Thursday, June 18, 2015

Black Joy

I ran across the most beautiful hashtag today.  In the midst of so much Black pain, @ReignofApril asked people to post pics that are examples of #BlackJoy.

I don't have a picture, but at the moment, I can't stop watching this video.  It gives me complete #Blackjoy when I watch it. #LittleMissTJ is now 10 months, almost 11, and she has become quite the character.  Here's a snippet of how we spend our time as we wait for Hubs to get home from work.

#Blackjoy


Until next time...I'm racing home from the coffee shop to go snuggle with my nugget!

Prayers Up

This has been a tough week.

The farce of the woman whose name I refuse to say. Guess I'll go pull out my flat iron and be a White woman tomorrow. NOT.

The deportation of those of Haitian ancestry in the Dominican Republic. The DR will NEVER make our list of places to visit ever again.

But last night, I lulled off to sleep with the news of a church shooting.  Too tired and in need of some decent sleep (says the mother of an infant - ha!), I decided not to delve head-first into the news.  When I awoke this morning and took it all in, I was outdone.

I've shared numerous times on here that I'm a church kid.  My dad is a pastor, and my childhood memories are full of Vacation Bible School, church lock-ins, and choir rehearsals.  The Charleston shooting hit me hard.  The fact that I spent time on the phone this morning discussing church safety with my parents is so disheartening.

While everyone is posting about sending prayers up, and I fully believe we should, I'm in more of an action space today.  As long as there is breath in my body, I will fight against racism, and more specifically anti-Blackness. Whether it's with my students in class, in a conversation with friends, colleagues, or strangers, or in social media and blog posts (that I'm reluctant to post in fear of how I'll be perceived).

Y'all keep praying.  I'll be sending some up as well.  But my prayers won't just be for Charleston, they'll be for the courage and the right words to prick people's hearts against anti-Blackness.

Until next time. . . I'll be over here reminding folks that we matter.