Extortion ?

The other day a friend of mine's say's he was surfing the porn sites ,and a pop up window saying his computer is now compromised and is frozen ? He couldn't go any further because he was hit with a Trojan virus, the pop up window said, unless he paid them a certain amount of money in 48 hours all his files would be forwarded to the FBI, InterPool and NASA and he would be prosecuted too the fullest of a 18 years in the Federal Prison. Scared, he called a Federal and State Criminal Defense Lawyer for advice and said someone is extorting him and if he does not come up with the money in 48 hours, they will forward so called illegal files that our stored in his computer to the Government ! The Attorney told him he did not take cases like that and he didn't have any information on what Lawyer he know's might be interested ? My Friend said he thought it was strange and that made him panic more and he decided the next morning he was going straight to a U.S Attorney's Office. At 8 am he walked in and when the U.S Attorney came out an greeted him, he was to the point, I am the last person probably you want to see, go talk to the FBI first so he did ! He said at 10 am a Agent came in behind a bullet proof window with no light in the booth and much just a silouette and started to ask direct questions . When it was all said and done the Agent claimed they did not know what was going on but will investigate and did not offer any further assistance ! My friend said when he told them How could he unfreeze his computer they said they would have to get that information to him and they will call him at home and let him know ! While he was leaving the FBI Agent had him on hold for a minute at one of the gates and rushed out and handed him instructions to get rid of this Trojan Virus. As he read the instructions on downloading the software from another computer and rebooting, ect...... on and on he said, this is going to cost me some money to get rid of this bug. My friend said he felt helpless and when he got home and turned on his computer the pop-up window was gone his computer was back to normal ?  What's really Going On ? or do we really want to know ?

We Are Not Promised Tomorrow !

Its 6:30 am Saturday morning and I have been up since 3:30 am as usual listening to my favorite Frank Sinatra's song " My Way ", my heart is heavy ? I have not seen my child in many years and we have a appointment to see each other in 5 or 6 years for political reasons, and when we do, it will be a a long time coming ! My child always unfortunately had to grow up with me in the shadows, so there would be know discrimination because of who I am, and my last name . When my child was born, her Mother ( ex-fiance ) and I decided it would be best if the last name remains the Mothers, so the chances of having a fair shot at the " American Dream ", would be attainable. It was a big choice with life long consequences for my whole family, who paid the price as she moved away on Dec-15-1997 ! It was a gamble and personally it hurt my Manhood deeply that I could not boast publicly about my wonderful child as a Father would . It was more important for me that my child was raised in the best neighborhoods and best schools and by my God's Love and Mercy that has happened, and now 16 years later my child will be a Doctor in 2019 !  This is one choice I made in my life that was my toughest ever,  but I guarantee you this, it was the Blessed Choice. I may have failed many things but I can at least say,  I got this one right, the most important ! I won't wait until 2019 to see my child, I will see as soon as possible, because just like I always have known but got reminded to me this morning in that Frank Sinatra's song,  no one is promised tomorrow !

Keep Your Head Up !

No No No,this is not the time for us brothers to feel bad about ourselves, don't let the spiritual enemy win like that now ! What is happening now has happened before in 1992 and the riots of the 60 's with a Generation of young folks feeling there is no hope or American Dream anymore ? The very lack of opportunities have left a mass population of potential voters, community assets or state and federal prisoners ? The fact is we are all collectively in the same boat ( country ), not one of us so call " responsible adults" have the right to point fingers, we all failed our kids massively. There is no scapegoats this time , we are really paying for our individually selfishness and greediness now. We have been enabled and enablers to each other for the last 25 years and our examples has produced what we see in the streets now. People with the power and means I hope will be smart enough to say its been time to give opportunity just because its the humane thing to do ?

New Human Rights Era ?

With so much going on in our world and people who have Media stock looking forward to a nice dividend check with all the negative they are reporting, we are simply addicted to Bad News ?  The ratings these Major Corporations are raking in is why I love our capitalist system so much and I am a Capitalist by very nature of being an American.  I am proud to be an American and I believe this is the greatest country on the earth and especially for people of African decent like my self. Growing up in the Bay Area , I was raised up in the most diverse, integrated, and liberal Cities and Counties in the United States. Did we have or do we have communities that are predominately African American, Hispanic American, Asian American, Arab American and Europeans Americans ? We do, but the best thing about being raised up in a melting pot is that we know how to live next to each other in Peace and respect for our next door neighbor regardless of there race, religion, non-religion or sexual orientation. The best thing about being raised in a Multi- Cultural atmosphere is that you get to learn other peoples cultures and languages and depending on how you were raised by your parents ( prejudices ), you will have many friends and personal relationships from all walks of life and humanity. Although I was raised in a Multi Cultural, Intergrated, Liberal geographical area of the United States, I also must have knowledge of self, my history, and others simply to get a long and live a peaceful and blessed life in " The American Dream " !

Black On Black Violence ?

From the days of us being slaves in America we have all ways found ways to kill each other ?  We kill each other in many ways, by our mouths ! How we talk to each other and our children like they ain't about nothing ! We are all guilty by association collectively regardless if you think you are different and many of us are, but we all still feel each others pain and death from our babies ! Black Men killing Black Men and we don't even know why ? Of course we can say he owe me money, gave me a dirty look. wrong colors or feel justified because he had affair or tried to with your Wife or Girlfriend ? Do you really think the majority of non African American people give a shit about us killing our own race, or should I say as long as Black Men are killing each other, instead of them ! And I don't blame them, but I will say this, on Sept-18-2014 I was assaulted by a 30 year old Black Man who is Mentally ill, but a couple of inches to my temple and I would not be writing this and the painful thing is he is my stepson! Although I live with " Post Concussion Syndrome" two months later and I will never physically be the same again, I can not physically do things like I use to !  My memory is gone and my right side shuts down because of the migraines and it feel likes strokes I can not control ! Sometimes I have several of them a day and some times I don't, but the worse is walking around angry because I don't feel like I use too or when I get frustrated when I can not do a simple task, I get depressed ! The only thing I can do was to forgive him and all though I wanted revenge, I think revenge is one of the main reasons us Blacks Men Kill each other, and it dawned on me ? Us Black Men who have committed violence against our Children, Women and our selves must ask for forgiveness from each other.  We must be willing to forgive for the sake of all our children, and quite frankly rich Black Man or not , if we don't, we literally won't exist in the Unites States Of America anymore !

Another Chance At Forgiveness ?

The reason I am writing this, is my Godbrother shared something that is very heartbreaking but healing, he was assaulted by a sucker punch from his 30 year old stepson and woke up with a concussion . His stepson is in jail and no longer lives there and is a diagnosed Schizophrenic who was off his meds , but my Godbrother chose to forgive him, you know why ? Because his God forgave him ! It was no easy choice to forgive but he knew in his heart and the love for his God and his Wife he will turn the other cheek and also this is a test to see if he really believes in Forgiveness ? What gives my Godbrother comfort as he deals with his " Post Concussion Syndrome " is, he may never be physically the same again but he has no doubt to his Lord, that he is a better person !

If I Was A Superstar ?

I often wonder, If I was a Superstar, how would my life be different on a daily level ?  Would I move next door to other Celebrities in there gated community ? Would I just now associate with other famous people ?
Would my kids go to private schools ? Would I still be a man of God ? Would I have to have security to protect my family ? Would old friends call me up and all of sudden are interested in my life again ? Would frivolous lawsuits be coming out of the wood work ? New news on children that you never heard about until now ? People striking deals to publishers some people you know some you don't ? Do I have to worry about the Media watching every move ? When some one sees me in 7 Eleven, will they rob me ? Could I really walk in a place and know and hear people speaking under the breath and trying not to look or stare at me ? Could I really read or hear about my self from a critic ? Could  I really stand false rumors ? To think about it no Thanks, I LOVE MY LIFE JUST LIKE MY GOD PLANNED IT !

Book Completed After 17 Years !

You probably wondering why did it take 17 years to complete this book, well when I started this it was 1998 and I just lost everything in January 1997 ( Fiance and Daughter moved out of state ) by May of 1998 I  also lost my business Oakland Comics Entertainment of 10 years ! At the age of 31 years old I lost everything to the point i was questioning my own identity and purpose ! The pain and humiliation motivated me to keep a daily and weekly diary for 17 years until redemption from alcohol, drugs, gambling and homelessness ! I never had a doubt with my faith just like " Job " I would be blessed one day again abundantly more then what i lost, accept my child in which we rekindled our relationship ! She forgives me for only being in her life physically for the first half of her life and now she is off to Grad School ! The biggest hurdle in writing this book for 17 years is keeping it secure all these years until completed, in which i had know idea when that would be from moving between 3 states and in and out of shelters ( homeless) for 3 years and 9 months, is a miracle in its self !  Enjoy !

Failure At A Father ?

This post is very personal for me as a father of one adult child but also as a African American male who had a great father figure in my step father Ira Jacobs Jr. When my child was born the most important thing to me was providing a better future than I would have so my excuse at the time of not being physically in her life consistently was i have to do what i got to do ? She would understand later when she is grown up why I have never been consistently physically in her life. She will understand I had financial, alcohol, drug and homeless issues and with out me in her life she would be better off. I even came up with the excuse because she is a girl she really didn't need me as much as a boy would but all my excuses and rationalizing was wrong and i realized I was not in her life was because i was selfish and wanted to my own thing. The thing is I realized this when she decided not to talk to me for 4 years and it finally kicked in. Children don't want to know why you are not in there life they just want you in there life with no excuses and I failed that, like many men and especially the majority of us  African American Men. Although she is blessed to be headed to Grad school and we re-established our relationship in the last 3 years she will never forget the times I was not physically there but I had to admit from my heart that i failed her as a father and ask her for forgiveness and she has. We have a long way to go but its never to late for us African American Men who have failed our children to ask for forgiveness and be a consistent presence in our Grandchildren lives. What made me be compelled to write this is when I saw all the young African American Men and Women looting and destroying local businesses in the suburbs of St. Louis over the shooting death of Michael Brown.
My heart broke because I realized us African American Men have failed collectively on raising our children in the right way and to how to direct our anger in to a positive and non violent way. Now some African American Men will be offended about this post, and some will say its because we were slaves and this and that but the bottom line is a child does not care about any of that, they just want us to be consistent physically in there lives and all though I am forgiven by my adult child, I am guilty to the collective for not being a good example on what should a Father be !

One Day At A Time !

One day at a time is not just something that should be a cliche, it should be taken serious, because none of us knows what tomorrow brings. Rich, poor, famous or not, we all have 24 hours a day to take care of our lives.  How we do it and how we balance our responsibilities don't always determine our outcome, sometimes it does but a lot of times it does not. As a business Man I get up thinking I have 24 hours a day just like Bill Gates or Warren Buffet to make my business successful regardless of daily life responsibilities because that is just life period. You can not control everything in your life and when you try or think you do you will be stressed, angry, resentful or worse you will blame everybody about your own bad choices. Often there are many of us dread getting out of bed, going to a job we hate and are angry at the world because we feel we are not happy and we feel our life has no purpose, but we do have a choice on how we look at our lives and choices ? One day at a time should not be just a cliche but a opportunity to be a better person, make better choices and know your purpose in this life, and bottom line, you never have to settle but at least be " Thankful Of What You Got " !

Wisdom ?

I am born a believer and will die a believer, but there is two things I learned more then ever so far in my life of Faith ? There is a difference between Knowledge and Wisdom ? In short Knowledge is the understanding and Wisdom is the soundness of actions, decisions of good judgements ! Also there is a difference between Sacrifice and Obedience ? Sacrifice is used quite loosely with us humans understanding, that sacrifice is something one does for the greater good, but does not want to do it ? The Dictionary version in general means, is to surrender a possession? Obedience is yielding or submitting to a higher authority ! My Point is, in my life of Faith 10 years ago, I finally understood or it was my time to understand, that Obedience to my Lord is more important then my so-called Sacrifices! With that Knowledge, I can finally say, I am becoming Wise !

" The Saint " - Mr. Christopher Todd Williams 05/31 by CedricShabazz | Current Events Podcasts

" The Saint " - Mr. Christopher Todd Williams 05/31 by CedricShabazz | Current Events Podcasts

The Power of Peace ! 05/17 by CedricShabazz | Current Events Podcasts

The Power of Peace ! 05/17 by CedricShabazz | Current Events Podcasts

The Feeling Of Momentum !

The feeling of Momentum has always fascinate me because you don't know if its real or imaginary  or is just manufacture hype ? Did 100 people really just read your post or your 1 millionth view on YouTube or some other social media service ? Recently two Artist I have been promoting have just hit #4 and # 10 recently on ReverbNation, did my Promotions have anything to do with there success ? Book deals, documentary investors, apparel sales up, radio show listeners up, blog readers up and reaching 8 Million people a week, is this all Momentum or coincidence ? No No No its not luck, coincidence, or the stars lining up, its quite simply hard work, consistency and my faith equals Momentum !