word up, my ninjas

As a writer, I love words. Words are sexy. They can tell us so much about where we are and, many times, where we’re from. Take the word, nigger, or it’s politically correct presentation – the N-word. regardless of how you brand it, the word is pretty hateful. I don’t care what hip hop culture says.

And don’t get me started on the double standard of who can use the word and who can’t. The perfect example and parody of this is envisioned by filmmaker, Viet Nguyen. Enjoy, my ninjas.


Check out my own parody (with words) that I did a few years ago, here.

Published by kenn

author. developer. illustrator. Renaissance man.

14 thoughts on “word up, my ninjas”

  1. Lyn Thomas says:

    That was clever! LMAO! I shared this on Facebook and Twitter! LMAO!

    1. kenn says:

      Clever and true.

  2. Suraya says:

    Lmao. Funny skit but yet so true. I loathe that word and do not care to add it to my vocabulary. If i do not like other people of different races using that word then why should i? I especially cannot understand why anyone of color would use it. Such a derogatory word.

    1. kenn says:

      Ignorance is the only thing that carries this word or tries to justify its casual use.

  3. Nike says:

    ROFL!!! I LOVE IT and snagging this for sharing purposes!!!

    1. kenn says:

      Please do.

  4. mali says:

    that’s the funniest skit i’ve seen in a while. the double standard is, indeed, laughable. it’s awesome that Viet Nguyen was brave enough to capture/expose it – with humor, no less. HILARIOUS – thanks!

    1. kenn says:

      I’d never heard of Viet Nguyen, but looking at his IMDB profile, this was an earlier work and maybe even a student film. He wrote it as well as directed it. I wonder where he grew up.

  5. tiff says:

    I have never actually said nigger/nigga before but, I have to say that I do see the political impact of the word, nothing is ever “black and white” and neither is the word nigger. When Common says ” run, nigga, run” in his song The Game or The Roots in Tip The Scale rap “Nigga need to stay cunning…I live life trying to tip the scale my way.” Or even commercial Kanye and Jay Z as they rap about “Niggas In Paris” there is a political Fck you implicit in the use of and ownership of the word.
    Gay people did the same thing when the group Queer Nation was formed in the late 80’s early 90’s.
    Is saying nigga, furthering the cause of black people, of course not, but I can see how its use arose in urban areas, a stab at power and SELF identification, from a people who have no power and for hundreds of years have been defined from outside rather than from within.

    I “get” what the producer of this video is attempting to say, but my initial and visceral reaction to the video is to be offended…it just seems like an ape of young black men, it would be more helpful if he asked WHY do young black men call each other nigga.

    1. kenn says:

      Why do young black men call other nigga and what makes it an exclusive club? Who can say it? Who can’t? How can we “take back” or reclaim a word that we don’t fully understand the origin of?

  6. tiff says:

    You are definitely right, we can’t reclaim a word that we don’t even know the meaning of, and God knows black people do a lot of very self destructive things arising from an ingrained sense of self hatred, calling each other nigga being one of them…and what you are doing by teaching your sons their worth and self love and the meaning of words and their impact is the best and only way to combat that. I just thought the parody had an undercurrent of a sort of sordid superiority to it.

    1. kenn says:

      This brings to mind Saul Williams take on it from a few years back –
      African Student Movement. Lyrics follow…

      – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

      Freedom, ignorance, jealousy, belligerence, anger, self-control, tolerance, to and fro, wisdom, exstacy, addiction, dependency, discipline, counter act, pray for peace, then attack. Dominane. Contradict. Upper class derelict. Downgrade. Downsize. Upstate. Uprise.

      Now tell me, where my niggas at? Now tell me, where my niggas at? Now tell me, where my niggas at? Now tell me where my nigga at?

      Downtown. On the block. At the club. Steaming hot. Dancing. Talking shit. Telling lies. Like a pimp. Meanwhile, underpaid. Read like, second grade. Uncle Sam, sign you up. Benefits. And a gun.

      Now tell me, where my niggas at? Now tell me, where my niggas at? Now tell me, where my niggas at? Now tell me where my nigga at?

      African People. African people. African People. African People.
      Shotgun. Shotgun. Shotgun. Shotgun.

      Rise up. Over-stand. Stand your ground. Own your land. Serve all. Love all. Never sleep. Never fall. Meditate. Eat right. Pray first. Then fight. But for truth. Not for fame. Not for glory. Or the game.

      Now tell me, where my niggas at? Now tell me, where my niggas at? Now tell me, where my niggas at? Now tell me where my nigga at?

      African People. African people. African People. African People.
      Shotgun. Shotgun. Shotgun. Shotgun.

      Liberia. Iraq. Dark brown. Light black. South Africa. Mozambique. Mud hut. Concrete. AIDS ridden. Heart disease. Strange fruit. Southern trees. Sierre Leone. Diamond mines. Cameroon. Pipe lines. Port au Prince. Salvadore. Civil right. Civil war. Zimbabwe. Trenchtown. Money makin’. Queens bound. BX. Shaolin. Uptown. Brooklyn. Upstate. Newburgh. Unseen. Unheard.

      Now tell me, where my niggas at? Now tell me, where my niggas at? Now tell me, where my niggas at? Now tell me where my nigga at?

      African People. African people. African People. African People.

  7. tiff says:

    Ok that song blew me away. in love.

    1. kenn says:

      Good. Saul Williams rocks.

Leave a Reply to tiff

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *