New Year...New Chapter ;)

Blog Family,

I haven't been here in a while. I must say that I have missed you guys but I've been extremely busy. For some reason, I have not sat down yet. I left DC and immediately came to Little Rock to work for NRCS. I'm also in the process of securing a weekend internship with one of the news stations here. So please keep sending your prayers my way.

As far as my life, I have been reading a ton of books lately. I read The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin last week and I'm almost done with The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison.

The Fire Next Time was a wonderful book. It addressed the blatant issues concerning religion and race in America. Though I had to keep iPod dictionary application nearby, once I finished reading, I felt more intelligent. I even looked at things in a different light.

While I haven't finished reading The Bluest Eye I think that it's a book that every woman should read, especially black women that struggle with defining their own beauty. This book shows how our idea of "beauty" can often time lead to our demise. But I will get more ‘in-depth’ after I finish reading.

As soon as I finish this The Bluest Eye, I have a book that includes all of Zora Hurston's short stories. I absolutely love Hurston. I'm sure it won't take me any time to finish reading her stories. Speaking of Hurston, I was looking on UAPB's website and I read that the Theatre Department will perform "Spunk," also by "my girl" Zora. And guess what? I'm going to try out for the play. It may be fun. And since I'm already “overly dramatic,” as my best friend, Chasity Farver, says, I just may make the cut.

Well folks, I must get back to my life. I will be back tomorrow.

"B"

No Bias, No Bull... maybe one day

Work was great today. Of coarse I had to gather press clips for the office and that is always fun. As a future journalist, to me, the biggest story of the day was about the Obama administration's shun of Fox News. Most people wouldn't pay this story any attention; But I found it rather interesting.

Every morning, I search many newspapers to choose stories that are relevant to the Congresswoman and the staff. Once I compile the news clips, I browse many extremely conservative websites to get the other side of the spectrum. Although I'm not very conservative, sometimes there are interesting stories that give me incite to how other people feel.

Well today the heat was on Fox News. Though Obama's blatant dis against Fox News is old news, after no one from the administration appeared on Fox's Sunday News Show this week and David Axelrod stated that Fox was "not really a news station," the issue was pushed back to the forefront; and it became a heated topic among commentators, bloggers and even other "real" news stations.



While reading the different opinions, either from extreme conservatives, liberals or moderates, I begin to research Fox news and some of their controversial news stories. I also researched CNN (my favorite cable news network) and looked at their stories, commentators and bloggers also. On Fox news, I saw absolutely NOTHING positive about President Obama his administration. But on CNN, there were both negative and positive things about B. Though the good out weighted the bad, at least CNN tried to show both sides.

As the day went on, I continued to check different sites for breaking news and I just so happened to come across this title-- "Obama Aid: 'We Controlled' the Press. As soon as I looked at that, I said, "Uh-oh, some one's put their foot in their mouth." I was afraid of how this "quote" would effect the administration. But I, being the inquisitive (or nosey...whichever you prefer) person that I am, had to read the ENTIRE article. I couldn't just believe what Fox News said. I had to RESEARCH (Ms. Donna Barnes' favorite word).

The article was referring to a statement made by The White House's Communication Director, Anita Dunn. And Fox News, just like most media outlets, played on words. Dunn said, "Very rarely did we communicate through the press anything that we didn't absolutely control. A huge part of our press strategy was focused on making the media cover what Obama was actually saying as opposed to why the campaign was saying it." To me, that's bias reporting. The title was misleading. Unless someone actually reads the article, they would believe that the Obama administration "CONTROLED" the media during the election.

To me, this is article was not fair and balanced. It was just another way to get people excited over nothing. As of now, the article has over 600 comments.

Is there a such thing as unbiased news now days?

No matter how hard journalist try to evolve into immortal creatures when reporting stories, journalists are still human. We have feeling, emotions, ideas and like men, we are ALWAYS right.
When I'm writing, I try to be as objective as possible. I realize that if I want to get anywhere in the cut-throat world of journalism, I HAVE to ALWAYS remain neutral, even when it comes to my boy B. Now if only I could get my other journalist to get this concept, the journalism world would be PERFECT!

If you don't read ANYTHING else...READ THIS!!!

I was going to write about work today. And I probably will end up writing about my day because it was exciting. However, I was lying in bed, listening to Anita Baker and trying fall asleep when my telephone rang. Filled with excitement, I immediately rose from my bed and looked at my phone. As I glanced across the screen, I realized that it was my profyte, GREGORY (Ashley Gregory). When I was pledging Delta, Gregory and I became really good friends. Although she was my big sister, she never fell short of being a kind and giving person. She was my confidant.

I answered the telephone and I was just so excited to hear her voice. I know you are probably thinking, what does this have to do with your internship? But Gregory's call today has everything to do with my internship.

As I was talking to her, she immediately told me how proud she was of me. She told me that she loves reading my blog posts and that she can't wait until I add another one. Once we caught up with each other's lives, she began to tell me how shocked she was that I had gotten off of Facebook. As soon as she told me that she was shocked that I parted ways with my once addictive drug, I became so filled with emotion that I wanted to cry. In fact, I'm fighting back tears now as I write this post.

Leaving Facebook was symbolic to me. Six months ago I used Facebook as a way for me to stay connected to others and not have to deal with Byrhonda. Facebook was my drug. During that time, I had a lot going on in my life. My mom was going through chemotherapy; the man that I had grown to love so much didn't love me anymore; my friends had stabbed me in the back, my sorority was facing issues; and my brother was graduating for West Point. So I knew that it was only a matter of time before he would be deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan.

Inside I was hurting but I had to put a smile on my face and keep going. I just put everything off and tried to cope and face my problems head-on. But I couldn't. I used everything from music to facebook to pass time and sleep my life away. Yes, I was in a deep depression.

Ironically, I received an email about the internship with the Congressional Black Caucus and I applied. Not expecting to be selected, I just filled out the application and let it be.

Meanwhile, I was still depressed. Since I was in Bozeman, Montana working, I didn't have very many people to talk to so I just locked myself in my room and slept. I would just sleep...sleep...sleep. Then, one day during my job training, I learned that my job offered free counseling. So I went. I was so scared of what people would think of me but I still went. I cried during the entire session but I felt so much better.

The next week, I had to travel for my job. It was a 5 hour drive and I cried the entire way there. I cried about everything. Because I felt like when I needed a friend, no one was there. As I was driving, I pulled over and I prayed. I promise, I've never prayed like that in my life. But I just asked God to take everything out of my hands and have his way.

Months later, I'm in Washington, D.C. having the time of my life. I'm meeting people I thought I would only see on television. I'm doing things that I thought I wouldn't do like exercising, writing on my blog, TITHING, volunteering, and reading.

The basis of this story is to show you that I could not see the plan. I was just applying for the hell of it. I knew I wouldn't be accepted. But God knew that I needed to do something different this semester so he gave me the opportunity and I took it. Six months ago, I couldn't have told you I would be in D.C. Six months ago, I wanted to give up, but I kept going. I cried, sang, vented, and MOST important PRAYED my way into the situation that I am in now.

I hope that maybe a student reading this will get motivated to keep going, despite what's going on around them.

At the time, I thought my problems were outweighing my purpose. Now I can say that my problems are shaping my purpose. The lessons I've learned this year have been great and I wouldn't trade any of them. I learned about life. But most important, I learned about SELF.

Forget Health Care Reform....WE WANT PUBLIC SCHOOL REFORM...NOW!!!!

Today was interesting. I went to work expecting to have a full load but I didn't. I was in coast mode. After I realized that there wasn't much to do besides the normal, I started a heated discussion with my co-workers. What started as a mother's concern, ended with everyone in the office discussing the infamous public school system.

My co-worker, Shannon, is a mother of two. She's an attorney and her daughter attends a "top-tier" public school in Maryland. She attended her daughter's classroom to observe and to her surprise, the students were all over the place. In a class of about 25 kids, a majority of them were special needs so they required something extra. Meaning, most of them had ADD or ADHD so they were just roaming around while the teacher was trying to teach.

When the class was over, Shannon had a conference with the teacher to discuss her child's grade. When Shannon asked what her daughter had in the class, the teacher responded by saying that her daughter would receive a B. Where as any other parent would be happy with their child receiving a B in a math class, Shannon was highly pissed. She was upset because her daughter scored in the 50th percentile on her standardized tests. She knew that her daughter lacked the basic fundamentals of mathematics. So how in the world could she get a B in her math class?

The answer is very simple. Since she was well-behaved, her teacher gave her a B, which was a highly inflated grade. In Shannon's mind, this was setting her daughter up for failure because she understands that when her daughter is forced to compete with students outside her school district, she will be far behind.

As a student that has always been well-behaved, I understand completely what this girl is going through. I know what it is like to have grades that reflect your behavior and not necessarily your ability or your progress.

Grade inflation is a serious problem in schools. Often times, students are leaving high school, and even college, ill-prepared to complete their next level of study. It's hard to play catch-up when you lack basic fundamentals that you should have learned years ago.

I also understand that it is hard for students to learn in an unstable setting. How can teachers teach if they don't even have the authority to control their classes?

Furthermore, why is that now, black students are below the educational standards, but 50 years ago when we were 0oppressed, we were doing so much better?

As we were discussing education, I quickly realized that the quality of teachers is being substituted for quantity. Now days, who's teaching? What is their background? 10 years ago would you have trusted them, your kid's teachers, to do your homework for your class? If not, why should you trust them now to teach your child?

With that beign said, I hope we can start repealing laws that are crippling our education system. And who knows, maybe one day I can lead the revolution.


FYI: Did you know that teachers cannot hug student anymore? WOW!!! I think I'm getting old.

SORRY!!!!

Ok! I'm sorry! I haven't been here in a while but I have been busy with work, school, and everything else in between.

Work has been going great. Last week, the big issue was the Congressional Black Caucus' support for Charles Rangel, a New York representative who's in trouble for not reporting his assets on his taxes. Although I'm not sure how I feel about this issue, I did help edit the letter.

Besides helping with that, I did a lot of clerical work last week. The CBC is keeping me busy.

Socially, I don't think I can attend anymore receptions. Capitol Hill has a reception everyday.

There's really not too much going on now. But I will return tomorrow.

The POWER of NETWORKING

On Fridays, we have to report to the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation to participate in leadership training and other enrichment events. Well, today I was in a rush to get finished because my friend Carlissia, a CBCF intern from Memphis, was given free tickets to attend an African Benefit that was hosted by MAXWELL!!! If you know me, you know that I am crazy about Maxwell. So when her friend gave her two tickets, Carlissia invited me.

I was excited and flattered that she asked me to join her for the $250 per head event. I couldn't complain at all. When I got there, her friend, the one that gave her the tickets to the event, was also from Memphis. So when I told him I was from Pine Bluff, he immediately started talking to me about none other than PJ's. For some reason, I've met many people that have partied at PJs. LOL! Once we made that connection, he took me under his wing and introduced me to every journalist he knew. And I must say, there were many in the building.

One woman I met was the evening, weekday anchor for an ABC affiliate here in DC. She was very nice to me. And once I told her that I'd interned for a CBS affiliate in Bozeman, Montana, she was all ears.

I also met a CNN correspondent that lives here.

Today was the day of networking for me. Because Carlissia was willing to let me tag along, I met people that may be very beneficial to me.

Once the networking was over, the one and only MAXWELL came through the door and though he didn't sing, he was still HOT! ;) He actually has a concert in DC tonight, but I'm not going because I can't afford the tickets. But maybe one day, when I'm established, I will be able to see him again. Plus, I have a date tonight so I'm about to get dressed. Be Safe.

Peace

Sad day for me...

Work was the same today. Of coarse, I had to answer phones, organize news clips and sort mail; but today was also a sad one for me. As I was gathering news clips for the Congresswoman, I came across shocking news. The legendary Ebony Magazine is looking for a buyer. YES, you've heard right Ebony Magazine. Yes, the Ebony that is owned by Johnson Publishing, which also produces every one's favorite, Jet Magazine.

Ebony is a 64 year-old black magazine that was founded by John Johnson, an Arkansan. Gleeve Grice, a UAPB alum, was a photographer for this magazine. (That's just a little FYI for my UAPBers.) Ebony has been in my home for decades. It has sustained through the Civil Rights movement all the way to the election of America's first black president.

But the prized magazine is now facing tremendous financial problems. To ease their financial woes, they had to cancel the Ebony Fashion Fairs that travel throughout the country.

Now some people may not know what this means, so let me break it down. Unlike Essence and BET, Ebony is still a black-owned magazine. It has not been sold to Viacom, Time Warner or any other big publishing company. It is still at the hands black publishers that don't have to compromise their integrity for the sake of money.

As I was thinking about Ebony and it's role in the black community, I wondered how Ebony would change if it were sold to a company like Viacom.

Let's take BET for instance. Before Viacom, BET had Teen Summit, BET News, Caribbean Rhythms, the "OLD" Rap City, and even Midnight Love. Back then, BET had substance. It actually delivered a message to its young audience. Now, BET is so bombarded with negative images of black people. They even cancelled BET News but added Hot Ghetto Mess, Hell Date and many other embarrassing shows. BET is so disrespectful. I have a 60 second rule on all of their shows.

So what will happen if Ebony is sold? Will it prove to be a good business decision, but jeopardize everything that Mr. Johnson fought so hard establish? How will it change our community?

I love getting Ebony Magazines every month and looking at the ads of beautiful black people. I like reading success stories about my people. I LOVE reading a magazine that represents me.

To me, losing Ebony would be like losing a key component of my culture. I'm not sure what I can do to try to save the magazine; but maybe if more people know about what's happening to our magazine, more people will be willing to help keep it alive by extending their subscription or buying one when they go to the grocery store. Because Ebony is the LAST of a DEAD BREED.