Back to Africa??? What is That About?

I haven't thought about this in a while, but I was watching something on tv the other day with flashbacks from the 60s showing white people carrying signs saying "Back to Africa" on them. For the life of me, I've NEVER understood that whole back to Africa "campaign" if you will. My whole thing is, aren't white people the ones who brought Africans to America in the first place? So how are you gonna be mad about us being here if it's your fault we're here? The Africans were minding their own business when Mr. Slave Master decided to show up and rip them out of their home. Did they ask to come here? Nope. Not even a little bit.

Then, generations later we have Mr. Slave Master's descendants telling Black people to go back to Africa. I'm pretty sure that my entire family of Black folks was born right here in America, as was I, so how are we gonna go back to a place we've never been? If you have a problem with me being here, blame your ancestors. It's like, us being here was okay for all those years you were getting over on us and forcing us into free labor but once we got our freedom our presence was suddenly a problem. Oh well, not our fault so get over it.

Anyway, that's all I really have to say on the subject. It's just something that always bothered me because if you really think about it, it makes no sense.

That's all for now....

What's the Deal with the Pledge of Allegiance?

The other day I posted on Twitter about how my mom refused to say the Pledge of Allegiance in school when she was a kid because she didn't think it was true. She was a black girl growing up in the 50s and 60s so I completely understand why she would feel that way. Anyway, it inspired me to make a little blog post about the subject so here I am. You're welcome *in my Sadie from Awkward voice*. Now here's how the pledge reads today:

"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

Apparently the pledge was originally written in 1892 and formally adopted by Congress in 1942. FYI, it's been modified four times before being finalized with the version we hear today. Quite frankly that's about as much of a history lesson as I feel like giving so if you want more info, Google it. Now right off the bat, as a black woman, I can see the obvious problems with this pledge. It's a damn lie. But before we get into that, let's talk about the "under God" part of our little pledge. Whatever happened to separation of church and state? I mean, is that something they just made up in the history books? Clearly the two things have not been separated. In fact, it seems the government has a really bad habit of getting involved in religious matters or involving religion as a way to justify things but let's not go there.

Now for the biggest lie ever in existence, "with liberty and justice for all." Please, don't make me laugh. Liberty and justice for ALL is practically nonexistent in America and especially during the 40s when the pledge was adopted. Let's be real. It all started with the Native Americans. Sure, they'd like us to believe the pilgrims and Native Americans were all buddy buddy but we know that's not really the case. We've all seen Pocahontas right? Okay, bad example but you get what I'm saying. Anyway, to make a long story short I can totally understand why someone would be against reciting the pledge because it really doesn't ring true. Just my opinion.

What do you think?

Review: The MTV VMAs

I really don't have much to say about the VMAs so I'm gonna try to make this as brief as possible. There was a lot of good and bad with this year's show, mostly bad. From the ridiculous wardrobe choices to the decision not to have a host, there was a lot going on. As far as the actual awards I really didn't pay much attention because MTV is such a joke that there's really no point in taking them seriously. I mean, they don't even play music videos anymore so who would take them seriously? Also, these days most awards shows are more of a popularity contest rather than an accurate judgment of talent. But I digress.

Let me start with the stuff I hated. Nicki Minaj's outfit, Katy Perry's multiple outfits and whatever it is that Lady Gaga did. That performance was mediocre at best and I feel like she kept up the whole dude act for entirely too long. One segment would have been more than enough. Also, I didn't find Kevin Hart to be that funny as the non-host of the evening and the dry audience didn't help matters.

About those so called "tributes" to Amy Winehouse and Britney Spears? Stop. Seriously, MTV just needs to stop. The Amy tribute was lame and very forgettable. But Britney? The fact that MTV turned Britney's moment into her pimping Beyonce was just ridiculous. Don't get me wrong, I love Bey but I don't think she should have had to combine her vanguard award win with announcing Bey's performance. I also felt that Gaga in drag took away from her moment as well. It was all so unnecessary.

Now for the performances. Gaga opening was, meh. Adele was nice and simple but I kind of wish she sang a different song but whatever. The Jay-Z and Kanye performance looked like someone just ran up to them in the audience and asked them to jump on stage real quick. Clearly it was thrown together last minute. One of the highlights for me was Jessie J rocking out in the chair with a cast on. She has a great voice and hopefully will get more recognition soon. I also love that she sang Firework better than Katy Perry ever did. That random new rock group performance? Whatever. The Britney dancers were cool and Bruno Mars was decent but nothing to get excited about. Lil' Wayne closing the show was disappointing at best. Those zebra print jeggings hanging off his ass while he ran around the stage looking crazy was just outrageous. Have SEVERAL seats sir. Chris Brown was just.....I mean, the dancing was good but the LEAST he could have done was pretend to sing in the microphone.

In my opinion, the best performance/moment of the night was Beyonce. For starters, Love on Top is one of my favorite songs from '4' so I was already happy when she started singing that. The performance wasn't too over the top and crazy, it was just enough. And of course showing off her baby bump and the end was cute then Jay and Kanye's reactions in the audience made it even better. LOVED the sexual chocolate microphone drop by the way.

Other than that, I really don't have much to say about the show. Overall, it was decent enough for what it was and as usual the Twitter commentary was more entertaining than the actual show.

Open Relationships: Yay or Nay?

The other day over on Necole Bitchie's blog there was a big discussion about open relationships after she posted something about Jill Scott's and Chilli's thoughts on the subject. There were several other celebrities whose opinions were listed as well as a number of readers. This made me start to think about my feelings on the subject. To be honest, I have no desire to ever be in an open relationship, especially if that relationship is an actual marriage. I just don't see the point in being with someone with the understanding that stepping out of the relationship is okay.

I suppose the arguments in favor of open relationships can be viewed as relevant but I still disagree. One argument in favor of open relationships mentioned that even if you're with one person you can still be attracted to someone else, which I agree with. Just because you're committed to and in love with one person doesn't automatically make you dead to the rest of the world. However, that doesn't mean that you should act on it.

I personally feel that there's no point in having an open relationship, marriage in particular. I mean, what's the point of getting married if you're still gonna see/hook-up/sleep with other people outside the relationship. You may as well not even get married. I guess the big difference is that your partner knows what's going on but still. That wouldn't give me much comfort. It sounds like dating to me. There's a few people you like, maybe one more than others, but you're keeping your options open. To me that's not what a relationship is about. I feel like if you're gonna marry someone that person should be enough. Period. Sure you'll always find other people attractive and there's nothing wrong with that, but have some self control. Is it really THAT difficult? I don't think so.

Anyway, that's just my two cents. Do what you want, it's your life.

That's all for now.

Some People Are Idiots!!! re: DADT

I was on Twitter (as usual) and I came upon a tweet between two people that had nothing to do with me that annoyed the hell out of me (another reminder that I need to stop clicking on things on twitter). No doubt the annoying tweet was from a republican and they were having a Twitter convo with a very liberal person. They were talking about DADT and the not so liberal was asking about bedding for the soldiers now that DADT has been repealed. Meaning where are the gay soldiers going to sleep now because apparently gay and straight people can't share bedrooms or whatever they call the sleeping quarters in the army.

This has to be one of the dumbest things I've ever heard. In the army, men all sleep in the same area and women all sleep in the same area, correct? So why should that change now? Didn't these people share sleeping quarters BEFORE anyone knew if they were gay or straight? And it wasn't a problem then so why should it be now? This person on Twitter questioned whether men and women would now have to room together. Again, stupid. I don't see what's so wrong with a gay person and a straight person of the same sex sleeping in the same room. What the hell do you think is gonna happen?

I swear I can't take this ignorant nonsense.

"Digitally Dying" Celebrities

I'm sure by now most people have heard about this campaign/fundraiser that Alicia Keys is having for her Keep a Child Alive foundation. The idea is that celebrities will "digitally die" and stop using Twitter, Facebook and other social networking sites until $1 million is raised for the foundation. The last time I checked they had only raised about $280,000 but it could be more by now. I believe the whole thing started on World AIDS Day which was December 1st and it's been nearly a week so you would think they would have raised more by now but I'm honestly not surprised they haven't. There are so many problems with this I don't know where to start:

• The first problem is that the entire premise is completely narcissistic. These people assumed that their fans were gonna be so broken up about not seeing their precious tweets that they would run out and donate buckets of money. WRONG! I'm a fan of a lot of the people involved in this (in case you're wondering, some of the celebs involved include Usher, Swizz Beats, Kim Kardashian, Jennifer Hudson, and Justin Timberlake). However, if all the celebrities I follow on twitter stopped tweeting right now I honestly can't say I would care too much. Sure it's interesting to follow your favorite celebrities but I could live without it.
• The other problem is that they started with a minimum amount to donate. Admittedly I haven't done very much research on the subject but it's my understanding that there was originally a $10 minimum donation requirement. Really?! I think that for a charity people should be encouraged to donate whatever they can, whether it be $1 or $100 because every little bit helps. If every single fan of the people I mentioned all donated $1 they would have far surpassed the million dollar goal by now. I've heard that they reduced the minimum donation to $1 so at least that's something but to be honest I don't think it will help much. 
• Furthermore, all the money that they put into taking those idiotic coffin pictures could have gone towards the cause they're trying to raise money for. I can't for the life of me understand why these obscenely rich people insist on soliciting donations from their fans who are living paycheck to paycheck if that! Instead of tweeting every hour how you're "dead" and need your fans to "buy your life back" how about donating some of those millions burning a whole in your pocket to the cause you claim to be so passionate about.

Pardon the long ass post but this entire thing just pisses me off. I don't know who told Alicia Keys this was a good idea but they lied.

"If you don't know, now you know." ~Biggie

Comcast Really Tried to Play Me....smh

So, I just moved back to my apartment for school and since the cable and internet was in my old roommate's name I had to get it turned on again after she moved out. No problem right? Umm, wrong. They were scheduled to come between 7am-9am on Friday which was kind of pushing it for me because I had to be in class at 9 to take a med math test. Luckily my class is right across the street. That was the first time they offered and I felt like I had to take it because with cable companies it can take forever to reschedule.

The good news is that the guy came on time. I was a little worried at first but he actually showed up around 7:30ish. Now for the bad news....they had my address wrong somehow. The guy called and said he was having trouble finding my house and asked if the address was XX51 and I told him no, it's XX58. I don't know about everyone else but to me 1 and 8 don't sound alike AT ALL. Because of THEIR mistake the guy said he would have to call his supervisor to see if he could even do the install....great.

After he called, I had to call and get them the change my address. The first woman I talked to told me that I had to reschedule the entire thing because it was at the wrong address. Needless to say I was pissed because it wasn't my fault, it's theirs. Then she said she was gonna transfer me to whoever I needed to talk to but instead she disconnected me *sigh*. So now I had to call back again and sit on hold forever until I got a real person all the while staring at the clock and wondering if I would get this done in time to get to class. The next woman I talked to was WAY more helpful and she changed the address and everything and once I told her the cable guy was standing right there she talked to him for a bit and he was able to finish the installation...yay!

After all that everything ended up being okay but it was still a pain in the ass. The guy didn't leave until almost 8:30 because of all the extra drama of being on the phone forever trying to get things straight. The real downside was that I ended up having to pay more than what I was originally told because they had to cancel the entire order that was at the wrong address. The woman told me that September prices were now in effect so that's what I was being charged. LAME! It was only $10 more per month but still....

On the bright side, I made it to class in time for my med math test and I got 100%....YAY!

I'm Back...

Not that I ever really left. But by back I mean back at school. To be honest I didn't really miss being in Philly at all and I can't wait to go home. It's not like I have many friends left here anyway. Most of them moved away after they graduated. Classes start tomorrow and I'm already dredding everything about this week. Not to mention that I have no cable or internet until Friday (I'm typing this in the computer lab). And of course I still don't have a roommate....ugh. Hopefully someone will be moving in soon but it's taking entirely too long to find someone so it's really stressful.

In addition to that nonsense, it looks like I may need to take yet another class in order to graduate. This wouldn't be annoying if I hadn't been told before that I did NOT need this particular class. Even then I could deal with it but of course the class doesn't fit in with my nursing schedule. Color me surprised :/. I don't know why but I feel like it's always one step forward, two steps back for me. Maybe I need a vision board or something to put some positive thoughts out into the universe for myself. I just don't know what to do about anything right now. I feel like I'm in a borderline state of depression, or maybe it's just homesickness.

Anyway, I really don't have much to say right now I just wanted to post something because I really haven't in a while. Hopefully once I get my internet back I can go back to posting on a more regular basis if I'm not too busy studying.

Later....

Roommate Nonsense

Is it wrong that I want to beat the hell out of my roommate? I got an email from her last Monday saying that she's moving out in mid August sometime. Really dude, wtf?! This isn't a complete surprise because she mentioned a while back that she would "probably" be moving out but didn't have any definite plans at that time. That's part of the reason I'm so pissed about this. Let me give you the little bit of back story there is on the situation.

At the beginning of the year, maybe February or March, is when she told me that she would most likely be moving out sometime in the near future. She didn't have any set plans but she said she would keep me informed. Great. Then sometime after that I asked what was going on and if I should start really trying to find a new roommate. She said yes, so I put the new roomie search in full effect. She didn't mention anything for a while so I asked again what was going on because a few people were interested in the place. This had to be sometime in April. She said she still didn't have a date and at that point wasn't even sure if shwas moving at all. Really bitch?! SMFH! I had no choice but to put the search on hold because I didn't have a move in date for potential roommates.

fast forward to now and I have roughly 2 weeks to find another roommate because she waited until now to tell me that she found a new job AND a house in another part of town. I'm convinced that I'm just not meant to have a roommate, unless you count my dad. *sigh* Fuckery I tell you.

Is it a girl thing or am I just ridiculous?

Once again I've started obsessing over a guy after only really knowing him for a short time. Actually I met this guy almost a year ago but we've only recently starting hanging out or "dating" if you will. It was only one "date" so I don't know if I would call that dating anyway but whatever. The point is now I'm back to doing that ridiculous thing I do when I obsess over a guy to the point where it drives me crazy. I'm just wondering if this is a general girl thing or if I'm just weird like that.

Basically ever since Monday the 5th we've talked on the phone almost everyday. I saw him the Friday before that but didn't call because I knew he had some things going on. Then when I finally did talk to him Monday he's all "why didn't you call?" First, I didn't realize I was supposed to call and second I don't want to seem like I'm all up on his dick for lack of a better term. Anyway, for the rest of the week we talked on the phone at least once everyday, maybe more. Then Friday we had our little date then I spent all day Saturday with him until around 7pm. He told me he was kidnapping me so he would have my undivided attention.

He dropped me off Saturday evening and said to call him and in my mind I'm thinking like the next day or something. Wrong. When I called the next day he's all like "hey, you were supposed to call me" and I told him I didn't realize he meant that same day. I was just with you for almost an entire day so I figured we could both use a break. He mentioned something about us trying to work out when to see each other this week because he starts school again so with that and work he's gonna be busier than usual.

Now on to my ridiculousness. Is that a word? Whatever. Anyway, it's been a day and I haven't talked to him since yesterday afternoon sometime and I'm having a fit. WHY?!?! Why do I always to this to myself? I get way too attached way too fast and it becomes a problem. I mean here I am freaking out because this guy hasn't called me since yesterday! Who does that?!?! Is this normal? Do all girls do this or it is just me? Someone snap me out of this and help me come to my senses!

Random Fact About Me

I have never in my 24 years of life worn any type of fake hair. No braids, no weaves, no tracks, no wigs, no extensions, NADA. For no particular reason, I just never wanted to. When I was a kid and all my friends at school would get their little micro-braids and what not my mom would ask if I wanted them too but I always said no. Again, no real reason why, it just wasn't my thing.

It almost seems a little strange because I'm pretty sure every black girl I've ever known (or at least the majority of them) have worn some type of weave in their life. Sometimes I think it's almost expected because it's the "norm." I don't quite remember but I'm pretty sure I've been asked if my hair is really MY hair in the past and if people didn't flat out ask I'm sure there was some speculation. It's a natural girl thing I think, to look at another girl's hair and wonder "is that all hers?"

Now don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with a little (or a lot) of  fake hair here and there, it's just not my thing. I've never done it and I probably never will but who knows, never say never I guess. And in case you were wondering, my hair now is about medium length I guess, almost bra strap length (not shoulder straps, the one that goes across your back). I don't know that length makes a difference though because I've seen girls with long hair still wearing extensions for thickness or whatever. I don't know why some people do or don't wear weaves. To be honest I don't really care that much. Whatever floats your boat.

Anyway like I said, random.