Election Day

 
Though I'm a few days late and several dollars short (and the Dems/Obama are SOL), I thought I'd share my laid back election day look. Most folks were at the polls looking harried, hurried and worried. Post election day, I'm thinking perhaps folks should have taken more time to research candidates before casting a vote. Ah well, c'est la vie. On to the out of it outfit...

I've always loved African prints and my BFF knows this so I was elated when he gave me this Kente print Dashiki for my bornday back in 2007. I've worn this Dashiki as a dress, as seen here...

(albeit a very short dress). I also wear it over jeans/leggings, tucked into jeans, under cardis, belted, etc. It's gorgeous and versatile and I LOVE it! 

 

My lighting was oh so bad but I made lemonade with those lemons.

Ring = F21

Dashiki = Gift

Old Leather Jacket = Wilson's

Scarf = TJ Maxx

Earrings = Gift

Glasses = Versace

Boots (unseen) = Chestnut Classic High UGGS

That's all folks.

XOXO

15 of 30

Though I am well past the deadline...still, I keep...going...

Familial

This forever type love that moves through me

From me

To and through you

Beyond us

Somewhere

Up high

On high

Higher than high

Borne of blood

Bone

Tears

Struggle

We gave birth to it

With whispers and screams
Soul to soul
From spirit

From synapses to testes, tongue to womb

Woven on the loom of our ancestors

Brought to fruition in the valley of perdition

But with hope of a new day

Beyond scorched earth

Bittersweet fruit, plump with the juice of perpetuum

Seeded in Elysium

This love

From them to us and back again

We swam through time

Time and time again

Against time

Attempting to take back what was taken

This forever type love

Unshaken

Unshakable

Unbroken

Enduring

From me

To and through you

Beyond us

In our daughter's eyes

And she sees the forever type love

In you

And me

Words are not enough

You ever been so full of joy that tears pricked your lashes and static electricity raced the length of your spine? Have words failed to capture the magnitude of your peace? You ever felt powerful enough to blast your spirit right out of its flesh cage and launch it into the ether? I'm feeling like that today. I'm feeling that words are not nearly enough to describe the sheer wonder and excitement I have for this day. Today feels magical and magnificent. I woke up tired but full of....something.

All I can think is how grateful I am, how thankful I am to be here breathing, being, seeing, doing. I am the hope of my ancestors! Mmm mmm mmm. It. Is. All. Good. Hell, it's all GREAT! Good things are coming my way. All kinds of things. Change is coming...and I'm ready. I don't care what it looks like...don't really care what it feels like, I AM READY! I want CHANGE! I don't want anything to be the same anymore. I am NOT afraid! Maferefun Oya, because the changes have already begun! That's Ogun racing through my blood and clearing a path. Shango is firing me up right now! Ahhh, life is soooooo good! I give thanks!  Maferefun Egungun! Maferefun Eshu! Maferefun Oya! Maferefun Obatala! Maferefun Ogun! Maferefun Sango! Maferefun Ori! Maferefun Olodumare!

I Am Becoming (Originally posted 12-16-05)

I'm not yet ready for "Him" because I'm still discovering me. How successful "He" and I will be depends on how well I know me. So I am not looking and I am not holding my breath. I am breathing...deeply. With each exhalation my fears disappear. I am being prepared. I am discovering, cultivating and loving me. I am evolving.



I am becoming

I can feel myself evolving, transitioning, changing

I am not whom I was when I woke up this morning

I can feel the deepening of my soul

I can sense the density of my spirit

I am becoming

I am an ever changing work in progress

Sometimes I regress but such is life

I think more, feel more, overstand more

I am learning to speak to the soul of the universe

I am discovering myself

I am learning to love myself, overstand myself, command myself, accept myself, forgive myself

I am becoming

I am experiencing my awakening

I am learning to accept without expectations

I am building

I am connecting and enjoying being connected

I am overcoming obstacles, forgiving those that have harmed me, blessing instead of cursing

I am becoming

I have peace

At night I can sleep

I am taming my carnal nature and embracing my instincts

I am heeding spirit, conquering fear and channeling harmony

I am loving, living, growing, bestowing upon others the gifts endowed to me by the Creator

I am becoming

I am humble

I am proud

I am learning to be still and discovering the value in silence

I am relinquishing my selfishness, diminishing my ego, increasing my patience

I am becoming

My Bornday Reflections (Originally posted 9-7-05)

As borndays go...it sucked I guess. I mean I was stood up by three people, only two people from my family called me (one was my mother because it was her birthday too) and only one of my so-called friends called me. Suffice it to say, I was upset. In retrospect, I guess there's so much going on in the world right now...who really cares about my bornday. I mean, in the grand scheme of things, me being alive one more year doesn't really matter to anyone but me, my children and my mother. Unless of course, I commit a heinous crime or make a startling contribution to society. The highlight of my bornday was when my Sun and daughter strung up banners throughout the house while I was in my room napping. When I awoke I was quite surprised and touched to see the messages of love and appreciation hanging on walls and from the arches of doorways. What wonderful, considerate, kind, creative, industrious little people I am producing. On this day when no one else bothered or remembered to extend a kind word my way...they did. They are all that really matter. Not having a roomful of friends and family share in the celebration of my making it through another year or even receiving gifts that I'd probably hate anyway. My Sun and daughter are my legacy...the only pieces of me that will remain when my body gives out and my spirit transitions. They are the greatest gifts I could ever receive from and give to the universe. I pledge to ensure that my seeds are free and strong in mind and spirit. They are the reason for my bornday. The only reason. It was a great bornday after all.

Oh, and I've decided that once I have 2-3 inches of new growth I'm shearing the tresses and I'm changing my name. It is time to shed the last vestiges of my mental enslavement. I am tired of physically endorsing eurocentric beauty standards. I am tired of this european name. I am tired of destroying my African hair with poisonous chemicals. I am tired of denying my Afrikanity in favor of eurocentricity. By God, I aim to be free of those that oppress me and my people. White is not right. Black is not evil. Straight hair is not good hair. Khadijah is not a ghetto name. I'm gonna be nappy and happy. Don't call me black either. There is no country called black. There is no language called black. I did not descend from blacks...I am descended of AFRICANS. Slave and free, those that walked on African soil and those that soaked the ground of ameriKKKa with their blood and sweat. I am the dream realized. I embody Marcus Garvey's hopes, I epitomize Kwame Ture's fire, I am that which Huey and Bobby fought for. Through me Patrice, Assata, Haile, Fred, Sojourner, Harriet, Nzinga, Shaka, Imhotep, etc will live. I am the dream realized. Fuck you self-hatred!

Shrines, dreams & things (Originally posted 7-29-05)

The above image is the Adinkra symbol for Sankofa which means: "return and go get it"

I erected my ancestral shrine on Monday, July 25th. My sleep has been peaceful ever since. Coincidence? I don't believe in coincidence. Two nights after the shrine had been completed, I had the most incredibly realistic dream about my first soul mate.

In fact, the dream was sooo real, that when I woke up, I expected to see him lying next to me smiling. I was kind of sad when I woke up alone. I mean I know that I will always carry a part of him with me, I know that whenever I want to commune with his spirit I can approach the shrine but....it isn't the same. At any rate, even though he is not one of my ancestors, I revere him on my shrine because he was such an important figure in my life. He passed away back in February 2001. I don't remember too many details about the dream but I do know that we were riding bikes downtown Chicago and laughing and talking. When he was alive we spent a lot of time exploring the city together and just talking. He was an incredible person. I miss him so much that at times it's unbearable. I compare every man I date to him. Not in an unfair way or anything like that, just in a; "DE" was the definition of a man, is this dude a real man kinda way. Because of "DE" I know what I deserve, I know how I should be treated, I know what to accept or deny. Because of the dream, I made sure that I spent some time with him at the shrine before I left for work that morning. I told him I missed him terribly and that any time he wanted to visit me, whether I was awake or sleeping, he was more than welcome. I had that dream Wednesday, July 27. I've not dreamed of him again so far. My next plan of action is to erect my shrine to the Orishas/Lwas. I have no idea where I'm going to put it though, there isn't enough room in my bedroom and it's supposed to be someplace private. I'm sure most of the folks who will read this will have no idea what I'm talking about.

Good Morning! (Originally posted 7-19-05)

I feel great this morning! I slept pretty well, had good dreams and upon awakening I had my ancestors on my mind. I will most definitely be creating my ancestral shrine by weeks end. Though this is my first time mentioning it, building an ancestral shrine is very important to me. More often than not, I have found myself feeling disconnected spiritually (especially since renouncing christianity). I am certain that connecting with my ancestors and allowing them to guide me will bring me some much needed clarity and peace.

Today is going to be a great day...I can feel it.

I'm an Afrikan! (Originally posted June 22, 2005)

Ghana West Africa, the home of my spirit/i`ve drawn sneers and jeers when i confess i`ve never been near it/must i trace my lineage to prove my Afrikan worth?/bob marley`s spiritual home is Ethiopia though Jamaica saw his birth/i claim no royal Afrikan birthright, i have no idea if my ancient kin sat on thrones/i do know this though, Africa is in my blood and bones/my heritage was stolen from me but i`m fighting to gain it back/i don`t claim negro as my race and my ethnic category isn`t black/these are lables placed on me by a society that ignores my legacy/ameriKKKa is a bloated wh*re like a woman in her last month of pregnancy/a nation of greedy political gluts/ sucking off the natural resources of other countries like back alley sl*ts/some will say ameriKKKa love it or leave it/but i`m staying right here where my ancestors died to conceive it/this land is tilled with the blood of more than my people you know/consider if you will the chinese, mexicans and the native dwellers who were forced to come and go/but it doesn`t stop there, the colonization is worldwide/ameriKKKa has its long greedy fingers in many foreign pies/do some research and you`ll find some interesting facts/ameriKKKa is f*cking over the world like prostitutes on their backs......