Laura Ingraham vs. Chris Brown and fans

      As we all know in 2009, Virginia native Chris Brown was involved in an incident that forever changed his image, career, and life. However he is now bouncing back with new mixtapes, music, and even movies and his fan base does not seem to be tainted one bit. As a matter of fact, thinking about how he is changing his sound up he may have even gained new fans. Recently Brown performed on the "Today Show" and fans showed up for support in record numbers, some even camped out 2 days in advanced. Apparently this show of support disgusted some people such as Fox News' Laura Ingraham. She went on her show and ranted about how sad and disgusting it was that people are supporting Chris Brown. She not only mentioned the Rihanna incident, but even went so far as to read lyrics from his songs in disgust.
     In another part of her show she showed some of his fans being interviewed on the streets, and to say the least some of them sounded HORRIBLE. One stated that she didn't think the beating was that bad and others made it seem like it something that should be looked over.
     I personally believe that what Chris Brown did was very extreme, however I also believe that it was almost 3 years ago and both artists have moved on with their careers and are doing very well. I also believe that Chris Brown has paid his dues and should be left alone.  My question is, do you all believe that what Ms. Ingraham had to say was right or should she just get over it? Or do you believe that we as a society got over the incident too quickly?

Quarter-life Crisis

            A question that is often asked but I can never fully answer.....what am I living for? At my internship I was given a task that involved me looking at pictures from the 80's and 90's. The pictures included female track runners and the bodies of these women were tight. I started to wonder what these women looked like now in the present day. I pictured some overweight women looking back over there pictures reminiscing over their old track days and how their bodies used to look.  They reminded me of myself today and what I'll probably look like in some years which brought me to a question that's been burning in my head lately. What am I on earth for? I guess I'm too young to be having a mid-life crisis however that's exactly what it is. But my coworker told me I was actually having a "quarter-life crisis"/
        I'm currently 21 years old and my birthday is right around the corner. I'm not excited about this new age besides that I'm blessed enough to be seeing another year. All older people always want to remind us that time flies and make sure we do something meaningful with it. Well I'm starting to see this now. My younger cousins are now growing into beautiful adults and now high school seems like it was so long ago.
          I have two routes that I could take at this point of realization. I could sulk about how my lady parts are going to be affected by gravity in some years and cry myself to sleep at night or I could try my best to do something meaningful with my time here and hit a dare devil streak. To stay positive I think I'm going to go with the second choice. I plan on affecting other peoples lives so that I can one day leave behind some kind of legacy. My question to you all is, being that our time here is so short what do you plan on doing with yours?

The Beach's Very Own

I don't really write too much about fashion because that's not really my area of interests. However a question was sparked a while ago that asked, "Who is to credit for today's fashion sense?"...A lot of people were quick to credit the likes of Kanye West, however I believe the person that was left out of that equation was Pharrell Williams of N.E.R.D. How soon people forget, it was only a couple years ago everyone was walking around wearing trucker hats (which aren't anything but a piece of fabric away from a snap back), skinny jeans, and a skateboard. "Skateboard P" made it cool to be a black guy that skates and even be a little weird. He brought the style of Virginia Beach to the forefront and although he can't take all the credit for today's style, I'd like to think that he made certain things a little more accepted. Who do you all think had an influence on today's fashion?

The Soliloquy of A Little Women

When I was in elementary school in North Carolina I went to a program everyday before school. There was a lady there by the name of Ms. Kimmie that I would always sit and talk to since I was one of the oldest kids there. We talked about writing (I wrote poetry in elementary and middle school), and she also loved to write poetry. I remember my last day at the program she came in the room with a gift for me. It was a picture frame that held a poem that she wrote for me entitled "The Soliloquy of A Little Women". The poem read.....

"World Rescuer,

You walk on meadows conquering hearts and souls for GOD. As long as you are true to yourself- Your will; will continue to master the harsh reality that blows on our EARTH. You are GOD sent with her message written on your heart-------------Continue to soar and may endeavors be yours FOREVER. 


Your Friend, 


Ms. Kimmie"

I was in elementary school when someone wrote this to me. I thought of it as something nice then but didn't fully understand what she meant. Now I am 21 years old and reading this again and I understand that this was really deep. I don't even know if I'm worthy of such a description even now. I don't know where Ms. Kimmie is, I don't even know her last name. But I do hope that I can live up to what she saw for me. It's given me a guide and when I'm down it's something I look to for inspiration. I don't know what exactly she saw for me, or in me. I have veered off the path many many times but I feel like now I'm back on track....

Signed,

Little Woman

Diary of a Brown Girl

This post is going to be a little personal but I feel it is very relevant to things I have been seeing and hearing lately. You know what, not even lately. It's more like all my life. I just recently have come to terms with what I consider is beautiful. I will even go as far as to say I've just recently within the past two years become more comfortable in my own skin.
Growing up my family always told me I was pretty and up to a certain age I believed them. Then I hit the teenage, "growing into myself" phase. When you live in a society that embraces "good hair", lighter skin, small facial features, and small frames, and you don't have ANY of that...you start to second guess yourself. I'm brown skin (in the summer super dark), big nose, big teeth, chinky eyed girl with a big round head,and fat cheeks. I didn't know what standard of beauty I fit. As a matter of fact, I didn't think I fit any standard of beauty and the world around me seemed to support my thought process.
Now I am a 21 year old young woman and I actually do consider myself to be attractive and my self esteem is pretty high. Yet even now, I STILL am confronted with my standards of beauty. On numerous occasions I have been the exception to guys, "light skin" rule. And in my head I'm thinking, "so I guess only light skin girls can be insightful, down to earth, friendly, (and whatever else they like)". I guess if your brown skin/dark skin you're automatically knocked of the desirable list. I have even had a distant cousin come to me and say, "wow, I have a dark skin cousin.....AND SHE'S PRETTY!!". What does that even mean?!
And it's horrible because children are the first to pick up on these things! As a young girl I loved Beyonce but had to play Kelly because I was dark skin and my friend was light skin. Let's not even consider the fact that I was the only one that could sing. An example of how to a kid, the skin color takes precedence over talent. Times are changing but still this seems to be a problem still around.
I personally believe that every skin color is beautiful and should be embraced. I embrace my tan in the summer and refuse to be ashamed. It gets under my skin how even in the media "light is right" and "black is wack". That probably wasn't the best saying but I think you can get the over all effect of what I mean.
What do you think about society's standard of beauty and it's affect on the world around us?

Exxon Earns almost $11 billion in 3 Months

At a time where drivers are paying nearly $4 a gallon for gas, Exxon has managed to earn almost $11 billion dollars in the first quarter. This is something that affects everyone who reads this and beyond. I don't know if anyone else is mad but I know I am. If gas prices are going up, the common sense perception I would think is that big businesses are taking big blows to the pocket just like the customers are when they fill up their tank. Yet, Exxon has managed to hit their highest numbers since 2008 in their third quarter. Exxon has stated that they have little control over the gas prices but I personally believe that something needs to be done.
While big companies benefit at record levels, everyday people are taking $100 to fill up their tank. How is this fair and whose money and mistakes are we compensating for? The thing that sucks is that, we are STILL going to buy gas as much as we complain. At my school students tried to promote a day when no one would buy gas. I personally participated and was very disheartened to see that my couple of dollars made no difference because people were waiting at the gas pumps as usual by the loads. As much as we complain, I feel like if we aren't going to do anything then we might as well stop whining and keep feeding Exxon's pockets and abandoning our own. I can't speak for anyone else but I'm about to break out the trusty old Huffy.

What's The Next Move?

I'm at a point in my life where I KNOW what I want to do. The question is how do I get there. But the next thing that follows is, should I even stress myself or just let things come as they will. I have heard a saying before that said, "If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans"....Welp, that just ended any blueprint I had laid out. But really, what's the next step after college? Apply for more internships? Look for an entry level position somewhere? More school? I really don't think anyone ever knows. Everyone I ask is just going with the flow. It seems like there are no more jobs out there but plenty of people who are willing to jump at the opportunity if one does open up. The reality is I just want to be comfortable and live a happy life. I don't have to have a million dollars but if my future kids ever want anything, I don't want it to be a hassle for me to have to get it...Thats all. I really don't think that's too much to ask for ya know? But who knows, maybe I'll be blessed enough to do what I have my heart set on or maybe God will trip me up a little and I'll end up being a bum on the street lol...No but really. You never know what the circumstances may hold or what's really going to happen throughout life. "Nothing ever promised tomorrow today"...I think I'm going to plan a little but leave room for error, we'll see how this goes.

Social Networks and Relationships....Why don't they mix!!

I asked this exact question on twitter and the first response I received was "Oil and Water"....BUT WHY?!If trust exists in your relationship then a social networking site should not present any problem at all. We hear all too often that trust is necessary, but really, it is the foundation to all relationships. You can't go around anticipating a heartbreak because really it will drive you crazy. The only thing that social networks do is bring more people into your life. If you're not secure with you're one person then that can mean death, and I can see how a social network could scare you....What do you all think?!

What is "News" anymore?!

I've been over watching the news. I really feel like, what exactly is "news" anymore? The news reports on Trending Topics from twitter, who is dating who, and the latest tv gossip. While we are in a world with gas prices going up, wars, and death, people are trying to find out what's going on but get bombarded with images of Chris Brown's blonde hair. I really feel like if you want to know something, these days you have to find it out yourself. Depending on a news station or radio is not exactly going to do it anymore. So now I barely turn on my tv unless its strictly for entertainment purposes. My suggestion is do not let todays news and tv dictate how you feel....If you want to know something, go find it out for yourself.

Suicide

So, today I started a new blog called "Love Live Life", and it is about suicide in the community. It was specifically started for a project in my PR 2 class but as I was researching things to write about, I actually became way more interested. It's amazing how we live day to day as individuals and forget about the world around us. Most people think that suicide doesn't affect black people or our community but the thing is, it does. It was the third leading cause of death in black men from age 15-24 if I'm not mistaken. I just felt like that hit really close to home because that encompasses a lot of important friends and relatives that are close to me. I think that as a people we should just be more sensitive to one another and always make ourselves available whenever someone may need it. Whether they are close or not. You never know how much of an affect you may have on someone. Life is too precious of a gift for someone to want it all to be over at the drop of a hat. Like a quote that I read said, "Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem."

Random Insert

So it's 1:30 in the morning and I am up watching Law and Order:SVU while searching for something to write about. This episode is featuring Keke Palmer, one of the few young respectable black actresses on the rise and she is doing this SVU episode. There are not too many women in the entertainment industry that little girls can look up to, but as far as I can tell she is one of them. I hope she doesn't fall into the temptations of the entertainment world. Who are some of your favorite young stars on the rise?

Is There a Cure for Homosexuality?

     Recently the iPhone just removed an app from their market whose purpose was to cure homosexuality. The app was created by a religious group by the name of "Exodus International". The groups mission statement as stated on their website is, "Mobilizing the body of Christ to minister grace and truth to a world impacted by homosexuality." Activist groups "Change.org" and "Truth Wins Out" formed a petition and over 146,000 people signed it resulting in the removal of the app. This is the second time that Apple has had an "anti-gay" app in their market. I personally feel as though the app should have never been approved to be in the market in the first place.
    Homosexuality will always be a hot and sensitive topic to discuss but lately it seems as if it has been coming up a lot. This morning I was listening to the radio and the conversation was, "Will homosexuality ever be able to peacefully coexist within the black church?"
    These two scenarios pose two questions for me, do people honestly in their heart believe that homosexuality is curable, and if the church preaches tolerance then why can it not coexist within the church? As far as the church goes according to the Bible I understand that homosexuality is a sin, however I feel like church should be a place of tolerance and not a place where different people are afraid to go.
       Do you feel that homosexuality is curable and why? And do you think that church and homosexuality can coexist?

LASERS

This past weekend I was newly introduced to Lupe Fiasco's CD "Lasers" which stands for "Love Always Shines Everytime Remember to Smile" and I have not stopped raving about it since then...I've listened to singles of his before and knew he was a "conscious" rapper however never really paid him any mind.  I guess my mindset has changed drastically from where I was mentally three years ago because after listening to the second track of his CD I was sold. In the age of bubble gum rappers, he was just what I needed to show me I'm not the only sane person who constantly feels insane. I feel as though I could write a whole blog about "Lasers", one post for every song. That's how AMAZING his CD is. While listening, you get a sense that each song was carefully crafted for a specific purpose to create an awareness about the world in which we live in. Personally my favorite tracks include an upbeat track called, "I don't want to care", "Words I Never Said", and especially the track, "All Black Everything". If there was ever an artist that I believe was here with a purpose it is Mr. Fiasco himself. If you haven't heard any of his music I suggest you take a listen....

11-Lupe Fiasco - All Black Everything (Produced By Wizzo Buchanan)-RGF

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"Letter to Lil Wayne" from 3 black girls

       In case you've been living under a rock these past couple days, you have heard about the YouTube video from three little girls, ages 10, 9, and 5. They call themselves "Watoto From the Nile." In the video, the girls are singing over the instrumental to Lil Wayne's "I'm Single" asking him why he degrades women and promotes drugs. In the song, one line that stands out says, "and people say say no to drugs, so tell me sir who should I trust?" Lil Wayne after being targeted in previous years, has made it known that he does not care about what people think about him. And as an individual he reserves the right to make songs about whatever he wants. However, I identify completely with these three young ladies. What boggles my mind, is that in this twisted world we live in, people have found a way to bash the video. Calling it a publicity stunt, saying the children should not be listening to his music anyways, and the song sucked. Even if all those things were true, the message in their song is undeniable. There is no way to completely hide children from the radio and television and regardless of what they are taught at home, at one point or another they will be exposed to the negative messages in music.
      Just as Lil Wayne can make music about whatever he wants, so can these three little girls and I hope that they  continue to do so. What are your thoughts on the video?

World Star does it again.....

        I just came across a video on WorldStarHiphop.com, that was titled "No Shame: LA Mothers P-poppin To Travis Porter On Cam All In Front Their Kids!"...I did not feel the need to post the video due to the foolery, however I felt the need to speak on its content. The title of the video says it all and as I watched the video I was filled with embarrassment for two reasons. One because the video features two black women with their underwear on dancing while one of their children is in the room yelling "Mom" occasionally throughout the video. When people view things like this, in their mind whether it is subconscious or not, they come up with generalizations of what a group of people are like. Then from that generalization comes the shaping of opinions and then judgement of the unknown. This is how the media shapes the views of society and it disgusts me that this has become our reality.So as a young black woman, when people of other races see me, images like this are already in their mind. I feel like some people find them funny, but despite the hilarity of it all it hurts us more than anything.

         The second reason I was embarrassed is because of the girls son in the video. Children soak things up like a sponge, and images of seeing his mother and her friend shake their butt in front of a camera with no pants on just confirms that we have another generation to look forward to of people not knowing right from wrong and having a lack of morals. He will grow up to be a young man and think that things like that are acceptable and normal from young women. Well, that's just me foreshadowing but I think that I prove my point. How do you feel about the video if you've seen it and do you think that things like this are okay? If you haven't seen the video click here

(It is graphic)

Basketball Player Dismissed for Having Sex

Brandon Davies, a sophomore basketball player at Brigham Young University (BYU) was dismissed from the basketball team for breaking the schools honor code and having sex with his girlfriend. To some people, this seems to be unfair and uncalled for, however I think some of these people are forgetting that BYU is also the oldest existing institution within the Church Educational System. The school is also owned by the Church of Jesus Christ and Latter-Day Saints which holds a strict honor code. As small an infraction as it may seem to us, the students at BYU are held to high moral expectations. Davies told officials himself which I assume he knew what the consequences would be for his actions. Although it may seem unfair, I believe that Davies should have adhered to the rules or at least kept it to himself if he did not want to be punished. This goes to show that their are still people in the world with morals and I do not think that this should have caused such an uproar with people. I believe in changing with the times but if you choose to live a certain lifestyle then you should go by those rules.
Below is the schools honor code:
http://www.yardbarker.com/jump/2m

"Have you drugged your kid today?"

Recently, a teacher was just fired from her job because she would not remove a bumper sticker from her car that read, "Have you drugged your kid today?" The sticker is a criticism toward parents and doctors who medicate hyperactive children. The teacher never made a comment about her opinion in class and personally I do not believe she should have been fired. She feels as though it is a violation of her first amendment rights and I agree that as long as she respected her work place, she should have been able to keep her job. Now do I agree with the content of her sticker? Yes and no. Yes because my younger brother is medicated for being hyperactive child and I personally believe that when he is on the medicine he is a different person. The best way to handle hyperactivity is to give children individual activities and tasks that can challenge them because many times "hyperactive" children are just bored and disinterested in what surrounds them. However, this may be difficult and inconvenient for teachers who can not always control hyperactive kids. So medicating for parents can also act as a stress reliever because they don't have to worry about their child acting up throughout the day. If it was my choice I probably would not medicate my child but hope that he would grow out of his hyperactivity.

Above the Rim

Although this subject is very off topic from my previous posts, it is something that has sparked my interests. This past Saturday was the NBA dunk contest and unfortunately I was on the road and unable to catch it. I did however catch the tweets and the most talked about even was Blake Griffin jumping over a Kia. After I heard this, I HAD to youtube the video. Once I saw the video, I was completely and utterly disappointed. I thought he was going to jump through the screen the way that people hyped it up. I can't do it, which is why I suppose I wasn't in the dunk contest but Blake Griffin is 6'10 and him being able to jump over the hood of a Kia which is at most 4 ft tall should not have come to a surprise to anyone. Now if you want to talk about a player full of surprises, I would personally bring Nate Robinson into the conversation. A 5'9 man dunking over Dwight Howard who is 6'11. Griffin having 'hops' was expected and although he hopped over the hood of a car I still have seen other players dunk over the full width of a car. Check out the video below

The Beyonce Minstrel

Above is a picture of Beyonce in a photo shoot where she was paying tribute to Fela Kuti, a Nigerian musician and human rights activists. The photo shoot was to celebrate African beauty and involved Beyonce having her face painted resembling minstrel characteres. The pictures have sparked emotions from different people claiming that they were unsure how painting her face black paid respect to him and saw this as an act of disrespect. Others have went so far as to claim this as an act of racism from the French magazine. Believe it or not, the black face painting has caught on as a fashion trend overseas which as you can imagine does not sit too well with many people. This is not a good look for Beyonce, especially following rumors of her using skin bleaching (see first blog post). I personally feel that it can be looked at as art however I do not believe that it was a smart choice for Beyonce to participate in such a photoshoot. If we are to forget the past, as some people are proposing and to "just get over it", then what other "fashion statement" is to come out next? White pointed hats or women dressing with inspiration from Mammy?

Diary

Wale - Diary (Feat. Marsha Ambrosius)(Acoustic Version)

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For an assignment in my beloved Social Psych class, I was probed to look into the meaning of three songs, "Fancy", "Diary", and the spoken word "Ambitious Girl". Diary and Ambitious girl are both works by the rapper Wale who is from DC. Ambitious Girl speaks for itself while "Diary" ft. Marsha Ambrosius fit into a deeper category. My take on the song was Wale taking on the job of speaking to black women and girls and opening their eyes to see that every man is not out to hurt them. The story of "he aint sh*t because my mom said so" has been confronted in his song. In hip hop today many artists aren't complex or deep enough to come at such a topic. With Ms. Ambrosius only helping to take the song to a whole new level of creativity I truly appreciated this piece of art. With insightful lines such as, "Every problem that you ever had with another man I gotta face. Started off on thin ice, I'm still here but I can't skate" personally makes me only want to understand and delve deeper into the male mind. Not only that, but it makes me want to improve and try to help other women feel that their are such things as happy endings. Above is the acoustic version if you haven't heard the song.

What's the message?

This semester I am taking a class with a great professor called Social Psychology. In the class we discuss the role of men and women and relationships amongst other things. One subject that has been brought to my attention through this class is the two sidedness in what people want and need in relationships. A lot of times we hear men saying they want a woman of substance, with her own money and mind. Yet when we hear the music they listen to it gives us the complete opposite of what they say they want. Instead of glorifying the smart women who do things for themselves they are singing about a red bone in a tight dress and how they aren't worried about their baby's father. Not to say that their are absolutely no songs portraying the right message because their are, however the long lists of negatives outweigh the positives.

Twitter #Fail

Was your favorite app one of the couple that was recently suspended? Ubertwitter, Twydroid, and Ubercurrent are twitter apps for android and blackberry phones that were suspended this past weekend due to violations of twitters rules. One of the things that these apps were accused of is changing the content of peoples tweets to advertise and somehow make more money. From the looks of the tweets that I witnessed, you would've thought that the world had ended because people could not have the layout of twitter on their phone how they wanted. Now I can go on and on about how social networking sites have taken a higher priority then what they should in reality, however my aim is more so on the uproar of users who were mad about their alternate apps...the problem wasn't that they couldn't tweet, it was that it couldn't look how they wanted...Has the look of a site really taken precedence over the content?

Ashura Beatings

The video above is in Ashura, India. As crazy as it looks this is a day of mourning to commemorate the death of a grandson of the Prophet Mohammed. Imam Hussein was said to have been decapitated and mutilated so on this day they reenact his murder. I can't speak for anyone but myself but I would not participate in an activity that harms my own body for ritualistic purposes. That may be the difference from other countries and the U.S., I do not know anyone that would willingly use knives to whoop themselves. There are probably a couple events that Americans could use to do such acting out however I personally believe that Americans are too self centered too do such things. Could you do this in order to keep someones memory alive that you never even knew?

Death to Video Games

"Those shoes are to DIE for!!" How many times have we heard a saying like this? Well it seems this generation of kids are taking sayings like this seriously. I just came across a story where a 16-year old boy killed his mother because she took away his Playstation privileges. The teenagers privileges were taken away and while his mother was asleep he went into her room and hit her 20 times with a claw hammer, tried to cremate her in the oven, then beat her corpse with a chair leg. This is the second time that I have heard a kid has killed their mother over a video game and if video games have this type of affect on my children then I don't know how I feel about them playing them. If two children were moved enough to kill their parents, then on a lower level what are other children willing to do for video games? Fight, steal, and actually act out the actions done in the games?

"Far Away"

So after watching the video for Marsha Ambrosius' song "Far Away", I feel compelled to give my two cents. It's not everyday that you see a celebrity tackle an issue as sensitive as gay rights, and I applaud Ms. Ambrosius on her video. I think that when we see flamboyant homosexuals we often times get caught up and see it as entertainment when in reality that is just one side to such a lifestyle and their issues and feelings matter just as much as the next. In the music video a gay male commits suicide because of his insecurities with his sexuality and how people reacted to him. That is a strong message to portray yet I feel that it probably sent a message to people who never thought twice about it. If you haven't seen the video, here it is down below:

Skin Bleaching...Right or Wrong?

       Recently popular reggae artist Vybz Kartel unveiled his new light skin complexion after formerly being a "darkskin" male. This has caused an uproar in the media with people questioning his motives and morals. For years in Jamaica and some parts of Africa there are people who have chosen to bleach their skin. Alongside Vybz Kartel in skin bleaching is athlete Sammy Sosa and another reggae artist Lisa Hype with the song "Bleaching Fit Me" in which she declares "Unno say bleaching can gi you skin cancer, My gyirl you ah smoking, unno say smoking can gi you lung cancer"....My question is, is skin bleaching an act of self hate or is it as casual as someone going tanning?