The Biracial Debate

“I feel like she’s black. I’m black and I’m her mother and I believe in the one-drop theory. I’m not going to put a label on it. I had to decide for myself and that’s what she’s going to have to decide – how she identifies herself in the world. And I think, largely, that will be based on how the world identifies her. That’s how I identified myself. But I feel like she’s black.”~ Halle Berry Ebony March 2011

Ah, the race debate. The one issue, besides hair and skin, that will never die. When a baby is born from a union of a black person and a white person, what race is that baby? Sometimes the baby looks black, white, or maybe Hispanic. Sometimes the baby has straight, curly, or kinky hair. Other times the baby has brown or light eyes. There is no magic wand that tells us what race a mixed baby will look like once it's born. Just like there is no magic wand for race relations.

Nahla Aubrey, the baby in question, is a quadroon, which means 3/4 white and 1/4 black. This racial term stems from slavery where babies born from the union of slave masters and slaves were defined by their blackness. A child could be 1/32 black and the child was defined as black and a slave. The question is, do racially mixed black/white people have an obligation to identify as black?

Halle Berry, Barack Obama, and countless mixed race celebs chose to identify as black not just because of how they look but for career reasons. Let's be honest, would Halle and President Obama be as successful if they didn't identify as black. Other celebs such as Mariah Carey have not been urged to make a choice. While Soledad O'Brien, who could pass for white, struggles to prove her blackness to the world. Then we have Tiger Woods, who after infamously calling himself "caublasian" has yet to regain any prominence in the Black community. What does this teach us? If the black community embraces you, accept it; if they're indifferent, accept that also, if they don't accept you try to gain acceptance, and if you reject your blackness, they will reject you. Very simple.

I'm So Over Reality Shows

I think I may be in the minority when I say I'm over reality shows. Maybe I'm in the majority. Or Maybe I'm just growing up. Either way, I'm over a bunch of grown people fighting for no apparent reason. My hate-hate relationship began with the latest season of Bad Girls Club, I loved season 4. The show was over the top but now it's just annoying made for TV drama. Are you really gonna argue with a bunch of people you don't know daily?

Last night I was watching Basketball Wives 2 and I'm so over these 30 and over women starting high school drama. Evelyn and Jennifer need to sit down somewhere. Am I the only one who found Jennifer's confrontation of the party host annoying? Why is Jennifer with all her marital woes and ish, worrying about if someone posted her friends number on Craigslist? Why does that involve her? Please don't get me started on Football Wives. VH1, please don't give these women a season 2. I know they may need the money, but I don't need them. I don't want to watch them hating on Pilar because her life is everything they want theirs to be. Let's be real, they're hating on Pilar because she's "on the money train" and they have money woes.

I could go on and on for days about reality shows, but I won't because I don't want to. The ironic thing is Real Housewives of Atlanta, Basketball Wives, Bad Girls Club, Teen Mom, and 16 and Pregnant, used to be my favorite shows, now I'm over it. Besides fake drama, the only thing I've seen these shows do is ruin the lives of the participants. Jon and Kate, Heidi and Spencer, Teen Mom stars, Nene and Gregg, and more people than I care to name. The point is, having a camera in your face for 18 hours a day is not normal and anyone who thinks it is, isn't. I'm looking forward to watching more scripted shows, scripted as in someone actually wrote the words as fiction, and leaving the reality show garbage alone. If you care BET has two new series premiering in January.

Celebrate You: Don't Beat Yourself

If you follow this blog, you'll know I'm an avid football fan. I love the NFL network and all things Baltimore Ravens. A few weeks ago, I was looking at football stats online and the #1 team in the NFC is the Atlanta Falcons, who beat the Ravens but that's besides the point, and its because they do not beat themselves.

What is considered beating yourself in football? In my last year or so of watching football, I have watched great teams become lazy and lose a game they should have won. Is that your life? Are you getting this close to the finish line and giving up? Do you know you are that close to the finish line? My favorite poem is called "Don't Quit" and my favorite line is : "And many a failure turns about, When he might have won had he stuck it out." The light is always darkest before the dawn and don't beat yourself. Too many people give up on life before their life even starts.

My Dad often says, "if you're 40 and you're going to live to be 80, that means you have 40 years to change your life." I don't know about you, but 40 years is a long time to revamp your life. In our society, we pretend that once people reach their 40s, it's time to put them away and time to move on to the 20 year olds. The reality is every 20 year old will be 40 and every 40 year old used to be 20. What does that mean? It's never too early or too late to begin living. If you wanted to be a painted and you're 40, why not be a painter. Life is too short to tell yourself what you can and can't do. Let someone else tell you no, then find someone to tell you yes. It may take you days, weeks, months, or even years but one day someone will tell you yes. Don't beat yourself in life, you never know who you may become.

How is 2011 going to be better than 2010?

Wake up, wake up, wake it's the first of the month. It's time to cash those checks and pay bills. This is not any first of the month, it's the first of the last month of 2010. That means 2010 is pretty much a wrap. I ask myself yearly "how is this year going to be better than the last one? Although I made some strides in 2010, I didn't do all I wanted to do so I'm planning to do those things.

Begin your 2011 right:

write down:

3 personal goals- they can include school, relationships, weight loss etc

3 financial goals

3 spiritual goals

etc

Where do you want to be at the end of 2011?

World Aids Day

Today is world AIDS day and although I have a ribbon, it's hanging on my dream board so I can't represent how I want but I'll represent here. AIDS is almost 30 years old and although we've made strives in reducing AIDS cases, there is still a lot to do. Your favorite(?) celebs have died a digital death so they can raise $1 million for AIDS research, which I love. Although I still have my opinion of Alicia Keys' personal life, I love her humanitarian spirit. If you want your favorite celebs to have digital life again, you can text the name of your favorite star , (participating in the campaign) to 90999 to donate $10. Once a million is raised, then your stars will come back to life.