Brian Pumper ... ... was on my brain for a minute today.

Not a bad image to have marinating around up there. I don't watch straight porn. Oh yeah, I've got that obligatory one that I used to play for tentative straight boyz ... while getting blunted, and before introducing them to something a little different. But I never watch them for my own pleasure ... just too many (as Shane from The L Word put it) ... "panty hamsters" for my taste. But an email is going around, which I've excerpted below, presents disturbing allusions to his health.

" ... recently came across a site that listed the bootylicius Brian Pumper as on[e] of many individuals possiblely exposed to HIV through someone he worked with on a porn project. This site is managed by a porn industry HIV monitoring organization. He is on a DO NOT HIRE list .... They have been put on this list because they have not received an HIV test through this organization ... if any industry should be on alert, it should be the porn industry .... Bottom line, the straight porn industry is the last to learn the lesson about condom use vs non condom use." see Quarantine List

First off ... the site is outdated. Second ... still, its a horrible invasion of one's privacy. The writer is accurate that straight porn went to condoms later than gay porn, and have learned lessons because of it. But what lessons have we learned? There is this growing trend back to raw fucking. Personal ads where people seek raw sex ... and porn videos that specifically target the raw' market (where the exchange of bodily fluids is clearly intentional). I could mention some by name but I won't. I own some though. And here's the scary part ... I like them better. Yeah. The raw action of flesh against flesh just can't be beat. A condom is always the unnatural extra when sex is afoot, and can be as unstimulating on-screen ... as it is off. This doesn't mean that I would be stupid enough to go out in the real world and fuck some stranger without protection. Or does it? Am I programming my brain for disaster? Are we all sliding down that slippery slope back to anything goes kinda fuckin'? I'm not smart enough to answer that. I just know what I see. Less and less condoms, on and off screen. Can it be that so many of us are positive, that we've developed this devil-may-care attitude toward sex and HIV?

Yeah, I was thinking of Brian Pumper, but now I'm more concerned with us. Are going back to the pre-condom days of porn icons like Joe Simmons?

And if that's the case ... where the hell is this gonna end?

Hmmm ....

And so it begins ... ?

Black Male Artists ... with BALLS?

SWEET ....

After Raz, I said others would follow ... but damn, RAYJ... that was fast.

~~ The One Wish Red Party in DC. ~~

Nepotism aside, (Brandy's always been my girl), and more than once in this life my eyes have wandered toward the little brother of the fam' ... now's no different.

I've never seen him perform or anything, but I'm feeling his song, One Wish, and now that he's got the balls to play for us ... I'm up his ass right about now.

Could this be a sign the younger generation of black males are less closed-minded when it comes to the gay thing? Are we seeing a light at the end of this tunnel? Is common sense prevailing at long last ... or just common cents?

Does he believe that flashing that youthful torso, licking those lips, and doing a few pelvics thrusts at a gay venue will cause lascivious homos, like myself, to fall to our knees ... and buy his CD? Well, he'd be right ... I just ordered it.

I never could resist a youthful torso ... or an artist unafraid to align himself with us. Here's yet another example of a man completely comfortable with his sexuality ... whatever it may be.

Go boy. ~~~

But let's not fawn over 'straight' artists showing us love all nite . . . 'cause there are also artists out there who speak directly to us ... and we gotta learn how to show them love too. Check out this true poet ... baron.

... 'cause when he says "Brothas I luv u openly ... cuz ur Beautiful" ... he's speaking to you and me.

artistbaron.com

Raz B ... has huge balls. I always knew.

Back when he broke from the homophobic wolf-pack and played Oakland’s Black Pride, I knew then … he would forever be my favorite B2K member. It’s easy to run with that pack … you barely have to think, or look where you’re going, just keeping in step with the rest of your panting, salivating brethren is enough. There's safety within the pack's imposing, thunderous advance. However … diverging off on one’s own is perilous, scary, and no one has your back anymore. But as Keith Boykin reports, little Raz will be gyrating that sexy money-maker for us once again … on January 25 at Trade, a black men's party at the 501 Club in D.C. Go Raz. Do your thing, boy. Show them what strong black men have known for decades … real men are their own 'pack', forge their own paths, sharing the spoils with no one. It is extremely sad that black men are pathologically terrified by homosexuality. It’s even sadder that the ‘root of all evil’ in this matter … is the church. Yeah. I said it. It needed to be. The church--leading the homophobic crusade with its hellfire and brimstone--has driven some of our most talented same-gender-loving brothers low. But I’m not just talking musical artists ... where are our actors and professional athletes? We know they're out there, shining like we usually do ... 'cause we watch them play and feel the vibe emanate from the court, across the field, from the stage, through the screen. One is probably reading this now … tsk-tsk-tsking Raz’s embrace of gays as one of desperation, or maybe quietly supporting it from afar, though ... very unsupportively. Well, Mr. Notable Black Athlete/Pop Star/Rapper/Actor ... I have a question. How many balls does it take to proudly, unapologetically, be your own man? Three? Four? Raz has chosen to break from the pack and lead his own charge, be his own man, and even if I’m not feeling his music at the moment ... I’ll support it, support him, just because he's man enough to support us. Period. Other’s will surely follow, timidly at first, once they see that little Raz hasn’t been cut down on the open plain of public opinion for his audaciousness. The fact is, a change is clearly gon’ come. Who else history remembers as ballsy, manly, trendsetting--instead of just pussies that waited ‘til it was safe--remains to be seen.

To paraphrase Slim Shady, 'Will the real black men ... please stand up?'

Oh ... and I'm really feelin' the mohawk, kid.