Connections…
I love the internet. I love the way I can interact with people I know and don’t know and may never know personally and grow from those interactions. Its amazing how one idle comment or conversation on Facebook or Twitter or some other social network can turn in to opportunities. What has my being an internet junkie and an idle commentator turned into?
- I have a former instructor who sent me a note the other day after I gave him a tip on a business opportunity. He asked if I’d be interested in talking to his college level class on my teaching experience. I’d love to. I can go on and on forever about the joys of scraping the crud off young minds so that they can breathe and grow and experience the world. I’m all in.
- I had a very fruitful conversation with someone I’ve chatted with in the past and am now connected to on Facebook. Turns out we see the community in the same light and have our own ways of battling for elbow room out there. We’ll be working together to make some space in the universe so change can become a reality for some.
- A couple of years ago, almost as a whim, I taught some female students how to make jewelry. One of them is now a sophomore in high school. She has started a small jewelry business and is all the rage at school and in the community. I’m not done with her yet though. I’m going to take her global as soon as we both can find 5 minutes after school to make it happen.
- A friend of mine was on the fence about a job opportunity that would have put her in the center of the action at the Superbowl. I talked her off the fence, she went, she saw, she conquered! She now has connections of her own that will help her grow.
- I have been approached to set up a display of my jewelry to be sold in a hair salon. Yeah, I’m all over that. This is how we do it!!
- I mentioned to a teacher I work with in a school club that I was going to take a few web design classes and wanted to do something with education outside of the classroom. That was last Saturday. I have more than 20 emails from him with ideas, contacts, resources, etc. on how to make change in education outside the classroom. I’m all over it.
And the list goes on and on…
I promised myself at the beginning of the year that I would work on making cultural self loathing something 
that doesn’t exist in my life and in the lives of those with whom I interact. I think its working. Its not something that I expected to happen overnight, but I am discovering that comments I make, stands I take, and coals I rake, are building a smothering flame of indifference about the world into a raging fire of enthusiasm for life around me. This… is a good thing.
What are you doing to make change, to heat up the cold heart of our society’s nearly dead body? What sorts of things are happening to you, around you, and within you to cause people to take notice and want to be a part of YOUR small, but force filled parade through life? Get the party started… we’ve got connections to make, lives to change, and legacies to create!
One, Two, Three… What the Hell Do YOU See?
I’ve been avoiding presidential politics mainly to maintain a sense of mental stability, but as the presidential season begins to heat up, I feel its time to make note of a few things.
Thing 1: Racism isn’t dead. If you thought it was, you were mistaken. Although the media sees it, I suppose they’re waiting for permission to discuss it. The moment of political correctness has passed, the racist idiots need to be called out. This has gotten ridiculous. It was spoken of rather succinctly on Hardball this week:
Thing 2: Boldness of spirit on the parts of people who assume everyone thinks just like them has run rampant. Why is it ok to yell out during a joint session of Congress while the President is speaking and not be appropriately reprimanded? Why is pretending to be a Christian and quoting scripture threatening death to a president and then saying, we did nothing wrong, not punishable? How do they get away with it? Why is it ok to wag your finger in the face of the President of the United States because you’ve decided he’s upset about some jealous little snit of a statement made? Read more…
What a Wonderful World
While sitting in the teacher’s cafeteria Friday, nibbling happily on my meatloaf and mashed potatoes, a conversation at one end of the table caught my ear. One of the language arts teachers was relating an event in her classroom that warmed her heart. Apparently, she showed one of her classes a short video of her son wrestling another boy at a meet. Near the end of the video, one of the children asked, “which one is your son?”
Now, this is no big deal. Kids ask questions like that all the time. I gave you a black and white synopsis of the event though. Let me paint the picture for you. Read more…
Thoughts on another Holiday…
Yep, it’s MLK Day, and I’m sitting at the house looking out the back window at the naked trees and snow. Days off are nice. I guess.
I’m still the one holdout in the community that isn’t sure if I like MLK Day or not. Don’t get me wrong, he was a great man, did great things and put a topic on the table more than 50 years ago that we’re STILL discussing. I just wonder what he would think about being the focus of a “holiday”.
I remember when the campaign to have him honored was being fought in Washington. Our local representative was a friend of the family and would bounce thoughts off our father all the time, which meant he’d end up bouncing thoughts off us during dinner most nights. My voice was the lone dissension. I argued that he didn’t want to be lifted up this way and the entire idea of having a day off to celebrate Martin kinda went again everything he’d worked so hard for: you know, right to vote, right to have a decent job and wage, civil rights that worked for EVERYONE. I, of course, was poo poo’d and told to eat my spinach.
So, here I sit on MLK Day, staring out the window at the naked trees and snow. Read more…
I Don’t Wanna Grow Up!!
Its 7:20am on a Sunday Morning. I awoke thinking about all the “stuff” I have to get done today and I’m groaning and as indicated by this need to write in my blog, procrastinating.
I’ve waited all my life to be a grown up and I now, officially, hate it. There’s way too much to do and hardly any time to do any of it!
Consider what needs to be done today:
- I’m uploading photos of my students to my Walgreens photo account as I type this. They’ll need to be picked up.
- I have a test to write on Meteorology for the Science Olympiad Invitational in 4 weeks. Climate anyone?
- I have a lesson to record for class this week. Yes, I’ve started my Flipping pilot. (God help me)
- It might be a good idea if I clean my house… one day.
- I still need to figure out why my domain for the jewelry store site isn’t loaded in the correct place. (that will probably take an hour of meaningful discussion with some IT geek)
- Dinner. right.
- Get some fresh air (I intentionally vegged out yesterday, watching the Matrix Trilogy so that I could FINALLY figure out the analogies. I need to watch it all again next Saturday, I’m still confused)
- I should probably get some groceries while I’m out getting that fresh air.
- I should find an hour to read one of these books so I can actually get as close to reading 100 books this year as humanly possible.
- I DID say I was going to edit the novel this month, didn’t I?
*sigh* Read more…
New Year, New Plan
I just finished reading Brainwashed, by Tom Burrell. If you haven’t read it, I recommend it. As part of my goal setting for 2012, I found his discussion on Black Inferiority Complex (BI) interesting and thought provoking. As I wrote my Kwanzaa affirmations last week, I considered some of what I’d learned about “us” as found in Mr. Burrell’s book. I want to make a change that is lasting in its acidic affect on BI.
As Tom says in his book, its not just us that suffer from BI; everyone in our country, and even, to some extent, the world, does. However, it is us, that take that suffering to a new level as the complex has been so ingrained in our psyche that we find ways to be inferior. It needs to stop. There needs to be a plan to break the chains of mental self loathing that weigh us down and keep our heads just above the water line, struggling not to drown.
Every one of us has a way to make this work. I’m going to use education. I”m going to open some doors and expose some truths and realities. I’m going to give children, and in the process, their parents, a reason to break those chains. Read more…
Kwanzaa – Day 7
Day 7
Imani – Faith
“To believe with all our hearts in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.”
Faith: confidence or trust in a person or thing: faith in another’s ability.
Resolve in the new year to put your trust in yourself and the members of your community so that you can become all that you are meant to be in this world.
Related articles
- The Relevance of Kwanzaa ? (blabbinoutloud.wordpress.com)
- Kwanzaa 2010 – Imani (thesynergisticpen.com)
- Imani – Faith (living4bliss.wordpress.com)
- Habari Gani? IMANI! (Faith) (wtpdiaries.wordpress.com)
2012 Reading Challenge
