Yesterday, I was just thinking how great a day I was having…and then I received an email that proved otherwise.

Back in July during the Essence Music Festival, I met a few people (including Angel, who I’d known online for years but never had the chance to meet face-to-face). Most were pretty cool, but few were those I’d be interested in keeping in contact with in the future.

One of those latter individuals is Peter. We’ve emailed each other a couple of times to stay up-to-date with our recent goings-on, so when I received his email yesterday with a subject that read “To Those Who Care”, I thought it was going to be big news about a project of his or something. Unfortunately, it was nothing of the sort.

He was informing us that his 25-year-old police officer nephew committed suicide yesterday morning.

I immediately responded that my condolences were with him and his family, but I couldn’t help but think back to a few years ago.

I’ve never told anyone this, but I thought about committing suicide.

I was a freshman in high school, and what seemed like the burden of aiming for perfection almost got the better of me. I had planned how I would do it, but I wasn’t quite sure when although I knew I didn’t want to leave a note whenever I did. How could I possibly explain to my friends and family that I had decided to give up on everything, including myself?

I didn’t think there was anyone I could talk to about this, so I didn’t. In retrospect, I guess I was afraid that they would think I was crazy. In a way, I probably was crazy. I imagined what they might say after I was gone: “He was so smart. He had so much promise. He left us too soon.” Now I know this is going to sound crazy, but it’s those thoughts that brought me back from the edge. I realized that they would be speaking about me in past tense, without even having the opportunity to see what could have been…what I could have been.

So I prayed.

And I asked God to deliver me from that state of mind. And He did, and every morning, I thank Him for allowing me to see another day.

I now realize how selfish and cowardly I once was. I know death is inevitable for us all and that can be scary, but I also know how great life can be. There are numerous outlets to help anyone considering suicide realize that they have a lot for which to live, although it may seem like nothing at all.

Fortunately, I am a living testimony to that.

Post Title Download: U2 – “Two Shots of Happy, One Shot of Sad” from If God Will Send His Angels

So, it’s finally happened. Kwame Kilpatrick has resigned as mayor of Detroit.

It’s about damn time.

I have been waiting for this day for quite a while. Why, you ask? Because Kwame Kilpatrick was making us look bad.

Who, exactly, is ‘us’?

‘Us’ refers to the young people in the political and public service arenas, black people across the nation and men around the world.

Yes, it is that serious; Kwame Kilpatrick, you are a disgrace.

Elected at the age of 31 in 2001, Kilpatrick was the youngest mayor in the history of the eleventh largest city in the country, Detroit. He had previously served as Michigan House Democratic Leader, the first black person to do so.

While in the Michigan Legislature, Kilpatrick used his influence to funnel state grant money to two organizations run by friends of his who agreed to subcontract work to U.N.I.T.E., a company owned by Kilpatrick’s wife, Carlita.

In early 2005, Kilpatrick admitted that instead of using the city’s funds to improve it, he leased a vehicle for his family and charged over $220,000 on a city credit card to pay for travel, meals and entertainment. Later that year, TIME listed him as one of the three worst big-city mayors in the United States.

That should have been an indication of things to come, but as they say, hindsight is always 20/20.

In January 2008, The Detroit Free Press examined and revealed the existence of more than 14,000 text messages exchanged between Kilpatrick and his high school classmate and chief of staff Christine Beatty on their city-issued SkyTel pagers in 2002 and 2003. It was during this time of the alleged Manoogian Mansion party, the murder of Tamara Greene and two police officers who claimed they were fired because of an investigation on the mayor.

Both Kilpatrick and Beatty denied they were involved in an extramarital affair during the whistleblower trial, and the officers were awarded $6.5 million in damages.

On March 18, 2008, the Detroit City Council passed a non-binding resolution asking for Kilpatrick to resign, citing 33 reasons why he should step down. Less than a week later, criminal charges were filed against Kilpatrick and Beatty, and an ongoing battle ensued between the city council who wanted him to resign and the mayor who repeatedly refused to do so. That is, until yesterday.

Oh, happy day!

Kilpatrick submitted his letter of resignation yesterday, and as part of his plea deal, he’ll lose his law license, serve 120 days in jail, spend five years on probation, not be able to run for office for five years and pay $1 million in restitution to the city.

I guess I have to accept that, although I would have preferred he not be able to hold public office ever again. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

After he does his time, Kwame should devote his attention to helping rebuild the community and his family. He nearly destroyed both, so it’s important that he concentrate his efforts on trying to redeem himself…not that he’ll ever be able to.

He made us all look bad.

Post Title Download
Macy Gray – “Finally Made Me Happy” (ft. Natalie Cole) from Big

Oscar and Golden Globe-nominated actor Terrence Howard marches to the beat of his own drum (and I’m sure that drum is stuffed with baby wipes).

I’m also sure that when he announced he was recording an album, people were expecting something smooth and eclectic, just like the man himself.

And that’s exactly what you get with his highly-anticipated debut album, Shine Through It, which hits stores today.

In his promising debut of eleven songs, Howard tells a story of love and life just as singer-songwriters have done for years. But with flamenco, soul, folk and jazz influences, this album is like nothing you’ve ever heard before, and that’s a good thing.

The album opener, “Love Makes You Beautiful” has a similar guitar rift to Jim Croce’s classic, “Time in a Bottle“. The song begins as a soft, brooding track but builds into a lush masterpiece complete with a children’s choir.

The title track “Shine Through It” is a cinematic climax of strings and horns about allowing ourselves to experience the light of spirituality: “All I want to be/Is a little more like me/And all I want from you/Is to let some light shine through.”

“Mr. Johnson’s Lawn” is a childhood tale about trying to sneak around with the next-door neighbor’s daughter while staying off her father’s lawn set to a fusion of island rhythms, flutes and strings.

The soft, romantic “Sanctuary” was inspired by the singer-songwriter meeting Seal and Heidi Klum at a Hollywood party and being impressed by the level of commitment in their relationship: “Living like a Casanova was living/Feeling unsure but no one was missing/Then you called/And you found me/Heading on out to where I was restless… And it’s alright if part of the time/You’ve been looking for me”. Acoustic guitar (Howard taught himself to play) and strings fill this stirring track.

“No. 1 Fan” is a deeply personal, dark ballad in which Howard takes responsibility for his failed marriage: “You treat me like a walking mattress ad/And I don’t think I can love you anymore/If you want to leave girl/Do your thing/But don’t forget who you’re talking to/And I ain’t got no plans to change/So I guess you got some walking to do.”

“Spanish Love Affair” is an instrumental track with a Latin and Middle Eastern feel to it. Howard originally wrote it with Marc Anthony in mind: “I wanted him to recite some great Spanish poetry from 200 years ago over this beautiful music, but I couldn’t get in touch with him. I tried to do it, but I don’t speak Spanish. I can barely say, ‘Arriba‘.”

Then we get to the up-tempo and self-reflection “Plenty“, which has a very soulful feel. Followed by “I Remember When,” with its James Taylor vibe and whistling intro about young love: “I remember when/I was just a dude/You walked to school/Had some problems/And I talked them through.”

“All these songs are just walks through different avenues of my life,” explains Howard.

“It’s All Game” is largely smooth jazz instrumental with spoken words all about broken relationships. “She Was Mine,” however, is a blues-influenced joint about falling in love at a stop light: “Pleasure to meet you and let me be blunt/You’re a heavenly creature and that’s what I want”.

The album ends with “War“, which sounds like something from the early 20th century with its sax solo and jazz piano but speaks of an inevitable conflict between the East and West.

According to Howard: “Music has always been the road that leads to where I’m headed. Film is my vocation, my 9 to 5. In the movies, I’m doing what somebody else is asking me to do. Music is my own personal form of expression. My responsibility, like the sun’s, is to shine. Even if the planet is covered with clouds, I must say what I have to say.”

J.’s Joints: “Love Makes You Beautiful”, “Shine Through It”, “Mr. Johnson’s Lawn”, “Sanctuary”, “No. 1 Fan”, “Spanish Love Affair”, “Plenty”, “I Remember When”, “It’s All Game”, “She Was Mine”

Visit Terrence Howard on MySpace.

Post Title Download
Terrence Howard – “Love Makes You Beautiful” from Shine Through It

With the release of Forbes’ list of 100 most powerful women, I was reminded of my Political Economy class in college where we discussed the impact women have on the world.

When you educate a woman, you educate a community.

Camfed, the Campaign for Female Education, is an international organization dedicated to eradicating poverty in Africa through the education of girls and empowerment of young women.

The following is a short film from Camfed featuring Mgata, a teacher-mentor in a school in rural Tanzania who sees it as her mission to help any girl who is on the verge of dropping out of school. Her goal: to provide them with social and financial support, enabling them to finish school and become leaders in their community.

Post Title Download
Kate Bush -- “This Woman’s Work” from This Sensual World