Showing posts with label Black culture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Black culture. Show all posts
Monday, March 22, 2010
Maybe, I'm Not All That
IS THIS YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW?
Monday morning
And I’m loving the feeling
Heading to the 3rd floor of my office building
I wish this headache would go away
It just hunger pangs
But not having anything to eat is okay
Maybe I can talk Bryan into taking me to lunch today
Oh never mind, it doesn’t matter
Because I’m now walking through the office door, and I already hear the chatter
As I smile with ear to ear confidently with glee
My co-workers run over gasping and telling me…
“OMG!”
“Girl, you look good!”
“You have the new designer bag!”
“Girl, you know you are the ISH!”
“I wish I could afford one, but I have to pay my mortgage.”
“Girl, I don’t know how you do it.”
As they scurry back to their desks
I’m thinking I don’t know how I can afford it either.”
Let me tell my co-workers I’ll be right back, I’m headed to the ladies room
They probably figure that I was running late that’s why I don’t have my make-up on and am headed to the ladies room so soon
They don’t know that my electricity is turned off
Now, if I leave early to pick up the kids from school since I cannot afford to pay the daycare, I wonder if my boss will let me without a snare or scoff
She knows about my wage garnishment
And doesn’t buy into the image that I flaunt
She knows that I chose image over necessities
That I am wedging a bridge further with my insecurities
Barely sustaining
Obtaining
Material things that will be obsolete
Before I can even put a crease
In my two hundred dollar jeans
But I had to have them, they fit me perfectly
I would rather look good today
I’ll secure a future another day
I know the teller at the bank was just trying to help Saturday when she told me that my account was overdrawn
She suggested that I open a savings to establish some kind of norm
By putting away $25 or$ 50 monthly to begin to repair the bridge
I told her my kids will just have to win scholarships
Because I need every last dollar, even it’s just kibbles and bits
I need it today!
I have to look good now!
I am entitled to this after all I’ve been through
As I get back to my make-up and pull out my MAC compact
I take a look in the mirror because I know I am all that
Just then my boss walks in shaking her head staring at me
“She says can we speak off the record, freely?
You are just another fake sistah perpetuating the Black stereo type
You can fool the others with your trifling good for nothing hype
Because of your misplaced devotion
You’ll never get a promotion
Upper management only thinks of you when they need a good laugh
They don’t take you seriously, your attempts to get ahead wind up in the recycle bin or the circular trash
You could be so much more if you simply applied yourself
Instead of trying to get over on your false image of wealth
I can’t even say anymore
You sadden and disgust me so that I forgot why I walked through the restroom door
I’m headed back to my desk
I expect you there in five minutes after you check yo self.”
As her boss walks out the door,
She yells at the door as it closes,
“Oh no you didn’t!
Honey, you wish you were me!”
The door is now closed and with her jaw dropped she looks at it with a blank stare
Then she turns back to look at her reflection in the mirror and says out loud, “DAMN, SHE’S RIGHT, UNLESS I CHANGE MY WAYS, I AM REALLY GOING NO WHERE!”
By Veniece Wesson
Copyright 2010 - All rights reserved
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
This is in response to the 115 Black teenage pregnant girls at one Chicago High School...
“Are we creating another breed of girls
Again unable to handle the challenges in this world
I’m troubled
Saddened
Maddened
By the lack of disregard of bringing another human into this world
We want to repair them now
Why didn’t we prepare them then
The cycle spins
Babies have babies
The young are restless
With no viable skills
Other than their Madden & Halo scores
Again unable to handle the challenges in this world
I’m troubled
Saddened
Maddened
By the lack of disregard of bringing another human into this world
We want to repair them now
Why didn’t we prepare them then
The cycle spins
Babies have babies
The young are restless
With no viable skills
Other than their Madden & Halo scores
Intervention
Prevention
Is what we need
Males & females must realize
That when you choose to lay
The odds are that sometimes you may have to pay
For that moment of passion
And sometimes it does not lead to a happily ever after
Society is abhorred
But not to the degree of making a change
Only enough to offer spare change
Called WELFARE
And welfare often does not repair
It just keeps most locked right there
Where they are
To be limited
Because you first have to change a person’s way of thinking
In order to make a lasting impression
You have to teach a person how to fish
Otherwise, they will be back the next day for another fish
And again that fish, is called WELFARE.”
Society is abhorred
But not to the degree of making a change
Only enough to offer spare change
Called WELFARE
And welfare often does not repair
It just keeps most locked right there
Where they are
To be limited
Because you first have to change a person’s way of thinking
In order to make a lasting impression
You have to teach a person how to fish
Otherwise, they will be back the next day for another fish
And again that fish, is called WELFARE.”
(Please see the video above & realize that the teenage pregnancy issue is relevant everywhere, & affects every culture, this is not just in Chicago, need I mention Jourdon Dunn, Bristol Palin, Solange Knowles, & Jamie Lynn Spears?)
By Veniece Wesson. All rights reserved. No parts of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form by any means without the prior written permission of the author.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Who Are We? Are We Pimping Our Black Culture?
It is perplexing that we as black people want to embrace our culture, but at the same time are offended when someone of another race tries to embrace it. Whether it is our music, urban way of dressing, dance moves, etc.
I understand why, perhaps it is because of the not the rich, but poor history of our race. Our ancestors for the most part were brought here against their will and were forced into slavery. Through all of the heartache, they learned how to survive and created a legacy rich in culture with the little that they had. Creating sumptuous meals from the scraps of food they were thrown such as bones left over from animals (neck bones) and pigs’ intestines (chitterlings or chitlens). These and many other dishes such as collard greens, pig’s feet, ham hocks, etc. are what we call Soul Food and our part of our beautiful Black heritage.
And the songs that slaves sung helped to form such music genres such as Jazz, Gospel, and the Blues which also led to other genres such as Rhythm and Blues and even Hip-Hop with its funky beats.
Now we are in a new millennium, and have more liberties and are able to embrace who we are, we are in essence a mixture of what our ancestors were before slavery and what we are now that slavery has been legally abolished. But many are still slaves in their minds, torn between the two, most Black Americans would not want to go to Africa, nor would they be accepted in Africa. But as we continue to learn more about our past, sometimes we find it difficult to swallow all of the injustices our ancestors endured and the racial profiling that still continues today, not only for not only us, but Latinos as well, need I mention Sonia Sotomayer?
Have we become so complacent that we do nothing at the risk of leaving our comfort zone?
We want to be accepted by white people as long as they don’t cross the line and start to carry on in ways that are considered only acceptable by Black people. We have a few token White people that we embrace in the music world, such as Justin Timberlake and Eminem. Just as White people have a few token minorities that they embrace in film, for example, Will Smith and Eva Mendes. But everyone is cautious to keep the lines clear so that the melting pot is still divided into shades of black, brown, and white, never allowing for it to become grey in any culture.
So then what do we want? We simply want respect and our culture to be respected. But in order for Blacks to be respected as a whole, we have to be respectful. We cannot act like a fool and then demand respect, because when an individual of black color acts inappropriately, it affects the entire black culture. But when a White person does, the person is focused on, not the person’s ethnicity.
Most people that are currently famous have wealth attached to their name. But do those who manage, publish, and distribute what those people sell such as music really respect the individual artist? Or do they respect what they get from that artist in terms of residuals. Think of some of the most influential musical artists currently, who respects Lil Wayne; many respect his dollars, but not him. But a person’s soul is not defined by their wealth but their character.
So if these artists do not believe in what they are saying, and are doing whatever sells, then they are pimping themselves, much like the prosttutes that I see when I drive down Long Beach Blvd in Compton, CA.
Are you pimping yourself, or are you as real in front of people as you are behind closed doors?
The Obama’s cannot do it on their own; neither can Dr. William Cosby, or Oprah. We are all responsible for our actions and like it or not, our actions collectively represent what is perceived by the media. The media does not look at the 20% of the black populous that is pushing forward; they concentrate on the 80% that makes our culture look bad. What percentage are you?
By Veniece Wesson - No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the author.
I understand why, perhaps it is because of the not the rich, but poor history of our race. Our ancestors for the most part were brought here against their will and were forced into slavery. Through all of the heartache, they learned how to survive and created a legacy rich in culture with the little that they had. Creating sumptuous meals from the scraps of food they were thrown such as bones left over from animals (neck bones) and pigs’ intestines (chitterlings or chitlens). These and many other dishes such as collard greens, pig’s feet, ham hocks, etc. are what we call Soul Food and our part of our beautiful Black heritage.
And the songs that slaves sung helped to form such music genres such as Jazz, Gospel, and the Blues which also led to other genres such as Rhythm and Blues and even Hip-Hop with its funky beats.
Now we are in a new millennium, and have more liberties and are able to embrace who we are, we are in essence a mixture of what our ancestors were before slavery and what we are now that slavery has been legally abolished. But many are still slaves in their minds, torn between the two, most Black Americans would not want to go to Africa, nor would they be accepted in Africa. But as we continue to learn more about our past, sometimes we find it difficult to swallow all of the injustices our ancestors endured and the racial profiling that still continues today, not only for not only us, but Latinos as well, need I mention Sonia Sotomayer?
Have we become so complacent that we do nothing at the risk of leaving our comfort zone?
We want to be accepted by white people as long as they don’t cross the line and start to carry on in ways that are considered only acceptable by Black people. We have a few token White people that we embrace in the music world, such as Justin Timberlake and Eminem. Just as White people have a few token minorities that they embrace in film, for example, Will Smith and Eva Mendes. But everyone is cautious to keep the lines clear so that the melting pot is still divided into shades of black, brown, and white, never allowing for it to become grey in any culture.
So then what do we want? We simply want respect and our culture to be respected. But in order for Blacks to be respected as a whole, we have to be respectful. We cannot act like a fool and then demand respect, because when an individual of black color acts inappropriately, it affects the entire black culture. But when a White person does, the person is focused on, not the person’s ethnicity.
Most people that are currently famous have wealth attached to their name. But do those who manage, publish, and distribute what those people sell such as music really respect the individual artist? Or do they respect what they get from that artist in terms of residuals. Think of some of the most influential musical artists currently, who respects Lil Wayne; many respect his dollars, but not him. But a person’s soul is not defined by their wealth but their character.
So if these artists do not believe in what they are saying, and are doing whatever sells, then they are pimping themselves, much like the prosttutes that I see when I drive down Long Beach Blvd in Compton, CA.
Are you pimping yourself, or are you as real in front of people as you are behind closed doors?
The Obama’s cannot do it on their own; neither can Dr. William Cosby, or Oprah. We are all responsible for our actions and like it or not, our actions collectively represent what is perceived by the media. The media does not look at the 20% of the black populous that is pushing forward; they concentrate on the 80% that makes our culture look bad. What percentage are you?
By Veniece Wesson - No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the author.
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