to day 45 of “To Develop: Blog 365”.

Inspiration to write comes from a number of places. For this blog I’ve been inspired by hip-hop artist Rick Chyme and producer David K. Manley of Man@Work Productions. Through a collaborative project titled #DailyPieces365 these two artists will release a new song every day for 365 consecutive days! Their impressive dedication has motivated me to write a new blog every day of 2018.

A little piece of me goes into each entry I write. I hope you enjoy this one!

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My basement is a warehouse of memories. Taped-up cardboard boxes line its cold walls. Inside each of them are keys to the time machine.

A few of the boxes are purposely stored on top of these piles for easy access. One in particular contains report cards, art projects, spelling tests, and other remnants from my time in kindergarten and 1st grade.

My kindergarten class photo means more to me now than ever before because my teacher, Mrs. Susan Leatzow, passed away in February of 2016. I’ve been thinking about her a lot lately.

I learned about Mrs. Leatzow’s passing the day after her funeral. Had I known, I would have certainly attended to pay my respect. I remember her being very nurturing and somewhat protective of me. I was 1 of very few Black children in a Lutheran private school. It was like being a dirty goose in a chicken coop. People looked at me as though I was about to lay anything but a golden egg. Some probably expected a crispy fried one.

Though many at the school, mostly other parents, weren’t thrilled to have me among the attendees, Mrs. Leatzow made me feel welcomed. She didn’t treat me like “the Black Kid”.

She was still the kindergarten teacher there when I returned in 8th grade. She was first in line to greet me. Sadly, I never got to say goodbye.

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Share your thoughts with me at info@mrjoewalker.com or on Twitter @mrjoewalker.

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To Develop: Blog 365 Day 44 – Tears of Excruciating Joy


To Develop: Blog 365 Day 44 – Tears of Excruciating Joy
By Jiddoe S'Phatt

Warmest greetings! My name is Jiddoe S’Phatt. Welcome to day 44 of “To Develop: Blog 365”.

Inspiration to write comes from a number of places. For this blog I’ve been inspired by hip-hop artist Rick Chyme and producer David K. Manley of Man@Work Productions. Through a collaborative project titled #DailyPieces365 these two artists will release a new song every day for 365 consecutive days! Their impressive dedication has motivated me to write a new blog every day of 2018.

A little piece of me goes into each entry I write. I hope you enjoy this one!

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We can go back in time if we want to. All we need is something from our past to take us there.

My basement is full of potential time travel. A bunch of taped up memories are scattered about as far as the eye can see. It’s a semi-well-organized mess. Just at the bottom of the stairs rests a tall rectangular box overflowing with DVDs. At the very top are several seasons of FOX television sitcom Married… with Children.

For so long this has been my favorite TV show. I can’t explain how much I’ve laughed at the dysfunction of the fictional Bundy Family. My mom, on the other hand, didn’t find them amusing at all. Looking at the DVD covers transports me to sitting on the living room couch in my mother’s townhome.

I’d be laughing with tears of excruciating joy trickling down my face as my mother frowned from the chair next to me. She'd be rolling her eyes with displeasure, and at times would blurt out “That’s so stupid.” Surprisingly, she would sit through an entire episode. That made no sense to me then.

Looking back I realize my mom just wanted to spend time with me. She was even willing to sit through an entire episode of a sitcom she detested to do so.

Amazingly, I got all of that from just looking at a pile of DVDs.


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Share your thoughts with me at info@mrjoewalker.com or on Twitter @mrjoewalker.

Visit MrJoeWalker.com for more great stories!

To Develop: Blog 365 Day 43 – Wonderful Playground Toys



To Develop: Blog 365 Day 43 – Wonderful Playground Toys
By Jiddoe S'Phatt


Warmest greetings! My name is Jiddoe S’Phatt. Welcome to day 43 of “To Develop: Blog 365”.

Inspiration to write comes from a number of places. For this blog I’ve been inspired by hip-hop artist Rick Chyme and producer David K. Manley of Man@Work Productions. Through a collaborative project titled #DailyPieces365 these two artists will release a new song every day for 365 consecutive days! Their impressive dedication has motivated me to write a new blog every day of 2018.

A little piece of me goes into each entry I write. I hope you enjoy this one!

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This past summer I drove past the school I attended during kindergarten and 1st grade. I had the urge to just look at it for some strange reason. It was a Lutheran private school with lots of wonderful playground toys. I was curious to see if it was just as I remembered it.

It wasn’t.

The school was no longer operational. I have no idea how long it had been closed. A few of the windows were boarded up, the front door had a hole in it. The entire building was beaten down by the weather and time. I felt bad seeing it that way.

All those wonderful playground toys appeared to have long lost their wonder. Each piece had rusted quite a bit. Found in the heart of a pretty decent neighborhood, it’s a shame these were in no condition for the community to use them.

I used to play on the swings. Before I made a few friends I’d swing alone. I would attempt to swing with other students, even my classmates. When I’d walk over they’d get up and go play elsewhere.

So there I’d be in my sweater vest over a button up shirt with jeans and loafers, swinging alone. All this came back to me during this random visit to an abandoned, rundown school.

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Share your thoughts with me at info@mrjoewalker.com or on Twitter @mrjoewalker.

Visit MrJoeWalker.com for more great stories!

To Develop: Blog 365 Day 42 – Tape



To Develop: Blog 365 Day 42 – Tape
By Jiddoe S'Phatt


Warmest greetings! My name is Jiddoe S’Phatt. Welcome to day 42 of “To Develop: Blog 365”.

Inspiration to write comes from a number of places. For this blog I’ve been inspired by hip-hop artist Rick Chyme and producer David K. Manley of Man@Work Productions. Through a collaborative project titled #DailyPieces365 these two artists will release a new song every day for 365 consecutive days! Their impressive dedication has motivated me to write a new blog every day of 2018.

A little piece of me goes into each entry I write. I hope you enjoy this one!

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Most nights I’m writing when I should be sleeping.

Usually I’m in the living room recliner with my Toshiba notebook on my lap. It’s been dropped and literally jumped on, so it’s more of a patchwork computer. I have to wiggle the power cord to keep it from shutting down, both the screen and its underbody are missing screws, and its right side is held together with Guerilla Tape.

I do have a newer, fancier touchscreen HP, but I prefer to use this mangled one.

Oh, the left Shift key is gone too.  Well, not entirely. I still have it, it’s just not attached to my computer anymore. Despite its many injuries I refuse to put this old dog down. For starters, it’s reliable. Secondly, we’ve told some amazing stories together.

Recently I’ve been flashing back to my childhood past. I’ve written about wanting to be Superman, being called “Black White Boy”, sitting in the back of the school bus that picked me up from my considerably urban neighborhood every morning, and being 1 of 5 Black children in an entire school.

Parts of that time period could have used some Guerilla Tape yet I came away undamaged. There were some breaks but I’m not broken. I have a few screws loose but I’m not crazy. I was dropped and literally jumped on. Those situations made me feel powerless. Through it all I never broke down.


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Share your thoughts with me at info@mrjoewalker.com or on Twitter @mrjoewalker.

Visit MrJoeWalker.com for more great stories!

To Develop: Blog 365 Day 41 – Out of My Pants



To Develop: Blog 365 Day 41 – Out of My Pants
By Jiddoe S'Phatt


Warmest greetings! My name is Jiddoe S’Phatt. Welcome to day 41 of “To Develop: Blog 365”.

Inspiration to write comes from a number of places. For this blog I’ve been inspired by hip-hop artist Rick Chyme and producer David K. Manley of Men@Work Productions. Through a collaborative project titled #DailyPieces365 these two artists will release a new song every day for 365 consecutive days! Their impressive dedication has motivated me to write a new blog every day of 2018.

A little piece of me goes into each entry I write. I hope you enjoy this one!

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Saturdays. My mother would make breakfast while my sisters and I watched cartoons.

We had our favorites – Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, Pole Position (mostly for the theme song), Thundarr the Barbarian, Turbo Teen (when I look back I realize it was ridiculous), and Dungeons & Dragons. We’d watch toons until noon then it was time for Soul Train.

Once we finished our weekly ride on the hippest trip in America we’d all start getting dressed. This could take a couple hours because we only had one bathroom. After everyone was clean and fully clothed to each their likings we’d pile into the car and head to Grand Rapids to shop.

Our first stop was usually Rogers Department Store.

We’d enter the store by the jewelry counters, walk past the perfume and then head upstairs to the boys department. It seemed I was always growing out of my pants. The funny thing about that is I didn’t grow up to be tall.  

Once we were in the boys department my big sisters took over. Influenced by pop culture and a few of the boys they went to school with, my attire had to be cute and layered. The way I was dressed would typically be described as preppy.

I wore sweater vests over button-up shirts with jeans and loafers.


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Share your thoughts with me at info@mrjoewalker.com or on Twitter @mrjoewalker.

Visit MrJoeWalker.com for more great stories!

To Develop: Blog 365 Day 40 – The Way



To Develop: Blog 365 Day 40 – The Way
By Jiddoe S'Phatt


Warmest greetings! My name is Jiddoe S’Phatt. Welcome to day 40 of “To Develop: Blog 365”.

Inspiration to write comes from a number of places. For this blog I’ve been inspired by hip-hop artist Rick Chyme and producer David K. Manley of Man@Work Productions. Through a collaborative project titled #DailyPieces365 these two artists will release a new song every day for 365 consecutive days! Their impressive dedication has motivated me to write a new blog every day of 2018.

A little piece of me goes into each entry I write. I hope you enjoy this one!

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I wasn’t like the other children in my neighborhood.

I wore sweater vests over button-up shirts with jeans and loafers. Those my age around the way wore sports jerseys, t-shirts and sneakers.

As much as I liked to watch basketball I didn’t particularly like to play it. I could hit a shot now and then but I wasn’t a good shooter by any means. If I happened to end up on a team I could get you a few steals and rebounds, make the right pass, I’d even get a block occasionally. To my peers around the way this was never good enough. I didn’t care. I preferred to participate in soccer.

My mother didn’t allow me to listen to dirty comedy or watch R-rated movies. For others this was okay, and if it wasn’t they’d sneak and do it. Not me. I played it straight. If I wasn’t watching any number of old school cartoons – The Flintstones, Jetsons, Rocky & Bullwinkle, Woody Woodpecker, and Mighty Mouse to name a few, I’d be writing in my notebook or reading Marvel comic books.

The children from my neighborhood called me goofy, weird, and a nerd. My favorite insult of theirs was “Black White boy” which insinuated I was a Black child who behaved like a White child.

I wasn’t like them at all.
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To Develop: Blog 365 Day 39 – Superman is White. I Never Noticed.



To Develop: Blog 365 Day 39 – Superman is White. I Didn’t Notice.
By Jiddoe S'Phatt


Warmest greetings! My name is Jiddoe S’Phatt. Welcome to day 39 of “To Develop: Blog 365”.

Inspiration to write comes from a number of places. For this blog I’ve been inspired by hip-hop artist Rick Chyme and producer David K. Manley of Man@Work Productions. Through a collaborative project titled #DailyPieces365 these two artists will release a new song every day for 365 consecutive days! Their impressive dedication has motivated me to write a new blog every day of 2018.

A little piece of me goes into each entry I write. I hope you enjoy this one!

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Children have their heroes. One of mine was Superman. To me, for the longest, he was simply the coolest of all cool things.

But every now and then I’d find myself around an adult who wasn’t particularly fond of the last son of Krypton. A few of them just felt he wasn’t thrilling or remarkable. If the adult was Black, their dislike of Superman was socially and racially motivated.

For starters they weren’t keen on the idea of this White man being the ultimate savior. They also took issue with him being mostly invincible, especially being impervious to bullets. As I child I didn’t understand why that was bothersome. Since then I’ve lived through of a number of Black males being slain by bullets. I get it now.

They’d go on. Superman is nosey with his super hearing and x-ray vision, they said. If he was Black with those power he’d be a criminal, they said.

I watched Superman fly around the Earth so fast in reverse of its rotation, it made time rewind. He removed a still smoldering missile from beneath the ground where it impacted and he didn’t get burned in the process. He raced a speeding train, won, then jumped across the track in front it. He’d rescue someone in peril on the other side of the world and still make it to work on time.

In addition to all of that he could freeze things by breathing on them and shoot beams of heat from his eyes. As a child it made no sense to me why some Black people got bent out of shape over the fact that Superman is White. I didn’t notice.
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To Develop: Blog 365 Day 38 – Dish Towels as Capes



To Develop: Blog 365 Day 38 – Dish Towels as Capes
By Jiddoe S'Phatt


Warmest greetings! My name is Jiddoe S’Phatt. Welcome to day 38 of “To Develop: Blog 365”.


Inspiration to write comes from a number of places. For this blog I’ve been inspired by hip-hop artist Rick Chyme and producer David K. Manley of Man@Work Productions. Through a collaborative project titled #DailyPieces365 these two artists will release a new song every day for 365 consecutive days! Their impressive dedication has motivated me to write a new blog every day of 2018.

A little piece of me goes into each entry I write. I hope you enjoy this one!

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You’d think pretending to be Superman around the house wouldn’t lead to getting a whooping. Especially since Supes is arguably the ultimate do-gooder.

When I was a really young child I spent a lot of time imagining myself as Superman flying though the sky. I wore a cape each time I did this. The problem was my cape was never an actual cape.

I would tie long-sleeved shirts around my neck. If I was wearing short sleeves I’d just pull my arms out and dangle the shirt over my back. That was my least favorite.

I spent a lot of time at my grandparents’ house growing up. When we’d sit down to eat my grandmother would drape a towel over my chest to prevent me from spilling food on clothes. She secured the towel behind my neck with a clothes pin. Often seconds after she’d do this I’d rotate the pin to the front so the towel dangled behind me, then run into the living room and “fly” on to the couch.

“Get back up to this table before I whoop your butt!” she’d shout, sometimes laughing afterward because I looked and behaved so ridiculously.

What would really tick her off, though? I consistently swiped her dish towels to use as my Superman cape. She’d be set to dry dishes only to notice it missing. Grandma always knew where to locate it. The towel was tucked into the back of my shirt as I flew around Metropolis.

A butt whooping wouldn’t hurt the real Superman.



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Share your thoughts with me at info@mrjoewalker.com or on Twitter @mrjoewalker.

Visit MrJoeWalker.com for more great stories!

To Develop: Blog 365 Day 37 – Similar to Many



To Develop: Blog 365 Day 37 – Similar to Many
By Jiddoe S'Phatt


Warmest greetings! My name is Jiddoe S’Phatt. Welcome to day 37 of “To Develop: Blog 365”.

Inspiration to write comes from a number of places. For this blog I’ve been inspired by hip-hop artist Rick Chyme and producer David K. Manley of Man@Work Productions. Through a collaborative project titled #DailyPieces365 these two artists will release a new song every day for 365 consecutive days! Their impressive dedication has motivated me to write a new blog every day of 2018.

A little piece of me goes into each entry I write. I hope you enjoy this one!

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Superman was unquestionably my childhood hero. As much as I so desperately wanted to be him, I was more like his bumbling alter ego Clark Kent.

I didn’t wear oversized glasses with plastic frames. My eyesight’s always been great.

I wouldn’t say I was clumsy. Actually, I was pretty surefooted and athletic. Could I fly? Figuratively, yes. I could jump high and far, and was a shockingly fast runner.

I was, however, a tad bit awkward dressed in Khaki pants and sweater vests with loafers on my feet. My mom and big sisters dressed me in nice outfits, but my 1st grade classmates sometimes laughed at what I wore as if I’d donned a clown costume. I never understood that.

My clothes were similar to many of my classmates who weren’t teased at all. I think being 1 of 5 Black children in the entire private school had a little to do with it.

Like Clark in the Superman movie, people would bump into me and not say excuse me or apologize. Most of the time they either didn’t see me or just crashed into me on purpose. What was really rude is how other children would purposely attempt to get me dirty. And my mother couldn’t afford for me to have a clean backup outfit underneath.
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Share your thoughts with me at info@mrjoewalker.com or on Twitter @mrjoewalker.

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To Develop: Blog 365 Day 36 – Clark



To Develop: Blog 365 Day 36 – Clark
By Jiddoe S'Phatt



Warmest greetings! My name is Jiddoe S’Phatt. Welcome to day 36 of “To Develop: Blog 365”.

Inspiration to write comes from a number of places. For this blog I’ve been inspired by hip-hop artist Rick Chyme and producer David K. Manley of Man@Work Productions. Through a collaborative project titled #DailyPieces365 these two artists will release a new song every day for 365 consecutive days! Their impressive dedication has motivated me to write a new blog every day of 2018.

A little piece of me goes into each entry I write. I hope you enjoy this one!

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Sometimes I didn’t hear my mother. Sometimes I didn’t hear my grandmother. They could have been calling me at the same time and I wouldn’t have noticed.

When I was a child Superman got my undivided attention. If he was on television, in live action or cartoon form, I was oblivious to everything going on around me. That included my mother and grandmother asking me questions or commanding me not to sit so close to the TV because it would ruin my eyesight.

The Man of Steel was unquestionably my hero. I wanted nothing more than to have his ability to fly, to be super strong and fast, and to frolic through my everyday life wearing a cape. Oh, I also wanted his power to attract girls with the greatest of ease.

Superman could stop anything but kryptonite. My weakness was drawing unwanted attention. Regrettably, my female peers had no problem exploiting it while pelting me with insults. I was quiet pervious to pain.

As much as I so desperately wanted to be Superman, I was more like his awkward alter ego Clark Kent. At least that’s how imagined people viewed me. And there was no fancy spandex suit and cape hidden underneath my clothes to change their impression of me.

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Share your thoughts with me at info@mrjoewalker.com or on Twitter @mrjoewalker.

Visit MrJoeWalker.com for more great stories!

To Develop: Blog 365 Day 35 – Justice League Didn’t Have My Back



To Develop: Blog 365 Day 35 – Justice League Didn’t Have My Back
By Jiddoe S'Phatt


Inspiration to write comes from a number of places. For this blog I’ve been inspired by hip-hop artist Rick Chyme and producer David K. Manley of Man@Work Productions. Through a collaborative project titled #DailyPieces365 these two artists will release a new song every day for 365 consecutive days! Their impressive dedication has motivated me to write a new blog every day of 2018.

A little piece of me goes into each entry I write. I hope you enjoy this one!

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There wasn’t much to load in my backpack as a 1st grader. But I carried one anyway.

I’d usually haul a book or 2 borrowed from the school library, typical school supplies, and a toy I wasn’t supposed to bring. Most often it was my Superman action figure, maybe Batman and Robin, or sometimes all 3.

My notebook of drawing paper got stuffed in there too. If you’re familiar with Charlie Brown and The Peanuts characters, my notebook and I could be likened to Linus and his security blanket.

I was always writing and drawing in that thing. My imagination didn’t have an off switch so this provided me a place to contain my loose ideas. Most times I would write stories about my classmates and literally draw them into it. I didn’t share these stories with them, though. Not at first.

Being an inner city child attending a private school was strike one. Being Black with a documented overactive imagination was strikes 2 and 3.

After my backpack was loaded I’d grab a jacket if needed, make sure the pennies were straight in my brown leather loafers before putting them on, and head off to the corner of my yard to await the bus and unwelcomed looks I’d get after boarding.

The Justice League didn’t have my back. They just rode on it.

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Share your thoughts with me on Twitter @mrjoewalker.

Visit MrJoeWalker.com for more great stories!

To Develop: Blog 365 Day 34 – Chocolate and Mud



To Develop: Blog 365 Day 34 – Chocolate and Mud
By Jiddoe S'Phatt


Warmest greetings! My name is Jiddoe S’Phatt. Welcome to day 34 of “To Develop: Blog 365”.

Inspiration to write comes from a number of places. For this blog I’ve been inspired by hip-hop artist Rick Chyme and producer David K. Manley of Man@Work Productions. Through a collaborative project titled #DailyPieces365 these two artists will release a new song every day for the next 365 consecutive days! Their impressive dedication has motivated me to write a new blog every day of 2018.

A little piece of me goes into each entry I write. I hope you enjoy this one!

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I lived in a considerably urban area of town but was bussed to a more suburban area for school. I attended a private school during 1st grade and the bus I rode made a few stops for transfers along the way.

I could tell by the looks on all the children’s faces I saw every morning that none of them wanted to ride into my neighborhood to pick me up. I’d get on the bus with them peering at me as though I was putting them in eminent danger. And I wasn’t. I just wanted to get to school, get it over with, and back home to watch cartoons just like them.

Once I was on the bus I’d head to the back. No one else would be sitting there until other Black students got on at transfer locations.

At first it felt more comfortable sitting in back because, before I knew what being shy and having stage fright was, I felt unsettled when numerous people all gawked at me at once. After understanding being Black made me different, and in some places unwelcomed, it became a place to mask myself from unpleasant stares and eye-rolling.

When I was joined by other Black children it wasn’t any better. They were from better neighborhoods than mine. Though we shared skin color and historical oppression, their Black was chocolate while mine was mud.
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Share your thoughts with me at info@mrjoewalker.com or on Twitter @mrjoewalker.

Visit MrJoeWalker.com for more great stories!

To Develop: Blog 365 Day 33 – Full Reign of the Bus


To Develop: Blog 365 Day 33 – Full Reign of the Bus
By Jiddoe S'Phatt


Warmest greetings! My name is Jiddoe S’Phatt. Welcome to day 33 of “To Develop: Blog 365”.

Inspiration to write comes from a number of places. For this blog I’ve been inspired by hip-hop artist Rick Chyme and producer David K. Manley of Man@Work Productions. Through a collaborative project titled #DailyPieces365 these two artists will release a new song every day for the next 365 consecutive days! Their impressive dedication has motivated me to write a new blog every day of 2018.

A little piece of me goes into each entry I write. I hope you enjoy this one!

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At one point during my childhood I was 1 of 5 Black students in an entire school. I was also 1 of a few on school bus.

I lived in a considerably urban area and rode the bus every morning. It made a couple pit stops for transfers before arriving at my school. It seemed like lots of Black students got on and off along the way.

One or 2 Black students sat in random spots near the front. All the rest of the Black students sat in the back. I was among them only because I was back there trying to hide. I hadn’t yet learned about Rosa Parks. Once I had it changed how I felt about their preferred seating arrangement.

These students weren’t forced to sit back there. They had full reign of the bus. And here was this tale of an older Black lady who was willing to be arrested because she was too tired and weary to care about the law. A foolish law at that. One that, because of her skin color, she had to sit in the rear until one day…she just didn’t.

Black people actually died fighting for equal rights, one of those being able to pick and choose where to fold your body on a bus ride.

It made me wonder if these students were unaware, didn’t care, or just conditioned to fall back.
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Share your thoughts with me at info@mrjoewalker.com or on Twitter @mrjoewalker.

Visit MrJoeWalker.com for more great stories!

To Develop: Blog 365 Day 32 – Just a Blemish



To Develop: Blog 365 Day 32 – Just a Blemish
By Jiddoe S'Phatt


Warmest greetings! My name is Jiddoe S’Phatt. Welcome to day 32 of “To Develop: Blog 365”.

Inspiration to write comes from a number of places. For this blog I’ve been inspired by hip-hop artist Rick Chyme and producer David K. Manley of Man@Work Productions. Through a collaborative project titled #DailyPieces365 these two artists will release a new song every day for the next 365 consecutive days! Their impressive dedication has motivated me to write a new blog every day of 2018.

A little piece of me goes into each entry I write. I hope you enjoy this one!

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Learning I was different didn’t happen right away. It took some time.

As an adult I’ve often been the only or maybe 1 of few Black people in a room. I never walk in looking to be treated differently. I enter treating everyone equally. Letting my personality shine sometimes helps take the emphasis off my skin color.

When I started school many years ago not many cared how outgoing I was. The children in my class were tough enough. The parents and teachers always gave me a difficult exam.

During kindergarten and 1st grade I was 1 of 5 Black students in an entire school. To those parents who frowned on my attendance I was just a blemish on an otherwise pristine class photo.

Teachers and parents spoke slowly to me, overemphasizing their words as if there was a language barrier. I was a Black kid who rode the bus from the inner city to school every morning. I wasn’t being shuttled in from Spain or some indigenous island.

I still didn’t get it right away. I’d gone to a daycare where children of all walks of life played together. Once in school all but a few avoided me. I was told everyone enjoyed me being there and that I was well liked, yet I couldn’t help noticing the disgusted looks.

I’d learn their glances meant I didn’t belong.


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Share your thoughts with me at info@mrjoewalker.com or on Twitter @mrjoewalker.

Visit MrJoeWalker.com for more great stories!