BIOPIC

B2 I1 O1 P3 I1 C3 - a biographical movie - Double letter, triple word score 42 points

(I'm trying to stay on top of my blog a day or at least 5 days a week so I am getting my words from http://www.scrabble.com/ and their word of the day to generate ideas for my entries)

Truth be told, I've never thought about who would play me if Hollywood ever decided to make a movie about me. I would have enough problems trying to figure out what they would discuss in the movie.

As I kid I different from other kids in a sense. I was a lot quieter than others (not so different) but I couldn't stand rap when it was just making a name for itself (a little bit more different). I would rather listen to The Temptations than Run DMC and considered rap to be nonsense (pretty much the same way I think about most of rap/"hip hop" now). Didn't have time for slumber parties with friends, I was more about having one on one time with some scary ass Stephen King novel or my mom's human sexuality books at about 10 or 11.

The older I got, I guess the more I tried to assimilate into the crowd at school and my neighborhood...I started dressing the same, listening to the same music, reciting the same phrases, performing the same dances. But, I still tried to keep my individuality as much as I could (via other music I listened too and my obsessive love affair with books) and privacy (despite how much I would hang out with peers).

Once I got into college, I still tried to do the whole assimilation thing, but rediscovered my individuality and uniqueness in my studies and what I wanted to do with my life. Instead of being a doctor like my mom wanted and a lawyer like my dad wanted, I got my degree in Africology and used it to have a small career in teaching. Eventually, the teaching gig fell apart but my love for it is still there and I still use my training and education in education to help family members and friends with their school and teacher issues.

Now, I'm in my 30s (wow!) and have a baby now and my life has once again changed. I live not only for me but for my mini me as well. I haven't lost hold of my dreams, but because of her, they have been renewed and I want to actually fulfil them instead of just discussing them. I guess my life is really beginning and there are many chapters I have left to fill. Hell I'm barely through chapter three and I really don't think it would be fair to do a biopic on me because I really don't have 2 hours and $10 worth of film in me...yet.

Oh and by the way, I think I'd probably have Queen Latifah play me.

BLACK

B3 L1 A1 C3 K5 - Double Word Score, 26 points

I know that I am doing this out of order (probably because my brain is out of order) but I had to get this one out of me first.

We all know that when we look at the POTUS (for those of you who don't know : President Of The United States) we see a Black man. He describes himself as a Black man. He is married to a Black woman and has two beautiful little Black girls. Yeah we all know that his momma is a White woman and I can't knock him for that because like the rest of us we don't choose who our parents are (not to disrespect her, just trying to preach truth).

So now we have all of these bloggers and writers and other folks who think they know everything (but like my Daddy used to say, they know a whole lot about nothing) have made it a point to state that this man is half white.

To them I want to say this: during his entire campaign all we saw was his White mother. His White grandma and his White grandpa. We barely saw images of his Kenyan (for those of you who don't know this is a COUNTRY in the CONTINENT of Africa) grandmother or his Kenyan (see above) father. We knew by the way he looked that he was at least, like old folks used to say, had one drop in him and we claimed his as ours. So is he half white. Yeah. But, when we look at him what do we see? A Black man whose Blackness (or African-ness, since he is more African than typical "American" Black folk) takes over and is the first thing that you see.

This man ain't passing. Thirty years ago he wouldn't have been able to really express his identiy as a "White" man because his physical make up tells us that he ain't 100% white (or black for that matter). This man has said from his mouth that he is a black man and expressed his pride in being so, as well as representing his whtie family without putting them down. This man realizes that, because of the way that he and his family looks, he will always be viewed as the first Black POTUS (see above again). Only those who are still pissed off about a BLACK man winning the presidency still try to label him as half white (something I have yet to see them do with other folks, for example Halle - she who won an Academy fucking the dogshit outta one of theirs [I'm still pissed at her for making that movie, but I digress]).

I am glad that this man came out saying that even though he is half white, he recognizes what country he lives in and that for as long as he has breath, he will be viewed as a Black man and not as a white man or a black man with a white momma. Just a plain old black man with a black wife and black kids.

Bet you if he was avarage ass Barack from down the street you wouldn't be calling him half white. He'd be a black boy from around the corner.

Get used to it. OUR president is Black. He can't be half white ONLY for your convienence. Hell, we tried that shit with Clinton and y'all still got him.

JUICE

J8 U1 I1 C3 E1 - Double letter score, double word score 17 points



I have this cousin who we will call Jesus Juice (JJ).

Now, mind you I don't have NOTHING against Christianity...I believe in a lot of what the Bible says and the resurrection of the man that many call the Son of God aka Jesus. But what I DON'T believe in are the people who push Jesus Juice on you and ain't had a drink themselves. I liken them to pimps: they try to sell it to you but don't use or sample their own product.

My cousin, who by the way is at LEAST 20 years older than me, decided to call me on a Sunday to tell me how she saw in a dream the 'wrong' way I was living my life. She went on to tell me about how I shouldn't have had a child out of wedlock and that I was basically going to go to hell because I'm not a Christian and how I need to start living my life right because if I didn't nothing financially (the main focus of her too damn early on a Sunday morning rant) will come to me.

Since she is 20+ years older than me, I didn't disrespect her by calling her out on her own out of wedlock child she had some thirty years ago...even though in retrospect I should have to shut her the hell up 10 minutes into the conversation instead of her hanging up over an hour later. So her hypocrisy wasn't welcomed at 8 something in the morning...early enough for her to have had some of her 'juice' (you know, do not judge others and what they do as well as let he who is without sin cast the first stone...she couldn't even locate a stone if it were sitting in her hand telling her to toss it).


Since the SBB (Sunday Bible Bashing) event she hasn't talked to me at all. Instead when she sees me, which is usually over at her mother's/my aunt's house, she says a fake 'hi' and goes on about her business and ignores me in a room of 2 or 20. But her ridiculousness has increased dramatically...the other day me, my mother and my other aunt were at her mother's house...she came in, said the FAKEST 'hello' about three times, abruptly did an about face and told her husband 'let's go.' I swear JJ got mental problems.


Let's not forget about her 'visions' that she has either. Now, I don't have anything against folks who say they have visions...I totally believe in people having the power to see things in the future or to have interpretive dreams that are meaningful to someone in some aspect of their lives. But to have nothing but negative dreams and visions all the time about certain people is a personal problem IMO. She's constantly calling my mother, (who for some reason JJ is on the fence about liking or not) and telling her about how I'm pulling her down financially (again with the money obsession) and that my mother needs to 'let me use my wings to fly on my own.' Or some bullshit like that.

So instead of her having visions that will be useful to my newborn (which she has YET to acknowledge. Hasn't asked me her name, how's she doing, nothing. Since I'm the devil in her eyes, my child might as well have 666 tattooed on her forehead) or something that will be anyway related to being good news for my baby or a vision about how my mother's health will improve or something positive...she INSISTS on always calling folks with nothing but bad news...of course according to her own JJNR (Jesus Juice News Reports).


To be honest, I wouldn't have problems with her calling me and talking to me about the word of the Bible and whatnot...I remember my father sitting in the living room with two white boys from the Church of Jesus Christ and Latter Day Saints crew discussing the Bible and it's word. I've even had Jehovah's Witnesses come to my house who were nice and cordial and sat in my living room with me and discussed the different religions without judgement towards those religions. And let us all say the phrase that pays: WITHOUT JUDGEMENT. THAT my friends is the problem my cousin JJ has. If she had the ability to talk to me about her faith without damning me and my soul because I do not practise what she practises, life would be fine. But once again, since she not sampling her product, she insists on going against a whole lot in the Bible when she bears false witness, judges me, makes me and other family members (oh don't think I'm the only one in the family that she's done this too...she's going for records) feel like shit when she comes around.


But I have decided that I am going to give JJ a pass...because there is NO WAY on God's Allah's Jah's Buddah's (whoever your higher power is) green earth that she can be happy. She has a wonderful husband, a beautiful granddaughter and foster child (I have to admit that was a beautiful thing that she did for that child) living in her home (which by the way is gorgeous), a wonderful job, and is financially set. However, I said it once and I'll say it again: money ain't the answer to everything. For some reason unbeknownest to me, JJ is utterly miserable and unhappy and I guess she is making herself feel good about herself by bashing and damning others to hell on a regular basis.

As a child born into Christian values but later chose another path to religious nirvana, I have nothing against Christians and their faith. As a matter of fact, I still use the Bible to make points more valid and to help others with their problems and issues. I quote Bible scriptures and follow the Ten Commandments to a tee. I respect Christianity as a faith and those who use their Christian faith to better themselves instead of belittling those who are not of their faith. I take time to continuously learn about the teachings of Jesus and other messiahs in other faiths as well (Muhammad in Islam for example) because we all have a story and it needs to be told and shared; not damned and denounced.

My newborn baby was born into the religion of living. She doesn't know who God is or what Islam is or how to practise Judaism. Her faith will depend on what I teach her and what the world shows her of said religions. I already have a small collection of Bibles, books on Judaism and traditional African religions, Vodun, Jehovah Witnesses Bibles, and the Book of Mormon just to name a few in my house as we speak so once she is old enough to understand and ask questions about religion and faith, I can not only give her answers and discuss that information with her but I can also give her the freedom to scour my bookshelf and allow her to learn herself.

The biggest lesson I want to teach her is that we are not put on this earth to judge someone's path to righteousness and religious harmony. We can have opinions about other religions and faiths which is perfectly fine, but I refuse to instill in her the ugliness of judgement of others. I'd rather have her following her path of religious freedom and enlightenment instead of bashing others and not seeing anything at all.

Hopefully, Jesus Juice will take a drink from her chalice because she has gots to be thirsty right about...now.