You need to understand that my father raised us with duty for our last name. The highest expectations because our last name is ‘Tate’.
My Dad didn’t coddle me. He beat me when I fucked up, and I’m better for it. “I tell these boys the truth: life’s hard, stop crying, get tough”. That’s what a father does.
This was beneficial to me. It prevented me from doing detrimental things in my life.
He was a super principled man. He said I must analyse every firmly held belief I have, realize where it came from, who gave it to me, and whether they have my best interests at heart.
He lived in a scary and combative world where he was surrounded by enemies in his mind. He was paranoid, but he was reacting to the reality he lived in.
He had unfortunate incidents involving pure violence. He knew the world can become violent quickly. He told me that they are coming for me, like they came for him.
I remember vividly, I was about eight or nine years old. My father won a chess tournament. A low level one. He made like $3,000, or something, and he said, “Listen, son, the rent is paid and I either want 100 grand or nothing”.
So, we went to the casino and my Dad lost all the money.
On the way back we went to a gas station. I went to the back to the coolers and I opened them to get a drink. Then I heard all this noise. When I turned around, my Dad was fighting three men.
I don't know how the fight started. He had one of them up against the door and he was biting his face. The other two were punching my Dad in the back of the head.
I'm a kid and I just stood there like, “What the fuck”, and the Korean guy behind is shouting,
“Stop stop stop”.
I didn't know what to do, so I went to walk over and although my Dad was getting punched, although he's biting this guy, I remember him turning to me and shouting, “Stay there”.
Then he went back to biting the guy. I still don't know to this day how the fight started.
My Dad had blood on his face. Some from the guy, some from him. His eye was black. His eye socket got fractured. His eyes closed and bruised up.
We stood there and the Korean guy started panicking. The guys threatened to kill him as they left, “We're going to fucking kill you”, like gang bangers. Then he said to us:
“My store is damaged. Wait for the police. Wait for the police”.
I think my Dad was a bit disoriented. He never went down, but I could tell he was a bit dizzy. Dad stood there, in a military position, in the corner of the place, and waited for the police officer to come.
The police officer came and started doing reports. He asked what happened. The police officer said to my Dad, “So you fought these three guys! Okay, well, what's your job”?
My Dad said “I'm a chess player”, and the police officer said, “Well, maybe you should have been something else”.
Then Dad said “My unmatched perspicacity coupled with my sheer indefatigability makes me a feared opponent in any realm of human endeavor.”
I remember him giving this answer to the police officer. The police officer had a quizzical expression. His eyebrows were pulled down and together.
And that was a saying that my Dad started using then on after, and I adopted it.
That's the only time I ever saw him fight, that he didn't win. I mean, he got fucked up, but he didn't go down. He dealt with all three of them, and they ran, and he was left in the end.
My father was a super unique individual. You have to imagine a big black guy. A physically dominating, dangerous guy who's a chess genius.
He was also extremely condescending. But I understand why he was the way he was. When you're wired like he is, everyone else is a moron.
Sis to sis: When your tears don’t move him anymore, that nigga is no longer in love with you. A man who truly loves his woman can’t watch her cry and stay comfortable. If he can, the love is already gone.
People who think they elected the president:
• Citizens
People who elected the president and he must work for them:
• IMF
• WEF
• WORLD BANK
• USAID/UKAID
People who insult each other:
• Citizens
People who laugh at citizens:
• Politicians
#BetterTogether
DON’T ask me for advice 😭! I support divorce, disowning family, blocking mfs mid-conversation, burning bridges with everybody still standing on them & disappearing without explanation !