can i be frank?
*
Now Let's be Frank...
a new feature at brooklynboyblues
- Now let's be frank, you're gagging because the summer is basically over...
- Now let's be frank, half of the haters that frown upon the ballroom scene are the first fools that want to see the pictures from the balls....
- Ok, now let's be frank, Kanye West's well publicized anti-homophobic comments were cute, but something is seriously wrong about the way in which the media has used this opportunity to romantize West as that "friendly, progressive heterosexual rapper" rather than as an opportunity to provide any type of meaningful critique of the continued overwhelming prevalence of homophobia in Hip Hop. Lets keep it frank, what type of message do we send out as a black gay and lesbian community when we cheer extra loud for straight boys saying "homophobia exists" as if somehow their support makes our causes more legitimate (sort of like when black people get extra excited and happy when white people talk about racism). Queer MCs have been vocal about homophobia in Hip Hop for years---why isnt Time Magazine rushing to their doors? What Kanye did was dope. But lets not re-center his phallic privilege by believing that somehow his comments are extra special because he's a straight dude. And its no shade.
- I know its so Frank of me but...Details Magazine's (check out Rodonline's recent post) brand new "Gay or Rapper" column is a quite a kiki, but doesnt it actually reinscribe the kind of problematic, binary, and homonormative logic that West was supposedly trying to combat?
- Now let's be frank goddammit, as a (reformed) club head, New York City is just not the place it used to be in terms of black gay nightlife (im longing for Better Dayz, Paradise Garage, etc.) ?
- Uhm, now let's be frank, on July 21, 2005 I wrote a piece entitled " I think You're HIV Positive" about the recent CDC numbers that suggested that 46% of black gay men are HIV positive. 67 people respondedwith many accusing me of being too confrontational and critical of the black gay community. Recently Black AIDS Institute Director Phil Wilson launched an almost identical critique critiquing the black gay community's inadequate responses to these numbers. The same folks who were quick to criticize me were the first ones to remain silent at Wilson's comments (which were also right on target). Interesting.
- Now let's be frank, you know you are addicted to blogging when you wake up in the morning wondering what new topic or scandal someone has erupted on someone's site, or you're walking down the street and you think to yourself "hey---this would make a good blog topic"
- Ok, now I have to be frank, it is just too fucking hot. Period. And I still dont have an air conditioner. This is the hottest summer I can remember in the past three years.
- Now let's be frank, the New York Sports Club on 125th Street is basically a bathhouse. I've seen more x-rated sessions going on in that legendary steam room then in a Times Square porn-theater! And it's no shade!
- Kids, let's keep it frank, blogging is the easiest way to blow away three hours without even realizing it....
- Alright, I have to be frank, lately i've grown seriously tired of the United States in general and New York City in particular. I always have more fun in Europe, the UK, or India. Anyone got a job for me in London? I'd put my PH.D. on hold and leave tomorrow. Seriously.
I love being Frank, dont you?
I am with Derrick go for the T-shirt!!!
Posted by
N4R |
8/24/2005
id have to agree with derrick and no4real4real: get the shirts done. i'd actually buy one...
Let's Be Frank:
Im still waiting for a return email from you, silly. We do need to meet up once Im situated and in town next week.
Let's Be Frank:
you JUST figured out NYSC on 125th is a bathhouse. shoot..that info is KNOWN among most sgl folk in Harlem. Most of the NYSC's are like that...no shade! join in the fun! :)
Let's Be Frank:
Moving overseas...I'm sure it can be done. You could easily get a job teaching ESL to folk in India, Africa, etc. London: couldnt' you do some kind of exchange program with a british university (and of course, your ass will ask if Cambridge has such a program! :))? I'm sure a little digging around at NYU's international exchange programs office (they DO have that, don't they? :)) can net you something good.
Let's Be Frank:
Are you ready to go back to school?
Let's Be Frank:
I'm sure you'll add on to my response, so I will wait for you to BE FRANK.
And, happy early 23rd birthday in advance.
Posted by
Ryan Canty |
8/24/2005
Love It! and I carry a little pad around so that if a blogging subject hits me, I can jot it down...just sad. Never knew so many people had soo much to say, lol
Posted by
Pamalicious |
8/24/2005
im loving the new feature - id but a Let's Be Frank shirt!
Posted by
Clay |
8/24/2005
Let's Be Frank : bloggin can really be a time-eater, and now i decided i'm gonna take my laptop with me and since i'm givin bloggin another chance, i'm gonna use new methods and blog in all those boring airports i spend about 10 hours a week at and those flights with no tv screen and no earphones...
Let's Be Frank : i'm in canada and it's reallin gettin FRESHer here : we're in the 60's and i ain't complainin, i used to love the sun until i spent last week in Atlanta and almost died on Peachtree street
Let's Be Frank : Bein at work is HARDER ( really ) than bein at school, those tight pants really r disturbing... i see booty everywhere and now dickprints r stealing my attention at business meetings... it's my first week tho, i'll get used to it !
Let's Be Frank : Black men r SOMETHING !!!!!
( i know... i'm one of them lol )
Posted by
Soldier |
8/24/2005
The Tshirt would be cute...will it come in red?
Posted by
@GaryTylone |
8/24/2005
Frankly speaking, you make some good points. Ditto on the tee shirt. I wear a medium, please. Shem hotep!
Posted by
Avowed_Southern_Democrat |
8/24/2005
I am loving this Frank talk and I'll buy the t-shirt.
I hate London (ever given Paris a thought?).
Posted by
afrohomo |
8/24/2005
Oh i forgot :
Let's be Frank : My blog sucked, i really abandonned my blogging project till recently but uh... i had a good reason : i was finally havin sex & fun after months of celibacy, but i'm back
so www.alostsoldier.blogspot.com is where i can be found these days !
Posted by
Soldier |
8/25/2005
I love let's be Frank..maybe all the popular bloggers should have a cute piece of merchandise to sell to readers..most of us have catchphrases..that's a good idea.
And HAPPY BIRTHDAY..i know i can't sing but I do know who's singing it to you!!
Posted by
Anonymous |
8/25/2005
Well since we are Frank!
We are all part of one big cake and if anyone of us leaves then the recipe is just not the same. Excuse my analogy.
Let’s be Frank I want to know who the tell you interesting in. LOL
Posted by
Stone |
8/25/2005
Well I'll be Franker,
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY BOI....
ENJOY THE BIG TWO-THREE...
HOPE YOU LIVING GROWN AND SEXY...
SING-O-GRAM Attached....
www.divosingogramtobbb.com/mp3
Posted by
The Divo |
8/25/2005
Speaking Frankly seems cute, but the Arian that I am prefers to be Jason with it, little more blunt, or in your words 'fresh.'
Has it really been that hot this week? I am actually enjoying the first few cool days in I can't remember when. Maybe the Manhattan A/C exhaust has Harlem a few degrees warmer than us Brooklynites.
On A/C's, why don't you have one? NYers who don't have A/C really don't want to expend the energy to check their local Sears/PC Richards/Mom & Pop Appliance store and just buy one. These are the same people droppin' $200 on new clothing, shoes, premium cable tv subscriptions, restaurant bills, and taxis. A decent strength A/C shouldnt run over that.
The 'Gay or Rapper' piece is humorous, somewhat informative, and depicts parallelisms between stereotypical gays and "fill in the blank each issue." Is your qualm with the "Gay or ..." section in general, or just this issue's rapper comparison?
If I loaned you my camera, would you take pics at your NYSC? Cobble Hill's own is a bit too pale for my voyeuristic tendencies.
How often are you in India to "always have more fun [than NY]." No shade, just curious, sounds interesting.
Is it me or have you been 22 for the last 17 years? LOL Happy 2...uh...3rd birthday kiddo.
Posted by
procrastination_xtravaganza |
8/25/2005
Procrasination---you just cant take me! You've been to my house before (at least when I lived in Brooklyn), you should have seen my birth certificate: August 25, 1982. Twenty Three Years YOUNG baby. No fabrications. Just truth. Face my music bitch~! Stop Hating!
As for the Details' column, my gripe is with the gay VS rapper thing which is basically just another way of equating gayness with hyperbolic feminity and "rapper-ness" with heterosexual, male maschimo. Arent we beyond that? Dont black gay men come in way to many shapes and sizes?
How did you enjoy the Latex Ball---that was an interesting "look" you debuted that night!
Posted by
the young people's professor |
8/25/2005
Sup man! Happy Birthday!!!
I tried to call you but...
Have fun tonight!
Posted by
N4R |
8/25/2005
Hmm..it is empowering and indeed interesting that some of America's brightest and most progressive minds eventually find themselves going international (conjures up the spirit of Du Bois).....There has to be some antidote to American social, cultural, and political Imperialism...
Keep fighting the machine man...
Posted by
Quaheem |
8/25/2005
Happy B-Day Frank!
Posted by
E |
8/26/2005
happy birthday. i've been trying to call you for days! holla at ya scholar.
Posted by
Larry D. Lyons II |
8/26/2005
LMAO! I love the "frankness"! So on point!
Posted by
Morisset |
8/26/2005
LMAO! I love the "frankness"! So on point!
Posted by
Morisset |
8/26/2005
This is exactly why we get along Frank L. Roberts, and why i enjoy having you as a roommate...
What i would like to know is: Are other people willing to be just as "Frank" with others and themselves?
Posted by
Anonymous |
8/26/2005