afropolitaine: MY experience, not yours!

The Immigrant Series!

2012-02-01T17:02:00.001-05:00

The story that needs to be told:

Taxi drivers come from everywhere and have so many different stories. they come from different regions, countries, cities and villages. Different religions, ethnicities, races and tribes. Different circumstances. Talking to them reveals the different push factors that cause people to migrate. Looking at this very focused group of [mostly] men is a window into human movement within the global village. Globalization is defined as the increased movement of ideas, goods, people and capital across international borders. Push factors are what cause people to leave their country of origin and pull factors are what attracts people to go to a certain country. The most powerful of both of these is economically based. Most people who are leaving are escaping poverty and looking for greener pastures in the form of jobs elsewhere. Especially from Africa, other push factors include, religious, political or ethnic persecution. Before they come, many immigrants have certain perceptions of what their new life in America holds for them. An American dominated/centric popular culture propagated around the world through television, music and, more recently, the Internet sometimes isn't the reality. Aspiring to the pseudo-glamorous life of what they see, some have very high expectations of this land of opportunity. The purpose of this project is to delve into what happens when the rubber meets the road. Do those expectations and dreams about America match up with what the actual experience and reality is? The most popular immigrant narrative in America is that of the uneducated, poverty stricken, desolate and nuisance of an individual who is here using up tax-payer dollars. Although it may be true that some immigrants come from extreme poverty and were not afforded an education, that is not the entire story. Ngozi Chimamanda refers to the danger of a single story. Telling a single story leaves out the other stories that are part of the whole story. The unfortunate thing about story telling or, in the case of negative portrayals with sinister purposes, the propagation of propaganda is that it always has an agenda. Now don’t tune into the negative connotation of the word “agenda” - take it to mean the message serves a purpose to justify a certain belief or policy. There is an agenda for the one sided story of immigration, but with this project I too have an agenda. My agenda is to show that what we often hear about the immigrant is true, but it is incomplete. You will meet individuals who came from very abject circumstances, but others who were attracted more by pull factors like better wages and access to education than fleeing famine or war. No matter what it is that brought them to America, no matter what their expectations were, better or worse, I want to see whether or not America has proven to be the land of opportunity. The opportunities they came here for as well as the ones that revealed themselves as an unintended consequence of being here. The point being made is that even though there is more money to be made here and there is relatively better access to education and health care, perhaps life is still a struggle. The myth of the land of opportunity is that the said opportunities are inaccessible for recent immigrants who do not have the networks, connections and wealth that were built over decades ago... Much more to come in this conversation :) Support and follow along for updates on IndieGoGo and TWITTER To find out more or provide information email immiseries@gmail.com Thank you <3

FLIRT!!!

2011-11-08T11:07:00.000-05:00

I was just talking to a friend the other day and somehow we ended up getting on the topic of flirtation/infidelity [as there is more of a causative vs. correlative relationship between the two]. Most of the conversations we have are one conversation broken into about a thousand mini topics that just seem to burst out of each other like phantasmagorical fireworks where one goes up bright and colorful and just as those embers descend and seem to fade out another bursts out of what seemed like it was over. I think it might be safe to say that we both have attention deficit disorder, but haven’t had it diagnosed and therefore have not been medicated. The reason we wouldn’t get medicated is because we are well aware of the medication of “deviance”, which debatably ADD as well as ADHD are not, and the role the pharmaceutical industry is playing in keeping the masses drugged up while the corporations have their way with us. Sort of like that sleezy guy at the bar who slips one of those date rape drugs into the drink he offered to buy you not necessarily so he can take advantage of you, but more so to score a little cash so his boy can approach you in your more relaxed mind state, hit it off with you and somehow you wake up in the back of an alley with a broken bra strap, missing your bank card and drivers license with absolutely no recollection of what happened. Nine months later you’re delivering a baby you know were it not for being scared $h!+L355 to NOT have because of conservative pro-life commercials and wondering how all this happened. Tracking back you recall that night at the bar and join a counseling group where you meet more people like yourself and realize you are not alone. Talking about, “see what had happened was...” A group moment of clarity happens and now you all are marching down some busy street in New York with many other self-proclaimed feminists half naked to prove a point. One you seem to have missed altogether.

But I digress....

On flirtation, don’t we do it all? Sometimes we are actively and consciously doing it to achieve whatever personal agenda, whilst other times we might be falsely accused of it by a bystander or someone who merely wishes to be on the receiving end of it. Those that are very good at it are usually those we would readily label as being confident. Most times people who look good are well within their rights to do it. Although, it is quite a spectacle to behold those that aren’t so easy on the eyes dive headfirst, almost blindly, into it. Flirtation is a lot of fun as even dipping my toes into it tickles me. It makes me more aware of my powers and sometimes I’m even surprised by my own strength. Weirdly enough though, it mostly makes me feel weird - perhaps an insecurity I need to deal with. But this is not about me....[anymore, until i decide it is again]

What I was saying to my friend is that too much flirtation to me is a sign of moderate to high levels of insecurity. Flirting to me is a reminder that I have a certain power and effect on people. My gender paired with a combination of intellectual, emotional, spiritual and physical attributes doused down with a lot of wit give me a certain effect on people. I am well aware of these characteristics within myself even without some dude gushing over how both funny and smart, AND cute and sexy I am. I use my mirrors at home folks. When I flirt it’s really just a mere flexing of what I already know I am/have [mostly AM though]. When I actively pursue flirting it most times, the FEW times, to me, feels like I am just making a fool of myself. I haven’t quite figured out how to bat my regular length eyelashes no matter how much volumizing mascara I put on and, as I probably will not be wearing any falsies until my wedding day, might never learn. I wear my hair short most of the time and even when i have braids or a weave the pony tail is my style of choice. I therefore do not have loose strands that get windswept into my face and I can therefore tuck behind my ear seductively. As for the pout, not only are my lips incredibly thin, but flexing and protruding them feels altogether silly and awkward - especially going by the results other people in their pictures yield.

When it comes to flirting, if i could send my mind out there to do it’s thing, that would be easier, but my body language is that uncompromising friend who refuses to dress up when you know it’ll be easier to get into the ladies-free-before-9 joint if you all wore your freakum dresses. It can’t be bothered. Perhaps as confident as I am i am a little bit shy.

People who are constantly on the prowl and flirting to me are trying to reassure themselves through the validation that comes from that much attention from the opposite sex. They can never be satisfied with looking in the mirror and liking what they see, so they flirt and must always be the life of the party so to speak. Flirting with Tom, Dick and Harry, or with Jill, Jane and [insert name] reminds them that yes what they saw in the mirror after primping and priming for an hour minimum is in fact desirable. Otherwise without flirting they are walking around wondering if people do think they are hot and sexy and appreciating the results of their efforts.

As unappealing as too much of this is amongst singles, flirting is even more troubling (oh yes - “troubling”) when people are in a relationship. When a guy is in a relationship that people for the most part know he is in, although that is irrelevant, but still insists on being the resident casa nova I think it really shows his insecurity. This is worse when the girl absolutely adores him. The only reason a guy with a good girl flirts uncontrollably because there is something in the relationship that makes him wonder if he still has it and he feels an internal pressure to always prove that he is in deed still hot and quite a catch. Do all that when you are single I say.

Stop it. The best practice is to let people be impressed with you versus you bending over backwards to impress them because what might happen is you look dumb and come of very posy and pretentious.

That’s my piece for now. A.D.D. kicking in...

@afropolitaine :)

Hollywood Bad Habits: Shark Night

2011-10-27T16:40:00.000-04:00

So i saw the previews for yet another weekend getaway turned bad movie where once again there are sharks in some lake and once again some young people out there doing their thing when stuff turns bad very fast. It's called Shark Night - makes you wanna go see it innit?! Usually those movies don't have Black people in them since Black people don't do things like go out on lakes and water ski (*?!) - or do they?! Anywhooo...seeing this Black guy struck me as an interesting change to the mundane, overdone and straight up played out movie theme. But it was all ruined entirely too quickly with what seems to be the modus operandi of all these teeny bopper scary movies. The Black guy is the one who dies first. Like in the previews there wasn't even an attempt to hide the fact that the only Black cast member was killed off first. I'm sure there are other Black people in the movie, but going from the previews and the apparent predictability, who will be in the usual token roles of by standers dancing at some party, rapping, dressed in baggy clothes, having the hook up to something, excited about some chicken, athlete etc et cetera...

Don't get me wrong i'm not surprised nor am i even disappointed anymore. Disappointment follows high expectancy - which i have very low ones of Hollywood anyway. I don't expect this to shake Hollywood out of stagnancy and creative doldrums, or to become a spokesperson for race in the industry and how we are supposed to have come so far given the century we are in and the unveiling of the Martin Luther King monument down the street. I don't even care about the fact that there was only 1 Black person featured in the previews of that movie because there certainly are bigger issues of race that need to be addressed in this country. I'm just another blogger, of which there are too many, on a rant about racial inequality in the media. But then i think again that in this day and age ( i won't dare say Post-Racial America), things like this should not even be going on. Not only do we have to do better, we SHOULD be doing better. There is a certain intentionality that has to go into undoing the damage of too long a time of systematic racism. That intentionality is lacking because there is no pressure for it.

It has gotten entirely too easy to do nothing at all and continue with bad habits. Hollywood, you are what you repeatedly do. Stop it. It's not cute.

To be honest, I obviously haven't watched it because it's not out, but I really don't need to. My criticism is based of what I already know about those types of movies and the preview itself. Even if I do see it i'm pretty sure i will have the same criticism.

Bye

ImmiSeries The Introduction 10/26 by afropolitaine | Blog Talk Radio

2011-10-25T01:35:00.000-04:00

ImmiSeries The Introduction 10/26 by afropolitaine | Blog Talk Radio

The Irony of the "Arab" Spring

2011-10-07T01:32:00.000-04:00

I'm sitting here watching Current and Countdown with Keith Olbermann is on. I used to love watching him on MSNBC leading up to Obama's campaign and for a while after B.O. became POTUS I would rush home and get such a rush watching his show. He and Rachel Maddow.

So it's interesting to see him on a different channel with possibly a little more liberty to express his frustrations especially in the sometimes uncontrolled way I came to love.

Anywhooo he's talking to a reporter from Democracy Now! who was at an Occupy Wall Street (henceforth referred to as #occupywallstreet) protest. What I see in the footage featured of police turning on the crowd with batons, pepperspray and altogether unnecessary force given the mostly non-violent nature of the movement really had me wondering.....

----->> has the "Arab" Spring reached America's shores?

What stands out to me is the fact that labeling would have had us here in America thinking that only young disenfranchised Arab/Muslim youth living in countries with leaders labeled dictators/miscreants/violators would be the ones to get up and protest because they had had enough. No - it turns out that we as humans or humanity have a lot more in common than we think. To me #occupywallstreet and all the #occupy movements are reflective of a changing world order. One that is tired of capitalism, not in totality, and it's ills. The unintended consequences you could say. It's funny how the home, champion, crusader for capitalism, The United States of America, should be going through what it is NOW! Oppression is oppression. We might go and fight wars in the name of "Freedom", but perhaps a definition or redefining to such an intangible concept should be found. Freedom is not an absolute! It is relative. Relative because it is subject to an individual's desires and ambitions which are all also subject to culture, politics and so much more. ---> INTERSECTIONALITY!

Letting other people or powers define what our oppression is allows for them to shape our experience and be blind to the freedoms we DO have. Outsiders who are not aware of the context within which the said oppression is happening and are oblivious to the interlocking systems of oppression [they themselves are a part of].

Funny how one power will tell another [sovereign] that it is oppressing its people and fight an entire war that drains its economy spending hundreds of millions of dollars for 10 straight years. That said power, in having drained it's reserves, now borrows and is indebted to a "communist" super power (<---possible blog post for another day lest I digress). The "communist" super power has long been accused by the one power of oppressing its people. Recognizing the irony is mind blowing. A highly enlightening experience which ironically... Anywhoo.... The "Arab" spring was the beginning of what Karl Marx, in The Communist Manifesto, referred to in saying:

The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.
Freeman and slave, patrician and plebeian, lord and serf, guild-master and journeyman, in a word, oppressor and oppressed, stood in constant opposition to one another, carried on an uninterrupted, now hidden, now open fight, a fight that each time ended, either in a revolutionary reconstitution of society at large, or in the common ruin of the contending classes.

It really, to me and hopefully, eventually if not already, to you, marked the beginning of the/a Proletarian Revolution. Despite what the liberal and/or conservative media would have you believe, we as working class citizens of ANY country have a lot more to be worried about or in common than what is of actual consequence in our differences. Propagation of propaganda distracts us from the core of what we should be focused on and is right before our eyes.

For some reason the story of Jack and the Beanstalk keeps coming to mind. Of course I haven't read the story in a long time and the connection or metaphor I am recognizing might be off, but bear with me for the sake of my point. Perhaps read the story or refer to a summary.

I shant make the connection for you, but perhaps as a mental exercise in becoming more aware of yourself and why the Arab Spring and #occupywallstreet matter for YOU today the connection will make itself.

The Arab Spring even gives credit to some of the more positive and unifying aspects of Capitalism technology and innovation (you see it's not a zero sum opposition to Capitalism, but the parts that should be done away with). Technology like Apple products, other smartphones and social media made it possible the the movement to happen the way it did. In closing and in homage to the late great Mac-Daddy Steve Jobs, I leave you with his words:

"[Y]ou can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something -- your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life."

http://www.focusfeatures.com/video/rungano_nyoni

2011-08-16T21:45:00.000-04:00

http://www.focusfeatures.com/video/rungano_nyoni

responding to misinformation

2011-08-15T22:43:00.000-04:00

btw I wrote this in response to someone who had responded to Tavis Smiley and Cornel West’s criticism of Barack Obama and how he hasn’t invited them to the White House. That in and of itself needed a lot longer response so i responded to a response. The person said something about the Obama administration charging people 35K for a campaign fundraising event. Which was false! I felt a COMPULSION to respond, my fingers got the typing and voila…!

La Reponse:

The campaign fundraising event that was held for Obama in New York with an admission fee of $35,800 has nothing to do with the administration itself, unless Anna Wintour and Harvey Weinstein were appointed and I missed that. Everyone who attended did so out of free will because to them both the Obama campaign and the DNC are worthy causes. Also because they HAVE the money to do so. As it is their OWN money and their free will, what exactly is the problem? If people would stop to look and listen/read the details instead of reacting to mere headlines they would either have better responses here or remain silent. Does it not get tiring being mad at Obama for both the few mistakes that he [humanly and given the restrictions of the political system within which he is operating] has made and twisting anything he is associated with into what to me is becoming straight up #hateration? Comparing Martin Luther King and Barack Obama and what one would have done is silly. Different times, different environments, different everything – Black men yes! One thing I do know is that Martin Luther King would have been proud of Barack Obama and wherever he disagreed it certainly would have been expressed in the most constructive, self-reflective, informed and respective way. In closing, “Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.”

Can MD Africans Be Civically Engaged?

2011-06-23T15:14:00.001-04:00

At this point in my life, there just might be a picture of me right next to the #doingtoomuch hash tag dictionary if there ever was one to exist. Besides the two jobs I have, 1 I love, 1 I hate, I recently got involved with the Continental African Leadership Council (CALC) after a very good referred me to them as a great person to get the organization kick started and engaged in the community. Even in that involvement, I’m doing a little bit of this and a little bit of that - pretty much doing the most I can when I can given the sliver of time I have leftover when I get done with the real gigs.

What is CALC:

CALC = Continental African Leadership Council. Why "Continental" you may ask?! Well because the state of Maryland already has the African-American Leadership Council so the distinction had to be made.

Who is a "Continental African" - For the sake of getting greater engagement in Maryland politics, these Africans are the ones that are either first generation Americans or naturalized ones. They are people who's cultural identity is still strongly tied to their African/ethnic heritage and therefore whose political needs as a community are unique.

CALC was commissioned by the Governor of the State of Maryland, Martin O'Malley (Dem.) in August of 2010 in an effort to get the growing African community in Maryland more involved in state level politics be it at the city, county, district and state levels. The purpose was to create a platform for African communities, whether business, social or otherwise more actively involved in shaping or driving the policies that directly influence the success of the collective African community.

At this point I have attended some pretty amazing events and I'm excited not only to be getting Africans, young and older, civically engaged. After the hardship stories we hear and sometimes can see ourselves from older generations about the struggles of America, why not grab this opportunity and empower ourselves to smoothe the path for future continental Africans in the state of Maryland and beyond.

You can find an great and informative video of Congressman Steny Hoyer's birthday event. A representative from the Continental African Leadership Council [me] was invited and had an opportunity to speak to former House Majority Leader, meet other state representatives and generally be a presence representing the African community in Maryland.

--->

I'm most looking forward to more of you being involved because when given opportunities like that, it would be vain and idiotic to think that I am representative of the community at large. The more involved we get, the better and more representatively we will be represented.

!!Eureka!!

2011-03-18T23:52:00.001-04:00

in reference to my previous post, Bill Maher [on Real Time (HBO)] just hit the nail on the hoodie-wearing head.

What we see in coverage of natural disasters is

---->DISASTER PORN!

CNN You're Bothering Me

2011-03-14T23:35:00.000-04:00

i'm sitting here finally watching tv coverage of the earthquake in Japan cuz thus far i've only been reading about it in the paper and hearing it on the radio. And seeing what i am seeing my heart is breaking. I don't know what exactly it is about this one out of the three many that have been happening, but watching this i actually started crying sitting here by myself.
in my permanent state of metacognizance i'm trying to figure out why i didn't cry for the other things which i definitely feel were devastating too.

I'm watching on CNN and it's no shocker that the rockstar of all hotspot news coverage Anderson Cooper is already there live and direct to cover it all until the next disaster elsewhere happens. I mean wasn't he in Haiti, Egypt, Libya?! I swear the first thing i thought when i saw him was is what is going on in all those other places over? No it's not, but it's not "braeking news" for the American media machine cuz really it's not there to be fully concerned and dedicated to solutions or even genuine sympathy. Actually, correction - *compassion. Where is it? The coverage just strikes me as almost marveling at the disaster and destruction that has happened there.

I think the reason I was crying is because it's like watching someone watch someone else on fire and instead of pouring water on the burning person you wanna talk about how big the flames on their body are and u can't believe they are not stop-dropping and rolling. I'm almost ashamed by the coverage and when this damage is still so very fresh and possibly going to fester before any process of healing begins and i hear quotes like "the economic toll is already estimated to be in the 100s of billions"

-_-

Are you kidding me? And then there go Soledad! Soledad O'Brian. Just so you guys know I don't know enough about them as individuals so this is in no way a personal attack. Disclaimer complete. But when I saw her reporting from northern Japan my first thought was daaaang girl u big time now?! From Black in America to the frontlines of Japan?! Now you all know Sanjay Gupta will never be too far away as long as there are human beings dying in large numbers and there is potential for a lot more deaths.

It all just seems like entertainment - to them. I feel ashamed to be watching the suffering of other human beings and it's presented to me as entertainment. It offends me and quite honestly it all boils down to "ubuntu".

One word. For those that know what it means it means soooooo much.

That's what is lacking in the coverage.

My rant is done because i'm not realizing that what i'm feeling can't fully be expressed in English because language truly is a reflection of thoughts and ideas that are culturally specific.

Like is someone asks you, "how do you say this totally sucks in your language?" Sometimes u can't express it fully because that isn't an idea expressed in your language and even the closest translation doesn't quite hit the nail on the head.

anyway, #thatisall

#fornow

(the end is nigh, we are naught)

.....

oh yeah i heard an amazing sermon today and in addition to appreciating what was being said I was interpreting it and applying it in a different context. The preacher was talking about how there is nothing more powerful or dangerous than someone who sins and God doesn't strike them down. He also talked about how sin looks so good. He also talked about what Satan used to appeal to Eve in the garden of Eden - self-preservation, self-discovery and self-determination. Then I looked at myself and the country i live in.

Carrying on with my parallel interpretation of what i heard today is a whoooole other blog post and I don't feel like it. Gotta sleep. But i'll leave you all with that and perhaps you can think along the lines of what I was thinking.

in closing i have a quote, one of my favorite:

"Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are a gift of God. Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just..." -Thomas Jefferson

ok ok ok #thatis[really]all

p.s. are birds going to start falling out of the sky again because of all the radiation that is already leaking and will only get worse like the did before? Why were they falling out the sky anyway?! The media machine just stopped talking about it like it stopped talking about Haiti, Niger, Sudan, Congo, Tunisia....but we don't really know what caused it.

#kbye

"Thank God, Men Are Not God"

2011-02-25T02:01:00.000-05:00

a poem by Eddie Onuzuruike i fell in love with years ago and wanted to share

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Humans exhibit so much greed
So much hate
So much discrimination
So much inhumanity to fellow humans
They get so obsessed with power

And so we wonder if men were God

Rainfall would be selective
Given specific areas to fall
Directed on particular roofs
Excluding the houses of sworn and assumed enemies

If men were God
Life as precious as it is
Would have been monetized
And financed by banks
Only affordable to the rich

If men were God
Sunshine would have been privatized
Accessed only by the entrepreneurs
Allocated to millionaires
Acquired by the industrialists

If men were God
The air would have been scarce, controlled by the Rulers
Reserved only for friends, cronies and loyalists
There would have been no place for dissidents
Except in gas chambers and concentration camps

If men were God
The gift of the womb would have been monopolized
Controlled and allocated by government
Some tribes and races would have been prohibited
And like other things the poor would apply and wait for ages.

If men were God
Sight would been a foreign commodity
Imported from the USA and Europe with foreign currency
All poverty stricken countries would have been blind
The eyes would have been on rentals, hired on minute
by minute rates
Adding to Africa's debt burden.

Thank God men are not God
Thank God, God is God and men are men

The rich and poor
The mighty and meek
The sinful and righteous
All have access to all the precious things in life
Free rainfall
Free sunshine
Free air
Free life
Free fruits of the womb
And free sight."

---> just <---

2011-02-06T02:03:00.000-05:00

just sitting here listening to the space heater go from the right to the left
and back again

just happy the test is over

just typing some of the empty thoughts going through my head

just remembering learning about metacognition - the awareness of one's own thinking...

just planning the outfits i would love to wear on my next vacation;

the last was to zimbabwe and tanzania - just splendid!

it's just been a little over a year, but that's too long

just.

just thinking about what's going on in Ivory Coast, Tunisia and now Egypt

just what would happen if it happened in Zimbabwe?

would i just go back?

i just don't know.

Just know Bob is still there, and it hasn't happened since, it probably
just won't happen.

He wouldn't sit there and just let it happen, just not that kind of a bloke.

Gosh i've just used just so much, i should just stop.

But like Trevor Noah said "you can't just do that"
so i just can't.

Well i can, but i just won't.

I feel like i'm writing this just to say i just did a blog post.

If you don't like it you can just leave, but chances are you just read the whole thing

Hahaha...just like that!

Life isn't just, i'll just leave it at that.

Musical Memories #1

2011-02-02T02:52:00.000-05:00

Of all the many schools i have been to I never forget the school song from Hillcrest Preparatory School in Nairobi, Kenya. Just the first verse though. Just stuck from those assemblies we would have on Monday and Friday morning and all had to sing or at least move our lips to it - i actually sang ;)

I just remembered it again and decided to share <3

~~~~~~~~
Lord give me faith to stand up tall
To follow through the task life has set me
I'm just a child though my heart is strong
Without your love I may well go wrong
I need your presence to direct me
Your love and care to keep me strong
Oh and please Lord stand by me

Bleeding LOVE!

2010-12-15T00:37:00.000-05:00

To be loved is a powerful thing. I just got done reading one of what my new roommate and I categorized as a self-help books. We just moved in together *two days ago and we finally got around to organizing her books into the bookshelf. Anyway, the cynic in me just got through the first chapter and realized that these books are not bestsellers for nothing. This one really put some things into perspective for me and I realize about myself that I prefer to just push my issues to the back of my proverbial cupboard. Like those cans of canned cranberries or sweet potatoes we randomly bought or were given, but as every thanksgiving and Christmas comes and goes we never use them, but won’t throw them away for some reason. They take up space, expire, but stay there even though we know we have no use for them.
I got to the end of the first chapter of this book and it had some really good exercises that required some jotting down answers and saying out loud some affirmative and self-reassuring thoughts. I didn’t actually write anything down or say anything out loud, but I did them in my mind. [That is a problem in itself]. I smiled a little bit because even doing them mentally they had the intended effect. What more had I actually done them whole-heartedly? Part of the reason I didn’t do them is because of a level of denial I have yet to overcome. Why should I write down everything that has ever been done wrong to me in a relationship if I haven’t actually admitted to the fact? Catch my drift? A la Colored Girls type sweeping under the rug 
A power thing happened next. I felt this powerful urge to say a prayer. In the recent past I have thought my prayers, but not actually said them. Something about this one made me turn off the light, get on my knees, take a deep breath and start talking. It took me a couple of seconds to organize my thoughts, but before I could say anything tears welled up in my eyes, vision got blurry and huge drops ran down to the corner of my mouth. [It’s happening again].
Ever since the death of my best friend about three weeks ago I’ve had so many conversations with friends whom we all grew up together with. I went through so many emotions like anger, sadness, bitterness, confusion, gratefulness, selfishness, fear, loneliness, homesickness, regret, pain in cocktails and individually. I am still. November 18. ‘Twas my first day at work at a new job. It had been so busy and being the trooper that I am running on shear gung-ho eagerness to make the perfect impression, no pun intended, I had been so oblivious to my hunger that until I was asked if I would take a break I hadn’t even thought about it. So I drove to the nearest eatery I found, ordered a quick bite with some coffee lest I go back and –itis sets in after eating. That “2 o’clock feeling”! I came back and was well within the hour given so decided to check and respond to or call back my missed calls. @redIvoire had called me twice during work hours so I figured it was urgent. Customary hey, ca va, what you doing was said, but I could tell something was wrong. Milena is a tough cookie and for her to have called me about something wrong was touching so my compassion was immediately aroused. “What’s wrong? Everything ok?”. She responded by asking me where I was and I told her she said I should call her when I got off. That was enough to pique my concern even more. It was that much more necessary to hear what it was now. To cut a long story short she told me that Aisha and Fatima had just died in a car accident. Like about 5 hours earlier. Details were dodgy only because it had really only just happened and it was all the way in Nigeria.

The last thing I ever wanted was to fall apart at work. I did not want to. Cry! Shuddering uncontrollably, mascara running down my face, eyes red, nose running. The hardest thing to do was crying silently when something so excruciating and painfully heart wrenching like that happens. Short of breath, lightheaded, humongous headache forming. I just couldn’t.
[I had never attended a funeral in my whole life until New Year’s Day of this year, 2010, when another very close childhood friend of mine died in a tragic accident the night before shortly after dropping me off when we hung out on New Year’s Eve. I had travelled to Zimbabwe for the Christmas holiday. I found out what had happened after I came home from bringing in the New Year with some other friends. Everyone, grandparents, mom, maid, cousins and uncles was up wondering if I was coming home because I had been the last person seen with him when the news was broken. After some probing and questions to figure out the timeline of what had happened to him, my granddad told me that he had been in a “very bad accident” that’s why everyone was worried. I was stunned. The joy and good times of the preceding hours was just wiped away. I told my granddad that I wanted to go to the hospital to see him. He told me it was too late. He had died on the spot. I never thought those wails I used to hear while sitting in the car waiting for Gogo and Khulu at funerals because it was taboo for children to attend would ever come out of me. It was a wail that couldn’t have come from inside me. It couldn’t have. The loss hit me like a ton of bricks. I couldn’t believe it. He had JUST dropped me off. JUST! 4 hours ago.]
11 months later, my best friend. In the whole world. Gone. Just. Like that. Not a moment’s notice, she and her sister. Beautiful girls, the model of sisters. They were each other’s sisters, best friends and best friends of each others best friends and sisters to the other’s best friend. Amazing women.

I couldn’t cry the way I needed to. On my first day. I washed off my face. Put some lotion on my face, glossed the lips, dripped some clear eyes into my eyes and waited for the red to clear out. I had one two more hours to finish. There was nothing I could do about the puffs around my eyes but at least I would pull a few smiles and complete the day’s tasks. Honestly, I was dying inside. My mind was really trying to understand and accept what I had just heard. I couldn’t. I needed that wail and I never had it. All I have is tears. As I was unpacking I found pieces of her all over my room. The work pants I thought were so bootylicious on Fatima that after I complimented her on them three times she took off and gave to me. The pictures we took on a Polaroid camera when we went to The Hague for Model UN and had the same host family, the red dress I was supposed to send her, Claudette Ortiz and Wyclef duet (Two Wrongs) on my iTunes, the celery in the fridge. Those may seem either superficial or deep to an outsider, but that was the dynamic of our relationship. We could have long conversations where we would be “gisting” for hours about so and so, kohl eyeliner, our most recent encounters of utter uselessness, to development issues in respective African countries as far as corruption, the brain drain and the Diaspora’s need to realize that Africa’s future is theirs to shape.
As much as I loved Aisha Kyeptin Yahaya and her sister, and as much as it sucks not to have them, one thing that seems to give me a semblance of peace about the whole thing is how much they were loved. That’s why I say “to be loved is a powerful thing”. The circumstances under which I learnt this lesson are unfortunate, but it makes me grateful. I loved and absolutely adored those two and what happened was beyond anybody’s control. I knew I loved her, but it’s only now with these past few weeks that I realize how deep my love for her was. I loved her from the bottom of my heart and I was blessed to have a friend like her. Given the course of my life and the places I have been to and all the countries I have lived in and schools I’ve attended, it’s really hard to encapsulate the feelings I have for the relationship we had because there are very few people who have experienced it. Loss, yes has been experienced by all, but I’m not sure how exactly to describe it. She very well might be the only person who would have been able to understand it. But alas. Here I am writing trying to somewhat make sense of it and I guess maybe talk to someone. I got it out. Yet still. This does it no justice. I could have sat in a room with her and said a few things or nothing at all and not only would she have understood, but she would have made me feel better.
Wow, I love that girl.

beat around the bush: Thanks!

2010-11-25T03:47:00.000-05:00

Me thinks i've had blogger's block for a while now and honestly it's so much easier to tweet. (Those people really knew what they were doing). As much down time as i get, it's always easier to summarize a big thought and feel like i've at least shared it. Tweets, though, are often simply scratching the surface of a much larger thought. In this age of information as much as we share there is so much more that we try to protect. At least i do. I treat my thoughts like intellectual property of sorts and because of the freedom I have to communicate and share them on this wide open space called the internet - i put a little effort into protecting them...until i can channel them a little more productively. Can't give it all away. See i know how my mind goes on so many tangents and i feel some major ones coming on already. Uh oh! *Wondering* if i should map my blogs before i get on here.

ugggh...i remember in like 9th grade i had a huge science project where we had to study mental skills or something and tie them to a science experiment and although i don't remember the experiment i remember the skill and it always remains with me all the freaking time. >>>> "METACOGNITION" <<<<<

definition: "knowledge of your own thoughts and the factors that influence your thinking" or as Mr. Lees used to say, "awareness of your own thinking".

Right now as I've been typing this I've been to about 8 different other websites and checked my emails about 3 times. Focus is an issue at this particular moment. But can you really blame me?! It's all just a click away.

Writing blog entries is something i should do more often cuz that way, no matter how random they might become, i'll get into some kind of recognizable rhythm. Reminds me of the journal my mom gave me to write in and i've written in it about 3 times so far. This year. That's since i went to Tanzania all the way in January. Speaking of this year, WHERE THE HELL HAS THIS YEAR GONE?! Really it went by a bit fast with some major milestones and accomplishments hit and achieved, yet as soon as they were in the pocket that's about where they remained. That's nobody's fault, but mine. A lot of tragedy and loss too.

All this is me trying to get into the rhythm and also postponing or perhaps appetizing you for what is inevitably to come. What i have to say is heavy on my heart, knotting up my throat, or perhaps raising my eyebrows and yours, or just making your eyes follow along these words and punctuation marks arranged in sentences or what some of my professors might have called run-on sentences (<-- eff that some thoughts can't fit in a sentence and as complicated in structure as some sentences can get, some thoughts just don't fit!!) from left to *write (don't dare correct).

Although the above may not qualify as 6 paragraphs i will call them such. In the six "paragraphs" [or thoughts] i have managed to thoroughly beat around the bush and for those of you reading this last sentence - THANK YOU!

Happy Thanksgiving and if you can't articulate just what to be thankful for let me tell you what to be grateful for. Warm you up:

1. the ability to READ [this blog entry] - illiteracy is a problem in this world and although a lot has been accomplished and you probably don't know anyone that canNOT read - it IS, relatively speaking, a privilege.

2. TIME: whether you think this entry was a waste of your time or you were enthralled by it - u had the time to do so.

3. CHOICE: you had a choice to get online and get onto several website before choosing to see what this "beat around the bush" was all about....amongst the many choices you may not even be aware are choices (like whether or not to comment at the end of this). Many of you probably will have a choice out of a plethora of dishes tomorrow as you celebrate with your choices of family and friends. Even for the things that you HAVE to do like go to work - you actually have a CHOICE whether or not u even wake up lol...

4. LOVE: <-- which is what this entry was written with. Assuming that we all have some in our lives, this just adds a little bit more. I really wrote this with love <3 #thatisall

.....

some of these may seem silly, redundant, duh, WTH, but really there is so much that we take for granted. Now go one and be thankful for FAMILY, FRIENDS and all the OBVIOUS ones. Don't let their obviousness be in vain :)

I'm grateful for you and THANKS a ton for reading.

FIFA 2010 FEVER !!!!

2010-04-29T00:38:00.000-04:00

oh. my. good, ness!!! it's like when i'm not hearing about the World Cup in South Africa i almost forget what a monumental time it's about to be for that part of the world and for the whole continent in general :) .....When I was in South Africa this past December (2009) the billboards were up, and everything from chewing gum to the packets of biltong had a little picture of Zakumi - the official mascot (look up). Everyone is on the World Cup bandwagon and I can't even be mad. Coca-Cola, MTN, Mazda, the little bottle store on the corner, Wimpy, the petrol station - EVERYONE!!!
During that horrendous snow storm we had a couple of months back I was cultivating my love for my favorite afropolitan artist K'Naan and found out his song "Waving Flag" was remixed with the Latin Grammy-winning Spanish pop singer David Bisbal to be *THE* OFFICIAL World Cup Anthem. Rightfully so!!! I'm pretty sure after my blasting it on repeat for three consecutive days as I rationed my South African wine my neighbors had memorized the bass if not the lyrics to the song. It was that. SERIOUS, especially since my inner choreographer was determined to get the moves down - YES it has a dance!!! ...so it's only right that i share :

OFFICIAL FIFA 2010 WORLD CUP ANTHEM: "Waving Flag" - K'Naan

as if that wasn't enough, one of my favorite Southern African bands called Freshly Ground has a blazing hot scathing dance track with Shakira to add to the World Cup soundtrack!!! I won't get into who Shakira is cuz everyone knows that hips don't lie. #ontothenext...Freshly Ground is an afro-fusion band whose members come from Mozambique, Zimbabwe and South Africa and their sound is a combination of indie, jazz, blues - real happy, mellow, smily stuff :) ...This collabo however, is a little different from their typical sounds, but i absolutely love love love it!!!!! The song called "Time for Africa" was released on the 26th and will be performed at the opening ceremony! Apparently IT is now the "official" anthem. Don't know how that happened, but since the song is hot i'm just gonna *kanye-shrug* it off and bop my head :) The drums at the beginning give the song a serious carnival vibe and my hips couldn't help rocking, theeeen at about 1 minute the guitars kicked in and my whole torso and legs kicked in and the kwasa kwasa kicked in!!! ~~~Zolani Mahola~~~ that chick! Her voice!

i'm just gonna give it to y'all ---->

"WAKA WAKA (This Time for Africa)" - Shakira ft. Freshly Ground

Enjoy, as I did <3

politicking

2010-04-28T23:26:00.000-04:00

I just discovered a noteworthy AFROPOLITAN and listened to his radio show on Oprah Winfrey's website. His name is DERRICK ASHONG and his show is "The Derrick Ashong Experience" - it's amazing!! He was "discovered" during the last presidential campaign when a journalist thought he had caught an uninformed apathetic/ignorant young voter and completely unaware of the details of the issues let alone the issues themselves who was just voting for Obama because he was Black. Suffice it to say Derrick SHINED (watch here) and proved to the pundits that we the youth know what time it is! That video was the beginning and an addition to many of the wonderful opportunities he's gotten ever since.

Anyway, i love love love this quote from David Walker, former comptroller general, which basically sums up one of the messes this countryr currently finds itself in:

"1. Spending money we don’t have is irresponsible

2. Spending other people’s money irresponsibly is unethical

3. Spending irresponsibly somebody else’s money when that person is too young to vote or not born yet is immoral.

- The federal government is doing all three. "

"Trickle Down" is a MYTH.

2010-03-10T23:24:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I don't want to say some of the thoughts running through my head for fear of appearing petty, stuck up or, quite simply, a B!+ch!

Sometimes I don't say anything not even for those reasons.

Sometimes I don't say anything because I don't think you'll (nonspecific) get it.

But i'll say something gosh darnnit!!

There is a serious void that needs to be filled back home. "Home" in this case is wherever you [dear reader] may be from. Yes most of the time the focus is on the politicians. Boy aren't they the perfect scapegoat?! After all, they are the ones that make up the laws that govern us - us being diaspora and our friends and relatives we left behind. Politicians are the ones that represent our countries to the rest of the world and supposedly make the decisions. They are the ones we turn to when things are going wrong like the fighting currently going on in Jos, or the mudslides in Uganda, or the AIDS epidemic in South Africa, or the 4+ months powercut on the island of Zanzibar, or .... I could really go on and on and on.....and on, but I won't. The lowered expectations and standards we have for each other, whether as leaders or not, is allowing for much bigger problems like the ones i "or"-d above. Improvement, for Africa can not and will not happen from the top down. Neither will it happen from the bottom up. It has to happen on both sides of the issues until we all get to the core hopefully at the same time. The distance between the leadership and the "governed", the businessman and the customer, the master and the servant, the rich and the poor is much too large. There is a disconnect.

By focusing only on the leadership and their faults and neglecting the day to day operations of service and infrastructure, it will not matter if the leadership does miraculously change, because there will be nothing worthy of their governance. If the mess they inherit is larger than they are as an individual or a cabinet it's not a wonder they opt to feign good governance or governance at all. They find other things to keep them busy like personal business pursuits, mistresses and shopping. Even if they whole-heartedly want to make a difference, what lies before them, in the time alloted in a single term ((not that that matters)), cannot be fixed unless people on the ground are already progressively working towards the same goals.

I'm trying to think of a somewhat hypothetical example here......

Ok. Take a city.

One might look at a city and see everything that is wrong and blame it on the mayor. The dirty streets, bad roads, crime and lack of entertainment for examples are often blamed on him or her. Rightfully so - to a degree - because s/he is supposed to be making sure that the people responsible for doing that are funded and managed properly. Looking from the bottom up, if the street sweeper has no sense or standard of professionalism, there is no way the end result of his work will be good. If s/he only picks up litter until whenever it's too hot and s/he proceeds to sit under a tree with 5 other workers and chat because there either is nobody supervising or they don't even know what exactly they are supposed to be doing. One level up, if his or her boss also doesn't have a standard of professionalism in which to behave in a managerial position and doesn't know how to decide if the street sweepers have done a satisfactory job that doesn't help either. This cycle almost repeats itself up the ranks until it reaches the top. STANDARDS are LACKING at the BOTTOM so is it a wonder they are ABSENT at the TOP? In instances where the leaders went from the bottom to the top, haphazardness, lack of standardization and accountability, and posing have characterized the journey up.

Something as basic customer service is something i'm sure most of us can attest is a problem on the continent. For those of us that come from countries whose economies rely heavily on tourism can even testify that we have seen the same useless nincompoop ignoramus security guard (*really a gateman because let there be a actual need for security - he will RUN) or waiter suddenly become articulate and overflowingly useful at the sight of a muzungu/murungu/mukiwa/boer/oyinbo (miscellaneous and colloquial terms for "white man"). That in itself is subject for another rant - as in a whole other post. But the point should not be missed that the problem is not just the "leadership" we often attack. Leadership happens at so many levels and if all those levels, however high or low they are, are slacking the system will be and is SHODDY.

A big part of what is missing is US. The Diaspora - myself included yes, no pots calling kettles black here. When we go home we see all the things that are wrong. We shake our heads, get irritated and sometimes laugh about it. We come back to "civilization" and tell stories of all the funny things that were wrong to each other and tell non-Africans about our drivers, chefs, beaches and emphasize the things that are the same here as there like clubs, malls, etc. Stop the faking. Once we get back we return to the routine of work, shopping, school or whatever it is we do taking for granted the fact that things just WORK in America. Most of us know the workings of corporate culture in America and absolutely love the convenience provided by great service and technology in our lives. So why, with all the money waiting to be made and our elite educations, are we not teaching others back home. Everybody wants to go back and be president or minister or at the very least governor. On what grounds are you qualified to be a leader that high up? ~~We can't all be captain, there's gotta be a crew.~~ I feel like there's a certain sense of entitlement that some of us with western educations are all guilty of. Just because you are educated in America does not necessarily make you know what's best for your people. We would be most useful in lower positions of leadership were we are more directly involved in the betterment of our people. Let's teach and train our relatives some of the professionalism and accountability models we learn at work. If we just started there we would see a huge difference in the quality of our day to day life that we might not even get so frustrated with the leaders at the top.

Basically, that whole trickle down effect we think will happen and everything will be alright and better in our countries just because the leaders change is a MYTH. We need to STOP that. It will NOT. That is not foolproof. Changing the leaders will not necessarily ((please note "necessarily")) bring electricity, roads and running water to a city near our relatives. There are many other things involved.

I hope by now you are packing your suitcases and looking up one way tickets back to your country. Even those of you that were born here - myself included. Going back immediately is unrealistic, but i'd give myself a deadline within the next 6 months. There are so many reasons and things for us to stay here. But things are all those are. Yes your job, mortgage, car note, fear, friends, but unless YOU go back and fix whatever it is that bothers you, no matter how petty, when you go home that same thing will ALWAYS bother you. It will NEVER change.

**2010*** is supposed to be a big year. Don't let it waste away. I know i've gone from a rant into motivational speech mode, but wouldn't it be good to say that *2010* was the year i decided i'd had enough and changed everything in my life. I took it into my own hands make a change where CHANGE was ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY.

Let's GOOOOOOO!!!

always, With Love :)

.afropolitaine.

deSpite and in Spite of...

2010-02-19T19:23:00.000-05:00

Je suis fiere d’être Africaine. I feel extremely lucky to have an *ethnicity that has proven itself, despite the historical disadvantages and exploitation it went through, is going through and will always go through. There is a certain pride evoked in me when I think about all that the world has done to not only my country, but all the peoples – yes they are an assortment of different kinds of people in the collective sense. Africa’s story is a story of survival. The continent can be personified and characterized as a woman who has survived through the rape and plunder of so many violators. The Arabs, the Portuguese and other Europeans, the Indians, the Americans, the corporations, themselves in the form of wars, looting, trickery, brutality, education, politics, the dollar, the pound, Coca-Cola, assassination, Apartheid – the list goes on. Despite and in spite of it all, there remains so much more to be learnt and improved, so much beauty and hope. The fragility and impermanence of the African condition has created a simplicity where there is no room for materialism and individuality. There can only be a gratitude and celebration for and of the present and hope for tomorrow. Every time I think about being home, any of the several African countries I have lived in, I’m filled with nostalgia for the simplicity of being African in Africa. Simple there is simply simple.

Despite and in spite of all that may be wrong with, about and in Africa, I am hopeful that there is a better tomorrow. No condition is permanent.

Despite and in spite of all that je suis fiere d’être Africaine.

back to my ROOTS

2009-12-22T00:23:00.000-05:00

I am going HOOOOOME!!!!
I get to go home - wherever that happens to be - once a year. Last Christmas I went to Nigeria because my aunty had just moved there and invited my mom and I for Christmas. I guess home is wherever my mom happens to be when we meet up :) Strange and unusual i know- but such is [my] life. The Christmas before that i went to Tanzania, India and Dubai. With that trip, home was Dar-es-Salaam, but I was lucky enough to get a vacation within a vacation :)

...This year i really hadn't thought about what i was going to do and was almost resolved on suffering through the dryness that is an American Christmas. The last time i ever did not travel i swore to myself that it would never happen again. I remember my aunt and i were staring at each other, it was cold...there's nothing like a "Christmas" in Africa. It's something inclusive of everyone and certainly not limited to Christianity. Some of my best friends are Muslim, but we can all agree that rounding off the year and coming into a new one in the "Motherland" rox anybody's sox!
....Anywaaaay, after getting done with finals (a week before Christmas) i was like *oh snAP* - what am i going to be doing with myself in this festively forsaken place?! Shopping all the grand annual sales (#shout out to Victoria's Secret whose semi-annual i'm gonna miss :( ).....avoiding/attending all the "exclusive", "classy" and "grown n sexy" parties {{rolls eyes}}...there really wasn't going to be much. I just didn't want to bother my mom at the last minute, but, lo and behold, she called me during the BLIZZARD of '09 asking me what i was planning on doing with myself for the break. My answer was easy - NOTHING! She told me she was going to Nigeria for her friend's daughter's wedding and would be heading to Zim in time for New Year's and i was sooo genuinely happy for her then she said - u wanna come? DO I?!!?!?! i got off the phone doing the harlem shake and shimmied to my laptop to find a ticket immediatemente.

I'm so excited and I thank God for my mother and my family and that fact that I didn't even get to a point where I prayed to him to make this happen as much as it would have been nice. He just made it happen because only He is Able to :). I needed this and He knew it and I'm just so blessed to have the combination of people that I do in my life for things like this to happen for me. My life is like no other....

p.s. that's me chilling in my room that faces the Indian Ocean in the east African city of Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania :)

to a point, but to what end?!

2009-10-05T22:39:00.014-04:00

i've been sick now for a little over a week and have a staaack of work to catch up on. the chronic procrastinator in me knows that with the order of bed rest from the doctor i can stretch not getting to the millions of chapters and gazillions of pages until Tuesday night. got in touch with my professors tho, n the exams that i would otherwise be tortuously thrust head on into when i get back i now can take a week later :D .....so i have a little more time.

In the meantime i have this empty feeling of homesickness and just feeling trapped. I don't necessarily want to go home, but i don't want to be here. im tired of the people around me, their ideas and simplicity. on the flipside the others are just pretentious to me and at a point i was subscribed to that lifestyle n didn't even realize it. The subscription is over tho....its fun to a point, but to what end?!

Because i'm neither entertained nor amused by what there is to do with my friends (or people my immediate surroundings have forced me into interacting with), i find myself staying home, sometimes tortured by boredom, and preferring it.

Twitter is my new best friend - kinda sad i know - because it's an outlet to express myself. just as much as say the way i dress....but i need somewhere to be inspired. The stagnance is killing me though.....They say still waters run deep, but they also are perfect breeding grounds for frogs and mosquitoes and that just leads to annoying sounds in the middle of the night and malaria, nile fever...[u get it]

Basically i need to find something that motivates me and jumpstarts me into activities that i can enjoy and remove me completely from this pond. ---> NEW FRIENDS p'raps?! IDK! That means i would have to come out of my shell and allow myself a certain vulnerability i've long outgrown. It helps me to filter the B.S. as my darling friend Chika would say. I decided a while ago that i'm not changing anymore (if i do i won't know it) - u either like it or u leave it alone. I don't like gossiping....sometimes its fun to hear, but it's really hard to be engaged wholeheartedly in discussing the juicy details or *gist of someone else's life - esp. if it's of no immediate consequence to anything i'm pursuing in my life. As much popular culture as i consume, i'm really just a bystander so talking about celebrities and beef between rappers etc. so that doesnt work. I've kinda been forced into being interested in it because we live in an age where the death of the fiance (RIP) of a "wife" on Real Housewives of Atlanta season 2 makes it to CNN. See the world i live in! In my pursuit of intellectual stimulation i get very irritable with people who pick up on my utter loathing of small talk and decide to overly philosophize and and everything - trying too hard. Really, just chill.

I have hope though, i'll just keep looking and hopefully somewhere in this cyber world i'll find something that connects me to something in my real world that gets me out of these doldrums.

.a bientot.

Fake "Conservative" Outrage

2009-08-24T21:40:00.005-04:00

This is a response to an ARTICLE bashing my beloved M

ichelle Obama's choice of classic shorts to wear on holiday in the blaaazing Grand Canyon:

First of all - all you pretentious wanna be holier than thou judgementalists, go SIT down somewhere. She is on HOLIDAY in the GRAND CANYON in the SUMMER. Some of the other first ladies you mentioned were already boring old hags by the time they moved into the white house so comparing their choices of attire is like comparing apples and oranges. They probably didn't know designers in America, speak less of being cultured enough to appreciate international ones - so let's leave that alone... N.B: Michelle Obama is MOTHER of two YOUNG girls. She is a HANDS ON mother. She is going to be playing with her children. The problem is America hasn't had real children living in it's White House so a **real** mother doing ACTIVELY motherly things is something those stuck in the ways old. The fact that Barack Obama is President, in and of itself, if a testament to the changes that are happening in America. Soooo you can either get with it or take a hike in the grand canyon in your summer dresses or "nice summer skirt"!

I'm so annoyed by the conservative ignorance and closemindedness that is rampant amongst some Conservatives in so many places. They even had to nerve to talk about Malia, the olderst daughter, and her choice of t-shirt with a peace sign in Rome pending her father's attendance of the G8 Summit. Really though?! The caption under the image says: "Statement dresser: Malia Obama in a T-shirt bearing the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament symbol in Rome ahead of the G8 summit back in July."

Are they not over the change that has happened in America. I actually feel sorry for them, but in the meantime they should leave Malia n Michelle alone and let them live their lives!!!! Sheesh

gotta get a J.O.B.!!!

2009-05-28T03:16:00.001-04:00

oh my goodness with all this RECESSION talk is it possible to find a JOB?!?!!?

i guess i'll be finding out very soon - i'm looking very hard!!!

i don't know how fruitful it is to be looking for a job in the non-profit sector right about now, but i'll see what my efforts get me in the end. listening to NPR (88.5 fm) and hearing snippets from other news sources, experts and "regular" folk are saying that it's better to get any job, whether related or not to what we are qualified to do, just to have a source of income.....YIKES, i hope i won't be forced to settling for just ANYTHING!!!! some people, after long careers, are returning to school which leaves me wondering what those of us that are still in school are supposed to do - just linger here?! lol....or look forward to the lights being out once we get to the end of the tunnel?!

there are specific sites and sources i know to go to looking for jobs, but lately my searches are becoming slightly more disjointed, but surprisingly refreshing as i look up more random keywords. I found a site that caters to the hopeful [optimist] in me that believes that no matter how bad things might be going in our lives relative to the standard we maintain ourselves, there is ALWAYS someone who has it worse and has absolutely NO MEANS of getting themselves out of that situation. They are not lucky enough to have to choose to use coupons in order to cushion themselves against skyrocketting gas prices because they don't have a car, gas money, grocery stores, coupons, and might very well be illiterate - amongst a looooong list of basics :(

Such is life and as long as there are haves and have-nots, it's the duty of those that are blessed to share otherwise it's a waste. afterall, "work is the medicine of poverty"....

the link to the site is http://www.idealist.org - somewhat ironic :)
it's filled with not only jobs, but internships, volunteer opportunities, but just information and a directory of sooooo many NGOs that are searcheable from all sorts of angles (location, qualification [or lack thereof], language etc.)....besides the search i was doing i just found there was a lot to learn and many other ways to get into and around the non-profit sector both professionally and personally <3

love.Love.LOVE it!

a "nevermind-the-haters" poem

2009-05-17T23:20:00.002-04:00

Do It ANYWAY
-Mother Theresa-

People are often unreasonable, illogical,
And self-centered;
Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you
Of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some
False friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank;
People may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building,
someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness,
they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.

The good you do today,
people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have,
and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you've got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis
it is between you and God
It was NEVER between you and them ANYWAY.

2009-05-17T23:07:00.001-04:00

Soooo hard to concentrate when tryna study....m actually enjoying the study playlist I found on imeem more than I'm making progress here! Wth

afropolitaine: MY experience, not yours!

The Immigrant Series!

FLIRT!!!

Hollywood Bad Habits: Shark Night

ImmiSeries The Introduction 10/26 by afropolitaine | Blog Talk Radio

The Irony of the "Arab" Spring

http://www.focusfeatures.com/video/rungano_nyoni

responding to misinformation

Can MD Africans Be Civically Engaged?

!!Eureka!!

CNN You're Bothering Me

"Thank God, Men Are Not God"

---> just <---

Musical Memories #1

Bleeding LOVE!

beat around the bush: Thanks!

FIFA 2010 FEVER !!!!

**politicking**

"Trickle Down" is a MYTH.

deSpite and in Spite of...

back to my ROOTS

to a point, but to what end?!

Fake "Conservative" Outrage

gotta get a J.O.B.!!!

a "nevermind-the-haters" poem

politicking