Not long ago, I went to the movies with a friend I don’t see very often.  I told her I was going back to my hometown for the holidays, so she asked me about growing up in Kansas, and what I was like before I was ‘Malik Aziz’ (literally and figuratively).  I’m only being slightly sarcastic to say I started to have a flashback like Willy Wonka (Johnny Depp) when Charlie asked him about his childhood…

The most dominant memory for me is of the place I spent most of my time: the basement of my parents’ home.  It is an unfinished basement: the floor is cold concrete, as are the cement walls.  The lights are old school: a lightbulb attached to a string you pull on.  There is a small one foot wide window that provided a little natural light when the sun was shining, but at night it was pitch black.  I had a weight bench in one corner that I used every night to take out my frustrations (and thus began my lifelong appreciation for fitness).  My other outlet was DeNiece, who I would call once a week, usually on Saturdays, when I had to express my frustrations to another person.  I could usually hear what was going on in other parts of the house, but overall it was very quiet.  It was the perfect place for me to study the Qu’ran initially.  And no, I’m not trying to deliberately make it sound like I was in Shawshank.  (Okay, maybe just a little).

Jokes aside, all of us are forever marked by how we view our childhood.  In my case, I will always have that memory of being spiritually miserable, geographically/professionally miserable, and socially miserable all at the same time.  And I vowed then that I would not live my life like that forever.

The point I was trying to make to my homegirl was to go from that vivid memory of complete frustration, to being where we were; sitting in a private screening room in Beverly Hills, watching a probable Oscar contender before it hits theatres; I feel as I’ve gone from 5 percent of what I wanted to somewhere around 80 (and on nights like that it hits the high 90s).  I work to have the life I want and it’s a never ending process.

But getting from point A to point B is not something I’ve ever really done alone, and this year as much as any other I had a quite a bit of help, support, and favors done on my behalf.  I’ve spent a good few days thinking of everyone who’s done something for me in the past 12 months, so if I’ve left you out feel free to yell at me, but know it wasn’t on purpose.  Like I said, I work very hard to get what I want, but I’m also aware I’m very, very blessed to have folks like these in my life.

So, in no particular order, thank you to Sev, Nate, Kareem, Jamaal and the Ummah around the world, Vahagn for hooking me with the comics, Booker for hooking me up with the games, Rosanna, Ekpo, and Q for the great memories from NYC, Chris, Jeremy, Steve and everybody associated with Through A Glass who helped me bring ‘Lady’ to life, Brad, Tina, and Sophie, Adrian and Aida, Al, Amber, Ava, and Cole, the Kernel, Henry, Barb, Kam and everybody associated with USC First Team, Molyneaux and the guy who sat to the left of us all season for the unsolicited running commentary through the roughest Trojan season so far, Shane for looking at my script, Lisa for the screening invites, the folks at Markee Magazine, the folks at GQ Magazine, Ralph and my friends at Black Entertainment Television, the Black Hollywood Education and Resource Center, and the Mid-Atlantic Black Film Festival, Randy, Jason, and my Stark Family (I owe you guys lunch dates in 2010 if you call me out on it), Doug, Christine, James, David and the entire Pigskin League for letting me back in (Compton is back and he’s here to stay you suckas!!!!), Aaron, Ama, and De’sha of course (you didn’t think I’d forget?), my Facebook Fam, my Twitter Fam, Monica (saving the best for almost last, how you like that?), Pops, Mom, and Sheena, B and Tracee, and last but definitely not least, everyone who comes here to check out what’s on my mind, whether you stop by daily, weekly, monthly, or whenever, it’s much appreciated, and it keeps me writing.

Happy Holidays to all and stay blessed.  2010 is already looking like it’s going to be something else!

M