Celebrating Black History Month: “Keeping it Real” at the Strip Club

Black American Culture has enriched our lives in so many ways. One of those ways is by introducing the concept of “keeping it real,” which means that if anyone insults you, it doesn’t matter how long you have to spend in jail, as long as you take action against that person who insulted you, you have “kept it real.” Rianne Theriault-Odom kept it real when, after being turned down for a stripping job because she is uglier than a baboon’s taint, she poured gasoline on a single Mom stripper (hell, aren’t they all single moms?) and set her on fire. She’s going to spend the rest of her life in prison, but dammit, she kept it real, and really, that’s all that counts during black history month, amIright?

From the DailyNews here:

A Tarzana woman was found guilty Thursday of dousing an exotic dancer and single mother with gasoline and setting her on fire last year outside the Tarzana bikini bar Babes N’ Beer.

Rianne Theriault-Odom, 28, who had been rejected as a dancer at the club, faces mandatory life sentences for the guilty verdicts of one count each of aggravated mayhem and torture.

The victim, Roberta Dos Santos Busby, a single mother of two from Simi Valley, spent five months in the hospital and underwent 30 operations after the Feb. 5, 2009, attack. The burn and skin-graft scars were still strikingly visible on her legs and face as she sat in the courtroom.

During the trial, witnesses said that Theriault-Odom, who had been rejected for a job at Babes N’ Beer, had feuded with Busby and felt disrespected by her.

Theriault-Odom testified that “I felt offended – I felt she was trying to punk me. I had to stand up for myself. That’s the way it is on the streets.”

She also testified to being “very drunk” on the evening before the 1:45 a.m. attack, saying she had consumed two double shots of Russian vodka, half a fifth of Patron tequila and five shots of Hennessey cognac.

Witnesses identified Theriault-Odom as the assailant, saying they saw her douse Busby with gasoline from a bottle, pull out a lighter and try three times before setting her on fire.

Surveillance video was shown of Busby running into the bar on fire – “like a human torch,” Musante said – as frantic club workers tried several times to put out the flames.

Yep, so on the streets, watch out and don’t try to “punk people” or they will set you on fire ’cause that’s what you do to keep it real.