Let’s Talk About It!!!

What is there to say?  This is truly unbelievable and my heart goes out to the families who lost their loved ones.

I am over here in tears.  I literally cannot stop crying.  It is sad and it is sickening and I cannot even imagine losing my sons, daughter, brothers, uncles, friends, co-workers, etc.  This senseless killing of black people, especially at the hands of police officers, is becoming too overwhelming.  Seeing and reading all these news reports of these murders is extremely heartbreaking and I feel so defenseless.

One person alone cannot stop these killings.  We need to come together and put an end to these senseless killings.  We need to stand together to get these murders convicted.  As I am reading people’s posts, it seems that we are all in agreement.  However, we need to stop talking about it and actually do something.  We need to join together.

As we all know, THEY KILL US BECAUSE WE KILL US.  So how about we stop killing us?  Why don’t we unite as one and become such a strong force that they have no choice but to think twice before doing ANYTHING to us?  It doesn’t matter if we’re rich or poor, we need to do something NOW!

I refuse to wait for something to happen to my children or anyone close to me before I have something to say.  Before I have a voice.  I had to have a conversation with my sons about what to do and what not to do if they were ever stopped by the police.  Why do I need to have this conversation?  As a mother, I have to make sure my children are safe.  I had to explain to them that by remaining quiet and by submitting does not make them weak or soft.  I had to explain to them that it will hopefully keep them alive.

I know fear paralyzes a lot of us.  It is quite frightening to stand up for what we believe in.  But it is our duty to STAND UP!  As parents, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc. we deserve to have our voices heard and we need to do it without fear.  If they see the fear in us, they will use it against us.  We need to be strong and do what’s right for ourselves and those in our community.

We need to come up with a plan to get our voices heard.  We need to create our own platform instead of waiting for them to give us one.  Show me how! Help me out! Who’s with me?

Let’s Talk About Senseless Killings!

I’m not sure if everyone knows or is familiar with rappers in America.  In this day and age, there are so many rappers in this world and it’s very difficult keeping up.  Rappers have always been talking about selling drugs, making money, buying cars, being killers and being on top of the world.  Within the lyrics of some of their songs, they will refer to killings they’ve done or at least allegedly have committed.

With that being said, there is currently a popular rapper (popular to most) that is  being accused and charged with attempted murder, possession of a weapon and some other charges.  There is, allegedly, video footage showing him firing a weapon in a crowded room.  It is not clear as to whether or not he was targeting someone directly or if even someone was hit due to his firing this weapon, however, he is still being accused of these crimes.

The shootings took place at another rapper’s concert, T.I., in a club in New York City.  The rapper, Troy Ave, allegedly has beef with another gentlemen who was present at the club.  According to news reports, a fight broke out and gunshots rang.  There was a friend of Troy Ave’s that was killed and a few others were wounded.

Now how much sense does this make to you?  It makes absolutely none to me.  People have fights – fist fights – get beat up and then are angry because they lost the fight.  So instead of having a rematch (fist fight), the loser would much rather attempt to kill – sometimes with such sad success.

I wasn’t at the club; therefore, I cannot attest to witnessing such tragedy.  However, I am speaking based on speculation and if this man did commit such a senseless crime, then it was very stupid and his entire life is over.  It is not cute; it is not cool.  His life and career as he once knew it is OVER!

There are mothers and fathers whom have lost their children.  There are sons and daughters  who have lost their fathers. It needs to be realized, understood and clarified that committing crimes does not only affect those involved but all those in their lives.  It needs to be very clear that when an individual commits a crime; they will more times than not be convicted of that crime; in some way, form, or fashion.

When will we ever learn?  When will we get it right? And oh, I didn’t even mention about it being black on black crime.  Sad, isn’t it?

Let’s Talk About Public Education vs. Other Education!

To school or not to school!!!!

THAT IS THE QUESTION

What does a parent do?  Should we send our children off to a public or private school or do we leave them home to be home-schooled or “un-schooled”?

This is such a touchy subject and one that causes such an outrage in parents.  Parents usually know what is right for their children but sometimes may need to listen to reason.  This was a topic on an episode of  Dr.  Phil.

As I was watching, many of the parents were so against sending their children off to school.  They felt their children were better at home with them.  There was multiple reasons as to why they didn’t believe their children should go to school.  Some believed that it was unsafe and they were safer at home.  With all of the school shootings, it was too much of a risk to send their child to a public or private school.  Some parents just did not believe the school system was competent enough to educate their children.  It was an all-out brawl; even to the point where a husband and wife team disagreed.

Throughout the show, I kept hearing the term “un-school.”  I have never heard this term before and this is what really sparked my interest and made me continue watching.   As many of us have heard, home-schooling means that the parent(s) educate their children in the comfort of their home.  They will usually follow the local school curriculum and will administer tests deemed appropriate.  The children will move from grade to grade just as if they were in public or private school.

Un-schooling, however, is a little similar to home-schooling.  The difference is that the parents do not follow a set curriculum.  There is no organization to the education of their children.  They will use life experiences and field trips to educate their children.  They do not take proper examinations and they do not follow the same grade to grade promotion.

Once parents admitted to un-schooling their children, the audience went crazy.  This was such a debate and it was not understood – even by Dr. Phil it seemed – as to why they would believe this way of educating their children was right.

I will give it to the parents though.  They definitely stood their ground.  There was not one parent that swayed from their decision.  They made it very clear that would continue to educate their children the way they wanted and no one was going to tell them differently.

I will not state my opinion on how I feel about this topic.  However, I will tell you that all of my children are and have been publicly educated.  My mother, brothers, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc. and I were all publicly educated and we are some of the most intelligent individuals you will ever meet. 🙂

I would love to hear everyone’s thoughts about this topic.   How were you educated and are your children in-school, home-schooled, or un-schooled?

 

 

 

 

Let’s Talk About Never Giving UP!

 

I had a conversation the other day with a friend and the topic was about children.  We talked about how children are extremely impressionable and adults truly need to be careful with their behavior while children are around.  We as parents, need to recognize that our children are watching our every move and they build their feelings towards us, based upon how we behave.

In other words, children are much smarter than we give them credit for.  They know what is going on – even though they do not verbally express it.  It is up to us (parents &adults alike) to do the right things with our lives and make an OUTSTANDING impression on our children.  We should want them to brag about us, never be ashamed,  and we should want them to follow in our footsteps.

As a child, I remember seeing my grandmother, mother, aunts, uncles, close friends of the family, waking up everyday to go to work and take care of the household.  They all made sure their families were well taken care of and they made sure we all did not want for nothing.

There was always food on the table – home-cooked meals – every day.  No matter how tired our parents were.  There was always clothes for us to wear, sometimes name brand, sometimes not. 

My mother was a single mother – raising four children alone.  I would always ask myself, “how does she do it?” I know my mother was always exhausted at the end of the day BUT she never showed it.  She was not afraid of hard work and she kept working hard even until her children were all grown with families of their own. 

I always looked at my mother, grandmother, and aunts as REMARKABLY STRONG women.  They kept our families together; the best way they knew how.  And I have ALWAYS respected them for it. 

So now in my adult life, I feel it is only right that  I mimic the behavior of those EXCEPTIONALLY STRONG women.  I, too, make sure my children want for nothing and I make sure I make them proud.  I am no stranger to hard work.  In fact, I welcome it.  It keeps me motivated and it keeps my mind highly stimulated.  I am completing my bachelor’s degree and am enrolled in a certificate program to become a Life Coach.  I am now self-employed and I am trying my best to keep myself sane (LOL) while keeping my children happy. 

NO ONE ever said LIFE would be this difficult.  In fact, the women in my life made it look so easy. But I am learning and I will NEVER give up no matter what and I CONSTANTLY instill that same determination in my children.

So to all the grandmothers, grandfathers, mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, whatever your relationship is to a child –

NEVER EVER GIVE UP!

Make sure you’re not only telling them but SHOWING that child just how hard work breeds success.  TELL them just how much you want to see them turn out to be successful.  They will do what you say and do what you do, just to make  you happy, especially if you let them know what it means to you.  

BUT

you better make sure you are making them happy too!

BE EVERYTHING TO EVERYONE WHO DESERVES IT!