A few months back, my church had an essay contest on “Should the N-word be abolished?” One student responded and it led to a discussion on the word. While most were against the use of the word, one pre-teen got up and said, “The N-word doesn’t mean the same thing. Can’t we let the past stay in the past? I mean, racism doesn’t exist now like it did back then.” You can imagine the shocked adult faces throughout the congregation. How could he not see that racism is among us?

In his defense (not in his support), I stated to the panel next to me that we cannot fault him. His memories of the Civil Rights Movement are from picture books and are limited to one month out of the year. He lives in Brooklyn, NY, goes to a school dominated by people who share his colored complexion, whether Black, Latino, or other. He lives in a city where homosexuals can make out on the trains without the homophobic hostility found in many other US cities. He sees Arabs and Indians without questioning if they have a bomb under their jackets. He has not entered the work world and had to worry about being a part of the 16.5% of unemployed Blacks in America compared to the 8% of Whites. He understands that while Blacks are no more likely to be criminals than are Whites. However, he does not realize that African Americans more likely than others to be arrested and convicted of a crime. We cannot fault him for not being in direct contact with this information. It must be nice to grow up believing that equality exists everywhere and that because we have a Black president, all of our sons can be one, too. Racism is dead, right?

Wrong.

On February 20^th at noon in Nanhunta, Georgia, The Knight Riders, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan had a rally. It was said to be organized “to raise public awareness on sex offenders, illegal immigration and prayer in school.” Gene Spalding, who traveled to Nahunta from Brunswick, said he supports the rally. "I think they're wonderful. They ought to be in every town and every city all over the United States. They like white people, I like white people. They got some good views." This is not February 20^th, 1965…This happened a week ago!

While the KKK may be considered extremist, please believe that racism is REAL, and no one thing (Obama being in office) can change that. My friends that are police officers are trained to pull cars over based on the “look” of its passengers. (Ask them how many Whites have this “look” and you’ll get silence.) In the North, we’re more likely to be faced with institutionalized racism (not getting hired based on race, hearing things like “Wow, you talk so proper for a Black person,” and not being able to catch a cab). My Southern friends constantly tell me of blatant situations where the color of their skin got them in trouble. Regardless, keep in mind, it was only a few years that an expose put out on the racism and the omission of racism in our High School history books. Many said that the reason for racism was because “[African Americans] looked different from members of white ethnic groups. The color of their skin made assimilation difficult. For this reason they remained outsiders.”

I will never say that I am color-blind. I am aware that I am a Black woman living in America. I do not believe that race should play a role in where I live, where I work, who I date, what I can accomplish, or any other aspect of my life. However, I will not be blind to the fact that the battle for equality is NOT OVER. We have a LOT more work to do.

This is a moving film by a friend of mine named Stacey Muhammad. She is an award winning independent filmmaker and activist committed to using the power of media to educate, enlighten and empower humanity. This film had it’s film festival premier at the New Orleans International Human Rights Film Festival.

I AM SEAN BELL, black boys speak from Stacey Muhammad on Vimeo.

See more of what Stacey Muhammad and her company Wildseed Productions has done at: http://www.wildseedstudios.com and http://www.vimeo.com/wildseed

Random fact: Stacey is the one who named my poem "Start Something" it's original title "Braggadocious" (as listed on the album).

I was blessed to attend the SPRITE STEPOFF in New York City on Jan 30th at Roseland Ballroom. (Thanks for the tix, Liz!) Greeks and non-Greeks gathered on a line around the corner for this sold out event. The show featured performances by Wale and Ludacris. I'm not a huge Wale fan but he did a pretty decent performance. It's always hard to keep the crowd hyped when you're a new artist. The opening DJ was awesome. His blends and mixes had all the little kids near us dancing and crumping (later on I joined in their little dance circle.)

Me and my Soror Kali (http://www.therhythmjunkie.com)

It was a great night to be a lady of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. (SKEE-WEE) since we WON FIRST PLACE! Here's a snippet of the Alpha Chapter @ Howard University's winning step routine.

They were arguably the most intense sorority step team. I will say, the AKA ladies could have done without the diss to the other sororities though (the person who taped this left it out), which included a line on stepping on "kitties" with their pumps. No one else went there, but either way, their creativity (the insanity theme and the "There's an app for that" commercial), their ability to step and do flips in a business suit, heels, and pearls, and their great tribute to the fraternities of the Divine 9 (Iotas, Sigmas, Ques, Kappas, and the Alphas) made them the obvious winners for the night.

Before I tell you about my favorite fraternity step team, I forgot to mention the McDonald's DJ Battle, which was more like a "Who's iPod is Better" contest. The DJs set their turntables up on larger than life MickeyDee's sandwich boxes. They took turns playing hit songs to see who could get the crowd the hypest. This was nothing like a DJ battle. They just played songs, no scratching, no blending. I could've done that. Maybe next year I'll be DJ Nelle?

Watching this made me hungry

Now....the No Mercy Step Team a.k.a the Brothers of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc's Rutger University Chapter were amazing! I believe had they not gone on last and had the judges not already scored the Kappas so high, they would have been the first place winners. They blended difficult steps, held complex poses for what seemed like minutes, and threw a lil Kompa in tha mix! Honestly they SHOULD HAVE came in first instead of second place to the brothers of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc from Temple University. That being said, check out a clip from their performance!

Ludacris closed the show, performing some of my favorite songs, especially his verse from "I'm So Hood Remix." (I swore I was the most gangsta AKA in the building singing along with him. lol.) Ludacris knows he's a vet as seen by how he left the audience singing various lines from "Move," "What's Your Fantasy," and other past bangers. Definitely a great end to a great night!

One cute tidbit: a woman approached me and my Sorors saying, "Are you ladies AKAs? Well, my daughter here said she wants to go to college and become one. She's too shy to ask you, but can you take a picture with her?" Her daughter was a pretty little girl around 13 years old. We loved it! While posing for the picture, we stood around her with our pinkies up (the 'unofficial' AKA hand sign), and she put hers up too. My Soror caught it and said, "No, no. Not yet," as she lovingly put her pinkie down. lol. I whispered to her, "You made a great choice, but make sure school comes first! Get good grades!" She smiled and nodded. How cute!

I rarely get to attend Greek events, but when I do, I always have a blast!

Repping Iota Rho! SKEE WEE!