To Whom Will You Be Giving Your $$ This Holiday Season?

“Black Friday” is looming around the corner which means the holiday season is about to officially be upon us. But here’s my angle. While we’re preparing to be jolly, deck the halls and jingle bells, I just want to check in with everyone to see how much of these tidings of great joy are going back into our communities. This is not going to be one of those finger-pointing, condemnation pieces. I don’t operate in that zone. So let’s just call it a memo to Black America or a call to attention.

Sometime over the next few weeks I will do what I guess you could call my version of holiday shopping. It will occur at three of my favorite Black owned businesses that I frequent throughout the year. As usual, I will buy books written for Black children as Kwanzaa gifts plus a few essential items for myself. That’s it for me. I understand that many who have small children go all out in the realm of purchasing gifts. So my question is during all this holiday spending what percentage is going back to the community? As a matter of fact, what percentage of your annual spending do you feel has gone back to the Black community? Is it 20%, 10%, 2.5%, 0? Are you familiar with Black owned businesses in your area? What about service providers such as doctors, mechanics, repair men/women? If you drop change into the Salvation Army bucket on your way out of Wal-Mart do you drop a little dough into the pot for the organizations in your area that cater directly to the needs of our communities? How about any of those programs and events that you oh so fervently “like” and retweet online? I bet a nice Paypal contribution would bring some serious joy to their world. Social media has definitely solidified its place in the movement but virtual activism will never supersede real life actions and contributions.

See, Black Enterprise says that the Black spending power is estimated to reach $1.2 trillion dollars by

It's Definitely The Black Woman's Fault

I have a friend named Danny. He recently got divorced and is in the middle of an intense custody battle for his twin boys. Danny is hard-working. Honestly, I don’t know what kind of husband he was but I do know he is a dedicated father. I know he is hurting as a result of the distance between himself and his sons and I also know he has developed a scathing resentment towards ALL Black women…

I had to stop communicating with Danny for a while because almost every conversation or text was filled with “See, the problem is that the Black woman doesn’t…” or “The Black woman always…” or the Black woman never…” I mean if it got cold outside “The Black woman” caused it. If I tried to make Danny see that he was doing some serious generalizing and that he was being extremely unfair he would dismiss it as me being insensitive to the plight of the Black man. I was 

When We Know Better…

If you know me personally or keep up with me online then you know that working with children is

one of the major parts of my life. I talk a lot about how much I love them, the lessons I teach them and the lessons they teach me. I could go on for hours about this but I won’t bore you that way. What I will do is address something that has been weighing heavily on my mind for a while now. I am extremely concerned about what is being fed to so many of our youth. Usually, if I say something like that I’m speaking in a psychological or spiritual capacity but right now I literally mean what is being put into their bellies. I am noticing a pattern of unhealthiness that is most alarming and could have negative long-term effects.

LIFE

The older I get the less judgmental I become. It’s still hard for me to wrap my head around the harm people do to others but I do have a better understanding. LIFE. Life is interesting to say the least. It is complicated. Yet it can be very simple at times. It is intricate, fragile, tough and cumulative yet we are given the ability to start anew—somewhat. It’s riddled with unfairness but sometimes the good guys win and karma reigns supreme. We experience some of the most exuberant highs muddled in with some soul-jarring lows. Many of us maneuver between the highs and lows on cruise-control. Is cruise-control good or bad? I mean it can assure that we won’t receive any citations. It’s safe. It may even be the more sensible mode of operation. But, it does not allow us to FEEL. That feeling when you push beyond the limit that society, family, friends or maybe even you imposed upon yourself. That feeling of control when it is your own foot on the gas maneuvering the 2 ton vehicle that is taking you to your next destination. Me, I drive a 5 speed and I put the pedal to the medal bruh. However, that doesn’t always transfer over to my LIFE. I guess it can’t at all times but I think it should happen more often than it does. But then life involves FEAR. You know that learned behavior that causes you to remain in cruise-control. Fear caused by past hurts and