Boy Me

1965. Indianapolis, Indiana.

Happy Daze

Winter of 1981. Freshman year, USC.

Big, Black ... Cheerleader?

"You used to be a cheerleader for UCLA, but before that you were a yell leader for USC!"

The words of a woman who once approached me at an airport.

"Weren't you that cheerleader for UCLA?"

A question I was asked, wherever I went, for a good fifteen years after college.

"Didn't you used to be a yell leader for USC?"

Another question that followed me for years after college.

"Hey, it's the traitor! He used to be a USC yell leader, but he transferred and became a UCLA cheerleader. He's a traitor! It's the traitor! Look everybody, it's the traitor!"

The loud accusations of a handful of black kids as I escorted my mother to a LA Clippers game at the old Sports Arena in 1986. The kids lived in South Central, hung around the Coliseum and USC football. For years in the 80s, whenever they saw me in public: "There's the traitor. He's a traitor. First he went to USC, then he ..."

My young black hecklers served as inspiration for a similar bit in Walt Loves the Bearcat, my fourth novel about the life of a black male cheerleader (and his QB hubby who comes out and shocks the world).

But what inspired me to become a cheerleader? And why did I do it at two major universities who are bitter crosstown rivals? And what was cheerleading like for this big-assed, six-foot-three, athlete-looking ni ... nice black man?

Find out in the blocks labeled Cheer Up, now and forever at Randy Boyd's Blocks:

So I Thought I Could Dance
USC Yell Leader Has Love Hangover at Fiesta Bowl
UCLA Cheerleader Sacked by Rose Bowl

What Would James Bond Do?

He did it! What no other black man before him had accomplished. He achieved the unthinkable. He became president of the United States of America.

He did it again! What no other president before him had accomplished. He achieved the unthinkable. He made universal healthcare the law of the land of the free.

He was brave enough to stick with his convictions and face his oppressors. It's done. They'll try to undo it, but it's done. It's done.

"Obama has something few men possess."

In less than two years, Barack Obama has achieved the impossible twice. One can just imagine (or see on television) the spinning heads of the scared white racists, er, rebels, er, republicans, decrying: where has our 'whites only' America gone?

When the white man mandated auto insurance, home owner's insurance, driver's licenses, social security, Medicare, some protested, but they got over it. That's because it wasn't personal.

When a black man mandates anything, it's personal. It's personal. It's personal.

So how does this black man, whose middle name is Hussein, keep defying the odds and doing crazy things like winning the presidency and achieving healthcare reform in the blink of an historic eye?

"The president's secret weapon is so innate, it's invisible."

Barack Hussein Obama has a secret that's more like a secret weapon. He has something few men possess, a trait that allows him to outlast the blowhards and remain calm amidst the yelling, screaming and temper tantrums.

It's not his brain, albeit he's one smart man. It's not his charm, although he's quite charming. The president's secret weapon is so innate, it's invisible, so ingrained, it's in his nature, so elusive, it would take Jedi-like training from an early age for an ordinary man to grasp and master.

Barack Obama's secret weapon is patience. He has the patience to pause before reacting, the patience to listen before speaking, the patience to give his brain some perspective. Got an insult? A lie? A spin? An epithet? An accusation? Give it your best shot.

President Obama has the patience to let other reveal themselves for who they are, then reply with a well-thought-out response. By not letting his testosterone run the show, his highly talented brain is better prepared to spring into action. You might say, our president is a James Bond of the mind.

In this day and age, Obama's patience is not only a virtue, it's a must for the survival of America and the world.