Sunday, November 30, 2008

The hardest thing...

This will probably be the hardest thing that I will have to write. In this season of thanksgiving I have much to be thankful for. On Thursday I traveled to Syracuse to visit my eldest sister and her family. As we sat down to a pretty much traditional Caribbean thanksgiving dinner my brother in law said grace. My dad looked over to me and said he was so glad I was there. That may seem like an odd statement to make but in light of the circumstances it made sense.

You see, according to all accounts, I should not be here. Even after a week and a half it is still hard to wrap my mind around the reality of what happened. Seeing it happen to someone else on television is one thing. Experiencing it first hand...surreal.

According to the witnesses my life and the lives of 3 of my dearest friends should have ended at around 9:15pm on 11/18/08 on a stretch of road outside of Hampton,VA. After watching the car spin out (at 60mph), hit a guard rail, flip over several times, skid on its roof and side, hit another guard rail, then come to a stop one witness said she expected to see bodies. Instead she saw four young women, shaken and bruised, yet alive.

I remember the sounds, the metal scraping, gears grinding, the deafening silence broken only by a whispered "Jesus" followed by an equally quiet "everything will be ok"; the sights, rows of headlights, the stars, sparks flying.

Some said we were lucky, some said it was a miracle. I say that on that road that night life and death stood face to face but mercy stepped in and said NO.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Ranting Auntie 3.0

Happy Birthday to me.

I would like to take this opportunity to first thank God for making me possible and keeping me alive to see the ripe old age of 30. Morning by morning new mercies I definitely see.

Next I would like to thank mommy and daddy for raising me right and smacking the mess out of me when I got out of line, and mommy for reminding me on a fairly regular basis that until the day she dies (and to her way of thinking even after that point) she reserves the right to take me out if I don't act right.

My sisters, blood and otherwise, for reality checks and not taking me as seriously as I take myself.

My little ones for always giving me something to laugh about.

My GDT family for caring and praying.

And last but not least all the haters... hi haters, you see me, and it makes you burn cause you can't be me...

Thank you and goodnight.

The Ranting Auntie

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Put up or Shut up

Well....

America voted and as many are touting, the "first black president" has been elected. That being the case I have only one thing to say to "black people"...

PUT UP OR SHUT UP.

It is time to back up all the talk that has been going on with action. So many times people always lament and bemoan the fact that "the man" is holding them down from being where they want to be or reaching their goals. Well if they don't achieve anything now, and don't reach any goals, what will be their excuse now that "the man" is out and "brotha man" is in?

I wonder...

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

One more thing...

If I see Jessie Jackson crying ONE MORE TIME...

I am not sure why as yet but that so irks my spirit...

Oh wait, I remember why now, because Jessie is a hypocrite... yeah I said it....

Was Obama using small enough words for you to understand now Jessie? huh?

I'm going to bed now...

G'night

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

What it is all about

While waiting in line to vote today I had the opportunity to speak to an 80 year old woman from North Carolina. In response to the statement "what is the point of voting? what can one vote do?" she had this to offer:

"If you had come up how I came up, when I came up, you would understand why I would stand on this line all day long if I had to. I never thought I would live to see the day when it was even possible for someone who looked like me to even have the chance to run for an office much less the office of president and that I would be able to vote. I was one of 15 children. We worked the cotton fields earning $.50 a bushel. A black person in office was not even something I could ever think about. But I thank God that I lived to see the day when it happened."

Regardless of party affiliations, regardless of who you voted for and why, this is what it is all about. The right to vote. The right to have our voices heard. My generation has always had the right to vote, and sometimes I think that we forget what the generations before us had to go through to secure that right for us. Today I spoke to a woman who knew what it was like not to be able to vote because of the colour of her skin, who knew what it was like to be afraid to vote because to do so could have cost her her life. I was humbled by her words to me today, and as I pulled that lever to cast my vote I did so with a respectful understanding and with a sense of profound gratitude towards those who went before me and made it possible for me to do so.