Thursday, June 25, 2009
Jimmy Kimmel's Chimp Handshake
Am I the only one who thinks the handshake in this video is a little suspect? What are your thoughts?
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Happy Mother's Day!
That beautiful woman in the picture with me is my mother. This picture was taken 3 years ago on my wedding day in her backyard. Physically, I am just like my mother. We have the same smile, the same shape, the same feet, the same walk, the same freckles...I guess you could say I'm a brown version of her.
I've mentioned in previous posts that I had an interesting childhood because even though both of my parents are black, I was often treated as if I were biracial. My mother is often mistaken for a white person because of her fair skin. When I was little and my mother worked in my elementary school, everyone just assumed she was white and assumed I was mixed--either that or adopted (never mind that I look just like her).
It's no secret that there is a lot of intraracism in the black community and a long history of people being plagued with color complexes. Recently one of my good friends asked me if I had a color complex growing up because I am the darkest person in my mother's family. I had never really even thought about it until she asked me that question. My answer was no, and I have my mother to thank for that.
As a child, I don't think I ever even knew I was darker than the rest of my family. They never made the distinction. My mother always made it a point to have black art and black images in our house. She was proud of her brown babies and she showed us with her love every day. I have always loved the color of my skin, and I wouldn't trade it for the world. I look at young black girls today and I see how they struggle with their identity, trying to live up to society's standards of beauty. It is hard to believe that you are beautiful when everything around you is telling you that you are not.
My mother has always said she has a PH.D in motherhood and I agree. She stayed home with me until I was old enough to stay home by myself. She exposed me to different cultures and taught me to be proud of my blackness. She has been with me through every triumph, every heart ache, every trial and every success in my life. She always has a listening ear, a lending hand, and an insightful answer. She is my mom and my friend. She is more than I could ever dream of in a mother. She is my blessing from God. I'll always love my mama!
Happy Mother's Day Mom!
Saturday, February 21, 2009
I Don't Understand
--I don't understand why I keep working in places where the children are obsessed with confederate flags and calling themselves rednecks. I am asking any confederate flag toting redneck to please shed some light on this because I don't understand.
--I don't understand why people think it's acceptable to ask me or anybody else if their hair is real. First of all, it's none of your business. Second of all, why do you care? Third of all, it's just plain rude. I honestly think people think it's a compliment when they ask me this question, but it's not; it's insulting.
--I don't understand why telling me that someone would want me to work for them because I am "young and aggressive" would be deemed as a compliment. For some reason the combination of me being a woman, being black, being tall, and being articulate makes me "aggressive" and "intimidating." I am so not aggressive. In fact, I'm a bit of a chicken at times. What is it about me that scares people?
--I don't understand why CNN spent 12 hours yesterday talking about that stupid chimpanzee and only 2 minutes about the racist New York Post cartoon.
--I don't understand why people are still hating on Barack Obama.
Please help me understand or feel free to let me know about anything that you don't understand.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Drunken Negro Cookies
Shaking my head...
I normally don't like to give publicity to ignorant people on my blog, but I have to make an exception for this fool guy because I would like to deter people from giving him anymore business. I'm going back to NY next week, and I've been contemplating on whether or not I'm going to visit this bakery. Why.....you ask. Well, how can we change the racist society we live in if we do not become an active part of the change? Not to mention I'm still working on extracting the ignorancist out of me and becoming more inclusive. My only problem is that I'm not sure what I would say to him. He is clearly very special as you can see from the video. But that's what I have all of you for. If I take the trip to the bakery, what do you think I could say to get through to this man who obviously feels he's above admitting that he is being offensive in his actions?
Monday, January 12, 2009
I Refuse!
Friday, January 2, 2009
Mixed-Race Twins
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Merry Christmas Around the World!
Brazilian: Feliz Natal
Chinese: (Cantonese) Gun Tso Sun Tan'Gung Haw Sun
Ethiopian: (Amharic) Melkin Yelidet Beaal
French: Joyeux Noel
German: Froehliche Weihnachten
Italian: Buone Feste Natalizie
Japanese: Shinnen omedeto. Kurisumasu Omedeto
Korean: Sung Tan Chuk Ha
Spanish: Feliz Navidad
Tagalog: Maligayamg Pasko. Masaganang Bagong Taon
Thai: Sawadee Pee Mai or souksan wan Christmas
Urdu: Naya Saal Mubarak Ho
Vietnamese: Chuc Mung Giang Sinh
Yoruba: E ku odun, e ku iye'dun!