The Way of Yah Sell-Out

 

Blogger's Note: This photo was sent to me by another former member, I just repurposed the image, making my use of it fair use.

Politics is not my thing, but I thought there was supposed to be a separation of church and state? It's funny to me how despite that alleged separation, they always end up in the same bed, so to speak.

I remember when I was a member of Henry Smith's (AKA Tony Smith) Way of Yah Synagogue, which I'm surprised the Jews didn't come after him for naming his congregation a synagogue, I mean, they were so pissed with Kyrie Irving's actions, why not him? Then again, Kyrie has a bigger name, so he's a bigger target.

Anyway, when I was a member of that toxic, dysfunctional organization, this man preached so hard against celebrating or having anything to do with holidays.

If you ate dinner that was celebrated in the name of a holiday, this was a problem, nevertheless, if you took a holiday-themed photo like his wife did in the image above, this was probably grounds for being removed.

There were members who, thinking back, made fools of themselves, put their jobs on the line, had dissension with family members because of this chrome head coon and the bullshit he taught, now this? Ain't this a bitch?!

I guess the well is running dry and/or they really needed the votes for his wife, who's now into politics. Either way, he sold out, big time. So much for "clean," "sanctified," living and "holding a standard," huh? From what I've been hearing, he and his congregation has become everything he preached against. 

I have more examples, but I'm saving material for my upcoming book regarding my experience there. I'm actually glad I've held off on finishing the book because I've gathered more and more ammunition, so to speak, over the years.

Planet Jaylen: The Delusion of "Black" Men

 

Jaylen Brown. Photo courtesy of clutchpoints.com.

I saw a tweet from NBA player Jaylen Brown a few months ago, proclaiming that “Black” women are everything. I’m leaving a hyperlink to the tweet, so you can see that I’m not slandering the man, this came out of his own mouth, so to speak.

Before I begin, let me say this: while there have been quite a few of them I encountered who were straight-up bitches, there are some “Black” women who are cool people with me, and have been a better friend to me than some men, so for the slow folks out there, I am not talking about all “Black” women, although I think most of them fit this description in this post.

Here’s my take on Jaylen’s proclamation: as much I want to agree with him, I can’t because I live in the real world. So, maybe that is true on the planet he’s on. Now, he’s entitled to his opinion, and apparently he represents a certain sector of a delusional "Black" men who think this way, but the problem is, for the most part, the feeling isn’t mutual.

I learned years ago that a lot of “Black” women are out for themselves and don’t give a fuck about “Black” men. Most of them view “Black” men the same, even the ones who call themselves uplifting and defending them. It means nothing to them. What men like Jaylen doesn’t realize is when they trash “Black” men, they’re talking about him, too. Very few will make distinctions, and I wager that percentage is less than 5 percent. 

I think the only reason that tweet--that received over 800 retweets and nearly 34K likes--would make their panties wet a little, so to speak, or they will applaud or acknowledge him even a little bit is because he’s a star basketball player. If he were an average Afro-American male and tweeted that, they wouldn’t have cared less.

You have negroes like him saying that they’re everything, meanwhile, they’re using media platforms whether it be movies/TV or social media to disrespect and trash “Black” men every chance they get yet want to cry “misogyny” as soon as they’re criticized, but that’s a subject for another post.

I think that post would hold a lot more weight if the feeling were mutual, but to sing the praises of a demographic who for the most part don’t respect you--when I say “you,” I’m referring to “Black” men in this case-- and don't give a fuck about you is mind boggling to me, to say the least. I respect those who respect me. I don’t fool with you when the respect isn’t being reciprocated.

However, there will always be these delusional Afro-American men who will pander and cater to the narcissism of these women who say fucked-up, disrespectful, emasculating, misandrous shit about “Black” men, yet expect these same men to speak well of them. Talk about having a hell of a nerve. But to hear men like Jaylen tell it, they’re everything. Maybe on that planet where he’s from. Of course, you have exceptions, but overall, I don’t feel that way about a demographic of women whom the majority of them don’t feel that way about my demographic.

Don't Kill the "Messenger"

Last week, someone who referred to him or herself as the “messenger,” left three posts concerning the debauchery going on at that shithole called The Way of Yah Synagogue between Sunday and Monday in a group chat, which I had no idea my number was still in the group chat.

Everything the individual stated in those posts relates to everything I’ve been saying about that chrome head shine Tony Smith and his mindfucked followers. I wasn’t sure if the person was someone was who there before me, was there while I was there, or if they became a member after me, so I sought to find out who the person was. I made the mistake of contacting the “messenger,” basically stating that I was a former member, and I can relate to everything that was said in the posts.

The person replied with question marks, which told me this person is a fucking idiot. I don’t how or where I confused this person or what was so hard to understand about what I said. If the question marks implied he or she didn’t know who I was, the person could’ve just said so, and I would’ve identified myself.

Actually, most of what was posted was told to me by other former members. There were only three things in those posts that I wasn’t aware of. Like I said, whoever this “messenger” is, is a fucking idiot, however, I thank him or her for the ammunition, so to speak, nonetheless.

When People Show You Who They Are, Believe Them

 

I was debating whether or not I wanted to write about this, but there was an situation that occured late last year, and it was on my mind for a while, but then I was able to move on from it. Then the thoughts reoccured recently and started to linger again, so I decided to speak on it. As you see the title, from my understanding, Maya  Angelou has been credited for making this statement, and not to say that she didn't, but I first heard this from a YouTuber around 2017 who said his father would advice him of this when he was growing up.

Paraphrasing, he said his father would say something along the lines of, "When people show you who they are, believe them. Don't let me rationalize or explain it away. When people show you who they are, believe them, and you deal with them accordingly." As far as I'm concerned, no truer words could've been spoken, and this leads to the topic of this post. Before I begin, the reason you see this image is because I always thought that the person I'm going to mention in this post looked like Touche Turtle.

I'm going to go into more detail, but it seems to me that this little bitch got in his feelings because of a suggestion I made regarding his daughter. The 2-foot-3 motherfucker took it as if I was telling him what to do or how to handle things with his daughter, and that wasn't what I was doing. This situation reminds me of how petty most "Black" people tend to be, and had I known this individual was going to react the way he did, I never would've said anything to him.

Over the summer, I caught up with Forrest Craig, a former member of that shithole called the The Way of Yah Synagogue that we used to attend. He was one of the few I was cool with when I was there. He treated with me respect and vice versa. He didn't treat me like a clown, a joke, or as if I were beneath him, like most of those primates did, particularly their arrogant, sexually suspect leader, so I acknowledged when he reached out to me. Apparently, he left in 2019, which was a year after I was removed. Long story short, he briefly expressed why he left and never looked back via email, and the next day we had a phone conversation talking about our frustrations concerning our experiences with that place.

He told me that his wife, left six months after he did, however, his daughter decided to stay. Needless to say, he and his wife feel a certain way about that, which I can’t say that I blame them, but she is an adult, so that’s her decision. In August, he mentioned something about his daughter still being there again, and I made a suggestion.

I suggested that he let her be, and that she will see the light and come around eventually--hopefully sooner than later. I sensed that he took exception to my suggestion because almost immediately after I gave my reason why I made that suggestion, he got off the phone with me. I contacted him twice the following week, the second time was a test to see if he would respond. If he didn’t respond, which he didn’t, I would leave him alone, which I did. This was around mid-August. I haven't heard from him since, and I didn't expect to.

I also noticed that he unfriended me on Facebook recently, which was inevitable. I usually don't check my Friends list, but for some reason, I had an inclination to check it yesterday, and that's when I saw it. That's cool. I'm not the type to go out of my way to make friends, and I damn sure won't go out of my way to keep them. When people do stuff like that, my thought is, Fuck you and goodbye. 

A small part of me is tickled by this because it's so petty, most of me is floored because I'm thinking, What the hell? It was just a fucking suggestion, and I told him that upfront before I made the suggestion, so there would be no misunderstanding. Did we have a heated discussion or shouting/cursing match? No. Did I insult him or say something disparaging about his family? No.

None of this occurred, but he chose to shun me off over a suggestion. It wasn’t a direct or subliminal command, because I do understand that some people will make a "suggestion," but it's actually a low-key command, but that wasn't what I was doing. I wasn’t standing over his shoulders telling him how to handle things with his daughter, although apparently that's the way ol' Touche took it.

I wouldn't do that to other people because I know what it's like to have that done to me. I had to block and remove someone I knew for a few years on Facebook about two months prior to this nonsense because she decided to assert herself in my situation acting like my parent, standing over my shoulders, lecturing me, and telling me how to handle things, and she had to go. I wasn't having that, regardless of the intent, but that's a topic for another entry.

Some might look at this as hypocritical that I blocked and removed her for her "advice," but here's the difference: as I already mentioned, she stood over my shoulders, lecturing me, and telling me how to handle things. She was following me in my DMs with the bullshit, leaving long ass messages that I just skimmed through. I didn't do any of this concerning him. As I've said before, I made a suggestion, then I told him why I was making that suggestion--nothing more, nothing less.

I know some people might say that I'm not parent, so it probably wasn't my place to say anything. That's fine. You could make that argument, but that's why I didn't come at it from that perspective, it wouldn't have made sense to do that. I came from the perspective of being the son of parents and having siblings-- a perspective where we both could relate.

In other words, whether it was experiencing or witnessing how our siblings dealt with our parents' advice, I learned that in most cases, the more you try to get people to see things your way, the more they're going to resist, and you wind up alienating them, even that's not your intent. On side note, an exception would be if the person is involved in some illegal/criminal activity, I understand the parent(s) asserting themselves in the situation, but otherwise, people are adults, you have to learn to back off at some point.

Anyway, this is what I told him: if you try to get her to see things your way, chances are, you're going to wind up alienating her. I called myself looking out for him; I didn't want to see him in a situation or potentially in a situation where he ended up estranged from her. It was not a lecture; I was stating why I was making that suggestion.

I'll admit, it's more of a theory than anything, but the reasons why I think this is the case is because, for example, although he continues to follow the religion that we came out of,  I mentioned to him that I no longer follow religion, and he continued to speak to me. I know in most cases, something like this can divide people. It wasn't until I made that suggestion, that he decided to give me the cold shoulder. No, he didn't say it flat-out, it was the non-verbal communication that I caught.

It kind of trips me out because it was just a suggestion, in other words, something to think over or consider. He didn't have to take a damn thing I said. That's not my daughter. As long as he's not abusing her or anything like that, I don't give a fuck what he does. This also reminded me that there are some who will take exception to people making suggestions--I've seen this on and offline.

Between my experiences before and during the Way of Yah, and stuff like this are reasons why I don't fool with a lot of people and prefer to keep my circle small. A part of my policy is I don’t run behind people, and I don’t want to be bothered with someone who doesn’t want to be bothered with me, I don’t care who it is. If he’s that petty, fickle, and bitch made to shun me off over a fucking suggestion, then I don’t need to fool with him anyway. I left him alone, and he doesn't have to worry about me contacting him again. I'm moving forward; I don't have time for people and their foolishness.

People enter and leave your life for a reason. In some cases, people will re-enter your life, and it reminds me that in a lot of cases, it's best to leave the past in the past. The one thing I did learn from being at TWOY is not getting too attached to people, and one of the many things I've learned in life is when people show you who they are, who they really are, believe them and deal with them accordingly.

 

Vaccination Slap

You know, I keep saying that I'm going to leave this TWOY Synagogue foolishness alone because there are some things I want to save for the book (i.e. addressing more situations and people), but I seem to keep getting more ammo about this clown, who I will mention momentarily, and that bullshit organization he's running. Some info I received I will save for the book, but I couldn't save this one.

A couple of days ago, someone brought to my attention a video that he briefly watched by Henry "Tony" Smith, a dictating, megalomaniac cunt whose congregation I once was--and happily no longer--a member of, and stuff like this is one of the reasons why.

Apparently, he asked his members if they received the vaccination shot that has been pushed hard by the media for over a year to supposedly combat the Covid-19 (AKA Corona Virus) that went rampant last year. I'm paraphrasing, but he basically tells them they can get it, but he will slap the piss out of them if they do. When I heard about this, one of my thoughts was, Same ol' controlling bitch ass.

Now, personally, I'm skeptical of the vaccination thing myself, however, I think that's up to that individual whether or not they decide to get it. These people are adults, and they're allowing this man control and paternalize them. It was stuff like this that I started to notice about him my last few years there, and thinking back, I said this once before, and I'll say it again: it was best I go. For the most part, I have a free-will approach, and he's controlling, so it was only a matter of time before we were at odds.

What I heard is sad, pathetic, and (kind of) funny at the same time. What's worse is despite everything, these people still sit there. Stuff like this is why I'm glad he got rid of me. On a side note, I heard he has been puffing marijuana in there, too. Perhaps it's "medical," but I can't stand any type of smoke, whether it's cigarettes, cigars, weed/marijuana, etc. The more stuff I hear, the more I'm glad to no longer be there. As far as the vaccination goes, I think it's free will, or at least it should be. I don't support forcing people to get it, but I also don't support someone dictating whether or not someone should get it.

I see nothing's changed but the weather in there. I thank him for getting rid of me. I couldn't thank him enough for that. My anger stems from how I was treated when I was there. So with that being that said, it leads me to something that I want to say to him, and this won't be my last time saying this: Thank you...fuck you, but thank you at the same time.

Book Excerpt: Rashida Hodge: A Pterodactyl

Photo Credit: the-dinosaur.com.

I didn't intend to make another post concerning that shit hole called a synagogue, but this will be an excerpt in my upcoming book, where I discuss my experience in religion, particularly my time at the The Way of Yah, among other things, so a lot of things I say in this post will be reiterated in the book.

Now, I'm not the type of person who just go at people just because. Typically, it's a situation where they come at me, and I respond to them, and this is no different. When I was a member of TWOY, there was a woman there named Rashida. A tall, hideous bitch who looks just like a pterodactyl. If you saw her, you would see what I mean. She has a long face, and when she wears a head wrap, it looks like the back of the pterodactyl's head. Man, that motherfucker is ugly. To me, most of the single women there--well, single when I was there because I found out some of them got married since then--were boogerwolves, but Rashida and the lard ass that I will briefly mentioned later were definitely in the top two. Again, I'm typically not one to initiate, but if you provoke me (i.e. come at me with some bullshit) you're fair game, and the gloves come off.

When I had conversations with her, sometimes, depending on the topic, I might get fired up about what the subject is, and every once in a while she would make this sly ass comment, "Snap, crackle, pop," like a typical Way of Yah member, and I knew what the bitch meant by that.

Now, that bitch ass pastor she follows has a quick temper, but she wouldn't dare say that to him, but had no problem saying that to me on the slick. It reminds me of what I alluded to in my last post when I talked about how everybody else is free to speak their minds with little to no pushback, but when a "Black" man says something, and he might get a little fired up when he speaks, he gets depicted as this "angry, loose cannon".

I realize that some people will use being passionate as an excuse to be an asshole. They will talk crazy to somebody, and try to justify it with something like, "Man, I'm just passionate." No, you're an asshole. I'm not talking about them. Anyway,  there was a time when Tony Smith (i.e. Rashida's bitch ass pastor) tried to fix me up with an ugly lard ass who tried to manipulate me--more on that in the book--and despite my telling Rashida that there was nothing going on between me and this woman, this bitch kept making insinuations and "jokes," that there was, which again was, and probably still is, typical of most TWOY members.

One time, she basically tried to insult my intelligence by making a bullshit apology and claiming that she didn't know there was nothing going between us, when again, I told this bitch numerous times that wasn't the case, she just wanted to be a stupid motherfucker.

I found out recently that she got married. I'm sure Tony's bitch ass had something to do with that, he seems to like playing "match maker." In my case, he got in his feelings and came with insults and shaming tactics like a bitch because I refused the person he tried to fix me up with, but I said it in a blog in 2019, I'm saying it in the book, and I'm saying it now: I did not ask or tell him to do that, he took upon himself to try to fix me up with someone without my say-so, so whose fault is that? However, I digress.

I (briefly) thought about the dude who married her, and I thought, He have to look at that everyday, and sleep with that every night? Yikes!

"Black" Men: Control Your Voice and Stop Being So Humble

I'm going to start by revisiting something that happened about a week ago. I recently posted two blogs revisiting and addressing a couple of situations that happened when I worked at Wal-Mart in Lake Charles a few years ago. When I posted the first one on Facebook, there were some who told me they were proud of me, getting that off my chest, but then there was one comment in particular that caught my attention, though I skimmed through it because it was kind of long. This will segue into what I'm going to talk about concerning the title of this blog because this situation is what moved me to write this.

Although we never worked together directly, this is someone (who will remain nameless, that will be the extent of my mercy) who worked at the same Wal-Mart building. She was someone that I would talk to on a daily basis when I got to know her. We never hung out or anything, but in a sense, she is someone I've known for a few years--primarily on the job.

She's an older lady, and yes, I'm a proponent for respecting my elders, but elders can also overstep their boundaries, even if they mean well. Long story short, she comes to my comment section telling me things such as "walk away," and so on. She didn't know the full details of the situation--which she could've, had she read the blog that was in the post, and not the post alone--but she jumped in half-cocked, basically lecturing me, telling me what to do and how to handle things. 

Then she took it a step further by coming to my DM (Direct Messaging) sending me these long ass messages--which I skimmed through, I didn't read most of it because it was so damn long--asking me if I wanted to talk about it. I told her I was good, I appreciated her reaching out, but I had everything handled. She then pressed the issue, playing pseudo-psychologist, saying that she thinks it's deeper than it is. I hate when people do that, and if I wanted to talk to her about it, I would've contacted her directly. I handled it the way I wanted to.

She then sends more long ass messages, telling me to "let it go," "stay humble," and "let go and let 'God," which was another indication that she didn't read the blog, but the post only because had she read the blog, she would've known that I no longer follow religion--I briefly mentioned that in the blog--and telling me to "let go and let 'God" was going to fall on deaf ears. To me, she overreacted. I used my blog as an avenue to address that situation, nothing more, nothing less, but she reacted as if I was planning something destructive or drastic. I'm looking at this thinking, Calm the fuck down, lady. It's not that serious.

Speaking of which, last time I checked, the very same book she believes in says to hear the conclusion of the whole matter, and clearly, she didn't do that. She took bit and pieces of what I posted and ran with it. Another thing I recall from one of those long DM messages was how doing this could possibly scar me as a writer. I think she was projecting her fear off on me. Yes, there are certain things you want to be mindful of, you have this cancel culture mess going on where they do petty, child-like things such as dig up things someone said years ago, and try to hold them accountable for it--particularly if you say something they don't like. Yes, I'm aware of these things but I won't live in fear. I won't let anyone deprive me of the right to speak my mind.

Being that I've known her for a few years, I decided to handle things more tactfully and informed her that as a writer, and most writers will tell you this, it's a therapeutic process or method for us to write things out, and it's part of how we move on from things. I had some time to think this over, and while I do agree with some of the things she said, the way she went she about doing it didn't sit well with me. It came to me the other day what it was specifically that didn't sit well with me. She came at me as if I were her son, and people coming at me as if I'm still underaged is a major pet peeve, and I think that triggered me subconsciously.

Another thing I thought about is her niece worked or perhaps still works for the company, so it's a possibility that somewhere in mind she thought her niece might've been involved, and she had nothing to do with it. Again, if she would've read the blog that was attached to the post, and not the post alone, she would've known that.

This leads to the title of this post. The situation I just described reminded me of what I deem an underlying problem in society. I see it as underlying because very few people will acknowledge or admit it. It made me think about how in society everybody else can speak up, speak out, and express themselves, whether it was something that happened years ago or recently, but when "Black" men speak up--well, if it goes against society's narrative because they will applaud the ones who get in line and conform--they're either accused of "whining and complaining," or you have people trying to bring them into subjection or "humble" them as if they're a child or a dog or something, or they gaslight them, making them seem as if they're crazy or this angry, violent individual. Not saying other demographics don't do this, but I've noticed that the usual suspects of what I described are mainly white folks and negro women.

Then there are some who will bring God into it, which to me is just as bad, and I think most of the time that's used to lower our defenses--that, and folks addressing you as "brother," "friend," or they "come in love," like that the woman I mentioned earlier did. I think most of time that's used to let your guard down. On a side note, we've been "letting go and letting God" for years, and where has that gotten us? What has changed? It amazes me how "Black" people will keep running plays that hasn't worked till this day.

Apparently, "Black" men are supposed to just shut up and deal with it or just move on it, let it go. Now, I'm not saying hang on to stuff forever, but at the same time, just letting it go isn't always the answer. They're told things such as "shut up and dribble/entertain," "be (or) stay humble," and I think part of the problem is "Black" men are too humble, and I mostly blame religion for that, but that's a story for another time. Now, humility has its place, I don't condone being arrogant, but being overly humble isn't good, either, especially if it results in you getting fucked over and taken advantage of.

I say all this to say, "Black" men, control your narrative, don't allow others to do it. You have a right to speak your mind like everyone else. Do not allow people to shame or intimidate you into silence, or bring you into subjection as if you're a child or an animal. Yes, there are some things you want to be mindful of, and you may have to use tact in some situations, but all-in-all, be don't afraid to speak your mind. If people don't like it, fuck them. I assure you they don't care what you think when they're speaking out about something.

Again, humility has its place, but being timid, mousey, and docile, being afraid to speak up is a problem. Take back your mind. Take back your masculinity/self-respect. Take back your voice. No one controls your voice but you.