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         My Time to Vent

WARNING. I am about to vent. So if you don’t feel like dealing with the wrath of my tantrum…stop reading now. But in the event that you think you can deal with the rantings of an angry sister, by all means, read on. I am hot like fire about a couple of issues. I was reading the newspaper this weekend and came across an article in the sports section about Allen Iverson. (yes, a sister is into sports.) I’m sure you all know that Allen is in the hot seat, again. Old boy just went off the deep end with his wife. They got all kinds of charges pending against him, one of which is making terrorists threats. Now you know they mean business when they say the word terrorist. That’s a sore spot for any and all American’s. I was already familiar with the situation because it has been on CNN, but it made me mad as hell to find out that he didn’t have to turn himself in until Tuesday when his lawyer comes back from out of town. How convenient. Here he is, accused of domestic violence, facing 65 years in prison for basically being a lunatic, and he can define his own terms because, of course, he is Allen Iverson, MVP of the 2001 All-star game and leading the league in scoring with an average of 31 points. Nevertheless, a judge remanded him to his home on house arrest and the local police threatened, “If we catch him out partying, we are going to arrest him. So what does Allen do? What any other man would have done. He just threw a party at his 2.5 million dollar mansion. If the Muhammad can’t go to the mountain, just bring the mountain to him.

What exactly is going on in the NBA? I am not hating on anyone. But it just seems that lately there have been a lot of, shall we say, domestic issues concerning players. Just a little while ago Jason Kidd punched his wife in the face. But I imagine because the team views his presence essential for the playoffs, he too will receive a slap on the wrist. Of course he claims that he has never done anything like that before. (sound familiar?) He’s now going to counseling. But he gets to keep all the perks and benefits of being a star player.

The bottom line is politics. These fellas are sliding through the system with the ease of diarrhea. Their agents and lawyers wipe up their nasty mess with legal maneuvers and technicalities and it is beyond ridiculous. Entertainers and athletes not only fall into a different income bracket, but also a different branch of the judicial system, obviously. (anybody remember OJ?) Look how long R. Kelly got away with molestation. Don’t get me started on him. He’s a mega star, sex symbol to millions of women and in 29 point however many minutes he showed the world he has no respect for women at all and we are the ones who made him a star. Where will their responsibility to the public begin and end? The mere fact that these men get babied and coddled for abusing their spouses or indulging in perverse behavior shows America that the love of the game and money is more important than the love and respect of a woman.

How much longer will we be disregarded and disrespected in the media? In many ways we are reduced objects of insignificance. In videos we are portrayed as half -dressed, submissive, gyrating, all-to-willing-to-satisfy hoochies. In the music playing on our radios and in the clubs, we are bitches and whores who chase dollars. And don’t happen to be a single parent, because then we are classified as statistics and public nuisances. I have had just about enough of walking two steps behind, not being paid the same wage and not being viewed or valued for our worth. Where would the world be without women? In a mess, that’s where. You know what they say; behind every good man is a great woman. In this case though, she might have a black eye or a couple of knots upside her head. Ya feel me?
 

                                                 by Bridgette Hogan
                                                                   Ya feel me?  
                                Email her if you would like to respond to this subject.

Bridgette is a contributing writer of Blacksonville.com