Friday Night

I'm just now getting home.

It's almost midnight.

I spent 8 hours at the Clinic with my mom.

What an interesting place. "The Clinic".

You should visit your local one sometime.

Especially all you artists with no health insurance. Don't act like I'm the only one.

But, in the midst of this insanely long day, I found out about a no cost health program (extending beyond "The Clinic"). Ask me about it, it's Fascinating.

And I learned more about my body. I have a wack Urinary Tract Infection. Stoopid.

And I have horrible gas. I know, this you already knew about me. But I'll spare you the gruesome details that go along with it. Let's just say, I have to do an immediate colon cleanse.

Oh, and let's not forget my Clinic boyfriend "Bull"....What a character. But he came in to get his foot x-rayed after he had broken something or rather. He was talkin to his Clinic gang friends and mentioned how he was at a church service and the pastor called out a "healing word" for him. The pastor said that his foot would be healed. Well, you could tell that "Bull" was skeptical of the whole thing...he even mentioned the continued pain he had in his foot while telling the story at the Clinic. But to his surprise, when he got the x-ray back there were no broken bones! Loves it.




And that was my Friday night.


P.S. My mom is a ride or die chick! Love you boo!

Well...

I have nothing but a blank stare on my face and a bit of unrest and confusion. No, I'm not complaining. Wait, am I? Crap, I can't tell anymore.

Today is a Wednesday. Hump Day. In Between. I feel like my spirit is dancing "In the Middle Somewhat Elevated"...

How Hot Must It Get...

Do you ever feel like your back is up against the wall? And the only way for things to truly change would involve some sort of miracle.

Well it seems as if a lot of folks, including myself are in that boat as of late.

Our hopes and dreams are staring at us...but from a cliff as we free fall. The only way that we'll meet these hopes and dreams is if something with wings picks us up before we splat on the ground.

Right now it feels like fire on my neck. And not the good kind. It feels incredibly claustro in this space. I'm wanting out...but I'm free falling...I've chosen to.

Music Video: "Free Fallin'"--John Mayer

The Swirl

I remember being in university and one of my Black roommates from Tennessee giggled about "being down with the Swirl". I giggled too. Wait. What's the Swirl?

She explained. Black girls-White boys. And vice versa for that matter. But we were Black girls and only concerned about the topic that included ourselves. Thus we continued to talk about the Justin Timberlakes, the Kevin Richardsons, the Robert DeNiros, the Ted Dansons, the Johnny Depps, and others that we knew in our lives at the time that might be down with the Swirl as well.

And as we saw plenty of our male counterparts participating in the Swirl, like it "ain't no thang", We waited like observant hawks to see which White boy would dare to enter into the land of the Swirl.

I mean the White boys loved us, or so they said. They loved our humor, our sassiness, our passion, our comfort, our hips, our lips, our culture, our music, heck, some even loved Africa!

But nevertheless, in all my years at university, and amidst the variety of White male friends that we all had, no one took that leap into the land of the Swirl--well except for one that I can think of. But he was so embedded into African-American Hip Hop culture, we all thought of him as a "Light Skinned Black Man", and you know exactly the type of guy I'm talking about. And yes, he's married to a beautiful Black girl now.

Mind you, I'm from the old school, or shall I say, I like the old school ways. I want to be pursued. Most of my girls wanted to be pursued as well. So it wasn't about making something happen on our end. It was about seeing who would take a risk on 'their' end.

Well that was many, many years ago. My friend from Tennessee married a nice Black gentlemen. In fact, one of my other Black roommates from that era is also marrying a nice Black gentlemen in September.

So what ever happened to all this talk about the Swirl? We'll it's still a hot topic today, especially among Black women. I actually wanted to start directing a documentary on the topic this year, but I've been facing nothing but closed doors. Nonetheless, there are quite a few people documenting stories about this particular topic and exploring the other issues of identity and beauty that go along with it.

Earlier this year I was incredibly discouraged about my inability to get this particular project off the ground. But I've learned to trust the timing of God. I know what it's like to try and place a square peg into a circle. And I know what it's like to walk through the open doors that He creates for you. I'd rather go with the latter.

So I continue to wait with this topic of interest in my heart, ready to tell a story-- To go into topics of cultural reconciliation, redemption, identity, and beauty. So I steady wait. There are plenty of Swirl stories happening in my city and probably in yours. But who knows, maybe the story I'll document in regards to this topic might be my own...Because it's true. I am down with the Swirl.