Spending Habits

America is a capitalistic country. So it's no wonder that we spend like there is no tomorrow. But black people spend all they have and won't save a penny. I mean we don't even buy things that can make us money. Clothing, nice cars, jewlery, and all the other flashy items we purchase do not attribute to our wealth as a group. Why do we do it. Well I blame slavery. Living in survival mode is nothing compared to living in "get better mode." Blacks were brought in the country to help whites make money. They weren't brought over here to save money and acquire wealth. So the cycle continues and can be seen even today. But aside form bad spending habits being a black thing it's an American thing. We want everything now hence why we have so much debt. We want to look good so we buy any and everything that will get us a compliment. But hey, this is America.

Gender

Gender I am an old fashioned girl who would rather cook and clean and all the other things housewives do than take corporate America by storm. Most women wont agree with me and that's fine because most of them are still single, lol. men have a place and women have a place. I grew up on a home where my mother worked but she wasn't the head of the household. she even had what some would call a more feminine position, she was a nurse. I am not sexist and a I and damn sure not a feminist. call me a realist when it comes to this topic. women need to get off this high horse and let men be men. it doesn't mean you are any less independent. it makes you if anything a ruler of those who make the major decisions of the world. feel me

Social Networking

Now here is a topic that i can speak to. What on earth would a successful individual be if they never networked. I mean we all know that whole you need to know someone approach to life. sad to say but that's how we get the things we really need and want in life. and its not just about getting all the glory. its also about being happy. people not involved in social networks are likely to lose their connection to the world which can lead to depression. so here is my method: strangers are friends you haven't met. Live by it.

Do words matter?

Heck yeah words matter. Sticks and stones may break your bones, but words will kill you. People have went on killing sprees, killed themselves, fell into deep depressions, and have pretty much completely acted on words alone. Mental abuse is worse than physical abuse whether we want to believe it or not. We just tell children words don't matter so they will leave us alone. However, we all know that a slap in the face isn't as bad as a guy you like calling you ugly, or your professor telling you that your presentation sucked. Words matter more than anything nowadays. People are dying over words. look at all the high school shootings. Those are results of words hurting. Words are the new bullet...

Video Games

I only have one beef with Video games. Boys spend way too much time playing them. My roommate has had the biggest fights with her b/f over Madden. I mean guys spend hours upon hours playing these games. now don't get me wrong I used to own a PlayStation myself and I loved strategy games. However, now we have games that feature individuals on a killing spree. While we were playing Zelda and Super Mario children today are playing Grand theft auto and planning drug routes. What's up with that?

American Language

What is American Laguage? Well if we were to get techniacl about it then we would have to say there isn't one. I mean yes we all speak "English" but that "English" changes from city to city. America doesn't have an official language. We only speak English due to our grandparents the British. And as you can see we sound nothiing like them. So what does this say about our governemnt and all those idiots who wrote the constitution: it says that they are idiots. It says that Americans are idiots. I mean for cryiong out loud we could be sued over this language matter. Why isn't anyone worried about this, but me.

News Media

The media has been blamed for causing depression, death, perpetuating stereotypes and demoralizing women, among other things. and of course its true. I will only touch on the media and blacks. Its bad enough that in today's world the media is raising our children and managing perceptions of other races. So I find myself disturbed at the way my people are portrayed in the media. video girls, dope dealers, and uneducated blacks are not the end all be all of blacks. But if you ask any outsider they would probably give you a reenactment of some rapper and speak in what I call ignorant tongue. Even the networks that are supposed to run true black programming such as BET (Black Exploitation Television) make us look like idiots. When will we stop allowing this?

Cultural Identity

Do blacks have cultural Identity? I mean let's face it, many of us don't even know where we come from. Myself being Haitian American can say that it frustrates me to know that I will never be able to trace my roots. Slavery of course is to blame for all of this. But just so I don't go off on a tangent...Today's issue is that we are trying to create a cultural identity out of stereotypes. This in turn is clashing with the cultural identity of being an American. So now we have a myriad of black groups and all claiming to be a member of the "true" black culture. I believe Carri beans have this problem even worse. even though they were able to preserve their history better than the black Americans, they barely associate themselves with being African. You never hear them saying that they are African Trinidadian.

Genetics

In terms of genetics I would have to say this: Human life originated in Africa. Therefore all humans are African, lol. I was first made privy to this information by my mentor's husband. He was explaining to me that a university(I don’t remember which one had proven through the Y chromosome that all life originated in south Africa. So why is it that there are people who want to say otherwise. As if it is a curse to be have your bloodline traced back to the motherland. I mean it makes perfect sense when you think about it. So why on earth would anyone waste time, money, and energy to bring about a false study that tries to prove otherwise than the truth? That is because (and I hate to be the one who says this) dominant white individuals hate those who are not like them. The truth would force them to believe that they themselves are in fact black. They would face the cold and ugly truth of having to know that their white man’s burden was a bunch of crap because in fact their race was not superior to any other race. Not that we ever believed that anyway.

Body Image

"Body Image involves our perception, imagination, emotions, and physical sensations of and about our body"

I have never thought about body image being a problem for African American Women. In fact I personally feel that we are the most comfortable with our bodies. The only things that come to mind as being a complex of body image for black women is with hair and skin color. There is this whole issue of who has good hair and who has bad hair. Then we have the light skinned women vs. dark skinned women. I myself can admit to feeling inferior because I was dark skinned. Let me put out the disclaimer that this was a very BRIEF moment in my life. But, body image is all about one thing, and that is loving yourself. It's ok to benchmark, competition is probably the only thing keeping individuals afloat. However, we cannot look at everyone we see and then look back at ourselves and ask the question "Am I ok?" Thanks to the media, oppression from the dominant white patriarchal society, and bad parenting we now have what you would call self haters, otherwise known as anorexics, bulimics, bleachers, obsessive weave and relaxer wearers, and yes dare I say it tanners. What is it with people? Is no one happy with themselves???!!!!

The beginning

So this is where it starts...I am now giving readers entry to my most personal thoughts. That statement is an oxy-moron though being that I am such an opinionated person who shares whatever is on my mind. I hope you enjoy although like Kelis says I realy don't care!

au revoir!