A Self Hating Black Person....?

Yesterday Jackson State University played Texas Southern University on ESPNU. Even living down here in the area, I decided to watch the game on TV rather than actually go to Veterans Memorial Stadium to watch it. You want to know why I didn't go? I didn't go because I like football. I don't think it makes good sense to pay any amount of money to watch mediocre SWAC football just to wait until halftime to see the bands play. This is why I make it my business to go to Atlanta every January to see the Honda Battle of the Bands (….that and to catch up with my Sigma Alpha Iota and Phi Mu Alpha family). While watching the game on TV, I realized that JSU isn't really all that good a football team. It's just that Texas Southern was so……BAD. I'm talking three fumbled punts by TxSouthern leading to three JSU touchdowns bad.
 
I said as much on Twitter….because I say whatever I'm feeling on Twitter. A lot of people on my timeline have stated previously that the integration of colleges is what led to black college football being so bad. I said, "you can't really expect top tier athletes to go into subpar programs just because they're black and this is a black school." Period. Point blank. Here is where the Twitter madness began.
 
"Catch 22. Top athletes go to other schools for the tv EXPOSURE. Dream=NFL."
 
To this I replied, "Great athletes come out of the MEAC all the time. They get their dreams fulfilled without the major TV exposure. You need a quality program first." Which is the truth.
 
"Only been a hs #guidance coun for 14 yrs, watched 5 AfAm go to NFL while 500 played in college. All 5 went to SEC D1 sch."
 
This one was a little easier to combat. I replied, "Sorry your experience led you see more than that. I'm a football enthusiast and can name more than 5 blacks from HBCU's that went to the league from last year's draft class. " There were 4 players that were drafted from HBCUs: Johnny Culbreath, South Carolina St.; Frank Kearse, Alabama A&M; Curtis Holcomb, FAMU; Kenrick Ellis, Hampton. Not only were these four drafted but TWENTY-FOUR MORE were signed as undrafted free agents as soon as the lockout ended. So miss me with that. I think I made her mad because I got these series of tweets.
 
"Sounds like you know ur ppl, but they don't know you. Prolly tv. Typical crabs in a bucket put'n down SWAC. B blezd. Self hate is the worst hate. I'm 2 pro-black 2 put any HBCU down. That's just me. Get there 1 day. Keep tryin."
 
This is when I logged out for the night. I'm a self hating black person because I don't like SWAC football. Are you serious?! How many people actually go to the game to WATCH THE GAME? Not very many. It's a band field show and a social event where football is played in the background. My parents both went to Alcorn State University. I've been to enough SWAC games in my life to figure that out. What do guys call it when a team is playing football and gets beat by three touchdowns? Give up? They call it GETTING SWAC'D! I wasn't putting down the schools. I just think the football is bad. That's my opinion. I'm entitled to that. What I need all these "pro-black" people to do is research and speak with knowledge about things they claim to love so dearly. I want them to stop getting so mad about other people's opinions that they do a smoke and mirrors routine to cover up their ignorance.
 
I am a black woman. I know where I come from. I graduated from the University of Mississippi and learned more about my skin color than I ever could have imagined. Get over yourself. Learn to see something past skin color. I also don't care for Ole Miss football and think that maybe we should join Conference USA…..but you didn't ask that…did you? For me to be such a self hating black person, I surely knew more about these young black men than she did. I go out of my way to know these things. I don't rest on a degree from a particular college or living in particular neighborhood to give me my blackness. I live in it everyday. That was not my first time hearing that….I'm sure it won't be my last.
 

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Happy Birthday, Mama!

Today would've been my mother's 53rd birthday. It's only been a little over a year since she died but think as the time goes by I miss her more and more. The more things that I go through, the more I want to pick up that phone and call her. I miss her laugh, her rants.....even our fifty-leven phone calls going "girl, did you see that mess?!" during one episode of Real Housewives of Atlanta. Not having her to lean on saddens me, but I hope she's proud of me and how hard I'm still going.

Gone but never forgotten.....happy birthday, Mama.....

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Is It A Crime To Disagree?

Today I was reading my daily devotional Bible reading plan, which I absolutely love because it keeps me in the word every day…..not just on Sundays. (If I restricted my faith to Sundays, I wouldn't have any because my church going is VERY irregular) Today's passage was:

A gentle answer deflects anger, but harsh words make tempers flare. Proverbs 15:1 NLT

Have you ever tried to argue in a whisper? It is equally hard to argue with someone who insists on answering gently. On the other hand, a rising voice and harsh words almost always trigger an angry response. To turn away wrath and seek peace, choose gentle words.

This stuck with me because last week was a very argumentative week for me to say the least. Boo Thang and I have been having the dumbest of arguments lately. I think the change of scenery, slight stress, and new living situation has us biting at each other a little bit. We're fine (can't let the night slip away before we make things right), but I've noticed that we are some loud arguers, lol. Gentle answers are something that we both need to work on. He gets loud, I get louder….and the next thing we know we're wondering why the other is screaming. Which always breaks the argument into laughter (we're odd). But an argument or two in a relationship is to be expected.

This devotion REALLY stuck with me because of my "arguments" on social networks. I enjoy intelligent discussions and debates. They are my life force. I am the type of person that has to get my point across. If I don't agree with you, I will tell you why and back it up with all the reasons why. Blame it on law school….but I love to go back and forth with people. Who knows? You talk a good enough game and I just might change my mind.

What irritates me are those people that have ideals and thoughts about particular things with basis or backing. When you ask them why they believe that, they have a shaky explanation. When you tell the reason you believe the opposite, they get upset. *side eye* Is it a crime to disagree nowadays? A lot of people on social networks (well…..life in general)are under the assumption that if you think differently from them that you hate them and everything you say is wrong. I had a Twitter discussion earlier this week about The Help with a follower (why I did this to myself for the 3rd time is BEYOND ME). He said that he neither read the book nor saw the movie and wasn't planning on doing either. Then proceeds to talk about it. I said, "I really can't get on board with anything you're saying because you aren't able to speak intelligently about the subject." From here, I was accused of insulting his character and integrity. Was that "harsh words to make a temper flare?" I regularly get into these debates with the same end result. *sighs* What I have come to realize is that people don't like to be challenged. While I enjoy this mental stimulation, others are content where they are. I have vowed to stay away from these debates with people I don't know very well. It's a headache.

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Review: The Help

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



I loved this book! With all the controversy surrounding the book and the movie, I was afraid that I wasn't going to like it. I finished the book this week and I saw the movie tonight with my aunt and grandmother. This was the only book and movie combo where I cried at the end of both of them. I loved the fact that there were white women in that book that loved and were appreciative of their maids. My favorite two characters were Minny and Celia. The relationship between the two of them was hilarious and kept me reading just to get back to them. Being a native Mississippian and recently moving to the Jackson metro area, the book just seemed so alive to me because I could picture those places on my mind as I read.

I am quite convinced that those who are mad at the movie haven't read the book. What people fail to realize is that the book and the movie were not targeted for the African American audience. We live with racism on a daily basis and have heard first hand accounts from parents and grandparents. This was targeted toward the white audience. These books and movies are important for those who have white privilege. It lets them know exactly what the struggles are.....and how they haven't changed.



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