thoughts on Occupy Wall Street protests

so here's a synopsis of whats happening with Occupy Wall Street et al. - recently, a bunch of folks have decided to "occupy"/protest certain areas of the country. there are a slew of various cities that have been occupied, such as New York City (Wall Street), Philadelphia, Oakland, Boston, etc. they all have issues with how the system is being ran, being forced to fund wars, being led to believe that a college degree will ensure economic stability when in reality it means nothing when the economy is a mess, accruing thousands of dollars of debt just by simply obtaining a degree, and other issues concerned with corporations and rich people having tax breaks and basically shitting on all non-rich people.

let me just say that all of these issues are legitimate issues to be concerned with enough for a protest/urge to change certain laws. i think it's very backwards the way this society pushes everyone to obtain a college degree, only to learn once you try to obtain it or actually succeed in getting it, that you will more an likely only be able to find a job that only requires a high school diploma or some type of non-academic training. i believe the biggest concerns are those with an unaffordable education and issues with health insurance. all of which have valid oppositions.

with that said, i don't necessarily support the OWS (acronym for Occupy Wall Street which i'll use for the duration to refer to all Occupy movements).

for one, it seems as though the protesters feel as though there is no power in being a consumer. but there is. it seems as though Americans want to be able to buy all they want, from whatever company, and then be able to tell that company they don't support their...wages, or occupation in certain countries, etc. we have to start looking for alternative ways to live in this system (with an aim of breaking it down) and those ways may not be the easiest or the most comfortable. maybe this involves learning to make your own clothes, growing the majority of your own vegetables, opting out of eating meat, buying from thrift stores and second hand consignment shops for some time/permanently (or bartering), opting out of the new video game/ipod/flat-screen tv/Jordans/Louboutins/hybrid automobile/human remy virgin yaki weave/any type of gold or diamond, finding different ways of transportation that don't rely on petroleum, using less electricity in your home, washing clothes by hand, finding other means of entertainment besides television, and the internet. we have buying power, and on a mass scale we can have a large impact. it can be done, we just have to be creative.

second, the rich are not the problem. Wall street is not the problem. predatory lending agencies and vicious student loan corporations are not the problem. Obama is not the problem. Republicans are not the problem. Democrats are not the problem. wars overseas are not the problem.

the ENTIRE SYSTEM is the problem. the design, the implementation, the maintenance, the philosophies that garnered it are ALL the problem. the more i have been learning about other cultures, with an emphasis on pre-colonial indigenous groups, the more i realize just how philosophically bankrupt this system is and always will be.

for example, the Third Genders i spoke of in the previous post are individuals that are ostracized in our society. but, in their own pre-colonial societies, they were accepted. my teacher suggested that this was a way of maintaining the balance; the well-being of the society. this person that may have been born a male but chooses to take on the role of the female is still someone that can contribute to the society; they're still humans; they're still someone's child. how can it be that our ancestors worked maybe 5 or 6 hours a day, yet everyone in the society was clothed, fed, and generally happy? there is no fixing little issues and "working within the system". there needs to be a complete breakdown and rebuilding of the system. a number of us right now are working 40+ hours a week and there's still thousands of homeless or near homeless people in our society and the rest that still need assistance to feed themselves. the issue is the ENTIRE SYSTEM.

third, i believe these protests that seem to be some universal trend, are planned.

how is it that some of the most stable nations in the world are the ones rioting as if they're the worst of the worst? Libya and Egypt, who have just overthrown their governments, with one leader shot dead, are two of the most stable countries in Africa (see charts here). the most unstable countries in the world have no OWS or protest to speak of. i hear about civil wars in Liberia, Sierra Leone, The Congo, Rwanda, and parts of south east Asia, Mexico and Central America yet the US and Egypt are rioting? Mubarak and Qadaffi weren't the best, but they weren't Hussein and Charles Taylor. and BOSTON is protesting? for real? yet black folks in Brownsville BK are no where near protesting their shitty conditions?? and we now have white folks in the US calling themselves refugees. ??? come on...

if anyone in the US has the right to be protesting it's people of color living in ridiculously low-income communities. oh wait, we have been doing that and no one has given a shit about it til 20 something year old hipster white kids started feeling the weight of our mess of a system on their backs. like it has been said at numerous OWS, black and brown folks have been the 99% since the inception of this country. the black male unemployment rate is at least 10% nationwide, and white folks are coming out en masse upset at the system??

this shit is planned. i'm not saying they don't have legitimate issues. i'm saying it's very skeptical that all these protests are occurring at this point in history and all at the same time with no consensus on the purpose or objectives of these movements.

think. comment. criticize.

Third Genders

so, in my Anthropology class, we began talking about genders and the boundaries and possible objectivism concerning the ideas of gender and what not. my teacher mentioned these four different groups from various indigenous (pre and post colonial) groups that operate outside the typical western idea of gender - that is, that man and woman are determined and aligned along biological limitations.

it is often thought, especially within the black community when speaking about "gay", "homosexual", "transgendered", etc. that these are colonial/European manifestations. this is especially evident in black power and Afrocentric circles (which can be seen here at 7:40). it is constantly tossed around not only by brothas and sistahs on an informal level, but is very much a part of a number of black scholarly work (Frances Cress Welsing, Eldridge Cleaver, Louis Farrakhan and the entire Nation of Islam, to name a few, have all had some anti-"homo" element to their writings/beliefs). this is not surprising, given the overwhelming amount of religiosity existent in black and brown communities, but there also is an underlying idea that being "gay" is a white/European thing; something only whites do. in the same idea that....white folks climb mountains, swim with sharks, jump out of planes....and other nonsensical things, but that these are things black folk don't do. but is this the case (rock climbing is quite fun, i might add...)?

from what i have read, the term "gay"/"homosexual", etc. are European creations. the term and connotations surrounding these labels originated in Europe. the idea that one's sexuality or sexual interests are the largest determining factor of one's self; one's identity; one's personality are also European. does this mean, however, that same-sex relations and/or people that lived as what we would today call "transsexual"/"trans-gendered" were non-existent prior to the term "homosexual" and prior to colonialism? not at all. here are four examples that do damage to this assertion:

• Fa'afafine - those, typically male, who identify as this third (or possibly fourth, i've read) gender in pre and post-colonial Samoan society. more informantion here and here.
• Xanith - those that identify has neither man nor woman that are typically biologically male within Islamic societies.
• Hijra - biological males that have a feminine gender identity from South Asia.
• Two-Spirit -also known as Berdache, are biological males that identify between masculine and feminine genders. more information here and here.

it appears as though this idea that westerners have of "transgendered" or possibly even "gay" (considering many of these examples have sex with both sexes) have always been around, even before colonialism. the idea that gender (roles, characteristics of a person) seem to be more aligned with personal identity rather than one's genitals; gender was something fluid rather than the restrictive way in which we think of it at the present.

in some cases, it seems as though whites that identify as "gay" or "transsexual" have influenced the way in which these societies thought of these third genders, mainly in negative ways. their influence changed one's sexuality or gender to the main determinant in one's self; in one's personal and societal identity. although, i don't feel as though many Fa'afafine or Two-Spirit have viewed this influence in negative ways.

it is also very interesting how the majority of the examples i've found have been of males, with almost no speak of biological females being "third gendered". does this suggest something about the female role in pre-colonial societies? or more about the male? from the examples, this third gender is usually recognized by the parents of the child at an early age and raised as such (as can be seen in the Fa'afafine), so the presupposition is that they were born this way. if this is the case, are women not born that way? why not?

i would like to read more examples of these from Africa and ancient Europe as well....if anyone knows of any examples.

comment. think. criticize.

(first two photos are Two-spirit. last one is Hijra.)

i am troy davis

i have a number of feelings right now, so many that i don't really feel like writing anything. i'll instead let these photos convey how i feel.

this is what powerlessness feels like.

capitalistic, blood-sucking leeches masquerading as academic institutions

so i'm in the process of starting my Bachelor's degree. i haven't even started classes yet, and i already hate this institution.

if an institution or organization purports to be existing for the purpose of furthering its clients' (students') knowledge and wisdom in their respective fields, then their prioritization should be centered around that; education and access to that for the most amount of people should be central. however, just going through the process of getting loans, paying tuition, and other absurd fees (which at time, i feel as though i'm the only one that see these prices as completely ridiculous), have shown me that what is central to this institution, or any university for that matter, is money. these "educational institutions" are really businesses with the goal of gaining capital and nothing more. a wise brotha calls it "dissent management".

i can't recall where i saw this, but there was a study done on graduating college student's knowledge (ability to form strong opinions, growth of their knowledge of events going on around the world; of people and countries around the world; of their histories, etc.) to see what they had gained from their college experience, and the majority of students showed that their knowledge had very little growth compared to their knowledge upon graduating high school. the main reason being is that many students take classes they know they'll pass, skipping over the more difficult courses for fear of not passing (which i'm sure has something to do with financial aid and it being removed if you fail or drop below a certain number of credit hours), as well as professors becoming extremely lazy with their curriculum and failing to offer their wisdom in ways that ensure the student is learning and soaking up knowledge as opposed to simply remembering enough to pass the next test.

everyone is here simply to get a sheet of paper that says they are smart enough to do A, B, or C. and quite honestly, i believe the majority of people on this earth are comfortable with that. but where is the...respect/appreciation for the student that comes here to learn? and not just in the area of business and engineering? but learn about the world? about people that inhabit it? about our links to them? about the concept of a "link" and whether or not this is dependent on the idea of reality, identity or even a god? where is the space for those that want to dig deeper?

i paid $80 the other day to attend an orientation in which i received an ID card, registered for class, and learned ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! i didn't even get a campus tour, a speech about the different resources the school offers, etc.....NOTHING. i wouldn't have attended were it not mandatory. but again....$80!? and i've just learned that to get a parking pass...to park at least a mile away from my classes is $205!!!!!!! WHAAAAAAT!??

my school is about 80% white and middle/upper income, so this could possibly be the reason that they expect all their students to pay these absurd fees as if we all have money for these things, but i don't understand this. it's as if they figured that people cannot refuse to pay these fees, not the majority of students away, so why not amp up the pay?

a fee i can understand, but $205? i cannot understand this type of capitalistic bullshit. i cannot.

and what is the option of not choosing to get at least a Bachelor's? there isn't much of one.

and i don't even want to get on the student loan agencies and their evil tactics because i might break something. is it just me (and my minimum wage earning salary) or is this just the most ridiculous foolery type shit you have ever heard?

comment. think. criticize. donate =)

Richard Mosse

i've been seeing pieces from this artist Richard Mosse on the internet for some time now, and i've only recently looked into his extensive work. here are some of his amazing pieces.

inspirations from colored folk on food

lately i've been finding a bunch of videos by people of color on food. healthy food (vegan, vegetarian, etc.) and it's quite inspiring. i found this Food Heaven Made Easy with Wendy & Jess on Clutch, Chef Akhi who does raw food, Breeze Harper with Sistah Vegan continues to inspire, and i found this brotha on tumblr.

it's nice to see people of color getting back to our "roots", in a sense, and seeing that our diet is a major factor in our mental well being, and our food choices are political votes, in a sense.
when we purchase food from fast food restaurants that set up shop mostly in lower-income neighborhoods, market their nutritionally vapid and poisonous food to our youth, use advertising that features people of color perpetuating stereotypes (such as "mammy"), that participate in deforestation to house the absurd amount of animals they need to maintain their businesses - we are telling them that we approve of everything they do; we are saying that we support their business. the same goes for meat corporations and grocery stores that place profit above quality and ethics. i've written a post on this a while back, and another one, so i won't go into detail of why fast food and most American food corporations basically shit on everyone, but especially people of color.

i hope more people of color will begin to understand the links between our diets and our overall lifestyles as well as our political acts. but i suppose, first, there needs to be some mad nutritional education. or rather, unlearning unhealthy eating habits.

comment. think. criticize.

Wattstax

i recently came across a small picture on an awesome blog i follow on tumblr of two sistahs grooovin. so i researched the name Wattstax and found a film about a music festival from 1973 in LA. the film not only showcases various musicians and artists from that time period (The Staple Singers, Melvin Van Peebles, Isaac Hayes, etc.), but they also interview common black people about racism, about black male/female relationships, politics, gospel and the church, and living in LA in '73. definitely a must-see.

here's a clip from youtube:

watch the entire film here (on the link, click the red button, and then click it again after it turns green. ignore any pop-ups).

Teenage Pregnancy's new white face

i recently found the website XhibitP via TheNuBlack website. XhibitP is a virtual gallery that houses works from various artistic mediums that address social issues. currently, they're tackling issues surrounding teen pregnancy.

teen pregnancy seems to be everywhere in the media right now. Sarah Palin's daughter was a teen mother, MTV has a new show entitled '16 and Pregnant', and there was a story in the news recently about a high school in Tennessee that housed more pregnant females than ones that were not. conversations have arisen which have asked whether shows and movies (like Juno) that showcase teen pregnancy are glamorizing teen pregnancy or educating the general public.

most episodes of 16 and Pregnant feature white teenagers being raised by their middle/upper-income families. Jamilah Lemeiux brought to light the fact that at a time in which pregnancy was only though to inhabit poor women of color, it was something to be ashamed of, but now that it has a white face, it is something to look at sympathetically.

it's interesting the way the media has chosen to portray teen pregnancy. when young black and brown women were getting pregnant (Claudette Colvin), it was seen as something to further negative attitudes against black women. they were seen as loose, promiscuous, and void of any value (which, in our society, almost always centered around virginity) they may have had (which wasn't much to begin with considering their "race"). the ideas about a black women being nothing more than lascivious sexual objects were then coupled with the idea of that women of color were negligent and irresponsible mothers, all while we took jobs mainly as care-takers, wet-nurses, midwives, and baby-sitters to white families. the idea has not changed much. although it has currently been joined with the idea that we're having abortions like it's a Sunday ritual.

unfortunately, this is nothing more than racism functioning in the social realm. when black and brown women do something society as deemed irresponsible, devious, and sexually deviant, there are movements that call us feeble-minded and justify sterilizations. when a white woman does it, and Lemeiux said, it's something to feel sympathetic about, and something that truly needs to be addressed now; something for politicians to rally around; something the society needs to get to the bottom of. if shows like 16 and Pregnant are going to be shown, they need to show the diversity and the reality of these situations. they have failed to show women from lower-income housing; ones living in government housing; ones struggling to make next month's rent; ones that do not know who the father of their child is; one's without cars, without parents to depend on, or without enough money to have baby showers.

but on another note, what is the deeper issue with teen pregnancy? is it the fact that they are having sex at what our society sees as a young age? is it because the US doesn't have the economic or social stability for a teen mother to be independent? is it because these women are nowhere near the mindset one needs in order to be a mother in this country? is it because religious influences convince us that celibacy is the only right way to go about procreation?

in traditional indigenous societies, women had children regularly starting in their teens. the problem between their societies and ours is that we have taken away rites of passage and other social forms of teaching the youth to be adults, not to mention genuine respect for human life over that of career opportunities and monetary gain. so do these young mothers have the issues or the society?

society is definitely the problem, although we should not wait on young women to get pregnant in order to act. when a young woman becomes pregnant, there are organizations willing to give her an abortion (although it is illegal in some states), and the government willing to give free food (WIC). but where is the other help? where is the help a young woman needs in order to know how to care for her child? financial advice to help her be independent? or any other type of social safety net that insures she's in the most healthy (physically, but most importantly, mentally) state she can be for herself and her child?

after reading a very insightful and inspiring chapter from bell hooks about sisterhood, i feel as though women of color (and ultimately all people of color, but there needs to be a model, first) need to rally around one another and create these types of safety nets. we need to build organizations that offer mental, physical, economic, and spiritual aid to teen mothers, as well as single-mothers, or just mothers in general. we have to be the ones that decide how our communities receive sex-education and demand that it not be saturated in religious nonsense and sexist notions of value and womanhood.

when women of color look down and spread gossip about other women of color because they happen to have 2 and 3 different fathers to their children, or may keep more than one sexual partners, we are maintaining the social cesspool that these children are unfortunately born into, not to mention that it severs any relationships that could garner unity.

bell hooks quotes Toni Morrison in Feminist Theory where she urges women to repair our relationships:

"i want not to ask you, but tell you not to participate in the oppression of your sisters....I am alarmed by the violence that women do to each other: professional violence, competitive violence, emotional violence. i am alarmed by the willingness of women to enslave other women. i am alarmed by a growing absence of decency on the killing floor of professional women's worlds."

bell hooks follows up by saying this:

"To build a politicized, mass-based feminist movement, women must work harder to overcome the alienation from one another that exists when sexist socialization has not been unlearned, e.g. homophobia, judging by appearance, conflicts between women with diverse sexual practices. ... we must renew our efforts to help women unlearn sexism if we are to develop affirming personal relationships as well as political unity."

i think once we (as women of color) take control of ourselves and commit to one another - young and old, pregnant, not pregnant, post-abortion, academically educated or not - only then will we see a situation in which children are welcomed into the world as opposed to being looked at as burdens that our society has made us bear or obstacles we have to overcome in order to live with any level of stability.

comment. think. criticize.

The Meaning of the Fourth of July for the Negro

this year the Fourth of July falls on a monday, so the country will be celebrating this occasion this weekend. whenever i think about the Fourth of July, or any independence day that takes place in colonized countries, i think about the insightful and unabashed honesty Frederick Douglass spoke with in his speech - "The Meaning of the Fourth of July for the Negro". i appreciate how his rage, anger, and pain can be felt through his words.

i think all black and brown people have to speak with this level of honesty and truth whenever we are asked to celebrate a holiday (4th of July, Thanksgiving, Columbus Day, etc.) that disregards our history and our ancestors. here are some excerpts:

"I am not included within the pale of glorious anniversary! your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. the blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. the rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity, and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me. the sunlight that brought light and healing to you, has brought striped and death to me. this Fourth of July is yours, not mine. you may rejoice, i must mourn. to drag a man in fetters into the grand illuminated temple of liberty, and call upon him to join you in joyous anthems, were inhuman mockery and sacrilegious irony."

"Fellow-citizens, above your national, tumultuous joy, I hear the mournful wail of millions! whose chains, heavy and grievous yesterday, are, to-day, rendered more intolerable by the jubilee shouts that reach them. If I do forget, if I do not faithfully remember those bleeding children of sorrow this day, "may my right hand forget her cunning, and may my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth!" To forget them, to pass lightly over their wrongs, and to chime in with the popular theme, would be treason most scandalous and shocking, and would make me a reproach before God and the world. My subject, then, fellow-citizens, is American slavery. I shall see this day and its popular characteristics from the slave's point of view. Standing there identified with the American bondman, making his wrongs mine, I do not hesitate to declare, with all my soul, that the character and conduct of this nation never looked blacker to me than on this 4th of July! Whether we turn to the declarations of the past, or to the professions of the present, the conduct of the nation seems equally hideous and revolting. America.is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future. Standing with God and the crushed and bleeding slave on this occasion, I will, in the name of humanity which is outraged, in the name of liberty which is fettered, in the name of the constitution and the Bible which are disregarded and trampled upon, dare to call in question and to denounce, with all the emphasis I can command, everything that serves to perpetuate slavery the great sin and shame of America! "I will not equivocate; I will not excuse"; I will use the severest language I can command; and yet not one word shall escape me that any man, whose judgment is not blinded by prejudice, or who is not at heart a slaveholder, shall not confess to be right and just."

comment. think. criticize.

enough is enough

over the weekend, i was in an exchange of words with someone on tumblr. the origin of the discussion was surrounding yet another bash against black women. on some level, i feel as though this is so common that it is almost a given when discussing racism, sexism, and any other ism. but it feels as though lately, it has been happening more and more.

covert bashing and subliminal attacks are a norm, for all people of color, especially in hollywood. but it seems as though black women have been at the brunt end of many recent overt and unabashed attacks. from the situation with the billboard, the nfl star's remark, the Psychology Today article, the plethora of amateur videos on youtube (some even by black women, unfortunately), famous radio hosts' remarks, to "friends" on my facebook contantly making updates about black women having multiple fathers to their children and basically trying to shame the black women on their friends list. it's almost as if bashing black women is the new...black.

what is a big issue, for me, is that these are usually coming from black people. black men harp on the supposed failures of black women as if they have any idea what it means to be a black woman. and black women that are focused on keeping these men agree and perpetuate these stigmas.

i have my issues with black women subjecting their hair to chemicals, heat and whatnot, but i'm really tired of black men feeling as though they have any place whatsoever to comment our hair. they have no idea what it means to be 20+ years old and not know what their natural hair feels like, nor do they understand the types of pressures society puts on women's appearances. a sistah may have a horrid looking Virgin Remy Malaysian Sliky weave on her head, but it isn't their place to say anything about it.

i suppose this post is mainly a rant. i'm just frustrated by the amount of anamosity there is against black women, and women of color in general. and when women of color even attempt to come together and get ourselves to a healthy state (whether that be feminism or some other movement), it is attacked as well. attacks like the ones i have mentioned reiterate the need for movements like feminism in our lives. we have to have something in our lives that encourages us and pushes us to analyze how we look at ourselves and ways to empower ourselves. i have no problem with anyone (black men most importantly), making constructive criticisms about black women. but the key word is CONSTRUCTIVE. when there is a criticism that fails to put particular issues within their respective context, within that culture, within that time period, then it simply becomes as attack without purpose.

comment. think. criticize.

Babylon

i've been getting into Jamaican movies mainly about Rastafarians and Jamaican life in general. i hadn't known about the culture of the West Indies until i moved to NYC and lived amongst mainly West Indians in Flatbush. the accents, the languages, the music were all completely foreign to me. but i've come to love it.

this is a film entitled Babylon about a young toaster hustlin while trying to play music. the film Rockers (from Netflix), also a must see, goes into the Rasta ideals and tenants, which are very interesting. i've found a little explanation of some of the terms they use here. the music in this film is on point. this reggae today (this T-Pain sounding garbage) that i mostly hear has nothing on this music from the era of this film. check one of my favorite parts in Rockers here.

comment. listen (definitely listen). love.

Ain't no "we"

"Like I always say: Ain’t no “we”. You did what you did. You killed who you killed. I am not part of your “we”. I’m not included in your power-sharing and decision-making so I can’t be included in responsibility for your actions. When I say “we”, I mean something else. My “we” is not enclosed by barbed wire borders. My “we” is not predominantly white and male. My “we” includes my sisters and brothers all over the world."

-via Zuky blog in reference to the death of Osama bin Laden and the ubiquitous phrase "WE KILLED OSAMA!!"

natural hair experience #12,013

sooo...not too long i got fired from my job. but now i have another one. and yesterday was my 5th day at work. 3 of those days i had my hair in a puff and the last two, i had my fro out. yesterday one of my boss says "you need to put that up. it needs to be up...like the other day...but you can't have it out like that."

it's one thing to read about the negative experiences in having natural hair on some of the blogs i get on, but it's another to experience it. and my response was one of compliance, but i suppose the expression on my face said otherwise, because my boss asked me a few minutes after her remark -"i didn't offend you did i?" fortunately for me, this is a job i plan on leaving in about 3 months after i save up a bit for college-this is NOT a career. what i thought most about throughout the day was the discomfort women with natural hair must have in corporate jobs or ones they consider the careers they want to be in. what does one do in one of those situations wherein if you don't comply with their policies, they're likely to be terminated? it's a bit uncomfortable feeling as though my boss thinks i look a mess, and based almost solely only my hair....which is based on her negative Western indoctrination of natural black hair.

but the most interesting thing of that day was the responses i got from different customers. one white guy asked me whether i was going after the Lauryn Hill look (as if he knows ANYTHING about Lauryn...), another screamed "Macy Gray" at me and asked if i could sing him a song. two guests told me they liked my hair, and another brother told me to keep it natural "cuz thats real".

the compliments are okay, however the other remarks are a bit annoying. it's as if my hair is a gimmick or a form of entertainment as opposed to being just what my hair looks like naturally. i'm not Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu, Macy Gray, Angela Davis, Jill Scott, Afro Samurai, or a character from Good Times. and my hair is not a show, a costume, a joke, or the manifestation of an attention-deprived black girl. i am just me and my hair looks the way it grows out of my scalp. nothing more or less. but i'm not surprised. i'm the only one i've seen down here with a real fro longer than a couple inches. and while people in the north are so used to it to the point at which they're starting to look at relaxed sisters a bit funny (maybe thats a stretch...), the south is still about 50 years behind with 100 naturals in Atlanta alone and about 6 scattered around the tri-state area.

i've yet to fully figure out what i'm going to do about my boss at work (because a puff gets a bit boring after a while...and because my fro has the right to do whatever the fuck she wants when she wants...). i may send some messages to some natural websites with my company name and a letter of the type of treatment natural hair receives in southern Alabama or i may just have a sit-down and ask to see the wardrobe and appearance policy with a special explanation on the hair. or i may just let it go. this is a temporary job and the customer comments do nothing but add unnecessary frustration to my day.

comment. think. criticize. encourage.

Kerry James Marshall

i just realized that i haven't done a post on one of the best artists i've seen in a while that goes by the name Kerry James Marshall. and how it is that i have gone this long without even knowing his name is a shame. i think the darkness of his subjects is what draws me to his work.