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10/13/2020 0 Comments

Soul Ownership

I love this poem because it took me a long time to find my voice. It took me even longer to learn how to convey my points of view while taking those of others into consideration. I was once told that I demand respect from others but I was not so willing to grant it. I know I am not alone. Many people struggle to find their voice and there are many different reasons why.
I know that as a woman, we are often taught that standing up for ourselves makes us that b-word. Even worse, we are deemed as overly emotional or unstable. As a black woman, the situation is often worse. When we do speak out, we are many times labeled as angry and bitter. We become silenced by these toxic stereotypes. We become afraid to be our true selves.
Some people are going to like or love you and some people are going to hate or dismiss you. The most important thing is that you like and love yourself. As long as you're not mistreating another person, then their opinion of you can not matter more than your own.
It took me a while, but I own who I am. Though it's not always pretty or what I'd like to see, it is me. It is honestly and authentically me. We only live once. We get just this single spin on planet Earth being the person that we are. Own yourself. Enjoy yourself. Be true to yourself.

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10/12/2020 0 Comments

Now on Tuesdays!

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10/5/2020 0 Comments

An Acceptable Dose

An Acceptable Dose

My heart struggles hopelessly
and is unable to reconcile
how people you know are good
can uplift a thing so vile.
When those you know are good
didn't just look aside
but by their deliberate actions
have helped that evil to rise.

What could possibly be
in the back of their minds
that their cruel choice
they justify?

Is it that...

What is a little bit of racism
when proven what a group can take?
Surely anything is an improvement
from forced labor, brutality and rape.
Those things are way less tolerated
but it doesn't mean racism was lost.
It just means that it is now dispensed
into more socially “acceptable” doses.

And isn't that certainly a step up
compared to being slaves
and because it's not as blatant
doesn't it make it more OK?
And...what's a little bit or racism
after what our ancestors endured?
How dare we be so ungrateful?
How dare we strive for more?

Many former acts of horror
that most agree were inhumane,
were replaced by modern versions
but their intent is quite the same.
Pointy white sheets with eye holes
were replaced with something new.
It is by no means absolution
showing love to a certain few.

We've had one black president
so we've obviously come some ways.
Yet equality is a full meal
of which we've only had a taste.
To then give someone so much power
who discriminates based on race...
how can you expect people of color
to not feel dismissed and betrayed?

It poured salt on racial wounds
that were finally starting to heal-
as if the bonds of true community
some never want us to feel.
A lifetime of working twice as hard
to earn chances that some are given.
Opportunities passed right by me
because I didn't fit the description.

Social discrepancies
run rampant in our institutions.
Many like it just like that
so they fight against solutions.
Should I accept racial injustice
as just a little tick in the system
and if it ain't as bad as slavery
is it really worth the mention?

Does it seem more acceptable
when by dog whistles, it's disguised?
Does it seem more acceptable
if you can act like you're surprised?
Does it seem more acceptable
if no one shed their blood?
Does it seem more acceptable
for other neighborhoods?

What is that acceptable dose of racism-
how much you think won't harm?
Where do you draw the line?
What causes your conscience alarm?

We hail our beautiful county
as the greatest democracy.
Shouldn't that mean each citizen
be equally safe and free?

How do you see your part?
How will you cast your vote?
How do you think you'll get me to swallow
what you deem an acceptable dose?

"An Acceptable Dose" is an excerpt from my upcoming book.

Brief Photo Descriptions & Links

1-Middle Passage, 1518-approximately 1859
2 & 3-Laura and Lawrence Nelson, Okemah, OK, 1911
4-Willie Byrd
5 & 6-Duluth, Minnesota, 1920
7-Black Wall Street Massacre, Tulsa, Oklahoma 1921
8-Rosewood Massacare, 1923
9- Emmitt Till, 1955
10-Attempted Assassination of MLK, 1958
11-16th Street Baptist Church Bombing, 1963
12-Goodman, Chaney, Schwerner, murdered 1964
13-Assassination of Malcolm X, 1965
14-John Lewis in Selma, Alabama, 1965
15-Fred Hampton Murder, 1969
16 & 17-Rodney King Beating, 1991 (Link for second photo)
18-20-James Byrd Jr., Lynched By Dragging, 1998
21-Eric Garner, 2014
22 & 23-Charleston Church Massacre, 2015 (Link for second photo)
24-Charlottesville, VA 2017
25-Portland, Oregon, 2020
26-Say Their Name, 2020

About This Week's Post

Hello Planet Candie Visitors!

For those of you who read my posts regularly, you may be surprised that I flipped the script this week. Though I follow politics rather closely and definitely have my opinions, I had intended to not address them here. I wanted my site to be a place of spiritual uplift, inspiration and empowerment. I didn't want to alienate anyone because of my political beliefs.
What I realized was that I wasn't really being true to myself by excluding political issues. What is happening currently in our political realm effects everything. The pandemic, racism, sexism, unemployment, and so many other issues have both direct and indirect impacts on our spiritual, mental and physical well being.
It has long been my belief that we must name, then face difficult issues if we are to overcome and move past them. I included this political poem because it is too important an issue not to address before such a crucial election.

Candie

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Author

I want to help uplift, inspire and empower others and to help leave the world a little better than I found it. I am an author, deep thinker & optimist. I know God is love. I am the author of "Candidreams: I Remember the Beginning" and "Role Reversal: Turn Pain Into Power".
It is never my intent to push my spiritual views on others. I'm just sharing some of my own story in hopes that you or someone else will gain from it and can find some strength and hope in it. As I am fond of saying: I'm just giving you a little personal information and insight. What you do with it is completely up to you!

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Soul Ownership

Now on Tuesdays!

An Acceptable Dose

About This Week's Post

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YOUR CART

Soul Ownership

Now on Tuesdays!

An Acceptable Dose

About This Week's Post

Want to Donate? Here a few options:

Black Lives Matter

American Civil Liberties Union

Biden Harris Campaign

American Red Cross

Author

Archives

Categories

Want to Donate?
Here a few options: