J.Cole in the Mornings

I listen to this every...single..morning....

"Looking up to the Heavens like 'Where did all my blessings go?'

You chase the dream but then you stop...guess you'll never know."

WORDS TO LIVE BY!

Put Ya Effort Where Ya Mouth Is

I'm not trying to overwhelm you with the MLK blast. My boo Octavious already hit you with his thoughts, but this is a blog with 4 very different individuals...so expect 3 more...or maybe just mine.

ANYwhoooo, today is a day that was made to honor the birthday and accomplishments of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. However, 2day also marks the anniversary of the holiday....25 years. That is truly a feat in history.

I was talking to my mommy the other day and she was showing me all of her buttons that she had collected back in the day...and I'm talkin' TRULY back in the day as in the 60s and 70s...black power ish, Malcolm X, and of course MLK. Me being a button fanatic, I wanted all of them to have...but the meaning of them all didn't hit me until she explained (however, she did end up giving me her 'FREE ANGELA' button #FTW!). One of the buttons she had was one that was created in the efforts to pass MLK Day as an actual holiday...Well look where we are now...HEY HEY HEY!!!

After thinking about it, it's amazing to me how much work it takes trying to get a holiday passed....but to get a holiday passed in honor of a BLACK MAN??.....almost unheard of (especially back then). I was going to treat this holiday like all of the other holidays and enjoy my day off of school/work by playing Sims on the computer and rocking out to some Guitar Hero because I'm cool like that...But due to recent events (such as having a black President, the Haiti disaster, & much more...good and bad), I feel the need to take the time to reflect on my blessings. I am truly a blessed individual...thanks to the Lord and for Him putting "heroes" here on this Earth. People may pick to find negativity in these individuals, but I refuse to shun a brotha, or a sista, who works his/her a$$ off for a change. Am I or you doing the same?...We still have things to work on...from the masses of our planet all the way to our communities. However, change doesn't come without effort. So for all you people who strive to find what is wrong with MLK (and other individuals who have worked for a change), pause to think about your blessings and your progress...which, in part, is due to the efforts of those same hardworkers you blast on. As for the minorities (and our caucasian supporters), we would not be where we are today without the effort of "the King". Take the time out (even if it's a few minutes), to appreciate the change....even though there is more to come...

"An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity."

-- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

P.S. Know your History --> click HERE

Looks Can Last A Lifetime...Is Hair Included?...

So I wanted to experiment (That's how I ended up with natural hair). STL Fashion Week is approaching and I dare to be different. I guess different for me this time meant weave. Sew in...i don't DO glue. So I had my friend SuJo hook me up. I wanted to look like Traci Ellis Ross. She did her thing and I stepped out into the world. Hooked up with my fellow Monarchs and they laughed at me because this was a different Twiggy (Mr. Nesbitt seemed to be the most excited). So I went around...got sum compliments...and got sum funny looks. No biggie.

I get home around 11pm and look in the mirror to see how I was gon style my hair for the next day.....There was nothing I could do with it. I mean...I did sum styles but the hair was SOOO big (the pictures don't do it justice) that it looked fake (even tho it was human hair)...and I am far from fake. So I started getting frustrated and then BAM!...There goes an anxiety attact. My eyes started watering....i was breathing angrily...and i started punching the air (ok...that was an exaggeration). I couldn't take it anymore. I politely told SuJo that I appreciated her time and effort...but this wasn't Twiggy. I took the weave out (which was a even more stressful process) and i washed my hair. Didn't go to bed until 3am.

I guess you have to make mistakes along the journey to find your way. *shrugs*

"No struggle...no progress"

-Frederick Douglass

LIVE BY THE RULE

*ANDY WARHOL MAKES MY DAY =)*

Do we love our President?

is He for real?
Is He a Celebrity?
Did we really cry?
Did they wave the flag for him in Germany?
Is there a Black President?
Is he Ready?

HELL YEAH!
_____________________________________

"We need to internalize this idea of excellence.
Not many folks spend a lot of time trying to be excellent." - Barack Obama

Another Great Gone

The First Black DIVA. Died this week at age 81. . .

"I am learning all the time. The tombstone will be my diploma." - Eartha Kitt

. . . Now thats a Bad B!!!!

Monroe Perspective #5

"Dogs never bit me. Just Humans."

Get your Cake up

"They say money doesn't buy happiness,
but I'm certain it makes room!" - Mr. Nesbitt

Photographer Taj Washington's Birthday Cake 2008.

(click here)

Monroe Perspective #4

"I knew I belonged to the public and to the world, not because I was talented or even beautiful, but because I had never belonged to anything or anyone else."

Radio Raheem Never Dies

Let me tell you the story of 'Right Hand, Left Hand.'
It's a tale of good and evil.
Hate: It was with this hand that Cane iced his brother.
Love: These five fingers, they go straight to the soul of man.
The right hand: the hand of love.
The story of life is this: Static.
One hand is always fighting the other hand; and the left hand is kicking much ass.
I mean, it looks like the right hand, Love, is finished.
But, hold on, stop the presses, the right hand is coming back.
Yeah, he got the left hand on the ropes, now, that's right.
Ooh, it's the devastating right and Hate is hurt, he's down.
Left-Hand Hate K.O.ed by Love.

--Radio Raheem





P.S.A: Always Do The Right Thing

Ready! Wash! Set!

Jigaboos: Don’t you know my hair is so strong
It can break the teeth out of a comb
don’t have to put it up at night
What you have to keep up at night
What you have to keep out of sight

Wannabees: Your hair ain’t no longer than (finger snap)
So you’ll never fling it all back
And you ‘friad to walk in the rain
Oh what a shame who’s to blame

Jigs: Don’t you ever worry ‘bout that
‘cause I don’t mind being BLACK go on with your mixed-up head
I ain’t gonna never be ‘fraid

Wannabees: Well you got nappy hair

Jigs: Nappy is all right with me

Wannabees: My hair is straight you see

Jigs: But your soul’s crooked as can be.
~ Good and Bad Hair~ Spike Lee ~ School Daze ~

Monroe Perspective #1

"I knew how third-rate I was. I could actually feel my lack of talent, as if it were cheap clothes I was wearing inside. But, my God, how I wanted to learn, to change, to improve!"