Every issue Esquire has the 'What I've Learned' piece. They'll ask someone interesting to talk about "the condensed life lessons, knowledge and weird insights" of people who've lived or living life to the fullest. This month they look back at 10 yours worth for 'What I've Learned' entries. Muhammad Ali, Ray Charles, Evel Knievel, Suge Knight, Homer Simpson, Jerry Lewis, Donald Trump, Jack Nicholson, Hugh Hefner, Robert Deniro and more. If you see it on the stands (Johnny Depp on the cover), it would be well worth it to pick it up. And if you're inspired to, please feel free to write yours.







Sickamore, 22, Talent Manager
10:10pm, December 14th,2007
Plane To Miami

-I should've never stopped doing mixtapes. I could've still done both. The rush you get negotiating with bootleggers, dropping off CDs on the strip and response from the people trumps 8-hour A&R meetings. It just doesn't pay as well or give you dental care. But at least I have the confidence to know the street is there for me if anything goes wrong. I'll sell DVDs before flipping burgers

-I met with millionaires, billionaires and moguls this year. The common theme? Their kids are the most important things to them. The wives? Not so much

-Every birthday from 1 to 21 was dramatic. 22 through 29 are all the same year. No one cares that you're turning 23, 24, 25 or 26

-The office: Mac Book, wireless, notebook, ballpoint pen and Blackberry. Those pieces allow me to work from anywhere

-Courtside Seats > Great Sex. This is why I need to own a team. Or have great sex and breed a ballplayer

-Fantasy basketball has ruined my life. It's bad enough ESPN is all I watch. Now I wake up and check the score before brushing my teeth. I read the scoreboard on my blackberry during meetings. Think about how many assist Chris Paul has during dinner. It's my obsession

-Sports are the only time in life where you either win or lose with no in betweens. No moral victories or pitfalls of success. That's element keeps me intrigued. I can cry watching sports but not at a funeral

-Fantasy Actor Team: Denzel Washington, Leonardo DiCaprio, Edward Norton, Brad Pitt and Robert Deniro. Eva Mendes is my 6th man for other reasons

-Maverick Carter and LeBron James inspire me to be a better businessman. They're young and getting it

-I've been thinking about death a lot in the past couple of months. What kind of legacy you leave. How you'll be remembered, if you're remembered at all. But I need to forget about it because I'm missing out on life. I got a long time to think about death when I'm dead

-In 2004, I wrote a goal list of where I thought should be in 2005 and accomplished less than 5%. This year I wrote a list of things I wanted to do in 2008 and I've already done 40% of it. Just shows me that goals and what you want are sometimes two different things

-The coolest nigga what…the coolest nigga what…the coolest nigga what…

-I've owned a business longer than I've had a job. So it pisses me off when people say things like "My project will get you a raise" or "Show this to Craig, I bet you'll get a promotion".

-Casino, Fight Club, The Lion King, Rocky IV and Catch Me If You Can. American Gangster is creeping up in there though

-At first, I applauded Frank Lucas for burning his chinchilla. Then I started to think 'Why shouldn't he be able to go as hard as he wants?' . You only live once, stunt as hard as you want

-I was reading this obituary about this basketball player from the 1940s. He shaved points for money and in turn banned from the league. He died over 70 years later and that's the first thing they mention: cheater. It's scary how one bad decision can last the rest of your life

-They say "you never know until you try it", "scared money don't make no money" etc. So next year I'm going to try it

XXL is too limited. So I created a new blog to get out all my other ideas, thoughts and rants. Hope you like it

thankgodimfamous.blogspot.com

I came across this article on ESPN.com today and it rubbed me the wrong way, so I decided to send this nice lady an e-mail to let her know how I felt. It's kind of long (both the article and my reply), but try and read it. Don't be afraid to hit me (or her) up with your opinion


A disturbing, violent trend

By Jemele Hill

Page 2

ESPN Article










"Wrong place at the wrong time."

Who knew the wrong place to be on New Year's Eve was at a party welcoming in the new year? Who knew the wrong time to be murdered was now .. when people are so callous about death that it's almost as if we're asking the victim, "Just what did you do to get yourself murdered?"

There are many words to describe the senseless killing of Denver Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams. Unfortunate. Heartbreaking. Sad. But here's the one word we can't use in describing such a death: Unexpected.

Over the past 12 months, three NFL players have been shot, and in the past couple weeks, police discovered one NFL player, Bears defensive lineman Tank Johnson, had enough weapons in his home to mount a terrorist attack. University of Miami lineman Bryan Pata was shot to death at his apartment complex in November. In Denver alone, three notable athletes have been shot since 2003 .. Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Joey Porter, Denver Nuggets guard Julius Hodge and now, tragically, Williams.

One unavoidable commonality about these episodes of gunplay: all of the athletes are black.

It leads to an inevitable question from all of us, but particularly mainstream America: Why do black athletes often seem to find themselves either holding a gun or staring down the barrel of one?

Real talk for a moment.

Contrary to stodgy opinions, young men have a right to go out. They want to hang with their peers. They want to talk to women. They want to show off a little of their success. Nothing wrong with any of that .. as long as they're careful.

Who they're with, what time they're out and what they have is only a small part of the issue. The larger problem here is the one no one is ready to openly discuss.

While America is generally a violent place, no culture in this country glorifies violence more than the African-American community. And consequently, no other racial group is as disproportionately affected by it.

This isn't to say black people invented violence or have a penchant for it. But far too many of us glorify shooting people for revenge, perceived slights or to prove toughness. Two things you almost always see when "MTV Cribs" features a black superstar: a poster of Tony Montana and a poster of the Godfather. Montana and Michael Corleone, though fictional, are considered heroes by young black men everywhere. Montana and Corleone had one thing in common: both killed people to gain respect.

BET, the same network that saw fit to cut its nightly news program, has a new show called "American Gangster," which "chronicles the life and times of some of Black America's most notorious crime figures." It's explained that the program has a strong moral component and doesn't seek to glorify violence, but on BET's Web site the show is promoted by showing Ving Rhames, the king of cool, in slick gangster apparel .. as if he were promoting a music video, not a show about violent criminals.

And sure enough, right beneath Rhames' promo ad, a BET dot.commer says, "Young, black males will look at this [show] as an inspiration."

Now, criminal biographies appear on The History Channel all the time, but the difference is that violence is often marketed to blacks in a way that makes it appear more sexy and daring.

Black men constantly receive the message that they can't make it in life through using legitimate means, and the only way they gain society's respect is through the street game.

This is the mentality black athletes greet when they go to the club. A recent Public Library of Science Medicine study shows black men living in urban America have the shortest life expectancy of any other racial group in the country. The life expectancy of a black man in Cleveland is closer to that of West Africans than the average white American. So wearing a jersey every Sunday doesn't protect you from anything.

Of course, movies and songs don't make people kill people, but they can influence the way people think and live.

But ultimately, if we want to see fewer black athletes as victims of violence, African-Americans must stop worshiping at the altar of their own demise.

Jemele Hill, a Page 2 columnist and writer for ESPN the Magazine, can be reached at jemeleespn@gmail.com.



A Real Disturbing Trend: The Oreo Sports Writer
by Sickamore

It's Uncle Tom's...excuse me...Auntie Tomika's like you who set African Americans like me back 50 years.

How was Darrent Williams's death "expected"? Did he have a history of violence? No. Any prior run ins with the law? No. Did they find him at the crime scene at the wrong end of some bloody shoot out? No. The only thing you have the late Mr. Williams guilty of is "black while partying".

It's New Years Eve for god sakes! Do you know what percentage of black, white, red, orange blue and green people between the ages of 18 and 30 go out and party every December 31st? Did you have any facts to support your theory on why DARRENT WILLIAMS was EXPECTED to be KILLED?

I'm a black person who actually does his research. According to your myspace page, you listen to Jay-Z, watch The Godfather and would like to meet Iceberg Slim. That means you fall right into the demographic that you criticize. So should I be surprised if someone shoots you in the face the next time you go out? If your brother or your cousin or your unborn child gets his head popped off when they go out, should we all just say "we seen it coming"? Or does this only apply to rich athletes and entertainers? A white USC kicker was found inexplicably dead in a ditch yesterday, isn't that the equivalent of University Of Miami lineman Bryan Pata being shot to death in his apartment?

Now I'm sure in your mind, you're convinced that Darrent Williams was some dumb rich nigger football player who probably downloaded every American Gangster episode (assuming you think he can even use a computer), was preparing his house for the next season of MTV Cribs season and was watching Scarface 8 times before he went to that party. So he should've expected to be shot to death that night. I mean just look at the "statistics".

Do you want to know my theory? I think you had this you had this article pre-written for the next dead rich entertainer, whether in sports or music. In fact after you say "real talk for a moment", your article doesn't mention Darrent Williams, or sports for that matter, at all! If Ludacris killed, you would've probably just changed the names and submitted the same article to BET.com.

I'm sure you think in your own twisted house Negro way you're keeping it real by writing that article, but in all actuality you're just an opportunist. ESPN would've never published that bullshit report if you were a white journalist. They needed it to come from "one of them" so they wouldn't receive this type of backlash. You're probably just waiting for more of your brothers and sisters to get shot so you can keep the check coming, am I right?

"Hey ESPN.com,

I'm a black female journalist saying Darrent Williams was killed because he was rich and black. Out of the box thinking right? Let me know if you're interested. And anytime you need a conservative black voice, just give me a ring.

Sincerely your nigga,

Jemele Hill"

See you at the club bitc..I mean sis.

Truly Yours

Sickamore
myspace.com/makeyoufamous

sickamore.xxlmag.com

Check it out!

Sick

Ok...I just deleted this whole blog by accident, so here goes again...Im on a I CAN MAKE YOU FAMOUS HOLIDAY TOUR all around America! Just came out of NYC, where me & Tick were in the studio with Spiez The Don, aka Spot! We chopped it up about the New Year, how we gonna run NYC, u know the routine...Be Famous Or Die Trying! 'The Good Son' Mixtape In Stores Now Beyyotch!Now I'm in Las Vegas, staying at the MGM GRAND...Doing Big Boy Things, Making Big Boy Noise....Visiting Sky Balla, the hottest dude coming out the Left Coast....riding around in his S500, hitting the malls up...I turn 21 in 8 days, so cant gamble.....yet! Might be going to Tao tonight......look out for the mixtape 'Im Not A Rapper' in stores soon! And then 2morrow...Peace Up, H-Town Down!Going Back 2 My Second Home, Houston! Me & Jokaman got some unfinished business! You know the usual....money, shows and bidding wars, all a nigga knows.... CTC!!! Tick couldnt make it with me on this leg of the tour, so Im on a dolo mission.  'Let The Shit Begin' Mixtape In Stores Now!Now, the most glamorus part of the tour, heading to MIAMI!!! Home of the best clubs, the illest strip and the CULO!....song. Going to see The King Of The Tru New York, TRU-LIFE!!! He's down there doing the 1-2 Main Modeling Rocawear Spring Campaign...also working with Scott Storch, Timbaland and Cool & Dre. So he's about to blow(no homo)...hate to say it, but I told you so! 'The New New Yorker Mixtape' In Stores Now!Last but not finalized part of the tour is ATLANTA....supposed to go see DJ THE FUCK DRAMA, PAY ATTENTION!!! if he's in town....We'll see how that goes if it goes how I want everything to go, then everything will be a go! So Lets Recap Kiddies:Thursday: Las VegasFriday-Sat: HoustonSunday: MiamiMonday: Atlanta (maybe)Tuesday: New York CityBig shout out to everyone who helped make this tour happen: Tick, Amber, Animal, Sam, KP, Tanya, Tarik, Kyle, Joi "I Can Make You Function" Rogers, Matthew, J Fresh, Tru-Life, Dino, My Old Lady, Spiez The Don, Members Of The 50/50 Club and The Whole F&F Cartel.....See Ya On TourPSILL BE BACK SOON MOGUL RADIO!!! KEEP MY SEAT WARM!