“What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham: your boasted liberty, an unholy license: your national greatness, swelling vanity. Your sound of rejoicing is empty and heartless. Your denunciation of tyrants brass fronted impedance; your shout of liberty and equality, hollow mockery. Your prayers and hymns, sermons, and thanksgiving, with all your religious parade and solemnity, are to him, more bombast, fraud, deception, and hypocrisy–a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of the United States, at this very hour.” – Frederick Douglass, July 5, 1852
Courage
I know that it is never easy
to wear scarlet letters on your skin
to take history
and C-section her calendars
for the stories
that didn’t make it
until you find the authenticity
of truth
like consciousness
beautiful
but delicate
see through
and cutting
like shattering glass
piercing the spirit
and slicing through flesh and bone
so no one looks at the news the same
but for those of you
who have cherished her summers
kissed her springs
embraced the coldest winters ever
and dared to wear her degradation
on your lips
for your courage to find the other pieces
of her
the parts society is too fearful
of hearing
she bathes in your smile
because you loved her, truth
saw her delicate
and fragile
torn between the additions
and subtractions
that multiplied her sorrows
until her parts were divided
ripping her reality from the pages of scripture
like confused tongues
and babblings
snatching her away
from the breast of wisdom
like coal painted faces
minstrel shows
whitewashed genesis
cream-colored pharaohs
but she is not interested
that you feel sorry for her
history
she needs not of your pride
not of your bonafie hustlers
in prophet suits
not of your street corners
not of your liquor stores
not even of your religion
for her stone coated roses are too heavy
to place upon your caskets
for even in death
you have honored yourself
above her
truth
needs not of your chocolate bars
for history is tired of eating
she is sick
to the brim
with prophecies
and worries
and concerns
and birth pains
over those who wear her burden
like the colors of their skins
but she is thankful
that they have chosen to rather be humiliated
than to deny her
and this poem
is for all
their bravery.
Love, Honesty, Truth, and Respect
Love me or hate me but know that I will always keep it real with you. Integrity is everything. Enjoy your weekend people.
10 Commandments Statue Must be Removed from State Capitol
For those of you who know me, you know I like symbolism and this story is very symbolic to me. For the record I’m not a Christian so this is not about religion, it’s deeper than that.
They are removing a statue that is representative of the 10 commandments. Interesting. Let that marinate.
Link to the story:
10 Commandments statue must be removed from state Capitol, Oklahoma Supreme Court rules.
Movie Night Friday – The Day After Tomorrow
Today, I will be discussing The Day After Tomorrow for movie night.
This movie is special to me because I remember the exact day I saw it for the first time. My Aunt was a major Movie Feign and had every movie ever made. Literally! She had boxes and boxes of DVDs and VHS tapes. So naturally, after she got this DVD she announced the commencement of movie night. But, as we were still young adults when this came out, no one really felt like sitting around watching movies since all we ever wanted to do was go outside and flirt with boys and other things teenagers do. You see, my Aunt was famous for her forced movie nights. She’ll load her ever comfortable bed down with snacks and force everyone in for the grand event. If your feet were dirty though you’d better get a chair because you’re not sitting on the bed! But I decided hey, “why not?” and went in to watch it with her and it turned out to be a really good movie. Three years later (2007), my Aunt died and that movie night we shared would always be associated with this movie. And so this movie is very special to me.
Synopsis:
After climatologist Jack Hall (Dennis Quaid) is largely ignored by U.N. officials when presenting his environmental concerns, his research proves true when an enormous “super storm” develops, setting off catastrophic natural disasters throughout the world. Trying to get to his son, Sam (Jake Gyllenhaal), who is trapped in New York with his friend Laura (Emmy Rossum) and others, Jack and his crew must travel by foot from Philadelphia, braving the elements, to get to Sam before it’s too late.
Trailer:
Funny Movie Mistakes:
When Jack is in the library towards the end of the movie, he looks in a room and then the shot goes back to facing him. If you look very carefully, in the back of the hall you can see a person walk by. He is very hard to see.
Do you have good vision? Put it to the test! Watch the movie and see if you can spot the knot!
Chasing Time
If you weren’t such an important part of the way we measure our existence, I would call you a coward. Why you choose to hide behind second hands and between work schedules I would never know. You slip away from us with the ease of the wind; attaching only seconds to the opportunity to pour heart matter onto paper or spill thoughts onto the screen. You make it difficult for me to drain creativity out of the dust you’ve left me with. I hurry to catch up to you, forcefully picking up the pace of my fingers that heave in and out of breath. They say its good practice writing everyday so I fish for a way to transliterate thoughts against a racing pulse. Time. It is no secret your lack of compassion. It is the chit chatter of every inanimate object that you wait for no one. Sometimes I wonder if you really exist at all. If clocks and 24 hour days is just a mask you wear to disguise your invisibility; if you are truly infinite. I doubt I’ll find a place for you among the galaxies, or deep beneath the sea. This will mean that we will never actually catch up to you, and must instead appreciate your presence when it is near. Time. The only uninvited guest we hope will out stay his welcome.
Tree Change Dolls: Woman Re-Touches Make-Up On Dolls
This is so cool. I really enjoyed watching this video and meant to upload it to my page about a week ago after coming across it on another blog. Today, children are constantly being told, inadvertently, to grow up faster. From being introduced to sex in kindergarten to being allowed to wear make-up and fake fingernails, we are not giving innocence and naiveté a fair chance. When I was growing up, for instance, Barbie dolls had no private parts, now Ken has a penis. It was not to shy children away from the reality that real men have private parts, but it was done so, at least in my mind, to preserve the child’s innocence. But anyway, the point is that I think what this woman is doing is very noble. Even though she wasn’t intentionally trying to do it, by re-applying the make-up to these dolls she’s making them look more innocent and child-like than they did before. It would be great if she started a store, I would definitely order dolls for my daughter from her.
Video:
The PBS Blog 