Part 2: Stages: A Handbook on Men and Relationships - Chapter 25

Chapter 25

I told you to bear with me. Now aren’t you glad you did? The whole engagement thing went over without a hitch. If I don’t say so myself it was smooth, just like me. Come on now, you know I’m smooth... Don’t front.

I truly hope you understand where this came from. I just felt a need to give you my story in the best way I knew how. I knew if I would’ve just told you about the Stages you woulda been like, “And who are you?” Sometimes a story has to be told. This is just the way I see it, but every man has a story, if you ask. But if you fail to ask then you’ll never know. In other words make a brother talk, before you give him your soul, make sure he’s willing to give you his. Who says all men are dogs? Whatever.



Part 2: Stages: A Handbook on Men and Relationships - Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Stage Four isn’t approached without trepidation. It’s an awkward time for any man. Making a commitment is one thing but saying to a woman that you want to live the rest of your life with her is an entirely different monster. In other words Stage Four is the final phase before you leave the Stages behind altogether and graduate.

But this book is about the Stages not the graduation, so allow me to give you the specifics of what Stage Four is:

The road that has been traveled had so many obstructions in what lay ahead, that you can barely believe that you made it this far. You have finally accepted the fact that life is meant to be shared with the woman you care for, honor, and above all respect. Love comes after all of these other things. At Stage Four the words I love you are small compared to the feelings that you have for your lady. When you said those words in all the other stages it was a word that conveyed what you thought you felt. In Stage Four you no longer think it you live love, breath love and share it: that it being a commonality, sexual and mental connection that heightens each day that you are with her.

At the point when all of this has finally come together, you take the last step and ask her for her heart in marriage. You have doubts, but those fears soon subside when you realize that your relationship has survived the strains of ex girlfriends and major arguments. You buy the ring and become a part of a life circle. A never ending connection of souls that when completed will have no beginning and no end.

Part 2: Stages: A Handbook on Men and Relationships - Chapter 23

Chapter 23

I’m still trying to figure out a few things. If a relationship can be as good as it was with me and Janice why in the hell was I so afraid to try it before? I know the trauma from the first girlfriend thing was my excuse, but it was just that, an excuse. I should’ve done this relationship thing a long time ago. I’ve done things with Janice that you only do with a girl that you know and trust. Everything we do seems to be more fulfilling.

There are things that she does to keep our relationship fresh. She sits down on certain days and maintains a book, kinda like a log of all we do. The log has pictures, silly letters and other little things that we could look at and laugh at. That seemed so small to me when she started the book. Now that book is like an intricate part of who we are, it grew. All of the little stuff like catching a movie or walking and talking about things that we want and have dreamed about is something that I obviously hadn’t done with anybody else, except maybe Laney. I once thought that settling down meant you run out of things to talk about in a year or two. That can happen if you stop doing things. But the hobbies that we have always gives Janice and I some kinda conversational pieces. She reads a lot of books, which always gives her something to say and it’s not just meaningless little words to fill quiet space. Each word is meaningful, unless we’re just trippin. Janice is a dream come true for me, and Tina is a dream woman for Flip. The closer it came for me to propose though, the more nervous I got. I started feeling like I was doing this proposal thing more for myself than I was for her. Maybe it was a new experience that I wanted to have. I didn’t know. I just started feeling uncomfortable.

Part 2: Stages: A Handbook on Men and Relationships - Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Life becomes a habit if you don’t start doing something in your spare time to keep you sane. I had continued with my music, but I’d picked up another trade in my spare time, something I’d come to enjoy thoroughly, writing.

Flip had added more speakers to his house and bought a new amp for his system. He even bought a four track machine to record some stuff he and Tina had started doing. She played the piano and sang. Flip played the guitar, not well, but he was getting there. We would spend our Saturdays going to the beach or barbecuing in Flip’s backyard. Oh, Janice learned how to shop more efficiently and less over the course of the year, which was a really good thing for her. I guess clothes had become her hobby. She had even begun designing some skirts and other things. She hadn’t done anything with the designs, but she really got into it. Some of her stuff was really flyy.

Anyway December 3rd, Flip and I went to the mall to start looking for Christmas gifts. He had to buy things for his folks and I was looking for another gift for my sister and something for my mom who has everything already, except me at home.

Part 2: Stages: A Handbook on Men and Relationships - Chapter 21

Chapter 21

I was on top of the world after that night. My life seemed so perfect. We shared our first week with each other talking and feeling excited about us. It all seemed like a dream. I never expected to be this happy. The second week passed and Flip and I had talked about everything. About how I had adjusted and how he and Tina were doing. I knew that the day we went to church together that everything had changed in Tina and Flip’s lives. I could see it in her confidence and in the way he said her name everytime he had a chance. For the first time since Flip and I had been boys we shared the same thoughts about women and relationships. I remember saying that if there were three men, one would be Stage Four, one would be Stage Three and the other Stage Two. In all honesty I’m not sure how that one works. But I can confirm how Flip and I were, Stage Three all the way, the right way.

The wrong way would’ve been decisions to be with the ladies strictly for our own personal reasons. We laughed and joked at work and it made the days fly by. Our spirits seemed to affect everyone. The guys on the line seemed to be pushing out the equipment just as fast as we could inspect it. Even the engineers upstairs were coming down to the floor and inspecting stuff, at least trying to inspect stuff. Work was good and life was great, life is great.

Part 2: Stages: A Handbook on Men and Relationships - Chapter 20

Chapter 20

We made it home at a little after 10 pm. I instantly walked in and turned on the radio, which was routine for me. Janice walked over and turned it down.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“I really can’t stand loud music late at night.”

“That wasn’t loud.” I turned the radio back to where it was.

“It’s loud Terrence.”

I knew we were headed into argument territory so I backed down. Sometimes you have to back down, but not all the time.

“I’m going to leave the radio on, but I’ll turn it down okay?”

“That’s cool,” she said confidently.

“Don’t think you’re going to win every little fight we have.”

“I don’t expect to. I don’t plan on fighting over too much, do you?” She slipped her shoes and socks off.

Part 2: Stages: A Handbook on Men and Relationships - Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Stage Three Amendment Two: When everything is stated and it’s honest and sincere, there is a feeling that comes over you that makes you shiver. It isn’t a small thing. It’s very noticeable and you remember it. It is the moment you realize that maybe you’ve found the right person.

I had to place in maybe because we have not, I repeat have not, made it to Stage Four. After that Saturday night at Flip’s house Janice and I went to our own homes. I didn’t push anything. I wanted to let everything settle down for a while before I tried to make love, or have sex, or relations, whatever you wanna call it. I wanted to give her time to reconsider and make sure she made the right decision. I also waited, for the same reason. When we left Flip’s place we all felt relieved, I think. Maybe the feeling wasn’t relief, it may have been something closer to true happiness. I hugged Janice and walked her to her car which was parked further down the street.

Part 2: Stages: A Handbook on Men and Relationships - Chapter 18

Chapter 18

I thought about what I would say to Janice on the drive to the house. How would I begin? I had been practicing certain lines like, “I want this thing to work but it’s gonna take both of us.” Nothing seemed real. It all sounded rehearsed. I figured when I saw her I’d know what to say. We pulled up in front of the house, I didn’t see her car. The garage door was open and my car sat next to Tina’s inside. But Janice’s car was nowhere in sight. I felt kinda depressed when I saw that.

I had really changed and I couldn’t believe that it had happened. Over the course of putting this down on paper everything I thought was going to happen didn’t. I converted and the funny thing is Clyde my barber said it would happen soon. He was right. When I asked him to give that card to old girl at the shop, he said something that I declined to say. That day in the shop went down like this, I hope you remember:

Stages: A Handbook on Men and Relationships - Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Stage Three amendment: When a man has come to a fork in the road, he can’t sit and take his time. He has to choose and accept what may come. No turning back and going to look down the other road. Keep straight and accept it. Allow God to do his job and all things will turn out fine.

I thought long and hard about what had occurred. I knew that I’d made a mistake and that I’d blown my chance at stepping up. What I didn’t know was that I’d blow it in an attempt at moving up to Stage Three. That could’ve caused a bigger problem in the long run if I would’ve acted on my emotions and called Ros or Laney. The thought had crossed my mind. But I knew I had to reconsider. I wrote in my journal and it finally came to me. I had to get Janice back. I knew if I got Flip to talk to Tina then I could get back in there, but I had to fix this one. I had to take responsibility.

I didn’t talk to Janice for a week. That next weekend I had to help Flip move to his new place. He didn’t have much stuff, but the things he did have weighed a ton. We rented a truck and started with the living room. He refused to put his CD player and stereo stuff in the truck even though he still had the boxes for it all. There is nothing like a man and his music. Without a good stereo system a man is only half the man he could be. The same thing holds true for a man and his car. Flip saved all of his stereo equipment to move last. He put all of his stereo equipment into his SC. We filled the truck with all of the stuff and began cleaning the apartment. We didn’t have much to do considering Flip had stop spending the night at his house. He was staying with Tina at her crib, which is normal I guess. It’s that whole process when you start dating seriously. You spend one week at her house she spends the next week at yours. It eventually gets to the point that you question why you both have a place to stay. The normal progression is to make the next jump, moving in together. I guess that’s why Flip was asking me about it that day.

Stages: A Handbook on Men and Relationships - Chapter 16

Chapter 16

A reflection can be found anywhere, or it can come at anytime. Two of the most important reflections I’ve had in my adulthood happened because of a conversation with a brother three years younger than myself. Flip, like he said about Tina, was brought into my life for a reason. People coming into your life can happen guy to guy, just as it does with men and women. I knew it and I thanked God for bringing me a brother.

What I didn’t appreciate was his Stage Three whining. I just wasn’t in the mood for it. But he was my boy so I had to listen. Do you recall when I said that this book wasn’t going to change me, and that it was just a handbook? I guess by now you realize it’s more than that. It’s therapy. I’ve been listening to myself and actually paying attention to everything that’s going on around me. And for once, I’m willing to say that I would like to find a little peace.

It would be nice to wake up next to someone, without saying, “Damn, Damn, Damn,” like Florida Evans. It would be nice to know who’s calling when the phone rings and it would be nice to have consecutive birthday’s with the same woman. But there is always some unfinished business to take care of, so until I finish I won’t make that move. I’ll continue with what I’m doing.

Stages: A Handbook on Men and Relationships - Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Sometimes the Lord puts people into your life for a reason. Why question everything? Then again why not? I’m not saying doubt, or that I don’t believe, but you have to wonder. I still was bothered by what Flip told me and I just couldn’t make sense of it all in my head. Why would she choose him to, “come out of the closet,” so to speak?

We spoke about it again that night on the phone. I was about to meet Janice at her place to talk. But I was somewhat intimidated by what a conversation would hold after hearing about Tina and her problem. I’m sure Janice had gone through it all with her, and held the same feelings that Tina may have had about men. Maybe that’s why she wanted to really get close to me. She probably assumed that Flip and I were at the same Stage. What’s kind of buggin me right now is how Flip stepped up and accepted what had been put in his face. He thought about the whole situation and decided to stick it out. I know I would’ve ran away. I’m just not at that point in my life where I can handle that kind of situation.

I said when I started that I would remain honest throughout and I will. I would’ve ran away because to stay with her after that kind of info would’ve placed me into serious commitment territory. A place I’d been avoiding for a long time, but it was a place that was slowly beginning to seem like the right thing to do. But how am I to know when I’m supposed to settle down? For Flip, everything kind of lined itself up in a nice package and dropped into his lap. He was frustrated and tired of being by himself. I don’t mean physically by himself. He explained it like this a few weeks before we met Tina and Janice.

Stages: A Handbook on Men and Relationships - Chapter 14

Chapter 14

This is where everything gets odd. In a handbook that details the circumstances, or patterns, that a man might go through in reaching the “promised land” of a “perfect” relationship, that handbook should remain somewhat reliable.

I had the best damn date a man could have without having sex. I wanted Janice so bad that night, I had to turn on some freaky deaky movies when I got back to the house. I thought getting next to Janice wouldn’t be a problem and that I’d be able to pull the whole thing off as I had with Laney. It just didn’t work that way, but that’s later.

For me to remain a reliable source, I have to say that I actually felt like shit after I cut Laney off. It wasn’t so much that my conscious was bothering me as it was that I saw her a few weeks after with some tall, White guy. That shit ate at me for more than a minute. I wondered if I drove her to that. I wondered if she would ever date a brother again. It was almost time for me to call her and see how she was doing, but ironically I didn’t know if I could handle it if she said she was already over me. I wouldn’t have appreciated that at all. Selfishness is not a good trait to have, and I think I’m guilty of being the most selfish guy in the world at times. Well, you reap what you sow. If I was indeed doing wrong, then it would come back on me, right? Then again, no it wouldn’t, the bad guys always get away with murder if they have the right defense, which I have. My defense is the truth. It ain’t my fault if women never ask the right questions. If a woman can honestly sit down and live her life without having to have a man then I wouldn’t go in and out of relationships because there wouldn’t be any one to go in and out on, you dig? You have to keep your eyes open. There are signs that a man is a Stage One or Two brother, clear signs. Allow me to share with you these pieces of info about the male psyche:

Stages: A Handbook on Men and Relationships - Chapter 13

Chapter 13

            “You look beautiful Janice.”

            “Thank you.  Your hairline is kinda crooked.”

            “No it isn’t.”

            “It is.  The right side is a little higher than the left and a little bit is still over the ears.”

            “For real?”

            “I’m just messing with you about the hair over the ears, but your line is crooked.  Come to think of it, I’ve never seen your line crooked.”

            “I tried a new barber.”

            “Who Stevie Wonder?”

            “You know that’s wrong.  Why you making blind people jokes when you wear glasses?  You didn’t think I noticed that little bifocal line in your glasses either did you?”

            “I do not wear bifocals.”

            “And Stevie Wonder didn’t cut my hair.”

            “I was just kidding.  You’re sensitive today.  Don’t blame me for your bad hair cut.”

            “Alright, alright, I didn’t go to the barber shop.  I just bought these new clippers-”

            “What?  Speak up I can’t hear you.”

            “I just bought these new clippers and I tried to give myself a line this morning and I took it back too far.  You’re the only person that noticed today.”

            “You sure no one noticed, or did they just keep quiet?”

            “No one noticed.”

Stages: A Handbook on Men and Relationships - Chapter 12

Chapter 12

So, if the easiest thing to do is lie, what is the second hardest thing to do? Maybe the hardest thing to do sometimes is tell the truth. I guess if telling the truth is the hardest thing to do then remembering what your lie is must be the second hardest. One of the bad things about Stage Two is the fact that you can no longer be completely honest. In Stage One you can tell the truth because you really don’t give a damn, you dig? When I began dealing with Laney and Janice. I had to lie. Not big all out bull, just small ones like ‘the overtime thing’ and the ‘I’m with Flip thing.’ I could use both of these with Laney but Janice was a different situation. I always said that I would never date a woman whose girlfriend was dating a friend of mine and here I was doing just that. I had to be extremely careful with what I said because from the day after Flip and Tina met, they were inseparable. The funniest thing in the world happens when a best friend goes to Stage Three, they stop calling their boys. Flip had started to cut down on the phone conversations and stopped coming by the crib so much. We spoke at work all the time but it wasn’t the same.

If you ever ask a man if he’s jealous of when his boy thinks he’s found the right person and he says that he’s not, it’s a lie. I was jealous like a kid watching that rich guy in the neighborhood ride his new big wheel down the street. I was jealous because it felt like Tina was taking my best friend. I should’ve been happy for him. Hell, he even stopped worrying about everything that bothered him at work. I was cool though, I pretended not to mind all of his antics and speeches about what he and Tina did over the weekend.

Stages: A Handbook on Men and Relationships - Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Considering all the things that come about in a matter of minutes, do you ever think that if given a chance you would go back and make all the things you’ve done right or better? I’m sure you do, I do to an extent. The people I may have hurt and the things I didn’t pay any attention to, the small things are the only things, I guess I would want to correct. Then again those two things pretty much cover the whole spectrum. What would you go back to correct?

I knew that night at the club, held an important time for Flip and I. The small things that occurred stuck with me, but they stayed buried for a long time. I didn’t accept any of what I learned that night, not one bit of it. Instead of looking around and truly taking in the atmosphere of the club, I continued to think about how I could get Flip to help me out with Janice and Tina.

There are always things that have to be stated as I move along with what I’m saying. Stage Two bore with it a change in the amount of time that I had to place into my relationships. Instead of two or three months to bring things to a conclusion, the time increased to six to eight months. It takes longer to find out about a woman to see if she is really your type. You had to plan it to make it work. Conversation, the first month, set things in motion if sex happened during the first month it’s cool. That’s something that can be considered a bonus. Once the friendship has been established and things are beginning to move past talking and towards sex everything can be played like Stage One. The problem with Two is in the break-up, that shit can actually hurt you as well as her, especially if she’s been accepting of whatever shit you’ve been pulling on her like: working late, ensuring that you have an argument every three weeks or so to ensure that you aren’t getting too close, things like that. I will admit now that it is probably the most calculating stage and the worst.

Stages: A Handbook on Men and Relationships - Chapter 9

Chapter 9

“In thirteen seconds the tape will flip itself over if nothing is being played.” Flip said.

I drove up to Flip’s crib in La Jolla to look at his new stereo system. He had bought a CD player and a tape deck that did a lot of technical stuff that we usually consider work talk. But because of the importance of electronics, computers, cell phones, Playstations and anything else that uses batteries or voltage, for Flip and I to stand and wait on the tape door to open, slide out, turn around, retract and play with the same amount of clarity as it did on the first side, wasn’t a problem at all. As a matter of fact it was like a religious moment when the tape flipped and began to play.

“Nice huh?” he said.

“It’s pretty sweet. My tape deck will just reverse the tape without doing all of that.”

“But when it does that, it stretches the tape and can ruin it. The sound gets muffled.”

“Who cares Flip? No one listens to tapes in the house anymore.”

“But it’s nice to be able to pull out an old collection of tapes and play them, don’t you think?”

“I guess. I’d just buy the CD to replace the old tape.”

“Check this out then.”

He stood up and walked over to his shelf. On it sat a glass container with a CD inside of it. The CD was facing out, instead of laying down.

“Watch how this CD comes out.” He waved his hand in front of the stereo window and the glass windows slid open. “Ha Ha, yeah boy, you like that don’t you? Tell the truth that shit was dope, right, right?”

Flip was excited as hell. So I went along with it.

Stages: A Handbook on Men and Relationships - Chapter 8

Chapter 8

After church I made sure to call Ros up and let her know I was thinking about her. She told me how much she enjoyed us. I reciprocated her thoughts.

“I hope we can get together more often,” she said. I thought, “I don’t. I like it once a week if you don’t mind.” But I said, “That would be nice, but maybe we should make sure of what we’re doing here.”

“I agree, but for right now, it’s cool. No stress.”

No stress, just what I was trying to convey. For some reason it was like the lotto had walked in to find me, without me even buying a ticket.

“Are you sure? I don’t want to disrespect you,” I said.

“As long as you don’t throw shit in my face we’ll be okay.”

“What do you mean?”

“Just don’t lie to me. If you’re going to mess around then do it and let me go.”

“I hear you, but that sounds like-”

“But are you listening? I want you to let me know when you don’t want to be bothered. Don’t just start doing whatever and leaving me hanging.”

“Yeah, I’m listening. I won’t diss you.”

“Call me later, okay,” she said.

Stages: A Handbook on Men and Relationships - Chapter 7

Chapter 7

I picked up Ros from her house, which was off of Euclid. Not the best part of town, but her mother’s home was in a quiet section of Southeast San Diego. I always felt that Flip and I were the only Black men that stayed above Highway Eight, which ran east to west from the beach, to the mountains. A highway that cuts the city in half. It was almost subliminal segregation. The Blacks didn’t seem to want to go above the eight to live, and all the Whites were fleeing from below the eight to stay in “better” areas. Then again it wasn’t subliminal at all, it was kind of the way the city was developed. Cheaper properties established below and more expensive ones set up above. The well off still overseeing the workers, go figure.

Ros walked out of the house looking radiant. Her legs looked strong and full underneath her skirt. She wore a blue silk blouse that buttoned up the front to a place right above where you could see her cleavage. Her breast pushed the shirt out, not quite tight but enough to show the size. I looked her up and down and took her in with all of my senses. Her voice was heavy, in a sexy way. She hugged her little boy at the door and began walking towards the car. I climbed out to open the door for her. I liked the way her make-up made her face look a little darker than she was. Her hair was styled nicely with a layer pulled over the left side of her forehead and eye. She licked her lips before she spoke.

Not For Colored Men

After a long back and forth this weekend on facebook in regard to Tyler Perry's For Colored Girls, I felt compelled to write an article on my position on Tyler Perry's work. It's easy to sit in the bleachers and tell the coach how to run an offense, but when you take a seat on the bench and the game is moving at a completely different pace, you realize that coaching is a very difficult business. With this small cliche in mind, my feelings about Tyler Perry's work are basic: He lacks any ability thus far to create a film that represents the depth of character of the Black men that I know. Well that may be somewhat harsh. He is obviously a talented person business wise, not a talented writer, actor, or director, but a very talented business person.

I have not seen For Colored Girls, but as an English professor I have seen the original stageplay. Just as I have read Beloved, The Color Purple, Etta Mae (Women of Brewsters Place), and The Street. Obviously there are many other stories that I have read which fit into the genre of Black Feminist Literature, but I am simply listing the first things that have entered into my mind. I have not seen this new version. The original, was powerful and needed in helping Black women find their voice beyond the Civil Rights discourse that was generated and controlled by Black men. The original also helped with the post Civil Rights discourse that saw Black men attempting to gain status and also saw Black women seeking to be accepted as a counterpart to White women who had burned bras and sought equal rights and pay in a White male dominated society. The works of Toni Morrison and Alice Walker as well as Ntozake established the voice of Black women that led to the work of Gloria Naylor, and today's writers like Dawn Turner Trice and Diane McKinney Whetstone.

With this said, the voice of women was established and in Ntozake's poem/play the narrative was already created. What has not really been generated is the well rounded Black male character. Why is it neccesary for a Black man who has been in the industry for over 10 years to continuously promote the story of the Black woman who needs to overcome? In this society I know more than enough men who were raised by a single mom. I realize that Black men have fallen short and that we are not marrying or supporting women at a rate comparable to other cultures, but I also realize that Black men are trying.

I have made this argument in discussing the negative effects of Hip-Hop: If a person listens to music that denegrates on a daily basis, he or she will learn to be disrespectful and learn to be abusive and ignorant. How does a person learn? Through repetition. This can not be shut off at any time. We learn when we hear things over and over. So if this is how we learn it becomes reasonable to think and understand that if the same images of Black men are conveyed then this will become what all people think of these men, in particular when the images are created by Blacks. Tyler Perry is a Black man, telling women's stories. It works for him and it is profitable. However, in continuing to create images of Black men that are detrimental he is acting as a promoter of negative images and this has a harmful effect whether people want to recognize this or not. In our discussions this weekend we stated that Tyler creates some male characters that are positive, but the energy of the male characters that remains indelibly imprinted into our psyches are the male characters who are destructive forces. In Why Did I Get Married Too it wasn't the hard working, honest Tyler Perry character that we remember, it is the drunk Malik Yoba pouring alcohol on Janet Jackson. No one remembers that Malik Yoba had been fighting to save his marriage and wanted to remain with Janet although she had killed their child. No one realized that when he died that Janet had not only killed their child but had also killed Malik, but this is the crazy part after she has killed both men in her life, a symbolic cleansing she is rewarded with The Rock. What does this say to both men and women? We can go through every film and although women often find happiness in the end, we are basically introduced to flat, not very well rounded male characters. We are given very in shape, oiled up placeholders. Which in a way is making men into the items that men actually make women into on a daily basis, but when is enough, enuf?

After ten years, the two books/works of literature that Tyler Perry chose to create were both created by women and both dealt with abuse and dysfunctional relationships. My goal here is to explain why I can't support this film. I think you get why I feel this way. But I can't list problems without giving solutions. Most people don't realize that there are other books out there to tackle. Important works of fiction which could begin a process of shaping the way Blacks are perceived by everyone, especially us. The primary point of reference for most people who have been saying that Tyler Perry is doing work that is important all tend to say the same thing to offer a counter argument to the fact that he is creating negative images while attempting to create feel good or serious works of art. Everyone keeps saying that someone should write a book so he can turn that into a film. Well there are books out there in Black Literature that should be turned into film. These books are not about abuse or negative drama that stereotypes us. So here are my list of books that Tyler Perry can consider and they are all bestsellers, well almost all of them:

Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man - A narrative about a man who becomes everyman which is really a commentary on how people actually see Black men in this society; without anonymity.

Michael Datcher's Raising Fences - A bio of a brother who overcomes adversity and struggle to become a successful writer.

Tanarive Due's The Living Blood, My Soul To Keep series - before Twilight became a big hit, Sister Due actually created a narrative about a group of Blacks who have lived for an eternity and it's a love story.

Octavia Butler's The Parable Series (Parable of the Sower and Talents) - People who read and enjoyed The Road, will love this. The Road was, as far as I'm concerned, was a straight jack of Butler's books about a not too distant future where a girl forms a new society/religion that helps to move society back to civilization. Well I guess The Road was not directly influenced, but let's say that The Parable Series is a mixture of The Road and The Book of Eli.

Christopher D. Burns' Archie's Psalm - What kind of writer would I be if I didn't recommend any of my work? A coming of age story that is basically Stand By Me meets The Sandlot. I could be more descriptive, but no favortism here.

The Pact - Three brothers from New Jersey become doctors, nuff said.

Jean Toomer's Cane - A disjointed narrative that allows a road weary traveler to analyze the various cultures in the South, while also maintaining a journal to a lover.

Amiri Baraka's Transbluesency - What better story is there than showing a Black man who was a part of the Beat Poets who becomes enlightened and begins a movement towards new Negritude and becomes an outspoken critic of society and actually lives.

Robert Hayden Those Winter Sundays - is actually a poem, but it speaks to the core of how Black men struggle with learning to love their fathers.

Saul Williams Dead Emcee Scrolls - Also poetry, but I'd like to see the story of how the rules of Hip-Hop were discovered in a subway system in NYC. I guess this is a guilty favorite but hell it would allow another Saul Williams movie and he killed it in SLAM.

I think you get the picture here. There are a number of amazing short stories by both men and women that could have been tackled and should be. Is it Tyler Perry's responsibility to do this? Yes it is. Why? Because we all realize by now that in Hollywood only one Black person is allowed to be prominent at a time. Tyler Perry has the ear of Hollywood due to his ability to generate sales, he now has a duty to create a new narrative that promotes the whole spectrum of our culture, not just the damaged women, church going folk, well oiled men and healed souls. I know we all like to think that a person should be able to do what they want, but Black people don't have the wiggle room of other cultures. We are seen in a particular way by everyone and if our most successful people don't generate media that allows for the promotion of well rounded characters then it's just not going to happen. I'll end with this: I have been waiting on the next Love Jones, The Wood, The Best Man, type film for over ten years, so Tyler listen to me and get me a movie that makes me feel like I felt when I watched PS I Love You with my wife. Can you do that?