Wakanda Women Forever

The Women of Wakanda (Black Panther)

Before you haters start flapping your gums…sit down and have a bloody seat. Yes, I’m aware that Wakanda isn’t real and that Black Panther is a Marvel movie but the significance of this movie is tremendous. What this will mean for black and brown children everywhere is profound.

When you grow up in a family where the women are fierce and unapologetic you take that for granted. You think that women everywhere is like that and allowed to grow and be powerful and boss. Not bossy. Boss. What we fail to realize is that in many households, cultures and societies, women are treated as inferior. As pleasure boxes and baby makers. They are not allowed to go to school. They are not allowed to drive. They must follow behind their male counterpart and can only do what their male counterpart permits them to do. This was not the case in my household and it’s clearly not the case for the women of Wakanda.

When you see powerful portrayals of the feminine spirit take charge, it makes you want to take charge too. It makes you feel proud. It tells you that you matter. Representation matters. You’re not an angry black woman but a woman with a purpose. Our mission is to show that if you stop treating women like chattel and instead respect them, you will get the best of them, the boss in them, the loving woman…the complete woman. So take a lesson from Wakanda, and let women live to their full potential and thrive.

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In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Wakanda appears to be in the region near Uganda

My Black Panther review

So, if you haven’t heard by now, there’s this Marvel movie taking the world by storm. It features a predominantly black cast, where the protagonist is a super hero and king of his nation, the uncolonized African country of, Wakanda. The country’s military force is a band of female warriors called the Dora Milaje. The genius scientist is a princess and the antagonist is a misunderstood Wakandan, raised outside the country. It’s a brilliant portrayal of black beauty and power while tackling issues of nationalism, immigration, and what it means to be African/Wakandan.

It follows the journey of the Black Panther who returns to Wakanda after the death of his father, the king. The Black Panther must now take the throne but is challenged and has to overcome infighting and betrayal while protecting his nation and saving his love. 

It’s a movie for everyone, no wonder it’s such a success. As I’m writing this, Black Panther is entering it’s 4th week in theaters. Everyone knows it will break the $1 billion mark this week.

#RyanCoogler is a genius and I’m predicting that this movie will be nominated for an Oscar.

#WakandaForever

#GirlPower

#BossNotBossy 

Addendum: another review-more details 

ALERT * SPOILER * SPOILER * SPOILER * ALERT: Do not read beyond this line if you haven’t seen the Black Panther movie as yet.

One month ago, Marvel’s Black Panther opened in theaters nationwide, to much fanfare. It opened in the number one position every week and has grossed over $1 billion.

Synopsis: King T’Challa returns to Wakanda to take the throne as king after the death of his father, King T’Chaka. (King T’Chaka was killed in Captain America: Civil War, where we were introduced to the Black Panther.) Upon his return, he faced a challenge for the throne from M’Baku, head of the mountain tribe, but wins. His initiation is completed after a ceremony in which he is buried, to communicate with his father, in the afterlife. He drinks the heart-shaped herb and is anointed the Black Panther. His first mission has him saving or rescuing his ex-girlfriend, Nakia, who didn’t seem to need saving. She appears perturbed that he may have messed up her mission. He must then go to South Korea, where Klaue is meeting CIA agent, Everett K. Ross, to buy stolen vibranium, in some sort of government-buy-from-the-bad-guy-to-keep-it-out-of-the-wrong-hands deal. This vibranium was stolen from a museum with the assistance of Erik Killmonger, the long lost cousin of King T’Challa. A shootout and fight take place, Ross is shot trying to save Nakia’s life, so he is brought back to Wakanda, where scientist and genius princess Shuri removed the bullet from his spine. Panther’s cousin, Killmonger was raised in the United States, abandoned by his Wakandan family and has returned to Wakanda to challenge T’Challa for the throne and wins. But, Killmonger is a terrible king. The queen, princess Shuri, Nakia and agent Ross flee. They end up with the mountain tribe and ask for assistance. M’Baku helps a little. Will king T’Challa regain his throne?

This movie addresses so many political issues like nationalism, immigration, the question of identity and what Africa could have been, had it not been for colonization. The best way to sum up is to say that vibranium represents the richness of the continent of Africa and how these resources were decimated and continue to be exploited…even today. 

It Is Your Turn

First, they came for the Mexicans

and I tried to speak up, but no one took me seriously

because I am not Mexican

Then they came for the dreamers

And I tried to speak up, no one took me seriously

because I’m not a dreamer

Then they ignored Puerto Rico

and I tried to speak up but no one took me seriously

because I’m not Puerto Rican

Then they ignored the Virgin Islands

and I tried to speak up but no one took me seriously

because I’m not from the Virgin Islands

Then they called my sister countries shit holes

and I stood up once again because this is too much

So I donate my time, my money, my effort and energy

I let my sisters and brothers know that we are ONE

When the racists come

brown and black are all lumped in together

So remember, we’ve been here before

this is not the first time that hate has dominated a nation

It’s not the first time that people of color are demeaned 

It’s not the first time that we’ve seen hate and ignorance in the white house…

and it won’t be the last

…

When we complained about the society’s ills

you said we were exaggerating

when we complained about racism in hailing a taxi

you said that couldn’t have happened

when we told you that we were being abused by police

you did not believe even when we showed you the videos

when we told you that elections have consequences

you continue to vote against your interest

when we told you that racism did not die with the election of Barack

you were hopeful and wanted a path forward

When we told you that 45 didn’t create racism in this country

you seem to have amnesia and forget all of the above

when we tell you that racism is the foundation that built this nation

you seem to quote some bullshit rhetoric that still proves that fact

So

Don’t tell me to get over it

don’t tell me that that was years ago

Don't tell me that slavery is over

don’t tell me I’m using the race card

My reality is different from yours

when you ask me to march

I say, nope, it’s your turn

I'm tired of marching

when you ask me to stand with women in sisterhood

I say, who did you vote for

I've been standing, oftentimes alone

So…

It's your turn to march

it is your turn to speak up

it is your turn to be hosed

it is your turn to be set on by dogs

it is your turn to understand my anger 

So go on and march

…It. Is. Your. Turn. 

Inspired by…

“First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—

Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—

Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—

Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”

by Martin Niemoller

Pet Peeves

 

I’m not a stickler for many things, but when it comes to little things, I get so annoyed. Oh my goodness and you know it’s really bad when I find it necessary to have a list of pet peeves. And I’m by no means the grammar police because I make mistakes too…but these are some of the things that really bothers me…I may be alone on this, but perhaps not. 

There, their and they’re. 

Sometimes, I know it’s an autocorrect issue but seriously, I think that all adults should know the difference between these three little words.

• Use there when referring to a place. A location. Over there. I am going there. Hint: there has here, and here is a place so there must refer to a place. Easy to remember, right? Right.
• Their, when referring to a person or possession. Their house. I’m going over there to their house. Their has heir in it. Heir is a person, so their refers to the person.
• They’re is the contraction of they are. They’re my friends from University.

Converse. 

It’s converse, people. NOT c o n v e r s a t e…the auto correct won’t let me write it. Lol. So, when you speak to someone, you converse with them, you know, like the sneakers. You have a conversation not  c o n v e r s a t e. 

Buy, bought, bring and brought. 

Buy. Bought. You buy a dress from the store. Yesterday you bought a dress.

Bring. Brought. Bring me some food. I brought you some food.

So, an easy way to remember that is the br in bring and the br in brought…see, easy to remember, right?

Regardless. NOT irregardless…although irregardless is widely used and can be found in the dictionary, it is considered informal or colloquial. So regardless means without regard, ir means not, so by using ir-regard-less you’ve added a double negative to the term, negating the meaning. 

Using you and I when you should say you and me. 

This is a hard one, but the rule is, if you can separate the sentence into two sentences and it makes sense with I, then use I, if it makes sense with me, then you use me…that is how you know which pronoun to use. For example, is the sentence: he gave the cake to you and I or he gave the cake to you and me, which is correct? He gave the cake to I or He gave the cake to me? Which one is correct? Me. Yep. That’s the one you use. So the sentence is, he gave the cake to you and me.

Not re-reading a message, before you send it, is a sin.  I’m guilty of this, especially when I’m in a rush, but for the most part, I always try to review an email, a Facebook post or a text before I hit send. Autocorrect can be a pain and change words into those you don’t intend to use, but taking that second look and time to review the message is a good idea…especially if it’s a work related message.

Oh, I almost forgot. You, your and you’re. A lot of times, this is an autocorrect issue but please… stop using your when you mean you’re. Ok. You’re is you are, so sending the message, I hope your ok, should read, I hope you’re ok. Or just simply spell it all out…I hope you are ok.

One more thing…not everything is a hashtag. # Geeze!!! Back in my day, that was the pound sign or the number sign. Lol.

That's it for now...I could go on, but I have too many pet peeves to list.

#PetPeeves

My Stream of Consciousness

My Stream of Consciousness

I’ve been thinking about aging and getting older as I’ve noticed some changes in my body that I’m not particularly fond of like my backaches and knee creeks and brow wrinkles and memory lapses and when you work in healthcare any little ache you have you automatically think it’s something major oh my goodness I have a headache so you go to webMD to see what the hell you have and inevitably it always says cancer so you curse the website and say f*ck I don’t have cancer fuck you cancer this is a bullshit site but I must say with all these signs of getting older I’m thankful for everything and I’m so blessed to live in a country where I can say what I please even though we know that racism and hatred still lives here I am so thankful to not live in a place where I don't have to carry my children on my back or carry my belongings on my head to flee a war I am thankful that I have clean water and a roof over my head I am thankful for the blessed life that I live because when I see what’s going on in this world my heart breaks and there is nothing I can do to stop a hurricane from tearing down a home or flooding your car and leaving you homeless and there is nothing to be done to prevent an earthquake from crushing your life’s core and sucking all your belongings into it’s bosom while you stand helpless and humbled as mother nature rage on and you wonder about all the things you’ve taken for granted and the little things you’ve been upset about and all of a sudden these seem so petty and so trivial so when someone says to you go back to Mexico or go back to Africa tell them no you go back to the caves of the caucuses you neanderthal backwards thinking motherf****r and punch them in the throat we are not our ancestors who break bread with you and allowed you to kill them and enslave them and take their land and give them diseases so we can die hell no we are a new generation of if you touch me with your racism I will touch you with my hands so f*ck off you trump voting tiki torch carrying confederate flag raising hater who probably doesn’t even know that the tiki torch is Polynesian actually you know what I think it is about these racist assholes they have small penises and small minds and the women grew up surrounded by these insecure women-bashing individuals so to them all of this is normal and was buried in their souls waiting for a half black president to bring it out of them he’s not even full black lol so I really don’t know why they hate him so much but you know what they say you only need a drop anyway I digress wasn’t I talking about aging…

(This writing method is called a stream of consciousness, you simply write anything that comes to your mind. I do it when I'm stressed, sad, upset, angry or in this case, when I've received bad news. Try it. No punctuation. No deep thinking. Just get it all off your chest and let the writing takes you where it takes you... It's cathartic.)

#StreamofConsciousness

#FuckYouCancer

You Too? Me Too

You too? Me too..

One hundred percent of us will be harassed, sexually or otherwise, at lease once in our lifetime. Yes, I said 100%. That may seem shocking and false, but if you look at what (sexual) harassment is, you will understand why I say that. If you look at all the women (and men) that are coming out with their stories of harassment, then you will understand why I say that. If a man like Trump, a self-admitted, sexual predator, can become president, then you can understand why I say that. If a man like Charlie Rose is among the accused, then you can understand why I say that.

logo credit: www.divorcedmoms.com

When we think of sexual harassment we automatically think of being touched, but you can be harassed without being grabbed by the pussy. You can be harassed without being touched at all.

Have you ever read your employee handbook? Maybe when you first got hired during orientation, but after that we really don’t look at it…except for those of us in healthcare. If you’re in healthcare, you are required to participate in annual re-education on topics such as sexual harassment in the workplace, elder abuse, blood borne pathogens and fire safety, so it’s always fresh in your mind. But too often we are party to a joke, that is clearly inappropriate, and we simply brush it off as a joke. So, I implore you to read the definition of harassment. No one has to touch you. No one has to grab you. No one has to force themselves on you. Someone making a joke that is sexual in nature, is harassing you and if you witness harassment, you have an obligation to speak up. If you are harassed, you need to say something.

We all have that jerk on our job that makes stupid jokes that could be misconstrued as harassment but we all know that this person means no harm. If a co-worker decides to report him to human resources, this person can be terminated for harassment. So, this is a serious matter.

When something happens a long time ago, we may not be able to recall all the details, so it’s important to document everything. So, everyone should keep a journal. When you first start a new job, buy a journal and be sure to jot things down while they are fresh in your mind. Don’t forget to put a date and time on each of your journal entries. When you travel, get a journal for those travels as well. You don’t need a different journal for each job or each vacation but you should have a journal with enough pages to last the entire year. This journal could mean a world of difference.

For those women that are coming forward with their stories 20 or 40 years later…it makes you wonder…who knew? Because someone knew. When the Harvey Weinstein or Bill Cosby or Roy Moore or Al Franken or George H.W. Bush, or Kevin Spacey were doing this to these women and men…somebody knew what was going on and did nothing to stop it. When Ben Affleck or Roman Polanski, or Woody Allen or Ed Westwick were harassing and raping these women, somebody knew and did nothing. This problem is so pervasive that we elected a sexual predator to the White House. To which I credit this outpour of women coming forward to tell their stories. Many in the media are calling it the Weinstein effect, I’m calling it the Trump effect. I’m sure many of the 42% of women who voted for Trump are suffering from buyers remorse. How many of you are a part of this #metoo campaign? How many more will be accused? How many women (and men) who are not in public life, is this happening to? Don't be ashamed. Speak up! You are not alone. 

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/film/harvey-weinstein-domino-effect-rape-sexual-harassment-list-me-too/article36748593/

#WhoDidYouVoteFor

#FireTrump

#NoSexualPredators

#MeToo