Anyone that knows me knows I'm a huge fan of Melvin Van Peebles.

He has greatly influenced me.

Taking a break from writing about how depressed and sick I am, I thought I would observe Black History Month by telling you how excited I am to see this new documentary about MVP.

How to Eat Your Watermelon in White Company (and Enjoy It)

When I was in Missouri, my oldest brother Donny surprised me by giving me a book I used to have when I was a little boy learning to read in Kansas City, Kansas. I was surprised that he had it in his possession all these years. People look at these books now as racist, but when I was a kid I loved Nicodemus! I identified with him and wanted to know him. He was my first black friend.

I've had many black friends since then and I believe that reading the little Nicodemus books helped me feel comfortable and not fear the Negros that worked on my family's plantation when I was growing up. Just kidding!

What? I live in Los Angeles, of course I'm terrified of black people!

Well, not all black people, just the young black men that try to hand you their CD when you're walking down Hollywood Boulevard or the ones that walk up behind you when you're pumping gas trying to hit you up for money or the ones that pull you from the cab of your truck in the middle of the intersection and bust your face in with a cement block during a riot. I know there must be some young white men that do those things, they just haven't done it to me yet.

I'm also terrified of the young white kids that want to be black, because those kids never aspire to be like Tavis Smiley, Cornel West, Harry Belafonte, Wynton Marsalis or Langston Hughes, but instead emulate the thug gangsta.

As I think about now, I'm terrified of all people.

Maybe it's safer to be friends with people who are in books.