Amurica

I’ve been mulling over this post for months now. MONTHS! I’m not sure why though because the topics of choice have been in the news since the Ferguson Riots; which was in 2014!  And yet every time I start this post my fingers and brain stop communicating. I can’t seem to formulate a clear and understandable thought. I can’t figure out how to sound intelligent and well versed in the fundamentals of linguistics and language but nobody got time fa that shit.

Let’s just get right down to it…

Post-racial Amurica don’t exist. For those that think it does exist, I feel you may be blinded by a false sense of the “cultural” make up of the United States. This country has more issues with the standard list of -isms than most other countries. Only in the United States can you be made to feel like your life doesn’t matter because you look, talk, live, love and believe differently.

Does anyone see the irony in the above statement? Certainly you have to see it. Amurica is a cultural melting pot of many languages, religions, ethnicities and sexual orientation; yet, there is an overwhelming sense of discrimination everywhere. That is not to say that every nook and cranny of the U.S. is racist, sexist, homophobic or agnostic. It also means that not every damn stereotype is true for EVERYONE in a particular socioeconomic group.

Not all black folks are loud, uneducated, hood rats. Not all white people are carrying around the Confederate Flag and threatening to kill “all the n*****s.” No LGBT person is out to turn the children of straight religious conservatives gay. Not all devout Catholics or Protestants are out to condemn LGBT people or even atheists to a life of purgatory. even though that ain’t they job no way

Yet, here we are talking about church fires and shootings, black women dying while incarcerated, gay bashings, hate crimes against anything different from someone else’s norm and the presence of a flag that does not convey the same emotional sentiment that it once did when it was first flown a century and a half ago. In the two years alone, President Obama has had to make more emotionally charged “We the people of the United States have suffered a great loss” speeches than any other president in my life time. Within the last fucking year. And for what?

Why has this president had to deal with so much strife? Why has this president been more scrutinized and criticized than any other president in my lifetime? Is it because he’s half black? yep I played the race card

I’m just trying to understand the mentality of Americans and the freedoms that we all seem to have as citizens but are not granted if we’re not heterosexual religiously conservative white males. Having graduated with a degree in journalism, I understand and applaud active use of free speech. I do. Buuuuuuuuuut you knew this was coming at what point, did the freedom of speech become the right to publicly preach messages of hate?

At what point, did the freedom to assemble become the right to converge on the privately owned property of a person of color to burn crosses or yell racial obscenities at a child’s birthday party as a few hateful bastards some months ago. At what point, do we stop hating and loathing our neighbors and start loving them as we would love ourselves?

I’m fearful of the present and the future of the the country we call home. The country that often on paper prides itself on being a cultural melting pot. A country that is the epitome of the land of milk, honey and opportunity. Yet we don’t have free healthcare like some European countries and Canada does.

A country that was founded on the understanding that all persons should be granted the basic freedoms of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Yet there was slavery. There are religious persecutions of Muslims. LGBTiQ persons have to fight for the right to be married and miserable. There is literally a notion of “existing while brown!” Don’t act like there isn’t when we all know this is true.

What I’m saying is it’s hard to be and feel like a proud citizen when you’re part of the minority; in terms of race, sexuality and religion. It’s difficult to understand how a country that grants perhaps more civil liberties than other countries still does not recognize that each individual person in the United States deserves to live his or her life as he or she sees fit without governmental, religious or conservative influence.

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Every year we “celebrate” Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King’s dream for every one to be and exist as one country. We “celebrate” his and many others’ efforts to gain basic civil and equal rights for all. To bring to light the obvious and apparent prejudices against people of color. Yet in the midst of the “celebration,” we’re still to this day in 2016 fighting for the right to be ourselves without question. This is America. The land of opportunity and freedom. The land of milk and honey even. Yet not everyone born here is afforded the basic freedoms that are laid out in the Declaration of Independence. We are not viewed as equal under the law.

At what point in history will everyone in America finally be equal and free under the law?

At what point will individual races not only help their own but others as well? A few people helping is great but it takes a village to be great! It takes more than a girl with a laptop writing about peace, love and the pursuit of happiness.

We have to stop taking for granted the little shit.

We have to stop believing the notion that not everything affects me, myself and I because it actually does affect all of us.

The idea of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness isn’t just for Donald Trump and his constinuents. It isn’t just for those who can afford to have multiple cars, homes and boats.

The average American citizen is not rich beyond comprehension.

The average American citizen is a dreamer praying for something more than what he or she is accustomed to seeing, doing and being everyday.

The average American citizen is not the person I see in the Stepford Starbucks in the mornings.

The average American is not Donald Trump, Hollywood movie star or Texas oil and gas tycoon rich.

The average American is not always college education or can even afford college.

The average American does NOT drive a Beemer, Benz or Bentley.

The average American citizen is me. The hard working trying to make ends meet while not getting caught driving while ________ (insert your truth here).

Thanks for reading….

 

the southern yankee

 

The Unexpected

It’s been a rough week. Well “rough” is an understatement. It’s been more than rough but I’m not even sure what other word to use to describe how this week has been.

We received some news at work. It wasn’t the best of news and it certainly wasn’t anything ANYONE was expecting just 32 days into the New Year.

But it wouldn’t be my company if the unexpected didn’t happen at the weirdest of times. Not only am I thoroughly confused by the events of this first not even full week of February but I’m sadden. Sadden that it has to happen this way.

Sadden that the possibility of the unknown and unexpected might even come more frequently sooner rather than later.

Perhaps this is a sign. A sign to start preparing my exit strategy. To start polishing up my venacular and writing skills. Working on skills that should come second nature to me but not really anymore because I allowed myself to become too comfortable in my situation. I decided to not be as overly cautious as I usually am.

But as the old saying goes, everything happens for a reason. Surprises and/or challenges, good or bad, can come at any time of a person’s life and what one does in those instances is what changes the future for the better and sometimes for the worst. But you go through it because every moment of life is a learning experience.

So here’s to being more cautious and aware. To keeping my eyes and ears open extra wide just in case the unexpected unknown affects me.

I know I’m rambling on and on and on and on in some weird cracked out code but I just needed to get some things off ma chest.

Thanks for letting me vent…

 

the southern yankee 

Holla If Ya Hur Me

 

It’s time to stop being silent!

 

the southern yankee

Less Than Human

In the wake of the mass shooting at Emanual AME Church, I wonder when will this bullshit stop.

I wonder when this world will wake up and realize we have no right to treat another human being with any less respect than we would want for ourselves. I fear everyday prolly more now than when I was younger if someone is going to try to hurt me simply because I’m black or a woman. I live, breathe and sleep in fear. Life isn’t supposed to be this way. It isn’t supposed to be filled with thoughts of “is today the day.” 

The fact that black folks and possibly other minorities are dying far faster than the white person possibly reading this post or driving down road is completely unsettling to me.

The fact that black people are still revered as “less than human” in a country who has a half black president saddens me to no end. Why are we called the land of opportunity when the only people who seem to receive all the opportunities are white, conservative, evangelical with a dick between their legs? 

What makes us so much easier to abuse, kill off, subject to ill humane treatment and looked down upon than everyone else? 

Why must black mamas worry every fucking day their son(s) leave the house?

Why do cops troll us on the street for no reason other than we black? Just cuz I’m driving while black through a small ass hillbilly Podunk area doing absolutely nothing wrong does not give you the right to pull me over because “my tail light is out” when it clearly worked before ya racist ass stopped me.

Why are white supremacist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, the Aryan Brotherhood, Neo-Nazis still in existence? Why have we not grown past the hateful unjust idiocies of these groups? Why are folks protesting the removal of symbols such as the Confederate Flag when they clearly represent the Antebellum South, racism and slavery? How is that not understandable? 

Are you tired of my questions yet cuz I’m not?

What happened to being created equal in the eyes of The Lord? 

The bible teaches us to love thy neighbor as we would love ourselves. Jesus preached a message of love, understanding and tolerance yet people use that subjectively. God so loved the world that He gave his only son so that who ever believed in him shall have everlasting life. Yet here we are talking about racism and inequality. 

Dumb fucks need to realize and understand that just because another person does not look like him or her or have the same ideals does not necessarily prove inferiority. It doesn’t make another human being any less deserving of the same quality of life as you and yours.

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I’m tired. 

I’m tired of living in fear.

I’m tired of reading about someone’s baby being shot in cold blood. 

I’m tired of certain media organizations and we all know which one I’m talking about trying to down play the obvious and blatant racism the Emanual AME Church shooting as well as multiple other shootings of black folks that happened this year alone.

I’m tired of feeling helpless. 

I’m just so fucking tired. 

Thanks for reading…

the southern yankee 

Separate but Equal

I’m having issues separating my emotions from the task at hand. Seriously folks, if I keep on the path, I’m on I’ll expend all my arrows on the small battles instead of saving them. And yes, I’m being cryptic for a reason but I just have to get some shit off ma chest for a minute.

Over the past two or three weeks, I’ve been trying without losing whatever tiny ounce of sanity I had left to complete a certain task that I’m convinced is the biggest thorn in my right ass cheek. Seriously mayne this shit is the worst! And I can’t even pass shit off on someone else. I may be over exaggerating a bit but trust me when I say April’s been the most stressful month of 2015 so far. Sigh and we still have six more days left in the month.

Fuuuuuuuuuck I am beginning to hate April. To make matters worse for me, I still have one more phase to complete which is the one I’ve been dreading the most. I’d lying when I say I didn’t think I had anything to worry about but again, I have serious issues separating my emotions from the tasks I need to complete. I know that in time it’ll get less difficult but I honestly don’t think this’ll ever be one of those things that’ll come second nature for me.

Thanks for reading…

The Southern Yankee