UPDATE 5/2/08:  I just ran into an article about this film, on “AIDS: 25 Years and Counting” blog, and thought I’d update this post with a link.  http://www.blackvoices.com/blogs/2007/12/19/aids-should-we-air-our-dirty-laundry/#cont

A. What hell is up with my page today? My widget bar thingy is at the bottom of the page. Come on WordPress People! Don’t hide behind one of those sayings like you get what you pay for! I like free shit that works all the time.

UPDATE 3/7: I told myself “to hell with that theme” and picked another one. This one’s more generic but it works for me.

B. Now onto my post…

So, I joined Netflix after visiting with some of my girl homies in NC. It was really motivated by a way to stay connected to them than anything else. After all, my hubby has just about every cable channel known to mankind, so I shouldn’t be missing out on anything…but I am.

I’m the type that likes those off the beaten path type flicks. Mainstream Hollywood does not hold my attention. I love documentaries, Indy flicks, stuff like that.

As I surfed Netflix a few weeks ago, I ran across a movie called “Dirty Laundry” (you know when those pop up windows keep suggesting movies based on things you click) and the story seemed interesting.

Talented, gay and African-American, Patrick (Rockmond Dunbar) is a rising journalist at a New York City magazine who suddenly must confront his Southern roots and a mother not yet comfortable with her son’s choices and sexual identity. Patrick and his partner’s perfectly cosmopolitan world is shattered when an unexpected knock at their door brings to the forefront the issue of lifestyle acceptance within the down-home community of his youth. (source: Netflix)

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When I was little, my mom never let me play with white dolls or Barbies of any race. My sole interaction with those dolls were at my friends’ houses. I didn’t get it when I was young, but it makes sense to me now, and if I had children, I would do the same thing with them.

It’s all about developing a positive self image. The no-Barbie rule was because my mom felt she was too “developed” for a child to be playing with. As I’m writing this post, I’m thinking I should call my mom (or talk to her when I see her this weekend) and ask her firsthand, as an adult, if what I believe she was thinking was actually true. I’ll update this post after interviewing her.

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Here’s a post to get me back inline with why I started this blog…natural hair care.

* Mixed Chicks products http://mixedchicks.net/

- – Products for women with curly to nappy hair. They even have a section “baby chicks” dedicated to products for kis with the same range of hair textures. I’m going to try out some of these products. I’ll post when I make an order.

* Natural Hair Digest http://www.naturalhairdigest.com/index.html

- – website dedicated to natural hair

kudos to Field Negro blog from whom I inadvertently or directly landed on the websites above.

* Carol’s Daughter update: I still haven’t received my order. I think I got a message that it’s being mailed as of yesterday. That’s what I get for free shipping. More news to come…

…This is a man who has enjoyed the fruits of America at the blood and expense of Black Americans and others, but who has paid virtually no dues… (source cited below)

If that doesn’t catch your attention…

I know I’m supposed to be keeping this site all about nappy, but in the present political climate, it’s hard not to sound off or reflect on history in the making. So I’ve made a category called “nappy politics” to justify my cause.
A fellow blogger and friend, MelaFela, got me hip to this website…

www.blackcommentator.com

…and told me about the article from 1/31 Barack Obama: Bamboozling America, Keeping it Real by Larry Pinkney. MelaFela has also posted info about it, and I’d like to throw it in my blog as well to see what you all are thinking. You can’t read this article and not be affected by the Pinkney’s commentary.

So on my other blog site, I put this post below which is about the only action that site gets. However, I’m thinking that my nappy community, if anyone, might know the whereabouts of Fatty Koo. At least this audience is likely to have heard of them or the show on BET.

I want them to come over and play pool in my basement (sorry, that’s an inside joke and I’m too embarassed to tell the story). Wikipedia (I guess that’s our current day AskJeeves) says they’re taping for another season and album release in but you know Wikipedia. The FattyKoo.com website hasn’t been updated in ages which leaves me wondering. I signed up as a fan ages ago and never heard anything so I just re-signed up in case they forgot about me.

Here’s what I wrote. More to come… I did allegedly hear from a cousin of Gabrielle’s but no action after that.

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“The Man” has definitely succeeded in dividing our people here in America. I just returned to the post on Hello, Negro’s blog about natural hair and am fired up about some of the responses. I must say in my lifetime, I have had the most difficult experiences from my own people (I mean HARD times from my people). We are so critical of ourselves. Why spend so much time and energy on superficial shit like skin color, outfits, and how we wear our hair? That’s exactly one of the reasons why I abandoned relaxers. It was my way of saying that I refuse to be defined by our black status quo. Just be you and, trust me, the rest will take care of itself. White people do not spend nearly half the time we’re assuming they do wondering how we wear our hair or if it’s professional. Their cultural road blocks start way before that. And anyway, how often have you had a white person at work compliment your hair or wish they could do things we do to our hair? Granted, race relations in America are not all tea and scones, but some of it we perpetuate ourselves.

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I in no manner want to steal my local buddy Mela Fela’s thunder because I swear I read something to this effect in his Mela Fela blog or his columbuscaribbean.org website…However, I would love to see a Caribbean festival in Columbus, Ohio. I have family of Guyanese descent and my annual dose of culture comes from heading to Caribana in Toronto every summer (which is a FANTASTIC carnivale if your from the West Indies or not).

When we lived in the Philly area, they tried to start one up over at Fairmont Park and it was ok, but nothing memorable. I think years before that, they used to have one over at the waterfront area downtown. To see their lackluster success makes me nervous about finding success here. There are tons of routes we could go without a full blown festival.

Who knows, white people love island music. It reminds them of vacation. It might actually work better in a town like this.

Thoughts?

Ok, so a good friend of mine insinuated that my photo from Operation New Stylist Search…2 looked like someone from High School Musical. Hmmm, who might he be referring to?

You naughty minx!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TspDkbq9WM&rel=1]

Ok, so a good friend of mine insinuated that my photo from Operation New Stylist Search…2 looked like someone from High School Musical. Hmmm, who might he be referring to?

You naughty minx!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TspDkbq9WM&rel=1]

(Update 3/14: changed post title, i always thought it sounded retarded…

This continues to be my favorite blog to read.  Field Negro is a good mix of social commentary, politics, and current events.  Lately, it’s been mostly politics but that’s what’s hot in current events.  Field’s posts are cleverly written and he holds onto to his underlying theme, field vs. house negro, consistently through his blog.  Affrodite [that's me talking about me in the 3rd person] happily gives some afro props when afro props are due.  Don’t count on consistency in my blog.  I’m way too scatter brained for that.  You get my mind for the moment and I sign-off.  Hopefully, you are occasionally entertained, pissed, or somewhere in between.)

I’ve been reading the Field Negro blog and, so far, I’m loving it. The author is a Philly based blogger, and you know I got love for Philly as a former area resident.

If you consider yourself the Afrocentric conscious type, then this blog speaks to your soul. I feel like Huey from the Boondocks or just plain ole me in the late 80s/early 90s. Oh ya, I was sportin’ African medallions, going to Freedom School on Saturday mornings and learning Swahili when they were trying to make that the official language of African-Americans, inhaling every Spike Lee joint that ever was released, hanging out with 5 percenters (until they made me feel subordinate as a woman), wearing Kente cloth wraps in my hair and cowry shell necklaces on my neck (that was redundant…duh!), going to Afram in Baltimore every year and any other festival with vendors, checking out every activist who came to campus to speak…You name it, my fist was in the air and I was ’bout it-’bout it! I did everything except make it to the Motherland…because it’s so damn expensive from the US. That hurdle was crossed last year with my trip to Kenya (props to my next eldest sis for getting me on board with that)

I still think I have a bit of that non-conformist/activist spirit in me and this blog speaks to my soul.

Check it out. It’s on my links or click here:

http://www.field-negro.blogspot.com/

Just spreading the love as I find it.

Carol’s Daughter has that free shipping with $40 or more purchase, which is so easy to do online, that I’ve decided to take the plunge. In the name of blogging and ongoing curiosity, I guess I’ll see if Carol’s Daughter is worth the hype. I’m such a creature of habit that this makes me nervous, but I plan to just try their product line for a week…or maybe just a few days…depending.

I ordered the Saturday Morning Special since it is a better deal than piecing together several of their products. It’ll surely give me a good sampling.

More to come when my order arrives!

There are moments in your life that you feel truly blessed to have had the opportunity to experience. Nina Simone was one of them. When we lived in the Philly area, I quickly jumped on the opportunity to see her perform. It was my hubby, one of his college roommates/lifetime friend, and myself.

(from http://www.ninasimone.com/photos.html) What a treat, I tell you. I have a deep love for all things musical, particular the messages in songs, and without even knowing a lot of her music, I knew Nina was a legend.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORSzfw8FE-o&rel=1]

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Last night as I obsessively surfed the internet, I found out that the touring company for the musical Rent was coming to Ohio. Rent is by far my mostest favoritest musical in the entire world. Hubby and I saw it in NYC a few years back and I’ve been a Rent-head ever since. I know every song by heart and had to resist the urge to bop and sing along.

Now, one would think such a reputable production would land in a major city in Ohio. Not so much . Before yesterday, I have never even heard of the town Athens, Ohio or knew of Ohio University but that’s where they were playing. Given that it was a day off work for me, and I’ve been in the mood to spoil myself this week, I would be remiss to pass on a spontaneous jaunt to new lands.

So I call The Falster, my fellow natural sista, last night and she agreed to go. (more…)

I am inspired and entertained to know that our people have such a strong voice in blog-land. I just ran across another blog www.afronerd.blogspot.com. I’m not sure that I’m feeling it all the way yet, but I thought I’d share it because I assume if you read this, you have a similar curiosity.

I’ll be checking it out for a few days to see if it suits my fancy. Let me know if you likey, too.

UPDATE: 2/28…I’ve been checking it out and while it’s a good source of info, I still think my favs are Hello, Negro and Field Negro, but you decide for yourself.

As I’m filled with pride to see Obama take over the world, a random thought came to mind as I was trying to figure out what to post in the name of nappy.

What if Condoleeza Rice rocked a ‘fro?

I mean her name is as ghetto as they come. Condoleeza?? With all due respect to Condy, I’m surprised she didn’t shove that (more…)