My thoughts on "2017 New Years Resolutions for White Guys | MTV News"

My thoughts

a) Stop tarring everyone with the same brush - not all Caucasians fit the stereotype.  If you get offended when someone makes assumptions about you, then you should not make assumptions about others.

b)'All lives matter' is not the opposite of  'Black lives matter'.  'Black lives matter' is a movement that raises awareness about injustices that were/ are being perpetrated against people of colour.  In many cases, these injustices led to death.  Yes, thank God our public lynching days are over but we have  symbolic lynchings taking place (often through the judicial system) - when a black person cannot drive/walk in certain neighborhoods, when due process is taken away from someone because  of the color of their skin, when the system seems rigged to ensure that you lose your voice and your life because of assumptions made based on your race.

'Black lives matter' is a relevant movement because it ensured/ensures that inequities are highlighted and this movement has led to setting up systems to protect the rights of minorities. I say,  about time! So, even though I agree that 'all lives matter' but if a group in society is being hunted down, then it is imperative that we broadcast these issues and ensure that it is understood that their lives matter as well.

No, I do not advocate for hurting police officers.  Police officers fulfil an important role in society by maintaining law and order and they should be accorded the respect that comes with that position.  But, they should not abuse their power.

c) Mansplaining is not just a white thing - it is a male thing.   I think Womansplaining is also a thing but I think the issue is more with the power behind mansplaining.  A mansplainer effectively shuts down the voice of the woman and renders her ability to voice a thought/opinion and idea as null and void.  In the workplace, this could lead to her playing a support role rather than being viewed as a leader, which has negative implications for the workplace and the economy as a whole.

d)  America has been good to a lot of people and not just white men.   But, I will say that because of the perceptions and assumptions that exist against minority groups, it is harder for minority groups to achieve compared to their white counterparts.  But, this does not mean that they do not achieve.  We have extremely wealthy minority individuals.   Despite it all, they achieved.  So America was/is good for them and has the potential to be good for us all.

e)  Anyone can be 'woke'.  Being 'woke'  isn't the right of only black/minority people.  My understanding of woke is when an individual finally comprehends the hidden issues that exist in society and takes a step either as an individual or communally to create change.  Anyone can be 'woke'.  After all, every major movement that occurred in the United States that involved changing the status quo for minority people, included Caucasians.  So, we can effectively say that they were 'woke' since they understood the issues and worked with minority groups to create change.

f)  Anyone can be racist regardless of the friends they keep.  This holds true for Asians, Blacks,
Latinos and Caucasians.    Your keeping friends from a different ethnic group has absolutely nothing to do with your perception of that group as a whole.


2017 plan for all:
a) be less judgemental - get to know people.
b) Black lives matter.
c) Blue lives matter.    Respect the police.
d) Stop mansplaining.   We have a voice and a brain and we should be allowed to use it.
e) Change your mindset.  America can be good for all.
f) We all need to be woke about issues affecting America and try to bring about a positive change in our environment.
g) AGAIN! Work on yourself.  Change your mindset.  Get out of your comfort zone and challenge your stereotypes.   And if you are a racist, you need to change.

Please Stop The Madness And Stop Tarring People.

I was dismayed to read about the attack that took place in Ohio, involving an  18 years old Somali refugee, Abdul Razak Artan.  The single-mindedness, the blind rage and the blind devotion behind the attack had me flabbergasted.   Mr.Artan, probably fueled  by some radical Islamic ideals stabbed several people after crashing his car into another. This was a young man that was a cum laude student and had no previous run-ins with the law.  He was simply a good boy.

Of course, in this age of intolerance and xenophobia that has been brought about by the election, the President - elect rather than calm the waters has decided to fuel the fires by having an incendiary talk at a rally in Ohio in which he calls all non-native born Americans, and others into question.


For many immigrants, the United States is their home.  They bought into the ideals that the United States espouses as being a land of opportunity in which the 'pursuit of happiness' and probably its attainment is somewhat promised.  Now, they are being told that's a fallacy.  We need to remember that there is a reason that the United States is often viewed as the land of immigrants because even though many Americans refuse to accept it, the first British group that came to the United States were immigrants.The Native Americans already resided here.  #fact


But, lest I digress too far off topic.  I will end by stating categorically, there is nothing wrong with loving your religion and following the tenets of your faith but there is something substantially wrong when you find that a subset of your religion endorses terrorism and you choose to continue along that path.  This warning is particularly for immigrants, 'please, stick to the  love your neighbours part of your holy book.   Leave the rest alone because whatever you do, affects the whole United States and a subsection of people who have lived quietly and contributed heavily to the United States economy.'

Furthermore, remember that  any untoward acts that you perform put lives and livelihood of millions of people in jeopardy.  It is important to think before you act. Parents, it is time to put on your parenting panties and PARENT.  This is the time to be on the lookout; keep an eye on what your children are reading, watching, listening to and browsing on the internet. Know their friends because a youthful mind can be easily swayed.


I will end this all by taking a deep breath and saying,  May God Have Mercy On Us All.





Pamela.

Articles:  http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/01/us/from-somalia-to-us-ohio-state-attackers-path-to-violence.html?_r=0


http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/donald-trump-calls-ohio-state-attack-a-%E2%80%98tragic-reminder%E2%80%99-on-immigration/ar-AAlldA4?li=BBnb7Kz

I Will Not Purchase That Book!

Okay, I am trying my best not to be dismissive but I just can't help it.  Seriously, I thought Nigeria was going through a recession but we seem to be able to find that spare cash and time to buy into a very rich woman's tale of woe.  As I have gotten older, I seem to find myself losing patience with women who have it together and still chose to stay with men who are obviously not good for them.

Case in point:  An on-air personality chooses to marry a man, who has clearly shown that he has interests outside the relationship and decides to keep him by thunder by fire.  In an attempt to keep him, she closes her eyes to his indiscretions (a very stupid strength of the Nigerian woman), tries to change herself physically for him by bleaching her skin to look like the sun (ahem) and then to end it all, contracts a sexually transmitted disease from him.    Like, everything is clearly saying, RUN WOMAN RUN.  Yet, this woman still stays.

But, when the silly , ,   Let me start all over again.  So, the silly guy is gallivanting all over the place with his dingaling and then gets a woman pregnant, she finds out AND still, she remains. Then when they decide to put everything on blast and now her business is now public knowledge, she decides to stop doing 'in the morning things'.  Let me be cynical here for a moment but if this had not become public knowledge and her profession become in jeopardy, I believe she would have remained in that relationship. By the way, she dispenses love advice on air.  So, now that the curtains have been drawn and we can all see the dirt, she now decides to write a book and then we all carry ourselves to go and buy the book.  Abeg, NO!!!


I will not be purchasing this book but if you decide to get it for me, for Christmas, fine.  How can your house be burning and yet, you still choose to remain there? What is the hold?  Na juju? What exactly were you getting from the relationship, apart from the popular position that many Nigerian women vie for (that of being a Mrs.somebody) but apart from that, absolutely nothing?


By the way, if we decide to look at the chronology of her relationship, it turns out that though she was the one that was married, she was actually the side chick.  He had been with the woman longer than he was with her.  Oya...  #I #just #cannot.   Seriously,  woman, why are you crying when you can be singing, "thank you Jesus, for my deliverance"?   See me see trouble, Oh!

I just wanted to rant.  There has been too much hullabaloo about that book.  And I just  #can't #take #it #no #mo'.


Domestic violence is real and is an epidemic.   But, institutional silliness is a choice, women sometimes choose to remain in things that no longer serve them.




 

Silence.......Then Twitter

Yes, it has been a minute.   Let's blame it on a place, time and events.
I really do not have much to say but that the next couple of years will be an extremely
interesting one in the United States.   The United States chose to vote someone in who is quite famous for the phrase, 'you're fired' as president.   I was taken aback at the result because I was so sure that with many of the values that Americans seem to espouse that allowing someone who had made so many faux pas to become President of the United States will be a great NO! NO! but I guess I was wrong.  He is president and we all have to accept it and move on.

Yes, let's please stop with the recount hullabaloo.   The election of the President-elect says something about the inconspicuous hostilities that many have about certain changes that have occurred in the United States in the past couple of years.
Furthermore, it further restates that the United States is still patriarchal and still isn't quite comfortable having a woman at the helm.   Let the events that occurred with Mrs. Clinton be a warning to all women who aspire to lead the United States -a) you do not have as much leeway as your male counterparts.  They can smack a couple of bottoms and still be seen as individuals with leadership potential but you cannot.   b) you have to be as pure as snow.  There cannot be any hint of unethical or otherwise conduct.   Mrs. Clinton would have done a great job!  But, we have what we have.


Talking about what we have?  All I can say is that President Trump's  reign will be one that is completely different from his predecessors.  That brings me to my important question: what's up with President Trump and Twitter?  It seems that he prefers to make his pronouncements and judgments on twitter.  On the one hand, we can say that this is a great move because it keeps him in touch with the pulse of the nation, and he makes himself seem more accessible to the common man.  But, it seems his pronouncements over twitter seem to get him into more trouble.  To be quite honest, his behavior over twitter seems to be quite prescient of what we will expect from him in the next four years  - that is a man who might not be willing to follow protocol.   Will that be good for America?  I guess the next four years will show us.

I watch with bated breath and pray that he does end up making "America great again."


Maybe, I will follow him on twitter...;-)  #Just #saying.....

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