Family Differences Beneficial

Dedicated to my beautiful blended family.

Family differences beneficial

By:

Posted: 12/4/08

Every holiday season I split myself in two.

As a child of divorce, I plan Thanksgiving and Christmas day with my families like the Secretary of State might orchestrate meetings with two warring countries.

My younger brother and I put our heads together to plot.

How much time should we spend at our dad's this year? Can we still sneak out in time for turkey with my mom's family?

Despite her denial, we know our mother would deem it nothing short of treason to be late and miss our uncle's sausage stuffing.

This year's Thanksgiving was particularly tricky - our dad's extended family was visiting. Tell me all you want about how families should understand our situation, but you haven't ridden shotgun on one of my aunt's guilt trips before.

"Why are y'all leaving so early? Don't you want to see us? Why don't you visit more? I know UGA ain't that far from Atlanta."

They were still laying it on thick as we bolted for the door with our heads ducked low, dodging cousins like land mines.

It's not that I enjoy one side of the family more than the other, but, during the holidays, I have to please both. To make matters worse, they are different as night and day.

It's to be expected from blended families. My mom's side is full of white southerners by way of the Midwest, most of whom are still nursing their wounds since McCain's tragic Election Day defeat.

It's a culture shock to leave the soulful smells of cornbread and baked ham at my dad's house for the dry red wine and Food Network-inspired gourmet of my mom's family feast.

Usually the differences are easy to ignore, but as much as I can divide my time, it's impossible to separate one side of myself from the other - black from white.

This year was no different.

At my mom's Thanksgiving dinner, my aunt's elderly mother was regaling the room with tales about her quirky neighbor - "That black" - who helps with her yard work.

Cue the awkward coughing. The chatter screeched to a halt, and I could almost hear my aunt's silent screams: "Oh no. Oh no. Oh no. Did they hear that?"

My brother and I just glanced at one another, smirked, and turned back to our pumpkin pie.

We're used to it.

It happens with every racist joke my uncle tells or story about how my aunt's mom refers to blacks as "Nigras."

Sometimes I wonder if they think my mother divorced the black out of my brother and me along with our father.

In a column Wednesday, Marc McAfee asked readers, "Will you risk ridicule, even a fist fight, to take a stand, or will you let [racist comments] go?"

Standing up to a drunken idiot who crosses the line is one thing. It gets a bit sticky when the idiot is sitting across from you at the dinner table and used to help change your diapers.

After dinner, my aunt put her hand on my shoulder and said she wanted to make sure I wasn't offended by her mother's comment. I shrugged.

Like any good diplomat, I have to pick my battles. Was it worth it to rage at an aging grandmother who has spent 80-plus years stuck in her ways?

Probably not.

Whether or not you agree with me, it's a choice I made to keep the peace. My mother's family knows where I stand, and they are wonderful people who accept my brother and me wholeheartedly.

Any time different ideologies and cultures come together in one room, friction is inevitable. The holidays are a constant reminder of the differences between us, which is true for all blended families, I'm sure.

But I try to see it as an opportunity to build bridges rather than moats. If having a black niece or granddaughter helps my family members reexamine their own ideas about race, then that's a beautiful thing.

I don't have to throw food or give lectures. Just by making time to be with them, I'm showing them there is no "us" and "them."

There is only family.

- Mandi Woodruff is the associate news editor of The Red & Black.

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© Copyright 2008 The Red and Black

"Never Coming Home Again?" -- A Column

I should preface this column by saying this was the first time I'd ever written about something personal for a public audience. It was strange and emotional and I nearly chickened out. In the end, when I received so many messages/emails/calls/notes from people who identified with my story, I couldn't imagine a better reward. Special thanks to my brother for helping me get over myself and just write.

Never coming home again?

By: Mandi Woodruff for The Red & Black

Posted: 11/24/08

My big brother Matt always left the toilet seat up. The disgusting plastic bottles he used to spit tobacco were all over the house.

We ran to our mother with our arguments - both adults yet still pushing and shoving like toddlers. Matt brought out the fire and claws in me - all good big brothers do, I suppose.

As we grew up, he would torment me until I ran from the room crying. I would flaunt my straight A's as he hunched over his homework, crippled by the ADD that's plagued him since infancy.

When Matt enlisted in the Army five years ago, my family was relieved to see him do something productive with his life other than wear a dent in our living room sofa and drink all the milk.

Our grandfather, a World War II veteran, shook Matt's hand proudly before he boarded a plane to Baghdad. Our mother cried. Our grandmother clutched her like a life raft, her eyes wet and bloodshot. A camera flashed.

I stood to the side. A lifetime of sibling rivalry had forged a rift between Matt and me that I wasn't quite sure how to cross. But the clock was winding down, he was leaving soon, and with a burst of rare emotion, I wrapped my arms around him.

"Bye, little sis'," he said, towering over me in his uniform and boots. "Stay away from boys."

He was gone for a year, when he came home on leave. I was taking a summer course. One day, a classmate, whose boyfriend was fighting overseas, did not show up. The young man whom she spent most classes gushing over would not be coming home, our professor told us.

I stumbled from class, my tears falling to the pavement like silent bombs. I ended up somewhere on North Campus before I pulled out my cell phone and dialed Matt's number.

"I just want to say … " I was sure I would hyperventilate before I got the words out. On the other line, Matt waited impatiently. "I just want to say that I love you."

It took one girl's loss to make me realize how much I had to lose if Matt found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. Stupid sibling rivalry or not, I knew it would destroy my family if he was not a part of it.

These days, even from thousands of miles away, Matt still manages to annoy the hell out of me - only now it's via webcam, which unfortunately denies me the satisfaction of punching him when he steps out of line.

As I sat at my cubicle at The Red & Black recently, reading the Associated Press, I came across a headline and froze. "Bomber strikes U.S. convoy in Afghanistan … death toll: 9."

I read such stories every day - 30 civilians killed by a suicide bomber at a market in Baghdad. Dozens injured in a raid in Kabul. Gunfire. Massacre. Explosion. Attack. Murder. Killed. Killed. Killed. Never coming home again.

Others can turn the other cheek, head over to Perez Hilton for a few laughs and a break from reality.

But I quickly signed into Yahoo! Messenger, the only way to get in touch with Matt these days. Nine dead. My mind raced. What if it's my brother this time? What if it's our family, our grief, our lives shattered?

"shut up i'm trying to get ready ofr work," Matt wrote in his usual sloppy, disjointed type.

I breathed again. It was 3 a.m. on his side of the world, and I was the obnoxious little sister distracting him from his work.

Never again will I take this role for granted.

- Mandi Woodruff is the associate news editor of The Red & Black.

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© Copyright 2008 The Red and Black

Shout out loud

So I wrote this editorial column for this week, but then Gov. Palin had to go "out" her pregnant daughter and I had to scrap it. But I'd hate for it to go to waste, so here it is. Do enjoy please.

Hear that noise?

That’s the sound of a glass ceiling shattering at America’s feet.

Like watching Hurricane Gustav pummel the Gulf Coast, we all knew this was coming.

Hillary Clinton all but obliterated the centuries-old glass barrier in her bid for the Democratic nod for the presidency, setting the stage nicely for the next lady worthy of the challenge.

But when John McCain announced Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate last week, I didn’t do a happy dance or cheer with my girlfriends.

I cringed.

My first instinctive reaction was suspicion—of course McCain would pick a woman merely to even up the odds of his being elected. Did he really believe Palin was the right person to stand just one heart beat away from the presidency?

Then a pang of giddiness mixed with disbelief hit me.

I support a Barack Obama, but the woman in me stubbornly wanted to cheer for Palin, and I was eager to learn more about this woman of whom I knew pretty much nothing.

Like millions of Americans, I pickede up quickly on mention that Palin was a former beauty queen turned mother of five and an avid fisherwoman, but I was annoyed to hear political analysts all but clap McCain on the back for making such a brilliant strategic move.

Perhaps, they speculated, the 18 million voters Clinton claimed at the end of her campaign would flock toward the next set of double X chromosomes to take the podium. That, they said, could be detrimental to Obama’s campaign, with women usually making up the majority of voters in presidential elections.

I considered throwing the remote control at Wolf Blitzer’s face.

I didn’t want anyone assuming what my decisions would be for me. So I did some research on my own about Palin.

It took only 15 minutes on Google to realize without a doubt that any true Hillary supporter wouldn’t stomach the idea of letting Palin within a 100 miles of the Oval office.

It’s like comparing apples to oranges, paper to plastic, soccer moms to CEO’s.

Let me break it down for you:

Last week, Plain told newsmax.com—speaking with near Bush levels of eloquence—

that global warming was not something she “would attribute…to being man-made.”

She is firmly pro-life, opposes same sex marriages and is all for capital punishment.

Clinton, on the other hand, has been long committed to upholding Roe V. Wade. She won the backing of much of the LGBT community by speaking out in support of their civil rights.

Palin has been governing a state of 700,000 citizens for under three years. Clinton has represented 19 million New Yorkers for eight years in the Senate.

You get the picture.

With their differences so blatantly obvious, I’d be disappointed if women rallied around Palin just for the sake of supporting a woman.

We don’t have to throw away our personal ideologies whenever one of our own gets a shot at the big time.

That was the whole point of women’s suffrage, after all—that we as women have the right to vote based on our own beliefs.

Palin and Clinton have spent their careers fighting against the limitations of their gender in what used to be a “Man’s world”.

So for me or any other woman to rally behind them because they are females goes against everything I believe their success stands for.

I respect Palin for what she’s achieved, but I won’t let an invisible bond of sisterhood tug me in a direction I don’t believe in.

this is who i am

This is probably one of the most important books I've ever read.

From one Settler to the rest

"There are roughly three New Yorks. There is, first, the New York of the man or woman who was born there, who takes the city for granted and accepts its size, its turbulence as natural and inevitable. Second, there is the New York of the commuter — the city that is devoured by locusts each day and spat out each night. Third, there is New York of the person who was born somewhere else and came to New York in quest of something ….Commuters give the city its tidal restlessness, natives give it solidity and continuity, but the settlers give it passion."

-E.B. White

I heart NY

There's something to be said about a place where you can spend $5 on a loaf of bread, $13 for a movie ticket (matinee, no less) and hear 75 different languages all in the span of about 15 minutes. If I ever felt small standing next to the ocean, I feel about as big as an ant in this city, and though I have three months to take it all in and explore, I don't think I'll ever be finished. I haven't even started my internship yet, but that will be a whole other adventure to take in, one for which I am splitting my emotions between terror and elation. Terror that I'll fall flat on my face and be exposed as the green amateur that I am and elation that I actually have the chance to do just that. Since I am here interning with a group through the American Society of Magazine Editors, I have the opportunity to live and meet other people going through the exact same experience which is rare and unique and very comforting. Finally, I feel like everything I've been working for in college for 3 years is going to pay off and if I succeed this summer, then my plans post-bull dawgs will be set in stone - I have to live here, simple as that. I have to be here every day, walking these busy streets and paying too much for cereal and getting caught in muggy city rain showers on the way to the subway. I want it all. I knew when I was 16 that I would be a journalist, so sure of myself that I made no backup plans if I didn't get into j-school and listened to no one who tried to tell me I would get paid nothing and be miserable; and I am thrilled to have found the place where I know I will spend the best years of my life growing up and learning in this industry, climbing up the ladder until I reach the top. In the meantime, the view from the bottom wrung is pretty nice.

The People's Prez

The race is coming to a close and I've been quiet about it for a while, but I could not be happier with the way things have gone. Obama has faced some major obstacles (eg: Rev.Wright-gate and this week's ridiculous accusations from W) and emerged on the other side a stronger, better candidate than when this spectacular journey began. In the beginning, I supported Sen. Obama based on a gut feeling, a faith that I acted strongly upon and for which I faced constant criticism. I got those stares, you know, the ones that said,"Oh, you poor thing, you must not know better." But if anyone understands how it feels to have his beliefs tested and ridiculed on a regular basis, Barack Obama is that person.
Now, more so than ever, I believe that he is more than a talented, inspirational politician and Time cover boy, more than a devoted husband and father, more than an image of what the future of America should and will be. He will be the People's President. Pundits and the media will continue to speculate about his experience, but mark my words, in 2009 when he takes his oath and carries his beautiful family into history, this country will change. For once, we will have faith in our president. For once, we'll believe that America really is the land of dreams as it has oft been fabled to be.

Blowin in the wind...

Little things in life.






















The road home...




















Coffee break @ workVintage.























Friendly faces.

Hmmm...questionable

I don't quite know what it is about people in general...but we do a lot of stupid things. We say things we don't mean, keep inside what we feel and when we feel inadequate and weak...we lash out at others to try and fail to bring ourselves back up.

It's a vicious cycle that I have been guilty of at times; but recently I feel like I've been the brunt of many people's insecurities and I, unwittingly, have been letting them drag me down a slippery slope. They say misery loves company, but don't come knocking at my door anymore because no one will be there to answer.

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent - that's what I've had to repeat to myself over and over these past few weeks. It's pointless to let another's negativity infiltrate your life to the point where you don't know why you feel upset anymore. You may have nothing to be ashamed of but just the presence of that person can knock you down and leave you breathless, unsure about yourself and even your own life.

All I can say is that if you're feeling down on yourself or lost- look in the mirror to find the problem. Don't blame it on others or try to make them feel as if they are the ones with the issue. Nine times out of 10 the culprit is you.

Girl on a horse

Portrait taken in Athens, Ga. Thanks to Leslie (and Bella, of course) for being a good sport!

Painting or Photo?

Photo.

Cameron Parish, LA
2.5 years after Hurricane Rita wiped out every last home on this beach.

It's (Alternative) Spring Break, Baby!

Happy Spring Break people!



I can't quite put into words how grateful I am to have a week away from college, work and responsibility for once! I literally ran out of a midterm Thursday morning and rushed to the airport. I threw my bookbag on the floor and felt more liberated than I have in months (how sad is that?).



I'm spending my break, once again, working with United Way in Hurricane Rita/Katrina relief in Lake Charles, LA. I'm two days away from beginning work, but I can't wait to get started. Being around the best kind of people in the world doing work that is truly about a community and not for individual gain is something that I only get to do once a year during my spring break. I really hope to be able to continue doing this for as long as I'm able.



Today we heard stories from Hurricane survivors, and even though I'd like to call myself a 'three year hurricane relief veteran', I realize that these people are the true vet's. They came out on the other end of a tragic natural disaster that could have consumed their lives and their livelihoods and they are still going strong today.




Anyway, I'm stepping off the soap box now. This year I am the team leader for a crew of 10 volunteers - it's a little daunting, but I can only hope that they leave feeling as inspired to do more in their communities as I did when I began this journey three years ago.


Wherever you are this week, whether it's on the beach or rebuilding homes, I hope you are staying safe and having a great time! :)

Who'd a thunk?

Sunsets over the beach? Neh. Sunrise over the mountaintops? Kid stuff.
Starburst pattern coming out of your refrigerator? Now that is beautiful light.

Calm, Cool, Collected....Hello Mr. President

Tonight's final debate before the Ohio and Texas primaries March 4 between Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton solidified Obama's stance as the front runner for the Democratic presidential nomination.

The ball was in Hillary's court tonight and she dropped it. In a feeble attempt to appear tough and aggressive, she came off desperate and slightly maniacal (note the borderline sociopathic laughter). Obama took her jibes in stride, his tone remaining even and cool throughout the debate. He answered every question with balance and clarity, sidestepping the swipes Clinton aimed at his foreign policy and inexperience. In fact, he came off stronger on foreign policy than she did in my opinion. Like always, he told it like it is.

Clinton has run a fierce fight, but her momentum, whatever's left of it, is rapidly dwindling. While she focused on being snarky and trying to appear larger than she really is, Obama let her look like a certified maniac and did not rise to her bluffs. It's this behavior of Clinton that worries me most about her.

Obama made a great point about her being ready to given into Bush's desires on Day One when she voted for the war in Iraq - and I can see how she might have thought that voting for a big, grizzly war would make her seem all tough in Congress. But I don't want a president who's only going to rise to occasion or act rashly because she is trying to prove herself to America or the outside world as a viable leader. That's the same kind of crap that got us in this war. Obama could lead with his eyes closed and still have it all in control - his cool demanor tonight bolstered that perception. He is solid and confident and that is more important in gaining the respect of foreign leaders than standing up with his chest puffed up and an army tank behind him. He needs none of that to lead - he will use his head and his heart and some good old fashioned common sense. The man has IT.

His performance was the final blow to her campaign, I think, and I am anxious to see how Texas and Ohio vote next week. No matter the outcome, Obama proved himself tonight to be the level-headed, firm and honest person that America needs to see in the White House.

Come on NY Times...are you a leader in news or a follower?

Several weeks ago, the New York Times, the leading newspaper in the the U.S., announced its endorsement of Senator Clinton. OK. I let that one slide. They probably felt some sort of attachment to her since she's NY Senator.

But, please, guys...when you make a decision you need to stand by it. In the past week, the Times has printed an article blasting Clinton for her floundering campaign and just today, they have a piece at the top of their Web site championing a poll that found Obama as the candidate most likely to defeat McCain.

Waffle much? I am all about Obama (I think you've probably inferred as much by now), but I would expect the NY Times to at least stand by their decision to back up good ol' Hitlery. They are the mecca of all American news and as such they need to step it up and assume that role. I was even disappointed to see them put McCain under the microscope for "maybe, kinda sorta, probably" having relations with a female lobbyist. What happened to cold hard facts, my friends to the North?

I think this serves as an example of what can happen when news organizations endorse candidates too soon. Personally, I think that it's our responsibility not to endorse anyone. We're supposed to be the ultimate source of objective news, and endorsing is a clear attempt to sway readers.

But I could be wrong. Maybe by turning a burning lens on Clinton they are trying to prove how unbiased they can be even after they pump money into a presidential campaign. If so, then bravo. But then why endorse at all? Clinton only stands to lose and Obama gain. Aren't you defeating your own purpose???

Mentioned articles:

Somber Clinton soldiers on as the horizon darkens:

Polls show Obama is seen as more likely to beat McCain:

Out on a limb...

I think I'm getting the hang of photojournalism...
I was driving around searching for beautiful light for my next assignment and then I looked up and saw this kid...dangling from a tree! It was perfect. I immediately did a U-turn and asked him if he minded if I photographed him for a class project. After about 120 frames, I was sure I'd gotten a beautiful shot and was ready to leave...when an evil farm man came storming in on his 4 wheeler! He accused me of trespassing and threatened to call the cops on me for photographing his land. It was classic, with his little hound dogs at his side and everything...I was hard pressed to keep from laughing. I wished him a good day and hightailed it out of there before he pulled out his rifle. What an evening...but it was worth it for this amazing photo!

When it rains it pours

I can still remember the smell of Fridays when I was younger...like drafts of fresh cut grass blowing in through the school bus windows on the bumpy ride home, the scuffle of dirty shoes skipping rope on cold concrete, the feel of mud caked under my fingernails and the thud of my backpack as I flung it to the floor to be forgotten for the next 48 hours.

I miss the days when the weekend was the light at the end of a seven week long battle against the rest of the world. These days, it's nothing but an extension of an already overwhelming work week. Sometimes I thrive more when work is plentiful and the familiar pangs of anxiety propel me out of bed each morning. But there are days when I lie in bed, letting time tick by while I think about what would happen if I did not get up, if I let the world get on without me for just a few more minutes. I usually get up anyway, probably out of fear of getting an answer. But today I didn't. I called in sick to work. I never do that. I slept until 1:30 (p.m.). I never do that either. I could hear storm clouds rolling in outside my window, billowing overhead and carrying sleepy, halfhearted sun rays in through the blinds and I welcomed the excuse to snooze longer.


In the past months I have been hit by more bricks and stones and walls than I can count, all warning of danger ahead if I continued on the path I was on. Finally, about a week ago I decided to listen. The invisible voices I imagined were pushing me forward disappeared. I learned to listen to myself for once and do what I wanted. It seems simple but I actually had not realized that my life is my own to live. No one is telling me what to do or how to do it. I had control all along even though I envisioned myself a slave to some higher power.

I snapped and I'm not going back to where I was. It gets tempting, I admit, to let the current convince me with its gentle ebbs and flows to go along with it down a distant pathway. Sucking up my courage and turning the other direction is the hard part, but it gets easier with each day as my muscles clench and tighten, growing stronger and propelling me against the current.

I'm getting back to balance, to the journey I started two years ago. Maybe the direction I'm going is different than everyone else. Maybe I won't have the picture perfect transcript or the job everyone wishes they had. But I will be happy, and that's true success in my book.


"When it rains it pours but when you shine it dries."

Where do we go from here?

Keep holding on NIU.

My brother the Youtube Whore

Hello Lovers...Love today!

I can not ignore today. So I've take an proactive stance and made cupcakes for the newspaper and brownies for my friends...just trying to spread the love!

So, for all you single lovers out there, don't let yourself get lost in the storm of confectioner's sweets and stuffed animals today. Take the time to show the people you love, family, friends, etc, that you care about them.

Besides, the world could use a little more love these days.

Why not start with yourself?

In the words of Mika, "Everybody's gonna love today..."

A picture can say 1,000 words

Some of the most breathtaking images taken around the world in recent months.


Northern lights (aurorae borealis) in Canada.
(Image via nationalgeographic.com)















A Narwal whale captured in Nunavut, Canada.
(Image via bbc.com)

A deceased gorilla carried out of the jungle in the Congo.
(Image via bbc.com)


Breathtaking shot of a mother and her son bathing in the Red Sea.
(Image via bbc.com)





























You simply can't get better than National Geographic photojournalism. By keeping the shutter open on their camera for hours rather than seconds, photographers are able to capture the orbit of stars around Earth at night. Makes me want to be an astronaut...
(Image via nationalgeographic.com)

Yes, we can

One short video has never summed up the power of Obama as this. Whether you vote Democrat or Republican tomorrow, the important thing is that you vote. But when you do, remember who reminded us young Americans that we have the power to DO and ACT rather than ACCEPT and LISTEN.

YES WE CAN.

Well that's embarassing...

So I'm studying for a communication law exam @ the Library...thinking that I should listen to something soothing like Beethoven. Once I've been listening for about 5 minutes I feel a tap on my shoulder.

"Um...excuse me ma'am...your headphones aren't plugged in."

Oops.




At least it wasn't something loud and obnoxious.

May he rest in peace, not in scrutiny

When someones passes away, it's time to remember them for what they did best in their lives - the children, spouses and families they left behind and the positive qualities that made them a great person when they were alive. It's time to celebrate their lives.

It is NOT the time to go banging on the tired drum of scandal and selling disturbing footage of that person at a drug party, doped up and out of their mind - TWO YEARS before they died. As if that footage could possibly relate to his death...and if it does, it's absolutely none of our business.

The conduct of Entertainment Television and The Insider is completely unforgivable. How can they exploit this dead man - who provided the world with remarkable work as an actor and was by all accounts a loving human being - in such a demeaning and unethical manner? Why now?

Somewhere in the world, his family is stricken with grief and his baby girl will face a future without her Daddy. They are still trying to cope with the devastation that they lost a vital part of their own lives. The media make me sick to consider myself part of their world...this is not the business I have chosen to dedicate my life to.

Please, let this man rest in peace, not under the microscope of critical America. He and his family deserve that at the very least.


R.I.P. Heath Ledger

All "Hitlery" jokes aside...

I can not hate Hillary Clinton. She is a strong woman with passion for bettering our nation. Will I vote for her on Feb. 5th in the Democratic primary? No. Do I think she would make a great president if given the chance? Sure. But my faith rests in Barack Obama. Hillary is far too entrenched in the political stratosphere...and I cringe to think of a presidency where she sits in the oval office with her smarmy, adulterous husband pulling the reigns from behind. I'm not saying her run as NY Senator was in part due to Bill, but this is a different playing field. He's going to get in that White House and get that taste for power once again and try to go back and right all his wrongs from the 90's, and we can't allow that to happen. This is about moving FORWARD, not looking behind. Obama will take us into a new future. Hillary, while an amazing politician, will try to improve the status quo in Washington. Obama will obliterate it.

So that's part of my reasoning for my decision in this election. If all hell freezes over and Obama doesn't get the Democratic bid for president, then I will surely cast my vote for Hillary. But up against Obama, my choice is clear. Sorry Bill.


Check out two of my favorite actresses, America Ferrera and Amber Tamblyn, interviewing Hillary outside of the SC debates.



I like her better without her "attack dog" nipping at her heels.

Spoken like a Champ

Barack Obama repsonds to Bush's final state of the union address. It's a sample of what's to come when he's elected President in 2008. In this 5 minute video, he displays more honesty and intelligence than Bush has in 8 years of "leadership." This is the man who will bring about change I can believe in.

Eat that Billary

Kennedy Chooses Obama, Spurning Plea by Clintons (NY Times, 1/29/08)

Senator Edward M. Kennedy’s endorsement pits members of the nation’s most prominent Democratic families against each other.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/28/us/politics/28kennedy.html?ex=1359262800&en=f89fefaebba086bf&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

The Green Children

http://www.thegreenchildren.org/tgcf/index.php

A pair of amazing individuals who are using the power of music to work alongside with Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, the father of microcredit and founder of The Grameen Bank, in promoting microfinance worldwide.

Check them out and learn how you can become a Green Child.

Congolese

Just how much more devastation can the Congolese suffer before world leaders decide to do something about it? After the end of civil war in 2004, millions more have died from bloody rebel warfare, disease and poverty. The image says it all...this isn't about shock value. It's about reality. This is the face of the Congo and many other nations in Africa. What are we going to do about it?


http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/23/world/africa/23congo.html?ex=1358830800&en=0f191ccc903d0bb7&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

My black or my vagina...

A lot of news sources have been upsetting me lately by their blatant disregard for the intelligence of black women of America. They say we have only two choices in this election, either Barack Obama because he's black or Hitler-y Clinton because she's a woman.

This is a load of bull, and I wrote an editorial for my campus newspaper on my feelings about the subject of race, gender and politics. Will this election ever be about the issues?

Check it out here:
http://media.www.redandblack.com/media/storage/paper871/news/2008/01/25/Opinions/Race-Not.Important.In.Voting-3167666.shtml?reffeature=recentlycommentedstoriestab

Yes we can!

Obama is on the road to the New White House...

After a landslide victory in South Carolina over Hitler-ry Clinton, Obama is now one giant step closer to the top, ladies and gents! I've followed this incredible man's journey for two years now, and I can not wait until Nov. 2008 when he finally realizes his dream and the dream of America - we want change and he will deliver it. Yes we can have the America that we want!
Regardless of who will become the Democratic candidate, America has already shown the Republicans that their time has finally expired. Democratic primaries are drawing hundreds of thousands more voters than any Republic primary. Excitement is building...

Listen to Obama's most inspring speech to date. I've seen him on three separate occasions bring inspiration and heart into the power of his speech, but never has he been this amazing. You can't help but be inspired and uplifted.

I can haz...

Oh snap...I made a LOLcatz picture! This is Luna...my 10 year old cat who has bitch tendenices. Literally.

I know it's probably not healthy to find http://www.icanhascheezburger.com as funny as I do...but what can I say? Everyone needs a guilty pleasure.

A new soul

If you haven't heard of Yael Naim, you should check her out. She's one of my favorite new artists. I don't pretend to be a music expert, but I like what I like and it's usually an eclectic mix.

www.myspace.com/yaelnaim

Hola Compadres

Hmm...so this is my first crack at the blogging phenom. It's been an exciting new year...well, not so much exciting. Different. A lot of change is happening, in my life and the world around me and I feel the need to blab about it. Stay tuned...