“My brother and his wife were apart of the Boston marathon. I was scared when I first heard that it happened. Later when I found out my brother and sister-in-law was okay I felt better but it was still scary.” (My friend the next morning after the marathon)

So.

My sister and I had a pretty uneventful weekend. I went and saw my friend in a play at my college campus, and found out that he was really good. It was fun to watch young adults try to act like children in a play. After I saw his performance, I went home to hang out with my sister. What she told me really had me upset.

She was reading an article online, I think from Yahoo news, and she told me that the suspects in the recent Boston marathon bombing were blaming Natural Born Killers as a reason to go on their killing spree.

Wait, what??!!

Okay so because of a movie I saw, and because it looked like so much fun, I’m going to go and set up bombs during a marathon? One of my favorite movies was Pretty Woman, but do you see me outside on the street at night being a prostitute waiting for my Richard Gere to show up?

I think not.

We can’t blame Hollywood for the crimes being committed in our society. It’s the director’s and writers job to tell a story. How you take the message it’s up to you. What I think is that we need to start being adults, and owning up to our mistakes. It’s not about regulation or censorship. It’s about you admitting to a crime or offense you created. It makes me sick that people will blame everyone, or thing but themselves for the problems THEY created. As a child, if you make a mistake or do something stupid, your parents may take the blame because you’re still young and under the parental umbrella. But when is that umbrella taken away? and when will you admit that something you’ve done is completely on you?

It’s wrong what the bombers did. But sad as it is, I would have more respect for the perpetrators if they admitted their crimes and said that the plans they carried out were stupid, but they still planned to carry out their plan.

But that would mean they had common sense. In my opinion I really believe that you should always own up to your crimes. It’s not right, but it’s a start.

-N

“Jennifer O’Brien has been suspended from her job as a Paterson, N.J., first grade teacher, after she made a post on her blog referring to her African-American and Latino students as future criminals.”

“Michelle Obama was booed at a NASCAR event, Limbaugh defended the booers, saying that they booed her because she’s uppity. “Uppity” was a word used by racists during Jim Crow to describe African-Americans who didn’t know their place.”

“Sally Kern, a Republican state senator from Oklahoma, said that the reason African-American males are in prison is because they don’t want to study in school: We have a high percentage of blacks in prison, and that’s tragic, but are they in prison just because they are black or because they don’t want to study as hard in school? I’ve taught school, and I saw a lot of people of color who didn’t study hard because they said the government would take care of them.”

(Quotes from here: http://newsone.com/1755255/top-10-racist-quotes-of-2011/)

Those are just three quotes from 2011.

So, as I woke up this morning I turned on my DVR to listen to as I was getting ready for school. I saw that I had a recording of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and click on that to see what’s going on.

What I find out is absolutely disturbing and disrespectful.

Rand Paul  spoke at the famous Howard University to recruit more minorities to the Republican party. Why he failed, is because it seemed as if he was lecturing the students on the history of the republican party. As a black educated young woman I find it very  insulting to be “lectured” by a republican.

Oh yeah, because of Frederick Douglass and Lincoln right?

WRONG.

Maybe they’ve forgotten that we can read to. Maybe they’ve forgotten the names being directed at MY PEOPLE for just being who they are.

Let me refresh your memory on the lingo used and groups created to keep blacks down:

KKK, Dixiecrats, southern strategy, uppity, Lee Atwater, chattel slavery, Ronald Reagan(you know the great man who coined the famous term of “welfare queen”)

Need I go on?

Listen, it’s fine if you want to be a republican. I am a Democrat for my own personal reasons. My sister is a Libertarian and my parents are non-political. Do I hate them? No. But you don’t hear me disrespecting that person. That is what I urge of you. To not criticize just because how a person looks. They may know more than you think.

-N

“It is your work in life that is the ultimate seduction.”

– Pablo Picasso

Good afternoon world!

So I’ve been busy. I received feedback from my application for the Fleishman Hillard program and they said they will contact me in the next 2-3 weeks.

Yay!

Some more good news. For the last month my Africana studies class  has been planning our third annual black gender conference. I am pleased to announce that I was able to be in charge of the public relations/promotions of the program.

Double YAY!

I wrote a news release, took it to the school newspaper, created a Face book page, connected with the advertising teams and helped with the distribution of flyers. I wrote out a basic plan that I would follow and then went about implementing it. This has been fun, exciting, and like a big exam for me because it tested my limits, and what I really knew about PR.

It was also a group effort.

You can never forget that planing, or campaigning any event is a collaborated effort, and it can never run on just one person alone (Such as myself). For example,one person in our group was able to get a local television news station to agree to come out on Thursday, while someone else outlined, and wrote a detailed itinerary. The advertising group brought us home with some phenomenal artwork.

We have rehearsed, acquired the room, rehearsed, spoke with other classes, rehearsed, sent emails, and did I mention rehearse?

I felt so proud that I knew what to do as soon as my professor said I could do the public relations aspect. I love knowledge because I feel you can never be in the dark about a situation.

But I love PR more.

I love the planning, the processing, and the innovative way to sell a product, or promote something that was invisible before. Whether it be people, a company, or a place, I love the hard-work and fast pace of it all. I found something I love and I know this was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

What I am trying to say (If I’m saying anything at all) Is that once you’ve found your niche you tend to thrive, and be happy. I hope whoever is reading this is  that one day you find a place where you are happy. Whether it be a job, hobby, or place you go, make sure you do something that makes you excited, and want to repeat on a regular basis. =)

-N

“If you press me to say why I loved him, I can say no more than because he was he, and I was I.” Michel de Montaigne

Good morning world!

So I’m back!!!! Spring break was fun, interesting, and of course something that I will never forget. I started the break going to the movies with my dad. We saw the incredible Burt Wonderstone. It was hilarious and light-hearted. In a way it was also a de-stresser from the past week of doing nothing but work, work, and more work. The reason I’m writing today is to 1) keep up with the posts on my blog so that it stays active and, 2) inform you about what I’m thinking at this time in my life. On my break one of the things that I caught up on was Scandal. There was a part in Scandal when the infamous Olivia Pope is talking to her ex about looking for an all-consuming, hard, once in a lifetime love. Today I was listening to Tevin Campbell’s “alone with you” and I couldn’t help but think about the episode I had just seen.

A friend of mine just entered into a relationship for the first time. When I first heard about it I kept re-reading it out of shock, and then I couldn’t help but to smile. I’m so excited about all of my friends finding love and moving to the next stage in their life. I think that for me, as of now, I’m married to knowledge. I find it pointless to even engage in a relationship at this stage of my life. (I still watch Tarzan and The Lion King whenever I can so what makes me ready for a mature relationship?) So for now, while my friends are engaging in the next stage of their lives, I feel that I will be embarking on the next level of education in mine. And when that time comes, I am the type of person to dive feet first and ask questions later. I hope whoever reads this and is in a relationship know that I’m rooting for it to last. If you are single and reading this, know that you are not alone and that good things come to those who wait. If I’m saying anything at all, I’m saying to just  be happy wherever you are.

-N

=)