Happy Easter, everyone!

Posted on April 5, 2015 by SouthernGirl2

Richard Smallwood (born 30 November 1948 in Atlanta, Georgia) is an American Gospel musicartist who formed The Richard Smallwood Singers in 1977 in Washington, DC.

Richard graduated cum laude from Howard University with degrees in both vocal performance and piano, in addition to graduate work in the field of ethnomusicology. Smallwood was a member of The Celestials, the first gospel group on Howard University’s campus. That group was the first gospel act to appear at Switzerland’s Montreux Jazz Festival. Richard was also a founding member of Howard’s first gospel choir.

About SouthernGirl2

A Native Texan who adores baby kittens, loves horses, rodeos, pomegranates, & collect Eagles. Enjoys politics, games shows, & dancing to all types of music. Loves discussing and learning about different cultures. A Phi Theta Kappa lifetime member with a passion for Social & Civil Justice.
This entry was posted in Celebrations, Christianity, Current Events, Easter, Gospel, Music, News, Politics, Praise, Spirituality, Worship and tagged , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

68 Responses to Happy Easter, everyone!

  11. rikyrah says:
    April 5, 2015 at 10:50 pm

    The Unorthodox Duck @GeauxGabby
    Not a singer/actress. Not an athlete. But an Ivy League trained lawyer. A mother. An activist. A thinker. A Black girl who rocks. @FLOTUS

    Reply
  18. eliihass says:
    April 5, 2015 at 9:29 pm

    Wow. Black Girls Rock! May I just say that this has been very well done. I’m impressed. They kept it real but classy. Great job BET. Great job Cicely Tyson, Helene D. Gayle, Ava DuVernay (she went there when she said that Hollywood does not support black women. The one token and overplayed black woman at a time agenda simply won’t do.), Nadia Lopez, Erykah Badu, Jada Pinkett Smith. And yes Jada, when one of us is slighted – all of us are slighted

    And may I just say again how much I love my FLOTUS. She’s awesome. None of the hoity-toity, better than you fake attitude. She’s there in all her serious and dignified glory, but still fully immersed in, connected and connecting to the event and everyone there. She’s incredibly supportive, effusively rooting for and embracing of everyone. No judgement, no fakery, no condescension. Just validation, love and affirmation. Humility and pure, genuine class in its truest form.

    She’s the epitome of Black Girls Rock. With her powerful presence she stands out. Completely unafraid to be herself. To be strong and yet allow herself to be vulnerable. To be serious and yet be and still have a bit of fun. But most importantly, to encourage and to speak the truth. No mealy-mouthing. No dodging or straddling opinions. Clear and straightforward, you never have to wonder where she stands. You know exactly who she is and what she stands for. She’s never had to be anything but her authentic self in navigating her greatness on this world stage she’s found herself.

    And after all these years – and in spite of the vile attacks and dehumanizing insults that would have brought most of us to our knees – and even irreversibly killed our spirit, she’s still standing. But more importantly, she stands tall in her full and still unapologetic glory and embrace of her true self – still so recognizable and unaffected, as she genuinely and enthusiastically embraces and roots on others. No acting. No fakery. No opportunism. She’s not manipulating you. She’s not looking for anything from you.

    She fully believes in the sisterhood. She especially believes that all children are all of our children and we should care what happens to every last one of them as if they were ours. She celebrates and cheers them on as if they were hers. Not out of duty or some random cause or cute project. Her life story tells us that this has always been her thing. To lift up. To root for and demand fairness for the downtrodden and those assigned to the fringes. To even out that very unfair and unbalanced playing field. She believes in, and continues to live that which she talked about in her DNC speech in North Carolina: the importance of reaching back and never shutting the door behind you because you somehow got out and made it.

    That’s why they’re so scared of her and so determined to demean, discredit and destroy her. To silence her clear, wise, powerful voice. To permanently push her off the stage. They’re so afraid of what she represents and inspires. A strong, powerful woman who knows who she is, what she’s worth, and what her truth is. A brilliant woman who isn’t beholden to or seeking the approval or validation of anyone – least of all, not the validation of people who’ll never really see, appreciate or fully respect her humanity.

    Reply
  19. Kathleen says:
    April 5, 2015 at 6:47 pm

    A belated Happy Easter to the 3Chics and their chic-ettes!

    Reply
  20. rikyrah says:
    April 5, 2015 at 5:17 pm

    Media Alert:
    Mad Men returns tonight.

    Reply
  21. rikyrah says:
    April 5, 2015 at 4:17 pm

    they continue to show why they are evil

    ………………..

    How to Waste Food Benefits

    Posted by John Cole at 4:15 pm

    Apr 05, 2015

    By giving it all to the banks in service fees:

    Kansas welfare recipients will be unable to get more than $25 per day in benefits under a new law sent this week to Republican Gov. Sam Brownback’s desk by the state legislature.

    The bill also prohibits welfare recipients from spending their benefits at certain types of businesses, including liquor stores, fortune tellers, swimming pools and cruise ships.

    “We’re trying to make sure those benefits are used the way they were intended,” state Rep. Michael O’Donnell (R) said, according to the Topeka Capital-Journal. “This is about prosperity. This is about having a great life.”

    Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, often known as “welfare,” is one of several federal programs administered by states at the ground level. The Kansas TANF program, known locally as the Successful Families Program, offers a family of three as much as $429 per month in cash benefits. Kansas is one of at least 37 states that distributes benefits on government-issued debit cards, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

    Under the new rule, a three-person family receiving the maximum benefit would have to go to the ATM more than a dozen times to get the full benefit, which would be whittled away by an 85 cent fee for each withdrawal after the first one. And the local cruise liner ATM will no longer be an option.

    The other thing that this does is make it absolutely fucking impossible for these families to plan ahead. One of the ways to make dollars stretch is by buying in bulk. When I was an undergrad, I was living on a monthly stipend from my GI Bill and Army College Fund of 500 bucks a month as well as my monthly National Guard check (which at the time for a Sergeant was about 150 a drill weekend), plus I had two jobs (one as a bouncer and one at a clothing store) and I also did drywall/painting, and landscaping.

    ……………………………………….

    Having said all that, I still would basically only go grocery shopping once a month, and I would go to several grocery stores and pick up whatever bulk items they had on sale. I would pick up a 10lb roll of ground beef and then go home and form burger patties out of it and put them in individual ziploc bags. I would find lasagne noodles and other ingredients cheap and I would make a lasagne, let it cool, and then put it in individual portions in tupperware bags. I asked my parents for a meat sicer for Christmas my sophomore year to help. After Thanksgiving, I would buy two frozen turkeys for dirt cheap, cook one, make a hot dinner the first night, slice up all the sliceable meat and preserve it, cut the odds off and use it to make chicken salad for sandwiches, save the bones and skin in the freezer and then with a couple dollars of fresh vegetables and 50 cents worth of rice from the everpresent 10lb bag of rice, make a big pot of soup and feed not only myself, but my roommates. I’d buy a ham after easter marked down and cut up the rest for sandwiches, save the bone and some meat and with some carrots and dried beans make a hearty soup. Ground pork on sale? No problem. Season it, put it in ziploc bags, and now you have sausage patties for breakfast. Canned green beans or corn on sale for 20 cents a can, I’d buy my weight in it. Canned tomatoes on sale for 30 cents a can- sauce for a month. A block of cheese is WAY cheaper and better than those individually wrapped slices, so I would get a block and slice it up as needed. I’d buy big restaurant sized mustard, and ketchup jars and put them in smaller squeeze bottles for use. And so on.

    …………………………..

    I figure I ate like a king for less than 150 bucks a month back then. But it took a lot of work, it took planning and coupon clipping and watching for sales, and most of all, it took a hunk of money all at once.

    ……………

    AND THAT’S THE FUCKING POINT OF WHY THIS IS SO FUCKING STUPID AND EVIL AND WASTEFUL. They’ll never be able to go to a proper grocery store and do a smart shopping trip, they are damned to a life of daily trips to convenience stores to give away a buck to the banks for the withdrawal and then probably another 2 bucks to the terminal provider, and then forced to buy processed crap with no nutritional value at inflated prices. You can’t even put this bill on a stupid/evil continuum because it is 100% stupid and 100% evil.

    http://www.balloon-juice.com/2015/04/05/how-to-waste-food-benefits/#comment-5304563

    Reply
  22. rikyrah says:
    April 5, 2015 at 3:49 pm

    I wish I could get a ticket for this.

    ……………………………………..

    Misty Copeland to DanceSwan Lake at DC’s Kennedy Center

    The upcoming performance of Swan Lake with two African-American lead dancers reminds some in Washington, D.C., of the legacy of dance at Howard University.

    BY: BLAIR RUBLE

    Posted: April 5 2015 3:00 AM

    History will be made at the Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theater on the evening of Thursday, April 9, when Misty Copeland, a soloist with the American Ballet Theatre, joins Brooklyn Mack of the Washington Ballet in a performance of Swan Lake. Copeland andMack, both African American, will go where no dancers of color have gone before. They will become the first African Americans to dance the leading roles of Odette/Odile and Prince Siegfried respectively in what remains our whitest performing art: classical ballet.

    There should be little doubt that Copeland—a rising star at the American Ballet Theater who gained notoriety after appearing in a widely noticed Under Armour advertising campaign—and Mack—trained at Washington’s Kirov Academy of Ballet and Chicago’s Joffrey Ballet—have demonstrated ample talent on ballet stages around the world. Their appearance as leads in Swan Lake would be seen merely as appropriate next steps in their expanding careers if they were white.

    http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2015/04/misty_copeland_to_dance_in_swan_lake_at_dc_s_kennedy_center.html

    Reply
  24. rikyrah says:
    April 5, 2015 at 3:23 pm

    Our lovely First Family

    First Family Easter 2015

    Reply
  25. rikyrah says:
    April 5, 2015 at 3:20 pm

    Kylie Jenner
    Does A Black About Face
    4/5/2015 7:34 AM PDT BY TMZ STAFF

    Kylie Jenner pulled a Julianne Hough by posting pics of herself which appear to show her in black face … and people are pissed.
    Kylie originally posted the pics Saturday night, saying, “What I wish I looked like all the time.”
    She got backlash from folks who felt she crossed the line with black face, so Kylie deleted the pics, re-uploaded them and wrote, “This is a black light and neon lights. People lets all calm down.”

    Read more: http://www.tmz.com/2015/04/05/kylie-jenner-black-face-instagram-photos/#ixzz3WT5e9xvG

    Reply
  26. rikyrah says:
    April 5, 2015 at 3:14 pm

    The Man Who “Discovered” ADHD Admited that it’s a “Fictitious Disease”
    POSTED ON MARCH 31, 2015

    “ADHD is a prime example of a fictitious disease.” These were the words of Leon Eisenberg, the “scientific father of ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder),” in his last interview he gave before his death at age 87 in 2009.

    (While some have described Dr. Eisenberg’s statement as an “exaggeration,” many doctors are coming to the belated conclusion that ADHD is often “over diagnosed” by the use of “fuzzy diagnostic practices.” Harvard psychologist Jerome Kagan, who is one of the world’s leading experts in child development, states:

    “Let’s go back 50 years. We have a 7-year-old child who is bored in school and disrupts classes. Back then, he was called lazy. Today, he is said to suffer from ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). . . . Every child who’s not doing well in school is sent to see a pediatrician, and the pediatrician says: “It’s ADHD; here’s Ritalin.” In fact, 90 percent of these
    5.4 million kids don’t have an abnormal dopamine metabolism. The problem is, if a drug is available to doctors, they’ll make the corresponding diagnosis.)

    http://themedicalblog.net/2015/03/31/the-man-who-discovered-adhd-admited-that-its-a-fictitious-disease/

    Reply
  27. rikyrah says:
    April 5, 2015 at 3:12 pm

    I guess good enough for thee but not me

    …………………….

    Monsanto Defender Says GMOs Are Safe Then Refuses to Taste Them

    POSTED ON MARCH 30, 2015
    By Lyonel Laverde-Hansen

    Last week, the chemical giant Monsanto got embroiled in an unexpected public-relations fracas. Dr. Patrick Moore, a supporter for Monsanto’s genetically-modified products, was being interviewed by the French television station Canal Plus.

    Moore is not a Monsanto employee, but leader of the Allow Golden Rice campaign. This is a movement to distribute large amounts of this rice for poor people, mostly in Asia, where there is a large deficiency of the crucial nutrient vitamin A. The Allow Golden Rice Campaign has been opposed vehemently by environmentalist organizations because it was a product of genetically-modified engineering.

    Moore is passionate on the subject. “This is a crime against humanity,” he said. “All we ask is that Greenpeace and their allies make an exception for Golden Rice to their opposition to GM crops. Millions of lives are at stake.”

    In the interview, Moore stated that Roundup, Monsanto’s commercially-known weed killer, was safe for human intake, but pointedly refused to drink a glass containing the liquid.

    Apparently Moore thought the interview was to focus on his “golden rice” campaign. He argued that glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, was not the cause of increasing cancer rates in Argentina.

    “You can drink a whole quart of it, and it won’t hurt you,” Dr. Moore said.

    After having said that, the reporter informed Moore that they had a glass with the herbicide in it, and suggested he drink it. Moore rebuffed that offer, by saying, “I’m not stupid.”

    http://themedicalblog.net/2015/03/30/monsanto-defender-says-gmos-are-safe-then-refuses-to-taste-them/

    Reply
    • eliihass says:
      April 5, 2015 at 6:44 pm

      But of course..
      That ruthless and heartless greed that puts money and profits over lives. That’s that good old capitalism and ‘innovation’ at work. No thought for the short and long-term damage done to human lives, and our food supply.

      Reply
  28. rikyrah says:
    April 5, 2015 at 3:08 pm

    7 Reasons All Black Kids Should Be Taught To Play Chess

    By Yolanda Spivey

    One of my son’s Christmas gift request this past holiday was for me to get him a chess board. I thought it was quite odd that a child of only seven years of age would be interested in playing chess. I was under the impression he would be more interested in a new Nintendo Wii game, but he wanted a chess board.

    On Christmas morning when he opened up his gift and saw the beautiful glass chess set I had brought for him, he almost passed out. He exclaimed, “This is the best gift ever mommy,” and gave me a big hug.

    A little later during the day, him and I sat down and embarked on a couple of games. I learned how to play chess when I was 10 years old, and here it was, my son knew how to play chess without me even teaching him. He was actually taught in school and he was quite good at it—knowing the position and names of each chess piece and the order of how they were to move on the board. I was impressed!

    On the website UrbanIntellectuals.com, they give 7 good reasons why every Black child should learn how to play and master the game of chess—and I have to agree with them. They are:

    Differentiation- There aren’t that many Black children who know how to play the game of chess. So if your child learns how to play they would definitely stand out from the crowd and be set apart from their peers.
    Beneficial Hobby- While children often get their daily dose of garbage activities, playing chess has been proven to strengthen a child’s reading and math skills. So, have kids put down those video game controllers and pull out the chess board.
    Increased Focus- Studies have shown that children who play chess have an increased attention span. They can sit still for long periods of time without losing focus or being disruptive.
    Builds Patience- You’ll be shocked that your child’s patience tolerance will increase due to playing chess. Many parents pray that their children acquire this skill and chess is a good way for children to learn the art of patience.
    Multiplies Learning Capacity- Studies show that chess is responsible for growing dendrites in the brain which increases brain power, potential and capacity.
    Strategy, Planning and Foresight- Your child will become an expert at strategy, forming a plan, and having great foresight. It will benefit him/her in the long run when they have to plan things out.
    Critical Thinking- Today’s educational system is not set up to allow a child to think critically. Chess is a game that forces a child to think and to analyze on a critical level. They are getting the best exercise for their brain!

    http://www.theblackhomeschool.com/2014/01/30/7-reasons-all-black-kids-should-be-taught-to-play-chess/

    Reply
  29. rikyrah says:
    April 5, 2015 at 3:05 pm

    You won’t believe how the public school system is ruining black boys

    Many critics in the US and around the world have expressed concern about the state of black boys in the public school system. Some even say that the public school system has become a preparation of sorts for the penitentiary. Data shows that black boys who are less educated are very likely to end up in prison, and some systems seem to work to make sure this is what happens.

    Watch this Al Jazeera video below to see just how serious the problem is, and tell us what you think.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bznanQU2hrA

    http://www.theblackhomeschool.com/2015/03/15/you-wont-believe-how-the-public-school-system-is-ruining-black-boys/

    Reply
    • eliihass says:
      April 5, 2015 at 7:00 pm

      But there’s much more to this story. And in acknowledging the failure of so many of our public schools, we also have to guard against using very disappointing and poor examples of the public school experience to make the argument for replacing them with the mostly greed-driven Charter school structure that still in many ways short-change our school age children.

      We have to rebuild and fully support our public schools so that they do what they were meant to do. Properly educate all of our children equally.

      Reply
  30. rikyrah says:
    April 5, 2015 at 3:02 pm

    All Boys School in Ohio Has a 0% Dropout Rate and Here is the Reason Why

    By: Krystle Crossman

    Ted Ginn used to coach football at Glenville High School in Ohio. He was also a security guard there. He watched the students struggle every single day because of the rising pressure to do well on tests and state-required exams. He watched students drop out, flunk out, and give up on themselves. He decided one day that he didn’t want to stand by and watch the male youth of the city lose all of their potential and end up in jail or worse. He wanted to do something about it. Ginn went to the school board and the superintendent and told them that he wanted to start a public all-boys academy that was for at-risk youth. The program would be based off of a mentoring model which is very different from regular public schools. The motion was approved and in 2006 Ginn Academy was born.
    In its first three years of being open Ginn Academy attracted more than 300 students. While the city of Glenville itself had a dropout rate of 54%, Ginn Academy had a dropout rate of 0%. Not a single student dropped out of the school or gave up. Many came to the school after hitting a rough patch in their lives and realizing that they were headed down a bad road but a normal public school was not going to help them get their lives on track.

    The Ginn Academy has a very intense interview and background check process for potential teachers. They hire only the most qualified. On top of having the best teachers the school also has life coaches that are available for one-on-one mentoring with the students. They are available 24 hours per day, 7 days a week. Ginn believes that this is one of the biggest factors of the non-existent dropout rate. If they need anything from advice to a shoulder to cry on the life coaches are there for them even when no one else is. The students have teachers who care and who know exactly what they are teaching.

    The curriculum that is used in the school is heavily concentrated on math and science. These are two of the main subjects in the state graduation tests. Ginn wants to make sure that all of the boys are as prepared as possible for the testing. He is a very hands-on director. He knows all of the students by name and knows each of their unique situations outside of the school. He makes sure that he is very involved with every one of them and lets them know that he has an open door policy at all times. These relationships that are built between the educators and the students are the most important tool for learning and the success of this school proves that.

    http://www.theblackhomeschool.com/2015/03/25/all-boys-school-in-ohio-has-a-0-dropout-rate-and-here-is-the-reason-why/

    Reply
  31. rikyrah says:
    April 5, 2015 at 3:00 pm

    Why Home-schooling is the Cure When Your Child Hates Learning

    By: Krystle Crossman

    When you were in school did you enjoy sitting and listening to a lecture about the Civil War, or learning about insanely hard math problems, or even taking Latin? Not many people do. When you are forced to sit and learn about things that you don’t care about you become less and less interested in education and your scores on tests can reflect that. Learning should be fun, informative, and most importantly, something that you are interested in. For example if you are a creative person art class may be more your speed. If you are an analytic person you may be more inclined to enjoy science or even math. This is one way that schools are setting kids up to fail. They force kids to learn about things that completely bore them and most of the time that they will never use again once they are older. I can’t remember a time when I have once had a discussion about George Orwell’s 1984. The only thing I remember about it was that it was a book I was not interested in reading but was forced to in school. I do however remember photography class and how much I loved it. I ended up turning that into a career.

    Home-schooling is great because you know your child best. You know what they like, what they don’t like, and what bores them to tears. Now while you obviously can’t cut out some of the more important lessons like basic math, reading and writing, there are so many ways that you can make them more fun for your child so that they really soak up the knowledge. For example, if you have a child that is passionate about science experiments you can focus on that to teach many different subjects. You can have them figure out fractions, addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division just by the numbers in the experiments. When they are creating a solution of some sort they will need to figure out how much of each liquid to add. They can get their reading lesson in when they are reading data from other experiments that have been performed that are similar to theirs. Get their writing lesson in by having them write a hypothesis, analysis, and outcome of their experiment. They are learning about topics that they may find to be boring normally but they are fully engaged because it’s about something that they truly care about.

    http://www.theblackhomeschool.com/2015/04/05/why-home-schooling-is-the-cure-when-your-child-hates-learning/

    Reply
  32. rikyrah says:
    April 5, 2015 at 2:58 pm

    Tragic: Mother Killed Moments After Sharing Laughter With Son
    POSTED ON APRIL 5, 2015

    A California woman was shot to death and her son injured on Wednesday for allegedly laughing at the suspect, who was in a Cadillac with his feet protruding out of the car window.

    Police reports indicate that the woman, identified as 44-year-old Denise Berry (pictured), and her 12-year-old son were sitting in traffic when she saw the Cadillac.

    “Mommy says, ‘Look at that, isn’t that funny?’ and they made eye contact [with the suspect],” Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Lt. Dave Coleman told reporters. “She drove on and they began following her.”

    Seeing that the suspect was charging towards her, she drove and stopped besides a police officer for help. The police officer asked her to park in front of him and he’d handle the situation. As she was headed back to her car, the suspect pulled his Cadillac over and a man, identified as Robert Washington, 38, came out of it and began firing. There was a hail of shots, prompting the Hawthorne police officer to jump out of the police car and fire at the suspect, killing him.

    However, the officer’s intervention didn’t come early enough to save the woman, as she was also pronounced dead at the scene. Although her child was also injured, he was still strong enough to run for his life. He was later taken to hospital, where he received treatment and was discharged on Thursday, according to family members.

    http://iloveblackpeople.net/2015/04/tragic-mother-killed-moments-after-sharing-laughter-with-son/

    Reply
  36. rikyrah says:
    April 5, 2015 at 12:38 pm

    Rev. Run’s Sunday Meals show never fails to make me smile.

    Reply
  37. rikyrah says:
    April 5, 2015 at 12:36 pm

    and because this commercial never fails to make me laugh

    Reply
  40. SouthernGirl2 says:
    April 5, 2015 at 11:57 am

    Greens are on and potato salad is made.

    Reply
    • eliihass says:
      April 5, 2015 at 7:11 pm

      Until we finalize arrangements to move in with you SG, we look to the day when the internet becomes interactive in its realest sense. That is when just as we now enjoy your wonderful playlist, we can actually sit around the table right here at 3 Chics and partake of your scrumptious meals as we talk politics and culture.

      Reply
  42. rikyrah says:
    April 5, 2015 at 11:27 am

    for every little girl who had that new Easter outfit

    Reply
  44. rikyrah says:
    April 5, 2015 at 11:01 am

    Pope decries violence, praises Iran nuclear deal in Easter message

    In an Easter peace wish, Pope Francis on Sunday praised the framework nuclear agreement with Iran as an opportunity to make the world safer, while expressing deep worry about bloodshed in Libya, Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Nigeria and elsewhere in Africa.

    Cautious hope ran through Francis’ “Urbi et Orbi” Easter message, a kind of papal commentary on the state of the world’s affairs, which he delivered from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Square.

    He had just celebrated Mass in rain-whipped St. Peter’s Square for tens of thousands of people, who huddled under umbrellas or braved the downpour in thin, plastic rain-slickers.

    Easter day is “so beautiful, and so ugly because of the rain,” Francis said after Mass about Christianity’s most important feast day. He expressed thanks for the flowers which bedecked the square and which were donated by the Netherlands, but the bright hues of the azaleas and other blossoms seemed muted by the gray skies.

    Francis made his first public comments about the recent framework for an accord, reached in Lausanne, Switzerland, and aimed at ensuring Iran doesn’t develop a nuclear weapon.

    http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-pope-easter-mass-20150405-story.html

    Reply
  47. rikyrah says:
    April 5, 2015 at 10:12 am

    SKIN COLOR DOESN’T EQUAL CONNECTION

    WWhether in the Caribbean, Latin America, or Africa, traveling to a predominately black location can be difficult as a black traveler. The cultural and historical diversity within the African diaspora has created uniquely connected yet disconnected cultures, traditions, and identities. As a black traveler in countries with an African presence, your skin color, race, identity, and racial authenticity are constantly being shaped, challenged and broadened.

    I have always been black. Blackness has been engrained in me since I was a youngster in Chicago, and it is very much so a part of my identity. However, my blackness was constantly challenged this past semester when I had the opportunity to study abroad and live with host families in a variety of communities in South Africa. As a black woman in Cape Town, South Africa, given their racial theories and categories, my race, ethnicity and heritage were confronted on an everyday basis. Black Americans are a diverse community that have a variety of skin tones and hair textures, but because of this diversity we can occupy a complex position in South Africa. My identity oscillated between black and coloured, a racial group in South Africa that denotes black, European, and Asian ancestry, on a daily basis. It was only known through my voice rather than my appearance that many times people realized that I wasn’t from there. Unlike members of my cohort, I had a privilege of ambiguity, where onlookers questioned my identity.

    Until I opened my mouth and South Africans realized that I was American, their perceptions changed towards me and was even reflected in the ways that they treated me. The ways that South Africans perceived me and classified me solely based on phenotypical characteristics impacted the ways in which people responded to me and uniquely shaped my overall experience. I recall a particular day when my friend ,CJ, (who happens to be white) and I got on a taxi in Langa, a black township right outside of Cape Town. The driver turned around and began to speak Xhosa to me. Even after I told him that I only spoke English, he continued to speak in Xhosa. After a minute of talking in Xhosa and me responding in only English, he finally spoke to me in English and told me that I should accept my blackness and not conform. Clearly, he must’ve had some earwax in his ear, and he did not hear my American accent, but he consistently wanted to push his conceived identity on me despite my own identity as a black American.

    http://travelnoire.com/skin-color-doesnt-equal-connection/?hvid=2IB20

    Reply
  48. SouthernGirl2 says:
    April 5, 2015 at 10:11 am

    My Turkey is in the oven. Yay!

    Reply
  50. rikyrah says:
    April 5, 2015 at 8:25 am

    Good Morning Everyone :)
    Happy Easter!

    Reply
  51. SouthernGirl2 says:
    April 5, 2015 at 12:15 am

    I’ma let Darlene Simmons take us to church this Easter Sunday. The woman can SANG!

    Reply

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