It’s a Tuesday night, there’s nothing else to do. Which means my Aunt is probably sipping. Let me give her a call
*Ring Ring*
Receiver: Hello?
Me: Hello? Hi Aunt! Do you have some time tonight?
*Ice clinking in glass*
Aunt: Yes, I do.
Me: (Yes! Perfect timing) Okay, let’s talk about this Popeye’s Chicken Sandwich.
What’s the fanaticism???
Okay, Let’s go with Harriet Tubman, I just saw that movie tonight; Do you one of the reason why she carried a gun?
Why?
It wasn’t just for her personal safety, it was to kill any nigga that didn’t want to go.
Any slave that would jeopardize the mission. Because as the movie depicts in real life, there were slaves that didn’t want to go.
Slaves that didn’t want freedom. Blacks couldn’t unanimously get behind freedom…. You had the black muslims with Malcolm X, the MLK non-violent faction, there were entertainers that were going about it one way or the other, it’s so hard to get black people to unite behind causes that are good for them.
Mmmhmmm
Drake got boo’d off stage because he wasn’t Frank Ocean. We booing Drake now??
Right.
I mean you got the Cardi B’s and the team Nicki Minaj’s… You can’t get black folks to unite against anything except a chicken sandwich.
Remember Black Lives Matter?
Yes ma’am.
Me too.
Hahaha
When you look at us, black people, we’re not fanatics about freedom, not fanatics about civil rights, not fanatics about much but a fucking chicken sandwich? We’ll kill a motherfucker over a chicken sandwich. Think about it: there are people that wouldn’t kill for voter rights but they would fight and kill over a chicken sandwich? I’m just saying! I know it sounds crazy…
Nooo, you’re so right. I completely agree with that. I think part of this is due to how it was presented to us, like by Kev on Stage.
Yea, I watched them eat the sandwich and guess what?
I wanted one! That shit looked good. And the way they described the bun and the way they described the pickles being crispy and the chicken being crispy and moist…the comparisons…they did a side by side comparison of the Chick-Fil-A sandwich vs Popeye’s sandwich, I had to have one too, I really wanted one!
Mmmhhmmm
Because, the description. You know what I mean? And I’m not gonna lie that’s a damn fine chicken sandwich.
But you’re saying it’s not slap ya momma good?
No, it’s not. Its not body slam a senior citizen good, it’s not a wave a gun through the drive thru good. It’s not ‘you jumped in front of me catch these hands’ good. It’s a chicken sandwich.
I think that maybe people got behind it was because, it’s a part of our culture that we can all agree on.
Chicken?!
Yea!
Or Violence?
We all just wanna eat.
Yea, okay but look. The saddest thing was Janet Jackson with her security detail. This bitch actually had police officers. She had uniform cops, give her a police escort into Popeye’s because of a chicken sandwich. Janet Jackson walked in with a security police detail, I guess they were off duty cops, I hope they were off duty, but again if you were on-duty and Janet Jackson called you, you would still go. You know?
Hahahaha. Sure would.
It’s Janet Jackson dammit! (to her husband) Its Janet Jackson, baby, you would go. I know that you’re married to me, but let’s just say you were single…Okay your uncle he’s the heart. He’s a hold out for Janet Jackson.
Awwww
So Janet Jackson had a police detail escort her into Popeyes, they hand her the sandwich and then she comes out with the security detail. Do you know the optics of that? It just looked terrible.
HAAAAA!
Our divas our getting escorts for…what? That would be like Whitney Houston or Diana Ross getting a damn escort for a chicken sandwich. So it’s like, damn if Janet is getting police just to get her a chicken sandwich I gotta get me some of that chicken sandwich.
Right!
So, the next thing you know you got people throwing hands, stabbing, waving guns. I mean I’ve actually seen people, on facebook, driving around from one place to another, and then it’s sold out here, sold out there. And what it boils down to is, the majority of the people that have physically fought or have become hostile with one another, didn’t get the sandwich. So the acts of violence aren’t about the sandwich– the Maryland guy, he didn’t get no sandwich. And the guy that went to prison for killing him, he didn’t get no chicken sandwich neither. Here’s what it is:
You have a bunch of people from desperate communities. You have people that are poor and are struggling, grew up poor and aren’t struggling—but you know a lot of people in today’s climate are struggling and they’re fearful you know….they don’t know what’s around the corner because of police brutality, Trump, whatever. But you know we’re growing up in fearful times when a cop can just pull you over and you may or may not get out alive, right?
Right.
Your kids, hopefully live in a nice neighborhood, or if not you live in a shitty neighborhood, and they’re going to a shitty school that’s only going to get shittier because you know because Betsy Devos is Secrertary of Education and she’s cutting everything that children need to learn and grow. So you factor that in– You’re worried about your kids and the bullying climate and the excessive racism with the rise of supremacy…….
……and then you’re standing in a long line for 2 ½ hours in a confined space with a bunch of other niggas, right?
Mmmhmm
Who have some type of struggle! James Baldwin says, “…To be black in America is to be in a state of what? …Rage.
Who?
James Baldwin, he’s a fantastic writer, “If Beale Street Could Talk”, he wrote that.
Oooh Okay!
Yea! that James Baldwin, so you’re black in America standing in line for 2 1/2 hours. Think about it. That’s half of a part time job plus a half an hour. Right? Waiting on a chicken sandwich. You’re already tired, for whatever the struggle is that day. Your kids are bad, your nigga is cheating on you. Something is going on. Your boss is an asshole. Whatever it is. But you’re in line for this chicken sandwich. And you get to the end of the line and they say “We out.”
No
No, no.
Noooo– nigga no.
You should’ve said something a half an hour ago. You should’ve said something an hour ago. You don’t tell me there’s no chicken sandwich 2 ½ hours later, after I done stood in this goddamn line. Or you can’t tell me there’s a 3 chicken sandwich limit when I got a family of five. You know what I’m saying?
That’s when you see the guy waving the gun, or the other guy cut in front of him. You did what? Come on now we’re talking about a people that will shoot you for a pair of Jordan’s.
Mmmhmm
Same people! Same people that would shoot you for an 8 ball jacket in the 80’s or the 90’s and a pair of J’s. Now you’re telling them that you’re going to cut in front of them for a chicken sandwich. No, you’re going to die today!
So why is it so important for people to feel the need to get the sandwich
Because of the hype!
It unfortunate but black people will stand in line for hours and hours, for the new Jordan’s.
But you know who doesn’t wear Jordans? Michael Jordan.
Hahaha
I mean you see them! They stand in line overnight! Or you’ll see them standing in line for the newest iPhone. You just spent $1000, $1500 on the newest iPhone, meanwhile, your child support is in arrears. I have a friend who has 6 kids and he bought an iPhone when it first came out. I said, “You paid what for that? That’s $100 per kid!”
I remember working at **** on the Northside….and two ladies I worked with took time off from work to go stand in line for the new 50 Cent concert. This is like when 50 Cent first came out, his very first album.
I remember my husband’s daughter, she’s a teenager. She came to the house and she was like, “I’m not wearing no shoes that cost less than $100 dollars–these shoes cost, $100, these shoes cost $150…” and she’s pulling all of these shoes out. And I’m like, they’re shoes…
When I was young, I remember looking in the fridge and there was still no food. And I was scared. But then my mother came home with a bunch of groceries and put em on the table and I was like, “Oh yea she got money we got groceries.” But then I looked, and she had a bloody bandage on each arm. My mother gave blood and plasma to feed me.
I’m not hungry, I’m not starving and I’m not desperate now, but if I was I would be the nigga standing behind Tump with a sign.
So why do black people need to be a part of the hype though?
What I’m saying is Deprivation Guides Hype.
When you’re little and you’re hungry, and you don’t get enough to eat. You feel like you never get enough to eat, you’re never satiated, and you mess around and when you become a person of means you’re subject to hoard. Over-shop or overeat because it wasn’t an option for you as a child. When you don’t have enough money and you struggle, when you get older, you don’t want that for your kids. So you’ll find the name brand that’s a big deal in the black community. They don’t wanna wear Tuffies, they wanna wear name brand.
Hold on the damn dog done ate the blinds.
Uh-Oh…
Okay, Hello?
Yes ma’am.
I think we put so much emphasis on material things because, in society, because we’re devalued as human beings. When you look at the racist videos on facebook, the first thing out of a white person’s mouth is “NIGGER!” “You black this, you black that!” “NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER!” So they use that word, they wield that word as a weapon to make you think you are small and less than they are or unworthy… That you’re a second class citizen.
And we can’t change the color of our skin, but we can change how we dress it.
Look at LeBron James, look at Gabrielle Union, look at Dwayne Wade look how they dress. Look at the Basketball Wives or the Housewives of Atlanta. They go out and get these $600 pedicures and they put on these $6000 dollar gowns and then they throw bottles at each other like they’re niggas in the street. So yea, they go out to these fancy restaurants and they’re extremely pretty and their hair and nails look amazing, but you’re acting ghetto at a 5 star restaurant.
You think that getting a sandwich is blacks being a part of something greater than themselves on a subconscious level?
Yea, we put more emphasis on hype and material things. Like, I have an android phone because I am not buying into the apple hype. You’re not going to make me pay 1000 bucks for something that cost a poor little suicidal Chinese woman, $12 to make.
I agree.
You know how many pairs of Jordan’s I’ve had in my lifetime?
How many?
Exactly 0.
I have never owned a pair, have I thought about it? Yea. Did I want some? Yea. But I didn’t feed into the hype. Do I like nice things? Absolutely. Do I have name brand things? Absolutely, I do. But I am not willing to stand in line. Time is precious. Time and youth are the only two things that you will not get back.
You’ll pay taxes and you’ll get tax money back, but you’re not ever going to get your time back.
So to waste your youth and to waste your time are two of the worst things that you can do.
And you waste youth and time….standing in line for a fucking sandwich!
So what’s the message to people who just want a chicken sandwich?
Consider, what its worth? At what cost?
How much does your soul cost?
There will be other things that will be hyped up. But it’s not worth your dignity not your life, not your freedom. No chicken sandwich is worth a murder rap. No chicken sandwich is worth assault and battery charges. Because that shit will follow you.
It’s like you’re trying to get a job and they’re like, “..Have you ever been convicted of a felony, “Yes.” Please explain on this line. “…Okay well I was in line for this chicken sandwich and….”
Hahaha Well, what if someone just wants something quick?
Wendy’s, something. Or anything else. But that’s not the point!
Moral of the story: Do not let someone else’s opinion guide you to destruction. We lost our minds about this chicken sandwich. Kev on Stage’s opinion on this chicken sandwich is part of the reason we got people getting stabbed and body slammed–we have to believe in something else. Something bigger than ourselves.
We need to unite behind something, but not a goddamn chicken sandwich. if everybody who tries so hard to get this Popeye’s chicken sandwich over the past few months had been that united in the civil rights movement, MAAAAN we would’ve been overcome.
If everyone had united behind MX, like they did the sandwich, it wouldn’t have been any means necessary, the means would’ve went. We would’ve been free. And if everyone who went out of their way to get a Popeye’s chicken sandwich had been that united in our right to vote, we would’ve been voting.
Chicken sandwiches do nothing for the race as a whole.
Right now the republican party is united in trying to take our voter’s rights away from us. Right now. The voter ID laws have been weakened by the Supreme Court –under Clarence Thomas’ black ass –and they just decided that voter’s rights act, didn’t need to be in there anymore. Because as Clarence Thomas put it, “Racism is essentially over.” So as soon as they struck down those parts of the voter’s rights, the voter ID laws in NC got ridiculous and with, “surgical precision”* they attacked black voters, okay?
These are some of the most important elections of our life. 2020 is when we say “Hello, welcome back democracy!” or “Goodbye to Democracy forever.”
But instead of worrying about whether or not you’re gonna be able to vote, or the police officers that are striking us down, you’re worried about a fucking chicken sandwich.
The bright shiny light, follow it while we dismantle your freedom
And yea that chicken sandwich is good as hell.
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*Sources
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/07/poll-prri-voter-suppression/565355/
Tea & Hennessy 