Out of the mouth of a four year-old

Nowadays little black girls are bombarded with images that the media holds in high regards; the European standard of beauty. Television, and magazines alike showcase images of blonde, blue-eyed, artificial breasts, and rail thin bodies. The message often conveyed is, "you're not beautiful unless you look like this." Rarely do they see images of themselves in their natural state. Oftentimes they see a black girl with weaved extensions down her back. When asked, who's the prettiest black female on the celebrity scene? Beyonce, and Halle Berry are always at the top of the list. Black beauty comes in all shades from dark chocolate to damn-near white. Unfortunately it's the lighter side of the spectrum that gets props and adoration.

I recently witnessed my four year-old cousin push and taunt another cousin, who happened to be five. The four year-old told the five year-old that she was "black" and "ugly," and for those reasons she didn't like her. Mind you this four year-old told me that she only played with white dolls because they were prettier. This upset me terribly and what's more disturbing, when I told the mother about it she merely shrugged it off.

Imagine a beautiful four year-old girl already ingrained with the notion that black is ugly and inferior. This disturbed me so that I am making it my mission to teach our little black girls self-esteem. Don't mean to sound racist but when I hear a little girl in a sense saying that everything she is has no value then I have to interact. I don't want her to grow up with an inferiority complex and then pass that on to her children and children's children.

I believe self-esteem starts by embracing everything beautiful about yourself; your culture, your history. To be honest, I don't see anything positive in the media, therefore it has to begin at home and if it's not starting at home, it has to be taught in school or church. I'm on a mission to teach my children to not be influenced by the images they see on television or in magazines. Their culture is a rich culture, my daughter will know that black dolls are just as beautiful as any dolls, her skin is not inferior and she should never be ashamed of who she is.

Valleys Of Neptune

Awaiting a New Arrival

A lot of people may not relate, but those of you can will empathize with me. It's 3:00 a.m. in the morning and I'm up bright-eyed and bushy tailed. I fell asleep around 11:00 but for the past four hours I've been getting up to pee. Now I know you're asking yourself, "Where is she going with this?" The title should've given it away, I'm 33 weeks pregnant with my second child and boy oh boy is he sitting like pretty boy Floyd on momma's bladder.

Not to mention, he's a night owl who likes to boogey woogey with his kicks, twists, and turns. Sometimes I'll get up and read to him to try and soothe him. Other times, I don't bother...a boy's gotta do what a boy's gotta do. A week ago my OB informed me that my cervix is short. It's only one centimeter...It was 3 centimeters around the same time with my daughter...so she put me on bed rest for the next three weeks. Right now, I'm trying to take it easy and for the sake of my unborn son, get as much bed rest as possible which is kind of hard when I'm getting up every five minutes to pee.

My son's due date is scheduled for May 1, but at the rate he's going my husband and I along with his big sister may be kissing his cheeks sometime around Resurrection Sunday (Easter for those of you who believe in the Easter Bunny). Anyway, in the meantime, I'm going to sit and relax, pray and meditate as I await my new arrival.