A Better Way (Goals & Aspirations)

I’ll admit my guilty pleasure if you promise to keep it to yourself. Here it is – talk shows. Jerry Springer is my favorite one. We’ll have to go over the pros and cons of great shows past and present but not today. Today, I’m deeply saddened.

On an episode of Jerry Springer was a young lady, barely 21, who labeled herself a “ho.” She was attractive and articulate and her story puzzled me. She met her pimp when she was 17 but he told her he couldn’t even talk to her until she was legal and waited until her 18th birthday to call her. They began to date until the time came for her to “take care of him” due to another “ho’s” disappearance.

The sad part came when she told Jerry that she came on the show to make her pimp choose between her and another ho. She wasn’t interested in living a meaningful life and offering something to her community, leaving a legacy for her son. I’m almost positive that she wont’ read this blog but I wish there was a way to interest her in something else – something better. I pray that she finds some goals and hope that she envisions some aspirations.

How can we help guide our youth?

In My Own Way...

For the first time, I’ve had to delete a phone number from my contact list. Tragedy has struck my family and God is the only soother for this pain. Over the years, I’ve witnessed the pain of others whose lives were touched by violence via the media – never knowing when my turn would come.

Some think it’s amazing that I’ve grown up in Washington, DC yet have very little first-hand knowledge of the seedier side of life. I call it anointing. A long time ago, somebody prayed that this family be covered by the hand of God and that grace has followed us for years.
Unfortunately, my family circle has been broken by violence.

My pain is raw, it’s rugged, its real. I can’t wish it on anyone else though I know there are others who share it, bear it along with me. Thank you for your prayers.

Is this acceptable?

Background Information:

A cartoon likening the author of the stimulus bill, perhaps President Barack Obama, with a rabid chimpanzee graced the pages of the New York Post on Wednesday.
The drawing, from famed cartoonist Sean Delonas, is rife with violent imagery and racial undertones. In it, two befuddled-looking police officers holding guns look over the dead and bleeding chimpanzee that attacked a woman in Stamford, Connecticut.
"They'll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill," reads the caption.
An email to Delonas and a call to the New York Post went unreturned. The cartoon appears both on the New York Post website and page 12 of the Wednesday paper.
At its most benign, the cartoon suggests that the stimulus bill was so bad, monkeys may as well have written it. Others believe it compares the president to a rabid chimp. Either way, the incorporation of violence and (on a darker level) race into politics is bound to be controversial. Perhaps that's what Delonas wanted.

UPDATE: Rev. Al Sharpton has weighed in on the cartoon in a statement:
"The cartoon in today's New York Post is troubling at best given the historic racist attacks of African-Americans as being synonymous with monkeys. One has to question whether the cartoonist is making a less than casual reference to this when in the cartoon they have police saying after shooting a chimpanzee that "Now they will have to find someone else to write the stimulus bill."
"Being that the stimulus bill has been the first legislative victory of President Barack Obama (the first African American president) and has become synonymous with him it is not a reach to wonder are they inferring that a monkey wrote the last bill?"

The picture depicts racial over- and under-tones. Here we are -- years after slavery is over, in the "land of the free, home of the brave," the great American melting pot -- still resorting to name-calling. I must agree with our new Black US Attorney General Eric Holder terming Americans "cowards." When will we stop hiding behind slurs and pictures and become true Americans who realize that we are all created equal? But, racism in America is so commonplace that this instance registers no surprise. (To Rev. Sharpton - as if he'd read this -- I'd say, I'm sure many Americans agree with the sentiment expressed. But while a "monkey" may have initiated this stimulus plan, a whole lot of barnyard animals are going to benefit from it.)

Comedic references to the President is par for the course. I've been waiting for the funny-men to come out of hiding and let loose on the race jokes about our bi-racial President. I'll be the first to admit that light-hearted ribbing is good for the soul. We enjoy making fun of ourselves and those in power.

The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution gives us the right to free speech. Because of this, I'm willing to accept this sketch based on the above comments. However, what I deem unacceptable is the allusion to our Commander in Chief being gunned down. Isn't this dangerously close to treason? Has a sitting President ever been depicted in this way? What we need to ask ourselves is why we allow such behavior.

Of course, the paper doesn't see anything wrong -- their economy was stimulated via this cartoon. If Don Imus could lose his job for calling a group of Black women "nappy headed hoes," what should happen to the man who disrespects our Head of State? Every instance of anyone publicly making a derogatory statement about an ethnic group is deftly resolved (some inappropriately). What makes this one any different?

The Silent generation --> people born before 1946.

The Baby Boomers --> people born between 1946 and 1959.

Generation X --> people born between 1960 and 1979.

Generation Y --> people born between 1980 and 1995.

Why do we call the last one generation Y?

I did not know, but the cartoonist explains it eloquently.

METRO Service Announcement – from a fellow METRO Rider

re-post

Here are some suggestions for METRO riders that may make our METRO rides better. Take a look and add a few if you like.

• Impatience gets you no where. Leaning over the tracks, looking into the tunnel and screaming "where's the train" will neither make it magically appear nor make up time when it does. Get over it.
• Parents: If you are going to let your kids act a dam fool then all parents should choose a car (1-6) and label it the DayCareCar, or something similar, so that those of us who wish to ride in peace can avoid you.
• Those of you who stand in front of the doors but are neither entering nor exiting the train, will no longer be eligible to ride METRO until you attend METRO Rider Etiquette Classes. These classes are also for folks who lean over the tracks looking for the train and those who STAND on the WALK side of the escalator.
• Those folks who put their feet in the seats will forfeit their seat. You have paid for one seat on METRO. You cannot take up another seat by sitting sideways or putting your feet up and causing other customers to ask YOU to move over. You can take the etiquette classes too.
• If your belongings don't/won't fit on your lap, don't bring it with you. (This includes strollers unless you are gonna do that DayCareCar thing).
• If you have Wild Hair/Clothing/Otherwise Outrageous Features, we are looking at you, talking about you and laughing at you. Get over it. You wore it, don't expect us to ignore it. Stop saying aloud "why she staring at me?" It only causes us to laugh harder.
• Fat People (yeah I said it, forget that PC crap). If you know you can't fit in a row by yourself, don't torture others by forcing them to ride squeezed up next to the window praying that they don't die of suffocation. Also, your sweat on other people, their clothing or belongings – a no-no.
• Cell Phone Users: Be serious. Even if the call is urgent – what can you do from the subway? And telling your girl about your married boyfriend -- we really don't want to hear that.
• If you haven't washed any portion of your body, do not sit next to us. We are tying to go to work, daycare, grandma's – somewhere where funk is not on the menu. Don't sit next to us and then try to be all friendly. We're smiling to make it easier to breathe thru our mouths. Sit in the end cars, closest to the exits. NEVER sit in the DayCareCar – you'd set a BAD EXAMPLE!

Please report any suspicious activity and thank you for riding METRO.

Disclaimer: The views set forth by this writer are not necessarily the views of the Washington Area METRO (but they should be).

Dinner and Discussions

Barely a week before what's being billed as the most historic Inauguration ceremony ever, Washington is teeming with energy. While enjoying dinner at an Afghan restaurant in the heart of the city, tucked away from the bitter January cold, a group of women discuss Dreams from My Father.

It's the first time that this group - comprised of different ages and ethnicities, backgrounds, geographic and socioeconomic frames of reference - has had the opportunity to chat abou tthe memoirs of a President-Elect. Some feel soothed by the candor and depth the novel allows, while others believe the highest office elicits a personal mystique.

Commenting on the forward-thinking grandparents (their approval of an inter-racial marriage and the probability of their overcompensation for any ill feelings by creating a larger than life image of an absent father), the resulting relationship of all of the siblings, the ladies interacted and voiced their overall enjoyment of the book. With themes similar to Black Boy and The Invisible Man, the author divulged his issues with identity and destiny in a manner tha may have been more guarded had he known he'd become the 44th U.S. President.

I was more absorbed with some of the parallels -- the street corner barber who was awestruck and energized by the new Black politician in Chicago and the pride in the eyes of my peers and elders when we speak of Obama's coming Presidency.

During dinner, the conversation shifted to Inauguration plans as street closings, security check points, visitors, tickets, schedules and parties were shared. While it may be more logical to view television from the warmth and comfort of our respective homes, the general consensus was to be a part of the over-crowded excitement.

In the months to come we'll fade back into the shadows and mull over other novels and authors (their nuances and inspirations, their disappointments and lack of style) and enjoy normal life once again -- as normal as it ever is in Washington, DC.

101 Update

So, I've dropped the ball. I have kept up with some of the items on my checklist but others have fallen by the wayside. I'll be honest, because I'm hoping to get the feedback/encouragement that I need to continue. I know I have to do more than just the parts I enjoy.

I haven't been journaling regularly about the experience though I have been watching the movies on the AFI list. I haven't been writing my weekly letter but I have been keeping up with my weekly beauty treatments. I've managed to complete some of the more elusive items as well including star gazing and finding a charity to envelope (more about this later). Reading the books from the lists is moving slowly because I'm still reading self help materials. I'm becoming more active with my reading groups and making srides regarding my business. This month, I begin reading the dictionary - one letter per month.

I find this an interesting exercise that causes me to expand my beyond my usual capacity and get more things done. No excuses, I've got to do better. I've got to MAKE IT HAPPEN!

In case you'd like to see how others do it, check out this site --> http://onehundredandonethings.wordpress.com. I'm thrilled by the way she categorized her goals. Check it out and think of your own list. Until next time...