An Old Wound That Never Quite Closed

My mother started reading this book about slavery and the whole process of it. She came to be and was telling meabout the things we have read. Someone it I still don't understand but it was knowledge i will forever store. In school they didn't e;aborate on this issue much, like it was some secret.

Futher into our conversation, we began to wonder how the Africans feel about the fact that African Americans are related to them, and that they were ripped away from them. They have know knowledge of what we would have been like. They have no clue of who may be related to them.

We want to know how they feel now about the many black people in the states and the islands that were once their own people. I want to know do they still feel the pain that was tattooed on their lives those decades ago?

2012 Big Laugh, Or Big End??

Every where I go I here four numbers amist each conversation. It didn't dawn on me until it arose in a conversation of my own. Is 2012 something to worry about? Is it the end?

No man knows the time nor place...this is what church folk tell me. But it's obvious, our planet, our only home, is dying. We are it's killers.

What do the people think about this?

Facebook addiction

I decided to go a week(or longer) without logging on to Facebook. I came to this experience after writing a five page paper about Facebook addiction.

Here are a list of shocking statistics about Facebook and it's users:

* nearly 750 million photos were uploaded during the New Year's weekend.
* 28% of Facebook members check their Facebook before even getting out of bed
* there are about 500 million active Facebook users
*People spend up to 55 mins or longer a day on the site

Addition:

*Most people don't even know they are addicted
*Addicts neglect real life events like housework, homework, personal health, etc
*Worse than a drug addict
*A woman killed her baby boy after his crying interrupted her game on Facebook
For more important fact and statistics go to this site:

http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics

Is It Worth It?

Americans want their news fast, accurate, and accessible but are we thinking about the reporters who go out of their way to deliver this such news? There are many brave reporters who go through high risks to get a story, but where are the boundaries? Through out history, there have been incidents reported where this risk taking reporters have been abused, beaten, captured, sexually assaulted and killed while attempting to shoot a great story.

My question is, is it worth it?

February 11th, the Egyptian President stepped down and reporter, Lara Logan was covering the story. In the mist of the celebration in the streets of Cairo, Logan was sexually assaulted and beaten. A group of women and 20 Egyptian soldiers finally got to her and rushed her to a hospital.

Logan is known for taking risks and shooting good stories but this risk has turned into a tragedy.

Little Soldier

My little brother has joined the army. He is nineteen and he leaves for training on April 26th...I'm not happy. I've been in countless debates about whether the army is a good or bad choice. For some, it may be but not for my little brother. I never been for the war. I don't understand why we feel the need to fight for something that isn't ours to began with. Really, what example are we setting for future generations?

Heartbroken, I sat in silence as my little brother announced to the family that he was going to the army. This was four months ago. I try to be opened mined at the thought of my little brother going off to God knows what country to fight for people who are best at fighting themselves. Am I wrong to feel this way?

Just last week my little brother told me that he didn't want to go. Of course that just made my thoughts about the entire situation worse. I love him and I don't know if it's fear making this subject so touchy for me but as a older sister, it's hard to see my little brother grow up into a man.

What are your outlooks on the Army? Do you worry about what your relative or friend is going through?

(When I mention my brother, I describe him as my little brother because that is what I always wanted to see him as: my little brother. Now years have passed and I have to see him as my little soldier).

It's History, My History!

I know Valentine's Day is coming up and couples get to celebrate their love and all that good stuff, but what happened to Black History Month? "Today marks the first day of Black History Month, when African American history is celebrated in the classroom, on television and in daily life." This was a lead to a particular article on AOL news posted on February 1st. Honestly, I must have not gotten the memo because I didn't know we celebrated this month in silence.Valentine's Day seems to get more recognition and it's just one day.

Well I thirst for knowledge so I started looking for history for my own satisfaction.
Carter G. Woodson created Black History Month. Haiti defeated the French to become the first independent Black nation from slavery. African Americans have taken part in upholding history, inventions, and records. It is so much that people don't know about their history.

I don't want to spoil all the fun facts you could learn so I encourage you to research these things yourself! We use the Internet for many things so why not use it for a celebration of African American History, OUR history! As an African American woman, Black History is important every day for me!

I leave you with a quote: "Our nation is a rainbow-red, yellow, brown, black & white- and we're all precious in God's sight." -Jessie Jackson

Who Will Win Super Bowl XLV (45)?

The commercials I am watching are hilarious so far. The dog and the Doritos commercial was a knee slapper! I hope every commercial lives up to its expense, which is probably 1 million dollars each.

My favorite commercials are the Doritos commercial they are so funny....Okay so let's get down to business. Who do you want to win, Packers or Steeler? I'm actually going for the Steelers because I have been a fan since I was little so no I didn't just jump on the bandwagon.

Either way I will be entertained with the commercials. Go Steelers! :)

What if Men Could Menstrate? Yuck

In my Gender Roles class we talked about an article by Gloria Steinem titled "If Men Could Menstrate." The article was very hilarious. Steinem discussed how men would go on to be the superior sex and women would be the weak sex. In reality women menstruate and still men are considered the strongest. Why is that?

The article proceeds with the theory that Congress would fund a national day to overcome the discomforts of menstruation and sanitary supplies would be free. If that isn't unusual enough, the article goes on to list how the media would change if this were to happen to men. The newspaper would read: "SHARK SCARE THREATENS MENSTRUATING MEN."

Funny comments like "I'm on the rag," or "I'm a three pad man," were some of the commits Steinem feels men would say. The process of menstruation would be looked at as an all out bragging event. They would brag about how much or how long.

So where do women come in in all of this? Steinem concluded that women would be consider unclean and therefore weak. In reality, what does this say about our society?

Privacy is Not So Private Anymore.

Ever feel like someone or something is watching you? If someone told me that years ago I would have laughed gave them a pat on the back and sent them on their way. But unfortunately, that is not the case today. When you are at the store, something is watching you. When you are walking down the street something is watching you. Pretty weird right? Well that something is a camera or a device like that. After reading an article in USA Today, titled "YES, YOU ARE BEING WATCHED," I learned that no matter what i do or where I go I am being watched.

I use to think that camera or digital sensors were important and good for catching "the bad guys" or to find missing people. Now a days these devices are only taking away privacy from innocent people who only want to live their lives.
What can we do? As long as technology continues to exist, privacy is a thing of the past.

Self-Worth

Why do we measure ourselves by the way others perceive us? Every action we take can be scrutinized, pulled apart and put back together in terms of the viewer but, ultimately, it is what we think of ourselves and what we choose to do that truly defines who we are. I challenge you to take a few moments after reading this blog to reassess what you think of yourself--not by what you believe others think of you--but how you perceive yourself. After all, who knows you better than YOU?

Just a thought~

Bobby

Lack of Communication, or too much communication

Why is there a lack of communication when we have all these tools to communicate with? We have text messaging, email, we can make calls, mail a letter, Skype, etc. So what is the problem? Maybe its not so much as a lack of communication, maybe its the fact that there is so many other ways to communicate that the face to face interaction is lost. I didn't realize how scary this was until I watched a video in my media class and saw just how much of a problem this has become.

I live in a apartment with three of my friends and when we want to go to lunch, one of us texts the rest of us and asks, "Hey u wanna go 2 lunch?" (By the way, even our grammar is becoming horrible) Instead of replying in person we all text back our "okay's".

Though technology is a perk, it is also becoming an issue...and it will get worse before it gets better. I'm just saying.

Can Men & Women Just Be Friends?

Can men and women just be friends? This is the subject that made its way to the dinner table. So, can men and women just be friends? Well out of six people at the table,four said no. The two that said yes were men of course. How did they come up with this conclusion? Well first my male friend made the argument that men don't want a committed, intimate relationship with every woman they meet, so friendship can be a possibility. "A possibility? Is that before or after you realize she doesn't want you?", stated one of my female friends at the table.

This argument can go both ways. I have male friends that I have been friends with for years and never once thought of breaking that friendship for anything else. I have also had men call me their "sister" or "best friend" after they realized that I wasn't interested in them in any other way. I think friendship between a man and a woman can work but it all depends on the male or female. It depends what they want and what they are attracted to.

Hope this helped.

Fruit of the Brain: Take 1 (Mission Statement)

This blog hopes to encourage individuals to share their opinions on various topics going on around the world (on campuses, work places, professional places, etc). I will listen up on the latest talk or news that people want to know about or want to vent about and include my opinion as well. This is a way to share your “fruits of the brain.”