#OWS

So many of us are missing the boat on the whole “Occupy Wall Street” movement. We keep up with what’s going on with the NBA lockout, who won the World Series, who won the football pool, what Facebook will change this week; anything but what is going on all over the country. Pay attention: There's a huge void between the rich and the poor in this country. We have a deeply flawed economic system and the income inequality in this country is out of this world. Why? Because for years, politicians have implemented policies that favor banks, big business, and powerful unions at the expense of the diminishing middle class; policies that have allowed Wall St. to crash our economy. There was a time when mainly minorities felt the pinch but now it’s really affecting mainstream America. Needless to say, people are pissed the hell off!

Awareness! Awareness! Awareness!

During an October 6 news conference, President Obama said "I think it expresses the frustrations the American people feel, that we had the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression, huge collateral damage all throughout the country ... and yet you're still seeing some of the same folks who acted irresponsibly trying to fight efforts to crack down on the abusive practices that got us into this in the first place."When Jake Tapper of ABC News pushed Obama to explain the fact that his administration hasn't prosecuted any Wall Street executives who didn't play by the rules, he replied, "One of the biggest problems about the collapse of Lehman's and the subsequent financial crisis and the whole subprime lending fiasco is that a lot of that stuff wasn't necessarily illegal; it was just immoral or inappropriate or reckless."
So, OWS is a movement. All about education and awareness. About being tired of being kicked around by folks with no concept of teamwork and family, tired of greed, government corruption, unemployment, unfair banking practices, and wealth disparity. Tired of Wall St. bankers, business CEOs and politicians getting richer while the rest of us get poorer! Ask yourself why your 74 year old mother is unable to retire AND EAT, why so many young people graduating COLLEGE are unable to secure a job, why so many houses are foreclosed on and lay empty in so many neighborhoods but why the bankers, corporation leaders and politicians aren’t suffering. Why the cost of everything keeps rising, rising, rising, but your paycheck isn’t keeping up with the inflation. And when you hear people complaining about or disapproving of the movement, wonder about their ties to Wall St. or big business.

Tell you what. If Bank of America customers all begin moving their money to other banks, the bank will reconsider those damn monthly debit card fees. Just like almost every other financial entitiy in existence, they make their money on the little people; on the backs of the 99% of Americans who are not millionaires. They use your deposits to make money for the bank and now want you to pay them to use your own money. WHAT?!? Take your damn money out of that bank and go somewhere where your loan is appreciated. Let them know that you mean business.

Enough is ENOUGH!!

 

Peace- Two fingers. One love.

The Incident

In my writing, you will continually see me refer to “The Incident.” Because of its importance in the story of our lives, I try to make sure that every woman, man, girl and boy understands the significance of it. “The Incident” is so titled because it is an event. It was or will be the thing that happened or will happen at some point in your life that FINALLY makes you examine how and/or why you’re living. Usually it is something traumatic or dramatic, coming in the form of things like a broken heart, a life threatening medical diagnosis, a car accident, an anxiety attack, job loss, a financial crisis, suddenly finding yourself homeless or on the brink, realizing that you don’t have any real friends or even death (obviously not your own). It doesn’t have to happen to you; it could very well be something that happens to someone close to you that gives you your wake up call. Usually it is painful; very- extremely- especially- painful. Sometimes “The Incident” presents itself as an Aha Moment, and you immediately learn something from it. Sometimes it hits you like a ton of bricks and slams you awake. It can also be very subtle but frustrate you enough to make you pay attention. Always, it is a game changer.

I’ll give you an example. In 1997, on my son’s 3^rd birthday, my father died. My dad and I were very close and I took his passing very hard. The normal sympathies and the “He’s gone on to a better place” words of comfort didn’t help one bit. Through the gloom though, my dad’s death made me appreciate how significant the journey is. I immediately understood that my life would never be the same, but more important than what I learned from my dad’s death is the real point of “The Incident.” It made me begin to ask the hard questions. Questions that for me were like, “What is the meaning of life? What is my purpose here? What about God and religion?” Basically, I questioned damn near everything I knew.

As I began to uncover answers to my questions, I literally saw the light bulb click on in my brain. There was no more room for ignorance. I read everything about anything that I could get my hands on. I studied many different types of religions and belief systems and I can truly say that as I began to gain better understanding, I learned more about myself and others. Understanding people became less complicated because I could see what was driving them. I felt like Jesus; like God’s “biological” child. Like I could walk on water and heal the sick. My purpose became clear. And honestly, it scared the hell out of me.

These days, my journey is interesting. I am enjoying it immensely. I am in a constant state of rebuilding because there is always a lesson to be learned. I LIVE MY LIFE!! I don’t wait until tomorrow, I pay myself first, and I don’t save the good dishes; every day is a special occasion. I only take assignments that I want to, do what I can for others, love with abandon, drink wine from fancy glasses and prepare the next generation for the future. I LOVE MY LIFE!! When people look to judge or criticize, I laugh to myself. And when they say, “Who do you think you are?” I quickly respond, “Who do I think I am?” And I’m not rude or obnoxious or confrontational. I am probably one of the most down to Earth people you will ever meet. I’m kind and helpful and I’m not patting myself on the back, I’m sharing with you what people tell me. Trust me when I tell you that I wasn’t always this way.

So what I need you to understand is that the answers to the questions you ask in response to “The Incident” are extremely important. The answers will come as you challenge everything you’ve ever heard, learned, or thought about. They will begin to dictate everything else you do. Everything may become suspect and your “God” (whomever that is to you) may be called into question. Very rarely do people initiate change because it’s something that they want to do; because of a dream or an inspiration. What I’d like to see happen for you is that you evaluate your life before “The Incident.” Perhaps then, you can prevent the trauma and/or drama or at the very least, minimize the damage. Stop waiting until you have no choice. Make good things happen by consciously deciding that those are the things you want in your life!

Until next time.

Peace. Two fingers, one love.

 

Technorati Tags: dreams,life,conscious,incident,journey,questions,answers,ignorance,trauma,drama,evaluate,examine

Living Just Enough for the City

Note:

The danger of the hood is not just the danger in the hood. While that is a very large part of it, honestly, it is a large, symptomatic part of it. The gangs, the drugs, the automatic assault weapons, the crack whores and crack babies, the projects, the fear, are all built in triggers that are resultant of the biggest danger of the hood; the hood mentality.

Perhaps I should explain. In true tribute to our greatness, we have changed the word ghetto from its original etymology as a noun describing a dwelling place where a certain people were forced to live into an adjective describing our “blackness.” “Ghetto” has become a culture. Except where it was once a culture we took pride in, like during the Harlem Renaissance where it was “the place to be,” OR a place we needed to escape like the Jim Crow south which sparked black flight and the Civil Rights Movement; now it is a place that we are stuck in, that we don’t give a f*ck in, that we kill each other in, that we ignore our neighbors in, that we sell drugs to our people in, that we call our women hos and b*tches in, that we raise our children as little n*ggas in, that we smoke blacks and crack in, that we don’t go outside in, that we pray when we go for a ride in, that we get struck in drive-bys in, and that we are afraid to live in.

So take a beautiful city like Newark, New Jersey, with a rich history and spectacular landmarks, with a passionate leader, some beautiful neighborhoods and wonderful residents, a world class arena and performing arts center and a productive central business district and failing schools, and high poverty and unemployment, and gang violence and drug trade, and high numbers of dropouts, single parents and incarceration and understand that we have two options. 1) We can start by holding our heads up with pride, learning from our past, reclaiming our children, getting them educated and keeping them out of prison, teaching them to be upstanding American citizens looking forward to a successful future. Or 2) we can sit back and pray for a miracle.

I vote for option 1. I’m not saying it’s not hard, but it is certainly doable. If you’re not of it, you probably don’t understand it.

I hope you hear inside my voice of sorrow
And that it motivates you to make a better tomorrow
This place is cruel no where could be much colder
If we dont change the world will soon be over

Living just enough, just enough for the city. (Stevie Wonder)

Until Next Time.

Peace. Two Fingers, One Love.

Three Whole Months

Three whole months, and not a word from you. Three whole months, and I’m just about through…. (borrowed that from Toni Braxton’s Seven Whole Days)

Wow… Can’t believe that it’s been 3 months almost to the day since my last post. SICK!! But on a good note, I’ve been writing so much lately, it’s been hard to keep up with what I need to do. Obviously, 3 months is an extremely long time to not get to my blog, but numbers don’t lie, so I’m recommitting myself to my the inner city woman. This is just as important as any other thing that I’m writing, so after 3 months, I’m baaaaaaaaaack!!!