Tattoo Truth...Video by Marcus Crowder and Response Video by Jhavia Nicole

Response to "Kings Dream Today" video by Marcus Crowder

I decided to do a blog post responding to this video by my BRILLIANT friend Marcus Crowder since YouTube limits how much I can say.  Watch the video and develop your own opinion...this is mine.

 
 
"They [schools] produce deserts of isolated grains of sand...imagine a school system that took the time to cultivate your creative talents first..." This is the foundation for everything. School is the training ground whose sole purpose is to crank out millions of  people who will contribute to society. It would make sense for school to nurture the things that people are naturally good at instead of forcing the same regime on every single person, but then schools would be actually benefiting the people instead of merely functioning as a societal machine and we can't have that, now can we? The few schools that do nurture creativity and encourage the development of trades are frowned upon, seen as sub par and consequently receive less funding and support from the government.

With churches getting all of the communities' money and war getting all the money on a societal/larger economic scale, everybody is bound to be broke (except for the people behind the churches and the wars, which is often the same damn people!) Our society invests in things that have no return...if those resources were invested into the people then that would trigger a much more positive cycle than the destructive one we've been in for centuries.

"People don't know how to fall together." This is classic crabs in a barrel syndrome. We don't do anything together because competition is at the core of our society. When someone falls, we use that as an opportunity to use them as a step stool to get to our destination instead of uplifting them and travelling together...although we all know it's more efficient/safe/smart to carpool.

"Your survival should not be contingent upon your debt." It shouldn't be, but it is. That's capitalism for ya. Gotta love this capitalistic society we live in. Our entire lives revolves around debt. The things that are seen as important acquisitions in our society are all things that require credit. College is accompanied by student loans. Buying a house is accompanied by a mortgage. That Lexus has a car note; that Prada purse is purchased with a MasterCard. Our credit score is an indicator of our worth, because, as far as capitalism is concerned, your worth is based on your buying power.

All of the above is a response to the first three and a half minutes (out of nearly twelve) of the video. Needless to say, it is worth watching.

Share your thoughts by leaving a comment on this post or on his video :-)

7.24.11 belly dance performance at Nicola's Lebanese Restaurant

Shimmy Shimmy Cocoa Girl :)

I just realized something...

I am almost at the 2 year mark with my locs...my babies are growing up *tear* In three months it will be 2 years since I started this incredible journey! My hair has come such a long way...

Here are some recent photos of me...I will post better ones soon.

Why I don't blog as much as I used to...

I think I am not as amazed by my hair as I used to be. It's not new anymore. I still love it, but I have gotten used to it. I guess you could say that the honeymoon phase is over and my hair and I have become comfortable with one another. What's crazy is, it seems like the less I notice my hair, the more other people pay attention to it. It has been a year and 5 months since I started my locs...they have progressed so much! I will have to post photos sometime soon. Other than that, school and belly dance have taken over my life. I have a few more weeks until graduation, so I have to really get focused and crank out these last assignments (one of which is a 15-17 page paper). I have been overtaken by senioritis, so this last month seems like it is taking forever, and I feel liek I have a mountain of work to do. In the midst of school stress and job hunting, belly dance has been keeping me sane. If you want to know more about my belly dance experiences, you should check out my other blog. I JUST started it so I only have one post, but I will be posting on there more regularly than here for the next few weeks. The blog is called Shimmy Shimmy Cocoa Girl and I am quite excited about it! http://shimmyshimmycocoagirl.blogspot.com I guess that is all for now. I just finished a paper and turned it in...I have more work to do though. Check out my other blog :)

Photography update

This is what my camera and I have been up to... More images on my site http://photosbyjnikki.weebly.com/office-fashion.html

Excited about fasting?!?!?!?

Yes, it's true. I'm excited about fasting for Lent. Maybe I won't be as excited 20 days from now lol, but right now I am pretty excited about it. 2010 has gotten off to a great start, and I am thankful to God for that. I am in need of spiritual renewal, and I just want to show my appreciation to Him/Her by abstaining from the things that I often take for granted. For me, fasting is about letting go of unimportant indulgences in exchamge for spiritual/emotional/mental abundance. I feel like that's something to be excited about :)

I will be abstaining from meat, dairy, swets, and alcohol. I thing that I am going to start by abstaining from meat and dairy, then each week eliminate something else. The week leading up to Easter (and my birthday!) I will abstain from everything except for water, fruit, vegetables, and beans/nuts. That means no meat, no sweets, no alcohol, no dairy. I am considering abstaining from sex as well. Most likely, I will decide to not have sex during those last two weeks leading up to Easter. This is going to be challenging, but I look forward to the rewards of it. I am sure my body will benefit from this. What is most important to me about fasting is that I am giving up my reliance on STUFF and shifting that reliance to God. THAT is exciting. I will keep you gys posted on my fast.

Brief hiatus...

In the process of relocating...haven't had much time to blog. My free time is spent looking for furniture, or most recently, a moving truck. That in addition to doing homework on the computer and I can't stand to look at the screen anymore...I will return to the world of blogging soon. Until then, hope you miss me! :) I have a hair update that is long overdue...I haven't even done my 3 month update, and I'm getting closer and closer to 4 months...smh.

Foxy!

1 month loc update!

Dreadlock Chronicles III

I think they do it 3 or 4 times a week...

I'm talking about cutting the grass. I think the grass here at Agnes Scott is cut like every other day. It's fucking ridiculous. Soooo I took a math test, no studying, no calculator and I'm still pretty confident that I did well on it. I'll keep my fingers crossed. I have a shit load of work to do. My boo is sick so that sucks. Ok so my dilemma is...I don't know whether to buy a high end point and shoot camera, or a low end dslr. I am looking at the Canon Rebel XS. It's kinda calling my name. If I get a point and shoot, it will probably be a Sony or a Nikon. I will elaborate on this later.

Honey Bee

I thought you were a honey bee and I
Wanted to be wherever the honey be cause
Honey is sweet but its good for you too...

As were you.

Well, that's what I thought but
I believed and was deceived by the buzz...
You made me buzz.
Chemistry so kinetic that it resonated through me like vibrations
You buzzed and I came.
Addicted to your hypnotic sound
I clung to you.
Cause you were sweet like honey and just as sticky
I was stuck and
Couldn't let go without your residue being left on my fingers...
Honey Bee
Using me like a hive
Filling me with nectar and storing your secrets in me
Making me feel like home...
Your praise made me bloom like honeysuckle and I
Left pollen on everything I touched
Telling the world of your sweetness...
Honey bee
Treating me like a queen bee...
But that was then and now
You just sting

I can taste the memories of us.
I savor the ones that are sweet and
Spit out the sour ones and
That is what you get.
Words from me that are hard for you to swallow cause
They no longer taste good...
But they're real
And now you're bitter.
The honey that used to drip from your lips is gone
I realized that honey was really aspartame
Way too sweet to be real and you left behind an unpleasant aftertaste

Now when you speak you spout vinegar.
My mind puckers up at the sound of your voice
Everyone knows that honey is the way to keep fly girls like me but
You can't possibly be the bee you used to be so...
Honey bee gone.
You stung me and it hurt but

I didn't bleed