President Obama gave his speech the other day, from Cairo University, on U.S.-Muslim relations. Many argue that it was a very “sugar-coated” coated speech and offered no actual initiatives to begin improvements on this very complex issue. So tell me, exactly how was it SUPPOSED to go?

Too many people have put Barack Obama on this “pedestal” and have self-imposed such high expectations, that they look too far beyond what the speech really was, which was an initiative itself. The conflicts that have plagued this world cannot be cured with a single knockout punch. Perhaps more detailed initiatives and plans of action (during this speech) may have provoked unwanted prejudgments (about those agendas), taking away from the value of what the speech itself was about (i.e. addressing the issues and breaking the ice). There are multiple steps to resolving any problem, and we’re certainly not talking about a flat fuckin’ tire here.

Give the man some time. This goes for his presidency in general. Obama has been in office for 6 months and people have already BEEN putting him in the hot seat. I mean, I guess that’s inevitable, especially considering the desperate state we are all in, but we need to open our eyes and realize exactly what we’re dealing with here. Years and years of damage cannot be repaired overnight. People need to stop thinking about just themselves and look at the bigger picture…we are ALL interdependent in one way or another. Progress and improvement will require a collective effort AND sacrifice .

Anyways, back to the subject at hand…so did this speech help relations between Western and Muslim worlds? Who the fuck knows? It was definitely a good start (in my opinion). At the end of the day, Muslim extremists who contemn capitalism, democracy, and all that the United States represents, will stand their ground and defend it with their lives. I think the point here is to: A. spark and gather the open minded and innovative thinkers alike, to lay a better foundation for the future. And more importantly, B. educate the younger generations to utilize that foundation and build that better future we ultimately seek.

Here is the full speech in case you missed it. You be the judge.

Peace, “BK”

I flew back in from the motherland last Sunday. After a good 16 hours of travel, which included an 11-hour trans-pacific flight, a shitty 3 hour layover in San Francisco, and about an hour and a half long flight down to LAX….boy, was I beat!

Usually, the jet lag on the return is pretty easy to break, but I caught this damn cold in Korea, and it fucked my shit up! It wasn’t one of those “lay-in-bed” type colds, but that ANNOYING ass coughing cold…the one where you have absolutely NO control over the cough. Shit was no joke. As a result, last week, I had 2 completely sleepless nights and the rest were long nights of broken sleep…a few hours here, few hours there, and that’d be it.

So the virus finally started wearing off and I was able to rest over the weekend. But gaaaad damn, last week was fuckin’ hell! I am truly AMAZED that I actually made it through, considering what I was doing and the condition I was in. I was driving city to city, dropping orders, picking up materials, monitoring production, inhaling all types of dust and fumes…man…I was a damn trooper!

Anyways, I really need to get things back on track…especially with this blog. I know I’ve missed quite a few opportunities to post some relevant topics over the past few weeks, but we can take it from here, right?

Here’s something worth sharing with you guys…  So I copped the latest issue of VIBE Magazine on the way to Korea, but never opened it until the flight back. Well, to my pleasant surprise, I found the young homie Jay Rock sportin’ our LA Map Tee on page 24. It’s a small picture AND you have to turn it upside down, but hey, I thought it was cool to see some SP shit up in VIBE Magazine.

Pics and vids from my trip are coming soon…

Peace, “BK”