I Wonder

Hello all,

I know it is late, but I had to share with you all something that is on my mind. Firstly, tomorrow is a snow day so it's perfectly fine for me to stay up. Now that that is out of the way.....I'm watching Pocahontas right now on Netflix, and it is the most surreal experience. Pocahontas was one of my first films as a child. I know it front and back technically and can remember each detail. Still, this is my first time watching it in at least ten years. I always knew that it told the story of America's colonization, and I've heard tell that it is inaccurate in some ways and had biases, wrong facts, and was basically Disney-fied to make it suitable for children. Now that I've taken several classes concerning the colonization of nations and peoples, I find it hard to watch without shedding a tear.

NOTE: By the way, I am speaking quite formally, and that is because I have been watching the British drama series  Downton Abbey, which concerns the aristocracy and lower classes, nonstop for the past couple of days and  find that my writing reflects it.

Anyway, in some of the Englishmen's minds, they were improving the lives of the "savages," as well as their own, by bringing "civilization" to the Americas. However, those in charge knew the truth. They knew that they would enslave through religious servitude the natives of the land and take all of their resources without a thought to how they may feel. As I've mentioned before, my research deals with the effects of colonization on the Americas so I have spent a great deal of time looking into what actually happened and why. It is sad that human nature requires those in a position of power to enslave others whether through actual servitude or by rendering them incapable of independent living through economic manipulations as we see with the U.S. government's part in housing projects, drug abuse, media, the unemployment office, the education system, and biases within the judicial system towards minorities and lower classes. Sometimes I wish we could start all over and do things right, but there will always be someone not content with their life and who will make others suffer.

Examples of this are found everywhere. One such example is in Alexander Dumas' novel The Count of Monte Cristo. Fernand is rich and powerful but is jealous of the poor yet happy Edmond Dantès, who is engaged to the woman Fernand wants and thus conspires against him to send him to the notorious prison Châteu d'If for life. Another thing I've always related this jealousy/power struggle/discrimination thing with is a Dr. Seuss tale because, of course, Dr. Seuss always knows the right things to say. One of my favorite Dr. Seuss books is The Sneetches and Other Stories. This book is about a group called the Sneetches who either do or do not have stars on their bellies. Those with stars act elitist and those without are ostracized. So when a man comes who can add stars to the starless Sneetches for a price, they jump at the chance. This upsets the original starred Sneetches who do not want to be like the others, and they get the man to remove their stars. Soon, no one can remember who originally had stars and who didn't, but they realize that a star does not make someone better or worse than another person. They learn that the character of a person is more important than their physical appearance. I love this story and its message. Discrimination is a nasty thing. I've tried to ignore it, dismiss it, and all of the above, but it is in everything we do. I used to think, what if we were all blind? Then we couldn't discriminate based on the color of one's skin. I soon realized that we would find other things to discriminate like foot steps or the intonation of our voices. 

I know that this is heavy stuff for three in the morning, but, as a young scholar, I ask that you all remember the past and its problems so that we're not shocked by the future. I do believe that history repeats itself, even if you don't. Though we can't colonize whole continents anymore in the traditional sense, please know that there are some of us who are colonizing the masses from a high point, and we must know how to combat this. The solution is in our textbooks, memoirs, and other remnants of the past. All we have to do is look.

One Step Closer!

Hey Byrds,

I just had to tell you guys about my great news. A few minutes ago, I just submitted an abstract to Truman's Student Research Conference Committee. For those of you not involved with research, an abstract is a formal summary of your research paper or essay. My paper is titled Disparities in Collective Land Rights Gains and looks at how some Afro-Latin American groups have obtained land rights and how most have not. It feels so cool to conduct research into a topic that I'm interested in. My research mentor has been a gem in this whole process. You guys should check out her website: Meg Edwards. She is so cool! She just completed her dissertation at the University of New Mexico, has received a Fulbright scholarship to research in Argentina and Ecuador, and is now teaching political science courses here at Truman State University. Basically, she has done everything that I want to do in my life. With people like her in my corner, I can have no choice but to succeed.

I want to give a shout out to my international readers! It warms my heart to see that people are reading my blog in the U.K., Malaysia, Indonesia, and so many others.

Also, if you go to Truman State, you better come out tonight to Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc.'s Stroll-Off tonight at 7:20 pm in the SUB Down Under! Alpha Phi Alpha's Black and Gold pageant girls will be represented tonight and let me tell you, we are ICE COLD.  All jokes aside, it brings tears to my eyes to do this event with these lovely ladies. I almost didn't do it but the sentimental fool in me realized that there won't be many more chances to do things like this in my undergraduate career. With the Lord's will, I will be a senior next year and then it's off to the real world. So, I just had to learn a few new strolls and represent the group that has helped make me who I am today :)

Wish us luck and have a wonderful Friday!

Raw Talent!

Hola Byrds!

For those of you who know me, you know that my favorite singer is Beyonce` Knowles. Here's a little background into why she is. When I was about six years old, I would go with my Daddy to visit my two half sisters, Arielle and Charelle, who are five and six years older than me respectively. My sisters lived with their mother when we were growing up. Anyway, on Thursdays, my Daddy would take his girls around the Metro St. Louis area and we would do whatever we wanted to. At this time, my oldest sister, Charelle, was really into this new group called Destiny's Child. She would always play the casette tape of The Writings on the Wall album. I ended up falling in love with the single "Bills, Bills, Bills" and would play that song over and over and over again, which, if you remember casette tapes, that meant that I would physically rewind the song each time it was finished playing. Oh, the good old days. Eventually, I started listening to the other songs Destiny's Child had put out and was soon a big fan of "No, No, No,"  "Bug A Boo," and "Jumpin, Jumpin." Thus, I have been a faithful fan of Destiny's Child, Beyonce`, Kelly, LaTavia, LaToya, and Michelle for most of my life.

          

Of course, I'm gonna have a soft spot for Beyonce`'s mom Miss Tina, her sister Solange, her nephew Jules, her husband Jay-Z, and her daughter Blue Ivy.

So today I was talking on the phone with my dad, and he was trying to figure out how to share a link with me and Charelle on Facebook. After I helped him out, he told me it had something to do with Solange. When I got  home, I found the link titled "Raw Video of Solange Knowles Singing in Back of Cab" and was instantly intrigued. The last time I heard Solange sing, I was a youngster, and she'd put out the single "Solo Star" and was singing with Destiny's Child on The Proud Family's theme song. When I heard this raw music, I was blown away and just had to share this with my readers RIGHT away. Check out the musical stylings of Solange Knowles :)

Raw Video of Solange

MAP Association Cypher & Interview

Hey Byrds!!

Last weekend, my association the Minority Ambassadors Program Association (M.A.P.) held a Black History Month Cypher that featured five students rapping about issues related to Black History. It was a great event and definitely a success. There were other types of performances too besides rap, which I enjoyed the most. My old roommate got up and performed spoken word for her FIRST TIME and rocked it. She is also a member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. so she knows no other way than to be fly. I was very proud of my friend.

Another highlight performance for me was a cover of Nina Symone's song "4 Women" which is a song that I've fallen in love with in the last few years. My dad had me come watch Jill Scott, Ledisi, Marsha Ambrosius, and Kelly Price perform the song on an award show my sophomore year, and I loved it. I actually had my professor in my African American Literature course play the performance via YouTube for the rest of the class to hear. They were mesmerized. So when my presidents told me that this song would be performed, I was ecstatic. Just to clarify, I'm the Cultural Climate Chair of the organization. One of the presidents, our secretary, a member, and a fellow student performed the song and were incredible. I enjoyed the performance.

The part a lot of students enjoyed too were the mocktails that we had served throughout the event. Mocktails are non-alcoholic drinks mixed from orange juice, sprite, ginger ale, cranberry juice, and whatever the bartender chooses to make. I loved 'em! Our school always holds Mocktails throughout Freshmen Week, but I've never went to it so it was great to finally experience them. Anyway, here's a link from my lovie Jacqueline, who's a reporter at my school for our television station News36 about our event with an interview towards the end from yours truly http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kIcC1-6dS0  :)

Enjoy!