Social Networking Fast

Although I was able to achieve and maintain near perfect grades in graduate school even after the advent of Twitter, I admit that I have become overly dependent on social networking. I call the people I follow on Twitter my friends and share some of the more intimate details of my life with them. I rarely make phone calls or check my voicemail messages because I assume people will just tweet me or facebook me.

Well, I am going on a break from social networking.

No Facebook, no Twitter. I am going to remove all notifications from both sites and uninstall the mobile applications. I need to find what is missing and I believe that is real connections. Maybe getting off will cause me to go out in the world and reclaim the friends I have been avoiding. For me, social networking was a cop out. I was able to retreat into the virtual world in an effort to not deal with the actual world. It's easier to appear social if you never have to leave the house. I don't want to become a hermit, but I have hermit-like tendencies.

So tomorrow I am going to leave my house. Maybe go sit at Lake Ella, take a book, read for a while and just enjoy all that outside has to offer. After that, I am going to return home and pick up one of the books on my summer reading list. Monday, I will go get my GRE fee reduction certificate and print off some papers I need to work on. Matter of fact, I will add my personal statement and writing sample to the mix so I can edit those as well. So for at least the next week, my life will be circa 2006 before the advent of Facebook and Twitter. I am going out to face the world with bravery and courage.

I will have a personal photoshoot of me and the elements. The ducks at Lake Ella. The sun in the sky. I will wish upon a star and remember what life used to be like.

I hate that I am always home. So starting tomorrow, I won't be...

See you all in the real world.

So What if I Am A Black Woman?

See, black women are sensitive creatures. Dealing with the legacy of slavery, oppression, and racism will do that to you. Black women are used to being the mules of the world and having been so ordered, these women carry everyone. They carry families, friends, finances, failure, faith, you name it, a black woman has carried it. Black women are used to being the first one on the scene and the last one to leave the scene. However, even with the work ethic of the black woman, the recognition is also the least. Mules get no credit. Not a thank you for the hard work. No thanks for carrying Sir wherever he needed to go. Historically speaking, mules get no love, no appreciation, no decoration. The Bible makes it clear that mules are the last on the totem pole because the Bible makes a big deal about Jesus riding in on a donkey. I guess when the King of Kings utilizes the lowest of the low, it's something to be noted.

In this same manner, the world uses black women. When the media wants to show anger, they profile an "angry black woman." When the media wants to spotlight loneliness, they profile a "single black woman." When the news wants to show fear, they profile a "lonely black woman." Ghetto? See "black woman." Dang, black women are the worst of the worst.

Or are they?

Faith? Who has carried the black church since its inception? The black woman. Success? Who has taken care of house, home, and her career? The black woman. You see, the black woman does it all and never asks for gratitude. The black woman never does what she wants to do, but always what she has to do.

And now, black women are the new "hot topic." The one on everyone's mind. The media is beginning to wonder if the black woman will be able to recover from the latest onslaught of negative attention.

Guess what?

We have, we will, and will again. #CheckOurLegacy

We are:

Harriet Tubman

Ida B Wells

Mary Church Terrell

Dorothy Irene Height

Mary McLeod Bethune

Oprah Winfrey

Toni Morrison

Michelle Obama

Alice Walker

Rae Lewis-Thornton

Zora Neale Hurston

Google us.

So what if I am a black woman?

To Become a Voice You Have Start Talking

My blog is going to take a different direction... To become a voice I have to start talking so I'm going to start blogging on issues that are of import to me. Look out for a coming post about the state of black womanhood. The supposed scarcity of positive black male/black female relationships. I am compiling examples and preparing my viewpoint as we speak.