poetrydivas travels in this journey called Life~

3 Careers that bring out entrepreneur spirit in you!

2020-01-16T14:16:00.001-08:00

I have always been the type of woman that loved to be independent and rely upon my own iniative to get things done. One can say with this being said what career decision can possibly form? I began by researching the kinds of retailers and organizations that were close in proximity to me and the type of transportation I needed to get there. First and foremost my primary job was bread and butter for my family. I worked as CSW and Social /worker mental health most of my career also as a youth worker. I dealt with adjudicated population of boys and girls in the youth criminal justice system both in group homes and at the Receiving Home on Mt. Olivet Rd. NE Wash. DC.

up pi I have had various temp job as clerk-typist, file clerks and support staff for nursing home and health facility. The main occupation for is service and helping others with my expertise. Character building assisting youth with correcting certain behaviors has been a passion withe showing by example that change is possible negating old stereotypes that one cannot change core values. I believe that if worked in certain cases change can definitely be the final outcome A mainstay in our community are service jobs, hotel. Retail jobs and jobs that are minimum wages are jobs that many young adults seek out before attempting high tech and multilayered managerial positions because you don't have to have college degrees to apply. What I personally have done is secret shopping and magazine/card set ups which surprisingly gave me a great check on a monthly basis. You have to have access to a vehicle to really do these types of jobs. Being a merchandiser for certain business. There are alot of support columns written giving scads of information on how to get established and begin. One should also examine time management when settling into any job situation. I am just giving some of my intimate views on positions that worked for me and showing others that being self employed can be the freedom you are seeking. R

Cancer is a concerted effort.

2018-12-18T17:17:00.001-08:00

I woke up to realize I am carrying an unwanted passenger. It is called cancer or myeloma. AKA known as bone marrow cancer it breaks down your marrow much as the marrow in a chicken bone would be. I can't see for the life of me why it chose me but it did so I have to be understanding not angry as I was at first realizing my life as it was is now finite. My life always was but now I can see it and taste it before I knew but never exactly when?? Somehow amidst the injections Doctors visits and hours of studying the ins and outs of this malady of diseases that hangs over my head I have to somehow balance my life with family and not allow them to take this experience lightly cause who knows who may be next to receive this heavy burden. I have to smile to keep my tears in check with my grandkids, knowing that it can be a day or night that my life can be cut short with the call of my maker claiming my soul to come rest. Why did this terrible thing come into play? There is but 1 way for man or woman to be born but millions of ways for us to die. We search our hearts with answers that only start with in our minds placed there in memories that part with our ancestors and their forerunners people that gave them the answers we now seek. What turmoil and pain do we have to endure to ensure that our lives won't be in vain nor shall our existence be looked upon as a glimmer in the eyes of those who loved us. No we will be held high by all those around us who knew us and lived through us they knew that we didn't want to go or to leave would be too painful to bear. I can only give you what I feel and that is tho my days are filled with love for my children and friends those that remember me will tell you that I lived through it all I lived to be loved to be here to be of service I lived. I lived so that you could all be!

Family Memories are Everything!

2016-08-09T17:30:00.004-07:00

Family memories are Everything
It's funny how you grow up with brothers ,sister also cousins and suddenly you have all separated and raising kids of your own. We played cops and robbers ,set the dollhouse with dolls and even dressed up imitating every adult in the family. It wouldn't be basic because everyone has a drunk uncle and we had several. How awesome to go from 1 generation to the next in what seems like a moment. As a child I can remember enchanted moments of "I dream of Jeannie and even "I Spy' Robert Culp and Bill Cosby were my heroes. Yogi Bear and "Exit Stage Right "Snaggle-Puss were the cartoons to watch on weekends and you and your brother argued over who was gonna look at the cereal box while indulging in your favorite brand It was a 'Man's world' in which I grew up,men dominated all things wise and economic during the fifties.Then we had the Kennedy and Lyndon B Johnson era whereas things were bearable but still shade was at the end of the tunnel .There was the 'Viet Nam War' People came home mentally disturbed fighting a war for all intent and purpose the minority felt was genocidal. Many veterans came back home infected with 'Agent Orange and horrific drug habits but somehow 'Uncle Sam' made most things right again and all was well.

Malcom X Dancers and drummers

Cookout /Family reunion

workaholic!

My big bro and wife with me!

me, bro,and wife

brother ,wife, my sons

I felt sometime that the world was being run by an old transistor radio and 'The Whole World was a Stage.' Being a baby- boomer never meant much to me until I saw all my friends dying and even more crippled and disabled and to find that I could still enjoy sex was a major factor to me 'sic' To realize that Medicaid and Medicare became a catch phrase to most of us now instead of hanging out in the newest clubs that DC gentrification brought head on into DMV. Am I jealous 'Nope" not in the least but I can say with all sincerity that if I could control a Time Capsule I really would like to keep Obama for another 4 year tenure, and send Trump back to Jersey fast. I might even try my hand at politicking. If Only Time wouldn't Fly like it has and the Doobie Brothers might even think about singing at my Inauguration along with AWB 'A Love of My Own Yessss! Those were the days.My oldest brother visited about two weeks ago with his new wife and I had the pleasure of seeing my life set out before me with my kid who is now 45years old and has kids of his own. My mother a great-grandmother who still loves going to the casina's as she calls Maryland Live and Horse-Shoe in B-More was radiant watching the generations pass her by but giving her the praise and wonderment people give when they find out your still here! I had a ball as the old heads like to say and share some of our highlights with you from the past few months that I have been cataloging my family and their unique story lines.. DC does not always TUrner Around.. A Play Upon the TURNER CLAN!

The New H St. NE

Me!

The oldest granddaughter 13 yrs .old

Father & Daughter

youngest 6 yrs old

Rags to Riches: How Taraji P. Henson Turned $700 and a Dream into an Empire | The Reel Network

2015-03-08T08:18:00.001-07:00

Rags to Riches: How Taraji P. Henson Turned $700 and a Dream into an Empire | The Reel Network

Bombing in Boston Who knew and who cared??

2013-04-19T10:29:00.001-07:00

Ironically I sit back and take in the news reports and radio reports as they stream on and on repeatedly throughout the day. One bomber who at first was only a person of interest is dead the other one is the main person involved in a statewide manhunt. Both of them are from a place across the seas near Russia and are CZECH. The identity point is what interested me the most, they were said to blend in with UNITED STATES everyday mingle and flow of people mainly Caucasians that are moving freely around any given point in America without pause. No one gauges them or their movement because basically they are not suspect nor are they wanted for anything criminal. The Islamic religion that these men are said to follow has not been the focal point of their crime not yet anyways because the FBI and other police oriented agencies have yet to investigate these crimes to the fullest capacity. I can all but assure that after investigations have got under way there will be a way to tie it in with Islam if only for a motivational notion or a political agenda tie in. Just for the sake of saying that their beliefs played a part in them putting these bombs down in Boston on that particular day of the marathon. The horrific quiet after the explosions made me feel as though the world had come to an end. These types of event have been predicted as bomb experts elaborated on the Fox News and other stations throughout the United States. To my astonishment they were completely correct since 9/11 we as a country have been rather lucky that it hasn't happened earlier. I hear the uncles quiet lament as they are bombarded by newscasters and reporters who holler and scream questions at them,these people are just finding out these disheartening facts on their relatives as we are but no

one cares that they are trying to balance themselves away from the disbelief that these children are their people. The way society looks at terror and the part that we manifest this atrocity can only be summed up as one statement we propagate the hate then sit back and wonder why? My question stems from something the uncle said when he was questioned by a reporter that the only reason he could think of was because the boys could not relate nor could they acclimate themselves into our society. What did their neighbors say and do ? Did they shut them out from activities? Did they discriminate against them because they came from another country? It couldn't have been that much prejudice because they looked so much like everyone else as was said repeatedly over and over, like everyone else. The pressure cooker bomb in essence symbolizes the pressures that these individuals find themselves under once they felt as though they have arrived into another country where they are supposed to be safe and able to work,study,live and be free just to realize that this is just another illusion made to look ,smell,and feel as though your safe when in reality you are still an outsider and are viewed the same way you were when you fled from an unsafe situation! Who knew what went through their heads? Now it's much too late to ask those questions but what about the next insurgents or terrorists that lurk waiting their turn? because there will be a next time be assured!!@@

Incarcerated Minorities-The New JIM CROW

2013-02-10T12:41:00.000-08:00

While reading this article I couldn't help but see what others view as the right mind set about us as a people. they see our shortcomings as convicts ,thugs or prisoners as either a character defect or something is wrong with our genetic makeup. When we are born there is no direct correlation with our futures that lay out a plan that we are going to break the law or be criminals. There is nothing but a clean slate society dictates and manipulates the visions and direction we take. Our environment can be as much as a mental compass as our elemental balance can be to us in most cases. We are molded according to our parents brackets of earning and living in certain areas. That is a definite correlation, why do you suppose there are gated communities? Do you suppose they are to keep the people that live there in or people that are undesirable out? Exactly what is your take on that question. The privatization of jails and penal systems has been long in there making and the powers that be that are running these conglomerates know what their particular directives and initiatives are and who they are directed at. One could imagine a few of there own may be caught up inn the mesh but the majority will be minorities and those that are disenfranchised oppressed and just out of hope. How do you end up being in those categories of being detained indefinitely and all the time remaining black or minority as your ethnicity? How does the numbers continue to add up to that type of statistic?The war that comes to mind is not a war of color as as much as it is a war of the Haves and Have Not that always equals Black and White. Nothing can keep the odds up as even on all areas in those statistics. No game of craps would keep your side of white as always having money and the side of Black as being oppressed and broke,all of the time if not most of the time! There is no COMPARABLE IDEA IN MY MIND OR ANYONE ELSE'S THAT THIS IS BY NO MEANS A MONITORED AND OR DIRECTED,PLANNED AND OR PROJECTED TYPE OF VISION THAT HAS IT'S HANDS UPON OUR NATION. Conspiracies are things that cannot be proven however you just know that it's in place and the fact that this country has always acted upon subterfuge and espionage is by no means a coincidence. The war in Vietnam as any other wars are by far the US way of cleansing its country and adding to its inventories or coffers money and industry when needed can come by the guise of assistance in aid to other countries by choice or by force. They (countries) can choose the way it goes down. Why do you suppose the US is the most hated country in the world? It's not so much because of their animosity towards the 3rd word countries or underdeveloped countries that they get this unique nametag but because of their politics and the underhanded deeds that they contrive upon when dealing with others.They buy each side out then throw sides back into the fight or fracas with each other counterattacking and spies, all of the stuff you see on television is live and in real life. They will kill officials and families not keeping anyone in a partial process but using everyone as they would a pawn or knight in a chess game nothing is sacred with the United States except WINNING! That's the only thing that matters with this super-power. Now we have this communication going on about UNICOR something that has been known for quite awhile but keep resurfacing from time to time because it is real and just won';t go away it seems until it's addressed but the United States wants no parts of this because a lot of heads will roll if this information is decoded and unleashed to the public. There pretend all they want to act as though it is not here in the prisons the jails and any other nice convenient place of detention in our country. I know for a fact because I was there for at LEAST THREE YEARS KEYPUNCHING AND WORD PROCESSING ALSO PROGRAMMING FOR THE GOVERNMENT IN VIRGINIA AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. I WAS DOING IN EXCESS OF 1000 OR MORE KEYSTROKES AN HOUR AND WAS MAKING ONLY .23 CENTS A DAY THROUGH UNICOR. As women inmates in the state of Virginia and Goochland Penal System we didn't have much in the way of decisions either you worked laundry or sewing Industrial for Army, Navy any where that they needed industrial garments made up fast and cheap that was us or you had to be locked down there was no 'if's and or don't's when it came to directions. The men inmates make up much more of a percentage than we did because there are more men's jails and detention centers squandered around the United States. A Bureau of Prisons is a large conglomerate that doesn't care about nothing except numbers and how they are going to keep up the projected statistics from year to year and to make sure that the contracts still come in and doesn't matter if your babies "your black babies are earmarked to go into a system that is so dull and deadly and antagonistic and such a subtle insidious, parasitic device that no one really sees it as a danger but perhaps even a hindrance to keep our kind off of the streets. The initiatives they speak of are written to take up to 20-30 years of 'Blacks into the machine that takes their lives, their experience and blood to make sure that Wall Street thrives and makes our blood churn the monies into the pockets of the 'NEW PLANTATION OWNERS' My Release Date was 7/23/93 after giving the criminal Justice System at least 15 years here and there in increment,and installments of 5 years,2 years and 4 years repeatedly. I finally got the message and made the transition of going back to college getting off of parole and staying out in the 'Free World" whereas I teach a young group of Black kids that don't listen and won't believe what we had to go through and what waits for them once they step into the machine.UNICOR may be listed under other corporation such as the GEO Group they hide alot of their affiliations because of the lawsuits and legal animosity that accompanies its existence but for the most it generates so many millions of dollars that they push it under the rug really fast and keep on moving as they do with any real crimes against HUMANITY and will continue to do so until someone starts looking at the big picture and connecting the dots..then it will become what it really is a Holocaust and Black Genocide. Make sure you read this article that proves that there is a definite correlation from school to prison there is no such thing as reform!@!@ http://www.techyville.com/2013/02/news/how-corporations-make-money-from-prison-labor-theyre-happy-to-have-more-inmates/

A letter for the upcoming year!

2012-12-29T09:57:00.001-08:00

Wow we are finally here in 2013 seems so far awaY FOR A BABY-BOOMER TO EMERGE HERE in this place and time. I have some heart felt responses to put here and some brain boggling statements as well. Firstly I want to thank everyone who pauses here to read because reading material especially solid reading material is hard to come by and what I write I want it to be comparative ACROSS all boards not stopped by whether I am one color and you are another I want it to be faceless and colorless but of great import because words are thus shapeless,colorless and above all else tend to resound in your soul and hearts of men long after they are remembered by the readers. Where are we now as a nation of people who have managed to strive beyond the amendments of the Constitution and to shun those things that would have us shackled to lies and more hate! We have a disease in our midst something so insidious and baffling that it goes through our hearts and minds like some giant creeping thing that emerges itself to do damage to anyone and anything that is in front of us and for no other reason than to harm and hurt our souls. When words no longer are captured by our minds than I know its time for other tactics to make sure that the words reaches its mark. I go on the internet I go on blogs I go where the social networks are. We are so influenced by what others say that we won't read relevant content we will only read that which strikes us as colorful or bewitching something so frivolous that it really loses its real meaning,it misses its mark which is justifiably a message that lets us know that we are in danger if we don't change our ways and means of thought. To change isn't something that I have the real solution too but I have reckoned enough to know it's route is not a dangerous one and that it is on the side of good at all times never meaning to harm or hurt in any ways but to raise up and to help one that is down... the way to change is merely to keep your fellowman in an upright position at all times, never beneath you or iN A POSITION THAT MAKES YOU HIS SUPERIOR AND HIM THE INFERIOR FOR PURPOSES OTHER THAN WORK. We have taken this label and put it on any typical qualification that a person can use just to make ourselves feel better about us. Why is this I suppose have we let our ourselves down to a point that we must degrade others to make ourselves raise above the fray of whispered deceit and hate. We constructed the very vessel that holds us prisoner and we lie to our own ears that this is not the case. Lies and deceit is what forms the disguise that starts out the road to disaster that runs down the path to a place that makes us hate another so much that they become a part of the before and after that we believe is a solution...Destruction! The real powers that be this year are the ones that will give our nation some continuity and cohesiveness... solidaRITY WITH A SPIN ON IT! This is something that hope shall spring forth with and gladness and strength and above all else clarity to b able to see past faults and change them along with our path that we trod upon for the rest of our days..

Posted via email from poetrydivas2

Anthony W.

2012-11-12T19:40:00.002-08:00

A wonderful human being has left this earth , a person who if asked would surely have laid down his time for you and lend an ear for your problem. Upon reaching my job on Friday November 2, 2012 I was traversed into a netherworld where my thoughts went every way but the right way. Mentally all who were told that Anthony was shot and killed that previous Wednesday still haven't come to terms on the senseless act that this was and probably never will it will be like an old file that is stored along with other miscellanous facts that have eluded human beings since the dawn of mankind. Cain slew Abel and from that moment on it has been like a cacophony when it comes to the single word "WHY"? ON this night Anthony was last seen on 4th and Rhode Island Ave. NW The police report stated that he was shot multiple times by an unknown so far suspect and managed to run out of the alley, get to the street and collapse.This is where the Emergency Fire & Rescue along w/ authorities found him then pronounced him dead. After all is said and done can people just go back to business as usual or have we gotten so desensitized about death that this to will be just another long fact sheet at the Medical Examiner's Office? Can we get so tired about senseless deaths that we go out into the streets and demand that the police and the Mayor stop leaving these mental pieces for us to ramble through during our lucid times of the day and fight the good fight for justice? The stress that goes along with so many sleepless nights and so many painful episodes of funerals and viewings has got to take it's toll upon the nation's psyche at least it has for me. Then we have the experts that research how our mental health is holding up and we sometimes wonder what can be said about our young and their being exposed to an ever extending arm of tragedy and mayhem does it stop people and if so when? When we hear that children so absurdly pick up arms,guns,knives and slay one another for stupid reasons, can we actually say that we know why? Somehow its so cloudy now as I say 'Goodbye to my friend who was so young and promising! He actually was on his way to another level in his life, that is why its so sad and conclusive when we see the results of a Thought World Gone Bad! Can society be resurrected and can the people that do the deeds learn how to live peaceably instead of the visibly angry way that they solve each and every thing that they encounter? Why? is the only word that I can say at this time but hopefully that word will change to I forgive you!
I dedicate this piece to his sisters and brothers that still don't know what to think of their older brother's passing,this young man who strived to be the better man and a candle to light his siblings path and show them that it could be done. Anthony I applaud you for the short time that I knew you I came to admire and later respect you for the time that you took to do positive things for the agency you worked for and for family. I want to encourage those that can take something away from these, senseless acts of violence, please know that for every branch that is torn away from a beautiful tree there will grow several more to it's bountiful harvest. ANTHONY YOU WILL BE MISSED BUT NOT FORGOTTEN!

The Emperor has no new clothes?

2012-10-15T09:56:00.001-07:00

The Emperor has no new clothes? And this is just for starters,where will we be in 10-15 years from now if the developers aren't halted?

2012-04-24T19:56:00.002-07:00

Calling! Calling Earth To DMV

Who asks anybodies opinion nowadays?

2011-11-25T20:58:00.000-08:00

It's Thanksgiving Eve and better still Black Friday as it is called. I was sitting here going over my blogs and musings smiling and thinking to myself just how naive folks are these days. I used to hear my grandmother say all the time 'Life doesn't come with any instructions you just move up and down the road,hit a bump adjust and then move again" Somehow simple and plain. My birthday will be here in about 72 hours and I wanted to state loudly and clearly that people are still in a state of confusion no better than they were last year or the last 15-20 years if you ask me but as my title related who asks for my opinion anyway? Noone ,by the way as the story goes people do employ consultants at a steady pace to sequester their lives and businesses along the way guaranteeing that they have someone else to place the blame on if it sinks or swims. Funny analogy I would say but for real nobody wants to sink alone. This society fairs no less than the trifling peons that escaped England and other countries years ago and struck out to the New World capturing and procuring others people less fortunate than they or so they thought? to domesticate and put into slavery we were supposed to have begun living a better life style but instead have sunken to the depths of the barrel if you ask me but again no one is asking for my opinion! Ha!Ha! "The OCCUPY AMERICA ACTIVIST"phenomenon shows that society is sick and tired of the Capitalist,Socialist and just about anything that says it is Government. We have stopped being a government for the people ,by the people or any of the old rhetoric that applied to the Constitution. We have that Elitist idealism instilled in this democracy we call home and the haves are the ones who run everything! We eke out our living in hopes that no one steals our bread on their way home afraid that if seen everything will be lost that we have slaved for all these years and that is certainly a terrible way to feel and to harbor inside of a human psyche! The powerful parts of this movement is that it won't get better it will definitely get worse because now America can see that there still is power in numbers even though the FBI threatens to dislodge you ,disown you and persecute you nobody really cares cause you have already experienced all those feelings at the hands of the oppressors-America The Beautiful The lack of revenue and recession has given us more businesses and no jobs how does that work? How does this society think that regurgitating people from position to position will get us back on our feet. It reminds me of Invasion of the Body Snatchers whereas the people were being made or manufactured by the organisms in the pods. That's considered science fiction but it's said it can be stranger than truth nowadays but who is asking my opinion about this either? I guess a mind is a terrible thing to waste in this century but many have done just that wasted minds and bodies that if thinking were a crime to be committed they would be millions of felons walking around all the time! I have been told that my writing is sub-par and that I am ignorant all things that a person that has hit a nerve will be convicted of. It is by no coincidence that I write I write to get it down not to make money or to be famous but to get it down on paper and out to people that will listen or take note at least. I don't write for you to believe but to merely examine and see if this is something that you can relate too as well! There are approximately thousands of so called scholars who can write profusely, scores upon scores of writings and books and notes that are worthy of peer reviews but not one iota of truth can be found at least not truth about what is actually happening around you or them. You may write out a thesis on something that needs to be categorized but what about real life events?What about real feelings and emotions that pour out at a rate of mind shattering quickness and never is cataloged or talked about? These are some of the events that I have taken into my minds eye this month that I will share with you not for any scenic views or for you to take into consideration but just for the beauty of the moment alone. Just for the freedom that I found in the second it took to take the picture and savor the minutes, the hour, or the seconds that have left me never to return.. Or for you to ever have this opportunity to share a moment alone with me! I have photos of the 'Grand Openings of Aldi where people are so fond of saving money but realizing as I said "its only rehash for the cash" at work here!These photos of 'Martin L. KING People are here but do they really understand the connotations of the words and his reverie and cause he died for? Do they?? My pit bull puppy that is just a little lapdog that is a YORKIE! Days of Autumn that are changing as fast as the words that I have written!Leaves that are too beautiful to paste in a scrapbook_ And for those of us who believe that life is just a repeated format but wonderful all the same I salute you too! Let's have at it- this thing called LIFE!

Once upon a rainbow clear..

2011-10-02T08:15:00.001-07:00

Once upon a time there was a "Rainbow" that wanted to exist not in the way that a beautiful thing wants to endure but to linger and to mean so much more. It wanted to enlighten a person on a dreary day it wanted to bring sunshine to those that didn't know the way. Rainbows are often translucent and not very visible items but to see one in it's glory is as -

if you have witnessed a unicorn in the morning.. Beautiful sight it may well be but we also know that its as fleeting as hummingbirds wings on the cuff of a shirt! Not done and never seen!!

Posted via email from poetrydivas2

Martin Luther King Holidays and Memorials

2011-08-21T15:25:00.000-07:00

I was given the once over by some of our residents of the District of Columbia last month for speaking my mind about the newer face of the District and how our residents that have lived here for generations apparently don't have much say or money in the matter.The title article was called 'Can this be revived?' basically saying that the 'H'Street corridor has now been changed to foot the coming of the trolley cars ,new hotels,condos,massage parlors oh! they commented on me so profusely because I made mention of a couple of health parlors being a yoga den-Woo! did they get on me were saying that they actually threw up in their mouths from the statement. The problem that I have is the utmost disrespect for Black Washingtonians that have lost out on their legacies here in DC. What with new developers coming in and out of our city-Well it used to be ours so they called it 'Chocolate City at one time now it's not even that. I don't know what we can call DC right about now as it says it's final death knell. With that being said all can be said is that we will see if this new DC will be a better city for Blacks and their families or are we destined to be destroyed along with the culture that used to thrive here? gone along like a smoke drift as one person so aptly said that DC was destroyed by the onslaught of Cocaine. I again beg to differ because this week there is actually a seminar or sit,down and talk meeting(What I call those meetings that needs answers from its citizens)Now if that doesn't give you signs of vague ,unmet reasons and thought that are drifting around this wonderful city, I will eat my hat and yours too! There is something that is amiss in our surroundings and it's not just the statistics of unemployment or even the fact that you can now afford something without a foreclosure lurking solidly by your head. They have lowered the loans and APR, APY rates for someone I just wonder who? People who aren't employed can't get employed without skills and money. Money for programs,educational and otherwise How about some technical skills and help programs for those folks that aren't Bachelor degrees and or Master's degree material but have potential to work at something other that the professions and sciences- How about Congress not fighting the President for every little bill that he sends there way for lack of a better word (PREJUDICES) and allow some programs in society that can perhaps help someone other than the elite citizens that probably have everything that they can imagine in their homes,land capital and money! Whew and a lot of us are still trying to get out of the Food Stamp lines that are still evident in our country but if your an alien that just got here you'll have a store on the corner before I can shake my tightly curled hair free of the ribbon or tie that's on it.There are so many things wrong here in America that we just shake our heads and take it low to the belly like t's nothing at all but for real its all economically upside down and there is no real leverage given to the ones that count and that's the citizens of this society. The residents of the DC area just have gotten a touch of it on a wider scale because everyone seems to want to go to Hollywood we just forgot our cues and oops! Our lines!!! Martin Luther King said He has been to the mountaintop and I know he didn't make mention of seeing a people more downtrodden now that they were then now did he?? What was Martin's Dream? and I know he didn't make mention of seeing all the people he mentioned ostracized in their own cities?

What's so hard to learn about LOVE?

2011-08-10T11:17:00.001-07:00

If we look at our world and realize just how small it is in comparison to our everyday wants,needs and worries maybe just maybe we can see that we are more alike than not. Every little girl wants to be a Princess and most little boys have the trademark of their daddies or some other in-charge person they know-sic! However what they aspire to be has more to do with what their parents have presented into the lives of their children. The most important aspect would have to be is the countenance of the LOVE that's manifested and shown throughout their lives! How they are both loved and how they decipher and give love. Do they realize through parenting that they should love each other and create relationships with people as opposed to not creating them? Do your little ones keep most of their abilities and attitudes that they have when they were young? And if not why not because we showed them how to be suspicious and to hate? Why do we even teach this strange emotion? is it indeed a defensive motive or do we give this to them as a type of keepsake handed down from generation to generation? What is it's use anyway? We start out so nicely cultivating qualities in our young to take on the world as they will know it not exactly as we have because of the frequent changing of the Guard! This is something that is-inevitable and nothing or no one can stop the ticking of the clock of 'Time" Just believe that we are not the only ones of this world that have to teach,collaborate and justify where we want our offspring to aspire to be and to what extent they will get to when they get there.We have to believe though as their proprietors that we are reverent in our misgivings and that if there are mistakes that they can be rectified also done and to thine self be true! Teach them these attributes and their lives may not have been in vain for these are the ways of this world and perhaps the next-Who knows??

Posted via email from poetrydivas's posterous

Everything has a shine!

2011-03-12T08:36:00.001-08:00

As I traveled through DC this morning 312/11 I came upon a man pushing his wordly possessions through the streets of DC on a Safeway cart and bundles of trash and discarded refuse and he said to me Good morning Ms. Not the routine do you have some change or can you spare a dime or quarter. He actually said a greeting quite a warm one if you ask me. I said my good morning to him also and he stated "Isn't there a parade on Constitution Ave. today? I replied I can't say for sure but I think that there are festivities going on today. He then said well in that case I am happy because that will be my entertainment today! The man (homeless individual) that he was lit up as if he were a diamond in my mind simply because of the statement he just made something so simple yet eloquent in its bearing the words that cascaded from between his lips were my entertainment not yours or anyone else Mine! He equated a day of celebration and parades to his enjoyment I thought that alone was a blessing to be able to still seek some type of enjoyment after everything else in ones life may be gone askew he still sought a way to alieviate the pain and grief that we all to quickly surrender too. For that statement alone my fine Sir today I salute you for being my hero, a person whom I may not ever see again but for one peaceful moment pulled the curtain of despair away from the window and gave me a glimpse of heaven and what it truly means to live unencumbered.

See the full gallery on Posterous

Posted via email from poetrydivas's posterous

Turkey! Turkey All Around~

2010-11-24T19:51:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving is a holiday that keeps giving and giving! It will be back again on Xmas believe you me~ I guess I am getting tired of turkey all around,turkey salad,turkey soup,turkey sandwiches, and turkey necks in everything. The humor that goes along with this wild bird is nothing short of game!

Bikeshare Program in DC Who knew? and Who is it really for?

2010-11-12T21:38:00.000-08:00

Well by now a lot of you have seen the clutches of bicycles all over the city. Most are near the subway lines and in well lit areas. The access point is your credit card and it goes by the amount of times that you keep the bikes. I went around the city last week taking photos to see exactly who was putting the new mode of transportation to use and why. I interviewed a few people that were in seemingly in awe as I was about the bike share the newest name that techno nerds gave this mode of transport. I first spied the bikes uptown next to the Reeves Building during my evening foray near that part of town. Across the street is the street the 24/7 Vegan deli store and the Noodle a 'Hot Spot" that young professionals flock to during their weekends off. I have seen skirted woman jumping on the bikes and making a mad dash to the next subway stop or even to meet up with a suitor that evening. What I have failed to see is a lot of People of color accessing the bikes. I do see the benefits of the bikes whereas you can use it for quick, short rides but what I failed to see was the overall importance of it. Maybe I am missing something here? I asked a black gentleman one day as I targeted Minnesota Ave near Dupont Park area to photograph the Bike Share racks that they have there. He sided up to me and said"Hi there Miss "do you work for these people?" I glanced back at him eager for some type of dialogue from someone that lived in this area, and responded"Yeah sort of" and smiled. The man said 'well to me it seems like a waste of money because most people around here don't utilize the bikes'. My point exactly who was there at the meetings and the decisions to incorporate the monies enlisted for this project? I never heard anything or is it just me? perhaps they spoke of this but under another psuedonym because Capital Bike Share wasn't told to most folks until it was upon us. It just goes to show the disconnect problem that DC government has with its residents and home owners. This could of been a marvelous idea but the marketing and projected niche is just not where they are putting them and the people that use it aren't the ones that live right there where they are all at. I see them in areas like East of the River where there is a lot of unemployment and not many riders of bikes. The word on the street was that the company had to put them everywhere because it would have been discrimination okay! we know that but still come on couldn't we as a government for the people by the people have come up with something more feasible for the residents to use? or was this for just some?? Again I wouldn't see a reason for a man or woman riding one of those and you don't even have a job? Then I look at the fact that there are a lot of young black females on this side of town (East of The River) with young children and there is not a basket or wagon attached to any of them. The biggest question that I pose is the fact of cost and who will end of paying the most for the tax that it is sure to impose! Whenever there is a bright idea on the horizon the powers that be should at least warn us that they're putting something in our midst that no one but a relegated few can use of will use. I am sure that each of us have been exposed to 'Going Green' saving fossil fuels all the neat, cutesy saying that are trending subject titles of mountains of blogs and articles but another one should also accompany that informative title of GoingGreen! How about Going Useable and give us things that our residents need like more jobs instead of ways to get to one that's not in your immediate horizon and probably for most that have little cash or no credit cards. How about better hospitalization and providers instead of ways for us to possible get hit trying to navigate the city streets as I often see the riders do. Not so funny either my friend. But as each of us reflect upon not being selfish and paying it forward this year lets keep people in mind that don't have much to share with others and always keep in mind that we who are blessed with more are required to do more lets just keep our hearts right with our minds and remember that old saying what does a fish need with a bicycle and maybe just maybe you'll see my point! Have a wonderful week and stay prayed up folks!

Do you know who you are?

2010-11-09T22:12:00.000-08:00

Do you know who you are? You are not that girl on the video shaking your hind parts and being bootylicious
You are not that woman beat down sucking on a crack-pipe!
You are not that woman having no hope with eyes cast down listening to man saying to only fear him.
My sister we are so much more than what the human eyes see or the scenarios played out for the lokkers to glance upon
You have been watched more than a Swiss clock on any given day for your beauty as well as your wretchedness possessed of want and lust..nobody talks about that?
Thes parts are relegated for those of us that eluded to the episodes we knew nothing about , a script written not by our own hands but someone far away in a strange man's land.
Someone who needed our strength ,our passion ,our genes,our young to poulate and navigate the crops of his seasons not ours
someone to fight wars that we knew nothing of to run races that we got none of the currency now we play the baskets and hit the balls to the pitcher that makes the men richer than we ever dreamed he could be.
those are the hidden episodes that we are starred in but hidden when the screen credits come on the page because we don't matter. Only when our currency is needed are we then heeded and sought out as deer in headlights to be used again and again by our psuedo overseers who get us to do the dirtiest work imagined ..To tell us lies to let us believe that this a a right thing to do to let us know that if I do what the 'master say do then it must be right for you? How can it be right my brother when my tears run buckets in the night when my children don't have a safe home at night when education is but a thought not a verb it's a noun something that just sounds like it's going someplace. how is that right my brother or is it sister? they transform the light so bright sometimes I can't tell which one that you are all i know is that you bring the beautiful lies and you bring them to my bedside when I am half awake when i bend down to pray for my sake you bring them on whispered feet and you say? The episode you choose will be with you forever my child so choose wisely and precisely but brother i don't know the meaning of the word I haven't gotten to the W's or the P's yet!

Know this my sister you and I are so much more the beauty of the obsidian glance upon the eras long gone and past. our wit our charm nothing but extra appendages that GOD in man gave us for donation to give as gifts to man.Our charm our smile inbred instinctive yet paused has been harnessed by those who knew our beauty our wealth that we knew nothing of and had no idea who we were. We created sciences, history ,we educated than forgot what we knew..what we knew has been overtaken, hidden, looted, pillaged, duplicated lied about never knowing just how we began but feeling that we were here and realizing and awaking now not to an everlasting dream but as a phoenix risen from the prophetic ashes and finding himself far away from home but righting our bodies and steadying life so we can again blossom and live out life where we find ourselves to be. Simple electric pulses that reveal in my mind that this is not who I am nor the lot that I find by my side is not mine not by design someone' else caricature of me.. Knowledge bought me the key I possess that's always akin to the life we choose never are we broken because the pieces were there for us to find to become who we were from the ages long gone we filled the edges out inside to create fulfillment in our souls remember we were always born whole!

The vastness of a universe lingers within us

Everybody knows how to do the 'Electric Slide" Ha! Ha! even the KidS!!@^&#

2010-10-18T20:17:00.001-07:00

Download now or watch on posterous

MOV02988.MPG (15988 KB)

This has got to be one of the most famous dance moves that people of Color originated! Although I have seen numerous attempts to change it and rename it "Electric Sliding is something we do with zest and fun! and we do it well and don't forget 'ON TIME' Got to love the dance~ Come on and let's party right!!!!

Posted via email from poetrydivas2

Jammin @ Malcom X Park on 10/17/10

2010-10-18T19:45:00.001-07:00

Memories of a beautiful day in the park. To preserve and reminisce on those days that go off into the dusk all to soon!

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from poetrydivas's posterous

Do our lives have a parallel?

2010-10-03T14:46:00.001-07:00

Sometimes I believe folks think we are aliens from another planet like
I said before want te self-same results that you want!

Posted via email from poetrydivas2

Do our lives have a parallel?

2010-10-03T13:39:00.001-07:00

I see the same motions that folks go through each day~ We feed our young ,we protect and have dreams about where we are going.We glance upon the stars and breathe a sigh of relief when troubles past. We all share the same death and birth woes that everybody else does.. Why then is everything s different? I watch as the media shouts that for every crime committed another neighborhood is not safe. I too want what other folks want a safe environment where my children grow and prosper along with children of all races. I don;t want the separation of society like the racists do. i believe there is a chance if we put trust and communication in front to see just what our fears actually are! Are you afraid that your children and mine will become friends? If so then it's much too late, they go to schools together they date and interact during educational engagement. They see each other at the malls and often times they even sit near each other on the bus. How then can you still teach them to hate? Hate is such a monstrosity of a word

See and download the full gallery on posterous

of a word, conjures up themes of dark caverns and doom, it shows how prehistoric our minds still remain. technology dictates that we become modern in our thoughts and deeds. Why is it so hard to let go of the past and go on to our futures. Does hate have to continue to be on the plate? Time is of an essence now will we relegate our children to hate like we have or will we allow them the freedom to choose their friends and allies as their own? Let go and give them permission to become unencumbered by that weight tied around their necks please let them be free from hate,prejudices and animosity. There is no room for those emotions anymore our lives are much to full with other more important things to be taken care of~ Live and let live is the motto for all or should be! Let it go and become FREE!

Posted via email from poetrydivas2

Unions with Solidarity: ONE NATION UNDER GOD

2010-10-03T12:53:00.001-07:00

Today was a day that started out like any regular day did. I watched the weather channel to see what the climate was and proceeded to put on something comfortable and loose. I planned to take pictures of the activities on the mall. People were everywhere as you can see.There were a tatal of 1600 buses alone at RFK Stadium and 290 in Maryland anywhere they could be parked they were. The word on the streets was that people and the unions are in DC to have a showdown with politicians on working conditions and Social program reforms. I must say they are in need of upheaval for all the reasons that are listed. Congress doesn't want to pass any more reforms on HealthCare but will not go back on the promise to amend certain passages they already have let up on. For instance how can they take back the aid to veterans that have fought in the war? Concessions that they have given for medical aid to seniors Yes! we also know they want to privatize Social Security! Just how will that work? Have a bidding war over what companies will own and regulate the rest of our lives our monies, our investments? No that doesn't sound feasible either! Whan it comes down to the "Y" exactly who will govern those laws that maintain and keep us afloat upon the seas of life. I for one don't know thw answers but being a part of a movement to be counted does appeal to me in these ways. If one doesn't stand up to be counted you can best believe you won't be. Our society has gone to the point of indifference when it comes down to everyone having a vote and a point. of view. The march yesterday proved that we still care about our futures and the fact still remains that we do have power. Power in nunbers to be exact and we have to parlay that and send a message to the powers that be! That we won't sit down and allow politicains our president or any other entity to just go on making those decisions that lead to us not being involved in our own LIVES~ absolutely ludicrous to believe that we don't want to be a part of that Number~ We can all sing now- Oh! when the Saints come marching home!!

Posted via email from poetrydivas2

Music to the masses via Vincent Gray

2010-08-15T21:40:00.000-07:00

Vincent Gray had an election day event that left everyone hot,tired but enthused about the possibilities of new blood on the horizon via Mayoral candidates. It seems as though we are the forgotten ones a lot of people said as he purposed to end a long list of ineffective policies that have left many citizens of Southeast DC out in the rain. There will be renewed progress here stated Mr. Gray just before any of his several constituents started their vocalizations and spiels concerning this hopefuls steps along the corridors of Washington DC. Vincent Gray is definitely a fixture in DC these days there are not many days left until the election revs up and voters take to the polls. Adrian Fenty our present mayor has lagged in one of the straw polls narrowly coming out in first place in his own precinct Ward 4 . A lot of voters have said that they feel lost and forgotten in SE, a place that seems as though the politicians have time and time again over looked as businesses and development take to the outskirts of land that ranges around the Anacostia River and borders by the Potomac River too. The National Harbor w/ Gaylords Hotel and the Nationals Stadium are but two business ventures and accomplishments that bought jobs to the recesses of SE. The public subway transportation goes to only two stops.. subway that is Southern Ave, Station and Green Line at Anacostia. That's it! and the temporary stoppage of the transfer situation hasn't helped Washingtonians when a lot of them need at least two buses to get them home and to work. there were quite a few issues on the floor this weekend as Vincent Grey took the podium and said his not so practiced speech and shook hands and recognized many of the issues that should have been addressed by the last administration. Then the fact of the matter seems as though everyone is pushed over here as a separation move away from the more affluent white families across the tracks and it feels as such whether it really is that way or not. It reeks of a Southern racial movie albeit the fictional plantation overseers and bosses As it seems they saw the issues of a elite few and then what ever was left trickled down to the masses,those being the people of SE. As the last trickle of people left the enormous park after dancing,go-go and enjoying the band and speakers there were those that left with these last remarks 'I guess we will see what he does hopefully he will be better than the last and that is a shame considering they all are politicians but who will do the most for the other side of DC 'The predominately Black Side"?

It's an amazing journey that we take with our future

2010-08-07T18:29:00.000-07:00

I am seriously not amused at the way that people often view us as Americans and as a sub-culture. It has been an anomaly that we were lazy, poor spirited, over sexed and just no darn good as a species!As a black woman who has held her head up amidst the notoriety, poverty,slavery of our people the freedom and not wanting it of our people and last but not least the fact that we are more detrimental to self than any body else could be, now that's even more depressing! I tell you in view of our future generations I actually quiver to think that we are left to children that have no respect for their elders and the fact remains almost none for themselves. My own opinion may not be the gist of every other person because we can always find good within that is our 'faith statement'. The reality is that other ethnicity's are way ahead of our own and the sociology of this is that our culture dictates that we socialize children at a young age to be either more man than the average man or we over simplify the woman's part in history My grandmother used to say 'at the feet of women a nation is raised'. What kids even are at their moms feet now,our feet are constantly in pace running here and there not taking the time to even check in with our kids most of the time. Our excuses are that we don't have the time well I can say this for sure if we don't take the time now the time to undo will soon be over and all you will be able to do is shake your head and cry about why? This is not intended to be a parenting feature but an awakening one to take heed when the signs are at your front door. I see our children as a result of a sickness that has pervaded our space whether it is the media or just the world at large there is definitely a pervasive illness that eats our young then spits the blame at the feet of their families to ponder upon. I can say for sure that I have been down a road of blame why didn't I do this why? didn't I do that? all questions now that should have been upon my lips before but the ironic part was there wasn't a clue as to what I should do as a parent? There are no sure fire ways or directions to cut our paths through the growing up process we take a little from our parents, we take a little from the schools, then we even take some from the child and go to it like a new recipe that we are trying out for the first time and believe you me if it doesn't work out you will know by the first bite Naw! The random ways that we are about the climate that our society looks at us is even more non compliant in my mind we just take it ..no activism, no complaints we just take it like the man at the store would take a bullet to the head as if our fates are already written in stone!Why is it that we don't remember we are talented that we are creative that we are 'Queens and Kings' that were are more than conquerors that we can ultimately decide our fates WHY?? have we been destined to forget these truths? They are exactly that TRUTHS and as long as we as a people don't remember our Karma, our past lives who else will? Not the man on the corner,your employer, your other friends that smile when you come into the rooms are we going to be relegated to the dust by our own forgetfulness? I think not because every time I take this pen in hand and every time i think that things need refreshed every time I feel a little bit threatened I am going to remind all that will listen that we are greater than the sum total of 'ALL'that we set our gazes upon. The very foundation of the civilizations are based on the knowledge of our ancestors, this is not a fable this is scientifically proven but if it's not tangible and seen through the eye somehow we don't believe in it, and that is preposterous. If scientists know it and try to assemble all types of databases to support the knowledge why is it that we as a people can't begin to facilitate change using the already open books that are there for all to witness and view?~ Stop trying to duck 'Greatness' it is there for the taking don't get it twisted though it doesn't come on silent feet nor does it come as easily as it might seem.. you must seek it diligently and consistently because the world will be greater for your journey to find it! The mission is not the important part of the journey it is the actual journey that will enlighten and free you to become who you are AWESOME in Progress!