SALUTATIONS BY KHALID STRICKLAND a.k.a. BLACK PACINO
PHOTOS BY SUNDIATA ACREE
My homie Big Chad is back in the world after serving a five-year bid up north. He’s been out for a lil’ while now but we hadn’t hooked up since his release. So last Friday night Chad rolled through my man Sundi’s crib (the off-line spizzy) to reunite with a bunch of old friends he hadn’t seen in at least five joints. It was good to see his sense of humor is still intact and the bid didn’t break him. My dude came home with an improved mindstate. He’s doing positive and productive things.
Although he couldn’t indulge, we toasted Chad with a parade of blunts and a family-sized bottle of Hen-Rock. But this wasn’t your average, everyday Hennessy… no, sir. This cognac was sold in a limited-edition bottle to honor our 44th President, Barack Obama. I bullshit you not. Hennessy debuted this around the time of Obama’s inauguration, so you may have known. We shelled out forty bucks for the historic bottle (Hennessy only made 180,000 of them). Hen-Rock for Barack, ain’t that somethin’?
Now, Obama’s name isn’t actually on the bottle, nor did the good folks at Henny put the sitting president’s name in its ads. But the neck of the bottle is emblazoned with a big “44.” It also reads “In honor of the 44th President. January 20th, 2009.” And the label’s color is *surprise, surprise* black.
My homies chugged their shots of ‘yak with no problem. Usually, my only conflict with Hennessy is whether to drink it straight or with ice. But with Obama’s special brew I wasn’t sure if I should feel, as an African-American, flattered or insulted by Hennessy’s gesture of goodwill. The first African-American president is commemorated with his own bottle of Hen-Dog. That’s what’s up… or is it?
Hennessy has long been accused of targeting the Black community but that never stopped me from drinking it. Once I came to the conclusion that I’d guzzle it regardless, other questions flooded my mind:
“Since this is Presidential Hennessy, should we remove our hats and say the Pledge of Allegiance before we chug it?”
“Should we toast to both Big Chad and Big Barry-O?”
“Will I disgrace the first Black Commander-In-Chief by getting drunk and acting ignorant?”
“Is this bottle made of bullet-proof glass?”
Ironically, there was an old issue of the N.Y. Daily News (fuck The Post) lying on Sundi’s table. The newspaper’s cover showed President Obama sitting in the Oval Office on his first day of work.
Out of respect, I raised the bottle of cognac and saluted the picture.
Upon further inspection, I dug up this hilarious press release from the makers of Hennessy:
“This collector-edition, individually numbered bottle will further cement Hennessy’s roots in the urban community, with a percentage of proceeds being donated to the Thurgood Marshall College Fund to help enable America’s next generation of leaders…”
I don’t know about you but I laughed out loud when I read that shit. Hennessy’s collective heart seems to be in the right place, though. After all, Cristal didn’t appreciate Black folks poppin’ their champagne, hence Jay-Z’s boycott. And it could’ve been much worse. At least we’re not discussing Obama Olde English 800 or Presidential St. Ides.
Who would’ve thought a bottle of liquor could be so politically charged? Anyway, I had a fun Friday night chillin’ with some old comrades. Shout-outs to Panda Bear, Tim Single, P.J. and Lyte Burly. You’ve all been immortalized at The Spizzy.
YO YOU KNOW MY THOUGHTS ON DAT SHIT..WAT KIND OF MOCKERY IS THAT..WHY HEN?..AND NOT A BOTTLE OF 400YR OLD SLAVE JUICE..SLAP IN FACE JUST MY PERSONAL THOUGHTS”LICK SHOT”"BROOKLYN”!!!!
true. the shit is kinda tacky.
but we all know this ain’t gonna stop any of us from drinkin’ hen-rock.
didn’t timberland say some negative shit about black folks waaaaaaaaay back? we forgot about that, huh? in fact, there’s a ton of products we buy every day from racist-ass companies with owners who wouldn’t give us the time of day in-person.
at least henny is straight-forward like, “fuck it, we WANT your business…. NIGGAZ!!!!” LMAO
So who’s gonna honor cats like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharton, Nighttrain and Ripple?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Fuck an LOL, I just LITERALLY laughed out loud.
So what black politician would be deserving of commerative Cisco?
Marion Barry, perhaps? Nah… he’d get his own brand of crack.
Maybe Detroit’s-own Kwame Kilpatrick… yeah, he gets the Cisco.
Trust, my niggas come home from long bids
They check for me before they see their own kids
I open up accounts for ‘em, we bounce tour in
major cities, arenas, headline with big time singers
Cop Ferraris with navigational screens
guide us through your hood and any locality, head back to Queens…
~Nas
TC… my nigga.
The Capo of the TSS Familia pays his BK enforcer a visit at The Spizzy.
A historic moment indeed.
I’ll be glad when I can employ & open accounts for my folk who return home. Ferraris would be nice too, though I’d prefer a Maserati for myself. With Annie Thao (a.k.a. Annie Pacino) in the passenger seat.
That’s why I’m goin’ for the jugular to get this cake, TC.
Whats good Ki…
b.rhans checkin out the SPIZZY… I called Sun that night too
B. RHANS!!!!!
official L.E.S. niggaz is in the spizzy, son!
what up, famlee?
hell yeah, i remember you called & we all yelled “whassup” into the phone LOL!!
glad you’re here. it’s good to have familiar faces up in here.
roll thru anytime, you’re V.I.P. all i need is gee-on to roll thru now.
respect, B.
YO I HAD A GOOD TIME WIT YALL THAT NIGHT!! I STILL CAN’T BELIEVE I SPENT 15 DOLLARS ON A PASTRAMI SANDWICH (FROM KATZ DELI)!! LOL
Big CHAD Welcome HOME fam!!! Good to see you back with the peoples!!! It’s been a minute since I saw you and I was just in NY!!! Dayum we’ll all have to hook up in some type of reunion back in NY!!!
Ain’t nothing like a sandwich from Katz…me and my shorty came up there from DE just to go to lunch there. Keep your focus love your family and stay up!!!
Big Chf
Holla!!!
awwwwww shit!
BIG CHAD, THE MAN HIMSELF, IS IN THE BUILDING!!!!
i had a good time too, my dude… one of my favorite moments of ’09 so far. we gotta do it again soon.
we all some crazy niggaz payin’ 15 bucks for fuckin’ sandwiches… during the recession at that hahahahahahaha!
but katz’s pastrami is the bomb, tho.
big chad, you are DEFINITELY, UNDOUBTEDLY a spizzy V.I.P.
& you get all the respect in the world from black pacino.
that was a good day for all of us.. we need to do that again. dog.
ha ha! the big homie panda bear is in this mu’fucka!
BROOOOOKLYYYYYYYYYYYN!
indeed, my nigga, we gots to squad-up again.
right now, it looks like we’re doin’ it right here at the spizzy LOL!
from the offline spot to the online spot, eh?
you gave single some free advertising in the picture too.
and it goes without saying, but panda bear is a spizzy V.I.P. too.
i’m holdin’ up the peace sign for you, bruh.
my nigger. what’s up! yo you need to send me a copy of thug opus dog.
my copys keep skiping from playing it to people.
aint that some shit, i still play that movie to people!
we need to do more work dog. keep me posted.
peace…..
aight… you got some mileage outta those DVDs, huh?
sure, i can get you another copy of THUG OPUS.
or you can watch it at my online movie theater.
it’s free of charge for anyone who wanna peep it….
THUG OPUS: EPISODE ONE:
http://www.supremearsenal.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=61&Itemid=77
if you choose, you can watch it fullscreen there too.
peace!
yo waddup with that sequel to THUG OPUS? lol…don’t forget about me big homie!! i gotta get them niggas who shot my bro in the first one…lol…hey yo goto http://www.tagged.com/bigchadlover to see some pics of that infamous “HEN-ROCK” NITE…i even got a solo shot of you my nigga!! peace!!
aight! that’s whassup, big homie.
niggaz been invitin me to join tagged. facebook.. twitter… myspace… ning… there’s just too much shit to get into online, it’s stir-fryin my brain LOL
yeah, you can come back & avenge your brother’s death in “thug opus 2.”
it can be like “kill bill” in the hood.
Are we talking sequelsssssss yall aint right!!! I gotta be down on anything sequel oriented sun!!! LIke Ima play his twin brother or some shit that just got out of the military!!! Came back from Iraq or Kazakhstan or some shit!!! Let me know sun!!! Shit I’ll help you write the screenplay if I have to!!! LOL
LMAO!
everybody wants to play the twin brother comin back for revenge.
is that what twin brothers are born for? vengeance?
in that case, i need a twin cuz i got a lot of old scores to settle.
aight… let’s write a script then, chf. we need a cheap, available actor for star-power.
is gary busey available?
you know i drink so much henny i never noticed there was a presidential henny….. talk about being out for presidents that represent me!!! the 44th prez represents me well