As 2014 nears the end I sit back and reflect on all everything that happen. There were some good and definitely some bad. We've had unjustified murders of black men and people of color by law enforcement. In terms of politics, President Obama has done a great job even in opposition of a house that refuses to work with him on almost anything. When unemployment was up, and the stock market was down and gas was nearly $4.00 they blamed POTUS. Now that unemployment is down, the stock market up and gas is under $2.00 you don't hear a peep from the opposition.
On a more personal note I was laid off of a job I had been at quite a while, I enjoyed it but I guess the Lord had another direction for me. My husband and I have gotten closer than ever and I couldn't be more happy about that. I also believe I have found my purpose, sometimes it even takes 42 years.......even though I had all the pieces to the puzzle I am just now putting them altogether and I am ever so grateful for that.
As I enter into 2015 in less than six hours I want to enter into it with purpose in my heart and mind. I want to know that I have what it takes to affect change in the lives of others in a positive way, in a way that will make a significant difference in young girls and women lives. My goal is to eliminate negative energy and foolishness, things and people that don't add value and purpose to my life. My goal is to be the best wife to my husband Chip Cooke as I can possibly be. I want to become more spiritually aware and work on my mind, body and soul. My goal in 2015 is to be the best ME possible. I am looking forward to nurturing great friendships, business relationships and adding value to everything and everyone that I come into contact with.
I am thankful for everything that 2014 has offered but I am eagerly awaiting on 2015 to make my mark on this world.
So long 2014.........
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
My Purpose
My Purpose Is to..........
Love
Mentor
Lead
Teach
Empower
Inspire
These are just a few of the characteristics' needed to change the climate of these dangerous times for people of color. I am ready to take up the charge and do my part in applying the above characteristics' to change the tone of injustice and inequality around me and my community. I know that I am not the only one that feels this way, so I implore those that feel as I do to help unite the people so we can get busy making changes.
We CANNOT, I repeat CANNOT continue down the path set forth. It's time for all the shucking and jiving to stop, it's time for us to stop going about our day as if it's any other day. We are in a time that is requiring all of us to set our differences aside, UNITE and work together for the betterment of our race or we'll be going backwards and will be there in no time.
We have got to get it together people before it's too late, what are we waiting for? They are killing our boys and men at alarming rates with no consequences. What will it take for us to put down the misogynistic music, turn off the destructive images that are forming the minds of our young and old adults. It is not a coincidence that every other channel has images of black and brown people acting a fool, degrading themselves, men degrading women. It's not just entertainment, it's planned and we have fell for the trick.
We are smarter than this, we are an intelligent people. Let's start acting like it.
Love
Mentor
Lead
Teach
Empower
Inspire
These are just a few of the characteristics' needed to change the climate of these dangerous times for people of color. I am ready to take up the charge and do my part in applying the above characteristics' to change the tone of injustice and inequality around me and my community. I know that I am not the only one that feels this way, so I implore those that feel as I do to help unite the people so we can get busy making changes.
We CANNOT, I repeat CANNOT continue down the path set forth. It's time for all the shucking and jiving to stop, it's time for us to stop going about our day as if it's any other day. We are in a time that is requiring all of us to set our differences aside, UNITE and work together for the betterment of our race or we'll be going backwards and will be there in no time.
We have got to get it together people before it's too late, what are we waiting for? They are killing our boys and men at alarming rates with no consequences. What will it take for us to put down the misogynistic music, turn off the destructive images that are forming the minds of our young and old adults. It is not a coincidence that every other channel has images of black and brown people acting a fool, degrading themselves, men degrading women. It's not just entertainment, it's planned and we have fell for the trick.
We are smarter than this, we are an intelligent people. Let's start acting like it.
Sunday, December 14, 2014
John Legends op-ed, Billboard magazine
Below is the op-ed John Legend wrote for Billboard magazine where he breaks down the effects of structural racism, the wealth gap,
voting restrictions and the criminal justice system. Very well written and something that needed to be said by a celebrity/entertainer
When Common and I wrote the song "Glory"
for the stunning new film Selma, we drew inspiration from Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr. and his contemporaries who strived and sacrificed to achieve racial
equality in the face of seemingly hopeless odds. As I watched the final version
of Selma, I did so with the backdrop of the streets of many of our major cities
filled with protesters, crying out for justice after yet another unarmed black
person's life was taken by the police with impunity. After the events of the past
few weeks, in Ferguson, Mo.; Staten Island; Phoenix; and Cleveland, things feel
eerily the same. While it is important to recognize and acknowledge racial
progress through the years, it is also clear that we are far from King's dream
of equality and justice for all.
Slavery ended 150 years ago. The most egregious
elements of Jim Crow were deemed illegal 50 years ago. But the problems of
structural racism are old and ongoing. We still have a huge wealth gap rooted
in decades of job, wage and housing discrimination. Voting restrictions that
disproportionately affect the poor, minorities and youth are in place and
growing. A persistent gap between black and white student achievement points to
an education system that fails to provide a ladder of opportunity for everyone.
African-American communities are being crushed by a criminal justice system
that over-polices us, over-arrests us, over-incarcerates us and
disproportionately takes the lives of our unarmed youth because of the simple
fact that our skin, our blackness, conjures the myth of a hyper-violent negro.
I did an album with The Roots in 2010 called Wake
Up! We wanted to use music to encourage young people who were politicized by
the election of President Barack Obama to continue mobilizing. We covered songs
from the 1960s and '70s by artists like Nina Simone and Curtis Mayfield as
inspiration and a blueprint. They marched. They wrote songs. They met with
political leaders. They provided financial support. They risked arrest.
Today, I am part of a generation of artists who
benefit from unprecedented access to our fans. Tools like Twitter and Facebook
act as a megaphone, allowing us to speak directly and powerfully to millions of
people. Yet our actions, or lack thereof, speak louder: 140 characters cannot
excuse us of our obligation to stand up, sit in or march forward.
Obama recently told the young activists gathered in
the Oval Office to "think big, but go gradual." His words reminded me
of President Lyndon B. Johnson's reluctance to tackle voting rights, as
depicted in Selma. Despite Johnson's qualms, civil rights activists refused to
wait for a more convenient political time. They took to the streets and used
grass-roots organization and the moral force of their argument to create better
conditions so the legislation could pass. We can’t wait for gradual and
incremental change. Our government is a democracy, by the people and for the
people. It is time for the people to wake up, stand up and demand change.
What are your thoughts?
Monday, December 8, 2014
Addicted
So I was sitting here this morning going through my emails and receive one from my husband. "Babe your boots will be here by Friday", now anyone that knows me knows I'm addicted to shoes. I love the way they look, feel, and smell. I love how it can transform a simple pair of jeans and white tee or tank into a chic ensemble.
Needless to say I was very excited. I know my addiction is not an anomaly due to most women I know have the same addiction if not two or three. Some have a love for handbags, they can spend upwards of $3000 for one. I totally could not do that but hey......shoes are my thing. Some spend crazy cash on their hair, I've recently started experimenting with sew ins and although I love how they look.........they itch like CRAZY. Out of the two I've gotten the longest I had one in was a month, but shoes. Man I love them something terrible, I prefer heels the higher the better (the heel height usually doesn't exceed 6 inches). I love expensive shoes and not so expensive, as long as they don't look cheap I'm cool, LOL.
My husband sometimes complains that I have too many shoes, even though he will buy them for me. For some odd reason he thinks I have more shoes than any other woman in the world, we all know that that's not true. But he knows that I enjoy them and when I'm happy.....he's happy.
So in my quest to share my absolute love of shoes, please share your absolute love. Whether it be shoes, handbags, weaves or whatever. We all have an addiction
Needless to say I was very excited. I know my addiction is not an anomaly due to most women I know have the same addiction if not two or three. Some have a love for handbags, they can spend upwards of $3000 for one. I totally could not do that but hey......shoes are my thing. Some spend crazy cash on their hair, I've recently started experimenting with sew ins and although I love how they look.........they itch like CRAZY. Out of the two I've gotten the longest I had one in was a month, but shoes. Man I love them something terrible, I prefer heels the higher the better (the heel height usually doesn't exceed 6 inches). I love expensive shoes and not so expensive, as long as they don't look cheap I'm cool, LOL.
My husband sometimes complains that I have too many shoes, even though he will buy them for me. For some odd reason he thinks I have more shoes than any other woman in the world, we all know that that's not true. But he knows that I enjoy them and when I'm happy.....he's happy.
So in my quest to share my absolute love of shoes, please share your absolute love. Whether it be shoes, handbags, weaves or whatever. We all have an addiction
Thursday, December 4, 2014
NO INDICTMENT...........THEY DON'T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT US!
The current topic today is NO INDICTMENT for the NYC cop that used the ILLEGAL choke hold to kill Eric Garner.......are we surprised? No, we are not surprised but considering we are supposed to be living in the land of the free and home of the brave, regardless of race you would think that we could get a little justice........NOT SO. And with this new hash tag #crimingwhilewhite it seems as if black folk are the only ones at the receiving end of police brutality.
It also amazes me of the responses I see on Facebook telling black folk to get over it, justice has been serve (in the case of the non-indictment of Darren Wilson in the murder of Mike Brown) or I wish we could all just get along. We in your perfect non-police harassing world that's fine for you but it doesn't work for us. See I notice that people don't want to face the stark reality that there is a mission to kill and incarcerate that black man at any cost.......so it seems. And we can't just easily get over it.
Let's reverse the rolls (as Matthew McConaghey did in A Time To Kill) so white folk are the ones being harassed, killed and brutally murdered by black cops. What would you be thinking or do if you saw a black cop beating up a elderly, defenseless white woman on the side of the road. Or how about a black cop pull over a family of white people and began shooting in there car, or how about this one a black cop continuously stating that he is threatened by white males. What would be your response? Because as history has shown us the white man has always been the aggressor when it comes to violence, since the beginning of time......if you wish to objectively look at history.
My point is this, none of what is going is justice, it is out right murder and it seems that law enforcement is backed by politicians and the BS laws in place. If they're even following the laws, in which they broke the law using the chokehold on Eric Garner.
So........what is the solution? What are we going to do about all this injustice against the black man, the black family? We need leaders and solutions, what are we gonna do y'all?
It also amazes me of the responses I see on Facebook telling black folk to get over it, justice has been serve (in the case of the non-indictment of Darren Wilson in the murder of Mike Brown) or I wish we could all just get along. We in your perfect non-police harassing world that's fine for you but it doesn't work for us. See I notice that people don't want to face the stark reality that there is a mission to kill and incarcerate that black man at any cost.......so it seems. And we can't just easily get over it.
Let's reverse the rolls (as Matthew McConaghey did in A Time To Kill) so white folk are the ones being harassed, killed and brutally murdered by black cops. What would you be thinking or do if you saw a black cop beating up a elderly, defenseless white woman on the side of the road. Or how about a black cop pull over a family of white people and began shooting in there car, or how about this one a black cop continuously stating that he is threatened by white males. What would be your response? Because as history has shown us the white man has always been the aggressor when it comes to violence, since the beginning of time......if you wish to objectively look at history.
My point is this, none of what is going is justice, it is out right murder and it seems that law enforcement is backed by politicians and the BS laws in place. If they're even following the laws, in which they broke the law using the chokehold on Eric Garner.
So........what is the solution? What are we going to do about all this injustice against the black man, the black family? We need leaders and solutions, what are we gonna do y'all?
Wednesday, December 3, 2014
Enlightened........Malcolm X
So I just finished reading The Autobiography of Malcolm X. This book has opened my eyes in so many ways and confirmed I am not wrong in my thinking of race relations or the lack there of here in America.
I find that these words he spoke in the 60's are so relevant today that it's scary. One thing I am learning and ran across in this biography is that in order for us to be on an equal playing field with our oppressors is for us to work together as one unit and stop looking for validation from them. Some of us are warriors, we all can't be warriors, some of us are meek in our approach to equality, with talents beyond the battlefield. What I am saying is don't discount the persons loyalty to the cause because it doesn't resembles yours. We all have our role in this fight, as Malcolm X once said " Don't be in such a hurry to condemn a person because he doesn't do what you do, or think as you think or as fast. There was a time when you didn't know what you know today". We have got to put our petty differences aside if we want to win this war, and I refuse to think that the tables are already set with us defeated. As I've stated many times we are going to have to be our OWN leaders and stop waiting on some great hope to come to rescue us. We are more than capable of coming together, we did it once and although we have more damning distractions I will not believe that we can't do it again.
We are a more enlightened people, the scales have been removed and we are sick and tired of the status quo. We have to stand for something or we'll fall for anything. Let's get to work.
Sonya Cooke
I find that these words he spoke in the 60's are so relevant today that it's scary. One thing I am learning and ran across in this biography is that in order for us to be on an equal playing field with our oppressors is for us to work together as one unit and stop looking for validation from them. Some of us are warriors, we all can't be warriors, some of us are meek in our approach to equality, with talents beyond the battlefield. What I am saying is don't discount the persons loyalty to the cause because it doesn't resembles yours. We all have our role in this fight, as Malcolm X once said " Don't be in such a hurry to condemn a person because he doesn't do what you do, or think as you think or as fast. There was a time when you didn't know what you know today". We have got to put our petty differences aside if we want to win this war, and I refuse to think that the tables are already set with us defeated. As I've stated many times we are going to have to be our OWN leaders and stop waiting on some great hope to come to rescue us. We are more than capable of coming together, we did it once and although we have more damning distractions I will not believe that we can't do it again.
We are a more enlightened people, the scales have been removed and we are sick and tired of the status quo. We have to stand for something or we'll fall for anything. Let's get to work.
Sonya Cooke
Monday, December 1, 2014
Can't Please Everybody
Presidents Obama's response, or lack thereof: Michael Brown vs. Robin Williams......RIP
I'm scrolling through my news feed and I see a lot of conscious black folk bashin POTUS for not speaking on the death of Michael Brown but speaking about the death of Robin Williams. I agree with the outrage but what is bashin President Obama doing to solve the problem? I'm reading he's a coon, he doesn't care about black folks and he couldn't possibly understand what we as black folk go through cause he wasn't raised black or by black folk. NEWS FLASH........have you not seen or heard how they've been giving him the blues since he got in office? When he spoke on the Trayvon Martin travesty did people not see and hear the backlash that he got? Hey if anyone has an issue with the President please go to Washington and try and do a better job. I honestly believe he is trying to do his absolute best considering all the obstacles that congress puts before him. Hell they're currently trying to impeach him now for exercising his rights re: executive orders. So as I've stated, if you feel he is failing the black community, or you feel he's not black enough please go to Washington and do a better job.
What say you?
I'm scrolling through my news feed and I see a lot of conscious black folk bashin POTUS for not speaking on the death of Michael Brown but speaking about the death of Robin Williams. I agree with the outrage but what is bashin President Obama doing to solve the problem? I'm reading he's a coon, he doesn't care about black folks and he couldn't possibly understand what we as black folk go through cause he wasn't raised black or by black folk. NEWS FLASH........have you not seen or heard how they've been giving him the blues since he got in office? When he spoke on the Trayvon Martin travesty did people not see and hear the backlash that he got? Hey if anyone has an issue with the President please go to Washington and try and do a better job. I honestly believe he is trying to do his absolute best considering all the obstacles that congress puts before him. Hell they're currently trying to impeach him now for exercising his rights re: executive orders. So as I've stated, if you feel he is failing the black community, or you feel he's not black enough please go to Washington and do a better job.
What say you?
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