When We Go Missing
Before the age of the internet & the ability to spread news around the globe in a few hours, we had to create ways of quickly getting the word out about a serious event. In 1985, the Missing Children Milk Carton Program in the United States of putting photos of missing children on milk cartons. While this E for effort attempt to find missing kids was deemed ineffective for various reasons, I guess it was better than nothing. The victims that were lucky enough to be circulated on milk cartons were majority white kids. But this program was laid to rest a few years later when the birth of the Amber Alert surfaced in 1996. Technology has given us a faster method of alerting the masses about a missing child but one thing that the milk carton approach have in common with the Amber Alert approach is this system still seems to only be concerned with notifying us about kids of a lighter shade.
TheAgeless Epidemic
Kids have been going missing since the early 1950’s so this is nothing new. This ageless epidemic just doesn’t get talked about enough. A gross amount of Black citizens vanish every year. By the end of 2018, 6400 Black women & children were missing & no one seemed to care. That not even including the Black men that disappeared as well. For a little perspective, the city of Brownsville TX has a population of 183,677. So how does a portion of our population that’s equivalent to a small town goes missing & no one blinks an eye? Just last year alone, 543,018 Americans vanished & 37% of the were from our community. That’s a jaw-dropping 185,000 minorities (not including hispanics)
The Lack of National Coverage
In my last post, I stated how the media uses its power to spread statistics to display Black Americans in a negative tone but that same media is rendered powerless when its time roll out our accomplishments or inform us on dangers that directly effect us. Correct me in the comment section if I’m wrong but out of the 185,000 Black people who went missing last year, I do not recall 1 gaining national coverage. Just this year alone, I can name one blonde haired girl who went missing & she received 24 hours of national coverage. So who decides what cases get the coverage? Who makes the rules?
The world seems to be unbothered when black people go missing. Men are often discounted to the crime culture while our babies are listed as possible run a ways instead of missing. Its sickening to imagine how people in the amount of entire cities can go missing & our government officials do not feel the need to address this. Once again, when a system is created against a certain group, they do give a care until that system turns on them
What Can Our Community Do To Save Our Families
visit BlackandMissingInc.com
Black & Missing foundation is a non profit organization that offers a platform for us to find us. It offers a portal where you can report a missing person, search for a missing person, find information & stats about this disturbing topic & also a tip line. I love & respect this site. If mainstream media will not get the word out about the disappearance of your babies, we must be proactive & develop our own methods of spreading the word & swiftly & safely locate our future Kings & Queens. I challenge each & everyone of the iLL Community to donate to Black & Missing. The more we support them, we better chance we have at getting a lost person home.
No other group seems to take interest in making sure our people get the things we need. All we have is us. Its totally up to us to educate, nurture, protect, police & govern our own if we plan to survive. I would like to grow my platform & start listing missing black citizens & give updates once someone is found. We need to create our own Amber Alert which is ran & monitored by people who actually care about us. There’s no way a few of us can oversee us. We need all eyes & hands on deck. If you know someone who is missing, reach out to Black & Missing or any of the other groups on Twitter that you can locate by simply conducting a search. Just because we are in this alone doees’t mean you have to face these types of tragedies alone.
🤎🖤Black Love ✊🏿 Black Power ☮️ Black Peace to my 🌡 Community.
More Black Women Lose Life During Creation
Part of the life cycle is the start of a new life. This should be an exciting & glorious event where all parties involved can rejoice. The only concerns with giving birth should be the picking of a righteous name or planning the perfect baby shower. So much goes into inviting a child into this life. All the concerns of baby shower planning, completing the baby’s room & trying not the stress the baby should be the only cautions that come to mind. But there is a staggering statistic that every Black woman that’s considering bringing a chid into this life should be distressed about. The mainstream media will not inform you of this but Black Women are over 4 times more likely to die bringing new life into existence than their white counterpart. According to the CDC, the gap increased from 38 to 44 Black Queen in 2020.
Value per every 100,000
Calculation As of 2020
Selected Statistics
Any statistic that can give us negative undertones will be plastered all over the national media but you will never see the chart I’ve enclosed above on the news. The imbalance of these stats truly shines a spotlight on the medical industry & raises questions of how this is even possible. IF all women are created equally & receive equal & adequate care, we would not be conversing about this. There is a major disconnect in delivery rooms all across America. Some point out that pre existing conditions that Black women have may be the culprit. By default Black people have higher blood pressure so could this be a contributing factor? There is no reason why one of our Life creators should lose her life while being admitted into a building that’s designed to save lives. This logic is similar to taking a car to a mechanic for a routine repair only to be told that your vehicle is now totaled.
The Undervalue of Our Life Creators
In an article posted on Heart.org sickening discoveries were brought to the forefront. A section of the article suggests that the mortality gap has little to do with preexisting conditions & pregnancy complication & more to do with the lack of care. "Basically, Black women are undervalued. They are not monitored as carefully as white women are. When they do present symptoms, they are often dismissed." says Dr. Ana Langer. (director of the Women and Health Initiative at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston.) This is where systematic racism shows its ugly head again. How can so many hospitals employ doctors & nurses that intentionally neglect the care of a Black woman solely because of the color of her skin. Misdiagnosed illnesses, early release & simply a lack in the interest in keeping Black woman alive is the true reason why that gap is continuing to increase year after year.
Closing The Gap
We know this system wasn’t created in our favor so we must be diligent & go in with a game plan if we are going to decrease the gap & increase our population to more than 14% in America. Here are a few tips we need to implement in order to stay alive while delivering.
Request a Black doctor if at all possible
Hire a Black Doula
NEVER go into a health facility alone. Always take a close friend or family member
If #1 & 2 are not an option, STAY ON THE NURSES. Make them do their jobs
Report any misconduct or attitude to Texas HHS Remember: You are paying for a service . You are a customer
As a community, it’s up to all of us to educate & spread knowledge & resources to each other to keep us alive. We can only do this in unison. There is no reason why an expecting mother should walk in for something common as child birth & end up being wheeled out. This also poses more questions. What happens to these innocent Black offsprings? Its heart crushing enough to know the prison system is filled with our men & it hurts even more to know our Black youth are filling up adoption agencies. It reminds me of a slave trade on how white family come in to adopt & basically pick the one they want as if they are selecting a lapdog from a pet store window. We have a stay on our toes if we are going to decrease the gap & rebuild our Black household & communities.
🤎🖤Black Love ✊🏿 Black Power ☮️ Black Peace to my 🌡 Community.
3 Tips To Keep Your Melanin Delicate
I recall as a child my mother having 2 bottles of detergent for laundry day. Laundry day always made the house smell extra fresh so I did not mind lending a helping hand. One day while attempting to be a laundry assistant, my mom walked in on me as I was about to pour a cap full of Tide into a load she previously started. She quickly corrected me but I was inquisitive about why? Clothes are just clothes. She advised me to pay close attention in life because everything that may seem similar may not be similar. She grabbed the Woolite & told me, “You have to treat the delicate things in life with a little more…delicacy!”
We are all human & are all created equally, right? Incorrect! Some of the most precious & delicate folks on this planet have an ingredient called Melanin added to their batter. Melanin is a pigment that is responsible for protecting skin from harmful UV rays. It’s always a layer of protection that prevents skin from over drying. Lastly, Melanin is the key ingredient that gives skin its darker shade of pigment. The thicker the grade; the darker the skin. Melanated skin is very low maintenance but there are steps we must take to enhance its beauty & strengthen its protective line of defense. Here are 3 important measures to take.
Water
Water aids in keeping Melanated skin clean internally & externally. Drinking a few glasses a day keeps the entire body hydrated. It also helps in flushing way toxins. While washing your face, try using a bit of warm water with a few drops of lemon juice to safely cleanse the skin while refreshing it. Harsh chemicals & cheap beauty aids wears on the skin & could lead to other issues.
Moisturize
While bathing & showering has its host benefits, be very leery of high temperatures. Hot water melts the natural oils in melanated skins & can cause extreme dryness, cracking or inflammation. It’s essential to properly moisturize. Soon as I step out of my warm shower, I apply a layer of Vaseline, baby oil or coconut creme/oil. When replacing oils, stray away from item that contain ingredients that you can not pronounce. Items with too much fragrance could be non beneficial for too many additives could hurt more than help. I learned a long time ago that naturally oily skin is a great thing. While using an agent that strips the natural oils from the skin will only cause the skin to create more. The skin is self lubing & will constantly create its own oils when it feels externally dehydrated.
Sweet Sweat
Swearing out toxins & impurities is a great way to keep your Melanin healthy. This can do done by being active. Dancing, working out, intimate sessions or relaxing in a wet or dry sauna are a few ways to work up an awesome sweat. The most toxins you release, the less likely you’ll suffer from eczema, rashes or ringworms. Its also important to give your Melanated sweat glands a work out because sweat is also your body’s natural cooling system. Get your body used to sweat & you’ll notice you’ll feel significantly cooler in the Summer by 5º.
Closing
Melanin is magical & requires a constant care regiment to keep its celestial levels of quality to fully benefit you. Properly hydrating your skin gives it attraction powers like no other. Maintaining its strength keeps you save from UV rays & other external toxins. Its a blessing from above to be gifted such a gaudy element that other attempt to replicate but can’t begin to even duplicate but put forward so much energy to imitate. Take time each morning & carefully care for your Melinan & watch the natural properties activate a higher level of majestic magic. I challenge my iLL community to go on a 7 day Skin care journey & I promise you the universe will send you a glow that is God sent.
🤎🖤Black Love ✊🏿 Black Power ☮️ Black Peace to my 🌡 Community.
Make It Make Scents
Scent Bird New York was one of the first services that peaked my interest. My growing curiosity in colognes truly make Scent Bird something I was dying to try. After logging on & setting up an account, I had to choose how many fragrances per month I wanted to try. I opted for 3 per month & then it was time to select which scent I wanted to smell like for 30 days. The cute & convenient vials are filled with must enough juice to last roughly a month. If you fell in love with a fragrance this month, you were not allowed to select that same scent the following month. With over 700 male & female selections, there was always something to try. But this is where I ran into issues.
Me being new to colognes, I wanted to test as many as I could. If I received a months supply of something I was not too fond of, I was pretty much stuck with it. At $15 a month, hoping you receive something you like was a bit of a gamble. I also noticed that colognes came in unique collectable bottles. I wanted to put them on display. Scent Bird just doesn’t offer that. Not to take anything from the company nor their business model but I can NOT recommend them to a new fragrance enthusiast who may be in search of a new flavor of the month. In my opinion there is a better option if you are wanting g to discover new liquid aromas.
For those who are into discovering & trying a lot of difference eau de toilettes, check out Fragrance net! Ive found a ton of samples for under $5. If you run across a fragrance that you adore, you can then buy a full bottle in a variety of different sizes. I found using Fragrancenet a more versatile solution. I recently discovered FragranceNet offers a subscription service. 😒 I have no experience with it so I can’t say much about it but I will say once you tried one, Yule basically tried them all.
🤎🖤Black Love ✊🏿 Black Power ☮️ Black Peace to my 🌡 Community.
Leave Me In Stitches: My Stitch Fix Review
Growing up, I’ve never had an eye for fashion. Athletic gear was my desired casual look & I opted for jeans & tees for a more formal approach. My motto was always “man makes clothes so the clothes do not make the man”! My wash & wear approach to clothes selecting was convenient & simplistic at best. I stayed wrinkled up & didn’t have a care on the planet until I was chosen to attend a formal dinner & knew Nike & Champion was not an option. Not having a male fashion figure to assist me, what ever was I do to? This was when I ran across Stich Fix.
Just like any other subscription service, you create a profile to start. Where Stitch Fix separates itself from other subscription services is the custom Style Quiz they have you complete to offer a tailor-made experience. The quiz asks questions about your love or dislike for shopping, are you into the latest trends, your sizes & how you prefer your articles to fit. Once that is over you are paired with a Stitch Fix style specialist who compiles the provided data & plays match maker with you & your needs.
The Match Made In Heaven
Each Fix (box) arrives as frequent as you prefer. Once the box is opened, you’ll notice to neat presentation of how your items are wrapped & protected. Shoes & belts come in felt bags & clothing articles are wrapped in a brown package as shown above. Each delivery contains 5 items to try on. Your style specialist also sends you a personalized note with each fix. The enclosed letter is very personal & it goes in detail on why each particular item was hand selected for you.
Once you try your clothes on, you determine if which items work for you or not. You are given a few days to come to a buying decision. You are able to send back (for free) the pieces you feel are not really what you want. Your fix also includes a label & bag to ship back the stuff you’re not feeling. The process is seamless & easy. Just drop the bag off at your nearest post office & they will handle everything from there.
The 25%
So what does a fix cost per box? It depends! The beauty is keeping certain items kinda gives you control of the price. There’s an itemized invoice in the box that lays out the price per item. I felt some of the items were a bit over priced but KINDA leveled out once your factor in the convenience of not having to stroll through a retail store to find these items yourself. I was torn about the 25% discount they offer. How that works that work? Lets say you were only keeping 3 out of the 5 items. 3 items may cost $200 but if you kept all 5 items & the discount is applied, all 5 items would cost $220. There was a few months I ended up keeping stuff I really didn’t like just because it was cheaper or more cost conscience to do so. Don’t get me wrong. The quality was amazing. Nothing felt cheap. The reason I disliked some of the stuff was because they were items I, myself, wouldn’t gravitate to if I saw it hanging on a rack in the mall. But sometimes it takes. specialist to guide to you something that fits your style better than you think.
So Would I Recommend…
DEFINITELY! Stitch Fix is an exciting way to find new fashions. It was always a treat to open a fix & not know what to expect. I used to love seeing guys wear blazers & jeans. That look was something I knew Id never get into because I don’t know how to pick out blazers. But once one is shipped to your front door & you try it on in the comfort of your own home, I was a blazer wearing fool. I honestly would not have thought to drive down to a mall & try on a blazer. Thank to Stitch Fix I was introduced to a whole new world of fashion my bland eyes were closed to.
🤎🖤Black Love ✊🏿 Black Power ☮️ Black Peace to my 🌡 Community.
Goodbye Hello Fresh
Hello Fresh is a food service that will ship fresh foods directly to your front door. Your items come cool & fresh & the presentation is cute. All items & ingredients are added to each bag for convenience. The only items that will not be found in the bag are basic ingredients like salt, pepper, butter or oils; typical items found in an average household. The contents of the box also includes a recipe card that goes into depth about preparation & cooking instructions. There are similar fresh food services that offer the same options Blue Apron, Home Chef & Purple Carrot to name a few. Now on to the pros I found in these type of services.
The Pros:
Your weekly Hello Fresh box is filled with wholesome meals that you selected so its never a surprise. This allows you to plan your meal & know whats exactly on the menu. This pretty much kills making a trip to your local grocer & forgetting an item. Everything that you need is in the box. The selections are healthy & everything arrives fresh & protected. Clean up is a breeze & all packaging is throw back in the bag & tossed. The cool part is the bag can also be recycled. The 3 meals I tried were pretty simple but very tasty. I found no need to doctor up anything because the flavor was well balanced & not overbearing.
Oh But There Are Cons:
When I signed up for Hello Fresh, I was in search of a quick meal to prepare after a long day at work. This is very convenient because it saves you a trip to the store but that where the convenience ends. Upon opening the bag I discovered that this is nowhere near quick. Any meal with veggies, you have to literally cut every potato. The lemon creme sauce had to be mixed. The recipe card informs you of the prep times & cook times & these meals take roughly 35-45 minutes to complete. If you have to slice up ingredients, you may as well pick it up from a store & cut them up & save some cash.
My 2nd issues came down to pricing. The initial price is very reasonable but when you shop at normal cost, this service is highly expensive. According to Hello Fresh, it breaks down to about $9 per serving if you opt for 2 person plan. The items are basic & can be found at any grocery store & should breakdown to about $6 per serving. If you are shopping for a family of 4 & option for 3 nights per week, you are roughly at $100 per week. $100 a week for only 3 days is uber pricy. I’ve purchased $100 worth of groceries that lasted roughly 2weeks. Also the portion to price ratio seems kind of off. Most adults I know would prefer a little bigger portion after long day at work. After your meal is gone, there will NEVER be seconds or even leftovers to take for lunch the next day.
A Better Alternative:
Hello Fresh is a good option if you have the extra cash & time to burn. I simply find it cheaper to just buy groceries from a traditional store. You have total control of picking the quality & size of your portion. If you need leftover, you can ensure that you pick up enough for the next days lunch. If you are pressed for time, most local grocers offer a type of curbside pickup that will save time. Curbside also comes with its pros & cons but from a time restraint standpoint, this is a great time saving option. I have nothing against companies that offer this service. I just feel its my duty to dig through the fluff & shine light on possible hidden info. Anything I can do to make it easier on my community, subscribe me to that!
🤎🖤Black Love ✊🏿 Black Power ☮️ Black Peace to my 🌡 Community.
How Subscription Lifestyles Aren't as Beneficial as You Think
There’s this thing called evolution. It’s defined as a gradual development of something, especially from a simple to a more complex form. Back on April 30, 1993, the internet was introduced to the world. This inception brought around groundbreaking changes that enhanced our lives into something previous generations never dreamed of. The internet altered the way we communicated. The primitive days of handwritten letters & licking stamps were converted into sending a letter with a click of a button. Along with that change came a diverse way of conducting research, paying bills, shopping, watching TV & gathering information. The internet gave birth to a new lifestyle that’s subscription driven.
I’m truly going to date myself when I saw that when I was a young adult, there were only 2 ways to place an order. One was to call a company & have an operator take your order or clipping an order form from a magazine, completing it & sending it off in a SASE (self addressed stamped envelope) & wait about 6 weeks for your items to arrive via snail mail. The way the world has evolved, its way simpler to place an order.Not only are we able to place an order with a few button clicks, we are able to set up an entire subscription & manage the entire order til the moment it arrives at your front door.
If you have any type of social media presence, I’m sure you are fully aware of the types of subscription services offered. You can get food, cologne, clothing, movies, video games & even groceries sent directly to your residence. I’ve tried a few & despite the category, they all tend to push the same selling point… convenience. I will dive more in-depth about each service I tried & will give you specifics about each one & also list a few pros & cons. A few of the companies I will be mini reviewing is StitchFix, Hello Fresh, Scent Bird, Netflix & Apple Music.
Here is a general rundown on how they work. You visit their website & create a membership. Once you get past the simple process of the sign up, you select your tier level of the good or service you are requesting & after you submit payment information, your item is delivered to your front door. From there you have the option to adjust the quantity & frequency of your deliveries. The easy & convenience of a subscription based lifestyle does come at a cost. If you dig through the fluffy, their selling point is basically we can charge a premium price of whatever we wish & you will happily pay it in the name of never having to leave the house.
All of these companies have a similar business model. Over the next few weeks I will give you reviews based off my experiences & also list a more esensabiel & cost friendly alternative. We typically promote Black owned here but some of these subscriptions may add value & reduce time off your already hectic day. If you know of any other service that would benefit our community, please list it in the comment section below. I’m a sucker for trying new services.
🤎🖤Black Love ✊🏿 Black Power ☮️ Black Peace to my 🌡 Community.
Life Gonna Life: Assisting A Friend In Mourning
One thing we can all agree on is that life is gonna life. You can plan each move with caution & make all the right turns but somehow thing will go left. Life will take you on some interesting turns but despite that, we just can’t get off the road. The cycle of life simply means that life is an interlude to death. Everything that is born will die. Wether you believe life is meant for you to sit back & let God take ahold of the wheel or you believe the universe gave us knowledge & strength to guide our vessel on the course of our choice, our final destination is the same. When a friend or family member is mourning the loss of a loved soul, they need all the love & support possible. But some thing should not fall from your mouth while attempting to be supportive.
What we are not going to do is continuously ask how they are doing or how they are feeling! While encountering death of a loved one, no one can take an honest inventory & tell you how they feel. Emotions are spiraling & their mind is in jumbles. If you could open up their mind, you’d literally see alphabet soup. Letters floating without structure attempting to form some sort of meaning or significance. Also, never tell a mourning friend how you feel they should feel or how they should be reacting to a tragedy. Leave all typical cliche prescripts to the other 100 people they will encounter. Things like “I’m sorry to hear that!” is tasteless. It could be perceived as you don’t care about it happening and you are only sorry to hear about it. Secondly, NEVER bring God up. The worse phrase of support you could ever offer is, “ God knows what he is doing or God makes no mistakes.” Saying things like “it was just their time to go” is senseless & callous. When folks are vulnerable they question why almighty God allowed such a tragic event to unfold. The energy that created all the heaven & Earth in 6 days was not able to save my loved one was a question that populated my mind when I lost my sister.
If you are spiritual & decided you want to pray, be careful what you pray for. Praying that someone feels better is not it. You will never be better after dealing with mortality. Instead, ask God to give them strength to continue to face this; pray for peace that may help your friend find tranquility in their tragedy. Even the most religions individuals would prefer to be embraced by arms of flesh.
If someone has opened up to you & allowed you to be present, here are a few tidbits of advice that could mean the world to your friend in need. If you are going to be there, BE THERE! We were born with 2 ears & 1 mouth so we should be doing twice as much listening than we do talking. Listen & ensure them that you hear them. Completely closing your mouth is a remarkable way to helping because silence is a powerful voice. Force-feeding a family member unwelcome advice only makes your visit worse. If the pain is unbearable, offer counseling or nurturing grief groups. Allowing them to open up to an unbiased perspective can chip away at the hurt in their hearts. Allowing someone to vent helps them answer a lot of their own questions without you even uttering a word. Being alone is NOT an option when friends are at their lowest point. Be there without being overbearing.
Do me a favor and squeeze your forearm. You can feel how soft & fragile the human flesh can be. But imagine if you could touch the soul of someone suffering. What you would feel is shattered pieces of what was once an entire being. Puzzle pieces toss about in shambles & pieces that are lost & will never be able to be re-assembled. We are all weak. Humans are sociable creature & need each other for positive reinforcements & strength.
There is not a grieving blueprint. There is not a right or a wrong way. Just as our fingerprint differ, so do our habits of grieving. Never tell someone how they should ache. Do not become a backseat driver. Allow the mournful to navigate as they wish; just as long as they are not navigating into treachery & headed for self destruction. Try asking is there anything you could do to help. Sending your condolences every 15 minutes without actions is pointless. Do you need anything? Can I pick you up something? What can I do to help? These phrases are way more healing than your prayers.
These steps can determine the speed of someone’s healing. I complied these actions from a friend who is actually living this walking nightmare. If you know of other helpful ways to be there for someone hurting, please reach out to me or list them in the comment section below. We are all human. We are all weak. Do not wait til pain knocks on your door. One day that interesting turn that life takes could be the unthinkable.
🤎🖤Black Love ✊🏿 Black Power ☮️ Black Peace to my 🌡 Community.
Some Beef is Everlasting
Former President Obama looks of regret after sipping unfiltered water from Flint MI
See me, I’m going to question EVERYTHING! Why do Army recruiters fight so hard & endorse for students right out of high school to join the military but refuse to let their own children enroll? If vaccinations are so safe, why are doctors able to decline their offsprings getting one? And during the Flint Water Crisis, why did Obama fake sip that leaded induced, polluted water knowing his American citizen are forced to bathe & cook with it daily?
I’m sure everyone has heard bits about the Flint Michigan water crisis. In my opinion, this story was not televised or reported on enough. But today’s topics is not about the poisoning of an American city. We are speaking on a conflicting topic that kind of goes against what your bible says. I’m fully aware that the Bible recommends forgiving thy enemies as a way of clearing our emotions but why are Black people conditioned to be extra forgiving?
I can NOT speak for everyone but I can hold a grudge with ZERO energy consumption & still get a great night of sleep. Simply put, some beef should be ever lasting. Disgruntlement toward voted in people should always remain on the surface. They were voted in by the people to do what is best for the people & lying to them & misleading them is totally unacceptable. I’m not singling out Obama but for him perform on stage & misinform the poor people of Flint was a smack to the face. OBama’s televised performance was anti American & anti BLACK. Flint MI I’m not playing the race card; I’m just stating the fact that Flint is a whooping 57% Black at the time of this post. I’m pretty sure its safe to assume this crisis had been more televised & has it occurred in Beverly Hills CA which is a mere 6% Black.
Racial Breakdown of 2019’s Flint MI Populace
Google other cities were a large presence of Blacks reside. Chicago. Baltimore. New Orleans. Whenever a tragic situation happens, city employees & voted in officials tend to drag their feet when it comes to assisting the very citizen that voted them in place. The audacity of Obama to look those lead exposed victims in the eye & lie to them about the rancid quality of the water while pretending to sip was uber sickening. That sip wasn’t enough to get the tip of his forked tongue wet. I’ll place the video below & allow you to be the judge of his mockery.
This deadly ordeal began when, for whatever reason, the city decided to change the source of water from Lake Huron to the Detroit River doing a budget cut. When you buy cheap, you buy twice. This piss poor decision to save a few bucks ended up costing tax payers more money & some even paid the ultimate price… death by poisons. Its almost election time fam. These candidate need you more than you need them. If you decided to vote, MAKE THEM EARN IT. If they can not give you a list of things that will enhance your community & improve your day to day living, DO NOT VOTE AT ALL. Stop being so forgiving at the polls. I’m sure in the near future someone affiliated with Obama will be begging for your votes. Remember how endangered an entire city & played on their intelligence by putting a cup of water to his face in attempt to pacify them.
Life is a situational series of events. Forgiveness is a huge part of reaching inner peace but not all infractions are forgiveness worthy. Hold these clowns accountable for their destructive actions & ensure they that will never hold office again they do not do right by the people. And when I say the people I mean MY people.
🤎🖤Black Love ✊🏿 Black Power ☮️ Black Peace to my 🌡 Community.
HE KNOW HE AINT TAKE A SIP lol
Policing Revamped: Dads On Duty
I believe the children are our future. But in order to have a future we must protect our future. When issues arise, we have to address them firmly & fairly. This is the unbearable reality of hired school security. When it comes down to black students, they tend serve extra sides of firmness & go very light on the fairness. Authority personnel have always had less patience with our future leaders than they have with other groups of students. Kids will be kids & when a situation occurs, children in our community become adults, the white gloves come off & all training goes right of the window. Take a quick search on your favorite search engine & you will see example after example of discrimination & misconduct towards our community.
Resource Officer Ben Fields is a great example of what I’m referring to. He assaulted a female student back in 2015 because she refused to put her cellphone away. Now where on God’s green Earth is it ok to lay hands on a student? What could she have possibly said to a grown ass, highly trained adult to make him feel the need to flip her out of her seat? Incidents like these are not isolated events. This is why we need to police ourselves. To police something, you must adhere to the policies in place.
Policing means having the duty of maintaining law and order. This is not a conflicting definition. The conflicting comes into place when hired officials engage into bias activities & choose to patrol & control over serving & protecting. We must weed out individuals who could care less about correcting our kids & seem to get a kick out of abusing & terrorizing them. Imagine correcting youth without having to raise your voice or placing a hand on them. This is where the magic of Dads on Duty comes into play.
Ever heard of Black Girl Magic? Black kings have that same level of enchantment. If you viewed the video, you witnessed how dads showing they care changed the culture of 1 campus. None of them were highly trained officers equipped with weapons & pounds of protective gear. Neither of them have 100 hours of classroom knowledge & a piece of paper in attempt to validate that they now are experienced. Most life lessons that we hold near & dear to our hearts were learned in the trenches & not in a controlled environment. Real life experiences are the best coaches. Sometimes showing a child our scrapes & bruises we earned via real life scenarios hold more weight than showing a child a degree.
I would love to see more of these programs & groups being implemented into our youth’s curriculum to safely teach them discipline & respect. Theres no need to beat someone to submission in attempts to force them to do right when you can love them into submission & have them follow you to the path of positive growth & healthy life lesson. Our kids are our future & its up to us to shield them from dangers, especially if those dangers are initiated by folks who are paid protection.
🤎🖤Black Love ✊🏿 Black Power ☮️ Black Peace to my 🌡 Community.
Dangers Of Being Misled
We all have heard the term “to be lead on!”. When an individual displays a false sense of interest in a person, they are “leading” them to believe they genuinely care. Before GPS devices & smartphones were even a thing, we relied on maps to navigate our way to a specific destination. I recall as a young teen, tourist would drive by & ask us how to get to a specific landmark in our town & for giggles we would give them false directions. We were young & knew we would never see these folks again but that was highly dangerous. Those folks could have ended up on a wrong way street or in a multitude of other dangerous scenarios. Let’s dig deeper into those past events. Someone in an unknown place in their life & in an exceedingly vulnerable state willingly accepting directions from a total stranger in hopes of being lead on a desired path to a specific destination. Does this sound familiar?
Media personnel are strangers to us. A news outlet will lead you on an impossible odyssey then fault you for being lost. Entire cities have been rendered into ruins from accepting irresponsible directions & bogus stories. Digesting too much misleading info is similar to consuming unhealthy morsels. Meals served by the media reminds me of how I felt in history class. After hearing white people discovered this amazing place & they invented this amazing device, it becomes an emotional beatdown on someone who is not white because you are not being told of the great things our ancestors achieved. The media will gloat that over 60% of homes in America are being lead by single moms but won’t inform you on the multitude of government programs of “assistance “ that’s granted if relied on them and not her King. These programs offer unhealthy morsels & will be readily available to her as long as she keeps her healthy man away.
The prison business is another misleading category. They paint amazing artistry that every black man is a violent criminal & that’s why almost 50% of the prison population is being held my us. This stat is also highly irresponsible & uber misleading. This figure includes a small amount of people to deserve to be there, Black citizens who have gotten extended punishments compared to white criminal who have committed the same crime & Black folks who are being held with little to no evidence to hold them there; yet they remain incarcerated. I receive emails at least 4 days a week from Change.org in regards to innocent Black people being held for crimes they did not commit despite a lack of evidence. Government officials peacefully rest well at night knowing they could free the innocent & free the family member who have gotten unfair punishments for petty, non violent crimes & get these Kings back into our single parent households. This along would cure a mass of issues plaguing our homes.
Politicians are just a guilty & should be imprisoned. Elected officials coupled with media spread false information & build false hopes. The media will stand by soaking up this facade of politicians shaking hands, vigorous campaigning & kissing Black babies in attempt to gain our trust. Politicians are no different than a common street hustler attempting to lead us on with the false sense of genuine affection.
Now that the days of germ filled paper maps are behind us, we no longer are required to seek direction from stranger. Feel free to go down to your local library & research old campaigns & aged media articles & you will see for self that prior candidates lead a lot of our communities into shambles. We all have micro computers in our pockets. Use it to its fullest ability & find the path that you feel benefits your family the most. We no longer need to rely on leeches sucking the life out of our communities in search of self gain while not giving a care about the areas they rape of resources.
The ONLY way to prevent from being lead astray is by conducting your own research, paving your own path & ensuring that we give folk in our villages proper directions to help them arrive to great destination. Limit media consumption & expose politicians for who they are at every cost. When people are vulnerable, wool is easily pulled over our eyes. This is why we need our Black communities in unison & standing tall to protect & police our future. Misinformation a free administered drug… but its up to you to decide if you will consume or reject it.
🤎🖤Black Love ✊🏿 Black Power ☮️ Black Peace to my 🌡 Community.
A Leader's Perspective On Crab In A Barrel Mentality
We all have been there! I’ve seen so many souls describe our community’s mentality to crabs in a bucket. It’s usually used when someone feels someone is hating on them or wishing bad fortunes on them. Its irritating when you are working towards a goals with all the powers invested in you & someone who looks just like you undercuts you & tosses a kink into your plans. If you have never seen crabs in a barrel, they make every attempt to free themselves & once one makes it atop the pile, a “hating” crab uses his pinches to grab you & pulls you back down to their level. All of that hard work, progress & energy has been used in vain. 😩
But let me ask the crabs on top something? How did you obtain that top position? Some may have worked hard to get there while others may know people who can get them places. Sometimes in life its all about who you know & not so much about what you know. There’s another crab I would like to address. The crab who was in the middle & pulled his brother down to achieve that higher status. Karma is real & it baffles me how an adult can victimize a fellow community member but transitions into a victim when someone returns that foul favor. We are all individuals who are responsible for our own success & survival but our community is only as strong as our weakest comrade. Are you implementing strategies to spread knowledge on how we can get more out opposed to solely concentrating on your own survival? And what happens when you use your citizenry as a footstool & you make it out the barrel. Now you are all alone.
So we are in this system they call the barrel. How are we suppose to conduct ourselves? Are we not suppose to latch on to any thing that may aid us in leveling up to free ourselves from the dangers of the barrel? You can practice a fire drill daily & totally forgot all lessons & lose all composure when a real fire breaks out. A BARREL IS NOT OUR ORIGINAL ENVIRONMENT. Its normal for any creature to act out of character in a foreign land. Its lunacy how a cop can tase a man & expect him to hold still & comply! Somewhere along the way, some of us have picked up this weird mindset. Have you ever paid witness to a lion in a zoo? A lion looks so depressed while on display because he’s not able to reign supreme as he would if ee were in his natural habitat. You can't expect a normality when you are not dealing with normal circumstances.
Its time we stop pointing fingers at each other. Blame the system for placing you in the barrel & not your brethren that’s experiencing similar situations that the system forced upon y’all. We can only excel as a collective for there’s strength in numbers. 2 heads are indeed better than 1. We need to sit down with our community so we can build up our communities. A strong leader builds stronger households & stronger households constructs powerful communities.
🤎🖤Black Love ✊🏿 Black Power ☮️ Black Peace to my 🌡 Community.
Striving For Seventy-Seven
Its never simple with me. Introduce me to a topic & I want to dissect it layer by layer. There are more complex dimension than what meets the eye just as there’s a bi-story to every story. The intricate process of telling a story has to be broken down by chapters or episodes. I want to take this moment to dig into the depths of the #77.
Seven is known to represent God. When paired with an identical 7, the number seventy-seven is defined as perfection. I was born in the year of perfection. Despite only seeing 11 days of the Year of Perfection, those 11 days were given to me by 7. (11x7=77)
My new logo is, also, encrypted with a dash of meaning. My thermometer is has been heated up to 77º. The perfect & most pleasant temperate is 77º & breezy. I like it breezy enough to shift my thermometer a 77º angle. Tilting something at a 77º gives it a nice gangsta lean 😎
Next time you are alone, question yourself. Dig into the depths of yourself & rediscover yourself. Striving for seventy-seven & spiritual fitness feels amazing as 77º weather.
☮️🌡Fam
Love You Into Submission
In the movie Madagascar, Alex was a lion first by nature. Despite him having friends & a great heart, he found it near impossible to control his beastly instincts when times got tough. His “friends” became part of the menu once those hunger pains arose. No matter now hard he fought, his innate tendencies consumed him until he was able to overpower them & win life’s greatest victories. Self-control.
It’s been a huge debate for the past few generations about if a woman should submit to her man. I’ve heard arguments from both corners. Females vow that they would never submit to a man because it’s a sign of weakness. Men feel a woman should submit to them with little or no energy or effort on his behalf. To top off this already confusing debate, we have a 3rd contender…The females who are ready to submit but are bullied for their stance in the fight by women who do not care to submit. But let’s be clear here. To submit is NOT a sign of weakness nor are you giving up your self being! It takes faith, trust & strength & the willingness to simply surrender all your hurt, pains & uncertainties to a strong individual who has proven time & time again that they solely have your best interest at heart.
By definition, submit means to yield to a superior force or to the authority or will of another person. When crossing a street or parking lot, a woman should yield a bit while her man checks for cars & reassures her that the coast is clear. When things go bump in the night, a woman should surrender all worry to her man & let him firmly handle the front line. The object of chess ♟ is to protect the Queen, right? So Queens, empty your pockets of all agony & strain & submit those items to you King. As we excavate this topics, we discover more questions. “Who should a woman submit to?” “When do we know it’s time to?”
A Powerful Tweet From Tamorah Shareef Muhammad
When you have a man & he’s on his throne… this is the answer to whom you should surrender to. When your King is a protector, a provider, offers physical & spiritual stability, is supportive, honors you, loves you, has your best interests in his heart & still find times at the end of his busy day to polish your crown; this is the man you submit your all to. Our Queens should be able to lay their heads at night & be fully rejuvenated in the morning knowing that her man got her.
Now when? Just like Alex the Lion’s innate instincts surfaced, the universe will you when its your time. Just like the above tweet correctly states, she will happily submit once all her needs are met & she’s secure in his circle. When a King is being his superior self & their kingdom is taken care of, a man will NOT have to beat on his chest & demand that she’s bow down to him. You will notice a smooth shift in power. No turbulence or resistance shall prosper during this transition. Actions are more comprehensible than hollow words & once a King puts his abilities in action, she will cheerfully hand him over the wheel.
Even outside of your kingdom we should always be diligent. I’ve had female co workers submit to me on a professional level. They trusted my choices during split second decision making. I was in-tuned with my team & could instantly determine what type of day she was having. I looked out for them & got the same treatment in return. Just as some attend church on Sundays then resume normal business on Mondays, being a figure of superiority never comes to a halt. You have to be your best self with each breath you take. Why beat her into submission when you can cherish, honor & love her into submission.
🤎🖤Black Love ✊🏿 Black Power ☮️ Black Peace to my 🌡 Community.
The Sadistic Statistic
Theres a YouTuber who was tossing this rhetoric around a few years ago that black people account for 14% of the population but we commit 50% of the crimes in America. That just mathematically doesn’t sound possible to me. There are SOO many self appointed lawyers, doctors, statisticians and life coaches on the internet. Please pay attention to the word “Self Appointed”! I’ll be the 1st to admit that I’m no statistician but I do have cognitive reasoning & the ability to ask the proper questions about mathematically incorrect information. The guy who was spreading this info wasn’t doing it in an informative fashion. He was touting & seems to find joy in his message. The new saying is “if its on the internet it MUST be true.” These stats are from the FBI’s website so once again; if its on the internet, it MUST be true. But with all the newly documented evidence exposing the corruption from police agencies, can you truly be convinced that the FBI’s finding are accurate?
I find it hard to believe that 14% is preforming 50% of all of American’s crime. It sounds far fetched but the evidence is in black & white. Here’s why it adds up on paper. If everything that black folks do is considered a crime, then I’m sure that irresponsible statistic is right. I saw a video a few months ago of 4 black youths riding bikes in Ohio. Supposedly there’s a law or ordnance that states you must obtain a license to operate a bicycle. A few police officers were harassing our youth & went as far as to confiscate their bikes. There was a white guy in the comment section who stated that the law was definitely valid BUT the cops NEVER enforce it because its so petty. But for some reason, they felt like enforcing it when it pertains to young black youths. Anything to criminalize black people.
If I commit any form of misconduct at my job, I do not have the luxury of investigating the accused offenses against me so why do police have the privilege to investigate their own wrong doings? When law “enforcement “ agents are called for minor incidents, are they labeling those deescalated matters as crime? “Good cops” love to slap an S on their chest when the perpetrator is a regular citizen but quickly lose their super powers when the criminal is wearing a badge. With the advancement of smartphones & dash cams, our always documented society is a gift & a curse. Police have been found innocent despite hours upon hours of footage of them terrorizing the citizens they are paid to protect. So can you honestly put any amount of faith or trust in a system that’s been known to pencil whip reports to lean in their favor?
Spreading this 14% to 50% misinformation is dangerous to all black men & women. After hearing an alarming stat like this & little Ms. Karen Whitebread is selected for jury duty, she’s instantly has it made up in her mind that an alleged black defendant is guilty without even hearing the details of the case. Or when Susie Whiteface feels the need to play hall monitor in a Walmart Parking lot & someone calls a LEO, upon arrival, they have their minds made up that the darker skinned culprit is the aggressor. This brings 12 year old Tamir Rice to mind. It was basically a drive-by shooting . As soon as the cops arrived on scene, fatal shots were fired. No verbal commands or even time enough to assess the area for danger.
On the surface, 14% of the US population is definitely implementing 50% of the crimes. Its when you start digging deeper & begin to filter facts from fluff that you discover that those misleading numbers are inflated to demonize an entire group. A white woman can commit drunken vehicular homicide & a whole homicide will not tarnish her record but 4 black children cycling without a license will prevent them from getting into the school of their dreams or disqualify them of the well paying job they are fully skilled for. So yes, 14% of us are indeed committing 50% of American crimes. Just like the internet, if the FBI says it then On God it MUST be valid. 😒
🤎🖤Black Love ✊🏿 Black Power ☮️ Black Peace to my 🌡 Community.
Wax Wednesday
Happy Hump Day I.L.L community. A lot of folks do not understand the benefits of a quality wax job. Just like so many other elements in life, we put more emphasis on appearance & tend to have less interests in the protective & performance. We all have seen a freshly washed & waxed vehicle & instantly noticed how the wax adds a gaudy & illustrious shine. A nice coat of wax will rejuvenate any color of paint into a blissful reflective conversation piece. But there’s so much more to car wax than beauty. Lets touch on the protective attributes of a nice quality wax.
Just like a thin sheet of glass you install over the screen of you smart phone, a nice wax is just that; a thin shield of protection. It defends your paint & clear coat from UV rays, dirt, acids found bird droppings, damaging oils from fingerprints & tar & other road soots. Wax will prevent debris from attaching to the clear coat & is easily flushed away during washes. Routine washes are less time consuming & require less effort clean & even drying the vehicle.
Some people will refrain from washing their car if the weatherman says to expect rain. Go ahead & wash it. Its never a good practice to allow gunk to remain on your paint for extended periods of time. After the rain, grab you a bottle of waterless carwash since the water is beaded on your car just like the provided photo. Once the car is clean, apply a thin layer of wax or a few mists of a carnauba spray wax ChemicalGuys Butter Wet Wax. Beaded water means your paint is protected from the elements. Just be sure you are aware of how long the product last. Some waxes advertise that they are effective up to 12 months… but Id definitely reapply every other month just to ensure you are maximizing the level of protection.
Find yourselves a nice car shampoo & a high quality wax to protect your investment. Your car will look immaculate for years come. Its a win/win for you. Fully protected car with a fully unmatchable shine. The name the game is protection. The reflective benefits are the cherry on top.
🤎🖤Black Love ✊🏿 Black Power ☮️ Black Peace to my 🌡 Community.
Read The Room
One of my new favorite saying is “Read The Room!” Reading a room is simply an instant & innate way of feeling the vibe of an area you just entered. Just as your foot tells you the comfort level of a pool of water, your ability to read the room should be just as accurate & responsive. I know everyone has walked into a room & the conversation ceased or changed. Real room readers & feel the awkwardness churning & will notice the sudden behavioral changes of other occupying the room.
Reading a room is an amazing leadership quality that can be problem preventative. Imagine walking into a gas station & by reading the room you notice its being robbed before even stepping foot into danger. Paying close attention to your surroundings will allow you to remain a step ahead of any situation.
Here are a few ways to sharpen your room reading skills. Remain aware. Keeping your focus off your phone and on your complete surroundings is the first step. There is a HUGE difference from being paranoid & being cautious. Always follow your gut. When the universe is signaling to you that something is not right, always follow it and never second think or hesitate on what you feel.
A great way of practicing your room reading abilities walking into an establishment & let the universe expose to you everything you need to say. Practicing in a controlled environment is the best way to prepare you for room reading in real life scenarios. You saw in the movie Life how Ray Gibson & Claude Banks had to read the room! Keep your eyes open, stay proactive and practice READING THE ROOM so you won’t end up as nigga pie!
🤎🖤Black Love ✊🏿 Black Power ☮️ Black Peace to my 🌡 Community.
Charge It To The Game
A lot of our pockets are anorexia due to a lack of financial nutrients. Closed mouths go unfed. Fully understating that you must feed what you want to grow is vital to our existence. Not know what to ask for is also unhealthy. We miss out on so much adventures in life due to a lack of knowledge and an abundance of misinformation. Let me open your minds to something I recently discovered.
About 7 years ago I was conversing with a customer & she was informing me that she was unavailable for delivery during a certain section of the month because she was treating her family to an overseas vacation. I was blown away by the destination & by the time frame she would be away. My instant response was, “Wow, you are lucky. I wish I had money like that to treat my family in that fashion!” She chuckled at my lack of knowledge of her financial stature & told me she was going to let me in on a little secret. Free information, especially on finances will forever catch my attention. What she revealed to me was a bunch of smog if viewed through ignorant eyes but smoothly transitioned into the morning fog of a cool morning of Spring once she explained. She told me she credit card company will finance her trip & has been doing it for the past several years. “But isn’t charging a trip to a credit card incurring debt & encouraging poor spending habits?” “A credit card is like a firearm!”, she said. “Its a weapon in the wrong hands but in well trained hands, it can save your life!” Think of it like this. Remember being taught your favorite card game? You could have a winning hand but if you are ignorant to the rules, you will NEVER win.
A lot of us are unaware that we are holding a winning hand. If you already possess a credit card, check the TOS of the card to see if they incentivize usage of the card. Depending on your level of credit, a card company will offer 1-5% cash back offers on certain purchases at specific retailers. Its simple mathematic. If your card offers 1%, these companies are really giving you a buck for every $100 you charge. If you are able to get your hands on a 5% return, I bow to you & urge you to use it to your fullest! I have a card that offers 1% in store but 2% at the gas pump. Keep in mind that these purchase are on items that you use daily so we are charging items that will sit in a corner & collect dust like that treadmill you bought 3 years ago with less than 17 miles on it.
The point of the post is a particular type of card. The Travel Card. Travel cards will give you milage on every purchase. Be aware not every airline will accept every milage reward so carefully review the TOS to ensure you are maximizing your rewards. Ive seen some cards that offer 2 miles for every dollar charged. Imagine charging $300 on a good or service & gaining 600 travel miles in return. Sounds too good to be true? Really It doesn't. If you have never played the credit card game or have no knowledge that it even exists, what I’m about to reveal to you will pull asunder your broke man’s mentality & open you up to new financial freedoms.
Every man or woman who finances & maintains a household has household bills & expenses. Some have car note, utilities, cell phone bill or whatever. Take your credit card & charge as many bills on it as you can. Now take your bill money & pay your card off soon as your banking app shows the transactions have cleared & processed. For perspectives, charging a $500 car note each month for a year with a 2% return is a whopping $120 in free money. Now toss in your $300 utility bill or $200 phone bill & your $300 in groceries. The cash back or milage you’re building monies that could be play or investment money.
The purpose of the credit card gain game is to only charge the amount if you have the same amount of cash in pocket. Charging nonsensical rubbish that you may have to carry a balance over til the next month is the easiest way to lose this game. Also be leery about annual fees, over the limit fees some purchase that may not offer cash back. I don’t mind an annual fee if the return of investment is worth it. Try not to let high interest rates scare you. Interest fees are non existent if you do not carry a balance AT ALL. If you have a regular credit card, feel free to contact the bank & inquire about converting it into a card that can work for you. Make it a habit to contact them & ask about new features or offers or even exploring your options on increasing your credit limit. NEVER be shy about asking how you can fully maximize making your money work for you.
In closing, credit cards are NOT equivalent to having cash. I tell myself that my credit cards are rich uncles who will easily loan money cash anytime I need it but I have to pay them back in full by a set date. No one has every gotten rich playing the credit card game but many have been able to make this money work for them & give them that free mileage for vacation or free money for vacation that we all need to achieve spiritual fitness. I would love to hear about your realistic money making tips that I may be able to enhance my life. Feel free to leave any tips or comments below.
🤎🖤Black Love ✊🏿 Black Power ☮️ Black Peace to my 🌡 Community.
Managing Mental Health
Kaden Ingram
Happiness must be in the shape of a circle. All of the elements that I’ve been speaking of to achieve metal & spiritual fitness seem to come back around like the hands of a clock. Happiness comes in a multitude of examples. What makes me happy tends to differ from what makes you happy. But I feel we can all agree on that a stable mental health is the foundation to building a happy & healthy lifestyle.
I’m not here to pass judgment or peel away at the levels of this traumatic story. I’m just using this as an example of why our mental is critical & also share a few ways we can battle our demons. On September 11, 2021, an unstable individual lost her battle with a mental illness. Fallon Harris was a city servant of Chicago. The hustle of city living paired with the stress of a demanding job raised concerns with family & friends. A few in her close circle insisted that she sought out mental help. Ms. Fallon finally heeded those suggestions & set a session with a therapist. She took the steps to find the helps she needed but roughly 24 hours after her visit, things took a gruesome turn for the worse. Ms. Fallon became upset over a miss SD Card & shot her beloved 12 yr old son Kaden multiple times. Mr. Kaden’s wounds would seal his fate. 😭
When situations like this happen, we should not point fingers and play the Should’ve, Would've, Could've game. In hindsight we all would be more proactive & prevent circumstances like this from happening before they even surfaced but life doesn’t work that way. We all should keep our eyes open & constantly check on family that we may suspect that's losing a mental struggle. Liking a post is not checking on someone. Call them, go to their house & put eyes on them! A loved one saying they are fine could be an embedded message of “I’m not at my best but I don’t wanna bother you with my issues!”
I’m far from a doctor or specialist but I have conducted a little research of my own. What I have found is MOST (not all) mental instabilities stem from chemical imbalances. The safety way to correct any imbalance is through fasting or clean eating. Fasting allows your body to flush out the toxic chemicals that are pumped into the foods we consume. Also, consuming cleaner & organic items that are not laced with pesticides aids in decreasing the levels of impurities. Intermittent fasting along with clean eating will show you dramatic results in your mental health within 9 days or so.
A morning walk or a vigorous workout routine helps in releasing stress & frustrations & sweating out poisons. Combine these 3 things & you will feel your entire world level out. When troubleshooting why your car will not start, its imbecile to buy a new motor before checking to see if you have gas or if the battery is dead. Correcting a problem with minor tweaks will save you time, money and energy down the line. Don’t let the world tell you that being doped up on Big Pharma’s list of unknown dead-icines ☠️ is the best way to combat your mental concerns.
Lastly, expressing your feelings in a journal or blog is another inexpensive healthy approach. You will find Meditation or venting with a trusted member of your life beneficial as well. We as citizens of the Black Community MUST ensure we are all safe & well cared for. None of these systems are for us or by us so entrusting their systems to assist in our problem typically doesn’t close out in our favor. If you know of any black therapist, feel free to link them in the comment section. If you know any anyone who is losing a mental battle, do anything you can with the powers invested in you that they receive the help they require before we lose anther future leader like Mr. Ingram.
🤎🖤Black Love ✊🏿 Black Power ☮️ Black Peace to my 🌡 Community.
Gentrified: pt Two
This is the first time in ages you have felt secure walking in your environment. You feel so safe that you realized that you have been nearly sleep walking. The newly added crosswalks allow you to move without stepping into now busy streets. You ask yourself, “ Where has this gentrification been my whole life?”. As sweet as this new panorama is, something stabs your tastebuds & leaves a bitter taste in your mouth. The local soul food joint has now disappeared & a Whole Foods has taken its place. The neighborhood liquor store is not a big box chain store. Even our mom & pop corner store is now a Shell station.
You also notice that this new flow of traffic is not mere people passing through but are your new neighbors. Despite your deep love for all the modern enhancements, something just doesn’t sit well with all of the places that earned your business over the years has been replaced with chain businesses that won’t give you the same level of customer service that Neighborhood stores gifted you. With mom & pop stores, its MORE than just customer service. These store owners watched your parents grow from seeds & also was there to watch your parents raise it. They are practically family. Where is your family go? What happened to their booming businesses that once stood so strong & profitable?
As your stroll comes to an end, you make it back to your front door. Theres no place like home but you are really becoming disturbed about what’s happened to your home. As you open your door, you discover a notice informing you of a rate increase of your rent. The cost of the renovations has been passed on the citizens. Deeper into the correspondence it states that starting on the 1st of next month, your rent has been doubled & if you don’t want to or can’t afford the cost of living price hikes, that you must vacate.
Gentrification is like a beautiful layer of make up. From surface view, everting is pretty impressive. But soon as you dig deeper, you learn of its ugly truth. The easiest way to remove poor people is to drop the pros of gentrification right into their lap. This is happening at alarming rates all over the country. This is a form of systematic form of racism. Either pay the price for a decent lifestyle or get your ass out. So many inner city areas are hidden gold minds with hidden treasures. A lot of these environments are special because of us working with what we have to make what we want. Our artist are called vandals. Everything we do to make our living situations sufficient has been labeled as “ghetto” & demonized.
Necessity is the mother of invention. Our ancestors were tossed parts of the pig that whites refused to eat . They were crafty enough to invent means out of parts they were given. Same here. We were forced into their smog filled & polluted inner city areas & made the best out out of them Once they saw how we survived by making tasty meals out of pig’s feet & intestines, they wanted to take them back & call it fine dining. We made hood home & now they are coming back for what they initially do not want. So please don’t fall victim of the pretty paint job of gentrification because its accompanied by an ugly price. And that price will cost you more than sanitary tender.
☮️🌡 Family