Jennifer's Bloggin': USA - A Blessing And A Curse

Jennifer's Bloggin': USA - A Blessing And A Course: I am biased because I haven’t been to many countries, but just from reading and what I’ve learned, I know I live in the greatest country on...

USA - A Blessing And A Curse

I am biased because I haven’t been to many countries, but just from reading and what I’ve learned, I know I live in the greatest country on this earth, even though it’s both blessed and cursed. 

As President Obama said, “It’s (the United States) not a perfect union,” but we are blessed to have freedoms that many countries dream about.

Still, this dynamic nation has issues that dig deep into the fabric of its creation. 

We are a country born of racism and violence.  Without recapping history, we learned in grade school that the early settlers claimed this land, killed Indians and enslaved Africans. 

We’ve come a long way in 300 – 400 years.

Having an African American President says a lot about how far we’ve come and how minds are changing. 

I understand that change takes time, but when it’s your race or your group being targeted, sometimes change can’t come soon enough.

With the evolution of equality moving at a snail’s pace, I’m glad that I was born when I was.

“I know that I couldn’t live in the 50’s and 60’s,” I told my son, as we were watching the Jackie Robinson movie.  “I would have been hung or lynched because there’s no way that I could maintain my decorum being treated like that.”

“You don’t know what you would have done,” my thirteen-year-old replied, “because your mindset would have been different.  You’re free.  Black people back then were free but they weren’t free.”

‘Back then’ is my mother’s generation. 

She grew up in a time where there were white-only bathrooms, when black people sat in the back of the bus, when there were segregated schools and hand-me-down books from white schools.  She lived in a time period where it was normal to hear a white person call a black person colored or a nigger.

My father was a second generation American.  He was a civil rights leader and campaigned for the recognition of Martin Luther King’s birthday.  He demanded civil rights for all people, and he even preached at a church on occasion. 

I grew up in a racially-mixed neighborhood.  My brother and I were the only black kids on the block.  My friends from back in the day were white, black, Spanish, Asian… the list goes on, and they’re still my friends today.

I didn’t experience racism until I was an adult, and I’m seeing racism more so now because people feel they have the right to say and do whatever they want. 

“Americans have too much freedom, and they are very cruel,” I’ve heard immigrants and Naturalized American citizens say.     

I don’t agree that we have too much freedom, but I do believe that cruel behavior stems from greed, hatred, jealousy, ignorance and poverty. 

And I do believe that there are some people that abuse and hide behind the law. 

There are people who do feel there are justifiable reasons to act in a rebellious manner.

Yes, “there’s a reason to kick an old man down a flight of steps, but you just don’t do it!” comedian, Chris Rock said so eloquently.

I know how hard it is to walk away when someone attacks the core of your being, whatever that might be, but sometimes walking away and thinking about the situation will give you a different perspective.

Maybe we all need to take an anger management class.  J

With so many different races and religions and practices and beliefs, it will not be easy to act as one people, and it takes time and patience to understand and/or accept each other’s differences.

We are not a nation of one race and one religion and one culture. 

We are a nation of everyone, and no one is going anywhere, so it’s best to work together and find solutions to create peace and not instill unjust practices that will further ignite hostility and chaos. 

America is both blessed and cursed to have such diversity.   That’s what makes us such a phenomenal country. 

If we all try just a little bit more, someday we’ll start behaving like a United Nation. 

Jennifer's Bloggin': KKK, the Neighborhood Watch, and Stand Your Ground...

Jennifer's Bloggin': KKK, the Neighborhood Watch, and Stand Your Ground...: Do you think it’s a coincidence that the KKK is creating a neighborhood watch program just weeks after George Zimmerman was acquitted of mu...

The KKK Promotes Neighborhood Watch - Stand Your Ground!

Do you think it’s a coincidence that the KKK is creating a neighborhood watch program just weeks after George Zimmerman was acquitted of murdering Treyvon Martin? 

KKK And Neighborhood Watch Video  This video is a wakeup call and it makes me nervous.  

We already know what can happen when someone in the neighborhood watch takes matters into their own hands.  Take for instance, the Zimmerman case.  The dispatcher said, "We don't need you to do that." Zimmerman responded, "Okay."^[78] Zimmerman asked that police call him upon their arrival so he could provide his location.^[13] Zimmerman ended the call at 7:15 p.m.^[13]

It is a reasonable theory that if Zimmerman would have listened to the police, Zimmerman would not have killed Martin.

How many (more) people will be killed recklessly and without regard, all in the name of self-defense, before laws are changed? 

I’m not saying get rid of Stand Your Ground; I’m saying modify them.  We live in an age of delusion and outdated laws, and it’s hurting our society.  In the Zimmerman case, delusion and outdated laws were compounded with bad defense.

How in the world did the prosecutor think they would get a fare shake with an all white jury,all female jury?!  I have nothing against white people.  My ex-husband is white and I have many white friends, but COME ON!  Many white people have reservations towards black people because of history and currentday craziness.  I can understand that.  I could understand why a white female may be quicker to pull the trigger had her nosy ass been in that same situation, but that don't make it right! 

Had a person of color or a man been on the jury, maybe that person could have shed some light with experience, stories and for instances that the all white female jury could understand.  Bottom line -  fear shouldn’t cost an unarmed person their life when that shooter shouldn't have been there in the first place!

Call your governor and let them know that they need to update these laws now before all hell breaks loose.  People are entitled to defend themselves.  However, add stipulations, such as, “If you are safe and law enforcement says, ‘Stand Down’ and you instead accost, you are thereby forfeiting your rights under Stand Your Ground.”

If KKK's organized neighborhood watch catches on, more innocent people are going to be victims of murder in the name of fear and / or hate.

It’s just my opinion and everyone is entitled to one.  Thank you very much! J

Let's go camping - Joke with language

“You know what, let’s go camping.   Do you like to camp?” I asked.

(An unusually long silence.)

“Oh, you’re an uppity Negro,” I said, hoping to one day be an uppity Negro.  

“Uh, no, I just like showers and air-conditioning,” he replied.

“Well, why did you go?”

“I didn’t have a choice.”

“Why didn’t you have a choice?”

“Because I was an ex-change student, and they were taking me on retreat.  They had everything… huge house, cars, lots of space, but for a couple of days they lived like they didn’t have shit.  What kind of holiday is that?  It was nasty and didn’t teach me shit.  If I had known, I would have declined. We were living like Pilgrims, pulling up water from a well.  The mother fuckers took me from the shower to the bucket.  Don’t get me wrong.  I didn’t show any weakness.  I fit in.  I don’t know.   I guess it’s a reality check or some kind of spiritual experience. Uh, camping’s not bad. Maybe I just had a bad experience.”

LOL! J

Jennifer's Bloggin': If I'm Lying I'm Flying - Funny Short Story

Jennifer's Bloggin': If I'm Lying I'm Flying - Funny Short Story: I barbecued some chuck beef, and my son left three small pieces on his plate because he said it hurt his jaw muscles.   Nah, it was right...

If I'm Lying I'm Flying - Funny Short Story

I barbecued some chuck beef, and my son left three small pieces on his plate because he said it hurt his jaw muscles.  Nah, it was right on point, but I’m not going to make him eat every nook and cranny for “all the starving kids in Africa.”  (You remember J)  So, I gave it to my baby girl.  No, I didn’t up and have a kid that no one knows about.  J  I gave it to my dog… Happy.  Boy, she was licking her snout after every swallow.    

My son started for the living room to play X-box Live, and so I asked if he wanted to sing with me?  

He said, “Not right now.”  Both of us love to sing, and a few days ago, he asked me to help him prepare for the school chorus.  “Maybe later,” he continued.

My dog looked at me and said, “Ruff!  Ruff!  Ruff!  Ruff!”

“Oh, you want to sing with me, Happy,” I said joyfully. 

She said, “Ruff.”

It was as if she knew what I was saying, and so I replied, “Ok.  Let’s sing Old MacDonald.”

She just looked at me and wagged her tail, and as soon as I started to sing, she barked in on beat.

“Ruff.  Ruff.  Ruff.  Ruff.  Ruff.  Ruff.  Ruff.”  J

I said, “Well, I’ll be damn!” and burst out in laughter because my dog was show-enough YouTube material.  She was singing!

If I’m lying I’m flying.

And to top my day off regarding my baby girl, the bitch didn’t piss on my floor. 

God is good.  J

Hey, you’ve got to see all the funny you can in this life. 

Have a great day!  And Share people.  Come on now.  It desn't cost a thing to hit that little button.  And it only takes five minutes to write a comment and make someones day.  Come on now.  Send a link to your Facebook family.  

Help a sista out!  J

Jennifer's Bloggin': Money Well Spent - Dealing With My Baby-Daddy

Jennifer's Bloggin': Money Well Spent - Dealing With My Baby-Daddy: Oh, I was heated.   Ticked off.   Pissed.   Ready to cuss my baby-daddy out! But then I realized; I just bought myself a piece of happiness....

Money Well Spent - Dealing With My Baby-Daddy

Oh, I was heated.  Ticked off.  Pissed.  Ready to cuss my baby-daddy out! But then I realized; I just bought myself a piece of happiness.

So, my baby-daddy told me weeks ago that he wanted to buy a brand new phone for my son because my son lost and broke his other phones.  Yes, plural.  Now, we didn’t buy the boy a phone so he can yap day and night; it was really out of protection for him, and to make us feel a little bit more secure in this crazy world.  I like the fact that I can call our son without yelling his name for everyone to hear in the echo of the night.  I agreed to the purchase because I know my son is a tech-junky like his father, and he promised he’d be more responsible.

A few weeks later, my baby-daddy said that our son needed to earn a brand new state-of-the-art phone and that he’d get him a flip top until he proves himself.  I liked that answer!  (Shoot, I still have a flip top. J  And my son had just lost a bike that I bought him last year because he didn’t listen and failed to lock it up.)

Well, the day of my son's birthday, baby-daddy said he bought our son a phone and I needed to give him $100.  I told him that I’d spent a bunch of money on our son’s birthday and gave him $120 so he could buy these headphones for his X-Box.  However, I had a change of heart and said, ok, but I can’t give it to you all at once.  You can take payments out of the child support.

A couple days after my son’s birthday, my son starts acting like he lost his mind.  Well, he did turn 13, so I know his hormones are in overdrive.  He started talking back like I wasn’t his momma, and that made me want to rise up, but I didn’t.  His grandmother felt my pain because she said she’d noticed the same thing and promised a can of whoop ass when she healed from surgery; though, she wouldn’t spank her grandson, as much as she believes “spare the rod spoil the child”. 

So, I texted baby-daddy and asked for his help in getting our son straight, and he agreed, but the next day, flipped the script and said that I was the cause of our son being so spoiled.  Oh, hell no!  I reminded him that he was the one buying all this stuff.  Now, why does a kid need an X-Box, Play Station, Wii, Gameboy, ipod, etc.  Shoot, when I grew up, we had an Atari and shared it with the entire neighborhood.

No, this man wasn’t blaming me when I was asking for help.

I texted back: Don’t take that money out because you are part of the problem too, and it’s not fair that I’m paying half of your present and all of mine. 

I reminded him that he told me and our child that he wasn’t getting a state-of-the-art phone for his birthday, and that I didn’t find out he bought it until the day of our son's birthday.  I reminded him that he said our son had to earn it.  I copied baby-daddy’s mom because I wanted a witness.  Yes, because it cuts out much BS.

So, fast forward… three weeks later…

Yesterday, baby-daddy threw $100 on the table.  I said, “You’re short.”  He said, “You remember you said…”  I stopped him and said, “Get the hell out” because I didn’t want to act a fool in front of our son.  My head was already spinning because of some other craziness. 

I was heated, ticked off, pissed, but then I started to smile, and I wrote my baby-daddy an email…

“What you have done is just made it harder on yourself because now when you ask me for anything, the answer will always be no. Keep the $100. It was money well spent.”

And I had a happy rest of the day!

:-)

 

Are You Listening To Yourself?

I’m sorry that he won’t apologize for his mistakes.  Instead he wants to twist and turn the truth until it’s a lie just to make you feel bad.  He said he’s never wrong.  He said that you need to take your medicine when he displayed poor character, and you called him out on it in private.  Then he walked away when you were telling him how you felt, and he responded tersely because you brought it up the next morning.  Well, whose fault was that?  He called you crazy because he wouldn’t listen to you when you were civil, and then he started talking out the side of his neck, which brought out the fool in you.  And the kicker, instead of saying he was sorry for the nonsense in the first place, he points out another one of your faults. 

I’m just repeating what we just talked about so I can be sure that you are listening to yourself.

You’re better than that.

Dear Chris,

I just wanted to send my love. I wish I could give you a big hug. I wish I could take some of the pain away. I know it hurts, but know your baby is with you always. He'll probably show up in your dreams a lot, and that will give you some comfort after the initial shock. He's there. He's in your heart and in your mind. He's probably sitting right next to you talking smack.  You have so many wonderful memories. You were there for him through thick and thin. You always did everything you could and then some. You made sure he got through school. You were the team mom on his sports events. Stephen was not only your son but your confidant and friend. You were and are a fantastic mom, and he loved you dearly. You could see it in his eyes. He respected you. He listened to you. He had a good life on earth, but now he's flying free. Try your best to be happy when you think of him. He doesn't want you to be in pain. Stephen had a great life because he had you as a mom. Hang in there.