Chicago

First of all, 2 anyone who has taken the time 2 read this=Thank U. Any of you, that are reading this, and are offended, let me start off by saying KISS MY ASS!!!!!(You probably are one of the bastards referred too in this piece). The definition of ” being” black has always been something of interest too me. Looking the way that I did/ do, has ALWAYS been a hot topic to those around me, and those who don’t know a thing about me. Just got the infamous,”Excuse me,I don’t mean to be funny, but I was wondering, What are you?” from some Berenstain Bear looking heifer. For those that don’t know me=The story is simple. I had the supreme blessing to have been adopted by Paul&Minnie Mae Robinson. My mother, Minnie Mae Robinson, picked me out from Cooke County Hospital in Chicago, Illinois… and literally gave me=MY LIFE. She didn’t give a shit about how light or dark I was. Didn’t give a fat fuck, if I was “totally”/”half”/a “motherfucking quarter”/or a whatever, none % black.They simply chose ME. Paul&Mae= are/were the best examples of TRUE CHAMPIONS. They were a strong black couple, in times that had too be far more difficult than we could imagine now. My father worked his ass off at B.F.Goodrich for over 40 years. Never missed a day. He also held a second FULL-TIME job -doing landscaping.Quite simply, this STRONG, African-American Male role model, set a standard, that I am still in awe of, to this very day. My mother was a beautiful, strong and very determined woman. She could charm your pants off, but she could quickly bring you too your knees -with one of her infamous tell offs. Bottom line is =I know and recognize the infinite spectrum of “Blackness.” It’s not the punk-assed motherfucker who is so black, that he was marked absent from night school for a whole semester. Not the backwoods, inbred, country fucks, who called me “blackie” or the N word, all the way from summer camp, as a kid, up through college. Polar opposites of the same vile, racist and utterly disrespectful bullshit rhetoric that I’ve heard for a lifetime. If I let THEIR definition of my “blackness” define my essence, then I wouldn’t know shit. Instead, I rely on the most “defining” factor=My experience(s). Walking the halls of Crouse School and sneaking into Perkins Pool after dark. Growing up on Noah Ave, and games of hide and go seek in the summertime. Hanging out with Tony, Ricky&Ray, Tiny&Tino,Pea wee, Lukey and a host of others. Watching strong black men, work two and three jobs, to hold it down for their families…unlike a lot of the “real” brothas of today. Men like Paul Robinson,Larry Parent,Charlie Knotts,Walter White, Rueben Cornelius, Willie O’Hara and Johnnie Butler didn’t sit around waiting for shit to happen, they went out and “made” their respective realities. Being a student of my father’s type of lesson plan(s) is what educated me on loving,respecting and upholding the beauty of a strong black woman(Can Clarence Thomas say this?=FUCK NO). In the future, it will also guide me in properly raising a confident, and resilient, nubian queen also known as my daughter Nina. My father used too tell me “If ANYONE messes with you, or questions you about what race you are-You tell them that you are first and foremost a MAN. If ANYONE “FUCKS” with you, then they deal with me and their question(s) will be more than answered.” Thanks To Paul&Minnie Mae Robinson For Always Having My Back!!!!!!!

Daryl Robinson 09 Skin-Sade ‘Soldier Of Love’ Released 2010