GOP Mandates Workers Back to the Field...

The Headline reads:

GOP Governors Will Push Workers off Unemployment by Reopening Early

These are wicked people y'all... They are DELIBERATELY choosing to reopen places frequently employing and servicing the Black community. Black people are waking up, realizing that and pushing back and as consumers saying hell no!, we won't go. As workers however, there will be another choice to make. Get back in that cotton field, I mean go back to work, or sacrifice unemployment benefits therefore one's means to survive, one's ability to feed and house themselves and their family during this pandemic.

So if it is not bad enough that we make up a disproportionate number of the "essential workers" risking our lives to save America and/or to keep it going, now we will be forced to the front line yet once again being made to literally choose between living and facing the very real potential of death as we return to work before any testing has been done or procedures put in place to clear the path of doubt or to reassure us or the rest of the American public that the coast is just a little clearer. How sad... STILL we are expected to die for the economy of this country, just as was the case during slavery. Still don't believe that Blacks built this country? Still believe that Blacks are lazy and don't want to work? Still don't believe that some whites think themselves superior and that to them, Black lives really don't matter? You fail to see your country for what it is and what it has always been. The more things change...

Black folks might just have to take care of one another, our collective self. You know, get back to the pre-integration basics of making our own way as we grapple with how to not only get through but to survive this pandemic!!! Let there be some good to come out of this. Please God...

Channel the resilience of our Ancestors, check on one another and Hang in There! We have weathered many a storm, together we can weather this one too... 

Governor By Theft!

Damn Corona!

So yesterday I was determined to make it a better day. I had to do things differently to pick up my mood. On purpose I got up, got dressed, COMBED MY HAIR, took a nice shower, cleaned up a bit, washed clothes and played music all day as I worked from home. I even entered a Zoom conference with video instead of my usual still photo concealing the mess that I am. LOL! I purposely decided to make it a better day...


Later in the evening I went for a drive and even picked up a cheesesteak and fries; comfort food to treat myself in closure of my good day. But for a walk around the block at 9pm one night when the moon was beautiful and bright, I have been in the house since Sunday. No fresh air! I know this is not good but in my overwhelming sense of helplessness, it seems it is becoming my new norm. Ugh... Somehow I went from creating a daily task to get me outside to only going out once per week. Too much information coming at me. I have no way of knowing what is true. So I guess my response has been to just stay put where I feel the most safe... Not good. I must work on it...


Thursday was freaky too. I have had no one in my apartment since this nightmare began. On Thursday, a cable guy HAD to come in. I was getting new service. The new norm says they don't come in but call and let you know that there is a bag outside your door with instructions on how to install your own equipment. That of course depends on there being no problem with the wiring already in your home. Of course there was a problem with my wiring which required him being in my apartment for what seemed an eternity. Creepy as I am masked up and watching everywhere he went so to know what I had to clean when he left... This new norm, being afraid of the mere presence of others, is freaky y'all and 'social butterfly me', doesn't like it...


So after Thursday, a "snap back" Friday was important. I purposely set out to MAKE it a good day in this new normal and it was, kinda' sorta', UNTIL that evening. I received the dreadful text from a person very dear to me that she and maybe her little one have Coronavirus. Shit just got even more real! She is the first person in my intimate circle to disclose that she is positive. It was just a matter of time as we can all expect this kind of news, even for ourselves.  Brace yourself. The virus is too prevalent and too little is being done to contain it nationally to think otherwise... In my heart I KNOW that she is going to be fine, so I didn't really panic, but still my heart sank. So much for a good day. I ate only half my cheesesteak...


I hate that she and others are going through this. I hate that disproportionately Blacks are being affected by Corona and that we live in a country where we have an administration that largely doesn't care and is likely quite happy and motivated that estimates of nearly 50% of the deaths from this virus are Black people, thus his nonchalance that a possible 100,000 Americans could die from Corona. He is banking that they will be largely Black people. And we thought "George Bush didn't like Black people"... Corona is Katrina on steroids...


We are on our own in this fight, AGAIN... Good and forward thinking for Sean Combs to assemble a Town Hall to launch a discussion of just how we start to do this; take care of ourselves. What a nice new normal that would be post Corona, Black independence... Something has got to give... If you have not seen his Revolt special, check it out, it is on YouTube.


Throughout all of this, I have repeatedly said, it is one of two things that will sustain and get us through this mess; our strong belief in faith and/or our strong belief in US and the resilience of our Ancestors and confidence that we are similarly resilient. We've been through some stuff y'all and amazingly we have come through. As dreadful as it seems, this too will pass. As someone shared with me yesterday, no season is permanent. This time however we need to come through standing much differently on the other side. What does that look like? What will be OUR new normal? WE MUST envision... WE MUST decide...


Of course in the interim, we have to do our best to do as much as we can to protect ourselves; stay home as much as possible, practice social distancing, wear masks, wash our hands, try not to touch our face, all that we are being told are preventative measures. Stay strong and fight like hell if Corona does pay us a visit but most importantly, let's check on, take care of and pray for one another. My special friend is atop my list right now. I know that you are reading this. Hang in there and don't hesitate to call no matter the need. I will be there...


Happy Saturday Folks & DON'T go to church tomorrow no matter what that foolish preacher is saying. Easter is the day of resurrection for Jesus not you. You may not rise so don't risk it. Worship on line, on the phone with family and friends or alone with you and your God in your living room. Put on your Sunday best if you must but just stay home!!!


Be Well EVERYONE!!!


#DamnCorona!!!

America the Great, Now A Shithole Country?

America the Great!!!



America now looks like a "shit hole" country with states begging for supplies or being forced to wheel and deal or to compete with or outbid one another for the most basic of supplies necessary to save and/or protect lives as if on the black market, defenseless against death of our caretakers and their patients as our "leadership" seems OK with the loss of a "mere 100,000" or more of our lives, staring like deer in the headlights at a growing pandemic soon to be in pandemonium mode the likes of which America has never imagined and does not know how to handle.

Ultimately, arrogance be damned!, we will be forced to look to other countries, you know, those "shit hole countries", to which we have previously boasted superiority, shunned and/or criticized, to whom we have selectively doled entrance to our sacred borders like grand prizes, we will be forced to look to them for guidance on how to survive the unthinkable here where the streets have been falsely marketed as "paved in gold".

The land of golden opportunity does not seem so opportune now as doors previously open to us and desiring our presence are being closed in our faces. Call it karma and false notions of supremacy and invincibility. The borders incited by trump's racism and xenophobia are now borders against America. The blue passport that everyone else wanted and that was our key to wherever we wanted to go, ain't the book to have no more... At least not now. The next REAL POTUS is going to have so much fixing to do!

And why is American in this state? It is because Americans, all of us because surely there are mechanisms to have unseated terror in plain view, has tolerated absolute incompetence at the highest of levels. Yes, trump's regime took it to an unprecedented extreme, but since the days of ronald reagan, the actor, and Dan Quayle, the pretty boy air head VP, the republican party specifically, has glorified and/or tolerated absence of skill, intelligence and now integrity... For that, there is a price to pay; a huge price which sadly, ALL Americans will pay.

donald trump is INCAPABLE of making a plan to get us, as a nation beyond Corona, and is too arrogant to listen to those properly trained and educated who can. Without a concerted, nationwide effort, we are wasting time and resources toward no end. There is no end in sight to our current troubles absent a national plan. What a time to be a nation without leadership.

So all you folks who couldn't stomach voting for Hillary, how is your failure to vote or your vote for trump, which is the same, working for you now? I have NO use for you! Spare me your tears and your pink hats. Get your ass to the polls, Corona or not, in November!

If ever we were, ours is country on the brink of being considered a super power no more. Certainly, we are no longer the model of democracy or the moral compass or the benchmark of civility we once held ourselves out to be for the rest of the world. Instead, we are America the Laughing Stock . Some nations are rather enjoying our new state. Given our history, of course they are. Call it karma or something about chickens. Take your pick. Thanks trump! America feels really, really great again!!! SMH...

Vote People Vote! Death & destruction is knocking at our door. I am not sure what more it will take to make us face reality or to restore our fighting spirit...

Random Thoughts & Observations...

My thoughts this morning are with victims of abuse who are trapped in their homes with their abusers; children and victims of domestic violence alike. Check on your peeps'. Don't ignore what you hear happening next door...

My heart is concerned for hungry children. Make sure the children in your neighborhood who depended on that meal they are now not getting while in school are being fed. Share with others if you can... 

You are your Brother's/Sister's keeper. Check on him/her...

I am reflecting on a brief exchange with a former colleague on yesterday. I think it was a call for help. He is a recovering alcoholic having a really "hard time staying sober". I didn't hear him fully on yesterday but I hear him now. I will reach out to him today and everyday I think he needs me. Check on your peeps'... 

Sustaining recovery is likely a very real challenge for far too many right about now. Don't forget them...

No one is talking about depression but it is REAL as we are stuck in our homes under too many clouds of uncertainty. Folks are losing their jobs. Folks are losing or don't have healthcare. Folks are not sure which bills to pay or not to pay as they hold on to whatever money they do have, not certain from where or if their next dime will come, some with little mouths to feed. Stores, restaurants and "nonessential" retailers are closing. California has mandated forced shut in of it's 40 million  residents, other states will follow. The highways are empty making the world feel Apocalyptic... 

The virus haunts us like a ghost we cannot see. I feel like I'm living a sci-fi movie and I don't like sci-fi! 

Certainly, I never expected to live one...

What a horrible time to lack national leadership. Shame on the US for tolerating such ignorance and utter incompetence. It now goes beyond the morons who voted for or who amazingly continue to support him (I won't even mention his name). We, the American people, are responsible for our current plight. There is no one looking out for the best interest of the nation. It is our apathy or acceptance of defeat that has allowed that...

What is terribly disturbing about this is that undoubtedly this crisis is rooted in capitalistic greed and they, the greedy capitalists who already have more money than God or that they can spend in several lifetimes, are more vested in trying to figure out how to capitalize from this crisis than they are interested in fixing it. Of course they are! Bet your life on it, figuratively I hope... The shit is just that real. 

America justifies her malfeasance on any one of three "C"s; 

Capitalism, Christianity or Conservatism. Think about it...  

The rich WILL get richer. Although it is rather poetic that with the crash(ing) of the stock market, they too, have lost much of the gains they realized while looking the other way as the rest of us were exploited or got screwed. The financial ramifications of this crisis will be far more adverse and far more reaching than most of us can comprehend. Call it karma that the greedy are feeling it too but they WILL rebound. The game is theirs. They are the kingmakers. We are simply pawns being manipulated on their game board of choice. Their next move will make sure that they are going to be OK. Trust and believe it... But there are some things that not even money can buy. 

There is no where to run during this time of crisis from a nondiscriminatory virus.   

Anyway, that's my doom and gloom for this morning. Sorry, but it is what I am feeling and thinking. It is going to be damn near 80 degrees today. As I adjust to truly learning how to dance in the rain, I accept the sunshine anxiously await more...

Have a nice day folks! Check on your peeps'; the elderly, those in recovery, those otherwise vulnerable, potentially lonely or just otherwise shut in. 

The time is truly now for us to take care of one another. 

Just Do It... 

This too, Shall Pass. Believe It...

The Hoax Is On Us...

Sadly, his occupancy is not over. Still, we have to endure his presence.

More sadly is that we face a major crisis in the US with zero direction. In his quest to destroy or discredit all things Obama, he has fired key personnel smart enough to guide and protect us through this crisis and dismantled key offices designed to keep us safe, to avoid and/or to foresee this type disaster. Instead he called it a hoax designed by Democrats to bring him down. Never mind what was happening in Asia. What an incredible ass!

Because we had zero leadership and no blueprint to follow, local and state governments, schools and private employers, corporations and private organizations have been left on their own to figure out what makes sense. As a result, we have absolute chaos with folks canceling major events, detrimental for non profits needing to raise money, and closing down services until some arbitrary date. There is no consensus or rationale behind the date, just until some random date in April or a specified number of weeks chosen for no specific reason and that have no specific meaning. No one knows exactly how the dates were selected nor what is expected to happen during the time of the shut down. It's crazy...

Students are being kept at home. Colleges are cancelling the remainder of the semester and planning to continue on line. Do we have an on line system that can handle the volume of pending traffic? Employees are losing work totally or being told to work at home? For how long? How long can employers sustain paying employees to work at home? How many unemployed people can the unemployment system absorb and for how long? Job hunting? Who is going to hire in the midst of so much uncertainty? This is an absolute mess. Nothing great about it...

Ideally, we would have had leadership at the helm who would have been proactive weeks, hell months, ago and was prepared to calm and direct us in what to do next in the face of crisis. We would have been given an umbrella and had at least some guidelines to figure out the next steps and proper fit given those guidelines for our businesses and other interests. There would be a plan and we would know what was going to happen during our self imposed shut down and look forward to seeing light at the end of the tunnel. We would have some reassurance. If only we had a leader...

Instead of living the impossible dream, we are living the real life impossible nightmare. The hoax is on the American people. When do we get to wake up from trump's making America "great again"? He has failed at every business venture ever attempted so of course he is a failure at governing. Sadly, we are his victims in so many ways. This should be the final straw, the wake up call. Anyone who still supports trump or is making excuses for his failures is as much an imbecile and as disgraceful and harmful to America as is he.

Thankfully, in November We the People have the antidote... 

Get to the polls People and VOTE! 

Just VOTE!

Bernie or Bust; Hell to the "No"!

This headline, Bernie Bros warn of ‘massive exodus’ if Democrats nominate Joe Biden, is what makes Bernie Sanders unattractive as a candidate to so many Democrats. He is an unknown. He is not a Democrat and basically, he is a spoiler to the Democratic party as was donald trump to the republicans, who like Dems, at first resisted and distrusted him. Of course they did. Sadly however they have since fallen in step with his evil and hateful policies that were not a far reach for many party members. Likewise, Democrats are rightfully resisting the intrusion of Bernie Sanders. Will they too fall in line? If so, with what? Bernie is an unknown...

Unfortunately both parties allow for persons not members of the party to hold themselves out as such and run for office under their respective party banners. That is ridiculous! There should be some membership requirements (i.e. specified time registered in party) before running on a party's platform. That only makes sense. Running under the party to which one does not belong is akin to me deciding that holding myself out as member of a popular sorority to achieve some personal goal would be acceptable or tolerable to the sorority. Of course it wouldn't...

Bernie's lack of allegiance to a party under whose banner he seeks office but to which he does not belong, results in his doing little to nothing to discourage this "Bernie or Bust" allegiance from his followers. He did little to discourage it in 2016 and it looks like he is set to do little to discourage it again in 2020. Call it ego...

The above referenced article also notes that in 2016 12% of the "Bernie Bros" voted for trump. Many others stayed home in essence also voting for trump. I wonder how many then showed up the following January donning little pink hats and tons of regret.

Anyone who can vote for, threaten to vote for or who would risk another four years of him under any circumstance is of questionable character and likely a trump supporter anyway. Be Gone!

I read recently that AOC no longer supports Bernie. Again, he is an unknown. Moreover, Bernie just had a heart attack. Anyone else would have dropped out then. He didn't. Call it ego... Knowing who will be his running mate is of paramount importance NOW as opposed to later in the event he is successful in his bid, that person may very well be POTUS. Who will it be? Too many unknowns...

Check out old videos of Bernie. His posture and demeanor looks very much like the egomaniac occupying the white house when he disagrees with or is asked a question he is not willing to answer by a reporter. He would abruptly end the interview. Just like trump... Still, I am not feeling the Bern...

EXCERPT:
“We will never – NEVER boost or support Joe Biden or defend his abysmal record and terrible policy positions,” Henry Williams, executive director of The Gravel Institute, told The Post. “We will tell people, as we always have, to vote their conscience and to make decisions based on the interests of all the world’s oppressed people … I do expect a massive exodus from the Democratic Party.”

And then what? Often I have said that trump was the wrong man with some of the right message. If he were remotely fit, psychologically, academically, intuitively, temperamentally  and otherwise (because he is a certifiable moron), and wasn't such a racist hell bent on dividing and destroying the nation, some of his message would have resonated with more people. 

trump's "presidency", better referred to as an occupancy, is a missed opportunity because I do believe that Americans are looking for change. We are tired of the two party system that is bought and owned by the 1%. We the People, the remaining 99%, are UNrepresented and that was the widely held sentiment long before trump. Our Congress had a dismal approval rating even before 2016, indicative that our government was not in sync with us pre-trump and partly what made his or Bernie's entrance or appeal even possible.  And let us not forget Ross Perot. We didn't even know who he was. It did not matter. What we did know was that he was singing a song of change that we wanted so desperately to hear. And then he chose his VP... That was the end of him. Another reason it matters who is the running mate.   

We the People want our voice to be heard and respected by our government. So no matter who the successful candidate, Bernie or Joe, it is imperative that WE THE PEOPLE unite and demand of our government to first ensure that a person the likes of trump can never ascend to the white house ever again and then be bodacious enough to repair all that he has broken even if it requires a change in status quo. Certainly we must ensure that some of what Bernie proposes is implemented because again, America does want change!  

So how do we achieve change? I am for establishing a party or bolstering the Democratic party to truly be a party of We The People; a party inclusive even of the poor, white, "middle America" and angry folks on the other side. They are more disenfranchised and in need of what Bernie proposes as are most others.  They just don't know or accept it. Yet. It's coming... The Dems have done a poor job at driving that fact home to them in a way they can comprehend. We need to keep people like Elizabeth Warren, Nina Turner, Ladies of the Squad and Stacey Abrams in the forefront who CAN hear us and who WILL keep our voice loud, present and relevant. We can do this. Oh Yes We Can! 

See ya' at the polls!!! 

Cherishing the Memory of Christmas

I wrote this on Christmas Morning 2019 and posted it on my Facebook page. Many of the responses indicated that it sparked memories of their own childhood. I post it here to spark a pleasant memory or two, to encourage those who are new to Christmas and other occasions without your special loved one, to know that in time, it will be easier and it is the memories that will sustain you. For those fortunate to still have your loved one, keep making memories on Christmas and always because it IS the memories, not the gifts, that WILL sustain you too! Take plenty of pictures, audio and video record the moments, be sure to say thank you and I love you, enjoy the meal, the love and the laughter! Just be happy folks and Enjoy the Holiday Season! Thanks for reading and sharing my blog!

Wow! And just like that it's Christmas morning! That magical morning that seemed to take forever to arrive when we were kids. I can remember waking up several times and being told to go back to bed. Sleeping one hour probably felt like all night so this happened several times until FINALLY it was time!

We were so easily satisfied then. My Mom was a single Mother of five. I am sure our gifts were not as plentiful or as expensive as perhaps some other folks' but what I don't remember is ever being dissatisfied. Always there was that special gift just for you! Thank you lay away. LOL! She ALWAYS made it happen!

Always there was a huge breakfast. I remember hoe cake (who knows what that is? Who still makes it? Send the invite!) and Alaga syrup (yuck!)! LOL! There was always lots of laughter, lots of gifts, guests dropping by and the day ended with a huge dinner. I was and still am a HORRIBLE eater. How many good meals did I not eat? LOL!

I remember that the ENTIRE house would be decorated including THE bathroom (we only had one and we managed! LOL! Imagine that!) and at least a light and a small ornamental tree of some kind in each bedroom. The house was always beautiful, filled with joy and lots of noise.

On my first Christmas without her, I tried to replicate her Christmas. I decorated the house and even tried to cook a few of my favorite things while I could still remember the taste of her cooking. That lasted one Christmas. LOL!!! I do mildly decorate. No tree, just a wreath, a poinsettia and lots of Black Santas and other ornaments. As for cooking, that was a fleeting notion. I don't even own pots and pans now. LOL!!! My stove is often a desktop or a mail depository. I know. I know. It's pathetic! I have that discussion with Mommy everyday. We laugh together; at least in my mind we do! 

I remember that as I got older, I began to travel for Christmas. Always before I would go my Mom had Christmas for me. She was special like that! I miss her so... 

Before she passed away, it was important for me to give back to her the joy she gave to me all of my life, Christmas or otherwise. I lived to thank and make her feel like the Queen she was. Every holiday from her birthday, to Mother's and Father's Day and certainly Christmas presented an opportunity to shower her with a special gift. It became a tradition. The plan was for the gifts to get bigger as time went on. Sadly, time did not go on... Her friends would ask, what did Helen give you? I so loved giving her bragging rights. Lord knows she had given them to me for all of my life! She built each of her kids up to be proud and confident! We never knew we were poor and don't even think about telling us we were not gorgeous and smart! How many Black kids can sing that song? Thank You God for Black Mothers!!!

Anyway, it's Christmas morning and I slept just fine last night, the whole night through. Only bathroom breaks interrupt my sleep these days. LOL! I am not traveling today. I am chillin' in a new apartment for the new year. Boxes still everywhere. Final exams to grade. Toni just called to come have breakfast for Paul's birthday, Happy Birthday Paul! Sorry you are not here to celebrate your birthday with us Celestine. We miss you but love Dubai!!! I'm Jealous!!! I will eat dinner at Doreen's house and just enjoy a local day with local friends. No airplanes or highways involved!

I will visit my Mom's grave and do a drive by our old house. I have no idea who lives there now. Reverend Harvey, our old neighbor, has passed away. I miss not being able to drop in on him and Mrs. Harvey, Mr. Charlie and Ms. Pat, Les Wise and so many more from my childhood village. Still however, it will be a special Christmas filled with special memories.

Merry Christmas & Happy Kwanzaa to ALL!!!