Category Archives: black lives matter

black lives matter, forcing relationships, love, relationships, self-worth, Uncategorized

Fences – a poor example of Black Families

May 1, 2017 tiffanywrites2 Leave a comment

Family

Fences was not as good as I thought it would be! Wait, hold up, let me give Denzel and Viola their props, they played the hell out of their roles and deserved every award they earned. So let me explain what I mean by that.

See every movie about black families and marriages always include some kind of games, unfaithfulness, abuse and/or alcohol. How do we expect black families to be successful if all we see is black families falling apart? What happened to the Huxtables? The Martin and Ginas? The Winslows? The Evans?

“Some people build fences to keep people out, and other people build fences to keep people in…”

All Rose (Viola) wanted was for Troy (Denzel) to build a fence. A fence that visually in her mind made her feel would keep her family together. What she had was a husband, who paid the bills, but cheated on her; a son who wanted to protect her but was forced to respect and fear a father who showed him no affection; and a daughter born from the dead mistress of her husband.

When Troy said he was unhappy with Rose and how he felt after eighteen years he was still sitting in the same spot, she spoke up about standing there with him. This woman abandoned her dreams and goals to be everything this man needed her to be. She cooked every time someone walked in the door, kept a house clean and prayed over her household.

In the era of Black Girl Magic I feel that although this was a good movie, it should be accompanied with other movies that show black girls to follow their dream.

Do you know that in the last 100 days, under the new administration hate groups have gone up? Not just against blacks, but against every non-white Christian group. A lot of the progress that the Obamas made are swept under the rug as if they never existed.

So I say again, Fences wasn’t as good as I thought it was, because to me it was sad. There are so many other ways to make relationships last, there are so much more to the black family and we should never have to give up our dreams or who we are to be with anyone. If anything, your kids suffer because they feel like life is all about settling.

black lives matter, fighting, Uncategorized

Standing Up – In Any Way – Its Necessary!

April 30, 2017 tiffanywrites2 Leave a comment

“Dear White People” – Not your ordinary review!

So I just finished Netflix’s original “Dear White People” directed by Tina Mabry (http://www.morgansmark.com/) and baby let me tell you. First of all, Samantha, aka Sam, was me from the beginning, minus the romantic part. I have always been the girl that was questioned about what my racial heritage is – I am black mixed with black mixed with why the hell does it matter? I am a black woman who is tired of being called the angry black woman when I cannot be treated the same as every one else, let alone every other woman.

This show brought up so many emotions as I thought about how we are condemned for standing up for ourselves and yet ridiculed when we are quiet. We are told we should stop crying about the past, but who has learned from it? Not this current generation, but how can they when they are being taught the wrong thing. When has being kidnapped from your home, sold on a chopping block and beaten for being who you are considered being an immigrant? How can centuries of families torn apart, murdered tortured and killed called being treated right unless we misbehaved? These were grown men and women that were treated less than an animal. Had less rights than their unborn son or daughter and less to eat than a pet. Humans treated as if our color was a sin.

Yet we are supposed to forget and stop being so angry. Many of our black women weren’t angry until we have been walked over, used and abused. We are taught that we are all the same and we bleed the same, but yet why is my blood treated like its contaminated?

I know it seems like I am all over the place, but Tina, baby you are to blame! There are so many emotions flooding through my mind from this show. It touched so many issues, some that I feel could’ve been deeper. You made me remember the reasons I fight, the reasons I am tired and the reasons I need to stand up for everything I believe in.

If you haven’t watched it yet, then you need to go to Netflix.com and if you don’t have an account, get one, its totally worth it! Check out “Dear White People”, I finished it in one night and now I am mad I have to wait for the next season. By the way, excellent job on the cast. They really deliver each character with passion.

Let me tell you, this show is real, and deals with real issues that black people deal with on a daily basis. Now while looking up cast and director information, I used IMDB.com and the nerve of them to classify the genre of this show as comedy. Another reason we will never learn, because our issues are never being taken serious. The comments on the Youtube trailer was that the video promotes racism to Caucasians. (I swear that’s a topic for another post… I have to process that mess.)

Until next time – Love and Peace! ♥

authority, black lives matter, children, communication, expectations, parenting, single fathers, single mothers, single parent

Our Children, Are They Safe?

November 10, 2015 tiffanywrites2 Leave a comment

Disclaimer: In no way shape or form am I condoning what police have been doing to our youth. I think it’s disgusting and it needs to stop. I am only talking from one parent to another about our responsibility of keeping our children safe.

I know that the police killings and brutality have been a topic for a few years now, so as a journalist, my opinion is late. Yet this needs to be discussed on my blog as well. I have a different opinion that perhaps not to many people will be found of, but please just hear me out.

Everyone blames the shooters, the victims or the community where the victim was raised, but when do we as parents take a little of the responsibility? Now I know there are several instances where the parents couldn’t and shouldn’t have done a thing different, like Trayvon Martin for example (I mean the child was just walking home from the gas station, something my children do on a regular basis). But there are instances where we have to teach our children common sense, certain situations call for us to take on the battle, not them.

How do we teach our children to deal with authority? By this I mean school administrators, teachers, police officers – adults that can tell you child to do something without you being present. Can you honestly say that you tell them to be respectful? I cant. I can take responsibility and say that I have always told my children to stand up for what they believe in. To speak up and I will have their back.

Now I am not saying that there is anything wrong with teaching children to stand up for themself; they very well should do that. What I am saying is that they should know how and why. If a police officer approaches your child, they should know to follow the law. These officers have guns and trigger-happy fingers lately. I want my children to stand up for themselves but I also want them to be alive. There are other ways to fight wrongful imprisonment, racial profiling and questioning your child without you being present.

No we don’t want our children to be attacked by police (like the little girl in the video in South Carolina), but in all honesty I think that situation could’ve been avoided. The teenager refused to leave class. Was her argument right? Yes! Do I blame the administrator, teacher and the police? Yes, but I think that the situation could’ve been avoided from all ends. In no way shape or form am I blaming the student, but I think this can bring up a good point for us parents to discuss with our children. If they feel they are being targeted at school, or if they feel the teacher is treating them unfairly, they need to leave the class if asked and let their parents know so they can handle it.

We need to go to battle for these children. It is up to us to let our kids know that we have their best interest at heart and that we want to see them come home every day safe and sound. So teach them to respect authority and the right way to fight. Don’t give them the ok that they can be disrespectful and get kudos for it. Think of what’s more important to you?

Now how can we do this? Attend parent teacher conferences, go to school events, volunteer. The school, administrators and teachers should know who you are and who your children are. Don’t wait until there is a problem before you go up to the school. Let them know that you are involved and want only the best for your child. Trust me the school officials like that and will work with you and your child with anything. I know its hard as parents to juggle so many things, but trust me its a lot easier when you do it this way than the alternative. ~Love Tichelle

Tiffany M. Arnold