Okay, I know I said that I’d explain my absence to you but instead of going in deep it’s easier (for now) to sum it up in one word – People. I don’t want to misinterpret myself and make it appear as if I’m not a people person, because I so am – it just has to be the right type of people.

Again, don’t misinterpret this as me hating on any particular group of people. I have a whole range of acquaintances, family and those close few I can call true friends in all colours, creeds, shapes and sizes. I will happily have a convo with a random stranger in a queue or buy a homeless person a munch. Overall I’m good with others. I was brought up with manners which have stuck and more time if I don’t say hello when I’m out it’s because I didn’t see you or I’m in my thoughts somewhere. Yep, me and the populous are just fine. When I talk about ‘people’ I mean the alternative Black definition.

For those of you who don’t know let me clarify. ‘People’ can be one person or a group. For whatever reason they have overstepped the mark or caused upset of some kind, minor or major. If you’re addressed as ‘people’ it’s usually in the form of a sometimes subtle, sometimes not, warning and it can also be used in exchange of an expletive. Basically you are/are being a cunt.

I’ve spoken about the lack of humanity previously on a couple of occasions and find myself here again. Unless you’re totally devoid of any emotion there’s at least one thing or one time you can think of where someone’s actions had you asking wtf, why would anybody do that? My main ‘people’ problem has been a continuous saga that I’m hoping I’ll see the end of soon – I’m sure there are plenty that can relate. But on top of our own personal ‘people’ issues there is a major global ‘people’ problem that we all need to be watching with side eye whilst googling the easiest way to build a fallout shelter – AmeriKKKa I’m talking to you.

I’m aware we have our own issues to focus on in Grate Britain and Resident Chump is known to air his petty, small minded, racist opinion on a multitude of subjects at any given time, but I found it hard to ignore his comment about immigrants from “shithole countries”. For the longest while I’ve wanted to know my true heritage and trace my roots by building a family tree. The Mr and my daughters caught the big ass hints I dropped all year and bought me an ancestry dna testing kit for my birthday. Not that I didn’t already know I was of African descent, it was amazing to have confirmation that I am 97% African Queen…and 3% Irish, and I honestly love it and couldn’t be prouder.

Ideally I would love to visit every country that came up as a dna hit. So far I can only cross Ireland off of the list. It’s a beautiful place which reminded me of the West Indies and is why I nicknamed it Irieland. Little did I know then it was in my blood blud! I want to save the full breakdown of the remaining countries for another blog sometime soon.

According to Chump the rest of the places I want to visit are shitholes or shithouses depending on what you read. In R.I.P’d Off (Part 8), I spoke about Haiti and their struggles and I suggest Chump checks up on his history before washing his mouth on these countries, as they were not shitholes before the White man “discovered” any of them. Where’s the millions of dollars the American Red Cross had to help rebuild Haiti after the the horrors they faced? We won’t even start on the people, precious gems and natural resources you’ve managed to pillage over centuries from the other shitholes…

#PeopleNeedToWatchWhatTheySayBeforeItGetsThemInTrouble

It takes every kinda people to make what life’s about, but you shouldn’t let every kinda ‘people’ take the piss. Trust me I know in some circumstances it’s hard as your hands are tied, but I believe in karma so I’m focusing more on letting her do the job. How we deal with any kind of people is up to us and how much time and energy we are willing to give, as the majority of us know how precious time is.

Weigh up if it’s worth it and if it is do your thang! I’m not so sure about AmeriKKKa leaving it to karma to deal with their issues though. I honestly don’t know what they were expecting when they elected Resident Chump to run the country but I can 100% believe his reaction was as written in Fire and Fury. Not even he thought y’all would be dumb enough to elect him!

The joke has gone far enough. Even Mother Nature is clearly showing us she’s vex with him (ok yes, and the rest of the world!) at not recognising global warming, sending in her own version of Fire and Fury. I don’t know the ins and outs of this North Korea madness, but I do know I don’t trust either sides leaders and the downside is the possibility of WW3 – which could effect us all. That is, of course, if he decides he wants to be our friend again and come over to our house to play.

As for his medical check up – can we say all say ‘fake news’. He can’t even tell the truth about his height ffs! It’s all good though. Maybe his heart will give out before too long, oh wait, you have to have one first. Serious times call for serious measures. AmeriKKKa wake up and impeach this clown before he takes your country to the point of no return.

I will give him credit where it’s due though. He promised to make AmeriKKKa great again and he’s definitely hit the target. You’ve got the greatest dickhead for president.

 

 

 

R.I.P Cyrille Regis and all those who have lost their lives this week.

Watch Your Mouth, Stay Blessed & #CelebrateLife

Happy New Year and well, well, welcome to 2018! I will fill you in on my absence later on in the week but I just felt the need to get this out there and address the monkey on our back.

I’m pretty sure you’ve heard the uproar about H&M and their decision to market their ‘coolest monkey in the jungle’ hoodie by using a Black model. I’ve read a lot of comments from posts popping up on my timeline and I’ve heard both sides of the argument. Now I’ll throw my 2 pence worth into the mix.

I’ve seen a few people say that it’s only a hoodie, it’s harmless. Why do we always see everything as a race issue? No, not everything is a race issue but when it is we won’t be afraid to call it as we see it. Yes, it is simply a hoodie and he’s simply a cute kid who may well behave like the ‘coolest little monkey’. But unfortunately the world isn’t that simple. As much as we would like to paint a picture of an ideal society and a world where racism doesn’t exist there are some fuckwits out there who simply don’t give a shit or in H&M’s case, want to make a buck!

Some of you may be fooled by their apology but I’m not buying it. For a multimillion pound company there are way too many people who would have seen this before it was put out there. Even if it were genuinely put on him without a second thought of a racist link at the photo shoot, you would think at least one person in the whole of marketing and advertising looked at it sideways and made a suggestion to leave it to one side…wouldn’t you?

In today’s current climate you’re telling me not one person put it out there? Without a doubt I would, but it’s possible you wouldn’t, and for the white majority and a Black minority I wouldn’t expect you to, because you simply don’t get it. And quite frankly I’m tired of explaining.

And for those of you who say they wouldn’t purposely put it out and hurt their sales, wake up. They know their arses are covered and “slip ups” like these won’t matter much and will soon be forgotten when they offer you some type of “bargain” in the sales.

Just a few weeks ago a friend of mine was out on his way to his Christmas do, when a van drove by and threw a banana at him. Naturally he was upset by this as you can imagine, what with it being 2017 (then) and them being supposedly grown, hairy arsed “men”. He mentioned he could have been with his children at the time and pondered when racism was going to end. Now he was on his own, minding his own business, and it was simply the colour of his skin and the connotation synonymous with Black people and monkeys that caused their reaction to him. Believe it or not that is simply all it takes – trust me, WE know!

Things haven’t got any better they are going backwards and getting worse. The only upside is more folk are awake this time around and won’t let things slide as easily, no matter how petty others may deem it to be.

To be fair it’s a parents choice. I don’t know whether this models parents knew exactly what he had been modelling that day and which pictures would be put out to the public, but I’m really hoping they weren’t all about the money. As a Black woman I wouldn’t be buying it for my children to wear or allow them to model it. I don’t associate my girls with monkeys, cheeky or cool, and I’m not giving anybody – big or small – ammunition to throw at my child.

Kids can be cruel and are raised by aforementioned fuckwits, passing on their hate. That’s why I was determined to pass on OurStory to my girls, to let them know the real deal. They were named after an Egyptian goddess and a highly talented Black woman whose name means honour confers a crown – they are my royalty and I won’t allow anyone to paint them as anything less.

I can’t stress enough how important it is for you to do the same with your children. I’ve noticed a lot more of our youth are embracing their culture and heritage and it’s a blessing to see. We just need to find a way to get through to more of them.

The death toll for our young in this New Year is too high already. As corny as it sounds they are our future and there is a whole wealth of talent out there in every aspect. We need to start doing and building our own. Easier said than done I know, but doable. It has been done before and can be done again. It’s as simple as that.

 

 

R.I.P to all those who have lost their lives this week.

We Are Lions – Hear Us Roar! Stay Blessed & #CelebrateLife