All Natural Baby!

So...I am officially natural! I cut off the last bits of my relaxed hair today. My final relaxer was last summer and I wore a weave while I transitioned. I took out my final sew-in in January of this year and have slowly been removing my relaxed ends. My hair was damaged and I made the mistake in the beginning of getting my hair flat ironed regularly. The hair stylist really did a number on my head the last time I had it flat ironed back in February. I had a lot of heat damage and finally my hair is healthy and gorgeous! I have stayed away from heat except for using a diffuser a couple of weeks ago. I will be documenting my journey on my YouTube channel- YourBestSelf. I look forward to sharing whatever tips I come up with and learning from other women who are also rockin their natural beauty!

Thank you Michael Jackson

Words cannot express my deep sense of loss today when Michael Jackson passed. He is a legend, an icon, a musical genius, and most importantly a human being. A human being with an extraordinary gift that touched people ACROSS THE GLOBE. Thank you for all the memories. Thank you for breaking down racial barriers in music. Thank you for all of your contributions. Thank you Michael Jackson, thank you.

Minority Complex aka Bougie

Judge Clarence Thomas is at it again. Drawing up more controversy with his decision in the Supreme Court’s latest case. A 13 year old female student in Arizona was strip searched for prescription drugs. Many schools limit their search to a child’s backpack or locker, but this school felt it necessary to search her undergarments. No drugs were found, but the bigger issue became- Can a school official strip search a child?

The Supreme Court ruled today, 8-1, that the strip search violated the young student’s constitutional rights. Which judge voted against this ruling…our dear friend Clarence Thomas. Oh Clarence. You never cease to amaze us. His reason behind his decision was that by ruling in favor of the student, the Supreme Court “second-guesses the measures that educators take to maintain discipline and ensure the health and safety of the students in charge.” Really. So, making a pre adolescent girl expose and humiliate herself assists the school in its fight to maintain order?

If you aren’t familiar with Clarence and his desicions, allow me to give you a brief synopsis. He is the second African-American judge to serve on the Supreme Court. At the time he was being considered, back in 1991, African-American and Civil Rights committees opposed his appointment including the NAACP, Urban League and National Organization for Women. Many felt his ultra conservative views would undermine the efforts and progress made by civil rights activists. He vehemently opposed affirmative action and some felt he would try to reverse the Roe V. Wade decision.

Just before his appointment, Anita Hill accused him of inappropriate sexual advances. Clarence referred to his hearings as "a high tech lynching for uppity blacks." Ain’t that funny? From a man who chides African-Americans for using their race as a “crutch.” He also believes that affirmative action in higher education should be removed because it gives “average” minority students the false sense that they can compete with their white counterparts. “These overmatched students take the bait,” he wrote in 2003, “only to find they cannot succeed in the cauldron of competition.” We won’t get into the fact that this is how HE got into Yale Law School. But, okay we’ll look at it from his view.

So, lets fight to integrate schools so that these “overmatched” students can be privy to same the educational opportunities from a early age. But no! In June of 2007, he shot down the idea to integrate schools in Louisville and Seattle. Suggesting that “the concept of integration was inherently demeaning to black children because it implied they needed to mix with whites to achieve excellence”. Is that really what integration suggests? White schools have more funding and better qualified teachers because they can pay them more and you’re saying that blacks should still be kept separate?

An acquaintance of mine suggested that he suffers from minority complex, which is derived from the inferiority complex. “In such situations, the patient tends to heed of all things he or she would be unexpected to do or say. Through this action, the subject feels as if this strategem of 'you thought you knew what I was going to do...but I didn't do that...HAHA!' is a reflection of their intelligence, when in reality it just foreshadows a mental break down and a trip to the 'minority complex' therapist.' Seems to me like this a scientific term for bougie. The black friend from the block that forgot all about you once they moved to white surburbia, put their kids in private school, joined the country club and became a chief justice on the Supreme Court.

Check out the NY Times article- http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/26/us/politics/26scotus.html

The View- "Don't Spit in the Air" 6/25/09

“Don’t spit up in the air, it’ll come back down to ya..”

Oh, dear Elizabeth. Yet again, she is too busy chomping her gums to hear the wise advice from Joy. Elisabeth has either lived an extremely sheltered life OR she is completely out of touch with reality. Honestly, I wish I could live in Elisabeth’s world. Where everything is either black or white, right or wrong and the choice between the two is as easy as choosing between laying in bed with an awful cold and spending the day relaxing on the beach. But, as you mature and experience more life situations, you will realize that more often times than not, that there are endless mitigating factors that affect your choices.

I used to think like Elisabeth. So, I don’t hate her and what she represents. I used to think that everything was so easy. You want better grades- Just study more! You want to lose weight- Just get up and go run! You drink too much- Just freakin stop drinking! C’mon people, I used to say, life is not that complicated. If you want to do something, just do it! Then, I realized I had flaws. I realized for every black or white decision, there are 101 gray subsections under each decision. Elisabeth must not consider these gray subsections when she is so quick to judge a person’s decision or inability to make a decision.

The topic today…Gov. Mark Sanford. The guy who left his state to go to Argentina to visit his mistress, with whom he has had an affair for the past year. He says the relationship started innocently via email, 8 years ago. Elisabeth immediately labeled the man a “dirtbag” who just needed to choose between his lover and his wife with 4 sons. He is “disgusting” for dragging them through this ordeal over the past year. Well, Elisabeth- is it really that easy to choose between your “hot”, emotionally supportive lover and a life that is comfortable and familiar? This guy also spoke out against Clinton and said the President’s infidelity reduces the level of trust from the public. 10 years later- he’s in the same boat.

“Don’t spit up in the air, it’ll come back down to ya.” Thank you Joy. I really hope nothing scandalous rocks Elisabeth’s white picket fence, apple pie world. I don’t think she could handle it. Seriously, Elisabeth, we all wish life was simple. But IT IS NOT. Take a couple hours of your time and watch the movie Traitor with Don Cheadle. Hopefully it will open your eyes and you too will realize that LIFE IS COMPLICATED. Period.