Monday, February 24, 2014

Life

Life is a funny thing. Sometimes you think you have it all figured out. You know what you want to do, who you want to be with, how you see things playing out. And then it happens. You wake up and realize that the life that you thought you wanted is not what you want at all. You realize that you are not the same and therefore your needs and desires have changed. What do you do and how do you handle it? I do not have the answer but I do know that when I have followed my first mind, I always had a more favorable outcome. Over the past few years, my life has been one big whirlwind, trial after trial with glimpses of hope and small triumphs along the way. I likened my life to a wilderness that I was caught in. Initially I fought with every ounce, but one day I decided to stop fighting and to simply be patient and take one day and step at a time. I felt such a sense of peace within from focusing on the task at hand and not allowing myself to be consumed with issues that were out of my control.
If you know anything about hurricanes, then you are aware that the eye of the storm is the calmest. But you may not know that the eye feeds the storm, acting as a vortex, and as long as it feeds the storm, the conditions persist. I was living within the calm of the eye but in doing so, was feeding the storm of my life. When debtors called, I let the call go to voicemail. I isolated myself from others so as not to have to answer questions about “what was going on”. I ignored my heart—I was hurting but I was too stubborn to admit it. I felt rage if I cried, my tears reminders of the pain I felt deep within. So, I did the impossible—I went into the storm and submerged myself into the tumult. I opened my eyes wide and analyzed my situation and realized that either the storm would kill me or it would strengthen me. I have experienced a level of peace and an increase of strength by allowing myself to let go that I know I will never be the same again. And it is my belief that since I left the eye, the storm in my life lost strength and is dissipating.
 In my life, I have experienced great loss, loss so heart wrenching that there were times when I wanted to end it all but the Most High had a plan for my life as He does everyone else. He and He alone is responsible for my triumphs and successes. I look at the lives of other people in my life, friends and family and associates near and far and it has become so clear to me just how connected we are and how our lives are intertwined. I realized the true meaning of testimony and know that others are better of my will.  My outlook on life has changed dramatically over the past year. I view the world on a much deeper level. Life and time are precious commodities and we must not waste them because we will never get it back. Life is fleeting and time waits for no man. I now know that I do matter and life is a thing to savor. When I eat, I am aware of each flavor; when I hold my children close, I cherish each heartbeat and word they say; when I look into the mirror, I see a full-grown woman. I love her. She is not perfect but she is a work in progress. She aspires to greatness. She is me.

One Love,
Andréa

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Ratched Fights--Why?


How many times have you seen the “Ratchet fights” posts on your Facebook timeline and wondered why? Sometimes there are situations in which individuals are beat up for good reason, such as abuse of their mate or mistreatment of a child. But, more often than not, it is someone who is fighting over drugs or being bullied and the whole scene makes us look bad. There are videos of other races but most of the ones I have seen have involved black peopl , which is even more disheartening. And to add insult to injury is that sometimes the same people who hit the share button, are the same ones preaching “We have to do better”. Is that not being contradictory? Doing better is applicable to all. We all must do better if we desire better. The universe is a funny thing—what you project, you will receive in return.
Ratchet fights would not have a platform if we did not provide it. We are built to love one another and by feeding into this system where fights between our people are exploited for profit and laughs are certainly not conducive to any progression. We must also be mindful that our children have access to these videos. Is that the message that we want to give our young people—that violence amongst your brothers and sisters is permissible? That it is okay to laugh when someone is punched, kicked, spit on, or worse and then humiliated by being videotaped? No I am not saying that I am the moral authority and yes I do think that are some people that need their behind tore up or worse but, there is a line that we should not cross. And what really is sad is the so-called “grown people” rooting the fights between kids on. What is the world coming to? I implore that the next time you are tempted to share a ratchet fight video, really think about it. Is this the way you want our people to be represented? Is this what we have been reduced to? I am shaking my head as I type because there is no way the world will begin to refrain from the violent acts against us when we laugh and support violence from our own people. Is it really that funny? I do not think so. Take a deep breath and think.
One Love,
Andréa

Monday, February 10, 2014

Rebuilding Our Community


Hello Everyone! Usually I vent and express my opinions about particular topics especially relative to the condition of my people. However, I want to do the same thing but I am going to give statistics to support the challenge that I am going to impose upon you. African-Americans are the largest consumer market in the US, spending $600 billion per year in products and services, however, we make up only 13% of the population. And what is worse is that 27.4% of us live below the poverty line. Now, with the amount of money that we spend on clothing, jewelry, electronics, etc., we could use half of that money and change the face of our communities. African-American communities desperately need recreational centers, financial assistance for the unemployed, emergency funding, and expansion of education. We can make a brighter tomorrow for our children if we become more responsible with our money and sow seeds in our own communities. Support black business. Many of us have a disdain for others of us who were resilient enough to start our own business. If they are providing quality goods and services, we should be their most loyal customers. The large corporations of this country are not without fault either.We need to hold these corporations accountable and make them responsible to support our communities. They need to reinvest the monies we spend into our communities. We need to restructure and rebuild. Our children deserve safe and loving environments and it is not an impossibility. As long as there is life, there is hope. Let us look back at our past and use the lessons that our ancestors taught. Did they march in vain? Is there no love in the hood anymore? Are we not sistren and brethren? Don’t our kids deserve more? I have a vision and a passion to do what I can with the cooperation of others to improve the future of Afrikan people in this country. It can be done—one community at a time! Stay tuned!

 


One Love,

Andréa
 
 

Thursday, February 6, 2014

From the Mind of Andre'a : The Value of Young Black Men and Their Life

From the Mind of Andre'a : The Value of Young Black Men and Their Life: We are living in hostile and frightening times. Our world is filled with violence and hatred, intolerance and ignorance, distress and strife...

The Value of Young Black Men and Their Life

We are living in hostile and frightening times. Our world is filled with violence and hatred, intolerance and ignorance, distress and strife. It grieves me deeply especially when I see the lack of value placed on the lives of our young black men. Their lives are taken and the world continues going about business as usual, with no lapse in activity. The recent announcement of George Zimmerman and DMX and the proposed "celebrity" boxing match is sickening. How dare we even entertain such atrocity? Does killing an innocent teenager, let me rephrase that, an innocent black teenager, make you a celebrity? It is an atrocity and a disturbing trend that is occurring in the United States. Young black boys and men are killed, often violently, and the story is "Well you know he was a thug" or "He was in a gang" or "He smoked marijuana". Does any of these immature acts give someone else the right to kill that individual. It is an outrage that Zimmerman was not imprisoned for murdering Trayon Martin. Now he is profiting off that young man's innocent blood. Not very long ago, Zimmerman sold artwork depicting the prosecutor from his trial for money, now this. He is allowed to skirt the law and it is high time that we took action. Enough is enough. There is a petition on Change.org to stop the fight but more needs to be done. We need to take to the airwaves, the streets, to the politicians, to the hood, to the suburbs---the attack against our men is going to end. There is going to be an end to the bloodshed. No more will we take a passive role--it's time to fight! Our men and boys deserve a chance to live! Revolution!

One Love,
Andre'a

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

History of Black History Month


Have you ever asked yourself why Black History Month is held in February, the shortest month of the year? I used to but being the student I am, I decided to research the history. I found out that we only used to have a week in February began by a man named Carter G. Woodson. Woodson was an amazing man. He had hopes of raising awareness of African American's contributions to civilization and in turn founded The Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH). The first Negro History Week was held in 1925 and encompassed the births of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. The celebration became very popular and African people throughout America began to embrace their history and teach their children and hold activities in celebration of their history. In 1976, the week was expanded to a month by President Gerald Ford. So, during this month of our history, let’s truly recognize the accomplishments, focus on our glorious past, and better prepare for our future. Our communities need strong leadership and we desperately need unity. The statistics do not lie- our children die more, our men are a largely disproportionate population in prison, and our women are disenfranchised. Where do we begin? Complacency must go. Awareness and focus is needed. Break the chains from your brains!! There is never a bad time for change. Let’s start today. Know your history. There is no way you can know where you are going until you know where you have been!

 

One Love,

Andre’a