Don't Call It Hazing

That was a scene from one of my all time favorite movies "School Daze".
That was old school, long before all of this new school stuff like "Stomp The Yard" and "Drumline" came along.
LONG LIVE OLD SCHOOL!
(Hmmm.....maybe that should have been the title of this blog.)
Oh well.........
Well, I'm sure this won't go over too well-especially in today's climate. But someone has to say publicly, what others are saying privately.
So with that being said, let's get it!
You ready?
Ok, here we go:

First, let me give you a little background on me:
I crabbed the band at Alabama State University in 1989.
I pledged Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc. in 1993.
I was one of the most notorious hazers in the state of Alabama, if not the entire southeast.
When people heard the name:
"Big Brother Blazer-The Scroller Hazer"
They knew it was going to be a ruff and tuff night.
Not bragging, just trying to help you understand my perspective while you read this blog.
I've always said that hazing doesn't harm people, the people doing the hazing is what harms people.
Case and point: The recent foolishness at FAMU.
From the death of Robert Champion- the drum major who died while being initiated into the infamous "C-Bus".
To the latest incident where three men boys were arrested  for breaking a girl's thigh while initiating her into (wait, let me make sure I say this right) the Red Dawg Order.
What's so infamous about the "C-Bus"?
And why in the hell does someone feel the need to paddle a girl 300 times to belong to a clique of band people from Georgia?
No lie!
That's what the Red Dawg Order is- a clique of FAMU band people from the state of Georgia.
All of this mess is crazy!
You know who I blame?
I blame all of the people who have been on a nonstop crusade to ban or eliminate hazing!
Yes, you read it correctly-it's YOUR fault!
You have created a generation of kids who are trying to haze people based on what they think hazing is about.
See, here's what many of you need to understand.
Regardless of what you think about it or how you feel about it, you will never get rid of it and you'll never stop it.
It doesn't matter what laws you put in place or what you tell prospective members of any organization (or band-smh), hazing is an institution that can't be closed.
But instead of facing that reality and finding a way to modify the process-you decided to try and MAKE it go away by instituting new laws and new processes.
Now look at what you got-a full scale mess at one of the most prized HBCUs in the country.
And this band thing is just the tip of the iceberg.
You're about to pull the covers off of Hazing U (university) and what you're about to find is going to shatter your little thoughts and dreams of putting an end to something that has been around since the early 1900s.
I don't envy you guys at all because you really have your work cut out for you.
But can I ask you all and the general public a huge favor?
Can you please stop calling these incidents-Hazing Incidents?
These are not Hazing Incidents!
Hazing takes placeTOOK place in a controlled environment.
An environment where someone was responsible for making sure the pledges were taken care of and protected (in a weird kind of way).
Classifying these and other barbaric acts as incidents of hazing is disrespectful to all of us who had the privilege of being hazed.
And NO, I don't care to elaborate or explain.
(Even if I did, you still wouldn't understand.)