I Stand all Amazed

The video speaks for itself. If you have time to watch the video it is worth it. No words from me needed.

Being Black in the Work Place

They take my kindness for weakness.
They take my silence for speechless.
They consider my uniqueness strange.
They call my language slang.
They see my confidence as conceit.
They see my mistakes as defeat.
They consider my success accidental.
They minimize my intelligence to "potential".
My questions mean "I'm unaware".
My advancement is somehow unfair.
Any praise is preferential treatment.
To voice concern is discontentment.
If I stand up for myself, I'm too defensive.
If I don't trust them, I'm too apprehensive.
I'm defiant ! if I separate.
I'm fake if I assimilate.
Yet, constantly I am faced with work place hate.
My character is constantly under attack.
Pride for my race makes me, "TOO BLACK". Yet, I can only be me. And, who am I you ask?

I am that Strong Black Person...

Who stands on the backs of my ancestor's achievements, with anerect spine pointing to the stars with pride, dignity and respectwhich lets the work place in America know, that I not only possessthe ability to play by the rules, but I can make them as well!
Black History 365

~ Arthur Unknown ~

Only 17

LIFE WAS HARD

THEIR WERE UPS AND THEIR WERE DOWNS

WHAT CHANGED

DEATH

ONLY 17

HE WAS BORN

HE WAS SAVED MONTHS BEFORE

THE END

WHAT CHANGED

DEATH

ONLY 17

HE WAS GIVEN A CHOICE AT THE END

HE CHOSE THE BULLET

OVER GIVING UP HIS MONEY

WHAT CHANGED

DEATH

ONLY 17

HE SACRIFICED HIMSELF

HE WAS SAVED

WHAT CHANGED

LOVE

ONLY 17

----PRES 3/27/1994 Sunday 4:00PM

A Strong Black Woman

WHAT IF I AM A BLACK WOMAN?
IS IT A DISEASE?

WELL, IF IT IS,I SURE HOPE IT'S CATCHING
BECAUSE THEY NEED TO POUR IT INTO A BOTTLE,
LABEL IT, AND SPRINKLE IT
ALL OVER THE PEOPLE~ MEN AND WOMEN~WHO
EVER LOVED OR CRIED, WORKED OR DIED
FOR ANY ONE OF US.
SO...WHAT IF I AM A BLACK WOMAN?
IS IT A CRIME? ARREST ME! BECAUSE I'M STRONG, BUT I'M GENTLE.
I'M SMART,BUT I'M LEARNING, I'M LOVING, BUT I'M HATEFUL.
AND I LIKE TO WORK BECAUSE I LIKE TO EAT AND FEED AND CLOTHE
AND HOUSE ME, MINE, AND YOURS AND EVERYBODYS,
LIKE I'VE BEEN DOING FOR THE PAST
300 YEARS.

WHAT IF I AM A BLACK WOMAN?
IS IT INSANE? COMMITT ME!
BECAUSE I WANT THE HAPPINESS,
NOT TEARS; TRUTHS, NOT
LIES; PLEASURE NOT PAIN;
SUNSHINE, NOT RAIN;
A MAN, NOT A CHILD!

WHAT IF I AM A BLACK WOMAN?
IS IT A SIN? PRAY FOR ME! AND PRAY FOR YOU TOO, IF YOU DON'T LIKE WOMEN OF COLOR BECAUSE WE ARE... MIDNIGHT BLACK, CHESTNUT BROWN, HONEY BRONZED, CHOCOLATE COVERED, COCOA DIPPED, BIGGED LIPPED, BIG HIPPED, BIG BREASTED, AND BEAUTIFUL ALL AT THE SAME TIME! SO...WHAT IF I AM A BLACK WOMAN?
DOES IT BOTHER YOU THAT MUCH BECAUSE
I WANT A MAN WHO WANTS ME...LOVES ME AND TRUSTS ME, AND RESPECTS ME
AND GIVES ME EVERYTHING BECAUSE I
GIVE HIM EVERYTHING BACK, PLUS!

WHAT IF I AM A BLACK WOMAN?
I'VE GOT RIGHTS, SAME AS YOU!
I HAVE WORKED FOR THEM, DIED FOR THEM, LIED FOR THEM, PLAYED AND LAID
FOR THEM, ON EVERY PLANTATION FROM ALABAMA TO BOSTON AND BACK!

WHAT IF I AM A BLACK WOMAN?
I LOVE ME, AND I WANT YOU TO LOVE ME TOO, BUT I AM, AS I'VE ALWAYS
BEEN, NEAR YOU, CLOSE TO YOU, BESIDE YOU, STRONG, GIVING, LOVING,

FOR OVER 300 YEARS,
YOUR BLACK WOMAN... LOVE ME!

-Author Unknown

A girl's ultimate nightmare

A girls nightmare

World Autism Awareness Day April 2nd

What is Autism?

Autism is a complex neurobiological disorder that typically lasts throughout a person's lifetime. It is part of a group of disorders known as autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Today, 1 in 150 individuals is diagnosed with autism, making it more common than pediatric cancer, diabetes, and AIDS combined. It occurs in all racial, ethnic, and social groups and is four times more likely to strike boys than girls. Autism impairs a person's ability to communicate and relate to others. It is also associated with rigid routines and repetitive behaviors, such as obsessively arranging objects or following very specific routines. Symptoms can range from very mild to quite severe.

Autism was first identified in 1943 by Dr. Leo Kanner of Johns Hopkins Hospital. At the same time, a German scientist, Dr. Hans Asperger, described a milder form of the disorder that is now known as Asperger Syndrome. These two disorders are listed in the DSM IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) as two of the five developmental disorders that fall under the autism spectrum disorders. The others are Rett Syndrome, PDD NOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorder), and Childhood Disintegrative Disorder. All of these disorders are characterized by varying degrees of impairment in communication skills and social abilities, and also by repetitive behaviors.

Autism spectrum disorders can usually be reliably diagnosed by age 3, although new research is pushing back the age of diagnosis to as early as 6 months. Parents are usually the first to notice unusual behaviors in their child or their child's failure to reach appropriate developmental milestones. Some parents describe a child that seemed different from birth, while others describe a child who was developing normally and then lost skills. Pediatricians may initially dismiss signs of autism, thinking a child will “catch up,” and may advise parents to “wait and see.” New research shows that when parents suspect something is wrong with their child, they are usually correct. If you have concerns about your child's development, don't wait: speak to your pediatrician about getting your child screened for autism.

For more information please visit: http://www.autismspeaks.org/

You will find a lot of information on Autism at the site above along with other links.

What to do about it? http://www.autismspeaks.org/whattodo/index.php

How to cope? http://www.autismspeaks.org/howtocope/index.php

How to grow with it? http://www.autismspeaks.org/howtogrow/index.php

The Goddess' Chant

I am all women, I am every woman.

Wherever women are suffering,

I am there.

Wherever woman are struggling,

I am there.

Wherever woman are fighting for their liberation,

I am there.

I am at the bedside of the woman giving birth,

screaming in labor;

I am with the women selling their bodies

in third world countries

so that her children may eat;

I am with the woman selling her

body in the streets of American cities

to feed the habit she acquired

from her boyfriend.

I am with the woman who never sees

the light outside her kitchen;

I am with the woman who never sees

the light outside her factory;

I am with the woman whose fingers

are still from endless typing and

whose legs ache from the high heels

she must wear to please her boss.

I am with the woman bleeding to death

on the kitchen table

of a quack abortionist;

I am with the woman answering

endless questions of

the inquisitive caseworkers;

and I am with the caseworkers,

whose dreams of making a new

social order have long been smothered

in the endless bureaucracy,

the endless forms, the racism of their superiors.

I am with the beauty queen

painting her face and spraying

her hair with poison;

I am with the black prostitute

straightening her hair

and lightening her skin;

I am with the young child

for whom an apron is the only thing

she has been taught to dream of;

I am at the hospital where a

beaten child is being treated for wounds

caused by a mother driven

by desperation past sanity,

past compassion;

I am with the fourty-five-year-old file clerk,

raped and strangled in her one-room walkup.

I am with all women; I am all women,

and our struggle grows

I am with the welfare mothers

who will not be turned away

by the indifferent legislators;

I am with the airline stewardesses

fighting to retain their jobs

after they reach thirty

and their market value has decreased;

I am with the sistah hexing Wall Street

and the bridal fairs and the beauty contests;

I am with women struggling everywhere.

And where there are women too beaten down to fight,

I will be there;

and we will take strength together.

Everywhere: for we will have a new world,

a just world, a world without

oppression and degradation.

The Goddess' Chant from Everywoman

Past, Present, and Future

In honor of April, National Poetry Month.

Excerpt from the play: THE LAST OF THE RED HOT MAMMAS, OR, THE LIBERATION OF WOMEN AS PERFORMED BY THE INMATES OF THE WORLD (1969) This play was performed at the founding convention of the Chicago Women's Liberation Union. A play performed by an entire audience, and by Marylee A., Ellen A., Amy C., Pat M. Sherry Jenkins, Amy Kesselman, Naomi Weisstein (1969)