July's Summer YA eBook Exclusives

July's Summer YA eBook exclusives are:

SPRAY EM' UP

TERROR COMES TO THE GHETTO 


After leading a successful mission to take out Iraqi warlord Samhal Hussein, Sgt John Williams is hailed as a Hero by the U.S Army. However, when he returns to the South Bronx he finds his neighborhood being oppressed by a neighborhood drug kingpin.
With the NYPD scared, and residents feeling powerless, John realizes that he has to declare his own war on terror to save his neighborhood and protect his community.






This action packed script is my second feature-length screenplay. It's an urban drama making a social commentary on Black america and the war on terror we're NOT fighting.


SPRAY EM' UP ON NOOK 


SPRAY EM' UP ON KINDLE

And
THE POLITICS OF HELL

 Mortally wounded by the goddess Isis in a thrilling final battle, the demon E’steem is transported to a mysterious palace. After she recovers from her injuries she learns that Lucifer, Lord of Hell has saved her life. Impressed by the treachery she participated in to attain membership among his Elect, the Prince of Darkness promotes her to position of autonomy in his Legion. However, E’steem soon learns not to trust the subtle politics transpiring around her when dealing with the father of lies.




The Politics of Hell details what happened to E’steem in between Isis and The Temptation of John Haynes. In this short story readers will learn how she somehow she recovered from near death and how she met Lucifer. A bridge between books, it’s meant to tie up any loose ends in Isis and set up the future storyline for The Temptation of John Haynes. 


The Politics of Hell on Nook
The Politics of Hell on Kindle


Both these eBooks are also available on Kindle and for your Noook as well! 

BEWARE THE WASHED UP BLACK WOMAN!

Washed-up single Black women over 30 often reinvent themselves with new personas. Many often parade around with over-the-top personalities like the artsy Boho chick, the Afrocentric Mother of Earth, The dedicated single mother and the Born again™ Christian. 

But these new identities are just a deflection to keep people from seeing the truth about how ugly these women really were in their late teens and twenties.

The Washed-up single Black woman is oftentimes an over 30 woman who has been run through by all of the successful men in her neighborhood. She’s often the former hottie from high school or college, or the stuck up chick with the great body who thought she was too good for anyone but a man with money, a high profile career or a high-status job. At this stage in her life she’s gained some weight, had some kids or went through a nasty divorce. Sometimes she’s recovering from alcoholism or a substance abuse problem. Quite a few are bogged down in debt.

Washed-up Black single Women are a sepulture to good Black men. They look beautiful on the outside, but are filled with dead men’s bones on the inside. Many are carrying emotional baggage from previous failed relationships. Some are dealing with mental health issues. A few have kids from multiple fathers. And in a few rare cases she’s got incurable venereal diseases like herpes or HIV.

A Washed-up single Black Woman can easily be identified by her over-the-top behavior. She’s often the one to be a bit too passionate about things, even overzealous. For example, a Born Again™ Christian is the type to profess her love for Jesus loudly. She’s the type of woman to attend church every Sunday and is the one to be on all the committees. She’s never seen without her Bible. She ministers and witnesses to just about everyone she runs into telling them about Jesus.

However, when someone pushes her buttons (or just has enough money), she’ll quickly revert to her old behavior showing all how sinful she really is.

An Afrocentric Mother of Earth is usually one to talk passionately about how Africa is the Motherland and how Black women are the Mother of all the World. She’s the type to be a vegetarian and talk about health and spiritualism. She’s the one running around always wearing dreads, a dashiki, or other afrocentric wear. She’s the one talking about going back to the motherland even though she’s often carrying all her wonderful American creature comforts like ipods, cell phones and talks about cable TV shows like Sex and the City.

Offer her a ticket to a land like the Sudan or one of those starving African homelands and she’ll protest that she’s needed here in America to make people aware of the plight of her people.
A Boho Chick is the type to talk about the arts with all her soul. She’s the type to be into acting singing, or dance, sometimes all of them at once. Some will even paint too. She’s the kind of chick who likes to wear vintage clothes from different eras that don’t go with each other. Or she wears all Black; it’s a form of artistic expression.

Boho Chicks are known for being pretentious and artsy. They’re love to use big words and are very well cultured in literature and art. Some are so intelligent that they can tell you all about the nuances in a story or be so deep that they need a translator to figure out whatever they’re saying. They usually have hustles like art shows, one-woman shows and poetry jams. Or they’re working on financing an independent film or a stage play that never gets finished.

The use of these unique looks are cues are to get a man’s attention. Since men are visual, many are often caught up in the distinct appearance of these women that they don’t listen to what they say or even pay attention to the small details they get wrong.

When a man pays attention to those minute details he soon finds that while the outside has changed the inside is still the same. Watch their actions because it defines how little has changed about their character.

A washed-up Black woman can also be identified by her use of shaming tactics. She’s the one to vehemently point out the wrongs of others while placing herself on a pedestal as the paragon of virtue or a Guru of great knowledge. She hopes that by projecting her guilt onto other people they won’t see her flaws.

Most children can see through these washed up chicks. And most savvy adults if they pay attention to them.

Once one breaks past the false façade they soon find that these washed-up Black women are just the same old gold diggers looking for a new mealticket. With all their prospects of snagging a high-profile man exhausted they’re settling for a new guy at the bottom. Preferably a thirsty SIMP with nice fat wallet and a pension that will take care of them in their old age.

Which is why good hardworking Black men have to watch out.

Good Black men have worked too hard to build themselves up to have all they’ve established torn down by these female scavengers. All these parasites are going to do is leech onto a man and suck the life out of him until he dies or runs out of money, whichever comes first.

Brothers, remember that these were the same women told you that you weren’t good enough to deal with back in the day. They aren’t worth your time right now. Don’t settle for being some washed up old Black woman’s second choice. You deserve better than being second best. Keep on walking and don’t look back.

Brothers, remember that She made the mess of her life. so let her put on some coveralls with her run over Jimmy Choos and let her clean it up. You worked too hard to achieve success in your careers to be some woman’s Pullman Porter. Life is too short to deal with someone else’s garbage.

Shawn takes a CUNY Office Assistant to School- A Lesson in White Supremacy & Racism in the Workplace

Okay there’s this dude who has twice come to my page talking about how CUNY doesn’t discriminate against Black men because he got a job as a Cuny Office Assistant. How he’s making $33,000 a year after working there for five years, and how he doesn’t have a degree.

Big whoop.

He tells me I’m bitter.

He knows nothing about institutional racism and White Supremacy.

I’ma take this chump to school.

He dismisses my experiences with the City University of New York as a fluke. Now he got the same score I did on the Civil service exam, but because HE got a job at the first hiring pool he went to, there’s no racism or discrimination at the City University of New York against Black men.

So my experiences didn’t happen because HE got a job at that first hiring pool.

What a dumbass.

Obviously, this is a young kid who doesn’t know anything. Who hasn’t experienced life. Who probably got hooked up with the COA job by a family member or a friend.

Or he got extremely lucky.

Because you need and AOS or AAS degree and two years of experience to even qualify for the position of CUNY office Assistant.

This dude thinks because HE got a job there is no discrimination at CUNY against Black men. Because He has a job at CUNY other Black men should be able to get one too.

Seriously, stupid niggers like this make me mad.

Narrow-minded niggers like this take their position in life for granted. They have no understanding of how institutional racism and White Supremacy keep Black men out of the American workplace. These are the kinds of clueless sellouts who in five to ten years will tell other Black men they need to pull themselves up by their bootstraps.

Not understanding that it’s hard to pull yourself up when a White man has a boot on your neck and a Black woman has a knee in your back.

And she’s about to hand him the knife to cut your throat.

Just because you have that $33,000 a year CUNY office Assistant job today does not mean you will have it tomorrow.

What this dude doesn’t understand is the same Black women and White men who keep me from getting a job at CUNY are trying to get him out of his job. Yeah, they plotting against you dude.

All you have to do is disagree with their politics on that worksite and they’ll make every effort to get you fired.

Disagree with those Black women and White Supremacists and you’ll find out that permanent position you’ve enjoyed for the past five years ain’t so permanent.

Trust me, those racists you work with at CUNY will FIND a loophole in some company policy to put yo ass out on the street. And there won’t be shit you’ll be able to do about it.

Cause them Union Shop Stewards (Usually Black females) will tell you that they can’t help you.

Yeah, them same Black women you work with are loyal to the White Supremacist Professors and department heads they work for.

But you’re so comfortable in your little $33,000 a year job that you can’t see the knives and the noose those Black women and White men are holding behind their backs.

This dude is so oblivious to the subtle politics transpiring around him he can’t see the racism and discrimination that goes on every day at CUNY. If he ever looked around a CUNY campus he’d see how Black men are the minority in there outside of the janitors and the security guards. Sure they let a few Uncle Toms, Simps, Manginas, and other Bitch-Made™ men like himself have a job here and there, but they are the exception not the rule at CUNY.

And just like this dude they are only there because they agree to a certain type of politics. Politics that make them loyal to the institutions of the Black Matriarchy and White Supremacy.

Not because they meet the professional qualifications for the job.

If this dude would crack open a history book or take some African-American studies classes he’d understand that Black Males are the least desired people in the workplace. And this has NOTHING to do with education, work ethic or productivity.

White Supremacists don’t want Black men in their workplace. It makes them uncomfortable. It makes them feel inferior. It makes them realize that they aren’t special and they will actually have to COMPETE to survive in the world instead of taking their positions in life as White men for granted.

White Supremacists don’t give a fuck about what a Black Man has to offer in terms of skills. All they want at their jobs are people who are loyal to preserving the institutions of White Supremacy and the Black Matriarchy.

Under the White Supremacist corporate hierarchy, White men are placed in executive positions, White men, Asian men and Hispanic men and Black women in middle management and management positions, Black women and women of color in administrative positions, and Black men were placed in low-level security, mailroom, and janitorial positions.

That was the racial hierarchy for jobs in every business in the United States for the past 50 years. And there has NEVER been a place in the corporate hierarchy for Black men except the very bottom.

And the Black men who had those jobs have been systematically replaced by Hispanics, Russians, Poles, Slavs, Ukranians and other Eastern Europeans over the past ten years.

So the Black man’s place in that corporate structure is quickly disappearing.

But this dude is so comfortable in his little CUNY Office Assistant position. Because HE is making $33,000 a year HE can’t see the bigger picture of how White Supremacy keeps other Black men from getting work through CUNY Civil Service.

Nor does he see how it will eventually put him out of a job if he just as much crosses the wrong White man or Black woman.

And I’m the bitter one.

For telling the truth.

All I’m doing in these blogs is trying to wake up brothers and sisters and school them about CUNY’s racist hiring policies towards Black men. I’m trying to get people to understand the insidious pattern and practices that the City University of New York uses to keep Black men from getting an entry level position such as CUNY Office Assistant.

Just because a company lets one or two brothers or hires a bunch of Black women in doesn’t mean it’s providing equal opportunity for everyone. These discriminatory hiring policies, patterns and practices are so insidiously woven within the institution’s policy and culture in unwritten rules that aren’t visible to the naked eye. It often takes a person who is objective and observant to notice them. 

So to that brotha with that COA Job: I hope I open your eyes and school you on some things.

More Thoughts on the Halle Berry Baby Mama Drama....SMH That I Have to Write a Part 2 to this Nonsense...

More thoughts on the Halle Berry Baby Mama Drama

Last week, Academy Award winning actress Halle Berry was ordered to pay $20,000 a month in child support to Gabriel Aubry, the father of her four-year-old daughter Nahla.

$240,000 a year will be deducted from her earnings and given to her baby daddy to maintain her lifestyle while she spends time with him.

Gabriel Aubry is now in Halle’s pocket like a basketball wife.

Now some women will bring their shaming tactics in here saying Gabriel Aubry is not a man for taking child support, but this is how the court works: If one partner makes more than the other, then the court believes they are accustomed to a certain lifestyle. And the court will grant the other spouse that money even if it busts the other spouse regardless of their sex

Women have benefited from that system for over 40 years, to the chagrin of many working men. But this is the system working fairly and justly.

Anyway, Halle Berry could have avoided this altogether by not being so greedy and so selfish.

All of Halle Berry’s current troubles with this custody battle are due to one person: Halle Berry.

Like most strong, independent Black women, Halle Berry wanted things HER way. She wanted to have a baby on HER terms. Damn the father and his needs. Damn the man and whether or not he was the right man to be a father to her child.

She was going to have HER baby.

Damn the father and his parental rights. She was a strong, independent Black woman who didn’t need a man.

She just wanted some sperm to make her child.

Now she could have just gone to a sperm bank and none of this drama would have occurred. But as I stated before, the belligerent strong Independent Black woman had to have her baby her way and on her terms.

So she went looking for a SIMP to skeet up in her to make the baby she wanted to have. Having exhausted her cred with Black men like Michael Ealy, she went looking for a White dude to take advantage of.

And she found Gabriel Aubry at a photoshoot.

And after finding her Simp, Halle tried to turn a jumpoff situation into a relationship. As she stuck up a middle finger at Black men and built up a world around her Great White Hope™, She moved Gabriel Aubry into her home and made plans for their future with him.

A future on her terms made to go her way.

Here’s the truth about Halle Berry: From jump street she has never wanted a good man to start a family with. No, she’s been looking for a SIMP who will just kowtow and worship her. A man she could control, dominate and subjugate to her will. She was going to be the Strong Black woman in the relationship who raised her daughter Nahla her way.

And Gabriel was going to be her BITCH.

And she thought she had her White Man emasculated and cuckolded. She arrogantly made a statement to that when she grabbed Jamie Foxx’s crotch on live national Television during an awards show.

Then Halle’s usual pattern of insecurity and paranoia sabotaged the relationship. Then he stopped being her Great White hope™.

When he wouldn’t have a relationship with her on HER terms, then he magically changed from a Great White Hope™ to a white racist who called her a nigger.

It’s the same pattern that repeated itself with David Justice and Eric Benet.

Only they were smart enough not to have a kid with her.

Now that she has a child by a White man Halle Berry tries to play the victim.

But no one’s buying it this time.

Why? Because in America, the White Man is ALWAYS RIGHT. AND HIS WORD IS ALWAYS TRUTH.

Halle Berry was a fool to think that White Supremacist America was going to sympathize with her. If she understood American institutional racism she’d understand that the victim game she ran with those Black men like Eric Benet and David Justice, don’t run on White men.

Any attempt a Black woman makes to discredit a White man in White Supremacist America leads to the Black woman being labeled a liar a whore by American society.

Like that chick who accused the Duke Lacrosse team of raping her. Cost a District Attorney his job.

In her attempt to smear Gabriel Aubry she’s gone from the poor little victim of bad men to a crazy domineering Black bitch in the eyes of America.

Funny how she’s gone from the Jezebel to the Sapphire in 0-60 in the eyes of America.

Silly little Halle Berry thought she could enter the American Court System, a White Male stronghold and play the victim. She thought it’d make Gabriel look bad with her when she told them he called her a nigger.

Big deal.

Like that would make White men in America turn against another White man. White men have been calling Black women niggers for over 400 years. That ain’t nothing special.

Halle had no understanding that the American court system was NEVER designed to get justice for Black people. The salty tears of a Black woman may get a Black man emasculated in front of a White judge, but all that’s going to lead to is indifference from those same racists when a Black woman tries to go to court with a White man.

Even the Most beautiful Black woman in the world is just another nigger in White Supremacist America’s court system.

That’s why the media has portrayed Halle Berry like a ghetto hoodrat baby mama in the press. It’s why she’s seen as a joke all over the world.

In her attempt to thumb her nose at black men, she got the finger from White America.

But this is par for the course when dealing with the belligerent, arrogant, strong Independent Black woman.

Five years ago, Halle Berry thought she had a fool. But Gabriel Aubry was smart enough to know the courts. And he was smart enough to know his position as a White Male in White Supremacist America.

And that’s how he turned the tables on Halle Berry.

Gabriel was smart enough to get a case, and then he took Halle to court for child support.

And here’s the thing about the Courts in America regarding Black people: If a White man says it, it’s TRUE. If a white man who makes very good money wants money to support his daughter and maintain her lifestyle with child support, then he needs the money.

$20,000 a month sounds about right to them. And $240,000 a year means money out of a Black woman’s pocket back into the White man’s hands.

And with this custody battle Halle Berry is going to get a hard lesson in White Supremacy. The White men at the top of this country who run things are gonna make sure they CRUSH HER ASS for thumbing her nose at the White Establishment like she did at that awards show. White America is going to make an example of her. That child support order was a MESSAGE from White Supremacists in the court system to Black America.

When these White boys are through with her, she’s gonna be put in her place.

Halle Berry has just had her NIGGER moment.

But will she wake up to see it? I don’t know. At 46, she continues to make the same mistakes over and over again. Even after this disaster of a relationship with Gabriel Aubry, she’s engaged to washed up White actor Oliver Martinez and making delusional plans to move to France where she’ll live happily ever after.

After promising in 2004 that she’d never marry again.

I keep waiting for Halle to wake up. To take responsibility for her life. To make changes for the better. To break free of the vicious cycle of self-destructive behavior.

But she seems determined to follow in the footsteps down the tragic road of her idol Dorothy Dandridge. Hell-bent even.

Watching Halle Berry is like watching a snuff film. You know she’s going to die in a tragic and horrible fashion, but there’s nothing you can do about it. All we can do is sit back and watch the carnage and hope and pray for her daughter Nahla. Poor kid didn’t ask to be born into this hot mess. 

Congratulations Graduates of the Class of 2012! FREE Commencement eBook on Kindle this Saturday as a gift to you!

As a gift to all the graduates from the class of 2012 out there This Saturday June 23, 2012 I'll be offering the Complete edition of Lawrence Cherry's Commencement  on Kindle for FREE! ($3.99) value

This single digital version contains all the content of all four volumes of the Commencement digital editions (Book I, Book II, Book III and Book IV).

I understand some people who downloaded Book I and II couldn't get Book III or IV due to distribution issues on Smashwords. (they didn't approve III and IV never made it to distribution channels)  and I apologize for you not being able to finish reading the story. So I'm offering the complete edition to readers so they can pick up where they left off. 

And if they so choose they can pick up Commencement Book III and Commencement Book IV: The Conclusion  next Saturday  free of charge on Amazon!

Congratulations Graduates from the class of 2012!

The Trojan Horse- A Mangina Tactic to Eliminate Men from the Dating Scene

Men, beware other men bringing over women for you to date.

Any guy who offers to “hook you up” a guy with a woman is a man to be looked at suspiciously. There’s always something behind it.

Seriously, no man worth his salt is going to offer you an opportunity to make a connection with another woman worth anything. He’ll take that opportunity to date her himself before he offers you a chance to get close to her.

Usually, men who offer to hook a man up with a woman will talk up how great she is. How beautiful she is. How she’ll be great for you.

But a man has to ask: If this woman was so great why isn’t he dating her himself?

The reason he’s talking up how great she isn’t to help a man make a love connection. It’s to get another male off the playing field so he can have a chance at some women he sees off in the distance.

I call it the Trojan Horse. A man offers to set up a man with a good looking woman on a date. On the surface he looks like a good friend trying to help out a guy with weak dating skills. And on the surface the woman he’s arranging a date with for a guy looks like a sure thing. An easy lay.

But in actuality it’s a death trap.

The Trojan Horse is a classic Mangina tactic Bitch-Made™ men used to eliminate male competition from the dating scene. If a man is offering up female friends to men, it’s not because he cares about a guy being alone on Saturday night.

He’s afraid that women are looking at said man and not him.

Seriously, what guy is concerned about the pussy another man is getting? Why is another man concerned about another man’s sex life? And why would he be so worried that you’re still single?

Most guys are usually concerned about two things: Making money and getting women. They could care less about the women another man is getting with.

If you’re alone on Saturday night that’s not another man’s problem.

Guys who offer to play matchmaker for a man often have an ulterior motive behind it. They’ve heard ladies talking about him. And he’s heard them making plans. Plans to make a move on a man.

Contrary to popular belief, if ladies like a guy they will make a move. Some will be sly about it by making sure they’re in the same place as a guy, others will just be bold and introduce themselves.

Usually a woman who is interested in a guy will try to be discreet about introducing herself to him. Before she makes a move she’ll study his routine. Then she’ll make a point to be somewhere along that route so she can get a private moment with him. She’ll share these plans with her best friend and girlfriends.

But Manginas will overhear this information and try to use it to their advantage.

Manginas who see this type of movement among women being planned or chattered about want to stop it. Especially if they want to get with the same ladies.

So they offer to be a guy’s friend. They offer to play matchmaker.

It’s all a trap.

A smart player will see through the Mangina and check his ass at jump street. He knows that no real man is going to offer to hook him up with a chick he could get with himself. Chances are he’s already smashed that and has heard the chatter. He’s going to be in that right place to meet that honey as she makes her move on him.

But the more naïve young buck will fall for the Mangina’s ploys. Thirsty for female attention, he’ll actually think that this guy is acting in his best interest. He’ll think that he cares. He’ll think that he’s going to offer him a chance to get with a hottie.

Poor dude doesn’t know he’s about to get played. And played badly.

The Trojan Horse is a trick used by Manginas with no game. These enemies posing as friends fear competition from other men. So they go behind a guy’s back scheming and plotting to stab their “friends” in the back by offering them a chance at a sure thing.

Usually the chicks a Mangina tries to hook up a guy with are chicks with serious issues. While they may look pretty on the outside, the character flaws will start to show up once a guy gets them talking. That’s when they’ll reveal their anger problems, trust issues, alcoholism, drug problems, bipolar, histories of violence. Some are single mothers. They need someone to hook them up because no one WANTS them.

If a guy gets involved with these wrecks he’ll wind up miserable. Which works to the Mangina’s advantage. Once the gossip gets out on the grapevine about how he’s had a bad date with said troubled female it destroys his credibility with other females.

Making the Mangina look like a superstar to the same females who would have been interested in a dude.

Which is why men should beware men who offer up a chance to hook up with a beautiful woman.

Most real men have no problem meeting women and making connections with them. They don’t need some chump playing matchmaker for them. Nor do they want someone to help them make a love connection. They know if someone is speaking for them they may also be speaking against them.

Which is why a real man will speak for himself.

A real man will approach the women he wants to approach. He’s smart enough to see the signs. And if he’s interested in a woman he’ll make a move. 

The Racist Double Standard in Customer Service Positions for Black Men

There is an unwritten discriminatory double standard in the workplace when it comes to African-Americans and customer service positions. This discriminatory and arbitrary set of unwritten rules and policies are the reason why many Black men can’t retain employment in the workplace when they finally find work.

From my observations and personal experience I’ve noticed that African-American women can get away with some of the most unprofessional behavior and still keep their jobs.

I have personally witnessed Black women mistreating customers with unprofessional behavior like rolling eyes, speaking to them in a harsh belligerent tone and even extreme behavior like cursing them out. Some will even spend time on the sales floor getting into heated arguments with customers and a few will even get violent on the sales floor.

I have even witnessed Black women getting belligerent and hostile with supervisors. Some have even argued with store managers district supervisors. A few have been downright insubordinate.

All without customers complaining. And without any disciplinary action taken against them by management. In fact, some of these Black women were promoted for their unprofessional and abusive behavior.

Meanwhile mild-mannered African-American men like myself who merely try to do their jobs in a professional manner are often reported by customers as insubordinate, unprofessional and hostile.

Black men like myself who were pleasant, friendly and even kind were told by customers they’d report them to the manager for having a hostile tone just trying to answer the most basic of questions in a professional manner.

I have watched as customers went to management to complain to senior employees about the way a Black man speaks to them over the phone. Even with the most pleasant phone manner and the smoothest tone of voice, the Black man is often considered hostile and threatening by most customers when they hear their voices.

I have watched as customers and even co-workers will complain to management about a Black Man’s work being too slow. However, a Black woman, White, Asian, Arab or Hispanic man can work at whatever pace they feel like without the threat of disciplinary action. Some can take an entire day to do the most simple of rudimentary tasks as stocking a single shelf or filing papers without the threat of a write-up or termination.

But a Black man has to work as fast as The Flash when he’s doing the same tasks. He’s paid by the hour but clocked at the miles per hour he works.

And thanks to these complaints in service jobs, many a Black man is threatened with being written up, suspended or even terminated.

All for trying to do his job to the best of his ability.

This discriminatory double standard has kept many a Black man from keeping employment even when he manages to finally find it. It has prevented most brothers from finding economic and financial independence. It is why the unemployment rate is so high in the Black community.

Entry level sales and customer service positions are often the gateway into moving up in some corporate organizations. But thanks to this unwritten institutionally racist and sexist set of double standards, most Black men are prevented from retaining employment even when they manage to find it.

Under these draconian policies I have watched as Black men were punished harshly for minor infractions or implied infractions. Decent hardworking Black men like myself who try to stay professional and follow the rules of the workplace are often rewarded with the Black mark of a write up, suspension termination on their work record for just being late once or simply misunderstanding a company policy.

Meanwhile while Black women literally got away with flagrant violations of company policies and basic social decorum. In all the service jobs I had no one has ever sought out a manager to report a Black woman for being belligerent with them. No one has ever complained to a corporate office about rude customer service when a Black woman cursed them out or argued with them. No one has ever taken time out of their day to report a Black woman for her hostile and harsh tone whenever they got on the phone with them. Heck, no one even complained when a Black woman I was working for was late to work every day for close to an entire year.

But they will make that extra effort to report the minutest perceived violation of company policy when they encounter a Black man in a service position. I’ve witnessed this personally. And I’ve had this done to me in service jobs I was employed in.

Worse, these same customers will talk about how they are so afraid to approach a Black man like myself when he is at the front desk. The Black man can be mild mannered and pleasant and they’ll be afraid to ask for what they want.

However, a Black woman can roll her eyes, snap her neck and suck her teeth at them and they’ll be eager to walk up to that same counter. In fact they’ll say they got great service from said Black woman for displaying such a hostile attitude toward them.

Confront many a customer or a manager about their feelings regarding being served by a Black man and they’ll deny they have any prejudices about us. They’ll say they’re not racist. They’ll say they treat everyone fairly. That this double-standard doesn’t exist.

But their actions speak louder than their words.

In most of the service jobs I’ve had, I’ve seen people hesitate before coming up to the counter to approach me. I’ve seen some come and go out when they saw me working there. The same people came back later when a Black woman or other minority was working the desk. I’ve even seen some clutch their purses and hold their backpacks. I’ve seen men take the time to put their bags between their legs when they had laptops.

All because a Black Man was on duty at the front desk or working on the sales floor.

But those same people were downright kind, pleasant and friendly to Black women who were rude, surly and hostile towards them. No threats of reporting them to management. No threat of a write up or termination. No threat of having their lives disrupted or their means of making a living taken away from them.

The unwritten racist and sexist policies in the service sector prevent many good hardworking and professional Black men like myself from taking the first steps in the job market. Thanks to the double standard imposed by these unwritten rules many good brothers are denied an opportunity to build their work record, learn valuable skills and start their careers in entry-level positions.

Managers and customers must take efforts to be more sensitive towards Black men when they are in the workplace. We’re just trying to do our jobs. When we are judged by an unfair set of standards it impedes our productivity in the workplace and keeps us from moving forward in our lives. Sometimes it takes years for us to find a job. And the draconian disciplinary policies enforced with these double standards can destroy all that hard work in three to six months forcingmany a Black man to pick up the pieces of his life all over again.

Would YOU watch an All About Nikki Sitcom if it were on TV?

It’s one of my most popular eBooks.

An international best-seller with sales in the US, UK, Germany, Italy and Austrailia.

It’s got dozens of facebook likes. People tweet about it whenever I offer up the free sample episode eBooks.

But I have to ask: Would people really watch a real All About Nikki sitcom?

In another case of Art imitating life, the All About Nikki eBook has overshadowed its source book All About Marilyn in popularity.

Kids love Nikki. Adults love Nikki. Black people love Nikki as do White people and people in foreign lands. It has the potential to be a worldwide hit.

Nikki has all the elements of a great African-American sitcom like The Fresh Prince or The Cosby Show. A great concept, positive multidimensional African-American characters and great jokes. I could easily see it being on Disney or Nickelodeon like Big Time Rush or That’s so Raven.

I even see it elevating a struggling network like NBC or being part of CBS’ powerhouse Monday or Thursday lineups. It could even easily be used to be a leadoff for a new TGIF on ABC.

One of my goals this year was to put on a test episode from one of my scripts on YouTube. I’d love to see how a Nikki script would play out onscreen.

But before I make any efforts to pursue that goal I have to ask again: Would you watch an All About Nikki Sitcom? Does America and Black America want to watch a Black sitcom at this time?

I know lots of Black people talk about getting the lack of Black programming on the air, especially positive Black programming. That brothers and sisters are starving to see people like themselves onscreen. But the big question is will they take the time to watch it if I produce it?

A quality 5-10 minute teaser costs over $25,000 $50,000 to produce. And putting together a full 22-minute pilot is a tremendous effort. Fund raising alone on both efforts would be a challenge for someone with money.

For an unemployed brotha with a lot of dreams and no real experience with film it’d be an even greater one.

But I’m up for the challenge.

Having an established audience would persuade investors towards risking their money on the project. It’d make them feel comfortable about putting their money down on investing in an All About Nikki sitcom. And all your feedback would influence their decision.

There hasn’t been a Black sitcom on any of the major networks in years. And there hasn’t been a Black sitcom with the potential to be a breakout hit with universal appeal in over a decade. Personally, I feel All About Nikki has the potential to be that big breakout show with cross-over appeal among a wide range of tween, teen and family viewers all over the world.

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So tell me America: Would you watch an All About Nikki Sitcom if it were on TV?