Murphy’s Law
I’m a Black Man With a Tiny Dog — and Yes, I Buy Him Sweaters
Don’t judge me
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My name is Keith Lamar Murphy, and I am a Black man with a tiny dog.
Like most Black men, I was taught that dogs are an extension of our manhood and the contract with our canine companions was all about mutual protection. I grew up with a German shepherd named Heidi. Heidi technically belonged to my grandmother, but we knew she loved us all. And my late old man, God bless him, owned a comically intimidating Doberman pinscher named Bonnie who took commands — in German, no less!
For decades, the image of the powerful, imposing dog breed has dominated hip-hop iconography and movies. In New Jack City, Nino Brown walked into a Cash Money Brothers meeting with an unnerving rottweiler before stabbing a member of the crew. Snoop Dogg transformed into a Doberman in his 1993 video for “Who Am I (What’s My Name)?” And back in the ’90s, infamous Death Row Records bogeyman Suge Knight was known to travel with a menacing shepherd named Damu (Swahili for “blood”), who was reportedly trained to attack on command.
