Twelve Percent

It really irks my soul when people have crap to say about girls wearing their natural hair....

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 00:16:49 -0600

It really irks my soul when people have crap to say about girls wearing their natural hair.
It’s on their head!!! What does it matter to you? You dont have to live with it..they do! They ain’t go natural to please you! If they wanna have their natural hair sitting on the top of their head doing absolutely nothing then SO BE IT. Because its their hair, their head, their natural, their definition of beauty, their happiness, their choice. And none of it…absolutely NONE of it…has to do with you! You think your opinion really matters?? They wouldn’t have went natural if they cared what you or society thought.

Sigh. I feel better.

Chasing My Dream: A Cliche

Wed, 24 Oct 2012 22:48:01 -0500

To the lady in Illinois I’ve been preoccupied with for the last week, Medill.

Jay Z is Right 99 Times, But This Ain't One

Wed, 12 Sep 2012 19:21:23 -0500

Jay Z is Right 99 Times, But This Ain't One

These conservatives are just too much

Sun, 09 Sep 2012 20:16:14 -0500

The unconscious bias in this nation is too much to handle! Lawd Jesus! It was bad in 2008 when President Obama was elected but goodness gracious I must have forgotten how bad it was! Here we are, in 2012, and I am again shocked at the unexplainable HATE towards my president that characterizes many of the conservatives in this country. My goodness! I’ve only lived through three presidents so I can’t really speak on this historically but I just have never experienced such a level of disdain for somebody from a whole sector of the nation for seemingly no reason. I understand you can disagree with the man and I understand you might think it’s time for a new president but must you berate him on such a non-factual basis?

I just heard someone say that President Obama was the worst president this nation has ever had. *eyes widen, mouth drops* WTF?!? Where the hell are you getting that from and can you state some reasons why you think that??? Out of all 44 of them, ALLLLL 44 of them, dating back to freaking 1788, President Obama is the worst. Really? REALLY??? U.S. News actually did an article on the worst presidents the nation has had based on FACTS from their presidencies and President Obama didn’t even make the freaking top 10. But according to some idiot, he’s the worst. Like really? The worst?

I really just can’t take it. Like its funny how dumb people are, but at the same time it’s like these people are American citizens and we walk the streets with them and they have jobs and children and they really believe what they say!

And PLLLLEEEAAASSSEE don’t try to call them out on their racism. No sirree. They are NOT racist. They just don’t like President Obama but they don’t know why.Wake up and smell the coffee! You’re racist! If these people would seriously take a minute and just try to realistically justify why they don’t like the president SOOOO much, it’s because he’s a black man and they can’t stand it. This is the underlying reason, but it’s aggregated by the fact that he’s not of their party and he has some differing beliefs. But I bet you if President Obama said, “God is good,” they would find some way to hate him for it.

As much as I thought President G.W. Bush sucked, I never, never, never disrespected him. I never harbored such ill-hatred towards him. Like, never. Never thought of it and a lot of the people I associated with were the same. What’s going on with these conservatives right now is just disturbing. It’s amazing to see how nasty they can get.

I am willing to put everything I own on the fact that the majority of these comments from the far right would not be going on if President Obama was a white man. They would disagree with him still, but they wouldn’t hate him. Bottom line.

I am in no way saying it’s all due to race and every negative comment about the president is born out of the racist bias that lies at the heart of this country, but I know for sure that it has to do with a lot of it. Point blank.

They can deny it all they want, and they will continue to deny it and you know what, I think honestly some of them think they really just hate President Obama because they don’t like his policies. They can fool themselves but they can’t fool those of us who have accepted that racism is still alive, unconscious racism is real and both are something that really needs to be dealt with.

Why Wait For White America to Create Images of Us?

Tue, 17 Jul 2012 12:33:34 -0500

Why Wait For White America to Create Images of Us?

Black Folks and Eating Disorders?

Fri, 13 Jul 2012 09:59:29 -0500

Black Folks and Eating Disorders?

Where We Lose Some, We Gain More

Thu, 28 Jun 2012 12:02:05 -0500

A response to an article at Clutch Magazine by Kirsten West Savali:

Nostalgic about getting my hair done at a beauty salon? Not in the least.

The horrible memories of sitting in the beauty shop for hours upon hours upon hours totally outweigh the fleetingly pleasant times I had listening to gossip and watching interesting people come in and out of the door.

What we loose from no longer spending enumerate amounts of time and money at the beauty shop while inhaling toxic relaxer fumes and blackening our lungs with the smoke coming off of people’s fried hair strands, we gain in the sense of community and betterment through our natural hair journey.

Going natural is so much more than a bi-weekly change in hairstyle; it’s a change in mindset, it’s a change in lifestyle, it’s a change in the way we see ourselves as black women…and who better to go through that experience with than other black women?

What we lose in town gossip, we gain in bettering ourselves and our community. We usher in a new era of not only taking care of ourselves, but sharing those tools and ideas with other women of color. We begin to learn about ourselves, therefore helping us to be more open in learning about others.

The idea that natural hair is the end of black beauty culture is a ludicrous idea. Natural hair in the black community actually brings us to a more conscious level of black beauty culture as we truly embrace black beauty and not the European beauty standards that we, as Americans, have been brainwashed to believe as the only beauty standard.

For all it’s worth to me, the black beauty shop as we know it could go completely extinct. What our future holds in taking care of our own hair and sharing those experiences with other black women via YouTube, blogs, twitter, Facebook, or just seeing another natural sister on campus and telling her how much you admire her hair are far better for our community than what the black beauty shop offered.

Even ladies who are still wearing their hair relaxed can experience a level of self-awareness comparable to taking care of natural hair by nurturing their own strands between relaxers.

Yes I – like every other black girl – have fond memories of getting my hair done in a kitchen while laughing with my mom, aunts and cousins…

But the freedom from the extremely long bi-weekly appointments at a hair salon as well as the mental freedom that comes with wearing your hair natural is so much sweeter to me than the sense of “community” I felt at the beauty salon… which mainly consisted of one lady getting up to leave and everybody talking about her private life and affairs after she was gone.

Weekend in Paris

Mon, 28 May 2012 08:41:54 -0500

Maybe it’s because I was there during the weekend but Paris was SO gracefully slow. Like when you go to a big city like New York or London, everybody moves so fast, like they’re all always on a mission.

Paris, on the other hand, was the complete opposite. Everyone was just chill for lack of a better word. Like our tour guide said, “In America, you live to work. In France, they work to live.” It’s amazing. And then the city…I haven’t been many places so this probably doesn’t mean much but Paris is the most beautiful city I have ever seen. I love the village streets. So narrow and the buildings so vertical. Just gorgeous. I want to go back…every day… lol. I love Paris.

I love Paris.

Mon, 28 May 2012 08:03:17 -0500

I love Paris.

everythingvirgin: BEWARE OF THE FRENCH SPEAKERS! no beef to the...

Fri, 18 May 2012 00:41:09 -0500

everythingvirgin:

BEWARE OF THE FRENCH SPEAKERS!

no beef to the French as well as my French relatives lol

well..not really but it was a catchy title.

Now, A fellow natural woman (yes one of us girls!) I know ran into a very foreign situation…no pun intended..

She is traveling out of the country and as you know, when you are traveling you want to put your hair in a style that doesn’t take much up keep. Seeing as how she didn’t want to mess with her natural hair, it only made sense to indulge in a protective style.

She’s going to Europe I believe but I’m sure she didn’t want to deal with universal plugs and constantly waking up to do her hair so a sew in is not applicable here…sorry to all my Virgin hair loves.

Anyway..she decided that she wants Senegalese twists, and goes to a Braiding Company.

Pause!

Now I am African so no beef, but African braiding salons are out to 419 us all. Not all…..but dang near most! 1st, if you’ve ever gone to Nigeria, Ghana, or any country in Africa. You KNOW it does not take long/cost that much to get your hair done there. For some reason…when we get to America, hair suddenly becomes Gold.

There is no reason why you should pay over 150 for braids in my opinion. I may be bias because I do my own hair, but seriously, if you are paying that much for Kanekalon hair that you WILL be throwing away…you might as well get a sew in with some good ash weave!

Here are some reasons why I hate African hair salons!

1. They over charge - why are you paying an arm and a leg for hair that will take about four hours because they have 3 different braiders on your head!

2. Most of them aren’t even licensed - its true, ask them if their store is… not just them

3. They have no regard for your comfort, your edges, or the health of your hair in general - they will braid your edges into tiny little braids knowing it will just fall out, they will perm broken and damaged hair which an otherwise trained beautician would not. These woman don’t go to cosmetology school, they just come from the village and braid o! Plus they are all heavy handed and are rude, and talk to you as if you are their children. sigh.

4. They will 419 you! -another phrase for scam…basically

5. They speak in a different language to con you…like at nail shops (This woman tried to scam my friend while talking to her partner in Yoruba. Assuming we were both Igbo. I understand enough Yoruba so she was in for a surprise when I raised hell)

Resume

Ok so she gets there in the morning and she asks them if she can get Senegalese twists. All of a sudden these women decide to talk in French amongst themselves -_____- and decide that since she doesn’t get perms, she can’t get Senegalese twists. That is false btw, myself as well as many of my natural friends have gotten NEAT Senegalese twists…

But whats funny is that they say they can do Kinky Twists for her instead -______- …which are basically bigger Senegalese twists with kinky hair.

She really wants the Senegalese but the way they are bantering on in French she believes them when they say it would look bad. So she says ok to the Kinky twists……

*DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUUNNN*

So she’s finished with her hair and the kinky twists are about *snaps* that much longer than her natural hair, and on top of that the women did that curled ends stuff we used to do in 7th grade.

*DUN DUUUUNNNNNNN*

THEN she has to pay 200 freaking dollars for KINKY TWISTS! KINKY TWISTS! you pay 120 for a good head of micros. 200 dollars are Senegalese and then some. And to top it off, if you do hair…you know that u grab more natural hair into kinky twists, therefore if her natural hair was the problem, there would be more of a chance poking out with some kinky twists, than it poking out when u grab a tiny strand of it for Senegalese twists.

sigh,

Let me tell you what they said to each other in French.

“gitchy gitchy yaya lets charge her the same price but lets not waste our time and lets do some kinky twists instead. wi wi. *fancy french laugh*”

So this poor girl (who at this point realizes she has been straight 419’d) goes home and dips her Kinky twists in hot water to make them straight. Now as I am writing this, she is adding kanekalon hair to the kinky twists to make them look presentable and longer…and they don’t look shabby if I do say so myself. The point is though, she wasted 200 dollars on hair she is now basically doing herself all cause of an African hair shop!

BEWARE OF THE FRENCH SPEAKERS!

Love. Love. Love.

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 21:11:31 -0500

Love. Love. Love.

Offended

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 21:05:30 -0500

Just read an article over at Clutch Magazine written by Clara Wanjku entitled “What Does It Really Take to Be African.” When I read the title, I imagined the article would focus on the trials of being African in America or something of the sort. To my surprise, it was nothing like that.

In actuality, in the article Wanjku basically speaks to black Americans as if we’re stupid and don’t understand that Africa is not our home. I, along with many other commentators, were quite offended.

The article made it seem like the majority of black Americans have this desire to move back to Africa and assimilate into African culture. Now as much as we acknowledge where we come from, I don’t know one black American who actually wants to move to Africa and become “African”. I don’t mean that in a condescending way, but it’s the truth. As much as we complain about how racist America is, it’s our home; it’s all we know, and if I had to choose to live in a another continent, it would probably be Europe, not Africa (again, not to be condescending but it’s the truth).

Secondly, I personally don’t classify myself as “African-American”. African-American sounds like I was first African, and then became American. Only problem is, I was never African. Neither were my parents, or their parents, or their parents, and I think I’d be correct in saying that even my great great grandparents were not African. They were all American and therefore I am nothing but American. The term African-American, was coined in the 80’s as a way for America to be politically correct in addressing black people. Fortunately, I think the time has come where being called “black” is not offensive or incorrect. I actually prefer it, and take a sense of pride in it.

So to Clara Wanjku, I’m not exactly sure what type of black people you are hanging around, but please realize that in 2012, black people do not wish to take your African-ness and apply it to themselves. We don’t need your sympathy because we were uprooted from the motherland hundreds of years ago and brought to America. Clearly we have survived and thrived, without your help or the help of the motherland and we will continue to do so as black people. That is all. Not African, not wanna be Africans, not even African-Americans. Just black.

Iraqi Immigrant Found Dead in Her California Home: Hate Crime

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 18:58:56 -0500

Iraqi Immigrant Found Dead in Her California Home: Hate Crime

Is Welfare Equitable?

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 21:48:00 -0500

A lot of people who complain about welfare saying that it is pointless or that it makes people lazy need to look at the situation. People on welfare have children who need to eat. You may say that welfare teaches these kids not to have initiative or drive in life but have you ever tried working at your full potential when you’re starving? And by starving I mean the last meal you eat every day is the free lunch you got from school.

Instead of criticizing them, I volunteer at one of the at-risk schools in Lubbock twice a week and help the kids see that there is a better way, that they don’t have to take handouts all their life and that they can be successful.

But most people don’t do that. Most people just complain, complain, complain. Well perhaps if we stopped complaining and channeled that energy into being a part of the solution, things would get better: more kids would graduate from high school and not depend on welfare.

People also say that America was built on capatalism and on the belief that if you work hard enough, you can be successful. Why don’t those on welfare just work harder?

To that I say, the slaves worked hard, but they weren’t very successful…I mean considering they were living as slaves against their will and all. Point being, everyone did not start at the same place. It’s like we’re running a race but everyone didn’t start at the same time, at no fault of their own. So what are they supposed to do? Run harder? They might be running as hard as they can but if you started 200 years behind, it’s going to be near impossible to completely catch up. So I ask, is that fair?

No, but we have to live with it.

So, now we have to live with welfare. Get over it. ;)

Watchdogs and Gatekeepers

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 21:45:40 -0500

Journalists are the watchdogs of government. Why do you think Congress shall make no law abridging freedom of speech or of the press? Why do you think that when the British colonies came to the America’s, the British government didn’t want them printing their own newspapers? Because they knew that if people found out about what the government was doing, and were able to share that information with others, there would be upheaval; there would be a revolution.

And there was.

And that is why freedom of the press is so important. Because it is a journalists job to keep an eye on the government: to tell the people when the government is not acting right. Our nation is a republic. Our nation was built upon democracy and the idea that power belongs to the people. This power is exercised through knowledge, bestowed on us by journalists.

On the other hand, journalists are gatekeepers: gatekeepers of the news. They’re gatekeepers because they get to decide what get’s published and what doesn’t. They decide what goes on the front page in bold letters and what gets buried within the publication. This is not a job to be taken lightly, for journalists - as gatekeepers- decide what people care about. It’s very important for journalists to be transparent and unbiased in their work. It is important to have the best interest of the nation at heart and not selfish interests.

In this Trayvon Martin case, we see both of these roles being played by journalists and the media. The journalists of America are reporting on an injustice in our country. Why? Because it’s their duty as journalists. Their job is to watch the government and when the government doesn’t act right or when the justice system fails to work properly, it is their duty to let the people know. However, we also see the media is playing gatekeeper in that it is meticulously deciding what information to highlight and what information to breeze over. This doesn’t necessarily have to be in the way they report the story but also when and how they report the story and when and how they report other stories. It is a long held belief that the mainstream media has a liberal bias. But as Dr. Robert Wernsman said in a principal of journalism class, liberal in its most basic since means freedom, and journalists should be free. Free of ties to third parties, free of ties to preconceived notions, free of anything that might get in the way of them reporting the truth - the facts.

So the question today is, has the media played up this Trayvon Martin case as one of it’s liberal ploys to make the government look like big, bad, racist people? Has the media turned a deaf ear to other stories, to other facts that don’t favor their point of view? Or has the media done it’s job as the watchdog of government by alerting the people when things don’t go as they should?

davidfoxny: Nuff said. Trayvon Martin rally, NYC.

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 08:33:52 -0500

davidfoxny:

Nuff said. Trayvon Martin rally, NYC.

..really?

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 08:26:50 -0500

Just read this in an article about Trayvon Martin in the Washington Post. I had to stop reading and tumble it. Please. Somebody put me out of my misery.

“Zimmerman’s family has said he is not a racist and that he has black friends to prove it.”

Dear racist people and people with racist tendencies: YOU ARE NOT CLEARED OF BEING RACIST JUST BECAUSE YOU MAKE FRIENDS WITH PEOPLE OF THAT COLOR!

Please get this through your heads and stop using that as an EXCUSE. GAH.

White People, You Will Never Look Suspicious Like Trayvon Martin

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 12:49:46 -0500

White People, You Will Never Look Suspicious Like Trayvon Martin

TSU's graduation rate is.....3 %

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 10:18:43 -0600

TSU has a 4-year graduation rate of 3 percent. That means out of all of their students, only 3% get out in 4-years! That is SO out of line. I mean I knew it was low, but that…that is just unacceptable. They have the worst graduation rate in the state. I really don’t even know what to say about that. I’m shocked that the state or their board of regents or somebody hasn’t done anything. There needs to be a campus-wide campaign to get graduation rates up. That is truly pathetic.

And I wonder what the student organizations there are doing to help the issue? At Texas Tech, there’s only about 1,000 black students out of 30,000 but I feel like the black student organizations do a good job at finding community issues and addressing them. How have the student organizations at TSU not pinpointed this issue and done something to fix it??? Wow. I am just flabergasted. There is no point of that school beinng open if they’re only graduating 3 percent of their students in 4-years. Those students can go ahead on to A&M (which has a 4-year graduation rate of 51%) and the other kids who CLEARLY go there for some other reason than getting a degree can stay at home and stop wasting people’s time.

Looking at that graduation rate, why would anybody even want to go there unless they had no intention of graduating?

I really don’t think there’s any one else to blame this on but the university and the university officials. I mean, I’m good for finding a way to blame the white man but there is no way out of this one. TSU needs to raise it’s standards and start graduating students. Point blank period. What is the point of your institution if you’re not graduating students?

Man, I truly hope they get that together.

http://www.texastribune.org/texas-education/higher-education/tsu-works-bring-grad-rates-bottom/

Racial divide: Minority students face more discipline, data reveals

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 09:02:29 -0600

Racial divide: Minority students face more discipline, data reveals