Truthfully Speaking

homo sex”itivity”?

Who would ever think that Tavis Smiley and I would agree wholeheartedly on a certain subject. This morning, on my way to work, I tuned in to the Tom Joyner Morning show just in time to hear Tavis Smiley’s words on “Big Bush’s” decision to push a ban on gay marriages. I mean, a constitutional amendment? We are living in a day and age where anything goes. How could he possibly think that the ban will just go down without a fight?

Tavis was saying that Bush knows that it won’t happen, but this is a election move. He knows that he WILL NOT get two thirds of the vote from the senate or the house of representatives, so what is he doing? Well, he is bringing to the forefront, an issue that is controversial enough to get the conservatives listening. They will say, “Hey, he’s doing this for us” and they will vote his stupid ass in again. I wonder who advises him.

Then,
since when has this been a government issue? I thought the states dealt with it as they see fit. When it’s good for the goose, then the government decides to step in…when it’s good for the gander, the government saying, let them take care of their own business.

Tavis’s point was that if we fall into this trap of being so willing to “other” individuals, who will be the ones to be “othered” next? Surely, you can’t think that Negroes are past that yet.

Bush can kiss my ass.

I grew up in a home that does not condone homosexuality. However, I have met and befriended far too many homosexuals to be able to say that I can agree with this attempt to ban them from marrying. I walk on eggshells when I deal with this topic, so as not to offend anyone. I honestly cannot say that I have a problem with homosexuality. If homosexuals are willing to uphold the sanctity of marriage, I say ga’ head on, cause heterosexuals sure as hell aren’t treating marriage like anything but a damn on the fly move.

I do not necessarily agree with movements to “push” homosexuality into my face, but neither do I agree with heterosexuality being pushed in my face. I am speaking as a hetero”sensual” female. In my life, I do not think that I have ever made my sexuality a bigger issue than I have made any other part of me. Who I sleep with does not define who I am.

I remember having a conversation with my ex boyfriend.
He said that if he didn’t know me, he could believe that I could have been homosexual. However, being with me, he said that there was no way that he could think that.
I played basketball. I like sweatpants. I don’t wear makeup. So, yeah strangers can believe what they like. I do not push my “extracurricular” activities into people’s faces. So I would like that same respect from everyone. However, I know that this is not necessarily something that will happen. So, we move on. We live our lives and mind our business.

For those of you, especially people of color, that are reading this and that don’t follow politics so much, don’t let the push on the ban of gay marriages shift your view from the real issues. Regardless of whether it happens or not, what will it have to do with the state of affairs that our country is in now economically and militaristically?

A confused 1am post.

Ok, so I’m not Catholic and I don’t agree with it’s teachings or it’s church…but that’s neither here nor there…I don’t preach religion. I’m not your local pastor/priest, or whatever you call those folks with robes…

But this just in…

So, you know that Mel Gibson is doing some movie about Jesus Christ….

I heard that churches bought out movie theaters and allowed anyone that was willing to come see the movie, to view it for free in conjunction with the hope that they would come to church on Sunday for a “Discussion” of the film….

Sorry if I am offending anyone, but UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

Are you really serious?

And then, the response to this movie.

Jews are mad. Jews don’t even acknowledge Jesus Christ as anything but a good man, so um, naturally it would seem logical that it would have been the Jews that turned their backs on Jesus as they still do. But once again, neither here nor there…

I got nothing but luv for da Jews.

And then, to all those “sinners” turned “saints because of this movie”, what the hell do you guys think you are doing talking about the extreme violence in this movie when you all watch,as my mom would call them, “devil worshipping” horror movies like they are regular life issues?

It’s a movie folks. It’s a little scary that people would be so offended by it, and I realize that America and Americans have this deep need to control things that cause discomfort in them/us.

Janet showed a titty. Usher cheated on Chili. Mel did a movie about Jesus (and looks damn good in the commercials)…is that sacreligious? lol

Scandals are always popping up. In a place where scandal is part of our everyday lives, why are we still so quick to make it into an issue that will highlight the news unncecessarily?

I may have to update this. It’s feeling awfully random and scatterbrained.

If anyone is mad about anything here…

Let me stop while I’m behind….lol…

*This has been another delirious 1am post by Nai’~Truth*

some words

Ok! So I’ll be a woman and admit that I copied and pasted the quote that you will soon read, from the Away Message of Ashley. I read it last night before I went to bed and it had such a lasting impression on me, that I decided that I had to put it on this site, so that when she changed her message, I could still always see it when I needed to. The quote says:

after a while your learn the subtle difference between holding a hand and chaining a soul, and you learn that love doesnt mean leaning and company doesnt mean security and you begin to learn that kisses arent contracts and presents arent promises, and you begin to accept your defeats with your head up and your eyes open, with the grace of an adult not the grief of a child. Your learn to build all your roads on today because tomarrows ground is too uncertian for plans. After a while you learn that even sunshine burns if you get too much. So, plant your own garden and decorate your own soul, instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers. And you learn that you really can endure … that you really are strong, and you really do have worth.

With that said, I think this post is done!!!

Doubling Up

So, I had a conversation with the kids about how smart they are. I mean, they finish all my assignments in record time. You would think I gave them easy work. However, they admitted that they enjoy my assignments and fear me so much so that they make certain they have my assignments done right away. I don’t know if I am so happy about that. I mean, I like that they enjoy the classroom aspect of it, but I kinda wish they didn’t do the work because they felt obligated to do so, but that they did it because they actually enjoyed it. Being able to give them creative license for their work makes them feel….

I don’t know. But I have decided to double up. They now have two big assignments to work on, and they seem to be enjoying them both and not understanding that they are working on two different things at the same time. So, I have them multitasking. That’s kinda cool. The new assignment that I introduced them to is one that I modifiedd from college. It is called “The Lie”.

The assignment begins with me listing things about myself that are true and that are lies, but sound believable. The student then select which of my listed things are lies. I usually put:

When I was in Nigeria, my sisters locked me in the bathroom
I lived in Nigeria for a few years.
My first car was a Lexus ES250
I was born in New York City, where I was raised.
I have a scar on my nose that I got when I fell off of a slow moving motorcycle and hit the firehydrant.
ETC…

We go through each one, and the kids say things like, you never lived in Nigeria. Speak African…lol
or, your first car wasn’t a Lexus. You probably had some type of Geo Metro or something. Or, yeah! you were born in NYC.

I then make them make up their own lies. That is usually harder for them to do than they think because it needs to be believable.

After they make their lies, I select one that I would like to see created into a story.

From that point on, I begin the assignment called “The Guided Short Story”.

I take their lie, and create a scenario. For example, one kid’s lie was:
I can eat a sandwich in 1 minute.
So the scenario that I made for him was that he was with a friend, when they both ordered subs (in NY, we calle them HEROES), and he scarfed his down in 1 minute. When the friend asked him how he was able to eat a 12 inch sub that quickly, he began to tell the story…

Each student has a personalized scenario. As a class today, I made them create main characters (giving them a name), 3 additional characters (giving them names, and telling a little about each one), a setting, and a reason for the selected setting.

Tomorrow, they are going to create a contest and a prize. Describe the contest thoroughly, and give the contest a setting.

So, if all works out, we are going on an adventure and we’ll be moving from setting number one, to setting number two. The additional characters will begin to pop up by the end of this week.

I’m having fun with it. I hope they are too….

And off course, they are still working on my BLACK HISTORY assignment. I will not let that one die….

Celebrating Black History 365

Well, it’s back to work folks… After one week of gallavanting through Massachusetts and New York City, it’s back to Albany for work. I expected today to start off really badly, but 1st period actually went smoothly. I made plans to have the students go to the library today because I felt that it was necessary for them to know that Black History is something that is very necessary, especially in their lives. I am adamant about young black and brown faces learning about people that paved the way for them. So, since Black History for me, is 365 days a year, I feel that I need to at least emphasize it to the kids for one month. The initial assigment that I had for them has been pushed back and they are now focusing on what I call “THE BIG ASSIGNMENT”. I took them to the library and made each student select a prominent Black figure. I recognize that by giving them the choice, they would probably opt to pick someone who they have written about before. But that’s all good. Their assignment was to find three different sources of information on the figure they selected and write a one page essay on why the person was/is important.

That’s easy enough right?

Well, I think so too…

Then, they are to Familiarize themselves with the individual’s struggles.
Were they poor?
Did they have to live through segregation?
Did they have an illness?
Were they beaten?
etc.

Create a presentation on the chosen individual and be ready for questions.

The reason why I focused on the struggles part of the individual as opposed to what they were famous for, is because, we all know what they did. These kids consistently conplain about their struggles and use that as a reason to not be productive. One kid told me that the reason he doesn’t know how to read is because his father left him when he was young and he never called and talked to him on the phone. So I had a conversation with him about my father and how sometimes in life, we have to leave well enough alone and just go out there and face the world like it’s an obstacle course that we will succeed against. Fathers cut out, mothers cut out, parents pass away, people put you down, racism exists, classism exists, nationalism exists, capitalism exists, the poor struggle, the rich keep living, SHIT HAPPENS! But being able to succeed despite adversity is what matters the most.

I want them to understand that struggling is part of being human. Sacrifices happen frequently. It’s being able to conquer those obstacles that make the person! I tell my students everyday, “If you don’t learn how to read before this year is over, you will learn how to be responsible youth.” If they don’t learn how to read before this year is over, my hope is that they learn to be driven to succeed. I won’t always be there to be their motivational speaker, but I hope that they will realize that they have to do it, they are the masters of their own destinies. With all that said, I’m signing off!!!