Saturday, December 15, 2007
Friday, December 14, 2007
Being A Mommy
Today is a good day! I woke up happy!!! I'm excited because this year Selah-Nina will really understand that its Christmas. I used to be one of those who vowed to not make a big fuss out of this holiday, but honestly I can't wait to see her eyes on Christmas morning when she sees all her toys under a big pretty tree. I promise being a mother is one of the best feelings in the world. Yes, she can work my nerves, like this morning when she looked at me and gave me an emphatic "NO" when I told her to keep still so I can do her hair. However, when she wakes up with that beautiful smile that says, "I am so happy to see another day," it makes the crazy times so worth it. So, to all the good mothers who read this I send out blessings and I honor you.
So True...
ONLY A BLACK WOMAN
Can take a week of left over scraps and make a gourmet meal Can cuss a man out, then make love to him that night and make him feel like a king.Can wear a burgundy french roll, 3 inch heels and a split up her thigh to work and make it look professional
ONLY A BLACK WOMAN
Can wear the hell out of spandex Can raise a doctor, a world class athlete and an A+ student in an environment deemed by society as dysfunctional, broken underprivileged And disenfranchised.Can heat a whole house in the winter without help from the gas company. Can go from the boardroom to the block and "keep it real" in both places. Can slap the taste out of your mouth.
ONLY A BLACK WOMAN
Can put a Black man and his non-Black date on pins and needles just by walking into the room.Can live below poverty level and yet set fashion trendsCan fight two struggles everyday and make it look easyCan make a child happy on Christmas day even if he didn't get a thing Can be admired and fantasized about by men of other races Can be 75 years old and look 45.
ONLY A BLACK WOMAN
Can make other women want to pay plastic surgeons top $$$ for physical features she was already born with.
ONLY A BLACK WOMAN can be the mother of civilization.
Author unknown
Can take a week of left over scraps and make a gourmet meal Can cuss a man out, then make love to him that night and make him feel like a king.Can wear a burgundy french roll, 3 inch heels and a split up her thigh to work and make it look professional
ONLY A BLACK WOMAN
Can wear the hell out of spandex Can raise a doctor, a world class athlete and an A+ student in an environment deemed by society as dysfunctional, broken underprivileged And disenfranchised.Can heat a whole house in the winter without help from the gas company. Can go from the boardroom to the block and "keep it real" in both places. Can slap the taste out of your mouth.
ONLY A BLACK WOMAN
Can put a Black man and his non-Black date on pins and needles just by walking into the room.Can live below poverty level and yet set fashion trendsCan fight two struggles everyday and make it look easyCan make a child happy on Christmas day even if he didn't get a thing Can be admired and fantasized about by men of other races Can be 75 years old and look 45.
ONLY A BLACK WOMAN
Can make other women want to pay plastic surgeons top $$$ for physical features she was already born with.
ONLY A BLACK WOMAN can be the mother of civilization.
Author unknown
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Monday, December 10, 2007
Continuation...
Okay...so I am going to continue the post I was writing earlier. I am in a pretty good place today. Right now I sitting at my desk (during my planning listening to Alicia Key's "Its My Time") and so this is a great time for me to write my heart out....
Now, as I was saying I don't overlook the beauty of other cultures, but at the same time I feel like as a people African Americans don't embrace what is naturally us (our kinks). Don't get me wrong, everyday is a struggle but I am in it to win it. See, about four months ago I spent $650 getting loc extensions. For those who immediately choose to judge me and my decision I ask that you do one thing; either open your hear to what I am about to say or close my blog. I had to come into my own reality by sitting back and tracing my history and putting things together.
What people fail to realize is that we are a young race. African Americans have only been around for a few hundred years. We aren't 100% African, 100% European, 100% Asian, nor 100% Indian. Heck, we aren't even 50% of any of those. We are a mixture. We lost so much heritage during the middle passage, and had new traditions forced upon us. Therefore, we had to make our own. We had to take what little we could salvage from our African heritage and mix it with the European culture. Which is why much of what is and has been considered "black" has been a blend of many things. This holds true for our hair. We found a way to alter the texture of our hair in order to assimilate into larger society. We have found a way to make ourselves more acceptable and unfortunately more desirable (to the larger society and ourselves). Subsequently, while we were experimenting with our hair, we still had to deal with the self hatred that began from the inception of slavery. I can go further into this and I might one day. For now, I'll just give a few recommendations. Read, Song of Solomon and The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. View "School Daze" by Spike Lee. Also, check out that "Doll Test" (the older version and newer version).
Our desire through perms, although we say it is a way to be able to manage our hair, was to look "white" or close to it. We erased a major portion of our African heritage by straightening its curl. We weakened its strength. I wanted to celebrate my Africaness. So, I got the locs. I wanted my students to see a beautiful African American woman rocking her KINKS proudly. My rationale for the extensions was simple, I didn't want to start with baby locs. Now for those who have gone through the journey of locing your hair, I send out kudos. For those who are judgement, it is a fact that in Africa weave was used for centuries in many of the hairstyles. The key is that they didn't add weave to hide their truth. It 's like Lauryn Hill said, "Look at where you be in hair weaves like Europeans. Fake nails done by Koreans. Come again." So, everything about my hair celebrates being a beautiful African American woman, period!! I love it.
For clarification purposes only, and not to weaken my position I am stating again that everyday is a journey. Everyday I get bombarded with images that say something totally different from what I believe. However, like I said I am in it to win it. Plus, I have a wonderful African King who said to me when chemotherapy was taking my hair out, "Babe your hair is your strength. The tighter the kink, the stronger you are."
Now, as I was saying I don't overlook the beauty of other cultures, but at the same time I feel like as a people African Americans don't embrace what is naturally us (our kinks). Don't get me wrong, everyday is a struggle but I am in it to win it. See, about four months ago I spent $650 getting loc extensions. For those who immediately choose to judge me and my decision I ask that you do one thing; either open your hear to what I am about to say or close my blog. I had to come into my own reality by sitting back and tracing my history and putting things together.
What people fail to realize is that we are a young race. African Americans have only been around for a few hundred years. We aren't 100% African, 100% European, 100% Asian, nor 100% Indian. Heck, we aren't even 50% of any of those. We are a mixture. We lost so much heritage during the middle passage, and had new traditions forced upon us. Therefore, we had to make our own. We had to take what little we could salvage from our African heritage and mix it with the European culture. Which is why much of what is and has been considered "black" has been a blend of many things. This holds true for our hair. We found a way to alter the texture of our hair in order to assimilate into larger society. We have found a way to make ourselves more acceptable and unfortunately more desirable (to the larger society and ourselves). Subsequently, while we were experimenting with our hair, we still had to deal with the self hatred that began from the inception of slavery. I can go further into this and I might one day. For now, I'll just give a few recommendations. Read, Song of Solomon and The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. View "School Daze" by Spike Lee. Also, check out that "Doll Test" (the older version and newer version).
Our desire through perms, although we say it is a way to be able to manage our hair, was to look "white" or close to it. We erased a major portion of our African heritage by straightening its curl. We weakened its strength. I wanted to celebrate my Africaness. So, I got the locs. I wanted my students to see a beautiful African American woman rocking her KINKS proudly. My rationale for the extensions was simple, I didn't want to start with baby locs. Now for those who have gone through the journey of locing your hair, I send out kudos. For those who are judgement, it is a fact that in Africa weave was used for centuries in many of the hairstyles. The key is that they didn't add weave to hide their truth. It 's like Lauryn Hill said, "Look at where you be in hair weaves like Europeans. Fake nails done by Koreans. Come again." So, everything about my hair celebrates being a beautiful African American woman, period!! I love it.
For clarification purposes only, and not to weaken my position I am stating again that everyday is a journey. Everyday I get bombarded with images that say something totally different from what I believe. However, like I said I am in it to win it. Plus, I have a wonderful African King who said to me when chemotherapy was taking my hair out, "Babe your hair is your strength. The tighter the kink, the stronger you are."
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