Well, son, I’ll tell you:
Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.
It’s had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor
Bare.
But all the time
I’se been a-climbin’ on,
And reachin’ landin’s,
And turnin’ corners,
And sometimes goin’ in the dark
Where there ain’t been no light.
So, boy, don’t you turn back.
Don’t you set down on the steps.
‘Cause you finds it’s kinder hard.
Don’t you fall now
For I’se still goin’, honey,
I’se still climbin’,
And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.
“The remarkable thing is that we really love our neighbor as ourselves: we do unto others as we do unto ourselves. We hate others when we hate ourselves. We are tolerant toward others when we tolerate ourselves. We forgive others when we forgive ourselves. We are prone to sacrifice others when we are ready to sacrifice ourselves.”
We’ve all been there. We’ve all used it before. That means that in some time in our lives we have all been hypocrites. That is because we’ve all used our “Buts” before. The funny thing about “But” is that sometimes it is such a contradiction. While we can use our “Buts” to denote that we are unsure of something, usually when people say “But…” it’s because they mean the opposite of what they are telling you they mean. Here are a few examples:
“I like you but…”
This usually means that the person really does not like you but does not want to hurt your feelings.
“They cool but”
This one is two fold: a). There are more bad qualities about “them” than there are good, and b). I don’t want to talk about your friend in front of your face.
“I don’t mean to offend you, but…”
Here, this but means that I’m warning you that what I am about to say will in fact offend you.
“That’s a great idea but”
This means that chances are your idea sucked and the person doesn’t know how to tell you.
“I know but”
Means the person doesn’t really know what they’re talking about.
“I was going to tell you, but..”
This means the person wasn’t going to tell you, but now that he or she has been caught they have to think of a lie real quick.
“I don’t mind watching your kids, but”
Your children are little devils who don’t listen and no one feels like being bothered.
The ancient Egyptians were the descendants of Noah’s son, Khawm, or Ham in English. Khawm means black, hot and burnt. Kush is Ham’s first born son. The Kushites are the Ethiopians and Nubians today. Ancient Ethiopia was located south of Egypt in what is called the Sudan today. Ethiopian comes from the Greek word Atheops, meaning burnt face. Egypt, Ham’s second born son, name means Burnt Black. The ancient Egyptians called their land and themselves Khemet, which in their tongue means “THE LAND OF BLACKS.”
The word Khemet is nothing but a variation of the word Khawm in the language of ancient Egypt. Shem’s descendents, the Israelites, are also a black skinned people. This is why they were often able to hide in Egypt and why they were often mistaken as Egyptians (as in the Israelite Moses who passed as the grandson of Pharaoh for 40 years). On the other hand, the descendents of Noah’s son Japheth has been traced back to the Russians, Celtics, Ashkenaz, Goths, Greeks, Indo-European people, etc.
Why are these basic Historical foundations excluded from today’s movies?
You telling me you couldn’t cast Denzel Washington as Pharaoh? Not even Idris Elba? Chiwetel Ejiofor is good enough for 12 years a slave but he can’t be Moses?
You couldn’t have made Angela Basset Pharaoh’s wife? Vivica as his daughter? Like could Jada Smith just be Mary? After all, the Egyptians did look like these people, or am I the only person who notices that Egypt is not in Europe?
And where are all the black producers with the capacity to make movies? Tyler, can we get an exodus movie? Spike Lee? John Singleton?
Silence is one part of speech, the war cry
of wind down a mountain pass another.
a stranger’s voice echoing through lonely
valley’s, a lover’s voice rising so close
it’s your own tongue: these are the keys to cipher,
the way the hawk’s key unlocks the throat
of the sky and the coyote’s yip knocks
it shut, the way the aspens’ bells conform
to the breeze while the rapid’s drum defines
resistance. Sage speaks with one voice, pinyon
with another. Rock, wind her hand, water
her brush, spells and then scatters her demands.
some notes tear and pebble our paths. Some notes
gather: the bank we map our lives around.
Today’s special recipe is a feature from Kathy Gizzi, of Rotonda West, Florida. It looks so tasty I cannot wait to try it myself. This time, we’re all going to do it together, yall with me? Tonight’s dinner is: Tomato and Beef Casserole with Polenta Crust. We’ll need:
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup plain yellow cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon Montreal steak seasoning
1 cup (4 oz.) shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1 pound ground beef
1 cup chopped onion
1 chopped bell pepper < or zucchini. I don’t care too much for it so I substituted with bell pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 (14 1/2-oz.) cans diced tomatoes, drained
1 (6-oz.) can tomato paste
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1. Preheat oven to 350°. Bring 3 cups water and 1 tsp. salt to a boil in a 2-qt. saucepan over medium-high heat. Whisk in cornmeal; reduce heat to low, and simmer, whisking constantly, 3 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat, and stir in steak seasoning and 1/4 cup Cheddar cheese. Spread cornmeal mixture into a lightly greased 11- x 7-inch baking dish.
2. Brown ground beef in a large skillet over medium-high heat until meat is well done; drain and transfer to a bowl.
3. Sauté onion and bell peppers in hot oil in skillet over medium heat until crisp-tender. Stir in beef, tomatoes, and tomato paste; simmer, stirring often, 10 minutes. Pour beef mixture over cornmeal crust. Sprinkle with remaining 3/4 cup cheese.
4. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until bubbly. Sprinkle casserole with parsley just before serving.
Enjoy!
Do you have a tasty recipe you would like me to try? Send it in! I love recipes and will try it seriously, no joke. :). Just be sure to send a picture along with it so I can feature it on Recipe Sunday.
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