At first I wasn't going to go there. I didn't think that this Don Imus situation was such a big deal. But as the days went by and there were more news reports and stories about all the fall-out. I think . . . Hey, I really should be paying attention to this. I found myself watching TV specials and news reports about the shock jock who got himself fired for saying something that many people say every day. Heck! Even I may have uttered these words at one time — "nappy-headed ho" — but I would never say them outside of my comfort circle, much less to another person. That's just cruel. And that's basically where the difference lies.

Imus said it. And he said it out loud. The man probably thought he was within his own comfort circle — the radio community — which he has been a part of for close to 40 years. I would say that was his first mistake, but it wasn't. He's talked about everyone and anyone that would cross his path and most of it not in a favorable light. Now that he's been outed, activists have set their sights on other offenders.

I'm a hip-hop junkie. There are a number of artists who have made 'ho' a regular part of their vernacular, which is a real shame. Somewhere along the line the word ho became a synonym for a woman. Maybe these artists use it because this word is so easy to rhyme with. Go, snow, blow, flow. But the word woman, well & there's human. Not too many musicians are talking about human conditions. And I'm sure that itself is

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another part of the same problem. Let me define me. As a black woman, I know that there are times when my hair looks better than on other days — April is not a good hair month for me, too many of those showers. So, yeah, my hair may seem a little nappier than usual. In fact, one of my favorite styles is dreadlocks, and truthfully you can't get too much nappier than that. But that still doesn't excuse the name-calling.

I may be nappy-headed and that's my choice. I enjoy my naps, my peas, my beady-bees & my kitchen. They help to make me, me. Who wants to be another garden variety? Speaking of garden — that's where a hoe (note the spelling) belongs. A hoe is a garden tool. There'll be plenty of them out next month.

Page designer Joy James writes monthly. She can be reached at jjames@ctpost.com.