Idrissa Akuna Elba has caught our full attention when it comes to fanatic admiration...and because of my profession in functions of the social kind...I recognize that Obsession should just be the name of a movie. But I am not unrealistic...it is clear that this attraction that so many of us have for Mrs. Elba's baby boy is beyond his physical aesthetic...beyond just admirations of him on movie screens and web pages where photo books of his face are found in so many of myspaces. So I turn to the work that pays no wages but makes me rich...and it is then that "I rise up and overstand". I recognize why so many on the feminine side of gender descry him...

He's That dude!

Yeah...He's THAT dude that most of us are always looking for...which is why the ladies love him so much.

That dude... who is fine in such a real way. Not that Hollywood Ken Doll kind of fine...but that dude you see working construction in midtown kind of fine. He's that dude that you see in the morning on the subway on your way to work..you know the one that makes you turn your head twice...once to see how good he looks and then again... to see how good he looks when he walks away.

That dude who gets your attention when you smell his cologne from behind as you browse the aisle of walgreens... then bumps into you and says "excuse me love" with a smile as he goes towards the personal hygiene shelf and picks up a box of tampons for his lady love, who put that gold band on his left hand.

Yeah...Idris is that dude who you went to school with and befriended because he was just a little bit different than anyone else, but who you weren't attracted to...you know the one...you see him twenty years later and think "Damn...look who grew into a grown ass man".

Or better yet...that dude who you went to school with who used to pass you by in the hall way because you weren't, whatever...but now that you grown and sexy, he...that dude...recognizes and let's you know that he is mature enough to see what he didn't see before...which is so grown and sexy to you.

He's that dude at work that buys you lunch, and walks you to... your car... the subway...the bus stop...because that is what men do when they care.

He's that dude that loves you even when you don't love him. Watching you make a mess of things with other dudes who will never be That Dude.

He's even the dude you have to stop dealing with on levels of the intimate kind, but never stop thinking about because...

Yes, Yes...Idris is that dude who you are cool with now but are afraid to tell him you love him because you don't want to mess things up. (Tell him...He's that dude)

That dude who you can tell everything too and he doesn't judge you or see you as less than a lady.

That dude who you call when you need to talk to someone who loves you.

He's that dude...you know the thug who you couldn't tell your people you were dating because you knew that his living wasn't right...but you kept on dating because his heart was in the right place...a place that his living would get to eventually.

That dude who you can call on to protect you righteously when all the other dudes fall short.

He's that African dude you were afraid to date because you were afraid he was just about the papers...but because he's that dude he turns your fears into prose about your new found love for the mother land. "I was afraid to go to Nigeria...until I met you..."

That dude who you can hear singing about his "High Class Problems" in the shower, or as he's driving you home from work...serenading your insecurities..."I won't hurt you...I won't hurt you, no".

He's that dude that looks past your ugly to see your beautiful...even when no one else can. That dude who married you...fathered your children...even when they were his children only because he chose them to be...that dude that you know...that you love.

And even though Mr. Elba is intangible for most of us...he represents that dude that is tangible to all of us...the kind of dude you don't just wish about...he's repping for those dudes that you can see yourself with...those dudes that you are with...because his portrayal of reality goes beyond his thespian traits...that's called spiritual aesthetic which seperates the boys from the men...the fronters from the front street builders.

I understand now. Idris... is... That Dude... that we know...have known...have loved...and want to love again. He helps us to remember... "That Dude" is out there...and for most of us he's closer than we think.

Those who have ears to hear...let them hear!