Humanitarian Hustlers
An ex-girlfriend of mine once told me you must give to receive. But that’s another topic that I’m not getting into right now. I recently had a conversation with a social worker who works with homeless people, and it was a very informative discussion. Now, I have more clarity about non-profitable organizations for the less fortunate. It also gave me a chance to reflect on my life, and the worlds’ view on philanthropy in general. I know some people think I may be cynical at times, but I usually fully analyze a situations before I come to a conclusion. I’m not one to place judgement on what’s in someone’s heart, but some celebrities humanitarian’s efforts just seems disingenuous to me.
For example, Bad Boy Records CEO, Sean “Diddy” Combs, nothing seems humble about this guy, not his music, body language, lifestyle or anything else. Yet, you see him rocking his seven foot Bristol boards (along with Damon Dash) bearing a bunch of zeros on it for Hurricane Katrina. Two-time Oscar winner, Sean Penn, is another example that I question a little bit. During the 2010 Haiti earthquake, he wasn’t hard to find, he had his own cameraman behind him (like a second shadow). He was also on CNN doing press conferences daily; it wouldn’t be a reach to call him the global ambassador to the Haitian earthquake. At first, I was impressed, thinking this former Hollywood bad boy improved his image.
Then I found out that he cheated on his former wife, Robin Wright, and she caught him in bed with two young women, and he’s started questioning Wyclef Jean’s agenda for running for president of Haiti (which Wyclef ruined himself). Then I was like, ”Oh okay, but you got your positive PR already, why was he sticking his nose in Haitian politics?” And then, there’s Duane “Dog the Bounty hunter” Chapman. He was caught on tape doing his white supremacist rant (because his son was dating an African American woman). All he did was call Rev. Al Sharpton, and took photos with him and gave “underprivileged black kids some toys”. Then viola! He cleaned up his image and got his show back. All this without being rehabilitated from his racist views.
People think that money changes people but it doesn’t; it just brings out your inner desires. Some people always were arrogant, but were “humble” by default because they didn’t have money to flaunt their success. On the flip side, a lot of people have always wanted to help others but they didn’t have the money to do so, like (Michael Jackson). It’s no coincidence that God gave Sean Penn, Dog the bounty Hunter and Diddy extremely punchable faces either. A couple years ago, I was pleasantly surprised when the B.E.T awards honoured Denzel Washington and Alicia Keys with a lifetime achievement award for charity. If they weren’t honoured by B.E.T, the general public would have never known. Mother Teresa dedicated all 87 years of herself to charity without the fanfare and attention. Your good deeds are between you and your God and not for public adoration.
My mother has a big heart as well, for years, she was donating money to an African charity, and they were giving daily updates on the boy (along with pictures). She use to joke and say he’s my brother, but then, when I asked her for $20, she would say, go ask the job agency for $20. But as the years went by, the kid started looking different, and I started questioning the charity. But my mom just ignored me until they gave her a new picture (of another kid with the same name). Some of these commercials work on me as well. I remember one time I was watching TV and eating a slice of pizza, and I came across one of those commercials, and it was almost like the kid and the flies stopped what they were doing to watch me eat. I immediately lost my appetite and went to sleep.