giggles. photo by misterjt. found on Flickr. Think about what makes you different and what you do that lights people up. Reflect on all the things that make you different — you’ll find they’re what make you beautiful. I’m awesome. The end. That’s a bit of a Mims-like tautology, isn’t it? What really makes me [...]
[8 Dec 2010]
Black Men of Labor Second Line 2010 by offbeatmagazine. Found on Flickr Soon, this area will be flat as a prairie. Everything that once was Lower Mid-City is being dismantled, including the streets, lampposts, curbs, electric lines, and sidewalks. On a day in early November, empty lots tramped by heavy machinery surrounded remaining homes. Although [...]
[7 Dec 2010]
Royal Street in the Faubourg Marigny, New Orleans. Where have you discovered community, online or otherwise, in 2010? What community would you like to join, create or more deeply connect with in 2011? New Orleans. And I mean that in both physical and virtual terms. I have visited the city three times in 12 months. [...]
[7 Dec 2010]
I wasn’t invited to shake hands with Hitler, but I wasn’t invited to the White House to shake hands with the President either. I came back to my native country and I could not ride in the front of the bus. I had to go to the back door. I couldn’t live where I wanted. [...]
[6 Dec 2010]
What (or whom) did you let go of this year? Why? The obvious answers are: my job and my home. Well, I haven’t full given either of those up just yet, but it’s coming. I gave notice to my job. I plan to list my house for sale within the next week. Then I will [...]
[6 Dec 2010]
Celebrating my impending move from Atlanta and my end of Georgia Peachdom with a playlist of Atlanta and Georgia-related songs. Some versions may not be safe for work. (Whatchu know about I-20 to 285? Shoot, I’ve lived near there on the east side for 8 of the 10 years I’ve been in Atlanta. There’s also [...]
[2 Dec 2010]
Photo by Rick Austin. Found on Flickr. Also see: Part I and Part II Now since my revelation, I also fell in love with and became engaged to a man who lives in a city that I never wanted to visit, let alone live in. But visit I did. Imagine my surprise when I realized [...]
[1 Dec 2010]
African? American? Both? Or neither? “Black” seems to be an accepted hybrid term that falls short of claiming either entity yet still denotes exceptionalism in this society. Nonetheless, this ambiguity isn’t entirely neutral, as black people generally seem prone to distance themselves more from Africa, than America — either consciously or sub-consciously. So says Malik [...]
[25 Nov 2010]
Taste is not stable and peaceful, but a means of strategy and competition. Those superior in wealth use it to pretend they are superior in spirit. Groups closer in social class who yet draw their status from different sources use taste and its attainments to disdain one another and get a leg up. These conflicts [...]
[14 Nov 2010]
That vibrancy comes from the many cultures who come here and bring many angles, many views of looking at life. To be exposed to those, it begins to stimulate you, your own energies, at another level, where you just become richer for it. It doesn’t dilute your own essence, it just makes you richer. That’s [...]
[7 Nov 2010]