The Black Struggle in 2014: Thoughts from a Facebook post

She Said: I think we expect him to be the president of the black americans in the united states and not the president of the united states.. Why don’t we put pressure on some of these other leaders to step up and formulate some type of public national stance on the issues and let’s mobilize to pressure the congress and senate to make changes on the state and national level as well as use the organization’s powers to affect change on the local levels too? That’s all I’m saying.. It takes more than one man and you all know his hands are tied because he has to represent all. What do you want him to do? SHow up on TV eating a plate of fried chicken like Mellie and offer a free fish fry at the White House to prove he’s black? The NAACP and all the other black organizations need to do better. We should hold them accountable for falling asleep on the job. They are more reactive instead of proactive. We let voting rights get away from us and look what happened.. okay I’m done… *puts the soap box in the closet*

He Said: Slavery did not end until a POTUS (Lincoln) put his foot down. The Civil Rights laws did not transpire until another POTUS put his butt on the line and signed the bill (Johnson). Now the motives may have been in question, but the results were the results…. Ijs….

She Said: Lincoln only freed the slaves in the colonies that were in rebellion at first. It was a political play to strike at the south when he freed everyone else- there was no plan for the after affects (that we are living in now and our ancestors lived in) Which is part of the problem. I don’t believe he’ll (POTUS) play that card while in office because he has to think about the next presidential election. What happens if we get a Republican controlled national govt? He has to leave room for the successor on ALL issues. If he does stand up and deal with police brutality, what exactly would he do? Some things are to be handled at the local level – like law enforcement. If black people would vote in EVERY election (not just presidential) we could put some people on the ground in areas where it really counts and that’s on the local level. East St. Louis (right across the river from St Louis near Ferguson) has historically been the site of racial and social unrest for decades… what can President Obama say to change that? Not a thing.. What can the citizens of NYC and Ferguson and Florida for that matter do to effect change in their communities? Run an intelligent candidate in a local election that will appoint the right people in the right places whether it be Sheriffs, Police Commissioners, Mayors, City Council members, Judges or Board of Education. They have to power to change things on the local level. Then they can raise your taxes to pay for the body cameras or submit legislation to change the law making it illegal to sell un-taxed cigarettes on the street, change the rules in the precincts that say it’s okay to use the choke hold, overturn the law that says stand your ground is legal, or put more sympathetic judges on the bench with a plan to help these black kids that are being cycled in and out of the system but it has to happen on a LOCAL LEVEL.. The top down government was what caused the civil war in the first place.. the States wanted the right to do their own thing and they still do as you can see (keep your black behind in the field or throw you in jail nowadays and kill you) and when it came down to admitting states that wanted slavery into the union, they wanted a balanced representative body. There is a reason it’s called the Missouri compromise… and look at what has happened in Missouri.. We are the only civilized nation that uses the Grand Jury system.. IJS.. that was long but I needed to say it..

and Johnson signed that bill because your cousins aunties and uncles were in the street embarrassing the US government… that’s not the only reason – he actually taught school in Texas and saw first hand the work of discrimination in schools especially with the Latino children… The bill still didn’t stop folks from discriminating just like Brown v. Board didn’t force anyone to let the little black kids in their schools.. IJS.. It has to be a cultural change– a mindset change— not simply legislation… It doesn’t solve anything. It only puts the law on the books

He Said: Bianca, like I said, it doesn’t matter the reason. Imagine if slavery had never ended, imagine if the civil rights bills had never been signed. Oh wait if slavery never ended there would have been no civil rights bill….Duh…silly me…. Heck Bianca, you would not have the freedom or knowledge to write what you wrote…. Ohhhhh, I can go on and on with this…….

Dear Jesus

Hi! It’ me, Bianca down here in Augusta Georgia.  I’ve been working here and I like what I’m doing.  Your word says that we should ask and we’ll receive and I’ve also been told to speak to my own mountain because it obeys my voice.  Well I’m graduating this Saturday and I need some more direction on what course to take to get to my desired career.  I would like a job at the college here.  I’ve applied for 3 positions already and I’m about to apply for a fourth.  Can you make a way for me to have that?  I need lucrative employment with great benefits, so God please come through for me.

Thanks

$Bee

2012 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 3,700 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 6 years to get that many views.

Click here to see the complete report.

My Natural Hair Epiphany

I’ve been without a relaxer since July 2010 and I recently got an ION Keratin Treatment in my hair. Can you say that I absolutely LOVE this thisg. I can tell that my hair is a little stronger now. I use the products that come with it- the sulfate free shampoo and conditioner as well as the keratin treament mask. I lucked up on a sale at Sally’s so the huge bottles were only $7.49.

Right now, I’m watching you tube videos for ideas on how to make my hair grow longer. I had an epiphany this morning. The only think I need to do to make my hair grow is to do what I used to do before I got a perm.
1. Keep the heat off it. You know that you couldn’t curl your hair everyday when you didn’t have a perm. You had to roll it on sponge rollers. Well I found some sponge rollers wrapped in silk from Walmart for 7.99. I love them. I recently watched my grandmother roll her hair up. She had a jar of grease.. yes I said it grease.. and her rollers. She took her time and coated each section and then she rolled them up. That brings me to my next point.
2. YOu have to moisturize the ends with something. I’ve been using Black Jamaiacan Castor Oil and an Olive oil mixture. I saturate my ends and massage the mixture in the places on my scalp where my hair is thinner. Castor Oil is supposed to help with the growth.
3. Treat your hair very carefully especially the ends- The ends are the oldest part of your hair. Clip them and if you see split ends, snip them.
4. Deep conditioner. I made a conditioner of which I am very proud of. I used some of the creamy Shea Mositure conditioner that I had left over and mixed it with the black castor oil, olive oil, shea butter, and Miracle oil moisturizer by bonner brothers. It left my hair so soft and wonderfully conditioned. My co-workers noticed and asked what I did to my hair. I love it.. I love it..
5. Vitamins, Water and good food..

I plan on letting my hair grow long and healthy. I’ll never get another relaxer, but I will keep getting Keratin treatments. I won’t put anohter one in my hair until January 2013 so my hair will be da bomb at the Stellar Awards. I will admit that I love my hair in it’s straight state. It is totally nice to have the option of straight or curly. My hair curl pattern is loose so I need help and you know what? That is totally okay with me. I have some flexy rods that I use to get that defined curly look. I’m going to try some more hair style enhancers. I’ve actually roller set my hair on big rollers to get some big volume. I have rods in all sizes as well. I plan on getting larger flexy rods and some crinklers too so I’ll have style options all in the spirit of keeping the heat off my hair.

So it does get better. It has gotten better. Don’t hate or judge me because I got a Keratin treatment. I like the sleek look without the relaxer and chemical. I’m on a serious hair growth mission. i’ll upload some pictures later… Until then.. Peace and HAIR GREASE!!!

This is how we feed the animals….

I’m becoming more and more disgusted as the presidential campaign swings into full gear.  I won’t go into all of that because I don’t really have the time. I can say this- some people are really threatened by President Barak Obama’s skin color and they might be scared of mine too… Man, corporate america is really fearful…

Well we move to the RNC taking place in Tampa Florida this week.  An african american camera woman was assaulted by an attendee. The attendee threw nuts at the camera woman and told her “This is how we feed the animals”. I read the story on TalkingPointsMemo.com.   According to the site, CNN made the following statement:

“CNN can confirm there was an incident directed at an employee inside the Tampa Bay Times Forum earlier this afternoon. CNN worked with convention officials to address this matter and will have no further comment.”

A reported tweeted the following:

My entire issue with this is the fact that we are seeing more undertones of racism in 2012 than I have ever experienced in my life.

I’ll say this, I caught a co-worker of mine making a “black joke”. I mean I looked directly in his mouth while he made jokes about what President Obama would do if Hurricane Isaac struck New Orleans in the same manner as Katrina. I literally looked in his mouth and he stopped dead in his tracks.  I didn’t hold back on him either.  I demanded that he say the joke where I could hear it… I mean if he’s going to make one then at least let me tell him if it was funny… He turned red and then started speaking in a sheepish manner… “I was just saying that maybe Barak Obama would send Kayne West to New Orleans”… it wasn’t funny at all…

Our local sheriff’s election is going there too. A black man is running for the office and he has to face a run off to be the democratic candidate.  He won the run off, but now some person is claiming that he bought votes by promising to give a specific person a car.  Who DOES THAT?  What candidate in their right mind would do that? With all the social networking and different ways to put people on blast, I don’t see how anyone would even TRY to do that!  It is merely a ploy to take that man’s credibility.  If you mix a little “snake oil” in there and keep the story in the media, perhaps enough doubt can be cast on the candidate and people will vote in the opposite direction.

I am sure that not all republicans are racists just like I’m sure that not all democrats are diversity advocates.  I also know that America was not founded on Christian principles like some want you to believe. Part of the reason that people came here was to be free of the religious persecution that existed in Great Britain.  Back then you were either Catholic with heavy ties to Rome or you were part of the church of England that was headed up by whatever monarch sat upon the throne.  Please read. A lot of the language that contains “God” was added in the last century… Research it.

We are not electing a Pastor. We are electing a President.

Have you seen this cover of Newsweek? Well if you haven’t, here it is. The Republican Party spent the last 2 years fighting everything that President Obama wanted to accomplish and publicly stated that was their strategy. Now isn’t the time to get weary and not vote.  Now is the time to make sure you call to get your birth certificate, make sure your IDs are in order, register to vote and go to the polls in November. Let your voice be heard!

 

I’m part of a generation that experienced the first stages of busing. Some people in the current generation don’t even know what busing means.  I’ve experienced some people’s parents not allowing their children to play with me or talk to me because I was a little black girl. I’ve walked in on teachers in the teacher’s lounge in high school calling a student a black *&^%.  I’ve experienced homecoming at my high school where a student puts on a confederate uniform and rides on a horse waving the confederate flag… I’ve experienced first hand discrimination in the workplace…I’ve been forced to be the poster child of fun and games at work because most of the employees look like me, but I’m not permitted to hold a higher leadership position because I don’t represent the “BRAND” – whatever that means…

Even in the midst of all of this I will still rise up and say:

Black people are not monkeys. We are not animals.  We are not all on welfare. We are not all high school drop outs. Not all of us speak broken english. We can do more than rap and sing. We are not 3/5ths of a human. We are NOT animals.  We are a diverse culture. We are doctors, lawyers, dentists, preachers, teachers, publicists, entrepreneurs, writers, film makers, talk show hosts, actresses, new anchors, producers, sanitation workers, call center representatives, journalists, soldiers, police officers, firemen, investment bankers, CEOs, CFOs, and the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES!

 

 

 

 

Sleeping in the office…

Well I just woke a co-worker up from her mid morning nap!  HAHA! Of course this sounds hilarious right?  Before you put on your black robe and pick out your nifty gavel, let me explain- My co-worker is on medication and it causes drowsiness.  This is not the first time she’s falled asleep… this is the first time I’ve said something about it. I walked over with camera in hand because of course this is a kodak/youtube moment, but she wasn’t moving or nodding off in any funny manner so I turned it off.  I passed her co-worker on the way who said “I’m gonna take a picture of this because I’m tired of it”.

The comment registered but I kept walking up to her desk. I bent down to where she was and grabbed her like I was hugging her.

“Sweetie, you gotta wake up. You can’t be asleep in here”. 

She was startled and her co-workers were hiding behind poles laughing because I scared the crap out of her. 

“You need to get up and go walking around the building or something”.

“I know…. I know”

About two minutes later, she gathered herself and walked off.  I was thinking in my mind “Hey! Maybe she could take a 15 minute nap in the medical room. It locks from the inside”.

Well we’ve all been there a time or two so I’ll share some of my stories. 

1. I was so sleepy one day that I went to the rest room down at the far end of the building, pulled on of those seat covers out, sat down on it and laid my head on the stall wall to take a 10 minute cat nap. 

2.  I was so sleepy another day that I went out to my car with cell phone in hand, set an alarm for 15 minutes, reclined the seat and took a nap. I woke up and went back to work.

3.  I took some benadryl on accident (The girl that gave it to me said it wasn’t benadryl) and I was so sleepy that I actually laid my head down and snored at my desk.  My coworker woke me up thank God… But my manager knew I was sick and I’m the kind of person that will work through it with some good meds because I don’t like to lay out.  I went home that day. I was so drowsy that day, I almost ran off the road. Thank God I made it. 

It might be a good thing to take a cat nap at work or to be able to have what they call a siesta.  I’ve heard that countries that have siesta are more productive when they work.

Here are some tips that I use to make sure I’m alert at work

1. Get a good stretch in at the desk. Stand up and do your aerobic/yoga stretch.

2.  Eat smaller meals throughout the day to regulate your metabolism.  I pack so much stuff that it looks like I’m going hunting. I have a Dannon Yogurt (6oz), A piece of fruit like an apple or orange.   A small bag of almonds or peanuts.  Peanut butter is great! Sugar Free Jello or Pudding.  Just get in the habit of eating all day. Alieviate the junky stuff that burns quickly because you’ll find yourself at the snack machine all day. Bring it from home.

3.  Get up and walk around the office or choose the bathroom that is the farthest distance from your desk so you can get your blood flowing again. 

4.  Get a good night’s sleep and dont’ forget to turn your TV off. When the TV is on, it tends to keep your mind going and going.  Find some relaxing music or nature sounds, close your eyes, relax your body and drift off.

5.  It’s okay to just talk to a neighbor every now and then so have your water cooler moment. It’ll get your mind going.

Well… that’s my two cents.

Why do you need to have a cable/satellite provider to watch the Olympics?

So this is a rant about the Olympics for all of those people out there like me that don’t subscribe to an cable or satellite provider. I’d rather have my 15 channels of HDTV that is broadcast for free, keep my money and pay for internet service.  Now, NBC is part of my HDTV, but MSNBC and CNBC are not.  Why should I be penalized for not paying over $100 for channels that show the same movies over and over again?  Here’s how it went down:

I logged on to NBC to see if I could catch women’s gymnastics and guess what? It asked me to enter my user name and password for my cable provider.  I don’t have one so I guess I won’t be watching online.  I think this was misleading and unfair.

365 Days of Braids —trying

I have determined that I will wear these braids for the next year. I’ll have to do them over at least 1 time per every 6 weeks after I clip my ends.  I’m going to try to do this and see how long/healthy my hair becomes underneath.  Here are the last 3 days of Styles

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The next time I do the braid, I’ll make them more dense and longer.

 

My 20th High School Class Reunion- Hephzibah High School c/o 92

I attended my 20th class reunion last night at Julian Smith Casino and it was fun! It was great seeing all of my classmates again.  Everyone was all smiles because………….. we couldn’t remember each other.. We had to get out a year book and look each other up.  That made it all the more fun. 

Here are some pictures:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I didn’t really have trouble with people that I had classes with, but those I didn’t have class with gave me a fit so I pulled out the trusty HHS 1992 yearbook! 

 

I saw Jennifer Taylor, who I always sang with. She loves to sing more than I do.. so that’s a lot. Loney Bohannan and Alan were there.. they were the drummers in the band and they are legends… if you’ve neer seen a white guy stick like on drumline, you’ve missed a treat. Those guys were good. 

We did the cupid shuffle and the wobble but that was all the dancing that was done.  We had pulled pork barbeque and chicken. There was a huge cake and the best tasting Banana pudding that I’ve had in a long time.  Of course people brought their own liquid courage, but I dont’drink so not really important.

I enjoyed talking to a classmate, Tom Sawyer, who lives in OKC and is a OKC fan.  I might take him up on on his offer to go to a home game since he has season tickets.  I also enjoyed seeing Jason Gonzales or the “Laker Faker” as I love to call him. He promptly pointed out that I had on Laker colors last night.  I really didn’t mean to do that.  He was a riot. Seeing Heather Dismuke, our valedictorian was great. She’s married now, but I can’t seem to think of her last name. Cathy Dickens looked mad different but still gorgeous as ever and her husband is so personable! 

I ran into Don Hanby, my arch civic class rival. He remembered how we used to argue in class.  I remembered it too.  He is so sweet. I thought he would’ve been holding office somewhere, but he is happy so that is all that counts. 

The gang was back in full affect minus one or two of us.  Bill Streetman, Sandra Palmer, Nicole Faison, Ramael Blount, and Jason Leatherwood represented well.  We had a good time at the event.  There are so many nurses and teachers from our class… I guess we’ve done good with ourselves.  I was quite proud. 

Overall, I had fun.  It was a great turn out and we do plan on doing a 25 year reunion.  We’ll see if we can talk em into a cruise.. 😉

 

Braided Beauty- a protective natural style

Well I decided to braid my hair up. I haven’t done my own braids in a minute. I will admit that I wasn’t looking forward to it, but it turned out pretty good.  I sat down this past Tuesday night, put on the movies, and started braiding. I didn’t want large or long braids (although now I wish I would have done it a little longer), so it didn’t take long. I’ll never wear it down, so they didn’t need to be dense.  My hair is thinner than I ever remember, so I’ll needed to take extra care not to pull too tight.  I would like a hairline when it’s all over…

Here are the results:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I watched a few videos on YouTube for some style inspiration. Next time, I’ll do them a little longer for a larger knot.  I am satisfied and my hair is out of sight, out of mind for now.  I think I’ll wear braids until July of 2013.  We’ll see.